Bathinda-born Australian politician honoured with Punjabi icon award
Sunday, 12/04/2015
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BATHINDA: Bathinda-born Australian politician Dr Jagvinder Singh Virk has been honoured by the Punjabi Cultural Heritage Board (PCHB), Mumbai, with the ‘Punjabi Icon Award’ for his political and social activities in both Australia and India.
Famous Punjabi personalities including flying Sikh Milkha Singh, Dharmendra, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sunny Deol, Priyanka Chopra, Sonu Sood have been among the recipients of the same award. The PCHB is an organisation of the Punjabi community, which works for the promotion of Punjabi culture and heritage. The PCHB honours Punjabi personalities of international repute in different fields with the award every year.
Virk had done his schooling in Bathinda and moved to Australia after completing his college education. He had joined the Liberal Party of Australia.
Virk was made president of the Indian Australian Strategic Alliance (IASA) after Tony Abbott became prime minister of Australia.
“It is a proud moment for me. I have always worked for better relations between India and Australia. This award has recognised my work. It will also give me more strength to pursue my job as IASA president,” said Virk.
Virk is a frequent visitor to his home city Bathinda and recently he had invited some private Australian firms to invest in dairy farming business in Punjab.
“I see a lot of scope for Indians to invest in Australia and for Australians to invest in India, especially in Punjab. There are many fields in which companies from both nations can assist each other. There are always some barriers when two countries deal with each other. My job is to overpower such barriers for smooth business between India and Australia,” said Virk.
