On the 194th birth anniversary of Dadabhai Naoroji, popularly known as the Grand Old Man of India, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, paid tribute to the leader.
About:
Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917) is known as the Grand Old Man of India.
Early life: Born in Bombay (now Mumbai) in a poor Parsi family, he began his career as a teacher of mathematics and natural philosophy at Elphinstone Institute (later Elphinstone College). He was the first Indian to become a full professor.
East Indian Association: In 1867, he founded the East Indian Association. It was a political advocacy group for India having both British and Indians on its membership roll.
Reforming Zoroastrian religion:
Rahnumae Mazdayasne Sabha: He founded the Rahnumae Mazdayasne Sabha (Guides on the Mazdayasne Path) in 1851 to restore the Zoroastrian religion to its original purity.
Rast Goftar (Truth Teller): In 1851, he founded Rast Goftar(Truth Teller), a Gujarati fortnightly to clarify Zoroastrian concepts and promote Parsi social reforms.
His business ventures: He travelled to London in 1855 to become a partner in Cama & Co, opening a Liverpool location for the first Indian company to be established in Britain. Within three years, he had resigned on ethical grounds.
He formulated the famous drain-of-wealth theory. Through his work with economics, he proved that Britannia was draining money out of India. In his book “Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901)”, he estimated a 200–300 million pounds loss of India's revenue to Britain that is not returned.
Association with Indian national congress: Naoroji is also credited with the founding of the Indian National Congress, along with A.O. Hume and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha. He thrice served as the President of Indian National Congress.
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