Ek Titli invites two time Ashden Award winner, Dr. Priyadarshini Karve, to speak on her journey

Ek Titli and The Urban Ashram bring to you a unique initiative where we present incredible people who have done wonders to create a sustainable planet.

For our inaugural talk, Dr. Priyadarshini Karve (Ph.D., Physics), Project Co-ordinator at ARTI & Director of Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt Ltd. will speak about her journey and her work that has not only pioneered technologies to convert waste to energy, curb indoor pollution but also empowered rural development.

Dr. Priyadarshini Karve completed Ph.D. in Physics from University of Pune, in 1998. Her first research project with Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI) resulted in development of an oven-and-retort type charring kiln for converting agricultural waste into charcoal. The technology won ARTI the Ashden Award for Renewable Energy in 2002. While working with ARTI, Dr. Karve invented a number of improved biomass burning cooking devices, to reduce smoke in the kitchen and dependence on firewood. ARTI successfully demonstrated that improved biomass fuels and biomass fuelled cooking devices can be commercially sold in open market in India, though a pilot project under Dr. Karve’s leadership. The success of this project led to the establishment of Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt. Ltd, which has been selling a wide range of biomass energy, renewable energy, and energy efficient household energy devices since 2005.

Dr. Karve, who is the Director and CEO of Samuchit, has also invented an easy-to-use Samuchit Carbon Footprint Calculator. Dr. Karve is actively involved in international organisations working in the field of renewable energy, equitable sustainable development, pro-poor carbon finance, etc. She is also teaching courses on Sustainable Development, Climate Change, etc., at Symbiosis International University.

She has been honoured by several national and international awards, including World Technology Award 2005 (by World Technology Network, New York), Lux Sahyadri Hirkani Award 2011 (by Mumbai Doordarshan, India), etc.

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What is SpiriTed?

Anu Aga:
A renowned philanthropist, businesswoman and social worker, Anu loves to share experiences from her life journey related to service, death and Vipassana. She has been an active practitioner of meditation since 20 years and serves on the boards of non profits such as Akanksha and Teach for India.

Anu has led Thermax Ltd. a 600 million dollar energy and environment engineering major as its chairperson until 2004. She had figured among the 8 wealthiest Indian women in Forbes magazine. In 2010, she was awarded the Padma Shri for Social Work by the Indian government. She is a sought after speaker at many national as well as international forums and it is our privilege to have her share her journey with us.

Shaheen Mistry:
Shaheen Mistri is the founder of the Akanksha Foundation and Teach for India, non-profit organizations with a mission to impact the lives of less privileged children, enabling them to maximise their potential and change their lives. Akanksha works primarily in the field of education, addressing non formal education through the Akanksha centre model and also formal education by initiating school reforms. Over the past 19 years, the organization has expanded from 15 children in one centre to over 3,500 children across Mumbai and Pune.

Shaheen is an Ashoka Fellow (2001), a Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum (2002), an Asia Society 21 Leader (2006) and serves on the boards of Ummeed, The Thermax Social Initiatives Foundation and is an advisor to the Latika Roy Foundation.

Jayesh Patel:
Jayesh Patel is the co-founder and director of Manav Sadhna, an NGO based in the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, India. Formed in 1990 with the mission to serve the underprivileged, Manav Sadhna now provides health and hygiene, education, and employment services to over 4,500 women and children through over 38 projects.

Gautam Sachdeva:
With a background in advertising, Gautam Sachdeva sought to self-publish his mother`s books on her spiritual journey, and founded Yogi Impressions in the year 2000. Little did he know that Yogi Impressions would be publishing works by other spiritual masters in the years ahead. He has spent eight years in close association with Ramesh Balsekar, which included working together closely in the publishing of quite a few books of one of the world’s leading Advaita sages. Gautam writes articles regularly for Life Positive, India`s leading spiritual magazine. He lives in South Mumbai.

To read more on the various speakers who have spoken at SpiriTed, click here