The FIA, NY, NJ & CT and AAPI President Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda among winners of Pravasi Samman awards

The Federation of Indian Associations NY, NJ & CT, which completed 50 years of service to the community in New York tristate area, has been awarded the coveted Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) for community service, the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians.

Other winners: Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, president of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, for medicine, Arvind Phukan fpr environment technology, Nilu Gupta for promoting Indian culture and Dr. Mukesh Aghi for business.

The 16th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention was held virtually on 9th January 2021. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards were conferred by the President of India at the valedictory session.

A Jury-cum-Awards Committee, with Vice-President of India as the chairman and External Affairs Minister as the vice-chair and other distinguished members from various walks of life considered the nominations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, 2021 and unanimously selected the awardees. The awardees represent the vibrant excellence achieved by our diaspora in various fields. Several countries have been represented for the first time among the awardees.

Dr. Mukesh Aghi, one of the awardees and President & CEO of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, delivered the acceptance speech on behalf of the awardees.