Basdeo Pandey
He was the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001; he also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1976–1977, 1978–1986, 1989–1995, 2001–2006 and 2007–2010. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North. He is the former Chairman and party leader of the Opposition United National Congress. He was born in Princes Town, Trinidad, to first-generation East Indian Arrivants to Trinidad.
Alka Bhatnagar
She was born in Meerut to a family with a long tradition in music. Gifted with a melodious and baritone voice, she pursued her Master’s in music and went on to become an acclaimed singer. As a child prodigy, she was already working as an artiste on All India Radio and television at an early age of 15. Later, she went on to receive the Gold Medal in the prestigious “Sangeet Prabhakar” degree course in Uttar Pradesh. She is currently settled in San Francisco.
Dr Rajen Prasad
Dr Rajen Prasad, QSO, is a politician from New Zealand. He was elected to represent the Labour Party on the party list at the 2008 general election and retired in 2014. Prasad is of Indo-Fijian descent. In June 2004, Prasad was appointed as the first Chief Commissioner of the newly established Families Commission, serving until 2008. In 2008, Prasad was appointed Labour’s spokesperson for Voluntary and Community Sector, and associate spokesperson for Ethnic Affairs and Social Development-Family and CYF. Prasad announced his plans to retire ahead of the general election in September 2014. Since leaving Parliament, Prasad has been appointed a Commonwealth Envoy with special responsibility for Lesotho working directly in Africa to help develop better political practices. He is currently on the board of the Bank of Baroda’s New Zealand office.
Dr Nandini Tandon
Dr Tandon is currently engaged in investing in healthcare and healthcare/IT in USA, UAE and India. She has extensive board experience. She is currently vice chairman of the board of El Camino Hospital, Silicon Valley, California and chair of its Executive Compensation Committee and Vice-Chair of its Governance and Finance Committees. Additionally, she has served on 12 high-tech proprietary company boards in the United States.
Rajesh Chandra
Chandra is a Fijian academic of Indian descent. He is at present Vice-Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific. Chandra was born in Maro in Nadroga Navosa Province. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of the South Pacific with distinction and holds a PhD in Industrial/Development Geography, which he completed between 1981 and 1985 at the University of British Columbia. He is the author or editor of five books, including “Industrialization and Development in the Third World” and “An Atlas of Fiji”, which is used as a textbook in all Fijian secondary schools.
Suman Kapoor
Hailing from Kanpur, Suman Kapoor is an important figure in the Indian community in New Zealand. Apart from her endless work with her mother tongue, Hindi, she is also an activist for women’s rights, and spreads awareness to stop domestic violence.
Frank F. Islam
Frank Islam is a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, civic leader and thought leader with a special commitment to civic, educational and artistic causes. He currently heads the FI Invest Group, a firm that he established after he sold his information technology firm, the QSS Group in 2007. Frank has written two well-regarded books on the American condition, “Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again” (2013) and “Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen’s Guide for Restoring Our Competitive Advantage” (2010). Frank provides targeted financial assistance to civic, educational and artistic causes and groups. Organisations that have received his support include the Colorado University, Montgomery Community College, the Strathmore Center for the Performing Arts, and the US Institute for Peace.
Kanwal Rekhi
Kanwal Rekhi is an Indian-American businessman, venture capitalist, angel investor and entrepreneur, currently serving as the managing director at Inventus Capital Partners. Kanwal is credited as the first Indo-American Founder & CEO to take a venture-backed company public on the NASDAQ. Kanwal was born in Rawalpindi, Punjab. After the partition of India, his family settled in Kanpur. In 1967, Rekhi graduated as an electrical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and in 1969, he received a Master of Science degree from the Michigan Technological University.
Ashook Ramsaran
Originaly from northern Uttar Pradesh, Ashook Ramsaran worked as an educationist in Guyana initially. He later moved to the USA to establish his business and worked closely with the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO). He has worked relentlessly to connect the widespread community of people of Indian origin living abroad.
Dr Krishan Kumar
Originally from Kanpur, Dr. Krishan Kumar completed his medical education in his home state and then travelled to the United States of America. In USA, Dr Kumar has made great contributions to child healthcare.
Talat F. Hasan
Talat F. Hasan holds a B.A. and M.A. degree in Physics from Oxford University and a B.A. degree in Physics from the Aligarh Muslim University. After compeleting her education in Aligarh, she established her IT firm in the Silicon Valley in the United States. She has been a technologist and entrepreneur for over two decades. She is married to Kamil Hasan and they have two daughters. She founded Sensys Instruments in 1996 to market products for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. She regularly offers scholarships to underprivileged students from India.
Dr Ataat Khan
Professionally an emergency physician with international experience and a young dynamic entrepreneur, Dr Ataat Khan is managing director, Kameda Infologics Pvt. Ltd. He is the visionary and force behind YASASII. He is the chairman and CEO of ClearPath Healthcare Services Pvt. Ltd. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Management from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany.
Nadeem Akhter Tarin
Nadeem Akhter Tarin was born in Sambhal (Sarai Tarin), Uttar Pradesh. He spent his childhood at his hometown and primarily studied in an Urdu medium school. He then completed his secondary education in the English medium and went on to study at the Aligarh Muslim University. In 1979, he completed his graduation (B.Sc. Engineering – Civil) from Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology. He worked as a project engineer at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 1980. Thereafter, he moved to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a site engineer at the “Saudi Al Terais Trading, Industrial & Contracting Company”. He has lived there since and has progressed to become a prominent businessman and educationist in Saudi Arabia. He is a prominent figure in the Indian community in Saudi Arabia.
Lord Khalid Hameed
Lord Hameed is the chairman of the Alpha Hospital Group, and chairman and CEO of the London International Hospital. Prior to this, he was the executive director & Chief Executive Officer of the Cromwell Hospital in London. He hails from Lucknow. He was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen as the first Asian High Sheriff of Greater London for the year 2006-2007. In February 2007, it was announced by the House of Lords Appointments Commission that he will be made a life peer and will sit as a Crossbencher. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992 and the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2009. He was the chief guest at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2010 held in New Delhi.