Birthday of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister

Nehru Jayanti marks the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, born on 14 November 1889 in Allahabad (Prayagraj). A barrister educated at Harrow and Cambridge, he joined the freedom struggle under Mahatma Gandhi, spent nearly nine years in British prisons, and was elected Congress president several times; at the Lahore session of 1929 he presided when Purna Swaraj (complete independence) was declared. On 15 August 1947 he became India's first Prime Minister, delivering the 'Tryst with Destiny' speech at midnight, and served until his death in 1964. He shaped modern India's democratic institutions, secularism, planned economy, and scientific temper, founding the IITs, AIIMS, ISRO's precursor and the atomic energy programme, and was a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement. His books, The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History and his Autobiography, remain widely read. Because of his affection for children, his birthday is celebrated as Children's Day. Tributes are paid at Shanti Van in Delhi, his memorial on the banks of the Yamuna.