Jaipur: National award winner Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati, popularly known as 'Mini Stephen Hawking', has passed away at his residence in Rajasthan's Jaipur on Tuesday after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 19. Bhati was suffering from a rare genetic disorder Duchenne muscular dystrophy and had an 85 per cent disability because of which his life was confined to a wheelchair. Bhati had seven inventions and three patents to his name.
He was awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in January 2020 and was recognised as the youngest patent-holder of India and the youngest differently-abled patent-holder of the world. President Ram Nath Kovind honoured Bhati on Republic Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He also won the National Award for the Empowerment of Person with Disabilities in 2019 in the "Outstanding Creative Child (Male)-2019" category for excellence in the field of innovation.