Kangaloo gets award from India

TWO weeks after being the chief guest at the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention (Indian Diaspore Day) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha in India, President Christine Kangaloo was given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (Indian Diaspora Award Honour) on January 26.

She received the award from Indian High Commissioner Dr Pradeep Rajpurohit, during a gala ceremony at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Cultural Cooperation in Mt Hope. The ceremony also marked the 76th Republic Day of India.

Rajpurohit gave the award to Kangaloo on behalf of India's President Droupadi Murmu. Other dignitaries, including Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne, were in attendance.

Apart from being only the second TT citizen to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention in India – the first being former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, back in 2012, in Jaipur – the President is also only the seventh person/institution from TT to receive the award.

Kangaloo received the award for her achievements in public affairs and for fostering the name and prestige of India.

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) (Indian Diaspora Award) is the highest honour conferred by India on non-residents of India and people of Indian origin or organisations/institutions making a significant contribution in a specific field to the Indian diaspora.

Other dignitaries and personalities from Trinidad and Tobago honoured with the award include former prime minister Basdeo Panday, in 2005; the National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC), in 2008; former government minister Dr Lenny Saith, in 2010; former prime minister Persad-Bissessar, in 2012; former minister of foreign affairs Winston Dookeran, in 2017; and senior High Court judge Frank Seepersad in 2023.