People Page

Dr. G. Athithan received his B.E. (Hons) in Electronics and Communications from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nādu in 1981. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai in 1997. After a stint of seven years in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), he joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 1988. His work in DAE was on computer graphics, computer-aided design, and modelling of quasicrystal structures. Later, in DRDO, he contributed to the development of parallel computing, scientific data visualisation, and information security solutions. He was a ‘Distinguished Scientist’ and a Director General of DRDO at the time of retirement in 2018. Post retirement, from August 2019 to August 2023, he was with the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Bengaluru as a DRDO Chair. His research interests are artificial intelligence, data mining, and cyber security. He has co-authored two books, one on outlier detection during 2019 and another on cyber security during 2022. He has published around twenty-nine papers in archived journals and around thirty papers in conference proceedings. From March 2024, he is affiliated with the National Institute of Advanced Studies as an Adjunct Professor.

Nagaraja P joined the Institute on 20 November 2023. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Bangalore University and a Master’s Degree in Commerce from Karnataka State Open University.

Dr. M.P.Damodaran is an Anthropologist, specialized in Social-Cultural Anthropology, currently working as an Assistant Professor and Head-in-Charge in the Department of Anthropology, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has graduated in NET-UGC (Anthropology), JRF-UGC (Anthropology), Ph.D. Research (Anthropology), and M.A. (Anthropology). With over 18 years of Teaching and Research experience, he had publications in Indian / international Journals and participated, papers presented, and organized about 200 National/International/Regional Seminars, Workshops, and Conferences. His area of specialization is/are Social-Cultural Anthropology. His Trust area of teaching and research is Ethnography, Tribal and Community Studies, Urban and Rural Anthropology, Research Methodology, Practicing and Application of Anthropology, Planning and Decentralization, Cultural Anthropology, Folklore and Teyyam. Dr. M.P.Damodaran served several academic bodies, expert committees, and professional organizations in various capacities including, Academic Council, Board of Studies, Doctoral & Research Advisory Committees, Government Committees, Selection Committees, College Inspection Committees, Life Member of Indian Science Congress, Life Member of Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists, Founder Member of Indian Academy of Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists (INCAA) Kerala Chapter and Tamil Nadu Chapter, and Working General Secretary of  INCAA Tamil Nadu Chapter. He has received the Award "Bharat Gaurav Puraskar" (for exemplary and remarkable academic contributions to Anthropology) conferred jointly by "KTK Outstanding Achievers and Education Foundation" and "Helium Production", New Delhi, India,  (July 2022).

Dr Nishchal Nath Pandey is the Director of the Centre for South Asian Studies(CSAS), a premier think tank of Nepal. Previously, he has served as the Executive Director of the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr Pandey was also an International Research committee member of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Colombo. Pandey also teaches at the department of conflict, peace and development studies under the Tribhuvan University.

Dr. Harikrishnan N B currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Information Systems at BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus. His primary areas of interest revolve around data-driven learning, encompassing machine learning, brain-inspired learning, and causal machine learning. With a profound passion for teaching and research, he consistently dedicates himself to advancing knowledge in his field. In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Harikrishnan N B also finds interest in Indian philosophy, reflecting a well-rounded approach to intellectual exploration.

Dr. D.N. GUPTA holds engineering degree from IIT Roorkee (1987) and Ph.D. from IIT Delhi (2012). In his Ph.D. program, he applied System Approach and System Dynamics Modelling to determine Public Policy in the Renewable Energy sector. He retired from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and held various positions in the government for policymaking and program implementation.

His areas of specialization include Policy Research; Complexity Science for Public Policy, Economy, and Business; System Approach and System Dynamics; Renewable Energy; Sustainable Development; Quality in Public Service Delivery; Institution Building; Behavioral Approach in Public Policy; Innovative approaches in Public Policy and Governance; and Policy Design. He has written various articles and books on development issues, public policy, institutional development, and economy

Dr. James Madaio is a fellow at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague and at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. He is Editor of The Journal of Hindu Studies (OUP) and an Editor (Indic traditions) of Bloomsbury’s Introductions to World Philosophies book series. He received his PhD from the University of Manchester and was a postdoctoral fellow at New Europe College (Bucharest) and an affiliated researcher at the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute (Chennai). He was previously a lecturer at the University of Maryland (USA), University of Manchester (UK), and Charles University (Czech Republic).

Dr. J.R. Bhatt is an internationally recognized expert on various facets of environment, prominently climate change and biodiversity. As a lead negotiator, he regularly represented India, championing and mainstreaming the principles of conservation, sustainable development, equity, climate justice, balance between mitigation and adaptation, climate friendly lifestyles, means of implementation and technology transfer at over 90 important international meetings. He had been the Designated National Focal Point for all matters pertaining to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and for National Communications including Biennial Updates to the UNFCCC leading to the preparation of 2 National Communications, 3 Biennial Update reports and Long-Term Low Carbon Development Strategy on behalf of India. He also co-authored India’s First Biodiversity Action Plan (2008) which continues to form the basis for work on Biodiversity within the country. He has guided and mentored extensive research on climate change and biodiversity throughout the country. He has been involved in the work of IPCC since 1990. He works with passion for national development and international cooperation.

Dr. Tithi Bhatnagar is a Psychologist by training, a Well-being and Happiness Researcher and Teacher by profession, and a certified Positive Psychology Coach by Practice (trained with Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, USA). Her doctoral research was in the area of Subjective Well-Being (SWB) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Her professional experience is a mix of industry, freelance consulting, academics, training, and advisory roles. She has served in various capacities in her previous roles, for example, working with Executive Board Members and Founders, serving on an Industry Research Board as a Social Scientist, leading a University School of Humanities and Social Sciences, as Deputy Director of the Centre for Leadership and Change (CLC) and In-Charge of Capacity Building at JIBS, JGU. She currently works as an Associate Professor at the Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences (JIBS), O.P. Jindal Global University. She has trained around 9200+ teachers, students, Govt. Officials, and executives on topics like Understanding Stress, Stress Management, Performance Enhancement, Subjective Well-Being, Multiple Intelligence, Work-Life Balance, Effective Decision Making, Training Evaluation, The Science and Arts of Coaching, and Motivation at the Workplace, and Parenting. She has been a resource person for various Faculty Development Programs, especially in Research Methods. Her research interests include Subjective Well-Being, Positive Psychology, Wisdom, Psychometrics, and Leadership.

A Gold and Silver Medallist for her Master's and Bachelor respectively and an ICF Certified Coach in-training, she is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the International Society of Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS). She has presented research papers at several national and international conferences of repute and has published both nationally and internationally. She has been awarded various scholarships.