World War II spy Noor Inayat Khan is now the first woman of Indian origin to be commemorated by the distinct blue London plaque.

Try this PYQ:

Q.A recent movie titled “The Man Who Knew Infinity” is based on the biography of-

(a) S. Ramanujan
(b) S. Chandrasekhar
(c) S. N. Bose
(d) C. V. Raman

Noor Inayat Khan

• A descendant of Tipu Sultan, Noor Inayat Khan became a secret agent during the Second World War.
• She was the first woman radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France in 1943 and worked under the code name ‘Madeleine’.
• Renowned for her service in the Special Operations Executive, an independent British secret service set up by Winston Churchill in 1940.
• Noor was Britain’s first Indian Muslim war heroine in Europe and the first female radio operator sent into Nazi-occupied France.
• She was killed at the Dachau concentration camp in 1944 and was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1949.

What are Blue Plaques?

• The idea of placing commemorative plaques on historically significant buildings was first mooted in 1863.
• The idea was to honour important people and organisations that have lived or worked in London buildings.
• Currently, the blue plaque scheme is being run by the charity organisation, English Heritage that takes care of historic sites and buildings in England.
• While Khan is the first woman of Indian origin to be honoured with a blue plaque, it has been erected on houses and venues associated with several Indian men including Mahatma Gandhi, Raja Ram Mohun Roy, B R Ambedkar, Sardar Patel and Swami Vivekananda among others.

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