American business magazine Forbes on Monday said India-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is being conferred the third Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award, which honours heroes of entrepreneurial capitalism and free enterprise.

Mittal will get the award on Monday night at Forbes Global CEO Conference, being held in Singapore and expected to be attended by more than 450 business leaders with a combined net worth of more than $160 billion from across the world.

Earlier in March this year, Forbes had named Mittal as fourth richest with a net worth of $45 billion in its annual ranking of the world’s richest billionaires.

“Mittal will receive the third Malcolm S Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening dinner tonight from Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO of Forbes, and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine,” Forbes said in a statement.

“The award honors heroes of entrepreneurial capitalism and those who embody and exemplify the ideals of free enterprise,” it added.

Born in Rajasthan in India, Mittal founded Mittal Steel Company (formerly LNM Group) in 1976. It later acquired numerous steel companies around the world, including the International Steel Group in the US, to become the world’s largest steel producer following merger with Arcelor in 2006.

Forbes said that this year’s theme at the three-day conference is “The Winning Hand” and would discuss strategies in dealing with the global uncertainty and issues such as US elections, real estate, China, India and entrepreneurship.

Those speaking at the conference include TCS CEO and MD S Ramadorai, Sajjan Jindal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Steel, Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director of Suzlon Energy. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will deliver the keynote address.

Around 300 overseas students, including Indians, were put into detention centres in Sydney and Melbourne in the past three years after found breaching Australian immigration laws.

According to a report in ‘The Australian’, it was revealed that in the last three years 299 overseas students were put into the detention centre in Sydney or Melbourne of which most were deported.

University, TAFE and secondary school students from 24 countries were detained and majority of them hailed from India, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Of the detainees, 207 were held for overstaying their visas, 30 for attendance breaches, 14 for failing their courses, seven for not starting their courses, four for withdrawing from their courses, one for a work breach and 36 for other reasons, the report said.

Senior psychology professor of University of Sydney Christopher Lennings said overseas students could be easily overwhelmed by conditions in Australia, leaving them vulnerable to breaches of migration law.

“People’s English is not as good, they get overwhelmed, have financial problems or illness. They get depressed and fail their studies, and next thing they know they are on a roller coaster and have lost control of their lives,” he said adding “The trauma period is within a few to 10 days, especially if they don’t know how long they would be incarcerated for.”

Students who have their visas cancelled — often for working more than 20 hours a week, for attending less than 80 per cent of scheduled contact hours, for unsatisfactory academic results, for completing a course early, deferring study or transferring to another provider — become unlawful non-citizens.

Once located, they are usually detained pending removal from Australia, granted a bridging visa or made to arrange their own departure. The report further said that a former Bangladeshi university student was detained for almost three years and one of the 27 Chinese nationals was detained for 371 days.

Universities Australia chief executive Glenn Withers said while illegal residency should be dealt with by deportation, these processes “should minimise the need for detention and ensure a proper allowance for associated refugee claims”.

National Liaison Committee President for the country’s 250,000 international students, Eric Pang, said it was “shocking to know that it’s such a big export industry for Australia, where students are treated as cash cows, yet others are receiving such harsh treatment in detention … If they overstay they should be deported.”

Student detainee advocate Milchaela Rost said she was appalled by the figures and Australia was the only country in the world to detain some full-fee-paying international students.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans recently announced that mandatory detention for over stayers and unlawful non-citizens would only apply in certain circumstances, such as where a person presents a risk to the community, or where there is repeated non-compliance.

 
Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been honoured by the New Jersey general assembly and by the city of Edison for his organisation’s initiatives in the US and its service to the world at large. The state assembly passed a resolution acknowledging that the guru, currently visiting the US, has been “furthering the best of human instincts, traits and characteristics, and promoting sustainable growth in poor rural communities”.
It also praised his Art of Living Foundation, “which assists at-risk youth in turning away from gang violence, drugs and alcohol toward a life of greater generosity and service”.
The foundation’s projects in the US include inner city youth leadership programmes, free trauma relief for survivors of tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina and the Virginia Tech shootings, special programmes for returning war veterans, prisoner reform, stress-elimination programmes for corporations and working adults, and human-values based programmes for children and youth.
The mayor of Edison and other leaders also honoured Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living Foundation July 4 for their service to the city and the world during a ceremony inaugurating a three-day meditation and yoga retreat conducted by the guru in the city, a foundation press release said.
Mayor Jun Choi declared July 4-6, which coincides with the US Independence Day, as “His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Weekend in Edison” in front of 1,500 people participating in the course at the Raritan Exposition Centre.
“Sri Sri Ravi Shankar serves as a great leader and as a symbol of wisdom and encouragement through his teachings on spiritual values,” said Choi. “He shares his wisdom and ancient knowledge on how to achieve health and happiness.”
The Town Council of Edison also issued a Proclamation of Commendation for his universal initiatives.
“Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s divine messages and teachings of developing the spirit of universal brotherhood and love amongst one another have provided a model and standard towards which all members of the human family should strive,” said Town Council member Sudhanshu Prasad.
The guru’s initiatives have benefited 300 million people in 145 countries, the press release said. He travels to more than 40 countries every year, sharing his vision of a violence-free, stress-free global family.
 
email from Atul Aneja,Sydney

Prince Charles has appealed to Asian billionaires including steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and Tata chief Ratan Tata to help him protect the environment, preserve historic buildings and support the young unemployed throughout the Indian subcontinent. 

Prince Charles has invited some of India’s richest tycoons to see his Prince’s Trust in action in the East end of London, and to a series of working lunches and formal dinners at Clarence House and Kensington Palace next month, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

His guest list includes Mukesh Ambani, whose 21 billion pounds wealth is thought to make him the richest Indian, Ratan Tata, who recently bought Jaguar, K P Singh, the world’s wealthiest property developer, worth about 15 billion pounds and Lakshmi Mittal, Britain’s richest man.

Their support could give the prince’s new project more financial muscle than almost any other charity.

Sources close to the prince said his British Asian Trust would stage concerts, sporting events and fashion shows and invest in local charities and communities to help them to help themselves. – PTI

Indian-origin boy Sameer Mishra has won Scripps National Spelling Bee contest, beating 288 children in the 8 to 15 age group.

“Guerdon” said the judges. Thirteen-year-old eight grader asked for the definition, and then confidently spelled it out correctly to the thunderous applause from the audience.

It was a proud moment for Mishra who had participated in the contest for the fourth time and was trained by his sister Shruti who herself is a spelling enthusiast.

His parents and sister stood proudly behind him as he was awarded the coveted trophy on Friday night. Besides engraved trophy, he gets USD 30,000 in cash and USD 2,500 worth US savings bonds from Merriam-Webster with a complete reference library.

The second place went another Indian American 12-year-old Sidharth Chand, a seventh grade student.

In all four Indian Americans were among the last 12 who qualified for the final. Kavya Shivashankar was tied in the fourth place with four others and Janhnavi Iyer was in the 8th place.

Mishra is a computer and video games enthusiast and hopes to grow up to be a neurosurgeon. Earlier he had competed in 2005 when he occupied 98th position.

In 2006, he was at 14th place and last year at 16th position. The youngest to qualify to participate in the champions was 8-year-old Indian American Sriram Hathwar.

The last student of the Indian origin who won the championship was Anurag Kashyap in 2005 by correctly spelling “appoggiatura.”

Nine students of Indian-origin had made to the semi-finals.

Leading Indian-origin women from the fields of journalism, art, education and finance were among the awardees at this year’s Asian Women of Achievement Awards announced at a high profile event here.

 

Cherie Blair, wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and actress Liz Hurley looked resplendent in saris as they attended the ninth annual awards event at the London Hilton to honour ten dynamic Asian women from various fields.

