Professor D.P. Agrawal was Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, New Delhi for a full period of Six years from 16August 2008 to 16^th August 2014. Prior to this he was a Member, UPSC for the period from October, 2003 to August, 2008.  As Chairman UPSC , he has been at 9A in Warrant of precedent in GOI .

Prof. Agrawal had initiated major reforms and improvements in the scheme of various Examinations including the flagship Civil Services Examination conducted by the Commission. The changes he brought in Civil services examination ensured fair play, equal opportunity and merit-based selections.   Emphasis was given to select ethical, upright with right attitude and aptitude candidate first time. The changes in scheme also ensured future civil servants to be honest and out of box thinkers.     All Internal processes in examination and evaluation, conducted by the UPSC were modified for zero tolerance on errors and complete unbiasedness.

Use of Information Technology was introduced in a major way for the receipt of online applications for all the recruitments through the commission, in processing RR and disciplinary cases and also in the conduct of Examinations online.

Single window system was introduced successfully in all the sections of the commission for receiving proposals for DPC, AIS induction, RR and recruitment. This has improved efficiency of all the section wherein time taken in DPC and other disposals was cut by half. All AIS pending cases of various states were brought up to date.

Commission lecture on its foundation day was started by him on “Public Service and the Governance’ to evolve future vision of ethical governance in India. All the Four lectures held during his time  were delivered by Hon’ble Presidents(present and former) and the Vice President of India.

Under the guidance of Professor Agrawal, Commission has played a crucial role in the international level also.  Tie-ups with Canada, Cooperation with Public Service Commission’s of African, Middle Asian, and Gulf Countries and also with the SAARC Countries are also made under the leadership of Professor Agrawal. On account of his initiatives and under his chairmanship a meeting of Chairman’s of Public service commission’s of SAARC member states was started first time. The first meeting was held in New Delhi and later on in Islamabad and Colombo. it

He has been Chairman for National Conference of Chairman of all state PSCs and Chairman of SAARC Public service Commissions, and the meetings held under his leadership have helped state public service commissions to use IT to improve their internal working and public image.

Satish Pradhan Director ,Shruti Conservation Foundation,Ex Group Head of HR,Tata Group

Satish Pradhan advises Boards and Companies on Strategy, Leadership and HR, He works with  International, National organisations, CEOs  and Senior leadership  as a coach  and mentor.

He retired as Advisor, Tata Sons Limited in 2015.  He was the Chief of Tata Group Human Resources at Tata Sons from April 2001 to May 2013.  Prior to joining the Tata Group in 2001, he was with ICI Plc in London at their Head Office leading the Global Organisation Design & Development function.

Satish has a master’s in history from Delhi University and has worked in several Public & Private Sector companies over the last 40 years. The companies that he has been associated with are - Steel Authority of India, CMC, ICI India, Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd (now Unilever India) and ICI Plc and the Tata Group in various leadership capacities in business & HR areas.

He started his career in Human Resources on the shop floor of an integrated steel plant in Raurkela (SAIL) from where he went on to looking after the Western Region HR of the Central Marketing Organisation at SAIL. He then moved to CMC as the Head of HR and partnered the development of CMC from a small public sector Computer Maintenance organisation to a full range IT Services firm in 4 years. His first stint with ICI was based in India as the Head of training initially for ICI India and later support for Global businesses in Asia Pacific.
 Satish’s experience with Unilever was at the time when two of India’s largest tea companies - Brooke Bond and Lipton got merged, and he was responsible for Human Integration as the Head of Management Development. After this association with Unilever, Satish returned to ICI  as Vice President of Human Resources and was deputed to the global headquarters of ICI PLC  at Millbank, London in the UK in the Global role of Organisation Design and Development Head.    

Satish has served on the boards of several Tata Group and other companies. He was a Non-Executive Director at many of   the Tata group companies like TAL Manufacturing Solutions, Tata Services  Ltd, Computational Research Laboratories, Tata Auto Comp Systems Limited (TACO) and Tata Green Yuasa (TGY)  etc. He served as an Independent Director on the Board of the National Payments Corporation of India till 2020 and on the Advisory Board of IIT Roorkee. He was the Convener of the National Conference for Social Innovation of Pune International Centre.

