Foundation Day of Mycological Society of India

 

Mycological Society of India is a scientific body constituted for the advancement of subject of mycology, the study of fungi including mushrooms, molds, truffles, yeasts, lichens, plant pathogens, and medically important fungi. The Society was founded on 3^rd January 1973 by a team of mycologists lead by Professor C.V. Subramanian, former Director, C.A.S. in Botany, University of Madras, Chennai, India and Former President of International Mycological Association, with a view to bring together mycologists of the country and with the broad objectives of promoting development of Mycology in India in all its aspects and in the widest perspective.

Tikheswar Borgohain's Birth Anniversary

 

Tikheswar Borgohain, born on 2 January 1923, was an educationist and freedom fighter. Borgohain, was a resident of Lakwa Charingia Konwer gaon in Nazira subdivision in Sivasagar district.

Borgohain started his career as a teacher at Rangagara LP School and got superannuation in 1983. He also established Charingia Konwer Goan LP School. Borgohain and fellow freedom fighter Uma Kanta Rajkonwer took part in the Indian freedom movement.  For his outstanding contribution in the freedom movement, he was awarded Trama Pratra by the Union and State governments and provided freedom fighter pension. On 9 August 2016 former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee felicitated Tikheswar Borgohain in New Delhi.

He wrote a book titled ‘The role of Lakwa in freedom moment of India.’  

National Science Fiction Day (U.S.)

 

National Science Fiction Day (U.S.) promotes the celebration of science fiction as a genre, its creators, history, and various media, too. On January 2nd annually, millions of science fiction fans across the United States read and watch their favourites in science fiction. 

The date of the celebration commemorates the birth of famed science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.  An American author and Boston University professor of biochemistry, Isaac Asimov was born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov on January 2, 1920. He is best known for his works of science fiction and his popular science books. Isaac Asimov, whose works are followed by many, died on April 6, 1992.

Foundation Day of DRDO

 

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan) is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, headquartered in Delhi, India. It was formed on 1st January 1958 by the merger of the Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production of the Indian Ordnance Factories with the Defence Science Organisation under the administration of Jawaharlal Nehru. Subsequently, Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS) was constituted in 1979 as a service of Group 'A' Officers / Scientists directly under the administrative control of Ministry of Defence. With a network of 52 laboratories that are engaged in developing defence technologies covering various fields like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, land combat engineering, life sciences, materials, missiles, and naval systems, DRDO is India's largest and most diverse research organisation. The organisation includes around 5,000 scientists belonging to the DRDS and about 25,000 other subordinate scientific, technical, and supporting personnel.

Pierre de Coubertin's Birth Anniversary

 

Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin; born Pierre de Frédy; on 1 January 1863, also known as Pierre de Coubertin and Baron de Coubertin, was a French educator and historian, co-founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and its second president. He is known as the father of the modern Olympic Games. He was particularly active in promoting the introduction of sport in French schools.

Born into a French Aristocratic family, Coubertin became an academic and studied a broad range of topics, most notably education and history. He graduated with a degree in law and public affairs from the Institute of Political Studies of Paris (Sciences Po). It was at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris that he came up with the idea of reviving the Olympic Games.

The Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy and the Pierre de Coubertin Medal are named in his honour.

 

Negotiations for the hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 concluded in 1999

 

On 31 December 1999, Negotiations for the hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 concluded.

When Indian Airlines Flight 814 took off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport on December 24, 1999, it was the beginning of a week-long nightmare for not just the passengers on board but their families in India and elsewhere as well. After it entered Indian airspace at around 5.30 p.m., the aircraft was hijacked by gunmen — and the Indian government faced a crisis situation as a shocked nation watched the dramatic events unfold.

Eventually, when negotiations between the hijackers and Indian authorities concluded on December 31, the passengers were released — but India had to pay a heavy price.

After hijacking the plane the gunmen threatened to blow it up and ordered Captain Devi Sharan to fly over Lucknow and head towards Lahore in Pakistan. But as there was insufficient fuel the hijackers agreed to the plane’s landing in Amritsar.

Indian authorities initially wanted the plane to stay in Amritsar and a fuel tanker was sent to block its path. But the hijackers ordered the plane to take off without refueling.

With the fuel nearly finished, the plane landed in Lahore where it was refueled and allowed to fly off.

Karl Benz filed for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine in 1878

 

On 31 December 1878, Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, filed for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.

A two-stroke, engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of the crankshaft. A four-stroke engine requires four strokes of the piston to complete a power cycle during two crankshaft revolutions. In a two-stroke engine, the end of the combustion stroke and the beginning of the compression stroke happen simultaneously, with the intake and exhaust (or scavenging) functions occurring at the same time.