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. [...]
India’s leading media mogul Subhash Chandra was a one-time rice trader in Haryana and is credited with launching India’s satellite television revolution. His other business interests include packaging, theme parks, lotteries and cinema multiplexes. The founder Chairman of Essel Group of Industries having interests in packaging, entertainment parks, satellite television, cable TV distribution, movie production, multiplexes, education, animation, publishing, satellite and online Lottery, Subhash Chandra was born on 30th November 1950, in Hisar, Haryana. He [...]
Freedom fighter and newspaper baron Ramnath Goenka was born in Bihar on April 3, 1904. After his primary education in Varanasi, he came to Chennai at the young age of 15. It was the quirk of fate that led him to foray into the business of newspapers. His journey to fame began in 1932, when he took over the loss-making Madras edition of The Free Press Journal. He went on to found the Indian Express [...]
The legendary cartoonist Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman (R.K. Laxman) was best known for his creation The Common Man. Born on 24 October 1924, he was widely regarded as India’s greatest cartoonist ever. Laxman had seven siblings and his father was a teacher at a local school. Being inspired by the cartoons that appeared in renowned magazines like Punch, he started drawing everything that caught his attention. Laxman graduated from the University of Mysore and began his [...]
Prannoy Roy is credited with single-handedly changing the face of the Indian television. Born on October 15, 1949,in Kolkata, West Bengal he is the founder and president of New Delhi Television (NDTV). He completed his schooling from The Doon School before going to the United Kingdom from where he graduated in economics in 1973. After completing his Ph.D from the Delhi School of Economics, he worked as Chartered Accountant before moving over to television. He [...]
Cho Ramaswamy (Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy), born on 5 October 1934, was an Indian actor, political satirist, editor, playwright and dialogue writer, film director and a lawyer in Tamil Nadu. He is known for being the founder and editor of the Tamil magazine Thuglak. He also published his impartial viewpoints on politics. Some of his editorial attacks were on Chandra Shekhar, Indira Gandhi, Karunanidhi, Ramakrishna Hegde, Jayalalithaa, Sonia Gandhi, N. T. Rama Rao, P. Chidambaram, Atal [...]
