DIANA HAYDEN Model, Miss World, Actress Diana Hayden, the 1997 Miss World was born in 1973

in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. She was the only Miss World to have won a hat-trick at the pageant - Miss Photogenic, Miss Beachwear and Miss World 1997. A tomboy as a teenager, Diana grew up to be a ravishing beauty. Diana's parents split up at her very young age, but her family including her mother and brother were still very closeknit. After completing her schooling at St Ann's High School, Secunderabad, she graduated from Osmania University in English through correspondence. Diana shifted to Mumbai to pursue her career goals. She then moved to Bangalore working for the event management company Encore and then again to Bombay. Diana had a brief stint in modelling and did a couple of fashion shows in Bangalore and Mumbai. Then she started work in the public relations division of BMG Crescendo, the music company where she helped handle the careers of artistes like Anaida and Mehnaz. It was Anaida who forced her to send her pictures for the Miss India Contest and the rest is history. R.K. NARAYAN Writer One of the most famous Indian writers in English Language, R.K Narayan was born in 1906 in Madras. He was educated in Mysore and settled there for over half a century. Narayan created the enchanting fictional world of Malgudi through his several novels and short stories which captivated his readers throughout the world and more recently millions of Indian Television viewers, who saw TV adaptations of many Malgudi stories. His famous works are ' Malgudi days' and ' Swamy and his Friends'. Narayan has a humorous way of presenting life around him. First Novel ' Swamy and Friends' (1935), and its successor, ' Bachelor of Art's (1937) are both set in the enchanting fictional territory of Malgudi. His books are regularly published in USA, UK and India and have also been widely translated into several European and Indian languages. His novel, ' the Guide' (1958) won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, the countrys highest Literary honour. He was awarded the A.C.Benson Medal in 1980 by the Royal Society of Literature and in 1981 he was made an Honoray Member of the American Academy and Institutes of Arts and letters. In addition to 4 collection of short stories-A horse and 2 goats, An Astrologers Day and other stories,

Lawley Road and Malgudi Days- he has published 2 travel books , 4 collection of essays and several other books. His biography 'R.K. Narayan, The Early Years' provides a splendid insight into the first four decades of his life. The famous cartoonist R.K.Laxman is his brother. SALMAN RUSHDIE Writer Salman Rushdie is a famous writer. He was born in a Kashmiri Muslim Family of Bombay and later migrated to Great Britain. Some of his well known books are 'Rome', ' Midnight's Children', ' Haroun and the sea of Stories' and the 'Moor's Last Sigh'. He commented against India in ' Midnight's Children' and made some critical references about Islam in ' Satanic Verses'. He created a world-wide furore and commotion with the publication of his book ' Satanic Verses'. Most of the books of Salman Rushdie have been subject to controversies and discussions. The publication of ' Satanic Verses' has raised a storm in the entire Muslim World. This made Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini sentence him to death. So presently he lives in hiding in England. The matter even led to Britain severing diplomatic ties with Iran. Rushdie's work Midnight's Children was awarded the 'Booker of Bookers' prize in 1993, which distinguishes as the best novel to have won the Booker prize over its 25-year history. In 1996 he received the European Union Literary Award in Denmark. SABEER BHATIA Computer Wizard Sabeer Bhatia, the pioneer in the field of first web based e-mail - The Hotmail, was born in Chandigarh in the year 1969. He grew up in Bangalore and had his early education at Bishops Cotton's School in Pune, then St. Joseph's College in Bangalore. For a short-time he was a student at the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani and in 1988 he went to US on a Cal Tech Transfer scholarship to get a bachelor's degree at the California Institute of Technology. He earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. After graduation, Sabeer briefly worked for Apple Computers as a hardware engineer and Firepower Systems Inc. While working there he was amazed at the fact that he could access any software on the internet via a web browser. His success graph took off exponentially when he, along with his colleague Jack Smith, set up Hotmail on 4th July 1996. Today, Hotmail remains the world's largest e-mail provider with over 50 million registered users. As President and CEO, he guided Hotmail's rapid rise to industry leadership and its eventual acquisition by Microsoft in 1998. Bhatia worked at Microsoft for a little over a

year after the Hotmail acquisition and in April 1999, he left Microsoft to start another venture, Arzoo Inc. It's an e-commerce firm with a revolutionary new way to shop on line and may just turn out to be Bhatia's next multi-million dollar winner. Bhatia's success has earned him widespread acclaim; The venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson named him 'Entrepreneur of the Year 1997', MIT chose him as one of 100 young innovators who are expected to have the greatest impact on technology and awarded 'TR100', San Jose Mercury News and POV magazine selected him as one of the ten most successful entrepreneurs of 1998 and Upside magazine's list of top trendsetters in the New Economy named him 'Elite 100'. SWRAJ PAUL Business Magnate Lord Swraj Paul, the great business magnate was born in 1931 in Jalandhar, Punjab. Having learned business lessons from his father at a young age, he later founded the successful multinational company Caparo, an UK-based steel and engineering group. Swraj was educated at Punjab University and obtained a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. In 1953 he returned to India to join the Apeejay Surrendra Group, founded by his father, which he helped build up to a diversified industrial group. Swraj went to England in 1966 hoping to find a cure for his leukemia-stricken two-year-old daughter, Ambika. Shattered by her death, he buried himself in work and there began his spectacular business career in Britain. In 1968, he started buying and selling steel in a one-man business and acquired a small tube unit, Natural Gas Tubes (NGT), which developed into one of the leading UK producers of welded steel tube and spiral welded pipe. Gradually he bought more units, mainly in the steel products manufacturing industry and founded Caparo Group in 1978. Her Majesty the Queen knighted Swraj Paul in the same year, thereby making him The Lord Paul of Marylebone and a member of the House of Lords. Lord Paul has been honoured by various international organisations over the years. He has written the biography of Indira Gandhi and was awarded the Padma Bhushan by her in 1983. Among the honours bestowed on him are the Pro-Chancellorship of the Thames University (1998) and its Governorship (1992-97), Chancellorship of Wolverhampton University and the Bharat Gaurav award by the Indian Merchant's Chamber. He is a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Foreign Policy Centre Advisory Council and MIT's Mechanical Engineering Visiting Committee. Swraj stepped down from the management of Caparo in 1996, handing over his empire to his three sons. Though he is one of the richest persons in the U.K., in his personal life Lord

Paul practices relative simplicity. But he believes in making money so that he can occasionally use it to help the needy or even bail out the London Zoo. GHANSHYAM DAS BIRLA Founder of Birla Group of Industries G.D. Birla was a great architect of India's industrial growth. He started his career in Calcutta at the beginning of this century. He entered the field of business during the days of the First World War and established himself after the war years. He established a cotton mill in Sabzi Mandi, Delhi followed by Keshoram Cotton Mills and Birla Jute Mills around 1920. In 1919, with an investment of 50 lacs, the Birla Brothers Limited was formed and thereafter a mill was set up in Gwalior. In the decade of the 30's he set up Sugar and Paper mills. From 1943 to 1946, Birla Brothers ventured into the area of cars. He had also established Ruby, Asiatic Insurance Co and Inland Air Service. After independence, the Birlas expanded their business and started production in many fields. Near Mirzapur, he, in collaboration with Caesar, an American friend, set up an Aluminum Plant 'Hindalco'. He also started many educational Institutions. To his credit go many temples, planetariums and hospitals. During the decades of 70's and 80's, Birla brothers were among the topmost Industrial Houses of India. G.D. Birla award for scientific Research has been established to encourage scientists for their contribution in the various fields of scientific Research.

AZIM HASHAM PREMJI Founder of Wipro Limited Azim Hasham Premji, founder of Wipro Limited, India's biggest and most competitive IT company based in Bangalore, was born on July 24th 1945 in Bombay. Premji was forced to leave his studies in computer science from Stanford University, California, USA at the age of 21 to take over the family business of vegetable oils when his father M.H. Premji, suddenly passed away in 1966. He has since after a gap of over thirty years completed his degree in Electrical Engineering. The Amalner-based vanaspathi manufacturing company, the Western India Vegetable Product later became Wipro Products Ltd, Wipro Technologies and Wipro Corporation. Under Premji's leadership Wipro embarked on an ambitious phase of expansion and diversification. The Company began manufacturing light bulbs with General Electric and other consumer products including soaps, baby care products, shampoos, powder etc. In

