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UPF-India Conferences Support Integration and Development
Written by Robert S. Kittel, UPI Correspondent, and Amb. K.V. Rajan, Executive Vice-President, UPF-India
Saturday, August 30, 2008
India - UPF-India held a series of International Leadership Conferences in 2008 crisscrossing the world’s largest democracy from the northernmost state of Sikkim, which borders China, to the southern state of Kerala, on the Indian Ocean. The most eminent Indian dignitaries from government and civil society offered their experience and expertise on pressing issues from terrorism and corruption, to interreligious harmony and character education. A galaxy of social reformers including senior politicians, policy research experts, educators, jurists, sport personalities, nation-reforming agriculturalists, internationally renowned musicians, academicians, and religious leaders from all faiths endorsed and supported the Universal Peace Federation’s efforts to tackle tough issues in this series of conferences entitled, ““A New Paradigm of Leadership and Good Governance.” A state-by-state summary follows.
Sikkim — June 18-19
In mid-June UPF-India held a two-day conference inside the beautiful Legislative Assembly of Sikkim in the capital Gangtok. Working closely with the Ministry of Education, Government of Sikkim, UPF-India launched a character education program that will ultimately reach all schools and colleges in the state. This program is being implemented in consultation with UNESCO’s South Asia regional office in New Delhi.
Chennai — July 31
A month later as the Indian prime minister Man Mohan Singh was returning home from the SAARC conference in Colombo where he identified terrorism as the #1 threat to India and the region, UPF-India was conducting an ILC conference on this exact topic in Chennai with former government officials and police officers contributing and speaking out about this social danger.
Cochin — August 2
Again in August with the senior-most Judge of the Kerala High Court delivering the Keynote Address, the focus of the International Leadership Conference was the cancerous consequences of corruption and the urgent need for interreligious harmony.
Bangalore — August 7
Following this in the same month, at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the central theme of the conference dealt with the integration of spiritual and moral values with scientific knowledge.
Hyderabad — August 26
The highlight of this conference focused on individual responsibility for improving both the quality of government as well as reaching India’s full potential. Society could be transformed through a system of powerful incentives that reward honesty and personal sacrifice while at the same time establish clear deterrents which are applied universally.
Guwahati — August 30
Eminent keynote speakers analyzed the scale and urgency of developmental challenges faced by the North-Eastern States, and Assam in particular. The conference stressed the need for good governance as well as massive injection of resources and investment, community ownership of projects, empowerment of civil society—of women in particular, and developing a meaningful partnership between the government and a vibrant voluntary service sector.
For a sample of PowerPoint presentations at International Leadership Conferences, click here.
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