NRIs Corner

A 77-year-old Indian man, booked for killing his son-in-law, was found by a US court incompetent to stand trial after it observed that he was unable to understand the charges slapped on him.

Bayapa Lingala, who speaks Telugu, was found by a judge in US state of Pennsylvania incompetent to stand trial, journalstar.Com reported today.

At a short hearing yesterday, Lingala sat quietly with a Telugu interpreter at his side as Deputy Lancaster County Public Defender, Webb Bancroft offered a four-page letter from Dr Mario Scalora, who examined Lingala.

Dr. Aleem Khan Falaki said : At present, more important than rebuilding the mosque is to restore the confidence and trust in the constitution.

A large group of Sikh members in the Canadian province of British Columbia is quitting the Liberal Party of Canada, alleging the party has been “hijacked” by the World Sikh Organisation.

The Sikh members are protesting the nomination of a party candidate backed by the WSO.

“We think this Liberal Party’s been hijacked by the WSO,” said Rajinder Singh Bhela, a longtime Liberal and former general secretary of the Ross Street Temple, Vancouver’s largest Sikh temple.

A controversial Indian-American physician in the US has been arrested on fraud charges for prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to patients who were not pregnant.

Naresh G Patel, who was arrested yesterday in Oklahoma city, could face up to three years in jail and a maximum fine of USD15,000 if convicted, according to a statement by Attorney General Scott Pruit.

A 77-year-old Indian-origin man charged with murder was found incompetent to stand trial in the US state of Pennsylvania after the judge was told that he was unable to understand the charges levelled against him.

Lancaster County Judge Paul Merritt Jr. Tuesday ordered Bayapa Lingala be sent to a medical facility for treatment after a doctor told the district court that he believed there was a “substantial likelihood” that Lingala’s competency can be restored with treatment and that he could yet face trial, the JournalStar.com reported Wednesday.

As many as 188 cases of fraudulent marriages by NRIs, including 46 in the current year, with a maximum of those from the United States have been reported in Indian missions during the past three years, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs V K Singh said a total of 139 such complaints have been received against NRIs from the United States in the past three years, including 25 in the current year.

British-Indian millionaire Shrien Dewani returned to the UK today after being cleared by a court of plotting the murder of his Indo-Swedish bride during their honeymoon in South Africa where he was extradited to face trial.

Dewani, 34, left the Gatwick Airport through a side entrance that was guarded by police before being driven away this morning. He flew to the UK via Dubai from Cape Town.

He was extradited in April for facing trial for arranging the murder of his 28-year-old wife Anni Hindocha, who was kidnapped and killed during their honeymoon near Cape Town in 2010.

Republican presidential aspirant and a Tea Party favourite Senator Rand Paul has sought support of the Indian Americans, in particular the influential physician community, to realise his ambition of US Presidency.

“Senator Paul is much interested to bag the early support of Indian Americans specially influential Indian American Physician group,” said Sampat Shivangi, president of Indian American Forum for Political Education, after a meeting with the Republican lawmaker in Mississippi yesterday.

Five Indian engineering students have been seriously injured after their car collided head-on with a truck in the US state of Texas.

The collision occurred as the students, studying at Texas A&M University, were returning back after Thanksgiving break in New Orleans.

The Courier of Montgomery County reported the driver swerved to try and avoid the truck when he saw it in his lane.

The five — Pranan Kannan, 22; Akshay Jain, 22; Chiranjibi Boere, 23; Shachit Iyer, 23; and Kishan Bajaj, 24 — were immediately taken to hospitals.

Expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh have honoured prominent educationist and philanthropist Nadeem Tarin, chairman of the Riyadh-based Delhi Public School (DPS) and Dunes International School-Dammam.

He has been honoured for his valuable contributions to the society, according to an Arab News report.

Tarin, a prominent educator and social worker who has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for the last 34 years, was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in October.

India has emerged as Abu Dhabi’s top overseas source market for hotel guests with nearly 3,00,000 Indians checking in this year, according to a study.

Some 2,838,842 Indians checked in this year, a 33 per cent increase over last year, according to figures released by
Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA).

UK and Germany took second and third position with 22 per cent Britons and 11 per cent Germans respectively, checking in
at hotels, the study said.

The city’s year-to-date hotel revenues rose 14 per cent to almost USD 1.325 billion with room revenues accounting for

Sikhs Americans have rejected new racial profiling guidelines of the US government alleging that the rules are flawed and misleading.

Although the new guidance explicitly recognises that discriminatory profiling is “unfair” and “ineffective”, and that biased practices “promote mistrust of law enforcement, and perpetuate negative and harmful stereotypes” – it still allows discriminatory profiling by US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), alleged Sikh Coalition, a Sikh rights group.

The World Trade Organization today upheld in part a judgement that the US broke global trade rules by imposing import duties on Indian steel products, in a mixed ruling that also found elements in Washington’s favour.

In one of the most complicated cases it has ever considered, the WTO’s Appellate Body reversed some of the findings made by the organisation’s dispute settlement panel in July and upheld others.

It found in favour of both sides in technical elements of the dispute, but concluded that the US was “inconsistent with its obligations” and should be brought into line.

A Sikh teacher has claimed that he was forced out of a school in Britain for “giving children British values”, a media report said Monday.

Balwant Bains, who ran Saltley School in Birmingham which is at the centre of an alleged plot by extremists to impose an “intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos” on pupils, decided to quit after opposing plans by Muslim governors, Mail Online reported.

“I suppose I was a threat, giving these children more British values, for them to be integrated into society.

Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi and NRI businessman Rami Ranger have joined the UK-based Gandhi Memorial Trust as trustees.

The trust has been set up by NRI economist Lord Meghnad Desai to raise funds for the Gandhi statue to be unveiled at Parliament Square in London early next year.

“The trust is expanding its work and vision. Even after the sculpture gets established we will continue to be guided by our valued trustees, especially by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, to spread the message of Mahatma Gandhi in the UK,” said Desai in a statement.

A New Zealand woman has been arrested for her part in an alleged ponzi scheme in India.

Denise Driver, 52, was arrested by along with Mohammed Kurram Iqbal, Kiran Jitendra Modi and Hithesh Modi for an alleged fraud worth 500 million rupees (about $NZ10 million), the Bangalore City Police Facebook page says.

The Times of India says the quartet lured people into investing in the YOBSN Social Media Network with the promise of high returns in US dollars, saying that if Facebook can make billions from social network, there was no reason why their investors could not do so.

In a glittering ceremony, Darshana TV’s Kuwait Bureau was inaugurated by its Chairman Honorable Panakkad Sayid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal on 5th December 2014 at Rajadhani Palace Hotel. More than 100 invited guests were present while pressing the launching release button.

A senior judge in Britain has been forced to quit his job after allegedly making a racist remark about an Indian-origin woman while hearing a harasssment case involving the woman’s ex-boyfriend.

“With a name like Patel she can only be working in a corner shop or off licence,” said District Judge Peter Hollingworth after being told a prosecution team could not bring forward the case against Parvan Singh, accused of threatening Deepa Patel, as the victim was not in court, The Daily Mail reported Sunday.

“She won’t be working anywhere important,” he was quoted as saying.

Music aficionados in the national capital and Mumbai are set for a rare treat when the Chinese opera, “The Peony Pavilion”, is performed later in the week, an event made possible by Indian American danseuse Swati Bhise, who has been promoting Indian culture in the United States for close to 30 years.

An Indian-origin doctor, accused of offering to perform an abortion based on the unborn child’s gender, has appeared in a British court, a media report said.

Prabha Sivaraman, 46, accused of planning an abortion based on the sex of the unborn baby, appeared at the Manchester Magistrates’ Court Friday, the Daily Mail reported.

It was the first case of its kind case coming before the court in Britain.

South Yorkshire-based Sivaraman was one of the two doctors purportedly filmed by undercover reporters from The Telegraph daily in 2012.

A 21-year-old Indian-origin man today died after falling from 26th floor of a high-rise apartment building here.

Rehmat Sandhu died falling from the glass balcony of a 36-storey apartment building of the City Road tower.

He was a member of a Punjab dance group based in Melbourne.

The Age newspaper quoted a nightclub owner Gary Vohra who had met Sandhu and his friends for drinks last night as saying.

“From what I heard, Rehmat went to sit on the balcony railing, and it was wet and he’s gone over.”

Sikhs enjoy greater religious liberty in the militaries of countries like India, Canada and Britain than the US, a Sikh advocacy group has said, presenting a case for removal of barriers for the members of the community to join armed forces in America.

“Sikh service members in the militaries of Canada, India, and the United Kingdom can expect to enjoy a greater measure of religious liberty than their peers in the United States,” the Sikh Coalition said in a written submission to the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on military personal.

Dr. Arun Majumdar, an Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay alumni is among four eminent scientists chosen to serve as US Science Envoys beginning in January, 2015.

Majumdar, a professor at Stanford University and an expert in energy, climate change, and innovation was named by the State Department along with Dr. Peter Hotez, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, and Dr. Geri Richmond.

Majumdar, who graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the IIT, Bombay in 1985, he is a member of the US delegation for the US-India Track II dialogue on climate change and energy.

Two Indian-origin brothers in Britain have been banned from entering their own home for three months after neighbours complained their home was being used as a drug den, media reported.

Balbir Ginda Ram, 46, and Surjit Ginda Ram, 44, from the city of Birmingham, have been evicted from their 93,000 pounds (about $145,000) privately-owned terraced property after a string of complaints from residents, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.

The neighbours claimed the brothers’ home was attracting addicts to the area.

Professor Arun Majumdar from Stanford University is among four top scientists who have been appointed the science envoys of the US.

An Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT)- Bombay alumnus, Majumdar shares the honour with Peter Hotez, Jane Lubchenco and Geri Richmond.

The four eminent scientists will serve as US envoys beginning January next year, said a State Department statement.