Pulitzer Prize - Oscar of Journalism

The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition.

Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories.

It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American newspaper publisher(Hungarian-born) Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City.

Also known as Oscar prize of journalism.

Presented by: Columbia University

First awarded: 1917

Gobind Behari Lal (1937) is the first Indian to win the Pulitzer Prize.

Jumpha Lahiri is the first Indian woman winner of Pulitzer Prize (2000).

Jana Gana Mana: India National Anthem - GK Notes

• Janagana mana is composed in Bengali by poet Rabindranath Tagore.

• The complete song of Janagana mana consists of 5 stanzas.

• The first stanza of the song Bharata Bhagya Bidhata was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India as the National Anthem on 24 January 1950.

• The first political occasion in which Janaganamana sung was the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress in 1911.

• Janaganamana was first published in the journal, Tattwabodhini Patrika in 1912 under the title 'Bharat Vidhata'.

• A formal rendition of national anthem is completed in 52 seconds.

• A shortened version consisting of the first and last lines of national anthem is sung in 20 seconds.

• English translation of Janaganamana was made by Rabindranath Tagore under the title The Morning Song of India.

• Rabindranath Tagore wrote Janaganamana at the request of his intimate friend Ashutosh Choudhary who was a judge of Kolkata High court.

• The English translation of national anthem begins with the words: Thou art the ruler....

• The region mentioned in the national anthem which at present not a part of India is Sind. 

• Capt.Ram Singh Thakur composed the tune for  Janaganamana.

Video: Rabindranath Tagore singing Janaganamana

A. K. Gopalan (1904 – 1977)-Crusader of the downtrodden

Ayillyath Kuttiari Gopalan  popularly known as A. K. Gopalan or AKG, was an Indian communist leader.

AKG was born on 1 October 1904 in Peralasseri, Kannur District of Northern Kerala.

He served as the first leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha in 1952.

In 1927 he joined the Indian National Congress and began playing an active role in the Khadi Movement and the upliftment of Harijans.

He was arrested for participating in the salt satyagraha in 1930.

AKG was the Volunteer Captain of Guruvayoor Satyagraha.

He led the hunger march from Malabar region(Kannur) to Madras in 1936 and the Malabar Jatha in support of the movement for responsible government in Travancore.

In 1939, he joined Communist Party of India.

In 1944, he became the Secretary of Kerala Communist Party.

AKG played an important role in the formation of Indian Coffee House, a worker cooperative  initiative.

 First Indian Coffee House in Kerala was started at Thrissur in 1958.

He was a member of Lok Sabha for 5 consecutive terms till his death on 22 March 1977.

Shaji N. Karun, a prominent film director of Kerala, made a biopic on AKG titled AKG - Athijeevanathinte Kanalvazhikal.

His valiant struggles for protecting the interest of the working class inside and outside the Parliament earned him the title the "Crusader of the downtrodden".
( അവശതയനുഭവിക്കുന്ന  ജനതക്കുവേണ്ടി നടത്തിയ പോരാട്ടങ്ങളെ കണക്കിലെടുത്ത് കമ്മ്യൂണിസ്റ്റ് അനുയായികൾ ഇദ്ദേഹത്തെ ബഹുമാനപൂർവ്വം പാവങ്ങളുടെ പടത്തലവൻ എന്നു വിശേഷിപ്പിക്കുന്നു.)

AKG Bhavan, CPI(M)'s national headquarters in Delhi is named after him.

The State Headquarters of CPI(M) in Kerala: A.K.G Center (Thiruvananthapuram).

The Autobiography of A.K.G is 'Ente Jeevitha Katha'.

March 22 is observed as AKG day.

A.K.G Tomb is situated at  Payyambalam Beach (Kannur).

His wife Susheela Gopalan was a former minister of Kerala.

AK Gopalan books 
►കേരളം ഇന്നലെ ഇന്ന്.
►ഞാന്‍ ഒരു പുതിയ ലോകം കണ്ടു.
►കൊടുങ്കാറ്റിന്റെ മാറ്റൊലി.
►എന്റെ പൂര്‍വ്വകാല സ്മരണകള്‍.
►മണ്ണിനു വേണ്ടി.
►എന്റെ ഡയറി.
►ഹരിജനം

Chittaranjan Das (1870-1925) : Deshbandhu

• C. R. Das was popularly called Deshbandhu (Friend of the Nation).

• His first case as a barrister was defending Aurobindo Ghosh in the Alipore bomb case of 1908. 

• Bought the newspaper Forward and changed its name to Liberty to publish anti-British articles. 

• When the Calcutta Municipal Corporation was formed, he became its first mayor.  

•  He founded the Swaraj Party, with  Motilal Nehru in 1923. 

• Chittaranjan Das is regarded as the political guru of Subhash Chandra Bose.

John Mathai (1886-1959) - India's first Railway Minister

• John Mathai was an economist who served as India's first Railway Minister and subsequently as India's Finance Minister.

• He was born in 1886 in Kozhikode in Kerala.

• John mathai presented first Budget in Independent India, in 1948. He presented two budgets as Finance Minister.

• He was the first Chairman of the State Bank of India when it was set up in 1955.

• He served as the first Vice Chancellor of the University of Kerala from 1957 to 1959.

• His nephew, Verghese Kurien, was the father of India's White Revolution.

Acharya J B Kripalani (1888-1982)

• J B Kripalani was a Gandhian socialist, environmentalist, mystic and independence activist.

• Kripalani moved the first-ever No confidence motion on the floor of the Lok Sabha in August 1963, against the government immediately after the defeat in India-China War.

• J B Kripalani was the President of Indian National Congress during the transfer of power in 1947. 

• Kripalani left the Congress and became one of the founders of the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party.

• He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952, 1957, 1963 and 1967 as a member of Praja Socialist Party.

•  His wife Sucheta Kripalani first female Chief Minister in India. She was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967.

• In the 1982 film Gandhi by Richard Attenborough, J.B. Kripalani was played by Indian actor Anang Desai.

M Visvesvaraya (1862-1962) - Father of modern Mysore State

• Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was born on 15 September 1861 in a Brahmin family,to Mokshagundam Srinivasa Shastry and Venkatalakshmamma in Muddenahalli village, Chickballapur District, Mysore State.

•  In India, September 15 is celebrated as Engineer's Day in his memory. 
• He was an Indian engineer, scholar, Statesman and also served as the Diwan of Mysore for six years.
• He was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagar dam on the Kaveri River.
• He  designed and patented a system of automatic weir water floodgates that were first installed in 1903 at the Khadakvasla Reservoir near Poona.
• He was called as the "Father of modern Mysore State".
• He was awarded the nation's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955.
• Reconstructing India, Nation Building are books of  Visvesvaraya.

Surendranath Banerjee (1848-1925) - Rahstraguru

• Surendranath Banerjee was born in 1848 in Kolkata,  West Bengal.

• He cleared the Indian Civil Service exam, but wasn't allowed to work due to racial discrimination.
• Surendranath Banerjee  founded the Indian National Association along with Anandamohan Bose in 1876 to bring Hindus and Muslims together for political action.
• Surendranath also founded Indian National Liberation Federation.
• Merged the INA with the Indian National Congress in 1886 because of their common goals.
• In 1879, he founded the newspaper, The Bengalee.
• Surendranath Bannerjee was the first Indian person to be arrested for journalism.
• Founded the Ripon College (Now called Surendranath College) in Kolkata in 1882.
• He was also known by the sobriquet Rashtraguru.
• He was elected as the INC President in 1895 at Poona and in 1902 at Ahmedabad.
• A Nation in Making- is the book by Surendranath Banerjee.

Kalpana Chawla(1962-2003) - First Indian Woman in Space

• Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal in Haryana.
• She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. 
• Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian person to fly in space.
• In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan(1890-1988) - Frontier Gandhi

• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a Pashtun leader and ardent follower of Mahtma Gandhi and was known for his non-violent opposition to British Rule.
• Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan was known as Badshah Khan and Frontier Gandhi.
• He founded the Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God") movement in 1929.