Personalities # 31 - Dhyan Chand

We will today look at the Master of Hockey in India, the National Sports day in India is celebrated in his honour, he is none other than Dhyan Chand.

Dhyan Chand made great contribution in enhancing prestige of Indian hockeyin the eyes of the world. He was born on August 29, 1906 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. His Hockey career spans long and his achievements span longer. By his superior play, Dhyan Chand was held in high esteem with in the country as well as abroad. Dhyan Chand helped his country in winning gold medals in hokey in 3 successive Olympicgames; Amesterdam Olympics (1928), Los Angles Olympics (1932) and Berlin Olympics(1936). He was the captain of the gold medal winner Indian Hockey team in the historic 1936 Berlin Olympics. Dhyan Chand scored 101 goals at the Olympic Games and 300 goals in other international matches and his record is unbroken. Dhyan Chand had a wonderful command in wielding the hockey stick and this earn him the title " Hockey Wizard". India won one gold medal in Hockey at Amersterdom Olympics and out of a total of 28 goals scored by Indian hockey, 11 were scored by Dhyan Chand alone. He died on December 3,1979.

Thus we end our month and the "Personalities" series. Our next month is August. We have successfully posted short bios of 31 personalities in 31 days, beginning with Stephen Hawking and ending with Dhyan Chand.

Personalities # 30 - Swami Vivekananda

Today we will have a look at the short bio of a spiritual leader, the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. He is Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Vivekananda was a spiritual leader, yogi and patriot from West Bengal. He was one of the prominent leaders of the Indian religious and cultural renaissance. The real name of Vivekananda was Narendranath Dutta. He was born on 12th January, 1863 in Calcutta. He was Ramkrishna Paramahamsa's disciple. In 1893, he went to Chicago as a representative of India at the Parliament of All Religions of the World. On 11th September, he delivered his historical speech which made his learned audience bow their heads in reverence. In fact, he was the first person who made India's greatness known to the world. IN 1897, he founded Ramakrishna Mission for the service of the Indian Society. Vivekananda showed a new path to the younger generation, through his books like' Yoga', 'Rajyoga' and 'Gyanyoga'. Swami Vivekananda memorial built at Kanya Kumari tells us even today the story of the greatness of Vivekananda.

Personalities # 29 - Dr. BR Ambedkar

Today we will have a look at the bio of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the Father of Indian Constitution.

Dr. Ambedkar was the main architect of the Indian Constitution. He was born on 14th April 1891 in Madhya Pradesh. Dr. Ambedkar set up his legal practice at the Mumbai High Court. Ambedkar was the main inspiration behind the inclusion of special provision in the Constitution of India for the development of Schedule Caste people. Dr. Ambedkar was the Law Minister of India from 1947 to 1951. He was posthumously awarded 'Bharat Ratna' in the year 1990. He was the head of the constituent assembly of India and was the architect of the Indian Constitution. He died on 6 December 1956, 65 years old.

Personalities # 28 - M.S. Subbalakshmi

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu (M.S) Subbalakshmi, the nightingale of Carnatic music was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu on September 16, 1916 to noted Veena player Shanmukhavadivu and lawyer Subramania Iyer. Young Kunchamma as she was called and her siblings was brought up in a musical environment in her home close to the Madurai Meenakshi Temple. She also learned Hindustani music from Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas for a short while along with learning Carnatic Music. Subbalakshmi has been the recipient of the highest awards and honours the nation could bestow upon an artist and significant international recognition. Although Famous, She remains the simple, neat, devout, down to earth person she always was and having a genuine interest in others. She passed away at the age of 88 in 2004.

Personalities # 27 - Manoj Night Shyamalan

Manoj Night Shyamalan, alias Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan, director, screenwriter and actor was born on 6th August 1970 in Pondicherry. He had his early education at a Catholic Private School and Philadelphia's Episcopal Academy. Shyamalan had a very early passion for filmmaking and as a child, he revelled in making up stories. At the age of 10, inspired primarily by Steven Spielberg's films, he began making film with his father's 8mm camera and by age 16, he had made over 45 short films. Shyamalan's major directorial films include 'The Sixth Sense', 'Unbreakable', 'Signs' and the more recent one 'The Last Airbender'.

Personalities # 26 - Barkha Dutt

Today we will look at the bio of a journalist of NDTV, India who gained fame during the Kargil War and remains one of the top journalists in India. She is Barkha Dutt.

Barkha Dutt (born on December 18, 1971 is an Indian TV journalist and columnist. She is currently Group Editor, English News at New Delhi Television. Dutt gained prominence for her reportage of the Kargil War. She has won many national and international awards. She writes a column for The Hindustan Times, called 'Third Eye.' However, she has also come in for criticism that her reporting is sensationalist and melodramatic.Barkha Dutt was born in New Delhi to her father, S.P.Dutt, an official in Air India and Prabha Dutt who was a well-known journalist with the Hindustan Times. Barkha studied at Modern School, Delhi, graduated from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi with a degree in English Literature. She won a Padmashri for her coverage of the 2004 Tsunami and Commonwealth Broadcasters Award for Journalist of the Year.

Personalities # 25 - G. Madhavan Nair

Today we will look at the bio of the person who was the ISRO director and one of the men behind the Chandrayaan Mission. He is G. Madhavan Nair.

G. Madhavan Nair born on October 31, 1943 is the former Chairman of ISRO, The Indian Space Research Organisation and Secretary to the Department of space, Government of India since September 2003. He is also the Chairman, Space Commission and acts as the Chairman of Governing Body of the Antrix Corporation, Bangalore. Madhavan Nair was awarded the Padma Vibushan, India's second highest civilian honour, on January 26, 2009. Nair was born at Neyattinkara District near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. He also studied as a youth in Kanyakumari District. Nair is a leading technologist in the field of rocket systems and has made significant contribution to the development of multi-stage satellite launch vehicles, achieving self-reliance in independent access to space using indigenous technologies.

Personalities # 24 - Neil Alden Armstrong

We will today see the bio of a the person who did something that was second to none exactly 5 days and 41 years back, stop calculating for he was the first person to set foot on the moon, he is Neil Armstrong.

Neil Alden Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 in Ohio. is an American Aviator and a former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer and United States Naval Aviator. He was the first person to set foot on the moon when Apollo 11 landed on the moon on 20 July, 1969 along with Edwin Buzz Aldrin. His first spaceflight was aboard Gemini 8 in 1966, for which he was the command pilot, becoming one of the first U.S. civilians to fly in space. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was in the United States Navy and saw action in the Korean War. He graduated from Purdue University and University of Southern California.

Personalities # 23 - Satyajit Ray

We will today look at the man who was a great writer, good composer and one of the best dialogue writer and also won a posthumous Oscar. He is the dynamic Satyajit Ray.

Satyajit Ray was a renowned film director from West Bengal. Ray was born in Calcutta. He started his career as a commercial artist before making films. His first feature film was "Pather Panchali". He received many prestigious International /National awards for creation of this master piece. He made 28 full length feature films and a few documentaries. The French Government awarded him " The Legion of Honour"--the highest award in France. He also received many awards like the Magasaysay award (1967) and Dada Saheb Phalke award (1984). He was awarded "Bharat Ratna" in 1992. But the happiest moment in his life came when he was informed in his death bed of winning the special Oscar Award.

Personalities # 22 - Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani

We again move to business, where we will see about Dhirubhai Ambani, the pioneer of Reliance Industries.

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, one of the leading Indian businessmen, was born on December 28, 1932 in Chorwad, Gujarat and is popularly known as Dhirubhai Ambani. Dhirubhai started off as a small time worker with Arab merchants in the 1950s and moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in spices. Dhirubhai founded Reliance Industries in 1958. After that it was a saga of expansions and successes. Dhirubhai has been one among the select Forbes billionaires and has also figured in the Sunday Times list of top 50 businessmen in Asia. His sons are carrying on the successful tradition of their illustrious father. At the time of Dhirubhai's death, Reliance Group had a gross turnover of Rs. 75,000 Crore or USD $ 15 Billion. In 1976-77, the Reliance group had an annual turnover of Rs 70 crore and Dhirubhai had started the business with Rs.15,000.

Personalities # 21 - Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis

Dwarkanath Shantaram Kotnis born October 10, 1910 in Solapur District, Maharashtra was one of five Indian physicians dispatched to China to provide medical assistance during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938. Besides being known for his dedication and perseverance, he has also been regarded as an example for Sino-Indian friendship and collaboration. Along with the Canadian Dr. Norman Bethune, he continues to be revered by the Chinese people. In April 2005 both their graves were covered completely in flowers donated by the Chinese people during the Qingming Festival a day used by the Chinese to commemorate their ancestors. In 1937, after the Japanese invasion of China, the communist General Zhu De requested Jawaharlal Nehru to send Indian physicians to China. Mao Zedong mourned his death on December 9, 1942 by observing that "The army has lost a helping hand, the nation has lost a friend. Let us always bear in mind his internationalist spirit."

Personalities # 20 - D. Udaya Kumar

Today we will see the bio of the person who designed the symbol of the Indian Rupee. It is D. Udaya Kumar.

D. Udaya Kumar born on 10th October 1978 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. D. Udaya Kumar pursued his doctoral studies at Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay. Udaya received his Master’s degree, MDes in Visual communication from IDC, IIT Bombay and Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from School of Architecture and Planning (SAP)Anna University,Chennai. His areas of interest include graphic design, typography, type design and design research with special focus on Tamil typography. He has just completed his PhD on Tamil Typography at IDC, IIT Bombay under the guidance of Prof. G.V.Sreekumar. He has also designed a tamil font named "Parashakti" as a mini project at IDC. He is best known for designing the Indian Rupee Symbol. He explained that his design is a blend of the Devanagari "Ra" and the Roman "R" without the stem and is based on the tricolor.

Personalities # 19 - Sergey Brin

Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin born August 21, 1973 is a Russian American Computer Scientist who, along with Lawrence Page, is best known as the co-founder of Google, Inc., the world’s largest Internet company, based on its search engine and online advertising technology. Brin immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union at the age of six. Earning his undergraduate degree at the Univerity of Maryland, he followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by studying mathematics, double-majoring in computer science. After graduation, he moved to Stanford to acquire a Ph.D in computer science. The Economist magazine referred to Brin as an "Enlightment Man", and someone who believes that "knowledge is always good, and certainly always better than ignorance", a philosophy that is summed up by Google’s motto of making all the world’s information "universally accessible and useful" and "Don't be Evil."

Personalities # 18 - Lawrence Page

Yesterday we had Mark Zuckerberg, today we will have have Larry Page and tomorrow we will have Sergey Brin in the list of personalities for the next 2 days.

Lawrence "Larry" Page born March 26, 1973 is an American computer scientist and industrialist, who co-founded Google Inc., along with Sergey Brin. They are often known together as the "Google Guys". According to Forbes he and Sergey Brin are currently tied as the 24th richest person in the world with a personal wealth of US$17.5 billion in 2010. Larry Page was Google's founding CEO and grew the company to more than 200 employees and profitability before moving into his role as president, Products in April 2001. He continues to share responsibility for Google's day-to-day operations with Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin. The son of Michigan State University computer science professor Dr. Carl Victor Page, Page's love of computers began at age six. While following in his father's footsteps in academics, Page became an honors graduate from the University of Michigan, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in engineering, with a concentration on computer engineering. During his time in Ann Arbor, Page served as president of the University's Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society and built a programmable plotter and inkjet printer out of Lego™.

Personalities # 17 - Mark Zuckerberg

Today we will have a look at the bio of the co-founder of Facebook and one of the youngest billionaires in the world, Mark Zuckerberg.

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg born May 14, 1984 is an American entrepreneur best known for co-founding the popular social networking site Facebook. Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook with fellow classmates while attending Harvard. He is currently one of the youngest billionaires in the world with personal wealth of US$4 billion in 2010 due to his 24% share of Facebook. Zuckerberg is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for Facebook. He leads the design of Facebook’s service and development of its core technology and infrastructure.

Earlier in life, Zuckerberg developed a music recommendation system called Synapse and a peer-to-peer client called Wirehog. However, he abandoned both to pursue new projects. Zuckerberg attended Harvard University and studied computer science before founding Facebook. Zuckerberg won the 2007 Crunchie Award for ‘Best Startup CEO.’ Zuckerberg was born in White Plains, New York and raised in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Zuckerberg was raised with a Jewish background, but he considers himself an atheist.

Personalities # 16 - Lewis Carroll

Today we will have a look at a short bio of Charles Ludwidge Johnson, simply known as Lewis Carroll.

Lewis Carroll was born Charles Ludwidge Johnson on 27 January 1832, and is better known by his pseudonym today. was an English author, mathematician, logician and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass, as well as the poems 'The Hunting of the Snark' and 'Jabberwocky, all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy, he was also a reputed puzzle maker. His family was predominantly northern English, with Irish connections. He has to his names several inventions, both in mathematics and in literature.

Personalities # 15 - Pranav Mistry

Pranav Mistry, born in 1981 is the inventor of S He is a research assistant and a PhD candidate at MIT Media Lab. SixthSense has recently attracted global attention. Among some of his previous work, Pranav has made intelligent sticky notes that can be searched, located and can send reminders and messages; a pen that can draw in 3D; and a public map that can act as Google of physical world. Pranav holds a Master in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT and Master of Design from IIT Bombay besides his Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering from Nirma Institue of Technology, Ahmedabad. Pranav’s research interests include Ubiquitous Computing, Gestural and Tangible Interaction, Collective Intelligence and Robotics. Sixth Sense has been awarded 2009 Invention Award by Popular Science.

Personalities # 14 - Hans Christian Anderson

Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark. He was a Danish author and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin soldier", "The Snow Queen, "The Little Mermaid, " Thumbelina, "The Little Match Girl" and the "Ugly Duckling." During his lifetime he was acclaimed for having delighted children worldwide, and was feted by royalty. His poetry and stories have been translated into more than 150 languages. They have inspired motion pictures, plays, ballets, and animated films. In 1851, he published to wide acclaim In Sweden, a volume of travel sketches. A keen traveler, Andersen published several other long travelogues: Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, etc. etc. in the Summer of 1831 (A Poet's Bazaar (560), In Spain , andA Visit to Portugal in 1866. In the spring of 1872, Andersen fell out of bed and was severely hurt. He never fully recovered, but he lived until August 4, 1875, dying of insidious causes in his house.

Personalities # 13 - Rabindranath Tagore

Today we have a personality that has given India, among many things its National Anthem and 1st Nobel Prize. It is Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 in Kolkata, which was then part of the British Empire. He was an Indian Bengali Polymath. He was a popular poet, novelist, musician, and playwright who reshaped Bengali Literature and Music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among his alter names are the Sobriquet "Gurudev" and his Pseudonym "Bhanusingho". Tagore was perhaps the most widely regarded Indian literary figure of all time. He was a mesmerizing representative of the Indian culture whose influence and popularity internationally perhaps could only be compared to that of Gandhi, whom Tagore named 'Mahatma' out of his deep admiration for him. Tagore was writing poems from the age of 8 and by the age of 16 he published his first substantial poetry.and wrote his first short stories and dramas in 1877. Tagore denounced the British Raj and supported independence. His efforts endure in his vast canon and in the institution he founded, Visva-Bharati University. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to political and personal topics. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and contemplation. Tagore was perhaps the only litterateur who penned anthems of two countries: India and Bangladesh: Jana Gana Mana and Amar Sonar Bangla.He died on August 7, 1941 aged 80 in Kolkata.

Personalities # 12 - Jay Leno

Today for a change, we will have a personality from the TV entertainment sector, so here we have Jay Leno.

James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is Jay Leno's full name. He was born on April 28, 1950 and is an American stand-up comedian and television host. From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled "The Jay Leno Show" which aired weeknights on NBC. After The Jay Leno Show was cancelled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host the show on March 1, 2010 and has been a controversial figure in American TV. He is known for his prominent jaw, which has been described as mandibular prognathism. He also owns approximately 200 vehicles, including about 100 cars. He also has a website called "Jay Leno's Garage," which contains video clips and photos of his automobiles in detail.