1975, Wipro Fluid Power business unit manufacturing hydraulic cylinders and truck tippers was started. But Premji's ambitions did not stop there. In the 1980s Wipro entered the IT field, taking advantage of the expulsion of IBM from the Indian market in 1975. Thus, Wipro became involved in manufacturing computer hardware, software development and related items, under a special license from Sentinel. As a result, the $1.5 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats grew within a few years to a $662 million diversified, integrated corporation in services, medical systems, technology products and consumer items with offices worldwide. The company's IT division became the worlds first to win SEI CMM level 5 and PCMM Level 5 (People Capability Maturity Model) certification, the latest in quality standards. A large percentage of the company's revenues are generated by the IT division. Wipro works with leading global companies, such as Alcatel, Nokia, Cisco and Nortel and has a joint venture in Medical Systems with General Electric company. Premji's story of success and prominence clearly shows how determination and perseverance, when coupled with knowledge, clear vision and proper planning, enable one to reach the peak of success and leadership. A straight forward person, he doesn't believe in resorting to bribery or corruption to get things done and associates quality with integrity. He is an absolute workaholic and according to him work is the only way to success and survival in a competitive environment. A tough employer, he expects his employees to be competent and will not tolerate lies or deception from anyone. Azim Hasham Premji finds himself in the Forbes Billionaire List 2000, placed in 41st position with a wealth of $ 6.4 billion. Over the years, Azim Premji has been privileged with many honors and accolades. He was chosen as the Business India's 'Businessman of the Year 2000', He was named by Fortune (August 2003) as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US, Forbes (March 2003) listed him as one of ten people globally, Business Week featured (October 2003) him on their cover with the sobriquet 'India's tech king'. The Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education have both conferred honorary doctorates on him. He is also a member of the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee for Information Technology in India. In the year 2001, Premji established Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a vision of influencing the lives of millions of children in India by facilitating the universalisation of elementary education. The foundation works closely with the state governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc and the programs cover over 5000 rural schools. Premji contributes the financial resources for the foundation.Personally, Premji is known for his humility and helping mentality. Easily one of the richest men in the world, he always travels in economy class.

One of his favorite recreational activity is hiking. He leads a quiet life with his wife Yasmin Premji who had worked for 'Inside Outside' (editorial) in Mumbai and his two sons in a simple, but elegant villa in Bangalore. The elder son, Rishad, works in the USA for GE and the younger one, Tariq, has co-founded a dotcom and works from Bangalore. Mr. Premji who holds 78% stakes in the company does not believe in naming one of his sons as his successor just for the norms.

N.R. NARAYANA MURTHY Chairman of Infosys Technologies NR Narayana Murthy, chairman of Infosys Technologies one of the biggest IT empire in India, was born on August 20, 1946 in Karnataka. Murthy obtained his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (B.E.) from University of Mysore in 1967 and his Master of Technology (M.Tech.) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur in 1969. In the early seventies, Narayana Murthy took up employment with SESA in Paris. He worked with a team to design a real time operating system for handling air cargo for Charles de Gaulle airport. He came back to India after 3 years and took up a job with Patni Computer Systems in Pune. In 1981, Murthy founded Infosys Technologies along with six software professionals which later became one of the leading software company. In March 1999, Infosys became the first India-registered company to be listed on an American stock exchange. Personally, Murthy is known for his simplicity and helping mentality. He founded the Infosys Foundation, a social welfare trust for helping the needy. He has a liking for Western Classical music and has liberal ideas. Murthy's ability to put forth his viewpoints and all his other qualities make him a unique personality. Murthy holds several coveted positions. He was the President of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) from 1992 to 1994. He is a member of the National Information Technology Task Force of India, the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry, Asia Society's International Council and Board of Councilors of the University of Southern California School of Engineering. He is a Director on the board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is also on the Wharton Business School's Asian Executive Board. Murthy was honoured by 'JRD Tata Corporation Leadership Award' in 1996-97, 'Alumni Award' in 1998, 'The ET Businessperson of the Year Award' in 2000-2001 and 'The Max Schmidheiny Award' in 2001. He was chosen as the Business India's 'Businessman of the

Year 1999', the Indian corporate world's most coveted award. The credit goes to Mr. Murthy for making India one of the known names in the IT world. Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group can be labelled as the most ambitious telecom entrepreneur in India. Sunil a former student of Harvard Business School, graduated from Punjab University. The son of a parliamentarian, Sunil did not want to follow his father's footsteps. He had shown an interest in business even from his teenage days. So after graduation, Sunil got together with his friend and formed a small bicycle business with borrowed capital in the1970s. But by 1979, he realized that this business would remain small. So he moved out of Ludhiana, spent a few years in Mumbai and in 1981, was running an import and distribution operation out of New Delhi and Mumbai. By 1982, Mittal had started a full-fledged business selling portable generators imported from Japan and that gave him the chance to involve himself in activities like marketing and advertising. Things went smoothly until the government banned the import of generators as two Indian companies were awarded licenses to manufacture generators locally. Sunil Mittal got interested in push button phones while on a trip to Taiwan, and in 1982, introduced the phones to India, replacing the old fashioned, bulky rotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) was incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. By the early 1990s, Mittal was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. The turning point came in 1992 when the Indian government was awarding licenses for mobile phone services for the first time. One of the conditions for the Delhi cellular license was that the bidder have some experience as a telecom operator. Mittal clinched a deal with the French telecom group Vivendi. Two years later, Sunil secured rights to serve New Delhi. In 1995, Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer cellular services under the brand name AirTel. Within a few years Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2-million mobile subscriber mark. The company is also instrumental in bringing down the high STD/ISD, cellular rates in the country by rolling the countries first private national as well as international long-distance service under the brand name IndiaOne. In 2001, the company entered into a joint venture with Singapore Telecom International for a $650-million ubmarine cable project, the countries first ever undersea cable link connecting Chennai in India and Singapore. Always on the move and making an impact and excelling in whatever he did, this clear thinking risk taker has changed the face of the Indian ICT space. For his contributions he has been honoured with several awards. He was chosen as one of the top entrepreneurs in

the world for the year 2000 and amongst 'Stars Of Asia', by 'Business Week', he received IT Man of the Year Award 2002 from Dataquest and CEO Of the Year, 2002 Award (World HRD Congress). He is the member of National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Chairman, Indo-US Joint Business Council, Member, Advisory Committee constituted by Ministry of IT. Mittal has to his credit the breaking up of the 100 year old monopoly of state run companies to operate telecom services in India. Now he heads a successful empire focused on different areas of business through independent Joint Venture companies with a market capitalization of approximately $ 2 billion, employing over 5,000 people and still growing. Bharti Foundation has funded over 50 schools in Madhya Pradesh and also donated Rs 200 million to IIT Delhi for building a Bharti School of Technology and Management. In spite of his deep involvement in work, Mittal the man, is calm, seldom ruffled and very down to earth. He says he achieves a sense of detachment and peace with regular practice of yoga. He is thankful for a supportive family including a daughter and twin sons, with whom understandably he doesn't get much time to spend. His brothers Rakesh and Rajan are with him in the business.

K.R GOWRI AMMA Politician K.R.Gowri - Popularly known as Gowri Amma, a prominent figure in the Communist Movement in Kerala, has played a profound and significant role in determining the destiny of the state. A relentless and staunch crusader for the downtrodden, she has proved herself as an efficient administrator while remaining a perceptive politician. K.R.Gowri was born at Pattanakad, in Alappuzha district as the seventh daughter of K.A.Raman and Parvathi. After her schooling at Thiroor and Cherthala, she graduated from Maharajas College, Ernakulam. She then obtained her law degree from Law College, Ernakulam. Starting her public life through trade union and peasant movements, K.R. Gowri Amma was elected to the Watch Interview Travancore Council Of Legislative assembly in the Year with 1953 and 1954 with an overwhelming majority. In 1957, K.R Gowri Amma when the first elected Communist Government took office under the Chief Ministership of E.M.S. Namboodiripad, V.S. Achuthananthan was overtaken by the Communist couple from Alapuzha - T.V. Thomas and K.R. Gowri Amma, who went on to become influential Ministers. She became Revenue minister in the first EMS Ministry in 1957 holding the portfolio of Revenue Minister. As revenue minister in the first communist ministry, she piloted the first land reforms bill.

Her marriage to fellow minister and CPI strongman T. V. Thomas is part of communist folklore in Kerala. She got married to him in 1957 but they separated when the Communist Party of India split into two, with Gowri joining the newly formed Communist Party of India-Marxist in 1964. In 1967, both Gowriamma and Thomas became ministers in the Namboodiripad government and both of them lived in two nearby ministerial bungalows. The CPI-M though dumped her later on, even though she was a prominent woman leader in 1987, after projecting her initially as a chief ministerial candidate. On that occasion, E.K. Nayanar became CM, due to the machinations of the Malabar lobby. In 1994, K.R. Gowri was expelled from CPI (M) on charges of anti-party activities, even though she was considered as one of the icons in the party. Following which, she established a new political outfit named Janadipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS) and joined the Congress-led United Democratic Front, which for years she opposed when she was in the CPI-M. She was made a minister in the A.K. Antony cabinet in May 2001. She became a minister again when Oommen Chandy took over from Antony as chief minister. Gowri Amma has the unique distinction of sitting in the Kerala assembly for a record 16,345 days, edging out former minister Baby John in terms of number of days and late former minister P.R. Kurup in terms of age. Gowri Amma also holds the record of winning all but one of 12 assembly elections in Kerala. The only defeat came in the 1977 polls. She has been minister six times. RAJIV GANDHI Ex Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944 in Mumbai. Born to parents, Firoz Gandhi and Priyadarshini Gandhi, he was heir to the political heritage of his mother and grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of modern India. He married Sonia Maino, an Italian girl, whom he met during his student days in Cambridge. Rajiv was a pilot by profession. He was never interested in politics but the sudden death of his younger brother Sanjay in a glider accident in Delhi steered Rajiv Gandhi into it. He won the election from Amethi and became a Member of Parliament in 1981. He was appointed general secretary of the Congress party in 1983. On the October 31, 1984 he took the oath as the Prime Minister of the country. Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest Prime Minister of the World's largest Democracy. He strengthened India's political, economic and cultural bonds with other countries. He was the first politician at the helm to criticize the power brokers who ruled the roost in the ruling party. Rajiv Gandhi found himself in many controversies during the last two years of his Prime Minister ship.

He met a tragic end on 21st may 1991 at Sriperumbudur, by an LTTE (Liberal tigers of Tamil Eelam) Suicide Bomber named Tanu, when he was attending an election meeting. The Government of India conferred the highest honour of the land "Bharat Ratna" on him posthumously. Many foundations have been established to cherish his memory for the welfare of society in the fields of Science and Technology, Arts and Culture, and Health and Medicine.

DR. H. J. BHABHA Father of Indian nuclear science, 1st chairman of Atomic Energy Commission The eminent scientist who ushered India into the atomic age was Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha. He was born on 30 October 1909 in a Parsi family of Mumbai. He is called the 'Father of Indian Nuclear Science'. Dr.Bhabha was appointed the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, set up in 1948. It was largely due to his efforts that the nation's first Atomic research Center, now named Bhabha Atomic research Center, was established at Trombay, near Mumbai. Under his expert guidance the nation's first atomic reactor 'Apsara' was also commissioned in 1956. In 1945, he founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. Dr.Bhabha had a highly distinguished career and was an exceptionally bright student. Even as a student, he made some fundamental discoveries in electricity, magnetism, quantum theory and the cosmic rays. Dr.Bhabha as the scientist of a very high caliber, received many national and international awards and honours. In 1942, he was awarded the 'Adams' award. In 1951, Bhabha was elected the president of the Indian Science Congress. In 1955, he was elected the chairman of the U.N. sponsored International conference on the peaceful uses of the atomic energy held in Geneva. The Government of India also honoured him with 'Padma Bhushan' in 1954. The 'Homi Jehangir Bhabha Award' has been instituted by Indian National Science Academy. He passed away in 1966 in a plane crash.

Dr. HARGOBIND KHORANA Nobel Prize Winner

Dr. Hargobind Khorana was born on 9th January 1922 at Raipur, Punjab (now in Pakistan). Dr.Khorana was responsible for producing the first man-made gene in his laboratory in the early seventies. This historic invention won him the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968 sharing it with M.W. Nuremberg and R.W. Holley for interpreting the genetic code and analyzing its function in protein synthesis. They all independently made contributions to the understanding of the genetic code and how it works in the cell. Khorana, born into a poor family attended D.A.V. High School in Multan, took his M.Sc from Punjab University at Lahore and in 1945 he went to England on a government scholarship and obtained a PhD from the University of Liverpool (1948). Dr. Khorana spent a year in Zurich in 1948-49 as a post-doctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and returned to India for a brief period in 1949. He returned to England in 1950 and spent two years on a fellowship at Cambridge and began research on nucleic acids under Sir Alexander Todd and Kenner. His interest in proteins and nucleic acids took root at that time. In 1952 he went to the University of British Columbia, Vancouver on a job offer and there a group began to work in the field of biologically interesting phosphate esters and nucleic acids with the inspiration from Dr. Gordon M. Shrum and Scientific counsel from Dr. Jack Campbell. In 1960 he joined the University of Wisconsin as Professor and coDirector of the Institute of Enzyme Research and Professor of Biochemistry (1962-70) and became an US citizen. Khorana continued research on nucleic acid synthesis and prepared the first artificial copy of a yeast gene. Dr. Khorana is also the first to synthesize oligonucleotides, that is, strings of nucleotides. These custom designed pieces of artificial genes are widely used in biology labs for sequencing, cloning and engineering new plants and animals. The oligo nucleotides, thus, have become indispensable tools in biotechnology. In 1970 he became the Alfred Sloan Professor of Biology and Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Khorana now settled in America, is married to Esther Elizabeth Sibler from Switzerland and they have three children. Apart from the Nobel Prize, Khorana has won many awards and honors for his achievement. Distinguished Service Award, Watumull Foundation, Honolulu, Hawaii (1968); American Academy of Achievement Award, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1971); Padma Vibushan, Presidential Award, India (1972); J.C.Bose Medal, Bose Institute, Calcutta (1972) and Willard Gibbs medal of the Chicago Section of American Chemical Society (1973-74). He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington as well as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1971 he became a foreign member of USSR Academy of Sciences and in 1974 an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Chemical Society. Khorana's work, which is an important scientific landmark of the twentieth century, has brought closer the day when synthetic DNA may be introduced into the defective human tissues to bring about their repair or treat mentally retarded people and change them into more intelligent and healthy human beings. His synthesis of RNA, capable of replication in

laboratory, is a step towards the creation of life artificially. In fact, the researches has opened up a new branch called Genetic Engineering in Science. J. C. BOSE Founder of Bose Research Institute, Biologist, Physicist Jagadish Chandra Bose was one of the pioneers of modern science in India. His research was on the properties of electro-magnetic waves. His major achievement was to demonstrate the similarity of responses to stimulation among the living and the nonliving as well as the fundamental similarity of responses in plant and animal tissues. The British Government knighted him in 1917. He founded the 'Bose Research Institute' in Kolkatta in 1917. Bose was not only a biologist, but also a physicist. Bose believed that by focusing on the boundaries between different physical and biological sciences, he would be able to demonstrate the underlying unity of all things. Bose's biological researches were founded initially by the discovery that an electric receiver seems to show science of fatigue after continued use. He can rightly be called the inventor of wireless telegraphy. Bose was the first in the world to fabricate and demonstrate in public (1985) the device that generated microwaves-radio waves of very short wave length. But his invention was not patented before Guglielmo Marconi (1896) who became internationally recognised as the inventor. After completing his studies in London, Bose return to Kolkatta and was appointed Professor at Presidency College in Kolkatta. Then he became the director of the institute he founded and remained in the post till his death on 23rd November 1937. SUBRAMANYAN CHANDRASEKHAR Asrtophysicist, Nobel prize winner Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a Nobel Laureate in Physics and one of the greatest astrophysicists of modern times was born on October 19, 1910 in Lahore, (now in Pakistan) to parents Chandrasekhara Subrahmanya Ayyaa civil servant and Sita Balakrishnan. Being the nephew of the great, C.V. Raman, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics young Chandrashekhar's interest in the subject came naturally to him. In 1930, at the age of 19, he completed his degree in Physics from Presidency College, Madras and went to England for postgraduate studies at the Cambridge University. Chandrasekhar was noted for his work in the field of stellar evolution, and in the early 1930s he was the first to theorize that a collapsing massive star would become an object so dense that not even light could escape it; now known as the Black hole. He demonstrated that there is an upper limit ( known as 'Chandrasekhar Limit' ) to the mass of a White dwarf star. His

