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Culture › Historical personalities in news
हिन्दी — Read in HindiPersonalities in news
Historical figures in the news through anniversaries, honours and commemorations, with what each is remembered for.
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Pingali Venkayya at 150, and Sree Narayana Guru's Chathayam day
Copy link to Pingali Venkayya at 150, and Sree Narayana Guru's Chathayam dayBriefPrelims2 Aug 2026
- Pingali Venkayya (born 2 August 1876, Bhatlapenumarru, near Machilipatnam): the Vice President and the Prime Minister paid tribute on 2 August 2026, the 150th anniversary of his birth. A Gandhian and a geologist and agriculturist by training, he presented his flag design to Gandhi at the Congress session at Vijayawada in 1921; the saffron, white and green tricolour with the charkha, and later the Ashoka chakra, grew out of it. India Post issued a stamp in his memory in 2009.
- Sree Narayana Guru (born 1856, Chempazhanthy, near Thiruvananthapuram): his birth anniversary, kept on Chathayam day of the Malayalam month of Chingam, fell on 28 August 2026, with the Jayanti conferences at Chempazhanthy and at Sivagiri, where he attained samadhi, and the Chathaya feast at Aruvippuram, where he consecrated a Shiva idol in 1888 in defiance of caste. His teaching "one caste, one religion, one God for man" and the SNDP Yogam of 1903 shaped Kerala's reform movement.
Exam lens: Venkayya 1876, Vijayawada 1921, stamp 2009; Narayana Guru 1856, Aruvippuram 1888, SNDP Yogam 1903, Sivagiri.
Sources
- News On AIR, 2 August 2026, “VP Radhakrishnan, PM Modi pay tribute to Pingali Venkayya on his birth anniversary”
- News On AIR, 28 August 2026, “Keralam: birth anniversary of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru observed today”
Settled facts (dates of Acts, constitutional provisions, standing definitions) are from standard references.
Radhakrishnan, Vinoba Bhave and Bhupen Hazarika at 100
Copy link to Radhakrishnan, Vinoba Bhave and Bhupen Hazarika at 100BriefPrelims8 Sep 2026
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (born 5 September 1888): philosopher, the first Vice President (1952 to 1962) and second President (1962 to 1967); Teachers' Day has been kept on his birthday since 1962; Bharat Ratna 1954. Author of Indian Philosophy and the Spalding professor at Oxford.
- Vinoba Bhave (born 11 September 1895, Gagode, Maharashtra): chosen by Gandhi as the first individual satyagrahi in 1940; began the Bhoodan movement at Pochampalli, Telangana, on 18 April 1951, asking landowners to give a sixth of their land; Magsaysay Award 1958, the first Indian; Bharat Ratna 1983, posthumously.
- Bhupen Hazarika (born 8 September 1926, Sadiya, Assam): singer, composer and film maker who sang in Assamese, Bengali and Hindi; the hundredth anniversary of his birth fell on 8 September 2026; Bharat Ratna 2019, posthumously.
Exam lens: Teachers' Day since 1962; Bhoodan 1951 Pochampalli; first individual satyagrahi 1940; Hazarika born 8 September 1926, Bharat Ratna 2019.
Sources
- UNI, 8 September 2026
- News Arena
Settled facts (dates of Acts, constitutional provisions, standing definitions) are from standard references.
Tilak, Azad and Mookerjee: three July birth anniversaries
Copy link to Tilak, Azad and Mookerjee: three July birth anniversariesBriefPrelims6 Jul 2026
- Syama Prasad Mookerjee (born 6 July 1901, Calcutta): the 125th anniversary of his birth was marked on 6 July 2026 with tributes from the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. The youngest Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University, Minister for Industry and Supply in Nehru's first Cabinet until he resigned in 1950, and founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951, he died in detention at Srinagar on 23 June 1953 after entering Jammu and Kashmir in defiance of its permit system.
