This Day In History- August 20

1940 – Chairman of the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, Dr. R.K. Pachauri was born. Dr. Pachauri has been serving as the Director-General of The Energy Resources Institute(formerly Tata Energy Resources Institute) since 1981 when he first assumed the role.TERI is dedicated to research in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development and is considered as one of the top think tanks in the world on science and technology. In 1988, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to study and assess information for understanding of climate changes. In 2002, Dr.Pachauri was elected its Chairman.

Dr. R.K. Pachauri

He is also a member of the honour committee of the ‘Fondation Chirac’, a foundation dedicated to promoting World Peace that was launched by former French President Jacques Chirac. In 2009,Emperor Akihito of Japan conferred Dr. Pachauri with the ‘Order of the Rising Sun-Gold and Silver Star’. The Government of France honoured him with the ‘Officer of Legion of Honour’, one of the five degrees of the ‘National Order of the Legion of Honour’, the highest decoration in France. The President of Finland bestowed on him the ‘Order of White Rose of Finland’ in 2010. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2001.

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi

1944 – India’s sixth Prime Minister, Late. Rajiv Gandhi was born. At age 40 he also became India’s youngest Prime Minister. The Government of India posthumously honoured him with the Bharat Ratna in 1991.

Narayan Murthy- Infosys

Narayan Murthy

1946 – Software giant, co-founder of Infosys N.R. Narayan Murthy was born. Murthy first started with IIM Ahmedabad as the Chief Systems Programmer before he founded ‘Softronics’ in 1976.The venture did not taste success and he joined Patni Computer Systems. Infosys started with an initial investment of Rs.10000 from his wife. Infosys became the first Indian company to be listed on NASDAQ in 1999. Murthy successfully played the role of CEO before stepping down in 2001 and was succeeded by Nandan Nilekani. He is credited with the development and implementation of the Global Delivery Model which is widely seen as a reason for success of India’s IT outsourcing industry. In 2005 the Government of France bestowed on him the ‘Officer of the Legion of Honour’. In 2007, he was made the Commander of the order of the British Empire. In the same year he was awarded the ‘IEEE Ernst Weber Engineering Recognition’. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.

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