NFIA to honour 10 Indian-American achievers

Washington, March 4
National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA), the largest umbrella organization of more than 200 associations, will honour 10 Indian American achievers at its 18th biennial convention March 6-8 in Cerritos, California.

The convention with the theme of "Indian Americans Making an Impact in America" will be inaugurated by Indian Consul General Venkatesan Ashok and California State Treasurer John Chiang.

The opening session on the convention theme chaired by NFIA founder president Thomas Abraham will be followed by three more sessions.

These would be on "Indian Americans Contributing to India", chaired by Inder Singh, past NFIA chairman, "Indian American Impact in The Area of Technology and Medicine", chaired by Boeing Company technical fellow Paul Sikand and "Impact in US-India Trade and Business," chaired by Amritt Inc. managing director Gunjan Bagla.

The convention will conclude Saturday with a gala awards banquet with US Congresswoman Linda Sanchez as the guest of honour. NFIA will hold its annual general body meeting and election on March 8.

"Indian American community in Southern California is very excited to welcome back community leaders from all over the country for this unique unifying event which brings all segments of our community on one platform," said Ashok Madan, convention convener.

"We are very excited about the conference which will feature 20 specialists. The panels will cover a whole gamut of Indian Americans making an impact in American society as well as contributing to India and US-India relations," said Abraham.

Nine Indian Americans achievers to be honoured are: physician Bharat Barai and Aparna Hande for Community Service, TV Asia Chairman H.R. Shah for Mass Media, musician Rita Sahai and Kathak dancer Amrapali Ambegaokar for performing arts, psychopharmacologist Rangaesh Gadasalli for medicine and health sciences and management consultant K.V. Kumar and attorney Navneet Chugh in business and finance.

The late New York cardiologist B.N. Viswanath will be honoured posthumously for his Life Time Contribution to NRIs through broadcasting and philanthropy.

In addition, Heart and Hand for Handicapped (HHH), a New York based organization, will receive an award for its outstanding services to handicapped in the US and India.

Dr. Bharat Barai, MD –Community Service

Dr Bharat Barai is Medical Director of the Cancer Institute, Methodist Hospitals, affiliated with Indiana University Medical School, Member and former President of the Medical Licensing Board of the State of Indiana. He serves on the advisory board of the Indiana University School of Business.

Dr Bharat is a Trustee and former President of FIA Chicago, Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Manav Seva Mandir, Trustee of the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, Trustee of the Indian American Cultural Center NW Indiana and many Indian American organizations. Dr Bharat Barai, as President of Indian American Community Foundation organized historic reception for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sept 28, 2014 in Madison Square Garden, New York.

H.R. Shah –Contribution in Mass Media

H.R. Shah started a 24/7 TV Channel, TV ASIA, for whole North America since 1993. TV ASIA has been a pioneer, with local coverage (English, Hindi, Gujarati) in all major cities of the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Shah has also launched a 24/7 free broadcast ethnic Radio Station called “Radio Asia,” all over USA. Shah is the Chairman and Trustee of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (USA), the world famous institute of Indian culture, education, music and the arts. The Bhavan has dedicated an auditorium, "Romanti Auditorium", in memory of H.R. Shah’s late daughter. Shah is the first NRI to own a chain store business, Krauszer’s Food Stores in New Jersey. A well-known entrepreneur, philanthropist and community leader, H. R. Shah has been serving the Indian community for over 30 years. He is the recipient of the prestigious 2005 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Aparna Hande, RN – Community Service

Aparna joined Indian Army and served as nurse from 1965 to 1971 during two Indo – Pakistan wars. In 1974, she moved to New York and became a Registered Nurse.  She has been involved in many Indo-American community projects since 1980 and she has been using her nursing knowledge and skills to help the community. She was president of FIA-Southern California for the year 2012. She has been bestowed with many community awards. She was also honored as the Women of the Year in 2012 by Assembly Member of 56th California Assembly.

Dr R S Gadasalli - Medicine and Health Sciences

Dr Gadasalli worked at Harbor UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology. Dr Gadasalli has been involved in clinical research areas in psychopharmacology involving most second-generation antipsychotics, many novel antidepressants, and some anxiolytics. His multicenter projects included clinical trials for NIMH Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) and Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to relieve Depression. He was involved in groundbreaking research of several new anti-psychotics and anti-depressants. He was recognized with Outstanding Psychiatric Research Contribution Award from the Department of Psycho-Pharmacology at the Harbor UCLA Medical Center 1996.

Dr Gadasalli is Past President of FIA, Southern California. He is Founder, Trustee and Chairman of United Federation of Indian Community Association (UFICA).

Musician Rita Sahai – Performing Arts

Rita Sahai is an acclaimed composer, performer and teacher. Her music reveals a theme of emotional depth, healing and harmony. Though inspired by the romance of the Benares Gharana and the rhythmic complexity of the Seni Alauddin Gharana, Rita strives for additional melodic and emotional depth. After coming to the United States over three decades ago, continued her music studies under the world famous sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Khansahib, as Rita affectionately called her guru, was impressed by her talent and passion for music. He even gave her the title Gayan Alankar (Jewel of Music).

Rita is a faculty member at UC Davis, in the department of Ethnomusicology. She teaches music classes all over the Bay Area and Sacramento, CA. She is director of two choir groups - the UC Davis Hindustani Ensemble and her own Vasundhara Choir.  In March, 2013 Rita was inducted into The Alameda County 2013 Women’s Hall of Fame.

Kathak Dancer Amrapali Ambegaokar – Performing Arts

Amrapali is a highly accomplished world class performing Kathak dancer. At only 22 years of age, Amrapali was invited to become the Principal Dancer of Cirque Du Soleil’s Dralion in over 730 shows with additional performances on The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and more. Amrapali performed as an invited solo guest on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and won the Solo Silver Medalist on NBC’s “Superstars of Dance”.  Amrapali is also a successful actor currently recurring on the hit ABC series "Scandal" with recurring roles on Grey’s Anatomy at 19 episodes and Guest starring roles in many serials and movies. A UCLA graduate of World Arts and Cultures, and a lifelong disciple of NEA Lifetime Achievement awardee Amrapali has been the Principal dancer of Anjani’s Kathak Dance of India for 23 years. Extensively trained in classical western and Hindustani music as a musician and vocalist, Amrapali continues to create and perform for various mediums internationally. 

Management Consultant K. V. Kumar  - Business and Finance

KV Kumar is the Managing partner of Kumar & Talvadkar Associates, a Management Consulting Company.  He also serves on the boards of several companies. KV has turned around many projects including most recently a privately held healthcare company in Southern California. He currently serves as:

California State District Appeals Board, Member, appointed by the President.

Member, Board of Governor’s Committee of Bar Examiners, appointed by the Governor.

Member, Small Business Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC.

Founding Chairman Emeritus & Board Member, US Indian American Chamber of Commerce;

Member, Republican National Committee’s Asian Pacific American Advisory Council.

Kumar has served Five U.S. Presidents, from President Ronald Reagan to President Barack Obama.

Attorney  Navneet S. Chugh - Business and Finance

Navneet S. Chugh, MBA, CPA, Attorney-at-Law, Managing Partner of The Chugh Firm.  Chairman, Premier Media, Inc., publisher, Indian weekly newspaper in SoCal - "India Journal".The Chugh Firm provides corporate, tax, litigation, and immigration services to emerging growth and mature companies with offices in Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Iselin NJ, Atlanta, Fairfax, VA; and in India.

In 1995, Navneet initiated South Asian Bar Association of Southern California (SABA) and became its Founder President. In 1997, founded The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) of  Southern California, and served as its President.  In 2003, the became founder president of the North American South Asian Bar Association, a nationwide body with 25 chapters in North America representing over 6,000 South Asian lawyers in the U.S. and Canada. He also serves as a Trustee and on the Board of the American India Foundation.

Heart and Hand for Handicapped – Charitable and Philanthropic Work (WWW.hhhonline.org)

Five Indian American homemakers in New York started Heart and Hand for the Handicapped (HHH) in 1971. From its humble beginnings, HHH now distributes over $250,000 yearly and supports more than 60 institutions / schools providing education & residential services. It serves Differently abled Children in India & USA. It supports Polio & Cerebral Palsy corrective surgery, braces & therapy. It supports vision care through many institutions in different parts of India. It is focused on helping children with Autism Disorders.