Press Release
- Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Homecoming of Indian Diaspora: President of India
- Mutual engagement of India and Overseas Indians Centerstage at PBD
- Economic opportunities dominate Day 2 of PBD
- Health, Education and Investment focus at PBD Day 2
- PM Inaugurates 6th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
- PBD'08 will engage Diaspora at every level: Vayalar Ravi / Prime Minister of India to inaugurate / Mauritius PM is Chief Guest / Overseas Workers Resource Center (OWRC) to be launched
Hi-lights of PBD' 08
Hi-lights of PBD' 08
- The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is the annual flagship event of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. The event aims to connect more than 25 million overseas Indians spread over 130 and integrating them into India's development process. Theme of the Sixth edition of PBD is 'Engaging the Diaspora: the way forward' with the objective to encourage Overseas Indians to be part of the socio-economic development of India.
- The forthcoming PBD includes a two-day convention featuring diverse themes with eminent speakers, Trade and Industry Exhibition, Business Networking and Cultural evenings. The focus will be on social areas and issues. The event will primarily focus on the development of common man and rural women. The topics of discussions in the sessions have been designed to initiate dialogue with Overseas Indians and involve them in India's inclusive growth. One of the highlights of PBD 2008 is ‘marketplace’ being organized by Overseas Indian Facilitation Center where one to one meetings will be held to promote Business and Investment in the States for the benefits of common man.
- KEY PLENARY SESSIONS (5)
- Social Development Challenges in India: Health & Education
- Investment & Infrastructure
- Trade & Business Oportunities
- Development Challenges of the States: Partnership opportunities
- Diaspora Philanthropy: Empowerment of Rural Women
- KEY WORKING SESSIONS (8)
- Knowledge Economy
- Culture
- Challenges in Women Empowerment & Leadership
- Regional Sessions - Gulf, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Americas, Europe
- The focus of the sessions will be on social areas and issues. The union governments and state governments will be fully involved in the sessions so that participants can directly interact with government representatives and address their concerns and have exposure to the government' programmes for the common man and how they could be involved in these. The focus areas are
- Rural Women
- Healthcare & Education
- Culture
- Knowledge Economy
- Philanthropy
- Investment
- The Prime Minister of India will inaugurate Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on 8 January 2008 and it will culminate with valedictory address and conferment of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award by Rashtrapatiji on 9 January 2008. The Prime Minister of Mauritius Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam will be the Chief Guest. Many Cabinet Ministers, Overseas Ministers, Parliamentarians, eminent Speakers are attending the Conference.
- UNION MINISTERS (12)
- Pranab Mukherjee
- Kapil Sibal
- Ambika Soni
- Renuka Chaudhary
- Kamal Nath
- E Ahamed
- Priyaranjan Dasmunsi
- Mani Shankar Aiyar
- Anand Sharma
- Ashwini Kumar
- Praful Patel
- Meira Kumar
- OVERSEAS MINISTERS (6)
S. Samy Vellu, Cabinet Minister of Works, Govt. of Malaysia & President Malaysian Indian Congress
Harinder Takhar, Minister of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Canada
Madan Murlidhar Dulloo, Foreign Minister, Mauritius
Mahendra Chaudhry, Minister of Finance, National Planning and Sugar Industry, Fiji
Basdeo Pandey, Former Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago
Mahendra Gowressoo, Minister of Arts and Culture, Mauritius - CHIEF MINISTERS (5)
Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi
Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister of Haryana
Vilasrao Deshmukh*, Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Madhu Koda, Chief Minister of Jharkhand - EMINENT PIOS WHO WOULD BE SPEAKING AT THE PBD 2008:
Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius (Chief Guest)
Thomas Abraham, Chairman, GOPIO Inc., USA
Basdeo Pandey, Former Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago
S Samy Vellu, Cabinet Minister of Works, Govt. of Malaysia & President Malaysian Indian Congress
Madan Murlidhar Dulloo, Foreign Minister, Mauritius
Chaudhry, Minister of Finance, National Planning and Sugar Industry, Fiji
Vijay Eswaran, Group Managing Director, Qi Group
Mahendra Gowressoo, Minister of Arts and Culture, Mauritius
Fareisa Joemmanbahs, Actress and Miss India Worldwide, Suriname
M Rajaram, Chairman, Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Senior Director Straits Law Practice LLC
Neville Roach, Chairman, Australia India Business Council
Y P Reddy, Chairman, Reddy Enterprises Ltd, Fiji
Vijaya Vaidyanathan, CEO, Rodney District Council
K Sital, GOPIO Coordinator, Hong Kong
Mahyendrah Utchanah, President, GOPIO Mauritius
Inder Singh, President GOPIO
Sunil Jagasia, President, ICCC Canada
Ashook Ramsaran, Secretary General, GOPIO USA
Anu Peshawaria, President, Indus Attorneys, President & Founder, IBS Worldwide International Immigration
Lord Diljit S Rana, United Kingdom
T M Jacob, Managing Director, Jtils Industries, President World Malyalee Council, German Province
Ryan Tewari, President GOPIO, Netherlands
Neeraj Jain, President, India Business Alliance, Moscow
Prabhakaran, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Texas, Dallas
Lord Karan Billimoria, CBE, DL, Co-Chair, Indo-British Partnership and Founder & Chairman, Cobra Beer Ltd, UK
Councillor Logie Naidoo, Deputy Mayor of Durban, South Africa - The Prime Minister made three announcements during his Inaugural Address.
