This is a story that dates back to 1959. The date was July 17. A Dakota aircraft was flying mid-air in North India. The aircraft door was ajar and four paratroopers stood in a row, all set to take the plunge. The first three members
Bengal in the 19th century was a place with great intellectual excitement. Accepted values were closely questioned as part of the reaction to changes brought about by the imposition of colonial rule. There was heated debate among men on matters such as widow burning, child
Not every freedom fighter needs armour—some carried law books and spoke with courage inside the courtroom. Birendranath Sasmal is one of the courtroom warriors, also known as the “Uncrowned King of Midnapore”. He leveraged his legal skills to fight against British rule and stand by the Indian revolutionaries. Born on 26
TJuly 15 2013, was a momentous day in the annals of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), the government-owned telecommunications service provider in India. The day knelled the death toll of one of India’s oldest communication services — the telegram. From that day, the term “Post
Doesn't it feel good to know that Kolkata, a city renowned for its vibrant Bengali culture and intellectual life, hosted the publication of the first Urdu-language newspaper, Jam-i-Jahan-Numa, rather than northern India? Even more interesting is the fact that this publication was founded in March
Professor Benoy Kumar Sarkar is a forgotten name today and very few of us remember this versatile and prolific author, who for 42 years of his life wrote and lectured to develop what was known in his own time as ‘Sarkarism.’ It was an attempt
On April 8, 2022, the Department of Post held a special cover release programme at 14, Parsi Bagan Lane, Kolkata, 700009, headquarters of Indian Psychoanalytical Society. Released by the chief guest, Neeraj Kumar, Post-Master General, Kolkata Region, the programme was attended by a number of
It seems somewhat like a coincidence that two contemporary geniuses born in the 20th century shared the same name and both were tremendously influenced by the Bard of Bengal who took them under his wings and nurtured their talents. Prabhatkumar Mukhopadhyay – one was a
Mountaineers and the authorities at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling and the Radhanath Sikdar Himalayan Museum have been pitching for renaming Mount Everest after Radhanath Sikdar, the mathematical genius who was the first person to calculate the height of Mount Everest, in 1852. Sikdar, a student and a
The beginning of the 20th century was an epoch-making period. Ominous clouds of mistrust, conflict and war loomed large over the world and by 1914, war became imminent between the Allied Powers and Central Powers. World War I began. Britain was part of the Allied