20 February in Indian History and World History
20 February in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 20 February is the birth anniversary of Ramakrishna Ranga Rao and K. M. Chandrasekhar.
20 February is also observed as the death anniversary of Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar, Thotakura Venkata Raju, Nihar Ranjan Gupta, Parvathi Krishnan, and Govind Pansare.
Birth Anniversary on 20 February
20 February in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Ramakrishna Ranga Rao (20 February 1901 – 10 March 1978), Indian politician. He served as chief minister of the Madras Presidency from 1932 – 1937. From 1946 – 1951, he served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India which framed India’s Constitution. In his later years, he also served a term as a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly for the Bobbili assembly constituency. He was born on 20 February 1901 in the royal family of Bobbili Zamindari.
K. M. Chandrasekhar, Indian civil servant. He served as the 29th cabinet secretary of India. He is a 1970 batch of IAS from Kerala Cadre. He also served as the Revenue Secretary of India and also India’s Ambassador to WTO in Geneva before which he was a Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Commerce. He was born in Kerala on 20 February 1948.
Read Also: 19 February in Indian History
Death Anniversary on 20 February
20 February in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar (15 March 1868 – 20 February 1958), the first Indian to make a motion picture in India. His films also were all reality films and of historical significance.
Thotakura Venkata Raju better known as T. V. Raju (1921 – 20 February 1973), was a music director of many films in South India.
Nihar Ranjan Gupta (6 June 1911 – 20 February 1986), was an Indian dermatologist and a popular Bengali novelist. He is the creator of the fictional detective character Kiriti Roy. Some of his writings were made into films.
Parvathi Krishnan (15 March 1919 – 20 February 2014), was an Indian politician from the Communist Party of India. She was a three-time former Member of Parliament representing the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency and Rajya Sabha member.
Govind Pansare (24 November 1933 – 20 February 2015), a left-wing Indian politician. He ran an organization that encouraged inter-caste marriages. He had opposed the Yagya, a Hindu ritual that was presumed to result in a male child. He had also criticized the glorification of Nathuram Godse. He was also the author of the bestselling Marathi language biography of 17th-century ruler Shivaji, Shivaji Kon Hota. He and his wife were attacked on 16 February 2015 by gun-wielding assailants in Kolhapur district. He died from his wounds on 20 February 2015.
Read More: 18 February in Indian and World History
Notable events on 20 February in Indian and World History
On 20 February 1725, New Hampshire militiamen partake in the first recorded scalping of Indians by whites in North America when 10 sleeping Indians are scalped by whites for scalp bounty
20 February 1862– Francisco Balagtas, a Filipino poet and litterateur of the Tagalog language, died.
20 February 1907 – Henri Moissan a French chemist, pharmacist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
20 February 1937 – Robert Huber a German biochemist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
On 20 February 1947, Lord Mountbatten was appointed as the last viceroy of India to oversee the move to independence and Partition of British India into India and Pakistan. Also, on the same day, the British Government announced their intention of transferring the power of British India to Indian hands by June 1948.
20 February 1976 – Rene Cassin, a French jurist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
20 February Historical Significance
February 20 has witnessed several significant events throughout history. In 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he piloted the Friendship 7 spacecraft during the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission. This milestone marked a significant advancement in space exploration for the United States during the Space Race with the Soviet Union. Additionally, on February 20, 2005, the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change, came into force. The treaty represented a global effort to address environmental concerns and promote sustainability. Furthermore, February 20 is also observed as World Day of Social Justice, designated by the United Nations to raise awareness about social justice issues and promote efforts towards a more equitable and inclusive society. These events underscore the diverse range of historical and contemporary significance associated with February 20.
Important Days of 20 February in History
World Day of Social Justice: 20 February, is also celebrated as World Day of Social Justice (Social Justice Equality Day). It is an international day recognizing the need to promote social justice, which includes efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion, gender equality, unemployment, human rights, and social protection. The United Nations General Assembly has decided to observe 20 February annually, approved on 26 November 2007 and starting in 2009, as the World Day of Social Justice.
On 20 February 1999, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of India rode to Pakistan by bus to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for 2 days of talks.
On 20 February 2014, India’s Parliament approved a plan to create a 29th state following days of political mayhem over the division of southern Andhra Pradesh state. The creation of a new state Telangana led lawmakers to spray on their colleagues. The proposal to carve out Telangana has inspired passions since the 1950s, with hunger strikes and violent protests claiming about 1,000 lives over the past decade. Several protesters set themselves on fire to press for the creation of the state.
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