Speakers

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Spiritual leader and founder of The Art of Living, India

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a humanitarian and spiritual teacher, an ambassador of peace and human values. He is the founder of the Art of Living and the International Association for Human Values. In a mere 35 years, his programs and initiatives have impacted over 370 million people in 155 countries with the premise of core values of respect for all, harmony in diversity, inner peace and service to society.

H.E. Michael A.S. Adhin
Vice-President of Suriname

A member of the National Democratic Party, H.E. Mr. Michael Adhin has been the Vice President of Suriname since 2015, the youngest ever Vice President of the country. A former education minister, Adhin holds a degree in information technology and was a professor at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. He enjoys music and yoga.

Hon. Kamal Thapa
Deputy Prime Minister, Nepal

Hon. Hildebrando Tapia Samaniego
Vice-President - Andean Parliament

Hon. Mr. Hildebrando Tapia Samaniego is the Vice-President of the Andean Parliament. He was elected Congressman of the Republic by the Junin region for the legislative period first in 2006 and has since, held a number of varied responsibilities including Chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Construction, Vice President of the Committee on Transport, Communications, Housing and Construction, Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Ecology and many more. As a parliamentarian he authored a number of laws including decontamination of Lake Chinchaycocha – Junín, the decontamination of the Mantaro basin and the Law of the National Youth Council (CONAJU).

Hon. Ryszard Czarnecki
Vice President of the European Parliament, Belgium, Europe

Hon. Mr Ryszard Czarnecki is the Vice-President of the European Parliament responsible for Eastern Policy and the Eastern Partnership. He has held multiple ministerial portfolios and has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004.

Hon. Kjell Magne Bondevik
Former Prime Minister of Norway and President, The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, Norway

Mr. Bondevik served as the Prime Minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005. Currently, he is President of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights. The purpose of the centre is to work for world peace, human rights and inter-religious tolerance world wide.

Hon. Dominique de Villepin
Former Prime Minister of France

Mr. de Villepin was Prime Minister of France from 2005 to 2007. Since 2008, he has set up a firm to accompany the strategies for transnational investments and activities particularly in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He has written numerous books of poetry and fiction a well as essays on history, international relations and art, in particular about Napoleon and about the French-Chinese painter Zao Wou Ki.

H.E. Prof. Adnan Badran
Former Prime Minister, Jordan

Hon. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan

Hon. Alojz Peterle
Former Prime Minister, Member of the European Parliament, Slovenia

Mr. Alojz Peterle has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004 and is currently member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and substitute member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). He is also Vice-Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and Member of Delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee.

H.E. Dr. JawadAnani
Former Deputy Prime Minister, Jordan

Hon. Jigme Yoser Thinley
Former Prime Minister of Bhutan

Mr. Jigmi Y Thinley was the Prime Minister of the first democratically elected government of Bhutan during the period 2008 – 2013. Earlier, he served as his country’s minister of culture, foreign minister and as ambassador to the UN and several European countries.

Hon. Deshabandu Karu Jayasuriya
Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka

Deshabandu Karu Jayasuriya is the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Previously he was Mayor of Colombo from 1997 to 1999, Minister of Power and Energy from 2001 to 2004, Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs from 2007 to 2008, and Minister of Buddha Sasana, Public Administration, and Democratic Governance in 2015.

Hon. Dace Melbārde
Culture Minister of Latvia, Latvia

Hon Ms Dace Melbarde, is the Latvian Minister of Culture and former Director of the Latvian National Centre for Culture. Previously, she was Country Manager of the British Council in Latvi and Under-Secretary of State on Cultural Policy issues of the Latvian Ministry of Culture. She also did a stint as Secretary-General of the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO, contributing successfully to its promotion within Latvia and UNESCO.

Hon. Linda Cathrine Hofstad Helleland
Minister of Culture in Norway

Hon. Linda Cathrine Hofstad Helleland is the Minister of Culture in Norway. She has been a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party in Norway for more than ten years, and has been an important voice in the Norwegian public debate. She has been particularly active in issues relating to women.

Hon. Dr. Walter Mzembi
Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, The Republic of Zimbabwe

Hon. Nitin Gadkari
Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, India

Hon. Shri. Nitin Gadkari is the Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping. He served as the Minister of Public Works Department (PWD) of the Government of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 and was subsequently appointed the Chairman of National Rural Road Development Committee.

Hon. Suresh Prabhu
Railway Minister of India, India

Hon. Mr. Suresh Prabhu is the Railway Minister of India, a Chartered Accountant by profession and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He was, in earlier stints, Industry Minister, Minister of Environment and Forests, Minister of Fertilizers & Chemicals, Power, Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises. He was also Chairman of Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers with a status and rank of Union Cabinet Minister.

Dr. Arvind Panagariya
Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog, India

Dr. Arvind Panagariya is Vice-Chairman, Niti Aayog and has been Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University. He is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland at College Park. He has also worked with the World Bank, IMF and UNCTAD in various capacities. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Princeton University. He has authored more than fifteen books and his scientific papers have appeared in the top economics journals. He is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India.

Hon. Piyush Goyal
Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, India

Hon. Mr. Piyush Goyal is the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy in the Government of India. A well-known investment banker, he has advised top corporates on management strategy and growth; also served on the Board of India’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda. Mr. Goyal was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence.

Hon. Arvind Kejriwal
Chief Minister of Delhi, India

Hon. Mr. Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi and the National Convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In 2006, Kejriwal was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership recognising his involvement in the grassroots movement Parivartan using right-to-information legislation in a campaign against corruption. In 2012, he launched the Aam Aadmi Party, and the party won in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election.

Hon. General Vijay Kumar Singh
Minister of State for External Affairs, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistics and Program Implementation, India

General Vijay Kumar Singh is Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Minister of State for External Affairs and Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs. Previously, he served as the 26th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. In his stint in the army, he was awarded a number of bravery medals including the Yudh Seva Medal, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Param Vishisht Seva Medal.

Hon. R.V. Deshapande
Minister for Higher Education and Tourism, Government of Karnataka, India

Hon. Nirmala Sitharaman
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India

Ms. Nirmala Sitharmanan is Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry. She had a rich career spanning Price Waterhouse, BBC World Service and Centre for Public Policy Studies. She was a member of the National Commission for Women from 2003-2005 and instrumental in voicing various issues of women empowerment and laid the foundation of “Parnava“, a reputed school in Hyderabad.

Hon. Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu
Minister of Finance, Government of Haryana, India

Hon. Bob Blackman
Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Bob Blackman is the Conservative MP for Harrow East and presently serves as Joint Secretary of the prestigious 1922 Committee within Parliament. He acts as a Co-Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Justice for Equitable Life Policy Holders, as Chair for the APPG on British Hindus and as Secretary to the APPG on Action on Smoking and Health. He is member of several All Party Parliamentary Groups, including ones associated with Israel, India, Nepal, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Croatia, the USA and the UAE, as well as groups with particular interests in a widespread series of topics including Science, technology, communications, media, Bridge, Football and Cricket.

Mr. Sashi Kant Sharma
Comptroller and Auditor General, India

Mr. Shashi Kant Sharma is Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of India since 2013. He was elected by the General Assembly of United Nations as a Member of the UN Board of Auditors in 2014. His other international responsibilities include Member of UN Panel of External Auditors, Chair of the Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Services Committee of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and Chair of the Working Group of INTOSAI on I.T. Audit. He is also on the Governing Board of the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI).

Hon. Herman De Croo
Minister of State, Member of Parliament Belgium, Belgium

Hon. Prof. Herman De Croo is a Minister of State and the longest serving Belgian Member of Parliament. He is also the Mayor of Brakel and is a former Professor of Common Law at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Hon. Petra De Sutter
Member of the Belgian Senate, Belgium

Dr. Petra de Sutter is Member of Belgian Parliament (Senate) for the Flemish Green party (committee of institutional affairs) and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (committee of social affairs, committee of migration and refugees). She is also a Board member of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development.

Hon. Dr. Sarah Claerhout
Member of Parliament Belgium, Chair Belgium Indian Relation, Belgium

Hon. Dr. Sarah Claerhout is a Member of Parliament, Belgium since 2014. In February 2013 she became president of Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) Ghent. She obtained a PhD in Comparative Science of Cultures at the Ghent University and was an active member of the board of directors and executive committee of Ghent University.

