Sunita Lyn Williams, born on September 19, 1965 in Ohio, United States is currently at the International Space Station (ISS) as a member of Expedition 14. A NASA astronaut, she is the second woman of Indian origin after the late Kalpana Chawla to go into space after being selected by NASA. Married to Michael J. Williams, her family roots go back to Gujarat from her father’s side. She carried a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, [...]
Eminent engineer and statesman, Sir M. Visvesvaraya was born on September 15, 1860 in Muddenahalli village in Karnataka’s Kolar district. He lost his father, who was a Sanskrit scholar at the age of 15. After completing his early education in Chikkaballapur, he moved to Bangalore for his higher education. He joined the Science College in Poona to study Engineering and was ranked first in the L.C.E. and the F.C.E. Examinations in 1883. The Government of [...]
Shreya Singhal is a 21 year old Delhi student, who has a degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of Bristol. Singhal comes from a family of lawyers; Manali Singhal her mother is a lawyer and her grandparents are Justice Sunanda Bhandare and Murli Bhandare who after serving a long career as a senior advocate is now the Governor of Odisha. A regular user of social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter Shreya has been [...]
Shakunatala Devi is a well-known mathematical genius and calculating progidy from India. She has been nicknamed ‘Human Computer’ because of her extraordinary talent and skill in solving complex mathematical problems without any mechanical aid. Shakuntala Devi was born on 4th November, 1939 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Shakuntala’s father was a circus artiste and it was he who introduced Shakuntala to the world of mathematics, through card tricks. Shakuntala’s amazing memory power was tapped, which then [...]
Shahnaz Husain is the Chairperson of the Shahnaz Hussain Group, one of India’s leading companies in the field of beauty and anti-ageing products. In recognition of her achievements, she was awarded the Padma Shree by the Union Government in 2006. She was named as the Woman of the Year in 1996 by the Success magazine, a leading business publication. The Shahnaz Husain Group has franchise outlets spread all over India and across the world. Besides, [...]
The first Indian woman to win an international beauty contest, Reita Faria has served as a trailblazer for many other Indian beauty queens. She won the Miss World crown in 1966. Originally hailing from Matunga in Mumbai, she did her schooling and college education in Mumbai. She had bagged the Miss Mumbai and Miss India titles during her medical studies at the Grant College, Mumbai. However, after her one-year tenure, she did not do any [...]
The first Indian to fly into space, Rakesh Sharma was born on January 13, 1949 in Patiala, Punjab. He was a squadron leader with the Indian Air Force, when he flew into space in 1984 as part of a joint programme between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos space program. He spent eight days in space on board the Salyut 7 space station. He joined two other Soviet cosmonauts aboard the [...]
Known as the Grand Old Man of the Indian Hospitality business, Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi was the founder of the well known Oberoi Group which today owns several luxury hotels, resorts and a luxury cruise line. His tireless efforts helped mark India as a major site for world tourism. Mohan Singh Oberoi’s life is a literal rags-to-riches story. He was born on August 15 1898 in Bhaun, a small village in erstwhile undivided Punjab. [...]
