Community Body to Honour 10 Indian-American Achievers

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 from March 6 to March 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.

The nine Indian Americans achievers to be honoured include 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.