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As an Awards evening, it was quite special. To have so many Overseas Indian (OI) luminaries present at the same time at the splendid Venetian, Regal and Edward halls of Ramada Plaza on January 10 was a terrific privilege. To have the Awards presented by our chief guest, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, and having the gracious presence of our guest of honour, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, was elevating. Without doubt, the evening lifted the spirits of those present, and the Awardees went back with memories they’d treasure for a very long time.
The evening was made possible because of the very healthy response we received online. Nominations came in from all parts of the world, and in no way did that make our task easy of selecting the eventual Awardees. But we were able to select the very best, thanks also to the guidance received from friends in key positions in credible global NRI organizations across the world. The awardee for Community Leadership in the Gulf Cooperation Council, Krishnamurthy Kumar from the UAE, acknowledged that the level of transparency maintained at the Awards was indeed very high. The awardee for Community Leadership in the African Region, Logie Naidoo, surprised us by saying that the prestige and honour he felt after receiving his award from Minister Ravi made him rank the Awards next only to the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA). Quite humbling, to say the least.
Four of our awardees, including Kumar, have already received the prestigious PBSA from the President of India. Two of them, the Deputy Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Lenny Saith, and Indian-American laser physicist Mani Bhaumik, received the PBSA on January 9, 2010, a day before our Awards evening. As OIs, each and every one of the Awardees has made a difference to the people and communities in their countries of domicile. Their achievements are staggering, and from India’s point of view, these are the men and women who can make a critical and meaningful difference to India’s engagements overseas.
I must compliment the efforts of the main team that helped put it all together. Our graphics head Jaydev Bisht not only put the creative part of the magazine together on time, but worked on the backdrop design and other logistical details. He also helped put together the on-screen visuals at the venue. Neeraj Singh and his boys did a commendable job of filming and photographing the entire proceedings. Our executive editor Rakesh Krishnan helped us in carefully constructing the citations of the Awardees from his desk in New Zealand. Sahiba Kapoor liaised with event managers, the hotel staff and a team of five hostesses and in the end was instrumental in the smooth running of the Awards night. And Jasleen Kaur did a commendable job of being the MC for the evening.
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| Jaydev Bisht |
Rakesh Krishnan |
Sahiba Kapoor |
Jasleen Kaur |
Neeraj Singh |
As we bring to you some of the moments from the Awards evening, we would like to state that the online nominations for the next awards (January 10, 2011) are open on our website
www.indiaempire.com. You can also view details of the Awards evening including photos and the DVD on the
site. Quite clearly, the evening was inspirational for those who received the Awards, those who attended and those who organized it.
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