Shri Harivansh is a very senior journalist, an acclaimed writer, avid reader, serious thinker on the issues before the nation and now an active Parliamentarian.
Born on 30 th June, 1956 in Citab Dira Village of Ballia District, which is birth place of Jayaprakash Narayan Ji also.
He completed his middle and high school education from his village and went to University of BHU for higher studies.
Inspired by JP, he became an active participant in the 'JP movement' and started writing on various social and political issues as a Journalist. During about four decades of his career as a Journalist, he has written mainly on social, political, cultural and economic issues concerning the common people.
He started his career as a Journalist with TOI (Mumbai) Group and worked for Dharamyug, the largest circulated Hindi Weekly of TOI Group.
Worked as Assistant Editor in Ravivar, a Hindi magazine of ABP Group, Kolkata, for a long time; was Consulting Editor Vidura; Chief-Editor - Prabhat Khabar, a leading Hindi daily of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal for more than 27 years from 1990-2016.
Was Additional Information Advisor (Joint Secretary) to then Prime Minister Shri Chandra Shekhar Ji
Served on various Committees, Commissions and Boards of the Government of India and different NGOs from time to time.
Attended several World Hindi Conferences and honoured for his outstanding contribution to Hindi; received Madhav Sapre Award and Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi Award (See Annexure) for journalism.
Has written/edited several books and many are still being written (See Annexure).
Widely travelled abroad as Journalist, Member of Indian Delegation for attending international Conferences and now as Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha (See Annexure).
As Parliamentarian, he has evinced keen interest in raising peoples' issues in the House and participated effectively in discussion on several issues in the House. Within short span, he made a mark in Parliamentary proceedings after he was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2014.
His habit of reading and doing extensive research before writing that he had acquired as a journalist helped him excel in Parliamentary debates earning wide acclaim across the party leaders.
Mr. Gogoi is a young leader from the state of Assam in North-East India. The State of Assam has multicultural, diverse population. In a climate of unprecedented focus on development in the state and region by the Centre, the State is currently grappling with issues of inclusive development, displacement, citizenship and immigration.
This is Mr. Gogol’s second term as a MP. In the current, 17th Lok Sabha- Lower House of Indian Parliament; he is the Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and committee on Government Assurances (which examines the assurances, promises and undertakings given by the ministers on the floor of that house)
In the previous term of the Lok Sabha, Mr. Gogoi was a Member of key Standing Committees across domains, such as Committee on Railways, Standing Committee on Defence. He was also a Member of the Consultative Committee on Communications and Information Technology. He was Co-founder of the Farm2Food Foundation, an organization that works with over hundred schools in Assam to promote organic farming and nutrition.
Mr. Gogoi has served as a Policy Aide with the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York and volunteered on various projects in Cambodia, Palestine and the United States. He has attended United Nations events like South Asian Parliamentarians Platform for Children meet at Colombo, Sri Lanka and attended UN Women conference for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment meet at Oslo, Norway.
With Masters in Public Administration from New York University, U.S., Mr. Gogoi, has addressed issues of development such as infrastructure for connectivity, while also tackling issues of flooding and natural disasters, poverty and displacement, and extremism. His parliamentary debates, highlighted the developmental needs and priorities of the region, including of women equality & safety. Mr. Gogoi is a vocal advocate for establishing a new law for pollution. He was extended the honour as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2015.
Mr G Yoganand is the Chairman & Managing Director of Manjeera Group, Hyderabad, who believes in corporate culture of delivering value to the customer. He is a first generation Techno-preneur with rich experience in the Real Estate Sector for more than 3 decades. He has graduated in Civil Engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad in 1981 and completed Post Graduation in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bangalore in 1983. Being passionate for continuous learning, he has successfully completed a Business Leadership Program at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore in 2013.
He started his career during 1983-84 as a Structural Engineer and promoted M/s Matrix Design Engineers, a Civil Engineering Consultancy Firm in 1985.
He is the Promoter of Manjeera Group, who are into development of Residential and Commercial complexes, Malls, Hospitality Projects and Property Management.
He is associated with several professional bodies like Institution of Engineers, Indian Concrete Institute, Association of Consulting Civil Engineers, Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI). He had actively participated in formulation of various policies of the Government relating to Real Estate Sector.
Contribution to Civil & Structural Engineering
Lectures & Papers Presented
Professional Affiliations
Pioneer in adopting new systems in Constructions Industry
Planning & Execution of Multi Storey & High Rise Buildings, Building Information Modeling (BIM), Enterprise Resource Planning, Property Management Services, Diversified Building Construction, Green Initiatives, Sustainability, First to establish Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) in a Commercial Complex, Member of the initial group of activists to promote Rain Water Harvesting Schemes in Hyderabad, Energy Savings Systems in Buildings, etc.
ShriMaheishGirriJi is a name that has today become synonymous with youthful energy, new age ideas, out of the box thinking combined with an unyielding desire to serve millions of Indians. A unique blend of monk and master politician, ShriMaheishGirriJi was shaped by his humble beginnings and groomed by his spirituality that collectively pushed him into the corridors of power in New Delhi. A Shishya of Swami AmritGiriji, (DattatreyPeethGirnarJunagadh, belonging to JunaAkhada, Varanasi) ShriMaheishGirriJi is today changing the face of Indian politics as an MP from East Delhi and a National Secretary of BJP.
Having left his home at the young age of 17 in a quest for spirituality, ShriMaheishGirriJi spent years in the wild pondering and deliberating over the nature of life, spirituality and service. After years of ascetic life, he graduated to being the Peethadeesh at the astounding age of 25. However, his will to serve humanity made him a great believer of the vision of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji who made him the International Director of the Art of Living Foundation.
He later went on to initiate a wide variety of projects like the MeriDilliMeri Yamuna movement, followed by creating the NavbharatSewaSamiti, spearheading the movement for Clean Delhi during the Commonwealth Games. He also started the Project Utthan in East Delhi, a unique concept that weaved all sections of society together with a spirit of volunteerism towards creating a society free of stress, violence and crime. His Project Disha was a behavioral transformation program for frequent criminals, proclaimed offenders and juveniles across all police stations in East Delhi. He was also hailed for his ManavtaYatra – a walk for humanity across 220 slums of East Delhi where he met thousands of people to spread the message of love, peace and non-violence. Besides this, he was one of the co-founders of the India Against Corruption Movement and the man to name their biggest bill -the JanLokpal.
However, the lack of political will on the part of the Congress Government would repeatedly prove to be a challenge for his various projects. It was this constant lack of initiative on the part of the government that led ShriMaheishGirriJi to join politics. Never the one to refuse a challenge ShriMaheishGirriJi, joined the BJP and won a seat (East Delhi) to the hallowed halls of the Indian Parliament and has since been elevated as one of the national secretaries of BJP, as well as the person in charge of BJP in Pondicherry and Lakshadweep.
True to his duty, he has taken it upon himself to change the landscape of the East Delhi constituency leading to countless initiatives including the popular GirriChaupals in each ward of his constituency. A never before public engagement and problem resolution exercise, the GirriChaupal involved bringing representatives of different government departments closer to the local populace. Till date over 41 GirriChaupalshave led to resolution of over 3000 issues faces by local citizens. Similarly he has also held Janta Durbars every Saturday, where he personally listens to the issues faced by the people. Since the first JantaDarbar he has sent over 40,000 letters to government officials becoming the voice of the people. He is also credited with spearheading Raahgiri at Shadhara, Bank AapKeDwarat JJ Clusters, Good Governance Abhiyanand opening of Helplines for East Delhiites. This has resulted in the upliftment of countless Delhi residents.
He also ensured central government initiatives reach the common man by organizing regular camps for the same. Take for example the Bank AapkeDwaar Scheme under which he opened up 2,529 Jan Dhan Accounts for people in his constituency. The successful BetiBachaoBetiPadhao Campaign was also adopted in East Delhi where ShriMaheishGirriJipersonally ensured admission of 2,500 girl children in the Govt schools. Under the Mudra Yojna more than Rs720 Crores have been disbursed to over 43,000 people in his constituency. When it comes to the safety and security of women, ShriMaheishGirriJi left no stone unturned as he spent 2.72 crores to install street lights and nearly 4Cr on procurement of CCTV cameras. Under his progressive vision he even led the complete overhaul of all the railway stations in his area like the Shahdra, AnandVihar and Nizzamuddin railway station, creating RO water points, sheds and toilets.
He has also become the face of good health & education services visible through endeavours such as Free Medical Camp as Mega Health Camp which led to thousands of citizens getting free medical aid and assistance.To promote Accessible India Campaign he organisedthe much hyped Divyang Distribution Camp in which around 1,544 Divyangjans had received around 3,000 instruments including Motorised tricycles, artificial limbs and other instruments to assist them in their day to day lives. To promote transparency and to bring the government policies to the people, he has started a magazine “SewaGirri” that acts as a report card of good governance and presents the developmental activities carried out in the constituency.
Besides this countless initiatives like opening of schools, colleges, health camps and toilets across his constituency. In a short duration, he has accomplished incredible feats, however at the age of 39, we all believe that ShriMaheishGirriJi is just getting started.
Prof. Achyuta Samanta www.achyutasamanta.com was born to Late Neelima Rani Samanta and Late Shri Anadi Charan Samanta. But, unlike most children blessed with endless care, comfort and compassionate nurture in the lap of their parents, Achyuta Samanta's childhood was the most difficult, grief-stricken and struggle-full. He was four when his father died in a tragic train accident. He failed to understand when his family was bereaved of the only bread earner. At such a tender age, because of the stroke of misfortune, he began to understand the pains of poverty that the family had to face. His father, a petty worker, exhausted the limited money he earned and took a huge amount of hand loan to support his seven children and wife. The family bequeathed debts and poverty after father's untimely death.
In such dark circumstances, all the seven siblings started struggling to survive along with their widowed mother in Kalarabanka, a remote village in Odisha without anything in anybody's hand or any backing. At four, Achyuta Samanta started struggling for his survival. As he grew up to understand the difficulties, he assisted his mother in household chores and other menial jobs to augment income for the family. His upbringing in the midst of nature and hardships took place in a remote village with no amenities, not even basic, before forty-five years. He grew up in a thatched house just like a cowshed left by his deceased father.
His mother had to face unending struggles. Because of her commitment and determination, she did odd menial jobs to manage two square meals a day for her children. Sometimes, they did not have food for the night. The siblings managed to study and get a formal education besides helping their mother to supplement the family income with honesty and determination. Achyuta Samanta completed his Intermediate with distinction despite financial distress. He obtained graduation and Post Graduation Degree in Chemistry and was engaged in private tuitions and mentoring for funding his education and helping his siblings.
The same person whose childhood just unfolded miseries, created Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) www.kiit.ac.in and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) www.kiss.ac.in in 1992-1993 with 100 USD (Rs.5000/-). While KIIT has become one of the most acclaimed and recognized Indian Universities that provides Professional Education to 30,000 students from India and abroad, KISS has become world's largest tribal educational institution. It is a home to 30, 000 poorest of the poor tribal children who are given free education from Kindergarten to Post graduation along with other avenues of Comprehensive Development. KISS has huge alumni of 20,000 students with a decent profession and livelihood besides creating a wave of change in their communities through satellite centers of KISS in 10 districts of Odisha. KISS is the first exclusive Tribal University in the world.
