S. Nambi Narayanan is a former scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation. He was one of the senior officers of ISRO.
Wiki/Biography
Nambi Narayanan was born on 12 December 1941 (age 80; as in 2021) in Kerala, India. His hometown is Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. He was educated at DVD Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil. He completed his graduation in Mechanical Engineering from Thyagarajar College of Engineering, University of Madras, Madhurai. On 12 September 1966, Narayanan started working at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) at Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram with a 20-member team. He received the NASA Fellowship in 1969. Narayanan completed his master’s degree in Chemical Rocket Propulsion from Princeton University, New Jersey. Although NASA offered him US citizenship, Narayanan was determined to pursue research in India. In 1994, he was falsely accused of espionage in the ISRO espionage case.
Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, TERLS
Family, Wife and Caste
Nambi Narayanan was born in a Hindu family. He lost his father when he was pursuing his graduation in Madhurai. After losing his father, his mother became ill. He had two sisters.
Nambi Narayanan is married to Meena Nambi. The couple has a son, Shankar Kumar Narayanan (Businessman) and a daughter, Geetha Arunan (Montessori school teacher in Bangalore).
Nambi Narayanan with his family
livelihood
Narayanan joined ISRO in 1966. In the early 1970s, Narayanan predicted the need for liquid-fuel engines in ISRO’s future civilian space programmes. He designed the first thrust liquid propellant motors of about 600 kg and introduced liquid fuel rocket technology to India, while APJ Abdul Kalam and his team worked on solid motors. Narayanan’s project was strongly supported by the then ISRO chairman Satish Dhawan and UR Rao. He was in charge of the cryogenics division, which produces materials at low temperatures.
Nambi Narayanan with APJ Abdul Kalam
ISRO Chairman, Satish Dhawan
Narayanan, with the help of French assistance, became one of the chief architects and developed an engine called Vikas, which was used in several ISRO rockets including the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Engine ‘Vikas’ helped in missions like Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan. The development was also used in the second and fourth strap-on stages of the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
growth engine
Nambi Narayanan with the other Indian team and French scientists after the successful ground test of the Vikas engine at Vernon, France in 1985
controversies
- India made an agreement with Russia in 1992 235 crore for transfer of technology in development of cryogenic fuel. However, the deal was canceled due to pressure from the US and France, who intended to offer the same technology to Russia. 950 crores and 650 respectively and Rs. Subsequently, India entered into a new agreement with Russia to manufacture four cryogenic engines by global tender without transfer of technology. But due to the false espionage scandal that surfaced in 1994, this deal was also cancelled.
- In 1994, Narayanan was falsely accused of leaking important defense secrets, including confidential information related to flight test data, along with his fellow scientist, D. Sasikumaran, and two Maldivian women named Mariam Rashida and Fauzia Hassan. The other accused persons were ISRO contractor SK Sharma and Russian space agency official K. Chandrasekhar.
Maryam Rashida’s arrest
Maldivian women arrested in ISRO espionage case
- Narayanan is arrested on charges of espionage and the case is transferred to the Intelligence Bureau. He was kept in custody for 50 days. While in custody, IB officials tortured him mentally and physically. He was made to stand for about 30 hours until he collapsed and was admitted to a hospital.
Nambi Narayanan’s arrest in Thiruvananthapuram, 1994
Nambi Narayanan arrested in ISRO espionage case
- In 1996, the CBI dropped the charges against Narayanan citing lack of evidence and found him not guilty. Subsequently, in 1998, the Supreme Court of India dismissed his case and expunged all charges against him.
- In one of his interviews, Narayanan revealed the reply of one of the IB officers saying “Sir, we are doing our duty. If what you are saying is true and you have been proved right, you can slap us with slippers.
fact
- As a scientist, he worked closely with prominent scientists like Satish Dhawan, Vikram Sarabhai, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, UR Rao and many others.
- As the then Chairman of ISRO, Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan said, “ISRO could not interfere in any legal matter;” Narayanan did not get any support from the organization.
- In 2001, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) ordered the state government of Kerala to pay a compensation of ₹1 crore to Narayanan.
- In 2012, the Kerala High Court based on an appeal by the NHRC ordered the state government of Kerala to pay a compensation of ₹10 lakh to Narayanan.
- In 2013, Narayanan spoke to the media demanding justice in his case and wanted to expose the individuals or officials behind the conspiracy of espionage charges.
- In one of his interviews, Narayanan said that when the allegations of espionage were leveled against him, he and his family had to face extreme mental cruelty. One such incident was told by him that his wife Meena was forced to step out of an autorickshaw once the driver realized who she was.
- He also said that “people will come to our house and burn my effigy, defame me and raise slogans. My family had to suffer a lot. My kids were agitated and retaliated. But my wife got depressed and stopped talking.
- On 23 October 2017, the autobiography ‘Ormakalude Bhramanpatham’ written on Narayanan exposed the ISRO espionage case. It also revealed that the accused persons were subjected to third-degree torture.
Autobiography of Nambi Narayanan
- In 2018, a bench led by Justice Dipak Misra ordered compensation of ₹75 lakh by the Kerala state government to Nambi Narayanan for mental cruelty and defamation of his reputation.
- In 2018, a three-judge Supreme Court bench led by Justice Dipak Misra awarded ₹50 lakh compensation to Narayanan for being “unnecessarily arrested and harassed” by the Kerala Police.
- The three-judge bench, which awarded compensation of ₹50 lakh, also said that “we may direct compensation to the persons involved in the investigation…we will require the state to recover the compensation from their properties. Let them sell their houses and pay off. We are not worried. We will clarify in our order that his reputation was hurt… His reputation has been restored by this decision.”
Nambi Narayanan was given a check of Rs 50 lakh by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in 2018
- On 25 January 2019, Narayanan was awarded the Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, by the Government of India.
- His hobbies include reading and traveling.
- In 2019, an Indian biographical drama film titled Rocketry: The Nambi Effect was released, based on the life of Nambi Narayanan. The role of Narayanan was played by R. Madhavan. It was released in theaters on 1 July 2022.
Rocketry – The Nambi Effect
- In 2019, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.
Nambi Narayanan received Padma Bhushan by Ram Nath Kovind.
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Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn