Mandagere Bharadwaj Ramachandra Rao (5 August 1906 – 4 September 1992) was an Indian geophysicist, writer and one of the founding leaders of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC).[1] It was Rao who was reported to have identified Patiala House as the headquarters of the organization.[2] Born in the Mysore state of British India, (present-day Karnataka state), on 5 August 1906, he secured his post graduate degree (MSc) from the University of Mysore before joining the Geological Survey of India (GSI).[3] Later, when the Oil and Natural Gas Commission was formed in 1956, he joined the organization along with a number of geoscientists from GSI where he served for a number of years.[4]
Rao published several scientific articles[5] and a number of books on geophysics.[6][7] He was an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences.[3] The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1972, for his contributions to science.[8] He died on 4 September 1992, at the age of 86.[3]
^"Padma Awards"(PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2016. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
