| 2011
Events (in reverse chronological order) |
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Sunday,
November 20,
2011
Speaker:
Lata Pada
Founder,
Director &
Principal
Teacher
Sampradaya
Dance Centre,
Toronto |
Topic: In the Further Soil
(Reflections on Vitality and Achievements
of Indian Diaspora in Canada) |
About
the topic:
The words of poet laureate, Rabindranath Tagore are the inspiration for the title of my presentation:
| "To study a banyan tree, you must not only know its main stem in its own soil but also trace the growth of its greatness in the further soil. For then only can you know the true nature of its vitality." |
India is that great banyan tree whose roots have grown so strong and deep in Canada. I have made Canada my home for the past 47 years and I reflect on the vitality and achievements of the Indian Diaspora in Canada.
I believe that with the maturing of our community here in Canada we must reflect on our role and contribution to Canada as well as being the conduits in forging important cultural, busines and trade links to India. I trace my own journey in the arts and my work in building an appreciation for India’s performing arts. Parallel to my life in the arts, has been the advocacy role I played in the Air India Inquiry.
 About
the speaker: Lata Pada is Artistic Director of SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations, an award-winning professional South Asian dance company. Originally from India, Lata has made Canada her home for the past 47 years. Lata holds a Masters in Dance from York University and is an Adjunct Professor at York University. In 2011, Lata was conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman ("Indian Diaspora Honour") by the President of India, the highest civilian honour for non-resident Indians. Lata was conferred the Order of Canada in January 2009 and holds the distinction of being the first South Asian artist to receive this award.
Under her artistic stewardship, Lata has created one of Canada’s leading, innovative and progressive dance organizations. She has initiated unique arts learning, community outreach, cultural leadership and mentorship projects for performing artists. She has trained a generation of dancers who perform professionally on international stages. Lata is an articulate speaker and workshop leader - through her art, she has served youth, new immigrants and marginalized communities.
Lata is a founding member of the South Asian Advisory Committee at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. She has served on the Board of the Canadian Dance Assembly and is the Founding Member of the South Asian Dance Alliance of Canada. Lata has served on the Advisory Committees of Cultural Pluralism in the Performing Arts Movement, York University’s Fine Arts, theCanada Council, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and the Laidlaw Foundation. |
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Sunday,
September 18,
2011
Speaker:
Jamine Ackert, Yoga
Teacher
|
| Topic:
How Yoga Works
– and why it
might make you
healthier and
happier! |
About
the topic: Jamine Ackert
will be
discussing how
yoga is
perceived and
how it really
is. Yoga is
not a series
of stretching
moves, rather
it is a set of
directions for
how to create
greater inner
freedom and
alignment.
She
will highlight
some of the
basic yogic
teachings and
show how the
ancient yoga
sutras of
Patanjali are
actually
current
guidelines for
life in the
modern world.
Hopefully
people will be
encouraged to
learn more
about yoga and
come at a
physical
practice from
an internal
place.
About
the speaker: Jamine Ackert,
originally
from the
United States,
grew up in
Toronto. She
attended
McGill
University in
Montreal where
she took her
first yoga
classes. After
university,
she travelled
to Asia,
including
India, where
she studied
Buddhist
meditation and
met Mother
Teresa in
Calcutta. She
returned to
North America
and found a
home at the
Kripalu Center
for Yoga and
Health in
Lenox,
Massachusetts,
where she
lived for over
3 years as a
disciple of
Yogi Amrit
Desai. It was
at Kripalu
where she
became a
certified yoga
teacher back
in 1992, but
her main job
was training
staff on
computers and
helping to run
the Programs
Department.
She left
Kripalu and
assisted their
workshops in
India for 3
months in 1994
at the ashram
of Rajarshi
Muni in a town
not far from
Baroda,
Gujarat. She
studied some
yoga
philosophy as
well as other
traditional
yogas besides
hatha yoga.
Jamine moved
to Omega
Institute for
Holistic
Studies in New
York, where
she worked as
the Marketing
Manager, as
well as using
her yoga
teaching
skills during
the summer to
lead open
classes to the
many guests.
She continued
her yoga
training with
teacher of
Ashtanga yoga
and other
styles.