He continues to be a speaker, faculty at national and international conferences and Business Schools in India and overseas. He spent a semester at the Said Business School at Oxford, as their first Executive in Residence. Partnering personally, and organizationally with premier B Schools globally on leadership development, he pioneered the consortium  learning model for intercorporate leadership development for the Tatas along with GE, ABN AMRO, BHP Billiton, Boeing and other leading companies.

He is a Chartered Fellow of CIPD, UK, and was awarded a DLitt (honoris causa) in Human Resources Development and Environmental Conservation in 2016. He has served the National HR Network (NHRDN) in various capacities and was the Regional President, West.

Satish is an avid naturalist and has served on the Governing Council of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) for almost two decades, on The GB of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) till 2022 and has been an Adjunct Faculty as well and continues to serve on the Board of Studies, School of Vocational Education, TISS. He serves as Member of the Expert Committee of the University Grants Commission to review/revise the draft guidelines for “Institutional Development Plan for Higher Education Institutions” on the ideas enshrined in the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.He was a Speaker at the Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagan 2023 and has been appointed a Mentor under the Malaviya Mission by UGC / Ministry of Education.

He is a co-founder of The Leadership Centre, an independent director of the National Stock Exchange Academy, Founder Director of Shrusti Conservation Foundation and continues to advise and consult with several national and international Corporate, Educational Institutions and NGOs.

 

Accomplished veteran across Industries (Aircraft, Tooling, Automobiles), across Business Units’s (Commercial Vehicles, Pre Electric Vehicles, and Passenger Vehicles), and across functions. Has 39 years of experience in Industry, with a work experience in Product Planning, Product Development, Strategy, Tool Room, Manufacturing, Process and Equipment Planning,
and Supply Chain Management.
Has done Masters in “Aircraft Prodution Technology” from IIT Chennai and a “Management Education Program” from IIM Ahmedabad. Has also done Bringing Technology to Market (BTM) course from ESMT, Berlin, Germany.
Has worked with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Tata Motors Limited in various capacities and the recent assignments include Powertrain Director, Head of Manufacturing Engineering,
Head of Logistics, Planning and implementation of increased capacity at the Indica Car Plant from 500 to 750 per day.
Presently, is the Vice President and Head of Product Line for all ICE Passenger Vehicles of Tata Motors. Successful products in market include Tiago, Tigor, Nexon, Harrier, Safari, Punch and Altroz.
Serving on Board of Fiat India Automobiles Private Limited, a Joint Venture between Tata Motors and Stellantis in India.
Member of Indian Institute of Engineers and Associate Member of the Aeronautical Society of India. Independent Directors Databank IICA Aegis of MCA; Certified Corporate Director IOD.CCD.297; Chartered Engineer; and Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, India

After an excellent career, both in Academics and Sports in school and college. Major Phatak joined National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1957.

At NDA, he excelled in many sports such as Boxing, Basket Ball, Squash, Tennis, Swimming and cross country. Captained NDA basketball team and was awarded several colours (BLUE) was commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery in 1961.

During his military service, he actively participated in the three wars of 1962, 1965 and 1971.

He requested for pre-mature retirement on extreme compassionate grounds in 1970 and his papers for release came through just before the war. However, knowing the war was eminent, he wrote back to Army Headquarters to hold his release papers and express his desires to be part of he 1971 war, which was highly appreciated by the then Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw, after the war his papers were persued and got the release ultimately in 1973. During the Kargil war though civilian now he expressed his desires to rejoin the Army. However, because of the technical grounds he could not do so, he then closely worked with Mrs. Ranjana Malik, President Army Welfare and Wives Association raising funds and got lot of help from his colleague from the corporate world.

Did his business management from Jamanalal Bajaj Institute of Management and St Mary’s University from Canada. In corporate world he worked with chemical company and afterwards joined family company Brihan Maharashtra’s & took over as CEO of the India operation. He ran the company for 35 years. During that time he was also deputed to Canada to run the Canadian operations for 5 years. During his Brihan’s term he sponsored several functions, re-unions, raising days, husband’s night for the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, NDC and staff college across the country including Ladakh and Nagaland essentially because of his gratitude for the Armed Forces and says whatever he has achieved is only because of his grooming in the Army.

During Mumbai terrorist attack, he was in the meeting with Korean delegates in Taj hotel. He was requested to take over the situation being an Army officer and was also able to rescue around 150 people’s whom he brought down through fire escape in early morning around 3.30 am with the help of General Officer Commanding, Maharashtra, Gujrat and Goa Area. 

