Dr. Vandana Shiva

Scholar & Enviromental Activitist, India

Dr. Vandana Shiva is trained as a Physicist and did her Ph.D. on the subject “Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory” from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She later shifted to inter-disciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, which she carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India

In 1982, she founded an independent institute, the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology in Dehra Dun dedicated to high quality and independent research to address the most significant ecological and social issues of our times, in close partnership with local communities and social movements. In 1991, she founded Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. For last two decades Navdanya has worked with local communities and organizations serving more than 5,00,000 men and women farmers. Navdanya’s efforts have resulted in conservation of more than 3000 rice varieties from all over the country and have established 60seed banks in 16 states across the country. In 2004 she started Bija Vidyapeeth, an international college for sustainable living in Doon Valley in collaboration with Schumacher College, U.K.

Dr. Shiva combines the sharp intellectual enquiry with courageous activism. She is equally at ease working with peasants in rural India and teaching in Universities worldwide.

Time Magazine identified Dr. Shiva as an environmental “hero” in 2003 and Asia Week has called her one of the five most powerful communicators of Asia.Forbes magazine in November 2010 has identified Dr. Vandana Shiva as one of the top Seven most Powerful Women on the Globe

Dr. Shiva has contributed in fundamental ways to changing the practice and paradigms of agriculture and food. Her books, “The Violence of Green Revolution” and “Monocultures of the Mind” have become basic challenges to the dominant paradigm of non-sustainable, reductionist Green Revolution Agriculture. Through her books Biopiracy, Stolen Harvest, Water Wars, Dr. Shiva has made visible the social, economic and ecological costs of corporate led globalisation. Dr. Shiva chairs the Commission on the Future of Food set up by the Region of Tuscany in Italy. She is a Board Member of the International Forum on Globalisation and a member of the Steering Committee of the Indian People’s Campaign against WTO. She also serves on Government of India Committees on Organic Farming.

The area of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and Biodiversity is another area where Dr. Shiva has contributed intellectually and through campaigns. Through her leadership and commitments, Dr. Shiva and her team at the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology successfully challenged the biopiracy of Neem, Basmati and Wheat. Besides her activism, she has also served on expert groups of government on Biodiversity and IPR legislation.

Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering are another dimension of Dr. Shiva’s campaigning internationally. She has helped movements in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Ireland, Switzerland and Austria with their campaigns against genetic engineering. In 2003, with movements worldwide she launched the global citizens campaign on the WTO GMO dispute between U.S and Europe.

Dr. Shiva’s contributions to gender issues are nationally and internationally recognized. Her book, “Staying Alive” dramatically shifted the perception of Third World women. In 1990 she wrote a report for the FAO on Women and Agriculture entitled, “Most Farmers in India are Women”. She founded the gender unit at the International Centre for Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu and was a founding Board Member of the Women Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).

She has initiated an international movement of women working of food, agriculture, patents and biotechnology called, Diverse Women for Diversity. The movement was launched formally in Bratislava, Slovakia on 1-2 May 1998. Diverse Women for Diversity has carried out studies for the National Commission of Women and the Department of Science and Technology.

Dr. Shiva is on the National Board of Organic Standards of India. She also works with the Governments of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttaranchal for the promotion of organic farming. She has been invited by the Planning Commission to be a member of the expert group on environment, the expert group on nutrition and the expert group on voluntary sector.

She serves on Prince Charles’s expert group on Sustainable Agriculture. Dr. Shiva is a member of President Zapatero’s Scientific Committee. Dr. Vandana Shiva has also worked in a feature film "Harmony" alongwith HRH The Prince of Wales . Dr Shiva advises Governments world wide and is working with the Government of Bhutan to make Bhutan 100% organic.She is working with the Governments of Tuscny and Rome to create a hopeful and liveable future for youth in these times of crises.

Dr. Shiva’s books include Who Really Feeds the World, Seed Sovereignty & Food Sovereignty : Women in the Vanguard, Making Peace with the Planet ,Soil not Oil, Earth Democracy, Water Wars, Patents Myth and Reality, Tomorrow’s Biodiversity, Stolen Harvest, Biopiracy – The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, Monocultures of the Mind – Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Agriculture, Ecofeminism, The Violence of the Green Revolution, Ecology and the Politics of Survival, Staying Alive (Women, Ecology & Development)

Dr. Shiva has been a visiting professor and lectured at the Universities of Oslo, Norway, Schumacher College, U.K. Mt. Holyoke College, U.S., York University, Canada, University of Lulea, Sweden, University of Victoria, Canada, and Universite libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. In 2011, Dr. Shiva was the Wayne Morse Chair at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Dr. Shiva has received honorary Doctorates from University of Paris, University of Western Ontario, University of Oslo and Connecticut College, University of Guelph.

Among her many awards are the Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award, 1993), Order of the Golden Ark, Global 500 Award of UN and Earth Day International Award. Lennon ONO grant for peace award by Yoko Ono in 2009, Sydney Peace Prize in 2010, Doshi Bridgebuilder Award, Calgary Peace Prize and Thomas Merton Award in the year 2011,the Fukuoka Award and The Prism of Reason Award in 2012 , the Grifone d’Argento prize 2016 and The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity 2016.

Hon. Dr. Subramanian Swamy

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Government of India

Dr. Subramanian Swamy is an Indian economist and politician who serves as a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament. He was the President of Janata Party until it merged with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has served as a member of the Planning Commission of India and was a Cabinet Minister in the Chandra Shekhar government. Earlier in Nov 1978, he was a member of the Group of Eminent persons and was called to Geneva, Switzerland to prepare a report of the United Nations (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) on Economic Cooperation between Developing Countries (ECDC). In 1994, Swamy was appointed as Chairman of the Commission of Labour Standards and International Trade by former Prime Minister of India P. V. Narasimha Rao.

