Karuna Gopal conferred International award

Karuna Gopal, President Foundation for Futuristic Cities and Board Director , Engineers India Ltd under Petroleum Ministry has been conferred with an International award “Nelson Mandela International Human Rights Award 2026” by National Human Rights and Crime Control Bureau (NHRCCB), in recognition of her remarkable contributions in the field of “Human Rights, Innovation, Research, Technology and Women Leadership” over several years.

The award was presented on 8th February, 2026 in New Delhi. Along with Ms Gopal, Dr Niranjan Kumar, Director Nobel Medical College Biratnagar, Nepal, was also awarded. Some of the prominent people present over the event are Kristina Ananina First Secretary at Russian Embassy in India, Vijender Gupta, Speaker-Delhi Legislative Assembly, Diplomats , Defence officials and Professors etc. Karuna Gopal currently heads the Policy Research division for Women in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

She is the Advisor for the Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Sustainable Cities at IIT Kanpur. She is Distinguished Fellow at India Foundation ( Diplomacy Thinktank ) She serves on the Board of Engineers India limited, under the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. Gopal is a recipient of international and national awards in Technology, Policy & Governance.