Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday night to attend the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
Soon after his arrival at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in a special aircraft, Modi was accorded a warm welcome by Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries.
On the second day of his two-day visit to Odisha, the Prime Minister is scheduled to attend the mega Pravasi Bharatiya Divas meet on Thursday.
The three-day convention kicked off on Wednesday with Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, whic was inaugurated by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Mansukh Mandviya, and Odisha Chief Minister at Janata Maidan here.
According to the official schedule, the PM will spend the night at Raj Bhavan and formally inaugurate the meet at 10 am on January 9 at Janata Maidan here with around 5,000 NRI in attendance. He is scheduled to leave the city around 11.55 am.
Similarly, President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to arrive in Bhubaneswar on Thursday around 4.35 pm. She is scheduled to attend the valedictory session of the PBD convention on January 10 and confer Pravasi Bharatiya Samman’ awards on Indian diaspora for exceptional work in their fields in India and abroad.
PBD commemorates Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa on January 9, 1915. This year’s theme is ‘Diaspora’s contribution to a Viksit Bharat’.