Pawan Parmar Singh
IRS (Retired)
Pawan Parmar Singh, IRS (Retired) held various positions in the Ministry of Finance , Government of India pertaining to tax administration, policy and planning before retiring as the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. Besides doing a long term program in The Royal institute for Public Administration in London UK in the area of women in development, she has also attended Advanced leadership programs at IIM Ahmedabad and Harvard University Cambridge USA. A follower of contemporary Indian art, she dabbles in mixed media art herself. She is also an avid reader of poetry and fiction. Post retirement growing organic vegetables and produce at their small farm near Chandigarh along with her husband is a way for her to connect with nature and interact with the local farm hands to give back to society and the environment.
Ashok Mitra
World Health Organization (Retired)
Ashok Mitra retired from the World Health Organization and has a deep interest in nurturing Mother Nature, sustainable living and planting trees. He was posted abroad for many years and after retirement on his return to India, became aware of the poor quality of trees in India. He feels that trees give so much not only to us humans, but also to birds, animals and help in regulating the whole cycle of nature. But unfortunately care of the trees, soil and water are much neglected and we seem to be caught up in a vicious cycle. So nurturing Mother Nature has become his passion and he has planted thousands of trees, and wants to do much more. He is also devoting his energies in clearing plastic from the soil, removing bits and pieces of plastic, scattered around in the parks and roadside. He has involved many school children in this exercise. It may be long journey but he feels, for the sake of future generations, this has to be done.
Shamshir Rai Luthra
Founder, Talking Rich Peace Program and Ashirvachan Magazine
Shamshir Rai Luthra is the founder of the Talking Rich Peace Program and Ashirvachan Magazine, Veteran Radio Broadcaster and World Peace Activist who has had the courage to change conventions and set trends. In 1994, he led the way in speaking 'bolchaal bhasha' (the common man’s language) on air. He succeeded as content consultant & voice trainer in Nepal in 1996. In 1997, he awakened the need for self-confidence, personality development and voice training for each Indian. He has authored two books, 'Talk To Win' in 2002 and ‘Lazy Ways To Enlightenment’ in 2003. At the peak of an action-packed career in media, he sensed an emergent need to spread the message of constructive thinking and good communication everywhere. Consequently, he founded the Talking Rich Peace Program in 2006, and Ashirvachan Magazine in 2010. Talking Rich Peace Program is currently taught through study groups online. International online portal and magazine, Ashirvachan is now a creative home space where Shamshir Rai Luthra shares his writings, teachings, voiceovers, and compositions with his artist and musician friends from across the world.
Murli Menon
Founder, World Water Therapy Day Community
Murli Menon, is the founder of the World Water Therapy Day community. He is also a United Nations Awardee in 2014 from UN Water at the UN University, Japan. He has vast experience in Global and Health Education. He has specialized skills and certifications in education, effective communication techniques, Human Health, Diet & Nutrition and in Health studies. For him, Health is a passion. He did his Bachelor of Education in Commerce from Mumbai University and Bachelor of Library & Information Science from Algappa University. He has more than 30 years of experience in the area of education, teaching in India and abroad. He has many national and international distinctions in the area of social work. In April, 2020, his idea of Water Therapy Bell was selected amongst the best 20 ideas approved by the World Health Organization.
Shashank Singh
Director, Groundwater & Reforestation Adaptive Management Association (GRAM)
Shashank Singh as a director of Groundwater & Reforestation Adaptive Management Association (GRAM), is an ex SBI-Youth for India Fellow, formerly associated with Barefoot College, Tilonia as a water coordinator on water conservation projects. Under the fellowship program, he initiated a community based rainwater harvesting project to revive a pond for the development of a cattle park in a Chota Narena village of Ajmer (Rajasthan) supported by community of Chota Narena and Barefoot College, Tilonia. After the fellowship he rode across 13 states via Western-Eastern Ghats in India on motorcycle for 65 days to promote rain water harvesting as a sustainable solution to the water shortages. The campaign was to create awareness and to promote rainwater harvesting in different organizations/ NGOs/Schools /Colleges/Local clubs. He has done his under graduation in Bachelor of Technology, Mechanical Engineering from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He started his career as a quality control engineer in Hero Cycles Ltd. but after the fellowship program, he decided to continue his career in development sector.
