03 December - Rajendra Prasad born in 1884

Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, scholar and subsequently, the first President of India, in office from 1950 to 1962.He was an Indian political leader and lawyer by training. Prasad joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian Independence Movement and became a major leader from the region of Bihar. A supporter of Mahatma Gandhi, Prasad was imprisoned by British authorities during the Salt Satyagraha of 1931 and the Quit India movement of 1942. After the 1946 elections, Prasad served as Minister of Food and Agriculture in the central government. Upon independence in 1947, Prasad was elected as President of the Constituent Assembly of India, which prepared the Constitution of India and served as its provisional parliament.

03 December - International Day of Persons with Disabilities

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992. It has been observed with varying degrees of success around the planet. The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. It was originally called "International Day of Disabled Persons" until 2007. Each year the day focuses on a different issue.

This year's theme is "Building back better: towards an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world by, for and with persons with disabilities". ... Persons with disabilities are not to be left behind in times of crisis. UNESCO will mark the day with a week-long programme from 25 November to 3 December 2020

 

02 December - Mars 3 first to soft land on Mars in 1971

Mars 3 was a robotic automatic interplanetary station of the Soviet Mars program, launched May 28, 1971, nine days after its twin spacecraft Mars 2. The probes were identical robotic spacecraft launched by Proton-K rockets with a Blok D upper stage, each consisting of an orbiter and an attached lander. After the Mars 2 lander crashed on the Martian surface, the Mars 3 lander became the first spacecraft to attain a soft landing on Mars, on December 2, 1971. It failed 110 seconds after landing, having transmitted only a gray image with no details. The Mars 2 orbiter and Mars 3 orbiter continued to circle Mars and transmit images back to Earth for another eight months.

01 December - The Border Security Force was established in 1965

 

The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's Primary border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the three Border Guarding Forces (BGF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 War on 1 December 1965, "for ensuring the security of the borders of India and for matters connected there with".

It is a border guarding force charged with guarding India's land border with Pakistan and Bangladesh during peacetime and preventing transnational crime at the same, it has various active roles during an outbreak of war. It comes under Ministry of Home Affairs. The BSF takes its officers from IPS at command and leadership levels, also, its head, designated as a Director-General (DG), since its raising has been an officer from the Indian Police Service. Also, for leading companies at lower level there is a combination of officers from IPS and BSF's own Assistant Commandants who also get promoted to higher levels based on merit and seniority subject to vacancies.The BSF has grown exponentially from a few battalions in 1965, to 186 battalions with a sanctioned strength of 257,363 personnel including an expanding air wing, marine wing, an artillery regiment, and commando units.It currently stands as the world's largest border guarding force. BSF has been termed as the First Line of Defence of Indian Territories

01 December - World AIDS Day

 

World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988,is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. Government and health officials, non-governmental organizations, and individuals around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS prevention and control.

World AIDS Day is one of the eleven official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Immunization Week, World Tuberculosis Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Malaria Day, World Hepatitis Day, World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, World Patient Safety Day and World Chagas Disease Day.

26 November - Verghese Kurien born in 1921

Verghese Kurien (26 November 1921 – 9 September 2012), known as the "Father of the White Revolution" in India, was a social entrepreneur whose "billion-litre idea", Operation Flood,made dairy farming India's largest self-sustaining industry and the largest rural employment sector providing a third of all rural income.It made India the world's largest milk producer, doubled the milk available for each person, and increased milk output four-fold in 30 years.

He pioneered the Anand model of dairy cooperatives and replicated it nationwide, based on various "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches, where no milk from a farmer was refused and 70–80% of the price by consumers was paid in cash to dairy farmers who controlled the marketing, procurement, and processing of milk and milk products as the dairy's owners.An invention at Amul was the production of milk powder from buffalo milk instead of from cow milk, which was in short supply in India.

He also made India self-sufficient in edible oils and fought against the "oil kings", who used underhanded and violent methods to enforce their dominance over the oilseed industry.

19 November - Indira Gandhi born in 1917

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi(19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress.She was the first and, to date, only female Prime Minister of India. Indira Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. She served as prime minister from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984, making her the second longest-serving Indian prime minister after her father.

In 1999, Indira Gandhi was named "Woman of the Millennium" in an online poll organised by the BBC.In 2020 Gandhi was named by the Time magazine among world's 100 powerful women who defined the last century.

14 November - Jawaharlal Nehru birthday

Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian independence activist and, subsequently, the first Prime Minister of India, as well as a central figure in Indian politics both before and after independence. He emerged as an eminent leader of the Indian independence movement, serving India as Prime Minister from its establishment in 1947 as an independent nation, until his death in 1964. He was also known as Pandit Nehru due to his roots with the Kashmiri Pandit community, while Indian children knew him as better as Chacha Nehru.In India, his birthday is celebrated as Bal Diwas (Children's Day).

Children's Day 14 November

 

Children's Day is celebrated across India to increase awareness of the rights, care and education of children. It is celebrated on 14 November every year as a tribute to India's First Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Fondly known as Chacha Nehru among children, he advocated for children to have fulfilled education.

The celebration of Children's Day in India dates back to 1956. Prior to the death of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, India celebrated Children's Day on 20 November (the date observed as Universal Children's Day by the United Nations). After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, his birth anniversary was deliberated to be celebrated as Children's Day in India. It was done so because he was very popular with the kids as Chacha Nehru, hence, a resolution was passed in the parliament to give a befitting farewell to the first Prime Minister of India

12 November - Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali born in 1896

Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrote several bird books that popularized ornithology in India. He became a key figure behind the Bombay Natural History Society after 1947 and used his personal influence to garner government support for the organisation, create the Bharatpur bird sanctuary (Keoladeo National Park) and prevent the destruction of what is now the Silent Valley National Park. Along with Sidney Dillon Ripley he wrote the landmark ten volume Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, a second edition of which was completed after his death. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1976, India's third and second highest civilian honours respectively.Several species of birds, a couple of bird sanctuaries and institutions have been named after him.