Speakers 2012
GD Agarwal
THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASCETIC In 2009, Diwakar Bhatt, cabinet minister of Uttarkhand, alleged that G.D. Agarwal – along with those protesting against hydro-electric projects near the source of the Ganges river – were puppets of the CIA and the ISI. For G D Agarwal, doyen of environmental engineers in India and a legend in his fraternity, Read More…
George Galloway
THE CONFRONTATIONALIST A whole bunch of words come to mind when one thinks of George Galloway. Opinionated. Controversial. Unapologetic. Gutsy. Confrontational. Maverick. Radical. Unfortunately, they’re all too tame for the reality of this man. Neither political correctness nor political expediency seem to mean very much to Galloway, one of the few politicians anywhere in the world Read More…
George Schaller
THE EARTH’S CONSCIENCE-KEEPER George Schaller has spent 50 years being a conservationist but the planet, it seems, has been waiting for him for far, far longer – a man who lives, breathes, dreams, talks, fights, educates and cajoles on its behalf. He is the greatest conservationist of the last 100 years, one of the few Read More…
Gopal Subramaniam
THE LAW’S MORAL COMPASS At 53, Gopal Subramaniam is among the most talented and distinguished lawyers of his generation. For two years beginning 2009, he served as the solicitor general of India but his standing in the legal fraternity derives not from his formal designation or status as a senior advocate at the Supreme Court Read More…
Guillermo Trotti
THE OUTLIER ARCHITECT It reads like the bio of a fictional superhero. Sample this. He developed the design of the new South Pole Station. Worked for NASA on lunar bases, Mars vehicles and the International Space Station. Circumnavigated the planet – that’s 36,000 nautical miles, give or take a few – on a sailboat called Read More…
Ian Lipkin
THE VIRUS HUNTER Going viral is probably Ian Lipkin’s worst nightmare. Yet, ironically, that’s precisely what happened to him last September, when it was revealed that he was the real star behind Steven Soderbergh’s terrifying science thriller, Contagion. It’s his lab the film uses for authenticity, his invented virus that makes the bone-chilling foundation of Read More…
Ibrahim El Houdaiby
THE HARDLINE REFORMIST He’s one of the most intriguing faces of contemporary Islam. As a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Houdaiby was for years firmly entrenched in the organization that has in recent times dominated a large part of the discourse in the Arab world. Founded over 80 years ago by Hassan al-Banna at Read More…
Jairam Ramesh
THE CHANGE AGENT A glass door – that was the first change economist turned politician Jairam Ramesh made to his office cabin when he took charge as India’s Minister of Environment and Forests in 2009. It was more than symbolic: he transformed the ministry to one actively engaging with the thorniest dilemma confronting India: the Read More…
James Crabtree
THE ECONOMIC INSIDER Many people are jack of all trades but very few go on to become master of them as well. James Crabtree, it seems, is one of them. He’s tried his hand – and done tremendously well – at a host of things. A Fulbright Scholarship at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Read More…
