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Aryabhata
Aryabhata (IAST: Āryabhaṭa; Sanskrit: आर्यभट) (476–550 CE) was the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His most famous works are the Aryabhatiya (499 CE, when he was 23 years old) and the Arya-siddhanta.
Works
Aryabhata is the author of several treatises on mathematics and astronomy, some of which are lost. His major work, Aryabhatiya, a compendium of mathematics and astronomy, was extensively referred to in the Indian mathematical literature and has survived to modern times. The mathematical part of the Aryabhatiya covers arithmetic, algebra, plane trigonometry, and spherical trigonometry. It also contains continued fractions, quadratic equations, sums-of-power series, and a table of sines.
The Arya-siddhanta, a lost work on astronomical computations, is known through the writings of Aryabhata's contemporary, Varahamihira, and later mathematicians and commentators, including Brahmagupta and Bhaskara I. This work appears to be based on the older Surya Siddhanta and uses the midnight-day reckoning, as opposed to sunrise in Aryabhatiya. It also contained a description of several astronomical instruments: the gnomon (shanku-yantra), a shadow instrument (chhAyA-yantra), possibly angle-measuring devices, semicircular and circular (dhanur-yantra / chakra-yantra), a cylindrical stick yasti-yantra, an umbrella-shaped device called the chhatra-yantra, and water clocks of at least two types, bow-shaped and cylindrical.[3]
A third text, which may have survived in the Arabic translation, is Al ntf or Al-nanf. It claims that it is a translation by Aryabhata, but the Sanskrit name of this work is not known. Probably dating from the 9th century, it is mentioned by the Persian scholar and chronicler of India, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.[3]
Aryabhatiya
Direct details of Aryabhata's work are therefore known only from the Aryabhatiya. The name "Aryabhatiya" is due to later commentators. Aryabhata himself may not have given it a name. His disciple Bhaskara I calls it Ashmakatantra (or the treatise from the Ashmaka). It is also occasionally referred to as Arya-shatas-aShTa (literally, Aryabhata's 108), because there are 108 verses in the text. It is written in the very terse style typical of sutra literature, in which each line is an aid to memory for a complex system. Thus, the explication of meaning is due to commentators. The text consists of the 108 verses and 13 introductory verses, and is divided into four pādas or chapters:
Gitikapada: (13 verses): large units of time—kalpa, manvantra, and yuga—which present a cosmology different from earlier texts such as Lagadha's Vedanga Jyotisha(ca. 1st century BCE). There is also a table of sines (jya), given in a single verse. The duration of the planetary revolutions during a mahayuga is given as 4.32 million years.
Ganitapada (33 verses): covering mensuration (kṣetra vyāvahāra), arithmetic and geometric progressions, gnomon / shadows (shanku-chhAyA), simple, quadratic, simultaneous, and indeterminate equations (kuTTaka)
Kalakriyapada (25 verses): different units of time and a method for determining the positions of planets for a given day, calculations concerning the intercalary month (adhikamAsa), kShaya-tithis, and a seven-day week with names for the days of week.
Golapada (50 verses): Geometric/trigonometric aspects of the celestial sphere, features of the ecliptic, celestial equator, node, shape of the earth, cause of day and night, rising of zodiacal signs on horizon, etc. In addition, some versions cite a few colophons added at the end, extolling the virtues of the work, etc.
The Aryabhatiya presented a number of innovations in mathematics and astronomy in verse form, which were influential for many centuries. The extreme brevity of the text was elaborated in commentaries by his disciple Bhaskara I (Bhashya, ca. 600 CE) and by Nilakantha Somayaji in his Aryabhatiya Bhasya, (1465 CE).
Mathematics
Place value system and zero
The place-value system, first seen in the 3rd century Bakhshali Manuscript, was clearly in place in his work.[14] ; he certainly did not use the symbol, but French mathematician Georges Ifrah argues that knowledge of zero was implicit in Aryabhata's place-value system as a place holder for the powers of ten with null coefficients[15]
However, Aryabhata did not use the brahmi numerals. Continuing the Sanskritic tradition from Vedic times, he used letters of the alphabet to denote numbers, expressing quantities, such as the table of sines in a mnemonic form.[16]
Pi as irrational
Aryabhata worked on the approximation for Pi (π), and may have come to the conclusion that π is irrational. In the second part of the Aryabhatiyam (gaṇitapāda 10), he writes:
chaturadhikam śatamaśṭaguṇam dvāśaśṭistathā sahasrāṇām
Ayutadvayaviśkambhasyāsanno vrîttapariṇahaḥ.
"Add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000. By this rule the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 20,000 can be approached."
This implies that the ratio of the circumference to the diameter is ((4+100)×8+62000)/20000 = 3.1416, which is accurate to five significant figures.
It is speculated that Aryabhata used the word āsanna (approaching), to mean that not only is this an approximation but that the value is incommensurable (or irrational). If this is correct, it is quite a sophisticated insight, because the irrationality of pi was proved in Europe only in 1761 by Lambert).[17]
After Aryabhatiya was translated into Arabic (ca. 820 CE) this approximation was mentioned in Al-Khwarizmi's book on algebra.[3]
Mensuration and trigonometry
In Ganitapada 6, Aryabhata gives the area of a triangle as
tribhujasya phalashariram samadalakoti bhujardhasamvargah
that translates to: "for a triangle, the result of a perpendicular with the half-side is the area."[18]
Aryabhata discussed the concept of sine in his work by the name of ardha-jya. Literally, it means "half-chord". For simplicity, people started calling it jya. When Arabic writers translated his works from Sanskrit into Arabic, they referred it as jiba. However, in Arabic writings, vowels are omitted, and it was abbreviated as jb. Later writers substituted it with jiab, meaning "cove" or "bay." (In Arabic, jiba is a meaningless word.) Later in the 12th century, when Gherardo of Cremona translated these writings from Arabic into Latin, he replaced the Arabic jiab with its Latin counterpart, sinus, which means "cove" or "bay". And after that, the sinus became sine in English.[19]
Indeterminate equations
A problem of great interest to Indian mathematicians since ancient times has been to find integer solutions to equations that have the form ax + b = cy, a topic that has come to be known as diophantine equations. This is an example from Bhaskara's commentary on Aryabhatiya:
Find the number which gives 5 as the remainder when divided by 8, 4 as the remainder when divided by 9, and 1 as the remainder when divided by 7
That is, find N = 8x+5 = 9y+4 = 7z+1. It turns out that the smallest value for N is 85. In general, diophantine equations, such as this, can be notoriously difficult. They were discussed extensively in ancient Vedic text Sulba Sutras, whose more ancient parts might date to 800 BCE. Aryabhata's method of solving such problems is called the kuṭṭaka (कुट्टक) method. Kuttaka means "pulverizing" or "breaking into small pieces", and the method involves a recursive algorithm for writing the original factors in smaller numbers. Today this algorithm, elaborated by Bhaskara in 621 CE, is the standard method for solving first-order diophantine equations and is often referred to as the Aryabhata algorithm.[20] The diophantine equations are of interest in cryptology, and the RSA Conference, 2006, focused on the kuttaka method and earlier work in the Sulvasutras.
Algebra
In Aryabhatiya Aryabhata provided elegant results for the summation of series of squares and cubes:[21]
and
Astronomy
Aryabhata's system of astronomy was called the audAyaka system, in which days are reckoned from uday, dawn at lanka or "equator". Some of his later writings on astronomy, which apparently proposed a second model (or ardha-rAtrikA, midnight) are lost but can be partly reconstructed from the discussion in Brahmagupta's khanDakhAdyaka. In some texts, he seems to ascribe the apparent motions of the heavens to the Earth's rotation.
Motions of the solar system
Aryabhata appears to have believed that the earth rotates about its axis. This is indicated in the statement, referring to Lanka , which describes the movement of the stars as a relative motion caused by the rotation of the earth:
"Like a man in a boat moving forward sees the stationary objects as moving backward, just so are the stationary stars seen by the people in Lanka (or on the equator) as moving exactly towards the west." [achalAni bhAni samapashchimagAni - golapAda.9]
But the next verse describes the motion of the stars and planets as real movements: "The cause of their rising and setting is due to the fact that the circle of the asterisms, together with the planets driven by the provector wind, constantly moves westwards at Lanka."
