Industrialist Ratan Tata gets in the cockpit of a fighter plane during Aero India 2011, in Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: File photo
The Tatas’ association with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) is well known as Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, along with the then maharaja of Mysuru, helped establish the institute in the early 1900s. The Tata legacy continued in the years to come. Ratan Tata, as chairman of Tata Sons, was also president of the IISc Court, the highest decision-making body of the institute.
According to the Tata Group, Mr. Tata helped promote the Sir Dorabji Tata Centre for Tropical Diseases and assisted with the maintenance of the structure. He had helped set up the digital library in the 1990s. He took part in the centenary celebrations of the institute in 2009.
The IISc will hold a condolence meeting on Thursday to pay respects to the industrialist. “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Ratan Tata, a visionary leader, philanthropist, and former President of IISc’s Court,” a statement from the premier institute said.
Ratan Tata, as chairman of Tata Sons, was the president of the IISc Court, the highest decision-making body of the institute.
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
Love for aviation
Ratan Tata was a frequent visitor to the biennial Aero India show, which is held at the Air Force Station in Yelahanka. Mr. Tata’s love for aviation is well-known and he had donned the G-suit twice as he flew in two American fighter jets.
Also read: Stray dogs of south Mumbai lose their best friend, Ratan Tata
His first flight was in 2007 when he flew an F-16 of Lockheed Martin during. Following the sortie, Mr. Tata shared his experience of flying in the fighter jet.
A few years later, he again took to the skies, this time on a Boeing F-18 Super Hornet, during the 2011 edition of Aero India. Though he did not take any more sorties after that, he was regular at the air show in which the Tata Group of companies was a leading exhibitor.
In Pictures: When Ratan Tata scaled Bengaluru skies
Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata group waving before getting into the US fighter plane F-16 at Aero India 2007, the 6th International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition at Yelahanka Air Station, in Bangalore on February 08, 2007.
Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group boarding an US fighter plane F-16 at Aero India 2007, 6th International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition at Yelahanka Air Station in Bangalore on February 08, 2007.
Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata group, ready to fly a Boeing F-18 Super Hornet combat aircraft at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bangalore on February 09, 2007.
Ratan Tata, Chairman Tata group before flying the F/A-18 Super Hornet at Aero India 2007 at Yelahanka Air Station in Bengaluru on February 09, 2007.
Ratan Tata, then Chairman of Tata group at Aero India 2007, 6th International Aerospace & Defence Exhibition at Yelahanka Air Station in Bengaluru.
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata waves before boarding a Boeing fighter F/A-18 Super Hornet at the Aero India 2011 at the Yelahanka air base on the outskirts of Bangalore.
Industrialist Ratan Tata sits in the cockpit of a F17 fighter plane during the Aero India 2011.
BANGALORE, 10/02/2011: Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata group went in F/A 18 Super Hornet during the AERO INDIA 2011 at Yelahanka Airforce Station in Bangalore on February 10, 2011. Also seen Pilot Mike wallace.
Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash
Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata sits in a Gripen Cockpit Simulator at Aero India 2009.
Ratan Tata visits the Boeing stall during the Aero India 2015 at Air Force station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru.
Ratan Tata during the Aero Show 2017 at Yelahanka in Bengaluru.
Indian industrialist and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata (L) prepares for a flight in the backseat of a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft during the Aero India 2007 air show at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka, in Bangalore on February 9, 2007.
1/3
Published – October 10, 2024 11:48 am IST
