He represents the Bharatiya Janata Party and is Union Minister of Human Resource Development. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra in 2008, and re-elected from Madhya Pradesh in 2014. He is also the BJP's spokesperson.
He has held numerous positions, some of them being Minister of State (Independent Charge) Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Information and Broadcasting, Rajya Sabha member (2008-14), Executive President of State Planning Board Maharashtra (1995-1999) and member, Press Council of India.
He was a Member of Legislative Council from Pune Division Graduate Constituency from 1990 to 2002, and member of Committee on WAKF, member of Standing Committee on Defence, among others. From 1969 to 1977, he led student's movements under ABVP, organised Satyagraha against Emergency Rule and was imprisoned (1975-1977), was an elected Senate Member of Pune University for 12 years (1975-1987), National Secretary and General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (1984-1990) and has been a full-time BJP worker since 1981.
Kiran Bedi is the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of Indian Police Service. She served in it for 35 years and moved up to the highest rank, as Director-General, Bureau of Police Research And Development, Government of India.
She has served as Police Advisor to SG in United Nations, in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations in New York. She is the recipient of The Ramon Magsaysay Award, also called Asia's Nobel Peace Award for bringing about a positive relationship between Police and the People.
Dr Bedi is a Law graduate, Masters, and a PhD Scholar from IIT Delhi, with a post doctoral Nehru Fellowship. She is an author of several books such as I Dare, It's Always Possible, Creating Leadership and more...
Dr Bedi has been voted as the most admired and trusted woman in India by Readers Digest,The Week and others over the years. She has a biopic on her life called, Yes Madam Sir, made by an Australian film maker.
She is running two NGOs, NAVJYOTI and India Vision Foundation that reach out to marginalised sections of society in education, skills development, in urban and rural areas as well as prisons.
She is an academic and has been a visiting faculty with Iclif, a Leadership Training Institute in Malaysia. As of now she has a following of more than 10 million followers on social networks. Her Twitter handle is @thekiranbedi
She assumed office as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry on May 29, 2016.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi has been at the forefront of the global movement to end child slavery and exploitative child labour since 1980. Child labour is a human rights issue that has staggering effects on poverty, illiteracy and humanity. Satyarthi and the grassroots movement founded by him, BachpanBachaoAndolan (Save the Childhood Movement), have liberated more than 84,000 children from exploitation and developed a successful model for their education and rehabilitation.
As a worldwide campaigner, he has been the architect of the single largest civil society network for the most exploited children, the Global March Against Child Labour, which is a worldwide coalition of NGOs, Teachers' Union and Trade Unions active in 140 countries. Satyarthi's efforts led to the adoption of ILO Convention 182 on worst forms of child labour in 1999. He is also the Founding President of the Global Campaign for Education, a civil society movement working to end the global education crisis, and GoodWeave International, which was one of the first consumer awareness programmes and the earliest examples of modern corporate social responsibility.
Satyarthi is a member of several high level groups on child labour and education. He is one of the rare civil society leaders to have addressed the United Nations General Assembly, International Labour Conference, UN Human Rights Commission, UNESCO and is one of the commissioners of the high-level International Commission on the Financing of Global Education Opportunities.
In 2014, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” Satyarthi's efforts to end child slavery, trafficking, forced labour and violence received international support when in September 2015, he succeeded in getting child protection and welfare-related clauses included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Throughout his long distinguished career, Satyarthi's work has been recognized by numerous organizations and governments. Most recently, he received Harvard University's 2015 Humanitarian of the Year Award for his contributions in the field of child rights and abolition of child slavery. To achieve his vision of a world free of violence against children - a child friendly world where all children are free, safe, healthy and enrolled in a quality school, he has founded the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation. The foundation's mission is to help create, implement, and advocate child-friendly policies that ensure the holistic development and empowerment of children.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran is the chairman of the Board of Tata Sons, the holding company and promoter of more than 100 Tata operating companies with aggregate annual revenues of more than US $100 billion. He joined the Board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017. Chandra also chairs the Boards of several group operating companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - of which he was Chief Executive Officer from 2009-17.
His appointment as Chairman followed a 30-year business career at TCS, which he joined from university. Chandra rose through the ranks at TCS to become CEO and Managing Director of the leading global IT solution and consulting firm. Under his leadership, TCS generated total revenues of US $16.5 billion in 2015-16 and consolidated its position as the largest private sector employer in India and the country's most valuable company. TCS has also been placed among the “Big 4” most valuable IT services brands worldwide, ranked as one of the World's Most Innovative Companies by Forbes and recognized as a Global Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute across 24 countries. Chandra embedded a culture of customer-focus and innovation at TCS.
In addition to his professional career at Tata, Chandra was also appointed as a Director on the Board of India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, in 2016. He has also served as the Chairperson of the Information and Communication Technology Industry Governors at the World Economic Forum, Davos in 2015-16.
Chandra is an active member of India's bilateral business forums including USA, UK, Australia and Japan. He served as the chairman of NASSCOM, the apex trade body for IT services firms in India in 2012-13.
Chandra has been awarded several honorary doctorates by leading universities in India and internationally. He attended the Regional Engineering College, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, where he completed a Masters degree in Computer Applications before joining TCS in 1987.
Achuthsankar S. Nair is a multi-disciplinary academician, science communicator, historian, green activist, researcher an institution builder and a Carnatic musician. He is an Electrical Engineer who studied at College of Engineering, Trivandrum; IIT Mumbai; and University of Cambridge, UK. He holds two PhDs from University of Kerala, one in Engineering and one in Music. As a teacher, he has taught in various Engineering Colleges in Kerala and was a visiting professor at University of Korea, Seoul. As the first Director of International affairs in University of Kerala, he mooted and successfully implemented a Credit Transfer arrangement with US Universities through a Semester-in-India programme. At present, as Director of Quality Assurance of University of Kerala, he leads multi-pronged quality initiatives in higher education. He lectures on topics ranging from creativity and bioinformatics to local history and visual mathematics at various institutions that range from Jawaharlal Nehru University and village schools to Madras Music Academy and Adayar Kalakshethra. Nair is the recipient of the National Teacher Award from the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, for excellence in teaching, and the N.A. Karim Award from Vakkom Maulavi Foundation, Kerala, for excellence in Social Service.
Anbumani Ramadoss is an iconic leader from Tamil Nadu known for his crusading efforts demanding the ban of tobacco and bringing about total prohibition. He is on a mission to make Tamil Nadu a model state. Born into an agrarian family to Dr. S. Ramadoss and Ms. R. Saraswathi, Anbumani completed his schooling from Montfort Boys Higher Secondary School, Yercaud. He finished his higher secondary from St. Ann's Higher Secondary School, Tindivanam and stood first in the district. He studied medicine at Madras Medical College and spent six years of his initial career as a medical practitioner in Nallalam, a small village near Thindivanam. He served as the sports secretary at Madras Medical College while pursuing medicine. In addition to his political positions, Anbumani is the president of the Tamil Nadu Badminton Association. In Chennai, he led a green NGO called Pasumai Thayagam, founded in 1995 by his father. He organised to plant over 25 lakh trees and desilted more than 1,000 lakes and built 50 bunds to conserve water.
Anbumani was the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister (2004- 2010) at the age of 37, the youngest Cabinet minister. His pet project, The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which was established in 2005, aimed to provide primary care to rural poor with an emphasis on the needs of women and children. This was primarily responsible for the reduction of maternal mortality rate by 50% and reduction of infant mortality rate by 55 per cent in India. He implemented his dream project of the '108 ambulance service' across 14 states, including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Anbumani is a crusader against the evils of alcohol and tobacco. His signature contribution towards stringent controls on tobacco and alcohol were the ban on smoking in public places (including work places), ban on tobacco advertising, ban on sale of tobacco products to minors and ban on sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions. He also advocated a ban on showing smoking or drinking in movies and television.
Anbumani initiated a National Alcohol Policy for the first time in India and forcefully put forth his arguments at the World Health Organization and advocated for the 2nd of October, the birthday of Gandhiji to be observed as World No-Alcohol day.
As the Union Health Minister, he took major steps to eradicate polio from India. Anbumani was instrumental in the expansion of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He also launched the National Programme for Control of Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease and Stroke. He was responsible for setting up the Public Health Foundation of India, Department of Health Research (DHR), the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, the Food Safety and Standards Authority and the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library. At a time when Indian citizens were diagnosed iodine deficient, He made consumption of iodised salt compulsory and introduced the 'Auto Disposable Syringe'. The National Institute of Siddha was set up by him in Chennai on September 3, 2005 during his tenure.
Post a successful central stint as a minister, Anbumani currently serves as a member of Parliament from Dharmapuri constituency in Tamil Nadu.
In credit of his impeccable service to the world of healthcare, He was awarded the Luther L. Terry Award by the American Cancer Society in 2006. The WHO honored Anbumani with the Director General's Special Award for Leadership in Global Tobacco Control in 2007. His efforts to eradicate polio from India brought him laurels and the Rotary international presented him with a Polio Eradication Champion Award in 2007. The Rotary club of Madras in 2008 presented Anbumani with a 'For the sake of Honor' award.
Born in Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh, Arif Mohammed Khan did his schooling at GS Inter College Bulandshahar. He later studied at Jamia Millia, New Delhi, AMU Aligarh and Lucknow University. He was elected the General Secretary of Aligarh Muslim University Students Union in 1972 and President of Aligarh Muslim University Students Union in 1973. After entering politics, he became the MLA of Siyana, Bulandshahar in 1977-80 and MP, Lok Sabha from Kanpur and Bahraich. He served as the Deputy Minister for Information and Broadcasting in 1982 and State Minister for Agriculture, Energy, Industry & Co. Affairs, Home Affairs. He was the Cabinet Minister for Energy and Civil Aviation in 1989. He has authored Text and Context: Quran and Contemporary Challenges.
Arvind P. Datar is a Senior Advocate of the Madras High Court. He completed his B.Sc. (Hons.) from University of Bombay and B.L. Degree from the University of Madras. He is also a qualified Cost and Works Accountant (AICWA). He joined the Bar in 1980 and worked as a junior to Ms Ramani Natarajan and later joined the office of Subbaraya Aiyar, Padmanabhan and Ramamani. He set up his independent practice in 1984 and practised before various tax tribunals, the Company Law Board, High Courts and the Supreme Court. He now mainly practises before the Supreme Court and has appeared in several important cases on taxation and constitutional law.
Apart from his active practice, he is also the author of Datar on the Constitution of India, Guide to Central Excise-Law and Practice and Guide to Central Excise Procedures. He has written over 150 articles for various journals and newspapers. He is the General Editor of Ramaiya's Guide to the Companies Act, 1956 and the Chief Editor of the 10th edition of Kanga & Palkhivala's Law and Practice of Income Tax. He is also the co-author of “The Courtroom Genius” - written along with Soli J. Sorabjee (this book details the important cases dealt with by Shri Palkhivala). In addition to his practice and writing, he was also a visiting faculty at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India and Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy, and has been a visiting faculty at the National Judicial Academy at Bhopal and the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy at Chennai.
He has delivered guest lectures at Cambridge University, the University of Capetown, South Africa, the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode and various law schools. He is a founder trustee of the Palkhivala Foundation, Chennai and a director of Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre, Chennai. He was the former Joint Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, Madras High Court, Chennai.
Ayaan Ali Khan represents the seventh generation of a musical lineage known as the Senia Bangash School. The younger son and disciple of the Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan, Ayaan stepped into the world of music and the Sarod, at a very early age, with confidence, clarity, consistency and technical mastery all of which he learnt at his father's knees. Ayaan gave his solo debut when he was eight years old and has been performing concerts in India and abroad, since then. He has also assisted his illustrious father at concerts all over the world. Over the years, Ayaan has carved out a special niche for himself in the world of music and performed at the world's top venues and festivals. His approach, vision and versatility make him an icon for the youth in the music industry. His contribution in making the Sarod a cross-over instrument in a variety of genres has projected him as an artist of high repute.
Since 1997, Ayaan has performed regularly at the Carnegie Hall and Smithsonian in the US; Palais Beaux-Arts in Brussels; Chicago Symphony Center, Esplanade in Singapore; Summer Arts Festival in Seattle; and at the Edinburgh Music Festival and the Royal Festival Hall in London. He has played concerts at the WOMAD Festival in Adelaide and New Plymouth, World Beat Festival in Brisbane and at the Opera House in Sydney. He performed for HRH the Prince of Wales at St. James Palace for the Temenos Academy in 1997. In 2000, he joined his father at the Dalai Lama's Sacred Music Festival inauguration in New Delhi.
In 2005 he composed the music score for Roger Christian's film American Daylight. The same year, he collaborated with Guitarist Dereck Truks of the Allman Brother's band at the Savannah Festival and recorded with Real World Records. Along with his many solo classical albums, Ayaan has crossed the bridge between Indian music and a variety of genres with his electronica and lounge albums like 'Reincarnation', 'Truth', 'Mystic Dunes', 'Passion' and 'Dreamz'. He also released two albums titled "The Music Room" and 'Sarod Symphony' with his father and guru in 2010. The latest album 'Rang - Colours of Sufism' was released in March 2012, featuring Amaan and Ayaan's interpretations of traditional Qawwalis on the Sarod. In 2013, their new project 'Headwaters' was released.
In 2014, Ayaan co-founded Sarod Records with Amaan to release their music exclusively on iTunes. The same year, he, with his father and brother, performed at the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, Norway as well as at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert along with Queen Latifa, Steven Tyler, Nuno Bettencourt and Laura Mvula.
As a singer and recording artist, Chinmayi Sripada has recorded over a 1,000 songs in seven languages for the Indian film industry. She has been a Voice Over Artiste working in six Indian languages in Ad and 62 feature films. She has founded Blue Elephant, a language services company with freelancers across the globe working on over a 120 language pairs. She also started Heka Studios, a startup for architectural services, interior design and antique curation. She has also worked as radio jockey and hosted television shows.
She has bagged many awards such as All India Radio - Gold Medal - Ghazals, All India Radio - Silver Medal - Hindustani Classical Music, Mirchi Music Awards including Female Vocalist of the Year (Titli in Chennai Express), Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, South Indian International Movie Awards, Vijay Music Awards, The Times Film Awards, Edison Awards, Isaiaruvi Tamil Music Awards, Mirchi Music Awards South, among others. She was adjudged CNN IBN Indian of the Year in 2016 for Femina Penn Shakti Award in recognition of entrepreneurial and social initiatives. She is a trustee of Chennai Micro that was formed during the disastrous Chennai Floods in December 2015 for on ground flood relief measures. Chinmayi Sripada is the first female musician in the world to launch an exclusive app that can be downloaded on all iOS and Android devices.
G. Dhananjayan has an MBA in Marketing from Sydenham Institute of Management (Mumbai University) with over 25 years of experience, working in varied industries with panache. He started his career with Kansai - Nerolac paints and after spending 8 years there (exited as General Manager-Marketing), started his career in Entertainment industry by joining Saregama-HMV as their General Manager - Marketing & Sales in 1998 and achieved 100% growth in sales in just two years and turned around the company. He then pursued his interest in the then most happening Telecom industryfor 5 years (from 2001 to 2006 worked with AirTel and Vodafone as their Vice President for Sales & Marketing), before returning to Entertainment industry by joining Moser Baer Entertainment, where he was one of the co-founders and Chief Operating Officer of the Entertainment division. In a short time, he and his team made Moser Baer, a giant in home video industry in India. After spending 5 years at Moser Baer as its Chief Executive- Home Video and Film Business, he joined Disney-UTV as their Chief of South Business in January 2011 and managed their film production, marketing and distribution business in South Indiafor five years till December 2015. Dhananjayan has spent over 15 years in film business so far and has produced or co-produced 27 films so far in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi and many of them were commercial successes and critically acclaimed.
He is the consulting producer for the upcoming Vana Magan, starring Jayam Ravi, directed by Vijay. He was also the script doctor for many super hit films like Jolly LLB, Pasanga, ThenmerkuParavukattru, Mundasupatti etc. He has set up a film production and distribution company Blue Ocean Entertainment , through which he is marketing and distributing films in South languages.
Dhananjayan has written two books on the history of Tamil cinema (The Best of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2010 and Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2013) in English. He received the National Film Award for Best Writing on Cinema from the President of India for the latter.
In January 2015, Dhananjayan had set up BOFTA (Blue Ocean Film & Television Academy), which has emerged as a leading film institute in South India with over 100 students studying film technology in its very first year. The Institute's core concept of 'Learn from the masters' has instantly connected with the students. The institute has legendary directors like J. Mahendran, K. Bhagyaraj, B. Lenin, Cheran, Sasi, Manobala, S.S. Stanly, John Mahendran, Actors Nasser, Rohini and Cinematographers B. Kannan, A. Ramesh Kumar, Mahesh Muthuswami and CJ. Rajkumar as regular faculty. This has ensured the students get the best of practical and theoretical knowledge on screenplay writing filmmaking, cinematography, editing and acting.
Gautam Chintamani is a born cinephile and the author of Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna (HarperCollins, 2014) and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak: The Film That Revived Hindi Cinema (HarperCollins, 2016). A popular columnist across many leading Indian publications, Gautam is attuned to writing on all things cinema. Hailing from a literary tradition that runs deep on both sides of his family, late poet laureate Arudra is his maternal grandfather and the liberal thinker Sir C.Y. Chintamani, his paternal great-grandfather. Gautam's writing explores everything from world to Indian cinema and whatever exists in between. His writing has appeared in all major Indian publications and Dawn, Pakistan's most read English daily. In 2015 Gautam contributed an extensive essay on Majrooh Sultanpuri, the first lyricist to be honored by the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for Legends of Indian Silver Screen, a compilation of Phalke Awardees published by the Publications Divis ion, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Gautam's documentary film S.R.I. - Challenging Traditions, Transforming Lives explored the positive impact of System of Rice Intensification, an alternate method of rice cultivation, on Indian farmers. The film has traveled to over 20 film festivals across the globe and won the Best Documentary Award at the maiden Asia Pacific Rice Film Festival, Malaysia. His trilogy Janam-Aagazh-Parvaaz, on the journey of children with special needs and their parents, was screened at the 2011's International Film Festival of India (IFFI). His notable television credits include Siddhanth, a law series, which garnered an Emmy Nomination in the International Drama category, a first for an Indian TV show, and Rihaee. In 2016, Gautam was on the National Film Awards jury for the Best Writing on Film. He is currently working on his next book that is a biography of an iconic Hindi film screen legend.
Gautami Tadimalla, an engineering student who happened into the world of cinema and found her passion. It has been almost thirty years since she made her debut and they have been thirty amazing, roller coaster years.
Over 120 films in 5 languages. Behind the camera as a technician - costume designer - since almost 10 years. Forayed into the arena of television content as producer, television show anchor, actor and most recently, judge on a hit reality show on a leading television channel.
A cancer survivor herself, raising awareness of cancer, prevention, early detection and treatment, support to cancer patients as well as caregivers, have been her primary focus since the past 10 years. To give this effort greater momentum and volume, has started the Life Again Foundation to serve as a platform for aggregating and concentrating both individual effort as well as collaborating with other NGOs and organizations to compound combined efforts. Life Again Foundation has taken up the cause of cancer as a primary and initial activity but the focus is on education and health care.
