NRIs Corner

A UK court has reportedly sentenced an India origin gay banker in London to 21 years in jail for murdering his wife and burning her body in an attempt to conceal his sexuality.

Jasvir Ginday, 29, killed his wife Varkha Rani, 24 just months after the duo married at a lavish arranged marriage ceremony in India attended by 700 people, after which the Royal Bank of Scotland employee then stuffed her body into a patio incinerator, doused her in petrol and set her alight, the Mirror reported.

Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata Group which is one of the largest employers in Britain, has been honoured by Queen Elizabeth with a GBE (Knight Grand Cross), one of the UK’s highest civilian awards.

“The Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the following honorary British awards in 2014… GBE for Ratan Naval Tata, KBE, for services to UK/India relations, inward investment to the UK and philanthropy,” an announcement by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said yesterday.

A 38-year-old Indian national was today sentenced to nine months in jail for molesting a woman in Singapore in mid-January.

Vadla Kandappachari pleaded guilty of molesting the 43-year-old woman and regretted his act.

The convict, who worked in the construction sector, could have been jailed up to two years, caned and fined.

The body of an Indian man who was found dead over two years ago in a suburb of Saudi Arabia’s Jubail city is still lying in a morgue, according to a media report.

The Indian Embassy has been seeking answers to questions like the cause of his death.

An embassy official was quoted as saying that they cannot receive any dead body without a medical report clearly stating the cause of death.

Another issue hindering progress of repatriation is that the hospital where the body has been lying has claimed it has no casket to send the body home, the Saudi Gazette reported.

The US, which received more than 172,000 applications for the H-1B visas, has conducted a computerised draw of lots to determine who all would be given the most sought after work visas that are highly popular among IT professionals from countries like India.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducted the computerised draw of lots to select the Congressionally mandated 65,000 applicants, who would receive the H-1B visas.

A 21-year-old Sikh has admitted charges of possessing 92 weapons following a raid on his home in the UK.

Parwinder Baning admitted importing and possessing dozens of prohibited weapons, including a 100,000-volt stun gun, twice as powerful as police Tasers, during a hearing at Leicester Crown Court.

Baning appeared at the court on Wednesday following a raid on his home in Leicester in December during which a large number of weapons were seized.

According to Sky News, officers also found knuckle dusters, pepper spray, push daggers and an extendable baton.

An Indian national in UAE was Wednesday convicted and sentenced in absentia to six months in jail for a violent attack on a fellow Indian flatmate.

The Indian cook, identified only as MAS, knocked out the teeth of his flatmate, identified as MS, 54, in a vicious attack for objecting to watching a cricket game too loud on television in Dubai in April last year, The National reported.

The victim said the assailant raised the TV volume to maximum when he woke up in the morning.

NRI marriages’, as generally understood, are between an Indian woman from India and an Indian man residing in another country (thus NRI – non-resident Indian), either as Indian citizen (when he would legally be an ‘NRI’) or as citizen of that other country (when he would legally be a PIO – person of Indian origin).

The problem is especially related to Indian women who get trapped in deceptive matrimony with overseas Indians. They also ignore that in case of things going wrong in an NRI marriage, the woman’s recourse to justice is greatly constrained and complex.

It is a pleasure to inform you that to day I had a meeting with “Telangana Muslim Forum” NRI members at Grand Mosque located at Abu Dhabi, UAE.

In fact, I have come to Dubai on my film production work as well as to meet my friends who were inviting me since long time and I will be in Dubai till 12 th of April.

The body of a 31-year-old Indian was found hanging inside a warehouse in Sharjah today and police are treating it as a case of suicide.

The man, who was not identified, was found hanging with a piece of cloth tied around his neck, Emirates 24|7 reported.

Sharjah Police, after received information about the incident, rushed to the site of the accident.

The body has been sent to hospital to determine the cause of death, even though all signs show it is a case of suicide, they said.

An Indian-origin businessman from Britain has been remanded in a psychiatric hospital in South Africa after appearing in court Tuesday on charges of murdering his wife on their honeymoon trip to Cape Town in 2010.

Shrien Dewani, 33, of Bristol city appeared at the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town Tuesday, after being extradited from Britain Monday night after a three-year legal battle. He is accused of ordering the murder of his wife, 28-year-old Anni Dewani, who was shot on the outskirts of Cape Town in November 2010, BBC reported.

An Indian man in Saudi Arabia has been beaten to death by his compatriot over some family dispute, police said.

Abbas Moideen, who had only returned from a vacation, was brutally assaulted by his colleague resulting in his death due to head injuries in the country’s coastal city Jeddah.

“Two Asian expatriates living in the Azizia district had gotten into a fight following a family dispute,” Col Aati Al-Quraish of the Makkah regional police headquarters was quoted as saying by Arab News today.

The extradition of Indian-origin man Shrien Dewani to South Africa after a long legal battle has brought the prospect of justice for his dead wife a step closer, her family has said.

