Today”s Motto: ‘Where water is the boss, the land must obey’

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

On this day, 18 Jan….

1919 – WW-I Peace Congress opens in Versailles, France. It was the meeting of the Allied victors, following  the end of World War-I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. One of the major decisions was the creation of the League of Nations.

1950 – India is declared a Sovereign  Democratic Republic. Constitution makes Hindi official national language, English to continue for 15 years, 14 major state languages are recognized. Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru  also moved a motion for No-War Treaty with Pakistan to improve the relations with neighboring countries. PM Nehru also signed a Panchsheel Treaty with China on April 29, 1954, yet both went on to attack India in 1962 and 1965).

1966 – Indira Gandhi assumes office as India’s Prime Minister, following the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri.

1977 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi calls for new Lok Sabha elections, signaling the impending end of  two-year old  Emergency period.

2002 – The United States agreed to supply advanced weaponry to India, contingent on Pakistan taking action against terrorists.

2005 – The Supreme Court of India recommended against allocating petrol pumps to Members of Parliament.

2016 – World’s 62 richest people are judged  as wealthy as Half the world’s population in  a report published by Oxfam International, a Humanitarian  NGO.

Born…. 1842- Mahdev Govind Ranade. Freedom fighter,  author and judge. Contemporary of  Gopal Krishna Gokhle, Ramabai Ranade, and Dadabhai Naoroji etc. He was one of the founders  of Indian National Congreess in 1885.

1933 – John Boorman OBE. British actor, director and producer, known for films Point Blank, Hell in the Pecific, Deliverance, Exorcist II, Zardoz, Hope And Glory etc. He won several Academy, Cannes honours and OBE by the British Govt. in 1994  and Knighthood in 2022 (pic credit-Golden Globes).

1972 – Vinod Ganpat Kambli,  a middle order batsman, played for Mumbai alongwith  ‘Little Master’ Sachin Tendulkar, for India and Boland, South Africa. He scored an ODI century on his Birthday in 1993. He had the highest Test average of 54.20 in 17 Test matches he played for India with 4 centuries. .

1978 – Aparna Popat. Former Ace Badminton player, who was National Champion for 9 times between 1997-2006.

1988 – Angelique Kerber. German Tennis player. Three-times Tennis Grand Slam winner, was World No. 1 for 36 weeks and won a Silver in  Paris Olympics 2024. Retrired on August 01, 2024 (pic credit-Mike Hewitt/Getty Images).                                                     

RIP…. 1936 – Rudyard Kipling , famous English writer and author. He was a young journalist in British India. He wrote in verses, stories, novels, childen’s stories. Was honoured with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

1947 – Kundanlal Saigal, one of thye most  famous film star and unique singer of Indian cinema in early years. Born in Jammu, to Amarchand Saigal who wprked as Tehsildar in Kashmir state during Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1904, he developed  interest in singing Bhajan  while his  mother took him to temples and Satsags. He impressed  the musicians Harishchandra Bali and directors KC Borai, BN Sircar, who also owned a film studio New Theatres. He acted and sang for  early films like Mohabbat Ke Ansu, Subah Ka Sitara, Yehudi Ki Ladki, Puran Bhagat, Chandidas, Karwane-Hyat and Devdas, Didi, Dharti Mata, Street singer, Parwana, Bhakt Surdas  etc. most of  which were grand success. He was also called Tragedy King of Indian cinema for his many  po[pular sad songs (video credit-filmi gaane/YouTube).

1996 – NT. Rama Rao, legendary Telugu  actor, philonthropist, scriptwriter, producer  who performed  many mythological roles in  South  movies  like Mayabazaar, Lava Kusha, Gundama Katha,  Patala Bhairvi, Adavi Ramadu etc. He also served as Andhra  chief minister for 3 terms in 7 years. He also won some National Film awards, 2 Filmfare, Nandi awards,  several other accolades and Padma Shri in 1968.                                                                                                                                                            2003 – Harivansh Rai Bachchan, an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita- literary movement of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. Bachchan is best known for his early work Madhushala. Father of legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan and Ajitabh Bachchan, he also  worked for Madhya Pradesh Tourism.