Protest mars Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award function

The Hindu : Front Page : Protest mars Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award function: "An ugly incident marred the presentation of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards by President A . P. J. Abdul Kalam here on Monday when a group of overseas Indians from the United States objected to the selection of Sudhir Parikh for the honour.

As his name was called out to receive the award from Dr. Kalam at the valedictory session of the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas - 2006 at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, an Indian residing in the US, Satyanath Chowdary, rushed towards the front rows and shouted "shame, shame. As a stunned gathering watched, three plainclothes policemen whisked him away from the large auditorium. Two other Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) -- one of them identifed as Ataullah Khan, also followed him out.

The contention of Satyanath Chowdary, a professor of electrical engineering in New York University, was that Sudhir Parikh, a practising allergist, did not deserve the award since his organisation, the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), USA, had planned a "Gujarat gaurav rath yatra" for Mr. Modi on the streets of New York city if Mr. Narendra Modi was granted a visa. Ataullah Khan said Mr. Parikh was not a leader of the NRIs and better people deserved the award. Unfazed by the commotion, the President continued with the presentation of the prestigious award to Dr. Parikh, President of the Federation of Indian Associations, USA, and 10 other overseas Indians, and later addressed the gathering.

The President also explained that India had embarked on a mission to provide connectivity for a billion people in the form GRIDS. This grid gives national connectivity consisting of Knowledge, Health, e-Governance and Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas (PURA). Dr. Kalam also posed two questions to the NRIs regarding the difficulties faced by them and how they defeated the problems, asking them to e-mail the answers to him. Mr. Abdool Rauouf Bundhun, Vice-President of Mauritius, business magnate C.K. Menon and Ms. Pramila Kale, three of the 11 recipients of the Samman awards, Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde and Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs S. Krishna Kumar also spoke. "