|
Kayastha Dignitaries |
| |
|
Swami
Vivekananda |
|
A spiritual genius
of commanding
intellect and power,
Vivekananda crammed
immense labor and
achievement into his
short life,
1863-1902. Born in
the Datta family of
Calcutta, the
youthful Vivekananda
embraced the
agnostic
philosophies of the
Western mind along
with the worship of
science.
At the same time,
vehement in his
desire to know the
truth about God, he
questioned people of
holy reputation,
asking them if they
had seen God. He
found such a person
in Sri Ramakrishna,
who became his
master, allayed his
doubts, gave him God
vision, and
transformed him into
sage and prophet
with authority to
teach.
After Sri
Ramakrishna's death,
Vivekananda
renounced the world
and criss-crossed
India as a wandering
monk. His mounting
compassion for
India's people drove
him to seek their
material help from
the West. Accepting
an opportunity to
represent Hinduism
at Chicago's
Parliament of
Religions in 1893,
Vivekananda won
instant celebrity in
America and a ready
forum for his
spiritual teaching.
For three years he
spread the Vedanta
philosophy and
religion in America
and England and then
returned to India to
found the
Ramakrishna Math and
Mission. Exhorting
his nation to
spiritual greatness,
he wakened India to
a new national
consciousness. He
died July 4, 1902,
after a second, much
shorter sojourn in
the West. His
lectures and
writings have been
gathered into nine
volumes.
|
|
|
Dr. Rajendra Prasad |
|
Dr. Rajendra Prasad,
son of Mahadev Sahai,
was born in Zeradei
village in Bihar on
December 3, 1884.
Being the youngest
in a large joint
family "Rajen" was
greatly loved and
was strongly
attached to his
mother and elder
brother Mahendra.
Zeradei's population
was cosmopolitan in
nature and the
people lived
together in
happiness and
harmony. Rajendra
Prasad's earliest
memories are playing
"kabaddi" with his
Hindu and Muslim
friends. Rajen was
married when he was
barely 12 years old
to Rajvanshi Devi.
_babu.jpg)
Rajen was a
brilliant student
throughout school
and college. He
stood first in the
entrance examination
of the University of
Calcutta and was
awarded a Rs. 30 per
month scholarship.
It was first time
that a student from
Bihar had excelled.
He joined the
Calcutta Presidency
College in 1902.
The partition of
Bengal in 1905
fueled the swadeshi
and boycott
movements. The
movements had a deep
effect on students
in Calcutta. One
day, residents of
his hostel created a
bonfire of all the
foreign clothings
they had. When Rajen
went through his
belongings he could
not find a single
item of foreign
clothing.
Gopal Krishna
Gokhale had started
the Servants of
India Society in
1905 and asked Rajen
to join. So strong
was his sense of
duty toward his
family and education
that he, after much
deliberation,
refused Gokhale, one
of the greatest
nationalists of the
time. Rajen
recalled, "I was
miserable" and for
the first time in
his life he barely
got through his B.L.
examinations.
In 1915, Rajen
passed the Masters
in Law examination
with honors, winning
a gold medal. He
then completed his
Doctorate in Law to
attain the title,
Dr. Rajendra Prasad |
|
Shri Lal Bahadur
Shastri |
Lal Bahadur
Shastri
(October 2,
1904 -
January 11,
1966) was
the second
permanent
Prime
Minister of
independent
India and a
significantfigure
in the
struggle
forindependence.
Early
Life and
Freedom
Struggle
Shashtriji
was born in
Mughalsarai
(also spelt
as
Moghalsarai),
in United
Province
(now Uttar
Pradesh). To
take part in
the
non-cooperation
movement of
Mahatma
Gandhi in
1921, he
began
studying at
the
nationalist,
Kashi
Vidyapeeth
in Kashi,
and upon
completion,
he was given
the title
Shastri,
or
Scholar,
Doctor
at Kashi
Vidyapeeth
in 1926. He
spent almost
nine years
in jail in
total,
mostly after
the start of
the
Satyagraha
movement in
1940, he was
imprisoned
until 1946
[citation
needed].
|
Political
Career
Following
India's
independence,
he was Home
Minister
under Chief
Minister
Govind
Ballabh Pant
of Uttar
Pradesh. In
1951, he was
appointed
General
Secretary of
the Lok
Sabha before
re-gaining a
ministerial
post as
Railways
Minister. He
resigned as
Minister
following a
rail
disaster
near
Ariyalur,
Tamil Nadu.
He returned
to the
Cabinet
following
the General
Elections,
first as
Minister for
Transport,
in 1961, he
became Home
Minister.
Rise to
Premiership
Jawaharlal
Nehru died
in office on
May 27, 1964
and left a
vacuum. The
major
figures of
the Congress
Party were
unable to
find enough
support
which
allowed the
lesser
regarded
Shastri to
come through
as the
compromise
candidate,
becoming
Prime
Minister on
June 9.
Shastri,
though
mild-mannered
and
soft-spoken,
was a
Nehruvian
socialist
and thus
held appeal
to those
wishing to
prevent the
ascent of
conservative
right-winger
Morarji
Desai.
Shastri
worked by
his natural
characteristics
to obtain
compromises
between
opposing
viewpoints,
but in his
short tenure
was
ineffectual
in dealing
with the
economic
crisis and
food
shortage in
the nation.
However, he
commanded a
great deal
of respect
in the
Indian
populace,
and he used
it to
advantage in
pushing the
Green
Revolution
in India;
which
directly led
to India
becoming a
food-surplus
nation,
although he
did not live
to see it.
His
administration
began on a
rocky turf.
War with
Pakistan
See Also:
Indo-Pakistani
War of 196
The
chief
problem was
Pakistan.
Laying claim
to half of
the Kutchch
peninsula,
Pakistan
sent
incursion
forces in
August 1965,
who
skirmished
with Indian
tanks. Under
a scheme
proposed by
the British
PM, Pakistan
obtained 10%
of their
original
claim of
50%. But
Pakistan's
main
aggressive
intentions
were upon
Kashmir.
Just in
September
1965, major
incursions
of militants
and
Pakistani
soldiers
began,
hoping not
only to
break-down
the
government
but incite a
sympathetic
revolt. The
revolt did
not happen,
and an angry
India sent
its forces
across the
Line of
Control, and
the war
broke out on
a general
scale.
Massive tank
battles
occurred in
the Punjab,
and while
Pakistani
forces made
some gains,
Indian
forces
captured the
key post at
Haji Pir, in
Kashmir, and
brought the
Pakistani
city of
Lahore under
artillery
and mortar
fire.
Tashkent
A
ceasefire
was
declared,
and the
soft-spoken,
mild-mannered
Shastri,
once butt of
jokes was
now a
national
hero. In
January 1966
Shastri and
Pakistani
President
Muhammad
Ayub Khan
attended a
summit in
Tashkent
(former
USSR, now in
modern
Uzbekistan),
organised by
Kosygin.
Shastri
signed a
treaty with
Pakistan on
January 10,
the Tashkent
Declaration,
but the next
day he was
dead of a
heart
attack. He
is the only
Indian Prime
Minister to
have died in
office
overseas,
and indeed
probably one
of the few
heads of
government
in history
to do so.
All his
lifetime, he
was known
for his
honesty and
humility.
Memorial
He was
the first
person to be
posthumously
awarded the
Bharat Ratna
and a
memorial
"Vijay Ghat"
was built
for him in
Delhi. The
slogan
Jai Jawan,
Jai Kisan
(Hindi for
"Hail the
soldier,
Hail the
farmer") is
attributed
to Shastri.
Quotes
Jai
Jawan, Jai
Kisan:
Hail the
soldier,
Hail the
farmer
(Hindi)
If
one person
gives up one
meal in a
day, some
other person
gets his
only meal of
the day.:
made during
the food
crisis to
encourage
people to
evenly
distribute
food. |
|
Netaji
Subhash
Chandra Bose |
Subhash
Chandra
Bose
(January
23,
1897–August
18,
1945)
also
known
as
Netaji,
was
a
prominent
leader
of
the
Indian
independence
movement
against
British
colonial
rule.
Bose
helped
to
organize
and
later
led
the
Indian
National
Army,
put
together
with
Indian
prisoners-of-war
and
plantation
workers
from
Singapore
and
other
parts
of
Southeast
Asia.
"Give
me
blood
and
I
shall
Give
you
freedom"
was
one
of
the
most
popular
statements
made
by
him,
whereby
he
urges
the
people
of
India
to
join
him
in
his
freedom
movement.
|
|
Early
life:
Subhash
Chandra
Bose
was
born
to
an
affluent
Bengali
family
in
Cuttack,
Orissa.
His
father,
Janakinath
Bose,
was
a
public
prosecutor
who
believed
in
orthodox
nationalism
and
later
became
a
member
of
the
Bengal
Legislative
Council.
With
eight
brothers
and
six
sisters,
Bose's
family
was
large,
but
disciplined.
He
loved
to
read
and
was
fascinated
with
religion,
discipline,
and
self-control.
As a
youth,
he
did
social
service
and
after
reading
Vivekananda's
writings,
"selfless
service"
became
the
motto
guiding
his
life.
Recognizing
his
son's
intellect,
Bose's
father
was
determined
that
Bose
should
become
a
high-ranking
civil
servant.
He
attended
the
Protestant
European
School
and
the
Ravenshaw
Collegiate
School
in
Cuttack
and
later
graduated
with
honours
from
the
Scottish
Church
College,
Calcutta.
He
was
placed
second
in
his
university
examinations
and
participated
as a
member
of
the
India
Defence
Corps,
then
a
newly-formed
military
training
unit
at
the
University
of
Calcutta.
Afterwards
he
travelled
to
England
and
attended
Fitzwilliam
Hall
at
the
University
of
Cambridge.
In
1920,
Bose
took
the
Indian
Civil
Service
entrance
examination
and
was
ranked
second.
However,
he
resigned
from
the
prestigious
Indian
Civil
Service
in
April
1921
despite
his
high
ranking
in
the
merit
list,
and
went
ahead
to
join
the
freedom
movement.
After
returning
to
India,
he
joined
the
Congress
party
and
was
particularly
active
in
its
youth
wing.
Bose's
ideas
did
not
match
with
that
of
Gandhi's
belief
in
non-violence.
So
he
returned
to
Kolkata
to
work
under
Chittaranjan
Das,
the
Bengali
freedom
fighter
and
co-founder
(with
Motilal
Nehru)
of
the
Swarajya
(Self
Rule)
Party.
In
1921,
Bose
organised
a
boycott
of
the
celebrations
to
mark
the
Prince
of
Wales'
visit
to
India.
This
led
to
his
being
imprisoned.
In
April
1924,
Bose
was
elected
the
Chief
Executive
Officer
of
the
newly
constituted
Calcutta
Corporation.
Later,
in
October
that
year,
Bose
was
arrested
as a
suspected
terrorist.
First,
he
was
in
Alipore
jail
and
later
he
was
exiled
to
Mandalay
in
Burma.
In
June
1925,
Bose
was
deeply
struck
by
the
sudden
loss
of
his
mentor
Chittaranjan
Das.
At
the
end
of
1926
he
was
nominated
in
absentia,
as a
candidate
for
the
Bengal
Legislative
Assembly.
On
May
16
1927
he
was
released
from
jail
due
to
ill-health.