Co-founded by Pinky Lilani and organised by Real Business magazine, the Asian Women of Achievement Awards recognise achievements of Asian women in the UK.

The winners included Arti Lukha, the home news editor of ITN. She was selected for the award for her “determination to get to the heart of cutting-edge news stories as a hard-hitting journalist”.

In the Arts and Culture category, the winner was Shobana Jeyasingh, a choreographer who has directed the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company since 1988.

Asha Khemka, another Indian-origin woman, won the Public Sector award for her role as the principal of the West Nottinghamshire College.

The Social and Humanitarian Award went to Bala Thakrar, who has championed the needs of vulnerable people for 20 years.

Indians have turned out to be the largest group of immigrants, who have been granted British citizenship during 2007, according to the official figures released this week.

Last year, a record numbers of foreign nationals, 164,635 people, were granted citizenship, a seven per cent rise in 12 months. It was the highest since the Home Office began keeping comparable records in 1997, the figures reveal.

The biggest group was from India, who made up nine per cent of the total with 14,490. Filipinos constituted seven per cent with 10,840, Afghans six per cent with 10,555 and South Africans five per cent with 8,150.

A quarter of citizenships, about 41,000 were given to children, while about 29,000 became British nationals through marriage.

Last year, 160,980 people applied for citizenship while 14,725 applications were rejected.

According to the Home Office the reasons for increase in 2007 were not clear but suggested that speedier decision making had reduced the backlog of applicants.

While record numbers of people took citizenship, separate figures released by the Office of National Statistics showed that a record 400,000 people have left Britain in 2006, of which more than half were British citizens.

Of these, almost one-third went to live in Australia and New Zealand, a quarter to Spain or France and about one in twelve to the US.

An estimated 591,000 people came to Britain, resulting in net immigration in 2006 running at 191,000. Net immigration of New Commonwealth citizens was 115,000. It was the highest of all foreign citizenship groups coming to the country.

Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans made up 80 per cent of net migrants, with London being their most common destination, where they intended to stay

A Goa-born surgeon researching and teaching at the Dundee University in Scotland has pioneered a new method for the early detection of breast cancer.
 
Jayant Vaidya, senior lecturer and consultant surgeon at the university, is a leading member of a team of surgeons that discovered that malignant tumours remain cold when surrounding breast tissue is heated to about 20 degrees Celsius.
 
Experts hope the discovery will make it easier for doctors to determine if a lump is cancerous, and also lead to advances in understanding of the disease.
 
A study conducted by the team tested tumours removed from six women an hour after they had undergone surgery at the Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
 
Each piece of tissue was treated with a hot-air gun, and on each occasion the tumour stayed cold.
 
Terming the discovery as ‘very exciting’, Vaidya said: “Nothing like this has been done before. We heated up a specimen and used a high-resolution thermal imaging camera to take a picture. We found the tumour stayed cold while the rest of the tissue heated up. Then we did the same thing on another five samples and every single one had the same outcome.”
 
“This could open up a lot of doors for breast-cancer treatment and detection, hopefully saving the lives of women all around the world,” he said.
 
The team hope that a probe could be developed to insert into the breast and heat the area around the tumour, which could mean bypassing a painful biopsy.
 
A report on the study, which was published in the International Journal of Surgery, predicts the technique could become crucial in understanding breast cancer.

 

 

 

 

MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS

Government of India

New Delhi

 

GUIDELINES FOR KNOW INDIA PROGRAMME (KIP)

 

1.         The following is the schedule proposed for the next three Know India Programmes (KIPs) to be organized by this Ministry:

 

	Tentative Period	Partner States	Last date for receipt of nomination in the MOIA
9th KIP	August - September 08	Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh	30th  June 2008
10th KIP	December 08 - January 09	Madhya Pradesh, Haryana	30th September 2008
11th KIP	March 2009	Punjab, Orissa	31st December 2008

 

2.            Duration of each of these programmes would be 3 weeks. Exact dates would be announced on receipt of confirmation from respective State Governments.

 

3.           The programme is open to youth of Indian origin (excluding non-resident Indians) in the age group of 18-26 years as on the first day of the month in which the programme is expected to start. The total number of participants in any of the Programme             may not exceed 40.

 

4.           The content of the programme may include the following:

 

(k)  Visit and stay at a University/College/Institute.

(l)    Activities related to youth to be organized by NYKS.

(m)Visit to Industry(ies).

(n)  Visit to a village

(o)  Exposure to Indian media and Film Industry.

(p)  Presentations on the country, the constitution, political process etc.

(q)  Interaction with NGOs and/or organizations dealing with women affairs.

(r)   Calls on high dignitaries, which may include President, Ministers of OIA, Youth Affairs and Sports, Women and Child Development.

(s)  Visit to places of historical importance/Monuments.

(t)    Cultural events.    

 

5.           The candidates should either be studying in the under- graduate level or should have completed under-graduation or equivalent.

 

6.           They should be able to converse in English. [They should     have studied English as a subject at the High School level or should have English as a medium of instruction for under-graduate course]

 

7.           The participants are provided the following hospitality/facilities in India:

 

(vi)         local hospitality e.g. boarding/lodging in State guest houses or budget hotels,

(vii)        Internal travel as per the Programme.

(viii)      Per diem allowance of Rs. 100/- for out-of-pocket expenses,

(ix)         They may be granted gratis visa by Indian Missions/Posts abroad.

(x)          One way economy class international airfare from their respective country to India is reimbursable to them by Indian Missions/Posts abroad after their successful participation in the Programme.

 

8.            The applicant should not have participated in any previous KIP or Internship Programme for Diaspora Youth (IPDY).

 

9.           Selected applicants are required to abide by the regulations of the Know India Programme as conveyed to them by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs or an agency nominated by it for the conduct of the Programme. They are required to offer their full cooperation in its smooth conduct, and they are not expected to leave the Programme mid-way.

 

10.       In case a participant is found guilty of any misconduct or indiscipline during the course of the Programme, he or she would not be allowed any further participation in the Programme.  Such participants would not be eligible for reimbursement of the one way international airfare from their country of residence to India. The one way international airfare from his/her country of residence to India would also not be reimbursable to a participant, if he/she leaves the Programme mid-way.

 

11.       Complete application for the programme is to be submitted in the prescribed application form to the Indian Diplomatic Mission/Consular Post that covers the area of residence of the applicant along with photographs. Incomplete and unsigned applications, or forms not accompanied with photographs would be summarily rejected.

 

12.       Nominations, duly recommended by HOM/HOP, may please be sent by the Missions/Posts in the prescribed application form to (i) Smt. Sandhya Shukla, Director (DS), Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Akbar Bhawan, New Delhi – 110011; e-mail: dirss@moia.nic.in; telefax (011) 26874231, and (ii) Shri Nakul Jain, Executive Officer, CII (e-mail: nakul.jain@ciionline.org). The application form in original may be subsequently sent by diplomatic bag to Smt. Sandhya Shukla.

 

13.       Details of the Programme would also be posted on this website http://knowindiaprogram.com/. 

 

 

 

MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS

Government of India

New Delhi

 

APPLICATION FORM FOR KNOW INDIA PROGRAMME (KIP)

 

Number of the KIP that you wish to take part:    9^th or 10^th or 11^th

 

[Tentative schedule for the 9^th KIP is August-September 2008, for 10^th KIP

It is December 2008 - January 2009, and 11^th KIP it is March 2009]

 

 

 

 

PERSONAL PARTICULARS

 

(i)                  Name (as in Passport in BLOCK letters)

 

_____________         _____________                   ____________

            (Surname)                      (First Name)                            (Middle Name)

 

(ii)              Gender                                               Male/Female                        

 

(iii)             Date of birth                          (iv)       Place of birth    ———–     ———

                                          (dd/mm/yyyy)                                             (City)        (Country)

 

(v)              Nationality ——————–    (vi)     Domicile   ——————–

                                                                              (Country where you live in permanently)

(vii)            Marital status ————————

 

(viii)           Passport Particulars

 

                  No.                               ——————

 

                  Place of issue            ————                  ——————

                                                          (City)                                (Country)

                  Date of issue                        ——————-

                                                      (dd/mm/yyyy)

                  Date of Expiry           ——————-

                                                      (dd/mm/yyyy)

 

(ix)             Telephone number:                        Work               —————-

                  (With country and city code)                  Residence     —————-

                                                                              Mobile/Cell    —————–

                  Fax Number                                                              ——————

                  (With country and city code)

      E-mail Address                                 ————————————

 

(x)              Complete mailing address with PIN/ZIP Code

 

(xi)             Permanent home address with PIN/ZIP Code

 

 

(xii)            Name, address (if available) and your relationship with                                              your ancestor who migrated from India:

 

(a)  Name

(b)  Last known address

(c)  Your relationship with him/her

(d)  The year when he/she migrated from India, if known

 

(xiii)        Particulars in respect of your closest relative in India:

 

(a)  Name

(b)  Present address

(c)  Your relationship with him/her

(d)  Contact telephone numbers with city code

 

 

EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL PARTICULARS

 

1.         Educational qualification

                    

(i)            State the name and address of the College/University

                              from where you completed under graduate course or

                              have joined it for this purpose

 

(ii)          Subjects of study

 

(iii)         Medium of instruction

 

2.         Qualification in English language

 

3.         Details of Occupation/employment:

           

S.N.	Organization/Office/Firm (Name and address)	Position held	Period
			From	To

 

4.         Contact particulars of the present employer:

           

                  Telephone number:                        Work               —————-

                  (With country and city code)                  Mobile/Cell    —————–

                  Fax Number                                                              ——————

                  (With country and city code)

      E-mail Address                                 ————————————

 

5.         Personal Achievements, If any___________________________________

________________________________________________________________

 

OTHER DETAILS

 

1.         Details of Community Activities, if undertaken:

 

2.         Are you a member of any Overseas Indian

            Association/Organization? If yes, give its name

            And address

 

3.         How did you come to know about the KIP?

            (Through an Indian Diplomatic Mission/Post,

            Media advertisement, a previous participant

            or others- to be specified)

 

4.         Have you participated in a previous Know India           Yes/No

            Programme? If yes, provide details.

 

5.         Have you visited India earlier?  if yes, please

            provide details of your last two visits including

            the month and year of the visit, places visited

            and the purpose for your visit

 

6.         Please state, in not more than 100 words, why do you wish to take part in the Know India Programme?

 

            ___________________________________________________________

 

            _________________________________________________________

 

            ___________________________________________________________

 

            ___________________________________________________________

 

            ___________________________________________________________

 

DECLARATION

 

            I, hereby, declare that all the information given in this Application Form are true and correct to the best of my information and belief.

 

            I also declare that I will abide by the regulations of the Know India Programme, would offer my full cooperation in its smooth conduct, and would not leave it mid-way.

 

            I understand that if I am found guilty of any misconduct or indiscipline during the course of the Programme, I could be refused any further participation in the said or any other KIP and that I would not be eligible for reimbursement of the one way international airfare from my country of residence to India. The one way international airfare from my country of residence to India would also not be reimbursable to me if I leave the Programme mid-way.

 

 

 

                                                                                    (Signature of the applicant)

 

                                                                    Name of the applicant

 

                                           Date:

 

 

 

ENDORSEMENT OF THE CONCERNED INDIAN MISSION/POST

 

 

Name of Indian Mission/Post:

 

 

Recommendations of the Head of Mission/Post

 

 

 

 

                                                            Signature of Officer _______________

                                                                       

                                                                       

                                                            Name of the Officer__________________

 

 

Office Seal                                        Date