NRIs Corner

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said it is trying to make arrangements to get jailed merchant navy captain Sunil James back to perform the last rites of his eleven-month-old son Vivaan who died on December 2. The body of Vivaan, who died after developing gangrene in the intestine while undergoing treatment at Andheri”s Holy Spirit Hospital, has been kept in the hospital morgue”s cold storage. “We have been following this unfortunate case of Captain Sunil James since he was arrested a few months ago, and it has taken a very sad turn.

Manhattan’s Indian-American attorney Preet Bharara, also known as the “Sheriff of Wall Street”, has now charged 49 Russian diplomats and their spouses with scamming Medicaid out of $1.5 million over a decade.

The 49 current or former Russian diplomats and their spouses living in New York City were Thursday accused of participating in a widespread fraud scheme to illegally obtain benefits under Medicaid, a government health care programme for low-income families.

Radio host Mel Greig, who was behind a royal prank call linked to the death of a Indian origin UK nurse – Jacintha Saldanha, has quit her job after settling her dispute with employer Southern Cross Austereo. Greig had filed a Fair Work complaint claiming that her employer had failed to provide a safe workplace. According to Stuff.co.nz, Austereo said in a statement that the dispute arising from the royal hoax had been “amicably resolved” and Greig had resigned, effective from December 31.

The Best Teacher Awards for the year 2013-14, which recognise the contribution of Indian school teachers in Oman, would be presented here Thursday.

India’s Ambassador to Oman J.S. Mukul will attend the function to be held at the Indian School Ghubra in Muscat, the Times of Oman reported Wednesday.

Thuwayba bint Ahmed Issa Barwani, professor at the Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, will deliver the keynote address.

A 59-year-old Indian doctor, charged with molesting a woman while examining her, was let off on account of lack of evidence in Bahrain, a media report said Thursday.

A 25-year-old Moroccan woman accused the Indian doctor of sexually touching her while examining her. The woman said she suffered from stomach pain, and visited the doctor’s private clinic in Riffa, the second-largest city of Bahrain, Gulf Daily News reported.

The defendant was acquitted Wednesday by the High Criminal Court of Bahrain, for want of evidence.

The staging of an unabridged Malayalam classic in the colours and drama of Kathakali; the rich repertoire of Koodiyattam, a 2,000-year-old Sanskrit theatre; graceful Mohiniattam; music in the Sopanam style and a percussion ensemble high on energy – this UAE capital saw a five-day-long celebration of ancient Kerala art forms.

Myanmar has much to learn from India as it returns to a multi-party democratic system of governance, Speaker of the country’s Upper House told President Pranab Mukherjee as he met him here.

Mukherjee, during the visit of the 23-member parliamentary delegation led by U Khin Aung Myint, Speaker of Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House), said India is committed to supporting it’s eastern neighbour in “whichever way it can.”

An Indian couple in Kentucky has been arrested for illegally bringing Indians into the US and making them work long hours for low wages at their fast food restaurants.

Federal prosecutors have charged Amrutlal Patel and his wife, Dakshaben Patel, both 46, with housing, transporting and employing illegal aliens.

The couple operates four Subway restaurants in Lexington and employed undocumented Indian nationals who worked 10-12 hours a day throughout the week for little pay, a statement said.

Hundreds of people joined a special commemoration of the centenary of what is now known as The Great Transvaal March by Mahatma Gandhi and his followers in 1913 at the town of Volksrust in South Africa.

A special train was organised from Durban to Newcastle via Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith and other cities on the way for this historic event.

Hundreds of people began their journey at about 2 am from Durban to reach Newcastle for the march at 1.30 am on Sunday.

Indian-origin Asha Gupta has been promoted as group president of US-based Tupperware Brands Corporation’s Asia-Pacific region.

Gupta’s promotion is effective Jan 1.

Gupta is currently area vice president of the Tupperware Brands Corporation’s India, Philippines and Nutrimetics Australia and New Zealand region

She will oversee the US direct selling multinational firm’s operations in 15 countries, including India, China, Japan and Australia, said a press release issued by the company.

Gupta is the first woman and first Indian to lead Tupperware in Asia Pacific.

CBI and Interpol officials have decided to take Puneet, an Indian youth arrested here on November 29 to Delhi for further interrogation of his role in mowing down a 19-year-old Australian student and severely injuring another in Australia five years ago.

An Indian woman was found hanging at her home in Abu Shagara area of Sharjah.

The woman, 30, apparently committed suicide by hanging herself with a cloth Sunday, Gulf News reported on Monday.

The woman’s body has reportedly been sent for autopsy and the investigation in the case has begun.