The
two
years
in
Mandalay
increased
his
confidence
and
strength.
By
December
1927,
Bose
with
Jawaharlal
Nehru
became
the
the
General
Secretary
of
the
Congress.
On
January
23
1930,
Bose
was
once
again
arrested
for
leading
an
"Independence"
procession.
After
being
released
from
jail
on
September
25,
he
was
elected
as
the
Mayor
of
the
City
of
Calcutta.
He
was
incarcerated
eleven
times
by
the
British
over
a
span
of
twenty
years,
either
in
India
or
in
Rangoon.
He
spent
many
years
in
various
capacities
as
the
Chief
Executive
Officer
of
the
Calcutta
Municipal
Corporation
(where
Chittaranjan
Das
had
previously
been
Mayor),
and
later
as
Mayor
himself.
With
Jawaharlal
Nehru
he
was
one
of
the
radical
Left
wing
leaders
of
the
Congress
Party.
He
was
exiled
from
India,
during
the
mid
1930s
to
Europe,
where
he
stated
India's
cause
for
self-rule
before
gatherings
and
conferences
(like
the
Second
Communist
International).
After
his
father's
death
the
British
authorities
allowed
him
to
land
at
Calcutta's
airport
only
for
the
religious
rites,
which
would
be
followed
by
his
swift
departure.
During
this
time
he
traveled
extensively
in
India
and
in
Europe
before
stating
his
political
opposition
to
Gandhi.
He
became
the
president
of
the
Haripura
Indian
National
Congress
in
1938,
against
Gandhi's
wishes.
He
was
elected
for
a
second
term
in
1939
in
Tripura
Congress
Session;
Gandhi
had
supported
Pattabhi
Sitaramayya
and
commented
"Pattavi's
defeat
is
my
defeat"
after
learning
the
election
results.
Although
Bose
won
the
election,
Gandhi's
continued
opposition
led
to
the
resignation
of
the
Working
Committee.
In
the
face
of
this
gesture
of
no-confidence
Bose
himself
resigned.
Bose
then
formed
an
independent
party,
the
All
India
Forward
Bloc.
Actions
during
the
Second
World
War
:
Bose
advocated
the
approach
that
the
political
instability
at
war-time
Britain
should
be
taken
advantage
of—rather
than
simply
wait
for
the
British
to
grant
political
"Home
Rule"
after
the
end
of
the
war
(which
was
the
view
of
Gandhi,
Nehru
and
a
section
of
the
Congress
leadership)
at
the
time.
In
this
he
was
influenced
by
the
examples
of
Italian
statesmen
Giuseppe
Garibaldi
and
Giuseppe
Mazzini.
During
his
stay
in
Europe
from
1933
to
1936,
he
met
several
European
leaders
and
thinkers,
including
Benito
Mussolini,
Eduard
Benes,
Karl
Seitz,
Eamon
De
Valera,
Romain
Rolland,
and
Alfred
Rosenberg.
He
came
to
believe
that
India
could
achieve
political
freedom
only
if
it
had
political,
military
and
diplomatic
support
from
outside
and
that
an
independent
nation
necessitated
the
creation
of a
national
army.
His
correspondence
reveals
that
despite
his
sheer
dislike
for
British
subjugation,
he
was
deeply
impressed
by
their
methodical
and
systematic
approach
and
their
steadfastedly
disciplinarian
outlook
towards
life.
In
England,
he
exchanged
ideas
with
British
Labour
Party
leaders
and
political
thinkers
on
the
future
of
India.
He
came
to
accept
the
view
that
a
free
India
needed
Socialist
authoritarianism,
on
the
lines
of
Turkey's
Kemal
Ataturk
for
at
least
two
decades.
In
Germany
:
At
the
start
of
World
War
II,
Bose
escaped
his
incarceration
at
Home
by
taking
the
guise
of a
Pathan
insurance
agent
("Ziaudddin")
to
Afghanistan
and
from
there
to
Moscow
with
the
passport
of
an
Italian
nobleman
"Count
Orlando
Mazzotta".
From
Moscow
he
reached
Rome
and
from
there
he
traveled
to
Germany
where
he
instituted
the
Special
Bureau
for
India
under
Adam
von
Trott
zu
Solz,
broadcasting
on
the
German-sponsored
Azad
Hind
Radio.
He
founded
the
Free
India
Centre
in
Berlin
and
created
the
Indian
Legion
(consisting
of
some
4500
soldiers)
out
of
Indian
prisoners
of
war
who
had
previously
fought
for
the
British
in
North
Africa,
but
had
capitulated
to
Erwin
Rommel's
Afrika
Korps.
The
Azad
Hind
Legion
was
attached
to
the
Waffen
SS,
and
they
swore
their
allegiance
to
Hitler
and
Bose
for
the
independence
of
India.
Bose
was
deeply
dissapointed
with
Hitler
when
the
Germans
invaded
the
Soviet
Union
and
decided
to
leave
Nazi
Germany.
Besides,
Hitler
had
shown
little
interest
for
the
cause
of
Indian
independence.
He
travelled
by
submarine
around
the
Cape
of
Good
Hope
to
Imperial
Japan,
which
helped
him
to
raise
his
army
in
Singapore.
This
was
the
only
civilian-transfer
across
two
different
submarines
of
two
different
navies
in
World
War
II.
In
Japan
:
The
Indian
National
Army
(INA)
consisted
of
some
85,000
regular
troops,
a
separate
women's
army
unit
named
after
Rani
Lakshmi
Bai
(in
a
regular
army,
the
women's
army
unit
was
the
First
of
its
kind
in
Asia),
who
gave
her
life
in
the
First
War
of
Independence
in
1857.
These
were
under
the
aegis
of a
provisional
government,
with
its
own
currency,
court
and
civil
code,
named
the
"Provisional
Government
of
Free
India"
(or
the
Arzi
Hukumate
Azad
Hind)
and
recognised
by
nine
Axis
states:
Germany,
Japan,
Italy,
Croatia,
Nationalist
China,
Siam,
Burma,
Manchukuo
and
the
Philippines.
This
government
had
participated
as a
delegate
or
observer
in
the
so-called
Greater
East
Asia
Co-Prosperity
Sphere.
En
route
to
India,
some
of
Bose's
troops
assisted
in
the
Japanese
victory
over
the
British
in
the
battles
of
Arakan
and
Meiktila,
along
with
the
Burmese
National
Army
led
by
Ba
Maw
and
Aung
San.
The
Provisional
Government
and
the
INA
were
established
in
the
Andaman
and
Nicobar
Islands
in
the
Bay
of
Bengal,
part
of
the
British
Indian
Empire.
On
Indian
mainland,
the
Indian
Tricolor
was
raised
for
the
First
time
in
the
town
in
Moirang,
in
Manipur,
in
northeastern
India.
The
other
towns
of
Kohima
and
Imphal,
were
placed
under
siege
by
divisions
of
the
Japanese,
the
Burmese
and
the
Gandhi
and
Nehru
Brigades
of
I.N.A..
At
the
time
of
the
Great
Bengal
Famine
of
1943,
during
which
millions
died
of
starvation,
Bose
had
offered
(through
radio)
Burmese
rice
to
the
victims
of
the
famine.
The
British
authorities
in
India
(and
in
the
UK)
refused
the
offer.
When
the
Japanese
were
defeated
at
the
battles
of
Kohima
and
Imphal,
the
Provisional
Government's
aim
of
establishing
a
base
in
mainland
India
was
lost
forever
and
the
INA
was
forced
to
pull-back
along
with
the
defeated
Japanese
Imperial
Army.
Japan's
surrender
after
the
atomic
bombing
of
Hiroshima
and
Nagasaki
also
led
to
the
eventual
surrender
of
the
Indian
National
Army.
Political
views
:
Even
though
Bose
and
Gandhi
had
differing
ideologies,
the
latter
called
Bose
the
"Patriot
of
Patriots"
(Bose
had
called
Gandhi
"Father
of
the
Nation").
He
has
been
given
belated
recognition
in
India,
and
especially
in
West
Bengal;
Calcutta's
civil
airport
and
a
university
have
been
named
after
him.
Many
of
the
symbols
of
the
Bose's
provisional
government,
which
were
also
associated
with
the
Congress,
have
been
adopted
in
independent
India:
Rabindranath
Tagore's
"Jana
Gana
Mana",
which
was
the
national
song
of
the
Provisional
Government
of
Azad
Hind
is
independent
India's
National
Anthem,
and
the
tricolour
as
India's
national
flag.
His
alliance
with
the
Axis
continues
to
be
controversial;
many
in
India
consider
him
a
hero
for
his
forceful
stance
against
oppressive
British
imperialism.
In
Working
with
the
Japanese
he
was
however
fighting
his
own
countrymen,
who
defended
India
within
the
unpoliticised
volunteer
British
Indian
Army
against
the
Japanese
invasion.
At
the
time
of
the
start
of
the
Second
World
War,
Great
divisions
existed
in
the
Indian
independence
movement
about
whether
to
exploit
the
weakness
of
the
British
to
achieve
independence.
Some
felt
that
any
distinctions
between
the
political
allegiances
and
ideologies
of
the
warring
factions
of
Europe
were
inconsequential
in
the
face
of
the
possibility
of
Indian
independence,
and
that
it
was
hypocritical
of
the
British
to
condemn
pro-democracy
Indians
for
allying
themselves
with
anti-democratic
Axis
forces
when
the
British
themselves
showed
so
little
respect
for
democracy
or
democratic
reforms
in
India.
Others
felt
that
it
was
inappropriate
to
seek
concessions
when
Britain
itself
was
in
peril,
and
found
their
distaste
for
Nazi
Germany
outweighed
their
concerns
about
Independence.
Bose,
in
particular,
was
accused
of
collaborating
with
the
Axis;
he
counter-attacked
the
allegation
criticising
the
British
campaign
during
World
War-II,
saying
that
while
Britain
was
fighting
for
the
freedom
of
the
European
nations
under
Nazi
control,
it
did
not
grant
its
own
colonies,
including
India
their
rightful
independence.
It
may
be
observed
that
along
with
Nehru,
Bose
had
organized
and
led
protest
marches
against
the
Japanese
invasion
of
Manchuria
in
1931,
and
of
China
itself
in
1938,
when
he
was
Congress
president.
During
that
period,
Chinese
leader
Chiang
Kai
Shek
was
feted
in
India
and
medical
aid
and
food
supplies
were
sent
to
Chinese
areas
which
suffered
the
worst
brunt
of
Japanese
imperialism.
That
he
eventually
abandoned
his
political
stance
(which
initially
was
that
of
Gandhi
and
Nehru)
reflects
his
deep
discontent
with
the
nature
of
the
British
rule,
and
a
growing
belief
that
the
formation
of
an
Indian
free
state
was
nowhere
on
the
British
political
roadmap.
At
the
Tripura
Congress
session,
he
made
his
views
quite
explicit:
Britain
had
forced
a
war
on
India,
without
bothering
to
consult
Indians.
It
is
interesting
to
note
that
Bose's
earlier
correspondences
(prior
to
1939)
reflect
his
deep
disapproval
of
the
racist
practices
of
and
annulment
of
democratic
institutions
in
Nazi
Germany.
Though
Bose
did
ally
himself
with
the
Axis
powers,
there
is
little
to
suggest
he
shared
any
of
their
doctrines
of
racial
superiority;
instead
it
appears
he
was
motivated
to
join
them
largely
out
of
political
pragmatism.
Re-evaluation
of
Netaji
:
The
INA
is
fondly
remembered
by
some
Japanese
and
Indian
historians
who
see
Japanese
efforts
to
support
Bose
as
supporting
the
view
that
it
was
fighting
a
war
on
behalf
of
the
oppressed
peoples
of
Asia,
in
addition,
the
INA
is
seen
by
some
as
an
organisation
devoid
of
the
divisive
energies
of
parochialism
that
have
since
plagued
India.
Gandhi
called
Bose
the
"Patriot
of
Patriots"
(Bose
had
called
Gandhi
"Father
of
the
Nation").
Bose's
portrait
is
also
hung
in
the
Indian
Parliament
and
a
statue
has
been
erected
in
front
of
the
West
Bengal
Legislative
Assembly.
Bose
was
posthumously
awarded
the
Bharat
Ratna,
India's
highest
civilian
award
in
1992,
but
it
was
later
withdrawn
in
response
to a
Supreme
Court
of
India
directive
following
a
Public
Interest
Litigation
filed
in
the
Court
against
the
"posthumous"
nature
of
the
award.
The
Award
Committee
could
not
Give
conclusive
evidence
of
Bose's
death
and
thus
it
invalidated
the
"posthumous"
award.
Death
:
Bose
is
supposed
to
have
died
in a
plane
crash
over
Taiwan
while
flying
to
Tokyo.
However,
his
body
was
never
recovered,
and
conspiracy
theories
concerning
his
possible
survival
abound.
One
such
claims
that
Bose
actually
died
in
Siberia,
while
in
Soviet
captivity.
Mr.
Harin
Shah,
an
Indian
journalist,
visited
Taipei
and
was
shown
a
plane
crash
site
(supposedly
of
Bose's
plane).
Photos
can
be
found
at
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/Netaji/photogallerycrash.htm
However,
the
Taiwan
Government
told
an
Indian
journalist
investigating
into
Bose's
death
that
Bose
could
not
have
died
in a
plane
crash
in
the
country,
stating
that
there
"were
no
plane
crashes
at
Taipei
between
14
August
and
20
September
1945."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4236189.stm
|
|
Jay
Prakash
Narayan |
|
Jayaprakash
Narayan
(Devanāgarī:
जयप्रकाश
नारायण;
October
11,
1902
-
October
8,
1979),
widely
known
as
JP,
was
an
Indian
freedom
fighter
and
political
leader,
remembered
especially
for
leading
the
opposition
to
Indira
Gandhi
in
the
1970s
Early
life
He
was
born
in
Sitabdiara
village
in
Saran
district
of
Bihar,
and
studied
for
his
BA
and
MA
degrees
in
politics
and
sociology
in
the
United
States.
In
1922,
he
went
to
the
United
States,
where
he
studied
political
science
,
sociology
and
economics
at
the
universities
of
Berkeley,
Iowa,
Wisconsin
and
Ohio
State
[1][2].
He
adopted
Marxism
while
studying
at
the
University
of
Wisconsin
in
Madison,
Wisconsin
under
Edward
A.
Ross;
he
was
also
deeply
influenced
by
the
writings
of
M.
N.
Roy.
Financial
constraints
and
his
mother's
health
forced
him
to
abandon
his
wish
of
earning
a
PhD.
He
met
other
revolutionaries
like
Rajni
Palme
Dutt
in
London
on
his
way
back
to
India.
After
returning
to
India,
JP
joined
the
Indian
National
Congress
on
the
invitation
of
Jawaharlal
Nehru
in
1929;
M.
K.
Gandhi
would
be
his
mentor
in
the
Congress.
During
the
Indian
independence
movement,
he
was
arrested,
jailed,
and
tortured
several
times
by
the
British.
He
won
particular
fame
during
the
Quit
India
movement.
JP
married
Prabhavati
Devi,
a
freedom
fighter
in
her
own
right
and
a
staunch
disciple
of
Kasturba
Gandhi
in
October
1920;
she
stayed
in
Sabarmati
ashram
while
JP
was
abroad
and
became
a
devoted
Gandhian;
she
often
held
opinions
which
were
not
in
agreement
with
JP's
views,
but
JP
respected
her
independence.
She
was
the
older
daughter
of
Brajkishore
Prasad,
one
of
the
first
Gandhians
in
Bihar
and
one
who
played
a
major
role
in
Gandhi's
campaign
in
Champaran.
After
being
jailed
in
1932
for
civil
disobedience
against
British
rule,
he
was
imprisoned
in
Nasik
Jail,
where
he
met
Ram
Manohar
Lohia,
Minoo
Masani,
Achyut
Patwardhan,
Ashok
Mehta,
Yusuf
Desai
and
other
national
leaders.
After
his
release,
the
Congress
Socialist
Party,
a
left-wing
group
within
the
Congress,
was
formed
with
Acharya
Narendra
Deva
as
President
and
JP
as
General
secretary.
During
the
Quit
India
movement
of
1942,
when
senior
Congress
leaders
were
arrested
in
the
early
stages,
JP,
Lohia
and
Basawon
Singh
(Sinha)
were
at
the
forefront
of
the
agitations.
Leaders
such
as
Jayaprakash
Narayan
and
Aruna
Asaf
Ali
were
described
as
"the
political
children
of
Gandhi
but
recent
students
of
Karl
Marx."
After
independence
and
the
death
of
Mahatma
Gandhi;
JP,
Acharya
Narendra
Dev
and
Basawon
Singh
(Sinha)
led
the
CSP
out
of
Congress
to
become
the
opposition
Socialist
Party,
which
later
took
the
name
Praja
Socialist
Party.Basawon
Singh
(Sinha)
became
the
first
leader
of
opposition
in
the
state
and
assembly
of
Bihar
and
Acharya
Narendra
Deva
became
the
first
leader
of
opposition
in
the
state
and
assembly
of
U.P.
Initially
a
defender
of
physical
force,
JP
was
won
over
to
Gandhi's
position
on
nonviolence
and
advocated
the
use
of
satyagrahas
to
achieve
the
ideals
of
democratic
socialism.
Furthermore,
he
became
deeply
disillusioned
with
the
practical
experience
of
socialism
in
Nehru's
India.
Sarvodaya
On
19
April
1954,
JP
announced
in
Gaya
that
he
was
dedicating
his
life
(Jeevandan)
to
Vinoba
Bhave's
Sarvodaya
movement
and
its
Bhoodan
campaign,
which
promoted
distributing
land
to
Harijans
(untouchables).
He
gave
up
his
land,
set
up
an
ashram
in
Hazaribagh,
and
worked
towards
uplifting
the
village.
In
1957,
JP
formally
broke
with
the
Praja
Socialist
Party
in
order
to
pursue
lokniti
[Polity
of
the
people],
as
opposed
to
rajniti
[Polity
of
the
state].
By
this
time,
JP
had
become
convinced
that
lokniti
should
be
non-partisan
in
order
to
build
a
consensus-based,
classless,
participatory
democracy
which
he
termed
Sarvodaya.
JP
became
an
important
figure
in
the
India-wide
network
of
Gandhian
Sarvodaya
workers.
In
1964,
JP
was
vilified
across
the
political
spectrum
for
arguing
in
an
article
in
the
Hindustan
Times
that
India
had
a
responsibility
to
keep
its
promise
to
allow
self-determination
to
the
state
of
Jammu
and
Kashmir.
He
hit
back
at
critics
in a
second
article,
dismissing
the
Indian
version
of
the
"domino
theory"
which
held
that
the
rest
of
India's
states
would
disintegrate
if
Kashmir
were
allowed
its
promised
freedom.
In
his
graceful
if
old-fashioned
style,
JP
ridiculed
the
premise
that
"the
states
of
India
are
held
together
by
force
and
not
by
the
sentiment
of a
common
nationality.
It
is
an
assumption
that
makes
a
mockery
of
the
Indian
Nation
and
a
tyrant
of
the
Indian
State".
JP
returned
to
the
prominence
in
State
politics
in
the
late
1960s.
In
1974,
he
devoted
himself
to
the
peasants'
struggle
known
as
the
Bihar
movement,
which
demanded
the
resignation
of
the
provincial
government.
He
founded,
together
with
V.
M.
Tarkunde,
the
Citizens
for
democracy
in
1974
and
the
People's
union
for
civil
liberties
in
1976,
NGOs
to
uphold
and
defend
civil
liberties.
Emergency
When
Indira
Gandhi
was
found
guilty
of
violating
electoral
laws
by
the
Allahabad
High
Court,
JP
called
for
Indira
to
resign,
and
advocated
a
program
of
social
transformation
which
he
termed
Sampoorna
kraanthi
[Total
Revolution].
Instead
she
proclaimed
a
national
Emergency
on
the
midnight
of
25
June
1975,
immediately
after
JP
had
called
for
the
PM's
resignation
and
had
asked
the
military
and
the
police
to
disregard
unconstitutional
and
immoral
orders;
JP,
opposition
leaders,
and
dissenting
members
(the
'Young
turks')
of
her
own
party
were
arrested
on
that
day.
JP
was
kept
as
detenu
at
Chandigarh
even
after
he
had
asked
for
a
month's
parole
for
mobilising
relief
in
areas
of
Bihar
gravely
affected
by
flood.
His
health
suddenly
deteriorated
on
24
October,
and
he
was
released
on
12
November;
diagnosis
at
Jaslok
Hospital,
Bombay,
revealed
kidney
failure;
he
would
be
on
dialysis
for
the
rest
of
his
life.
After
Indira
revoked
the
emergency
on
18
January
1977
and
announced
elections,
it
was
under
JP's
guidance
that
the
socialist-leaning
Janata
Party
was
formed.
Janata
Party
was
voted
into
power,
and
became
the
first
non-Congress
party
to
form
a
government
at
the
Centre.
JP
also
wrote
several
books,
notably
Reconstruction
of
Indian
Polity.
He
promoted
Hindu
revivalism,
but
was
deeply
critical
of
the
form
of
revivalism
promoted
by
the
Sangh
Parivar.
Not
long
before
his
death,
it
was
in
fact
erroneously
announced
by
the
Indian
prime
minister,
causing
a
brief
wave
of
national
mourning,
including
the
suspension
of
parliament
and
regular
radio
broadcasting,
and
closure
of
schools
and
shops.
In
1998,
he
was
posthumously
awarded
the
Bharat
Ratna
award
in
recognition
of
his
social
work.
Other
awards
include
the
Magsaysay
award
for
Public
Service
in
1965.
JP
is
sometimes
referred
to
with
the
honorific
title
Lok
nayak
or
'guide
of
the
people'.
A
university
(J P
University
in
Chhapra,
Bihar)
and
two
Hospitals
(L J
N P
Hospital
in
New
Delhi
and
Jai
Prabha
Hospital
in
Patna)
have
been
opened
in
his
memor |
|
Sir
J.C.Bose |
|
Jagadish Chandra Bose [10,11,12] was born in India in 1858. He received hiseducation first in India, until in 1880 he went to England to study medicine at the University of London. Within a year he moved to Cambridge to take up a scholarship to study Natural Science at Christ's CollegeCambridge. One of his lecturers at Cambridge was Professor Rayleigh, who clearly had a profound influence on his later work. In 1884 Bose was awarded a B.A. from Cambridge, but also a B.Sc. from London University. Bose then returned to India, taking up a post initially as officiating professor of physics at the Presidency College in Calcutta. Following the example of Lord Rayleigh,Jagadis Bose made extensive use of scientific demonstrations in class; he is reported as being extraordinarily popular and effective as a teacher. Many of his students at the Presidency College were destined to become famous in their own right - for example S.N. Bose, later to become well known for the Bose-Einstein statistics. |
|
A book by Sir Oliver Lodge, "Heinrich Hertz and His Successors," impressed Bose. In 1894, J.C. Bose converted a small enclosure adjoining a bathroom in the Presidency College into a laboratory. He carried out experiments involving refraction, diffraction and polarization. To receive the radiation, he used a variety of different junctions connected to a highly sensitive galvanometer. He plotted in detail the voltage-current characteristics of his junctions, noting their non-linear characteristics. He developed the use of galena crystals for making receivers, both for short wavelength radio waves and for white and ultraviolet light. Patent rights for their use in detecting electromagnetic radiation were granted to him in 1904. In 1954 Pearson and Brattain [14] gave priority to Bose for the use of a semi-conducting crystal as a detector of radio waves. Sir Neville Mott, Nobel Laureate in 1977 for his own contributions to solid-state electronics, remarked [12] that "J.C. Bose was at least 60 years ahead of his time" and "In fact, he had anticipated he existence of P-type and N-type semiconductors."
In 1895 Bose gave his first public demonstration of electromagnetic waves, using them to ring a bell remotely and to explode some gunpowder. In 1896 the Daily Chronicle of England reported: "The inventor (J.C. Bose) has transmitted signals to a distance of nearly a mile and herein lies the first and obvious and exceedingly valuable application of this new theoretical marvel." Popov in Russia was doing similar experiments, but had written in December 895 that he was still entertaining the hope of remote signalling with radio waves. The first successful wireless signalling experiment by Marconi on Salisbury Plain in England was not until May 1897. The 1895 public demonstration by Bose in Calcutta predates all these experiments. Invited by Lord Rayleigh, in 1897 Bose reported on his microwave (millimeter-wave) experiments to the Royal Institution and other societies in England [8]. The wavelengths he used ranged from 2.5 cm to 5 mm. In his presentation to the Royal Institution in January 1897 Bose speculated [see p.88 of ref.8] on the existence of electromagnetic radiation from the sun, suggesting that either the solar or the terrestrial atmosphere might be responsible for the lack of success so far in detecting such radiation - solar emission was not detected until 1942,and the 1.2 cm atmospheric water vapor absorption line was discovered during experimental radar work in 1944. Figure 1 shows J.C. Bose at the Royal Institution in London in January 1897; Figure 2 shows a matching diagram, with a brief description of the apparatus.
|
|
|
Figure 1. J.C. Bose at the Royal Institution, London, 1897. [13]
|
By about the end of the 19th century, the interests of Bose turned away from electromagnetic waves to response phenomena in plants; this included studies of the effects of electromagnetic radiation on plants, a topical field today. He retired from the Presidency College in 1915, but was appointed Professor Emeritus. Two years later the Bose Institute was founded. Bose was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1920. He died in 1937, a week before his 80th birthday; his ashes are in a shrine at the Bose Institute in Calcutta.
|
|
Figure 2. Bose's apparatus demonstrated to the Royal Institution in London in 1897 [8]. Note the waveguide radiator on the transmitter at left, and that the "collecting funnel" (F) is in fact a pyramidal electromagnetic horn antenna, first used by Bose.
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BOSE'S APPARATUS
Bose's experiments were carried out at the Presidency College in Calcutta, although for demonstrations he developed a compact portable version of the equipment, including transmitter, receiver and various microwave components. Some of his original equipment still exists, now at the BoseInstitute in Calcutta. In 1985 the author was permitted by the Bose Institute to examine and photograph some of this original apparatus.
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3(a
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3(b)
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| Figure 3 Bose's diagrams of his radiators. (a) shows the radiator used to generated 5-mm radiation, while (b) shows the arrangement with a lens L at the exit of the waveguide [2]. In some designs the mounting tems for the outer spheres could be inclined to adjust the dimension of the spark gaps. |
Figure 3 (a) shows Bose's diagram of one of his radiators, used for generating 5-mm radiation. Oscillation is produced by sparking between 2 hollow hemispheres and the interposed sphere. There is a bead of platinum on the inside surface of each hemisphere. For some experiments, a lens of glass or of sulphur was used to collimate the radiation - the first waveguide-lens antenna. The lens was designed according to the refractive index measured by Bose at the wavelength in use. Figure 3(b) shows Bose's drawing of such a radiator; the sparks occur between the two outer spheres to the inner sphere, at the focal point of the lens L at the right. Bose was able to measure the wavelength of his radiation with a reflecting diffraction grating made of metal strips [7].
Bose measured the I-V characteristics of his junctions; an example characteristic curve of a "Single Point Iron Receiver" is shown in Figure 6. The junction consisted of a sharp point of iron, pressing against an iron surface, with pressure capable of fine adjustment. The different curves in Figure 6 correspond to different contact pressures. Bose noted that the unction does not obey Ohm's law, and that there is a knee in the curve at approximately 0.45 volts; the junction becomes most effective at detection of short wavelength radiation when the corresponding bias voltage is applied. He made further measurements on a variety of junctions made of different materials, classifying the different materials into positive or negative classes of substance. In one experiment he noted that increasing the applied voltage to the junction actually decreased the resulting current, implying a negative dynamic resistance [15].
Another of Bose's short-wavelength detectors is the spiral-spring receiver. A sketch of a receiver used for 5-mm radiation is shown in Figure 7; the spring pressure could be adjusted very finely in order to attain optimum sensitivity. The sensitive surface of the 5-mm receiver was 1 by 2 cm. The device has been described recently [3] as a "space-irradiated multi-contact semiconductor (using the natural oxide of the springs)." A surviving, somewhat larger, spiral spring receiver is shown in the photograph
Figure 8. The springs are held in place by a sheet of glass, seen to be partly broken in this example.
Figure 9 is Bose's diagram of his polarization apparatus. The transmitter is the box at left, and a spiral spring receiver ('R') is visible on the right. One of the polarizers used by Bose was a cut-off metal plate grating, consisting of a book (Bradshaw's Railway Timetable, Figure 10) with sheets of tinfoil interleaved in the pages. Bose was able to demonstrate that even an ordinary book, without the tinfoil, is able to produce polarization of the transmitted beam. The pages act as parallel dielectric sheets separated by a small air gap.
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Bose's diagram of his polarization apparatus. Note the spiral spring
receiver 'R' to the right.
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Bose experimented with samples of jute in polarizing experiments. In one experiment, he made a twisted bundle of jute and showed that it could be used to rotate the plane of polarization. The modern equivalent component may be a twisted dielectric waveguide. He further used this to construct a macroscopic molecular model as an analogy to the rotation of polarization produced by liquids like sugar solutions.
THE DOUBLE-PRISM ATTENUATOR
Bose's investigations included measurement of refractive index of a ariety of substances. He made dielectric lenses and prisms;
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Bose's 1897 diagram of the double-prism attenuator.
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One investigation involved measurement of total internal reflection inside a dielectric prism, and the effect of a small air gap between two identical prisms. When the prisms are widely separated, total internal reflection takes place and the incident radiation is reflected inside the dielectric. When the 2 prisms touch, radiation propagates unhindered through both prisms. By introducing a small air gap, the combination becomes a variable attenuator to incident radiation; this is illustrated in Bose's original diagram, shown in Figure 13. Bose investigated this prism attenuator experimentally; his results were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society in November, 1897 . Schaefer and Gross made a theoretical study of the prism combination in 1910; the device has since been described in standard texts.
At the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona a new multiple-feed receiver, operating at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, has recently been built and installed on the 12 Meter Telescope at Kitt Peak . The system is an 8-feed receiver, where the local oscillator is injected into the superconducting tunnel junction (SIS) mixers optically. With an SIS mixer receiver the power level of the injected local oscillator is critical; each of the 8 mixers requires independent local oscillator power adjustment. This is achieved by adjustable prism attenuators. Figure 15 shows 4 of these 8 prism attenuators, installed on one side of the 8-feed system; this can be compared with Figure 14, which is a photograph taken at the Bose Institute in Calcutta in 1985, of an original prism system built by Bose.
CONCLUSIONS
Research into the generation and detection of millimeter waves, and the properties of substances at these wavelengths, was being undertaken in some detail one hundred years ago, by J.C. Bose in Calcutta. Many of the microwave components familiar today - waveguide, horn antennas, polarizers, dielectric lenses and prisms, and even semiconductor detectors of electromagnetic radiation - were invented and used in the last decade of the nineteenth century. At about the end of the nineteenth century, many of the workers in this area simply became interested in other topics. Attention of the wireless experimenters of the time became focused on much longer wavelengths which eventually, with the help of the then unknown ionosphere, were able to support signalling at very much greater distances.
Although it appears that Bose's demonstration of remote wireless signalling has priority over Marconi, he was the first to use a semiconductor junction to detect radio waves, and he invented various now commonplace microwave components, outside of India he is rarely given the deserved recognition. Further work at millimeter wavelengths was almost nonexistent for nearly 50 years. J.C. Bose was at least this much ahead of his time.
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| Dr. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar |
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I have always been associated with many prominent figures eminent in other ways,
but Dr. Bhatnagar was a special combination of many things, added to which was a tremendous energy with an enthusiasm to achieve things. The result was he left a
record of achievement which was truly remarkable. I can truly say that but for Dr. Bhatnagar you could not have seen today the chain of national laboratories.
Pandit Jawaharlal 
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar played a significant part alongwith Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai and others in building of post-independent S&T infrastructure and in the formulation of India’s science and technology policies. Bhatnagar was the Founder Director of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),which was to later became a major agency for research in independent India. He was the first Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC)
He was Secretary, Ministry of Education and Educational Adviser to Government. Bhatnagar played an important role both in the constitution and deliberations of the Scientific Manpower Committee Report of 1948. ‘It may be pointed out that this was the first-ever systematic assessment of the scientific manpower needs of the country in all aspects which served as an important policy document for the government to plan the post-independent S&T infrastructure.’ Bhatnagar was a University Professor for 19 years (1921-40) first at the Banaras Hindu University and then at the Punjab University and he had a reputation as a very inspiring teacher and it was as a teacher that he himself was most happy. His research contribution in the areas of magneto chemistry and physical chemistry of emulsion were widely recognised. He also did considerable work in applied chemistry. He played an instrumental role in the establishment of the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) of India, which bridges the gap between research and development. Bhatnagarwas responsible for the initiation of the Industrial Research Association movement in the country. He constituted the one-man Commission in 1951 to negotiate with oil companies for starting refineries and this ultimately led to the establishment of many oil refineries in different parts of the country. He induced many individuals and organisations to donate liberally for the cause of science and education. He exhibited high poetic talent particularly in Urdu .
Bhatnagar was born on 21 February 1894 at Bhera, in the district of Shapur in Punjab (now in Pakistan). Bhatnagar belonged to an educated elite family both from the paternaland maternal side. His paternal grandfather Rai Bahadur Munshi Manohar Lal Bhatnagar held high executive post and was particularly noted for his piety and honesty. His father Parmeshwari Sahai Bhatnagar, who was a distinguished graduate of the Panjab University, refused to take up judicial or executive service which was the tradition of the family and became headmaster of a high school in Bhera. His mother Parbati Bhatnagar was the eldest daughter of Pearey Lal, who was a distinguished engineer (he was one of the first to qualify as an engineer from the Roorkee College of Engineering). Under the influence of his maternal grandfather the young Bhatnagar not only developed a taste for engineering and science but also became interested at a very early age in his grandfather’s instruments, geometry and algebra and in making mechanical toys. Bhatnagar’s interest in poetry and literature also came from his mother’s side. It may be noted that his mother’s family produced a number of poets, the most famous of themwas Munshi Hargopal Tufta who got the title of Mirza from Mirza Ghalib the greatest Urdu poet. Bhatnagar’s maternal family which adorned the Moghul courts was bestowed with the title of Khwaja-i-Khawaja.
Bhatnagar’s father was disinherited and thus lost his share of family property because of his refusal to follow the family tradition. Unfazed by this Parmeshwari Sahai Bhatnagar continued to serve the society but when he died he left his wife and young children in dire poverty. Bhatnagarhad his earliest schooling in a private ‘Maktab" and then studied in A.V. High school in Sikandrabad in UP where his maternal grandfather worked. Rai Sahib Lala Raghunath Sahai, the famous headmaster of the Dyal Singh High School at Lahore and a friend of Bhatnagar’s father persuaded his mother to send Bhatnagar for schooling at Lahore. While studying in the Dyal Singh High School Bhatnagar came in contact with two leading Brahmos namely Pandit Shiv Nath Sastry and Babu Abinash Chandra Mazumdar. Bhatnagar, whose father had joined Brahmo Samaj, became highly interested in the activities of the Samaj. Raghunath Sahai, the head master, who later became Bhatnagar’s father-in-law played an important role in shaping the views news of Bhatnagar. Besides the headmaster the other teachers who had influenced Bhatnagar were Rai Bahadur Lala Ram Kishore (who later became the Vice-Chancellor of the Delhi University), Lala Bishen Narain Mathur, Moulvi Talib Ali Paband and Mohd. Ashraf .
Bhatnagar passed the Matriculation Examination in the first division and secured a University Scholarship. In 1911 Bhatnagar joined the newly established Dyal Singh College. Here he became an active member of the Saraswati Stage Society, established by Mrs. Norah Richards, the wife of the English literature professor of the College, P.E. Richards. Bhatnagar earned a good reputation as an actor. With Mrs. Richards’ encouragement Bhatnagar wrote in Urdu a one-act play called ‘Karamati ’(Wonder worker), the English translation of which earned him the prize and medal of the Saraswati Stage Society for the best play of the year 1912. Bhatnagar continued his interest in literary work in his later phases of life. After the death of his wife Bhatnagar wrote a collection of poems in Urdu in memory of his wife, which were published under the title Lajwanti.
Bhatnagar passed the Intermediate Examination of the Panjab University in 1913 in the first division and joined the Forman Christian College for the BSc degree. At the time of Bhatnagar’s joining the college. Dr. J.C.R Ewing was the Principal. Dr. Ewing (who later became Sir James Ewing) was for many years Vice-Chancellor of the Panjab University. Here he studied physics and chemistry and took up on Honours course in physics. He was taught physics by J.M. Benade,who had done research with Arthur Holly Compton (1892-1962), the Nobel Laureat in physics. Itmay be noted here that Bhatnagar did his first research work with Benade for his MSc degree on the subject of surface tension). Chemistry was taught by P. Carter Speers who used to be regarded as father of technical education in the University
Mr. Welinker, Principal of Dyal Singh College, who later became Director of Public Instruction wrote:‘Mr. Shanti Swarup was one of the ablest students in that large class of about 100 students; indeed, I am of opinion that in all-round ability he was the ablest. He distinguished himself in every branch of the work of his class—literary, scientific, dramatic, social and he gave the most complete satisfaction to the Professor by the excellence of his behavior. He is a young man of more than usual ability and I feel sure that if he is given opportunities of developing his talent in some great European or American Centre of Scientific research he will do some remarkable work in science and will thus be in a position to render high service to his country.’
After taking the Bachelor’s degree in 1916 he decided to take up his first formal employment as Demonstrator in the Physics and Chemistry Department of the Forman Christian College. Laterhe became the Senior Demonstrator in the Dyal Singh College. The employment, however, did not hinder Bhatnagar’s efforts in pursuing higher studies. He joined the MSc course in chemistry in the Forman Christian College and took the degree in 1919
With the initiative taken by Ruchi Ram Sahni Bhatnagar was awarded a scholarship by the Dyal Singh College Trust for his studies abroad. Armed with this scholarship Bhatnagar left for America via England. But after reaching England he found that it was impossible to find berth on ships sailing to America as all tickets had been booked for American troops which were then being demobilised. He informed the situation to the Trustees and the latter agreed to his doing post-graduate research in London. Bhatnagar presented himself with his research papers to Professor F. G. Donnan of the University College of London.Professor Donnan readily agreed to take Bhatnagar under his care for the DSc degree of the London University. In 1921 Bhatnagar received the degree. As a member of Donnan’s school he was engaged in the study of adhesion and cohesion in emulsions. His thesis was entitled ‘Solubilities of bi- and trivalent salts of higher fatty acids in oils and their effect on surface tension of oils.’ While working in London he also had a fellowship of the value of 250 pounds a year from the DSIR, England.
Bhatnagar returned to India in August 1921 and he joined the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) as Professor of Chemistry. It may be noted that the BHU was founded by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya in 1916. Bhatnagar stayed for three years in BHU and during this short span of time he was able to create an active school of physico-chemical research. Bhatnagar wrote the ‘Kulgeet’ (University song) of the University. Justice N.H. Bhagwati, Vice-Chancellor of BHU said: "Many of you perhaps do not know that besides being an eminent scientist, Professor Bhatnagar was a Hindi poet of repute and that during his stay in Banaras, he composed the ‘Kulgeet’ of the University...Prof. Bhatnagar is remembered with reverence in this University and will continue to be so remembered till this University exists."
From Banaras Bhatnagar moved to Lahore where he was appointed as University Professor of Physical Chemistry and Director of University Chemical Laboratories. He spent 16 years in the Panjab University, Lahore and this period was the most active period of his life for original scientific work. While his major fields of study were colloidal chemistry and magneto-chemistry he did considerable work in applied and industrial chemistry. In 1928 Bhatnagar, jointly with K.N. Mathur, invented an instrument called the Bhatnagar-Mathur Magnetic Interference Balance.The balance was one of the most sensitive instruments for measuring magnetic properties. It was exhibited at the Royal Society Soiree in 1931 and it was marketed by Messers Adam Hilger and Co, London.
Bhatnagar did considerable work in applied and industrial chemistry. The first industrial problem undertaken by Bhatnagar was the development of a process to convert bagasse (peelings of sugarcane) into food cake for cattle. This was done for the Grand Old Man of Punjab, Sir Ganga Ram. He had undertake industrial problems for Delhi Cloth Mills; J.K. Mills Ltd., Kanpur; Ganesh Flour Mills Ltd., Layallapur; Tata Oil Mills Ltd., Bombay; Steel Brothers & Co. Ltd., London and so on. One of the important achievements of Bhatnagar in applied and industrial chemistry was the work he did for Attock Oil Company at Rawalpindi (representative of Messers Steel Brothers & Co London). Attock Oil Company in their drilling operations confronted a peculiar problem, wherein the mud used for drilling operation when came in contact with the saline water got converted into a solid mass which hardened further. This solidification of the mud rendered all drilling operations impossible.
Bhatnagar realised that this was a problem in colloidal chemistry and developed a suitable method to solve it. ‘The problem was elegantly solved by the addition of an Indian gum which had the remarkable property of lowering the viscosity of the mud suspension and of increasing at the same time its stability against the flocculating action of electrolytes." M/s Steel Brothers was so pleased with the method developed by Bhatnagar that they offered a sum of Rs. 1,50,000/- to Bhatnagar for his research work on any subject related to petroleum. At the instance of Bhatnagar the company placed the amount at the disposal of the University. The grant helped to establish the Department of Petroleum Research under the guidance of Bhatnagar. Investigations carried out under this collaborative scheme included deodourisation of waxes, increasing flame height of kerosene and utilisation of waste products in vegetable oil and mineral oil industries. Realising the commercial importance of the collaborative scheme the Company increased the amount and extended the period from five years to ten years.
Bhatnagar persistently refused to receive any monetary benefit arising out of his applied industrial chemical research for his personal ends on the ground that it may be utilised for strengthening research facilities at the University. His sacrifices drew wide attention. Meghnad Saha wrote to Bhatnagar in 1934 saying, ‘you have hereby raised the status of the university teachers in the estimation of public, not to speak of the benefit conferred on your Alma Mater’.
Bhatnagar jointly with K.N. Mathur wrote a book ‘Physical Principles and Applications of Magneto chemistry’ and which was published by Macmillan publishers. This book was recognised as a standard work on the subject. Prafulla Chandra Ray wrote: "On turning over the pages of Nature my eyes chanced upon an advertisement of Macmillan’s in which I find your book at last advertised. That the book is of a high standard is indicated by the most excellent review in Current Science by Professor Stoner, who is competent to judge. As far as I know Meghnad’s is the only text book in physical sciences which has been adopted by foreign universities; and it gladdens my heart that another work in physical science is likely to occupy a similar place. My days are practically numbered; and my great consolation is that you, in chemistry, are raising the reputation, abroad, of Indian workers".
In 1930s there were no appropriate research organisations for the development of natural resources and new industries. Thus Sir Richard Gregory, then editor of Nature, who after visiting scientific departments and universities in India in 1933 drew the attention of Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for India, to the lack of appropriate research organisation equivalent to those of in DSIR in Britain for the development of natural research and new industries. He observed: "I knew that work of the Geological Survey of India, Botanical Survey of India, Meteorological Department, Forestry and so on; but I think something should be done to form an Indian Research Council to make use of the undoubted capacity of Indians for scientific investigations and its applications. Scientific activities, many of them having a direct bearing upon the development of resources of the country, are scarcely given the attention they deserve." Gregory was not alone in realising the need for appropriate research organisation. C.V. Raman, Lt. Col. Seymour Sewell and Dr. J.C. Ghosh had earlier proposed the creation of an Advisory Board of Scientific Research for India. Indian scientists at Calcutta and Bangalore initiated schemes to launch a National Institute of Sciences and an India Academy Science respectively. At the Fifth Industries Conference in 1933 the Provincial Governments of Bombay, Madras, Bihar and Orissa unanimously reiterated their demand to set up a co-ordinating forum for industrial research, Sir Hoare advised the Viceroy, Lord Willingdon to support the idea of an Indian version of DSIR. However, in May 1934 Willingdon informed Hoare in London that `the creation of a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in India to promote the application of research to natural resources does not appear to be necessary." Having rejected an Indian version of the DSIR the colonial Government decided in 1934 to make a small concession. The Govt. agreed to create an Industrial Intelligence and Research Bureau and which came into operation in April 1935 under the Indian Stores Department. The Bureau had very limited resources (with a budget of Rs. 1.0 lakh per annum) and thus it was not possible for it to undertake any industrial activity. It was mainly concerned with testing and quality control.
