Today’s Motto: ‘In life, happiness gives height; sadness gives depth’

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

On this day, 26 May….

1739 – Afghanistan was separated from the Indian empire as a result of a treaty signed between Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah and Nadir Shah (pic credit-worldatlas.com).

1933 – All young Hindus aged between 12 and 25 years were forced to carry identity cards to prevent spread of terrorism.

1955 – First ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third-highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition led by Charles Evans. Joe Brown and George Band reached the summit on May 25, followed by Norman Hardie and Tony Streather the next day.

1999 – India blasts its way into the global satellite launch vehicle market with the PSLV-C2 deploying two foreign satellites besides the Indian remote sensing satellite, IRS-P4.

2007 – The Defence Agreement was signed between India and Germany.

2009 – North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device. Following the nuclear test, Pyongyang also conducted several missile tests building tensions in the international community.

2013 – Suspected Maoist rebels kill at least 28 people and injure 32 others in an attack on a convoy of Indian National Congress politicians, going for election rally,  in Chhattisgarh.

2014 – The Nigerian government announces that it has located the 270-plus girls abducted by terrorist group Boko Haram, but it cannot rescue the girls yet due to fears that the abductors will kill them if the military attempts a direct confrontation.

2015 – Hackers steal personal data for about 100,000 taxpayers after breaking into a U.S. Internal Revenue Service system that allows taxpayers to retrieve previous tax returns; the data can be used to file tax refund claims and commit identity theft.

2022 – A Hindi novel “Tomb of Sand“, written by Geetanjali Shree (Pandey)  and translated by Daisy Rockwell, wins the International Booker Prize for the first time. She also wrote several poems and five novels.

Born…. 1906 – Dr. Benjamin Peary Pal, a plant breeder and agronomist who served as a director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi and as the first Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). He worked on wheat genetics and breeding but was also known for his interest in rose varieties (pic credeit-indiangalaxies.com).

1926 – Sukumar Azhikode, an academic, orator, critic, and writer of Malayalam literature, is known for his contributions to the Malayalam language and perception of Indian philosophy. Sukumar was a scholar in Sanskrit, Malayalam, and English languages and he was known for his work, Tatvamasi, published in 1984, which is a detailed interpretation of Indian philosophy, Vedas, and Upanishads.

RIP….  1908 – Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad, was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam. He was born in Qadian near Gurdaspur and his followers are also known as Qadianees. As of 2016 the Community has been established in 209 countries and territories of the world with concentrations in South Asia, West Africa, East Africa and  Indonesia. Estimated population is 15 to 20 million (pic credit-Wikipedia).

2017 – Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, an Indian Police Service officer. He served twice as Director General of Police (DGP) for the state of Punjab, (India), where he is credited with having brought the Punjab insurgency under control. Gill was also  an author, editor, speaker, and consultant on counter-terrorism, and served as president of the Institute for Conflict Management and president of the Indian Hockey Federation.  His book  Punjab: The Knights of Falsehood   on Punjab’s  insurgency  was a big success but  he was criticised for blaming Akali Dal and absolving Congress Party.  (pic credit-nsyf.org.uk).

You may have known…. Despite being the largest animal on earth the blue Whale  cannot swallow anything bigger than a beach ball.                                                                                                                                                       

2.  In ancient Rome,  aged urine was used to clean clothes and dye fabrics. Some people even used it as toothpaste. At the time, collecting human urine was a common practice in order to take advantage of its cleaning properties. One Roman emperor, Vespasian, even taxed the stuff.                                                                                                           {Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}