Economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia passes away after battle with brain cancer

 Economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia died of cancer on Friday. She would have turned 75 on October 1.

Isher Judge resigned as chairperson of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations in August. Her research focused on urban and industrial development, and macro-economic reforms.

She is survived by her husband, former Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and two sons.

"Isher Ahluwalia’s life, not only as a young girl breaking the barriers of traditionalism but as a woman making a mark for herself while being married to a key player in India’s economic establishment for over two decades, is a great read in itself. Managing a home and career is difficult, but managing a home, an academic career, (re)building an institution and staying away from controversy as the spouse of a key policymaker is exponentially more difficult," said Laveesh Bhandari in his review in Business Standard of the economist's book, Breaking Through in September.

Isher Judge suffered from grade IV glioblastoma, "among the toughest of all cancers", according to columnist Omkar Goswami’s review of the same book elsewhere.