Professor Amaresh Chakrabarti obtained PG Diploma in Cinema with specialization in Film Direction form Film & Television Institute, Pune in 1985. He has been heading the Direction and Screenplay Writing department of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata from 1999. Worked as practicing filmmaker based in Kolkata, India. He has written & directed television serials, corporate documentaries, advertisement films and UGC educational films.

Visiting Faculty for Refresher’s Courses for teachers and lecturers at North Bengal University, Burdwan University and Jadavpur University. Academic Committee member for the Film Studies department of Calcutta University & West Bengal State University. Delivered numerous talks and lectures on cinema and film education in national and international film schools and seminars.

Prof. Shambhu Nath Singh has had two decades of experience in the field of journalism and more than a decade long experience as a media academic.

As a media professional he has worked in positions like Political Editor, Associate Editor, Executive Editor, Assistant Editor, etc., and regular columnist in well- known newspapers such as the Hindustan, the Nav Bharat Times, the Jansatta, the Dainik Bhaskar etc., besides being editor and regular contributor to many journals and magazines.

In the field of academics, Prof. Singh has held senior positions such as Vice-Chancellor, Director, Professor, Senior Professor and Visiting Professor.

A winner of Sahityakar Award (2002-2003) and Harmony Award (1997) for noteworthy contribution in the field of Hindi Journalism. Prof. Singh has also represented India in prestigious ‘International Leadership Visitor Programme in the United States in 2007′ and addressed a prestigious gathering of senior journalists at International Press Centre, New York.

A Doctorate from JNU, he has also served as a Vice-Chancellor of Patna University, Bihar, India from August, 2011 to August, 2013. He has also been the Visitor’s nominee for a few Universities and the Chancellor’s nominee for another few. He has served as Member of Selection Committees for senior faculty positions in various other universities/academic institutions. Also he has been Member of Curriculum Design Committees, Finance Committees etc., of Central / State Universities.

He has a more than thousand articles to his credit in national dailies, magazines and journals. Prof. Singh has been Key resource person for many workshops and chaired many seminars on media, media literacy and communication conducted by organisations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, UGC, Discovery Channel, etc.

He has been associated with National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) as member/ expert of peer team for assessment of universities and resource person for training the assessors. He was a Member of Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of Ministry of Minority Affairs.

He has also served in various Committees like Advisory Panel, Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Media for Science & Environment, Hindi Advisory Committee, Task Force on Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill and the Content Code, Core Committee on Standardisation of Media Education-an initiative by Press Council of India for development of National Media curriculum framework, Evaluation Committee of Central Hindi Directorate, M.H.R.D. GOI to select outstanding books (published) for “Education Award (Shiksha Puraskar)”.

He is the founder Director and Professor, School of Journalism and New Media Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. He has set forth the vision, mission and road map which included Centres for Research & Repository and Professional Training, a Standing Media Congress to reflect on all issues that pertains to media in South Asia besides academic cooperation /collaboration with international institutions of repute.

He initiated as a Director of SOJNMS of IGNOU certain MoUs / MoAs with UNESCO; Deutche Welle, Germany; Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA); Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), etc.
Presently he holds the position of the Director in the School.

Professor Syamal Chakrabarti did his M.Sc. from the Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta. He joined research in the Bose Institute where he obtained his doctoral degree. He started his teaching career in the St. Xaviers College, Kolkata. Later he went to the United States for post doctoral research. Presently he is Professor of Chemistry, University of Calcutta.

Professor Chakrabarti is a distinguished science writer and has published around one hundred and fifty books till date. His main interest lies in the field of philosophy and history of science but he has also written books on Paul Robson, Abbasuddin Ahmed , Sachin Devbarman, Pratima Barua, Debabrata Biswas and Dhirendrakrishna Debbarman. He has received a number of honours and recognitions some of which are listed below:

1. Satyendranath Basu Award presented by the Govt. of West Bengal in 1999
2. Gopalchandra Bhattacharya Award presented by the magazine ‘Kishor Jnan Vijnan’ in 2000
3. Gopalchandra Bhattacharya Award presented by the ‘Science Association of Bengal’ in 2001
4. Selected as Best Writer of the Year 2001 by ‘Bharitya Yuktibadi Samiti’
5. Jnan Bichitra Award, 2005
6. Sachin Deb Burman Centenary Award, 2006
7. Rabindra Puraskar, 2009
8. Muzaffar Ahmed Smriti Puraskar,2012
9. National Award for outstanding effort in science and technology communication through print media(Books and Magazines),2012 by Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India
10. Prestigious ‘Narsinghadas Award’2014 from Delhi University for his book ‘Ganeet Prativa Srinibas Ramanujan’.

He was the founder editor of widely circulated ‘Ejuger Kishore Vigyani’, a juvenile science magazine in Bengali published by Paschimbanga Vigyan Mancha . Presntly he is the editor of ‘Janavigyaner Istahar’, a journal on science, technology society and culture published by Paschimbanga Vigyan Mancha. Prof. Chakrabarti is a member of the editorial board of ‘Science and Culture’ published by the ‘Indian Science News Association’ founded by Acharya Prafullachandra Ray and Prof. Meghnad Saha. He is also a member of the editorial board of ‘Jnan o Bijnan’ the oldest science journal in Bengali published by the ‘Bangiya Bijnan Parisad’ founded by Prof. Satyendranath Bose. Prof. Chakrabarti is a regular contributor in Akashvani , Doordarshan and other electronic media.

Smriti Nevatia has worked as a film and theatre critic, and as film researcher, scriptwriter and co-director. She has been writer, director and executive producer for a range of fiction and non-fiction shows on TV, and was a core team member on Bharat ki Chhap, a 13-part series on the history of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent, directed by Chandita Mukherjee, produced by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, and telecast on Doordarshan in 1989. She wrote the copy for three of the historical galleries in the permanent Discovery of India exhibition housed at the Nehru Centre, Bombay. Since 2004, Smriti has collaborated with filmmaker Nishtha Jain on award-winning documentaries such as City of Photos, 6 Yards to Democracy, At My Doorstep, Lakshmi and Me, and Gulabi Gang.

Smriti has been Curator of several film festivals. She co-curated an international queer film festival, Queer Nazariya, held in Bombay in 2010, and is Curator of the Our Lives…To Live film festival series presented by the India chapter of IAWRT (the International Association of Women in Radio and Television), of which there have been two travelling editions so far: NO! to gender violence (2012 onwards) and seeking a JUST world! (2014 onwards). She also curated the Men and Boys for Gender Justice Film Festival (New Delhi, 2014) for the MenEngage Global Symposium on masculinities, and Doosra Chashma, a gender-themed travelling film festival for film and media students initiated by the NGO Population First. She was co-curator of IAWRT India’s Asian Women’s Film Festival (New Delhi, 2016). She has also served on the jury of national and international film festivals – most recently, the Afghanistan International Women’s Film Festival (Kabul, 2016).

She has participated in conferences on media and cultural studies, and feminist concerns, presenting papers in Mysore, Istanbul, Kathmandu, Kolkata. She conducts film appreciation and scriptwriting workshops with film and media students and for NGOs, speaks in academic and activist spaces on issues of gender and sexuality, and freelances as a text editor and translator in English and Hindi.

Smriti was co-editor of Sites and Practices: An Exercise in Cultural Pedagogy (Majlis 2006); co-researcher and co-author of the research report Breaking the Binary: understanding concerns and realities of queer persons assigned gender female at birth across a spectrum of lived gender identities (2013); and co-author of a longer book based on the same four-year-long research and its findings, No Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy (Zubaan 2015).

Ranu Ghosh is an independent film Director-Producer-Cinematographer, who has experience in both celluloid and video and doing independent camerawork since 15 years.

Her recent film ‘Quarter Number 4/11’, has been shown and much acclaimed in many countries. She is presently working as 1) Joint Director / Camera Person & Location Sound of ‘Indian Democracy’, a film funded by MIT and Harvard University 2) Associate Producer, Co-Director, and Co-Cinematographer of ‘Like Whirlwinds’, a film supported by TED and Sundance. Her other important recent works as Cinematographer-Producer ‘If it rains’ co produced by NHK & recent important work as Cinematographer, Revolutionary Optimist funded by Sundance, Standford University, ITVS, Wagah which got Berlin Today Award, Who Wants to be Gurkha, Better Seeds & few others.

Sri Anand Mohan is a senior Producer / Director of Doordarshan having 33yrs. of vast experience in the field of Television Programme production, documentaries, special programmes, LIVE telecast of programmes of National and International events within the country and from abroad. He retired as Head of Programme in DD News Delhi in 2015.

Sri Mohan is M.Sc. in Zoology from Kanpur University. Apart from this he attained many professional trainings and courses from various prestigious institutions and organisations Like Basic course in Television Production and Technical Operations from ISRO, Ahmedabad; Production Costing course from Thomson Foundation, UK held at IIMC, New Delhi. CNN-South Asia in-country workshop, at New Delhi

Sri Mohan joined Doordarshan News in 1983 as Assistant Producer till 1990. Later joined PIB, New Delhi as Asstt. Information Officer to look after the media publicity for the Ministries of Agriculture, Coal and Tourism. In 1991 again joined DD as Producer after getting selected from UPSC. He produced number of documentaries, short films, current affairs programmes, production of Live24x7 analysis and discussion programmes for all the Union and State Elections till 2015 and produced 60mts. audience based interactive programmes with leaders during elections across the country. Did reporting and production of News bulletins for DD news for several years.

He produced a very popular nationally & internationally, weekly flagship health programme of DD News “TOTAL HEALTH” for many years. It is the only LIVE Phone-in health programme on Television in the country where eminent medical experts from the country reply quarries of public.

Covered various International conferences in India and abroad like BRICS, NAM, CHOGM, SAARC, CICA (Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia). Also covered visits of Queen Elizabeth in 1983, Presidents of USA, Russia, China, South Africa and Pakistan. Prime Ministers & other dignitaries of many other countries.

Covered LIVE Prime Minister’s address in UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY at New York twice in 2005 & 2011. Did live production of Prime Minister’s address at UNESCO on 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 1995. Covered Prime Minister’s visits to Nepal, Bhutan, France, Kazakhstan, Germany and USA.

A number of television programmes produced by Sri Mohan received awards and appreciations in production. Among documentaries are National Security Guards, 71 Ka Samar- on 71 India-Pak war, Images- a News Round UP etc.

He was Conferred “BEST PRODUCER” in Doordarshan in 2003. Awarded for completing record 600 episodes “TOTAL HEALTH” of DD. Also got “MAITRI SHRI” award for Broadcast Journalism in Television in 1997. He has been teaching television production in various institutions as guest faculty.

Dr Sabina Kidwai has been teaching Film production for over two decades at AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia islamia, New Delhi. Her specialized area of work is editing which includes both film and digital editing.
Dr Kidwai has done considerable research work. She has co-authored two publications, “Illusion of Power” and “Crossing the sacred Line”, on the subject of Women and Political Participation. She has done a study on the “Images of Muslim women” for WISCOMP (Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace), produced under the “Scholar for Peace” Fellowship. She has done research work for organizations like Central Zoo Authority and the Centre for Media Studies. She has received the UGC Minor grant for a research project on Television News ‘Profiling the enemy’ (2012-2014). She has (2015) completed her Ph.D from the MMAJ Academy of International Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia. “Images of Muslims in the Indian Media: A study of the post 9/11 scenario”. The area of her current research work is to do with minorities, gender and media studies. She has presented papers at various National and International level conferences and given lectures at Academic Staff Colleges and the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.
Dr Kidwai has also been a resource person and coordinator for many workshops. These include workshops to train TV journalists from African countries and Afghanistan conducted at AJKMCRC for the Ministry of External Affairs, workshop on film making for students from Media Educational Research Centre, Kashmir, Indo-French workshop on Production for academicians conducted by French Video Specialists Anne Papillault and Jean Francois Dars, Workshop on wildlife filmmaking at JDCA Film Forum, National Short & Documentary Film Festival, Conference cum Workshop on “Reporting the North East” by the Shillong Press Club in Shillong.
She has worked as an editor for a large number of independent documentaries. Her work includes editing a number of documentaries on environment issues varying from issues of wildlife trade to issues of animal rights. She has directed and edited a documentary on the issues of identity “Shadows of Freedom” for the Public Service Broadcasting Trust. The film was screened at various festivals and was the Inaugural film for the PSBT festival Open Frame 2004. She is the co-director for a film “Diminishing Resources” made under the UK Environment Film Fellowship 2006. The documentary has been widely circulated and was telecast on Discovery Channel and National Geographic. She was the Consultant Editor for the magazine “Ex-situ Updates” for the Central Zoo Authority (Vol1 1-4 and Vol2 1-5).and for the National Tiger Conservation Authority “STRIPES” Vol7.
Dr Kidwai has been on the jury of various festivals like IDPA and CEC-UGC Video Competition and an examiner for Lady Irwin College, Lady Shriram College, Patna University, Annamali University etc. She is a member of a six women collective called Mediastorm which has produced three films on gender and social issues. Mediastorm was also the recipient of the Chemali Devi Award and the Award for Communal Harmony.

Presently working as Programme Executive in the External Service Division of All India Radio, New Delhi which has a reach to nearly 140 countries through short wave and is present globally through live streaming on the internet –airworldservice.org (English).
Following the tradition and code of conduct as laid down by All India Radio, programs are conceptualized, recorded / produced by inviting the suitable talkers, hosts, interviewers, interviewees and celebrity guests for Global Listener.
Currently producing and designing Science Scan, a Radio Magazines on latest scientific and technological activities of India for the global listeners of AIR – The footprint of General Overseas Service covers nearly 140 countries through Shortwave and is present globally through live streaming on the Internet. Produced radio magazines featuring Indian Achievements of Science & Technology in 2016; features on ‘Solar Power Tree’ – an Indian Innovation aimed at utilizing minimum land to harness maximum Solar Energy; Waste to Wealth—a radio feature on developing fuel from plastic waste; India develops world’s first leprosy vaccine; Indian Space Research Organisation engaged in the pre-launch of the first student satellite named ‘Pratham’; Green Nanotechnology; Cloud computing; Robotics; Fog computing and many more topics. With the experience of twenty two years of experience in conceptualizing, recording and broadcasting programs, Mrs Gulati has conceptualised, produced and designed many radio programmes including
• Radio Magazines on Creative Expressions by the youth (Young India)
• Radio Magazines on major upcoming sporting activities / events (Sports Zone)
• Popularizing the mesmerizing places of Incredible India (Destination India)
• A fortnightly update on the country’s Economic activities (Economic Review)
• Contributions of India to the World (India and the World)
• Unique program of teaching Hindi through communicative English (Hindi Mantra)
• An Interactive show with invited audience in conversation with the National and International Celebrities to inspire and motivate the youth (Welcome to Studio One)
• To enhance mathematical skills in a very simple format (Playing with numbers)
• World heritage sites as declared by UNESCO (India Eternal)
• An Interactive show with invited audience in conversation with the National and International Celebrities to inspire and motivate the youth (Welcome to Studio One)
• Features on personality profiles of around hundred women achievers of the nation, many of them are of historical importance.
• Various shows for FM Re launch, and introduced short duration programming, and added sparklers, cookies for round the clock FM GOLD, 106.4 MHz

She worked as a Special Educator and provided counselling to the parents, special students and the other students, for integrating them to the mainstreaming, in Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan’s Mehta Vidyalaya, Delhi from 1989 to June 1994. Program Executive in Public Service Broadcasting ALL INDIA RADIO (1994 till date).

Dr. Shyamli Singh is working as an Assistant Professor with Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi, India. She is the coordinator of the Centre for Environment and Climate Change. Dr. Singh has her Ph.D in the ambit of Environmental management. Dr. Singh is a gold medallist from Indraprastha University and a topper from University of Delhi; Shehas wide experience in research teaching and consultancy.

