Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh honoured with Padma Shri award

Indian American physician, philanthropist and publisher, Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh, received the 2010 Padma Shri award from President Pratibha Patil at a ceremony held in the ornate Ashoka Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, April 7. The New Jersey-based doctor is one of the six distinguished Indian Americans who made the 60th Republic Day honors list.

With this honor, Dr. Parikh now joins the ranks of most honored Indian Americans and the only one to receive all three much coveted awards: the Ellis Island Award, the highest honor conferred on U.S. immigrants for their lifetime of community service; the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, a special award given by the Government of India to select non-resident Indians for their individual accomplishments and contributions to India, and; the Padma Shri, which is awarded to distinguished Indians and people of Indian origin for their contribution in various spheres of activity including the arts, education, industry, literature, science, sports, social service and public life. The award will be presented by President Pratibha Patil at a ceremony in New Delhi in March.

“I’m deeply honored and humbled by the honor conferred on me by the President of India,” Dr. Parikh said in a statement, adding, “but I also recognize the responsibility of living up to this honor by redoubling my efforts to further U.S.-India relations, and making greater efforts at community service on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Dr. Parikh, who is a noted allergist and an acclaimed authority in the field of allergy, asthma and immunology, is also the chairman and publisher of New York-based Parikh Worldwide Media, Inc., which publishes three periodicals – “News India Times, “Desi Talk” and “The Indian American.” (Please see the detailed resume attached.)

Apart from medical practice and publishing, Dr. Parikh is actively involved in a number of charitable causes in the U.S. and in India. He was recently in New Delhi to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, where he was invited to speak about philanthropy as part of the PBD lecture series.

A particular focus of Dr. Parikh’s community service has been to promote second generation of Indian Americans in the American political process with the view to ensuring strong U.S.-India relations for generations to come. To this end, Dr. Parikh is involved in a variety of institutions, some of which he has been a founding member, including the Indian American Republican Council and Indian American Forum for Political Education.