NRI Top Stories ( Page 20 of 32 )

Indian-origin scientist leads team to develop drones that navigate like birds July 05, 2016 05:22

A team of researchers led by Indian-origin scientist is building biologically-inspired drones which can navigate just like birds and other flying insects. Such drones will be able to fly without any human input, radar or satellite navigation. The group of scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia is conducing study on flying techniques like budgerigars and bees share. They are applying their findings to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) control programmes. Professor Mandyam Srinivasan, who is leading the research, said that, "We study how small airborne creatures such as bees and birds use their vision to avoid collisions with obstacles, fly safely through narrow passages, control their height above the ground and more." "We then use biologically-inspired principles to design novel vision systems and algorithms for the guidance of UAVs," Srinivasan said. "Bees' brains weigh a tenth of a milligramme and carry far fewer neurons than our own brains; yet the insects are capable of navigating accurately to food sources over 10 km away from their hive," said Srinivasan. "Birds too can perform incredible aerobatics and navigational feats. These animals are clearly using simple and elegant strategies, honed by thousands of years of evolution," he said. "These animals are clever, can be easily trained, and possess sophisticated visual systems that are not unlike those of our own," said Srinivasan. "The study of their behaviour could also reveal some of the basic principles of visual guidance in a number of organisms including humans," he said. "The biologically-inspired principles we uncover will foster a new generation of fully autonomous UAVs that do not rely on external help such as GPS (Global Positioning System) or radar," said Srinivasan. "These UAVs could be incredibly useful for applications like surveillance, rescue operations, defence, and planetary exploration," he said Also Read: Indian Woman earns UN honour for corporate sustainability initiative Nandini

Odisha set to launch online Odia courses for diaspora! July 04, 2016 05:37

The government of Odisha is planning to introduced the online certificate courses in Odia for the benefit of Non-Resident Odias (NROs) across the world and students residing outside, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced. “I would like to announce that the government of Odisha has decided to facilitate Odia Certification Courses on online basis for the benefit of Non-Resident Odias (NROs) globally and for the students residing outside Odisha from 2017," CM Naveen Patnaik said. The scheme is scheduled to be launched next year. The Board of Secondary Education (BSE) will conduct the lower Odia test, which will be equivalent to Class 8 standard Odia. "For this, the Odisha Society of Americas (OSA) and other organisations had made an appeal to me earlier. This will benefit the second generation of Odia children living outside the countries and will carry forward the grand legacy of our language," he said. The introduction of Odia curriculum and lower Odia test would benefit the children of the Odia families residing overseas, said School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra. The BSE will conduct the online test once or twice a year by the BSE. The Odia curriculum for the certificate course has been developed and uploaded to the BSE website. According to the minister, the NRO students will have to pay $100 to appear in the examination, while the students residing outside the state will need to pay Rs 1,500 for the examination. Also Read: PIO meeting demands voting rights, Rajya Sabha seats for NRIs! Nandini

PIO meeting demands voting rights, Rajya Sabha seats for NRIs! June 30, 2016 06:05

An international meeting of people of Indian-origin (PIO) in the United States has sought the voting rights for Indian citizens living outside India and Rajya Sabha seats for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) said in a resolution passed during its annual meeting in New York, that, "The Election Commission of India should finalize the procedure for electronic voting before the next general election in India takes place." It alleges that, there are nearly10 million NRIs who are citizens of India, have no involvement in the decision making process of the country of their citizenship. "We urge the Government of India to nominate a few prominent NRIs as members of the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of Parliament) so as to reinforce and further integrate the bonds between India and the overseas Indian community," GOPIO said. The annual GOPIO convention was attended by more than 200 delegates from 20 countries. "The clearance process through the Home Ministry is very time consuming and needs to be streamlined and made more efficient," it said. "We want the government to enact legislation to designate Fast Track Courts for NRIs/PIOs for the speedy settlement of their property, business, inheritance and other legal issues in India," it added. "We call upon the Government of India to enact another legislation to provide Title Insurance to ensure that their ownership in real estate is protected against forged signatures on the deed and for any such fraudulent transfer of their properties," GOPIO said. "We strongly feel that those who are getting their social security benefits from outside India should receive tax parity similar to Indian retirees and request the Finance Ministry to change the rules. Of course, such person's Indian income must be taxed as per the rules," it said. Also Read: Deadline for conversion of PIO cards extended! Nandini

Indian Woman earns UN honour for corporate sustainability initiative June 25, 2016 06:01

An Indian social entrepreneur working for women’s welfare has been nominated among 10 "champions and pioneers" by UN chief Ban Ki-moon for sustainable development goals. Zubaida Bai, the founder of 'ayzh', a for-profit social organization was named under the 10 '2016 Global Compact SDG Pioneers'. It is an initiative launched by UN to search for "entrepreneurs" who can play a pivotal role. The ayzh is providing health and livelihood solutions to impoverished women across the world. The world's largest corporate sustainability initiative, the UN Global Compact, helps companies to do business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with ten principles of human rights, environment and anti-corruption; labour, and to take strategic actions to advance broader societal goals, like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with an emphasis on collaboration and innovation. The UN secretary announced the 10 pioneers at the Global Compact Leaders Summit. Congratulating the honorees, Ban said that he counts on their "strong commitment and engagement" to help businesses seize the opportunities of the SDG era. Ban said that, "All of you are leaders in the campaign for a world without poverty, a thriving planet, a vibrant and inclusive global economy and a life of dignity for all.” "This is the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals, agreed upon by the Member States of the UN in September last year," he said at the summit. "We are at a decisive moment in the shift to sustainable and inclusive markets," continued the Secretary-General. "All businesses, everywhere, can and should play a role in improving our world. That starts with integrity doing business right," he said. Nandini

Deadline for conversion of PIO cards extended! June 21, 2016 07:11

The government has decided to extend the deadline for applying for conversion of Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards to Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards from June 30 to December 31, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced. Swaraj said in her annual press conference, that, "I feel that the conversion will not be completed by June 30. So we have decided to extend the last date to December 31." Previously, the government granted an extension from March 31 to June 30 this year. "There will be no charge for conversion during this period. So I will suggest those, who are seeking to convert their PIO cards to OCI cards, use this time line. I want this conversion to be completed by December 31," she said. According to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the OCI and PIO cards will be merged and the Indian diaspora will be given maximum possible benefits. Also Read: NRIs can now apply online for NPS through eNPS! Nandini

NRIs can now apply online for NPS through eNPS! June 18, 2016 06:48

The finance ministry announced that, Non Resident Indians (NRIs) can now open National Pension Savings (NPS) accounts online. The finance ministry said in a statement, that, "NRIs can now open NPS Accounts online if they have Aadhaar card or PAN card." “Through eNPS, a subscriber will be able to open an NPS account from the comfort of his home.” “All he will need is an Internet connection and an Aadhaar/PAN card.” Till now, NRIs could open NPS accounts only through paper applications by approaching bank offices. According to the finance ministry NRIs will get to open these NPS accounts on both repatriable and non-repatriable basis. “On a repatriable basis, an NRI will have to remit the amount through his/her NRE/FCNR/NRO account,” the statement said. “For Non-repatriable scheme, NRIs will be able to join NPS through their NRE/FCNR/NRO accounts. At the time of maturity or during partial withdrawal, the NPS funds would be deposited only in their NRO accounts.” “Both repatriable and non-repatriable schemes will greatly appeal to NRIs who intend to return to India after their employment abroad, in view of their attractive returns, low cost, flexibility and their being regulated by the PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority), a regulator established by the Central Government,” said the statement. The country has the second-largest diaspora in the world. Nearly 29 million people living in more than 200 countries and out of these 25 per cent live in the Gulf countries. Also Read: Indian-origin 9-year-old coder at Apple’s WWDC 2016! Nandini

Indian-origin 9-year-old coder at Apple’s WWDC 2016! June 14, 2016 10:05

A nine-year-old Indian-origin girl has became the youngest app developer at Apple's annual developer conference. Now, she dreams of meeting the tech giant's CEO Tim Cook. Anvitha Vijay from Australia is the youngest developer to attend the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2016 in San Francisco. According to a report in Fortune, she has already built several apps for iPhone and iPad. "It's my dream to go to WWDC and meet Tim Cook," said Vijay. She had applied for a Apple's scholarship program, and Apple selected her to visit San Francisco's Moscone Center for WWDC. Vijay learned coding through watching free coding tutorials on YouTube and the web for a year. "Coding was so challenging. But I'm so glad I stuck with it," she said. Her apps were inspired by her toddler sister, who was learning how to talk and identify animals. Vijay developed the Smartkins Animals app, which uses sounds, and flashcards to help teach children 100 different animals' names and sounds. "Turning an idea for an app involves a lot of hard work," Vijay said. "There are so many components to building an app, including prototyping, design and wirreframing, user interface design and then coding and testing." A report revealed that, winners of Apple's scholarships to attend WWDC were mostly under the age of 18. "Out of 350 recipients, 120 of the lucky winners are students. Submissions increased by 215% and more than doubled from organizations focused on science, technology, engineering, and math," the report said. Also Read: Kulkarni becomes first Indian to bag Commonwealth short story prize Nandini

Andhra government launches ‘Non-Resident Telugu Society’ May 11, 2016 06:59

The government of Andhra Pradesh established the "Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society" (NRTS). The society is headed by the chief minister and aims to promote "Brand AP" among the Telugu communities settled in foreign countries. The initiative also encourages their efforts in the state development process. The NRTS will also plan to promote and seek investments from non-resident Telugus, industrialists and the foreign investment agencies in several sectors in the state. The state chief secretary Satya Prakash Tucker, said that, "There is a huge interest among non-resident Telugus towards meaningful contribution for the growth and empowerment of people living in Andhra Pradesh.” "There should be an institutional mechanism to channelise their interest towards tangible contributions or investments from Non-Resident Telugus in Andhra Pradesh. Hence, the Society is being set up under the aegis of the state government," Tucker said in an order. The registered office of the society would be located here, while its area of function would be "all over the world", the order said. There are 10-member in the governing body of the Society. The committee would be headed by the CM, the minister for NRI affairs and adviser to government (non-resident Telugu affairs). It also includes principal secretaries of seven key departments as members. The society affairs will be managed by an eight-member executive council, headed by the adviser (NRT affairs), with two NRI members for a three-year term. Also read: NRIs aim to bring back lost artefacts of India Nandini

NRIs aim to bring back lost artefacts of India April 25, 2016 05:51

India Pride Project (IPP), a volunteer group has been launched by two NRIs to bring back the lost artefacts of India. The initiative is on a countrywide awareness campaign to highlight the reality of several lost pieces of culture. Vijay Kumar, co-founder of IPP, said that, "India was looted of more artefacts in the post-colonial era than under the British or Mughals." He is an art enthusiast himself and working as the general manager of a shipping company. According to the India Pride Project (IPP), nearly 70,000 artefacts have gone missing from India, in which around 7,000 from Karnataka state alone. The volunteers works across the world and identifies stolen art. They traces its route and tries to restore it back to its rightful place. Due to the IPP efforts, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott returned Sripuranthan Nataraja to India. “Among the five (artefacts) brought back to India through IPP last year is the celebrated Nataraja Idol of Brihadeeswara Temple in Tamil Nadu. The idol, stolen more than three decades ago, had reached museums in the U.S., and then Australia where it was sold for $1.5 billion,” said Mr. Seshadri Shankar, a Bengaluru-based IPP volunteer. “We are working towards the release of 2,000 artefacts, but 262 are ready to be brought back as of now,” said a volunteer. Anurag Saxena, a co-founder of IPP, said that, "Other countries are more helpful in returning pieces of art than India is in claiming what is rightfully ours." Anurag work as a chartered accountant and Asia-Pacific CEO for the World Education Foundation, UK. He spends his holidays in government offices attempting to bring back what he calls 'chori ka maal'. "I live in Singapore. If I don't do what I'm doing now, I wouldn't know what to tell my 6-year-old about her country, apart from the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar. In Indian villages, every other function happens in a temple. What if the idol there were to be stolen? It might just be a piece of stone for others but for people who believe in it, it's a big thing," Anurag said. The volunteer group uses Twitter to spread the awareness among citizens. Its handle #BringOurGodsHome was among the top five trending hashtags. Recently, they organized an event in Bengaluru to enlist volunteers. Around 120 people took a pledge to bring back their heritage during the event. Also read: US received 2.36 lakh H-1B visa applications, completes visa draw - Nandini

US received 2.36 lakh H-1B visa applications, completes visa draw April 14, 2016 05:11

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, it has received more than 2,36,000 H-1B petitions within just five days of opening up the visa process, which is three times more than the Congressionally-mandated cap for the coveted work visa sought by Indian IT professionals for 2017. The agency has completed the lottery or computerized draw of lots, for granting 65,000 H-1B visas after receiving over 2 lakh visa applications. According to USCIS, it also received over the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions from those international students, who completed their studies from the US academic institute and universities in subjects , technology, engineering, science and mathematics. Also read: US to take action against Indian students for illegal stay USCIS informed that, it has received more than 2,36,000 H-1B petitions including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption, during the filing period, that started on April 1. A computer-generated random selection process was used by USCIS on April 9 to determine the successful applications, 65,000 general-category cap and the 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption or master’s cap. All unselected petitions will be rejected or returned by the USCIS to applicants with their filing fees. USCIS will start premium processing for H-1B cap cases before May 16, as the agency announced on March 16 this year. Mail Today reported that, a senior Nasscom executive said that, "the details would take some time to emerge but Indian companies such s TCS, Infosys and Wipro are expected to get a lion's share of the visas. Canada and the Phillipines are the closest competitors." Nandini

NRI kids have high Autistic tendencies April 06, 2016 11:54

Autistic tendencies are increasing among the NRI kids. Over 30% of the total reported cases seen by the experts are said to be catering to this segment alone. The experts are divided over the factors responsible for the rising cases of autism in kids. It is a neuro behavioral problem in children which leads to communication barriers. It affect at least one in 1,000 kids in the country. Anitha Are, clinical psychologist, Citizens Hospital, said that, "It has been noticed that NRI parents, if both are working, have minimum exposure to other people around and they often involve themselves in gadgets besides remaining immersed in their work. Even if appointed care givers take care of the physical needs of the children, there is a huge gap of communication created with the kid." Dr Srinivas, who practised for three years in the USA,said that, "Unlike Indian parents, who would take it easy if their four year old child does not manage to speak even a few words, NRI parents settled in developed countries rush for autism screening at two years of age if they suspect any autistic behaviour." "Effectiveness of treatment would be hampered if their condition is not diagnosed and treated through behavioural, speech and occupational therapies starts before they turn six. They will end up becoming socially inept and poor motor skills when they enter in their teen," warned Dr Srinivas. Nandini

Indian-origin professor named Fulbright specialist roster April 04, 2016 08:05

An Indian-origin professor and the chairperson of the pharmaceutical department at a prestigious American university has named the Fulbright Specialist Roster for his outstanding work in the field of pharmacy. Rajendra R Aparasu, hailing from Mahbubnagar district, Telangana in India is the first professor at the University of Houston selected for the Fulbright Specialist Programme. The Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is funding the Fulbright programme,that, aims to help US faculty to share academic expertise and enhance linkages with non- US institutions on assessment, curriculum, research training and faculty development. Aparasu said that, "There are very few Fulbright specialists in pharmacy; I am really honoured to be selected for Fulbright Specialist Roster." "This is a great opportunity to offer my expertise in developing professional and graduate pharmacy programmes that involve pharmaceutical health outcomes and policy," he said. "I am looking forward to the opportunity to visit overseas pharmacy institutions to assist faculty and administrators with respect to academic and research programs in pharmaceutical outcomes research," he added. Also read: Indian scholar named VC of Canberra University He completed his Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) from Kakatiya University, and Master of Pharmacy (MPharm), from Jadavpur University in India. He obtained his Ph.D in Pharmacy Administration, University of Louisiana, Monroe, LA before joining the University of Texas in 2006. He also served as a faculty at the South Dakota State University for more than a decade. Pharmacoepidemiology, psychopharmacology, Geriatrics and evidence-based medicine are his primary areas of expertise. His current research project is being supported by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Nandini