Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar also known as Swatantyraveer Savarkar was a Indian nationalist, pre-independence activist, fearless fighter, social reformer, writer, dramatist, poet, historian, political leader and philosopher.  He remains largely unknown to the masses because of the vicious propaganda against him and misunderstanding around him that has been created over several decades. Savarkar created term Hindutava and emphasized its distinctiveness from Hinduism which he associated with social and political communalism.

Founded the Abhinav Bharat Society and Free India Society, brought out an authentic informative researched work on "The Great Indian Revolt of 1857" also founded Hindu Sabha.Veer Savarkar occupies a unique place in the history of Indian freedom struggle.. His name evokes controversy. While some consider him as on of the greatest revolutionaries in the Indian freedom struggle. He was an extraordinary Hindu scholar. He coined Indian words for telephone, photography, the parliament and among others.

In Pune, Savarkar founded the "Abhinav Bharat Society". He was also involved in the Swadeshi movement and later joined Tilak's Swaraj Party. His instigating patriotic speeches and activities incensed the British Governemnt. As a result the British Government withdraw his B A degree. In June 1906, Veer Savarkar left for London to become Barrister. Once in London he united and inflamed the Indian students in England against Brtish rule in India. He founded the Free India Society. The Society celebrated important dates on the Indian calender including festivals, freedom movement landmarks and was dedicated to furthering discussion about Indian freedom. He believed and advocated the use of arms to free Indian from the British and created a network of Indians in England, equipped with weapons.

In 1909, Madanlal Dgingra, a keen follower of Savrkar shot Sir Wylie after a failed assassination attempt on the then Vioceroy, Lord Curzon. Savarkar conspicuously did not condemn the act. When the British Collector of Nashik, Jackson shot by a youth, Veer Savarkar finally fell under the of British authorities. He was implected in the murder citing his connections with India House. Savarkar was arrested in London on 13 March 1910 and sent to India. After a formal trial, Savarkar was charged with serious offences of illegal transportation of weapons, provocative speeches and sedition and was sentenced to 50 years of jail and deported to the Kalapani at Andaman cellular jail.

In 1920, many prominent freedom fighter including Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Vitthalbhai Patel demanded the release of Savarkar. On 21 May 1921 Savarkar was moved to Ratnagiri jail and from there to the Yervada jail. In Ratnagiri he wrote the book "Hindutva". On 6 January 1924 he was freed under the condtion that he would not leave Ratnagiri disttrict and absatain from political activity for the next five years. On 23 January 1924 he founded Hindu Mahasabha.

The Hindu Mahasabha opposed creation of Pakistan, and took expection to Gnadhi's continued Muslim appeasement stances. Nathuram Godase, a volunteer of Hindu Mahasabha assassinated in 1948 and upheld his actions till his haning. Veer Savarkar was arrested and indicted by the Government of India in the Mahatma Gandhi assassinated case. But he was acquitted by the Supreme Court of India, for reasons of lack of evidence. Veer Savarkar died on 26 February 1966 at the age of 96.

Quiz -3 Current Affairs

1. Who was named as the best performing CEO in the world by Harvard Business Review (HBR)?
Ans - CEO of Amazon Jeff Bexos
2. Who was honored Czech Republic's Order of the White Lion?
Ans - Sir Nicolas Winton
3. Who announced to invest 627 million US dollor in Snapdeal.com?
And - Japanese telecom giant Softbank
4. When was World Polio Day observed across the world?
Ans - 24 October

5. Who was elected as vice-president (VP) of Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) in Macau?
Ans - Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sicar
6. Which petroleum product was de-regulated in India recently?
Ans - Diesel (Oct 2014)
7. Alan Eustache broke sound barrier and set several skydiving records recently. He is an employee of which organisation?
Ans - Google
8. The Defence Acquisition approved deals worth:
Ans - INR 78,000 crore

9. Recently, India offered to help which Polio affected country?
Ans - Bhutan
10. Parupalli Kashyap who beaten World No. 4 in French Open belongs to which sport?
Ans - Badminton
11. Pankaj Adwani who recently crowned "11th World Champion" title is related with which sport?
Ans - Billard
12. Indian Air Force (IAF) recently banned which Mobile Phone brand for its officers?
Ans - Xiomi

Maharashtra Wildlife

Maharashtra is home to many wildlife sanctuaries and national park. Theses national parks and sanctuaries are home to many rare species of flora and fauna.

• Bhamragarh Sanctuary: Bhamragarh Wildlife Sanctuary is loacted in Chandrapur district in Vidarbha region. Bhamragarh Wildlife Sanctuary has many types of wild animals like leopards, junglee fowl, wild bear and sloth bear, barking deer, blue bull, peacock and flying squirrel. The entire area is covered with the moist deciduous mix forests.
• Bor Wildlife Sanctuary: Bor Wildlife Sanctuary located at Hingni in Wardha in Maharashtra. It covers an area of 61.10 sq km. It includes 3,237 hectors of reserve forest. It has many types of wild animals like Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, Indian bison, bule bull, chital, sambar deer, barking deer, mouse deer, monkey, wild boor, sloth bear and wold dog.
• Chaprala Sanctuary: Chaprala Sanctuary located in Gadachiroli district in the Vidarbha region. Chaprala Sanctuary home to nearly 131 species of wild animals like tiger, leopard, junglee cat, sloth bear and wild dog. Many of the species are included under the endangered species of birds, two species of reptiles, Indian Python and common Indian monitor.
• Chikhaldara Sanctuary: Chikhaldara is in Amaravati district of Vidarbha region. It is belived that its name is derived from Keechka. Chikhaladara is situated at an altitude of 1,118 mtrs. This place is the only coffee-growing are in Maharashtra. Chikhaldara is full of deep valleys and these valleys are full of velvet list and majestic trees. Popular as the Melghat Tiger Project and Dhakana-Kolkaz National Park, this stations has wildlife like panthers, sloth bears, sambar, wild boar and wild dog.
• Dajipur Sanctuary: ajipur is situated on the border of Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts. Rugged mountains and dense forests surround this hilly area. Situating 1,200 mtrs above the sea level, it is an exciting and beautiful holiday gateway. Dajipur is home to bison, wild deer, chital, gava and many spectacular wild animals and birds.
• Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary: Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Satara district. It forms the northern portion of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve with Chandoli National Park forming the southern part of the reserve. The sanctuary has diverse variety of mammals including Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, Indian bison, sloth bear, sambar, barking deer, mouse deer, gray langoor, smooth-coated otters and giant Indian squirrels.
• Nagzira Sanctuary: Nagazira Wildlife Sanctuary has 34 species of mammals, 166 species of birds, 36 species of reptiles and four species of amphibians. Nagazira is home to tiger, pathers, bison, sambar, nilgai, chital, wild boar, sloth bear and wild dog.
• Navegaon National Park: Navegaon is very popular forest in the Vidarbha region. There is a watch-over at Navegaon National Park, from there one can get a panoramic view of the surroundings forest. Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is home for almost 60 % of the bird species found in the entire Maharashtra. Thousands of beautiful migratory birds flock the lake every winter. This sanctuary is also home to leopards, sloth bear, gaurs, chital, sambar and langoor.
• Pench National Park: Pench National Park is located on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, which is at a distance of 70 km from Nagpur. Pench National Park comes under the Project Tiger network for special reserves. Tiger panthers, sambar, chital. barking deer, blue bull, macaque, langoor, wild boar, bear wild dog and civet cat are the wild animals are found in this National Park.
• Tadoba National Park: Tadoba National Park is a large covered with lush, green forestland. It is situated at a distance of 45 km from Chandrapur. Tiger, leopard, leopard cat, gaur, nilgai, sambar, chital, sloth bear, hyena, wild boar, sptted deer, blue bull, four-horned antelope, Indian pangolin and porcupine are the wild animals of this park.
• Tipeshwar Sanctuary: Tipeshwar Sanctuary located in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. Black buck, blue bull, sambar, peacock, wild boar, bear, wild cat, wolf and jackal are the wild animals that are seen at Tipeshwar Sanctuary.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Keshav Gangadhar Tilak also known as Bal Gangadhar Tilak aka Lokamanya Tilak, was an Indian nationalist, independence activist, journalist, lawyer, social reformer, teacher. He was the first leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities called him "Father of the Indian unrest". He was also conferred with the honorary title of "Lokamanya", which literally means "accepted by the people as their leader". Tilak was on of the first and strongest advocates if "Swaraj" and a strong radical in Indian consiousness. He is known for his quote, "Swaraj is my birth-right, and I shall have it" in India. He formed close alliance eith Muhammad Ali Jinnah, later the founder of Pakistan, during the Indian Home Rule Movement.

Tilak joined the Indian National Congress in 1890. He opposed its moderate attitude, especially towards the fight for self-government. He was one of the most eminent radicals at the time. Despite being personally opposed to early marriage, Tilak was against the 1890 Age of Consent bill, seeing it as interference with Hinduism and a dangerous precedent.

Tilak encouraged the Swadeshi movement and the Boycott movement. The movement consisted of the boycott of forigen goods and also the social boycott of any Indian who used foreign goods. The Swadeshi movement consisted of the usage of natively produced goods. Once foreign goods were boycotted, there was a gap which had to be filled by the production of those goods in India itself. Tilak said that Swadeshi and Boycott movements are two sides of the same coin.

Tilak opposed the moderate views of Gopal Krishna Gokhale and was supported by fellow Indian nationalist Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. They were referred to as the "Lal-Bal-Pal triumvirate" In 1907 the annual session of the Indian National Congress was held at Surat. Trouble broke out over the selections pf the party. The party split into the "Jahal Matwadi" led by the Tilak, Pal and Lajpat Rai and the "Maval Matwadi".

When World War-I started in August, Tilak cabled the King-Emperor in Britain of his support and turned his oratory to find new recruits for war efforts. He welcomed The Indian Council Act (1909), popularly known as Morley-Minto Reforms, which had been passed by British Parliament in May 1909, terming it as "a marked increase of confidence between the Rulers and the Ruled".

In 1916 Tilak re-unites with his fellow natinalist and re-joined the Indian National Congress. He also helped found the All India Home Rule League in 1916-18, with G S Khaparde and Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Annie Beseant. After years of trying to reunite the moderate and radical factions, he gave up and focused on the Home Rule League, which sought self-rule. Tilak started his Home Rule League in Maharashtra, Central Provinces and Karnataka and Berar region.