Global IndianstoryThese Indian techies break the chain with blockchain

These Indian techies break the chain with blockchain

Written by: Vishnu Anand

From securing critical documents to creating new protocols to unlocking working capital, Indian techies are unchaining blockchain for a variety of applications.

(February 3, 2022) Blockchain has grown from being just an industry buzzword to a full-fledged technology stream that harnesses the power of impenetrable ledger data for a variety of applications. Of course, blockchain shot to fame with crypto, which essentially unleashed an alternate currency for the world to trade in. But today, thanks to innovative Indians who are committed to making a difference, we have a variety of blockchain applications that have a massive impact on our daily lives, as well at the blockchain industry at large. Let’s take a look…

Securing property papers

Tanmay Yadav, founder, CRUBN

On January 24, the Prime Minister of India felicitated the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees, as per tradition. However, this year was slightly different. Each awardee was conferred with a blockchain-based digital certificate, and this initiative was in partnership with a blockchain startup called CRUBN. The company was incubated at IIT Kanpur in 2020, and is founded by Tanmay Yadav. Tanmay has also started collaborating with individual state government to create innovative solutions aimed at better and safer governance. For instance, he recently tied up with the Center for Smart Governance, Government of Karnataka, to create a blockchain-based property data storage solution, eliminating the risk of impersonation and tweaking of historical records. Explaining the solution, Tanmay says, “The solution gives every property holder a card, which upon authentication by the user, provides access to property-related documents in electronic form. The card can be accessed at citizen service centres for access.” Tanmay believes that solutions like these are an ideal testimony to how blockchain can be used for secure data storage.

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Covid-19 test certificate powered by blockchain

Vignesh Babu Venkatesan, founder, Print2Block

In mid-2020, when the entire country was raging under the first wave of the pandemic, the government of Maharashtra realised that test certificates of those testing negative was around 70 percent of those getting tested. In order to ensure that negative certificates reach users on time, the government turned to blockchain. Chennai based Print2Block, provided this solution by setting up a private blockchain where the data resided on government servers while the processing and retrieval happened at the private Print2Block server. Co-founded by Vignesh Babu Venkatesan and Joji Verghese, Print2Block, the NASSCOM- incubated startup specialises in issuing digital documents on blockchain. Vignesh tells Global Indian, “We were the first to develop a robust trust infrastructure platform, along with a human interactive USB device that facilitates secure document access.” The masters degree holder in mechatronics from Madras Institute of Technology envisions a world where electronic documents exist in the safest possible corner of cyberspace.

Follow Vignesh Babu Venkatesan on Linkedin

Reimagining a blockchain platform

Jaynti Kanani, founder, Polygon Technologies

“Built by developers, for developers” is the mantra of Polygon Technologies. Created with the vision of building a framework and protocol for connecting various blockchain networks, Polygon became a familiar name in the blockchain circuit, when its Singapore-based, Indian-origin founder Jaynti Kanani, became one of the first Indians to secure a huge funding from Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban. Today, the company has crossed market capitalisation of $10 billion. Interestingly, Jaynti was a regular data scientist with housing.com prior to founding Polygon. Oftentimes, he recalls how his humble beginnings as a diamond factory worker’s son in the outskirts of Ahmedabad, slowly morphed into a full-fledged career and entrepreneurship in blockchain. Kanani recalls, “From a monthly salary of ₹6,000 from my first job in Pune, to Polygon, the journey has been amazing. The potential of blockchain is so huge that there’s no looking back now.”

Follow Jaynti Kanani on Linkedin

Ploughing equity back to the industry

Founded by IIT-Bombay graduate Piyush Gupta, Polytrade was created as early as 2014, with the aim of supporting small businesses by providing working capital to those who were struggling for finances. Piyush realised quite early that the main reasons SMEs struggled with finances was lack of understanding around some trade finance instruments such as lack of collaterals, high cost of borrowing, and exhaustion of credit limits. As per industry data, the unmet demands of working capital for SMEs in India is to the tune of ₹2,200 crore. Piyush wanted to change this.

Piyush Gupta, founder, Polytrade

Piyush, MD and founder, Polytrade says, “We’ve just launched (on January 31, 2022), Polytrade Mainnet, essentially opening up a supplementary source of financing for SMEs by creating a blockchain-based decentralized protocol.”

By leveraging the power of blockchain and crypto, SMEs operating in the area of crypto now have access to finances in their own virtual currencies, allowing them to innovate at will. Like most others in the blockchain innovation space, Piyush is passionate about doing his bit for India. “India’s SMEs will be key to achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s objective of making the country atmanirbhar and a $ 5 trillion economy. Polytrade will ensure that these small enterprises have the working cash to achieve their goals,” explains Piyush Gupta.