As mentioned above, Lanka (lit. Sri Lanka) is here a reference point on the equator, which was the equivalent of the reference meridian for astronomical calculations.
Aryabhata described a geocentric model of the solar system, in which the Sun and Moon are each carried by epicycles. They in turn revolve around the Earth. In this model, which is also found in the Paitāmahasiddhānta (ca. CE 425), the motions of the planets are each governed by two epicycles, a smaller manda (slow) and a larger śīghra (fast). [22] The order of the planets in terms of distance from earth is taken as: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the asterisms."[3]
The positions and periods of the planets was calculated relative to uniformly moving points. In the case of Mercury and Venus, they move around the Earth at the same speed as the mean Sun. In the case of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, they move around the Earth at specific speeds, representing each planet's motion through the zodiac. Most historians of astronomy consider that this two-epicycle model reflects elements of pre-Ptolemaic Greek astronomy.[23] Another element in Aryabhata's model, the śīghrocca, the basic planetary period in relation to the Sun, is seen by some historians as a sign of an underlying heliocentric model.[24]
Eclipses
Aryabhata states that the Moon and planets shine by reflected sunlight. Instead of the prevailing cosmogony in which eclipses were caused by pseudo-planetary nodes Rahu and Ketu, he explains eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on Earth. Thus, the lunar eclipse occurs when the moon enters into the Earth's shadow (verse gola.37). He discusses at length the size and extent of the Earth's shadow (verses gola.38-48) and then provides the computation and the size of the eclipsed part during an eclipse. Later Indian astronomers improved on the calculations, but Aryabhata's methods provided the core. His computational paradigm was so accurate that 18th century scientist Guillaume Le Gentil, during a visit to Pondicherry, India, found the Indian computations of the duration of the lunar eclipse of 1765-08-30 to be short by 41 seconds, whereas his charts (by Tobias Mayer, 1752) were long by 68 seconds.[3]
Aryabhata's computation of the Earth's circumference as 39,968.0582 kilometres was only 0.2% smaller than the actual value of 40,075.0167 kilometres. This approximation was a significant improvement over the computation by Greek mathematician Eratosthenes (c. 200 BCE), whose exact computation is not known in modern units but his estimate had an error of around 5-10%.[25][26]
Sidereal periods
Considered in modern English units of time, Aryabhata calculated the sidereal rotation (the rotation of the earth referencing the fixed stars) as 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds; the modern value is 23:56:4.091. Similarly, his value for the length of the sidereal year at 365 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes, and 30 seconds is an error of 3 minutes and 20 seconds over the length of a year. The notion of sidereal time was known in most other astronomical systems of the time, but this computation was likely the most accurate of the period.
Heliocentrism
As mentioned, Aryabhata claimed that the Earth turns on its own axis, and some elements of his planetary epicyclic models rotate at the same speed as the motion of the Earth around the Sun. Thus, it has been suggested that Aryabhata's calculations were based on an underlying heliocentric model, in which the planets orbit the Sun.[27][28] A detailed rebuttal to this heliocentric interpretation is in a review that describes B. L. van der Waerden's book as "show[ing] a complete misunderstanding of Indian planetary theory [that] is flatly contradicted by every word of Aryabhata's description."[29] However, some concede that Aryabhata's system stems from an earlier heliocentric model, of which he was unaware.[30] It has even been claimed that he considered the planet's paths to be elliptical, but no primary evidence for this has been found.[31] Though Aristarchus of Samos (3rd century BCE) and sometimes Heraclides of Pontus (4th century BCE) are usually credited with knowing the heliocentric theory, the version of Greek astronomy known in ancient India as the Paulisa Siddhanta (possibly by a Paul of Alexandria) makes no reference to a heliocentric theory.
Legacy
Aryabhata's work was of great influence in the Indian astronomical tradition and influenced several neighbouring cultures through translations. The Arabic translation during the Islamic Golden Age (ca. 820 CE), was particularly influential. Some of his results are cited by Al-Khwarizmi, and he is mentioned by the 10th century Arabic scholar Al-Biruni, who states that Aryabhata's followers believed that the Earth rotated on its axis.
His definitions of sine (jya), cosine (kojya), versine (ukramajya), and inverse sine (otkram jya) influenced the birth of trigonometry. He was also the first to specify sine and versine (1 - cosx) tables, in 3.75° intervals from 0° to 90°, to an accuracy of 4 decimal places.
In fact, modern names "sine" and "cosine" are mistranscriptions of the words jya and kojya as introduced by Aryabhata. As mentioned, they were translated as jiba and kojiba in Arabic and then misunderstood by Gerard of Cremona while translating an Arabic geometry text to Latin. He assumed that jiba was the Arabic word jaib, which means "fold in a garment", L. sinus (c.1150).[32]
Aryabhata's astronomical calculation methods were also very influential. Along with the trigonometric tables, they came to be widely used in the Islamic world and used to compute many Arabic astronomical tables (zijes). In particular, the astronomical tables in the work of the Arabic Spain scientist Al-Zarqali (11th century) were translated into Latin as the Tables of Toledo (12th c.) and remained the most accurate ephemeris used in Europe for centuries.
Calendric calculations devised by Aryabhata and his followers have been in continuous use in India for the practical purposes of fixing the Panchangam (the Hindu calendar). In the Islamic world, they formed the basis of the Jalali calendar introduced in 1073 CE by a group of astronomers including Omar Khayyam[33], versions of which (modified in 1925) are the national calendars in use in Iran and Afghanistan today. The dates of the Jalali calendar are based on actual solar transit, as in Aryabhata and earlier Siddhanta calendars. This type of calendar requires an ephemeris for calculating dates. Although dates were difficult to compute, seasonal errors were less in the Jalali calendar than in the Gregorian calendar.
India's first satellite Aryabhata and the lunar crater Aryabhata are named in his honour. An Institute for conducting research in astronomy, astrophysics and atmospheric sciences is the Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciences (ARIES) near Nainital, India. The inter-school Aryabhata Maths Competition is also named after him,[34] as is Bacillus aryabhata, a species of bacteria discovered by ISRO scientists in 2009.[35]
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Giri Raj Singh Sirohi
Giri Raj Singh Sirohi was the first Indian to set foot on Antarctica. Sirohi is a scientist who carried out research at the South Pole in Antarctica in 1960 for around 100 days in sub-zero temperatures.
To honour his breakthrough contribution to the Science of Plant Physiology, the US Government instructed the United States Board on Geographic Names to name a place in Antarctica after him as Sirohi Point in 1961.
The objective of the experiments was to collect data on the Biological Clock at the South Pole, since it represented a place where the rotational activity of the Earth could be negated. The plant material (soybeans, etc.) and animal material (hamsters, etc.) were studied at the South Pole. Project work took almost 12 months, out of which 4 months were spent at the South Pole in Antarctica.
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Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon
Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon (born August 28, 1928), also known as M. G. K. Menon, is a physicist and policy maker from India.He has had a role in almost every facet of science and technology development in India during the past four decades. but the important one was nurturing the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, which his mentor Homi J. Bhabha founded in 1945.
He undertook experiments with cosmic rays to explore the properties of fundamental particles. He was instrumental in setting up balloon flight experiments, as well as deep underground experiments with cosmic ray neutrinos in the mines at Kolar Gold Fields. He is currently Vikram Sarabhai Fellow of the Indian Space Research Organisation. In the past, he has been President of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (1966-1975), Chairman Board Of Governors, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Chairman Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad. He has won the Abdus Salam Award, and is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He is one of the prominent scientists from Kerala. The asteroid 7564 Gokumenon was named in his honour in late 2008
Association with TIFR
He joined TIFR in 1955 "essentially because of Bhabha", and the association lasted nearly five decades. He became the director of the institute in 1966, at the age of 38, following Bhabha's untimely death. In fact, M. G. K. Menon began handling the affairs of the institute ever since he was barely 33 because of Bhabha's increasing involvement with the country's nascent atomic energy programme.
Special Awards: He won the Padmabhushan in 1968 and the highest honor of Padma Vibhushan in 1985
KGF experiments
M.G.K Menon was involved in all the large-scale experiments at the TIFR from its early days, in particular, the cosmic ray studies initiated in 1964 in the mines at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF). In the nearly three-decade-long story of experiments at the KGF, relating to muons, neutrinos, weak interactions and proton decay, he played a major role. It was the KGF experiment that ruled out the hypothesis called "Utah Effect" to describe the energy spectrum of muons reaching underground.
The more significant achievement of the KGF experiment was to demonstrate the feasibility of doing neutrino-induced interactions and related new phenomena deep underground. It was also the first experiment in the world, in 1965, to detect atmospheric neutrinos, which are formed at the top of the atmosphere due to cosmic ray interactions. The neutrino experiments also threw up a handful of rare events, called Kolar events, which are suggestive of massive (with more that 3 giga electron Volt mass) and long-lived (lifetimes of about a billionth of a second) particles. These have, however remained unexplained till date and are perhaps suggestive of new physics.
In the 1980s, M. G. K. Menon led the proton decay experiment at the KGF, the first major dedicated experiment in the world to look for decays of the apparently stable proton, which set a limit on a proton's lifetime to be greater than 10 to the power 30 years. The experiment also provided limits on the existence of the hypothetical magnetic monopoles.
However, with the closure of the KGF mines, these underground cosmic ray experiments came to an end in the early 1990s, much to the disappointment of many Indian particle physicists. It was the atmospheric neutrinos that later led to the Nobel Prize-winning discovery by Japanese scientists—who in fact, started later—that neutrinos have mass and they exhibit the interesting phenonmenon called neutrino oscillation.
Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon (born August 28, 1928), also known as M. G. K. Menon, is a physicist and policy maker from India.He has had a role in almost every facet of science and technology development in India during the past four decades. but the important one was nurturing the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, which his mentor Homi J. Bhabha founded in 1945.
He undertook experiments with cosmic rays to explore the properties of fundamental particles. He was instrumental in setting up balloon flight experiments, as well as deep underground experiments with cosmic ray neutrinos in the mines at Kolar Gold Fields. He is currently Vikram Sarabhai Fellow of the Indian Space Research Organisation. In the past, he has been President of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (1966-1975), Chairman Board Of Governors, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Chairman Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad. He has won the Abdus Salam Award, and is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He is one of the prominent scientists from Kerala. The asteroid 7564 Gokumenon was named in his honour in late 2008
Association with TIFR
He joined TIFR in 1955 "essentially because of Bhabha", and the association lasted nearly five decades. He became the director of the institute in 1966, at the age of 38, following Bhabha's untimely death. In fact, M. G. K. Menon began handling the affairs of the institute ever since he was barely 33 because of Bhabha's increasing involvement with the country's nascent atomic energy programme.
Special Awards: He won the Padmabhushan in 1968 and the highest honor of Padma Vibhushan in 1985
KGF experiments
M.G.K Menon was involved in all the large-scale experiments at the TIFR from its early days, in particular, the cosmic ray studies initiated in 1964 in the mines at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF). In the nearly three-decade-long story of experiments at the KGF, relating to muons, neutrinos, weak interactions and proton decay, he played a major role. It was the KGF experiment that ruled out the hypothesis called "Utah Effect" to describe the energy spectrum of muons reaching underground.
The more significant achievement of the KGF experiment was to demonstrate the feasibility of doing neutrino-induced interactions and related new phenomena deep underground. It was also the first experiment in the world, in 1965, to detect atmospheric neutrinos, which are formed at the top of the atmosphere due to cosmic ray interactions. The neutrino experiments also threw up a handful of rare events, called Kolar events, which are suggestive of massive (with more that 3 giga electron Volt mass) and long-lived (lifetimes of about a billionth of a second) particles. These have, however remained unexplained till date and are perhaps suggestive of new physics.
In the 1980s, M. G. K. Menon led the proton decay experiment at the KGF, the first major dedicated experiment in the world to look for decays of the apparently stable proton, which set a limit on a proton's lifetime to be greater than 10 to the power 30 years. The experiment also provided limits on the existence of the hypothetical magnetic monopoles.
However, with the closure of the KGF mines, these underground cosmic ray experiments came to an end in the early 1990s, much to the disappointment of many Indian particle physicists. It was the atmospheric neutrinos that later led to the Nobel Prize-winning discovery by Japanese scientists—who in fact, started later—that neutrinos have mass and they exhibit the interesting phenonmenon called neutrino oscillation.
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Ranjit Lal Jetley
Maj-General Ranjit Lal Jetley, FIE, FIQA (born 10 March 1923) is a retired soldier and scientist in India. He served in World War II and the 1947 Indo-Pakistani War, becoming an artillery regiment commander. He went on to work in armaments research and development, his innovations including an Indian 105 mm light field gun and upgunning of the Sherman tanks. He also contributed to set up two major laboratories. Jetley retired in 1979.
Wartime career
Jetley was commissioned on July 5, 1942 and served in Arakan, Burma. He took part in the Battle of Ramree Island and the Allied landings at Letpan, mainland Burma, where, as naval Forward Observation Officer for a field artillery regiment, he called in the naval bombardment. From 1945-1946 he served with an Indian anti-tank regiment in Sumatra, Indonesia as a part of the British occupation.
In 1946, Jetley became a Captain in the regular army and travelled to Britain for training at the Royal School of Artillery, Larkhill, along with O.P. Malhotra (later General Chief of Army Staff) and JFR Jacobs (later Lt General, Governor Punjab). In 1948, he took part in the Jammu & Kashmir Operations of the Indo-Pakistani War, involving the re-capture of Jhangar, capture of Rajouri and the Punch linkup.
Peacetime artillery service
From 1950, he served with the erstwhile Technical Development Establishments at Jabalpur, Cossipore and later Kanpur and raised Inspectorates for the two major Ordnance Factories. At Kanpur he was credited for contributing to the manufacture of the first 25 Pounder Ordnance and the first Bren Gun in India. The occasion was celebrated by the Ordnance factory by firing of the first Bren Gun in the presence of Shri Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of India.
In 1952, he commanded an anti-tank regiment artillery. From 1953-1958 he commanded one of the then only two Medium Artillery Regiments and later raised the third Medium Regiment Artillery. With this newly raised unit, he earned a name in exercise ‘Doaba’ by taking his medium guns across the river Sutlej by dismantling, which was commended by the Corps Commander Lt Gen JN Chaudhari and Lt Gen Kulwant Singh, the chief Umpire and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command. It was here that he also conceived the idea of up-gunning the Sherman Tank for better fire power and put up a paper to the General Staff. This was to have a salutary effect on the outcome of the 1965 Indo-Pak War.
Scientific career
During his second tenure (from 1958 onwards) with erstwhile TDEs and Defence Research and Development Organisation, he had a distinguished career in various capacities. As Superintendent, Proof and Experiment Establishment, he conceived, planned and modernized the previous ranges to enable enhancement of indigenous production and evaluation of foreign manufacturer's claims.
In addition to the normal call of duties, he had been personally responsible for projecting new ideas which led to the improvement in the performance of various service equipments. A few outstanding examples showing his ingenuity and skill were:-
Mounting of 75 mm High Velocity French Gun on the Sherman tank.
Conversion of 4.7" Naval Gun mounting to take 4.5" Naval gun.
Modification of 25 Pdr carriage for high angle fire.
Universal slave carriage/mounting for proof of any caliber gun and ammunition (Railway Open Wagon on broad gauge rails).
It is estimated that he saved over 100 crores of wasting assets in the form of saving old tanks from disposal. Due to his efforts, the production of 4.5" ammunition in the country could begin at least one year earlier than by waiting for such facility to be provided by a foreign supplier. The facility was inaugurated by demonstrating proof of first lot of indigenous naval 4.5" ammunition in the presence of Admiral Katari, then Chief of the Naval Staff of India.
Later Jetley was assigned to the special Weapon Design Team. During this period his contribution for planning and organization along with others resulted in establishing the Defence Research and Development Laboratories for rockets and missile.
Jetley's contribution was also admired in the raising of the Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory for research in the field of transient Phenomenon involving detonation of explosives.
Thus reasonable amount of credit for setting up of these two major laboratories equipped with most modern instrumentation goes to him.
He exhibited the first uncontrolled flight of a short range missile to the Defence Minister at Tuglakabad ranges in 1961 as desired by the Scientific Adviser Dr. Bhagwantam. This success had great contribution from Wing Commander Sethna and Dr. Bensal.
In 1968, he was assigned to the Directorate General of Inspection, a quality assurance organisation, where, as Senior Inspector of Armaments and Gauges, he further excelled his performance and was responsible for improving the quality of inspection of 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. He was also instrumental in enhancing the production of Mountain guns at Heavy Engineering Corporation at Ranchi and Gun Carriage Factory Jabalpur for which he was commended by the Secretary Defence Production and DGOF. He was hence sent for training to Sweden in Air Defence Systems with BOFORS and became a member of the Technical Committee for the Indian collaboration.
In 1971, he raised the Controllerate of Inspection (Weapons) which was a great bonus during the 1971 War for inspection of imported weapons. After war he contributed by making an assessment of the effect of Pakistani weapons which was a good guide for future improvements and defect investigations. From 1973 as Director of Inspection (Armaments), he was personally responsible for increasing the pace of indigenization in the Private sector. Later he helped in establishing the production of an anti-tank ammunition by revising acceptance criteria, after his return from the Jefferson Proving Grounds in the USA.
He encouraged the export of armaments as Director of Inspection (Armaments) and he was later nominated by the Defence Secretary to go to FFV Sweden to inspect the first 84 mm Carl Gustaf Rocket Launcher consignment.
He was assigned in 1976 to develop a Light Field Gun of 105 mm for the Army. In a very short period from the date of his take over, he produced the first proto-type involving induction of most modern materials (three new varieties of steel were developed at Durgapur steel plant) and sophisticated technology in the field of gun development resulting in a light carriage of half weight and India's first Ordnance design. Simultaneously, he developed a time fuze for the carrier shells of long range guns by modifying an existing time fuze. The development of Smoke and HESH ammunition for this light gun IFG Mark II and IFG Mark I had his contribution.
Awards and recognition
For the exemplary work with his new ideas, he received under heading Honours and Awards in the Army Orders two COMMENDATION CARDS from the Chief of the Army Staff, one was on the recommendation of the Chief of the Naval Staff. Also, two of the first CASH AWARDS given by the Ministry of Defence, when introduced, went to him for his inventions. In view of his excellent allround performance in the field of engineering and applied technology, he was made a Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India) and Fellow of the Institution of Quality Assurance (UK).
Besides all other achievements to his credit for making an investigation of National importance of an armament store he was awarded the COMMENDATION CARD of the Secretary (Defense Production) in 1977.
Maj Gen Ranjit Lal Jetley rendered 37 years service and retired on 9 July 1979 after two extensions in the Service interest.
Publications
Jetley has written a number of technical papers on the improvement in the performance of Army equipment, including a proposal to convert Stuart tanks to APCs. He has also published two books, one restricted for artillery officers promotion examination and one for the open market Rockets, Satellites and Guided Missiles.
His National Defence College paper on Future pattern of Weapons System (1970), led to him represent the course at the Parliamentarians' meeting on Atom Bomb considerations. This paper was later published in the USI magazine.
Teaching
During his four years as Director of Studies (Army) at the Institute of Armament Technology, he revised the Technical Staff Officers' Course by introducing studies for future armament needs, which resulted in an exercise to up-gun the T55 Tank with the British 105 mm Tank Gun. This was later adapted by the Army. He also introduced the Scientific Orientation Courses for Army Officers and compiled the Indian Army instructional pamphlet (Science) for the Army.
His critical innovation
Credit for the availability of the up-gunned World War II vintage Shermans in 1965 to successfully combat American supplied M48 Pattons goes to the idea and invention of Maj Gen R L Jetley (Retired) and to the General Staff of the Army, who provided him with a Sherman Tank to experiment for what was then a radical idea. The result is described in extract of two newspaper articles below. For this innovation he was paid merely Rs. 2000 as a cash award to kill the dream of Field Marshal Ayub Khan to capture Delhi.
Extract from The Economic Times New Delhi Wednesday 6 September, 1995 page 7 an article by Global Watch/K Subrahmanyam titled "The First War with Pak"
"Third, the Pakistanis has secretly raised a second armoured division while India had only one then...The Pakistani armoured division which was to break through at Khem Karan was totally destroyed by an Indian armoured brigade consisting of one Centurion regiment, one regiment of Sherman Mark IV tanks and another with up-gunned Shermans. The Sherman tanks were of World War II vintage. This happened because of the superior tactical skills of officer and men of the Indian Army. That battle was crucial in the sense if India had lost it the fate of the subcontinent would have changed...The country has to be overly grateful to the officers and men of that armored brigade."
Extract from The Indian Express New Delhi Friday December 19, 2003 Page 9 "Last Salute to the lion of 1965" (Lt. Gen Joginder Singh Dhillon; 1914-2003, Obituary) describes the result of Maj Gen Jetley's endeavours in the unglamourous field of defense research and development :-
"It is not possible to describe this 17-day war here but the decisive tank battle of Assal Utar, near Khem Karan, on September 10 does bear telling. Indian units hid their Sherman tanks 500 meters apart in a U-shaped formation in tall and unharvested sugarcane fields, and snared the enemy's vastly superior Patton tanks into this ambush, annihilating them to the last tank and deciding the outcome of the war. The destruction of Pakistan‘s armored pride and the casualties it suffered..."
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Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty
Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty (Bengali: আনন্দমোহন চক্রবর্তী), Ph.D. is an Indian-American microbiologist, scientist, and researcher, most notable for his work in directed evolution and his role in developing a genetically engineered organism using plasmid transfer while working at GE.
Early scientific work
Prof. Chakrabarty genetically engineered[1][2][3][4][5][6] a new species of Pseudomonas bacteria ("the oil-eating bacteria") in 1971 while working for the Research & Development Center at General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York.[7]
At the time, four known species of oil-metabolizing bacteria were known to exist, but when introduced into an oil spill, competed with each other, limiting the amount of crude oil that they degraded. The genes necessary to degrade oil were carried on plasmids, which could be transferred among species. By irradiating the transformed organism with UV light after plasmid transfer, Prof. Chakrabarty discovered a method for genetic cross-linking that fixed all four plasmid genes in place and produced a new, stable, bacteria species (now called Burkholderia) capable of consuming oil one or two orders of magnitude faster than the previous four strains of oil-eating microbes. The new microbe, which Chakrabarty called "multi-plasmid hydrocarbon-degrading Pseudomonas," could digest about two-thirds of the hydrocarbons that would be found in a typical oil spill.
The bacteria drew international attention when he applied for a patent—the first-ever patent for living organism.[8] He was initially denied the patent by the Patent Office because it was thought that the patent code precluded patents on living organisms. The United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals overturned the decision in Chakrabarty's favor, writing,
“ ...the fact that micro-organisms are alive is without legal significance for purposes of patent law. ”
Sidney A. Diamond, Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, then appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court case was argued on March 17, 1980 and decided on June 16, 1980. This patent was granted by the U.S. Supreme Court (Diamond v. Chakrabarty), in a 5-4 decision, when it determined that
“ A live, human-made micro-organism is patentable subject matter under [Title 35 U.S.C.] 101. Respondent's micro-organism constitutes a "manufacture" or "composition of matter" within that statute. ”
Prof. Chakrabarty's landmark research has since paved the way for many patents on genetically modified micro-organisms and other life forms, and catapulted him into the international spotlight.[9] The "oil-eating bacteria" has been used to clean up many toxic oil spills, including the one caused by the Exxon Valdez disaster.
Current work
Currently, his lab is working on elucidating the role of bacterial cupredoxins and cytochromes in cancer regression and arresting cell cycle progression.[10] These proteins have been formerly known for their involvement in bacterial electron transport. He has isolated a bacterial protein, azurin, with potential antineoplastic properties.[9][11] He has expanded his lab's work to include multiple microbiological species, including Neisseria, Plasmodia, and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans.[10] In 2001, Prof. Chakrabarty founded a company, CDG Therapeutics,[9][11] (incorporated in Delaware) which holds proprietary information related to five patents generated by his work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The University of Illinois owns the rights to the patents but has issued exclusive licences to CDG Therapeutics.[9]
Academic career
Chakrabarty is currently a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. Apart from being an eminent scientist, Ananda Chakrabarty has been an advisor to judges, governments, and the UN.[11] As one of the founding members of a UNIDO Committee that proposed the establishment of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB), he has been a member of its Council of Scientific Advisors ever since.[8] He has served the U.S. Government
as a member of NIH Study Sections,
as a member of the Board on Biology of the National Academy of Science,
on the Committee on Biotechnology of the National Research Council
He has also served the Stockholm Environment Institute of Sweden. He has been on the Scientific Advisory Board of many academic institutions such as the Michigan Biotechnology Institute, the Montana State University Center for Biofilm Engineering, the Center for Microbial Ecology at the Michigan State University, and the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network based in Calgary, Canada. Dr. Chakrabarty has also served as a member of NIAG, the NATO Industrial Advisory Group based in Brussels, Belgium. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Einstein Institute for Science, Health and the Courts, where he participates in judicial education. More recently, he has been involved in international judicial work, serving as a Scientific Advisor for meetings in Hawaii and Ottawa, Canada, organized by the Supreme Court of Canada.[8]
Legacy and awards
Dr. Chakrabarty has received many awards, including[8]
the 'Scientist of the Year' award in 1975 by Industrial Research Organization of the United States,
the Distinguished Scientist Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency,
the MERIT Award from NIH,
the Distinguished Service Award given by the U.S. Army
the Public Affairs Award awarded by the American Chemical Society, and
the Procter & Gamble Environmental Biotechnology Award given by the American Society for Microbiology.
the Golden Eurydice Award for contributions in Biophilosophy in 2007.
For his work in genetic engineering technology, he was awarded the civilian Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2007.
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Amar Bose
Amar Gopal Bose (Bengali: অমর গোপাল বসু Amar Gopal Boshu) (born November 2, 1929) is the chairman and founder of Bose Corporation. An American electrical engineer of Indian-Bengali descent, he was listed on the 2007 Forbes 400 with a net worth of $1.8 billion.
The child of an Indian-Bengali father and white American mother, Bose was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Noni Gopal Bose, was an Indian freedom revolutionary from Bengal who having been imprisoned for his political activities, fled Kolkata (Calcutta) in the 1920s in order to avoid further prosecution by the British colonial police.
Amar Bose first displayed his entrepreneurial skills and his interest in electronics at age thirteen, when, during the World War-II years, he enlisted school friends as co-workers in a small home business repairing model trains and home radios, to supplement his family's income.
Bose graduated from Abington Senior High School and entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a BS in Electrical Engineering in the early 1950s. Bose spent a year in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in the research labs at NV Philips Electronics and a year in Delhi, India, as a Fulbright student where he met his future wife, Prema, from whom he is now divorced (he has now re-married). He completed his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT, writing a highly mathematical thesis on non-linear systems.
Following graduation, Bose took a position at MIT as an Assistant Professor. He focused his research on acoustics, leading him to invent a stereo loudspeaker that would reproduce, in a domestic setting, the dominantly reflected sound field that characterizes the listening space of the audience in a concert hall.
Bose was awarded significant patents in two fields which, to this day, are important to the Bose Corporation. These patents were in the area of loud speaker design and non-linear, two-state modulated, Class-D, power processing.
To found his company in 1964, for initial capital, he turned to angel investors including his MIT thesis advisor and professor, Dr. Y. W. Lee (who invested his life savings on the effort[citation needed]).
During his early years as a professor, Bose bought a high-end stereo speaker system in 1956 and was reportedly underwhelmed by the performance of his purchase. This would eventually pave the way for his extensive speaker technology research, concentrating on key weaknesses in the high-end speaker systems available during Bose's time, and focusing on psychoacoustics, which would become a hallmark of the company's audio products. Applying similar psychoacoustic principles to headphone technology, Bose created the Tri-Port Earcup Drivers." Today, the Bose Corporation is a multifaceted entity with more than 12,000 employees, worldwide, that produces products for home, car, and professional audio, as well as conducts basic research in acoustics, automotive systems, and other fields.
Bose Corporation, as a privately held company, does not publish its financial numbers, however a few hundred shareholders do receive audited annual financial statements.
In addition to running his company, Bose remained a professor at MIT until 2000.
His son, Vanu Bose, is the founder and CEO of Vanu, Inc., a firm whose software-based radio technology provides a wireless infrastructure that enables individual base stations to simultaneously operate GSM, CDMA, and iDEN. His daughter, Maiya, is a practicing chiropractor.
Awards
Elected Fellow of IEEE, 1972 - for contributions to loudspeaker design, two-state amplifier-modulators, and nonlinear systems. He was probably the first person of Indian origin to be elevated to this level by IEEE in the field of electronics.
271st in the 2007 Forbes 400 List[1]
Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 2008[2]
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Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, FRS (Tamil: சுப்பிரமணியன் சந்திரசேகர்), English: /ˌtʃʌndrəˈʃeɪkɑr/)[2] (October 19, 1910 – August 21, 1995)[3] was an Indian born American astrophysicist. He was a Nobel laureate in physics along with William Alfred Fowler for their work in the theoretical structure and evolution of stars.[1] He was the nephew of Indian Nobel Laureate Sir C. V. Raman.
Chandrasekhar served on the University of Chicago faculty from 1937 until his death in 1995 at the age of 84. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1953.
Career
The following year in January 1937, Chandrasekhar was recruited to the University of Chicago faculty as Assistant Professor by Dr. Otto Struve and President Robert Maynard Hutchins. He was to remain at the university for his entire career, becoming Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics in 1952 and attaining emeritus status in 1985.
Chandrasekhar did some work at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, which was run by the University of Chicago. After the Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research (LASR) was built by NASA in 1966 at the University, Chandrasekhar occupied one of the four corner offices on the second floor. (The other corners housed John A. Simpson, Peter Meyer, and Eugene N. Parker.) Chandrasekhar lived at 4800 Lake Shore Drive, about a mile from the University, after the high-rise apartment complex was built in the late 1960s.
During World War II, Chandrasekhar worked at the Ballistic Research Laboratories at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. While there, he worked on problems of ballistics; for example, two reports from 1943 were titled, On the decay of plane shock waves and The normal reflection of a blast wave.[5]
Chandrasekhar developed a style of working continuously in one specific area of physics for a number of years; consequently, his working life can be divided into distinct periods. He studied stellar structure, including the theory of white dwarfs, during the years 1929 to 1939, and subsequently focused on stellar dynamics from 1939 to 1943. Next, he concentrated on the theory of radiative transfer and the quantum theory of the negative ion of hydrogen from 1943 to 1950. This was followed by sustained work on hydrodynamic and hydromagnetic stability from 1950 to 1961. In the 1960s, he studied the equilibrium and the stability of ellipsoidal figures of equilibrium, but also general relativity. During the period, 1971 to 1983 he studied the mathematical theory of black holes, and, finally, during the late 80s, he worked on the theory of colliding gravitational waves.[5]
From 1952 to 1971 Chandrasekhar was editor of the Astrophysical Journal.
During the years 1990 to 1995, Chandrasekhar worked on a project devoted to explaining the detailed geometric arguments in Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica using the language and methods of ordinary calculus. The effort resulted in the book Newton's Principia for the Common Reader, published in 1995. Chandrasekhar was an honorary member of the International Academy of Science.
Chandrasekhar died of heart failure in Chicago in 1995, and was survived by his wife, Lalitha Chandrasekhar. In the Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society of London, R. J. Tayler wrote: "Chandrasekhar was a classical applied mathematician whose research was primarily applied in astronomy and whose like will probably never be seen again."[6]
Nobel prize
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983 for his studies on the physical processes important to the structure and evolution of stars. Chandrasekhar accepted this honor, but was upset that the citation mentioned only his earliest work, seeing it as a denigration of a lifetime's achievement.
Legacy
Chandrasekhar's most famous success was the astrophysical Chandrasekhar limit. The limit describes the maximum mass of a white dwarf star, ~1.44 solar masses, or equivalently, the minimum mass, above which a star will ultimately collapse into a neutron star or black hole (following a supernova). The limit was first calculated by Chandrasekhar in 1930 during his maiden voyage from India to Cambridge, England for his graduate studies.
When Chandra first proposed this limit during his fellowship at Trinity college in the 1930s, it was obstinately opposed by Arthur Eddington and much to Chandra's frustration none of the established physicists in Europe came to his rescue. This episode had a bitter impact on Chandra resulting in his move to the University of Chicago in the United States and in his choice of moving to another research topic. Chandra, however, compiled all his work on the topic of stellar structures into a book for posterity. This also subsequently led to his style of working continuously in one specific area of physics for a number of years and at the end of that period compiling a book on that topic. As a result, Chandra has left us with great expositions on different topics.
In 1999, NASA named the third of its four "Great Observatories'" after Chandrasekhar. This followed a naming contest which attracted 6,000 entries from fifty states and sixty-one countries. The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999. The name Chandrasekhar is one of the appellations of Shiva meaning "holder of the moon" in Sanskrit and is a common Hindu name.
The Chandrasekhar number, an important dimensionless number of magnetohydrodynamics, is named after him.
The asteroid 1958 Chandra is also named after Chandrasekhar.
Awards
Fellow of the Royal Society (1944)
Henry Norris Russell Lectureship (1949)
Bruce Medal (1952)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1953)
National Medal of Science, USA (1967)
Padma Vibhushan (1968)
Henry Draper Medal (1971)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1983)
Copley Medal of the Royal Society (1984)
Honorary Fellow of the International Academy of Science (1988)
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Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (Punjabi: ਮਨਮੋਹਨ ਸਿੰਘ,Hindi: मनमोहन सिंह, born 26 September 1932) is the 14th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the first person of Sikh faith to hold the office. An economist by profession, Singh was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1982 to 1985, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987 and the Finance Minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is also a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, currently serving his 4th term.
Singh is a graduate of Panjab University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford. After serving as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Singh was appointed as the Union Minister of Finance in 1991 by then-Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. During his tenure as the Finance Minister, Singh was widely credited for carrying out economic reforms in India in 1991 which resulted in the end of the infamous Licence Raj system.
Following the 2004 general elections, Singh was unexpectedly declared as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. He was sworn in as the prime minister on May 22, 2004, along with the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet. During its five year term, Singh's administration largely focused on reducing government fiscal deficit, providing debt relief to poor farmers and advancing pro-industry economic and tax policies.
After the Indian National Congress won the 2009 general elections, Singh was reappointed as the Prime Minister of India on May 22, 2009, making him the first Indian Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term.
Childhood and education
Manmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab, (now in Chakwal District, Pakistan) into a Sikh family. He lost his mother when he was very young, and he was raised by his paternal grandmother, to whom he was very close. He was a hard working student who studied by candlelight, as his village did not have electricity. After the Partition of India, he migrated to Amritsar. He attended Panjab University, Chandigarh studying Economics and attaining his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954 respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. He went on to read for the Economics Tripos at Cambridge University as a member of St John's College. (In the Oxbridge tradition, holders of the BA degree with honours are entitled in due course to an MA degree.) He won the Wright's Prize for distinguished performance in 1955 and 1957. He was also one of the few recipients of the Wrenbury scholarship. In 1962, Singh completed his DPhil from the University of Oxford where he was a member of Nuffield College. The title of his doctoral thesis was "India’s export performance, 1951-1960, export prospects and policy implications", and his thesis supervisor was Dr I M D Little. From this thesis he published the book "India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth".
In 1997, the University of Alberta presented him with an Honorary Doctor of Laws. The University of Oxford awarded him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree in June 2006, and in October 2006, the University of Cambridge followed with the same honour. St. John's College further honored him by naming a PhD Scholarship after him, the Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship.
Early career
After completing his D.Phil, Singh worked for UNCTAD (1966–1969). During the 1970s, he taught at the University of Delhi and worked for the Ministry of Foreign Trade with then Cabinet Minister for Foreign Trade Lalit Narayan Mishra and for Finance Ministry of India. In 1982, he was appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and held the post until 1985. He went on to become the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987.
Finance Minister of India
In 1991, India's then-Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, chose Singh to be the Finance Minister. At the time, India was facing an economic crisis. Rao and Singh implemented policies to open up the economy and change the socialist economic system to a capitalist economy. The economic reform package included dismantling License Raj that made it difficult for private businesses to exist and prosper, removal of many obstacles for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and initiating the process of the privatization of public sector companies. These economic reforms are credited with bringing high levels of economic growth in India, and changing the annual 3%, to an average of 8–9% economic growth in the following years. However, in spite of these reforms, Rao's government was voted out in 1996 due to non-performance of government in other areas.
Career in the Rajya Sabha
Singh was first elected to the upper house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, in 1991 and was re-elected in 2001 and 2007. From 1998 to 2004, while the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, Singh was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. In 1999, he ran for the Lok Sabha from South Delhi but was unable to win the seat.
Prime ministership
14th Lok Sabha
After the 2004 general elections, the Indian National Congress stunned the incumbent National Democratic Alliance (NDA) by becoming the political party with the single largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha. In a surprise move, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi declared Manmohan Singh, a technocrat, as the UPA candidate for the Prime Minister post. Despite the fact that Singh had never won a Lok Sabha seat, his considerable goodwill and Sonia Gandhi's nomination won him the support of the UPA allies and the Left Front. He took the oath as the Prime Minister of India on May 22, 2004, becoming the first person of Sikh faith and the first non-Hindu to hold the office in predominantly Hindu-majority India.
During his tenure, Singh's administration has focused on reducing the fiscal deficit, providing debt relief to poor farmers, extending social programs and advancing the pro-industry economic and tax policies that have launched the country on a major economic expansion course since 2002. However, his government has been criticized for not carrying forward the momentum in economic reforms.
Foreign policy
Manmohan Singh's Government has continued the pragmatic foreign policy that was started by P.V. Narasimha Rao and continued by BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Prime Minister has continued the peace process with Pakistan initiated by his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Exchange of high-level visits by top leaders from both countries have highlighted his tenure, as has reduced terrorism and increased prosperity in the state of Kashmir. Efforts have been made during Singh's tenure to end the border dispute with People's Republic of China. In November 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India which was followed by Singh's visit to Beijing in January 2008. A major development in Sino-Indian relations was the reopening of the Nathula Pass in 2006 after being closed for more than four decades. In 2007, the People's Republic of China became the biggest trade partner of India, with bilateral trade expected to surpass US$60 billion by 2010. However, there is a growing trade imbalance. Relations with Afghanistan have also improved considerably, with India now becoming the largest regional donor to Afghanistan. During Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to New Delhi in August 2008, Manmohan Singh increased the aid package to Afghanistan for the development of more schools, health clinics, infrastructure, and defense.
Singh's government has worked towards stronger ties with the United States. He visited the United States in July 2005 initiating negotiations over the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement. This was followed by George W. Bush's successful visit to India in March 2006, during which the declaration over the nuclear agreement was made, giving India access to American nuclear fuel and technology while India will have to allow IAEA inspection of its civil nuclear reactors. After more than two years for more negotiations, followed by approval from the IAEA, Nuclear Suppliers Group and the US Congress, India and the U.S. signed the agreement on 10 October 2008.
During Singh's tenure as Prime Minister, relations have improved with Japan and European Union countries, like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Relations with Iran have continued and negotiations over the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline have taken place. New Delhi hosted an India–Africa Summit in April 2006 which was attended by the leaders of 15 African states. Relations, have improved with other developing countries, particularly Brazil and South Africa. Singh carried forward the momentum which was established after the "Brasilia Declaration" in 2003 and the IBSA Dialogue Forum was formed.
Manmohan Singh's government has also been especially keen on expanding ties with Israel. Since 2003, the two countries have made significant investments in each other and Israel now rivals Russia to become India's defense partner. Though there have been a few diplomatic glitches between India and Russia, especially over the delay and price hike of several Russian weapons to be delivered to India, relations between the two remain strong with India and Russia signing various agreements to increase defense, nuclear energy and space cooperation.
Economic policy
Dr. Singh, along with the former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, have presided over a period where the Indian economy has grown with an 8–9% economic growth rate. In 2007, India achieved its highest GDP growth rate of 9% and became the second fastest growing major economy in the world.
Singh's government has continued the Golden Quadrilateral and the highway modernization program that was initiated by Vajpayee's government. Singh has also been working on reforming the banking and financial sectors and has been working towards reforming public sector companies. The Finance ministry has been working towards relieving farmers of their debt and has been working towards pro-industry policies. In 2005, Singh's government introduced the VAT tax that replaced the complicated sales tax. In 2007 and early 2008, inflation became a big problem globally.
Healthcare and education
In 2005, Prime Minister Singh and his government's health ministry started the National Rural Health Mission, which has mobilized half a million community health workers. This rural health initiative, was praised by the prominent American economist, Jeffrey Sachs, in an article, in Time magazine.
