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MESSAGE FROM GOPIO EUROPE CONVENTION CONVENOR

I am very much honoured to be the convenor for the GOPIO Europe Convention 2016 in Paris. I welcome you all to the land of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity to have a great moment of solidarity in taking time to enjoy both the convention and the delights of the city of Love, Paris.

The GOPIO chapters in France and its members are very excited to welcome colleagues from all over the world to this creative gathering under the theme “Indiaspora, opportunities beyond frontiers”.

This is a historic moment for GOPIO since convention is starting on the Armistice Day which commemorates the end of First World War. GOPIO members will be gathering at Neuve Chapelle Indian Soldiers Memorial to pay tribute to more than 4700 sons of India who lost their life in France in their fight for Freedom. GOPIO International Europe coordinator, Dr Pradip Sewoke, members of the GOPIO chapters in France in collaboration with the Mayor of Richebourg, Mr Gérard Delahaye and the Interfaith Association of Mr Ramesh Vohra have the firm conviction and are requesting that this monument be recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site.

The program agenda of GOPIO Europe Convention 2016 includes 3 sessions on business since economic reforms in India are strengthening the business interactions in many sectors of activities between Europe and India. GOPIO is committed to be an active part of this venture in helping to connect and interact globally with different partners of India and the Indian Diaspora. Convention sessions will also deal in parallel on issues of common interests concerning the Women, Youth, Health and wellness, Science and Technology. France has a long history with India and French is the second most taught foreign language in India. A Francophone session about the Past, Present and Future of the French Indian Diaspora is on the agenda.

GOPIO in Europe is on the move and the following years will be very challenging. Focus will be made on opening GOPIO chapters and connecting PIOs and NRIs of different European countries so that everyone can feel proud of our achievements.

There is no convention of this prestige without the guidance, help of sponsors and supporters globally. I express my gratitude and thanks to all those who contributed to make this convention a success.

Mehen POINOOSAWMY Life Member GOPIO President GOPIO France Paris nc

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MESSAGE FROM GOPIO INTERNATIONAL EUROPE COORDINATOR

Dear friends and members,

It is definitely an absolute honor bestowed upon me to have the opportunity to share this message with you all. There are a few things in my maiden message that I wish to communicate to the fellow members. I am privileged to be alongside the association executive members of GOPIO INTERNATIONAL in building this pioneering organization in the Europe region. Without a doubt, GOPIO International has come a long way in fulfilling its objectives. You may see that we have established councils to address issues of common concern and have organized International conventions, workshops and trainings on various topics touching the everyday life.

GOPIO International has successfully established the European Biannual Summit as one of the pivotal events in the global GOPIO program calendar. The theme of this summit “Indiaspora, Opportunities beyond Frontiers” conveys GOPIO’s thrust to mobilize Diaspora’s technology, professional as well as the investment resources and of course carrying out discussions on many important issues and topics of common interest. In addition, GOPIO Europe Convention has involved the Indian Diaspora youth and young professionals as active participants.

In this convention, we focus on panel discussions in different areas like ‘Uniting the Indian youth Diaspora in the world’, ‘Make in India-Exploiting the potential’, Women empowerment, Indian Literary thoughts, Entrepreneurial India etc. As part of the program, in the past we have organized several events such as visiting the World War I memorial in Neuve Chapelle (North of France) to pay tribute to the Indian soldiers who were martyred in France, various cultural programs, discover Paris Lido, Gala dinner at Seine river cruise, award ceremony and launching of the book on Nelson Mandela written by Farook Khan and photographed by Kevin Joseph (Nelson Mandela's private photographer). A Documentary film ‘Mademoiselle France Pleure’ about Soldiers who were martyred in World War, directed by Vijay Singh, will be shown at the program. The convention will have esteemed presence of Mrs. Ericka Bareights, Minister for Overseas affairs, France, Mr.Velusamy Radhakrishnan, Minister for Education, Sri Lanka, Mr. Raj K Purohit, Chief Whip and MLA of Maharashtra State, India as well as Parliament members and Ambassadors from different countries. Eminent writers and several artists too will participate in this convention.

Looking into the future, we have many plans for the coming months. The most important of those, I would say, is to unite the whole Indian Diaspora in Europe and work together for the brighter future of GOPIO International. We need to open more Gopio chapters and life members in Europe so as to have a ‘Strong United European Gopio’ and strengthen our efforts in the area of Youth development, Science and Technology, Women empowerment, Charity activities, Medical facilities, Literary activities, Business opportunities etc. With India at the threshold of accepting new technologies and business investment, the new team has come up with a motto, “GOPIO Means Business” so as to attract Indian Diaspora entrepreneurs and businessmen to take more interest in investing in India in all

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After being elected as Europe Coordinator in March 2016, I have always encouraged the development of new GOPIO Chapters in Europe and in the francophone countries like Cameroun, Mauritius, Island of Reunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique etc. I am very happy to have the presence of Gopio International in the festivities held on 6th of May 2016 to commemorate the 163rd anniversary of the first arrival of the Indians in the Island of Martinique. It is certainly one of our best achievements in the history of GOPIO International to open 3 new chapters for the first time and to register new life members in Mauritius with the help of Mr. Shammi Sewoke, Mr. Hirenduth Rambojhun and Mrs. Kritilata Ram. On 14th July 2016, Mehen Poinoosawmy from GOPIO France, Rita Abraham from GOPIO South Africa and I launched the first chapter of GOPIO International in Reunion Island with the help of the Chapter President Jean-Regis Ramsamy and registered the first life member there. It is really a great pleasure to welcome a large group of GOPIO members accompanied by GOPIO International Coordinator of Africa Ishwar Ramlutchman and five new life members from South Africa to this Convention who have also participated actively in Mauritius and Reunion Island.

In order to promote the GOPIO Europe Convention, I have already completed multi-nations trip to Great Britain, Ireland and Germany. We organized community meetings there and met people from Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Switzerland and planning to open new chapters in these countries soon! I was accompanied by Mr. Rajindre Tewari, International coordinator of GOPIO at large and Mr.Ramesh Vohra, President of Interfaith Shaheedi Commemoration Association to meet Indian community leaders and GOPIO officials in London, Berlin, Stuttgart and Belfast.

The high level of member participation in many events organized by us is a testament to the success of the GOPIO leadership and staff at various fronts. This highlights the excellent progress, the association has achieved in a very short span of time. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering confidence and support rendered to us by our members and supporters. With the support of our members, our journey towards excellence will continue with the same vigor and energy and I would like to reassure here that we are always ready to meet the challenges which will come our way.

I feel absolutely privileged to coordinate the organization in Europe as diverse as we are and I am very proud of the accomplishments of our people. I am confident that our association will continue to be propelled by the energy and innovation of our people and will deliver growth and superior returns in the months ahead. On this occasion, with heartfelt gratitude, I would like to thank GOPIO members coming from different countries, Convention team lead by Convener Mehen Poinoosawmy, GOPIO International Executive Officers, Chairman Thomas Abraham, President Niraj P Baxi, Executive VP Noel Lal, Vice president Ram Gadhavi, Executive Trustee Inder Singh and International Coordinators Mr. Ishwar Ramlutchman of Africa and Claude Sheikboudhou of Caribbean region. I sincerely thank my wife Leenah and my five kids who are supporting me tremendously to make this program a success! Looking forward to see you in Paris! Thank you! Dr Pradip Sewoke MD GOPIO Europe Convention Chairman, Interventional Cardiologist, Europe Coordinator, GOPIO International MD, Clinic of Diaconat-Mulhouse, [email protected] France. Ph : +33 6 70 63 33 35

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The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin GOPIO International www.gopio.net 1762 Technology Drive, Suite 203, San Jose, CA 95110, USA Phone: Cell # +1.408.307.9845, Office: +1.408.249.2103

‘GOPIO means Business’

MESSAGE FROM GOPIO INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT

Dear Convention Chairman Dr. Pradip Sewoke, Convener Mehen Poinoosawmy & International Coordinator Rajindre Tewari:

To organize a convention is a huge undertaking. Congratulations and Best Wishes to the First European Convention of GOPIO in Paris, France. The success of this Convention is due all to your integrity, earnestness, dedication and hard work.

In the past, we have done many gatherings in Europe, but not a Convention. This first European Convention in Paris, France symbolizes a new a vitality that Indo-Europeans will make a difference to their countries of domicile, while keeping alive their religion, culture and heritage.

The Executive Council (EC) ably represented by our Executive Vice President (EVP) Noel Lal and Chairman, Dr. Thomas Abraham, Global Ambassador Sunny Kulathakal, Treasurer Kewal Kanda, International Coordinators Ishwar Ramlutchman, Shaji Baby John, Council Chairs and Co-Chairs felicitate you on your desire to earn your rightful place in Europe, while maintaining your cultural & religious roots and your role within the People of Indian Origin (PIOs). This Convention is making a statement that you have ‘arrived’ and the impact will be more visible over time. Growing presence of our organization in Europe will ensure your future leadership role that you aspire for and so richly deserve.

Civilizational history shows that what lasts over time are culture, traditions, a belief in a higher power and all this ably sustained by economic activity. We Indians have an inquisitive mind and a natural tendency towards trade, business, math and science. We need to grow from these strengths. Indians who have gone overseas have succeeded despite all the handicaps, to be the ideal citizens of their country of domicile. Thus, you find the Indian as President and Prime Minister in Mauritius, Indo American in the US Armed Forces or the Indo Canadian as a Minister in Ottawa or the Indians as a Member of Parliament in UK, Australia, Indo-Caribbeans in senior positions, Fiji, South Africa and more. We have done all this without forgetting the culture, tradition and religion that have sustained us through the millenniums and allowed India to emerge as one of the long lasting civilization. During the preceding two years, GOPIO experienced some hiccups, where the International Conventions and elections were delayed. But, that’s all past us. In March 2016, GOPIO conducted elections electronically, providing opportunity to active GOPIO life members and chapter delegates to vote from the privacy of their homes. More than 95% of the eligible voters took part and elected a new team. This Team brings a new vision and desire to bring change, both internal and external, by being transparent & accountable and bursting with a desire to interact in not only social areas but in business globally.

In June 2016, we held the New York international Conventional and in a historic move, the general body authorized the setup of the GOPIO International Chamber of Commerce (GICC). Plans are afoot for its

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inauguration on January 10, 2017 in Mumbai, India. After its inauguration, we are proposing Business Conventions be held at multiple places around the globe. These conventions will allow our natural tendency to network with other PIOs in India and across the globe.

Despite our truncated term of less than two years, our new Team has already held an International Convention, taken up its task with enthusiasm and creativity to open chapters in countries where there were no chapters like Mauritius which has been included in the GOPIO International world map, opening newer chapters in existing countries, enrolling new life members, while major Conventions have been scheduled across the world over the next 12 months.

Our Upcoming events: • Bengaluru, India: GOPIO Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention January 5- 6, 2017; • Mumbai, India: Inauguration of GOPIO International Chamber of Commerce (GICC), January 10, 2017; • Durban, South Africa: Africa Convention, March 10-12, 2017; • Bahrain, UAE. International Biennial Convention, November 2017.

We urge all of you to join us in this effort of that ‘GOPIO means business’, by seeding new chapters, in countries where we are not present, be active in your GOPIO chapter, or in one or more of the ten GOPIO Councils and to help GOPIO increase activities for the benefit of the globally spread Indian Diaspora. We also welcome your active participation in the deliberations during the convention. Vice President Ram Gadhavi also joins me in conveying our Best Wishes to all GOPIO convention team members & volunteers worldwide for their dedication and commitment to serve the NRI/PIO community.

Jai Hind! Niraj P. Baxi Niraj P. Baxi, President ‘GOPIO means Business’

PS: ‘One for all and all for one’ is not only the rallying cry of the Musketeers, but also within our EC Team. We are together as one.

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GLOBAL ORGANIZATION OF PEOPLE OF INDIAN ORIGIN (GOPIO) INC. P.O. Box 1413 Stamford, CT 06904-1413, USA Tel 203-329-8010, [email protected], www.gopio.net

MESSAGE FROM GOPIO INTERNATIONAL CHAIRMAN

Welcome to the GOPIO Europe Summit 2016 of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin. I extend a warm welcome to all delegates and guests from all over the world.

It was in August 1989 when delegates from 30 countries came to New York at the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origin. In 27 years, GOPIO has grown bigger and better in mobilizing the community for common causes by bringing a sense of friendship and community spirit and serving the global Indian community by taking up their issues to various governments and international agencies.

GOPIO had organized conferences, public platforms on issues, community celebrations and social service and philanthropic activities. We have campaigned on issues of larger interest to the community and have held even demonstrations in front of the U.N. to internationalize issues of common interest to the Indian Diaspora community. The Biennial Convention in 2016 held in New York has become a corner stone for GOPIO to be more involved in business, technology, investment and philanthropic activities as we have decided to initiate GOPIO International Chamber of Commerce (GICC) which will be officially launched on January 10th, 2016 in Mumbai.

GOPIO have had European regional meetings in London in 1989, 2010 and 2014; in Stuttgart in 1991 and in Leiden in 2002, and GOPIO International Biennial Convention in Zurich in 2000. However, the GOPIO Europe Summit, being organized in Paris this weekend, is the most outreached GOPIO European Summit. The theme “Indiaspora, Opportunities Beyond Frontiers” conveys GOPIO’s thrust to mobilize Diaspora’s technology, professional and investment resources as well as discuss many important issues and topics of common interest. In addition, GOPIO Europe Summit has involved the Indian Diaspora youth and young professionals as active participants in the Summit. I compliment Convention Chairman and GOPIO International Coordinator for Europe Dr. Pradip Sewoke and Convention Convener and GOPIO-Paris Nord President Mehen Poinoosawmy for their commitment and sincere work in putting together this Summit. It will go a long way in mobilizing the European segment of GOPIO International.

I wish all delegates and guests a fruitful Summit and a wonderful stay in Paris.

Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman, GOPIO International

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PROGRAM OUTLINE Thursday November 10, 2016 18 :00 – Registration / Dinner Simla Hill Restaurant -9 Rue Byron, 75008 Paris Tel : +33 (0)1 43 22 :00 59 06 40 23 :00 LIDO SHOW on request LIDO – Champs Elysées

Friday November 11, 2016 Leaving for NEUVE CHAPELLE TO PAY HOMMAGE TO THE 06 :30 Departing by BUS INDIAN SOLDIERS MEMORIAL – RICHEBOURG ( PAS DE CALAIS) Pick Up place : Hotel Le MARRIOTT , 17 Bvd Saint Jacques , 75014 Paris UNITING THE INDIAN YOUTH DIASPORA OF THE WORLD 16 :30 – 17 :30 YOUTH CUNCIL SESSION Venue : HOTEL INTERCONTINENTAL LE GRAND PARIS, 2 RUE SCRIBE, 75009 PARIS 17 :30-18 :00 TABLATRONIC By Soobash DOONOOCHAND

18 :00 – 18 :30 WELCOME Reception and Inauguration Venue : HOTEL INTERCONTINENTAL LE GRAND PARIS, 2 RUE SCRIBE , 75009 PARIS 18:30- 19:45 FILM “Mademoiselle France Pleure » of Vijay Singh 20 : 00 – 22 :00 CULTURAL SHOW Venue : HOTEL INTERCONTINENTAL LE GRAND PARIS, 2 RUE SCRIBE , 75009 PARIS

Saturday November 12, 2016 – VENUE HOTEL LE MARIOTT 08 :45 Conference Session VENUE : HOTEL LE MARRIOTT, 17 Boulevard Saint Jaxques, inagurations PARIS 14 10:00 – 11 :00 BUSINESS SESSION MAKE IN INDIA: EXPLOITING THE POTENTIAL – HALL A 10 :00 – 11 :30 DIASPORA WRITERS Is there an Indian Model of Leadership: Realizing the potential for FORUM Self - HALL B 11 :00 – 12 :00 BUSINESS SESSION ENTREPRENEURIAL INDIA- HALL A 11 :30 – 12 :45 ASSOCIATION OF DIAS HALL B 12 :00 -13 :00 BUSINESS SESSION DIASPORA IN THE WORLD OF FINANCE – HALL A 13 :00 – 14 :00 LUNCH LUNCH 14:00 – 15:15 WOMEN SESSION WOMEN LEADERSHIP - HALL A 14 :00 – 15 :00 HEALTH SESSON HIGHER MORTALITY RATE OF INDIAN DIASPORA - HALL B 15 :30 – 16 :45 SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY Impact of Innovation and Digital Manufacturing on Modern SSESSION Economy - HALL A 15 :00 – 16 :00 FRANCOPHONE SESSION FRANCOPHONE INDIAN DIASPORA : PAST – PRESENT – FUTURE (Diaspora Indienne : Passé – Présent – Futur) - HALL B 17 :00 – 18 :00 CLOSING SESSION CONFERENCE CLOSING SESSION

Saturday, November 12 , 2016 From 20 :00 to 23: 00 - GALA DINNER BOAT CRUISE , ❖ LAUNCHING OF BOOKS ❖ INDIAN DIASPORA AWARDS

Sunday November 13, 2016 GOPIO INTERNATIONAL MEETING – SIMLA HILL 10 :00 – 14 :00 GOPIO MEETING Simla Hill Restaurant -9 Rue Byron, 75008 Paris Tel : +33 (0)1 43 59 06 40 LUNCH

EVENING FREE - VISIT VISIT LITTLE INDIA OF PARIS

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Modelages Ayurvédiques : Tel - 06 01 96 21 07 ; http://pkayurmodelages.free.fr

WEB SITE: www.panditayurveda.com

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GLOBAL ORGANIZATION OF PEOPLE OF INDIAN ORIGIN (GOPIO) INC. Tel: 0027 833578747 – Cell: 083 3578747 Email: [email protected] GOPIO INTERNATIONAL AFRICA COORDINATOR

The Indian South African community has always been renowned for its determination to ensure education of its children as a priority, even in the face of adversity. From the earliest indentured labourers contributing from their meagre earnings to build schools, clinics, and even contributed towards the freedom of South Africa. This has remained a steadfast principle that has brought about the literacy level in the community.

The year 2014 marked 20 years of democracy in South Africa and after two decades of peaceful transition from a horrific apartheid state to a democracy where all our rights and freedoms are guaranteed in the Constitution and the goodwill and love of the African people whom we share work spaces, neighborhoods and public places. Durban is the home of more than 800 000 Indian citizens and hundreds more of Indian nationals. Durban has been the home under the African sun of our Indian community since 16 November 1860.

On 16th November 1860 , 155 years ago, the SS Truro landed in the Bay of Durban and more than 300 men, women and children stepped onto African soil to forever make this their home, some thousands and thousands of miles away from Mother India. During this historic Covention in New York, I take this opportunity of saluting the 1860 indentured Indians and the descendants of the pioneering people who made possible for all of us, Hindus, Muslims and Christians, to enjoy a good and people life in the heart of the African east-coast seaboard.

The poignant history of the 1860 Indian indentured labourers who worked collectively and under trying human conditions to survive every hour, turning the lush green sugar cane fields into the gold of sterling and pounds for the colonial sugar farming barons is well documented.

This year marks 101 years since the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa. The peace apostle spent 21 years in Phoenix next to John Dube’s neighborhood where both these great leaders plotted and planned the democracy that all of us enjoy today. KwaZulu-Natal, like the South African culture, is a mix of various cultures. Through social cohesion unity in diversity will become the rainbow nation of South Africa.

