Raghuram Rajan, the man India is banking on

File photo of Raghuram Govinda Rajan, the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Rajan, who in 2005, predicted the global financial crisis, is now going to lead India’s central bank as the country struggles with a crippling economic crisis. Reuters

Raghuram Rajan briefs the press on the World Economic Outlook on 13 April, 2005 at the International Monetary Fund Headquarters (IMF), Washington, DC. Rajan served as the Chief Economist at the IMF from 2003-2007. AFP

Rajan at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on 27 January 2010. Never one to go with the crowd, Rajan came under attack as an anti-market Luddite, wistful for old days of regulation, for his 2005 warning of an impending global crisis. Reuters

An IIT, Delhi graduate, and a Post Graduate from IIM Ahmedabad, Rajan is a prolific writer (his pieces for Project Syndicate have appeared in Mint). He has also served on the editorial board of the American Economic Review and the Journal of Finance. AFP

As India’s chief economic adviser. Raghuram Rajan outside his room at the finance ministry in New Delhi on 6 August 2013. Earlier Rajan chaired the Committee on Financial Sector Reforms, which submitted its report in September 2008. Reuters

His 2010 book Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy won the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year 2010 award. He has also co-authored Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists with Luigi Zingales. Reuters

In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize, given every two years to the financial economist under age 40 for their significant contribution to the theory and practice of finance. AFP

Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) newly appointed governor Raghuram Rajan (L) and outgoing governor Duvvuri Subbarao arrive for the hand over ceremony at the RBI headquarters in Mumbai on 4 September 2013. AFP