James A. Schellinger is former Indiana Commerce Secretary and current ambassador of global relations at Butler University
The Indiana India Business Council (IIBC) presented the Indiana Ratna (Jewel of Indiana) award at the fourth annual gala at Indianapolis to James A. Schellinger, former Indiana Commerce Secretary and current ambassador of global relations at Butler University, as well as founder and chairman of the US India SME Council and Chairman of the FICCI Committee on Aerospace and Defence, Sudhakar Gande.
11 Indian American personalities from various fields, were also honoured on the occasion with the presidential lifetime achievement award. Raju Chinthala, Sumeeta Bhatia, KP Singh, Bharat Gali, Javed Khan, Bharat Patel, Sravan Patharla, Dr Ajay Ponugoti, Rupal Thakker Thanawala, Ramu Chinthala, and Ajay Sarin were the awardees. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Sudhakar Gande presented the awards to the recipients, reported siliconindia.
The previous Indiana Ratna Awards were awarded to Christel De-Haan, founder and CEO of Christel House International in 2018, Mayor Gregory A Ballard in 2019, and Governor Eric J Holcomb in 2021
Todd Young, Indiana Senator, Todd Rokita, Indiana Attorney General, Diego Morales, Indiana Republican nominee for secretary of state, Bharat Patel, CEO of Sun Development and Management, Harsharan Singh and Amarbir Singh of the Ghoman Group, Ajay Sarin, CEO of AxisCades, Consul General of Chicago, Amit Kumar, and Punjabi singer from Denmark, Anita Lerche, were present at the annual gala.
The event began with American and Indian anthems sung by Anitha Sharma, Vani Sharma, and Jahanvi Kondeti, followed by Raju Chinthala, and Mayor Joe Hogest welcomed the gathering. Attorney General Todd Rokita and Consul General Amit Kumar spoke on the occasion about the progress being made in strengthening the relationship between India and the USA in various fields such as music, food, and dance. The previous Indiana Ratna Awards were awarded to Christel De-Haan, founder and CEO of Christel House International in 2018, Mayor Gregory A Ballard in 2019, and Governor Eric J Holcomb in 2021.
*********************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com