Today’s Motto: ‘A leader goes by his convictions, not necessarily by consensus’

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

On this day, 02 Jan….

1757 – After the Battle of Plassey, Robert Clive, Britisher, defeated Siraj-ud-Daullah, Mir Jaffar, Nawab of Bengal and re-captured Calcutta, after it had been seized by the Nawab of Bengal.

1899 – Monks began residing at the Belur Math in Kolkata on Swami Vivekananda’s instructions.

1913 – Mahatma Gandhi leaves the Tolstoy Farm in Transvaal, South Africa. He was inspired by Tolstoy’s writings who advocated non-violence as an appropriate response to aggression and the need for equitable treatment of the poor and working class. Thus the farm was named Tolstoy Farm because of Ghandi’s deep admiration for Count Leo Tolstoy. One of the aims of establishing the farm was to serve as training ground for new members of the passive resistance movement, prisoners and as a haven for their families.                                                                                                        1936 – The first electron tube to enable night vision was described, in St Louis, US

1944 – 1st use of helicopters during warfare (British Atlantic patrol).

1947 – Mahatma Gandhi begins Peace March in East-Bengal. After seeing Hindu-Muslim violence, Gandhi had said, “I will walk through Bengal and I will speak to every Indian I meet. I will teach him about peace and love.” (pic credit-globegovernanceneews.com)

1954 – India established its highest civilian honors, the Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian award) and the Padma Vibhushan, with the first recipients being honoured that year, including C. Rajagopalachari, S. Radhakrishnan, and C.V. Raman for the Bharat Ratna. the institution of the Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awards.

1973 – General S.H.F.J. Manekshaw was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal, becoming the first Indian Army officer to hold this five-star rank. Popularly known as  Sam Bahadur, he  was the Chief of Indian Army during Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.

1991-Thiruvananthapuram airport declared India’s fifth International Airport.                                Born….  1727 – James Wolfe. British General known for military service reforms in UK.  He won a war over French in Plains of Abraham, Quebec in 1759.

1920 – Isaac Asimov. American science fiction writer who wrote or edited over 500 books like Nightfall, I. Robot, Foundation, The Last Question, The End of Eternity, Foundation and Empire etc. He was honored with Hugo Award, Science Fiction Chronicle Readers’ Award and  World Fantasy Awards etc.  

  1932 – Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, famous Ragi and reluctant politician.  Born in Sangrur’s backward Gadarhiani village.  He was also President of Akali Dal  during 1960s and 1970s  before  Surjit Singh Barnala and Prakash Singh Badal emerged as  top Sikh leaders. He signed a peace  agreement with PM Rajiv Gandhi on July 24, 1985 to stop militancy in Punjab. He was later assassinated on Aug. 20, 1985 by a militant.                                                                                                               1936 –  Roger Miller. American singer, songwriter known for popular sings King of the Road, Dang Me and England Swings etc.  He won 11 Grammy Awards, Broadway’s Tony awards etc.

1959 – Kirtivardhan Bhagwat Jha Azad, Indian cricketer (Indian off-spin all-rounder in 7 Tests (1981-83)  and 25 ODIs. He was part of the Indian World Cup 1983  winning team  and also  played a role in films Kirket and 83  later.                                                                                                                                            Son of former Bihar CM Bhagwat Jha Azad, Kirti won Lok Sabha elections in 2014 on BJP ticket, joined INC in 2019  but lost. Later he joined TMC in 2021 and won  2024 Lok Sabha elections from Bardhman- Durgapur. He was recently  alleged to be involved in smoking an e-cigarette in the Parliament.

You may have known…. Famous writer Ernest Hemingway was as idiosyncratic. He preferred to write in the morning, and did so standing up.    During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clark  (pic credit-amreading.com).

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