Ashwin Mahesh

Last updated

Dr. Ashwin Mahesh
NationalityIndian
EducationPhD
Alma mater Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School,
Army School, Bangalore,
St. Joseph's College, Bangalore,
DMS Pondicherry University,
Vanderbilt University,
University of Washington,
Occupation(s)Technologist, journalist, entrepreneur, politician
Known forUrban Development,
Social technology,
Public Interest Media
Political party Aam Aadmi Party (currently)
Lok Satta Party
Movement India Against Corruption
SpouseSapana Rawat
ChildrenAditi and Mahiti.
Awards Ashoka Fellow (2009)
@ashwinmahesh on Twitter
Website ashwinmahesh.in

Ashwin Mahesh is an urbanist, journalist, politician and social technologist [1] based in Bangalore. After his education in atmospheric science (PhD) and astronomy (MS), [2] he worked as a climate scientist at NASA [3] [4] [5] before switching to a career in urban development across state, market and society. He is a co-founder of the public affairs journal, India Together. He also co-founded the social technology firm, Mapunity in 2006, and the electric vehicles-based transportation company, Lithium, in 2014. He is currently the CEO of his latest initiative, LVBL Accelerator, founded in 2023.

Contents

He was a prominent member of the Loksatta movement working for administrative, electoral and governance reforms, and thereafter became the National Vice President of the Lok Satta Party. [6] In July 2016, when the party decided to quit electoral politics, he resigned his position, and began to work closely with the Aam Aadmi Party. He is also a founder member of Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC). Ashwin Mahesh was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2009. [7]

Personal life

Ashwin Mahesh did his schooling at Army High School, Bengaluru and Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School (1986), Chennai and then studied Physics at St Joseph's College of Arts and Science (1989). Later, he got an MBA from Pondicherry University (1991), a masters degree in astronomy from Vanderbilt University (1993) and a PhD from the University of Washington (1999) studying Antarctic clouds and climate. He is married to Sapana Rawat and has two daughters, Aditi and Mahiti. He returned to Bangalore in 2004. [4]

Career

Ashwin Mahesh was a research faculty at NASA Goddard Earth Science and Technology Centre in USA. [1] During his Masters studies at Vanderbilt University guided by David Weintraub, he helped develop a technique for discovering newly forming stars, and this was used to discovered a star, known as 'the companion to LkHα 234'. From 1993 to 2005, he was an atmospheric scientist studying clouds and snow in Antarctica with Stephen Warren, and later working on satellite-based cloud detection technologies. [8] His PhD and subsequent work helped improve algorithms for cloud detection over snow and ice-covered surfaces, and this was later confirmed by the launch of the first space-borne laser by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter Satellite mission team that he was part of.

After returning from the US, Ashwin became a researcher at IIM, Bangalore & at the CiSTUP in IISc. [9] He was also an adjunct faculty member at International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore. [1] and Urban Research Strategist at the Office of Urban Affairs for the Karnataka government. Ashwin become a driving force behind numerous urban development projects in Bangalore including rationalisation of the BMTC bus service, traffic management solutions, [10] cleaning up and preservation of lakes. [2] He was also part of the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task Force (ABIDe). [11]

Ashwin has founded a number of social enterprises. In 2023 he founded LVBL Accerelator as a neighbourhood improvement company focused on sustainability and quality of life. Prior to this, he founded several initiatives and institutions. He was listed in The Smart List 2012: 50 people whose ideas will change the world by Wired UK. [1] He was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship for Social Development. In 1998, he co-founded India Together, an online magazine that covers public affairs, policy and development in India. [7] He co-founded and led Mapunity, a social tech platform for urban development challenges in India. [12] In October 2014, he co-founded India's first 100% Electric Vehicles-based transportation service, Lithium. In 2022 and began working on the launch of LVBL and also began teaching a course on public problem solving at the Kautilya School of Public Policy.

During the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, Ashwin helped create the #CovidRural volunteer group in 100+ districts across several states that worked with district and taluk hospitals to help them find donors for new infrastructure, medical devices and supplies. The How Institute also began working on an initiative to make CSR funding in India more impactful. He is also interested in heritage and history, and is part of the Kaliloka team documenting the vernacular architectural traditions of the different districts of Karnataka. Ashwin is a childhood polio survivor, and was a Director at Artilab Foundation for a few years; the organisation incubates product and service innovations for disabled and elderly persons. He is also an advisor to Fourth Wave Foundation, which runs the Nanagu Shaale program for full inclusion of disabled children in schools.

In 2022, he began teaching a course on public problem solving at Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad. Since then he has been advocating that colleges should focus sharply on skills and training that the majority of the public needs, rather than only serving 10% or less who seek professional careers. In June 2024 he proposed that the UGC should start a Bachelors in General Competence, comprising a set of ten modules or more with this goal in mind.

Dr.Mahesh has written for a number of news publications and has been a regular columnist in the Deccan Herald since 2019.

Political career

Ashwin Mahesh was associated with the anti-corruption initiative, Corruption Saaku, since its inception, and later played an active role as it grew into India Against Corruption (IAC)'s demand for the Lokpal Bill. [11] Ashwin ran his first political campaign in 2012 for the upper house of the Karnataka assembly, which he finished fourth. [4] He said he contested mainly to demonstrate that people from non-political backgrounds could challenge conventional career politicians. He had started many initiatives called Missed Call Campaign to raise awareness and increase the number of registered voters before the MLC elections. [3] He had enrolled more than 15,000 voters, but ended up with only 4,349 votes in the Bangalore graduates' constituency elections. [13] Bangalore Mirror newspaper noted, if every one of the voters Mr Mahesh enrolled for voting had turned up to cast their ballot on election day, he would have won by a thumping majority'. [13]

In 2013, Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections, Ashwin Mahesh contested from the Bommanahalli constituency, [14] [15] garnered 11,915 votes [6] and finished third. [16] The Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), an initiative which was launched by the business community of the IT capital of the nation, endorsed Ashwin in the Bommanahalli constituency. [9] [17] [18] He secured 6.75 per cent of the total votes polled, beating even the Janata Dal(JDS) and Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) candidates. [18]

During the 2015 city elections, and 2018 state elections, he was active in campaigning for Aam Aadmi Party. In 2022, he became the head of the Manifesto Committee of AAP Karnataka for the BBMP elections. The party introduced the Nammoora Charche dialogue with voters to create the manifesto, similar to the Delhi Dialogue it had used in elections there.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basangouda Patil Yatnal</span> Indian politician

Basangouda Ramangouda Patil Yatnal is an Indian Bharatiya Janata Party politician and Hindu leader who was the Minister of state for Textiles from 1 July 2002 to 8 September 2003 and Minister of state for Railways from 8 September 2003 to 16 May 2004 and current MLA from Bijapur City Assembly constituency since 2018. He has been a member of parliament from the Bijapur constituency for two terms and has been a member of the legislative council from the Bijapur Local Authorities constituency for one term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike</span> Administrative body for the city of Bengaluru

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is the administrative body responsible for civic amenities and some infrastructural assets of the Greater Bengaluru metropolitan area. It is the fourth largest Municipal Corporation in India and is responsible for a population of 8.4 million in an area of 741 km2. Its boundaries have expanded more than 10 times over the last six decades.

Ashwini Nachappa is an Indian former track and field athlete and actress from Karnataka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bommanahalli</span> Suburb in Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka, India

Bommanahalli is a locality in Bengaluru and one of the zones of BBMP. It is located adjacent to Hosur Road National Highway 44 (India) in India and is proximate to the IT hub Electronics City.

