17 August in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons.17 August is the birth anniversary of Anamika, Amritlal Nagar, Voy. V. Reddy, and Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul.
17 August is also observed as the death anniversary of Madan Lal Dhingra, Pulin Behari Das, and Pandit Jasraj.
Birth Anniversary
17 August in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Anamika, a well-known Hindi language poet. She is included in some of the most talked-about poets of contemporary Hindi poetry. He is the leading story writer and novelist of the Hindi language in modern times. Anamika was born on August 17, 1961, in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. As part of his education, he obtained an MA in English Literature from the University of Delhi. And then Ph.D. Did. After this obtained the degree of D. Lit. She wrote many Books and Poems collections – Letters to the wrong address, syllables, Anushtup, in the city of the time, rough palms, dub paddy. Story Collection – Pratinayak Novel – Avatar Katha, Par Kaun Sunga, Dus Dwar Ka Pinjra, Tinka Tinke Paas. Anamika was born on 17 August 1961, in Muzaffarpur.
Amritlal Nagar (17 August 1916 – 23 February 1990), a famous Hindi litterateur. He has also made important contributions in the field of drama, radio drama, reportage, essay, memoir, translation, children’s literature, etc. He got the most fame in the literary world as a novelist, but his comic-satire writing is no less important. Due to the compulsion of earning income, Amritlal Nagar’s formal education took place till high school, but through continuous self-study, he got authority on subjects like literature, history, mythology, archaeology, sociology, psychology, and Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, and English, etc. He was Born on 17 August 1990 in Utter Pradesh.
Voy. V. Reddy (17 August 1941) is the twenty-first governor of the Reserve Bank of India. His tenure lasted from September 6, 2003, to September 5, 2008. He is a 1964 batch retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer belonging to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honor. Reddy wrote a book titled “India and the Global Financial Crisis: Managing Money and Finance” published by Orient Blackswan in 2009. The book provided insight into the formulation of public policies across a spectrum of sectors during 2003 and 2008, a period of the rapid growth of the Indian economy as well as exceptional challenges to the conduct of monetary policy. Erudite discussions on India’s experience in regulating the financial sector and the need to reform India’s financial sector in the light of global debate are some of the salient features of this book. He was Born on 17 August 1941 in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (17 August 1932 – 11 August 2018), a famous English writer of Indian origin. He is called the teacher of new English verses. In 2008, The Times named V.S. Naipaul was ranked 7th in his list of 50 great British writers. VS Naipaul was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001. In 1971, he was awarded the Man Booker Prize for “In a Free State”. He was again nominated for the Booker Prize in 1979 for “A Band in the River”. Naipaul was Born on 17 August 1932 in India.
Read More: 15 August in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
17 August in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Madan Lal Dhingra (8 February 1883 – 17 August 1909), a great revolutionary of the Indian freedom struggle. How many heroes of Mother India had sacrificed their lives laughingly for the creation of independent India, among those great knights, the name of ‘Amar Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra’ deserves to be written in golden letters. Amar Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra was a great patriot, devout revolutionary. He endured many kinds of hardships throughout his life for the freedom of Mother India but did not deviate from his path and hanged himself to get freedom. Apart from being a member of ‘Abhinav Bharat Mandal’, Dhingra was also associated with an organization named ‘India House’, which was the basis of political activities for Indian students. He died on 17 August 1909.
Pulin Behari Das (24 January 1877 – 17 August 1949), a great freedom-lover and revolutionary. He founded a revolutionary organization called “Dhaka Anushilan Samiti” for the independence of India and carried out many revolutionary events. The University of Calcutta gives a special medal in his honor, named ‘Pulin Bihari Das Memorial Medal’. He was very fond of physical enrichment since childhood and used to use sticks very well. Inspired by the success of Sarala Devi’s akhada in Calcutta, he also opened his akhada at Tikatuli in 1903. In 1905, he took training in the game of sticks and siege from the famous ‘Lathial’ (professor of sticking) “Murtaza”. Das died on 17 August 1949.
Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 – 17 August 2020), a world-renowned singer of Indian classical music. Classical music has been practiced in our country for centuries. This art is not only considered as an important source of entertainment but also to connect with God. One such voice was the eminent Pandit Jasraj ji, who at the young age of just 3 stepped into this cold world of harsh realities with only seven voices inherited from his late father. He belonged to the Mewati Gharana. He was honored with Padma Vibhushan (2000), Padma Bhushan (1990), and Padma Shri (1975) for his contribution to the field of classical music. He died on 17 August 2020.
Read More: 13 August in Indian and World History
Notable events on 17 August in Indian and World history
17 August 1836 – Registrations relating to birth, marriage, and death are accepted in the British Parliament.
17 August 1858 – The first bank in the Hawaiian Islands is opened.
17 August 1909 – Madan Lal Dhingra was hanged in Pentonville Prison for the murders of Wylie and Lalkaka.
17 August 1916 – Amritlal Nagar, a prominent Indian writer and journalist, was born.
17 August 1947 – After India’s independence, the first British troops left for home
17 August 1969 – Otto Stern a German American physicist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
17 August 1972 – Roehana Koeddoes a trailblazing figure in Indonesian history, died.
17 August 2000 – Deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Choudhary seeks help from India to stop the extermination of people of Indian origin in Fiji, Britain allows cloning of human embryonic cells.
17 August 2000 – Thanpuying Puangroi Apaiwong, a Thai composer, thought to be the first woman composer in Thailand, died.
17 August 2008 – The JMM withdrew support to the 23-month-old Madhukoda government. America’s great swimmer became the first athlete to win eight gold medals in one Olympic sport.
17 August 2009 – A one-day conference of all the Chief Ministers of the country on the issue of internal security was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.