By Ashok Kumar

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at the 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas in Jaipur, asked the Non-resident Indians now to vote in the coming elections.
He told a gathering of 1,900 Diaspora from 0ver 60 countries that the notification for registration of overseas voters had been issued by the Government under the Representation of the Peoples Act and amended in 2010.
According to media reports, only one NRI registered for voting in the last round of Assembly elections.
Who is an NRI? When the Parliament issued notification in November 2010, there was a lot of confusion among the NRIs and Indians who have relinquished their Indian citizenship and became citizens of another country. The Indian Sub-continent Times, in a news report on November 25, 2010 had clarified on this issue.
According the Election Commission website that clarifies on the matter in an answer to a question:
Q2. Can a non-resident Indian citizen become a voter?
Ans. Yes, according to the provisions of the Representation of the People
(Amendment) Act, 2010, a person who is a citizen of India and who has
not acquired the citizenship of any other country and is otherwise eligible
to be registered as a voter and who is absenting from his place of ordinary
residence in India owing to his employment, education or otherwise is
eligible to be registered as a voter in the constituency in which his place
of residence in India as mentioned in his passport is located.
The Indian Sub-continent Times had in its report on November 25, 2010 had quoted a report from Parliament session:
“Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the
Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs
to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a
gazette notification in this regard.
Gazette notification has been issued giving voting
rights to Non-Resident Indians,” the then Overseas Indian Affairs
Minister Vayalar Ravi told Lok Sabha, replying to a question.
An estimated 20 million NRIs are living in various
countries across the world.
However, the person will be able to exercise the
franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on
the polling day.
Ravi had said NRIs, “who have not acquired citizenship of
any other country and are living abroad owing to employment,
education or otherwise, are now eligible to register their
names in the electoral rolls” in their places as mentioned in
their passport.

A 100-year-old runner became the oldest person to complete a full-distance marathon when he finished the race in Toronto on Sunday. Indian-born Fauja Singh, a UK national earned a spot in the Guiness World Book of Records for his accomplishment. It took Singh more than eight hours to cross the finish line more than six hours after Kenya’s Kenneth Mungara won the event for the fourth straight year and he was the last competitor to complete the course.20641

But his time wasn’t nearly as remarkable as the accomplishment.
Event workers dismantled the barricades along the finish line and took down sponsor banners even as Singh made his way up the final few hundred yards of the race.
Family, friends and supporters greeted Singh when he finished the race

THE government has quietly issued a formal apology to the wrongly detained Mohammed Haneef, saying it hopes he can now move on with his life.

Dr Haneef this week received a substantial compensation payout from the federal government following his  detention on terrorism-related charges in 2007.

Part of the settlement was that the government would formally apologise, which it has done today by releasing a statement on the website of the Attorney-General’s Department.

“The AFP (Australian Federal Police) acknowledges that it was mistaken and that Dr Haneef was innocent of the offence of which he was suspected,” the apology reads.

“The commonwealth apologises and hopes that the compensation to be paid to Dr Haneef will mark the end of an unfortunate chapter and allow Dr Haneef to move forward with his life and career.”

Earlier, yesterday a report said that Mohamed Haneef has reportedly been awarded about $1 million in compensation.

Kevin Andrews, the immigration minister at the time, said last night he had been advised defamation action against him had been dropped.

He added that he had made no apology, nor had any compensation been paid in relation to the action.

Dr Haneef’s lawyer Rod Hodgson said the apology reaffirmed his client’s innocence and follows the resolution of the doctor’s compensation claim earlier this week.

“We congratulate the government for recognising an injustice done on the watch of the previous government and for this public apology and declaration of innocence,” he said. “The apology means a lot to our client.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Hodgson’s firm Maurice Blackburn said the apology was posted last night and a full letter of apology had been sent to Dr Haneef.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said after the settlement this week that it covered two matters, including Dr Haneef’s civil claim against the commonwealth and defamation action against Howard government immigration minister Kevin Andrews.

The amount of compensation was subject to a confidentiality agreement along with the rest of the terms of the settlement.

