Over the last year, we have been working on establishing a research institute which will deepen our understanding of Asia in all the major aspects that a large continent Asia deserves to be. To begin with, our focus would be on South & South East Asia. Our focus on South & South-East Asia as an academic entity will be all encompassing from politics to health and to do this we are being joined by some of the leading lights in their field.
Governing Board
Sh. Najeeb H Jung – Chairman, ASIA
Read History (BA and MA) at Delhi University’s St Stephens College, and Economics and Social Policy (MSc) at the London School of Economics and Political Science, London. Retd IAS officer of the MP cadre. Served the State of MP and the Federal govt in many positions including inter alia—District Magistrate in 4 districts, Managing Director of 2 MP State Corporations and Jt Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas at the Centre. During this period was on the Boards of ONGC, OIL India Ltd, GAIL. Conceptualised Petronet India Ltd, led the task force for its formation and functioned as its Director. Developed what was known as the “R” document for a futuristic plan for India’s Hydrocarbons sector. Responsible for negotiations with the World Bank, ADB, and IMF for restructuring the oil and gas sector leading to loans to India from the multilateral bodies. For the first time India opened discovered oil fields for joint development with the private sector and negotiated contracts with major companies including Enron, British Gas, Command Petroleum, BP etc. He then moved to the Asian Development Bank as a Senior Energy Specialist. Given the responsibility of re-building the destroyed Energy sector in Afghanistan, he prepared Afganistan’s first ever Natural Gas Sector Development Plan. Simultaneously he was Mission Leader for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas project that involved close coordination between all these Governments. He later moved to Oxford as Visiting Professor at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford—an institute specialising in Petroleum and Natural Gas Studies. He has been Vice Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia. While at Jamia he was also: a) Chairman of a Committee of Vice Chancellors to recommend changes in the Higher Education system and a number of other committees. b) He was Director on the Board of IIT Kanpur. c) Was appointed interlocutor for the Jammu region to discuss and develop a comprehensive futuristic development plan for Jammu. d) Was a Director on the Board of the Reserve Bank of India. Upon finishing his term at Jamia, Mr. Jung was appointed Lt. Governor of Delhi . He remained at this post for a period of 4 years before resigning to go back to Academia. During this stint Delhi was under President’s Rule for a one year period when he was solely incharge of the functioning of the Govt. of Delhi.
Sh. Indu Bhushan – Vice Chairman, ASIA
Dr. Indu Bhushan is a seasoned development professional with more than 40 years of experience across various sectors. Prior to leaving government service in 1995, he served in the Indian Administrative Service (1983 batch) in UP and Rajasthan States. Subsequently, he worked as a Senior Economist with the World Bank Group in Washington DC, USA before joining the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, Philippines in 1997. During his tenure at ADB, Dr. Bhushan held several key positions, including Director General of the East Asia Department and Director General of the Strategy and Policy Department. He played a pivotal role in ADB's engagement with several Asian economies, notably the People's Republic of China. His oversight encompassed sectors such as energy, environment, natural resources, agriculture, transport, public management, finance, regional cooperation, urban development, and social development. In 2018, Dr. Bhushan was appointed by Prime Minister Modi as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), a flagship health assurance scheme covering over 500 million citizens in India. Under his leadership, he also spearheaded the implementation of the ambitious National Digital Health Mission, which was later renamed Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Currently, Dr. Bhushan serves as a senior associate at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and holds the prestigious position of Ambassador for the Johns Hopkins Gupta Klinsky India Institute. Additionally, he chairs the NGO Partnership for Impact (P4i) and sits on several international and national not-for-profit and corporate boards. Dr. Indu Bhushan holds a Ph.D. in Health Economics and a Master of Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in the USA. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University (IIT BHU) and IIT Delhi, where he completed his B. Tech and Post Graduate Diploma, respectively. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Dr. Bhushan has received several awards in his career, including Population Award from the Government of Viet Nam, Global Achievement Award from Johns Hopkins University, E- Governance Gold Medal from the Government of India and Gold Medal and Distinguished Alumnus Award from Banaras Hindu University.
