Dr. Achyuta Samanta
Achyuta Samanta is an Indian educationist and philanthropist.
Besides education and tribal upliftment, healthcare, and rural development, Samanta has contributed to art, culture, literature, film, media, society, and national integration. He has transformed the educational landscape of Odisha in engineering & medical space with the foundation of KIIT, KIMS, Dental, and Nursing Sciences. His other pioneer initiative, KISS, provides free education, and accommodation to over 30,000 indigenous students. Besides, he is also the founder of Kalinga TV and K News Odisha.
He has been conferred with more than 50 International and National awards and over 200 state awards besides the two highest Civilian Awards from the Royal Kingdom of Bahrain and Mongolia called ISA Award for Service to Humanity and Best Worker Award respectively. He has been conferred with 50 Honorary Doctorate awards from universities in India and abroad. He is the first Odia to be a member of both UGC and AICTE. He is currently the Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Kandhamal, Odisha, and the President of the Volleyball Federation of India. He is the designated President (India) of Democracy Without Borders and founder of Parliamentarians for Indigenous People.
Dr. Chandra Bhanu Satpathy
Dr. Chandra Bhanu Satpathy is a noted scholar, spiritual thinker, author and a humanitarian. He is an impeccable personification of the noble principles of life such as love, empathy, compassion, simplicity, humility, devotion to God and sacrifice. As an heir to a family of great academicians and administrators, as a versatile young writer of his time, as a perfect family man, as an accomplished and decorated professional, as a compassionate humanitarian, as an ardent devotee of his Master and as a friend, philosopher, and guide to millions of people across the globe, Dr. C.B. Satpathy, has experienced it all with equanimity.
As he holds, the year 1989 marked a turning point in his life when he visited the Holy Shrine of Shri Sai Baba located in Shirdi (Maharashtra). Ever since, Dr. Satpathy has been spreading the teachings of Shri Shirdi Sai and Indian philosophy assiduously over a span of 25 years, not only in India but other countries as well. Under his inspiration and guidance, more than two hundred centers and forums devoted to philanthropy, community development, spiritualism, and promotion of Indian culture, are active in countries like India, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, and some other countries in Europe.
Ritesh Agarwal
Ritesh Agarwal is the Founder and Group CEO of OYO. OYO builds technology products & services out of India for hotels and homes in more than 35 countries. Ritesh founded OYO, only 9 years ago, in 2012, after his own experiences as a solo teenage traveler in India staying at small hotels, BnBs, and guest houses. Ritesh began his career as an entrepreneur and is one of the first Asian residents to be accepted to the Thiel Fellowship. He has been recognized as a young innovator and business leader by Bloomberg Businessweek in the Bloomberg 50 List (2019), CNBC as Young Turk of the Year (2019), Fortune in the Tycoons of Tomorrow Award (2018), Forbes as 30 under 30 (2016) and The Economic Times as 40 under 40 (2016). Ritesh currently serves as a FICCI Executive Committee Member, CII National Council Member and Board Member of MDI Gurgaon, India.
Born in Bissamcuttack, Rayagada, in Southeast Odisha, Ritesh Agarwal grew up in the small town of Rayagada.
Consul General Somnath Ghosh
Sri Somnath Ghosh joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1997. In a span of his career of 25 years, he has been Ambassador of India to Republic of Tajikistan (2016-19) and to Mongolia (2014-16). Prior to that he was the Assistant High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh with consular jurisdiction of Chittagong and Sylhet divisions, constituting eastern part of Bangladesh. In his career, apart from important assignments in New Delhi, he has worked in Moscow, Brussels (European Council and European Parliament) and spent considerable time in Central Asia.
Prior to joining as Consul General of India in Chicago with consular jurisdiction of nine Midwest States, Ambassador Ghosh was heading (September 2019 to September 2022) the International Cooperation work in the Ministry of Defense of India. In that capacity, he has been closely engaged with USA, Russia, France, UK, other major nations, and India’s neighborhood on critical policy issues.
Manoranjan Mishra
Manoranjan Mishra is a seasoned journalist with 25 years of extensive experience in the Odisha Television industry. He is currently the editor of Odisha’s premier news channel Kanak News. He is committed to delivering factual, concise, and engaging content on television that informs and engages a wide range of audiences. He is known for his hard-hitting interviewing skills with policy and decision-makers.
He participated as a Fellow at the International Visitor’s Leadership Program (IVLP) of the State Department, USA in 2012. He has been consistently awarded as Best Journalist by various local organizations in Odisha. Kanak News promotes Odia food with a weekly show named “Bhooribhojan” under his guidance. Also, he makes sincere attempts to involve the global Odia diaspora in his show named, Manoranjan Mishra Live, telecast 5days a week.
Raja Krishnamoorthi
Subramanian Raja Krishnamoorthi is an American businessman, politician, and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois’s 8th congressional district since 2017. The district includes many of Chicago’s western and northwestern suburbs, such as Hoffman Estates, Elgin, Schaumburg, Wood Dale, and Elk Grove Village. He was elected to succeed Tammy Duckworth, who gave up the seat to run for the U.S. Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, Krishnamoorthi serves on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He also serves as an assistant whip.