J. S. Verma
Jagdish Sharan Verma (born January 18, 1933) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India from March 25, 1997 until his retirement on January 18, 1998. He did his early education in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. He began his legal career in 1955, and was appointed as a Judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court in June 1973. He became Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court in June 1986 and also served as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court from September 1986. In June 1989, he was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court of India and became Chief Justice of India in March 1997.

Arun Maira
Arun Maira was appointed a Member of the Planning Commission in the Government of India in July 2009.

He is a thought leader and writer on the subjects of transformational change and leadership. He is a frequent speaker at international forums on the future of India. He is the author of several books including “Transforming Capitalism: Business Leadership to Improve the World for Everyone”, and “Shaping the Future: Aspirational Leadership in India and Beyond”.

Mr. Maira worked for 25 years in the Tata Group in India in senior management and board positions. He worked with Arthur D. Little Inc, the international management consultancy, in the USA from 1989 to 1999, and consulted with companies across the world on issues of growth strategies and transformational change. He returned to India in 2000 and was Chairman of The Boston Consulting Group in India prior to joining the Planning Commission.

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan
Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan is a physician by training who went into the Indian Administrative Service in the aftermath of the Emergency and failure of the Janata Experiment. He was a topper in the IAS exam. During the 16 years of distinguished public service in various capacities, he acquired a formidable reputation in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

Some of his major accomplishments while in government -

• As Joint Collector, he worked for the speedy rehabilitation of 8000 youth from displaced families of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant


• As Collector of Prakasm District, he was instrumental in the creation of a record 2,00,000 acres of irrigation , the largest such program with direct participation of people


• As Collector of East Godavari District, he spearheaded the reconstruction of drainage and irrigation network in Krishna and Godavari deltas


• He served as Secretary to both Governor and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh


• He worked on strengthening of the credit cooperatives and making them independent of government control

His other accomplishments include several major policy initiatives, including

• Empowerment of parents in schools


• Speedy justice through rural courts


• Speedy justice through rural courts


• Development of the Infocity in Hyderabad


• The much-acclaimed law for self reliant cooperatives(1995)


• Empowerment of local governments and stakeholders

In spite of impressive personal achievements, Dr Narayan's experience in government convinced him that faulty governance process was the biggest hurdle to India and Indians achieving greater success. And what India needs today is a fundamental change in the rules of the game and not a periodic change of players.

Dr. Narayan has been felicitated with several laurels. These include:

In 2002

• Honored with the "Rotary Manav Seva Award 2002" for his crusade against corruption


• Awarded the "Yudhvir Memorial Award 2002" for his outstanding contribution to the cause of good governance

In 2003

• Awarded the “Dr.Rustam D.Ranji Rotary Award” by Rotary Club of India

In 2004

• Awarded the “D. Ch. Tirupathi Raju Memorial Award 2004” in recognition of his relentless efforts to improve democratic governance


• Honored with prestigious "Dr.Pinnamaneni Sita Devi Foundation Award"

In 2005

• Honored with the "Bharat Asmita Jana Jagran Shreshta" - a Bharat Asmita National Award by MIT School of Management, Pune in recognition of his contributions in the area of Public Awakening, February


• Felicitated by the Hyderabad Software Exporters Association, Hyderabad in recognition for his contribution to the growth of IT industry in Andhra Pradesh, February

Dr Jayaprakash Narayan has served on several national panels. Notable among them are:
The National Advisory Council (NAC) July 2004-August 2006

Advisory Council constituted Commission, November 2004 – Feb 2008

Administrative Reforms Commission constituted by the Government of India under the Chairmanship of Veerappa Moily,
September 2005 – August 2007.

In 2006, he initiated the launch of Lok Satta Party as a movement for new political culture and is serving as its President

Manoj Mitta
Manoj Mitta is a Senior Editor with The Times of India, New Delhi, focusing on legal and public policy matters. He takes special relish in writing on human rights and judicial accountability. He co-authored a critically acclaimed book, "When a tree shook Delhi - The 1984 carnage and its aftermath". A law graduate from Hyderabad, he started his journalistic career in 1986 and the publications he worked for included The Indian Express and India Today.

Madhav Nalapat
Madhav Nalapat was Coordinating Editor of the Times of India before being appointed India's first-ever Professor of Geopolitics by Manipal University in 1999.He was also made the UNESCO Peace Chair at the university.

While at the Times of India (1989-99), Professor Nalapat focused on investigative reporting,especially when it involved graft and misfeasance in high places. As Chief of News Bureau at the Times, he ensured a steady flow of investigative reports. In his earlier avatar as Editor of The Mathrubhumi (of Kerala) during 1984-88, he earned a reputation for investigative reporting as well as a focus on social issues, such as discrimination against women and Dalits. His was the only newspaper to back Mary Roy in her battle for equal inheritance rights for women, just as it backed the Dalit movement for the ending of caste-specific rituals in temples,and the struggle waged by Muslim women in the context of the retrogressive Shah Bano laws.