Dr. Singh has announced that eight more Indian Institutes of Technology will be opened in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The Singh government has also continued the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme, begun by his predecessor, Mr. Vajpayee. The programme has included the introduction and improvement of mid-day meals and the opening of schools all over India, especially in rural areas, to fight illiteracy. The ancient Nalanda University shall be restarted in Bihar.
Security and Home Affairs
Dr. Singh's government has been criticised by opposition parties for revoking POTA and for the many bomb blasts in various cities, like in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, etc. and for not being able to reduce the Naxal terrorism that is menacing rural areas in Eastern and Central India. Singh's government has, however, extended the ban on the radical Islamic terror group Student's Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Terrorism in Kashmir has, however, reduced significantly during the Singh administration.
Legislation
The important NREGA act and the RTI act were passed by the Parliament in 2005 during his tenure. While the effectiveness of the NREGA has been successful at various degrees, in various regions, the RTI act has proved crucial in India's fight against corruption.
15th Lok Sabha
India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2009. Strong showing in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh helped the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) form the new government under the incumbent Singh, who became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to win re-election after completing a full five-year term. The Congress and its allies was able to put together a comfortable majority with support from 322 members out of 543 members of the House. The oppossition having accepted defeat admitted that the specific targeting of Singh as "weak PM" was wrong and had benefited Singh instead.This lead to infighting in the BJP and criticism of Mr.Advani by many prominent leaders of the BJP.. The tally of 322 seats included those of the UPA and the external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other minor parties.
On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the Asoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. As is the norm, earlier, on 18 May 2009, he submitted his resignation as the Prime Minister to President Pratibha Patil.
Degrees and posts held
BA (Hons) in Economics 1952; MA First Class in Economics, 1954 Punjab University, Chandigarh, India
First Class Honours degree in Economics, University of Cambridge, St John's College, Cambridge (1957)
Senior Lecturer, Economics (1957–1959)
Reader (1959–1963)
Professor (1963–1965)
Professor of International Trade (1969–1971)
DPhil in Economics, Nuffield College at University of Oxford,(1962)
Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
Honorary Professor (1996)
Chief, Financing for Trade Section, UNCTAD, United Nations Secretariat, New York
1966 : Economic Affairs Officer 1966
Economic Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Trade, India (1971–1972)
Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, India, (1972–1976)
Honorary Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (1976)
Director, Reserve Bank of India (1976–1980)
Director, Industrial Development Bank of India (1976–1980)
Secretary, Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs), Government of India, (1977–1980)
Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1982–1985)
Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, (1985–1987)
Advisor to Prime Minister of India on Economic Affairs (1990–1991)
Finance Minister of India, (21 June 1991 – 15 May 1996)
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha (1998–2004)
Prime Minister of India (22 May 2004 – Present)
Manmohan Singh (Punjabi: ਮਨਮੋਹਨ ਸਿੰਘ,Hindi: मनमोहन सिंह, born 26 September 1932) is the 14th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the first person of Sikh faith to hold the office. An economist by profession, Singh was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1982 to 1985, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987 and the Finance Minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is also a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, currently serving his 4th term.
Singh is a graduate of Panjab University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford. After serving as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Singh was appointed as the Union Minister of Finance in 1991 by then-Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. During his tenure as the Finance Minister, Singh was widely credited for carrying out economic reforms in India in 1991 which resulted in the end of the infamous Licence Raj system.
Following the 2004 general elections, Singh was unexpectedly declared as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. He was sworn in as the prime minister on May 22, 2004, along with the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet. During its five year term, Singh's administration largely focused on reducing government fiscal deficit, providing debt relief to poor farmers and advancing pro-industry economic and tax policies.
After the Indian National Congress won the 2009 general elections, Singh was reappointed as the Prime Minister of India on May 22, 2009, making him the first Indian Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term.
Childhood and education
Manmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab, (now in Chakwal District, Pakistan) into a Sikh family. He lost his mother when he was very young, and he was raised by his paternal grandmother, to whom he was very close. He was a hard working student who studied by candlelight, as his village did not have electricity. After the Partition of India, he migrated to Amritsar. He attended Panjab University, Chandigarh studying Economics and attaining his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954 respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. He went on to read for the Economics Tripos at Cambridge University as a member of St John's College. (In the Oxbridge tradition, holders of the BA degree with honours are entitled in due course to an MA degree.) He won the Wright's Prize for distinguished performance in 1955 and 1957. He was also one of the few recipients of the Wrenbury scholarship. In 1962, Singh completed his DPhil from the University of Oxford where he was a member of Nuffield College. The title of his doctoral thesis was "India’s export performance, 1951-1960, export prospects and policy implications", and his thesis supervisor was Dr I M D Little. From this thesis he published the book "India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth".
In 1997, the University of Alberta presented him with an Honorary Doctor of Laws. The University of Oxford awarded him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree in June 2006, and in October 2006, the University of Cambridge followed with the same honour. St. John's College further honored him by naming a PhD Scholarship after him, the Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship.
Early career
After completing his D.Phil, Singh worked for UNCTAD (1966–1969). During the 1970s, he taught at the University of Delhi and worked for the Ministry of Foreign Trade with then Cabinet Minister for Foreign Trade Lalit Narayan Mishra and for Finance Ministry of India. In 1982, he was appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and held the post until 1985. He went on to become the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987.
Finance Minister of India
In 1991, India's then-Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, chose Singh to be the Finance Minister. At the time, India was facing an economic crisis. Rao and Singh implemented policies to open up the economy and change the socialist economic system to a capitalist economy. The economic reform package included dismantling License Raj that made it difficult for private businesses to exist and prosper, removal of many obstacles for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and initiating the process of the privatization of public sector companies. These economic reforms are credited with bringing high levels of economic growth in India, and changing the annual 3%, to an average of 8–9% economic growth in the following years. However, in spite of these reforms, Rao's government was voted out in 1996 due to non-performance of government in other areas.
Career in the Rajya Sabha
Singh was first elected to the upper house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, in 1991 and was re-elected in 2001 and 2007. From 1998 to 2004, while the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, Singh was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. In 1999, he ran for the Lok Sabha from South Delhi but was unable to win the seat.
Prime ministership
14th Lok Sabha
After the 2004 general elections, the Indian National Congress stunned the incumbent National Democratic Alliance (NDA) by becoming the political party with the single largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha. In a surprise move, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi declared Manmohan Singh, a technocrat, as the UPA candidate for the Prime Minister post. Despite the fact that Singh had never won a Lok Sabha seat, his considerable goodwill and Sonia Gandhi's nomination won him the support of the UPA allies and the Left Front. He took the oath as the Prime Minister of India on May 22, 2004, becoming the first person of Sikh faith and the first non-Hindu to hold the office in predominantly Hindu-majority India.
During his tenure, Singh's administration has focused on reducing the fiscal deficit, providing debt relief to poor farmers, extending social programs and advancing the pro-industry economic and tax policies that have launched the country on a major economic expansion course since 2002. However, his government has been criticized for not carrying forward the momentum in economic reforms.
Foreign policy
Manmohan Singh's Government has continued the pragmatic foreign policy that was started by P.V. Narasimha Rao and continued by BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Prime Minister has continued the peace process with Pakistan initiated by his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Exchange of high-level visits by top leaders from both countries have highlighted his tenure, as has reduced terrorism and increased prosperity in the state of Kashmir. Efforts have been made during Singh's tenure to end the border dispute with People's Republic of China. In November 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India which was followed by Singh's visit to Beijing in January 2008. A major development in Sino-Indian relations was the reopening of the Nathula Pass in 2006 after being closed for more than four decades. In 2007, the People's Republic of China became the biggest trade partner of India, with bilateral trade expected to surpass US$60 billion by 2010. However, there is a growing trade imbalance. Relations with Afghanistan have also improved considerably, with India now becoming the largest regional donor to Afghanistan. During Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to New Delhi in August 2008, Manmohan Singh increased the aid package to Afghanistan for the development of more schools, health clinics, infrastructure, and defense.
Singh's government has worked towards stronger ties with the United States. He visited the United States in July 2005 initiating negotiations over the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement. This was followed by George W. Bush's successful visit to India in March 2006, during which the declaration over the nuclear agreement was made, giving India access to American nuclear fuel and technology while India will have to allow IAEA inspection of its civil nuclear reactors. After more than two years for more negotiations, followed by approval from the IAEA, Nuclear Suppliers Group and the US Congress, India and the U.S. signed the agreement on 10 October 2008.
