Today’s Motto: ‘Leave No Path Untroden to Succeed’

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

On this day, 03 Dec….

1621 – Galileo invents telescope.

1922 – Technicolor. The first really successful Technicolor motion picture film, The Toll of the Sea was released.

1955 – In exercise of the powers conferred by the provision in Article 343 (2) of the Constitution, orders were issued for the use of Hindi language in addition to the English language for specific purposes of the Union.

1971 – Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 starts with attack by Pak forces on Eastern borders.  The War ended with Liberation  of East Pakistan and formation of Bagladesh with  Sheikh Mujib –ur-Rehman  taking over as Prime Minister of new nation,  on Dec. 16, 1971. Over 93,000 Pakistani soldiers were made to surrender by India.                                1991 – Lok Sabha Question Hour telecast at 7.15 a.m for the first  time .

1992 – Indian, UN Operations in Mozambique begins (ONUMOZ – Dec 92 to Oct 94).

Born…. 1884 – Dr Rajendra Prasad, first President of India (1950-62).  A Freedom-fighter and member of Congress Party (INC),  led fighters from Bihar.  He joined Salt Satyagraha (1930)  and Quit India  Movement (1942)  after completing his M.A. in Economics from Calcutta Univ. and Law Degree in 1909 and practicing  in Bhagapur Court. He was elected as President of  INC in 1934 and 1939. He was later appointed as Minister for Food & Agriculture in the Interim Govt. in 1946. Later he became President of Constituent Assembly in Dec. 1946  and  was elected President of India after the Constitution of India was ratified on January 26, 1950. He is credited with openinf the Mughal Garden (now called Amrit Udyan)  for Public and opposed Hindu Code Bill. He was bestowed upon Bharat Ratna in 1962.

1889 – Khudiram Bose, famous revolutionary and freedom fighter of Muzaffarpur Bomb Case.  He was  arrested for attempting to  kill a British Judge alongwith  Prafulla Chaki, another revolutionary.  Congress leader  MK Gandhi refused to support his act saying  Violence  cannot win Freedom for India and  oppposed to getting him bail, while other leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lajpat Rai and  Gopalakrishna Gokhle  supported  Bose.  He was hanged by the British on August 11,  1908 at an age of 18 only.

1914 – Sam Hormuj Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, India’s first Field Marshal, for his  military leadership and strategic war planning. He was better known as “Sam Manekshaw”. Also called  Sam  Bahadur, he was the Chief of Indian Army  during  Bangladesh Liberation War of  1971.                                                                                                1922 – Bhagwat Jha Azad,  was a freedom fighter for Indian independence  and politician who was Chief Minister of Bihar from 14 February 1988 to 10 March 1989.

1958 – Jaya Prada, veteran  film Actress and politician.. Born in Rajahmundry (A.P.), she acted in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. Her prominent films are Bhale Krishnudu,  Deha, Dasavataram, Maharathi, Kamchor, Sargam, Kurukshetra,  Sharabi, Sanjog  etc.  She has won 3 Filmfare awards and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 (above video credit- Ultra Bollywood). 

1971 – Jummy Shergill,   is an  Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Hindi and Punjabi films.

1979 – Konkana Sen Sharma,  daughter of famous  Bengali and Bollywood  actress, director  and filmmaker Aparna Sen. She works primarily in Bengali and Hindi films. She has received several awards, including two National Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards. She is known for bold roles  done in  Page 3, Wake Up Sid, Omkara and Talwar etc.

RIP…. 1670 – Tanaji Malusure, right hand of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, died during the battle of Singhgad fort (pic credit-wikibio.in).

1680 – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, great Maratha King,, patriot,  freedom fighter, revolutionary, founder of the Maratha empire and great son of India. His  war expertise was ‘Gorrilla-Chhapamar warfare)  against  bigger and better armed Mughal army.  He killed mughal general Afzal Khan  who had hidden weapons on him while  embracing Shivaji.  He escaped miraculously  from  Aurangzeb’s  prison in  Agra,  by hiding in  fruit baskets.

RIP…. 1979 – Major Dhyan Chand, famous master of Hockey and Padma Bhushan awardee. He was called Hockey ka Jaduugar for his control over the ball playing in Forward position.  He figured in many International Hockey games including Olympics 1932, 36, 40 and guided  Indian hockey upto 1970s. He was offered German special  citizenship by Hitler in 1936 but he declined the offer.  The National stadium in Delhi’s Kartavya Path is called Major Dhyan Chand stadium and a hockey award  established to honour him.

Titbits…. 1926 – Detective novelist Agatha Christie mysteriously disappears for 11 days.

You may have known…. 
In 2013, India’s annual population growth rate was 1.33%. (The 1961-1971 cdecade recorded the highest decadal population growth for India at 24.80%). The current global population growth is around 0.88%

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