NRI ( Page 44 of 83 )

Indian Origin Convicted for Harassing US Officials January 23, 2017 12:16

A 56 years old Indian-American man made over three thousand harassing interstate phone calls to United State officials and some with death threats, has been convicted by a federal court in California. Kulwant Singh Sandhu was found guilty by Eastern California Federal Prosecutor Phillip A Talbert on 20th January (Friday) of two counts of making harassing phone calls. Assistant Federal Prosecutors ‘Nirav Desai and James Conolly’. Prosecuted the case before Judge Garland E Burrell. According to the prosecution Kulwant Singh Sandhu started making, harassing phone calls to the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington D.C. and to private individuals in 2012. In 2015 alone Sandhu made more than three thousand calls and left 350 voice mails. The Securities and Exchange Commission regulates the stock markets and the securities industry. The prosecutor's office said “Sandhu’s voicemails were profanity-filled with obscene language that repeatedly called for the Securities and Exchange Commission personnel and others, to be among other things, rounded up, publicly hanged, water-boarded, burned alive, shot, and blown up with rockets and tanks. "His comments were mostly sexually graphic and he always targeted individuals”. Sandhu is to be sentenced in April this year and can face a maximum of two years in prison along with a fine of $250,000 for the two charges, he was convicted for. Trump’s Administration Pace to restrict H-1B Visa AMandeep

Indian Origin Body Found In Suitcase January 20, 2017 13:32

A 46 year old Indian origin woman’s body was found inside a suitcase, which was dumped in an alleyway by a man believed to be her ex-husband. Kiran Daudia was a resident of Leicester whose body was found by a member of the public in a walkway off Cromer Street in Leicester on 17th January. Kiran was the mother of two children and she was working at UK’s popular retail call center ‘Next’. According to the police Ashwin Daudia a 50 year old of Lyme Roadm Leicester was charged with the murder of Kiran Daudia and will appear at Leicester Magistrates Court on 26th of January. The man who was arrested, is believed to be Kiran's ex-husband. Leicestershire Police had said in a statement that a 50 year old man was arrested and charged with murder, he has been remanded into custody and will appear at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Thursday. Cromer Street and a nearby property on Mayfield Road remained cordoned off on Wednesday while police examined the scene. Police has asked the local people to contact force if they have seen anyone pulling suitcase in the area of Lyme Street and the alleyway Cromer Street in the late afternoon or early evening on 16th January. Kiran’s family said in a statement that, Kiran was a loved mother, daughter, sister and aunt, she will be missed by all of them. And they also requested for their identities not be revealed. Kiran’s former workplace also expressed shock at her death. A spokesperson for Next said that, “Company was shocked to learn of the tragic death of its colleague Mrs Kiran Daudia in such horrific circumstances. She was a long-standing, highly respected and much loved, she had worked at Next for 17 years and our thoughts are with her family, friends and co-workers at this saddest of times. Kiran will be sorely missed. India told UK no role for third party on Kashmir AMandeep

Indian origin Entrepreneur May Lead FDA January 19, 2017 12:38

Balaji S Srinivasan an Indian origin American, who is a successful Silicon Valley based entrepreneur and CEO of a bitcoin startup. Srinivasan is being considered for Donald Trump administration’s pick to lead the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) after he met Donald Trump. Srinivasan met Donald Trump at the Trump towers in New York on the 12th of January, but no official announcement has been made yet. Sean Spicer, who is the incoming White House Press Secretary has confirmed that Srinivasan is being considered for the position of head FDA. FDA is the important federal agency for drug and pharma industry. Spicer also said that Jim O’Neil, who is the managing director of Mithril Capital Management is also being considered for the position in the FDA. Balaji Srinivasan is currently serving as the CEO and co-founder of 21.Co and is also a partner in the Andreessen Horowitz. Srinivasan had also won the FDA approval as a genomics entrepreneurial. According to Srinivasan’s Linkedin profile “ He is broadly interested in new technology, which a particular focus on ‘real world’ application’s digital bits interface with physical atoms and substantive problems, such as quantified self (healthcare), MOOCs/edtech (education), Bitcoin (finance), drones, and 3D printing." Srinivasan has also served as a lecturer in the Departments of Statistics and Computer Science at the Stanford University. Srinivasan described himself as a computer scientist, investor, entrepreneur and academic on his website. He was the CTO and Co-founder of Counsyl, which is a genomics startup that began in a Stanford dorm room, which now tests 4 % of all American births. Srinivasan stepped back from an executive role in November 2012 after working for ten years in genomics and five years at Counsyl to work on other areas of technology. According to the media reports Srinivasan is closely associated with Peter Thiel, who is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and co-founder of Paypal. AMandeep

Five Year Sikh not allowed in to School for Wearing Turban January 18, 2017 11:04

A 5 year old Sikh boy was denied from school enrollment in Australia for wearing a turban, as it does not align with school’s uniform policy. Sagardeep Singh Arora father of the child has quoted by saying to a local news that “It was disappointing that his son was forced to abandon his religious practices ad identity to access to an education in Melbourne’s Melton Christian College. Arora had lodged a claim with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Arora also said that he believes in having a common school uniform is very important in promoting the identity of the school and integration. But the students must be allowed to wear their significant religious faith symbols and articles of faith. It is immoral for a school which do not allow its students to practice their beliefs. Arora said that they are in talks with different organizations like schools, police and army, regarding the importance of hair and turban in Sikhism in Australia and other countries. But still the Melbourne’s Melton Christian College has refused to review their uniform policy. It is so disappointing that Sikh community are still struggling with issues like this, even after having a long history of the Sikh community in Australia. "While practicing our religious beliefs, we wish to show an expression of solidarity with the wider Australian community," he added. According to the reports, Melbourne Christian College has provided a written response to the VEOHRC in which the school has refused to include any additional items amid the existing permitted uniform protocol. In the written response College said, that the history of their college represents more than 30 years of inclusive religious tolerance. Children of the school have been in classrooms and grounds together, playing and learning wonderfully oblivious to their religion. They are proud of that heritage of inclusiveness. MCC said that they acknowledge the disappointment which Sagardeep and his family have felt. They respectfully recognize Aurora’s disappointment that the uniform protocol of the school means that non prescribed items are not permitted to be worn in addition to the school uniform. The result is that they have agreed that college uniform will be maintained as it is, without permitting additional items." Sikhism is a small religion, but it is a growing minority in Australia. Sikh community can trace its origin in the nation to the 1830s. At present Australia is home to more than 72,000 Sikhs, and it is expected that in this year’s census the population of Sikh’s is going to increase. In a landmark case in September 2008, a Brisbane private school was forced to back down on a strict uniform policy that would have forced a Sikh boy to cut his hair and remove his turban. AMandeep

Punjabi NRIs to Visit India to Support AAP election Campaign January 17, 2017 15:17

Around ninety Punjabi people of Indian Origin from Canada are going to fly to Punjab for Aam Admi Party (AAP) campaign, In 16 of the largest constituencies in Punjab for the upcoming assembly elections. They all will be arriving on 19th January. Surinder Mavi a 31 year old from Brampton said that he wants to be the part of a real change, Mavi has also helped in organizing the plane to India loaded with APP ‘election volunteers”, and was quoted as Toronto Star. He also said that volunteers from Toronto are part of a campaign and they will see thousands of Indian expatriates who will be arriving in Delhi and also in Punjab to help AAP in the upcoming elections. Mavi’s interest in politics began 8 years ago, when he realized that bribes were unnecessary and basic rules must be respected such as, stopping when the traffic signal is red. In the upcoming elections, Mavi will be riding an AAP campaign bus that will support a rally in 16 largest constituencies of Punjab. Mavi joined the Canadian branch of AAP, which had a tremendous burst into the political scene in India two years ago with a platform which ensured to end the culture of bribe taking. The key issues which will be addressed in the campaign are, AAP’s proposals to fight drug abuse among youth in Punjab and programs which will give more support and money to farmers to cultivate more crops. Azad Kaushik, Canadian president of the Overseas Friends of BJP, admitted to "an anti-incumbency factor" in Punjab. But he told the Star over the phone from Delhi, where he was visiting, that the BJP's economic record would keep its coalition with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in power in Punjab. Kaushik had also accused AAP for ‘failing miserably’ in Delhi which it governs. Polls which were conducted in the recent months showed a widely different results. But now AAP is also having a quite significant impact in the Punjab. The Punjab state election is likely going to witness a three way fight between SAD-BJP, Congress and AAP for 117 seats. AMandeep

NRIs and PIOs Face Heat of Demonitization January 16, 2017 16:28

After local residents in the country stood hours in long lines for the exchange of their old 500 and 1000 currency notes, now NRIs and People of India Origin (PIO) are waiting in the long queues to exchange their old notes at 5 designated RBI branches in the country but because of severe strict conditions several of them have had to return disappointed. Tempers ran high outside the central bank branches as people coming from long distances were denied entry by the guards on the grounds that they were not carrying the requisite documents. Many NRIs complained that they were not allowed to speak to officials who could at least listen to their grievances. Ritu Diwan an agitated US national said, though she had a foreign passport, her family still visits India every year. She still had few Indian currency notes and she wants to exchange them, but most of the NRIs and PIOs were not allowed inside the RBI. Mr. Prime Minister are we supposed to burn Indian currency that we still have? She said. Diwan also said “This unnecessary harassment simply indicates that PIOs are no more welcome to the country. Dharamveer, another US national, said PIOs generally keep some amount of Indian currency as they frequently visit India. And there is no point in paying commission on the exchange of currency for each visit. He also said that any PIO who keeps visiting the country easily have 50,000 to 1,00,000 worth of Indian currency and Dharamveer has challenged the government to prove their currency as black money and forfeit that from them. We do not spend that money in the country where we live now, but the country of our origin. He said that by chance, he was there at this time and wanted to exchange a few of his currency notes, but they were not allowed to do so. It was very frustrating. Many PIOs were turned away from RBI, protested that they do not have millions of rupees, but they only had few thousands which the administration must exchange. People were frustrated towards the policy of the government and according to the reports. As a mark of protest NRIs threw defunct currency notes at the gate of RBI. Besides NRIs, many Indian citizens who failed to deposit their old currency notes during the 50 day limitation period, were also turned away from RBI after standing in the queue for hours. Prime Minister said that the currency could be still exchanged till March 31st 2017 at RBI, said Ram Kumar. Some people were still coming to RBI to exchange their notes hoping that security guards would allow them to enter and exchange their scrapped currency notes. AMan Deep

NRI Donates $25,000 to Shiridi Sai Baba January 11, 2017 18:31

The executive officer of the trust ‘Bajirao Shinde’ at Shiri Sai Baba temple said that an NRI based in the United States of America has donated $ 25,000 to the Shri Sai baba Sansthan Trust (SSST) for its Anna Daan scheme. Seeta Hariharan stays in the USA, she made the donation when she visited Shiridi temple, last week along with her family. Which is one of the most famous shrines in the country. Shinde also said, that Hariharan has paid the amount through three post-dated cheques, which will be utilized for serving free meals in coming months of April, July and September. Based in North Carolina, Seeta Hariharan said that she was fortunate enough to do her bit for the Saibaba trust and devotees. "Everything is his (Saibaba), I do not consider anything as mine, so I do not think this is a donation. Whatever I have is because of Baba. It gives me the greatest joy to come to Shirdi whenever Baba gives me the opportunity," she said. Barack Obama chose four Indian Americans AMandeep

Indian origin Doctor Fined January 11, 2017 18:14

An Indian-origin dentist in America is among the five other physicians who have been fined to pay $250,000 for not rendering paediatric dental services and making wrong claims in a government funded program to help poor children Akhil Reddy and the other four physicians Christopher Steven Villanueva, Trung Minh Tang, Mauricio Dardano, Gabriel Shahwan have agreed to pay $250,000 each to resolve the governments' claims against them individually, as a part of the agreement. The American Justice Department said that all the five physicians are owners or part owners of MB2 and the dental practices were included in this settlement, and practice dentistry in Texas. Frank Villanueva, MB2's head of marketing, also will pay a sum of $100,000 to resolve his alleged personal liability. Attorney Parker said that the settlement demonstrates their unwavering commitment to protect the Medicaid program and the patients, it serves from unscrupulous providers." Parker also stated that "Providers who waste taxpayer’s money by billing for services that they did not provide, or were improper, will be held accountable." As the part of this settlement, MB2 has now entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. This settlement will resolve all the allegations that were charged between January 2009 to December 2014, MB2 and affiliated dental practices submitted claims to the Texas Medicaid Fee for Service Program for single-surface fillings in children which were not provided. The states and the federal government jointly fund the Medicaid. The Texas state paid for part of the Medicaid claims at issue and the state will receive approximately half of the settlement amount. This settlement illustrates the government's emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Justice Department said. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act, it said. Since January 2009, the American Justice Department has recovered a total of $31.8 billion through the False Claims Act cases, with more than $19.3 billion of that amount were recovered in the cases which involved fraud against federal health care programs. Obama Chose four Indian Americans for the Highest Honour AMandeep

Indian origin Shopkeeper Hailed as “Brave” January 03, 2017 10:55

An Indian origin shopkeeper is being hailed as "brave" after he wrestled a knife-wielding thief to the ground in northern England. Sandeep Yadala a 30 year old man from Indian was injured after he grappled a robber to the ground in the second attack on his shop in Timperley, Greater Manchester, has seen in a matter of months. During the incident that occurred last week, Yadala suffered slashes of wounds on his right hand as he caught the intruder, disarmed him and pinned him down to the ground until the police arrived, the Sun reported. The local police arrived within three minutes to the incident location and they arrested a 15 year old intruder and praised Yadala as "brave". The intruder is alleged to have asked for cigarettes, but when Yadala asked for an ID proof to check the age of the suspect, suspect threatened Yadala with a knife. The suspect has now been released on bail. Yadala previously tackled a group of four masked burglar’s, when they got into his shop in February last year. According to a footage recorded on CCTV camera, Yadala was seen struggling to fight with one of the four as they stole cigarettes worth 3,000 pounds. Sandeep Yadala, came to the England to pursue a post graduate degree and he manages the store part time. Indian Origin British received a Knighthood AMandeep

Indian origin British Professor received Knighthood January 02, 2017 19:15

An Indian-origin British professor of chemistry and DNA expert at Cambridge University, had received a Knighthood along with the Olympic super stars Andy Murray and Mo Farah among others by Queen Elizabeth II. Shankar Balasubramanian a 50 year old, Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Cambridge University, had been recognised for his work as a co-inventor of Next Generation DNA sequencing, which is described as the most advance method in biology and medicine for decades. Parents Grapple with Schools in Dubai "Solexa sequencing, allows one individual genome to be sequence in mostly two days at a cost of less than one thousand pounds; before, sequencing a human genome took years of hard work and costed billions of pounds. Balasubramanian’s work had spawned an entirely new discipline of Bioinformatics." "Most recently, he had made a major contribution into understanding the character of DNA-quadruplexes in cancer and invented a method for the sequencing of epigenetic modifications," his citation reads. Andy Murray, Farah and British track and field athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill are among the others who were honoured Knighthood in the 2017 New Year Honours list, which also includes big names in the world of Entertainment, including actor Mark Rylance and Patricia Routledge. Rio 2016 men's tennis champion Andy Murray and double gold-winning athlete Farah receive Knighthoods, while heptathlete Ennis-Hill becomes a Dame. Neena Gill, Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands for parliamentary and political service, Ravindra Pragji Govindia of Wandsworth Borough Council for services to local government and the community in Wandsworth, London and Anita Thapar from the Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at Cardiff University for services to child and adolescent psychiatry are also included in the list. - AMandeep

American National inspired with Sikhism December 31, 2016 12:15

American national James S Ericsson III, was so inspired by the teaching of Sikh gurus that he chose to embrace Sikhism and got converted into Sikh. In an interview with the Times of India, Ericsson III shared his views upon what is to be a Sikh means. James Ericsson said that he did not get convert to Sikh but it is a ‘natural evolution’. What I learnt from Jesus is practiced in Sikhism, there is nothing in Christianity that I have missed. When he was asked, “what is the Sikh way of life for him”. Ericsson replied, from not cutting hair to living a simple life and serving others, regardless of their religion or who they are. I have been learning the teachings of Sikh guru from at the of 21 when I became a Sikh. Now I am 67years old and my children and grandchildren are also Sikhs. In a question about the post 9/11 incident, when Sikhs were the target of hate crime. Ericsson said “I was in New York to see a Sikh doctor when the incident took place, and I was struck there till 15 September and when I went back to my home”. I realized that this is my mission, to bring people together and in 2006 I became the first Sikh to wear a turban and work in Transportation Security Administration, which is an agency of the US department of homeland security which has authority over the security of the traveling public which gave me a chance to teach others about Sikhism. “I also worked with a Sikh organization in Washington, trained FBI there, state police of Oregon and other TSA officers, so that they would respect Sikhs and understand why they wear a Kirpan before they ask Sikhs to remove their turbans. I am a happy Sikh Ericsson said, if I was not a happy person then i would not be present here. I cannot speak fluent Punjabi but that does not make me less of a Sikh. A Sikh is one who understands the teachings of his guru. Ericsson also added that he tries to be compassionate, always ready to serve and unafraid. This ‘bana’ a Sikh robe of Guru Gobind Singh teaches us not to be afraid as he always stands with us. This Turban is not mine, but the Guru’s he said.

South Indian Bank launches mobile banking app for NRIs! December 30, 2016 16:40

A full-fledged NRI-focused mobile banking app named ' SIB Mirror+ across major mobile platforms' has been launched by the South Indian Bank. The new application was introduced after the path-breaking 'E-Lock' feature which provided a single tap solution to fully secure all digital transaction from frauds. The SIB Mirror+ allows the customers to perform almost all banking transactions from their smart phones. The app comes with self-registration facility for ease of activation and utilizes NEFT facility for interbank fund transfers. It also features bill payment facility, cheque book request, 24x7 ‘within bank’ fund transfer and instant mobile/DTH recharge. V G Mathew, MD & CEO, said that, "By launching this latest technology product, South Indian Bank has yet again delivered on its promise of offering next generation banking services to its customers, especially the NRIs." The innovative feature ‘Social Money’ allows customers to transfer money from and to their friends through social media channels like Whatsapp and Facebook. Punjab launched Punjabi learning website for NRIs! Nandini