‘Diaspora’ Articles
Written by admin on 12 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) account for the maximum number of Indians working in the Gulf, the government said Wednesday.
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told the Lok Sabha that a total of two million Indians work in Saudi Arabia followed by 1.8 million in the UAE.
Kuwait was home to an Indian working population of 641,062 followed by Oman (581,832), Qatar (500,000) and Bahrain (400,000), he said.
Iraq accounted for 16,000 Indian workers, Lebanon 10,000, Jordan 9,000 and Libya 1,800, he said, quoting statistics provided by Indian diplomatic missions.
Tags: New Delhi, New Delhi,
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Written by admin on 12 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Remittances from Indians employed abroad have been steadily increasing since 2009-10, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said Wednesday.
The amount rose from $53.6 billion in fiscal 2009-10 to $55.6 billion in 2010-11 and to $66.1 billion in 2011-12, the minister said in a statement in the Lok Sabha.
The amount stood at $17.4 billion in the first three months of fiscal 2012-13, he added.
Ravi said banks had been told to sensitize NRIs on the options available to them to minimize the cost of remittances. “This will make the costing more transparent.”
He added that banks had also been advised to review their existing scale of charges both at the foreign and domestic end so as to minimize the current cost of remittances.
Tags: New Delhi, New Delhi,
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Written by admin on 10 December 2012
Sydney, Dec 10 (IANS) Two Australian radio hosts have said they are shattered and heartbroken following the death of an Indian nurse in Britain who fell prey to their hoax call about the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy.
2Day FM radio hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian have spoken of being “shattered, gutted, heartbroken” by Jacintha Saldanha’s death after their prank phone call last week, reported Sydney Morning Herald.
Saldanha, 46, a mother of two, was found unconscious last Friday in the quarters of the King Edward VII Hospital in central London where she was working as a senior nurse. She was pronounced dead when rushed to the hospital.
The two radio jockeys from Sydney had called up the hospital Dec 4. Jacintha picked up the call in the absence of the receptionist at that time (5.30 a.m.) and transferred it to another duty nurse who briefed them on the health condition of the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton), who was admitted to the hospital Dec 3 after she complained of acute morning sickness.
In a prerecorded interview with “A Current Affair”, host Tracey Grimshaw asks them who came up with the idea for the prank call.
“It was just the team sitting down before the show – just had the idea for just a simple harmless phone call,” Christian said. “That when we thought about making a call it was going to go for 30 seconds we were going to be hung up on, and that was it.”
Greig added: “We thought a hundred people before us would’ve tried it, we thought it was such a silly idea and the accents were terrible and not for a second did we expect to speak to Kate let alone have a conversation with anyone at the hospital. We wanted to be hung up on.”
On how they reacted when told of Saldanha’s death, both DJs broke down in tears.
Greig described it as “gut wrenching”.
Christian concurred.
“Shattered, gutted, heartbroken and obviously you know… our deepest sympathies are with the family and the friends,” he said.
The news about the hoax call and the subsequent death caused outrage the world over.
Tags: Sydney
Posted in Australia, Diaspora | No Comments »
Written by admin on 10 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) India is waiting to learn more details about the death of an Indian nurse in Britain who fell prey to a hoax call from Australian radio jockeys about the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy.
“We don’t know enough about it (the case) it is extremely sad. Let’s wait to see what has happened and why it has happened. In human terms I can say it is extremely sad,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Monday about the death of Jacintha Saldanha.
Saldanha, 46, a mother of two, was found unconscious last Friday in the quarters of the King Edward VII Hospital in central London where she was working as a senior nurse. She was pronounced dead when rushed to the hospital.
Two radio jockeys from Sydney radio station had called up the hospital Dec 4. Jacintha picked up the call in the absence of the receptionist at that time (5.30 a.m.) and transferred it to another duty nurse who briefed them on the health condition of the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton), who was admitted to the hospital Dec 3 after she complained of acute morning sickness.
