Our Advisors

Our Advisors
IDEA is engaged with some very experienced professionals who aid us in achieving our vision.

Dr. Manoranjan Sharma
Senior Advisor: Economics and Finance
Dr. Manoranjan Sharma, Chief Economist, Infomerics Ratings, Delhi, has a brilliant academic record. He was the Chief Economist of Canara Bank for 17 years, General Manager for 6 years and Chief Learning Officer for 5 years.
Widely traveled both in India and abroad, he is globally recognised as an expert in Indian economy, banking, MSMEs, financial inclusion, etc. He has made presentations and Chaired sessions at national and international Conferences. His papers have repeatedly been globally accepted, viz., Global Finance Conference-Las Vegas, USA (April 2004); Emerging Issues in Business and Technology-Western Illinois University, USA (Oct. 2004); Applied Business Research Conference, Florida USA (Jan. 2005); International Symposium Economy & Business, Bulgaria (Sept. 2005); International Business Research Conference- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (March 2005); Global Business and Economic Research Conference-Istanbul, Turkey (Aug. 2005); International Conference on Globalisation, Technology and Sustainable Development-Abu Dhabi, UAE (Nov. 2005); Max Planck Indian Institute of Science (IISc) International Conference on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth-Bangalore (Oct. 2007).
He is associated with banks, Universities, leading institutions, viz., IMF (Washington), Terrapinn Pvt. Ltd., Singapore, Marcus Evans (Malaysia), Naseba (Paris/Dubai); Government of India and State Governments, RBI, IIMs, IITs, AIMA, etc.
He has been nominated a member of more than half a dozen Advisory Councils in five different States, viz., Member, Governor’s Advisory Council, Rajasthan; Chancellor’s Nominee on Board of Management of Kota University; Expert Member, All India Management Association Training Advisory Group, Delhi; Vice Chairman, Indian Society for Training & Development (ISTD), Gurgaon, India; former Chairman, Editorial Committee of IBA’s flagship journal The Indian Banker- Mumbai, etc. Â
His papers and books, viz., Global Financial Meltdown; Leading Issues in Indian Economy; Studies in Money, Finance and Banking; India’s Transforming Financial Sector; Dynamics of Indian Banking; and Indian Economic Policies and Data figure in Libraries of almost all top Universities of the world, viz., Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, London School of Economics, Library of Congress, Washington; Harvard, Princeton, Yale.
He has 300 publications, including in The Business Review (Cambridge, US), Journal of Economy and Business (Bulgaria), Occasional Papers (RBI, Mumbai), The Indian Banker (IBA, Mumbai), Bank Quest (IIBF, Mumbai), CAB Calling (RBI, Pune), The Eastern Anthropologist (Lucknow), Lucknow Management Association Convention Journal (IIM, Lucknow), Professional Banker (ICFAI, Hyderabad), Analyst (ICFAI, Hyderabad), Yojana (Information and Broadcasting Ministry), Property World (global London-based UBM group, Mumbai), The Economic Times, Financial Express, Times of India, Hindu Business Line.
His views have been repeatedly cited in The Associated Press (New York), Dow Jones (New York), International Herald-Tribune (New York), Wall Street Journal (New York).

Ms. Rita Sengupta
Senior Advisor: Entrepreneurship Promotion

Mr Anil Kumar
Senior Advisor: Banking and Finance
Mr. Anil Kumar did his graduation in science from Kurukshetra University & Bachelor of Laws from University of Delhi. He also hold a Diploma in Corporate Laws & Secretarial Practice from Indian Law Institute Delhi. He is also Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Banking & Finance.
He worked as a Branch Manager in various Branches and the Head Office of a Regional Rural Bank at Gurugram for a period of six years. He worked in different capacities at four Regional Offices across country and also at the Head Office of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) during his association with it for 34 years. While in NABARD, he handled micro finance, developmental projects with the sole objective of helping the marginalised section of the society. He also holds experience in monitoring different types of infrastructure projects funded for the State Governments under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund by NABARD. In his vast career, he has organised workshops, training programs for Non Government Organisations (NGOs), Voluntary Agencies (VAs), bankers and line department officials on issues relating to agriculture and rural development. To enhance his knowledge, he participated in training programs on developmental activities, micro credit, institution building , Human Resource Development, etc. at various national and international training institutes.

Mr. Binu Chaturvedi
Advisor: Community Health
Mr. Binu Chaturvedi holds a Postgraduate degree in Business Management with specialisation in Marketing and Finance and has more than two decades of professional work experience in managing projects of the Social Development Sector at the National, State, Regional and Community level.Â
Having a diverse experience in projects from the private, public and development sector, Mr. Chaturvedi has worked on projects that have helped him gain a deep insight into the fields of public health, nutrition, governance, capacity building, empowerment of communities, system strengthening, social audit and program communication.
He was also one of the members of the Social Mobilisation team constituted by UNICEF in Uttar Pradesh for the Polio Eradication Program. The team succeeded in achieving a complete eradication of the disease by empowering communities at the grass-root level.Â
Mr. Chaturvedi’s expertise in collaborating with Government agencies and providing them with technical and networking support comes as a result of his years of experience working with the Danish International Development Agency, the United States Agency for International Development, the State Innovations in Family Planning Services Project Agency, UNICEF and UNDP. He has also worked with the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where the aim was to provide technical support to the Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in the World Bank Project on Integrated Child Development Services.
At present, he is working in association with the State Health Agency (SHA) since the launch of the Initiative Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PM-JAY). He is supporting the State Health Agency in the implementation of Ayushman Bharat activities such as training, empanelment of hospitals, IEC and monitoring related assignments.

Ms. Apeksha Bhalla
Advisor: Health
A public health professional with a Bachelors of Science (Honours) in Microbiology from University of Delhi (2009-2012) and a Masters of Science in Microbial Technology (2012-2014).
After completing the education, she worked as a Junior Research Fellow at Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad (2014-2016). With a passion to undertake microbiological research, she performed experiments on the purification of biomolecules from microorganisms using various molecular techniques. However, she wanted the scientific research to have an application onto the society for improving their health outcomes.
To expand her knowledge she went ahead to pursue Masters in Public Health from University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (2016-2017). To apply her microbiological knowledge and utilise my skills, she undertook placement at Sheffield City Council, Sheffield, United Kingdom in the Department of Public Health and assisted the officials in development of a business case for screening of latent tuberculosis in immigrant children in Sheffield.
Further, to enhance her work experience she undertook the position of a Program Manager (Public Health) in Johnson & Johnson , Janssen , Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Division, India. she worked upon improving the diagnostic facilities in space of tuberculosis and helped strengthen the governmental healthcare systems. Through this position, she not only served the company and governmental organisations but also led screening programs for tuberculosis among vulnerable population (weaver settlements) in Varanasi. Currently, she was engaged with LetsStopAIDS, Toronto, Canada, as a Content Strategist, an Organisation aimed at increasing awareness among the youth with respect to HIV/AIDS.