People & Profiles
Tilak Varma: the left-handed batter who steadied India’s late T20I chase
The ICC profile traces Varma’s rise from Hyderabad and the IPL to India; his 51 off 25 balls made him Player of the Match in Christchurch on 24 October.
PEOPLE & PROFILES
The people behind
the headlines.
Sourced profiles of public figures, their work and the organisations associated with them. Start with the background before following the news.
People & Profiles
Nitish Kumar Reddy: India’s all-rounder and the late-chase partnership
BCCI lists Reddy as an all-rounder; he made 26 during the 69-run seventh-wicket stand that helped India chase New Zealand’s target.
People & Profiles
Mirabai Chanu: Olympic medallist recognised at the 2026 Power Creator Awards
The Indian weightlifter received the Sports Person of the Year honour at the 23 October awards; her competitive record is broader than one ceremony.
People & Profiles
V. D. Satheesan: Kerala’s chief minister and his call to engage young people
Kerala’s legislative profile lists Satheesan as chief minister; on 25 October, the Indian Express reported his appeal for more engagement with young people.
People & Profiles
Dolly Singh: the creator recognised for digital storytelling in 2026
Dolly Singh received the Global Digital Storyteller of the Year award for Banter Cue with Dolly Singh at the 23 October Power Creator Awards.
People & Profiles
Anahat Singh: the Indian squash player building a senior-tour breakthrough
Anahat Singh, reported as 18 and world No. 15 in October coverage, reached her first PSA Gold-level semifinal after defeating Salma Hany and Nour El Sherbini.
People & Profiles
Deepak Dhar: the Indian theoretical physicist recognised with the 2026 Dirac Medal
Deepak Dhar’s work in statistical physics and stochastic processes earned the 2026 Dirac Medal; institutional biographies trace his education at Allahabad, IIT Kanpur and Caltech.
People & Profiles
Harvinder Singh: the para archer behind India’s men’s recurve doubles gold
Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi won the men’s recurve doubles gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, according to official and independent reports dated 23 October.
People & Profiles
Sandeep Kumar: the Indian para athlete credited with the Games’ 100th Indian medal
The Prime Minister’s official website said Sandeep Kumar won men’s 400m T64 gold with a world-record performance at the Asian Para Games on 23 October 2026.
People & Profiles
Nimisha Chakkungalparambil Suresh: India’s Asian Para Games long-jump silver medallist
The Prime Minister’s official website congratulated Nimisha Chakkungalparambil Suresh for winning silver in the women’s long jump T47 event on 23 October 2026.
People & Profiles
Verghese Kurien: the engineer behind India’s cooperative dairy movement
Verghese Kurien helped build India’s cooperative dairy model and became closely associated with Operation Flood and the Amul movement.
People & Profiles
Savitribai Phule: a pioneer of girls’ education in India
Savitribai Phule is remembered for pioneering girls’ education and social reform in nineteenth-century India.
People & Profiles
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: scientist, teacher and India’s 11th President
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam worked in India’s aerospace and defence programmes before serving as President from 2002 to 2007.
People & Profiles
C. V. Raman: the physicist behind the Raman effect
C. V. Raman received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on the scattering of light, known as the Raman effect.
People & Profiles
M. S. Swaminathan: the scientist associated with India’s Green Revolution
M. S. Swaminathan was a plant geneticist whose work and public advocacy were central to India’s agricultural development and food-security debates.
People & Profiles
N. Rajam: the violinist recognised with the Padma Vibhushan in 2026
A sourced profile of violinist N. Rajam, her place in Indian classical music and the public recognition recorded in the 2026 Padma Awards.
People & Profiles
Vijay Amritraj: tennis, broadcasting and the work of growing the sport in India
A sourced profile of the Indian tennis pioneer’s Hall of Fame recognition, Davis Cup career and post-playing work.
People & Profiles
Uday Kotak: the banker who founded Kotak Mahindra’s financial-services group
A public-career profile of Uday Kotak, the growth of Kotak Mahindra and the transition from executive leadership to a non-executive board role.
People & Profiles
Harmanpreet Kaur: the India women’s cricket captain recognised with Padma Shri
A sourced profile of Harmanpreet Kaur’s public cricket career and her inclusion among the 2026 Padma Shri awardees.
People & Profiles
K. Thangaraj: the geneticist whose research studies population history
A public research profile of geneticist K. Thangaraj, his association with CSIR-CCMB and the Padma Shri awarded in 2026.
People & Profiles
Deepthi Jeevanji: the Indian para-athlete and her T20 400-metre event
Deepthi Jeevanji is an Indian para-athlete who competes in the women’s 400 metres T20 class; reporting on the 2026 Asian Para Games lists her gold-medal result and a Games record.
People & Profiles
Sheetal Devi: the Indian para archer known for foot-powered bow control
Sheetal Devi is an Indian compound para archer who holds and manoeuvres her bow with her feet and legs; dated coverage documents major international results.
People & Profiles
Payal Nag: the young Indian para archer who challenged her idol
Payal Nag is an Indian para archer whose 2026 World Archery Para Series result included a compound women’s final win over Sheetal Devi in Bangkok.
