September/October 2002
News Bulletin
1. THIRD GLOBAL INDIAN ENTREPRENEURS
CONFERENCE CONCLUDES
The Third Global Indian Entrepreneurs
Conference sponsored by the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin was
held from September 12-15, 2002 at the Crowne Plaza
Hotel in New York City. Over 300 delegates from 15 countries participated in
the Conference and the Indian and NRI/PIO Economic Summit. The program started
with a solemn ceremony on September 11 to mark the first anniversary of the 911
terrorist attacks followed by an evening reception/dinner in Manhattan. On
September 12th GOPIO organized the Indian and NRI/PIO Economic Summit. The
evening was addressed by Ambassador at Large for NRIs
and PIOs Mr. Bhishma Agnihotri and Consul General Pramathesh
Rath.
The Third Global Indian Entrepreneurs Conference, was inaugurated by Mauritius
Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth
on the evening of the 12th. At the inauguration, Jugnauth
said,"The transnational PIO community is imbued
with a strong business acumen and dedication to hard work; from the trader of
the Fiji Islands to the whiz kid of Silicon Valley, from the banker of Singapore
to the scientist of NASA, PIOs perform very well
where ever they are settled and some of them have been successful in politics
even becoming Prime Minsiter and President." Jugnauth called upon India to help diaspora
countries for developing their own IT resource base.
India's Consul General in New York Mr. Pramathesh Rath said that the Govt. of India is very keen to help on
the PIO causes as evidenced by the recent reduction in PIO card and the High
Level diaspora Committee's proposal of Dual
Nationality for NRIs/PIOs. Guyana Ambassador Odeem Ishmael said that PIO businessmen and investors
should also consider developing countries such as Guyana as their business and
investment destination. GOPIO President Dr. Thomas Abraham said at the
inauguration that while GOPIO would continue to monitor the human rights
violations of NRIs and PIOs
in different countries, it would also help in achieving networking with PIOs for pooling resources to help India and the diaspora countries. GOPIO Secretary General Ashook Ramsaran conducted the
inauguration ceremony while Confeence Executive
Director Dr. Jagat Motwani
concluded the ceremony.
The Entrepreneurs Conference sessions was held on 9/13 and 9/14, from 9 a.m. to
5.30 p.m The conference topics were
Nanotechnology/Biotechnology, Next Generation Software/Networking/Wireless
Technologies, Hospitality Industry, Franchising and Service Industries; NRI/PIO
Opportunities in India, North America, West Indies and Africa, Europe, Middle East
and Far East. Speakers included Dr. Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University
(formerly with Harvard University), former US EEOC Commissioner Dr. Joy Cherian, Reliance Industries' Corp. Affairs Group President
Murlidhar Chaini, venture
capitalist Sreedhar Menon,
US Deputy Asst Secretary for Commerce Karan Bhatia
and representatives from hotel/motel industry, franchising, service industry, nano and biotechnology, IT industry and from various
chamber/country delegations.
GOPIO also passed several resolutions to be presented to Govt
of India, the US Government, and Govts of Fiji,
Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana and Zimbabwe.
The conference ended with a banquet where three PIOs
were honored. They are Minister of Mauritius Anil Gayan
M.P., US Peace Corps Chief Information Officer Gopal Khanna and US Deparment of
Commerce Deputy Under Secretary Karan Bhatia.
Minister Gayan, Mauritius Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Regional Cooperation was honored for political leadership while Khanna and Bhatia were honored for their outstanding
business and political achievements. The award ceremony was coordinated by
GOPIO President Elect Inder Singh.
The Economic Summit was
put together by Dr. Sushila Gidwani-Buschi
along with Dr. Sid Gautam and Dr. Piyush
Agarwal.
The papers presented at
the Economi Summit and the Entrepreneurs conference
are available at http://gopio.net/presentations.htm
**
GOPIO RESOLUTIONS
Third Global Indian Entrepreneurs Conference
New York City, September 12 to 15, 2002
TO INDIA GOVERNMENT AND STATE GOVERNMENTS
1. (a) Be it resolved that the decision of Government of India (GOI) to
allow dual-citizen status to NRIs and PIOs so as to promote business, culture, education and
investment in India is lauded by GOPIO and all sponsoring organizations. We
urge GOI to legislate the dual nationality status as recommended by the High
Level Diaspora Committee.
(b) Be it resolved that the Government of India should expedite privatization
of all public enterprises except those deemed essential for national security
to make them efficient and profitable and to reduce the unnecessary heavy
economic burden on the national budget.
(b1) Be it resolved that the GOI should avoid the impact of abuses of
laissez faire economy as privatization is pursued to achieve higher efficiency
in the economy.
(c) Be it resolved that India should continue to open its economy to the rest
of the world on a competitive and level playing basis through bilateral and multilateral
trading agreements for a more efficient and faster increase in the standard of
living of its people.
(d) Be it resolved that the banking and financial markets in India should be
privatized and liberalized for an efficient allocation of financial resources
from domestic and foreign sources.
(e) Be it resolved that entrepreneurship should be developed and supported in
all countries where persons of Indian origin (PIO) reside and contribute to
value added in the economy and that Govt. of India will help NRI/PIOs Entrepreneurs to form new business associations
such as chambers of commerce in all major cities.
(f) Be it resolved that licensing boards in India should establish a
streamlined procedure for professional PIOs to
acquire new or regain their practice in India.
(g) Be it resolved that the Government of India should work with the World
Trade Organization (WTO) towards creating and maintaining a level playing field
for India in international trade and finance.
(h) Be it resolved that the Government of India should preserve and promote
artistic, cultural, and scientific heritage of India in the new global economic
structure.
(i) Be it resolved that the Government of India
should undertake adequate measures for the protection of the country's own
historical products, designs and intellectual property from global theft and
piracy.
(j) Be it resolved that the Government of India should protect and promote the
interests and welfare of Indians working abroad on temporary work permit visas
in host countries and when they return home.
(k) Be it resolved that the government of India and state government should
facilitate to create a chain of housing/retirement homes for NRIs and PIOs in all major cities
and tourist resorts in India.
TO THE UNITED NATION
2. Be it resolved that the United Nation and all countries of the world should
pursue policies that help preserve nature, achieve a level of state of
sustainable-development, and maintain a clean environment for a healthier
economy as well as a fuller enjoyment of life.
TO THE US GOVERNMENT
3. (a) Be it resolved that the PIOs on H1B visa who
have contributed to the U.S. economy with their skills and hard work be
permitted to gain immigration status in the US.
(b) Be it resoled that the US government should approach the issue of amnesty
for those already in the US on a global basis and not granting legal status
just to the people from Mexico.
© Be it resolved that the US government should recognize contributions of NRIs and PIOs to development of business
by them in a variety of fields and support their entrepreneurship in every
possible way it can.
(d) Be it resolved that entrepreneurship visa status requirement should be
changed from one million to one-half million dollars so as to promote more foreign
entrepreneurs into the US.
TO GOPIO
(4) Be it resolved that GOPIO should take initiative to establish a commission
of qualified and concerned people to study the feasibility of establishing an
Indo-Caribbean Institute in an existing academic institution in New York to
protect and promote art, culture and economic interests of Indo-Caribbeans in USA as well as in Caribbean countries.
TO GOVERNMENT OF GUYANA
(5) Be it resolved that the Government of Guyana should have policies that
respect human rights of all people so as to make business enterprises and
foreign investment attractive for economic development of Guyana.
TO GOVERNMENT OF ZIMBABWE
(6) Be it resolved that the Government of Zimbabwe should have policies
that respect human rights of all people so as to make business enterprises and
foreign investment attractive for economic development of Zimbabwe.
