Janaki Venkataraman | |
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| First Lady of India | |
| In role 25 July 1987 –25 July 1992 | |
| Children | 3 |
Janaki Venkataraman (1921 – 13 August 2010) was the First Lady of India from 1987 until 1992. She was the wife of Indian President R. Venkataraman who served as India's head of state from 25 July 1987 until 25 July 1992. Upon her husband's assumption of the presidency, Janaki Venkataraman became India's first foreign-born first lady (also the first foreign-born second lady).
Janaki was born in Pegu, Burma, to Tamil Iyer Burmese Indian parents, Kamala and Krishna Iyer. Her mother died when she was five and as her father did not remarry, she assisted with the household duties along with her siblings. [1] Janaki was married to R. Venkataraman in 1938 and had three daughters. [2] She was considered "deeply pious" in her Hinduism by Gopal Gandhi. [3] After her marriage, her husband's political and unionist activities increased. To assist him, she became a partner in the Labor Law Journal which he had established. [1]
Janaki was a human rights activist and led "hundreds of supporters" in protests about the war violence perpetrated upon women during the Bangladeshi War. She was an ardent feminist and supported women's self-reliance, as well as a humanitarian, working on projects for the poor. In addition, she was an animal rights activist refusing to wear silk which required worms to be killed and instead popularized the wearing of Ahimsa silk, which does not require harming the cocoon. [1] Her promotion of wearing saris created without harming the silkworms led to popularity of Ahimsa Silk (also called "mulberry silk") and inspired entrepreneurs to develop the technology further. [4] In addition to obtaining a patent, the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society began marketing its "vegan wild silk" products to high end fashion labels. [5]
When a documentary about her husband's life was made and Janaki was included in only one frame, she requested removal of the image. She preferred to be "noticed in the absence than to be ignored as an insignificant presence." [6] She accompanied her husband on state visits and was the public face of "Indian womanhood" during his presidency. [1] As an active first lady, she was responsible for implementing social welfare programs that came from the president's office. [7]
Janaki Venkataraman died on 13 August 2010, a year and a half after her husband died. She is survived by her three daughters. [8]
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, endeared as Lokmanya, was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence activist. He was one third of the Lal Bal Pal triumvirate. The British colonial authorities called him "The father of the Indian unrest". He was also conferred with the title of "Lokmanya", which means "accepted by the people as their leader". Mahatma Gandhi called him "The Maker of Modern India".
Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi was an Indian Carnatic singer. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna - India's highest civilian honour, the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1974 and the first Indian to perform at the United Nations General Assembly in 1966.
Justice Vaidyanathapuram Rama Iyer Krishna Iyer was an Indian judge who became a pioneer of judicial activism. He pioneered the legal-aid movement in the country. Before that, he was a state minister and politician.
Ramaswamy Venkataraman, also known as R. Venkataraman, was an Indian lawyer, independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India. Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in Tanjore district, Madras Presidency. He studied law and practised in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India. In his young age, he was an activist of the Indian independence movement and participated in the Quit India Movement. He was appointed as the member of the Constituent Assembly and the provisional cabinet. He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and served as Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister. In 1984, he was elected as the seventh vice president of India and in 1987, he became the eighth President of India and served from 1987 to 1992. He also served as a State minister under K. Kamaraj and M. Bhaktavatsalam.
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth is the most widely used and intensively studied silkworm. This species of silkmoth is no longer found in the wild as they have been modified through selective breeding, rendering most flightless and without defense against predators. Silk is believed to have first been produced in China as early as the Neolithic period. Sericulture has become an important cottage industry in countries such as Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, and Thailand. Today, China and India are the two main producers, with more than 60% of the world's annual production.
Vijay Lakshmi Pandit was an Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician. She served as the 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1954, the first woman and the only Indian to have been appointed to this post. She was also the 3rd Governor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964. Noted for her participation in the Indian independence movement, she was jailed several times during the movement.
Rukmini Devi Arundale was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, and an activist for animal welfare.
Vaikom Narayani Janaki, also known as Janaki Ramachandran, was an Indian politician, actress and activist who briefly served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for 23 days after the death of her husband M. G. Ramachandran, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu. She was the first woman to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. She was also the first actress to become the chief minister in the history of India.
Dewan Bahadur Sachivottama SirChetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer, popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law member of the Executive council of the Governor of Madras from 1923 to 1928, Law member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India from 1931 to 1936 and the Diwan of Travancore from 1936 to 1947. Ramaswami Iyer was born in 1879 in Madras city and studied at Wesley College High School and Presidency College, Madras before qualifying as a lawyer from the Madras Law College. He practised as a lawyer in Madras and succeeded S. Srinivasa Iyengar as the Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency. He subsequently served as the Law member of the Governor of Madras and of the Viceroy of India before being appointed Diwan of Travancore in 1936.
Sushma Swaraj was an Indian lawyer, politician and diplomat who served as the Former Chief Minister of Delhi, and also the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019. She was the second person to complete a 5-year term as the Minister of External Affairs, after Jawaharlal Nehru. A senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Swaraj was the second woman to hold the office of Minister of External Affairs, after Indira Gandhi. She was elected seven times as a Member of Parliament and three times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly. At the age of 25 in 1977, she became the youngest cabinet minister of the Indian state of Haryana. She also served as Chief Minister of Delhi for a short duration in 1998 and became the first female Chief Minister of Delhi.
Janaki Devi Bajaj was an Indian independence activist who was jailed for participating in Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932.
Chonira Belliappa Muthamma was the first woman to clear the Indian Civil Services examinations. She was also the first woman to join the Indian Foreign Service. She was the first Indian woman diplomat as well. Later, she became the first Indian woman Ambassador also. She is remembered for her successful crusade for gender equality in the Indian Civil Services.
The Bhagavad Gita, often referred to as the Gita, is a Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the epic Mahabharata. It is a synthesis of various strands of Indian religious thought, including the Vedic concept of dharma ; samkhya-based yoga and jnana (knowledge); and bhakti (devotion). It holds a unique pan-Hindu influence as the most prominent sacred text and is a central text in Vedanta and the Vaishnava Hindu tradition.
Sister R. S. Subbalakshmi, was a social reformer and educationist in India.
Usha Narayanan, born Tint Tint, was the First Lady of India from 1997 to 2002. She was married to K. R. Narayanan, the tenth President of India. Usha Narayanan was India's second foreign-born first lady after Janaki Venkataraman. She played a key role in women social welfare activities initiated by the presidency.
First Lady of India or First Gentleman of India is the title given to the host of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, usually the spouse of the president of India. There are no official roles or duties assigned to the spouse. The spouse generally attends official ceremonies and functions.
Venkataraman, Venkatraman and Venkitaraman are names of Indian origin, used both as family names and as masculine given names. People with those names include:
Ahimsa silk, also known as peace silk is a method of nonviolent silk breeding and harvesting. Wild silk moths are bred rather than the domestic variety. It allows the completion of the metamorphosis of the silkworm to its moth stage, whereas most silk harvesting requires the silkworms to be killed in their cocoon stage. No animals suffer or die for the silk to be produced, making it a favorable alternative to normal silk for those who object to harming animals.
Second Lady or Second Gentleman of India is the title given to the host of Uparashtrapati Bhavan, usually the spouse of the vice president. The current second lady of India is Dr. Sudesh Dhankhar, the spouse of the incumbent vice president, Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Krishnaswami Swaminathan was an Indian literary scholar and the Chief Editor of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi.
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