The upcoming 14th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) in Bengaluru is going to be a breakthrough event in not only discussing but connecting Indian diaspora through social media.
The plenary session ‘Leveraging Social Media for Diaspora Connect’ to be held on January 9, 2017, at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will look at social media as a medium in connecting the Indian Diaspora.
In an era, when digital technologies are leading the way, MEA is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that India is only a click away. Social media has played a big role for the government to reach out to Indians living or traveling abroad.
Invitation – straight from the heart
The Ministry of External Affairs, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been effortlessly using digital modes to reach out to Indians abroad. Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs Minister is doing her best to stay abreast with the modern technology. To say the least, she has become a Twitter messiah for Indians in distress.
Sushma Swaraj who has been unwell for some time and recently has undergone a kidney Transplant sent out an invite to Indian diaspora through a heartfelt video – straight from the recovery bed.
Here’s her video invitation.
At PBD 2017
This year Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is being celebrated in a different manner. The discussions happened over the year between experts from the diaspora, MEA officials and the India-based policy makers will be presented during plenary session at PBD 2017.
At the event, the extraction and recommendations observed during the conference will be presented at the plenary session. Any amendments or changes at the plenary sessions will be accommodated in the final document that will be submitted to the concerned ministry.
The session that will be moderated by Vikas Swarup, Additional Secretary (XP), Ministry of External Affairs, will see delegates like Rohan Agrawal, Regional Operations Manager (Japan) in Western Union, Japan, Jacqueline Daniel Solomon, Senior Systems Analyst, Nova Instruments Ltd, Israel, Smita Barooah, Addictions Therapist, writer and fine arts photographer, Singapore, Vikash Dhanuka, Entrepreneur, Singapore, Rupa Subramanya, Co-author, Indianomix, Canada, Mayuri Parmar Management Consultant & Founder, Parmar Advisory, UK, Ankit Patel Director, Deutsche Bank USA, Nihar Shashithal Software Engineer, USA, Pramod Kumar Buravalli President/CEO, YA Consulting Group Inc. The USA, Arvind Gupta, Head, Digital India Foundation, India.
The focus will be on priorities of the government to bring in latest tools and technologies that can be utilised by the ministry to connect with Indians abroad. Brainstorming on how diaspora and missions can come together to explore the commercial opportunities available in other countries along with facilitating contacts with Indian business houses and chambers of commerce.
