GOPIO NEWS BULLETIN

November, 2003

CONTENTS

v   GOPIO Convention - 2004 Scheduled for January 7-8, 2004 in New Delhi

v   Diwali Celebrated at the White House and at the House of Commons

v   Community Based Health Schemes for NRIs by the Apollo Hospital

v   Indian American Jindal Finishes First in Open Primary in Louisiana Governorship

v   PIO Human Rights Perspectives and Experiences

v   GOPIO CHAPTER NEWS

-         GOPIO Washington, DC Hosts Round Table Discussion

-         GOPIO-Belgium Schedules Seminar

v   GOPIO.Connect India Development Initiative

v   PIO/NRI NEWS

-         Belfast NRI Gifts College to Ancestral Village

-         Top US Science Awards Goes to Indian Scientist

-         NRI Wins Top Honor in the BCC Contest

 

GOPIO CONVENTION 2004 SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 7-8, 2004

GOPIO CONVENTION - 2004

IN CONJUNCTION WITH

PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS

THEME

INDIA AND NRIs/PIOs ROLE, RELATIONSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY

Place: FICCI Conference Hall and Auditorium, Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi

Date and Time: Wednesday, January 7th and Thursday, January 8th, 2004, 9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.

Program

Wednesday, January 7th, 2004

v     10.00 to 12.00 a.m. GOPIO Executive Committee and Executive Council Meetings

v     12.00 noon to 1.15 p.m. Lunch

v     1.30 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. PIO/NRI COMMUNITIES ARE REPORTS

v     4.30 p.m. to 5.3 0 p.m. Welcome Reception (Tea/Snacks)

v     5.30 p.m. to 7.00 Inauguration of GOPIO Convention 2004

v     7.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. Launching of GOPIO Cultural Council and Inauguration of PIO/NRI Artists Website.

v     8 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Cultural Performance by PIO/NRI Artists

 

Thursday, January 8th, 2004

v     9.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. Registration/Coffee/Tea

v     10.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. Conference Opening Session

v     11.15 a.m. to 12.30 a.m. Session on Business, Technology and Investments

v     12.30 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. Lunch

v     2.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. Session on Cultural Link, Rights Violations

v     3.30 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. Tea Break

v     4.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. NRI/PIO Role in Building Indias Image Outside and Involvement of NRIs/PIOs in Philanthropic and Educational Activities in India

v     5.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Adoption of Resolutions

v     6.00 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. Reception and GOPIO Community Service Awards Ceremony

 

GOPIO is seeking suggestions for speakers at the various sessions. Please contact GOPIO Convention Program Chairman Inder Singh in USA at 818-708-3885, E-mail: gopio-intl@sbcglobal.net. The convention in New Delhi will be coordinated by Mr. K.N. Gupta and his team in New Delhi. Contact Mr. Gupta at 011- 5162-0266 or 2309-4128, E-mail: knguptas@hotmail.com. Sponsor opportunities are available for Indian businesses interested to reach out PIOs/NRIs. Contact Mr. Gupta above.

 

PRAVASI BHARATIYA COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS GOPIO is seeking nominations from the Indian communities from all over the world to honor those who stand up in providing services to the NRI/PIO community. Send the nominations with background information by December 20th to GOPIO Inc. P.O. Box 1413, Stamford, CT 06904, USA, or E-mail to gopio@optonline.net The awardees will be honored on January 8th evening.

Convention Registration Fee : $40 person for those from outside and Rs. 1,000 for those from India.

 

 DIWALI CELEBRATED AT THE WHITE HOUSE AND AT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

The White House celebrated its first ever Diwali event on October 23rd.  Among the 100 honored guests were representatives of various civic organizations and prominent government officials. In an ceremony rich with tradition, a "dipak"  (lamp) was lighted by Karl Rove, Special Advisor to President George W. Bush, in front of the Lord Ganesha and Goddess Laxmi to invoke their blessings during this age-old Festival of Lights celebration.

Addressing the guests in the Indian Treaty Room where the original U.N. Charter was signed, Rove said, "I just spoke with the President who called from Pearl Harbor; he sends his Diwali greetings to you and to the Hindu community worldwide." He added, "The President would have been here today, had it not been for his trip to Asia and Australia.

