THE NATIONAL COUNCILS are the ACMC arm at the country level. It shall have officers depending on the demographic profile of the Country who shall be elected by the members of the Organization during the Country General Assembly. We encourage that if possible, no two officers in the Legislative Council should come from the same institution. Officers in a National Council will serve according to the decision of formed working group in the country-level.
NATIONAL COUNCIL (INDIA)
Country Director
KIRAN PRASAD, Ph.D.
Sri Padmavati Mahila University
She is currently a Professor in Communication and Journalism at the Sri Padmavati Mahila University, Tirupati, India. She was Commonwealth Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for International Communication Research, Institute of Communication Studies, University of Leeds, UK and Canadian Studies Research Fellow at the School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She is the youngest ever recipient of the ‘State Best Teacher Award’ for university teachers from the Government of Andhra Pradesh, India and recipient of Shiksha Rattan Puraskar and Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award for outstanding academic excellence at the national level in India. She has researched extensively in India, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Middle-East, Canada and the UK on the interrelations between communication and development studies. A prolific writer, she is author/editor of eighteen books and has published over 100 research papers. Her recent books include Philosophies of Communication and Media Ethics: Theory, Concepts and Empirical Issues (2000), Communication, Modernisation and Social Development: Theory, Policy and Strategies (2002, in 2 Vols.); Political Communication: The Indian Experience (2003, in 2 Vols.); Information and Communication Technology: Recasting Development (2004); Women, Globalization and Mass Media: International Facets of Emancipation (2006); Media Law and Ethics: Readings in Communication Regulations (2008, in 2 Vols.); HIV and AIDS: Vulnerability of Women in Asia and Africa (2008); and Communication for Development : Reinventing Theory and Action (2008, in 2 Vols.) and e-Journalism: New Media and News Media (2009). She is series editor of Empowering Women Worldwide, a book series published by the Women Press, New Delhi.
Secretary
WAHEEDA SULTANA, Ph.D.
Mangalore University
She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Mangalore University, Karnataka. She holds Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Journalism from Mysore University. Her areas of specialization include Corporate Communications, Health Communication and New Media Technology. She has authored several research articles on current media related issues in refereed journals and has written chapters in books on media issues. Her areas of interest include Online Journalism, Applications of New Communication Technology, health and media and women and media. She has presented papers at national and international conferences at Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Deputy Director - North
DEV VRAT SINGH, Ph.D.
Maharshi Dayanand University, Haryana
He has been actively engaged in media teaching, training and research for the last 14 years. He earned his doctorate in Mass Communication and studied radio and television journalism at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. He has worked with many news channels then joined as an academic in television journalism. He taught at the MC National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal, Institute of Mass Communication and Media Technology, Kurukshetra University and is presently working as Reader in the Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. He has written two books on electronic media and published more than dozen research papers in journals and more than 100 articles in various newspapers and magazines. He is Member of the Editorial Board of a referred media journal Media Mimansa and Journal of Communication. His field of specialisation is New Media and Electronic Media.
Deputy Director - South
I. ARUL ARAM, Ph.D.
Anna University, Chennai
He is Associate Professor in the Department of Media Sciences, Anna University. He was formerly Chief Sub-Editor with The Hindu newspaper. He has also served as the President of the Madras Press Club. He has been a resource person for UNESCO training programmes on Media. He had presented papers in several national and international conferences, and published 65 of them. He has published four books Television in Education (Orient Longman 1993), Understanding News Media (McGraw-Hill 2006), Understanding Development Communication (Media House 2007), and Media, Technology and Society (UELCI-ISPCK 2008). He is an Associate Editor in The Journal of International Communication published from Sydney. His Ph.D. is in Educational Television. He was a post-doctoral fellow of the London School of Economics. He specializes in the areas of climate change, science communication, and conflict and media. He has done peace-building courses from Transcend Peace University, Romania, and Eastern Mennonite University, USA. He is a Fellow of the International Congress of Environmental Research. He holds additional charge as Director, Educational Multimedia Research Centre, Anna University.
Deputy Director - East
BIPLAB LOHA CHOUDHURY, Ph.D.
Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal
He is Associate Professor in the Centre for Journalism and Mass Communication, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal. He holds a doctorate in communication from Assam University at Silchar. He has also worked as a Stringer with the Telegraph, Correspondent of The Hitavada, Nagpur and journalist with The City Catch, Kolkata. He also served in the West Bengal Civil Service and as Lecturer in Assam University Silchar, Assam. He is recipient of the National Scholar Award and State Rank, West Bengal, 1981. He has executed many research projects and offered consultancy in Communication and Media for several agencies including the Nehru Yuva Kendra, Ministry of Youth, GOI; Federation of Industries in North-east Region; and many media organizations. He has authored two books and edited three books on media organization and management and Development Communication. He has published several research articles in refereed journals and books. He has also produced an educational series for Doordarshan and talk programs for AIR.
Deputy Director - West
R. K. MADHAVI REDDY, Ph.D.
University of Pune, Ganeshkhind
She is Associate Professor and Head of Department of Communication Studies at Pune University, Pune. She has also worked as Lecturer in the Department of Communication Media for Children at SNDT University, Pune , TATA Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. She pursued her doctoral studies on political campaigns and mass media. She has completed a course on Film Appreciation from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. She has carried several projects authored several research articles on current media related issues in refereed journals. Her academic interests include Political Communication, Gender Studies, Development Communication, Information Technology, Children and media effects, Audience reception to media and Social communication.
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