3 of 28

Scientist

He is an Indian scientist & served as 11th President of India (02-07), graduated in aerospace engineering at Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chennai, worked in DRDO & ISRO, is popularly known as the Missile Man. He played a pivotal role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests. He is currently a visiting professor at IIM, Ahmedabad & Indore, Chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai), etc

Dr.Abdul Kalam

15 Oct 1931

Making earth little softer

Abdul Kalam at the 12th Wharton India Economic Forum, 2008

11th President of India

In office

25 July 2002 – 25 July 2007

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Manmohan Singh

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

Preceded by K. R. Narayanan

Succeeded by Pratibha Devisingh Patil

Personal details

Born Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

15 October 1931 (age 81)

Rameswaram, Madras Presidency, British India

(now in Tamil Nadu, India)

Alma mater St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli

Madras Institute of Technology

Profession Professor, Author, scientist, president

Aerospace engineer

Religion Islam

Website abdulkalam.com

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is an Indian scientist and administrator who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, studied physics at the St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, and aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chennai.

Before his term as President, he worked as an aerospace engineer with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).[1] Kalam is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology.[2] He played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974. Some scientific experts have however called Kalam a man with no authority over nuclear physics but who just carried on the works of Homi J. Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai.[3]

Kalam was elected the President of India in 2002, defeating Lakshmi Sahgal and was supported by both the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the major political parties of India. He is currently a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Management Indore, Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai), JSS University (Mysore) and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India.

Kalam advocated plans to develop India into a developed nation by 2020 in his book India 2020. Books authored by him have received considerable demands in South Korea for the translated versions.[4] He has received several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. Kalam is known for his motivational speeches and interaction with the student community in India.[5] He launched his mission for the youth of the nation in 2011 called the What Can I Give Movement with a central theme to defeat corruption in India.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in a Tamil Muslim family to Jainulabdeen, a boat owner and Ashiamma, a housewife, at Rameswaram, located in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.[6][7][8][9] He came from a poor background and started working at an early age to supplement his family's income.[10] After completing school, Kalam distributed newspapers in order to financially contribute to his father's income.[10][11] In his school years, he had average grades, but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn and spend hours on his studies, especially mathematics.[11]

"I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness as did my three brothers and sisters."

—A quote from Kalam's autobiography[8]

After completing his school education at the Rameshwaram Elementary School, Kalam went on to attend Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, then affiliated with the University of Madras, from where he graduated in physics in 1954.[12] Towards the end of the course, he was not enthusiastic about the subject and would later regret the four years he studied it. He then moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering.[9] While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean was dissatisfied with the lack of progress and threatened revoking his scholarship unless the project was finished within the next two days. He worked tirelessly on his project and met the deadline, impressing the Dean who later said, "I [Dean] was putting you [Kalam] under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline".[13]

Career as scientist [edit]

This was my first stage, in which I learnt leadership from three great teachers—Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Prof. Satish Dhawan and Dr. Brahm Prakash. This was the time of learning and acquisition of knowledge for me.

“”

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam[14]

After graduating from Madras Institute of Technology (MIT – Chennai) in 1960, Kalam joined Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as a scientist. Kalam started his career by designing a small helicopter for the Indian Army, but remained unconvinced with the choice of his job at DRDO.[15] Kalam was also part of the INCOSPAR committee working under Vikram Sarabhai, the renowned space scientist.[9] In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he was the project director of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near earth orbit in July 1980. Joining ISRO was one of Kalam's biggest achievements in life and he is said to have found himself when he started to work on the SLV project. Kalam first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965.[1] In 1969, Kalam received the government's approval and expanded the program to include more engineers.[14]

Kalam addresses engineering students at IIT Guwahati

In 1963–64, he visited Nasa's Langley Research Center in Hampton Virginia, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and Wallops Flight Facility situated at Eastern Shore of Virginia.[7][16] During the period between the 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar SLV and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be success.

Kalam was invited by Raja Ramanna to witness the country's first nuclear test Smiling Buddha as the representative of TBRL, even though he had not participated in the development, test site preparation and weapon designing. In the 1970s, a landmark was achieved by ISRO when the locally built Rohini-1 was launched into space, using the SLV rocket.[17] In the 1970s, Kalam also directed two projects, namely, Project Devil and Project Valiant , which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV programme.[17] Despite the disapproval of Union Cabinet, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi allotted secret funds for these aerospace projects through her discretionary powers under Kalam's directorship.[17] Kalam played an integral role convincing the Union Cabinet to conceal the true nature of these classified aerospace projects.[17] His research and educational leadership brought him great laurels and prestige in 1980s, which prompted the government to initiate an advanced missile program under his directorship.[17] Kalam and Dr. V. S. Arunachalam, metallurgist and scientific adviser to the Defense Minister, worked on the suggestion by the then Defense Minister, R. Venkataraman on a proposal for simultaneous development of a quiver of missiles instead of taking planned missiles one by one.[18] R Venkatraman was instrumental in getting the cabinet approval for allocating 388 crore rupees for the mission, named Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (I.G.M.D.P) and appointed Kalam as the Chief Executive.[18] Kalam played a major part in developing many missiles under the mission including Agni, an intermediate range ballistic missile and Prithvi, the tactical surface-to-surface missile, although the projects have been criticised for mismanagement and cost and time overruns.[18][19] He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999. The Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period where he played an intensive political and technological role. Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator, along with R. Chidambaram during the testing phase.[7][20] Photos and snapshots of him taken by the media elevated Kalam as the country's top nuclear scientist.[21]

In 1998, along with cardiologist Dr.Soma Raju, Kalam developed a low cost Coronary stent. It was named as "Kalam-Raju Stent" honouring them.[22][23] In 2012, the duo, designed a rugged tablet PC for health care in rural areas, which was named as "Kalam-Raju Tablet".[24]

Presidency [edit]

Kalam served as the 11th President of India, succeeding K. R. Narayanan. He won the 2002 presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing 107,366 votes won by Lakshmi Sahgal. He served from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.