Ishwar Ramlutchman Africa Co-coordinator Gopio International

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GLOBAL ORGANIZATION OF PEOPLE OF INDIAN ORIGIN (GOPIO) INC. Tel: 0027 833578747 – Cell : 083 3578747 Email : [email protected] GOPIO INTERNATIONAL AFRICA COORDINATOR

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER OF INDIA, HER EXCELLENCY MRS SUSHMA SWARAJ VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA

Gopio International Coordinator, Mr Ishwar Ramlutchman handing over a Memorabilia on Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi to Her Excellency, the Minister of External Affairs of India , Her Excellency, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, looking on is the High Commissioner of India South Africa , Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam . India’s External Affairs Minister, Her Excellency , Mrs Sushma Swaraj was warmly received by the President of South Africa on the 19th of May 2016 in Durban. This was a historic meeting to strengthen ties between India and South Africa during the 100 years of the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India.

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Namaste,

L'île de La Réunion, située entre Maurice et Madagascar, est la France et aussi l'Europe dans l'Océan Indien. La Réunion est une terre multi ethnique avec une population d'origine diverse, Europe, Afrique, Asie (Inde, Chine) qui se caractérise par un vivre ensemble, un melting pot réussi. La Réunion est également classée au patrimoine mondiale d l'UNESCO en raison de sa nature et sa géographie préservée et originale, avec ses pitons, cirques, remparts et volcan.

Avec ses compétences dans les domaines économiques, éducatif et culturel, la Région Réunion tient à contribuer au développement des échanges commerciaux et éducatifs avec l'Inde. Des liens avec Bangalore ont, par exemple, déjà été établis par La Région Réunion en matière d'éducation.

En effet, pour des raisons à la fois historiques et géographiques, l'île de La Réunion entretient des relations séculaires avec le continent indien dont une partie importante de la population réunionnaise est originaire (25%). Il est important que la Réunion, comme l ' Inde valorisons cette diaspora indienne (25 millions à travers le monde), car cette diaspora est le meilleur point d'appui pour une meilleure connaissance mutuelle de nos culture, savoir faire, territoire, et un point d'ancrage ã encore valoriser, de nos relations et développements réciproques.

Grâce à un tissu associatif local (GOPIO Réunion, Fédération Tamoul, NRI etc ...) particulièrement actif qui a su tisser, au fil des années, des relations solides avec l'Inde, les échanges cultuels et culturels, sont particulièrement dynamiques entre la Réunion et l’Inde.

L'Ambition de la collectivité publique, la Région Réunion, avec son Président Didier Robert est aujourd'hui de favoriser le développement croisé des échanges économiques, touristiques et éducatifs avec l'Inde , tout en s'appuyant sur sa diaspora : La consolidation de la ligne aérienne directe Réunion / Chennai opérée par la compagnie régionale Air Austral, les initiatives portées tant par les représentations locales des ONG indiennes que les associations locales (avec l'appui précieux de la représentation diplomatique indienne à Saint-Denis de La Réunion) et l'ouverture prochaine d'une antenne de La Réunion constituent de puissants leviers au service de ce projet de coopération.

Par conséquent, je forme le vœu que cette rencontre de haut niveau, francophone , sous l'égide du GOPIO Europe 2016 - ayant pour thème "INDIASPORA, possibilités au-delà des frontières " - et du Ministère indien des Affaires Étrangères Indiennes, puisse être de nature à conforter mutuellement la dynamique en mouvement au service de notre jeunesse et nos populations, comme de nos entreprises et nos économies de territoire.

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GOPIO CONVENTION PROMOTION TOUR ACROSS EUROPE

On 28th August 1989, the first GOPIO INTERNATIONAL Convention has been organized with the objectives of sharing the experience of International Indian communities on a common forum and to foster harmony with a feeling of brotherhood amongst the people of Indian origin. We have travelled a long way to reach to this position and now we are making our Europe Convention 2016 in Paris! We’ll look back proudly over 27 years of “doing good in the world” — and look ahead to the challenges GOPIO will tackle in the years to come.

In order to promote the GOPIO Europe Convention, GOPIO International Europe Coordinator and Paris Summit Convener Dr Pradip Sewoke has already completed multi-nations trip to Great Britain, Ireland and Germany. We organized community meetings there and met people from Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Switzerland and planning to open new chapters in these countries soon! I was accompanied by Mr. Rajindre Tewari, International coordinator of GOPIO at large and Mr.Ramesh Vohra, President of Interfaith Shaheedi Commemoration Association to meet Indian community leaders and GOPIO officials in London, Berlin, Stuttgart and Belfast.

Dr Pradip Sewoke and Ramesh Vohra With Barjinder Sodhi in Berlin With Rami Ranger CBE, one of the great Indian business people (Director, Sunmark Ltd) in London, Dr Pradip Sewoke ,Ramesh Vohra, Rajindre Tewari in London

Our team in UK with Mr. Virendra Sharma, A member of British Parliament Meeting with a group of people in London who never knew about for 30 years! GOPIO: after our successful trip we formed two new chapters in London

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During the Community meeting Ramesh Vohra, Rajindre Tewari.Dr Pradip Sewoke, Dr Gulbash Singh Chandok,M. Rajinder Singh Makkar,Rajesh Kathuria , Gurdeep Singh, Ms. Sneh Kathuria , Mrs Asha Tewari, Dr Kawel Mohan at Guru Nanak Medical center, South hall, UK.

A warm welcome to Dr Pradip Sewoke by Lord Dijit RANA MBE in Ireland Mr. Prakash Kumar Pandey, Senior Editor, ITV News India, Mr. D.P.Tripati, Indian Parliament Member, Lord Diljit RANA MBE, former GOPIO President,Dr Pradip Sewoke, Ramesh Vohra at Belfast, Ireland.

A meeting with GOPIO Stuttgart Chapter President Mr. Dwarkesh Shah, Dr Pradip Sewoke, Mr. Dwarkesh Shah and Mr. Ramesh Vohra at Director of Shah Group, Stuttgart, Germany Stuttgart

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GOPIO REUNION ISLAND INAUGURATED On July 14, 2016 Ms. Rita Abraham, Chairperson of the Women Council of GOPIO International, Dr. Pradip Sewoke, International Coordinator Europe and executive member of GOPIO International and Mr. Mehen Poinoosawmy, President of GOPIO France, Paris chapter, launched GOPIO Reunion Saint Denis. Reunion Island has around 250,000 PIO (People of Indian Origin) among its population but until now there was no GOPIO chapter affiliated to USA, New York.The mayor of Reunion, Saint Denis, Mr. Gilbert Annette, whose great grandmother is of Indian origin, expressed his full support of the launch of the new GOPIO chapter and appreciated the hard work of Chapter President Jean Regis Ramsamy.

GOPIO OPENS CHAPTERS IN MAURITIUS On July 16, 2016, A foreign delegation of GOPIO officers was in attendance to support the launching of the first chapter in Mauritius. Dr. Pradip Sewoke represented the executive committee of GOPIO International based in New York, USA. Mr. Mehen Poinoosawmy, President of GOPIO France Paris chapter, Ms. Rita Abraham, Chairperson of Women Council of GOPIO International, Mrs. Michelle Mickael, life member and five other new life members from South Africa: Mrs. Yasmin Sanglae, Dr. Terrence Kommal, Mrs. Sherita Kommal, Mrs. Pratibha Naidu and Mr. Jay Naidu.

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GOPIO INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS 2016 - 2017

NAME POSITION EMAIL ID

Dr. Thomas Abraham (USA) Chairman [email protected]

Niraj P Baxi (USA) President [email protected]

Noel Lal (Australia) Exec. Vice President [email protected]

Ram Gadhavi (USA) Vice President [email protected]

Inder Singh (USA) Executive Trustee, [email protected] GOPIO Foundation (Ex-officio) Sunny Kulathakal (Bahrain) Global Ambassador [email protected] (Ex-officio) Dr Pradip Sewoke (France) Int'l Coordinator, [email protected] Europe Issac John (Dubai) Int'l Coordinator, [email protected] The Middle East [email protected] Ishwar Ramlutchman Int'l Coordinator, Africa [email protected] (South Africa) Dr. Rajeev Mehta (USA) Int'l Coordinator, [email protected] North America

Claude Sheikboudhou Int'l Coordinator, [email protected] (Guadelope) Caribbean Shaji Baby John (USA) Int'l Coordinator, [email protected] South Asia Mrs. Suman Kapoor Int'l Coordinator, [email protected] (New Zealand) Oceania Rajindre Tewari (The Int’l Coordinator-at-large [email protected] Netherlands)

Dr. Sai Giridhar (Bahrain) Secretary [email protected]

Kewal Kanda (USA) Treasurer [email protected]

GOPIO EUROPE CONVENTION NOVEMBER 2016 PARIS - 25 - INDIASPORA, OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND FRONTIERS

GOPIO Council Chairs and Co-Chairs

Academic Council Chairperson Dr Neerja Arun (India) [email protected]

Business Council Co-Chairperson Nitin Shah (USA) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Prakash Shah (USA) [email protected]

Cultural Council Chairperson Dharmatma Sharan (USA) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Daniel Vinod (Australia) [email protected]

Health & Wellness Council Chairperson Dr Asha Samant (USA) [email protected]

Human Rights Council Chairperson Sivan Madathil (India) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Praveen Chopra (USA) [email protected]

Media Council Chairperson Nami Kaur (USA) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Mini Guleria (USA) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Dilip Butani (USA) [email protected]

Science & Technology Council Chairperson Prof Prasad Yarlagadda(Australia) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Sailesh Naik (USA) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Amarider Bajwa (Australia) [email protected]

Seniors Council Chairperson Sudha Acharya (USA) [email protected]

Women Council Chairperson Rita Abraham (South Africa) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Rajul P Shah (USA) [email protected]

Youth Council Chairperson Anita Bhat (USA) [email protected] Co-Chairperson Divesh Lal (Australia) [email protected]

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GOPIO EUROPE CONVENTION NOVEMBER 2016 PARIS - 27 - INDIASPORA, OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND FRONTIERS

KNOW INDIA PROGRAMME – KIP FROM EUROPE TO INDIA

“We were born in France, Guadeloupe and Martinique and grown up in our families of Indian culture. That was our first trip to India. We were somehow the representatives of European countries in these KIP programs. In our different groups we were joined by other youngsters of 18 to 26 years old from different parts of the world (Argentina, Israel, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Yemen and Zimbabwe).

