Who received the Vigyan Ratna under the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025, and what makes this award notable?
- Prof. Govindarajan Padmanabhan — Biology (RVP 2024 Vigyan Ratna)
- Prof. C.N.R. Rao — Chemistry (Bharat Ratna 2014 recipient)
- Prof. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar — Physics/Astrophysics (posthumous)
- Prof. Mahan Mj — Mathematics (Vigyan Shri 2025)
Answer: Prof. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar — posthumously, for contributions to Physics (Astrophysics and Cosmology)
The Vigyan Ratna is the highest category of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, recognising a lifetime of achievement in science and technology. In 2025, it was awarded posthumously to Prof. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar — the astrophysicist, cosmologist, founder of IUCAA Pune, and science communicator who worked on the Steady State theory with Fred Hoyle. He died in 2025. This was only the second posthumous Vigyan Ratna in the award's history.