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NRI may be next New Zealand Governor General
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Judge Anand Satyanand a former ombudsman is expected to be the next governor general of New Zealand when present governor general Dame Silvia Cartwights’ term ends this year.
If given the position Satyanand will be the first ethnic Indian to hold the post. The formalities will include the Judge’s name being presented to Buckingham Palace for approval.
The judge was born and raised in Auckland and worked as a legal practitioner, later becoming a district court judge before being appointed an ombudsman. He holds the New Zealand Order of Merit as a Distinguished Companion.
New Zealand has a tiny 2 per cent Indian origin population out a of a total population of four million.
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NRI to succeed legendary finance wizard Anthony Bolton
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Anthony Bolton who was instrumental in boosting the fortunes of Britain’s largest money manager, Fidelity International, has passed the baton to Sanjeev Shah who will take over the management of UK Special Situations Funds next year.
Shah 36, who has been with the company since 1996 was found to be the best possible choice for the job that runs and manages billions of pounds of investment. Shah was born in London and went to University at Cambridge and
Insead.
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Kerala exempts NRIs from appearing personally in property deals
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Continuing its campaign of stoking the interest of NRIs and stroking their pocket books, the Government of Kerala will now exempt the overseas workers from the necessity of appearing personally to buy or sell land in Kerala.
Procedures had insisted on their photographs and thumb prints to register documents in property deals in the state. The government has now permitted the exemption after receiving multiple requests from NRIs and relevant organisations explaining the difficulties involved in requiring their presence during transactions.
NRIs can delegate the power of attorney to family members or friends. Other options for the convenience of the overseas Indians are being examined.
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US welcomes more Indian students
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Karen Hughes, US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs stated that America wants to open its doors even more, to welcome students from India and also wants more American students to travel to India.
India is already number one worldwide, in sending students to the US. Hughes expressed America’s desire to build on this strength for the benefit of future generations of both countries.
Exchange programmes such as the Fulbright Fellowships already exchange students. Massachusetts Institute of Technology also runs ongoing collaborative educational projects with Indian institutions.
After the 9/11 tragedy security concerns made student visas more difficult to obtain, but that is changing and was up by 32 per cent over the last year. Ms Hughes and her accompanying delegation’s visit to India is aimed at reiterating that Indian students are welcome in the US.
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California honours NRI for services to healthcare
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Anmol Mahal, 56, the president of the California Medical Board was chosen to receive the Excellence in Medicine Award. He and six other leading Asian and Pacific Islanders were honoured as part of the Asia Pacific Week Heritage.
Mahal was stated to have dedicated his time and expertise to improving healthcare and became the first person of Indian origin to head up the 35,000 member Medical organisation in California.
Mahal left India 33 years ago and was recently appointed to the board of trustees of the Health Professions Educational Foundation by California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
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NRI to be Mayor of Gloucester, UK
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Harjit Singh Gill an avid hockey player will take over as the first Asian mayor of Gloucester city. Born near Jalandhar in India, Mr Gill who earlier served as Mayor of Barton and who once played hockey for India, took a team of Gloucestershre police officers to play a hockey series in India.
He turned postmaster and businessman and became Sheriff of Gloucester, before winning the recent council elections in Gloucester on the Labour party ticket.
Gill has a son at university and a daughter in high school and still plays his beloved hockey.
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NRIs lead US families adopting children from India
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The US now tops the list of overseas adoptions from India with almost 1,000 children finding homes in America over the last three years.
Most of the adoptive parents from the US are NRIs who feel a sense of responsibility towards their motherland, as observed by the Minister of Women and Child Development.
Italy is next in numbers of Indian children adopted followed by Spain and Denmark. Swedes, Swiss, German, Belgian, Australian, UAE and Britain have also been shown to have sourced India for children to adopt. Foreigners seem to prefer Indian children for their culture and resilience the Minister stated.
Complicated policies in adoption that existed earlier have been made more accessible to enable genuine adoptions.
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Mock weddings in Canada by wannabe Indian emigrants
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Canadian authorities have uncovered some 42 mock weddings that were revealed in 42 wedding albums, submitted by Indians applying for citizenship. The albums all had identical wedding guests and were taken at a venue in Chandigarh.
The phoney marriages have drawn the attention of the authorities that are seeing a proliferaton of abuse of the systems used by Canada for immigration. The rules could be amended given the epidemic of mock weddings, to make married couples live together for three to five years before permanent landed status is granted.
Some 60,000 Canadians marry wives from overseas each year with about 23 percent of Indian spousal applications being rejected by the Canada Citizenship and Immigration department.
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