The eagerly awaited "The Extraordinary Epoch of Nanasaheb Peshwa"...on the defining expansion era of the Maratha Empire.
Looking forward to reading...and do stay tuned for September 27, for the publication program. Details soon.
Nanasaheb Peshwa was Bajirao's son and he led the Marathas from 1740 to 1761. During his reign, the Maratha Empire expanded to the four corners of India.
A solemn visit to the Cellular Jail in Andaman, and to the jail cell of Veer Savarkar, today. 🙏
#MustVisit for everyone, to understand the great sacrifices made by Veer Savarkar and many other freedom fighters imprisoned here, under horrible, inhuman conditions, for years.
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The Cellular Jail National Memorial is very well maintained and does a great job of showcasing the history.
Credit to everyone involved in the restoration and maintenance.
It is very tough to walk around the corridors and the cells, imagining what was happening here, around a century ago.
But I strongly recommend that everyone should do this visit! Learn the hardships and sacrifices involved in getting our freedom.
At the entry point of the Cellular Jail national monument - the tricolor, the Swatantrya Jyoti, the Martyr's Column, the historic Peepal Tree.
It was great to meet with @CPPuneCity to discuss various traffic issues plaguing #Pune. The meeting was coordinated by @ppcr_pune
Various representatives from industry, academic institutions, students and others participated. Would like to thank the Commissioner and his team.
.@CPPuneCity and his team patiently heard all the inputs and macro suggestions. A detailed list of over 200 individual suggestions (crowd sourced by @sudhirmehtapune on Twitter) was also shared with the @PuneCityPolice.
The macro suggestions focused on -
- utilising tech for better enforcement against rash driving, parking violations
- better studies of local traffic issues, with participation from students and citizens
- creating 'continuous driver education' modules via apps
...and more.
The highways from both sides of the Mumbai-Pune E-way (Pune bypass and Panvel-Sion) are a big mess...for years.
Chronic issues - road quality, lane markings, lighting, encroachments, illegal stopping, and more.
No attention paid to these key link roads by @NHAI_Official, MSRDC?
For the Pune bypass - No maintenance of the road median, debris lying around the service roads, no maintenance of the service roads at all (major safety risk), buses stopping illegally - blocking traffic, vendors occupying road medians and more.
Couple of spots where 6 lanes become 4 lanes are big accident risk spots. No signage, lane markings there.
Lighting at night is poor - with many lights not working.
At night, many trucks are illegally parked in the left lane.
Today is the 250th death anniversary of Madhavrao Peshwa - one of the great leaders of 18th century India.
Taking charge at a young age of 16 amidst multiple serious setbacks (Panipat loss, and later the death of his father) - he helped stabilize & strengthen the Maratha Empire.
Madhavrao successfully confronted the Nizam, Hyder Ali, British and consolidated Maratha Empire in the north. In less than a decade after Panipat, Marathas had regained supremacy at Delhi.
He achieved all this while facing an internal power struggle (uncle) and a failing health.
Even while constantly facing the internal power struggle with Raghunathrao (uncle), Madhavrao assembled a great leadership team of Mahadji Shinde, Holkars and others, along with Nana Phadnavis.
He achieved all this while his health was continuously failing.
Jagannath 'Nana' Shankarsheth Murkute was one of the key 'builders' and 'architects' of modern Mumbai, and Indian Railways in the mid 19th C. Today is his 157th death anniversary.
Unfortunately, few people in Mumbai and Maharashtra know about him today.
In 1845, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Jaganath Shankarsheth formed the Indian Railway Association, which later was incorporated into G.I.P. (Great Indian Peninsula) Railway - modern day Central Railway.
GIP ran India's first passenger train between Mumbai and Thane in 1853.
The University of Mumbai - was a culmination of efforts of prominent citizens of Mumbai of that era (1840s Mumbai)...who sent a petition to the British Parliament.
This group included - Bhau Daji Lad, Jagannath Shankarsheth, Cowaji Jehangir and others.