Canada India Foundation (CIF).

RENU MEHTA
Toronto

THE Canadian Prime Minister was there as was former president of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, along with chairman of Knowledge Commission of India Sam Pitroda.

As the Canada India Foundation (CIF) held its first gala dinner and awards night, the who's who of both Canada and India's political, business and professional sphere joined in the celebrations.

Held on April 18 at the Liberty Grand in Toronto, the gala was attended by more than 500 high-profile personalities. "It's a great pleasure for me to address the inaugural Gala of CIF. I especially want to thank Dr Kalam and it's a tremendous honour to have the former president with us today", said Prime Minister Stephen Harper in his address to the audience, adding that while Canada believes strongly in multiculturalism, India was much ahead in promoting diverse cultures and religions in the country.

"Canada and India share a number of things including parliamentary democracies and a similar justice system but there is something less tangible but more profound, something that India started working on before

Canada was even conceived. And that of course is pluralism - the rich fabric of regional, ethnic religious and cultural diversity in India," he said adding that Canada was very proud to be a land of immigrants.

India's former president also made a power point presentation speaking of nation building and peace.

"Dr Kalam is a nation builder in a truest sense," said Vasudev Chanchlani, a founding member of CIF. "He not only had the idea but (also) provided the road map of bringing that idea to fruition and finally implemented the space program of India and road map for the Vision 2020 plan. His focus on righteousness in heart, starting with family, leads to peace in the world is a much-needed message to the people of the world."

CIF, founded in 2007, has a mandate to promote bilateral relations between Canada and India amongst other goals

"Like CIF, our government also believes in stronger relations between Canada and India. Canadians should know more about one of the emerging economies (India) and we believe that more Indo Canadians should be represented in Parliament.

I would like to congratulate this foundation whose express mandate is to strengthen relations between our countries", said Harper.

The Canadian not-for-profit organization honored Sam Pitroda, known for pioneering the telecom revolution in India in the 1980s, an award that carries a trophy and a cash award of up to $50,000. The CIF Chanchlani Global Indian award was named after Vasudev Chanchlani, who pledged $1 million to create this fund.

"This award will be presented annually to a recipient who has demonstrated global leadership, vision and professional excellence, which has made all of us of Indian origin extremely proud of our heritage", said Ajit.

Someshwar, convener of the Foundation. According to organizers, Pitroda was selected for the award from a total of nine names that included the likes of Steel

Magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Tata Group president Ratan Tata, Pepsi chief Indra Nooyi, spiritual guru and author Deepak Chopra, Canada's former Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, Reliance billionaire Anil Ambani and CNN's Dr Sanjay Gupta.
"My family and I have always admired pursuit of excellence. Therefore, we have helped institute the $50,000 CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award by establishing $1 million endowment. It will be our serious endeavour to build an enhanced $10 million endowment for this purpose so that we can give $1 million award annually within foreseeable future," said Chanchlani, co-founder of the Sigma group of companies.
The mandate of CIF also includes being engaged in policies that relate to the domestic and bilateral issues affecting the Indo Canadian community that include culture, education, trade and investment, immigration, diplomatic, political and strategic relations.
"We will also work on developing greater engagement of the Indo Canadian community in politics and public policy that will benefit Indo Canadians", said Someshwar.