16-Dec-2015 :- ISRO ( Indian Space Research Organisation ) Launches Six Singaporean Satellites .

India on Wednesday successfully launched six Singaporean satellites. As the Indian space agency achieved the milestone of its 50th rocket launch.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle’s Core Alone (PSLV-CA) variant standing 44.4 metres tall and weighing around 227 tonnes took off from the Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from Chennai. 

With the successful launch of the six Singaporean satellites, ISRO has put a total of 57 foreign satellites into space.

Out of the six satellites, the 400 kg earth observation satellite called TeLEOS-1 is the main passenger for the PSLV rocket and hence the mission is called TeLEOS mission by ISRO. TeLEOS-1 is Singapore’s first commercial earth observation satellite designed and developed by ST Electronics.

The other five co-passenger satellites are VELOX-C1 (123 kg), VELOX-II (13 kg), Kent Ridge-1 (78kg), Galassia (3.4 kg) and Athenoxat-1.

16-Dec-2015 :- Indian painting by Vasudeo S.Gaitonde sells for record Rs 293 million.

An oil painting by abstract artist Vasudeo S.Gaitonde sold for 293 million rupees ($4.4 million) at a Christie's auction in Mumbai on Tuesday, setting a new world record for Indian art work.

Gaitonde's untitled painting from 1995 broke the previous record of $4.01 million paid for a Francis Newton Souza work at a sale in New York earlier this year, the London-based auction house said.

16-Dec-1922 :- President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated.

Gabriel Narutowicz, the first president of Poland after regaining independence, was assassinated on 16 December 1922, five days after taking office. He was fatally shot by Eligiusz Niewiadomski, an artist and art critic, while visiting an exhibition at Warsaw's Zachęta gallery.

16-Dec-1903 :- The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Open at Bombay ( today Mumbai ).

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is a five-star hotel located in the Colaba region of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, next to the Gateway of India.

Part of the Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, this hotel is considered the flagship property of the group and contains 560 rooms and 44 suites. There are some 1,500 staff including 35 butlers. From a historical and architectural point of view, the two buildings that make up the hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower are two distinct buildings, built at different times and in different architectural designs.

The hotel, which many claim offers the highest level of service in India, has hosted many notable guests, from presidents to captains of industry and stars of show business.

The hotel's original building was commissioned by Tata and first opened its doors to guests on 16 December 1903.

14-Dec-1896 :- The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened , the third oldest underground railway system.

The Glasgow Subway is an underground metro line in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the third-oldest underground metro system in the world after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro. It is the only heavy rail underground metro system in the British Isles outside London, and also the only one in the British Isles which operates completely underground. It is also one of the very few railways in the world with a track running gauge of 4 ft (1,219 mm). Formerly a cable railway, the Subway was later electrified, but its twin circular lines were never expanded. The line was originally known as the Glasgow District Subway, but was later renamed Glasgow Subway Railway. It was so called when taken over by the Glasgow Corporation who renamed it the Glasgow Underground in 1936. Despite this re branding, many Glaswegians continued to refer to the network as "the Subway". In 2003 the name "Subway" was officially readopted by its operator, the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). A £40,000 study examining the feasibility of an expansion into the city’s south side is in progress.

The system is not the oldest underground railway in Glasgow; that distinction belongs to a 3.1 mi (5.0 km) section of the Glasgow City and District Railway opened in 1863, now part of the North Clyde Line of the suburban railway network, which runs in a sub-surface tunnel under the city centre between High Street and west of Charing Cross. Another major section of underground suburban railway line in Glasgow is the Argyle Line, which was formerly part of the Glasgow Central Railway.

13-Dec-2015 :- Saudi Arabia elects first female politician.

A woman has won a seat on a municipal council for the first time in Saudi Arabia, after the kingdom lifted its bar on women taking part in elections.

Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi won a seat in Mecca province in Saturday's vote.

Women have also won in several other regions in the country, including Jeddah and Qatif, reports suggest.

The election was the first where women were allowed to vote and stand as candidates, and is being viewed as a landmark in the conservative kingdom.

Saudi women still face many curbs in public life, including driving.

A total of 978 women registered as candidates, alongside 5,938 men.

Officials said about 130,000 women had registered to vote in Saturday's poll, compared with 1.35 million men.

13-Dec-2001 :- Terrorist attack on Indian Parliament ( Sansad Bhawan ) .

The 2001 Indian Parliament attack was an attack at the Parliament of India in New Delhi on 13 December 2001. The perpetrators were Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists. The attack led to the deaths of five terrorists, six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel and a gardener .

On 13 December 2001, five terrorists infiltrated the Parliament House in a car with Home Ministry and Parliament labels. While both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha had been adjourned 40 minutes prior to the incident, many members of parliament (MPs) and government officials such as Home Minister LK Advani and Minister of State for Defence Harin Pathak were believed to have still been in the building at the time of the attack. More than 100 people, including major politicians were inside the parliament building at the time. The gunmen used a fake identity sticker on the car they drove and thus breached the security deployed around the parliamentary complex. The terrorists carried AK47 rifles, grenade launchers, pistols and grenades. Delhi Police officials claimed that gunmen received instructions from Pakistan and the operation was carried out under the guidance of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

The gunmen drove their vehicle into the car of the Indian Vice-President Krishan Kant (who was in the building at the time), got out, and began shooting. The Vice-President's guards and security personnel shot back at the terrorists and then started closing the gates of the compound.