Happy Independence Day
LET US REMEMBER OUR FREEDOM MOVEMENT
In spite of all the differences in ideologies, both these great men admired and respected each other. In 1942 Gandhi called Subhash Bose the "Prince among the Patriots" for his great love for the country. Bose too admired Gandhi and in a radio broadcast from Rangoon in 1944, he called Mahatma Gandhi "The Father of Our Nation."
On April 6, 1930, after having marched 241 miles on foot from his village to the sea, Mohandas K. Gandhi arrived at the coastal village of Dandi, India, and gathered salt. It was a simple act, but one which was illegal under British colonial rule of India. Gandhi was openly defying the British Salt Law. Within a month, people all over India were making salt illegally, and more than 100,000 were sent to jail; many fell victim to police violence, but none retaliated or even defended themselves, that is non violence.
Bose advocated complete independence for India at the earliest, whereas the All-India Congress Committee wanted it in phases, through Dominion status. Finally at the historic Lahore Congress convention, the Congress adopted Purna Swaraj (complete independence) as its motto. Bhagat Singh's martyrdom and the inability of the Congress leaders to save his life infuriated Bose and he started a movement opposing the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. He was imprisoned and expelled from India. He formed Indian National Army, for the cause of our freedom .
Shaheed Bhagat Singh arrested on 29 May to 4 July 1927 - in connection with Lahore Dussehra Bomb Case (25 Oct 1926) with Gopal Singh Pannu DSP, CID Lahore. He was hanged on 23rd March, 1931 at 7 PM. in Lahore Jail.
The history of India goes back 4,000 years. The diversity of Indian culture with its unique variety of social andeconomic configurations comes from this long and complex historical journey.
Regional expansion and population density can also be understood only after a thorough and deep study of the history of India.
India history, when viewed from the present times with contradictions like poverty and material growth, illiteracy and high intellectual human resources, rich culture and low standard of living reveals a magnificent society in flux. The process started in the 3rd Millennium B.C. with the inception of the Indus valley civilization.
The Harappan civilization was established in the northwest. It was primarily an agricultural economy, which extended into an urban mode of society. Long distance trade started at this time.
In India, history opened its second chapter in the first millennium B.C. At this juncture, extensive agricultural development around the Yamuna, Ganga and several other southern rivers boosted population, trade and urbanization.
It is easy to understand India and its culture when seen from the perspective of the Vedas, which served as the prime treatise in the country. The Vedantic code is still ingrained in the Indian psyche.
The seventh century A.D. ushered a new era in India due to cross cultural trade associations with other parts of Asia and the Middle East. This culminated in the infiltration of Portuguese explorers, missionaries and other traders in 1498.
The history of Buddhism in India was a special chapter, which has given the world a new religion. Buddhism was founded by Sidharth Gautama (563-483B.C.). Gautama was a prince who abandoned his kingdom in search of the meaning of life. Gautama Buddha or Sidharth diluted the culture of brahaminic priesthood and caste hierarchy in the 5th century B.C. Gautam and Mahavir (the founder of Jainism) gave the world a practical means of seeking the truth.
Regional expansion and population density can also be understood only after a thorough and deep study of the history of India.
India history, when viewed from the present times with contradictions like poverty and material growth, illiteracy and high intellectual human resources, rich culture and low standard of living reveals a magnificent society in flux. The process started in the 3rd Millennium B.C. with the inception of the Indus valley civilization.
The Harappan civilization was established in the northwest. It was primarily an agricultural economy, which extended into an urban mode of society. Long distance trade started at this time.
In India, history opened its second chapter in the first millennium B.C. At this juncture, extensive agricultural development around the Yamuna, Ganga and several other southern rivers boosted population, trade and urbanization.
It is easy to understand India and its culture when seen from the perspective of the Vedas, which served as the prime treatise in the country. The Vedantic code is still ingrained in the Indian psyche.
The seventh century A.D. ushered a new era in India due to cross cultural trade associations with other parts of Asia and the Middle East. This culminated in the infiltration of Portuguese explorers, missionaries and other traders in 1498.
The history of Buddhism in India was a special chapter, which has given the world a new religion. Buddhism was founded by Sidharth Gautama (563-483B.C.). Gautama was a prince who abandoned his kingdom in search of the meaning of life. Gautama Buddha or Sidharth diluted the culture of brahaminic priesthood and caste hierarchy in the 5th century B.C. Gautam and Mahavir (the founder of Jainism) gave the world a practical means of seeking the truth.
Mahatma Gandhi popularly known as ‘Father of the Nation’ was one of the charismatic Indian leaders who fought for the freedom of the country. This great leader was born in Porbandar, Gujarat on Oct 2, 1869. He was the youngest of the three sons of Putlibai and Karamchand Gandhi. He completed his primary studies in Rajkot and was married to Kasturba at the age of 13.
In 1891, Gandhi went to London to study Law but after having admitted to Britisah bar he returned to India and began law practice in Bombay. After a span of two years he was called by an Indian company in South Africa to work as a legal advisor. There he found that he was ill-treated and abused because of inferior race and color discrimination. This was a common problem with all Indians. He then decided to throw himself into the freedom struggle to secure rights for Indian people. For this cause, Gandhi stayed in South Africa for almost 25 years.
Influenced by the Bhagvad Gita and Hindu beliefs, the Jain religion and the Christian teachings of Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi moved on the path of Satya and Ahimsa. ‘Satya’ meaning ‘truth’ and ‘ahimsa’ meaning ‘non-violence’ were the two weapons that Gandhi used to fight the enemy. He led the campaign in South Africa with the principle of Satyagraha for Indian rights and was arrested many times for his political activities. In 1914, many of Gandhi’s demands were accepted by the Government of the Union of South Africa. After his struggle in South Africa he returned to India and started Non-Cooperation movement there.
Gandhi, after returning to India inspired people to boycott British goods and refuse earthy possessions. This movement was known as Swaraj and was economically significant because Indian home industries were virtually destructed by British industrialists. He advocated renewal of native Indian industries and began to use aspinning wheel as a token of return to simple village life. Thereafter, he constantly began promoting satyagraha, non-violence, non-cooperation and swaraj to achieve independence. Finally, in August 1947, the British were forced to leave India.
Mahatma Gandhi, symbol of Free India, was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in January 1948. His mortal frame has already turned into ashes years ago but he still lives in the hearts of millions of people. Mahatma Gandhi, an embodiment of eternal love and truth, will live for immortal ages.
In 1891, Gandhi went to London to study Law but after having admitted to Britisah bar he returned to India and began law practice in Bombay. After a span of two years he was called by an Indian company in South Africa to work as a legal advisor. There he found that he was ill-treated and abused because of inferior race and color discrimination. This was a common problem with all Indians. He then decided to throw himself into the freedom struggle to secure rights for Indian people. For this cause, Gandhi stayed in South Africa for almost 25 years.
Influenced by the Bhagvad Gita and Hindu beliefs, the Jain religion and the Christian teachings of Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi moved on the path of Satya and Ahimsa. ‘Satya’ meaning ‘truth’ and ‘ahimsa’ meaning ‘non-violence’ were the two weapons that Gandhi used to fight the enemy. He led the campaign in South Africa with the principle of Satyagraha for Indian rights and was arrested many times for his political activities. In 1914, many of Gandhi’s demands were accepted by the Government of the Union of South Africa. After his struggle in South Africa he returned to India and started Non-Cooperation movement there.
Gandhi, after returning to India inspired people to boycott British goods and refuse earthy possessions. This movement was known as Swaraj and was economically significant because Indian home industries were virtually destructed by British industrialists. He advocated renewal of native Indian industries and began to use aspinning wheel as a token of return to simple village life. Thereafter, he constantly began promoting satyagraha, non-violence, non-cooperation and swaraj to achieve independence. Finally, in August 1947, the British were forced to leave India.
Mahatma Gandhi, symbol of Free India, was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in January 1948. His mortal frame has already turned into ashes years ago but he still lives in the hearts of millions of people. Mahatma Gandhi, an embodiment of eternal love and truth, will live for immortal ages.
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Born on July 19, 1827 in the village of Nagwa,district Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, Mangal Pandey was introduced to Indian history as the first freedom fighter and martyr of 1857. He is popularly named ‘Shaheed Mangal Pandey’ because ‘Shaheed’ means martyr in Urdu and he was the first Indian sepoy who woke up the Indian masses to fight for the nation.
Mangal Pandey, at the age of 22 joined the British East India Company as a soldier in the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry. He was a true freedom fighter who gave a spark to the First War of Indian Independence. The British termed it as Sepoy Mutiny 1857 as it was a mass revolt of Indian soldiers in the British Army.
The main reason of Sepoy Mutiny was the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket. To load a new rifle, the soldiers had to bite the cartridge and open to pour gunpowder into the rifle’s muzzle. There was a widespread rumor that these cartridges were greased with lard or tallow. Lard is the pork fat which the Muslims regarded as unclean and tallow is the beef fat which the Hindus regarded as sacred. The British army constituted 96% of Indians and so both the Hindus and the Muslims refused to accept these cartridges. Everyone had a firm belief that this was done intentionally and this discontent turned into a major revolt.
Mass revolt forced Pandey to attack his British sergeant on the parade ground, besides wounding an adjutant. A native soldier stopped him from killing them. The officer in charge ordered a Jamadaar of the troop to arrest Pandey but he refused to do so. Mangal tried to commit suicide to light the flame of nationalism in the hearts of millions of Indians but he failed to do so. He was then captured and sentenced to death on April 8, 1857 in Barrackpore. March 29, 1857 is considered to be a day when Mangal Pandey reaped the seed for a struggle which gave India her freedom.
Mangal Pandey, at the age of 22 joined the British East India Company as a soldier in the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry. He was a true freedom fighter who gave a spark to the First War of Indian Independence. The British termed it as Sepoy Mutiny 1857 as it was a mass revolt of Indian soldiers in the British Army.
The main reason of Sepoy Mutiny was the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket. To load a new rifle, the soldiers had to bite the cartridge and open to pour gunpowder into the rifle’s muzzle. There was a widespread rumor that these cartridges were greased with lard or tallow. Lard is the pork fat which the Muslims regarded as unclean and tallow is the beef fat which the Hindus regarded as sacred. The British army constituted 96% of Indians and so both the Hindus and the Muslims refused to accept these cartridges. Everyone had a firm belief that this was done intentionally and this discontent turned into a major revolt.
Mass revolt forced Pandey to attack his British sergeant on the parade ground, besides wounding an adjutant. A native soldier stopped him from killing them. The officer in charge ordered a Jamadaar of the troop to arrest Pandey but he refused to do so. Mangal tried to commit suicide to light the flame of nationalism in the hearts of millions of Indians but he failed to do so. He was then captured and sentenced to death on April 8, 1857 in Barrackpore. March 29, 1857 is considered to be a day when Mangal Pandey reaped the seed for a struggle which gave India her freedom.
Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, was born on October 2, 1904 at Mughalsarai, a railway colony located at seven miles away from Varanasi. He imbibed boldness, courage, selflessness, self-respect and other virtues from his parents Shradha Prasad and Ramdulari Devi.
In 1921, Gandhi Ji launched Non CooperationMovement and called to the youth to fight for the noble cause of freedom. Shastri was highly influenced by the movement and joined the freedom struggle at the age of 17. He was arrested during the movement but was later released. He then joined Kashi Vidya Peeth and earned the degree of ‘Shashtri’. After earning this degree, he joined ‘The Servants of the People Society’ that was started by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1921, with the aim to train youth who were resolved to dedicate their lives for the country.
Bahadur Shastri married Lalita Devi in 1927. Being a true follower of Gandhi Ji, he took a spinning wheel and few yards of khadi in dowry. In response to the call of Gandhi Ji, he actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement, Salt Stayagraha and Quit India Movement for which he was sentenced to imprisonment several times. Finally, in 1947 Britishers were forced to quit India. Thereafter, in 1947, he was appointed as Minister of Police and Transport in Pant’s Cabinet and in 1964 as Prime Minister of India.
In 1965, war started between India and Pakistan. During this war, Shastri played a key role in maintaining internal security of the country. He coined a slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ to bring unity within the country and finally led India to victory. He died on January 10, 1966 at Tashkent after he had signed the Joint Declaration with PresidentAgha Khan of Pakistan.
In 1921, Gandhi Ji launched Non CooperationMovement and called to the youth to fight for the noble cause of freedom. Shastri was highly influenced by the movement and joined the freedom struggle at the age of 17. He was arrested during the movement but was later released. He then joined Kashi Vidya Peeth and earned the degree of ‘Shashtri’. After earning this degree, he joined ‘The Servants of the People Society’ that was started by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1921, with the aim to train youth who were resolved to dedicate their lives for the country.
Bahadur Shastri married Lalita Devi in 1927. Being a true follower of Gandhi Ji, he took a spinning wheel and few yards of khadi in dowry. In response to the call of Gandhi Ji, he actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement, Salt Stayagraha and Quit India Movement for which he was sentenced to imprisonment several times. Finally, in 1947 Britishers were forced to quit India. Thereafter, in 1947, he was appointed as Minister of Police and Transport in Pant’s Cabinet and in 1964 as Prime Minister of India.
In 1965, war started between India and Pakistan. During this war, Shastri played a key role in maintaining internal security of the country. He coined a slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ to bring unity within the country and finally led India to victory. He died on January 10, 1966 at Tashkent after he had signed the Joint Declaration with PresidentAgha Khan of Pakistan.
Sarojini Naidu was born on February 13, 1879, in a house of intellectuals, poets, philosophers and revolutionaries. She was the eldest daughter of Aghornath Chattopadhyaya and Varasundari. Aghornath was a pioneer in education and established Nizam’s College in Hyderabd in 1878 and Varasundari was a Bengali poetess.
Imbibing virtues and cultures from her family, Sarojini was a combination of all – a good poetess, intelligent, philosopher, singer and a truefreedom fighter. She was also called bulbul because she possessed a sweet voice. She completed her matriculation in Madras Presidency and received scholarship to study abroad. At the age of 16, she went to England for further studies and at the age of 21 she got married to Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu.
Sarojini joined the Indian independence movement in 1905 and came in contact with various other freedom fighters. In 1916, she met Mahatma Gandhi and was motivatedto start her career as a freedom fighter. She woke up women of India from sleep and re-established self esteem within them. To do so, she traveled from state to state and city to city, asking for women’s rights.
In 1925, she presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress and later participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement. She was arrested in 1942 during the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned for several months.
She was the first Indian woman to become the Governor of the largest state of the union, Uttar Pradesh. Naidu vibrantly fought for the freedom of the country but she could not enjoy the freedom for long. She died in her office on March 2, 1949.
Imbibing virtues and cultures from her family, Sarojini was a combination of all – a good poetess, intelligent, philosopher, singer and a truefreedom fighter. She was also called bulbul because she possessed a sweet voice. She completed her matriculation in Madras Presidency and received scholarship to study abroad. At the age of 16, she went to England for further studies and at the age of 21 she got married to Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu.
Sarojini joined the Indian independence movement in 1905 and came in contact with various other freedom fighters. In 1916, she met Mahatma Gandhi and was motivatedto start her career as a freedom fighter. She woke up women of India from sleep and re-established self esteem within them. To do so, she traveled from state to state and city to city, asking for women’s rights.
In 1925, she presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress and later participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement. She was arrested in 1942 during the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned for several months.
She was the first Indian woman to become the Governor of the largest state of the union, Uttar Pradesh. Naidu vibrantly fought for the freedom of the country but she could not enjoy the freedom for long. She died in her office on March 2, 1949.
Bhagat Singh, a symbol of heroism, was born in a Sikh family in Layalpur, Punjab on September 27, 1907. He was a national hero who gave a new wave to the revolutionary movement in India. His only goal in life was the destruction of British Empire.
Bhagat started his education in DAV School in Lahore but was not able to complete his studies because he was highly disturbed and influenced by the Jalianwala Bagh massacre at the age of 12. His desire to drive British out from India became stronger and he joined the Non-Cooperation Movement called by Gandhi Ji in 1921. The incidence of Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur made Bhagat violent and he decided to earn freedom with armed revolution rather than non-violence. He then joined the National College in Lahore, a center of revolutionary activities.
To spread message of revolution in Punjab, Bhagat formed a union of revolutionaries by the name ‘Naujavan Bharat Sabha’ and gave a call for mass mobilization. In 1928, he went to Delhi to attend a meeting of revolutionaries’ and there he came in contact with Chandrashekhar Azad. With a common aim to establish republic in India they both formed ‘Hindustan Samajvadi Prajatantra Sangha’. There were protests against of Simon Commission visit to India and in this protest Lala Lajpat Rai was brutally lathi charged and later on he died. This added to the anger and discontent of Bhagat and he was determined to kill the British official and Deputy Inspector General Scott responsible for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. By mistake, he killed assistant superintendent Saunders and ran from Lahore to escape punishment. He threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on April 18, 1929 and was sentenced to death on March 23, 1931.
Though dead, Bhagat Singh is still living in the history of humanity and remembered as a prominent face of the freedom struggle.
Bhagat started his education in DAV School in Lahore but was not able to complete his studies because he was highly disturbed and influenced by the Jalianwala Bagh massacre at the age of 12. His desire to drive British out from India became stronger and he joined the Non-Cooperation Movement called by Gandhi Ji in 1921. The incidence of Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur made Bhagat violent and he decided to earn freedom with armed revolution rather than non-violence. He then joined the National College in Lahore, a center of revolutionary activities.
To spread message of revolution in Punjab, Bhagat formed a union of revolutionaries by the name ‘Naujavan Bharat Sabha’ and gave a call for mass mobilization. In 1928, he went to Delhi to attend a meeting of revolutionaries’ and there he came in contact with Chandrashekhar Azad. With a common aim to establish republic in India they both formed ‘Hindustan Samajvadi Prajatantra Sangha’. There were protests against of Simon Commission visit to India and in this protest Lala Lajpat Rai was brutally lathi charged and later on he died. This added to the anger and discontent of Bhagat and he was determined to kill the British official and Deputy Inspector General Scott responsible for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. By mistake, he killed assistant superintendent Saunders and ran from Lahore to escape punishment. He threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on April 18, 1929 and was sentenced to death on March 23, 1931.
Though dead, Bhagat Singh is still living in the history of humanity and remembered as a prominent face of the freedom struggle.
Chandrashekhar, a fearless revolutionary and a great freedom fighter, was born on July 23, 1906 in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. He was the son of Pandit Sita Ram Tiwari and Jagrani Devi. He started his education in Bhavra and at the age of 14 he went to Varanasi where he was taught to live the austere life of a Brahamachari.
During his stay in Varanasi he was highly inspired by the Non Cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi. He actively participated in the movement for which he was sentenced to fifteen lashes of logging at the age of 15. In the court he addressed himself as ‘Azad’, and gave his father’s name as ‘Swadhin’ and his mother’s name as ‘Dhart Ma’. With endurance, courage and fortitude he tolerated all the lashes. With each stroke of the whip he shouted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. From then, he was honored and titled as ‘Azad’ by the local Indians. Thereafter, he got the name Chandrashekhar Azad. When he was released, he took a pledge that he would never be arrested by the Britishers and will die as a free man.
When the Non Cooperation Movement was suspended due to Chauri-Chaura incidence, Azad switched over to armed revolution and formed ‘Hindustan Socialist Republican Association’ with other revolutionaries to spread the message of complete independence. He actively participated in revolutionary activities and was involved in Kakori Train Robbery and the attempt to blow up the Viceroy's train in 1926. For British Government, he was a terrorist because he killed John Poyantz Saunders to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.
On 27th February 1931, Azad was betrayed by one of the associates who informed the British Police. In Alfred Park, Allahabad he was besieged by the British police. He fought bravely for quite some time but seeing no other way he shot himself and fulfilled his desire to die a 'free man'. A great Indian leader, Chandrashekhar Azad was the heart of all revolutionary leaders and his poetic composition, ‘Dushman ki goliyon ka hum samna karenge, Azad hee rahein hain, azad hee rahenge' is still recited by Indian soldiers fighting for free and Happy India.
During his stay in Varanasi he was highly inspired by the Non Cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi. He actively participated in the movement for which he was sentenced to fifteen lashes of logging at the age of 15. In the court he addressed himself as ‘Azad’, and gave his father’s name as ‘Swadhin’ and his mother’s name as ‘Dhart Ma’. With endurance, courage and fortitude he tolerated all the lashes. With each stroke of the whip he shouted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. From then, he was honored and titled as ‘Azad’ by the local Indians. Thereafter, he got the name Chandrashekhar Azad. When he was released, he took a pledge that he would never be arrested by the Britishers and will die as a free man.
When the Non Cooperation Movement was suspended due to Chauri-Chaura incidence, Azad switched over to armed revolution and formed ‘Hindustan Socialist Republican Association’ with other revolutionaries to spread the message of complete independence. He actively participated in revolutionary activities and was involved in Kakori Train Robbery and the attempt to blow up the Viceroy's train in 1926. For British Government, he was a terrorist because he killed John Poyantz Saunders to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.
On 27th February 1931, Azad was betrayed by one of the associates who informed the British Police. In Alfred Park, Allahabad he was besieged by the British police. He fought bravely for quite some time but seeing no other way he shot himself and fulfilled his desire to die a 'free man'. A great Indian leader, Chandrashekhar Azad was the heart of all revolutionary leaders and his poetic composition, ‘Dushman ki goliyon ka hum samna karenge, Azad hee rahein hain, azad hee rahenge' is still recited by Indian soldiers fighting for free and Happy India.
Born in a well-cultured Brahim family on July 23, 1856 in Ratangari, Maharashtra, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a multifacet personality. He isconsidered to be the ‘Father of Indian Unrest’. He was a scholar of Indian history, Sanskrit, mathematics, astronomy and Hinduism.
He had imbibed values, cultures and intelligence from his father Gangadhar Ramchandra Tilak who was a Sanskrit scholar and a famous teacher. At the age of 10, Bal Gangadhar went to Pune with his family as his father was transferred. In Pune, he was educated in an Anglo-Vernacular school. After some years he lost his mother and at the age of 16 his father too he got married to a 10-year-old girl named Satyabhama while he was studying in Matriculation. In 1877, Tilak completed his studies and continued with studying Law.
With an aim to impart teachings about Indian culture and national ideals to India’s youth, Tilak along with Agarkar and Vishnushstry founded the ‘Deccan Education Society’. Soon after that Tilak started two weeklies, ‘Kesari’ and ‘Marathi’ to highlight plight of Indians. He also started the celebrations of Ganapati Festival and Shivaji Jayanti to bring people close together and join the nationalist movement against British. In fighting for people’s cause, twice he was sentenced to imprisonment.
With an aim to impart teachings about Indian culture and national ideals to India’s youth, Tilak along with Agarkar and Vishnushstry founded the ‘Deccan Education Society’. Soon after that Tilak started two weeklies, ‘Kesari’ and ‘Marathi’ to highlight plight of Indians. He also started the celebrations of Ganapati Festival and Shivaji Jayanti to bring people close together and join the nationalist movement against British. In fighting for people’s cause, twice he was sentenced to imprisonment.
He launched Swadeshi Movenment and believed that ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’. This quote inspired millions of Indians to join the freedom struggle. With the goal of Swaraj, he also built ‘Home Rule League’. Tilak constantly traveled across the country to inspire and convince people to believe in Swaraj and fight for freedom. He was constantly fighting against injustice and one sad day on August 1, 1920, he died.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was one of the prime architects of modern India and is still living in the hearts of millions of India.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was one of the prime architects of modern India and is still living in the hearts of millions of India.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of independent India, was born on December 3, 1884 in Ziradevi village in Bihar’s Siwan district.
He was the youngest son of Mahadev Sahay and Kamleshwari Devi. As per their custom, he was put under a Maulavi to learn Persian at the age of 5. Later on, he also learnt Hindi and arithmetic. He got married to Rajvanshi Devi at the age of 12. After marriage, he gave the entrance examination for Calcutta University and got scholarship there. He was a brilliant student and earned Masters Degree in Law.
In 1905, Dr Rajendra Prasad plunged a headlong into the Swadeshi Movement and later on joined the Dawn Society run by Satish Chandra Mukherjee and Sister Nivedita.
A new awareness was dawning into him under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi. Highly impressed by Gandhi Ji’s dedication, courage and conviction, he joined him in the freedom struggle. He was actively involved in the Non Cooperation Movement, Salt Stayagraha and Champaran Agrarian Agitation.
In 1934, while Prasad was in jail, a devastating earthquake struck Bihar. Prasad was soon released after that and he completely dedicated himself to raise funds for the victims of earthquake. He was successful in doing so and further to it in 1935 during the Quetta earthquake he had set up relief committees.
In 1934, he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress and in 1950 as President of independent India. As a President, he served the country for twelve years and was retired in 1962.
In the subsequent year he was honored with the Bharat Ratna Award, the nation’s highest civilian award. He lived for almost a year after that and then left for hisheavenly abode on February 28, 1963.
He was the youngest son of Mahadev Sahay and Kamleshwari Devi. As per their custom, he was put under a Maulavi to learn Persian at the age of 5. Later on, he also learnt Hindi and arithmetic. He got married to Rajvanshi Devi at the age of 12. After marriage, he gave the entrance examination for Calcutta University and got scholarship there. He was a brilliant student and earned Masters Degree in Law.
In 1905, Dr Rajendra Prasad plunged a headlong into the Swadeshi Movement and later on joined the Dawn Society run by Satish Chandra Mukherjee and Sister Nivedita.
A new awareness was dawning into him under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi. Highly impressed by Gandhi Ji’s dedication, courage and conviction, he joined him in the freedom struggle. He was actively involved in the Non Cooperation Movement, Salt Stayagraha and Champaran Agrarian Agitation.
In 1934, while Prasad was in jail, a devastating earthquake struck Bihar. Prasad was soon released after that and he completely dedicated himself to raise funds for the victims of earthquake. He was successful in doing so and further to it in 1935 during the Quetta earthquake he had set up relief committees.
In 1934, he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress and in 1950 as President of independent India. As a President, he served the country for twelve years and was retired in 1962.
In the subsequent year he was honored with the Bharat Ratna Award, the nation’s highest civilian award. He lived for almost a year after that and then left for hisheavenly abode on February 28, 1963.
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, popularly known as ‘Rajaji’ or ‘C.R.’, was born in a TamilBrahmin family on December 10, 1878 in a village of Salem district.
He was a great patriot, astute politician, incisive thinker, and one of the greatest statesmen.
C.R. completed his graduation from central Hindu College of Madras and took a Law Degree from Madras Law College. In 1900, he shifted his interest form law to politics.
Rajaji actively participated in Home League Rule under Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Later in 1919, he was highly influenced by the work of Gandhi Ji and chose to join him in the freedom struggle. Thereafter, he came into contact with Nehru, Patel, Annie Besant, Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Azad. In 1921, under Mahatma Gandhi, he was selected as General Secretary of Congress Party and soon after that his daughter got married in the Gandhi family.
Later, in 1937 he was selected as the Chief Minister of Madras. He maintained his position as the top leaders of the Congress until independence. In 1946, he became minister in the interim government and finally in 1947, after independence, he was appointed as the governor of West Bengal. In 1948, he was honored with the title ‘First Indian Governor General of India’.
In 1957, Rajaji found the Swatantra Party with an aim to oppose the license system required to set up a business in India. He also published the Hindu epic Mahabharata that was translated from Sanskrit to Tamil and then to Hindi. Till his last breath that he took on December 26, 1992, he constantly had served the country and worked for betterment.
He was a great patriot, astute politician, incisive thinker, and one of the greatest statesmen.
C.R. completed his graduation from central Hindu College of Madras and took a Law Degree from Madras Law College. In 1900, he shifted his interest form law to politics.
Rajaji actively participated in Home League Rule under Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Later in 1919, he was highly influenced by the work of Gandhi Ji and chose to join him in the freedom struggle. Thereafter, he came into contact with Nehru, Patel, Annie Besant, Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Azad. In 1921, under Mahatma Gandhi, he was selected as General Secretary of Congress Party and soon after that his daughter got married in the Gandhi family.
Later, in 1937 he was selected as the Chief Minister of Madras. He maintained his position as the top leaders of the Congress until independence. In 1946, he became minister in the interim government and finally in 1947, after independence, he was appointed as the governor of West Bengal. In 1948, he was honored with the title ‘First Indian Governor General of India’.
In 1957, Rajaji found the Swatantra Party with an aim to oppose the license system required to set up a business in India. He also published the Hindu epic Mahabharata that was translated from Sanskrit to Tamil and then to Hindi. Till his last breath that he took on December 26, 1992, he constantly had served the country and worked for betterment.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a pioneer of Indian National Movement, was bron on May 9, 1866 in Kothapur, Maharashtra.
This great son of Krishna Rao and Valubai was the political guru of Gandhi Ji. He received his earlyeducation at Rajaram High School in Kothapur and later on moved to Bombay in 1884 to receive higher education.
It is said that Gokhale was one of the first Indians who completed graduation. Higher education made him understand the importance of liberty, democracy and parliamentary system. He wanted to widespread the knowledge he gained and so moved on to teaching. With strong command over English he was able to communicate with the Britishers but he also wanted local Indians to speak in a way that their voices are heard.
In 1885, Gokhale along with his Deccan Education Society colleagues founded the Fergusson College in Pune. In the subsequent year he met a great scholar and a social reformer Mahadev Govind Rane. Being highly influenced by the social works of Ranade, Gokhale called him guru and started moving on the path of social reforms. He founded the Servants of India Society in 1905. The main objective of this society was to train Indians to raise their voices and serve their country.
Gokhale was actively involved in the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 that gave Indians right to access highest posts in the government. He also wrote articles for Tilak’s weekly paper. Through his articles he tried to awaken the lost voices, latent patriotism and the feeling of liberty.
Gokhale had greatly contributed to India’s independence and development in all spheres. He was a patient of diabetes and asthma and unfortunately died on February 19, 1915.
This great son of Krishna Rao and Valubai was the political guru of Gandhi Ji. He received his earlyeducation at Rajaram High School in Kothapur and later on moved to Bombay in 1884 to receive higher education.
It is said that Gokhale was one of the first Indians who completed graduation. Higher education made him understand the importance of liberty, democracy and parliamentary system. He wanted to widespread the knowledge he gained and so moved on to teaching. With strong command over English he was able to communicate with the Britishers but he also wanted local Indians to speak in a way that their voices are heard.
In 1885, Gokhale along with his Deccan Education Society colleagues founded the Fergusson College in Pune. In the subsequent year he met a great scholar and a social reformer Mahadev Govind Rane. Being highly influenced by the social works of Ranade, Gokhale called him guru and started moving on the path of social reforms. He founded the Servants of India Society in 1905. The main objective of this society was to train Indians to raise their voices and serve their country.
Gokhale was actively involved in the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 that gave Indians right to access highest posts in the government. He also wrote articles for Tilak’s weekly paper. Through his articles he tried to awaken the lost voices, latent patriotism and the feeling of liberty.
Gokhale had greatly contributed to India’s independence and development in all spheres. He was a patient of diabetes and asthma and unfortunately died on February 19, 1915.
Born on November 14, 1889 in Allahabad,Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India. The only son of Motilal Nehru and Swarup Rani was a patriot, a freedom fighter and the most highly respected personality. He completed his early education in a boarding school in England. For higher studies he went to Cambridge University and returned to India in 1912 as a barrister. Just after his studies, in 1916 he got married to Kamala Kaul.
Nehru was an intellectual with strong feelings of patriotism, liberty and unity. Being highly influenced by Gandhi Ji, he wanted to join the freedom struggle. During the struggle he was imprisoned several times. He had spent almost 14 years of his life in prison. For consequently 5 times he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress and under his influence Congress adopted the goal of complete independence. After centuries of struggle, India became independent in 1947 and soon after that Nehru was appointed as the first Prime Minister of the country.
Even after independence he had served the country that had left a profound influence on the social structure, intellectual development and overall development of the country. He is said to be the architect, the maker of modern India. On May 27, 1964 India lost its architecture.
Nehru was an intellectual with strong feelings of patriotism, liberty and unity. Being highly influenced by Gandhi Ji, he wanted to join the freedom struggle. During the struggle he was imprisoned several times. He had spent almost 14 years of his life in prison. For consequently 5 times he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress and under his influence Congress adopted the goal of complete independence. After centuries of struggle, India became independent in 1947 and soon after that Nehru was appointed as the first Prime Minister of the country.
Even after independence he had served the country that had left a profound influence on the social structure, intellectual development and overall development of the country. He is said to be the architect, the maker of modern India. On May 27, 1964 India lost its architecture.
Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 in Allahabad and was the loving grand-daughter of Motilal Nehru. She completed her early education from Pune University and was further sent toShantiniketan formed by Rabindranath Tagore. She then went to Oxford University for further studies.
After completing her education she returned to India in 1941 and got married to Feroz Gandhi, the son of Gandhi family. Her father Jawaharlal Nehru was a freedom fighter and so she was exposed to politics since childhood. Mahatma Gandhi was a frequent visitor to her house and she was highly inspired by the feelings of patriotism he had. Further to her marriage, Nehru was imprisoned and he wrote beautiful letters to Indira. These letters were to make Indira aware of the current political condition of the country.
Being highly influenced by her father’s letter, she decided to join freedom struggle. In 1942, she participated in Quit India Movement for which she was imprisoned. She laid emphasis on the freedom of the country and convinced local Indians to fight for the cause.
After gaining independence in 1947, she was appointed as the third Prime Ministerand the first woman Prime Minister of the country in 1966. Her commendable efforts during her tenure of 16 years are unforgettable. Fighting the battle for her country, she was killed by her body guards on October 31, 1984.
After completing her education she returned to India in 1941 and got married to Feroz Gandhi, the son of Gandhi family. Her father Jawaharlal Nehru was a freedom fighter and so she was exposed to politics since childhood. Mahatma Gandhi was a frequent visitor to her house and she was highly inspired by the feelings of patriotism he had. Further to her marriage, Nehru was imprisoned and he wrote beautiful letters to Indira. These letters were to make Indira aware of the current political condition of the country.
Being highly influenced by her father’s letter, she decided to join freedom struggle. In 1942, she participated in Quit India Movement for which she was imprisoned. She laid emphasis on the freedom of the country and convinced local Indians to fight for the cause.
After gaining independence in 1947, she was appointed as the third Prime Ministerand the first woman Prime Minister of the country in 1966. Her commendable efforts during her tenure of 16 years are unforgettable. Fighting the battle for her country, she was killed by her body guards on October 31, 1984.
A great woman, patriot and a true fighter, Annie Besant, was born in London on October 1, 1847. She was the daughter of an Irish businessman, William Press Wood and an Irish woman, Emily Mary Ruche. Annie was given private education and later in 1867 got married to an Anglican clergyman, named Frank Besant. At the age of 23, Annie had two children but the marriage proved to be a failure and they got divorced in 1873.
In 1870, Besant along with Charles Bradlaugh edited the weekly National Refomer. This weekly was dedicated to spread the ideas of birth control, trade unions, women’s right and national education. In 1888, she organized a strike for female workers in a London based company who were working more than they were paid and were highly affected by the factory fumes. The strike proved to be successful and she became more dedicated to women’s sufferings and rights.
In 1875, Annie joined the religious movement, Theosophy that was based on Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation. Completely involved in the Hindu beliefs, she widespread the ideas around the world. India was one country with maximum Hindus and so she visited the country in 1983 to spread the ideas and principles of Theosophy. Later on, she settled down in India with her girl child whom she brought along with her during divorce.
During her stay in India she was actively involved in the Indian Nationalist Movement and Home Rule League. Like Gandhiji she was not fully satisfied with non violence, so being a good orator she tried to put influence on Indians by her speeches and write ups.
Fighting for a noble cause she expired in India on September 20, 1933.
In 1870, Besant along with Charles Bradlaugh edited the weekly National Refomer. This weekly was dedicated to spread the ideas of birth control, trade unions, women’s right and national education. In 1888, she organized a strike for female workers in a London based company who were working more than they were paid and were highly affected by the factory fumes. The strike proved to be successful and she became more dedicated to women’s sufferings and rights.
In 1875, Annie joined the religious movement, Theosophy that was based on Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation. Completely involved in the Hindu beliefs, she widespread the ideas around the world. India was one country with maximum Hindus and so she visited the country in 1983 to spread the ideas and principles of Theosophy. Later on, she settled down in India with her girl child whom she brought along with her during divorce.
During her stay in India she was actively involved in the Indian Nationalist Movement and Home Rule League. Like Gandhiji she was not fully satisfied with non violence, so being a good orator she tried to put influence on Indians by her speeches and write ups.
Fighting for a noble cause she expired in India on September 20, 1933.
Rani Lakshmibai was one of the leading warriors of India’s freedom struggle who laid an outstanding influence on the succeeding women freedomfighters. She was a symbol of bravery, patriotism, respect of girl child, perseverance, generosity and resistance to British rule. She fought till her last breath for the welfare of women in the country and for the noble cause of India’s independence.
Rani Laxmibai, popularly known as ‘Rani of Jhansi’ or ‘Rani Lakshmi Bai’, was born on November 19, 1835 at Poona in a wealthy high class Brahmin family. She got married to Raja Gangadhar Rao, the maharaja of Jhansi, in 1842. In 1851, she gave birth to a child who unfortunately died just four months after his birth. Being highly affected by this tragic incident Raja adopted Damodar Rao as his son.
Rani Laxmibai, popularly known as ‘Rani of Jhansi’ or ‘Rani Lakshmi Bai’, was born on November 19, 1835 at Poona in a wealthy high class Brahmin family. She got married to Raja Gangadhar Rao, the maharaja of Jhansi, in 1842. In 1851, she gave birth to a child who unfortunately died just four months after his birth. Being highly affected by this tragic incident Raja adopted Damodar Rao as his son.
Bhikaji Cama, also known as Madam Cama, was an outstanding lady of great courage, fearlessness, integrity, perseverance and passion for freedom.Madam Bhikhaji Cama was a pioneer amongst those who martyred their lives for India’s freedom and was considered the mother of Indian Revolution.
Cama was born on September 24, 1861 in a rich Parsi family at Bombay. She had her early education from Alexandra Native Girl’s English Institution and was open to learn all languages. She got married to a British lawyer Rustom Cama in 1885 but unfortunately they were poles apart and she involved herself in various social activities.
In 1896, Bombay Presidency was adversely hit by plague. Being a nationalist and a social worker Cama voluntarily worked for the victims of plague and at the end she herself was caught by the disease. She was saved but became very weak and was advised to go to Europe for rest and further treatment. In 1902 she left for London and there too she worked for promoting India’ freedom struggle. For some time, she worked as private secretary to Dadabhai Navaroji, a great Indian leader.
She was constantly making people realize the importance of freedom from British rule. Britishers unpleased with her popularity concocted an assassination but fortunately Cama came to know about the planned murder and escaped to France.
In France, she made her house a secret shelter for revolutionaries around the world. She was constantly helping revolutionaries by sending materials and money across the seas as and when required. As the British saw her influence they requested French Government to send her back but the request was refused. In return, the Britishers exiled Cama from her motherland.
In 1905, Cama along with her friends designed the India’s first tricolor flag with green, saffron and red stripes bearing the immortal words – Bande Matram. This flag was raised by Madam Cama On August 22, 1907, for India's Independence at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. After 35 years fighting for India’s independence on foreign land she returned to India and died on August 13, 1936.
Cama was born on September 24, 1861 in a rich Parsi family at Bombay. She had her early education from Alexandra Native Girl’s English Institution and was open to learn all languages. She got married to a British lawyer Rustom Cama in 1885 but unfortunately they were poles apart and she involved herself in various social activities.
In 1896, Bombay Presidency was adversely hit by plague. Being a nationalist and a social worker Cama voluntarily worked for the victims of plague and at the end she herself was caught by the disease. She was saved but became very weak and was advised to go to Europe for rest and further treatment. In 1902 she left for London and there too she worked for promoting India’ freedom struggle. For some time, she worked as private secretary to Dadabhai Navaroji, a great Indian leader.
She was constantly making people realize the importance of freedom from British rule. Britishers unpleased with her popularity concocted an assassination but fortunately Cama came to know about the planned murder and escaped to France.
In France, she made her house a secret shelter for revolutionaries around the world. She was constantly helping revolutionaries by sending materials and money across the seas as and when required. As the British saw her influence they requested French Government to send her back but the request was refused. In return, the Britishers exiled Cama from her motherland.
In 1905, Cama along with her friends designed the India’s first tricolor flag with green, saffron and red stripes bearing the immortal words – Bande Matram. This flag was raised by Madam Cama On August 22, 1907, for India's Independence at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. After 35 years fighting for India’s independence on foreign land she returned to India and died on August 13, 1936.
Lala Lajpat Rai, popularly known as Punjab Kesari or Lion of Punjab, was born on January 28, 1865 in Jagraon in Ludhiana. He was the eldest son of Munshi Kishan Azad and Gulab Devi who inculcated strong moral values in him. He studied law from Government College in Lahore and thereafter started his legal practice in Hissar.
His political career started in 1888 with the Indian National Congress Session at Allahabad. At the next session at Bombay in 1889, he was linked with other two leading freedom fighters Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The trio was popularly known as Lal-Bal-Pal. Lalaji was actively involved in struggle against partition of Bengal. During the struggle he galvanized Indians for a campaign of Swadeshi and was imprisoned for six months for creating turmoil.
After his release in 1907, he went to Britain in April 1914 to explain the position of India. During his stay in Britain, the First World War broke out but he was unable to return. So, he went to USA for promoting the cause of India’s freedom struggle. There he founded the India Home League Society of America. He returned to India in 1920 and formed the Congress Independence Party in protest against the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre and Non Cooperation Movement.
In 1928, Simon Commission that came to India to discuss constitutional reforms was protested by Lalaji because the commission had no Indian members. The shrewdBritishers brutally lathicharged Lalaji during the protest and because of severe head injuries he expired on November 17, 1928.
His political career started in 1888 with the Indian National Congress Session at Allahabad. At the next session at Bombay in 1889, he was linked with other two leading freedom fighters Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The trio was popularly known as Lal-Bal-Pal. Lalaji was actively involved in struggle against partition of Bengal. During the struggle he galvanized Indians for a campaign of Swadeshi and was imprisoned for six months for creating turmoil.
After his release in 1907, he went to Britain in April 1914 to explain the position of India. During his stay in Britain, the First World War broke out but he was unable to return. So, he went to USA for promoting the cause of India’s freedom struggle. There he founded the India Home League Society of America. He returned to India in 1920 and formed the Congress Independence Party in protest against the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre and Non Cooperation Movement.
In 1928, Simon Commission that came to India to discuss constitutional reforms was protested by Lalaji because the commission had no Indian members. The shrewdBritishers brutally lathicharged Lalaji during the protest and because of severe head injuries he expired on November 17, 1928.
Like many other freedom fighters, Sukhdev Thaparwas also a famous Indian revolutionary who sacrificed his life for the cause of India’s independence. He was born on May 15, 1907 in Naughara in Ludhiana. Since childhood, he had witnessed the brutal behavior of British authorities on Indians and grew up with a firm decision and an earnest desire to set India free from British dominion.
Sukhdev was a member of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association and took activepart in various revolutionary activities. He along with other revolutionaries founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha with the aim to aware and gear up Indian youth for the freedom struggle showing them an imaginary picture of India’s future.
As a active participant of Lahore Conspiracy Case in 1928 and Prison Hunger Strike in 1929, Sukhdev shook the established foundation of British Government. On 1929, he along with his accomplice Bhagat Singh and Shivram Rajguru was arrested for assassinating Deputy Superitendent Saunder in 1928, thus avenging the death of Lalaji. The three brave revolutionaries were sentenced to death, as per the verdict, on March 23, 1931 and their bodies were secretly cremated on the banks of River Sutlej.
Sukhdev was a member of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association and took activepart in various revolutionary activities. He along with other revolutionaries founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha with the aim to aware and gear up Indian youth for the freedom struggle showing them an imaginary picture of India’s future.
As a active participant of Lahore Conspiracy Case in 1928 and Prison Hunger Strike in 1929, Sukhdev shook the established foundation of British Government. On 1929, he along with his accomplice Bhagat Singh and Shivram Rajguru was arrested for assassinating Deputy Superitendent Saunder in 1928, thus avenging the death of Lalaji. The three brave revolutionaries were sentenced to death, as per the verdict, on March 23, 1931 and their bodies were secretly cremated on the banks of River Sutlej.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, born on November11, 1888 in Mecca, was a distinguished scholar, a great poet, a true freedom fighter and independent India’s first Education Minister. He was the son of Maulana Khaiiruddin and Aliyah. His father left India during Sepoy Mutiny and settled in Mecca. In 1890, he along with his family returned to India and settled down in Calcutta
Maulana Azad pursued traditional Islamic education at home and learned many different languages. He was imbued with the pan-Islamic spirit and visited many places likeAfghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. In these places he met many exiled revolutionaries, patriotic leaders, freedom fighters and other political members who influenced Azad with their revolutionary activities. He then imbibed patriotism and was metamorphosed into a nationalist revolutionary.
After returning back to India, he joined the revolutionary movement under Aurbindo Ghosh and Sri Shyam Sunder Chakravarthy. He also opened secret revolutionary centers all over North India and in Bombay. Azad convinced the Muslim revolutionaries to fight for India’s freedom rather than fighting for anti-Muslim causes. In 1912, he started a weekly journal to propagate Indian nationalism and revolutionary ideas based on Hindu-Muslim unity. This weekly proved to be a threat to British Empire and so he was expelled from Calcutta in 1916 and was released in 1920 after the First World War.
After returning back to India, he joined the revolutionary movement under Aurbindo Ghosh and Sri Shyam Sunder Chakravarthy. He also opened secret revolutionary centers all over North India and in Bombay. Azad convinced the Muslim revolutionaries to fight for India’s freedom rather than fighting for anti-Muslim causes. In 1912, he started a weekly journal to propagate Indian nationalism and revolutionary ideas based on Hindu-Muslim unity. This weekly proved to be a threat to British Empire and so he was expelled from Calcutta in 1916 and was released in 1920 after the First World War.
After his release he actively participated in Khilafat Movement, Non Cooperation Movement and Salt Stayagraha. He was imprisoned several times but this could not stop him from fighting for freedom struggle. He was a strong opponent of Hindu Muslim separation and the day partition took place his dream of a unified nation was shattered.
In 1947, Maulana Azad was appointed as the Minister of Education in the cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He served the country till 1958 and on February 22, 1958 died of a stroke.
In 1947, Maulana Azad was appointed as the Minister of Education in the cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He served the country till 1958 and on February 22, 1958 died of a stroke.
Subhas Chandra Bose is one of those great freedom fighters who martyred their lives for India’s independence. He is popularly known as Netaji because he was considered to be a born leader. He was born on January23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa. And was the ninth child of a famous lawyer Janaki Nath Bose and a religious lady Prabhavati Devi. He completed his graduation in Calcutta and went to England in 1919 to appear for Indian Civil Service Examination and achieved fourth place on merit.
Filled with the feelings of patriotism, Bose was resolved to drive British out of the country. When in England, he was shaken by the incident of Jalianwala Bagh massacre and returned back to India in 1921. Under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi he joined the Indian National Congress and actively participated in Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930.
Subash along with Tilak and Auribindo were not convinced with Gandhi Ji’s method of achieving independence. They were in favor of armed revolution and Netaji strongly believed that the only way to earn freedom was by shedding blood. With this strong belief, he involved himself in various revolutionary activities for which he wasimprisoned many times.
In 1938, Subash was elected as the President of All India Congress. At the time of World War II, Gandhi and Nehru did not support him for armed revolution and so he escaped to Germany to approach Hitler for help. Being impressed by Netaji, Hitler helped him to organize the Indian National Army with the soldiers of the prisoners of war. On October 21, 1943, Subash declared the formation of Azad Hind Government and hosted the Indian National Flag in Kohima, Assam on March 18, 1944.
In August 1945, Japan surrendered the territory and somehow Netaji escaped from there. He left in a war plane to an undisclosed destination and expired due to plane crash on August 17, 1945.
Filled with the feelings of patriotism, Bose was resolved to drive British out of the country. When in England, he was shaken by the incident of Jalianwala Bagh massacre and returned back to India in 1921. Under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi he joined the Indian National Congress and actively participated in Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930.
Subash along with Tilak and Auribindo were not convinced with Gandhi Ji’s method of achieving independence. They were in favor of armed revolution and Netaji strongly believed that the only way to earn freedom was by shedding blood. With this strong belief, he involved himself in various revolutionary activities for which he wasimprisoned many times.
In 1938, Subash was elected as the President of All India Congress. At the time of World War II, Gandhi and Nehru did not support him for armed revolution and so he escaped to Germany to approach Hitler for help. Being impressed by Netaji, Hitler helped him to organize the Indian National Army with the soldiers of the prisoners of war. On October 21, 1943, Subash declared the formation of Azad Hind Government and hosted the Indian National Flag in Kohima, Assam on March 18, 1944.
In August 1945, Japan surrendered the territory and somehow Netaji escaped from there. He left in a war plane to an undisclosed destination and expired due to plane crash on August 17, 1945.
Dadabhai Naoroji was a man who laid the foundation of India’s freedom struggle. He was fondly known as ‘the promise of India’ in his youth and‘the grand old man of India’ in the later years of his life. This great man was personified as the symbol of purity, sincerity, generosity, bravery and patriotism.
Dadabhai was born on September 4, 1825 in Bombay in a Parsi priest’s family. His childhood was uplifted by his mother Maneckbai because his father Naorji Palanji Dordi expired when he was just four years old. He studied in the Elphinstone College inBombay and after completing his studies he was appointed as the Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the same college.
Naorji started with his political career in 1852. He strongly opposed the misrule of British Government and wrote several petitions to Governors and Viceroys regarding the sufferings of Indian people. There was no action taken to it and later he realized that this is because of the ignorance of Indian people. To promote education and propagate the seeds of Free India, he founded the Gyan Prasarak Mandal.
In 1855, Dadabhai left for England to join the first Indian business firm and later in 1859, he established his own business firm there. During his time in England, he endeavored to educate local people through various learned societies, articles and speeches. Most of his life he had spent writing on India’s plight, trying to influence people to realize the importance of freedom.
Naorji was the driving spirit of Indian National Congress and was elected three times as the President of the Congress in 1866, 1893 and 1906. He demanded for Swaraj, self government for India, publicly during his third term of presidentship and strongly opposed violence and revolutionary methods as means of attaining freedom.
This great noble life lived for almost a century and came to end on June 30, 1917. The people around the world still believe that Dadabhai came to earth with a mission toachieve Self-Rule for India.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, popularly known as a‘Man of Steel’, was born on October 31, 1875 at Nadiad, Gujarat. He passsed his high school studies in Nadiad and came out with a strong desire to become a lawyer. Because of financial reasons he could not join any school of law so he studied at home and passed the law exam with flying colors.
Sardar started his legal practice in Godhra and at the age of 36, he went to England for further studies. He returned to India in 1913 and started his practice in Ahemdabad. He soon became a successful lawyer but his dream and career soon flourished.
Inspired by the work and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, he decided to join the freedom struggle. His first attempt was to fight for the cause of peasants in Kheda, Bardoli and other parts of Gujarat who were asked to pay heavy taxes to the British Government. Patel, under the leadership of Gandhi Ji, launched non-violent Civil Disobedience Movement against the payment of raised taxes. The Government tried to suppress the revolt but unfortunately could not do so. Finally, the taxes were suspended and thereafter everyone addressed Patel as Sardar. Further, he was also involved in SaltSatyagraha in Nagpur and Quit India Movement in 1942. He also opposed alcoholism, untouchability, caste discrimination and violence. In 1931, he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress.
After independence he was appointed as the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India. He had served the country during the tenure but Gandhi Ji’s death gave him a major heart attack and he died on December 15, 1950.
Sardar started his legal practice in Godhra and at the age of 36, he went to England for further studies. He returned to India in 1913 and started his practice in Ahemdabad. He soon became a successful lawyer but his dream and career soon flourished.
Inspired by the work and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, he decided to join the freedom struggle. His first attempt was to fight for the cause of peasants in Kheda, Bardoli and other parts of Gujarat who were asked to pay heavy taxes to the British Government. Patel, under the leadership of Gandhi Ji, launched non-violent Civil Disobedience Movement against the payment of raised taxes. The Government tried to suppress the revolt but unfortunately could not do so. Finally, the taxes were suspended and thereafter everyone addressed Patel as Sardar. Further, he was also involved in SaltSatyagraha in Nagpur and Quit India Movement in 1942. He also opposed alcoholism, untouchability, caste discrimination and violence. In 1931, he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress.
After independence he was appointed as the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India. He had served the country during the tenure but Gandhi Ji’s death gave him a major heart attack and he died on December 15, 1950.
Bipin Chandra Pal was one of the mightiest prophets of nationalism who fought bravely for a noble cause of India’s independence. He was a great patriot, orator, journalist and warrior, born onNovember 7, 1858 in Sylhet in a wealthy Kayastha family. He was admitted to Presidency College in Calcutta but unfortunately could not complete his education and started his career as a headmaster.
In the later years, while Bipin was working as a librarian in Calcutta public library he met many political leaders like Shivnath Shashtri, S.N Banerjee and B.K. Goswami. He was influenced to quit teaching and start up a new career in politics. He was further inspired by the work, philosophy, spiritual ideas and patriotism of Tilak, Lala and Aurbindo.
Being highly influenced and inspired by all these political leaders, Bipin decided to devote himself to the freedom struggle. He also went to England to study comparative ideology in 1898. In a span of one year he returned to Indi and since then he started preaching local Indians with the idea of Swaraj. Being a good journalist and orator he always used articles, speeches and other write ups to spread nationalism, humanity and social awareness and the need for complete independence.
Pal had ‘never say die’ attitude and with great courage he participated in Bombay session of Indian National Congress in 1904, Partition of Bengal in 1905, Swadeshi Movement, Non Cooperation Movement and Bengal Pact in 1923. He had also published a lot of journals, weekly and books to spread nationalism and the idea of Swaraj. Most prominent books of Pal include Indian Nationalism, Nationality and Empire, Swaraj and the Present Situation, The Basis of Social Reform, The Soul of India, The New Spirit and Studies in Hinduism.
Bipin was a great warrior and till the end he fought against ill practices of Indian cultureand for freedom of India. He expired in 1932 leaving behind a remarkable feeling of Free India.
In the later years, while Bipin was working as a librarian in Calcutta public library he met many political leaders like Shivnath Shashtri, S.N Banerjee and B.K. Goswami. He was influenced to quit teaching and start up a new career in politics. He was further inspired by the work, philosophy, spiritual ideas and patriotism of Tilak, Lala and Aurbindo.
Being highly influenced and inspired by all these political leaders, Bipin decided to devote himself to the freedom struggle. He also went to England to study comparative ideology in 1898. In a span of one year he returned to Indi and since then he started preaching local Indians with the idea of Swaraj. Being a good journalist and orator he always used articles, speeches and other write ups to spread nationalism, humanity and social awareness and the need for complete independence.
Pal had ‘never say die’ attitude and with great courage he participated in Bombay session of Indian National Congress in 1904, Partition of Bengal in 1905, Swadeshi Movement, Non Cooperation Movement and Bengal Pact in 1923. He had also published a lot of journals, weekly and books to spread nationalism and the idea of Swaraj. Most prominent books of Pal include Indian Nationalism, Nationality and Empire, Swaraj and the Present Situation, The Basis of Social Reform, The Soul of India, The New Spirit and Studies in Hinduism.
Bipin was a great warrior and till the end he fought against ill practices of Indian cultureand for freedom of India. He expired in 1932 leaving behind a remarkable feeling of Free India.
Sucheta Kriplani, a great freedom fighter, was born in June 1908 in Ambala. She took her education from Indraprastha College and Stephen College in Delhi. Soon after her studies she started her career as a lecturer in Banaras Hindu University.
Sucheta was greatly inspired by the works of Mahatma Gandhi and in 1946 she joined the Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Trust as Organizing Secretary. In her later years, she started working with Gandhi Ji. She was actively involved in Quit India Movement and the partition riots. She also worked to combat the sufferings of Indian people. In 1946, she went with Gandhi to Noakhali and there she became the real mother of the victims of atrocities. She also got elected to the Constituent Assembly and sang the national song in the Independence session of Constituent Assembly on August 15, 1947.
Even after independence she had not stopped working for the weaker sections of the society and was greatly involved in the upliftment of Indians. In 1952 and 1957, she was elected as the member of Lok Sabha and had also served as the Minister of State. She was the first woman who was appointed as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1963.
Due to ill health Sucheta took retirement in 1971 and on December 1, 1974 she died of a massive heart attack.
Even after independence she had not stopped working for the weaker sections of the society and was greatly involved in the upliftment of Indians. In 1952 and 1957, she was elected as the member of Lok Sabha and had also served as the Minister of State. She was the first woman who was appointed as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1963.
Due to ill health Sucheta took retirement in 1971 and on December 1, 1974 she died of a massive heart attack.
Tatia Tope, like other freedom fighters, was one of the great heroes who fought courageously for India’s freedom in 1857. He was born in 1814 in a villageYeola in Maharashtra. His father Pandurang Rao Tope shifted with Peshwa to Bithur. Tantia and the adopted sons, Nana Sahib and Maharaja Madhav, of Peshwa became good friends. All his loved ones called him Tatia because he always used to wear a hat that was gifted to him by Peshwa.
Tatia moved his first step against the British in 1851, when Lord Dalhousie deprived Nana Sahib of his father’s pension. In May 1857, he joined the political movements and established Nana Sahib’s authority. Britishers were trying to grab everything- the wealth, kingdom and the whole empire of the country. This became the biggest reason of discontent and revolt. He occupied Kanpur and then shifted to Kalpi to join RaniLakshmi Bai to occupy Gwalior. Unfortunately, they lost the battle, Rani was killed and Britishers expanded their rule in Gwalior. After losing, he collected a huge force to fight against Britishers and was successful in capturing many forts of India. In Kalpi, he had established a center to manufacture arms. When he came to know that Britishers are short of resources, he took advantage of it and confronted Kanpur. Altogether, he fought 150 battles.
Tantia, the name of terror for the English, was the one who shook the established niche of the British Empire. He was constantly fighting to win over the whole of India butunfortunately he was betrayed by one of his friend. Britishers caught hold of him and hung him to death on April 18, 1859. This incident brought tears in all eyes and he became the Supreme Commander of India’s independence.
Tatia moved his first step against the British in 1851, when Lord Dalhousie deprived Nana Sahib of his father’s pension. In May 1857, he joined the political movements and established Nana Sahib’s authority. Britishers were trying to grab everything- the wealth, kingdom and the whole empire of the country. This became the biggest reason of discontent and revolt. He occupied Kanpur and then shifted to Kalpi to join RaniLakshmi Bai to occupy Gwalior. Unfortunately, they lost the battle, Rani was killed and Britishers expanded their rule in Gwalior. After losing, he collected a huge force to fight against Britishers and was successful in capturing many forts of India. In Kalpi, he had established a center to manufacture arms. When he came to know that Britishers are short of resources, he took advantage of it and confronted Kanpur. Altogether, he fought 150 battles.
Tantia, the name of terror for the English, was the one who shook the established niche of the British Empire. He was constantly fighting to win over the whole of India butunfortunately he was betrayed by one of his friend. Britishers caught hold of him and hung him to death on April 18, 1859. This incident brought tears in all eyes and he became the Supreme Commander of India’s independence.
Khudiram Bose was born on December 3, 1889 in the village Medinipur of Bengal. He was the son of Trailokyanath Basu and Lakshmipriya Devi. He was one among the youngest revolutionaries of India’s freedom struggle.
Khudiram had always lived a virtuous and generous life. Since childhood he was fond of the sacred words of Vande Matram and in later years got inspired by the notions of karma and norms of Bhagvad Gita. During the partition of Bengal, discontent and anger against the Britishers compelled him to get involved in revolutionary activities. He was resolved to free India from the rule of British Empire. To learn more about the revolutionaries and their activities he joined Jugantar – the party of revolutionaries.
Bose, at the age of 16, threw the first bomb over the British who were crushing India. He had planted these bombs near the police station where many officials were killed. Further, he was arrested for placing a series of bomb but that was not the end. He along with his friend again planned to throw a bomb to assassinate the Chief Presidency Magistrate Kingsford who was known to make brutal and blatant judgments against freedom fighters.
Khudiram was arrested on the charges of bomb attack and was sentenced to death onAugust 11, 1908. He died with the holy book Bhagwad Gita in his hands and amiling with the slogan Vande Matram on his lips.
Khudiram had always lived a virtuous and generous life. Since childhood he was fond of the sacred words of Vande Matram and in later years got inspired by the notions of karma and norms of Bhagvad Gita. During the partition of Bengal, discontent and anger against the Britishers compelled him to get involved in revolutionary activities. He was resolved to free India from the rule of British Empire. To learn more about the revolutionaries and their activities he joined Jugantar – the party of revolutionaries.
Bose, at the age of 16, threw the first bomb over the British who were crushing India. He had planted these bombs near the police station where many officials were killed. Further, he was arrested for placing a series of bomb but that was not the end. He along with his friend again planned to throw a bomb to assassinate the Chief Presidency Magistrate Kingsford who was known to make brutal and blatant judgments against freedom fighters.
Khudiram was arrested on the charges of bomb attack and was sentenced to death onAugust 11, 1908. He died with the holy book Bhagwad Gita in his hands and amiling with the slogan Vande Matram on his lips.
India Facts
Agriculture in india
India has an agriculture-based economy. 43% of India’s territory remains employed in agricultural activities. Globalization and agriculture in India are both intricately connected to each other as agriculture in India prevails over all other sectors because it plays a pivotal role in the socio-cultural life of its people.
Hence, it is agriculture that is the most influential field as compared to others in India. It is also most affected due to globalization in terms of the export and import of agricultural commodities - a major source of income in India.
Hence, it is agriculture that is the most influential field as compared to others in India. It is also most affected due to globalization in terms of the export and import of agricultural commodities - a major source of income in India.
Agriculture along with other related fields like forestry and logging provides employment to 60% of India’s population. Agriculture also accounts for 8.56% of the country’s total exports. According to a 2005 survey, agriculture accounts for 18.6% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
Most of the Indian population lives in its villages and thus the contribution of agriculture to Indian economy becomes very important.
Majority of Indians depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Sustainable agriculture in India is in the process ofacquiring importance. Sustainable agriculture is defined by the presence of eco-friendly agricultural practices.
It pays attention to conservation of the environment as much as to crop yield. Hence equipment, fertilizers, pesticides, etc used are monitored.
One of the primary agriculture companies in India is Bhartiya Agro Industrial Foundation of Maharashtra. It was created by Manibhai Desai in 1967.
NABARD (National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development) is a bank, which is employed in encouraging agriculture based economic activities in rural India.
Besides this, the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was founded in 2003 in Mumbai for the upliftment of agricultural economy in the country.
Recently a great telecommunication giant - Bharti Enterprises has forged alliances with Field Fresh and Wal Mart, which are globally acclaimed companies
Most of the Indian population lives in its villages and thus the contribution of agriculture to Indian economy becomes very important.
Majority of Indians depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Sustainable agriculture in India is in the process ofacquiring importance. Sustainable agriculture is defined by the presence of eco-friendly agricultural practices.
It pays attention to conservation of the environment as much as to crop yield. Hence equipment, fertilizers, pesticides, etc used are monitored.
One of the primary agriculture companies in India is Bhartiya Agro Industrial Foundation of Maharashtra. It was created by Manibhai Desai in 1967.
NABARD (National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development) is a bank, which is employed in encouraging agriculture based economic activities in rural India.
Besides this, the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was founded in 2003 in Mumbai for the upliftment of agricultural economy in the country.
Recently a great telecommunication giant - Bharti Enterprises has forged alliances with Field Fresh and Wal Mart, which are globally acclaimed companies
geography in india:-
In terms of geography India is a very diverse country. India geography comprises of a large number of landforms and regions such as mountains, hills, plateaus, plains, deserts, rainforests, etc and different water bodies like streams, rivers, lakes, seas, bays, etc.
Other than these India has a coastline, which extends up to 7000km and its peninsular region enters the Indian Ocean while it is surrounded by the Arabian Sea on the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast. The coastline also gives rise to gulfs such as the gulfs of Kutch and Cambay to the west.
Other than these India has a coastline, which extends up to 7000km and its peninsular region enters the Indian Ocean while it is surrounded by the Arabian Sea on the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast. The coastline also gives rise to gulfs such as the gulfs of Kutch and Cambay to the west.
The geography and climate of India are both related to each other in such as way that the climate influences the geography and vice versa. For example, snow capped mountain ranges are seen towards the north of India due to higher temperatures at that latitude and also as a result of the high altitudes of the young fold mountains in this region. Also, areas with higher rainfall tend to have more forest cover with tropical rainforests predominating and the vegetation cover in turn influences the evaporation and humidity, etc, hence affecting rainfall and climate.
The geography of ancient India served as a foundation stone for the present day geography, which it has evolved into. India geographically basically consists of a number of landforms and water bodies.
Among landforms, mountain ranges such as the Himalayas, Aravalli range, Western Ghats (Sahayadri) andEastern Ghats, Patkai, Satpuras, Karakoram and Vindhya ranges are present. There are other highlands such as the Deccan plateau, Malwa plateau and Chhotta Nagpur plateau.
The major Indian plain is the Indo-Gangetic plain formed by the Ganga, Bhramaputra and Indus rivers and their branches. Other than these plains the Western coastal plains and Eastern coastal plains occupy relatively smaller areas.
The desert region of India is the Thar Desert (Great Indian Desert). Lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nicobar islands are the two main offshore islands that form a part of Indian territory. Diu, Majuli, Salcette island, Elephanta and Sriharikota are other important islands of India. The Sundarbans and the Rann of Kutch are the major marshy wetlands of India.
Water bodies include rivers such as Indus, Ravi, Jhelum, Chenab, Sutlej, Beas, Ganga, Chambal, Yamuna, Gomti, Bhramaputra, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada, Tapi, Godavari and Mahanadi, gulfs such as the gulfs of Kutch, Cambay and Mannar, straits such as Palk strait (distinguishing India from Sri Lanka) and the Ten Degree channel (distinguishing the Andaman and Nicobar islands), lakes such as Dal lake, Chilka lake, Kolleru lake, Sambhar lake and Loktak lake. Other than these India is surrounded by the Arabian Sea to the west, Indian Ocean to the south and the Bay of Bengal to the east..
The geography of ancient India served as a foundation stone for the present day geography, which it has evolved into. India geographically basically consists of a number of landforms and water bodies.
Among landforms, mountain ranges such as the Himalayas, Aravalli range, Western Ghats (Sahayadri) andEastern Ghats, Patkai, Satpuras, Karakoram and Vindhya ranges are present. There are other highlands such as the Deccan plateau, Malwa plateau and Chhotta Nagpur plateau.
The major Indian plain is the Indo-Gangetic plain formed by the Ganga, Bhramaputra and Indus rivers and their branches. Other than these plains the Western coastal plains and Eastern coastal plains occupy relatively smaller areas.
The desert region of India is the Thar Desert (Great Indian Desert). Lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nicobar islands are the two main offshore islands that form a part of Indian territory. Diu, Majuli, Salcette island, Elephanta and Sriharikota are other important islands of India. The Sundarbans and the Rann of Kutch are the major marshy wetlands of India.
Water bodies include rivers such as Indus, Ravi, Jhelum, Chenab, Sutlej, Beas, Ganga, Chambal, Yamuna, Gomti, Bhramaputra, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada, Tapi, Godavari and Mahanadi, gulfs such as the gulfs of Kutch, Cambay and Mannar, straits such as Palk strait (distinguishing India from Sri Lanka) and the Ten Degree channel (distinguishing the Andaman and Nicobar islands), lakes such as Dal lake, Chilka lake, Kolleru lake, Sambhar lake and Loktak lake. Other than these India is surrounded by the Arabian Sea to the west, Indian Ocean to the south and the Bay of Bengal to the east..
economy of india:-
According to a 2007 survey, there is in India, growing economy with a GDP of 930 billion U.S. dollars. When calculated from the view of purchasing power parity (PPP), the economy of India stands fourth in the world.
However, when measured in terms of U.S.D. exchange rate, India takes the back seat as the tenth largest country.
India has also been declared the second fastest growing economy in the whole world according to a recent survey. It enjoys a GDP growth rate of 9.2%.
The economy weakness of India is however quite clear. This is mainly because India has a very huge population. According to the World Bank criterion, India is considered a weak economy with a per capita income of 3400 $ at PPP.
However, when measured in terms of U.S.D. exchange rate, India takes the back seat as the tenth largest country.
India has also been declared the second fastest growing economy in the whole world according to a recent survey. It enjoys a GDP growth rate of 9.2%.
The economy weakness of India is however quite clear. This is mainly because India has a very huge population. According to the World Bank criterion, India is considered a weak economy with a per capita income of 3400 $ at PPP.
Indian economy is diverse in nature. This is owing to its vast geographical territory and population. Agriculture gives rise to important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">two-thirds of India’s work force. The service sector is now growing towards an important destination in the Indian economy.
Technology and globalization have revolutionized the Indian economy in recent years. Educated Indians who can speak English are getting absorbed in outsourcing operations for global companies. These companies are harnessing technical talent and customer service operators for their operations abroad.
Unemployment among the youth is now a thing of the past due to the advent of the digital age. This has also opened new avenues of growth for our country in fields like telecommunication, manufacturing, biotechnology, aviation, pharmaceutical and shipbuilding.
To sum up, India is a socialist democracy. The government exercises control over private enterprise while encouraging foreign trade. India is now deliberately marching towards an open economy by opening its doors to global markets. This is a dynamic attempt to grow economically and meet the challenges of a huge and growing population, poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and social inequality.
Technology and globalization have revolutionized the Indian economy in recent years. Educated Indians who can speak English are getting absorbed in outsourcing operations for global companies. These companies are harnessing technical talent and customer service operators for their operations abroad.
Unemployment among the youth is now a thing of the past due to the advent of the digital age. This has also opened new avenues of growth for our country in fields like telecommunication, manufacturing, biotechnology, aviation, pharmaceutical and shipbuilding.
To sum up, India is a socialist democracy. The government exercises control over private enterprise while encouraging foreign trade. India is now deliberately marching towards an open economy by opening its doors to global markets. This is a dynamic attempt to grow economically and meet the challenges of a huge and growing population, poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and social inequality.
business in india:-
Indian economy has come into its own and gained impetus in recent years. Carrying out a business in India has become an attractive proposition, not only due to its 8% annual growth rate, but also as a result of ahealthy capital market and the growing foreign exchange reserves in the country.
There is today no dearth of business opportunities in India with its economy soaring to the fourth largest position in the world in terms of purchasing power.
The Indian government has implemented a number of policies for the aid of entrepreneurs in starting a business in India. This together with the strong fundamentals of Indian economy earned the 43rd rank for India in the world economic forum’s GCI position for the years 2006 and 2007.
India has emerged as a highly appropriate destination for foreign enterprise. This is primarily due to its intellectual middle class which is emerging gradually, a low wages competitive labour force, rich natural resources, vast geographical terrain, higher disposable incomes and progressive as well as friendly business policies which are also investment friendly.
Business etiquette in India has undergone a big transformation with the advent of globalization. Industrial leaders of India are seen to be introducing vast changes in business policies and practices and theirimplementation to attract international business into India.
In a nutshell, India is making a progressive journey from privatization to liberalization where business isconcerned.
Foreign trade policies in India are committed to attract FDI. The government is making every reasonable effort to sustain and improve the eight percent growth rate.
Indian policy makers and industrialists are employed in offering a healthy and robust economic environment for private and public enterprises in order to remain rooted and grow within the country.
There is today no dearth of business opportunities in India with its economy soaring to the fourth largest position in the world in terms of purchasing power.
The Indian government has implemented a number of policies for the aid of entrepreneurs in starting a business in India. This together with the strong fundamentals of Indian economy earned the 43rd rank for India in the world economic forum’s GCI position for the years 2006 and 2007.
India has emerged as a highly appropriate destination for foreign enterprise. This is primarily due to its intellectual middle class which is emerging gradually, a low wages competitive labour force, rich natural resources, vast geographical terrain, higher disposable incomes and progressive as well as friendly business policies which are also investment friendly.
Business etiquette in India has undergone a big transformation with the advent of globalization. Industrial leaders of India are seen to be introducing vast changes in business policies and practices and theirimplementation to attract international business into India.
In a nutshell, India is making a progressive journey from privatization to liberalization where business isconcerned.
Foreign trade policies in India are committed to attract FDI. The government is making every reasonable effort to sustain and improve the eight percent growth rate.
Indian policy makers and industrialists are employed in offering a healthy and robust economic environment for private and public enterprises in order to remain rooted and grow within the country.
indian familyes:-
In India, family forms the basic unit of society. An individual is ideally nurtured and taught within a typical Indian family, which often extends beyond the immediate to the joint family structure.
Globalization and western influence have failed to change the character of Indian family life even today.
Family life varies with regional diversity in India in terms of religion, culture, traditions, rituals and general life style. This is also dictated by caste and class in many cases.
Traditional roles in family structure are changing in urban areas but even modern and educated families imbibe the intrinsic values of family life in India.
Indians tend to give priority to the welfare of the family unit as whole. Individuals are brought up in a group situation and taught to remain united and support each other for progress.
Many Indians still live in the joint family system where elders are valued and protected and youngsters nurtured and cherished. Children are ensured family support and taught to honor their responsibility towards the whole family from the beginning. Unfortunately, girl child is still given less preference.
Family ties are very important to Indians. Arranged marriages within the caste are still common all over the country. Men are required to support the family economically through out their life.
The traditional role of a woman is to look after the domestic chores like cooking, child-care and service to the elders. Working women in urban areas are also expected to fulfill their domestic responsibilities.
The joint family in its conventional form as a rigid institution has undergone many changes with rapid urbanization and growing forces of individualism in modern India.
Many families have started living differently in practice, while retaining the basic ideals of group caring and sharing. Actual living arrangements depend on socio-economic factors and personal circumstances, but strong family ties abide in the form of financial and social support.
Globalization and western influence have failed to change the character of Indian family life even today.
Family life varies with regional diversity in India in terms of religion, culture, traditions, rituals and general life style. This is also dictated by caste and class in many cases.
Traditional roles in family structure are changing in urban areas but even modern and educated families imbibe the intrinsic values of family life in India.
Indians tend to give priority to the welfare of the family unit as whole. Individuals are brought up in a group situation and taught to remain united and support each other for progress.
Many Indians still live in the joint family system where elders are valued and protected and youngsters nurtured and cherished. Children are ensured family support and taught to honor their responsibility towards the whole family from the beginning. Unfortunately, girl child is still given less preference.
Family ties are very important to Indians. Arranged marriages within the caste are still common all over the country. Men are required to support the family economically through out their life.
The traditional role of a woman is to look after the domestic chores like cooking, child-care and service to the elders. Working women in urban areas are also expected to fulfill their domestic responsibilities.
