February 16 : Leadership is all about caring, daring and sharing! Caring for people, Daring to Act fearlessly, & Sharing the success with all.

On this day, 16 Feb....

600 - Pope Gregory the Great decrees saying "God bless You" is the correct response to a sneeze.

1659 - 1st known cheque (£400) (on display at Westminster Abbey).

1838 - Kentucky passes the law permitting women to attend school under conditions.

1846 - Battle of Sobraon ends 1st Sikh War in India. {The Sikhs lost. Gulab Singh, the effective ruler of Jammu, negotiated terms for surrender. By the Treaty of Lahore, the Sikhs ceded the valuable agricultural lands of the Jullundur Doab (between the Sutlej and Chenab Rivers) to the East India Company and allowed a British Resident at Lahore with subordinates in other principal cities. These Residents and Agents would indirectly govern the Punjab, through Sikh Sardars. In addition, the Sikhs were to pay an indemnity of 1.2 million pounds. Since they could not readily find this sum, Gulab Singh was allowed to acquire Kashmir from Punjab by paying 750,000 pounds to the East India Company}.

1852 - Studebaker founded. Henry and Clement Studebaker founded H. & C. Studebaker, a blacksmith and wagon building business in the US. It grew during the Civil War, as The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, became the world's largest manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages, and they made a fortune. (Later, Studebaker converted its business to making automobiles, becoming one of the larger independent automobile manufacturers. During WW II, Studebaker manufactured airplanes for the war

1927 - Rail service started between India and Nepal.

1946 - The first commercial helicopter, the four-seat Sikorsky S51, single rotor helicopter had its maiden flight. The design established would be followed by others to this day. It could carry 3 passengers over 250 miles at a speed of 100 miles per hour.

1948 - First U.S. daily newsreel telecast. The first U.S. newsreel telecast to be presented daily was the 20th Century-Fox Movietone News. The programme was sponsored by a tobacco company.

1953 - First man-made diamonds. Diamond crystals, the size of grains of sand, were produced in Sweden in a high-pressure press by subjecting graphite to 83,000 atmospheres pressure and about 2000°C for an hour. The idea was conceived by refrigerator inventor, Baltzar von Platen. The results of the experiment were not published as the equipment was unreliable and dangerous. Less than a year later, 16 Dec 1954, General Electric in the U.S. also produced man-made diamonds, which is recognized as the first process that was reproducible.

1968 - Beatles George Harrison and John Lennon along with their wives fly to India for transcendental meditation study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

1969 - Mirza Ghalib centenary stamp released.

1994 - Military museum established at Ahmednagar.

1994 - Fetal surgery. The first successful operation on a fetus without surgically opening the woman's body was announced by Dr. Ruben Quintero, US.

Born

1920 - IS Johar, the actor.

1978 - Wasim Jaffer, cricketer.

RIP

1944 - Dadasaheb Phalke, remembered as the 'Father of Indian Cinema'. He produced India's first feature Film, 'Raja Harishchandra'. He was Director, Producer, Writer, Editor & Laboratorian. In his career of 19 years, he made 95 full-length movies and 26 short movies. Dada Saheb Phalke Award issued by Government of India is given in his memory.

You may have known....

Baboons are territorial animals that aggressively defend their territory and family against predators and other baboons.

Economic news

RBI has directed PNB to pay entire Rs 11300 crore owed to counterparty banks in the alleged fraud involving jeweler Niraj Modi.

Govt directs PNB to conduct a forensic audit.

The credit rating of PNB may be cut.

Sebi asks banks to compensate retail investors for IPO related failures

Rs 49 bn unexplained funds in Modi and Choksi firms, revealed Income Tax investigation.

SC allows to banks including Yes Bank, Axis bank and RBL to sell shares of Fortis healthcare pledged to them by former board members Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.

Religare Enterprises auditor launched an “extensive review “ of the company books, after a central bank inspection of a subsidiary, found diversion of funds within group firms.

SAT granted partial relief to PWC, allowing it to audit existing clients until March 31,2019 or until a new bench is formed.

The base year for GDP, IIP to be changed to 2017-18.

EPFO may raise the equity investment limit to 25%.