May 25: Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

On this day, 25 May...

1852 - Elisha Graves Otis has issued a U.S. patent for a “Railroad-Car Truck and Brake”. Otis is well-known for his invention of the safety elevator in the same year, which used automatic braking devices to arrest the fall of the elevator car if its supporting cable broke.

1933 - All young Hindus aged between 12 and 25 years were forced to carry identity cards to prevent the spread of terrorism.

1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Michigan, US.

1940 - In one of the most famous animal tests in medical history, eight mice were inoculated with a lethal dose of streptococci and then four of them were injected with penicillin. Next day the four mice given streptococci alone were dead, the four with penicillin were healthy.

1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting from the campus of the University of Houston.

1961 - The formal announcement of an American lunar landing was made by President John F. Kennedy speaking to the Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space programme in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

1965 - Independent India had further clashes with Pakistan over the intractable Kashmir dispute.  

1999 - The Indian Prime Minister declares the Centre will take all possible steps to push back infiltrators in Kargil.

2013 – Maoists kill 32 Congressmen in Chhattisgarh. This happened when a convoy of Congress Party leaders was traveling through the Darbha Valley in the southern part of Chhattisgarh. Some of the major issues brought about in the aftermath of the Chhattisgarh attack were the lack of adequate security and the rise of Naxalism in the “red corridor” area.

2013 - An Apple I computer is sold for the US $617,000 at auction.

Born

1886 – Rash Behari Basu, great revolutionary, freedom fighter, social reformer, and leader. He was the key organizer of the Ghadar Movement and Indian National Army.

1889 - Igor Sikorsky, Russian-American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, born in Kiev, Ukraine.

1899 - Kazi Nazrul Islam, Indian writer, poet and revolutionary.

1936 - Rusi Framroz Surti, cricketer (Indian slow lefty, hat-trick 1969).

1954 - Murali, Indian National Award winning actor.

1972 - Karan Johar, film director.

1983 – Kunal Khemu, actor.

RIP

1606 - Guru Arjun Dev, spiritual leader of Sikhs and Hindus, was massacred at the instruction of Emperor Jahangir.

1941 - 5,000 drown in a storm at Ganges Delta region in India.

1985 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.

2005 - Sunil Dutt, actor-politician.

2005 – Ismail Merchant, film director.

Titbits

1895 – The playwright, poet, and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.

You may have known...

About 25% of India's land is turning to desert. 

Business News

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• CBI is conducting a Discreet Enquiry Against Eight Senior-Most Income-Tax Officials Handling Nirav Modi Scam, Including CBDT Chairperson Sushil Chandra, under the Direction of the Prime Minister's Office, for the Alleged Misreporting and Sharing Of Investigation Details with extortionists.

• Central Tax, GST Delhi East Commissionerate Arrests 2 Persons (Father-Son Duo) in Delhi’s Shahdara for Fraudulent Issuance of Input Tax Credit Invoices Involving Evasion of Approx. Rs. 28 Crores relating to Copper Industry. It is the first case of the arrest in Delhi since GST Rollout.

• Govt Reconstitutes Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) to include Secretaries from the Revenue Department as well as Ministry of Information Technology (MeitY).

• Frozen Sheep / Goat Carcass Supplied in LDPE & HDPE Bags liable to GST: Maharashtra AAR.

• GOVT. Hikes Customs Duty on Wheat from 20% to 30% to Curb Cheaper Imports and Protect Domestic Growers.

• SEBI Eases Market Access for Foreign Investors in “International Financial Services Centre” by allowing 'Segregated Nominee Account Structure’ in IFSC.

• In a relief to Jaiprakash Associates, NCLAT stays NCLT order which had directed the Realty Firm to Return Nearly 760-Acre Land to its subsidiary Jaypee Infratech.

• NCLAT Asks Bhushan Power & Steel Lenders to go ahead with the selection of bids submitted by Tata Steel and UK-based Liberty House.

• DoT Clears Rs 4,000 Crore Idea-ATC Mobile Tower Sale Deal.

• Manipal-TPG  Extends Validity Of Revised Offer for Fortis Healthcare to June 6, 2018.