India Budget 2019: NRI Investments to Become Much Easier July 05, 2019 10:15
India budget 2019 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday brought relief to Indians abroad or Non-Resident Indians to some extent as government simplified the rules and regulations pertaining to investment pattern to encourage…
Read More
India Budget 2019: Aadhar Card Under 180 Days for NRIs on Arrival July 05, 2019 07:33
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her maiden Budget 2019 speech on Friday eased the waiting time for getting Aadhaar card for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Sitharaman proposed to issue Aadhaar cards to non-resident Indians holding Indian passport on their arrival in the country. Under the present rule, NRIs with Indian passport are required to wait for 180 days to get the Aadhaar card."I propose to consider issuing Aadhaar to NRIs with Indian passports after their arrival in India without waiting for mandatory 180 days", Sitharaman said in her Budget speech. The UIDAI is mandated to issue an easily verifiable 12 digit random number as Unique Identity - Aadhaar to all Residents of India. Aadhar Card for NRIs According to details of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, every resident can apply for the 12 digits biometric ID. A resident is an individual who has been surviving in the country for 182 days or more in the year immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment. Hence, if a Non-Resident Indian has lived in the country for 182 days or more in the last one year right before the date of application for enrolment, in that case, the NRI can apply for Aadhaar.If the NRI has not lived in the country for at least 182 days in the past 12 months, although being a citizen of India, the individual will not become eligible to avail Aadhaar. The NRI will have to wait to complete 182 days of stay in India to apply for Aadhaar.By Sowmya Sangam
Read More
Dubai Startup Woos Indian Fintech Startups with $100 Million Fund July 05, 2019 06:45
Dubai Startup Hub, an initiative of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is all set to turn a global innovation hub for the next generation technologies, wooing entrepreneurs from India with $100 million start-up fintech…
Read More
Indian Origin Man in the UK Sues Cheating Wife After Discovering He Is Not the Father of Their Son July 05, 2019 05:29
An Indian origin man in the United Kingdom, the son of an alleged arms dealer who is under the scanner in India, has sued his estranged wife after discovering that he is not the father of their eight-year-old son. The UK citizen, a businessman by profession, wants his wife to return “every penny” that he has spent in bringing up the child. He also wants to be compensated for “distress” and wants his wife to reveal the name of the boy’s father, UK newspaper Daily Mail reported. Details of the case emerged Tuesday in a ruling published by a judge who had analyzed evidence during the latest round of litigation. Justice Cohen indicated that he would make a decision after another round of hearing. Cohen also said the man was “devastated” to learn about the boy while observing that the woman was “full of remorse”. The man had earlier got into a legal tiff with his wife in connection with a bribery scandal. The father of the businessman also figures in the CBI’s confidential list of ‘Undesirable Contact Men’, the tag given to people suspected of manipulating government contracts. By Sowmya Sangam
Read More
NRIs Expect Big Reforms in India Budget 2019 July 04, 2019 06:10
India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to announce Indian budget 2019 on July 5 and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are expecting a host of reforms that would ease the rules for them to conduct business in India and increase their involvement in helping boost India’s economy.A massive show of support by NRIs was seen as to a certain extent responsible for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resounding victory in recent elections which got him a second five-year term in office.“I would expect that the outreach towards NRIs will continue,” Reshmi Khurana, Managing Director and Head of South East Asia at Kroll was quoted by Connected to India. Indians abroad have been demanding for relieving of norms governing their investments in gold, real estate, fixed income. They also urge the Modi government to be less stringent with taxes on their investments. Though their wishes may get fulfilled to some extent, with the economy still in recovery mode, Sitharaman may not adopt a stance that was too accommodative to Indians living abroad.One of the key points of the 2018 Budget that impacted NRIs was the introduction of a 10 percent long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax imposed on profit above INR 1 lakh which will, in all probability, continue this year.Whether through bank accounts, real estate investments, remittances or foreign portfolio investments, most Indians abroad have a portion of their assets and wealth in India. Moreover, India has been the world’s largest recipient of remittances from the diaspora for the last three years, reaching a whopping USD 79 billion last year.By Sowmya Sangam
Read More
Why NRIs Must Have Health Insurance in India? July 02, 2019 08:43
Quite often, Indians travels abroad for the sake of jobs or business and plan to reside there for just a few years besides planning to reside there permanently. Those planning to stay back in the…
Read More
Auli Wedding Row: NRI Gupta Brothers Fined Rs 2.5 Lakh for Littering, Open Defecation July 01, 2019 06:52
South Africa-based Gupta family has been slapped with a penalty of Rs 2.5 lakh for scattering waste material in Auli, Uttarakhand where the weddings of their sons were held early this week, an official said on Saturday. "We have imposed a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh on the Gupta brothers," SP Nautiyal, Executive Officer of the Joshimath municipality, said. While the Rs 1.5 lakh penalty is for scattering garbage, Rs 1 lakh penalty is for defecating in the open. A copy of the challan has also been sent to the event management firm, which made arrangements for the weddings, he said. Besides, the municipality is as well preparing a bill of Rs 8.14 lakh for accumulating the garbage left behind after the weddings that were held amid environmental concerns. The Gupta brothers have thus far deposited Rs 5.54 lakh with the municipality which also includes Rs 54,000 as of user charges. After the grand weddings, the Joshimath municipality has up to now collected 306 quintals of waste material from the marriage site with the municipality pressing 3-4 trucks every day to collect the waste. According to officials, they would be able to clean the entire site by Sunday. (Image source from: The Financial Express) In the meantime, the issue of refund of the Rs 3 crore security deposited by the Gupta brothers with the Chamoli district administration will be decided on July 8 by the Uttarakhand High Court. As per the high court orders, a group of 13 officials from the Forest Department, the State Pollution Control Board, the Chamoli District Administration, the Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan, the Revenue Department, and the Public Works Department monitored and videographed the wedding. (Image source from: Newzz) Top officials said they did not come across any harm to the flora and fauna of Auli. Since the court barred the use of helicopters in Auli, the choppers landed in Ravigram near the Joshimath helipad from where the guests were taken to the wedding venue in cars. The court had also fixed the number of invitees at 150. Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat and yoga guru Baba Ramdev were among the VIPs (Very Important Persons) who blessed the newlywed couples. A large number of Bollywood stars, including Katrina Kaif, performed at the weddings. CM Rawat had defended the marriages saying environmental issues were not justified and Auli could be developed as a big tourist destination. By Sowmya Sangam
Read More
Three Members of Indian Origin Family Killed in Road Accident in Saudi Arabia July 01, 2019 04:47
Three people of an Indian origin family died in a road accident in Saudi Arabia in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.The incident took place when the family of four members, hailing from Hyderabad…
Read More
Trump Administration Begins Process for Revised H-1B Visa Norms June 29, 2019 06:28
The United States has begun the process for its new rules that would mandate companies who seek H-1B visas for its workers to register first online before applying for the work permit, a move that…
Read More
Indian American Teen Avi Gupta Wins $100k in Teen Jeopardy Contest June 29, 2019 06:14
The 17-year-old IndianAmerican has won the 2019 Teen Jeopardy contest taking the $100,000 prize in America's most-watched individual quiz show. Avi Gupta's victory televised on Friday marks a near-clean sweep of popular student contests in the past year by IndianAmericans. He is from Portland, Oregon, and completed high school recently, although he was still a high schooler when the program was pre-recorded several weeks ago. He beat out three other IndianAmerican teens in the contest, which featured a total of 15 students. During the show, he told the host, Alex Trebek, that people questioned the value of accumulating a trove of trivia when they could be googled. But he said that building a wide range of knowledge was important because arguments and ideas can be built only on facts. (Video Source: Jeopardy!) The 2018 College Jeopardy, which also carried a prize of $100,000, was won by Dhruv Gaur. The 2019 National Geography Bee, which tests knowledge of geography, was won by Nihar Janga. In the 2019 National Spelling Bee last month seven of the eight co-winners were of Indian descent. In the previous 10 years, only IndianAmericans had been winners. IndianAmericans have made their mark in science contests also. Although there were no winners among them, 16 of the 30 finalists in the nation's top contest, the Regeneron National Science Talent Search, were on Indian descent. In the Broadcom Masters science contest for middle school students, eight of the 30 finalists were IndianAmericans. By Sowmya Sangam
Read More
Over 20 Indians Living Abroad Facing CBI Probe for Financial Irregularities June 28, 2019 10:59
There are 24 Indians living abroad who are involved in financial irregularities with banks and are under criminal probe in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases for the last three years, the Indian government informed…
Read More
8,189 Indian Nationals Jailed Abroad: Government June 27, 2019 05:31
About 8,189 Indians were lodged in jail overseas, according to the government data released Wednesday tabulated until May 31, a rise of around 6 percent from last year’s figure of 7,737. Saudi Arabia is home to the largest number of Indian nationals lodged in foreign prisons, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Nepal. The data released is the part of a statement by external affairs minister S Jaishankar in the Lok Sabha in response to a question by a Member of Parliament (MP). Saudi Arabian jails have 1,811 Indian nationals, UAE 1,392, Nepal 1,160, United States 689, and Pakistan 48. In all, six Gulf countries are home to approximately half of all Indians lodged in jails abroad. Pakistani jails contained 471 Indians last year, meaning the number has dropped steeply in the past year. “Indian missions and posts abroad remain vigilant and closely monitor the incidents of Indian nationals being put in jail in foreign countries for violation of local laws or alleged violation of local laws,” said the statement. Many countries do not share information, or provide details of individual cases, because of strong privacy laws, added the statement. The minister’s statement also said that 3,087 Indians received amnesty or commutation of their sentences in the Gulf countries since 2016. After several incidents of harassment of Indians abroad, the government has asked Indian workers to register with local consular services, and started distributing information to intensify their awareness of local laws, customs and regulations. By Sowmya Sangam
Read More
