Updated on 19th January 2014
This article is written
on the basis of achievements and common qualities, characteristics and
attributes of the celebrities who are the ideal persons to be listed as the
people who have already almost made the world a paradise.
But first, definition of
the word paradise should be written which according to Webster unabridged
encyclopedic dictionary is “A place of extreme beauty, delight and happiness.”
The word celebrities
here means rulers of heart and mind, Titans, persons of immense strength, power
or influence, heroes, she-roes, important achievers and persons of inspiring
nature. They include Queens, Kings, Heads of States, Heads of Governments,
Leaders of opposition, Armed forces personnel, Nobel laureates, Professors
emeritus, scientists, judiciary members, teaching and administrative faculty of
universities and colleges, bureaucrats, diplomats, entrepreneurs,
industrialists, business tycoons, doctors, engineers, architects, builders,
media managers, and people from fine arts.
Some of the
characteristics are lucidly stated in the poem titled “If” written by famous
British poet Rudyard Kipling and included in the book “Committed to memory, 100
best poems to memorize” edited by Professor John Hollander, Chancellor of the
Academy of American poets since 1981.
If
If you can keep
your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and
blaming it on you;
If you can trust
yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for
their doubting too;
If you can wait and not
be tired by waiting,
Or, being hated, don’t
give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too
good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream-and not
make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not
make your thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with
triumph and disaster
And treat those two
imposters [Deceivers]
just the same;
If you can bear to hear
the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves [Worthless] to make a
trap for fools,
Or watch the things you
gave your life to broken,
And stoop [bend one’s head or body
forward and downward] and build’em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap
of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn
of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start
again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word
about your loss;
If you can force your
heart and nerve and sinew [strength, power, resilience]
To serve your turn long
after they are gone,
And so hold on when
there is nothing in you
Except the Will which
says to them: “Hold on”;
If you can talk with
crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings-nor
lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor
loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with
you, but none too much;
If you can fill the
unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’
worth of distance run-
Yours is the Earth and
everything that’s in it,
And-which is more-you’ll
be a Man, my son!
However if Rudyard
Kipling was alive today, then he would have seen the increasingly prevailing
gender parity, he would also have seen the achievements of Queen Elizabeth II,
Angela Merkel, Michelle Obama, Julia Gillard- Prime Minister of Australia,
Dilma Rousseff- President of Brazil since 2011, Park Geun-hye- President of
South Korea, Hillary Clinton, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Queen Rania,
Catherine William, Sonya Gandhi, Sheikh Hasina, Catherine Ashton- Vice
President of the European Commission, Christine Lagarde- MD IMF, Melinda Gates,
Faryal Talpur, Raha Moharrak- youngest Arab and first Saudi woman to conquer
Everest, Nouf Al Jalaud – first Saudi and first Muslim woman would be
Astronaut, J.K. Rowling, Aung San Suu Kyi – Burma’s Opposition Leader, Indra
Krishnamurthy Nooyi- Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo,
Kalsoom Saifullah, Fahmida Mirza, Meira Kumar, first Woman speaker of Lok
Sabha, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, Mariam Nawaz, Asma Arbab Alamgir and Malala
Yousafzai, he would have used in the last line of the poem any other resonating
word equivalent to the meaning of ‘human being’ or ‘brave’ instead of using the
divisive word ‘man’.
So the celebrities have
one or more than one of the following qualities to make the world a place of
extreme beauty, delight or happiness.
1.As is written in the
book “Variety of experience”. “What is the purpose of life? The answer is
to organize itself”. The celebrities have the ability to focus and have mental
toughness, drive, optimism and emotional control. However, the most effective
and time tested magic formula utilized by the highly successful leaders is the
help and encouragement extended to the people to work together for having
enlightenment, perfection and happiness.
“I know of no single
formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of
leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people
to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and
their inspiration to work together.”
Queen Elizabeth II
2.These persons of
extreme influence are aware of the Buddha saying that all our problems are due
to lack of knowledge. So they enthusiastically participate in the creation and
dissemination of knowledge. They also accordingly believe that prevention is
better than cure.
3.The celebrities feet
are firmly on the ground as they continuously try to be with, or do something
for happiness of the people and therefore they are against discrimination on
the basis of religion, race or gender. By October 2012, 92 US billionaires
added their names to the efforts of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to donate half
their fortunes to charity. The billionaires include Intel cofounder Gordon
Moor, the CNN founder Ted Turner, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Oracle
cofounder Larry Ellison.
4.These famous and
influential people also know the art of utilizing media to their advantage to
propagate their positive image and ideas.
“In the information age,
you don’t teach philosophy as they did after feudalism. You perform it. If
Aristotle was alive today, he’d have a talk show”- Timothy Leary-
(1920-1996), in Evening Standard (British Newspaper), 8th February 1989
5.Like Entrepreneur and
best products developer Steve Jobs biography title, the celebrities also
believe that “journey is the reward”. Because of their disciplined mind, each
moment of the life of a celebrity is connected with the next moment. Although
they like to talk to people around them, occasionally they also like to spend
some time with themselves for the purpose of practicing any of the 120 methods
of meditation. They also know the importance of spending alone some time, with
proper safety arrangements, on a hill top or in a desert or in a boat in the
sea. This can positively transform the individuality as the person will never
be same.
“Once, on a walk, she
encountered one of her subjects, who exclaimed, "You look just like the
Queen!" "How very reassuring," Her Majesty [Queen Elizabeth II]
replied. Many Britons feel the same way” -
By Catherine Mayer, TIME Magazine May 14, 2007
Edition, Most Influential People in the World, The Time 100.
“A leader does not
deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone”- Henry A.
Kissinger (1923-) [White House Years]
“I think it’s the most
extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been
gathered at the White House- with the possible exception of when Thomas
Jefferson dined alone” – President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) at a dinner
for Nobel Prizewinners, 29 April 1962
6.The rulers of
heart and mind have highly independent minds and with better utilization of subconscious,
they are very creative and forward looking. They will always be busy in
crafting and building something different but good for the people.
“In the coming world,
they will not ask me: “Why were you not Moses?” They will ask me: “Why were you
not Zusya?” –Zusya(?-1800). Before his death. In Martin Buber, “Zusya of
Hanipol,” Tales of the Hasidam: The Early Masters, tr. Olga Marx, 1947
I shall be telling this
with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages
hence:
Two roads diverged in a
wood, and I-
I took the one less
traveled by,
And that has made all
the difference.
Lines from the poem “The
Road Not Taken” written by Robert Frost [1874-1963]
So like Alice in the
Wonderland I shall also begin at the beginning and stop when I come to the end,
following are my choices of the celebrities among the millions who would have
made the world a paradise.
1. Queen Elizabeth II
(Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, born 21 April 1926) is Head of state of UK and 15
other Commonwealth realms. In addition she is the head of the 54-member
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth
comprises fifty-four of the world's countries (including two currently
suspended members), across all six inhabited continents. The members have a
combined population of 2.1 billion people, almost a third of the world
population.
The land area of the
Commonwealth nations is about 31,500,000 km2 (12,200,000 sq mi), or
about 21% of the total world land area.
The Commonwealth members have a combined gross domestic product
(measured in purchasing power parity) of $10.6 trillion.
Major Accomplishments of
Queen Elizabeth II
From all the daunting
experiences she had during her reign, queen Elizabeth II understood the
tautology [a phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in
different words] of Shakespeare’s
observation, which states, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown".
The challenges she had to face as a ruler were painstaking, but were
successfully overcome by her, and she ruled with a supreme authority over her
people. Some of the major accomplishments of queen Elizabeth II are as follows.
•
After
the end of the second world war, princess Elizabeth traveled extensively to
attend public functions throughout the British Isles. These visits included
attending the launch of a new aircraft carrier in Belfast, a tour of Ulster in
March 1946, and attending the National Eisteddfod of Wales in August 1946.
•
Queen
Elizabeth II has constantly been an integral part of the ongoing new British Commonwealth, and its modern
successor (the Commonwealth of Nations). She acts as the host to the Heads of
States of the Commonwealth realms. She holds Investitures in Britain and other
Commonwealth countries, at which she presents honors to people who have
distinguished themselves in public life.
•
When
she was declared a queen, she succeeded her father as Colonel-in-Chief of all
the Guards Regiments and the Corps of Royal Engineers, and as Captain-General
of the Royal Regiment of Artillery.
•
Throughout
her reign, Elizabeth has also demonstrated support for inter-faith relations
and has rendered respect for all the religions.
•
Most
important of all, she has achieved an excellent reputation as a good and wise
ruler, and is truly loved and respected by her peop
In the 1950s, as a young
woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous
"fairytale Queen". After the trauma of the war, it was a time of
hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan
age". Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that she was a "priggish
schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism. At her Silver Jubilee, the
crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic.