The whole world, policy makers, educationists, economists talk about 'poverty alleviation through Education' as a solution to address the global problems that exist today. This cardinal principle has been the very foundation of KIIT and KISS. It was envisioned, implemented, executed and achieved by Achyuta Samanta in true sense for the last 25 years.
He initiated KIIT and KISS when there was not adequate awareness about professional Education in Odisha. Tribal Education in an innovative model was not even thought of. It was a gray area where every stakeholder failed or did not muster up the courage to initiate the first step. Achyuta Samanta founded these two institutions during that period despite such a dismal scenario. His initiatives have become a pride of Odisha, India and the world today.
He strongly believes that his cause is not only about providing opportunities and arranging certain facilities for the deprived but beyond it, by enabling the complete transformation of children. The students have excelled in academics and co-curricular activities.
His contribution is not only confined to Academics and Education. It permeates to Rural Development, Women Empowerment, Social Service, Low-Cost Health Care Facilities, Art, Literature, Media, Culture, Entertainment and Spiritualism. Despite his spectacular success and achievements, he leads a simple and dedicated life in a two room rented house as a bachelor dedicating himself to the service of humanity with patience and passion as his strength and humility, simplicity, modesty and transparency as his assets.
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2017- Present: Chairperson of the Punjab State Human Rights Commission, Punjab
2016-2016: Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, Bihar
2015-2016: Acting Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, Bihar
2013-2015: Judge of the Patna High Court, Bihar
2002-2013: Judge of the Gauhati High Court, Assam
2001-2002: Registrar General of the Gauhati High Court, Assam
1999-2001: Registrar – Inspection and Enquiry of the Gauhati High Court, Assam
1997-1999: District and Sessions Judge of district Nagaon, Assam
1995-1997: District and Sessions Judge for distict Dibrugarh, Assam
1992-1995: District and Sessions Judge for district Karimganj, Assam
1991-1992: Additional District and Sessions Judge for district Dibrugarh, Assam
1991: Joined Grade-I of Assam Judicial Service
1978-1991: Advocate with Bar Council of Assam
Practised in the Gauhati High Court and Distict Courts, Assam
Member of the Supreme Court Bar Association
EDUCATION
1975-1978: LLB., Gauhati University (Tezpur Law College, Tezpur)
1972-1975: B.Sc., Gauhati University (Darrang College, Tezpur)
Born on 29th October, 1954, at Tezpur (Assam), he did his B.Sc. from Darrang College, Tezpur. He did his graduation in law from Tezpur Law College, where his father, a Bar-at-Law himself, was founder Principal. He handled both civil as well as criminal matters as a lawyer. He remained deeply involved with the activities of All Assam Lawyers’ Association and many other socio-cultural and educational bodies. He was President of Tezpur Lions’ Club also. He has been a life member of Indian Institute of Public Administration.
He joined Grade-I of Assam Judicial Service in April, 1991 and, having worked as District & Sessions Judge, at Karimganj, Dibrugarh and Nagaon, became Registrar General of Gauhati High Court. He underwent training on the subject of Gender and Law, in Warwick University in UK, on being nominated by National Judicial Academy headed by Chief Justice of India.
He was elevated to the Bench of Gauhati High Court as Judge on 4th March, 2002. He was the Judge In-charge, North East Judicial Officers Training Institute, with the responsibility of training Judicial Officers. He served as Executive Chairman of State Legal Services Authority in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland and has accordingly performed the duty of legal awareness, legal education and free legal aid by holding legal awareness camps. He has presented papers and delivered lectures in many seminars all over the country. He has delivered lectures at police training Institutes, Judges Training Academies and Army War College on various aspects of law and Judicial Governance Programmes.
He was elevated to the Bench of Gauhati High Court as Judge on 4th March, 2002. He was the Judge In-charge, North East Judicial Officers Training Institute, with the responsibility of training Judicial Officers. He served as Executive Chairman of State Legal Services Authority in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland and has accordingly performed the duty of legal awareness, legal education and free legal aid by holding legal awareness camps. He has presented papers and delivered lectures in many seminars all over the country. He has delivered lectures at police training Institutes, Judges Training Academies and Army War College on various aspects of law and Judicial Governance Programmes.
On 11.11.2013, upon his transfer from Gauhati High Court, he joined Patna High Court, as a Judge of the High Court and retired as Hon’ble Chief Justice of the Patna High Court on October 29, 2016.
He was the Chairman of Bihar Judicial Academy from 02.01.2014 till 08th August, 2015, and involved in the planning and execution of judicial governance programme. He has been in a position to import new insights of judicial governance programme, which have benefited not only the new entrants of judiciary, but also impacted the working attitude of the serving Judges in the justice delivery system.
Hon’ble Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari has joined as Chairperson Punjab State Human Rights Commission on 01.08.2017 for full term of five years.
Notable achievements / Judgments
Right to consume Liquor is not a Fundamental Right held Justice Ansari in the famous case in which the validity of the prohibition law in the State of Bihar was questioned; but still the prohibition law was held to be constitutionally invalid and unenforceable on various constitutional aspects.
Justice Ansari is known for a combination of law for liberty and passion for justice and to his credit has the privilege of being one of the Judges in the Country having the highest number of reported Judgments which are very often quoted as authorities in judicial proceedings.
