Kerala's KK Shailaja tops as women dominate top 10 of Prospect's 'thinkers for the COVID-19 age' list

Kerala continues to be an inspiration in the management of the coronavirus pandemic at the international level. In the latest, a monthly British magazine 'Prospect' has announced that state Health Minister KK Shailaja has been selected as the world's top thinker for the Covid-19 age. She has been selected from a list of 50 personalities which include Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand; philosopher Cornel West; historian of slavery Olivette Otele among others.

British monthly magazine 'Prospect' has announced that state Health Minister KK Shailaja has been selected as the world's top thinker for the Covid-19 age. 

The communist leader has been selected from a list of 50 personalities which include Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand; philosopher Cornel West; historian of slavery Olivette Otele among others. (Photo | Prospect magazine)

#1 KK SHAILAJA (INDIAN POLITICIAN): 'When Covid-19 was still a China story in January, she not only accurately foresaw its inevitable arrival, but also fully grasped the implications,' the Magazine piece read. Other international media organisations like BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian and others in the past have also expressed appreciation for Kerala's efforts in controling the spread of the pandemic. (Photo | Facebook/KK Shailaja Teacher)

#2 JACINDA ARDERN (NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER): According to Prospect, Jacinda's governing “ethos of kindness” was drawing interest as a refreshing (if hazy) alternative to neo-liberalism even before it showed practical results in keeping a lid on the crisis. (Photo | AP)

#3 MARINA TABASSUM (BANGLADESHI ARCHITECT): Marina Tabassum, is 'another woman applying her mind to a pressing practical challenge, although in her case it is climate change: she designs houses on stilts to keep families safe from rising waters,' states the magazine. (Photo | AFP)

#4 CORNEL WEST (US PHILOSOPHER): A veteran voice among African-American intellectuals, West have said that black liberation cannot happen without a wholesale rejection of capitalism. He is a prominent figure in the 'Black Lives Matter' movement. (Photo | AFP)

#5 ILONA SZABO DE CARVALHO (BRAZILIAN POLITICAL SCIENTIST): Ilona's 'Igarapé Institute' has been trying out ways to protect vulnerable citizens of Brazil against mafia activity and riots. Her team has been working to make the police force more accountable, prevent power abuse using digital technology and advocates the implementation of a 'sensible drug policy.' (Photo | Twitter)

#6 OLIOVETTE OETELE (UK's FIRST FEMALE BLACK HISTORY PROF): An expert on the links between history, memory, and geopolitics in relation to French and British colonial pasts, Otele was born in Cameroon and grew up in Paris. The magazine identifies her as a keen analyst of Bristol’s impassioned debate over its long associations with slavery. (Photo | Twitter)

#7 RUTH WILSON GILMORE (US PRISON ABOLITIONIST): A seasoned campaigner against the “prison-industrial complex,” who now works in academia, he’s helped shift the conversation about responses to crime from one of punishment to rehabilitation. As the failings of the US justice system come once again to the fore, Gilmore’s radical ideas have never felt more relevant,' Prospect declared. (Photo | Facebook/National Women's Studies Association)

#8 PHILIPPE VAN PARIJS (BELGIAN PHILOSOPHER): Considered the Goffather of Universal Basic Income (UBI) movement, Parijs advocates language tax which would be paid by English-speaking countries and ban on the dubbing of films, among other measures in order to address the 'injustice' arising from the 'privilege' enjoyed by English as a global language. (Photo | Facebook/Basic Income Earth Network)

#9 MARK POST (DUTCH PHARMACOLOGIST): Post identifies his goal as “to replace the entirety of livestock production with cultured meat.” His thought has attracted investment from Google co-founder Sergey Brin. His company 'Mosa Meat' targets to make commercially viable cultured meat available to the general public by 2021. (Photo | Mosa Meat website)

#10 MAGDALENA ZERNICKA-GOETZ (POLISH-BRITISH BIOLOGIST): Accroding to the magazine, 'Her Cambridge team has shown how embryo-like structures can be made “from scratch” in the lab using embryonic stem cells (which can become any tissue) and other types of stem cell. She’s been able to grow human embryos in vitro right up to the current 14-day legal limit. Aside from its profound medical implications, her work raises philosophical questions about what it means to be human.' (Photo | Caltech webiste)