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Published on 03, Feb 2022

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Scientist Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala loves Tom and Jerry, Science and Research, and all things unknown

(February 5, 2024) An avid bird watcher, Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala chose not to use his mobile phone to save birds from radiation. But that was until one fine morning in 2016 when his senior colleague at the Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur left him with no choice but to start using one, immediately. As he hesitatingly bought an instrument and began using the phone, it eventually brought to life his dream project — house sparrow (passer domesticus) genome sequencing. “The numbers of this bird have been declining in many urban areas because of electromagnetic radiations and other anthropogenic activities in recent times,” points out Dr. Prashanth, Principal Investigator of the Systems Genomics laboratory at Amrita School of Biotechnology, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala, in an exclusive with Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_48760" align="aligncenter" width="711"] Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala[/caption] It was only recently that he completed the one-of-its-kind research on house sparrows sequencing. “We finished the sequencing and assembly of its genome. We found some genes responsible for circadian rhythms in it,” smiles Dr Prashanth, who has inherent interests in exploring the known-unknown regions in the animal and human genomes. He says Passer domesticus is one of the best models for

/span>Global Indian.

[caption id="attachment_48760" align="aligncenter" width="711"] Indian Scientist | Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala | Global Indian Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala[/caption]

It was only recently that he completed the one-of-its-kind research on house sparrows sequencing. “We finished the sequencing and assembly of its genome. We found some genes responsible for circadian rhythms in it,” smiles Dr Prashanth, who has inherent interests in exploring the known-unknown regions in the animal and human genomes. He says Passer domesticus is one of the best models for studies influencing human technological advances on life and commensal life forms in human habitats.

A PhD in Systems Biology from Aalborg University, Denmark, Dr Prashanth went on to gain more than eight years of post-doctoral experience across four reputed laboratories. One of the post-doctoral stints was at Bioinformatics.Org in Boston where he was an Associate Director between 2008-14. Another one was at Dr Haruki Nakaumra’s Lab, at Osaka University, Protein Data Bank of Japan. “These experiences enabled me to come out of my comfort zone,” says the 45-year-old. While the soft-spoken scientist has done some phenomenal work in his field, mentoring youngsters has always been his top priority.

Bioclues

Dr Prashanth founded Bioclues.org virtually in 2005 with support from some of his friends and colleagues. “With several core members and mentors, it is now India’s largest bioinformatics society working for mentor-mentee relationships through Mentoring-Outreach-Research-Entrepreneurship (MORE) verticals,” informs Dr Prashanth.

One of the primary missions of Bioclues is to encourage women scientists to take up bioinformatics besides imparting a complete understanding of the principal bioinformatics algorithms and tools through interactive summaries, polls, and discussions. “Through Bioclues, we are providing an online project platform for mentoring graduate students, while bridging the interaction of students in the field of computational biology,” says Dr Prashanth, who was awarded the Prof. SS Guraya Gold Medal in February 2023.

[caption id="attachment_48762" align="aligncenter" width="483"] Indian Scientist | Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala | Global Indian Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala[/caption]

Among other aspects, Bioclues caters to the need to assimilate existing open-source code and develop novel tools and web servers for the research community. “Essentially, we encourage all researchers to come outside their comfort zones and think. Collaborate, Converge, and Consensus are the three C’s we are aiming at.”

Remarkably, Dr. Prashanth has produced five PhD fellows, with nine more students working with him wherein four among them have submitted their theses. “Besides this, three postdocs trained with me while I share a wonderful scientific camaraderie with several grad and undergrad fellows,” smiles Dr Prashanth, who also founded CA Prostate Consortium of India (CAPCI) and Geneticist-Clinicians Consortium of India (GCCI).

Genomic assay technologies

“I was always fascinated by the emerging genomic assay technologies including characterising mechanisms of disease prevalence, genotype-driven therapies, checking patient's risk of disease recurrence and gene expression signatures, to name a few,” informs the scientist, who was twice awarded the Amrita Innovation and Research Award (AIRA) for excellence in publications and Best Faculty Scientist Award by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

On the other hand, he had an interest in understanding vivid post-diagnostic risk assessment tools and facilitating risk classification which would bring personalised medicine to the fore.

From Kothagudem

Dr Prashanth had a humble raising from Kothagudem, a coal city in the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh and now in Telangana. His parents Ananta Sastry and Nirmala Sastry were raised in Delhi and moved down south. “My parents, especially my mother, were my inspiration. I was drawn into biology right from school days, transformed it to its heyday where I set up my fascination with systems thinking and evolutionary biology,” says the scientist.

