Category Famous Personalities

Where was Dr. Kalam born?

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was born to a Tamil family from Rameswaram on 15 October, 1931. Rameswaram was then part of the Madras Presidency in British India but it is now in Tamil Nadu. His father’s name was Jainulabdeen, who was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque. His mother was Ashiamma, a housewife.

Abdul Kalam was the youngest of five siblings. His eldest sibling was his sister Asim Zohra. He had three elder brothers, namely Mohammed Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraikayar, Mustafa Kalam and Kasim Mohammed. He was close to his family and always helped them while remaining a bachelor his whole life.

His ancestors were wealthy traders and landowners, who owned numerous properties and large areas of land. They traded groceries between the mainland and the Pamban Island and between the island and Sri Lanka. They also ferried the pilgrims from the mainland to the Pamban Island. This tradition earned their family the title “Mara Kalam lyakkivar” (wooden boat steerers), to be later known as “Maraikayar.”

Unfortunately, in the 1920s, his family lost most of its fortune, and by the time Kalam was born, the family was poverty-stricken.

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Why is it said that APJ Abdul Kalam had an illustrious life?

History has shown us that great men are not born every day. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was one such legend who left his mark on the world and people’s hearts.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, also known as APJ Abdul Kalam was a scientist who had great dreams for the country. He worked as a science administrator and scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for over forty years before becoming the president of the country. His contributions to the military missile development efforts and civilian space programme of India earned him the title ‘The Missile Man of India.’ His contributions to developing the launch vehicle technology of ballistic missiles are particularly noteworthy. In 1998, he played a critical role in the Pokhran-II Nuclear Tests.

Later in 2002, he was elected the 11th president of India and was widely known as the ‘People’s President.’ He was the first scientist to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan. After serving his tenure as the president, he went on to pursue teaching, writing and reading-his most passionate vocations. He was honoured with the ‘Bharat Ratna Award’, India’s highest civilian honour, for his contributions.

He died on 27 July 2015 while delivering a talk at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Shillong. He was laid to rest with full state honours with thousands of people attending the funeral.

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WHO IS MALALA YOUSAFZAI AND WHY IS SHE FAMOUS?

Malala Yousafzai, (born July 12, 1997, Mingora, Swat valley, Pakistan), Pakistani activist who, while a teenager, spoke out publicly against the prohibition on the education of girls that was imposed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP; sometimes called Pakistani Taliban).

October 9, 2012, was a day like any other, when a group of young girls were on their bus ride back home, in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, after an exam at school. They were unwinding on the ride, like every other student after an exam. Chit-chat and laughter filled the bus until terror struck. A masked gunman onboarded, and even before the girls could gather themselves and overcome their initial shock, he shouted, “Which one of you is Malala? Speak up, otherwise I will shoot you all.”

Upon being identified, a 15-year-old was shot at While two others were wounded in the shooting, it was the former who was most affected. She was Malala Yousafzai, and had been shot for constantly speaking up for the education rights of girls in the Valley, and opposing the Taliban’s draconian rules and their acts of destroying schools and obstructing eduction. It is in honour of this fierce. courageous teen that the United Nations declared July 12. her birthday, as International Malala Day, in 2013, on her 16th birthday, when she spoke at the UN to call for worldwide access to education.

Early days

Daughter of education activist Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala had grown up knowing the importance of education. She was further inspired by the twice-elected Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and started speaking about education rights as early as September 2008, when she was just 11.

However, Malala’s first step towards fame came in late 2008, when BBC Urdu website’s Aamer Ahmed Khan and his colleagues, zeroed in on a novel way to cover Pakistani Taliban’s growing sway in Swat. They decided to ask a schoolgirl to blog anonymously about her life there. Their Peshawar correspondent, who had been in touch with a local school teacher, Ziauddin Yousafzai, could not find any students willing to report, as their families deemed it dangerous. Finally, he suggested that his own daughter, 11-year-old Malal do it, and on January 3, 2009, her first entry was posted on the BBC Urdu blog. Later, that year, she and her father were approached by a New York Times reporter for a documentary, and interviews on several news channels. By the end of 2009. her BBC blogging identity was revealed.

Danger brews

As her fame rose, so did the imminent jeopardy to her life. Death threats against her were published in newspapers, slipped under her door, and posted on Facebook. It culminated in the attack in October 2012. She was airlifted to the military hospital in Peshawar, then moved to Rawalpindi’s Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, and finally to the UK’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she underwent surgeries.

Whilst convalescing in hospital, on October 15 2012. UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, the former British Prime Minister, visited her and launched a petition in her name and “in support of what Malala fought for”. Under the slogan I am Malala, its main demand was that there be no child left out of school by 2015.

Youngest Nobel laureate

She was discharged from the hospital on January 3, 2013, and continued with her activism soon after. In October 2014, along with Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Vidyarthi, she was announced as the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education. At 17, she became the youngest Nobel laureate, and the second Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize after Physics laureate Abdus Salam, in 1979. Today, she continues to serve the cause of education and work towards what she truly believes.

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HOW DID MAHATAMA GANDHI FIGHT FOR FREEDOM?

From being an advocate to a freedom fighter, the legacy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is nothing short of extraordinary. History remembers him as the man whose unflinching courage and persistence shook the British to the core. His message of peace, forgiveness, tolerance and freedom has never been more relevant than today. Let us take a walk in the shoes of the Mahatma who gave the world the gift of Ahimsa.

On 8th August 1942. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi addressed the masses from the Gwalior tank maidan in Bombay (now) Mumbai), during a historic session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). This marked the beginning of Bharat Chhodo Andolan or the Quit India movement.

Cooperation and World War II By 1939, events from other countries had begun to find their resonance in India. The Second World War had broken out and the Indian leaders fully sympathised with the victims of fascist forces. But an enslaved nation could not be drawn into the war.

Britain was pressured by the Allied forces (U.S., USSR and China) to exert its influence and seek Indian cooperation in their war efforts. Upon negotiation, the Indian political leaders agreed to comply. but only if they were guaranteed a complete transfer of power and independence in exchange.

On 8 August 1942, unable to reach a consensus with the imperialists, India’s freedom movement headed towards its tumultuous final campaign. The Quit India Movement (also known as August Kranti) saw Gandhiji motivate the populous “to do or die” until the British quit India.

The Britishers ruthless response to this was imprisonment without trial. The entire Congress leadership including Gandhiji was arrested the following morning.

But the fight for liberation continued. The masses took to the streets to protest against the colonisers brutality By now, the freedom movement had inculcated a dominant feeling of oneness in the heart of the average Indian and a unique unity in diversity prevailed.

What followed was the entire country invigorated by the spirit of nationlism looking forward to end of colonial rule with a sense of urgency.

Unity in diversity

“I believe that in the history of the world, there has not been a more genuinely democratic struggle for freedom than ours…Once you realise this you will forget the differences between the Hindus and Muslims. and think of yourselves as Indians only, engaged in the common struggle for independence” (excerpt from the Quit India speech)

The Muslim League led by a Bombay based barrister Mohammad Ali Jinnah propagated the theory that Hindus and Muslims belonged to two different Nations

Gandhiji opposed this idea vehemently. For him, secularism was the foundation of India’s freedom movement. He quoted that since ancient times our people have always been sensitive to the fact that the welfare of a society depended on a consensual and accommodative intercommunity network. According to him one’s identity is never solely bound to the religion he or she subscribes to.

The power of ahimsa

7 and my Ahimsa are on our trail today in the present crisis, when the earth is being scorched by the flames of Himsa and crying for deliverance” (Excerpt from the Quit India speech)

Many scholars have drawn a parallel between Gandhiji’s practice of ahimsa and the Christian ideology of tuming the other cheek. Historian Mridula Mukherjee looking back at Gandhiji’s attempts to put an end to the 1947 Calcutta riots, suggests that his willingness to suffer for the sake of humanity had a tremendous moral appeal that inspired devotion in his followers.

Gandhiji’s non-violence was conscious suffering of the flesh that demanded universal love and supported his vision of a free India Author Arundhati Roy calls Ahimsa India’s greatest gift to the world.

The mantra

“Here is a mantra, a short one, that I give you. You may imprint it on your hearts and let every breath of yours give expression to it. The mantra is: Do or Die. We shall either free India or die in the attempt we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery.. “(excerpt from the Quit India speech) Gandhiji’s clarion call “Karo ya Maro”, “Do or die” set in motion a series of events that finally ended the British Raj in India.

Did you know?

  1. The iconic ‘Quit India’ slogan was coined by socialist Congress leader and lesser-known hero of the Indian National movement Yusuf Meher Ali in 1942.
  2. Historians suggest that the title of Mahatma was bestowed on Gandhiji by Rabindranath Tagore.
  3. The title of Father of the Nation was given to the Mahatma by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
  4. Gandhiji was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times but was never bestowed with the honour.
  5. 0 Gandhiji’s birthday (2nd October) is commemorated worldwide as International Day of Non-Violence.
  6. 30th January the day Gandhiji was assassinated is observed as Martyrs Day or Shaheed Diwas, in India.

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Who was Marie Curie?

Marie Curie (November 7, 1867-July 4, 1934) was a French Polish physicist and chemist, famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity and the discovery of polonium and radium.  She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. She was also the first female professor at the University of Paris (La Sorbonne), and in 1995 became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Pantheon in Paris]

In 1867, Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland. She was a bright and curious child who did well in school. At the time, the University of Warsaw refused students who were women. But that didn’t stop young Maria! Instead, she learned in secret. She went to informal classes held in ever-changing locations, called the “Floating University.”

In 1891, the woman the world would come to know as Marie Curie made her way to Paris. There, she enrolled at the Sorbonne, a university that didn’t discriminate. Over the next few years, she completed advanced degrees in physics and mathematics. She also met French physicist Pierre Curie. The two married in 1895.

Marie and Pierre worked closely over the next decade. Marie’s biggest discoveries came from studying uranium rays. She believed these rays came from the element’s atomic structure. Curie created the term “radioactivity” to name the phenomena she had observed. Her findings led to the field of atomic physics.

Together, the Curies studied the mineral pitchblende. Through their experiments, they discovered a new radioactive element. Marie named it polonium in honor of her native Poland. The two later also discovered the element radium.

In 1903, Marie and Pierre Curie were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. Marie was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize. That same year, she also became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from a French university. After Pierre’s death in 1906, Marie took over his teaching job at the Sorbonne. She was the first female professor at the institution.

In 1911, Curie became the first person—of any gender—to win a second Nobel Prize. This time, she was recognized for her work in the field of chemistry. Curie’s scientific reputation was known around the world. In fact, she was invited to attend the Solvay Congress in Physics. There, she joined other famous scientists of the day, including Albert Einstein.

After World War I began in 1914, Marie used her scientific knowledge to support France’s efforts in the war. She helped to develop the use of portable X-ray machines in the field. In fact, the medical vehicles that carried these machines became known as “Little Curies.”

Marie Curie never knew the toll her work would take on her health. She died in France in 1934 from advanced leukemia related to prolonged exposure to radiation. Today, Curie’s notebooks are still too radioactive to be safely handled. They are stored in lead-lined boxes in France.

Marie Curie left a great legacy of accomplishment and scientific curiosity. Her daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, followed in her footsteps. Joliot-Curie received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1935, one year after her mother’s death.

In 1995, Marie and Pierre Curie’s remains were placed in the Panthéon in Paris. This is known as the final resting place of France’s most distinguished citizens. Marie Curie was the first woman to be interred there on her own merit.

Credit : Wonder Opolis

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