Category: History

** Bravehearts of the 1971 war

Documenting the strategies of both India and Pakistan; and a tribute to soldiers

Deeds of Gallantry is a documentation of Indian soldiers who fought in the Indo-Pakistan War in 1971, diligently captured by a team led by Amlesh Kumar Mishra, Director, History Division in the Ministry of Defence. Each chapter takes readers through selected battles providing the context and highlighting the sacrifices of the soldiers, many of whom were awarded the Param Vir Chakra/ Maha Vir Chakra for their gallant deeds posthumously.

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** ‘Green Triangle’ named after Mahatma Gandhi inaugurated in Madagascar’s capital as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

Indian Ambassador Abhay Kumar said Gandhi was the “greatest Pravasi” who returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians.

As part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate India’s 75th year of independence, a “Green Triangle” named after Mahatma Gandhi was jointly inaugurated in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo.

Mayor of Antananarivo Naina Andriantsitohaina and India’s Ambassador to Madagascar Abhay Kumar inaugurated the green space on Wednesday at a special ceremony in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo.

** Warren Hastings’ garden house near Kolkata blooms again

The very fine specimen of colonial architecture has been undergoing a painstaking restoration over the past year

A few majestic mango trees still remain in the compound of the garden house of Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of Bengal Presidency from 1772 to 1785. It’s located in the heart of Barasat, about 30 km from Kolkata. With an imposing arched portico in the front and dozens of columns on the first floor, the impressive double storey house represents a fine specimen of colonial architecture prevalent in the 18th and 19th centuries. The front wall of the building has a stone tablet with the words: “In this house lived Lord Warren Hastings”.

** Remembering pioneers of Indian sports on International Women’s Day

When it comes to fighting against heavy odds and overcoming obstacles, Indian women have proved time and again that they are second to none. On the occasion of International Women’s Day let us look back at the achievements of four women who were the pioneers of women’s sports in independent India.

There were four women who represented India at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. They were Nilima Ghosh, Mary D’Souza Sequeira, Arati Saha and Dolly Nazir. The first two were track athletes and the second two were swimmers. Although they did not win any medals, what was admirable was their enthusiasm, passion to excel and eagerness to see that Indian women did not go unrepresented in world sport’s most important arena.

** Midnight’s Daughters: Women who fought for the idea of India and her freedom

International Womens Day – Today – March 08th

Little-known stories of women who took to the streets during independence struggle.

Read on the articles for names >>>>.

theweek.in

** With three of our men in Portugal’s government, there’s much to be said about Goa’s relationship with its former coloniser

Portugal’s prime minister, finance minister and planning minister are all of Goan origin in a delightful little twist of history

Election results aren’t due for India’s smallest State until March 10, but the biggest victory for any Goan politician was announced on January 30. That’s when results came out from Portugal’s snap elections, validating the go-for-broke political instincts of Prime Minister António Costa. The charismatic 60-year-old leader of the centre-left Partido Socialista had preferred to appeal to voters rather than submit to the increasingly strident demands from far-left parties in his coalition government. The electorate rewarded him handsomely, with an unexpected majority of 119 out of 230 seats.

But here’s the twist. This famously personable former Mayor of Lisbon, who looks visibly desi, is Goan; his father was the anti-colonial Goan novelist Orlando da Costa. One wing of the family remains rooted in Margao. It is an intimate, flourishing connection, which both India and Portugal have been eager to celebrate. In 2017, during the first-ever standalone bilateral visit by any Indian prime minister to Lisbon, the Portuguese leader was embraced by Narendra Modi, who personally handed him his Overseas Citizen of India card.

The story doesn’t end here: Costa isn’t the only Goan at the pinnacle of government in Portugal. His finance minister is another — João Leão earned his Ph.D in economics from MIT, where his thesis advisor was economist Abhijit Banerjee. His planning minister is Nelson de Souza (who was actually born in India in 1954, just a few years before Nehru’s troops decapitated the 451-year-old Estado da India colonial state in 1961).

** Documentary on hockey Olympian Grahnandan Singh explores a Partition-era friendship

Bani Singh’s documentary ‘Taangh/Longing’ explores the life of her hockey champion father and the camaraderie he shared with his teammates on both sides of the Radcliffe Line

A frail old man leans heavily on his cane as he makes his way to a garden chair under a spreading tamarind tree. Those gnarled hands once held a hockey stick, those stooped shoulders once wore the rank of Commander in the Indian Navy. Grahnandan Singh or Nandy Singh was an old boy of Government College, Lahore, champion hockey player from the Punjab province of undivided India, Partition survivor, two-time Olympian, and keeper of a friendship that survived in the deep recesses of his heart for nearly 60 years.

“My father was a member of the Indian hockey team that won the gold in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. But I missed out on knowing him when he was a champion. It was only when he was fighting to stay afloat after a stroke that I met the champion,” says Bani Singh, Nandy’s daughter and the director of Taangh that was recently screened at Periyar Thidal as part of the 10th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival.

Punjab

** Kolkata’s Tiretta Bazaar, called ‘India’s First Chinatown’, among World Monuments Watch list for 2022

The bazaar is understood to be named after one Edward Tiretta, who was an Italian immigrant from Venice.

The place has been identified and included in the World Monuments Watch list for 2022