On 10 June 2002, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which was in power at the time, expressed to the leader of opposition, Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi that they would propose Kalam for the post of President.[25] The Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party backed his candidacy.[26][27] After the Samajwadi Party announced its support for him, President K. R. Narayanan chose not to seek a second term in office and hence left the field clear for Kalam to become the 11th President of India.[28]

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Scientist

Homi Jehangir Bhabha, known as father of Indian nuclear programme, a nuclear physicist, founding director & professor of physics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Trombay Atomic Energy. He completed degree for mathematical study from Cambridge Uni & doctorate in nuclear physics. He was a Visionary behind India's Three Stage Nuclear Power Programme. He was clear & wanting to study nuclear physics instead of engineering

Dr. Homi Bhabha

30 Oct 1909-66

Making earth little softer

Homi Bhabha (1909-1966)

Born 30 October 1909

Bombay, British India (present-day India)

Died 24 January 1966 (aged 56)

Mont Blanc, France

Residence New Delhi, India

Citizenship India

Nationality Indian

Fields Nuclear Physics

Institutions Atomic Energy Commission of India

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Cavendish Laboratory

Indian Institute of Science

Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment

Alma mater Elphinstone College

Royal Institute of Science

University of Cambridge

Doctoral advisor Ralph H. Fowler

Other academic advisors Paul Dirac

Known for Indian nuclear programme

Cosmic Rays

point particles

Notable awards Padma Bhushan (1954)

Homi Jehangir Bhabha, was known as "father of Indian nuclear programme", an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Trombay Atomic Energy. He completed degree for mathematical study from Cambridge Uni & doctorate in nuclear physics. He was a Visionary behind India's Three Stage Nuclear Power Programme

5 of 28

Scientist

Graduated in Chemical engineering, Mumbai, later did Ph.D. President of Global Research Alliance institutes from Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Europe & USA (60,000 scientists) & India's National Innovation Foundation. He was president of UK Institution of Chemical Engineers (07-8) having 34 labs & 20,000 employees.First Indian being elected as foreign fellow of US National Academy of Engg (03), Royal Academy of Engg UK (96), World Academy of Art & Sci,USA

Dr.Raghunath Mashelkar

1 Jan 1943

Padma Bhushan

Making earth little softer

3. Raghunath Mashelkar - Mashelkar had a difficult childhood and his mother could not support his college education. Mashelkar went to school barefoot and almost gave up studies. Still he managed to be a rank holder in the Matriculation examination

Mashelkar studied at the University of Bombay's Department of Chemical Technology (now the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai) where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Chemical engineering in 1966, later on a Ph.D. degree in 1969

Mashelkar is presently the president of Global Research Alliance,a network of publicly funded research and development institutes from Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Europe and USA with over 60,000 scientists. He is also the President of India's National Innovation Foundation

President of the Indian National Science Academy and the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers (2007-8) - as the director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,world's largest chain of publicly funded industrial R&D institutions, with thirty-eight laboratories and about 20,000 employees.

He is the third Indian engineer to have been elected as fellow of Royal Society (FRS), London in the twentieth century.

He was elected foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2005, only the 8th Indian since 1863 to be selected. On 28 April 2008,

He was elected as the foreign associate of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

He is the first Indian to have received this honour. He was elected foreign fellow of US National Academy of Engineering (2003), Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, UK (1996), and Fellow of World Academy of Art & Science, USA (2000).

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Economist

He is a renowned economist & current prime minister. He did bachelors & masters in economics from Punjab Uni, later doctorate in economics from Oxford & worked for the United Nations. Later he was advisor in Ministry of Foreign Trade, Chief Economic Advisor, Reserve Bank Governor & Head of Planning Commission. As a Finance Minister carried lot of financial & structural reforms. Later served as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha & then became a prime minister.

Dr.Manmohan Singh

26 Sep 1932

Making earth little softer

Manmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in GahManmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in Gah, PunjabManmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab, British IndiaManmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab, British India, into a Sikhfamily.^[2] He lost his mother when he was very young and was raised by his paternal grandmother, to whom he was very close.

After the Partition of IndiaAfter the Partition of India, his family migrated to AmritsarAfter the Partition of India, his family migrated to Amritsar, India, where he studied at Hindu College. He attended Panjab University, ChandigarhAfter the Partition of India, his family migrated to Amritsar, India, where he studied at Hindu College. He attended Panjab University, Chandigarh, then in Hoshiarpur,^[3]^[3]^[4]^[3][4]^[5] Punjab, studying Economics and got his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954, respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. He went on as a Tata scholar to read for the Economics Tripos atCambridge Punjab, studying Economics and got his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954, respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. He went on as a Tata scholar to read for the Economics Tripos atCambridge as a member of St John's College. He won the Wright's Prize for distinguished performance in 1955 and 1957. He was also a recipient of the Wrenbury scholarship.

In a 2005 interview with the British journalist Mark Tully, Singh said about his Cambridge days "At (Cambridge) university I first became conscious of the creative role of politics in shaping human affairs, and I owe that mostly to my teachers Joan Robinson and Nicholas Kaldor. Joan Robinson was a brilliant teacher, but she also sought to awaken the inner conscience of her students in a manner that very few others were able to achieve. She questioned me a great deal and made me think the unthinkable. She propounded the left wing interpretation of Keynes, maintaining that the state has to play more of a role if you really want to combine development with social equity. Kaldor influenced me even more; I found him pragmatic, scintillating, stimulating. Joan Robinson was a great admirer of what was going on in China, but Kaldor used the Keynesian analysis to demonstrate that capitalism could be made to work.” After Cambridge, Singh returned to India to his teaching position at Punjab University.^[6]

In 1960, he went to the University of OxfordIn 1960, he went to the University of Oxford for the DPhil where he was a member of Nuffield College. His 1962 doctoral thesis under supervision of IMD Little was titled "India’s export performance, 1951–1960, export prospects and policy implications", and was later the basis for his book "India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth".^[7]

13th Prime Minister of India

Incumbent

Assumed office

22 May 2004

President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Pratibha Patil

Pranab Mukherjee

Preceded by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Minister of Finance

In office

26 June 2012 – 31 July 2012

Preceded by Pranab Mukherjee

Succeeded by P. Chidambaram

In office

30 November 2008 – 24 January 2009

Preceded by P. Chidambaram

Succeeded by Pranab Mukherjee

In office

21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996

Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao

Preceded by Yashwant Sinha

Succeeded by Jaswant Singh

Minister of Railways

In office

19 May 2011 – 13 July 2011

Preceded by Mamata Banerjee

Succeeded by Dinesh Trivedi

Minister of External Affairs

In office

6 November 2005 – 24 October 2006

Preceded by K. Natwar Singh

Succeeded by Pranab Mukherjee

Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission

In office

15 January 1985 – 31 August 1987

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

Preceded by P. V. Narasimha Rao

Succeeded by P. Shiv Shankar

Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

In office

15 September 1982 – 15 January 1985

Preceded by I. G. Patel

Succeeded by Amitav Ghosh

Personal details

Born 26 September 1932 (age 80)

Gah, Punjab, British India

(now in Punjab, Pakistan)[1]

Political party Indian National Congress (1991–present)

Other political

affiliations United Front (1996–2004)

United Progressive Alliance (2004–present)

Spouse(s) Gursharan Kaur (1958–present)

Children Upinder

Daman

Amrit

Residence Panchavati

Alma mater Panjab University, Chandigarh

St John's College, Cambridge

Nuffield College, Oxford

Religion Sikhism

Signature

Website pmindia.gov.in

Manmohan Singh ([mənˈmoːɦən ˈsɪ́ŋɡ] ( listen); born 26 September 1932) is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. A renowned economist, he is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term, and the first Sikh to hold the office.

Born in Gah (now in Punjab, Pakistan), Singh's family migrated to India during its partition in 1947. After obtaining his doctorate in economics from Oxford, Singh worked for the United Nations in 1966–69. He subsequently began his bureaucratic career when Lalit Narayan Mishra hired him as an advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Over the 70s and 80s, Singh held several key posts in the Government of India, such as Chief Economic Advisor (1972–76), Reserve Bank Governor (1982–85) and Planning Commission head (1985–87).

In 1991, as India faced a severe economic crisis, newly elected Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao surprisingly inducted the apolitical Singh into his cabinet as Finance Minister. Over the next few years, despite strong opposition, Finance Minister Singh carried out several structural reforms that liberalised India's economy. Although these measures proved successful in averting the crisis, and enhanced Singh's reputation globally as a leading reform-minded economist, the incumbent Congress party fared poorly in the 1996 general election. Subsequently, Singh served as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India's Parliament) during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government of 1998–2004.

In 2004, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power, its chairperson Sonia Gandhi unexpectedly relinquished the premiership to Manmohan Singh. This Singh-led "UPA I" government executed several key legislations and projects, including the Rural Health Mission, Unique Identification Authority, Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and Right to Information Act. In 2008, opposition to a historic civil nuclear agreement with the United States nearly caused Singh's government to fall after Left Front parties withdrew their support. Although India's economy grew rapidly under UPA I, its security was threatened by several terrorist incidents (culminating in the 2008 Mumbai attacks) and a growing Maoist insurgency.

The 2009 general election saw the UPA return with an increased mandate, with Manmohan Singh retaining the office of Prime Minister.

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Politics

Currently Union Minister of Finance, also was Home Affairs Minister earlier. Graduating BSc in statistics & masters he completed bachelor of laws from the Madras Law College & MBA from Harvard Business School. Practicing corporate lawyer & became a sr advocate in ’84. He has offices in Delhi and Chennai and practices in Supreme Court & in various high courts in India, He was Youth Congress president too. Now shouldering many responsibilities assigned by PM successfully.

P. Chidambaram

16 Sep 1945

Making earth little softer

Chidambaram Palaniappan (born 16 September 1945) is an Indian politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress and the current Union Minister of Finance of the Republic of India. P. Chidambaram is a well known corporate lawyer and an important member of the last two Congress-led Governments. He also served as the Finance Minister from May 2004 to November 2008. However, after the resignation of Shivraj Patil in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, Chidambaram was made the Home Affairs Minister. After a three and a half-year stint as Home Minister, Chidambaram returned as Finance Minister, succeeding Manmohan Singh.[1][2]

Early life and education [edit]

Chidambaram was born to Kandanur L. Ct. L. Palaniappa Chettiar and Lakshmi Achi in Kanadukathan in the Sivaganga District, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. His maternal grandfather was Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar, a wealthy merchant and banker from Chettinad.[3] Chidambaram did his schooling at the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School and received a pre-university degree from Loyola College, Chennai. After graduating with a BSc degree in statistics from the Presidency College, Chennai, he completed his bachelor of laws from the Madras Law College (now Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, and his MBA from Harvard Business School in the class of 1968. He also holds a master's degree from Loyola College in Chennai.[4]

Chidambaram has 5 brothers and 6 sister.[citation needed] His father's business interests covered textiles, trading and plantations in India. He chose to concentrate on his legal practice and stayed away from the family business.[citation needed]

He enrolled as a lawyer in the Madras High Court. He became a senior advocate in 1984. He has offices in Delhi and Chennai and practices in the Supreme Court and in various high courts in India.

Palaniappan Chidambaram at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011.

Minister of Finance

Incumbent

Assumed office

31 July 2012

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Preceded by Manmohan Singh

In office

22 May 2004 – 30 November 2008

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Preceded by Jaswant Singh

Succeeded by Manmohan Singh

In office

1 June 1996 – 21 April 1997

Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda

Preceded by Jaswant Singh

Succeeded by Inder Kumar Gujral

Minister of Home Affairs

In office

30 November 2008 – 31 July 2012

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Preceded by Shivraj Patil

Succeeded by Sushilkumar Shinde

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

In office

26 December 1985 – 2 December 1989

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

Preceded by Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo

Succeeded by Margaret Alva

Personal details

Born 16 September 1945 (age 67)

Kandanur, India

Political party Indian National Congress (Before 1996; 2004–present)

Tamil Maanila Congress (1996–2001)

Congress Jananayaka Peravai (2001–2004)

Other political

affiliations United Front (1996–2004)

United Progressive Alliance (2004–present)

Spouse(s) Nalini Chidambaram

Children Karti

Alma mater University of Madras

Harvard Business School

Religion Hinduism[citation needed]

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Computer Research

Is an Architect of PARAM series of Supercomputers, was executive director at C-DAC, founder of national research labs, C-DAC, ER&DC Trivandum, IIITM-K, TechnoPark, MKCL, IsquareIT, ETH Research Lab & Multiversity. Presently chairing Board of Governors-IIT-Delhi, ETH Research Lab, Founder Chancellor & Chief Mentor of Multiversity, Chancellor of D. Y. Patil Uni, National President of Vijnana Bharati, awarded with Padmashri by Govt of India

Dr.Vijay Bhatkar,11 Oct 46, BE (Nagpur), ME (Baroda), Doctorate in Philosophy in Engg (IIT, Delhi)

Making earth little softer

Bachelor of Engineering degree from VNIT Nagpur in 1965,

Master of Engineering in from M.S. University, Baroda, in 1968

Doctor of Philosophy degree in Engineering from IIT Delhi, in 1972

Dr. Vijay Bhatkar is a renown Indian scientist. India's computer magazine Dataquest has placed him among the star pioneers who shaped India's IT industry (US$ 100 Billion in 2012), with supercomputing capability, capacity, and infrastructure, as its crowning glory.

Dr. Bhatkar is best known as the architect of India's national initiative in supercomputing where he led the development of Param supercomputers. When India was denied the supercomputer by USA, Dr. Bhatkar took the challenge of developing an indigenous supercomputer in a record time of 3 years and delivered Param 8000 in 1991 and went on to develop terascale Param 10000 in 1998, propelling India into the exclusive club of select nations, who possess this strategic technology. Based on the Param series of supercomputers, he built the National Param Supercomputing Facility (NPSF) which has been now made available as a grid computing facility through Garuda grid on the National Knowledge Network (NKN) providing nationwide access to High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure. Today, Dr. Bhatkar has once again taken the lead in proposing the National Mission on Development of Exascale Supercomputing Capability, Capacity and Infrastructure on National Knowledge Network. This is one of the largest projects in S&T in India with a 12th Plan budget of nearly Rs.5,000 crores that will not only transform India's computing but will also catalyze India's leadership in Science through Third & Fourth modes of scientific discovery by engaging world's largest number of researchers and scientists across a large number of research labs and universities of India collaborating together.