Leading the invocation was Dr. Anant Rambachan, professor of Religion at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota who also conducts congregational worship services at the Hindu society of Minnesota.  Mr. Neil Patel, a political appointee serving in the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney was the Master of Ceremony. Speaking next, underscoring the historic importance of the event, Mr. Gopal Khanna, Chief Financial Officer at The Peace Corps, addressed those in attendance. Mr. Khanna said, "This celebration symbolizes the Bush Administration's recognition of America's rich religious and ethnic diversity. Today's event establishes a tradition that will, for generations to come, strengthen America as a nation that remains committed to, secularism and inclusion in it's mainstream, people of all faiths." The White House event was coordinated by Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, National President of the Association of Indians in America (AIA), which commissioned a Commemorative Silver Coin struck in honor of the occasion. All those in attendance at the ceremony received the coin as a Diwali Gift . The coin depicts the deities Ganesha and Laxmi on one side with the reverse side bearing the inscription First Diwali At The White House 2003.

In another momentous occasion for the Indian community in Britain, Diwali was been celebrated inside the House of Commons, with Prime Minister Tony Blair lighting the traditional lamp to mark the festivities. Presiding over the function, attended by more than 100 MPs and 400 guests, Blair said he was "deeply touched by the unity, warmth and joy this festival brings each year and the spirit with which it is celebrated."

"It is a great privilege and pleasure for me to share in the joy of celebrating Diwali with the Hindu community in the House of Commons. Diwali is now celebrated by different communities across the UK and its growing popularity helps to strengthen the bonds between them," he said

"The prime minister's celebration of Diwali in the House of Commons is a unique achievement in the history of the British Parliament," India-born MP Keith Vaz, who organised support from other parliamentarians for holding the event, said.

"The major difference this year is that we have introduced an interfaith element to the celebrations," said Ramesh Kalidai, general secretary of the Hindu Centre for Communications and coordinator for the event. "Leaders of all the main faiths and all three political parties came together at the House of Commons to celebrate and share the universal message of Diwali."

Guests included the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram, Chair of the Conservative Party Theresa May, Chair of the Liberal Democrats Lord Navnit Dholakia and Michael Howard MP, as well as other members of the cabinet, MPs, life peers, community leaders, diplomats, businessmen and faith leaders.

 

COMMUNITY BASED HEALTH SCHEME FOR NRIs BY THE APOLLO HOSPITALS

 

Community based health insurance scheme for NRIs is being launched by the leading healthcare chain Apollo Hospitals in India. The new insurance cover is yet another attempt by Apollo Hospitals to offer an alternative healthcare option to Indians overseas, who are currently able to get their family members back home covered by a special scheme called Aashirwad. Apollo Hospitals is the third largest private healthcare provider globally with 6,200 beds in India and overseas. Within five years it is targeting to outstrip U.S.-based Tenet Healthcare, which has 19,000 beds under its management. "We hope to finalize a community based package for NRIs and people of Indian origin in two weeks and be ready to offer it within six weeks," Pratap C. Reddy, Chairman of Apollo Hospitals, told a media interaction in Chennai on 20th. September 2003.

Reddy said the idea originated when an NRI hailing from Ahmedabad asked the hospital to formulate a special health scheme for the large Gujarati population overseas. This would be the first-of-its-kind health insurance coverage for the NRIs. The community scheme being evolved envisages an individual paying $400 per annum towards insurance premium and getting full coverage for transportation and hospitalization for almost all medical problems and critical surgeries. Apollo Hospitals, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in September, is now wooing Indians overseas to come back home for treatment.

The private healthcare sector in India needs a boost and India can promote this sector as high-tech healthcare tourist destination. India can become the destination of world class medical treatment and Government must encourage trade in medical tourism. Demand for medical tourism is most likely to come from the 20 million strong Indian Diaspora as wealthy first and second generation expatriate Indians are aware of the rise of Indias high quality low cost medical treatment.

 

INDIAN AMERICAN JINDAL FINISHES FIRST IN OPEN PRIMARY FOR LOUISIANA GOVERNORSHIP

Republican candidate of Indian descent Bobby Jindal has proved pundits wrong. Jindal, finished first with 33 per cent in the open primary for Lousiana Governorship while Democrat Lt Governor Kathleen Blanco came in the second. The top two would go to the November 15 runoff. The winner would become the next Governor.

Political pundits who had earlier said that Jindal running as a conservative Republican candidate, had no chance of being elected the first Indian-American Governor as he isn't White, were in for a surprise. Jindal, was a former assistant secretary to President George W Bush's Department of Health and Human Services.

Jindal has promised to introduce education reforms and abolish several state business taxes, which he says have made the state of Louisiana unattractive to industry. Besides sporting an impressive resume Rhodes scholar, federal jobs at a young age of 32, Jindal also is a protege of the state's most prominent Republican Mike Foster who has served two terms.

Bobby Jindal is the son of Indian immigrants who ran Louisiana's biggest university system as well its largest Cabinet-level department, all by the time he was 30.

GOPIO wishes Jindal all success in the runoff election.

 

PIO HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVES & EXPERIENCES

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT A PAPER EXTENED TO FEBRUARY 20, 2004

Human Rights Perspectives and Experience: People of Indian Origin in the Caribbean, Americas, Asia,  Africa, Europe

In-Depth Reports, Discussions and Analyses.   Experiences of People of Indian Origin Living Outside  of India in Countries with Significant PIO Population. Reports on Fiji, the Caribbean, USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Africa, Guyana, Trinidad, Surname, and others.


Sponsored  By  
St. Johns Universitys
Center on Latin American & Caribbean Studies

on Saturday, March 20, 2004 @ 9:00am
at
St. Johns University
Bent Hall Auditorium
Jamaica     New York

Co-Sponsored By
Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Inc.

Supported By  
The Guyanese East Indian Civic Association (GEICA)
And Several Other Institutions & Organizations

Contact:

GOPIO - Ashook Ramsaran, Tel: 718-969-8206, E-mail: ramsaran@aol.com
GOPIO - Prof. Surendra Kaushik, Tel: 914-762-6168, E-mail: skaushik@pace.edu
GEICA - Prakash Singh, Tel: 718-939-8194, E-mail: geica@aol.com 

St. Johns. Univ. Dr. Camacho-Gingerich, Tel: 718-990-1932, E-mail: clacs@sju.edu


SESSIONS
Region   I                The Caribbean, Guyana, Malaysia, Trinidad,
                                         Suriname, Fiji, Bangladesh
Region  II                 Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe,
                                         Other Africa, Mauritius
Region III                Australia, Canada, Europe, United Kingdom, United States,
                                         Other Americas

SPEAK AT THE CONFERENCE ON YOUR EXPERIENCE OR PRESENT A SCHOLARLY PAPER

Please send an abstract to Secretary General Ashook Ramsaran at ramsaran@aol.com or call 718-969-8206.

GOPIO CHAPTER NEWS

GOPIO-WASHINGTON, DC HOSTS ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION

The growing influence of the Indian American Diaspora in the United States is today undisputable. With the infrastructure set, todays generation is all set to enter into mainstream politics. Young Indian Americans can be seen in the corridors of power in the Capitol Hill, Senate buildings and even the White House.

 

Therefore, the timing seemed perfect when a Jawaharlal Nehru University Scholar, Mukesh Bagoria, approached the Washington DC chapter of GOPIO to organize a meet with influential community leaders and politicians to understand better the influence of the Indian American Diaspora and the impact they had in economic development and political involvement.

 

Within three days, the organizing committee of the DC chapter swung into action and hosted a round table meet at the Woodlands restaurant in Maryland. Opening the discussion, Devasish Ray VP designate of GOPIO, DC, set the tone for the evening by asking the panel to introduce themselves. By the time the introductions were over, it was evident that Mukesh would benefit immensely from the collective wisdom and experience of the distinguished board members and guests.

 

Renuka Mishra, President, GOPIO, DC, introduced Mukesh Bagoria and the chief guest for the evening, the icon, Kumar Barve, Democratic House Majority leader of Maryland. Barve came with his fiance, Maureen Quinn. "It gives me great pleasure to see that GOPIO has gone out of its way to help this young scholar from India," said Barve. In a one to one conversation with Mukesh, Barve was seen explaining to the young scholar the finer points of politics.

 

Sanjay Puri, Executive Director of USINPAC, articulated the role of the Indian Diaspora in mainstream politics. "America is the greatest democracy in the world. This country gives you the opportunity to meet with Congressmen and Senators alike. What is important is that the issues, which we bring up with them, should be right. We have the political clout and we should exercise it judiciously," said Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay said that people like Dr. Shambu Banik (Advisor to GOPIO) had done the groundwork for subsequent organizations to get access to the corridors of power.

 

Mukesh Bagoria was seen beaming as he recorded the discussions. "I am extremely grateful to GOPIO for organizing this event. This is the first time that I am getting information from people that have lived through an experience. It will help me write the paper better," he said.

Zafar Iqbal, Secretary of GOPIO in his vote of thanks thanked Kumar Barve and Sanjay Puri for attending the event at such short notice and for sharing their experience.

 

GOPIO-BELGIUM SCHEDULES SEMINAR

 Topic - "Investment In India: Opportunities Unlimited which emphasises the sectors of high growth in India's economy and will facilitate interactions between selected potential interested investors and Indian corporate sector representatives. The Conference will be held in Brussels on 4 December 2003 at:

ITUH Auditorium

5, Boulevard du Roi Albert II

B 1210 Bruxelles, Belgium

Tel : 0032-2-224 0254, Fax : 0032-2-224 0299

 Contact GOPIO-Belgium president Sunil Prasad at: sunil.prasad@icftu.org or visit http://www.gopio.net/gopio_chapters/gopio_belgium/seminar.doc

 

GOPIO.CONNECT- INDIA DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

GOPIO.Connect Update

Every month, GOPIO.Connect Contributors bring forth development issues & initiatives. This month we have contributions in Education, Health & Water.

Also click here to receive information on BEST DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES IN INDIA.

 

For Knowledge Contributions on Development, please contact Prashant Gupta p-gupta3@kellogg.northwestern.edu or Phone: 847-310-9232. Visit www.gopio.net/india_development

 

NRI/PIO NEWS

 

BELFAST NRI GIFTS COLLEGE TO ANCESTRAL VILLAGE 
 
Diljit Rana, managing director of Andras House in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has taken on a new mission to help his ancestral village in Punjab by setting up a school and college there. Starting with an investment of Rs.50 million, Rana, a resident of Belfast since 1966, is setting up a school and college in Sanghol, 40 km from Chandigarh. Rana was born in the village.
 
Rana has been scouting for joint ventures and strategic alliances in India. According to Rana, the college will have a school attached to it and will have classes and facilities right from preparatory school level for five-year-old kids in the village. Rana also plans to offer a few vocational courses in link-up with Ulster University like nursing, hotel management, estate development and other programs.
 
TOP US SCIENCE AWARD GOES TO INDIAN SCIENTIST
 

Ford Motor Company scientist Dr. Haren S. Gandhi, is among the new Science and Technology Laureates just announced by US President George W Bush. Working at Ford as technical fellow and head, global core emission and fuel economy team, Dr. Gandhi will receive the National Medal of Science, at a White House ceremony on November 6.


The National Medal of Science honors individuals in a variety of fields, including biological sciences, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences and technology.

 

NRI WINS TOP HONOR IN THE BBC CONTEST

 

London, 2nd. October 2003. Ms. Anuradha Swaminathan, a Switzerland based Non-Resident Indian has won the top honor in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World Service International Playwriting Competition for the year 2003. There were 900 entries to this competition from all over the world. This was announced by the BBC on the 2nd. October 2003. Anuradha Swaminathan won in the English as a Second Language category with her play, Loyalty. She is being flown over to London this month to attend the studio recording of her play which will then be broadcast on BBC Service in November this year. Congratulations to Anuradha from GOPIO for this achievement.

 

Business and Professional Services Bulletin Board

NRIs/PIOs and businessmen from India are encouraged to publicize businesses and services though GOPIO Business Council Bulletin Board free of charge. Please visit www.gopio.net/wboard/bulletin.htm

Editorial Board

v     Dr. Thomas Abraham (Stamford, CT, USA)

v     Prashant Gupta (Chicago, IL, USA)

v      Sunil Prasad (Brussles, Belgium)

GOPIO NEWS welcomes NRI/PIO related stories from all over the world. Be a volunteer correspondent or reporter. Contact Dr. Thomas Abraham at gopio@optonline.net

Visit GOPIOs Official site at www.gopio.net