The Right Honourable Bidhya Devi Bhandari, President of Nepal
President Bhandari was the vice-chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal and chair of the All Nepal Women Association before winning the presidential election in 2015. In 2016, Forbes placed her 52 in their list of the world's 100 mot powerful women. She previously served as the Minister of Defence of the government of Nepal and was the first woman in Nepal to hold that post. She was also the minister for Environment and population in 1990s, and has been presenting many environmental awareness campaign and women rights concern till dated. On June 2017, she visited IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) headquarters in Gland, Switzerland to discuss opportunities for enhanced collaboration on nature conservation and sustainable development.
Tony Nader, MD, PhD, MARR
Keynote Address by Videoconference
Tony Nader, MD, PhD, MARR, is an MIT and Harvard-trained medical doctor, neuroscientist and one of the world’s great Vedic scholars. His training includes internal medicine, psychiatry, and neurology, with a PhD in brain and cognitive science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was a Clinical and Research Fellow in Neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Assistant Director of the Clinical Research Centre at MIT.
Dr Nader conducted research on neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, and the relationship between diet, age, behaviour, mood, seasonal influences, and neurotransmitter and hormonal activity, and on the role of neurotransmitter precursors in medicine. Dr Nader is the author of many original scientific publications and books on the relationship of mind and body, consciousness and physiology.
Dr Nader’s interest to explore the full potential of not only the human physiology, but also the human mind, led him to investigate and study ancient and modern techniques of self-development.
Dr Nader was introduced to Ayurveda and other areas of Vedic knowledge by Maharishi, who guided his training under the most renowned Vedic scholars. He became the International President of Maharishi Ayurveda Universities, conducted some of the first ever research on Ayurvedic rasayanas, trained thousands of doctors in Ayurveda and a modality of Ayurveda called Self Pulse.
For many years, Dr Nader worked closely with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who first introduced Transcendental Meditation or TM® to the world in 1958, and who emphasised the scientific understanding and validation of Transcendental Meditation and other aspects of Vedic Science, the world’s oldest tradition of knowledge.
Dr Nader has successfully correlated each aspect of the Vedic Literature to a specific area of Human physiology, and anatomy as well as the cell and the DNA with the conclusion that human physiology is the expression of Veda and the Vedic Literature. This is the subject matter of 5 of his published books. He also published a book on Ramayan in Human Physiology which extended this profound scientific elaboration of the scientific significance of Veda.
In recognition of Dr. Nader’s achievements and profound expertise in modern science and Vedic Science, Maharishi gave him the title Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam (MARR).
As Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s successor, Dr Nader is the head of the international Transcendental Meditation® organisations in over one hundred countries—from the Americas to Europe, from the Far East to Australasia—and guides the TM programme and its practical applications to improve all areas of society, including education, health, defence, business and more.