Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa on 28 January 1955 in the 17th arrondissement of Paris) is the 23rd President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier.

Before his presidency, he was leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Under Jacques Chirac's presidency, he served as Minister of the Interior in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (UMP) first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed Minister of Finances in Raffarin's last government (March 2004 to May 2005), and again Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin's government (2005-2007).

Sarkozy was also president of the General council of the Hauts-de-Seine department from 2004 to 2007 and mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of France from 1983 to 2002. He was also Minister of the Budget in the government of Édouard Balladur (RPR, predecessor of the UMP) during François Mitterrand's last term.

Sarkozy is known for his strong stance on law and order issues and his desire to revitalise the French economy. In foreign affairs, he has promised a strengthening of the entente cordiale with the United Kingdom and closer cooperation with the United States. His nickname, "Sarko", is used by both supporters and opponents.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Vallabhbhai Patel (Gujarati: વલ્લભભાઈ પટેલ, pronounced (31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950) was a political and social leader of India who played a major role in the country's struggle for independence and guided its integration into a united, independent nation. In India and across the world, he was often addressed as Sardar (Gujarati: સરદાર, IPA: [səɾd̪äɾ]), which means Chief in many languages of India. Raised in the countryside of Gujarat and largely self-educated, Vallabhbhai Patel was employed in successful practice as a lawyer when he was first inspired by the work and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. Patel subsequently organised the peasants of Kheda, Borsad, and Bardoli in Gujarat in non-violent civil disobedience against oppressive policies imposed by the British Raj; in this role, he became one of the most influential leaders in Gujarat. He rose to the leadership of the Indian National Congress and was at the forefront of rebellions and political events, organising the party for elections in 1934 and 1937, and promoting the Quit India movement.

As the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India, Patel organised relief for refugees in Punjab and Delhi, and led efforts to restore peace across the nation. Patel took charge of the task to forge a united India from the 565 semi-autonomous princely states and British-era colonial provinces. Using frank diplomacy backed with the option (and the use) of military action, Patel's leadership enabled the accession of almost every princely state. Hailed as the Iron Man of India, he is also remembered as the "Patron Saint" of India's civil servants for establishing modern all-India services. Patel was also one of the earliest proponents of property rights and free enterprise in India.

Aryabhata

Āryabhaṭa (Marathi: आर्यभट) is the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His most famous works are the Aryabhatiya (CE 499 at age of 23 years) and Arya-siddhanta.

Though Aryabhata's year of birth is clearly mentioned in Aryabhatiya, the exact location of his place of birth remains a matter of contention amongst the scholars. Some believed that he was born in the region lying between Narmada and Godavari, which was known as Ashmaka and they identify Ashmaka with central India including Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, though early Buddhist texts describe Ashmaka as being further south, dakshinapath or the Deccan, while other texts describe the Ashmakas as having fought Alexander, which would put them further north.


A recent study said that Aryabhata belonged to Chamravattam (10N51, 75E45) in Kerala. The study hypothesizes that Asmaka was the Jain country surrounding Sravanabelgola where the stone monoliths gave the name Asmaka to the surrounding country. Chamravattam was a part of this Jain settlement as evidenced by the river Bharatappuzha named after the mythical King of Jains Bharata. Aryabhata too had referred to Bharata when he defines the Yugas - time elapsed up to the time of King Bharata is mentioned in verse 5 of Dasagitika. In those days Kusumapura had the famous University where Jains enjoyed decisive influence and the work of Aryabhata could thus reach Kusumapura and receive acclamation. However, it is fairly certain that at some point, he went to Kusumapura for higher studies, and that he lived here for some time.[4] Bhāskara I (CE 629) identifies Kusumapura as Pataliputra (modern Patna). He lived there in the dying years of the Gupta empire, the time which is known as the golden age of India, when it was already under Hun attack in the Northeast, during the reign of Buddhagupta and some of the smaller kings before Vishnugupta.