News about the hoax call shocked the royal family and caused outrage the world over, especially in the British media.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 09 December 2012
Bangalore, Dec 9 (IANS) Family members of Indian nurse Jacintha Saldhana, who fell prey to a hoax call from Australian radio jockeys about the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy, are too shocked to react to her mysterious death in London Friday as her husband did not tell them it was suicide.
“We were too shocked to hear that Jacintha, 46, was no more from her husband (Benedict Barboza). He did not tell us that she committed suicide and hung up, as he was trying to come to terms with the tragedy,” Barboza’s elder sister Irene D’Souza told IANS from Shirva, about 400 km from Bangalore in the coastal Dakshina Kannada district.
As Barboza rushed to London from Bristol to collect Saldhana’s body, D’Souza learnt about the incident through the media and news channels since she could not contact her brother again.
“We came to know about it (suicide) only through media and news channels on TV. Our mother (Carmine Barboza, 82,) is inconsolable. It is hard to believe Jacintha could do it as she was not type who would take life like that,” D’Souza said in anguish.
Saldhana, mother of two children (a son and daughter) was found unconscious Friday morning in the quarters of King Edward VII Hospital in central London where she was working as a senior nurse, and was pronounced dead when rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
“We didn’t even know that Jacintha got unwittingly involved in the hoax call though we read something about it in newspapers last week that there was a prank call to the hospital from a radio station in Australia, whose jockeys tried to know about the princess’ (Kate Middleton) health by imitating the voice of the queen (Elizabeth) and prince (Charles),” Saldhana’s nephew said, but declined to be named.
As the bereaved family is planning to perform Saldhana’s last rites in the home town, they are waiting for Barboza to complete the formalities in London to bring the body here this week after police investigation into the suspected suicide.
“Benedict wants to bring Jacintha’s body to India for burial at Shirva. We are waiting to know when he would be able to come so that all other family members could join us for prayers and last rites,” a grieving D’Souza said.
Barboza’s four sisters Irene, Janet, Severine and Mary reside at Shirva and Mangalore.
Saldhana, who graduated from Father Muller College of Nursing in Mangalore in mid-eighties, first worked in the Gulf for a few years and went to London after marriage 15 years ago to live with Barboza, an accountant at a supermarket at Bristol, 190 km from London.
When the jockeys (Mel Greig and Michael Christian) from Sydney radio station called the hospital early Dec 4, Jacintha picked the call in the absence of the receptionist at that time (5.30 a.m.) and transferred it to another duty nurse who briefed them on the health condition of the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate), who was admitted to the royal hospital Dec 3 after she complained of acute morning sickness.
Though the Duchess was discharged Dec 6, news about the hoax call shocked the royal family and caused outrage the world over, especially in the British media. The two radio jockeys were later sacked.
Posted in Bangalore, Diaspora, National | No Comments »
Written by admin on 08 December 2012
Kolkata, Dec 8 (IANS) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh Saturday said the IIT fraternity could be leaders in the administrative and technical fields by utilising their experiences, expertise and abilities in the state’s development.
“Your partnership will play a significant role in making Chhattisgarh a developed and progressive state. It will also open new avenues for the development of the IIT fraternity,” Singh said while invoking successful IIT graduates.
Addressing the Pan-IIT global conference at Science City auditorium in Kolkata, Singh said: “We all are aware that complete development could not be achieved without ensuring the welfare of the common man.”
“Many good schemes fail due to lack of proper implementation of delivery system with respect to the ground realities,” he added.
Singh invited highly-placed IIT graduates to visit Chhattisgarh and help the government in making it a people-friendly state.
He said that Chhattisgarh is rich in natural resources and has 42 per cent forest area and the per capita consumption in the state is 1,547 units, more than double of the national per capita consumption, which is 779 units.
Singh added: “The state’s contribution to the economy of the nation has increased four-fold.”
He said that 10 years ago, the state’s GDP was Rs.29,500 crore, which has increased to Rs.135,500 crore. He added that Chhattisgarh has maintained an 11 percent growth rate, which is double than the national average.