During her reign, The
Queen has undertaken over 256 official overseas visits to 129 different
countries.
The Queen hosted the
first women-only event "Women of Achievement" at Buckingham Palace in
March, 2004.
She is very socially
oriented and works well with others. She may be active in community affairs or
unite with others of similar ideals and intentions to work toward a common
goal. Progressive and democratic, Queen Elizabeth II is not concerned with
hoarding personal power or having authority over others. She is a team player.
New, unconventional
methods appeal to Queen Elizabeth, especially ideas that involve bringing
people together or creating fairer working conditions - such as networking,
profit sharing, and job sharing. New technologies also interest her.
Her energy level is high
but somewhat erratic. She is a doer and an achiever. Energetic, courageous, and
often impatient, Queen Elizabeth II will forge ahead with her plans.
Queen Elizabeth II has a
positive, "can-do" attitude and she tackles life's challenges with
relish. She is self-confident and has a strong will to succeed, to see how much
she can do and how far she can go. No matter what Queen Elizabeth accomplishes,
she does not rest on her laurels. Elizabeth wants to keep on going, to do even
bigger things. She is proactive, enterprising and enthusiastic about new
projects. She is not happy in situations that do not offer her challenges and the
potential for future growth - no matter how secure or satisfactory they may
seem in other respects. She enjoys competition, but Queen Elizabeth II competes
mostly with herself, to see how much of her vision and potential she can really
achieve. She makes a good leader, inspiring courage and confidence in others.
Queen Elizabeth II enjoys good health and a high level of vitality.
Although enterprising
and proactive, Queen Elizabeth II is also capable of ample self-discipline,
patience and effort. Queen Elizabeth II works hard and patiently to achieve her
objectives and perseveres in spite of difficulties and discouragement. When
concentrating on a single, clearly defined goal, Elizabeth is able to
accomplish a great deal, but she often feels that the path is long and arduous [difficult
and tiring], and that she must struggle on alone and shoulder the burden
single-handedly.
She is capable of great
self-control and self-denial and can be a hard taskmaster, expecting far too
much of herself. Her competitive drive and lofty ambitions feed on either
intense spiritual idealism or a rather inflated, grandiose idea of what Queen
Elizabeth II can actually accomplish.
At her best, Queen
Elizabeth II will work or fight for a greater cause, and feel fulfilled through
serving the greater good.
Queen Elizabeth II has a
talent for putting fresh ideas and inspiration into practice. She is ready and
willing to apply new ideas and methods, and she has a knack [an acquired or
natural skill at performing a task] for gaining acceptance for a new idea and
implementing it.
Diamond Jubilee and
beyond
Elizabeth's Diamond
Jubilee in 2012 marked 60 years as Queen, with celebrations throughout her
realms, the wider Commonwealth, and beyond. In a message released on Accession
Day, she stated: "In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your
service, I hope we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the
convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness ... I
hope also that this Jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great
advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with
clear head and warm heart". She and her husband undertook an extensive
tour of the United Kingdom, while her children and grandchildren embarked on
royal tours of other Commonwealth states on her behalf. On 4 June, jubilee
beacons were lit around the world.
The Queen opened the
2012 Summer Olympics on 27 July and the Paralympics on 29 August 2012 in
London, making her the first head of state to open two Olympic Games in two
different countries (she also opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal). For
the London Olympics, she played herself in a short film as part of the opening
ceremony, alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond. On 4 April 2013, she received
an honorary BAFTA for her patronage of the film industry and was called
"the most memorable Bond girl yet" at the award ceremony.
On 18 December 2012, the
Queen became the first British sovereign to attend a peace-time Cabinet meeting
since King George III in 1781.
The Queen is the
longest-lived and second-longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom and the
second-longest-serving current head of state (after King Bhumibol Adulyadej of
Thailand).
She is the patron of
over 600 organisations and charity.
Queen Elizabeth II has a
positive, "can-do" attitude and she tackles life's challenges with
relish. She is self-confident and has a strong will to succeed, to see how much
she can do and how far she can go. No matter what Queen Elizabeth accomplishes,
she does not rest on her laurels. Elizabeth wants to keep on going, to do even
bigger things. She is proactive, enterprising and enthusiastic about new
projects. She is not happy in situations that do not offer her challenges and
the potential for future growth - no matter how secure or satisfactory they may
seem in other respects. She enjoys competition, but Queen Elizabeth II competes
mostly with herself, to see how much of her vision and potential she can really
achieve. She makes a good leader, inspiring courage and confidence in others.
Queen Elizabeth II enjoys good health and a high level of vitality.
Although enterprising
and proactive, Queen Elizabeth II is also capable of ample self-discipline,
patience and effort. Queen Elizabeth II works hard and patiently to achieve her
objectives and perseveres in spite of difficulties and discouragement.
Her role in life is apt
to be one of great responsibility and Queen Elizabeth II takes her tasks very
seriously. Certain heaviness weighs on her because of this. She may have been
unusually ambitious or mature at a tender age. Queen Elizabeth II advances and
attains her aspirations through dedication and perseverance, rather than
fortune.
Innovation, discovery,
originality, experimentation, and opening up new channels of understanding are
important aspects of her life's work. Concerned with future trends and the new,
Queen Elizabeth II is apt to be ahead of her time in many respects.
UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon and General Assembly President Ali Treki expressed their gratitude at
the Queen’s visit on 7th July 2010 and praised her sense of duty and
tireless public service she has demonstrated throughout the years. Before the
Queen spoke, she was welcomed by Ban Ki-moon, who hailed the queen that in
"a churning and changing world", she was "an anchor for our
age”. Ban called her “a living symbol of grace, constancy and dignity.”
UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon noted that her reign spanned the decades “from the Beatles to Beckham,”
a reference to English soccer star David Beckham, and from “television to
Twitter.”
2. President
Barack H. Obama It was said of Cicero that when people
heard him, they turned to one another and said “Great Speech”; but when
Demosthenes spoke, people turned to one another and said, “Let’s march”. All
around the world the people are marching with Barack Obama. British Prime
Minister, Gordon Brown, writing about Barack Obama, published in Times
magazine 30th April 2009 about 100
most influential people of the world.
Comments about award of
Nobel Prize to President Barack Obama as written in the blog
king-tutankhamun.blogspot.com dated Sunday May 02, 2010
The US President Barrack
H. Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize to mixed reviews
OSLO, Oct 9 (Reuters) -
U.S. President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for giving the
world "hope for a better future" and striving for nuclear
disarmament, in a surprise award that drew both warm praise and sharp
criticism.
The decision to bestow
one of the world's top accolades on a president less than nine months into his
first term, who has yet to score a major foreign policy success, was greeted
with gasps of astonishment from journalists at the announcement in Oslo.
The Norwegian Nobel
Committee praised Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen
international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". But critics --
especially in parts of the Arab and Muslim world -- called its decision
premature.
Obama's press secretary
woke him with the news before dawn and the president felt "humbled"
by the award, a senior administration official said.
When told in an email
from Reuters that many people around the world were stunned by the
announcement, Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod, responded: "As are
we."
The first African-American
to hold his country's highest office, Obama, 48, has called for disarmament and
worked to restart the stalled Middle East peace process since taking office in
January.
"Very rarely has a
person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its
people hope for a better future," the committee said in a citation.
While the decision won
praise from statesmen like Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev, both former
Nobel laureates, it was also attacked in some quarters as hasty and undeserved.
President Barack
Obama Extract from his
acceptance speech at the Democratic Party Convention on 6th September 2012
America, I never said
this journey would be easy, and I won't promise that now. Yes, our path is
harder, but it leads to a better place. Yes, our road is longer, but we travel
it together.
We don't turn back. We
leave no one behind. We pull each other up. We draw strength from our
victories. And we learn from our mistakes. But we keep our eyes fixed on
that distant horizon knowing that providence is with us and that we are surely
blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth.
Barack Obama, Extracts from election
Night Speech in Chicago, 04th November 08, when he was declared winner
of the 2008 Presidential Elections
“I will never forget who
this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you. I was
never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money
or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington.
It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the
front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into
what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause…………..If
there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all
things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in
our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your
answer………….There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools
to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair. The road ahead will be
long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one
term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we
will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there. There will be
setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision
or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will
listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to
join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in
America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused [toughened]
hand by calloused hand.” Barack Obama, Election Night Speech in
Chicago, -04th November 08
3.
