By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : The National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA) will honour 10 Indian Americans for their outstanding achievements and contributions to humanity and society at its 30th anniversary convention in New York over the weekend.
The honours will be bestowed on the 10 at the 2010 NFIA Awards banquet Saturday, echoing the theme of the conference: “Indian Americans Celebrating Success, Overcoming Challenges”.
This year’s awardees are: Narpat Bhandari, a technologist and entrepreneur for leadership in Silicon Valley Hi-Tech industry; New York philanthropist Peter Bhedha for community service; Shanti Bhavan founder Dr. Abraham George in education and philanthropy, and PND Hotel Investors CEO Pravin Khatiwala for community service and hospitality.
The awardees also include South Asian Times publisher Kamlesh Mehta in media; geotechnical forensic expert Awtar Singh in philanthropy; AAPI president Ajeet Singhvi for organizational achievement in medical and health sciences; Manhattan College president Molly Easo Smith for education; TV Asia Anchor Rohit Vyas for television and mass media, and technology entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa for engineering, technology and society.
“NFIA has been honouring outstanding achievers among Indian Americans for the last thirty years who have made a mark in the American society and/or have done outstanding community service and the New York convention will honour 10 such achievers and contributors to our society,” said Lal Motwani, convention convener.
“NFIA is proud to honour these award recipients who are role models to our new generations growing up in America,” said NFIA president Chandu Patel.
Ten conference sessions scheduled Sep 18 will cover contemporary issues affecting the Indian-American community.
These include diasporic cultural identity, youth achievements, inadequacies in social services, senior citizens issues, political engagement, philanthropy and US-India relations, said Thomas Abraham, founding president of NFIA and chairman of the conference.
The resolutions passed at the conclusion of the conference will be submitted to the US and Indian governments for feedback and future action, he said.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])