—-IANS

Ignoring India’s concerns, the Obama administration has thrown its full weight behind the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the US Senate, arguing that it would benefit immigrants from countries like India and China.

The White House made its position clear on the contentious H-1B provisions of Senate version of the immigration bill in a fact sheet prepared for the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community (AAPI), which includes the influential Indian American community.

Denver-based Manick Sorcar has been honored for introducing the younger generation in India and viewers in the West to Indian heritage through laser displays.

Sorcar was given a Special Achievement Award for Cultural Enlightenment, at the International Laser Display Association (ILDA) conference held in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

A young Muslim girl wearing hijab was attacked by a group of teenagers in Wantirna South, a suburb in Melbourne.

The high school student was walking home from Westfield Knox along Stud Road when she was set upon by a group of teenagers, Herald Sun reported Monday.

Knox councillor Joe Cossari, condemning the attack, said it was a racial attack.

Cossari said the teenager was punched to the ground and kicked, but did not report the assault to police because she feared reprisals.

An Indian-origin couple was found dead at their home in London, a media report said Sunday.

The woman, identified as Poonam, and her husband Sanjeev Kumar, lived in Southall, BBC reported.

The Metropolitan Police said the woman had been killed by “compression of the neck” while her husband was found hanging in a room.

Police said they have found nothing suspicious in the case and were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.

————–IANS

India-born senior Microsoft executive Satya Nadella is among the top two likely candidates whose name is being considered for becoming the next CEO of the world’s biggest software company, replacing longtime chief executive Steve Ballmer.

Nadella is Executive Vice President for Cloud and Enterprise at Microsoft and was a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems before joining Microsoft.

The majority of people migrating to Britain are now from China, displacing India as the topmost country of origin of migrants.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) here today showed that 40,000 people came to Britain last year from China, compared to 37,000 from India – which had previously ranked No 1 for three consecutive years since 2009.

Conman Rakesh Bhayani a.k.a ‘mad Indian gambler’ has been reportedly found guilty of murdering a lonely escort and former lover to pay off his gambling losses and save his marriage.

Bhayani, 41, killed Carole Waugh, 49, in her expensive London flat in April last year, and had planned to sell her home, use up her bank deposits and shares to pay off the losses he suffered during his obsessed play of rolling the dice.

Sikh activists in the US has launched an updated smartphone application to make it easier for Sikh passengers to report any abuse against them at American airports.

The free, downloadable app called FlyRights, lets travellers instantly send their concerns to the US Transportation Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Sikh Coalition said.

“FlyRights users have confirmed that we cannot simply trust the TSA to self-report on whether it is engaging in discrimination,” said Amardeep Singh, director of Programs at the Sikh Coalition.

A US consulate official today said here that there was an increase of 43 per cent in the number of student visas granted by his country in India last year.

US vice-consul, Mumbai, Jesse Walter gave a presentation on visa procedures, particularly B1 and B2 visas and F1 visas which are of interest to the students and the industry, at a meeting organised by a private firm here.

A total of 6,00,000 visas were granted by the US embassy last year in the country, he said.

Former Maoist activists Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife Chanda are suspected of holding three women as slaves for more than 30 years. The national Marxist records revealed that the couple was leading figures at the Mao Zedong Memorial Centre in Acre Lane, Brixton, south London, in the 1970s. It was raided by police and five people, including the pair, were arrested.

(Syed Mujeeb QSM) World Muslim Forum is an international body channelized by various governments around the world. Auckland saw its first meet in the country in the form of a day-long conference at Aotea Square in the heart of Central Business District. Department of Ethnic Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the main host of the conference. The event was attended by several high profile dignitaries and representatives of Muslim Organizations.

The British Council has announced its largest-ever 370 scholarships programme valued at nearly Rs.100 million (one million pounds), an official said here Monday.

The scholarships shall be given for 260 undergraduate and postgraduate courses in 36 participating universities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to British Council India Director Rob Lynes.

Besides, an Education UK exhibition will be held in Mumbai Tuesday to guide and assist students to Britain for the semesters starting September 2014 and January 2015.

An Indian-origin man, who claimed squatter’s right on his landlord’s flat in Hong Kong, where he had lived all his life, now faces a lawsuit from his owner who claimed more than a decade’s rent arrears.

Jagpal Singh, who won a lottery of 44.3 million Hong Kong dollars in 2011, applied to the district court in Hong Kong in December 2011 for adverse possession of the flat at Nation Street, North Point, the South China Morning Post reported Saturday.

Singh said he lived in the flat since he was born in 1977.