NRIs Corner

The South African government has reportedly confirmed to give an undertaking on the duration for which honeymoon murder suspect Indian-origin Shrien Dewani would be kept in the country.

The undertaking would define how long Dewani would be kept in the country without trial if he continued to suffer mental health problems.

According to News24, the confirmation to give an undertaking could bring an end to a three-year legal battle to block Dewani”s removal from Britain to South Africa to face charges of organising the killing of his wife.

UK universities must contemplate coming to India if they want to benefit from a shake up to international higher education that is going to see India enrolling the largest number of students into tertiary education in the world by 2020, a British Council report has warned.

Lynne Heslop, British Council’s senior education advisor in India and author of the report, said that by 2020, India and China would be producing 40 per cent of the world’s graduate talent, the Guardian reported.

She said that they just can’t sit back and rely on this talent to continue coming to the UK.

A kebab restaurant owner has expressed his love for Queen Elizabeth II by renaming his shop to ‘ The Queen’.

Hussein Ibrahim, who has owned his ‘Petra Restaurant’ in Chingford Mount Road for four years said that he loves the Queen and what she’s done for every single person in this country, the Guardian reported.

He said that this is her land and she deserves to have everybody to come their to salute her.

Ibrahim, who has met the Queen thrice, said that the restaurant has been very popular with school children making the most of the new picture opportunity.

An Indian girl died after falling from a tower in Dubai, a media report said.

The girl, whose age was not mentioned, fell from a high floor of Gold Crest Views building in Jumeirah Lake Towers here around 5 p.m. Thursday, the Emirates 24/7 Online reported.

The body was discovered by a Bangladeshi cleaner in the building and his manager
called the police. The girl was a resident of one of the penthouses in the building.

Police are questioning the building’s managers, cleaners and residents about the incident.

An Indian student, whose visa was cancelled, committed suicide in an Australian immigration detention centre here.

The 27-year-old Indian man, who had overstayed his visa, hung himself in his cell at the Maribyrnong immigration detention centre Thursday night, said sources.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the man was found unconscious at the centre in Melbourne, while Victoria Police said the death was not being considered as suspicious, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday.

A court in Australia Friday sentenced a man, who was driving while high on drugs, to 11 years in jail for ploughing into a taxi, killing its Indian-origin driver and his British passenger.

Antony Edward Fogarty admitted before the Western Australia Supreme Court to killing Kuldeep Singh, 28, and 36-year-old passenger Sean Duncan Barrett, who was a doctor of Imperial College, London, while driving a stolen car under the influence of drugs, The West Australian reported.

A second Indian national, who has worked in Singapore less than a year, is to plead guilty under charges for rioting here last December.

Singaravelu Vignesh, a 23-year-old construction worker, was originally charged with rioting in the Little India precinct here and faced jail term of up to seven years and canning.

Vignesh’s lawyer M Lukshumayeh said his client would plead guilty under an amended charge of continuing in an assembly that was ordered to disperse after the December 8 riot.

KBN College of Engineering (KBNCE) Gulbarga, one of the famous engineering colleges in Karnataka with 9 faculties, launched its first alumni on Saturday at a local restaurant here.

This first meeting was attended by 50 former students of the college.

The program started with the recitation of a few verses from the Qur’an by Eng. Syed Mohiuddin while Eng. Wajhath shah khan welcomed the guests and appreciated the enthusiasm of all ex-students of KBNCE.

Abdul Aleem passed away in Chicago, we don’t know any one from his family. Please inform from your newspaper if you can, I would really appreciate it. Ask his family members to contact Minhaj Akhtar at 773-552-2000 or email at minhaj@indianminority.com.

Thanks from,
Minhaj Akhtar
Indian Minority Association.
2144 W. Devon Ave, Suite 1W
Chicago, IL 60659
Ph: 773-552-2000
email: minhaj@indianminority.com

Commenting on the news of the US ambassador agreeing to meet with Narendra Modi, Dr. Shaik Ubaid, one of the founders of Coalition Against Genocide and the President of ImanNet, said that Modi is a stigma of shame for India, Gujarat and Hinduism.
“Thanks to Gandhi and Nehru India has great respect in the wold especially the West. Modi has hurt that respect.

Indians topped the list of temporary work (skilled) visa receivers in Australia during the first six months of the current financial year, according to latest official data.

The data released by the Immigration Department showed that Indians represented over 23 per cent of total ‘subclass 457 visa’ granted by it during July-December 2013.

“The top three citizenship countries for primary visa grants in the 2013-14 programme year to 31 December 2013 were India at 23.4 per cent follwed by the UK at 18.6 per cent and Ireland at 7.9 per cent,” it said.