[caption id="attachment_48761" align="aligncenter" width="632"] Indian Scientist | Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala | Global Indian Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala[/caption]

After trying his luck for a seat in Medicine with seven-month-long long-term coaching, in vain, he converted his failures to take up a Ph.D. in Science. While doing his B.Sc, he met his future partner Renuka. “Back then, I used to earn my pocket money through part-time teaching,” informs Dr Prashanth, who left for Denmark in 2004 for his PhD.

A brilliant mind

It was in 2016 when Dr Prashanth returned to India and set up his Systems Genomics group at Birla Institute of Scientific Research (BISR), Jaipur with an aim to carry out quality research. “I led three projects in the areas of systems genomics or rare diseases and next-generation sequencing analysis of cancers and diabetes,” he informs.

Over the last eight years, he developed an interest in long noncoding RNAs in humans, elucidating the mechanisms underpinning small molecular interactions through clinical exomes. His group has developed methods for systems genomic integration. Dr Prashanth has over 90 publications in peer-reviewed journals and edited three books as well. Between April 2022 to August 2023, he was also the Co-Principal Investigator for one-of-its-kind research on early detection, Surveillance, and prevention of Communicable Viral diseases in Jaipur city, which was a Wastewater-Based Epidemiological study.

As a Principal Investigator of the Systems Genomics laboratory at Amrita School of Biotechnology (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala), Dr Prashanth studies protein-protein interactions and top-down systems biology of hypothetical proteins, focusing on next-generation sequencing approaches to identify regulatory aspects of the genome. Apart from this, he had intermittently worked on identifying the candidate genes involved in the synthetic framework in bacteria and viruses, especially understanding what happens to host and pathogen interactions.

[caption id="attachment_48763" align="aligncenter" width="472"] Indian Scientist | Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala | Global Indian Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala[/caption]

Dr Prashanth also got quite a few scholarships from reputed international institutions. In March 2008, he got a scholarship from ISMB/ISCB travel fellowship, in Taipei, Taiwan. In June 2008, he got another scholarship from Recomb Fellowship, Singapore. Similarly in July 2010, he got a scholarship from The International Society for Computational Biology-NY Cornell Fellowship for Cornell University Computational Biology.

The pandemic

The senior scientist says COVID has been a blessing in disguise. “During the COVID times, our group steadfastly collaborated with several peers and published some of the quality and engrossing papers with some of the top scientists in the country,” he says. Among the well-known scientists he collaborated with are Prof Gyaneshwar Chaubey of Banaras Hindu University, and Prof Keshav Singh, both experts in genetics.

Tom & Jerry

When not involved in his research work, Dr Prashanth loves to watch Tom and Jerry, Mr. Bean, and some Telugu comedy movies. He is a bookworm as well. “I buy a book during every trip and finish reading it by the time I travel. I did this across all 90+ countries I traveled,” smiles the scientist whose favourite book is “Transcendence: Conversation between APJ Abdul Kalam and Pramukh Swamiji” which he even gifted to at least 100 people.

Follow Dr Prashanth N Suravajhala on LinkedIn

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Mountain flavours: Local meets global at NAAR by Chef Prateek Sadhu

(October 27, 2024) On a balmy September afternoon, I made my way to the Le Cirque Signature Restaurant at The Leela Palace, Bengaluru to sample ‘Mountain Flavours’ as part of a four-city Himalayan cuisine tour that saw Prateek Sadhu’s first pop-up with his latest venture, NAAR, in collaboration with Conosh. Showcasing ingredients from Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, like the local ragi, foraged sea buckthorn, citrus fruits and timru, a local pepper, the seven-course meal was a nod to his culinary acumen. A chef who is following his heart to showcase the stunning array of Indian cuisine to the world, Prateek Sadhu has many aces up his very able sleeve. Although he says his decision to be a chef was "very unplanned," Chef Prateek Sadhu has had a stellar run. After four years at Taj properties in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, he went onto graduate with double gold medals from The Culinary Institute of America. Chef Prateek has worked at top restaurants around the world, before returning to start Masque in Mumbai, and NAAR, his ode to Indian mountain food, in Himachal Pradesh. [caption id="attachment_58746" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Chef Prateek Sadhu, founder, NAAR[/caption] Rewinding to the Past I caught up with him

globalindian.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/chef-prateek-1.webp" alt="Chef Prateek Sadhu | NAAR | Masque Mumbai | Global Indian" width="640" height="457" /> Chef Prateek Sadhu, founder, NAAR[/caption]

Rewinding to the Past

I caught up with him recently over a phone call where he told Global Indian that he never really planned to be a Chef. Instead was always hoping to be a pilot - yes, you read that right. Born in Baramulla, he spent his formative years in Kashmir, but had to move to Delhi in the 1990s because of the political disturbances at that time. After doing some part of his schooling, his family moved back to Jammu where he did his high schooling. “I always wanted to be a pilot, but I guess life always has different plans for you, and hence I landed in a hotel school. This was very unplanned. I never thought of or ever intended to be a chef and it never crossed my mind. But I graduated from there and started my Chef life,” he reminisces.

Experiences Galore

Post graduation, his first job was at the Taj Group, where he worked for almost four years at their Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore properties. He then joined The Culinary Institute of America, where he graduated with double gold medals. This set the tone for this global journey, one that saw him work at well-known names like Alinea, The French Laundry, Bourbon Steak, Le Bernardin, and did a small internship with Rene Redzepi at Noma.

“I was always cooking European style food with some minor nuances of cooking styles. And for me working at those restaurants was not about cooking or learning a recipe but rather it was mostly about the thought process. So, if you are looking at the tomato, for instance, what are you thinking and why? The takeaway was about how we were arriving at the flavours and how ingredients were being used in different ways and forms,” Chef Prateek explains. "It was fantastic and fascinating at the same time. And growing in my career then, these were the things that really helped me to find my own voice and helped me find my mindset as far as food was concerned,” he says.

[caption id="attachment_58747" align="aligncenter" width="693"] Chef Prateek Sadhu | NAAR | Masque Mumbai | Global Indian Chef Prateek Sadhu in the kitchens at NAAR[/caption]

Coming Home

After a job at The Pierre Hotel, New York, he returned to India as sous chef at Le Cirque Signature in Bengaluru, incidentally where he showcased NAAR as a popup. In 2016 he opened Masque in Mumbai. “While I was in the school, I would be doing a lot of these internships as I was there. With this, the global restaurant culture was getting imbibed in my mind, even as I had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest chefs of my generation. So, I think there was always this seed in my mind that whenever I move back to India, I would open my own restaurant,” he says.

He was also clear that this restaurant would speak the soul of India in terms of ingredients, and food culture. After moving back to India in 2012, he started Masque in Mumbai with entrepreneur Aditi Dugar and ran it for close to seven years winning numerous accolades along the way including a spot in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2021.

Finding his Calling

In 2022 however, he parted ways with Masque and started travelling the length and breadth of the country extensively. “Honestly, just to understand my own country. It's not that just because you are from India, you understand it’s food culture. For instance, curry leaves may be a commonplace ingredient for one person but in Kashmir it was alien to me when I was growing up. And that is a blessing for chefs as in our country, we have so many different food cultures and I started traveling and understanding what real Indian food means,” he says.

And this is how NAAR was born, with its soul in the mountains and nestled within Amaya, a boutique property in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district. “I want to tell the story of India through a very different lens of what Indian mountain food means to all Indians,” he says. Admitting that this is arguably the best time to be in the Indian food and beverage industry, he says that he wanted a smaller restaurant as this was what was available. “The restaurant is a 16-seater space as these were old farming terraces that were abandoned and we took the space without disturbing the rest of the ecology.”

Food Files

[caption id="attachment_58750" align="alignnone" width="850"] Chef Prateek Sadhu | NAAR | Masque Mumbai | Global Indian NAAR creations[/caption]

Apart from being sustainable, the restaurant showcases six menus through the year as a nod to the changing seasons. But Prateek Sadhu is clear that his focus is not just about ingredients but rather showcasing food culture. “This whole ingredient forward thing is hyped. Every restaurant is Indian driven. Who is not using ingredients? At the end of the day, we are trying to showcase where we are, the kind of ingredients that we work with and source locally,” he opines. His process involves understanding how locals use ingredients before interpreting them in his own way.

Quiz him on what food means to him and pat comes his reply. “I love to eat food, which is very familiar to me. It can be a flavour of spice or chili and or even umami for that matter. My food philosophy is very simple. It's a very personal lens to the food. If you give me a potato to maybe cook in the way which is very familiar to you, you know the taste will be very familiar, but the way I arrive on those flavours might be very different.” Fortunately for him, the Himalayan belt is blessed with many different ingredients and different techniques. “I usually take those techniques and sort of cook with them. My vision to really put Indian food on the global map. The idea is to put Indian food on one of the biggest stages in the world and NAAR is just a small, humble attempt for that.” For someone who believes he can walk away from anything, he admits that doing the same thing becomes boring and he is always looking at doing something different. Indian food is having a moment and NAAR is certainly having a lot to do with it.

Follow Chef Prateek Sadhu on LinkedIn and NAAR on Instagram.

