Sushant Singh Rajput tops The Times 50 Most Desirable Men 2020 list
New Delhi: Here's unveiling the Times 50 Most Desirable Men 2020 list. On the coveted list are men under 40 across various fieldswho have created an impact and won our hearts - from newcomers who have made a mark to those who have been loved for years. The ranking is based on votes cast in an online poll, along with inputs from an internal jury.
Sushant Singh Rajput, the charming actor who was both a philosopher and artiste, a rare celebrity with the mindset of an astronomer and astrophysicist, tops the list this year. The talented star wasn't your run-of-the-mill hero', and while he loved cinema and was passionate about his craft, his world didn't stop at just that. His love for gazing at celestial bodies through his telescope illustrated how he was a curious mind and an explorer at heart. His sudden loss left his fans and admirers overwhelmed with grief, nostalgia, and pain, and today, though he is no longer amidst us, he has become a larger-than-life persona, one who will continue to live in our memories for a long, long time.
A superficial reading of the word desirable' would have you think it is all about physical appeal and glamour. But it's not just about charm, physique or good looks. It is also about how much you think about a person, about the mind space an individual occupies. And who has occupied a greater mind space this past year than Sushant? Also in the Top 10 are - Vijay Deverakonda (Hyderabad Times Most Desirable Man 2020) at number 2, Aditya Roy Kapur at number 3, Vicky Kaushal at number 4 and Dulquer Salmaan (Kochi Times Most Desirable Man 2020) at number 5.
Virat Kohli, Tiger Shroff, Ranveer Singh, Gurfateh Singh Pirzada, Sidharth Malhotra take the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth place, respectively. Some of the new entrants on this list include Gurfateh Singh Pirzada, Ishwak Singh, Pavail Gulati, Aly Goni, Armaan Malik and Shubman Gill, among others.
Watch The Times 50 Most Desirable Men 2020 on June 5, at 10.30 pm on Zoom.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
