Sunday 14 July 2013

List of renamed Indian cities and states

Renamed or respelled Indian states

  • United Provinces to Uttar Pradesh (change effective from 26 January 1950)
  • Travancore Cochin to Kerala (change effective from 1 November 1956)
  • Madhya Bharat to Madhya Pradesh (change effective from 1 November 1959)
  • Madras State to Tamil Nadu (change effective from 14 January 1969)
  • Mysore to Karnataka (change effective from 1 November 1973)
  • Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand (change effective from 1 January 2007)
  • Orissa to Odisha (official as of November 2011)
  • West Bengal to Paschim Banga (approved by West Bengal state legislature during September 2011)
  • Assam to Asom (renamed in respond to an appeal made by Assamese litterateur and former president of the Assam Sahitya Sabha, Chandra Prasad Saikia by Minister of State for Planning and Development

Renamed or respelled Indian union territories

  • Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands to Lakshadweep (change effective from 1 November 1973)
  • Pondicherry respelled as Puducherry (change effective from 1 October 2006)

Renamed or respelled Indian cities[edit]

See also: Renaming of cities in India
Andhra Pradesh[edit]
Elgandal to Karimnagar
Indur to Nizamabad
Metuku to Medak
Paalamuru to Mahabubnagar
Ellore to Eluru (change effective 1949)
Waltair to Vizagapatam
Vizagapatam to Visakhapatnam
Bezawada to Vijayawada
Cuddapah to kadapa to YSR district
Ongole Dist. to Prakasam
Nellore Dist. to Sri Potti Sri Ramulu Nellore district
Cocanada to Kakinada
Masulipatam to Machilipatnam
Ekasilanagaram to vorugallu
Vorugallu to Warangal
Assam[edit]
Nowgong to Nagaon
Gauhati to Guwahati (change effective 1983)
Sibsagar to Sivasagar
Gujarat[edit]
Baroda to Vadodara (change effective 1974)
Broach to Bharuch
Cambay to Khambhat
Bulsar to Valsad
Himachal Pradesh[edit]
Simla to Shimla
Mandav Nagar to Mandi
Karnataka[edit]
Bangalore to Bengaluru
Mysore to Mysuru
Mangalore to Mangaluru
Hubli to Hubballi
Tumkur to Tumakuru
Shimaga to Shivamogga
Belgaum to Belagavi
Bellary to Ballari
Kerala[edit]
Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram (change effective from 1991)
Cochin to Kochi (change effective from 1996)
Calicut to Kozhikode
Quilon to Kollam
Trichur to Thrissur
Cannanore to Kannur
Palghat to Palakkad
Alleppey to Alappuzha (change effective from 1990)
Alwaye to Aluva
Parur to North Paravur
Cranganore to Kodungallur
Tellicherry to Thalassery
Badagara to Vatakara
Palai to Pala
Verapoly to Varapuzha
Cherpalchery to Cherpulassery
Koney to Konni
Madhya Pradesh[edit]
Ahilyanagari/Indur to Indore
Avantika to Ujjain
Bhelsa to Vidisha
Rassen to Raisen
Saugor to Sagar
Jubbulpore to Jabalpur
Bhopal Bairagarh to Sant Hirda Ram Nagar, Bhopal
Bellasgate to Bheraghat
Ojjain to Ujjaini
Mandu to Mandavgarh
Maharashtra[edit]
Bombay to Mumbai
Nasik to Nashik
Poona to Pune
Thana to Thane
Puducherry[edit]
Pondicherry to Puducherry (change effective from 1 October 2006)
Yanaon to Yanam (change effective from merger with Indian Union)
Punjab[edit]
Jullunder to Jalandhar
Ropar to Rupnagar
Mohali to SAS Nagar
Nawan Shahar to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar
Rajasthan[edit]
Ajaymeru to Ajmer
Tamil Nadu[edit]
Koyamutthoor to coimbatore (change effective 1970)
Periyar District to Erode (change effective 1996)
Tinnevelly to Tirunelveli
Tranquebar to Tharangambadi
Trichinopoly to Tiruchirapalli (change effective 1971)
Madras to Chennai (change effective August 1996)
Tanjore to Thanjavur
Tuticorin to Thoothukudi
Cape Comorin to Kanyakumari
Ootacamund to Udagamandalam
Conjeevaram to Kanchipuram
Virudupatti to Virudhunagar
Potonovo to Parangipettai
Mayavaram to Mayiladuthurai
Uttar Pradesh[edit]
Cawnpore to Kanpur (change effective 1948)--posted by Upasana Yadav
Banaras to Varanasi (change effective 1956)
Kanpur Dehat to Ramabai Nagar district (change effective 2010)
Ramabai Nagar to Kanpur Dehat (Change effective 2013)
Prayag to [(Allahabad)] - posted by (Sachin Dylan Sarkar)
West Bengal[edit]
Calcutta to Kolkata (change effective from 1 January 2001)
Burdwan to Bardhaman
Chinsurah to Hugli-Chuchura


Saturday 13 July 2013

Books & Author

Book's Name               Author's Name

A Bend in the River  --  V. S. Naipaul
A Gift of Monotheists --  Ram Mohan Roy
A House for Mr.Biswas --  V.S.Naipaul
A Journey  --  Tony Blair
A Minister and his Responsibilities --   Morarji Bhai Desai
A Nation is Making --  Surendra Nath Bandhopadhye
A Pair of Blue Eyes   -- Thomash Hardy
A Passage to India  --- E. M. Foster
A Revenue Stamp (autobiography) -- Amrita Pritam
A Strange and Sublime Address --  Amit Choudhary
A Suitable Boy -- Bikram Seth
A Tale of Two Cities -- Charls Dikens
A Voice of Freedom -- Nayantara Shehgal
A week with Gandhi -- L. Fischer
Adventures of Sherlock Homes -- Arther Canon Doel
All the Prime Minister's Men  -- Janardan Thakur
Allahabad Prasasti -- Harisen
Amitabh- the Making of the Superstar -- Susmita Das Gupta
Amukta Malyad  -- Krishna Deva Raya
An Unknown Indian -- Nirod C. Choudhary
Anand Math -- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhaye
Anna Karenina -- Leo Tolstoy
Aparajito  --- Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay
Apple Cart -- G. B. Shaw
Aranyak -- Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay
Arogyaniketan -- Tarashankar Bandopadhyay
Astyadhaye -- Panini
Bakul Katha -- Ashapurna Devi
Ban Palashir Padabali  -- Ramapada Chowdhury
Bandit Queen -- Mala Sen
Bela Obela Kalbela  -- Jibanananda Das
Bengali Zamindar -- Nilmoni Mukherjee
Bicramanchadev --  Bilhon
Blind Beauty -- Boris Pasternak
Buddhacharit -- Asha Ghosh
Captive Lady -- Michel Madhusudan Dutta
Causes of the Indian Mutiny -- Sir Syyed Ahmed Khan
Charitraheen -- Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Chidambara -- S. N. Panth
Circle of the Region -- Amitabha Ghosh
City of Job Charnak -- Nisith Ranjan Roy
Commedy Errors -- Shekhspear
Conversations with Myself -- Nelson Mandela
Coolie -- Mulkraj Anand
Crisis of India -- Ronal Segal
Das Capital -- Karl Marks
Death of President -- W. Marchent
Decamaren -- Bocachio
Desert Village -- Oliver Goldsmith
Devdas -- Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Development as Freedom -- Amartya Sen
Devi Chaudharani -- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhaye
Devine Comedi -- Dante
Divine Life -- Sivanand
Economic History of India -- Ramesh Chandra Dutta

President of India

The president of India is the executive head of State and First Citizen of India. The executive powers vested in the President are to be exercised on the advice of the council of Ministers responsible to the parliament. The 42nd amendment to the Constitution has made it obligatory on the part of the President to accept the advice of the Council of Ministers.
Election Process

The president of India indirectly elected through "Electoral College" consisting of Elected members of both the Houses of Parliament & elected members of the Legisletive Assemblies of the states. According to the 70th Amendment Act, 1992, the expression "States" inckudes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The total voting strength of the parliament is equal to the total voting strength of all state asemblies together. The Supreme Court of India inquires all disputes regarding President's election. After electing the president takes OATH in presence of Chief Justice of India, or in absence of Chief Justice, senior most judge of SC.

In case the office falls vacant due to the death, resignation or removal, the Vice-President acts as President. If he is not available then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, if not then senior most judge of the Supreme Court shall act as the Persident of India. The election is to be held within 6 month of the vacancy.

In Presidential elections history V. V. Giri is the only person who won the election as an independent candidate in 1969. And Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was elected unopposed as no one else filed nomination for the post of the President in 1977.
Elegibility to Contest Election for the President
He/She must be a citizen of India.
Completed 35 yrs of age
Eligible to be a member of Lok Sabha
Must not hold any Govt. Post. except (President, Vice-President, Govornor of any State, Minister of Union or State)
Working Terms

An elected president is elegible to hold his/her office for the 5yrs term. And as per the Article 57 there is no upper limit on the no. of times a person can become President. He/She can give resigation to Vice President before his/her full term.
Impeachment (Article 61)

The President can be impeached only on the ground of violation of Constitution (This impeachment procedure called Quasi-judicial procedure). The impeachment procedure can be initiated in either House of the Parliament. The charge must come in the form of a proposal which must be signed at least one-fourth of the total membership of that house. Before the resolution could be passed, a fourteen days notice must be given to the President. If after the notice, the House passes the resolution by a majority of not less than two-third membership of that House, the matter will be referred to the other House. After the charges are framed by one house, the other House investigates them. At this time President has the right to defend himself either in person or through his lawyer. If after the investigation, the other house passes the resolution by not less than two-third majority of that House, the President stands impeached from his office from the date on which the motion is so passed.
Powers of President

Executive Power

Appoints PM, ministers, Chief Justice and judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, chairman and members of UPSC, Comptroller and Auditor General, Attorney General, Chief Election Comissioner and other members of Election Commission, Governors, Members of Finance Commission, Ambassadors etc.
He/ She directly administers the Union Territories through the Lt. Governor, Commissioner or Administrator.

