K I Varaprasad Reddy | |
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Born | Papireddy Palem, Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh | 17 November 1948
Occupation | Chairman of Shanta Biotechnics |
Parents |
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Awards | Padma Bhushan |
Koduru Ishwara Varaprasad Reddy (born 17 November 1948) [1] is an Indian entrepreneur and founder of vaccine manufacturing company Shantha Biotechnics. The Govt of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan award in 2005 for his contribution in the field of science and engineering. [2] He also received an honorary doctorate from Sri Venkateshwara University, Gitam University, and Vignan University for his pioneering efforts. [3]
Dr. K.I Varaprasad Reddy was born in an agriculture family from Papireddy Palem village in Nellore district. He was the only child to his parents Mr Venkata Ramana Reddy and Mrs Shanthamma. [4] With Bachelor of Science degree from Sri Venkateshwara University in 1967, he did his Engineering (Electronics & Communication) from Andhra University – 1970. After which he pursued a Diploma in Computer Sciences from Biblingen University, West Germany in 1971. He also got his master's degree in Business Administration from Osmania University. [5]
An electronics engineer by profession, Varaprasad worked as a defense scientist for 7 years. [6] after which he worked for APIDC (Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation). He has become entrepreneur by joining Hyderabad Batteries Ltd in the year 1985. This company developed and produced batteries for high technology based batteries for Defence applications. [5]
In 1990, he attended a WHO conference in Geneva and he heard some critical remarks about India not being capable of developing a vaccine for Hepatitis B. The disease kills around 350,000 people every year in the country. [3] He was not pleased with what he heard and started Shantha Biotechnics Ltd with a mission to produce cost-effective vaccines that would be available for the common man, while still maintaining international quality standards. [7]
Varaprasad established Shantha Biotechnics Ltd. in 1993. Shantha Biotechnics Ltd made the country's first indigenously developed recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. The vaccine, Shanvac-B, was launched in the country in 1997. [4]
He supported Yoga for training many yoga teachers for spreading the yoga culture. He also launched a magazine, Haasam and ran for 5 years. The main aim was to propagate the spirit of Telugu art, literature and humour and music. Now under Haasam Publications many books were published and continuing to publish on the subjects of Music, Humour and spirituality. Some of the well known books are Autobiography of Bharta Ratna M S Subbulakshmi and Mallapudi Venkataramana's Kothi Kommachi etc.,
He was awarded with Life Time Achievement Award by the HMTV Business Excellence Awards function in 2018, Hyderabad. [8]
The Andhra Christian College or A.C. College is one of the oldest colleges in India located in Guntur Andhra Pradesh. It started in 1885. AC College is part of the education enterprise of the Protestant churches. It admits intermediate, undergraduate and graduate students and awards degrees through the Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjunanagar to which it is affiliated.
Kallam Anji Reddy was an Indian entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical industry, the founder-chairman of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, which he established in 1984, and chairman of Dr Reddy's Foundation (DRF), the corporate social responsibility arm of the group, established 1996. He was a member of the Indian Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry.
Perugu Siva Reddy was a renowned eye surgeon from Andhra Pradesh, India.
Nellore district, officially known as Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district in Coastal Andhra Region, is one of the 26 districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. According to the 2011 Census, the district's population was 2,469,712 of which 29.07% was urban. Its administrative headquarters are located in Nellore city. Located in the Coastal Andhra region, the district is bordered by the Bay of Bengal to the east, Kadapa district and Annamayya district to the west, Prakasam district to the north, and Tirupati district to the south.
Shantha Biotechnics Limited is an Indian biotechnology company headquartered in Hyderabad, India. It is the first Indian company to develop, manufacture and market recombinant human healthcare products in India. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi group.
Shantha Sinha is an Indian anti-child labour activist. She is the founder of Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation, popularly known as MV Foundation, and is a professor in the Department of Political science in Hyderabad Central University. She headed the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights for two consecutive terms ; The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was set up in March 2007 under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, an Act of Parliament. Sinha was its first chairperson. She was awarded the civilian honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1998.
Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana was a Carnatic musician, a classical vocalist, musicologist, author and teacher, a great administrator and motivator. He was a performer on All India Radio and Doordarshan who participated in Sangeeta Sammelans, outdoor broadcasts and national programmes innumerable times. His radio lessons and Bhakti Ranjanis were very popular. He was awarded Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India in 2010.
The Ramineni Foundation was founded in 1995 by the children of the late Ramineni Ayyanna Choudary in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA for the purpose of protecting and promoting the monumental heritage of Indian culture and the ideals of Hinduism. In addition, the primary mission of the foundation is to facilitate the valiant, relentless and altruistic efforts of all those high priests drawn from a cross-spectrum of fields in arts, science and humanities.
Ayyagari Sambasiva Rao (1914–2003) was an Indian scientist and founder of Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Mamidipudi Venkatarangayya was a writer, scholar, and political scientist from Andhra Pradesh, India. He was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1968 by the Indian Government.
Pavani Parameswara Rao was a Senior Advocate practising in the Supreme Court of India. Widely considered a doyen of Constitutional Law, he had argued a number of landmark cases before the Supreme Court. He died on 13 September 2017 in a private hospital in South Delhi following a cardiac arrest, India.
Prathap Chandra Reddy is an Indian entrepreneur and cardiologist who founded the first corporate chain of hospitals in India, the Apollo Hospitals. India Today ranked him 48th in its 2017 list of India's 50 most powerful people.
Raja and Radha Reddy are an Indian Kuchipudi dancing couple, gurus and choreographers. They are renowned as exponents of the South Indian dance form of Kuchipudi. They founded and run the Natya Tarangini Institute of Kuchipudi Dance in New Delhi. The duo are credited with having given Kuchipudi a new dimension without compromising on its traditional virtues. For their services to the field of arts, the Government of India has conferred on them the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards.
Dr. D. Nageshwara Reddy is an Indian gastroenterologist who studied at the Kurnool Medical College. He hails from Alur, near kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.He is the chairman and founder of Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) at Hyderabad, the biggest gastroenterology hospital in the world. He received the Padma Shri award in 2002 and Padma Bhushan award in 2016.
Gunapati Venkata Krishna Reddy is a philanthropist and entrepreneur. GVK Reddy is the founder and chairman of GVK Group, a business conglomerate with a predominant focus on infrastructure development.
Dr. Seshagiri Rao Vellanki is an Indian scientist and is former distinguished scientist and associate director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He worked in ISRO for more than 39 years in various capacities. He also served in ISRO as Prof. Satish Dhawan for three years. He was instrumental in setting up state of the art Real Time Systems and computer networks for flight safety at SDSC SHAR. He also developed data processing software required for displaying flight trajectories. Pulse Coherent Mono-pulse Radars (PCMC) development and commissioning was carried out under his leadership. He also developed and implemented various algorithms required for wind profile estimation for weather monitoring. He worked extensively in Mission Simulations and Post flight trajectory estimation and data analytics.
Dr. Krishna Ella is an Indian scientist and entrepreneur. He is the founder and Executive Chairman of Bharat Biotech. Ella and his company were responsible for developing India's own COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, World's 1st clinically proven conjugated Typhoid Vaccine, TypbarTCV and ROTAVAC.
Gaddam Padmaja Reddy is an Indian Kuchipudi exponent and music teacher. She performs ballets on mythological themes and contemporary social issues. She choreographed Kakatiyam, a Kuchipudi visual dance form. She was conferred with Kala Ratna in 2006, India's highest art award–Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2015 and Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in the field of art for 2022.