December 23

Kisan Divas

23 December is celebrated as Kisan Divas or Farmers’ Day to commemorate the memory of Chaudhary Charan Singh, whose life reflected his peasantry background and he understood problems of the farmer and did his best to help them.

The plight of farmers in India has been very miserable in present-day India and they have always been at the receiving end since Independence. Their hard toil fetches them nothing except fake assurances from the dispensations at the helm. It’s sad and unfortunate that people who are indispensable for the growth of nation have been left to their fate. This is quite evident from the suicide cases in Maharashtra, Andhra and other parts of the country including West Bengal. In state like UP middlemen and Mandi officials ensure that the farmers turn into object of grief. The need of the hour is implementation of schemes introduced by the government. This can take place effectively if the village panchayts are provided more power to execute them in smooth manner.

There is a need to equip farmers with latest technological accessories that augment the prospects of better output and thus make their contribution more prominent in the global economy. Better results could be attained if information centers having state-of-the -art facilities are set-up inside each village that shed light on issues related with farmers. Let’s not forget that they form the backbone of the nation and so it becomes imperative for us to be conscious of their needs. Both the Central and state governments should come out with plans, which prevent the farmers from being swayed by negative market forces.

Events

484 – Huneric dies and is succeeded by his nephew Gunthamund, who becomes king of the Vandals. During his reign the Catholics are free from persecutions.
962 – Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city of Aleppo.
1572 – Theologian Johann Sylvan executed in Heidelberg for his heretical Antitrinitarian beliefs.
1688 – As part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England flees England to Paris after being deposed in favour of his nephew, William of Orange and his daughter Mary.
1783 – George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland.
1793 – The Battle of Savenay, decisive defeat of the royalist counter-revolutionaries in Revolt in the Vendée during the French Revolution.
1823 – A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas, is published anonymously.
1893 – The opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed.
1913 – The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve.
1914 – World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt.
1916 – World War I: Battle of Magdhaba – Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
1919 – Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 becomes law in the UK.
1921 – Visva-Bharati University is inaugurated.
1936 – Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1936 – First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
1938 – Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa.
1940 – World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis (Υ-2) sinks the Italian motor ship Antonietta.
1941 – World War II: After 15 days of fighting, the Japanese Imperial Army occupies Wake Island.
1947 – The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
1948 – Seven Japanese convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are executed at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo.
1958 – Dedication of Tokyo Tower, the world's highest self-supporting iron tower.
1968 – The 82 sailors from the USS Pueblo are released after eleven months of internment in North Korea.
1970 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world.
1972 – A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000.
1972 – The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism.
1979 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.
1982 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of Times Beach, Missouri.
1986 – Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.
1990 – History of Slovenia: In a referendum, 88.5% of Slovenia's overall electorate vote for independence from Yugoslavia.
2002 – A MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, making it the first time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat.
2003 – PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai County, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
2007 – An agreement is made for the monarchy of Nepal to be abolished and the country to become a federal republic with the Prime Minister becoming head of state.

Holidays and observances

Birthday of the Queen Silvia, an official flag day (Sweden)
Christian Feast Day:
Abassad (Coptic Church)
John Cantius
O Emmanuel
Psote (Coptic Church)
Thorlac Thorhallsson, patron saint of Iceland; The last day of preparations before Christmas.
Festivus, a holiday made popular by the sitcom Seinfeld
HumanLight (Secular humanism in United States)
Larentalia, in honor of Larenta. (Roman empire)
Night of the Radishes (Oaxaca, Mexico)
The Emperor's Birthday, birthday of Akihito, the current Emperor of Japan. (Japan)

For details, contact Datacentre