3 Deol's at NYC to Promote YamlaPaglaDeewana-2

New York, May 19, 2013: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, were in New York on May 16, promoting their upcoming film YAMLA PAGLA DEEWANA 2, which releases worldwide on June 7.

The Deols addressed a well-attended press conference at Junoon in New York. “We’re very excited to have 3 legends of Bollywood in New York today,” said Paramdeep Singh, co-founder of Saavn, one of the event hosts. “The presence of the Deol family shows the emerging importance of U.S. in Bollywood’s global equation, we’re proud that Saavn has been chosen as the premiere music streaming partner for YamlaPaglaDeewana 2.”

‘YAMLA PAGLA DEEWANA 2’ once again brings together the three Deols - Dharmendra, Sunny Deol& Bobby Deol and two lead actresses in a film genre comprising comedy, action and romance. The twisted trios are back with a bang, except they are funnier, crazier and make tigers look like whimpering cats. The film opens in Scotland, travels to Banaras and eventually makes its way to UK.

The story revolves around Paramveer Singh Dhillon (Sunny Deol), a dashing, honest and righteous loan recovery agent with a unique working style. He initially greets defaulters with flowers, if otherwise needed, the “dhai kilo kahaath”. In another universe called Banaras, much to Paramveer’s oblivion his folks Dharam (Dharmendra) and Gajodhar (Bobby Deol) have failed to mend their ways and continue deceiving people. This time though they have a greater con up their sleeves. Their latest fish is, Yograj Khanna, a rich Night Club owner from England. Shrewdly Dharam intends to hook up Gajodhar with Yograj’s strikingly beautiful daughter, Suman, posing as a billionaire himself.

Dharam and Gajodhar land in UK and to their surprise find that Paramveer is Yograj’s new night club manager. Thus unfold series of hard core conning by the father-son duo with Paramveer hell-bent on ruining every last one of it. The entry of Reet, an attractive woman who runs an art gallery also Paramveer’s love interest, and a mysterious character named ‘Q’ which adds to the comedy of errors, comprising of mistaken identities, weddings, kidnappings and Mafia wars.

So Get ready to Rock with the 3 Deols in YPD-2 on June 7, 2013.

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...........R Sayed NRIpres.com

Photo Credit:  Gunjesh Desai / masalajunction.com

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Hindu temples, Bollywood and a Yemeni city's India ties

Sanaa, May 19. 2013:  A Hindu temple that dates back over 150 years, a market that sports an Indian name and love for Bollywood reflect the India connect of the Yemeni city of Aden.

The famous Hindu temples include the Shri Tarichmerga Temple that was built in 1862, the Shri Ram Ji Temple that was built in 1875 and the Hanuman Temple that was built in 1882.

It is estimated that Indians in Aden numbered 8,563 in 1856 and gradually increased to 15,817 in 1955. Now an estimated 100,000 people of Indian origin are concentrated in southern Yemen around Aden, Mukalla, Shihr, Lahaj, Mokha and Hodeidah. Many of them have acquired Yemeni citizenship and become part of the country's fabric. They, however, still retain ties with their families in India.

Since 1839 and until 1932, Aden, located in the southern region of Yemen and overlooking the Arabian Sea, was administered by India's British rulers from Bombay (now Mumbai), and during this period the influence of the Indian community in the economic and financial life was very strong.

Indian customs and traditions, whether in clothing or in food, are very evident.

Buildings with a distinct Indian character can be spotted in Aden's old quarters like Tawahi and Crater. There is also an Indian lane in Crater.

The Alpinaan market, named after an Indian dealer, is widely known within and outside Aden.

In fact, the economic and social impact of the large Indian community so astonished French sociologist Arthur de Gobineau that he remarked about Aden in 1855: "We have seen an Indian city on Arab land."

According to Massoud Amchosh, professor of comparative literature at the University of Aden, "in the forties of the last century, Aden gained some attributes of Indian cities that distinguish it from the rest of the cities in the Arabian Peninsula".

Indian culture had such an impact on Aden's society that the first band in the city in 1903 was an Indian ensemble.

Yemeni researcher Shafiqa Al-Arasea said that the Indian influence so penetrated the cultural and social life of Adeni society that Arabic songs were sung to Indian music.

Khalil Mohammad Khalil, an artist, said Indian influences impacted the personal and professional lives of many of his ilk. "Indian films have had a clear impact on my personality and art," he added.

Khalil said that he did not miss any new Indian film.

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..........IANS

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Indian American Vivek Ranadive buys US basketball team

Washington, May 18, 2013:  Indian American software magnate Vivek Ranadive, who has become the first person of Indian descent to become the owner of a major US basketball team, plans to build the Sacramento Kings into a global brand.

"It's going to be exciting," he told the USA Today after securing an agreement to buy 65 percent of the Kings from the Maloof family for a National Basketball Association (NBA) league-record valuation of $535 million.

"We're going to build a global brand with the Kings. We're going to give the fans the product that they deserve," the minority owner of Golden State Warriors said on achieving his longtime goal.

The development came just a day after NBA owners officially rejected a bid by the Maloofs, who have owned the team since 1998, to relocate the Kings from Sacramento, California, to Seattle, Washington.

"It's a little bittersweet, obviously because I'm a huge Warriors fan and I have a lot of friends here," Ranadive told USA Today Sports. "I'm very, very excited to start the new (challenge)."

Ranadive, who left India as a 17-year-old to attend MIT and later founded his $4 billion company in Silicon Valley, Tibco, has the sort of competitiveness and deep pockets that could lead one of the league's most poorly run franchises back to respectability, the USA Today said.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has made a concerted effort of late to grow the game in Ranadive's native India, where "basketball is but a blip on their sporting radar," the newspaper said.

"I'm going to do what I do in my business, which is surround myself with people that are way smarter than me," Ranadive said. "But I am a huge fan. I'm going to be there at all the games, be there to support the team in every way."

"It's one step at a time," Ranadive said. "I'm one of these guys who doesn't like to get ahead of the game.

"We still have a lot of work to do. I've learned a lot, but there's a lot more to learn. And it's going to be a process. It's not going to be an overnight miracle there, so it's going to take some work," he was quoted as saying.

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...........IANS

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60 hurt as US trains collide; New York-Boston corridor closed

New York, May, 18, 2013:  Two passenger trains heading in opposite directions collided during rush hour in southwestern Connecticut, injuring 60 people, five of them critically, and closing the key corridor between New York and Boston.

A Metro-North train heading from New Haven to New York City derailed around 6:10 p.m. Friday, hitting the other train in Bridgeport, Connecticut, about 60 miles northeast of New York City on the Long Island Sound, authorities said.

That caused some cars on the second train, which was destined for New Haven, to likewise leave the tracks, CNN reported citing a Metro-North spokesperson.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy told reporters Friday night that five people were "critically injured," one of whom was in "very critical condition."

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board will head the investigation into the crash, with Malloy saying that agency's team should be on site by Saturday morning.

"We have no reason to believe that it's anything but an accident," the governor said.

Power was shut off along the line and service has been halted -- westbound past Bridgeport, and eastbound beyond South Norwalk -- because of the derailment.

Amtrak train service also announced early Friday night that it had suspended all travel between New York and Boston indefinitely after the crash.

Such travel headaches could persist for weeks, because the two tracks affected by the derailment -- which are both "shot right now" -- may take weeks to repair, CNN quoted Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch as saying.

Because of a bridge replacement project, those two tracks are the only way in and out of New York City by train from that part of Connecticut.

Workers will need to not only remove disabled trains, but also remove the tracks, regrade the rail bed, then lay down the tracks again, according to Finch.

A passenger in a middle car of the New York-bound train, Chris Martin, recalled to CNN how his car went dark after the crash, then someone over the intercom "called all the doctors up front."
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Brian Alvarez, who saw the wreckage, described the scene as "pretty graphic."

"I saw this one car and it was completely destroyed, and they were pulling people out of the car," Alvarez was quoted as saing. "... They were all bloody."

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........IANS

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India has the potential to produce world-class distance runners: Maria Mutola

Pune, May, 17, 2013: “World champions arise from the most unlikely of place and there is no reason why India cannot produce one. The young athletes need to believe in themselves, but most importantly they need to go under the right coaching program. That is of vital importance,” said Maria Mutola, 2000 Olympics 800m gold medalist, three-time 800m World Champion and seven time 800m Indoor World Champion, while speaking to the media in the capacity of the international  event ambassador for the TCS World 10 K Bangalore, to be run on Sunday, May 19.

Citing her own example, Maria said she started out as a swimmer but had to give it up as her parents could not afford to pay the coaching fees.

She then began playing football, where she was noticed by a famous literary figure, who spoke to her about athletics and then sought permission from her father to begin her training.

“It was extremely difficult for me to train in Mozambique as there were no synthetic tracks, but the opportunity to travel to the Seoul Olympics was an eye opener. I realized I would have to work much harder if I hoped to make it to the top. It was after Seoul that I got a scholarship to the US, which changed my life,” said Maria.

“My years of hard work began paying off as I won the World Championships, yet the Olympic gold eluded me and it required a lot of mental strength and support for me to keep on working hard. The Olympic victory in 2000 was definitely the greatest moment of my life.”

Mutola has now taken up coaching and is currently coaching South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya. Speaking about coaching she said, “It feels great to be a coach, while it is a bit easier than being on the track, the satisfaction derived from seeing your disciples getting better and faster is very fulfilling.”

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......R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Award Winning Life Insurance Representative to be on Times Square Billboard

New York, May,13, 2013: Recipient of the Trophy Award for the past two years, Life Founder’s Platinum Award for the past five years and a life member of the Million Dollar Round Table, Senior Life Representative, Gaurang Parikh of the Prudential Insurance Company of America has not only earned numerous awards and recognitions for his work but has provided with stability and assurance to the people of our community.

From Ahemdabad, Gujurat to Queens and Long Island and now to a billboard in the middle of Times Square, Parikh has established himself as one of the most successful senior life representatives of the nation. Besides providing excellence with Prudential from his independent office in Uniondale, Long Island, Parikh also owns and operates two hotels in the metropolitan area of New York City. One of them is an attraction to both residents and tourists alike as it serves as a New York Yankees tribute and situated minutes away from the iconic Yankee Stadium in uptown Manhattan.

Times Square, New York City boasts about 1.5 million impressions on a daily basis. On Saturday May 18th, 2013 Gaurang Parikh will be highlighted on a billboard eyeing these impressions. The Times Tower (42nd St. & Broadway) will display a billboard in honor of Gaurang ‘G’ Parikh and will be visible from 9am to 5pm at 3 minute intervals.Parikh’s persistence and quality of production year by year has earned him top honors in the Prudential realm such as 23 President’s Citation awards and 11 Life Founders Awards. His humble beginning, powerful struggle and support from his loving wife Leena along with his two sons; Anand and Amar has made it possible for an immigrant man to be one of the most successful individuals in his field across the nation.

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Tennis legend Boris Becker launches the new Mercedes-Benz GL-Class at Bangalore’s largest luxury car facility: Sundaram Motors

• Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India along with Boris Becker launched the new GL-Class and inaugurated Mercedes-Benz India’s new state-of-art facility, Sundaram Motors

• Superior quality, ultimate Comfort, uncompromised safety, a trend setting design: the GL-Class lives up to its promise “Absolute Supremacy”
  

• The new facility of Sundaram Motors played host to the launch. Spread over 13,000 sq. ft, built with an additional investment of INR 80 million and employing 65 people, the new facility of Sundaram Motors takes the crown as the largest luxury car showroom in the city
  

• Tennis legend Boris Becker trains tennis enthusiasts at a special tennis clinic organized by Mercedes-Benz at the Bangalore  ground
  

• GL-Class is priced at INR 78.88 lakhs, ex-showroom Bengaluru
  

Bengaluru, May, 17, 2013:  Tennis legend Boris Becker along with Eberhard Kern, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India today unveiled the new GL-Class SUV at Mercedes-Benz’s new world-class facility in Bengaluru, Sundaram Motors. Equipped with state of the art technology, legendry performance and innovative features, the new GL-Class sets newer standards in terms of performance, comfort, dynamics, safety, elegance and efficiency. The new GL-Class SUV embodies the new design language of Mercedes-Benz and epitomizes luxury and off-roading; it stands at the pinnacle of the luxury large SUV in India.
 
Mr. Eberhard Kern, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India stated, “2013 is the ‘Year of Offensive’ for Mercedes-Benz India and we are very excited to present the all new GL-Class to our valued customers as part of our product offensive. Exclusivity and dynamism are two of the most enigmatic features of an ultimate SUV and the GL-Class represents them. We have already succeeded with the new M-Class and now the introduction of the new GL-Class will further strengthen our dominance in the Luxury Large SUV segment. The GL-Class with its proven off-roading prowess and luxurious appointments exudes the Absolute Supremacy statement during on and off-road situations and is ideal to suit the taste of the growing number of off-roading aficionados in India.”
 
Mr. Eberhard Kern further added, “The inauguration of the world-class facility of Sundaram Motors, which is also the largest luxury car facility in Bengaluru, is part of Mercedes-Benz India’s strategy to not only expand the network aggressively but also to significantly enhance the quality of retail experience for our customers. Sundaram Motors will provide our customers an unparalleled luxury and fascinating experience to complement their decision to buy a coveted Mercedes-Benz car.”
 
Commenting on the occasion Tennis legend Boris Becker said, “The GL-Class is the cornerstone of achievement for anyone across the world. It is a true blue SUV and the ultimate machine for off-roading. My association with Mercedes-Benz goes back to more than two decades. I identify with the values of the Mercedes-Benz brand – fascination, perfection and responsibility. I enjoy going for off-roading with my family I believe that the GL-Class is a perfect companion on those tracks. It is my pleasure to be a part of the launch of this majestic vehicle, here in India”. 
 
The second generation new GL-Class made its debut at Sundaram Motors, Bangalore, which now takes the crown as the largest luxury car dealership of Karnataka. Conveniently located at Kasturba Road, the new dealership is spread over an area of 13,000 sq. ft., carrying an additional investment of INR. 80 million and created within a record time of 12 months. The dealership boasts of a massive 16 cars display and has a Mercedes Café and an exclusive Kid’s Play Area. The accessories arena, an engaging audio-visual presentations, a unique boutique collection are some of the key highlights of the new facility of Sundaram Motors. To make the process of owning the dream Mercedes-Benz car an even smoother and hassle free experience, the new facility will have dedicated services for insurance, car loans and car-leasing options.
 
Mr. Sharath Vijayaraghavan, Executive Director, Sundaram Motors commented, “Sundaram Motors shares a long standing relationship with Mercedes-Benz India and has been associated with the prestigious Three Pointed Star for twelve years. The company has grown with the brand and share the common brand philosophy of ‘Best or Nothing’. Over the last decade Sundaram Motors have sold close to 2500 Mercedes-Benz cars and have serviced an equal number of cars for our valued customers. The new showroom will be yet another cornerstone in ensuring heightened customer delight which our valued customers expect from us. It will be our constant endeavour to provide a fascinating experience to our customers who have always aspired to own a Mercedes-Benz car”.

With the establishment of the new facility at Bangalore, Mercedes-Benz India continues to enjoy a network spread across 32 cities with over 57 outlets across India and retains the distinction of being the leading luxury car manufacturer with the widest and most intensive network of sales and after-sales services in India. The company has aggressive plans in terms of new product launches and network expansions in 2013, making it a year of offensive for Mercedes-Benz in India.

NEW Delhi Launch of Mercedes-Benz GL-Class by legendary Boris Becker: Reiterates its ‘Absolute Supremacy’ in the growing luxury SUV segment in India

• Dynamic exteriors, luxurious interiors, enhanced performance: reiterates GL-Class’ ‘Absolute Supremacy’ in the luxury large SUV segment
  
• Segment innovations: 360°camera, Cross-Wind Stabilization, Open pore trim, Active Park Assist, Sunroof for all three rows
  
• Power: 190 kW @ 3600 rpm (258 hp @ 3600 rpm); +34hp more than outgoing model
  
• Torque: 619 Nm @ 1600~2400 rpm;  +109Nm more than outgoing model
  
• India to be the second market after USA to locally produce GL-Class starting Q3 of 2013
  
• GL 350 CDI  ‘Launch Edition’ is priced at INR 77.50 lakhs ex-showroom Delhi

New Delhi, May 17, 2013: The New GL-Class is truly a class apart for the 14.8% lower fuel consumption. The ECO start-stop feature reduces fuel consumption and emissions by automatically switching off the engine in life in traffic. The V6 diesel has options like the AIRMATIC package for better ride control which helps in getting over the toughest of roads and worst terrains. With integrated PARKTRONIC the vehicle can warn difficult to detect obstacles in front of and behind the vehicle and helps the driver when searching for a suitable parking space for parallel parking, and support him through active steering when parking. Besides ruling the roads the new GL-Class also gives the best view of the sky as it comes with the panoramic sunroof including a sunroof even for the third row of passengers, creating a larger transparent area and brighter interior. The vehicle also features latest multimedia COMAND like the Bluetooth ® interface with hands-free function, 7.0 inch Color display with TFT technology as well as Internet browser and GPS.

Mercedes-Benz always gives prime importance to safety and the new GL-Class with the Pre-Safe ensures that vehicle reacts and prepares itself before any possible collision and with nine airbags it is one of the safest vehicles for the tumultuous off-roading, city and highway rides. The Attention Assist helps the driver as soon as it detects signs of drowsiness on longer trips by continuously monitoring over 72 different parameters of driving behavior while there is an additional “Crosswind assist” as further assistance to driver support.

The new GL is available with the optimized, upgraded V6 diesel engine. The powerful off-roader is unrivalled in its segment with its variety and innovations. The 2987cc engine produces 619Nm of torque @ 1600-2400 and a power 190/258 @ 3600rpm. The robust engine coupled with 7G-TRONIC Plus Automatic transmission offers high level of responsiveness wherein the car can reach 0-100kph is reached in 7.9 seconds, with the top speed at 220 km/hr making the new GL 350 CDI impressive in every aspect.

The new GL-Class is immediately recognizable as a sports utility vehicle on account of its styling, which is brimming with character. It combines expressive design and high-class appeal to create a powerful presence. It is a forward-looking interpretation of a sophisticated SUV. With the length of 5120 mm (+32 mm), width of 1934 mm (+4 mm) and height of 1840 mm (+10mm) the new GL is longer, wider and taller than its predecessor, and looks even more impressive. The self-assured muscular radiator grill with the Three Pointed Star oozes confidence and road presence to the optimum level.

The debut of the new GL will be as the “Launch Edition”. This limited edition variant will be offered as fully imported car and will have additional features like AMG body styling comprising front and rear apron painted in body colors, 21-inch AMG 5 twin-spoke light-alloy, aluminium finish running boards with LED illumination and flared wheel arches. Other specialties of the ‘Launch Edition’ will be Designo Exclusive Package, which takes the vehicle's high-quality look and feel to a new level of exclusivity. The enrichment includes AMG sports seats and rear seats featuring upholstery in designo leather, upper and lower dashboard sections and door beltlines in design leather, heated front seats, design headlining in Dinimica black. The ‘Launch Edition’ will also have heated seats, and temperature controlled cup holders.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Chandigarh-born poised to make history as US judge

Washington, May 17, 2013:  Chandigarh-born Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan has moved a step closer to making history as the first South Asian judge on the US Court of Appeals for the American capital.

Srinivasan, 46, who in August last year was named principal deputy solicitor general of the US, succeeding another Indian American, Neal Kumar Katyal, Thursday won unanimous approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

If confirmed by the full Senate, which appears all but certain with all the Republicans on the Democrat controlled panel joining in the 18-0 vote, Srinivasan would also become the first new judge on the powerful appeals court, often called the nation's second-highest court, since 2006.

Some court-watchers are already touting him as the next likely Supreme Court nominee as the appeals court has served as a stepping-stone for four justices on the top court: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas.

The White House, which has fought hard for his confirmation, soliciting letters of support from former solicitors general and Supreme Court law clerks from both parties, applauded the vote for Srinivasan.

"Srinivasan's confirmation will be an important first step to filling this court's four vacancies, and the full Senate should act without unnecessary delay," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

The committee's Democratic chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy, said that while he was gratified Srinivasan's nomination is moving forward, he was concerned about future Republican efforts to slow nominees to the appeals court.

But the panel's top Republican Charles Grassley said Srinivasan had "the correct judicial temperament." And he believed any fear that Srinivasan would be filibustered was "unfounded."

The lone Indian-American member of the House of Representatives expressing pleasure at Srinivasan unanimous approval by the Senate panel said: "Sri is widely regarded as one of the best legal minds in the country, and his breadth of experience makes him extremely well-

qualified for the appointment to one of our country's most important courts."

"His appointment would also be historic for the Indian American and Asian American community. Representation of Indian Americans within our judicial system is overdue," he said.