“When people fear the Government there is tyranny, when the Government fear the people there is liberty”; quoted Justice Ansari, in the famous case of Sh. Navendra Kumar vs. Union of India on 06.11.2013, while ruling that the Central Bureau of Investigation, popularly called CBI is, in-fact, a constitutionally invalid police force and is not empowered to investigate crimes.
On the 6th of November, 2017, Mr. Puneet Chhatwal joined IHCL as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. He is a global professional with over three decades of leadership experience at highly- acclaimed hotel groups in Europe and North America.
Prior to this, Mr. Chhatwal was the Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Executive Board of Steigenberger Hotels AG – Deutsche Hospitality. He was also the Chief Development Officer of The Rezidor Hotel Group – Carlson Hotels Worldwide. Mr. Chhatwal is a graduate of both Delhi University and Institute of Hotel Management, Delhi. He has completed an MBA in Hospitality from ESSEC, Paris and an Advanced Management Program from INSEAD.
Mr. Chhatwal has won awards including the prestigious Carlson Fellowship and was rated as one of Europe’s 20 extraordinary minds in Sales, Marketing and Technology - HSMAI European Awards 2014. He was also the First Alumni included in the ESSEC-IMHI Hall of Honor 2014.
The founder Chairman of Eastern Media Ltd, the largest media house of the state, Sri Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is today a house-hold name in Odisha, a state in the eastern coast of India.
A passionate desire to empower the voice of people prompted him to eschew the idea of a lucrative university job although he was a brilliant student and studied at the London School of Economics and Oxford.
He returned to Odisha to start a regional newspaper called Sambad in 1984. Sambad is the largest read newspaper in Odia with over 1.5 million readerships.
With an FM radio, a 24X7 News channel, an entertainment division that produces opera shows and movies, an online news portal and a school of media and culture, Eastern Media today is a celebrated brand.
Soumya launched the CSR arm Aama Odisha primarily to promote Odia language through written test. Over a million prizes have been given to successful students mostly from the rural areas by Aama Odisha till date.
Then Soumya Ranjan came with his iconic slogan in 2006: “Let not anybody die for want of blood.” Aama Odisha has broken the national record for the highest single day collection of Blood Units. On more than one occasion the Indian Red Cross Society and the Government of Odisha have awarded Aama Odisha.
The vision of a strong and prosperous Odisha led him to politics. He has championed the cause of farmers and has even courted arrest. He fought for the rights of the investors who lost money in the chit fund scams. His media house has always championed the cause of the people empowering their voices.
Soumya Ranjan has been a member of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and now a Member of Odisha Legislative Assembly.
Being associated with many an organization, he has received a number of ovations and awards. A notable few among them include an honorary Doctorate’s degree from the state owned Berhampur University. Governor of Odisha has felicitated him and awarded him on more than one occasion for the outstanding contribution of Aama Odisha for blood donation in the state. He received the prestigious Harekrushna Mahatab Samman in 2013 and ‘Madhubabu Samman’ in 2018. He also is the recipient of the first Viswamitra International Award, 2019 in the category Empowering People’s Voice.
A media baron, the Sambad man who loves Odisha passionately, an orator par excellence, a social worker who would never like anyone to die just because blood was not available, an humble politician with a stoical nonchalance – that is Soumya Ranjan Patnaik for you.
Raj needs no introduction. He is popularly known and is one of the most respected and well-known name in the Media and entertainment industry.
Raj Nayak started House of Cheer 3 months ago with the thought to Create, Curate & Consult in the area of Media & Entertainment.
Prior to starting House of Cheer, Raj was the Chief Operating Officer of Viacom 18 & the CEO of Colors. He steered the company to a leading position during his 7 ½ years stint.
Raj began his career with Tata Economic Consultancy Services and has since worked in various capacities both in the print & electronic media including STAR TV where he was the Executive Vice President and founding member of the key management team. Went on to launch NDTV Media as its CEO, before setting up his own company Aidem Ventures, which also handled the digital sales for MSN (Microsoft in India).
Raj is known for his creative and business acumen. A media maverick he has a good insight into the changing consumer behavior & combines it with business objectives. He is known to have turned around the fortunes of several media companies in his 30 years career in the Media & Entertainment industry.
Raj has won many awards & accolades, the recent one’s being The Society Achiever of the Year award for his contribution to Media & Branding. The Humanitarian Award by Amity International for his contribution towards social issues. Giant International Award for his contribution to the Entertainment Industry. He was awarded the Media Person of the Year 2016 by the International Advertising Association (IC) and was awarded the first “Influencer of the Year Award” the same year by Exchange for Media.
He recently received the ‘Global Champion Award’ at The International Advertising Association at Bucharest.
Raj has been an active participant of many industry bodies. He has been the President of the Advertising Club, The International Advertising Association India (Chapter). He was on the board of Media Research Users Council (MRUC) & The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). He is currently the Chair at the PromaxBDA.
The Economic Times named him the second most engaging CEO on social media. Apart from driving such an enormous business, this chief is passionate about food, travel & reading. As someone who believes in spreading cheer and winning hearts, his twitter handle @rajcheerfull reflects his overall personality.
B Thiagarajan holds a Bachelor’sDegree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Madurai University. He has also completed the Senior Executive Program of London Business School. He has around four decades of experience, having worked for reputed companies such as Larsen & Toubro Ltd, BPL Systems Ltd and Voltas Ltd, prior to joining Blue Star in 1998.
Thiagarajan has handled various assignments in the Service Business, Corporate Communications & Marketing and Corporate Affairs & Planning before he was promoted as President - AC&R Products Group in 2009. He was elevated to the Board of Blue Star in 2013. He was appointed as Joint Managing Director in 2016 and with effect from April 1, 2019 he has taken charge as Managing Director. He currently oversees Electro-Mechanical Projects and Packaged Air Conditioning Systems Business; Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain and Service Operations pertaining to the Products Business; Manufacturing and R&D; Corporate Communications; Public Relations; as well as Corporate Marketing Services.
Thiagarajan plays an active role in various industry fora, and is the Past President of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Manufacturers Association (RAMA) and CII Maharashtra State Council. He is a nominated member of the CII National Council and Co-chairperson of the CII National Agriculture Council.
Gaurav Dalmia is the Chairman of Dalmia Group Holdings, a holding company for business and financial assets. It invests in private equity, real estate, public markets, structured debt and fixed income
He is an early investor in and a Board member of True North, a leading Indian private equity fund, which manages approximately $3.5billion. He is also the founder and Chairman of Landmark Holdings, a real estate investment firm. He co-founded GTI, a long term investment vehicle for India focused investments.
He is a Board member of Brookings India and a member of the Governing Board of The Institute for New Economic Thinking in New York. He is Chairman of the Indian Advisory Board of Room to Read, a global education charity. He is an op-ed contributor to The Economic Times, The Times of India and Financial Times.
He was selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2000. Gaurav Dalmia received an MBA with Beta Gamma Sigma honors from Columbia Business School.
Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia is an eminent media and advertising professional with 25 years of experience across India and Singapore. She joined Publicis Groupe in 2013 as Group CEO of ZenithOptimedia and then went on to lead Publicis Media India from 2016. Prior to Publicis, she has held senior leadership positions with WPP in India and Aegis Media Singapore.
She is on the Jury of key industry awards, actively involved with AAAI and other industry bodies and also an Independent Director on the Board of DB Corp. She has been felicitated by Forbes India as ‘W-Power’ Trailblazer 2018 and featured in Fortune India’s list of Top 50 “Most Powerful Women in Business” consecutively in 2018 and 2019. She has also featured amongst the Top 10 on Impact’s list of ’50 Most Influential Women in Advertising, Media and Marketing Industry” in 2018 and 2019.
A Post Graduate in Chemistry from IIT - Roorkee, her interests are adventure trips, photography and interior designing.
Madan Bahal is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Adfactors PR, India's largest and most awarded public relations firm. Adfactors PR is also the youngest and the only independent firm in its peer group in India.
In November 2017, the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) inducted Mr Bahal in its Hall of Fame. Earlier, in January 2016, The Holmes Report had named him as one of the 16 people from the international marketing communications and public relations industries, who were poised to make waves in 2016. PRWeek too has been including Mr Bahal in its Global Power Book since June 2015. In 2013, Mr Bahal was recognised for 'Individual outstanding achievement' in Asia-Pac by The Holmes Report. Mr Bahal is a member of the esteemed Arthur W. Page Society.
The firm, under his leadership, has been winning multiple accolades in Indian, Asian and global PR industry platforms. The Holmes Report conferred the firm with Asia-Pacific Corporate-PA Consultancy in 2018, Global Corporate Agency in 2016, Global Financial Agency in 2015, and Asia-Pac Financial Consultancy of the Year in 2015 and 2013. In 2016, Adfactors PR had won all five Agency of the Year awards for India. In the last five years since 2014 that the firm has started participating at industry awards, Adfactors PR has been winning a market-leading tally of awards each year for campaign excellence.
Mr Bahal is also the member of the governing council of The Yoga Institute, Mumbai. The Institute is the world's oldest body of organised yoga teaching. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, Dolly, and sons, Neil and Gautam.
Shazia Ilmi is an Indian politician. She was previously a television journalist and anchor at Star News. She was a spokesperson for the India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare in 2011 and 2012. She led a media campaign for an anti-corruption bill (to institute an ombudsman popularly known as the Jan Lokpal Bill). She was a member of the Aam Aadmi Party's National Executive but left the party in May 2014 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in January 2015.
Practising at Delhi
primarily in
(i) Supreme Court of India
(ii) High Court of Delhi
(iii) Arbitration Tribunals including International Commercial Arbitration
(iv) National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
(v) National Green Tribunal
(vi) National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)
(vii) National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)
(viii) Prevention of Money Laundering Appellate Authority IPMLA)
Areas of Practice
(i) Financial/Economic Laws &
Corporate Law
(ii) Arbitration Law
(iii) Insurance Law
(iv) Contract Law
(v) Constitutional Law
(vi) Competition Law & Consumer Protection
(vii) Environment Law
(viii) Economic Offence
Member
(i) Supreme Court Bar Association
(ii) Delhi High Court Bar Association
(iii) UIA International Association of Lawyers
Actively practicing in the Bar in the financial/economic sector and has also represented Banks, Finance Companies. Has dealt with finance / economic statutes. Have argued and handled several landmark Judgements in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court which have been reported in various law reports.
Has considerable experience in the field of Arbitration including representing leading Corporates in proceedings before Arbitral Tribunals in International Commercial Arbitration as well as proceedings before Courts arising from Arbitration Awards and Agreements.
During the earlier empanelment with Union of India, handled several important cases relating to constitutional law and writ petitions dealing with licensing, land, property, tenders, service law etc. Had represented various Ministries/Departments like the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Defence etc.
Advised in the areas of “conflict of laws and jurisdiction”.
Actively practicing in the field of competition law and consumer protection.
Has handled cases relating to electricity laws, property laws, medical negligence, insurance contracts, parallel imports, unfair trade practices. Several Judgements have been reported.
Was part of the team which represented the Government of Maharashtra in the Presidential Reference regarding Gujarat Assembly Election Matter before the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in Special Reference No. 1 of 2002 under Article 143 (1) of the Constitution of India which is reported in (2002) 8 Supreme Court Cases 237.
Visiting Faculty to various programmes conducted by Government Institutions as well as Public Sector Undertakings in various parts of the country.
Writings for certain publications including the official Journal of the Insurance Regulator (IRDA).
Dr. Pawan Kumar Singh is engaged for more than three decades in academics in the field of post-graduate teaching in management, training, research, consulting and academic administration. He operates in the field of Organizational Behavior & Human Resource Management, Indian Ethos, and Managerial Values and Skills. Before career in academics, he worked with Bank of India as Industrial Relations Officer.
Dr. Singh has published numerous research papers, two books, one booklet in the field of managing people. He has presented about 75 research papers in national and international seminars in India and abroad. He is on editorial board of reputed journals. He has prepared video material sponsored by Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Dr. Singh has trained more than 15,000 executive participants from almost all walks of professional activities across all levels of hierarchy. He has provided consultancy to various organisations of public as well as private sector.
Dr. Singh has been member of various academic and government bodies. Among various responsibilities in the field of academic administration, he has also worked as Director-in-charge of IIM Indore and Chairperson of Academic Committee of IIM Sambalpur. As Nodal Officer of IIM Sambalpur he played sheet anchor role in mentoring the institute.
Dr. Singh enjoys certain hobbies including music, traveling, cricket, poetry and astronomy.
An internationally renowned educational administrator, Professor Najma has four decades of academic scholarship in educational leadership. She is known for spearheading international educational administrators’ course for senior officials from 130 countries for more than 15 years at NIEPA. She has established and successfully developed first state level management institute (SIEMET) at Allahabad for developing educational administrators for the country. She has managed affairs of premier educational institute in various critical statutory positions such as Controller of examination and Director Academic Programs at Aligarh Muslim University. At IGNOU, she led many distance educators capacity building courses at national and international level.
A gold medallist of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Professor Najma distinguished herself in the university as student at a in her early career. She earned international accolades including Commonwealth scholarship. She studied in prestigious international institutes such as University of Warwick and Nottingham UK and IIEP Paris UNESCO. She has been involved in collaborative research work with developing and developed countries. As a successful Team Leader she has encouraged and developed younger faculty as independent leaders.
Prof. Akhtar is known for innovations in educational governance. She has achieved time bound targets in bringing the Academic session on rails and has demonstrated handling of University rules \ regulations with a firm hand resulting in transparency and acceptance among students , faculty and the community. She is known for leading teams of diverse cultural background for International consultancy assignments. She is a pioneer in bringing fully funded long and short term international programs with diverse funding to her University and to the country. Gender Equity has been part of most of her projects. Her personal charisma clubbed with professional acumen in Institution Building makes a perfect combination for excellence in education.
Dr. Mulay served as a Diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service (1983 – 2019). He is a renowned Author, Motivator and former Secretary to the Government of India
1 Highlights :
• Extensive experience and expertise at International, National, and Local levels.
• Wide ranging networks across the world
• Diverse experience of working in the Ministries of Finance, Commerce, External Affairs and Cabinet Secretariat.
• Multilingual: Fluent in Hindi, Marathi, English, and Japanese. Knows Sanskrit, Kannada, Russian, and Punjabi.
• Well known prolific writer and columnist.
• Strong interest in philanthropic work, grievance redressal and outreach with people.
• After the devastating floods in Maharashtra in August, 2019 adopted two villages namely Bastwad in Shirol Taluka and Nilewadi in Hatkangale Taluka in Kolhapur District.
2. Current Assignment:
Member, National Human Rights Commission, India since 25.04.2019.
3. Highlights of Career:
• Indian career diplomat as well as a celebrated author and columnist.
• From the 1983 batch of Indian Foreign Service and served in several capacities, including the Consul General of India, New York, USA, and High Commissioner of India, Male, Maldives.
• Successful writer, has written over 15 books which have been translated in Arabic, Dhivehi, Urdu, Kannada and Hindi.
• His magnum-opus – Maati Pankh ani Akash, written in Marathi, is immensely popular amongst the youth, and has been prescribed in the Arts curriculum at the North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon and Shivaji University, Kolhapur (Maharashtra).
• Inspired several socio-educational projects including Balodyan, an orphanage in his native village.
• A documentary titled ‘Gypsy’, highlighting the life and work of Dnyaneshwar Mulay, was produced by Director Dhananjay Bhawalekar. The film received ‘Special Jury Award’ at the Delhi Short Film Documentary Festival.
• Well-known writer Deepa Deshmukh authored a book titled ‘Dr. Dnyaneshwar Mulay – Passport Man of India’.
• The D.Y. Patil University of Mumbai honoured with Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.) (honoris causa) for ‘exemplary contribution to society’ in January 2017.
4. Career Profile
A. Secretary (Consular Passport and Visa & Overseas Indian Affairs) Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi [Feb. 2016 till January, 2019].
• Under his leadership, 410 new Passport offices were opened in the country as a part of taking passport office to every Lok Sabha constituency. From a mere 77 passport centres in the country the number in 2019 stands at 510.
• Created a strong institutional framework to help Indians stranded in overseas countries. Has considerably reduced the response time to help distressed Indians abroad.
B. Consul General of India, New York, USA [Apr. 2013 – Feb. 2016]
• Special initiative undertaken to reach out to and engage with the Indian diaspora as well as mainstream American society. Launched “Consulate at Your Doorstep” a unique outreach program that aimed to deepen understanding with the US decision-makers on India-US relations and addressing the concerns of the community on passports, visas and other matters.
• Was the main coordinator of the Madison Square Garden event of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September, 2014.
• Introduced a popular well-attended monthly lecture series called ‘Media India 2014’, which helped in creating a fresh dialogue and conversation about India. Similarly, introduced lecture series focusing on the Indian States, “India-State by State”.
• As Consul General, also appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with John Stewart”, in an episode based on India’s elections in 2014.
• In response to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, initiated a Swachh Consulate Campaign in New York. This holistic cleansing campaign became a model of Swachh Consulate for other Indian missions abroad.
C. High Commissioner of India to Male (Maldives) [Apr. 2009 to Mar. 2013]:
• Steered the Indo-Maldivian relations to a new level and successfully led the Embassy through the difficult transfer of power in February, 2012.
• Instrumental in strengthening the defense relationship between India and the Maldives, notably achieving the India-Maldives-Sri Lanka cooperation in the maritime arena.
• Handled the difficult situation during the two-week-long refuge of President Mohammed Nasheed in the Indian High Commission in Male in February, 2013.
• Established the Indian Cultural Centre in Maldives.
D. Early career:
• Served as Deputy Collector of Pune before joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1983.
• Served in Tokyo as the Third Secretary and later as Second Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Japan.
• As Second Secretary in Japan, looked after economic relations and paved the way for many Japanese investments in India ranging from Toyota Motors, NTT-Itochu, Honda Motors and YKK.
• Successfully managed the ambitious Cultural extravaganza, Festival of India, which was organized in over 20 cities of Japan over a period of one year in 1988.
• Thereafter, served in various capacities in Russia, Mauritius and in Syria as Minister in the Indian embassy.
• Founded the Indian Business Association in Moscow, Russia and was its Founder President for two years. The Association celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2017.
• Instrumental in handling the business relations between India and Russia particularly the transition from the state controlled (Rupee–Rouble) trade to direct trade.
• In Mauritius, streamlined and expedited the Cyber Tower project and Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre with Indian assistance
• In Syria, facilitated the Sahitya Academy’s first MoU outside India with the Arab Writers Association.
5. Early life and education:
• Born in 1958 in Village Arag in Sangli District of Maharashtra.
• Father Manohar Krishna Mulay was a farmer while Mother Akkatai Mulay has been a homemaker.
• At the age of 10, left the village to join Rajarshi Shahu Chatrapati Vidyaniketan, Kolhapur, a school that was founded by the Zilla Parishad to nurture talent from rural areas. Became the first student from rural area to win the Jagannath Shankarsheth Award by securing highest marks in Sanskrit at SSC exam in 1975.
• Pursued B.A. (English Literature) degree from the Shahaji Chattrapati College, Kolhapur and stood first in the University, winning the prestigious Dhananjay Keer Award.
• Studied Personnel Management at the Mumbai University and won the Peter Alvarez medal for standing first in the University.
• Subsequently stood first in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examination in the year 1981 and succeeded in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination before being selected in the Indian Foreign Service in 1983.
RAKESH K SHUKLA is a passionate and self-driven professional, business and political personality from Allahabad UP. He has been special Advisor of Kumbh & Maha Kumbh Mela for over a decade and is recipient of several national-international prestigious accolades like Kumbh Ratna Award, Ganga Ratna Award & Bharat Gaurav Award at British Parliament, UK. He has written a book, Maha Kumbh with internationally acclaimed photojournalist Padma Shri Raghu Rai. His rich experience in various industries, especially the healthcare sector, has resulted in the social-cultural upliftment of a wide section of society. A political analyst and an avid traveller, a regular columnist in the national media.
At 21 years of age, Monisha Advani was on the cover of Savvy magazine. This was 1992, a world with different challenges. Her foresight made her remark “Our country’s biggest liability, its people, will rise to become its biggest strength. At the time, Advani spearheaded her first entrepreneurial venture, an academic consultancy focused on peer to peer counselling in order to activate higher learning among dormant student classes. In 1996, she went on to pivot this business into a successful HR consultancy, EmmayHR. In 2005, the company was acquired by Randstad Holding nv, the world’s second largest HR services company, as their first Asian acquisition. Advani had a vantage seat to lead the company’s growth in the subcontinent and in strategic business areas internationally. At the time that her golden hand cuffs came off, Randstad India had a top line of over Rs. 780 crores.
After returning to entrepreneurship in 2009, Advani served on the board of iVolunteer, an ICICI ventures social enterprise. She also explored early stage investments in a number of businesses through My First Cheque, and remains an active investor/ board member on companies such as Ping Digital, India Food Network, Decision Fuel and Jombay.
In 2011, Advani teamed up with her former business partner Madhu Bhojwani and her brother Nikkhil Advani to form Emmay Entertainment. The production house has grown rapidly to deliver iconic hit films such as DDAY, Airlift, SatyamevaJayate, Baazaar and the recently released controversial hit film, Batla House. The company also has the distinction to bringing to national TV India’s first Indo-Israeli adaptation POW BandhiYudhKe. The company remains privately held and enjoys a current top line in excess of RS 400 crores. It was also ranked in the top 10 production houses in 2018. Advani intends to grow the company at 100% for the next two years, before retiring.
Most recently she was awarded Outlook Business Woman Entrepreneur 2017. Born and brought up in Mumbai, she continues to call the city her home. Advani enjoys cooking, and discussing the nexus between spirituality and leadership.
Sanjay Jha is the Executive Director of Dale Carnegie in India. Mr. Jha is also the National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress Party since 2013. Recently he was appointed as President of All India Professionals Congress, Maharashtra.
Sanjay has been a TEDx Speaker and has addressed audiences at Dell, Columbia Business School (New York), University of California (Los Angeles), Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Brookings, The Doon School, etc. He is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, National Herald and Yahoo. He is one of India’s top influencers on social media like Twitter.
Jha founded the popular sports channel CricketNext.Com, and has held senior positions at ITC Threadneedle Asset Management, London, Alliance Capital, New York, Bank of America and ANZ Grindlays Bank.
Jha completed his MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur and his Master’s in Economics from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. He graduated with distinction in Economics from Fergusson College. Jha has also authored a bestseller on leadership called The Superstar Syndrome (The Making Of A Champion), co-authored with Dr. Myra White, who is a Professor at the Harvard Medical School.
Rana Barua is CEO of Havas Group India – in sync with the global “Together” strategy of collaboration and integration, that brings together Havas Group agencies of different disciplines under a unified leadership. He leverages over 23 years of rich experience in the media industry.
Rana oversees all companies of Havas Group in India which includes Advertising, Media, Digital, Experiential Marketing, Design (UX|UI) and Health - which together comprise and work closely as a Village model. The ‘Village’ way of working is transformative as it not only strengthens and enhances the product but enables the Havas Group to deliver maximum effectiveness and efficiency for the client. It is something Havas strongly believes is a competitive edge over any other network.The Havas Group is now fully integrated into Vivendi - one of the largest media and communications companies in the world with assets like – Universal Music, Dailymotion, Gameloft, Canal + and many others.
A leader who believes in leading from the front Rana is known to turnaround organizations into a resounding success, a highly skilled brand, media and marketing communications leader with cross category & multi-media platform expertise and has had wide-ranging experience in running large establishments with different verticals and making a success out of them by integration and collaboration.
He has as a CEO led esteemed organizations like Contract India (a leading WPP creative agency) and RED FM (India’s leading radio network). He has also held senior leadership profiles in Radio City (as marketing head) and multiple WPP agencies (JWT / Ogilvy & Y&R) where he has spent most of his professional life.
Rana is on the board of the IAA, as well as an executive committee member and honorary treasurer of the Advertising Agencies Association of India – AAAI, he also presides on the board of many leading companies.
He has attended various forums as speaker, been final jury in multiple Effies, Grand jury DMA Asia Echo Awards, judged multiple awards in India Radio Forum, New York Festivals, exchange4mediaamong many others. He is also actively involved as a speaker in leading MBA schools and colleges across the country.
Mr. Suman Saraf, is the Managing Director of Radha TMT, a leading manufacturer of high-quality primary steel in south India. he is a seasoned entrepreneur and the baton bearer of rich business legacy of prestigious RADHA GROUP, formed by late shri Radheshyam ji Saraf in 1960’s. With sharp focus on value creation through his 30-year career, Mr. Saraf incubated new strategic businesses like steel manufacturing, construction and LED manufacturing within the group. Driven by a passion for excellence, he takes pride in providing the best executive leadership possible. While he is redefining processes and operations to extract the most out of the existing businesses and making them future-ready, he is also dedicating time and managerial capabilities in growing new-age businesses. He is widely recognized as a mindful entrepreneur with critical commercial and strategic acumen in business forums such as FICCI, SME Chamber of India, Hyderabad Angels, TIE, TREDA etc. Mr. Saraf holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He is an avid reader and experiential traveler
Vivek Tiwari, is the Founder and CEO of Medikabazaar, India’s largest online platform for medical supplies. An alumnus of IIM Calcutta,Vivek has an extensive experience in leadership roles which he occupied at prominent global conglomerates like Nestle, Telenor, Maxis Telecom, and Tata Group. Some of his notable achievements include successfully establishing joint ventureswith leading dialysis equipment manufacturers, namely Nipro (Japan) and Fresenius Medical Care (Germany). During his earlier experiences, Vivek successfully managed and established tertiary care clinics in tier 2, 3 cities, in India, an experience from which he ideated Medikabazaar. He is a distinguished member of the consortium of ace professionals in the Indian medical devices sector. At the same time, he also holds an honorary position at a global regulatory and marketing organization for medical devices and equipment.
A political economist and commentator on political, economic, and social affairs, Dr Parakala Prabhakar served as Communications Advisor and held a cabinet rank position in Andhra Pradesh Government between July 2014 and June 2018. He is a well-known television personality in the Telugu states and presented current affairs programmes such as Pratidhwaniand Namaste Andhra Pradesh which ran successfully for several years.
Dr.Parakala Prabhakar is a Ph.D from the esteemed London School of Economics (LSE) and completed his Masters and M. Phil from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Over a long professional career, spanning over 3 decades, he has carried out several research studies and policy analysis for international organisations such as UNICEF, ILO, WTO, UNDP along with various state and central governments. He was also a member of the task force that helped in formulating India’s 10th 5-year plan. A regular speaker at forums such as FICCI and CII, he is also an expert in conducting opinion polls, studying markets and developing communications and branding strategies.
Dr Parakala Prabhakar is currently handling affairs of RightFOLIO, a Knowledge Service Enterprise as its Managing Director.
I have been working since last 25 years on advertising, sales, publishing, activations & content production assignments. I have worked with media organizations such as The sunday observer, Dainik Jagran, Navabharat & DDB Mudra group. I am currently employed with Nett Value Media Pvt Ltd as Founder & Managing Director since 2013. Beside media services, I have business interests in content creation/production, music, food supplies & wrestling.