Today in Indian History 11

Today in Indian History On April 3, 1882, the Indian nationalist leader and politician, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, passed away in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Phule was a social reformer who worked for the rights of the lower castes and women in India during the British colonial era. He was a pioneer in the movement for women's education in India and established the first girls' school in Pune in 1848. Phule also founded the Satyashodhak Samaj, an organization that worked for the rights of the lower castes and women. His writings and speeches inspired many people and helped to lay the foundation for India's struggle for independence from British rule. In 1948, the Indian National Congress passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Hindi-speaking state in northern India. This led to the creation of the state of Uttar Pradesh later that year. In 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide victory in the Indian general elections, becoming the first non-Congress party to form a government with a clear majority in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament). In 2017, India's Aadhaar program, a biometric identification system that assigns a unique 12-digit number to each resident, was made mandatory for accessing government welfare schemes and filing income tax returns. In 2019, India successfully conducted an anti-satellite missile test, becoming the fourth country in the world to do so after the United States, Russia, and China. The test was controversial, with some experts expressing concerns about the potential for an arms race in space. In 2020, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, which was in effect for over two months. The lockdown was one of the strictest in the world and had significant economic and social impacts on the country. In 1927, Indian revolutionary and independence activist Bhagat Singh was arrested for the murder of a British police officer. Singh, along with his fellow revolutionaries Rajguru and Sukhdev, was later sentenced to death and executed on March 23, 1931. In 1946, a massive earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale struck the northeastern region of India, killing over 1,500 people and causing extensive damage. In 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test, code-named "Smiling Buddha", at the Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. The test made India the sixth country in the world to possess nuclear weapons. In 1981, Indian badminton player Prakash Padukone won the men's singles title at the All England Open Badminton Championships, becoming the first Indian to win the prestigious tournament. In 2018, Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won the gold medal in the women's 48kg category at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Chanu set a new Commonwealth Games record by lifting a total of 196kg. In 1960, the state of Nagaland was officially inaugurated as the 16th state of India. Nagaland had been a part of the state of Assam before it was granted statehood. In 1986, the Indian Air Force launched Operation Meghdoot to seize control of the Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir. The operation was successful, and India gained control of the strategic glacier, which is still disputed with Pakistan. In 1993, the Bombay Stock Exchange was rocked by a series of bomb explosions, killing over 250 people and injuring more than 700. The blasts were carried out by a group of terrorists linked to the underworld and were intended to destabilize the financial capital of India. In 2006, Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams set a new record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Williams spent a total of 195 days in space on board the International Space Station. In 2015, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the IRNSS-1D satellite, the fourth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The IRNSS is India's satellite-based navigation system, similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States. In 1873, the Bengal-Nagpur Railway (BNR) was incorporated in India. The BNR was one of the largest railway companies in British India and played a major role in the development of the country's rail infrastructure. In 1924, Indian film director and producer Dadasaheb Phalke released his first film "Raja Harishchandra", often considered to be the first full-length Indian feature film. The film was a silent movie and was shot in black and white. In 1948, the Indian Air Force conducted its first combat operation during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-48. The operation was a bombing raid on the Pakistani airfield at Risalpur. In 1987, the Indian Army launched Operation Brasstacks, a massive military exercise near the border with Pakistan. The exercise was seen as a show of force by India and led to heightened tensions between the two countries. In 2019, the Indian government announced that it had successfully tested its first anti-satellite missile, making India one of only four countries in the world with such a capability. The test was carried out under the code name "Mission Shakti".