“It’s been a very difficult time for Dr Haneef and his family and I hope today’s settlement goes some way to providing closure to this period of their lives,” he said

 — AAP

After easing the visa rules for the PIOs, the Government of India has fulfilled a longstanding wish of
millions of expats to get voting right in India with
the Centre issuing a notification to this effect to enable
them to exercise their franchise.
        Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the
Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs
to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a
gazette notification in this regard.
        “Gazette notification has been issued giving voting
rights to Non-Resident Indians,” Overseas Indian Affairs
Minister Vayalar Ravi told Lok Sabha, replying to a question.
        An estimated 11 million NRIs are living in various
countries across the world.
        However, the person will be able to exercise the
franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on
the polling day.
        Ravi said NRIs, “who have not acquired citizenship of
any other country and are living abroad owing to employment,
education or otherwise, are now eligible to register their
names in the electoral rolls” in their places as mentioned in
their passport.
        He said the Election Commission is likely to soon
finalise the rules and regulations prescribing modalities for
entry of names of NRIs in electoral rolls.
        The Government had decided to allow the NRIs to
participate in the democratic process to further boost the
two-way engagement.
        As per the existing rules, an NRI’s name gets deleted
from the voters’ list if he or she stays outside the country
for more than six months at a stretch.
        The new law will allow an Indian citizen residing
abroad to enroll in voter’s list and exercise his franchise
even if he or she remained away from place of residence in
India for more than six months owing to employment, education
or otherwise.
         Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the Pravasi
Bhartiya Divas earlier this year, had indicated that Indian
passport holders living abroad could get voting rights by the
time of next Lok Sabha elections in 2014. PTI

Ravi Bhatia, CEO of Primus Telecom founding co-Chairperson of NCIA said today that “Indian Australians have made wide ranging and significant contributions to many aspects of the Australian society, economy and culture. I, along with other prominent Indian Australians have formed NCIA as a non political organisation to represent and support the entire spectrum of people of Indian origin regardless of their state or region of origin in India. NCIA will be transparent and objective organization and we will set high standards in effectiveness and accountability. ”

 “NCIA will interact with various agencies and elements of Australian Federal, State and as well elements and organs of Government of India to promote its objectives and assist with policy development as appropriate. NCIA will also interact with community organizations and professional bodies and associations in Australia, India and other countries.  An important aspect of the activities of NCIA will be interaction with Australian and Indian media to promote and present a balanced perspective on various issues of interest to the Indian Diaspora” Dr Yadu Singh, founding co-Chairperson of NCIA said today.

Dr. Yadu Singh

Ravi Bhatia

 Founding President and the Secretary of NCIA, Mr Vasan Srinivasan, today spelled out the rationale behind forming NCIA, saying “there is urgent need for a single unified body that represents the interests of the Indian community in Australia and NCIA will fulfill that role.”

 “Australia and India are sharing an increasingly close bi-lateral relationship. Australians of Indian origin play an important role in our multicultural country. The time has come for our community to speak with one voice on national issues. Indian Australians want an Australia that is socially harmonious, economically prosperous and that has close economic, political and social ties to India. It is our obligation to speak up and play a role in public debate on these matters” Mr Srinivasan said today.

 The NCIA will hold a series of meetings and functions in each state across Australia in coming months, as well as seek high level meetings with State and Federal Government.

Mr. V Srinivasan

 The NCIA is available to provide public comment on the wide range of matters that affect Indian Australians, or Australia’s relationship with India.

For Further Information, please visit: www.ncia.org.au

A leading Indian education provider will invest $45 million to set up a new education

campus in western Sydney – creating 150 jobs.

The NSW campus will be established by S P Jain Center of Management and will take

its first students in 2012.

It is expected 50 full-time jobs and 100 part-time jobs will be created over the next five

years. The new campus is the first investment in education in NSW by an education provider from

India.

The location for the new campus is currently in the final stages of negotiation.

S P Jain, an education provider specialising in Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Programs, set up its first campus in Mumbai, India in 1981.

The school has been ranked among the top 10 business schools in India for its MBA

Programs.

In 2004, S P Jain established its first international campus in Dubai and in 2006 established

a campus in Singapore.

Premier Kristina Keneally and Minister for Education, Verity Firth, today joined S P

Jain’s President, Mr Nitish Jain, to welcome the investment in a new global campus in

Sydney.

Mr Jain is in Sydney for this week’s Forbes Global CEO Conference, which will bring

together more than 400 of the world’s most influential business leaders.

“S P Jain Center of Management’s decision to invest $45 million here is great news for our

international education sector,” Ms Keneally said.

“The NSW Government, through Industry & Investment NSW, and Austrade has worked with

S P Jain to win this investment for our State.

“This investment confirms Sydney’s position as a high quality education provider and safe

destination for Indian students looking to study overseas.”

S P Jain’s President, Mr Nitish Jain, said when the organisation thought of establishing in

Australia, Sydney was the obvious location.

“Setting up a campus in Sydney fits well with our plans to consolidate our Asia Pacific

presence – the hotbed of growth,” Mr Jain said.

“Our students are rotated through our campuses to be exposed to different business

environments and, importantly, to understand and appreciate diversity and open their minds

to a global view.

“We appreciate the support of Industry & Investment NSW in helping us to find the right

location for the campus.

“The NSW Government has always been most welcoming.”

Minister for Education, Verity Firth, said the new investment demonstrated the strong

demand for students wanting to live and study in NSW.

“We want to encourage students to undertake their studies in NSW and we are already

seeing positive results,” Ms Firth said.

“In 2004, there were less than 500 Indian international students enrolled in the NSW

vocational education and training sector. Last year, it was more than 18,000.

“Earlier this year the NSW Government established the Premier’s Council on International

Education - the first of its kind in Australia.

“The Council will implement a range of plans, including providing assistance and information

for international students choosing to study in NSW.

“This is recognition of the strong contribution international students make to our economy

and to our vibrant society.”

The new Council was one of 13 initiatives to be implemented by the NSW Government

following a review by the NSW Ministerial Taskforce on International Education – which

completed its findings late last year.

NEW DELHI: Bowing to tens of thousands Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO International) petitioners  over submission of old passports and “renunciation charges”, the government of India has backtracked and withdrawn the notification, say media reports.

Penalty charges for retaining a passport despite acquiring foreign citizenship for over three years have also been waived off.

PIOs had begun an online petition to protest against a notification by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) issued on May 13 that mandated that PIOs who had acquired citizenship of other countries would have to surrender their old passports and there would be a penalty of Rs 10,000 for retaining the passport for above three years. The new order also said that Rs 7,000 would be charged if applicants for overseas citizen card or PIO card claimed that their passport was lost or misplaced.

The government has now issued a clarification that PIOs will not be asked to pay any renunciation charges. The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has informed Indian embassies that the order will hold only for those Indian citizens who are in the process of acquiring foreign citizenship and will not be applied with retrospective effect. The other concern was that PIOs may have to pay Rs 10,000 for just possessing an old passport. This has also been addressed. The penalty charges will only apply if the PIO — who is already a foreign citizen — uses his or her old passport for travelling or buying property or other uses that are considered illegal under Indian law.

The decision was taken in a meeting held by overseas Indian affairs secretary Didar Singh with senior officials from MHA and MEA on May 26.

One petitioner, in his comments posted on this website had said that when he got the PIO card he was told by the Consulate officials that there was no need to surrender the passport then why they are imposing penalty for not doing so.

The New York based-Global Organisation of PIOs (GOPIO) in its online petition to PM Manmohan Singh pointed out that imposition of a rule with retrospective effect could cause “unimaginable hardship” in thousands of cases. “A large majority of new citizens did not have any use for their old Indian passports and may have lost, misplaced or never kept in their possession after naturalization,” the petition said. PIOs have expressed concern that this would cause delay in getting visas and visiting India in emergency situations.

The overseas Indian affairs ministry had also issued a new set of guidelines by which those PIOs who do not have primary evidence — that is documents to prove their Indian citizenship or proof of being born/or parents or even grandparents having been born in India — have now been allowed secondary evidence. Secondary evidence includes passports of foreign countries indicating that India is the place of birth or any other documents including a “nativity certificate” issued by the state district collector

 The earlier notice posted on the website of several Indian embassies and consulates stipulated that Persons of Indian Origin who have acquired citizenship of other countries are required to surrender their Indian passports within 90 days of their acquisition of citizenship of the countries of their adoption and obtain ‘Surrender Certificate’ from the nearest Indian Consulate. There should not be any objection in surrendering the old Indian passport. However, the new rules should not be applied retroactively. Retroactive enforcement of the new rules and requiring people of Indian origin who got citizenship of other countries years ago, to obtain “surrender Certificate” by paying hefty service fee and penalty for not surrendering within certain time is a rule that is unwarranted, burdensome and not well thought out.  In the meantime, a person of Indian origin applying for an Indian visa, OCI/PIO card or wanting other consular services is denied any such service without complying with the new rules.

