Houston, November 18: Ten Indian Americans have been awarded by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) at its spectacular 12th gala for their outstanding work as entrepreneurs in boosting and transforming ties between India and US. ‘Transforming Our World – 2011 Excellence Awards’, were presented for community leadership to Swatantra Jain of Vinmar International Ltd and Avinash Ahuja of Magnum Producing Company. The winners of the 2011 Excellence Awards for Business accomplishments were: Vinmar International Ltd President & CEO Hemant Goradia, Unique Industrial Founder 
Chairman & President Jugal Malani, BMC Software Chairman & CEO Bob Beauchamp, GRA Enterprise LP President & CEO Govind Agrawal, VKC Group President & CEO Brij Agrawal, SDB Steel and Pipe Founder Chairman & President Dilip Bhargava, Abrahams Oriental Rugs owners Samuel and Omana Abrahams and Je Matadi Inc Founder and President & CEO Pershant Mehta and his wife Nidhika.
Indian ambassador to US Nirupama Rao was the chief guest for the event. Also attending the event were Sudhakar Rao, the former Chief Secretary of the government of Karnataka, who has also previously served as Minister of Commerce at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC in 1999; besides Consul General Sanjiv Arora and his wife Chhaya Arora of the Houston Consulate General of India. Ambassador Rao shared her thoughts on India and “the salience of its wide ranging growth, and opportunities and potential that it opens up for expanding India-US trade and economic relations”. “India has emerged not only as one of the key drivers of global growth, but also of its stability and the signing of the India-US civil nuclear agreement signalled a new thinking in US-India bilateral ties, a willingness to address complex issues with clarity and maturity,” Rao said, underlining her pride that India and the United States are now both partners in each other’s growth and prosperity.
Chairman & President Jugal Malani, BMC Software Chairman & CEO Bob Beauchamp, GRA Enterprise LP President & CEO Govind Agrawal, VKC Group President & CEO Brij Agrawal, SDB Steel and Pipe Founder Chairman & President Dilip Bhargava, Abrahams Oriental Rugs owners Samuel and Omana Abrahams and Je Matadi Inc Founder and President & CEO Pershant Mehta and his wife Nidhika. Indian ambassador to US Nirupama Rao was the chief guest for the event. Also attending the event were Sudhakar Rao, the former Chief Secretary of the government of Karnataka, who has also previously served as Minister of Commerce at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC in 1999; besides Consul General Sanjiv Arora and his wife Chhaya Arora of the Houston Consulate General of India. Ambassador Rao shared her thoughts on India and “the salience of its wide ranging growth, and opportunities and potential that it opens up for expanding India-US trade and economic relations”. “India has emerged not only as one of the key drivers of global growth, but also of its stability and the signing of the India-US civil nuclear agreement signalled a new thinking in US-India bilateral ties, a willingness to address complex issues with clarity and maturity,” Rao said, underlining her pride that India and the United States are now both partners in each other’s growth and prosperity.