Moving to
Ottawa in
1999, Jamine
started
teaching
regular
classes at
Rama Lotus in
2001. Besides
public
classes, she
has taught
diverse groups
including
being a part
of the Senior
Police
Administrators
Course at the
Canadian
Police
College, and
to kids at
CHEO in the
Eating
Disorders
Program, which
she continues
to teach
today.
Jamine has
taught over a
dozen yoga
teacher
training
programs in
Ottawa and
recently
developed a
Mother-Daughter
Yoga retreat,
which she and
her 12-year
old daughter
lead annually
at Omega
Institute in
Rhinebeck.
In addition to
designing and
delivering
yoga and
stress
reduction
workshops,
Jamine has
started a
company that
helps people
build their
own apps for
the iPhone and
iPad, and has
over 10 yoga
apps in
Apple’s App
Store right
now.
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Sunday,
July 24, 2011
Speaker:
Dr. Veena Rawat
Past
President,
Communications
Research Centre Canada |
| Topic:
Telecommunications
Growth in
India and
Partnerships
with Canada |
In
this talk, Dr.
Veena Rawat
reflected on
partnership
between Canada
and India
relating to
growth of
mobile
communications
in India and
unique
challenges in
the provision
of mobile
broadband
services in
rural India.
Dr. Veena
Rawat has been
the President
of the
Communications
Research
Centre Canada
(CRC) since
2004. The CRC,
an agency of
Industry
Canada, is
responsible
for conducting
applied
research and
development in
radiocommunications,
broadcasting
and
information
technologies.
Dr. Rawat has
34 years of
senior
management
experience
with Industry
Canada. Before
joining CRC in
2003 as
Executive
Vice-President,
she managed
Industry
Canada
programs
related to
spectrum
engineering,
standards
development,
access to
spectrum for
new radio
services, and
technical
regulatory
issues for all
radio
services.
Dr. Rawat
has extensive
experience
working with
senior
officials of
Canadian and
international
organizations
(e.g.
CITEL/OAS,
APT, CEPT,
ITU). She has
led Canadian
delegations
and
negotiations
at the
International
Telecommunication
Union (ITU), a
specialized
agency of the
United
Nations, as
well as CITEL,
a constituent
entity of the
Organization
of American
States. In
addition, she
has led teams
negotiating
with U.S.
government
organizations
including the
Federal
Communications
Commission and
the National
Telecommunications
and
Information
Administration.
This included
co-chairing
the
Canada-U.S.
Committee to
negotiate
spectrum use
along the
border, from
the
mid-nineties
to 2003.
In 2003,
she became the
first woman to
chair the
World
Radiocommunication
(WRC)
Conference of
the ITU, where
issues
impacting
billions of
investment
dollars in the
communications
industry are
addressed. The
Secretary-General
of the ITU
awarded Dr.
Rawat a gold
medal for her
chairmanship.
Dr. Rawat
has also
represented
Canada on a
number of
bilateral
groups
advancing
joint science
and technology
(S&T)
agendas,
including the
Canada-India
Joint S&T
Cooperation
Committee. She
is currently
the Canadian
Government
R&D
representative
on this
steering
committee.
Her work
has garnered
her much
recognition
both
nationally and
internationally,
including the
Canadian Women
in
Communications
(CWC) Woman of
the Year
Award, and the
International
Leadership in
Government
Award from the
Wireless
Communications
Association
International
in the U.S. |
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Sunday,
June 19, 2011
Speaker: Dr. David M.
Malone
President,
International
Development Research
Centre |
Topic:
Does the
Elephant
Dance?
Contemporary
Indian Foreign
Policy |
About
the Speaker: Dr. David M.
Malone,
President,
International
Development
Research Centre
and Adjunct
Professor at New
York University
School of Law
David M. Malone
was appointed as
President of the
International
Development
Research Centre
(IDRC) in 2008.
Prior to that, Mr.
Malone served as
Canada's High
Commissioner to
India and
non-resident
Ambassador to
Bhutan and Nepal.