4. King Abdullah
bin Abdul Aziz al Saud
One of the world's few
remaining absolute monarchs, King Abdullah has continued to pursue an agenda of
moderate reform in the desert kingdom that contains 20% of the world's known
oil reserves and Islam's 2 holiest sites. Recently the king granted women the
right to vote in local elections. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was proclaimed the sixth King of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia on 25 Jumada al-Thani 1426H (August 1, 2005), upon the death of
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz.
King Abdullah is also
Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers and Commander of the National Guard.
King Abdullah was born
in Riyadh in 1924, and received his early education at the royal court.
Influenced by his father, founder of the modern Kingdom King Abdulaziz Al Saud,
he developed a profound respect for religion, history and the Arab
heritage. His years spent living in the desert with Bedouin tribes taught
him their values of honor, simplicity, generosity and bravery, and instilled in
him the desire to assist in the development of his people.
In 1962, Prince Abdullah
was chosen by King Faisal to command the National Guards. He was appointed
Second Deputy Prime Minister in 1975 on the succession of King Khalid, and when
King Fahd came to the throne in 1982, he was named Crown Prince and First
Deputy Prime Minister. In the latter capacity, he presided over cabinet
meetings and governed the country as deputy to Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz.
Since ascending the
throne in 2005, King Abdullah has made development a central focus of his
reign. He has initiated a range of major economic, social, education, health,
and infrastructure projects that have brought about remarkable changes throughout
the Kingdom.
King Abdullah’s notable
achievements in this area include the launch of four mega economic cities, the
creation of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology [the
country's new flagship ]for advanced scientific research and the Princess Nourah
bint Abdulrahman University for Girls, projects to expand the Two Holy Mosques
and major welfare projects. He also approved a historic reorganization of Saudi
Arabia’s judicial system and enacted laws to formalize the royal succession. As
Crown Prince in 2005, he closely monitored the ongoing election process for the
country's municipal councils.
He
created a regulatory body for capital markets. He invested in educating the
workforce for future jobs. The Saudi government is also encouraging the
development of non-hydrocarbon sectors in which the Kingdom has a comparative
advantage, including mining, solar energy, and religious tourism. The Kingdom's
2010 budget reflected these priorities—about 25 percent was devoted to
education alone—and amounts to a significant economic stimulus package.
King
Abdullah laid down a $37-billion programme of new spending including new
jobless benefits, education and housing subsidies, debt write-offs, and a new
sports channel. There was also a pledge to spend a total of $400bn by the end
of 2014 to improve education, health care and the kingdom's infrastructure. On
11 January 2013, King Abdullah appointed thirty women to the Consultative
Assembly or Shura Council as well as modified the related law to realize that
the female members of the assembly would be consisted of no less than 20
percent of 150 members -another
phenomenal step.
King
Abdullah called for the establishment of an Arab common market in January 2011.
Saudi foreign minister, Saud bin Faisal, stated the Arab Customs Union would be
ready by 2015 and by 2017 the common market would also be in place. There have
been intensive efforts to link Arab countries with a railway system and an
electricity power grid. Work on the power grid project has started in some Arab
countries.
• He
donated $500 million to the United Nations World Food Programme in 2008
• He has
donated $50 million in cash and $10 million worth of relief materials for the
2008 Sichuan earthquake in China.
• He
donated $10 billion to the endowment fund of the King Abdullah University of
Science and Technology in May 2008.
• On 5
February 2011, he waived US$156 million of housing loans for nearly 3,300
Saudis who had died.
On a global level, King
Abdullah’s participation in international diplomacy reflects the Kingdom’s
leadership role in defense of Arab and Islamic issues and for the achievement
of world peace, stability and security.
He has taken a leading
role in promoting dialogue among the world’s leading faiths. His call for
interfaith dialogue has resulted in the convention of the World Conference on
Dialogue in Madrid, Spain and a United Nations conference on dialogue in 2008.
King Abdullah has also
sought to resolve conflicts in the Arab and Islamic world. He has played a key
role in the agreements for a Palestinian national unity government and a
reconciliation accord between Sudan and Chad on Darfur.
A strong advocate of
constructive global cooperation, King Abdullah has held a number of important
international summits and meetings in the Kingdom. In June 2008, he hosted the
Jeddah energy summit to discuss ways of stabilizing global oil markets. Other
major international meetings include the Third OPEC Summit of Heads of State
and the 19th Arab League Summit in 2007 and the 27th summit of the GCC Supreme
Council in 2006.
On the issue of
terrorism, King Abdullah has been unwavering in his condemnation of the taking
of innocent lives, and in his denunciation of deviant groups that falsely claim
to be Islamic. At the Counter-Terrorism International Conference in Riyadh in
February, 2005, he urged international cooperation to fight this global
scourge.
King Abdullah has
undertaken numerous state visits both as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and
as Crown Prince to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s relations with countries around
the world. Recent state visits include Spain, France, Egypt, Jordan, Britain,
Italy, Germany and Turkey in 2007, and China, India, Pakistan and Malaysia in
2006.
The King's first
official visit to the United States was as Prince Abdullah in 1976, when he met
with President Gerald Ford. His second visit was in October 1987, as Crown
Prince, when he met with President George H.W. Bush. In September 1998, he made
his third state visit to the United States, meeting in Washington, DC with
President Bill Clinton. He met again with President Clinton in September 2000
while attending the Millennium event at the UN in New York. The King visited
USA in April 2002, and again in April 2005.
Throughout his life,
King Abdullah has retained a love of the desert, along with a love of
horsemanship. He is a breeder of pure Arabian horses, and founder of the
equestrian club in Riyadh. Another life-long passion is reading, to which he
attributes great importance. He has established two libraries, the King
Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh, and one in Casablanca, Morocco.
Beginning in 2015 women
will be allowed to vote and run for office in municipal elections, thanks to a
decree from King Abdullah.
No, Saudi Arabia still
won’t issue driver’s licenses to women. But with the support of a visonary
King, women’s access to education, economic opportunity and travel outside the
kingdom is steadily accelerating.
·
Two-thirds
of the Saudi population is under 30
· The government has built
30 new universities in the last decade.
· In one generation the
kingdom has gone from one of the highest illiteracy rates (60%)
in the world to one of the highest literacy (96%) rates.
·
Since
2005, an average of 100,000 Saudis a year, including women, have been
studying abroad. Tuition and expenses paid by King Abdullah’s Scholarship
Program.
Saudis are some of the
largest users of the Internet. Arabic is the fastest growing language on
Twitter. Saudis watch more than 90 million videos daily on YouTube –the
largest national viewership in the world.
King
Abdullah has been named as the most influential Muslim among 500 Muslims for
the past 4 years. In December 2012, Forbes named him as the seventh most
powerful figure in its list of the "World's Most Powerful People" for
2012, being the sole Arab in the top ten.
5. President Bill
Clinton, 42nd President of The United
State
William Jefferson
Clinton was the first Democratic president in six decades to be elected twice –
first in 1992, defeating incumbent president George H.W. Bush. and then
in 1996. As president, Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime
economic expansion in American history. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the
third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War. Under his leadership,
the country enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest
economic expansion in U.S. history, including the creation of more than 22
million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus between
the years 1998 and 2000, the last three years of Clinton's presidency. He
successfully passed welfare reform and the State Children's Health Insurance
Program, providing health coverage for millions of children. He signed into law
the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Born and raised in
Arkansas, Clinton became both a student leader and a skilled musician. He is an
alumnus of Georgetown University where he was Phi Beta Kappa [The Phi Beta
Kappa Society, an academic honor society in the United States, has 280
chapters. It aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and
sciences, and induct the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at
American colleges and universities. Founded on December 5, 1776, as the first
collegiate Greek-letter fraternity, it is also the oldest honor society for the
liberal arts and sciences and among the oldest undergraduate societies in the
United States. Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ) stands for— "Love of learning is the
guide of life"] He earned a Rhodes Scholarship to attend the University of
Oxford. He is married to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has served as the United
States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 and was a Senator from New York
from 2001 to 2009. Both Clintons received law degrees from Yale Law School. As
Governor of Arkansas, Clinton overhauled the state's education system, and
served as Chair of the National Governors Association.
After leaving the White
House, based on his philanthropic worldview, President Clinton established the
William J. Clinton Foundation, with the mission to improve global health,
strengthen economies, promote healthier childhoods, and protect the environment
by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental
organizations, and private citizens to turn good intentions into measurable
results. Today the Foundation has staff and volunteers around the world working
to improve lives through several initiatives, are applying a business-oriented
approach worldwide to fight climate change and develop sustainable economic
growth in Africa and Latin America. In the U.S., the Foundation is working to
combat the alarming rise in childhood obesity through the Alliance for a
Healthier Generation, and is promoting small businesses growth in underserved
communities. Established in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative brings together
global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the
world’s most pressing issues such as global public health, poverty alleviation
and religious and ethnic conflict. In 2005, Clinton announced through his
foundation an agreement with manufacturers to stop selling sugared drinks in
schools. Clinton's foundation joined with the Large Cities Climate Leadership
Group in 2006 to improve cooperation among those cities, and he met with
foreign leaders to promote this initiative. The foundation has received
donations from a number of governments all over the world, including Asia and
the Middle East. In 2008, Foundation director Inder Singh announced that deals
to reduce the price of anti-malaria drugs by 30% in developing nations.