The 11-seat appeals court has been operating with just seven judges throughout President Barack Obama's tenure. If Srinivasan is confirmed, there would be four Republican and four Democratic nominees serving there.

Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. He received his BA with honours and distinction in 1989 from Stanford University and his JD with distinction in 1995 from Stanford Law School, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and served as an editor of the Stanford Law Review.

He also holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which he received along with his JD in 1995.

He received the Attorney General's Award for Excellence in Furthering US National Security in 2003 and the Office of the Secretary of Defence Award for Excellence in 2005.

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.........IANS

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Toronto Sikhs organising marathon to help children in need

Toronto, May 16, 2013:  Britain's Fauja Singh, believed to be the world's oldest marathoner, will be among those participating in the first ever marathon being organised by the Sikh community of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Canada May 19.

The event is being organised by the Guru Gobind Singh Children's Foundation (GGSCF) to raise funds for children in the developing world and promote “a healthy and active lifestyle”, The Globe and Mail reported.

Founded by children and youth in 1999 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa and to honour the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, GGSCF organises “interesting, challenging, and enjoyable charity fundraising events with a focus on children helping children”.

“Our major achievement is getting youth involved. We keep them engaged in different activities around the GTA,” Sarpreet Khera, one of the five-member board of the GGSCF, was quoted as saying.

“We bring children on board to get involved to do positive things in the community, the community in which they live, thereby taking them away from other things like loitering, joining gangs, etc.”

Since its inception, the foundation has raised over $800,000 to help children in need.

According to the report, Fauja Singh will be participating in the event only in a symbolic manner.

“Although the running parts are (now) not as long any more, I still run a little, but much more of my daily run has been replaced by a brisk walk,” he said.

The marathon will be held from the Dixie Road Gurdwara in Missisauga in the western part of the GTA to the Gursikh Sabha Gurdwara in Scarborough.

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...........IANS

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Sreesanth Ajit Chandila & Ankeet Chavan arrested as spot-fixing again hits IPL

New Delhi/Mumbai, May 16, 2013: The cricketing world was again shamed Thursday as three Rajasthan Royals players, including India fast bowler S. Sreesanth, were arrested in Mumbai for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that could well have its links with the Mumbai underworld.

Besides the 30-year-old Sreesanth, who has featured in 27 Tests and 53 ODIs, the other two cricketers arrested by the Delhi Police late Wednesday are his Rajasthan Royals colleagues Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) immediately suspended the trio pending further enquiry.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said the three players, who were flown to Delhi, were involved in spot-fixing in matches on May 5, May 9 and Wednesday night against Mumbai Indians. Police have also arrested 11 bookies from Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

"The arrests were made after we listened to taped conversations of hundreds of hours," Neeraj Kumar told reporters in Delhi.

Chandila was involved in spot-fixing during the May 5 match against Pune Warriors, Sreesanth in the May 9 game against Kings XI Punjab and Chavan against Mumbai Indians in Mumbai, Wednesday night.

Rajasthan comfortably won its matches against Pune and Punjab but lost the game against Mumbai by 14 runs.

Neeraj Kumar said Chandila also acted as a go-between Chavan and the bookmakers for spot-fixing the match against Mumbai Indians. Chavan was promised Rs.60 lakh for giving away 14 runs in his second over of the game.

Chandila was promised Rs.40 lakh for giving away 14 or more runs in his second over. Chandila, who was given Rs.20 lakhs in advance, gave away 14 runs in the over but had to return the advance since he couldn't signal the bookies well in time.

Chandila had to pull up his t-shirt and look at the sky before the start of his second over but he failed to give the signal, Neeraj Kumar said.

He said spot fixing codes like tucking in a towel, rotating a watch and wearing a wrist band were given by the bookies to the players.

During the game against Kings XI Punjab, Sreesanth tucked a towel into his trouser right before his second over to signal the bookies and also did some stretching to give them ample time to place heavy bets. Sreesanth gave away 13 runs against the agreed to 14, but was still paid Rs.40 lakhs.

The Delhi Police made the arrests after Wednesday night's game when Chavan gave away 15 runs in his second over for Rs.60 lakhs. Chavan was asked by the bookies to give away 14 runs or more during the over.

Sreesanth was arrested from Carter Road in Bandra, Chandila was picked up from InterContinental Hotel and Chavan from Trident Hotel, both in south Mumbai. Two bookies were also arrested from the InterContinental Hotel.

Mumbai police sources said that, the arrests were made on the basis of tracking phone calls, at least two dozen of which originated from Pakistan.

Sources said the two bookies arrested from Mumbai are allegedly linked to mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, who is understood to be in Pakistan. Dawood is believed to be a veteran in cricket betting and match-fixing.

BCCI president N.Srinivasan was shocked at the arrest of the three cricketers but defended the IPL.

"One or two bad eggs here and there cannot sully the entire game. I don't think it is a case of players not having enough money. If at all, you can call it greed. We have to objectively examine what further steps can we take and how we can demonstrate that these things don't pay at all. I don't subscribe to the view that the IPL is untenable," Srinivasan told reporters in MUmbai via a video-conference call from Chennai.

Rajasthan Royals readily agreed to co-operate with the investigations.

"We are in touch with the BCCI on this matter. We will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation. The management at Rajasthan Royals has a zero-tolerance approach to anything that is against the spirit of the game," a Rajasthan Royals statement said.

Last year, the BCCI had suspended Shalabh Srivastava, Mohnish Mishra, T.P. Sudhindra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali for spot-fixing in the IPL that was revealed in a sting operation by a TV channel.

Spot fixing first came to light in 2010 when three Pakistani cricketers - Mohammad Asif, Mohammed Aamir and then skipper Salman Butt - were arrested during the Test series in England.

The trio were alleged to have carried out specific on-field actions, including bowling no-balls at pre-determined times, for payment during the Lord's Test. The International Cricket Council (ICC) later handed them long bans and they were also convicted and sentenced to spells of detention in Britain.

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.........IANS

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CBI inks MoU with FIU-IND to check Money Laundering

New Delhi, May 16, 2013:  The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) Thursday inked a memorandum to strengthen anti-money laundering regime and for information exchange, officials said.

The memorandum of understanding enables the exchange and use of information between the two agencies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

"The two agencies will assist each other by sharing intelligence and information about people suspected to be involved in scheduled offences under the PMLA, and the list of offenders prosecuted by the CBI from time to time," a CBI official said in a statement.

The FIU-IND is the national agency responsible for receiving and processing information relating to suspected financial transactions to enforcement agencies.

The present memorandum will replace the previous one signed between the two agencies in April, 2010.

Speaking on the occasion, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha said that economic offenders use the latest technology for perpetrating crimes and this has posed a new challenge for law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

"Information and intelligence about crimes and criminals is one of the most important tools in the hands of law enforcement agencies. Thus making timely exchange of information is very essential," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

Sinha said the CBI has in the past benefited from the information provided by the FIU-IND about economic offenders and this has been crucial in probe.

FIU-IND Director P.K. Tiwary said enhanced coordination with law enforcement agencies and access to financial administrative and law enforcement information are priority areas for his agency.

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..........IANS / NRIpress.com

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Renewable Energy provides an excellent platform for synergy between India and Canada – Canadian Consul General

Pune, May, 16, 2013: Renewtech in India provides an excellent platform for synergies between Canada and India and the upcoming Canada India Research Center will further boost this cooperation said Richard Bale Canadian Consul General in Mumbai. He was speaking at the inaugural address of the sixth Renewtech India 2013 summit organized by India Tech Foundation at Auto Cluster in Chinchwad . Ashvini Kumar Director Solar Energy Cooperation of India, His Excellency Dato .P. Haji Sidek Ali , High Commissioner of Brunel Darussalam, Indra Mohan, President India Tech Foundation were present on the occasion . The three day summit will include deliberations and an industry exhibition . The summit is being organized with the support of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and three leading industry associations viz Solar Society of India , Indian Wind Energy Association and World Bio- Technology Association.

Richard Bale said that there are many sectors from clean energy to sustainable water supplies where both the countries can work together.

Currently the bi lateral trade stands at 5.8 billion dollars and expected to grow to 15 billion by 2015. Currently there are 700 Canadian companies in India. Canadian Prime Minister had visited India in last November . During the deliberations  both the prime ministers set an ambitious target to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of the year that would boost the Indian and Canadian economics by 6 billion and result in a significant increase in bilateral trade. We believe that by combining Canadian Technology and expertise with Indian Talent , Canadian and Indian manufacturers can develop and deliver advanced and competitive products and services for India , Canada and third country markets.

He added that Government of Canada has committed 13.8 million dollars over five years to establish Canada- India Resarch Centre of Excellence . The Center will fund greater collaboration between Indian and Canadian researchers and is expected to be operational by year end . Canadian investments in Science and technology currently amount to 12 billion dollars per year and have created one of the strongest science and technology bases in the world. 

Photo:  Richard Bale Canadian Consul General in Mumbai, , His Excellency Dato .P. Haji Sidek Ali , High Commissioner of Brunel Darussalam ,  Deepak Gupta former secretary MNRE , and  Indra Mohan , President India Tech Foundation at the inauguration of Renewtech Exhibition

Ashvini Kumar said in his key note address that Renewable Energy is an evolving sector and has grown from 2% in 2003 to 12% in 2013 in total power generation. With policy framework in place and many state government giving feedback about their experiences this sector is set for a significant boost with a target of 20% for renewable energy in the total electricity mix by 2020.The renewable energy industry is having a turnover of 40,000 cr as in 2012 with an average growth rate of 12%.

Indra Mohan President India Tech Foundation said that Govt of India has drawn up an ambitious capacity addition plan of adding 88000 MW of power at a massive investment of Rs 13,72,580 crores during the 12th plan. However in the view of  the threat of high levels of CO2 in the air 300000 MW capacity addition is expected to come from Renewable Energy sector which is quite an ambitious target. Renewtech Indian 2013 therefore aims to draw a road map . The CERC chairman Dr Pramod Deo will chair a round table meet on day 2 where the Chairman of two State Electricity Regulatory Commissions and some leading technocrats will deliberate.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com

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New South Wales technology to improve lives of hearing impaired children in India

Mumbai, May, 15, 2013: Australia’s leading state, New South Wales’ Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, was in Mumbai recently to announce a New South Wales (NSW) Government grant of $110,000 AUS for the Aural Education for the Hearing Impaired (AURED) Centre.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Andrew Stoner, Deputy Premier of NSW said, “Australian technology has already made a major impact in the lives of a few children in India. “It was truly inspiring to meet with a group of hearing impaired Indian children whose lives have been transformed through technology developed by a world-leading New South Wales company.

He further added, “For more than 30 years, Cochlear has been making a difference to the lives of hearing impaired people around the world by providing life-changing hearing solutions. They plan to invest further in the Indian market through direct operations and to build awareness of hearing-related disease through education and campaigning among medical professionals. .”

Each implant and associated therapy will cost about $11,000 AUS. The grant will support the AURED centre with funding for 10 more children who will receive the revolutionary hearing implants from the Sydney-based Cochlear. The associated therapy will not only allow them to hear but also teach them to speak.

Cochlear is not only a leading technology company but also a front-runner in exports globally. AURED currently has about 500 Cochlear implant students across 90 cities in India. Over 80 per cent of students are taught free or on a sliding pay scale.

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........R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Indo-Canadians win in British Columbia elections

Toronto, May, 15, 2013:  Two Indo-Canadians from different parties were among the winners in the provincial elections in British Columbia, Canada, media reported Wednesday.

While Amrik Virk of the Liberals, who swept back to power in the province, was declared elected from Surrey-Tynehead over the New Democratic Party's (NDP) Avtar Bains, incumbent Raj Chouhan of the NDP held on to his seat in Burnaby-Edmonds in a close fight against Jeff Kuah of the Liberals, the Vancouver Desi reported.

Virk is an inspector with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and had taken leave without pay to serve Surrey, a city with a large south Asian population, in a different way.

After having arrived in Williams Lake, British Columbia, from India at the age of five, he joined the RCMP in 1987 and was posted in Surrey in 2001.

Living in Surrey with his wife and three daughters, Virk has also served in the board of directors of the Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation.

He is currently is the chairman of the human resources committee and the vice-chairperson of the board of governors of Kwantlen University.

Virk's opponent Bains is a small business owner who has lived in Surrey-Tynehead for 40 years.

Chouhan, who won the Burnaby-Edmonds seat for the NDP, was first elected in 2005 and then re-elected in 2009.

He was most recently the NDP's critic for immigration, multiculturalism and human rights after having served as the party critic for labour and mental health.

He is also the founding president of the Canadian Farmworkers’ Union and served as the director of bargaining for the Hospital Employees Union for 18 years.

A founding member of the British Columbia Organisation to Fight Racism, he was also vice-president of the British Columbia Human Rights Defenders and has taught courses on human rights.

Chouhan and his wife, who live in Burnabby-Edmonds in that westernmost province of Canada, have two grown children and two granddaughters

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.........IANS / NRIpress.com

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Indian American surgeon to discuss 'Obamacare' impact on India

Boston, May 15, 2013:   Noted Indian American surgeon Mukesh Hariawala will discuss the business implications of President Barack Obama's second term on the Indian healthcare system at a leadership conclave in Mumbai in June.

A Harvard trained cardiac surgeon, who is also a healthcare economist, Hariawala will deliver the keynote address at the 4th annual India leadership Conclave & Indian Affairs Business Leadership Awards 2013 June 21.

More than 300 businessmen, diplomats, politicians, social reformers and delegates from Middle East and Europe are expected to attend the conclave with the theme of "New India, Agenda for Change" organised by Network 7 Media Group.

Hariawala's lecture on "Barack Obama's 2nd Term, Business Implications on Indian Healthcare System" will focus on opportunities offered to Indian healthcare professionals by Obama's signature Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare".

Hariawala has stressed how friendly retail FDI policies could help India get a larger share in medical tourism revenues, increased IT contracts, generic drug company revenues and overseas insurance company investments in Indian healthcare.

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..........IANS / NRIpress.com

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Indian Navy receives first P-8I reconnaissance aircraft

New Delhi, May 15, 2013:  The Indian Navy Wednesday received the first of eight Boeing P-8I long range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare (LRMRASW) aircraft at the INS Rajali naval air Station in Tamil Nadu, giving a major fillip to its capabilities.

Vice Admiral Bimal Kumar Verma, chief of staff of the Eastern Naval Command received the aircraft in a function at INS Rajali.

Seven more P-8Is will be delivered over the next two years. The aircraft, based on the Boeing 737-800(NG) airframe, is the Indian variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing has developed for the US Navy. India has the option of procuring four additional aircraft.

The aircraft is equipped with foreign and indigenous sensors for maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine operations and electronic intelligence missions. The release said the aircraft is fully integrated with state-of-the-art sensors and highly potent anti-surface and anti-submarine weapons, a defence ministry statement said.

The aircraft have been procured under a contract signed in 2009.

The P-8I aircraft would greatly enhance India's maritime surveillance capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region, the statement said.

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...........IANS

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Karnataka will emerge as IT superpower again: Moily

NEW YORK, May, 15, 2013:  Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily has assured the Non-Resident Indians that the Congress Government headed by Chief Minister K Siddaramiah in Karnataka will put the state back again on the global map in Information and bio technology. It will become IT superpower again and make India proud.
 
Moily was addressing Indian-Americans over live audio conference by telephone from New Delhi at a victory celebrations organized by Dr. Dayanand Naik, Karnataka chapter president of Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC) here on Monday night.
 
Moily told NRIs that the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government had done irreparable damage to the image of Karnataka abroad which was the most favored investment destination when the Congress Party ruled the State. “We will respond to the aspirations of Kannadigas not only in India but all over the world by providing a stable, corrupt-free, transparent and accountable government.”

Photo caption: Dr. Dayanand Naik, fourth from right, with George Abraham, president and other Indian National Overseas Congress leaders at the victory celebrations in New York.
 
Terming the recently-held election as “liberation movement,” the Union Minister thanked Dr. Naik and his team from the Indian National Overseas Congress for their support and campaign using social media and mass email to their friends and relatives back home to bring back Congress to power. 
 
Moily said due to anarchy and misrule, Karnataka reached its lowest ebb in education and knowledge sectors. “They have destroyed the education system by sanctioning universities and educational institutions that had neither infrastructure nor any faculty. “The State built by statesmen like by Sir M. Vishweswarayya was in shambles and the people have made a good choice to retrieve Karnataka from the clutches of corrupt BJP,” he said.
 
The election results in Karnataka indicate the shape of things to come and Congress will form the government for the third consecutive term in the center, he said.
 
George Abraham, president of Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC) in his presidential address, said the people of Karnataka had spoken loud and clear disproving all negativities and fake poll predictions of hung assembly. He appealed to the Congress High Command to reserve seats for Non-Resident Indian members of the INOC who are Indian citizens to contest Parliament and State Assembly elections. “There are some NRIs among MPs now and we need more to raise the issue of overseas Indians in Parliament,” he said.
 
Shudh Parkash Singh, INOC Senior Vice President said Karnataka has proved that stable government is a must for development. Mohinder Singh Gilzian, vice president, Harbachan Singh, general secretary, Zack Thomas, one of the founders of INOC and other leaders offered their congratulations for the victory of Congress in Karnataka.
 
Dr. Naik, a leading physician and former president of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) said over 100 volunteers from the US will go to India to campaign for Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.   He said plans are afoot to rope in and seek the advice of Indian-Americans who campaigned for President Obama on how to use social media and online campaigns to ensure victory of Congress Party.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Chivukula Honors Carnatic Music Maestro Sudha Raghunathan

BRIDGEWATER, NJ, May, 14, 2013: The Deputy Speaker of New Jersey Assembly Upendra Chivukula conferred the title Sangeetha Samrat on eminent Carnatic musician Padma Shri Sudha Raghunathan for her contribution to Indian music and also for taking the music globally during her Morning Raaga concert organized by Jana Seva, a non-profit organization, at Edward Nash auditorium in Raritan Valley Community Center, Branchburg, New Jersey on May 11.
 
One of India’s top most guitarist Amit Heri who plays with Oscar-awardee A R Rahman was conferred the title Vadhya Shiromani, mridangist and tour organizer Tiruvarur Vaidhyanathan was presented with Laya Vadhya Shiromani and excellence awards to B V Raghavendra Rao (violin); N Guru Prasad (ghatam); Karl Peters (bass guitar) and Arun Kumar (Western drums).

Photo: Upendra Chivukula, in the center with artists - (left to right) Guru Prasad, Amit Heri, Sudha Raghunathan, Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan, Karl, Peters and Raghavendra Rao

In his brief address, Chivukula praised the efforts of Jana Seva for its social causes and applauded Sudha Raghunathan’s musical virtuosity and for promoting Carnatic music all over the world.

The concert is a series of a seven-city tour co-sponsored by Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana Committee and proceeds of the fusion concert will be spent on constructing schools for the underprivileged children, orphanage, old age homes and goshalas in India, said L Shanti Kumar, founder of Jana Seva.

The passion and experience of Sudha Ragunathan with her golden voice, mixed with the dexterity of Amit Heri on the lead guitar and the musical creativity of other leading musicians brought out an eclectic and enigmatic fusion of modern and classical music that enthralled the audience and the artists had a conversation with each other through the music they played- with no bar on nationality, age or seniority. This unique fusion concert was attended by music lovers from New Jersey and neighboring states.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Mahindra launches H-Series Xylo with the advanced technology mHawk engine

New engine and exciting features now available at the same price

Pune, May 14, 2013:  Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M Ltd.), India’s leading SUV manufacturer, today announced the launch of the new H-Series Xylo, powered by the refined and world class mHawk engine.

The power packed H-Series offers a range of variants starting with the H4 (with ABS option), H8 (with ABS & Airbag option) and fully loaded feature packed H9 version which includes several unique features like Voice Command Technology (VCT), Cruise Control, Digital Drive Assist System, etc. The new H-Series starts at an attractive price of Rs 8.10 lacs (ex showroom Pune, BSIV variant).

At the heart of the new H-Series is the powerful & advanced mHawk engine which is set to offer an class leading 120 PS power and 280 NM torque for better drivability on both city roads and highways and an excellent fuel efficiency of 14.02 kmpl*. It is equipped with all new transmission which facilitates effortless gear shifting. All these additional customer benefits are offered without any increase in the price (as compared to outgoing E series), thereby offering even greater value proposition to customers.

The new H-Series is also equipped with key safety features like ABS with EBD, Dual Airbags, Extra Stability Technology Suspension (EST), Reverse Parking Assist and several other features.

Speaking at the introduction of the new H-Series Xylo, Pravin Shah, Chief Executive, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd. said, “The Xylo has since its introduction in 2009 carved a unique identity for itself in the area of class leading space & comfort. The addition of the world class mHawk engine will further boost its performance and take it a notch higher in its segment.  Equipped with higher power and better efficiency, we are sure that the new Xylo H-Series will be a popular choice amongst the discerning personal buyers”.

The all new transmission (5MT 320) providing effortless gear shifting in the H-Series Xylo, will further improve driving comfort. The mHawk engine was previously introduced in the top-end E9 variant of the Xylo. The rationale behind the nomenclature of the Xylo H-Series derives from its engine, where ‘H’ connotes the world class mHawk engine with high power, high performance and high mileage. The Xylo H-Series will be available in one new colour -- Dolphin Grey, (H8 & H9) apart from being available in 5 other attractive colours.

The H-Series Xylo sports Mahindra's Patented VCT. This feature enables vocie commands and responses. The H-Series Xylo interprets 30 different voice commands in English and can understand English in 15 different Indian Dialects. Moreover the H-Series Xylo responses back on 15 instances with a pleasent Voice. Mahindra has definitely provided a human voice touch to the H-Series Xylo driving experience.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com

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I&B Minister presents Dadasaheb Phalke Award to Pran at his Bandra residence

Pune, May, 14, 2013: In a rare gesture, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari flew down to Mumbai to present the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award for life time achievement to Pran Kishan Sikand, popularly known by his mononym – Pran.  The veteran actor, 93, was unable to travel to New Delhi for the National Film Awards function held on May 3, 2013.

The Minister, accompanied by I & B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma and a  delegation of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Directorate of Film Festivals presented the coveted award, comprising a Swarn Kamal, citation, shawl and a cash prize of Rs 1 million (Rs 10 lakhs).
 
Speaking on the occasion, Manish Tewari said "it is an honour for me to present this award to Pran saab in person, in the centenary year of the Indian Cinema.". He further  said that Pran Saab was one of the most deserving person to get the award, and this has added lustre to the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
 
Dada Saheb Phalke award is India’s highest award in cinema, given annually by the Government of India to recognize the contribution of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and for their distinguished contribution to the growth and promotion of the medium.

Pran is the 44th recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, that was instituted in 1969, the birth centenary year Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the Father of Indian Cinema.

Pran has given sterling performances in many films along with Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor in 1950s 60s and 70s. Pran’s performances have received acclaim in films like
Azaad, Madhumati, Devdas, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram Aur Shyam and Aadmi, Ziddi, Munimji, Amar Deep, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Aah, Chori Chori, Jagte Raho, Chhalia, Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai, Zanjeer etc.  The list is long.

Born in the year 1920 in Old Delhi, Pran started his career way back in 1940. He first ventured into photography but a chance meeting with a film producer got him his first role in a film called Yamla Jat.  His career experienced a brief pause due to partition in 1947. Subsequently he moved from Lahore to Bombay. With the help of the famous writer Saadat Hasan Manto and actor Shyam, Pran got a break in the Bombay Talkies film Ziddi which had Dev Anand in the lead role. The film Ziddi brought him to limelight in the Bombay film industry after which there was no turning back

Pran’s impressive performances have bestowed an entirely unique new dimension to the negative and character roles in Hindi cinema. His contribution to mainstream Hindi cinema is well recognized, assuring him the place of one of the most illustrious and celebrated actors of the Indian film industry.
 
He has acted in over 400 films in a career spanning six decades.  And in each one of them, he brought new mannerism and style, holding the audience spell bound by his acting.

Pran is a recipient of a number of film awards including three Filmfare Awards for his portrayal of both negative and character roles.  In 2001, the Government of India had honoured him with the Padma Bhushan award.


DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD FOR LIFE TIME ACHIEVMENT
This highest award in cinema given by the Government of India, is conferred upon  Shri Pran for his outstanding contribution to Indian Cinema. His impressive performances have bestowed an entirely unique new dimension to the negative and character roles in Hindi cinema. His contribution to mainstream Hindi cinema is well recognized ensuring him the place of one of the most illustrious and celebrated actors of Indian film industry.  During his career, he has given sterling performances in over 350 films and in each one of them, he brought new mannerism and style, holding the audience spell bound by his acting.
 
This citation is in recognition of Shri Pran’s inspiring journey in the Indian cinema spanning over several decades.

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Sahyadri Hospitals launches its state-of-the-art SAHYADRI SPECIALITY HOSPITAL @ Nagar Road

• The New Sahyadri Speciality Hospital Located at Shastri Nagar, Nagar Road, Pune East.
  
• The hospital has inaugurated on May 13, 2013 by veteran actor Mr. Deven Verma
  
• Women and Child CARE Facility at Sahyadari Speciality

Pune, May 14, 2013: Sahyadri Hospitals, the largest chain of hospitals in Maharashtra, has launched its state-of-the-art Sahyadri Speciality Hospital Nagar Road on May 13, 2013 in Pune East. The hospital located at Shastri Nagar, Yerwada, Nagar Road, Pune – 411 006, is a 125 bed multi-specialty hospital. The hospital was inaugurated at the hands of veteran actor Shri Deven Verma.

Sahyadri Speciality Hospital Nagar Road is a center of excellence blending local touch with international expertise to deliver high-end healthcare in Pune East. It is an institution for comprehensive and dedicated medical care, conceptualized by visionary Dr. Charudutt Apte - Chairman & Managing Director of Sahyadri Hospitals Ltd. and team of dedicated healthcare professionals. It aims to set new standards in both medical treatment and patient comfort.

Dr. Charudatta Apte (Chairman & Managing Director, Sahyadri Hospitals) said “Sahyadri was conceived as a dream; a dream to make healthcare AVAILABLE, ACCESSIBLE, AND ACCOUNTABLE to the community at large. We, from the very first day of our existence, kept the ‘Customer’ at the centerfold of our organization. It is building the trust with our customer that has always driven us to be the best - at infrastructure, at technology, at our physician team, at our patient care team, at our processes, and at our emotions. With the same care and service we are launching our new unit on Nagar Road. We hope we will provide same quality of service to our patients.”

This Hospital is spread in 1, 00,000 sq ft of space having 150 beds, luxurious rooms and general ward having good facilities. The hospital having eight paediatrician, six  neurologist doctors, retrieval van, laparoscopy, C.T. scan, M.R.I scan, Pediatric emergency van and many much. This hospital is a medial Hub on Ahmednagar road from Yerwada to Ranjangone which made quality medical service availables and accessible.

The Hospital Reaches out to all communities and in an effort to comfort the patients even the hospitals General Ward, Which usually is a large rectangular hall space with beds, now has partitioned space and place for 1 person to stay along with the patient.

Sahyadri Speciality Hospital Nagar Road is equipped with complete spectrum of healthcare infrastructure and amenities. It has state-of-the-art Cath Lab, Operation theatres, IVF, MRI, CT Scan, Mammography, well equipped NICU, ICU, CCU, Haemodialysis unit, Path labs and well-designed centrally air-conditioned patient rooms. The hospital will have a team of experienced & qualified super-specialist and specialist consultants in all medical disciplines.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Indians lobby hard for a slice of immigration pie

Washington, May 13, 2013:  From corporate America to Indian techies to Indian-Americans with family ties to their native land - all are lobbying hard to influence changes in the proposed immigration law that has started moving through the US legislative labyrinthine.

Concerned that some "aggressively protectionist" provisions in the bipartisan legislation proposed by the so-called Senate gang of eight would adversely affect US-India trade ties, a leading association of over 300 US firms doing business with India is engaging a lobbying firm as it once did to push the landmark India-US nuclear deal.

The US-India Business Council (USIBC) argues that the proposed ban and restrictions on client site placement of H1B and L1 workers respectively and a limit on their total percentage in a company's workforce in the US would disproportionally affect Indian-born, highly-skilled workers.

The proposed caps on H1B visas will instead put a cap on economic growth in both the US and India, USIBC officials argue, and place the US at a relative disadvantage in the global marketplace driving away skilled workers elsewhere, including to Canada and Europe.

Noting that US-India two-way trade has crossed $100 billion, they suggest that the bill would drive a wedge between the two countries with "irrevocably intertwined economies" undermining economic growth for both nations.

The bill proposes raising the current base cap for H-1 B visas from 65,000 to 110,000 and eventually to 180,000 based on a formula that includes whether the cap is met each year and the number of unemployed high-skilled workers.

But it also imposes a hard limit of 50 percent on H-1B and L-1 workers that could make up a company's workforce in the US from October 2016 onwards and increases the visa application fee from the current $2,000 to up to $10,000 for employers with more than 50 percent and less than 75 percent such workers.

Both USIBC and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), both argue that thus essentially targeting Indian firms operating in the US with restrictions or fees is contrary to the spirit of the US- India strategic partnership.

Concerned about the potential to apply new rules in a discriminatory manner against Indian companies, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) too is planning to engage a lobbying firm to make its case on the Capitol Hill, the seat of the US Congress.

But in a dog bite dog business world, top US tech firms are waging a sophisticated lobbying campaign to make it harder for Indian consulting companies to provide temporary workers and instead "allow them to fill thousands of vacant jobs with foreign engineers," according to a report in the New York Times.

With an advertising blitz bankrolled by senior executives from Silicon Valley, like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn, "they have managed to secure much of what they want in the landmark immigration bill now pending in Congress," the influential US daily said.

"Facebook's lobbying budget swelled from $351,000 in 2010 to $2.45 million in the first three months of this year, while Google spent a record $18 million last year," it noted.

But as the pool of high-skilled workers is still likely to come from India, the North American Association of Indian IT Professionals (NAAIIP) is pleased with new stipulations to increase the number of temporary high-skill H1B visas as it provides them greater employment flexibility.

Indian and Asian community organisations have their own concerns that the proposed legislation veers away from family-based immigration toward merit-based immigration. For example, it would eliminate the ability for US citizens to sponsor foreign siblings for green cards.

In a meeting last week with President Barack Obama, the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans including the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), an umbrella body of 41 South Asian organisation bodies, focused on family reunification as critical to immigrant communities.

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...........IANS / NRIpress.com

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Miss India Navdeep Kaur, Evlyn Sharma & Shalika Sharma Graced the 2nd day of Rajasthan Fashion Week at Fairmont, Jaipur.

Pune, May, 12, 2013: Shishupal Singh Founder Chairman of Rajasthan Fashion week kept press meet for Miss India 2013 Navdeep Kaur who came for designer Shivangee Sharma on the 2nd day of fashion week. Evlyn Sharma walked as show stopper for designer Soonakshi Raaj. Jaya Nandini, princess of Jodhpur also came as show stopper and she walked for designer Charu Parashar. Padamshri Ritu Kumar displayed great combination of colour and work sequence.

This year maximum people are showing power of Women. Yogesh Lakhani of Bright Outdoor and Rakesh Sabarwal and Hari Om Jatia specially came to be part of this fashion week.

Shalika Sharma walked for  designer Sharad Raghav. Other designers who showcased their designs were Debarun Mukherjee and Kavita Bhartia. The party after the fashion week rocked.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Kapil Sibal gets additional charge of Law, CP Joshi is the New Railways Minister

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday was given additional charge of the law ministry. CP Joshi will be the new railway minister, TV channels reported.

Ashwani Kumar address the Press - A day after his Resignation

Taking  to reports on saturday Ashwani Kumar said, "When a resignation is put up, it does not imply any wrongdoing, these are political decisions".  He further added "no adverse observation has been made by the court against him"

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..............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Bansal quits as railway minister

New Delhi, May,11,2013:  Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday and submitted his resignation after the Congress leadership decided he should go, informed sources said.

Bansal's resignation came hours after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his official residence in the evening.

He handed over his resignation to the prime minister at his official residence.

Bansal was under a cloud after his nephew was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for accepting a bribe of Rs.90 lakh for getting a plum Railway Board post to a senior official.

Labour Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge is tipped to be the next railway minister, said the sources.

The indication that Bansal's fate was sealed came Friday afternoon when Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das told reporters: "We will not tolerate if anybody is found mired in corruption."

According to informed sources, the Congress had planned an exit for Bansal as well as Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, under fire for interfering in the work of the CBI in a coal block allocation probe, in a minor cabinet reshuffle being planned over the next few days.

Ashwani Kumar may be moved to a less significant ministry, said the sources.

The Congress, which successfully snatched Karnataka from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the anti-corruption plank, did not want to send out a wrong signal by showing it was soft on corruption, the sources said.

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...........IANS / NRIPress.com

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Enterpreneurs Ritesh Agarwal (New Delhi, India) & Diwank Singh Tomer (Palo Alto, CA) among the 2013 Class Fellows of "20 Under 20" Thiel Fellows announced by Peter Thiel
Fellowship to Host Third “Under 20 Summit” for Young Entrepreneurs in San Francisco June 1-2, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, May,11, 2013: Peter Thiel today introduced the 2013 class of new Thiel Fellows. The third set of young entrepreneurs to be awarded 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellowships, these fellows will pursue innovative scientific and technical projects, learn entrepreneurship from the ground up, and begin to build the innovative companies of tomorrow.
 
Peter Thiel said, “When we created the fellowship more than two years ago, our intention was to help a small number of creative people learn and accomplish more than they might have otherwise. To their great credit, they have exceeded our expectations, and inspired people of all ages by reminding them that qualities like intellectual curiosity, grit, and determination are more important than a degree in determining success in life.”
 
“As we welcome a new class of determined young people into the Thiel Fellowship community, we also celebrate the pioneering spirit of our 2011 and 2012 fellows,” said Jonathan Cain, president of the Thiel Foundation. “Over the past two years, they have launched more than thirty companies, and raised more than $34 million in outside funding, including venture investments, company sales, revenue, grants, sponsorships, and awards. They have been hiring employees, launching products, engaging with vendors and manufacturers, and advising some of the world’s most well-known technology companies. And now they’re helping the next generation of tech researchers and entrepreneurs by mentoring future cohorts of Thiel fellows.”
 
Over two years, each fellow receives $100,000 from the Thiel Foundation as well as mentorship from the Foundation’s network of tech entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, thought leaders, futurists, and innovators. Projects pursued by the 2013 class of fellows span numerous cutting-edge science and technology fields, including robotics, computer science, telecommunications, education, photonics, game development, cyberdefense, biotechnology, health I.T., law, neuroscience, fashion, and personal manufacturing.
 
Jim O’Neill, partner at Mithril Capital Management and fellowship co-founder, said, “Pessimists are correct that we still live in a world of scarcity and suffering. And optimists are correct that better science and technology can relieve these problems immensely. But contrary to both sides, nothing is inevitable. The young men and women Peter has appointed are committed to improving the quality of life for countless people through skillful execution of new ideas, and I am confident they will succeed.”
 
“The Thiel Fellowship has really evolved over the past two and a half years, from a small pool of idiosyncratic people willing to take a risk on our crazy idea into a robust and effective community of friends,” said Mike Gibson, the Thiel Foundation’s vice president for grants. “It’s been exciting to see how dramatically the network effects have expanded over time. The fellowship mentor network now has more than 250 experienced professionals, and the first two classes of fellows have quickly become each other’s best resources.”
 
“We’re also encouraging more young people to focus on entrepreneurship through our new Under 20 Summit,” said Danielle Strachman, program director of the Thiel Fellowship. “The Summit is a twice-yearly weekend-long conference where we bring together fellowship applicants, current fellows, mentors, and hundreds of young people who are excited about entrepreneurship. Since the fellowship supports just twenty people a year, the Under 20 Summits enable us to help hundreds more talented young innovators by connecting them with the knowledge and resources they need to take their ideas to the next level, no matter where they are.”
 
The Under 20 Summit is a semi-annual conference sponsored by the Thiel Foundation and open to young people from around the world who are passionate about entrepreneurship. The last summit, in New York City, drew more than 250 attendees from around the world. The next summit will take place in San Francisco on June 1 and 2. Attendance is by invitation only; to learn more or request an invitation please visit: http://www.thielfellowship.org/under-20-summit/
 
For the 2013 fellowship, the Thiel Foundation received applications from nearly every state in the U.S. and from 49 different countries. The applications represented a diverse pool of educational experiences, coming from young people in high schools, community colleges, undergraduate and graduate schools, state schools, technical schools and liberal arts colleges, students who are homeschooled or unschooled, and some who had already stopped out of college.

ABOUT THE 2013 THIEL FELLOWS:
Andrew Brackin (18, London, United Kingdom) co-founded a marketplace for designers that grew to 100,000 signups. Andrew runs Tomorrow’s Web, an event for young technologists with hundreds of attendees and major sponsors. He will be working on Bunchy, a funding platform that allows organizations to raise money from their audience on their social platforms and websites
 
Austin Russell (18, Newport Beach, CA) has a passion for developing innovative optoelectronic technologies for industry. His projects range from high-efficiency far-field wireless power transmission to low-cost early cancer detection systems. As a fellow, Austin will be focusing on 3D depth mapping and projection of interactive holograms through a compact laser-based module.
 
Christopher Walker (20, Chevy Chase, MD) is a video game designer, programmer, and artist. After leaving college to start a software company, he created a game designed to improve spatial cognition. As a Thiel Fellow, Chris will focus on developing interactive software to teach technical skills like programming, music, and mathematics.
 
Daniel Zulla (19, Regensburg, Germany) is a software engineer who is about to introduce a secure computing architecture used for servers and desktop computers alike.
 
Darren Lim (19, Singapore) came to love scientific innovation while studying in China, and remains a consumer at heart who is obsessed with cutting-edge gadgets. He is currently working on a startup to improve how we interact with technology.
 
Delian Asparaouhov (19, Salt Lake City, UT) wants to improve health care. As a Thiel Fellow, he will work on technology to help manage disease and improve patient outcomes.
 
Diwank Singh Tomer (19, Palo Alto, CA) stopped out of his college in India to work on an online platform for learning to code. Aside from his love of poetry, he is an exceptional hacker and engineer who was awarded the Mozilla WebFWD fellowship for his efforts to improve learning online. He has since moved to the Bay Area to further his efforts and is currently working on a collaborative learning platform.
 
Gary Le (19, East Brunswick, NH) envisions a safer, cleaner, and more trustable Internet. He is working on a real-time online identity verification system for various applications in e-commerce, online communities, and collaborative consumption businesses.
 
James Schuler (19, Armonk, NY) started his first company when he was 12 and hasn’t stopped since. In high school he founded a health care company called Eligible and attended Y-Combinator as one of its youngest entrepreneurs. Recently, James left Eligible in order to focus on a bigger market: politics. As a Thiel Fellow, James will work to improve crowd funding in order to revolutionize the campaign finance market.
 
Kevin Wang (18, Vernon Hills, IL) began developing games and applications when he was 9. Since then, he has moved into entrepreneurship, applying his highly technical background to solve bigger problems. As a Thiel Fellow, he aims to simplify the world of law and open source software to end the wasteful litigation epidemic.
 
Laura Ball (19, Wauwatosa, WI) is researching value in neural systems. She would like to determine how information becomes important, and how important information maintains dominance over other information in order to define our conscious mind-states and behavioral responses.
 
Maddy Maxey (20, San Diego, CA) began interning in the fashion industry when she was 16 for companies like Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Ricco, Peter Som, and Nylon Magazine. After founding a popular fashion blog while in France and then winning a scholarship from the CFDA & Teen Vogue for her work, she started a clothing company of her own. As a Thiel Fellow, Maddy will focus on optimizing the clothing patterns and the enterprise software that make our current garment industry inefficient. Her goal is to make domestic production profitable by integrating software, not just hardware technologies, more fully into our manufacturing system.
 
Mark Daniel (19, Nashville, TN) co-founded social goal achievement site GoalHawk in 2011. Since then, he has been building StatusHawk, a workplace accountability tool that changes the way that companies handle status reports. As a Thiel Fellow, Mark will focus on building this early stage company into a profitable and sustainable business.
 
Nelson Zhang (19, Toronto, ON, Canada) has always loved making things. He has been tinkering with electronics since he was 10, and designed, manufactured, and sold several hardware products during high school and college. He is currently working on a desktop fabricator for electronics, aimed at lowering iteration time and costs for hardware companies. He hopes to make the design and production of physical things accessible to everyone.
 
Nick Liow (18, Vancouver, BC, Canada) believes everything is a remix and information wants to be free. Now, he’s challenging copyright by building ways for creators to get paid for giving their work to the public domain.
 
Riley Drake (18, Baltimore, MD) has been conducting scientific research since she was 15. She has studied immunology at Johns Hopkins University and infectious disease at Massachusetts General Hospital. During her fellowship she intends to apply physical principles to virology: using biophysics to create broad-spectrum viral therapies.
 
Riley Ennis (19, McLean, VA) founded Immudicon, an early-stage biotechnology company that has developed a novel cancer vaccine platform and telemetric sweat-monitoring device in order to improve diagnosis and treatment. The company was spun out of his research in high school at Georgetown University and the Sheikh Zayed Institute at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington. His ultimate goal is to exercise empathy within health care to revolutionize and personalize patient care.
 
