Vice Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva UYSM, VSM

Former Commandant, National Defence College and former Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff, Information Warfare & Operations.

Admiral Kaushiva has commanded the missile boats INS Prachand & Veer, Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel Vijaya and the guided missile frigate INS Ganga. His other important afloat assignments include the appointments of Fleet Communications Officer, Western Fleet and Fleet Operations Officer, Eastern Fleet. Ashore, he has been Director Naval Signals & Electronic Warfare and Director Naval Operations at Naval Headquarters. After promotion to flag rank, he has been Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Information Warfare & Operations) ; Deputy Commandant & Chief Instructor, National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam and Chief of Staff, Southern Naval Command at Kochi. In August 2005 he was promoted Vice Admiral and appointed Commandant Naval Academy.

Prior to his superannuation from naval service, on 30 Sep 2007, he was the Commandant of the National Defence College, the highest seat of military learning, at New Delhi.
 

Mr. Ajai Raj Sharma

Former Director General, Border Security Force (BSF) and former Police Commissioner, Delhi.

Mr. Ajai Raj Sharma joined the Indian Police Service in 1966 and served in several sensitive districts of Uttar Pradesh, from 1970 to 1982. As a Deputy Inspector General of Police, Faizabad Range U.P., he was in charge of six districts, and subsequently the Bareilly and Lucknow zones as the Inspector General of Police. In July 1999, he was the Commissioner of Police for the capital city, Delhi. On completion of a record three years tenure as Commissioner of Police, he was posted as Director General, Border Security Force - the world's largest border guarding force - in June 2002.

Some notable awards that Mr. Ajai Raj Sharma has received are the Police Medal for Meritorious Service, the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and the President's Police Medal for Gallantry besides many others. 

Mr. Umesh Kumar Katna

Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence & Operations), Former Director General Civil Defence and Home Guards; Former Director General Police - Goa and Arunachal Pradesh, Inspector General of Police, Puducherry, Joint Secretary (R), Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, Director (R), Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India.

Mr. Katna has served for 10 years in a premier intelligence agency of the Government of India and entrusted with the responsibility of counter intelligence and security of the organisation with particular reference to perimeter security, personnel security, documents security and related aspects. As Joint Secretary (Security), he was responsible for the organisational interface with Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, BCAS and Secretary Security. He was co-opted as member of Crisis Management Group looking after the security of sensitive atomic/ nuclear and industrial sectors.

MAJOR GENERAL MRINAL SUMAN AVSM, VSM, PhD

A highly qualified and experienced officer, General Suman commanded an Engineer Regiment in the Siachen Glacier.

He was the Task Force Commander at Pokharan and was responsible for designing and sinking shafts for the nuclear tests, for which he was duly honoured by the President of India.

He superannuated in 2003 and since then has been actively engaged in the promotion of defence-industry partnership. He heads Defence Technical Assessment and Advisory Service of CII which strives to bridge the existing information gap between the defence procurement agencies and the private sector. He has also been directing Defence Acquisition Management Courses, both in India and abroad.

General Suman was the first Technical Manager [Land Systems] and was closely associated with the evolution and promulgation of the new defence procurement mechanism. Today, he is considered to be India's foremost expert on India's defence procurement regime and offsets.

A prolific writer, his articles are regularly published in a large number of journals and his views command immense respect. He is regularly invited to speak, both in India and abroad, on different facets of defence procurement policies and business opportunities existing in the defence sector. He is often consulted by the policy makers as regards reforms required in the acquisition process. His views are also sought by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. He has been a strong proponent of dynamic participation of the private sector in defence production.

Maj Gen Anukul Chandra AVSM
Former ADG (EM), MGO Branch , Army HQ

Major General Chandra worked as a General Officer in the top executive management of the Indian Army. He is an accomplished equipment management expert having held the appointment of Additional Director General Equipment Management, Indian Army. He has been actively involved in design, development and in service management of all army equipment including; AFVs, Guns, AD Wpn Systems, Special Engineer Equipment, Heptr, weapons, UAVs etc. He has been responsible for coordinated activities of Army, DRDO, DGQA and military equipment manufacturers from India and friendly countries. He has over 37 years experience in leadership and management of HR, finances, logistics and equipment with core competencies in improvisation, out of box thinking, team building, project management and training.

He has been honoured by the President of India and twice by the Chief of Army Staff for distinguished service. He has held diplomatic assignment as Deputy Military Attache (Technical), Embassy of India, Moscow, Russia for over three years. 

Mr. Maroof Raza

Maroof Raza has lectured extensively in India and abroad on a range of issues related to India's security concerns. He is well known across India, for his television appearances on India's leading television channels as an expert on Military and Security matters. Maroof has authored several articles, essays and two books; "Low-Intensity Conflicts: The new dimension to India's military commitments" and "Wars and no Peace over Kashmir" and has edited a book titled "Generals and Governments in India and Pakistan". As the General Editor of Military Affairs series of Har Anand Publications, since 2001, he has edited nine volumes as part of this series. He has written editorials for all the leading newspapers of India. He is currently compiling a volume on India's experience with Terrorism for Penguin books India, as the anthology's editor.

His postgraduate qualifications include an M.A. in War Studies from King's College, London and M.Phil in International Relations from Darwin College, Cambridge University. In 1994, he was awarded the Times of India Fellowship, and he has held Visiting Fellowships at the Centre for Policy Research, Delhi, at the Henry L. Stimson Centre, Washington and at the War Studies Department of King's College, London.. Between 1998 and 2007, Maroof was a Visiting Professor at Middlesex University and its Regional Director (South Asia).