Shrien Dewani, 33, is being extradited to South Africa after he lost his last legal battle to block the move over the charges of killing his Swedish wife of Indian-origin Anni, 28, in November 2010 in Cape Town.

Anish Hindocha, Anni’s brother, said there were still questions to be answered over the death of his sister in South Africa, the Guardian reported Monday.

UAE-based NRIs are expected to increase their investments inflows into India after the country’s upcoming general elections, according to a new survey.

The survey titled ‘The NRIs’ Investment Inflows into India – A Pulse Study’ stated that two-thirds of NRI respondents were optimistic that a new government will create a conducive environment for investor-friendly retirement planning in India.

Shrien Dewani, the man who is suspected to have planned his wife’s murder on their honeymoon, is reportedly expected to be flown out of the UK this week.

The 34-year-old will reportedly fly from London Heathrow Airport tomorrow night, arriving in Cape Town the following morning and being whisked straight to a court hearing, Daily Express reported.

An award-winning Indian-origin businesswoman in Britain will appear in court Monday for assaulting her younger sister at a market place.

Sharon Kaur, 46, a high-profile entrepreneur, allegedly attacked her younger sister Kulvinder by grabbing her hair from behind, spitting at her and clawing at her face outside a shop in Ilford, East London, which left her battered and bruised, the Daily Mail reported Sunday.

As a crowd gathered, Kaur left the scene.

She will appear before magistrates Monday.

Kaur is the managing director of Sahara Homes care home empire.

An Indian-origin businessman in Britain, accused of arranging the murder of his wife during a honeymoon trip to Cape Town in 2010, is being extradited to South Africa Monday to face trial.

Shrien Dewani, 33, of Bristol city, has denied being involved in the murder of his Swedish wife, Anni, 28, in November 2010. He will reportedly fly from London Heathrow Airport Monday night, Daily Mail reported Sunday.

His lawyers have fought against his extradition to South Africa, where he faces charges of murder and conspiracy.

A New Jersey court has sentenced last of five men charged with the 2010 fatal beating of an Indian-American computer scientist Divyendu Sinha to more than 12 years in prison.

Steven Contreras, now 20, will have to serve at least six years and eight months before he becomes eligible for parole under the sentence imposed Thursday by Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz in New Brunswick, nj.com reported,

Half a dozen Indian doctors arrived in Mozambique to help national health authorities increase health capacity, Maputo Central Hospital General Director Joao Fumane said Friday.

The Indian doctors are in Mozambique as part of a cooperation agreement signed between the government of Mozambique and the Apollo group from India, Xinhua cited the state news agency AIM as saying.

Two Indian men have been accused of breaking into a garment store here and robbing their fellow countryman of USD 16,000 and 200 cheques, a media report said.

Thirty two-year-old W R and 36-year-old S O, both identified by their initials only, allegedly broke into the shop using an iron bar and carry out the heist on January 4.

The shop owner, also an Indian national, claimed the duo robbed him as he was possessed of their passports as a guarantee for the money they owed to him.

“I have no doubt that we are prepared to assume the international role and responsibilities that the world at large expects from a rising India. I am also confident that the association between India and its over twenty-two million roving ambassadors in the expatriate Indian community will continue to deepen and prosper in the years that lie ahead.”

— Manmohan Singh (January 8, 2014)

US-based master trainer Carla Mathis, who is on her maiden trip to India, will offer a unique course to those who want to make themselves a brand name in the image consulting industry.

Titled “Learn from the Master”, the course will be a platform to share her knowledge with aspiring image consultants in association with Urbanista Image Consulting LLP, a statement said.

The nine-day course will start Thursday and will cover everything one need to know about the science of style, colour, wardrobe and styling men for success taught by Mathis.

A 47-year-old Indian has been awarded one million dirhams (USD 272,2570) as compensation by a Dubai court after a car accident left him paralysed.

A K, identified only by his initials, had lost his ability to eat or drink and needed 24-hour assistance following the 2012 accident.

The Dubai Appeals Court ordered the insurance company to pay one million dirhams in civil compensation to A K, Gulf News reported.

A sixth Indian national has been jailed for his role in the Dec 8 riots here in which mobs indulged in vandalism after a private bus ran over another Indian.

Krishnan Saravanan, 31, was convicted of the amended charge of failing to disperse despite being lawfully commanded to do so and jailed for 18 weeks, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.

He is the sixth Indian to plead guilty in the case.

He had faced a rioting charge, which carried a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and caning.

His sentence was back-dated to the date of his arrest Dec 9 last year, the report said.

Last week, 14-year-old Suvir Mirchandani was soaking up in the limelight after suggesting that the US govt. could save 400 million dollars by just changing font size, however, experts have said that may not be true at all.

FastCoDesign revealed that Mirchandani, for his middle-school science project, measured four different fonts – Times New Roman, Garamond, Comic Sans, and Century Gothic – and found that Garamond’s thin, light strokes resulted in a font that required 24 per cent less ink.