The joint family in its conventional form as a rigid institution has undergone many changes with rapid urbanization and growing forces of individualism in modern India.
Many families have started living differently in practice, while retaining the basic ideals of group caring and sharing. Actual living arrangements depend on socio-economic factors and personal circumstances, but strong family ties abide in the form of financial and social support.
indian clothing:-
India is a vast country with many castes, cultures and life styles. Indian clothing styles vary with different geographical terrains throughout the country. Clothing in India emerges from a rich legacy of tradition and culture.
Indian clothing for men and women are depicted in many ways in terms of colour, style and texture due to the vast religious, cultural and regional diversity.
Clothing from India is mostly vibrant in terms of colour and ornamentation. Textile weaving in India is a highly developed art. The drapes and folds of Indian clothes have captured the glamorous platform of global fashion with its enchanting detailing and concepts in recent years.
In India, women’s clothing is an exclusive art. The traditional sari prevails over all other choices for Indian women’s clothing.
The sari is an unstitched drape of many meters, which can be worn in various styles according to the caste, culture, religion and social status of the wearer. It is worn over a tight fitting blouse called choli. Fashion designers create saris variety of textures, colours and ornamentations.
In Indian fashion, clothing for women also includes ‘salwar kameez’, which is popular attire. These are tailored trousers with long shirts in various styles.
Tribal women in India wear unique costumes, which are woven, styled and coloured in their own traditional style. ‘Lehenga choli’ with ‘odhnis’ are also clothing from India, which are commonly worn in villages by Indian women. These are long skirts with tight blouses draped with half saris. Modern Indian women in urban areas have started donning western attire now.
Indian wedding dresses are famous for their spectacular beauty and enchantment all over the world. The typical Indian bride emerges in a highly detailed and ornamental ‘Ghaghara’ skirt worn with a beautiful ‘choli’ and a long unstitched ‘odhni’ on her wedding day. This is usually accompanied with heavy gold jewelry studded with coloured stones. Indian Bridal attire also varies with caste and class in Indian society.
Some brides are required to wear and drape saris woven in their community traditions on their wedding. Men traditionally wear ‘sherwani’ and ‘chudidars’ with a scarf and a bright turban on their wedding day...
Indian clothing for men and women are depicted in many ways in terms of colour, style and texture due to the vast religious, cultural and regional diversity.
Clothing from India is mostly vibrant in terms of colour and ornamentation. Textile weaving in India is a highly developed art. The drapes and folds of Indian clothes have captured the glamorous platform of global fashion with its enchanting detailing and concepts in recent years.
In India, women’s clothing is an exclusive art. The traditional sari prevails over all other choices for Indian women’s clothing.
The sari is an unstitched drape of many meters, which can be worn in various styles according to the caste, culture, religion and social status of the wearer. It is worn over a tight fitting blouse called choli. Fashion designers create saris variety of textures, colours and ornamentations.
In Indian fashion, clothing for women also includes ‘salwar kameez’, which is popular attire. These are tailored trousers with long shirts in various styles.
Tribal women in India wear unique costumes, which are woven, styled and coloured in their own traditional style. ‘Lehenga choli’ with ‘odhnis’ are also clothing from India, which are commonly worn in villages by Indian women. These are long skirts with tight blouses draped with half saris. Modern Indian women in urban areas have started donning western attire now.
Indian wedding dresses are famous for their spectacular beauty and enchantment all over the world. The typical Indian bride emerges in a highly detailed and ornamental ‘Ghaghara’ skirt worn with a beautiful ‘choli’ and a long unstitched ‘odhni’ on her wedding day. This is usually accompanied with heavy gold jewelry studded with coloured stones. Indian Bridal attire also varies with caste and class in Indian society.
Some brides are required to wear and drape saris woven in their community traditions on their wedding. Men traditionally wear ‘sherwani’ and ‘chudidars’ with a scarf and a bright turban on their wedding day...
indian automobile:-
The growth of Indian economy has had its impact on the Indian automobile industry with many foreign car manufacturers entering the Indian automobile market.
Higher incomes and better life styles have also led to the entry of many new India cars . Some visible instances of high-end automobile companies, which have entered the Indian automobile scene, are Bentley, Rolls Royce and Maybach.
This is a big leap from the recent 80’s, which showed only a handful of cars like Premium Fiat, Hindustan Ambassador and Maruti 800.
The Indian car bazaar has matured beyond expectations in recent years. A variety of automobiles are to be seen on India roads and this variety seems to increase as years pass.
Indian car manufacturers have collaborated with big automobile names of international stature such as Ford to launch new cars.
Some of the other famous Indian cars that are indigenously developed and imported by manufacturers (companies) of Indian origin are the Ford Icon, Maruti, Hyundai, Honda Accord, Honda City, Fiat Palio, and Esteem.
Indian roads are abounding with new cars like Tata Indica by Tata Motors, SUVs, Bolero and Scorpio by Mahindra and Mahindra.
Hyundai had made a hesitant entry into India by signing the famous Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan for their advertising campaign after which others followed suit in this famous trend of signing actors and actresses in order to advertise foe their automobiles. Now, they are second to Maruti with famous models like Santro, Sonata, Verna, Accent, Getz, Tuscan, Elantra and Terracan.
Used cars still have a big market in India. Second hand cars are bought and sold all over the country by known car dealers and individual businessmen. Scrapping and recycling of cars is done on a very small scale because of this.
Higher incomes and better life styles have also led to the entry of many new India cars . Some visible instances of high-end automobile companies, which have entered the Indian automobile scene, are Bentley, Rolls Royce and Maybach.
This is a big leap from the recent 80’s, which showed only a handful of cars like Premium Fiat, Hindustan Ambassador and Maruti 800.
The Indian car bazaar has matured beyond expectations in recent years. A variety of automobiles are to be seen on India roads and this variety seems to increase as years pass.
Indian car manufacturers have collaborated with big automobile names of international stature such as Ford to launch new cars.
Some of the other famous Indian cars that are indigenously developed and imported by manufacturers (companies) of Indian origin are the Ford Icon, Maruti, Hyundai, Honda Accord, Honda City, Fiat Palio, and Esteem.
Indian roads are abounding with new cars like Tata Indica by Tata Motors, SUVs, Bolero and Scorpio by Mahindra and Mahindra.
Hyundai had made a hesitant entry into India by signing the famous Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan for their advertising campaign after which others followed suit in this famous trend of signing actors and actresses in order to advertise foe their automobiles. Now, they are second to Maruti with famous models like Santro, Sonata, Verna, Accent, Getz, Tuscan, Elantra and Terracan.
Used cars still have a big market in India. Second hand cars are bought and sold all over the country by known car dealers and individual businessmen. Scrapping and recycling of cars is done on a very small scale because of this.
Health care in India leaves a lot to be desired. Public health care is a constitutional duty of the Government of India. The state is required to raise the standard of living of its people with better nutritional intake. People need to be sensitized and made aware of issues like fitness in terms of physical and mental health.
Indian health care policies have largely failed to adapt health-serving measures to issues of wider socio-economic developments.
Indian health care policies have largely failed to adapt health-serving measures to issues of wider socio-economic developments.
healthcare in india:-
Healthcare is constantly plagued by the menace of poverty, illiteracy, high population growth rate and corruption, which translates into poor sanitation, exploitation, lack of nutritional awareness and poor local participation.
Primary health centers are the pivots of health care systems in rural India.
According to a 1991 survey there are 11,200 hospitals in India, 22,400 primary health care centers and 27,400 dispensaries. Primary health care centers with their branches are run by trained paramedics.
Alternate health care practices like ancient ayurveda, herbal medicines, home remedies and yoga are very commonly practiced in India. Indian yoga has swept the western world off its feet.
Yoga in India is a three-fold path for total human development - physical, mental and spiritual. Its purpose is to bring man to his highest state development on all planes.
Regular practice of yoga ensures perfect health and fitness to an individual. Yoga classes and held across most towns and villages in India.
The field of health insurance in India is still in its infancy. There are almost no social health insurance services provided by the government and state. For health insurance needs, an Indian has to take policies from government owned or private insurance companies.
A premium is paid by the individual for these at regular intervals. In return the insurer pays for his medical costs in case of a sickness or an accident. This is only for the diseases covered by the policy.
Primary health centers are the pivots of health care systems in rural India.
According to a 1991 survey there are 11,200 hospitals in India, 22,400 primary health care centers and 27,400 dispensaries. Primary health care centers with their branches are run by trained paramedics.
Alternate health care practices like ancient ayurveda, herbal medicines, home remedies and yoga are very commonly practiced in India. Indian yoga has swept the western world off its feet.
Yoga in India is a three-fold path for total human development - physical, mental and spiritual. Its purpose is to bring man to his highest state development on all planes.
Regular practice of yoga ensures perfect health and fitness to an individual. Yoga classes and held across most towns and villages in India.
The field of health insurance in India is still in its infancy. There are almost no social health insurance services provided by the government and state. For health insurance needs, an Indian has to take policies from government owned or private insurance companies.
A premium is paid by the individual for these at regular intervals. In return the insurer pays for his medical costs in case of a sickness or an accident. This is only for the diseases covered by the policy.
jobs in india:-
Jobs in India were difficult to find about a decade back. This was because India is one of the most thickly populated countries in the world.
Statistics show that although India occupies only 2.4% of the total world area, it supports more than 15% of earth’s population. India has been hailed as a triumph of unity in diversity all over the world.
Making a career in India was seen to be different from other parts of the world due to its cultural, religious and geographical diversity. Sixteen different spoken languages along with varied international influences in a country of diverse cultures did not make it easy for an individual to function smoothly in the job market.
In India, job search was a frustrating task for the average graduate till few years back. Computer technology and the outsourcing boom, which have entered India in recent years, brought a tremendous change to this scenario. Finding a job in India is not as hard as earlier even for non-English speaking individuals.
Job salaries have also gone up with the advent of technology and globalization. This has enhanced thepurchasing power of the country and led to the creation of more business. Indian economy is now in the growth stage.
The business friendly policy of the government along with the availability of low salary employment force (compared to developed countries) has made India an attractive business destination for big multinationals from foreign countries. This has also gone a long way in creating great jobs for the Indian people
Statistics show that although India occupies only 2.4% of the total world area, it supports more than 15% of earth’s population. India has been hailed as a triumph of unity in diversity all over the world.
Making a career in India was seen to be different from other parts of the world due to its cultural, religious and geographical diversity. Sixteen different spoken languages along with varied international influences in a country of diverse cultures did not make it easy for an individual to function smoothly in the job market.
In India, job search was a frustrating task for the average graduate till few years back. Computer technology and the outsourcing boom, which have entered India in recent years, brought a tremendous change to this scenario. Finding a job in India is not as hard as earlier even for non-English speaking individuals.
Job salaries have also gone up with the advent of technology and globalization. This has enhanced thepurchasing power of the country and led to the creation of more business. Indian economy is now in the growth stage.
The business friendly policy of the government along with the availability of low salary employment force (compared to developed countries) has made India an attractive business destination for big multinationals from foreign countries. This has also gone a long way in creating great jobs for the Indian people
indian weather:-
In India, weather conditions vary with different geographical regions. But the average temperature and weather of India can be called the hot tropical type. India can be selectively traversed during all the three seasons by the discerning tourist.
It is possible to explore one or other part of India, throughout the year due to its vastness and variety of its geographical terrain. The country remains accessible to the adventurous tourist in all types of weather.
It is possible to explore one or other part of India, throughout the year due to its vastness and variety of its geographical terrain. The country remains accessible to the adventurous tourist in all types of weather.
India being a vast country with a diverse geographical terrain is a very attractive tourist destination.
India enjoys three seasonal cycles unlike other parts of the world. November, December and mid March are the coolest months of the year.
These are followed by summer in April, May and June.
Mid-July, August and September are the months of rainfall and monsoon in India.
In India, weather cycles and the moods of nature have given birth to many religious rituals, which form an intricate part of traditional cultural and religious activities. This is because a large part of India’s population is settled in the villages, and vast majority of its people depend on agriculture for their sustenance.
Indian Gods and Goddesses are known to be representative of different elements of nature and the life of Indian tribal people is ruled by their intimacy with nature and hence the weather.
As a result of the weather of India, winters are pleasant in most of the states with many sunny days. North India is extremely dry, hot and dusty during the summer months making it unpleasant to tour.
It is ideal to visit the western Himalayan states and its famous religious shrines in the summer months, as the average temperature remains bearable. It is almost impossible to visit these places at any other time due to the extreme climate..
India enjoys three seasonal cycles unlike other parts of the world. November, December and mid March are the coolest months of the year.
These are followed by summer in April, May and June.
Mid-July, August and September are the months of rainfall and monsoon in India.
In India, weather cycles and the moods of nature have given birth to many religious rituals, which form an intricate part of traditional cultural and religious activities. This is because a large part of India’s population is settled in the villages, and vast majority of its people depend on agriculture for their sustenance.
Indian Gods and Goddesses are known to be representative of different elements of nature and the life of Indian tribal people is ruled by their intimacy with nature and hence the weather.
As a result of the weather of India, winters are pleasant in most of the states with many sunny days. North India is extremely dry, hot and dusty during the summer months making it unpleasant to tour.
It is ideal to visit the western Himalayan states and its famous religious shrines in the summer months, as the average temperature remains bearable. It is almost impossible to visit these places at any other time due to the extreme climate..
Useful site: pollution
indian history:-
The history of India goes back 4,000 years. The diversity of Indian culture with its unique variety of social and economic configurations comes from this long and complex historical journey.
Regional expansion and population density can also be understood only after a thorough and deep study of the history of India.
India history, when viewed from the present times with contradictions like poverty and material growth,illiteracy and high intellectual human resources, rich culture and low standard of living reveals a magnificent society in flux. The process started in the 3rd Millennium B.C. with the inception of the Indus valley civilization.
The Harappan civilization was established in the northwest. It was primarily an agricultural economy, which extended into an urban mode of society. Long distance trade started at this time.
In India, history opened its second chapter in the first millennium B.C. At this juncture, extensive agricultural development around the Yamuna, Ganga and several other southern rivers boosted population, trade and urbanization.
It is easy to understand India and its culture when seen from the perspective of the Vedas, which served as the prime treatise in the country. The Vedantic code is still ingrained in the Indian psyche.
The seventh century A.D. ushered a new era in India due to cross cultural trade associations with other parts of Asia and the Middle East. This culminated in the infiltration of Portuguese explorers, missionaries and other traders in 1498.
The history of Buddhism in India was a special chapter, which has given the world a new religion. Buddhism was founded by Sidharth Gautama (563-483B.C.). Gautama was a prince who abandoned his kingdom in search of the meaning of life. Gautama Buddha or Sidharth diluted the culture of brahaminic priesthood and caste hierarchy in the 5th century B.C. Gautam and Mahavir (the founder of Jainism) gave the world a practical means of seeking the truth.
Regional expansion and population density can also be understood only after a thorough and deep study of the history of India.
India history, when viewed from the present times with contradictions like poverty and material growth,illiteracy and high intellectual human resources, rich culture and low standard of living reveals a magnificent society in flux. The process started in the 3rd Millennium B.C. with the inception of the Indus valley civilization.
The Harappan civilization was established in the northwest. It was primarily an agricultural economy, which extended into an urban mode of society. Long distance trade started at this time.
In India, history opened its second chapter in the first millennium B.C. At this juncture, extensive agricultural development around the Yamuna, Ganga and several other southern rivers boosted population, trade and urbanization.
It is easy to understand India and its culture when seen from the perspective of the Vedas, which served as the prime treatise in the country. The Vedantic code is still ingrained in the Indian psyche.
The seventh century A.D. ushered a new era in India due to cross cultural trade associations with other parts of Asia and the Middle East. This culminated in the infiltration of Portuguese explorers, missionaries and other traders in 1498.
The history of Buddhism in India was a special chapter, which has given the world a new religion. Buddhism was founded by Sidharth Gautama (563-483B.C.). Gautama was a prince who abandoned his kingdom in search of the meaning of life. Gautama Buddha or Sidharth diluted the culture of brahaminic priesthood and caste hierarchy in the 5th century B.C. Gautam and Mahavir (the founder of Jainism) gave the world a practical means of seeking the truth.
freedom fighers in india:-
Free India’ was a dream of all Indians under the British rule. Everyone during that rule fought in some way or the other with a common aim of ending British and other colonial authorities in India.
After a century of revolutions, struggle, blood shedding, battles and sacrifices, India finally achieved independence on August 15, 1947.
After a century of revolutions, struggle, blood shedding, battles and sacrifices, India finally achieved independence on August 15, 1947.
India was free in 1947 from the British Empire but the country lost many men and women who were filled with undaunted courage and spirit of patriotism.
Today, they are known as freedom fighters because they sacrificed their lives for their motherland.
Indian freedom fighters with their true spirit and undaunted courage had faced various tortures, exploitations and hardships to earn us freedom.
The pioneers of the freedom movement were Mangal Pandey, Tantia Tope, Rani of Jhansi and the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi who introduced non-violent ways of fighting the enemy. Other notable freedom fighters of India are Annie Besant, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bhagat Singh, Bipin Chandra Pal, Sukhdev, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sarojini Naidu>, Dadabhai Naoroji,Sucheta Kriplani and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari.
There are endless number of men and women other than the above list who daringly fought for India’s freedom
Today, they are known as freedom fighters because they sacrificed their lives for their motherland.
Indian freedom fighters with their true spirit and undaunted courage had faced various tortures, exploitations and hardships to earn us freedom.
The pioneers of the freedom movement were Mangal Pandey, Tantia Tope, Rani of Jhansi and the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi who introduced non-violent ways of fighting the enemy. Other notable freedom fighters of India are Annie Besant, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bhagat Singh, Bipin Chandra Pal, Sukhdev, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sarojini Naidu>, Dadabhai Naoroji,Sucheta Kriplani and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari.
There are endless number of men and women other than the above list who daringly fought for India’s freedom
national flag of india:-
Sister Nivedita was the author of the preliminary design for the Indian flag in 1906. Her conception consisted of a Vajra or a thunderbolt as the main symbol with the words Vande Mataram written on it.
Madam Bhikaji Cama unfurled the first Indian flag of freedom in Stuttgart at the socialist congress meeting in the year 1907. Her flag had the sun, the moon, seven stars and the lotus with Vande Matram inscribed on the central white portion.
The national flag of India arrived at its present form through a long process of evolution. There was a lot of debate about the meaning of the India flag before the congress declared in 1931, that its three colours saffron, white and green should represent qualities and not communities.
The country flag of India is presently shown as having three horizontal stripes - saffron, white and green. In the center is a small ‘chakra’ or wheel with 24 spokes. The design of the wheel is based on the emblem, which appears on the Lion capital of Ashok of Sarnath. The Indian flag was made using ‘khadi’ cloth.
