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BITS Pilani
Vidyavihar Campus
Pilani, Rajasthan, 333031
India

Balan Madhavan

Nature Photographer

Balan Madhavan is the most sought after nature photographer of India. When he is not pursuing his passion out in the wild in solitary splendor, Balan is busy creating awareness of nature & wildlife and the importance of conservation in India. An Associate of Royal Photographic Society of England, Mr. Madhavan is the winner of the Canon President's Prize in the United Nations (UNEP) photography contest, 1992. Plus around 150 awards in various All India Photographic Salons and Contests, till he stopped competing almost a decade ago. A versatile photographer with skill and experience in all branches of photography, Balan's images are used for the promotion of tourism in many states of India. His first book “MOMENTS” received the best publication award for Tourism in Kerala. He has been featured on the cover of leading Indian photography magazines like ASIAN PHOTOGRAPHY, SMART PHOTOGRAPHY as well as on leading TV channels including National Geographic.

Cara Tejpal

Environmentalist, Wildlife Conservationist

A self-described conservation generalist, 28-year-old Cara lends her skills to help confront the gamut of conservation challenges in India. She writes, fundraises, works on policy documents and develops campaigns under the umbrella of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, while also heading their unique Mud on Boots Project. As an independent writer, her articles on wildlife have appeared in publications such as Outlook, Scroll, Sanctuary Asia, Conde Nast Traveller and National Herald. She has previously worked with Bagh Foundation on conservation policy matters and The Gerry Martin Project on snakebite management and mitigation in India. When she isn’t travelling in wild places, Cara lives between Mumbai and Goa.

Christopher Doyle

Bestselling Author

Christopher C. Doyle is widely regarded as an author who transports the reader into a fascinating world where ancient secrets buried in legends blend with science and history to create a gripping story. Brought up as a boy on a steady diet of books ranging from classical literature to science fiction and fantasy to poetry and plays, Christopher dreamt of becoming a writer from an early age. He finally achieved this dream with 'The Mahabharata Secret', which went on to become a huge bestseller. Mr. Doyle pursued a career in the corporate world, graduating from St. Stephens College, Delhi with a degree in Economics and studying business management at IIM Calcutta. Over the course of his corporate career, Christopher has written articles on management and business for Indian and international publications and is also a regular invited speaker for international conventions and conferences.

Divya Dureja

Spoken Word Poet, Psychologist, Curator

Divya Dureja is an International Spoken Word Poet, Curator and Activist. With social conscience guiding her words and elements of melody binding her to the stage, her poems capture the zeitgeist of the present times as she rolls out limericks and free-verse into the mic. A psychologist, Divya's performance pieces have their roots in lived experiences reflecting situational comedies and uncomfortable realities. Her poetry film on one such uncomfortable reality, a condition called vaginismus, filmed by the renowned visual storyteller Catrine Val, has been screened at various International Film Festivals across Europe - 2016 International Triennial of Mixed Media, Belgrade, 2017 International Women's Film Festival Dortmund|Cologne and 2017 Diffusion Festival, UK, among others. She is also the co-founder of Performers' Consortium, a platform for nourishing artists and democratising art narratives

Dr Ramakanta Panda

World's Safest Heart Surgeon

Dr. R Panda is the world’s leading cardiac surgeon, often spoken of in the same breath as Dr. Michael E. DeBakey and Dr. Denton A. Cooley. Dr.Ramakanta Panda has performed over 23500 cardiac surgeries as on date. Honoured severally by the media as well as his peers, as India's No. 1 heart surgeon and a living legend of Indian healthcare. Honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2010 by the Government of India, Dr.Panda’s incredible 99.6% success rate in bypass surgery is the platinum standard in cardiac surgery across the world. n 2009, he led the team that successfully operated on the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh. This was followed by highly complex surgeries on several leaders of Indian politics. Largely a very humble man known for his philanthropy and mild-manners, Dr Panda is feared for his ethics. He is a crusader against the cut-practice and other malpractices that ail certain pockets of the healthcare system in India.

Dr Shashank Shah

Business Author and Strategist

Dr. Shashank Shah is a thought leader in field of study at the cusp of corporate strategy and sustainability with over 100 national and international publications to his credit. His research focuses on the pivotal role of corporations in economic and social value creation through visionary leadership, stakeholder-centric decision making and inclusive business strategies. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School, Fellow and Project Director at Harvard University South Asia Institute, Visiting Scholar at Copenhagen Business School, Editor-in-Chief of Harvard University Postdoctoral Editors Association and Consulting Editor at The Business India Group. His highly acclaimed books ‘Soulful Corporations’, 'Win-Win Corporations' and ‘The Tata Group’ were published in 2014, 2016 and 2018 by Springer and Penguin Random House.

Harika Dronavalli

Chess Grandmaster

One of the most renowned Indian women in Chess, Harika has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Dronavalli was honored with the Arjuna Award for the year 2007–08 by the government of India. Having already won nationals, Asian and Commonwealth games, Harika’s ambition is to become the women’s world champion. Harika was also recently adjudged the Chess Player of the Year (2016 and 2017) by The Times of India (TOISA Annual Awards). She was also featured by Verve magazine in 2017 amongst the top 40 popular women sportspersons of the year. Chess requiring high levels of intelligence, focus and grit, is often perceived as a game loved by boring nerds. However Harika Dronavalli defies the stereotype. Articulate, vivacious, well-dressed and social media-savvy, Harika comes across as somebody who is serious about her career, but also knows how to have fun.

Satyajit Padhye

Professional Ventriloquist

CA Satyajit Padhye, son of India's Leading Ventriloquist Mr. Ramdas Padhye is a face well known from big screens of India's Got Talent and BigBoss. Interested in this art since childhood, he performed for first time at the age of 12 at a school gathering. Padhye is known for his capacity to instill fresh ideas and come up with innovative approaches in the performing act of ventriloquism and puppetry besides his youth-targeted humour. He actively uses puppetry to create social awareness for pressing issues like AIDS among younger generations. Apart from establishing his presence in the Indian entertainment industry, Satyajit has also performed overseas. He is the First Indian Ventriloquist to represent "INDIA" at the UNIMA World Puppetry Festival in China where 74 countries participated. He performed his show in English & Chinese and also won the "Best Entertainment Act" Award at the Festival.

Swapnil Tewari

Social Reformer and Inventor

Swapnil is one of the youngest specially-abled social reformers of India. He is a social entrepreneur, writer and the founder of 'Livemad Foundation'- a movement that spreads hope in troubled communities through social inventions, entrepreneurship and love. A dyslexic and synaesthetic by birth, his work explores the synergy and congruence of human senses. By the age of 25, he rehabilitated 24 endangered tribes in the violence stricken jungles of India, during which he was abducted thrice. He works towards rescuing women from prostitution and child abuse. His other initiatives include 'Beat the Blue Whale Challenge', against the infamous 'Blue Whale Challenge', and 'Save my innocence' against child abuse. Cited in the '1000 World Leaders for Hope' list, and Forbes Magazine's Changemakers 30 under 30 list, Swapnil presently serves as the 'UNESCO Ambassador for SDG Inclusive Learning 2017-18'.

Tanuj Kumar

Undergrad student, Team lead of satellite team at BITS Pilani

Tanuj, an undergrad at BITS Pilani is best defined by a combination of electronics, space sciences, programming and music. He is a mentor to, and the team lead of the Publicity & Business development subsystem of Team Anant, the undergraduate satellite team of BITS Pilani and is also a drummer at Gurukul, the department of music at BITS. A space enthusiast since the beginning, Tanuj is already experienced in this field, having given a talk at the European Space Agency, and having worked on satellite dynamics at ISRO. He hopes to put his experience to use in the future by building smaller satellites with more complex payloads, that can eventually replace all bigger satellites. He intends to pursue research in the field of space electronics upon graduation, and put that to use in improving current satellite technologies.

Urmi Kothari

Energy Coach, Founder & Trainer at Kinetic Living

Urmi Kothari is the founder and Facilitator of Kinetic Living. Fondly known as “Energy Coach”, she is an athlete by spirit, a yogi by soul and a dancer by heart. With a cumulative experience of over 15 years in sports, martial arts, kettle bells and yoga; Urmi is an IFAA master trainer and a certified Elevated Nike coach. Owing to her passion for fitness, Urmi left her established marketing career and founded her fitness centre to transform people's minds using their body as a tool.