Hon. Nirj Deva
Member of the European Parliament, United Kingdom

Nirj has been a Member of the European Parliament for the past 12 years. Appointed Vice President of the Development Committee in 2009, he remains a Member of the South Asia Delegation and of the Subcommittee on Human Rights. He is a Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society of Arts, Hon. Life President of the EU-India Chamber of Commerce, and Patron of the International Monarchist League.

Hon. Yvonne Feri
Member of Parliament, Switzerland

Yvonne Feri is a member of the Swiss National Parliament and local councilor in Wettingen. She is active in a number of committees and is president of SP Frauen Schweiz. Aside from the day-to-day parliamentary work in the chamber and in committee, she advocates the humanitarian contribution Switzerland can make internationally and seeks to improve the equality and position of working women in Switzerland.

Hon. Naheed Farid
Member of Parliament, Afghanistan

Hon. Ms. Naheed Farid is a Member of Parliament, Afghanistan. She was elected at the age of 27, becoming one of the youngest elected members in the nation’s history.

Ms. Farid’s focus has been to engage Afghan youth and women in the nation’s political process. Prior to running for Parliament, she was involved in the rebuilding of her nation. She has founded and led various NGOs assisting women, children and engaging in rural community development amongst others. She has advocated for the reduction of gender-based violence and human rights violations against women, and for expanded access to education and employment for women.

Hon. Hernán Penagos Giraldo
Member of Colombian Parliament, Colombia

Hon. Mr. Hernán Penagos Giraldo is a Member of the Columbian Parliament. Previously, he was elected deputy of the Assembly of Caldas and subsequently elected to preside over it. He also was president of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia.

Hon. Frank Heinrich
Member of Parliament, Germany

Frank Heinrich is a member of the German Bundestag with focus on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid as well as Economic Cooperation and Development. His special interest areas lay in the fields of water as a human right, Africa, children’s rights, religious freedom, human trafficking and humanitarian aid, torture, death penalty and disappearance of people. He is a studied theologian and social worker: he has been a Salvation-Army officer and head of the Salvation-Army in Chemnitz.

Hon. Dr. André Hahn
Member of Parliament, Germany

Dr. André Hahn is a Member of the German Bundestag since October 2013 where he is Member of the sports committee and sports policy spokesman of the faction DIE LINKE, as well as Chairman of the Parliamentary Control Panel who reviews the work of the secret services, and Parliamentary Secretary of the Left Party. He is also Deputy Member of the NSA committee of inquiry, the Committee on Internal Affairs and the Tourism Committee.

Hon. Yonadam Kanna
Member of the Iraqi National Assembly, Iraq

Hon. Mr. Yonadam Kanna is a member of the Iraqi National Assembly. He is a member of the Iraqi Governing Council since 2003.

He served in the Kurdistan administration in Iraq, first in its regional assembly, then as minister for public works. He is the secretary general of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. He was elected to the National Assembly of Iraq as head of the Al Rafideen National List in the January and December 2005 elections.

H.E. Mr. Ayoub Kara
Member of the Knesset, Deputy Minister for Regional Affairs, Israel

H.E. Mr. Ayoub Kara is a Member of the Knesset and Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation in Israel. He has been the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and served on a number of Committees: including Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Workers and Chairman of the anti-drug Committee. He also was Deputy Minister of the Development of the Negev and Galilee.

Mr. Kara served in the Israel Defense Forces reserve and attained the rank of Major. He earned his law degree from Ono Academic College and a Masters in in Public Policy from TAU.

Hon. Robin Kelly
Congresswoman, House of Representatives, United States of America

Congresswoman Robin Kelly represents Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District and has worked to expand economic opportunity and promote public safety, sponsoring numerous bills to generate job growth and end gun violence. She serves on several key committees, including the Foreign Affairs Committee and its Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.

Hon. Bariza Khiari
Member of Senate, France

Hon. Ms. Bariza Khiari has been the socialist Senator of Paris and a member of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces Committee of the Senate. She is also the chairwoman of the France-Lebanon friends’ group and vice chairwoman of the France-Morocco parliamentary friends’ group. She is a member of the French delegation at the NATO Parliament and is the promoter of a research committee in the Senate working on the defence of religious minorities. She has received distinctions like Distinctions like Chevalier dans l’ordre national du mérite (knight of the National Order of Merit) and Médaille du tourisme (Tourist Board Award).

Hon. Jo Leinen
Hon. Member of the European Parliament, Germany

Since July 1999, Mr. Leinen has been a Member of the European Parliament. He was a Member of the Convention for the Elaboration of a Charter of Fundamental Rights for the EU. From 2004 to 2009 he was President of the Constitutional Affairs Committee and from 2009 to 2011 he chaired the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. He is a full member in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and a substitute member of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and of the EP’s Working Group on EU-UN relations. He is also a full member of the Delegation for the relations with India and a substitute in the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Hon. Meenakshi Lekhi
Member of Parliament, India

Hon. Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi is a Member of Parliament and a Supreme Court of India lawyer. She is currently an active member of the Standing Committee on Urban Development, Committee of Privileges, Consultative Committee of Commerce and Committee of Housing. Besides numerous articles in journals, periodicals and newspapers on social issues, she participates in various television shows on matters on national and international importance.

Hon. Krishna Mathoera
Member of Parliament, Suriname

Hon. Ms. Krishna Mathoera served the National Police Force for 34 years to maintain safety and security within the country and has taken responsibility of all top positions within the force. She was appointed as the national vocal point for Suriname to CICAD (the drugs organization for the American of States) from 2010 till 2015. Last year she left the force as commissioner of police and joined politics and now she is a Member of Parliament. She is the chairperson of the Art of living foundation in Suriname and a Rotarian. She holds a Master degree in Public Administration.

Hon. Kate Osamor
Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

MP Hon. David Musabayana
Member of Parliament, Zimbabwe, Africa

Hon. ŠarūnasBirutis
Minister of Culture, Lithuania

Hon. Dr. Nancy Nawraz Naguer
Former Culture Minister of Jordan, Jordan

Hon. Matthew Offord
Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Mr. Offord is a Member of Parliament and also a Member of the AWEPA Governing Council. Matthew was first elected as Member of Parliament for the Hendon constituency in 2010. He was subsequently re-elected in May 2015. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, he worked for the BBC as a political analyst and was also Deputy Leader of Barnet Council.

Hon. G.L Peiris
Former Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka

Hon. G. L. Peiris is a Former Cabinet Minister of External Affairs and a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He has held multiple ministerial portfolios including Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Finance, External Trade, Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy Investment Promotion, Ethnic Affairs and National Integration.

He won the Rhodes Scholarship to read for PhD at New College, Oxford and also gained a second PhD from the University of Colombo. He had Fellowships from Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London and was also Associate member of the International Academy of Comparative Law and Senior British Council Fellow.

Hon. Mtro Armando Rios Piter
Senator from Mexico, Mexico South America

Hon. Mtro Armando Ríos Piter is the Senator of the Legislature of the Mexican Congress representing Guerrero and served as Deputy during the earlier Legislature. Previously, he held other offices including Government Undersecretary for Political Affairs Guerrero, Undersecretary of Sectorial Policy at the Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Secretary of Rural Development in the government of Guerrero. He has served on a number of Commissions including Second Working Committee: Foreign Affairs, National Defense and Public Education, Interior, Finance and Public Credit and others.

Hon. Mike Quigley
Congressman; House of Representatives, United States of America

Hon. Mike Quigley was elected to Congress to represent Illinois’ 5th District; he is the co-founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Transparency Caucus. He also serves on the Subcommittee on Financial Services and the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. He was appointed by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) that oversees the activities of the entire Intelligence Community. He currently serves on the NSA and Cybersecurity Subcommittee and is the Ranking Member on the Emerging Threats Subcommittee.

Hon. Sherry Rehman
Member of Senate and Vice-President of the People’s Party of Pakistan, Pakistan

Senator Sherry Rehman is the Vice President of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian and founding Chair of the Jinnah Institute. She has served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pakistan and ranking member of the National Security Committee in the Parliament. For her services to Pakistan, she has been awarded the state’s highest civil award, the Nishan-i-Imtiaz in March 2013.

Ms. Rehman is also an award-winning journalist from Pakistan with 20 years of experience in both the broadcast and the print media.

Hon. Lord Stone
Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Lord Stone is a Member of Parliament, United Kingdom focusing on cooperation and enterprise in the Middle East with deep interest in Arts and Science, Mindfulness and 'spirituality'. He is President of the DIPEx Charity, a Trustee of Prism the Gift Fund and a Life Member of the Board of the Weizmann Institute in Israel.