It is important to explain the meaning of the three colours when we speak about the India flag. Saffron colour represents courage and sacrifice, white is for peace and truth and green means faith and chivalry. The spinning wheel symbolizes the hope of the Indian masses.
The final design of the Indian flag was approved on 22nd July 1947 by the constituent assembly. This is the design, which is unfurled on all occasions of Indian flag hoisting, to fill the hearts of Indians with patriotism.
A national protocol is supposed to be observed while displaying the national flag in India. The flag is supposed to be hoisted at sunrise and lowered at sunset except in special circumstances. It is also prohibitedto show the Indian flag upside down and considered irreverent to keep the flag in a dirty and tattered mode.Indian Flag pictures, images
Madam Bhikaji Cama unfurled the first Indian flag of freedom in Stuttgart at the socialist congress meeting in the year 1907. Her flag had the sun, the moon, seven stars and the lotus with Vande Matram inscribed on the central white portion.
The national flag of India arrived at its present form through a long process of evolution. There was a lot of debate about the meaning of the India flag before the congress declared in 1931, that its three colours saffron, white and green should represent qualities and not communities.
The country flag of India is presently shown as having three horizontal stripes - saffron, white and green. In the center is a small ‘chakra’ or wheel with 24 spokes. The design of the wheel is based on the emblem, which appears on the Lion capital of Ashok of Sarnath. The Indian flag was made using ‘khadi’ cloth.
It is important to explain the meaning of the three colours when we speak about the India flag. Saffron colour represents courage and sacrifice, white is for peace and truth and green means faith and chivalry. The spinning wheel symbolizes the hope of the Indian masses.
The final design of the Indian flag was approved on 22nd July 1947 by the constituent assembly. This is the design, which is unfurled on all occasions of Indian flag hoisting, to fill the hearts of Indians with patriotism.
A national protocol is supposed to be observed while displaying the national flag in India. The flag is supposed to be hoisted at sunrise and lowered at sunset except in special circumstances. It is also prohibitedto show the Indian flag upside down and considered irreverent to keep the flag in a dirty and tattered mode.Indian Flag pictures, images
indian population:-
After China, India is the second most populated country on earth. With the exception of one decade (from 1911 to 1921) population in India has continued to grow at an alarming pace.
The rate of population growth in India as per the estimates gathered from the sample registration system in terms of the difference between average birth and death rates in the late nineties are as follow: 1975 to 80 - 1.97%, 1981 to 85 - 2.155, 1985 to 90 - 2.09%, 1990 to 93 - 1.97%.
India covers 2.4% of the planets land region and covers 16% of the earths population. According to a July 2004 survey, the current India population figure is 1,065,070,607.
The population density of the nation amounts to 324 people per square kilometer from which 31.7% are males in the 0 to 14 years of age bracket that is about 173,869,856 males and 164,003,915 females. India’s population is estimated to be above 1 billion in the 21st century.
According to a 2004 estimate, in the age bracket of 0 to 14 years - 31.7% (male - 173,869,856; female - 164,003,915), 15 to 64 years - 63.5% (male - 349,785,804; female - 326,289,402) 65 years and over - 4.8% (male - 25,885,725; female - 25,235,905)
More than 70% of Indians live in rural areas and the rest in the 200 cities and towns. In India, populationproblems can only be solved by strict family planning measures along with an intense drive to eliminate ignorance and poverty among people.
People should also be made aware of the need to raise their standards of living and individual quality of life – especially for women. This singular problem is the basis of many related issues, which retard the progress of the country and must be eliminated by creating awareness and also making optimal use of the manpower of the country.
The rate of population growth in India as per the estimates gathered from the sample registration system in terms of the difference between average birth and death rates in the late nineties are as follow: 1975 to 80 - 1.97%, 1981 to 85 - 2.155, 1985 to 90 - 2.09%, 1990 to 93 - 1.97%.
India covers 2.4% of the planets land region and covers 16% of the earths population. According to a July 2004 survey, the current India population figure is 1,065,070,607.
The population density of the nation amounts to 324 people per square kilometer from which 31.7% are males in the 0 to 14 years of age bracket that is about 173,869,856 males and 164,003,915 females. India’s population is estimated to be above 1 billion in the 21st century.
According to a 2004 estimate, in the age bracket of 0 to 14 years - 31.7% (male - 173,869,856; female - 164,003,915), 15 to 64 years - 63.5% (male - 349,785,804; female - 326,289,402) 65 years and over - 4.8% (male - 25,885,725; female - 25,235,905)
More than 70% of Indians live in rural areas and the rest in the 200 cities and towns. In India, populationproblems can only be solved by strict family planning measures along with an intense drive to eliminate ignorance and poverty among people.
People should also be made aware of the need to raise their standards of living and individual quality of life – especially for women. This singular problem is the basis of many related issues, which retard the progress of the country and must be eliminated by creating awareness and also making optimal use of the manpower of the country.
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide range of areas like political organizations, philosophies and movements which had the common aim to ending the company rule (East India Company), and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia. The independence movement saw various national and regional campaigns, agitations and efforts, somenonviolent and others not so.
During the first quarter of the 19th century, Rammohan Roy introduced modern education into India. Swami Vivekananda was the chief architect who profoundly projected the rich culture of India to the west at the end of 19th century. Many of the country's political leaders of the 19th and 20th century, including Mohandas K. Gandhi and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, were influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda. According to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who was a major proponent of armed struggle for Indian independence, Swami Vivekananda was "the maker of modern India"; for Mohandas Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda's influence increased his "love for his country a thousandfold." His writings inspired a whole generation of freedom fighters. Many years after Swami Vivekananda's death, Rabindranath Tagore told French Nobel Laureate Romain Rolland, "If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative."
The first organised militant movements were in Bengal, but they later took to the political stage in the form of a mainstream movement in the then newly formed Indian National Congress (INC), with prominent moderate leaders seeking only their basic right to appear for Indian Civil Service examinations, as well as more rights, economic in nature, for the people of the soil. The early part of the 20th century saw a more radical approach towards political independence proposed by leaders such as the Lal, Bal, Pal,Aurobindo Ghosh and V. O. Chidambaram Pillai.
The last stages of the freedom struggle from the 1920s onwards saw Congress adopt Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's policy of nonviolence and civil resistance, Muhammad Ali Jinnah's constitutional struggle for the rights of minorities in India, and several other campaigns. Legendary figures such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh came to adopt political method of revolution to the freedom movement, while others like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati wanted both political and economic freedom for India'speasants and toiling masses. Poets such as Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam used literature, poetry and speech as a tool for political awareness. The period of the Second World War saw the peak of the campaigns by the Quit India movement (led by "Mahatma" Gandhi) and the Indian National Army (INA) movement (led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose) and others, eventually resulting in the withdrawal of the British.
The work of these various movements led ultimately to the Indian Independence Act 1947, which created the independent dominionsof India and Pakistan. India remained a Dominion of the Crown until 26 January 1950, when the Constitution of India came into force, establishing the Republic of India; Pakistan was a dominion until 1956.
The Indian independence movement was a mass-based movement that encompassed various sections of society. It also underwent a process of constant ideological evolution.[1]Although the basic ideology of the movement was anti-colonial, it was supported by a vision of independent capitalist economic development coupled with a secular, democratic, republican, and civil-libertarian political structure.[2] After the 1930s, the movement took on a strong socialist orientation, due to the increasing influence of left-wing elements in the INC as well as the rise and growth of the Communist Party of India.[1] The All-India Muslim League was formed in 1906 to protect the rights of Muslims in the Indian Sub-continent against the INC and to present a Muslim voice to the British government.
Imperial Entities of India
| |
| Dutch India | 1605–1825 |
|---|---|
| Danish India | 1620–1869 |
| French India | 1769–1954 |
| Portuguese India 1505–1961 | |
| Casa da Índia | 1434–1833 |
| Portuguese East India Company | 1628–1633 |
| British India 1612–1947 | |
| East India Company | 1612–1757 |
| Company rule in India | 1757–1858 |
| British Raj | 1858–1947 |
| British rule in Burma | 1824–1948 |
| Princely states | 1721–1949 |
| Partition of India | |
Contents
[hide]- 1 Background (1757–1883)
- 2 Rise of Indian nationalism (1885–1905)
- 3 Partition of Bengal, 1905
- 4 All India Muslim League
- 5 First World War
- 6 Gandhi arrives in India
- 7 The non-cooperation movements
- 8 Purna Swaraj
- 9 Karachi Congress session-1931
- 10 Salt March and civil disobedience
- 11 Elections and the Lahore resolution
- 12 Revolutionary activities
- 13 The final process of Indian independence movement
- 14 Independence and partition of India
- 15 See also
- 16 References
- 17 Further reading
- 18 External links
Background (1757–1883)
Early British colonialism in India
Main articles: European colonies in India, East India Company, Company rule in India, and British Raj
European traders first reached Indian shores with the arrival of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 AD at the port of Calicut, in search of the lucrative spice trade. Just over a century later, the Dutch and English established trading outposts on the subcontinent, with the first English trading post set up at Surat in 1612.[3] Over the course of the 17th and early 18th centuries, the British[4] defeated the Portuguese and Dutch militarily, but remained in conflict with the French, who had by then sought to establish themselves in the subcontinent. The decline of the Mughal empire in the first half of the 18th century provided the British with the opportunity to seize a firm foothold in Indian politics.[5] After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, during which the East India Company's Bengal army under Robert Clivedefeated Siraj-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Bengal, the Company established itself as a major player in Indian affairs, and soon afterwards gained administrative rights over the regions of Bengal, Bihar and Odissa, following the Battle of Buxar in 1764.[6] After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, most of South India came either under the Company's direct rule, or under its indirect political control as part a princely state in asubsidiary alliance. The Company subsequently gained control of regions ruled by the Maratha Empire, after defeating them in a series of wars. Punjab was annexed in 1849, after the defeat of the Sikh armies in the First (1845–1846) and Second (1848–49) Anglo-Sikh Wars.
In 1835 English was made the medium of instruction in India's schools. Western-educated Hindu elites sought to rid Hinduism of controversial social practices, including the varna caste system, child marriage, and sati. Literary and debating societies established inCalcutta (Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai) became forums for open political discourse.
Even while these modernising trends influenced Indian society, many Indians increasingly despised British rule. With the British now dominating most of the subcontinent, they grew increasingly abusive of local customs by, for example, staging parties in mosques, dancing to the music of regimental bands on the terrace of the Taj Mahal, using whips to force their way through crowded bazaars (as recounted by General Henry Blake), and mistreating Indians (including the sepoys).[citation needed] In the years after the annexation of Punjab in 1849, several mutinies broke out among the sepoys; these were put down by force.
Vellore sepoy mutiny
The garrison of the Vellore Fort in July 1806 comprised four companies of British infantry from H.M. 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot and three battalions of Madras infantry.
Two hours after midnight, on 10 July, the sepoys in the fort shot down the European sentries and killed fourteen of their own officers and 115 men of the 69th Regiment, most of the latter as they slept in their barracks. Among those killed was Colonel St. John Fancourt, the commander of the fort. The rebels seized control by dawn, and raised the flag of the Mysore Sultanate over the fort. Tipu's second son Fateh Hyder was declared King.
However a British officer escaped and alerted the garrison in Arcot. Nine hours after the outbreak of the mutiny, a relief force comprising the British 19th Light Dragoons, galloper guns and a squadron of Madras cavalry, rode from Arcot to Vellore, covering sixteen miles in about two hours. It was led by Sir Rollo Gillespie – one of the most capable and energetic officers in India at that time – who reportedly left Arcot within a quarter of an hour of the alarm being raised. Gillespie dashed ahead of the main force with a single troop of about twenty men.
Arriving at Vellore Gillespie found the surviving Europeans, about sixty men of the 69th, commanded by NCOs and two assistant surgeons, still holding part of the ramparts but out of ammunition. Unable to gain entry through the defended gate, Gillespie climbed the wall with the aid of a rope and a sergeant's sash which was lowered to him; and to gain time led the 69th in a bayonet-charge along the ramparts. When the rest of the 19th arrived, Gillespie had them blow the gates with their galloper guns, and made a second charge with the 69th to clear a space inside the gate to permit the cavalry to deploy. The 19th and the Madras Cavalry then charged and slaughtered any sepoy who stood in their way. About 100 sepoys who had sought refuge in the palace were brought out, and by Gillespie's order, placed against a wall and shot dead. John Blakiston, the engineer who had blown in the gates, recalled: "Even this appalling sight I could look upon, I may almost say, with composure. It was an act of summary justice, and in every respect a most proper one; yet, at this distance of time, I find it a difficult matter to approve the deed, or to account for the feeling under which I then viewed it.
The harsh retribution meted out to the sepoys snuffed out the unrest at a stroke and provided the history of the British in India with one of its true epics; for as Gillespie admitted, with a delay of even five minutes, all would have been lost. In all nearly 350 of the rebels were killed, and another 350 wounded before the fighting had stopped.
The rebellion of 1857 and its consequences
Main article: Indian rebellion of 1857
The Indian rebellion of 1857 was a large-scale rebellion in northern and central India against the British East India Company's rule. It was suppressed and the British government took control of the company.
The conditions of service in the company's army and cantonments increasingly came into conflict with the religious beliefs and prejudices of the sepoys.[7] The predominance of members from the upper castes in the army, perceived loss of caste due to overseas travel, and rumours of secret designs of the government to convert them to Christianity led to deep discontentment among the sepoys.[8] The sepoys were also disillusioned by their low salaries and the racial discrimination practised by British officers in matters of promotion and privileges.[8] The indifference of the British towards leading native Indian rulers such as the Mughals and ex-Peshwas and the annexation of Oudh were political factors triggering dissent amongst Indians. The Marquess of Dalhousie's policy of annexation, the doctrine of lapse(or escheat) applied by the British, and the projected removal of the descendants of the Great Mughal from their ancestral palace at Red Fort to the Qutb (near Delhi) also angered some people.
The final spark was provided by the rumoured use of tallow (from cows) and lard (pig fat) in the newly introduced Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle cartridges. Soldiers had to bite the cartridges with their teeth before loading them into their rifles, and the reported presence of cow and pig fat was religiously offensive to both Hindu and Muslim soldiers.[9]
Mangal Pandey, a 29-year old sepoy, was believed to be responsible for inspiring the Indian sepoys to rise against the British. In the first week of May 1857, he killed a higher officer in his regiment at Barrackpore for the introduction of the offensive rule. He was captured and was sentenced to death when the British took back control over the regiment.[10][citation needed] On 10 May 1857, the sepoys at Meerut broke rank and turned on their commanding officers, killing some of them. They then reached Delhi on 11 May, set the company's toll house afire, and marched into the Red Fort, where they asked the Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, to become their leader and reclaim his throne. The emperor was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed and was proclaimed Shehenshah-e-Hindustan by the rebels.[11] The rebels also murdered much of the European, Eurasian, and Christian population of the city.[12]
Revolts broke out in other parts of Oudh and the North-Western Provinces as well, where civil rebellion followed the mutinies, leading to popular uprisings.[13] The British were initially caught off-guard and were thus slow to react, but eventually responded with force. The lack of effective organisation among the rebels, coupled with the military superiority of the British, brought a rapid end to the rebellion.[14] The British fought the main army of the rebels near Delhi, and after prolonged fighting and a siege, defeated them and retook the city on 20 September 1857.[15] Subsequently, revolts in other centres were also crushed. The last significant battle was fought in Gwalior on 17 June 1858, during which Rani Lakshmibai was killed. Sporadic fighting and guerrilla warfare, led by Tatya Tope, continued until spring 1859, but most of the rebels were eventually subdued.
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major turning point in the history of modern India. While affirming the military and political power of the British,[16] it led to significant change in how India was to be controlled by them. Under the Government of India Act 1858, the Company was deprived of its involvement in ruling India, with its territory being transferred to the direct authority of the British government.[17] At the apex of the new system was a Cabinet minister, the Secretary of State for India, who was to be formally advised by astatutory council;[18] the Governor-General of India (Viceroy) was made responsible to him, while he in turn was responsible to the British Parliament for British rule. In a royal proclamation made to the people of India, Queen Victoria promised equal opportunity of public service under British law, and also pledged to respect the rights of the native princes.[19] The British stopped the policy of seizing land from the princes, decreed religious tolerance and began to admit Indians into the civil service (albeit mainly as subordinates). However, they also increased the number of British soldiers in relation to native Indian ones, and only allowed British soldiers to handle artillery. Bahadur Shah was exiled to Rangoon, Burma, where he died in 1862.
In 1876 Queen Victoria took the additional title of Empress of India.
Rise of organised movements
Main articles: Nationalist Movements in India, Indian National Congress, Congress Socialist Party, and All India Kisan Sabha
See also: Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Subramanya Bharathy, and Syed Ahmed Khan/Bharathidhasan
{They were approaching the awareness to the people about the independence through poems, dramas and lectures} The decades following the Rebellion were a period of growing political awareness, manifestation of Indian public opinion and emergence of Indian leadership at both national and provincial levels. Dadabhai Naoroji formed the East India Association in 1867 and Surendranath Banerjee founded the Indian National Association in 1876.
Inspired by a suggestion made by A.O. Hume, a retired British civil servant, seventy-three Indian delegates met in Bombay in 1885 and founded the Indian National Congress. They were mostly members of the upwardly mobile and successful western-educated provincial elites, engaged in professions such as law, teaching and journalism. At its inception, the Congress had no well-defined ideology and commanded few of the resources essential to a political organisation. Instead, it functioned more as a debating society that met annually to express its loyalty to the British Raj and passed numerous resolutions on less controversial issues such as civil rights or opportunities in government (especially in the civil service). These resolutions were submitted to the Viceroy's government and occasionally to the British Parliament, but the Congress's early gains were srit. Despite its claim to represent all India, the Congress voiced the interests of urban elites; the number of participants from other social and economic backgrounds remained negligible.
The influence of socio-religious groups such as Arya Samaj (started by Swami Dayanand Saraswati) and Brahmo Samaj (founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and others) became evident in pioneering reforms of Indian society. The work of men like Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Sri Aurobindo, Subramanya Bharathy, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Rabindranath Tagore and Dadabhai Naoroji, as well as women such as the Scots–Irish Sister Nivedita, spread the passion for rejuvenation and freedom. The rediscovery of India's indigenous history by several European and Indian scholars also fed into the rise of nationalism among Indians.
Rise of Indian nationalism (1885–1905)
Main article: Nationalist Movements in India
By 1900, although the Congress had emerged as an all-India political organisation, its achievement was undermined by its singular failure to attract Muslims, who felt that their representation in government service was inadequate. Attacks by Hindu reformers against religious conversion, cow slaughter, and the preservation of Urdu in Arabic script deepened their concerns of minority status and denial of rights if the Congress alone were to represent the people of India. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan launched a movement for Muslim regeneration that culminated in the founding in 1875 of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh (renamed Aligarh Muslim University in 1920). Its objective was to educate wealthy students by emphasising the compatibility of Islam with modern western knowledge. The diversity among India's Muslims, however, made it impossible to bring about uniform cultural and intellectual regeneration.
