August 9 2022: Kalaiselvi Nallathamby has been appointed  director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the first woman to hold that post.
CSIR is network of 38  government research institutes  in India.
Dr Kalaiselvi  has been director of the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute at Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu  since February 2019, where  she was known for her work in lithium-ion batteries. She will also hold the charge as secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
She haikls  from Ambasamudhram, a small town in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.Kalaiselvi’s research focused on electrochemical power systems, the development of electrode materials and electrochemical evaluation of in-house prepared electrode materials for their suitability in energy storage device assembly.
Kalaiselvi has made key contributions to the National Mission for Electric Mobility. She has more than 125 research papers and six patents to her credit.