BRITISH Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel and Labour Member of the European Parliament representing the West Midlands Neena Gill were two persons of Indian origin (PIOs) from the United Kingdom who were among the 30 PIOs honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA) 2017 on Monday (January 9).
The PBSAs–the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians–were announced at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention held in Bengaluru and presented by President Pranab Mukherjee during the valedictory session.
Veteran community activist Dr. Sampatkumar Shivangi; close confidante of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the organizer of Modi’s historic appearance at Madison Square Garden in 2014, Dr. Bharat Barai; and the founder and former president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, Dr. Mahesh Mehta, as well as US diplomat Nisha Desai Biswal, were among the six Indian American awardees.
The other two Indian Americans recipients are: community activist Ramesh Shah and environmental engineer Hari Babu Bindal.
The PBS Awardees come from all corners of the world, from a variety of fields – a measure of how Indians abroad have exemplified excellence.
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from the US led the list of 30 persons conferred the PBSAs. Six awards were given to NRIs from the US, the highest in the list, while two each to those from the UK and UAE.
One award each was given to NRIs from 20 countries, including Australia, France, Canada, Israel, Libya, Fiji, Brunei, Singapore, Portugal and others.
The awardees were chosen by an 11-member jury-cum-awards committee. The Vice-President of India as Chairman and External Affairs of India as Vice-Chairman and nine other distinguished members from various walks of life, considered the nominations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2017 and unanimously recommended 30 nominees.
Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State, US Department of State, delivered the acceptance speech on behalf of the awardees.
PBSA is conferred by the President of India as part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conventions organized annually since 2003 on Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin or an organization or institution established and run by the Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin in recognition of their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.
The list of 30 awardees, with their country-origin and award category:
Dr. Gorur Harinath, Australia, Community Service
Rajasekharan Pillai Valavoor Kizhakkathil, Bahrain, Business
Antwerp Indian Association, Belgium, Community Service
Nazeer Ahamed Mohamed Zackiriah, Brunei, Community Service
Mukund Purohit, Canada, Business
Nalinkumar Kothari, Djibouti, Community Service
Vinod Patel, Fiji, Social Service
Raghunath Marie Antonin Manet, France, Arts & Culture
Dr. Lael Anson E. Best, Israel, Medical Science
Dr. Sandip Kumar Tagore, Japan, Arts & Culture
Ariful Islam, Libya, Community Service
Tan Sri Dato Dr. Muniandy Thambirajah, Malaysia, Education and Community Service
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Mauritius, Public Service
Antonio Luis Santos da Costa, Portugal, Public Service
Dr. Raghavan Seetharaman, Qatar, Business Management
Zeenat Jafri, Saudi Arabia, Education
Singapore Indian Association, Singapore, Community Service
Dr. Carani Sanjeevi, Sweden, Medicine
Susheel Kumar Saraff, Thailand, Business
Winston Dookeran, Trinidad & Tobago, Public Service
Vasudev Shroff, UAE, Community Service
India Social and Cultural Centre, UAE, Philanthropy and Community Service
Priti Patel, UK, Public Service
Neena Gill, UK, Public Service
Hari Babu Bindal, US, Environmental Engineering
Dr. Bharat Barai, US, Community Service
Nisha Desai Biswal, US, Public Affairs
Dr. Mahesh Mehta, US, Community Service
Ramesh Shah, US, Community Service
Dr. Sampatkumar Shivangi, US, Community Leadership.
