On this day December 3, 1984

Accidental release of methyl isocyanate over Bhopal, India, resulted in at least 20,000 total deaths and affected over 120,000 others in one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.

The disaster that occurred in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, resulting in the immediate deaths of more than 3,000 people, according to the Indian Supreme Court. A more probable figure is that 8,000 died within two weeks, and it is estimated that an additional 8,000 have since died from gas related diseases.

Over two million people displaced by flooding in India

Two and a half million people have been displaced and over 250 people were killed following the heaviest flooding to hit southern India in a hundred years.

Karnataka was the state most heavily affected by the floods. R.V. Jagdish, a government spokesman, said that 172 deaths from the rains in the state were reported, and fifty thousand people are living in relief camps. The neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh reported at least fifty flood-related deaths. 1.5 million people residing in 100 relief camps across that state, chief minister K. Rosaiah said.

India chimney collapse toll up to 40; many missing

The collapse of a chimney following a lightning strike in Korba in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh traps more than 100 construction workers and kills at least 25 of them.

The first 100 m of the chimney which was under construction by Bharat Aluminium Co Ltd (BALCO) collapsed on top of more than 100 workers, with twenty-five deaths initially recorded. Between fifty and seventy of the workers are still trapped beneath the rubble, meaning the death toll could still rise; as of 25 September, 40 bodies have been recovered.

India’s Chief Minister is killed in a helicopter crash

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India, is killed in a helicopter crash on September 2.

Bell 430 file photo

Reddy’s Bell 430 helicopter went missing on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 9:35 am.

Begumpet and Shamshabad Air Traffic controllers lost contact with the chopper at 9:02 am.

The chopper went missing in the dense Nallamala forest area, which is associated with the outlawed Naxal communist activity.

Although there had been little Naxalite activity of late, the area had been pummeled by continuous rains, making the search mission very challenging.

On this day August 9, 1942

British Raj authorities arrested Mahatma Gandhi and various leaders of the Congress Party, beginning the suppression of the Quit India Movement.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. Gandhi was held for two years in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune.

It was here that Gandhi suffered two terrible blows in his personal life. His 50-year old secretary Mahadev Desai died of a heart attack 6 days later and his wife Kasturba died after 18 months imprisonment in 22 February 1944; six weeks later Gandhi suffered a severe malaria attack.

He was released before the end of the war on 6 May 1944 because of his failing health and necessary surgery; the Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation. Although the Quit India movement had moderate success in its objective, the ruthless suppression of the movement brought order to India by the end of 1943.

At the end of the war, the British gave clear indications that power would be transferred to Indian hands. At this point Gandhi called off the struggle, and around 100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress’s leadership.

India and China resume border talks

India and China have begun the latest round, the 13th in 28 years, of negotiations over their disputed border. The meeting will be co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan from August 7 to 8 in India.

Mistrust lingers from the 1962 Sino-Indian War with both sides unlikely to offer concessions. The talks seek to form a framework for future negotiations.

India’s first nuclear submarine

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur cracked the auspicious coconut marking the launch of India’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine at the Shipbuilding Centre, Visakhapatnam on July 26, 2009..

India becoming the sixth country in the world that can construct the vessels although the Indian leader billed the submarine as an outcome of a public-private partnership.

He did mention Russia in his address stating “I would also like to express our appreciation to our Russian friends for their consistent and invaluable cooperation, which symbolizes the close strategic partnership that we enjoy with Russia“.

INS Arihant is the lead ship of India’s class of nuclear-powered submarines. The 6,000-tonne vessel was built under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam at a cost of US$2.9 billion. INS Arihant is expected to formally join the Indian Navy in 2012 after undergoing extensive sea-trials.

On this day June 17, 1631

Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth, her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spends more than 20 years building her tomb, the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire’s period of greatest prosperity, was griefstricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum.

In her dying breath, Mumtaz Mahal urged Shah Jahan to build a mausoleum for her, more beautiful than any the world had seen before.

Shah Jahan granted his wife’s wish, and construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan’s grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal.