Bharat Ratna scientist CNR Rao gets SIR notice
What's the story
Professor CNR Rao, a distinguished scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee, has been served a notice for a hearing to verify his identity after a discrepancy in the spelling of his name was found during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka. The older electoral rolls list his name as "Prof CNR Rao," while the current ones have an additional "f," recording it as "Proff CNR Rao."
Hearing details
Notice cites 'self-name mismatch'
The notice cites "self-name mismatch" as the reason for the discrepancy.
This term refers to a situation where an elector's details from an older electoral roll do not match those in the current one when they fill out their SIR enumeration form.
The hearing is scheduled in Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, near the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
Scientific impact
Rao was awarded Bharat Ratna
Professor Rao is known for his work in solid-state and structural chemistry and has been instrumental in shaping India's scientific research landscape.
He was the third scientist to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor, after physicist C V Raman and former President A P J Abdul Kalam.
Apart from the Bharat Ratna, he has also received several other prestigious awards, including Padma Vibhushan, Padma Shri and Karnataka Ratna.
Policy influence
Rao has been part of science policy formulation in India
Apart from his research work, Professor Rao has also been a key figure in shaping science policies in India.
He was part of the Scientific Advisory Council to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and later headed councils under Rajiv Gandhi, HD Deve Gowda, IK Gujral and Manmohan Singh.
Rao also served as the head of IISc and founded the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in Jakkur. He was its founding president.