A mother, actor, technician, activist - she finds there is still so much to be done and inspiration in the fact that there are so many people willing to give of themselves to help their fellow human being. It is the responsibility of every individual to give of themselves to make the world a better place and this is what has always worked to keep us, as a human race, moving ahead.
Dr Georgi Abraham is the Professor of Medicine at Pondycherry Institute of Medical Sciences and Director of Nephrology Madras Medical Mission Hospital, Chennai. He is the chair of medicine established in 2010 at Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences to Advance Research in Medicine. He graduated from TD Medical College Alleppy, Kerala and did his MD in General Medicine from Mysore University, and completed FRCP (London), FRCP (Glasgow) in 1995. He is the Founder President of the Peritoneal Dialysis Society of India. He initiated Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) as a treatment for terminal kidney failure patient in India in 1991 at Chennai and expanded the treatment to other South Asian countries. He has trained doctors and nurses from Middle East, Africa, South Asia in Nephrology, Transplantation and CAPD. He was the Chairman-Global Outreach Program in Nephrology at International Society of Nephrology South Asia and Advisory Committee Member at International Society of Nephrology for Access to Dialysis in Developing Countries. He is ISN -ANIO India Committee Executive Member.
He is Editor in Chief of Indian Journal of Peritoneal Dialysis, South Asian Journal of Nephrology, Urology and Transplantation. He is also on the editorial board of Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, Peritoneal Dialysis International Hemodialysis International and Parathyroid.
Dr Abraham has received several awards including International Distinguished Medal in Nephrology 2003, American Kidney Foundation, USA., The International Society For Peritoneal Dialysis - Dimitrios G Oreopoulos Award for Lifetime Contributions to Peritoneal Dialysis, The International Society of Nephrology Roscoe Robinson Award for excellence in education of Nephrology and Medicine, Dr. Dimitrios G.Oreopoulos Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN) -Baxter Memorial Award and award from His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena President of Srilanka on the inauguration of ISN - Gardiner CKDu Fund in 2016. He has also received Lifetime Achievement Award by FICCI, Government Ministry of Health Tamil Nadu for service to nation through charity work in TANKER, Best Doctor Award for exemplary contribution in the field of Healthcare services, 2012 by Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. University by his Excellency Dr. K.Rosiah Governor of Tamilnadu, Dr. K.V. Thiruvengadam Award for Health Care for the year 2013 by Rotary Club of Madras East; Tamil Nadu medical council .In recognition of exemplary service in the field of Medicine 2014 by his Excellency Dr. K.Rosiah Governor of Tamilnadu.
He is invited faculty in 34 Countries on Peritoneal Dialysis, Transplantation and General Nephrology. He has published 262 publications, 22 textbook chapters and 261 abstracts. He is also Founder & Trustee of Tamilnadu Kidney Research Foundation (TANKER) and Kerala Kidney Research Foundation (KKRF).
Dr Maram is the Chairman and Founder CEO of Imperial College Bangalore. He worked more than decade in a leading pharma MNC, Novartis. The government of India has recognized his work in the field of management and management education. From last 22 years on numerous occasions. He is also a part of the UGC committee. Dr Maram has published a wide range of books, research papers apart from co-authoring a number of textbooks, he has presented numerous papers on management and his articles were published in various newspapers and journals all over the world. He extensively travelled over 38 countries to get a global perspective on management, not only this, he is research guide of leading universities in India, a renowned professors at international universities and addressed more than a lakh students and faculties across the globe.
Besides being an excellent academic and educationist, Dr Maram is involved in large number of CSR activates. He is the district chairman of Lions international and Trustee of Lions Super Specialty Eye Hospital & Lions Distrait Service Foundation. Additionally, he is the chief mentor of great initiative Bangalore Green that aims at environmental conservation in Bangalore. Throughout his lifetime, he has received awards like Knighthood from UK, Samaj Seva Bhushan from Subhram Trust, MTC Global Top 10 Thinkers, Education Leadership-Dayananda Sagar Group, Ramaswamy P Iyer Best Young Teacher, among others.
Jayna Kothari is a lawyer at the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court of India. She is Executive Director at the Centre for Law & Policy Research, Bangalore. She received her B.A.LL.B degree from University Law College, Bangalore and went on to receive the BCL from Oxford University. Jayna was also awarded the Wrangler D.C. Pavate Fellowship at Cambridge University where she was a Visiting Researcher. Jayna's research and practice interests include constitutional law, especially constitutional social rights including the right to education, health and housing, gender and sexuality, disability rights and environmental law. Her book, The Future of Disability Law in India was published in 2012 by Oxford University Press and is one of the first books on disability law in the country.
Prof Kancha Ilaiah is known for his significant contribution through his writing in English and Telugu languages. His books include Why I am Not a Hindu, Buffalo Nationalism, Post-Hindu India, God As Political Philosopher, Untouchable God ( a Novel), Weapon of the Other, Dignity of Labour in Our Times. He recently added Shepherd to his name as part of his campaign for dignity of labour and English education for the Dalit Bahujan and Adivasis. Ilaiah believes tanners, potters, shepherds, tillers and so on have never been never accorded respect or an all-India Identity though they are the real nation builders. Their self and the nationhood hitherto remained disconnected. According to him their contribution to the nation building through productive work and culture got marginalized. The Shepherd believes that only an English occupational end name will them and strengthen them.
Kannan M. Moudgalya studied at IIT Madras and Rice University. He was a visiting professor at the University of Alberta. He has written four textbooks and several papers in international journals and conferences. He works in the areas of modelling, simulation, control, and educational technology. Prof. Kannan is now devoting his time in spreading education on a massive scale, without quality dilution. Through the Spoken Tutorial project he created, more than 26 lakh students have been given IT training in 5 years, with 16 lakh of them in 2016 alone. Spoken Tutorials are now used online in about 20,000 lab courses in more than 3,000 colleges all over India, as a part of the curriculum. This training covers popular computer programming languages, simulation environments, and mathematical software, all open source. Spoken Tutorials and the training are offered free of cost, thanks to the funding from the National Mission on Education through ICT (NMEICT), MHRD. The spoken part of these tutorials is dubbed into all 22 official languages of India. Spoken Tutorials form the largest collection of IT training material, accessible to people not fluent in English, including school students. Spoken Tutorials are now getting extended to skills training as well. Prof. Kannan has held the posts of Associate Dean (R&D), Head of Application Software Cell and Head of the Centre for Distance Engineering Education Programme, at IIT Bombay. He was a Member of the Standing Committee of NMEICT for _ve years. He is a Director in the Washington DC based nonprofit organisation WHEELS, which provides technology based philanthropy.
