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Cochin to host overseas Indian conference in 2013

TRIVANDRUM — The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (ovreseas Indian conference) 2013 will be held in Kerala’s commercial capital of Cochin.

Federal Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said in New Delhi on Tuesday that the government had decided to hold the 11^th edition of the annual diaspora meet at Cochin on the request of the Kerala government.

He said over 2,000 delegates from across the world, mainly from Gulf countries, will participate in the three-day event to be held from January 7, 2013 to 9, 2013. The 10^th edition held in Jaipur in January this year was attended by nearly 1,800 delegates from more than 50 countries, he added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will deliver the inaugural address of the event on January 8, while the president will deliver the valedictory address and confer the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman awards January 9.

The Overseas Affairs Minister said the government was expecting large participation from Gulf countries in the Cochin meet since large number of Keralites are working in the region.

According to migration experts, more than 90 per cent of over two million overseas Keralites are spread across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The global NRK meet being organised by the Kerala government every two years has been receiving greater participation from the Gulf countries.

The government of India has been celebrating Pravasi Bharatiya Divas every year in January in an effort to reach out to nearly 30 million Indian diaspora. It usually begins on January 7, the day Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa to join India’s freedom movement. The theme for the Pravasi Divas 2013 will be better connectivity between India and the diaspora. The theme of the 10^th edition of the annual event was “Global Indian — Inclusive Growth”.

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