He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the SCMS Group of Educational Institutions in Kerala. He has written on foreign affairs of India dealing largely with People’s Republic of China (PRC), Pakistan and Israel. He was nominated to Rajya Sabha on 26 April 2016.

Dr. Subramanian Swamy is an Indian economist, mathematician and politician who serves as a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament. He was the President of Janata Party until it merged with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Education: Swamy attended Hindu College, University of Delhi, from where he earned his Bachelors Honours degree in Mathematics. He then took his master’s degree in Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. Later, he went to study at Harvard University on a full Rockefeller scholarship, where he received a PhD in Economics in 1965. In 1963, while he was a doctoral student at Harvard, he worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York City as an Assistant Economics Affairs Officer. He subsequently worked as a resident tutor at Harvard University.

Academic Career: In July 1965, immediately after obtaining his PhD in economics from Harvard, Swamy joined the faculty of economics in Harvard as an Assistant Professor. In 1969, he was made an Associate Professor. Thereafter, he moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and he was a full Professor of Mathematical Economics there from 1969 to 1991. In 1991, he resigned from this post to become a Cabinet Minister. He served on the Board of Governors of IIT, Delhi and on the Council of IITs. He also taught economics courses in summer sessions at Harvard until 2011. Swamy now serves as Chairman of the School of Communication and Management Studies in Kochi.

Political Career: He has served as a member of the Planning Commission of India and was a Cabinet Minister in the Chandra Shekhar government. Earlier in Nov 1978, he was a member of the Group of Eminent persons and was called to Geneva, Switzerland to prepare a report of the United Nations (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) on Economic Cooperation between Developing Countries (ECDC). In 1994, Swamy was appointed as Chairman of the Commission of Labour Standards and International Trade by former Prime Minister of India P. V. Narasimha Rao.

Mr. Siraj Chaudhry

Chairman, Cargill India Private Limited

Mr. Santhosh Jayaram

Partner and Head - Sustainability and CSR Advisory, KPMG India

Santhosh Jayaram has more than 2 decades of work experience across Manufacturing, Certification, Verification and consulting. His consulting experience ranges through a spectrum of topics in the field of sustainability. These include sustainability reporting, sustainability strategy, extra-financial risk, integrated reporting, carbon strategy, Carbon finance, Adaptation and Resilience towards climate change, product stewardship, EHS management systems, responsible investment and responsible supply chain.

Positions held/holding:

  • He is involved in the development of standards and guidelines in the field of sustainability.
  • Working group member in the development of G4 guidelines at Global Reporting initiative,(GRI) Netherlands. (2012)
  • Standards Committee member for the development of AA1000SES standard at AccountAbility, UK. (2011)
  • He has functioned as a Director of the board at Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, Sri Lanka (2006 – 2008) and is at present part of the advisory committee for India Sanitation Coalition.
  • He has a passion towards teaching in the subject of sustainability and has been an accredited trainer for EHS management systems aligned to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. He is also an accredited trainer for conducting courses on Sustainability Reporting (GRI) and Integrated Reporting (IIRC).
  • Accomplishments:
  • He has worked with nearly 100 companies, various governments and also multilateral agencies spanning across 18 countries.
  • He led the team to produce the world’s first sustainability profit and Loss statement (Ambuja Cement).
  • He led the team to assure India’s first Green Bond (Yes bank)
  • Along with Economic times, he developed the first CSR benchmarking concept called 2Good4Good in India.
  • He works closely with government institutions in India and UAE in conceptualizing regulation/guidelines around CSR.

Mr. Sam Balsara

Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World

The Economic Times Brand Equity Ad Agency Reckoner ranks Sam as "India's Most Influential Media Person" for the last 10 consecutive years. Sam is also the recipient of the Advertising Agencies Association of India's Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ad Club of Kolkata's Hall of Fame Award and “Hallmark Award” at Exchange4Media (E4M) ACE Awards 2017. Sam was also featured in Campaign's Global Power List 2010.

Sam is Chairman of India’s largest home grown Communications group, Madison World , which has 26 units across 11 specialized functions, operating in India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and which in 2016 dealt with over 475 clients in India.

Ms. Ritu Marya

Editor-In-Chief, Entrepreneur Media

Ritu Marya is the Editor in Chief for Entrepreneur Media and Franchise India Media,
a group company of Franchise India Holdings Limited.
She leads the editorial desk which comprises of the business magazine
Entrepreneur, The Franchising World and Retailer adn the digital media armws –
Entrepreneur.com and FranchiseIndia.com
In her tryst with Business Journalism over the last 12 years, Ritu is regarded as an
authority on Startups and Entrepreneurship, Retail and Consumer Businesses. In her
role as the Group Editor, she meets and interacts with leading Indian and Global
entrepreneurs and thought leaders while tracking the Startup and Entrepreneurial
and consumer business landscape in India.
She also directs leading consumer and business forums across education, beauty &
wellness, e-retail, home, food & beverages among others. She has led more than
300 such conferences across various cities at Franchise India events.
She is also a regular speaker at India’s leading Business Summits including business
forums organized by CII, FICCI, PhD Chambers, Vodaforne Business Summit, E-360
organized by NEN, India Beauty Expo and world’s largest Franchise Expo in Paris.
She also regularly speaks at leading B-schools and has addressed academic
sessions at the TERI University for IAS officers, ISB Hyderabad, Birla Institute and
IIPM – New Delhi amongst others.

Mr. Richard Pattle LVO

Vice Chairman, Standard Chartered Private Bank, United Kingdom

Richard Pattle joined the Royal Air Force as a University Cadet in 1989, training as a pilot with Southampton University Air Squadron. On graduation, he commenced initial officer training at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell, before completing fast-jet pilot lead-in training in the UK. After serving in Belize, he specialized in helicopters, undergoing basic and advanced rotary training at RAF Shawbury, before posting to the Puma helicopter in the combat role.

Richard carried out flying duties in Northern Ireland for three years, before posting to the Ministry of Defence in 1997 as Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff. On promotion to squadron leader, he commanded elements of a Puma helicopter squadron, deploying worldwide on exercises and operationally to Kosovo and Iraq on peace enforcement and war-fighting duties. Following another tour in the Ministry of Defence, he was selected to become Equerry to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall for two years. This Chief of Staff role included managing the royal programme at Clarence House, logistics, and Their Royal Highness’s engagement with military units in the UK and across other Realms.

In 2006 Richard attended the Tri-Service Advanced Command and Staff College in India for a year, before posting to the Ministry of Defence to assist the development of Royal Air Force strategy. In 2008 he retired from the military as a wing commander, and returned to Clarence House as Master of the Household. He held this position, a Chief Operating Officer role, for six years, and was responsible for the execution of Their Royal Highnesses’ programme in the UK and overseas, the running of five residences, including Clarence House and Highgrove, and all events. In particular, he led on planning for The Prince of Wales’ involvement in the London G20 meeting, the Royal Wedding, the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. Richard was on the Board of two charities: The Prince of Wales United States Foundation and the Highgrove retail charity, AG Carrick, supporting all His Royal Highness’ core charities.

Richard joined Standard Chartered Bank in September 2014 as Vice Chairman of the Private Bank. His role is across all regions for Ultra High Net Worth families, including global philanthropy, inter-generational education (including the new Future Global Leaders’ Programme at Cambridge University) and UK/Commonwealth Trade and Investment.

He is married to Joan, an American, who recently re-trained as an NHS doctor. They live in London and have three children. When time allows, he enjoys travel and adventure, with a particular passion for India. He holds a BA in Business Studies and an MSc in Defence and Strategic Studies, and was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in 2014.

Hon. Mr. R.V. Deshpande

Honorable Minister for Medium & Heavy Industries and Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka, India

Mr. Raghunath Vishwanth Rao Deshpande, holds a B.A. Degree with honours and an LLB Degree. He began his political career as the President of Karnataka State Co-operative Agriculture & Rural Development Bank. He has held many coveted posts in his political career spanned for more than 43 years.

He has represented Haliyal Constituency in State Legislative Assembly seven times. He is known for his dynamic leadership and responsive Governance.

He has achieved number of accomplishments during his tenure as Minister for Small Scale Industries, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Housing & Urban Development, Minister for Co-operation and Minister for Tourism. People of the state witnessed constructive politics, when he was the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka state Assembly.

Mr. Deshpande pioneered the concept of Global Investors Meet with Karnataka being the first state to host “Global Investors Meet” in 2000. It was under his leadership and able guidance as Industries Minister that Karnataka successfully concluded recently held “Invest Karnataka- 2016” and state has emerged as the most sought after investment destination in India fetching first position among states in the country. His efforts showcase his vision, hard work, determination, foresight and dedication towards welfare of the society.

His vision to attract high-tech industries into Karnataka realized with his efforts to establish information Technology Park Ltd (ITPL) in Bengaluru. He was also instrumental in introducing the IT & BT department in Karnataka.

Today Bengaluru is recognized as the silicon valley of India. During his stint as the Industries Minister, Mr. Deshpande played a key role in bringing out one of the best Industrial Policies in the country.

He took a number of initiatives for the development of MSME’s, Power, Steel, Transportation, Seaports, Aerospace, Pharmacy, Agro & Food Processing, Tourism, Telecommunication, Textile, Electronics & Semi-conductors, Nano Technology, Robotics and many more.

Mr. Deshpande is at the forefront of Karnataka's Start up Policy. He is constantly pushing the envelope for initiatives for innovations and futuristic technologies.

He is currently spearheading the Industries and Infrastructure Development in the State. His mission is to make Karnataka the most business friendly state in India. He is committed towards providing state of the art infrastructure facilities and development across all sectors improving ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in Karnataka.

Hon’ble Minister Deshpande has traveled abroad extensively viz Australia, Singapore, Peru, Germany, France, Malaysia, USA, Africa, UK, Canada etc to visualize and initiate the best practices and programmes and policies in the State of Karnataka. He is actively involved in various activities like rural development, educational & cultural, charitable and medical etc. He is well versed in more than five languages including English, Kannada, Hindi, Marati, Konkani languages.

Mr. Deshpande’s famous quote - “Innovate, Invent, and Invest in Karnataka Your Future will be made in Karnataka…”

Mr. Pullela Gopichand

Chief National Coach, Indian Badminton Team

Pullela Gopichand is a former Indian badminton player and presently he is the Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team.

He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat. He received the Arjuna Award in 1999, Padma Shri Award in 2005, the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award in 2014.

He is the founder of the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, a world-class badminton training facility in Hyderabad, which has trained world-class Indian badminton players such as Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi and many others.

Pullela also served as the official Indian Olympic Badminton Team coach at the 2016 Brazil’s Rio Olympics.

 

Professor Patrick Utomi

Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership, Nigeria

Pat Utomi, Political Economist and Professor of Entrepreneurship is Founder and CEO of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL). A fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria and founding Senior Faculty of the Lagos Business School -Pan Atlantic University, and Chairman and Chief Executive of the Integrated Produce City (IPC),as well as Executive Vice Chairman of SmartCity Lagos, a joint holding with Dubai Holdings by SmartCity Dubai. He serves on the Africa Board of leading global professional service firm, Deloitte and was Director of The Centre for Applied Economics at the Lagos Business School. He has served in Senior positions in government, as an Adviser to the President of Nigeria; the Private Sector, as Chief Operating Officer for Volkswagen of Nigeria, and in academia. He is the author of several Management and Public Policy books including the Award Winning Managing Uncertainty: Competition and Strategy in Emerging Economies, 1998 and the 2006 book “Why Nations are Poor” as well as The Art of Leading 2016

He has passionately pursued the building of a viable opposition political party in Nigeria and transparent, accountable government.

He was candidate for President of Nigeria in 2007 and 2011.

He is a man of faith and family who is widely traveled through all the continents of the world. He has visited more than eighty countries.

Mr Prashanth Prakash

Partner, Accel Partners, India

Prashanth Prakash is a Partner and Managing Partner – India at Accel. He is from
Bangalore and joined Accel in 2008.
Prashanth began investing in Indian technology start-ups, as early as 2004, much
before they acquired global attention. He started his investing career as co-founder of
Erasmic, one of India’s first early stage funds. Priort to that, he founded two
enterprises in the Internet and Multimedia Publishing domains.

As a key member of Accel’s India team, he focuses on consumer Internet services,
online marketplaces and SaaS. He has led investments in BookMyShow, HolidayIQ,
PropTiger, BlueStone, QwikCilver/GiftBig, WizRocket, Healthcare Magic, Deeksha
and other early stage companies.

Prashanth holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from University of Delaware
and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Bangalore Institute of
Technology, India.

Prashanth Prakash is a Partner and Managing Partner – India at Accel. He is from
Bangalore and joined Accel in 2008.
Prashanth began investing in Indian technology start-ups, as early as 2004, much
before they acquired global attention. He started his investing career as co-founder of

Erasmic, one of India’s first early stage funds.
Previously, he co-founded Erasmic Venture Fund and was a Partner there. Prior to
that, Prashanth was President and Chief Executive Officer at Netkraft Pvt Ltd. He
founded Netkraft and established it as one of India’s leading offshore solutions
company focusing on retail and healthcare verticals. Before this, he was the Chief
Executive Officer of NuWare Systems India at NuWare Technology Corp and earlier
he had also founded VisualReality. He started his career at S3 Technologies, USA.
As a key member of Accel’s India team, he focuses on consumer Internet services,
online marketplaces and SaaS. He has led investments in BookMyShow, HolidayIQ,
PropTiger, BlueStone, QwikCilver/GiftBig, WizRocket, Healthcare Magic, Deeksha
and other early stage companies.
Prashanth holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from University of Delaware
and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Bangalore Institute of
Technology, India.

Mr. Parag Satpute

Managing Director and Country Manager, Sandvik Asia Private Limited, India

Parag Satpute is now the MD of Bridgestone Ltd and has held several leadership positions including MD&CEO at Sandvik both within India and Europe during his over 20 years with the organization. In his previous assignments, he has led large cross-cultural and cross-functional global teams driving collaboration and synergies that facilitate delivering on business, employees and customers’ priorities.

In his last assignment, based out of Stockholm, he was responsible for leading a project defining the long term global Strategy for the Sandvik Group.

India is an important country and part of Sandvik’s emerging market strategy. In his current role as Managing Director – India, Parag is responsible for developing and accelerating Sandvik’s growth plans in the Indian Market.

Education: Parag holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, UK, and a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from the Pune University.

Business & Association: He is a Member of YPO, Member of Regional Council of CII Western Region, Vice Chairperson of Swedish Chambers of Commerce in India and important member of TEAM SWEDEN.

Sustainability: Parag has keen interest in making products, supply chain and overall business more sustainable in every way possible. Under his leadership Sandvik offices across India are becoming more and more environment positive in usage of water, power etc.

Diversity: Parag believes and strongly advocates Diversity and Inclusion and was instrumental in establishing an award platform for mentoring Gender & Diversity champions in India. The Sandvik India Diversity Award is conducted annually in partnership with Consul General of Sweden, United Nations Global Compact-GCNI and SCCI. Every year eight individuals from Corporate, Academia, Non-profits, etc. are awarded, supported and mentored through this platform.

Sports: Parag is sports enthusiast and loves to participate in marathons, under his leadership Sandvik is supporting a program to identify young and potential players for 2024 Olympics.

Community programs for underprivileged: In his personal capacity, Parag runs a scholarship for underprivileged children, which includes financial support for their academic and overall development.

Mr Nithin Kamath

Founder & CEO, Zerodha, India

Nithin had been a stock trader for over a decade before founding. Zerodha in 2010, India's first discount brokerage, widely credited,as being a disruptive force in the Indian broking industry. Today, Zerodha serves 4.5 + lakh clients who generate trading turnovers of over $3 billion daily. With Zerodha, Nithin has worked relentlessly on solving the woes individual Indian investors face. On top of being extremely low cost, Zerodha is also the first Indian broker to offer investments completely free of charge and to introduce its investing platforms in several regional languages in rural India.

In 2014, he won the CII “Entrepreneur of the year” award. Zerodha won the BSE/D&B “Emerging brokerage” award in 2014 and 2015 consecutively. In its annual business review,the Economic Times featured Kamath as one of the 10 Indian businessmen to watch out for in 2016, who will be most influential in their respective industries. Zerodha has also won ET Startup Award of the Year (Bootstrap) 2016 and most recently, Nithin was adjusted as one of the achiever in finance sector at BW 40 under 40 in 2017.

In addition, Nithin has been working on creating an ecosystem for spurring innovation in the financial technology industry in India. He has founded Rainmatter, an R&D fintech incubator and fund that has invested in several fin-tech startups and actively produces financial innovations for the mass market.

More recently, he launched a “Broking as a service” platform, where an entire brokerage and its technology platforms are available on the cloud for developers and startups to build their own platforms, the first of its kind in the world.

Outside of work, Nithin enjoys playing the guitar, poker, running, football and basketball, and playing with his son, Kiaan.

Mr. Nirvana Chaudhary

Managing Director, CG Corp Global, Nepal

Nirvana Chaudhary, Managing Director of CG Corp Global, started working at institutes like Credit Suisse and American Express at the Age of 15. He was also working at Montys Restaurant as a waiter during his studies in London. Today CG Corp Global is a $2.5 Billion multinational headquartered in Nepal, with a portfolio of 136 companies and 76 brands spread over 30 different countries. Educated at Doon, Harrow and MIT/London Business School, Nirvana founded his own company CG Finco when he was 19. He became the Managing Director of the Chaudhary Group before reaching 30. He was elected Vice President of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) in 2016. Today, CG Corp is a professionally driven group that is amongst the most admired and respected companies in the region. With a work force of nearly 12,000 employees it has made a massive imprint on Nepal’s business landscape, and is fast expanding in India, Asia, Europe and Africa as well. Chaudhary’s are the first and only Forbes Billionaire listed family in Nepal.