Rahul Mehrotra: Architect, urbanist and educator behind the Masterplan for Mumbai

(September 26, 2024) Over the course of a practice spanning more than thirty years, Rahul Mehrotra has entrenched himself in Mumbai's architectural history, with his name featuring alongside icons like IM Qadri and Charles Correa. The founder of RMA Architects, Mehrotra is multi-faceted personality, an architect, urbanist, author and an educator as well - he is the Professor of Urban Design and Planning at the Department of Urban Planning and Design at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. His range of projects has been equally vast, from art spaces and boutiques, designing offices, homes and factories to recycling urban land and master planning the Maximum City. RMA has designed and executed a vast rangeof projects, from corporate campuses to private homes, as well as conservation and land recycling projects. Mehrotra led the design of Hewlett Packard's software campus in Bengaluru and a campus for the NGO Magic Bus. He also oversaw the restoration of the Oval Maidan and Chowmahalla and Falaknuma Palaces in Hyderabad and completed a masterplan for the conservation of the Taj Mahal. The firm also designed and built a social housing project, Hathigaon, in Rajasthan, for 100 elephants and their caretakers. He is a leading voice in

s a leading voice in the modern discourse on urbanism, and is known for being driven by academic research. Global Indian looks at the journey of this master architect.

[caption id="attachment_30400" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Hathigaon. Photo: RMA Architects[/caption]

Discovering architecture

Born in Delhi, Mehrotra moved to Mumbai with his family as a child, where his father managed machine-tool factories. The family moved around Mumbai often and Mehrotra soon learned to enjoy the transitions. "I loved going into a new space, arranging and re-arranging," he told Harvard Magazine. It sparked an interest that led him to enroll himself into a degree in architecture at CEPT Univerity in Ahmedabad, because he "loved architecture from the start." From there, he went to the GSD, where he met his wife Nondita.

In 1987, he completed his postgraduate study at Harvard University, writing a thesis on Mumbai. He returned then to his beloved home city, where he went on to set up his practice, RMA Architects, in 1990. It was not a decision many Indians made at the time - to return home from abroad, much less to set up a business. "I was just so charged up about what was happening in India that I didn't even think about staying in the US," he said, to Harvard Magazine.

[caption id="attachment_30401" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Rahul Mehrotra. Photo: RMA Architects[/caption]

From Boston to Bombay

"I prepared myself to work in the city in a way that allowed me to distill the kind of issues I wanted to engage with," he told STIRWorld.
"In retrospect, I see I had actually studied the city very intensely, both as an undergraduate at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, where I looked at the architecture of Bombay, and later, at Harvard University, as a postgraduate where my thesis was also on Mumbai. I was trying to read and understand the city, its character, its planning processes and the patterns that made the place unique."

Mehrotra's first tryst with teaching came in 2002, when he was offered a job at the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. By this time, RMA Architects was over a decade old and Mehrotra, who had a considerable body of work to his credit, had already discovered an interest in theory and analysis.

These were the early days of liberalisation and as the country witnessed a dramatic shift, so did the approach to architecture. The government stepped away from the private sector and India began its slow transition away from socialism and into a capitalist structure.

The transition from Bombay to Mumbai

"As capital realised its value (rather haphazardly) in Mumbai, slow and steady devastation began - its many historic forms ruptured, then interstitial spaces became opportunities as places of least resistance to change," Mehrotra said, in an interview with Metropolis Magazine. The transition to modernity reminded Mehrotra of an urban apocalypse, which is where he feared the city was headed.

Housing was a priority but the answer seemed to be in quick-fix solutions through pre-fab units at the edge of the city. "Nobody ever goes to live there. Often, designing for transitions takes us in an unexpected direction and is messy and may not result in cohesive architectonic images. But that's the only way we will achieve our real goals and not be caught in illusions of having solved the problem."

The Art District

However, as the city turned to modernity, Mehrotra became involved in the movement to preserve Mumbai's historic Fort District. When the economic liberalisation led to an upturn in the city's art scene, Mehrotra's firm, then still in its infancy, was hired to design seven art galleries there. He was already picturing the larger scheme of things and viualising a designated art district. He staged art installations on the streets, hoping to make the new art galleries more welcoming to the public.

[caption id="attachment_30402" align="aligncenter" width="748"] Sakshi Art Gallery | Rahul Mehrotra Sakshi Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda[/caption]

Mehrotra's pioneering efforts towards conservation and land recycling would become legislation, through the 1995 presevation act. Until 2005, Mehrotra continued to advise the Urban Design Research Institute.

Reviving royal legacies

In 2000, Rahul Mehrotra was invited to advise the government on the conservation of the Taj Mahal. He created the Taj Mahal Conservation Collaborative, with a seven-member team comprising experts in engineering, landscape architecture and conservation. He led the team to formulate a conservation plan of the site.

Led by Princess Esra, returned to India from England, the historic Chowmahalla and Falaknuma Palaces were restored to their former glory. For this, she enlisted the help of Rahul Mehrotra. "Together, they worked on the mammoth task of bringing together artisans, structural engineers and historians, to study and document all the material they found during the course of their literal and metaphorical digging," according to the Architectural Digest, which has listed Mehrotra on their AD50 list.

Public spaces in the urban jungle

"We needed a gradation of spaces, so the client could still have some space for her private use, but a majority would be open to the public," Mehrotra told AD. The Chowmahalla restoration work continued over the course of a decade and in 2010, it won UNESCO's Conservation Award.

The palace sees almost 5000 visitors on weekends and is now a full-fledged museum. "Restoring the physical fabric was a challenge," Mehrotra said. "Since this was not seen as an income-generating prospect, the interventions were minimum and the conservation work was done keeping in mind the safety and maintenance of the building." The idea was not just to invite the public into the structure but to step into the story itself.

[caption id="attachment_30403" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Chowmahalla Palace Complex. Photo: RMA Architects[/caption]

Rahul Mehrotra - A prolific author

Over the years, Mehrotra has written extensively on architecture, conservation and urban plannign and design. His it he co-author of Bombay: the Cities Within, a magnum opus that covers the city's urban history from the 1600s to the present, Bangananga: Sacred Tank, Public Places Bombay, and Bombay to Mumbai: Changing Perspectives. In 2011, he wrote 'Architecture in India - Since 1990,' a look at contemporary architecture in India.

Mehrotra has also curated exhibitions including one at the NGMA Mumbai in 2017, titled The State of Architecture: Practices and Processes in India. In 2018, he co-curated 'The State of Housing: Realities, Aspirations and Imaginaries in India'.

In 2014, Mehrotra became a member of the International Committee of Architecture Critics and is part of the Steering Committee of the Lasmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard.

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Amar Singh: Indian-origin Sikh’s ‘Turbans 4 Australia’ helps Aussies in need

(November 29, 2022) Australians still remember the Black Summer bushfires of 2019 that destroyed 24 million hectares across the country, including New South Wales. At a time when the government and locals came together to help, a non-profit, Turbans 4 Australia, spearheaded by an Indian-origin Sikh, was among those who jumped into action to deliver food, water and groceries to New South Wales’ South Coast throughout the bushfire season. For an organisation that was launched just four years prior, founder Amar Singh did everything possible to serve the locals in their darkest time. "From 2015 to 2019, it was a slow start for Turbans 4 Australia as I was busy running my business simultaneously. However, it was after the 2019 bushfires that Turbans 4 Australia really took off, and we haven't stopped since then," says Singh, whose nonprofit has supported the community during floods, bushfires and the pandemic. His untiring work for the people of the country helped him win NSW Australian of The Year award 2023 - which he calls a "huge honour." "This achievement is a milestone for us," says Amar as he connects with Global Indian from Prestons. [caption id="attachment_32250" align="aligncenter" width="648"] Amar Singh is the founder of Turbans

evement is a milestone for us," says Amar as he connects with Global Indian from Prestons.

[caption id="attachment_32250" align="aligncenter" width="648"] Amar Singh Global Indian Amar Singh is the founder of Turbans 4 Australia[/caption]

A new country and a new culture

It was right after finishing Class 10 that Singh and his family boarded his first flight to Australia in 1998. Coming from a farming background in Nabha district of Punjab, the family relocated to a new country for a better life. However, the shift wasn't easy for the then 15-year-old who had to leave behind all his friends for a "new country with no friends." "There was no Facetime or WhatsApp back then. A 21-minute calling card would cost 20 AUD. For three years, I wrote letters to my friend Karamveer, from close friends, we had become pen pals. I missed the comfort of my life in Punjab," he reminisces with a smile.

While the sentimental value of the known kept him rooted to his past, moving continents was a "cultural shock" for Amar as the high school environment was "totally different" for him. "I grew up listening to the commands from our teachers. But when I stepped in school here, it was very open. We could attend or bunk classes, or interact with our teachers," he says.

Singh went onto study aircraft maintenance engineering in the early 2000s, which later landed him a government job. But he was keen to start something of his own, and in 2004, he launched his trucking company - something he's still at, along with Turbans 4 Australia.

[caption id="attachment_32251" align="aligncenter" width="557"] Indian origin Amar Singh Amar Singh won the Australian of the Year award 2023 for helping Aussies in need.[/caption]

His brush with racism

While the nonprofit took shape in 2016, Singh's first brush with racism happened within his first month in Australia. "I got into a fight in the first month in school, and was suspended. Students would bully me, directly or indirectly," reveals Singh, adding that he was the only Sikh in his school at that time. "I was the only person of this skin colour and religion. It took me a lot of time to fit in, and initially, it was disheartening."

"There was one girl who was Indian but she was born in Australia, so it was easy for her. I knew English but didn't have the Australian accent. She had friends while I had lost my support system," recalls Singh who says that things have changed for the better in the last eight-ten years. "Australia as a society has changed. People have become accepting of multiculturalism. Now we have Diwali celebrations in the country. During Baisakhi and Gurpurab, the prime minister now sends good wishes. Earlier, this wasn't the case. The narrative is now changing."

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Turbans 4 Australia is just seven-year-old nonprofit, but Singh's interest in charity dates back to his teenager days. "I was always involved as a volunteer during my school days - be it for a fundraising for cancer or working for the disabled. In fact, I was the only Sikh volunteer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics," reveals Singh. However, like every other migrant, he got busy with his business as he had to "pay the bills."

Changing the perception

Singh was often subjected to racial slurs. From being called a terrorist to meeting the suspicious eyes of locals who would ask what he was hiding in his turban, Singh found it hard to fathom how his religion could be a threat to anyone. That's when he decided, "enough is enough" and that the time had come to take the reins in his hand. He wanted Australians to see Sikhs as people who could be trusted in times of need and at the same time, "wanted to encourage new arrivals from India to be a part of the local community." What began as a committee of five-seven people have now extended to hundreds of volunteers who have been working tirelessly to help the locals. "Turbans 4 Australia helps Sikhs acknowledge themselves as locals, and not as immigrants," says Singh, whose nonprofit has over the years impacted hundreds and thousands of Australians.

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"Now people in small towns and countryside also know about Sikh community because of Turbans 4 Australia. When we carry truckloads of groceries in a town, they say Sikh community got the products. For us, it's not about communities, it's about serving mankind." Singh is happy that his nonprofit has played a role in changing the perception of the Australians towards Sikhs, as "we don't just consider ourselves as immigrants but we have taken the ownership of the country."

It's this work that has got Singh one of the most prestigious recognitions – the Australian of the Year Award. "Making it to the top four finalists among 1700 odd applicants, and then getting the award is no mean feat. With the award, we have definitely achieved a milestone," says Singh who is currently busy with setting up another relief centre in Melbourne.

[caption id="attachment_32252" align="aligncenter" width="703"] Indian origin Amar Singh Amar Singh's Turbans 4 Australia helps locals during the pandemic[/caption]

"It's a two-way street for us. We educate Australians about our community and how we are equally locals. And also, to spread the word that Australians are welcoming and accepting of multiculturalism." Singh believes that the behaviour of a handful of people don't dictate Australia. "Not all Australians are racists. I have seen things shift in the last few years," says the Sikh volunteer who likes to unwind by playing with his kids and chilling with his friends. "It is a demanding work. It's not just about reaching to the people in need at the right time. We have 20-30 hours of work beforehand where we have to procure the groceries or getting in touch with the right people. For us, the nonprofit is all about bringing the community together and celebrate," signs off Singh.

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Reading Time: 6 min

A global engineer: Meet the Gordon Prize winner, Indian-American scholar Dr. Azad Madni

(January 4, 2024) "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." President John F. Kennedy's words inspired millions of Americans the day he made this speech at Rice University in the September of 1962. But who would have imagined that a young boy sitting by the radio in his house in Bombay, India, would be so inspired by this speech that he would decide to become an aerospace engineer, and go on to win the prestigious Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education - often referred to as the 'Nobel Prize of Engineering Education'. "President Kennedy's speech really fascinated me," shares Dr. Azad Madni, as he connects with Global Indian for an exclusive interview, adding, "I too wanted to contribute something to the aerospace industry, and that's what motivated

"https://www.globalindian.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/GP_5874-scaled.jpg" alt="Engineer | Dr. Azad Madni | Global Indian" width="551" height="827" />

"President Kennedy's speech really fascinated me," shares Dr. Azad Madni, as he connects with Global Indian for an exclusive interview, adding, "I too wanted to contribute something to the aerospace industry, and that's what motivated me to pursue a career in this field. I have worked for Rockwell International Space Shuttle, which was NASA's first, manned, re-usable spacecraft. And today, I have several aerospace engineers under my guidance at the University of Southern California."

The flight to the USA

A Bombay lad, Dr. Madni was always fascinated by how things around him worked. But, while he loved to learn, the aerospace engineer's father was more interested in how were things being taught at his school. "My father was very interested in my education, right from the beginning. I remember, he would just show up at my school, St. Mary's High School, and would enquire about how various subjects were being taught to us. He wanted to ensure that I did not just get the knowledge from the books, but also by engaging with the equipments or machines directly," he says, adding that this influenced his life path a lot. "The Gordon Prize is all about education. My father's quest to make sure that I got practical knowledge of things had a big impression on me. Now that I am a teacher, I too ensure that my students get more than what is written in the books," laughs the engineer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i99SqN_G5eY

Playing with his erector set in the backyard, Dr. Madni never thought that one day he would be using his toys to teach several young students. "I used to play a lot with the erector set and build airplanes, buses, and trucks. Back then I did not realise how important that was in developing critical thinking and creative skills that can help you in later life,” Dr Madni says. Now, he encourages hands-on learning his classroom too, using Digital Twins, a “virtual replica of the physical system for people to experiment with, explore, and learn how the system behaves. And that all had its roots in the early hands-on learning that I had with the erector set," shares the engineer.

He was in school when President Kennedy made his famous speech 'We Choose to Go to the Moon', and it was then that he decided that he would move to the United States of America, so after finishing his intermediate. "That was the only goal back then - to study in the USA. So, I moved to the country in 1965. Back then, India and the USA were very different worlds, and not many Indians chose to come to the USA," shares the engineer, who has also authored several books.

[caption id="attachment_47988" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Dr. Azad Madni | Global Indian Dr. Madni with the President of the National Academy of Engineering[/caption]

Pursuing a bachelor's in engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Dr. Madni didn't face much problem adjusting after arriving in the US. However, "I couldn't get used to the American food. I missed Indian food so much," he laughs. Dr. Madni went on to pursue a master's and later earned a Ph.D. from UCLA for his work in the fields of engineering systems, computer methodology, and AI.

A scholarly journey

The year that Dr. Madni finished his graduation was the same year that Neil Armstrong first set foot on the lunar soil. However, as the US rejoiced, Dr. Madni faced new challenges. "Well, the plan was to find a job soon after graduation and start earning. However, it was a challenging period for the country facing an economic downturn. A few of my friends, who studied with me, gave up looking for a job and went into selling real estate or working in restaurants," he shares. Even though things looked bleak, Dr. Madni decided to stay the course. "The thing was, while I was studying, I lost my father and had responsibilities towards my family back in India. I had to earn.” It took him a while but he found his first job as an engineer, starting his career in the USA. “While I was pursuing my doctorate, I was interviewed by Rockwell International and soon started working on NASA's space shuttle programme. So, it was kind of dream-come-true moment for me."

[caption id="attachment_47989" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Dr. Azad Madni | Global Indian Dr. Madni accepting the prestigious Bernard M. Gordon Prize[/caption]

In 1994, the engineer also founded a company - Intelligent Systems Technology, Inc, which is an award-winning hi-tech company specialising in model-based approaches for addressing scientific and societal problems of national and global significance. "The idea is to advance the field of augmented intelligence and human-machine teaming to maximise the joint performance of human-machine teams," he shares.

But then, how does someone with so much industrial experience move to academia? "My company's success was possibly one of the reasons why the University of Southern California approached me to take over one of their flagship programmes, Systems Architecting and Engineering. So, I have been teaching since 2006-07 academic year," he says. Dr. Madni is currently USC's most accomplished multidisciplinary faculty with significant achievements across multiple technical fields. He holds the Northrop Grumman Fred O’Green Chair in Engineering and has received many awards for his contributions. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of IEEE. Dr. Madni has led 97 research projects and received over $100 million in funding from government agencies and companies like NASA, NIST, Boeing, and General Motors.

[caption id="attachment_47990" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Dr. Azad Madni | Global Indian Dr. Madni with his colleagues, Dr. Ram Sriram and Dr. Dereje Agonafer at USC[/caption]

A recipient of over 100 awards, including the most recent 2023 NAE Gordon Prize, the AIAA/ASEE Leland Atwood Award for excellence in engineering education and research, the 2019 ASEE/INCOSE Outstanding Systems Engineering Educator Award, and the 2013 IISE Innovation in Curriculum Development Prize, Dr. Madni shares that he is far from retirement still. "Currently, I am working on several research projects, including autonomous self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and game-based simulations for STEM education. These researches will take me at least six to eight years and are being funded by both the government and private sector.”

Dr. Azad Madni | Global Indian

But the engineer is not just an academician. Dr. Madni has a rich history of giving back and has been honoured with various awards for his charitable efforts. In 2021, he was presented with the Benefactor Award by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) in recognition of his many years of philanthropy and mentorship to engineering students worldwide. This marked only the second time in 31 years that INCOSE granted this award. In 2020, he was also honoured with the IEEE-USA Entrepreneurship Achievement Award for his lifetime of contributions to innovation, mentorship, and philanthropy. Additionally, he holds life memberships in the NAE Marie Curie Donor Society and the NAE Albert Einstein Donor Society.

Follow Dr. Azad Madni on LinkedIn and his website

Reading Time: 7 mins