2013 : The Year Of Twin Bharat Ratna Awards

It was an emotional day in Mumbai when Sachin Tendulkar was preparing to give his farewell speech to the hundreds assembled there. It was his 200^th Test and his final appearance in any form of international cricket. And all of a sudden, we were watching a Bharat Ratna talk to us from the stadium. This was the cleverly timed move of the central government, which decided to give the nation its youngest Bharat Ratna in the form of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. A phone call that turned Tendulkar teary-eyed proclaimed him as the first sportsman ever to receive the highest civilian award in India. He is also the youngest of all the Bharat Ratna awardees till date.

Along with Tendulkar, Prof. C.N.R. Rao was announced to be the other recipient of this year’s Bharat Ratna award. This twin announcement from the Prime Minister’s office gave followers of respective field of sports and science new icons to look up to. At Floralis, we salute the immense patience and fortitude upheld by these masters. Here, is a quick peek into the lives of these maestros and their achievements. Needless to say, it is a pleasure and a tough task going through their bio-datas and presenting to you a simplified list of their mammoth achievements. Here we go –

SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR

• Born on 24^th April, 1973.
• Premiere Indian batsman who has appeared in six cricket world cups.
• Debut in international cricket in 1989 in both Test and ODI formats.
• Only cricketer in the world who has played in 200 Test matches in all his life.
• Has 51 Test centuries to his credit, highest in the world.
• Average test run rate has been 3.86 percent, highest ever in the world.
• In ODI, he has 49hundreds to his credit.
• The first cricketer to score a double century in ODI format in the world.
• He has 96 half centuries to his credit in the ODI format
• First cricketer to have scored 100 international centuries.
• Announced retirement from ODI on 23 December, 2012, Twenty20 cricket on 26 May, 2013, and from Test cricket on 16^th November, 2013.  
  
  

PROF. CHINTAMANI NAGESA RAMCHANDRA RAO

• Born on 30^th June 1934 in Bangalore, India.
• Eminent scientist in the field of solid state and materials chemistry. He is considered an international authority in this field, thankstoa highly impressive number of publications.
• Author of 1400 research papers published till date. Author of 45 books in materials chemistry. Check your academic texts and you might have referred to his works in those chemistry classes!
• Recognition from major scientific establishments all over the world in the form of fellowships and memberships.
• Winner of many prestigious international awards for excellence in science.
• Recipient of many national awards for excellence in his field including the Padma Vibhushan.
• Presently, he is the Honorary President of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India.
• Presently serving as the head of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.

A huge shout-out to these two mega achievers! Hearty congratulations from all of us here at Floralis.