Professor Nalapat has lectured at universities across the world,and writes regularly for The Diplomat (Tokyo), the Pakistan Observer and China Daily, among other publications. He is the son of Poetess Kamala Das and the nephew of Aubrey Menen, whose book (Rama Retold) was the first book banned in independent India.

Ashok Arora
Ashok Arora, a well-known lawyer, former secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association is in the real sense, 'A Monk Who Sold His Ferrari'!

Was much in the news recently when the trial court judge acquitted the accused in Jessica Lal’s murder case. He boldly told the Chief Justice of India in the open court that the trial judge who shook the confidence of the nation by acquitting the accused should not be promoted. He fearlessly said that the judgment was motivated. The two judges of Delhi High Court who decided the appeal confirmed his opinion and the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of guilt.

In the year 1979 even before he was registered as a lawyer, when many legal luminaries of the country advised the then president of India Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy not to act upon the advice given by the then Prime Minister of India,Chaudhary Charan Singh for the dissolution of parliament -- as a fresh law graduate he advised the president to ignore the opinion of those legal luminaries to dissolve the house and this is what exactly happened.

He always took a bold stand on public issues. In the year 1984, as a young lawyer, he started a fast-unto-death and after eighty four hours of his fast the High Court of Delhi was compelled to implement the process of bifurcation of courts with the goal of providing justice at the doorstep. He once again boldly took a stand in the Gas/Telephone Connection Scam saying that the real culprits were the two hundred MPs whose quota was misused and not a petty tout.

He represented many big companies like: Reliance, Hindujas, American Express Bank, Motorala, Appolo, Taj Groups etc. Having represented many Union Ministers in historical matters like JMM & Hawala he got an insight into the evil of corruption and its impact on the poor. He also had the occasion to cross-examine well-known lawyer Shri Ram Jethmalani for many hearings.

He created history when he successfully argued for the summoning of a former Prime Minister in a criminal matter. He has always advocated against death sentence and believes that Life and Death should only be in God’s Hands. He successfully argued in Supreme Court for commuting of death sentence of a young man accused of triple murder in a case where Delhi High Court had confirmed death sentence.

He successfully argued for the investigation against the son of former Prime Minister in the urea scam. He also boldly opposed his brothers’ lawyers’ strike, which according to him was anti-litigant, especially poor prisoners languishing in jail.

He helped the release of more than one thousand poor prisoners languishing in jail for petty offences & has been boldly saying that poor are discriminated in this system. He wrote many important articles and boldly expressed his opinion while analyzing many judgments. The most important was when he analyzed the judgment of the constitution bench of Supreme Court. While discussing the law world over he criticized the judgment saying that the court wrongly interpreted Article 105 of the Constitution of India when it said that MPs, even if they take bribe in the process of saying anything / voting in parliament, are immune from prosecution. His recent articles “Not This Time My Lord”, on Tata-Radia Tapes and ‘Wakeup Call For The Chief Justice Of India’ have really caused a flutter.

He has also done extensive research on the spiritual path. Concerned about millions of fellow beings not getting one square meal a day, falling level of physical and mental health of students world over and the stress and strain they go through, Ashok renounced a lucrative law practice to dedicate his life to guiding the youth and fighting against corruption. He is being hailed today as one of the best orators and motivational speakers for the student community of the world. He has authored many books and articles. His famous books are 'Simple Tips for Sureshot Success' and 'Meet Your Soul'.

Few comments on his books:
'Ashok a twenty-first century Buddha has produced a working manual of existence for every hour of life' - Ram Jethmalani

'Ashok Ji is a rare combination of compassion, discipline and courage. His book would help every one lead stress free, successful and blissful life' - Yuvacharya Lokesh Muni Ji

'This book is authored with a mission to light a lamp in the darkness of falling standards of human values. My heart wishes that every one should read this book and know the author and his philosophy.' - Shabi Ahmed, former CEO Central Haj Committee.

Kingshuk Das
Kingshuk Das is a leading innovation strategist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a senior strategist at Jump, a firm specializing in hybrid strategy, Kingshuk works with leaders of Fortune 100 corporations in finding creative solutions to their growth challenges. He has taught classes on innovation strategy at Stanford University, designed new businesses for large manufacturing companies like Steelcase, and led innovation initiatives for healthcare, non-profit and consumer goods companies at the cutting-edge design firm IDEO. Kingshuk is an ex-architect, with several international awards for his work. He has a Master’s degree in Strategic Design Planning from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and a Bachelor's degree from the Birla Institute of Technology, India.

Dipinder Sekhon
Dipinder Sekhon is a member of The Freedom Team of India - a platform for liberal political leaders committed to mass-scale reform in India’s political and governance systems. A pass out from the London School of Economics & Political Science (London, MPA, 2009), Sciences Po (Paris, MPA, 2008) and IIT (Delhi, CSE, 2002), Dipinder is an entrepreneur and works with his enterprise KritiKal Solutions in Noida/Delhi. KritiKal creates ‘Kal ki Kritiyan’ or cutting edge technical 'Creations for Tomorrow'

Bhairavi Jani
India@75 is a grassroots and path breaking initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for realizing the dream of an inclusive, sustainable and developed India by the year 2022, when India completes 75 years of Independence. It is a universal vision for India shared by Indians from all geographies and all walks of life. It was developed using collaborative public reasoning processes that involved thousands of Indians from all walks of life.

