Sir Arthur Cotton Death Anniversary

General Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton

 General Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton KCSI was a British general and irrigation engineer. Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout British India. 

 

Born: 15 May 1803, Combermere Abbey, Dodcott cum Wilkesley, United Kingdom

 

Died: 24 July 1899, Dorking, United Kingdom

 

Battles and wars: First Anglo-Burmese War

 

Rank: General officer

 

Siblings: Richard Lynch Cotton, Sydney Cotton

 

Children: Elizabeth Cotton, Lady Hope

Ayyanki Venkata Ramanayya Jayanthi

Shri Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya or Ayyanki Venkata Ramanaiah (Telugu: అయ్యంకి వెంకటరమణయ్య) (24 July 1890 – 1979) is recognised as the "Architect of Public Library Movement in India".^[2] He is the first Indian to be awarded the Kaula Gold Medal.^[3] Through his career as an influential library leader throughout the entire country, Ramanayya was seen as a respected peer and mentor by S. R. Ranganathan.

Early career

He was born in konkuduru village of Ramachandrapuram taluq in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh to Venkata Ratnam and Mangamamba.^[4] He studied in Tailor High School and influenced by Bipin Chandra Pal entered public service.

Shri Iyyanki entered public life in the year 1907 at the age of 19 and was instrumental in establishing the First State Library Association in Indian – Andhra Desa Library Association (1914), Bengal Library Association (1925). He contributed to the foundation of the Madras Library Association (1928), Punjab Library Association (1929) at state level and All India Public Library Association (1919) at the national level.

Between 1934–1948 he toured the coastal districts and organised library tours in large scale by the district secretaries. As a result, hundreds of libraries are opened and many are reopened. He organised training camps for the library secretarires in 1920 and 1934. It is not exaggeration if one can say he toured almost all villages in Andhra Pradesh.