Margarita Safonova, Bengaluru, India: Currently Visiting faculty at M.P.Birla Institute of Fundamental Research. Formerly with Indian Institute of Astrophysics since 2006, previous work experience in Cambridge, UK & Tehran, Iran; Born in Russia, obtained M.Sc. in Chemistry from Mendeleev’s University of Chemical Technology (1987), M.Sc. in Physics from Moscow State University (1991), Ph.D. in Astrophysics from University of Delhi, Dept. Physics & Astrophysics (2002); research interests are: application of gravitational lensing in astrophysics and cosmology, UV astronomy from space and near space, habitability of exoplanets and astrobiology.