We all have different educational pathways and intellectuals but with a common heritage, to be of Indian origin. Thus, strong bonds were formed because we were constantly together (24h / 7days). We were curious and shared personal experiences on the integration of people of Indian origin in various countries, our roots, cult religion, food etc ... We spoke with emotion the lives of our great grandparents of India who unconsciously crossed for days and months hostile ocean to settle in the hope of a better life in an unknown land.

They came a long way and rewarded for their hard works as some are now at the head of their countries as Prime Minister: Ms. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Republic of Trinidad & Tobago and Sir. Aneerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius.

There is no other country in the world which organizes this kind of youth program of its Diaspora. India is the only country to do so and we strongly encourage young people 18-30 years old, without hesitation to participate in the Know India Program.”

GOPIO EUROPE CONVENTION NOVEMBER 2016 PARIS - 28 - INDIASPORA, OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND FRONTIERS

GOPIO LIFE MEMBERS (Updated as of June 1, 2016)

Abraham George, Wayne Township, NJ, USA Dr. Soma Vira, New York, NY, USA Nitin Vora, Jackson Heights, NY, USA Abraham Pannikottu, Akron, OH, USA Dr. Vinod Daniel, Sydney, Australia Noel Lal, Sydney, Australia Aju Daswani, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA DrJagat Motwani/Jyoti Barot, Dix Hills, NY, Paramjit/Linda Singh, Shaker Heights, OH, USA Aakash Garg Jahajgarhia, Delhi, India Drs. Thomas/Susy Abraham, Stamford, CT, Parshant Gupta, Hyderabad, India Alex/Leela Tharakan, Syosset, NY, USA Dwarkesh Shah, Stuttgart, Germany Philip Cherian, Bangalore, India Amarinder Bajwa, Sydney, Australia E.M. Stephen, Elmont, NY, USA Prabodh Gupta, London, UK and New Delhi, India Anand Ahuja, East Elmhurst, NY, USA Edavana Sreedharan Nair, Dubai Pradeep Jain, Englewood, NJ, USA Aniel Radjeshkumar Autar, Netherlands Elie Sheikboudhou, Guadeloupe Prasad Yarlagadda, Brisbane, Australia Ashi Chhabra, Holliswood, NY, USA Gan Bhukta, Hyderabad, India Pratibha Naidu, Durban, Kwazulu Natal, S. Africa Ashok Hinduja, IndusBank, Mumbai, India George Thomas K., Muscat, Oman Prinasen Dhaver, Durban, South Africa Ashok Madan, Long Beach, California George Varughese, Bangalore, India Radha Krishnan, Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA Ashok Bhatt, San Jose, CA, USA Gino Latchan, Point Pierre, Guadeloupe Raj Lakha, Dartford, Kent, UK Ashok Motwani, Mumbai, India Goojha Ved Prakash, Paris, France Raj Soin, Dayton, OH, USA Ashook Ramsaran, Fresh Meadows, NY, USA Gopal Singh Jhabua, Indore, India Rajindre Tewari, Amsterdam, The Netherlands B.L. Sanjeev, Bangalore, India Gulab Watumal, Hawaii, USA Raju M. Varghese, Voorhees, NJ, USA Babu Patel, Los Angeles, California, USA H.R. Shah, Secaucus, NJ, USA Rajul/Prakash Shah, Basking Ridge, NJ, USA Balachandra Nair, Dubai & Kerala, India Harbachan Singh, Queens, NY, USA Ram Advani, Jakarta, Indonesia Balgopal Veliath, Kochi, India Harmohan S. Walia, Sydney, Australia Ram and Bhanu Gadhavi, Wayne, NJ, USA Balkrishna Naipaul, Yok, Canada Harsh Bhargava, Fanwood, NJ, USA Ram Lakhina, Leiden, The Netherlands Balraj Navlani, Indore, India Hemraj Kissoon, Georgetown, Guyana Ram Thukaram, Sturtevant, WI, USA Balram Rambudhan, Bronx, New York Henri Sinapin, Guadeloupe Ramesh Chelani, Fremont, CA, USA Bhanu Dwarika, Queens, NY, USA Husam U. Ahmad, New York, NY, USA Ramesh Kalicharan, Jamaica, NY, USA Bharat/Yog Bhargava, Great Falls, VA, USA Inder/Deepi Singh, Tarzana, CA, USA Ramesh Kapoor, Medford, MA, USA Birla Group, Jakarta, Indonesia Ishwar Ramlutchman, Kwazulu, Natal, South Africa Ramesh L. Maharaj, San Fernando, Trinidad Chanchal Gupta, Old Bridge, NJ, USA Issac John, Dubai, the Middle East Rani M. Alex, Kochi, India Chander Khurana, Upper Brookville, NY, USA Jacob John Poovathoor, Uganda Ranjana Shukla, Ridgefield, CT, USA Chander Lal Navlani, Indore, India Jagdish Lodhia, Sydney, Australia Rekha Gupta, New York, NY Chandu Patel, Los Angeles, California, USA Jagdish Makwana, Zurich, Switzerland Rita Abraham, Durban, South Africa Charanpal Gill, Vancouver, Canada Jaideep Makwana, Zurich, Switzerland S. Ruia, Essar Group, Mumbai, India Claude Sheikboudhou, Guadeloupe James Chacko, Los Angeles, CA, USA S.P. Hinduja, Hinduja Group, London, U.K. Daniel Jacob, Abu Dhabi, The Middle East Jasbir S. Sachar, London, UK Sanjay Khurana, Rockville Center, NY, USA Darshan Singh Bagga, New York, USA Jaswant Modi, Piscataway, NJ Santosh Verma, Los Angeles, California Deo Gosine, New York, USA and Trinidad Jean Regis Ramsamy, Reunion Island Sasenarine Sankar, Georgetown, Guyana Dharmatma Saran, Howard beach, NY, USA Jhairam Persaud, Queens, New York, USA Satruhan Sukdeo, Toronoto, Canada Dhiraj/Bhanu Solanki, Pine Brook, NJ, USA Jyotsna and K.V. Jagdish, Jamaica Estates, NJ, USA Sebastian Joseph Pallathu, Dubai, The Middle East Dhiraj Ahuja, India K. Sital, Hongkong Shaji Baby John, Kochi, India Divesh Lal, Sydney, Australia Kamal Vachani, Dubai Shaji Mullasseril, Kochi, India Dolamma Koshy, Lansdown, PA, USA Kewal Kanda, Norwalk, CA, USA Shammi Kapoor Sewoke, Mauritius Dr. Arnold Thomas, St. Vincent Kinesh Pather, Durban, South Africa Sharad Mehta, Orlando, FL, USA Dr. Asha Samant, Livingston, NJ, USA Krishna Srinivas, Smyrna, GA, USA Shatrugan Davani, Rockland County, NY, USA Dr. B.K. Mehta, Forest Hills, NY, USA Kuriakose Pannikodu, Fairfield, CT, USA Shruti Nada, New Delhi, India Dr. C. Thomas, Oman, the Middle East Lal/Kavitha Motwani, Bellrose, NY, USA Sohan Joshi, Chicago, IL, USA Dr. C.M. Prasad, Washington, DC, USA Lalitha/Narinder Masson, Jersey City, NJ, USA Sudha Acharya, Jamaica Estates, NY, USA Dr. Chand Baidjnath Misier, The Netherlands Magan Patel, Bordentown, NJ, USA Sudha Parekh, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, USA Dr. Dhani Ram Baruah, Guwahati, Assam, Maha Sinnathamby, Melbourne, Australia Suman Kapoor, Waikato, New Zealand Dr. Greesh C. Sharma, Morrisville, PA Mahavir Arya, Sydney, Australia Sunil Deshmukh, Miami, FL, USA Dr. Indrani Rampersad, Ptt of Spain, Trinidad Mahesh Parekh, Los Angeles, California, USA Sunny Kulathackel, Bahrain, The Middle East Dr Marlan Padayachee, South Africa Manohar Dev, Indore, India Suresh Chaturvedi, ATV Products India Dr. M. Anirudhan, Romeoville, IL Manu P. Kumar, Bangalore, India Ltd,Mumbai Dr. Pammi Bevli, Los Angeles, California, Mehen Poinoosawmy, Paris, France Sureshwar and Saraswati Singh, New Milford, NJ Dr. Paramatma Saran, Great neck, NY, USA Michelle Michael, Durban, SA T.N. Bhaskar, Bangalore, India Dr. Parveen Chopra, Oceanside, NY, USA Mini D Guleria, Los Angeles, CA, USA Tarun Surti, Nashville, TN, USA Dr. Piyush Agrarwal, Miami, Florida Mohammed Mohajiri, Barbados Thomas Mathew, Qatar, The Middle East Dr. Prabhu Kulkarni, Dublin, Ireland Mohan Babu, Bangalore, India TV Aleyas, Bangalore, India Dr. Pradip Kumar Sewoke, Belfort, France Mohinder Singh Taneja, New York, NY, USA Umesh Chandra, Brisbane, Australia Dr. Raghvindra Prasad, Dallas, Texas, USA Mridul Pathak, New York, NY, USA Ram, Jakarta, Indonesia Dr. Raj Dutt, Culver City, CA, USA Ms. Manoranjana Sinh, New Delhi, India V.N. Prakash, Jackson Heights, NY, USA Dr. Raj Lal, Oak Brook, IL, USA Munish Gupta, Los Angeles, USA, India Vega Jahajgarhia, Delhi, India Dr. Rajeev Mehta, Piscataway, NJ, USA N.S. Wasu, Poona, India Viresh Sharma, New Canaan, CT, USA Dr. Ramesh Caussy, Paris, France Naliandra Naidu, Durban, Kwazulu Natal, S. Africa Yagalingum Nair, Plumblink, South Africa Dr. Ramesh Japra, Fremont, CA, USA Naidoo Veerapen, New York, USA Yamonee Barboro, Chicago, IL, USA Dr. Ramesh Pandey, New Jersey, USA Navin Megchiani, Bahrain, the Middle East Yash Pal Soi, West-Windsor, NJ, USA Dr. Ravindra Guthikonda, Edison, NJ, USA Nazeer Noormohamed, South Africa Yesu Persaud, Georgetown, Guyana Dr. Renuka Misra, Washington DC, USA Niraj/Jing Baxi, San, Jose, CA, USA Dr. Sai Giridhar, Bahrain, The Middle East Nirmal/Tripti Sinha, Worthington, Ohio, USA Dr Terrence O Kommal,Pretoria, SA Sherita Kommal , Pretoria SA Dinesh Mittal, New Brunswick, NJ, USA Dr Maheswaraprasad Kasinadhuni ,NJ, USA Pratibha Naidu , South Africa Sudhir Singh, Fremont, CA, USA

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GOPIO LIFE MEMBERS (Updated as of June 1, 2016)

Marlan Padayachee, right, briefing President Nelson Mandela on the protocol of a R 2 million school refurbished for an impoverished community in South Africa

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LA JOIE DE VIVRE! AS SOUTH AFRICA CONNECTS THE INDIASPORA DOTS BY MARLAN PADAYACHEE

LA JOIE DE VIVRE! That’s my reaction when Pradip Sewoke and Mehen Poinoosawmy announced that Paris, the world’s most romantic city, will host the Gopio Europe Convention a month before the festive season of White Christmas. New York, somehow, has been the destination where many Gopio International leaders and members have rubbed shoulders and exchanged business cards. Friendships have grown in the past year. Since the 2015 Big Apple’s AGM and awards dinner ceremony in Queens, Pradip and Mehen have kept us fully informed of this convention. The Francophone foray began in Mauritius and Reunion Island which was supported by South Africa led by women’s council chairwoman Rita Abraham. Therefore for the sake of our non-French speaking colleagues, including our delegation from South Africa, this famous line means ‘the joy of living’ – la joie de vivre! - a term I used to describe Ile Maurice, one of the first island countries where Indian indentured labourers were shipped to during the British colonial-era, the other was Trinidad and Tobago, also a host to the previous yearly indaba, and then a pioneering band of 340 men, women and children landed in Durban on 16 November 1860. Like Port Louis, Durban is a unique multicultural city under the African sun, where the majority of Indians from the indentured stock and the trading classes reside. More than 60% of the 1, 3 million Indian South Africans are based here. Hundreds of thousands more are spread across KwaZulu-Natal, with many still living near the sugar cane plantations where their labouring forebears toiled from dawn to dusk under very harsh and repressive conditions. Durban is also home to many Gopio members. This spectacular east-coast city, where east meets west, along the Indian Ocean Rim and across the African timeline, is preparing to host the 2017 Gopio Business Summit from 10-12 March , organised by Africa Coordinator Ishwar Ramlutchman Mabheka Zulu. Our delegates will graciously reciprocate (quid pro quo) the global spirit of hospitality and goodwill they will receive from Paris, a delightful destination of 105 square kilometres of a colourful splash of sights and sounds headlined by the landmarks of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Elysees. Bahrain is preparing to host PIOs and NRIs from around the world where people of Indian origin are thriving in culturally-diverse environments and working closely with indigenous people and governments. While South Africa, though prepared, missed out on hosting the 2016 annual meeting in Durban, PIOs rallied around Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s colourful campaign in three cities, including Gandhi’s heritage sites, before embracing some parts of Africa on his first socio-economic mission. It’s the turn and time of Paris to play gracious host as we gather with a commitment to continue with this epic journey of connecting the dots of the Indian Diaspora: hats off to the copywriter who coined Indiaspora - a jingle that can inspire Indians wherever they are in the world to share their own little world of demographics and diversity and fuse it into a splash of colour of cross-culturalism into a big melting pot of fellowship, fraternity, friendship and mostly importantly the global mantra of humanity (Ubuntu). On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, lets raise our hands to salute the fallen soldiers of the first world war at Neuve Chapelle (Richebourg) – declared Armistice Day – and honour the 4 000 Indian soldiers killed in France. In a world still bedevilled by conflicts, crisis and terrorism, I say aluta continua (struggle continues) in our fight for freedom, human rights, social justice, peace, socioeconomic prosperity and political stability for global citizens, irrespective of their class, race, gender or spatial location. An exciting programme of discussions, debate and dissent has been laid out for delegates to focus on the key issues that could bolster the movement of PIOs within the context of the overarching theme- and being Paris – the social aspect and wining and dining should give new meaning to la joie de vivre!

– Vive la France. Vive la Liberte.

• LIFE Member and 2017 Gopio International Business Summit’s Media Liaison Officer, Marlan Padayachee (South Africa) is a former frontline political journalist, and a media strategist, author and publisher, international alumni ambassador at City University London; recipient of the British Council Fellow and United States Information Services Award; board member of the RK Khan Hospital. His home province, KwaZulu- Natal, is home to the largest concentration (1, 3 million in SA) of Indians outside India; and has been newly appointed media coordinator for the Indian Diaspora Council.

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GOOD STANDING GOPIO CHAPTERS AS OF 2016

CHAPTER NAME PRESIDENT'S NAME PRESIDENT'S EMAIL & TEL

EUROPE / UK 01 AMESTERDAM, NETH. ROY BUJDHIAWAN [email protected] +31650257106 02 ROTTERDAM, NETH. MANISH DIXIT [email protected] 0031614547367 03 BERLIN, GERMANY ANIL KUMAR BHANDARI [email protected] +49 3021458888 04 NORWAY BALWINDER S JOSSAN 05 PARIS NORD MEHEN POINOOSAWMY [email protected] +33(0)670468885 06 BELFORT, FRANCE DR. PRADIP SEWOKE [email protected] 33(0)670633335 07 NANTES, France PANDIT KASHID 08 CENTRAL LONDON TAHA KUTAY [email protected] 44-784 165 4502 09 LONDON NAJMAL HASAN [email protected] 44-208-8331-8804 10 MOSCOW DR. RAMESHWAR SINGH [email protected] 79 85 341 3859 AFRICA 10 DURBAN KRISH NAIDOO [email protected] 27-82-886-2043 11 CAPE TOWN YAGAN NAIR [email protected] 027-082-561-3529 12 JOHANNESBURG SUNNIDHEN JUGWANTH SUNNY [email protected]; 27-833-014-660 CARRIBEAN 13 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO KARRAN NANCOO [email protected] 686-671-4182/761-6830 14 ST.VINCENT MURRAY BULLOCK [email protected] 784 493 9683 15 GUAGELOUPE J EAN HIRA [email protected] 590 690677589 16 MARTINIQUE LUCIENNE SACARBANY [email protected] 690069690 48 91 CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA 17 GUYANA SASENARINE SANKAR [email protected] 592 640 4318 18 BELIZE BERNADINE EMMANUEL [email protected] 19 SURINAME RADJEN ANAND SOERDJBALIE [email protected] 597 753 9398 INDIA / SOUTH ASIA 20 KOLKATA R K TRIPATHY [email protected] 91-33 24664745 21 TAMILNADU SURESH ANAND [email protected] 91-94-4408-1707 22 NEW DELHI R. RAJENDRA PRABHU [email protected] 91 11 26536221 23 GUJARAT SAMIR PATEL [email protected] 91-94 2403 2110 24 KOCHI P. C CYRIAC [email protected] 91-94 4730 5842 25 BANGALORE D. K. MOHAN BABU [email protected] 91-98 4502 3988 OCEANIA 26 WAIKATO PRADEEP KAPOOR [email protected] 64-7974-4267 27 MELBOURNE DEEPAK VINAYAK [email protected] 61-40 354 6735 28 BRISBANE YOUSUF ALIKHAN [email protected] 61-401-006-430 29 CANBERRA RAKESH MALHOTRA [email protected] +61 402 202 312 30 SYDNEY BALVINDER RUBY [email protected] 61-43 0 82 8 344 31 SYDNEY NORTHWEST BALKAR SINGH KANG [email protected] 61 413789716 32 SYDNEY SOUTHWEST JOSEPH THOMAS [email protected] 61-0404053186 USA / CANADA 33 ATLANTA DR NITIN SHAH [email protected] 1-678-858-0231 34 CONNECTICUT SHELLY NICHANI [email protected] 1-203-550-7747 35 UPPER NEW YORK JHAIRAM PERSAUD [email protected] 917-748-2430 36 CENTRAL NEW JERSEY DINESH MITTAL [email protected] 1-908-705-6365 37 METRO DC DR ZAFAR IQBAL [email protected] 1-240-328-0162 38 CHICAGO LINCOLNSIRE GLADSON VARGHESE [email protected] 1-847 561 8402 39 CHICAGO LAND DR UTPAL PAREKH [email protected] 1-630-205-3745 40 VIRGINIA PRADEEP KUMAR SHARMA [email protected] 1-301-717-8492 41 REDWOOD CA DR RINI JOHAR [email protected] 42 LOS ANGELES CA NAVIN GUPTA [email protected] 1-909-718-9478 43 SILICON VALLEY ASHOK BHAT [email protected] 1-4152692907 44 ORANGE COUNTY CA DILIP BHUTANI [email protected] 1-562 569 6722 45 SOUTH FLORIDA VIVEK SWAROOP [email protected] 1-954-394-5661 46 LONG ISLAND ASHOK SAPRA [email protected] 1-917-273-6199 47 NORTH JERSEY DHIRAJ SOLANKI [email protected] 1-973-714-5249 MIDDLE EAST 48 DUBAI KAMAL VACHANI [email protected] +971 50 6536916 49 BAHRAIN NAVIN MEGCHIANI REUNION ISLAND 50 REUNION SAINT DENIS JEAN REGIS RAMSAMY [email protected] +33 692646677 GOPIO MAURITIUS 51 MAURITIUS QUATRES BORNES VASANT RAMBOJHUN [email protected] +230 525 86 819 52 MAURITIUS VACOAS SEEREEMOHAN SEETARAM [email protected] +230 577 08 507 53 MAURITIUS TRIOLET KRITI LATA RAM [email protected] +230 577 08 507 54 MAURITIUS SEBASTOPOL DANESHWAR BABOOA [email protected] +230 578 42 9 97

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MESSAGE BY HIS MAJESTY THE KING, KING OF THE ZULU NATION KING GOODWILL ZWELITHINI KA- BHEKUZULU

I first, would like to express my gratitude to both leadership and membership of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin for the opportunity they have given me to bring message of support to this noble initiative. The province of KwaZulu –Natal is home to thousands of South African Indians. Majority of them are direct descendent of 1860 indentured labourers who came to our shores as oppressed people and as part of global imperialism and colonialism scheme. Today, hundred and fifty five years on, all of us can attest to the fact that, what started as a tragedy is now one of the good South African story to tell.

The story is that of a people who came to a country without hope, a country which discriminated against her own people. Under one of the worse oppressive scheme, apartheid that was ruled by the United Nations as a crime against humanity, Indians like their African counterparts endure decades of racism and oppression. Together they formed organisations who side by side fought and defeated the beast of oppression and racism. The story does not end there as today South African Indians not only work hard in ensuring consolidation of South African democracy , but they also contribute to the country's economy. Akin to, and largely responsible for good relationship between them and my Foundation, the King Zwelithini Foundation and many individuals and South African indian organisations , has been our belief that twenty one-years after freedom and democracy, South Africans need to move from tolerating each other to accepting each other.

I believe the concept of uniting people of Indian origin globally is a remarkable one. The fact that one hundred and fifty years down the line in South Africa the descendants of the first Indian migrants still identify strongly with motherland underscores the fact that people of whatever origin will as far as possible remain bound by the motherland umblical cord. This, I believe could be a lesson from which other nations could learn. This is more so with people of African origin. Your organisation is meeting like this at a time when the world is going through one of the worst economical crisis leading to a new migration patterns for greener pastures by nations across the world. In the process we all get exposed to new cultures and languages. This in turn compel us to adapt anew in the world we live in as it keeps on changing. The lessons your members have learnt across the globe in their respective adopted countries ought to be documented for others to learn from.

It is against this background that I applaud Gopio international Africa co ordinator ‘s initiative as I have no doubt that knowledge and experience gained by South African Indians who are in attendance will not only benefit KwaZulu-Natal but the whole of South Africa. Such is the beauty of having patriots who while acknowledge India as their motherland but on the other hand adopt South Africa as their home which should be developed.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to meet His Excellency , The Prime Minister of India , Shri Narendra Modi at a civic reception here in South Africa, Durban . We shared many issues relating to our people in regards to development in rural areas. I am looking forward to a partnership with India and visiting the Prime Minister in New Delhi soon.

Lastly, As you come to the end of your conference I hope you can consider, coming to South Africa , KwaZulu Natal as I look forward not only to having opportunity to hear your own journey but also to host you to our beautiful province , the Kingdom of the Zulu. I am also looking forward to a partnership between the King Zwelithini Foundation and Gopio International.

We wish you a successful and informative session and safe trip to your different destinations.

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MY JOURNEY FROM AN INDIAN VILLAGE TO PARIS by Krishna Bagadiya

I had never imagined I would be doing a one man show in a famous theater in Paris. On October 27, 2016, «I don't sell flowers» a one indian show premiered with a full crowd at the SoGymnase Comedy Club in the famous Theatre du Gymnase on the Grands Boulevards.

My journey began in a small textile village in India with a funny name, Ichalkaranji. Born in a family of middle-class Rajasthani textile merchants, I grew up in various towns in Maharashtra. After high school, I did what Marwadi kids who didn't want to join business were supposed to do in the mid- 1990's, join an engineering school.

I dreamt of going to study films in the USA, a dream I couldn't even dream to share with my parents. So I got admission in Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin. The first thing I did after I arrived on campus was to change my major to Radio-TV-Film. Austin was a great university place. George W. Bush was the governor then. But I was the only indian trying to make films in the College of Communication. I felt like a fish out of water. Maybe a little ahead of my time!

So I dropped out of UT Austin. Landed back in Mumbai and worked in advertising. But the dream to complete my education and come back to the West kept haunting me. I had learnt French in school. I loved France and everything French. I read the french texts of all shampoo bottles with relish. So, I joined the Alliance Française de Mumbai and went through all the levels and got accepted at the Université de Provence.

Coming to France, studying in France in French, was wilder than anything I had imagined. After a couple of years in Aix-en-Provence, I got a job teaching Hindi and Bollywood cinema at the university. But soon, I felt the pond was too small for me. I realized that in France there is Paris and there is Province (not Paris).

I was then accepted in the Polish Film School at Lodz, considered one of the best in the world. Polanski, Kieslowski and many great film makers had studied there. So I arrived in Lodz, a post-industrial polish town. I learnt Polish before going there as all the classes were in Polish!

After my training, I directed «Marine Drive» my first feature-length documentary for PSBT a documentary fund under the Films Division of India. The film received great reception and it will be in festivals later this year.

In the meantime, I was also pursuing my PhD at the Sorbonne, which was my excuse to come back to Paris. Teaching in the day and in the evenings, I started acting classes something I had dreamt of in my textile village in India.

So here, I'm telling jokes in front of a crowd full of expats, indians, indophiles, colleagues and parisians. Hope you can be there next time. Hope you can be there next time.

“I don't sell flowers” One Indian Show by Krishna Bagadiya 8th December, 2016 at 8pm at SoGymnase Comedy Club, Paris

GOPIO EUROPE CONVENTION NOVEMBER 2016 PARIS - 34 - INDIASPORA, OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND FRONTIERS

GOPIO INTERNATIONAL Rita Abraham, Chairperson Women Council

Over the last six years during which I have spent much time travelling some parts of the world on GOPIO business, it has been extremely rewarding and has enabled me to get a better understanding of the Indian diaspora. I have travelled to London several times, Trinidad and Tobago, Reunion Islands, Mauritius, the United States, Asia and Africa and met people of Indian origin and found that while some of them speak different languages, adopted new cultures, we all have a great deal in common – India.

Yes, the Motherland is a unifying force which is unmatched by any other experience, no matter how remote the destinations I covered. All of us are one people with different aspirations, but it is our Indian heritage which gives us character, values, food, tastes and even colours. No matter where Indians went after leaving India, they took with them seeds to cultivate and grow vegetables on which they were brought up. Fruit which at one time was only available in India is now grown on all continents. Festivals, not just religious are celebrated with great joy. One of the most feverent qualities, I have found in all Indian communities around the world is the hunger for education. Some of them have built schools, tertiary educations while others have become world authorities in their chosen professions and even lecture at some of the most prestigious institutions in the world. It is almost 200 years since large number of Indians have left the Motherland and the countries which they settled in have become better places because of the Indian connection. Some have even attained high public office in those countries, but not many of them have given up their Indian lifestyle. What it has shown me is that being an Indian, we do not exclude anyone. In fact we embrace all diversity which is positive and we are equally ready to share ours. I would not have travelled and continue to do so had it not been for Gopio. It made me a world traveler and in the process an Ambassador of Goodwill as Chair of the Women’s Council. It brought so many Indian women together from the furthest corners of the world. We continue to share our finest and often are called upon to tackle great tribulations. But we do so with confidence and a great deal of respect. The time has now come for GOPIO to see observer status at the United Nations. Better still, we should ensure that women are placed in this role at the governing body of world standards. This would give GOPIO and our women the platform to participate in events which affect the entire world and to bring about changes which would benefit the human race. I believe that we have to make a meaningful contribution on the world platform for us to remain to be relevant in the international arena.

GOPIO has a membership which covers so many countries and offers leadership with values which have been tried and tested over 10 000 years.

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Sindhi diaspora in France : À vaillant coeur rien d’impossible.

Sindhi, a community originated from Sindh province in Indo-Pakistan region, has been world famous for its art of business, typical lifestyle and food. Today there are approximately 40 million Sindhis on earth, which is less tan 0.5% of the total population of the planet. However, Sindhis are the 6th richest community in world running more than 30% business in Indian subcontinent. Sindhis belong to one of the oldest civilization in the world and have inherited the characteristics of dynamism through ages and communities throughout the world. Due to their rich culture and business skills and the adaptability, the province of Sindh has witnessed several foreign invaders. The ruins of Harappa and Mohen-jo-Daro speak of the perishment of this finest community of people. The not so recent independence of India in 1947 was the last snare to the local inhabitance of this community leading to the scatter of Sindhis throughout the world during this period. While Punjabis got Punjab and Bengalis got Bengal as separate states, Sindhis were labelled as refugees and except for few pieces of lands and refugee camps, Sindhis were left in their destinies to craft the coming generations of fortune.

As the title of the article goes: À vaillant coeur rien d’impossible – To brave heart, nothing is impossible. Sindhis began to unfold their future and the fortune of country by initiating small steps in terms of setting up of small shops in sheds. The success mantra behind Sindhi business is “larger turnover at lower profits”. This has generated business conglomerates throughout the world from the same Sindhis who struggled for daily bread. The manner in which Sindhi refugees adapted and evolved bought them the praise and admiration of locals and the government. However, a significant fraction of Sindhis also took to new shores out of Indian subcontinent mostly rushing to Middle East, Africa, Spain in Europe and few to the Americas. Sindhis have based firmly and in strong communities Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The Forbes magazine of richest Indians in the world proudly includes multitude of Sindhis like the Hinduja brothers, Hirandanis, Vaswani group, Romi Wadhwani and many more. Sindhis have contributed to almost every field of society ranging from business (Hinduja’s, Wadhwani, Vaswani’s) to acting (Govinda, Rajiv Bhatia, Ranvir Singh) to medicines (founders of Jaslok, Hinduja hospitals), to internet (Sabeer Bhatia for Hotmail) to law and politics (Ram Jethmalani and Lal Krishna Advani) to scientific research (Sangeeta Bhatia, Harvard Professor). Sindhi’s have greatly contributed to spirituality – the great gift of India to the world in terms of producing many saintly preachers like Bhagat Kanwaram, Sadhu T L Vaswani, and Dada Vaswani. Slowly but steadily, Sindhis are also making their mark in diverse areas like sports (Pankaj Adwani, world champion of snooker and billiards) as well as fashion designing (Tarun Tahiliani). Overall Sindhis form 35% of the NRIs globally.

