Today’s Motto: ‘Life is not meant only for living’
As Every Day makes a new beginning in life, it brings new opportunities, opens new avenues, to perform and make a mark, to write a Page in History Books !
This is Your Day-TODAY: Take a Determined Step Forward and Make History !
On this day, 24 Dec….
1737 – Battle of Bhopal: The Maratha Empire, led by Bajirao I, decisiv
ely defeated the combined forces of the Mughal Empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad. He was the 7th Peshwa of Maratha empire, born to a Bhatt (Brahmin family) of Nashik and rescued Bundela Raja from Mughal siege and captured Awadh, Malwa, Gujarat and large parts of Deccan region. He could have captured Delhi but his army was tired and short of ammunition, so he avoided facing Mughals and retreated to South via Ajmer and later died on April 28, 1740 due to weak health and fever.
1986 – The Consumer Protection Act was approved. It is now celebrated as National Consumer Day or Upbhokta Sanrakshan Divas in India,
1989 – Essel World: India’s first large-scale amusement park was inaugurated in Mumbai.
1998 – Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, announces increased cash awards for Asian Games medalists.
1999 – Indian Airlines Flight 814, en-route from Kathmandu to Delhi, 
was hijacked by five terrorists of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The crisis lasted until December 31, ending in Kandahar, Afghanistan, with the release of three terrorists in exchange for the hostages.
2000 – Visvanathan Anand becomes the first Asian to win a world chess title in the world chess championship in Teheran.
2002 – The first section of the Delhi Metro (Red Line) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, running between Shahdara and Tis Hazari.
2014 – Bharat Ratna awards were announced for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya. He was elected Indian National Congress President four times and was a popular Hindu thinker, writer and statesman who co-founded Banaras Hindu University in 1916. 
Born…. 1924 – Mohammed Rafi, legendary Indian singer, who sang about 7,405 film songs and over 310 n
on-filmy in many languages songs for over 35 years between 1945 to 1980s. He was honoured with 6 Filmfare, 1 National Music awards and many other honors /nominations. He was also awarded Padma Shri, Hero Honda and Stardust awards.
1959 – Anil Kapoor, veteran Bollywood actor who acted in about 104 films in 40 years of film acting period. Most successful films are Mr. India, Woh Saat Din, Chameli Ki Shaadi, Beta, Andaaz, Ladla, Virasat, Judaai, Deewana, Ghar Wali, Bahar Wali, Pukaar, Biwi No. 1, Welcome, Tashan etc. He has won 7 Filmfare, 2 National and many other awards, and nominations (pic/video credits-starbiopic.com and SRE Music).
1988 – Piyush Chawla, Indian middle order batsman and off-spin bowler. Has also played in Cricket World Cups 2007 and 2011. Plays for Mumbai Indians in IPL format.
1997 -Neeraj Chopra – 2020 Olympic Gold medalist and 2024 Silver medalist
in javelin throw, Neeraj Chopra has won many world championships, Commonwealth, Asian Games and other sports events.
RIP…. 1524 – Vasco De Gama, Portuguese navigator who discovered India for the Western world and Europe (died in 
Cochin).
1973 – E.V. Ramasami, founder of DMK party, prominent leader, great social worker and revolut
ionary freedom fighter. A freedom fighter but later resigned Congress Party in 1925 and launched Tamil language Vs Hindi movement and co-founded DMK. Also called Periyar.
1987 – Dr. M.G. Ramachandran, one the most popular South Indian film stars, politician and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He acted in about 270 films like Rajkumari, Padagoti, Nadodi Mannan, Ulagam Sutram etc. He won 7 Filmfare and 2 National and many regional awards. He was posthumously awarded the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1988 by the President of India.
2008 – Harold Pinter. Famous British novelist, play-write who won the Nobel Prize in 2005
for Literature (pic credit-Wikipedia). You may have known…. According to 2025 estimates from Global Firepower and other sources, India has approximately 23.9 million people (males and females) who reach military age annually. For China the figure is 19.8 million.
[Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R) Raj Kadyan}
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