Oration

Shri Palagummi Sainath, Journalist and Reporter, Founder Editor – People’s Archive of Rural India, Chennai

Shri Palagummi Sainath is a renowned journalist, respected teacher and photographer. With a career spanning three decades, he is acknowledged as a champion of rural India, an advocate of equality, human rights and honest reporting. Sainath is one of the most influential voices in the public discourse on agrarian crisis. Having spent 70-80% of his time for decades in rural areas, he reports on real life issues faced by the most underprivileged sections of our society.

Mrs. Arati Gokhale, Central Coordinator, Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre, KEM Hospital, Pune.

Mrs. Arati Gokhale’s pathbreaking efforts have put Pune on the map of deceased organ donation in India. As Central Coordinator, Zonal Transplant Coordination Center (ZTCC)-Pune, Arati has tackled many challenges successfully. She learnt to face challenges head-on right after she completed her Masters in Social Work from Karve Institute and started her career as a social worker in Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune.

Dr. S.H.E. Kaufmann, Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology (since 1993), Associate and Honorary Professor Humboldt Univ. Charité/Berlin.

Dr. S.H.E. Kaufmann is a renowned German immunologist and microbiologist. Prof. Kaufmann is distinguished scientist for his outstanding contributions to the immune response against intracellular bacterial pathogens.

Dr. Chittaranjan S. Yajnik, Director, Diabetes Unit, KEM Hospital & Research Centre, Pune.

Dr. Yajnik, a Diabetologist, is well known for his description of the ‘thin-fat’ Indian which describes the fact that though not obese by international criteria, Indians are adipose (high body fat percent). He specializes in intrauterine programming of diabetes and has demonstrated a possible role for maternal micro-nutrient nutrition in its etiology.