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NRI in Time magazine’s influential people list |
Vikram
Akula, founder of SKS Microfinance, who uses smart cards to make venture capital available to over 800 million people living on less than $2 in India, figures in the list of 100 most influential people selected by Time magazine as shapers of the world. Akula, 37, has made SKS one of the fastest-growing microlenders, having dispensed $52 million to 221,000 clients since 1998. In the citation, the magazine says loaning a few bucks may not sound like cutting-edge banking but Akula is using advanced technology in the areas where there are few land telephone lines and no ATMs. In such areas, Time says, the founder of SKS Microfinance is starting to dispense loans, typically $116, on smart cards which its land officers have been using to record repayment electronically. The plastic approach, says the magazine, “intrigued” Visa International, which is now pairing SKS with cell phone-based card readers.
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NRI film selected for screening at NY fest
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| Khel Shuru (Game On), a second feature film from Differential Films, has been selected by the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Produced by Tushar Sathaye and directed by Sameer Thakur, the film was screened on May 7 in New York City. Coming in the wake of the team’s first venture, ‘Way of Life’, Khel Shuru too highlights different perspectives on relationships, which the filmmaker interweaves into a pacy plot that runs through unexpected twists. This 85-minute, Hindi/English language film revolves around seven friends — five guys and two girls, all in their twenties, who travel to a summer house in Ohio. The trip commences on a wrong foot when Eddie, an unspoken leader of the group messes up. What starts as a casual argument between these friends quickly escalates into a serious bet that pits one of them against the remaining six leading to the brutal game of hide and seek? Differential Films has been in the independent film production and distribution business for three years now. “We are here with the sole intent of promoting the untapped, hard working NRI talent and meaningful cinema,” says producer Tushar Sathaye. “Unfortunately, this talent never comes to the forefront. They work very hard, almost for nothing, yet not many notice.” The production house has already started work on a third project, a mainstream English movie, which promises to be more intricate and complex though set in the romantic comedy genre.
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More interest on dollar deposits
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Forex reserves have been increasing due to significant contributions from deposits from non-resident Indians. According to the Foreign Exchange Management Act, ‘a person resident in India’ includes a person residing in India for more than 182 days during the course of the preceding financial year. However, it does not include a person who has gone out of India or who stays outside India for employment; or is carrying on a business or vocation outside India; or stays outside India for an uncertain period for any other purpose. In order to avoid increase in liquidity crunch in the money market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been taking proactive steps. The RBI has been taking steps to ease out inflow of funds from NRIs.
In order to attract more funds and provide further incentives to NRIs, the RBI has recently announced additional measures. The interest rate ceiling on
FCNR(B) deposits has been revised and the RBI has hiked the interest that banks can give to NRIs on their dollar deposits. This move is expected to step up dollar inflows and ease liquidity. The RBI has decided to increase the interest rate ceiling on
FCNR(B) deposits by 25 basis points. As such, the interest rates on
FCNR(B) deposits of all maturities contracted effective close of business in India. The hike in the return on
FCNR(B) or NRI dollar deposits is expected to increase the flow of dollar deposits. More dollar inflows will make it possible for banks to give dollar loans and swap the dollar into rupees (at a premium) to give rupee loans. |
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Clarendon Parker to recruit NRIs for Indian cos
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| Clarendon Parker Asia, a joint venture recruitment company that was launched recently, plans to recruit NRIs and expatriates for Indian companies in retail, manufacturing, aviation, insurance, entertainment, banking and telecom. Clarendon Parker Asia, is a 50:50 joint venture between Clarendon Parker Middle East (CPME), a staffing solutions company from Dubai, and Rite Choice Consultants Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based recruitment company. “We are trying to bring back Indians to India. Our current focus will be on the NRIs and expatriates in the Gulf region and South-East Asia,” said Virendra Rastogi, director, Rite Choice. There will be a “dearth” of technical staff in the manufacturing sector since most of the engineers in India are entering into finance, management and marketing field. Clarendon Parker Asia will try to fill the gap by recruiting technical staff for Indian manufacturing companies, said Rastogi. “India’s growing economy has led to a real shortage of quality indigenous executives. Indian IT sector needs 1,00,000 jobs in the next two years. We realised a unique opportunity existed in partnering with CPME to bring essential resources from abroad back to India,” Rastogi said. |
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