Mani Rao has eight poetry books including Ghostmasters (Chameleon Press, Hong Kong), Echolocation (Math Paper Press, Singapore), and recently, New & Selected Poems (Poetrywala, India), and two books in translation— Bhagavad Gita as a poem (Fingerprint, 2015) and Kalidasa for the 21st Century (Aleph, 2015) which was a finalist for the Lucien Stryk Translation Prize. Mani's essays and poems are in journals and anthologies including Indian Literature, Wasafiri, Iowa Review, Colorado Review, Meanjin, Fulcrum, West Coast Line, and Interim, W.W.Norton's Language for a New Century, Penguin's 60 Indian Poets, and the Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets. She has performed at literary festivals, including The Age Melbourne Writers' Festival, Chicago Humanities Festival, New York PEN World Voices, Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, and Singapore International Poetry Festival. Translations of her poems are published in Latin, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, French and German. She was a Visiting Fellow at the Iowa International Writing Program in 2005 and 2009, and the 2006 University of Iowa International Programs writer-in-residence. Mani worked in advertising and television for nearly two decades in India and Hong Kong. Her last job was as the Senior Vice-President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Star (TV) in Hong Kong; in 2004, she turned to literary and scholarly interests full-time. Subsequently, she did an MFA in poetry from UNLV (USA) and a PhD in Religious Studies from Duke University (USA).
Manish Tewari is a practicing Lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. He was a Member of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha). He was the Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. Besides he was also a Member / Special Invitee to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs and Cabinet Committee on Investments etc. He was also a Member of numerous Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) and Group of Ministers dealing with a diverse array of policy issues.
He is the National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress. He was a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committees of External Affairs, Law & Justice and Defence. He also served on the Parliamentary Consultative Committees of the Ministries of Defence and Law & Justice.
He is Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Indian National Congress (INC). He is the Distinguished Senior Fellow - Atlantic Council, USA. He has traveled widely both in his professional and personal capacities and has an interest in History, International and Strategic Affairs.
Michael Foley runs an independent studio, Foley Designs, known for its innovative thinking processes, zeal for design, originality of thought and the ability to use market and consumer understanding to create new benchmarks in design. Michael first made his mark with his creative direction at Titan Industries, giving a contemporary makeover to the time-wear category.
Michael first made his mark with stunning, contemporary designs that gave Titan Industries an aesthetic makeover. As the Chief Creative Advisor, he was responsible for the overall design direction for the company's product portfolio. In the latter half of 2006, Michael started Foley Designs. It consists of a 40-member team for design prowess, originality, and the ability to translate consumer understanding into fresh, inviting design. Foley Designs has been involved in landmark projects such as the design of the Queen's Baton for the 2010 Commonwealth Games; Violet, the world's first wireless surround sound system; Formula 1 trophies in 2012 and 2013; and a Smart Watch innovation for a global market. He has a plethora of Inter/National Design awards in an ever expanding cabinet of recognition.
Venkataraman has completed 27 years of practice in indirect taxation, direct taxation, international taxation and other Regulatory laws. He has travelled the entire spectrum of professional practice, commencing from the first adjudication level up to the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. He has appeared before 24 High Courts and the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Venkataraman had argued cases laying down landmark rulings for the first time on issues concerning advertisement and marketing expenses for the consumer durables industry, foreign tax credits of those taxes paid outside the country available as credit in India and in interpreting intricate provisions on Double Taxation Agreements involving various countries. He has also done extensive work and research on issues concerning Black Money and has delivered talks and published news articles in leading newspapers and tax portals. He has been closely associated in voicing the issues concerning the trade before the Central Government for appropriate amendments and clarifications.
Venkataraman has also won important milestone judgments before the Hon'ble Supreme Court for the Construction Industry both under VAT and Service Tax. He was one of the leading counsels before the nine-judge Constitutional Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court which heard all issues concerning “Entry Tax”, a Bench of this size and stature having got constituted after 27 years, in the field of taxation.
He has been delivering lectures in the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, to judges of the High Courts on Constitutional issues. Apart from law, Venkataraman is committed and passionate about our Holy Sanatana Dharma and is running a Rig and Yajur Veda Patashala in his mother's village at Melmangalam, near Theni.
Preeti Sinha is a practicing think tank at YES Bank. YES Institute is one of the leading private sector global think-tank based in Delhi, with a mission to catalyze private capital into development and growth of India Prior to this appointment, she was the Chief Performance Management Partner in the Delivery and Performance Office at the African Development Bank (AfDB), leading multilateral development bank for Africa. She was engaged in increasing the delivery of the business pipeline at the AfDB and achievement of its institutional commitments and initiatives. She has worked extensively on financing for development under Resource Mobilization and Strategy Development in over 4 continents -Asia, North America, Europe and Africa. With over 25 years of global experience, she leads the YES Institute in New Delhi. She was Project Director for an extensive period for the Financing for Development (FfD) Initiative at the World Economic Forum in Geneva and Davos, Switzerland. She has prior experience of over 15 years in investment banking for HSBC, Rabobank, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan in London, Hong Kong, Mumbai and New York. Preeti has an Executive Education degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She achieved a Masters degree in Global Leadership from the World Economic Forum. She holds a MBA from the Yale University School of Management (SO M). She has a BA Honors degree from the Dartmouth College in Economics and Computer Science.
P Rajeev is a former Member of Parliament and served as Member Panel of Vice Chairmen, Rajyasabha chairing the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. Currently, he is the District Secretary of CPI (M) Ernakulam District and also State Committee Member, CPI (M). He was the Chairman of the Committee on Government Assurances and Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary group.
He moved first annulment motion in the history of Rajya Sabha to annul the IT Rules, moved first motion under Rule 93(2) to resend a report to the same select committee to reconsider its report. He has delivered a special invited lecture to the new Members of Parliament regarding Parliamentary Procedures and practices as a part of their training conducted by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat New Delhi. He initiated a new concept of convergence of MP Fund along with CSR of Public and Private companies and Charity of Individuals. Established largest dialysis centre in Public Sector with 25 machines at Aluva District Hopital which has completed 50000 dialysis. This centre provides free dialysis. He has established dialysis centre at Govt Hospital in Kannur, a MRI Scanning Centre at Genaral Hospital, Ernakulam, and dietary Kitchen in General Hospital Ernakulam that provides free food to all in-patients. He introduced SUCHi@ School (Sustainable comprehensive hygiene initiative) programme in 2010 that provides e- toilets and girl-friendly toilets in government and aided schools in Ernakulam district.
He has also introduced REACH 2 School that provided e-safe buses to government schools. He has received the Kerala Chief Minister's Developmental Innovation Award for the effective implementation of Suchi @ School Scheme, C.P. Mammu Memorial Award for Best Political and Social Activist and Pandhalam Keralal Varma Award, among others.
He has also authored several books such as Campus in the Times of Globalisation, Vivadhangalile vyathiyanagal, Kazhchavattom, Purakkumel Chanja Maram and 1957, Charithravum Varthamanavum.
Born to Sri M. Ramanathan, an employee at AIR, Sarathn spent his childhood in New Delhi. His family then shifted to Madras, and he studied in IIT Central School, St Partick's school, Loyola College and New College. Always a sports enthusiast, he played football, cricket and hockey and represented his school and college teams. He was an air wing Cadet with NCC and marched in Republic Day. He also won the title Mr Madras University.
Sarath started with a humble beginning as a newspaper delivery boy and moved up to become journalist, an entrepreneur, actor, producer and politician. He was in the Parliamentary Standing Committee for HR during his tenure as a Rajya Sabha member. He was an elected legislative member from Tenkasi constituency from 2011-2016. He started the political party Agila India Samathuva Makhal Katchi in 2007.
He is an award winning actor and has acted in over 140 films in all four south India languages. He is fluent in six languages. He was the President of the South Indian Film Artist Association for three terms.
He has been serving as the Vice-Chancellor, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, India from 11th May 2009. Previously, he served for 31 years in the Faculty of Law, Andhra University, Vishakapatnam, India in various capacities as the Dean, Faculty of Law and Chairman, Board of Studies in Law. Has the distinction of receiving the Best Teacher Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh, India in 2006, the Best Researcher Award from the Andhra University, India in 2003 and Gold Medal for the Best Ph.D. Thesis. He has published more than 130 papers in Journals of National and International repute apart from presenting several papers in National and International Seminars. He has been an Independent Director in prestigious Public Sector Undertakings like Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bengaluru, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bengaluru, Goa Shipyard Limited (Goa) and Member, Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), New Delhi. He is associated with prestigious bodies as a member like the Executive Councils of different National Law Schools in India and Advisory Board of Institute of Genetic Awareness and Applied Research, Nova, Southeastern University, US, among others.
Professor Rakesh Sinha is a thinker, writer and academic at University of Delhi in Political Science. Prof Sinha is an ideologue in Indian philosophy and contemporary issues and an earnest believer in Egalitarianism and Cultural Nationalism. His books, monographs and articles have positioned him as impolitical, uncompromised and upfront thinker in intellectual, media and public forums. His publications, Biography of Dr. K B Hedgewar (in five languages), Shri Guruji and Indian Muslims, Rajnitik Patrakarita, Secular India: Politics of Minorityism, Philosophy of Social Revolution, Terrorism and Indian Media, Swaraj in Ideas: Quest for Decolonisation of the Indian Mind have become reference material in the intellectual domain. Prof Sinha is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines and is invited by national and international TV media for debates on contemporary issues. A brilliant student in academic life, he received Gold Medals for his academic achievements in the state and at the University of Delhi, among many other Awards, Scholarships and Fellowships. Prof. Sinha is also Honorary Director of the India Policy Foundation.
The Superintendent of Police for Mahbubnagar district, Rema Rajeshwari holds a masters' degree in Police Management from Osmania University. She specialises in predictive policing and crime analysis using data. Named best lady IPS Officer of the 2009 batch while undergoing training at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Rema has taken up several challenging tasks in her tenure. From running successful operations against unauthorised immigration agents and drug network, she has also served as an Assault Commander for the Grey Hounds Anti-Extremist Force.
He ably manages the 1000-bed multi-specialty mission hospital (Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre) in Madurai, straddling charity, patient-centric service and organizational growth with ease. The continuing success of the hospital and the people's trust in its care speak volumes about his managerial ability. Christened Meenakshi Hospital, Tanjore, the healthcare facility was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Selvi J. Jayalalithaa, in 2013. The hospital is the first international class medical institution in Tanjore and surrounding regions. In terms of services, technology and medical team, the hospital is on par with its counterparts abroad. The hospital attracts patients from the locality, other cities and even other countries, thanks to its commitment to quality and its consistently high standards of care, diagnoses and treatment. Meenakshi Hospital is the only Hospital to be accredited by NABH in Trichy and Tanjore district. Within just 3 years of inception, Meenakshi Hospital, Tanjore has set multiple precedents in terms of surgical procedures and numbers. With technology that is updated frequently to keep up with the rest of the world, it has emerged as a unique multi-super specialty hospital.
S Vaidhyasubramaniam is an alumnus of Harvard Business School with interest in Public Policy & Higher Education Management. He is also a Ph.D. in MBA Education in India from SASTRA University as a visiting Scholar at University of Virginia. Other feathers to his cap are an MBA from Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines and B.E. in Electronics & Instrumentation Bharathidasan University.
He has worked with Siemens (India), MERALCO (Philippines), and Johnson & Johnson (USA & India). He is a member CII (SR & TN) & ASSOCHAM committees on Higher Education and various academic bodies.
He received the Young Manager Award from Madras Management Association in 1996, and has been resource person for LKY School of Public Policy; NUS and Asian Development Bank; member, Academic Bodies of various colleges; a regular columnist for The New Indian Express and occasionally writes for The Hindu, Thuglak and Dinamani. He has authored EXPRESS RIGHTings, a book for Educational Policy.
Sachin Pilot, President, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee: Born in Saharanpur, in September 1977, Sachin Pilot is an alumnus of St. Stephen's College, where he pursued a Bachelor's degree (Hons) in English Literature. After graduating, he worked at the Delhi Bureau of the BBC, and subsequently went to work for the General Motors Corporation. He completed his MBA Degree at the Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania), where he specialized in multinational management and finance. He was the youngest MP when he first got elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from the Dausa constituency of Rajasthan in 2004. He was 26. He has served as a Member of the Parliament's Standing Committee on Home Affairs, Consultative Committee in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and also Budget Estimates Committee of Parliament. In May 09, he was re-elected to Lok Sabha from Ajmer and became Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Communication & Information Technology; in 2012 he became Minister of State (Independent charge) of Ministry of Corporate Affairs. During this time, he was the youngest minister in the cabinet. As an elected MP and a Minister of the cabinet, Pilot focused his energies on enabling people to avail better social and economic opportunities. He emphasized job creation, and improvement in the quality and quantity of health and education services. Realizing the importance of connectivity and information, he worked hard to bring rural communities closer to the world, by expanding the physical, IT, and telecom infrastructure in his region. Pilot takes keen interest in issues that affect the farming community and the youth and believes that India must train and educate its youth if we want to reap the demographic dividend arising from a disproportionately younger population.
The former Union minister is fond of flying and received his private pilot's license from NY, US in 1995. He is a keen sportsman and has represented Delhi in a number of National Shooting Championships. While serving as a Minister in the Cabinet, he became a commissioned officer with the rank of Lieutenant in the Territorial Army, the first ever and the only minister to do so.
Professor Badrinath is the Canara Bank Professor of Banking and Finance at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He teaches in the Investments and Risk Management areas and is also Chair of the Centre for Capital Markets and Risk Management at IIM-B. He has been a full Professor at San Diego State and has served on the faculties of Purdue University and Rutgers University. His Ph.D is in Finance from Purdue University. He has an MBA in Finance from IIM-B India, and a Master of Arts in Operations Research from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi India. Some of his research has been published in the Journal of Finance, The Journal of Financial Economics, The Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Business, and the Journal of Risk and Insurance. Portions of this work have been funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Financial Executives Research Foundation. He has served as the faculty advisor to the Aztec Equity Fund and has received college and university-wide teaching awards.
Shaheen grew up in five countries around the world, and returned to India when she was 18 to start a small college project, which grew into Akanksha. For 17 years, she worked with teachers and students, building Akanksha to provide 4000 children from low-income communities the kind of education that would maximize their greatest potential. In 2008, Shaheen founded Teach For India, with an audacious vision of providing an excellent education to all children across India through building a pipeline of leaders committed to ending educational inequity in India.
Shaheen is an Ashoka Fellow, a Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum, and an Asia Society 21 Leader. She serves on the boards of Akanksha, Design For Change, the India School Leaders Institute, the Thermax Foundation, and Teach For All. Shaheen is the author of the book, Re-drawing India. She has a Bachelor's Degree from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and a Master's Degree from the University of Manchester.
Sharan Apparao, gallerist and curator has been associated with the arts since she graduated from Stella Maris in 1982. Apparao Galleries, her baby officially started in 1984 through which she created a buzz for contemporary art working wt artists established and emerging. Exhibiting their work across the length and breadth of India and having briefly dabbled with a gallery in New York, she was the one of the first to dedicate exclusively to contemporary Indian art in the early 90s, well before others tread the path.
In her formative years her internships at the Smithsonian, Christie's contemporary art and a writing course in Harvard helped strengthen her approach and outlook towards professionalism in the field. Having interacted with artists like Husain, Raza, Sabavala, Anjolie Ela Menon, Sakti Burman and several other young artists, she assimilated their work and combined it with her art history background to curate and put together art events with a difference. She injected everything she did with her own style and penchant making it far from ordinary. The passion has continued and she has sustained her business and interest by constantly reinventing her promotional methods and mixing other disciplines with art to add to its gravitas and depth. Making art her business, she uses her very extensive outreach programme to give back her experience to educate and share the different art forms that will eventually all amalgamate in different combinations. She believes that the surface of India's art has only been scratched and has great depths in classical and contemporary arts that still need vast amounts of recognition. Having broken many barriers wt her fearless ideas in art, several artists owe their breaks to her in establishing their careers and getting the recognition that she directs for them.
As Executive Director of his foundation, Shaurya Doval—the son of India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval—has undertaken extensive work on internal security, civilisational values and external affairs with leading domestic and international institutions, governments and academia. He has engaged in helping research and shape perspectives on issues of economic importance as well as helping build national consensus on key economic issues. He has also assisted various state governments on specific tasks and programmes related to meeting their development objectives. He is the editor of a bi-monthly magazine on contemporary national and international issues that is circulated to the top 500 decision makers in all spheres of Indian public life. He manages operations and all key stakeholder relationships of the Foundation, including partnerships with global think tanks.
From 2006, he has been the founding Partner at Zeus Caps, a finance platform focussed on investments in the Power and Infrastructure sector in India. It has led and managed investments of over US $800MM since its formation across a portfolio of infrastructure assets and was rated as the 7th most active PE player by E&Y in 2007.
He won the Udyog Ratna & Excellence Award 2012 by the Institute of Economic Studies for contribution to the Development of Indian Power Sector. He also led the conceiving, origination, structuring and closing of USD $425MM of equity financing of Asian Genco by a consortium of investors led by Morgan Stanley. This is the largest private equity transaction in Indian infrastructure till date. The investors include Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic Partners, Norwest Partners, Everstone Capital and others in the Consortia. He led the investment of $50MM of equity financing from Greater Pacific Capital for the development of a Ground Handling business at Chennai, Calcutta and five other Indian airports and the acquisition of a 74 per cent controlling stake in an oil and gas tankage business at the Vishakapatnam Port. The transaction was a co-investment with Global Infrastructure Partners ($6bn Infrastructure Fund) and is one of the few PE control investment in India till date. Currently a Board Observer with responsibility for managing the portfolio asset on behalf of both GIP and Zeus. He was at the helm of the successful structuring, execution and closing of US$ 1.3 BN financing for the 1200 MW Teesta III HEP (one of the largest PPP in India).
As Vice-President at GE Capital from 2003-06, his key transactions included Leisure Link, Armacell, Polypipe and VCST. Lead execution on transaction from structuring through underwriting to funding and syndication. He executed over US$150 MM of GE's participation in key fund investments of major financial sponsors i.e. funds raised by Terra Firma (Fund III), Carlyle Europe (Fund II) and 3i (Euro Fund V), and structured and executed over US$ 500 MM of principal investments, involving both structured debt and equity, across automotive, construction, mining and general manufacturing companies.
While with GE, Ahurya also captained the execution of over US$ 250 MM of structured financing transactions in the transportation sector, using off balance sheet financing, leases, securitizations and cross border tax instruments and managed US$ 650 MM portfolio of aircraft transactions which include development of advanced portfolio analytics, leading work out situations and delinquency management.
