india development institute - initial proposal, jun 2007

Send feedback to [email protected] 07/07/07 1

India Development Institute

Core Project team

Krishen Dhar, Harsh Koppula, Sanjeev Maddila, Neerja Raman

Key Advisors

Prof. M A Pai, Professor Emeritus, UIUC and IIT KanpurSam Pitroda, Chairman, National Knowledge Commission

Conceptual Framework and Project Outline

2Send feedback to [email protected] 07/07/07

1. What India needs?– How to help the 600 Million people at Base of Indian Society– Their key needs - Basic services and Opportunities– India need – Advisory, Research & Business Incubation help

2. How to structure India Development Institute?– As “Think Tank”, “Research Promoter”, “Business Incubator”– Operating Model (Core Team, Board members, funding …)– Startup Approaches (Bootstrapping)

3. What is our approach? – Study other Think Tanks, in US and India– Consult other Subject Matter Experts, in US and India– Recruit others, How can you help?


Today India and Indians have tremendous potential

• India’s Economic growth rate is higherthan that of China, US and most other countries.– Y-to-Y GDP grew by 8%.

• India will have the most number of youngconsumers by 2030

• India is the most attractive destination for foreign investments, after China

“600 million low-income people in India, constitute the base of its economic pyramid with an average income of <$2/day ($10/day in PPP)…need to better meet their needs, increase their productivity and incomes, and empower their entry into the formal economy.” - “Next 4 Billion” report by World Resources Institute (2007)

“Time has come to create a second wave of institution building, and of excellence in the fields of education, research and capability building so that we are better prepared for the 21st century.”-Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India (2002)

“by 2010, India will need investment of $172B in its energy supply infrastructure” - World Bank 06)

“India has to upgrade its basic infrastructure, such as transportation and electricity … If I had one dollar to spend today, I would invest in – energy independence and reducing greenhouse gases” - Jeff Immelt, CEO, General Electric (2007)


Climate change will significantly impact India, risk of hunger,

water resource scarcity, projected sea level rise could flood >10 millions

residences.

Currently India does not produce enough

technicians, PhDs and researchers. Without an effective strategy, it risks loosing the ability

to innovate.

Projections show that developing countries, especially India, can at best support 80-85% of the food, water, energy needs of its population,

by 2050.

DevelopCarryingCapacity

MinimizeImpact on Climate

TrainSkilledWorkers

EnergyPower

WaterSanitation

FoodHealthCare

InnovationEntrepre-neurship

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Goal: To deliver basic services to all at the Base of Society

Develop holistic/scalable solutions to serve large group of Indians at the BOS

We will begin IDI with “India’s Energy Security and Impact of Climate Change”, by improving Energy (electricity) infrastructure all around India we would enable food, health, ICT, water, education and other services to BOS

Indian culture does not promote entrepreneurship

which is equated to too much risk taking or uncontrolled

greed. Only Indian innovation will provide solutions suitable for India & developing nations


Immediate need:

600 million Indians left behind, income gap is growing

India needs to set its long-term priorities right

Scenario in 5 years:

India’s knowledge economy could peter out resulting in social and political unrest

Scenario in 20 years:

Global climate change would force water, energy and health crisis in the most populous nation

Stimulate BOS Economy

Renewable energyICT for rural areasMobile TechnologyGreen buildings

Innovate/create Solutions

Power/Electricity generation eLearning

eGovernanceClean water

Provide Global leadership

Organic farmingAlternative Energy incl. Nuclear

Green transportationSustainable Urbanization

Healthcare

(Preventive, HIV/AIDS)

Energy

(Conservation, Alternatives)

India’s Global Opportunity

Education

(Primary and University)

0-5 yrs5 - 10 yrs

10 - 20 yrs




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India’s current Energy & Power Situation

To meet India’s current demand for power which are growing 7-8%/yr, it needs to double power generation by 2030. At the same time improving its Transmission & Distribution (T&D) by cutting losses from 35% to 13%, at the same time it needs to shift away from coal to using renewable sources

Source: Energy Primer (2007), UIUC Energy Club




TrainSkilledWorkers

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TrainSkilledWorkers

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India’s current Water & Sanitation Situation

Since 2002 India increased spending on rural sanitation by 4-fold and on water supply by 2-fold (total of $10B/yr), still it is not able to meet goals for Sanitation. It will require 1% of GDP/yr for its future needs. Global Climate Change will further exasperate India’s already severe water problems.

Source: HD Report (2006) by UNDP

. . .


We will build an ecosystem with all the key stakeholders

Corporations

& FoundationsIndia/US based

MNC FoundationsOther Think Tanks

Various NGOssocial entrepreneursaround India, to dorural development,energy, educationenvironment ...

AcademiaIIT's, IIM's

IISc, IAS academyStanford, JHU

Srishti

Govt of India

AgenciesPlanning Comm.

Knowledge Comm.India Think Tanks

Firms

Energy: Chevron, BPTech: TCS, Infosys, Google, MicrosoftTelcom: RelianceAg: Mahindra, DeereOther Think Tanks

WRI, RANDCSIR, MIDC, TERI

Work w/ NGO action groups to do social entrepreneurship

programs, facilitate venture fund raising

e.g., ASHA…

International

agencies interested in helping (funding) India develop practical, long-term solutions to its social, economic, and environmental issues.

Influence Policy

changes, at the National and State

level, may also work with activism groups

• 100,000 IIT alumni

• lots of IIM alumni

Intl.

AgenciesUnited Nations

& other promotersClinton Global Init.IRDC (Canada)

…

20 million NRI around the world (>2 MM in the US) emotionally identify with India,

Indian

Diasporain US

CanadaEurope

MediaPrint

BroadcastInternet

Our Philosophy- leverage existing think tanks (in the US and India)- remove roadblocks through policy support

- grow research in academic institutions (IITs, IISc, …) - seed Indian business (incl. social entrepreneurs)

Mostly in India

Both in India and outside

Mostly outside India


Focus: India’s Energy Security, Impacts of Climate Change

Remove Policy Roadblocks:

by assessing and proposing comprehensive policies for various energy alternatives, impact on climate change, plans for infrastructure & capacity development. Hold conferences to guide Indian policymakers and negotiators in their regional and global discussions and recommend specific policy changes in India.

IDI Objective is to bring infrastructure in India to 21st century standards in

10 years using a three pronged approach

Promote R & D:

Analyze existing research; publish reports about direct impacts to India, its economy, its regions, its people, and future growth. Support research centers being established at IIT, IIScand other institutions.

Encourage New

Entrepreneurs: Use the creativity of Indians to design new breeds of Energy and Power (electricity) solutions suitable for India’s poor and their conditions. Build Social Entrepreneurship work-cells, involve young Indians in the universities and companies to become entrepreneurs, provide them mentoring, venture capital funding, and to scale existing companies.


Current project will recommend a path forward

•Our final recommendations from this project would include:–Proposed org model for India Development Institute (IDI)–Way to raise seed funding and 5-yr plan for ongoing fund raising–Linkages to other institutions (IITs, IISC, IIM, and some US Think Tanks…)

• At the end of our research, we will write 2 to 5 short essays about topics we believe should be the initial focus for the IDI. Executive Summaries will describe the key hypothesis and plans for further research with dedicated team of researchers and other Industry/academia experts from the US and India

• There would be a distinguished Board of Governors, from India and the US, both IITians and Non-IITians, people representing tech & non-tech backgrounds, etc.

• Operating Model for the India Development Institute would consist of at least 2 nodes, one in India (most likely Delhi, w/ 10-20 people) and one in US (most likely DC, w/ 5-10)–Role of India node: build a physical base, provide support personnel and business functions, work w/ Indian legislators, and other institutions like IITs, Planning Commission, CII and FICCI…

–Role of US node: research best practices and lessons learnt from other think tanks, research collaborations and adoption of ideas to the Indian context, technology investments, funding…

•Bootstrapping Approach–Raise Seed Capital for Phase 2–Initial set of foundations–Web presence/Newsletters–Regional Conferences

