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DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS

SESSION III

2ND OCT 2019

SESSION 3 - Religion and Religious scriptures of the World as ‘True Life-guiding Scriptures.’

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Ms. Jan Saeed

Director (Global Peace and Spirituality)

Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Major Achievements and Awards :

  • Jan Saeed is a founding member and vice chair of Utah for Religious Scholarship. She has served as the Director of Spiritual Life for Westminster College for the past ten years, and she is a member of the Baha’i Faith and board member of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable.

  • Experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Event Planning, Strategic Planning, Editing, and Volunteer Management.

  • Education and planning professional with a Master of Arts (M.A.) focused in Consultation and Conflict Resolution from Land International University, Switzerland.

  • She is on board for Interfaith work at the local, national and international level.

  • She and her husband worked together in Iran to build cross cultural understanding in their marriage and family life.

  • Passionate about international and interfaith service learning and capacity building.

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Dr. Satya Pal Singh

M.P Rajya Sabha, Union Minister

Former High Commissioner of Mumbai

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • India's Minister of State for Human Resource Development responsible for Higher Education and Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.

  • He is a Member of Parliament (MP), since 2014, representing Baghpat constituency, Uttar Pradesh in the 17th Lok Sabha and then retaining his seat in 2019 elections.

  • He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He formerly served as the Police Commissioner of Mumbai. He has also been on deputation to the CBI.

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Mr. Ronald C Gunnel

Entrepreneur

Assistant to the President & Executive Producer Talent Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Founder The BroadStreet Group, LLC. Utah, USA

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • In 2014 Ron founded The BroadStreet Group, LLC. This new venture focuses on three primary areas. First, International Commerce. With partners in the United States, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and India, The BroadStreet group is working to launch a number of technology products gobally. Second, Commercial Real Estate. The Broadstreet group has partnered with one of the most Successful Commercial Real Estate Developers in the United States providing funding and capital for large Commercial projects. Third, Business Consulting. With over 30 years

  • of business experience and nearly 20 years in the Entertainment industry, The Broadstreet group provides consulting services on a retainer basis.

  • He serves on a number of Educational and Arts Boards including Hale Center Theatre, Utah State University Cain College, BYU Marriott School, UVU International Advisory Board, U of U School of Music, Legacy Film Foundation, and National Advisory Board Best of State.

  • He has been heavily involved in Charitable and Volunteer work, including, Rising Star Outreach - India, Mentors International - Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, El Salvador, and Operation Kids.

  • He served a full time mission in the New York, New York Mission, and graduated with a degree in Marketing and Psychology from Brigham

  • Young University in 1978. He is married to Kaye Ashby Gunnell and has three daughters, and two son in laws. Aaron and Kristen Hansen,

  • Brandon and Lauren Gunnell, Natilyn and two grandchildren, Emma and Henry Hanson.

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Dr. Prakriti Poddar

Director

Poddar Group of Companies, Founder of Mind over Image

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • Dr. Prakriti Poddar is a Chief Strategy Officer National Women’s Parliament. Public Speaker. Peak Performance Life Coach, Deep Healing.

  • Prakriti focuses on building peace & harmony and to the arrest the overwhelmingly large unrest of mental and emotional health. Across the age spectrum she empowers people in a systematic way.

  • Chief Strategy Officer with the National Women’s Parliament, Prakriti singlehandedly handles strategic planning, direction and execution of the NWP. This platform aims to bring the collective voice of women over various agendas specifically to move them towards participatory democracy.

  • Since May 2017 she has been the director of the peace program, where she developed and headed the curriculum for MIT World Peace University in Kothrud, Pune.

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Ms. Norma Erekson

Professor (Spanish language)

Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • She has been able to many navigate through the immigration process in the United States. 

  • She has a great passion for humanitarian service and belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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Prof. Dr. Ashok Vohra

Philosopher, Delhi University

Delhi University (Retired),
C - 748, Vikaspuri, New Delhi - 110018

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • Have been appointed as Editor, Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research (JICPR) with effect from April, 2012 for a period of three years.

  • Was nominated by the Government of India as a member of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research – and apex autonomous body established by the Government of India. For the promotion of Philosophy, for a period of three years with effect from 19 September, 2009 to 18 September 2012.

  • Was the guest of honour at the inaugural function held on September 27, 2012 of the National Seminar on “State and Freedom: Ambedkar‟s Perspective”. The three-day seminar was held from September 27 to 29, 2012 at Pondicherry University, Pondicherry. 

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Padma Shri Dr. Mohammed Hanif Khan Shastri

Sanskrit Scholor and Puranas Scholors

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • Mohammed Hanif Khan Shastri is an Indian Sanskrit scholar. He is a winner of National Communal Harmony Award, in the individual category for the year 2009. The Government of India awarded him fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri (Literature & Education) in 2019.

  • He has been a professor at Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan Khan Shastri has an MA in Sanskrit, subsequently, he studied Puranas under Sampoorna Anand in Varanasi, and gained the degree of Acharya and Shastri and also a doctorate in Comparative Religion.

  • His doctoral thesis was Mahamantra Gayatri Aur Surah Fatiah Ka Arth Prayog Evam Mahatmya Ki Drishtri Se Tulnatmak Adhyayan (Comparative analysis of Gayatri Mantra and Surah Fatiah, with reference to meaning and importance)

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Founder, Sidha Yoga Ashram

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • Swami Radhikananda Saraswati is the daughter of the renowned historian Padmabhushan Setu Madhavrao Pagadi. Swamiji was initiated by Swami Mukhtananda, and subsequently by her Guru, Swami Umananda.

  • Swamiji plunged into spiritual ‘sadhana’ and founded the Sidha Yoga Ashram in Pune, India in 1987. Today, the Ashram is an abode where hundreds of seekers on the spiritual path find solace. 

  • Swami Radhikananda’s unique contributions to society were acknowledged in 1997, when the title ‘Dharmalankar’ was conferred upon her. Swamiji is the author of numerous books on Kundalini Yoga, including Dnyaneshwari Once Again – a complete English translation of Dnyaneshwari’s epic.

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Dr. Pradeep Wagh

Director

International Relations ROTORY INTERNATIONAL

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • President RCP Shivajinagar, RID 3131, Secretary General, DEIS.

  • Dr. Pradeep Wagh, Secretary, DEIS - Pune conducted TEACHERS TRAINING AND INTERACTION in association with Rotary Clubs of Nepal and Pune, on 28th June 2019 in Nepal on the topic of ENTERPRISE EDUCATION. About 40 teachers FROM VARIOUS SCHOOLS and Education Institutions in Nepal attended.

  • ENTERPRISE EDUCATION  is a research study of Rtn. Pradeep’s NGO, Development Education (International) Society, DEIS, Pune.

  • Some of the topics of interaction included:

    • Employment Scenario

    • Current HRD System.

    • Brain and its functions in Education

    • Proposed HRD

    • Demo sessions.

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Dame Meher Master-Moos

Founder President - Zoroastrian College.

Major Achievements and Awards :
  • Known for founding The Zoroastrian College (Sanjan), Dr. Prof. Meher Master-Moos is a dynamic personality with multiple feathers in her cap and has done our community and our nation proud, in keeping with her path-breaking achievements.

  • She was the first Parsi woman to graduate in Law at Oxford University.

  • The youngest and first Non-WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) woman to be appointed as Assistant Law Professor at the University of Manitoba, Canada and more

  • Dr. Meher has dedicated thirty-three years of her life to the International Academic circuit, teaching International Law and Jurisprudence.

  • She has been conferred globally prestigious recognitions including a doctorate Honoris Causa in Copenhagen through Medicina Alternativa, as well as the ‘United Nations Sec. Gen. Dag Hammarsckold Award’ (India’s first and only woman recipient)

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