Usha Mehta

Subject: History

Concept:

Usha Mehta(25 March 1920 – 11 August 2000) was a Gandhian and freedom fighter of India.
In 1928, eight-year-old Usha participated in a protest march against the Simon Commission
She used to mobilize friends and organize Prabhatpheris along with them dressed in national tricolour. They also used to picket liquor shops. She met Mahatma Gandhi as a young girl and took a vow to wear khadi life long
She also began studying law, but ended her studies in 1942 to join the Quit India Movement.
On 14 August 1942, Usha and some of her close associates began the Secret Congress Radio, a clandestine radio station. It went air on 27 August. Secret Congress Radio also kept the leaders of the freedom movement in touch with the public
The Chittagong Bomb Raid, Jamshedpur strike and running of parallel governments in Bihar and Maharashtra were some of the major developments that the secret Radio broadcast to the masses.
However, the police found them on 12 November 1942 and arrested the organizers, including Usha Mehta.
All were later imprisoned at Yeravda Jail in Pune.
In March 1946, she was released, the first political prisoner to be released in Bombay, at the orders of Morarji Desai, who was at that time the home minister in the interim government.
She continued to spread the Gandhian ideals and was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 1998.

Refer Quit India Movement 08 August 2021 Daily Prelims Notes

Herbert Baker Parliament design:

Originally called the House of Parliament, it was designed by the British architects’ Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1912-1913.
It was held as part of their wider mandate to construct a new administrative capital city for British India.
The perimeter of the building is circular, with 144 columns on the outside.
The building is surrounded by large gardens and the perimeter is fenced off by sandstone railings (jali).
Construction of the House began in 1921 and it was completed in 1927.
The existing building draws inspiration from Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple (in M.P.) and was built under the British Empire for its Imperial Legislative Council in 1927.
The opening ceremony, which then housed the Imperial Legislative Council, was performed on 18 January 1927 by Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India.
Following the end of British rule in India, it was taken over by Constituent Assembly of India which was succeeded by the parliament of India once Constitution of India came into force in 1950.