- The PIO University
- Council for Overseas Employment Opportunities, and
- Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre
- I am happy to report to you that my Ministry has fulfilled all these three commitments. In PBD 2008 PM would be launching Overseas Workers Resource Center (OWRC), helpline for the emigrant workers unveiling the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra Model which will be constructed for the benefits of NRIs. Prime Minister is expected to announce few measures for the welfare of the NRI in PBD 2008.
- The "Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre" serves as a "one stop shop" for the Overseas Indians with the objective of Promoting Overseas Indian Investment in India and facilitating Business-to-Business partnership between Indian Business and Overseas Indians. We are receiving a large number of queries in OIFC with response time of 24 hrs. The overseas Indians from across the globe are receiving prompt replies of their queries.
- This programmme is aimed at providing the diaspora youth an internship opportunity in India for 3-4 weeks. During this period they get an opportunity to understand India better and help bond with their country of origin. About 30-40 young people between the age of 18-26 from across the world participate in this programme. The sixth KIP is now being held during December, 07 - January, 08.
- Delegates Registration (As on 2.1.2008)
Total No. of Delegates 800 plus (From 43 countries) USA 125 Malaysia 138 Mauritius 120 India 130 Gulf 60 Canada 29 South Africa/ Rest Africa 70 Singapore 15 Europe 68 - Media
- Over 250 Media expected
- Special facility of Media Secretariat created
- with computers, internet connectivity etc
- Exhibition - State Participation (17)
Delhi Maharashtra Kerala Daman & Diu Rajasthan Andhra Pradesh Gujarat Bihar Uttar Pradesh Karnataka Haryana Punjab Tamil Nadu West Bengal Puducherry Madhya Pradesh Jharkhand - HIGHLIGHTS OF PBD 2008
- Focus on common man, Rural Women and overseas Indian workers
- Announcements of last PBD fulfilled
- Few announcements expected from PM
- Launch of Helpline for Overseas Indian Workers
- Unveiling of PBK model
- Marketplace
- 1000 delegates from over 43 countries
- 15 sessions on a wide and inclusive range of topics
- 6 Overseas Ministers will attend the conference
- 100 eminent speakers will attend PBD 2008
- 12 Indian Ministers, 5 Chief Ministers and many Members of Parliaments
- 17 states will participate in the exhibition
- 50 Private exhibitors
- Diaspora Cultural troupe from Mauritius will perform in the cultural programme
Engaging the Diaspora: The way forward
Elements of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas:
- 2 day Conference
- Exhibition
- 2 Cultural Evenings
- 3 Dinners
Key Speakers
- Prime Minister of India to inaugurate
- President of India - Valedictory address and conferment of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards
- Guest - Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius
- Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of India
- Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre
- Thomas Abraham, Chairman, GOPIO Inc., USA
- S S Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya
- C K Menon, Managing Director, Dehzad Group *
- Hemant Kumar Patel, President, Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
- Pratap Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals
- Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Knowledge Commission, India, and Chairman, WorldTel, Chicago, USA
- Vijay Eswaran, Group Managing Director, Qi Group
- Ravi Seethapathy, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute
- Mahendra Gowressoo, Minister of Arts and Culture, Mauritius
- Fareisa Joemmanbahs, Actress and Miss India Worldwide, Suriname
- Kapila Vatsyayan, Former Secretary, Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development of India
- Shashi Tharoor, Writer and Former UN Under Secretary General
- M J Warsi, Department of Asian & Near Eastern Languages & Literature, University of Washington
- Shekhar Kapur, Film Producer & Director
- T P Sreenivasan, Former Ambassador to the UN, Vienna
- Y A Rahim, President, Indian Association Sharjah
- Elamaram Kareem, Minister of Industries, Kerala
- Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Comm for Women
- Mallika Sarabhai, Classical Dancer and Social Activist
- Chanda Kochhar, Joint Managing Director, ICICI Bank Ltd
- G V Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman, GVK Group
- M Rajaram, Chairman, Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Senior Director Straits Law Practice LLC
- Neville Roach, Chairman, Australia India Business Council
- Rohini Muthuswami, ASHA•
- M M Hasan, Former Minister, NORKA
- K Ashok Kumar, Correspondent, Malayalam News, Bahrain
- Y P Reddy, Chairman, Reddy Enterprises Ltd, Fiji
- T K A Nair, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
- Sunil Bharti Mittal, President CII & Chairman & Group CEO Bharti Enterprises
- M A Yousaffali, OIFC Trustee and Managing Director Emke Group
- Pankaj Khimji, Director, Khimji Ramdas Group, Oman
- Vijaya Vaidyanathan, CEO, Rodney District Council
- K Sital, GOPIO Coordinator, Hong Kong
- T C Venkat Subramanian, Chairman & Managing Director, Exim Bank
- Leena Srivastava, Executive Director, Tata Energy and Research Institute
- Sunil Menon,President, Malyalee Association, South Africa Chapter
- Mahyendrah Utchanah, President, GOPIO Mauritius
- Inder Singh, President GOPIO
- Sunil Jagasia, President, ICCC Canada
- Ashook Ramsaran, Secretary General, GOPIO USA
- Anu Peshawaria, President, Indus Attorneys, President & Founder, IBS Worldwide International Immigration
- Ambassador S K Lambah, Special Envoy of the PM of India
- Lord Diljit S Rana, United Kingdom
- T M Jacob, Managing Director, Jtils Industries, President World Malyalee Council, German Province
- Ryan Tewari, President GOPIO, Netherlands
- Neeraj Jain, President, India Business Alliance, Moscow
- Rajini Patil, Chairperson, Central Social Welfare Board
- Prabhakaran, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Texas, Dallas
- N Ravi, Secretary (East) Ministry of External Affairs
- Neena Gopal, Journalist*
- C Rangarajan, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council of Prime Minister of India*
- Anil Kapur, Managing Director, Western Union Services India Pvt Ltd, India
- Lord Karan Billimoria, CBE, DL, Co-Chair, Indo-British Partnership and Founder & Chairman, Cobra Beer Ltd, UK
- Councillor Logie Naidoo, Deputy Mayor of Durban, South Africa
Ministers
- Pranab Mukherjee, Minister for External Affairs*
- Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
- Ambika Soni, Minister of Tourism and Culture
- Renuka Chaudhary, Minister of State (IC) of Ministry of Women and Child Development
- S Samy Vellu, Cabinet Minister of Works, Govt. of Malaysia & President Malaysian Indian Congress
- Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce & Industry
- E Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs
- Harinder Takhar, Minister of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Canada
- Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs
- Madan Murlidhar Dulloo, Foreign Minister, Mauritius
- Basdeo Pandey, Former Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago
- Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports, Development of North Eastern Region and Panchayati Raj
- Mahendra Chaudhry, Minister of Finance, National Planning and Sugar Industry, Fiji
- Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs
- Ashwini Kumar, Minister of State for Industries*
- Praful Patel, Minister of State for Civil Aviation (IC)
- Meira Kumar, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
Chief Ministers / MPs
- Chief Minister/Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar
- Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi
- Chief Minister of Gujarat
- Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister of Haryana
- Adviser to Governor of Karnataka
- Industries Minister of Kerala
- Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra
- Chief Minister / Senior Minister of Rajasthan
- Madhu Koda, Chief Minister of Jharkhand
- Krishna Tirath, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
- Brinda Karat, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Key Plenary Sessions
- Social Development Challenges in India : Health & Education
- Investment & Infrastructure
- Trade & Business Oportunities
- Development Challenges of the States : Partnership opportunities
- Diaspora Philanthropy: Empowerment of Rural Women
Key Working Sessions
- Knowledge Economy
- Culture
- Challenges in Women Empowerment & Leadership
- Regional Sessions - Gulf, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Americas, Europe
Media
- Over 250 Media expected
- Special facility of Media Secretariat created with computers, internet connectivity etc
- Special team from PIB and CII to handle Media
Delegates
Total No. of Delegates 800 plus
(From 43 countries)
Mostly From :
| USA | 125 |
| Malaysia | 138 |
| Mauritius | 120 |
| India | 130 |
| Gulf | 60 |
| Canada | 29 |
| South Africa/ Rest Africa | 70 |
| Singapore | 15 |
| Europe | 68 |
Cultural Evenings
- Day 1 - 8th January 2008
Performance by Ms Vinduja Menon, actress from South India. Performance to include the traditional dance form of Kerala "Mohiniyattom" and also the combinations of Jugal Bandi's of other dance forms. Ghazal and Sufiana Kalam by Ms Anita Singhvi Diaspora group from Mauritius: "The Voyage of Experience" ("Anubhavik Safar") A choreographic ballet depicting the Indian diaspora voyage in a creative imagination, blending the different artistic essence of Mauritian culture. - Day 2 - 9th January 2008
Performance by Sunidhi Chauhan, famous Bollywood Singer and troupe
Exhibition - tate Participation
Delhi
Maharashtra
Kerala
Daman & Diu
Rajasthan
Andhra Pradesh
Gujarat
Bihar
Uttar Pradesh
Karnataka
Haryana
Punjab
Tamil Nadu
West Bengal
Puducherry
Madhya Pradesh
Jharkhand
Special Feature OIFC MARKET PLACE