When the Second World War began it was proposed to abolish the Bureau. Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar, the Commerce Member, while accepting the recommendation that the Bureau be abolished argued that "the old Bureau should be abolished not as a measure of economy but to make room for a Board of Scientific and Industrial Research with vaster resources and wider objectives. Mudaliar’s persistent efforts led to the creation of the Board of Scientific and Industrial Research (BSIR) on April 1, 1940 for a period of two years. Bhatnagar, who by then had made remarkable contributions to chemistry was called on to take charge. Bhatnagar was designated Director, Scientific and Industrial Research and Sir Mudaliar became BSIR’s first Chairman. The BSIR was allocated an annual budget of Rs. 500,000 and placed under the Department of Commerce. By the end of 1940, about eighty researchers were engaged under BSIR, of whom one-quarter was directly employed. Within two years of its establishment the BSIR was able to work out a number of processes at the laboratory level for industrial utilisation. Those included techniques for the purification of Baluchistan sulphur anti-gas cloth manufacture, the development of vegetable oil blends as fuel and lubricants, the invention of a pyrethrum emulsifier and cream, the development of plastic packing cases for army boots and ammunition, dyes for uniforms and the preparation of vitamins. Bhatnagar persuaded the Government to set up an Industrial Research Utilisation Committee (IRUC) in early 1941 for translating results into application. Following the recommendation of IURC the Government agreed to make a separate fund out of the royalties received from industry for further investment into industrial research. A resolution moved by Mudaliar, recommending that an Industrial Research Fund be constituted for the purpose of fostering industrial development in the country , and that provision be made for an annual grant of rupees one million for a period of five years was accepted by the Central Assembly in Delhi at its session on 14 November 1941. The efforts of Mudaliar and Bhatnagar led to the constitution of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as an autonomous body, to administer the Research Fund created by the government. The CSIR came into operation on 28th September 1942. The BSIR and IRUC were designated as advisory bodies to the Governing body of the CSIR. In 1943 the Governing Body of the CSIR approved the proposal mooted by Bhatnagar to establish five national laboratories — the National Chemical Laboratory, the National Physical Laboratory, the Fuel Research Station, and the Glass and Ceramics Research Institute. In 1944 in addition to its annual budget of Rs. 1 million, the CSIR received a grant of Rs.10 million for the establishment of these laboratories. The Tata Industrial House donated Rs. 2 million for the Chemical, metallurgical and fuel research laboratories.
After India’s independence the CSIR was placed under the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru himself who was equally enthusiastic in the development of science in the country. By the end of 1954 twelve national laboratories were established and a dozen more were at the planning stage.
In 1936 the British Government conferred on Bhatnagar the Order of British Empire (OBE) based on his excellent contribution to pure and applied chemistry. Bhatnagar was knighted in 1941 in recognition of his work for the war effort. In 1943 the Society of Chemical Industry, London, elected Bhatnagar as Honorary Member and later as Vice President. He was elected Fellow of Royal Society, London, in 1943. He was the President of the Indian Chemical Society, National Institute of Sciences of India and the Indian National Science Congress. He was awarded the title Padma Vibhusan by the President of India.
Bhatnagar died on 1 January 1955. |
| Munshi Premchand |
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"Premchand was born on July 31, 1880 in a village called "Lamahi", about four miles from the city of  Benares, to an ordinary working family. HIs father, Munshi Azaayab Lal, was a village postmaster. Premchand lost his mother in his seventh year. His father married again. His elder sister was, to an extent, able to fill the gap left by his mother.
"Munshiji was subject to transfers frequently. Premchand also had to travel to many towns along with him. They could not settle down anywhere. Prenchand became acquainted with a bookseller called Buddhi Lal. He used to sit in his shop and read books. Premchand was quite facile in Hindi, Urdu, Parsi, and English.
"He was forced to take on the family responsibilities in his 16th year. He gave up his studies and got a government job as a village school teacher. While working, he studied privately and passed his Intermediate and B. A. examinations.
"Premchand's real name was Nawab Rai or Dhanpath Rai. His book _Soje Vathan_ was banned by the then British government, which burned all of the copies. Therefore, from 1910 he continued to write under the pen name of "Premchand".
"Premchand was a great social reformer; he married a [child?] widow named Shivarani Devi. In 1921 he answered Gandhiji's call and resigned from his job. He worked to generate patriotism and nationalistic sentiments in the general populace. When the editor of the journal _Maryaada_ was jailed in the freedom movement, Premchand worked for a time as the editor of that journal. Afterward, he worked as the principal in a school in the Kashi Vidyapeeth [NB: I don't know if this term is supposed to indicate that it was Vedic School; given the fact of his involvement in the freedom movement, which at that time encouraged its followers to eschew any link with British institutions, this seems likely. -- SM]
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"In the course of his work, he traveled through many small villages and towns, where he studied the people's lives and wrote stories, novels, and essays. All the characters in his writings are true-to-life ordinary people. If anyone asked him why he doesn't write anything about himself, this was his answer: "What greatness do I have that I have to tell anyone about? I live just like millions of people in this country; I am ordinary. My life is also ordinary. I am a poor school teacher suffering family travails. During my whole lifetime, I have been grinding away with the hope that I could become free of my sufferings. But I have not been able to free myself from suffering. What is so special about this life that needs to be told to anybody?"
"Premchand's writings have been translated not only into all Indian languages, but also Russian, Chinese, and many other foreign languages. He spent his life as an ordinary school teacher, freedom fighter, social reformer, editor, and author of many great works. He left this world on October 8, 1936; his memory will always be with us." |
| Mahadevi Verma |
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Mahadevi Verma(1907 - 1987) was one of the most famous modern Hindi poets. She is widely regarded as the modern Meera. Her descriptions of pain and sadness are extremely moving. 
Mahadevi was born in Farukhabad , Uttar Pradesh in a family of lawyers. She was educated at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Mahadevi was married at an early age, as was common in India, in her time. But she was not attracted to worldly pleasures and even tried to become a Buddhist bhikshuni, though unsuccessfully. She was widely influenced by the teachings of Buddhism. The death of her father-in-law made such an impression on her that she decided to learn further. After completing her M.A. in Sanskrit from the Allahbad University, she started working as the headmistress of Allahbad Mahila Vidyapeeth. Later, she became the chancellor of the institute. |
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Mahadevi is considered as one of the major poets of the Chhayavaadi school of the Hindi literature, others being Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Jaishankar Prasad and Sumitranandan Pant. She was also a painter and sketched for her poetic works like Deepshikha. She is renowned for her book of memoirs, Atita Ke Chalcitra (The Moving Frames of the Past) and Smriti Ki Rekhayen (The Lines of Memory). Her poetic achievements boast Dipshikha (The Flame of an Earthen Lamp) 1942. She died in 1987.
Major works Nihar, Rashmi, Neeraja, Saandhyageet, Yatra, Deepshikha, Yama, Sandhini |
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Dr.
Harivansh
Rai
Bacchan |
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Harivanshrai Srivastav was born on 27th November 1907, in an ordinary Kayasth family in a small town near Allahabad. He was called “bachchan” at home, which means “child.” He received his formal schooling in a municipal school and attended Kayasth Paathshaalas to learn Urdu, which was the family tradition so as to help getting jobs in court. He completed his later education both at the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University. Since he gave up his university education to participate in the great upsurge of nationalism that began in 1930.
However he realized shortly that this was not the path he wanted to follow, so he went back to university. However from 1941 to 1952 he taught in the English Department at the Allahabad University and after that he spent the next two years at Cambridge University doing his doctoral thesis on W.B. Yeats. It was then, that he used ‘Bachchan’ as his last name instead of Srivasta. Bachchanji’s thesis got him his PhD at Cambridge. He however is the second Indian to get his doctorate in English literature from Cambridge. After returning to India he again took to teaching and also served at All India Radio, Allahabad.
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In 1955, Bachchan shifted to Delhi to join the External Affairs Ministry as an officer on Special duty and during the period of 10 years that he served he was also associated with the evolution of Hindi as the official language. He also enriched Hindi through his translations of major writings. Besides Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, he will also be remembered for his Hindi translations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othello and also the Bhagvad Gita. However in Nov 1984 he wrote his last poem ‘Ek November1984’ on Indira Gandhi’s assassination
Bachchan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1966 and received the Sahitya Akademi award three years later. In 1976 he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his immense contribution to Hindi literature. He was also honoured with the Saraswati Samman, the Sovietland Nehru Award and the Lotus Award of the Afro-Asian writers conference, for his unique contribution to the world of letters. But if ever asked to introduce himself, he had a simple introduction: Mitti ka tan, masti ka man, kshan-bhar jivan — mera parichay. (A body of clay, a mind full of play, a moment’s life - that is me.) Truly a man of erudition and zest. |
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Priya
Ranjan
Das |
Father’s
Name
Late
Shri
Jyotirindranath
Dasmunsi
Mother’s
Name
Late
Smt.
Renukana
Das
Munsi
Date
of
Birth
13
November
1945
Place
of
Birth
Chirirbander,
Distt.
Dinajpur
East
(Bangladesh)
Marital
Status
Married
Date
of
Marriage
15
April
1994
Spouse’s
Name
Smt.
Deepa
Dasmunsi
No.
of
Sons
1
Educational
Qualifications
M.A.,
LL.B.
Educated
at
Raiganj
College,
Distt.
Uttar
Dinajpur
(West
Bengal)
and
Calcutta
University,
Calcutta
(West
Bengal)
Profession
Consultant
,
Advocate
,
Sportsperson
,
Political
&
Social
Worker
Permanent
Address
6A,
Rani
Bhawani
Road,
Kolkata-
700
026
(West
Bengal)
Tels.(033)
4640707,
4640505
Fax:
(033)
4640202
(ii)
P.O.
Kaliaganj,
District-Uttar
Dirajpur,
West
Bengal
Tel.
(03523)
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7,
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Delhi
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1970
onwards
Member,
All
India
Congress
Committee
(A.I.C.C.)
1970-71
President,
Youth
Congress,
West
Bengal
1971
Elected
to
5th
Lok
Sabha
1971-72
General
Secretary,
Pradesh
Congress
Committee
(P.C.C.),
West
Bengal
1971-75
Elected
President,
Indian
Youth
Congress
1971-77
Member,
Public
Accounts
Committee
Special
Invitee,
Congress
Working
Committee
1977
Elected
Member,
Central
Election
Committee,
I.N.C.
1977-78
Elected
Member,
Congress
Working
Committee
1979
Member,
C.P.B.,
AICC
(S)
1980-82
President,
P.C.C.
(S),
West
Bengal
1984
Re-elected
to
8th
Lok
Sabha
(2nd
term)
1985-88
President,
P.C.C.,
West
Bengal
1985-89
Union
Minister
of
State,
Commerce
1989-91
Vice-President,
P.C.C.,
West
Bengal
1996
Re-elected
to
11th
Lok
Sabha
(3rd
term)
Member,
Committee
on
Public
Undertakings
1998
Member,
CPP
Executive
Committee
Working
President,
PCC,
West
Bengal
1999
Re-elected
to
13th
Lok
Sabha
(4th
term)
Chief
Whip,
Congress
Parliamentary
Party,
Lok
Sabha
1999-2004
Member,
Committee
on
Railways
Member,
Committee
on
Government
Assurances
Member,
Business
Advisory
Committee
Member,
Committee
on
Members
of
Parliament
Local
Area
Development
Scheme
Member,
Committee
on
Public
Accounts
2004
Re-elected
to
14th
Lok
Sabha(
5th
term)
23
May
2004
-Nov.
