DTU

Confirmed Speakers

• Suhel Seth
  Suhel Seth is the Managing Partner of Counselage India. Counselage is India’s only strategic brand management and marketing consultancy advising Chairpersons and CEOs on branding and marketing. Counselage advises Tata Steel, The Taj Group of Hotels, Hero Honda, Tata Teleservices, NDTV, Coca Cola, Diageo, SREI and Max India amongst others. Suhel has several passions: he is a regular speaker at industry meets; is a lecturer at various Indian Institutes of Management. Suhel also writes provocative columns in The Financial Times, London and in Business India, The Hindustan Times and The Indian Express on current affairs and the social landscape of India. Suhel has co-authored two books on Calcutta with Khushwant Singh and R K Laxman. Suhel was also the Keynote Speaker at the Indian Advertising Congress in 1998. Suhel has also been a speaker at all Marketing Summits organised by CII and was the Chairman of the CII Marketing Summits from 2005 to 2010. Suhel was on the global advisory board of British Airways until 2009 and presently sits on the global board of Cavendish and RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London) and on the regional boards of Citibank and Coca Cola. He has addressed the International Executive Committees of companies such as American Express, BMW Foundation and Renault on ‘Understanding the Indian Consumer’.Suhel has also addressed the Harvard Business School on Building Brands in India.
• Prof PB Sharma
  A renowned academician Prof. P.B. Sharma is the founder Vice-Chancellor of Delhi Technological University (formerly Delhi College of Engineering). Prof. P.B. Sharma is a former Professor of IIT Delhi, Founder Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi Technology University, former President of Engineering Science Division of Indian Science Congress, former Chairman of Indian Society of Mechanical Engineers and Vice-Chairman of World Confederation of Productivity Sciences, India Section. A Doctorate from University of Birmingham, UK, Prof. Sharma during his professional career spanning 40 years has made distinguished contribution to the advancement of frontiers of knowledge in the areas of Aero Engineering Technology, Power Plant Engineering, New and Renewable Energy Resources and Knowledge and Innovation Management. He has guided 14 PhDs, published extensively and provided industrial consultancy to the renowned organization including GTRE Bangalore, Ministry of Defence and the world renowned Rolls Royce of UK. Recipient of many awards and recognitions Prof. Sharma, is a Fellow of World Academy of Productivity Sciences, Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), Fellow of Aerodynamics Society of India and also a Fellow of ISTE.
• Pradeep S Mehta
  Pradeep S Mehta (62) is the founder secretary general of the Jaipur-based Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International), one of the largest consumer groups in India, with offices in London, Lusaka, Nairobi, Hanoi and Geneva. Established in 1983/84, CUTS International has now completed 25 glorious years. Mehta studied at The Scindia School, Gwalior (higher secondary), St Xavier’s College at Calcutta (B. Com) University and law at the Rajasthan University, Jaipur. Mehta serves/has served on several policy making bodies of the Government of India, related to trade, environment and consumer affairs, including the National Advisory Committee on International Trade of the Ministry of Commerce and its working groups. He chairs the Advisory Board of the South Asia Network on Trade, Economics and Environment, Kathmandu. Mehta also serves on the advisory boards of Centre Advisory & Review Group of the Research Centre on Regulation and Competition, Institute for Development Policy and Management, Manchester University, UK; Institute for Consumer Antitrust, Loyola College, Chicago, USA; American Antitrust Institute (AAI), Washington DC, USA; Brains Trust of the Evian Group, Lausanne; the OECD’s Advisory Committee for Investment in Africa, OECD, Paris; Advisory Committee of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, New Delhi In the past, Mehta has been an NGO Adviser to the Director General, WTO, Geneva, besides serving on the governing boards of the Life Insurance Corporation of India, Mumbai; the International Centre for Trade & Sustainable Development, Geneva and the Consumer Coordination Council, New Delhi.
