Bengaluru, DHNS: Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to showcase what India, state have to offer. The three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will kick off on Saturday at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre on Tumakuru Road. The theme of the event is ‘Redefining Engagements’ with the Indian diaspora and it will have a special emphasis on empowering youth.

Indian diaspora from across the globe would attend the first such gala event in the city. As many as 1,800 non-resident Indians (NRIs) and 4,618 delegates have registered for the event, according to the Karnataka Udyog Mitra office.

The event will start at 9 am when overseas delegates and those from the Union government will participate. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present on the secondday on January 8, President Pranab Mukherjee will participate on the concluding day on January 9.
He will also present 30 awards to people for their contribution in various fields.

Besides Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, other key delegates include Vice President of Suriname Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin, Minister of State for External Affairs General V K Singh (retd) and chief ministers of Jharkhand, Puducherry, Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The PBD is a B2B event focused on showcasing what the country and the host state (Karnataka) have to offer. The state government is looking at the event as an opportunity to lure investments and promote the state as a tourism hub, said Industries Minister R V Deshpande.

For the first time, startups and youth are being given importance with as many as 25 stalls dedicated to them. These startups have been shortlisted after an all-India social innovation contest organised by the Union government, said a member of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The exhibition will be held in two halls with host
Karnataka allotted the biggest space with 25 government departments taking part. The PBD will have a series of conferences, seminars, B2B sessions, one-on-one interactions, technical sessions and lectures.

The Kannada and Culture department will present cultural programmes with 100 artistes showcasing Dollu Kunitha, Nagaari, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Kathak, Bhara- tanatyam and Lavani. The department has also created a mini-stage at the reception area where four teams will perform.

Around 10,000 people have been associated with the preparation for PBD since April, 2015 and all roads leading to BIEC have been spruced up.

At Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2017

January 7

Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Inaugural session: Role of Diaspora Youth in the Transformation of India. Vijay Goel, Union
Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, V K Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Dyaneshwar Mulay, Secretary (OIA and CPV), Ministry fo
External Affairs, and Dr A K Dubey, Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to participate.

Plenary Session 1 : Nurturing India’s Young Ambassadors: Reaching out to Indian Students Abroad, NRI and OCI students in India.

Plenary Session 2: Start-ups and Innovations which had social impact in India
Plenary Session 3: Fuelling growth through
disruptive innovations: Startup Eco-system in Karnataka.

January 8

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, Dr Antonio Coasta, Prime Minister of Portugal, Ananth Kumar, Minister for Chemical and Fertilisers, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, V K Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, to address the gathering.

Plenary Session 1: Indian Diaspora: Catalysts for Realising India’s Development Vision: India
Development Foundation of Overseas Indians, will be chaired by M J Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs

Plenary Session 2: Consular Services to Overseas Indians: Ensuring Effective and Efficient Delivery

Plenary Session 3: Partnering with Diaspora to Accelerate Tourism in India
Plenary Session 4: India as a Global Health and Wellness Hub, J P Nadda, Union Minister for Heath and Family Welfare, and Datik Seri Dr S Subramaniam, Minister of Helath, Malaysia, will participate.

January 9

Plenary Session 5: Diaspora Organisations: Bridging Distances, Unlocking
Opportunities.

Plenary Session 6: Managing the Emigration Cycle: Streamlining and Supoprting Indian Workers Emigration to ECR countries.

Plenary Session 7: Leveraging Social Media for Diaspora Connect.
Plenary Session 8: Leveraging Diaspora Expertise for Knowledge and Encouraging Innovation.

Plenary Session 9: Connecting Contemporary
India to Diaspora in Girmitiya Countries: Link to past for a shared future.
Plenary Session 10: Invest Karnataka:
Innovative, Invent and Invest in Karnataka.
President Pranab Mukherjee to confer Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards.