Los Angeles County Sheriffs Indo American Advisory Council holds Baisakhi Celebration-2008
Released on: June 24, 2008, 6:52 am
Press Release Author: Dave Katragadda
Industry: Software
Press Release Summary: Dave Prasad Katragadda, of the award winners of the Baisakhi event in his welcome speech applauded the Indian Diaspora for its success and appealed for greater participation with the law enforcement agencies.
Press Release Body: Baisakhi 2008 was celebrated Friday, April 25, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Hosted by the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Indo American Advisory Council, the event was in honor of the Los Angeles County Sheriff, Leroy D. Baca.
Dave Prasad Katragadda, of the award winners of the Baisakhi event in his welcome speech applauded the Indian Diaspora for its success and appealed for greater participation with the law enforcement agencies.
The gala dinner event was arranged to honor the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, Honorable Sheriff Leroy D. Baca and also award outstanding members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff\'s Department and members of the Indian community who went above and beyond to touch the hearts of the community.Leading community members and officers of the LA County Sheriff\'s department including the members of the Bangladesh Sheriff Advisory Council led by its President, Mr. Jalil Khan and the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Advisory Council Mr. M Zafar Ullah attended the event. As one of the Advisory Council member attending the event rightly commented that "this is perhaps the first time that the Sheriff\'s department and the Indo American community got a chance to interact and network with each other on a personal level". He further added this interaction will help build a strong bridge of understanding between the Los Angeles Sheriff\'s Department and the Indo-American community.The event kicked off with the lightning of the lamp by Sheriff Baca, which was followed by playing of the national anthems of both United States and India followed by a pledge of allegiance presented by a smart contingent of the Sheriffs Honor guards. After a brief introduction by Commander Tom Liang of the LA Sheriff\'s department the award ceremony began. A total of 15 members both from the Sheriff\'s department and the Indian community received awards.
The award winners of the Baisakhi event were the following: Sheriff Lee Baca, Chief Dennis Burns, Commander Tom Liang, Lt. John Rueff, Reserve Deputy. Mike Leum, Deputy. Roger Peterson and from the Indian community side were Dr. Prem Reddy, Mr. Hamilton Brewart, Dr.Amarjit Marwah, Mr. Dave Prasad Katragadda, Mr. Gurbax Singh Bhasin, Mr. Shiv Grewal, Dr. Anil Shah, Malaysian Airlines and Mr. Harry Sidhu. Then the Event Chair, Mr Jimmy Sandhu gave his welcome speech followed by Mr Kevin Kaul, Chairman. Both Mr. Sandhu and Mr. Kaul in their speeches congratulated and thanked the Los Angeles County Sheriff\'s department and the Indo American Sheriff advisory council members for their hard work and support in putting up such a gala Baisakhi event. Before Sheriff Baca gave his speech; Captain Eric Para of the Sheriff\'s Department Emergency Operations Bureau (EOB) briefly outlined the Emergency preparedness arrangement of the Sheriff\'s Department and encouraged all to join the preparedness program. Sheriff Baca after handing over the awards gave his speech. He thanked the organizers of the gorgeous event and acknowledged the hard work rendered by the members of the Indo American community. He appreciated and congratulated the successes of the Indo Americans in the United States such as Bobby Jindal, the first ever Indian American elected as the Governor of the state of Louisiana . He also spoke about his interest to visit India which was given a thunderous applause. His speech ended with a standing ovation by the crowd. The event was also addressed by Dr. Judy Chu, Chair of the California Board of Equalization. Finally, dinner was served and the fun began which was followed by Bollywood and Hollywood entertainment presented by Gibran Sean, a rising Hollywood singer & model, Nauzad Sadry, popular Indian singer and R&B Latin artist Ramon .The cultural event had a diverse taste of Indian, American and Latin dance and songs. It was a fusion style entertainment between the two cultures. The gala evening and entertainment lasted past midnight where all the guests enjoyed every minute of the event. Overall it was a great and memorable event. The event was supported by the following South Asian organizations in the United States namely, Friends of the South Asian American Communities (FOSAAC), Federation of Indo-American Women\'s Associations (Women\'s FIA), Federation of Indo-American Associations of Los Angeles (FIALA), Federation of Indo American Associations of Southern California (FIASC) and all other South Asian Organizations of United States.