Kalash Nath

... Capt Haneef Uddin, a 25-year-old Kargil martyr, died from multiple bullet wounds with his body lying in the freezing heights of Turtuk for more than 40 days.  When the then Army Chief Gen VP Malik had told his classical singer mother, Mrs Hema Aziz that Haneef’s body was still there because the enemy was firing constantly, she had told him she did not want another soldier to die while trying to retrieve her son’s body. She had brought up her sons as a single mother after Haneef’s father died when he was eight and had refused the petrol pump that was offered to her after Haneef’s death just as she had told her son to refuse a free uniform he had been offered in school many years back because he did not have a father. "Tell your teacher, my mother works and she can afford to buy my uniform,” she had said. The brave soldiers who lost their lives for this country (527 in Kargil alone) were Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, and Hindus but we never noticed because for ...

• Pingali Venkayya was an Indian freedom fighter who also designed the national flag.  • Venkayya was born near Machilipatnam (now in Andhra Pradesh), and followed the Gandhian ideologies. He was also a linguist, geologist and a writer.  • In 1913, he delivered a full-length speech in Japanese. Such a feat earned him the titles like 'Japan Venkayya', 'Patti (cotton) Venkayya' and 'Jhanda Venkayya'. More about him: • It was during his stint with the British Army that the 19-year-old met Mahatma Gandhi in Africa. Venkayya's association with Mahatma Gandhi lasted over 50 years.  • He also published a book in 1916 offering thirty designs of what could make the Indian flag. • Throughout all Congress sessions between 1918 and 1921, he relentlessly put forward the idea of having a flag of our own. Venkayya's design for the National Flag was finally approved by Mahatma Gandhi in a Congress meeting in Vijayawada in 1921. Details: • The flag had the sa...

 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan on 2nd July 1972 was much more than a peace treaty seeking to reverse the consequences of the 1971 war (i.e. to bring about withdrawals of troops and an exchange of PoWs). It was a comprehensive blue print for good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan. Under the Simla Agreement both countries undertook to abjure conflict and confrontation which had marred relations in the past, and to work towards the establishment of durable peace, friendship and cooperation. The Simla Agreement contains a set of guiding principles, mutually agreed to by India and Pakistan, which both sides would adhere to while managing relations with each other.  The following principles of the Agreement are, however, particularly noteworthy: • A mutual commitment to the peaceful resolution of all issues through direct bilateral approaches. • To build the foundations of a cooperative relationship with spec...

The Doctor's Day is observed to lay emphasis on the value of doctors in our lives and to pay tribute to all the doctors who have made relentless efforts towards well-being of people. BACKGROUND : (i) It was established by the Government of India in 1991 to be recognized and celebrated every year on 1st of July as National Doctors day. (ii) It is celebrated on the birth and death anniversary of the most famous physician of India Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (Dr. B C Roy) to pay lots of honor and tribute. About Dr. B. C. Roy : (a) He was a renowned educationist as well as a freedom fighter as he joined the Mahatma Gandhi during Civil Disobedience Movement. (b) Later he became Indian National Congress leader and then Chief Minister of the West Bengal. (c) He was honored with the great Indian civilian award called Bharat Ratna in 1961. (d) To honour him, Dr. B. C. Roy National Award was instituted in the year 1976 to pay honor, respect and tribute. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DAY : 1. It...