Raghunath Anant Mashelkar

Raghunath Anant Mashelkar
FRS, FREng
Born (1943-01-01) 1 January 1943
Mashel, Goa, Portuguese India (now India)
Residence Thane
Nationality Indian
Fields Chemical Engineering
Institutions CSIR India; Global Research Alliance; National Innovation Foundation
Alma mater Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
Known for Intellectual Property Rights; R&D; Innovation
Notable awards Padma Vibhushan
Padma Bhushan
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar
G.D. Birla Award for Scientific Research
FREng[1]

Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, also known as Ramesh Mashelkar.[2] FRS, FREng,[1] FIChemE[3] (born 1 January 1943) is an Indian chemical engineer and a former Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR),[4] a chain of 38 publicly funded industrial research and development institutions in India.

Life and work

Mashelkar studied at the University of Bombay's Department of Chemical Technology (now the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai) where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Chemical engineering in 1966, later on a PhD degree in 1969.[5]

Mashelkar is presently the President of Global Research Alliance,[6] a network of publicly funded research and development institutes from Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Europe and USA with over 60,000 scientists. He is the Chairperson of India's National Innovation Foundation.[7] He has been appointed as the first Chairperson of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR).[8] He is also the chairman of the Reliance Innovation Council formed by Reliance Industries Limited, India.[9]

Mashelkar is the former President of the Indian National Science Academy and the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers (2007–08).[5] He served for over eleven years as the director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,world's largest chain of publicly funded industrial R&D institutions, with thirty-eight laboratories and about 20,000 employees.[10] 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 associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2005, only the 8th Indian since 1863 to be selected. On 28 April 2008, he was elected as the foreign associate of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.[11] He is the first Indian to have received this honour. He was elected foreign fellow of US National Academy of Engineering (2003), International Fellow[1] of Royal Academy of Engineering,[1] UK (1996), and Fellow of World Academy of Art & Science, USA (2000). Twenty-six universities have honoured him with honorary doctorates, which include University of London, University of Salford, University of Pretoria, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Delhi University and Gyan Vihar University.

National contributions

In the post-liberalized India, Mashelkar has played an important role in shaping India's science and technology policies. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and also of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet set up by successive governments. He chaired twelve committees established to examine a variety of issues including higher education, national fuel policy,[12] the drug regulatory system[13] and the agriculture research system.[14]

Contributions to scientific and industrial research

Mashelkar has made contributions in transport phenomena, particularly in thermodynamics of swelling, superswelling and shrinking polymers, modelling of polymerisation reactors, and engineering analysis of Non-Newtonian flows.[15]

Controversy

In 2005, the Indian government established a technical expert group on patent laws under the chairmanship of Mashelkar. Its purpose was to determine whether amendments made in Indian patent law were TRIPS compliant. The committee unanimously concluded that the amendments were not TRIPS compliant.[16]

The report generated controversy when editorials published simultaneously in the Times of India[17] and The Hindu[18] alleged parts of the report had been plagiarised.

Mashelkar subsequently withdrew the report due to the alleged plagiarism,[19] admitting to flaws in the report[17][20] whilst stating, "This is the first time such a thing has happened."[19]

The controversy was raised in the Indian Parliament, with demands that the report be "trashed" and the issues be referred to a joint standing committee.[21][22] However, the government instead referred the report back to the technical expert group to reexamine and correct the inaccuracies.[23]

Awards & recognition

Mashelkar has received over fifty awards and honorary doctorates and is a member of numerous scientific bodies and committees.[24] The President of India honoured Mashelkar with Padma Shri (1991) and with Padma Bhushan (2000),[25] which are two of the highest civilian honours in recognition of his contribution to nation building. He was appointed an International Fellow[1] of the Royal Academy of Engineering[1] in 1996. In 2013, he was awarded Gomant Vibhushan Award, the highest civilian honour of the state of Goa.[26]

On 25 January 2014, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan, 2nd highest civilian honour of India by the President of India.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "List of Fellows".
  2. ↑ IChemE Gala Awards Programme, 25 October 2007 Welcome by IChemE President, Dr Ramesh Mashelkar
  3. ↑ Curriculum vitae
  4. ↑ CSIR
  5. 1 2 The Chemical Engineer, issue 800, Feb 2008, page 50
  6. ↑ Global Research Alliance
  7. ↑ "National Innovation Foundation-India".
  8. ↑ "Mashelkar appointed 1st chairperson of AcSIR".
  9. ↑ "Reliance Innovation Council India — Raghunath Mashelkar — Mukesh Ambani — Jean-Marie Lehn — Robert Grubbs — George Whitesides — Gary Hamel — William Haseltine".
  10. ↑ "R.A. Mashelkar, F.R.S.". Essence. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
  11. ↑ "Sign In — Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE)".
  12. ↑ "PIB Press Releases".
  13. ↑ ‘A Comprehensive Examination of Drug Regulatory Issues, including the Problem of Spurious Drugs’
  14. ↑ ‘ICAR reorganisation’
  15. ↑ "Research Papers".
  16. ↑ "Report of the Technical Expert Group on Patent Law Issues". Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  17. 1 2 Mitta, Manoj (22 February 2007). "Mashelkar takes back report after plagiarism row". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  18. ↑ Park, Chan; Achal Prabhala (12 February 2007). "First attempt to dent a compromised patent system". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  19. 1 2 Bagla, Pallava (22 February 2007). "'Plagiarism' in his panel's report, Mashelkar tells Govt to withdraw it". The Indian Express. Retrieved 18 June 2007.
  20. ↑ Sharma, Ravi; Sara Hiddleston (22 February 2007). "Mashelkar committee on Patent Law withdraws report; seeks more time". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 June 2007.
  21. ↑ "Trash Mashelkar panel report on patent law: CPI-M". The Hindu. 22 February 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  22. ↑ "`Scrap Mashelkar report'". The Hindu. 5 March 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  23. ↑ re-examine http://zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=359785&sid=NAT re-examine Check |url= value (help). Retrieved 31 October 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ↑ Super User. "Awards and Recognitions". RAMashelkar.
  25. ↑ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs.
  26. ↑ "R A Mashelkar conferred Gomant Vibhushan award". The Times of India. May 31, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  27. ↑ "Padma Awards Announced". Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
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