This Day in "History"

[Anup Tiwari]

Today in Indian History

Events for May 15

15-May-1729
Khanderao Dabhade,
great warrior in Maratha
kingdom, passed away.

15-May-1817
Maharshi Devendranath
Tagore, Bengali social
reformer and father of
Rabindranath Tagore, was
born.

15-May-1864
Mahavirprasad Dvivedi,
famous Hindi litterateur,
poet, writer and editor,
was born at Daulatpur
village in UP.

15-May-1873
The proposal to dissolve
East India Company was
passed in England.

15-May-1878
Sivnath Shastri and
Ananda Mohan Bose,
under the leadership of
the younger group of
Brahmo Sama, rebelled
and started Sadharan
Brahmo Samaj.

15-May-1949
Matsya Union formally
merged with Greater
Rajasthan.

15-May-1958
Aruna Asaf Ali became
the Mayor of Delhi.
15-May-1958
Gift Tax Act was
introduced.

15-May-1989
NAL's 0.6 m transonic
wind tunnel is
commissioned. Total
project cost is about Rs
20 million.

15-May-1992
BSE closed.

15-May-1992
CBI begins probe into the
security scam.

15-May-1992
Harshad Mehta
suspended.

15-May-1993
K.M. Cariappa, field
marshal and Major
General, passed away at
the age of 93.

15-May-1995
PM Rao reaches New York
for a week-long visit.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

PM Rao reaches New York
for a week-long visit.

15-May-1996
The 11th Lok Sabha
constituted as Election
Commission submits a list
of 534 successful
candidates to President.

15-May-1997
Yaseen Malik, All-Party
Hurriyat Conference
leader, was released from
Tihar jail.

15-May-1998
The Indian Army at
Chandilora (Tangmey)
captured 15 kg charas,
400 gm dust of charas
and 12 kg leaves of charas
15-May-1998
Pandit Ravi Shankar, Sitar
maestro, receives the
1998 Polar music award.

15-May-1999
Militants gun down Abdul
Ahad Kar, a senior
member of the Jammu
and Kashmir Assembly
belonging to the ruling
National Conference, in
Kupwara district.

15-May-1999
The BJP and at least 13 of
its allies rename
themselves the National
Democratic Alliance.

15-May-2000
Ghulam Hassan Bhat,
Jammu and Kashmir
Minister of State for
Power, dies in a powerful
IED explosion near
Mandipore in Anantnag.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

Today in Indian History

Events for May 16

16-May-1911
Pumping Station of
Calcutta was
commissioned at Tallah.

16-May-1926
Manik Varma, famous
singer, was born.

16-May-1932
Hundreds die in fighting
between Muslims and
Hindus at Bombay.

16-May-1933
Shani, writer of novel
'Kalajal' and film
'Shaukin', was born.

16-May-1945
Prahraj Gopalchandra,
modern author of Oria
language, passed away.

16-May-1946
Gandhiji's Cabinet
Mission announces Plan.

16-May-1960
International Telex
Service between India
and U.K. started.

16-May-1975
Sikkim High Court was
established at Gangtok for
Sikkim territory.

16-May-1975
Sikkim annexed
principality and was
declared as the 22nd
state of Indian Union.

16-May-1986
V. Shantaram, 75, was
chosen for the Dada
Saheb Phalke award.

16-May-1994
Phani Mujumdar, veteran
film producer and
director, passed away.

16-May-1995
Government of India
decides not to extend the
validity of TADA Act.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

16-May-1996
Atal Krishna Behari
Vajpayee, leader of
Bharatiya Janta Party,
becomes the 10th Prime
Minister for 13 days (from
May 16, 1996 to May 28,
1996 [techinally till
01-06-1996]), although his
ability to govern
effectively is in doubt.

16-May-1998
India rejects China's
charges on N-tests.

16-May-1999
Senior Congress leaders
oppose Sonia Gandhi as
Prime Minister.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

Today in Indian History

Events for May 17

17-May-1498
Admiral Dom Vasco-da-
Gama (c.1469-1524)-I,
Portuguese navigator,
arrived in India. He
sailed around the Cape of
Good Hope to Calicut,
Kerala with three vessels
and was the first
Westerner to sail to India
from Europe. (17 or 20).

17-May-1498
Admiral Dom Vasco-da-
Gama (c.1469-1524)-I,
Count of Vidigueira, met
the Jamerin of Calicut
after arriving in India
three days ago at Malabar
Coast. He was joined by
an experienced Gujarati
pilot at Malindi. He was
the 6th Governor and 2nd
Viceroy of India. (17 or
22).

17-May-1540
Sher Shah defeated
Humayun for the second
time at Hardoi in U.P. in
the battle of Kanauj.

17-May-1775
Marathas were badly
mauled in the battle of
Arras by Col. Keating in
the first Anglo - Maratha
war.

17-May-1857
Bahadhur Shah II
declared as the emperor
of India.

17-May-1865
Raobahadur Govind
Sakharam Sardesai
`Riyasatkar' was born.

17-May-1873
Hindi daily 'Bharat Mitra'
started from Calcutta.

17-May-1887
Ranglal Bandopadhyay,
Bengali poet, essay-writer
and journalist, passed
away.

17-May-1897
Dhirendra Varma, famous
linguist, was born.

17-May-1916
Gurusiddappa Sivappa,
great industrialist, was
born at Bangalore.
17-May-1927
A.N. Radhakrishnan, great
educationist, was born.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

17-May-1949
India decided with only
one dissent vote to
remain within the
Commonwealth of
Nations.

17-May-1957
Nehru, who went to
Ceylon to celebrate the
2,500th anniversary of the
founding of Buddhism,
calls for an end to nuclear
tests.

17-May-1974
Durgadas, famous Indian
journalist, passed away.

17-May-1976
4 Indians successfully
skied down from the
slope of Trishul peak.

17-May-1980
V. S. Kumar Anandan sets
record of balancing on
one foot for continuous 33
hrs.

17-May-1991
Prabhakar Machve, great
litterateur, passed away.

17-May-1992
Import of 106 life-saving
drugs and 37 equipments
allowed.

17-May-1992
R. Venkataraman,
President, leaves for a six-
day visit to China.

17-May-1993
Ravi Naik, Goa CM,
resigns; Dy. CM Wilfred
D'Souza elected to
succeed.

17-May-1993
Visiting Israeli Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres
signs an MOU with his
Indian counterpart to end
nearly 4 decades of
inactivity in bilateral
relation.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

17-May-1994
Nar Bahadur Bhandari
voted out in Sikkim;
Sikkim Sangram Parishad
leader Sanchaman Limboo
takes over as CM.

17-May-1995
Three North Eastern
States removes restricted
area permits (RAP).

17-May-1996
Four members (Sange
Sherpa, Hira Ram, Tashi
Ram, Nadre Sherpa) of
the Indo-Tibetan Border
Police expedition climb
Mount Everest from the
Chinese side.

17-May-1996
Rusi Modi, cricketer (736
runs 10 post-war Tests for
India), passed away.

17-May-1997
Two workers belonging to
Mamsapuram near
Srivilliputtur ''burnt alive''
at neighbouring
Edayankulam by its
residents who took them
hostage.

17-May-1998
US President Bill Clinton
wants India and Pakistan
to sign CTBT.

17-May-1999
Sonia Gandhi resigns as
Congress president but
the CWC(I) rejects it.

17-May-2000
The Union Cabinet clears
a proposal for setting up
a new appellate tribunal
for foreign exchange
following the repeal of
the FERA and the
enactment of FEMA in its
place.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

Today in Indian History

Events for May 18

18-May-1772
Janoji Bhosle, warrior in
Peshwa kingdom, passed
away.

18-May-1775
Warren Hastings
expressed doubt of
hanging Nandkumar.

18-May-1872
Bertrand Russell, great
philosopher,
mathematician, author
and Chairmain of the
Indian League, was born.

18-May-1901
Nibaran Chandra
Chakrabarti, great poet
and Hindi writer, was
born in Brahmangaon,
(Dacca).

18-May-1912
Narayan Govind Chitre,
with the help of R. P.
Tipnis and Cameraman
Johnson, produced a 8000
ft. long theatrical film
'Pundalik', which was
directed by Ramchandra
Torney alias Dada Saheb
Torne. The entire film was
shot in a theatre at
Mangaldas Wadi in
Bombay, where the Sangit
Mandali, a professional
theatre group, was
performing a play
'Pundalik'. The film was
released on May, 18 in
the Coronation
Cinematograph at
Girgaum, Bombay.

18-May-1926
Naranjan Bhagat, famous
Gujrathi poet, was born.

18-May-1932
Hindu-Muslim riots take
place in Bombay. 150 are
killed or injured. Jinnah -
the permanent president
of the Muslim league,
began to spread the
rumors that Muslim
minority was in danger
under Hindu majority and
actively propagated the
theory of two separate
nations.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

18-May-1933
Gandhiji commences at
noon 21 days' fast for
self-purification; released
unconditionally at 9 p.m.

18-May-1945
Bhagwat Subramaniam
Chandrasekhar, cricketer
(brilliant Indian leggie
1964-79), was born in
Banglore. He received
Arjun Award and
Padmashree awards in
1972.

18-May-1946
Gandhiji discusses Plan
with Cabinet Mission.

18-May-1955
Hindu Marriage Act is
amended.

18-May-1966
Panchanan Maheshwari,
great Indian scientist of
botany, passed away. He
studied the morphology,
anatomy and embryology
of some angiosperms, the
class of plants which
produce flowers. He
discovered species of
plants like ""Panchanania
Jaipuriensis and Isoeted
Panchananil."" He wrote
two authoritative books,
'An Introduction to the
Embryology of
Angiosperms' & 'Recent
Advances in Embryology
on Angiosperms'. In 1951,
he founded the
International Society of
plant Morphologist

18-May-1972
Kokan Krishi (Agriculture)
University was
established.

18-May-1973
A powerful underground
explosion rocked India's
desert of Rajasthan today,
making India the sixth
nation in history to set off
a nuclear device. The
blast, which took place at
a depth of 330 feet, was
in the range of 10-15
kilotons, smaller than the
bomb exploded by the US
at Nagasaki in World War
II. India is signatory to
the 1963 test ban treaty,
and thus was prohibited
from exploding the device
on land or in the air.
Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi claimed the
purpose of the test was
peaceful and said 'such
explosions may have their
use in mining
operations'.

 

[Anup Tiwari]

18-May-1974
First underground Atomic
device explosion for India
was carried out
successfully near Pokhran
in Rajasthan (Thar Desert)
at 8:05 a.m. This event
made India as the 6th
nation to explode an
atomic bomb.

18-May-1974
Jayaprakash Narayan led a
procession against
economic conditions in
Patna. There was lathi
charged and he issued a
call for total revolution.
He also started the
'Citizens for Democracy'
movement.

18-May-1985
Dr. P. C. Alexander
appointed High
Commissioner in Britain.

18-May-1988
The ten-day Golden
Temple siege at Amritsar
ends with the surrender
of 46 militant Sikhs.

18-May-1992
President R.
Venkataraman reaches
Beijing.

18-May-1995
Criminal Law (Amendment
Bill, 1995) introduced in
Parliament to replace the
10-year-old controversial
TADA Act.

18-May-1995
Sukhomoy Sengupta, 76,
Tripura's first CM, passed
away.

18-May-1998
India talks with the US
on the nuclear tests.

18-May-1998
India may take the US to
WTO.

18-May-1999
R. B. Sapre, India's first
national chess champion,
died in Mumbai.