At Back Mr John McCarthy AO, Mr Neville Roach AO, At front Dr Indu Shahani and Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia
The International Advisory Committee (IAC) provides timely and strategic advice to the Australia India Institute. It assists the Institute in planning for its future and on the implementation of these plans.The IAC consists of a Chair and three other committee members.
Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia – Chair
Isher Judge Ahluwalia is Chairperson, Board of Governors, the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), where she served as Director and Chief Executive from 1997 to 2001. Dr Ahluwalia was awarded Padma Bhushan by the President of India in the year 2009 for her services in the field of education and literature. Dr Ahluwalia is Chairperson of the High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure, appointed by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India in May 2008. She is also Member, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, Government of India.
Dr Ahluwalia was Vice Chairperson of the Punjab State Planning Board from 2005 to 2007. Dr Ahluwalia is on the Boards of a number of premier research institutes in India. Dr Ahluwalia is Vice Chairperson, Global Development Network, New Delhi and Member, Board of Trustees of the International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka. She was Chairperson, Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, D.C. from 2003 to 2006.
Dr Ahluwalia was a Member of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of the Asian Development Bank, which submitted its report, “Towards a New Asian Development Bank in a New Asia” in May 2008. She was a member of the Commission on Macro-Economics and Health which submitted its report to the Director General, WHO in 2002. Dr Ahluwalia is currently Member, Advisory Group on Institutional and Human Resources Management, the Asian Development Bank. She is also Member, External Review and Advisory Board to the Asian Development Bank on their flagship study “Institutions for Regionalism” to strengthen institutional capabilities of institutions for Asian economic cooperation and integration.
Dr. Ahluwalia received her B.A. from Presidency College, Calcutta University, M.A. from the Delhi School of Economics, and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), all in economics. Her research has focused on industrial development, macro-economic reforms, and issues in social sector development in India. She is an author/co-author/editor of several books including India’s Economic Reforms and Development: Essays for Manmohan Singh (OUP, 1998), which she co-edited with Prof. I.M.D Little. Her book, Industrial Growth in India: Stagnation since the Mid-Sixties (OUP, 1985) received the Batheja Memorial Award for the best book on the Indian economy in 1987, and her book, Productivity and Growth in Indian Manufacturing (OUP, 1991) focused attention of the policy makers in India on the long standing problem of poor productivity performance in the manufacturing sector of India. Dr. Ahluwalia has published many articles in professional journals and also engaged actively in policy debate in India through writing in newspapers and magazines and participating in discussions in the electronic media.
Deputy Chair: Mr John McCarthy AO
Mr John McCarthy has served as Australia’s Ambassador to Vietnam (1981-83), Ambassador to Mexico (1985-87), Ambassador to Thailand (1992-94), Ambassador to the United States from 1995 to 1997, Ambassador to Indonesia (1997-2001) and Ambassador to Japan (27 July 2001-2004). He has also served in Damascus, Baghdad and Vientiane. He was appointed High Commissioner to India in 2004 until 2009. From 1994-95, McCarthy was Deputy Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra. Born in Washington, D.C., McCarthy was educated at Cambridge University where he received a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws degree. He is a barrister-at-law and practised in London from 1965 to 1966. He worked with the New York Law Firm of Shearman & Sterling from 1966 to 1967 and joined the then-Australian Foreign Service in 1968. McCarthy has two daughters. Mr McCarthy is now Chair of the Australia-India Council and in October takes up the position of National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.
Committee Members
Dr Indu Shahani
Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani, Principal of H.R. College of Commerce & Economics was appointed Sheriff of Mumbai on Jan. 5, 2008 and is now in her third term for the same. The Sheriff of Mumbai is an honorary post and is a link between the citizens and the Government, providing an opportunity to make a difference within the communities of Mumbai. Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani’s nomination to Boards of large National and Global Companies has provided the impetus to the platform for significant collaboration between Industry and Academia, as well as bringing diversity to the Boards of these Corporations given the width of her experience.
On assuming charge as Sheriff, she immediately launched the Women’s Helpline 1298 with the support of twenty leading NGO’s, promoted voluntary blood donation for the citizens to free the patients from the pressure of procuring blood, harnessed student energy for the Municipal Corporation’s Clean-Up Mumbai Campaign where the student volunteers would blow the Sheriff’s whistle to keep Mumbai city clean, initiated the much-needed Green Mumbai Project and provided for clean drinking water in the Mumbai district jail.
Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani has over three decades of teaching experience at the college and university level where she has played the lead role in nurturing future leaders. She is a firm believer of a student empowered teaching-learning model which places the responsibility of learning on the learner and which also promotes creative faculty development. Dr. Indu Shahani who is the first Indian to be appointed Vice-Chair on the Board of the Governors of the International Baccalaureate and has over a decade of experience with the IB. Recognised as an international academician currently Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani is Advisor – India, for IBO. The IBO has over 2000 schools in 124 countries and provides education across the world. At the University level, Dr. Shahani holds key positions at the Academic Council, Faculty of Commerce and Board of Studies in Business Management. As Director, Academics of Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate (HSNC) Board, she is responsible for enhancing academic standards of 29 educational institutions managed by the HSNC Board in Mumbai.
Dr. Shahani holds a PhD in Commerce from University of Mumbai on enhancing Academia-Industry linkages on which she has modelled the college system by translating theory into practice. She has pioneered partnerships with various bodies such as CII, Bombay Chamber of Commerce, Indian Merchants’ Chamber and other leading corporate organisations. She serves on many Boards, prominent among these are Indian Oil Corporation, HSBC, Bajaj Electricals Limited, Eureka Forbes Limited and United Way, Mumbai. Dr. Shahani is a Visiting Faculty Member at the UC Berkeley, and School of Management NJIT, USA and she is a Lead Speaker at various conferences in India and abroad. She has also developed many linkages for student and faculty exchanges with leading universities in USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Dr. Shahani has received many awards, prominent among them are ‘Women’s Achievers’ Award’ by Young Environmentalists Programme Trust, ‘Woman of the Year Award’ by Junior Chamber International, ‘Excellence in Education Award’ at the FLO Great Women Achiever Awards, ‘The Giants International Education Award’, ‘Achievement Award’ by Sahyog Foundation, Women Graduates’ Union Award for Education and ‘The KAP Mumbai Education Award’. Dr. Shahani was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Westminster in London on November 16, 2009.
Mr Neville Roach AO
Mr Roach has had a distinguished career in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industry. He was appointed Chairman and CEO of Fujitsu Australia in 1997. He retired from the CEO position in 2000 and as Chairman in 2004. He also served as an advisor to the global parent company, Fujitsu Limited, and as a director of Fujitsu in the ASEAN region and Fujitsu ICIM in India. Mr Roach is currently Chairman of the Advisory Board of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Australia and New Zealand. He was responsible for establishing the Australian Chapter of NASSCOM (India’s peak ICT industry association) and was named Patron of NASSCOM Australia.
He is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (FACS). Mr Roach is a graduate of the University of Bombay, India, where he majored in economics and political science from St Xavier’s College. In October 2001, Mr Roach was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science, Honoris causa, by the University of New South Wales, for his eminent service to the community. Mr Roach has served as a member of the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Committee, the inaugural Chairman of National ICT Australia Limited (NICTA – Australia’s pre-eminent ICT Centre of Excellence) and Chairman of TAFE Global, (the export arm of TAFE NSW – the New South Wales Government body responsible for technical and further education). He has been a member of the University of Technology Sydney’s Council and has also had appointments as Adjunct Professor at University of New South Wales and at the National Graduate School of Management at the Australian National University. Mr Roach has served as Chairman of the National Multicultural Advisory Council and its successor, the Council for Multicultural Australia, which provided advice to the Australian Prime Minister, and the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. He has also been a Director and then Deputy Chairman of SBS, Australia’s national multicultural radio and television network.
Mr Roach’s has held leadership roles in the Australia India Business Council (AIBC). He became National Chairman of AIBC in 2000 and is now Chairman Emeritus. He is also a member of the Advisory Councils of Asia Society’s AustralAsia Centre and of Asialink. Mr Roach was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on Australia Day, 2000 for service to business, particularly in the Information Technology Industry and for his contribution to the development of Australian multiculturalism. In January 2008, Mr Roach received the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (Overseas Indian Honour Award), the highest Overseas Indian award, from the President of India. In 2009, Mr Roach was appointed by the Indian Government a member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council of Overseas Indians. The Council comprises 20 prominent leaders of Indian origin from around the world. Mr Roach is the only appointee from Australia.