France, a country world renowned for its rich culture, beauty and romance is no exception to Sindhis for expansion, albeit in low numbers as compared to other countries like Spain and US. Many young Sindhis are now turning to France to pursue education in information technology, management, fundamental sciences, and commerce with enterpreneurship. Sindhis are now actively pursuing courses like International Business Management, Micro and Nanotechnologies, Cancer Biology at the renowned schools in France like Ecole Polytechnique, University of Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), University of Paris, Institute Curie, Ecole Normale Superiere, to name a few along with the business which they carry in their genes.

Gope Hathiramani, the richest Sindhi in France started a small shop at Rue de Rivoli in 1960s after migrating from Algeria. This shop run by a Sindhi India is recorded in the hall of fame of France. In May 1998, two American customers visited his shop and soon the shop was covered with police and high-level security, only to discover that one of the American customers was Hillary Clinton – who is set to make history in US in coming days. Similary, Mr. Bharat Mahtani came to France for education but decided to make his career in this land. Mahtani explores his rich expertise, the sweetness of Sindhi language, to run Language Associates, which trains young professionals with linguistic skills and readies them for the global talent making. Such and many other successful Sindhi stories are scattered in multiple regions of France.

Very quickly most Sindhis in France realized this lack of communication and now multiple small groups are working, thanks to the social media that many Sindhis are getting connected with each other in this country for upkeeping this rich culture. Jyoti Garin-Mahtani based in Marseille, runs a small network called Chatranjai in collaboration with Linguistic Institute, University of Paris to organize small workshops for Sindhi

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language awareness and promotion in France. Tarun Kalwani, a young and dynamic engineer in Boteco, Paris took the initiative to form a small community of Sindhis in Paris. Similarly, small groups of Sindhis are spread out in Nantes and Nancy. The present Sindhi community in France is small in number and scattered throughout the country. However, despite this, most Sindhis in the country know each other and meet periodically. Recent visit by Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi united most of the Sindhis in the country. Also, the latest initiative by government of India – Namaste France, is bringing various cultural programmes from India to France. There is good scope for Sindhis in France to reunite and make the cultural presentation the fine richness of this culture through these events and hopefully through GOPIO as well. The main reason why Sindhis have flourished in every nuke and corner of the world is that Sindhis are extremely peaceful, hospitable, hardworking and open-minded people. They are free from inhibitions of caste and creed. Sindhis are the only Indians who don’t belong to any single state and simultaneously belong to all states of India. The cultural values of life in France and Sindhis do intersect at most places. As the famous French proverb goes: Il n’y a qu’un bonheur dans la vie, c’est d’aimer et d’être aimé – There is only one happiness in life – to love and to be loved. And the emergence of Sindhis from almost zero to the top notch of the human society is the best emblem for this. It would also be a mistake to acknowledge the success of Sindhis without the sacrifice they made to establish themselves. The cost of this sacrifice is huge, while Sindhis managed to keep alive the community spirit to celebrate festivals, they also gradually lost the attention to preserve the language and dialect. A language is the gateway of culture and more than that it’s a gateway of knowledge. Without the preservation of language Sindhis’ cannot access the wealth of hidden treasures in the form of literature, poems, and spiritual thoughts which have been at the heart of Sindh and Indus Valley civilizations. We witness that Sindhis have capacity to achieve material success after traversing all hurdles. Therefore, Sindhis should overcome this hurdle to retrace and preserve their roots by rediscovering the real essence of their culture, which imbibes the universal brotherhood and emphasizes on the quest of self-realization. This task is a difficult one and requires intergenerational collaboration and it could be only possible if every Sindhi can realize it innately and try to come up with solutions at individual, organizational and societal level to preserve and promote the fragrance of our culture.

Umesh Mukhi Dhiraj Bhatia Program Co-ordinator of MSc in Food and AgriBusiness Management Research Unit INSERM U1143-CNRS Phd Fellow in Responsible UMR3666 Management Chemical Biology of Membranes and Audencia Business School, Therapeutic Delivery Nantes, France INSTITUT CURIE – Centre de Recherche Honorary Cross-cultural Ambassador 26 rue d'Ulm of UNESCO Club Sorbonne F-75248 PARIS Cedex 05 Tel : +33 (0) 613957335 France LinkedIn : Tel +33 (0)15624 6351 http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/ E-mail: [email protected] umesh-mukhi/15/2b7/603 Website: https://sites.google.com/site/dhirajbhatia1/

References: Most information and material cited in this article has been adapted from Sindhi resources like Sindhi (Wikipedia), lectures by Mr. Ram Jethmalani at Sindhulogy.com, Prof. Baldev Matlani & Prof. Manohar Matlani Department of Sindhi, Mumbai University, India and from world Sindhi Congress. We thank Sri Narayan Bablani (Sindhi Heritage – from Changes to Challenges) and numerous other Sindhi friends and colleagues across the world for useful discussions and encouragements during the preparation of this article.

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INDIAN SUPER MARKET is just opposite the station Gare du Nord where you find Indian clothes, groceries, decorative articles, sweets…etc .The experience inside the shop is like being in an Indian shop in Little India in Paris.

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Histoire de l’immigration indienne en Martinique Par Francis PONAMAN A la suite de l’abolition de l’esclavage le 27 avril 1848 les affranchis désertent les habitations pour s’investir dans d’autres activités ou cultiver un lopin de terre.Ceux qui font le choix de rester sur les habitations sont déçus par les dispositions financières prises en leurs faveurs, la main d’œuvre locale est insuffisante pour répondre aux besoins de l’agriculture, les planteurs prétendent qu’ils sont ruinés et sollicitent l’aide du gouvernement. Ils introduisent des travailleurs européens, africains asiatiques. Mais la nouvelle politique migratoire mise en place se solde par un échec, en définitive le gouvernement décide de se tourner vers le sous-continent indien d’autant plus que la France possède de nombreuses loges ainsi que 5 comptoirs Chandernagor au Bengale, Pondichéry et Karikal sur la cote du Coromandel, Yanaon en pays télougou, Mahé sur la cote du malabar. Par ailleurs, l’île de la Réunion se félicite de l’introduction des travailleurs indiens qui ont augmenté de façon significative sa production sucrière. Dans les colonies anglaises de la caraïbe, ce sont des milliers d’immigrants indiens qui participent avec succès au développement économique du Royaume Uni, la France décide d’adopter la même politique que sa rivale, les décrets du 27 février 1852 et du13 mars 1852 suivis de nombreux arrêtés pris par les différents gouverneurs des colonies, le gouvernement instaure une politique d’introduction d’une main d’œuvre étrangère. Le ministère de la marine et des colonies signe avec des armateurs et des compagnies maritimes des traités pour le transport de contingents de travailleurs indiens vers les Antilles françaises. Le premier traité est signé avec le capitaine Blanc prévoyant par ce dernier l’installation de 4000 contractuels aux Antilles françaises en 6 ans. L’état s’engage à payer une prime de 250 f par adulte et 150 f par non adulte, l’engagiste doit verser une somme sensiblement égale et rembourser les 50 f d’avance payé par le recruteur à l’engagé en inde. Le 6 mai 1853 l’Aurélie débarque à Saint Pierre 313 passagers, au total entre 1853 et 1883 : 25,509 travailleurs seront introduits dans la colonie. Le 25 avril, 16 maisons de commerce de Pondichéry créent la société d’immigration de l’Inde française. Elle se fixe comme objectif le recrutement et l’expédition des indiens vers les colonies françaises. Le 1er juillet 1861 la France et l’Angleterre signent une convention pour réglementer de façon commune le départ, le transport, l’arrivée et l’installation des immigrants indiens en direction des colonies françaises. Le 18 décembre 1884 le Conseil Général décrète l’arrêt de l’immigration indienne en Martinique. Le 17 janvier un arrêté fixe le régime des immigrants, le travail réglementé est aboli, 55 convois ont effectué le trajet de l’Inde à la Martinique dont deux navires ayant appareillés de Calcutta.

Histoire chronologique des Indiens en Martinique

Les indiens constituent la dernière minorité introduite dans la société martiniquaise ; travailleurs sous contrat ils ont joué un rôle déterminant dans l’essor de l’économie sucrière de la colonie : 27 avril 1848 : publication du décret d’abolition de l’esclavage 6 mai 1853 : arrivée de l’aurélie en provenance de Karikal dans la rade de saint pierre ; avec 313 travailleurs. Pour l’essentiel ils sont issus de la présidence de madras 27 février 1854 : arrivés du convoi « le louis napoléon » en provenance de Karikal avec 500 passagers 1855 : création à Pondichéry de la maison d’immigration chargée du recrutement des travailleurs indiens 1 juillet 1861 : signature de la convention franco anglaise autorisant le gouvernement français à recruter dans l’inde anglaise 1877 : naissance d’Eugène Govindin, sur une habitation au Macouba. Comptable sur l’habitation Aymar. Conseiller municipal, à basse pointe il satisfait aux doléances des indiens, homme de gauche militant aux côtés du député socialiste lagrosière, il défendit aussi leurs droits civiques 17 décembre 1884 : arrêt de l’immigration indienne par le conseil général Janvier 1885 : le conseil général entérine l’arrêt de l’immigration indienne 1888 : arrêt définitif de l’immigration indienne à destination des Antilles françaises par le gouvernement Anglos indien 8 mai 1902 : éruption de la montagne pelée ; 30 000 morts dans la capitale et sa région. Plusieurs centaines d’indiens périssent. Saint pierre la capitale est détruite. Fort de France sera la nouvelle capitale jusqu’à ce jour. 1923 : acquisition définie de la nationalité française 1946 : les colonies françaises deviennent des départements français 1948 :L’affaire des 16 de basse pointe : accusés injustement d’avoir participé à l’assassinat d’un planteur, les indiens sont finalement acquittés par le tribunal de bordeaux. Décès d’Eugène Govindin 1939-1945 : les indiens entrent dans la Résistance aux côtés des Antillo-guyanais et rallient le générale de Gaulle. Les indiennes feront preuve de détermination avec les femmes antillaises 1973 : création de l’association Martinique-Inde par Michel Ponama 1973 : Gilbert Francis Ponaman, professeur des écoles initie le concept d’indianité 1973 : il lance le journal « Le Soleil Indien » l’organe d’expression du renouveau culturel Indo-créole. 2003 : 150e anniversaire de l’arrivée des tamouls à saint-pierre en Martinique. Le président du conseil régional Marie Jeanne célèbre avec faste cette commémoration, symbole de l’intégration réussie des indiens dans la collectivité territoriale martiniquaise. Le gouvernement de l’Inde reconnait l’Indianité martiniquaise en finançant quelques manifestations et aussi par l’envoi de troupes culturelles. 2015 : visite de l’ambassadeur de l’Inde en Martinique et à saint-pierre dans le cadre du 164e anniversaire de l’arrivée des indiens.

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Interfaith Shaheedi Commemoration Association

What is Interfaith Shaheedi Commemoration Association?

This is an organisation mainly of persons of Indian origin who have settled in different countries of Europe, but have the dignity of India as a pre-dominant factor in their mind body and soul. The primary purpose of formation of this organisation was to remember those Indian soldiers who fought in the battle fields of Europe and laid their lives so that good can prevail over evil and the coming generations can flourish and enjoy the fruits of the sacred values of Equality, Liberty, Fraternity and democracy. IFSC Association was formed so that the real contribution of these unknown and forgotten soldiers is brought to the attention of not only the common man but also recognised on a governmental level. No tribute had been paid to them in accordance with their faith and culture. One of the primary purposes of the formation of IFSC Association was to remember them in accordance with the faith and culture of these unknown and forgotten heroes. What I mean is to hold prayers of various denominations for the emancipation and liberation of their souls in accordance with their faith and culture.

History and formation of IFSC Association:

The idea and concept of IFSC Association germinated in France and UK. Mr Ramesh Vohra discussed this idea with Mr Krishan Bhugtiar of UK. It was immediately picked up as a very good & important idea. The other persons who played an equally important role in the implementation of this idea into concrete shape were Dr. Ing. Vimal Khosla, Dr. Pradip Sewoke

Mr. Ramesh VOHRA was the moving force, proving an engine for this train. The grease and fuel to this concept was provided by Mrs Meena Vohra, without whose help, cooperation and enthusiasm the event would not have been possible & Mr Vohra could not give this idea a concrete shape. Thus the following are its founding members:

1. Mr Ramesh VOHRA 2. Mr Krishan Bhugtiar 3. Dr. Ing. Vimal Khosla 4. Mrs Meena Vohra, wife of Ramesh Vohra. 5. Dr. Pradip Sewoke

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Objectives of Interfaith Shaheedi Commemoration Association

1. Bring to the attention of the world including UNO the supreme sacrifice of these unknown soldiers who came from a distance of thousands of miles, to fight in the battle fields of Europe for a noble cause and to make Europe aware that it is the sacrifice of these soldiers that democracy-equality-liberty and fraternity are flourishing in Europe. 2. Perform religious and cultural rites, which were never performed by any governmental or non- governmental organisation so that a proper tribute is paid to them and congregational prayers held for the emancipation of their souls. 3. Another object was to recognise the sufferings of the families of these soldiers back in India where millions of children became orphans and women became widows.

Completion of the project:

The physical efforts of Ramesh Vohra, Vimal Khosla and Meena Vohra brought this project to fruition where Mayors of various municipalities and the Indian Ambassador to France joined hands to make it a success.

A commemorative plate was installed at the site and souvenir medals were distributed with inscriptions of the soldiers and the national flags of India and France. Invitation:

With this noble cause in mind, the association is progressing further with a new idea that the site is handed over to UNESCO so that the sacrifice is recognised on a worldwide level. The Association is humbly and respectfully inviting all persons irrespective of their caste creed, nationality or any other consideration, and all organisations interested in such a noble work to join this organisation and play their part. They can join as members of the association. Membership is free. Ramesh Vohra can be approached for membership form.

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Future plan

The future plan is to install a statue of these soldiers at 62136 Richebourg (France) so that future generations can pay tribute to them and remember them with respect. All ideas to enhance the dignity of this noble cause are most welcome.

We, invite everyone to come forward, join us and play their part in any shape or form the persons deem fit and help us in making the new project a wonderful success.

Email: [email protected] Site web: www.ifscfr.com

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Interfaith Shaheedi Commemoration Association Mr & Mrs Ramesh Vohra The 4th Commemoration of Memorial of NATO on the 17th September with President & Secretary of GOPIO France Paris at the 4th Commemoration 2016 of Memorial of NATO on the 17th September 2016 .

Celebration of the International Day of Yoga in Paris Mother Day celebration with Padmini Ayasamy, Madevi Baungartner, Maguie Langlier, Ragini Poinoosawmy, Mrs Segarane and Helene Khim- Tit

SUNRISE SCHOOL – AGRA – UTTAT PRADESH Team of GOPIO Chapter of Quatres Bornes Mauritius launched on 16th of July 2016

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THANKS AND APPRECIATION We would like to thank all the team of all team of France & Europe and coordinators who worked diligently and with patience and enthusiasm as a cohesive team to make GOPIO EUROPE CONVENTION November 2016 a smashing success.

Our thanks and appreciation: ❖ All participants, GOPIO delegates, guests and speakers, session coordinators and guests, in particular those who travelled from outside of Europe and France. ❖ The many officials and VIPs from India, Reunion Islands, Mauritius , South Africa & from near and far whose participation enhanced the events. ❖ Chief Guest Shri Raj K PUROHIT, Chief whip MLA Maharasthra India His Excellency, Ambassador of India in France, Dr Mohan Kumar Special Guest: Mrs Ericka BAREIGHTS, French Minister of Overseas Territories ❖ All our patrons, sponsors, advertisers, supporters and contributors for their financial support.

Patrons Sponsors Dr.Thomas Abraham AIR AUSTRAL Dr. Neera Arun Gupta CAISSE EPARGNE Niraj Baxi ECUREUIL Kewal Kanda VALORUN Sunny Kulathakal LIDO DE PARIS Dr Christopher Carey SIMLA HILL Dr Ryan Tewari RESTAURANT Dr Pradip Sewoke JODHPUR Shammi Sewoke RESTAURANT Dr Sivalingum Poinoosawmy K2 PROCESS Mehen Poinooosawmy ORIENTAL ART AND Iswar Ramlutchman CRAFT Noel Lal d-one consulting Claude Sheikboudou Samir Patel Barjinder Sodhi Sivapragassen Ramareddy

❖ Cultural presentation and entertainment groups who added wonderful moments and glimpse of Indianness in France. ❖ The convention souvenir magazine team who worked diligently to produce publication in short order with the cover designed by GOPIO Paris Youth Council member Graziela Puddea who was also previous KIP Ambassador, Tranlation by Priyanka Ramatchandirane and Innimei Tiroumalechetty. ❖ Frequence Sono vision, Jimmy Tardivel and his team. ❖ Security EPREMIUM by Kreshen and his Team. ❖ Miss India worldwide 2016: Karina KOHLI for her participation. ❖ Family, friends and associates for patience and understanding during the planning process. ❖ To all attendees who help make GOPIO EUROPE Convention November 2016 and Gala Seine River Cruise Dinner a success. ❖ Lastly but not the least, a special thank to Mr Ramesh VOHRA, President of Interfaith Shaheedi Commemoration Association for his tireless help in making this event a success.

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K2 PROCESS Tel : 0033 (0)1 47 89 38 05 Optimisation Industrielle Fax : 0033 (0)1 47 89 35 51 17 Rue Guy de Maupassant Email : [email protected]

92500 Rueil Malmaison Web:

FRANCE http://www.k2process.com

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MESSAGE OF VIKAS TALWAR – Secretary, Press / Media Contact

On behalf of GOPIO Paris NC, I would like to wish our members, friends and GOPIO family a very warm welcome to our “GOPIO Europe Convention” at Paris. On this 70th year of Indian Independence, GOPIO Paris was filled with lots of events and enthusiastic members coming together with better ideas and synergies to fulfill the objectives of GOPIO International Convention. Once again, we have contributed to the interests of the People of Indian Origin by helping them in their personal and professional issues such as welcoming Indian students to France, helping Fresh Graduates to achieve their dream jobs and making it easier for our fellow Indians to make them feel at home away from their home. We are seeing ever increasing stronger ties between India and Europe at all fronts. For this, GOPIO Paris is providing an active and well recognized platform for dialogue and discussion to the Indian Diaspora present in France and French Territories. I would like to thank you for making our Convention a success and join us to celebrate this international event in our city of lights and a city of love where our dedicated team is highly committed to serve the Indian Diaspora in our region and beyond. Vikas TALWAR ([email protected]) Secretary GOPIO France Paris nc, Press / Media Contact

From left to right: Shri Rakesh Sharma- Director of Maison de l’Inde, Nisha Dhingra-GOPIO Youth Europe coordinator, Mehen Poinoosawmy- President GOPIO France Paris, Manish Bhatt- DCM Embassy of India, Dr Vimal Khosla, Honorary President GOPIO France Paris, Krishna Shivalingaya-Vice President and Dhiraj Bhatia- GOPIO Science Council Since very long time ago, France has been a favorite destination for scientists, artists, writers from all over the world and many have made it their home. France is the 4th most popular destination for international students and its high quality of education makes it an attractive destination for Indian students. This “Welcome Day” for students was organized for the first time and GOPIO France Paris promised to make it an annual event and suggest they this operation be widely spread in all the GOPIO chapters in other countries. Home is where your heart is. Home is where our story begins. There’s no place like home. It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home.

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