BENGALURU (TIP): Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State, Department of State, community activist Dr. Sampatkumar Shivangi; community activist Ramesh Shah, environmental engineer Hari Babu Bindal, philanthropist and organizer of Modi’s historic Madison Square Garden event in 2014, Dr. Bharat Barai; and the founder and former president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, Dr. Mahesh Mehta are the six Indian Americans who received 2017 Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA) from President Pranab Mukherjee on January 9 at Bengaluru.
Dr. Sampat S. Shivangi is a renowned Indian American leader. A street in Mississippi is named after him in recognition of his contributions to the progress and welfare of the community. He was the first Indian American to be appointed for the top health post, the Chairman of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, in 2014. Dr. Sampat Shivangi was the advisor to the US Secretary of Health and Human Services in the presidential regime of George W. Bush. He is the founder and president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian-origin in Mississippi. The CEO of US Info Systems of Mississippi, he is one of the trustworthy confidantes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
One of the recipients of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, India-born and Chicago-based Dr. Bharat Barai is the director of oncology department at Methodist Hospitals in Indiana. He got a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest serving member of a State Medical Licensing Board in the US. He is a community activist and philanthropist too. He treats uninsured, disadvantaged patients and works to reduce medical expenses for them. Known for his unconditional community services, personal integrity and professional excellence, Dr. Bharat Barai is also in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coterie of close associates.
Another Indian American awardee of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, Dr. Mahesh Mehta is the founder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America. He also founded the Hindu Heritage Foundation of America, Friends of India Society International, India Quality Group and several other organizations. He has many widely published articles on socio-cultural, socio-economic and socio-political aspects to his fame. ‘Hindu Philosophy in Action’ is the latest from Dr. Mahesh Mehta’s repertoire of books and journals. Dr. Mehta is a cofounder and director of Hindu University of America in Orlando, Florida.
Nisha Desai Biswal is an Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs among the six Indian American recipients of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2017. She helms the United States‘ foreign policies and external affairs in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh and other countries in central Asia. Under her distinguished leadership, the US Department of State ensures and enhances human security and national security in south and central Asian nations. Based in Washington DC, Nisha Desai Biswal leads the US’ bilateral consultations with Central and South Asia to deepen ties with those Asian nations.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) is the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians. PBSA is conferred by the President of India as a 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 14th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention was held in Bengaluru from 7-9 January, 2017. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards were conferred by the Hon’ble President at the PBD Convention on 9 January, 2017 in the valedictory session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations in an impressive ceremony.
A 11-member Jury-cum-Awards Committee, with Hon’ble Vice-President as Chairman and Hon’ble External Affairs as Vice-Chairman and nine other distinguished members from various walks of life, considered the nominations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, 2017 and had unanimously thirty nominees.
Nisha Desai Biswal delivered the acceptance speech on behalf of the awardees.
The list of thirty awardees is as follows:
- Gorur Krishna Harinath Australia Community Service
- Rajasekharan Pillai Valavoor Kizhakkathil Bahrain Business
- Antwerp Indian Association Belgium Community Service
- Nazeer Ahamed Mohamed Zackiriah Brunei Community Service
- Mukund Bhikhubhai Purohit Canada Business
- Nalinkumar Sumanlal Kothari Djibouti Community Service
- Vinod Chandra Patel Fiji Social Service
- Raghunath Marie Antonin Manet France Arts & Culture
- Lael Anson E. Best Israel Medical Science
- Sandip Kumar Tagore Japan Arts & Culture
- Ariful Islam Libya Community Service
- Tan Sri Dato Dr. Muniandy Thambirajah Malaysia Education and Community Service
- Hon’ble Pravind Kumar Jugnauth Mauritius Public Service
- 14 H.E. Mr. Antonio Luis Santos da Costa Portugal Public Service
- Raghavan Seetharaman Qatar Business Management
- Zeenat Musarrat Jafri Saudi Arabia Education
- Singapore Indian Association Singapore Community Service
- Carani Balaraman Sanjeevi Sweden Medicine
- Susheel Kumar Saraff Thailand Business
- Winston Chandarbhan Dookeran Trinidad & Tobago Public Service
- Vasudev Shamdas Shroff United Arab Emirates Community Service
- India Social and Cultural Centre, AbuDhabi United Arab Emirates Philanthropy and Community Service
- Hon’ble Priti Patel United Kingdom Public Service
- Neena Gill United Kingdom Public Service Service
- Hari Babu Bindal USA Environmental Engineering
- Bharat Haridas Barai USA Community Service
- Nisha Desai Biswal USA Public Affairs
- Mahesh Mehta USA Community Service
- Ramesh Shah USA Community Service
- Sampatkumar Shidramapa Shivangi USA Community Leadership.
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