The nationalistic sentiments among Congress members led to the movement to be represented in the bodies of government, to have a say in the legislation and administration of India. Congressmen saw themselves as loyalists, but wanted an active role in governing their own country, albeit as part of the Empire. This trend was personified by Dadabhai Naoroji, who went as far as contesting, successfully, an election to the British House of Commons, becoming its first Indian member.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the first Indian nationalist to embrace Swaraj as the destiny of the nation[citation needed]. Tilak deeply opposed the then British education system that ignored and defamed India's culture, history and values. He resented the denial of freedom of expression for nationalists, and the lack of any voice or role for ordinary Indians in the affairs of their nation. For these reasons, he considered Swaraj as the natural and only solution. His popular sentence "Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it" became the source of inspiration for Indians.
In 1907, the Congress was split into two factions. The radicals led by Tilak advocated civil agitation and direct revolution to overthrow the British Empire and the abandonment of all things British. The moderates led by leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji and Gopal Krishna Gokhale on the other hand wanted reform within the framework of British rule. Tilak was backed by rising public leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, who held the same point of view. Under them, India's three great states – Maharashtra, Bengal andPunjab shaped the demand of the people and India's nationalism. Gokhale criticised Tilak for encouraging acts of violence and disorder. But the Congress of 1906 did not have public membership, and thus Tilak and his supporters were forced to leave the party.
But with Tilak's arrest, all hopes for an Indian offensive were stalled. The Congress lost credit with the people. A Muslim deputation met with the Viceroy, Minto (1905–10), seeking concessions from the impending constitutional reforms, including special considerations in government service and electorates. The British recognised some of the Muslim League's petitions by increasing the number of elective offices reserved for Muslims in the Indian Councils Act 1909. The Muslim League insisted on its separateness from the Hindu-dominated Congress, as the voice of a "nation within a nation."
Partition of Bengal, 1905
Main article: Partition of Bengal (1905)
In July 1905, Lord Curzon, the Viceroy and Governor-General (1899–1905), ordered the partition of the province of Bengal supposedly for improvements in administrative efficiency in the huge and populous region.[20] It also had justifications due to increasing conflicts between Muslims and dominant Hindu regimes in Bengal. However the Indians viewed the partition as an attempt by the British to disrupt the growing national movement in Bengal and divide the Hindus and Muslims of the region. The Bengali Hindu intelligentsia exerted considerable influence on local and national politics. The partition outraged Bengalis. Not only had the government failed to consult Indian public opinion, but the action appeared to reflect the British resolve to divide and rule. Widespread agitation ensued in the streets and in the press, and the Congress advocated boycotting British products under the banner of swadeshi. Hindus showed unity by tying Rakhi on each other's wrists and observing Arandhan (not cooking any food). During this time Bengali Hindu nationalists begin writing virulent newspaper articles and were charged with sedition. Brahmabhandav Upadhyay, a Hindu newspaper editor who helped Tagore establish his school at Shantiniketan, was imprisoned and the first martyr to die in British custody in the 20th century struggle for independence.
All India Muslim League
The All India Muslim League was founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dhaka (now Bangladesh), in 1906, in the context of the circumstances that were generated over the partition of Bengal in 1905. Being a political party to secure the interests of the Muslim diaspora in British India, the Muslim League played a decisive role during the 1940s in the Indian independence movement and developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan in the Indian subcontinent.But when Muslim league passed Pakistan resolution based on Two Nation theory of Jinnah, Nationalist leaders like Maulana Azad and others stood against it. All-India Jamhur Muslm League was formed parellal to Muslim League with Raja of Mahmoodabad (a close associate of Jinnah) as its president and Dr.Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi its general secretary.[21]
In 1906, Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress, which was the largest Indian political organization. Like most of the Congress at the time, Jinnah did not favour outright independence, considering British influences on education, law, culture and industry as beneficial to India. Jinnah became a member on the sixty-member Imperial Legislative Council. The council had no real power or authority, and included a large number of un-elected pro-Raj loyalists and Europeans. Nevertheless, Jinnah was instrumental in the passing of the Child Marriages Restraint Act, the legitimization of the Muslim waqf (religious endowments) and was appointed to the Sandhurst committee, which helped establish the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun.[22] During World War I, Jinnah joined other Indian moderates in supporting the British war effort, hoping that Indians would be rewarded with political freedoms....
First World War
See also: Defence of India Act 1915
World War I began with an unprecedented outpouring of love and goodwill towards the United Kingdom from within the mainstream political leadership, contrary to initial British fears of an Indian revolt. India contributed massively to the British war effort by providing men and resources. About 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, while both the Indian government and the princes sent large supplies of food, money and ammunition. However, Bengal and Punjab remained hotbeds of anti colonial activities. Nationalism in Bengal, increasingly closely linked with the unrests in Punjab, was significant enough to nearly paralyse the regional administration.[23][24]
None of the overseas conspiracies had significant impact on Indians inside India, and there were no major mutinies or violent outbursts. However, they did lead to profound fears of insurrection among British officials, preparing them to use extreme force to frighten the Indians into submission.[25]
Nationalist response to war
In the aftermath of World War I, high casualty rates, soaring inflation compounded by heavy taxation, a widespread influenza epidemic and the disruption of trade during the war escalated human suffering in India.
The pre-war nationalist movement revived as moderate and extremist groups within the Congress submerged their differences in order to stand as a unified front. They argued their enormous services to the British Empire during the war demanded a reward, and demonstrated the Indian capacity for self-rule. In 1916, the Congress succeeded in forging the Lucknow Pact, a temporary alliance with the Muslim League over the issues of devolution of political power and the future of Islam in the region.
British reforms
The British themselves adopted a "carrot and stick" approach in recognition of India's support during the war and in response to renewed nationalist demands. In August 1917, Edwin Montagu, the secretary of state for India, made the historic announcement in Parliament that the British policy for India was "increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire." The means of achieving the proposed measure were later enshrined in the Government of India Act 1919, which introduced the principle of a dual mode of administration, or diarchy, in which both elected Indian legislators and appointed British officials shared power. The act also expanded the central and provincial legislatures and widened the franchise considerably. Diarchy set in motion certain real changes at the provincial level: a number of non-controversial or "transferred" portfolios, such as agriculture, local government, health, education, and public works, were handed over to Indians, while more sensitive matters such as finance, taxation, and maintaining law and order were retained by the provincial British administrators.[26]
Gandhi arrives in India
See also: Jallianwala Bagh massacre
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) had been a prominent leader of the Indian nationalist movement in South Africa, and had been a vocal opponent of basic discrimination and abusive labour treatment as well as suppressive police control such as theRowlatt Acts. During these protests, Gandhiji had perfected the concept of satyagraha, which had been inspired by the philosophy of Baba Ram Singh (famous for leading the Kuka Movement in the Punjab in 1872). In January 1914 (well before the First World War began) Gandhiji was successful. The hated legislation against Indians was repealed and all Indian political prisoners were released by GeneralJan Smuts.[27]
Gandhi returned to India, on 9 January 1915 and initially entered the political fray not with calls for a nation-state, but in support of the unified commerce-oriented territory that the Congress Party had been asking for. Gandhi believed that the industrial development and educational development that the Europeans had brought with them were required to alleviate many of India's problems. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a veteran Congressman and Indian leader, became Gandhi's mentor. Gandhi's ideas and strategies of non-violent civil disobedience initially appeared impractical to some Indians and Congressmen. In Gandhi's own words, "civil disobedience is civil breach of unmoral statutory enactments." It had to be carried out non-violently by withdrawing cooperation with the corrupt state. Gandhi's ability to inspire millions of common people became clear when he used satyagraha during the anti-Rowlatt Act protests in Punjab. Gandhi had great respect for Lokmanya Tilak. His programmes were all inspired by Tilak's "Chatusutri" programme.
Gandhi's vision would soon bring millions of regular Indians into the movement, transforming it from an elitist struggle to a national one. The nationalist cause was expanded to include the interests and industries that formed the economy of common Indians. For example, inChamparan, Bihar, Gandhi championed the plight of desperately poor sharecroppers and landless farmers who were being forced to pay oppressive taxes and grow cash crops at the expense of the subsistence crops which formed their food supply. The profits from the crops they grew were insufficient to provide for their sustenance.
The positive impact of reform was seriously undermined in 1919 by the Rowlatt Act, named after the recommendations made the previous year to the Imperial Legislative Council by the Rowlatt Commission. The Rowlatt Act vested the Viceroy's government with extraordinary powers to quell sedition by silencing the press, detaining the political activists without trial, and arresting any individuals suspected of sedition or treason without a warrant. In protest, a nationwide cessation of work (hartal) was called, marking the beginning of widespread, although not nationwide, popular discontent.
The agitation unleashed by the acts led to British attacks on demonstrators, culminating on 13 April 1919, in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (also known as the Amritsar Massacre) in Amritsar, Punjab. The British military commander, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, blocked the main, and only entrance-cum-exit, and ordered his soldiers to fire into an unarmed and unsuspecting crowd of some 15,000 men, women and children. They had assembled peacefully at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled courtyard, but Dyer had wanted to execute the imposed ban on all meetings and proposed to teach all Indians a lesson the harsher way.[28] A total of 1,651 rounds were fired, killing 379 people (as according to an official British commission; Indian officials' estimates ranged as high as 1,499 and wounding 1,137 in the massacre.[29] Dyer was forced to retire but was hailed as a hero in Britain, demonstrating to Indian nationalists that the Empire was beholden to public opinion in Britain, but not in India.[30] The episode dissolved wartime hopes of home rule and goodwill and opened a rift that could not be bridged short of complete independence.[31]
The non-cooperation movements
Main articles: Mohandas Gandhi and Non-cooperation movement
The independence movement as late as 1918 was an elitist movement far removed from the masses of India, focusing essentially on a unified commerce-oriented territory and hardly a call for a united nation. Gandhi changed all that and made it a mass movement.
The first non-cooperation movement
At the Calcutta session of the Congress in September 1920, Gandhi convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj (self rule). The first satyagraha movement urged the use of khadi and Indian material as alternatives to those shipped from Britain. It also urged people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts; resign from government employment; refuse to pay taxes; and forsake British titles and honours. Although this came too late to influence the framing of the new Government of India Act 1919, the movement enjoyed widespread popular support, and the resulting unparalleled magnitude of disorder presented a serious challenge to foreign rule. However, Gandhi called off the movement following the Chauri Chaura incident, which saw the death of twenty-two policemen at the hands of an angry mob.
Membership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to pay a token fee, and a hierarchy of committees was established and made responsible for discipline and control over a hitherto amorphous and diffuse movement. The party was transformed from an elite organisation to one of mass national appeal and participation.
Gandhi was sentenced in 1922 to six years of prison, but was released after serving two. On his release from prison, he set up the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, on the banks of river Sabarmati, established the newspaper Young India, and inaugurated a series of reforms aimed at the socially disadvantaged within Hindu society — the rural poor, and theuntouchables.[32][33]
This era saw the emergence of new generation of Indians from within the Congress Party, including C. Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhas Chandra Boseand others- who would later on come to form the prominent voices of the Indian independence movement, whether keeping with Gandhian Values, or, as in the case of Bose's Indian National Army, diverging from it.
The Indian political spectrum was further broadened in the mid-1920s by the emergence of both moderate and militant parties, such as the Swaraj Party, Hindu Mahasabha,Communist Party of India and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Regional political organisations also continued to represent the interests of non-Brahmins in Madras, Mahars inMaharashtra, and Sikhs in Punjab. However, people like Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi, Vanchinathan and Neelakanda Brahmachari played a major role from Tamil Nadu in both freedom struggle and fighting for equality for all castes and communities.
Purna Swaraj
Following the rejection of the recommendations of the Simon Commission by Indians, an all-party conference was held at Bombay in May 1928. This was meant to instill a sense of resistance among people. The conference appointed a drafting committee under Motilal Nehru to draw up a constitution for India. The Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress asked the British government to accord dominion status to India by December 1929, or a countrywide civil disobedience movement would be launched. By 1929, however, in the midst of rising political discontent and increasingly violent regional movements, the call for complete independence from Britain began to find increasing grounds within the Congress leadership. Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru at its historic Lahore session in December 1929, the Indian National Congress adopted a resolution calling for complete independence from the British. It authorised the Working Committee to launch a civil disobedience movement throughout the country. It was decided that 26 January 1930 should be observed all over India as the Purna Swaraj (total independence) Day. Many Indian political parties and Indian revolutionaries of a wide spectrum united to observe the day with honour and pride.
Karachi Congress session-1931
A special session was held in Karachi to endorse the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. The goal of Purna swaraj was reiterated. Two resolutions were adopted-one on Fundamental rights and other on National Economic program. This was the first time the congress spelt out what swaraj would mean for the masses.
Salt March and civil disobedience
Main article: Salt Satyagraha
Gandhi emerged from his long seclusion by undertaking his most famous campaign, a march of about 400 kilometres [240 miles] from his commune in Ahmedabad to Dandi, on the coast of Gujarat between 11 March and 6 April 1930. The march is usually known as the Dandi March or the Salt Satyagraha. At Dandi, in protest against British taxes on salt, he and thousands of followers broke the law by making their own salt from seawater. It took 24 days for him to complete this march. Every day he covered 10 miles and gave many speeches.
In April 1930 there were violent police-crowd clashes in Calcutta. Approximately 100,000 people were imprisoned in the course of the Civil disobedience movement (1930–31), while in Peshawar unarmed demonstrators were fired upon in the Qissa Khwani bazaar massacre. The latter event catapulted the then newly formed Khudai Khidmatgar movement (founder Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Frontier Gandhi) onto the National scene. While Gandhi was in jail, the first Round Table Conference was held in London in November 1930, without representation from the Indian National Congress. The ban upon the Congress was removed because of economic hardships caused by the satyagraha. Gandhi, along with other members of the Congress Working Committee, was released from prison in January 1931.
In March 1931, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed, and the government agreed to set all political prisoners free (Although, some of the key revolutionaries were not set free and the death sentence for Bhagat Singh and his two comrades was not taken back which further intensified the agitation against Congress not only outside it but within the Congress itself). In return, Gandhi agreed to discontinue the civil disobedience movement and participate as the sole representative of the Congress in the second Round Table Conference, which was held in London in September 1931. However, the conference ended in failure in December 1931. Gandhi returned to India and decided to resume the civil disobedience movement in January 1932.
For the next few years, the Congress and the government were locked in conflict and negotiations until what became the Government of India Act 1935 could be hammered out. By then, the rift between the Congress and the Muslim League had become unbridgeable as each pointed the finger at the other acrimoniously. The Muslim League disputed the claim of the Congress to represent all people of India, while the Congress disputed the Muslim League's claim to voice the aspirations of all Muslims.
Elections and the Lahore resolution
Main article: Lahore Resolution
The Government of India Act 1935, the voluminous and final constitutional effort at governing British India, articulated three major goals: establishing a loose federal structure, achieving provincial autonomy, and safeguarding minority interests through separate electorates. The federal provisions, intended to unite princely states and British India at the centre, were not implemented because of ambiguities in safeguarding the existing privileges of princes. In February 1937, however, provincial autonomy became a reality when elections were held; the Congress emerged as the dominant party with a clear majority in five provinces and held an upper hand in two, while the Muslim League performed poorly.
In 1939, the Viceroy Linlithgow declared India's entrance into World War II without consulting provincial governments. In protest, the Congress asked all of its elected representatives to resign from the government. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the president of the Muslim League, persuaded participants at the annual Muslim League session at Lahore in 1940 to adopt what later came to be known as the Lahore Resolution, demanding the division of India into two separate sovereign states, one Muslim, the other Hindu; sometimes referred to as Two Nation Theory. Although the idea of Pakistan had been introduced as early as 1930, very few had responded to it. However, the volatile political climate and hostilities between the Hindus and Muslims transformed the idea of Pakistan into a stronger demand.
Revolutionary activities
Main article: Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
Apart from a few stray incidents, the armed rebellion against the British rulers was not organised before the beginning of the 20th century. The Indian revolutionary underground began gathering momentum through the first decade of 20th century, with groups arising in Bengal, Maharastra, Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and the then Madras Presidency including what is now called South India. More groups were scattered around India. Particularly notable movements arose in Bengal, especially around the Partition of Bengal in 1905, and in Punjab.[34] In the former case, it was the educated, intelligent and dedicated youth of the urban middle class Bhadralok community that came to form the "Classic" Indian revolutionary,[34] while the latter had an immense support base in the rural and Military society of the Punjab. Organisations like Jugantar and Anushilan Samiti had emerged in the 1900s (decade). The revolutionary philosophies and movement made their presence felt during the 1905 Partition of Bengal. Arguably, the initial steps to organize the revolutionaries were taken by Aurobindo Ghosh, his brother Barin Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta etc. when they formed the Jugantar party in April 1906.[35] Jugantar was created as an inner circle of the Anushilan Samiti which was already present in Bengal mainly as a revolutionary society in the guise of a fitness club.
The Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar opened several branches throughout Bengal and other parts of India and recruited young men and women to participate in the revolutionary activities. Several murders and looting were done, with many revolutionaries being captured and imprisoned. The Jugantar party leaders like Barin Ghosh and Bagha Jatin initiated making of explosives. Amongst a number of notable events of political terrorism were the Alipore bomb case, the Muzaffarpur killing tried several activists and many were sentenced to deportation for life, while Khudiram Bose was hanged. The founding of the India House and The Indian Sociologist under Shyamji Krishna Varma in London in 1905 took the radical movement to Britain itself. On 1 July 1909, Madan Lal Dhingra, an Indian student closely identified with India House in London shot dead William Hutt Curzon Wylie, a British M.P. in London. 1912 saw the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy planned under Rash Behari Bose, an erstwhile Jugantar member, to assassinate the then Viceroy of India Charles Hardinge. The conspiracy culminated in an attempt to Bomb the Viceregal procession on 23 December 1912, on the occasion of transferring the Imperial Capital from Calcutta toDelhi. In the aftermath of this event, concentrated police and intelligence efforts were made by the British Indian police to destroy the Bengali and Punjabi revolutionary underground, which came under intense pressure for sometime. Rash Behari successfully evaded capture for nearly three years. However, by the time that World War I opened in Europe, the revolutionary movement in Bengal (and Punjab) had revived and was strong enough to nearly paralyse the local administration.[23][24] in 1914, Indian revolutionaries made conspiracies against British rule but the plan failed and many revolutionaries sacrificed their life and others were arrested and sent to the Cellular Jail (Kalapani) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. During the First World War, the revolutionaries planned to import arms and ammunitions from Germany and stage an armed revolution against the British.[36]
The Ghadar Party operated from abroad and cooperated with the revolutionaries in India. This party was instrumental in helping revolutionaries inside India catch hold of foreign arms. After the First World War, the revolutionary activities began to slowly wane as it suffered major setbacks due to the arrest of prominent leaders. In the 1920s, some revolutionary activists began to reorganise.