Dr. Bhatkar is also widely known for bringing ICT to the masses through a wide range of path-breaking initiatives, such as the celebrated GIST multilingual technology covering India's 22 official languages with 10 diverse scripts that has dissolved the language barrier on computers once for all; MKCL's computer literacy programme that made a world mark by creating 7.5 million computer literates within a decade; Education to Home (ETH) initiative for bringing the benefits of ICT to school education, in learning, teaching, administration, governance and communication & collaboration.

In the 80's, Dr. Bhatkar substantially contributed to the ushering of electronics revolution in India. He led the development of several innovations such as India's first fully solid state color television, color TV broadcast during Asiad in 1982, distributed control systems for Indian power plants and process industries, traffic control systems, automation of security systems, defense simulators and the like from the component level upward that contributed to the building of indigenous foundation of India's electronics industry which was to become India's IT industry later.

Faced with the challenges of creating a large number of software professionals in a shortest possible time, Dr. Bhatkar founded the Advanced Computer Training School (ACTS) in C-DAC which during the 90's provided over 10,000 software professionals to India's fast growing IT industry.

Dr. Vijay Bhatkar is credited with the creation of several national research labs and institutions, notably amongst them being C-DAC, ER&DC Trivandum, IIITM-K, TechnoPark, MKCL, IsquareIT, ETH Research Lab and Multiversity. Simultaneously, he has mentored several innovation-based startups.

Ever since he joined as a core member of IPAG Electronics Commission in 1972, Dr. Bhatkar has substantially contributed to shaping of India's path breaking policies in electronics, automation and control, computer and software, ICT, education and S&T and e-Governance over the successive four decades contributing to India's pre-eminence in these fields.

Dr. Bhatkar has served as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to PM, Member of the Governing Council of CSIR. He was also a member of the IT Task Force constituted by PM in 1998. He is Fellow of IEEE (USA) and Fellow of ACM (USA), world's foremost professional societies in Electronics and Computers respectively, besides being Fellow of CSI, INAE, IETE, NASI, MASc, etc. H has served as the Chairman of e-Governance Committees of Maharashtra and Goa.

He was called upon to address the Royal Society of London; he led the Indian delegation to South Africa to formulate India-SA initiative in advanced computing; he was a member of the Indo-Russian Long-Term Programme (ILTP) in S&T, Indo-Hungarian and Indo-French Joint Commissions, substantially contributing to India's international cooperation in electronics, computing and ICT.

Dr. Bhatkar has authored/edited over 12 books and 80 technical and research papers and addressed several university convocations, international and national conferences and conventions and public functions. His ground-breaking articulations have been widely covered by both print and broadcast media. His current research interests are in supercomputing, artificial intelligence, brain-mind-consciousness, and synthesis of science and spirituality.

[edit]Awards & Recognitions

Dr. Bhatkar is one of the most decorated scientists of India in terms of national and international awards, fellowships of professional societies and public recognitions. He was conferred with the Padmashri Award in 2000 by Government of India and the Maharashtra Bhushan Award of 1999-2000, the highest recognition of the Government of Maharashtra. He is the recipient of the prestigious Jindal Prize 2012 for science and technology in the service of society. He was conferred with the Saint Jnaneshwar World Peace Prize 2010 by World Peace Center for promoting synthesis of science and spirituality in the service of humanity. He was also nominated to the Petersberg Prize 2004 for Information Technology for Development and was conferred with the prestigious Dataquest Lifetime Achievement Award 2003. Dr. Bhatkar has been showered with a string of awards, notably amongst them being Adi Godrej Award 2919, C-DAC Oration Award 2006, KG Foundation's Personality of the Decade Award 2004, PGCIL Award 2001, Om Prakash Bhasin Foundation Award 2000, Global e-Biz Award 2001, FICCI Award 1999 for Excellence in Engineering & Technology, Lokmanya Tilak Award 1999, Rotary Excellence Award 1997, Pune's Pride Award 1996, H.K. Firodia Award 1996-97 for Lifetime Achievements in Science & Technology, Distinguished Alumni Award 1994 of IIT Delhi, VASVIK Award 1993, and Electronics Man of the Year Award 1992 and many more. For contributions to the social service and to the world of spirituality, he has been conferred with several social and spiritual awards and public recognitions. He has been awarded Sitaram Jindal Foundation Award-2012 for applying the science and technology to grassroot level. [1]

Dr. Vijay Bhatkar is presently the Chairman of Board of Governors of IIT-Delhi, Chairman of ETH Research Lab, Founder Chancellor and Chief Mentor of Multiversity, Chancellor of D. Y. Patil University, and National President of Vijnana Bharati, a People's Science Movement of over 6,000 scientists across India.

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Software Organisation

Graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, & masters from IIT Kanpur in 1969.Murthy worked at IIM A’bad as systems programmer. Later founded Infosys in 1981 with Rs10k.Murthy served as the CEO of Infosys for 21 years, then Chairman of Board ,Chief Mentor and now as Chairman Emeritus. He also serves as an directors on the corporate boards, co-chaired World Economic Forum in Davos

Narayana Murthy

20 Aug 1946

Net worth : 1.55 b$

Making earth little softer

Occupation : Chairman Emeritus, Infosys

Net worth $1.55 billion (2013)

Graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, & master's degree from IIT Kanpur in 1969.

Murthy worked at IIM Ahmedabad as chief systems programmer. Later founded Infosys in 1981with an initial capital injection of Rs 10,000. Murthy served as the CEO of Infosys for 21 years, then Chairman of Board ,non-executive Chairman, Chief Mentor and now as Chairman Emeritus

He also serves as an independent director on the corporate boards of HSBC, DBS Bank, Unilever, ICICI and NDTV.

He also serves as a member of the advisory boards and councils of several educational and philanthropic institutions including Cornell University, INSEAD, ESSEC, Ford Foundation, the UN Foundation, the Indo-British Partnership, Asian Institute of Management, a trustee of the Infosys Prize, and as a trustee of the Rhodes Trust that manages the Rhodes Scholarship. He is also the Chairman of the Governing board of Public Health Foundation of India. He also serves on the Asia Pacific Advisory Board of British Telecommunications. In 2005 he co-chaired the World Economic Forum in Davos.

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Medicine

Dr. Kantilal H. Sancheti is an orthopaedic doctor, known for his extremely polite talk, the inventor of India's first indigenous knee implant and founder of Maharashtra's first orthopaedic dedicated specialty hospital. He has completed M.S. (Ortho), F.R.C.S (U.K.), Ph.D (Ortho), F.I.C.S., F.A.C.S. (U.S.A.), recipient of Padmashree & Padmabhushan awards, Professor & Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon, Sancheti Hospital,Pune, has operated Vajpayee, PM then.

Dr.K. H. Sancheti

24 Jul 1936

Making earth little softer

Dr. Kantilal H. Sancheti is an orthopaedic doctor, the inventor of India's first indigenous knee implant – the Indus Knee and founder of Maharashtra's first orthopaedic dedicated specialty hospital.

