Today’s Motto: ‘Our future is dictated more by what we are,…..

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

On this day, 15 Oct….

1686 – Aurangzeb attacked and conqured Bijapur and this was the end of the Muslim Adilshahi’s era.

1932 – Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.

1949 – Process of the integration of the Indian State was completed when the last three states – Tripura, Manipur and Banaras were merged.

1997 – Arundhati Roy (37), Delhi-based author wins Britain’s  prestigious literary award ‘Booker Prize’ for her novel “”The God of Small Things’. A social, Human Rights  and political activist who opposes many  Govt. of India  projects like Narmada Dam  upgrade,  environment and CAA bill   (granting Citizenship to  minorities migrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh).   She also wrote The Algebra of Infinite Justice, Walking With the Comerades, Ministry of Utmost Happiness,  My Sedius heart, The Shape of the Beast, The Doctor And The saint, Listening to The Grasshoppers etc. She also won several other awards like Sahitya Akademy Award, Sydney Peace Prize and PEN Pinter Prize in 2024.

1990: Nelson Mandela was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award.

2000 – Sachin Tendulkar becomes the highest run-getter in one-day internationals (9379 runs) during his innings of 69 in the final of the ICC cricket tournament against New Zealand.

2018 – Indian minister and editor MJ Akbar files a defamation case after being accused of sexual harassment by multiple women in a #MeToo case.

Born…. 1542 – Akbar Abul-Fath Djalaluddin, third Mughal Emperor of India (1556-1605). He was a learned  king, had 9 Navratnas in his  Darbar, like economist  Raja Todarmal,   wizard-satyrist  Birbal, famous musician Tansen  to help him. he established Deen-e-Ilahi, a faith for socio-religious amity.

1931 – Avil Pakir Jalaluddin Abdul Kalam better known as “APJ”, famous Indian scientist and pioneer of India’s missile programme, and 11th President of India. Known as Missile Man, he  assisted  Dr. Raja Ramanna  in the Pokharam-II  Nuclear tests in 1998 under  the first  -BJP-NDA government of  late PM Atal Behari Vajpayee.  He was  awarded Padam Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna apart from several honours on hs scientific, space, satellite  research contributions. He also wrote several books on varied subjects.

RIP…. 1918 – Shirdi ke Saibaba’ better known as ‘Saibaba’. He was around 70 when he died. Believed to have born into  a Brahmin family at Patri village in Hyderabad, he was saint to all caste and creed people).

Titbits…. 1860 – 11-year-old Grace Bedell (Grace Greenwood Billings) writes to Abraham Lincoln, tells him to grow a beard during his Presidential campaign. It influenced Abraham Lincoln to grow his signature beard. Lincoln later met with Bedell.                                                                                                            You may  have known…. Famous writer Ernest Hemingway preferred to write in the morning, and did so standing up. Though Hemingway preferred pencil, he turned to a tape recorder when he needed to get something down especially quickly, such as dialogue.                                                                                                                                                                                                     {Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}