Even as India may be celebrating its status of being one of the youngest nations in the world, the challenges it faces are manifold. Rediff.com's Abhishek Mande sits in on a session on skills development at the ongoing Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Kochi as ministers and bureaucrats make an appeal for investments.
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi stated that the focus areas of the PBD in Mauritius would be to deliberate ways and means of further strengthening economic engagement, role of youth in maintaining the vital PIO links and cultural heritage as well as look at mutual areas of exploration where Mauritius could serve as a gateway for doing business with Africa.
The chief ministers deviated from their prepared speech copies and went all out to woo the NRIs and PIOs as they explained the development initiatives being taken by their respective governments in achieving inclusive growth.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his government expected a reasonably good growth rate of seven per cent in the ongoing 2011-12 financial year.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar caught up with Arjun Munda, Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
Using the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas platform to attack the Centre, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday suggested that states ruled by Opposition parties do not have its "blessings" and said whatever his state has achieved on the development front was on its own resources.
The tsunami of recession that originated in the Wall Street and spread to Europe did not affect India because our banks are conservative, said Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi while addressing a seminar at the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in Jaipur on Sunday.
Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar will be the chief guest at the Pravasi Bharati Divas in Jaipur and will be honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award.
On the second day of the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in Jaipur, a seminar was held on 'Enhancing rural energy access'.
The Bihar government set up the Bihar Roots Foundation to help connect people of Bihar origin in different parts of the world to the land of their ancestors and preserve their ancestral language, Bhojpuri. But it needs to do more to preserve the language and its heritage in Bihar
Ravi Pillai, is the founder-managing director of the Bahrain-based construction services major Naseer S Al Hajri Corporation (NSH), and Petrochem, Saudi Arabia. With 60,000 people working for him, he is the largest employer of Indians in the Middle East. His company has a turnover of $2.5 billion.
At the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, organised by the government ostensibly to celebrate the country's connection with the 27-million-strong Indian diaspora living in 150 countries, Mr Ahluwalia said last Sunday that India was reaching out to NRIs not for their money, but because it valued the long, socio-cultural footprint all Indians living in India and abroad shared.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday clarified doubts raised by overseas Indians over double taxation of global income of resident Indians while speaking at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2011.
Human Resource Development Mminister Kapil Sibal makes an emotional appeal to the Diaspora to collaborate with Indian educational institutions on Day one of the 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, reports Prasanna D Zore.
Veteran ethnic Indian leader Samy Vellu, Malaysia's new envoy on infrastructure, is heading to New Delhi this week to scout for opportunities for Malaysian businesses to foray into the Indian market.
The Prime Minister's global advisory council has been constituted. The setting up of the council was announced by the Prime Minister at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Chennai.
In his inaugural address at the 7th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Tamil Nadu government and Confederation of Indian Industries, the prime minister said that professionals, including doctors, dentists, pharmactists, engineers, architects and chartered accountants, would have the benefit of practising their professions in India.
Two authors, two well known film makers and a banker discussed how the world has started viewing India in the recent past at the PBD.
He said that his state wants to reflect all the three colours of the national flag in the land of Gujarat. While the white revolution that began in Gujarat as a co-operative movement, the green revolution was represented by the handsome growth in the agriculture sector, he said.Narendra Modi stated that his state now exports milk to European nations and Singapore. Milk production has increased by 66 per cent in the state in the last decade.
All the chief ministers from the northeast states have confirmed that will be attending the 9th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said on Wednesday.
Every year, hundreds of non-resident Indians diligently gather in New Delhi to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas from their different far-off adoptive nations just for three days.
The second day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi had an interaction with ministers of Indian origin in different countries. The subject was 'interests and concerns of the Diaspora.'
In its ninth consecutive year, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, a Diaspora conclave that marks the contribution of the overseas Indian community in the development of the nation, has become a popular brand of sorts. The three-day event will start on January 7 and will see a participation of 1,300 delegates from the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Europe and even Africa.
Reaching out to the Indian Diaspora while inaugurating the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday invited them to 'actively' participate in the country's economic development and join politics while hoping that they would get voting rights by the time of next general elections in 2014.
However, finance minister Pranab Mukerjee did not commit himself to this proposal of floating infrastructure bonds, as this requires detailed examination and Parliamentary nod.
The global success of people of Indian origin gave hope and showed the way to a new India.
Interestingly, the full service carrier's launch coincides with the concluding day of the the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations scheduled to be held in Gujarat's capital city Gandhinagar, near Ahmedabad, from January 7 to January 9.
"A lot of people in this country have given different definitions of secularism. I too have a right to give my own definition," Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said at a session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Delhi on Sunday, while replying to a query by New Yorker Sanjay Sinha."For me the definition of secularism is very simple: India first. That's it," Modi said, getting a huge round of applause from the NRIs.
"Those who are happy with Gujarat's progress praise us a lot and those who are jealous of our progress and economic development tell people that we are ahead of Gujarat," Chief Minister Narendra Modi told a gathering of overseas Indians while hard-selling his state on Saturday at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2010.
Breaking more walls for non-resident Indians, Minister for Overseas Affairs announced that Indians abroad could take active part in the development process of the country.
Against the backdrop of attacks on Indians in Australia, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said the security of Indian students and workers abroad is a top priority of the government.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said the government was conscious about the adverse effect of economic crisis on Indians employed abroad and was working on a project to provide social security net for the workers returning home.
Overseas Indian affairs minister Vayalar Ravi said on Wednesday investment promotion, sharing of knowledge and property issues relating to the expatriates will be among the main themes of the three-day meet to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 8.
In an interactive session at the 7th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event at Chennai, Viswanatha Reddy, director, KTD, said the state helicopter tourism was proposed for Mangalore and Hospet. The department had identified Mangalore, Karwar and its coasts, which would have casinos, bars and so on for cruise tourism. He said 14 more helipads would be set up soon in addition to the present 23.
"Come to India, invest in India and let India emerge as a stronger nation," was Chavan's message to all the overseas Indians who attended the chief ministers' conclave on the concluding day of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2010. Chavan's statement was well received by all overseas Indians present at the venue.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Friday said the CB-CID is independently probing the financial fraud in Satyam Computer, as it appeared likely that its founder Ramalinga Raju would be arrested.
The Air India Office in Chennai has received a letter warning attacks by 'suicide bombers' and threats to disrupt the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) beginning in the city on Thursday, police said.
The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin will celebrate its Convention 2009 in Chennai, India, January 6 and 7 at the Trident Hotel, just before the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2009 event.
India on Friday exuded confidence that its economy will expand by 9-10 per cent in the near future -- a rate that was inconceivable till a year ago -- helped by stimulus measures.
Inaugurating the eighth edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, Dr Singh said: "I recognise the legitimate desire of Indians living abroad to exercise their franchise and to have a say in who governs India. We are working on this issue and I sincerely hope that they will get a chance to vote by the time of the next regular general elections."