He has also served
as a Canadian
Ambassador at the
United Nations. He
has published
extensively on
peace and security
issues, in book
form and in
journals. He has
taught at Columbia
University and the
University of
Toronto. He
currently serves
as Adjunct
Professor at the
New York
University School
of Law and is a
Senior Fellow of
Massey College in
the University of
Toronto. His most
recent book
is The
Law and Practice
of the United
Nations (OUP,
2008). Previously,
he wrote The
International
Struggle Over
Iraq: Politics
in the UN
Security Council (OUP,
2006). With two
co-editors, he is
currently
completing a
volume on the
contemporary
governance crisis
in Nepal. |
 Synopsis
of the talk: This
talk will be
about his
forthcoming book
"Does the
Elephant Dance?
Contemporary
Indian Foreign
Policy.
India
today looms
large globally,
where it hardly
loomed at all
twenty years
ago. It is
likely to be a
key global actor
throughout the
twenty-first
century and
could well
emerge soon as
one of the top
five global
powers.
Does the
Elephant
Dance? seeks
to survey the
main features of
Indian foreign
policy. It
identifies
elements of
Indian history
relevant to the
topic; examines
the role therein
of domestic
politics and
internal and
external
security
challenges, and
of domestic and
international
economic
factors; and in
successive
chapters delves
into the
specifics of
India's policy
within its South
Asian
neighbourhood,
and with respect
to China, the
USA, West Asia
(the Middle
East), East
Asia, Europe and
Russia, and
multilateral
diplomacy. It
also touches on
Indian ties to
Africa and Latin
America and the
Caribbean.
India's "soft
power", the role
of migration in
its policy, and
other
cross-cutting
issues are
analyzed, as is
the role and
approach of
several
categories of
foreign policy
actors in India.
Substantive
conclusions
close out the
volume, and
touch, inter
alia, on
policies India
may want or need
to change in its
quest for
international
stature. |
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Sunday,
April 3, 2011
Speaker: Dr.
Roseann
O'Reilly Runte
President
&
Vice-Chancellor,
Carleton
University
|
Topic:
Carleton
University's
Canada-India
Centre for
Excellence |
| Synopsis: Dr.
Roseann Runte,
President and
Vice-Chancellor,
Carleton
University,
will speak
about Carleton
University's
partnerships
and
initiatives
under the
Canada-India
Centre for
Excellence in
Science,
Technology,
Trade and
Policy and our
collaboration
with the
Indian High
Commission in
celebration of
The Year of
India in
Canada 2011
activities. |
 About
the Speaker: Dr. Roseann
Runte,
President and
Vice-Chancellor,
Carleton
University,
obtained her
MA and PhD
from the
University of
Kansas. She
has previously
served as
president of
l'Université
Sainte-Anne,
principal of
Glendon
College,
president of
Victoria
University and
of Old
Dominion
University.
Dr. Runte is
the author of
numerous
scholarly
works in the
fields of
French and
comparative
literature and
has written
extensively on
economic and
cultural
development,
higher
education and
the importance
of
research.
In addition,
she is a
creative
writer and has
received a
prize in
poetry from
the
Académie
française.
Dr. Runte has
been awarded
the Order of
Canada and the
French Order
of Merit and
is a Fellow of
the Royal
Society of
Canada. She
has also been
awarded the
Queen
Elizabeth II
Golden Jubilee
Medal, the
Palmes
Académiques
and several
awards for her
work on the
environment
and for
community and
national
service. In
addition, Dr.
Runte holds a
number of
honorary
degrees.
Dr. Runte has
served on
numerous
boards and
commissions in
both Canada
and the United
States. She
was president
of the
Canadian
Commission for
UNESCO,
president of
the Humanities
Federation of
Canada, a
member of the
advisory board
of the
National
Library of
Canada, EXPO
2000 and the
Associated
Medical
Services, an
Ontario-based
health
charity, and
the Royal
College of
Physicians and
Surgeons. She
was also chair
of the Board
of the
Foundation for
International
Training, a
non-profit
development
services
agency,
vice-chair of
the Board of
the Gardiner
Museum of
Ceramic Art in
Toronto,
member of the
Virginia
Commission for
Industry and
Economic
Development
and the
Virginia Shipbuilding
Integration
Center. She
currently
serves on the
advisory board
of SunGard SGT
and the board
of the
National Bank
of Canada.
Dr. Runte took
up her duties
at Carleton
University on
July 1, 2008.
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