Nirvana is well-known for his diverse interests and ventures—as a philanthropist, artist, curator, musician, spiritual seeker, avid trekker and a former national squash player. The philanthropic arm of his group that he leads—Chaudhary Foundation—is busy building schools and homes for survivors of the April 2015 earthquake of Nepal. He's opened Nepal's largest spiritual institute and partnered with Bill & Melinda Gates on Health and Sanitation in Nepal. He is well known for his role in Social Impact Projects. He also runs his own private philanthropy initiative in the name of his parents.

Nirvana is a youth icon of Nepal and beyond. He is often sought by youth organizations, schools, universities and young entrepreneurs as a motivational speaker. He has authored several articles on leadership and management for prominent business magazines. He became the Chairman of ASSOCHAM Nepal Chapter and was nominated in the board of UN Business Advisory Council. He was also in the board of Cricket Association of Nepal. Lions Club International and Rotary International have recognized him with the President’s Award for Social Contribution.

Nirvana is also the Honorary Consul General of Maldives to Nepal. He has served as the Personal Advisor to the Minister of Industries, Government of Nepal. He has also held offices of various bilateral chamber of commerce and industry. He has been the Brand Ambassador of WWF Foundation, Founder of Himalayan Climate Change, the youngest Founder Member of Entrepreneur Organization Nepal Chapter, and Founder member of Young Presidents Organization. He has led a campaign on “Spirit of Entrepreneurship” and just been featured as the First Nepalese in CNBC’s Young Turks and Forbes NextGen Tycoons.

Nirvana has received numerous accolades and awards from various institutions and has been voted as the 50 Most Influential People in Nepal in 2011. He was awarded The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation award for Young Entrepreneur and Philanthropist in 2017. Nirvana has also been nominated on the Board of Trade for Ministry of Commerce, Government of Nepal. Nirvana is married to Ashrayata and has a 1-year-old daughter, Araaya.

Prof. Dr. Ludvik Toplak

President of Alma Mater Europaea, European Centre Maribor, Slovenia

Ludvik Toplak is a professor of Civil and International Business Law. He received his master degree LL.M. at the University of Belgrade (Serbia), followed by a Master of Comparative Jurisprudence at the New York University, School of Law (USA), and his PhD on International Business and Comparative Law at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Law.

After 8 years of teaching at the Maribor Law School, he moved to the industry and was Vice-President of Iskra Delta Computers corporation, expert for intellectual property between 1980 and 1987. He was active in the democratization and independence movement in Slovenia, was President of the first Chamber of the first democratically elected Parliament of Slovenia when Slovenia got its independence in 1991.

He then served three terms as a rector of the state university- University of Maribor (1993–2002), and finished his active career in public service as Ambassador to the Holy See, Vatican (2002–2006). He is currently the vice-rector of Alma Mater Europaea of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Salzburg, and the president of Alma Mater Europaea - European Centre, Maribor.

Ludvik Toplak was a member of the presidency of the European Rectors' Conference and president of the Danube Rectors' Conference. He was governor of the United States Chamber of Commerce in Slovenia. In 2000 he was awarded the Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in Science award. Ludvik Toplak is also a member of the Senate of the European Academy of Science and Arts and Honorary citizen of the city of Maribor.

Ludvik Toplak published several books and articles on Law, Ecology and Management.

Mr. Inge Andersen

Senior Consultant, Former Secretary General, Norwegian NOC

  • Candidatus Atleticus degree from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences
  • Former Secretary General of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports
  • Former National coach in cross country skiing in Norway and Switzerland
  • In his period as Secretary General in Norway, the nation took in total 91 Olympic medals, of which 32 gold medals, and 43 Olympic medals in Paralympics, of which 12 gold medals.
  • Norway with its population of only 5 million inhabitants, is a sporting super power amongst 207 other nations competing in the Olympics.
  • Norway is the country in the world that has won the most Olympic medals in the history of the Winter Olympic Games with 329 medals in total, of these, 118 gold medals.

Cross country skiing in the mountains of Norway is comparable to the practice of yoga for India.

Mr. Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao

Chairman, GMR Group

GM Rao, a Mechanical Engineer, is the Founder Chairman of the GMR Group, the global infrastructure developer.

Born in Rajam in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh in India, GM Rao ventured into business starting with a single jute mill in 1978. Since then, till before India’s economic liberalization, circumstances compelled him for opportunity driven business building.

He entered 28 businesses as a serial entrepreneur and exited most of them with the opportunities thrown up by the opening up of the Indian economy in the early 1990s. As a part of the post-liberalization generation of entrepreneurs, his moves became entirely strategy driven and focused on long term objectives. Eventually, his single-minded focus on the core infrastructure sector resulted in GMR Group exiting some of the highly attractive businesses of banking, insurance, software, breweries, jute and sugar.

In his long journey, GM Rao evolved from a student leader, to a trader, to a manufacturer, to a banker, to an infrastructure developer.

Over the last 4 decades he has successfully established GMR Group, as one of the most recognized brands in the country, creating national infrastructure assets of global scale and world-class quality, creating new benchmarks. The Group is now well diversified and professionally managed infrastructure developer with focus on Airports, Energy, Transportation and Urban Infrastructure including SEZs.

While business grew rapidly, GM Rao laid special emphasis on long term prosperity by focusing on institution building as well. The GMR Group Vision states “GMR Group will be an institution in perpetuity that will build entrepreneurial organizations making a difference to society through creation of value.” A set of seven core Values & Beliefs was arrived at, to define the GMR Group’s distinct organization culture. This was further strengthened by a Code of Conduct for all employees, emphasizing on ethical and professional behaviour.

Rao believes that “Family must be run like Business and Business must be run like Family”. He made the pioneering effort in formulating a Family Constitution taking expert opinion from world renowned consultants. This is now formalized into a legal document, with all immediate family members including spouses as signatories.

He says “Strong family governance ensures strong corporate governance”. He believes that this will ensure a smooth transition of business from generation to generation, and at the same time, enable professionals to discharge their rightful roles in the growth and development of the Group.

GM Rao’s vision in 3 dimensions of business building, institution building and family governance had a 4th dimension built into it, that of giving back to society. This, he started very early on, in his career. Eventually, he set up an independent, professionally run, company, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, to channelize funds for social causes for the benefit of the under-served in society. Today, the Foundation is active in 25 locations in India and Nepal and its 4 areas of activity are education, healthcare, livelihood and community development and it has received wide national recognition for its impact in the sections of society it serves.

To ensure that his legacy lives on beyond his lifetime, he made an endowment of the entire portion of his personal wealth to the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation in March 2011.

He was conferred with the honorary Doctor of Laws by York University, Toronto, Canada in 2011, the honorary Doctor of Letters by the Andhra University, India in 2010 and honorary Doctor of Letters by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India in 2005. He received the award for the ‘First Generation Entrepreneur of the Year’ from CNBC TV18 in 2009. In the same year, he received the Infrastructure Person of the Year award at the Infrastructure Journal Award Ceremony held in London. He was also chosen as the ‘Entrepreneur of the year’ at the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2006 – 07, apart from numerous other awards and public recognition throughout his career. He has served on the very prestigious Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from year 2011 to 2015.

For his considerable achievements, he insists “All the credit goes to my GMR colleagues and my family for their understanding, shared vision, hard work and dedication”.

Mr. Mohit Gundecha

CEO & Co Founder, Jombay

Mohit Gundecha is the CEO & Co-Founder of Jombay, an India-centric highly
customizable Talent Measurement & Talent Analytics platform powered by
psychometrics. He is an alumni of Stanford University, California.
He is a passionate entrepreneur who believers in using technology to solve real
world problems. Mohit was also the co-founder of NextLeap Career Solutions Pvt Ltd
in 2010 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Mohit was also the Country Head
for mig33, a mobile community of more than 50 million users. Prior to that, when
Mohit was studying at Stanford University in California, he co-founded Mobile
Momentum with Prof. Thomas Kosnik. Mohit’s biggest learning at Stanford has been
Human Engineering where he worked with the best-in- class from diverse cultures &
geographies across the world. He has also co-authored a widely referenced mobile
industry research report ‘Future of Mobile Value Added Services in India“.
Mohit was selected among ’40-under- 40‘ by Fortune Magazine India as a part of
their 2015 list.

 

H.E. Ms. Mariela Cruz Alvarez

Ambassador of The Republic of Costa Rica to India

Mr. M Murali

Managing Director, Shriram Properties Limited

An alumnus of Harvard Business School Shri M Murali, 50 years, is best described as someone who has chosen to shape destiny rather than wait for it to unfold. With trust, transparency and most importantly, credibility as watch words, Mr Murali has created a multi-billion dollar business from almost a scratch and then steering the multi-billion dollar organisation to greater heights by counter intuitively achieving higher growth and better financial performance during the most deep and prolonged economic crisis since the global economic slowdown and this stands testimony to this deeply ingrained facet of his personality.

Mr Murali is the Managing Director of Shriram Properties, the property development arm of USD 10 billion plus business conglomerate Shriram Group, Chennai. He is also the Non -Executive Chairman of Shriram Group managing the non-financial services of the group like Infrastructure, Project Development, Engineering Services, Power Generation, Information Technology, real estate Development and more recently the aerospace business.

Murali has the unique credit of taking Shriram Properties from a mere USD 0.50 million company in 1996-97, to a level of USD 4 billion business across India today. He has been instrumental in attracting FDI and Non FDI investments of nearly USD 800 million from majors like Walton Street Capital, Starwood Capital Group, TPG Capital, Xander, HYPO, Mitsubishi & Korean pension Fund Thro TATAs, Sun Apollo etc., etc., thanks to the respect and trust he wields in the industry.

ASSOCHAM has adjudged Shriram Properties as the “Best Developer of Southern region”-three years in succession. And also, as “The Best Realty Investment Partner in India” and the “Most Transparent Developer in the Southern region”. None less then the previous Honourable Union Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs Shri. Venkaiah Naidu honoured Mr Murali with these awards.

Mr. Himanshu Gulati

Member Of Parliament, Kingdom of Norway

Himanshu Gulati is a Member of Parliament in the Kingdom of Norway, representing the Progress Party. He has been State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Public Security since October 2013. He has also held the position of Chairperson of the Progress Party’s Youth between 2011 and 2013

Himanshu Gulati is a Norwegian politician representing the Progress Party.

After taking an early interest in politics, he joined the FpU, or the youth organisation of the Progress Party at the age of fifteen. He was elected Chairperson of the Progress Party’s Youth in 2012 after previously having been vice-chairperson for two years. Apart from this he is also currently serving as a deputy member to the Storting.

On a local level he has since 2007 been a representative of the ‘Skedsmo‘ municipal council, representing FrP. He was an outspoken critic of the Red-Green coalition, especially on issues of foreign policy, immigration and taxation.

When Solberg’s Cabinet was formed in October 2013 after the Norwegian parliamentary election, Gulati was appointed state secretary for Anders Anundsen in Ministry of Justice and Public Security. At 25, he became the youngest state secretary in the cabinet.

 

Mr. Hemant Bhargava

Managing Director, Life Insurance Corporation, India

Shri Hemant Bhargava, Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India, joined LIC as a Direct Recruit Officer in the year 1981. He did his Masters in Economics and also studied in Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Masters in Financial Management. Adding feather to his cap, he has done courses from IIM, Lucknow and ISB, Hyderabad.

During his rich tenure of 35 years in LIC, he has worked across various departments in diverse set of roles in both India and abroad, building multi-dimensional experience, in different capacities, especially in Marketing, International Operations, Joint Ventures, Subsidiaries, etc. He had the privilege of heading two big zones of the Corporation covering more than 15 states of our country, which not only gave him exposure of leading the zone but also helped him to have profound knowledge in Marketing, Finance, Personnel, Pension & Group Scheme, Alternate channels, Estate and Office Services, HRD, IT etc. This rich experience and knowledge gained through the years has facilitated a smooth transition into the role of Managing Director of a gigantic organization and pride of India – Life Insurance Corporation of India.

He took charge as Managing Director of LIC of India in February, 2017 and is responsible for departments like Investment(Monitoring & Accounting), Corporate Planning/New Projects, Marketing (CLIA), Personnel, Health Insurance, Corporate Communication, Human Resource Development - to name a few.

A true leader – he was instrumental in:

  • Completing the design and setting up a separate Micro Insurance vertical which was LIC’s first comprehensive enterprise-wide initiative in financial inclusion space.
  • Setting up new joint venture in collaboration with Banking industry, founding LIC Cards Services Limited and launching “LIC Card” in 2009.
  • Setting up newly formed SBU-international Operations to manage LIC’s operation in about 11 countries and also instrumental in finalizing the first MOU for LIC to form a composite insurance company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Founded the “Indian Business Group” in Mauritius for promoting the business interests of companies of Indian origin with the High Commissioner of India being the Patron.

He has served on the Boards of Indian companies including M/S PTC India Limited, NEDFi Corporation Limited & Krishna Knitwear Limited. He has also been on the Boards of National Mutual Fund, Mauritius and LIC Mauritius Offshore Limited. Presently he is on the Boards of LIC Mutual Fund Trustee Pvt Ltd., LIC Pension Fund Limited, LIC (Lanka) Limited, Life Insurance Corporation(LIC) of Bangladesh Limited, LIC HFL Care Homes Limited, LIC HFL Asset Management Company Limited, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited, Voltas Limited and The Tata Power Company Limited.

An avid reader, he is also interested in Philately, Numismatics, Gardening, Swimming, Rowing and Table Tennis.

Mr. Gerd Hoefner

MD and President, Siemens Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.

Gerd Hoefner has been the Managing Director and President at Siemens Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. since 2016, and oversees operations that span sales and service for South Asia, manufacturing and R&D in India. He is also responsible for the Development Center of Siemens Healthineers, a global R&D organization that drives excellence in product lifecycle management with teams in India and Slovakia.

From 2011, he served as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Siemens Technology and Services Pvt. Ltd. in Bangalore, India. The high performance achieved under his leadership saw the organization win several awards including the Porter Prize 2014, the Institution of Engineers (India) Industry Excellence Award 2014, and the Indian Merchants’ Chamber IT Awards 2015 for the best captive unit in India.

In 2002, Gerd Hoefner moved to Bangalore, India to head the software engineering department at Siemens Information Systems Ltd., and he went on to become the Managing Director of the company.

In 1999, he became the General Manager for SAP Vertical Integration and Manufacturing Execution Systems at the Siemens Automation and Drives Group. In this role, he worked in the US, the UK, and Italy, besides Germany.

In 1991, he joined Siemens Corporate Technology to work on international research projects that drove advances in software engineering, and he went on to head the department for Systems Engineering.

He started his career in 1986 with Siemens AG in the Energy and Automation group at Erlangen, where he worked on methodology and tools related to Software Engineering.

Gerd Hoefner serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering, the Chairman of the NASSCOM Germany council, a member of the board of Directors of Method Park Holding AG and Method Park Software AG, the South Western Region Council of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, the Bangalore Forum for IT, and the International Market Assessment India CEO Forum.

Gerd Hoefner received a master’s degree in Computer Science with Business Economics from the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

Mr. Deepak Hota

Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML)

Shri Deepak Kumar Hota, is Chairman & Managing Director of BEML and has over 33 years of experience including over three years of Board experience.

A man of conviction, leading from the front, and an open mind to “change”. As CMD BEML, he has taken major steps in leveraging Technology, Re-engineering Business Processes, Cost Control and Optimization, Tie-Ups for expansion of Business, greater thrust on Indigenization and R&D. He is the driving force behind green energy development enabling BEML to be a Green Company.

He is an alumnus of St. Stephens, New Delhi graduating in Economics (Honours) and is a Post Graduate in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He is a certified Coach from M/s. Hay, as also in Psychometric testing, Q12 Gallup Engagement Survey & Balanced Score Card by Robert Kaplan.

Being an HR person by profession and strong believer in “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam” he has brought in a wider perspective to the Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) by implementing schemes in areas of Education, Skill Development, Sanitation, Hunger eradication, etc, that express the true spirit of CSR.

During his professional career, Shri. Hota has won several accolades and awards both for the Company and himself including IPE Asia Pacific HRM Congress Awards 2013 for HR Leadership, NHRD Award for “Most Seasoned HR Professional of the year 2014, CHRQ Asia Global HR Leaders Award 2015, Most successful HR & CEO by NIPM & Distinguished Alumnus Award – (Practicing Manager) from XLRI & Centre of Excellence in Project Management (CEPM) Fellowship Award, in 2016.

Dr. Dulia Enkhtor

Global Consultant - Organizational Effectiveness, Hoffmann-La Roche

Dr. Dulia Enkhtor is part of the Global Talent Innovation Team providing leadership training and organisational effectiveness consulting at Hoffmann-La Roche, a multinational healthcare company. Prior to joining Roche she worked on leadership development and cross-cultural cohesion at Rio Tinto, a multinational mining group, in her native Mongolia. She switched to psychology after 8 years of working at various UN Agencies including the World Bank, UNDP, Unicef and ILO, in the USA, Vietnam, Namibia and India. She has B.A. in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University, M.A. in Development Studies from the LSE and Ph.D. in Psychology from GSU.

