UPSC Articles
Rani Lakshmibai – Her Jayanti
Part of: Mains GS-1: Freedom fighters
- Queen of the princely state of Jhansi in North India currently present in Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh, India
- One of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and became a symbol of resistance to the British Raj for Indian nationalists.
- She was named Manikarnika and was nicknamed Manu.
- After the death of the Maharaja in November 1853, because Damodar Rao (born Anand Rao) was an adopted son, the British East India Company, under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, applied the Doctrine of Lapse, rejecting Damodar Rao’s claim to the throne and annexing the state to its territories.
- She defended Jhansi against British troops when Sir Hugh Rose besieged Jhansi on 23 March 1858.
- A number of patriotic songs have been written about the Rani. The most famous composition about Rani Lakshmi Bai is the Hindi poem Jhansi ki Rani written by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan.
Indira Gandhi – Birth anniversary
- An Indian politician, stateswoman and a central figure of the Indian National Congress.
- She was the first and, to date, the only female Prime Minister of India.
- Indira Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India.
- She served as Prime Minister from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984 (assassins blamed her for the action code-named Operation Blue Star), making her the second longest-serving Indian Prime Minister after her father.
- She went to war with Pakistan in support of the independence movement and war of independence in East Pakistan, which resulted in an Indian victory and the creation of Bangladesh, as well as increasing India’s influence to the point where it became the regional hegemon of South Asia.
- Citing fissiparous tendencies and in response to a call for revolution, Gandhi instituted a state of emergency from 1975 to 1977 where basic civil liberties were suspended and the press was censored. Widespread atrocities were carried out during the emergency. In 1980, she returned to power after free and fair elections.
