Ahmedabad is the largest city in the state of Gujarat and the seventh
largest urban agglomeration in India, with a population of almost
5.1 million. Located on the banks of the River Sabarmati, the city is
the administrative centre of Ahmedabad district, and was the capital
of Gujarat from 1960 to 1970; the capital was shifted to Gandhinagar
thereafter. The city was founded in 1411 to serve as the capital of
the Sultanate of Gujarat, by its namesake, Sultan Ahmed Shah. Under
British rule, a military cantonment was established and the city
infrastructure was modernised and expanded. The city was at the
forefront of the Indian independence movement in the first half of the
20th century. It was the epicentre of many campaigns of civil
disobedience to promote workers' rights, civil rights and political
independence. With the creation of the state of Gujarat in 1960,
Ahmedabad gained prominence as the political and commercial capital of
the state. Once characterised by dusty roads and bungalows, the city
is witnessing a major construction boom and population increase. A
rising centre of education, information technology and scientific
industries, Ahmedabad remains the cultural and commercial heart of
Gujarat, and much of western India.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmedabad
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1455:
Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany began printing the Gutenberg
Bible.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible)
1903:
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba was perpetually leased to the United States.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantánamo_Bay_(Cuba))
1945:
Joe Rosenthal took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Raising the
Flag on Iwo Jima, an image that was later reproduced as the U.S.
Marine Corps War Memorial.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima)
1947:
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was founded.
It is responsible for worldwide industrial and commercial ISO
standards.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people
is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average
intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course
by bitter experience. -- W.E.B. DuBois
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W.E.B._DuBois)