Sharmila Mitra Deb
Sharmila Mitra Deb is an Associate Professor, Department of Political Science Loreto College, Kolkata. She received her M.A., B.Ed. and M.Phil degree from the University of Calcutta. She has 28 years of teaching experience and her area of specialization is Indian politics. Her M.Phil dissertation was on The Origin and Develpoment of the Concept, Hindu Rashtra. She has extensive experience in teaching Indian Politics, Comparative Politics and Western Political Thought. She has co-edited a book titled Indian Democracy: Problems and Prospects (Anthem, South Asia).She has been Head of Department from 2003-2008 and 2013-2018; Bursar of the College from 1998-2013; and currently NAAC coordinator. With her wide experience in teaching and administration she is now taking particular interest in quality enhancement in higher education and encouraging youth centric educational programmes. She recently presented a paper on Ethics in Education through Healthy Practices.
Subir Bhaumik
Subir Bhaumik, former BBC’s bureau chief (East-Northeast India), is now senior editor with Dhaka-based bdnews24.com and consultant editor with Myanmar’s Mizzima News. He has worked for Reuters and Time magazine, Press Trust of India and Ananda Bazar group. He has been a Queen Elizabeth House Fellow at Oxford University (1989-90), a Fellow at East-West Center, Washington (2004) and Eurasian-Nets fellow at Frankfurt University (2009). He is the author of Insurgent Crossfire: Northeast India and Troubled Periphery: Crisis of India’s Northeast and has edited Living on the Edge and Counter-Gaze: Media, Migrants, Minorities. He writes regular columns on regional issues and defence and security for leading Indian dailies like Telegraph, Times of India, the Hindu and Economic Times and does special features for BBC and Al Jazeera Online. He is closely associated with the Track 2 Kolkata-Kunming (K2K) process involving Indian and Chinese Border States and is a member of the Calcutta Research Group.
Sharad K Soni
Sharad K Soni is Professor at the Centre for Inner Asian Studies (CIAS), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is also Deputy Director at the UGC-Human Resource Development Centre (formerly Academic Staff College), Jawaharlal Nehru University. Earlier, he served as Director, Area Studies Programme, CIAS (2015-2017). His specialization includes Inner Asian and Eurasian history, culture and politics with particular focus on Mongolia, Central Asia and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. He has to his credit six books, three monographs and over 90 articles/research papers/chapters published in scholarly journals and edited volumes. His major publications include Mongolia Today: Internal Changes, External Linkages (2016); Mongolia in the 21st Century: Society, Culture and International Relations (2010); Modern Mongolia: A Concise History (2007) [Co-authored]; Mongolia-China Relations: Modern and Contemporary Times (2006); and Mongolia-Russia Relations: Kiakhta to Vladivostok (2002). In recognition of his contribution to Mongolian Studies, Prof Soni has been the recipient of “Rashtriya Gaurav Award” (2017); Order of Nairamdal (Friendship) by the decree of the President of Mongolia (2015); Award of Honour by Centre for Indian Studies in Mongolia; Honoured Medal by Order of the President of Mongolia (2006) and ASIA Fellows Award (2005). His academic assignments abroad include Visiting Professor at Shandong University and Sichuan University, China (2016); Visiting Professor at Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan (2013 & 2014); Visiting Scholar at Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (2011); Visiting Faculty at School of International Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China (2005-06); and Visiting Researcher at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA (2004). He has also been a participant in “Rethinking Asian Studies in a Global Context”, a research network of International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden, Netherlands, sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York. Soni is presently serving as Book Review Editor (South Asia) for Asian Ethnicity Journal (Routledge, UK) and Editorial Board Member, Khabarshy (Herald), a Journal of L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan. He has not only delivered invited lectures at different universities and institutions in China, Central Asia and Mongolia but also presented papers at several seminars/conferences both in India and abroad including Australia, China, Europe, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and USA.
