K V Rao - President

​K V Rao has a Masters in International Business from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, India. He has worked in diversified industries and enterprises, in leadership positions, including a stint with the Singapore Civil Service as a Director with International Enterprise Singapore. He is specialized in International Business, and has an experience that covers 40 countries in the developed and emerging markets, with a focus on Asia. A very senior corporate leader, he is currently the Resident Director – ASEAN, for Tata Sons Limited, promoter of the Tata Group. He has served the SIFAS Committee in several capacities for over 18 years. He has a deep interest in classical music / arts and has also been trained in classical Tabla for a decade in his younger days. He is Vice President of SINDA, member of Board of Advisors of SICCI, Chairman / Board member of Tata Group regional subsidiaries. He is an able leader, and a much sought-after speaker and a blogger.

P S Somasekharan - Honorary General Secretary

P S Somasekharan is a chartered accountant and certified public accountant with his own practice since December, 1981. He has served SIFAS in various capacities for over 25 years and has been instrumental in several initiatives of SIFAS, including associations with various August institutions including The Music Academy, Chennai. He has also helped bring in several individual and corporate sponsors. One of the founding members of the very successful SIFAS Festival of classical music and dance, his contribution to SIFAS has been invaluable. Ever humble and accommodating, he is an asset to any team and instrumental in inducting several new members into SIFAS committees. He has also taken a lead in several other community events. He is currently the Vice Chairman of Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple.

Sanjay Thapar - Treasurer

​Sanjay Thapar is a result-oriented senior business development professional with 30 plus years’ experience in the payments, consumer and industrial products categories. He was educated in India with an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University and a Degree in Chemical Engineering from IIT Delhi. Sanjay has been in global / regional/ country roles, with interactions with clients across a wide spectrum of industry categories. Having worked in Singapore, Hong Kong and India, he has successfully led complex negotiations with market leaders across different industry sectors/ organizations in Asia Pacific, Europe and America. Currently Sanjay is advising leading companies on strategies to increase sales, source new clients, develop business adjacencies, increase turnover, improve profitability, streamline operations, establish new businesses, and develop new markets, products and target customer groups. He has been associated with voluntary work with concerns in Indonesia and Cambodia focusing on child education and housing for lower income rural groups and is a volunteer for SINDA outreach and support programs. He is a keen golfer, and has interest in reading and music. 

Bhushan Rao - Vice-President

Bhushan is the Founding Managing Director of Aries Fertilizers Group Pte Ltd. Under his management, Aries partnered with state-owned Chinese company – Guizhou Kailin Fertilizers, China (4th largest phosphate producer in the world). Decades of experience in the commodity industry specializing in Fertilizer industry. He is the Founding Director of Seabridge TFX Pte Ltd. Founder and Vice Chairman of Aries Fertilizers Group Pte Ltd. Prior to fertilizer commodities, Bhushan has also headed Business Unit Counter trade in CIS / Russia for 4 years. He has held senior positions in many multinational companies in India (including Nelco – Tata Group of Companies) in the electronic business and also handled counter trade division in Myanmar & managed the electronic component distribution business. He has handled structured trade finance transactions to optimize interest and currency arbitrage and was Involved in promoting Tech Start Ups and currently involved in few tech companies, (Education, Financial Literacy, Business Intelligence and Analytics). He also initiated and managed 3 fertilizer companies and qualifying all of them for Global Trading Programme (GTP) status under Enterprise Singapore during his tenure.

Hariharan Subramanian - Vice-President

Hari Subramanian is an MBA and a senior banking professional with a collective experience of 30+ years across three leading International Banks in India, Middle East and Singapore. A leader with a flair to infuse excellence into work, has held Country, Regional and Global roles heading multi-national and large teams. He has been Regional Chief Operating Officer (South Asia) and Managing Director of Global Business Services center in Standard Chartered bank, Regional Chief Financial Officer (GTO)-APAC and Country Chief Financial officer in Deutsche Bank. Hari has led large transformations and have been a member of senior management committees, leadership forums, boards of subsidiaries and Industry round tables. After a long stint in banking, Hari decided to focus on social entrepreneurship with a particular interest in Education. In line with that aspiration, he has deepened his interest in social and community activities and have been an active member of neighborhood committees. Born in a traditional family from South of India, he was fortunate to have been soaked in Indian culture right from a young age. His wife (also a classical violinist) hails from a family of celebrated musicians. He joined SIFAS as a member in 2003/04 and became a Life member in 2017. Both his children and himself were students of SIFAS. He has sustained his deep interest in arts & culture in various forms including collecting Indian art and antiques. He has special interest in design, architecture and green space and an ardent student of philosophy.

