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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline DECEMBER 15, 2023 | The Indian Eye 28

DAVE SHARMA in 2010. Diljeet and his wife are the
Diljeet had migrated to Canada
Indian-origin leader sworn in as alumni of the Punjab Agricultural
University (PAU), Ludhiana. He
senator in Australia also served as an Assistant Professor
there.
A member of the New Dem-
ocratic Party, Diljeet had last year
introduced a private member Bill
in the Assembly, which unopposed
became the Turban Day Act – every
year April 13 would be celebrated as
Turban Day across the province.
Diljeet also serves as the direc-
tor of Bulla Arts International (BAI),
an organisation based in Winnipeg,
which offers educational programs
in Punjabi arts and culture.

GITA GOPINATH

Economist receives the first

Kiel Institute Bernhard Harms

Prize 2023

ndian-origin former MP Dave Sharma, 47, was officially sworn in on as
a senator for New South Wales (NSW) in the Australian Parliament. He
Ibecame the first person of Indian-origin from the opposition Liberal party
to win the NSW senate position.
Dave Sharma is the former Australian Ambassador to Israel. He received
applause after swearing his affirmation of allegiance, and was congratulated
by his colleagues. He was flanked by his NSW moderate faction colleagues,
Andrew Bragg and Maria Kovacic, as he took oath for a seat left vacant by
former Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
“An honour to escort our newest Senator, Dave Sharma, for his swear-
ing-in today. Congratulations Senator Sharma,” Senator Kovacic wrote on X.
Sussan Ley, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, said Sharma is a ‘welcome
addition’ to the federal Liberal team.
“He has strong experience in Parliament and in senior diplomatic postings.
Dave’s keen foreign policy intellect will be particularly welcome given we are
in the most dangerous set of geopolitical circumstances since WWII,” Ley
wrote on X.
The development comes as the Liberals look to claw back support and
win predominantly Labor-held seats.
In a statement earlier, Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton had said that
Sharma’s entry to the Senate as part of the Liberal Party comes at a crucial orld renowned economist Gita Gopinath, the first deputy managing
time given events abroad and at home, director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has received
“His diplomatic and foreign policy expertise and experience will lend con- Wthe first Kiel Institute Bernhard Harms Prize 2023. In her laudatory
siderable weight and wisdom to the public policy debate given the precari- speech, Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan, Professor of Economics at University of Mary-
ous circumstances in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific,” land, said: “Gita Gopinath is a superb scholar and an influential policy maker, a
Dutton had said, congratulating Sharma on securing the seat. very rare combination—almost nonexistent if you also add the fact that she is a
woman. She has broken so many glass and non-glass barriers, a true role model,
DILJEET BRAR leading by example, and a dear friend.”
The award ceremony took place in the historic “Weltsaal” of the Feder-
Sikh becomes first turbaned al Foreign Office in Berlin. It was embedded in the high-level Geoeconomics
Conference, a gathering of leading international scholars working at the inter-
Speaker in Manitoba section of international economics and geopolitics.
“Gita elegantly combines theoretical modeling with state-of-the-art empiri-
cal analysis using rich data,” Moritz Schularick said. “Her research has expand-
anadian politician Diljeet Brar, has become the first turbaned man to ed not only our theoretical understanding of international economics but has
sit on the chair of the Speaker in the Legislative Assembly of Manito- also provided crucial practical insights on global trade and productivity growth.”
Cba. He is a native of Bhangchari village in Punjab. “I am honored to receive a prize that champions scholarship in internation-
A second-time MLA of Burrows in Canada, 48-year-old Diljeet had also al economics and global relations,” Gita Gopinath said. “At a time when coun-
performed the duty of Assistant Deputy Speaker on November 29. Continued on next page... >>

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