9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to highlight northeast region, says Vayalar Ravi

NEW DELHI - Union Minister for Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi on Wednesday said that the country’s northeastern states will be the focus of the 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in New Delhi next year.

The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and eight North Eastern States will be partners of 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)-2011. The convention will showcase the essence of North Eastern Region.

The theme of PBD-2011 will be “Engaging the Global Indian” and the event will be held from January 7 to 9, 2011 at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital.

Addressing a press conference here today, Ravi informed that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the convention on January 8 while President Pratibha Patil will confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards-2011 to distinguished PIOs/NRIs and deliver the Valedictory Address on January 9.

“There will be a plenary session for Chief Ministers of North Eastern States. This would provide the Diaspora with an opportunity to understand the tremendous potential of this beautiful part of India,” said Ravi.

The event is organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), in partnership with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region along with eight North Eastern States and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The Minister said that the focus of PBD-2011 is going to be on the young overseas Indians. In an endeavour to connect with and engage the younger generation of the overseas Indians with emerging India, a plenary session on “Engaging with the young overseas Indian” is being organized.

Highlighting the main feature of the convocation, he informed that two pre-conference seminars on ‘Education’ and ‘Health care’ are proposed, that would offer new opportunities to the Diaspora to participate in these sectors in India.

He informed that a distinguished overseas Indian would deliver the annual oration that is being called the ‘Prof. C.K. Prahalad Memorial Lecture’ this year.

There will also be parallel interactive sessions on topics important to the Diaspora, including (a) Industry round table: Interaction between Diaspora and Indian Industry leaders (B) Information, Communication and Entertainment (ICE) (c) Celebrating the Global Indian, he informed.

On the occasion, the Minister also launched the PBD-2011 website - www.pbdindia.org.

Dr. A. Didar Singh, Secretary, MOIA and Ms. Jayati Chandra, Secretary, DONER were also present in the conference.

Addressing the conference, Ms. Jayati Chandra said that the PBD-2011 will provide a platform for participant NRI’s to explore North Eastern Region. She hoped that many NRI’s of North East Region would participate in the event.

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas provides a platform for exchange of views and networking to overseas Indians on matters of common interest and concern to them.

They also help the Government to better understand and appreciate the expectations of the overseas Indian community from the land of their ancestors and more importantly, acknowledge the important role played by them in India’s efforts to acquire its rightful place in the comity of nations.

Consultations at earlier PBDs have led to the formulation of the Overseas Citizenship of India scheme, establishment of Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre, conceptualisation of Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, formation of Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council of People of Indian Origin, setting up of the India Development Foundation, and the launching of the Global Indian Network of Knowledge (Global-INK). (ANI)