 Per Section 9 of the Citizenship Act 1955, “Any citizen of India who by naturalization, registration or otherwise voluntarily acquires, or has at any time between the 26th January, 1950 and the commencement of this Act voluntarily acquired, the citizenship of another country shall, upon such acquisition or, as the case may be, such commencement, cease to be a citizen of India.”  Thus, Indians who have acquired citizenship of other countries are covered under Section 9 and their Indian citizenship is automatically terminated on acquiring citizenship of another country. The same Act has provisions for renouncing citizenship of India. Per Section 8, “any citizen of India of full age and capacity, who is also a citizen or national of another country, makes in the prescribed manner a declaration renouncing his Indian citizenship, the declaration shall be registered by the prescribed authority; and, upon such registration, that person shall cease to be a citizen of India.” Renunciation of citizenship has to be applied on a prescribed form, while automatic termination of citizenship, covered under Section 9, requires no formal application to the Indian government.

 There are a few millions of people who have obtained citizenship of other countries over the last fifty five years, since the passage of Indian Citizenship Act 1955. The Indian Passport does not contain any instruction for surrender (per Passport issued in 1974 by Indian Consulate in the US) except the ones issued by the High Commission of India in Canada which stamps passports with warning that states, “If the holder acquires nationality of another country, he should surrender this passport forthwith to the nearest Indian Mission abroad.” Many of the former Indian citizens have been travelling to India on passports of countries of their adoption but with Indian visas granted by the same consulates whose websites now have postings of new rules. If the law or rules did exist in the past, Indian embassies and consulates everywhere should have asked for the surrender of Indian passports before granting Indian visas for the first time to Persons of Indian Origin who had acquired citizenship of other countries. Requiring surrender of Indian passports after the lapse of many years of acquisition of such citizenship, would cause undue hardship and delay in getting consular services.

The new rules also require that an applicant who has lost, damaged or surrendered his/her Indian passport to a foreign Government, he/she should furnish certified copies of the following documents:

Details of last held Indian passport (Passport No., Date of Issue & Place of issue). The onus of providing details rest on the applicant.

1. Official documents submitted to authorities of new country at the time of obtaining citizenship/naturalization & documents used for entry such as US Form I -130.
2. Notarized letter explaining reasons for loss.
3. Police report.

A large majority of the new citizens did not have any use for their old Indian passports and may have lost, misplaced or never kept in their possession after naturalization.  The production of items 1 and 2 above, in particular, will not be easy and could take months to obtain from the immigration authorities. In the meantime, consular services will not be available to visit the mother country, even for emergency situations.

The Government of India is urged to reconsider the retroactive enforcement of the new rules as many thousands of people who have acquired citizenship of other countries could suffer undue and unnecessary hardship for no fault of their own. Indians who have been naturalized for years should be given the same 90 days to obtain “surrender certificate” as being allowed to those Indians who become citizens of other countries now and heretofore, without fees and penalties. The minimum service fee of $175 (USD) for the surrender certificate is also very high and should be reduced to a reasonable amount of $25 (USD).

GOPIO urges Indian community groups, organizations and individuals to join in protesting against the new rules by writing to the Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) at psfs@mea.gov.in and Secretary Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) at secretary@moia.nic.in  with a copy to GOPIO at GOPIO-Intl@sbcglobal.net.

For more information, please contact GOPIO International at +1-818-708-3885, Email: GOPIO-Intl@sbcglobal.net.

Aravind Adiga displaying the prize

Beating predictions by bookies and others, debutant Indian novelist 33-year-old Aravind Adiga’s book “The White Tiger” was on Wednesday declared the winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction for 2008.

 Adiga beat favourite Sebastian Barry to take the 50,000 pound (USD 47,000) prize.

 The other authors in the shortlist were Amitav Ghosh, Steve Toltz, Linda Grant and Philip Hensher.

Adiga’s novel was described as a “compelling, angry and darkly humorous” novel about a man’s journey from Indian village life to entrepreneurial success. It was described by one reviewer as an “unadorned portrait” of India seen “from the bottom of the heap”.