The politics of Karnataka is represented by three major political parties, the Indian National Congress, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Janata Dal (Secular) and the Indian National Congress led coalition government was in power in the state since May, 2018, till July, 2019. H.D. Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) was the Chief Minister from 23 May, 2018, to 23 July, 2019. Now Siddaramaiah of INC is incumbent, forming the government since 20 May 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency</span> Constituency in Karnataka, India

Bangalore Central is one of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka state in southern India. This constituency was created in 2008 as part of delimitation. It was carved out of the Bangalore North and South Lok Sabha constituencies during 2009 Indian elections. It first held elections in 2009 and its first member of parliament (MP) was P. C. Mohan

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. Ashoka</span> Indian politician

Ramaiah Ashoka is an Indian politician who served as the 6th Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. He is now currently serving as Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly (2023-), previously served as the Deputy Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly, Minister of Revenue, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Transport under the BJP government. He has also served as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare under the coalition government of BJP and JDS. He is a Seven-time MLA for Padmanabhanagar Assembly Constituency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. N. Ashwath Narayan</span> 10th Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, India

Chikkakalya Narayanappa Ashwathnarayan is an Indian politician who was the Minister of Electronics, Information Technology - Biotechnology, Science and Technology, Higher Education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood in Government of Karnataka from 20 August 2019 to 13 May 2023. He served as the 8th Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka from 20 August 2019 to 26 July 2021. He is a Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Malleshwaram constituency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election</span>

The 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election was held on 5 May 2013 to elect members from 223 constituencies in the Indian state of Karnataka. The election for the Piriyapatna constituency was postponed to 28 May 2013 due to the death of the BJP candidate for the seat. The voter turnout in the state was 70.23%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajeev Gowda</span> Indian academic and politician

Mothakapalli Venkatappa Rajeev Gowda is an Indian politician and academician. He is a former member of parliament in the Rajya Sabha and a national spokesperson for the Indian National Congress. He also currently serves as Chairman of the "Congress Research Department". He was Professor of Economics and Social Sciences and the Chairperson of the Centre for Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and taught a range of courses. He served as the Director of the Central Board, Reserve Bank of India. He is currently the Advisor for Bridge India, a progressive non-profit think tank set up in London in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karnataka Tamils</span>

The Karnataka Tamils are a social community of Tamil language speakers living in Bangalore, capital city of the Indian state of Karnataka and Mysore, Mandya, Kolar Gold Fields, Chamrajnagar, and other districts of old Mysore Kingdom. According to The Hindu newspaper, Tamil-speaking settlers migrated to Bangalore in four major waves, the first after the 10th century; the second during the Vijayanagara period; and the third, in the 18th century, after the need for government service required by British East India Company who built the train tracks in Bangalore. Lastly now most Tamilians move to Bangalore for work. However some may say both kannadiga and Tamil were there from the first. According to census 1991, people speaking Tamil as mother tongue in Bangalore formed about 21%. There are 2.1 million Tamils living in Karnataka as of 2011 Census report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangalore</span> Capital of Karnataka, India

Bangalore, officially Bengaluru, is the capital and largest city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than 8 million and a metropolitan population of around 15 million, making it India's third most populous city and fourth most populous urban agglomeration. It is the most populous city and largest urban agglomeration in South India, and is the 27th largest city in the world. Located on the Deccan Plateau, at a height of over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, Bangalore has a pleasant climate throughout the year, with its parks and green spaces earning it the reputation of India's "Garden City". Its elevation is the highest of India's major cities.

<i>Vascodigama</i> 2015 Indian film

Vascodigama is a 2015 Indian Kannada satirical film written and directed by Madhu Chandra. The plot revolves around the extent to which education system in India holds practically among students, and that the revision of curriculum is obligatory for a healthy teacher-student connect, accentuating the argument that students should lead discerning and forbearing lives rather than being coerced to study only to acquire a degree. It stars Kishore in the lead role as Vascodigama, a Kannada lecturer emphasizing his students on the aforementioned point; and Parvathy Nair as Shanthi, an English lecturer in the same college,. Ashwin Vijaykumar and Suchendra Prasad feature in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election</span> Indian state election

The 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election was held on 12 May 2018 in 222 constituencies to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The election was postponed in Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, following the death of the MLA B. N. Vijaya Kumar and a voter fraud scandal respectively till 28 May. The election saw a voter turnout of 72.13 per cent, the highest in Karnataka since several decades. The counting of votes took place on 15 May 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bommanahalli Assembly constituency</span> Constituency of the Karnataka legislative assembly in India

Bommanahalli Assembly constituency is one of the 225 constituencies in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly of Karnataka a south state of India. Bommanahalli is also part of Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency.

Dayananda Reddy is an Indian politician, entrepreneur, philanthropist and a former MLC for Bangalore Urban district at the Karnataka Legislative Council. He is known for adopting 7500 underprivileged students and giving them free education since 2010 through his foundation funded by his own businesses. Till date, the students of the foundation have planted more than 50,000 trees across Bangalore. The students have also been trained to spread awareness for keeping the city clean and green. Reddy joined the BJP in March 2018.

Nanjaiah Mahesh is an Indian politician member of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 5 August 2021. He was Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education of Karnataka in the H. D. Kumaraswamy cabinet, but resigned on 11 October 2018 citing personal reasons. He won the 2018 assembly elections from the Kollegal constituency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tejasvi Surya</span> Indian politician

Lakya SuryanarayanaTejasvi Surya is an Indian politician, RSS swayamsevak and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament in the 17th Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party, representing the Bangalore South constituency. He is also the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha since 26 September 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yelahanka Ward</span> Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Ward in Karnataka, India

Yelahanka Ward, officially known as Kempegowda Ward is one of the 225 Wards of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, an administrative body responsible for civic amenities and some infrastructural assets of the Greater Bangalore metropolitan area in the Indian state of Karnataka.

Bangalore Political Action Committee is a Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation, founded by the citizens of Bengaluru, to help improve urban infrastructure, municipal governance, and the overall quality of life. The organisation advocates good governance practices and citizen participation for sustainable development. It is primarily a think-tank that carries out research and recommends policy amendments to assist the local and state level governments.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mukherjee, Saswati (16 February 2012). "Ashwin Mahesh makes it to Smart List". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 Kumar, Manasi Paresh (19 May 2012). "Astronomer documents urban past". Bangalore Mirror . Archived from the original on 21 May 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Give a 'missed call' to register yourself as a voter". Bangalore Mirror. 10 April 2012. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "Young professionals seek to change face of India's politics". The National UAE . 5 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "Bangalore's New Agenda Setters". News Laundry. 3 May 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Lok Satta Party's debut in Karnataka not without gains". The Hindu . 9 May 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Ashoka Fellows : Ashwin Mahesh". Archived from the original on 22 December 2011.
  8. ↑ "Mapunity : People" . Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Dr. Ashwin Mahesh". B-PAC. Archived from the original on 22 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Big-10 roads ever green". Bangalore Mirror . 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013.
  11. 1 2 Arunkumar, B H (28 August 2011). "Spirit uncorrupted by disability". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Dr Ashwin Mahesh: Think beyond the road". Bangalore Mirror. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Backed by Justice Hegde, dumped by lazy voters". Bangalore Mirror . 15 June 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012.
  14. ↑ "Promising start for Loksatta". Deccan Herald . 8 May 2013.
  15. ↑ "This time, it's a 'Social' election". Deccan Chronicle . 30 April 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Karnataka polls: New voters, but old politics wins". Deccan Chronicle . 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013.
  17. ↑ "Five of 14 candidates backed by B.PAC win". The Hindu . 9 May 2013.
  18. 1 2 "BPAC experiment clicks in Karnataka polls as candidates make an impressive start". India Today . 9 May 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.