Bidhan Chandra Roy

Bidhan Chandra Roy, M.R.C.P., F.R.C.S. (1 July 1882 – 1 July 1962) was the second Chief Minister of West Bengal in India. He remained in his post for 14 years as an Indian National Congress candidate, from 1948 until his death in 1962. He was a highly respected physician and a renowned freedom fighter. Bidhan Roy is often considered the great architect of West Bengal, who founded five eminent cities, Durgapur, Kalyani, Bidhannagar, Ashokenagar, Habra. He was an alumnus of the Medical College Calcutta of the University of Calcutta. He is one of the few people who completed both F.R.C.S. and M.R.C.P. simultaneously within only two years and three months. In India, the National Doctor's Day is celebrated on the date of his birth (and death) July 1 every year. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy constituted a trust for his properties at Patna for social service and made eminent nationalist Ganga Sharan Singh (Sinha) the trustee. He was awarded Bharat Ratna on 4 February 1961, India's highest civilian honour. He was also a member of the Brahmo Samaj.

Early life

Bidhan Chandra Roy was born on July 1, 1882, at B. M. Das road, Bankipore in Patna, Bihar. His father Prakash Chandra was an Excise Inspector. Bidhan was the youngest of five children and was greatly influenced by the simplicity, discipline and piety of his parents. His parents inculcated in him the idea of service by taking care of people other than relatives with affection and understanding. Bidhan's mother died when he was 14. His father played the role of both father and mother to his five children. He promised never to compel them to do anything but to just guide them on their path. All five children were required to do the household chores themselves. This was very helpful for Bidhan in his college days. Bidhan did his I.A. from Presidency College, Calcutta and B.A. from Patna College with Honors in Mathematics. He applied for admission to the Bengal Engineering College, and the Calcutta Medical College. He was accepted to both institutions but opted to go to medical school. Bidhan left for Calcutta in June 1901. While at medical school Bidhan came upon an inscription which read, "Whatever thy hands findeth to do, do it with thy might." Bidhan was deeply impressed by these words and they became a source of inspiration for him throughout his life.

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), informally called Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian lawyer, independence activist, politician, writer and statesman. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India. He also served as leader of the Indian National Congress, Premier of the Madras Presidency, Governor of West Bengal, Minister for Home Affairs of the Indian Union and Chief Minister of Madras state. Rajagopalachari founded the Swatantra Party and was one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. He vehemently opposed the use of nuclear weapons and was a proponent of world peace and disarmament. During his lifetime, he also acquired the nickname 'Mango of Salem'.

Rajagopalachari was born in the village of Thorapalli in the Salem district of the Madras Presidency (now the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu) and educated at Central College, Bangalore, and Presidency College, Madras. In 1900 he started a legal practice that in time became prosperous. On entering politics, he became a member and later President of the Salem municipality. He joined the Indian National Congress and participated in the agitations against the Rowlatt Act, joining the Non-Cooperation movement, the Vaikom Satyagraha, and the Civil Disobedience movement. In 1930, Rajagopalachari risked imprisonment when he led the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha in response to the Dandi March. In 1937, Rajagopalachari was elected Premier of the Madras Presidency and served until 1940, when he resigned due to Britain's declaration of war on Germany. He later advocated co-operation over Britain's war effort and opposed the Quit India Movement. He favoured talks with both Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League and proposed what later came to be known as the C. R. Formula. In 1946, Rajagopalachari was appointed Minister of Industry, Supply, Education and Finance in the Interim Government of India, and then as the Governor of West Bengal from 1947 to 1948, Governor-General of India from 1948 to 1950, Union Home Minister from 1951 to 1952 and as Chief Minister of Madras state from 1952 to 1954. In 1959, he resigned from the Indian National Congress and founded the Swatantra Party, which stood against the Congress in the 1962, 1967 and 1972 elections. Rajagopalachari was instrumental in setting up a united Anti-Congress front in Madras state under C. N. Annadurai, which swept the 1967 elections.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975) was an Indian philosopher and statesman who was the first Vice President of India (1952–1962) and the second President of India from 1962 to 1967.

One of India's best and most influential twentieth-century scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, his academic appointments included the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta (1921–1932) and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at University of Oxford (1936–1952).

His philosophy was grounded in Advaita Vedanta, reinterpreting this tradition for a contemporary understanding. He defended Hinduism against "uninformed Western criticism", contributing to the formation of contemporary Hindu identity. He has been influential in shaping the West’s understanding of Hinduism, India, and the East,and earned a reputation as a bridge-builder between India and the West.

Radhakrishnan was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954. Among the other important honours he received were the British Knight Bachelor in 1931, although he ceased to use the title "Sir" after India attained independence, member of the German "Order pour le Merite for Arts and Science" in 1954, and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963. He was also awarded the Templeton Prize in 1975 for advocating non-aggression and conveying "love and wisdom for all people."

Jamnalal Bajaj

Jamnalal Bajaj (4 November 1884 – 11 February 1942) was an Indian industrialist, a philanthropist, and Indian independence fighter. He was also a close associate and follower of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi is known to have adopted him as his son. He founded the Bajaj Group of companies in 1926. The group now has 24 companies, including 6 listed companies. Besides Bajaj Auto Ltd, the other major companies in the group include Mukand Ltd, Bajaj Electricals Ltd and Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd. One of his grandsons, Rahul Bajaj, runs the family flagship company, Bajaj Auto. Several institutions in India bears his name, including the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. A locality, JB Nagar,in the sub-urban Andheri in Mumbai has been named after him. Jamnalal Bajaj Award was established in 1978 by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation are given away each year on his birth anniversary.

Bhikaji Cama

Bhikhaiji Rustom Cama was born Bhikai Sorab Patel on 24 September 1861 in Bombay (now Mumbai) in a large, well-off Parsi family. Her parents, Sorabji Framji Patel and Jaijibai Sorabji Patel, were well known in the city, where her father Sorabji—a lawyer by training and a merchant by profession—was an influential member of the Parsi community.

Like many Parsi girls of the time, Bhikhaiji attended Alexandra Native Girl's English Institution. Bhikhaiji was by all accounts a diligent, disciplined child with a flair for languages.

On 3 August 1885, she married Rustom Cama, who was son of K. R. Cama. Her husband was a wealthy, pro-British lawyer who aspired to enter politics. It was not a happy marriage, and Bhikhaiji spent most of her time and energy in philanthropic activities and social work.

In October 1896, the Bombay Presidency was hit first by famine, and shortly thereafter by bubonic plague. Bhikhaiji joined one of the many teams working out of Grant Medical College (which would subsequently become Haffkine's plague vaccine research centre), in an effort to provide care for the afflicted, and (later) to inoculate the healthy. Cama subsequently contracted the plague herself, but survived. Severely weakened, she was sent to Britain for medical care in 1901.

Abul Kalam Azad

Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed Azad (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian scholar and a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement. Following India's independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government. In 1992 he was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. There is also a theory which suggests that earlier when he was offered Bharat Ratna he promptly declined it saying that it should not be given to those who have been on the selection committee. Later he was awarded posthumously in 1992. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'learned man', and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as "National Education Day" across India.

As a young man, Azad composed poetry in Urdu language, as well as treatises on religion and philosophy. He rose to prominence through his work as a journalist, publishing works critical of the British Raj and espousing the causes of Indian nationalism. Azad became the leader of the Khilafat Movement, during which he came into close contact with the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Azad became an enthusiastic supporter of Gandhi's ideas of non-violent civil disobedience, and worked to organise the non-co-operation movement in protest of the 1919 Rowlatt Acts. Azad committed himself to Gandhi's ideals, including promoting Swadeshi (indigenous) products and the cause of Swaraj (Self-rule) for India. In 1923, at an age of 35, he became the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress.

Aruna Asaf Ali

Aruna Asaf Ali was born as Aruna Ganguly on 16 July 1908 at Kalka, Punjab, British India, but now in the state of Haryana into a Bengali Brahmo family. She was educated at Sacred Heart Convent in Lahore and then in Nainital. She graduated and worked as a teacher. She taught at the Gokhale Memorial School in Calcutta. She met Asaf Ali, a leader in the Congress party at Allahabad and married him in 1928, despite parental opposition on grounds of religion (she was a Brahmo while he was a Muslim) and age (a difference of more than 20 years).

