India's biotech queen Kiran Mazumdar elected to MIT board
Bengaluru, June 28: India's biotech queen Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw got elected as a full-term member of the MIT Corporation, the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), her company Biocon announced on Thursday.
"Shaw is among the eight members who will serve the five-year term on the Board from July 1," said the city-based biotech firm in a statement here.
Shaw, 65, is a pioneer of the Indian biotech sector and founder-chairperson of Biocon, a global drug maker for affordable and accessible healthcare.
"I am honoured to be elected as a full-time member of the MIT Board and look forward to contributing to its journey of making a difference in solving challenges of the world," she said.
A first-generation entrepreneur and a thought leader, Shaw is ranked among the world's most influential people in bio-pharma by Fierce Biotech, Forbes magazine's 'World's 100 Most Powerful Women' and Fortune's 'Top 25 Most Powerful Women in the Asia-Pacific region'.
She has also been ranked number one in the Business Captains category on 'Medicine Maker Power List' 2018, an index of the 100 most influential people the world over in medicine where she has been among the top 10 since 2015.
"It is inspiring to be a part of a premiere research university like MIT, which is engaged in advancing knowledge, leveraging science and technology to address fundamental human needs for food, shelter, energy, transportation and social harmony," said Shaw, who holds key positions in educational, industrial and government bodies, including expert committees of the Department of Biotechnology and governing councils of its institutes.
She is also on the board of directors of the US-India Business Council and the board of trustees of the Keck Graduate Institute at California's Claremont.
Shaw was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 2006.
She has established a 1,400-bed medical centre here to deliver affordable cancer care to patients of socio-economic background and a non-profit research institute dedicated to treating human diseases.
Shaw graduated from Bangalore University and has a master's from Ballarat College of Melbourne University in Australia.
Ranked among the world's leading universities, the 157-year-old MIT is an independent, co-educational and privately-endowed institution, with 1,000 faculty members, 11,000 under-graduate and post-graduate students and 130,000 living alumni.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Surjewala slams Pratap Simha’s ‘vile’ remarks on CM Siddaramaiah, demands apology from BJP
Bengaluru (PTI): Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the BJP over alleged disparaging remarks made by former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during an assembly bypoll campaign in Bagalkote.
Simha made the remarks while campaigning for BJP candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath, triggering a political row ahead of the by-elections scheduled for April 9.
Congress has fielded Umesh Meti, son of former MLA late M Y Meti, whose death necessitated the bye-election.
"Pratap Simha's vile remarks about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bagalkot have exposed the BJP's despicable politics once again," Surjewala said in a social media post.
Alleging a larger political design, he added, "It is increasingly evident that Pratap Simha’s outburst is driven by desperation," and accused the BJP of using such remarks to target backward classes, Scheduled Castes, and minorities.
The Rajya Sabha member further claimed that the incident reflects a pattern within the party. "This is not one man's madness—it is the BJP’s political culture," he said, adding that the remarks were aimed at "denigrating leaders from marginalised communities".
Referring to past incidents, Surjewala said, "CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar have received death threats in the past, including one from BJP leaders who warned that their bodies would be stuffed into a refrigerator."
The Congress leader also criticised the BJP’s bypoll campaign strategy, alleging "internal contradictions".
He pointed to the party’s use of expelled MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal in campaigning despite earlier disciplinary action against him, accusing the BJP of resorting to "abuses and indignities" against opposition leaders.
Surjewala demanded immediate action from the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, state president B Y Vijayendra, and Leader of Opposition R Ashoka.
He said they must tender a public apology to Kannadigas, particularly to OBCs, SCs, and minorities, over the remarks, and urged the party to expel Simha if it does not repudiate his statements.
Surjewala also called for legal action, demanding that an FIR be registered against Simha and that strict measures be taken.
Warning of "political consequences", he said the electorate in the bypoll-bound constituencies would respond decisively if the BJP failed to apologise, asserting that voters would "teach the BJP a befitting lesson" in the elections.
There has been no immediate reaction from the saffron party yet.
