French Open:

Rafael Nadal Wins Epic Four-Set Clash With Novak Djokovic To Make Semi-Finals; Rafael Nadal edged a late-night classic against old rival Novak Djokovic in the early hours of Wednesday in four sets to reach his 15th French Open semi-final. The 13-time Roland Garros champion won the pair's 59th career meeting 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) after a four-hour-and-12-minute quarter-final on a raucous Court Philippe Chatrier.

Nadal sealed his eighth victory in 10 French Open matches against last year's winner Djokovic to set up a last-four clash with third seed Alexander Zverev on Friday.

"I'm very emotional. For me it's incredible to play here," said Nadal. "This feeling is incredible for me.

"Playing against him is always an amazing challenge... To win against Novak, there is only one way, to play your best from the first point until the last."

Will Austria abandon neutrality to join NATO?:

By declaring their intention to join the NATO defense alliance, Finland and Sweden are respectively abandoning decades and centuries of neutrality. Yet Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said Austria has no intention of following suit.

He reiterated that sentiment in April, shortly before traveling to Moscow to implore Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of neighboring Ukraine, saying, "Austria was neutral, Austria is neutral, and Austria will remain neutral."

But then, 50 prominent Austrians — from business, politics, academia and civil society — raised the issue publicly. In an open letter, they called on Federal President Alexander van der Bellen to independently examine whether the country's policy of neutrality was fitting for the times.

5 Killed, 18 Injured in Russian Strikes on Rail Infrastructure in Ukraine's Vinnytsia:

At least five people were killed and another 18 injured on Monday in Russian strikes on railway infrastructure in the central Ukraine region of Vinnytsia, Kyiv said. “Preliminary information shows that five people died and 18 were injured. Rescue operations are under way, investigators, prosecutors and other services are working at the scene," the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said in a statement on social media.

Russian forces have been widely accused of targeting civilian infrastructure throughout the Kremlin’s two-month military assault on its pro-democratic neighbour, allegations Moscow denies.

The prosecutor’s office said Russian forces had used rockets to strike “transport infrastructure" near the town of Zhmerynka and Kozyatyn. The head of Ukraine railways, Alexander Kamyshin, had earlier announced the attacks, accusing Moscow’s army of “systematically" destroying railway infrastructure.

EU, UK seek to corner Russia with more sanctions:

Britain and the European Union on Wednesday announced coordinated sanctions against pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine, as well as more Russian oligarchs and their relatives.
The UK government said that, in coordination with the EU, it is sanctioning "178 Russian separatists" in eastern Ukraine, in addition to six more oligarchs and their families and employees.
"This comes after multiple reports last week that Russia was barbarically targeting civilians in those regions," Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement.
Those on the latest sanctions list include Alexander Ananchenko and Sergey Kozlov, described by the Foreign Office as "self-styled" leaders of the Russia-backed so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

Family Of Maharaja Duleep singh:

Sir Duleep Singh married twice, first to Bamba Müller in 1864 Alexandria, and then to Ada Douglas Wetherill, in 1889. He had eight children in total.

He had seven children from his marriage to Bamba. Their first child and male heir died aged one day in 1865. The others were:

Prince Victor Albert Jay Duleep Singh (10 Jan 1866-7 Jun 1918)
Prince Frederick Victor Duleep Singh (23 Jan 1868-15 Aug 1926)
Princess Bamba Sofia Jindan Duleep Singh (29 Sep 1869-10 Mar 1957)
Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh (27 Oct 1871-8 Nov 1942)
Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh (8 Aug 1876-22 Aug 1948)
Prince Albert Edward Alexander Duleep Singh (1879-1 May 1893).

He also had two children from his marriage to Wetherill:

Princess Pauline Alexandra Duleep Singh (26 Dec 1887-10 Apr 1941)
Princess Ada Irene Beryl Duleep Singh (25 Oct 1889-14 Sep 1926)
All the eight children died without legitimate issue, ending the direct line of the Sikh Royalty.
There is a memorial at Eton College in England to Princes Victor and Frederick, Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh's two sons who studied at Eton in the 1870s.

