21 March in Indian and World History

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21 March in Indian and World History

21 March in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 21 March is the birth anniversary of Ustad Bismillah Khan, Nirmala Srivastava, Buta Singh, and Patcha Ramachandra Rao.

21 March is also observed as the death anniversary of Cannankara Velayudhan Raman Pillai, Gaura Pant, and Dinkar D. Patil.

Birth Anniversary

21 March is the birth anniversary of Ustad Bismillah Khan, Nirmala Srivastava, Buta Singh, and Patcha Ramachandra Rao.

Ustad Bismillah Khan (21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006), an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instrument. He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the third classical musician after M. S. Subbalakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be awarded Bharat Ratna. He was born on 21 March 1916 in Bihar, British India.

Nirmala Srivastava (21 March 1923 – 23 February 2011), the founder of Sahaja Yoga. She was also known as “Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi”. She believed that humans could not know the meaning of life until connected with the power that created mankind. She was born on 21 March 1923 in Madhya Pradesh, British India.

Buta Singh (21 March 1934 – 2 January 2021), an Indian politician. He was affiliated with Indian National Congress (INC). He was the Union Home Minister of India, Governor of Bihar and was chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from 2007 to 2010. He was born on 21 March 1934 in Punjab, British India.

Patcha Ramachandra Rao (21 March 1942 – 10 January 2010), a metallurgist and administrator. He was a student at Banaras Hindu University and has the unique distinction of being a student, faculty, and Vice-Chancellor at the same University. He received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award for his contribution to science. He was born on 21 March 1942 in Andhra Pradesh, British India.

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Death Anniversary

21 March in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:

Cannankara Velayudhan Raman Pillai (19 May 1858 – 21 March 1922), a novelist from Malayalam literature. He died on 21 March 1922 in Trivandrum, Travancore, British India.

Gaura Pant (17 October 1923 – 21 March 2003), a story writer. She is known by her other name Shivani. She was a pioneer in writing Indian women-based fiction. In 1982, she was awarded the Padma Shri, Indian fourth-highest civilian award, for her contribution to Hindi literature. She died on 21 March 2003 in New Delhi, India.

Dinkar D. Patil (6 November 1915 – 23 October 2005), was a prominent Marathi film director, and scriptwriter. He died on 23 October 2005 in Kolhapur, India

Read More: 19 March in Indian and World History

Notable events on 21 March in Indian and World History

21 March 1918 – The first phase of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, begins.

21 March 1923 – Nizar Qabbani, a legendary Indian musician, was born.

21 March 1932 – Walter Gilbert an American biochemist, molecular biologist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.

21 March 1945 – British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.

21 March 1945Operation Carthage: Royal Air Force planes bomb Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. They also accidentally hit a school, killing 125 civilians.

21 March 1945 – Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully complete their defense of the north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concludes.

21 March 2006 – The social media site Twitter is founded.

21 March 2009– Genoveva Matute, a multilingual Filipino writer, and academician, died.

21 March is observed as World Poetry Day. It was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999.

21 March is also observed as the International Day of Forests. It was established by the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on 28 November 2012.

21 March is also observed as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid pass laws.

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