Yelavarthy Nayudamma
Yelevarthy Nayudamma
Born
Yelevarthy Nayudamma

10 September 1922
Yelavarru, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died23 June 1985 (age 62)
Air India Flight 182, over Atlantic Ocean, off Waterville, Ireland

Yelavarthy Nayudamma[1] (10 September 1922 – 23 June 1985) was a chemical engineer and a scientist killed on Air India Flight 182 (Emperor Kanishka bombing).[2][3]

Early life and education

Nayudamma was born on 10 September 1922 into an agricultural family at Yelavarru village near Tenali in Guntur district of present day Andhra Pradesh state in India. He was the eldest of three brothers and a sister. His parents Raghavamma and Anjaih named him Nayudammma (‘amma’ is a short name used by parents while referring to sons as well as daughters, while ‘Nayudu’ in Telugu means a leader). Nayudamma who was over 6 feet tall lived up to his name.

He had his primary education in the village and studied Intermediate in AC College. Later, he did B.SC (Chemical Technology) at the famous Banaras Hindu University and a course in leather technology at Madras Institute of Leather Technology. He contributed to the initial development of the Central Leather Research Institute at Chennai, India. He was responsible for building the international image of the institute and for establishing close ties with the Indian leather industry.[4] Nayudamma went to UK for further education and he went on to pursue doctoral degree in Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA.

Positions and honors

Nayudamma served as the Director General of CSIR, New Delhi and also as the 4th Vice-Chancellor of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi from 12 June 1981 to 27 October 1982. He also served on many prestigious national and international committees.[5]

He was awarded many national and international awards and honours, including Padma Shri in 1971.[6]

Yelevarthy was conferred with the prestigious Raja-Lakshmi Award in the year 1983 from Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai.

Death

Dr. Nayudamma left India on June 10, 1985, to attend COSTED meeting in USSR and then the International Development Research Centre Governors meeting on June 21 in Ottawa, Canada. On June 23 he boarded Air India Flight 182 on a plane titled 'Emperor Kanishka', which was carrying 329 passengers. He died in the subsequent mid-air bombing over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, South of Ireland. The terrorist attack was orchestrated by the Sikh extremist group, Babar Khalsa.

He was married to Y. Pavana. His had two sons, Rathiesh and Ramesh, and one daughter Shanti. After Yelevarthy's death, his wife committed suicide.[7]

Dr. Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award

Recipients of this prestigious award include T. Ramasami, A. Sivathanu Pillai, Nori Dattatreyudu, Sam Pitroda, G. Madhavan Nair, Kota Harinarayana, V. K. Aatre, R. Chidambaram, R.A. Mashelkar, Jasbir Singh Bajaj, K. Kasturirangan, Verghese Kurien, S.Z. Qasim, M. G. K. Menon, Vijay Kumar Saraswat, and M.S. Swaminathan among others.[8]

References

  1. ^ "The Families Remember, Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182" (PDF). Government of Canada. p. 62/220. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020. - The footnotes state that the name is often rendered as "Yelavarthy Nayudamma" or "Yelevarthy Nayudamma" in published sources and that "Yelevarthy" is the family name. The Canadian government report puts the family name last, rendering the name as "Nayudamma Yelevarthy". Published on the website of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime, funded by the Canadian Government.
  2. ^ "Nayudamma Site". Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  3. ^ "Public hearing Volume 11" (Archive). Commission of Inquiry into the investigation of the Bombing of ap Flight 182 (Commission d'enquête relative aux measures d'investigation prises à s contre le vol 182 d'Air India). Friday 13 October 2006. p. 1034 (PDF 39-59).
  4. ^ Nayudamma and CLRI
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Public hearing Volume 11" (Archive). Commission of Inquiry into the investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182 (Commission d'enquête relative aux measures d'investigation prises à la suite de l'attentat à la bombe commis contre le vol 182 d'Air India). Friday 13 October 2006. p. 1037-1038 (PDF 42-43). "After only a few hours in Cork, I had to rush back to India to see my mother. I flew back in silence only to arrive to the next blow; the news that my mother had died from her suicide before I could reach her."
  8. ^ "Missile Man-II, looking ahead and farther". The Hindu. 23 February 2010. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010.
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