The Indian government has awarded Indian American Narinder Singh Kapany the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest honour. He coined the term fibre optics and is known as the "father of fibre optics."

In a release announcing the honour, the Indian government described him as "the pioneering Indian-American scientist who laid the foundation for today's high-speed Internet technology."

He founded the Optics Technology Incorporation and Kaptron Incorporation in 1960 and 1973 respectively.

Kapany studied at Agra University and then moved to Imperial College in London. He received his PhD from the University of London in 1955. Apart from fiber optics, he worked in fields of lasers, biomedical instrumentation, solar energy and pollution monitoring.

He received ‘The Excellence 2000 Award’ from the USA Pan-Asian American Chamber of Commerce in 1998, a fellow of numerous scientific societies including the British Royal Academy of Engineering, the Optical Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He was named among the seven “Unsung Heroes” of the 20th century who affected the lives of people all over the world by Fortune in their ‘Businessmen of the Century’ issue of November 22, 1999.

He was honoured posthumously. Kapany, born in India's Moga in 1926, died last year. Meanwhile speaking to a news portal, his daughter Kiran said the family is "truly humbled" & "overwhelmed".

Kiran said, "On behalf of my children, Ari and Misha, and my brother Raj Kapany and his children, Tara and Nikki and myself. I would like to thank the Govt of India for bestowing the Padma Vibhushan award on our dear father."

Adding, "We are truly humbled and grateful by all the warm wishes and condolences we are receiving from all over the world honouring and remembering our dear father. We have been overwhelmed by this tremendous outpouring of emotion."

On his work on Fibre Optics, she said, "We realize how deeply he touched so many lives and how he laid the groundwork for so many to know that they could also reach for the stars. We thank you with all our hearts."

The Padma Vibhushan awards for 2020 and 2021 were presented Monday at Rashtrapati Bhawan by President Ram Nath Kovind. Due to the Covid-19 situation last year, this year's ceremony was combined for awardees of both years. The president presented 14 Padma Vibhushan awards this time.

After the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian award.

This year’s awardees include former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Singing legend SP Balasubrahmnayam and Indian-American physicist Narinder Singh Kapany received the award posthumously. Former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was awarded the 2020 Padma Vibhushan posthumously, along with George Fernandes and Arun Jaitley. Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri received the award at the live ceremony. Olympian boxer Mary Kom is also among the 2020 Padma Vibhushan awardees.

A look at all the Padma Vibhushan Winners 2021:

 Shinzo Abe: Japan’s longest serving prime minister is being awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the field of public affairs. He was the PM of Japan from 2006-07, and then again from 2012-20. The 67-year-old tendered his resignation in September 2020 due to illness. Described as a Japanese right-wing nationalist by political experts, Abe’s tenure was known the world over for its economic policies, nicknamed Abenomics.

SP Balasubrahmanyam (posthumous): The singing legend from Tamil Nadu is being awarded posthumously for his massive contribution to the arts. A man of all seasons when it came to music, he was a playback singer, music director, actor and producer. He won six National Film awards for Best Male Playback Singer for his works in four different languages — Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi.

 Dr Belle Monappa Hegde: The cardiologist received the award in the field of medicine. He is a professor of medicine as well as an author of books on medical practice and ethics.

 Narinder Singh Kapany (posthumous): The Indian-American physicist, best known for his work on fibre optics, was awarded posthumously. Considered the ‘Father of Fiber Optics’, he died in December 2020 at the age of 94. Some say he deserved the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the field of fibre optics.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan: The Islamic scholar and peace activist, known for having written a commentary on the Quran and having translated it into contemporary English, died aged 96 in April due to Covid-19 complications. The award is not being counted as posthumous as he was still alive when the awards were announced in January.

BB Lal: The centenarian Indian archaeologist received the Padma Bhushan in 2000. His archaeological publications have been criticised for revisionism, with the Ayodhya dispute attracting major controversy.

 Sudarshan Sahoo: The 82-year-old master sculpture artist from Puri in Odisha developed Sudarshan Crafts Museum, which was established in 1977. He revived the gurukul system of learning with the help of the state government. He was a recipient of Padma Shri in 1988.

Image source: Tribune India