Shimla – Senior Defence Scientist Rakesh Kumar Thakur from Himachal Pradesh has been conferred the Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar – 2024 by the Government of India for his outstanding contribution to Hindi technical literature.
The award was presented during the 5th All India Rajbhasha Conference, organised on the occasion of Hindi Diwas 2025 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law & Justice and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal handed over the honour.
Thakur earned recognition for his Hindi technical book “Ucch Tanav-Dar Par Abhiyantriki Padarthon Ka Parikshan” (Testing of Engineering Materials at High Strain Rate), which simplifies complex defence research concepts. The book explains the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) technique, along with principles of shock tubes, blast mitigation, blast loading, and high-strain laminates. It also presents experimental results on explosives, aluminium, and polyurethane foam in an accessible style.
Designed to aid scientists, engineers, academic institutions, and defence organisations, the book incorporates English technical terms in Devanagari script and includes a comprehensive Hindi technical glossary.
Born in 1981 in Sundernagar, Mandi district, Rakesh Thakur completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Hamirpur in 2004 and joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 2003. He received the Young Scientist Award from former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2010.
Over his 21-year career at DRDO, Thakur has worked extensively on explosive materials, blast mitigation systems, shock tubes, blast panels, and Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATDs). One of his patents was granted in 2023, and he has also contributed to studies on human body impacts during blast tests in the United States.
