India celebrated its 75th anniversary of independence from British rule on August 15, 2022. The long struggle for freedom witnessed many sacrifices from independence fighters. To commemorate the occasion, the government launched an initiative called "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" to celebrate 75 years of independence. Over the past 75 years since independence, India has made significant progress in areas like healthcare, education, agriculture, science and technology, and sports. It is now self-sufficient in food production and a major space power with advanced technology and launch capabilities.

3. India is celebrating her 75 years of Independence
(76th Independence Day) from British rule on
August 15, 2022. India achieved its Independence
from British colonial rule on August 15, 1947. The
struggle for freedom was a long and tiresome one;
witnessing the sacrifices of many freedom
fighters, who laid down their lives for their
country and fellow citizens. This day honours our
freedom fighters, the history of our country, its
culture, and the nation's achievements as a
whole.

4. Marking the 75th year of India's Independence,
the Government of India started an initiative,
AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV, to celebrate and
commemorate 75 years of independence and the
glorious history of it's people, culture and
achievements.

5. This Mahotsav is dedicated to the people of India
who have not only been instrumental in bringing
India thus far in its evolutionary journey but also
hold within them the power and potential to
enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of
activating India 2.0, fuelled by the spirit of “SELF-
RELIANT INDIA” or AATMA NIRBHAR BHAARAT –
which is self-sustaining and resilient, not by
isolating itself from the world, but by enhancing
capacities at home so that India can more
effectively contribute to the world. With its size,
capacity and ambitions, India is poised to be a
major factor in the post-pandemic global revival.

7.  The British first came to India in the 17th century as traders.
 However, with the conquest of Bengal in 1757, the British started
setting up their empire in India.
 The aggressive expansionist policy of the British caused widespread
resentment among the Indian Rulers and their subjects.
 Indian Historians refer to the revolt as the Great Revolt of 1857 or the
First War of Indian Independence.
 The Revolt of 1857 succeeded in shaking the very foundation of the
British presence in India.
 The great uprising of 1857 led to the end of the English East India
Company.
 India came under the direct rule of the British Parliament and the
Queen of England.
 By the middle of the 19th century the British succeeded in eliminating
all their rivals and established an all-India empire.
FREEDOM STRUGGLE

8.  With the beginning of the 20th century the call for freedom of India
began to grow large and loud.
 The national movement during the years 1905-18 was led by
outstanding men like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin
Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghosh and others.
 The latter part of the Indian freedom struggle was led by mahatma
Gandhi who evolved a technique known as satyagraha. in 1920
Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement.
 World War II started in the year 1939.
 The Civil Disobedience Movement was launched during the years 1930-
34.
 India’s freedom struggle entered the deciding phase with the start of
the quit India movement in the year 1942.
 Gandhiji led from the front.
FREEDOM STRUGGLE (CONTD.)

9.  IN THE MEANTIME, NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE WHO
HAD A GREAT ESCAPE IN 1941 REACHED JAPAN VIA
RUSSIA AND GERMANY.
 IN TOKYO NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE TOOK
OVER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT
IN EAST ASIA FROM RASH BEHARI BOSE.
 NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE BECAME THE SUPREME COMMANDER
OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY (INA) OR THE AZAD HIND FAUJ.
 NETAJI GAVE THE BATTLE CRY OF DILLI CHALO, THE INA ALONG WITH
THE JAPANESE ARMY MARCHED TOWARDS INDIA. IN MID 1944 THE INA
CROSSED THE INDO BURMA BORDER AND LIBERATED IMPHAL AND
KOHIMA.HOWEVER, WITH THE FALL OF JAPAN IN WORLD
WAR II, THE BRITISH REESTABLISHED CONTROL
OVER BURMA (NOW MYANMAR) AND INA WAS DEFEATED.
 IT IS SAID THE NETAJI DIED OF A PLANE CRASH ON
HIS WAY TO TOKYO.
FREEDOM STRUGGLE (CONTD.)

10.  The British realized their days were numbered and independence was
now a matter of time.
 The British rule in India finally came to an end and India became
Independent on 15th August 1947.
 The Indian tricolor was unfurled at the historic Red Fort, a new phase
began in the history of India. The birth of a new dawn.
 However, with the end of the British rule, partition of British India
became inevitable, North-West Frontier Province - Sind, Balochistan,
West Punjab and East Bengal was separated from the rest of India to
form a new country called Pakistan.
FREEDOM STRUGGLE (CONTD.)

12.  The Constituent Assembly Of India, a body of elected representatives
given the responsibility of framing the Constitution of India had
its first session on 9th December 1946.
 Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as Chairman of the Constituent
Assembly.
 Other notable members were Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr B R Ambedkar,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad.
 The Drafting Committee headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar took two years
eleven months and eighteen days to frame the Constitution of
India, considered as the lengthiest written Constitution in the world.
 The Constitution of India was adopted in the Constituent Assembly on
26th November 1949.
 It came into effect on 26th January 1950.
 The Preamble to the Constitution of India describes India as a Sovereign,
Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic.

18. Country Bharat(Sanskrit),
India(English)
Capital New Delhi
Population 1.39300 crores (2021 Census)
Area 3,287,263 square kilometers
Geographical Location Between latitudes 8° 4' and 37° 6' North and
longitudes 68° 7' and 97° 25' East
Coastline Length 7,516 km
Major Religions Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism,
Buddhism, Jainism

19. President of India Smt. Draupadi Murmu
Vice President Shri. Jagdeep Dhankhar
Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi
National Anthem Jana Gana Mana, written by Rabindranath Tagore
National Song
Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by
Bankimchandra
Cattopadhyay
National Emblem An adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath
National Flag
Horizontal tricolor in equal proportion of deep
saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark
green at the bottom. In the center of the white
band, there is a wheel in navy blue color.

20. National Animal Royal Bengal Tiger
National Bird Peacock
National Flower Lotus
National Tree Banyan
National Fruit Mango
National Currency Indian Rupee(₹)
National Sport Hockey
Languages
The Republic of India has no national language;
however, there are two official languages of the
Union Government of India, namely Hindi and
English.

21. The journey of India since August 15, 1947 has
been one of development from science and
technology, to education, sufficiency in food
production among others.

23. Healthcare system:
India has made significant improving the life expectancy of average Indians. In
1947, the average life expectancy of average Indians was around 32 years. In
2022, it has reached over 70 years. World Heath body WHO says that India has
tremendously improved its people’s health outcomes. Today India is providing
one of the sophisticated and modern heath care system in the world. In 2014,
after years of battling with Polio, India was declared polio free.
Education system:
A consistent growth in the field of education is being observed from the
independence. The illiteracy rate is getting decreased. Many world level
colleges, universities, and institutions have been established that provide
technical and vocational education. Many research works are in progress.
Empowerment of Women:
To empower the Indian women constitution has provided equal rights to women.
Now women are contributing in every field of the life.

24. Green Revolution
 In India, the Green Revolution was mainly led by M.S.
Swaminathan.
 The Green Revolution resulted in a great increase in the
production of food grains (especially wheat and rice) due to the
introduction of new, high-yielding variety seeds along with the
expanded use of fertilisers and other chemical inputs.
 The Green Revolution, spreading over the period from 1967-68 to
1977-78, changed India's status from a food-deficient country to
one of the world's leading agricultural nations.
 Today India is self-reliant in food grain production.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE FIELD OF AGRICULTURE

25. White Revolution
 Verghese Kurien, a social entrepreneur also referred to as the
"Father of the White Revolution" in India, created the greatest self-
sustaining business and the largest rural employment sector in the
country.
 Operation Flood, launched on 13 January 1970, was the world's
largest dairy development program and a landmark project of
India's National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
 It transformed India from a milk-deficient nation into the world's
largest milk producer, surpassing the United States of America in
1998 with about 22.29 percent of global output in 2018.
 Dairy farming now accounts for a third of all rural revenue.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE FIELD OF AGRICULTURE

26. Science and Technology:
India is now totally independent in the field of safety and the space. India has
developed its own Missile; it has launched many satellites in the space, and
uses its own technology in many fields. In communication India has left many
countries behind.
Production and Manufacturing:
Now India has become independent in this field. The designed vehicles and
machines are exported in the global market. In the field of computers India has
developed a lot. Several kinds of facilities are provided on the Internet that has
made the human life easy.
Transportation:
The whole country is now attached through a network of roads and rail-lines.
Indian Railways is today the largest rail network in Asia and the world's second-
largest network operated under single management. In 2018, India’s longest
railroad bridge over Brahmaputra (Bogibeel Bridge) was inaugurated by the
Prime Minister in Assam. In the same year India launched its first ever Semi
High-Speed electric train named Train 18 or Vande Bharat Express.

27. Diverse Languages:
We have the greatest number of languages spoken in a single nation;
29 languages are spoken in India, by more than one million people
each.
Religious Tolerance:
Despite having such diversity in terms of religions and cultures, India
has developed into a secular state where every religion is free to
worship and propagate their religion.
Two Front Wars with Pakistan & Formation of Bangladesh:
India and Pakistan war was ended in December 1971 and it was a
complete end to the war when the East Pakistan was formed and was
converted into a new country altogether – Bangladesh. It was a proud
moment for the country as they gave help in the freedom of
Bangladesh.

28. India’s 200 crore Covid-19 jab milestone in just 18 months:
India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed the 200
crore, or 2 billion mark, 18 months on July 17, 2022, after
vaccinations began in the country on January 16, 2021.
Nuclear programme:
On May 18, 1974, India tested its first nuclear bomb successfully in
Rajasthan's Pokhran. With this test codenamed Operation "Smiling
Buddha", India became the world's sixth nuclear power outside the
five permanent members of the United Nations, including US, Soviet
Union, Britain, France and China. Twenty-four years after Pokhran-I,
the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) conducted five further nuclear
tests at Pokhran on 11 and 13 May 1998.

29.  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was formed in 1969.
 India is one of only 9 nations to possess proven orbital launch
capability.
 In 1975, first Indian satellite named Aryabhata was launched from
Russia. The satellite was completely designed and fabricated in
India.
 In 1986, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to go into space.
 In 2008, Chandrayaan, country’s first unmanned lunar probe was
launched by ISRO. With this success, ISRO became joined the list of
six space organisations who achieved this feat.
 In 2012, ISRO successfully launched the 100th space mission using
PSLV-C21 rocket and placed two foreign satellites into the orbit of
the earth.
 2013 turned out to be a year of highest achievement for ISRO with
the successful launch of the ₹450-crore Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM),
also called Mangalyaan by using PSLV-XL.
Space and Technology:

30.  In 2014, the Mangalyaan successfully entered the Martian orbit, and
India became the first country to complete Mars mission on its
maiden voyage.
 ISRO in 2016, saw the successful testing of Reusable Launch Vehicle,
Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) and it is called India’s space
shuttle.
 On February 15, 2017, India broke the record of Russia by
successfully launching 104 satellites of seven countries in one
mission.
 India’s second mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-2, launched on
22nd July 2019 consisted of a lunar orbiter, and also included
the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover, all of which were
developed in India. The Orbiter was injected into a lunar orbit on
2nd Sept 2019. However, the lander crashed when it deviated from its
intended trajectory while attempting to land on 6 September 2019.
Space and Technology (Contd.)

31. Future Space Programme by ISRO
 Chandrayaan-3, a planned third lunar exploration mission by ISRO will
be a mission repeat of Chandrayaan-2. However, Chandrayaan-3 will
not have an orbiter.
 The Gaganyaan Programme is India's first human spaceflight
programme. ISRO aims to send humans to low-Earth orbit as part of
this programme. It aims to demonstrate indigenous capability to
undertake human spaceflight missions to low-Earth orbit, will include
two unmanned missions and one manned mission.
 Mangalyaan-2 or Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (MOM 2), ISRO's second
interplanetary mission, expected to be launched in 2025 is the
successor to Mangalyaan-1 or Mars Orbiter Mission 1 (MOM 1).
Space and Technology (Contd.)

32. In the sports domain India has gained immense popularity. Numerous top-level
sports men were born in India who had won many medals in their life. In every
international sports activity Indians have shown their talent and skill and won
medals for the country.
1948: India bagged first Gold Medal after Independence in hockey at Olympics.
1951: India hosted the inaugural Asian Games at New Delhi in March 1951.
1952: K.D. Jadhav won the bronze medal in 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland and
became the first Indian individual to win a medal at this platform.
1950 - 1960: During this period, the Indian football team ranked among the top 20
football teams in the world.
1958: Mihir Sen became the first Indian to cross the stretch of English Channel from
Dovner to Calais in 1958.
1960: Milkha Singh broke the 400m Olympic record but lost the bronze by just 0.1
seconds
1960: Ramanathan Krishnan, Indian tennis player, created history by reaching the
semi-finals in 1960 Wimbledon.
1980: Prakash Padukone won All England Badminton Title.
1980: The Indian hockey team beat Spain to win their last Olympic gold medal in hockey.
Sports

33. Sports(Contd.)
1983: India beat two time reigning world champions West Indies to lift the
Cricket World Cup and made a mark as world-class sportsmanship.
1986: P. T. Usha won four gold medals and one silver medal in the track and field
events of the 1986 Asian Games.
1999: The amazing duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi reached the finals
of the men’s doubles in all four grand slams and the ATP Masters in 1999 and
also won the French Open and Wimbledon.
2000: Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand won the World Chess Championship.
2008: Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal at the 2008 Olympics made him the first
Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games.
2009: Saina Nehwal, first Indian woman to win a Super Series Tournament.
2011: Indian cricket team won the Cricket World Cup after a gap of 28 years.
2012- Sachin Tendulkar made his 100th century and declared his retirement.
2014- Five times world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Mary Kom won
her first Asian Games gold medal in women’s 48 - 51 kg boxing.
2021- Indian athletic Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal in Javelin throw at 2020
Tokyo Olympics.

34. India, the seventh largest country by area and the
second most populous country is the sixth largest
economy in the world. From being a
comparatively destitute country at the time of
Independence, India has now become a fast-
growing major economy and a hub for information
technology services. India has diverse
geographical topography, diverse cultures,
religions, languages, and castes. India is a
symbol of social harmony and unity in diversity.
Today India celebrates its 75 years of
Independence.

35. Presented by Abhirup Datta;
Don Bosco School, Bandel
Class – 8B; Roll -2