By IANS,
Kochi: Three non-resident Keralites were among the 15 people given this year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards here Wednesday.
Narendra R. Kumar, Mohammed Rabeeh Karuvanthodi and Bava Haji Pandalingal were honoured by President Pranab Mukherjee at the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD).
Kumar, 60, a native of Kollam district, is a doctor, specialising in otolaryngology (head and neck surgery), in Michigan in the United States.
He did his MBBS from Kerala in 1977 and settled in the US in 1982. He is currently president of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
The other awardee, Karuvanthodi, a native of Malappuram district, runs polyclinics in the Middle East.
He first started clinics in Saudi Arabia and has now expanded into other Middle Eastern countries.
Third awardee Pandalingal is president of the Indian Islamic Centre in Abu Dhabi– the only recognised organisation for Indian Muslims in the city in the United Arab Emirates.
“The centre works for the welfare of Indian society and does a lot of charitable world,” he said.