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak (born 23 July 1856, Ratnagiri) and Chandra Shekhar Azad (born 23 July 1906, Bhabhra, now in Madhya Pradesh) share a birthday, and the Prime Minister paid tribute to both on 23 July 2026. Tilak, "Lokmanya", edited Kesari and Mahratta, turned Ganesh Utsav and Shivaji Jayanti into public festivals, and gave the movement the line that swaraj is his birthright; Azad led the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association after 1928 with Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, and died fighting the police at Alfred Park, Allahabad, on 27 February 1931, keeping his vow never to be taken alive.
Exam lens: Mookerjee 1901, Jana Sangh 1951, Srinagar 1953; Tilak 1856, Kesari and Mahratta, Home Rule League 1916; Azad 1906, HSRA, Alfred Park 1931.
Sources
- News On AIR, 6 July 2026, “Home Minister Amit Shah pays tribute to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on 125th birth anniversary”
- ThePrint, 6 July 2026, “Odisha pays tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 125th birth anniversary”
- UNI, 23 July 2026, “PM pays tributes to Tilak, Azad on their birth anniversaries”
Settled facts (dates of Acts, constitutional provisions, standing definitions) are from standard references.
Udham Singh's martyrdom day
Copy link to Udham Singh's martyrdom dayBriefPrelims31 Jul 2026
- On 31 July 2026 the Prime Minister and the Home Minister paid tribute to Udham Singh on his martyrdom day, with a State level programme at Sunam in Punjab, his birthplace.
- A member of the Ghadar Party and later associated with the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, he shot dead Sir Michael O'Dwyer, Lieutenant Governor of Punjab at the time of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919, at Caxton Hall in London on 13 March 1940.
- In custody he gave his name as Ram Mohammad Singh Azad, a name taken from India's three main faiths and a statement of his politics; he was hanged at Pentonville prison on 31 July 1940. His remains were returned to India in 1974.
Exam lens: Jallianwala Bagh 1919; O'Dwyer (the Lieutenant Governor), not Dyer (the General who fired); Caxton Hall, 13 March 1940; hanged 31 July 1940; Sunam, Punjab.
Sources
- News On AIR, 31 July 2026, “Nation pays homage to freedom fighter Shaheed Udham Singh on his martyrdom day”
- News On AIR, 31 July 2026, “PM Modi, HM Shah pay tribute to revolutionary martyr Udham Singh on his martyrdom day”
Settled facts (dates of Acts, constitutional provisions, standing definitions) are from standard references.
Birsa Munda's martyrdom day
Copy link to Birsa Munda's martyrdom dayBriefPrelims9 Jun 2026
- On 9 June 2026 the Prime Minister paid tribute to Birsa Munda on his martyrdom day, recalling his fight against foreign rule for water, forest and land.
- Born on 15 November 1875 in present day Jharkhand and called Dharti Aaba, he led the Ulgulan, the "great tumult" of the Munda against the British and the landlords who took tribal land.
- He died in custody in Ranchi Jail on 9 June 1900, aged 25. Since 2021 his birthday, 15 November, is observed as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.
Exam lens: Ulgulan; Dharti Aaba; 15 November is Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (since 2021); died in Ranchi Jail, 1900.
Sources
- News On AIR, 9 June 2026, “PM Modi pays tribute to Bhagwan Birsa Munda on his martyrdom day”
- UNI, 9 June 2026, “PM Modi pays tribute to Birsa Munda on martyrdom day”
Hul Diwas and the Santhal rebellion of 1855
Copy link to Hul Diwas and the Santhal rebellion of 1855BriefPrelims30 Jun 2026
- On 30 June 2026, Hul Diwas, the President, the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Home Minister paid tribute to the leaders of the Santhal Hul.
- The rising began at Bhognadih on 30 June 1855, led by the brothers Sidho and Kanhu Murmu, with Chand and Bhairav and their sisters Phulo and Jhano, against moneylenders, landlords and the East India Company's officials.
- It was put down in 1856; the British then carved out the Santhal Parganas as a separate district under special laws.
Exam lens: 1855, Sidho and Kanhu Murmu, Bhognadih; 30 June is Hul Diwas; the Santhal Parganas district followed.
Sources
- News On AIR, 30 June 2026, “President Droupadi Murmu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, HM Amit Shah pay tributes on Hul Divas”
Settled facts (dates of Acts, constitutional provisions, standing definitions) are from standard references.