14 Apr 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

Dr. Ambedkar National Memorial (DANM)

• The memorial is dedicated to the life and contributions of Dr. Ambedkar, the principal architect of the Constitution of India.
• The Foundation stone of DANM was laid by the Prime Minister in New Delhi.
• The government has declared five sites related to Baba Saheb as Panchtirth, which include Mhow (Madhya Pradesh); Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur (Maharashtra); Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Home in London; Mahaparinirvan Bhoomi in Alipur Road (Delhi; and Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai (Maharashtra).
• Bharat Ratna Baba Saheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was born on 14thApril 1891 at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh and was the First Law Minister of Independent India.
• After resigning from the Union Cabinet on 1stNovember 1951, Dr. Ambedkar started residing in the house of Maharaja of Sirohi at 26, Alipur Road, Delhi where he breathed his last and attained Mahaparinirvana on 6th December 1956.
• On the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a Health and Wellness Centre, which will mark the launch of the Union Government’s ambitious Health Assurance Programme – Ayushman Bharat.

Jallianwala Bagh massacre

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to the martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
• On the day of the festival of Baisakhi on 13th April 1919 in Jallianwala Bagh, a public garden in Amritsar, a crowd of non-violent protestors had gathered. Also among the crowd were pilgrims who had come to celebrate Baisakhi.
• General Dyer ordered his troops to fire at the unarmed crowd which included children as well.
• The indiscriminate firing went on for about 10 minutes which resulted in the deaths of at least 1000 people and injured more than 1500 people.
• This tragedy came as a rude shock to Indians and totally destroyed their faith in the British system of justice.
• However, Dyer was appreciated by many in Britain and the British in India although some people in the British government were quick to criticise it.
• The government set up the Hunter Commission to inquire into the massacre. Although the commission condemned the act by Dyer, it did not impose any disciplinary action against him.
• He was relieved of his duties in the army in 1920.
• In protest against the massacre and the British failure to give due justice to the victims, Rabindranath Tagore gave up his knighthood and Gandhiji relinquished his title ‘Kaiser-e-hind’ bestowed on him by the British for his services during the Boer War in South Africa.
• Michael O’Dwyer, the then Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, who had approved the actions of Brigadier General Dyer, was assassinated by Udham Singh in London in 1940 as revenge against the massacre. Udham Singh is believed to have witnessed the massacre as a child.

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