Governing Council 2014

1) Mr.RAMGOPAL CANCHERLA is a freelance Mentor, Trainer, Guest Faculty in Enterprise Planning Systems and Logistics. He is very passionate about NGO work with Brahmakumaris and Laughter Yoga University. He was associated with Pharma and Healthcare Business for 4 decades in an MNC environment.

2) Mr. SRIPRAKASH MENON is well qualified in the areas of Travel, Tourism, Film and TV Production. His extensive stints with the Popular Press and TV helped in his further roles as Editor of popular niche journals and in the production of 3 documentary films related to his social, cultural and spiritual pursuits. His silent and tangible contributions have added immense value to our GC.

3) MR. RAJIV CHOHAN is an awesome personality who has been with the Merchant Navy and MNC Oil companies for over 3 decades. He is now the President of Aegis Group of Companies. Endowed with good man-management skills, he is a popular International Trainer on Leadership. He has been part of the ICE Awards as a Jury member in the past and has enthusiastically and tangibly contributed to the GC as well. His love for Urdu language is contagious.

4) Ms. Swamini Aaradhana’s life-long romance with the written word began when she was all of eight. She majored in English Literature, Journalism and Psychology. Deeply influenced by Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda, an ex-journalist himself, she moved from the advertising world to the adhyatmic world! She has been the editor of Balvihar, the kids’ international monthly of Chinmaya Mission for 17 years now. Poetry dominates her writing, and writing is her meditation!

5) Mr. ASHISH GAKREY has more than 15 years of diversified exposure to HR Strategy, HR Generalist, HR Operations, Policies and Processes. A well-networked and dynamic personality, he is the founder of More Than HR Global (12 year old virtual non-profile HR association), with over 15,000 HR professionals as members. He worked with Zycus Infotech, Grey Cells, Serco Global and Loop Mobile, prior to joining Capgemini India Pvt. Ltd.

 6) Mr. JAGDISH SHAH has over 4 decades of experience in managing a wide variety of complex business and organizational issues. With a background in Engineering, he began his career with Cibatul Ltd. and became its Managing Director in 1995. After his successful stint with the Lalbhai group, he joined the Board of Directors at Pidilite Industries. He currently runs his own consulting firm named 3rd Eye Solutions.

 7) Ms. DAMAYANTI BHATTACHARYA is the Chief Executive Officer of IIT Bombay Alumni Association. She is also the Chief Executive Editor of ‘Fundamatics’, an award winning quarterly magazine. Damayanti is passionate about writing and publishing and has a number of books, and journal publications to her credit. She has been involved in the production of two award-winning publications till date.

 8) Mr. SANJAY GHANGHAW has 20 years of experience in all variety areas of HR, with an educational background of training, counselling, and HR. He is currently working with Actavis Pharma as Asia Pacific Head HR. Prior to this, he was Director HR at The Leela Kempinski and Vertical HR Head of Corporate HR at Crompton Greaves. He is also pursuing a Ph D. from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

 9) Ms. UDAYA TARA NAYAR headed the Jury for ICE Awards 2013, was the former Editor of SCREEN – a popular film magazine. She was also associated with Sahara Times, as Bureau Chief. She is currently penning a biography on thespian Dilip Kumar. Her book release is on 9th of June.

 10) PROF. MEENAL JOSHI a dynamic personality and a much loved teacher, Prof. Meenal Joshi is the Principal at Sophia Shree B. K. Somani Polytechnic, Art and Design department. Alongside her teaching profession since 1978, she has also worked for Rajshree Productions, Marg Publications, amongst others. Prof. Joshi has lectured in many Art Institutes, been appointed on the jury panel for many exhibitions, invited to be on the Syllabus review committee and conducted seminars and workshops.

 11) PROF. MOHAN B. RAO is currently Associate Dean (External Collaborations) at IES Management College and Research Centre. He has over 30 years of rich corporate experience at Godrej, Datamatics and Dishnet DSL Ltd. A Gold medalist from XLRI in Economics, he has handled a variety of products and markets. His mission is to “Assist student community and shape them to address challenges of industry”.

 12) PRIYA PATRACHARI was part of the FEI family as Manager, Corporate Communications. She was also sub-editor of FEI Cargo’s in-house magazine FEI Duniya. She co-authored ‘She The Incredible’, a publication by Shailaja Nair Foundation. She is currently a freelance content and creative writer. Being a voracious reader and an admirer of the written word, she is passionate about ICE Awards.

 

Jury Council 2014

 1) MR. INDRAPAL SINGH is the head of the Jury for ICE Awards 2014. With an educational background in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration, he joined Godrej & Boyce as a management trainee. He progressed steadily, holding key roles in the organization including GM-Marketing, VP-Manufacturing, Business Head and President-Process Equipment Division and President-Industrial Products Group. He was actively involved in policy formulation and companywide transformational initiatives. He retired from Godrej in 2004 and has been retained as a consultant. He is a prolific speaker on a variety of management-related topics at national and international seminars. He has also served as President of the Rotary Club and BMA.

 2) Bharathi S Pradhan senior journalist and author, Ms. Bharathi S Pradhan has written for and edited several publications including Mid-day, Reader’s Digest, Eve’s Weekly, Femina, The Telegraph, Kolkatta, The Film Street Journal, Savvy, Showtime and Lehren. She has also been a film reviewer. Her books include Valentine Lover, The Other Woman, Colas Cars and Communal Harmony and the recently released, Heartfelt. Roli Books has signed her as the official biographer of politician and former actor Shatrughan Sinha. She has been Chairperson of the National Awards (Books Committee) and on the panel of judges for ITA Awards, amongst other jury panels.

 3) MR. SANDIP TARKAS is President, Customer Strategy for Future Group and CEO of Future Media & T24. With degrees from IIT Bombay and IIM Bangalore, he has worked in areas as diverse as oil production to Sales, Marketing and Media Management. He was involved in three successful start-ups on the agency side (MindShare Fulcrum India, MindShare Fulcrum Sri Lanka and MPG). An avid reader and a music enthusiast, he enjoys singing light Indian music and has been learning Hindustani Classical music for almost a decade now.

 4) MR. SANDEEP KULKARNI is a prolific actor dabbling in a plethora of successful roles and also an ardent painter. He felt an inclination towards the arts at a very early age and went on to study at Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai. He has a career spanning film, theatre, and television and has been part of National-award winning movies such as Dombivali Fast and Traffic Signal. He was part of Shwaas, India’s official entry to the Oscars. He has been awarded the Maharashtra State awards in the Best Actor category, amongst several other accolades. He played an influential role in placing Marathi films in the international spotlight.

 5) MS. RANI DESAI has about 3 decades’ experience in HR function. With degrees in Law, Social Work and Personnel Management, she has worked across industries such as Pharma, Engineering Design Services, IT, and a few others. Currently she is the Chief People Officer of a Consulting firm. A certified Executive Coach, she also mentors young professionals at Management Institutes. A founder member of a Trust, she is actively involved in Education, Health, Environment and Humanities. The Trust has founded a Polytechnic College in the rural area of Karnataka.

 6) MS. APARNA THOMAS is Senior Director, Communications (South Asia) and Public Affairs (India) for Sanofi-Aventis. She is also responsible for the Company’s CSR program. She previously headed the Communications function at Pfizer (India) Limited. With Masters degrees each in English Literature and Mass Communication, she has worked in different sectors such as healthcare, technology, FMCG, tourism, etc. Her areas of expertise include marketing communications and strategic partnerships. Her work to create awareness about WHO’s formulation of ORS has won the international Sabre Award in 2003.  

7) MS. MALINI RAO comes with 15 years of rich experience and a proven track record both in Corporate & Strategic HR Business Partner roles. With a Masters degree in HR, her areas of expertise include Talent Management, Leadership Development, Learning Solutions, Succession Planning, and more. Presently with Schneider Electric, she is part of the Global Human Resource function. She was conferred as Young HR Professional of the year 2009 by World HRD Congress, HR Professional of the year 2013 by ASIA PACIFIC HRM CONGRESS, and WOMEN LEADERSHIP AWARD 2014 by World Women Leadership Congress.

 8) MR. AMIT WADEKAR is a journalist and socio-environmental activist. With degrees in Sociology and Journalism, he has written for leading newspapers and magazines. He is currently the Executive Editor of VANARAI, a publication of VANARAI Foundation name, known for its green initiatives and development of natural resources. He is also on the Board of Editors for the Government of Maharashtra’s Rural Development Department. He was a teaching associate at University of Pune and played a key role in several of its Sociology department’s projects. His efforts have brought VANARAI magazine several accolades including the Sahitya Kalawant Pratishthan.

 9) MS. MEGHA BAJAJ, a writer and travel enthusiast, firmly believes who she is, is much more important than what she has done. To describe her in a few lines – she is a seeker who believes words help her connect to her Source. She is an absolute word-a-holic and also writes poetry which she believes is the purest part of her. An award-winning author, her book Thank You Cancer received much media acclaim. She is also a popular columnist for publications like infinithoughts, Life Positive, Robin Age and The Hindu.

10) MR. ABHISHEK THAKKAR studied Civil Engineering from IIT Bombay, but his heart was in Design. He worked for 2 years in designing software for rural areas in a Research Lab. He then joined Webaroo as a UI Engineer and was later appointed the Principal Product Manager of GupShup, India’s largest SMS based community. He is currently a Design consultant for several startups, while actively volunteering for the IIT Bombay Alumni Association. He is also a photography enthusiast.