2005
Union
Cabinet
Minister,
Water
Resources
Nov.
2005
onwards
Minister
of
Information
&
Broadasting
;
Parliamentary
Affairs
Books
Published
"Anek
Rakta
Anek
Nam"
(Political
Novel);
“Take
Over”
(Novel);
“Maner
Manush”
(Novel);
“Bhorer
Sanai”
(Poetry
Collection);
“Ekhan
Madhyanha”
(Poetry
Collection);
“Ayodhya
Sayahna”
(Poetry
Collection)
Literary
Artistic
&
Scientific
Accomplishments
Editor,
“Dakhinee
Barta”—A
Bengali
Magazine
Social
And
Cultural
Activities
President,
Gan
Sanskriti
Sangsad,
a
mass
cultural
organisation
founded
by
Late
Dr.
Nihar
Ranjan
Roy
Special
Interests
Defence
studies
and
environment;
Tagore
and
other
Nobel
laureates
in
literature
Sports
and
Clubs
Sports;
Chairman,
Legal
Committee,
Asian
Football
Confederation
(AFC);
President,
All
India
Football
Federation
since
1988;
Vice-President,
Indian
Olympic
Association;
Member,
(i)
F.I.F.A.
Standing
Committee;
(ii)
Asian
Football
Confederation
Technical
Committee;
(iii)
Mohan
Bagan;
(iv)
East
Bengal;
(v)
Mohammadan
Sporting
Club,
Calcutta;
and
(vi)
Member,
Court
of
Arbitration,
FIFA.
Countries
Visited
Widely
travelled;
Member
of
several
Parliamentary
delegations
during
1971-77
and
1984-89;
Member,
Indian
Delegation
for
World
Peace,
1972,
Dhaka,
Bangladesh;
Leader,
Indian
Youth
Delegation
at
the
10th
World
Youth
Festival,
Berlin,
1973;
Indian
Delegate
to
the
17th
Congress
of
Komsomol,
Moscow,
1974;
Indian
Delegate
to
Euro-Afro-Arab
Youth
Conference,
Baghdad,
1975;
led
as
Head
of
Indian
Football
Delegation
to
China,
1982;
attended
FIFA
Congresses
at
Spain
(1982),
Italy
(Rome,
1990)
Switzerland
(Zurich,
1984,
1988,
1992,
1996),
U.S.A,
(Chicago,
1994,
Los
Angeles,
1999),
and
France
(Paris,
1998);
Argulia,
2002,
Qatar,
2003;
attended
AFC
Congresses
at
Indonesia
(Bali,
1990),
Hong
Kong,
1992,
Malaysia
(Kualalampur,
1994,
1996,
1998)
and
Singapore,
1995
Other
Information
Devoted
N.C.C.
Cadet
since
college
days;
“C”
Certificate
Holder
of
N.C.C.;
Senior
Under
Officer,
N.C.C.
(the
highest
distinction),
1962-66;
stood
first
in
the
march
past
ceremony
of
West
Bengal
Cadet
Camp
at
Salua,
Kharagpur,
1963;
Treasurer,
Debate
Secretary
and
Vice-President,
Calcutta
University
Students`
Union,
President,
1967-70;
Vice-President,
(i)
Calcutta
University
Students
Union
1964-67;
West
Bengal
Chhatra
Parishad,
1967-1970;
Member,
General
Council,
Law
College
Students
Union,
Calcutta
University,
1965-68;
engaged
in
legal
profession
agt
Kolcata
High
Court
(1976-77
to
1984);
General
Secretary,
74th
Plenary
Session,
A.I.C.C.
Reception
Committee
(Bidhan
Nagar
Session),
1971;
Technical
Study
Group
Member
FIFA
in
1995
World
Women
Cup
at
Sweden;
Match
Commissioner,
FIFA,
World
Women
Cup,
1999,
U.S.A.;
served
special
duties
at
World
Cup
(Football),
France,
1998
(First
Indian
to
get
this
Privilege);
Special
Duty
Officer
in
World
Cup
(Football),
Korea-Japan,
2002;
Chief`de
Mission,
Inida
Olympics
Contgirt
in
2004
at
Athens,
Greece
|
|
SubodhKant
Sahai |
Father’s
Name
Late
Shri
Brijdeo
Sahay
Mother’s
Name
Late
Smt.
Indrani
Devi
Date
of
Birth
11
June
1951
Place
of
Birth
Latehar
(Bihar)
Marital
Status
Married
Date
of
Marriage
28
March
1991
Spouse’s
Name
Smt.
Rekha
Sahay
No.
of
Daughters
1
Educational
Qualifications
B.Sc.,
LL.B.
Educated
at
A.N.
College,
Patna
and
Ranchi
University
Permanent
Address
E-39,
Sector
-
III,
H.E.C.
Township,
Dhurwa,
Ranchi
-
834
004
Tels.
(0651)
2442056,
2442115
Fax.
(0651)
2443256
Present
Address
11,
Akbar
Road,
New
Delhi
-
110
001
Tels.
(011)
23018152,
23018317,
23018318
Positions
Held
1978-1989
Member,
Bihar
Legislative
Assembly
(three
terms)
Member,
Public
Accounts
Committee,
Bihar
Legislative
Assembly
(four
years)
Member,
Committee
of
Privileges,
Bihar
Legislative
Assembly
(two
years)
Member,
Committee
on
Petitions,
Bihar
Legislative
Assembly
(three
years)
Member,
Library
Committee,
Bihar
Legislative
Assembly
(four
years)
1989
Elected
to
9th
Lok
Sabha
April
1990
-
November
1990
Union
Minister
of
State,
Home
Affairs
November
1990
-
June
1991
Union
Minsiter
of
State,
Information
&
Broadcasting
&
Home
Affairs
2004
Re-elected
to
14th
Lok
Sabha
(2nd
term)
22
May
2004
Union
Minister
of
State
(Independent
Charge),
Food
Processing
Industries
29
January
2006
onwards
Minister,
Food
Processing
Social
And
Cultural
Activities
Involved
in
social
and
welfare
activities
since
student
days
and
organised
several
National
and
State
Level
programmes
for
mobilisation
of
youth,
working
for
the
upliftment
of
the
downtrodden,
deprived
and
minority
communities
Special
Interests
Yoga
and
meditation
Favourite
Pastime
and
Recreation
Reading
and
listening
to
music
Sports
and
Clubs
Encouraging
and
promoting
various
sports
activities
among
the
rural
youth
Countries
Visited
France,
Russia,
U.K.,
U.S.A.
and
other
Western
countries
Other
Information
Actively
involved
in
the
Non-Aligned
Student
and
Youth
Organisation
(NASYO)
being
the
Chairman
of
the
organisation;
takes
special
interest
in
working
in
close
coordination
with
reputed
Non-Governmental
Organizations
engaged
in
the
fileds
of
health
and
rural
empowerment/development;
participated
in
Jai
Prakash
Movement;
Member,
Preparatory
Committee,
World
Youth
Festival;
General
Secretarty,
(i)
Yuva
Janata
for
three
years;
(ii)
Janata
Party
for
two
years;
(iii)
Janata
Dal
for
6
months
;Working
President
Yuva
Janta
for
two
years;
President
Yuva
Janata
for
three
years
|
|
Smt.
Neera
Shastri |
|
C-I/17,Pandara
Park,
New
Delhi-03
Tel
No.9810300044
Email
:
neerashastri@hotmail.com
W/O
Late
Shri
Ashok
Shastri
(
S/o
Late
Shri
Lal
Bahadur
Shastri,
Ex.
P.M.,India)
Education
:
M.Sc.
(Zoology),
University
of
Jodhpur,
Rajasthan.
Various
Positions
held
in
Govt./NGOs
Former
Member,Delhi
Commission
for
Women
Former
Member,
All
India
Handicrafts
Board
Chairperson,Shastri
Niketan
Member,
Lal
Bahadur
Shastri
Hospital
Advisory
Committee
Chairperson,Mahila
Chetna
Samiti,Varanasi
Member,
All
India
Handicrafts
Board
Member,
Zonal
Railway
Consultative
Committee
Member,
Telephone
Advisory
Committee
Member
of
Central
Board
of
Film
Certification,
Delhi
Worked
in
the
field
of :
Family
welfare
Income
generation
Schemes
Water
Conservation
and
Allied
Schemes
Tribal
Development
Other
Related
Social
Welfare
Activities
&
Experience:
I
had
successfuly
organised
a
conference
of
Muslim
women
which
was
addressed
by
Hon'ble
Prime
Minister,
at
New
Delhi
in
1998.
As a
Member
of
Lal
Bahadur
Shastri
Advisory
Committee
of
the
Hospital
and
even
before
that
I
was
associated
with
the
Lal
Bahadur
Shastri
Hospital
i.e.
from
the
day
of
its
inception,
I
had
the
privilege
of
getting
it
inaugurated
by
Hon'ble
Prime
Minister
Shri
AB
Vajpayee
ji
and
later
on
in-patient
Deptt.
was
got
inaugurated
by
Shri
Advaniji.
Promoted
the
youth
of
various
organisations
and
a
huge
gathering
of
youth
wing
from
Eastern
side
of
our
country
was
addressed
by
Prime
Minister
Shri
AB
Vajpayee
ji
in
the
year
1997.
Actively
organised
and
participated
in
various
programmes
for
the
upliftment
of
windows
and
disabled.
It
included
getting
pecuniary
benefits
to
them
and
also
providing
with
gainful
employment.
Organised
several
workshops
for
the
disabled.
Established
rehabilitation
centres
for
destitute
children
and
conducted
literacy
awareness
campus
through
Chairperson,
Shastri
Niketan/Mahila
Chetna
Samiti.
Organised
several
blood
donation
camps,
eye
operation
camps
and
participated
in
welfare
activities
with
the
help
of
other
NGOs
in
the
capacity
of
Executive
Member,
Shastri
Sewa
Niketan,
Manda,
Allahabad,
an
all
India
Institution
devoted
to
upliftment
of
rural
women
and
children.
Was
responsible
for
planning
and
establishing
several
branches
of
Sewa
Niketan
in
various
parts
of
the
country
with
a
view
to
train
women
in
various
trades
and
skills
to
enable
them
take
up
self-employment.
During
Tsunami
and
earthquakes
in
Gujarat,
Kashmir
and
other
parts
of
countaries,
organised
relief
material
collection
work.
After
the
Tsunami,
visited
and
reviewed
the
rehabilitation
of
affected
people
in
Andman
and
Nicobar
Islands
by
visiting
these
areas.
|
|
Amitabh
Bacchan |
|
The
‘Shahenshah’
of
Bellwood
was
born
to
well-known
poet
late
Sri
Hariwansh
Rai
Bachchan
and
 Teji
Bachchan
in
Allahabad
on
October
11,
1942.
Amitabh
went
to
Sherwood
College,
a
boarding
school
in
Nainital,
and
then
to
Kirori
Mal
College
in
Delhi
University
where
he
earned
a
double
MA.
