Indian Fellows 2022-2023 Archives - Page 12 of 16

V.S. Alagu Varsini

Dr. V.S. Alagu Varsini is a board-certified dental surgeon and a civil servant. As an Indian Administrative Service Officer, she has worked in multiple capacities in the Government of Telangana. As Director, Indian Institute of Health and Family Welfare, she has been working at the forefront of mitigating COVID-19.

Born and brought up in the beautiful rural town of Pollachi, her passion has been inclusive growth. Since her school days, she has worked towards an inclusive society and participatory development. She has organized various camps to educate peers about civil rights and responsibilities enshrined in the Constitution of India. With the guidance of her parents, Dr. Varsini achieved her position in the civil services, eventually earning the distinction of being a gold medalist and TeX Award winner in Public Administration. Her contribution towards challenged children, the inclusion of impoverished women in social sector schemes, girl child education, and natural resource management has created perceived change in societal institutions, thereby encouraging inclusive growth.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Master’s fellow, she wishes to acquire academic rigor and understand the utilization of data for a favorable policy outcome. She looks forward to imbibing a more significant global picture to poise herself at the crucial juncture of transformation from policy implementor to policy framer. On her return to India, she looks forward to working with the Government of India in policy formulation capacities for achieving the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Harssh A. Poddar

Mr. Harssh A Poddar is an officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS) borne on the Maharashtra cadre. He is an Oxford-educated lawyer and a Chevening scholar who has worked in corporate law with a magic circle law firm in London, before returning to India to pursue a career in law enforcement. He is presently posted as the Commanding Officer of the Maharashtra armed police in Amravati.

A recipient of the Best Officer Award and the Home Minister’s Award for National Integration during the IPS training, Mr. Poddar has strived to change the perception of citizens towards the police. His work has focused on youth empowerment and deradicalization. The Maharashtra Police Youth Parliament Project, conceptualized by him, created an outreach of over 200,000 youth for the Maharashtra Police. He is also credited with the launch of an innovative project, Udaan, that provided free career guidance to thousands of students in communally sensitive regions of the state.

In 2018, Mr. Poddar undertook an extensive campaign against mob violence prompted by misinformation in Malegaon. He also led an operation in which a family was successfully rescued from a violent mob in the city. As part of the SMART police initiative, he has been recreating rural police stations with a view towards providing urban standards of police service-delivery in interior Maharashtra. He has successfully headed the investigation of several organized crimes and has also authored a book on the law relating to investment frauds.

In recent years his work on pandemic law enforcement has become a case study in COVID policing. As the Superintendent of Police of Beed district, the effective implementation by his team of the national lockdown ensured that not a single case of infection was reported in the district during the lockdown. During the devastating second wave, the scientific measures he undertook in the armed police have become a template for protecting frontline workers in the face of a pandemic.

Pursuing a master’s in public administration as a Fulbright-Nehru Master’s fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School will help Mr. Poddar to complement the fundamentals of law enforcement policy and global security with his experience in field policing and handling law and order. After completing the Fulbright-Nehru Master’s program, he intends to work at the federal and state level in areas relating to security and law enforcement.

Rakesh Vaid

Dr. Rakesh Vaid is Professor, Department of Electronics, University of Jammu, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He has more than 31 years of teaching and research experience. He is a member of various national and international professional organizations. He has served in various leadership positions at the University of Jammu. From 2013 to 2014, he was the general secretary of the Jammu University Teachers’ Association.

Dr. Vaid has received several awards and fellowships during his career, which includes the University Gold Medal for securing first rank in MSc Electronics, University of Kashmir. He has more than 100 publications in national and international journals. He has diverse research interests, which include nano devices, high k dielectrics, device modelling and simulation, carbon nanotubes, graphene-based devices, solar cells and others.

Institutional Statement: The University of Jammu is a state university established in 1969. It is currently ranked 56th in the University category in the 2022 National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Education, Government of India. The institute received an A-grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, the highest body in India responsible for quality assurance of higher education institutions. From the academic year 2005-2006, the University started admission of foreign students by offering few courses that would be of relevance to a global audience. The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs and affiliates and recognizes colleges.

Chelliah Thangaraj

Dr. Chelliah Thangaraj was the Director of the National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTR), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, from April 2017 to May 2022. NITTR is an institution under the Indian Ministry of Education. At present, Dr. Thangaraj is an Honorary Distinguished Professor at the Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research (VFSTR) in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Before joining NITTTR, Bhopal, he was the Vice Chancellor at Vignan University. He was also the founding Vice Chancellor of Anna University of Technology, Chennai, a state public university in Tamil Nadu. He has been a Commonwealth Academic Fellow at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom; a DAAD Senior Fellow at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and a Visiting Scientist at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. He started his research career in water-power system planning using different techniques, such as, parallel processing, remote sensing, and GIS technologies. His current focus is on real-time system planning using big-data tools and machine learning algorithms. As the Director of NITTTR, Bhopal, he studied the impact of new teaching techniques to improve staff and student performance and the effect of government policy on engineering education in India.

Home Institution: Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research (VFSTR) was established in 2008 and is the third oldest university in the state of Andhra Pradesh. In 2015, the institution received an A-grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, the highest body in India responsible for quality assurance of higher education institutions. The University received the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) recognition for five undergraduate engineering programs and was ranked in the top 100 for the university category by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), Indian Ministry of Education. The University offers undergraduate, MA and PhD programs in engineering, science, humanities, business, and pharmacy. Since 2020, the university runs an Institute of Law offering bachelor’s degrees and an integrated law degree.

Sulochana Shekhar

Dr. Sulochana Shekhar is the Head of the Department of Geography, and the Dean of the School of Earth Sciences, at the Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN), Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu. Dr. Shekhar is the Registrar (in-charge) and has served as Coordinator of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) and Presiding Officer of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at CUTN. Her field of research is urban geography and geographic information system (GIS) mapping. Her expertise is in applying geospatial technology in urban mapping, monitoring and management. She has guided five PhD research scholars in this area. She has participated in geography and geospatial science conferences in India and abroad, she has published more than 50 articles in national and international journals and authored three books.

Home Institution: The Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN) was established in 2009. The vision of the institution is to pursue excellence in teaching and research in science and technology, humanities, law, languages, social sciences, performing arts and sports. In 2022, the university was ranked 85 by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), Indian Ministry of Education. The institution has 27 teaching and research departments spread across 12 schools with 165 faculty members and 4 centers for teaching and research at its Main Campus in Thiruvarur. These schools offer 57 degrees, as well as a few diploma and certificate courses. Currently, the total number of students enrolled is 2,267 and there are 152 research scholars on campus.

Ruheela Sheikh Hassan

Dr. Ruheela Sheikh Hassan is a Senior Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. She is both in charge of the Documentation, Printing and Publication Centre (DPPC) and the Media Advisor and Coordinator for Community Media and Community Outreach. Dr. Hassan has served as the Deputy Director of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell of the IUST. She started the first community newspaper and community radio station in Kashmir and is the founder-editor of the campus newspaper. In her role as a member of the Board of Studies and the Board of Research Studies at IUST, University of Kashmir and Cluster University of Kashmir, she has been involved in drafting the university statutes and curriculum. She regularly contributes Urdu entries to Media Dictionary, an online media literacy initiative. She has more than 20 research publications and she presented in more than 50 national and international conferences. She is associated with the Press Information Bureau, the nodal agency disseminating news from the Government of India to the media and for training journalists. She is also associated with the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT-J&K), an organization dedicated to training teacher educators. She has worked with organizations, such as Eenadu Television (a regional language television channel in Hyderabad), Child Rights and You (CRY), and the Agha Khan Development Network. She has submitted four research projects funded by the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), National Council for Rural Institutes (NCRI), Jammu and Kashmir Directorate of Information and Public Relations and IUST.

