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Ykktokc tkudkjhA
;g tkudj okdbZ vkp;Z gqvk fd ge fgUnqLrkuh nqfu;k ds gj dksus esa cls
gq, gSaA vkidk ys[k i<+ dj ;g irk pyk fd N% djksM+ ls T;knk fdlh Hkh :Ik
esa fgUnqLrkuh iwjh nqfu;k esa QSys gq, gSaA ;g Hkh cMs+ rkTtqc dh ckr gSa fd ftRkus
fgUnqLrkuh nqfu;k Hkj esa QSys gq, gSa mruh tula[;k rks dbZ egk}hiksa dh Hkh
ugha gSaA t; gksA
vatyh xzsoky] iatkc

;g dV~Vjrk ugha lkaLd`frd /kjksgj gS

gj ckj dh rjg vkidk ekpZ vad i<+kA
bl ckj ;g ,d eafnj ds ij FkkA
tksfd eq>s yxrk gS] tkudkjh ls
yckjst+ FkkA dgha ij Hkh ;g ugha yxk
fd ;g /kkfeZd mUekn dks c<+kok nsus
okyk gSaA ;g rks ,d /kjksgj gS ftldk
fdlh /keZ ;k lEiznk; ls dksbZ rkYyqd
ugha gSaA okg] etk vk x;kA eq>s yxrk ys[k Nkisa tks Hkkjr dks fodkl dh vksj
gS ftl rjg Hkkjr esa jktuhfrd ysdj tk,sa vkSj nqfu;k ds uDks ij ,d
lehdj.k cny jgs gaS vkjS ,d vyx csgrjhu :Ik esa Hkkjr dh Nfo isk djsaA
fdLe dh [kqkueqk gok cguh k: q gks jgh bl fy, eq>s yxrk gS fd vkidk ekpZ
gS mlh rjg vkidh if=dk dk Lo:Ik vad fdlh Hkh :Ik esa dV~Vjrk dh Nfo
Hkh dqN dqN xqnxqnkus lk yxk gSA isk ugha djrk vfirq ;g fgUnqo dh
vkils xqtkfjk+ gS flQZ ,sls gh lkaLd`frd /kjksgj ls :c: djkrk gSA
jked`.k ekS;Z] okjk.klh] mkj iznsk

DATE COUNTRY DAY

APRIL 4 SENEGAL NATIONAL DAY
APRIL 7 WHO WORLD HEALTH DAY
APRIL 15 KOREA, DPR BIRTHDAY OF GREAT LEADER H.H.KIM IL SUNG
APRIL 16 DENMARK BIRTHDAY OF H.M. THE QUEEN
APRIL 17 SYRIA NATIONAL DAY
APRIL 18 ZIMBABWE NATIONAL DAY
APRIL 19 HOLY SEE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ELECTION OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
APRIL 21 UNITED KINGDOM HM THE QUEEN'S OFFICIAL BIRTHDAY
APRIL 26 ISREAL NATIONAL DAY
APRIL 26 TANZANIA UNION DAY
APRIL 27 SIERRA LEONE NATIONAL DAY
APRIL 27 SOUTH AFRICA FREEDOM DAY
APRIL 27 TOGO NATIONAL DAY
APRIL 30 NETHERLANDS QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY
 Volume 05 Issue 07 April 2017

CHIEF PATRON AJAY SINGH
(Former High Commissioner, Fiji) RNI No. DELBIL/2012/45826
EDITOR RAJEEV GUPTA
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER B.K. AGGARWAL
ADVISOR SUSHIL TAYAL
CONSULTING EDITOR CHAKRAVARTHI SUCHINDRAN
CONSULTING EDITOR (REAL ESTATE) VINOD BEHL
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR RAMAN SWAMI
ASSOCIATE EDITOR SANDIP THAKUR
INSIDE
SUB EDITORS HARISH SINGH KIROLA
MILI GUPTA
SR. SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT AJEET VERMA
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT SUMIT SINGH
BUREAU HEADS RAJ UPPAL (NORTH AMERICA)
AJAY AGGARWAL (U K)
RAJIV KUMAR (ITALY)
RAVI KUMAR (FRANCE)
BALESH DHANKHAR (AUSTRALASIA)
SUMAN KAPOOR (NEW ZEALAND)
SURAJ DA COSTA (UAE)
ASHIRVAD PANDEY (SAUDI ARABIA)
VIJAY MALIK (BELGIUM)
JYOTHI VENKATESH (MUMBAI)
BUREAUS DR. MADHVI MOHINDRA (AUS.)
INDIA RISING
M. HARWANI (DENMARK)
SURESH KUMAR SINGH (UKRAINE)
GLOBAL STRATEGIST & PR GAUTAMI
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER RAJEEV TYAGI
26 NEW EQUATIONS IN A CHANGING WORLD

AVP MARKETING & PR SUMIT SINGH JAND

BUSINESS ASSOCIATE (DELHI) CHANDER MOHAN
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DR. HARRY DHANJU (CANADA)
M.S. SHALI (UK)
MANJIT NIJJAR (UK)
MOHAN GUNTI (ASEAN)
OVERSEAS CO-ORDINATORS RAJKUMAR YADAV
44 DOSSIER STATE FOCUS
48
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PUNJAB CO-ORDINATOR SHIKHA CHOPRA UNDER-PROFILED WELFARE PLANS
MEDIA ADVISOR MUKESH SAINI
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT 50
LEGAL CONSULTANT DR. RAJA VOHRA
THREE Ps FOR .................
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EDITOR: RAJEEV GUPTA
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 Publishers Note

iz;kl] bartkj vkSj fookl--- tkjh gSa---!

b lls dksbZ QdZ ugha iM+rk ds vHkh rd la?kkZ tkjh gSA ysfdu dke;kch rks r;
gS--- cskd vHkh dqN dne nwj gSA va/ksjs dk Mj vkSj gkj dk [kkSQ mUgsa gksrk gS]
ftUgsa vius ij fookl ugha gksrk] ge rks ,d vyx feV~Vh ds cus gaS] u tkus
dSlh&dSlh dfBukb;ksa] eqfdykrksa] rhj&ck.kksa dks >syrs gq, ;gka rd igqaps gaSA
psgjs ij thr dh eqLdku vkSj lksp esa vkRefookl dh xBjh Bhd oSls gh
pEkpekrh jgrh gS] tSls dh ,d cPps ds psgjs ij fueZy eqLdkuA
ckr cqjk ekuus dh ugha gS] esjh cqjkbZ djus ds fy, rks nqfu;k cSBh gS]
blfy, eq>s esjh rkjhQ djus esa tjk Hkh fgp ugha gSA ;gh rks esjs fookl dh
iwath gS] gj lqcg psgjs ij yktokc fookl Hkjh eqLdqjkgV gksrh gS] D;ksafd iwjh
jkr ,d ls ,d c<+ dj Out of the Box fopkj vkSj [;kykr fgPk+dksys ekjrs
jgrs gSa ftUgsa iwjk djus dh yyd kjhj esa ftUnkfnyh Hkjh ,slh rkt+xh Hkj nsrh
gS] ekuks esjs feku dk vkt igyk gh fnu gSA blfy, tUefrfFk ij White
Fluid yxk j[kk gSA ckr ;g Hkh gS ds vkt lqcg Hkh eSa ftUnk mBk gw ;kfu ds eSa
mu [kqkulhcksa esa ls ,d gwa ftls Hkxoku us vkt Hkh dke djrs jgus vkSj vius
psgjs ij eqLdqjkgV fc[kjrs gq, vkxs c<+rs jgus ds fy, laklsa ns j[kh gSa] rks D;ksa
u eSa bu glhu iyksa ij brjkaA
vjs--- gks rks ogh jgk gS] tks gksuk gS D;ksafd tks ge lksprs gSa] pkgrs gSa---
geskk ugha gksrkA dqN oks Hkh gks jgk gS tks eSa lksprk gw] ysfdu T;knk oks gks jgk
gS tks esjh lkspksa ls ijs gS] ysfdu ;dhuh rkSj ij tks gks jgk gS--- csgrjhu gks jgk
gSA
blfy, vxj esjk ^vkt* dqN /khek Hkh py jgk gS rks dksbZ ckr ugha]
HkbZ ;g rks /khek pyuk ykteh gS D;ksafd /ku dh deh rks vPNs&vPNs dh pky
ij pkcqd pyk nsrh gSA This is my humble confession--- fd] ftUnxh esa eaSus
dHkh iSlk cpk;k ugha vkSj vkt dy dekbZ dqN de gS] rks dV dk nnZ dqN
rks gksxk gh--- ij fpark ughaA tc dksfkksa tkjh gSa] nqfu;k ds gj dksus esa igqap
vkSj idM+ cu jgh gS vkSj fonskksa esa jps&cls gekjs fgUnqLrkfu;ksa ds chp gekjh
if=dk viuh [kwclwjr tx+g cuk jgh gS] rks fQj lkQ+ gS--- fd eafty djhc gSA
tc tc esjh] gekjs NRI vkSj PIO ca/kqvksa ls eqykdkr gksrh gS vkSj oks
fny ls tks rkjhQ djrs gSa rks eu brjkus yxrk gS] ysfdu eSa Hkh NwVrs gh dg
nsrk gw fd tukc dqN psfjVh rks gekjs fy, Hkh dhft, rkfd bl feku dks
tYn ls tYn iwjh nqfu;k ds chp ys tkus esa dke;kch fey ldsA
var esa ,d ksj lk>k dj jgk gw---

ifjanks dks feysxh eaft+y ,d fnu]

;s QSys gq, muds ij cksyrs gSa]
vkSj ogh yksx jgrs gSa [kkeksk vDlj]
t+ekus esa ftuds gquj cksyrs gSa--
& jktho xqIrk

April 2017
7
 Editorial

IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD ...

arch, and proverbial the Ides of March slipped us past this year quite
M timorously, leaving multiple alarms ringing in the backgrounds of our
minds, all clamouring for attention, and raising serious doubts about where
this world of ours is going. We are today both at home and abroad,
domestically and internationally, being confronted by a wholesale movement away
from the placid and somnolent feeling of well ness we so yearn for ourselves, as
matters go haywire all around us. Is it Toffler's 'future Shock' we are
experiencing, or is it just that things are simply slipping from our control here
there and everywhere? Moot point, but things are changing, and changing in
ways ill imagined by us.
we saw elections taking place in multiple states for legislative
assemblies, and for municipal corporations in some others. Uttar Pradesh was
the site of the battle royale and what an upset it turned out to be, as PM Modi's
Bharatiya Janata Party and its NDA constituents literally swept the state, to
garner an absolute majority on their own! Uttarakhand saw the NDA reaping a
positive harvest as well, and yes, there were these moments of suspense as a
fleet-footed NDA literally ate the ground from under a flat-footed Congress in
both the States of Goa and Manipur. The coronation of Yogi Adityanath as the
UP CM came as a surprise, and has the state grappling with some heady issues
that are trending on forums of public opinion today. In the United States of America a
newly elected President Trump continues to send mixed signals is it a lack of
cohesive policy, or is it obfuscation by design? No one so far has been able to fathom
that.
All said and done, it is still work in progress insofar as the India Story is
concerned ... but last initiatives by the government to the PM's musings on radio point
more to the whimsical for instance when the state in response to the PM's
observation that food ought not to get wasted, attempts to, for example, dam the food
wastage by meddling and try micro-managing 'portions' rather than paying more
attention to larger issues of the slips between cups and lips in storing food grain
efficiently, building cold-chain infrastructure, and a mandi-system that are right up
their alley.
NRI Achievers too is as much work-in-progress as our State is, seeking to
evolve more into a platform of choice for our Diaspora as well as for our domestic
readers, and as a preferred means to access news, views, features and quality
information that matter the most to you. We are doing our best to bring you a stronger
Diaspora outreach, and the views of a wider cross-section of our perceived
constituencies through ope-ed articles under Real politik.
With that, let us stop editorialising, and march ahead as spring blooms all
around us, colourising the world around us into richer hues. Here's wishing you all a
great month ahead, and until the next issue, we will abide with the gentleness of
spring. Cheers!

- Chakravarthi Suchindran

April 2017
www.nriachievers.in 9
 Diaspora News
TOP INDIAN HONOUR
FOR PRITI PATEL
P riti Patel, the UK
Government's Secretary
of State for International
Development and first ever UK-
India Diaspora Champion, has
been awarded India's highest
honour for Diaspora, the Pravasi
Bharatiya Samman Puraskar.
The award was conferred on Ms
Patel by the President of India,
Pranab Mukherjee, in
recognition of her exceptional
contributions to national and
international politics, her role in
strengthening UK-India
relations, and for supporting the
Indian Diaspora in the UK. The
award was presented to Ms Patel
at special ceremony at India
House in London. In receiving this prestigious award, Ms
Patel joins an illustrious list of previous winners. The Rt
Hon Priti Patel, MP, was elected to represent the Witham
parliamentary constituency in 2010 and re-elected in 2015.
In 2013 the then Prime Minister David Cameron had
appointed her as the first ever UK-India Diaspora
Champion. She has accompanied him on official visits to
India and helped facilitate the visit from Prime Minister
Modi to the UK. Ms Patel has also served as the Exchequer
Secretary to the Treasury (2014-15), and the Minister of
State for Employment (2015-16). Ms Patel is also the first
woman MP of Indian origin to hold a Cabinet position in
the UK Government.
INDIA-BORN BUSINESSMAN WINS
LOCAL ELECTION IN AUSTRALIA
An India-born businessman Kevin
Michel, a Labour party candidate
from Pilbara, has defeated
Brendon Grylls of the Nationals
Party to win a local election in
Western Australia. Michel, born in
India, had moved to Australia 27
years ago and to Pilbara in 2001.
He has been living in Karratha for
the past 16 years and owns an air conditioning business.
The Western Australia state election was held on March 11
this year to elect members to the state Parliament,
including all 59 seats in Legislative Assembly and all 36
seats in the Legislative Council.
April 2017
10
INDIAN-ORIGIN RESEARCHER CREATES
GENETIC TOOL PREDICTING HEART DISEASE
Dr. Nilesh Samani
origin researcher
an Indian-
and his team of
scientists have created a genetic tool to
predict heart disease and also calculate
the genetic risk score of people. The new
tool can calculate the risk of people
likely to develop coronary heart disease,
identifying the problem much earlier and
improving its prevention. This advance
genetic tool, if successful, may pave the
way for early and personalized
preventive interventions. This study from University of Leicester
in the UK is the first to look at a much larger number of SNPs to
give a fuller picture of an individual's genetic risk of developing
CHD. And this is the first really large study showing potential
benefits of using a genetic risk score over and above current
methods to identify people at increased risk of coronary heart
disease," says Dr. Nilesh Samani, Professor at the University of
Leicester, England. This study shows the potential benefits of
using a genetic risk score over and above current methods to
identify people at increased risk of coronary heart disease. We
already know that CHD starts at an early age, several decades
before symptoms develop, and preventative measures should
ideally be applied much earlier, especially to those who are at
increased risk, Dr. Samani added.
TULSI GABBARD ELECTED COCHAIR
OF THE CONGRESSIONAL INDIA CAUCUS
The first Hindu lawmaker in the US
Congress, Tulsi Gabbard, elected as
co-chair of the Congressional
Caucus on India and Indian-Americans,
has vowed to work for furthering Indo-
US relations. She has said that the level
of engagement seen both in the House
and in the Senate on issues related to
India and America's partnership and
friendship "only continues to grow. Gabbard, 35, is a three-term
Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii. She succeeds her
Democratic congressional colleague Indian-American Dr Ami
Bera. "Congressman Holding and I are working together on what is
the legislative strategy for building an agenda for the caucus to
move forward in the 115th Congress," Gabbard told a selected
gathering of influential Indian-Americans and key lawmakers at a
round table at the US Capitol recently organised jointly by US-
India Friendship Council and US India Business Council. Noting
that there is growing momentum, interest and excitement around
India US relationship, Gabbard said there is really unity in the
issues of cooperation and opportunity between the two countries.
www.nriachievers.in
 Diaspora News

INDIAN-AMERICAN GETS PREET BHARARA WAS PROBING TRUMP

TOP US HEALTHCARE POST
Indian-American Seema Verma has been sworn-in as
the head of a key healthcare agency in the Trump
administration. She would be heading the US$ 1
trillion federal agency that provides health services to
130 million Americans. According to US Vice
President Mike Pence, Verma was approved by a 55-
43 vote, largely along party lines. Importantly, in
November, 2016, President Donald Trump had
nominated Ms. Verma to serve as administrator of the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, the Health Department
agency that oversees the Obamacare
insurance markets, Medicare, and
Medicaid. Announcing the
appointment, Pence said, President
Trump has chosen one of the leading
experts in America on state-based
healthcare solutions to lead this
important agency. Seema, President Trump has now
asked you to bring your expertise to Washington, DC.
As Administrator of the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, we're confident that you'll help
restore health care decision-making to the states, and
in the process, help make the best health care system in
the world even better." Verma is the second Indian-
American to be inducted into the Trump
administration. She was elevated to the top federal
position after her successful career in private health
sector, spanning two decades. In the recent years she
had played a key role in health care reforms in Indiana,
she is also the founder and CEO of SVC Inc., a health
policy consulting firm. Verma, a first-generation
American, received her bachelor's degree in life
sciences from the University of Maryland. She earned
a master's degree in public health with a specialisation
in health policy and management from the Johns
Hopkins School of Public Health.
CABINET MEMBER WHEN FIRED
Preet Bharara, the Indian-
American attorney who was
recently fired by Trump, was
said to be investigating into
allegations of insider trading
of health-related stocks by
Secretary of Health and
Human Services Tom Price.
N e w Yo r k - b a s e d
independent and non-profit
ProPublica, known for its
investigative reporting mostly on health-related issues, has claimed in its
latest report that at the time of being fired, Bharara was overseeing an
investigation into questionable stock trades made by Price. The story is
based on sources and the White House has not yet commented on the
allegations. Bharara was fired last month after he refused to resign on
being asked by the Department of Justice to do so along with 45 other US
attorneys, all previous Obama Administration appointees. ProPublica
has, however, not concluded that Bharara was fired explicitly because of
this investigation against Price. Allegations against Price trading in
health-related stocks first came in during his confirmation hearing for the
position of Secretary of Health and Human Services.
INDIAN-AMERICAN FOURTH ON LIST OF OVERPAID CEOs
Indian-American CEO of a Chicago-
based property firm, General Growth
Properties, Sandeep Matharani, has
been ranked fourth on a list of top 25
overpaid CEOs in the US. The non-
profit organisation promotes
environmental and social corporate
responsibility. Matharani, with a total
compensation of US$ 39.2 million in 2016, is said to be overpaid by 26
million dollars.

TRUMP APPOINTS INDIAN-AMERICAN TO TOP JUDICIAL POSITION

An Indian-American legal luminary
Amul Thapar, 47, has been nominated by
US President Trump to a key judicial
position on the powerful US court of
appeals. If confirmed by the Senate,
Thapar will be part of the powerful US 6th
Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears
appeals from Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio
and Michigan. He is the first Indian-
American to have been nominated by
Trump for the top judicial post. Judge
Thapar is known for his tough on
criminals approach and has stated that
the judicial system does not punish repeat
offenders harshly enough. The South
Asian Bar Association of North America
(SABA), which is normally critical of
Trump, has lauded him for his intent. The
son of Indian-American immigrants,
Judge Thapar has served on the District
Court for the Eastern District of
Kentucky. With his 2008 nomination by
President George W Bush and subsequent
confirmation and appointment, Judge
Thapar became the Nation's first Article
III judge of South Asian descent. He also
served on the Terrorism & National
Security subcommittee, the Violent
Crime subcommittee and the Child
Exploitation working group.

April 2017
www.nriachievers.in 11
 Diaspora News

INDIAN-AMERICAN TEENAGER AWARDED FOR HER INDIAN-AMERICAN IN RACE

RESEARCH ON CURING BRAIN INJURIES FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR POST
Indians staying overseas never Indian-American
leave a chance to impress with entrepreneur Harsh
their pool of talent. Glorifying Vardhan Singh, a 31-
India's name recently is year-old Republican, has
teenager Indrani Das, who has entered the race for the
emerged victorious in one of governor's office in New
the most esteemed Science Jersey, with a promise to
competitions in the world cut property taxes and make New Jersey a technology
the Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition, hailed as the leader. The polls are due in November. He will,
'Junior Nobel' for science. The 17-year-old Indian American from however, face a tough primary on June 6, with four
New Jersey was awarded US$ 250,000 for her work on curing brain
Republicans in the race: Jack Ciattarelli, Lt governor
injuries and diseases. Her groundbreaking project discovered a
Kim Guadagno, Steven Rogers and businessman
method of enhancing the survival rate of neurons affected by injury or
Joseph Rudy Rullo. If elected, Singh would be the
degenerative disease in the brain. Neuron death is a condition that
occurs when cells called astrocytes react to injury by growing, dividing third PIO elected as a governor of a state.
and reducing uptake of glutamate, which in excess is toxic to neurons.
In a very proud moment for India another student of Indian origin, HINDUJAS WEALTHIEST ASIANS IN UK
Arjun Ramani secured the third place, with US$ 150,000, and another
eight Indian-origin students were among the 40 finalists, each of whom
received prizes of US$ 25,000. One among the oldest US science and
math competitions for students, the Talent Search is today sponsored
by medical firm Regeneron, in association with the Society for Science
and the Public (SSP). It enjoys the sobriquet Junior Nobel as so far
12 contest alumni have gone on to earn a Nobel for themselves.

INDIAN-ORIGIN BUSINESSMAN SHOT DEAD

Harnish Patel, 43,
the Indian-origin
owner of a
convenience store in
the US County of
Lancaster, was shot
dead outside his
home, just a few days after an Indian engineer was
killed in a Kansas hate crime shooting that sent
shockwaves across the country. Patel was found dead of
gunshot wounds in his front yard. He had closed his
store 6 km away and driven his minivan home where he
was confronted by the killer. According to the Police, he
had locked up a mere 10 minutes ago before he was
found dead. After hearing the screaming and gunshots
people had alerted the County police around 11:33 PM.
Sheriff Barry Faile is of the view that the Indian
ethnicity of Patel does not appear to be a factor in the
crime. Patel had offered me jobs and did anything he
could to help out in tough times, "He's watched my kids
grow up, which is why it's painful, said Mario Sadler,
another customer and friend. People are expressing
concerns over their safety in an enviornment of
xenophobic and racist rhetoric in the country.
The Hindujas have
retained their pole
position as the richest Asians in the UK for 2017, with an estimated
wealth of 19 billion pounds an increase of 2.5 billion pounds over last
year. Steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal secures the second place. Prakash
Lohia, Chairman of the Indorama Corporation is the 3rd richest in the list,
Anil Agarwal, executive chairman of Vedanta Resources, one of the
fastest growing mining and metals group in the world, is fourth along
with Arora brothers Simon, Bobby and Robin who own a chain of
retail stores. Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul is 14th on the
list. In sum, Britain's 101 wealthiest Asians are collectively worth 69.9
billion pounds, up from 55.4 billion pounds last year a rise of 25%.
According to Eastern Eye's 'Asian Rich List, Britain's 101 Wealthiest
Asians 2017,' the Hinduja brothers Srichand and Gopichand in
London, Prakash in Geneva and Ashok in Mumbai have seen sharp
increases in the profitability of Ashok Leyland, IndusInd Bank, Gulf Oil,
and their other assets in energy and real estate. London Mayor Sadiq
Khan, Chief Guest at the 20th Annual Asian Business Awards organised
by the Asian Media & Marketing Group, presented the first copy of the
Rich List to G P Hinduja, Co-Chairman of the Hinduja Group. At the
awards ceremony, Surinder Arora, founder and Chairman of the Arora
Group, collected the prestigious Asian Business of the Year Award. The
Arora Group is one of the UK's largest private owner operator of hotels.

April 2017
12 www.nriachievers.in
 Diaspora News

DONALD TRUMP NOMINATES AJIT PAI
FOR FCC SECOND TERM
US President Trump has
nominated yet another
Indian-American, Ajit
Pai, to serve another term
at the powerful Federal
Communications
Commission. The FCC is
an independent agency
created by Congressional statute to regulate interstate
communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and
cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and US
territories. Ajit had previously served as Commissioner at
the FCC. After becoming President, Trump had designated
Pai as acting Chairman of Federal Communications (FCC).
Trump had then said, "These dedicated men and women will
help me and the rest of the Administration as we continue our
work to make America great again. I am grateful for their
willingness to serve and honoured that they will be joining
my team." Ajit pai, before joining the FCC, was a Partner at
Jenner & Block LLP from 2011 until 2012, and Deputy
General Counsel, Associate General Counsel, and Special
Advisor to the General Counsel at the FCC from 2007 until
2011. The son of immigrants from India, Pai grew up in
Parsons, Kansas. Pai says he looks forward to bring digital
opportunity to all Americans. "High-speed Internet access, or
broadband, is critical to economic opportunity, but there are
still too many parts of this country where broadband is
unavailable or unaffordable. There is a real and growing
digital divide in America. In wealthier, metropolitan areas,
4G LTE is ubiquitous, and gigabit fixed service is expanding.
10-YR OLD INDIAN GIRL FROM DENMARK
WINS CODING CHALLENGE
'The Chilly Girls' Jivina Harwani
(Indian), Maja Baird (Norwegian) and
Nicole Zi Yi Ooi (Malaysian) from
Copenhagen have won the first prize
in a global Coding Challenge. DXC
Technology of Canada had issued a
challenge to kids aged 10-13 years
around the globe in January 2017, to
create an adventure game using the
online coding tool 'Scratch.' The aim
was to recognize STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) skills such as coding
from aspiring young technologists. There was tremendous
response, with over 1700 kids pulling together 575 teams in 13
countries, submitting hundreds of really amazing and creative
games. 130 judges from across the world juried to review and
evaluate each project, helping identify local winners and projects.
The semi-finalist 1st and 2nd place winners received fabulous
prizes and progressed to the next level of the challenge, competing
for the global championship. Three 10 year olds all girls - from
the Copenhagen International School, Denmark won the first
prize both Nationally and Globally in category 10 &11 years old.
In the same category, the second prize went to 'The Sharkoders'
from the United States. In category 12 &13 years old, teams
'Koding Kings' and 'The Three Potatoes' from Australia tied for
the first prize. The award ceremonies were held around the world,
viz., in Sydney, Melbourne, Copenhagen, London, Chorley,
Berlin, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Noida, Avils, Hartford
(CT), St. Louis (MO), Tysons (VA), and Ho Chi Minh City. Three
cheers to the chilli girls! - Denmark Bureau

PIOS RAISE US$ 100K FOR 'HERO' WHO TOOK BULLET FOR DESIS
It's a story of humanitarian heroism that
generally gets buried in the blizzard of
bad news. The bullet that American hero
Ian Grillot took standing-up to
xenophobic hate against two Indian
engineers in Kansas last month was
worth more than the US$ 100,000
Indian-Americans have succeeded in
raising for him. Still, in a mood of
virulent intolerance towards foreigners
in conservative redoubts in America,
desis in Houston celebrated Grillot's
heroism. Whatever you have done to
save the life of a stranger, you represent
the true America, you are the true hero ...
money cannot compensate you for your
heroism, but I hope you will accept this
cheque and utilise it towards buying your
house, community leaders, India's
ambassador Navtej Sarna and Houston
Consul General Anupam Ray told
Grillot. The incident has left a deep
impression on Indian-Americans, many
of them at the receiving end of American
resentment for their success, rather than
legality. The US$ 100,000 that has been
raised comes on top of US$ 473,000 that
came from a campaign launched by
Grillot's sister. A similar campaign for
family of Kuchibhotla raised US$
682,793. Many community activists
blame President Trump for engendering
a permissive atmosphere for right-wing
elements to express xenophobia, which
they say is resulting in attacks on many
naturalised citizens.

April 2017
www.nriachievers.in 13
 Readers Corner

HOLI IN USA
CELEBRATING THE COLOURS OF LIFE
From this issue, we begin carrying reader-contributed content,
in an effort to encourage our Diaspora to participate in making
this platform a more inclusive and participative one. This time
round, we carry a piece by Indian-American Anu Jain, an
artist, accountant and activist based out of Long Island, NY.
She writes about how the Diaspora community is given to
celebrating Holi, the festival of colours that welcomes spring ...
In the United States, social and cultural organisations
formed by Indians celebrate most Indian festivals
including Holi, the festival of colors, which
personifies a celebration of the victory of good over
evil, and the represents love, friendship, and
brotherhood. Here in our community, a large number
of Hindus welcome people from other communities
and get together to celebrate festivals in temples or
sometimes in private venues.
I live in New York and here people of all cultures get
together on the streets for huge Holi celebrations.
People are seen having fun in these "Parades" as they
play with dry colours in the midst of the spectacle.
There is so much celebration here that it makes us feel
we are in India and New York is an adjunct of mother
India.
Many families host private parties to celebrate this
colorful festival and teach children values of Indian
culture. Our people generally try to preserve close
relations with to our motherland and her rich Sanskriti
(culture) as much as possible. Despite the rough and
tumble of daily life and busy schedules we invite
friends and family to our home, to play Holi with
colours and dance to festival music. Every family
brings some homemade traditional sweets as well to
keep the festival spirits alive. These social, cultural
and festival meets help the new generation to identify
themselves with their cultural roots and they learn to Anu Jain
An artist, accountant and social activist, the author
understand the significance of celebrating festivals. is treasurer at Jain Centre, America, and has
served as one with the Rajasthan Association of
Great enthusiasm for Holi can be seen everywhere North America, and is a President with Business
during this time of the year. A Care Solutions & Services, Long Island, New York

April 2017
14 www.nriachievers.in
 News Scan

THE BRITISH SIKH ASSOCIATION CELEBRATED BAISAKHI

On the 23rd of March 2017, the British
Sikh Association hosted its annual dinner
at the Lancaster Hotel in London, to
celebrate the festival of Vaisakhi aka
Baisakhi, when the Order of the Khalsa
was created by Sri Guru Gobind Singh,
the 10th Sikh Guru. The Chief Guest at
event was the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Fallon,
MP and Secretary of State for Defence,
and the Guest of Honour was H.E. Y.K.
Sinha, the High Commissioner of India to
the United Kingdom. Over 650
distinguished guests were in attendance.
The event commenced with a spectacular
Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas
performing the national anthems of India
and the United Kingdom, followed by a
one-minute silence to remember the
bravery and sacrifice of PC Keith Palmer,
the bravery of all emergency service men
and women, and those who lost their lives
or were injured in the terror Attack in
Westminster on 22nd March 2017. An
emotional video presentation on Sikh
involvement in the British Army and both
World Wars was given by
Matthew Ward of 'History
Needs You.' Another
special video presentation
on the same subject,
courtesy the BBC, was
shown followed by a
speech by Dr. Rami
Ranger, CBE, Chairman
of the British Sikh
Association. He spoke of
the growing need for the
contribution of Sikhs to be
taught as part of the from all faiths to join, as Sikhs by their
curriculum in schools. It is not widely very nature believe in being inclusive and
known that over 84,000 Sikh soldiers died are never insular. Dr. Ranger, apropos,
and over 109,000 were injured over the was met with rousing applause when he
two world wars, and there ought be a announced a UK 1 million pledge for the
better understanding of our shared recruitment campaign for the Sikh
history. He also spoke of the need to regiment. He closed his address with a
resurrect a Sikh regiment within the request to Virendra Sharma, MP for
British army to keep alive the bravery of Southall and Ealing, and Ealing Council
those who defended the empire with their leader Cllr Julian Bell, to support the BSA
lives, stating that the regiment should in its call to erect a memorial in Southall
only be so in name and be open to people for the fallen Sikh soldiers.

INDIAN WATER DELEGATION TO VISIT DENMARK enn ds fy, vkxs vkbZa lq"kek
The Danish embassy in New Delhi, under the auspices of DANIDA, is
poised to take a delegation of key Indian decision-makers and potential
business partners to visit Denmark over five days, between 29th May
and 2nd June this year. With an urban population approaching 400
million by 2025, India faces a monumental task in following the growth
of its cities in terms of water infrastructure. One of the biggest and most
basic challenges is urban water supply, which currently is inadequately
equipped to serve increasing needs, making access to safe drinking
water, sanitation, water energy provision etc., a priority for India. The
delegation will take relevant Indian public and private stakeholders to
Hkkjr ljdkj esa fons'k ea=h lq"kek Lojkt us bLykekckn esa
Denmark to visit Danish companies that have water solutions to offer
Hkkjrh; mPpk;ksx dks funsZ'k fn;k fd og ikfdLrku esa Qalh
India. Tentative Indian participants are to include public stakeholders,
officials from Gujarat and Rajasthan States from municipalities like
Hkkjrh; efgyk ds ikliksVZ dks fjU;q djs vkSj mldh ns'k okilh
Udaipur, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Vadodara, members of
dh O;oLFkk djsA ikfdLrku esa efgyk dk ifr dfFkr rkSj ij mls
other dgovernment arms such as the Water Resource and the Urban rkfM+r djrk gSA lq"kek Lojkt ls 44 lky dh gSnjkckn dh
Planning departments both at the federal as well as the local levels. jgus okyh efgyk ds firk us mldh Lons'k okilh esa enn ekaxh
Private stakeholders like Indian companies working on Smart Cities FkhA blds ckn dbZ V~ohV djds lq"kek us tkudkjh nh fd mUgksaus
and water infrastructure, especially in Gujarat and Rajasthan, are also Hkkjrh; mPpk;ksx ls efgyk ds ikliksVZ dk uohuhdj.k djus
likely to participate. For more information, one may contact the vkSj mldh Hkkjr okilh dh O;oLFkk djus dks dgk gSA lq"kek us
Confederation of Danish Industry's India office. V~ohV fd;k] ^eSaus Hkkjrh; mPpk;ksx ls mudh Hkkjr okilh dh
-Denmark Bureau O;oLFkk djus dks dgk gSA

April 2017
www.nriachievers.in 15
 News Scan

UK's INDIAN-ORIGIN MPs CALL FOR UNITY OZ INDIAN RACIALLY

Keith Vaz Seema Malhotra
Indian-origin MPs who were inside the
British parliament and were caught up in
the aftermath of the recent terror attack,
have called for unity among communities
even as Prime Minister Theresa May and
Scotland Yard link the attack to Islamist-
related terrorism . Proceedings of the
House were suspended soon after the
attack, and nearly 400 MPs and others
were told not to leave the building until it
was safe. Among those MPs confined to a
chamber were Labour MPs Keith Vaz,
Valerie Vaz, Virendra Sharma, Seema
Malhotra and Conservative MP Shailesh
Vara. We must not sink to the level of
people who hate us, we must stand
together as a community not apart and not
scared, unbent and unbowed, Virendra
Velerie Vaz Virendra Sharma Shailesh Vara
Sharma said. Rt. Hon. Priti Patel, MP,
said: The terrorist incident in
Westminster was horrific and shocking.
My thoughts and prayers are with the
families and relatives of those who died
and with the injured victims. The events
that unfolded are being thoroughly
investigated and we all stand together to
show that we will not be defeated by
terrorism. I commend the police,
emergency services and medical staff for
their swift action and bravery. They put
themselves in harm's way and in danger to
help and protect people. I pay tribute to
PC Keith Palmer for his courage and
bravery. His family have my condolences
and he will be in all of our thoughts and
prayers.
ABUSED, ASSAULTED
An Indian from Kerala was assaulted
by a group of teenagers, who took to
hurling racial abuses at him while at
a restaurant in Australia's Hobart. Li
Max Joy, who is pursuing a nursing
course and works as a part time
cabbie, has alleged that five people,
including a girl, hurled racial abuses
like you bloody
black Indians, at
him and assaulted
h i m a t t h e
McDonald's
restaurant. He said
the five accused were arguing with a
worker inside, but soon turned their
attention to him. When others in the
restaurant called the police, the
attackers left but they returned later
and assaulted him again. Li had to
undergo a CAT scan and X-rays.

INDIAN WORKERS BLOCKED FROM LEAVING QATAR DESPITE REFORMS

countries including India to return
home, according to activists and trade
unions. No reason was given for
requests being denied. The Qatari
government has defended the reforms
to replace the kafala sponsorship
system, which forces foreign workers
to seek their employer's consent to
change jobs or leave the country a
Violating new labour reforms to measure that rights groups say leaves
improve workers' rights, Qatar has workers open to exploitation. A law
refused to allow migrants from making it easier for migrants to change
jobs and leave the oil-rich Gulf state
where many of them have been
recruited to build football stadiums
ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup
came into effect in December. Qatari
officials were not immediately
available for comment, but reports by
state-run Qatar News Agency earlier
have said the newly-established Exit
Permit Grievances Committee had
rejected 213 requests made up until
February 15.

TURBANED US MAN TARGETED DUE TO ETHNIC ORIGIN

A Sikh male was shot
outside his home in
Wa s h i n g t o n b y a
partially-masked
gunman, who targeted
him for ethnic origin,
shouting "go back to
your own country."
Local authorities have
announced a reward of up to US$ 6,000 for providing a lead.
US national Deep Rai, 39, was approached by a stranger
outside his home who first argued with him and then shot him
in his arm. Kent Police Chief Ken Thomas told media: "The
account provided by the victim suggests he was targeted
because of his ethnic origin." He added furhter that "Hateful
acts are not acceptable." The incident is being investigated by
the Kent Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a
hate crime.

April 2017
16 www.nriachievers.in
 News / Product Scan

NRIs WAIT TO GET MONEY TRANSFERRED INDIAN AMERICAN KILLED

NRIs residing outside the WIFE INJURED IN HIT & RUN
country who had deposited
demonetised cash at RBI
(Reserve Bank of India) offices
will have to wait for one more
month to get their money
transferred into their bank
accounts. While the government
has allowed a longer timeframe
for NRIs and Indians travelling
outside the country to deposit their defunct currency notes of INR 500 & 1,000, In the Columbus city of Indiana, US, an
they apropos have to go through a whole series of checks meant to ensure that Indian American Anshul Sharma, 30, was
their money is clean. The RBI will check other data-points provided by the killed in a hit-and-run case while his wife
customs department, which include a person's travel itinerary and date of Samira Bharadwaj, 28, got critically injured.
departure and arrival in the country, and whether or not his/her bank accounts have Police have arrested a 36-year-old man,
been used in the recent past. The old currency notes of INR 500 & 1,000 that are Michael Demaio, who was driving a red
being deposited at the RBI offices at various places will not immediately reflect in Chrysler minivan and hit the couple from
the bank accounts of the depositors. There will be a multi-layered scrutiny of behind near the Four Seasons Retirement
various data-points and this process will take a month or more, said a senior Centre in Columbus. A
government official. Indians holding other-country passports or Persons of Indian
Origin (PIO) will not be allowed to deposit the demonetised currency notes. NRI Achievers News Network

PORSCHE'S LAUNCHED PANAMERA TURBO TATA LAUNCHED TIGOR

German carmaker Porsche
launched the second-
generation Panamera Turbo
at a starting price of Rs 1.93
c r. ( ex - s h ow r o o m ,
Mumbai). Panamera Turbo
is a new, lighter and more
compact twin-turbocharged
4.0-litre V8 engine that
cranks out 550PS of power
and 770Nm of torque. The
petrol power-plant comes
mated to a brand new eight-speed PDK automatic transmission.
Power is transmitted to the road via Porsche's four -wheel-drive
system and the entire power-train completes the 0-100kmph sprint
in 3.8 seconds. Top speed of the new Panamera Turbo is clocked at
306kmph. With ceramic brakes, the car features driver assistance
gadgetry, sunroof, four-zone climate control, rear seat touchscreen
entertainment system, electric seats including LED headlights
with cornering and speed-sensitive range control and infrared
night view camera which helps in extending the vision range
during low-light hours and adaptive cruise control. Porsche India
Pvt. Ltd. will be launching the hybrid version of the Panamera
Turbo soon, said Pavan Shetty, director of the Porsche India.
Tata Motors has launched Tigor sub-4 metre sedan at a
starting price of Rs 4.7 lakh. The Tigor gets a dual-tone front
bumper, a revamped honeycomb grille design with chrome-
garnished bottom lip that neatly stretches all the way into the
headlight enclosures, which feature smoked projector lamps
and a dual-barrel layout. The
Tigor gets LED-powered
taillights and an LED stop
lamp placed above the rear
windscreen, petrol-powered
top-spec variant gets 15-inch
alloy wheels. Loaded with
class-leading features, it
boasts a 5.0-inch Harman-engineered touch-screen
infotainment tech which is paired with an eight-speaker
sound system. The infotainment display acts as the monitor
for the reverse camera, supports video playback, has voice
command recognition, GPS navigation via NaviMaps App
and SMS readout functionality. Other features include dual
12V charging ports and a rear armrest with integrated
cupholders. The most astonishing feature of the Tigor is its
boot space. 419 litres fuel tank just bigger than that of the
Tiago's. A
NRI Achievers Business Network

April 2017
www.nriachievers.in 17
 Business Buzz

UDAN: SPICEJET, ALLIANCE AIR MAY FLY ON REGIONAL ROUTES

A n ambitious scheme aimed at

opening and expanding
subsidised flights to remote
airports is close to take-off, with the
government ready to release the names
of routes and airlines that have
qualified for the same, with
aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi
Raju expected to shortly make
public the airlines and routes
under the first phase of the Udan
regional connectivity scheme
(RCS). The scheme is expected to
run for 10 years. We have
received close to 43 proposals
from scheduled and non-
scheduled operators, of whom five
airlines are likely to get a licence,
said an AAI official, adding that low-cost
carrier SpiceJet and Air India subsidiary
Alliance Air were in the list. The
minister will announce all the work
orders for the new airports and the
airlines formally later, he said. The first
phase will include 45 airports and about
70 odd routes, and AAI will get six
months from the date of bids to make the
airport fit for flying. While the AAI-
owned airports are all ready, work is still
pending on those owned by state-run
companies like Steel Authority of India
and some other privately owned.
Deploying air navigation services a excise on value-added tax, or VAT,
bunch of services provided to aircraft to
enable safe and efficient flight from one
destination to another at these new
airports will be a major task, and AAI has
i nv i t e d b i d s f r o m m o b i l e t ow e r
companies for airports where the facility
is not readily available.
The regional connectivity
model is based on viability gap
funding, under which 80% of the cost
will be borne by the state government
and the rest by the Centre. The
subsidies will be offered for three
years. The fare for a one-hour
journey of about 500 km on a fixed
wing aircraft or a 30-minute journey
on a helicopter will be capped at
2,500, with proportionate pricing for
routes of different lengths and
duration. In order to make operations
on such routes financially viable, the
central government will provide
concessions in the form of reduced
service tax and flexibility in code
sharing at airports under the regional
connectivity scheme.

APPLE DEMANDS TURNED DOWN
The Indian government
has not accepted 'most of the
demands' of iPhone maker
'Apple.' which is interested to
manufacture it's i c o n i c
product in India. Apple India
had sought several concessions, including duty exemption
on manufacturing and repair units, components, capital
equipment and consumables for smart-phone
manufacture and service/repair for a period of 15 years,
according to Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman. In a written reply to Parliament, she said that
Apple had also asked for relaxation in the mandated 30%
local components sourcing not to mention a reduction in
customs duties on completely- knocked-down and semi-
knocked-down kits of devices that were to be assembled
in the country. Earlier, Apple executives had made a
detailed presentation on its roadmap to an inter-
ministerial group headed by DIPP (Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion) Secretary Ramesh
Abhishek. As India is the fastest-growing smart-phone
market in the world, Apple is looking to set up local
manufacturing to cut costs here.
AFTER INDIGO, GOAIR TO FLY A 320 NEOS LOW
LCC GoAir has started flying its
five Airbus A320neo planes at a
lower altitude to limit strain on the
aircraft engine, a person aware of
the matter said. India's largest
airline IndiGo has also asked its
pilots to fly the A320neo at 30,000 feet as against its usual 36,000
feet, as first reported by media on 24 March. The directive has
followed engine maker Pratt & Whitney's advice to avoid a
possible glitch in the engine lubrication system. IndiGo, run by
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, is among the biggest users of
A320neos. Go Airlines (India) Ltd, operator of GoAir, has 24
planes of which five are A320neos and 13 more A320neos are
expected to join by March 2018. All the A320neos have been
mandated to fly at the new altitude, our source said, on condition
of anonymity. At higher altitudes, air density is lower and the
engine must work harder to develop the same thrust, increasing
temperature. Lower altitude could help keep the temperatures
down. However, flying lower in denser air consumes more fuel.
GoAir has 139 more A320neos on order with Airbus. A
NRI Achievers Business Network

April 2017
18 www.nriachievers.in
 PSU News

AWARDS & HONOURS

LARGEST THERMAL
SUDHIR SOBTI GETS HALL OF FAME AWARD POWER PLANT IN NE INDIA
Recognising Bharat Heavy Electricals
his services Limited (BHEL), has
in the field of achieved a milestone
p u b l i c s u c c e s s f u l l y, b y
relations and commissioning another 250
communicat MW coal-based thermal at
ions for over the upcoming Bongaigaon
two decades, Thermal Power Station
S u d h i r (TPS) in North Eastern
Sobti, Chief Assam. The first unit of the a gas-based combined cycle
Manager plant was commissioned earlier power project of 98.4 MW at
(PR & Publicity), Delhi Tourism & Transportation Development and is presently operational Namrup. The plant is already
Corporation (DTTDC), Govt. of Delhi, was conferred the while the third and final unit is at commissioned in the open cycle
prestigious Hall of Fame Award during the 11th Global an advanced stage of mode and the commissioning
Communication Conclave held in Bengaluru, Karnataka, commissioning. Presently, in in combined cycle mode is in
organised by the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI). Assam, BHEL is also executing the final stages.

TOP POSTINGS:

Shri AV Girija of DFCCIL the Dedicated Freight PFC. Shri M.K. Goel has been appointed
Kumar assumes Corridor Corporation India Limited . He the Chairperson for the Joint Electricity
charge as the CMD will be holding the post of Regulatory Commission (JERC) for
of the United India Director(Finance), in addition to his Goa and Union Territories. Shri Goel, an
A s s u r a n c e regular charge as Adviser & Mission electrical engineer, has over 36 years of
Company, with the Ministry of Finance Director in the Ministry of Railways. varied power sector experience. Before
approving his name for taking additional joining the JERC, Shri Goel was the
charge as the company's CMD. He The Govt has CMD of Power Finance Corporation.
began his insurance career with New appointed Shri Sanjiv
India. Singh as the Chairman The Govt has appointed
of the Indian Oil Dr Deepika Sharma as
S h r i G o u t a m Corporation Ltd Non-Functional
Chatterjee, General ( I O C L ) . T h e Independent Director
Manager (Commercial), Appointments Committee of Cabinet on the Board of KIOCL
has now taken over as the had approved his appointment to the post Limited w.e.f
Director (Commercial), for a period of five years, according to an 10.02.2017.
of MECON LIMITED. order issued by the Personnel Ministry.
Chatterjee graduated Singh is at present a Director of
with a Bachelors in Engineering Refineries at the IOCL. He is expected Dr. Suresh Chandra
(Electrical), from NIT Durgapur in the to take the charge on or after June 1. G a i ro l a , I F S ( M H
year 1982. He joined MECON as a 1982), has been
Graduate Engineer in 1983, and has until Shri Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister appointed as Director
now headed the Commercial Division of of State for Power, Coal, New & General , Indian Council
MECON. R e n ewa b l e E n e rg y & of Forestry Research &
Mines, administered the Education (ICFRE), for
Shri Naresh Oath of Office and Secrecy a period of three years. A
Salecha has to Shri M.K. Goel in the
assumed charge as presence of senior officials
Director (Finance) of the Ministry of Power and NRI Achievers Corporate Network

April 2017
www.nriachievers.in 19
 Whats New in India
DISCOVERING TALENT IN AN INCLUSIVE WAY
R ecent years have seen the emergence of several reality
shows meant to uncover raw talent in the eld of song,
music and dance. However, a mere handful of them
are actually able to do what they are meant to do, and even a
fewer are able to bring forth and promote true talent, especially
so in the eld of music. What's lacking in these reality shows is
that they are meant only for singers, which leaves bands and
instrumentalists high and dry. They have no place to showcase
their talent, a reason why they are left to their own devices to
try and make their mark in the music world.
Symphony 2017 plans to change all that. What is
it? It is a platform meant just as much for bands and
instrumentalists as for singers. What's truly wonderful about
this new competition is that it strives to be a stage that goes far
beyond the range of barriers that regular television shows tend
to put up. For starters, there are no age limits no matter what
your age, if you have musical talent this is the stage for you.
Similarly, most shows will ask you to sing or perform in the
language the channel is transmitting in but Symphony 2017
allows you to choose from 14 Indian languages.
Gone are days when you needed to stand in long
queues to try and get into the inside of an audition hall. With
Symphony 2017 your very own home becomes your audition
centre, as all you need is to record a song and upload it onto the
website. The lucky few who make it to the top 8 will get to
perform in front of an audience of close to 8000 with musical
stars Kanika Kapoor and Anand Raj Anand, and then get to
walk away with large cash prizes and video recording deals.
Concieved and conceptualised by the 'Sabakuch
April 2017
20
Music' team, the designers of the competition have ensured the
entire process is elegantly simple register by paying a small
amount, get your own page, upload an original or cover song,
and earn likes and votes. The more the votes, more the chances
of moving onto the next round. And in the grand nale,
musicians will get the chance to perform their very own
compositions.
Sabakuch is an online platform where you can login
for stock images and online music for free, and offers one of
the best social networking experiences available today. You
could listen to latest songs and albums on the portal, buy music
from the online store, with unlimited music choices all on one
single web presence.
The site sabakuch.com is innovative in its three-fold
approach providing the user social networking, entertainment,
communication and even e-education inputs that enable users
to ful ll all their on-line needs out of one place for gratis. And
unlike many other networking portals, sabakuch takes pains to
give its users the convenience of melding both their personal
and professional contacts on a single portal, which
traditionally required them to use multiple portals for their
varied needs. Introduced in 2015, the web-portal has three
different zones a personal general entertainment zone, a
social networking zone, and a professional networking zone,
giving adherants an edge and full-free access to all the latest
and greatest in the areas of their interest with the ease of a
single login. A
NRI Achievers Bureau
www.nriachievers.in
 Global Events
THE IAA WOMEN ACHIEVERS AWARDS - USA
AN EVENING TO WATCH
With all eyes on the sumptuously decorated stage, with around
300 guests from New York & New Jersey in audience,
expectations were running high to hear the names of 15 women
Honourees who have left an indelible impression on society
in the USA. An event that has been the talk of town since
announced three weeks ago, the IAA Women Achiever Awards
held at the newly built Marigold in New Jersey had everything
on offer that raised expectations. Fifteen women were to be
selected through a process audited by Ernst & Young, a
fundraiser with Chief Guest Shabana Azmi and a fashion show
by fashion superstar Manish Malhotra for Mijwan Welfare
Society, a NGO run by Shabana, at a venue that has created a
name for its grandeur in a short time, it was an evening to
watch.
Guests began arriving early and crowded the
reception to ensure they got best seats after a formal photo-op.
The bar was soon lled with hundreds, and some of out ts
would indeed have surprised celebrity designer Manish
Malhotra. Many wanted to know the winners since such
events have rarely presented surprise. But Tanvi Prenita
April 2017
22
Chandra, promoter and Vandana Krishna, brain behind the
event lived upto her promise, and nobody including the
Honourees came to know about the surprise to unfold.
Manish Malhotra got busy with models wanting to make his
maiden presentation the best ever in the East coast.
Photographers ensured they clicked pics of the most notable
guests from Tri-State which would ll facebook after the
event. Sel e stars were busy too, competing with each other in
putting maximum into one frame. Cineyug promoter Aly
Morani was quietly checking the nishing of the grand room
for stage and settings, rather a rst of its kind where the
evening was to unfold. A totally new concept of a fashion show
with top models were to walk on the oor with a ramp-style
setting between front three rows, thus, giving the audience a
closer view of beautiful dresses of Mijwan collection by
celebrity Manish Malhotra.
Vandana Krishna introduced the evening and awards
event, sharing an overview of the upcoming Indian Academy
Awards to be held in California in July. Vandana Krishna and
Saurabh Pandey, two entertainment industry old-timers are
www.nriachievers.in

launching their awards event
in SFO with Bollywood,
Tollywood and Hollywood
stars as guests and performers
where winners will be
announced once again
through a popular selection
process audited by Ernst &
Young. The grand 2-day event
is expected to host a 50,000
large audience. The event was
announced in Mumbai during
the last week of December by
RAEES Bollywood Badshah
Shahrukh Khan, and
launched at a media
conference by superstar
Madhuri Dixit in Santa Clara
in January. Vandana said, As
an initiative of the Indian
Academy Awards we want to
share the success stories of
real women with the world, to
encourage all the Non
Residents of India. True
stories of women
entrepreneurs are an inspiration to change the world. Today's
women are making the difference with their
innovative ideas, seeking solutions and
reclaiming their status as equals. We want
to create a platform to honor these women
and to share their success with the world.
Tanvi Prenita Chandra, the local promoter
for hosting the show, said: Women
empowerment this cause is very close to
my heart and I feel fortunate to get this
opportunity to host this history-making
event with most respected Bollywood icon
Shabana Azmi ji and world famous
designer Manish Malhotra. A big thank
you to the sponsors for the support of this
great cause. I have done my best to present a
different type of show with celebrities from
Mumbai and feel happy it has all come
together in ying colors witnessed by elite
crowd in such a short span of three weeks.
Host Nisha Mathur, herself a celebrity, opened the
evening and in her inimitable style announced the winners one-
by-one. The honourees graced the stage and accepted the
honours to an applaud by audience which marked the
www.nriachievers.in
Global Events
recognition by all. Fifteen honorees who had travelled from all
over just like other guests to attend the event and were caught by
surprise when their names were announced. Shabana Azmi
presented the awards to each honouree as Nisha invited them
after a brief intro. As mentioned earlier, winners were selected
via a nomination process managed by E&Y. The nal jury
members comprising of Bollywood actresses Manjari Phadnis
and Chitrashi Rawat, Wellness and grooming expert Avni
Gandhi Varma made the nal selection. The next segment
included the introduction of Mijwan Welfare Society by
Shabana Azmi, who shared the details of her father, Kai
Azmi's dream for the small village in UP that has seen
transformation via funds raised by the NGO to support women.
Azmi's humility and happiness was visible as she fondly
recalled the time she had spent with her father a great poet
who supported equality of women. She expressed her gratitude
to Manish Malhotra and the generous audience, as well as every
donor till date who has supported the Society.
The nale was a fashion show as colorful lights came
up and beautiful models displayed their dresses. One could see
the audience was dazzled with the exquisite hand embroidery
called Chikankari by Mijwan Women. The 'Mijwan Summer
Couture 2017' was clearly the highlight of the evening. The
grace with which each model walked and carried the dress,
almost everyone in audience captured the view with eyes while
top photographers and cameraman from television channels
captured through their lens. Music enhanced the walk on the
ramp between the aisles and many
women in the audience could touch the
dresses with their cell phones cameras
to decide on their choices. About thirty
minutes of mesmerizing presentation
before Manish Malhotra came to the
stage himself in his customary style to
accept the honours.
Manish Malhotra has pulled women
out of oblivion and brought their craft to
the doorsteps of Bollywood by creating
glamorous out ts in his signature style.
By giving women gainful employment,
he has given the women to negotiate
more space for themselves within the
family structure. The show epitomized
the continuous realization of Kai
Saab's vision and the wonderful legacy of hope for his village,
Mijwan. The evening came to an end with the fund raiser, and
Ms. Azmi assisted by her US associate Ketki Parikh collected
the checks with a humble thanks that will help spread the word
for the Mijwan Society all over US in times ahead. A
April 2017
23
 Global Events

THE NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL

STARTS WITH LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA

T he NYIFF is the oldest, most prestigious Indian lm

festival in the United States, screening premieres of
feature, documentary and short lms made from, of,
and about the countries in the Indian subcontinent (India,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan)
in the Independent, arthouse, alternate and diaspora genres.
And this time round, America's premier lm festival
representing the Indian subcontinent, the New York Indian
Film Festival (NYIFF), will kick off its 17th Anniversary
Season from 30th April with Alankita Shrivastava's women
empowerment lm LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA at
the Smithsonian's National Museum. The festival's centre-
Aam Aadmi Party activist Arvind Kejriwal called AN
INSIGNIFICANT MAN. The festival will close its
programming on 7th May, with the North American premiere of
Milind Dhaimade's YOU ARE MY SUNDAY, an uplifting,
slice-of-life comedy about ve close friends who struggle to
nd a place to play soccer in Mumbai every Sunday. The
closing night's screening will take place at Mason Hall on the
Baruch College campus, and it will also be preceded by a red
carpet reception for media interviews followed by the NYIFF
2017 Award Ceremony and a gala closing night party.
A

piece lm is the New York premiere of Khushboo Ranka and

Vinay Shukla's critically-acclaimed documentary about India's NRI Achievers US Bureau

April 2017
24 www.nriachievers.in
 Cover Feature

INDIA RISING
NEW EQUATIONS IN A CHANGING WORLD
India's onwards thrust is certainly impressive in today's global context. she has
emerged as the fastest growing world economy, and simultaneously also emerges
as a rising world power that means business. Her thrust is bold, ongoing and
purposeful. Geopolitics and the crafting of an innovative economic policy
combine to become the main prongs of her thrust in meaningful South South
Dialogues. Here in this piece NRI Achievers brings you an opinion piece by an
illustrious member of our Diaspora, who is well received by fellow disapora
communities across the world ...

I t is indeed remarkable how a civilization steeped in the

hoary past, millennia-old with its myriads of myths,
legends, customs and traditions is still surviving side by
side with Nanotechnology! And has been able to overcome
hordes of subjugation, invasion and colonial domination to rise
like a phoenix from the ashes of their clutches. More
empowered and emboldened. The spirit is undaunted and
rejuvenated. Because it has in its veins the age-old
civilizational ethos that de es humiliation and subjugation.
This ethos percolates down to nurture its spirit. Thus it has
come to epitomize the 'New Age' with its hardly 68 years of
freedom, gaining independence from the shackles of
colonialism and foreign domination.
India is today a global player. India has quickly
learnt to adjust to the requirements of the New World and the
demands of globalization. As well as to the Digital Age by
becoming herself a Digital Power, so that her IT Centre in
Bengaluru termed the 2nd Silicon Valley is remarkably
moving at a stunning speed faster than speed itself. So that a
private company of a group of young people Team Indus
dare to set a low-cost robot on the moon by end-2017 whose
mission is termed Har Indian Ka Moonshot. Incredible but
true and 100 startup ecosystem projects are coming up fast.
Another engineer couple Santosh Oswal and wife Rajashree
have invented a Nano Ganesh that has helped several
thousands of farmers in Maharashtra control their water pumps
remotely with a mobile phone! Today Nano Ganesh is selling
on Amazon.com.
The greatest potential of India's 1.2 billion demography is that
the median is only 26 years. Therefore its young population
provides not only a vast resourceful market but is full of
dynamism, innovative ideas and quick to grasp.
The 2017 Budget of Arun Jaitley re ects a
demarcation from the past and is geared to improve the lot of
the common people, focused on the youth, the farmers and
women. But also, India's international priorities form part of a
seamless continuum, rmly anchored in her transformational
goals as was stressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the
Second Raisina Dialogue held in New Delhi recently.
The OCI Card An Extended Family Device. But
what remains a stunning discovery is India's ability to make use
of the vast historical geographical and emotional space
afforded by a 30 million strong diaspora, spread all over the
globe, to its advantage. And in no uncertain ways. The greatest
magnetic tool has been the PIO/OCI card which acts like a
bond between mainland India and its 30 million strong
extended family. It is a direct connection with one's Indian
roots but one which also gives pride of umbilical connectivity
acting as a springboardof immense possibilities.
That the political leadership in former British or
Dutch Plantation colonies has emerged from the Girmitia the
indentured labour system, over several generations is

April 2017
26 www.nriachievers.in

understandable in countries such as in
Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Trinidad &
Tobago and Guyana. But that the Head
of a European country would be of
Indian blood is a discovery
overwhelmingly exceptional. At the 14th
PravasiBharatiya Divas this year in
Bengaluru, one was surprised that the
Chief Guest was Antonio Costa, the
Prime Minister of Portugal. How come?
The fact is simply that 56 year old
Antonio Costa is of Indian origin, being
a second generation PIO. His father
Orlando da Costa hailing from Margaon
in Goa, settled in Portugal in his early
years!
The Prime Minister of
Portugal is a PIO! At the inaugural
session of the PBD in Bengaluru, Prime
Minister Costa stunned everyone when
he neatly removed his OCI card from his
pocket and ashed it proudly in front of
the audience I am a proud person of
Indian Origin This is the document to
prove it He further stated that since
www.nriachievers.in
his father left, we never lost touch with
India . But the fact of the matter is that
instead of moaning ad nauseam of past
colonialism, in this case Portuguese, the
two countries India and Portugal
reconciled to the past and proceeded to
explore the new horizons and economic
possibilities of such a situation. Prime
Minister Costa added Perhaps it is no
coincidence that I have become the rst
person of Indian origin to lead a
European country.
Antonio Costa not only
welcomed the Indian diaspora to
contribute to the Portuguese economy
but welcomed India with open arms to
invest in Portugal. He highlighted the
fact that Portugal has a classical
position to access to key worldwide
markets as it is in the Central Zone
connecting UK and other European
countries. He added We also have
excellent ties with US, Canada, Africa
and Latin America.
He cited the advantage of the
Real Politik
geographical positioning in the world
that connects Europe with Africa and
other continents. He said that there is a
strong need for India and Portugal to not
just strengthen existing bilateral
relations, but explore new areas of
interest and cooperation, such as in the
eld of renewable energy, ocean
sciences, tourism and cultural
engagement. Prime Minister Costa
added that Portugal was open to
collaborating with India in the elds of
defence, agriculture, oceanography as
well as culture and heritage.
The UAE Thrust. The other
thrust is in South Asia and Middle East.
UAE crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed
bin Zayed was the Chief Guest at India's
Republic Day this year. This is perceived
by political observers as the latest in a
series of recent moves Abu Dhabi has
made to get closer to New Delhi. The
fastest growing major market for oil and
gas these past months has been India.
Two other goals are for Abu Dhabi to
April 2017
27
 Cover Feature
develop capacities in technology
sectors such as renewable energy and
software. Indian Corporations seem to
be the obvious partners in such efforts.
India can help Dubai aspire to become a
genuine global nancial hub, to give it
the enhanced seriousness of a
Singapore. The Gulf States and Abu
Dhabi have realized that they have a
lack of geopolitical anchor. India with
a forceful push in geopolitical maritime
plans in the Indian Ocean is slowly but
surely emerging as a major pillar of
this hedging strategy . Thus Abu
Dhabi is growingly looking towards
India more than elsewhere now to
provide this much needed anchor.
Mauritius is a Bridge not too
far between Africa and India. The
African Connection via Mauritius was
proved more than ever on a cyclonic
rainy day with class 2 warning of
impending approach of Carlos. The
bu s i n e s s d e l eg a t i on from the
Confederation of Indian Industry, under
the leadership of Mrs. Indrayani Mulay,
April 2017
28
Deputy Director of the International
Division of CII, dared to maintain its
Business Meet at Bagatelle in
collaboration with the Mauritius
Chamber of Commerce at the Initiative
of the Indian High Commission on
Monday 6th February.
The African terra has long
been neglected by both India and
Mauritius. But it seems now there
is renewed vigour to seize the
multiple opportunities what with
the advantages of the Mauritian
membership in SADC and
COMESA and the AGOA. Indian
investors are thus encouraged to utilize
the potential of Mauritius as a gateway to
Africa. Promising prospects of
triangular cooperation between India and
Mauritius and African countries such as
Senegal, Ghana are ahead.
Mauritius being multilingual has the
advantage of acting as a facilitator to
Indian companies especially to
Francophone countries thereby offering
immense possibilities of cooperation.
However, at bureaucratic level it has been
viewed that sometimes things get
unnecessarily slowed down or stuck.
Such hurdles should be quickly
eliminated by adequate follow up in
procedural matters.In no uncertain terms
said the High Commissioner of India,
Abhay Thakur we must put our money
where our mouth is and assured we are
willing to walk the extra mile .
The Indian rms that have
had a successful penetration in
s eve r a l c o u n t r i e s o f A f r i c a a r e
giant groups with 150 years
proven solidity such as Afcons of
Shapoorji Pallonji. The Exim
Bank of India and Ramelex among
others offer value for money. A
Dr. Sarita Boodhoo
The author is well-known across Indian
diaspora communities for her seminal
contributions to the cause of Bhojpuri
culture. She is the Chairperson of the
Bhojpuri Speaking Union.
www.nriachievers.in
 Cover Feature

BEYOND DIPLOMACY
INDIA IN A POST-BREXIT WORLD
We excerpt here content sent
our way by Red Ribbon India,
on just how important India
seems to be, to the United
Kingdom. We are reproducing
the mini-article verbatim for
your reading pleasure

T he Queen of England learnt a

new dance this month she was
taught the Indian Mudras (hand
gestures), by celebrated Indian dancer
and choreographer Arunima Kumar
and in keeping with the dignity of the
occasion, the lesson was conducted in
the State Room at the Buckingham
Palace. We brought Indian Art into
Buckingham Palace, announced Ms.
Kumar proudly afterwards. Not for the
first time you might be thinking ... people
have been bringing Indian Art back to the
United Kingdom for centuries.
The Prince of Wales had set off
on a four-month tour of the subcontinent
in 1875, and he had managed to bring
back a spectacular amount of Indian Art:
no less than seventyfour precious Museum this summer, as part of the UK back to the days of the East India
artefacts from the toshkhanas (personal India Year of Culture 2017 celebrations. Company, and that relationship is now
treasuries) of each of the 21 Provinces he The Queen's dancing lesson this month being radically refashioned as part of
had travelled through; including a formed part of the inaugural events. And Britain's post Brexit world. Given the UK
seventeenth century gold Durbar Set it was no coincidence that the most senior India Year of Culture is part of the same
from Mysuru and a sixteenth century representative of the Indian Government process it seems wholly appropriate that
jade attardan from Jaipur (the largest watching Her Majesty dance was the Finance Minister of India should have
ever made). They have been in the Royal Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. been there to see it on its way.
Collection ever since, but you will be The United Kingdom and India India overtook the United
able to see them at the Victoria and Albert have a richly textured history reaching Kingdom as the World's fifth largest

April 2017
30 www.nriachievers.in

economy in December last year, and it is
currently the fastest growing economy
on the Planet. Little wonder then that
Theresa May's first foray overseas, after
the EU Referendum last year was to India
... and less wonder still that her visit
coincided with the launch of a new
generation of ten-year Rupee Bonds
being traded on London's Capital
Markets. Historic ties and a resurgent
economy give India a special
significance for the United Kingdom in
the post Brexit world.
But just how important is all
this for India? It is a question well
www.nriachievers.in
worth asking, especially at the moment,
because today's cultural icons, the
equivalent of the sixteenth century jade
attardan from Jaipur, are social media,
the telecoms and the internet: and they
have all been holding up pretty nicely on
the subcontinent; primarily, of course,
through the vaulting ambitions of India's
richest man, Mukesh Ambani.
It would be an understatement of
titanic proportions to say that Ambani
surprised the business world when he
launched Jio Telecom in India last
September, with a colossal initial
investment of UK 25 Billion; allowing
Real Politik
its burgeoning population to secure
(initially free) access to data spectra on a
wholly unprecedented scale. In the past six
months alone Jio has signed up 100 Million
new customers and is now carrying more
data than either China Mobile or AT&T;
and bear in mind too that the population on
the subcontinent is predicted by the United
Nations to be the biggest in the World by
2020, so it is difficult to underestimate the
future growth potential of its telecom
sector. For the moment at least, Jio is
uniquely well placed to reap the benefits of
that growth.
All of which might explain why
Vodafone has this month announced its
long awaited merger with Idea Cellular
(India's third largest telecom supplier); not
least because Jio plans to start charging its
100 Million (and growing) customers for
its services from 1st April this year, so it
looks as though a price war could be in the
offing. It should all get very interesting for
both key players and for the sector
generally; but as we have had cause to
comment before, there are no fleas on a
dead dog.
Vodafone is a United Kingdom
company with operations worldwide; and
the Group is being drawn deeper into India
for the simple reason that India obviously
matters (for a whole range of reasons, not
least its huge potential for growth); and the
same can be said of other substantial
United Kingdom companies investing into
India in other key sectors at this critical
juncture in its economic development. This
is all about these companies seeking to
share in the steady release of India's
explosive economic potential. It is, in
short, about something much more than
diplomacy and post Brexit trade missions.
Something more even than a courtly dance
at Buckingham Palace. A
Aditya Kanoria
The writer is the Chief Executive
Officer of Red Ribbon India
April 2017
31
 Cover Feature

INDIANS UNSAFE IN DONALD'S US

THE WAY FORWARD
Has any cold-blooded murderer ever scoped out targets by asking their victim about
their Visa status? In Kansas City, Adam Purinton did just that. He asked the victims Mr.
Kuchibhotla and Mr. Madasani what type of Visa they held, before yelling at them to
get out of my country and shooting at them. Kuchibhotla died on the spot. Likewise,
in an alarming series of racially motivated attacks against Indians living in the US,
another Indian Sikh in Kent, Washington, was also shot at. This has been followed by
more attacks on Indian-American community members in South Carolina and Florida.
This spate of recent attacks have turned a new page in the annals of violence in the
US, and have already coloured how the new and present Indian residents now view the
current scenario in US. NRI Achievers brings you an opinion piece.

April 2017
32 www.nriachievers.in

S ome sections of the Indian
A m e r i c a n c o m m u n i t y h ave
blamed Trump's harsh tone on
immigration for the attacks, and fear his
rhetoric is fueling violent attacks against
immigrants. The recent shootings made
considerable headlines in the Indian
media, amid concerns that the hardliner
immigration policies of the US President
Trump may have helped create the
climate for such attacks. Importantly,
these attacks have also deepened the fear
among South Asian and immigrant
communities that President Trump's
aggressive posturing and executive orders
encourage violence against them. Not to
mention the White House asserting that
there is no connection, categorically
rejecting any links between Trump's
foreign policy stance and the recent
attacks. Though President Trump has
condemned these recent attacks,
particularly the Kansas one, and averred
that "we are a country that stands united in
condemning hate and evil in all of its very
ugly forms, he has also said that the
United States cannot be allowed to
become a 'sanctuary for extremists'. As if
adding insult to injury, the President's
delayed response to the killing might also
have done little to allay fears among
the Indian community residing in
the US, and in the minds of their
relatives and friends back home.
The Indian government has
also conveyed its 'deep concern' to
the US administration over attacks
on Indians. India's External Affairs
Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj has
asserted that the safety of Indian
Diaspora was a top priority for her
and her ministry. India's PM
Narendra Modi, who by the way is
also being accused of silence, has
sought daily updates from her
m i n i s t r y a m i d h i s bu s y e l e c t i o n
campaign, the minister informed. "The
government has taken up this issue with
the US government at very high-levels
www.nriachievers.in
and conveyed our deep concerns. We have
called for necessary measures to ensure
the safety and security of Indian diaspora
and expeditious investigation into these
incidents," she said while in Parliament.
"I would like to reassure the House and its
members that the safety and security of
India Diaspora abroad remains a top
priority for this government. We will
remain vigilant to developments
impacting the lives of Indians abroad and
do everything possible to safeguard their
interests and welfare," she said.
Ms. Swaraj also referred to
President Donald Trump's condemnation
of the Kansas shooting and condolences
from other top US of cials, including
House of Representatives Speaker Paul
Ryan. "The fact that broad sections of
American society have expressed their
Real Politik
deep sorrow and regret over these
incidents reassures us that despite these
individual incidents, America values the
people-to-people engagement between
our two countries," she told the Lok
Sabha.
Indian Foreign Secretary S
Jaishankar has also discussed the matter
with US ministers and other senior
functionaries of the US administration, as
well as with the Congressional leadership
during his recent visit to the US during
February 28 March 3. For the Modi
government, which takes immense pride
in its Diaspora both non-resident
Indians and people of Indian-origin, the
prevailing unpleasant scenario
leaves it with not too many
options either.
So what could be a way
forward? The ideal is that
everyone in any country,
including a great country like
the US, must have equal
opportunities to achieve success
and prosperity. Considering
that several Indian-americans
originally hailed from humble
beginnings in their homeland
and are living in the US on one
credo - Work hard, because in the US one
achieves what he deserves, it becomes all
the more important to shelter these newly
minted citizens from such
April 2017
33
 Cover Feature

felt I did . The Indian foreign

unpleasentness. However, the recent
crimes against them have further stoked a
very credible fear that the present day
mood in the US no longer offers that
cherished beacon of hope and
Indian and Hindu community will have a
true friend in the White House. I can
guarantee you that, he had said, while
canvassing for his Presidentship. One
can only hope that the new President will
minister also spoke about the
braveheart while in the Indian
Parliament, saying "I salute his
heroism and am sure the House
joins me in wishing him speedy
recovery." One can only hope
the wounds will heal and scars
disappear in near future, and the
Indian-American community will
also learn the greater lesson
necessary to respond to such
future attacks. True, racial
bigotry can't be fought alone,
there is a pressing need to form
long-term alliances with other
minority groups and nd strength
in organized collective action.
Perhaps, the community requires a rapid
response, communications and activism
machine that is louder and more organised
than ever. This may be as good a time as

WHAT IS THE H-1B VISA

T he H-1B visa is an employment-based, non-
immigrant visa category for temporary workers, a
particular type of visa that is used in United States to
allow foreign citizens to temporarily work in the country.
The visa applicant must be sponsored by an employer, and
the job must be in a de ned list of job areas as outlined by the
law. Through the mechanism of a H-1B visa, the holder of
the visa can stay in the US for a minimum of 3 years and a
maximum of 6 years after ling a 3 year extension. For such a
visa, your employers must offer a job and petition for your
H1B visa with the US Immigration Department. Once the
petition is approved, it becomes a work permit that allows
you to obtain a visa stamp and work in the US for that
employer. H-1B holders who want to continue to work in the
US after six years, but who have not obtained permanent
residency status, must remain outside of the US for at least one
year before reapplying for another H-1B visa. H-1B
portability or transfer, provided the new employer sponsors
another H-1B visa, may or may not be subjected to the quota.
Under current law, the H-1B visa has no stipulated grace
period in the event of the employer-employee relationship
ceasing to exist.

opportunity for immigrants, and
subjective feelings in the community are
today rife that the current administration
has maybe helped create an environment
for this kind of hostility to take hold in a
way. There is a fear that such racist
beliefs, practices and laws may become
more a norm than an aberration or a ash
in the pan. Donald Trump had in the
runup to the presedential elections
declared: If I am elected President, the
keep his words. As Good leaders take
unity and nationalism together, taking
one without the other would end up in
just mediocrity. Another part of the
selfsame story is the valour of young 24-
year-old Ian Grillot, who was also shot
while saving Kuchibotla. Grillot said: I
was just doing what anyone would have
done for another human being.
It's not about where he was from
or his ethnicity. We're all humans. I just
any to stop and x it. Making right,
effective and appropriate noises is the
need of the hour. A
Ashwani Srivastava
The author is a Senior Research Lead on
policy and energy topics & M.Tech. in
Chemical Engineering from the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.

April 2017
34 www.nriachievers.in
 Cover Feature

INDIA HAS MUCH TO SHARE

INCLUDING
LEADERSHIP ...
The Indian Diaspora, over the past few centuries, has effortlessly managed to make an indelible
mark on human society worldwide, as good citizens, society and opinion leaders, statesmen, and
even as world leaders heading countries they mifrated to. To illustrate, it seems not too long ago
when Chedi Jagan rose to became the president of the caribbean island nation of Guyana back in the
early 1960s. And then there are quite a few more we can talk about since then of Indian
immigrants across the world who became Presidents and Prime Ministers of myriad nations
ranging from Mauritius to Trinidad & Tobago and from Fiji to Surinam. Sir Seewoosagur
Ramgoolam of Mauritius, Basdeo Panday of Trinidad, Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana, Anerood
Jugnauth of Mauritius, Mahendra Chaudhry of the Fiji Islands, Ramsewak Shankar and
Lachmipersad Frederick Ramdat of Surinam, to mention but a few. In this context, are we going to
see an Indian immigrant becoming the President of US in future? Or is it likely that a Sikh will lead
Canada as its PM? Not at all imponderable. One of our senior contributors muses on the topic.

I s it time for a person of

Indian origin to stand for
becoming the US President
or ght elections to become the PM of
equation, was clear on one count very Congress.
unambiguously. It has clearly proved
that Indian-Americans are now quite
ready to take a big leap into politics, even
Among them, Kamala Harris,

Canada? Well, let's not be surprised, the
next US President to come might just
have some Indian connections up his
sleeve. If Donald Trump, with his
German background and Barack Obama
with his Kenyan pedigree can occupy the
White House, why not a person with
Indian roots?
The recent presidential election
in the US, while it upset many an
as they were keenly watching and taking
part in the intense and acrimonious
electioneering. Now over 3 million
Indians want their pound of esh in the
US political scenario. That they have
arrived in politics is also proved by the
unprecedented Indian wave hit that the
US general elections this time round.
And we saw a record number of ve
Indian-Americans were elected to the US Anerood Jugnauth

April 2017
36 www.nriachievers.in

Dr. Cheddi Jagan
51, a two-term attorney general from
California, is already being seen as a
prospective presidential candidate. Her
mother was born in Chennai and her
father is from Jamaica. Clearly, she
would get the support of Indians as well
as the humungous Afro-American
community as well if she were to be a
presidential candidate in the upcoming
2020 election.
Even though the Indian-
American community makes-up but
merely 1% of the total US population, it
is making big statements in several elds.
The achievements of Indian-Americans
do not merely re ect individual effort and
cultural values such as respect for
education. India-born CEOs like
Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Adobe
Systems' Shantanu Narayen, PepsiCo's
Indra Nooyi and Google's Sundar Pichai
are household names. When President
Barack Obama awards author Jhumpa
Lahiri a National Humanities Medal, or
Mindy Kaling is nominated for an Emmy
award, the Indian American community
feels proud of it. And, arguably others too
f e e l e nv i o us o f t he s t u nni n g
achievements of Indian community.
www.nriachievers.in
Real Politik
Surely, Indians have thrived in America
in a big way. Despite their small
percentage, they have founded more than
one in eight Silicon Valley start-ups. The
community boasts two governors:
Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and South
Carolina's Nikki Haley.
The current median income for
Indian-American families is about US$
88,000, nearly twice the national
Bharrat Jagdeo
average. Seventy percent of Indian-
Americans hold a bachelor's degree or becoming the President of Singapore is a
higher, compared to the national average remarkable feat indeed. Clearly by now
of less than 30%.And now let's scan it is obvious that Indians are not likely to
through the pages of recent history of remain silent spectators whereever they
settle. Now take the example of Canada.
It has a mind-boggling 19 MPs of Indian-
Canadian origin, out of whom four are
full cabinet ministers. In a parliamentary
poll held last year, ve turbaned Sikh
MPs have made a historic entry into
Canadian parliament. Among the
turbaned Sikh MPs are Navdeep Singh
Bains and Raj Grewal from Ontario.
Bains has served as MP in the past.
Ramsewak Shankar
Likewise, two turbaned Sikh MPs Harjit
Indian immigrants. After Chedi Jagan, an Singh Sajjan and Randeep Singh Sarai
Indian-origin politician, became the h ave b e e n e l e c t e d f r o m B r i t i s h
President of Guyana in 1961, many other Columbia. And now Sajjan is the
preeminent Indian-origin statesmen and
politicians globally have climbed up the
pyramid to lead their adopted nations.
Mauritius, Trinidad-Tobago, Fiji,
Guyana and Surinam might be nations
with large
Indian-origin populations in
places more than 50%, so yes, it makes
sense, but Singapore? The island nation
has 0ver 75% population with Chinese
and Malay roots. That S R Nathan, an
Indian-origin politician succeeds in Basdeo Panday
April 2017
37
 Cover Feature
L.F. Ramdat Misier
Defence Minister of Canada. Canada in
a way is a replica of US, as it is also a
liber al and multi-cultural society that
has a history of giving space to all. So
it is just possible that we see an
Indian or may be a Sikh Prime Minister
in Canada sooner rather than later.
And by the way, in the last year's
UK parliamentary poll, 10 Indian-origin
politicans entered parliament. Among
them were Keith Vaz, Priti Patel, Infosys
co-founder Narayana Murthy's son-in-
law Rishi Sunak, Virendra Sharma
(called 'Panditji' by his supporters),
Valerie Vaz, Seema Malhotra, Alok
Sharma and Shailesh Vara. And if you
look into their backgrounds a mite
closely, you would soon realise that
Indian immigrants, irrespective of their
caste and native state, are taking a plunge
into the political arena.
If you look at it this way, the Indian
Diaspora is really in the thick of the
political scenes, in almost two dozen
countries with 182 of them in
parliament, spanning from the Canada,
the US and the UK to Australia, New
Zealand, Kenya and Zambia.
April 2017
38
It is believed that outside of
India, the largest numbers of Indians are
in Malaysia, where their numbers are
more than 3.5 million. They are mostly
from Tamil Nadu. However, as of today,
they seem to be a divided house,
supporting different parties. And they
also have several parties, all of them
claiming to be their only true voices. On
the surface of it, it will go without saying
that they ought to unite soon for claiming
the rights and welfare of the Indian
community. Apart from the Indian
Progressive Front (IPF), other parties
that claim to represent Indians is the
Malaysian Indian United Party (MIUP)
and the People's Progressive Party (PPP).
In Malaysia, the Indian community
constitutes 7.5% of the country's
population, but have a whole bunch of
Harjit Singh Sajjan
political parties claiming to represent
them. And South Africa is yet another
country where our Indian diaspora have
made a huge statement in politics. The
likes of Yusuf Dadoo, Pregs Govender,
Ronnie Govender, Ahmed Kathrada,
Monty Naicker, Amma Naidoo, Indira
Naidoo, Naransamy Roy Naidoo, Shanti
Strange bed fellows
Mahendra Chaudhry
Naidoo, T h a m b i N a i d o o , X a v i e r
Naidoo and Radhakrishna Padayachi are
some of the better-known political netas
of Indian-origin in South Africa.
Padayachi was also a Deputy Minister
for Communication until a couple of
years ago. While the Chinese Diaspora is
equally signi cant and swelling thick
and fast across the world, it does not take
much interest in politics. And while
Chinese immigrants tend not to merge
with locals even after decades of their
arrival in an alien land, this is not true for
the Indian Diaspora. For Indians take to
politics like sh take to water. And that
is now very much evident across the
world, and more so in the US. Given their
deep interest of our Diaspora in politics.
we cannot really rule out the possibility
of an Indian immigrant becoming a
future president of the United States. A
Vivek Shukla
The author is a senior journalist with
more than 25 years of experience in the
mainstream media, and has been writing
on our diaspora for long...
www.nriachievers.in
 OIA: The Policy Space

PASSPORT SEVA
REFORMS BRING IN EVOLUTIONARY
IMPROVEMENTS IN SERVICES

N RI Achievers has, since the last issue, started bringing out a

segment dealing with the activities of the External Affairs
ministry, and more speci cally the activities undertaken by the
erstwhile Ministry of Overseas indian Affairs, which has since been
remerged with the Foreign Ministry. Our connect with the Overseas
Indian Affairs cell is all about creating a reader interface within the
con nes of our magazine that would bring FAQs, quality information and
news to our esteemed readers. This issue carries the second such
installment, where the Secretary (Overseas Indian Affairs) of the MEA,
presently Dr. Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay, talks about the various proactive
steps taken to make the issue of passports faster, easier and more
inclusive across the country. Here goes

A number of measures were taken by the
MEA in the recent past, to make the
issuance of passports more ef cient and
transparent. Here are some of them. The
Passport Act was enacted and came into
existence in the year 1967, and since
then, there have been no major shifts in
the implementation of the passport
services in the country. Over a period of
time, a number of new passport of ces
were opened, and they now constitute a
total network of 38 such of ces across
the country. In the year 2012, however, it
was deemed necessary to completely
overhaul the passport services, and
therefore, under the government's E-
Governance initiative, a Passport Seva
Project (PSP) was kickstarted on a
mission-mode. This Project envisaged
delivery through a public-private
partnership, and TCS (Tata Consultancy
Services) was selected as the service
provider. Since then, 90 Passport Seva
Kendras (PSKs), in addition to 38
Passport of ces have been opened in
various parts of the country.
On what prompted the recent
measures for simpli cation as well as the
liberalization of rules, and how they
improve the quality of service for the
common man: Even after opening 90
PSKs, it was realized that a country
having over a 125 crore population, with
a large number of remote districts,
cannot be fully catered to as is. A net
result of MEA's Passport Seva Project
was re ected in the sheer numbers - the
quantum of passport applications on an
annual basis went up to 1.5 crore (15
million). However, that still constitutes a
mere fragment of our population.
Besides, there were also representations
and complaints received from public
about the dif culties in terms of date of
birth certi cates, requirements for single
parents, orphaned children and large
number of notarized af davits. It was,
therefore, necessary to usher in a
complete transformation into the process
of passport issuance so that people could
easily get passport services. So what
were the various measures initiated and
implemented in the last year or so?
Firstly, MEA improved reach into
remote areas. They started utilizing
Saturdays and Sundays to hold
Camps/Melas in these areas. Over 80
Camps/Melas were organized during
2016, and a total of about 35,000
passport applications were processed in
them. Subsequently, in the rst major
reform, those who could submit three
documents, viz., (a) Aadhaar Card, (b)
PAN Card, and (c) EPIC (Electoral Photo
Identity Card), along with handwritten
Af davit con rming that no criminal

April 2017
40 www.nriachievers.in

case was pending, were given the
Passport in a fast-track mode,
without waiting for the Police
Veri cation (PV). In those cases,
PV would be done separately (in
certain States, PV took
considerable time). This particular
step gave a boost to the number of
applications for passports.
However, a major spate of reforms
came in December 2016, following
which many more liberalized norms
were introduced. Here is a look at
what happened and how matters
were eased for common people
applying for passports:
Date of Birth:
:Birth Certi cate (BC) issued by
Registrar of Births & Deaths, or
Municipal Corporation, or any
other prescribed authority
empowered under the Registration of
Birth & Deaths Act, 1969, to register
the birth of a child born in India;
S c h o o l l e av i n g / M a t r i c u l a t i o n
Certi cate issued by the school last
attended/recognized educational
board containing the DOB of
applicant;
PAN Card issued by the Income Tax
Department with DOB of applicant;
Aadhaar Card/E-Aadhaar having
DOB of applicant;
Copy of service record extract of
applicant (Govt servants), or Pay
Pension Order (retired Govt Servants)
duly attested/certi ed by of cer/in-
charge of Administration of
concerned Ministry/Department of
applicant, having his DOB;
Driving license issued by Transport
Department of concerned State
G o v e r n m e n t , h av i n g D O B o f
applicant;
Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC)
issued by Election Commission of
India having DOB of applicant;
Policy Bond issued by Public Life
Insurance Corporations/Companies
having DOB of policy holder.
Other notable changes easing
www.nriachievers.in
issuance of passports included:
The online passport application form
now requiring applicant to provide the
name of father, or mother, or legal
guardian, i.e., only one parent and not
both. This enabled single parents to
apply for passports for their children
and also to issue passports where the
name of either the father or the mother
is not required to be printed at the
request of the applicant.
T h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f a n n exe s
prescribed in the Passport Rules,
1980, were brought down from 15 to a
mere 9.
All annexes required to be provided
by applicants are today in the form of
a self-declaration on plain paper. No
attestation/swearing by/before any
Notary/Executive Magistrate/First
Class Judicial Magistrate is
henceforth necessary.
Married applicants not required to
provide any marriage certi cate.
The application form does not require
applicant to provide name of her/his
spouse in case of separated or
divorced persons. Such applicants for
passports would not be required to
provide the Divorce Decree either.
Orphaned children who do not have
OIA: The Policy Space
any proof of DOB such as Birth
Certi cate or Matriculation
Certi cate or Declaratory Court
Order may now submit a declaration
given by the Head of
Orphanage/Child Care Home on their
of cial letterhead con rming the
DOB of applicant.
In case of children not born out of
wedlock, applicant for the passport of
such children should submit only
Annexure G while applying for a
passport.
In case of passport issual to in-country
domestically adopted children,
submission of registered adoption
deed would no longer be required. In
the absence of any deed to this effect,
the passport applicant may give a
declaration on plain paper con rming
the adoption.
Government servants unable to obtain
Identity Certi cate (Annexure-B)/
No-Objection Certi cate (Annexure-
H) from their concerned employer
and intend to get the passport on
urgent basis can now do so by
submitting a self-declaration in
Annexure-'N' that he/she has given
Prior Intimation Letter to his/her
employer informing that he/she is
April 2017
41
 OIA: The Policy Space
applying for an ordinary passport to a
Passport Issuing Authority.
Sadhus/ Sanyasis can apply for a
passport with the name of their
spiritual Guru mentioned in the
passport application in lieu of their
biological parent(s) name(s), subject
to their providing at least one public
document such as Election Photo
Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the
Election Commission of India, PAN
card, Aadhaar Card, etc., wherein the
name of the Guru has been recorded
against the column(s) for parent(s)
name(s). After all these initiatives,
the number of applications for
passports, on a monthly basis, have
gone up by about 30 percent in most
PSKs. This goes to show that the
reforms were indeed much needed,
and were initiated in a timely manner.
This is today certainly changing lives
of many people, who were hitherto
somehow prevented from obtaining a
passport due to hard-coded
requirement of certain documents.
Many newspapers have hailed these
changes as transformative. Apart
from this, the MEA had also taken a
further step to rope in India Post and
it's humungous network of Post Of ces
April 2017
42
into the Passport Seva matrix.
One of the MEA's eternal
dilemmas has been guring out an
ef cient way to reach out to the remoter
areas of the country and the populations
inhabiting them, since the distance
people have to travel in order to obtain a
passport in some cases is more than 500-
700 kms. This had created enormous
dif culties and a huge wastage of time,
energy and resources, and the
Camps/Melas initiated by the MEA
proved to serve but a limited purpose.
So, just recently, under the stewardship
of Smt. Sushma Swaraj and Gen. VK
Singh our present Union Minister and
Minister of State for External Affairs, a
fruitful dialogue was initiated with the
Department of Posts. After
deliberations lasting several months, it
has now been decided that Post Of ces
could be used for rendering Passport
services. On 24th January, 2017, an
announcement to this effect was made,
and on 25th January itself, on the very
next day, two Pilot Projects were kicked-
off at Dahod in Gujarat and Mysuru in
Karnataka. These Pilot Projects have
since proven successful and the Hon'ble
Minister of External Affairs has now
announced a total of 86 Post Of ce PSKs
across the length and breadth of the
country. This has been enthusiastically
received by the public as well as various
State Governments.
All these have indeed turned out to be
new milestones on MEA's road toward
offering people-centric passport
services. When we queried the
Secretary DOIA about his own personal
impressions on how this whole exercise
to bene t the common man has been, he
said: I am personally very happy to have
been associated with this phase of
transformation that will change the very
idea of having a passport in India. Every
Indian can now get a passport and we
have provided easy access to this facility.
Hon'ble External Affairs Minister, Smt.
Sushma Swaraj, personally monitors the
service being provided to the Indian
public, both within the country and
abroad. Constant review goes on to
improve various schemes and services.
This will all continue. We are currently
opening new of ces throughout India
and there is no greater satisfaction than
to see that almost every day we are
opening a new centre in some remote
corner of India. A
NRI Achievers Bureau
www.nriachievers.in
 Indiaspora

DIASPORA CONNECT
PROFILING THE UNDER-PROFILED
In dossier this month, we pro le for our readers a few personalities, who have largely
remained in the sidelines of diaspora news. Though each of them have made their mark
in their own domains and are known in their communities for the work they have
afforded during the course of their lifetimes so far, they have mostly remained out of the
public eye. NRI Achievers pro les them for our readers.

the prospect of travelling to thoughts of India to the backseat, rooting

KIRAN M. GOSAVI
Nasik, one of India's age-old cities
located in Maharashtra, known for its
links to the epic Ramayana, and a city
of temples and the Singhasth Kumbh is
the birthplace of Kiran M Gosavi, a
current resident in Nigeria. Kiran's
liberal outlook and non-conformist views
of his young years found resonance with
the African continent,
which in a way may be
called the birth place of
Satyagarha. After moving
from India to the dark
continent, he did a short
stint in Ethiopia, before
nding himself a place in
the sun in Nigeria. As a
well-respected political
and social activist, Kiran
is today considered one of
the continent's top
professionals in his eld.
Kiran works as the
Director (Operations) for a
large media house and
publishing company, while
simultaneously providing
his expertise in the form of
consultancy services on
turnkey basis to large
projects in the African printing industry.
His thoroughly professional approach, hard
work and his adeptness in adapting the latest
technologies and global best-practices in the
trade are the ingredients of his success and
behind his phenomenal rise to the apex of
his eld over a short span of time.
Despite of his more-than-busy
lifestyle, he has never ever relegated
and always standing rst for subjects close
to his heart. Though being in a nation that's a
continent apart from the homeland, he has
always remained political aware, and in
fact enjoys playing the role of a cultural
ambassador of India to African society.
In his adopted country, he is ever busy in
playing a key role organising Indian
f e s t iv i t i e s a n d w o r k i n g t ow a r d
enhancing people-to-people contact
between the two countries, for the
bene t of increased trade and closer
cultural exchange. Kiran, apropos, is
also currently the Vice President and Co-
convener of BJP Nigeria. Apart from this
position, he is also a trustee and global
president of the Vishwaguru Sthapna
Mission Trust, an institution that strives to
work across borders in several countries
and continents for the betterment of
mankind. An emergence of a resurgent
India, per the ancient wisdom of
Bharatvarsh, and the
world is one family is a guiding
principle of the organisation that works
for economic integration of the global
human society, and holds peaceful
coexistence and equal distribution of
resources and opportunities in the world
as their mantra for humankind.

April 2017
44 www.nriachievers.in

SUNIL CHOPRA
Trained and blooded in the cut and thrust
of student politics in Delhi University,
Sunil Chopra, who arrived in London in
1979 after completing a law degree from
the DU, has many laurels to his credit. Just
a couple of years ago, he had risen to
political heights in the British capital when
he took over as the mayor of the London
borough of Southwark. For 2013-14,
Councilor Sunil Chopra had been elected
as the deputy mayor of Southwark. His
election was deemed signi cant as the
percentage of Indian-origin people in the
central London borough was a mere
1.5%, and unlike other boroughs where
Indians were more in number. Delhi-born
Chopra, General Secretary of the Indian
Overseas Congress, London, then
became the rst and only Indian-origin
elected councilor in the London Borough
of Southwark Council. Chopra had then
said, "I feel really proud to be an Indian
(British Citizen). It is not only a great
honour for me and my family but for the
whole Indian Community. I will keep
working with the community". Looking
back at his life, we nd Chopra was the
president of the Delhi unit of the NSUI in
www.nriachievers.in
the 1970s. His contemporaries in student
politics at that time were Arun Jaitley,
Vijay Goel, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni,
Sudhanshu Mittal, and others. He had
gone to the SM Jain School in Kamla
Nagar, and was the rst president of the
Delhi University's College of Vocational
Studies in the mid 1970s.
Arriving in the UK, Chopra had
set-up a retail business, and then entered
the wholesale business in children's
garments and baby products. He was a
founder trustee of the Southwark Hindu
Centre, and had successfully contested
council elections for the rst time in 2010
as a Labour candidate. Chopra's key
activities include raising funds for charity
Dossier
organizations through events such as a
'Curry Night.' He is also credited for his
'Diversity Nights' that tried to celebrate the
many cultures represented in the borough
with a population of 2.8 lakh. Chopra,
happily married and with three sons born
in London, says he often visits Delhi to
meet his mentors, friends and family.
His former teacher at the College
of Vocational Studies, Dr Rajendra
Panwar recalls that Chopra was an
extremely popular student leader with
exceptional organizational abilities who
was liked by all his teachers. "On every
visit to Delhi, he meets me and others".
Senior Congress leader Harcharan Singh
Josh, his neighbour at Shora Kothi near
Ghanta Ghar, Sabzi Mandi, who saw
Chopra grow up says that he always had
the potential of doing great things. "He has
been in touch with me and we share a very
special bond even now".
His passion to help young and
unemployed people, senior citizens and
to forge close ties amongst citizens from
va r i o u s b a c k g r o u n d s w a s m u c h
appreciated by his borough. "My global
passion is to provide education and clean
drinking water in developing countries ,
says Chopra. Chopra still has one as yet
unful lled wish, that's of being a member
of the House of Commons. "It depends on
my party if they give me the ticket, I will
make a bid for it. Chopra says, "We need
more representation for the Indian
community in the British parliament, we
don't have fair representation yet".
April 2017
45
 Indiaspora
K V SHAMSUDHEEN
K a r a p a m Ve e t t i l S h a s u d h e e n , a
malayalee from Chavakkad in Trissur, is
today settled in Dubai with his wife and
two children. We met him during a
diaspora meet and got to talking, when in
bits and pieces, we came to know of his
experiences and achievements in his
own words. We reproduce excerpts of
them here, and let his own words tell his
story I was an active student member
of the BSS (Bharat Sewa Samaj), and
even at age 13, I was working on how to
inculcate the savings habit among
villagers. So you could say that my way
of doing things now has been growing
with me since my childhood. Another
thing, since almost all male members of
our family were living and working in
Ceylon and Malaysia, I was, from a very
tender age, well conversant with the
April 2017
46
usual problems and challenges of non-
resident Indians. Like many of my other
family members, I too after completing
my B.Com travelled to the gulf to nd
employment, arriving in Dubai in the
year 1970. On my very rst day there, I
had occasion to see the pathetic condition
of two NRIs, who were struggling to
return back after a decade and a half of
stay in Sharjah, in the absence of enough
money to buy their tickets to travel to
Bombay by ship. Right then and there I
had decided to help Non-Resident
Indians (NRIs) solve their various
problems and inculcate saving and
investment habits in them.
Jumping the gun a bit, we would like to
' ll-in-the-blanks' a bit. Shamsudheen
had originally come to Gulf to work with
a private company in Sharjah. He did
that for 4 years or so, before he joined
Govt. Service at Sharjah in 1974, and
stayed in government service for 16
years.
It was in the year 1976 when the
Unit Trust of India sent out am
invitation to me asking me to take up
their rst Non Resident Agency, after
appreciating my diligent efforts over
the years to propagate US-1964 at
that time the only Indian mutual fund
among NRIs. Those days,
investment in Indian Initial Public
issues was not possible, and it was
only after much continued demand
that our government nally
permitted NRIs to invest in IPOs.
And from the rst IPO that opened
for NRIs, I started to help our
compatriots to invest in IPOs.
After seeing my contribution in
Telco, its merchant banker, M/s J M
Finance offered me sub-brokerage.
In 1995, when Geojit Securities Ltd
decided to go public they invited me
to join as an NRI promoter and I
accepted. I was on their board till
2002. In 2001, I was instrumental
in setting up Barjeel Geojit
Securities LLC in the UAE. In late
nineties, the condition of Gulf returnees
had become aggravated, so I decided to
solve that problem in a organized way.
For that, I decided to register a charitable
trust, with my own nancial
contribution. So I went ahead and
registered the Pravasi Bandhu Welfare
Trust in 2001. After registering the
Trust, we undertook a survey among
NRIs to nd out their nancial status.
One of the alarming ndings of this
survey was that 95% of all the NRIs from
lower, middle and upper middle income
segment (blue collar and white collar
workers) had little or no nancial
resources to live comfortably when they
return to India for permanent
settlement.
So I have ended up conducting
more than 400 nancial awareness
programmes entitled "For a better
tomorrow," in GCC countries for Indian
expatriates, and out of those 54 were
www.nriachievers.in
 Dossier

conducted in India for the family

members of non resident Indians. I then
took to radio and conducted more than
700 live interactive weekly radio
programmes titled "Financial Planning
and investment opportunities" on Asianet
Radio, which has more than 1.4 million
listeners in all GCC countries. I also did
some 500 odd live TV programmes under
the name of "Lifeline" with NTV. Many
television and radio channels from across
the world have featured me and asked me
to speak about the life of non resident
Indians in the GCC countries, and on my
philanthropic activities.
We always promoted the concept of
expatriates investing back into India. So
we used to convince people on why India
is the best investment destination for us,
and used to explain various investment
opportunities open to them like real
4. Requested that NRIs be permitted to Indian expatriates. I received more
estate, agriculture, gold, jewelry,
participate in the Indian election process than 1000 calls from those who were
insurance, xed deposit, mutual funds
and vote in elections, now taken up by on the brink of suicide, and we ensured
and stocks, business, small scale industry,
community organisations. that none of them did take the extreme
etc. We also used to offer advice on the
5. Airlines hike fares for India-GCC step. The National news paper
various investment opportunities, their
destinations during peak seasons. I had produced a documentary on this
pro tability and risk, procedures,
advocated controlling it, and now that service and they had titled it "The Debt
measures to take care while investing et al.
government has introduced an upper-cap Cycle." I am still helping people who
In addition to these activities I
fare-limit for domestic destinations, I am get into debt traps, by advising them on
have all along tried to get the Government
requesting government to introduce
of India's attention on various issues how to manage their debt.
similar for international destinations as
related to NRIs. I sincerely believe that if I have also seen many awards and
well.
I keep on hammering, any stone however recognition coming my way. In 2012, the
6. We are still governed by a baggage rule
hard and strong is likely to crack. So I Cochin Chamber of Commerce had given
that's half-a-century old. I campaigned
used to put pressure on our government an award for my activities. CNBC TV18
for an increase in baggage allowance at
continuously with the view that the public gave me an award for my efforts to create
par with in ation, and govt has of late
will ultimately get the bene ts. To nancial awareness among non resident
increased the duty free allowance.
mention a few of the areas I had initially Indians the same year. For the last
7. All items a passenger may carry
ignited that the masses took over later are: t h r e e s u c c e ss iv e y e a r s , a r a b i a n
without paying duty are mentioned by business.com had selected me as one
In the seventies NRIs were not
permitted to subscribe to Indian IPOs quantity whereas gold is mentioned by among the 100 most in uential Indians
with repatriation. Responding to our value. I campaigned for parity in this in GCC countries. In 2012 my rank
demand govt permitted NRIs to invest in matter, and government has now changed was 51, in 2013 it became 17 and then
Indian Public Issues with repatriation. it to 20 grams for males and 40 grams for in 2014 it was 9. In the philanthropic
2. Rooted for simpli cation of procedure, female passengers. category my name was number one all
the government nally did it. I have some eight voluminous tomes of these years. For the last two years, I
3. In eighties the international rate of press cuttings that document the history have got the Indian CEO of the year
interest was 24% per annum while in of expatriate life here. I had started an for Philanthropy award from CEO
India it was very low, so many NRIs were initiative called "Swandwanam" in 2006 Middle East magazine. A
investing in tax havens, so I pushed for an when suicide cases among expatriates
increase in the interest rate for NRE suddenly hit the public eye and registered
deposits, on par with international an increase. The intention was to
markets, which ultimately got done. control suicidal tendencies among NRI Achievers Bureau

April 2017
www.nriachievers.in 47
 State Focus : Karnataka

NRI FORUM KARNATAKA

MAKES MANY WELFARE PLANS

The NRI Forum Karnataka has

been hard at work, and has
planned a whole slew of
programmes for the benefit of its
Diaspora outside the country. The
proactive Deputy Chairperson of
NRI Forum (Karnataka), Dr.
Arathi Krishna says her forum's
plans include the setting up of a
database of NRIs from the state,
followed by organising pre-
departure orientation programme
'Namma Ooru Namma Naadu,'
divesting powers over attestation
of marriage certificates (of
couples going abroad) and
authorisation of job recruiting
agencies, to name but a few.

April 2017
48 www.nriachievers.in

O
nce the database is built up and is made available, it will
be much easier to hear diaspora grievances with
district-level committees too in the making. Similarly,
pre-departure orientation programmes are felt directly essential
to create awareness among prospective travelers who will be
unaware of rules and regulations pertaining to the countries they
www.nriachievers.in
State Focus: Karnataka
plan to travel to. In some countries, carrying certain drugs is
not permitted and if found in their possession, they may
attract punitive action. There are instances of people landing
behind bars due to lack of awareness on such matters. It's only
later that they approach the dedicated offices seeking help in
bailing tuhem out from the problem.
NRI funds: 'Namma Oooru, Namma Nadu' is aimed
at tapping NRI funds towards community building, by aiding
works in their native places. The forum will ensure that such
funds are exempted under foreign donations. In the existing
scenario, the office of regional commissioners in four
divisions; Mysuru, Bengaluru, Belagavi and Kalaburagi are
vested with powers to attest marriage certificates. The forum
has requested the ministry of external affairs to divest the job
and hand it over to the forum.
The other
plans include:
bringing all the
organisations and
associations of
Kannadigas abroad
en bloc on a
platform to help
those in distress,
issuing of non- NRI Forum Karnataka
resident Kannadiga Government of karnataka
(NRK) cards and
organising Pravasi Karnataka Divas on the lines of Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated once
in two years. The Pravasi Karnataka Divas aims to fill the gap,
she said. She also emphasised on taking corrective measures
to ensure seats for NRI students, every university has 15% of
seats reserved under NRI quota reserved but is currently not
being followed in too.
Kerala model: The NRI Forum Karnataka, headed
by the Chief Minister, has recently launched a dedicated
policy. The plans hinge on the budgetary allocation, as it is
intended to develop a system along the lines of Kerala. Kerala
offers several facilities even after the non-residents return to
the home state. Kerala has a dedicated ministry for NRIs,
with a vast budgetary allocation. Karnataka aims to
strengthen the system and legislative committee of minorities
headed by Mangaluru south MLA JR Lobo, who has also
submitted a report to the government in this regard. The
committee has requested INR 50 cr. towards taking up various
programmes, Dr. Arathi said. A
NRI Achievers Bureau
April 2017
49
 Food For Thought
THREE Ps FOR
PERPETUAL
SUCCESS
Globally 50 percent businesses fail within the rst ve years,
and in the US, approximately 90 percent businesses fail within
the rst ve years Tracy Adkins CPA rm
The amount of information we get in one
day today, we never got this much
information in a hundred years. With the
speed of change, products are getting
obsolete the day they're getting
launched. Knowledge is getting obsolete
in two-three years. By the time an
engineering or a medical graduate gets
into the fourth or fth year, what they
learnt in the rst year has already
become obsolete. It has literally become
a clich - the only constant is change .
Not merely the older generation, but
even the younger generation is nding it
hard to keep up with the technology. The
reality is that we are well into the fourth
industrial revolution today. The rst one
took place in 1770s, with the coming of
the steam engine. The second one took
place in 1870s when the era of mass
production and consumption came in.
The third one took place in 1990s with
the advent of internet. The fourth one is
taking place right now with the
advancement of robotics and arti cial
April 2017
50
intelligence, which is likely to reduce
approximately 50 percent of jobs in the
coming decade or so because of
automation and elimination. With that
scenario, either we are in deep trouble, or
we have a great opportunity for those
who are prepared with skills that are
constant that have never changed and
will never change. Now, what are those
skills?
Going into the future, I strongly
feel that the only people who will
succeed in life are those who master the
following three skills:
1. People skills
2. Persuasion skills, and
3. Prioritizing skills
Why the above three skills?
People skills: We are hired for
our skills but red for our behavior. The
lower a person is in life, 90 percent of his
time goes into technical skills, less than
10 percent goes into people skills. The
higher you go up in life, guess what
happens? It just reverses. Technology &
Technicians we can always buy with
money, but the wealthiest person in the
world must build and create
relationships.
Why do we go to a doctor or a mechanic
10 miles away bypassing 10 others en
route? Is he the most quali ed?
Probably not! But something says that I
am dealing with a right person. And what
is that something? It is the trust factor.
Trust in many ways is a much greater
compliment than love. There are people
we love but cannot trust. The patient does
not care what grades the doctor got in
school or college. It is the people skills
that make them either comfortable or
uncomfortable. People like to deal with
people they like. A person's likeability
quotient depends on the 6Cs approach:
1. Character Make integrity a way of
life
2. Competence Acquire core
competencies as a tool to success
3. Clarity Inculcate ability to de ne
www.nriachievers.in

clear goals
4. Con dence Develop humility and
pride in performance
5. Courage Ability to stand up with
integrity against all odds
6. Communication Communicate with
clarity and con dence.
Unfortunately, today's generation has
become very comfortable with
technology but they have become
uncomfortable with people. That is why
emotional quotients (EQs) have become
much more important than Intelligence
quotient (IQ). Ability to recognize and
control one's emotions. The ability to
identify and satisfy the other person's
emotional needs.
Persuasion Skills: What is
persuasion? Persuasion is the ability to
in uence, convince, negotiate and sell.
Who doesn't need it? For example: A
Candidate at a job interview A boy girl
proposing to get married The Lawyer
arguing in front of the Judge A personal messages sto opposite sides of the globe - See more at: shivkhera.com
politician giving speeches to get votes.
www.nriachievers.in
Food For Thought
never had that many in the history. Yet, we
don't have time to do what's important.
Why?, Because somewhere we messed
up our priorities. When we mess up our
priorities, we forget to distinguish
between:
What is URGENT and what is
IMPORTANT? Urgent may or may
not be important and important may
or may not be urgent. Interestingly,
w h e n ev e r w e i g n o r e w h a t i s
important, it converts into urgent.
Example, health is important but it's
not urgent. If I have a crucial meeting
tonight and I cannot exercise, it's not
the end of the world. But if I ignore my
health long enough, guess what may
happen? I may land up in the hospital.
Similarly, relationships are important
but they are not urgent. But if we
ignore relationships long enough, we
start talking through our lawyers.
Aren't they all persuading? There is a
What is NEGOTIABLE and what is
myth that to succeed, one needs to learn
NON-NEGOTIABLE. Some things
the tricks of the trade. Professionals learn
are just not negotiations, i.e. values.
the trade, they leave the tricks to the cheats
What we would STAND FOR and
and crooks. People keep talking about the
what we would STAND AGAINST. If
sales as B2B and B2C. But every
we look at life histories of some of the
transaction boils down to P2P People to
greatest leaders of the world, you nd
People. People deal with people they like.
that they were never neutral on values.
GET PROFESSIONAL OR GET OUT.
They either stood for something or
Professionals realize that in life, results
against something.
are rewarded, efforts are not. We judge
We need to distinguish between
ourselves by our intentions but the world
MAKING MONEY and EARNING
judges us by our actions. In the game of
MONEY. Today, most people want to
cricket, the best player could have made
make money, very few want to earn
99 runs 50 times. It is still not called one
money.
century. Nobody gives a grace run for hard
To succeed, let's master these three P's of
work or effort or good intention.
success. A
Prioritizing skills: Priorities
are based on values. The amount of time
saving devices we have today, we have
Shiv Khera
Author, Educator, Business Consultant & a successful Entrepreneur, the writer is a much sought after speaker,
who often inspires and encourages individuals to realize their true potential. He has taken his dynamic
April 2017
51
 Metaphysical Musings
THE ONE HUNDRED &
TWELVE WAYS OF
ADIYOGI
M ore than 15,000 odd years
ago, when Adiyogi rst
began the transmission of
yogic sciences to his seven disciples
the Saptarishis he begins with
expounding many incredible things
about the entire mechanics and
dynamics of human existence. At one
point in time, he comes to a dimension
known as Kaivalyapada where he
offers 112 different ways through which
a human being may attain his fullest
potential. The seven disciples were
enrapt, absorbing all that he was giving.
But Parvati, his wife, was a bit more
casual about the whole thing. She asks
him, 'Why only 112? Maybe there are
more that you do not know about?'
Well, Adiyogi was in that kind of mood
which made him just brush her aside. He
wasn't sitting there as a man, or as her
husband, he was sitting there as a Guru,
so when such interference came, he just
ignored them.
Parvati's feminine ego ares up and she
insists: 'There must be more ways. And I
April 2017
52
am going to nd them.' Adiyogi just
says, 'By all means do go and try if you
want to. But using the human system,
there can be but 112 ways because
there are only 112 doorways for this
body through which it can attain such'.
So, if you wish to do something, you can
do that only with what resources and
infrastructure you have at your disposal.
You cannot work with what is not on
your hands. So he just dismisses her.
Furious, she leaves and performs severe
austerities for a long period of time
exploring other ways. She does intense
sadhana and puts in much effort, but
could nd nothing else. She returns
upon realising this failure.
Adiyogi's exposition was still
underway. This is a dialectical culture
where things are expressed in very subtle
ways, so she did not come and say
anything. Being his wife, she could sit
beside him, but she sits a step below him,
to indicate that she has failed. But she
did not want these seven people to know.
Adiyogi looks at her and then he
explodes into a state of energy where
t h e s e 1 1 2 wa y s f o u n d p h y s i c a l
manifestation around him, and this was
the grandest moment that she had ever
witnessed.
Of these 112, largely 84 of them
are purely kriya. Fundamentally,
kriya means internal action. When
you do inner action, it does not involve
the body and mind as both the body and
mind are still external to you. When you
have a certain mastery to do action with
your energy, then it is a kriya. But in
today's world, most human beings do not
have the necessary physical body to do
kriya yoga in its entirety. It will just burn
you down if you don't have the right kind
of body. So, a combination that involves
other aspects of you body, mind and
emotion works best. The reason 84
are purely kriya yoga is because the
creation we are in right now is
considered the 84th cycle of creation.
This is why there are 84 basic asanas.
Every asana is a kriya by itself if you do
it properly. If you are simply doing it
www.nriachievers.in

like an exercise with music and whatever
else, that's different. That's not hatha
yoga. But if you do a proper asana, every
asana is a kriya by itself because there is
an inward movement involved.
So, 84 of the 112 ways are pure
kriya. All the others also have aspects of
kriya because Adiyogi does not look at
life through the intellect. He has a great
disdain for intellect. He thinks human
intellect is worth nothing. That's his
opinion and I agree with him because in
the larger context of existence, the human
intellect is really nothing. Amongst
ourselves, it is a lot of drama with our
intellect and smart talk we can create little
things, but in the larger existence, it
doesn't mean anything.
Let me tell you a story. It
happened one day in the year 2075, a
bunch of scientists decided to take an
appointment with God. They went and
said, Hey old man, you've done pretty
good with creation so far. But now, we
can do everything that you can. God
said, Oh, is that so? What is it that you
www.nriachievers.in
can do? They said, Well, we can create
life. God said, Give me a demo. So
they took some soil. Boom, boom, boom,
they did something and made a baby out
of it, and the baby cried. God said, Well,
that's quite impressive but rst get your
own soil. Before you and me, something
created all this. You can call it God, Shiva or
whatever you want, but you didn't make it. If
you look at any aspect of creation, one thing
that it smacks of is intelligence intelligence
beyond your imagination. Intelligence and
intellect are different things. For example,
the body is an immensely complex chemical
factory. There is a certain intelligence
managing and conducting this. Do you
believe that you could intellectually,
logically conduct this whole factory? You
would not be able to manage a single cell if
you tried.
Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic and visionary, and a prominent spiritual leader. An author, poet, and
internationally renowned speaker, Sadhguru's wit and piercing logic provokes and widens our
perception of life. For more by Sadhguru, visit isha.sadhguru.org
Metaphysical Musings
What you call intelligence and
what you refer to as creator are not
different. Creator is pure intelligence
intelligence beyond logic. If you operate
only within the limitations and
framework of your intellect, you will
never know that which we refer to as the
creator. You will just do the circus of life.
Life is a circus when your intellect and
body alone are involved. It becomes a
magical dance when the intelligence
begins to play its role. A
On the 24th of February this year, on
Maha Shivaratri day, the Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi travelled to
Velliangiri to unveil the 112 feet high
visage Adiyogi the Source of Yoga.
Designed and consecrated by Sadhguru,
founder of the Isha Foundation, this
powerful sanctum at the Isha Yoga Centre
in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu State, has
since been dedicated to humanity. (carry
accompanying picture as well!)
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
April 2017
53
 Metaphysical Musings
' : -14
L=h ls ut+nhdh--- ;kfu foukk r;---!
,
, ,
, :
' ' pkSngoka
xjhch] nq%[k vkSj ,d canh dk thou ;g lc
O;f ds fd, gq, ikikas dk gh Qy gS-
Poverty, disease, sorrow, imprisonment
and other evils are the fruits borne by the
tree of one's own sins-
vki nkSyr] fe=] iRuh vkSj jkT; xokdj
okil ik ldrs gS ysfdu ;fn vki viuh
dk;k xok nsrs gS rks okil ugha feysxh-
Wealth, a friend, a wife, and a
kingdom may be regained; but this
body when lost may never be
acquired again.
;fn ge cM+h la[;k esa ,d= gks tk,a rks nq'eu
dks gjk ldrs gaS] mlh dkj tSls ?kkl ds
fruds ,d nwljs ds lkFk jgus ds dkj.k Hkkjh
ckfj'k esa Hkh {k; ugha gksrsA
An enemy may be overcome by the
union of large numbers, just as grass
through collectiveness wards off
erosion caused by heavy rainfall.
ikuh ij rsy] ,d dehus vkneh dks crk;k
gqvk jkt] ,d yk;d O;f dks fn;k gqvk nku
vkSj ,d cqf)eku O;f dks i<k;k gqvk 'kkL=ksa
dk Kku vius LoHkko ds dkj.k rsth ls QSyrs
gSaA
Oil on water, a secret communicated
to a base man, a gift given to a worthy
receiver and scriptural instruction
given to an intelligent man spread out
by virtue of their nature.
April 2017
54
,
,
17
og O;f D;ksa eqf dks ugha ik;sxk tks gekjs eu esa ugha gS og gels cgqr nwj gS-
fuEufyf[kr ifjfLFkfr;ksa esa tks mlds eu dh He who lives in our mind is near,
voLFkk gksrh gS mls dk;e j[krk gS--- tc og though he may actually be far away;
/keZ ds vuqns'k dks lqurk gS- tc og Le'kku but he who is not in our heart is far,
though he may really be nearby.
?kkV esa gksrk gS- tc og chekj gksrk gSA
If men should always retain the state
;fn ge fdlh ls dqN ikuk pkgrs gSa rks mlls
of mind they experience when
,sls 'kCn cksysa ftlls og lUu gks tk,- mlh
hearing religious instruction, when
present at a crematorium ground and dkj tSls ,d f'kdkjh e/kqj xhr xkrk gS tc
when in sickness then who could og fgju ij ck.k pykuk pkgrk gS-
not attain liberation. We should always speak what would
please the man of whom we expect a
og O;f D;ksa iw.kZrk ugha gkfly djsxk tks favour like the hunter who sings
i'pkrki esa tks eu dh voLFkk gksrh gS] mlh sweetly when he desires to shoot a
deer.
voLFkk dks dke djrs od~r cuk, j[ksxkA
If a man should feel before, as he
feels after, repentance then who tks O;f jktk ls] vfXu ls] /keZ xq# ls vkSj
would not attain perfection. L=h ls cgqr ifjp; c<+krk gS og fouk'k dks
kIr gksrk gS- tks O;f buls iw.kZ :i ls
gesa vfHkeku ugha gksuk pkfg, tc ge ;s ckrsa vfyIr jgrk gS] mls viuk Hkyk djus dk dksbZ
djrs gSa--- ijksidkj] vkRe la;e] Ikjke] volj ugha feyrk- blfy, buls lqjf{kr
'kkL= dk Kku gkfly djuk] fouezrk] varj j[kdj lEcU/k cukuk pkfg,-
uhfrekk- ;g djrs oDr vfHkeku djus dh It is ruinous to be familiar with the
blfy, t#jr ugha D;ksafd nqfu;k cgqr de king, re, the religious preceptor, and
fn[kkbZ nsus okys nqyZHk jRuksa ls Hkjh iM+h gS-W a woman- To be altogether indifferent
We should not feel pride in our of them is to be deprived of the
charity, austerity, valour, scriptural opportunity to benet ourselves,
knowledge, modesty and morality, hence our association with them
for the world is full of the rarest gems. must be from a safe distance.
og tks gekjs eu esa jgrk gS gekjs fudV gS- gks ge buds lkFk cgqr lko/kkuh ls is'k vk;sa ---
ldrk gS dh okLro esa og gels cgqr nwj gks- vfXu] ikuh] vkSjr] ew[kZ] lkai] jkt ifjokj ds
ysfdu og O;f tks gekjs fudV gS ysfdu lnL;- tc tc ge buds laidZ esa vkrs gSa]
www.nriachievers.in

D;ksafd ;s gesa ,d >Vds esa ekSr rd iagqpk
ldrs gSaA
We should always deal
cautiously with re, water,
women, foolish people, serpents
and members of a royal family;
for they may, when the occasion
presents itself, at once bring
about our death.
ogh O;f thfor gS tks xq.koku gS vkSj
iq.;oku gS- ysfdu ftlds ikl /keZ vkSj
xq.k ugha mls D;k 'kqHk dkeuk nh tk
ldrh gSA
He should be considered to
be living who is virtuous and
pious, but the life of a man
who is destitute of religion
and virtues is void of any blessing.
;fn
vki nqfu;k dks ,d dke djds thruk pkgrs
gks rks bu ia/kjk dks vius dkcw esa j[kks- bUgsa
b/kj m/kj uk Hkkxus nsaA ikap bfU;ksa ds fo"k;%
tks fn[kkbZ nsrk gS] tks lqukbZ nsrk gS] ftldh
xa/k vkrh gS] ftldk Lokn vkrk g]S ftldk Li'kZ
gkrsk gAS ikp
a bfU;% vk[k] dku] ukd] ftOgk]
RopkA ikp a defZsU;% gkFk] iko] egaq] tuufas;]
xqnkA
If you wish to gain control of the world
by the performance of a single deed,
then keep the following fteen that
are prone to wander here and there,
www.nriachievers.in
from getting the upper hand of you.
The ve sense objects: sight, sound,
smell, taste, and touch. The ve
sense organs ears, eyes, nose,
tongue and
skin, and the ve organs of activity:
hands, legs, mouth, genitals and
rectum.
Metaphysical Musings
ogh iafMr gS tks ogh ckr cksyrk gS tks lax ds
vuq:i gks- tks viuh 'kf ds vuq:i nwljkas
dh se ls lsok djrk gS- ftls vius ks/k dh
e;kZnk dk irk gS-
He is a pandit (man of knowledge)
who speaks what is suitable to the
occasion, who renders loving service
according to his ability, and who
knows the limits of his anger.
,d gh oLrq ns[kus okyksa dh
;ksX;rk ds vuq:i vyx vyx
fn[krh gS- ri djus okys esa oLrq
dks ns[kdj dksbZ dkeuk ugha
tkxrh- yEiV vkneh dks gj oLrq
esa L=h fn[krh gS- dqks dks gj oLrq esa
ekal fn[krk gSA
One single object (a woman)
appears in three different ways: as a
corpse to the man who practices
austerity, as a woman to the sensual,
and as a lump of esh to the dogs.
tks O;f cqf)eku gS og fuEufyf[kr ckrsa
fdlh dks uk crk;s--- og vkS"kf/k mlus dSls
cuk;h tks vPNk dke dj jgh gS- og ijksidkj
tks mlus fd;k- mlds ?kj ds >xMs- mldh
mlds iRuh ds lkFk gksus okyh O;fxr ckrsa
mlus tks Bhd ls u idk gqvk [kkuk [kk;k- tks
xkfy;ka mlus lquhaA
A wise man should not divulge the
formula of a medicine that he has
painstakingly prepared; an act of
charity he has performed; domestic
conicts; private affairs with his wife;
poorly prepared food he may have
been offered; or slang he may have
heard. A
Source: www.hindisathityadarpan.com
April 2017 NRI ACHIEVERS 57
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gal--- gj iy bafM;k!

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yks
th vk x;k vizSy 2017 vkSj lkFk gh vk x;k vkbZih,y 2017] ;kfu dh eLrh ls Hkjk QVkQV fdsV
dk 10oka laLdj.kA vc yxHkx Ms<+ eghus reke nqfu;k ds fdsV izsfe;ksa dh kkesa bu eSpksa dks
[kkrs&ihrs] galrs [ksyrs vkSj fully enjoy djrs gq, xqtjsaxhA
fdsV ds bl lcls NksVs QkWesZV esa tgka gj iy] gj xsan ij] gj kkWV ij] eSp dh thr&gkj dk
isaMwYke >ksy [kkrk jgrk gS] Bhd mlh rjg nkZdksa dk gYyk&xqYyk] galuk] dSejs dk Qksdl vius ij vkrs gh
[kqkh ls >we mBuk Lor% gh gj psgjs ij eqLdqjkgV ys vkrk gS] ph;jxyZ] <ksy&MEk] [kkuk&ihuk] eLrh&eLk[kjh--
- ;g lc eSp ds nkSjku ns[kdj fookl gh ugha gksrk fd fgUnqLrku bruk [kqk fny vkSj eLrh Hkjk nsk gSA
rks D;ksa u bl eLrh dks fgUnqLrku dh jkstejkZ dh ftUnxh eas Hkh Hkj fn;k tk,A bu eSpksa dks vxj Hkwy
tk,a] vkSj x+j lM+d ij ns[ksa] xyh&eksgYys esa ns[ksa] tkr&fcjknjh esa ns[ksa] Ldwy&dkWyst esa ns[kss] nks balkuksa esa ns[ksa]
;gka ns[ksa ogka ns[ksa] ft/kj Hkh ns[ksa rks flok; yM+kbZ & >xMs] ruko] eu&eqVko] [khap&rku] Hkkxe&Hkkx]
/kDde&isy] dqN fn[kkbZ gh ugha nsrkA
vc cnyko dh l[r t:jr gSA vkvks] bl lcls ij mBsa vkSj [kqkh dks] nksLrh dks] lg;ksx dks] I;kj
dks] eku dks] kku dks vkRelkr dj ysa vkSj gkykr dqN Hkh D;ksa u gks tk,a psgjs ls vkSj thou ls ;g lc tqnk u
gksus nsasA

Rajeev Gupta
The author is a veteran journalist who
had been associated with many
electronic channel before starting NRI
Achievers magazine. He may be
reached at: editor@nriachievers.in

April 2017 NRI ACHIEVERS 57

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 Cineppets

SUSHANT PLAYS A SPY IN SONAKSHI SINHA IS FOND OF URDU

ROMEO AKBAR WALTER
Fans have been waiting
desperately to get a
glimpse of the first look
of Sushant Singh
Rajput's project with his
alleged girlfriend Kriti
Sanon titled RAABTA.
Sushant has now
surprised his fans with a
special announcement
about another
upcoming project of his ROMEO AKBAR
WALTER aka RAW. The two posters released
by Sushant himself drop a subtle hint about him
playing a detective. He had also played a
detective in his previous film DETECTIVE
BYOMESH BAKSHI. The new movie is
being directed by Robbie Grahwal and is
produced by Ajay Kapoor, Dheeraj Wadhawan
and Bunty Walia. ROMEO AKBAR WALTER
will release in 2018.
KIRTI KULHARI PLAYS TITLE
ROLE IN INDU SARKAR
The talented actress finds the language full
of respect and romance. She has always
been keen to learn how to speak Urdu and
often even tries to use some words in her
everyday conversations. Sonakshi picks
Urdu words from songs she hears or scripts
she reads and mentally jots it down. She
feels lucky that twice now her character
names have been in Urdu, 'Pakhi' in
LOOTERA and now 'Noor.' in Urdu,
Pakhi means the knife and Noor means the
light. She likes the way the names sound
and also their meaning.
KATRINA KAIF TAKES ON THE PLANCHE !
Katrina Kaif, who is currently shooting for TIGER ZINDA HAI in chilly
Austria, is not letting the challenging weather interrupt her fitness regime.
The actress, who is completely dedicated when it comes to training, has
flown her trainer Reza Katani to Austria to ensure she doesn't miss a
single day of her work-outs. So while the team is shooting in the
mountains at 1,400 feet above sea
level, Reza is training Katrina without
access to a gym or proper workout
equipment in planche an advanced
bodyweight technique, in which the
body is held parallel to the ground just
by the hands. "Katrina will have some
challenging action scenes in TIGER

K
ZINDA HAI which requires a great amount of strength and balance. She
irti Kulhari
is learning the planche as it only involves using one's body weight and
is back
also works the entire body out minus the use of equipment. It is an
after her
extremely difficult move, which very few are able to master," Reza says.
much appreciated
performance in
PINK and plays a AMRITA SINGH BECOMES SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
title role in Madhur Powerful actress Amrita Singh will
Bhandarkar's next be seen in Irrfan Khan and Saba
'INDU SARKAR,' Qamar starrer HINDI MEDIUM,
which is about a essaying the role of a school
stammering principal! Director Saket Chaudhary
poetess with the says, The principal's character
emergency as a signifies authority, a woman who
b a c k d r o p . builds the future of children. And
Shooting these Amrita Singh has the quality to intimidate. She's dressed in sarees that
kind of scenes is were carefully chosen to emphasize that she has taste and that lends her
always depressing and exhausting yet liberating an air of authority. Interestingly, the school portions shown in the film
as you explore the pain inside you, face it and were shot in Amrita's alma mater, the Modern School in Delhi. In fact it
use it to express what the character is going was she who had suggested it and was happy to go back to school. HINDI
through. I took classes for voice modulation to MEDIUM sees Irrfan khan in the role of a rich Punjabi businessman and
make stammering look convincing. Once on set clothing store owner from Chandni Chowk, who along with his wife is
I believe in spontaneity but there are times eager to be accepted in the Capital's elite circles. Produced by Dinesh
especially during such intense scenes that I try Vijan and Bhushan Kumar, HINDI MEDIUM is all set to release on the
not to break the mood and rhythm and avoid any 12th of May 2017. A
kind of distractions, she avers. NRI Achievers Mumbai Bureau

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