Mr Sandip Ghose is Chair of the India Advisory Board. He's also Director of the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM). Before he joined NISM, Mr Ghose was Head of Human Resource Management Department, Reserve Bank of India (RBI). At RBI, he oversaw the strategic management, human resource development and administrative affairs of about 18,000 employees across the country.

Mr Ghose is a central banker by profession. He has held positions such as:

• Regional Director of the RBI, Delhi
• Secretary to the Bank’s Local Board of Directors in North India
• Chief General Manager and Principal of the College of Agricultural Banking in Pune
• Chief of Staff and Advisor to three successive RBI Governors – Dr C Rangarajan, Dr Bimal Jalan, and Dr Y V Reddy – from 1996 to 2004

Mr. Ghose was instrumental in setting up the Human Resources Department in RBI in 1995. He went on to head the department between 2004 and 2007. He oversaw:

• recruitment
• training and development
• performance and talent management
• compensation
• welfare
• industrial relations

He was also the Principal at the Bankers' Training College, Mumbai (now the Centre for Advanced Financial Learning). Here he was responsible for capacity building of the top management of the commercial banks in India.

During his career, Mr. Ghose has received several prestigious awards, such as:

• the Jagdeep Khandpur Award for Outstanding HR Leadership
• Pride of HR Profession Award by the Institute Of Public Enterprises
• HR Leader of the Year Award by the Asia Pacific HRM Congress

He was recognised for his contribution to the field of HR and society at large. He has been conferred with an Honorary Doctoral Degree by the Eastern Institute of Integrated Learning and Management, Sikkim University.

Mr Ghose holds a postgraduate degree in History. He has exposure to executive education at the top business schools in India and abroad. He continues to serve as Director/Member on the boards of national and international training institutions and business schools.

Alpana serves as Chief General Manager and Head of Communications for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Alpana works with the Governor of the RBI, acting as chief spokesperson. She articulates and implements communication policy for the RBI.

She joined the RBI 22 years ago. Before this, she was a journalist covering banking. This included the RBI and finance for Business India – India's leading business publication. She has edited a professional banking journal for the Indian Banks' Association, a self-regulatory organisation for Indian banks.

Alpana is a postgraduate in English and political science and has professional qualifications in journalism.

Mr Amarjeet Singh is Chief General Manager with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Mumbai.

He has extensive experience in regulation and supervision of securities markets. He has also worked in project financing with a state financial agency.

Mr Singh works as Executive Assistant to Chairman at SEBI. He also heads the Office of International Affairs. He also headed the Northern Regional Office of SEBI in New Delhi from 2005 to 2009.

Mr Singh drives various strategic initiatives of SEBI for the Indian securities market. He is also involved in various international regulatory initiatives.

He is Vice-Chair of the Assessment Committee of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). They are developing an assessment programme for monitoring implementation of IOSCO principles.

He has served as the Vice-Chairman of the Implementation Task Force of IOSCO. They revised IOSCO Principles of Securities Regulations, following the global financial crisis. He has also been associated with the Financial Sector Assessment of India.

Mr Singh holds an MBA, and a Master’s degree in International Affairs (Economic Policy Management) from Columbia University, NY, USA.

He also received the Rotary Foundation Educational Award in 2000. He was recognised for promoting leadership development and international understanding by Rotary International, USA.

From 2012-2017 Gurprriet Siingh was the General Manager of YSC India. He has an eclectic profile, having been an entrepreneur, a consultant and a senior executive in large corporates.

He started out as an entrepreneur at the age of 21. He then moved to Organizational Consulting in 2000. After a successful stint as a consultant, Gurprriet decided to widen his abilities as an in-company change agent.

His last two roles have been as Group Head – Organizational Development for the Welspun Group and the RPG Group, two large Indian conglomerates. He has worked across:

• fast-moving consumer goods
• telecom
• power/energy
• manufacturing
• infrastructure
• IT and BPO
• retail
• pharmaceuticals

Gurprriet has handled assignments across the US and UK. He is a graduate of Kanpur University and holds several professional certifications.

He learned about organizations and leadership during his time as an entrepreneur. He later developed expertise in large-scale organizational change, learning to align organizational culture and strategy. He worked with senior leadership teams to identify and drive:

• transformational performance
• senior leadership hiring
• leadership coaching
• innovation

Having been an entrepreneur, a consultant and an employee in a large global organization, Gurprriet brings an intuitive and informed understanding of the needs and benefits from both sides of the table. He brings a balanced and considerate view to an assignment of the organization’s needs and ability.

Gurprriet leverages his 20 years of experience as an executive coach, using appreciative inquiry to enable higher levels of self-awareness and insight. He is able to balance nurturing and challenging styles to draw value from his coaching.

His passion is to touch lives, and support individuals and leadership teams to achieve breakthrough performances.

He is passionate about India, and hopes his work will impact the performance and future of India.

Heather is a Newcastle University graduate. She graduated with a degree in English Literature in 1992. She spent a year as the President of the Newcastle University Union Society.

Heather then worked for two years for Procter and Gamble in their (then) head office in Gosforth, before a switch from marketing to advertising.

She took a break from work in 2000. She headed to Asia for a yearlong backpacking trip.

While travelling, she was offered a job as Regional Account Director for advertising agency J Walter Thompson in Bangkok. She was then headhunted for a similar position with Lowe Lintas in Mumbai in 2003.

Heather has moved from client servicing to HR. She led the HR function at UTV – one of India’s most successful media companies – and is now Chief Talent Officer for The 120 Media Collective. The 120 Media Collection creates communication solutions and content for brands.

Her first novel, “Becoming Mrs Kumar,” inspired by her experiences of living and working in India, was published in April 2013.

She is a regular columnist for the popular Indian web portal: IDiva.com. Find her on Twitter at @heathergupta.

Mr Rakshit N Jagdale (Rick), is the third generation entrepreneur of his family business, the Jagdale Group. He is the executive director of Amrut Distilleries Ltd in Bangalore, India. Rick is responsible for its marketing division.

Rick graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in business management from Shri Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College in Bangalore.

Rick then joined the family company as an “apprentice”. He then studied for an MBA at Newcastle University. Rick wrote his MBA thesis on a strategic business plan for “Marketing Amrut Single Malt Whisky in the UK”.

As part of market research, Rick imported samples of Amrut Single Malt Whisky and test-marketed it in 85 Indian restaurants across the UK.

It was during this test marketing that he realised the possible potential of the product in the nearly 10,000 Indian restaurants in the UK.

Based on Rick’s MBA findings and other recommendations, Amrut Distilleries decided to venture into the UK market.

He is now responsible for this marketing initiative. Rick is also a medal-winning international swimmer.

Shehla has been the head of the Confederation of British Industry India (CBI) office in New Delhi since July 2012.

She led inward investment work and healthcare trade for UK Trade and Investment for Eastern and North-Eastern India. She was based out of the British Deputy High Commission in Kolkata – a position she held since 2007.

She started her career as a corporate news reporter in Business Standard. Business Standard is one of India’s leading business daily newspapers.

She then spent four years working at the Indian Chamber of Commerce. She was in charge of publications and had a brief stint as consulting editor at the Engineering Export Promotion Council.

She holds an MA in political science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Shehla also has a professional diploma in management from the Open University Business School, UK.

Currently, Shehla is also a committee member of the British Business Group in Delhi and works with:

• Confederation of Indian Industry
• UK Indian Business Council
• UK Trade and Investment
• Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
• British Council
• other trade bodies