Nitish Kumar, 74, takes charge as Chief Minister, Bihar for the tenth time. May end up as the longest serving Chief Minister, in due course? He gave away ‘Home’, after some 20 years, to his deputy, Samrat Choudhary, from BJP. Majority of Cabinet berths go to BJP.
AP Chief Secretary, KS Vijayanand stays 3 months more till February 2026. Next, it will be Sai Prasad.
Madvi Hidma [1981 – 18 November 2025]. With his killing, it may be an end game for Maoists, I guess.
Bharat Ratna Indira Gandhi. Woman of the Millennium in BBC online poll. Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (née Nehru), 108 [19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984]. Indian Prime Minister, 1966-77, 1980-84. Jawaharlal Nehru’s daughter, Feroze Gandhi’s wife, Rajiv Gandhi’s mother. She was the world’s second female prime minister after Sirimavo Bandaranaike when she became prime minister of India, succeeding Shastri. She became ‘Indra is India, India is Indira’; Durga; Mother Indira/Indira Amma. Broadly she was non-ideological, left-leaning. Her political career was marked ‘dark’ by the institution of a state of emergency from 1975-1977 – 100,000+ political opponents, journalists and dissenters were imprisoned. She was assassinated by two of her bodyguards on 31 October 1984 in retaliation to Operation Blue Star – military action in the Golden Temple – killed hundreds of Sikhs. Her last speech: ‘I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow … I shall continue to serve until my last breath and when I die, I can say, that every drop of my blood will invigorate India and strengthen it … Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood … will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.’ Erupted anti-Sikh riots, after her assassination, lasted several days killing more than 3,000 Sikhs in New Delhi and 8,000 across India. Rajiv Gandhi succeeded his mother within hours of her murder.
Her themes of work include: Banks Nationalization, Public Sector Industry; Removal of privy purses; Garibi Hatao, 20-point programme; Food security, self-sufficiency; Equal work, equal pay; Currency devaluation; bi-lingualism – Hindi and English – in India; Operation Forward (early reform attempts); Support to Bangladesh Liberation, and Bangla refugees; Shimla accord with Pakistan and related strain; SAARC; Smiling Buddha; Sikkim joining India; Non-aligned movement, Indira doctrine on foreign affairs, close ties with Soviet Union.
In her honour: The southernmost Indira Point (6.74678°N 93.84260°E); Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi; Indira Gandhi National Open University; Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration; Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust; Indira Gandhi Prize.
Indira Gandhi’s book: My Truth. Books on her include: My Years with Indira Gandhi by PC Alexander; Indira Gandhi by HY Sharada Prasad; Indira Gandhi – Tryst with Power by Nayantara Sahgal; Indira: India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister by Sagarika Ghose.
IIT Ramaiah, Chukka Ramaiah, 100 [b 20 Nov 1925]. Mathematics Teacher, Educationist, Telangana activist, our Guru. MLC for 6 years. Helped generations of students to get into IITs.
N-farming, living, food systems has to go area way gradually: 365DGC, Seed-to-seed; A Grade, ATM Models, with incomes Rs.25,000+ a month; R&L landscapes; entire landholding under NF; Saptasutra bio-climate resilient villages, food systems, mandals, areas, districts; meeting community needs, felt needs; value-chain landscapes; macro-landscapes; NF states; NF India. Can we nudge this? Can we run the N-movement(s)? Locally, nationally, globally. Across, everywhere.
Yes, we can. If we coexist, flowing. Paradigm renaissance. In N? navasprhayoga for 7L.