J. R. D. Tata

Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (July 29, 1904–November 29, 1993) was a pioneer aviator and important businessman of India. He was awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna in 1992


J.R.D. Tata was born in Paris, France, the second child of Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and his French wife, Suzanne "Sooni" Brière. His father was a first cousin of Jamsetji Tata, a pioneer industrialist in India. 'Jeh', or 'JRD' as he was commonly known, came to be regarded as the most famous industrial pioneer in modern India. As his mother was French, he spent much of his childhood in France and as a result, French was his first language. Tata also attended the French Foreign Legion. He attended the Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay (now Mumbai).

J.R.D. Tata was inspired early by aviation pioneer Louis Blériot, and took to flying. In 1929 Tata got the first pilot license issued in India. He later came to be known as the father of Indian civil aviation. He founded India's first commercial airline, 'Tata Airlines', in 1932, which in 1946 became Air India, now India's national airline.


He was awarded the Legion d'honneur, by the French Government in 1954. In 1979, Tata was the recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation. He also received the prestigious Guggenheim Medal for aviation in 1988. He was conferred India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1992 for his service to industry and nation building. In the same year, he was also bestowed with the United Nations Population Award for his crusading endeavors towards initiating and successfully implementing the family planning movement in India, much before it became an official government policy.

Shivaji Raje Bhosle (February 19, 1627 – April 3, 1680), commonly known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (Marathi: छत्रपती शिवाजीराजे भोसले) laid the foundations of the Maratha Empire. Shivaji Maharaj was younger of the two sons of Shahaji Bhosle and Jijabai. His father, Shahaji was a Maratha general who rendered military services at various times against the Bijapur Sultanate, Deccan sultanates and the Mughals.[3] Shivaji Maharaj espoused the ideology of Hindavi Swarajya (Indian Self Rule) and took a solemn oath in a Hindu temple with his friends and soldiers to directly challenge the foreign rule of the Bijapur Sultanate and ultimately the mighty Mughal empire. Shivaji Maharaj succeeded in establishing control of a well defended segment of the present state of Maharastra in western India, during his lifetime.

Shivaji Maharaj’s ideology of Hindavi Swarajya and subsequent expansion of the Maratha Empire, was partly responsible for re-establisment of Hindu rule and its re-emergent assertiveness throughout the mainland of present day India after being ruled and dominated by various Muslim dynasties for several centuries. The ideology of Hindavi Swarajya was in part the inspiration that propelled the succeeding generation of Marathas to establish independent kingdom in India prior to their eventual defeat by the British Empire. This ideology was neither directed against Islam nor aimed toward propagation of Hinduism. Shivaji's vision was for a united India, that would not yield to attacks by oppressive rulers.

Shivaji Maharaj established and set up a competent civil rule with the help of well regulated and disciplined military and well structured administrative organizations. The then prevalent practices of treating women as war booty, destruction of religious monuments, slavery and forceful religious conversions were firmly opposed under his administration. Shivaji Maharaj himself was a religious, devout and tolerant Hindu who worshipped with deep faith. Shivaji Maharaj innovated rules of military engagement of that era. He pioneered Ganimi Kava (in Marathi), or guerrilla tactics, which leveraged various factors like demographics, speed, surprise and focused attack. In comparison to his enemies, Shivaji Maharaj had a smaller army and thereby was obliged to wage guerilla warfare to help overcome this great imbalance.

A large portion of his kingdom was a coastline and he secured it with a potent navy under his commander, Kanhoji Angre. He was very successful in keeping foreign naval ships, particularly Portuguese and British, under check. For his foresight of establishing one of the first large scale naval presence he is referred to as the "Father of Indian Navy". Building and securing seaside and land based forts played an important role in Shivaji Maharaj’s military history. Shivaji's attention to coastal and naval defence delayed the eventual establishment of British rule and trade along India's west coast.

Ramnath Goenka (April 3, 1904 – October 5, 1991) was born in Darbhanga district of Bihar. He completed his primary education in Varanasi. At the age of 15, he came to Chennai to learn the ropes of the business by venturing into the trade of yarn and jute. He was married to Moongibai.

RIn 1932, he took over the loss-making Madras edition of The Free Press Journal and drove the delivery van himself to dispatch the papers. He founded the Indian Express in 1936, and in 1941, he was elected President of the National Newspaper Editors’ Conference. Following this, both the Indian Express andamnath Goenka openly challenged the British Raj.

In 1948, Daily Tej partnered with Ram Nath Goenka to publish Indian News Chronicle, an English daily, from New Delhi. After the death of Lala Deshbandhu Gupta, Ramnath Goenka converted it as The Indian Express. Upon independence he was nominated as a member to the Constituent Assembly of India.


Ramnath Goenka would always be remembered for his role during the "Emergency" in India and his crusade against Indira Gandhi. R. Ramakrishnan who used to work with him was also hailed by Jayaprakash Narayan for organising meetings against the emergency. His bitter fight against the business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani is still remembered. His critics believe that his passion for politics was the fire that led the newspapers from Indian Express Group on a blazing trail.

Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, KSMOM GCTE (July 29, 1883, Predappio, Forlì, Italy – April 28, 1945, Giulino di Mezzegra, Italy) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by 1925. After 1936, his official title was "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire".[1] Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic. Mussolini was among the founders of Italian fascism, which included elements of nationalism, corporatism, national syndicalism, expansionism, social progress and anti-communism in combination with censorship of subversives and state propaganda. In the years following his creation of the fascist ideology, Mussolini influenced, or achieved admiration from, a wide variety of political figures.[2] Among the domestic achievements of Mussolini from the years 1924–1939 were: his public works programmes such as the taming of the Pontine Marshes, the improvement of job opportunities, and public transport. Mussolini also solved the Roman Question by concluding the Lateran Treaty between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See. He is also credited with securing economic success in Italy's colonies and commercial dependencies.[3] Although he initially favoured siding with France against Germany in the early 1930s, Mussolini became one of the main figures of the Axis powers and, on 10 June 1940, Mussolini led Italy into World War II on the side of Axis. Three years later, Mussolini was deposed at the Grand Council of Fascism, prompted by the Allied invasion. Soon after his incarceration began, Mussolini was rescued from prison in the daring Gran Sasso raid by German special forces.

Following his rescue, Mussolini headed the Italian Social Republic in parts of Italy that were not occupied by Allied forces. In late April 1945, with total defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape to Switzerland, only to be captured and summarily executed near Lake Como by Communist Italian partisans. His body was taken to Milan where it was hung upside down at a petrol station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (German pronunciation: [ˈadɔlf ˈhɪtlɐ], 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), popularly known as the Nazi Party. He was the ruler of Germany from 1933 to 1945, serving as chancellor from 1933 to 1945 and as head of state (Führer und Reichskanzler) from 1934 to 1945. A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and became its leader in 1921. Following his imprisonment after a failed coup in 1923, he gained support by promoting German nationalism, anti-semitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He was appointed chancellor in 1933, and quickly established and made reality his vision of a totalitarian, autocratic, single party, national socialist dictatorship.

Hitler pursued a foreign policy with the declared goal of seizing Lebensraum ("living space") for Germany, directing the resources of the state toward this goal. His rebuilt Wehrmacht invaded Poland in 1939, leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.Within three years, Germany and the Axis powers occupied most of Europe and a part of northern Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. However, the Allies gained the upper hand from 1942 onward and in 1945 Allied armies invaded Germany from all sides. His forces committed numerous atrocities during the war, including the systematic killing of as many as 17 million civilians including the genocide of an estimated six million Jews, known as the Holocaust. During the final days of the war in 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress Eva Braun. Less than two days later, the two committed suicide.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Hindi (listen) (help·info); Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી, pronounced [moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmtʂən̪d̪ ɡän̪d̪ʱi]) (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and has inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi (Sanskrit: महात्मा mahātmā or "Great Soul", an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore),[1] and in India also as Bapu (Gujarati: બાપુ bāpu or "Father"). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.


Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he organized protests by peasants, farmers, and urban labourers concerning excessive land-tax and discrimination. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (249 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930. Later he campaigned for the British to Quit India. Gandhi was spent a number of years in jail in both South Africa and India at different time periods.