Today’s Motto: ‘The most useful human skill to acquire is the skill of letting-go’

This is Your Day-TODAY: Take a Determined Step Forward and Make History ! 

On this day, 16 Jan….
1681 – Sambhaji, the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had his grand coronation at Raigad Fort, becoming the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire.

1757 – Forces of the Maratha Empire defeated the invading army of the Durrani Empire (Afghan) in the Battle of Narela.

1761 – The British East India Company successfully captured the city of Pondicherry from the French, significantly weakening French influence in India.

1818 – The Rana of Udaipur, signed a treaty with the British to protect Mewar.1920 – 1st assembly of League of Nations in Paris.
1939 – Popular comic strip “Superman” debuts.
1942 – Jawaharlal Nehru succeeds Gandhi as head of Indian National Congress

1955 – The National Defence Academy (NDA) in Khadakwasla, Pune, was formally inaugurated. Spread over 8,022 acres, it trains  Army, Navy and Air Force personnel, at one  campus. (pic credit-vishwabhartigurukulam.com).

2000 – P. Moses, Indian High Commission Staff member, badly beaten up and abducted by Pakistani intelligence operators in Islamabad.

2014 – The Lokpal of India, a national anti-corruption ombudsman, was officially established following the enactment of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

2016 – Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Startup India initiative to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

2016 – First ever flower grown in space – a zinnia aboard the International Space Station using NASA Veggie system.

2021 – India launched its massive COVID-19 vaccination drive. Sanitation worker Manish Kumar became the first person in India to receive the vaccine shot.         2024 – Iran carries out a missile attack on militant group Jaish al-Adl in Balochistan, Pakistan, killing two children and angering Pakistan.

Born …. 1630 – Guru Har Rai, the Seventh of the ten Sikh Gurus.

1920 – Nani Palkhiwala (Nanabhoy Ardeshir), veteran Indian law expert  who fought the famous  Keshvanand Bharti Case in He wrote sevral law books like We, the People, We the Nation, The Global Economy, Kanga and Palkhiwala (on Income Tax), Selected Writings etc.  He was awarded Padam Vibhushan in 1998. (pic credit-the Better India).                                                                                                            1945 – Kabir Bedi, famous actor/model.   Lahore  born  Indo-American actor, model has worked  in many TV serials and  Bollywood  films like  Halchal, Seemas, Khoon Bhari Maang, Kachhe Dhage, Mohen-Jo Daro, Mein Hoon Na  and Europeen/Hollywood  films like Sandokan, The Bold & The Beautiful, Octopussy,  The Lost Empire, Andata  Ritorno, Dynasty,  Murder etc. He won many awards  and is also  a  Voting  Member  for   Oscar  awards  (Academy  of Motion  Picture Arts  and  Sciences (pic credit-csfz.cz).

RIP….  1938 – Bengali literary giant Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay; famous for works like Devdas, Parineeta, Choritraheen,  Srikanta. His novels were mostly  on Bengali  village  life  and  culture.He  spent 13 years  in his childhood in Burma,  later  on raised  a  house  in a  village  near  Calcutta. He was inspired by another  legend Bankim  Chandra  Chattopadhyay. Many ( about 90) of his stories  were adapted  into  films  by Hrishikesh  Mukherejee, Basu  Chatterjee, Gulzar and others; viz., Dutta, Apne  Paraye, Manjhli  Didi,  Chhoti  Bahu, Khushboo, Aalo Chhaya etc. He was awarded Filmfare Award for  Best  story Swami  in 1977.

1989 – Prem Nazir (Abdul Khadir), popular and influentiol Malayalam actor. Recored in Guinness Book of Zrecords for having played lead  in maximum  (700)  out of 724 Malyalalee films. Awarded Padam Bhushan in 1983 and several other state cine honors.                                                                                                                                1997 – Dr. Datta Samant, prominent Maharashtra Trade Union leader, shot dead in Mumbai.He led the most successful mill workers’ strike in  1982 by Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh (INTUC affiliated). He was elected to Lok Sabha  in 1984  as Independent defeating  Congress  candidate and others.                                                                                                                                                                                           You may have known….  The ‘Place Value System’ and the ‘Decimal System’ were developed in 100 BC in India.  Place Value is defined as the value of a digit based on its position within a number, denoted by ones, tens, hundreds, and beyond. Every digit in a number possesses a distinct  value  depending on its position, (other than its numerical value) — (illustration credit-mathmonks.com).

{Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}