To mark this occasion he was conferred the rank of Hon Air Commodore of the Indian Air Force by the then President of India R Venkataraman. In 2006, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
It's evident that the spirit of dare-devilry is very much alive and that he doesn't believe in resting on past laurels.
Consider this: Despite the predictable opposition from the human resource ministry (read Arjun Singh), he went ahead and almost trebled the IIM-A fees.
While the fee hike followed other IIM fee hikes, this was the steepest increase in many years, and the highest among all IIMs.
He was blunt about the reasons for the hike. “The IIMs should not be financially supported by anyone. Recently, IIT Bombay had to ask the government for funds, which was a shameful state of affairs.
I do not want this to happen to IIM-A. I am not supporting profiteering in educational institutes. But creating surplus is important."
Image: Vijaypat Singhania (C) is watched by techinical experts Andy Elson (L) and Colin Prescot (R) as he speaks about a hot air ballloon journey 'Mission Impossible' (MI-70K) to reporters at a press conference at the Mahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai, on November 22, 2005. | Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza/AFP/Getty Images
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