Bangalore, Jan 10: 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations are being held in Bangalore from January 7-9, 2017. PBD conventions are being held every year since 2003 and we have been honoring our Pravasis since the first edition.
It was decided late last year to hold the PBD conventions after an interval of two years. Therefore, the number of awards to be conferred for PBD 2017 have been doubled to 30. The Jury cum Awards Committee can also make upto six suo-motto nominations for persons from the fields in which the awards are to be conferred. This year, the jury also considered Pravasi’s contribution for achievements on philanthropic investments and charitable work in India and for contribution towards India’s development.
Nominations were invited in the prescribed format from all eligible categories of Overseas Indians/Organizations. The last date for receipt of nominations at the Ministry was 29th August 2016.
The Jury-cum-Awards Committee, chaired by Hon’ble Vice-President, considered all the nominations for the PBSA. A list of 123 nominations that were found eligible as per the guidelines and another list of 55 nominations that were received late were presented for consideration of the Committee. The nominations were initially examined by a Screening Committee comprising of Officers from the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Jury-cum-Awards Committee for Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA) comprised of following members:
Vice President of India-Chairman
Hon’ble EAM , Vice-Chairman
Shri Swapan Dasgupta, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Principal Secretary to PM
Dr. S. Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary
Shri Rajeev Mehrishi, Home Secretary
Shri Satish Chandra, former Ambassador of India to the USA
Ms. Indra Noooyi CEO Pepsico Shri Yusuf Ali M.A. Managing Director, Lulu Group of Industries, UAE
Shri Yusuf Ali M.A. Managing Director, Lulu Group of Industries, UAE
Shri Shyam Parande, Secretary, Antar Rashtriya Sahyog Parishad
Shri Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay, Secretary (OIA & CPV) & Member Secretary
The Jury members considered all eligible nominations and the relevant information placed before the Committee. After detailed discussions, thirty nominees were unanimously recommended by the Jury-cum-Awards Committee for Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, 2017 by the Committee on December 20, 2016.
List of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman-2017 Awardees
| S.NO. | Name | Country | Field |
| 1 | Dr. Gorur Krishna Harinath | Australia | Community Service |
| 2 . | Mr. Rajasekharan Pillai Valavoor Kizhakkathil | Bahrain | Business |
| 3 . | Antwerp Indian Association | Belgium | Community Service |
| 4 . | Mr. Nazeer Ahamed Mohamed Zackiriah | Brunei | Community Service |
| 5. | Mr. Mukund Bhikhubhai Purohit | Canada | Business |
| 6. | Mr. Nalinkumar Sumanlal Kothari | Djibouti | Community Service |
| 7. | Mr. Vinod Chandra Patel | Fiji | Social Service |
| 8. | Mr. Raghunath Marie Antonin Manet | France | Arts & Culture |
| 9. | Dr. Lael Anson E. Best | Israel | Medical Science |
| 10. | Dr. Sandip Kumar Tagore | Japan | Arts & Culture |
| 11. | Mr. Ariful Islam | Libya | Community Service |
| 12 . | Tan Sri Dato Dr. Muniandy Thambirajah | Malaysia | Education and Community Service |
| 13 . | Hon’ble Mr. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth | Mauritius | Public Service |
| 14 . | H.E. Mr. Antonio Luis Santos da Costa | Portugal | Public Service |
| 15 . | Dr. Raghavan Seetharaman | Qatar | Business Management |
| 16 . | Ms. Zeenat Musarrat Jafri | Saudi Arabia | Education |
| 17. | Singapore Indian Association | Singapore | Community Service |
| 18. | Dr. Carani Balaraman Sanjeevi | Sweden | Medicine |
| 19 . | Mr. Susheel Kumar Saraff | Thailand | Business |
| 20. | Mr. Winston Chandarbhan Dookeran | Trinidad & Tobago | Public Service |
| 21. | Mr. Vasudev Shamdas Shroff | United Arab Emirates | Community Service |
| 22 . | India Social and Cultural Centre, Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | Philanthropy and Community Service |
| 23 . | Rt. Hon’ble Ms. Priti Patel | United Kingdom | Public Service |
| 24 . | Ms. Neena Gill | United Kingdom | Public Service |
| 25 . | Mr. Hari Babu Bindal | USA | Environmental Engineering |
| 26 . | Dr. Bharat Haridas Barai | USA | Community Service |
| 27 . | Ms. Nisha Desai Biswal | USA | Public Affairs |
| 28 . | Dr. Mahesh Mehta | USA | Community Service |
| 29 . | Mr. Ramesh Shah | USA | Community Service |
| 30. | Dr. Sampatkumar Shidramapa Shivangi | USA | Community Leadership |
Source-PIB