Being a veteran doctor and brilliant orator, Dr. Sudha Seshayyan is a dynamic woman who has mastered varied roles with ease. She pursued her Bachelor's degree in Public Administration from Osmania University and Hospital Administration from Annamalai University. She became a civil surgeon at the age of 30. She is part of the International Editorial Board that published the revised edition of 'Gray's Anatomy.' She takes credit for being the first publishing editor of the translated version of 'Encyclopedia Britannica' in Tamil. Her write-ups in popular Tamil magazines on various spiritually-oriented subjects are much sought after and some of them such as 'Thevara Tiruvula' have been successfully published as books. Her career growth has been steady and today she is the University co-coordinator with an additional charge as Registrar, Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University. Dr. Sudha's interest then shifted on learning of Kamba Ramayana and laid grounds for her surfacing as a religious orator. Sudha Seshayyan is currently involved in the preparation of a Tamil lexicon in Medicine for the Virtual Tamil University as a member of its Editorial Board.
Dr Chandy began his career as as Senior Registrar in the Dept of Cardiology, Christian Medical College, Vellore in 1991. This period involved in-service training in all disciplines of cardiovascular sciences and care of adult and pediatric cardiac patients. Apart from supervised care of outpatients and inpatients, it also involved management of patients in cardiac intensive care, performing special investigations viz. Treadmill Stress Testing, Holter Testing, Echocardiography and Cardiac Catheterization.
Since July 1993, he has been independently doing cardiac catheterization and angiography. In March 1994, after completion of his advanced training, he was appointed Tutor and later promoted as Lecturer in the Dept of Cardiology. In this capacity, apart from routine care of private and non-private patients, he was actively involved in teaching of undergraduate and post-graduates. He has independently performed diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac & non-cardiac procedures.
Presently, he is on the faculty of the Dept of Cardiology, Christian Medical College, Vellore. In 1998, he received an Interventional Cardiology fellowship from the Dept of Cardiology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide after which he trained under Prof John Horowitz at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Adelaide, South Australia for two years in research and invasive cardiology. On his return to India, he was appointed Professor of Cardiology in 2004.
Apart from his clinical responsibilities he has held administrative responsibilities as Deputy Medical Superintendent of CMC Vellore between 2003 and 2007. During this time he had the opportunity to develop the Outpatient and Outreach portfolios for the hospital. In this capacity, his job involved the conceptualization and design of a new campus facility for the expansion of the current hospital. In 2007, he was appointed as Head of Unit III, one of the three clinical units of Cardiology in this hospital. This unit looks after all aspects of clinical cardiology with special focus on coronary interventions and heart failure. The unit's interest is to develop heart failure into a full-fledged sub-specialty offering the full range of care including cardiac transplantation.
In September 2008, he was appointed as Senior Consultant and Head of Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Sultan Qaboos Hospital, Muscat, Oman. In this capacity his responsibilities were to initiate and develop a new invasive cardiology programme for Muscat, Oman. In December 2010, he was appointed Vice Principal of CMC Vellore with a task of developing HR under the Principal's domain. CMC Vellore association nominated him to serve as a Director's nominee in the Planning Cell Committee, CMC, for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. He was appointed Director, CMC Vellore in September 2012 for a period of five years. The mandate given to him is to make a transition of the institution into a new campus with special emphasis of Trauma Care.
A senior disciple of GuruKalaimamani K. J. Sarasa and later trained under the Thiruvazaputhur Kalyani grand-daughters, Swarnamalya has over the years performed both as a soloist as well as choreographed and staged many group productions in Chennai and outside. She holds a Ph.D. in Dance history from the University of Madras. From The Attic is her performance series, where she showcases through performance, lectures and exhibitions, repertoires of connected histories and reconstructions of recovered dance forms. She aligns her own process as an artiste and scholar to Sadir, the precursor to Bharatanatyam. Her core areas of work are dance history- reconstruction and ethnographic study. Apart from being a front ranking performer for many years, she has been working with the hereditary women artistes, the Devadasis who were the custodians of the performing arts until mid 20th century. She has books and article publications to her credit, and has produced DVDs of her works. She is also a well known actor and media person in Indian cinema and television. She is a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow, invited to teach and pursue further research at UCLA. She is the Director of RangaMandira School of Performing Arts and Ranga Mandira Academy of World Dance/ Performance and Indic Studies that promote alternative viewing of culture as a project and encounters with community, social bonding and indigenous cultures preservation.
Teacher, thinker, author, activist, and administrator in academia, the Rev. Valson Thampu has come to be known, especially through the eight turbulent years he served as the Principal of St. Stephen's College, as the most controversial Principal in the history of higher education in India. The core of his outlook as a teacher is best summarized by his article of faith, "India is my classroom". Consequently, his field of active engagement went far beyond St. Stephen's College. His contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS, particularly, attracted worldwide attention. He used the print media to influence national thinking, which he believes is basic to the life and mandate of a teacher in higher education. A communicator by instinct, Thampu sees writing as a medium of growth and clarity. His published works include: AIDS: Heresy and Prophecy, The World and the World, Religion and Politics, Be Thou My Vision, Re-discovering Mission: Towards a Non-western Missiological Paradigm, Cross-Cultural Issues in AIDS, and so on. A talented translator, the Reverend's first attempt at translation -The Scent of the Other Side, OUP, 2019) won the Crossword Award. His autobiographical work titled A Temple in Turbulence is in process. A member of the English faculty of St. Stephen's College since 1973, Rev. Prof. Valson Thampu retired from active service in the academia in 2016, having done an eight-year stint in administration as the Principal of the college. In between, he exited academia for a period to embrace full-time social activism and to be part of various people-centric movements. His work, teaming with Swami Agnivesh, in promoting inter-faith harmony and social spirituality, caught the eye of many. He was appointed to the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions in December of 2004. As a theologian, Rev. Thampu endeavoured to develop an authentic Indian Christian theology to wean the community away from its dependence on western theological patterns. His cultural commitments took him to the emerging field of translations; his very first attempt, Othappu: the Scent of the Other Side, OUP, 2009- winning him the Crossword prize for the best translations in India in that year. In a hugely controversial tenure as the Principal of St. Stephen's College, Rev. Thampu dared to integrate commitment to social justice with pursuit of excellence in higher education. He managed to convincingly interrogate the entrenched dogma that the two are incompatible. He took St. Stephen's to the pinnacle of national rating in all the courses offered in the college. Firmly convinced that education is a social project, Rev. Thampu re-oriented St. Stephen's from being an institution that received the best from around the country to be one that reached out to citizens in all walks of life. The innovative course he designed and offered to citizens in Delhi -Citizenship and Cultural Enrichment- proved hugely popular with over 300 students in the age group of 18 to 80 doing this course with exemplary interest. This venture, premised on his concept of Institutional Social Responsibility (on the analogy of CSR), has the potential, if widely adopted, to effect a socio-cultural revolution in giving effect to the ideal of lifelong learning without a rupee of state funding.