Leadership

Board of Trustees / Managing Committee

The Managing Committee / Board of Trustees of the Hope Foundation and Research Centre (Hope Foundation) have the ultimate responsibility for directing the activities of the Trust / Society as well as its educational and research institutions, ensuring they are well run and delivering the outcomes for which they have been set up.

Academic & Research Advisory Board

The main objective of the Academic & Research Advisory Board of the Hope Foundation and Research Centre (Hope Foundation) is to provide strategic and external inputs on issues of key importance to its educational and research institutions. This would enable them to grow towards achieving their envisioned short term and long term goals and help contribute effectively to the strategic development of the institutions and propose means to strengthen the academic and research associations among the community.

Some of the broad roles of the Academic & Research Advisory Board of Hope Foundation include:

Recommend strategies that may be employed to achieve the goals of the educational and research institutions and offer guidance on existing and proposed academic programmes and research
Advise on priorities, directions and new avenues for education, research and outreach and propose ways to maintain strong relations with the community and to establish effective institutional associations
Assist the institutional activities obtain financial support for its initiatives and to identify research funding opportunities
Provide a connection to potential internships / training opportunities for students, employment opportunities for graduates and to potential research and service opportunities for the Faculty and recommend ways to improve and develop the training and skill oriented programmes offered by the institutions in order to meet the human capital needs of the country
Help in sustaining and enhancing the reputation of the educational and research institutions of Hope Foundation

Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar

Chairman

Padma Vibhushan Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, National Research Professor, is presently also the President of Global

Dr. B. B. Ahuja

Member

Prof. B. B. Ahuja is the Vice Chancellor of JSPM University, Pune, and former Director of the College of Engineering Pune

Mr. Nanik Rupani

Member

Nanik Rupani is an Indian Entrepreneur and Philanthropist who is the Chairman of Roopmeck Electricals Pvt. Ltd.

Dr. Nitin Karmalkar

Member

Prof. Karmalkar, a former head of Department of Environmental Science and Department of Geology is a well-known

Dr. Ganesh Natarajan

Member

Dr. Ganesh Natarajan is the Executive Chairman and Founder of 5F World, a platform for Digital Start-ups, Skills

Mr. S. G. Raheja

Member

S. Raheja Realty has been an integral part of India’s real estate landscape over the last six decades. With three

Dr. Aditya Abhyankar

Member

Dr. Aditya Abhyankar received his B.E. degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Pune

Dr. Srikanth Thiagarajan

Member

Dr. SrikanthThiagarajan is a Medical devices expert and an academic researcher in applied computation related

Dr. Sujata Naik

Member

Dr. Sujata Naik – Tolani by profession is a medical doctor since 1985, with a Master of Surgery in Otolaryngology.

Mr. Sameer Dua

Member

Founder, Institute for Generative Leadership, India Founder, Gift Your Organ Foundation Bestselling Author:

Mr. Rajiv Vaishnav

Member

Rajiv Vaishnav is the Co-founder and Managing Partner at Cornerstone Ventures, India’s frontier Enterprise SaaS fund.

Mr. Narendra Goidani

Member

Narendra is the Founder of Life School and has been conducting inspirational training programs for people

Mr. Bharat R. Agarwal

Member

Bharat Agarwal is the President of “Vishwakarma University and Vishwakarma Institutes Group”.

Mr. Abhay Nevagi

Member

Mr Abhay Nevagi started his career as Personnel Manager in Menon and Menon Limited,

Mr. Dinanath Kholkar

Member

Dinanath Kholkar is a distinguished Professor of Practice, board member,

Founder President

Remembering Late Shri Pralhad P. Chhabria

12.03.1930 – 05.05.2016

“I have not gone, just moved on. Each morning we are born again to work hard and live another beautiful journey.”

Late Shri Pralhad P Chhabria, Founder President, Hope Foundation and Research Centre (Hope Foundation) and Founder Chairman, Finolex Group of Companies has been an inspiration to many. Despite having received only primary education, with his ingenuity and inventive business strategies, Shri Chhabria established the Finolex Group of Companies in 1958 and over the years built it into a well-known conglomerate. He firmly believed that the future of our country depended on two critical aspects; quality education and women empowerment.