During Singh's tenure as Prime Minister, relations have improved with Japan and European Union countries, like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Relations with Iran have continued and negotiations over the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline have taken place. New Delhi hosted an India–Africa Summit in April 2006 which was attended by the leaders of 15 African states. Relations, have improved with other developing countries, particularly Brazil and South Africa. Singh carried forward the momentum which was established after the "Brasilia Declaration" in 2003 and the IBSA Dialogue Forum was formed.
Manmohan Singh's government has also been especially keen on expanding ties with Israel. Since 2003, the two countries have made significant investments in each other and Israel now rivals Russia to become India's defense partner. Though there have been a few diplomatic glitches between India and Russia, especially over the delay and price hike of several Russian weapons to be delivered to India, relations between the two remain strong with India and Russia signing various agreements to increase defense, nuclear energy and space cooperation.
Economic policy
Dr. Singh, along with the former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, have presided over a period where the Indian economy has grown with an 8–9% economic growth rate. In 2007, India achieved its highest GDP growth rate of 9% and became the second fastest growing major economy in the world.
Singh's government has continued the Golden Quadrilateral and the highway modernization program that was initiated by Vajpayee's government. Singh has also been working on reforming the banking and financial sectors and has been working towards reforming public sector companies. The Finance ministry has been working towards relieving farmers of their debt and has been working towards pro-industry policies. In 2005, Singh's government introduced the VAT tax that replaced the complicated sales tax. In 2007 and early 2008, inflation became a big problem globally.
Healthcare and education
In 2005, Prime Minister Singh and his government's health ministry started the National Rural Health Mission, which has mobilized half a million community health workers. This rural health initiative, was praised by the prominent American economist, Jeffrey Sachs, in an article, in Time magazine.
Dr. Singh has announced that eight more Indian Institutes of Technology will be opened in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The Singh government has also continued the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme, begun by his predecessor, Mr. Vajpayee. The programme has included the introduction and improvement of mid-day meals and the opening of schools all over India, especially in rural areas, to fight illiteracy. The ancient Nalanda University shall be restarted in Bihar.
Security and Home Affairs
Dr. Singh's government has been criticised by opposition parties for revoking POTA and for the many bomb blasts in various cities, like in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, etc. and for not being able to reduce the Naxal terrorism that is menacing rural areas in Eastern and Central India. Singh's government has, however, extended the ban on the radical Islamic terror group Student's Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Terrorism in Kashmir has, however, reduced significantly during the Singh administration.
Legislation
The important NREGA act and the RTI act were passed by the Parliament in 2005 during his tenure. While the effectiveness of the NREGA has been successful at various degrees, in various regions, the RTI act has proved crucial in India's fight against corruption.
15th Lok Sabha
India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2009. Strong showing in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh helped the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) form the new government under the incumbent Singh, who became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to win re-election after completing a full five-year term. The Congress and its allies was able to put together a comfortable majority with support from 322 members out of 543 members of the House. The oppossition having accepted defeat admitted that the specific targeting of Singh as "weak PM" was wrong and had benefited Singh instead.This lead to infighting in the BJP and criticism of Mr.Advani by many prominent leaders of the BJP.. The tally of 322 seats included those of the UPA and the external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other minor parties.
On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the Asoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. As is the norm, earlier, on 18 May 2009, he submitted his resignation as the Prime Minister to President Pratibha Patil.
Degrees and posts held
BA (Hons) in Economics 1952; MA First Class in Economics, 1954 Punjab University, Chandigarh, India
First Class Honours degree in Economics, University of Cambridge, St John's College, Cambridge (1957)
Senior Lecturer, Economics (1957–1959)
Reader (1959–1963)
Professor (1963–1965)
Professor of International Trade (1969–1971)
DPhil in Economics, Nuffield College at University of Oxford,(1962)
Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
Honorary Professor (1996)
Chief, Financing for Trade Section, UNCTAD, United Nations Secretariat, New York
1966 : Economic Affairs Officer 1966
Economic Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Trade, India (1971–1972)
Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, India, (1972–1976)
Honorary Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (1976)
Director, Reserve Bank of India (1976–1980)
Director, Industrial Development Bank of India (1976–1980)
Secretary, Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs), Government of India, (1977–1980)
Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1982–1985)
Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, (1985–1987)
Advisor to Prime Minister of India on Economic Affairs (1990–1991)
Finance Minister of India, (21 June 1991 – 15 May 1996)
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha (1998–2004)
Prime Minister of India (22 May 2004 – Present)
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Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
Venkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan (Tamil: வெங்கட்ராமன் ராமகிருஷ்ணன்; born 1952 in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India), FRS is an Indian American structural biologist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of the Medical Research Council located in Cambridge, England. He is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath.
Background and research work
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has published more than 95 research papers, the earliest being in 1977.[12] In 2000, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan's laboratory determined the structure of the 30S subunit of the ribosome and its complexes with several antibiotics. He also published three papers about his ribosome research in the August 26, 1999, and September 21, 2000, issues of the journal Nature. This was followed by studies that provided structural insights into the mechanism that ensures the fidelity of protein biosynthesis. More recently, his laboratory has determined the atomic structure of the whole ribosome in complex with its tRNA and mRNA ligands. Ramakrishnan is also known for his past work on histone and chromatin structure.
Ramakrishnan is known for his work on the determination of the three-dimensional structure of the small ribosomal subunit and its complexes with substrates and antibiotics, which has shed light on the mechanism that ensures the fidelity of protein synthesis, and for his work on the structures of chromatin-related proteins.
Honours
Ramakrishnan was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath. Ramakrishnan will be awarded the Nobel Prize along with one-third of the total prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.4 million), in a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10. Thus, he became the seventh Indian or person of Indian origin to win the Nobel Prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a member of EMBO and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Venkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan (Tamil: வெங்கட்ராமன் ராமகிருஷ்ணன்; born 1952 in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India), FRS is an Indian American structural biologist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of the Medical Research Council located in Cambridge, England. He is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath.
Background and research work
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has published more than 95 research papers, the earliest being in 1977.[12] In 2000, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan's laboratory determined the structure of the 30S subunit of the ribosome and its complexes with several antibiotics. He also published three papers about his ribosome research in the August 26, 1999, and September 21, 2000, issues of the journal Nature. This was followed by studies that provided structural insights into the mechanism that ensures the fidelity of protein biosynthesis. More recently, his laboratory has determined the atomic structure of the whole ribosome in complex with its tRNA and mRNA ligands. Ramakrishnan is also known for his past work on histone and chromatin structure.
Ramakrishnan is known for his work on the determination of the three-dimensional structure of the small ribosomal subunit and its complexes with substrates and antibiotics, which has shed light on the mechanism that ensures the fidelity of protein synthesis, and for his work on the structures of chromatin-related proteins.
Honours
Ramakrishnan was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath. Ramakrishnan will be awarded the Nobel Prize along with one-third of the total prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.4 million), in a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10. Thus, he became the seventh Indian or person of Indian origin to win the Nobel Prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a member of EMBO and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
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Arun Netravali
Arun N. Netravali (born May 26, 1946 in Bombay) is an Indian-American engineer who is a pioneer of digital technology including HDTV and MPEG4. He conducted seminal research in digital compression, signal processing and other fields. Netravali has been President of Bell Laboratories and Chief Scientist for Lucent Technologies.
Career
Arun Netravali taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, and Rutgers University. He has authored more than 170 technical papers and co-authored the books Digital Pictures: Representation and Compression, Visual Communications Systems, and Digital Video: An Introduction to MPEG-2.
He holds more than 100 patents relating to computer networks, human interfaces to machines, picture processing, and digital television. He interacted with the students of his alma mater, IIT Bombay during Techfest 2007.
Netravali is currently the managing partner of OmniCapital, a venture capital company, and is a director of various companies including Agere Systems.
Awards
Netravali has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the U.S. National Medal of Technology and the Padma Bhushan. from the Government of India (the two highest honors in each country).
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Pranav Mistry
Creator of the Future.
His latest video from TedIndia November 2009.
Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of 'SixthSense' technology-TV-Economic Times
Mindblowing Stuff !!
