Dr Ashok Khosla, Chairman Development Alternatives Group and CEO, TARAhaat Information and Marketing Services Ltd.

Dr Ashok Khosla is one of the world's leading experts on environment and sustainable development. He is a former director of UNEP (United Nations Environment Program). He was awarded the 2002 United Nations Sasakawa Environment Prize and the 2004 Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award of the Schwab Foundation. He is President of the Club of Rome, a global think tank. He has just received an OBE from Queen in the UK for services to rural development in India. Ashok Khosla is the President of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a democratic organization of more than 1, 000 government and NGO member organizations, and some 10,000 volunteer scientists in more than 150 countries. He has been a board member of numerous global environmental organizations including the World Conservation Union and WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature).

Victor Lyons, Inventor of the TARA Akshar programme

Lyons was trained in the field of mental health and specialised in PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). He has been a practitioner, and a trainer of practitioners, and instigated delivery centres in both the UK and the US. In a parallel career, he created a succession of software programmes in the UK and the US which became market leaders: in the insurance field; in the eCommerce field; in the HR field; and in eLearning. In 1998, he was awarded the prestigious Editors Choice Award by PC Magazine in the US for best eCommerce software, thus beating IBM, Yahoo AND Intel's competitive offerings. TARA Akshar has been born out of combining mental health knowledge with IT knowledge.

Colonel MS Ahluwalia, Chief Project Manager

Colonel MS Ahluwalia, as a career-Indian Army officer, specialised in running large-scale training operations, and was a seasoned flying instructor. His expertise in training has been vital to the success of the TARA Akshar implementation in remote parts of Northern India.

TARA Akshar uses the ReadingWise technique for learning.
TARA Akshar is a TARAhaat venture.
TARAhaat is part of the Development Alternatives Group.

TARA Akshar has been funded by DFID (through its PACS Programme), Telecentre.org, Oxfam, Suzlon Foundation, Connect For Change UK and others.