https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Rakesh_PopliRakesh Popli - Revision history2026-10-26T14:22:41ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rakesh_Popli&diff=528869&oldid=prevAngelesEller0: created the entry w/ refs...2026-02-10T02:52:00Z<p>created the entry w/ refs...</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian nuclear physicist}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rakesh Kumar Popli<br />
| image = Rakesh Popli.png<br />
| alt = Rakesh Popli<br />
| caption = Rakesh Popli<br />
| birth_name = <br />
| birth_date = 1952<br />
| birth_place = <br />
| death_date = 15 September 2007<br />
| death_place = <br />
| other_names = <br />
| known_for = Establishing the first "[[Ekal Vidyalaya]]s"<br />
| occupation = Nuclear physicist<br />
}}<br />
'''Rakesh Kumar Popli''' (1952 &ndash; 15 September 2007) was an Indian [[nuclear physicist]] who would establish the first [[Ekal Vidyalaya]]s, or One-Teacher Schools, in remote regions of India.<ref name=Ekalobit/><br />
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==Early years==<br />
Rakesh Popli was born in India in 1952.<br />
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He studied in the United States at [[Purdue University]], from 1974 to 1981, obtaining his doctorate in nuclear physics.<br />
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Returning to India, he was accepted as an assistant professor of nuclear physics at the [[Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur]]. He would later be appointed as a professor of applied physics at the [[Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra]] (BIT Mesra) in [[Ranchi]], Jharkhand, from 1984 to 1988.<ref name=Ekalobit/><br />
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==Ekal vidyalayas==<br />
In 1986, following in the footsteps of the early followers of [[Swami Vivekananda]], some young [[educationist]]s began to work with tribal people who lived in the dense forests of [[Jharkhand]].<ref>{{cite web<br />
|url=http://www.sanghparivar.org/wiki/ekal-vidyalaya<br />
|title=Ekal Vidyalaya<br />
|publisher=[[Sangh Parivar]]<br />
|access-date=2012-03-22}}</ref><br />
Sri Bhao Rao Devras had outlined the concept of One Teacher Schools in 1986.<ref>{{cite web<br />
|url=http://www.ftsindia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59&Itemid=68<br />
|title=AN EKAL VIDYALAYA<br />
|publisher=[[Friends of Tribals Society]]<br />
|access-date=2012-03-22}}</ref><br />
Rakesh Popli and his wife Rama Popli, an expert in child education, then refined the concept.<br />
He wrote the syllabus for the pioneering schools that were established among the tribes of [[Gumla]], about {{convert|125|km|mi}} away from BIT Mesra.<ref name=Ekalobit/><br />
Sponsored by the India Development Service, a charity, in July/August 1986, Rakesh Popli visited about twenty cities in the United States where he described the work of his group in the tribal areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idsusa.org/IDS1986.pdf<br />
|title=India Development Service Annual Report - 1986<br />
|access-date=2012-03-22}}</ref><br />
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Rakesh Popli died from blood cancer on September 15, 2007 after a protracted illness.<ref name=Ekalobit/><br />
His books included ''A Stroll Through Space Time'' (in Hindi).<ref>{{cite web <br />
|url=http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/annualreport/ENGLISH.pdf<br />
|title=VIGYAN PRASAR ANNUAL REPORT 2004-2005<br />
|access-date=2012-03-22}}</ref><br />
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==Partial bibliography==<br />
*{{cite book |title=UV degradation of polymers<br />
|author=Rakesh Kumar Popli |publisher=University of Louisville. |year=1976 |page=146}}<br />
*{{cite book |title=Molecular Fraction Behavior in Oriented Polymers<br />
|author=Rakesh K. Popli, David K. Roylance |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center |year=1980 |page=136}}<br />
*{{cite book |title=Aspects of human communication<br />
|author=Lilavati Krishnan |author2=B. N. Patnaik |author3=N. K. Sharma |author4=Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur<br />
|publisher=Mittal Publications |year=1989 |ISBN=81-7099-185-4}} (contributor)<br />
*{{cite book |title=A stroll through space-time: a leisurely discourse on Einstein's relativity theory<br />
|author=Rakesh Kumar Popli |publisher=Vigyan Prasar |year=2003 |ISBN=81-7480-085-9 |page=91}}<br />
*{{cite book |title=Parmanu Se Sitaro Tak<br />
|author=Rakesh Popli |publisher=Vigyan Prasar |ISBN=81-7480-038-7}}<br />
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==References==<br />
<references><br />
<br />
<ref name=Ekalobit>{{cite journal<br />
|url = http://www.ekal.org/40/newsletter-October-2007<br />
|journal = Newsletter October 2007<br />
|title = Dr. Rakesh Popli, Nuclear Scientist & one of Ekal's Visionaries, passed away on September 15, 2007<br />
|publisher = Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation<br />
|access-date = 2012-03-22<br />
<br />
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714231229/http://www.ekal.org/40/newsletter-October-2007<br />
|archive-date = July 14, 2014<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
</references><br />
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{{authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Popli, Rakesh}}<br />
[[Category:1952 births]]<br />
[[Category:2007 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian nuclear physicists]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]</div>AngelesEller0