Wednesday,
June
27,
2007
Bollywood
beauty
Priyanka
Chopra
is
set
to
lead
the
27th
India
Day
Parade
as
Grand
Marshal
in
New
York
in
August
to
celebrate
the
country's
60th
Independence
Day.
The
annual
parade,
which
will
be
held
on
August
19,
is
organized
in
Manhattan
by
the
Federation
of
Indian
Associations
(FIA)
and
attracts
thousands
of
people
every
year.
It
is
considered
the
biggest
such
event
outside
India.
Announcing
details
of
the
parade
at
the
Indian
Consulate
in
New
York,
FIA
president
Shobhana
Patel
said
comedian
Johnny
Lever
would
be
the
chief
guest.
The
theme
of
the
parade
would
be
"Women's
Shakti"
(power),
Patel
said.
Music
composer
A
R
Rahman
,
who
is
on
a
concert
tour
of
the
US,
was
present
at
the
function.
He
was
Grand
Marshal
for
the
2006
parade.
Known
personalities
who
have
participated
in
the
past
FIA
parades
include
actresses
Madhuri
Dixit
and
Rekha
,
spiritual
guru
Morari
Bapu,
New
York
Mayor
Michael
Bloomberg
and
former
mayor
Rudy
Giuliani.
Set
up
in
1981,
FIA
is
a
large,
influential
umbrella
organization
of
the
Indian
community
in
the
US.
It
boasts
of
300,000
members
in
the
tri-state
area
of
New
York,
New
Jersey
and
Connecticut.
The
objective
of
its
annual
India
Day
Parade
is
to
project
Indian
Americans'
progress
and
unity
to
other
communities.
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