Archives: Authors

Chairman and managing director of the AISECT Group, Santosh is an award-winning social entrepreneur and a senior Ashoka fellow whose career spans over four decades across education, enterprise creation and literature. He has pioneered advancements in information and communications technology
and skill-based education and services for semi-urban and rural India. Under his leadership, AISECT has grown into one of India’s largest education, skill-development and financial-inclusion networks. Santosh is also the chancellor of five universities of the group, including Rabindranath Tagore University, MP, and Dr C.V. Raman University, Chhattisgarh, and is credited with bringing in multiple innovations in formal and non-formal education. He is the recipient of prestigious awards, including the Schwab Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship by the World Economic Forum, the Indian Innovation Award 2005 and the National (NASSCOM) IT Innovation Award; the latter two were presented by President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Besides being a prolifically published poetry and fiction writer, he has also authored and edited over forty books on popular science topics, including India’s first Hindi book on computers, Computer: Ek Parichay.

Executive vice president of the AISECT Group and chancellor of Scope Global Skills University, Bhopal, Siddharth is one of the leading voices of skill development and entrepreneurship in India today. As a second-generation entrepreneur, Siddharth has expanded AISECT’s work in several parts of the country, especially in rural areas. He has also worked on technology infusion in the group’s operations, resulting in stand-alone tech products in the areas of learning, upskilling and jobs, operating in the phygital model. He is also passionate about nurturing start-ups and leads the Atal Incubation Centre at Rabindranath Tagore University. He sits on the governing bodies and committees of many associations in the country in an advisory capacity. He has been the recipient of several recognitions nationally as a young leader. Siddharth also led the case study development on the AISECT Group’s initiatives through the Indian School of Business, which was featured in Harvard Business Review. He holds a PhD, an MBA from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, and a BTech from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal.

Jae H. Kim holds a PhD in econometrics (1997) and has been a professor at leading Australian universities until 2022. With over 70 published academic articles and book chapters, his research has garnered nearly 5,000 citations, significantly advancing financial market efficiency, time series forecasting, and statistical inference.

Lauren Jackson grew up in the beautiful Northern Rivers in New South Wales, Australia and is an author of romances who loves spending her time writing, reading, and hanging out with friends and family. She is always working on a new book.

JASMINE SHAH served as the vice chairperson of the Dialogue and Development Commission, the policy think-tank of the Delhi government, from 2018 to 2024, and is an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader. He played a crucial role in many reforms of the Delhi Model in transport, environment, electricity, education and employment sectors.

In a career spanning two decades, Jasmine has worked in multiple roles spanning the private, non-profit and government sectors. He was previously the deputy director of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia, and led the nationwide ‘Jaago Re’ voting campaign at Janaagraha. A graduate of IIT Madras, he holds a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University, New York, where he was a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow. His columns have appeared in Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Mint and Economic Times. Jasmine is on X and LinkedIn @jasmine441.

Avantika Swali is a passionate artist and student who believes in her generation’s potential to shape a more compassionate and creative future. In 2014, she founded ACE, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing children with holistic education. Continuing this mission, she launched the ACE Book Club in 2021, a mobile library service aimed at democratising access to cultural and educational experiences for children. Later that year, Avantika co-founded Moonray, a contemporary fashion line focused on preserving traditional crafts through innovative design and collaboration. Roots is Avantika’s debut book, created to inspire young readers and curious minds to explore the rich and diverse cultural heritage of India.

A self-proclaimed standardized test junkie—having taken the Common Admission Test (CAT) more than fifteen times, with scores of 750/800 (2008) and 770/800 (2017) on the GMAT, and 333/340 (2011) on the GRE—Tony Xavier is an alumnus of IIM Lucknow and is currently the chief learning officer of IMS Learning Resources.

Lord Swraj Paul was born in Jalandhar in 1931. He was educated at Doaba College, the University of Punjab, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. After some years in the family business in Calcutta, he went to England in 1966 and established the Caparo Group, a UK-based international manufacturing business.
Swraj Paul is Pro-Chancellor of Thames Valley University and is the author of a well-received biography of Indira Gandhi published in 1984. He is married to Aruna Paul, nee Vij, and they have four children. Awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1983, he became a member of the British House of Lords in 1996.

Dr Manan Vora is a double board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, sports medicine specialist and health and longevity educator, as well as the co-founder of his own nutrition company, NutriByte Wellness. Additionally, he is also a strategic partner and advisor to various health-tech start-ups, because why have just one career when you can have five? If that wasn’t enough, he’s also collected diplomas and fellowships from around the globe like they’re Pokémon cards, and also won the prestigious Edinburgh Surgery Global Scholar Award from the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh along the way.
When he’s not treating joint pains and soothing sore muscles, Dr Vora is busy being a health influencer with a social media following of over half a million! His Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube are treasure troves of fitness tips, joint health advice, and longevity mantras with a sprinkling of humour—because who said doctors can’t be funny? Dr Vora is known for saying, ‘Your age is a lie!’ which makes people rethink their life’s choices, and well, their gym memberships.
A TEDx and Josh Talks speaker, Dr Vora has won multiple health influencer awards, including the Health Influencer of the Year by the IHW Council, supported by the NITI Aayog and the National Health Authority, Government of India. Dr Vora has spoken at numerous medical conferences, as well as corporate events, sharing his expertise on everything from orthopaedic and sports injuries to workplace wellness.
His day is incomplete without dedicating 90 minutes to his workout at the gym, and another ninety minutes to spending time with his loved ones at home. If you’re looking for a dose of health advice with a side of wit, Dr Manan Vora is your go-to expert. Just don’t ask him how he finds the time to do it all—he’s too busy living his best life, and helping you live yours. But What Does Science Say? is his first book.