Hon. Mr. Alojz Peterle

Member of European Parliament, Former Prime Minister, Republic of Slovenia

Hon. Mr. Alojz Peterle has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004 and is currently member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and substitute member of the committee on the environment, public health and food safety (ENVI).

He is also the Vice-Chairman of the delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and member of the delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee.

Moreover, he is the President of the parliamentary group Friends of Turkey, President of MAC group, Co-chair of ENVI Health Working Group and member of governing board of Knowledge4Innovation.

Formerly, Prime Minister of Slovenia, the first since the country’s independence, Mr. Peterle also held the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs twice. He was Vice-President of the European People’s Party (EPP) and Head of the Slovenian National Delegation in the EPP. In 2005, he was appointed as personal representative of the OSCE Chairman in Office for Central Asia.

He was appointed from the European parliament as member of the Observation Delegations in Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Ukraine. He was also appointed by High Representative/EC Vice-President Catherine Ashton as Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission to Nigeria and to Kenya. Mr. Peterle has been an active promoter of cancer care, in particular as President of the informal all-party forum, ‘MEPs against Cancer’.

Ms. Supriya Shrinate

Chief Editor, ET Now, India

Supriya Shrinate is a journalist with almost 15 years of experience in print and
electronic media. She is a trusted face in Indian media and is ET Now’s Executive
Editor – News and the channel’s prime time anchor. She has interviewed global and
Indian policy makers, corporates, opinion makers and thought leaders.

Supriya anchors two prime time shows on ET Now, breaking some of the biggest
stories and covering global events. Formerly, she was with the The India Today Group and NDTV.

Supriya attended Lady Shri Ram College for Women and has completed her
postgraduate studies specializing in history of the world.

Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya

Former Chairperson, State Bank of India

Arundhati Bhattacharya is an Indian banker and former Chairman of the State Bank of India. She is the first woman to be the Chairman of State Bank of India. In 2016, she was listed as the 25th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

She was also ranked among the Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine. She was also named as the 4th most powerful women in Asia Pacific by Fortune. Last year, India Today magazine ranked her #19th in India’s 50 Most Powerful People of 2017.

Arundhati completed her schooling from St. Xavier’s School, Bokaro. She studied Indian Literature at Calcutta’s Lady Brabourne College and then at Jadavpur University.

Arundhati joined SBI in September 1977. She is the first woman to lead an India- based Fortune India 500 company. She joined SBI in 1977 as a Probationary Officer at the age of 22 years. Subsequently, she has held several positions during her 36- year career with the bank including working in foreign exchange, treasury, retail operations, human resources and investment banking divisions. Her career in SBI included positions like Chief Executive of the bank’s merchant banking arm – State Bank of India Capital Markets; Chief General Manager in charge of New Projects.

She has also served at the bank’s New York office. She has been involved in the launch of several new businesses such as SBI General Insurance, SBI Custodial Services, SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Ltd and the SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund.

She was instrumental in introducing a two-year sabbatical leave policy for the bank’s female employees to use either for maternity or elder care. On Women’s Day, she announced free vaccination against cervical cancer to all the bank’s female employees.

 

Mr. Ajay Nanavati

Chairman, Syndicate Bank, India

Ajay is a seasoned global executive with 35+ years of multi-country, cross-functional experience

He joined 3M in India in 1988 as its first employee where he was responsible for forming the JV & building the organization from scratch. In the subsequent 28 years with 3M he held positions of increasing responsibility in different parts of the world.

In 1993 he relocated to Singapore to manage the APAC region for the telecom business. He moved to divisional HQ in Austin, Texas in 1998 where he led the launch of a major new services diversification initiative for the corporation as well as integration of a large French/German acquisition.

He spent the subsequent 4 years at corporate HQ in St. Paul, MN in senior strategy & new business development roles including identifying & leading the acquisition & integration of a new-to-the-company technology venture.

In 2005 he moved to Israel as managing director of 3M Israel.

He returned to India in 2008 as the first Indian MD of 3M’s only public company outside the US. During this 5 year stint the company’s revenues doubled, market cap quadrupled, a major R&D center was set up and local manufacturing ramped up.

Immediately prior to his retirement he was Director, Global Channel Services & Director, Asia Pacific/Greater China Region responsible for accelerating 3M’s growth

He is currently chairman of Syndicate Bank & on the board of Alicon Ltd. Additionally he is an active innovation evangelist on various forums, mentors start-ups/SME’s and an angel investor. He is the co-sponsor for the CII Directors Guild on corporate governance & a member of the CII Start up council.

Ajay holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech., USA.

Mr. Anil Shah

Chief Executive Officer, Mega Bank Nepal Limited

Mr. Aroon Purie

Editor-In-Chief and Chief Executive, India Today Group

Mr. Aroon Purie is the founding Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of the India Today Group, India’s most respected and diversified media conglomerate. The Group has more than 24 magazines including editions of leading international titles. Its flagship newsweekly, India Today and other Group publications are all market leaders. It also has four leading 24- hour news channels including the largest Hindi news channel, 3 radio stations, a newspaper and strong digital, mobile and social media presence. Through its multiple media brands and platforms, the India Today Group reaches more than 225 million people every month.

An alumnus of the London School of Economics and a qualified Chartered Accountant, Aroon has served on the Board of many prestigious institutions in India and abroad. He was Chairman of FIPP (The International Federation of the Periodical Press) from 2009 to 2011 and was the first Asian to be given this honor.

A true pioneer, Aroon has been instrumental in changing the face of journalism in India and was awarded the Padma Bhushan – amongst India’s highest civilian honours – by the President of India in 2001.