The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is the highest Indian award for Overseas Indians or an organisation or institution established and run by Overseas Indian diaspora, constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India in conjunction with the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, to honour exceptional and meritorious contribution in their chosen field/profession. The award is given by the President of India. Since 2016, the Government of India has doubled the number of awardees each year to 30 after a decision to grant the award once every two years.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is a celebratory day observed on 9 January by the Republic of India to mark the contribution of the Overseas Indian community towards the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915.
M. Arunaachalam is a Hong Kong-based businessman and entrepreneur, born and educated in India. He has previously been the chairman of The Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, and as of 2009, he has been a member of its General Committee. Arunaachalam is also the chairman of the Indian Chamber Fiftieth Anniversary Education Trust and the Disaster Relief Fund for India.
K. P. Ramanunni (Malayalam:കെ.പി.രാമനുണ്ണി) is a novelist and short-story writer from Kerala, India. His first novel Sufi Paranja Katha won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1995 and the novel Daivathinte Pusthakam won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 2017. Jeevithathinte Pusthakam won the 2011 Vayalar Award.
Puthan Naduvakkatt Chenthamaraksha Menon, also known as P. N. C. Menon is an Omani billionaire businessman born in Palakkad, Kerala. He is the founder and chairman of Sobha Ltd & Sobha LLC.
Seqaya is a suburb located in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It used to be a village separate from the capital Manama, but rapid urbanization of the city engulfed the village. It is predominantly a residential area and lies close to Salmaniya.
Pravasi Express is a bilingual newspaper publishing from Singapore. Formed in 2012, the newspaper presents news from various categories like Singapore news, Kerala news, world news, entertainment, lifestyle, arts and culture, technology, sports and movies.
The history of Indians in Bahrain dates back to the time of the Dilmun civilisation in 3000 BCE when the civilisation served as a trade link between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilisation. Proper immigration of Indians to Bahrain first started in the late quarter of the 19th century, with Banyan merchants arriving from British India or also known as British Raj under the jurisdiction of HM Government of the United Kingdom when it was under the rule of the British Empire. Today, there are about 350,000 Indian nationals in Bahrain, making them the largest expatriate group in the country.
Prabha Varma is a poet, lyricist, journalist and television presenter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. He has published ten collections of poems, three novels in verse, six books on the contemporary socio-political milieu and literature, six collections of essays in criticism, a study on media, a travelogue and a novel in english.
Omchery N. N. Pillai is an Indian Malayalam–language playwright, novelist and poet from Kerala. He has written nine full-length plays, more than 80 one-act plays and a few novels. His plays are noted for their bold experiments in form and technique as well as the uncommon vision inherent in many of the themes. Pillai won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award twice: in 1972 for the play Pralayam and in 2010 for his overall contribution to Malayalam literature. In 2022, he was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, second highest civilian award given by the Kerala Government.
Krishna is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam film in addition to Tamil language films. He made his acting debut at the age of 14 as a child artist in the Malayalam film Napoleon. His debuted as a lead actor with Rishyasringan in 1997 with Bhanupriya.
Jawaharlal R. Gangaramani, is an Indian businessperson and the Partner of Al Fara'a Group which has presence in the UAE, Saudi Arabia & Oman. In 2010, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the field of social work.
B. Ravi Pillai is a Dubai-based Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and chairman of the RP Group. As of May 2023, his net worth is estimated at US$3.1 billion.
Mukund Purohit is an Indo-Canadian entrepreneur. He is chairman and managing director of Neapolitan Pizza Limited.
Vaidyaratnam Triprangode Parameswaran Moossad (1847–1919) was an Ayurveda practitioner from Kerala, India. He is well-regarded as the First Ayurvedic practitioner in Kerala to be awarded with the title of "Vaidyaratna", given to the native medical practitioners in India, by the erstwhile British Raj in India. Vaidya, in Indian language means a medical practitioner, and ratna means jewel. Only three such awards were ever given by the British Raj in the state of Kerala, which was part of Madras Presidency then. The second award was given to E.T.Narayanan Mooss of Thaikkattussery, in the year of 1923 and third was given to Vaidyaratnam P. S. Warrier of Kottakkal in the year 1934. The second and third Vaidyaratna awardees had business acumen as well and they had established their Ayurvedic hospitals which are being run by their successors even today. In contrast, the first awardee, Triprangode Parameswaran Moossad had not established any commercial institutions. He had taken a lead role in establishing the Keraleeya Ayurveda Samajam, an organization founded by several scholars of those times, with the objective of making the benefits of Ayurveda system of treatment available to all the sections of the society, irrespective of the caste, creed and religion. It is notable that T.P. Moossad had lived during troubled times, wherein India was still under colonial rule of the British Raj, and the country was highly caste-driven, orthodox and very poor. Moossad, along with his several associates had established the Samajam, breaking several social barriers in their efforts to give relief to many from various diseases.
Valavoor Kizhakkathil Rajasekharan Pillai or VKR Pillai is an Indian businessman from Kuttamperoor, Mannar in Alappuzha district of Kerala, living in Bahrain. He is the Chairman of Bahrain headquartered national group of companies in Bahrain. He has been awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award 2017, the highest honor conferred on non-resident Indians by the President of India.
Rajni Kanabar was an M.B.B.S. doctor and philanthropist belonging to the third generation of an Indian-origin family in Tanzania. He was the founder-chairman of Regency Medical Centre in Dar es Salaam, and the initiator-convenor of the Tanzania Heart Babies Project, which he established in the year 1979. Born in Mwanza, he was presented with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award as a person of Indian origin, from the Government of India in 2010, for facilitating the surgeries of children in Tanzania suffering from congenital heart diseases. He also received the PBS Award Label from the High Commission of India in Tanzania in 2013, and the Order of the United Republic of Tanzania Medal in 2014.
Siddeek Ahmed is an Indian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Eram Group, a business conglomerate with operations in several sectors including oil and gas, power, construction, manufacturing, travel, healthcare, IT, media, logistics, automotive and training and education. He also works for the benefit of rural India. Ahmed was the recipient of the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award in 2021 for his work in various domains like that of education, business, medicine, employment and the environment. Because of his work towards improved toilet hygiene, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the Toilet Titan Award to Dr. Ahmed at the Safaigiri Summit in 2015. He is also listed as the top Indian business leader in the Middle East by Forbes in 2021
Siddharth Balachandran is an Indian-born UAE-based entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He is the executive chairman and CEO of Buimerc Corporation, an investment holding company headquartered in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). In 2023, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) for his contributions in the field of business and community welfare by the President of India Droupadi Murmu, the highest Indian award for Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India.