• Runa Khan
  Described as an entrepreneur and humanitarian, Runa Khan is the founder Executive Director of Friendship in Bangladesh and founder board member of Friendship International which is currently operating in five countries. Educated in Calcutta where she completed her Bachelor in Arts with Honours in Geography from Lady Brabourne College, and a second BA from Eden College in Dhaka, Runa Khan has had an array of experiences in diverse fields from education to communications to management to teaching among others. Her expertise lies in developing integrated development models in education, health, innovative livelihood support; emergency relief; preservation of culture; communication and liaison; and tourism. Prior to founding Friendship, she has held formal positions as consultant for leading telecom companies and international organizations, proprietor of boutique houses, teacher, and founded tourism and service-oriented companies. Additionally, she is the author of 8 children’s books; 6 educational and 2 fictional, which are two of the best-selling English children’s books in Bangladesh.
• Jagdeep S. Chhokar
  Jagdeep S. Chhokar was a professor (teacher, trainer, researcher, and advisor) of Management and Organisational Behaviour at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, from 1985 till November 2006, when he retired after reaching the mandatory age of superannuation. He is also a citizen-activistfor improving democracy and governance in the country; a bird watcher and conservationist; and a trained lawyer. Before becoming a professor he was an engineer-manager with the Indian Railways, and worked as an international marketing manager for four years.He is one of the founding members of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR, www.adrindia.org).His educational qualifications are LL.B. (2005); Ph.D. (1983), MBA (1977), Grad. Mech. Engg. (1967); Grad. Prod. Engg. (1967). He has taught in several countries including Australia, France, Japan, and the US. His professional interests cover all aspects of organisational functioning, cross-cultural management; international marketing; international management; international business; human resource management; business strategy and policy; management in government, and in public systems/sector; and industrial and occupational safety. His broader interestsinclude electoral and political reforms, informed choice (freedom of information), world affairs, and ornithology (bird watching).
• Ms. Saloni Malhotra
  An engineer from the University of Pune, Saloni Malhotra currently spearheads DesiCrew which she founded with Dr .Jhunjhunwala at TeNeT group, IIT Madras in Jan 2005. She started her career in an interactive media start up, Web Chutney in Delhi. Saloni's work with DesiCrew has been featured in leading newspapers and magazines across the globe such as BusinessWeek, BusinessToday, The Economic Times, Fast Company, The Hindu, etc. She has been nominated for BusinessWeek's Asia's Youngest Entrepreneurs, MTV Youth Icon 2008, E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 and also facilitated in the presence of the President of India by the CII. Saloni is the founder of DesiCrew and handles Marketing and overall direction of the organization.
• Mr. Arbind Singh
  Arbind Singh (born 1966) is an Indian social activist. He founded Nidan, a non profit organisation for informal labor. It operates in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. He greatly improved the bargaining power of the street vendors with the state governments. Arbind was born in Muzaffarpur and spent his early years in Katihar, a district in North-east Bihar, which is a hub of first generation migrants. As a child, Arbind was perplexed by the routine eviction of his neighborhood vendor friends. In the 1990s, armed with degrees in sociology and law from the Delhi University, Arbind returned to Bihar. His work in the NGO Adithi was a turning point, where he was deeply inspired by its founder Viji Srinivasan. He started work with vendors under the aegis of Adithi, before registering Nidan as a separate entity in 1996. Arbind’s goal, with great urgency, is to ensure greater numbers and scale of businesses run by the poor. He lives in Patna with his wife and two children. Under Arbind’s leadership, Nidan has received the first Bihar Innovation Forum Award from the state. In 2008 ,he won the Social Entrepreneur of the year award by Khemka Foundation.
• Tricia Morente
  Prior to joining LifeSpring, Tricia Morente worked with the Acumen Fund as an Acumen Fellow. In this role, she focused on developing LifeSpring's CRM capabilities. Prior to this, she was a business strategy consultant and also worked in the field of economic development. Her work experience ranges from North America to Australia, Rwanda, the Philippines, Thailand, and India. Ms. Morente received her BA from Harvard University, MBA from Columbia Business School, and MA in International Affairs from SIPA. In her free time, she is a trapeze artist and a harpist.
• Mr. Yashveer Singh
  Yashveer is Co-Founder of National Social Entrepreneurship Forum, a non-profit organization promoting social entrepreneurship in youth across India. NSEF establishes student run chapters at Universities which conduct various activities to create an ecosystem to produce the next generation of social entrepreneurs. NSEF activities include Idea conferences, workshops for students and young social entrepreneurs, social business plan and blogging competitions, idea cafes, facilitating internships and mentoring young social entrepreneurs. Additionally, he also serves as an advisor to Grassroots Accelerator, a nonprofit organization enabling SHGs and grassroots entrepreneurs through training and advisory support. Yashveer has earlier worked with Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, a non-profit organization focused on improving governance in India, through a combination of political advocacy, research, grass-roots mobilisation, and civic training. Prior to Janaagraha, he led a rural entrepreneurship initiative to develop appropriate marketing strategies and income-generation projects for rural communities in Rajasthan. Yashveer is a StartingBloc fellow and holds MSc (Hons.) Economics from BITS Pilani, where as President of the student's union, he conceptualized, led and guided many student initiatives and was instrumental in preparing VISION-2020 plan for the university. He enjoys reading and playing basketball and is enthusiastic about Innovation in Public policy and governance.
• Mr. Arvind Saraf
  Arvind did his Bachelors in Technology in Computer Science from IIT Kanpur in 2001 and started off his PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, EE & Computer Science department - working on designing and building next generation microprocessors. He moved back to India in 2005 and joined Google in Bangalore. He left to co-start Swasth India - a social business with the intent of ensuring access to healthcare to all.
• Mr. Harihar Dash
  Harihar Dash was one of the finalists of the reality show India’s Got Talent-II. He has always spellbound the judges as well as the audience with his performances. He is known for his particular dance form and specialises in Excellent Popping n Loking Dance. Harihar comes from a small village in ORISSA called as Behrampur. He started his journey from the small village as a local dancer. Nowadays he can be seen on television for the famous airtel add, dancing on streets wearing a green jacket as an act to entertain the passer-bys. He not only showcased his talent on stage and stunned the judges but also inspires many youngsters to come up and showcase their talents and skills.
• Ajay Chaturvedi
  Ajay is the Founder & Chairman of HarVa, a unique and first of its kind rural enterprise in the world. HarVa means ‘green’, the color that signifies progress and well being, Green for the Villages and stands for “Harnessing Value” of rural India. HarVa is a new age business model focused on assisting rural India to access and harness the opportunities that urban India / local environment offers for a better quality of life. The engine that drives this Socio-Capitalistic model is the out-of-the-box thinking leading to innovations relevant to connecting rural India with the corporate world. Primarily HarVa is into all women Rural BPOs, Community Farming of non-rain dependent cash crops and Microfinance for the under-served. Besides serving on boards of several companies, Ajay is an ex-Citi banker where he served in Strategy and Sales positions in Cards and Consumer banking verticals. Ajay begun his career with IBM Consulting in the US and has over 14 years of experience in Management, Operations and IT Consulting across Financial Services, IT and ITeS industries in US, UK, and South East Asia. Prior to Citi, Ajay was the Transition Leader at Global Vantedge, a company that was a pioneer in many ways besides being the first offshore receivables management provider. Ajay is an Engineer from BITS Pilani and a Graduate in Management of Technology from the School of Engineering and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He truly believes in the power of cost effective innovation on all aspects that will lead to value creation in India and supports the Socio-Capitalistic business models as the drivers of inclusive growth. He also thinks that the real growth in India is yet to come and is possible only when we get into the real fabric of the country and not just overlay thoughts and patterns from the developed nations. A voracious reader, an avid golfer and an ardent traveller, Ajay spent almost a decade living in the US and across the world and now lives in Gurgaon.