Ramaswamy Venkataraman (Tamil: ராமசுவாமி வெங்கட்ராமன்) (born December 4, 1910) was the 8th President of the Republic of India, serving from 1987 to 1992. Before his election as President, Venkataraman served nearly 4 years as the 7th Vice-President. A member of the Indian National Congress party, he has held various ministerial positions in the course of his political career.
Early life
Ramaswamy Venkataraman was born in Pattukottai, near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu.
Educated locally and in the city of Madras (now Chennai), Venkataraman obtained his Master Degree in Economics from Madras University. He later qualified in Law from the Law College, Madras. Venkataraman was enrolled in the High Court, Madras in 1935 and in the Supreme Court in 1951.
While practicing Law, Venkataraman was drawn into the movement for India's freedom from Britain's colonial subjugation. His active participation in the Indian National Congress's celebrated resistance to the British Government, the Quit India Movement of 1942, resulted in his detention for two years under the Defence of India Rules. Venkataraman's interest in the Law continued during this period. In 1946, when the Transfer of Power from British to Indian hands was imminent, the Government of India included him in the panel of lawyers sent to Malaya and Singapore to defend Indian nationals charged with offences of collaboration during the Japanese occupation of those two places. In the years 1947 to 1950, Venkataraman served as Secretary of the Madras Provincial Bar Federation.
Venkataraman acquired, early in his legal career, an abiding interest in the law pertaining to labour. On his release from prison in 1944, he took up the Organisation of the Labour Section of the Tamil Nadu Provincial Congress Committee. He founded, in 1949, the Labour Law Journal which publishes important decisions pertaining to labour and is an acknowledged specialist publication. He came to be intimately associated with trade union activity, founding or leading several unions, including those for plantation workers, estate staff, dock-workers, railway workers and working journalists.
[edit] Political career
Law and trade union activity led to Shri Venkataraman's increasing association with politics. Venkataraman was the member of constituent assembly that drafted India's constitution. He was elected in 1950, to free India's Provisional Parliament (1950-1952) and to the First Parliament (1952-1957). During his term of legislative activity, Venkataraman attended the 1952 Session of the Metal Trades Committee of International Labour Organisation as a workers' delegate. He was a member of the Indian Parliamentary Delegation to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in New Zealand. Venkataraman was also Secretary to the Congress Parliamentary Party in 1953-1954.
Although re-elected to Parliament in 1957, Venkataraman resigned his seat in the Lok Sabha to join the State Government of Madras as a Minister. There Shri Venkataraman held the portfolios of Industries, Labour, Cooperation, Power, Transport and Commercial Taxes from 1957 to 1967. During this time, he was also Leader of the Upper House, namely, the Madras Legislative Council.
President Venkatraman (right) with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (centre) and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran at the unveiling of the statue of poet Subramania BharatiVenkataraman was appointed a Member of the Union Planning Commission in 1967 and was entrusted the subjects of Industry, Labour, power, Transport, Communications, Railways. He held that office until 1971. In 1977, Venkataraman was elected to the Lok Sabha from Madras (South) Constituency and served as an Opposition Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
Venkataraman was also, variously, member of the Political Affairs Committee and the Economic Affairs Committee of the Union Cabinet; Governor, International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Development Bank. Venkataraman was a Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961. He was Leader of the Indian Delegation to the 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference at Geneva (1958) and represented India in the Inter Parliamentary Conference in Vienna (1978). He was a Member, United Nations Administrative Tribunal from 1955 to 1979 and was its President from 1968 to 1979.
In 1980, Venkataraman was re-elected to the Lok Sabha and was appointed Union Minister of Finance in the Government headed by Smt Indira Gandhi. He was later appointed Union Minister of Defence, before serving as Vice-President of India and then President.
[edit] Public Approval
[edit] Post-presidential career
He is currently the third oldest living former head of state in the world behind Anthony Mamo of Malta, Gabriel Paris Gordillo of Colombia and Johan Ferrier of Suriname. He is one of the two living former Presidents of India, the other being Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam .
[edit] Honors and accolades
Venkataraman has received the Doctorate of Law (Honoris Causa) from University of Madras, the Doctorate of Law (Honoris Causa) from Nagarjuna University. He is Honorary Fellow, Madras Medical College; Doctor of Social Sciences, University of Roorkee; Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa) from University of Burdwan. He has been awarded The Tamra Patra for participation in the freedom struggle, the Soviet Land Prize for his travelogue on Shri Kamraj's visit to the Socialist countries. He is the recipient of a Souvenir from the Secretary-General of the United Nations for distinguished service as President of the U.N. Administrative Tribunal. The title of "Sat Seva Ratna" has been conferred on him by His Holiness the Sankaracharya of Kancheepuram.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Zail Singh
Giani Zail Singh (Punjabi: ਜ਼ੈਲ ਸਿੰਘ, May 5, 1916 - December 25, 1994) was an Indian politician and member of the Congress Party. He served as the seventh President of India between 1982 and 1987.
Sardar Zail Singh, a Sikh by religion, was given the title of Giani, as he was educated and learned about Guru Granth Sahib. He had a humble start in life and his father was a carpenter who was killed in an automobile accident.
Zail Singh's public life was long and varied - freedom fighter, state Congress leader, Chief Minister, Union Home Minister and the president of India. A fighter against princedom, feudalism and foreign domination in the pre-independence days, he is also remembered for his crusade against communalism, economic disparities and social injustice in the republic. He also served as Chief Minister of Punjab. He was the President of India when the 1984 anti-Sikh riots took place in New Delhi.
[edit] President of India
Giani Zail Singh was elected to the highest office of the President of India on July 15, 1982 and took the oath of office on July 25, 1982. He was critiqued for his subservient attitude to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was President, when Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star, an attack on Sikhs fighting for equal rights within India occupying the highest sacred shrine of Sikhism that resulted in thousands of deaths. Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister after the assassination of his mother by two of her Sikh bodyguards. Even though Zail Singh had strained relations with Rajiv Gandhi, he declined to embarrass his government by seeking re-election as President of India with the support of non-Congress parties. Following his accidental death, Zail Singh was cremated in the vicinity of the Raj Ghat.
Giani Zail Singh the President of India at Award giving Ceremony at Durbar Hall Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.
Sardar Zail Singh, a Sikh by religion, was given the title of Giani, as he was educated and learned about Guru Granth Sahib. He had a humble start in life and his father was a carpenter who was killed in an automobile accident.
Zail Singh's public life was long and varied - freedom fighter, state Congress leader, Chief Minister, Union Home Minister and the president of India. A fighter against princedom, feudalism and foreign domination in the pre-independence days, he is also remembered for his crusade against communalism, economic disparities and social injustice in the republic. He also served as Chief Minister of Punjab. He was the President of India when the 1984 anti-Sikh riots took place in New Delhi.
[edit] President of India
Giani Zail Singh was elected to the highest office of the President of India on July 15, 1982 and took the oath of office on July 25, 1982. He was critiqued for his subservient attitude to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was President, when Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star, an attack on Sikhs fighting for equal rights within India occupying the highest sacred shrine of Sikhism that resulted in thousands of deaths. Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister after the assassination of his mother by two of her Sikh bodyguards. Even though Zail Singh had strained relations with Rajiv Gandhi, he declined to embarrass his government by seeking re-election as President of India with the support of non-Congress parties. Following his accidental death, Zail Singh was cremated in the vicinity of the Raj Ghat.
Giani Zail Singh the President of India at Award giving Ceremony at Durbar Hall Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.
Sanjeeva Reddy
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (May 18, 1913 - June 1, 1996 ) was the sixth President of India of the republic of India, serving from 1977 to 1982.
He was born in a peasant family in the Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh.
He had his primary education at the High School run by Theosophical Society Adyar, Madras. The spiritual atmosphere of the school left a deep impact on his mind.
He joined the Government Arts College at Anantapur for his higher studies.
Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Anantapur in July 1929 was the turning point in Reddy's life. He came under the profound influence of Gandhiji's thoughts, words and actions. He discarded his foreign clothes and took to Khadi as his dress. He gave up his studies and joined the Indian Independence Movement.
He was elected to the Madras Legislaltive Assembly in 1946 and became the Secretary of the Madras Congress Legislature Party. In 1947, he became a Member of the Indian Constituent Assembly. He was Minister for Prohibition, Housing and Forests in the composite state of Madras from 1949 to 1951. He was Elected as President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee in 1951. In 1952, he was elected as a Member of the Rajya Sabha.
He served as the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in October 1956 and again from 1962 to 1964. He also served as President of the Indian National Congress from 1959 to 1962.
The degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by the Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupathi in 1958.
On June 9, 1964, He was appointed a Member of the Union Cabinet and took over the portfolio of Steel and Mines. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in November, 1964.
He was Union Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation, Shipping and Tourism from January 1966 to March 1967 in the Cabinet. He was Elected to the Lok Sabha from Hindupur constituency in Andhra Pradesh. He was elected Speaker of Lok Sabha on March 17, 1967, where he won unprecedented acclaim and admiration.
He entered active politics again in 1975 along with Shri Jayaprakash Narayan. In March 1977, he fought the Lok Sabha election from Nandyal constituency in Andhra Pradesh as a Janata Party candidate. He was the only non-Congress candidate to get elected from Andhra Pradesh. He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha on March 26, 1977.
He was elected President by the electoral college in July 1977, and was the only person to be elected President of India unopposed.
He died in Bangalore, India.
He was born in a peasant family in the Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh.
He had his primary education at the High School run by Theosophical Society Adyar, Madras. The spiritual atmosphere of the school left a deep impact on his mind.
He joined the Government Arts College at Anantapur for his higher studies.
Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Anantapur in July 1929 was the turning point in Reddy's life. He came under the profound influence of Gandhiji's thoughts, words and actions. He discarded his foreign clothes and took to Khadi as his dress. He gave up his studies and joined the Indian Independence Movement.
He was elected to the Madras Legislaltive Assembly in 1946 and became the Secretary of the Madras Congress Legislature Party. In 1947, he became a Member of the Indian Constituent Assembly. He was Minister for Prohibition, Housing and Forests in the composite state of Madras from 1949 to 1951. He was Elected as President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee in 1951. In 1952, he was elected as a Member of the Rajya Sabha.
He served as the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in October 1956 and again from 1962 to 1964. He also served as President of the Indian National Congress from 1959 to 1962.
The degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by the Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupathi in 1958.
On June 9, 1964, He was appointed a Member of the Union Cabinet and took over the portfolio of Steel and Mines. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in November, 1964.
He was Union Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation, Shipping and Tourism from January 1966 to March 1967 in the Cabinet. He was Elected to the Lok Sabha from Hindupur constituency in Andhra Pradesh. He was elected Speaker of Lok Sabha on March 17, 1967, where he won unprecedented acclaim and admiration.
He entered active politics again in 1975 along with Shri Jayaprakash Narayan. In March 1977, he fought the Lok Sabha election from Nandyal constituency in Andhra Pradesh as a Janata Party candidate. He was the only non-Congress candidate to get elected from Andhra Pradesh. He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha on March 26, 1977.
He was elected President by the electoral college in July 1977, and was the only person to be elected President of India unopposed.
He died in Bangalore, India.
Basappa Danappa Jatti
Basappa Danappa Jatti (September 10, 1912–June 7, 2002) was born to Kannada family at Savalgi, Bijapur district of Karnataka. Jatti graduated as a lawyer from Sykes Law College, [edit] Biography
Soft-spoken Jatti rose from a humble beginning as a Municipality member to India’s second-highest office during a five-decade-long chequered political career.
Born in Savalgi in Jamakhandi Taluk of Bijapur district, Mr Jatti entered politics as a Municipality member at Jamakhandi in 1940 and later became its President. He was eventually elected to the Jamakhandi State Legislature.
A Law Graduate from Sykes Law College, Kolhapur, he practised for a brief period as a pleader in Jamakhandi. He was appointed minister of Jamakhandi state, and subsequently became its Chief Minister. On March 8, 1948 after Jamakhandi was merged with Bombay state, he returned to legal practice and continued it for 20 months. Jatti was also nominated as member of the Bombay State Legislative Assembly to represent the merged area, and, within a week of his nomination, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the then Bombay Chief Minister B G Kher. He worked in that capacity for a couple of years.
After the 1952 general elections, he was appointed Minister of Health and Labour of the then Bombay Government and held that post till the reorganisation of states.
Jatti became member of the Mysore Legislative Assembly after the reorganisation and was Chairman of the Land Reforms Committee. He became Chief Minister in 1958 and continued in that office until 1962.
Re-elected from Jamkhandi constituency in the third general elections, Jatti was appointed Finance Minister on July 2, 1962 in the Nijalingappa Ministry. He was re-elected to the fourth Assembly from the same constituency and appointed as Minister of Food and Civil Supplies.
Jatti subsequently moved onto the national scene and was appointed Lt Governor of Pondicherry in 1968. He became Orissa Governor in 1973 and, in 1974, assumed office of Vice-President until 1980. He became acting President for a brief period after the death of Fakruddin Ali Ahmed. After demitting office as Vice-President, Jatti continued to be in the limelight as a keen observer of the political situation in the country.
Though moved by the violence in Gujarat after the Godhra train carnage, Jatti did not give up democratic values and opposed the sustained national campaign the Congress had undertaken against the continuance of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Such agitations would not help ease the situation, he had stated, and wanted immediate withdrawal of the agitation so that violence did not spread to other states.
A deeply religious man, he was also founder president of the Basava Samithi, which propagated the preachings of 12th century saint philosopher Basaveshwara. He was also involved in various organisations concerned with social activities.
[edit] Religion
Outside of politics, Jatti was founder president of the Basava Samithi, a religious movement propagated the preachings of 12th century saint, philosopher and Hindu refomer Basaveshwara.
Kolhapur and became a pleader in Jamakhandi
Soft-spoken Jatti rose from a humble beginning as a Municipality member to India’s second-highest office during a five-decade-long chequered political career.
Born in Savalgi in Jamakhandi Taluk of Bijapur district, Mr Jatti entered politics as a Municipality member at Jamakhandi in 1940 and later became its President. He was eventually elected to the Jamakhandi State Legislature.
A Law Graduate from Sykes Law College, Kolhapur, he practised for a brief period as a pleader in Jamakhandi. He was appointed minister of Jamakhandi state, and subsequently became its Chief Minister. On March 8, 1948 after Jamakhandi was merged with Bombay state, he returned to legal practice and continued it for 20 months. Jatti was also nominated as member of the Bombay State Legislative Assembly to represent the merged area, and, within a week of his nomination, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the then Bombay Chief Minister B G Kher. He worked in that capacity for a couple of years.
After the 1952 general elections, he was appointed Minister of Health and Labour of the then Bombay Government and held that post till the reorganisation of states.
Jatti became member of the Mysore Legislative Assembly after the reorganisation and was Chairman of the Land Reforms Committee. He became Chief Minister in 1958 and continued in that office until 1962.
Re-elected from Jamkhandi constituency in the third general elections, Jatti was appointed Finance Minister on July 2, 1962 in the Nijalingappa Ministry. He was re-elected to the fourth Assembly from the same constituency and appointed as Minister of Food and Civil Supplies.
Jatti subsequently moved onto the national scene and was appointed Lt Governor of Pondicherry in 1968. He became Orissa Governor in 1973 and, in 1974, assumed office of Vice-President until 1980. He became acting President for a brief period after the death of Fakruddin Ali Ahmed. After demitting office as Vice-President, Jatti continued to be in the limelight as a keen observer of the political situation in the country.
Though moved by the violence in Gujarat after the Godhra train carnage, Jatti did not give up democratic values and opposed the sustained national campaign the Congress had undertaken against the continuance of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Such agitations would not help ease the situation, he had stated, and wanted immediate withdrawal of the agitation so that violence did not spread to other states.
A deeply religious man, he was also founder president of the Basava Samithi, which propagated the preachings of 12th century saint philosopher Basaveshwara. He was also involved in various organisations concerned with social activities.
[edit] Religion
Outside of politics, Jatti was founder president of the Basava Samithi, a religious movement propagated the preachings of 12th century saint, philosopher and Hindu refomer Basaveshwara.
Kolhapur and became a pleader in Jamakhandi
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (May 13, 1905 - February 11, 1977) was President of India from 1974 to 1977.
He was educated at St. Stephen's College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and subsequently became an active member of the Congress Party. He was chosen for the presidency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974, becoming the third Muslim President in Delhi. He would later use his constitutional authority as head of state to allow her to rule by decree once emergency rule was proclaimed in 1975. He died in office.
He was educated at St. Stephen's College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and subsequently became an active member of the Congress Party. He was chosen for the presidency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974, becoming the third Muslim President in Delhi. He would later use his constitutional authority as head of state to allow her to rule by decree once emergency rule was proclaimed in 1975. He died in office.
