Shri Upendra Tripathy (born 5 October 1956) is a retired

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

(IAS) officer of Karnataka Cadre. He is the first

Director General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of the

International Solar Alliance The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 120 signatory countries, most being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The primary objective ...

. Well known for receiving the prestigious

Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

in individual category, Tripathy received several other awards for his innovations and ideas during his career as a civil servant. He was the first and founding Director General of

which the first treaty based

International Organisation ''International Organization'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the entire field of international relations, international affairs. It was established in 1947 and is published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of th ...

head-quartered in India. ISA is an alliance of 121 countries worldwide focusing on solar power utilisation, co-operation, and

sustainable energy Energy system, Energy is sustainability, sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the e ...

. Previously, Mr. Tripathy was the Secretary to

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is a ministry of the Government of India, headed by current cabinet (government), Union Cabinet Minister Pralhad Joshi, that is mainly responsible for research and development, intellectual prope ...

from 1 April 2014 until 31 October 2016. Mr. Tripathy has been appointed as Advisor cum working president and chairman of executive committee of

Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya () is a chain of schools which are being set up, one at each of 314 block headquarters of Odisha State, India. History Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya Sangathan () was established on 19-September-2015 as a society under The ...

on 3 August 2021 after the death of previous Advisor cum chairman Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sahoo in June 2021 due to covid

Background

Tripathy (born 5 October 1956) was the first and founding Director General of International Solar Alliance (ISA). He is from

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, India. In ex-officio capacity, he has headed as chairperson,

Solar Energy Corporation of India Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI) is a public sector company of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, established to facilitate the implementation of the National Solar Mission (NSM). The company's mandate ...

(SECI), National Institute of Solar Energy and National Institute of Wind Energy, National Institute of Bio Energy, and Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (AREAS). Initially, he was selected to be the Interim Director General of the newly formed International Solar Alliance, and later he became the first and founding Director General of ISA. Mr. Tripathy is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Cadre, known for his innovations, ideas and hard work. He has worked with local, provincial and union government in India over the last 40 years and was the 18th secretary of the

, established in 1982, one of the oldest Ministries in the world in the area of new and renewable energy. He replaced

Satish Agnihotri Satish K. Agnihotri (born 1 July 1956) is the former Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court. Earlier he has served as a judge of the Madras High Court at Chennai, Tamil Nadu and previously as the judge of Chhattisgarh High Court at Bilaspur Chhattis ...

as Secretary on 1 April 2014. Mr. Tripathy was born and spent his early life in Kahakapur, a remote coastal hamlet in the tail ends of

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

hills, near

Rambha, Odisha Rambha is a town and a notified area council in Ganjam district in the Indian state of Odisha. Geography Rambha is located at . It has an average elevation of 87 metres (285 feet). Demographics India census A census (from Latin ...

, close to Asia's largest lagoon,

Chilika Chilika Lake is the largest brackish water lagoon with estuarine character that sprawls along the east coast of Indian sub-continent in Asia and second largest coastal lagoon in the world, covering an area of over . It is spread over the Puri, ...

. Tripathy studied in

Ravenshaw College Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw College, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The u ...

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

and Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He has published one volume of poetry from Writer's Workshop titled ''Caged''. Best known for his turning around of the city transportation in Bangalore, he received the Extraordinary Citizen award in 2008 from

Rotarians Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and pe ...

in Bangalore, usually reserved for Chief Ministers and doyens of the industry.

Education

Tripathy has done his master's in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and master's in

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He has undergone various training programme in areas of programme implementation, financial management,

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

, quantitative methods and operational research for

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

and management and e-governance. He has also undergone a six weeks SIDA training programme in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in areas of

environmental management Environmental resource management or environmental management is the management of the interaction and impact of human societies on the environment. It is not, as the phrase might suggest, the management of the environment itself. Environment ...

Career

His institution building abilities and innovations got reflected in building of Hassan Kalamandir (1989), Center for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) in

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

(2009), Environmental Management Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) (2003), Akshar Foundation (2001), turnaround of

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, formerly Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian city of Bangalore. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. ...

( BMTC) (2003–2008) and institution of

Nrupatunga Award The Nrupatunga Award is an award for excellence in Kannada literature in the Indian state of Karnataka. The award was instituted by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat and is sponsored by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). Inst ...

in Karnataka (2008). For these achievements, and for all his work in transforming a city Transport undertaking in Bangalore into a profit making one, the Prime Minister of India bestowed the PM's Award for Excellence in Public Administration on Tripathy in 2009. Before joining ISA, Tripathy was Secretary to the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. Previous to that, he was Adviser (Agriculture and Marine Products) in the Indian Embassy in Brussels. He held the post of

Additional Secretary Additional Secretary (often abbreviated as AS, GoI or Union Additional Secretary or Additional Secretary to Government of India) is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The authority for creation of thi ...

, Cabinet Secretariat; Joint Secretary, Minority Affairs and Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in the

Central Government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

; as well as Chairperson of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. He has worked in several sectors such as — revenue administration,

rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...

, petroleum conservation, agriculture and horticulture,

agricultural marketing Agricultural marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. These services involve the planning, organizing, directing and handling of agricultural produce in such a way as to satisfy farm ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

ation, and

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

Work Area and Innovation

Awards

Other awards that recognise his abilities are – Extra-Ordinary Citizens’ Award from

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

(2008), Central Board of Irrigation and Power Award for outstanding contribution to India's Renewable Energy Sector (2016), 10th Enertia Life Time Achievement Award (2016) and UBM (2016) as Crusader of the year for Renewable Energy.

References