Judicial Power

The President's pardoninf power comprises a group of analogous powers like pardon, reprieve, remission, respite and communication.
Appoint the Chief Justice and judges of Supreme Court and High Court

Diplomatic Power

Represents country in international forums.
Sends ambassadors and receives diplomats.
International treaties and agreements are concluded on his behalf.

Financial Power

All money bills can originate in Parliament only on recommendadation of President.
No demand for a grant can be made except on his recommendation.
He/She can make advances out of the Contingency Fund of India to meet any unforseen expenditure.
Appoints Finance Commission (after every 5yrs) that recommends distribution of taxes between Union and State Govts.

Military Power

He is the Supreme Commander of the Defense Forces in India.
Appoints Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force.
Declares wars and concludes peace subject to the approval of the Parliament.

Emergency Power

The President can promulgate 3 types of Emergencies: (i)National Emergency (Article 352), (ii)State Emergency (President Rule Article 356), (iii)Financial Emergency

Legislative Powers

Addresses the first session after general elections and at the commencement of the first session of each year.
Can send messages to both the Houses, whether with respect to a Bill pending in the Parliament or otherwise.
Can summon and prorogue the sessions of the 2 houses & can dissolve Lok Sabha..
Can address both the houses jointly or separately.
He/She can appoint any member of the Lok Sabha to preside over its procedings when both the offices of Speaker and the Deputy Speaker fall vacant simultaneously.
Nominate 12 members of Rajya Sabha.
Nominates 2 members of Anglo-Indian community in Lok Sabha if they haven't recieved adequate representation.
Can enact laws through ordinance when the parliament is in recess (Article 123). These ordinances must be passed by parliament within 6 weeks of reassembly.
His/Her prior recommendation or permission is needed to introduce certain types of Bills boundaries of a State, a Money Bill etc.

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru (August 15, 1947 - May 27, 1964 )- Party (Congress)

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allabahad on November 14, 1889. He received his early education at home under private tutors. At the age of fifteen, he went to England and after two years at Harrow, joined Cambridge University where he took his tripos in Natural Sciences. He was later called to the Bar from Inner Temple. He returned to India in 1912 and plunged straight into politics. Even as a student, he had been interested in the struggle of all nations who suffered under foreign domination. He took keen interest in the Sinn Fein Movement in Ireland. In India, he was inevitably drawn into the struggle for independence. In 1912, he attended the Bankipore Congress as a delegate, and became Secretary of the Home Rule League, Allahabad in 1919. In 1916 he had his first meeting with Mahatma Gandhi and felt immensely inspired by him. He organised the first Kisan March in Pratapgarh District of Uttar Pradesh in 1920. He was twice imprisoned in connection with the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22.

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 throws of Civil War. Just before the court-break of the Second World War, he visited China too.

On October 31, 1940 Pt. Nehru was arrested for offering individual Satyagraha to protest against India's forced participation in war. He was released along with the other leaders in December 1941. On August 7, 1942 Pt. Nehru moved the historic 'Quit India' resolution at the A.I.C.C. session in Bombay. On August 8,1942 he was arrested along with other leaders and taken to Ahmednagar Fort. This was his longest and also his last detention. In all, he suffered imprisonment nine times. After his release in January 1945, he organized legal defence for those officers and men of the INA charged with treason. In March 1946, Pt. Nehru toured South East Asia. He was elected President of the Congress for the fourth time on July 6, 1946 and again for three more terms from 1951 to 1954.

Shri Gulzarilal Nanda (May 27, 1964 - June 9, 1964 and January 11, 1966 - January 24, 1966)- Party (Congress)

Born on July 4, 1898, in Sialkot (Punjab), Shri Gulzarilal Nanda was educated at Lahore, Agra and Allahabad. He worked as a research scholar on labour problems at the University of Allahabad (1920-1921) and became Professor of Economics at the National College (Bombay) in 1921. He joined the Non-Cooperation Movement the same year. In 1922, he become Secretary of the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association in which he worked until 1946. He was imprisoned for Satyagraha in 1932, and again from 1942 to 44.

Shri Nanda was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly in 1937 and was Parliamentary Secretary (Labour and Excise) to the Government of Bombay from 1937 to 1939. Later, as Labour Minister of the Bombay Government (1946-50), he successfully piloted the Labour Disputes Bill in the State Assembly. He served as Trustee, Kasturba Memorial Trust; Secretary, Hindustan Mazdoor Sevak Sangh; and Chairman, Bombay Housing Board. He was also a Member of the National Planning Committee. He was largely instrumental in organising the Indian National Trade Union Congress and later became its President. In 1947, he went to Geneva as a Government delegate to the International Labour Conference. He worked on the 'The Freedom of Association Committee' appointed by the Conference and visited Sweden, France, Switzerland, Belgium and England to study labour and housing conditions in those countries.

In March 1950, he joined the Planning Commission as its Vice-Chairman. In September the following year, he was appointed Planning Minister in the Union Government. In addition, he was also given charge of the portfolios of Irrigation and Power. He was elected to the House of the People from Bombay in the general elections of 1952 and was re-appointed Minister for Planning Irrigation and Power. He led the Indian Delegation to the Plan Consultative Committee held at Singapore in 1955, and the International Labour Conference held at Geneva in 1959. Shri Nanda was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1957 general elections, and was appointed Union Minister for Labour and Employment and Planning and, later, as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. He visited the Federal Republic of Germany Yugoslavia and Austria in 1959.

He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1962 general elections from Sabarkantha Constituency in Gujarat. He initiated the Congress Forum for Socialist Action in 1962. He was Union Minister for Labour and Employment in 1962 and 1963 and Minister for Home Affairs from 1963 to 1966. Following the death of Pt. Nehru, he was a sworn in as Prime Minister of India on May 27, 1964. Again on January 11, 1966, he was sworn in as Prime Minister following the death of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri at Tashkent.

Lal Bahadur Shastri (June 9, 1964 - January 11, 1966) - Party(Congress)

Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1901 at Mughalsarai, a small railway town seven miles from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. His father was a school teacher who died when Lal Bahadur Shastri was only a year and half old. His mother, still in her twenties, took her three children to her father’s house and settled down there. Lal Bahadur’s small town schooling was not remarkable in any way but he had a happy enough childhood despite the poverty that dogged him. He was sent to live with an uncle in Varanasi so that he could go to high school. Nanhe, or 'little one' as he was called at home, walked many miles to school without shoes, even when the streets burned in the summer’s heat. As he grew up, Lal Bahadur Shastri became more and more interested in the country’s struggle for freedom from foreign yoke. He was greatly impressed by Mahatma Gandhi’s denunciation of Indian Princes for their support of British rule in India. Lal Bahadur Sashtri was only eleven at the time, but the process that was end day to catapult him to the national stage had already begun in his mind.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was sixteen when Gandhiji called upon his countrymen to join the Non-Cooperation Movement. He decided at once to give up his studies in response to the Mahatma’s call. The decision shattered his mother’s hopes. The family could not dissuade him from what they thought was a disastrous course of action. But Lal Bahadur had made up his mind. All those who were close to him knew that he would never change his mind once it was made up, for behind his soft exterior was the firmness of a rock. Lal Bahadur Shastri joined the Kashi Vidya Peeth in Varanasi, one of the many national institutions set up in defiance of the British rule. There, he came under the influence of the greatest intellectuals, and nationalists of the country. ‘Shastri’ was the bachelor’s degree awarded to him by the Vidya Peeth but has stuck in the minds of the people as part of his name.

In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi marched to the sea beach at Dandi and broke the imperial salt law. The symbolic gesture set the whole country ablaze. Lal Bahadur Shastri threw himself into the struggle for freedom with feverish energy. He led many defiant campaigns and spent a total of seven years in British jails. It was in the fire of this struggle that his steel was tempered and he grew into maturity. When the Congress came to power after Independence, the sterling worth of the apparently meek and unassuming Lal Bahadur Shastri had already been recognised by the leader of the national struggle. When the Congress Government was formed in 1946, this 'little dynamo of a man' was called upon to play a constructive role in the governance of the country. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home State of Uttar Pradesh and soon rose to the position of Home Minister. His capacity for hard work and his efficiency became a byeword in Uttar Pradesh. He moved to New Delhi in 1951 and held several portfolios in the Union Cabinet - Minister for Railways; Minister for Transport and Communications; Minister for Commerce and Industry; Home Minister; and during Nehru’s illness Minister without portfolio. He was growing in stature constantly. He resigned his post as Minister for Railways because he felt responsible for a railway accident in which many lives were lost. The unprecedented gesture was greatly appreciated by Parliament and the country. The then Prime Minister, Pt. Nehru, speaking in Parliament on the incident, extolled Lal Bahadur Shastri’s integrity and high ideals. He said he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Lal Bahadur Shastri was in any way responsible for what had happened. Replying to the long debate on the Railway accident, Lal Bahadur Shastri said; "Perhaps due to my being small in size and soft of tongue, people are apt to believe that I am not able to be very firm. Though not physically strong, I think I am internally not so weak."

In between his Ministerial assignments, he continued to lavish his organising abilities on the affairs of the Congress Party. The landslide successes of the Party in the General Elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962 were in a very large measure the result of his complete identification with the cause and his organisational genius. More than thirty years of dedicated service were behind Lal Bahadur Shastri. In the course of this period, he came to be known as a man of great integrity and competence. Humble, tolerant, with great inner strength and resoluteness, he was a man of the people who understood their language. He was also a man of vision who led the country towards progress. Lal Bahadur Shastri was deeply influenced by the political teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. "Hard work is equal to prayer," he once said, in accents profoundly reminiscent of his Master. In the direct tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri represented the best in Indian culture

Smt. Indira Gandhi (January 24, 1966 - March 24, 1977 and January 14, 1980 - October 31, 1984) - Party(Congress & Congress[I])

Born on November 19, 1917 in an illustrious family, Smt. Indira Gandhi was the daughter of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. Being academically inclined, she studied at Ecole Nouvelle, Bex (Switzerland), Ecole Internationale, Geneva, Pupils' Own School, Poona and Bombay, Badminton School, Bristol, Vishwa Bharati, Shantiniketan and Somerville College, Oxford. She was conferred Honorary doctoral degree by a host of Universities such as Andhra, Agra, Bangalore, Vikram, Punjab, Gurukul, Nagpur, Jamia Milia, Poona, El Salvador of Buenos Aires, Waseda of Tokyo, Moscow State, Oxford, Charles of Prague, Mauritius, Baghdad and the U.S.S.R. With an impressive academic background she also got the Citation of Distinction from the Columbia University. Smt. Indira Gandhi was actively involved in the freedom struggle. In her early childhood she founded the Bal Charkha Sangh and in 1930, the 'Vanar Sena' of children to help the Congress party during the Non-Cooperation Movement. She was imprisoned in September 1942, and worked in riot-affected areas of Delhi in 1947 under Gandhiji's guidance. She got married to Feroze Gandhi on March 26, 1942 and had two sons. Smt. Gandhiwas a Member, Congress Working Committee and Central Election of the party in 1955; Member, Central Parliamentary Board of Congress, 1958; Chairperson, National Integration Council of A.I.C.C.; President, All India Youth Congress, 1956 and Women's Dept. A.I.C.C.; President, Indian National Congress, 1959-60; and Indian National Congress from January 1978. From 1964 to 66 she was the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Then she held the highest office as the Prime Minister of India from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 14, 1980. Concurrently, she was the Minister for Atomic Energy from September 1967 to March 1977; and Minister for Space from June 1972 to March 1977, and from January 1980 was Chairperson, Planning Commission. From 1966-1977 she was the President of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research; and Chairperson, Hindi Salahkar Samiti. She held the additional charge of the Ministry of External Affairs from September 5, 1967 to February 14, 1969; Ministry of Finance from July 16, 1969 to June 26, 1970; Ministry of Home Affairs from June 1970 to November 1973; Ministry of Information & Broadcasting from March 1971 for a while; and Ministry of Defence from January 1980.

Smt. Indira Gandhi was associated with a large number of organisations and institutions, some of which are: President, Board of Trustees of Kamala Nehru Memorial Hospital; Trustee, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi and Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Trust; Chairperson, Swaraj Bhavan Trust; Founder and Chairperson, Bal Sahyog, New Delhi in 1954; Chairperson, Bal Bhavan Board and Children's National Museum, New Delhi in 1955; Founder and President, Kamala Nehru Vidyalaya, Allahabad; Vice Chairperson, Central Social Welfare Board, 1953-57; Life-Patron, Indian Council for Child Welfare; Vice-President, International Council of Child Welfare; Patron-in-chief, Indian Council for Affairs, 1960; Patron, Foreign Students Association in India. She was Chancellor Visva Bharati University; Jawaharlal Nehru University and North-Eastern University 1966-77; Member, Delhi University Court; Indian Delegation to UNESCO, 1960-64; Member, Executive Board of UNESCO, 1960-64; Member, National Defence Council 1962; Executive Committee of National Defence Fund, 1962; Chairperson, Citizen's Central Council 1962; and Sangeet Natak Academy 1965-74. She was also a Member, National Integration Council; President, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society and Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund; Patron, Indian Society of International Law.

After having held such important positions, she also became a Member, Rajya Sabha, August 1964-February 1967; Member, Fourth Lok Sabha 1967-71; Fifth Lok Sabha 1971-77; and Sixth Lok Sabha during November-December 1978. She was elected to the Seventh Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli (U.P.) and Medak (Andhra Pradesh), January 1980. She chose to retain the Medak seat and relinquished the Rae Bareli seat. She was chosen as the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party in 1967-77 and for the Congress Parliamentary Party from January 1980. She found recreation in whatever she did and equal relaxation in being close to nature, in different forms of art, in physical activities like hiking in the mountains, or even reading about an unfamiliar subject. Interested in a wide array of subjects, she viewed life as an integrated process, where activities and interests are different facets of the whole, not separated into compartments or labeled under different heads. She had many achievements to her credit. She was the recipient of Bharat Ratna, 1972; Mexican Academy Award for Liberation of Bangladesh 1972; 2nd Annual Medal, FAO, 1973; Sahitya Vachaspati (Hindi) by Nagari Pracharini Sabha, 1976. She also received Mothers' Award, U.S.A., 1953; Islbella d'Este Award of Italy for outstanding work in diplomacy, Yale University's Howland Memorial Prize; for two consecutive years in 1967 and 1968 was the woman most admired by the French according to a poll by the French Institute of Public Opinion. According to a special Gallup Poll Survey in U.S.A. in 1971 she was the most admired person of the world and Diploma of Honour was conferred by the Argentine Society in 1971 for the Protection of Animals.

Her famous publications are The Years of Challenge 1966-69; The Years of Endeavour 1969-72; India (London) 1975; Inde (Lausanne) 1979 and numerous other collection of speeches and writings. She travelled widely in India and all over the world, paid official visits to many countries such as: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Canada, Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, Bolivia, Egypt, France, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Guyana, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Syria, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, U.A.E., the United Kingdom, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and United Nations Headquarters.

Shri Morarji Desai (March 24, 1977 - July 28, 1979) - Party (Janta Party)

Shri Morarji Desai was born on February 29, 1896 in Bhadeli village, now in the Bulsar district of Gujarat. His father was a school teacher and a strict disciplinarian. From his childhood, young Morarji learnt from his father the value of hard work and truthfulness under all circumstances. He was educated St. Busar High School and passed his matriculation examination. After graduating from the Wilson Civil Service of the then Bombay Province in 1918, he served as a Deputy Collector for twelve years. In 1930, when India was in the midst of the freedom struggle launched by Mahatma Gandhi, Shri Desai, having lost his confidence in the British sense of justice, decided to resign from Government service and to plunge into the struggle. It was a hard decision to take but Shri Desai felt that 'when it was a question of the independence of the country, problems relating to family occupied a subordinate position'. Shri Desai was imprisoned thrice during the freedom struggle. He became a Member of the All India Congress Committee in 1931 and was Secretary of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee untill 1937. When the first Congress Government assumed office in 1937 Shri Desai became Minister for Revenue, Agriculture, Forest and Co-operatives in the Ministry headed by Shri B.G. Kher in the then Bombay Province. The Congress Ministries went out of office in 1939 in protest against India involvement in the World War without the consent of the people.

Shri Desai was detained in the individual Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi, released in October, 1941 and detained again in August, 1942 at the time of the Quit India Movement. He was released in 1945. After the elections to the State Assemblies in 1946, he became the Minister for Home and Revenue in Bombay. During his tenure, Shri Desai launched a number of far-reaching reforms in land revenue by providing security tenancy rights leading to the ‘land to the tiller’ proposition. In police administration, he pulled down the barrier between the people and the police, and the police administration was made more responsive to the needs of the people in the protection of life and property. In 1952, he became the Chief Minister of Bombay. According to him, unless the poor and the under privileged living in villages and towns enjoy a decent standard of life, the talk of socialism will not have much meaning. Shri Desai gave concrete expression to his anxiety by enacting progressive legislations to ameliorate to the hardships of peasants and tenants. In this, Shri Desai’s Government was far ahead of any other State in the country. And what was more, he implemented the legislation with an unswerving sincerity earning wide reputation for his administration in Bombay. After the reorganisation of the States, Shri Desai joined the Union Cabinet as Minister for Commerce and Industry on November 14, 1956. Later, he took the Finance portfolio on March 22, 1958.

Shri Desai translated into action what he had professed in matters of economic planning and fiscal administration. In order to meet the needs of defense and development, he raised large revenues, reduced wasteful expenditure and promoted austerity in Government expenditure on administration. He kept deficit financing very low by enforcing financial discipline. He brought curbs on extravagant living of the privileged section of society. In 1963, he resigned from the Union Cabinet under the Kamraj Plan. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, who succeeded Pt. Nehru as Prime Minister, pursuaded him to become Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission for restructuring the administrative system. His long and varied experienced of public life stood him in good stead in his task. In 1967, Shri Desai joined Smt. Indira Gandhi’s cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of Finance. In July, 1969, Smt. Gandhi took away the Finance portfolio from him. While Shri Desai conceded that the Prime Minister has the prerogative to change the portfolios of colleagues, he felt that his self-respect had been hurt as even the common courtesy of consulting him had not shown by Smt. Gandhi. He, therefore, felt he had no alternative but to resign as Deputy Prime Minister of India. When the Congress Party split in 1969, Shri Desai remained with the Organisation Congress. He continued to take a leading part the opposition. He was re-elected to Parliament in 1971. In 1975, he went on an indefinite fast on the question of holding elections to the Gujarat Assembly which had been dissolved. As a result of his fast, elections were held in June, 1975. The Janata Front formed by the four opposition parties and Independents supported by it, secured an absolute majority in the new House. After the judgement of the Allahabad High Court declaring Smt. Gandhi’s election to the Lok Sabha null and void, Shri Desai felt that in keeping with democratic principles, Smt. Gandhi should have submitted her resignation.

Shri Desai was arrested and detained on June 26, 1975, when Emergency was declared. He was kept in solitary confinement and was released on January 18, 1977, a little before the decision to hold elections to the Lok Sabha was announced. He campaigned vigorously throughout the length and breadth of the country and was largely instrumental in achieving the re-sounding victory of the Janata Party in the General Elections held in March, 1977 for the Sixth Lok Sabha. Shri Desai was himself selected to the Lok Sabha from the Surat Constituency in Gujarat. He was later unanimously elected as Leader of the Janata Party in Parliament and was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India on March 24, 1977. Shri Desai and Gujraben were married in 1911. Of their five children, one daughter and a son are surviving. As Prime Minister, Shri Desai was keen that the people of India must be helped to become fearless to an extent where even if the highest in the land commits a wrong, the humblest should be able to point it out to him. "No one, not even the Prime Minister", he was repeatedly said "should be above the law of the land". For him, truth was an article of faith and not an expediency. He seldom allowed his principles to be subordinated to the exigencies of the situation. Even in the most trying circumstances, he stood by his convictions. As he himself observed, 'one should act in life according to truth and one’s faith'.

Shri Charan Singh (July 28, 1979 - January 14, 1980) - Party(Janta Party)

Shri Charan Singh was born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, in a middle class peasant family. He graduated in science in 1923, and did his post-graduation from Agra University in 1925. Also trained in law, he set up practice at Ghaziabad. He shifted to Meerut in 1929 and later joined the Congress. He was first elected to the U.P. Legislative Assembly in 1937 from Chhatrauli, and represented the constituency in 1946, 1952, 1962 and 1967. He became Parliamentary Secretary in Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant’s Government in 1946 and worked in various departments such as Revenue, Medical and Public Health, Justice, Information etc. In June 1951, he was appointed Cabinet Minister in the State and given charge of the Departments of Justice and Information. Later he took over as the Minister for Revenue and Agriculture in the Cabinet of Dr. Sampurnanand in 1952. When he resigned in April 1959, he was holding charge of the Department of Revenue and Transport.

In Shri C.B. Gupta’s Ministry he was Minister for Home and Agriculture (1960). Shri Charan Singh served as Minister for Agriculture and Forests (1962-63) in Smt. Sucheta Kripalani’s Ministry. He gave up the Department of Agriculture in 1965 and assumed charge of the Local Self-government department in 1966. In Shri C.B. Gupta’s Ministry he was Minister for Home and Agriculture (1960). Shri Charan Singh served as Minister for Agriculture and Forests (1962-63) in Smt. Sucheta Kripalani’s Ministry. He gave up the Department of Agriculture in 1965 and assumed charge of the Local Self-government department in 1966. After the Congress split, he became the Chief Minister of U.P. for the second time in February 1970 with the support of the Congress Party. However, President’s Rule was imposed in the State on October 2, 1970. Shri Charan Singh served Uttar Pradesh in various capacities and won a reputation as a hard taskmaster who would not tolerate inefficiency, nepotism and corruption in administration. A gifted parliamentarian and a pragmatist, Shri Charan Singh is known for his eloquence and courage of conviction.

He was the chief architect of land reforms in U.P.; he took a leading part in formulation and finalisation of the Dept. Redemption Bill 1939, which brought great relief to rural debtors. It was also at his initiative that the salaries and other privileges enjoyed by Ministers in U.P. were drastically reduced. As Chief Minister he was instrumental in bringing about the Land Holding Act 1960 which was aimed at lowering the ceiling on land holdings to make it uniform throughout the State. Few political leaders in the country could match Shri Charan Singh in their command of popular will at the grass-roots level. A dedicated public worker and staunch believer in social justice, Shri Charan Singh’s strength stemmed essentially from the confidence he enjoyed among millions of peasants. Chaudhary Charan Singh led a simple life and spent his spare time reading and writing. He was the author of several books and pamphlets, including 'Abolition of Zamindari', 'Co-operative Farming X-rayed', 'India’s Poverty and its Solution', 'Peasant Proprietorship or Land to the Workers' and 'Prevention of Division of Holdings Below a Certain Minimum'.

Mr. Rajiv Gandhi (October 31, 1984 - December 2, 1989) - Party (Congress[I])

At 40, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest Prime Minister of India, perhaps even one of the youngest elected heads of Government in the world. His mother, Smt. Indira Gandhi, was eight years older when she first became Prime Minister in 1966. His illustrious grandfather, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, was 58 when he started the long innings of 17 years as free India's first Prime Minister. As the harbinger of a generational change in the country, Shri Gandhi received the biggest mandate in the nation's history. He ordered elections to the Lok Sabha, the directly elected house of the Indian Parliament, as soon as mourning for his slain mother was over. In that election, the Congress, got a much higher proportion of the popular vote than in the preceding seven elections and captured a record 401 seats out of 508. Such an impressive start as the leader of 700 million Indians would have been remarkable under any circumstance. What makes it even more unique is that Shri Gandhi was a late and reluctant entrant into politics even though he belonged to an intensely political family that had served India for four generations - both during the freedom struggle and afterwards.

Shri Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944, in Bombay. He was just three when India became independent and his grandfather became Prime Minister. His parents moved to New Delhi from Lucknow. His father, Feroze Gandhi, became an M.P., and earned a reputation as a fearless and hard-working Parliamentarian. Rajiv Gandhi spent his early childhood with his grandfather in the Teen Murti House, where Indira Gandhi served as the Prime Minister's hostess. He briefly went to school at Welham Prep in Dehra Dun but soon moved to the residential Doon School in the Himalayan foothills. There he made many lifelong friendships and was also joined by his younger brother, Sanjay. After leaving school, Shri Gandhi went to Trinity College, Cambridge, but soon shifted to the Imperial College (London). He did a course in mechanical engineering. He really was not interested in 'mugging for his exams', as went on to admit later. It was clear that politics did not interest him as a career. According to his classmates, his bookshelves were lined with volumes on science and engineering, not works on philosophy, politics or history. Music, however, had a pride of place in his interests. He liked Western and Hindustani classical, as well as modern music. Other interests included photography and amateur radio. His greatest passion, however, was flying. No wonder then, that on returning home from England, he passed the entrance examination to the Delhi Flying Club, and went to the obtain a commercial pilot's licence. Soon, he became a pilot with Indian Airlines, the domestic national carrier. While at Cambridge, he had met Sonia Maino, an Italian who was studying English. They were married in New Delhi in 1968. They stayed in Smt. Indira Gandhi's residence in New Delhi with their two children, Rahul and Priyanka. Theirs was a very private life despite the surrounding din and bustle of political activity. But his brother Sanjay's death in an air crash in 1980 changed that. Pressures on Shri Gandhi to enter politics and help his mother, then besieged by many internal and external challenges, grew. He resisted these pressures at first, but later bowed to their logic. He won the by-election to the Parliament, caused by his brother's death, from Amethi in U.P.

In November 1982, when India hosted the Asian Games, the commitment made years earlier to build the stadia and other infrastructure was fulfilled. Shri Gandhi was entrusted with the task of getting all the work completed on time and ensuring that the games themselves were conducted without any hitches or flaws. In fulfilling this challenging task, he first displayed his flair for quiet efficiency and smooth coordination. At the same time, as General Secretary of the Congress, he started streamlining and energising the party organisation with equal diligence. All these qualities came to the fore later in far more testing and trying times. For no one could have ascended to power - becoming both Prime Minister and Congress President - in more tragic and tormenting circumstances than Shri Gandhi did in the wake of his mother's brutal assassination on 31 October, 1984. But he bore the awesome burden of personal grief and national responsibility with remarkable poise, dignity and restraint. During the month long election campaign, Shri Gandhi travelled tirelessly from one part of the country to the other, covering a distance equal to one and a half times the earth's circumference, speaking at 250 meetings in as many places and meeting millions face to face. A modern-minded, decisive but undemonstrative man, Shri Gandhi was at home in the world of high technology. And, as he repeatedly said, one of his main objectives, besides preserving India's unity, was to propel it into the twenty-first century.

Shri V. P. Singh (December 2, 1989 - November 10, 1990) - Party(Janta Dal)

Born on June 25, 1931 at Allahabad, Shri V.P. Singh is the son of Raja Bahadur Ram Gopal Singh. He was educated at Allahabad and Poona Universities. He was married to Smt. Sita Kumari on June 25, 1955 and has two sons. A scholarly man, he was the proud founder of Gopal Vidyalaya, Intermediate College, Koraon, Allahabad. He was the President of the Students Union at Udai Pratap College, Varanasi in 1947-48 and was the Vice-President, Allahabad University Students Union. He actively participated in Bhoodan movement in 1957 and donated a well-established farm in village Pasna, District Allahabad.

He was the member of All India Congress Committee; Executive Body, Allahabad University, 1969-71 and Legislative Assembly, Uttar Pradesh 1969-71. He was the Whip, Congress Legislative Party, 1970-71; Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), 1971-74; Union Deputy Minister of Commerce, October 1974-November 1976; Union State Minister of Commerce, November 1976-March 1977; Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), January 3-July 26,1980. He was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, June 9, 1980- June 28, 1982; Member, Legislative Council, Uttar Pradesh, November 21, 1980-June 14,1981; Member Legislative Assembly, Uttar Pradesh, June 15, 1981-July 16, 1983.

As a Union Minister of Commerce in January 29,1983, he also held additional charge of the Department of Supply in February 15,1983. He was the Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) in July 16, 1983; on September 1, 1984 he was elected President, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee and on December 31, 1984 he became the Union Finance Minister.

Shri Chandra Shekhar (November 10, 1990 - June 21, 1991) Party (Janta Dal[S])

Shri Chandra Shekhar was born on July 1, 1927, in a farmer’s family in village Ibrahimpatti in District Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. He was President of the Janata Party from 1977 to 1988. Shri Chandra Shekhar was attracted to politics from his student days and was known as a fire-brand idealist with revolutionary fervour. After his Master’s Degree in Political Science from Allahabad University (1950-51), he joined the Socialist Movement. He had the privilege of having been associated very closely with Acharya Narendra Dev. He was elected Secretary of the District Praja Socialist Party, Ballia. Within a year, he was elected Joint Secretary of the U.P. State Praja Socialist Party. In 1955-56 he took over as General Secretary of the U.P., State Praja Socialist Party.

In 1962, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. He joined the Indian National Congress in January 1965. In 1967 he was elected General Secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party. As a Member of Parliament he made a mark by taking keen interest in espousing the cause of the downtrodden and pleading for policies for rapid social change. In this context, when he attacked the disproportionate growth of monopoly houses with State patronage, he came in conflict with the centres of power. He came to be as 'Young Turk' leader for his conviction, courage and integrity in the fight against vested interested. He founded and edited YOUNG INDIAN, a weekly published from Delhi in 1969. Its editorial had the distinction of being among the most quoted ones of the time. During the Emergency (June 1975 to March 1977) YOUNG INDIAN had to be closed down. It resumed regular publication in February 1989. He is the Chairman of its Editorial Advisory Board.

Shri Chandra Sekhar has always stood against politics of personalities and has favoured politics of ideology and social change. This propelled him more towards Shri Jayaprakash Narayan and his idealist view of life during the turbulant days of 1973-75. He soon became a focal point of dissent within the Congress Party. When Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, he was arrested under Maintenance of Internal Security Act inspite of the fact that he was a member of the Central Election Committee and Working Committee, top bodies of the Indian National Congress. Shri Chandra Sekhar was among the few individuals in the then ruling party who was imprisoned during the Emergency. He has always rejected the politics of power and opted for the politics of commitment to democratic values and social change. His diary, written in Hindi while undergoing imprisonment during the Emergency period, was later published under the title 'Meri Jail Diary'. A well-known compilation of his writings is 'Dynamics of Social Change'. Shri Chandra Shekhar undertook a marathon walk (Padayatra) through the country from Kanyakumari in the deep South to Rajghat (Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi) in New Delhi covering a distance of nearly 4260 kms from January 6, 1983 to June 25, 1983. The Padayatra was undertaken to renew rapport with the masses and to understand their pressing problems. He has established about fifteen Bharat Yatra Centres in various parts of the country including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to train social and political workers for mass education and grassroot work in backward pockets of the country. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1962 except for a brief period from 1984 to 1989. In 1989 he successfully contested both from his home constituency, Ballia, and the adjoining Maharajganj constituency in Bihar. He vacated the latter.

P. V. Narasimha Rao (June 21, 1991- May 16, 1996) - Party (Congress[I])

Son of Shri P. Ranga Rao, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao was born on June 28, 1921 at Karimnagar. He studied in Osmania University, Hyderabad, Bombay University and the Nagpur University. A widower, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao is the father of three sons and five daughters. Being an agriculturist and an advocate, he joined politics and held some important portfolios. He was the Minister of Law and Information, 1962-64; Law and Endowments, 1964-67; Health and Medicine, 1967 and Education, 1968-71, Government of Andhra Pradesh. He was the Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh, 1971-73; General Secretary, All India Congress Committee, 1975-76; Chairman, Telugu Academy, Andhra Pradesh, 1968-74; Vice-President, Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, Madras, from 1972. He was also Member, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, 1957-77; Member, Lok Sabha 1977-84 and was elected to Eighth Lok Sabha from Ramtek in December, 1984. As Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, 1978-79 he participated in a Conference on South Asia convened by the School of Asian and African Studies, London University. Shri Rao also Chaired Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan's Andhra Centre; he was Minister for External Affairs from January 14, 1980 to July 18, 1984; Minister of Home Affairs from July 19, 1984 to December 31, 1984 and the Minister of Defence from December 31, 1984 to September 25, 1985. He then assumed charge as Minister of Human Resource Development on September 25, 1985.

A man of many interests, he likes music, cinema and theatre. His special interest lies in Indian philosophy and culture, writing fiction and political commentary, learning languages, writing poems in Telugu and Hindi and keeping abreast of literature in general. He has successfully published 'SahasraPhan', a Hindi translation of late Shri Viswanatha Satyanarayana's famous Telegu Novel 'Veyi Padagalu' published by Jnanpith; 'Abala Jeevitam', Telugu translation of late Shri Hari Narayan Apte's famous Marathi Novel, "Pan Lakshat Kon gheto", published by Central Sahitya Academy. He translated other famous works from Marathi to Telugu and from Telugu to Hindi, and published many articles in different magazines mostly under a pen name. He lectured at Universities in the U.S.A. and West Germany on political matters and allied subjects. As Minister of External Affairs he travelled extensively to U.K., West Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Egypt in 1974. During the period when he was Minister of External Affairs, Shri Rao successfully brought to bear his scholarly background and rich political and administrative experience on the field of international diplomacy. He chaired the III Conference of UNIDO at New Delhi in January 1980, within a few days of assuming charge. He also chaired a meeting of the Group of 77 at New York in March 1980. More recently, his role at the Conference of Foreign Ministers of Non-aligned Countries in February 1981 earned him wide appreciation. Shri Rao has shown keen personal interest in international economic issues and personally led the Indian delegation to the Conference of the Group of 77 on ECDC at Caracas, in May 1981.

1982 and 1983 were eventful years for India and its foreign policy. In the shadow of the Gulf war the Non-aligned Movement asked India to host the Seventh Summit. This also meant India assuming the Chair of the Movement and Smt. Indira Gandhi becoming its Chairperson. Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao presided over meetings of Foreign Ministers of Non-aligned Nations on the eve of the New Delhi Summit and also at the United Nations both in 1982, when India was asked to host the Summit and the following year when, at the initiative of the Movement, informal consultations amongst Heads of State and Government from diverse nations across the world were held at New York. Shri Rao was also the Leader of the Special Non-aligned Mission that visited countries in West Asia in November 1983, in an effort to resolve the Palestian Liberation Organisation. Shri Rao was associated actively with the Commonwealth Heads of Government in New Delhi and with the Action Group set up by the meeting on the question of Cyprus. In his capacity as Minister of External Affairs, Shri Narasimha Rao has chaired on behalf of India a number of Joint Commissions including those with the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Vietnam, Tanzania and Guyana. Shri Narasimha Rao took over as Home Minister on July 19, 1984. He was re-appointed to this post, with the additional charge of the Ministry of Planning, on November 5, 1984. Appointed Minister of Defence from December 31, 1984 to September 25, 1985. On September 25,1985 he took over as Minister of Human Resource Development.

SShri H. D. Deve Gowda (June 1, 1996 - April 21, 1997) - Party (Janta Dal)

Shri H. D. Deve Gowda, a staunch crusader of socio-economic development and an ardent admirer of the rich cultural heritage of India, was born on May 18, 1933 in Haradanahalli village of Holenarasipura taluk, Hassan District in Karnataka. A Civil Engineering Diploma holder, Shri Deve Gowda plunged into active politics at the early age of 20 when, after completing his education, he joined the Congress Party in 1953 and remained a member till 1962. Coming from a middle class agrarian background and exposed to the hardships of farmer’s life, young Gowda vowed to become a fighter who would take up the cause of poor farmers, under privileged and oppressed sections of society. Starting from lower strata of the democratic set-up, Shri Gowda ascended the political rungs gradually. He earned himself a niche in the minds of people while serving as the President of Anjaneya Co-operative Society and later as a member of Taluk Development Board, Holenarasipura.

Hoping to set right the inequalities prevailing in society, he always dreamt of an ideal utopian State. When just 28 years old, the youthful Gowda contested as an Independent and was a runaway success from day one when he first became a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1962. An effective Speaker on the floor of the Assembly, he was acclaimed by one and all, including his seniors. Holenarasipur constituency sent him to the Assembly for three more consecutive terms i.e., the Fourth (1967-71); the Fifth (1972-77) and the Sixth (1978-83) Assemblies. His service as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, from March 1972 to March 1976 and November 1976 to December 1977, won him laurels. Shri Deve Gowda resigned his membership of the Sixth Assembly on November 22, 1982. As a member of the Seventh and the Eighth Assembly, he served as the Minister of Public Works and Irrigation. His tenure as Irrigation Minister saw the switching on of many irrigation projects. He resigned from the Cabinet in 1987 protesting against insufficient allocation of funds for Irrigation.

A crusader for freedom and equality, he earned the wrath of the powers that be at the Centre in 1975-76, and was imprisoned during the days of emergency. Shri Deve Gowda utilised this period of forced rest to enrich his knowledge through exhaustive reading. This, and the interaction between him and other stalwarts of Indian politics who were also jailed during that period, helped him mould his personality and perspective. He was a much more seasoned and determined person when he emerged out of his confinement.

Elected to Parliament from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency in 1991, he was instrumental in bringing the problems of the State - especially of farmers - to the forefront. He earned respect for his forthright espousal of the plight of farmers, in Parliament. He also earned a name for practising and upholding the prestige and dignity and Parliament and its institutions. Shri Deve Gowda became the President of Janta party twice at State level and President of State Janata Dal in 1994. He was the driving force behind the Janata Dal's rise to power in the State in 1994. He was elected as the leader of the Janata Dal Legislative Party and on December 11, 1994 he assumed office as the 14th Chief Minister of Karnataka. He then contested as a candidate from Ramanagar Assembly constituency and won by a thumping majority. His prolonged experience in active politics and his strong base at the grassroots level enabled him to plunge straightway into the task of tackling many problems faced by the State. His political acumen was tested again when he brought the Idgah Maidan issue at Hubli to the forefront. It was a ground that belonged to the minority community and was the butt of political controversy. Shri Gowda successfully brought about a peaceful solution to the issue.

In January 1995, Shri Gowda toured Switzerland and attended the Forum of International Economists. His tours to European and Middle Eastern countries were a testimony to his achievements as a dedicated politician. His tour to Singapore, which brought in the much needed foreign investment to the State, proved his business acumen. Since the 70s, friends as well as foes have been commenting on his singular pre-occupation with politics and its processes. His politics, says Shri Gowda, is the politics of the people and he is happy when he is surrounded by people and is doing something for them. Shri Gowda is known for giving patient hearing to all shades of opinions and is equally at home with the elite when they come calling. Affectionately called the 'son of the soil' (dharti ke lal), he has proved to be one of the most ardent supporters of liberalisation with a human face. In 1989, his group of the Janata Party fared poorly in Karnataka winning just 2 of the 222 Assembly seats it contested; Shri Gowda himself tasting defeat for the first time in his career losing in both constituencies he contested. He is therefore, no stranger to the fickleness of political fortunes. The defeat lent a sharper edge to his pursuit to regain lost honour and power, and spurred him to re-examine his own style of politics. He made friends in Karnataka and Delhi, and put aside his bitter feuds with political rivals. Shri Gowda is a person with a life style that is simple, a profile that is low, but assertive and effective. Before his political initiation, Shri Gowda had been a contractor taking up minor works.

The seven years that he spent as an Independent helped him observe party politics from outside. Ever a workaholic, he was always seen engrossed with books and periodicals in the legislature library. His re-election in 1967 gave him more confidence and in 1969 when the Congress split, he joined the Congress (O) headed by Shri Nijalingappa, which was in power in Karnataka then. But Shri Gowda’s big chance came after the rout of Congress (O) in the 1971 Lok Sabha elections. He emerged the leader of a truncated opposition hit by the Indira Gandhi wave. Born to Shri Dodde Gowda and Smt. Devamma, Shri Deve Gowda is proud of his simple agricultural background. Married to Smt. Chennamma, the couple have four sons and two daughters. One of the sons is an MLA in Karnataka and another one was elected to the Lok Sabha. The leadership of the Third Front (a group of regional parties and Non-Congress and Non-BJP combine) leading to Prime Ministership – came to Shri Gowda without him seriously aspiring for it. Shri Deve Gowda resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on May 30, 1996 to be sworn in as the 11th Prime Minister of India.

Shri Inder Kumar Gujral (April 21, 1997 - March 19, 1998) - Party (Janta Dal)

Shri Inder Kumar Gujral was sworn in as the 12th Prime Minister of India on Monday, the 21st of April, 1997. Son of Late Shri Avtar Narain Gujral and Late Smt. Pushpa Gujral, Shri Gujral is M.A., B.Com. Ph.D. & D.Litt. (Hons. Causa). He was born at Jhelum (in undivided Punjab) on 4th December 1919. He and Smt. Shiela Gujral were married on May 26, 1945. Shri Gujral belongs to a family of freedom fighters: both his parents participated in the freedom struggle in Punjab. At the young age of eleven, he himself actively participated in the freedom struggle in 1931 and was arrested and severely beaten by the police for organising movement of young children in the Jhelum town. In 1942, he was jailed during the Quit India Movement. Before assuming the office of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Gujral was the Minister of External Affairs from June 1, 1996 and held additional charge of the Ministry of Water Resources from June 28, 1996. He was the Minister of External Affairs earlier during 1989-1990. He was Ambassador of India to U.S.S.R. (Cabinet Rank) from 1976-1980 and held the following Ministerial positions from 1967-1976:

Minister of Communications & Parliamentary Affairs
Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Communications
Minister of Works & Housing
Minister of Information & Broadcasting
Minister of Planning.

Parliamentary positions held: Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha from June 1996; Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce & Textiles, 1993 to April 1996; Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee for External Affairs – till April 1996; Member of Parliament 1964 to 1976, 1989 to 1991; re-elected to Rajya Sabha in 1992 from Bihar; Member, Committee on Petitions, Public Accounts Committee, Committee on Rules, Rajya Sabha; Committee on Subordinate Legislation, Rajya Sabha; General Purposes Committee, Rajya Sabha; Standing Committee on External Affairs.

Other important offices held: Chairman, Indian Council of South Asian Co-operation; Member of the Capital Plan Monitoring Committee; former President of the Institute of Defence Studies & Analysis (IDSA); Chairman of the official Committee for the Promotion of Urdu (Gujral Committee); Vice-President of the New Delhi Municipal council 1959-64; President Lahore Students Union; General Secretary of the Punjab Students Federation; Convenor and Spokesman of United Front of the Opposition Parties Conclave at Calcutta, Srinagar and Delhi.

International delegations: Leader of the Indian Delegation to United Nations General Assembly – 1996; Leader of the Indian Delegation to UN Session of Human Rights, Geneva 1995; Leader of the Indian Delegation to the UN General Assembly 1990; Leader of the Indian Delegation to the UN Special Session of Economic Development 1990; Member, Indian Delegation to UNO 1995 and 1994; Leader of the Indian Delegation to UNESCO Conference on Education and Environment, 1977; Alternate Leader of the Indian Delegation to the UNESCO Session in 1970, 1972 and 1974; Chairman, UNESCO Seminar on Man and New Communication Systems, Paris 1973; Delegate -–Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference-Bucharest 1995; Delegate – Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference, Canada 19194; Delegate – Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting Canberra (Australia) 1967; Alternate Leader of Indian Delegation to the UN Session on Environment, Stockholm 1974; Special Envoy of India to Gabon, Cameroon, Congo, Chad and Republic of Central Africa 1975; Special Envoy of India to the inaugural of the Republic of Malawi 1966; Special Envoy to Bulgaria 1961; Union Minister in attendance to President of India during State Visits to Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Egypt and Sudan; Chairman – Indian Council of South Asian Co-operation; Co-Chairman Asian Rotary Conference 1961.

Social organisations with which he was associated: President, Nari Niketan Trust & A.N. Gujral Memorial School, Jalandhar (Punjab); President, Indo-Pak Friendship Society; Founder President of Delhi Art Theatre; Vice-President of Lok Kalyan Samiti; President of Rotary Club of Delhi 1960; Co-Chairman of the Asian Rotary Conference in 1961
.

Special interests: Shri Gujral has been a writer and commentator on National and International Affairs, as well as theatre.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (May 16, 1996 - June 1, 1996 and March 19, 1998 - May 22, 2004) - Party (BJP)

A man of the masses, firm in his political convictions. On October 13, 1999, he took charge as Prime Minister of India for the second consecutive term at the head of a new coalition government, the National Democratic Alliance. He was Prime Minister for a short period in 1996. He is the only Prime Minister since Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to have become Prime Minister of India with two successive mandates. A veteran Parliamentarian whose career stretches over four decades, Shri Vajpayee has been elected to the Lok Sabha (House of the People) nine times and to the Rajya Sabha (House of the States) twice, a record by itself. As India's Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Chairperson of various important Standing Committees of Parliament and Leader of the Opposition, he has been an active participant in shaping India's post-Independence domestic and foreign policy. Shri Vajpayee's first brush with nationalist politics was in his student days, when he joined the Quit India Movement of 1942 which hastened the end of British colonial rule. A student of political science and law, it was in college that he developed a keen interest in foreign affairs - an interest he has nourished over the years and put to skilful use while representing India at various multilateral and bilateral fora.

Shri Vajpayee had embarked upon a journalist's career, which was cut short in 1951 when he joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the fore-runner of today's Bharatiya Janata Party, the leading component of the National Democratic Alliance. A critically acclaimed poet, he still takes time off from affairs of state of indulge in music and in a bit of gourmet cooking. Born in the family of a humble school teacher on December 25 1924, in the erstwhile princely state of Gwalior (now a part of the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh), Shri Vajpayee's rise in public life is a tribute to both his political acumen and Indian democracy. Over the decades, he has emerged as a leader who commands respect for his liberal worldview and commitment to democratic ideals.

An ardent champion of women's empowerment and social equality, Shri Vajpayee believes in a forward-looking, forward moving India, a strong and prosperous nation confident of its rightful place in the comity of nations. He stands for an India anchored in 5000 years of civilisational history, ever modernising, ever renewing, ever re-energising itself to meet the challenges of the next 1000 years. India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, was conferred upon him in recognition of his selfless dedication to his first and only love, India, and his more than half-a-century of service to society and the nation. In 1994, he was named India's 'Best Parliamentarian.' The citation read: "True to his name, Atalji is an eminent national leader, an erudite politician, a selfless social worker, forceful orator, poet and litterateur, journalist and indeed a multi-faceted personality…Atalji articulates the aspirations of the masses… his works ever echo total commitment to nationalism.

Dr. Manmohan Singh (May 22, 2004 - till date) - Party (INC)

India’s fourteenth Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh is rightly acclaimed as a thinker and a scholar. He is well regarded for his diligence and his academic approach to work, as well as his accessibility and his unassuming demeanour. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was born on September 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India. Dr. Singh completed his Matriculation examinations from the Panjab University in 1948. His academic career took him from Punjab to the University of Cambridge, UK, where he earned a First Class Honours degree in Economics in 1957. Dr. Singh followed this with a D.Phil in Economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962. His book, “India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth” [Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1964] was an early critique of India's inward-oriented trade policy.

Dr. Singh’s academic credentials were burnished by the years he spent on the faculty of Punjab University and the prestigious Delhi School of Economics. He had a brief stint at the UNCTAD Secretariat as well, during these years. This presaged a subsequent appointment as Secretary General of the South Commission in Geneva between 1987 and 1990. In 1971, Dr. Singh joined the Government of India as Economic Advisor in the Commerce Ministry. This was soon followed by his appointment as Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance in 1972. Among the many Governmental positions that Dr. Singh has occupied are Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission; Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Advisor of the Prime Minister; and Chairman of the University Grants Commission. In what was to become the turning point in the economic history of independent India, Dr. Singh spent five years between 1991 and 1996 as India’s Finance Minister. His role in ushering in a comprehensive policy of economic reforms is now recognized worldwide. In the popular view of those years in India, that period is inextricably associated with the persona of Dr. Singh.

Among the many awards and honours conferred upon Dr. Singh in his public career, the most prominent are India’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan (1987); the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress (1995); the Asia Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year (1993 and 1994); the Euro Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year (1993), the Adam Smith Prize of the University of Cambridge (1956); and the Wright's Prize for Distinguished Performance at St. John's College in Cambridge (1955). Dr. Singh has also been honoured by a number of other associations including by the Japanese Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Dr. Singh has represented India at many international conferences and in several international organizations. He has led Indian Delegations to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Cyprus (1993) and to the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993. In his political career, Dr. Singh has been a Member of India’s Upper House of Parliament (the Rajya Sabha) since 1991, where he was Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2004.

Powers of Prime Minister

1. Appoints the Council of Ministers.
2. Allocates portfolios. Can ask a minister to resign and can get him dismissed by President.
3. Assist the President in appointment of all high officials.
4. Can recommend to the President to declare emergency on grounds of war, external aggression  or armed rebellion.
5. Advises President about President's rule in the State or emergency due to financial instability.
6. The President convenes and prorogues all sessions of Parliamenr in consultation with him/her.
7. Can recommend the dissolution of Lok Sabha before expire.
8. Leader of the House

Irrigation in India & Irrigation projects

Indian Irrigation

Water is very important for survival of all forms of life- plant as well as animal. India, by virtue of its peculiar placement in the foothills of the Himalayas and the Deccan Plateau running through it, has vast water resources which have been very meagrely tapped. Conventional and recognised means of irrigation are tanks, wells and canals.

Wells: Well irrigation is an important type of irrigation in India. Wells are particularly suitable for small farms. The important well-irrigated States are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. In these States water-table is high, soil is soft and, therefore, wells are easily sunk.

Tubewells are an important development in India. They are worked by electricity or diesel oil and thus, they relieve our cattle of much of the strain. They are being quickly developed in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab. This is because these have ample sub-soil water.

Wells and tubewells account for about 48 percent of the total irrigation in India.


Tanks: Tanks are also an important and ancient source of irrigation. They are of considerable importance in central and southern India, specially in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. About 8 percent of the total irrigated area is irrigated by tanks.

Canals: Canals are the most important means of irrigation in the country. Some canals were constructed by the early Hindu and Mohammedan kings. Most of the canals, however, are the product of the British rule. At present, canals irrigate about 39 percent of total irrigated area of India. Most of the canals of the country are found in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Storage canals have been constructed in Deccan and Madhya Pradesh.

Major , Medium and Minor Irrigation Projects: The methods of irrigation used in India can be broadly classified into major, medium and minor irrigation schemes. Irrigation projects having Culturable Command Area (CCA) of more than 10,000 hectares each are classified as major projects. Those having a CCA between 2,000 hectares and 10,000 hectares fall under the category of medium irrigation projects. And the projects which have a CCA of less than 2,000 hectares are classified as minor irrigation schemes. For the purpose of analysis the major and the medium irrigation projects are generally grouped together. These projects comprise a network of dams, bunds, canals and other such schemes. Such projects require substantial financial outlay and are, therefore, constructed by the government or any other agency which may draw financial assistance form the government and financial institutions.

The minor irrigation projects, on the other hand, comprise all ground water development schemes such as dug wells, private shallow tubewells, deep public tubewells, and boring and deepening of dugewells, and small surface water development works such as storage tanks, lift irrigation projects, etc. Minor irrigation projects or the groundwater development schemes are essentially people's programmes implemented primarily through individual and cooperative efforts with finances obtained mainly through institutional sources.


IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT

Creation for irrigation potential of 10 million hectares was targeted under Bharat Nirman during 2005-06 to 2008-09. The target was proposed to be met through completion of on-going major and medium irrigation projects, and extension, renovation and modernization of existing projects. As per information provided by State Governments, the total irrigation potential created during the period is 7.31 million hectares against the target of 10 million hectares.

SOME IRRIGATION AND MULTIPURPOSE PROJECTS 

Bargi Project (Madhya Pradesh): It is a multipurpose project consisting of a masonry dam across Bargi river in the Jabalpur district and a left bank canal.

Beas Project (Joint venture of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan): It consists of Beas-Sutlej Link and Beas Dam at Pong.

Bhadra Project (Karnataka): A multipurpose project across the river Bhadra.

Bhakra Nangal Project (Joint project of Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan): India's biggest, multipurpose river valley project comprises a straight gravity dam across the Sutlej river at Bhakra, the Nangal dam, the Nangal hydel channel, two power houses at Bhakra dam and two power stations at Ganguwal and Kotla.

Bhima Project (Maharashtra): Comprises two dams, one on the Pawana river near Phagne in Pune district and the other across the Krishna river near Ujjaini in Sholapur district.

Chambal Project (Joint project of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan): The project comprises Gandhi Sagar dam, Rana Pratap Sagar dam and jawahar Sagar dam.

Damodar Valley Project (West Bengal and Bihar): A multipurpose project for the unified development of irrigation, flood control and power generation in West Bengal and Bihar. It comprises multipurpose dams at Konar, Tilaiya, Maithon and Pancher; hydel power stations at Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon and Panchet; barrage at Durgapur; and thermal power houses at Bokaro, Chandrapura and Durgapur. The project is administrated by the Damodar Valley Corporation.

Dulhasti Power Project (Jammu & Kashmir): It is a 390 MW power project in Kishtwar region of Jammu & Kashmir on Chenab river. Work for this project started in 1981. The foundation stone was laid on April 15, 1983 by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Work on this project was suspended due to threats of kidnapping and killings by Kashmiri militants resulting in long delay in completion of project.

Farakka Project (West Bengal): The project was taken up for the preservation and maintenance of Calcutta port and for improving the navigability of the Hoogly. It comprises a barrage at Jangipur across the Bhagirathi and a feeder channel taking off from the Ganga at Farakka and tailing into the Bhagirathi below the Jangipur barrage.

Gandak Project (Joint project of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh): Nepal also derives irrigation and power benefits form this project.

Ghataprabha Project (Karnataka): A project across Ghataprabha in Belgaum and Bijapur districts.

Hirakund (Odisha): World's longest dam, is located on the Mahanadi river.

Jayakwadi Project (Maharashtra): A masonry spillway across the river Godavari.

Kahalgaon Project (Bihar): The 840-MW Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Project, a joint venture between National Thermal Power Corporation and the Russian State Enterprise Foreign Economic Association, was on August 12,1996 commissioned and put into commercial operation.

Kakrapara Project (Gujarat): On the Tapti river near Kakrapara, in Surat district.

Kangsabati Project (West Bengal): The project, put in operation in 1965, is located on the Kangsabati and Kumari rivers.

Karjan Project (Gujarat): A masonry dam across Karjan river near Jitgarh village in Nandoo Taluka of Bharuch district.

Kosi Project (Bihar): A multipurpose project, which serves Bihar and Nepal.

Koyna Project (Maharashtra): It is built on a tributary of river Krishna with a capacity of 880 MW. It feeds power to Mumbai-Pune industrial belt.

Krishna Project (Maharashtra): Dhom dam near Dhom village on Krishna and Kanhar dam near Kanhar village on Varna river in Satna district.

Kukadi Project (Maharashtra): Five independent storage dams, i.e. Yodgaon, Manikdohi, Dimbha, Wadaj and Pimpalgaon Jog. The canal system comprises (i) Kukadi left bank Canal, (ii) Dimbha left bank canal, (iii) Dimbha right bank canal, (iv) Meena feeder and (v) Meena branch.

Kundoh Project (Tamil Nadu): It is in Tamil Nadu whose initial capacity of 425 MW has since been expanded to 535 MW.

Let Bank Ghaghra Canal (Uttar Pradesh): A link channel taking off from the left bank of Ghaghra river of Girja barrage across Sarju.

Madhya Ganaga Canal (Uttar Pradesh): A barrage across Ganga in Bijnore district.

Mahanadi Delta Scheme (Odisha): The irrigation scheme will utilize releases from the Hirakud reservoir.

Mahanadi Reservoir Project (Madhya Pradesh): It has three phases: (1) Ravishankar Sagar Project and feeder canal system for supply of water of Bhilai Steel Plant and Sandur dam across Sandur village. (2) Extension of Mahanadi feeder canal. (3) Pairi dam.

Mahi Project (Gujarat): A two –phase project, one across the Mahi river near Wanakbori village and the other across Mahi river near Kadana.

Malaprabha Project (Karnataka): A dam across the Malaprabha in Belgaum district.

Mayurakshi Project (West Bengal): An irrigation and hydro-electric project comprise the Canada dam.

Minimato Bango Hasdeo Project (Madhya Pradesh): This project is locted at Hasdeo Bango river in Korba district and envisages construction of a masonry dam. A hydel power plant of 120 MW capacity has been commissioned on the Bango dam.

Nagarjunasagar (Andhra Pradesh): On the Krishna river near Nandikona village (about 44 km from Hyderabad).

Panam Project (Gujarat): A gravity masonry dam across Panam river near Keldezar village in Panchmahal district.

Parambikulam Aliyar (Joint venture of Tamil Nadu and Kerala): The integrated harnessing of eight rivers, six in the Annamalai Hills and two in the plains.

Pochampad (Andhra Pradesh): Across Godavari river.

Pong Dam (Punjab): It is an important hydro-electric project located on Beas river.

Rajasthan Canal (Indira Gandhi Canal- Rajasthan): The Project uses water released from Pong dam and provides irrigation facilities to the north-western region of Rajasthan, i.e., a part of the Thar desert. It consists of Rajasthan feeder canal (with the first 167 km in Punjab and Haryana and the remaining 37 km in Rajasthan) and 445 km Rajasthan main canal entirely in Rajasthan.

Rajghat Dam Project (Madhya Pradesh): The Rajghat Dam and Rajghat Hydro Electric Projects are Inter-State projects of MP and UP. The Rajghat Dam is almost complete. All the three units of Rajghat Hydro-Electric Project had been synchronized during 1999 and power generation has been continuing ever since.

Ramganga (Uttarakhand): A dam across Ramganga, a tributary of the Ganga river located in Garhwal district. The project has, besides reducing the intensity of floods in central and western Uttar Pradesh, provided water for the Delhi water supply scheme.

Ranjit Sagar Dam (Thein Dam) (Punjab): A multi-purpose highest dam in the country, built on the Ravi river for the benefit of Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.

Rihand Project (Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh): It is the largest man-made lake in India on the borders of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh with a capacity of 300 MW annually.

Sabarmati (Gujarat): A storage dam across Sabarmati river near Dhari Village in Mehsana district and wasna barrage near Ahmedabad.

Salal Project (Jammu & Kashmir): With the successful completion of the 2.5-km long tailrace tunnel, the 690-MW Salal (Stage I and II ) project in Jammu and Kashmir became fully operational on August 6, 1996.

Sarda Sahayak (Uttar Pradesh): A barrage across the river Ghaghra, a link channel, a barrage across River Sarda and a feeder channel of two major aqueducts over rivers Gomti and Sai.

Sharavathi Project (Karnataka): It is located at the Jog Falls with a capacity of 891 MW. It primarily feeds Bengaluru industrial region and also Goa and Tamil Nadu.

Sone High Level Canal(Bihar): An extension on Sone Barrage project.

Tawa Project (Madhya Pradesh): A project across the Tawa river, a tributary of the Narmada in Hoshangabad district.

Tehri Dam Project (Uttarakhand): Earth and rock-fill dam on Bhagirathi river in Tehri district.

Tungabhadra Project (Joint Project of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka): On the Tungabhadra River.

Ukai Project (Gujarat): A multipurpose project across Tapti river near Ukai village.

Upper Krishna Project (Karnataka): A project consisting of Narayanpur dam across the Krishna river and a dam at Almatti.

Upper Penganga Project (Maharashtra): Two reservoirs on Penganga river at Isapur in Yavatmal district and the other on Rayadhu river at Sapli in Parbhani district.

Uri Power Project (Jammu & Kashmir): It is located on the river Jhelum in the Uri Tehsil of Baramulla district in Jammu & Kashmir. It is a 480-MW hydroelectric project which was dedicated to the nation of February 13, 1997.

Classical Dances in India, Folk Dances in India, Tribal Dances in India

Classical Dances of India

Dance                                 State

Bharat Natyam                   Tamil Nadu
Bihu                                   Assam
Bhangra                             Punjab
Chhau                                Bihar, Orissa, W. Bengal and Jharkhand
Garhwali                            Uttaranchal
Garba                                Gujarat
Hattari                                Karnataka
Kathak                               North India
Kathakali                            Kerala
Kutchipudi                          Andhra Pradesh
Khantumm                           Mizoram
Karma                                 Madhya Pradesh
Laho                                    Meghalaya
Mohiniattam                         Kerala
Mando                                 Goa
Manipuri                              Manipur
Nati                                     Himachal Pradesh
Nat-Natin                            Bihar
Odissi                                  Orissa
Rauf                                     Jammu & Kashmir
Yakshagan                            Karnataka


Folk Dances in India and Tribal Dances in India

States                            Dances

Maharashtra                Kathakeertan, Lezin, Dandaniya, Tamasha, Gafa, Dahikala, Lovani,                                                Mauni, Dasavtar.
Karnataka                   Huttari, Suggi Kunitha, Yakashagana
Kerala                         Kaikottikali, Kaliyattam, Tappatikkali
Tamil Nadu                  Kolattam, Pinnal Kolattam, Kummi, Kavadi, Karagam
Andhra Pradesh           Ghanta Mardala, Veedhi Natakam, Burrakatha
Orissa                          Ghumara Sanchar, Chadya Dandanata, Chhau
West Bengal                 Kathi, Chhau, Baul, Kirtan, Jatra, Lama
Assam                          Bihu, Khel Gopal, Rash Lila, Tabal Chongli, Canoe
Punjab                          Giddha (women), Bhangra (men)
J & K                           Rauf, Hikat
Himachal Pradesh       Jhora, Jhali, Dangli, Mahasu, Jadda, Jhainta, Chharhi
Haryana                        Jhumar, Ras Leela, Phag dance, Daph, Dhamal, Loor, Gugga, Khoria,                                                Gagor
Gujarat                          Garba, Dandiya Rass, Tippani, Gomph
Rajasthan                      Ginad, Chakri, Gangore, Terahtaal, Khayal, Jhulan Leela, Jhuma, Suisini
Bihar                            Jata Jatin, Jadur, Chhau, Kathaputli, Bakho, Jhijhiya, Samochakwa,                                                    Karma, Jatra, Natna
Uttar Pradesh                  Nautanki, Thora, Chappeli, Raslila, Kajri.



Famous Dancer

Bharatnatyam         Bala Saraswati, C. V. Chandrasekhar, Leela Samson, Mrinalini Sarabhai,                                          Padma Subramanyam, Rukmini Devi, Sanyukta Panigrahi, Sonal Mansingh,                                      Yamini Krishnamurti
Kathak                   Bharti Gupta, Birju Maharaj, Damayanti Joshi, Durga Das, Gopi Krishna,                                          Kumudini  Lakhia, Sambhu Maharaj, Sitara Devi
Kuchipudi               Josyula Seetharamaiah, Vempathi Chinna Sthyam
Manipuri                 Guru Bipin Sinha, Jhaveri Sisters, Nayana Jhaveri, Nirmala Mehta, Savita                                        Mehta ,Debaprasad Das, Dhirendra Nath Pattnaik, Indrani Rahman,                                                 Kelucharan Mahapatra, Priyambaba Mohanty, Sonal Mansingh

Instrumentalists

Sarod                Ali Akbar Khan, Allaudin Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Buddhadev Dasgupta,                                             Bahadur Khan, Sharan Rani, Zarin S. Sharma
Tabla                Alla Rakha Khan, Kishan Maharaj, Nikhil Ghosh, Zakir Hussain
Violin                Baluswamy Dikshitar, Gajanan Rao Joshi, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, M. S. Gopala                                krishnan, Mysore T. Chowdiah, T. N. Krishnan
Shehnal             Bismillah Khan
Sitar                  Nikhil Banerjee, Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Hara Shankar Bhattacharya
Flute                 Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pannalal Ghose, T. R. Mahalingam
Veena               K. R. Kumaraswamy lyer, Doraiswami lyengar


Vocalists

Hindustani            

Shubha Mudgal, Bheemsen Joshi, Madhup Mudgal, Mukul Shivputra, Pandit Jasraj, Parveen Sultana, Naina Devi, Girija Devi, Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Gangubai Hangal, Krishna Hangal, V. Rajput, Kumar Gandharva, Faiyyaz Khan, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kishori Amonkar, Ustad Rashid Khan.

Carnatic

M. S. Subbalakshmi, Balamuralikrishna, Bombay Jaishree, H. K. Raghavendra, H. K. Venkataram, Sitarajam, Mani Krishnaswamy, Akhil Krishnan, M. L. Vasanthakumari, M. D. Ramanathan, G. N. Balasubramaniam

Thumri

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Mazhar Ali Khan, Ustad Zawad Ali Khan, Rita Ganguli, Poornima Chaudhary, Shanti Heerananda, Naina Devi

Quwwali

Ghulam Hasan Niyazi, Sultan Niyazi, Ghulam Farid Nizami, Chand Nizami, Iqbal Hussain Khan Bandanawaji, Aslam Sabari

Dhrupad

Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar, Zahiruddin Dagar, Waslfuddin Dagar, Bundecha Bandhu, Uday Bhawalkar, Pt. Abhay Narayan Mallick, Pt. Ritwik Sanyal