On April 16, 2023, An Indian-American Raj Subramaniam, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FedEx Corporation, the world’s largest express transportation company, has been awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award 2023, by Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s Ambassador to the US, for his contribution to Business.
- The award was conferred by Droupadi Murmu, President of India, on 10 January 2023, as a part of the celebration of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2023 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
- Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award is the highest civilian award given by the Government of India to persons of Indian origin and the Indian diaspora.
Note: 27 Indians living abroad received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in 2023.
About Raj Subramaniam:
i. Raj Subramaniam played an important role in organizing relief for India during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ii. Under his leadership, FedEx donated 3 Boeing 777F charter flights of oxygen concentrators, PPE kits (Personal protective equipment), and other critical supplies to India in May and June 2021.
iii. More than 50,000 oxygen concentrators were sent to India using FedEx charters in cooperation with non-profit partners and customers.
iv. He has made large investments in India as a member of the United States of America (USA) and India Strategic Partnership Forum, advancing the relationship between India and the US.
About Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award:
i. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award is the highest honour conferred on a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Person of Indian Origin; or an organisation or institution established and run by them to recognise their achievements and honour their contributions to various fields, both in India and abroad.
ii.1st PBD Convention was organised on 9 January 2003 to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India.
- Since 2015, under a revised format, PBD Convention has been organised once every 2 years.
List of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award 2023 Recipients in Table:
| Category | Awardee | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Science & Technology/ Education | Jagadish Chennupati | Australia |
| Science & Technology | Dr Archana Sharma | Switzerland |
| Education | Sanjeev Mehta | Bhutan |
| Dr Maqsooda Sarfi Shiotani | Japan | |
| Dr Rajagopal | Mexico | |
| Art & Culture and Education | Dilip Loundo | Brazil |
| Joginder Singh Nijjar | Croatia | |
| Medicine | Dr Alexander Maliakel John | Brunei Darussalam |
| Community Welfare | Dr Vaikuntam Iyer Lakshmanan | Canada |
| Dr Kannan Ambalam | Ethiopia | |
| Parmanand Sukhumal Daswani | Republic of Congo | |
| Mohanlal Hira | South Africa | |
| Sivakumar Nadesan | Sri Lanka | |
| Dr Dewanchandrebhose Sharman | Suriname | |
| Information Technology | Ramjee Prasad | Denmark |
| Community Welfare and Medicine | Dr Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay | Germany |
| Politics and Community Welfare | H.E. Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali | Guyana |
| Business and Community Welfare | Reena Vinod Pushkarna | Israel |
| Amit Kailash Chandra Lath | Poland | |
| Sanjaykumar Shivabhai Patel | South Sudan | |
| Siddharth Balachandran | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | |
| Dr Darshan Singh Dhaliwal | USA | |
| Community Welfare and Education | Justice Frank Arthur Seepersad | Trinidad & Tobago |
| Media | Chandrakant Babubhai Patel | UK |
| Business | Piyush Gupta | Singapore |
| Raj Subramaniam | USA | |
| Ashok Kumar Tiwary | Uzbekistan |
Recent Related News:
On 23rd February 2023, Droupadi Murmu, President of India, presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the year 2019, 2020 and 2021 in New Delhi, Delhi.
- 9 eminent personalities were given Akademi Ratna in the field of performing arts and a total of 128 artists from the field of music, dance, theatre, traditional, folk, and puppetry were given the Akademi Puraskar.
