Raghunath Anant Mashelkar

Raghunath Anant Mashelkar
FREng
FRS
Born (1943-01-01) 1 January 1943
Mashel, Goa, Portuguese India (now India)
Residence Pune
Nationality Indian
Citizenship Indian
Alma mater

Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (B.E 1966) (PhD1969)

University of Mumbai
Known for Intellectual Property Rights; R&D; Innovation; President Of Jnana Prabodhini
Awards Padma Vibhushan
Padma Bhushan
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar
G.D. Birla Award for Scientific Research
FRS
FREng
Scientific career
Fields Chemical Engineering
Institutions CSIR India; Global Research Alliance; National Innovation Foundation
Website www.mashelkar.com
Notes
Turning element of Life:Sir Tata Dorab Trust Scholarship

Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, also known as Ramesh Mashelkar, FRS[1] FREng[2], FIChemE[3] (born on 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. Mashelkar served as the President of Global Research Alliance, a network of publicly funded research and development institutes from Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Europe and USA with over 60,000 scientists, as Chairperson of India's National Innovation Foundation (2000-2018), as the first Chairperson of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR).[5] He is also the chairman of the Reliance Innovation Council formed by Reliance Industries Limited, India.[6]

Mashelkar is the former President of the Indian National Science Academy (2005-07)[7] and the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers (2007–08). 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.[8] 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. He was elected foreign fellow of US National Academy of Engineering (2003), International Fellow[9] of Royal Academy of Engineering,[9] UK (1996), and Fellow of World Academy of Art & Science, USA (2000). Thirty nine universities around the world have honored him with honorary doctorates.[10]

National contributions

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,[11] the drug regulatory system[12] and the agriculture research system.

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.[13]

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.

The report generated controversy when editorials published simultaneously in the Times of India[14] and The Hindu[15] alleged parts of the report had been plagiarised.

Mashelkar subsequently withdrew the report due to the alleged plagiarism,[16] admitting to flaws in the report[14][17] whilst stating, "This is the first time such a thing has happened."[16]

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.[18][19] However, the government instead referred the report back to the technical expert group to reexamine and correct the inaccuracies.[20]

The report was resubmitted after corrections in March 2009 and was accepted by the Government as such.[21] [22]

Awards & recognition

Mashelkar has received over fifty awards and honorary doctorates and is a member of numerous scientific bodies and committees.[23]

  • 1982 – Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
  • 1991 – Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.[24]
  • 2000 – Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award.
  • 2003 – Foreign Fellow of US National Academy of Engineering
  • 2005 – Foreign Associate of National Academy of Science (USA)
  • 2005 – Business Week Star of Asia
  • 2008 – Foreign Fellow of Australian Technological Science and Engineering Academy
  • 2011 – Associate Foreign Member of American Academy of Arts & Sciences
  • 2014 – Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award.[26]
  • 2017 – First Indian to be elected as a Fellow of National Academy of Inventors (NAI), US
  • 2017 – Corresponding Member of Australian Academy of Sciences

References

  1. 1 2 "Raghunath Mashelkar | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  2. 1 2 "Royal Academy of Engineering".
  3. ↑ Curriculum vitae Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ CSIR
  5. ↑ "Mashelkar appointed 1st chairperson of AcSIR".
  6. ↑ "Reliance Innovation Council India — Raghunath Mashelkar — Mukesh Ambani — Jean-Marie Lehn — Robert Grubbs — George Whitesides — Gary Hamel — William Haseltine".
  7. ↑ "Indian National Science Academy:::INSA, India::::::::::::::::::::". www.insaindia.res.in. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  8. ↑ "R.A. Mashelkar, F.R.S." Essence. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
  9. 1 2 "List of Fellows".
  10. ↑ User, Super. "Awards and Recognitions". RAMashelkar. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  11. ↑ "PIB Press Releases".
  12. ↑ ‘A Comprehensive Examination of Drug Regulatory Issues, including the Problem of Spurious Drugs’
  13. ↑ "Research Papers".
  14. 1 2 Mitta, Manoj (22 February 2007). "Mashelkar takes back report after plagiarism row". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  15. ↑ Park, Chan; Achal Prabhala (12 February 2007). "First attempt to dent a compromised patent system". The Hindu. The Hindu. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  16. 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.
  17. ↑ Sharma, Ravi; Sara Hiddleston (22 February 2007). "Mashelkar committee on Patent Law withdraws report; seeks more time". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 June 2007.
  18. ↑ "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.
  19. ↑ "`Scrap Mashelkar report'". The Hindu. 5 March 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  20. ↑ 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)
  21. ↑ "The Government of India accepts the Mashelkar Committee Report on 'Incremental Innovation' – what does it really mean? | PILMAN". www.tapanray.in. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  22. ↑ "RA Mashelkar | For me, it's national interest that comes first - Livemint". www.livemint.com. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  23. ↑ Super User. "Awards and Recognitions". RAMashelkar.
  24. ↑ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs.
  25. ↑ "R A Mashelkar conferred Gomant Vibhushan award". The Times of India. May 31, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  26. ↑ "Padma Awards Announced". Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
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