In addition to his
Foundation work, President Clinton has joined with former President George H.W.
Bush three times – after the 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in
2005, and Hurricane Ike in 2008 – to help raise money for recovery efforts and
served as the U.N. Envoy for Tsunami Recovery.
Various colleges and
universities have awarded Clinton honorary degrees, including Doctorate of Law
degrees and Doctor of Humane Letters degrees. Schools have been named for Clinton,
and statues do homage him. The Clinton Presidential Center was opened in Little
Rock, Arkansas in his honor on December 5, 2001. He has been honored in various
other ways, in countries that include the Czech Republic, New Guinea, Germany,
Kosovo and in U.S.A where he has been honored include Missouri, Arkansas,
Kentucky, and New York. He was presented with the Medal for Distinguished
Public Service by Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen in 2001.
In 1993 and again in
1998, Clinton was selected as Time's "Man of the Year", From a
poll conducted of the American people in December 1999, Clinton was among
eighteen included in Gallup's List of Widely Admired People of the 20th
century. He has been honored with a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for
Children, a J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, a TED
Prize (named for the confluence [meeting together at one point] of technology,
entertainment and design), and many other awards and honors.
6. Governor Mitt
Romney. Extract from his
acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on 30th August 2012
“My dad had been born in
Mexico and his family had to leave during the Mexican revolution. I grew up
with stories of his family being fed by the US Government as war refugees. My
dad never made it through college and apprenticed as a lath and plaster
carpenter. And he had big dreams. He convinced my mom, a beautiful young
actress, to give up Hollywood to marry him. He moved to Detroit, led a great
automobile company and became Governor of the Great State of Michigan.
We were Mormons and
growing up in Michigan; that might have seemed unusual or out of place but I
really don't remember it that way. My friends cared more about what sports
teams we followed than what church we went to.
My mom and dad gave
their kids the greatest gift of all – the gift of unconditional love. They
cared deeply about who we would BE, and much less about what we would DO.
Unconditional love is a
gift that Ann and I have tried to pass on to our sons and now to our
grandchildren. All the laws and legislation in the world will never heal this
world like the loving hearts and arms of mothers and fathers. If every child
could drift to sleep feeling wrapped in the love of their family – and God's love
— this world would be a far more gentle and better place.
Mom and Dad were married
64 years. And if you wondered what their secret was, you could have asked the
local florist – because every day Dad gave Mom a rose, which he put on her
bedside table. That's how she found out what happened on the day my father died
– she went looking for him because that morning, there was no rose.
My mom and dad were true
partners, a life lesson that shaped me by everyday example. When my mom ran for
the Senate, my dad was there for her every step of the way. I can still hear
her saying in her beautiful voice, "Why should women have any less say
than men, about the great decisions facing our nation?"
I wish she could have
been here at the convention and heard leaders like Governor Mary Fallin,
Governor Nikki Haley, Governor Susana Martinez, Senator Kelly Ayotte and
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
As Governor of
Massachusetts, I chose a woman Lt. Governor, a woman chief of staff, half of my
cabinet and senior officials were women, and in business, I mentored and
supported great women leaders who went on to run great companies.”
7.
8.
However you should not
be disappointed if your achievements of bringing some positive change in
people’s lives is not recognized because “For when the One Great Scorer comes /
To write against your name, / He marks-not that you won or lost - /But how you
played the game ([Alumnus Football] Grantland Rice (1880-1954))”
Because, for your best
efforts, you will have salvation according to your own faith, you will also be
entitled to be the honorary member of the prestigious fan club of the cosmic
intelligence, Allah, God, Bhagvan, Yehweh. And you shall always be happy and
have the feeling of Nirvana.
Following is the
definition of Nirvana applicable in the above paragraph, stated in the book “A
history of God” written by Karen Armstrong
“Nirvana-A Hindi word
[which is also now a common word in English language] a term used to denote an
ultimate reality, the goal and fulfillment of human life and the end of
pain.”
to
be completed
