Distinguished Advisors
(India)

Dr. S. S. Samant

A leading expert on Biodiversity and Himalayan flora, Dr. Samant is the director of Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla (an autonomous Institute of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Govt. of India). Prior to this, he was the Scientist In-charge of the Himachal Regional Centre of G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development, another autonomous body under MoEF&CC, Govt. of India.

Dr. Samant holds Ph.D. in botany and has been awarded D.Sc. for his remarkable contribution to the body of science. Dr. Samant has a great deal of experience working in the Indian Himalayan Region and has conducted research in the region for more than 30 years. He is a distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (FNASc; 2010) India and the Society of Ethnobotanists (FSE; 2010). Dr. Samant is a recipient of Prof. P. N. Mehra Memorial Young Scientist Award (2001), ICFRE, Dehradun Forest Conservation Award (2001-2002), Award of Excellence on Environmental Conservation (2008), to mention a few.

Abhijit Sinha

Mr. Sinha is a seasoned environment media consultant and journalist. As a professional journalist with more than two decades of experience in the national and international media, he has worked at the editorial level with newspapers namely Oman Economic Review (Muscat), Sahara Time, Hindustan Times, Sunday Observer (New Delhi edition) and The Asian Age (New Delhi).

Of late, Mr. Sinha has been more associated with subjects, such as Environment Education and Media Literacy while experimenting with Sustainable Communication Strategies (Integrating Environment, Community and Media). Mr. Sinha, as a media professional has had worked with diverse institutions (INGOs – Corporates – Government) and stakeholders (Communities & Panchayati Raj Institutions) on issues including CSR, 3BL (Triple Bottom Line), Communication Strategies, Social & Behavioural Change Communications (SBCC), etc.

Anuj Kumar

An alumnus of NIT Warangal, Mr. Anuj Kumar has been a part of Indian telecom industry for over 30 years. He has built a strong reputation in telecommunication technology and management. Mr. Kumar started his career with HCL Technologies Limited and then moved to Bharat Electronics to work on radars and advanced communication systems. From Bharat Electronics, Mr. Kumar moved to Indian Railways and spent more than 7 years in the field of Railway Signaling and telecommunications. 

Anuj considers “Changing self and evolution as an essential part of life” and was feeling stifled in the bureaucratic environment in the government as well as feeling “getting left behind” in technology. As a result, in 2015, Mr. Kumar founded a business and telecom consulting company providing “mission critical” services to new telecom operators in Nigeria and other African countries. He founded another company in India, currently providing Wifi based connectivity services on “Opex Model” to Central government Universities under an MHRD project, besides focusing on product development in the field of Education and Analytics. 

B. V. Subba Rao

Mr Subba Rao holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Geology from University of Roorkee [1976] and Post Masters specialization in Advanced Aerial Photography Interpretation from Indian Institute Technology, Bombay [1977]. Over four decades, he has worked with Government Agencies, NGOs, Academic, Research & Development Institutions, National and International Development Agencies. His interest includes environment education, wildlife, photography, extension education, philosophy, indigenous methods and practices and social anthropology.

He had planned and facilitated implementation of European Commission project for restoration of Tank Irrigation system under the combined Andhra Pradesh state and was associated with Comptroller and Auditor General in preparation of “Sustainability Auditing – Urban Lakes”. He headed the research team that brought out a report titled “Status Report on Environment in Andhra Pradesh, 1990” (a one of its kind), which was published by the Academy of Gandhian Studies. He also prepared policy document on “Drinking Water System” for Ekiti State, Nigeria. Conducted field surveys, prepared and submitted capacity building approaches for Government of Ivory Coast, West Africa. He is presently associated with Centre for Resource Education & Management- a not for profit non-governmental research foundation based in Hyderabad as it President.

Gyanesh Chaudhry

Mr. Chaudhry is the CMD of Servo Electronics Pvt Ltd, a company engaged in Design, Development, Making, Supply & Maintenance of sophisticated Equipment for the Indian Air Force. Recipient of several National MSME & professional awards, Mr. Chaudhry was honoured by IIT-Kanpur (1999) for his outstanding professional contribution.

He has been Founder/Board Member-Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Delhi; Founder, Pan IIT- Alumni India/Chairman, 1st Finance Committee (2003-7) & Constitution Committee; Ex-President, Alumni Association and Founder President/Mentor – Delhi Chapter, IIT – Kanpur; Delhi University Executive Council Member, apex body (1992-95); Ex-Chairman, Rani Dutta Arya Vidyalaya (2001-2007), imparting Quality Education to 1000+ orphans (Nursery – Class XII).

K. P. Puri

Mr. K. P. Puri he has over 38 years of experience in aviation, manufacturing of aircraft engine systems components, etc. He has been the managing director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the largest aerospace company in India.Mr. Puri is a seasoned board level executive experienced in running multi-billion-dollar organisations with over 10,000 employees.  

He has served on the board of Midhani – a Defense Public Sector Undertaking. He has also served on the board of HAL-Infotech, a joint venture between HAL and Infotech Private limited and as Controlling Director and Board member of IRAL – a joint venture between HAL and key Russian aviation agencies.

Prof. Monowar Alam Khalid

Prof. Monowar Alam Khalid is Professor & Head, Department of Environmental Science at Integral University, Lucknow. He also holds the position of Dean, Students’ Welfare at the same university. Prof. Khalid has over 28 years of distinguished career in research and academics in the field of environment and allied subjects. He holds a doctorate and M. Phil in Zoology from Aligarh Muslim University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Remote Sensing from Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun.

Recently, he has been presented Dewang Mehta National Education award for Best Professorship in Environmental Science by BSchool Affaire, Mumbai and was also awarded Climate Reality Leadership certificate by Mr. Al Gore, Nobel Laureate and Former Vice President of the USA. Prof. Khalid has hold positions of responsibility in organisations such as Earthwatch Institute, TERI, Amity University, Wildlife Institute of India, Fishery Survey of India, to name a few. He was also instrumental in formulating the first approved Small Scale CDM Afforestation/Reforestation project for India, which got registered with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Prof. M.V.S.S. Giridhar

Prof. Giridhar, an acclaimed expert of water resources management is presently working as Professor in Centre for Water Resources at the Institute of Science and Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad. Dr. Giridhar has over 20 years of teaching, research and administrative experience.

He holds an M. Tech (Water Resources Development and Management) from IIT Kharagpur and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad. His work on improvised rain water harvesting system has received recognition and accolades from all quarters including 02 patents to his credit as it is meant for recharging ground water aquifers and to counter ground water contamination. Prof. Giridhar has published about 150 papers and has successfully led about 10 major research projects over the years.

Niranjan Dev Bharadwaj

Niranjan Dev Bharadwaj, an Indian Author of the book “Environmental Ethics and India’s Perspective on Environment”, published and released at the World Book Fair 2018, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi by National Book Trust, India (NBT), Government of India. He is an International Speaker and has given multiple TEDx talks.

An Environmentalist and Researcher by practice and a Chemical Engineer by training. Niranjan holds a bachelor’s degree in Honors and Distinction in Chemical Engineering from Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Junior Chamber International {JCI}, Madhya Pradesh [Gwalior] has awarded him the “Outstanding Young Person Award for Environmental Leadership” in the year 2019.

He has been delivering talks on Ecological issues on a regular basis nationally and internationally including in countries such as Iran, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Nepal. He also had the honour peaking at the Sahitya Academy, the biggest and the most prestigious literary stage of India. In addition, he has over 10 research papers published in various reputed international journals.

Nitya Jacob

Mr. Jacob is a research and policy advocacy professional specialized in water, sanitation and hygiene issues. He is currently working as the director of Policy and Advocacy at Swasti Health Catalyst. Academically, he holds a master’s degree in mass communication and an advanced certificate in integrated water resources management.

He works with non-profit organizations and international agencies on WASH issues. He has led the national advocacy and research team at WaterAid India, worked as the water programme director with the Centre for Science and Environment and had been the Moderator with the UN Solution Exchange on water. Mr. Jacob is also a published author and has written books on India’s traditional water wisdom, rural governance, trends in rural development and also a chapter for the UN-sponsored publication ‘Water Voices From Around The World’.

 
Dr. Pradeep Mehta

Dr. Pradeep Mehta has a PhD in Forestry and management course from Maastricht School of Management, The Netherlands. He has nearly 20 years of professional experiences managing projects and programmes on issues related to Sustainable Agriculture, Natural Resource Management, Forestry, Business & Sustainability and Climate Change Mitigation in mountain areas of India.

He has worked as a Senior Manager with International NGO’s like Earthwatch Institute, Appropriate Technology Asia, Clean Air Asia and managed projects and programs related to conservation, sustainability and livelihoods issues. He has experience of working with Government and bilateral agencies including Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, India, etc. Dr Pradeep is Founder Chairman of CHINAR (Central Himalayan Institute for Nature & Applied Research – a member of Mountain partnership of FAO of the United Nation), an organisation committed for sustainable mountain development and livelihoods of the mountain communities. He is also member of several national and international bodies such as IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM), IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), Strategic Academic Advisory Board of Xavier School of Sustainability (Xavier University, Bhubaneswar).

Ranjana Saikia

Ms. Saikia has a distinguished career that spans over three decades of working to build awareness about environmental issues among youth in both formal as well as non-formal spaces. Ms Saikia has held position of authority in institutions such as The Energy and Resources Institute and Earth Day Network.

Ms Saikia has conducted major environmental programme at national and regional level including Climate Champions program in partnership with British Council India, Green Olympiad and TerraQuiz to name a few. She has authored several books and publications that include a book on Climate Change for high school students. This resulted from her visiting research fellowships at the Institute of Global Environmental Strategies in Japan. Ms Saikia is a member of the GIZ (now BMZ) International Education for Sustainable Development Expert Network, Forum under UNESCO, and a Member of the National Advisory Committee, National Council for Science & Technology Communication, amongst several other distinguished positions.