Amit Ranjit ​Sinha - Chairman (Investments)

Amit is Managing Director & Global Head of the Telecom, Media & Technology- Corporate & Investment Banking business for the DBS Group. Amit is also responsible for DBS Bank’s offshore India business and its Platform Coverage Business. He has been with DBS for about twenty years with seventeen years in Singapore and three years in Dubai. He is responsible for TMT client origination and execution activities across various products including structured finance, debt capital markets, equity capital markets and M &A advisory and transaction banking. Amit has led originated and execution of many multibillion transactions across Syndicated Bank Market, Debt Capital markets Equity Capital Markets. He has advised many clients in the TM Sector in M &A Buy and Sell Side. He is an Executive Member and Vice Chairman of South Asia Business Group under the Singapore Business Federation. He was also conferred “IBG Fellow” in the Segment of Corporate Banking (Relationship Management – Wholesale Banking) in 2014 by The Institute of Banking & Finance, Singapore. He is also Charter member of TiE Singapore Chapter. He sits on the Advisory Board of Billion bricks, a non-profit organisation based in Singapore.

Daisy Irani - Chairman (Community Engagement)

Daisy is a professional media person with 25 years of experience across television, theatre and film in Singapore and India. She has cross-functional expertise in programming, production, new business development and long term strategic planning and is a producer, director and actor. Her theatre work in Singapore with prominent companies like The Necessary Stage and TheatreWorks has been complemented by the work she does for her own company “HuM Theatre”. She has also held an executive role at MediaCorp and produced several popular serials like “Living with Lydia “, “Incredible Tales” and “Body and Soul “. Her other accomplishments at MediaCorp include the launching of the Okto channel and the re-defining of Vasantham. Daisy enjoys being engaged with her neighbourhood through her association with the local grass roots community club (Lorong Melayu NC) and she is active in the charity initiatives driven by the Rotary Club. Daisy is also a trained classical Bharatanatyam dancer.

Gautam Narasimhan - Chairman (Legal & Constitutional)

Gautam Narasimhan is a Partner in the law firm of Allen & Overy LLP, an international law firm with offices in more than 29 countries. Gautam has been in Singapore for the last 14 years and worked previously in New York and in London prior to moving to Singapore. He completed his BA LLB (Hons) from the National Law School in India and an LLM from the NYU School of Law, New York, USA. He is qualified to practice law in Singapore, India, England & Wales and New York. He is rated as a recognised practitioner in the areas of Banking and Finance law in Singapore and in Indonesia and India by the publications Chambers & Partners and also Legal 500. He was a student of SIFAS (tabla - basic) and maintains a keen interest in both Hindustani classical and Carnatic music.

Mohamed Irshad - Chairman (Public Affairs)

Mohamed Irshad is the founder and president of Roses of Peace (ROP) - a youth driven non-profit organisation that seeks to strengthen religious harmony in Singapore. Through its activities, ROP has effectively reached out to over 40,000 people and engaged over 2,000 youths since its inception in 2012. In 2018, Mohamed Irshad was appointed by the President of Singapore as one of the youngest Nominated Member of Parliament. Mohamed Irshad advises and serves as an ambassador for several organisations including REACH Singapore, OnePeople.sg, Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM), National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) and Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). In recognition of his exemplary contributions to the community, in 2018, he was awarded the President's Volunteerism & Philanthropy Award and the MUIS50 Youth Inspiring Award.

Kirtida Mekani ​- Chairman (Building & Facilities Management)

Kirtida Mekani is a multi-faceted individual who dedicates her efforts to the four key pillars in her life – the environment, education, arts and business. Professionally, Kirtida has proven expertise in fundraising, institutional advancement, capacity building and promoting environmental causes. In the education space, she is an Independent Director on the Board of the UWCSEA Foundation, a Board Member at LASALLE College of the Arts, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Schools Foundation. She has also served a Director in the Office of Institutional Advancement at SMU. On the environmental front, Kirtida is a Trustee and Board Member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International and sits on the Board of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Singapore. She also serves in an advisory capacity in environmental initiatives such as the Rainforest Restoration project, National Park’s Garden City Fund Management Committee, and others. Most notably, she was instrumental in setting up and running the Singapore Environment Council as its Executive Director. Her contributions are recognised in Singapore and abroad. In 2015, Kirtida was bestowed the prestigious President’s Award for the Environment. She was also nominated for the Singapore Women Award in 2014, and recognised as a 2012 Community in Bloom (CIB) ambassador. Outside of work, Kirtida is an accomplished artist and ceramist, an avid reader and a dedicated yoga practitioner. She has a deep appreciation for Indian classical music.

Dr Narayanan Balasubramanian - Chairman (Academy Development)

Balasubramanian, has been associated with SIFAS since 2003, firstly as a Mridangam student and later as a SIFAS Academic committee member and then served in the MC as Treasurer, Assistant Secretary and VP-Performing Arts. He has been involved in various events of SIFAS and also participated as an accompanying artist. He is a Research and Development professional with over 28 years of experience and currently works for Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology and has earlier worked in A*STAR research Institutes.

Puneet Pushkarna - Chairman (Performances & External Relations)

Puneet Pushkarna is currently General Partner of Solmark, a Private Equity fund formed by a group of tech entrepreneurs who have launched and built several companies and bring expertise in all aspects of growing a company in a competitive global marketplace. He also sits on the Boards of several companies. Puneet is the Chairman Emeritus of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Singapore chapter and is also a member of the Global Board of Trustees for TiE Global. TiE is one of the world’s largest non-profit organization fostering entrepreneurship. A very well networked individual with connections across industries, he is also involved with a number of philanthropic initiatives like IFA (Indian Foundation for the Arts), South Asian Heart Center, etc. He was involved with, and is a Life Member of, Basant Bahar, a Bay Area based non-profit organization for the promotion and preservation of Indian Classical Music and Dance.

Ranjani Rangan - Chairman (Community Engagement)

Ranjani is a MBA with over 17 years of International account management experience in the areas of Banking and Consulting. She is an expert closely committed to a solution based approach and has a reputation for Integrity, Satisfaction and Results. Ranjani is a Director and Chief Operations Officer of CPA-Partnership and leads the Partnership and Business Development efforts across the various verticals the firm operates in. From 2001 through 2008, Ranjani held key Relationship Management positions in the United States in both Retail and Corporate Banking In these capacities, she was tasked with generating business while adhering to strict compliance centric culture. During her tenure, she was consistently recognized as a top performer and was invited regularly for the VIP circle award ceremonies within the banks. Ranjani’s family has been involved in the Arts scene in Singapore for several years and she is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer.

Soundarya Sukumar - Chairman (Archival Project)

Trained as a broadcast journalist, Soundarya has over 40 years of experience as a media practitioner and has worked both in the broadcasting industry and with the Ministry of Communication and Information in Singapore. She is also the recipient of the Victor Paranjothi Silver Medal adjudged on All-India basis for Journalism in India and the National Day Honours Commendation Medal conferred by the President of Singapore. Apart from media, Soundarya has served the arts industry in Singapore in various capacities and done several programmes as fund-raiser for charity and educational purposes. She was member of the Board of Governors, SIFAS since 1984 and subsequently served in the Management Committee for several years. She has served NAC in various capacities. She also supports the arts industry in India and Singapore as a donor to help emerging artistes.

Venkat Padmanabhan - Chairman (External Relations & Membership)

Venkat has more than 27 years of extensive experience in Leadership areas, in multiple Regions & Business Verticals, Leadership and development of multi-cultural teams, Strategic business partnership. Venkat is a Fellow member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Associate member of The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India, Master of Commerce from Kerala University, India, Competent Toast Master & a certified NLP Coach. He is also a regular speaker & contributor in professional / industry forums. He has also served in various committees and grassroots level organisations.

Letchumanan ​Narayanan - Committee Member

COL Narayanan Letchumanan has served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) since 2000 and is currently seconded to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY). Graduated from the Carnegie Mellon University, USA in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and in Economics. Letchumanan also undertook milestone military courses, including a Command and Staff College course overseas. Letchumanan has helped operationalise new structures and deliver new technologies for the SAF. He served command tours in various C4I units, and served in the SAF’s Joint Staff in areas such as strategic planning, regional research, and capability development. Currently seconded to MCCY as Director (Resilience and Engagement), Letchumanan leads an office that coordinates and drives efforts for stronger citizen engagement across the Government and people sectors, as well as look at strategies and programmes to foster stronger identity, social cohesion and care, particularly through active citizenry and partnerships.

