Dr. Annapurni Subramaniam, an eminent Indian astrophysicist, is the Director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore. She pursued her undergraduate studies at Government Victoria College, Palakkad, and completed her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (1996), focusing on “Studies of star clusters and stellar evolution.” Her illustrious research career spans topics such as star clusters, stellar evolution, star formation, Galactic structure, and stellar populations in the Magellanic Clouds. She is currently involved in projects studying emission-line stars, star formation history, and stellar populations in galaxies, among others. Dr. Subramaniam has received several accolades, including the Vigyan Shri Award under the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar scheme (2024), and is an active member of the International Astronomical Union. With over two decades of contributions to astrophysics, her work continues to shed light on the mysteries of the universe.

An eminent educationist, writer, speaker, academician, and columnist, currently serving as the Agricultural Production Commissioner and Vice Chancellor of the Kerala Agricultural University. Dr B Ashok was the first Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala Veterinary & Animal Sciences University. He was a Professor and Registrar at Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth University in Kochi. A 1998 batch IAS officer, he served as Director, Central Department of Agriculture; Deputy Director – National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, and Faculty of Mussoorie IAS Academy for over 15 years. He held the posts of Power Secretary, KSEB Chairman and Managing Director, and Water Resources Director. During his tenure as Chairman and Managing Director of the Electricity Board, he initiated many reforms.

Prof. R. Ramakumar is an economist and a Professor at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Trained as an undergraduate and postgraduate in agricultural science, Ramkumar received his PhD in Quantitative Economics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. He also serves as an expert member in the Kerala State Planning Board. Previously, he was the NABARD Chair Professor at TISS as well as the Dean of the School of Development Studies. He held visiting appointments at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Zurich, Queen Mary University of London, and Goa University. He is also a member of the Research Programmes Committee, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, and in the editorial board of the Journal Review of Agrarian Studies. His work has largely been on Indian economy, agrarian studies, and agricultural economics, with special focus on rural banking and agricultural research.

Prof. P. Balaram FNA, FASc, FNASc is a distinguished Indian biochemist and former Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honor (2014), the TWAS Prize (1994), and the R. Bruce Merrifield Award from the American Peptide Society (2021). Prof. Balaram completed his PhD at Carnegie Mellon University and pursued postdoctoral research at Harvard University under Nobel laureate R. B. Woodward. He then joined the Indian Institute of Science as a faculty member in the Molecular Biophysics Unit and currently serves as a Visiting Professor at the National Center for Biological Sciences in Bangalore. His primary research focus is the structural and conformational analysis of designed and natural peptides. Utilizing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Infrared spectroscopy, Circular Dichroism, and X-ray crystallography, Prof. Balaram has made significant contributions to understanding peptide folding and the formation of structural motifs such as helices, beta turns, and sheets. He has published over 400 research papers and trained several students. He was the former editor of the journal “Current Science”.

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