NRI ( Page 31 of 83 )

NRIs Urge Sushma Swaraj to Alleviate Norms for Aadhaar Enrollment December 17, 2018 10:23

The Non-Resident Indian (NRI) groups expressed concern over difficulties in Aadhaar enrolment and demanded a change of law to enable every NRI, regardless of residential status, get enrolled for Aadhaar. Many NRI activists alleged that though a circular was issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), several departments still demanded Aadhaar card from NRIs to issue Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards, register property and for other essential services. The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, states that only a person who has resided in India for a period or periods amounting in all to 182 days or more in the 12 months before the date of application is eligible for enrolment. KV Shamsudheen, chairman of Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, said, "We have written to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj about issues related to Aadhaar enrolment. Two years ago, it was announced that the government would issue Aadhaar card to all NRIs. But that was not done. "The CEO of the UIDAI published a circular in which he advised all the Indian authorities not to demand Aadhaar cards from Non-Resident Indians because they were not eligible to take Aadhaar cards as per the current law." He said that despite the circular, authorities still demanded Aadhaar card from NRIs to issue PAN cards, for property registration etc. "As a result, many NRIs facing difficulties to obtain an Aadhaar card, at times, take the illegal route by bribing officials. "Other countries that have biometric identity cards, issue it to its citizens. India is the only country in the world that is issuing the identification card only to its resident citizens," added Shamsudheen. -Sowmya

80% Rise in Indian Students Aspiring to Study Medicine Abroad December 17, 2018 08:27

There is an immense rise in the number of students wishing to study medicine abroad, according to the official data in response to a Right To Information (RTI) filed to Medical Council of India in…

13-Yr-Old Indian Boy Owns Software Development Company in Dubai December 17, 2018 06:54

The 13-year-old Indian-origin boy, who had developed his first application at the age of nine, now is the owner of a software company in Dubai. Aadithyan Rajesh, a student from Kerala, was just nine years…

Indian-Origin Woman Dupes Family of £250,000 Faking Brain Cancer December 17, 2018 06:00

An Indian-origin woman has been sentenced to four years in prison in the United Kingdom for faking terminal brain cancer and conning her family, friends for 250,000 pounds. In 2013, the 36-year-old Jasmin Mistry told her then-husband, Vijay Katechia, that she had cancer, along with a supporting WhatsApp message from what he thought was her doctor. However, investigations later revealed that the message had been sent by her using a different SIM card. At the end of December 2014, she told her ex-husband that her severe brain cancer meant she had no more than six months to live, with further messages from another fictitious doctor suggesting that it could be treated in America - at a cost of around 500,000 pounds. Jasmin's ex-husband became suspicious when a friend of his saw a picture of a brain scan she had said was taken at one of her consultations. The plot was ultimately unearthed after her ex-husband showed a "scan" to a doctor friend, who told him it had been lifted from Google. Her husband likewise found SIM cards Jasmin had been using send messages posing to be other people, and when confronting her she confessed that she made up a story. She was arrested in 2017. During interviews, she confirmed to officers that she was not terminally ill and that she did not know why she had lied, Met Police said. According to the report, it was found that 20 members of her extended family and eight others were found to have lent her money. The total fraud sum of money was calculated as 253,122 pounds. Jasmin had pleaded guilty to the crime after her arrest earlier this year. Jasmin, a medical secretary from Loughborough town in the Midlands region of England, was convicted of fraud by mendacious representation and imprisoned for four years at Snaresbrook Crown Court this week. Described in court as a "pathological liar", she created a fake online account of a counterfeit physician to message her husband and as well posted "Stand up to cancer" messages on social media. "This is a terrible crime. To tell everybody you have cancer and take money from them... It's an awful situation," Judge Judith Hughes told Jasmin in court. -Sowmya

Pawan Kalyan Writes to PM Over U.S. Immigration Policy December 17, 2018 04:33

Jana Sena Party Chief Pawan Kalyan, who is on a short-lived tour in the United States has written a letter to the Prime Minister's office seeking intervention in the 'safety and security' of Indians in…

Indian-American Ph.D. Scholar Accuses BHU Faculty of Harassment December 14, 2018 11:07

An Indian-American Ph.D. scholar has accused Banaras Hindu University's Ayurveda Head of Department Anand Chaudary of harassment and stalking over five years. Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya, who received her doctorate in Rasa Shastra from the Faculty of Ayurveda from aforementioned university lodged a complaint with the Lanka police in Varanasi against Anand on November 22 and has claimed no First Information Report (FIR) has been registered in the case at the behest of the university. "For the past 5 years, Mr. Anand Kr Chaudhary has threatened me using defamation, derogation, stalking and both sexual and academic harassment. In fear for my career, withstanding threats that I would not be allowed to complete my studies, I withheld complaints until I safely received my Ph.D. degree certificate today," she wrote in the complaint. Bhaswati believes that there is pressure from the BHU on the police to not pursue the case, however, the BHU administration has denied this claim. Bhaswati enrolled in BHU for mid-career a Ph.D. in 2014, with a senior Fulbright faculty grant. She alleges that Anand began harassing her when she started her course. "He has tried to stop my progress in so many ways - from preventing me from attending classes and conferences to phantom violations on attendance, to sexually colored remarks about me to students in the department and faculty. He spread rumors that I had been sleeping around with other students and professors in the department," she says. Bhaswati says that Anand also stalked her. "He has also admitted over an email to faculty that he spent hours on my Facebook page trying to gather 'evidence' against me," she says. Although she approached the university regarding the harassment in 2015, and the Vice-Chancellor passed an order that Anand must ensure Bhaswati was not denied any opportunities, the harassment has continued, she alleges. The administration enabled his abusive behavior, and it is more or less an open secret, she says. After April 2015, the harassment - and social exclusion at the university - worsened, she says. In that month, she had filed a case after five men in the campus allegedly attempted to rape her and another colleague. The faculty saw this complaint as an attempt to defame the university, she says. BHU Public Relations Officer Rajesh Singh, when questioned about whether it was on BHU's behest that an FIR had not been filed in Bhaswati's case, said, "See, it is the police's job to file the FIR. What role do we have to play in it? Anyone can go to the police and file a complaint, if the police find that the allegations are authentic and true, they will register an FIR." When asked about the allegations against Anand Chaudhary, he said, "Our internal inquiry committee under the chairmanship of Institute of Medical Sciences Director, looked into the allegations made by her (Bhaswati) and has given Dr. Anand Chaudhary a clean chit." Anand Chaudhary denied Bhaswati's allegations, "There was never any stalking or sexual harassment. Nothing was done from my side as the Head of my department which may harm her in her academic pursuits." He alleged that this complaint is a "conspiracy" by Bhaswati to sabotage his career, that she tried to work around the Ph.D. rules of BHU, and he has only worked to enforce them. Anand added that in June 2017, Bhaswati had withdrawn her complaints against him. However, Bhaswati counters that she was forced to do that under threat that her thesis submission seminar would not be scheduled or else. -Sowmya Sangam

NRIs in Saudi Celebrate TRS Victory December 13, 2018 11:27

The followers of Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Saudi Arabia celebrated the party's triumph in Telangana Assembly Elections and said people of the State had reaffirmed their faith in the leadership of party chief K Chandrashekhar…

Singapore Private Banks Target NRI Clients in Middle East December 13, 2018 09:48

DBS Bank, South-east Asia's biggest bank and Asia's sixth-biggest private bank by assets under management is planning to expand in the Middle East by doubling the number of private bankers there over the next five…

India Revokes Passports of 33 NRIs for Abandoning Wives December 13, 2018 09:22

The Indian government has revoked passports of 33 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) for deserting their wives, the Women and Child Development Ministry said Wednesday. The Integrated Nodal Agency (INA) up to now issued 8 Look-out-Circulars (LoCs) to absconding husbands in cases of NRI marriages. The agency, chaired by the secretary in the Women and Child Development Ministry Rakesh Srivastava, is constituted by the Ministry to deliberate on the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) to streamline the process of dealing with the cases of NRI matrimonial disputes. The 33 passports have been impounded by the External Affairs Ministry, a senior official said. The WCD Ministry has also said that a detailed proposal, including points like mandatory registration of NRI marriages within one week with penal outcomes for non-registration, would be placed before the Cabinet for its approval. Another clause includes amendments in passport rules to facilitate its cancellation for absconders, the official said. Related content: NCW Appeals MEA to Foil Ex Parte NRI Divorces "The WCD Ministry and NCW (National Commission for Women) are taking every possible step to protect women in NRI marriages. We serve as a nodal point of contact for grievances received from women on the dedicated email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. // and coordinate the redressal system," the WCD said in a tweet. The @MinistryWCD and @NCWIndia are taking every possible step to protect women in #NRImarriages. We serve as a nodal point of contact for grievances received from women on the dedicated email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. // and coordinate the redressal system.@sharmarekha — Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) December 11, 2018 "The problem of women being abandoned in NRI marriages is a serious issue. For the first time, WCD Ministry, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs are providing coordinated support to women facing problems in their marriage to NRIs," the WCD said in another tweet. The problem of women being abandoned in #NRImarriages is a serious issue. For the first time, @MinistryWCD, Ministry of External Affairs @MEAIndia, and Ministry of Home Affairs are providing coordinated support to women facing problems in their marriage to NRIs. — Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) December 11, 2018 -Sowmya Sangam

This NRI in Qatar Keen on Farming is 'Going Green' December 12, 2018 10:09

In spite of the harsh climate of Arabia, Jyothy, a Non-Resident Indian, has successfully grown vegetables and flowers at her villa compound in Doha's Matar Qadeem. Although Jyothy came to Qatar as a nurse at…

NRI in Bid to Promote to Jute Cultivation December 11, 2018 13:26

A Non-Resident Indian (NRI) and PULSES Chief Executive Officer Srinubabu Gadela wage a war against plastic saying it is ruining the health of the people and the wealth of the farmers with the huge drop in jute production in the backward Srikakulam district. The United States-returned NRI has been organizing meetings for the past few months to make farmers to go back to jute. He says adequate availability of raw jute would lead to a revival of all the closed industries. Dr. Srinubabu, who hails from Allena village of Burja mandal, completed his post-doctorate from the Stanford University and started Omics International Private Limited to facilitate free access of journals for researchers. Later, he established the Pulses Group, a health informatics and health care services in Hyderabad. Dr. Srinubabu, who is not content with his achievements, is keen on enhancing the income sources of farmers by guiding them in the usage of the latest technology and information in agriculture. He has been conducting training programs for youngsters to become entrepreneurs. "Thousands of farmers and laborers have fallen victims with little demand for jute cultivation and closure of many industries in Rajam, Bobbili, Vizianagaram, and other places. The revival of jute production and processing would certainly minimize the usage of plastic covers and bags. There is a huge demand for jute material in paper and textile industries too. That is why I am suggesting the farmers go back to jute cultivation which is sure to generate more income and employment." Ambedkar University Vice-Chancellor Kuna Ramjee said the University would sign an agreement with the Pulses Group in training PG students in a systematic way. "Youngsters from poor families and Telugu medium can also do wonders if they work hard and develop new ideas. That is why we requested its chairman to take up special training programs and help the PG students to get jobs in reputed firms and start their own industries," said Dr. Ramjee. Minister for Human Resources Ganta Srinivasa Rao felicitated Dr. Srinubabu for coming forward to serve the native district. "We should do something for our native places. It will certainly make other well-settled NRIs utilize their knowledge and wealth to benefit the backward areas," he said. -Sowmya Sangam

Shashi Tharoor Launches Indian Author's Book at Sharjah Book Fair December 11, 2018 04:42

The Lady Biker, a collection of short stories by an Indian-American actor, producer, and author Thampi Antony, was released by Member of Indian parliament and author Shashi Tharoor, at the Sharjah International Book Fair earlier this month. Published by Mathrubhumi Books, Tharoor gave a copy to Abu Dhabi-based writer and cultural critic Shajahan Madampat on November 9. Tharoor said he is a great Malayalam short story enthusiast and lauded Antony's work. Antony, a resident of Alamo, California, said it was a matter of great privilege and delight, as a writer, to have the work released by Tharoor, a public figure with an enormous following and a packed schedule. Referring to the excitement that the presence of the Indian National Congress MP created, he said that there was a near stampede at the event. "Even the security guards couldn't do much," he said. "Some of my closest friends couldn't get anywhere near the book release event. I am delighted that he kept his promise to me and came for the release." The Lady Biker (original Malayalam title: Pen Biker) is a collection of 14 stories that was first published in several prominent Malayalam weeklies over a period of two years. The Lady Biker, the title story, was published in the Kalakaumudhi weekly. In the author's own words the book is an amalgam of the American life and Malayalee experiences. "Each story is a conversation," reviewer Veena Chand wrote in Mathrumbhumi. "Each character talks to the reader in plainest of languages." The Lady Biker is Antony's fifth Malayalam book and second short story collection. He has also written a novel, a collection of poems and a play. Antony has acted in 40 films, mostly in Malayalam, including Sufi Paranja Katha, Beyond the Soul, and Parudeesa. His latest movie Puzhayamma, directed by Vijeesh Mani, is scheduled to be released in the New Year. He also acted in Cash, a Hollywood movie that he produced. The Californian has likewise produced 7 films, most notably the Calcutta News. -Sowmya Sangam