M S Meenakshi ​Sundaram - Committee Member

Sundaram is a seasoned professional in Financial services with over 23 years of experience in business strategy and execution, finance planning & controllership. He has extensive exposure to product management, operational risk & performance analysis. Whilst his career has taken him to diverse roles with Ernst & Young, Wipro and Citibank, he has been handling increasingly progressive roles with Citi in the last two decades . His core areas of expertise lies in partnering with Business to drive financial results via digitization, re-shaping balance sheet in partnership with all stakeholders in Credit Risk, Product and Treasury. A Chartered Accountant by qualification, he is also a member of Cost & Management Accountants, India and has further enriched his leadership capabilities via an executive program with IIM-A. He is an avid follower of classical music, a passionate promoter of art in social circles and in corporate forums, a life member of The Music Academy Madras and is always looking forward to opportunities to collaborate with institutions and make a meaningful impact in this area.

Renuka Vaidyanathan - Chairman (K.A.L.A Publications)

Renuka Vaidyanathan, an Engineer and MBA by qualification, is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore. She has many years of experience in the Corporate world in the Finance and Corporate planning functions. She blends her love for numbers with an abiding love for the Fine Arts. She is core member of the Pan-IIM community in Singapore and anchors several events for them in Singapore and Bangalore. She has been an active volunteer in the SIFAS family since 2003 as a member of the festival committee and has helped put together several festivals. She’s also a word smith who has put together several magazines for SIFAS, in addition to penning other articles of general interest. A permanent resident of Singapore since 2002, she has also promoted a company ‘BeingSattvaa’ that works with companies on programs that focus on mindful and resilient leadership. She also owns and operates a wellness resort in Bali, Indonesia.

Uma Natarajan - Committee Member

Uma Natarajan holds a doctorate in Education and has lived and worked in India, the United States and Australia. She has several years of experience in education research and teaching in the United States and Singapore. Uma’s passion has been to contribute and serve for the causes of Education, the Arts and the people in her community. She was a former Carnatic music student of SIFAS. Uma manages operations for a research centre at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She has worked for several nonprofits and consulted for education in developing countries in partnership with the Asian Development Bank, UNESCO, and Microsoft. She serves on the Board of a global Education charity, is a grassroots volunteer in her community, and serves on the Hindu Centre’s Management Committee. Uma lives in Singapore with her spouse who is an entrepreneur and a daughter. ​

Santhosh Kamat - Committee Member

Santhosh Kamat is a Chartered Accountant by qualification, with over 30 years of
experience in the field of accounting, taxation and related financial management. Currently working as the Senior Director and Asia Pac Head of Taxation at Cognizant Technologies, Singapore, he is also an alumnus of Accenture (Singapore), PricewaterhouseCoopers (India, Singapore) and Arthur Andersen (India). Santosh is very passionate about music, as an artiste who plays the bansuri and tabla, and has performed at various events in Singapore including the SIFAS Festival of Arts 2019. He has received training from accomplished gurus such as Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pandit Himanshu Nanda (Bansuri), and Pandit (Late) Arvind Mulgaonkar, Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakwa and (Late) Ustad Alla Rakha (Tabla). Santhosh resides in Singapore together with his family.

Abhijit Ghosh - Chairman (Internal Audit & Governance)

Abhijit is the Tax Market Leader and International Tax Partner in Corporate Tax Advisory Services Group of PwC Singapore. Abhijit has more than 30 years of experience in advising, setting up and managing various cross-border complex business structures and operational models for MNCs and SMEs as they expand globally. In conjunction with various Singapore government agencies, Abhijit is also involved in promoting Singapore and Asia for global corporations which are planning to expand their business footprint in Asia Pac market. He is actively involved in lobbying and advising/sharing views on various fiscal policies with concerned authorities. Abhijit is a regular speaker on business and tax issues at media and other public forum and contributes articles for various journals and newspapers from time to time. Currently he is a Board member of World Wildlife Fund, Singapore and Council
member of the Board member of Board for the Teaching and Testing of South Asian Languages (operating under aegis of Ministry of Education).

Sabanitha ​Shanmugasundram - Chairman (Marketing & Communications)

Sabanitha Shanmugasundram is a media and arts practitioner. She is the Head of Indian Audience at Mediacorp, Singapore’s National Media Network. Over her last 25 years of career history, she has worked with various broadcast networks in the global space spanning from the Europe to India, across to Sri Lanka, Asia and Singapore. Her media journey has seen her climb the ranks from a journalist on the ground, to content creation, leading and managing the operations of a 24 hour satellite channel to providing consultancy in launch and rebranding of networks. Sabanitha was also a Trainer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore as part of the ASEAN Integration program, conducting training in talent development and skill sets enhancement to senior government and ministry officials in ASEAN. She has previously served, and continues to serve on several Advisory Committees, including the National Integration Council (MCCY), Singapore Film Commission, SINDA's Executive Advisory Board and the Infocomm Media Development Authority's Indian Program Advisory Committee (MCI).