Professor Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad (C.K. Prahalad, 1941 – 2010), the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Corporate Strategy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business in the University of Michigan was the inspirational force behind the India@75 initiative.

Bhairavi is a fourth generation entrepreneur and a Director at SCA Group of Companies that started in 1896 and comprises of various companies offering unique and world-class services in the field of supply chain and logistics. She has taken five years out of her business to contribute and lead the India@75 efforts full time. She continues to serve on the board of her companies.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Business with Magna Cum Laude from Miami University, Ohio, USA. Post her graduation, she worked with KPMG Consulting in Washington D.C. Bhairavi returned to India in 2001. She began her foray into business by setting up a fourth party logistics company in India. She successfully scaled up the company and exited from it in 2004.

In 2005 after completing the MyGlobe Executive Education Programme at INSEAD in France Bhairavi moved into the role of the Director for all the companies under the SCA Group which undertake activities in port, shipping, customs clearance, warehousing, service contracting, freight forwarding, logistics infrastructure building and management, air cargo, supply chain consultancy and IT. Bhairavi’s role as Group Director allows her to work with multiple teams from various companies of the group; she provides them strategic guidance.

On the personal front, Bhairavi spends considerable amount of time in participating in social and charitable causes. She is the Immediate Past National Chairman of Young Indians, CII. She is a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Initiative. She is a Charter Member of TiE. Bhairavi continues to be part of Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honor society in the USA. She is the Founding Member of the India Round Table of Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, USA.

Kingshuk Das
Kingshuk Das is a leading innovation strategist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a senior strategist at Jump, a firm specializing in hybrid strategy, Kingshuk works with leaders of Fortune 100 corporations in finding creative solutions to their growth challenges. He has taught classes on innovation strategy at Stanford University, designed new businesses for large manufacturing companies like Steelcase, and led innovation initiatives for healthcare, non-profit and consumer goods companies at the cutting-edge design firm IDEO. Kingshuk is an ex-architect, with several international awards for his work. He has a Master’s degree in Strategic Design Planning from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and a Bachelor's degree from the Birla Institute of Technology, India.

Chhavi Rajawat
Chhavi Rajawat was born in Rajasthan and was elected Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Soda (60 kms from Jaipur), District Tonk, Rajasthan, India, in February 2010.

She worked with Bharti TeleVentures, Carlson Group of Hotels and Times of India, Delhi, before her foray into politics. Leaving behind a glamorous corporate career and an urban lifestyle, her decision to serve her village as sarpanch has been a journey to her roots. Working to bring safe drinking water, creating job opportunities for the villagers, and leading NREGA meetings in her village, Chhavi is considered to be the changing face of rural Rajasthan.

On 25 March 2011, Chhavi Rajawat addressed delegates at the 11th Info-Poverty World Conference held at the United Nations, New York.

Chhavi is an alumnus of Rishi Valley School, Bangalore, Lady Shri Ram College (University of Delhi) and a management graduate from Indian Institute of Modern Management, Pune, now known as Balaji Institute of Modern Management.

Her family business Kailrugji The Hotel, Jaipur is run by her mother who is ably supported by Chhavi. She has a passion for riding and also runs Equest Horse Riding Academy along with her friend to train people and promote riding as a sport.

Govindraj Ethiraj
Govindraj is Head of Industry Outreach at the Unique Identification Authority Of India (UIDAI), Planning Commission, Government of India. In his present role (on a one-year sabbatical from media) he spearheads the industry interface and outreach efforts to create active partnerships for UID applications (Aadhaar) for hundreds of millions of Indian residents.

Prior to UIDAI, Govindraj has been a career business journalist who has reported on and engaged with Indian industry for the last 20 years. In the last three stints, he has largely been in entrepreneurial-managerial roles in addition to his role as an Editor.

Previously, he was the Founder-Editor in Chief of Bloomberg UTV, a 24-hours business news service launched out of Mumbai and a partnership between Bloomberg LLP and the UTV Group in India. Prior to setting up Bloomberg UTV in 2007, he worked with Business Standard newspaper as Editor (New Media) for over a year with a specific mandate of integrating the newspaper’s news operations with its digital or web platform.

Before that, Govindraj spent over five years with television channel CNBC-TV18 as Corporate Editor where he worked from near start-up point and actively drove most of the network’s programming growth and major expansion initiatives, including its Mumbai operations.

Prior to CNBC-TV18, he worked with The Economic Times newspaper as Corporate Editor in Mumbai for five years, looking after the corporate bureau and driving general business news and financial markets coverage out of Mumbai.

He also worked with Business World for three years writing on subjects ranging from petrochemicals to metals and chemicals to investments and human resources. His began his career in journalism with Business India magazine. Govindraj graduated from Elphinstone College in Mumbai in 1990 and is a Fellow at The Aspen Institute, Colorado, USA.

Prof. Jagdeep S. Chhokar
Jagdeep S. CHHOKAR is a teacher/trainer, researcher, and advisor in management, a lawyer, a citizen activist, and a bird-watcher and naturalist.

A Ph.D. in management and organizational behaviour from Louisiana State University (USA), an MBA from Delhi University, Graduate Engineer from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (London) and the Institution of Production Engineers (London), and LL.B. from Gujarat University, he taught at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, for 22 years from 1985 to 2006. He was also Director In-charge and Dean at this Institute. Before that he worked with the Indian Railways in a number of engineering and managerial postions for 12 years; and as an international marketing manager in a public sector company for years.

His professional interests are eclectic, covering all aspects of organizational functioning including management and organizational behaviour, organizational structure, design, and development; management and development of human resources; in addition to cross-cultural management, international marketing and management, and strategic management. He is also interested in management in government, in public sector/systems, and industrial and occupational safety. His broader interests include electoral and political reforms, informed choice (Right to and freedom of information), bird watching (ornithology), and world affairs. His research has appeared in several national and international journals. His writings have also appeared in the business and popular press such as The Economic Times, The Times of India, The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Financial Express, The Tribune, The Pioneer.

Actively involved in cross-cultural research for the last few years, he is a Charter Member of the GLOBE Network of Cross Cultural Scholars set up in 1994 as part of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Program (GLOBE), and is a member of the GLOBE Coordination Team. He is the lead editor of a volume titled Culture and Leadership across the world: The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (USA) in 2007, comprising chapters on the societal culture and leadership of these countries, written by researchers in these countries who participated in the GLOBE Research Programme.

On electoral reforms and informed choice (freedom of information), he is one of the founding members of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The stated objective of this group is to improve democracy and governance in India. It has worked for electoral reforms through the judicial system by filing Public Interest Litigations in the High Court and the Supreme Court to get relevant laws improved, and on the ground by providing information to voters about the background of candidates contesting elections so that the voters can make informed choices while voting. It is now taking up deeper political process reforms such as internal democracy and financial transparency in political parties.

On bird watching (Ornithology), he is a life member of the Bombay Natural History Society and a member of the Indian Bird Conservation Network. A regular bird watcher, he has also written on bird related issues. One of his articles has been published in the National Geographic Birdwatcher.

Dr. S.Y. Quraishi
Dr. S.Y.Quraishi assumed charge as the 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India on 30th July 2010. Dr. Quraishi earlier held the position of Election Commissioner since 30th June 2006. He has been already involved, as part of the three member Commission, with control, direction and superintendence of the conduct of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President of India, General Elections to the Lok Sabha - 2009, besides elections in a large number of states. In the management of elections, Dr. Quraishi has brought a special focus on people’s participation, voters’ education and youth involvement in the electoral process through scientific research and interventions. He has been an ardent proponent for lending strength to the grassroots level election functionaries.

Born on 11 June 1947, Dr. Quraishi completed his Masters degrees from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi before joining the Indian Administrative Service in 1971. He earned distinction for his study of several languages. Dr. Quraishi received a Ph. D for his thesis on “Role of Communication and Social Marketing in Development of Women and Children”.

Dr Quraishi brought to the Election Commission 35 years of distinguished work in the civil service, at both federal and state levels. He is known for his special contributions in social sector reforms covering health, education, population, drug abuse and civil society action. He has done extensive work in the fields of Gender, Women & Child Development, HIV/AIDS, Youth and Adolescent issues.

He has a number of books, articles and talks to his credit on issues related to democracy, elections, HIV AIDS and Family Planning, social marketing, women and child development and Youth. His book ‘Social Marketing for Social Change’ has broken new ground in the field of Development Communication.

Dr. Quraishi has widely travelled across India and the globe. He headed Indian delegations at a large number of international conferences and discussions. He is an avid musician and spends most of his leisure time among people and friends with musical interests.

MG Devasahayam
M.G. Devasahayam has diverse experience of serving in the Indian Army, Government (IAS), Corporate Sector, partaking in democratic process reforms, pursuing advocacy of public causes in the voluntary sector. His professional expertise is in the areas of Urban Development, Utility Management (Public Transport, Electricity), accountability and governance in public services.

After post-graduating in Economics from Loyola College, Madras, he taught there for one year before being commissioned in the Indian Army soon after the Indo-China war. Within a short span of 4.5 years he had participated in Aid to civil power (Assam and Tamil Nadu), Indo-Pak War 1965 and Counter-Insurgency operations in Nagaland. He is recipient of General Service Medals and Samar Seva Medal (War Service Medal).

From the Army, Devasahayam moved on to the Indian Administrative Service (Haryana cadre) and has headed Districts, Departments and Public Sector Undertakings as well as held senior secretariat positions. He had the privilege of raising a new District Bhiwani (Haryana) and evolving an integrated development model, which became the precursor to the IRDP in the seventies.

In the Corporate Sector he has been advisor to leading transportation and power companies. In addition he has been Member, Environment & Energy Committee, CII (South); Chief Consultant, IIT Madras Research Park; Chairman, Infrastructure, Southern India Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Member, CMDA Monitoring Committee.

In the Voluntary Sector Devasahayam founded Citizens’ Alliance for Sustainable Living and is functioning as its Managing Trustee. Core objective of SUSTAIN – a Networking NGO - is advocacy, promotion and propagation of responsive governance, resource efficiency and sustainable development. He has also been Founder-President, Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association and President, Chandigarh Olympic Association.

Devasahayam has been active in efforts around anti-corruption and strengthening democracy. He is Working Committee Member of the Delhi based Gandhian Seva & Satyagraha Brigade battling corruption, and Founder-Convener of the Chennai based Forum for Electoral Integrity, a civil-society coalition that has launched a frontal assault on electoral corruption and money-power in politics.

On the democracy front, Devasahayam was closely associated with Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) during and after Emergency and had the privilege of being a small instrument for change in making India’s Second Freedom (1977) possible. Recently, he was instrumental in unveiling the Government’s secret Emergency Papers and triggering the ‘regaining’ of the Shah Commission Report that has been published as a book.

Devasahayam is a prolific writer and has written extensively and done several case studies. He has been a regular columnist for THE TRIBUNE, Chandigarh, Indian Express, New Delhi, New Indian Express, Chennai and Gfiles, New Delhi. Subjects broadly included Governance, Economy, Urban Management, Utilities, Civil Services and anti-corruption. Books authored by him are India’s Second Freedom - An Untold Saga and JP in Jail-An Uncensored Account.

Devasahayam also has the honour of closely associating with Mother Teresa in setting up of the ‘home for orphans, abandoned infants, dying destitutes and mentally retarded’ [Shanti-Dan] at the heart of Chandigarh and a sanctuary for lepers at the city’s outskirts. Devasahayam considers the privilege of knowing and closely associating with JP and Mother Teresa as the greatest achievements of his life.

Shaffi Mather
Shaffi Mather is a Lawyer, Anti-Corruption Activist and Public Policy Analyst.

Shaffi practices Law focusing on litigation in Public Interest matters especially battling for transparency in governance and use of public funds, human rights, civil rights and primacy of constitution.

Shaffi has been in the forefront of battling corruption. He led the exposure of irregularities and diversion of funds by Mr. Ramalinga Raju using multiple charities drawing large amounts of public funds from various State Governments through non-transparent MOUs and tailor made tenders. He presented a Social Enterprise ‘For Profit’ concept to battle individual demands for bribes at the TED Conference 2009 which has had a viral exposure in the online world. He is currently working to make this idea a reality under the brand www.bribebusters.com.

Shaffi is the founder of Ambulance Access for All (Dial 1298 for Ambulance – an Emergency Response Ambulance Service), Education Access for All (Newton Schools and E-tutor Digital Learning Support) and co-promoter of Moksha Yug Access (Rural Supply Chain Organization) which has established as leading organizations in their respective fields.

Shaffi is educated at the Mahatma Gandhi University, India, University of Pittsburgh, USA, University of Bridgeport, USA and the London School of Economics, UK where he was a Chevening Senior Scholar and currently, a Visiting Lecturer. He was also a Mason Fellow in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 2007-08 graduating with a MPA degree.

Post his MBA, Shaffi took his family business in real estate to a leadership position in his State and then professionally worked with two of India's leading corporate leaders in Retail and Telecom.

He is part of an upcoming new generation of young leaders within Indian National Congress Party. He is a WEF Global Young Leader, BMW World Young Leader, Asia Young Leader (Asia Society), Ted Fellow (TED), Kenneth Galbraith Scholar (Harvard University), Member of Clinton Global Initiative (Clinton Foundation) and Winner of Godfrey Philips Bravery Award for Social Act of Courage.

Shaffi has also been featured in case studies at Harvard Business School, University of Michigan Business School, Columbia University Business School and project studies at several leading Business Schools. He has also spoken at multiple international conferences and forums including World Justice Forum, World Socialist Forum, World Economic Forum, Williamsburg Conference, Asian Young Leaders Summit, Clinton Global Initiative, World Trade Centers General Assembly etc.

Vijay Anand
Vijay Anand is the co-founder and President of 5th Pillar, a grass-roots citizens’ initiative founded with a mission to enable and empower every citizen to seek transparency and accountability in governance. As one of the core areas of its programmatic focus, he spearheaded the creation of training programs for effective use of the Right to Information Act & other innovative methods to tackle corruption.

He launched a "Freedom from Corruption" campaign in 2007, addressing students, villagers and different sections of society & has disseminated more than a million copies of the Zero Rupee Note (ZRN), a powerful but non-violent weapon of non-cooperation against corruption, that has now been adapted for use in countries like Mexico and Nepal.

Vijay was founder and former President of AIMS India Foundation, a non-profit organization initiated in the US. While at the Foundation, he launched programs for rural empowerment and sustainability with the vision of moving towards an economically self-sufficient, socially harmonious & politically clean country that could serve as a beacon of light to the rest of the world.

He rallied for the plight of the Indian H2B Immigrant workers who were exploited by a recruiting firm in India and trafficked into the US with false promises of a "Green card" and U.S. citizenship. He facilitated community support, legal assistance and political lobbying for the victims that led to issuance of T-Visa (for trafficking victims) in the latter course of time.

He was a Panelist and Speaker at various International conferences like:

• 14th IACC- International Anti Corruption Conference held at Bangkok, Thailand


• 11th PopTech conference in Camden, Maine, USA


• Council of Europe's Summer University of Democracy, at Strasbourg, France


• "Brainstorming India" Conference held at Stanford University, California, USA


• United Nations' Convention Against Corruption-3rd Conference of State Parties and Civil Society Organizations held at Doha, Qatar.

He was the delegate from India at the 13th IACC (International Anti-Corruption Conference) held by Transparency International, the UN and allied organizations at Athens, Greece in Oct. 2008 on "People Count: Citizen Empowerment, Grass-Roots Action, Corruption Disruption".

He is the founder and CEO of Ripple Korp, an IT consulting firm, started in 2004.

Prashant Bhushan
If there is a conscience in the Indian judiciary, Supreme Court advocate and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan epitomises it. Among the few who still believe in judicial justice, he has inherited refined qualities of a lawyer from his father Shanti Bhushan (former Union Law Minister at Ministry of Law and Justice (1977–1979) and senior advocate of India), fighting several public interest cases without remuneration. Acidic when arguing against Supreme Court judgements which are wrong, or on contempt, he has the fearlessness to do to what is right. He is frank and clear on matters of state and justice particularly with regard to victims who struggle to have there voice heard by the Indian government.

Prashant Bhushan is the author of ‘The Case That Shook India’, about the case challenging the election of Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, which led to the declaration of Emergency and the suspension of civil liberties in India in 1975. He is also the author of ‘Bofors: The Selling of a Nation’, about the Bofors scam and its unraveling.

B. R. Lall
Born in 1944, Shri B R Lall obtained Master`s degree in Economics from Delhi University in 1965. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1967and was allotted to the Haryana cadre. Besides serving in various capacities in the state of Haryana he served at Indo-Tibetan border and also in the North East as head of a Training Academy for five years. He served in CBI (April 1994- December1996) as Joint Director and retired in May 2004 as the Director General Police Haryana State.

In CBI he pioneered investigations in cases like Jain Hawala, Assam LOC Scandal, Indian Bank scam. Besides he also supervised the investigations into the Bhopal Gas tragedy case. He waged a relentless war against corruption in high places and was often repatriated from CBI on his insistence to investigate the high and mighty.

He has documented this account in his books -- Who Owns CBI: The Naked Truth, Financial Terrorism: Black Money and the Indian Elite, Free the CBI: Power Games in Bhopal and other cases.

He has also written a number of articles on terrorism, particularly how to contain Naxalism. His interests extend to rural development and he has tried to dovetail development with containing Naxalism and has worked out a perfect workable model.

Akere Tabeng Muna
Barrister-at-law, Lincoln ’s Inn, London
President, Economic Social & Cultural Council of the African Union (ECOSOCC-AU)
President, Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU)
Member, Eminent Persons Panel, African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)
Vice Chair, International Board of Directors, Transparency International (TI)

Akere T. Muna is founder and former president of Transparency International (TI) Cameroon. A lawyer by training, he is President of the Pan African Lawyers Union and former president of the Cameroon Bar Association. In October 2008, Akere Muna was elected President of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC). Mr Muna is a member of several national commissions on legal reform and curbing corruption.

In January 2010 he was elected as one of the 4 new members to the Panel of Eminent Persons (APR panel). He is also member of the International Anti-Corruption Council. Mr Muna is still in active Legal Practice as the Managing Partner of Muna, Muna and Associates, one of oldest law firms in Cameroon.

He was a member of the National Ad-hoc Commission for the Fight against Corruption and has served as a Commonwealth Observer for Zanzibar's elections in 2000. He was appointed as a member of the High Level Audit Committee of the African Union in August 2007, who undertook a general audit review of the Organs and Institutions of the African Union as well as the nature of the relationships among them. The Committee concluded its work in February 2008.

Akere Muna was actively involved in the TI working group that helped to draft the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and has written a guide to the convention published by TI. He was elected to the TI Board at the 2004 Annual Meeting, elected as Vice-Chair of the TI Board in 2005 and re-elected to that office at the 2008 AMM.

Vishv Bandhu Gupta
Born on 27 January 1950, Mr. Gupta has a Master of Business Administration (Commodity and Currency Futures) Eastern Michigan University, Michigan, USA, 1974, and Master of Business Administration (Financial Systems), University of Delhi, 1973. He did his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Sociology, in the University of Delhi, 1971.

Mr. Vishv Bandhu Gupta was chosen by UPSC as Indian Revenue Service Officer in 1975 through IAS and other services examinations, 1974. He was the Commissioner of Income tax, Government of India as IRS officer for thirty four years (1976-2010). During his tenure as Indian Revenue Service Officer he held several key senior positions in Ministries of Finance, Civil Aviation and possessing top level expertise in several areas. Mr. Gupta was also appointed as Election Commission Observer, Central Election Commission, during state assembly polls in various states.

Research Projects undertaken by Mr. V. B. Gupta include Hedge Funds, 2020: Emerging Paradigm, Euro Yuan and Greenback, Al Qaeda War Paradigm and Black, Green, Red and Blue Money: Issues in Governance.

Paperback Book titles currently under print by publisher, Barnes and Noble, USA, Rupa Books and Roli Books include Game Theory In Cricket Match Fixing, Red Money Black Money, Swiss Sleaze and Matrix Money Flows.

Vishv Bandhu Gupta has published over three dozen academic articles in Indian, foreign journals and public issues magazines.

Maud Perdriel-Vaissiere
Maud is the managing director of SHERPA, a Paris-based non-profit organization with a mission to protect and defend the victims of economic crimes in developing countries, and help bring about effective changes to public policy and legal frameworks, in order to ensure fair and sustainable development for its citizens. This includes communities and individuals who are the victims of a) human rights violations (economic, social or cultural rights) and environmental damage caused by economic actors b) development failures caused by illicit capital flows.

Maud joined SHERPA in 2007 as a legal advisor within the “Illicit capital flows” program. She has been a key actor in a corruption case which involves several African ruling families and is currently under investigation. Before joining SHERPA, Maud PERDRIEL-VAISSIERE worked at Global Witness, within the “Ending Impunity Campaign” where she addressed corporate complicity in human rights abuses in conflict zones.

Maud has authored several books and articles for academic journals and newspapers. Her areas of expertise include illicit financial flows (corruption: tax evasion) & asset recovery litigations. She holds a Master of Laws (DEA) in International Law from the University of Assas, Paris.

Tim Daniel
Tim Daniel was the founder of the Public International Law Practice at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, UK. He has acted for the Government of Nigeria since the mid 1970's when he was involved in the state immunity cases arising out of the cement crisis. He led the team advising Nigeria in the boundary dispute with Cameroon before the International Court of Justice, and assisted Nigeria in its negotiation of maritime boundary treaties with Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé e Príncipe and Benin. He is the Africa editor of International Maritime Boundaries published by the American Society of International Law.

Tim also has extensive experience of asset tracing and was involved in the Lloyd's/PCW litigation, the Barlow Clowes liquidation and BCCI. Subsequently he worked with Nigeria on the Abacha recoveries, and State Governor looting claims. In addition, he and his team have worked with Kenya, Pakistan, and Indonesia on recovery of assets stolen by politicians and high- ranking officials. Currently his firm is acting for the Turks & Caicos Islands recovering stolen land and assets. On the non-contentious side Tim advised the government of Kenya on anti money-laundering and proceeds of crime legislation. He is co-author of the textbook Corruption and Misuse of Public Office, published by Oxford University Press, the second edition of which is due to come out in 2011. He lectures frequently on asset recovery around the world and has contributed to publications by the World Bank and others.

Maud Perdriel-Vaissiere
Maud is the managing director of SHERPA, a Paris-based non-profit organization with a mission to protect and defend the victims of economic crimes in developing countries, and help bring about effective changes to public policy and legal frameworks, in order to ensure fair and sustainable development for its citizens. This includes communities and individuals who are the victims of a) human rights violations (economic, social or cultural rights) and environmental damage caused by economic actors b) development failures caused by illicit capital flows.

Maud joined SHERPA in 2007 as a legal advisor within the “Illicit capital flows” program. She has been a key actor in a corruption case which involves several African ruling families and is currently under investigation. Before joining SHERPA, Maud PERDRIEL-VAISSIERE worked at Global Witness, within the “Ending Impunity Campaign” where she addressed corporate complicity in human rights abuses in conflict zones.

Maud has authored several books and articles for academic journals and newspapers. Her areas of expertise include illicit financial flows (corruption: tax evasion) & asset recovery litigations. She holds a Master of Laws (DEA) in International Law from the University of Assas, Paris.

Roland Lomme
Roland Lomme is governance advisor in the India Country Management unit of the World Bank. He was previously an advisor to the French Executive Director at the World Bank headquarters. As such he oversaw the Governance and Anti-corruption strategy and its implementation as well as the Bank operational policies, rules and procedures including fiduciary controls, the sanctions regime, etc., with a specific focus on operations in the area of sustainable development. Before that, Roland worked more than ten years in developing countries, including India, as a representative of the French ministry of Finance after an extended stint in the French legislative branch of the government as a political advisor. Roland Lomme holds a PhD in public policy and Masters in political science and public administration.

Maud Perdriel-Vaissiere
Maud is the managing director of SHERPA, a Paris-based non-profit organization with a mission to protect and defend the victims of economic crimes in developing countries, and help bring about effective changes to public policy and legal frameworks, in order to ensure fair and sustainable development for its citizens. This includes communities and individuals who are the victims of a) human rights violations (economic, social or cultural rights) and environmental damage caused by economic actors b) development failures caused by illicit capital flows.

Maud joined SHERPA in 2007 as a legal advisor within the “Illicit capital flows” program. She has been a key actor in a corruption case which involves several African ruling families and is currently under investigation. Before joining SHERPA, Maud PERDRIEL-VAISSIERE worked at Global Witness, within the “Ending Impunity Campaign” where she addressed corporate complicity in human rights abuses in conflict zones.

Maud has authored several books and articles for academic journals and newspapers. Her areas of expertise include illicit financial flows (corruption: tax evasion) & asset recovery litigations. She holds a Master of Laws (DEA) in International Law from the University of Assas, Paris.

Tim Daniel
Tim Daniel was the founder of the Public International Law Practice at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, UK. He has acted for the Government of Nigeria since the mid 1970's when he was involved in the state immunity cases arising out of the cement crisis. He led the team advising Nigeria in the boundary dispute with Cameroon before the International Court of Justice, and assisted Nigeria in its negotiation of maritime boundary treaties with Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé e Príncipe and Benin. He is the Africa editor of International Maritime Boundaries published by the American Society of International Law.

Tim also has extensive experience of asset tracing and was involved in the Lloyd's/PCW litigation, the Barlow Clowes liquidation and BCCI. Subsequently he worked with Nigeria on the Abacha recoveries, and State Governor looting claims. In addition, he and his team have worked with Kenya, Pakistan, and Indonesia on recovery of assets stolen by politicians and high- ranking officials. Currently his firm is acting for the Turks & Caicos Islands recovering stolen land and assets. On the non-contentious side Tim advised the government of Kenya on anti money-laundering and proceeds of crime legislation. He is co-author of the textbook Corruption and Misuse of Public Office, published by Oxford University Press, the second edition of which is due to come out in 2011. He lectures frequently on asset recovery around the world and has contributed to publications by the World Bank and others.

Anil Divan
Anil Divan is a Senior Advocate, currently the President of the Bar Association of India. He enrolled in November 1951 and started practice in Bombay High Court in January 1952 and has been practicing in the Supreme Court since 1979.

He was the former President of LawAsia (1991-1993), an international organisation of lawyers’ associations, individual lawyers, judges, legal academics, and others focusing on the interests and concerns of the legal profession in the Asia Pacific region. He also served on the International Law Association Committees on Water Resources and Biotech.

Anil Divan was appointed “Amicus Curiae” by the Supreme Court of India in Public Interest Litigations involving high level political and bureaucratic corruption including Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament viz. Jain Hawala Case (Vineet Narain v. Union of India); the Chandraswami Case (Anukul Chandra Pradhan v. Union of India); and the Indian Bank Scam Case (Dr. Subramanian Swamy v. Director CBI).

Positions held include Counsel for State of Karnataka in inter-State water disputes relating to the river Cauvery, and Counsel for State of Karnataka in inter-state water disputes relating to the river Krishna.

Anil Divan has argued many ‘pro-bono’ Public Interest Litigations in the Supreme Court of India involving constitutional issues – Pensioners’ Case (D.S Nakara v. Union of India for “Common Cause”); and Shri Kumar Padma Prasad vs. Union of India (High Court Judge’s appointment quashed).

Other notable cases include The Shriram Fertilizer Case (Oleum Gas Leak Case), and the Bhopal Gas Leak Case (for Union Carbide Corporation Inc.)

Anil Divan appeared for Shanti Bhushan challenging the confirmation of Justice Ashok Kumar (Shanti Bhushan v. Union of India). And currently, he is appearing ‘pro bono’ for Ram Jethmalani & Ors. for bringing back illicit money kept in Foreign Tax Havens by Indians.

Anil is a regular contributor of articles in National Newspapers like “Hindu”, “Indian Express”. He has contributed many papers in international conferences.

Gurcharan Das
Gurcharan Das is an author and public intellectual. He is the author of The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma. His international bestseller, India Unbound, has been published in 17 languages and filmed by BBC. He writes a regular column for the Times of India, Dainik Bhaskar, Eenadu, Sakal and other papers and periodically for the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and Newsweek.

Gurcharan Das graduated from Harvard University in philosophy. He later attended Harvard Business School (AMP), where he is featured in three case studies. He was CEO of Procter & Gamble India before he took early retirement to become a full time writer. He is currently on the boards of a number of companies and is a speaker to management teams of the world’s largest corporations.

His other literary works include a novel, A Fine Family, a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm, and an anthology, Three English Plays (Oxford), consisting of Larins Sahib, a prize-winning play about the British in India, which has been presented at the Edinburgh Festival; Mira, which was produced off-Broadway to critical acclaim from New York critics; and 9 Jakhoo Hill which has been performed in major Indian cities.