He has completed M.S. (Ortho), F.R.C.S (Edinburgh) U.K., Ph.D (Ortho), F.I.C.S., F.A.C.S. (U.S.A.), Recipient of Padmashree & Padmabhushan award from president of India. Professor of Emeritus in Orthopaedics, Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon, Sancheti Hospital & Centre for Joint Replacement Surgery, Pune.

Director and Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon, Sancheti Institute for Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation. Chairman, Post Graduate Institute of Orthopaedics, Post Graduate Institute for Physiotherapy and Hospital Management. Hon. Orthopaedic Surgeon to His Excellency Governor of Maharashtra and Indian Armed Forces. Hon. Professor, Examiner, and member of several high level core committees of various universities and Health Care related committees of Government of Maharashtra and Medical Council of India. President Indian Orthopaedic Association and Past President of Maharashtra Orthopaedic Association. The Sancheti Institute & its staff have stood out as a centre of excellence over the last three decades. SIOR is regarded as the most highly specialized hospital for Joint Replacement, Traumatology, Spinal Surgery, Paediatrics, Orthopaedic, Arthroscopy and Sports Injuries, Hand and Plastic Surgery. Indus knee is indigenously manufactured knee for people.

The foundation of Sancheti Institute was laid in the year 1972.

Awards [edit]

The Government of India has presented him with the highest civilian accolades: the Padma Shri in 1991, the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2012.[2]

Maharana Mewar Award by the Maharana Mewar Foundation - 2003

Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburg, United Kingdom - 2004

Lifetime Achievement award of The International Medical Integration Council from the Government of Maharashtra - 2004

International Award for Medical Excellence by Harvard Medical School (USA) - 2005

Jeevan Sadhana Gaurav Puraskar by Pune University – 2010 [3]

He has, over the years, organized over 500 health camps for handicapped children all over India.

In addition to his medical prowess, Dr. Sancheti is also a highly acclaimed design consultant, with over 120 hospitals in India benefiting from his expertise in designing patient friendly hospitals.

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Banking

Born in Dhantoli, Nagpur,He holds a B.S. & M.S. degree in Electrical Engg (in ’77, just at 20) and MBA from Columbia Uni, & Ph.D in Finance from Columbia Business School.He taught economics at Columbia, then at Brock Uni, Canada. He joined Morgan Stanley as an associate in ‘83, first Indians to join company. Later joined as a CEO of Citigroup from ‘07 to ‘12, an compensation of $3,164,320 PA, will be part of JM Financial Group, awarded Padma Bhushan by Govt

Vikram Pandit

14 Jan 1957

Making earth little softer

Vikram Shankar Pandit

14 January 1957 (age 56)

Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

Occupation Banker

Years active 1983–present

Title Ex-CEO of Citigroup

Board member of Columbia University

Columbia Business School

Indian School of Business

Vikram Shankar Pandit (born 14 January 1957 in Marathi ) is an Indian-born American banker.

Vikram Pandit was born in Dhantoli locality of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India to an affluent marathi family. His father, Shankar B. Pandit, was an executive director at Sarabhai Chemicals in Baroda.[8][9][10]

He completed his schooling at the Dadar Parsee Youths Assembly High School in Dadar, Mumbai and when he was 16 years old, moved to the United States[8] to attend Columbia University.[11]

As a student, Pandit went to Columbia University[12] for his undergraduate program and in 1976, earned his B.S., electrical engineering degree in only three years. He completed his M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1977.

He then turned to business studies & finance and earned an M.B.A in 1980 followed by a PhD in finance from Columbia Business School in 1986, after publishing a thesis involving a complex financial puzzle, titled "Asset prices in a heterogeneous consumer economy".[8][13][14][15]

He is the former chief executive of Citigroup, a position he held from December 2007 until he resigned October 16, 2012.

He holds a B.S. and M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and MBA from Columbia University, and Ph.D in Finance from Columbia Business School. Pandit, a naturalized citizen of the United States

He taught economics at Columbia, then at Brock University in St. Catharines, Canada.

He joined Morgan Stanley as an associate in 1983, one of the first Indians to join the company

an annualized compensation of $3,164,320

Vikram Pandit is a part of the board of Columbia University, Columbia Business School, the Indian School of Business, and Trinity School. He also serves as director of the Institute of International Finance.[44] He was on the board of NASDAQ OMX, the New York City Investment Fund, from 2000 to 2003.

In 2008, Vikram Pandit was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.[1]

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Politics

Prithviraj Chavan current Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He was previously a member of Parliament, and served as the MoS in PMO

Chavan graduated in mechanical engineering from the BITS,Pilani, and holds a MS Deg from University of California, Berkeley. He holds a post of Member of IIT council. He wrote articles on computer science; engineering design; and also contribution to research in computerization. He retained his image of "Mr. Clean“ in politics.

Prithviraj Chauhan

17 Mar 1946

Making earth little softer

Assumed office

11 November 2010

Preceded by Ashok Chavan

Constituency Karad

Personal details

Born 18 March 1946 (age 67)

Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

Political party Indian National Congress

Spouse(s) Satvasheela

Residence Satara

Alma mater BITS, Pilani

University of California, Berkeley

Religion Hinduism

Prithviraj Chavan (born 17 March 1946) is the 22nd and current Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a state in Western India. A member of the Indian National Congress party, he was chosen by its president Sonia Gandhi to replace Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in 2010, following the latter's involvement in the Adarsh scam. He was previously a member of the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the India's Parliament) and served as the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.

Prithviraj Chavan was born to politicians Anandrao alias Dajisaheb Chavan and Premalakaki Chavan. Dajisaheb was a Member of the Lok Sabha from the Karad consitiuency, who served as Minister in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. Upon Dajisaheb's death, Chavan's mother Premalakaki contested from her late husband's constituency and served in the same capacity for all consecutive terms till her death in 1991.

Chavan graduated in mechanical engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, and holds a Master of Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He wrote articles on computer science; engineering design; and also contribution to research in computerization.