TO GOVERNMENT OF FIJI
(7) Be it resolved that the Government of Fiji should have policies that
respect human rights and rights to land/property of all people, restore a
properly functioning democracy and make business enterprises and foreign
investment attractive for economic development of Fiji.
TO GOVERNMENT OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
(8) Be it resolved that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago should have
policies that respect human rights of all people, restore a properly
functioning democracy and make business enterprises and foreign investment
attractive for economic development of Trinidad and Tobago.
2. NFIA
Biennial Convention, October 11-13, 2002
DETROIT IS THE SITE FOR 12th
BIENNIAL NFIA CONVENTION
The National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA), the umbrella
organization representing various Indo-American associations, will meet for its
12th biennial convention in Detroit on the weekend of October 11-13, 2002. This will be the first time the
NFIA delegates coming from all parts of the United States will gather in this
city famous for being the home of major automobile manufacturers, that has a
population of over 70,000 people of Indian origin. Radha
Krishnan, a long time resident of the Detroit and a prominent leader of the
community will be the convention chairman and convener of this convention. Ramesh Patel will serve as Co-Chairman and Treasurer. The
Co-conveners include Amarnath Atmakuri,
Seema Chaturvedi, Dilip Desai, Babu Kurian, N.G. Mathew, Nalini Motwani, Victor Naidu, Akshay Shah, Manesh Shah, Rehaman Nakadar, Trilochan Singh and Venu Vaisya..
The convention will be held at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel in nearby Dearborn, MI. Conference sessions include the strengthening of U.S-India
relations –What is Missing?, The Next Generation of
Indo-Americans, Fighting Global Terrorism, and Role of Indo-American Women in
the American Society. The convention will start with a Board of
Directors meeting on Friday followed by a reception for delegates and guests
Friday evening before the inauguration.
Since its inception in 1980, NFIA has held its biennial conventions in various
cities of the United States, in order to mobilize and unify the local
community. Previous sites have been New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Cleveland, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Dallas. NFIA has
been credited for many accomplishments, including its role in
strengthening US-India relations, making US lawmakers aware of issues of
concern to the community, and presenting testimony on the interests of India
before the US Congress. NFIA took the lead in getting installed a life size
statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Atlanta. It has long been involved in dealing with
immigration and census issues. NFIA also organized a gala banquet to
commemorate the 50th anniversary of India's independence in 1997 in Washington
DC, at which the First Lady Hillary Clinton was the chief guest and President
Clinton sent a video message to the audience. Other guests
included the Secretaries of State, Commerce and Transportation. A large number
of officials from the State department were also present. NFIA has held annual
Congressional luncheons at the Capitol Hill and arranged for several White
House Briefings. An impressive conference on Trade and Technology was sponsored
by NFIA last spring in Washington DC.
For registration and further information, readers may call: Radha
Krishnan at (248) 682-2106, E-mail: RK4155@AOL.Com or Parthasarthy Pillai at (301) 935-5321, e-mail: PPillai1@aol.com. for further information. For more
information, visit: http://www.nationalfederation.org/prod04.htm
3. GOPIO
Recognizes Three at Awards Banquet
The Third Global Indian
Entrepreneurs Conference sponsored by the Global Organization of People of
Indian Origin recognized three PIOs at the Awards
Banquet on Sept. 14th. Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, M.P., Mauritius Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Regional Cooperation was honored for political leadership. A graduate of London
School of Economics, Gayan also earned a masters
degree at the university of London. Gayan has been
serving as a minister in the Mauritius government since the Sept. 2000. Gayan was also as a minister between 1983 and 1986.
Gopal Khanna
and Karan Bhatia we honored for their political and
business achievements. Gopal Khanna
is Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Peace Corps. He was appointed to
this Senior Foreign Services position in the Bush Administration on June 17,
2002. As Director Gaddi Vasquez's point person
on all technology functions, Khanna is responsible
for leading the development of IT strategies and build-up of worldwide
technology platforms. Prior to joining the Peace Corps, Khanna
was President & CEO of ITC, a Minneapolis based technology solutions
start-up venture Khanna founded in 1996. In
terms of charitable involvement, Khanna served as a
member of the board of directors of the Minnesota International Center, Ronald McDonald
House, Minnesota Minority Supplier Development Council, and the Indian American
Republican Council. He has chaired many community initiatives, and
currently serves as a National Vice President of the Association of Indians in
America (AIA).
Karan K. Bhatia serves as Deputy Under
Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security. In this position, Bhatia
assists the Under Secretary in all aspects of management and policymaking at
the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Commerce Department agency that
handles issues arising at the intersection of industry and national security.
The Bureau is charged inter alia with the
administration and enforcement of U.S. dual-use export controls, promoting the
assurance of the United States' public and private sector critical
infrastructures, ensuring compliance with U.S. anti-boycott laws, and
monitoring the viability of the U.S. defense industrial base. Prior to assuming
the position of Deputy Under Secretary in June 2002, Bhatia held the position
of Chief Counsel for Export Administration in the Commerce Department's Office
of General Counsel. Prior to assuming the position of Chief Counsel in July
2001, Bhatia was a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Wilmer, Cutler
& Pickering,
4. GOPIO
Submits Memorandum to Prime Minister Vajpayee
An international delegation of the global Organization of People of Indian
Origin (GOPIO) attending the Third Global Indian Entrepreneurs Conference in
New York called on Prime Vajpayee in New York on Sept. 13th The delegation was
headed by GOPIO President Dr. Thomas Abraham. Other members of the delegation
included Inder Singh, Dr. Jagat
Motwani, Ashook Ramsaran, Chander Khurana, Dr. Sushila Gidwani-Buschi, Jaswant Modi, Sudha Acharya,
Niraj Baxi, Yesu Persaud, Dwarkesh
Shah, Ramesh Kalicharan, Bhanu Dwarika. GOPIO submitted a
memorandum to Prime Minister Vajpayee. Indian Ambassador to the US, Lalit Mansingh and
Ambassador-at-Large Bhishma Agnihotri
were also present at the meeting held at PM's suite in New York Palace Hotel in
Manhattan.
MEMORANDUM 1
CULTURAL TIES WITH MOTHERLAND
With several millions of the new generation of people of Indian origin (PIO)
born and brought up all over the world, Govt. of India should continue to
evaluate India's cultural ties with its children outside India. We compliment
your administration for excellent work by the High Level Diaspora Committee and
GOI's plan to organize Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas. The work of
Indian Council of Cultural Relations should be expanded especially to reach out
PIOs in the developing countries. The govt.,
semi-government and private agencies should also promote more travel of PIO
children and youth to India.
MEMORANDUM 2
DUAL NATIONALITY
GOPIO fully supports the recommendation of the High Level Diaspora Committee to
allow dual-citizen status to NRIs and PIOs so as to promote business, culture, education and
investment in India is lauded by GOPIO and all sponsoring organizations. We
urge GOI to legislate the dual nationality status as recommended by the High Level
Diaspora Committee.
MEMORANDUM 3
ISSUE OF DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR PIOs IN INDIA
Many Indian establishments such as hotels and tourist attractions are charging
outrageous price from PIOs who are currently
non-Indian citizens. This brings bad impressions and feelings amongst NRIs and PIOs. Steps should be
taken to mitigate this problem.
MEMORANDUM 4
ISSUE OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSE FOR FORMER INDIAN CITIZENS
With the opening of the economy, Indian professionals have started practicing
in adopted countries as well as in India. However, those who have taken
citizenship outside India find it difficult to regain their professional
license. These issues should be sorted out with all the licensing boards. GOPIO
recommends that those NRIs and PIOs
who acquire PIO card should be treated in the same level as Indian citizens for
licensing
matters.
MEMORANDUM 5
RAJYA SABHA SEATS FOR NRIs
WHEREAS, people of Indian origin represent a tremendous resource in
intellectual, technical, scientific, professional, trade, and entrepreneurial
skills with high potential and keenness to contribute to the well-being and
prosperity of their Motherland, GOPIO URGES the Indian cabinet to appoint a few
prominent members of NRIs who are Indian citizens as Rajya Sabha members so as to
reinforce the bonds between India and the PIOs.
MEMORANDUM 6
VOTING RIGHTS FOR INDIAN CITIZENS LIVING OUTSIDE INDIA
WEREAS, about 30% of the PIOs and NRIs
living outside India are still citizens of India, WHEREAS, most of the
countries provide opportunities for their citizens living outside their
countries to participate in the election process of their countries, WHEREAS,
India is yet to establish a mechanism to provide such as opportunity its
citizens numbering about 6 million, GOPIO URGES Government of India to initiate
the process of providing voting rights, through a constitutional amendment, to
Indian citizens living outside India.
4. GOPIO
SCHEDULES CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF PIOs OUTSIDE INDIA
Conference - HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
OF PEOPLE OF INDIAN ORIGIN OUTSIDE INDIA
Co-Sponsors
St. John's University - Center on Latin American & Caribbean Studies
[CLACS]
GOPIO - Global Organization of People of Indian Origin
GEICA - The Guyanese East Indian Civic Association
***********************************************************************************************
PROGRAM
OUTLINE
Fri, December 6, 2002 7:00pm
Cocktail
Reception
(Venue TBD)
Sat, December 7, 2002 Conference
St John's University
8:30am
Registration
9:00am
Opening Remarks
9:15am
General Remarks
9:30am
Keynote Address
10:15am
Refreshments
10:30am
Session I Violations in General
11:30am
Discussion
12:00pm
LUNCH
1:00pm
Session II Country Reports (A)
2:15pm
Discussion
2:45pm
Refreshments
3:00pm
Session III Country Reports (B)
4:15pm
Discussion
4:30pm
Conclusion
Sun, December 8, 2002 WorkingSession
St John's University
9:30am
Introductory Remarks
9:15am
Discussion
12:15pm
Closing Remarks
12:30pm
Lunch
Venue:
St. John’s University, Queens, New York city.
Papers
are accepted for presentation and/or publishing it in a booklet for
distribution at the conference. Please contact Conference Convener and
GOPIOÂ Secretary General Ashook Ramsaran at 718-939-8194,
E-mail: ramsaran@aol.com
6. UNIT AMONG MAJOR INDIAN AMERICAN
ORGANIZATIONS SOLIDIFIED
The four major Indian Organizations, namely, The
Associations of Indians in America (AIA), The National Federation of Indian
Associations (NFIA) , the Indian American Forum for Political Education
(IAFPE) and the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO)
reaffirmed their conviction of working together in the common interest of the
Indian Community. This understanding was in furtherance of an earlier
attempt made in March in Washington, DC when AIA, NFIA and IAFPE had
joined hands to hold a Congressional Lunch and a White House Briefing.
Since then all these Associations have been working together.
Recently, during the GOPIO Conference, Presidents and Presidents-Elect/Vice
Presidents of all the four organizations formalized their cooperation and
decided to speak with one voice on the issues pertaining to the common cause of
the Indian Community.
The topics of common interest identified thus far but to be expanded in the
future are:
1. Create a cadre of influential individuals to pool our resources to address
poor representation of our community in the policy making positions at the
federal, state and local levels.
2. Develop a list of qualified individuals who are socially sensitive to fill
the policy making positions through the cadre outlined in Para 1.
3. Make a coordinated effort to prepare and present
position papers on issues of common concern at the local, state and the federal
levels. This would require creation of a network of intellectuals.
4. Glass Ceiling
5. Encourage community participation in the mainstream America.
The internal framework developed by the Coordination Committee would
assign responsibilities of carrying out these tasks either to a particular
organization that may proceed in cooperation with others or as
joint responsibility of two or more organizations. The Coordination
Committee consists of 2 representatives from each organization and they are:
Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal,
National President AIA, Mr. Gopal Khanna,
Vice President, AIA; DR. Parthasarathy Pillai, President NFIA, Mr. Niraj
Baxi, President Elect, NFIA; Dr. Lalit
Agrawal, President IAFPE, Dr. Sudhir
Parikh, President-Elect IAFPE; Dr. Thomas Abraham Founder and President GOPIO
and Mr. Inder Singh, President -Elect GOPIO
The salient feature of this framework is that these four organizations would
maintain their independent identity and would continue to carry out the wishes
of their membership but at the same time would be able to cooperate with each
other on common issues.
According to Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal,
National President of AIA, "this kind of arrangement would not only allow
these organizations to conserve and pool community resources, but would be more
effective in producing better results."
Dr. Parthasarathy Pillai,
NFIA President opined that "Working together on common issues
will strengthen the issues and will receive proper attention".
While. Dr. Lalit Agrawal,
IAFPE President expressed that "We are committed to work together.
Once we make a decision we all speak in one voice. This will strengthen our
community at the same time make the best use of our resources."
"The large growth of our community contributed to the growth of various
national organizations, and time has come to make a unified effort to promote
our larger community interest," said Dr. Thomas Abraham, President of
GOPIO.
The Coordination Committee is planning to meet soon and start developing an
Action Plan to address the five issues selected so far.
6. GOPIO CHAPTER NEWS
GOPIO
BELGIUM
: The Founding Congress of GOPIO
Belgium,
Wednesday, 2nd. October
2002
Espace Senghor, 366, Chausse
de Wavre (Pedestrian road near Place Jourdan) 1040 Brussels
The Founding Congress of the GOPIO
Belgium which will be held on Wednesday, the 2nd. October at 6PM.
in the Espace Senghora. The 2nd. October
being the Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, few interesting events such as a
Photo Exhibition on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, a film documentary The Making
of the Mahatma including classical music performance by renowned Indian artists
are taking place. Contact: Sunil Prasad, Tel: 02/234 6740/230 3140, E-mail: sunil.prasad@icftu.org
------------------------------
GOPIO Chicago Chapter Meeting
October 12, 2002 at Lemont
Temple from 4:00-5:30 PM.
Chapter Mission Statement: To deliberate and decide on
common issues and problems of economic, education and health that affects the
Chicago-based PIO Community and enhance cooperation and communication with
other PIO Communities for their mutual development and advancement.
Key Objectives of the GOPIO Chicago
Chapter:
v Social awareness involving sharing
of health, living standard & education-related issues of
Chicago Indian Community.
v
Understanding economic interests of Chicago-based Indians &
cooperate with other PIO Communities in different parts of the world for
mutual development.
v Group Communication to resolve
conflicts in ways that lead to trust, peace, and safety within our multi-ethnic Community
Key Milestones Planned for 2002:
Elect an Executive Committee
consisting of President, Vice President, Secretary, Joint Secretary &
Treasurer. Individual membership to be prescribed by the chapter Executive
Committee October12, 2002. Formal Inauguration & Initiate GOPIO.Connect Seminar Series - “This seminar series
will be basically aligned with Chapter objectives.To be discussed &
finalized in first Executive Committee Meeting. 1st Seminar planned
for November 2002.
Contact: Prashant Gupta,
Tel: 847.571.0703, E-mail: pg1619@yahoo.com
7. GOPIO
Chapter Initiation
One can
initiate a chapter and become part of this global network of people of Indian origin
by visiting GOPIO's Chapter Initiative website www.gopio.net/chapter_initiative.htm
to get a copy of the guidelines governing GOPIO chapters. Or contact gopio@optonline.net
8. Business
and Professional Services Bulletin Board
PIOs are encouraged to publicize businesses and services
though GOPIO Business Council Bulletin Board free of charge. Please visit www.gopio.net/wboard/bulletin.htm
Visit GOPIO Official site at http://www.gopio.net