Muhammad Hidayat Ullah
Muhammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992) was the acting President of India in 1969 and the third Muslim to hold the post. Hidayatullah was preceded by Varahagiri Venkata Giri, the previous President. He was the first Muslim Chief Justice of India from January 1968 to February 1970. He was also Vice-President of India from August 1979 to August 1984. A National Law University has been established in his name at Raipur.
V V Giri
Varahagiri Venkata Giri (Telugu: వరాహగిరి వేంకట గిరి) (August 10, 1894 - June 23, 1980), commonly known as V. V. Giri, was the fourth president of the Republic of India (August 24, 1969 - August 23, 1974).
He was born into a Telugu-speaking family, residing in Berhampur in the Ganjam district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency. The town and district are now part of the state of Orissa.
In 1913, he went to University College Dublin to study law, but was expelled from Ireland in 1916 after becoming involved with the Sinn Féin movement. This involvement had brought him into close contact with Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins, Patrick Pearse, Desmond FitzGerald, Eoin MacNeil, James Connolly and others.
Upon returning to India, he became heavily involved in the labour movement, becoming general secretary and then president of the All-India Railwaymen's Federation and twice serving as president of the All-India Trade Union Congress.
In the 1936 General Election in Madras, Giri was put up as the Congress candidate in Bobbili against the Raja of Bobbili and he won that election. He became minister of labour and industries in 1937 for the Congress Party government formed by C.Rajagopalachari in the Madras Presidency. When the Congress governments resigned in 1942, he returned to the labour movement as part of the quit India movement and was imprisoned by the British.
After India gained independence, he was first appointed high commissioner to Ceylon and then successfully ran for parliament in 1952, serving as minister of labour until resigning in 1954.
The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) was founded in 1957 by a distinguished group of academicians and public men engaged in promoting the study of labour and industrial relations. The team was headed by Shri Giri.
He served successfully as governor of Uttar Pradesh (1957-1960), Kerala (1960-1965) and Mysore (1965-1967).
He was elected as Vice-President of India in 1967. Giri became acting president of India in 1969 upon the death in office of Zakir Hussain and decided to run for that position in the ensuing election. The Congress Party led by Indira Gandhi chose to support Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for the position, but he was able to prevail anyway (reportedly due to a last-minute change in the decision by Indira Gandhi), serving until 1974.
He received India's highest civilian decoration, the Bharat Ratna, in 1975.
He was a prolific writer and a good orator. He has written books on 'Industrial Relations' and 'Labour problems in Indian Industry'
He was born into a Telugu-speaking family, residing in Berhampur in the Ganjam district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency. The town and district are now part of the state of Orissa.
In 1913, he went to University College Dublin to study law, but was expelled from Ireland in 1916 after becoming involved with the Sinn Féin movement. This involvement had brought him into close contact with Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins, Patrick Pearse, Desmond FitzGerald, Eoin MacNeil, James Connolly and others.
Upon returning to India, he became heavily involved in the labour movement, becoming general secretary and then president of the All-India Railwaymen's Federation and twice serving as president of the All-India Trade Union Congress.
In the 1936 General Election in Madras, Giri was put up as the Congress candidate in Bobbili against the Raja of Bobbili and he won that election. He became minister of labour and industries in 1937 for the Congress Party government formed by C.Rajagopalachari in the Madras Presidency. When the Congress governments resigned in 1942, he returned to the labour movement as part of the quit India movement and was imprisoned by the British.
After India gained independence, he was first appointed high commissioner to Ceylon and then successfully ran for parliament in 1952, serving as minister of labour until resigning in 1954.
The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) was founded in 1957 by a distinguished group of academicians and public men engaged in promoting the study of labour and industrial relations. The team was headed by Shri Giri.
He served successfully as governor of Uttar Pradesh (1957-1960), Kerala (1960-1965) and Mysore (1965-1967).
He was elected as Vice-President of India in 1967. Giri became acting president of India in 1969 upon the death in office of Zakir Hussain and decided to run for that position in the ensuing election. The Congress Party led by Indira Gandhi chose to support Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for the position, but he was able to prevail anyway (reportedly due to a last-minute change in the decision by Indira Gandhi), serving until 1974.
He received India's highest civilian decoration, the Bharat Ratna, in 1975.
He was a prolific writer and a good orator. He has written books on 'Industrial Relations' and 'Labour problems in Indian Industry'
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