2007 2010 2011 20122008 2009

establish

brandEngage India

stakeholders

Next

milestone

Sustainable ScalableIdea

Conceptual

Design

Partnerships

Sponsorships,

pilots


India needs objective and independent thinking

• We will study leading Indian think tanks– Centre For Development Studies (CDS) in Trivandrum– Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in New Delhi– Development Alternatives Group (TARA) in New Delhi– Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) in Mumbai– Integrated Management of Sustainable Development (IMSD) in Bangalore– Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe) in New Delhi– Integrated Rural Technology Center (IRTC) in Palaghat, Kerala– Madras Institute Of Development Studies (MIDS) in Chennai– PRAYAS in Pune and New Delhi– Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) in New Delhi– The Energy Research Institute (TERI) in New Delhi

• We will also interview leading US think tanks– Brookings Institution in Washington DC– Institute for Policy Studies in Baltimore, MD– Rand Corp in Santa Monica, CA and Arlington, VA– World Resource Institute in Washington DC– Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC


We are meeting a diverse set of people in India and US


Next Steps: IDI is incorporated in the State of IL (USA)

Our Mission:To address India’s development challenges, to help forge consensus and promote collaboration among Indians and International agencies, so as to build infrastructure for energy/power, water/sanitation, education and to mitigate impacts of climate change on India's overall development .

Incorporated (in State of IL) Jun 22, 2007As a Not for Profit Incorporation, in State of IllinoisWe plan to apply for 501 (c)3 status with the IRS in the USAnd will also register it as a not-for-profit in India

Website: www.indiadevelopmentinstitute.orgInitial Directors Sanjeev Maddila, Harsh Koppula, Suresh Chandar

Core TeamSanjeev Maddila, ChicagoManagement Consultant, Partner at Deloitte Consulting and Accenture in Chicago, PhD from Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; B Tech in Computer Science from IIT-Kanpur

Krishen Dhar, New DelhiSuccessful Indian entrepreneur with a Polymers company, member of PanIIT-Global, past President of IIT Delhi Alumni Association, B Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT-Delhi

Harsh Koppula, ChicagoPresident/CEO of an subsidiary of Sumida, a Japanese electronics manufacturer for automotive, MBA & MS in Indus. Engineering from Univ. of Cincinnati, B Tech from IIT-B

Neerja Raman, San FranciscoEx-Director of Research at HP Labs in California, Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Digital Vision Program, interested in Social Entrepreneurship, Exec MBA from Kellogg School of Mgmt.

Rangan Banerjee, MumbaiProf. Energy Sc. at IIT Bombay, co-author of India’s Energy Policy (Planning Commission), worked at Indira Gandhi Inst. for Development research, PhD and B Tech from IIT Bombay

Prof. M A Pai and Sam Pitroda have been advising us, and we are supported by the staff of the National Knowledge Commission in New Delhi.

www.indiadevelopmentinstitute.org


How can you help?

• Provide feedback on our areas for focus

• Recommend funding/organizational models

• Volunteer if you are a subject matter expert

• Recommend other contacts and volunteers



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Appendix


“600 million low-income people in India, constitute the base of its economic pyramid with an average income of <$2/day ($10/day in PPP)…need to better meet their needs, increase their productivity and incomes, and empower their entry into the formal economy.”

-“The Next 4 Billion” report by World Resources Institute (2007)

“By 2025 more than 3 billion people could be living in water-stress countries, China and India will be entering the global water-stress league.

India has made progress in enabling access to water to its rural and urban population, however, access to sanitation is lagging and there is need to accelerate progress.

-U.N. Human Development Report (2006)

“Supreme Court is all set to take up the batch of petitions, challenging the Constitutional validity of the statute that provides 27% reservation for OBC’s in higher educational institutes.”

- Indian Newspapers (2007)

“The ability of a nation to use and create knowledge capital determines its capacity to empower and enable its citizens by increasing human capabilities.”

- Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Knowledge Commission (2007)

“Time has come to create a second wave of institution building, and of excellence in the fields of education, research and capability building so that we are better prepared for the 21st century.”

- Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India (2002)

“Three main ‘categories’ of climate change impacts that pose serious threat to India are on its agriculture, sea level rise (leading to loss of coastal land), increased number of extreme events.”

- “Indian Perspectives on Climate Change” OECD report (2002)

World Bank estimates, by 2010, India will need investment of $172 billion in its energy supply infrastructure.

India also faces many difficult challenges


India’s issues are same as once faced by others

India’s

development

needs vary

by regions

Problem: Spread of communicable diseases (AIDS, Avian Flu, …), poor health (diabetes & heart disease), growing population, poor sanitation in developing nations…

Solution: Early detection, prevention, education (WHO, Gates Foundation...)

Problem: Global temperature shift, rising sea levels, food/water

shortages

Solution: Raise globalawareness to shift policies (UN-IPCC,

WRI, World-Watch…)

Problem: Growing income disparity, access to education & services…

Solution: Schemesto support Social Entrepreneurs(World Bank, IMF…)

Three major issues facing Humanity Today1

3

2

Develop

Carrying

Capacity

Assess

Climate

Impact

Train

Skilled

Workers

Innovation

Entrepre-

neurship

Develop

Carrying

Capacity

Assess

Climate

Impact

Train

Skilled

Workers

Innovation

Entrepre-

neurship

1 2

3

4


Develop

Carrying

Capacity

Assess

Climate

Impact

Train

Skilled

Workers

Innovation

Entrepre-

neurship

Concern 1: Finite Carrying Capacity

Optimistic extrapolation of the availability of food, water, energy (based on the last 2 decades) clearly shows that the developing countries, especially India, can at best support 80-85% of the population, by 2050. Sustainable development of natural resources calls for utilizing these resources based on their potential and limitations.

Source: Hong Nguyen, Ryoichi Yamamoto (2006)

India needs lot of FDI for infrastructure development: 75 B in Power sector, 25 B in Telecommunication, 50 B in Roads infrastructure. India also needs huge investments in its agricultural sector to improve productivity which employs 60% of the people but only contributes 23% of the GDP.


Concern 2: Global Climate Change

Climate change will significantly impact India, risk of hunger (due to substantial decline in grain production), water resource scarcity (by 40% reduction in potable water), projected sea level rise could flood about 10 millions residences on the coast and reduce biodiversity by 50%

Develop

Carrying

Capacity

Assess

Climate

Impact

Train

Skilled

Workers

Innovation

Entrepre-

neurship


Concern 3: Lack of Skilled Resources

India seriously lacks trained technicians, at the same time it does not produce enough technical PhDs to support the need for teachers and researchers. Without an effective strategy, it risks loosing its ability to educate future generation of technicians, engineers and scientists.

Source:

Develop

Carrying

Capacity

Assess

Climate

Impact

Train

Skilled

Workers

Innovation

Entrepre-

neurship

There are 5000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in India that produce 700,000 technicians each year. However, the quality of vocational training at ITIs is very poor and needs urgent improvement for advancing India’s manufacturing competitiveness.

Source: IITians for ITIs

India is a very young nation that needs to prioritize:- 55% of Indians are below 25 years of age and 70% of Indians are below 35 years of age

- Prepare the youth for a vocation of their choice- Build up a workforce of international quality- World-class vocational training infrastructure - Reduce unemployment w/ world class technicians- Reduce costs & improve productivity of services and manufacturing


Concern 4: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Indian culture does not promote entrepreneurship, it is often equated to unnecessary risk taking or uncontrolled greed, both are considered as ills. Only Indian innovation and entrepreneurship will provide solutions suitable for India which can also be exported to other parts of the developing world

Develop

Carrying

Capacity

Assess

Climate

Impact

Train

Skilled

Workers

Innovation

Entrepre-

neurship

Following 5 R&D priorities are most pressing for India

1)Cheap solar energy2)Rural wireless communications

3)Filters and catalysts for reliably filter, purify, and decontaminate water

4)Cheap autonomous housing with heating, cooling, and cooking

5)Hybrid vehicles for the mass market

Source: Rand Corp. report on Global R&D


Bios of some of the people we met in IndiaProf U R Rao is an internationally renowned space scientist who has made original contributions to the development of space technology in India and its extensive application to communications and remote sensing of natural resources. Presently he is the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad, which is considered as the cradle of India’s Space Program and Chairman, Karnataka Science & Technology Academy. After working as a Faculty Member at MIT and Assistant Professor at University of Texas at Dallas, Prof. Rao returned to India in 1966. He was Chairman of Indian Space Commission and Secretary, Department of Space in the 80s and 90s. Prof. Rao is a recipient of several national and international awards including the Padma Bhushan (by G of I) and Lifetime achievement award from ISRO, he is listed among the Top 10 Space Scientists of the world by Space News.

• ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• Laveesh Bhandari completed his Ph.D. in Econ. from Boston University, USA, in 1996, and MA in Econ. specializing in

Finance and Industrial Organization also from BU where his thesis received the Best Thesis in International Economics award by the EXIM Bank of India in 1996. He was also awarded the Hite Fellowship for his work on International finance. He joined the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi, as a Senior Economist in 1997, where he led research in the Industry and Infrastructure division. Dr. Bhandari is the founder Director of Indicus Analytics.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• Bibek Debroy is the Director at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Delhi. A

renowned economist, Dr Debroy studied at Presidency College (Calcutta), Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College (Cambridge). He has been a consultant to the govt. of India on several critical issues (in foreign trade, economic affairs and legal reform) and has worked with the National Council for Applied Economic Research, leading economic think tank of India. A prolific writer, Dr Debroy has authored many books and is also the Consulting Editor with Business Standard.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prof. P V Indiresan taught at IIT Delhi, where he established the Centre of Research in Applied Electronics. He served a term as Director, IIT Madras. At present, he is Hon. Prof. at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. Prof. Indiresanhas written extensively on educational reforms, economic development and social justice. He has written one book, Managing Development: Decentralization, Geographical Socialism and Urban Replication. He has produced a report (Vision 2020: Driving Forces and Impedances) commissioned by the Dept of S & T, G of India, on the use of technology for India's long term development. He writes a column for Hindu Business. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan (2000)

____----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. M Anandkrishnan got his Ph.D in Civil Engineering from University of Minnesota. He was the first Science Counselor at the Embassy of India Washington, DC (74-78). Later served UN (78-89) as the Chief of the New Technologies and UN Centre for S&T for Development, Secy of the UN Advisory Committee on S&T for Development. On retirement from the UN, he took over the responsibilities as the Vice-Chancellor of Anna University (1990-96), then he served as the Vice-Chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education. He is now the Chairman of the High Level Committee for Review of the Undergraduate Engineering Education in India and Fellow of the Institution of Engineers and the National Academy of Sciences, India. He is the recipient of several prestigious honors and awards incl. The Order of Scientific Merit from the President of Brazil (1996) and Padma Shri from the President of India (2002)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pratap Bhanu Mehta is a prominent Indian political scientist, constitutional expert and commentator. He currently heads the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. He has in the past been Professor of Government at Harvard and Professor of Philosophy and Law and Governance at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was till recently a member of the National Knowledge Commission. He obtained B.A. from Oxford and a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University.


Kirit S. Parikh Founder Director and Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai. He got his Sc.D. in Civil Engineering and M.S. in Economics from MIT, USA. He had been Senior Economic Advisor to the Administrator at UNDP (1997-98), Program Leader of the Food and Agricultural Program of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) (1980-86), Professor of Economics (and sometimes Head) of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), New Delhi (1967-80). He is a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of India and had been a member of the Economic Advisory Councils of four Prime Ministers. He has authored and co-authored 16 books in the areas of planning, water resource management, appropriate technology for housing, optimum requirement for fertilizers, energy systems, national and international policies for poverty reduction, trade policies, economic reforms, sustainable human development, environmental accounting, general equilibrium modeling.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• M P Parameswaran received a BE from the College of Engineering, Kerala, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from

the Moscow Power Institute in 1965. He was a scientist with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, from 1957 to 1975. Since 1975 he has been a full-time activist with the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP). Dr. Parameswaranalso currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) and as the Chair of the Total Health and Sanitation Mission, Kerala. The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (which literally means the Science Writers' Forum of Kerala) has earned wide acclaim for activities related to generating environmental consciousness, literacy campaigns, and decentralized, micro-level planning. The KSSP is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (dubbed the alternate Nobel Prize) in 1996, UNESCO Literacy Award (King Sejong Prize), UNEP's Global 500, and the Vriksha Mitra award.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• Ashok Khosla Internationally renowned entrepreneur and Chairman of the Development Alternatives Group, a

consortium of organizations based in India whose mission is to create technologies, enterprises and markets for large scale generation of sustainable livelihoods. Dr Khosla also serves as a member of the Government of India's National Security Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Council to the Cabinet. Earlier, he was Director of the Office of Environment, G of I, and Director, Infoterra in the UNEP. He is has been a Member of the Governing Bodies of IUCN, WWF, IISD, the Stockholm Environment Institute, WETV, and several other Indian and international organizations. He studied at the Universities of Cambridge and Harvard. He was awarded the Stockholm Challenge Award (2002), UN Sasakawa Environment Prize (2002) and Schwab Foundation's Award for Outstanding Social Entrepreneur (2004)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rohini Nilekani is currently Chairperson of Arghyam Trust, also, Chairperson for Akshara Foundation. She worked as a journalist for several years, writing for many leading publications in the country such as Sunday and India Today. She has also co-founded Pratham Books, a non-profit publishing enterprise to produce high quality, low cost books for children in several Indian languages.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nandan Nilekani is currently the Co-Chairman of Infosys Technologies (since Apr 2007), which he co-founded, along with N. R. Narayana Murthy and others. He attended IIT, Bombay and worked for Patni Computers. He will still function as an company executive by "focusing on key client relationships, being a brand ambassador for the company, and working on transformational initiatives". He has been named one of Asia's Power 25 – The Most Powerful People in Business in Asia by Fortune (in 2004), the same year he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. In January 2006, he became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on World Economic Forum (WEF) Board.

Other experts we consulted in India


Sam Pitroda, is an inventor, entrepreneur and policymaker. Currently chairman of India's National Knowledge Commission, he is also widely considered to have been responsible for India's communications revolution. He is the Chairman and CEO of World-Tel Limited, an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) initiative. He holds many key technology patents, has been involved in several startups, and lectures extensively around the world on the implications of communications and information technology. He is also the founder and CEO of C-SAM, Inc, and serves as a director on the board of Jet Airways. C-SAM has developed an m-Commerce application by the name OneWallet. The company has offices in London, Tokyo, and offshore development centers in India in Mumbai and Vadodara. He has served as an advisor to the UN in 1992, his biography was published, and became a bestseller. Sam has lived in Chicago since 1964.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prof. M A Pai is professor emeritus of UIUC’s Electrical engineering department with specialization on Power Systems Stability Dynamic Security of Power Systems Model Reduction in Power Systems Iterative Solver Techniques in Power System Computations Voltage Stability Robust Stability, Power System computation Impact of Distributed Generation in Power systems. He got his PhD from Univ of California, Berkeley. He as been elected member fo IITKgp, Nation Academy of Engineering Fellow, IEEE, Life Fellow, Fellow, Indian National Science Academy 1979, Fellow, Institution of Engineers (India) 1977 Bhatnagar Award for Engineering Research in 1974 in India (Highest award by govt of India)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pankaj Bhatia is a leading expert in the field of corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and reporting methodologies and calculation tools. He currently is a co-director of the GHG Protocol Initiative within WRI's Climate, Energy, and Pollution Program. Prior to WRI, Pankaj was at Tata Energy & Research Institute (TERI), New Delhi, India where he worked on various projects related to implementation of the Montreal Protocol in India and development of environment policy for technology transfer and capacity building in Indian industry. He has MTech from IIT Delhi, and a BTech in chemical engineering from BHUIT, Varansi, India.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prakash Ambegaonkar, founded “Bridging Nations”, after a successful career in high-tech entrepreneurship, Dr. Prakash Ambegaonkar started Bridging Nations as a nonprofit policy and advocacy organization in Washington, DC. Currently, Bridging Nations is privately funded by Dr. P and his wife Nunda. The Ambegaonkars have been active for many years in philanthropic, civic, and political affairs. Together with his wife, Nunda, he has contributed to numerous charitable causes including the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and to the field of cancer research. Prakash obtained two Masters degrees in electrical and industrial engineering from University of Wisconsin, Madison and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Marquette University.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Julian Darley is founder and director of the Post Carbon Institute and Global Public Media. He is also the author of High Noon for Natural Gas: The New Energy Crisis. His new book Re-localize Now! is collaboration with Celine Rich, Dave Room, and Richard Heinberg and will be released later this year. Julian has an MSC in Environment and Social Research from the University of Surrey in the, an MA in Journalism and Communications from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA in Music and Russian. He currently lives in Sebastopol (near San Francisco) www.postcarbon.org

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Some of the people we have already met in US