Today’s Motto: ‘Daydreaming is the manure for creativity’

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

On this day, 28 Dec….

1849 – Discovery of dry-cleaning. It is said that dry-cleaning was accidentally discovered when M. Jolly-Bellin, a tailor, upset a lamp containing turpentine oil on his tablecloth and noticed it had a cleaning effect.

1869 – U.S. patent for Chewing Gum, made of “the combination of rubber with other articles was first issued

1885 – The Indian National Congress (INC was founded, with its first session in Bombay, marking a crucial step towards India’s independence  (pic credit-scoopnest.com).

1896 – In the Indian National Congress, Vande Mataram was first sung in Calcutta.

1926 – Imperial Airways begins England-India mail & passenger service (pic credit-1stdibs.com).

1913 –  The first Indian film  Raja Harishchandra  was produced and  directed by  Dadasaheb Phalke (Dhundiraj Govind Phalke), a 53 minute film with voice over update.  Phalke was a writer, photographer,  lithograph printer, who  viewed a silent film The Life of Christ  and got motivated to venture  into film production  himself.    Later production of  India’s first talkie  film Alam Ara was  started in 1928 and released in 1931 (by Ardeshir Irani).

1931 – The 2nd Round  Table Conference on the political future of India collapsed in disagreement over demands by Indian nationalists for complete independence. The British government had seemed willing to grant a limited dominion status. But Mahatma Gandhi, who had come to the conference to present the demands of the Indian Nationalist Congress, refused to accept anything less than complete independence. The breakdown of the talks set off a new round of disorders, Gandhi was greeted by rioting in the streets of Bombay between upper-caste Hindu members  and “untouchable” caste members  within Congress Party..

1983 – Gavaskar achieves his 30th century, beating Bradman’s 29.

1995 – The Third Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-1C) was launched by Russia.                2000 – India and Russia signed a significant defence deal for licensed production of Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets.                                                                                                                2012 – At 115 years old and 266 days, Jiroemon Kimura of Japan believed to have become the world’s oldest living person when he surpassed the age of Danish-American Christian Mortensen. (Kimura died on 12 June 2013

Born….   1932 – Dhirubhai Ambani, legendary Gujarati businessman who founded Reliance Industries (1958)  with edible oil and  Crude oil processing  and allied industries.   Opened  his companies  for public  shareholding thru’ Capital market  IPOs and became a leading corporate giant ( worth Rs. 7.4 trillion as in August 2024). Also a known philonthropist  Amabani was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 2016 (posthumously).

1937 – Ratan Tata,  legendary industrialist who led Tata Group of Industries from 1991 to 2017 and later Chairman Emiratus until his death on Oct. 9, 2024. He expanded the Tata group into vast sectors of operations from Steel to Airlines, travel, hospitality,  automobiles, IT services (digital), health, higher education, skill development  etc. Has been honoured with Padma Vibhushan and other industry accolades in India and abroad.

1940 – AK Antony,  Congress politician from Kerala. Was state Chief Minister  thrice and Union Minister for Defence from 2004-14.  Presently a  Member of Rajya Sabha.

1951 – Sajid Khan, Bollywood presenter,  comedy actor, producer and director.  Knwn for films like Housefull series, Heyy Beyy, Hamshakal, Himmatwala etc. Was nominated tyo Zee Cine, Screen awards etc.

1952 – Arun Jaitley, veteran BJP Politician;  student leader of Delhi and jurist, was Minister of Inf. & Broadcasting, Law & Justice and Finance  in the PM Modi Govt’s first term (2014-19). He is credited with having formulated and  implemented GST Act alongwith FM Nirmala Sitharaman. He was honored with Padma Vibushan in 2020 (posthumously).

1954 – General Dalbir Singh Suhag,  PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC is the former Chief of the Army Staff.  Also serve4d as  Indian High Commissioner to Seychelles.  He served in various commands and operations in Sri Lanka, Nagaland, Kargil and Kashmir.

RIP…. 1923 – Gustave Eiffel, French civil engineer who ecialised in metal structures, known especially for the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

1972 – C. Rajagopalachari, the only Indian Governor General after departure of Louis  Mountbatten in 1948. He was in the post until Jan. 1950. A writer, politician and popular freedom fighter and statesman of Tamil Nadu.

1977 – Sumitranandan Pant, legendary Hindi poet and litterateur of 20th century and contemporary of Mahadevi Verma, Jaishankar Prasad, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala and Ramkumar Verma. He wrote novels,  poetry collections like Pallav, Chidambara , Kala ASur Boodha, Grammya, He was honored with Sahitya Akademy, (1960), Jnanpeeth (1968) awards and Padam Bhushan (1961) and Soviet Union’s Nehru Peace Award.

You may have known…. In Multiple Rocket Launcher Systems (MRLS), China has a larger arsenal (India: 292, China: 1,770). Both countries are upgrading their arsenal. India fields its indigenous Pinaka MRLS, known for rapid, high-volume fire, and can deliver a salvo of rockets quickly, with newer versions reaching 75-120 km range. The Indian Army is acquiring advanced Guided Pinaka rockets for longer ranges and area denial, enhancing its firepower. China possesses guided rockets and has systems with significant range, like the A-200 with ~290 km range (pic credit-goodfone.com).

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