Death Of Nau Nihal singh:

Nau Nihal was popular with the royal courtiers and the general public, and was seen as a worthy successor to his father during the latter's sickness. After Kharak Singh died on 5 November 1840, Nau Nihal performed his last rites beside the Ravi River in Lahore. After the ceremony, he started returning to the palace via the Hazuri Bagh, where a massive block of stone from a gate fell upon him and two of his companions. One of the companions - Udham Singh (nephew of Dhian Singh)- broke his neck and died on the spot.
According to Alexander Gardner, who was just steps behind Nau Nihal when the incident took place, the prince had sustained only minor injuries during this episode: he was well enough to walk on his own, and agreed to be taken on a stretcher only because of Gardner's insistence. However, when the court physician Johann Martin Honigberger came to attend Nau Nihal in a tent, he observed that the prince's skull had been crushed, and the bedsheet was covered with blood and brain tissue. Dhian Singh insisted that the prince had suffered these injuries during the alleged accident in Hazuri Bagh. Nau Nihal died hours later, although the courtiers did not make this news public until three days later in an attempt to avoid panic. According to Gardner, five artillery men had carried Nau Nihal from Hazuri Bagh to the tent: two of these men died under mysterious circumstances, two went on leave and never re-joined the service, and one disappeared without explanation.L.H. Griffin in The Punjab Chiefs says,"The only reason for the mystery which shrouded the death-bed of the Prince, was the necessity which Dhyan Singh felt for keeping the fatal news from being generally known until the arrival of Sher Singh. If there had been an organised plot, the Raja would have taken care that Sher Singh should have been present in Lahore at the time of the catastrophe. The absence of Sher Singh proves the innocence of the Raja (Dhian Singh)".
The contemporary English political correspondence, which details even the most insignificant happenings at the Darbar, makes no references to any suspicion entertained in any quarters regarding the Jammu Rajas. It has been asserted that as far as contemporary European writers go, it was their studied policy to denounce the Jammu Rajas, especially Dhian Singh, because of his anti-European attitude which he had consistently maintained throughout his career. On enquiry into the matter of the 'accident', J.M. Honigberger found "more reason to suppose that the partisans of Kurruck Singh and Chet Singh were the authors of this plot against the prince, as he had intended to ask them for an account of their perfidious behaviour during his father's long illness... He (the prince) to order seven of their houses to be closed and inquiries to be made".
Nau Nihal was cremated on 6 November 1840 at the age of 19. His mother Maharani Chand Kaur became the Empress of Sikh Empire assuming the title Malika Muqaddasa (immaculate queen). She was killed by poisoning her food on 11 June 1842.

Maharaja of the Sikh Empire:

On the death of his father he was proclaimed the Maharajah and installed on the throne at Lahore Fort on 1 September 1839.
Kharak Singh was a patron of arts and had commissioned a Sanskrit astronomy manuscript – the Sarvasiddhantattvacudamani.
Though courageous and good in battle, Kharak was regarded as simple minded. It was believed he lacked his father's diplomatic skills. He developed a close relationship with his tutor Chet Singh Bajwa after the death of his mother, who gained such an ascendancy over him as to render him a puppet. This relationship with Chet Singh created tensions with Prime Minister Raja Dhian Singh.
The Austrian physician, Johann Martin Honigberger who was present at court, described his coronation as a dark day for the Punjab, and referred to the Maharaja as a blockhead who twice a day deprived himself of his senses and spent his whole time in a state of stupefaction. Historians challenge the popular oriental notion of Kharak Singh being considered "imbecile", as said by Alexander Burnes and Henry Montgomery Lawrence -who has never met Kharak Singh. Burns was the first to refer to Kharak Singh as imbecile but also mentions that Prince Kharak is extremely kind hearted and noted that the prince is the master of an impressive military and good at the administrating and handling important strategic and governing duties assigned to him.
Claude Martin Wade, who was at the Lahore Durbar for 16 years disagreed as well, stating that Kharak Singh was a man with a “mild and humane disposition, who was “loved by his dependants”. Wade suggests that Kharak Singh seemed to have a has a dismal reputation as he maintained a low profile. Dr. Priya Atwal and Sarbpreet Singh note that Kharak Singh was politically intelligent and well versed in multiple language, the most educated prince of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who not only led military expeditions but also diplomatic events.Sarbjeet Singh states Kharak Singh along with his brothers is a victim of circumstance, something he labeled "A Shakespearean tragedy".

Attack on Nadir Shah (1739):

Nĝder Shĝh also known as Nadir Qoli Beg, Tahmasp-Qoli Khan, or Nadir Shah Afshar, (22 October 1688 - 19 June 1747) ruled as Shah of Iran (1736–47) and was the founder of the short-lived Afsharid dynasty. Some historians have described him, because of his military genius, as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander. He created a great Iranian Empire with boundaries from the Indus River in India (now Pakistan) to the Caucasus Mountains (north). He gained prominence as a military leader during the Afghan occupation of Iran in the 1720s. Acting on behalf of the defeated Safavids, he expelled the Afghans in 1729, and in 1732 became regent.

The following year he forced the Ottomans out of Mesopotamia, which they had seized during the Afghan invasion, and induced the Russians to give up Iranian territory they had occupied. In 1736 he took the Iranian throne for himself as Nadir Shah. By 1738 he had conquered half of Afghanistan, and in 1739 he invaded northern India, capturing Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire; he soon extended his rule into what is now western Turkistan.


By December 1738, Nadir Shah had crossed the river Indus, and the lush plains of the Punjab stretched before him, literally beckoning him on. Zakaria Khan had made frantic requests for aid from Delhi, but without success. When he himself came out to oppose the invaders at the hanks of the river Ravi, his army was just brushed aside (January, 1739).

Nadir Shah was an able general and a wise administrator but an insane criminal. His band of soldiers would aptly be called freebooters, rapists and looters. Atrocities were committed on Punjabi Muslims and Hindus alike. Then, He accepted a gift of two million rupees and retained Zakaria Khan as his governor at Lahore. He took as hostages a son of Zakaria and a son of the minister Lakhpat Rai, and thus secure against revolt, he proceeded towards Delhi. As his whole army was on horseback, his advance was rapid. Leaving Lahore on the 26th January, he reached Sirhind on the 1st February, Ambala on the 7th, and Karnal on the 12th Fehruary. The Delhi army had been alerted in Novemher on the fall of Kabul.

Army History Maharanjit Singh:

The Sikhs, natural born horsemen (or at least trained as such throughout childhood since Guru HarGobind's days) did not think much of infantry service. To say they looked down upon it would be an understatement. So the Maharajah recruited Purbias, mercenaries from the Gangetic made up of Punjabis, Muslims, Afghans, and later, Gurkhas, as well. These troops were soon tested during the short campaign against Ahmad Khan Sial of Jharig and the zamindars of Uchch during the winter of 1803-04.

Their success and the fact that the Maharajah himself regularly attended their training sessions, soon made the infantry an enviable service which Sikhs too started joining in large numbers. Ranjit Singh gave increased importance to artillery, which had, until his time, been limited to the use of zamburaks or swivel mounted guns on Camels or other animals only. He not only increased the number of guns, but undertook the casting of larger caliber guns as well as the manufacturing of ammunition on a large scale. The reorganization and training of his cavalry, however, waited until the induction of European officers into Sikh service, who as veterans of the Napoleonic Wars were looking to the well known Sikh ruler for their next chance to oppose the British aims in India.

The arrival of Jean Baptiste Ventura and Jean Francois Allard, two veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, at Lahore in 1822 was the starting point. Ranjit Singh gave them employment after considerable initial hesitation and elaborate verification. He charged them with the raising of a special corps of regular army, the FaujiKhas or FaujiA'in. General Ventura trained battalions of infantry and General Allard trained the cavalry. Artillery, its training, command, and ordnance were under Punjabi generals, Ilahi Bakhsh and Lahina Singh Majithia, until the arrival of a French officer, General Claude Auguste Court in 1827 and the American Colonel Alexander Gardner in 1832. Lahina Singh Majithia continued to head the armament workshops, and Dr. John Martin Honigberger, a Hungarian physician, was entrusted with the mixing of gunpowder.

Modernisation and Formation of Regular Corps:

Throughout 1805, Ranjit Singh recruited many East India Company deserters in his army. The early results were unimpressive. During the visit of Charles Metcalfe, he was shown a band of soldiers, most of them wearing traditional kurtas and colourful turbans, while others wore European infantry ornaments. They had either traditional matchlock or European muskets.

Previously, as the Sikhs refused to join infantry service, Pashtuns, Pakhtuns and Gurkhas served in this sector of the army. However, with the passage of time and owing to Ranjit Singh's efforts, Sikhs too began to join the infantry in large numbers. In 1822 Ranjit Singh employed a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, General Jean-Baptiste Ventura to train the infantry in European style. In a few years, under his command, the infantry was modernized in French pattern. Similarly, in 1822, Ranjit Singh employed another French Napoleonic War veteran, General Jean-François Allard to modernize the Sikh cavalry. In 1827 Claude Auguste Court was hired to modernize the artillery, and in 1832 Colonel Alexander Gardner was employed to modernize the artillery.

Ranjit Singh wanted to westernise his army thoroughly. However, due to various reasons he could not discard the military system that he had inherited from his forefathers. The military system of the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh finally evolved as a compromise between the old and the new ideas. Thus, the military system of the Sikh Empire is termed as a Franco-British system in the Indian subcontinent.