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) was formed under the leadership of Chandrasekhar Azad. Kakori train robbery was done largely by the members of HSRA.Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb inside the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 protesting against the passage of the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill while raising slogans of Inqulab Zindabad, though no one was killed or injured in the bomb incident. Bhagat Singh surrendered after the bombing incident and a trial was conducted. Sukhdev and Rajguru were also arrested by police during search operations after the bombing incident. Following the trial (Central Assembly Bomb Case), Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged in 1931. Allama Mashriqi founded Khaksar Tehreek in order to direct particularly the Muslims towards the independence movement.[37]
Surya Sen, along with other activists, raided the Chittagong armoury on 18 April 1930 to capture arms and ammunition and to destroy government communication system to establish a local governance. Pritilata Waddedar led an attack on a European club in Chittagong in 1932, while Bina Das attempted to assassinate Stanley Jackson, the Governor of Bengal inside the convocation hall of Calcutta University. Following the Chittagong armoury raid case, Surya Sen was hanged and several others were deported for life to theCellular Jail in Andaman. The Bengal Volunteers started operating in 1928. On 8 December 1930, the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio of the party entered the secretariat Writers' Buildingin Kolkata and murdered Col. N. S. Simpson, the Inspector General of Prisons.
On 13 March 1940, Udham Singh shot Michael O'Dwyer(the last political murder out side India), generally held responsible for the Amritsar Massacre, in London. However, as the political scenario changed in the late 1930s — with the mainstream leaders considering several options offered by the British and with religious politics coming into play — revolutionary activities gradually declined. Many past revolutionaries joined mainstream politics by joining Congress and other parties, especially communist ones, while many of the activists were kept under hold in different jails across the country.
The final process of Indian independence movement
In 1937, provincial elections were held and the Congress came to power in seven of the eleven provinces. This was a strong indicator of the Indian people's support for complete Independence.
When World War II started, Viceroy Linlithgow unilaterally declared India a belligerent on the side of Britain, without consulting the elected Indian representatives. In opposition to Linlithgow's action, the entire Congress leadership resigned from the local government councils. However, many wanted to support the British war effort, and indeed the British Indian Army was the largest volunteer force, numbering 2,500,000 men during the war.[38]
Especially during the Battle of Britain in 1940, Gandhi resisted calls for massive civil disobedience movements that came from within as well as outside his party, stating he did not seek India's freedom out of the ashes of a destroyed Britain. In 1942 the Congress launched the Quit India movement. There was some violence but the Raj cracked down and arrested tens of thousands of Congress leaders, including all the main national and provincial figures. They were not released until the end of the war was in sight in 1945.
The independence movement saw the rise of three movements: The first of these, the Kakori conspiracy (9 August 1925) was led by Indian youth under the leadership of Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil; second was the Azad Hind movement led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose which saw its inception early in the war and joined Germany and Japan to fight Britain; the third one saw its inception in August 1942, was led by Lal Bahadur Shastri[39] and reflected the common man resulting the failure of the Cripps' mission to reach a consensus with the Indian political leadership over the transfer of power after the war.
Quit India Movement
Main article: Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement (Bharat Chhodo Andolan) or the August Movement was a civil disobedience movement in India launched on 9 August 1942 in response to Gandhi's call for immediate independence of India and against sending Indians to World War II. He asked all teachers to leave their schools, and other Indians to leave their respective jobs and take part in this movement. Due to Gandhi's political influence, his request was followed by a massive proportion of the population.
At the outbreak of war, the Congress Party had during the Wardha meeting of the working-committee in September 1939, passed a resolution conditionally supporting the fight against fascism,[40] but were rebuffed when they asked for independence in return. In March 1942, faced with an increasingly dissatisfied sub-continent only reluctantly participating in the war, and deteriorations in the war situation in Europe and South East Asia, and with growing dissatisfactions among Indian troops- especially in Europe- and among the civilian population in the sub-continent, the British government sent a delegation to India under Stafford Cripps, in what came to be known as the Cripps' Mission. The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the Indian National Congress a deal to obtain total co-operation during the war, in return of progressive devolution and distribution of power from the crown and the Viceroy to elected Indian legislature. However, the talks failed, having failed to address the key demand of a timeframe towards self-government, and of definition of the powers to be relinquished, essentially portraying an offer of limited dominion-status that was wholly unacceptable to the Indian movement.[41] To force the British Raj to meet its demands and to obtain definitive word on total independence, the Congress took the decision to launch the Quit India Movement.
The aim of the movement was to bring the British Government to the negotiating table by holding the Allied War Effort hostage. The call for determined but passive resistance that signified the certitude that Gandhi foresaw for the movement is best described by his call to Do or Die, issued on 8 August at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay, since renamedAugust Kranti Maidan (August Revolution Ground). However, almost the entire Congress leadership, and not merely at the national level, was put into confinement less than twenty-four hours after Gandhi's speech, and the greater number of the Congress khiland were to spend the rest of the war in jail.
On 8 August 1942, the Quit India resolution was passed at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The draft proposed that if the British did not accede to the demands, a massive Civil Disobedience would be launched. However, it was an extremely controversial decision. At Gowalia Tank, Mumbai, Gandhi urged Indians to follow a non-violent civil disobedience. Gandhi told the masses to act as an independent nation and not to follow the orders of the British. The British, already alarmed by the advance of the Japanese army to the India–Burma border, responded the next day by imprisoning Gandhi at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. The Congress Party's Working Committee, or national leadership was arrested all together and imprisoned at the Ahmednagar Fort. They also banned the party altogether. Large-scale protests and demonstrations were held all over the country. Workers remained absent en masse and strikes were called. The movement also saw widespread acts of sabotage, Indian under-ground organisation carried out bomb attacks on allied supply convoys, government buildings were set on fire, electricity lines were disconnected and transport and communication lines were severed. The disruptions were under control in a few weeks and had little impact on the war effort. The movement soon became a leaderless act of defiance, with a number of acts that deviated from Gandhi's principle of non-violence. In large parts of the country, the local underground organisations took over the movement. However, by 1943, Quit India had petered out.
All the other major parties rejected the Quit India plan, and most cooperated closely with the British, as did the princely states, the civil service and the police. The Muslim Leaguesupported the Raj and grew rapidly in membership, and in influence with the British.
Indian National Army
Main articles: Indian National Army, Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and World War II
See also: Legion Freies Indien, Battaglione Azad Hindoustan, Capt. Mohan Singh, Indian Independence League, and INA trials
The arbitrary entry of India into the war was strongly opposed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who had been elected President of the Congress twice, in 1938 and 1939. After lobbying against participation in the war, he resigned from Congress in 1939 and started a new party, the All India Forward Bloc. In 1940, a year after war broke out, the British had put Bose under house arrest in Calcutta. However, he escaped and made his way through Afghanistan to Germany to seek Axis help to raise an army to fight the British. Here, he raised with Erwin Rommel's Indian POWs what came to be known as the Free India Legion. Bose made his way to Japanese South Asia, where he formed what came to be known as the Azad Hind Government, a Provisional Free Indian Government in exile, and organised the Indian National Army with Indian POWs and Indian expatriates in South-East Asia, with the help of the Japanese. Its aim was to reach India as a fighting force that would build on public resentment to inspire revolts among Indian soldiers to defeat the British raj.
The INA was to see action against the allies, including the British Indian Army, in the forests of Arakan, Burma and in Assam, laying siege on Imphal and Kohima with the Japanese 15th Army. During the war, the Andaman and Nicobar islands were captured by the Japanese and handed over by them to the INA. Bose renamed them Shahid (Martyr) and Swaraj (Independence).
The INA failed, owing to disrupted logistics, poor arms and supplies from the Japanese, and lack of support and training.[42] The supposed death of Bose is seen as culmination of the entire Azad Hind Movement. Following the surrender of Japan, the troops of the INA were brought to India and a number of them charged with treason. However, Bose's actions had captured the public imagination and also turned the inclination of the native soldiers of the British Indian Forces from one of loyalty to the crown to support for the soldiers that the Raj deemed as collaborators.[43][44]
After the war, the stories of the Azad Hind movement and its army that came into public limelight during the trials of soldiers of the INA in 1945 were seen as so inflammatory that, fearing mass revolts and uprisings — not just in India, but across its empire — the British Government forbade theBBC from broadcasting their story.[45] Newspapers reported the summary execution of INA soldiers held at Red Fort.[46] During and after the trial,mutinies broke out in the British Indian Armed forces, most notably in the Royal Indian Navy which found public support throughout India, fromKarachi to Mumbai and from Vizag to Kolkata.[47][48][49] Many historians have argued that the INA, and the mutinies it inspired, were strong driving forces behind the transfer of power in 1947.[50][51][52]
Main article: Royal Indian Navy mutiny
After two Japanese attacks on Christmas Island in late February and early March 1942 relations between the British officers and their Indian troops broke down. On the night of 10 March the Indian troops led by a Sikh policemen mutinied killing the five British soldiers and the imprisoning of the remaining 21 Europeans on the island. Later on 31 March, a Japanese fleet arrived at the island and the Indians surrendered.[53]
The Royal Indian Navy mutiny (also called the Bombay Mutiny) encompasses a total strike and subsequent mutiny by Indian sailors of the Royal Indian Navy on board ship and shore establishments at Bombay (Mumbai) harbour on 18 February 1946. From the initial flashpoint in Bombay, the mutiny spread and found support throughout British India, fromKarachi to Calcutta and ultimately came to involve 78 ships, 20 shore establishments and 20,000 sailors.[54]
The agitations, mass strikes, demonstrations and consequently support for the mutineers, therefore continued several days even after the mutiny had been called off. Along with this, the assessment may be made that it described in crystal clear terms to the government that the British Indian Armed forces could no longer be universally relied upon for support in crisis, and even more it was more likely itself to be the source of the sparks that would ignite trouble in a country fast slipping out of the scenario of political settlement.[55]
Independence and partition of India
On 3 June 1947, Viscount Louis Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced the partitioning of British India into India and Pakistan. With the speedy passage through the British Parliament of the Indian Independence Act 1947, at 11:57 on 14 August 1947 Pakistan was declared a separate nation, and at 12:02, just after midnight, on 15 August 1947, India also became an independent nation. Violent clashes between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims followed. Prime Minister Nehru and deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel invited Mountbatten to continue as Governor General of India. He was replaced in June 1948 by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. Patel took on the responsibility of bringing into the Indian Union 565 princely states, steering efforts by his "iron fist in a velvet glove" policies, exemplified by the use of military force to integrateJunagadh and Hyderabad state into India (Operation Polo). On the other hand Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru kept the issue of Kashmir in his hands.
The Constituent Assembly completed the work of drafting the constitution on 26 November 1949; on 26 January 1950 the Republic of India was officially proclaimed. The Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India, taking over from Governor General Rajgopalachari. Subsequently India invaded and annexed Goa and Portugal's other Indian enclaves in 1961), the French ceded Chandernagore in 1951, and Pondichéry and its remaining Indian colonies in 1956, and Sikkim voted to join the Indian Union in 1975.
Following Independence in 1947, India remained in the Commonwealth of Nations, and relations between the UK and India have been friendly. There are many areas in which the two countries seek stronger ties for mutual benefit, and there are also strong cultural and social ties between the two nations. The UK has an ethnic Indian population of over 1.6 million. In 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron described Indian – British relations as the "New Special Relationship.
SB 46 Intimation v3.1 Revised 14/08/13
- Major bug has been fixed, it can be execute in all POs.
- Export to word option added.
- Print option removed.
- Background image has been changed.
To Download: Download
Direct Recruitment PA/SA Examination - UPDATE as on 14-AUG-2013
Direct Recruitment PA/SA Examination - LATEST UPDATE
I The List of shortlisted candidates for the Computer Typing / Data Entry (PAPER II) for Bihar, Haryana, Himanchal Pradesh & Rajasthan Postal Circles is added in the given link below.
II PAPER II for Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Odisha and West Bengal Postal Circles is scheduled on 24th and 25th August 2013.The Admit cards for the same have been dispatched. Same also can be downloaded from this website.
III Selected Candidates called for Paper II can use links on the Screen named "Generate Admit Card" to familiarize with the Steps for appearing in "Typing Test" & "Data Entry Test".
How to Open Full Screen Compose Box in Gmail as Default
One of the most annoying changes with Gmail has to be the compose mail pop-up box, which floats at the corner of your screen. Google has included a full screen toggle button on the top of the compose box. I personally like to compose mail on a full screen rather than rolling my eyes over to the left corner of my screen every time to see whether I’m typing correctly. I also found it a bit annoying to click the full-screen toggle button every time I compose a e-mail.
Fortunately, It’s very easy to make the full screen compose as a default setting
How it works:
Compose a new mail and the usual compose box would pop-up
Click on the little arrow you will find in the lower left corner of the compose box. Then choose Default to full-screen
Bingo! Now every time you compose a mail you will get a full-screen compose box. If you want the newer compose box, then simply repeat the steps again.
A Window to the World – Project Arrow
Project Arrow was conceived in April 2008 as an integrated and focused approach to enhance the quality of services and improve the ‘Look and Feel’ of identified Post Offices across the country. The underlying objective of the project was to provide all e-enabled services so that Post Offices become a “Window to the World” for the aamaadmi. Project Arrow follows a focussed approach with aamaadmi in the centre.
Scope of the Project
• To make Post Offices, especially those in the rural areas, a window to the common person for availing services, up till now confined to urban post office;
• To enable Post Offices to play a larger role in the social and economic transformation of the country by taking up new roles and challenges;
• To transform the large man power into a committed and professional human resource;
• To provide IT enabled services, especially in areas where it matters the most ;
• To change the “look and feel” of the post office to give it a distinct identity of its own, and;
• To ensure a return on investment necessary for a self- sustained growth and development. Every Project Arrow Post offices should be a profit center.
Strategy Adopted
• Implementation of the Project in a phased manner.
• Clearly define the objectives.
• Focus on areas of operations where minimum efforts can give maximum results.
• Identify key performance indicators.
• Putting a monitoring system in place for regular assessment and evaluation;
• Strict adherence to the timelines.
• A Steering Committee and a Core Team have been constituted to conceptualize the theme of the project and to monitor the implementation through all its stages.
• Two Work Stream Leaders for Core Operations and Look & Feel were identified with 4 Change Agents, with each of them having the responsibility of planning and implementation of changes down the line in different fields of activities.
• Each Change Agent supported by 3-4 members.
Two Components of the Project
• ‘Get the Core Right’ with focus areas on Mail Delivery, Remittances, Savings Bank and Office Service Levels
• Modernize ‘Look and Feel’ – with focus areas on Branding, IT, Human Resource and Infrastructure
In the first phase, 50 post offices in 10 Circles were given a facelift in exteriors and interiors. Rebranding was done with a new look. The facilities were upgraded with a specific focus on customer service. In each of these post offices, more space was made available to the customers for business transaction. Facilities, like writing tables and chairs for customers and ramps for differently abled, wherever possible, were provided in the post offices.
There was greater emphasis on upgrading the quality of service. Post office counters were converted to Multi-purpose counters in order to provide Registration, Speed Post, savings bank, life insurance, money transmission and other services at every counter of the Post office. Service delivery norms were devised for every service transaction and Citizen’s Charter duly displayed in the post offices. Adherence to these norms in areas of business, like mails and savings bank transactions, deposit of insurance premiums, sale of stamps etc. was made the responsibility of the stream leaders (APM Mails delivery, APM Counter etc) in the Post office.
In short, all efforts were made to make transacting business with post offices a pleasant experience through upgraded physical environment and better service delivery.
Training was also imparted to the Postal staff in soft skills, so that the transition from a monopolistic way of operating to offering services in a customer friendly and competitive environment could be professionally managed.
Under Project Arrow, 2515 Post offices have so far been upgraded under look and feel and a total of 18600 Post offices are being monitored for Core operations across the country. In the 12th Five Year Plan there is a proposal to upgrade 2500 Post offices under look and feel; out of these, 780 Post offices have already been upgraded in the financial year 2012-13. In order to enable Core Operation monitoring in 18600 Post offices, technology Upgradation through computerization and networking was done under the Technology project.
All the Post offices across the country shall soon be networked and commence operating on new software for counter and mails and Core Banking solutions. Thus the efforts made under Project Arrow for infrastructure and core operations improvement shall complement the IT rollout. The Project will finally ensure the repositioning of India Post as a modern dynamic organization to operate in a highly volatile and competitive market.
Project Arrow was awarded the Prime Minister’s award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2008-09
Source : PIB dtd 04/08/2013
[ http://pib.nic.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=98162 ]
Post Bank
Department of Posts has proposed to set up a Post Bank of India. This will be an independent entity, separate from the current operations of Small savings Schemes being carried out by the Department on behalf of Ministry of Finance. The Department of Posts has accordingly submitted an application to the RBI on 28.06.2013 seeking a banking license subject to necessary Cabinet approvals.
The details of financial services offered by the Post offices at present are as below:-
(1) Small Savings Schemes of Government of India (on behalf of Ministry of Finance)
(i) Post Office Savings Account
(ii) Post Office Time Deposit Account
(iii) Post Office Recurring Deposit Account
(iv) Post Office Monthly Income Account
(v) Senior Citizens Savings Scheme Account
(vi) Public Provident Fund Account
(vii) National Savings Certificates (VIII) and (IX) issue
(2) Money Remittances
(i) Money Order-Domestic
(ii) Instant Money Order- Domestic (through selected post offices)
(iii) Western Union Money Remittances –International Inward (through selected post offices)
(iv) MoneyGram Money Remittances –International Inward (through selected post offices)
(v) Money Order Videsh- International Inward and Outward (through selected post offices)
(vi) Electronic International Money Order Service-Inward (through selected post offices)
This information was given by Dr. Smt. Killi Kruparani, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
Source : PIB Release, 14 August, 2013
Govt.’s reply to NFPE on New Pension Scheme – resolution adopted in NFPE Federal Council
NT OF TRANSPORT ALLOWANCE TO ORTHOPAEDICALLY HANDICAPPED CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS
GRANT OF TRANSPORT ALLOWANCE TO ORTHOPEDICALLY HANDICAPPED CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.
Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure O.M. No. 21-1/2011-E.II (B) dated 5th August, 2013.
The undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry’s Office Memorandum No. 19029/1/78-E.IV(B) dated 3rd December,1979, as amended from time to time and to say that the criteria for orthopedically handicapped employees to draw Transport Allowance at double the normal rates has been reviewed in consultation with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare . It has been decided that in partial modification of para 1 of Office Memorandum dated 3rd December, 1979 referred above, Double Transport Allowance shall be allowed to an orthopedically Handicapped Government employee if he or she has a minimum of 40% permanent partial disability of either one or both upper limbs or one or both lower limbs or 50% permanent partial disability of one or both upper limbs and one or both lower limbs combined. The other conditions of O.M. dated 3rd December, 1979 for granting Double Transport Allowance to orthopedically Central Government employees shall remain unchanged.
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