For IIM candidates
Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)

Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia is the Chairperson of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), and a former director and chief executive of the organisation. She is also chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute and a member of the Governing Body of the Global Development Network, which are headquartered in Washington, DC and New Delhi, respectively. She is the vice-chairperson of the Planning Board of the state of Punjab in India.

Until recently she was a visiting professor at the School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland, College Park (2003-2004). Prior to joining ICRIER as chief executive in 1998, she was a research professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi and also worked as a senior fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in New Delhi.

Her other assignments include working as an economist at the IMF and as a consultant to the United Nations University and the Indian government. Her research has focused on industrial development and economic liberalisation in India, a topic on which she has published widely. She has also frequently contributed to the policy debate on economic issues in newspapers, magazines and television. She holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Justice P.N. Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India

Justice P.N. Bhagwati graduated in Maths (Hons.) in Ist class from Elphinstone College, Bombay in 1941. He took his Law Degree in Ist Class from Government Law College, Bombay. He became the Chief Justice of Gujarat in 1967.

He was the Chairman of the Legal Aid Committee appointed by the Government of Gujarat for suggesting ways and means of providing free legal aid and advice to the poor and weaker section of the community, he also chaired State Legal Aid Committee for running the Pilot Project of free Legal Aid and Advice in Gujarat.

He was appointed the Chief Justice of India in 1985.

Mr. Ranjit Pandit, Managing Director-India, McKinsey and Company

Dr. Ashok Lahiri, Director, National Institute of Policy and Public Finance



For IIT & BITS (Pilani) candidates
Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, Director General, CSIR and Secretary, Government of India, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Dr. R.A. Mashelkar is the Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the largest chain of publicly funded industrial research and development institutions in the world, with thirty-eight laboratories and about 22,000 employees.

He is also the President of Indian National Science Academy (INSA). He is the third Indian engineer to have been elected as Fellow of Royal Society (FRS), London in the twentieth century. He was elected Foreign Fellow of US National Academy of Science (2005), being only the eighth Indian to have been elected after 1863. He was also elected Foreign Fellow of US National Academy of Engineering (2003), Fellow of Third World Academy of Engineering, U.K. (1996), and Fellow of World Academy of Art & Science, USA (2000). Twenty universities have honoured him with honorary doctorates, which include the Universities of London, Salford, Pretoria, Wisconsin, and Delhi.

The President of India honoured Dr. Mashelkar with Padmashri (1991) and with Padmabhushan (2000) two of the highest civilian honours in recognition of his contribution to nation building.

Mr. B. Bhattacharjee, Director, BARC

Shri B.Bhattacharjee obtained his Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University College of Technology, Calcutta in 1965. Subsequently, he passed the Post-Graduate Training Programme in Nuclear Science &Technology from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Training School in 1966.

He is Member/Fellow of various professional bodies which includes Fellowship of Indian National Academy of Engineering and Maharashtra Academy of Sciences. Presently, he is the Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Member, Atomic Energy Commission(AEC), Government of India. In recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of Nuclear Science & Technology, the Govt. of India has conferred upon him the award of Padmashri on January 26, 2002.

Prof. Arvind Kumar, Director, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education

Prof. Arvind Kumar did Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1969 at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. He has been a Visiting Scientist at the European Centre for Nuclear Research, Geneva (1969-70) and at the University of London (1970-71). He taught for nearly 12 years at the University Department of Physics, Mumbai. In 1984 he joined the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, a National Centre of TIFR devoted to R & D work in science and mathematics education. He was appointed the Director of the Centre in 1994.

He played a central role in launching the science Olympiad movement in the country in 1997 and is currently Chairman of the Steering Committees for science and astronomy Olympiads. Under his leadership, HBCSE has become the nodal Centre of the country for olympiad activity in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and astronomy. His efforts led the Centre to organize the 33rd International Chemistry Olympiad hosted by India in July 2001.

Prof. Arvind Kumar has been a member of the Programme Advisory Board of the NCERT, Steering Committee on Secondary education of the Planning Commission for the IX and X Plans, Academic Advisory Committee of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and the National Council of Teacher Education.

He is on the Governing Council of the Atomic Energy Education Society and is Chairman, Planning and Programming Committee of Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai.