NRIs Corner

A 28-year-old Indian man has been sentenced to death by a court in Dubai for murdering a fellow national last year.

According to Dubai Criminal Court records the defendant, identified by the initials of his name NS, had loaned the victim 8,500 dirhams (around $2300) to be paid back in three instalments, The National reported Wednesday.

On May 22 last year the two men met at the defendant’s apartment at Fareej Nassir close to the Rihab Hotel in Deira area here to discuss the debt.

A witness, identified as KA, said an argument broke out between the two and they started to fight.

The US has unveiled a strategic action plan for trafficking “victims” making in-person registration of domestic workers of foreign diplomats mandatory, in an apparent fallout of the Devyani Khobragade case.

Without making any reference to Khobragade’s case, which resulted in a diplomatic row between India and the US, the first-ever “Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking” in the US contained a series of announcements on domestic workers and their alleged exploitation.

An eminent Indian-American scientist and president of the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University in the US has been named a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Subra Suresh has been recognised for his scientific contributions in materials science and engineering, including his work connecting nano-mechanical cell structure to disease states, the university said in a statement.

Membership in the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the highest academic honour offered for science and technology in China. Only nine foreign members were inducted this year.

Kerala Minister for Diaspora K.C. Joseph Monday said that a consulate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would open in the state capital in a month’s time.

Speaking to IANS, Joseph said the decision to open the consulate was taken last year and all clearances have since been granted.

He said UAE authorities had visited the state last week and all they needed now was “moral support” from the state government and help in finding a suitable building to house the offices.

The mortal remains of London-based Indian freelance journalist, Manab Majumdar, were consigned to flames here.

Several members of the Indian Journalists Association attended the funeral yesterday at the Golders Green Crematorium.

In a moving tribute, Manab’s son, Sanjay Majumdar, BBC correspondent in India said: “My father would not have wanted you to grieve but to celebrate his life.”

Manab, 73, died in his sleep in the early hours on January 4, and is survived by his son Sanjay.

M.M. Chengappa has been named as the Distinguished Veterinary Microbiologist of the Year 2013 by the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists.

He is a university distinguished professor and head of the diagnostic medicine and pathobiology department in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University.

“It’s a great honour to be recognized with such a prestigious award, being the only award of this kind given to an individual in the U.S. and Canada,” Chengappa said.

An Indian was shot dead while another was wounded while collecting loan repayments from clients in a city in the Philippines, a media report said.

Navjot Singh, 26, and Lakhwinder Singh, 33, were shot by two unidentified motorcycle-borne suspects Jan 6 while collecting loan repayments from clients at San Roque in Calabanga municipality of Camarines Sur province, the Vox Bikol online newspaper reported Saturday.

After the two collected money from Milagros Avila, a local resident, one suspect covering his face with a handkerchief shot Navjot Singh with a pistol.

Indian immigrants in New Zealand are viewed very positively and they seldom face race-related issues, according to Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, the first Indian member of parliament (MP) in that South Pacific island nation.

Bakshi’s comments come after media in New Zealand reported the case of an Indian IT professional who alleged that he was a victim of racism.

Kerala Tourism has launched an online campaign to bring the world’s best bloggers to the state for an on-the-road experience.

The ‘Kerala Blog Express’ will be a two-week-long road journey from the south to the north of the state on a branded luxury bus for which 25 bloggers from around the world will be selected for the road journey in an online voting on a website (www.keralablogexpress.com) created by Kerala Tourism.

The website, launched recently, has already received over 100,000 visits, with some top travel bloggers from India and abroad entering the race for the final selection.

Socio Reforms Society launches a unique Matrimonial services “SimpleNikah.com” for dowry-free marriage seekers. It will be the first of its kind. Since the Dowry (money and house-hold) taken from the bride instead of paying her Mehr is so common in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh that no father of a daughter can think of her daughter’s marriage without paying dowry. This blackmail has increased so much that it has taken the shape of “Social blackmail”.

Indian expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) failed to attend the 12th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention that was recently held in New Delhi. They claimed that they were unaware of the program. According to Gulf News, while a few Indian emigrants thought that the celebration was for prominent non-resident Indian businessmen and dignitaries, many NRIs in the Gulf were surprised to know about the significance of Pravasi Bharatiya and reacted positively on being told about the special day dedicated to them.(ANI)

Indian minorities advocacy Network, ImanNet has strongly condemned the attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh. ‘We condemn these attacks unequivocally. The culprits must be brought to justice and the victims compensated. An independent commission must look into this violence and also in the government’s failure to foresee and prevent the attacks,” said Dr. Shaik Ubaid, the president of ImanNet.

An Indian-origin doctor in Britain was cleared of sexual assault charges after a tribunal found the alleged victim’s evidence unreliable.

The 42-year-old woman claimed that Kolkata-born doctor Abhijit Banerjee, 42, locked the consulting room door at Abbeyview Surgery in Peterborough city of Cambridgeshire county, before asking her to remove her bra while he examined her chest, media reported Thursday.

But the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Thursday found her evidence unreliable.

A prominent Indian-origin doctor who was bashed so violently his skull could be heard cracking is stunned over a ruling allowing his New Zealand attacker to remain in Australia.

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal said that the decision by Immigration Minsiter Scott Morrison sends a ‘very poor’ message that his attacker Sean Gabriel will be allowed to live in Australia despite the attack.

According to news.com.au, Morrison ruled Gabriel did not pass the character test and decided to cancel his visa in October for his part in the 2008 attack and robbery on Dr Mukesh Haikerwal and four others.

Four out of five people from all ethnic backgrounds in Britain believe that media coverage of minorities promotes racism, according to a recent poll.

A poll for the Runnymede Trust prompted calls for media regulators to be more vigilant in addressing coverage of combustible subjects, such as immigration and race, the Independent reports.

People of Pakistani descent contributed 94 percent to the poll, blamed media coverage of minorities for fuelling racism.

Even 76 percent of the white respondents were deeply concerned about the impact of media coverage of ethnic minorities.

Union Minister Vayalar Ravi today ruled out any move to make provisions for Indians living abroad to vote in elections from outside the country.

“As it is today even I can not vote by postal ballot. That is not the system today. If I am in Delhi, I can’t vote in Kerala elections from here. I will to go to the booth where my name is registered to vote. I am afraid it is not possible,” the Overseas Indian Affairs Minister told a gathering of NRIs at Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.

A court here is today expected to hear the case of Puneet Kumar, who has been accused of fleeing to India in 2009 after being involved in a hit and run car mishap that resulted in the death of an Australian student and an injury to another.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has exhorted the overseas Indians to become India’s best ambassadors to spread and popularize the country’s values, beliefs, culture and heritage overseas.

Presiding over the session on ‘ India Soft Power’ on Day-2 of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2014 yesterday, Khurshid called upon the delegates to be active in social networking to enable India to build its brand name and image so that deeper economic engagements are concluded with overseas economies, irrespective of their size.

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Thursday said NRIs should not be “weighed in dollars and pounds” and their experience should be used to give new direction to the nation.

“When we talk about NRIs, we think that they will bring dollars and pounds. Our Indian brothers and sisters should not be weighed in dollars and pounds,” Modi said at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

“They have a different work culture, global exposure, knowledge and experience. This experience can take us in a new direction,” he said.

The government on Wednesday invited investments from non-resident Indians (NRIs), saying huge opportunities exist for them in areas like manufacturing.

“You have to believe in India. We are a nation of billion people opportunities. Come and work together,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said at the 12th Parvasi Bharatiya Divas here.

Sharma informed the NRI community that the government has relaxed foreign direct investment norms in several important sectors such as retail and civil aviation.

India’s growth level this fiscal will probably remain at 5 percent, as last year, and the country’s economic situation will improve in the coming months, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday, telling a large gathering of non-resident Indians that “there is no reason to despair” about the country’s present or worry about its future.

“In the nine years since 2004, we averaged a healthy growth rate of 7.9 percent,” he said here while addressing the inaugural session of the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual gathering of NRIs and people of Indian origin (PIOs).

Minster for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi on Wednesday said that the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention will strengthen diaspora’s engagement with India’s growth story.

Addressing inaugural session of 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here, Ravi said: “The diaspora is keen to be partners in our growing economy. The Government is aware of these sentiments. Hence, it has been the constant endeavour of the government to sort-out various diaspora related issues and introduce new schemes to ensure their active participation in our growth story.”

HMWA kuwait on 4th of Jan 2014 successfully conducted a programme related to ladies on the topic related to Purity (Ghusul, Wadhu and Miswak). Programme was well attended by more than 100 people including children from different parts of India . Lady speaker from Masjid e Kabeer Mrs.

India Tuesday pressed for stronger networking between Indian and diaspora youth to forge partnerships in trade, industry, entrepreneurship and social work that would lead to employment and wealth creation.

“Our goal should be to build a strong global connect of youth,” Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) Vayalar Ravi said, inaugurating Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2014, an event ahead of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), annual Indian diaspora meet, Wednesday.

In an effort to help Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the Gulf States, particularly Saudi Arabia, a senior leader from the Southern Indian State of Andhra Pradesh hosted a detail interaction session with the heads of community leaders at the Indian consulate here today convened by the Consulate on the request of Government of Andhra Pradesh.