Sh. Rajat M. Nag – Member of the board, ASIA
Rajat M. Nag is a Distinguished Fellow at the Emerging Markets Forum, Washington DC. He is currently also a Distinguished Professor at the Emerging Markets Institute at the Beijing Normal University, Beijing and at the Advanced Study Institute Asia, Delhi. He was the Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank during 2006-2013 and a Distinguished Fellow at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, India during 2014-2022. He currently serves as President, Action for Autism, National Centre for Autism, India, a regional non-profit organization devoted to the cause of persons with autistic spectrum disorders in South Asia, and as a Member of the Governing Council of the Asian Confluence Organization devoted to the cause of enhancing greater regional cooperation in Asia. During 2015-2021, Mr. Nag was also a Board Member of Partnership for Transparency Fund, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to helping civil society play an effective role in the design, and implementation of institutional strengthening programs around the world. His particular interest is in working to enhance regional cooperation and integration in Asia and beyond and bridging the gap between the region’s thriving economies and the millions of poor being left behind and has written and spoken extensively on these subjects. He holds degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, the University of Saskatchewan, and the London School of Economics. Mr. Nag was awarded the Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) by the University of Saskatchewan, Canada in May 2016.
Ms. Sandhya Vasudevan - Member of the board, ASIA
Sandhya has been a Global, APAC and India leader with Deutsche Bank, Thomson Reuters, AXA/ Guardian Royal Exchange and the TVS Group for over 35 years and as Managing Director since 2001. Her experience covers Financial services; Off-shoring / shared services; Operations & technology; Risk, Regulatory Governance; Strategy, Innovation & Digitalisation and Social impact initiatives. Sandhya currently has a professional portfolio ranging from being an Independent Director; strategic consultant for start-up ecosystems and scale-ups; Social venture engagement & being part of a national think tank. Sandhya is on the board of : TTK Prestige; Himatsingka Seide; Electronica Finance Ltd; a Nominee Director, on behalf of Indian Angel Network, with Ascorb Technologies Pvt Limited. Trustee on Industry Craft Foundation. A Governor on the Board of IIIT, Delhi. A Board Member & Distinguished Professor with ASIA [Advanced Study Institute of Asia ], a national think tank. She is a Partner with Social Venture Partners & also a Core committee member of Sri Shankara Cancer hospital. She should be shortly joining Unitus Capital inclusive Credit & Atal Innovation Centre for Assistive Technology Foundation. Sandhya is active in the Start-up ecosystem as a board member of The Indus Enterprise [TiE] & the FinTech Chair, Bangalore. She is a Mentor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore’s NSRCEL. As a member of Indian Angel & Mumbai Angel networks she actively evaluates and mentors Start-ups. She has been providing advisory support to start-ups and organisations scaling up including one from Israel. As someone actively committed to the social sector, she is a Partner at Social Venture Partners and is part of the Grants & Partnership Committee. Recently she has been actively engaged with a national forum providing input to National Education Policy and is an active champion of Intellectual Property. Sandhya has been active in industry bodies such as NASSCOM: as Exco; Regional Council member; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion [DEI] & NASSCOM Foundation Trustee. With CII engaged in developing Knowledge systems & innovation ecosystems, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Governance, Ethics & Transparency. A champion of women’s empowerment at work through NASSCOM, CII, Sonders Connect, AnitaB.org advisory body. She is also a member of YPO Gold. Sandhya has a Masters in History & Marketing; Sandhya’s diverse experience, passion to deliver coupled with her curiosity and desire to learn enables her to become part of various eco-systems and provide unique perspectives to promote growth and change.
Sh. Manpreet Singh Badal – Distinguished Visiting Professor ASIA Board
Sh. Manpreet Singh Badal is an Indian politician. He has served as the Minister for Finance and Planning at the Government of Punjab two times and has remained a member of legislative assembly five times. Sh. Manpreet Singh Badal attended The Doon School and St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi. He was subsequently awarded a law degree by the University of London. At a young age, he joined Akali Dal and contested his first Assembly election from the Gidderbaha constituency in Muktsar district in 1995. With a strong foundation in public service, has championed initiatives that prioritize education, healthcare, and economic growth. Beyond the political realm, Sh. Manpreet Singh Badal is a passionate advocate for environmental sustainability and social justice.
Amogh Dev Rai – Ex-Officio Director Research, ASIA
Amogh Dev Rai is currently Director Research, Advanced Study Institute of Asia. Editor of the de/cypher. Trained as a multi-disciplinary academic he has been and currently is part of multiple research project funded by the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Culture, amongst others. The project he has just completed 'To study the progress, impact and challenges faced by project beneficiaries of Device Development Program (DDP) in Deploying Innovative Solutions and way forward' was funded by the DST. Another project he is in the process of completing has been with geographer, and historian of Delhi, Shubham Mishra on 'Chronoscopes of Delhi: Spatially Shahjahanabad' a web based interactive museum of Old Delhi. Amogh Rai graduated with a degree in Political Science from Delhi University in 2010, during college for two years worked as a research assistant to the late great Prabhash Joshi on his planned book on Hind Swaraj and as his research assistant for his weekly article in Jansatta. Post College worked in the Indian desert on water conservation tradition and learnt about ecosystem conservation while working on using maps, and new technologies for documenting 'Khadin' a remarkable water conservation and farming system which is in continued usage since the last 2500 years. From 2011 to 2013 studied Masters at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi, where he got a degree in Environment & Development, worked on a study of the Cheetah reintroduction plan, which concluded that the Kuno grassland was not ready for the reintroduction. As part of his dissertation he worked on mathematical modelling of Myrica esculenta. Post his dissertation he chose to eschew a career in consulting and spent four years studying the Central Himalyan ecosystem and the social processes while also being part of a meso social organisation and served as a senior administrator, during this process he worked with various aid organisations understanding funding, poverty alleviation, and trans-boundary natural resource extraction. Served as a project evaluator for several small, and large projects in the Central Himalayas. Presented papers in academic conferences, and raised money for ecological restoration projects. While studying and working in field ecology he developed an interest in understanding the economic pathways for natural resource management. Went to the University of York for another master's where he studied in a twin program and got to work on a field project with the World Bank. Worked in Kagera, Tanzania and came back to India to set up a research program in health and environmental economics. Instrumental in organising a national leadership conference in the Vigyan Bhawan on Academic Leadership, in 2018 where discussions on NEP and other issues were held. Worked with various stakeholders in researching the impact of price in pharmaceutical innovation with the President of AIIMS Bhopal, and Jammu who is a leading pharmacoeconomist. Setup Sanrachna in 2019 and has been working on innovation, IP, health economics, and access to education. Since 2021 he has been the editor of one of the largest newsletters on IP with a readership of over 600,000, which has recently been turned into a website. Serves as the publisher of The Behavioural Review. Amogh Rai is also part of the jury for the National IP Awards. Invited membership of a few government committees as an expert. A visiting Professor at JNU, and till recently another eminent institution. Served as a Provost of the SGT University where he was instrumental in setting up the Thanu Padmanabhan CCSP. During his term he was also instrumental in setting up the prestigious Atal Community Innovation Centre in association with the NITI Aayog, India. Amogh Rai has delivered 22 invited talks, panels, and keynotes in the last year alone. While also being the curator of a digital and cultural conference. He has also been part of a Venture Capital enterprise, and serves on the board of a research trust. He is also a fellow of two learned societies. He can be reached at amogh@advancedstudy.asia.