KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Rajendra Singh

Rajendra Singh , popularly known as the “Waterman of India,” is a celebrated water conservationist and environmentalist from Rajasthan. Through his NGO, “Tarun Bharat Sangh” (TBS), he has led groundbreaking efforts in community-based water management since 1985. By reviving traditional rainwater harvesting techniques such as johads and check dams, Singh and his team have successfully restored groundwater levels, revived five rivers—Arvari, Ruparel, Sarsa, Bhagani, and Jahajwali—and transformed over a thousand drought-prone villages in Rajasthan. His work has not only replenished water resources but also improved agriculture, reforested landscapes, and strengthened rural livelihoods. Recognized globally for his impact, he has received prestigious awards including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (2001) and the Stockholm Water Prize (2015), cementing his status as a global icon of grassroots environmental activism.

Brian B Rudkin

Director of Research Emeritus at CNRS, University of Lyon 1 - INSERM 1208, Stem-Cell & Brain Research Institute. Dr Brian has instigated and coordinated EU projects and catalysed innovation in the Rhône-Alpes region and beyond for several decades. Since 2021, he has worked with the One Sustainable Health for All Foundation, helping consolidate and communicate recommendations from over 100 experts across 35+ countries through the OSH Forum and OEGH Coalition. He now leads discussions on creating a World Network of One Sustainable Health Institutes. The Foundation is the official civil society partner of the French Presidential World Summit on One Health, to be held in Lyon, 7th April 2026.

Shailesh Nayak

Dr. Shailesh Nayak currently is the Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, Editor-inChief, Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing and Life Trustee, India International Centre, New Delhi. He was the Chair, Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) and Secretary to the Government of India, for Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), between August 2008-2015, Former Chancellor of the TERI School of Advanced Studies, Delhi. Dr. Nayak is Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, the National Academy of Sciences, India, Allahabad, the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), and Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, Paris. He has been awarded honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the Andhra University in 2011, by the Assam University in 2013, and by the Amity University in 2015. Dr. Nayak is recipient of IGU - Hari Narain Lifetime Achievement Award in Geosciences-2013, the ISCA Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award 2012, the Bhaskara Award for 2009 by the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Dehradun. Considering the impact of his research on the society, the Govt. of India has conferred him, the civilian honour ‘Padma Shri’ in the field of science and engineering in 2024. Dr. Nayak is the President, Indian Geophysical Union, Hyderabad, and Indian Mangrove Society. Dr. Nayak has published about 190 papers in International and National journals and deliver about 200 invited talks in national and international fora.

Sandeep Virmani

Mr. Sandeep Virmani is an environmentalist, with training in Architecture. Based in Kutch, over the past 30 years he has working with communities all over India, celebrating their traditional knowledge in water management, food production, animal breed and seed conservation, building with natural materials and wildlife conservation. He has set up two organizations, Hunnarshala Foundation to work on built habitats and Sahjeevan to work on ecosystems and her indigenous communities. He has recently begun writing stories and painting. Sandeep Virmani is a founding member and the Executive Vice Chairman of Hunnarshala Foundation. An architect by training, he has been working on sustainable housing, water conservation, organic farming, renewable energy, nomads’ living conditions and natural resource management for the past three decades. At Hunnarshala, he has led work on sustainable post-disaster housing for the poor, involving local artisans and using local materials and technologies. He is a founding member of many organizations including Satvik, Arid Communities and Technologies (ACT) and Kutch Navnirman Abhiyan, a collective of 38 rural development organizations covering 650 villages. He is also on the Board of Directors of Sahjeevan, which focuses on commons-based livelihoods in Gujarat. https://sahjeevan.org/our-board/

PLENARY SPEAKERS

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Prof. Chetan Vaidya

Prof. Chetan Vaidya is an Architect-Planner with over 30-year experience. He is former Director of the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) New Delhi (20012-17) and former Director of National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) (2008-12) in India. Presently, he is Independent Director (Non-Executive) of GIFT city Gujarat, proposed financial capital of India. The NITI Ayog (Planning Commission of India) has nominated him as Chairperson of Working Group of “City Governance and Smart Cities” as part of National Development Agenda@75 (Year 2022). The Government has appointed him as part time Independent Director of Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) from June 2016 for three years. The All India Council of Technical Education has appointed him as Chairman of Planning Education Board. The University of Melbourne has nominated him as Melbourne-Asia Visiting Fellow for 2014-15. He was awarded Distinguished Alumnus by IIT Kharagpur in 2015. He worked as Dy. Project Leader, Indo-USAID Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion Program (FIRE) during 1995-2008. Major objective of the program was to develop commercially–viable urban environmental infrastructure projects with focus on urban poor. Prof. Vaidya has wide academic, research and consultancy experience in working in Urban planning sector.

Utpal S. Tatu

Prof. Dr. Utpal S. Tatu is a Chairperson and Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He is a Global Health Expert and One Health Advsior to University of Zurich, Switzerland. With a PhD from IISc and postdoctoral training from Yale University, his research spans over two decades and focuses on the molecular biology of infectious diseases. He is also Scientific Expert and Advisor to the Centre for Public Health , NUV. Prof Tatu is also Elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Dr. Jan Fehr

Jan Fehr, is Professor of 'Global Health & Mobility', Head of the Department of Public & Global Health at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI) of the University of Zurich (UZH) and one of the three members of the Executive Board of the EBPI at UZH as well as Chief Physician of the Centre for Travel Medicine (ZRM) at UZH. This is the world's only WHO Collaboration Centre for Traveller's Health and the largest travel clinic in Switzerland, with almost 30,000 consultations every year. It also includes the Canton of Zurich's reference vaccination centre, which was established during the coronavirus pandemic. He is a specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases with many years of experience in clinical research to tackle global health changes in close collaboration with partners in the Global South. His research interests include HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, vaccinology and newly emerging infectious diseases. He is a One Health delegate of UZH for the UNA Europe Alliance, a member of the Confederate Commission for questions of vaccinations (EKIF) and a strategic member of the Swiss Expert Committee on Travel Medicine (EKRM) and member of the working group “Clinical Therapy” of the Federal Commission for Issues relating to Sexually Transmitted Infections (FCSTI) and member of the “Swiss Chagas Network”.

Harish Padh

Prof. Harish Padh obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of Delhi in 1978. From 1978 to 1995 for 17 years, he has developed his academic career in USA at places like Temple University in Philadelphia, University of Chicago in Chicago and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He was Assistant Director and Associate Professor at Northwestern University for Biotechnology. In 1996 he returned to India and joined as Professor of Biochemistry at M. S. University of Baroda and in 1999 he joined as Director of B. V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education and Research Development (PERD) Centre in Ahmedabad. In 2007, he also took responsibility as Project Director for NIPER, a Government of India’s Institution at Ahmedabad. He joined Sardar Patel University as Vice-Chancellor in July 2010 and continued as VC in his second term ended on July 31, 2016. He was Founding Provost of Vanita Vishram Women’s University in Surat. His area of research is Cell and Molecular Biology as applied to Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Prof. Padh has more than 200 research publications in reputed journals. He has more than 10,000 citations; cumulative Impact Factor: 280; h-Index: 50; i10-Index: 100. He was member of Governing Council of Gujarat Forensic Science University-Gandhinagar, Central University of Gujarat-Gandhinagar, Association of Indian Universities-New Delhi, Member of Court as well as Governing Council of Indian Institute of Science – Bangalore.

Kamlesh Singh

Kamlesh Singh, Ph.D. (Psychology), joined IIT Delhi in 2004. She is currently a Professor (Psychology) at the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT Delhi. She has published three (co-authored) books - “Measures of Positive Psychology: Development and Validation” (2016) and “Religious and Spiritual Practices in India: A Positive Psychological Perspective” (2023) with Springer and “Translational Research and Applied Psychology in India'' (2019) with Sage publishers. She is also the author of the award-winning book “Bhartiya Sandharbh me Vyavahrik Skaratmak manovigyan (2018)”. It was awarded the Rajbhasha Gaurav Award for original book writing in Hindi on Gyan-Vigyan for Citizens of India by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. She has published above 100 published research papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals and 17 book chapters. In 2019, she was the recipient of the prestigious ‘Shane J. Lopez Award for Professional Contributions in Positive Psychology 2019’ in recognition for her outstanding contributions to the field of Positive Psychology by the Section on Positive Psychology, American Psychology Association. In addition to her ongoing teaching and various research projects in Positive Psychology, Kamlesh Singh is also a member of the Council of Advisors, International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). Furthermore, she has initiated an Indian association on Positive Psychology called the “National Positive Psychology Association” (NPPA; http://nppassociation.org/) with several other experts of Positive Psychology. Detailed information on her publications & other academic activities can be found on her website: http://web.iitd.ac.in/~singhk/

Contact

Vasna-Bhayli Road

Near Purshottam Party Plot

Vadodara - 391 410

Gujarat, India

91-265-2617316

icr2026@nuv.ac.in