Ritesh Agarwal (19, New Delhi, India) is one of the youngest entrepreneurs from India to raise angel investments. He runs OYO Inns, a chain of affordable, tech-enabled inns, and Oravel, a rising popular alternative to hotels in India. As a Thiel Fellow, Ritesh will use technology to bring affordable and standardized accommodations to emerging economies across the world, starting in India.
 
Thomas Sohmers (17, Hudson, MA) is a technology geek and hardware hacker who has been working at a MIT research lab since he was 13, developing everything from augmented reality eyewear to laser communication systems. Currently, Thomas is working on developing a new computing platform that uses very low powered processors in a cluster to transform the server, cloud, and research computing industries.
 
William LeGate (18, Marietta, GA) is an entrepreneur and computer scientist. He taught himself programming at age 14 from online Stanford lectures and has since created more than a dozen mobile apps which have been downloaded more than 5 million times and are now used by 1 in 12 American teens. During his fellowship, he plans to change the way that we discover apps for things around us.
 
Xinyi Chen (19, Beijing, China) is passionate about entrepreneurship and technology. She participated in the Tigerlabs accelerator last summer and developed prototypes for her project Helios, which attempts to make telepresence devices accessible to average families.
 
Zach Hamed (20, Holbrook, NY) originally from New York City, was a junior at Harvard studying computer science before joining the Thiel Fellowship. The son of a teacher and a computer programmer, Zach is a first-generation American who hopes to apply his interest in user interface and experience design to K-12 education. As a Thiel Fellow, Zach wants to develop a suite of beautifully-designed tools for K-12 teachers, saving them time, providing them supplemental income, and helping them do what they do best—teach.

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........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Indian-American lawmaker joins Sikh caucus

Washington, May 11, 2013:  Ami Bera, the lone Indian-American lawmaker, has joined the newly formed American Sikh Congressional Caucus, saying he was solely motivated by concerns about incidents of hate crimes against the community. Indian officials had pressed Bera and some other US lawmakers not to join the Sikh caucus because of the presence of some alleged pro-Khalistan activists among its supporters.

"I'm a proud member of the Congressional Caucus on India, and any matters involving India, or US-India relations should and will be handled by that group," said the House member from California, who was under pressure from the Indian lobby not to join the grouping for its supporters' alleged links with separatist Khalistanis.

"The American Sikh Caucus' work will deal with domestic civil rights issues," he said. "The memory of the tragedy at Oak Creek is still fresh, and in my own community of Elk Grove, two Sikh men were murdered in 2011 in a suspected hate crime."

Six Sikh worshippers were killed by a white supremacist gunman in a shootout at a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, last August.

"Violence and discrimination against the Sikh American community is a real and important civil rights issue in the US," Bera said.

"That's why I co-sponsored strong anti-hate crimes legislation earlier this year, and that's why I joined the 'American Sikh Congressional Caucus', to work on civil rights issues here in America," he said.

"Sadly," said Bera, "just this week there was another reminder of the importance of these issues in America, when a Sikh man was brutally attacked in Fresno, not far from my district."

"We must work together as a country of diverse cultures, faiths, and beliefs to end these senseless acts of violence and find understanding and peace. These are the issues the American Sikh Congressional Caucus will work on," he said.

More than 30 House members have joined the Sikh caucus announced April 24 by Democrat Judy Chu and Republican David Valadao, both from California, who co-chair the grouping.

Many of them are also members of the 186-member strong India Caucus, which is the largest country specific group in the US Congress.

But at its April 24 launch the promoters of the caucus did not make any mention of Khalistan, confining their agenda to domestic civic rights and discrimination issues.

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........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Indo-Canadian MP Paramjit Gill's proposed bill set to become law

Toronto, May 10, 2013:  Paramjit Gill, the Conservative Party MP from Brampton-Springdale in the Canadian province of Ontario, has proposed a legislation to make recruitment of youth in criminal gangs a crime and tougher penalties on criminal organisations trying to recruit youth.

The bill has now got the support of Canada's Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and the Conservative government and is set to become a law before the parliament breaks for summer June 21, the South Asian Observer reported Friday.

According to the report, Bill C-394 has passed the third and final hurdle in the House of Commons by a vote of 240-36 and has been submitted to the upper house, the Senate, for review.

The bill proposes prohibition of recruiting or encouraging a person to join a criminal organisation. The new offence will carry a maximum of five-year jail term and a mandatory minimum penalty of six months, if the person recruited is under the age of 18.

Gill, duther said that, as a father of three, he was particularly concerned about addressing the issue of gang recruitment in Canadian  communities.

He appealed to all MPs to support the bill in its final vote.

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........IANS / R Sayed NRIpress.com inc USA (India)

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Indian-origin doctors to meet in Chicago

Chicago, May 10, 2013:  Over 2,000 doctors are expected to attend the five-day annual convention of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) - the largest ethnic medical organization in the US and a very politically influential group by virtue of their nationwide presence and wide social respect - from May 23.

The 31st annual convention will provide a forum for the Indian origin physicians to deliberate on ways to enhance their own professional growth while offering opportunities for networking and staying united, the organisers said in a media release.

Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, AAPI represents the interests of over 100,000 physicians and fellows of Indian heritage in the US and serves as an umbrella organization for over 160 professional and alumni associations.

Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be the keynote speaker at the convention. Other speakers include Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn, the lone Indian-American House member Ami Bera and the first Hindu-American member of the House Tulsi Gabbard.

"Some of the other major attractions include cutting-edge Continuing Medical Education with renowned speakers, alumni meetings, delicious ethnic cuisine, fashion shows, and the best of the Bollywood entertainment," said AAPI President Narendra R. Kumar.

"AAPI was formed in the midst of challenges that physicians of Indian origin have faced due to cultural barriers and bias against international medical graduates. Those barriers created obstacles to immigration and licensing opportunities," said Jayesh Shah, President-Elect of AAPI.

"Today, the organization is a dynamic body, spearheading legislative agendas on health care and influencing the advancement of ethnic medical organizations."

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.........IANS / NRIpress.com

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18,000 Indian expats in Saudi Arabia get exit papers

Dubai, May 09, 2013: Of about 60,000 Indian workers in Saudi Arabia who applied for emergency exit papers following a new labour policy in that country, 18,000 have got their documents processed.

Sibi George, deputy chief of mission in the Indian embassy in Riyadh, said the figure included the travel papers processed both in the embassy and the Indian consulate in Jeddah, local media reported Thursday.

The workers thronged the Indian missions after Saudi Arabia implemented the Nitaqat or Saudisation policy, which makes it mandatory for all Saudi companies to reserve 10 percent of jobs for Saudi nationals.

The Saudi government has announced an amnesty period for expatriate workers to either get their residency status regularised or leave the country.

Meanwhile, the Indian consulate in Jeddah has issued some important guidelines for workers affected by the Nitaqat policy, which, it said, have been uploaded in the consulate's website, www.cgijeddah.com.

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..........IANS / NRIpress.com

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Obama talks with Asian-American leaders

Washington, May, 09, 2013:  Ahead of a senate panel hearing on a comprehensive immigration bill, President Barack Obama and his senior staff met with top Asian-American leaders for what participants called a "meaningful" discussion on immigration, health care and civil rights.

The sit-down with Obama Wednesday, which came amid Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, was the first time that the president met with top officials from the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, Politico, an influential Washington newspaper focusing on politics reported.

"The meeting was very productive," Deepa Iyer, chairperson of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans and the executive director of the South Asian Americans Leading Together was quoted as saying.

"I think it really speaks to a recognition of the growing power of our community in the country . we've been able to galvanise a strong political base."

Much of the conversation centred on the comprehensive immigration reform starting to make its way through Congress. In particular, the AAPI leaders zeroed on family reunification measures that are critical to immigrant communities, Politico reported

The bipartisan legislation crafted by the Senate Gang of Eight - four Democrats and four Republicans - veers away from family-based immigration toward merit-based immigration. For example, it would eliminate the ability for US citizens to sponsor foreign siblings for green cards.

Iyer said she and other AAPI leaders expressed concerns that family-based immigration measures would be restricted or eliminated during the legislative process.

"He listened to what we had to say; he was very candid with us," Iyer was quoted as saying.

The White House said in a statement: "The president emphasised that commonsense immigration reform continues to be a top legislative priority and that he looks forward to working with the AAPI community to achieve that goal."

The AAPI leaders also discussed immigrants' access to health care, and pressed Obama and administration officials on administrative measures they could take on certain issues, such as an interagency task force focusing on hate crimes, Politico said.

Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said his panel will begin Thursday's opening session on the immigration package with consideration of a "trigger" that must be met before any undocumented immigrants can seek legal status, to be followed by debate over proposals to improve border security.

Leahy told Politico that the trigger provision - a series of border security benchmarks that must be met before the country's 11 million undocumented immigrants, including some 260,000 Indian can apply for legal status - is likely to be one the most contentious issues in the whole immigration fight.

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..........IANS / NRIpress.com

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Indian-origin Ivan Menezes named Diageo CEO

London, May 07, 2013:  British liquor giant Diageo has appointed Indian-origin Ivan Menezes as its next chief executive officer.

The maker of Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker Scotch, in a statement Tuesday said Menezes would take over as CEO with effect from July 1 this year.

Outgoing CEO Paul Walsh will step down from the company's board in the annual general meeting in September and will retire from the company June 30, 2014.

"We are delighted to have a leader of Ivan’s talents and global experience to succeed Paul," Diageo chairman Franz B. Humer said in the statement.

"The handover is being made at a time when the business is strong and Ivan takes on the role of CEO at an exciting stage of the company's global development. The board is confident that Ivan will inspire our organisation and Diageo will continue to achieve our medium-term performance objectives," he added, while expressing gratitude to Walsh for the services he rendered to the company.

An alumnus of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, Menezes was appointed chief operating officer of Diageo in March 2012 and then made a director in July 2012.

He had earlier served in various positions in companies like Nestle, Booz-Allen & Hamilton and Whirlpool.

The 53-year-old now joins the likes of Indra Nooyi, Ajay Banga and Rakesh Kapoor as Indian-origin chief executives of Fortune 500 companies.

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......R Sayed NRIpress.com

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Government asks financial firms to probe money laundering allegations

New Delhi, May 6, 2013:  The government Monday asked top financial institutions, including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and the Life Insurance Corporation, to probe into the allegations of money laundering as exposed in a sting operation by an investigative website Cobrapost.

Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru has asked the chairman-cum-managing directors of various Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to probe the allegations, the finance ministry said in a statement.

"Any officer/employee of your bank/institution who clearly appears to be advising potential customers along lines that would be an infringement of the legal process/could facilitate money laundering/could defeat the KYC norms or the norms of due diligence prescribed by RBI and the law from time to time, may be placed under suspension with immediate effect pending inquiry,” it said.

"The bank may initiate a detailed scrutiny of such officer’s work and institute a special audit, if necessary, for this purpose. The inquiry must be initiated and completed expeditiously.” it added.

Cobrapost has alleged in a sting operation that at least 23 top public and private banks and insurance companies have been doing large-scale money laundering. Several of the firms named denied the allegation.

"Money laundering practices are part and parcel of banking and insurance business across the board. Even a walk-in customer can avail of such services that help him launder all his unaccounted cash," Cobrapost said in a press release.

The website claimed that it found large-scale wrongdoing by banks and financial institutions through an undercover operation run for nearly six months in various states and union territories, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

It has named 23 public and private sector banks and insurance companies. Public sector firms include State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Dena Bank, Corporation Bank, Allahabad Bank, Central Bank of India, and their insurance associates.

Private sector firms include Yes Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Federal Bank, DCB Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, and their insurance arms.

The website has also named LIC of India, Reliance Life Insurance, Birla Sunlife, and Tata AIG.

Several of these firms denied the allegations. SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said: "As far as we have understood, there is nothing serious."

"We have zero tolerance for money laundering and will take action on those found to be flouting norms," Chaudhuri said reacting to the allegations.

Reliance Capital termed the allegations baseless.

"We categorically deny the baseless allegations in relation to any involvement of the Company in money-laundering by customers of our life insurance business," Reliance Capital said in a statement.

"Reliance Life adheres to strict internal controls, processes and best practices and is in full compliance with the KYC norms and regulatory framework," it said.

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..............IANS / NRIpress.com

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Top Indian banks, insurance firms involved in money laundering: Cobrapost

New Delhi, May 06, 2013:  An investigative website Cobrapost Monday alleged that at least 23 top public and private banks and insurance companies have been doing large-scale money laundering. Several of the firms named denied the allegation.

"Money laundering practices are part and parcel of banking and insurance business across the board. Even a walk-in customer can avail of such services that help him launder all his unaccounted cash," Cobrapost said in a press release.

The website claimed that it found large-scale wrongdoing by banks and financial institutions through an undercover operation run for nearly six months in various states and union territories including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

It has named 23 public and private sector banks and insurance companies. Public sector firms include State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Dena Bank, Corporation Bank, Allahabad Bank, Central Bank of India, and their insurance associates.

Private sector firms include Yes Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Federal Bank, DCB Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, and their insurance arms.

The website has also named LIC of India, Reliance Life Insurance, Birla Sunlife, and Tata AIG.

Several of these firms denied the allegations. SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said: "As far as we have understood, there is nothing serious."

"We have zero tolerance for money laundering and will take action on those found to be flouting norms," Chaudhuri said reacting to the allegations.

Reliance Capital termed the allegations baseless.

"We categorically deny the baseless allegations in relation to any involvement of the Company in money-laundering by customers of our life insurance business," Reliance Capital said in a statement.

"Reliance Life adheres to strict internal controls, processes and best practices and is in full compliance with the KYC norms and regulatory framework," it said.

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...........IANS / NRIpress.com

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The Global Economy Should Expand But Will Face Complex Cross-Currents

New Delhi (Standard & Poor's) May 4, 2013:  Global economic expansion may gain a firmer footing through 2014 as the recovery in the U.S. strengthens and the Eurozone resumes modest growth, but formidable challenges remain, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Global Chief Economist Paul Sheard said today.

“The need for policymakers to conceive and execute successfully a range of macro and microeconomic policies, and to avoid major policy errors, remains acute,” Sheard told a lunch seminar at the 46th Annual General Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in New Delhi, India. “Given our base-case scenario of a moderate global recovery and how reliant that scenario is on policy getting it reasonably right, the preponderance of risks remains slanted to the downside.”

In China, the growth rate has ratcheted down a notch or two as policymakers appear to be prepared to sacrifice a little short-term growth in order to lay some groundwork for longer-term rebalancing. And a new government in Japan has launched a headline-grabbing and market-moving program to end deflation and spur growth. That said, the global economy faces formidable challenges, and those challenges are likely to be enduring.

Sheard highlighted that China, India, and other emerging markets have been the main driver of global economic growth in the past few years. “While growth has slowed across the board in emerging markets, by and large growth is still respectable and should pick up slightly in the second half of the year and into 2014. In particular, investment-driven growth in China seems set to continue for the foreseeable future.”

Paul Gruenwald, Standard & Poor's recently appointed Chief Economist for Asia-Pacific, added: "Emerging Asia's economic fundamentals remain strong, but growth remains reliant on demand from the developed economies. Although our baseline forecast shows a pickup in growth, we see the balance of risks facing emerging Asia to be on the downside. This is particularly true in 2013 as the global recovery struggles to gain momentum.”

Mr. Sheard’s report, “Global Economic Outlook: An Expansion With Complex Cross-Currents”, which forms the basis of his keynote speech at Standard & Poor's-hosted seminar during the 46th Annual General Meeting for the Asian Development Bank today, is available on request by contacting the media representatives listed below. Mr. Gruenwald’s article, “Emerging Asia Will Grow But Won't Be Firing On All Cylinders” is also available on request.

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Solar plane starts journey across US

Washington, May 04, 2013:  The first airplane that can fly both day and night powered exclusively by the sun's rays has taken off from California in the first stage of an attempt to fly across the US without using any fuel.

The solar-powered plane, dubbed Solar Impulse, set off Friday from San Francisco shortly after 6 a.m. local time (1300 GMT) and was expected to land in Phoenix, Arizona, 19 hours later for the aircraft's first stop in the first-ever fuel-free transcontinental plane flight.

The Swiss developers behind the flight tout the project as a way to demonstrate the opportunities presented by clean technologies, with the ultimate goal of flying around the world in a second-generation version of the Solar Impulse HB-SIB aircraft currently under construction.

The plane has wingspan of 208 feet (63 metres) - equal to that of an Airbus A340 - but at 1,600 kg weighs about the same as an average automobile, according to the developers.

The power used to propel the aircraft is roughly equal to that used by US aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright in their first powered flight in 1903, they say.

With an average cruising speed of around 55 km per hour , the plane is scheduled to make stops in Dallas and St. Louis before moving on to Washington in June and completing the mission by landing in New York City in June or July.

The aircraft is being manned by psychiatrist and balloon aviator Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss national who co-founded the project with his countryman, entrepreneur Andre Borschberg.

"You should see this like being in 1915 when the pioneers were trying to do these first cross-country flights - still unable to cross the ocean, but an important step for the development of aviation," Borschberg said ahead of the flight.

The cramped cockpit has room for only one person, is unheated and the pilot has to wear an oxygen mask because of a lack of pressurization.

A toilet is built into the lone cockpit seat, but the developers say the pilot should avoid eating fiber-rich foods one day prior to the flight so as to minimize the urgency of nature's call during the long stretch in the air.

"It's more difficult and maybe less comfortable than flying through an airliner," Borschberg said.

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Mohammed Bin Rashid City - District One Announced
Destination community and centre of attractions to be developed as joint venture by Meydan Group with Sobha Group.

Dubai, UAE, May 04, 2013:  Meydan Group today announced the creation of a joint venture with Sobha Group to develop 4 million square metres (more than 1,000 acres) of prime freehold land into an exclusive destination of key leisure and retail attraction points surrounded by spacious residential communities, within Mohammed Bin Rashid City.

Located alongside Al Khail Road, adjacent to the prestigious Meydan Racecourse and less than three kilometres from Dubai’s key financial, leisure and shopping districts, the community named ‘Mohammed Bin Rashid City -District One’ will be the closest residential villa and green space development to the famous Burj Khalifa district.

Meydan Sobha FZ LLC is an equally-split joint venture, which includes the development of city parkland, waterways, woodlands and open spaces covering a spectacular 2.4 million square metres (600 acres) of Mohammed Bin Rashid City -District One.

Attraction points feature a 350,000 square metres water park, the largest crystal lagoon body of water in the world with 7 km of stunning lagoons and man-made beaches, alongside retail zones, leisure and sports attractions. This unique “green heart” for Dubai will be surrounded by 1,500 premium luxury villas – to be delivered in four phases – creating without question one of the lowest-density residential environments in any major international city.

“Meydan Group is delighted to announce this major development jointly with Sobha Group, as we take the first step in delivering His Highness’ vision for Mohammed Bin Rashid City. This flagship development fits in perfect synergy with Meydan’s master plan to create an integrated cityscape of upscale residential communities, with all the attraction points and standards of excellence associated with a Meydan development,” said H.E. Saeed Humaid Al Tayer, Meydan's Chairman and CEO.

“Our partner Sobha Group’s reputation for quality projects, delivered to exacting standards and on time, ideally fit the brief for this prominent freehold residential initiative within Mohammed Bin Rashid City. The customer choice and exclusivity afforded by the Mohammed Bin Rashid City - District One community, complemented by its lavish communal green parkland and unrivalled proximity to Dubai’s most vital districts, make the joint venture between Meydan Group and Sobha Group a tremendously beneficial one for discerning homeowners.”

“For more than three decades, Sobha Group has been developing and constructing lifestyle destinations and our partnership with Meydan enables us to deliver that expertise, choice and quality to an entirely new community,” said Mr. PNC Menon. “Together, Sobha and Meydan aim to develop Mohammed Bin Rashid City - District One, into one of the world’s prime residential locations, delivering a new, vibrant ‘green’ heart for this city.”

The joint venture has already commenced construction of the sales centre for the new community, anchoring a show village which underscores the tremendous choice of homes on offer. Three distinct villa identities – Traditional Arabic, Mediterranean and Contemporary – and at least 45 different floor plans ranging from four to eight bedrooms, set against a backdrop of fields, valleys and woodlands, provide a unique opportunity for home owners to be part of one of the region’s most bespoke and sought after freehold developments.

Meydan Sobha will also differentiate its new community through a 35-hectare network of crystal lagoons and water features, complementing its master plan of more than 65% open and green space among its homes and amenities. This ratio makes it one of the lowest density developments in the world and a truly unique proposition on the Dubai property market. Premium retail components will add to the area’s convenience for residents in addition to sporting, equestrian and entertainment offerings in close proximity.

