Category Personalities

In which city was the first PM Jawaharlal Nehru born on November 14?

Jawaharlal Nehru, byname Pandit (Hindi: “Pundit” or “Teacher”) Nehru, (born November 14, 1889, Allahabad, India—died May 27, 1964, New Delhi), first prime minister of independent India (1947–64), who established parliamentary government and became noted for his neutralist (nonaligned) policies in foreign affairs.

Pt. Nehru became the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in September 1923. He toured Italy, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Germany and Russia in 1926. In Belgium, he attended the Congress of Oppressed Nationalities in Brussels as an official delegate of the Indian National Congress. He also attended the tenth anniversary celebrations of the October Socialist Revolution in Moscow in 1927. Earlier, in 1926, at the Madras Congress, Nehru had been instrumental in committing the Congress to the goal of Independence. While leading a procession against the Simon commission, he was lathi-charged in Lucknow in 1928. On August 29, 1928 he attended the All-Party Congress and was one of the signatories to the Nehru Report on Indian Constitutional Reform, named after his father Shri Motilal Nehru. The same year, he also founded the ‘Independence for India League’, which advocated complete severance of the British connection with India, and became its General Secretary.

In 1929, Pt. Nehru was elected President of the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress, where complete independence for the country was adopted as the goal. He was imprisoned several times during 1930-35 in connection with the Salt Satyagraha and other movements launched by the Congress. He completed his ‘Autobiography’ in Almora Jail on February 14, 1935. After release, he flew to Switzerland to see his ailing wife and visited London in February-March, 1936. He also visited Spain in July 1938, when the country was in the throes of Civil War. Just before the court-break of the Second World War, he visited China too.

 

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Who was the first and only woman Indian Prime Minister so far?

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was the first and, to date, only female Prime Minister of India. Indira Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. She served as prime minister from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984, making her the second longest-serving Indian prime minister after her father.

Indira Gandhi was born Indira Nehru into a Kashmiri Pandit family on 19 November 1917 in Allahabad. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a leading figure in India’s political struggle for independence from British rule, and became the first Prime Minister of the Dominion (and later Republic) of India. She was the only child (a younger brother died young), and grew up with her mother, Kamala Nehru, at the Anand Bhavan, a large family estate in Allahabad. She had a lonely and unhappy childhood. Her father was often away, directing political activities or incarcerated, while her mother was frequently bedridden with illness, and later suffered an early death from tuberculosis. She had limited contact with her father, mostly through letters.

She had been Minister for Information and Broadcasting (1964- 1966). Then she held the highest office as the Prime Minister of India from January 1966 to March 1977. Concurrently, she was the Minister for Atomic Energy from September 1967 to March 1977. She also held the additional charge of the Ministry of External Affairs from September 5, 1967 to February 14, 1969. Smt. Gandhi headed the Ministry of Home Affairs from June 1970 to November 1973 and Minister for Space from June 1972 to March 1977. From January 1980 she was Chairperson, Planning Commission. She again chaired the prime Minister’s Office from January 14, 1980.

 

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What are the interesting facts about Dan Brown’s Wild Symphony?

When Dan Brown was growing up, his parents decided not to keep a television in the house. So he spent his childhood playing the piano, reading and solving puzzles. He started writing piano pieces when he was five, and aspired to become a musician before turning to writing. Brown’s first children’s book “Wild Symphony”, which released in September, is a combination of his love for music and his passion for storytelling and mysteries.

What’s the book about?

“Wild Symphony” is about a musical conductor-it’s a mouse named Maestro. At the beginning of the book, you learn that Maestro mouse is preparing to put on a musical concert with a motley team of wild animals from blue whales and kangaroos to ostriches and cheetahs. Each animal has a special secret, and readers have to guess what it is by decoding the jumbled letters hidden throughout the stunning illustrations in the book.

Accompanied by music

Scanning the QR code given in the book will lead you to a free, augmented reality app. You can listen to music by pointing your phone camera towards each page. The music has been composed by Brown himself. Each animal is accompanied by a musical score, which reflects its special personality – whether it is upbeat and fun like bouncing kangaroos or quirky like the buzzing bees. All the 21 musical pieces are performed by the Zagreb Festival Orchestra, Croatia.

Life lessons

In addition to playing a musical instrument, the animals offer a valuable life lesson to the readers don’t be afraid to be yourself and failure is a stepping stone towards success. This interactive musical picture book is a delight for the eyes and ears!

Did you know?

Like Brown, many famous authors have dabbled in children’s books. Here are some examples:

  • Salman Rushdie – “Haroun and The Sea of Other Stories
  • Ernest Hemingway-“The Faithful Bull”
  • Gertrude Stein – “The World Is Round”
  • Margaret Atwood – “Up In The Tree
  • James Joyce – “The Cat And The Devil”

 

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What is the life story of Alfred Nobel?

Alfred Nobel was born in Sweden on October 21, 1833. He was interested in literature, but his family steered him towards chemical engineering, to follow his father’s example. Nobel’s father Immanuel was an engineer who experimented with different explosives.

An explosive discovery

Once while mixing different additives to nitroglycerine, Nobel discovered that adding fine sand – silica – turns the liquid into paste, which made it safer and easier to handle. He moulded the paste into rods, which could be inserted into holes for controlled explosions. Nobel patented his discovery as dynamite. Always eager to experiment and innovate, he acquired as many as 355 patents during his lifetime; most of them dealt with manufacturing arms and helped him earn a fortune.

A change of heart

An unusual incident that took place in 1888 forced Nobel to re-evaluate his life. A French newspaper mistakenly published an obituary on him (instead of his brother Ludvig who had died due to a heart attack.) Titled “The Merchant of Death,” it criticised Nobel for the sale of arms. The error was later corrected, but it continued to prick his conscience. On November 27, 1895, Nobel signed his last will and testament, stipulating that 94% of his assets should be used to establish a series of five awards to felicitate excellence in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Physiology, Literature and Peace. Nobel died in 1896 and the Nobel Prizes were handed out for the very first time in 1901.

ON THE 2020 HONOUR ROLL

  • Chemistry: Jointly awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna “for the development of a method for genome editing.”
  • Physics: One half to Roger Penrose for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity” and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez “for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy.”
  • Physiology and Medicine: Shared between Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice “for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus.”
  • Literature: U.S. poet Louise Glück for “her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.”
  • Peace: The UN World Food Programme (WFP).

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Have you ever wondered why the Nobel Prize winners are called laureates? The word Laureate’ refers to the laurel wreath’ which is a symbol of victory and honour in Greek mythology.
  • Marie Curie is the only person who was awarded the Nobel in two different scientific categories – Physics and Chemistry.
  • Malala Yousafzai is the youngest to win the Nobel. She was only 17 when she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
  • John B. Goodenough is the oldest person to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He won in 2019 at the age of 97.
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Which SAARC Literary and Jnanpith Award-winning author’s translated books include “Imaginary Maps” and “The Queen of Jhansi”?

Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016) was an Indian fiction writer in Bengali and a socio-political activist. Her notable literary works include Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, and Aranyer Adhikar. She was a self-recognised communist and worked for the rights and empowerment of the tribal people (Lodha and Shabar) of West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states of India. She was honoured with various literary awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award (in Bengali), Jnanpith Award and Ramon Magsaysay Award along with India’s civilian awards Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.

Devi wrote over 100 novels and over 20 collections of short stories primarily written in Bengali but often translated to other languages. Her first novel, titled Jhansir Rani, based on a biography of the Rani of Jhansi was published in 1956. She had toured the Jhansi region to record information and folk songs from the local people for the novel.

Mahasweta Devi’s specialisation lied in the studies of Adivasi, Dalit and Marginalized citizens with a focus on their women. They were associated as protestor in the face of the oppressive British rule, the Mahajanas and upper class corruption and injustice. She lived in the Adivasi villages in West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh years afer years, befriending them and learning from them. She has embodied their struggles and sacrifices in her words and characters. She had claimed that her stories aren’t her creation, they are the stories of the people of her country. Such an example is her work ” Chotti Mundi Ebong Tar Tir”

In 1964, she began teaching at Vijaygarh Jyotish Ray College (an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta system). In those days Vijaygarh Jyotish Ray College was an institution for working-class women students. During that period she also worked—as a journalist and as a creative writer. She studied the Lodhas and Shabars, the tribal communities of West Bengal, women and dalits. In her elaborate Bengali fiction, she often depicted the brutal oppression on the tribal people and untouchables by the powerful authoritarian upper-caste landlords, money-lenders, and venal government officials. She wrote of the source of her inspiration:Postcolonial scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak has translated Devi’s short stories into English and published three books Imaginary Maps (1995, Routledge), Old Woman (1997, Seagull), The Breast Stories (1997, Seagull).

 

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What makes Stephenie Meyer books so special?

The vampre saga continues…

Twelve years ago, a vampire captured the imagination of teens across the world. The story of the terrifying mythical creature – with a pale face and a chiseled jawline – falling in love with a human, won over hearts. Four books and five films later, the series has now received fresh blood.

A new comparison book to the “Twilight” series, “Midnight Sun” by Stephenie Meyer released in August and has already sold more than one million copies. Meyer has even announced plans for two more books in the vampire saga.

The rise of Stephenie Meyer

Like her famous counterpart J.K. Rowling, Meyer got the idea for her book all of a sudden. She was a struggling writer when she had a vivid dream – a boy and girl sitting in a meadow confessing that they were falling in love with each other. There was just one slight problem in this romantic tableau – the boy was a vampire and found the scent of her blood irresistible. Meyer remembered every glorious aspect of the dream and began penning it down so that it won’t slip away. Before she knew it, she had a complete book in her hands!

What’s the new book about?

Titled “Midnight Sun”, the new book is a prequel to “Twilight”. It recounts the story from Edward’s perspective, delving into his past. All the books in the series so far have been from Bella’s point of view. Meyer first announced the publications of Midnight Sun in May. 12 years after she abandoned the manuscript following an online leak of a draft. At the time, Meyer called the leak “a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being” and put the project on hold indefinitely.

The Twilight saga

The “Twilight” saga was an instant success with teens. The first book came out in 2005, closely followed by a film adaptation with a star cast – Robert Pattinson shone as Edward Cullen and Kirsten Stewart portrayed the clumsy Bella Swan. Though the series received a drubbing from the critics, the films caused a sensation at the box office. More books – “New Moon” (2006), “Eclipse” (2007) and “Breaking Dance” (2008) – followed suit.

Other vampires in fiction you must read:

Here are some famous vampire stories in literature.

  • “Dracula”: Bram Stoker’s sophisticated and mysterious Count Dracula remains timeless.
  • “The House of Night”: This 2007 series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast follows the adventures of a young vampyre Zoey Redbird.
  • “True Blood”: Charlene Harris’s vampire novels feature Sookie Stackhouse and her close encounters with the fanged creatures.

Oh really?

  • Meyer started writing the story backwards, starting from the meadow scene in chapter 13 and then writing chronologically till the beginning.
  • Meyer began writing “Midnight Sun” in 2008, but abandoned the project after half of the manuscript leaked online. She said it violated her right as an author and a human being.
  • Twilight fans are divided into two camps – those who prefer the vampire Edward and those who think that the werewolf Jacob is a better choice. Are you team Edward or team Jacob?

 

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