We, the Nominations Committee, met on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 6:30 PM to evaluate the nominations for the 2004 Board of Directors positions.  As of the nominations deadline (December 2, 2003), five nominations were filed.

Here are the nominees, verified current members in good standing with qualified Nominator and Seconder:

Since there are five open positions for the Board Election slated for December 17, 2003, and only five qualified nominations have been received, we recommend that you ask the General Body to declare all five of the above candidates elected by unanimous acclamation.On behalf of the Nominations Committee, I thank you for the trust you have placed in us, and remain available to serve GIACC in other future assignments.

Interested in Learning How to Profit from one of the World's Largest Market?

Recapture the glory of a colonial past, from a land of intense beauty and variety at GIACC's Annual Banquet. 

Enjoy networking with professionals from different disciplines; meet some movers and shakers from the International Indian community; catch up with fellow Georgians. Kick off your shoes, learn the quick and easy steps to some Indian dancing, and boogie the night away to a live band! Bring your appetite for a delightful Indian dinner!

Dr. Jagdish N. Sheth, Panel Moderator. Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing, Goizueta Business School, Emory University.

 Dr. Wang Guoxing, Executive Deputy Director and Research Fellow, Pudong Institute for the US economy, Pudong Academy of Development, Shanghai, China

 Dr. Anupam Srivastava, Co-Director, South Asia Program, Center for International Trade & Security, University of Georgia.

12:00PM Lunch Session

Ambassador John Kelly. Former US ambassador to Lebanon (1986-88) and Finland (1991-1994) and Asst. Secretary of State for the Near East and South Asia from 1989 to 1991.

2:00PM Afternoon session Political cooperation and challenges in Sino-Indian-US relation.

Dr. John Endicott, Panel Moderator. Director, Center for International Strategy, Technology and Policy; and Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech.

Dr. Surjit Mansingh, Visiting Scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University.

Dr. Jing-dong Yuan, Director of Research for East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and Visiting Associate Professor of International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies

Dr. John Garver, Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech.

"Musings From the Top of the Himalayas"

"Israel and India: New Technology & Trade Partners to Benefit the Southeast"

Nissim Reuben, Goldman Fellow, American Jewish Committee Vikram Ragupathy, CEO, ILI Technologies

Israel and India have become two of the world's leaders in technology, particularly Software and Telecommunications.  And in recent years, their companies have become strategic partners to enter global markets together.

Mr. Ravindra Shahane

Plant Manager for Mahindra USA (shown above)  plant here in Calhoun, GA.  In 2002, Mahindra USA opened a second tractor assembly and distribution center in Calhoun, GA, 68 miles north of Atlanta. This will more than double production capacity to meet growing demands for our tractors.

Mr. Shahane will be talking about his experiences in setting up the plant and also will share as to Why Mahindra USA selected Calhoun, GA for setting up its assembly and distribution plant?

The Committee recommended that the constructive role played by the Indian Diaspora, its achievements and goodwill towards India should be recognized and celebrated.  Thus, 9th day of January is to be observed as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas every year as it was on January 9, 1915, that Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa.

Overseas Indians are today estimated to be over 20 million spread across 110 countries. And as entrepreneurs, workers, academics, inventors, doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers and even political leaders, they are serving their host countries with distinction. 

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas aims at addressing the following objectives:

February 15, 2003

The World Trade Centers Association will be holding the Spring Association Meeting bringing together members from all the World Trade Centers around the world from March 29th to April 2nd in Mumbai India. The World Trade Center Atlanta in association with the Indian Professional Network and the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce are hosting an information session for Georgia based companies to attend this meeting. This is an ideal opportunity for all Georgia based companies interested in doing business in the Indian Subcontinent.  

The Word Trade Center Mumbai and All India Association of Industries will also host an industrial Exhibition concurrently with the spring meeting. The major thrust is given to those sectors, which have a prodigious growth rate over the past several years, including: Textiles and Garments, Leather, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, Gems And Jewelery , Tourism etc.

 The best prospects for U.S. Exports currently exist in:

The Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (GIACC) is organizing its third annual gala on October 12, 2002 at Hyatt Regency Atlanta from 6:30 pm.  This black-tie social and culinary extravaganza will highlight Indian culture and cuisine and project India as a country of tremendous potential in tourism and trade.

Indian food, like her culture, has been shaped by remarkably diverse forces: ancient Aryans, Parthians, Greeks and central Asians, Jews and Zorastrians, Persians and Europeans.  Each wave of immigrants, invaders and visitors pouring into the Indian region enriched her culinary culture.  And with each gastronomic revolution, India's cuisine became not just one single melting pot but proliferated into a myriad of melting pots, each one as rich and diverse as her people.

India's cuisine is a feast for all senses; from the sensuous aromas of the Mughlai cooking to the  complex yet pure cuisine of South India, from the hardy and spicy dishes of Western India to the rich gravies of Eastern India, there are numerous branches of Indian cuisine, each with flavors as varied as the climate and as exotic as the people of India.

The essence of Indian food is aromatic spices.  Indian cuisine is a cornucopia of subtle tastes.  Spices dazzle and beguile the senses.cumin, turmeric, coriander, mustard, cardamom, fennel, cinnamon, saffron, cloves, fenugreek, pepper, chillies, ..their names as exotic as their essence. Some warm, some mellow, some fiery, some sweet with each one yielding its unique flavor, fragrance, texture and color to the dish, blending yet adding its unmistakable essence to it.

Join us for an evening where internationally acclaimed chef excite and amaze you with their food.  Taste and savor, watch and learn, enjoy and immerse yourself in the color, aroma, and textures of the finest dishes that Indian cuisine has to offer.  Excite your senses with music, dance and food from various regions of India and discover the wonder that is Indian cuisine.

Bring yourself and your taste buds on a culinary passage to India!

Please come and enjoy a warm relaxing evening with Atlanta's diverse international business community. This is an opportunity to make valuable business contacts and introduce your colleagues and associates to the international scene that makes Atlanta, one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.

This was a sold out event!

OBJECTIVES OF THE SEMINAR:

The Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (GIACC) announces that Atlanta's High Museum of Art, the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and Emory University will present the first Film Festival of India 2002, Atlanta (FFOI). The festival will screen feature-length films in April 6, 13, 20, 27 and May 3 and 4, 2002. Screenings will be scheduled at the High Museum's Rich Auditorium and at Emory University and will be subtitled in English.

Opening night of the Film Festival of India, Atlanta, will feature internationally acclaimed director Shyam Benegal's The Making of the Mahatma. Benegal's work is probing and complex drama about the transformation of Gandhi from a minor Westernized barrister into a champion of South Africa's oppressed South Asian community. The film is in English.

Closing night is Saturday, May 4th and features a screening of Cry of the Wounded/Aakrosh, the directorial debut of acclaimed cinematographer Govind Nihalani. The film vaulted actor Om Puri, to stardom. Om Puri plays a low caste man whom, when charged with murdering his wife, refuses to utter a word in his own defense. Screenwriter Vijay Tendulkar's use of a real crime made this a key film in the evolution of the popular, political, film of the 1980s. The film is in Hindi with English subtitles.

The festival screenings* will include:

The Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (GIACC) and South Asians for Unity (SA4U) have organized a panel of experts to interact with the local media and interested individuals on the evolving trajectory of US military as well as politico-strategic engagement in South Asia. The key objective of the meeting is to provide a mature and analytical framework within which to examine recent events and visits, including the most recent visit of Pakistan's President Pervaiz Musharraf to Washington. The format of this hour-long interaction will be a set of opening comments from the experts, followed by their fielding questions from the media and participants:

Invited experts for the panel include: