Kerala Government takes over 117 vacant NRI seats

The 117 NRI seats in the self-financing medical colleges, that fell vacant after the spot admission, have been converted into merit seats and all these seats were filled by Friday evening. Meanwhile, the managements have come forward against converting the NRI seats to merit seats. Stating they would approach the court against this, they alleged the Entrance Commissioner did not have any right to do so. They said the SC had directed to complete the admission procedure on August 31 and the continuation of the process for the next day was illegal. 
Full report here

Call to make Aadhaar available for NRIs

The UAE-based Pravasi Bandhu Trust has urged the Centre to make Aadhaar available for all citizens, including Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).

Though only resident Indians were eligible for Aadhaar, many NRIs were applying for it because of its requirement for many services in India, Trust chairman K.V. Shamsudheen said in a statement here on Tuesday.
Read the full report in The Hindu

DCW seeks public opinion on NRI marriage disputes

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Commission for Women has sought suggestions from public on issues concerning disputes arising in NRI marriages. The commission has released a special e-mail ID — nri.dcw@gmail.com — for people to file their responses, the last date for submission of which is July 23.
READ the full report in ToI

Centre slashes NIT fee for Gulf NRIs

In a major relief to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the Gulf, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has slashed the fee for their children seeking admissions to NITs (National Institutes of Technology) under the Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) from this academic year.
The fee for Children of Indian Workers in the Gulf (CIWG) has been reduced to Rs 1.25 lakh a year. Previously the annual tuition fee was $8,000 a year (Rs 5,14,600), besides a non-refundable registration fee of $300 (Rs. 19,300).
The full report here

Taxman suspects NRIs of exchanging old notes for local citizens

Sources were quoted as saying that Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) informed the I-T department that old currency notes worth more than Rs 500 crore have been confiscated from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Gujarat since March 31.
NRIs were initially allowed to exchange old notes with the Reserve Bank of India till March 31, three months later than the deadline for Indian residents.

Read the full report here

NRIs cold-shoulder Punjab govt proposal on masala bonds

The plan of the state to float interest free seven-year masala bonds to pay off institutional loans taken by farmers have been cold shouldered by NRIs of the region.

They have been quite upfront on the issue and have said that they were already insecure about their properties and wanted to wind up things in Punjab. “We cannot even think of making a fresh investment, especially which is of five years or more”, is how their common refrain.

Full report here

NRI Forum wants Gulf workers to register & stay safe

With more workers from Karnataka leaving to the Middle East, the Karnataka NRI Forum wants people to register with the Ministry of External Affairs website emigrate.gov.in so that they can keep track of people who are leaving and help them if they get into trouble.

Seven individuals and companies operating in Karnataka as illegal agents have also been identified and further investigations are on.

Read the New Indian Express report

Telangana seeks centralised data of Indian workers in Gulf

Telangana Government has sought creation of a centralised data bank of migrants living in the Gulf region, and an agreement with the Gulf countries to allow the Indian convicts there to serve prison sentence in India.

Read the full report here

NRIs who receive all their salary abroad will not be taxed in India

Taxability in India depends on the following factors:

(a) Source of income

(b) Residential status

Typically, source of income lies where the services are performed, or where the asset, from which the income arises, is located. Residential status in India is determined based on your physical presence in India in the current financial year (FY) (1 April to 31 March) and preceding 10 FYs. If the individual satisfies any of the basic conditions mentioned below, he would qualify as a resident, otherwise he would qualify as a non-resident (NR):

Read the details to a tax query in Mint

Three of Britain’s four wealthiest are Indians

The wealthiest persons in Britain are India-born, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2017 which places the Hinduja brothers Srichand and Gopichand+ at the top of 134 billionaires. The brothers' estimated riches: 16.2 billion pounds, 3.2 billion pounds more than last year.

Read about the others

State quota sees PG medical seats In Maharashtra cost up to Rs 97 lakh a year

Thanks to an astronomical annual fee of Rs 96.6 lakh, all to be paid by cheque, the Kashibai Navale Medical College, Pune has received just 10 students for its 31 management quota seats—a first for the institute, which usually sees a flood of candidates every year.
The massive hike in tuition fee for the management (35%) and NRI (15%) quotas in private and deemed universities is because of the introduction of the state quota (50% seats) and the resulting subsidizing of medical education for these merit-based students. So, the fee hike is a cross-subsidy.
Full report here

Court directs NRI's extradition to USA in bank fraud case

A Delhi court has directed the Centre to extradite an NRI to the United States who is facing trial in an alleged bank fraud case there.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jyoti Kler passed the direction to send fugitive Rajiv Chander Kant Shah, after noting that there was a prima facie case against him for initiating trial.

Read the full report here

Telegana busy formulating NRI policy

Telegana IT and NRI Affairs Minister K.T. Rama Rao will attend a meeting convened by Union Minister for External Affairs at New Delhi on May 8 to discuss issued faced by the Indian immigrants working in Gulf countries and Malaysia.

The meeting in Delhi would focus on complaints from emigrant workers broadly related to recruitment agents, violation of contractual terms, working conditions, wage, employer, women related problems and compensation cases, according to an official release.

Full report

Centre’s help sought by Kerala for NRI’s welfare

The Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution moved by the government seeking Centre’s assistance to help the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), especially those working in the Middle East, in times of distress.

The resolution was moved by Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran to replace the Private Members Resolution moved by K.V. Abdul Khader seeking the intervention of the Union government to provide better status and welfare schemes for Keralites working in the Middle East and other countries.

Full report here

In AP, NRIs are helping 5,000 govt schools go digital

Andhra Pradesh Janmabhoomi (AP Janmbhoomi) is an exclusive online portal for the Telugu community all over the world, geared towards socio-economic development of Andhra Pradesh in particular and India in general.
Created by the Andhra Pradesh government, the project is the first of its kind in terms of an NRI-backed social initiative ever instated by any state government in India.

Full story here

Karnataka Nri Forum in UAE Officially Inaugurated by CM Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah officially inaugurated the newly formed Official body for Kannadiga NRI’s in UAE ‘Karnataka NRI Forum – UAE’ at a grand function hosted in Indian Consulate Auditorium, Dubai today the 28th of April, 2017 and marked this event as a historical day for the Kannadigas in UAE. 

Detailed report and photos here

Punjab mulls 7-year bond for NRIs to bail out farmers

The Punjab Government will seek the help of NRIs to extricate farmers from the vicious cycle of debt. It intends floating interest-free masala bonds that are issued outside India but denominated in Indian rupees.
Unlike dollar bonds, where currency risk is that of the borrower, it is the investor who bears the risk in case of masala bonds.
The proposed Kisan Sahayata Bonds, each with a minimum value of Rs 1 lakh, will have a seven-year tenure. The money thus raised will be used to pay off institutional debt availed by 30.23 lakh farmers.


Read the full story here

This NRI led service, provides tiffins at Rs 2

At first glance it would just look like a regular tiffin service. But this tiffin service started by NRI Mahendra Patel and supported by a group of NRIs, offers meals free to the needy in Anand town of Central Gujarat.

Full Times of India report

NRI businessmen Hindujas are wealthiest Asians in UK in 2017

NRI businessmen, the Hindujas, have retained their position as the richest Asians in the UK in 2017 with an estimated wealth of 19 billion pounds (1.6 lakh crore), an increase of 2.5 billion pounds over last year, according to an annual ranking of the richest Asians in UK.

Full report here

UK plans criminal check must for work visas

The UK government is set to introduce a new criminal record check requirement for workers from specific professions from non-EU countries like India from next month. Professionals such as teachers, nurses and social workers from outside the European Union (EU) who apply for a Tier-2 visa to live and work in the UK will need to provide a certificate from their home country authorities with their applications disclosing whether they have any criminal convictions. 

Read more here

KSFE Pravasi chits to fund Kerala highway projects

The cash-strapped state government is now looking at KSFE Pravasi chit funds to finance the ₹10,000-crore hill and coastal highway projects in the state.

A senior official of KSFE said the new chit funds catering to NRI customers would commence in June by launching a range of products worth ₹12,000 crore through a special campaign in the Gulf markets.

The reference on these two projects in the Finance Minister’s budget speech shows the government’s commitment to make it a reality by tapping NRI customers through the KSFE Pravasi chits.

The BusinessLine report

No more management, NRI quota in AYUSH colleges: Punjab

Following the Union government’s directions, Punjab has withdrawn management and NRI quota for undergraduate courses in private Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) colleges.

Besides, all 800 seats, both in private and government colleges, will be filled through the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET). Earlier, admissions were held through statewide entrance test conducted by Hoshiarpur-based Guru Ravidas Ayurved University.

More details here

State plans to issue cards for non-resident Kannadigas

Non-resident Kannadiga (NRK) diaspora could soon get NRK cards that the State government will co-brand with leading banks and corporates. The card will help them avail of special discounts at hotels, jewellery showrooms and hospitals, besides providing speedy services in government departments.

Read the full report here

India raises concerns with Canada on visas

NEW DELHI: India has raised concerns over the changes made by Canada in its Temporary Foreign Workers Programme, making it difficult for domestic companies to send employees to their Canadian units on short-term visas, impacting services trade.

Read the full report here

Karnataka unveils NRI Policy to link NRI Kannadigas across the globe

 In a path-breaking initiative, Karnataka’s Commerce and Industries Department has unveiled the NRI Policy of Karnataka with a vision of playing a catalytic role in building sustainable linkages between the State and Non-Resident Kannadigas across the globe to build a progressive, vibrant and prosperous Karnataka.
Highlights of the NRI Policy of Karnataka
Creation of a Data base on NRIs/ NRKs
Non Resident Kannadiga (NRK) Card
“Namma Ooru-Namma Nadu” initiative for NRIs/NRKs
Participation in Pravasi Bharathiya Divas
District level NRIs/NRKs Welfare Committee headed by the respective Deputy Commissioners

Detailed report available in Daijiworld

NRIs, PIOs urged to take up lucrative teaching assignments in India

In order to scale up human resource and to tide over the shortage of talented faculty, HRD Minister Prakash Javedekar urged NRIs and PIOs to take up lucrative teaching assignments.

“A decision to this effect will be finalised soon. Also, as part of this large strategy, a decision to open 20 universities of global standards will be set up in the country. Out of the 20 universities, about 10 will be public institutions and remaining private varsities,” he added.

Read the full story here

Search to find the next Ramanujan

A Bangalore-based computer scientist, Prof Sundaraja Sitharama Iyengar, who spent over four decades in the US and racked up an outstanding body of work is starting a first-of-its-kind talent search programme in Larnataka.

The programme, called NIAS-Maiya Prodigy, involves 10 meritorious students from various parts of the state — some from rural areas — who will receive a scholarship of `50,000.  The USP of the programme is that the 10 students will have a mentor assigned to them who will guide them in their studies and careers and monitor them over five years. 

Read full story here

Indian-origin appointed to top military post in Kyrgyzstan

Shaikh Rafik Mohammed, who hails from Kerala, was appointed major general of Kyrgyzstan by Ali Mirza, defence minister of Kyrgyzstan at an official ceremony held in the country, Khaleej Times reported.

Read about his here

NRIs can exchange old notes till June 30

The Reserve Bank of India has allowed non-resident Indians to exchange scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes till June 30. This facility will be available through RBI offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Nagpur. 

Read the full details here

Policy changes to attract NRIs to Indian realty, in 2017

The Indian property market has always been quite attractive for non-resident Indians (NRIs). The only concern, has been with the opaque nature of the business, with its lack of information and scientific process of due diligence. However, with some of the key policy changes in 2016, like the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA), demonetisation, the goods and services tax (GST and the Benami Transaction Act, the moot question now, is whether NRIs can be more confident in making an investment decision.

Read the full article in moneycontrol