Freedom struggle: early days

She became an active member of Congress Party after marrying Asaf Ali and participated in public processions during the Salt Satyagraha. She was arrested on the charge that she was a vagrant and hence not released in 1931 under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact which stipulated release of all political prisoners. Other women co-prisoners refused to leave the premises unless she was also released and gave in only after Mohandas K. Gandhi intervened. A public agitation secured her release.

In 1932, she was held prisoner at the Tihar Jail where she protested the indifferent treatment of political prisoners by launching a hunger strike. Her efforts resulted in an improvement of conditions in the Tihar Jail but she was moved to Ambala and was subjected to solitary confinement. She was politically not very active after her release.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Khān Abdul Ghaffār Khān (1890 – 20 January 1988) also known as Fakhr-e Afghān, and Bāchā Khān, Pāchā Khān or Bādshāh Khān, was an independence activist of Pashtun descent. He was a political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition to the British Raj in British India, and a lifelong pacifist and devout Muslim. A close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, Bacha Khan has been called the "Frontier Gandhi" by the Indians. In 1910, Bacha Khan opened a mosque school at his hometown Utmanzai, and in 1911 joined the freedom movement of Haji Sahib of Turangzai. However in 1915, the British authorities banned his mosque school. Having witnessed the repeated failure of revolts against the British Raj, Bacha Khan decided that social activism and reform would be more beneficial for the Pashtuns. This led to the formation of Anjuman-e Islāh al-Afghān ("Afghan Reform Society") in 1921, and the youth movement Pax̌tūn Jirga ("Pashtun Assembly") in 1927. After Bacha Khan's return from the Hajj in May 1928, he founded the Pashto language monthly political journal Pax̌tūn. Finally, in November 1929, Bacha Khan founded the Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God") movement, whose success triggered a harsh crackdown by the British Empire against him and his supporters and they suffered some of the most severe repression of the Indian independence movement. In 1962, Bacha Khan was named the Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience of the Year. In 1987, he became the first non-Indian to be awarded Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. Bacha Khan was an important freedom fighter, and is a Pashtun national hero and a key figure of Pashtun nationalism.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Gopal Krishna Gokhale (9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was one of the founding social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Servants of India Society. Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale promoted not only primarily independence from the British Empire but also social reform. To achieve his goals, Gokhale followed two overarching principles: non-violence and reform within existing government institutions.

Background and education

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on May 9, 1866 in Kothluk village of Guhagar taluka in Ratnagiri district, in present-day Maharashtra (then part of the Bombay Presidency) in a Chitpavan Brahmin Family. Despite being relatively poor, his family ensured that Gokhale received an English education, which would place Gokhale in a position to obtain employment as a clerk or minor official in the British Raj. Being one of the first generations of Indians to receive a university education, Gokhale graduated from Elphinstone College in 1884. Gokhale’s education tremendously influenced the course of his future career – in addition to learning English, he was exposed to western political thought and became a great admirer of theorists such as John Stuart Mill and Edmund Burke. Although he would come to criticize unhesitatingly many aspects of the English colonial regime, the respect for English political theory and institutions that Gokhale acquired in his college years would remain with him for the rest of his life. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, was one of the founding social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Servants of India Society. Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale promoted not only primarily independence from the British Empire but also social reform. To achieve his goals, Gokhale followed two overarching principles: non-violence and reform within existing government institutions..

Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant

Govind Ballabh Pant was born on 10 September 1887 in Khoont village on the slopes of Shyahi Devi hill near Almora. His mother's name was Govindi. His father, Manorath Pant, being a government official, was constantly on the move. Govind was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Badri Dutt Joshi, who played a significant part in moulding his personality and political views. He honored with “Proud Past Alumni" in the list of 42 members, from "Allahabad University Alumni Association", Allahabad University registered under society act 1860 with registration no. 407/2000.

As a lawyer in Kashipur, Pant began his active work against the British Raj in 1914, when he helped a local parishad, or village council, in their successful challenge of a law requiring locals to provide free transportation of the luggage of travelling British officials. In 1921, he entered politics and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.

In the freedom struggle

In 1930, he was arrested and imprisoned for several weeks for organizing a Salt March inspired by Gandhi's earlier actions. In 1933, he was arrested along with Harsh Dev Bahuguna (Gandhi of Choukot)and imprisoned for seven months for attending a session of the then-banned provincial Congress. In 1935, the ban was rescinded, and Pant joined the new Legislative Council. During the Second World War, Pant acted as the tiebreaker between Gandhi's faction, which advocated supporting the British Crown in their war effort, and Subhas Chandra Bose's faction, which advocated taking advantage of the situation to expel the British Raj by any means necessary.