The
elder
son
of
Harivansh
Rai
Bachchan
was
a
former
stage
actor,
radio
announcer
and
freight
company
executive
in
Shaw
Wallace
in
Calcutta,
before
coming
to
the
land
of
dreams,
Bombay
(now
Mumbai).
He
had
to
struggle
a
lot
in
Bollywood
because
of
his
unconventional
looks
and
his
height.
At
6’3”,
he
was
considered
far
too
tall
by
the
filmmakers.
Surprisingly,
despite
having
a
rich
baritone
voice,
Bachchan
failed
in
an
audition
at
the
All
India
Radio!
Ultimately,
it
was
K A
Abbas
who
gave
Amitabh
his
first
break
in
‘Saat
Hindustani’
(1969).
But
the
film
failed
miserably,
with
Bachchan
going
almost
unnoticed.
Amitabh
played
the
lead
role,
for
the
first
time
in
his
career,
in
‘Pyar
Ki
Kahani’
(1971),
directed
by
Ravikant
Nagaich.
It
was
on
the
sets
of B
R
Ishara’s
‘Ek
Nazar’
(1972)
that
Amitabh
and
Jaya
Bhaduri
realized
that
they
were
in
love
with
each
other.
They
married
soon
after.
Though
Amitabh
got
an
award
for
the
best
supporting
actor
for
‘Anand’
(1972),
he
was
eclipsed
by a
stellar
performance
from
Rajesh
Khanna.
It
was
his
13th
film
'Zanjeer’,
directed
by
Prakash
Mehra,
which
catapulted
Amitabh
to
fame.
In
the
film,
he
played
a
strict
police
officer.
The
role,
which
fetched
him
the
title
‘The
Angry
Young
Man’,
came
to
him
by
default.
A
host
of
actors
like
Dharmendra,
Dev
Anand
and
Raj
Kumar
refused
to
do
the
role
on
account
of
some
apprehension.
Then
began
a
remarkable
journey
to
fame
and
success.
In
no
time
the
Indian
film
industry
was
declared
a
‘One
Man
Industry’,
and
Bachchan
its
undisputed
king.
Amitabh
had
his
‘sweet
revenge’
against
Rajesh
Khanna
by
outshining
him
in
‘Namak
Haraam’
(1974).
The
film
secured
him
another
award
for
Best
Supporting
Actor.
The
year
1975
saw
the
release
of
Amitabh’s
two
biggest
hits
till
date.
Ramesh
Sippy’s
‘Sholay’
and
Yash
Chopra’s
‘Deewaar’.
Amitabh
got
his
first
Best
Actor
Award
for
Manmohan
Desai’s
‘Amar
Akbar
Anthony’
(1977),
next
year
for
‘Don’
and
then
for
‘Hum’
(1991).
He
also
bagged
the
National
Award
for
Best
Actor
for
‘Agneepath’,
which
was
made
by
the
late
Mukul
Anand.
Amitabh
worked
with
a
host
of
directors
in
the
70s
and
the
80s
ranging
from
Prakash
Mehra
to
Yash
Chopra
and
from
Hrishikesh
Mukherjee
to
Manmohan
Desai.
After
‘Zanjeer’
Amitabh
again
joined
hands
with
Prakash
Mehra
to
give
hits
like
‘Hera
Pheri’
(1975),
‘Muqaddar
Ka
Siqander’
(1979),
‘Lawaaris’
(1981),
‘Namak
Halaal’
(1982)
and
‘Sharaabi’
(1984).
Yash
Chopra
exploited
the
romantic
side
of
Bachchan
to
the
hilt
in
‘Kabhi
Kabhie’
(1976)
and
‘Silsila’
(1981).
Bachchan
also
did
the
‘angry’
roles
with
Yash
Chopra
in
‘Trishul’
(1978)
and
‘Kaala
Patthar’
(1979).
Bachchan
essayed
a
fantastic
range
of
‘off-beat’
roles
under
the
direction
of
veteran
Hrishikesh
Mukherjee.
Apart
from
‘Anand’
and
‘Namak
Haraam’,
he
gave
standout
performances
in
‘Abhimaan’
(1973)
‘Mili’
(1975),
‘Chupke
Chupke’
(1975),
‘Jurmana’
(1979)
and
‘Bemisaal’
(1982).
With
the
late
Manmohan
Desai,
the
director
with
the
Midas
touch,
Amitabh
did
nine
films,
which
included
blockbusters
like
‘Amar
Akbar
Anthony’,
‘Suhaag’
(1979)
and
‘Coolie’
(1983).
The
adulation
for
Amitabh
became
clear
when
he
was
gravely
injured
during
the
filming
of
‘Coolie’
in
1983.
While
he
was
battling
for
life
in
the
hospital,
the
whole
nation
offered
prayers
at
temples
and
mosques
for
his
recovery.
His
other
hits
with
‘Man’
were
‘Parvarish’
(1977),
‘Naseeb’
(1981),
‘Desh
Premee’
(1982)
and
‘Mard’
(1985).
Amitabh’s
sizzling
on-screen
chemistry
with
Rekha
worked
wonders
at
the
box
office.
No
wonder,
the
delectable
duo
was
considered
one
of
the
most
successful
Bollywood
pairs.
They
worked
together
for
the
first
time
in
Dulal
Guha’s
‘Do
Anjaane’
(1976).
Amitabh
matched
the
acting
skills
of
another
great
actor
in
Ramesh
Sippy’s
‘Shakti’
(1982).
The
son
of a
strict
police
officer
(Dilip
Kumar),
he
takes
to
the
life
of
high
crime
and
smuggling.
It
was
a
big
challenge
for
Amitabh
the
actor,
and
he
came
out
with
flying
colors.
In
the
wake
of
the
assassination
of
Indira
Gandhi
in
1984,
on
the
advice
of
his
close
friend
Rajiv
Gandhi,
he
contested
the
general
elections
for
the
first
time
from
his
hometown
Allahabad.
His
electoral
debut
proved
the
Waterloo
of
stalwart
H N
Bahuguna.
His
stint
in
politics,
however,
proved
short-loved.
As
ill
luck
would
have
it,
Amitabh
got
embroiled
in
some
scandals.
Having
realized
that
politics
was
not
his
cup
of
tea,
Amitabh
resigned
his
seat
in
Parliament,
vowing
never
to
dabble
in
politics
again.
In
1988
came
Tinu
Anand’s
‘Shahenshah’.
It
blazed
a
new
trail,
with
Amitabh
becoming
the
first
major
film
star
to
take
his
film’s
distribution
rights
for
Mumbai
in
lieu
of
his
salary.
The
post-‘Shahenshah’
period
marked
a
lull
in
the
career
of
Amitabh.
A
host
of
mediocre
films
like
‘Ganga
Jamuna
Saraswati’,
‘Toofan’,
‘Jaadugar’
littered
this
phase
of
Bachchan’s
career.
But
then,
the
Big
B
bounced
back
– in
brilliant
fashion--
when
the
industry
started
to
write
him
off.
The
comeback
film
was
‘Hum’
(1991)
which
was
a
smashing
hit,
thanks
to
Big
B’s
stellar
performance.
A
few
years
later,
Amitabh
started
his
own
production
company,
the
Amitabh
Bachchan
Corporation
Limited
(ABCL).
ABCL
ventured
into
film
distribution
with
Mani
Ratnam’s
‘Bombay’.
It
also
was
the
principal
sponsor
of
the
Miss
Universe
Contest,
held
in
Bangalore
in
1996.
Unfortunately,
ABCL
fell
on
evil
days,
buried
neck
deep
in
debt.
The
company’s
cup
of
woe
ran
over
when
his
films
flopped
miserably
at
the
box-office.
And
he
was
again
‘written
off’
by
the
industry.
This
time,
too,
Bachchan
bounced
back
in
style.
Only,
it
was
his
performance
on
the
small
screen
that
revived
the
Bachchan
magic.
The
host
of
‘Kaun
Banega
Crorepati’
once
again
rode
the
roller
coaster
of
fame.
A
mellowed
Bachchan
found
himself
firmly
‘locked’
in
the
hearts
of
millions
of
his
adoring
fans.
The
show
represented
a
paradigm
shift
in
the
history
of
Indian
television.
It
is
still
luxuriating
in
the
lap
of
success.
Then
came
the
international
accolades.
Amitabh
was
chosen
Superstar
of
the
Millennium,
easing
out
giants
like
Sir
Lawrence
Olivier
and
Charlie
Chaplin
on a
BBC
online
poll.
National
recognition
followed
soon.
On
January
26,
2001
he
was
awarded
the
Padma
Bhushan
for
his
outstanding
contributions
to
Indian
Cinema.
Amitabh
is a
relieved
man
now,
having
paid
off
all
his
debts.
What
is
more,
he
is
once
again
a
force
to
reckon
with
in
the
Indian
film
industry
and
has
some
very
interesting
films
coming
up.
Undoubtedly,
Amitabh
is
still
the
Shahenshah
of
the
Indian
film
industry.
The
Big
B is
an
icon
who
has
survived
three
decades
of
competition,
even
trends.
And
emerged
a
winner.
|
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Shatrugn
Sinha
|
|
 Shatrughan
Sinha
(born
December
9,
1948)
is
an
Indian
actor
and
now
politician
,
born
in
Patna.
Biography
Sinha
hails
from
Patna,
Bihar,
a
place
not
known
for
film
personalities.
He
moved
to
Mumbai
to
become
an
actor
and
established
himself
as a
prominent
member
of
the
Indian
film
industry.
He
is
an
alumnus
of
the
Film
and
Television
Institute
of
India.
Movie
career
Shatrughan
Sinha
was
one
of
the
top
male
Bollywood
film
stars
in
the
1970s
and
1980s.
He
began
his
career
by
playing
villainous
roles
and
was
immensely
successful
in
portraying
stylised
villains.
He
then
switched
over
to
playing
the
protagonist/main
lead
and
was
even
more
successful
in
solo
starrers
as
well
as
multi-starrers.
While
he
was
at
the
peak
of
his
acting
career,
in
the
mid-1980s,
he
decided
that
he
should
do
something
for
his
country.
Inspired
by
the
great
politician
from
Bihar
Mr.
Jai
Prakash
Narayan,
he
decided
to
enter
politics.
He
chose
to
join
an
opposition
party,
the
Bhartiya
Janata
Party,
which
was
then
a
small
outfit
made
up
of
two
Members
of
Parliament.
He
faced
many
obstacles
in
his
political
career
due
to
this
and
his
attempts
to
do
social
work
in
Bihar
were
often
obstructed
by
the
ruling
party
at
that
time.
His
attempt
to
organise
entertainment
mega
events
with
the
help
of
film
personalities
from
Mumbai
to
raise
money
for
important
social
causes
dear
to
him
were
stopped
time
and
again
under
one
false
pretext
or
the
other.
Sinha
is
considered
one
of
the
most
successful
actor
politician
of
India,
having
made
history
by
being
the
first
member
of
the
film
fraternity
to
become
a
cabinet
minister
with
the
Government
of
India.
He
has
held
two
portfolios,
the
department
of
health,
and
the
department
of
shipping.
He
is
still
a
member
of
the
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
and
campaigns
for
the
party
all
over
India
and
is
well
known
as a
leader
of
the
masses
and
a
brilliant
orator.
As
of
May
2006,
he
has
been
appointed
as
the
head
of
the
BJP
Culture
and
Arts
Department |
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