Shri Chhabria been known for his philanthropic activities encompassing education, health care, religious and spiritual teachings. Through the educational divisions FAMT at Ratnagiri and I²IT at Pune, he has established a number of scholarships, assistantships and cash awards for students who have displayed academic excellence but lack the financial opportunity to pursue their dreams.

Shri Chhabria often said, “It is an irony that I never had the benefit of formal education, but can now be instrumental in providing education to hundreds of deserving and underprivileged students. It gives me great satisfaction that my contribution will leave behind something lasting for these youngsters and for the country.

PRALHAD P. CHHABRIA
FOUNDER PRESIDENT – HOPE FOUNDATION
Biography
There’s is No Such Thing as a Self-Made Man – Pralhad P. Chhabria

On 8th March 2008, Finolex Chairman and MD Mr. P.P. Chhabria released his autobiography There’s No Such Thing as a Self-Made Man at the campus of the advanced-technology higher-education institute I²IT at Hinjawadi, Pune.

The book was released by a group of dignitaries including Maharashtra State Finance Minister Mr. Jayant Rao Patil, speaker of the Goa assembly Mr. Pratapsingh Rane, former Industries Minister of Karnataka, Mr. R.V. Deshpande, Mr. S.P. Hinduja, Head of Hinduja Group, Mumbai industrialist Nanik Rupani, child specialist Dr. Anand Pandit, and well-known computer scientist Dr. Vijay Bhatkar.

Speaking on the occasion, K.P. Chhabria, younger brother of Mr. P.P. Chhabria and Managing Director of Finolex Industries gave the touching story of the struggle the family faced when their father died an untimely death and P.P., who was only 12, went to work as a cleaning boy in a cloth shop. The family was later uprooted by Partition and moved from Karachi to Pune where they began trading in electrical accessories.

London-based industrialist and head of the Hinduja empire Mr. S.P. Hinduja who had come specially for the occasion addressed the gathering and said that though he is not a regular reader of books, he was enthralled by Mr. P.P. Chhabria’s story and was able to complete it within a few hours at one sitting.

The function, attended by more than 800 people including Finolex channel partners from all over India, industrialists from other cities and Pune, family members and well-wishes, and students of I²IT, ended with the audience singing the National Anthem, and was followed by lunch. Aruna Katara proposed the vote of thanks.

Telling the story of Mr. P.P Chhabria’s personal struggle as well as of the rise of Finolex to be the number one cable manufacturer in India and second only to Reliance in the manufacture of PVC resin, this book is not just a thrilling rags-to-riches story but also a management text. Mr. P.P. Chhabria himself does not have the benefit of formal education, and in this book he shares his experience and subsequent learning in the area of Sales, Finance, Quality, and people management, and tells what he did to build an enviable, almost formidable, reputation for both Finolex and himself. This year Finolex celebrates its 50 glorious years.

Text for the 350-page memoir was provided by columnist Saaz Aggarwal after extensive discussions and reviews with Mr. P.P. Chhabria and his close associates.

All proceedings from the book There’s No Such Thing as a Self-Made Man will be donated by the family of Mr. P.P. Chhabria to the neonatal wing of KEM Hospital, Pune.

More than 300 copies of the book were sold at the launch itself. The book is available at all leading bookstores or contact : info@hfrcpune.org to purchase a copy of the book.

ACADEMIC & RESEARCH ADVISORY COUNCIL

The Educational and Research Divisions of the Trust / Society i.e. Finolex Academy of Management and Technology (FAMT), Ratnagiri and the International Institute of Information Technology (I²IT), Pune are entering a challenging and exciting phase in the field of higher education and research.

The Academic & Research Advisory Council of the Hope Foundation and Research Centre (Hope Foundation) has been set up of eminent personalities with respected knowledge and rich experience to provide the right impetus to our educational and research divisions to strengthen the academic, research and development in India.

The 1st Meeting of the Academic & Research Advisory Council was held on 12th February, 2018 at the registered office address of the Trust / Society

The 2nd Meeting of the Academic & Research Advisory Council was held on 12th January, 2019 at the registered office address of the Trust / Society

The 3rd Meeting of the Academic & Research Advisory Council was held on 8th February, 2020 at the registered office address of the Trust / Society.

The 4th Meeting of the Academic & Research Advisory Council was held on 6th March, 2021 through Video Conference (Google Meet).

The 5th Meeting of the Academic & Research Advisory Council is scheduled to be held on Saturday i.e. March 26, 2022.

Leadership

Managing Committee

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