Hon. Geoffrey van Orden
Member of the European Parliament, United Kingdom

Geoffrey Van Orden has been Conservative Member of the European Parliament for the East of England since 1999. He is currently Chairman of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with India and was previously Chairman of the Europe-India Chamber of Commerce 2010-2014, and a founder member of the Parliament's Friends of India Group. He is Vice-Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the third largest political group in the European Parliament and the founding President of its think-tank New Direction - The Foundation for European Reform.

Hon. Shailesh Lakhman Vara
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice and Work & Pensions, United Kingdom

Hon. Mr. Shailesh Vara is a Justice Minister and a Minister in the Department for Work and Pensions in the UK Government. He was previously Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and Government Whip.

Mr. Vara was educated at Brunel University and qualified as a solicitor, practicing in the City of London prior to being elected to Parliament. He was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Indian Government in recognition of his work in the field of public service and promoting ties between India and the UK.

Mr. Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad
U.S. Counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, United States of America

Mr. Armin Laschet
Deputy Chairman of Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), and Head, North Rhine-Westphalia

Mr. Armin Laschet is Deputy Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Head, North Rhine-Westphalia. As a member of the Bundestag, he served on the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development as well as on the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union. As Member of the European Parliament, he was on the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He held multiple ministerial portfolios including State Minister for Generations, Family, Women and Integration; State Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and Media. He also has been on various reputed boards and committees.

Mr. Hari Untoro Dradjat
Senior Advisor, Tourism Ministry, Indonesia

Hon. Nana Akufo Addo
President, New Patriotic Party, Ghana

Hon. Rabin Baldewsingh
Deputy Mayor of The Hague, Netherlands

Hon. Mr. Rabin S. Baldewsingh is currently Deputy-Mayor of the City of The Hague, The Netherlands. He has been Deputy-Mayor in this International City of Peace and Justice since April 2006. At this time his portfolio consists of Social Affairs, Employment, Neighbourhood Approach, Integration Policies and Sports. In the last decade he has been one of the leading figures in the debate on integration and diversity in The Hague.

Hon. Jan Creemers
Mayor, City of Maaseik, Belgium

Hon. Mr. Jon Creemers is the Mayor of the city Maaseik in Belgium. He holds a number of other commitments including being the - President of ‘The Meander’ Institute for disabled people, the Honorary president of Rest Home ‘Het Park’, President of the police council and the police college Maasland and President of the DV Marec (Recreation Centres Maasland).

Hon. Edward Baillieu
Former Premier of Victoria, Australia

Mr. Sudhir Jalan
Former President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)

Mr. Michael S. Perlis
President and Chief Executive Officer of Forbes Media LLC., United States of America

Mr. Michael S. Perlis (Mike) has been the Chief Executive Officer and President of Forbes Media LLC since December 2010. Since he has taken over, he has focused on the brand's digital footprint, overseeing the magazine's digital growth to over 30 million unique users a month. He earlier served as President and CEO at Ziff-Davis Media Inc and has held senior leadership positions in other companies like TVSM, Picaboo, Zinio and many others.

He entered the venture capital industry in 2000, when he accepted a role as Special Partner of Softbank Capital, a Massachusetts based technology and telecom focused group. He was also Venture Partner at GrandBanks Capital.

Sir Richard Branson
Founder, Virgin Group, United Kingdom

Princess Raden Dato’Seri Maria Amor Torres DK DD
Founder and President, We Care for Humanity, United States of America

Mr. Anurag Batra
Chairman, Businessworld Magazine, India

Mr. Annurag Batra is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of BW Businessworld. As a first generation entrepreneur, he acquired the 35 year strong brand and expanded it into digital, events and BW communities and has taken into its fold newer entities like like www.digitalmarket.asia, a leading website on digital marketing. He also serves as the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of exchange4media group.

Mr. Batra was appointed by Government of India as the Chairman of an industry committee formed to come up with a vocational training framework for the media, communication and entertainment industry. He contributes back to the industry as an active member of various industry bodies.

Mr. Kishore Biyani
Chairman, Group CEO, Future Group, India

Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya
Chairperson, State Bank of India, India

Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya is the first woman to be the Chairperson of State Bank of India. She has held several positions during her 36-year career with the bank including working in foreign exchange, treasury, retail operations, human resources and investment banking. She has been Chief Executive of the bank's merchant banking arm - State Bank of India Capital Markets; Chief General Manager in charge of new projects.

Mr. Sutirtha Bhattacharya
Chairman & CMD, Coal India Limited, India

Mr. Andrew Forrest
Non-executive chairman, Fortescue Metals Group, Australia

Mr. Deepak Kapoor
Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers, India

Mr. Deepak Kapoor is the Chairman of PwC India since 2011. Prior to this, he has served as the Managing Director for four years. He has served in a variety of leadership and client service roles, initially as an auditor and then as an M&A professional. He is the founding Director of the PwC Foundation.

Mr. Kapoor has been a Member of the National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and of the Institute of Certified Fraud Examiners, USA. He has also been an active Rotarian for over 15 years.

Mr. G M Rao
Executive Chairman and Managing Director, GMR Group, India

Mr. GM Rao, a mechanical engineer, is the Founder Chairman of the GMR Group, the Bangalore based global infrastructure developer. The GMR group is now a professionally managed infrastructure developer with focus on Airports, Energy, Transportation and Urban Infrastructure including SEZs. To give back to society, he set up GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, to channelize funds for social causes. He has also been serving on the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is the recipients of multiple awards and honorary doctrates.

Mr. Dilip Shanghvi
Founder and MD of Sun Pharmaceuticals, India

Mr. Nirvana Chaudhary
Managing Director, CG Corp Global and Chaudhary Group, Nepal

Dr. R.Seetharaman
Group Chief Executive Officer, Doha Bank, Qatar

Dr. R. Seetharaman is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank and a prominent personality in the banking industry in the Middle East. Under his leadership, Doha Bank became a high-performing bank, a global brand and won a number of recognitions. He is recipient of multiple doctorates from leading universities, a high profile economist invited regularly by international media and has received many awards.

Dr. Christoph Lütege
Professor of Business Ethics, Technische Universität München, Germany

Prof. Dr. Christoph Luetge holds the Peter Loescher Endowed Chair of Business Ethics at Technical University of Munich. He studied business informatics as well as philosophy, obtaining his doctorate in 1999 and his habilitation in 2005. He was visiting researcher in Pittsburgh and San Diego. He has been teaching business ethics at the Universities of Munich, Witten and Braunschweig, before moving to TU Munich in 2010. He has also held visiting professorships in Taipei, Kyoto and Venice.

Dr. Kiran Bedi
Politician and Social Activist, India

Dr. Kiran Bedi is the first women officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS) and a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay award for her reforms in prisons. As a teenager, she was the national junior tennis champion and won several titles at national and state-level championships. She became the first woman to be appointed the United Nations civilian police adviser. She has written several books, and runs the India Vision Foundation.

Dr. Vandana Shiva
Scholar and Environmental Activist, India

Dr. Vandana Shiva, an Indian physicist and social activist founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy (RFSTN), an organization devoted to developing sustainable methods of agriculture. She launched Navdanya, a project to combat the growing tendency toward monoculture and opened Bija Vidyapeeth, a school and organic farm offering courses in sustainable living and agriculture. She has authored a number of books and is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award.

Ms. Bhanumathi Narsimhan
Director Women Empowerment & Child Welfare Programs, Art of Living, India

Ms. Bhanu Narasimhan is the Director, Women Empowerment & Child Welfare Programs of The Art of Living and has played a key role in The Art of Living Foundation since its inception leading numerous programs like Care for Children to educate over 51000 underprivileged children, VISTA to economically strengthen over 8000 women, an initiative called HARA to increase HIV/AIDS awareness in rural India and the Weaver-to-Weaver project to empower skilled artisans. She also teaches the Sahaj Samadhi Meditation technique bringing an experience of deep peace to thousands.

Mr. Christoph Daum
Former German Professional Football Player, International Football Manager, Germany

Congresswoman Robin Kelly represents Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District and has worked to expand economic opportunity and promote public safety, sponsoring numerous bills to generate job growth and end gun violence. She serves on several key committees, including the Foreign Affairs Committee and its Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.

Mrs. FulviaFerragamo Visconti
Board Member Salvatore FerragamoS.p.A., Non-Operative Head for Accessories and Furniture Design , VP FerragamoFinanziariaS.p.A., Italy

Mr. Avnish Goyal
Owner and Managing Director, Hallmark Care Homes, United Kingdom

Avnish Goyal is the Managing Director and Founder of Hallmark Care Homes; a family business which was established in 1997 operating 17 care homes across England and Wales. He is also the Chair of Care England the representative body for care homes in the UK and the Founding Trustee of The Hemraj Goyal Foundation, a registered charity based in Essex operating in the UK and worldwide

Dr. Parry Aftab
Founder, WiredSafety, United States of America

Dr. Parry Aftab founded as an unpaid volunteer and runs the world’s largest cybersafety charity, now called WiredSafety. She also created StopCyberbullying.org, Cyberwellness.com and the consulting firm WiredTrust. She is a leading expert in digital privacy and security law, best practices and cybercrime and has served on several high-profile boards of directors and advisory boards.

Capt. R S Sindhu
Chairman ACB, India

Capt. Rudra Sen Sindhu is the Chairman and Managing Director of Aryan Group and has business interests in number of companies engaged mainly in mining & logistics, coal beneficiation, power generation, sponge iron & steel, stock broking, media, finance and tourism.

He has been the Chairman of the Expert Committee on Coal since 2008 and the Co-Chairman of the National Coal Committee of ASSOCHAM since 2009.

Mr. Mac Smith
Founder of the Google [x], United States of America

Mr. Mac Smith is a senior staff user experience researcher and founding member of the X (formerly Google[x]) user experience team. X is a moonshot factory: a team of engineers, scientists, makers, and inventors that applies audacious thinking to huge problems to make the world a better place using technology. X incubates new breakthroughs in science or technology that, could solve huge problems that affect millions of people.

He has led teams of researchers and designers on multiple user experience projects in the X portfolio, including Project Loon, Glass for work & others. He currently leads user experience work with the Rapid Evaluation team, which focuses on rapid technology prototyping and detailed analysis of the business potential of new projects.

Mac completed his MA & PhD in Human Factors at George Mason University, and previously worked at Microsoft Games Studio and Motorola.

Mr. Samarth Bedi
Forest Essentials, India

Mr. Subhash Thakrar
Deputy President London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, United Kingdom

Mr. Subhash Thakrar is Deputy President and past Chairman of the London Chamber of Commerce and a Partner at City accountants CBW Blackstone Franks. He is working on affordable housing projects in African countries under the PPP model and has led other missions for the London Chamber to East and West Africa and India. He has been a trustee / board member of a number of non-profit organisations; the notable ones are Commonwealth Education Fund, Attlee Foundation, 3R’s Trust.

Master Ji Jing
China

Mr. Tarek Fatah
Writer and Broadcaster, Canada

Mr. Tarek Fatah is a weekly columnist for the Toronto Sun in Canada and an award-winning author of two books, "The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State (2008)" and "The Jew is Not My Enemy (2010)" and is currently writing his third book "The Hindu is Not My Enemy". He describes himself as "an Indian born in Pakistan" and was educated in Pakistan, beginning his career in journalism, first as a newspaper reporter and later with Pakistan Television. He now resides in Canada.

Mr. Amit Dalal
Executive Director, Tata Corporation, India

Ms. Brigitte Van Baren
Founder, Inner Sense, Netherlands

Ms. Brigitte van Baren founded Inner Sense, which offers a personal development programme for business leaders in the public and private sectors. She is inventor of the widely acclaimed “Show Your True Colours” management improvement methodology, and provides coaching and training for international business leaders, managers and teams. She is also an author and Zen teacher of the Sanbo Zen Society, Japan.

Mr. Gary Gauba
President, CenturyLink, United States of America

Hon. Mr. Gary Gauba is a natural entrepreneur and over the past two decades, he boot strapped, self-funded and successfully exited three companies: Softline, Systech and Cognilytics. He is on the board of Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, WISeKey and, Advisory Board of DocuSign and other emerging companies. With the acquisition of his third venture, Cognilytics by CenturyLink, his current focus is around Cyber Security (Deep Learning Algorithms), IoT and helping clients monetize their data as a strategic asset.

Mr. Jean-Marc Borello
President, Groupe SOS, France

Mr. Luis Gabriel Moreno Ocampo
Lawyer, The first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands