Nirmala Joshi was an officer of the British Indian Army until the nation's independence in 1947. When she was one year old, her father brought the family to India. Although the family was Hindu, she was educated by Christian missionaries in Mount Carmel, Hazaribag. At that time, she learned of Mother Teresa's work and wanted to share in that service. She soon converted to Catholicism and joined the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa. Joshi completed a Master's degree in Political Science and then went on to secure a doctorate degree in law from the University of Calcutta. She was one
March 1977 Fijian general election March 1977 Fijian general election General elections were held in Fiji between 19 March and 2 April 1977. A split in the ethnic Fijian vote, which saw 25 percent defecting to Fijian Nationalist Party of Sakeasi Butadroka, an extremist organization which advocated the "repatriation" of Indo-Fijians to India, led to the narrow defeat of the Alliance Party (Fiji) of the Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. The Alliance won 24 seats, two fewer than the Indo-Fijian-dominated National Federation Party. One seat was won by the Fijian Nationalist Party, with the remaining seat going to an independent candidate. As the winner