Homeowners interested in learning more about Meydan Sobha’s freehold options within Mohammed Bin Rashid City - District One, can register their interest online now at www.meydansobha.com or call Freephone 800 111 111 for more details.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Tiger Jeet Singh Honoured with Leadership Award

Oakville, ON, May, 04, 2013:  On Saturday April 20th the Halton Multicultural Council held their 3rd Annual Fundraising Gala and Community Leadership Award Ceremony. This year the Council honoured Mr. Tiger Jeet Singh of the Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation with presenting him the Community Leadership Award for his humanitarian work and philanthropy.

“I truly feel honoured and I am so grateful to HMC for presenting me with this award today,” said Tiger Jeet Singh, but the credit really belongs to all of our wonderful volunteers and partners that support the Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation. I would like to share this award with three of my guests that have accompanied me here tonight, Troy Newton and my son’s Tiger Jr. and Garry Hans, who is also a Detective Constable with Halton Regional Police.”

“The highlight of the evening was honouring Mr. Tiger Jeet Singh and his fabulous community contributions,” said Kim Jenkinson of Halton Multicultural Council. “Congratulation Mr. Singh from HMC, we appreciate the great leadership you and your Foundation have shown in the community.”

“I’m always filled with great pride and it gives me goose bumps whenever somebody else recognizes my father,” said Tiger Jeet Singh Jr. “On behalf of my Father and our Foundation, we would like to convey our gratitude to Mayor Gord Krantz of Milton, Mayor Susan Fennell of Brampton along with their respective city staff members plus Jennifer Laughton, VP Development at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton for providing their wonderful support in hosting our Foundation’s annual charity events Miracle on Main Street in Milton & Hamilton during the month of December and TigerFest in Brampton on Canada’s Day.”

The 2013 HMC Gala was one of the prestigious award ceremonies the Region has seen in a while. In attendance to offer their congratulations to Tiger Jeet Singh were Mayor Gordon Krantz of Milton, MP Terence Young who also presented Tiger a special certification from the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, The Honourable Jason Kenney, PC, MP along with MPP Kevin Flynn and many members of Oakville City Council.

Over 300 guests enjoyed an evening filled with performances from various cultures including – African Drumming by Akwabe Cultural Exchange, Do Kon Daiko Japanese drumming, award winning Bhangra dance performers Nachdi Jawani , Latin dancer Katherine Adrainzen and Halton Region Chinese Canadian Association Lion Dancers.

The Halton Multicultural Council went all out this year and everyone in attendance seemed to have really appreciated the event.

Watch Video: Click Here

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Hundreds flock to see Sarabjit's body in Bhikhiwind
TOI, India Reports: - Sarabjit Singh to be cremated with state honours today; thousands flock to see his body

Bhikhiwind (Punjab), May 03, 2013:  Hundreds of people flocked to this dusty Punjab town since early Friday to catch a last glimpse of Sarabjit Singh, the Indian prisoner who was killed in a brutal attack in a prison in Lahore, Pakistan.

The Punjab government has announced a three-day state mourning for Sarabjit. He will be cremated with full state honours here around 2 p.m.

Friday. A number of top politicians and others are expected to attend the cremation, and arrangements were made for the expected presence of thousands at the cremation ground here.

The body, placed in a wooden coffin and draped in the tri-colour, was brought for its final journey to his native town past midnight. His family and friends wailed as the body was brought back to his house, marking the end of his journey of torture and despair, that lasted nearly 23 years.

As the Indian Air Force helicopter equipped with night-landing facility landed at the special helipad, Sarabjit's sister, Dalbir Kaur, earlier a picture of strength, and the champion of her brother's freedom and return from Pakistan, appeared completely shattered. She touched the coffin as it was brought out from the helicopter.

Sarabjit's body was flown in a special Air India flight from Lahore to Amritsar international airport around 7.40 p.m. Thursday; from Amritsar, it was transported to Bhikhiwind by chopper.

Late Thursday night, doctors from Amritsar Medical College conducted a post-mortem examination on the body as per the wishes of Sarabjit's family.

The post-mortem was conducted at the government hospital in the sub-division town of Patti, 40 km from Amritsar.

"We have conducted the post-mortem examination. There were injury marks on his head and other parts of the body," Gurmeetjeet Singh, a doctor, told reporters.

This was the second post-mortem on Sarabjit's body; the first one was conducted Thursday morning by a medical board in Lahore.

Sarabjit's body was handed over to Indian high commission officials in Lahore Thursday afternoon.

Shops and others establishments, including educational institutions in this town, will remain closed Friday also. These had remained shut Thursday.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced a financial grant of Rs.one crore for Sarabjit's family. He said that Punjab would give government jobs to both his daughters.

The 49-year-old Sarabjit received fatal injuries in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail April 26, when he was brutally assaulted by fellow prisoners with bricks and sharp-edged things.

He had been arrested in Pakistan after crossing the international border in an inebriated state August 1990.

He was charged with being an Indian spy who had carried out bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in 1990, which left 14 people dead and many others injured, and awarded death penalty by Pakistani courts, but his hanging was stayed indefinitely in April 2009.

Pakistani security agencies claimed he was Manjit Singh, the man responsible for the blasts.

His family, however, maintained that his was a case of mistaken identity, and Sarabjit had nothing to do with the blasts in Pakistan.


TOI, India Reports: - Sarabjit Singh to be cremated with state honours today; thousands flock to see his body
BIKHIWIND (AMRITSAR): The mortal remains of Sarabjit Singh, which were brought to his village here 23 years after he inadvertently crossed over to Pakistan, will be consigned to flames on Friday afternoon with state honours.
 
A large number of people, including women, have started arriving here for the cremation of 49-year-old Sarabjit who succumbed to his injuries in a hospital in Lahore on Thursday following a brutal attack in Kot Lakhpat Jail where he was lodged since 1990.
 
Union minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur, an MP from Patiala, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his deputy Sukhbir Badal and a number of leaders are expected to attend the last rites of Sarabjit.
 
The government has announced a state funeral and also a three-day mourning as a mark of respect to Sarabjit, besides financial aid and government jobs for his family.
 
The village with a population of around 11,000 and located about 36 kms from Amritsar, is in a state of mourning since Thursday with residents gathering near the house of the family after the news of the Indian prisoner's death spread.
 
Shops and commercial establishments in this area have also remained shut. The village witnessed angry protests with locals raising anti-Pakistan slogans and burning effigies.
 
Officials of the district administration have made arrangements for the state funeral in the outskirts of Bikhiwind. A large posse of police personnel have been deployed. Read More

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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INOC(I)USA Strongly Condemns the Murder of Prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan Govt. Custody

NY, May, 03, 2013:  Indian National Overseas Congress (I) USA strongly condemns the murder of the Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in the Pakistani Government custody. He died following a vicious assault by fellow prisoners in Kot Lakpat jail in Pakistan.
 
‘We share the grief of the family and of the nation’ said George Abraham, President of the INOC (I),USA. ‘Civility and the International law that should govern foreign prisoners in custody are thrown out of the window and Pakistan may be in violation of the Geneva protocol in this regard’ the statement added.
 
It is a barbaric crime and the culprits need to be apprehended and punished to the fullest extent of the law’ said Shudh Prakash Singh, Sr. Vice-President of the INOC (I), USA.  ‘Our hearts and minds are with the family and a shocked nation’ the statement added.
 
After almost two decades of mental and torturous agony, Sarabjit Singh allegedly succumbed to the battered wounds he sustained in the jail cell.  The governmental authorities cannot absolve itself of responsibility in this incident.
 
“All the hard work of leaders from both countries who try to build bridges of cooperation and understanding hits zero when such indiscriminate acts are allowed to happen that are not only contrary to international law and order but also are highly provocative.” said Harbachan Singh, Acting General Secretary of INOC(I) USA.  “When people cannot stop hating others, chances are that hate could begin to grow within them, he lamented.
 
INOC(I) USA expresses its deepest sadness at the terrible tragedy that occurred and joins with all those who mourn the loss of Sarabjit Singh.
 
INOC(I) USA  call upon all peace loving people in the world to help ensure that the perpetrators of this tragedy are apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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USIBC Applauds Nomination of Mike Froman for U.S. Trade Representative

WASHINGTON, DC, May 02, 2013:   A The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) welcomes the nomination of a friend of India, Michael Froman, to the position of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

"Mike Froman has played a vital role in the U.S.-India trade and commercial relationship as the U.S. Government's chair of the U.S.-India CEO Forum, and as the U.S. 'Sherpa' for the G20. Mike has been pivotal in his role at the White House facilitating the first state visit of the Obama.

Administration, featuring the Prime Minister of India, and in planning President Obama's historic visit to India in November 2010.  There is no individual better qualified to fill this important position at this crucial time than Mike Froman," said USIBC President Ron Somers.

The U.S.-India Business Council has underwritten a study for an Economic Cooperation Arrangement between the United States and India with the Peterson Institute of International Economics to explore the contours for a potential free trade agreement between the United States and India, the world's largest free-market democracies.

"USIBC was formed in 1975 at the request of the United States and Indian governments to advance two-way trade and deepen commercial ties. Today, USIBC is the premier business advocacy association comprised of nearly 400 of America's and India's top companies dedicated to enhancing the U.S.-India commercial relationship", said Ajay Banga, President and CEO of MasterCard serves as USIBC's Chairman

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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NEW YORK METRO INDIAN COMMUNITY WELCOMES THE NEW INDIAN CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK

New York, May, 2013: The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), in collaboration with several community organizations and groups in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state area, held a well attended and highly successful welcome reception and dinner in New York for incoming Indian Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay. The event was held on April 26, 2013 at the Asia Society in New York and provided a unique opportunity to welcome, meet and greet Ambassador Mulay.

The Indian Consul General in New York is a high profile position in the largest city in USA amongst the highest concentration of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), and host to numerous visits on a regular basis by prominent officials of the Government of India for meetings with US officials, the United Nations and the Indian-American community on issues of interest to NRIs and PIOs.

The welcome reception and dinner was a combined community event, organized by GOPIO in partnership with GOPIO Chapters of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut; GOPIO Health, Cultural, Youth, Women’s & Business Councils; Life Members; GOPIO News Team. The event was co-sponsored by various prominent community organizations and companies, with support from media groups and others as co-sponsors. Sponsors include: Indian American Chamber of Commerce – USA, Tulsi Restaurant, Asia Society, Bharat Travel, Kingfisher, Parikh Media, HH-Resorts, Peter Advani, TV Asia, Society of Indian American Architects & Engineers of America (SIAEA); Media-Sponsors: Sahara, PIO TV, GloboSat, India Abroad; and participating organizations: Hyderbadi Cultural Assoc, Association of American Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI), Indian Dental Assoc, Indian Jewish Council IJC), National Federation of Indian Associations (NFIA), Association of Indians in America (SAIA); attending organizations: TelugU Association, Bengali Association, Gujarati Association, and several others.

Also in attendance were Ambassador of Trinidad & Tobago to USA, Dr. Neil Parsan; Ambassador of Mauritius to United Nations Milan Meeterban; former Ambassador of Suriname to United Nations, Krishna Nandoe; Deputy Speaker of New Jersey Assembly Upendra Chivukula; New York City Councilwoman, Leticia James; John Bartlett, Jr, Freeholder of Passaic County in New Jersey.

Event coordinator was J. Nami Kaur, Secretary of GOPIO International, ably assisted by Mridul Pathak, GOPIO’s Director of Diaspora Development. Other members of the organizing team included: Anita Bhat, Dr Asha Samant, Ashook Ramsaran, Jaswant Mody, Lal Motwani, Patsy Leopold, Quddus Mohammed, Dr. Renuka Misra, Sangeeta Ahuja, Dr. Thomas Abraham.

Following a video biography highlighting Amb Mulay’s career and his impressive accomplishments, GOPIO International president Ashook Ramsaran made the formal welcome, stating that, "the Indian American community of the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area is a significant population of NRIs and PIOs, very progressive, quite supportive - and also very vocal on matters of interest and concern”.

Ramsaran added that, “we bid you a warm welcome with open hearts and open arms, with confidence that you will achieve much success during your tenure as Consul General if India in New York”.

Amb Mulay thanked GOPIO and the community organizations for the warm and overwhelming welcome. In his remarks, he stated that, "huge opportunities exist for the Indian Diaspora in connecting India and the USA. India requires massive investments, is looking for technologies, continuously expanding education sector and health services and looks forward to proactive contributions of Diaspora in its developmental aspirations". He added that, “the Government of India has taken enormous measures for promoting the wellbeing of the diaspora and connecting them with India. Since the setting up of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry several special steps have been taken and a number of schemes introduced".

“Global Indian Diaspora – GOPIO Making an Impact” a comprehensive publication authorized by GOPIO, was presented to Amb Mulay as part of the New York release during the program. In addition, GOPIO’s founding life member and former secretary general Dr Jagat Motwani presented his latest book "India Reborn: Bharat Mahan, As Perceived by Westerners, Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore & Others" to Amb Mulay.

GOPIO’s founding president, Dr. Thomas Abraham, spoke about GOPIO and its long history of serving the interests of the diaspora on a global scale. Prominent community leaders and supporters also welcomed Amb Mulay, extending good wishes and support: Dr. Sudhir Parikh (Parikh Media); H. R. Shah (TV Asia); Norman Solovay (Indian American Chamber of Commerce – USA); Hon. Upendra Chivukula (Deputy Speaker of New Jersey Assembly); and others.

GOPIO presented to Amb Mulay a “Memorandum of critical issues and suggestions from the Indian American community of the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area”. These issues include recommendation for improved communication with the Indian-American community, including more responsiveness to telephone calls placed to consulate and staff for regularly needed consular services; recommendation to provide answers on a timely basis to more FAQs on current issues on website, email advisory. Examples: OCI card, Passport Surrender procedures and fees; recommendation to set up a community feedback system on matters of interest and concern via community and consulate meetings, interactive forum, interviews on television and print, outreach to Indian-American community and other ethnic groups; posting a “calendar of events” which can be readily viewed for advance planning purposes; holding or collaborating on seminars on current critical issues such as youth, health, inter-generation, inter-ethnic, etc. - as well notable events such as Gadar Centennial Commemoration in USA.

At the conclusion of the program Amb Mulay took time to interact with attendees individually and in groups, as well as conducted several interviews by the media.

The newly released coffee table book, Global Indian Diaspora – GOPIO Making an Impact, can be obtained by sending a check for $23 to GOPIO, P.O. Box 1413, Stamford, CT 06904. For more information, please contact GOPIO International at +1-818-708-3885, Email: gopio@optonline.net. 

GOPIO is a non-partisan, non-sectarian global organization with chapters in several countries, actively promoting the interests of people of Indian origin worldwide by monitoring and addressing current critical issues of concern, and by enhancing cooperation and communication between groups of Indians living in various countries.

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..........R Sayed NRIpres.com Inc USA (India)

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Dr. Stefan David Schlipf appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, BMW Financial Services India.

Gurgaon, May, 02, 2013:  Dr. Stefan David Schlipf (44) has been appointed as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BMW Financial Services India, effective 1 April 2013. Dr. Schlipf is based at the company’s headquarters in Gurgaon (National Capital Region).
 
Prior to joining BMW Financial Services India, Dr. Schlipf worked as Managing Director, New Markets and Cooperation Management, BMW Financial Services and was based out of Munich. Dr. Schlipf joined BMW Financial Services in 2005 and has over 14 years of experience.
 
Born on 12 January 1969 in Germany, Dr. Schlipf has a Master’s degree in Physics from Technical University, Munich and a Doctorate in Physics from Max Planck Institute for Quantumoptics and Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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United States-Mexico Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation, and Research

Washington, DC, May, 02, 2013: Today President Obama and President Pena Nieto announced the formation of a Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation, and Research to expand economic opportunities for citizens of both countries and to develop a 21st century workforce for our mutual economic prosperity. The Presidents reaffirmed their belief that greater educational opportunities will further our shared goals in all areas of the rich and extensive partnership between the United States and Mexico.

Through the High-Level Forum on Higher Education, Innovation, and Research, the U.S. and Mexican Governments will encourage broader access to quality post-secondary education for traditionally underserved demographic groups, especially in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. They will also expand educational exchanges, increase joint research on education and learning, and share best practices in higher education and innovation.

This forum will build upon the many positive educational and research linkages that already exist through federal, state, and local governments, public and private academic institutions, civil society, and the private sector. It will bring together government agency counterparts to deepen cooperation on higher education, innovation, and research. It will also draw on the expertise of the higher education community in both countries.

The United States and Mexico have a long history of educational collaboration. More than 18,000 Mexican and U.S. university students study in each other’s countries annually. The Mexico-U.S. Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (COMEXUS) oversees the Fulbright-Garcia Robles Scholarship Program, the flagship program in U.S.-Mexico academic exchanges, through which more than 4,000 Mexicans and Americans have participated in bilateral exchange programs since 1990. Fulbright and other exchange students from Mexico contribute to President Obama’s hemisphere-wide goal of seeing 100,000 Latin American and Caribbean young people studying in the United States and 100,000 young Americans studying across the Western Hemisphere. Through U.S.-Mexican public-private partnerships such as Jóvenes en Acción (Youth in Action), Mexican public high school students build leadership, English, and communication skills, learning ways to serve their communities. In addition, federal and state officials from Mexico and the United States work together to improve the quality of education for migrant students in both countries.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Indian origin woman short-listed for 'best job in world'

London, May, 01, 2013:  An Indian origin woman in Britain has been shortlisted for the role of Western Australia taste master, advertised in the Australian state's tourism website as "one of the best jobs in the world".

If she finally lands the role, Asha Patel's job would be to eat her way across the state, forage out the finest produce and uncover the best bars and restaurants, the Leicester Mercury newspaper reported Tuesday.

Over 600,000 people from across the world had applied for six positions - taste master, lifestyle photographer, outback adventurer, park ranger, wildlife caretaker and 'chief funster'.

Only 25 names have been shortlisted for each role.

Each of the six winners will be going about doing their dream job for six months, getting paid $50,000 and an additional $50,000 for living expenses,

Patel, 30, a self-confessed food addict and travel lover, said landing the role would be a "dream come true" for her.

She said she knew the job was for her as soon as she saw the job description in the advertisement.

"I was thrilled, ecstatic and a bit overwhelmed when I found out I’d been shortlisted,” she was quoted as saying.

“It’s quite different to anything I’ve ever done before.”

Now working as a freelance writer and photographer in London, Patel grew up in Rushey Mead, Leicester.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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US religious body concerned over Modi entry into US

Washington, May,01,2013:  A US federal advisory body has reiterated its concerns about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's admissibility to the US due to his alleged "complicity in the 2002 riots" in the state.

Modi, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Tuesday noted, was the only individual in whose case a provision of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) was invoked in March 2005 to bar his entry. IRFA bars the entry of such individuals "responsible for or directly carried out...particularly severe violations of religious freedom."

USCIRF said it wrote to the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012 about the possibility that Modi might apply for a visa, to reiterate its concerns about his admissibility to the United States.

In its 2013 annual report, the federal advisory body that monitors religious freedom abuses abroad, said USCIRF continues to urge the Departments of State and Homeland Security to develop a lookout list of aliens who are inadmissible to the US States on this basis.

The report places India and seven other nations on its "Tier 2 List" where "governments engage in or tolerate are particularly severe, and meet at least one criterion, but not all, of IRFA's three-fold "systematic, ongoing, egregious" standard.

Other nations on the Tier 2 category which replaces the Watch List designation USCIRF previously used are: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos and Russia.

"There has been no large-scale communal violence against religious minorities in India since 2008, and in recent years the Indian government has created special investigative and judicial structures in an effort to address previous such attacks," the report noted.

"Nevertheless, in the past year, progress in achieving justice through these structures for the victims of past incidents continued to be slow and ineffective," it said.

"In addition, members of religious minority communities, including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Jehovah's Witnesses, reported an increase during the reporting period of intimidation, harassment, and violence, particularly in states with anti-conversion laws," the report said.

"Justice for past incidents of sectarian violence targeting Muslim, Christians and Sikhs has not been achieved fully," USRIF said. "In addition, rape has become a common feature of communal violence."

The report recommended that the Secretary of State re-designate the following eight nations among the worst offenders as "countries of particular concern" or CPCs: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan.

USCIRF said it finds that seven other countries meet the CPC threshold and should be so designated: Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Infosys and IPsoft Join Forces; Underline Importance of Autonomics for IT Operations

IPsoft and Infosys will collaborate to set up an Autonomics Center of Excellence and an Autonomics Lab at the Infosys Global Education Center in Mysore
The Autonomics Center of Excellence will focus on developing technical competencies and training of Infosys employees in this discipline. The Autonomics Lab will develop proofs of concept and design autonomics solutions for clients
Infosys plans to train over5,000 employees on IPcenter in the coming months

New York - April, 29, 2013:  IPsoft, a leading independent provider of autonomic IT services, announced today that it has formed a partnership with global consulting and technology leader Infosys. IPsoft’s proven autonomics platform - IPcenter, together with managed services from Infosys, will help reduce costs of IT operations and generate greater value for clients.