She is the lead project director of various prestigious projects and studies viz. Collection and Computerization of Legacy Data of Ganga sponsored National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation. She is the project director of Capacity-Building Strategies for Managing Complex Disasters in the face of Climate Change sponsored by National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS), MoEF&CC. She is also the Principal investigator of human capacity-building programme under National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC) of Department of Science & Technology Strategic Programmes, Large Initiatives and Coordinated Action Enabler (SPLICE) Division Climate Change Programme (CCP).

Dr. Singh is also involved in various consultancies for different Ministries such as National Disaster Management Authority, evaluating projects ranging from Soil Piping in Highland and Foothills of Kerala to NE Multi State Preparedness Campaign Project; Current Status of Research and Development in the Higher Higher-Education in Delhi and NCR: A Pilot Study sponsored by National Science & Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS), a division of Department of Science and Technology (DST). She has more than ten years of work experience in different capacities of Environment.

Dr. Singh has authored text books, monographs, articles and discussion papers. Some of her imperative publications are Urban Crisis in India: New Initiatives in safe water and waste management” by Cambridge Scholars Publishing Ltd, Newcastle Newcastle Upon Tyne, Kingdom. A textbook entitled “Environmental Studies” published in 2012. “Sustainable Future: Dynamics of Environment and Disaster Management” by Concept Publications, New Delhi, India. She has been a panelist in various new item series chairing the sessions on Environment and related issues. Few of the panels in which Dr. Singh has been an active are “Environmental Safeguards in the Regional Plan 2021 hosted by INTACH & PEACE; “Reconstruction on Uttarakhand”.

Dr. Singh has had the privilege of being the Guest of Honour and Lead Speaker at India and Sustainability Standards: International Dialogues and Conference for the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) is a global partnership to promote the responsible use of freshwater.She has also been the Lead speaker to UN World Toilet Day Celebration-2015 for achieving Mission Open Defecation Free, 2019. Dr. Singh has participated to establish MoU with Chinese Academy of Governance for faculty exchange and organize training programmes beneficial for both the countries. She has been the lead speaker in international conference on green & sustainable schools & academic institutions a solution to climate change, sponsored by Cities Network Campaign with TERI as a knowledge partner. Besides this, she has published several research papers in international and national journals of repute.

Mrs Harsaran Bir Kaur Pandey is a media-communications consultant. She has had a challenging four decade-plus career in media/development communication and education. As a media professional she was one of the pioneers in India of television news production and reporting during her 14 year career with Doordarshan. The government selected her for specialization in TV news with BBC London.

Mrs Harsaran was a key part of the DD News team during India’s years of turmoil and growth (1972-1986) including the Emergency, Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi and induction of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi as PM. She played a major role in TV News and hers was a well-known name and face across the country. As part of the press team, she frequently accompanied Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and PM Rajiv Gandhi on foreign tours, reporting on the Colombo and the New Delhi NAM Summits, the CHOGM, the Cancun North-South Summit, and interviewed international leaders like Fidel Castro, Kenneth Kaunda, and Yasser Arafat, among others.

For the next twenty years, she worked with the United Nations. As Information Officer with UNICEF India her work was focused on women and children, advocating child survival and development, universal primary education, and supporting the work of the Technology Missions led by Mr Sam Pitroda.

From 1997 she worked for the World Health Organization as Regional Information Officer for the eleven countries of the South East Asia Region (SEAR). Her key task was to demystify health issues and be a bridge between the media and the health experts. She routinely provided information support to all WHO health programmes. During several global/national health crises e.g. SARS, Avian Influenza, the Bhuj earthquake and the tsunami in six countries of the WHO SEAR Region, she provided information support based on principles of Risk communication. As part of WHO’s global Information team she supported the formulation and passage of WHO’s first health law, the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, adopted by member countries.

After superannuation from WHO, Mrs Harsaran works as a Consultant on health/communication and Risk Communication issues with WHO and other UN agencies (FAO). She also lectures at the National Institute for Disaster Management (on media and disasters and gender and disasters); and at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication.

She writes on health and spiritual issues for several magazines and has published her first book “The Radiation Threat: An emergency in the making” which looks at risks to human health from radiations, emanating from the earth, from building materials and from cell phones and mobile phone towers and ways to reduce such harm. She is working on her second book and also makes documentary films on health issues.