Defence & Intelligence
Date: 11 August 2021 /// Time: 14:00 - 17:00 IST

Lt General (Dr) Rajesh Pant is an internationally recognised Cyber Security expert, who is presently tenanting the prestigious appointment of National Cyber Security Coordinator in the National Security Council Secretariat of India. In this capacity he is responsible for coordinating all activities across multiple sectors to ensure a secure and resilient cyber space within the nation.

He holds a PhD degree for his research in the field of Information Security metrics. He is also MTech from IIT Kharagpur, MPhil from Madras University and Master of Management Studies from Osmania University.

Prior to this appointment, he was the head of the Army’s Cyber Training establishment for three years. He served in the Army Signals Corps for 41 years wherein he was awarded three times by the President of India for distinguished service of the highest order. Consequent to his retirement, he was Chairman of a listed Electronics Company, peer review member of NAAC, and Governing Council member of IETE(India).

General Pant brings to the table an interesting mix of military operations, academic excellence, corporate governance and cyber security wisdom.

Lt Gen (Dr) AKS Chandele was commissioned in the Corps of Electronics & Mechanical Engineers, Indian Army, in 1970. A specialist in Radars & Control systems, Air Defence, Missiles and Biomedical engineering, he retired as the Director General EME after over four decades of service in the Army. He was awarded the Param Vishist Seva Medal and Ati Vishist Seva Medal by the President of India. He is a Distinguished Alumini of IIT Roorkee, Distinguished Fellow and Past President of Institution of Electronics &Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Distinguished Engineer, Institution of Engineers. Post retirement he has been actively involved with industry (L&T, Ashok Leyland).He is currently President-Defence, Internal Security & Public Safety, Geospatial World, Chairman DEFSYS Integrated Solutions and advisor with various industry associations.

Anupam Tiwari is a keen IT Security enthusiast and an incisive learner, holds rich experience and qualifications in the cyber security domain including courses CDAC & GFSU Certified Cyber Security Professional, Certified Ethical Hacker with B.E from Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi and M.Tech in Computer Science from JNTU Hyderabad, India. He also holds three postgraduation qualifications in Information Security, ERP and Operations & Systems. He has 18 years plus experience in the field of Cyber Security and keeps exploring new generation IT technologies. Currently pursuing his research in the domain of “Blockchain and cryptocurrencies”, he has been exploring the technical nuts and bolts in blockchaindomain.

He has conducted independent day long workshops on blockchaintechnology in universities and Indian government institutions like Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), Central Academy for Police Training(CAPT), IIIT Raipur etc. He is an active member and fellow member of technical societies including Institution of Engineers, Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers, Computer Society of India, Indian Science Congress Association and Advanced Computing and Communications Society.

He is a regular contributor to articles in leading technical magazines and journals and has been a volunteer for participation in technical talks and discussions in International-National conferences. He has 25plus articles and papers in International,National and Defense journals/ magazines. He has been a regular participant in various seminars-conferences as a guest speaker and has spoken in 50plus National-International conferences.

A graduate of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy, Lieutenant General Raj Shukla was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in December 1982. In a career spanning four decades, the officer has seen extensive service in the field-he commanded a Medium Regiment in the Eastern / Desert Theatres, an Infantry Brigade in Counter Insurgency Operations, an Infantry Division along the Line of Control in the Valley and a Pivot Corps along the Western Borders.

An alumni of the Defence Services Staff College Wellington, the College of Defence Management - Secunderabad and the National Defence College - New Delhi, the General Officer has served two tenures at the Military Operations Directorate dealing with Doctrines / Force Structuring and till recently was the Director General, Perspective Planning at Army HQ, addressing issues relating to Military Futures and Forces Modernisation. He has also been Commandant of the Indian Army's prestigious training establishment and think tank-the Army War College.

An aviator, as also a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, the Yudha Seva Medal, the Sena Medal, and the Aide-de-Camp, General Shukla has an abiding interest in strategic — military affairs. He has authored numerous articles / publications and lectured / participated in various seminars in India and abroad.

The General Officer assumed the Command of Army Training Command (ARTRAC) on 01 May 20.

Dr. Saibal Kumar Pal is working as a Senior Research Scientist and Divisional Head at Defence Research & Development Organization, Scientific Analysis Group, Delhi. He has also contributed as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of DRDO during the period2017 –2019.

Dr. Pal completed Post-graduation in Computer Science from University of Allahabad & PhD from University of Delhi in the area of Information Security. He also holds a PhDin Brand Management. Dr. Pal has co-authored 3books on Electronic Governance, AI & Data Science& has more than 250 research publications in peer-reviewed journals & international conference proceedings. His areas of interest are Cryptography, Cyber Security, Computational Intelligence and Information Systems. He has contributed in a number of R&D projects and international collaborations.

Dr.Pal is a recipient of Lab Scientist Award in 2010 and DRDO Scientist of the Year Award in 2012.

Maj Gen Manjeet Singh is a Signals Officer of 1987 batch. A graduate of Staff College, he has attended Higher Command course at Army War College. Holds a B Tech & M Phil degree. The officer has enormous Comd and Staff experience at different levels. After his successful tenure as Chief Signal Officer (CSO) in valley, he steered the raising of the Defence Cyber Agency and the Services Cyber Groups in his previous appointment as DACIDS DIARA.

He is presently posted as Joint Secretary (Cyber) at National Security Council Secretariat and deals with national and international cyber issues.

Amit is heading the Defence vertical business at Esri India. He has more than a two decades of experience working with rugged mobility solutions and computing technologies.

A Third Generation Entrepreneur in THE ROTER GROUP OF INDUSTRIES, Estd 1936. Erstwhile knows and Ansari Precision Instruments Pvt. Ltd. Roorkee, Uttarakhand.

Surveyor, Manufacturer, Academician, Researcher, philanthropist, who worked for the development of Industries in Uttarakhand. Identified and developed various industries Clusters under the UNIDO & Government of India program. On chair Indo-German Chamber of Commerce Thuringia State Germany.

Worked for India’s first Land Record Digitising work in the Land Survey Departments along with Commissioners in then Andhra and Karnataka states. Introduced modern surveying systems and customized software(s) for the first handheld land information system (LIS).

Engaged in research and development of 3D LiDAR instruments with Franhaufer Research Institute, Germany for state-of-the-art sensors in the field of Pavement & Clearance Profile scanning and UAV scanning, GPR, UAV/Drones. Engaged in the design and development of professional grade UAV/ Drone for large scale mapping since 2015 and now working on military-grade stealth drones. Supplied first German engineered “Make-in-India” Trinity+ UAVs to Survey of India still in service for Large Scale Mapping & Svamitva Projects.

Commander Saini is a veteran naval officer, a specialist in Communication and Electronics Warfare with more than 35 years of experience in Information Warfare, Cyber Security and now Privacy. He is presently focussing on privacy compliance for upcoming Indian privacy regime under Personal Data Protection Act. He has undertaken deep dive training on Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 during Lock down and amongst his more than 200 students includes some of the top CISOs and CIOs of the country. He was head of National Information Security Coordination cell at National Security Council Secretariat (PMO), a precursor to National Cyber Security Coordinator’s office. Most of the initial information security infrastructures (such as CERT-IN, NTRO, FINCERT, and nations’ 1st Cyber Forensic Lab of CBI) of national importance were created during his tenure. He was also invited to UN for drafting UN Resolution on Cyber Security as Governmental Expert. On retirement from Navy he joined Microsoft (India) as Chief (Information) Security Advisor. He is founder and MD of XCySS, a Cyber Security and Privacy Company. He was also Group IT Security Head for Essel Group of Companies. Presently he is Advisor to Algo8 AI, an Artificial Intelligence Start up. He is an avid writer and speaker on the subject of Privacy and Cyber Security. He has delivered privacy awareness lectures for IAMAI members on PDPB-2019 & GDPR. He holds 3 Masters Degrees (MSc, MBA & MCA) and several professional certifications of management, Privacy and Cybersecurity including CISSP, LA- ISO/IEC 27001:2013, CLIP- GDPR, PIMS and BS 10012. He is presently pursuing LLB degree so as to complete the formal portfolio for privacy. His formal papers include topics not only on Cyber security and management but also on law. He was member secretary of Task for “Credible Cyber Deterrence in Armed Forces of India”, report of which presently under implementaion. To his credit, Commander Saini has two patent applications, one of them is on privacy audit implementation and several research paper not just on technology but also on India Law. He enjoys drawing and painting portraits.

Brig BS Kang is posted with Defence Space Agency for the last two years. He has a masters degree in Satellite Technology and Application from IISc. He is looking after the interlinks with Research and Development organizations working in the field of Space. He is responsible for monitoring of all space related projects with both defence establishments and industry.

Mr. Vipin Tyagi is an innovation and Business Leader from Information Technology and Telecommunication Industry for over 35 years. Presently he is Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information officer and Executive Vice President Strategic Relationships of a leading virtual events organization called Premier Global Services Inc . PGi is leading global virtual events provider. His present area of interests is next wave of human interaction technologies.

Previously Mr. Tyagi served as Executive Director & Chairman of the Board, at C-DOT. He has majorly contributed in Telecom technology specifically the areas of Optical communications, Next Generation Networks, Wi-Fi,5 G, Digital communication infrastructure required for smart cities and smart buildings, disaster communication, digital imaging and video broadcasting technologies. Prior to that Mr. had founded and led a Company out of New Delhi for 12 years as Board Member and Global CEO. He has headed global business in India, Japan, Australia, USA and Europe. He has actively worked towards Research and Development of large systems, Organizational Development and creation of high-performance teams. He has been granted 8 Patents and filed 23 in last couple of years

Some of the notable projects are :

1. Participation, creation, and adaptation of world’s first IOT/M2M platform based on oneM2M standard that has become National standard of India in the year 2020.
2. World’s first satellite integrated Wi-Fi system created to serve remote and rural areas with landline phone, VOIP phone, WIFI hotspot, mobile phone IP PBX with couponing / prepaid billing in the year 2019 while at C-DOT.
3. India’s first balloon based WIFI hotspot 2018 while at C-DOT.
4. Development of world’s first standard compliant common services platform for M2M / IOT based on one M2M standard in the year 2016 while at C-DOT.
5. India’s first 100 Gigabit per wavelength commercial grade optical fiber link in 2015 while at C-DOT.
6. Innovative Access product for providing internet based services to illiterate and technology unaware rural population through a product called GYANSETU in 2015.
7. India’s first Indigenous Gigabit Passive Optical Network (G-PON) development & deployment while at C-DOT, 2010.
8. World first Broadband Network based Video on Demand System with ATM Switches, Video Servers and set-top boxes for TV sets with global delivery teams in 1997 while at Network Programs.
9. India’s biggest and most successful project for development of electronics switching systems for rural India and towns while at C-DOT. 1986 – 1993.
10. India’s first Large Scale Message Switching Systems Development, while at ECIL, 1984.
11. Development of over 50 Products in area of Enterprise and Telecommunications Industry.

Achievements :

1. Turned around C-DOT in terms of technology, Revenue (IEBR) and participation in national missions in 5 years as head of C-DOT
2. Launch of Broadband Products developed by C-DOT aimed to enable Digital Broadband Connectivity by Hon’ble MOC&IT at C-DOT Delhi in July, 2015 during Digital India week.
3. Launch of “GyanSetu” and MAX-NG, C-DOT’s Next Generation Network (NGN) technologies as part of Good Governance Day in December, 2014.
4. Inauguration of C-DOT Terabit Router & Fiber to the Desk (FTTD) by Hon’ble MOC&IT in October,

   Awards : In Leadership of Mr. Tyagi

   1. BV Baliga Award by IETE in 2019 in the field of Electronics
   2. C-DOT has been awarded as the Digitally Empowered PSU in the country by VARINDIA – India’s Frontline IT Magazine, in June.
   3. IEEE Bangalore “Technologist of the Year 2018” for exemplary work in the area of Optical Fibre Networks and for contribution to India’s flagship program, BharatNet
   4. “Eminent Engineer Award Sep 2017” – IET-The Institution of Engineering and Technology (UK)
   5. “Wi Fi Leader of the Year” at My India Wi-Fi India Summit & Awards 2018 organized by DigiAnalysys in New Delhi.
   6. C-DOT GyanSetu was awarded the "Recognition of Excellence" award at ITU Telecom World, Budapest, Hungary in October, 2015.
   7. C-DOT won the National Intellectual Property (IP) Award in April 2016 under the category of "R & D institution/organization for Patents" on outstanding innovators, organizations and companies in the fields of patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications.
   8. C-DOT won the Frost & Sullivan’s Award for C-DOT’s “Customizable Service Management” Project under Process Innovation Leadership Category in the Service sector of Project Evaluation and Recognition Program in Nov, 2016.
   9. Received INDO-AFRICA ICT Awards 2017 hosted as 3rd Indo-Africa ICT Expo 2017 in Nigeria for Excellent R&D Innovation in Telecom Sector.
   10. Received Eminent Engineer Award by IET in recognition to unfailing commitment to excellence in field of Electronics & Communication.
   11. C-DOT's GPON was awarded the "Most Innovative Product" at IESA (India Electronics and Semiconductor Association) Technovation Awards in Feb. 2016.
   12. Received fellowship program from IEEE-SA in 2017.
   13. C-DOT received an Award by ELCINA-EFY Awards for Excellence in Electronics for 2011-12.
   14. "C-DOT Bamboo Wi-Fi" has won Aegis Graham Bell Awards 2018 in Innovative Telecom Product category.
   15. C-DOT won three AEGIS GRAHAM BELL AWARDS for “C-DOT Wi-Fi Terminal” in the Innovative Telecom Product Category, “C-DOT GIS baed Fibre Fault Localization System” in the Innovative Managed Services Category and “C-DOT Green Power Supply Unit” in Green Telecom Category
   16. Received Excellence Award from Minister of State (Communication) for development of Digital Switching System.
   17. C-DOT received “Certificate of Merit” Award by ELCINA-EFY Awards 2014-15 in Sept.2015 for Green Power Supply Unit.
   18. C-DOT received “Certificate of Merit” by ELCINA-EFY Group for excellence in electronics 2016-17.
   

   Please look at LinkedIn for complete list
   
   Education :
   
   Master of technology (Computer Science and Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT, Delhi). Bachelor of Electronics & Communication Engineering and Post Graduate Diploma in Management from AIMA. Master class for Directors by IOD.

Lt Gen TSA Narayanan, AVSM was commissioned into the Corps of EME on 24 Dec 1982. The Gen Offr is also an alumnus of Institute of Armament Technology, Girinagar, College of Defence Management, Secunderabad and Indian Institute of Public Administration, Delhi.

The Gen Offr has had a brilliant academic record and has done the Technical Staff Offr Course (TSOC), Junior Command (JC), Senior Command (SC), Higher Defence Management Course (HDMC) and Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA). He stood 1st in the order of merit in the APPPA course which had members from civil services also. His academic pursuits include a Master of Management Studies from Osmania University and a Master of Philosophy from Punjab University.

During his splendid career spanning over 38 years, the Gen Offr has held varied regimental, command, instructional and staff appointments. His vast experience includes command of 622 EME Bn and the prestigious Simulator Development Division (SDD). His sterling contribution as Comdt SDD will always be remembered for resurrecting it from the verge of extinction and making it the Centre of Excellence in its designed role. His staff appointments include Maintainability Engineer at MAG No - 1, AD EME at HQ 15 Corps, AQMG (Ops & Maint) at HQ 2 Corps, Dy CE Army Technology Centre at HQ TG EME, BGS (IS) at HQ 33 Corps, and ADG EME (A) at IHQ of MoD (Army). In addition, the Gen Offr has also served on deputation with United Nations Mission in Somalia. During his tenure at MCEME as Dy Comdt & Chief Instr, he instituted a detailed review of trg philosophy and ensured excellence in standards of trg being imparted to all rks of EME. The Gen Offr took over as Commandant MCEME on 16 Dec 2019. Under his able stewardship, MCEME has made landmark achievements, notably winning of the prestigious national awards such as the Golden Peacock National Training Award and the AICTE Utkrisht Sansthan Vishwakarma Award, as well as the GOC-in-C ARTRAC Unit Citation. The Swarm drones displayed during Army Day 2021 was done by SDD under his stewardship.

For his distinguished service, the Gen Offr has been awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and GOC-in-C Western Command Commendation Card, GOC-in-C Eastern Command Commendation Card, COAS Commendation Card during his notable career.

Admiral Chopra has the unique distinction of being the only admiral in the Indian Navy’s history to have been the Commander-in-Chief of both its combatant commands, i.e. the Western Naval Command, and the Eastern Naval Command; as well as having been the Chief of the Indian Coast Guard. He also commanded the the Western Fleet , known as the Indian Navy’s sword – arm; the aircraft carrier, INS Viraat; the destroyer, INS Rajput; and the missile corvette, INS Kuthar.

As Assistant Chief of Naval Staff(Policy and Plans),and earlier as Principal Director Naval Plans, he was extensively associated with the formulation of the Navy’s Long-Term Force Structure and Force- Mix, and its Perspective and Financial Planning. As member of the apex Defence Acquisition Council for three years, he was involved with the ongoing evolution of the Defence Procurement Procedure and India’s Defence Industrial Base.

Admiral Chopra retired in 2015, after forty years of distinguished service. During 2017-19 he was a Member of the National Security Advisory Board, Government of India, which provides inputs on security issues to the apex National Security Council. In 2016, Admiral Chopra was appointed by the Ministry of Defence to an Expert Committee to examine measures to enhance the combat capability of the Indian Armed Forces, and rebalance the defence budget.

Admiral Chopra had been a Distinguished Fellow with a number of think-tanks, including the Observer Research Foundation(ORF), the Vivekananda International Foundation(VIF), Gateway House, the Centre for Land Warfare Studies(CLAWS), and an elected member of the Governing Council of the United Services Institution(USI), Whilst in service, Admiral Chopra was a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council of the US, Washington DC in 1998-99.

In pursuit of his strategic interests, Admiral Chopra has been writing and speaking both in India and abroad on diverse geopolitical and maritime issues. He has also been active in India's track 1.5 and track 2.0 dialogues with a number of countries, including the US, the EU, France, Sri Lanka, Australia and Japan.

Admiral Chopra had been member of the Governing Council of the Mahindra Leadership University, and it's Academy for Leadership Development. He was also an advisor to India's Union Public Service Commission.

He is an alumnus of the Lawrence School, Lovedale; the Sherwood College, Nainital; and the La Martiniare College, Lucknow. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and his Masters and M Phil in Defence Studies from Chennai University.