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A.P.J Abdul Kalam —The 11th President of India, is also popularly known as the Missile Man.He was a protégé of the great Indian scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai who guided him and gave him valuable advice.He was the first bachelor to become the president and occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan.Born in Rameshwaram, Tamil NaduHe was the third President of India to have been honored with a Bharat Ratna before being elected to the office of President.2. Sir C V Raman —Born in Tiruchirappalli, Madras ProvinceSir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, the Indian physicist who made his motherland proud by becoming the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize for Physics, was a scientist par excellence.He is best known for discovering the ‘Raman Effect’, or the inelastic scattering of a photon. He showed through experimentation that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes in wavelength. This was a ground breaking discovery in early 20th century physics.He won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman Effect", becoming the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences.He was honored with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1954 in recognition of his invaluable contributions to the field of science.3. Sir M. Visvesvaraya —Born in Muddenahalli, ChikballapurAn engineer par excellence, he was the chief architect behind the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara dam in Mandya which helped to convert the surrounding barren lands into fertile grounds for farmingHe was knighted as the Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) by the British for his contributions to the society in 1915.He was awarded with independent India’s greatest honor, The Bharat Ratna in 1955 for his relentless work in the fields of engineering and education.He is the recipient of several honorary doctoral degrees from eight universities in India.4. Srinivas Ramanujam —Born in Erode , Tamil NaduConsidered to be a mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan, was regarded at par with the likes of Leonhard Euler and Carl Jacobi. Along with Hardy, he studied the partition function P(n) extensively and gave a non-convergent asymptotic series that permits exact computation of the number of partitions of an integer. Their work led to the development of a new method for finding asymptotic formulae, called the circle method.He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1918, as one of the youngest Fellows in the history of the Royal Society. He was elected "for his investigation in Elliptic functions and the Theory of Numbers."Google honored him on his 125th birth anniversary by replacing its logo with a doodle on its home page.5. C.N. R Rao —Born in BangaloreHe was a front-runner in synthesizing two dimensional oxide materials like La2CuO4At present he serves as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, a responsibility he has undertaken under different regimes that speaks volumes of the immense faith shown upon him by different governments.He holds honorary doctorates of sixty universities across the world.On February 4, 2014, he was conferred the ‘Bharat Ratna’ by President Pranab Mukherjee. With this he became the third scientist after C.V. Raman and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam to receive the highest civilian honour of India.6. C.RajagopalachariBorn in MadrasHe was the first and last Indian Governor General of India after Lord Mountbatten left India in 1948.For his outstanding contribution to Indian politics and literature, he was awarded with Bharat Ratna in 19547. E.SreedharanBorn in Palakkad, KeralaPopularly known as the “Metro Man”, is an Indian engineer who played a key role in the building of the Konkan Railway and the Delhi MetroThe Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, in 2001.The Government of France bestowed upon him The Order of Légion d'Honneur, the highest decoration in France, in 2005.In 2008 he received the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India, in recognition of his work with the Delhi Metro.8. Dr. M.S. Swaminathan —Born in KumbakonamIs a renowned Indian geneticist and administrator, who made a stellar contribution in the success of India's Green Revolution program; the program went a long way in making India self-sufficient in wheat and rice production.Dr. Swaminathan is celebrated as the leader of India’s ‘Green Revolution’ program. He is also a resourceful writer. He has written several research papers and books on Agricultural Science and Biodiversity like ‘Building a National Food Security System, 1981’, ‘Sustainable Agriculture: Towards an Evergreen Revolution, 1996’, etc.He is the recipient of national honours like Padma Shri in 1967, Padma Bhushan in 1972 and Padma Vibushan in 1989. Moreover, he has received over 70 honorary PhD degrees from world-wide universities.9. N. R. Narayana Murthy —Born in MysoreHe is best known as one of the co-founders of Infosys Ltd., one of India’s largest IT services company with offices all across the globe.Under his leadership Infosys became the first Indian company to be listed on the Nasdaq. It also became the first listed Indian company with revenue of $1 billion a year.He was honored with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, for his distinguished contribution to industry in 2000.In 2008, the Government of India bestowed upon him the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of India, for his exceptional services to Informational Technology in India.In 2013, he became the first recipient of the Sayaji Ratna Award (SRA Award) which was established to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the erstwhile ruler of Baroda.10. R.K Laxman —Born in MysoreRasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman, famously known as R. K. Laxman was an Indian cartoonist who created the comic strip ‘You Said It’, featuring the “Common Man”—a silent observer representing the average Indian.The character was so popular that he was even featured in a commemorative postage stamp released by the Indian Postal Service on the 150th anniversary of the ‘Times of India’ in 1988.In 2005 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honour.He was honored with The Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1984 in the category Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts (JLCCA).11. R.K Narayan —Born in ChennaiR.K. Narayan made India accessible to the outside world through his literature. He will be remembered for the invention of Malgudi, a semi-urban fictional town in southern India where most of his stories were set.He won numerous accolades for his literary works. These include: Sahitya Akademi Award (1958), Padma Bhushan (1964), AC Benson Medal by the British Royal Society of Literature (1980), and Padma Vibhushan (2001).Narayan is regarded as one of the three leading English language Indian fiction writers, along with Raja Rao and Mulk Raj Anand.12. Raja Ravi Varma —Born in Kilimanoor, a small town in KeralaAt the beginning of his career, in 1873, he won an award in Vienna where his paintings were exhibited.At the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, he was bestowed with three gold medals for his work of art.In 1904, on behalf of the King Emperor, Viceroy Lord Curzon awarded him with the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal.In 2013, a crater on Mercury was named in the honor of this greater Indian painter.13. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan —Born in Thiruttani, Tamil NaduHis birthday, 5 September, has been celebrated as Teachers' Day in India since 1962, the year he became the president, in honor of his belief that "teachers should be the best minds in the country."In 1954, he was honored with the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India.In 1968 he became the first person to get Sahitya Akademi fellowship, the highest honor conferred by the Sahitya Akademi on a writer.Shortly before his death in 1975, he was bestowed with the Templeton Prize for advocating non-aggression and conveying "a universal reality of God that embraced love and wisdom for all people."14. Shakunthala Devi —Born In BangaloreShe was an Indian writer and mathematical genius popularly known as the "human computer". She was reputed to make complicated mathematical calculations in her head and effortlessly speak out the results!Her extraordinary abilities also earned her a place in the 1982 edition of ‘The Guinness Book of World Records’Shakuntala Devi is best remembered for demonstrating the multiplication of two randomly picked 13-digit numbers—7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779 on 18 June 1980. She correctly gave the answer as 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730 in 28 seconds. This unbelievable feat of hers earned her a place in the ‘Guinness Book of Records’ in 1982.In 1969 she was awarded the title of the 'Most Distinguished Woman of the Year' by the University of Philippines.15. Verghese Kurien —Born in Kozhikode, KeralaBest known as the “Father of the White Revolution” in India, was the founder Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board.Verghese Kurien is the man behind the success of the milk cooperative, Amul Dairy, which not only spurred India’s White Revolution, but also became one of the country’s largest and most trusted food brands which also expanded into overseas markets.He was honored with several prestigious awards for his relentless services to the dairy and farming communities. Some of his awards include: Padma Shri (1965), Padma Bhushan (1966) and Padma Vibhushan (1999) by the Government of India, the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1963), and World Food Prize (1989).This famous personality, known as the Father of White Revolution, never drank milk himself!16. Ammembal Subba Rao Pai —Born in Mangalore, KarnatakaHe was the founder of Canara Bank , now one of India's leading banks17. Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty —Born in Mangalore, KarnatakaHe is chairman and Founder of Narayana Health, a chain of 21 medical centers in IndiaIn 2004 he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award followed by the Padma Bhushan in 2012, the third highest civilian award by the Government of India for his contribution to the field of affordable healthcare18. Shivappa Gurubasappa Balekundri —Born in BelgaumWas an irrigation expert from KarnatakaHe was the chief engineer and architect of the Alamatti Dam.He is best remembered today as Second Visweswarayya19. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi —-Born In Gadag, KarnatakaThroughout his life, he was conferred with numerous prestigious and highly esteemed awards, the most prolific amongst them being the national awards such as, ‘Padma Shree’, ‘Padma Bhushan’, ‘Padma Vibhushan’ and ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1972, 1975, 1999 and 2009 respectively.His legacy survives in the form of the annual Sawai Gandharva Festival, held in Pune every year which he initiated in 1953 and continued to administer until his retirement in 2002. The festival has become an institution of sorts for the people of the music fraternity and features the most able and proficient Hindustani classical music singers.20. M.S.Subbalakshmi —Born in MaduraiShe was known by various sobriquets, namely, the Queen of Music, Nightingale of India, the Eighth Tone of Music and the Goddess of Perfect NoteShe enriched and popularised India's musical tradition. She acted as India's cultural ambassador and introduced the rhythms and richness of Carnatic music to the West through her concerts.In 1998, she was honoured with Bharat Ratna, India;s highest civilian award,. The award was to honour her excellence over classical Indian music and her efforts in promulgating the same both in India and abroad.She was the first musician to receive the Bharat Ratna and the first Indian musician to receive Ramon Magsaysay award.21. Saalumarada Thimakka —Born in Hulikal, Ramhagar district, KarnatakaNoted for her work in planting and tending to 384 banyan trees along a four-kilometre stretch of highway between Hulikal and Kudur.Her work has been honoured with the National Citizen's Award of India.One of BBC’s 100 women of 2016.And many many more ..Thank you :)Source — Google

AC v/s DC war.Starting in the late 1880s, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were embroiled in a battle now known as the War of the Currents.Edison developed direct current -- current that runs continually in a single direction, like in a battery or a fuel cell. During the early years of electricity, direct current (shorthanded as DC) was the standard in the U.S.But there was one problem. Direct current is not easily converted to higher or lower voltages.Tesla believed that alternating current (or AC) was the solution to this problem. Alternating current reverses direction a certain number of times per second and can be converted to different voltages relatively easily using a transformer.Edison, not wanting to lose the royalties he was earning from his direct current patents, began a campaign to discredit alternating current. He spread misinformation saying that alternating current was more dangerous, even going so far as to publicly electrocute stray animals using alternating current to prove his point.The Chicago World’s Fair -- also known as the World’s Columbian Exposition -- took place in 1893, at the height of the Current War.General Electric bid to electrify the fair using Edison’s direct current for $554,000, but lost to George Westinghouse, who said he could power the fair for only $399,000 using Tesla’s alternating current.That same year, the Niagara Falls Power Company decided to award Westinghouse -- who had licensed Tesla’s polyphase AC induction motor patent -- the contract to generate power from Niagara Falls. Although some doubted that the falls could power all of Buffalo, New York, Tesla was convinced it could power not only Buffalo, but also the entire Eastern United States.On Nov. 16, 1896, Buffalo was lit up by the alternating current from Niagara Falls. By this time General Electric had decided to jump on the alternating current train, too.It would appear that alternating current had all but obliterated direct current, but in recent years direct current has seen a bit of a renaissance.Today our electricity is still predominantly powered by alternating current, but computers, LEDs, solar cells and electric vehicles all run on DC power. And methods are now available for converting direct current to higher and lower voltages. Since direct current is more stable, companies are finding ways of using high voltage direct current (HVDC) to transport electricity long distances with less electricity loss.So it appears the War of the Currents may not be over yet. But instead of continuing in a heated AC vs. DC battle, it looks like the two currents will end up working parallel to each other in a sort of hybrid armistice.And none of that would be possible without the genius of both Tesla and Edison.Source: War of Currents

Columbia is ranked 5th on the US News' National Universities list this year. With 5 founding fathers of the US, Supreme Court justices, Academy Award winners, Nobel laureates, heads of state and Putlizer Prize winners as its alumni, how can it not be famous? Since the inception of Nobel Prize in 1901, 83 Columbians became Nobel laureates. Currently, 8 Nobel laureates continue to work at Columbia. It is an absolute honor to be in a class taught by a Nobel laureate. Well, the price tag isn't cheap since Columbia's annual undergraduate tuition and fees of $57,208 is highest in our nation.Columbia is highly regarded for its research programs and graduate education. And of course, nothing beats its Manhattan location for students to have a wonderful campus on Morningside Heights while being only 20–30 minutes away from busy Midtown and Wall Street! =]