Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam ( pronunciation (help·info); born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is an Indian politician and scientist who served as the 11th President of India. Apart from being a professor of aerospace engineering, he is also famous for his contribution to missile technology for India, pertaining to which he has been honoured Bharat Ratna award, India's highest civilian honour.
He was born and brought up at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, being born in a poor family he had to work his way through average grades and financial hard ships, completing his studies in aerospace engineering at Madras Institute of Technology (MIT – Chennai). He joined Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), India and is known for his many contributions to Aeronautical and Missile technology of India.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was elected president of India in 2002, defeating Lakshmi Sahgal, and was supported by both National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and BJP, then major political party of India. After serving office as a president till 2007 he is now a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Management, Indore; Chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai), JSS University (Mysore), and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India and is involved in philanthropic work as on 2012 .
A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament: For the Use of Biblical Students is one of the books of Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener (1813–1891), biblical scholar and textual critic. In this book Scrivener listed over 3,000 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, as well as manuscripts of early versions. It was used by Gregory for further work.
The book was published in four editions. The first edition, published in 1861, contained 506 pages. The second edition (1874) was expanded into 626 pages; the third into 751 pages; and the fourth into 874 pages. Two first editions were issued in one volume; in the third edition the material was divided into two volumes, with an increased number of chapters in each. The first volume was edited in 1883, the second in 1887. The fourth edition was also issued in two volumes (1894). The fourth edition of the book was reprinted in 2005 by Elibron Classics.
The text of the first edition was divided into nine chapters and three Indices were added at the end (pp. 465–490). All plates were placed at the end of book (after Indices). The main part of the work are descriptions of the manuscripts. Scrivener concentrated his attention on the most important manuscripts (especially five larger uncial codices). The later cursive manuscripts were too numerous to be minutely described as per the uncials. Scrivener described them with all possible brevity, dwelling only on a few which presented points of special interest and used a system of certain abbreviations. Lists of this abbreviations was included just before the Catalogue of cursive manuscripts. Examples of abbreviations, include:
Mallika Sarabhai (Malayalam: മല്ലിക സാരാഭായ്, Gujarati: મલ્લિકા સારાભાઇ) (born 9 May 1954) is an activist and Indian Classical Dancer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of Classical Dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and renowned Space Scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.
Mallika Sarabhai was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India in 1954 to Vikram Sarabhai and Mrinalini Sarabhai. She completed her MBA from IIM Ahmedabad in 1974 and Doctorate in Organisational Behaviour from the Gujarat University in 1976. She is a noted choreographer and dancer and has also acted in few Hindi and Gujarati films.
She started to learn dancing when she was young, and started her film career in parallel cinema, when she was 15. Mallika played the role of Draupadi in the Peter Brook's play The Mahabharata. Mallika has won many accolades during her long career, the Golden Star Award being one of them, which she won for the Best Dance Soloist, Theatre De Champs Elysees, Paris 1977. As well as a dancer, Sarabhai is a social activist. She, along with her mother, manages the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts located at Ahmedabad.
Śri Sathya Sai Baba (born as Sathyanarayana Raju (23 November 1926 – 24 April 2011) was an Indian guru, spiritual figure, mystic, philanthropist and educator. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi, considered a spiritual saint and a reputed miracle worker, who died in 1918 and whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and Muslim beliefs. The materializations of vibhuti (holy ash) and other small objects such as rings, necklaces and watches by Sathya Sai Baba were a source of both fame and controversy; devotees considered them signs of divinity, while skeptics viewed them as simple conjuring tricks. Photos of him are displayed in millions of homes and on the dashboards of cars, and lockets bearing his photo are worn by many as a symbol of good fortune.
Almost everything known about Sathya Sai Baba's early life stems from the hagiography that grew around him, the presentation of narratives that hold special meaning to his devotees and are considered by them evidence of his divine nature. According to his followers, then, Sathyanarayana Raju was born to Easwaramma and Peddavenkama Raju Ratnakaram in the village of Puttaparthi, in what was the Madras Presidency of British India. His birth, which his mother Eswaramma asserted was by miraculous conception, was also said to be heralded by miracles. His siblings included elder brother Ratnam Sesham Raju (1921–1984), sister Venkamma (1923–1993), a second sister Parvathamma (1928–1998), and younger brother Janakiramiah (1930–2003). As a child, he was described as "unusually intelligent" and charitable, though not an exceptional student, as his interests were more of a spiritual nature. He was uncommonly talented in devotional music, dance and drama, and an avid composer of poems and plays. He was said to be capable of materialising objects such as food and sweets out of thin air.