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Journalism of Courage
To cement the nation’s bond with NRIs, PIOs and expatriates, the Vajpayee government will officially engage itself with the 20 million strong Indian diaspora across 110 countries and 6 continents in January.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (NRI day) will be celebrated in a big way in Delhi on January 9, the day the Mahatma returned from South Africa in 1915.
The three-day function, being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and FICCI, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Vajpayee.
It will be attended among others by Deputy PM L.K. Advani and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. A number of CMs will also be present.
The CMs, who have already confirmed their presence, are Kerala CM A.K. Antony, Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithaa, Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu besides the CMs of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat.
Karnataka CM S.M. Krishna had cleared the name of his Tourism Minister but FICCI is insisting on his presence. The creme de la creme who will grace this occasion are Nobel laureates V.S. Naipaul and Amartya Sen.
Three Bharat Ratnas, melody queen Lata Mangeshekar, Bismillah Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar, will also be present.
Among the NRIs who will be participating are the seven Lords from UK, including Leader of Opposition in the House of Lords, Lord Navneeth Dholakia, Keith Vaz, Lord Amir Bhatia and Lord Bhrika Parikh.
