Today’s Motto: ‘No adersary is too small; even the lion can be harassed by jungle flies’

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

On this day, 19 Jan….

1841 – The island of Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. (It returned to Chinese control in July 1997)

1892 – The first official basketball game was played by students at the Springfield, YMCA, Massachusettes, Training School.

1838 – The first Travelling Post Office in Britain, a converted horsebox on the Grand Junction Railway in which the mail could be sorted, was started. Its success led to a rapidly expanded system with specially-designed railway wagons added to passenger trains.

1914 – The first group of Transvaal Indian women satyagrahis are released from Pietermaritzburg Prison in South Africa after three months imprisonment.

1937 – 20th January was set as the date for the swearing in of the US President and Vice President.

1931 – The first Round Table Conference held in London ended. This conference was attended also by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

1948 – Bomb exploded near Birla Bhawan during a prayer meeting of Mahatma Gandhi. It is same place where Gandhiji was shot by Nathuram Godse on Jan. 30.  It is now called Gandhi Smriti Bhawan.

1949 – Junagarh formally merged with Saurashtra.

1972 – Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura become states of Indian union. Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram become Union Territories. Assam’s North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) was renamed as Arunachal Pradesh territory.

1948 – India and Pakistan accept U.N. mediation.                                    1977 – World’s largest crowd–12.7 million–gather for Indian religious festival ‘Kumbh Mela’.                                                                                                                                                                                  1981 – Iran released 52 Americans that had been held hostage for 444 days. The release occurred minutes after the US presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan.

1985 – Dr. P. C. Alexander IAS, principal secretary to the PM Rajiv Gandhi, quits following the arrest of three aides in an espionage case. Alexander had also been Principal Secretary to Indira Gandhi for many  years. (pic credit-snckollam.ac.in).

1989-90 – Jammu and Kashmir saw the beginning of the mass exodus of Kashmiri  Pandits amid a wave of attacks and heightened insurgency. An estimated 4 lakh Kashmiri Pandits were displaced during the exodus (pic credit-hinduexistence.org by Roots in Kashmir).

1998 – American researchers announced they have cloned calves that may produce medicinal milk. This is a step towards the mass production of human drugs in animals. Their goal was to turn cows into drug factories, mass producing milk that contains human proteins important for treating human diseases (pic –  news.bbc.co.uk).

2013 – Calcium deposits are discovered on Mars by NASA’s Curiosity Rove.

2025 – Gaza war: Israel-Hamas ceasefire comes into effect in Gaza as the first Israeli hostages are released, with the Palestinian death toll at least 46,800 (lasts until an Israeli surprise attack on 18 March).

Born…. 1597 – Maharana Pratap Singh of Udaipur, great freedom fighter, soldier and revolutionary.

1871 – Sir Ratanji Jamshedji Tata, famous Indian Persian  industrialist who helped  Tata Group establish and expand into various business  trading/manufacturing activities in India. Industrial and philanthropist whose son Naval and  grandchildren  Ratan Naval Tata  (former Chairman), Neol Tata  (current Chairman)  and  JimmyTata form  the family tree and tradition, and  manage the Trusts.  Tata Group net worth is $ 403 Billion and market capitalisation  at  $ 33.7 trillion as in  August 2024 from 29 listed companies.                                                                                                                      1905 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher.                                                                                              1919 – Om Prakash Mehra,  PVSM, former Indian Air Chief Marshal  (1973-76) and later Governor of Maharashtra (1980-82) and Rajasthan (1985-87).

RIP…….1990 – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh “Osho”, Indian  philosopher,  thinker, free love guru, modern mystic and controversial cult figure. Also called Acharya Rajneesh, set up  his main Ashram in Pune in 1974. He carried the message of  meditation with free mind,  spiritual attainment with free mind, love/sex and openness across Europe and America.  He was also alleged to have  supported the use of  smoke and Drugs (Indian  herbal concoxens) to achieve spiritual salvation.  Lakhs of his followers attended his  congregations in Osho Ashrams in Pune, Rishikesh, Europe, America etc. Many celebrities like musician bands Leon brothers, Vinod Khanna, Manoj Kumar and many others.

You may have known…. Hero Cycles, Ludhiana- holds the title of the world’s largest bicycle producer by volume – over 7.5 million annually. They command a large share of the Indian market (over 40%) and have a strong global presence, exporting worldwide. The company has expanded into premium segments, e-cycles, and international markets through acquisitions and new facilities like the E-Cycle Valley.  Established by Munjal brothers  Brijmohal Lall, OP Munjal, Satyanand  and Dayanand  Munjal  in 1956, ;  later diversified into  MotorCycles and other  travel  bikes.  Hero Cycles had  assests worth $ 76.40 Billion in 1918-19.  OP Munjal has been Chairman of Cycles division for several decades until his demise in  April 2015. His son Pankaj Munjal is the current  CMD.

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