India a rising global power: Attri

SOUTH DAKOTA: A full day symposium titled "India - A Rising power in the new global order" was organized by the South Dakota World Affairs Council (SDWAC) on January 29 with assistance from Stanley Foundation in Iowa at the Union, Volstorff Ballroom at the South Dakota State University (SDSU).

Indian Consul General in Chicago Ashok Kumar Attri was the keynote speaker. Addressing the meet, he said that the economic change that is taking place in India will transform it as a global power by the next decade. He also underlined  the collaborative  opportunities between Indian and American people,  and pointed out  that  it will have a far reaching impact on  agriculture, education, culture and a whole lot of other area of human activities of these two countries and globally.

Dr Charles Woodward, President, SDWAC welcomed the guests and spoke on "Why India" in his welcoming address.  Dr. David L. Chicoine, President of SDSU welcomed and introduced CG Attri.

The others who spoke on the occasion were  Dr Prem Jauhar, Research Genetist, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Fargo, North Dakota,  Ms Lionel Sweeny, Vice President for Human Resources at Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation, Chicago,  and Pipestone, Minnesota.

Dr John Miller, Professor Emeritus, SDSU, Department of History, acted as the Moderator in a Panel discussion "The Story of People from India who live in South Dakota." Other participants in the Panel discussion were Ajith Kumar of  Citicorp Bank, Raja Patel a  Businessman, Fee Jacobson a  Businesswomen, Rumela Bhadra an SDSU Graduate student and Abhay Mistry, a Brookings High School senior.

Others who participated in the Symposium were Dr Chandradhar Dwivedi, Distinguished Professor, SDSU, Dr Mary Kay Helling, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, SDSU, Dr Karl Schmidt, Director of International Affairs, SDSU and Ms Harriet Swedlund, Executive Director of SDWAC.

Ashok Kumar Attri also had a meeting with the Board of Directors of the South Dakota World Affairs Council which  is one of the 90 councils nationwide affiliated with the World Affairs Councils of America.

He held  a separate meeting with Dr David L. Chicoine, President and Professor of Economics  of the South Dakota State  University. During the meeting he was briefed about the agreement signed for cooperation between SDSU and  University of Hyderabad, India.