Padma Vibhushan

Humanitarian and extraordinaire, Dr V Shanta was an oncologist and a pioneer in cancer care in India. Steering the Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar in Chennai to iconic status, she breathed her last on January 19. She was 93.

On the birth anniversary of Uday Shankar, we remember the Padma Vibhushan and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, who played a pivotal role in fusing Indian and Western culture with his unique dance style characterised by Indian non-classical dance forms.

A woman who has inspired countless others, Aruna Asaf Ali's frail beauty and charming exterior belied the incredible inner strength with which she defied British rule and worked for the betterment of the downtrodden.

There is a reason why AR Rahman said that Yesudas stands as “one of my most favourite voices ever in the world”. There is a reason why Bappi Lahri refers to his voice as the one “touched by God”. If you ever listened to him sing, you would understand why.

It’s not just her victories that are inspiring, but the journey to get here is equally worthy of a mention. Sindhu travelled for almost 56 km every morning to get to Pullela Gopichand’s Academy, where she would train for four hours each day.

One of the foundations of quantum mechanics is Bose-Einstein statistics. And as you must have noted, the Kolkata physicist’s name comes first — Einstein himself acknowledged that Bose’s was the larger contribution. #ForgottenHero #Science

Honoured with the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, this brilliant scientist became the youngest director of BARC in 1996 after Homi Bhabha himself! #BirthAnniversary #IndianScience #ThisDayInHistory

Dr Padmavati was awarded the Padma Bhushan as well as the Padma Vibhushan for her pioneering work!

Awarded the Padma Shri (1982), Padma Bhushan (1992) and Padma Vibhushan (2000), there is very little this celebrated scientist hasn't attained in the domain of space, scientific research and academia.

Here is the little-known story of Udupi Ramachandra Rao, visionary space scientist, ex-ISRO chief and the architect of India’s first satellite Aryabhata.