A Kolkata-born scientist and a paramedic who reached out to tsunami-hit people and quake victims in Pakistan, are among those honoured.
TORONTO: A Kolkata-born scientist, whose invention is powering NASA astronaut’s suits, and a paramedic who reached out to tsunami-hit people and quake victims in Pakistan, are among 11 Indo-Canadians honoured by Prime Minister Stephen Harper for their outstanding achievements in the field of business, science and humanitarian work.
“Such success stories should come as a surprise to no one,” said Harper, praising the South Asian community’s emphasis on hard work, strong families and excellence in education.
The awards were presented at the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) Annual awards on Saturday night. Kolkata man Dr Sankar Das Gupta, who has more than 200 global patents to his name, has seen his invention go as far as outer space. NASA is using his patented lithium ion-super-polymer battery technology to power the life support system for astronaut's suits.
In partnership with Microsoft, he has also developed the Scribbler, a wireless laptop that runs eight to 10 hours on one charge and weighs less than 1.4 kg. He has also designed a Green Car which is powered by same technology (Lithium ion super polymer technology) that could go 300 kms on a single charge at a cost of Rs 80.
Asit K Biswas was honoured for his excellent contributions in evolving water resources management practices. Biswas said neither the developed nor the developing world could claim superiority in how they manage water resources. Biswas’ work has been translated in 32 languages and he has written over 68 books and over 600 papers on various subjects.
Among the other award winners were Ben Sennik, Rahul Singh, Gyan Chand Jain, Rashmi Rekha, Dr Mitali De, Ravi Sood, Nadir Mohamed, Rajesh Subramanian and some young ICCC professionals. Singh, Toronto paramedic and founder of David McAntony Gibson Foundation, was honoured for his commitment and dedication to providing quick, direct, humanitarian and medical aid in disaster-stricken, war ravaged or impoverished zones around the world.
Other persons honoured like Raj Subramanian and Nadir Mohamed, have climbed to the top of Canada’s corporate ladder. While Subramanian is head of Canadian operations for FedExpress; Nadir Mohamed is the Chief operating officer of Rogers's communications, number two man at the cable giant.
ICCC President Ajit Khanna said “The focus of the organisation was three fold: To facilitate trade between India and Canada; to increase business networking opportunities for members, and others, and to showcase the talent of the Indo-Canadian community.
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