The President of India Sri Ram Nath Kovind presented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards at a virtual event during the the valedictory address on the third and final day of the 16th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations at a virtual event.
The award is the highest honor conferred by the President of India as part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conventions on a Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Person of Indian Origin (PIO), and organization or institution established and run by NRIs or PIOs.
Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Curacao Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath and New Zealand minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan were among 30 NRIs, and Indian-origin people and organisations who were conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award on Saturday. Mr Rhuggenaath, Mr Santokhi and Ms Radhakrishnan were awarded for their public service.
Mukhesh Aghi, president and CEO of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, was also among the awardees. The awardees also included Dr. Rajani Chandra D'Mello (Azerbaijan), Baburajan Vava Kalluparambil Gopalan (Bahrain), Jamal Ahmad (Botswana), Janakiraman Ravikumar (Cameroon), Debashish Chaudhuri (Czech Republic), Mohammed Husein Hasanali Sardharwala (Ethiopia), Balasubramanian Ramani (Germany), Lal Lokumal Chellaram (Hong Kong), Dr. (Prof.) Muralidhar Miryala (Japan), Rajib Shaw (Japan), Salil Panigrahi (Maldives), Ravi Prakash Singh (Mexico), Mohan Thomas Lazarus Pakalomattom (Qatar), Arvind Phukan (US), Nilu Gupta (US) and Sudhakar Jonnalagadda (US).
Four organisations -- NGO Cultural Diversity for Peaceful Future in Armenia, Sai Prema Foundation in Fiji, Indian Cultural Association in Nigeria, Federation of Indian Associations of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- were also awarded for community service and their work for promoting cultural ties.
No NRIs from Kuwait is included in this year Pravasi Award. In previous years, Kuwait based NRI Sri Rajpal Thyagi and Indian Doctors Forum were bestowed with Pravasi Bharateeya Awards.
"The awardees represent the vibrant excellence achieved by our diaspora in various fields. Several countries have been represented for the first time among the awardees," External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.