Meet the 32-Year-Old Indian American Who Traveled for over 30 Hours Just to Vote in General Elections April 12, 2019 11:45
Despite being in India scores of voters didn’t turn up to exercise their franchise but a 32-year-old job holder in the United States traveled from New York to Nagpur spending a bomb just to cast his vote. Ashish Sharma, who is working as a sales manager in the United States-based e-commerce company, has lately been a frequent visitor to the city owing to his mother’s ill health. As per the arrangement made with his company, his next visit was scheduled around April 25. However, after polling dates were announced, the big follower of Indian politics could not resist and convinced his bosses to let him fulfill his national duties. Sharma reached Nagpur flying for over 30 hours in the early hours of Thursday. “Right after the polling date was announced, I had made up my mind to come here. While during other visits my company would bear the travel expenses, this time I would be paying for my return tickets,” said Sharma. “It’s not about just one vote. I know it won’t make a difference. My main intention is to motivate all the Indians staying abroad to come and vote. Imagine what a big difference can be made if thousands of Indians living just in the United States vote,” said Sharma, who has been posting his inked pictures on social media appealing people living overseas to vote. Voting, for them, is a medium to express their belongingness, Said Sharma. “We are not appreciated much outside as some racism does exist. And we are not appreciated in India as we don’t stay here. What can be a better way than voting to show that we care?” he added. NRI voters were not been extended right to cast their votes online in this Lok Sabha elections. A bill to extend proxy voting rights to NRIs was passed in Lok Sabha but is pending in Rajya Sabha. -Sangam Sowmya
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Indian Expatriates Stranded in Mecca After Misplacing Passports April 12, 2019 10:41
A group of 43 Indian expatriates, including women and children, who were employed in Kuwait misplaced their passports in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia and are desperately making efforts to return to…
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Indian Diaspora ‘Frustrated’ at Restricted Voting Rights in Indian Elections: Survey April 10, 2019 15:46
Non-Resident Indians were recently turned down from voting online or proxy voting at Lok Sabha elections starting April 11. A survey found for that reason, NRIs across the United Kingdom and Europe are feeling “frustrated” at only being allowed to vote in the Indian elections by traveling back their constituency to cast their vote. The survey, conducted by UK-based Indian diaspora think tank Bridge India, found that the large number of NRIs are overwhelmingly in favor of being able to vote through their local consulates or embassies. “Less than 6 percent were happy with the status quo, while 61 percent said they should be allowed to instead vote at their local consulate or embassy and 17 percent said they should be allowed to appoint a proxy to cast their vote for them,” Bridge India said in a statement on Monday. "More than 60 percent also strongly agreed with the statement that Indians should be allowed dual citizenship, which is currently not allowed,” it noted. The survey received over 350 responses over the last month, with one-third of the respondents identifying as NRIs and two-thirds as Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs). From among the respondents, 20 percent identified themselves as left of center on the political spectrum, 22 percent as centrist and 29 percent as for the right of center. Bridge India will release the complete results of its wider Indian diaspora survey later in the year. The survey's interim results coincided with the non-profit think tank's “Countdown to the Indian General Elections: What should we expect?” event at the Henry Jackson Society in London on Monday. The panelists at the event, which included strategists and authors, analyzed the importance of the 2019 Indian General Election and their likely impact on India-UK relations. “If it is a BJP-led government, India-UK relations would move forward along the lines of the November 2015 visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when a joint statement on closer political and security cooperation was struck… in the case of a Congress-led government, it would be a case of starting from ground zero,” said Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, Senior Fellow for South Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). “Some of the big successes of the bilateral relationship, such as Masala Bonds, as the UK seeks out global partners in a post-Brexit context will benefit from continuity in government [in India],” added Pratik Dattani, Managing Director, EPG Economic and Strategy Consulting. -Sangam Sowmya
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Indian Government Extends Deadline to Accept PIO Cards April 10, 2019 10:44
The Bureau of Immigration (BoI), Government of India will continue to accept Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards as valid travel documents till September 30, 2019, along with valid foreign passport, according to a press…
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Villagers in Punjab Relying More on NRIs for Development Than on Politicians April 08, 2019 13:01
It’s election time in India and most of the village residents in and around the country rely on political party leaders to change their fates but the villages in Jagraon at Punjab are not waiting for big announcements on development from politicians but instead expecting NRIs to change the face of their villages. The villagers were quoted saying: “The NRIs are more important than political leaders for us.”Chamkaur Singh, a farmer from Chakkar village in Punjab which is known for work done by NRIs, says, “For us, the family of NRI Late Ajmer Singh Sidhu is more significant than politicians who come to seek votes and make tall promises at the time of polls. They have provided money for the best sewerage system, wider roads, NRI guest house, Panchayat Ghar, clean water supply and the Sher-e-Punjab Sports Academy.” Since the village is known for its NRI-aided infrastructure, the politicians only make a perfunctory visit here, say villagers. Chakkar has over 100 NRI families. At Kamalpura village, a group of villagers has collected Rs 35 lakh - a bulk of it from NRIs and their kin. “We have to collect money for the Rs 6-crore advanced sewerage system being constructed with the help of Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal… If we wait for government funds, we may have to wait for 70 years, but this way we expect to get the money in next few years,” said Kamalpura village head Sukhwinder Singh, “NRIs are like the government for us as they do so much for the village,” he added.The NRIs say that they owe it to the villages they belong to. “We are not concerned about what the government or elected representatives do for our village. We love the village we were born in. The money is the least we can provide for its development,” said Amarjit Singh, an NRI from the village who runs a transport business in England. He and his brothers recently contributed Rs 11 lakh and can be credited with starting a private college for girls which has made a difference to female students in 15 villages of Jagraon, Dakha, Raikot and Barnala areas. “With the active participation and contribution by NRIs, we have set up a Kaddon Nishkam Sewa Society for the development of village. We can spend as per our wish for the development of the village and the cost of work turns out to be lower than government projects,” village sarpanch Parminder Singh pointed out.Gurdip Singh, who lives in Canada, said he wanted to make his village to have good infrastructure and to help the needy.“With some help from NRIs, we have got marriages of many poor girls solemnized. Also with the contribution of the NRIs, we spend on the poor patients who are unable to afford costly treatment,” said Davinder Singh, sarpanch of Chankoian Khurd village.By Sowmya Sangam
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Narendra Modi to Lay Stone for Abu Dhabi’s First Hindu Temple by Video or in Person on April 20 April 08, 2019 12:50
Amid prevailing tensions among political parties ahead of Lok Sabha elections in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to take a call this week on whether he inaugurates the first Hindu Temple in Abu…
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Meet the Loyal Friend and Nri-Technocrat-TDP Worker Who Is Back Home to Campaign for Chandrababu Naidu April 05, 2019 16:08
The constant friend of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Koteswara Rao Chekuri, who resides in Dallas is doing his best to make Babu retain his power in approaching elections. The 40-year-old Chekuri’s association with the TDP goes back more than three decades. A young Chekuri remembers his family in Guntur district’s Vinukonda village rooting for the charismatic NTR (after he formed the TDP in 1982) because they believed the matinee idol-politician would bring good changes to their lives. He and TDP remained intertwined, though he was too little a child to understand. The youngster grew up, graduated from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, and did his higher studies at Alabama University in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He found a first-world job, married an IT graduate who works in a reputed firm, and now lives a cushy life that is part of any successful Great Telugu American Dream package. To return the gratitude for his native land, he thought nothing would be a better way than through the TDP and Naidu, who is going to face parliamentary elections this summer. His slogan - “state first, rest next”. He booked a flight to his native state and worked his contacts to canvass for the party. “Don’t I have the duty to pay back to my state which has given me all these comforts? That’s precisely my connection with the TDP as well as Naidu and the people,” says the NRI-technocrat-TDP-worker, who regrets not being ‘home’ when it was split in 2014 and general elections were held. He wants to make up for it. “I have formed party units in the U.S., named appropriately as NRI-TDP, to extend tech-based support to Naidu because of whose initiatives four lakh IT professionals from the state are working in the U.S.” Chekuri became more determined when the TDP lost the 2004 and 2009 elections, and the state was bifurcated in 2014. “I felt bad as a Telugu man, living in the far-off U.S., feeling helpless losing Hyderabad.” He has set up a digital campaign theme to support Naidu this election: “Malli mere ravali” (You must return to power). It turned viral as the ‘flexes’ he designed with Naidu’s photo and catchy two-liners attracted the party cadre and candidates alike across 13 districts. -Sangam Sowmya
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NRIs Can Soon Be Able to Invest in Indian Government Securities April 05, 2019 10:45
The Reserve Bank of India, while announcing the first monetary policy for the financial year 2019-20, made its intentions clear to open up Indian government securities (G-Sec) market for Non-Resident Indians. That is to say,…
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PM Narendra Modi Awarded Zayed Medal by UAE Crown Prince April 04, 2019 18:28
The United Arab Emirates President, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Thursday, awarded President of India Narendra Modi, Zayed Medal, the highest decoration awarded to kings, presidents, and heads of states. PM Modi was…
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American Rockstar Gwen Stefani Meets Dubai’s Viral Perfume Maker from India April 03, 2019 11:28
An Indian origin perfume seller in the United Arab Emirates, who was shot to fame for his famous perfume making skills has got another surprise when American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani visited him this week. Gwen,…
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Indian Family Members in UAE can Now Join Working Relatives in UAE as Visa Criteria Changes April 01, 2019 14:21
Indian family members of those working in the United Arab Emirates will now be able to get an "expat visa" if the working relative fulfills income criteria, according to new visa guidelines announced by the…
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Indian Couple Stabbed in Germany, Husband Dies, Sushma Swaraj Reaches out March 30, 2019 17:13
An Indian couple was stabbed in Germany, confirmed External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj on Saturday. Sushma Swaraj said one Indian national was killed and other was injured after being stabbed by an immigrant near Munich. Condoling the death, the External Affairs Minister said that she has asked Indian mission in Munich to take care of the couple's two children - Saakshi and Shlok."Indian couple Prashant and Smita Basarur were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich. Unfortunately, Prashant has expired. Smita is stable. We are facilitating the travel of Prashant's brother to Germany. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family," Swaraj tweeted. "I appreciate the good work by @cgmunich. I have asked our mission to take care of their two children," she said in another tweet. Indian couple Prashant and Smita Basarur were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich. Unfortunately, Prashant has expired. Smita is stable. We are facilitating the travel of Prashant's brother to Germany. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. /1 — Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 30, 2019 I appreciate the good work by @cgmunich. I have asked our mission to take care of their two children. /2 — Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 30, 2019 Prashant and Smitha studied together in Mangalore University, where she pursued Masters in Art, reports The Indian Express. Prashant completed engineering from NMAM Institute of Technology in Karkala, Karnataka. He joined Airbus Helicopters in Donauworth, Germany in 2016. Further details of the incident and the couple are awaited.By Sowmya Sangam
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