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Kiran Karnik is a prominent Indian administrator chiefly known for his work in the broadcasting and outsourcing industries. Presently he is also serving as a Director in Central board of directors of
Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...
. He is also the chairman, board of directors, of the
Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (''Iṃdraprastha Sūcanā Praudyōgikī Saṃsthān Dillī'', IIIT-Delhi or IIIT-D) is an autonomous State University located in Delhi, India. It is a research-oriented institute with a f ...
, Delhi (IIIT-D).


Early life and education

Kiran Karnik was born in 1947 in the Indian state of Maharashtra to
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is a caste group mainly found in Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris and according to the historian, ...
parents. He completed his BSc(Hons) in Physics from Bombay University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from the Indian Institute of Management,(Ahmedabad).


Career

Karnik's stints in broadcasting and outsourcing were at crucial points in the history of these two industries in India.


Broadcasting

Karnik joined the
Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...
shortly after it was set up in 1969 and spent nearly 20 years in the organisation. He was part of the team that conceptualised the
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment Satellite Instructional Television Experiment or SITE was an experimental satellite communications project launched in India in 1975, designed jointly by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The project made available informatio ...
which won wide national and international acclaim, including the first UNESCO-IPDC Prize for rural Communication. Mr. Karnik was Director of the ISRO's Development and Educational Communicational Unit from 1983 to 1991. Mr. Karnik left the ISRO and joined the Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC) as its first Director in 1991. CEC was set up by the University Grants Commission to co-ordinate and oversee the functioning of media centres in the universities. In 1995, Mr. Karnik joined Discovery Networks as its managing director in India and oversaw the launch of Discovery Channel in South Asia in August 1995 followed by Animal Planet in 1999. He left the company in 2001.


Outsourcing

Karnik took up the position of President of
NASSCOM The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) is an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group, focused mainly on the technology industry of India. Established in 1988, NASSCOM is a non-profit organis ...
in September 2001, after the sudden demise of its founder
Dewang Mehta Dewang Mehta (10 August 1962 – 12 April 2001) was the president of NASSCOM between 1991 and 2001. In addition to his role at NASSCOM, he was appointed in 1998 to an IT and Software Development task force, and was also involved in various advisory ...
. He made the organisation into the preeminent association for the outsourcing industry and a prominent lobbying group for the concerns of the industry abroad. He left the organisation in 2008. Subsequently, he was nominated by the government as Chairman of
Satyam Computer Services Mahindra Satyam (formerly Satyam Computer Services Limited) was an Indian information technology (IT) services company based in Hyderabad, India, offering software development, system maintenance, packaged software integration and engineering ...
heading a three-member board after the Government of India disbanded the Satyam board owing to severe irregularities and fraud in accounting.


Other assignments

Karnik has been a member of many government committees, including the
Prasar Bharati Prasar Bharati (abbreviated as PB; Hindi: ''Praśar Bharati'', lit. Indian Broadcaster) is India's State media, state-owned public broadcaster, headquartered in New Delhi. It is a Statutory corporation, statutory autonomous body set up by an A ...
Review Committee, and is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and the National Innovation Council. He is currently the Chairman of the National Committee on Telecom & Broadband at the Confederation of Indian Industry. He is currently the Chairman of the 'Board of Governors' and member of the 'General Council' of the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. He is also the Chairman of the Governing Body of HelpAge India, the leading non-profit organisation working for the Elderly across India.


Awards and honours

* Awarded the
Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India in
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
. * Selected as 'Face of the Year' by ''Forbes'' magazine in 2003. *Awarded the
Franck J. Malina Astronautics Medal The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay t ...
for Space Education by the
International Astronautical Federation The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay t ...
in 1998.


Books and publications

Karnik has authored/edited a large number of publications, and lectures occasionally at major national institutes. He is the author of ''The Coalition of Competitors: The Story of Nasscom and the IT Industry'' arperCollins, 2012 He is a regular columnist with national newspapers, including the Economic Times.


References


External links


Personal Blog Kiran Karnik, ''The Coalition of Competitors'', Harper Collins, 2012 Kiran Karnik, ed., ''Alternative space futures and the human condition'': UNISPACE 82 International Round Table, Pergamon Press, 1982Kiran Kanik, Romesh Chander, eds., ''Planning for Satellite Broadcasting: The Indian Instructional TV experiment'', UNESCO, 1976
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karnik, Kiran Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad alumni Living people Indian bankers 1947 births Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering