The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention will be held from 7 to 9 January, 2017 at the Bangalore International Exhibitions Centre in Bengaluru, in partnership with the Government of Karnataka.
1. The 13thPBD Convention was held in January, 2015 in Gandhinagar. Thereafter, the format of PBD Convention was revised and a decision was taken to hold the Convention once in two years. Accordingly, in 2016, instead of the PBD Convention, the Government is organizing smaller and issue based 10 PBD Conferences in New Delhi from February to November 2016, with participation of nearly 10 overseas Indian domain experts and relevant policy makers/stakeholders in India in each conference. These Conferences are chaired by Hon'ble External Affairs Minister and the concerned Government of India Minister.
2. In this regard :
a. A new website www.pbdindia.gov.in is functional and contains details of the programme for the PBD Convention.Registration of all delegates, is through an online process, including payment of Registration fees.
b. Only overseas Indians invited by Ministry, Gol officials and invited foreign dignitaries and their delegations are exempt from registration fees. All others are expected to pay registration fees online. To enable greater participation of young NRIs and PIOs, registration fees for this category has been reduced substantially. Similarly group registrations will also benefit from discounts in fees, as per the number of persons in the group.
c. Deadline for registration online is 7 December 2016. Request for refunds will be received and processed only until 7 December 2016. Thereafter there will no refunds of registration fees.
d. Youth PBD is a new element organized since the 13thPBD. This is mainly for NRI and PIO youth of 18 to 30 years - EAM and Minister of Youth Affairs will inaugurate Youth PBD on 7 January. It includes Plenary Sessions on Problems faced by Indian students abroad and NRI students in India; Start-ups and Innovations which had a social impact in India; and Karnataka's Star-up ecosystem.
Government of India is organizing five Know India Programme (KIP) to coincide with the PBD - and all four KIP groups will participate in the PBD on 7 and 8 January. Youth PBD delegates will also interact with Indian youth selected from local universities and colleges, who will be invited to the Youth PBD.
e. On 8 January PBD will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister who will deliver the Keynote Address. Thereafter Chief Ministers of select States will address the delegates about the opportunities for investment, and invite delegates to participate in the development programmes of the respective States.
f. On 9 January, following Plenary Sessions, PBD will conclude with the Valedictory Address delivered by the Hon'ble President, who will also confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Samman Awards.
g. Theme of 14thPBD will be Redefining Engagement with the Indian Diaspora. All sessions will be in Plenary format. There will be no concurrent sessions. Topics for the Plenary Sessions are already indicated on the PBD website. These sessions will be interactive, with 15 minutes of presentation and 30 minutes interactive session with the delegates.
h. Karnataka Government is organizing following to showcase their State:
Plenary Session 7 January: Fuelling growth through disruptive
Innovations -Startup ecosystem in Karnataka.
Plenary Session 9 January: Innovate, Invent and Invest in Karnataka.
