Eminent Leaders From Across The World discuss the

paradigms of Leadership On Day 1 of the first ever

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FORUM

A two day mega event being held in New Delhi on 12th and

13th March, 2016

New Delhi, 12 March, 2016: The two day mega ‘Global Leadership Forum’ kicked off its Day 1 with power packed sessions which saw senior global leaders discussing paradigms of leadership, along with the role of leaders in the current geopolitical and economic landscape. This forum seeks to bring together communities and countries for a sustainable world of the future.

Held at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel in New Delhi under the aegis of the World Culture Festival, a celebration of The Art of Living’s 35 years of service to humanity, the first day of the forum saw prominent leaders such as Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar- Spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living, India, Hon. Mr. Nitin Gadkari,- Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, India, H.E. Mr. Kamal Thapa, Deputy Prime Minister, Nepal, Ms. Sherry Rehman, Member of Senate and Vice President of People’s Party, Pakistan, H.E. Mr. Dominique de Villepin, Former Prime Minister, France, Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya- Chairperson, State Bank of India, India, Mr. Michael S. Perlis- President and CEO of Forbes Media LLC, United States of America, Mr. Kishore Biyani- Chairman, Group CEO, Future Group, India, Mr. Anurag Batra- Chairman GBN Media, BW, Business World, Exchange4media Group, India, Hon. Mr. Matthew Offord- Member of Parliament, United Kingdom, Mr. Shashikant Sharma- Comptroller and Auditor General, India, Mr. Samarth Bedi- Executive Director, Forest Essentials, to name a few.

Inaugurating the august forum, Gurudev said “A leader always walks the last, and makes everyone move ahead. A leader is not meant to create followers, but rather create leaders. This is the concept of Bodhi Sattva – which originated in India and Nepal. A leader will always seek challenges. Youthfulness to me means challenges. A young leader will be ready to take any challenge which the world gives you. It keep you on your toes, this is what awakens your youthful energy. It inspires you to come up with more enthusiasm and energy beyond your normal capacity. So you all come together and think on global leadership. Thinking, discussing, arguing and disagreeing will all lead to something very good –if done with the right intention and purpose for the right cause”.

Hon. Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, India during his session said, “It is the responsibility of our government to make social-economic reforms which will lead to sustainable growth. Our country is facing problems in the field of infrastructure, with about 5 lakh accidents and 50,000 deaths on Indian roads. Now we are focusing on infrastructure and will be able to save lives and reduce accidents by 50% in the next two years. Our ministry has identified 726 black spots throughout the country and have invested 11,000 crore to reduce accidents. We also want to shift towards eco-friendly fuels including Bio energy, Bio-CNG, Ethanol. In Nagpur, we have initiated a project of recycling water and also using the methane being produced. We plan to run 100 buses on Bio-CNG, of which 50 buses will run on ethanol to reduce pollution. We are planning to build an Express highway in East Delhi area here and we intend to utilise municipal waste as material for road construction. We also want to use 8% plastic in tar to build roads.’

Day 2 of the mega forum will include prominent speakers including Hon. Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, India, Hon. Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, New and Renewable Energy, India, Hon. General Vijay Kumar Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, Minister of State for Statistics and Program Implementation, India, Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman of Niti Aaayog , India, Dr. Kiran Bedi, Receipt on Ramon Magsaysay Award, IPS Officer 1972-2007, Hon. Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament, India among others. (Kindly refer to the attached agenda for details).

Founded by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Art of Living is celebrating completion of 35 successful years of service to humanity in the form of World Cultural Festival. Going with the motto of a world as ‘Vasudhaiva Kuttumbakam’ which means ‘one family’ and making Life a Celebration, the forum seeks to bring accomplished leaders from the world to discuss not only the challenges they faced but also share their journeys and successes. The opportunities to reflect on learning from them will help bring about a peaceful world of tomorrow.

The forum saw deep discussions including the role of governments in managing natural and human resources and also relations with countries and organizations world-wide; the role of digital and economic progression in creating the reality of ‘Boundaryless nations’; examining the need to pursue a farsighted approach to tracking business trends amongst others.

About Art of Living

Founded in 1981 by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, The Art of Living is an educational and humanitarian movement engaged in stress-management and service initiatives. The organization operates globally in 155 countries and has touched the lives of over 370 million people. The programs are guided by Gurudev’s philosophy of peace: “Unless we have a stress-free mind and a violence-free society, we cannot achieve world peace.” To help individuals get rid of stress and experience inner peace, The Art of Living offers stress-elimination programs which include breathing techniques, meditation and yoga. These programs have helped millions around the world to overcome stress, depression and violent tendencies. The movement has spread peace across communities through diverse humanitarian projects, including conflict resolution, disaster relief, sustainable rural development, empowerment of women, prisoner rehabilitation, education for all, and environmental sustainability.

About World Forum for Ethics in Business

The World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB) is a registered public interest foundation based in Belgium. The mandate of the Forum includes all manners of pursuing and establishing the indispensable ethical foundations of business in a globalized world through building awareness, creating ethical leaders and changing the rule of the game by pushing for collective action for transparency. WFEB works towards a just society and inclusive growth. It aims to support and showcase organizations which are profitable yet focus on sustainability and values and create shared value. WFEB is governed by its President Rajita Kulkarni and its Board Members Dr. Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President for Change, Knowledge and Learning, World Bank; Jo Leinen, Member of European Parliament; Nirj Deva, Member of European Parliament; Madhu Rao, Vice-Chairman Shangri-La Hotels; Roland Glaser, Former CEO Minerva School; and Ram Lakhina, Chairman of The Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce and Trade. Over the past thirteen years 40,000 leaders from more than 60 countries joined in worldwide conferences and innumerable stories of transformation at a personal as well as at a corporate level have taken place.

For further information, please contact:

Anindita Deka- 9643875994, Email – anindita@goodwordmedia.in
Prakriti Singh- 9811317976, Email – prakriti@goodwordmedia.in