Tags: Kolkata, West Bengal
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Written by admin on 08 December 2012
Dharamsala, Dec 8 (IANS) From prayers to peaceful marches to appeals to the United Nations (UN), a number of events have been lined up by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Monday to express solidarity with the self-immolators in Tibet, an official said here Saturday.
The CTA, the democratically elected government of Tibetans based in Dharamsala, has urged Tibetans living in exile and their sympathisers worldwide to garner support for international intervention in the ongoing crisis in Tibet.
“A special prayer service will be held in the morning of Dec 10 at the hilltop Tsuglagkhang temple in Dharamsala,” CTA spokesperson Lobsang Choedak told IANS.
He said Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama and democratically elected leader Lobsang Sangay, would preside over functions in Mundgod in Karnataka, another Tibetan settlement Dec 10, observed as World Human Rights Day.
Ninety-two people have reportedly killed themselves since March 2011 in a string of self-immolations in Tibet to press for the return of the Dalai Lama and the restoration of freedom to Tibet, claims the CTA.
To apprise the international community about the tense situation prevailing in Tibet, the second leg of the “Flame of Truth” global torch relay is currently touring North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia.
CTA officials said after passing through more than 30 countries, the torch relay would culminate Monday at three UN locations: Geneva, New Delhi and the US.
“The torch relay would end with the submission of appeal letters and signatures simultaneously to the UN to send an independent international fact-finding delegation to Tibet,” an official said.
Meanwhile, 374,690 people have joined the solidarity with Tibet online campaign (www.solidaritywithtibet.org) launched by Sangay here Wednesday.
A video on self-immolations has also been viewed by over 10,000 people within two days of its launch, a CTA statement said.
The six-minute video explains the reasons behind the ongoing wave of fiery protests.
Concerned over self-immolations, the US urged China Dec 6 to address its policies that are pushing Tibetans to immolate themselves.
It also asked China to engage in a dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives without preconditions.
“The US is deeply concerned and saddened by the continuing violence in Tibetan areas of China and the increasing frequency of self-immolations by Tibetans,” special coordinator for Tibetan issues Maria Otero said.
Meanwhile, a sombre mood is prevailing over the entire locality of Dharamsala’s suburb of McLeodganj over self-immolations.
Streets are lined with banners and posters depicting photographs of those who have sacrificed their lives in Tibet.
The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959.
Tags: Dharamsala
Posted in Asia, Diaspora, India | No Comments »
Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 7 (IANS) Kerala Finance Minister K.M.Mani Friday said that there has been a staggering increase of over Rs.17,000 crore in NRI deposits in the state’s banks in the past one year.
“In 2011 the total NRI deposits in Kerala banks was Rs.38,556 crores and a year later in June this year, it has touched Rs.55,663 crores. One in 10 Keralites are abroad and the much-talked about Kerala model of growth was made possible by the Kerala diaspora,” said Mani at an event in UAE, according to a statement released by his office here.
“Our government deeply values the yeoman service of the Kerala diaspora over the years and we will certainly look them up in high esteem. We are working out schemes both for the diaspora and for those who have returned for good,” he said.
“We are working out a health scheme for the diaspora who have returned for good. Moreover recently there have been reports that in the state, the land and properties owned by the diaspora here are coming under duress from several quarters. We are soon floating very strong laws to see that this does not happen,” assured Mani.
He noted that a good number of students from the state were going abroad for higher studies and if the state was able to retain them once they finish their studies, it would be a major boost for Kerala.
He added as per the latest statistics on the Kerala diaspora, UAE leads from the front with the largest Kerala population (8.83 lakh).
Tags: Thiruvananthapuram
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Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Chandigarh, Dec 7 (IANS) A British Columbia Trade and Investment Office opened here Friday to boost trade between the Canadian province and the Indian state of Punjab.
British Columbia’s Minister of Finance Michael de Jong inaugurated the office.
Jong said the office was expected to serve as a catalyst to strengthen trade ties between India and Canada, and British Columbia in particular.
The office is located in the Consulate General of Canada here.
“The office will represent British Columbia in north India and help people from Punjab interested in investing in Canada. We will also facilitate people from British Columbia willing to invest in Punjab,” Jong said.
The population of British Columbia is around 4.4 million, of which about 350,000 have their roots in Punjab.
Tags: Chandigarh, Punjab
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Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Panaji, Dec 7 (IANS) Out migration patterns of Indians in general and Goans in particular will now be tracked and studied with the Goa University establishing a chair for diaspora studies for the forthcoming academic year.
According to Rajeev Verma, secretary to Goa Governor B.V. Wanchoo, a Rs.2 million grant has already been allocated and has been accorded approval of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Speaking to reporters here Friday, former commissioner for Goa’s Non-resident India (NRI) cell Eduadro Faleiro, said: “It would deal with issues concerning the Indian diaspora in general and the Goan diaspora in particular along with the study of migration in other countries. It will explore the relationship that the Diaspora people have with their homeland.”
The former minister of state for external affairs said that this was the first such chair in the country which had been specifically set up to study migration and that it would throw light on consistent migration of Goans to other parts of the country as well as the world.
“The study of migration is one of the most fascinating areas of academic research and it is particularly relevant to Goa since over the centuries a significant number of our people have migrated to other parts of India and abroad for various reasons,” said Faleiro, who had been pursuing the matter of the chair with the union human resource development (HRD) ministry.
“It will also undertake research studies pertaining to migration of Goans to the neighbouring areas of north Karnataka and south Maharashtra in the 16th and 17th century due to religious, cultural and economic reasons,” he added.
In the recent past, Goa has seen out-migration to Britain, Africa and especially to the Gulf countries and with a huge non resident population, was the second state in India after Kerala, to conduct a scientific study on migration.
Tags: Goa, Panaji
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Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Moscow, Dec 7 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Moscow police has secured the release of a kidnapped Indian and arrested two suspects in this connection, the interior ministry’s press service said Friday.
The identity of the kidnapped man, rescued Thursday, was not disclosed by the authorities.
The suspects are believed to have kidnapped the man last August and held him in a basement garage, demanding $300,000 from his relatives via email for his release, the ministry said.
They had threatened to kill the captive, if his family failed to pay the ransom.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
sd/dg
Tags: Moscow
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Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Washington, Dec 7 (IANS) The surprise decision of a Republican senator to quit and become the next head of conservative think tank Heritage Foundation has focused attention on South Carolina’s Indian American governor Nikki Haley.
For under the state law the first-term governor will not only appoint senator Jim DeMint’s successor, she’ll set off dominoes that will reshape the next two years in state politics, culminating with two US Senate elections and her own potential re-election bid, according to Politico, a politics focused media site.
The driving question is whether Haley selects a caretaker for the seat who would agree not to run for the full six-year term in 2014 – or taps an ally that would help cement her legacy, it wondered.
A spokesman for the governor declined to speculate on a timeline for the decision, but DeMint’s resignation will take effect before the next Congress convenes Jan 3, leaving a little more than three weeks for a decision.
House member Tim Scott is seen as the leading contender for the appointment among Republican consultants and officials, largely because the 47-year-old African-American would provide diversity and geographic balance, the site said.
But in-state operatives cited by the Politico cautioned that the fastest way to lose the independent-minded Haley is to try to force her hand.
“Nikki Haley marches to the beat of her own drummer,” Joel Sawyer, a Columbia-based Republican consultant and former executive director of the state party, was quoted as saying.
If Haley was looking for a political escape hatch, she could appoint herself, Politico suggested. A new poll by Winthrop University of all adults pegged her job-approval rating at just 38 percent – a full 10 points behind President Barack Obama.
But Haley quickly quashed that possibility in a radio interview Thursday afternoon, saying, “No, I will not be appointing myself. That’s not even an option.”
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
Tags: Washington
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