Adiga, who wanted to be a novelist since he was a boy, was born in Madras (now known as Chennai) and now lives in Mumbai.
He becomes the fifth Indian author to win the prize, joining V S Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai who won the prize in 1971, 1981, 1997 and 2006 respectively.
In addition, “The White Tiger” is the ninth winning novel to take its inspiration from India or Indian identity.
His book, “The White Tiger”, has been published by Atlantic Books and has already won rave reviews.

Michael Portillo, chairman of the judges, said: “In many ways it was the perfect novel.

The judges found the decision difficult because the shortlist contained such strong candidates. In the end, The White Tiger prevailed because the judges felt that it shocked and entertained in equal measure.

 Peter Clarke, Chief Executive of Man Group PLC, presented a cheque of 50,000 pounds to Adiga at a gala dinner in the Guildhall in London.

“The novel undertakes the extraordinarily difficult task of gaining and holding the reader’s sympathy…dealing with pressing social issues and significant global developments with astonishing humour.”

Each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, receives 2,500 pounds (USD 4,357) and a designer-bound edition of their book.
The judging panel for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction comprised: former MP and Cabinet minister Michael Portillo, editor of Granta Alex Clark; novelists Louise Doughty, founder of Ottakar’s bookshops James Heneage and Hardeep Singh Kohli, a TV and radio broadcaster.

President Pratibha Patil has congratulated Aravind Adiga for his achievement.

In her message to the 33-year old author, Patil said that the honour was international recognition of Indian writings.

The novel is a narrative of Balram Halwai, a school dropout who kisses entrepreneurial success in booming Indian economy.

PM congratulates Adiga

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday congratulated Adiga, saying the nation was proud of him.

 “The nation is proud of the international recognition of Adiga’s talent,” he said in his congratulatory message to the writer.

While congratulating Adiga, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said the award will inspire and encourage aspiring young authors to produce quality literature of world standard. — DDI News

RMIT University’s Professor Suresh Bhargava, Head of the School of Applied Sciences, has received the Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s prestigious RK Murphy Medal

Considered the most coveted award in the field of industrial chemistry, the medal was presented in Newcastle last week as part of Chemeca 2008, an annual national conference for academics and business professionals from chemical engineering and chemical process-related sectors.

Professor Bhargava was nominated by previous recipient Professor Max Lu, seconded by Dr Stephen Grocott, formerly Global Technology Manager with BHP Billiton and currently Adjunct Professor at RMIT, and Dr Ian Harrison, Director R&D, Global Refining, Alcoa World Alumina.

Dr Grocott said Professor Bhargava’s research was the catalyst for a number of acclaimed innovations within the Australian chemistry industry.

“It is rare for a university researcher in industrial chemistry to see their research output lead to a single new or modified industrial process,” he said.

“It is even more unusual to see that occur on a number of occasions.

“The industrial chemistry training Professor Bhargava has provided to students has created a pool of absolutely outstanding, industry-ready researchers and industrial scientists.”

Professor Lu said Professor Bhargava had an outstanding reputation both within Australia and in the international scientific community in the field of Catalytic Wet oxidation, making significant research advances in fields as diverse as alumina production productivity and the reduction of car exhaust pollutants.

Professor Bhargava said he was honoured to receive the award and was grateful to his research students and collaborators for their years of dedicated work.

“The award recognises the fact that we at RMIT have been successful in developing sustainable partnerships with industry for productive R&D,” he said.

“It also helps in producing real world graduates – we develop knowledge in our laboratories and transfer it to industry for application.” — AAP

New Delhi: The government on Friday approved the setting up of the ‘India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians’ to direct funds from abroad for philanthropic purposes.

A proposal for setting up the foundation, a non-profit trust, was forwarded by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) after receiving recommendations from several noted overseas Indians.

“The Foundation will be instrumental for the relief and rehabilitation operations during natural calamities like Tsunami or earthquake. It will also assist overseas Indians to contribute for education, health and rural development in their native districts or villages,” a Ministry official said on Friday.

The foundation will form strong partnerships with reputed NGOs in a bid to direct contributions from overseas Indians to their target beneficiaries.

Once set up, the foundation will have a corpus and a fund management policy in place to establish and maintain a “Social Capital and Philanthropic Network” in India, he said.

A set of reputed overseas Indians will oversee the functioning of the Foundation along with MOIA officials as Directors.

“Currently ideas to seek funds for addressable causes are being ratified by noted overseas Indian philanthropist. Once identified a drive will be initiated to collect funds and disburse them in a transparent manner,” he added.

 — DD News