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Finance

As a Chartered Accountant, began career with Ernst & Young in New York, worked with Grindlays Bank , Chase Manhattan Bank & joined HDFC in 1978. Promoted to MD in 1985 and as Chairman in 1993. He was instrumental making HDFC one of India's premier housing finance institutions. He is Non-Executive Chairman of Glaxo (I) & Burroughs Wellcome (I) & Board member of Castrol (I), Hindustan Unilever, Siemens, M & M, Indian Hotels and SingTel. He held many Govt committees

Deepak Parekh

18 Oct 1944

Padma Bhushan

Making earth little softer

Deepak Parekh

Born October 18, 1944

India

Education B Com (Sydenham College, Mumbai); Chartered Accountant

Occupation non-executive chairman of the HDFC group

Notable credit(s) Padma Bhushan Awardee (2006)].,

Title Padma Bhushan, Chartered Accountant

A Chartered Accountant, Deepak Parekh began his career with Ernst & Young Management Consultancy Services in New York. After returning to India, he worked with Grindlays Bank and also Chase Manhattan Bank as its assistant representative for South Asia. Parekh joined HDFC in 1978. He was promoted to Managing Director in 1985 and appointed as Chairman in 1993. He was instrumental in making the HDFC one of India's premier housing finance institutions. Parekh also became the Non-Executive Chairman of Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd (IDFC), a Government of India enterprise for infrastructure projects in 1997. He is also the Non-Executive Chairman of Glaxo India Ltd & Burroughs Wellcome (India) Ltd and on the Board of Castrol India Limited, Hindustan Unilever, Siemens Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indian Hotels Company and SingTel. Mr. Parekh is also extremely supportive of youth leadership and thus is a proactive advisory board member of the world's largest student driven organization AIESEC India.

Parekh has been a member of various Committees set up by the Government of India. He was appointed Chairman of the high level expert committee formed to recommend measures for strengthening the Unit Scheme in 1964. The Reserve Bank of India appointed him Chairman of the Advisory Group for Securities Market Regulation, which was tasked to compare the level of adherence to international standards in India with that in other countries. He was also Chairman of the Expert Committee constituted by the Ministry of Power to look into the reform efforts in the power sector.

Awards and Honors [edit]

Deepak Parekh has won several awards including Businessman of the Year 1996 from Business India and the JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award by All India Management Association (AIMA). He was the first recipient of the Qimpro Platinum Award for Quality for his contributions to the services sector, and the youngest recipient of the prestigious Corporate Award for Life Time Achievement by the Economic Times. Padma Bhushan was conferred on him by the Government of India. In 2010 he was the first international recipient of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ Outstanding Achievement Award, for his contribution over many years to the finance and accountancy profession.[2]

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Projects

A "Metro Man", Is an Indian civil engineer. Graduated Civil Engg, served at the Bombay Port Trust ,Indian Railway after clearing IES-53 by UPSC. Later worked for Kolkata Metro, the first ever metro in India. Then CMD of Cochin Shipyard, CMD of Konkan Railway, Delhi Metro, Principal Advisor of the Kochi Metro Rail, Foundation for the Restoration of National Values with Ratan Tata. Awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour by the Government of France.

E Sreedharan

12 Jun 1932

Padma Vibhushan, PadmaShri

Making earth little softer

E. Sreedharan

ഇ. ശ്രീധരൻ

E.Sreedharan

Born June 12, 1932

Palakkad, Kerala, India

Other names Metro Man

Occupation Former Managing Director of DMRC

Known for Konkan Railway, Delhi Metro and Other Related Rail Developments

Awards Padma Vibhushan

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan (born 12 June 1932) is an Indian civil engineer. He served as the managing director of Delhi Metro between 1995-2012. He is otherwise also popularly known as the "Metro Man".

E. Sreedharan was born on 12 june 1932 in the Palakkad district of Kerala. His family hails from Karukaputhur, near Koottanad, part of Thrithala legislative assembly, Palakkad district, Kerala. He completed his education at the Basel Evangelical Mission Higher Secondary School and then went to the Victoria College in Palghat. He later on completed his Civil Engineering from the Government Engineering College, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh known as JNTUK. He, along with his wife Radha, have four children.

Career as a Lecturer [edit]

For a short tenure, he worked as a lecturer in Civil engineering at the Government Polytechnic, Kozhikode and a year at the Bombay Port Trust as an apprentice.

Later he joined the Indian Railways Service of Engineers(IRSE), after clearing IES-53 conducted by UPSC. His first assignment was in the Southern Railway as a Probationary Assistant Engineer in December 1954.

Government career [edit]

Pamban Bridge

In December 1964, a cyclone washed away parts of Pamban Bridge that connected Rameswaram to mainland Tamil Nadu. The Railways set a target of six months for the bridge to be repaired while Sreedharan's boss, under whose jurisdiction the bridge came, reduced it to three months. Sreedharan was put in-charge of the execution and he restored the bridge in just 46 days.[1] The Railway minister's Award was given to him in recognition of this achievement..

Kolkata Metro [edit]

Main article: Kolkata Metro

In 1970, as the deputy chief engineer, he was put in charge for implementation, planning and design of Calcutta metro, the first ever metro in India. He retired from Indian Railways as Member Engineering in 1990.

Cochin Shipyard Limited [edit]

Main article: Cochin Shipyard

Cochin Shipyard launched Rani Padmini, the first ship it built, when he was its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).

On Contract [edit]

The 1,319 m (4,327 ft) long Konkan Railway bridge across the Zuari river in Goa.

Konkan Railway [edit]

Main article: Konkan Railway

Though he retired, the Government needed his services and he was appointed the CMD of Konkan Railway on contract in 1990 by the then railway minister, George Fernandes. Under his stewardship, the company executed its mandate in seven years. The project was unique in many respects. It was the first major project in India to be undertaken on a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis; the organisation structure was different from that of a typical Indian Railway set-up; the project had 93 tunnels along a length of 82 km and involved tunneling through soft soil. The total project covered 760 km and had over 150 bridges. That a public sector project could be completed without significant cost and time overruns was considered an achievement by many.

Delhi Metro [edit]

Main article: Delhi Metro

He was made the managing director of Delhi Metro and by mid-1995 by the Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma[?], all the scheduled sections were completed by their target date or before, and within their respective budgets. Sreedharan was given the sobriquet of Metro Man by the media. In 2005, he was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by the government of France. He had announced that he would retire by the end of 2005, but his tenure has been extended by another three years to oversee the completion of the second phase of Delhi Metro.

In July 2009, Sreedharan resigned as the managing director DMRC, taking moral responsibility for the collapse of an under-construction bridge (at Zamrudpur near Amar Colony) that killed five people.[2] However, due to popular demand, Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit rejected Sreedharan's resignation, and he withdrew it a day later.[3] Sreedharan stated after his withdrawal that he will ultimately be quitting from his position but only after the completion of the Phase II of the Delhi Metro Project.[4]

After 16 years of service with the Delhi Metro, Sreedharan retired from service on 31 December 2011. His successor is Mangu Singh, who is an Indian Railways Service of Engineers (IRSE) officer of the 1981 batch.[5] After his retirement from DMRC, Sreedharan has been appointed as Principal Advisor of the Kochi Metro Rail Project.[6] Sreedharan also has an advisory board slot at Foundation for the Restoration of National Values, with members like business tycoon Ratan Tata and a former chief justice of India. The foundation aims to "bring in good values in all areas of national life, to cleanse corruption in high places," says Sreedharan.

Awards and accolades [edit]

Railway Minister's Award (1963)

Padma Shri by the Government of India (2001)

Man of the Year by The Times of India (2002)

Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Award for professional excellence in engineering (2002)

CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) Juror's Award for leadership in infrastructure development (2002–03)

One of Asia's Heroes by TIME (2003)

AIMA (All India Management Association) award for Public Service Excellence (2003)

Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris causa) from IIT Delhi.

