COMMUNITY:
Honoring Our Heroes: 2007 GOPIO Awards
Established
to recognize and honor those NRIs
and PIOs who have provided significant community and
public service to the Indian Diaspora around the globe and/or to
The
Global Organization of People of Indian Origin has scheduled its Convention
2007 in
The conference will conclude with the awards banquet Jan. 6, 2007 at the Ashoka Hotel. The GOPIO Pravasi
Community Service Awards were established to recognize and honor
those NRIs and PIOs who
have provided significant community and public service to the Indian Diaspora
around the globe and/or to
“GOPIO believes that the destiny of the Indian diaspora,
in many ways, is intertwined inextricably with
GOPIO chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham said, “By honoring
those who have worked selflessly for Indian diaspora
causes and
The awards will be presented by Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi. Other guests for the evening are Meghalaya
Gov. M. Jacob, Dr. Karan Singh MP and former Prime
Minister Inder K. Gujral.
The awardees for this year are:
Charan Gill founded the
British Columbia Organization
to
Fight Racism, co-founded the Canadian Farm
Workers
Indo-Canadian
Community Services Society.
He
developed plans for a senior housing project and
raised
funds towards the purchase price. He was a
member
of the Task Force on Race Relations, and
organized
a conference on race relations. Gill has won
numerous
community service awards such as the Order
of
from
the United Way, Human Rights Award from MOSAIC,
and
the Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.
George Abraham,
George Abraham has served in various capacities with
the
the
the
ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He is
Chairman
of the GA Group which organizes country-focused
seminars,
conferences and publications; and the Global Indian
Business
Network Ltd, which assists cross-border trade
and
investment within
Abraham
serves on various government, civic and
community
organizations, and launched the
Global
Indian Business
Nevin P. Megchiani
Bahrain,
Nevin Megchiani
has been serving and supporting
various
educational facilities for the benefit of the
NRI
community in the Gulf, serving in various
capacities
in several NRI community organizations
He
has served as vice chairman of the
with
more than 6,000 students. He also worked towards
helping
the NRI community children to get admissions in the top
class
universities in
or
increasing the NRI quota seating. Meghchiani is the
director
of the branch of Birla Institute of Technology of
it
established its first international centre abroad for NRI
community
children to pursue their degree programs while
living
with their parents.
His efforts have been a Godsend for harried expatriate Indian families who
worry that they are trading affluent living for an uncertain education of their
children. Now, Indian parents can rest assured that as they make money, their
kids are also getting educated in competitive schools.
Wahid Saleh
The
Born in
Prior to the conference inauguration, a scheduled GOPIO session will present
reports on NRI/PIO issues from different countries. This will be followed by a
media conclave with two sessions on “India & PIO Media Exchange and
Deliberation” and “PIOs in Media: Their Perception of
India & Indian Media, and, their role in the global perception of
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