Diaspora meet kicks off in Kerala

The three-day 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) which kicked off on Monday is the biggest ever held in the country, a Kerala minister has said. Minister for diaspora K C Joseph said they are delighted by the response from the people as the event saw more than 2,000 registrations. ‘Another feature of this year’s PBD is that this is the first time that there is going to be an exclusive session on Middle East,’ Joseph said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the annual flagship event on 8 January and President Pranab Mukherjee will deliver the valedictory address on 9 January and also confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards.