Dayanand's World

Rajiv Gandhi Foundation - Caught in the net:  Rajiv Gandhi died on 21st May, 1991 Rajiv Gandhi Foundation was founded on 21st June, 1991. A grieving wife was able to incorporate a trust within 30 days from the date of death of her husband.  In those days, any Trust or Section 25 Company (now it is Section 8 Company) took more than a month to be founded.  It is possible that due to the name and influence that it carried, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation would have taken a bit lesser, but not less than 20-25 days.  However, it is intriguing that even before the ashes of her husband had cooled down, she was able to discuss the Trust Deed and get in people to sign the documents.  I am not churning any conspiracy theory that the idea of foundation was created before the death of Rajiv Gandhi. But it is unimaginable that Sonia could initiate all this and also get it done within a month even when she supposedly had no power and no inclination in public life, as is widely public...

What is Assam Accord? The Assam Accord (1985) was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement in New Delhi on 15 August 1985. The accord  brought an end to the Assam Agitation  and paved the way for the leaders of the agitation to form a political party and form a government in the state of Assam soon after. Some of the key demands were  – All those foreigners who had entered Assam between 1951 and 1961 were to be given full citizenship, including the right to vote. Those who had done so after 1971 were to be deported; the entrants between 1961 and 1971 were to be denied voting rights for ten years but would enjoy all other rights of citizenship. A parallel  package for the economic development  of Assam, including a second oil refinery, a paper mill and an institute of technology, was also worked out. The central government also promised to provide ‘ legislative and administrat...

The Simla Agreement signed 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. These emphasize: respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; non-interference in each other’s internal affairs; respect for each others unity, political independence; sovereign equality; and abjuring hostile propaganda. The...

#तो_ऐतिहासिक_करार !!! ७ फेब्रुवारी १९३९ ! सारा बडोदा शोकसागरात बुडाला होता . लक्ष्मी विलास राजवाड्यावर मुंगीला पाउल ठेवता येणार नाही अशी गर्दी झाली होती . कारणच तसे होते . बडोद्याचे राजे सयाजीराव गायकवाड ह्यांचे आदल्याच दिवशी म्हणजे सहा तारखेला मुंबईत दुखःद निधन झाले होते . राजघराण्याच्या खाजगी स्मशानभूमीत " किर्तीमंदिरात " आज त्यांच्यावर अंतिम संस्कार होणार होते .  राजाचे खाजगी सचिव विष्णुपंत नेने त्यावर जातीने लक्ष ठेऊन होते . त्याचवेळी त्यांना एक तार आली  #Greatly_Grieved - #Adolf_Hitler ! विष्णुपंतांनी ती तार खिश्यात ठेऊन दिली . पण विष्णुपंतांना ती मिळण्याच्या अगोदरच ती पाठवणार्याच्या नावावरून साऱ्या बडोद्यात गोंधळ उडाला होता . पोस्ट ऑफिसमधून ती गोष्ट तत्काळ बडोद्याच्या जिल्हाधिकार्याला कळवण्यात आली होती . तिथून ती भारताच्या व्होईसरॉयला कळवण्यात आली आणि ती त्याने ब्रिटनच्या पंतप्रधानांच्या कानावर घातली . कारणच तसे होते ! जगाला दुसऱ्या महायुद्धाची चाहूल लागली होती . जर्मनीचा अडोल्फ हिटलर हा ब्रिटनचा शत्रू होता आणि सयाजीराव हे ब्रिटिशांचे मांडलिक होते . " आपल्या शत्रून...

The Rajiv Gandhi - Longowal pact on Punjab. Rajiv-Longowal accord on Punjab, signed on ]uly 24 in the capital, was preceded by four weeks of behind the scenes negotiations. Few records were maintained of the unfolding events except for a slender bunch of letters, business-like and bereft of emotion, exchanged between the two leaders. Assistant Editor Prabhu Chawla visited Chandigarh last fortnight to piece together, from the letters and the scraps of evidence available, a chronicle of the weeks leading to the historic accord. His report: Arjun Singh is known to be peripatetic. So no one took notice when, A in the weeks following Rajiv Gandhi's return from his US visit on June 18, Singh flew in and out of the capital every few days. Longowal letter to Rajiv Gandhi There was speculation about fresh initiatives on the vexing Punjab problem but Singh gave nothing away: he met only the prime minister and scrupulously avoided the Punjab Government's officials based in Delhi. Not surp...