GOPIO NEWS BULLETIN
December, 2003
CONTENTS
·
GOI
Launches Website to Facilitate in Tracing Ancestral Places in
·
GOPIO
Organizes Day-long Seminar in
·
Indian
Parliamentary
Panel Clears Dual Citizenship
·
PIO
Human Rights Perspectives and Experiences
·
GOPIO
CHAPTER NEWS
-
GOPIO-
-
GOPIO-Chicagoland Launches Senior Citizens Need Survey
-
The EuroIndia2004
Co-operation Forum on the Information Society
IN
CONJUNCTION WITH
PRAVASI
BHARATIYA DIVAS
THEME
Place: FICCI Conference Hall and Auditorium, Federation House, Tansen Marg,
Date and Time: Wednesday, Jan. 7th and Thursday, Jan. 8th,
2004, 10 a.m. to 9.30 p.m.
Prog
Wednesday, January 7th,
2004
Middle East
Sunny Kulathakal, Managing Editor, Gulf
Whos Who and Gulf Asian Magazine,
4.30 p.m. to
5.3 0 p.m. Welcome Reception (Tea/Snacks)
5.30 p.m. to
7.00 Inauguration
of
Honored
Guests Lord Navnit Dholakia
(Chairman, Labor
7.30 p.m. to
8.00 p.m. Launching of
8 p.m. to 9.30
p.m. Cultural Performance by PIO/NRI Artists and Indian Artists at FICCI
Auditorium
9.00 a.m. to
10.00 a.m. Registration/Coffee/Tea
10.00 a.m. to
11.00 a.m. Conference
Opening Session
Keynote Address
- Dr. L.M. Singhvi MP, Chairman, High Level Committee
on Indian Dispora
11.15 a.m. to
12.30 a.m. NRIs/PIOs Role in Business, Technology and Investments
Keynote Address Niranjan
Deva, Member of European Parliament Representing
Speakers Chander
Khurana (Chairman, GOPIO Business Council,
12.30 p.m. to
2.00 p.m. Lunch
2.00 p.m. to
3.30 p.m. Indian
Identity, Cultural Link, Rights Violations of NRIs/PIOs
Outside
Keynote
Address: Hon. Digvijay Singh, Minister of State for
External Affairs
Speakers Dr. P.
Jaya
3.30 p.m. to
4.00 p.m. Tea Break
4.00 p.m. to
5.30 p.m. NRI/PIO
Role in Building
Keynote
Address: Hon. Bhishma Agnihotri,
Ambassador at large for NRIs and PIOs
Speakers - V.
Ram (community leader, businessman and educationist, Jakarta, Indonesia), Dr. Vidya Nand Singh (President, Bihar Chamber of Commerce in
America and Blood Banks World Wide, Washington DC), Anne (Auroville Ash
5.30 p.m. to
6.00 p.m. Adoption
of Resolutions
Presenter and
Moderator Prof.
7.00 p.m. to
9.30 p.m. Reception,
Banquet and Pravasi Community Service Awards Ceremony
(Claridges Hotel,
Honored Guests
Hon. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa
(Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers), Basdeo
Panday MP (Former Prime Minister and Leaders of the
Opposition, Trinidad and Tobago), Gregory Meeks (Member of US House of
Representatives), Hon. Tarlochan Singh (Chairman,
National Commission on Minorities)
PIO/NRI ARTISTS
- GOPIO has set up a Cultural Council to promote artists of Indian origin.
Toward this goal,
NRI/PIO
artists who like perform at the cultural prog
Sponsor Opportunities
are available for Indian businesses interested to reach out and network with PIOs/NRIs. Contact Mr. Prabodh
Gupta at 011- 6441160/6441161/6444472, E-mail: prabodh.gupta@vsnl.com or Mr. Lal
Motwani in
Convention Registration Fee: $40 person for those
from outside and Rs. 1,000 for those from
Convention contacts: K.N. Gupta (Convention
Coordinator in
Hotel Reservations: GOPIO has made a special
arrangement with Hotel Claridges at
GOI Launches Website to Facilitate in
Tracing Ancestral Places in
From time to time government of
In order to address these queries, we have
launched a website www.indianroots.nic.in
on 24.3.2003. The site was inaugurated formally by the President of
Guyana Shri Bharrat Jagdeo on 24th March, 2003 during his visit to his
ancestral village thakurain ka Purwa
located in Chatrapati Shahuji
Maharaj district (formerly known as Amethi) of Uttar Pradesh.
The website www.indianroots.nic.in
is designed to address queries from the members of the Indian Diaspora on their
ancestral roots in a systematic manner, in an interactive mode by developing a
data-base through a questionnaire, transmission of the data to the
administrative units in the relevant places in
Other websites of interest to the Indian
Diaspora are as follows:
http://www.indiandiaspora.nic.in
(High Level Committee Report)
http://www.indiaday.org
(For Pravasi Bharatiya
Divas)
http://www.indiadevelopment.org
(For NRIs and PIOs
interested in playing a role in development of
http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/stio.
Its another address is http://stio.nic.in
(For Scientists and Technicians of Indian Origin)
http://www.indianroots.nic.in (For Helping PIOs to trace their roots.)
Global
Organization of People of Indian Origin (
The seminar
aimed to generate awareness amongst the European community about the dynamism
of the Indian economy and the new investment opportunities that have opened up.
