scholars from North Carolina; 36 scholars from outside North Carolina, including: 29 scholars from fifteen different states and Washington, DC; 3 scholars from the United Kingdom; 2 scholars from Canada and 1 scholar each from Armenia, Italy, Jamaica, Peru, Swaziland. The Morehead-Cain Scholarship covers all expenses for four years of undergraduate study at UNC–Chapel Hill. It also features a distinctive program of summer enrichment experiences designed to support students as they learn and grow. As set out in the program’s founding documents, selection criteria for the Morehead-Cain, founded in 1945, are leadership, moral force of character, academic achievement, and physical vigor. Morehead-Cain recipients are chosen solely on the basis of merit and accomplishment. This year’s Indian-American scholars from North Carolina and Georgia include: • Krupa Sanjiv Patel is from Harrisburg and is the daughter of Sanjiv and Deena Patel. • Vibhu Kishan Ambil from Charlotte and is the son of Kishan Rangarajan and Hema Kishan. • Jaya Rani Mishra from Winston-Salem and is the daughter of Girish and Shubha Mishra. • Praveena Somasundaram is from Oak ridge and is the daughter of Somasundaram Palani and Vijayalakshmi Govindan. • Sita Marie Tayal is from Charlotte and is the daughter of Vivek and Mary Tayal. • Sanya Shah is from Wilmington and is the daughter of Satish and Ash Shah. • Sonam Jyoti Shah is from Cary and the daughter of Sanjay and Jyoti Shah. • Nisarg Hetal Shah is from Alpharetta, GA and the son of Hetal and Hiral Shah. For more information, visit http://www.moreheadcain.org
Indian-American Seema Nanda Chosen New CEO of Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee has announced Seema Nanda as Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, she will manage the day-to-day operations of the organization. Nanda served on DNC Chair Tom Perez’ transition team, which took a fresh look at the committee’s operations following the 2016 election and put in place an infrastructure that contributed to wins in 2017 and 2018. This decision was made after a five-month search led by current CEO Mary Beth Cahill. Mary Beth will continue to serve the DNC through the transition and as the DNC heads into the 2018 cycle. Nanda will take over in late July. “This position is the opportunity of a lifetime, for which I am incredibly honored and humbled,” said Nanda. “People are Saathee.com
hurting all across our country. And I believe that Democrats are offering the positive solutions so desperately-needed right now – solutions forged by the strength of our diversity, the rigor of our ideas, and the decency of our values. I am grateful to Chairman Perez and Mary Beth for selecting me, and I look forward to joining my new DNC colleagues in the fight for our nation’s values and future.” Before her time at the Labor Department, Seema led the now-named Office of Immigrant and Employee Rights Section in U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Her experience also includes practicing labor and employment law and served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. Nanda is a graduate of Boston College Law School and Brown University and a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.
World Sanskrit Conference Recognizes AksharPurushottam Darshan as Distinct Vedanta Tradition
The 17th World Sanskrit Conference, the premier international forum for Sanskrit scholars, recognized Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as the first new independent school of Vedanta since the 16th century. The recently authored ground-breaking Sanskrit works on the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan, the Swaminarayan Bhashyam and the Swaminarayan Siddhanta-Sudha by Sadhu Bhadreshdas of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, were also launched in the conference’s inaugural session on July 9, 2018 in Vancouver, Canada. More than 600 Sanskrit scholars and educators had gathered from over 40 countries for this historic event. The triennial World Sanskrit Conference, which for the last half-century has been bringing the finest minds in the world of Sanskrit together to advance understanding of Sanskrit language and literature, was held for the first time in Canada, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. World Sanskrit Conference organizing committee member and senior Sanskrit scholar from the University of British Columbia, Professor Ashok Aklujkar said, “Bhadreshdas Swami is one of the most amazing personalities of the religious traditions of India that I have ever met. His scholarly genius is jaw-dropping, and his commentaries on the Prasthantrayi are a truly great achievement. I think all of us at the World Sanskrit Conference are fortunate to have a bhashyakar in our midst. Just as the Kashi Vishva Parishad acknowledged Swaminarayan Bhagwan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as a distinct darshan in the Vedanta tradition, we are
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