NRI ( Page 76 of 83 )

Atlanta NRI-TDP organized a MEET & GREET with Paritala Sunita December 24, 2011 12:22

Paritala Ravi well wishers and NRI-TDP patrons of Atlanta have organized a meet and greet with Raptadu MLA , Smt. Paritala Sunita and Paritala Sree Ram(S/o of Late M.L.A and minister Paritala Ravi) . The…

Aussie teen sentenced to 13 years jail for Nitin Garg murder December 24, 2011 12:06

An Australian court today sentenced a Melbourne teenager to 13 years in jail for murdering Indian student Nitin Garg, a crime which outraged public opinion in India and put the bilateral relations under stress. The…

U.S. Call Center Bill worries Indian BPOs December 23, 2011 19:44

India is currently going through a phase of challenges. Inflation, economic slowdown, rupee depreciation and now adding to the pressure, is the U.S. Federal bill for call centers. A major chunk of India's revenue comes from the IT -BPO Industry and a bill to cut back its growth is a serious concern for the Indian IT industry. However, many such bills had been proposed by U.S. in the past as well. But it hardly sparked any fear then. Industry experts say, it is just another bill to add to the list of the previous ones but this time it is come with a warning. On December 7, Rep Timothy Bishop and three others introduced the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act which seeks "to bar corporations that sent U.S. call center jobs overseas from receiving federal grants and loans," the solon said in a statement. Genpact, one of the top 10 BPOs in India said that it was in tune with NASSCOM and NASSCOM had stated that "We have seen attempts to present such bills in the past. However, the bill has only been introduced in the House, there is a long way for this to become legislation and for it to become law the possibility is very low. But it indicates the mindset of a certain set of policymakers and could set the tone for the next year, especially it being an election year.""It is indeed disappointing to see U.S. adopting 'protectionist' measures like these that restrict free trade and are discriminatory trade practices. U.S. lawmakers seem to have developed the practice of unfairly taxing companies working overseas, to pay for domestic issues. In case this bill is passed, not only will it see objection from India but Latin America, Ireland, Philippines and Canada. Companies operating on a global sourcing model, building efficiencies, benefits of this get passed to the common citizen. Laws such as these will increase the cost of service and will see a rejection from common citizens." Keshav R. Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS said, "WNS has a diversified portfolio of clients that are located across the globe. In addition, WNS, being a global player, has been aggressively ramping up and opening delivery centers all around the world in order to mitigate the risks from legislation that could affect location of clients / delivery centers in a single country. WNS has also been evaluating opening of a delivery center in the United States to cater to the onshore outsourcing requirements of its clients. Notwithstanding the above, we believe that legislations such as the one recently introduced, could ultimately impact the competitiveness of American businesses." Mphasis Spokesperson said "The new U.S. Bill seems to be a protectionist bill in with a view of the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections. At Mphasis we do not see an immediate impact in the near term. We will respond as more details emerge." Home grown outsourcing companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro have laid their foot print across the globe for servicing and many small startups are following their footsteps. The Indian IT Industry has given thumbs down for the U.S. call center bill. Presently the Indian BPO is coping as the slowdown in U.S. market is curbing its growth. "Most of the BPOs do not take any federal loans or aid. So I don't think this would create an impact on the industry," said S Nagarajan, Founder and Chief People Officer 24/7 Customer.

Doctors fly abroad; India's Healthcare deteriorates December 23, 2011 13:47

It’s reported that over 70 percent of rural population in Andhra Pradesh depend on unqualified doctors for health checkups. The demand for more medical professionals is increasing on a daily basis while the glamour of the profession is said to be decreasing in the country. It’s reported that there are over 40,000 Indian physicians in UK while U.S. has over 50,000 doctors. Nearly 20 percent of physicians practicing in Australia have received their basic education in India and one out of 10 doctors in Canada has some Indian connections. The sad stories about poor health conditions and facilities are heard across the nation. It’s reported that over 70 percent of rural population in Andhra Pradesh depend on unqualified doctors for health checkups. The demand for more medical professionals is increasing on a daily basis while the glamour of the profession is said to be decreasing in the country One doctor for every 2000 people in the country – and yet we hope for better health system in the country, aren’t we expecting too much? As the doctor-population ratio hits an all time low of 1:2000, the blame goes back to our age-old sad story of brain drain and it seems that we can do nothing but to lament over the thousands of trained physicians flying to the green pastures – the Western Countries. The global doctor-population ratio is 1.5:1,000. While Somalia has one of the worst ratios with one doctor for 10,000 people, Germany, U.S. and U.K. fared well in the list with 1:296, 1:350 and 1:469 respectively. Thailand’s doctor-population ratio is at 1:500, while Japan has a healthy ratio at 1:606. According to the latest data, there are only six lakh active allopathic practitioners in India whereas it’s found that 8, 56,065 allopathic doctors have been registered in the country as of July 31, 2011. The curse of brain drain is crippling the Indian medical system. The Medical Council of India (MCI) reveals that over 767 physicians have left the country in search of foreign meadows by the first half of 2011. Many have reportedly asked for Good Standing Certificates (GSC), a certificate mandatory for doctors to work abroad, issued by MCI and the medical council reportedly issues thousands of GSCs every year. GSC gives a rough estimate of how many physicians go abroad each year, although it doesn’t give the absolute numbers.

Indian Banks Hike Rates to Lure NRI Deposits December 22, 2011 12:26

Interest rates paid by Indian banks on NRE savings, term deposits and ordinary non-resident (NRO) savings accounts were deregulated by RBI. As stated by Central Bank, rates on non-resident deposits cannot go higher than the rates paid on term deposits of same maturities. The revised deposit rates are said to be applied only to latest deposits and on renewal of maturing deposits. To strengthen their non-resident bases, mid-size private banks are looking forward to offer higher rates on deposits followed by deregulation of interest rate on these deposits by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). A rise of 268-324 basis points has been announced by Federal Bank and South Indian Bank in their Non-resident (External) Rupee (NRE) term deposits. Other private banks are expected soon to follow this. An interest of 6.5 percent on NRE term deposits with one year maturity period will be offered by Kochi-based Federal Bank, compared to 3.82 percent previously. On the other hand, South Indian Bank increased NRE deposit rates from 1 to 10 years to 6.75 percent for maturities. Previously, the rate offered on these deposits was 3.51 to 3.82 across maturities. N. Kamakodi, Managing Director and Chief Executive, City Union Bank, said, "We will be increasing our rates in a week's time. The rates would be closer to domestic deposit rates. The rise is most likely to happen in a one-year bracket." Interest rates paid by Indian banks on NRE savings, term deposits and ordinary non-resident (NRO) savings accounts were deregulated by RBI. As stated by Central Bank, rates on non-resident deposits cannot go higher than the rates paid on term deposits of same maturities. The revised deposit rates are said to be applied only to latest deposits and on renewal of maturing deposits. Banks are supposed to offer uniform rates at all their branches. According to the Central Bank, the banks might take approval of their respective boards or asset liability committees, while fixing interest rates on such deposits. External liabilities arising due to deregulation have to be monitored by bank as directed by the banking regulators and asset-liability compatibility from a systemic risk point of view also needs to be ensured. P. R. Somasundaram, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Laxmi Vilas Bank, said, "We have a small base of non-resident deposits right now. But it would be one of our focus areas. We would take a decision on raising rates on these deposits soon. Our asset-liability committee would meet shortly to decide on this." According to Bipin Kabra, Chief Financial Officer, Dhanlaxmi Bank, the deregulation of non-resident deposit rates has allowed banks to attract non-resident Indians to park their deposits with Indian lenders. The bank's asset-liability committee would soon meet to revise the non-resident deposit rates.The state run lenders are unsure about increasing those rates aggressively or not. Having a major foreign presence, Bank of India is still waiting others to revise their rates. A senior official of Bank of Baroda said, "No firm view has been taken so far. I cannot give a timeline as to when these rates will be revised." Officials at State Bank of India are expecting a rise of 200-300 basis points in non-resident deposits rates. They also added that they are yet to decide the effectiveness of rise in rates. Whereas, State Bank of Travancore can increase the deposit rates before SBI does, because the bank is competing hard with mid-sized private banks in Kerela. In a data revealed by RBI, outstanding deposits in NRE accounts stood at $25 billion and NRO accounts stood at $11 billion at the end of October.

Jagan's birthday celebrations held in Dallas December 22, 2011 12:07

Hundreds of enthusiastic YSR Congress party associates attended the birthday celebrations of Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddy with a difference! The Dallas YSR Congress party associates chose to serve the poor by donating/serving the food at a homeless…

ATA expressed condolences to Komatireddy December 22, 2011 10:22

American Telugu Association (ATA) expressed condolences to former minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy for the loss of his son Pratik Reddy and two others who died in a tragic road accident on the Outer Ring Road…

10 Indians stand tall with Mark Zuckerberg December 21, 2011 13:01

An Indian is rubbing shoulders with the likes of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and pop star Lady Gaga as one of the top achievers in the world under the age of 30. Kunal Shah, 29, managing director at Goldman Sachs, is one of the 10 Indians on the Forbes list of under-30 achievers after he became the firm's youngest MD at 27 last year. A promotion to the post of a managing director before 30 is rare at Goldman Sachs, the most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history. Shah is an emerging markets trader for Goldman in London. The Cambridge math graduate joined Goldman in 2004, analysing interest rate products, before trading on the global macro desk, according to Forbes, which looked at people across 12 different categories, including law, social, mobile and technology. In finance, Forbes has also featured Vikas Mohindra, financial advisor at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The 25-year-old broker gathered $38 million in three years from scratch. Also on the list is Manvir Nijhar, co-head of European equity derivatives sales at Citigroup. The 28-year-old London School of Economics graduate left BNP Paribas after four years to give "Citi's derivatives business a jolt".

Indian artist's new animated web series launched in US December 21, 2011 10:47

A digital entertainment company founded by three Indian Americans is launching a new animated web series by noted filmmaker John Woo created with writer Garth Ennis and Indian artist Jeevan J. Kang. Liquid Comics, founded…

NATS Balala Sambaralu in Memphis December 20, 2011 18:58

The North America Telugu Society (NATS) organized their first balala sambaralu in Memphis at Cordova Center on Dec 17, 2011. As you all know, NATS celebrated PunditNehru Jayanti by organizing Balala Sambaralu in November across…

RBI frees rates on NRI deposit schemes December 20, 2011 15:20

The Reserve Bank freed interest rates on various non-resident deposit schemes, a move that will help attract more funds from NRIs and arrest the slide in rupee in the forex market. The decision to de-regulate interest rates on such deposits comes within 24 hours of RBI putting restrictions on forward contract in rupee to check speculations in the forex market. The decision will give banks the freedom to fix rates on Non-Resident (External) rupee deposits and Ordinary Non-Resident (NRO) accounts with immediate effect. In a circular, the central bank said: “With a view to providing greater flexibility to banks in mobilising non-resident deposits and also in view of the prevailing market conditions, it has been decided to deregulate interest rates (such accounts).” “Interest rates offered by banks on NRE and NRO deposits cannot be higher than those offered by them on comparable domestic rupee deposits,” it added. The deregulation in rates on NRE and NRO deposits is intended to make such funds more attractive at a time when the rupee has depreciated sharply during last few months.

NRI Sunita Gupta jumps to death from 14th floor December 20, 2011 15:03

A non-resident Indian woman from the US Sunday committed suicide by jumping off the 14th floor of an apartment block in Ghaziabad, police said. Sunita Gupta, 55, who came to India 20 days ago, jumped off Kaushambi’s Malayagiri Tower in the afternoon. “Prima facie it seems a case of depression,” said Kamlesh Bahadur, police circle officer III. She and her husband Bharat Prakash Gupta, a senior manager US aerospace major Boeing, had come to visit her mother and younger brother here. The two got married 10 years ago. Both had divorced their previous partners. On Saturday afternoon, Sunita climbed up to the 14th floor and jumped to the ground, police said. Her 78-year-old mother was ill and her younger brother had recently been divorced, police said.