Critically acclaimed Hollywood director Mira Nair is the India Abroad Person of the Year 2007. The other India Abroad awardees, announced on March 28 at a glittering ceremony held at the Gotham Hall in New York City, are:

Legendary economists Professor Padma Desai and Professor Jagdish Bhagwati: the India Abroad Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr Renu Khator, President and Chancellor of the University of Houston: the India Abroad Publisher's Special Award for Excellence.

Somdev Dev Varman, the first Indian to win the prestigious US collegiate tennis title: the India Abroad Youth Achiever 2007 Award.

Dr Navin Shah, who helped pioneer a revolutionary ambulance service in India: the India Abroad Community Service Award 2007.

Dr Joy Cherian, the first Indian American to be appointed to a US government position and a towering personality within the community: the first Lifetime Award for Service to the Community.

This is the sixth year of the India Abroad Person of the Year awards. A pioneering effort to recognise Indian-American achievement, the award was instituted in 2002 by India Abroad, the oldest and most widely circulated news weekly for the Indian-American community.

The inaugural India Abroad Person of the Year award was conferred on Iowa legislator Swati Dandekar. In 2003, Sonal Shah, co-founder of NGO Indicorps, which bridges the gap between India-American youth and India through field trips to the country, was chosen as the India Abroad Person of the Year.

In 2004, Olympic gymnast Mohini Bhardwaj, captain of the American team that won a silver medal in Athens, was chosen as the India Abroad Person of the Year, in 2005, then US Congressman Bobby Jindal, now the governor of Louisiana, received the honour and in 2006 Indra Nooyi Chief Executive Officer and now Chairperson of PepsiCo became the India Abroad Person of the Year.