Prof Dr Bharti Chhibber
Professor, University of Delhi, India
Prof Dr Bharti Chhibber has been teaching in University of Delhi, India for more than sixteen years. She is a well-known academic, author, socio-political analyst and an environmentalist working extensively writing and speaking in India and abroad for many years in the field of international relations, foreign policy, Indian politics, SDGs, human rights, gender, climate change, environmental education, renewable energy, waste management, biodiversity conservation, international environmental laws and human-animal conflict. Dr Chhibber has been awarded many fellowships, has been an invited visiting faculty, keynote & plenary speaker and has published books and more than 150 research papers and articles in mainstream journals to her credit. She has served as a Scientific Committee member, Academic Advisor, Member of Editorial Board and is invited as a subject expert in electronic and print media interviews and discussions. She has also worked extensively with other organizations to create awareness and empower people on environmental, educational and gender issues. In addition to conferences, she has organised several field events like plantation drive for educators, students and experts besides contributing to initiatives of waste paper recycling, herbal garden and composting of food waste into organic manure. Prof Dr Bharti Chhibber is associated with DEEKSHA for more than a decade now.
Shweta Dua
Technical Advisor, GIZ
Shweta Dua works with GIZ as the Technical Advisor for the Sustainable Urban Development Smart Cities Project. She has done her Bachelors in Environmental Science and MPhil in Natural Resource Management. She has been working in the urban sector over 8 years now. Currently she is working on the Municipal Solid Waste Management Component of the project. During the course of her work, she has had the opportunity to work with officials from ministries, state urban development departments, Swachh missions across India. She has been associated with DEEKSHA for over 10 years.
Dr Kavita Sharma
Senior Manager (Environment Group), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd
Dr Kavita Sharma is a Masters in Environment Sciences and PhD in the field of solid waste management from IIT Delhi. She has been working in the automotive sector wherein she has got extensive exposure to environment related matters. She has worked as senior executive in Honda Cars Company where she handled audits and conscious efforts in environmentally beneficial projects. Currently she is working in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd where, as a Senior Manager in environment group, she is coordinating ISO 14001 international standards. She has been responsible to manage effectively implementation of ISO standards in the company since 2012. She coordinates among various departments and management teams of Gurgaon, Manesar and Rohtak to achieve environment goals. Besides she imparts training to fresher’s in the company on environment. An avid traveler, she is passionate about environmental conservation.
Mangesh Jha
Co-Founder, GRAM Association
Mangesh Jha is a hotel management graduate who quit his well-paying job with the hotel industry to travel the length and breadth of Jharkhand with a single objective in his mind - to spread awareness amongst as many women as possible on the subject of WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). He has had to travel by foot many a times to places with no road connectivity or to places having no transport facility. He has been at it when taboos around menstruation make it almost impossible for women to talk about it to other women leave alone talking to a man. It is for this reason that Mangesh's efforts to overcome barriers to reach out to women and to ensure all of them get access to safe menstrual hygiene practice are of great significance. Mangesh Jha, popularly known as 'Padman of Jharkhand', has taken it upon himself to educate the women in the villages of Jharkhand about menstrual health. Undaunted by the challenges, the young but determined crusader has been on an advent to end the taboos around menstruation and to impart awareness about menstrual hygiene to rural women. Mangesh has been working on women empowerment and he believes that women empowerment is not complete until and unless every woman across the nation is empowered with knowledge and to make a choice on their own – a choice for their well-being and for their development. He is passionate about environmental care & conservation and is the Co-Founder of GRAM Association, an NGO working for water issues.
Harjinder Singh Kukreja
Social Activist
Harjinder Singh Kukreja is a Social Activist, Influencer and Businessman besides being a Youth Icon. He is a renowned restaurateur, a global citizen with strong traditional roots with variety of interests and an amazing social media reach of over 2 million. Little do people know but he is also the first Sikh to sky-dive and scuba-dive wearing his Turban in Melbourne and Antalya respectively. He completed his schooling from St George’s College, Mussoorie in 2004, and completed his graduation from Pune. In 2015, under the able guidance of his father and uncle, he spearheaded the family’s venture into giving Ludhiana’s chocolate aficionados the city’s first Belgian Chocolate Cafe, Belfrance Bakers and Chocolatiers. Belfrance is famous all over the world for its annual Chocolate Ganesha, which gets covered by Indian and international media every year. He follows the teachings of Guru Nanak which make him always step ahead to put his best foot forward by contributing to mitigate the after effects of unfortunate natural calamities. He has helped many flood-affected people in Jammu & Kashmir and even the victims of Chennai floods. He has been recognized at numerous national and international forums for his outstanding contribution towards humanity.
Nuvreet Parmar
Student
Nuvreet Parmar is a B com Graduate with an aptitude for management. Coming from the forces background, with her father being in the army, has given her tremendous exposure early in life. Travelling with her father or visiting him at the remote locations near the border presented a different perspective to life and helped her emotionally mature at a very young age to understand and appreciate the challenges faced by various people. She has been inspired by her mother, who is an environmentalist. Working with her has taught Nuvreet the meaning of ethically serving the community with empathy. Having inborn leadership qualities, she is totally at home managing large projects and gatherings with efficiency. She has been the Head of the management committee of her college’s Annual Fest besides being the Head Girl of her School. A confident Public Speaker, she has keen interest in travelling and learning more about different cultures.
