Important Battles and Wars in Pre-Independence Era

• Battle of Wandiwash (Part of 3rd Carnatic War)
  • Parties: English and French in India
  • Result: British Victory
  • Location: Tamil Nadu
  • Year: 1760
• Battle of Buxar
  • Parties: British, Nawab of Oudh, Mughal Emperor
  • Result: British Victory
  • Location: Buxar, Bihar.
  • Year: 1764
• First Anglo-Mysore war
  • Parties: British against Hyder Ali
  • Result: Mysore victory
  • Location: South India
  • Year: 1767-1769
• First Anglo-Maratha war
  • Parties: British against Marathas
  • Result: Maratha Victory
  • Location: Pune
  • Year: 1775-1782

Indian Constitution

• The Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949, and came into force on January 26, 1950.
• It was actually signed by the 284 members of the Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950.
• The original document was signed by the members of the Constituent Assembly.
• Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first and Feroze Gandhi was the last to sign the document.
• Buddha’s Enlighment and drawing of Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana adorns the page for the rules related to the President and Vice President and for Fundamental Rights respectively.
• The Constitution of India is the most amended Constitution in the World with 105 changes since 1950.
• The 61st amendment in 1989 pertained to Reducing the voting age to 18 (from 21).
• The final arbiter and interpreter of the Indian Constitution is the judiciary (Supreme Court).
• Our Constitution is the longest in the world and was created by taking ideas from many existing Constitutions.
• The concept of ‘Republic’ and the ideals of ‘Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity’ have been adopted from France.

Nile River

• The Nile River flows from south to north through eastern Africa.
• The Nile is formed by three principal streams, the Blue Nile and the Atbara, which flow from the highlands of Ethiopia, and the White Nile, the headstreams of which flow into Lakes Victoria and Albert.
• It begins in the rivers that flow into Lake Victoria (located in modern-day Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya), and empties into the Mediterranean Sea more than 6,600 kilometers to the north, making it one of the longest river in the world.
• The flooding of the Nile is the result of the yearly monsoon between May and August causing enormous precipitations on the Ethiopian Highlands.
• In addition to Egypt, the Nile runs through or along the border of 10 other African countries, namely, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Union Minister of State for Culture Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi released a pictorial book on India’s Women Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle.

Unsung Women Heroes of Indian Independence

• Rani Abakka, the Queen of Ullal, Karnataka fought and defeated the mighty Portuguese in the 16th century. 
• Velu Nachiyar, the queen of Sivaganga was the first Indian queen to wage war against the British East India Company. 
• Jhalkari Bai, was a woman soldier who grew to become one of the key advisors to the Rani of Jhansi and a prominent figure in the First War of Indian Independence, 1857.
• Matangini Hazra was a brave freedom fighter from Bengal, who laid down her life while agitating against the British.
• Gulab Kaur was a freedom fighter who abandoned her own hopes and dreams of a life abroad to fight for and mobilise the Indian people against the British Raj.
• Chakali Ilamma was a revolutionary woman who fought against the injustice of zamindars during the Telangana rebellion in the mid-1940s.
• Padmaja Naidu, the daughter of Sarojini Naidu and a freedom fighter in her own right, who would later become Governor of West Bengal and a humanitarian after Independence.
• The book contains story of Accamma Cherian, an inspirational leader of the freedom movement in Travancore, Kerala, she was given the name 'Jhansi Rani of Tranvancore' by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Aruna Asaf Ali was an inspirational freedom fighter who is perhaps best remembered for hoisting the Indian National flag in Mumbai during the Quit India Movement in 1942.

PM condoles demise of noted Kathakali dancer Ms. Milena Salvini.

Kathakali

• Kerala is the home of several traditional dance and dance - drama forms, the most notable being Kathakali.
• It is an art which has evolved from many social and religious theatrical forms which existed in the southern region in ancient times.
• Chakiarkoothu, Koodiyattam, Krishnattam andRamanattam are few of the ritual performing arts of Kerala which have had a direct influence on Kathakali in its form and technique.
• In the temple sculptures in Kerala and the frescoes in the Mattancheri temple of approximately the 16th century, dance scenes depicting the square and rectangular basic positions so typical to Kathakali are seen.
• For body movements and choreographical patterns, Kathakali is also indebted to the early martial arts of Kerala.
• Kathakali is a blend of dance, music and acting and dramatizes stories, which are mostly adapted from the Indian epics.
• It is a stylised art form, the four aspects of abhinaya - angika, aharya,vachika, satvika and the nritta, nritya and natya aspects are combined perfectly.
• The dancer expresses himself through codified hastamudras and facial expressions, closely following the verses(padams) that are sung. Kathakali derives its textual sanction from Balarama Bharatam andHastalakshana Deepika.
• The attakkathasor stories are selected from the epics and myths and are written in a highly Sanskritised verse form in Malayalam.
• Many Malayalam writers have also contributed to the vast repertoire of Kathakali literature.
• Kathakali dance is chiefly interpretative.
• The characters in a Kathakali performance are broadly divided into satvika, rajasika and tamasika types.
• Satvika characters are noble, heroic, generous and refined.
• In pacha, green colour dominates and kirita (headgear) is worn by all.
• Krishna and Rama wear special crowns decorated with peacock feathers.
• The noble characters like Indra, Arjun and the Devas are some of the pacha characters.