In 1934, the Congress ended its boycott of the legislatures and put up candidates, and Pant was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly. His political skills won the admiration of the leaders of the Congress, and he became deputy leader of the Congress party in the Assembly.

Sam Pitroda

Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda popularly known as Sam Pitroda (born 4 May 1942) is an Indian innovator, entrepreneur and policymaker. Currently Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations. As Advisor, he will be looking into creating information infrastructure for enhancing delivery of services to the citizens in various areas and will also be working on creating a road map for a ‘Decade of Innovation’ in India. He is also the chairman of National Innovation Council.

He has served as Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission (2005–2009), a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, set up to give policy recommendations for improving knowledge related institutions and infrastructure in the country. During its term, the National Knowledge Commission submitted around 300 recommendations on 27 focus areas covering a range of aspects of the knowledge paradigm. Mr. Pitroda holds around 100 key technology patents, has been involved in several start ups, and lectures extensively around the world.

He is also the founder & Chairman of C-SAM. The company maintains its headquarters in Chicago with offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Mumbai and Vadodara. Following the development of core technologies in the U.S. and Europe, C-SAM's development centers in India now focus on innovation, customization and cost effective deployment for its customers.

He has also served as an advisor to the United Nations and in 1992, his biography Sam Pitroda: A Biography was published and became the bestseller on the The Economic Times list for five weeks.

As technology Advisor to the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi in the 1984s, Mr. Pitroda not only heralded the telecom revolution in India, but also made a strong case for using technology for the benefit and betterment of society through several missions on telecommunications, literacy, dairy, water, immunization, oilseeds etc.. He has continued to redefine the role technology can play in a society like India by linking it to better delivery of services for the underprivileged in the country.

Mr. Sam Pitroda's claim of heralding the Telecom Revolution in India has been disputed in an article by Rajeev Mantri and Harsh Gupta published by LiveMint 

He has lived mainly in Chicago, Illinois since 1964 with his wife and two children.

Nandan Nilekani

Nandan Nilekani is an Indian entrepreneur and the Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). After a successful career at Infosys, he is now heading the Government of India's technology committee, TAGUP.

Early life

Nandan Manohar Nilekani was born in 1955 in the town of Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. His parents are Durga and Mohan Rao Nilekani. His father worked as a General Manager of Mysore and Minerva Mills and subscribed to Fabian Socialist ideals that influenced Nilekani in his early years. Nilekani's elder brother, Vijay, works in the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Nilekani studied at the Bishop Cotton Boys' School and St. Joseph High School Dharwad, and later at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai.

Career

Nilekani is a co-founder of Infosys and served as its CEO from March 2002 to April 2007. He is chair of the Unique Identification Authority of India, a cabinet-ranking position that he entered in 2009 under the invitation of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Nilekani received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1978 and joined Mumbai-based Patni Computer Systems, where he met and was interviewed by N.R. Narayana Murthy. In 1981, Mr. Nilekani, Mr. Murthy, and five others left Patni to start their own company, Infosys. Nilekani became the Chief Executive Officer of Infosys in March 2002 and served as CEO of the company through April 2007, when he relinquished his position to his colleague Kris Gopalakrishnan and became co-chairman of the board of directors. Before assuming leadership as CEO in 2002, Mr. Nilekani held various posts, including managing director, president, and chief operating officer.

Nilekani left Infosys in July 2009 to serve as the chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India,. As chair of the UIDAI he is responsible for implementing the envisioned Multipurpose National Identity Card, or Unique Identity card (UID Card) project in India. This initiative aims to provide a unique identification number for all residents of India and will be used primarily as the basis for efficient delivery of welfare services.

He is a member of the board of governors of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and the president of NCAER (the premier independent applied economics research institute in India). He also sits on several advisory boards, including those of the World Economic Forum Foundation and the Bombay Heritage Fund.

Nilekani has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote his book Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation  and spoke at a TED conference in 2009 on his ideas for India's future.

Nilekani has an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion.

Honours and awards

• He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto on 31 May 2011.
• He received NDTV Indian of the Year's Transformational Idea of the Year Award in 2011
• He was named Corporate Citizen of the Year at the Asia Business Leaders Award (2004) organized by CNBC.
• Joseph Schumpeter Prize for innovative services in economy, economic sciences and politics – 2005.
• In 2009, Time magazine placed Nilekani in the Time 100 list of 'World's Most Influential People'
• Was presented the 'Legend in Leadership Award' by the Yale University in November 2009. He is the first Indian to receive the top honour.
• In January 2006, Mr. Nilekani became on the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board.
• Nilekani was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan, in 2006.
• Also in 2006, he was named Businessman of the Year by Forbes Asia.

Allan Octavian Hume

Allan Octavian Hume (6 June 1829 - 31 July 1912) was a civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement. A notable ornithologist, Hume has been called "the Father of Indian Ornithology" and, by those who found him dogmatic, "the Pope of Indian ornithology."

Life and career

Hume was born at St Mary Cray, Kent, the son of Joseph Hume, the Radical MP. He was educated at East India Company College, Haileybury, and then at University College Hospital, where he studied medicine and surgery. In 1849 he sailed to India and the following year joined the Bengal Civil Service at Etawah in the North-Western Provinces, in what is now Uttar Pradesh. His career in India included service as a district officer from 1849 to 1867, head of a central department from 1867 to 1870, secretary to the Government from 1870 to 1879.

It was only nine years after his entry to India that Hume faced the uprising of 1857 during which time he was involved in several military actions for which he was created a Companion of the Bath in 1860. Initially it appeared that he was safe in Etawah, which was not far from Meerut where the mutiny began. This however changed and Hume had to take refuge in Agra fort for six months. Nonetheless, all but one Indian official remained loyal and Hume resumed his position in Etawah in January 1858. He built up an irregular force of 650 loyal Indian troops and took part in engagements with them. Hume blamed British ineptitude for the uprising and pursued a policy of ‘mercy and forbearance’.

In his early service as a District Officer in the Indian Civil Service, he began introducing free primary education and creating a local vernacular newspaper, Lokmitra (The People's Friend).

Hina Rabbani Khar

Hina Rabbani Khar

Hina Rabbani Khar was born on 19 January 1977 in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. She is the daughter of politician Malik Ghulam Noor Rabbani Khar and niece of Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar. A businesswoman by profession, Hina Rabbani Khar's family has roots in village ‘Khar Gharbi’ located in Kot Addu a Tehsil in Muzaffargarh District in the Punjab province. The Khar political power comes from the family's land holdings: their sprawling estate includes fisheries, mango orchards and sugarcane fields. She graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) from Lahore University of Management Sciences in 1999, and received her M.Sc. in Hotel Management from the University of Massachusetts in 2001.

She was elected as a member of the National Assembly from the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) in 2002 from NA-177 Muzaffargarh-II, Punjab. PML-Q denied Hina Khar a ticket for re-election in 2008 and she ran and won as a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), securing more than 84000 votes.

She served as the State Minister for Economic Affairs and Statistics in the cabinet of Yousaf Raza Gillani. On 13 June 2009 she became the first woman to present a budget speech in the National Assembly.

She was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on February 11, 2011, as part of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani's new cabinet. She is the first female Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Pakistan's history. After Shah Mehmood Qureshi was dismissed as Foreign Minister, she became Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs on February 13, 2011. She was officially appointed as foreign minister on 19 July 2011 by President Asif Ali Zardari and was sworn in as permanent Minister for Foreign affairs on 20 July 2011. In a message of felicitation, President Zardari described Ms Khar’s appointment as a demonstration of the PPP government’s “commitment to bring women into the mainstream of national life”.

Anna Hazare

Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare (born 15 January 1940), popularly known as Anna Hazare is an Indian social activist who is especially recognized for his contribution to the development of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing it as a model village, for which he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1992.

On 5 April 2011, Hazare started a 'fast unto death' to exert pressure on the Government of India to enact a strong anti-corruption act as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, a law that will establish a Lokpal (ombudsman) that will have the power to deal with corruption in public offices. The fast led to nation wide protests in support of Hazare. The fast ended on 9 April 2011. All of his demands of the movement are agreed by the Government of India and Government issued a gazette notification on formation of a joint committee headed by senior minister Pranab Mukherjee to draft an effective Lokpal Bill.