Minister of State,Ministry of Human Resource Development,Government of India


An elected Member of Parliament, former Minister of State for External Affairs and former UnderSecretaryGeneral to the United Nations, Dr. Shashi Tharoor is the prizewinning author of fourteen books, including the classic The Great Indian Novel (1989), India from Midnight to the Millennium (1997), Nehru: The Invention of India (2003) and most recently Pax Indica: India & the World of the 21st Century (2012).


A widelypublished critic, commentator and columnist, Dr. Shashi Tharoor served the United Nations during a 29year career in refugee work, peacekeeping,communications and public information and earnestly worked in the SecretaryGeneral's office. In 2006, he was India's candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as UN SecretaryGeneral. He has won India's highest honour for Overseas Indians, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, and numerous literary awards, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.