Former Vice President Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat conferred the third Bharatvanshi Gaurav Samman on Dr Thomas Abraham, the founder Chairman of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO). The award has been instituted by the Antar Rashtriya Sahayog Nyas at a special ceremony held at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, Shri Shekhawat commended Dr Abraham'scontribution in the NRI movement and said this award would further motivate GOPIO and Dr Abraham to continue to take up the issues related to the development of Indian diaspora.
He said the Indian diaspora is playing an important role in diverse fields of Information Technology, Medicine and Education. They can make valuable contribution in the fields like biotechnology, space research, energy and water resources management to realise Vision 2020 of a developed India. Indians are foremost in remitting money back home, repatriating more than 25 billion dollars every year. India with its great civilisation and glorious traditions has been a world teacher and the time is not far-off when India'ssupremacy would be reasserted as a knowledge based society.
Earlier, Shri Baleshwar Agrawal, founder president of the Antar Rashtriya Sahayog Nyas, gave a brief account of the activities of the Nyas for the welfare of PIO'saround the world. The Nyas honours one person of Indian origin every year who has excelled in his field and done India proud. The chairman of the Nyas, Shri Lakhan Lal Mehrotra appreciated the efforts of Dr Abraham and said he has given a solid foundation to the GOPIO for the development of Indian diaspora. Dr Abraham while accepting the award spoke about the achievements and challenges being faced by the PIO'sin different countries. The award carries a cheque of rupees one lakh, a shawl and a memento. Shri Vijender Mittal of the Nayas pointed out that earlier two awards had been given to Shri Ranjit Ram Narain of South Africa and Shri Sat Maharaj of Trinidad and Tobago. Proposing a vote of thanks Shri J C Sharma, former Secretary MEA and vice president of the Nyas said the PIO'sare the cultural ambassadors of India and the foundation would continue to work for their welfare.
(FOC)