Home Institution: The Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) is a state public university established in 2005. The university was ranked in the band “performer” category at the national level in the 2021 in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievement (ARIIA), an Indian Ministry of Education initiative to rank all major higher educational institutions and universities in the country on indicators related to innovation and entrepreneurship development. The University has been rated as a high-performing institution in the implementation of Rashtriya Ucchatar Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a federal-aid program to boost the performance of state funded universities.

Sanjita Sharma

Dr. Sanjita Sharma is the Head of the Livestock Production Management and Dean of the Postgraduate Institute of Veterinary Education and Research (PIVER), Jaipur, Rajasthan. The Institute is affiliated with the Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner, a state public university in Rajasthan. She has received many prestigious awards and recognition for her outstanding academic performance. She has been involved in teaching, research and extension activities in veterinary and animal sciences for the last thirty years. She has supervised master and doctoral student work in veterinary and animal sciences. She has served as faculty for two years at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Her field of research is livestock in organic farming systems, and milk quality and safety. She has handled various extramural research projects and published peer-reviewed articles in various national and international journals. She has implemented various skill-based initiatives for the promotion of entrepreneurship among students, and has been involved in animal welfare, ethics, and environmental sustainability.

Home Institution: The Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner, Rajasthan, is a state agricultural university, with campuses in 22 districts in the state. The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programs in veterinary and animal science, dairy and food science technology, as well as one in applied veterinary and animal science.

Rachna Khare

Dr. Rachna Khare is a Professor at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. SPA Bhopal has been declared an Institution of National Importance conferred by Parliament of India. Dr. Khare has served in several administrative roles at the institution. Her research interests are in the field of universal design and designing for individuals with special needs, which have earned her national and international grants and awards. In 2016, she was conferred the Inspired Teacher recognition by the President of India and was a Scholar-in-Residence at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India, as part of the program. In 2007, she received a Fulbright Doctoral and Professional Research fellowship. Dr. Khare has conducted several sponsored research projects with the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), the University Grants Commission, and the Design Innovation Center Project of the Indian Ministry of Education. She has delivered talks in several countries on inclusive design and has more than 50 papers in various national and international journals and conferences. She has written three books and edited more than 15 peer-reviewed journals. She established the Centre for Human-Centric Research (CHCR), an organization that seeks to build a body of knowledge to address the design needs of diverse human populations, historically marginalized by common design practices.

Home Institution: The School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, is an Institution of National Importance founded in 2008. The institute offers quality education in the fields of spatial planning and architecture. Ranked among the top ten in the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) by the Indian Ministry of Education, the institution offers two undergraduate, seven postgraduate and doctoral programs in architecture, planning, design, conservation, landscape, urban design, urban planning, environmental planning, and transportation planning and management. It has a multidisciplinary faculty, state-of-the-art laboratories and research centers.

Nithyananda Kallur Venkateshmurthy

Dr. Nithyananda Kallur Venkateshmurthy is a faculty member and Chair of the General Management Program at the Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu (IIM Trichy). He has more than 25 years of experience in teaching and consulting, both in academia and industry. Dr. Nithyananda teaches courses on legal aspects of business, marketing, entrepreneurship, technology management, and strategic management of intellectual property rights (SMIPR) at IIM Trichy. He has been teaching the SMIPR course in France for the last ten years. Before France, he has taught it in Singapore, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. He has published extensively in national and international journals, he is the author of three books, and he is currently working on two manuscripts. He has published three case studies in the Harvard Business School Case Repository.

He has trained over 500 executives and more than 1,000 faculty members on various legal aspects of business and intellectual property rights. He is currently establishing a Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office (TTCO) and an Incubation Center at IIM Trichy. He is also a Member of the International Relations Committee at the institute. He is also a Board Member for two private companies, and he serves as a consultant for a number of corporations.

Home Institution: IIM Trichy was established in 2011 by the Indian Ministry of Education. It offers three MBA programs in General Management, Human Resources and Executive MBA, and two doctoral programs (regular full-time PhD and part-time executive PhD). The student enrolment is currently around 1,000 and there are 35 full-time faculty members. IIM Trichy is currently ranked 17th by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), Indian Ministry of Education, in the “management” category.