LONG ISLAND, NY: More than 300 Long Island and Tri-State NRIs and leading local politicians honored Daggubati Purandeswari, Minister of State (MOS) for Human Resources Development, Dr Venkateswara Rao, MLA and the well known movie star BalaKrishna. It was the largest NRI gathering ever assembled in Long island to honor any prominent person visiting from India.

The event was preceded by a press conference attended by the local media, the press corps and the major TV channels. Purandeswari is the daughter of the celluloid icon, political path breaker Sri N T Rama Rao and wife of Dr Daggubati Venkateswara Rao. She is a respected parliamentarian and a highly successful, well-regarded Central Minister. Although she has been a Member of Parliament for two and a half years only, she already has an outstanding record of achievements. The Long Island NRI community was led by the well known community leader, philanthropist and the highly successful entrepreneur Anumolu Rao.

Anumolu Rao and Rajeswari Rao hosted a dinner reception for the visitors and other guests. Indu Jaiswal, Chairperson of Indian American culture group of Long Island and a well known community leader welcomed Purandeswari and the assembled dignitaries, CEOs of leading businesses, diplomats, academicians, leaders of the local community organizations such as India Association of Long Island, FIA, GOPIO, BAPS, Gujarat Samaj, AIA, Nargis Dutt Foundation, TANA etc. and several political leaders who attended the dinner reception. Anumolu Rao, President & CEO of ASR International Corporation, Dr Bhupendra R Patel, Chief of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, Queens, Dr Praveen Chopra, Past President FIA and India Association of Long Island, Dr Azad Anand, a well known radiologist, spoke of the tremendous contributions being made by Purandeswari, in the areas of health, education, women's issues, women empowerment etc.

Dr. Krishna Jhaveri gave the closing comments laced with his special brand of humor. Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby from Town of Hempstead welcomed Purandeswari and other guests. She also presented citations to Anumolu Rao, Rajeswari Rao, Daggubati Purandeswari and Dr Venketeswara Rao. Mr. Mohinder Singh Taneja, representing Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, presented the citations from Nassau County to Purandeswari and Dr Venkateswara Rao. Members of TLCA presented plaques to. Purandeswari. Councilwoman Uma Sengupta also welcomed the guests. In her speech, Purandeswari reminded the NRIs of their duty to their motherland and stressed the need to achieve better living conditions for the toiling masses.

She emphasized that in the field of science and technology India should not simply ape the West, but improve it further through local research and development and build skills that can make India compete in the world like Japan.