People & Profiles
Donald Tusk: Poland’s prime minister and former European Council president
Donald Tusk is Poland’s prime minister and a former president of the European Council; his October 2026 itinerary lists visits to India and Vietnam.
People & Profiles
Mallikarjun Kharge: Congress president and the issues he says he will raise
Mallikarjun Kharge is Congress president and a long-serving Indian parliamentarian; October 2026 reporting records his stated concerns about voter-roll revision, delimitation and women’s reservation.
People & Profiles
Avani Lekhara: precision shooting and a new Asian Para Games silver
A sourced profile of the Indian shooter after the Prime Minister's Office congratulated her on a silver medal.
People & Profiles
Mona Agarwal: gold medal and Asian Para Games record in SH1 shooting
A sourced profile of Mona Agarwal following the official announcement of her gold medal and event record.
People & Profiles
Kokila: from a previous bronze to Asian Para Games judo silver
A profile of judoka Kokila after an official release recorded her silver medal in the Women’s J2 −52kg event.
People & Profiles
Nishad Kumar: Asian Para Games long-jump gold on event debut
A sourced profile of Nishad Kumar after the Prime Minister's Office announced his gold in the Men’s Long Jump T47 event.
People & Profiles
Rinku Hooda: javelin gold with a 65.11-metre season best
A sourced profile of Rinku Hooda following his Men’s Javelin Throw F46 gold at the Asian Para Games 2026.
People & Profiles
Annie Easley: computing for energy research and Centaur
A sourced profile explaining the technical work behind Easley’s computing career.
People & Profiles
Christine Darden: engineering the study of sonic booms
Darden’s NASA career connects mathematical computing with supersonic-noise research.
People & Profiles
Ellen Ochoa: optical research, spaceflight and centre leadership
Ochoa’s public work spans research engineering, four Shuttle flights and NASA management.
People & Profiles
Guion Bluford: engineering work aboard STS-8 and beyond
A mission-focused profile of Bluford’s four Shuttle flights and technical responsibilities.
People & Profiles
Jeanette Epps: Crew-8, station research and ground operations
Epps’s completed NASA career included flight, mission-control communication and crew support.
People & Profiles
Leymah Gbowee: women organising for peace in Liberia
Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace organiser who shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for nonviolent work advancing women’s safety and participation in peacebuilding.
People & Profiles
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Liberia’s elected president and peace laureate
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became Africa’s first democratically elected female head of state and shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.
People & Profiles
Shirin Ebadi: law, democracy and the rights of women and children
Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer recognised with the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for democracy and human-rights work, particularly involving women and children.
People & Profiles
Maria Ressa: Rappler, journalism and freedom of expression
Maria Ressa is a journalist and Rappler co-founder who shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Dmitry Muratov for work defending freedom of expression.
People & Profiles
Rigoberta Menchú Tum: Indigenous rights and reconciliation
Rigoberta Menchú Tum is a Guatemalan Indigenous-rights advocate awarded the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for social justice and reconciliation based on respect for Indigenous peoples’ rights.
People & Profiles
Mother Teresa: charitable work and the 1979 Peace Prize
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for humanitarian work.
People & Profiles
Martin Luther King Jr.: civil rights and nonviolent campaigning
Martin Luther King Jr. received the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent struggle for civil rights in the United States.
People & Profiles
Muhammad Yunus: Grameen Bank and the idea of microcredit
Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank jointly received the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts toward economic and social development from below.
People & Profiles
Nadia Murad: survivor advocacy, accountability and rebuilding
Nadia Murad is a Yazidi human-rights advocate who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize with Denis Mukwege.
People & Profiles
Denis Mukwege: Panzi Hospital and support for survivors
Denis Mukwege is a Congolese physician and Panzi founder who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize with Nadia Murad.
People & Profiles
Nelson Mandela: the 1993 Peace Prize and a democratic transition
Nelson Mandela shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with F. W. de Klerk for work toward ending apartheid and establishing a democratic South Africa.
People & Profiles
Desmond Tutu: nonviolent opposition to apartheid
Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop recognised with the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for nonviolent opposition to apartheid.
People & Profiles
Grace Hopper: programming languages and making computers easier to use
Grace Murray Hopper was a mathematician, naval officer and computing pioneer associated with compilers and word-based programming languages.
People & Profiles
Ada Lovelace: the Analytical Engine notes and early programming ideas
Ada Lovelace was a mathematician whose 1843 notes on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine included an early published computer-programming example.
People & Profiles
Nancy Grace Roman: building a programme for space astronomy
Nancy Grace Roman became NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy and helped establish the institutional support behind space-based astronomy.
People & Profiles
Homi Bhabha: theoretical physics and institution building
Homi Jehangir Bhabha was an Indian physicist whose work combined high-energy physics research with leadership of scientific institutions.
People & Profiles
Dorothy Hodgkin: crystallography and the structures of biological molecules
Dorothy Hodgkin used X-ray crystallography to determine structures of biologically important molecules and received the 1964 Chemistry Nobel.
People & Profiles
Wangari Maathai: the Green Belt Movement and the 2004 Peace Prize
Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and democracy advocate who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
People & Profiles
Mary Jackson: engineering research and equal opportunity
Mary W. Jackson became NASA’s first Black female engineer in 1958 and later worked to improve opportunities for other employees.
People & Profiles
Dorothy Vaughan: computing leadership and the transition to programming
Dorothy Vaughan was a mathematician and supervisor at NACA who later became an expert FORTRAN programmer at NASA.
People & Profiles
Abhijit Banerjee: development economics and evidence about poverty
Abhijit Banerjee is a development economist, J-PAL co-founder and co-recipient of the 2019 economics Nobel recognition.
People & Profiles
Esther Duflo: economics research and evaluating social policy
Esther Duflo is a development economist whose research examines the lives of poor people and the design and evaluation of social policies.
People & Profiles
Venki Ramakrishnan: uncovering the structure of the ribosome
Venki Ramakrishnan shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for studies of the ribosome’s structure and function.
People & Profiles
Edwin Hubble: observations that placed Andromeda beyond the Milky Way
Edwin Hubble was an astronomer whose observations helped establish that galaxies exist beyond the Milky Way.
People & Profiles
Albert Einstein: four 1905 papers and a wider research career
Albert Einstein’s 1905 papers addressed light, atoms, relativity and the relationship between mass and energy.
People & Profiles
Vikram Sarabhai: institution building and India’s space programme
Vikram Sarabhai helped establish India’s space programme and several research and educational institutions, including the Physical Research Laboratory.
People & Profiles
Satish Dhawan: fluid dynamics and ISRO leadership
Satish Dhawan was an aerospace researcher and ISRO chairman from 1972 to 1984, with substantial work in experimental fluid dynamics.
People & Profiles
U. R. Rao: satellite technology and its applications in India
Udupi Ramachandra Rao helped build satellite technology in India and led ISRO from 1984 to 1994.
People & Profiles
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: scientist and former President of India
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was an aerospace scientist who served as President of India from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.
People & Profiles
Kailash Satyarthi: children’s rights and the 2014 Peace Nobel
Kailash Satyarthi is an Indian children’s-rights activist who shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai.
People & Profiles
Marie Curie: radioactivity and two different Nobel fields
Marie Curie researched radioactivity and received Nobel Prizes in Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911.
People & Profiles
C. V. Raman: the light-scattering discovery behind his Nobel Prize
C. V. Raman was an Indian physicist whose research on light scattering led to the Raman effect and the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics.
People & Profiles
Rabindranath Tagore: writer, painter and educator
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali writer, composer, educator and artist who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.
People & Profiles
Amartya Sen: economics, philosophy and the questions behind welfare
Amartya Sen is an economist and philosopher whose work spans welfare economics, social choice, inequality and development.
People & Profiles
Malala Yousafzai: education advocacy and a carefully dated profile
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education advocate and Malala Fund co-founder who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
People & Profiles
John Glenn: why Friendship 7 was an orbital milestone
John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth on 20 February 1962 aboard Friendship 7.
People & Profiles
Mae Jemison and STS-47: a science mission as well as a first
Mae Jemison flew as a mission specialist on Endeavour’s STS-47 mission in September 1992, becoming the first African-American woman in space.
People & Profiles
Peggy Whitson: space-station science and command
Peggy Whitson’s NASA career combined scientific work with International Space Station command responsibilities.
People & Profiles
Alan Shepard: what Freedom 7’s suborbital flight achieved
Alan Shepard became the first American in space on 5 May 1961 aboard Freedom 7, on a suborbital flight.
People & Profiles
Valentina Tereshkova: the Vostok 6 milestone
Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963.
People & Profiles
Katherine Johnson: the mathematics behind a spaceflight milestone
Katherine Johnson was a NASA mathematician whose calculations supported spaceflight; John Glenn asked her to check computer calculations before his 1962 orbital flight.
People & Profiles
Kalpana Chawla: understanding her two Space Shuttle missions
NASA records Kalpana Chawla’s work on STS-87 in 1997 and as a flight engineer and mission specialist on STS-107.
People & Profiles
Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web: what he invented
Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web at CERN in 1989; the Web is not the same thing as the internet.
People & Profiles
Neil Armstrong: from research pilot to Apollo 11 commander
Neil Armstrong commanded Apollo 11 and became the first person to set foot on the Moon in July 1969.
People & Profiles
Sally Ride and STS-7: the precise meaning of her spaceflight milestone
Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard Challenger on STS-7 on 18 June 1983.
People & Profiles
Who is Elon Musk? Tesla, SpaceX and his companies explained
A sourced introduction to Elon Musk, his company roles and how to separate company announcements from predictions.
People & Profiles
Who is Bill Gates? From Microsoft to philanthropy
Understand Microsoft’s early history and Bill Gates’s role at the Gates Foundation.
People & Profiles
Who is Sundar Pichai? Google and Alphabet explained
The difference between Google and Alphabet, and the leadership change announced in 2019.
How we write profiles
We use official biographies and original statements for factual milestones, distinguish dated claims from current ones, and avoid celebrity rumours. These are independent profiles, not endorsements or official biographies.
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