Bhubaneswar30 minutes ago
The rich culture and heritage of Odisha will be showcased to the NRIs coming from all over the world.
The three-day 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conference will begin from today in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Thousands of NRIs from 50 countries will participate in it. President of Trinidad and Tobago Christine Carla Kangaloo is the chief guest of the conference. She will address the conference virtually.
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Contribution of Overseas Indians to Developed India’. Exhibitions based on Ramayana, technology and NRIs will be organized in the programme. The Ramayana exhibition will explain how this epic reached the countries of South-East Asia.
Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja said that more than 5 thousand NRIs are expected to attend the conference. 21 places have been selected in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Jajpur. Where they will be taken. The objective of the conference is to increase international tourists in Odisha.
The venue of the event is being prepared in Bhubaneswar, more than 5 thousand people are expected to come here.
3 day conference, when will it happen…
- 8th January The conference will begin with the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event, which is being organized by the Government of Odisha in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- 9 January Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the conference. He will flag off the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a special tourist train for NRIs. It will leave from Nizamuddin station in Delhi and will visit many places for 3 weeks.
- PM Modi will also inaugurate 4 exhibitions – Heritage of Ramayana, technology and contribution of diaspora to developed India, development of Indian diaspora from Mandvi to Muscat and heritage and culture of Odisha.
- 10 January President Draupadi Murmu will preside over the concluding session of the programme. President Murmu will also give Pravasi Bharatiya Samman to many NRIs.
Foreign Ministry Secretary Arun Kumar Chatterjee said – the number of Indian expatriates is 35.4 million, which includes 19.5 million people of Indian origin and 15.8 million NRIs. Maximum 2 million people of Indian origin live in America. Whereas UAE has the highest number of NRIs at 3.5 million.
Foreign Minister visited temples of Odisha External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who came to Odisha to attend the conference, visited many temples. These included Jagannath Temple in Puri, Sun Temple in Konark, Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar and Dhauli Shanti Shivalaya. He also visited Raghurajpur Art Village.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reached Raghurajpur Art Village and learned about the culture of Odisha.
Conference in the eastern state of the country for the first time This time Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas is being organized for the first time in the eastern part of the country. So that it will help in taking forward the ‘Purvodaya’ scheme of the government. This scheme has been made for the development of states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
How did it start? Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was started in January 2003 to commemorate the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa in 1915. The purpose of celebrating this day is to recognize the contributions and achievements of NRIs.