 

Padma Shri Awardee, Actor, Director, Writer and Historian

Dr.Chandraprakash Dwivedi is a filmmaker and scriptwriter, renowned for directing the 1991 TV epic “Chanakya,” in which he also portrayed the title role. His notable works include the 2003 film “Pinjar,” a tragic love story adapted from Amrita Pritam’s novel of the same name, and the 1996 television series “Mrityunjay,” centered on the life of Karna, for which he received a Best Director award. He is also affiliated with Rishihood University, serving on the board of founders.

Dr.Dwivedi, a qualified medical professional, abandoned his medical career due to his profound interest in Indian history and literature, transitioning to work in the theatre. Between 1990 and 1992, he wrote, directed, and acted in the TV serial “Chanakya,” which gained immense popularity in India for its well-crafted dialogue, command of Hindi, and insights into politics and philosophy. In the late 1990s, he served as the Programming Division Head at Zee TV.

In 2009, the South Asian Cinema Foundation honoured Dr. Dwivedi with its Cultural Catalyst Award, recognizing his dedication to exploring India’s ancient culture and history in television and popular cinema.

Prof. Dhananjay Singh is the Member Secretary, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi.  He graduated in English from Government College, Itanagar, Arunachal University, in 1995, and did his MA in English from Arunachal University, Itanagar, in 1997. He was awarded the Gold Medal by the University for his excellent academic performance during his MA. He completed his M.Phil. and PhD research in English from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in 2003 and 2007 respectively. His research was in the domain of literary and cultural studies.

Prof. Singh started his teaching career at Sri Aurobindo College, University of Delhi, in August-September 2006 and thereafter taught at Satyawati College, University of Delhi from September 2006 to December 2007. He joined the Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, as a faculty in 2007, and headed the centre as its Chairperson from January 2019 to January 2023. He served as the Associate Dean of the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies from May 2021 to January 23, 2023. He also served as Associate Dean of Students, JNU, (November 2017 to September 2019) and Chief Proctor of JNU (November 2019 to May 2021). He served as the Warden at Chandrabhaga Hostel, Jawaharlal Nehru University (September 2010 to May 2017).

Early in his teaching and research career, Prof. Singh worked, as Assistant Editor, in the prestigious project titled The Encyclopedia of Indian Poetics, with Dr. Kapil Kapoor as the Chief Editor, a project of Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, & Union Academique Internationale (UAI), Brussels. He was also Assistant Editor, with Dr. Kapil Kapoor as the Chief Editor, of Mutual Regards: Indo-Irish Anthology, a collaborative project involving Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and the University of Ulster at Colerain (Ireland).

Prof. Singh has taught MA and PhD courses in JNU on Research Methodology; Sanskrit Poetics; Comparative Poetics; English Literary Criticism; Life, Literature and Thought-19th Century; Indian Aesthetics; Indian Philosophy of Language; Bharata’s Natyashastra, Anandavardhan’s Dhvanyaloka; South Asian Fiction; Canadian Fiction; Creative Writing; Irish Drama; and Irish Poetry and Fiction. He has supervised 23 PhD theses and 20 M.Phil. dissertations.

Prof. Singh has been invited to deliver talks and present papers in national and international conferences by prestigious institutes and universities in India as well as outside India such as University of Tubingen, Germany, University of Wurzburg, Germany, University of Grenoble, France, etc. Several of his research papers on language, literature, and other areas of cultural studies have been published by prestigious publications such as Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature, Sahitya Akademi, and Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla.

Prof. Singh is the author of the monographs Fables in the Indian Narrative Tradition: An Analytical Study (D.K. Printworld, 2011), The Poetics of Theatre in Early India (D.K. Printworld, 2021) and the forthcoming Philosophy of Performance in India (Bloomsbury, forthcoming 2023-2024).

Prof. Singh was Visiting Professor at University of Bergamo, Italy in 2014; International Visiting Fellow at Grinnell College, Grinnell, IOWA, USA, in 2015; and Visiting Research Fellow at Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin in 2017. For his research on Seamus Heaney and Buddhist epistemology in a comparative framework, he was awarded Research Secondment by the European Union’s Marie Curie International Research Exchange Scheme to the Project “Social Performance, Cultural Trauma and Reestablishing Solid Sovereignties (SPECTRESS),” at Trinity College Dublin in May-July 2017. Prof. Singh’s poems have appeared in literary journals Muse India and South Asian Ensemble.

Presently, he is been elected as the president of Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC).