The gatekeepers

The chairperson of the panel,he replaced Vilasrao Deshmukh in December after the former establishment faced flak for its inability to prevent the attacks. A science graduate and an MBA,Chavan been in active politics for the past 25 years.

Chhagan Bhujbal

Deputy chief minister

Replaced R R Patil after the change of guard. Groomed as a firebrand street fighter in the Shiv Sena,Bhujbal was a corporator,mayor and MLA. He left the Sena in 1991 annd joined the NCP.

Jayant Patil

Home minister

In the Deshmukh Cabinet he was the finance minister and had submitted a surplus budget last year. As Bhujbal was not willing to take the home portfolio (his predecessor R R Patil was the deputy CM as well as the home minister) Jayant got the job.

Ajit Pawar

Water resources minister

The nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar,he is one of the most powerful politicians in Maharashtra. A commerce graduate,he controls cooperative sugar mills,banks and credit societies in west Maharashtra.

Dilip Walse-Patil

Finance minister

A protégé of Sharad Pawar,he was energy minister in the Deshmukh Cabinet and was often at the receiving end for the power crisis in the state.

Surupsingh Naik

Transport minister

The controversial tribal leader from Navapur district is one of the senior-most Congressmen in the state. He was sentenced for one month for contempt of court in 2006 for allowing illegal sawmills to function on forest land.

Ravisheth Patil

Fisheries minister

Promoted from a minister of state to a Cabinet minister in the recent reshuffle.

Vijaysingh Mohite-Patil

Rural development minister

A powerful NCP leader from Solapur district,Vijaysingh has inherited the legacy of Shankarrao Mohite-Patil who ran an empire of cooperatives.

Nitin Raut

Minister of state for home

The only MoS in the panel,the Dalit leader has been appointed as a minister for the first time.

Ramdas Kadam

legislative assembly

A Shiv Sena leader from Khed in the Konkan region,he replaced Narayan Rane as the Opposition leader when Rane switched over to the Congress.

Pandurang Phundkar

the legislative council

Phundkar was the president of the state unit of the BJP from 2000 to 2004 and has served as a Lok Sabha MP for three terms.

Dr Shubha Raul

Mayor,BMC

This Sena leader has regularly spoken about security aspects adn demanded armed commandoes at civic headquarters and important civic establishments.

Smita Indulkar

Mayor of thane

Elected Mayor in 2007 after the Shiv Sena secured majority in the Municipal elections. Most of the city’s infrastructure projects commenced in her tenure,which is expected to end in mid-2009.

Ravi Kadam

Advocate-general of maharashtra

He is handling the state’s case in the controversy over the appointment of A N Roy as DGP,superseding three senior officers.

Johny Joseph

Chief secretary

From the 1972 IAS batch,he was the municipal commissioner of Mumbai.

Chitkala Zutshi

Additional chief secretary (home)

A 1971 batch IAS officer,she has wide experience in handling various departments.

Vidyadhar Kanade

Principal secretary (finance)

The IAS officer has served in Energy,Industries and Finance departments.

A M Khan

Principal secretary (industries)

The IAS was previously with the Medical Education and Drugs Department.

Chandra Iyengar

Principal secretary (public health)

An IAS officer of the 1973 batch,she had a long stint in the Central government.

Bhushan Gagrani

Principal secretary (medical education and drugs)

An officer of the 1990 batch,he has handled General Administration and Tourism departments.

A N Roy

Maharashtra director general of police

The 1972-batch IPS officer was posted as the Commissioner of Police in Pune and Mumbai. He has spent several years on deputation in the Special Protection Group. The validity of his current posting is being argued in court on the grounds that he superceded three senior officers.

Hasan Gafoor

Commissioner of police (mumbai)

A 1974-batch officer,Gafoor has held several sensitive posts such as the director of Air India security. Prior to taking over as the city police chief,Gafoor was posted as Additional Director-General in the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

D Sivanandan

Commissioner,state intelligence department

The 1976-batch IPS officer has held a wide array of posts such as Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) and Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) in Mumbai. Sivanandan currently has the state Anti-Terrorism Squad reporting to him.

Anil Dhere

Commissioner of police (thane)

Dhere was heading the state Intelligence Department,where he had once served as a DCP.

Dr Jairaj Phatak

Municipal commissioner,BMC

The Harvard-educated IAS official has been at the top positions in both state and central governments.

Nandkumar Jantre

Municipal commissioner,thane

A 1995-batch IAS officer,Jantre served as the district collector of Thane,one of the largest districts in the state. He was appointed the Commissioner of the Thane Municipal Corporation in 2007.

Lakshmi Venkatachalam

Director-general of shipping

The IAS officer from Karnataka recently took over this Central Government post. She has been with the Ministry of Steel in the Central Government.

G V Krishna Reddy

Chairperson,mumbai international airport pvt ltd (MIAL)

A joint venture company owned by the GVK-led consortium and Airports Authority of India,MIAL was formed in 2006 to manage and develop Mumbai airport. Reddy is the founder of GVK,a diversified business group with a focus on infrastructure projects,hospitality,services and manufacturing.

Rahul Asthana

Chairperson,mumbai port trust

The IAS officer has handled various departments including energy.

S S Hussain

Chairman,jawaharlal nehru port trust

The IAS officer currently on deputation with the Central Government. Was with the state’s Revenue Department.

P G Pai

Representative,airports authority of india

He took over as regional executive director (RED),Airport Authority of India in October last year; due to retire in February.

S P Singh

Deputy commissioner,bureau of civil aviation security (BCAS)

Took over in January last year. Prior to this,he was the assistant commissioner,western region. Singh was inducted into the police force in 1975.

M N Chaini

President,indian merchants’ chamber,

He is also president (corporate affairs) of Reliance Industries Ltd.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar

President,FICCI

Also the founder of BPL mobile,he is a Rajya Sabha MP,Chairman and CEO of Jupiter Capital,a venture development,management and investment company focusing on infrastructure,media and technology.

KV Kamath

President,(CII)

He is the is the MD of ICICI Bank and considered a pioneer in promoting retail banking and EMIs in India.

Sajjan Jindal

President,assocham

He is the vice chairman and MD of JSW Steel Ltd. He is also a director on the board of other Jindal Group companies.

Som Mittal

President,nasscom

He is a leading figure in the IT world. Mittal is the head of services business of Hewlett Packard for Asia Pacific and Japan.

Surendrakumar Bagde

CEO,maharashtra maritime board

Has been with the departments of Rural Development and Land Revenue Management in various districts.

Vice Admiral Jagjit Singh Bedi

Flag officer commanding-in-chief,indian navy

He is a specialist in communication and electronic warfare. An alumnus of the Royal Naval Staff College,Greenwich (UK) and the Naval War College,Rhode Island (USA). Prior to taking over the reins of this premier operational command,he held the appointment of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief,Southern Naval Command,in Kochi.

Air Vice Marshal M Matheswaran

Air officer commanding-in-chief,air operations

He was commissioned in the flying branch as a fighter pilot in 1975. He is a graduate of National Defence Academy and Defence Services Staff College. During his career spanning over three decades,the Air Officer has had the distinction of flying various types of fighter and transport aircraft and helicopter with over 3200 hours of flying hours. He has been awarded Vayu Sena Medal by the President of India in 1997.

Major General R K Hooda

General officer commanding-in-chief,maharashtra,gujarat and goa

He led the Army’s flushing operations at the Taj and Trident. He was also the senior-most Army officer present on ground zero during the Mumbai terror attacks.

Rajendra Singh

Commandant coast guard (western region)

He heads the western command of the Indian Coast Guard and his jurisdiction extends from Gujarat (areas bordering Pakistan) to Kerala.

Bharat Bhushan Modgil

General manager,central railway

A 1972 batch officer of the Indian Railway Service,he was appointed as the general manger of the CR on December 29.

Ravindranath Verma

General manager,western railway (WR)

A 1973 batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer,he took over the charge of WR— one of the busiest suburban rail networks — on December 30.

Deepak Parekh

Chairman,hdfc and idfc ltd

Heads the primary market committee of SEBI and chaired several government panels on infrastructure and housing.

Professor Devang Khakhar

Director,iit-bombay

He took charge as the new director on January 1,2009,but has been serving the institute since 1987.

Vijay Mukhi

IT expert

Advises the government and various organisations on IT-related issues,especially internet security. He has authored several books on the subject.

Ashank Desai,founder

mastek

In addition to be the founder of the global IT services and outsourcing company,he is a former chairman of NASSCOM and has been an active voice on all major IT industry issues.

CEO of the Bombay Stock Exchange

Vice-chairman,indian hotels

Indian Hotels owns Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai which was ravaged in the terror attack in November. He is currently a director on the Tata Sons board,chairman of Tata Coffee and Asian Coffee,and vice chairman of Tata Tea.

Vivek Nair

Vice-chairman and md,hotel leela.

He is also the honorary secretary of the Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India,which represents 1,800 hotels and 800 restaurants in the country.

Farida Lambay

Social worker

Associated for several years with the Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work.

Dr Narendra Jadhav

Vice-chancellor,pune university

He has been the VC since 2006. He joined the Reserve Bank of India in 1977 and is presently head of its Department of Economic Analysis & Policy.

Habib Khorakiwala

Chairman,wockhardt limited

Other than the chairing this leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical company,he is also the president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).

Jabbar Patel

Many classics in Marathi cinema came from Jabbar Patel’s ouvre. The 1995 film Mukta brought him a National Award.

Sundar Burra

A former bureaucrat,he resigned in the early ‘90s to work with the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC).

Kumar Ketkar

Editor,loksatta

Loksatta is the Marathi newspaper of the The Indian Express group. Was targeted by MNS workers for a controversial editorial. He is associated with several social,cultural and literary organisations.

Jaideep Bose

Executive editor,the times of india

Sarfaraz Arzu

Editor,urdu hindustan

He has been the editor of the 75-year-old newspaper for 30 years.

Piyush Pandey

Executive chairman and national creative director,ogilvy india

Pandey has been named as the most influential man in Indian advertising and the agency has received more than 500 awards under his leadership. He is also the first Asian to be president of a Cannes jury.

Two representatives of the News Channel Broadcasters’ Association to be announced

Director,Prasar Bharati

Position vacant currently

Partner in mckinsey & co,Mumbai

A leading expert in industrial and public policy practices.

Javed Akhtar,

Writer

An Urdu and Hindi poet,lyricist and scriptwriter,he is one of the most sought-after names in Indian cinema. Recent projects include Jodhaa Akbar.

Dr Indu Shahani

Sheriff of mumbai

The principal of H R College since 2000 and a visiting faculty member at UC-Berkeley,she took over the largely ceremonial post in January 2008. She was the first Asian woman invited to be a member of the International Baccalaureate Council.