Today’s Motto: ‘If at the start of a race, we lack confidence, the race is half lost already’

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

On this day, 02 Apr….

1679 – Aurangzeb  imposed Jizya Tax  on Hindus and non-muslims  to  finance the spread of Islam in India.  This Jeziya tax was later  abolished by Akbar.

1827 – Lead pencils were first manufactured by Joseph Dixon.

1849 – Punjab  province was  established by the British govt.

1935 – Scottish physicist, Sir Robert Watson-Watt was granted a patent for the RADAR (Radio Detection And Ranging (pic credit-Medium.com).

1942 – The Congress rejected the proposal of the Cripps Mission. (The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. The Congress knew that the British were negotiating from a weaker position).

1970 – Meghalaya, an autonomous hilly state, was established after dividing the hilly areas of Assam.

1970 – Privy purses and special privileges of former Indian rulers abolished by PM Indira Gandhi before Lok Sabha elections.

1984 – Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian astronaut to go to space under  Mission Soyuz T-11 launchede to the  Moon by the Soviet Union.

2012 -Three widows and two daughters of Osama bin Laden were charged with illegally living in Pakistan; they were sentenced with 45 days in jail and fined $114 each.

2017 – Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the country’s longest, Chenani-Nashri road tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir to the nation.

2023 – Footage of deepest living fish ever recorded, the snailfish, released caught on camera at depth of 27,349 feet (8,336 meters) in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, south of Japan (pic credit-mashable.com).

Born….  1881 – Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar, also known as V. V. S. Aiyar, was an Indian revolutionary from Tamil Nadu, who fought against the British occupation of India. Aiyar was also a Tamil writer and is considered as the father of modern Tamil short story (pic credit-alchetron.com).

1898 – Harindranath Chattopadhyay, a poet, a dramatist, an actor,  satirist  and a musician. He was the younger brother of  freedom fighter,  politician  Sarohjini Naidu,  He represented Vijaywada in the 1st Lok Sabha.  He acted in about 32 films  including Bawerchi,  Sahiub Biwi Aur Ghulam, tere Ghar Ke Saamne,  Saanjh Aur Savera, Teen Devian, Bhoot Bangla, Raaj, Rat Aur Din, Ashirwad  etc.  TV shows  was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1973.

1902 – Classical singer Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. He was a Hindustani classical vocalist, from the Patiala Gharana. At the age of five, Bade Ghulam began training in vocal music from his paternal uncle Kale Khan, and later from his father.

1935 – Alla Venkata Rama Rao, an inventor known for his research on drug technology. He is the founder of the A. V. Rama Rao Research Foundation, a nongovernmental organization promoting research and doctoral studies in chemistry. He was awarded with Fellowship of National Science Academy, Third World Akademy of Sciences and many more institutions  doing reserach. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2016.

1942 – Roshan Seth, actor. known for playing PM Nehru’s role in Richard Attenborrow’s  award winning film  Gandhi  in 1980s. Born in Patna to  a Hindu father and muslim father family,  Roshan later went to England to learn theatre in Shakespeare Society and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1965, worked in  British  theatre, TV shows. He started  in Peter Brook’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and  Richard Lester’s Juggarnaught in 1970s. He also acted in A Passage to India, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, My Beautiful Laundrette. He was honoured with OBE and  BFTA awards.

1943 – Bindeshwar Pathak, a sociologist and social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Sulabh International, an India-based social service organisation that works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. He was conferred with Padma Bhushan in 1991.

1969 – Ajay Devgn,  Bollywood film actor. Son pf a known film  choreographer, Veeru Devgan, he  debuted in the industry with Phool Bane Angare and got a Filmare on debut. Also acted in Shaheed Bhagat Singh by Rajkumar Santoshi, Naam, Son of Sardar, Singham, RRR, Gangajal, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Drishyam, Chankya, Tanaji, etc. He has won 4 National Films and 4 Filmare awards. He’s married to film star Kajol.

1981 – Kapil Sharma, stand-up comedian and actor. He hosts  the Kapil Sharma Show on TV Channels, Great Indian Laughter Show, Comedy Nights with Kapil etc.  and has worked  in  Ghazni, Firangi, Jagga  Jasoos,  Kiss Kissko Pyar Karoon, Vikram Vadha etc. He has  won  NDTV  and  some other awards.

RIP…. 1933 – Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji “Ranji”, Maharaj, Jamsaheb of Nawanagar and noted cricketer. He was referred to  as “The prince of a little state, but the King of a great game”. The national cricket tournament Ranji Trophy was started as a tribute to him in 1934.

You may have known…. Buttons  for dresses  were invented in India. Originating in the Indus Valley Civilization around 2000 BCE, buttons were initially  only  decorative but became essential for fastening clothes, shaping the fashion industry worldwide.  

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