theory challenged the common scientific notion of the 1930s that all stars, after burning up their fuel, became faint, planet-sized remnants known as white dwarfs. But today, the extremely dense neutron stars and black holes implied by Chandrasekhars early work are a central part of the field of astrophysics. Initially his theory was rejected by peers and professional journals in England. The distinguished astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington publicly ridiculed his suggestion that stars could collapse into such objects( black holes). Disappointed, and reluctant to engage in public debate, Chandrasekhar moved to America and in 1937 joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Chicago and remained there till his death. At Chicago, he immersed himself in a personalized style of research and teaching, tackling first one field of astrophysics and then another in great depth. He wrote more than half a dozen definitive books describing the results of his investigations. More than 100,000 copies of his highly technical books have been sold. He also served as editor of the Astrophysical Journal, the fields leading journal, for nearly 20 years; presided over a thousand colloquia; and supervised Ph.D. research for more than 50 students. Chandrasekhar was a creative, prolific genius whose ability to combine mathematical precision with physical insight changed humanity's view of stellar physics. In addition to his work on star degeneration, he has contributed significantly to many disparate branches of physics, including rotational figures of equilibrium, stellar interiors, radiative transfer of energy through the atmospheres of stars, hydro magnetic stability and many others. He won the Nobel Prize in 1983 and received 20 honorary degrees, was elected to 21 learned societies and received numerous awards in addition to the Nobel Prize, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of London; the Royal Medal of the Royal Society, London; the National Medal of Science, the Rumford Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences. NASA's premier X-ray observatory was named the Chandra X-ray Observatory in his honor. He and his wife, Lalitha became American citizens in 1953. This genius passed away on 21 August 1995 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.. SHAKUNTALA DEVI Mathematician Shakuntala Devi is generally known as a 'Human Computer' because of her extraordinary talents in solving complex mathematical problems without any mechanical aid. She also found her place in the Guinness book of records as a result of her extraordinary talents. Nowadays, apart from solving mathematical problems, she is utilising her amazing talent in the field of astrology. She was born in 1939 in Bangalore, Karnataka. Manifested with an extraordinary love for numbers at the age of 3, she became an expert in complex mental arithmetic at the age of

five. On 18 June 1980, Shakuntala Devi gave the product of two, thirteen digit figures after multiplying them within 28 seconds. Many countries have invited Shakuntala Devi to demonstrate her extraordinary talent. Today, she is acclaimed as an accomplished mathematician. VIKRAM.A.SARABHAI 2nd chairman of Indian Atomic Energy Commission and Indian Space Research Organisation Vikram.A.Sarabhai, was the main personality behind the launching of India's first satellite, Aryabhata in 1975. He was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in a family of industrialists. He was also responsible for the Equatorial Rocket Building Station at Thumba. Sarabhai set up the Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association, a laboratory for research in Physics and the Indian Institute of Management. Sarabhai was the second chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission and the Indian Space Research Organisation. Sarabhai's study of cosmic rays under the eminent scientist Dr. C.V. Raman, revealed that cosmic rays are a stream of energy particles reaching the earth from the outer space, being influenced on their way by the sun, the atmosphere and magnetism. This study helps in observing terrestrial magnetism and the atmosphere, the nature of the sun and outer space. He was conferred 'Padma Shri' in 1966 and was posthumously awarded 'Padma Vibushan' in 1972. He was also awarded 'Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize' in 1962. This great scientist could be credited with launching India into space age. SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan was a great Mathematician, who became world famous at the age of twenty six. He was born at Erode in Tamil Nadu on 22 December 1887. Ramanujan could not complete his college education because of illness. He was so interested in mathematics that he learned on his own. He found out new formulas for solving mathematical problems and wrote articles about them. Professor Hardy a scientist in the Cambridge University saw one his article and impressed by his knowledge, took Ramanujan to England. Ramanujan was considered as the master of theory of numbers. The most outstanding of his contributions was his formula for p (n), the number of 'partitions' of 'n'. It was in 1914, while he was working in Trinity College he developed the 'Number Theory' and for his

valuable contribution, was elected fellow of Trinity College on 18th October 1917. He returned to India in 1919 and began Research. He passed away on 26 April 1920. Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in his honour. Indian National Science academy and many other scientific institutions in India are giving various awards in memory of this brilliant mathematician. M.F.Hussain Paint Artist Maqbool Fida Husain alias M.F.Hussain one of India's most gifted artists, is an accomplished painter mostly famous for his paintings on Indian women and also for his habit of getting into controversies. With a career spanning several decades, this multi-faceted artist has made significant contributions in other fields also- as a director, photographer and member of the Indian Parliament etc. M.F. Hussain was born in Pandharpur, Madhya Pradesh on September 17, 1915 to mother Zunaib and father Fida. His mother died when he was three years old. His father remarried and the family moved to Indore where he did his primary education. His association with painting began at an early age- he learnt the art of calligraphy and practiced the Kulfic Khat with its geometric forms. He also learnt to write poetry. At 20 years of age he moved to Mumbai, determined to become an artist and joined Sir J. J. School of Arts for one year. In 1937, he started his career painting cinema hoardings for a livelihood. He had a tough time initially, but as the earning got better he visited Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad to paint landscapes. He also tried his luck in other jobs and the best paid job was at a toy factory, where he designed and built fretwork toys. In between, Hussain got married to Fazila in the year 1941 and they had two daughters Raisa and Aqueela and three sons, Mustafa, a restaurateur and Shamshad and Owais, both painters themselves. Hussain's painting 'Sunhera Sansaar' at the1947 annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society won an award and marked his entry as a known artist. In 1946, Francis Newton Souzah invited him to join Bombay Progressive Artists Group, a group formed to explore a new idiom for Indian art. This exposed Hussain to the works of Emil Nolde and Oskar Kokoschka and made a strong influence, which led him to make some remarkable works 'Re Between The Spider And The Lamp', 'Zameen and Man' etc. He then visited Delhi, where he encountered ancient Mathura sculpture and Indian miniature paintings. This was a turning point of his career as an artist as he assimilated ideas from Western and Indian art. His series of all over India exhibitions during the period 1948 to 1950 made him a publicly known artist. He conducted his first solo exhibition in Mumbai in1952. In 1954, he was nominated as an eminent artist by the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. The following year he won the national award at the Lalit Kala Akademi's first national exhibition.

M.F. Hussain has participated in many international shows which include Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1982; Six Indian Painters, Tate Gallery, London 1985; Modern Indian Painting, Hirschhom Museum, Washington 1986 and Contemporary Indian Art, Grey Art Gallery, New York 1986. Along with several solo exhibitions he had major retrospectives in Zurich (Galerie Palette) and Prague (Manes) in 1956, Frankfurt (Kunst-Kabinet) and Rome ( 1960), Tokyo(1961), Mumbai (1969), Calcutta (1973) and Delhi (1978). His work was exhibited at the Salon de Mai in Paris (1951), the Venice biennales (1953, 1955), Tokyo Biennale (1959 where he won the International Biennale Award), the So Paulo biennales in1959 and in 1971 where he was invited to exhibit alongside Pablo Picasso. His work was first shown in the USA at India House, New York, in 1964. He has also had exhibitions of photography and in 1984 in Hannover, he exhibited works on plexiglass. Besides painting, Hussain has also made a film 'Through the Eyes of a Painter' in 1967 which went on to win the Golden Bear Award in Berlin Film Festival. He has made several short films since then. On account of his immense contribution to Indian art, the Government of India honoured him with the Padmashree in 1966, Padma Bhushan Award in 1973 and the Padma Vibhushan award in 1989, all prestigious civilian awards. He was nominated to the upper house of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha in 1987; and during his six year term he produced the Sansad Portfolio. In a span of several years, Hussain has done a series of paintings on several subjects including the British Raj, on major cities such as Calcutta, Benares, Rome, Beijing; on the Epics- Mahabharata and Ramayana; a whole series on Mother Teresa, on the major nine religions of the world and a series on horses. A big mural of his, around 40 feet high called the Portrait of the 20th Century depicts all the major personalities of arts, science, dance, literature, politics etc. Husain's most interesting paintings of the 90's is the series named after Madhuri Dixit, a well known cine artist in Hindi cinema. He saw her film 'Hum Aapke Hai Kaun.' 67 times and painted a whole series of paintings on her, and even directed her in a film 'Gaja Gamini'. Hussain became the talk of the town for his open fascination with Madhuri Dixit. Subsequently, he made another film 'Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities' with Tabu, another cine artist. Recently Hussain was arrested and charged with hurting sentiments of people following his controversial nude paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses. The court ordered that the artist's should have freedom of expression, but with a limit of un hurting the sentiments of the people.