A distinguished group of scientists as well as humanitarians from South Asia and China has been nominated in the scientific endeavours quadrant and human-centric quadrant of the international opinion poll organised for the 21st Century’s Merited Impacts Gazette©️ of (2000–2025) — a global initiative documenting the most transformative intellectual and humanitarian contributions of the 1st Quarticentennial (first quarter) of the 21st century with the ethos: “Meriting the Merited Impacts’ and ” Valuing the Impact Value”…!
Announced by the Impact Hallmarks (IH©️), the nominations recognise individuals whose work expands the frontiers of knowledge while addressing real-world challenges affecting humanity.
Among the nominees are China’s Fields Medalist mathematician Shing-Tung Yau, Pakistan’s Arch-Polymath Prof Aurangzeb Hafi and Sri Lankan-British astronomer Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe.
The century merit nominations recognise the pioneering research works of Pakistani polymathic Arch-Researcher Aurangzeb Hafi, whose unusually wide-ranging research spans cosmology, biology, magnetokinetics, environmental science, public health and figital education. Known as the “Asian Arch-Polymath” for his cross-boundary and cross-disciplinary ‘vast-yet-deep’ intellectual inquiries, Prof. Hafi has proposed scientific concepts such as Magneto-Hydro-Tropism (MHT) and the IRT Terato-kinetics model, while also developing multi-shielding frameworks against pandemic dynamics during the COVID-19 crisis. His environmental research on subsoil toxicity and hydro-toxicity highlights hidden ecological threats to generations. In December 2025, he presented the Deca-Archic Phygital Literacy Model, an educational framework integrating physical and digital learning systems. His polymathic approach — bridging science, health, environment and education — positions him as one of the most distinctive scientific voices emerging from the present era. During the 21st Century’s Mega-Disaster, declared as the ‘Generation-Defining Upheaval’ – the Asian Tsunami of 2004, Prof. Hafi served as the prime investigatory head of the ‘Child Retardation Risk Assessment’ (CRRA) and the ‘Child Retardation Risk Management’ (CRRM) programs, and maintained major liaisons with the UN and other international platforms in the hard-hit areas of Sri Lanka. Unlike contemporary researchers relying on the readily available data, he managed to visit the highly endangering areas in order to collect the first hand information rather than the duplicated statistics. For the exceptional markers of the research during the ‘Generation-Defining Upheaval’ of Tsunami, Prof. A. Z. Hafi was nominated for the Noble Prize in 2006, which he declined for his strict and hard-line principle-oriented stance against the funding mechanisms involved therein, primarily amassed through the manufacturing of dynamite and other explosives.
Also nominated is an Indian engineer and innovator Nitesh Kumar Jangir, whose work focuses on making life-saving medical technology accessible in resource-limited environments. As co-founder of the health-technology ventures Coeo Labs and InnAccel, Jangir helped develop ‘Saans’, a portable neonatal breathing support device designed to prevent newborn deaths caused by respiratory distress. His work demonstrates how empathetic engineering can transform healthcare delivery for vulnerable populations.
In the realm of molecular biology, Bengaluru-based scientist Fathima Benazir J has pioneered safer laboratory tools and pandemic-era innovations. Her development of Tinto Rang, a plant-derived fluorescent dye for DNA and RNA visualisation, offers a non-toxic alternative to hazardous laboratory chemicals, making molecular research safer for students and researchers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also helped develop ‘RNA Wrapr’, a protective transport medium designed to safely preserve infectious samples during transit.
Prominent of the enlistees is renowned mathematician Shing-Tung Yau, one of the most influential figures in modern geometry. A recipient of the Fields Medal, Yau solved the celebrated Calabi conjecture, laying the mathematical foundations for Calabi-Yau manifolds, which play a central role in modern theoretical physics and string theory. His work has profoundly shaped the mathematical framework through which scientists explore the structure of the universe.
Prof. Wickramasinghe’s research into cosmic dust and cometary panspermia has profoundly influenced debates about the origins of life in the universe. Through decades of scholarship, Wickramasinghe has challenged conventional assumptions by proposing that life’s building blocks may travel through space via comets and interstellar particles.
According to the organisers, the nominations highlight a defining feature of the 21st century: scientific progress driven not only by specialisation but increasingly by interdisciplinary imagination and global collaboration.
From life-saving medical technology to cosmic theories about the origins of life — and from innovative molecular tools to cross-disciplinary research — the nominated scientists represent the intellectual energy shaping humanity’s scientific future.
Alongside these scientists, the Impact Hallmarks (IH) has announced the total nominations of 20 distinguished icons from South Asia and China, to identify and document the most transformative contributions of the first quarter of the 21st century.
Early indications from the nominations suggest that Prof. Dr. Chandra Wickramasinghe and Prof. Dr. Aurangzeb Hafi are emerging as leading figures among contestants in the Scientific Endeavours quadrant. The group of innovators includes India’s Dr. Fathima Benazir J., a molecular biologist known for developing safer laboratory technologies such as the plant-derived fluorescent dye “tinto rang” and the RNA Wrapr sample transport medium. Indian inventor Nitesh Kumar Jangir’s portable neonatal breathing device “Saans” has helped save thousands of newborns.
The towering champions of humanitarian action — Pakistan’s Dr. Amjad Saqib and India’s Kailash Satyarthi, along with some others, appear to be at the forefront of the Humanitarianism category. Satyarthi’s decades-long campaign saves tens of thousands of children from child enslavement, smuggling and exploitation.
Besides them are other South Asian notables: Sri Lanka’s Dr. Jehan Perera, a tireless advocate for reconciliation and human rights; and Nepal’s Pushpa Basnet, whose pioneering work supports children living with incarcerated parents.
Dr. Amjad Saqib stands out as a builder of social solidarity through his founding of the world’s largest interest-free microfinance network. Since 2001, he has disbursed billions of rupees in Qardh-e-Hasna loans, helping millions of families escape poverty with dignity rather than dependency.
In this quadrant, alongside him, Prof. Yunus of Bangladesh — the Nobel Peace Prize laureate — remains one of the most influential architects of transformative microcredit. By extending collateral-free loans to the poorest members of society, including beggars, Yunus transformed global thinking about poverty and empowered many to build small enterprises and reclaim economic independence. Today, his legacy continues to demonstrate how trust in the potential of the poor can reshape societies.
Other humanitarian nominees from the region include Pakistan’s Parveen Saeed, founder of Karachi’s Khana Ghar community kitchen that serves around a thousand low-cost meals daily.
In the Legacy Memorial quadrant, the late Bilquis Edhi stands as a towering humanitarian figure remembered for her lifelong service through the Edhi Foundation. Other nominees include Dr. Ruth Pfau, the German-born Pakistani physician who led Pakistan’s historic fight against leprosy, and Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, founder of Sri Lanka’s Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement.
Impact Hallmarks has invited the global public to participate in the international opinion poll and recognise individuals whose work has profoundly shaped humanity’s progress in the 21st century.
Public voting is open at:
https://www.impacthallmarks.org/#voting
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