Anand Ranganathan Age, Wife, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	Scientist, Political Analyst, Author
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	5' 6" (168 cm)
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Salt and Pepper
Career
Awards, Honours	• Associate Fellow in the Indian Academy of Sciences in Bengaluru from 2003 to 2006 • Young Scientist Medal from UDCT (University Department of Chemical Technology, currently known as Institute of Chemical Technology or ICT), Mumbai in 2006 • Young Scientist Medal from the Indian National Science Academy in New Delhi in 2007 • Selected as the Young Scientist by the World Economic Forum at the New Champions Summit
Personal Life
Date of Birth	4 December 1972 (Monday)
Age (as of 2024)	52 Years
Birthplace	Tamil Nadu
Zodiac sign	Sagittarius
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	New Delhi
College/University	• St. Stephen's College, Delhi • Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, UK
Educational Qualification(s)	• B.Sc (Honours) Chemistry (St. Stephen's College, Delhi) • B.A (Tripos) Natural Sciences (University of Cambridge, UK) • Ph.D in Biochemistry (University of Cambridge, UK) • M.A (Honorary) (University of Cambridge, UK)
Religious Views	Atheist
Controversies	Contempt of court case against Anand Ranganathan Anand Ranganathan was issued a legal notice (suo moto) for contempt of court for not apologising to the court. The case was for supporting filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri and editor S. Gurumurthy in criticising Justice S. Muralidhar for granting bail to activist Gautam Navlakha who was arrested related to the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence. Anand Ranganathan was acquitted in January 2024. [1]The New Indian Express Apology demanded for comments against J&K tourism Anand Ranganathan, in a podcast on ANI News, commented about the alleged misappropriation of Jammu and Kashmir tourism funds towards terrorism. He further advocated to adopt an Israel-like strategy in J&K. The chairman of Jammu Kashmir Hoteliers Club, Mushtaq Chaya, expressed his disapproval and demanded public apology for the derogatory comments.
Social Media	• Instagram • Facebook • YouTube • Twitter
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Sheetal Ranganathan (columnist, business leader, strategic advisor)
Children	Son- Jawahar Ranganathan (student)
Parents	Father- Subramania Ranganathan (1934-2016) (bioorganic chemist, professor) Mother- Darshan Ranganathan (1941-2001) (organic chemist, author, professor)
Favourites
Food	Dessert
Sanskrit Shloka	Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
Money Factor
Salary (approx.)	Rs 3,08,418 (As of January 2024)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Anand Ranganathan

• Until sixth grade, Anand Ranganathan was under his grandmother’s care, as his parents were busy with their careers.

• In 1992, he received the Cambridge Nehru Centenary Fellowship, a scholarship for graduate studies.
  

  Anand Ranganathan in convocation dress

• He also received the Pembroke College Cambridge Scholarship in 1995.

• From 1998 to 1999, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the Biochemistry department at the University of Cambridge.

• He returned to India in 1999 and joined the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Delhi as the staff research scientist in the Recombinant Gene Products Group, where he worked for 16 years, i.e., till 2015.

• He wrote his first book, The Land of the Wilted Rose (2012), a fiction about a seventeen-year-old Indian Maharaja.
  

  The cover page of Anand Ranganathan’s book, The Land of the Wilted Rose

• In 2015, he joined as an associate professor at the Special Center for Molecular Medicine (SCMM) at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi.

• He authored, For Love and Honour, in 2015 and co-authored, The Rat Eater, with Chitra Subramaniam in 2019.

• Since 2019, he has been a professor at the Special Center of Molecular Medicine, JNU.

• His scientific research is about the direct evolution, pathogenesis, and therapy, specifically of Malaria and Tuberculosis diseases.
  

  Anand Ranganathan at the research laboratory

• He has several peer-reviewed articles about his different research topics.

• In 2020, the team led by Prof. Dr. Ranganathan in collaboration with the team from Shiv Nadar University in Delhi, led by Shailaja Singh and Nishant Joshi, invented codon-shuffling, a novel therapy for treating Malaria.
  

  Anand Ranganathan with Shailaja Singh

• He suffered a heart attack in 2021 and according to him, it was caused due to his prolonged smoking habit.
  

  Anand Ranganathan during his treatment

• He drew inspiration from actress Raveena Tandon to write his next fiction, Soufflé (2023), a murder mystery.
  

  Anand Ranganathan with Raveena Tandon

• He has also published non-fiction books, such as Hindus in Hindu Rashtra: Eighth-Class Citizens and Victims of State-Sanctioned Apartheid (2023).

• As a protest, he cancelled his contract with Bloomsbury Publications in publishing the book, India’s Forgotten Scientists which he co-authored with his wife, Sheethal Ranganathan. He expressed his objection to Bloomsbury Publication for backing off from publishing the controversial book Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story by Monika Arora, Prerna Malhotra, and Sonali Chitalkar, due to political pressure.

• He has written articles on social, religious, and political issues on his website and other news websites, such as the Newslaundry, DNA, and The News Minute.

• He was the columnist of the media organisation, Newslaundry, from its launch in 2012 till 2018. He wrote articles, doodled, conducted interviews, and appeared on its weekly podcast, NL Hafta. He also did a segment called Ranga Uncle’s Nichod, on its YouTube Channel.
  

  Anand Ranganathan as Ranga Uncle in Newslaundry’s segment, Ranga Uncle’s Nichod

• He had a fallout with Newslaundry when some of its employees mocked his tweets or opinions in the published articles and the management never interfered.

• He is the consulting editor and writer of the Swarajya Magazine.

• He is popular as a political analyst and appears on debates conducted by news channels on various political scenarios in the country.

• He claims to have a neutral political outlook with no preferences for right-wing or left-wing.

• As of May 2024, he has published 31 research articles in national and international journals, such as The Journal of Biological Chemistry and The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

• Even as an atheist, he often visits temples and terms his religious view as ‘Darwinian atheism.’
  

  Anand Ranganathan’s temple visit

• He gave a TEDx speech on Fighting Tuberculosis Through Directed Evolution at a TEDx event at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL) in Punjab and another at Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB) in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha on To Kill a Mocking Bug: Darwin to the Rescue.
  

  Anand Ranganathan at a TEDx event