The Seminar was attended by industrialists, social organizations, Research
Institutes, representatives from the European Commission, Belgian Government,
private entrepreneurs, ILO Geneva, diplomats from various Embassies in
Welcoming the participants,
Speaking as Chief
Guest, Prof. Dr. Tilag Viegas
of the Directorate of the European Commission said that the EU and
Describing India as a 'land of great investment opportunities', Mr. R.
P. Agrawal, Charge DAffaires
of the Indian Embassy chairing the Inaugural Session exhorted the aspiring
entrepreneurs in Belgium to seize the opportunity and said that India is
perhaps incomparable in the world. The eyes of the world are on
Ms. Neena Gill, Member of the European
Parliament whose paper on India as Information
Technology Superpower: Challenges and Opportunities through Partnership and
Alliances argued that becoming a large supplier of skilled
resources or creating a large consumer market in itself was not enough to bring
about investment in India. In her opinion,
Lauding
Delivering
his keynote address, Dr. Thomas Abraham, President of
Presentations
were made by Philips International, the
Some of
the full presentations are available at the GOPIO website, http://www.gopio.net/gopio_chapters/gopio_belgium/seminar_papers.htm
INDIAN
PARLIAMENTARY PANEL CLEARS DUAL CITIZENSHIP
A
Parliamentary panel has cleared a legislation on granting dual citizenship to
Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) residing in 16
countries and urged both Houses of Parliament to pass the bill incorporating
the suggestions made by it. The 44-member Standing Committee on Home Affairs,
chaired by Pranab Mukherjee,
endorsed the countries specified by the government.
The
countries named in the schedule were
It
also sought amendment of the definition of "overseas citizens of
India" to mean a Person of Indian Origin being a citizen of a specified
country or one who was an Indian citizen immediately before being a citizen of
a specified country or one who is registered as an overseas Indian citizen by
the Centre.
The
panel discussed the possibility of treating those who migrated to
"The
Committee felt that by affirming or swearing allegiance to Indian Constitution
the overseas citizens might not be able to bear allegiance to the Constitution
of the country whose citizenship they have acquired and are staying there for
most part of the year".
The
panel asked the government that it should, while reformulating the oath for the
PIOs, fully address the concerns expressed by it.
PIO HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVES & EXPERIENCES
DEADLINE TO SUBMIT A PAPER
EXTENED TO
Human
Rights Perspectives and Experience: People of Indian Origin in the Caribbean,
In-Depth
Reports, Discussions and Analyses. Experiences of People of Indian
Origin Living Outside of
Sponsored
By
St. Johns Universitys
Center on Latin American & Caribbean Studies
on
at
St. Johns University
Bent Hall Auditorium, Jamaica, New York City
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:
GOPIO - Prof. Surendra Kaushik,
Tel: 914-762-6168, E-mail:
GEICA - Prakash Singh, Tel: 718-939-8194,
E-mail: geica@aol.com
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-TRINIDAD MEETS PRESIDENT RICHARDS ON RACE
A five-member delegation from the
Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (
They also recommended to the
President that a Presidential Commission be set up to ascertain the perception,
hopes and aspirations of the Indo-Trinidadian community, and to investigate
complaints about discrimination. In addition, the group suggested that the commission
gather data on the socio-economic status of the major groups in the society and
the distribution of State funds to various groups to impress upon Government
the need to urgently establish the Equal Opportunities Commission.
The President was also
urged to set a timetable for constitutional reform towards a more just and
equitable society, given its plural nature, and to consider in his appointment
of Independent Senators, two Senators to respectively represent the views of
Indo-Trinidadians and Afro-Trinidadians. Another proposal was that the
President highlight to Prime Minister Patrick Manning,
during their weekly meetings, the fears and perceptions of the Indo population,
as it relates to crime and other matters.
The delegation, led by GOPIO-Trinidad President Parsu
The meeting took
place at Presidents House and lasted an hour and a half, according Parsu
GOPIO CHICAGOLAND LAUNCHES SENIOR
CITIZENS NEED SURVEY
Recognizing the need for PIO community, GOPIO
Chicagoland is taking the lead to develop senior
homes in
www.gopio.net/gopio_chapters/gopio_chicago/survey.doc.
For any questions, please call Subhash Mehta
at 773-728-7180.
GOPIO Chicagoland
is seeking cooperation form the community in completing this survey.
A survey participant can send the response
back by email gopio_Chicago@yahoo.com , fax 847-904-7334 or mail at
GOPIO Chicago Chapter is a non-profit
organization and has no financial interest in the project. For information on
activities & objectives of GOPIO Chicagoland,
please contact Samir Shah, President (847-508-7426) or Prashant
Gupta, Secretary (847-310-9232)
EURO-INDIA 2004
CO-OPERATION FORUM ON THE INFORMAITON SOCIETY TECHNOLOGIES MARCH 24-26, 2004,
The European Commission is creating a unique
opportunity to promote Euro-Indian co-operation in Information and
Communication Technologies. The EuroIndia2004 Co-operation Forum on the
Information Society organised in
EuroIndia2004
will be attended by European & Indian delegates from industrial, research,
academic and public administration communities. Participation is free of
charge and exhibition stands are also free of charge for European organisations.
Visit the event portal www.euroindia2004.org
or contact the event secretariat at info@euroindia2004.org
Contact:
Hilary Hanahoe, Tel: +39-050-2202651, Fax:
+39-050-2202626, E-mail: h.hanahoe@trust-itservices.com, WSeb:
www.euroindia2004.org
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