Mississauga, The Islamic Supreme Council of Canada (ISCC) fully supports the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) for suing the Prime Minister’s Office for bullying the Canadian Muslims. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has helped in spreading the Islamophobia in Canada instead of reducing it. The current government has always used the diving tactics to harass its critics.

Moved by an insight gained during a vacation in India four years ago, a British citizen of Indian origin has launched an initiative that provides 22 hospitals across the country with the latest medical equipment to make cancer treatment accessible and affordable.

Shashi Kant Baliyan, who is in India for three years, recalls how his Diwali holiday here took a new turn after he attended a medical conference in Hisar in Haryana in 2009 with a friend, a radiation oncologist.

Recently appointed Foreign Business Adviser for Japan”s Hiroshima Prefecture, Neerendra Upadhyaya, has said he would be keen on promoting business to business (B2B) contacts between India and Hiroshima.

The Indian embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has warned foreigners against falling prey to online visa scamsters operating a website that claims to facilitate Indian visas.

An embassy release issued Thursday stated that some unscrupulous elements have created a website similar to the online visa application website of the government of India and are deceiving people into paying service fees.

The first of the 25 Indian nationals accused of taking part in Dec 8, 2013, riots in this city state pleaded guilty Friday.

Chinnappa Vijayaragunatha Poopathi, 32, a construction worker, pleaded guilty Friday to an amended charge of failing to disperse, the Today Online reported.

Chinnappa will be sentenced Monday and faces a jail term of up to two years and a fine.

He was initially charged with rioting, which carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years in jail and caning.

There is a great scope for Indian students to study in Canada, Consulate General of Canada Rajani Alexander told Punjab Governor today seeking cooperation in the field of education.

Rajani Alexander today called on Punjab Governor Shivraj V Patil here to discuss various issues including agriculture and education to further strengthen bilateral relations.

Surely, men who submit themselves to God and women who submit themselves to Him, and believing men and believing women, and obedient men and obedient women and truthful men and truthful women, and men steadfast in their faith and steadfast women, and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their chastity and women who guard their chastity, and men who remember Allah much and women who remember Him — Allah has prepared for all of them forgiveness and a great reward. (Al Quran 33:36)

India-born Satya Nadella said he “raised his hand” to take up the top job at Microsoft as he believed his role as CEO would enable him to make an impact in an increasingly “software-powered” world and drive innovation.

A 22-year old Microsoft veteran, 46-year-old Nadella was yesterday named the new Chief Executive Officer of the technology giant who will be supported by co-founder Bill Gates in shaping technology and product direction.

The New Jersey Chapter of the Indian American Muslim Council (http://www.iamc.com) an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India’s pluralist and tolerant ethos, celebrated India’s Republic Day on Saturday February 1, 2014 at Clarion Inn (Ballroom) in North Brunswick., NJ. Hon. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) from Middlesex County 12th keynote speaker at the event, attended by over 160 people including Indian Americans from different faith communities.

The American media has welcomed the appointment of India-born Satya Nadella as the CEO of Microsoft, noting that the technocrat has an enormous task ahead of him.

With Nadella now becoming the most powerful Indian- American chief executive in the IT Sector, the media was quick to reflect on the increasing influence of this small ethnic community in the country.

Indian Americans, who have the highest income among America’s multicultural groups, save much of their higher household income for their children’s college education, according to a new study.

This heavy emphasis on higher education, however, leads to times when Indian Americans prioritise saving for their children over saving for themselves, according to the third biennial 2013 State of the American Family Study.

The study from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual),offering a broad snapshot of Americans’ financial viewsindicated that Indian-Americans are savers.

The Justice Department has reportedly welcomed the British High Court ruling that honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani could be extradited to South Africa.

Spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said that the Republic of South Africa (RSA) initiated the extradition application in January 2011 and has consistently expressed its desire to have Dewani returned to stand trial.

According to News24, Dewani stands accused of ordering the killing of his wife Anni, 28, who was shot as the couple travelled in a taxi on the outskirts of Cape Town in November 2010.

India has retained its position as largest destination country for Dubai International Airport in 2013, according to a report.

India remains at the top with 8,401,253 passengers, a year on year growth of 14.3 per cent compared to 7,347,270 in 2012, the annual traffic report said.

UK is placed second with 5,099,843 passengers (up 24.1 per cent) followed by Saudi Arabia at 4,825,114 (up 34.2 per cent), it said.

An India-born scientist has been recognised by the Australian government with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Sadanandan Nambiar has been honoured for distinguished service to science, in the field of sustainable productivity and management of forests, the Indian Sun reported.