Mumbai, June 8 (Reporter) A 'pucca Mumbaikar' Sunit Prakash and his Gujarat-rooted wife Lalita Kasanji – both dual New Zealand-Australia citizens - have been selected for the ‘Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit’ honour for services to the Information Technology industry and the Indian diaspora there. The Royal honours — similar to India’s top Padma national awards — will soon be conferred on the Indian-origin couple by New Zealand Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, the representative of King Charles III of the United Kingdom. New Zealand recognises the British monarch as its head of state. The broad group of awards called New Zealand Order of Merit was instituted by a Royal Warrant issued by then British monarch Queen Elizabeth II on May 30, 1996. The recipients of the Order are those “who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and the nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions, or other merits”, according to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, New Zealand. The Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit is one of the levels of the coveted awards. Since 1996, NZ has bestowed a similar honour on only 15 IT wizards, but this is the first time it has gone to members of the Indian community. “We are thrilled by this recognition,” said a joyful Prakash, 63, in an informal telephonic chat with UNI. The Prakash-Kasanji couple shot into the limelight in 2023, co-founding the New Zealand Centre for Digital Connections with India to speed up and incubate digital and tech cooperation between the two distant nations. Their trendsetter research with a combination of global, tech and ethno-sociological lens, revealed that the Indian IT professionals contributed US$ 350 mn to the NZ economy annually, plus identified predicators to success by creating catalyst programs for visibility and progress. “We drew from our life experiences of migration and settlement, and found that NZ’s Indian IT professionals community possessed immense knowledge, insights, skills and cross-market expertise. But their intrinsic value was not adequately recognised. So it became our mission to create visibility and generate opportunities,” said Prakash. This laid the foundation for their submission recommending that NZ should take a Digital & IT Trade Delegation to India to enhance trade relations and boost innovations between the two countries. “Sunlight is a powerful disinfectant, and we are bringing a magnifying glass,” said Prakash, his words loaded, flanked by Lalita whose roots are in Surat, though her family has lived in Wellington since 1912. Prakash’s mother-in-law, Ruxmani Kasanji - who came to NZ after marriage in 1948, was honoured as Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit’ (2019), for her contributions to the Indians there. Prakash-Lalita's son Arjun, 28, is pursuing his doctorate in AI in the USA. “Till Sunit and I met, Digital India and new Indians were invisible to this country, and the perception markedly changed with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s recent visit to India,” added Lalita Kasanji. She is a sociologist who completed her Master’s at Victoria University of Wellington focusing on Gujarati migration to NZ. Born in New Delhi, Sunit Prakash lived in Mumbai and was educated in the top-notch Jamnabai Narsee School, Mithibai College and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, in Vile Parle. He can converse in good Hindi and Marathi, reminiscent of his life as a ‘Bombayite’, and cherishes memories of his teachers, lecturers, principals and peers. Notably, the honour to Prakash and his wife Lalita Kasanji comes at a time when NZ - with a population of around 51 lakhs, is actively pursuing a Free Trade Agreement with India. He pointed out how India is recognized as the fastest-growing major global economy. it is the top source to tap IT skills and talent, plus many Indians heading major tech companies in the US and elsewhere...////...