Bharat Shiromani award from the Shiromani Institute, Chandigarh (2005)

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by the government of France (2005)

CNN-IBN Indian Of the Year 2007: Public Service (2008)[7]

Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India (2008) 51525

D.Lit. By Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, Rajasthan, in 2009

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris causa) from IIT Roorkee, 2009.

SR Jindal Prize (honorary) awarded by Sitaram Jindal Foundation, 2012.[8]

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Corporate

Postgraduate from IIM,kolkatta, Yale school of management

Joined PepsiCo in 1994 & was named president & CFO in 2001. Since then company grew multifold. Named on

WSJ's 50 women list in 07 & 08, Time's 100 Most Influential People, Forbes #3 powerful woman in 08,Fortune ranked #1 most powerful woman in business 2009 & 10.While CEO of PepsiCo in 2011, a compensation of 20m$

Indra Nooyi

28 October 1955

Padma Bhushan

Making earth little softer

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Software Org

Graduated B Tech in Computer Science Engineering, from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur '84 and Masters & Ph.D. in Computer Science, Indiana University in '89, founded Persistent Systems Limited in 1990 and serves as its Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. Persistent Systems, has 6,000 employees and more than 300 customers spread across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Anand Deshpande

1962

Making earth little softer

17 of 28

Space

Graduated in Physical science from United States Naval Academy in 87, MS in Engineering Management from Florida. She is an American astronaut and a United States Navy officer. She holds the records for longest single space flight by a woman (195 days), total 7 spacewalks by a woman totaling 50 hours & 40 min putting in No. 5 on the list of most experienced spacewalkers. She served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33.

Sunita Williams

19 Sep 1965

Making earth little softer

NASA Astronaut

Nationality American

Status Active

Born September 19, 1965 (age 47)

Euclid, Ohio, United States

Other occupation Test pilot

Rank Captain, USN

Time in space 321 days 17 hours 15 minutes

Selection 1998 NASA Group

Total EVAs 7

Total EVA time 50 hours and 40 minutes

Missions STS-116, Expedition 14, Expedition 15, STS-117, Soyuz TMA-05M, Expedition 32, Expedition 33

Is an American astronaut and a United States Navy officer. She holds the records for longest single space flight by a woman (195 days), total spacewalks by a woman (seven), and most spacewalk time for a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes). She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15. In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33.

Sunita Williams was born in Euclid, Ohio, to Deepak Pandya and Bonnie Pandya, who reside in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Deepak Pandya is a well-known neuroanatomist. Williams’ paternal ancestry originates in Gujarat in India, while her maternal great grandmother Maria Bohinjec was an 1900 or 1901 Slovene emigrant to America from Leše.[5][6]

Williams graduated from Needham High School in Needham, Massachusetts, in 1983. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical science from the United States Naval Academy in 1987, and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1995.[2]

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Courage

Was an astronaut, a mission specialist on the space shuttle Columbia. She completed BE in Aeronautical Engg at Punjab Engg College at Chandigarh in 82, M.S. in aerospace engg from Uni of Texas in 84, second M.S. in 86 & Ph.D. in 88 from Uni of Colorado at Boulder. She began working at the NASA & became a US citizen

Kalpana Chawla

1 Jul 1961 – 1 Feb 03

Making earth little softer

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Education

known as a full time voluntary activist, IAS officer, a free-lance journalist, held key administrative positions as IAS officer, including Deputy Secretary to Chief Minister MS, worked as Director General, under Ministry of Sports , Govt. of India, Founder Director, of Chanakya Mandal – guiding for competitive examinations, career guidance, personality development, etc. It conducts courses for plus 6000 students & educational workshops

Avinash Dharmadhikari

Making earth little softer

Has plans to harness Information Technology for education and develop into a full scale autonomous Open University.

Brief Introduction of Mr. Avinash Dharmadhikari:

A full time voluntary activist for ten years, before joining IAS. A free-lance journalist during the same

period. Undertook extensive study tours of the country. The outcome was the book, ‘Aswastha Dashakachi

Diary’, based on the reflections on experiences of these visits. Joined IAS in 1986.

Important postings held in the IAS : Sub-divisional officer at Phaltan. Officer on special duty for the

state’s Chief Secretary. Director, State Archives, Mumbai. Chief Executive Officer at Ratnagiri and

Amaravati zilla parishads. Additional Collector, Pune. Director, Women and Child Welfare Department,

Maharashtra. District Collector, Raigad (Alibag). Deputy Secretary to the Chief Minister, Maharashtra.

While in service, initiated some experiments in responsive administration. A few of them are : Many

original experiments in office and field level functioning of government machinery to reorient the operations

and methodologies in bureaucracy. Long-pending land disputes resolved speedily through reconciliatory

measures, adopting revenue-court system. Active participation in literacy, universalisation of education,

women-farmers-consumer movements, land and water conservation, movements against corruption and

superstitions. Implemented a special program for neo-literates, so that they do not re-lapse into illiteracy. The

program was appreciated as a ‘model scheme’ by the National Literacy Mission. Actively supported various

developmental schemes by acting as informal interface between the administration and voluntary agencies.

Resigned from the IAS on March 1, 1996. to Contested election for parliament as an independent.

Organised mass movement for clean and efficient governance. Worked as Director General, Nehru

Yuva Kendra Sangathan under Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Govt. of India from February to

November 2001.

Now works as :

* Founder Director, Chanakya Mandal - a network organization for competitive examinations, career

guidance, entrepreneurship development and personality development. Today Chanakya Mandal conducts 19

different courses in which around 6000 students participate.

* Conducts variety of workshops all over Maharashtra.

* Has plans to harness Information Technology for education and develop into a full scale autonomous

Open University.

* Organizer of the Citizens’ Action Plan;

* Chief Editor of a periodical for youth “Chanakya Mandal”. Books published :

1) “Aswastha Dashakachi Diary” (original Marathi).

2) “Diary of a Decade of Agony” (English translation of the above ‘Diary’ by Gauri Deshpande. Hindi

translation, by Meera Nandgaonkar, will be published shortly.)

3) and 4) “1, Vijaypath”(Marathi as well as in English – providing guidance for competitive exams, with

orientation to proper value-system).

5) “Ratra Gahirichya Tisrya Prahari” (Marathi – collection of poems.)

6) “Naagrik” - a book about how citizens can and should solve their problems on their own.

Forthcoming books :

“Bhoomica” a book stating thinking and action-plan on India’s national problems. Also the author of

“Collector”, “Drushtant”, “Sahavya Swargamadhoon” and “Priya Siddharth” - to be published soon.

Before joining the highest Civil Service Shri. A. B. Dharmadhikari was closely involved in the Punjab

situation between 1978 to 1986. His wife Mrs. Poorna had her headquarter at Chandigarh right during the

thick of Bhindranwala phase (1983 to 1985 ). Both Mr. and Mrs. Dharmadhikari worked for national

integration. They undertook extensive ‘Padayatras’ throughout Punjab, learnt Punjabi and Gurumukhi

script,stayed in Gurudwaras and also at the Golden Temple. They were in contact with Sant Harchandsingh,

Sant Longowal, Sant Gurucharansingh Tohra, Sant Jurnelsingh Bhindranwala, Sant Harmidersingh Sandhu

of All India Sikh’s Federation. Since then both of them have continued and active association with Punjab.

Working as the Director General of Neharu Yuva Kendra Sangathan under Ministry of Sports and Youth

Affairs; Government of India, Shri. Dharmadhikari initiated some major programs in Punjab. Listening to

him talk on Punjab, India and our future would be pleasant and enlightening experienc

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Police Force

She is a social activist. She became first woman officer in IPS, held post of DG & voluntarily retired from IPS in Dec’07. Has founded two NGOs in India: Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation & India Vision Fond. for prison reformation, drug abuse prevention & child welfare in ‘94.Awarded Ramon Magsaysay award in ’94. Was National Junior-66, Asian Champion-72, National-74,InterState-78 tennis player.

Kiran Bedi

9 June 1949

Making earth little softer

21 of 28

Great Career

Making earth little softer

22 of 28

Great Career

Making earth little softer

23 of 28

Sports

Graduated from College of Engineering in Mech Engg, was a former international cricketer and captain of the Indian cricket team. He made First-class debut at the age of 19. A right-arm leg spin (leg break googly) bowler, he took 619 wickets in Test cricket and remains the third-highest wicket taker; relied much on pace and accuracy. His ability to make the ball bounce with subtle variations in pace made him a tough bowler to face for the batsmen.

Anil Kumbale

17 Oct 1970

Padmashri

Making earth little softer

Anil Kumble ( pronunciation (help·info); born 17 October 1970) is a former international cricketer and captain of the Indian cricket team. A right-arm leg spin (leg break googly) bowler, he took 619 wickets in Test cricket and remains the third-highest wicket taker—only behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne—as of 2012. Unlike his contemporaries, Kumble was not a big turner of the ball, rather relied much on pace and accuracy. His ability to make the ball bounce with subtle variations in pace made him a tough bowler to face for the batsmen; thus earning him the sobriquet "Jumbo". Kumble was selected as the Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year in 1993 and one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year three years later.

Born in Bangalore, Karnataka, Kumble developed an early interest in cricket as he grew up watching players like Bill O'Reilly and B. S. Chandrasekhar before becoming a full-fledged cricketer. He made his First-class debut at the age of 19 while representing Karnataka. Soon he was picked up for the Austral-Asia Cup in 1990 before making his Test debut against England later that year. Since then he has represented the Indian Test team on more than 132 Test matches and was responsible for many of India's victories. Kumble became a part of the regular ODI team during the early 1990s and held some of the best performances during this time; which included his six for 12 (six wickets for 12 runs) against the West Indies. The year 1996 proved to very successful for him as he was selected for the World Cup and emerged out as the most successful bowler of the tournament; he played seven matches and captured 15 wickets at an average of 18.73. In 1999 while playing against Pakistan, Kumble dismissed all the ten batsmen in a Test match innings.[1] In the event he became the second player to achieve this feat after Jim Laker of England.[2][3]

Kumble was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2005. After having played for 18 years, he announced his retirement from international cricket in November 2008. In October 2012, Kumble was appointed the chairman of International Cricket Council (ICC)'s cricket committee.[4]

In January 2013, Kumble accepted the role of Chief Mentor with the Mumbai Indians, resigning from a similar position he held in the Royal Challengers Bangalore.[5]

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Media

Prannoy Lal Roy graduated with First Class Honours from Queen Mary College, London, later won a scholarship to Haileybury (UK) and qualified as a Chartered Accountant, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (England and Wales) and has a PhD in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics. He is the founder and executive co-chairperson of New Delhi Television (NDTV) & an award-winning Indian journalist and media personality.

Dr. Prannoy Roy

15 Oct 1949

Making earth little softer

Prannoy Roy

Born Prannoy Lal Roy

15 October 1949 (age 63)

Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Education Queen Mary, University of London

Delhi University

Chartered Accountant

Occupation News Journalist

Psephologist

Economist

Years active 1984 – present

Notable credit(s) World This Week "Election Specials" "Govt Budget Analysis" "Co-author: India Decides"

Title Executive Co-Chairperson NDTV

Spouse(s) Radhika Roy

Website

Prannoy on ndtv.com

Prannoy Roy is a professional Chartered Accountant and Economist and works as a TV anchor in India. He has been the lead anchor for election analysis and budget specials on India’s national television network Doordarshan and for BBC World’s Question Time India.[citation needed]

In 1988, Roy, along with his journalist wife Radhika, launched a television production house called New Delhi Television.[citation needed] A trained psephologist, Prannoy debuted with televised coverage of India’s general elections.[citation needed]

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Media

Shereen Bhan is an Indian journalist & Financial news anchor. She is Delhi Bureau Chief and Executive Editor of CNBC-TV18. Graduated in Philosophy and a master's in Communication Studies from the University of Pune, with film and television. As a news-researcher & reader, she produced shows like We the People for Star TV and Line of Fire for Sab TV. Bhan anchors & produces several shows like Young Turks, India Business Hour, The Nation's Business and Power Turks.

Shereen Bhan

Making earth little softer

Shereen Bhan is an Indian journalist and news anchor. She is the Delhi Bureau Chief and Executive Editor of CNBC-TV18.

She did her schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Kashmir and also at Air Force Bal Bharati school (A.F.B.B.S) Lodhi Road, New Delhi. Bhan graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi with a degree in Philosophy and a master's in Communication Studies from the University of Pune, with film and television as her area of specialization.

Career

She began her career working as a news-researcher for Karan Thapar in his production house Infotainment Television. She joined UTV's News and Current Affairs division and produced shows like We the People for Star TV and Line of Fire for Sab TV. She joined CNBC-TV18 in December 2000.[1][2]

Bhan anchors and produces several shows like Young Turks, India Business Hour, The Nation's Business and Power Turks. She also anchors and puts together CNBC-TV18's ground events like the Managing India brainstorm and the CNBC Industry Vectors. Her latest show is "WHAT WOMEN WANT"is getting popular in 2012

Awards

In April 2005, she was awarded the FICCI Woman of the Year award.[3] Women's magazine Femina included her among the 20 Beautiful Faces of the year in its September 2005 issue. She was featured on the cover of Verve magazine's December 2008 issue[4] and also figured among the 50 most Beautiful Women in the Vogue October 2008 issue. In 2009, the World Economic Forum named her as one of the Young Global Leaders of 2009.

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