NRIs Corner

Police in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur arrested four men Friday in connection with the kidnapping last month of an Indian national.

The accused, aged between 23 and 25 years, were arrested from different locations in Malaysia, the country’s official Bernama news agency reported.

According to Kuala Lumpur CID chief Zainuddin Ahmad, initial investigation revealed that one of the suspects, who worked as a driver, was the mastermind in the crime.

“They kidnapped the victim for ransom from his employer,” Ahmad said in a statement.

A huge replica of Mumbai’s famous Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station was one of the star attractions of the India pavilion at the just concluded Dubai Shopping Fest, according to an organiser.

Maharashtra was the theme for the India pavilion at the Global Village.

The huge replica of the famous Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus measured 80 meters in width and 10 meters in height.

The terminus is an extravagant architectural feat that has been a mainstay of the Mumbai railway system for many years.

A 41-year-old Indian-born investment banking executive described as “extraordinary” by his colleagues has died in a fiery suburban train crash just outside the city.

Aditya Tomar, a vice president in JP Morgan`s asset management division, was among six people killed on Tuesday evening when the train hit a sports utility vehicle (SUV) stuck on the tracks in Valhalla, about 45 kms from here, and the first three carriages caught fire.

JP Morgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon called his death “a terrible tragedy and loss”.

A 41-year-old Indian-born investment banking executive described as “extraordinary” by his colleagues has died in a fiery suburban train crash just outside the city.

Aditya Tomar, a vice president in JP Morgan`s asset management division, was among six people killed on Tuesday evening when the train hit a sports utility vehicle (SUV) stuck on the tracks in Valhalla, about 45 kms from here, and the first three carriages caught fire.

JP Morgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon called his death “a terrible tragedy and loss”.

US President Barack Obama has announced to appoint top Indian-American CEO Ajay Banga to a key administration position.

Banga, chairman of the US India Business Council, has been appointed as member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, the White House said.

The announcement came along with several other appointments to key administration posts.

“The talent and expertise these individuals bring to their roles will serve our nation well. I am grateful for their service, and look forward to working with them,” Obama said yesterday.

The wife of Janab Iqbal Ahmed Siddiqui, presently in USA Mohtarma Ayesha Begum D/o. Late Janab Haji Ismail, Former MLA, Adoni died on January 31 in Chicago. Burial also took place there.

She is bereaved by husband, two sons Asif and Manzoor.

This information was forwarded by Justice E. Ismail.

Further details can be had on Chicago number 0018472752275 or with Justice Ismail on his phone number 9866893000.

A US court has found an Indian American woman guilty on charges of foeticide and felony neglect of a dependent after experiencing a miscarriage or what prosecutors claim was actually an illegal abortion.

After six days of trial and testimony, a jury in South Bend, Indiana deliberated for less than five hours before finding Purvi Patel guilty Tuesday, according to ABC News.

Patel faces up to 70 years in prison. She will be sentenced March 6.

An Indian-owned jewellery chain has partnered with a local bank in the UAE to launch a co-branded credit card, becoming the first organisation to offer ‘Goldback’ in the country.

The Rakbank Kalyan Jewellers MasterCard Credit Card, is accepted globally for purchases and cash withdrawals.

The loyalty points are earned at a rate of up to 7 per cent and can be redeemed at any Kalyan Jewellers outlets in the UAE in the form of jewellery.

The card also offers a zero per cent easy payment plan on diamond and gold jewellery purchases.

Australian detectives have intensified the probe into the mysterious disappearance of a 27-year-old Indian after a tip of that he may have been taken to an island near here in May last year.

Shiva Chauhan, who worked here as a delivery van driver, went missing under mysterious circumstances while on duty in May last year. His locked van was traced the very next day in Melbourne’s Keysborough area.

Detectives have received information that suggests Chauhan may have been taken to Phillip Island, 140 kms from Melbourne in the early hours of Friday, 2 May 2014, The Age reported today.

It was a pleasant surprise for prominent Indian-American Ashok K Mago when he got back his expensive laptop at the Bangalore airport several days after he had incidentally lost it at the security screening.

“Once I realised that I have left my Mac Book Air at the Bangalore airport, it was a foregone conclusion that I will never be able to get it back. Surprisingly, I got it,” Mago told PTI on his return from India.

A 23-year-old Indian has been sentenced to six months in prison and ordered deportation for filming a female interior designer with his cell phone while she was using the restroom at her workplace. The salesman, who was identified only with his initials BJ, confessed that he had started video mode and filmed woman while she was using restroom, Gulf News reported.

The NRI deposits with Kerala’s State Bank of Travancore (SBT) have registered an increase of Rs.3,795 crore, a top official of the bank said Monday.

SBT’s managing director Jeevandas Narayan told reporters here that over a fourth of its deposits are accounted in the NRI (non-resident Indian) category.

“NRI deposits grew by Rs.3,795 crore to touch Rs.29,758 crore at the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal, while the bank’s total deposit grew from Rs.89,337 crore as at the end of last fiscal to touch Rs.91,440 crore on Dec 31 last year,” the managing director said.

