Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA) scholarships for SC and ST

Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA)
C-25, Qutab Institutional Area , New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi - 110 016.
Phone: +91 11 4168 9133 , Fax: +91 11 4168 9133 , E-mail: inquiry@faeaindia.org
Website: www.faea.in

Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA)

FAEA invites application for scholarships for the year 2011-12 to pursue undergraduate studies in arts/commerce/science/medical/engineering and other technical and professional disciplines at any university/institution/college of student's choice anywhere in India. These scholarships are sponsored by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Number of scholarships: SC/ST - 230

Eligibility Criteria: (i) Students who have passed Class XII from a recognized board in India (ii) 1st year under-graduate students (iii) students who are in Class XI may also apply.

Financial Support: Tuition fee, maintenance allowance or hostel/ mess charges.

How to apply: (i) You may apply online at www.faeaindia.org (most preferred way) (ii) The form can be downloaded from FAEA website www.faeaindia.org and submitted by post at the address mentioned below





* FAEA reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of scholarships.

* Decision of FAEA will be final.

* Last date to apply: 17th August 2011

Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA)
C-25, Qutab Institutional Area, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi -110016, Ph: 011-41689133
Email: inquiry@faeaindia.org, Website: www.faeaindia.org

Taru - taru@faeaindia.org 250711

Indian Oil Scholarships

Indian Oil Academic Scholarships

Indian Oil offers 2600 Scholarships for Students of 10+/ ITI, Engineering, MBBS & MBA Courses on merit cum means basis SR Stream Duration for which Scholarship will be awarded and minimum duration of course No. of Scholarships Qualifying Examination Minimum Eligibility marks in Qualifying Exam Scholarship amount per month GEN SC/ST/ OBC/Girls PC/PH 1 10+/ITI 2 years 2000 10th 65% 60% 50% Rs. 1000 2 Engineering 4 years 300 12th 65% 60% 50% Rs. 3000 3 MBBS 4 years 200 12th 65% 60% 50% Rs. 3000 4 MBA 2 years 100 Graduation 65% 60% 50% Rs. 3000 Abbreviations: SC: Scheduled Caste, ST: Scheduled Tribe, OBC: Other Backward Class, GEN: General, PC/PH: Physically challenged/Physically handicapped (minimum 40% disability as per definition under Disabilities Act 1952) 1. "IndianOil Merit Scholarships Scheme" for 10+/ITI studies 2000 Scholarships are being offered for 10+/ITI studies.  The distribution of scholarships may be State-wise based on "Number of students appeared for 10th Standard during 2010-11". 2. "IndianOil Scholarships Scheme" for Graduate and Post-Graduate students 600 scholarships are being offered for professional courses (Engineering-300 nos., MBBS-200 Nos. & MBA-100 Nos.).  The distribution of scholarships may be Zone-wise (as shown in the table below) based on "Number of students appeared for 12th Standard during 2010-11 and will be equitably distributed in the four zones given below. For MBA course marks obtained in graduate course will be considered.  Zones for Professional Courses North East West South Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh & UT of Chandigarh, J&K Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura,  Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry,  Lakshadweep, Minicoy & Aminidivi Islands ELIGIBILITY:   Students pursuing full time/regular courses in these streams & studying in Schools/Colleges/Institutions/Universities recognized by MCI/AICTE/State Education Boards/ State Govt. / ICSC/CBSE/Central Govt./Association of Indian universities, shall be eligible to apply.   The student should have bonafide admission in the 1st year of School/College/Institute/University in the academic year 2011-12. Students of two year full time post graduate courses in Business Administration/Management recognized by Central/State Govt./Association of Indian universities and which are equivalent to MBA, are eligible for management stream scholarship. Students having confirmed admission in the first year of full time engineering degree course, MBBS, MBA and also 11th standard as well as those in the 1st year of 2 year ITI course are eligible to apply. In case of graduates, the average percentage of marks of all the academic years shall be treated as marks obtained by the candidate.   Similarly in case of 10th/12th, if percentage of marks obtained is not mentioned by Board/University, percentage of marks obtained shall be calculated on total aggregate marks.  Minimum eligibility percentage of marks for various categories will be as indicated above. Gross Joint income of the family of the candidate from all sources (during financial year 2010-11) should not exceed Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh only). Income certificate should be issued by Competent Revenue Authorities only.  The marks obtained in the qualifying examination making the students eligible to seek admission in the respective first year of these courses will be considered for selection. Normalization of marks of applicant shall be done for Engineering, MBBS & MBA streams to bring parity of marking system within different Boards/ Universities/Institutions. Criterion for selection will be merit and family's income.  Wards of the employees of IOCL, its Joint Venture and Subsidiary companies and ACE Consultants are not eligible to apply. AGE LIMIT:  Minimum 15 years and maximum 30 years as on 25.7.2011.   Persons born between 25.7.81 and 25.7.96 (both days inclusive) are eligible to apply. RESERVATION & RELAXATION:  Relaxation in the upper age limit is 3 years for OBC candidates, 5 years for SC/ST candidates and 10 years for physically challenged/physically handicapped candidates. 50% of the scholarships are reserved for SC/ST & OBC candidates. In each stream/ category, 25% of scholarships are reserved for girl students and 10% for physically challenged/physically handicapped students (minimum 40% disability as per definition under Disabilities Act 1952). Only those listed in the Central Govt's OBC list will be considered against OBC quota. OBC candidates of state list and not covered by Central Govt's OBC list may apply against general quota. APPLICATION:   Candidates studying in 11th standard, 1st year of a 2 year ITI course, 1st year of Engineering degree, MBBS and MBA in the academic year 2011-12 are to apply through Online Application Form only by logging on to http://applicationnew.com/ioclscholar2011. Once the online application is submitted by an applicant, the system will generate a unique Registration Number which the applicants should note down for future reference/correspondence. The applicants should take out a print-out of the submitted online application and send hard copy of his application form duly signed along with their Caste/Date of Birth/Mark Sheet/family's Income Certificate etc., duly authenticated/attested by appropriate competent    authority/civil    authority urgently for verification of documents.  Applicants should provide information in the prescribed   forms (click here to download the forms) which should be attached with the hard copy of application form, as stated above.  However, in case the marks, income or any other information; declared at the time of initial application; is found incorrect during scrutiny; the candidature of such candidates shall be summarily rejected. Decision of IndianOil regarding Scholar's selection shall be final and no correspondence on the selection process shall be entertained. Once awarded,   the scholarships will be disbursed @ Rs. 3,000/- per month for 4 years in case of Engineering & MBBS and 2 years for MBA courses and @ Rs 1,000 /- per month for duration of 2 years in case of 10+2 and ITI course. Duration of each course in no case is less than the duration of the scholarship. The scholarship will be suspended, if the scholar is not promoted to the next academic year.   In case, the scholar is not promoted for the second time (in succession for 2 years during the entire course), the scholar will be taken off from the list of IOCL scholars and scholarship will be discontinued permanently. The performance of the scholar must be satisfactory during the entire duration of the course. The performance is to be certified by the Head /Principal/Dean/Director of the School/College/ Institute /University   The top one scholar each from final year of  Engineering, Medicine  &  Management (who top their respective university exam) and top 10 scholars amongst final year of ITI & 12th (who are able to achieve position amongst  top ten in their  respective Board) will be awarded bonus prize of Rs 10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand only) each and invited to the annual day function of IndianOil Institute of Petroleum Management, Gurgaon, to receive the prize. The travel, board & lodge expenses will be borne by IOCL. A scholarship holder under this scheme will not hold any other scholarship/stipend from any other source. If awarded any other scholarship/stipend, the student can exercise his/her option for choosing the scholarship that he/she proposes to avail and inform awarding authority about the same. In case, the scholar opts for any other scholarship, he/she will have to refund the scholarship amount for the duration during which he/she is in receipt of the IOCL scholarship.    The payment of Scholarship amount will be sent six monthly through head of the respective School/College/Institute/University of the selected scholar.  But, however, the payment of first two six monthly installments will be sent together to reach head of the respective School/College/Institute/University.  There will be no obligation on part of IOCL to provide employment/vocational/summer training to any of the scholars, at any time/stage. IOCL reserves the right   to reject any application as well as discontinue the scholarship at any time without giving any notice/ assigning any reason. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:   The above referred website will be kept open to receive online applications from 25.07.2014 to 31.10.2014. Applicants are advised to keep on checking their personal e Mail id regularly for instructions specific for them only. Court of jurisdiction for any dispute will be at Delhi. LAST DATE:   Last date of applying online is 31.10.14 and hard copy of the online application (print out) duly signed along with required documents, as stated above, must reach to the Administrator of the scheme: ACE Consultants, Post Box No. 9248, Krishna Nagar Head Post Office, Delhi-110051 by 15.10.2011 and thereafter no hard copy of application / documents/ correspondence will be entertained/accepted. IOCL will not be responsible for any postal delay or loss in transit of the applications or whatsoever reason. For more detail Please visit: http://www.iocl.com/Aboutus/Scholarships.aspx  http://www.iocl.com/ Click here to apply online:Scholarships Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

For want of higher-order skills

                              Have all skills?: Graduating engineers need to have multiple talents


Engineering students are neither creative nor good at problem solving and hence fail to get jobs in the competitive global market


The Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell is all set to commence the counselling process for admissions to engineering courses from July 7. Students should be careful in their choice of college. The quality of teaching staff, lab facilities and other infrastructure vary from college to college and have a bearing on the process of learning and acquiring skills.


A recent research revealed that engineering graduates in the country are falling short of professional, core employability and communication skills. Engineers with such skills are in short supply in IT and infrastructure, power and water, and many other sectors.

The survey conducted by the World Bank — “Employability and Skill Set of Newly Graduated Engineers in India” (2011) — stated a majority of employers in India are not satisfied with the skills of newly hired engineering graduates. Only 64 per cent of employers said they are “somewhat satisfied” with the current engineering graduates. Abut 3.9 per cent of employers rate the skills as “not at all satisfied” while 16.1 per cent are “not very satisfied.”

The higher education system has responded to the increased demand for engineers by massively expanding production of engineers. For example, Karnataka alone provides admissions to 70,000 students in 184 engineering colleges. But the system has not addressed the issue of imparting quality education and the kinds of skills demanded by employers in the global market.

Comparison

The survey report, authored by Andreas Blom and Hiroshi Saeki, found that engineering graduates were not good at problem solving, creativity, use of modern tools, system designing to needs, application of mathematics, science and engineering knowledge and customer service. They lacked knowledge of contemporary issues too. The survey said that “Indian employers are less satisfied with their engineers compared to U.S. employers.” There has been an average decline in the quality of students, said the Bank which surveyed employers in 20 sectors, including IT, power and infrastructure.

Must-learn skills

Half of the respondents were large companies with over 500 employees, with 40 per cent from North India, 27 per cent from the West and 19 per cent from the South. Interestingly, where the employers found the fresh engineering graduates most lacking in is critical thinking and problem solving.

Besides professional skills, the employers look for (a) core employability skills, which cover generic attitudinal and affective skills such as reliability and team work; and (b) communication skills. Employability and communications skills are often referred to as soft skills. Engineers who are in high demand possess these sets.

Employers are likely to perceive soft skills asmore important than professional skills. However, engineering graduates with limited and weak professional skillsare undesirable for employers.

The report said memorising textbooks for examinations is not a skill appreciated by the employers.

Many experts ask if the Indian engineering education system trains students to memorise science and engineering knowledge, without adequately emphasising the applicability, analysis and out-of-the-box thinking that employers look for.

Engineering firms look for more analytical and creative engineers to compete for value-added IT orders in the global market.

Institutions need to focus on learning rather than memorisation and mere understanding.

The report said the curricula should be designed in a way where students learn complex and practical issues within a limited time.

Collaboration

Employers ask for different professional skillsdepending upon the economic sectors they are involved in, the firm size and the region. Colleges have to prepare their graduates to meet the demand for skills from different sectors and hence have to increase their interaction with various kinds of employers.

Colleges should customise programme outcomes to meet the specific demand. Further, extra-curriculum activities such as internships and involvement of institutions with community would also help students to deepen the understanding of demanded skills and respond well to the market.

The employers think that graduates are relatively strong in lower-order thinking skills such as knowledge and understanding, use of basic and advanced computers, and applying knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering, but fall short when it comes to the more complex tasks such as application of appropriate tools to solve a problem, and analysis and interpretation.

Another area, considered most important by employers, and where a large gap was found is ‘soft skills' — integrity, teamwork, reliability and willingness to learn.

However, most employers were very satisfied with the English communication skills of the new graduates. “The survey found that colleges are doing very well meeting the demand for English skills, since the graduates are rated in English.”

The reasons for demanding higher-order thinking skills are likely to be a result of increased international and national competition, the focus on increased quality products and innovation.

As skills acquired at school and at the workplace become obsolete more quickly in the globalisation era, higher-order thinking skills and an ability to learn new and more complex skills are indispensible to respond to accelerating technological change.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/education/issues/article2134691.ece

When was the last time we planted a tree?

When was the last time we planted a tree?
                                                  - ARVIND SRIVATSAV

Every year World Environment Day just passes by — people paste posters of a green world, distribute pamphlets on planting saplings and saving trees. Free tree saplings, free vermi compost bags are also on offer. Not to mention the e-mail forwards on how to revive the green cover.

Is this enough? While the world is moving in geometric progression, the one plant that we have got on our desktop table is less than a billion fractions in comparison.

We are doing our bit, isn't it? By doing what? When was the last time we planted a tree or a shrub in our neighbourhood? Except for a handful of green lovers who continue to believe in a green world, and are desperate in handing down a green environment to future generations, all others are busy sending out emails and/or sms. It is our day out in a year to plant some seeds in our garden (?) just for the sake of doing it. Do we follow it up? Do we water it and nurture it? Some enthusiastic children are given saplings in schools or volunteers take home saplings to their luxurious apartments that have cemented surroundings and do not host a terrace garden. The plants wilt with no one having time to tend them with care.

Take a look at the realtor's map. Basement for parking 20 cars, pavement for a morning jog, 60 x 40 space for a gym, 30 x 40 party hall, 10,200 sq. ft. auditorium, so on and so forth. Did we read 1 sq.m for every 30 sq.m-long space for 10 trees? I guess not. Trees, the darlings of lung space, are not part of the plan. The blueprint will consume unnecessary space if we plant some trees. Trees can be messy with fallen leaves and broken branches, noisy monkeys and chirping birds. We want the maximum benefit out of the space. Neither the builder nor the buyer is worried about the green posts on the walkways.

We are moving into a passive world, where we expect somebody to read our emails, sms, and posts and plant those trees for us; we won't do it ourselves.

We are sincere citizens and would continue to light 10 bulbs in the training rooms when just four are enough. Drive an SUV with just one person and expect the government to give us wide roads by cutting the trees. We use plastic bags while we can afford to carry a cloth bag or jute bag to the store. The cart vendor whips out a thin non-reusable plastic bag to pack the vegetables or fruits right at our doorstep. Do we have the heart to refuse and run up for a bowl or bag back home?
Global warming cannot be contained by half-hearted, lackadaisical tree planting measures. It is high time we realised that forwarding emails does nothing better than igniting a fraction of a billion brains to go green.

  source: http://www.hindu.com/op/2011/06/05/stories/2011060552641900.htm

Mother Teresa Quotes

Mother Teresa Quotes

Here are some famous quotes by Mother Teresa. These quotes reveal her thinking and are a guiding light and source of inspiration to others.

• Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

• Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.

• Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

• Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

• Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.

• Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.

• Good works are links that form a chain of love.

• Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

• I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.

• I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.

• I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.

• I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

• I think I'm more difficult than critical.

• I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?

• I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God. " If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

• If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

• If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

• If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

• If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

• In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.

• Intense love does not measure, it just gives.

• It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.

• It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.

• It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.

• It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.

• It is impossible to walk rapidly and be unhappy

• Jesus said love one another. He didn't say love the whole world.

• Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

• Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

• Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.

• Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.

• Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given.

• Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.

• Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.

•  

• Loneliness is the most terrible poverty.

• Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action.

• Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.

• Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home.

• Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus.

• One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.

• Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.

• Peace begins with a smile.

• So many signatures for such a small heart.

• Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

• Sweetest Lord, make me appreciative of the dignity of my high vocation, and its many responsibilities. Never permit me to disgrace it by giving way to coldness, unkindness, or impatience.

• The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.

• The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between.

• The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.

• The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.

• The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.

• The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.

• There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those.

• There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.

• There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

• There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use.

• There should be less talk; a preaching point is not a meeting point. What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone's house. That says enough.

• We are all pencils in the hand of God.

• We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

• We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.

• We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

• We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.

• We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.

• Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.

• We, the unwilling,led by the unknowing,are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much,for so long,with so little,we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

 

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of independent India. Though diminutive in physical stature he was a man of great courage and will. He successfully led country during the 1965 war with Pakistan. To mobilize the support of country during the war he coined the slogan of "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan". Lal Bahadur Sastri also played a key role in India's freedom struggle. He led his life with great simplicity and honesty and was a great source of inspiration for all the countrymen.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1904 at Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh. His parents were Sharada Prasad and Ramdulari Devi. Lal Bahadur's surname was Srivastava but he dropped it as he did not want to indicate his caste. Lal Bahadur's father was a school teacher and later on he became a clerk in the Revenue Office at Allahabad. Though Sharada Prasad was poor, he lived a life of honesty and integrity. Lal Bahadur lost his father when he was only one. Ramdulari Devi raised Lal Bahadur and her two daughters at her father's house.

There is a very famous incident regarding Lal Bahadur Shastri's childhood which took place when he was six years old. One day, while returning from school, Lal Bahadur and his friends went to an orchard that was on the way to home. Lal Bahadur Shastri was standing below while his friends climbed the trees to pluck mangoes. Meanwhile, the gardener came and caught hold of Lalbahadur Shastri. He scolded Lal Bahadur Shastri and started beating him. Lal Bahadur Shastri pleaded to gardener to leave him as he was orphan. Taking pity on Lal Bahadur, the gardener said, "Because you are an orphan, it is all the more important that you must learn better behavior." These words left a deep imprint on Lal Bahadur Shastri and he swore to behave better in the future.

Lal Bahadur stayed at his grandfather's house till he was ten. By that time he had passed the sixth standard examination. He went to Varanasi for higher education. In 1921 when Mahatma Gandhi launched the non-cooperation movement against British Government, Lal Bahadur Shastri, was only seventeen years old. When Mahatma Gandhi gave a call to the youth to come out of Government schools and colleges, offices and courts and to sacrifice everything for the sake of freedom, Lal Bahadur came out of his school. Though his mother and relatives advised him not to do so, he was firm in his decision. Lal Bahadur was arrested during the Non-cooperation movement but as he was too young he was let off.

After his release Lal Bahadur joined Kashi Vidya Peeth and for four years he studied philosophy. In 1926, Lal Bahadur earned the degree of "Shastri" After leaving Kashi Vidya Peeth, Lal Bahadur Shastri joined "The Servants of the People Society", which Lala Lajpat Rai had started in 1921. The aim of the Society was to train youths that were prepared to dedicate their lives in the service of the country. In 1927, Lal Bahadur Shastri married Lalitha Devi. The marriage ceremony was very simple and Shastriji took only a charkha (spinning wheel) and few yards of Khadi in dowry.

In 1930, Gandhiji gave the call for Civil Disobedience Movement. Lal Bahadur Shastri joined the movement and encouraged people not to pay land revenue and taxes to the government. He was arrested and put in jail for two and a half years. In jail Shastriji became familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries and social reformers. Lal Bahadur Shastri had great self respect. Once when he was in prison, one of his daughters fell seriously ill. The officers agreed to release him out for a short time but on condition that he should agree in writing not to take part in the freedom 'movement during this period. Lal Bahadur did not wish to participate in the freedom movement during his temporary release from prison; but he said that he would not give it in writing. He thought that it was against his self-respect to give it in writing.

After Second World War started in 1939, Congress launched "Individual Satyagraha" in 1940 to demand freedom. Lal Bahadur Shastri was arrested during Individual Satyagraha and released after one year. On August 8, 1942, Gandhiji gave the call for Quit India Movement. Lal Bahadur actively participated in the movement. He went underground but was later arrested. Lal Bahadur Shastri was released in 1945 along with other major leaders. He earned the praise of Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant by his hard work during the 1946 provincial elections. Lal Bahadur's administrative ability and organization skills came to the fore during this time. When Govind Vallabh Pant became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he appointed Lal Bahadur Shastri as his Parliamentary Secretary. In 1947, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Minister of Police and Transport in Pant's Cabinet.

Lal Bahadur Sastri was the General Secretary of the Congress Party when the first general elections were held after India became Republic. Congress Party returned to power with a huge majority. In 1952, Jawahar Lal Nehru appointed Lal Bahadur Shastri as the Railways and Transport Minister in the Central Cabinet. Lal Bahadur Shastri's contribution in providing more facilities to travelers in third class compartments cannot be forgotten. He reduced the vast disparity between the first class and third class in the Railways. Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from Railways in 1956, owning moral responsibility for a railway accident. Jawaharlal Nehru tried to persuade Shastriji but Lal Bahadur Shastri refused to budge from his stand. By his action Lal Bahadur Shastri set new standards of morality in public life.

In the next general elections when Congress returned to power, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Minister for Transport and Communications and later the Minister for Commerce and Industry. He became the Home Minister in 1961, after the death of Govind Vallabh Pant. In the 1962 India-China war Shastriji played a key role in maintaining internal security of the country.

After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri was unanimously elected as the Prime Minister of India. It was a difficult time and the country was facing huge challenges. There was food shortage in the country and on the security front Pakistan was creating problems. In 1965, Pakistan tried to take advantage of India's vulnerability and attacked India. Mild-mannered Lal Bahadur Shastri rose to the occasion and led the country ably. To enthuse soldiers and farmers he coined the slogan of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan". Pakistan lost the war and Shastriji's leadership was praised all over the world.

In January 1966, to broker peace between India and Pakistan, Russia mediated a meeting between Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan in Tashkent, Russia. India and Pakistan signed the joint declaration under Russian mediation. Under the treaty India agreed to return to Pakistan all the territories occupied by it during the war. The joint declaration was signed on January 10, 1966 and Lal Bahadur Shastri died of heart attack on the same night.