Thousands of immigrants seeking legalization through the US court system have had their hearings canceled and are being told by the government that it may be 2019 or later before their futures are resolved.

The increase in cancellations began late last summer after the Justice Department prioritized the tens of thousands of Central American families and unaccompanied children crossing the US-Mexico border.

A 13-year-old Indian-origin boy, who invented a low-cost portable Braille printer, says he is currently working on a “pretty cool” new idea for a product which will again be useful for millions of visually impaired.
Shubham Banerjee, an eighth-grade student in Santa Clara, California, is receiving rave reviews and valuable support from experts and prestigious companies for his printer Braigo, which he had recently developed using Lego Mindstorms EV3, a robotics kit.

NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has welcomed new agreements forging close partnerships between the UK-based University of Wolverhampton and six Indian varsities.

A delegation from the University of Wolverhampton, of which Lord Paul is Chancellor, visited Rajasthan between January 23 and 26 to build relations with the state.

During the four-day visit, University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Geoff Layer met the state Governor, ministers, business and academic leaders.

Indian foodies can look up to an authentic British gourmet storm next month when some of UK’s finest chefs set up base in Chennai and roll out 60 dishes like British Chicken Tikka Masala and Balti during a food festival that takes ‘curry’ back to its spiritual home.

Though it sounds like selling ice to eskimos and carrying coal to Newcastle, Indian diners can tuck into British curry during the Taste of Britain Curry Festival from March 6-14.

Nine Indians from three southern states were detained at the Turkey-Syria border and deported to India where they were being questioned on their motives, police said Saturday.

“Turkish authorities detained the nine-member Indian group at the border while attempting to cross over to Syria and deported them to India late Friday,” city Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi said in a statement here.

A total of 279 Indians died in Qatar in 2014, up from 241 deaths in 2013, according to data released by the Indian embassy.

The mission recorded 237 deaths in 2012 and since January this year, the number of deaths has reached 33, indicating a further increase, The Penimnsula Qatar reported Saturday.

The embassy data, however, did not provide details about the causes of deaths.

There were 87 Indians at the Central Prison, serving terms for offences and 113 were awaiting deportation at the Search and Follow Up Department.

A 36-year-old Indian-origin man has been jailed for four years and eight months on charges of hacking computers of at least seven organisations including the ruling party in 2013.

James Raj Arokiasamy, who calls himself “The Messiah”, had pleaded guilty to the charges last week, The Straits Times reported today.

A stolen car may have been involved in an Indian delivery van driver’s mysterious disappearance in Australia, a police officer said Friday.

Shiva Chauhan, 27, went missing after carrying out his regular deliveries May 1 last year with his locked van found next day in Keysborough, a suburb of Melbourne.

“Our investigations suggest a stolen Toyota Camry may have been involved in Shiva’s disappearance. That vehicle is still outstanding and we’d like to locate it as it may afford evidence in relation to his disappearance,” Herald Sun quoted detective inspector Jill Dyson as saying.

A Scotland court has ordered an Indian-origin former bank worker, who stole 120,000 pounds (about $181,000) from a client, to pay back just one pound because she has no assets, media reported.

Satnam Kaur, 31, was working as a customer advisor at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Albyn Place, Aberdeen, when she took the money and transferred the large sums home to India in 2011, BBC reported Thursday.

Kaur was jailed for a year at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last year after being found guilty.

An NRI, settled in Dubai, was found dead at hotel here today where he was staying during his visit to attend a friend’s wedding.

The deceased was identified as Sunil Virmani (35), who had done MBA from Australia and settled in Dubai.

On January 27, he had come to attend the marriage of his friend being held at a hotel. He was staying in room number 1008 with another friend Nikunj and last night, a group of friends had a liquor party, police said.

An Indian woman died and three people were seriously injured when the car they were travelling in hit an electric pole in Oman’s Sur city, a media report said Thursday.

Khadeeja died of burn injuries in the accident near Ras Al Hadd Wednesday. The driver of the car, a woman co-passenger and Khadeeja’s son were battling for life in hospital, Times of Oman reported.

It added that Indian social workers in Sur were coordinating with police to prepare the papers required to send the woman’s body back to India.

(IANS)

A court in Qatar has given a 10-year jail sentence to an Indian man for killing a colleague, a fellow Indian national, according to a media report.

The Primary Court in Doha Wednesday also ordered the 44-year-old Indian accused to pay a blood money of 200,000 Qatari riyals (around $55,000) to the kith and kin of the 26-year-old victim, Gulf Times reported.

The accused, an air-conditioning mechanic, killed his fellow worker in April last year after an altercation at their company accommodation in Al Wukair area of Doha.

An Indian-origin anaesthetist is among five medical personnel who face a multi-million dollar lawsuit over the death of American actress and comedienne Joan Rivers.

The lawsuit was filed in the New York state supreme court by Rivers’s daughter Melissa against New York clinic Yorkville Endoscopy, the Frontier Healthcare, which has a stake in the ownership of the clinic, Rivers’s personal physician Gail Korovin, Dr Lawrence Cohen, anaesthetists Renuka Bankulla, Robert Koniuta and Suzanne Scarola.