IPcenter delivers self-learning and self-healing systems to automate recurring manual IT tasks, and substantially reduce human intervention.

IPsoft’s autonomics services, along with standardized processes and metrics from Infosys, maximizes the efficiency of IT operations. The partnership will bring to market a powerful new strategy to accelerate business outcome-based sourcing and free-up critical resources otherwise engaged in managing routine tasks. This will help CIOs transform their departments to meet not just technology enablement mandates but business enablement goals.

Chandrashekar Kakal, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Business IT Services (BITS), Infosys, said: “Infosys has always been at the forefront of innovation in the IT services industry -from pioneering the Global Delivery Model to accelerating the adoption of managed services.

We are now at the cusp of another first – autonomics-driven service delivery. We believe autonomics can help enterprises balance shrinking IT budgets and expanding demand for business enablement. We are confident that our partnership with IPsoft will help us deliver greater returns on our clients’ IT investments.”

Chetan Dube, CEO, IPsoft, commented: “This is a true partnership of strengths. It brings together the consulting expertise, enterprise IT services, and enduring customer relationships of Infosys with the autonomics capabilities of IPsoft. This formidable combination will help clients free-up resources for higher priority innovation efforts. Simply put, autonomics-driven services can bring to IT support and maintenance the kind of productivity gains that robotics brought to the manufacturing industry.”

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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S Gopalakrishnan, President CII, Interacted with CII members in Mumbai

Our agenda is to accelerate economic (GDP) growth to 6 – 6.5 percent this year and to take it to 8.5 – 9 percent as quickly as possible: S Gopalakrishnan, President CII
The drivers for growth would be reforms and governance, inclusive growth and affirmative action, innovation, entrepreneurship and growth of MSMEs and transformation of sectors: S Gopalakrishnan, President CII
India ranks 132nd among 185 countries on the parameter of ‘ease of doing business’; this needs to be improved: S Gopalakrishnan, President CII

Mumbai, April, 29, 2013:  Addressing the meet, Mr Gopalakrishnan, informed the audience that CII theme for 2013-14 is “Accelerating Economic Growth through Innovation, Transformation, Inclusion and Governance”. He said, “Our agenda is to accelerate economic (GDP) growth to 6 – 6.5 percent this year and to take it to 8.5 – 9 percent as quickly as possible. “ He further added, “The drivers for growth would be reforms and governance, inclusive growth and affirmative action, innovation, entrepreneurship and growth of MSMEs and transformation of sectors.” On the front of reforms and governance, he highlighted that  the World Bank Report indicates that India ranks 132nd among 185 countries on the parameter of ‘ease of doing business’.  This needs to be improved. Further, FDI should be encouraged wherever applicable in a phased manner. With reference to GST implementation, he also informed that it has been a top priority of CII to play an active role in creating the right atmosphere. He also highlighted that CII has been active on facilitating distribution reforms in power sector, model APMC Act, leveraging technology for strengthening MSMEs, the Companies Bill, Land Acquisition Bill, etc. 
 
Mr S Gopalakrishnan also briefed the members on CII’s efforts towards the inclusive growth agenda. He informed that CII has already engaged with Dalit Chamber of Commerce and also been active on skill building and employment of marginalized sectors. On the front of innovation and entrepreneurship, CII efforts are on to popularize the job portal www.thefairjob.com linking industry with job seekers from marginalized sections. In transformation of sectors, President CII informed that this year CII would be starting a three year project called Project Village Budha which would be targeted to implement the idea of Kaizens (small improvements) in a village environment. Further, ‘Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing Programme’ of CII would help 100 top MSMEs to improve on their current size and status. Mr Gopalakrishnan, concluded his remarks by saying, “We will also continue our focus on global engagement and sustainability.”
 
Addressing the session, Mr R Mukundan, Chairman, CII Western Region informed members about the initiatives taken by CII in Maharashtra to resolve the issues related to water crisis and drought conditions in the state. The initiatives include desilting parts of Jayakwadi Dam – in Aurangabad – Maharashtra and the adoption of four surrounding villages for sharing and adopting agricultural best practices in the surrounding areas.
 
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee , Director General, CII, Mr R Mukundan, Chairman, CII Western Region, Mr Chetan Tamboli, Deputy Chairman, CII,  and Mr Ninad Karpe, Chairman, CII Maharashtra, Mr Kaushalendra Sinha, Regional Director, CII Western Region were also present for the meet.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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ETV Marathi’s “Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati” - The hot seat to success

Mumbai, April, 28, 2013:  Across a population of over 12 Crores, from 33 zillas and beyond, few will get on the hot seat in Marathi Television’s biggest game changer till date - ETV Marathi’s “Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati”, produced by BIG Synergy. The show will for the first time in the history of Marathi Television provide the contestants an opportunity to win 1 Crore of prize money by answering 15 questions of the Paishyacha Zaad. This epic show presented by New Fair & Lovely and powered by Idea premiers on 6th May, 2013 and will air every Monday to Thursday at 9.00 pm only on ETV Marathi.

Taking you through this journey and towards your dream along with “Katekar Kaka” will be Sachin Khedekar your quintessential superstar and actor par excellence. Sachin when asked about what Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati represents said “Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati is going to be about providing a great opportunity to succeed for all those who celebrate our great culture and most importantly have the power of knowledge on their side. A show of this stature calls for great responsibility and I will endeavor to be a friend and a guide to my contestants”
 
About launching such a landmark show Mr. Anuj Poddar, Executive Vice President & Business Head – Regional Channels,Viacom18 Pvt Ltd said “We at ETV Marathi were looking at providing our viewers unparalleled experience and scale comparable to the Hindi GEC. We believe that the Marathi audience is very evolved, has knowledge on their side and deserves high quality entertainment. With a show like “Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati” we hope to give our viewers an hour of complete quality entertainment that will add to the entire family viewing experience”

On the show’s core thought Amit Phalke, Non Fiction Head at ETV Marathi said “Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati facilitates our objective of giving every “Marathi Manoos” by heart and soul an opportunity to get to their dream and most importantly to continue dreaming big.  With Sachin Khedekar as the “Marg Darshak” this landmark show is all set to redefine family time in the Marathi Television space and will be that hour where the whole family comes together to root for the one on the hotseat.”

ETV Marathi’s Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati’s foray into the buzzing Marathi General Entertainment Channel space creates a compelling and unique experience for viewers. With the launch of this epic show the tables have been turned to favour those who have knowledge and determination on their side. The stage is all set to give a thrust exclusively to the dreams of the people of this Maha – Rashtra.  A Paishachya Zaad of 15 question, 3 life lines of “Janmatacha Koul”, “Talayat Malayat”, “Mitracha Madat” and the right answer to your very own “Sanganak Raje” will give the contestant a chance to redefine their destiny.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Siddhartha Basu, Big Synergy said “Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati offers a mega platform of “Maharashtrach Mahamanch”, open to all those from anywhere in the country who love Marathi culture and speak the language, which has the potential to change the life and destiny of the person on the hot seat in a very short duration. For viewers it offers deep engagement of watching a life change before our eyes through a knowledge game, and to be entertained and inspired by it.  It is for the first time in Marathi television history that a show and opportunity of this scale and size has been launched exclusively for all those who are rooted to the language and culture of this state”

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Anita Lerche, Announces the Launch of her Video "SADKE PUNJAB TON"

Chandigarh, April 27, 2013: ‘Sadke Punjab Ton’ is a whiff of fresh sounds, a celebration of the rich vibrant culture of Punjab and its stunning videos revive fond memories of the golden years of the state. Singer, actor, songwriter and voice artist Anita Lerche has made a long voyage from Herlev, a town near Copenhagen, Denmark to the land of Punjab to become the ambassador and custodian of our heritage.

After the roaring success of her debut album ‘Heer from Denmark’, she is back to woo more fans and wow her audiences with ‘Sadke Punjab Ton.’ This album is no ordinary compilation of songs. As the video for the title track ‘Sadke Punjab Ton’ reveals, it is the story of a girl whose soul was always Punjabi and her destiny had to bring her here. Anita sings and transforms gradually during the video into a Punjabi lass who is willing to give it all for the love of Punjab and the fragrance of this soil. This song was written by Dr. Tejinder Harjit, who got inspired by Anita’s passion for Punjab and Punjabi culture. It appealed so much to Anita, that she decided to name the album ‘Sadke Punjab Ton’.

The songs of the album speak of a yearning, a genuine love for everything that is essentially Punjabi, be it the food, fields or the much celebrated folk lore and dances. The unforgettable love stories, the ornaments, the aesthetics that make this lively culture what it is are beautifully highlighted in the songs and captured in the videos.

The entire team of Director Harjit Singh and Param Shiv who have put in true labours of love to create stunning imagery and backdrops have used animation and melded it with actual shots; Music director Gurmoh has whipped up hummable melodies that linger and stay long after hearing the songs; the legendary folk performers of Gurdaspur Master Harbhajan and artists from Kapurthalla, Jalandhar, the graphic artists and painters have all come together in harmony and with a common urge, they all seem to be in chorus with their efforts when their work sings, Sadke Punjab Ton!

Anita and the whole team hope to rekindle a desire in every Punjabi heart to come out, feel proud and to celebrate this vibrant Punjabi spirit with these songs sung in Anita’s voice!

The first song being released today is a precursor to an entire album that will keep its promise. Enjoy the album and sing along...’Sadke Punjab Ton’.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Indian Growth Story Dependent on Effective Infrastructure Risk Management: CII Infrastructure Conference

Effective management of unforeseen risks key to infrastructure growth - Niranjan Hiranandani

Pune, April, 25, 2013: The greatest opportunity and challenge to India’s growth is infrastructure and the greatest challenge to the growth of infrastructure are risks – anticipated and unforeseen - that are part of any project. Risk and its effective mitigation were discussed at Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII)& CBRE’s flagship event the 2nd Edition of the Conference on Infrastructure Project Management with the theme ‘Risk Management in Projects’. CBRE is the Knowledge Partner for the Conference.

Mr. Niranjan Hiranandani, Managing Director, Hiranandani Constructions Ltd, put the conference into perspective when he said in his keynote address, “Risks are of two types. Those we can anticipate and those which project management people can provide for like shortage of labour, increase in taxes, inflation, increase in cost of raw material, etc. But good infrastructure project management is not about these anticipated exigencies, it is about the risks that you cannot foresee like accidents, riots, epidemic in your labour force etc. How do you take into account something which you have not anticipated? The way you deal with these unforeseen risks determines the success of a project. As a good project manager, you may not anticipate the problem, but you have to attend to it with equal forthrightness as you would attend to an anticipated problem.”

The construction industry contributes 8% of the overall GDP of the nation and accounts for 35 million jobs in the country.

Mr. Hiranandani said that pace, speed of construction and timelines cause the biggest problems for Indian infrastructure but it is marching ahead nonetheless. “Project management people have to aspire to do projects that seem impossible because the world is doing the same.

You cannot be content with what you have done. You cannot be just better than your competitors but you have to be better than the best in the world. You have to aspire for it and only then will you reach there. And you will have to take pride in what you do. Yes there will be risks, but it is up to you to execute that future for yourself and for your children,” said Mr. Hiranandani.

Mr. Gurjot Bhatia, Senior Executive Director – Project management Group, CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd, said, “A good doctor is not one who knows medicine, but the one who diagnoses the problem effectively and timely. A good project manager or company does the same: identify the problem and look at its mitigating factors. When it comes to infrastructure you must consider these four points: firstly be willing to identify risks consistently; then to analyze them comprehensively and in a wholesome manner; thirdly communicate them to your stakeholders so it does not become bigger later and everyone can break their heads solving it and lastly and above all else have accountability.”

Mr. Bhatia added that there is huge growth across the region, but it is a growth that is associated with challenges and if we do not look forward to mitigating them, it can lead to impediments to this growth. This is especially true with projects growing more and more complex with long lasting socio-economic impact for the country.

"Being an integral part of project management; risk management determines the success of any project. It helps minimize the impact of project threats, ensures timely delivery and quality of construction. Learning from one's experiences while executing projects is a key for any organization, which might not happen in some cases as project teams move from project to project very quickly. To ensure efficiencies over time and development of best practices, it is essential to capture lessons learned on your projects," said Mr. Tushar Kulkarni, Associate Director, Vector Projects (I) Pvt Ltd.

Mr. Krishnanand Mavinkurve, Member, CII SHE Award Jury Panel and Vice President &Dy HSE Head, Essar Projects Limited said, “Construction projects covering the development of commercial, social and public infrastructure have become very complex in delivery yet there is an increasing demand for delivering them risk free. Risk is something that cannot be ignored. It can and has to be managed, minimized, shared, transferred or accepted. In project management, the challenge is not to explore risk for a single project but to predict it consistently and ensure that every project has the same level and depth of risk analysis.”

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Key US lawmaker backs high-skilled immigration from India

Washington, April 25, 2013:  Highlighting the rapidly growing trade and economic engagement between India and the US, Indian ambassador Nirupama Rao has conveyed her deep appreciation to a key lawmaker for his support for high-skilled immigration.

The ambassador discussed this issue of significant interest for Indian businesses in the US during a meeting Monday with Robert Menendez, Democratic chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. There was also a discussion on the proposed immigration reform bill proposed by the Senate Gang of Eight of which Menendez is a member, , according to an Indian Embassy media release.

Menendez, who is also a member of the Senate India Caucus, has long championed the interests of the Indian American community in the US Congress.

Rao and Menendez also exchanged views on the latest developments in India-US relations and highlighted the shared values and interests binding their strategic partnership, the Embassy release said.

"They expressed appreciation for the strength provided to this partnership by the rich and vibrant contributions of the Indian American community in the United States." It said.

Rao and Menendez also exchanged views on the regional situation in South Asia.

Rao invited Senator Menendez to visit India. He accepted the invitation for such a visit at a mutually convenient time, the release said

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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GOPIO-CT HONORS AMERICAN CHARITY AMERICARES AND THREE INDIAN AMERICANS

Pune,April,24,2013:  The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO)-Connecticut Chapter honored three Indian Americans, two outstanding achievers and one person for community service at its Annual Awards Banquet held at the Italian Center in Stamford on April 20th. The three Indian Americans are Yale University professor Dr. Ramamurti Shankar, industrialist Mr. Rakesh Narang and community organizer Mr. Suresh Sharma.

Dr. Ramamurti Shankar, John Randolph Huffman Professor of Physics and Professor of Applied Physics Yale University, New Haven will be recognized for his contribution to Basic Sciences. Prof. Shankar has done some outstanding work in Quantum Physics and has written several books in Physics and Maths. Dr. Shankar joined Yale University in 1977 and has been a visiting professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, Princeton, Berkeley and MIT. Prof. Shankar works on the application of Quantum Field Theory to particle, statistical and condensed matter physics in which he has over 100 publications.

Mr. Rakesh Narang, President and Founder of Wire & Plastic Machinery Corporation, New Haven, CT will be recognized in the category of Entrepreneurship and Business Acumen. His company is a leading global equipment supplier for the wire and cable industry. Narang is a recipient of the Charles D. Scott Distinguished Career Award, which is awarded to individuals in the wire and cable field who have served the industry for a minimum of twenty-five years and have demonstrated outstanding professional acumen and personal attributes. Narang is an active supporter of various Indian and other community organizations in the New York Tri-State area.

For Community Service, GOPIO-CT has selected Mr. Suresh Sharma, Founder of Milan Cultural Association, Hartford,  CT. Sharma founded Milan to create visibility of Indian American community for mainstream America, with a passion for the first generation to leave behind for the younger generation a legacy not of diversified regionalism but of cultural heritage and unity in diversity, so that the younger generation feel proud to be Indians. Suresh also developed “P.G. BETTER LIVING,” a free monthly e-magazine dedicated to synthesizing  Eastern ethos, values and beliefs with the western lifestyle  of adults, young and children as they seek to meet their personal, political, social, cultural, spiritual, health, financial and physical needs particularly their “pain points”, to inculcate attitude of conscious, virtuous, peaceful and contended living.

In addition, GOPIO-CT honored the American charity AmeriCares with Service to India Award. AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization that delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world. In 2006, AmeriCares deepened its commitment to India by establishing a local presence in Mumbai. AmeriCares India responds to emergency medical needs and delivers medical aid to health care providers in 26 Indian states and union territories. The organization conducts on-site disaster preparedness workshops for emergency medical personnel and community-based health education programs for disease prevention. AmeriCares India continues to expand its reach with free mobile medical clinics that provide access to health care in the Mumbai slums. The award was received by its Chairman of the Board Directors Mr. Dean Maglaris.

GOPIO-CT award recipients with dignitaries and GOPIO-CT officials. Front Row, L to R: Dr. Thomas Abraham, Anita Bhat, former CT Lt. Governor Michael Fidele, AmeriCares Chairman of the Board Dean Maglaris, Yale Univ. professor Rmamurti Shankar, Milan Founder Suresh Sharma, Leena Ramchandani, Industrialist Rakesh Narang, Deputy Consul General Dr. Devyani Khobragade, Sangeeta Ahuja, Ritu Johorey and Nandita Kotian; Back Row, from L to R.: Stamford City Board of Finance Chair Jerry Bosak, Shelly Nichani, Pradeep Govil, Prakash Chakravarti, Lovella D’Silva, GOPIO-CT President Shailesh Naik, Varghese Ninan, Mohan Yadav, NJ Assembly Deputy Speaker Upendra Chivukula and Nisha Arora

The chief guest for the evening was Active Consul General of India Dr. Devyani Khobragade who said “GOPIO is the prime organization which goes in between Govt. of India and the Indian Diaspora since GOPIO has the network to convey information from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and from the Ministry of External Affairs as well as it brings Diaspora issue to the attention of India Govt.”

New Jersey Legislative Assembly Deputy speaker Upendra Chivukula, Connecticut Assemblyman Dr. Prasad Srinivasan and former CT Lt. Governor Michael Fidele in their remarks recognized GOPIO’s contribution for improved US Indian relations and its contribution in bringing the Indian American community together as well as in interacting with the local communities.

GOPIO-CT President  Shailesh Naik said that in eight years GOPIO-CT has excelled in service to the Indian American community as well to the local community such as hosting soup kitchens for homeless in Stamford. The Awards Banquet was chaired by Dr. Thomas Abraham, Founder President of GOPIO International who is also a Trustee of GOPIO-CT. The program was compeered by TV Asia Anchor person Radhika Vasudeva. The award ceremony was followed by entertainment by GOBBA Dancers of Norwalk and dinner..

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.........R Sayed NRIpres.com Inc USA (India)

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Jet Airways and Etihad Airways Forge Strategic Alliance Under FDI Policy of Govt. of India

Etihad Airways to Invest US 379 Milion for a 24$ Stake in Jet Airways

• Strategic investment under FDI policy of the Government of India will deliver wide-ranging revenue growth and cost synergy opportunities for both airlines

• Alliance will bring significant passenger benefits with expanded codesharing, creating a combined network of 140 destinations

• Alliance will bring significant benefits to the Indian economy, both in terms of growth,  job creation, trade and tourism

• Jet Airways passengers from 23 cities in India to gain direct access to an expanded global network

• Jet Airways to enhance its services from its primary hubs of Delhi and Mumbai, and introduce new flights from Hyderabad and Bangalore

• The strategic alliance between the two airlines will bring additional traffic, frequencies and revenues to metro airports, as well as other airports of AAI

• New India-Abu Dhabi routes and Jet Airways to establish a Gulf gateway for flights to the US, Europe, Africa and the Middle East

• The strategic investment enables Etihad Airways to tap into India’s fast-growing 42 million strong travel market

• Both airlines' passengers will benefit from fully integrated frequent flyer programs with reciprocal ‘earn-and-burn’

• Alliance will result in both consumer benefits and/or all round efficiencies

• This strategic investment with a US$600 million commitment from Etihad Airways will help further strengthening of Jet Airways financial position. 

Mumbai, April, 24,  2013: Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates and Jet Airways of India today announced that the UAE national carrier has agreed to subscribe for 27,263,372 new shares in Jet Airways at a price of INR754.74 per share. The value of this equity investment is US$379 million and will result in Etihad Airways holding 24 per cent of the enlarged share capital of Jet Airways.

Etihad Airways' wider overall commitment to Jet Airways includes the injection of US$220 million to create and strengthen a wide-ranging partnership between the two carriers.

As part of this Etihad Airways paid US$70 million to purchase Jet Airways’ three pairs of Heathrow slots through the sale and lease back agreement announced on 27 February 2013. Jet Airways continues to operate flights to London utilising these slots.

An amount of US$150 million will be invested by Etihad Airways by way of a majority equity investment in Jet Airways’ frequent flyer program "Jet Privilege", subject to appropriate regulatory and corporate approvals and final commercial agreements which are expected to be completed within the next six months.

Under the strategic partnership, which will be subject to full regulatory and shareholder approval, the airlines will gradually expand existing operations and introduce new routes between India and Abu Dhabi, providing an ever wider choice to the travelling public. They will combine their network of 140 destinations, with Jet Airways establishing a Gulf gateway in Abu Dhabi and expanding its reach through Etihad Airways’ growing global network.

Passengers from 23 cities in India will benefit from direct connections to international destinations. New flights from Jet Airways’ home hubs and metro airports will further strengthen its current operations from these airports. Jet Airways’ vision continues to be to develop Delhi and Mumbai airports as its primary home hubs and connecting them to Asian, European and other regions.

Details of the investment were unveiled by Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, and the Chairman of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal.

Mr Hogan said: “We are pleased to have reached this significant stage in India with Jet Airways and are certain the partnership will bring significant benefits and opportunities for global growth to both airlines.

“It is expected to bring immediate revenue growth and cost synergy opportunities, with our initial estimates of a contribution of several hundred million dollars for both airlines over the next five years.

“The Indian market is fundamental to our business model of organic growth partnerships and equity investments. This deal will allow us to compete more effectively in one of the largest and fastest-growing markets in the world.”

“We look forward to collaborating with Jet Airways and constructively working together with them and their stakeholders to build a sustainable, competitive and profitable airline.”

Mr Goyal said: “I would like to thank the Government of India, especially the Ministries of Civil Aviation, Commerce and Industry, and Finance, for having the foresight to introduce the historic reform of allowing foreign direct investment into civil aviation in India. Infusion of FDI in the domestic sector will result in the improvement of the economics of aviation, grow traffic at our airports and create job opportunities.

“I am extremely happy to be in a partnership with an airline that shares our customer-centric operational philosophy and ethos. I have no doubt that this partnership with Etihad Airways is a win-win situation for all our stakeholders, especially our guests, who will now have access to a much expanded global network.

“This transaction further strengthens the balance sheet of Jet Airways and, more importantly, underpins future revenue streams, which will accelerate our return to sustainable profitability and liquidity.”

A key component of the wide-ranging partnership is expanded codesharing on flights with passengers benefiting from reciprocal ‘earn-and-burn’ rights on the airlines’ frequent flyer programs.

The proposed codeshare expansion will significantly enable Etihad Airways to tap into India’s rapidly growing travel market, providing additional passenger traffic to Etihad Airways’ Middle Eastern, North American and European destinations, and give Jet Airways passengers from various cities access to an expanded network.

Current estimates predict the size of the Indian market to grow to 42 million travellers over the next five years at a rate of 10 per cent per year, while the Indian middle class, which provides the majority of air travel demand, is forecast to grow by 200 million, over the next eight years.

Etihad Airways currently flies to nine Indian destinations including Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Kochi, with a total of 59 flights per week.

The partnership will also help drive a significant increase in traffic growth through Abu Dhabi International Airport, as well as Jet Airways’ hubs of Mumbai and Delhi international airports.
Key benefits for both airlines will flow from synergies and cost savings in areas including fleet acquisition, maintenance, product development and training.

The airlines will explore joint purchasing opportunities for fuel, spare parts, equipment and catering supplies, as well as external services such as insurance and technology support.
Other areas of co-operation will include joint training of pilots, cabin crew and engineers, as well as maintenance of common aircraft types and the consolidation of guest loyalty programs.

A joint project management office will be set up to ensure delivery of all synergy benefits to both parties. Substantial ownership and effective control will remain with Indian nationals, with Mr Goyal as the non-executive Chairman holding 51 per cent of the company.

Etihad Airways’ investment in Jet Airways follows the minority equity stakes taken by the airline in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia, and Aer Lingus over the last 12 months.

Etihad is being advised by HSBC, DLA Piper, Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co and PricewaterhouseCoopers on this transaction.

Jet Airways is being advised by Mr Harish Salve, Gagrats, ELP, Ernst & Young, DSP Merrill Lynch Limited and Credit Suisse.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Sri. Ponnala Lakshmaiah Honble Minister for IT and Communications Govt of AP  leads a Business Delegation to the Prestigious Festival of Games in Netherland

Amsterdam,April,24,2013: Sri. Ponnala Lakshmaiah Honble Minister for IT and Communications Govt of AP is seen addressing delegates at the Festival of Games happening in Amsterdam Netherlands. Also seen is Sri.Sanjay Jaju,IAS Secretary IT Govt of AP.

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Peruvian Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion co-host first Social Innovation Summit

• First Social Innovation Summit held on eve of the World Economic Forum’s regional Latin America meeting.

• Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship launched the Policy Guide to Scaling Social Innovation at the Summit, a comprehensive global study of policy tools and initiatives currently being implemented by governments around the world.

Lima, Peru, 23 April 2013:  The World Economic Forum and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in cooperation with the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion of Peru, will convene government ministers, investors, business leaders and social entrepreneurs to discuss how social innovation models can more effectively contribute to inclusive growth. Co-Chairs at the Summit include: Carolina Trivelli Avila, Minister for Development and Social Inclusion, Peru; Bruce Mac Master, Director of the Department of Social Prosperity, Colombia; Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui, Co-founder and Managing Partner IGNIA Partners, Mexico; and Julie Katzman, Executive Vice-President, Inter-American Development Bank, USA.

Summit participants will focus on how social innovation and social entrepreneurship can be encouraged most effectively and what the appropriate role of government should be. Much of the day’s discussions will draw on the Policy Guide to Scaling Social Innovation, a comprehensive report resulting from nearly a year of research. The Policy Guide – a collaborative effort between the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, InSight at Pacific Community Ventures, the Initiative for Responsible Investment at Harvard University, and the SK Group – presents a framework for policy action, drawing from 14 case studies of policy tools and initiatives currently being implemented by governments around the world.

In addition, the Policy Guide profiles twenty social innovation models from the Schwab Foundation network, tackling pervasive challenges in health, education, employment, rural development, and urban development. The profiles describe how successful social enterprises achieve outsized social impact and provide governments, intermediaries and budding social entrepreneurs with a wealth of ideas on how to generate social impact in specific issue areas.

“The fact that there is so much policy experimentation under way around the world indicates just how much progress there has been over the past two or three years,” said Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation. “Many governments are truly beginning to recognize the potential of social entrepreneurship and are constructively engaging with all of the relevant stakeholders to deliver on the sector’s promise.”

Convened under the theme Developing an Action Plan to Advance Social Innovation, the Social Innovation Summit lays out an ambitious agenda to advance social innovation policy frameworks in Latin America and on the international stage. Several ministers from the region engaged in multilateral discussions with their counterparts from Peru and Colombia about what policy experiments are showing the most promise and why.

“A new institutional setting is emerging across Latin America, with several countries creating ministries in recent years that are explicitly mandated to create the right conditions to achieve growth with social inclusion in democracy,” said Carolina Trivelli Avila, Minister for Development and Social Inclusion, Peru. “This represents a fundamental shift in the way government views its role – away from being the exclusive institution tasked with improving public welfare and more towards catalysing the relevant actors and markets and incentivizing collaborative efforts, especially with the private sector.”

This collaborative approach to creating social value is underscored by the announcement today of the launch of Innovate to Include, a national taskforce chaired by Minister Trivelli and mandated to promote social innovation in Peru. Founding members of the taskforce will be present at a signing ceremony at the close of the Social Innovation Summit, including the Inter-American Development Bank, the National Confederation of Private Business Association of Peru, and the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion.

“What we are trying to do is to create an environment that is conducive to more and better social innovation,” explained Minister Trivelli. “This will generate positive effects on the quality of life of those Peruvians who live in a condition of extreme exclusion. The task force will engage the best talent and institutions across both public and private sectors to think, design, and implement solutions to the most pressing issues in Peru. The task force will be responsible for preparing the design of the Social Innovation Fund, which will identify problems and opportunities that require an innovative and sustainable solution and will provide technical and financial assistance to such solutions. It will also collect experiences and best practices both in the locally and internationally to foster social innovation in Peru.”

“We are delighted that Peru is demonstrating regional leadership on social innovation,” said David Aikman, Senior Director, World Economic Forum and Head, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. “They are proving that governments can – and are – taking real, credible action to accelerate the development of this nascent sector.”

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Gen-next monster icons to hit Indian toy market

Mumbai, April 23, 2013:  Cleo de Nile, Clawdeen Wolf and Lagoona Blue along with their friends attend Monster High, a school where they face their teenage battles and fulfil their dreams. Their other friends are Draculara and Frankie Stein. Sounds familiar?

The students at Monster High are the next next-generation progeny of legendary monster icons like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Werewolf, The Sea Monster and The Mummy.

These frighteningly fashionable female descendants will come to India in the form of fashion dolls to be launched Thursday by popular toy brand Mattel, whose Barbie dolls still find a place in every little girl's toy closet.

The new series promises a fun and humorous storyline that captures all the awkward moments, which most teens experience in their upper-level school years along with the powerful bonds of friendship and the challenges of fitting in the group - all delivered through a "monster" chic aesthetic and tone.

Monster High as an imaginary school, hence becomes the battle ground and also the bonding platform for these five offsprings to create a history of their own.

"Monster High encompasses relatable characters and a rich storyline that is sure to resonate with tweens and teens in India. Monster High characters are teenage kids of the world's most famous fictitious monsters who live out their high school journey like all other kids," Karun Gera, country manager for Mattel India told IANS.

"Monster High has multiple touch points to engage our target audience girls in the 9-15 year age group with content, dolls, accessories and consumer products that are all high on fashion quotient," he added.

Gera said that the brand has been a tremendous success internationally and launching it in India was the natural transition.

The Monster High Range in India will be accompanied by an animated series to be aired on a cartoon channels and other merchandise like accessories.

Mattel has also roped in theatre artist and film actress Shazahn Padamsee for a music video that will launch the range.

Next-gen monster descendants at a glance:

Frankie Stein: Frankie is the daughter of Frankenstein. Although a bit clumsy, she is polite and athletic and a good friend to have and be around. Frankie has black and white hair and her body is made of stitches and bolts, which tend to come off at odd hours.

Draculaura: Daughter of Count Dracula, she is 1,599 years young and cannot wait for her 1,600th birthday. Although a vampire, she is a vegan and does not like blood. She loves her makeup and clothes to be just right when she goes out but since she cannot see her own reflection in the mirror, she can never be sure. Her favourite colour is Pink.

Clawdeen Wolf: This 15-year-old daughter of The Werewolf is covered with fur. She carries a no-nonsense attitude and is extremely loyal to her friends. She is a fierce fashionista and loves shopping. Her pierced pointed ears add extra zing to her personality.

Lagoona Blue: Lagoona is the 15 year old daughter of The Sea Monster. She is a lovable and sporty tomboy who loves to surf and play beach volleyball with her friends. She loves her pet piranha, Neptune, who she secretly carries to Monster class in a special purse, which is actually a fish bowl.

Cleo de Nile - Cleo is the gorgeous daughter of The Mummy and is 5,842 years old. She dresses up like a true Egyptian princess with a headdress and exotic jewellery. Her favourite colour is gold and her favourite activity is ruling the halls of Monster High and being captain of the "fearleading" squad. Ironically, her least favourite subject is history.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Indian-American attorney to prosecute Boston bomber

Washington, April 23, 2013:  Two veteran anti-terrorism prosecutors, including an Indian American attorney Aloke Chakravarty, are leading the case against the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Assistant US district attorneys Chakravarty and William Weinreb from the Massachusetts district's Anti-Terrorism and National Security Unit were both key players in the prosecution of Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad.

Shahzad was sentenced to life in prison for the attempted bombing of New York's Times Square three years ago.

The Shahzad team was given the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award in 2011 for their "quick response and coordination" during the Times Square investigation, according to CBS News.

Chakravarty, 39, was also the lead prosecutor on the case against Tarek Mehanna, a Boston pharmacist, who was convicted of providing material support to Al Qaeda, and conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country. Last year Mehanna was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison, CBS said.

A graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and Emory Law School, Chakravarty, has been a prosecutor in different contexts over the last 15 years.

He has been an assistant district attorney in Middlesex County, in the criminal division of the Massachusetts attorney general's office, for the US Department of Justice, and for the United Nations at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

He has also served in Washington DC as assistant general counsel at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and as attorney-advisor at the Justice department's office of intelligence policy.

In an interview to the India-US Business Journal in 2009, Chakravarty credited a "rich and diverse" undergraduate education at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore with helping introduce him to a possible career in law.

"I was going to be a good Indian son and go to medical school," he was quoted as saying. "But it didn't quite work out that way."

He said he decided to attend law school "to see if I liked it," a decision he came to acclaim. "I loved it," Chakravarty said. "I realised that this was a field in which you can speak up for those that can't speak for themselves."

"The idea of standing up for the little guy really appealed to me," he told the Journal. "But it was a bit of a gamble. I was throwing myself into potential chaos."

Chakravarty said he applied to work as a federal prosecutor in late 2001 motivated by the Sep 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, A key element of his work is outreach to immigration communities, particularly those groups that have became targets for discrimination in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks, including Arabs, Muslims and Sikhs, he told the Journal.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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• Boston bomber says big brother was the mastermind
  
• Surviving Boston bomber came 5 minutes before second blast
  

Boston bomber says big brother was the mastermind
Washington, April 23, 2013:  Facing the death penalty on charges of using a weapon of mass destruction, the surviving Boston bombings suspect has claimed that his older brother, not any international terrorist group, masterminded the deadly attack, according to a media report.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who has been hospitalised with a tube down his throat in recent days, communicated with investigators by writing and nodding, CNN reported citing a US government source.

The preliminary interviews with Tsarnaev, who had escaped a shootout with police that killed the second suspect, his older brother Tamerlan, 26, early Friday morning, suggest the two brothers fit the classification of self-radicalised jihadists, the unnamed source was quoted as saying.

Tsarnaev has conveyed to investigators that Tamerlan's motivation stemmed from jihadist thought and the idea that Islam is under attack, and jihadists need to fight back, the source told CNN.

But he cautioned that the interviews were preliminary, and that Tsarnaev's account needs to be checked out and followed up on by investigators.

CNN also cited a federal law enforcement official as saying that while investigators have seen no indication the suspects collaborated with others, they still have plenty of work to do before they can confidently say no others were involved.

Investigators have been asking Tsarnaev whether there are more bombs, explosives caches or weapons beyond those already found by police, and if anyone else was involved in the attacks, a source with direct knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

Investigators are going into Tsarnaev's room every few hours to ask questions in the presence of doctors, the channel said.

Initial proceedings against the younger Tsarnaev were conducted Monday at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre by a federal magistrate with two assistant US attorneys, including Indian American Aloke Chakravarty, appearing for the prosecution.

Chakravarty and William Weinreb from the anti-terrorism and national security unit of the US Attorney's office in Boston, will prosecute Tsarnaev, who remains under armed guard in serious condition, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Surviving Boston bomber came 5 minutes before second blast
Washington, April 23, 2013:  The surviving Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, arrived on Boylston Street near the finish line about five minutes before the deadly April 15 explosion that killed three people and injured over 180, according to the US case against him.

He was wearing a white baseball cap and a black jacket like the one FBI found when they searched Tsarnaev's dorm room at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, according to an affidavit filed in US District Court by FBI Special Agent Daniel R. Genck.

A video taken at 2:45 p.m, from a surveillance camera at The Forum restaurant, near the marathon's finish line on Boylston Street and the site of the second explosion, shows a man believed to be Tsarnaev slipping his backpack off his back and onto the ground, Genck wrote.

The man stays near his bag for the next four minutes, looking at his phone and apparently taking a picture, according to the complaint. A photograph taken from across the street shows the bag laying at the man's feet.

"Thirty seconds before the first explosion, the suspect brings his phone to his ear and keeps it there for 18 seconds. As the first bomb goes off, the crowd reacts and begins streaming away from the marathon's finish line.

"Bomber Two, virtually alone among the individuals in front of the restaurant, appears calm," Genck writes describing Tsarnaev as "Bomber Two" instead of "Suspect Two".

The suspect walks away from the finish line, leaving his bag behind. Ten seconds later, the second explosion occurs.

"I can discern nothing in that location in the period before the explosion might have caused that explosion, other than Bomber Two's knapsack," Genck writes.

The affidavit also provided a detailed account of the events Thursday night and early Friday leading to the death of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's older brother Tamerlan, 26, in an encounter with the police.

According to the affidavit, about seven hours after the FBI released photos and videos of the brothers, then known only as Suspect 1 and Suspect 2, a person carjacked an SUV at gunpoint in Cambridge shortly before midnight.

Either Dzhokhar or his now-dead brother, Tamelan - it's not clear which brother was the armed man - points and gun at the victim. "Did you hear about the Boston explosion?" the suspect asks. "I did that." The man removes a bullet from the gun's magazine, puts it back in and declares: "I am serious."

The victim and the suspect drive and pick up a second man. The suspect and the second man talk in a foreign language.

The gun-wielding suspect demands money from the victim, who gives him $45. The two carjackers demand the man drive to an ATM, where they take money from the victim's account. The victim escapes when the two carjackers stop at a convenience store.

The FBI reviewed footage from the convenience store's surveillance camera and agents identified the two suspects at Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Police encounter the stolen vehicle in suburban Watertown. Police and the carjackers exchange gunfire, and the carjackers throw several explosives at police.

The FBI later recovers two unexploded improvised explosive devices from the street, along with the remains of multiple exploded IEDs. One of the suspects is injured and remains at the scene while the other flees in the stolen car.

The IEDs recovered at the scene in Watertown and the IEDs set off at the Marathon have the same design, used the same brand of pressure cooker and both contained BBs (ball bearings) "contained in an adhesive material." Both also used a green-coloured hobby fuse, the affidavit says.

Police searched Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Sunday. They find a "large pyrotechnic," BBs and a white hat and black jacket matching those worn by the second bomber, the affidavit said.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress,com Inc USA (India)

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This summer, beat the heat with cool summer packages offered at Lavasa

Scores of Mumbaikars & Puneites heading to Lavasa this summer
Attractions include adventure activities, water sports,  club packages
2012 saw 7 lakh tourists visiting Lavasa

Pune, April, 22, 2013: Lavasa, nestled in the verdant Sahyadri valley and just 40 kms from Pune, has emerged as a top holiday destination of western India this summer. Some of Lavasa’s top resorts are already running to packed capacities, thanks to block bookings during the forthcoming summer holidays starting April 15, 2013.

In 2012, Lavasa was a host to 1, 40,000 tourists during the summer season from April to June. Close to 7 lakh tourists visited Lavasa in the year 2012. This only goes to show that Lavasa is fast emerging as the most promising new tourist destination in Maharashtra. Lavasa has also received award from TTF( Travel & Tourism Fair), India’s biggest travel show as ‘The most promising new destination’ amidst other predominantly participating states, Kerala, Karnataka, to name a few.

What has endeared Lavasa to visitors is the fact that the destination is a delight for all ages and for different pockets. Lavasa, continuing its tradition from last year, is offering various packages, including all-inclusive and affordable options to tourists.

Lavasa’s popularity among holiday-seekers is on account of its wide range of offerings.  For children and young adults looking for exciting outdoor activities, Lavasa offers a complete adventure package, which includes outdoor activities such as zip-line, Burma-bridge, parallel-traverse, jet-skiing and rides on all-terrain vehicles. Lavasa’s line-up of offerings also includes archery, paint-ball target shooting and air rifle shooting.

For young families seeking a relaxed and fun-filled holiday, Lavasa offers a wide variety of water sports, including rides in non-motorized boats, aqua volleyball, aqua basketball and inflatable obstacle. Patrons can also enjoy time in one of the multiple swimming pools or go in for a relaxing spa treatment.

For those with a liking for quietness and solitude, one can start a day at Lavasa with a walk along the beautiful nature trails; explore picturesque locales while cruising along the city in a trackless train – all the while capturing the natural beauty of the lovely Warasgaon lake.

The ‘coolest’ offers in the summer of 2013 include a variety of hotel packages, ranging from serviced apartments to star hotels, each having its own unique experience. Tourists are literally spoiled for choice as they can choose from the very serene ‘Ekaant’ on a hill-top, or a languid lake-view experience at the ‘Waterfront Shaw’ service apartments. Otherwise, they can always opt for a business-class hotel stay at ‘Mercure’ and ‘Fortune’.

A perfect vacation has to include a sumptuous meal and Lavasa offers multiple options for food aficionados. From continental to tandoori delights and from Mediterranean to Oriental, Lavasa has it all. For those preferring Satvic food, authentic Jain food is also available.

Some of the exciting activities at Lavasa

1. Lakeshore Water Sports: Avail any 4 non-motorized rides (Kayaking, Paddle Boat, Inflatable Obstacle, Aqua Volley Ball, Aqua Basket Ball) at INR 350/- per head all inclusive
   
2. Dasvino Town & Country Club: Lunch + High Tea + Swimming Pool + Spa treatment + Choice of Indoor Games at Rs. 1499/- per head all inclusive
   
3. Xthrill Adventure Package:
   

• Adventure Package - (Zip line, Burma Bridge, Parallel Traverse and Air Rifle Shooting) at Rs 650/- per head (exclusive of taxes)
• Adventure Package with lunch at INR 950/- per head (exclusive of taxes)
• Fun Package - (ATV Archery and Paint Ball Target Shooting ) Rs 1000/- per head (exclusive of taxes)
• Fun Package with lunch at INR 1300/- per head (exclusive of taxes)

To know more about the offers, visit: www.lavasa.com or SMS ‘HOLIDAYS’ to 57575 or e-mail: tourism@lavasa.com

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Mumbai court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against Sanjay Dutt

Mumbai,April,22,2013: A Mumbai court spells more trouble for actor Sanjay Dutt, on Monday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him after a producer moved court against him.
 
Producer Shakeel Noorani moved the Andheri court alleging that the actor did not complete his film.
 
The Supreme Court had recently given the actor four more weeks to surrender in the 1993 Bombay blasts case. The actor, who had earlier been asked by the court to surrender by April 18 wanted six months' extension to complete his film projects before surrendering to undergo his prison term.

The court observed that the producers should have realised and considered that one such case was coming up and questioned as to why they went ahead with projects involving Sanjay Dutt. The court found the argument that there was a huge amount riding on him weak.
 
The court also said that relief to Sanjay Dutt was given purely on humanitarian grounds. The actor, convicted under the Arms Act in the blasts case, had argued that he was a young man in 1993 and has done a lot of social work since then and so leniency should be shown towards him.

India receives $69 bn in remittances; tops global list

Washington, April 20, 2013:  India received $69 billion remittance in 2012, the highest in the world, followed by China with $60 billion and the Philippines $24 billion, World Bank data showed.

Other major recipients of foreign remittances were Mexico with $23 billion and Nigeria and Egypt with $21 billion each, according to the latest edition of the World Bank's Migration and Development Brief released here Friday.

"India remains the largest recipient country in the world, receiving $69 billion in 2012. In addition to large numbers of unskilled migrants working mainly in the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, India also has a large skilled diaspora the US and other high-income countries," the World Bank report said.

Flows to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal have also been robust, helped by strong economic growth in the GCC and India. Remittances to the region are projected to remain buoyant in the coming years, reaching $140 billion in 2015.

Officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries increased by 5.3 percent to $401 billion in 2012.

"Given that many migrants send money and goods through people or informal channels, the true size of remittances are much larger than these official figures," the World Bank said.

According to the report, remittances to developing countries are expected to grow by an annual average of 8.8 percent for the next three years and are forecast to reach $515 billion in 2015.

As a percentage of GDP, the top recipients of remittances in 2011 were Tajikistan (47 percent), Liberia (31 percent), Kyrgyz Republic (29 percent), Lesotho (27 percent), Moldova (23 percent), Nepal (22 percent), and Samoa (21 percent).

"The role of remittances in helping lift people out of poverty has always been known, but there is also abundant evidence that migration and remittances are helping countries achieve progress towards other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), such as access to education, safe water, sanitation and healthcare," Hans Timmer, director of the Bank's development prospects group, said in the report.

Officially recorded remittance flows to South Asia are estimated to have increased sharply by 12.8 percent to $109 billion in 2012. This follows growth averaging 13.8 percent in each of the previous two years.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Reliance Globalcom eyes deal to value it at $1.2 bn

Mumbai, April 20,2013:  The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group Saturday said a consortium of Samena Capital was in last stages of due diligence to buy into its global communications arm Reliance Gobalcom.

Once the deal is concluded, it is expected to value Reliance Gobalcom at $1-1.2 billion, sources close to the developments told IANS here. The company is a division of Reliance Communications.

"The intended time line for completion is end of May 2013. At this point, there can be no certainty that this will lead to a transaction. A further announcement will be made in due course, if and when appropriate," the group said in a filing.

"Reliance Communications and Samena Capital are no longer in discussions with Batelco for the purposes of the above transaction," the letter to exchanges added. Officially called Bahrain Telecommunications, it is the main telecom company in Bahrain.

The move comes close to the $220-million pact under which Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm has agreed to utilise the optic fibre network of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications to offer fourth generation (4G) telecom services.

These apart, the Reliance Group is also said to be on a lookout for hiving off stake in its towers subsidiary, Reliance Infratel.

"The modalities of the manner in which the consortium of Samena Capital will pick up a stake in Reliance Globalcom is still being worked out. But that said, whichever way the deal is structured, money will flow into to the Reliance Group," a source said.

"These deals will not only go a long way in lightening the debt-heavy balance sheet but also unlock value for shareholders -- this has been the group's stated strategy for the past few years for its family of 12-million-plus shareholders," the source added.

In the proposed Reliance Gobalcom deal, besides Samena Capital, the consortium includes leading private equity funds such as Providence and Carlyle, according to the sources.

With a footprint across 230 countries, Reliance Globalcom provides communications services to telecom and related service Providers, enterprises and consumers across the globe.

Formerly named Flag Telecom, the company owns the world's largest private undersea cable system spanning 65,000 kms, that is integrated with Reliance Communications over 190,000 kms of optic fiber to connect 40 key markets in India, Middle East, Asia Europe, and the US.

Samena Capital was established in 2008 by some prominent investors and today has an equity capital of $80 million. A Cayman Island exempted company, its total capital commitments is in excess of $700 million.

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..............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Aloula Geojit launches NRI advisory service in Saudi Arabia

Kochi, April, 20,2013:  To serve the investment needs of non-resident Indian investors in Saudi Arabia, Aloula Geojit Capital Co. (AGC) launched its NRI advisory service. An announcement to this effect was made by Ibrahim M. Al Gadah, CEO of AGC.

Meeting reporters along with C.J. George, managing director of Geojit BNP Paribas, Al Gadah made the announcement late Wednesday.

AGC, a member of the Saudi Stock Exchange, through its investment advisory services, will offer its NRI clients both research and investment advice.

AGC is the only Indian joint venture which is a member of any local stock exchange in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Speaking about the company's new service, C.J. George, managing director of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said that there was renewed investor interest among NRIs to invest in Indian capital market in the context of global uncertainties.

"With the launch of Aloula Geojit Capital's advisory services, Indian nationals in Saudi Arabia will benefit from the sound advice and efficient service we provide," said George.

Ibrahim Al Gadah said the strength of AGC would be the "strong backing of Geojit BNP Paribas and our well experienced staff".

"This service will be made available through Riyadh, Damam and Jeddah offices of AGC," said Al Gadah.

All Indians with valid residence permit in Saudi Arabia can open an account through AGC and invest and trade in the Saudi market. Besides, they can subscribe to the local mutual funds.

Established in 2006, AGC is a joint stock company licensed by Saudi Capital Market Authority to conduct trading activities as member broker in Tadawul (Saudi stock exchange).

Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services is one of the leading retail stock brokers in India, with a strong presence in Middle East countries.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Protecting and Promoting Canada’s Interests and Values in Europe

April 19, 2013:  Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird will travel to Luxembourg, Belgium and the United Kingdom from April 21 to 26, 2013.

On Sunday, Baird will be in Luxembourg for an event co-hosted by Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Jean Asselborn, and the International Peace Institute. Baird and high-level representatives from several countries will be discussing next steps in addressing the Syrian civil war. While in Luxembourg, he will also meet with the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis, Kristalina Georgieva, to discuss humanitarian assistance in global crisis zones.

In Brussels, Baird will meet with Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Didier Reynders, to discuss Canada’s relations with Belgium and the European Union. He will then participate in a meeting of his counterparts from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states on April 23.
“NATO is a key forum where Canada punches above our weight in a world marked by festering security challenges,” said Baird. “The Alliance brings our closest friends on both sides of the Atlantic together to help make the world safer, and I look forward to addressing with our allies some of the pressing challenges we collectively face.”

Finally, while in London on April 25 and 26, Baird will take part in meetings of the Commonwealth foreign ministers and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to discuss a number of serious and persistent threats to democracy in Commonwealth countries.

The CMAG meeting will provide the Minister with an opportunity to express Canada’s ongoing concerns about Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to act as host of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting later this year.

“As host of this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Sri Lanka must demonstrate its commitment to the Commonwealth and Canadian core values and principles,” Baird said. “These include freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law—values that our diplomats and I promote around the world daily.”

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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High strength steels at construction machinery fair in Munich

April, 19, 2013:  ArcelorMittal has been exhibiting at the 30th annual Bauma trade fair, in Munich, this week. Bauma is the international trade fair for building materials and mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment. ArcelorMittal presented our steel solutions from ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Europe (FCE), Long Carbon Europe (LCE) and Industeel.

FCE presented its innovative product range of high strength and abrasion resistant steel grades: Amstrong®. Samples were available on the stand that demonstrated how these steels can be applied to high-performance construction machinery.
 
High strength and wear resistant steels were on display from both Industeel and FCE. ArcelorMittal Industeel offers these specialty steels in heavy-gauge plates whereas FCE delivers these steels as coils in lower thicknesses.

Steel sheet piling such as AMLoCor were exhibited by LCE. Compared to the unprotected steel piling solutions, this new corrosion resistant steel grade for marine applications leads to considerable savings in steel weight. Long Carbon Europe also showcased its bars and rods.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Godrej announces Aamir Khan as brand ambassador

Pune, 19 April 2013: Godrej, the brand which touches 500 million lives everyday, has roped in Aamir Khan as its brand ambassador to further strengthen its promise of brighter living experience.
Shireesh Joshi, Head-Strategic Marketing, Godrej Group said. “The key objective of the campaign is to increase the emotional connect for the brand by leveraging the innovative product portfolio at Godrej”
Godrej has been reinventing itself and its product range breaking fresh ground, bringing in new ideas and drawing strengths from its amazing past to set up a spectacular future.
The slew of new products and launches, are a showcase of converting unique understanding of consumer lives into products and services exemplifying performance, better usability and great design –be it aer, the elegant new range of car and home fresheners, technology embedded furniture like the Godrej Interio ‘sizzle table’, the energy efficient home appliances or the imaginative spaces by Godrej Properties. Godrej has been such an intrinsic part of India and more so, now, as it goes global with a brighter, more innovative avatar, it is no surprise that Khan finds this a wonderful opportunity to partner with them.
“It is a pleasure to associate with such a versatile and dynamic brand. Also, I love the creative idea of this campaign. It is challenging and full of fun and humour", added Aamir
The campaign includes series of television commercials and each of them has been treated as a separate episode. Together, they tell an interesting story, woven around Godrej products and what they stand for. A young upcoming actor duo, Arjun Mathur and Nauheed Cyrusi, are also a part of this series, along with Aamir, and describe it as one of their best projects ever.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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SOBHA DEVELOPERS TO LAUNCH SOBHA GARNET III

Pune, April 18, 2013:   Realty major Sobha Developers Ltd., which is known for its unprecedented quality, timely deliveries and keen customer orientation, will launch Sobha Garnet III, a new super luxury residential project at Kondhwa, Pune, Maharashtra on April 19, 2013.

Sobha Garnet is spread across around 7.5 acres and has 80% open spaces. Sobha Garnet III comprises 51 exclusively designed apartments.

The super built-up area ranges from 2,200 sq. ft. to 4,400 sq. ft.

"The Pune market is one of the key growth centres for Sobha. The city has witnessed a rapid pace of urbanisation and the infrastructure here is improving significantly. Luxury housing continues to be in demand and SOBHA GARNET III is sure to meet the requirements of the opulent home seekers in Pune who wish to lead a hassle-free life. It represents the Company’s philosophy of developing world-class residential spaces which provide the best value for money propositions,” said Mr. J.C. Sharma, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Sobha Developers Ltd.

"We are glad to announce the on-time launch of SOBHA GARNET III for the residents of Pune. We are confident that like our earlier projects, this one too will overwhelm buyers with its high quality designing, finishes, and features. As far as the location is concerned, it will create a 'sense of completeness’ as it offers proximity to large corporate offices, prominent schools and major retail and entertainment destinations,” added Mr. Surajit Chanda, Regional Head, Pune, Sobha Developers.

SOBHA GARNET III is replete with 22 3BHK apartments with study & servant rooms, 22 3BHK apartments with servant rooms, 5 4BHK duplex apartments and 2 4BHK penthouses with private gardens. The latest block comprises 2 levels of parking and 12 upper floors of RCC framed structure with concrete block masonry walls.

The project is one-of-its-kind and has unique features like high-end security systems, modular kitchens, home automation systems, gas leak detectors, and private gardens in the penthouses.

GARNET III is also equipped with well-thought-out design and architectural features that enhance the durability and user experience. For instance, metal strip reinforcements are used between walls and ceiling to avoid cracks, thermal insulation is used on terraces to ensure protection from erratic weather conditions, corner beading - metal strip reinforcements - are included to avoid any damage to the corners and rubber fenders on the pillars of the parking area.

The project will have laminated wooden floor/engineered tiles for flooring & skirting in the bedrooms and superior quality ceramic tile flooring in the kitchens, penthouses, private gardens and superior quality antiskid ceramic tile flooring in the balcony, toilets and utilities. Plastic emulsion paint would be used for the walls and ceiling.

SOBHA GARNET offers an array of world-class amenities such as a well-equipped clubhouse with sauna and Jacuzzi, a joggers track, basketball and badminton court, sky lounge that can be used for social gatherings and parties, swimming pool and children’s play area.

The project is in close proximity to Camp and Pune station, which is about 5-8 kms from it. Approximately 3.5 kms from the property is Wanworie-Fatimanagar Road that connects to Pune-Solapur Highway, and to the Empress Garden/Pune Race Course Road that leads to the Pune Airport via Koregaon Park and Yerwada. The uptown area of Pune, Koregaon Park, is approximately a 20 min drive from Sobha Garnet, which is surrounded by commercial complexes and major retail outlets such as Reliance Fresh, More and many others.

Especially designed for the crème de la crème who aspire a lavish and contemporary home for their family, SOBHA GARNET has all that it takes to give you grandeur and finesse at an elite address.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Stepping up the pace in a growth market: MINI begins local production at the Chennai plant in India.

MINI Countryman to be produced outside Europe for the first time.

Expansion of the international production network responds to growing demand for premium MINI cars.

Chennai, April,18,2013:  A new chapter is set to be written in MINI’s global success story as cars from the British premium brand roll off an assembly line outside Europe for the first time.
 
The BMW Group today announced commencement of local production of MINI Countryman at the BMW plant near Chennai (formerly Madras), India. The vehicles manufactured at BMW Plant Chennai will fulfill the same quality standards that apply to production of BMW Group models worldwide. The new MINI local production facility has been brought on stream just a year after the start of MINI sales in India and will help to meet the steadily increasing demand.
 
The locally produced MINI Countryman will be introduced in two diesel variants for the first time in India - MINI Cooper D Countryman and MINI Cooper D Countryman High.
 
A new petrol variant of MINI ONE Countryman will also be produced at BMW Plant Chennai.
 
The other petrol variants of the MINI Countryman - MINI Cooper S Countryman and MINI Cooper S Countryman High – will be imported in India as Completely Built-up Units (CBU). The MINI (MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S) and MINI Convertible (MINI Cooper Convertible) will be imported in India as Completely Built-up Units (CBU) in petrol variants.
 
The ex-showroom prices (INR) of the MINI cars in India are as follows –
MINI
MINI Cooper                                         :           26,60,000
MINI Cooper S                                      :           29,90,000
 
MINI Convertible      
MINI Cooper Convertible                        :           32,50,000
 
MINI Countryman                    
MINI ONE Countryman*                        :           23,50,000
MINI Cooper D Countryman*                  :           25,60,000
MINI Cooper D Countryman High*           :          28,90,000
MINI Cooper S Countryman                    :          34,20,000
MINI Cooper S Countryman High            :          37,50,000
 
Note: Price prevailing at the time of delivery will be applicable. Delivery will be made ‘ex-showroom’.  Ex-showroom price excludes Road tax, RTO statutory taxes/ fees, insurance and Octroi (if applicable). Prices and options are subject to change without prior notice. For further information, please contact your local authorized Dealer. * Locally produced
 
India is the 100th market in the global MINI sales network and has become increasingly significant for the BMW Group since establishing its presence in India from 2007. From January 2012, MINI has continued to grow its presence in India and has established five exclusive outlets across Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. 
 
In line with its strategy “Production follows the market”, the BMW Group’s decision to carry out local production of the MINI Countryman responds to the burgeoning interest for innovative and high-quality vehicle concepts in the Indian market. With the production of MINI Countryman at the BMW Plant Chennai, MINI is the first premium small car to be locally manufactured in India and expects significant growth over the medium and long term.
 
In March 2007, BMW India officially opened its production plant in Chennai in the Tamil Nadu region of India. The BMW Plant Chennai is spread over an area of 40 acres at the Mahindra World City which is located 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Chennai. The BMW Plant Chennai produces the BMW 3 Series, the BMW 5 Series, the BMW X1 and the BMW X3. In 2013, the BMW Plant Chennai will also produce the BMW 7 Series and the BMW 1 Series.
 
State-of-the-art machine technology, highly skilled employees and advanced manufacturing processes provide all the necessary ingredients for the production of premium cars to the highest quality standards.

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...... R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Manmohan Shetty launches ADLABS IMAGICA – India’s first entertainment theme park
16 State-of-the-art world class attractions, 4 restaurants and various live acts
Open to public from April 18th, 2013

Mumbai, April 18, 2013:  ADLABS IMAGICA by Adlabs Entertainment Limited, the first of its kind entertainment theme park in India was launched amidst much fanfare. The park is all set to redefine the theme park experience in India as it opens to public from April 18th, 2013.
 
By offering a mix of story-play and live experiences, this park is unique in terms of its international standards, scale, stature and the experience. This tourist destination is part of a larger mega project that will include a water park, a hotel and retail space to be launched in phases. The theme park that has been built with an investment of Rs.1600 crores employs over 2000 staff support to manage the workings.

A trend setter and having many firsts to his credit Manmohan Shetty announced the launch of the First Entertainment Theme Park in India - designed with Indian Stories. The Localisation adds a Indian Tadaka to the entertainment. Its a great Holiday Experience. Its Indian Disney World.

Speaking at the launch of the Park, Manmohan Shetty, Chairman Adlabs Entertainment Limited said, “Today is a proud moment for each one of us who has been associated with the project. It was our vision to create an entertainment theme park of international standards in India and I am positive that this park will provide an immersive and wholesome family entertainment experience, something that each Indian will take immense pride in.”

Manmohan Shetty further adds, “Along with entertainment, safety is vital for ADLABS IMAGICA. Every single ride here has been designed by the leading manufactures in the world and has gone through multiple tests before being launched to the public. We have left no stone unturned to create this world class entity and are sure that ADLABS IMAGICA is going to be liked by people across all age groups.”

On any given date ADLABS IMAGICA can accommodate around 10000- 15,000 people. The theme park will present multiple animation and live-action films for the attractions - a live-action horror called Curse of Salimgarh, a Bollywood classic Mr. India as a world-class animated motion simulator ride and a love story called Prince of the Dark Waters as a first ever 360 degree Full Dome theater among various others.

The quality of these films competes with the best of international animation films with the added bonus of amplifying the theme park experience with its concept.
 
Ticket rates: ADLABS IMAGICA ticket rates for the launch period, from April 18th to April 30th’ 2013
•    Weekday: Adults- Rs. 1200, Children- Rs. 900
•    Weekend/Holiday: Adults- Rs. 1500, Children- Rs. 1200
•    Imagica Express: Allows fast track access to select top attractions during Weekends- Adults- Rs. 2200 and, Children- Rs. 1900

Ticket booking
Tickets to ADLABS IMAGICA can be bought now on www.adlabsimagica.com, or via a phone call to +91 22 42130405 or through a travel agent.

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.............R Sayed NRpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Mercedes-Benz India combines passion and skill - Inaugurates the Advanced Driving Programme of AMG Driving Academy

• Advanced level is the second level after the Basic Training Programme under the AMG Driving Academy
  
• The advance program is a combination of theory and practice aimed towards better cornering and handling of high performance vehicles
  
• An unique opportunity to step closer to hone your skills of racing with a performance vehicle
  
• Advanced level of AMG Driving Academy price is priced at Rs 100,000 with very selective and exclusive batches and the first batch is sold out
  

Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida, April,17,2013: Mercedes-Benz India today flagged of the second level of its AMG Driving Academy, the ADVANCED TRAINING, at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. During the basic training programme the drivers are taught the techniques of reacting safely and confidently at the wheel of the high performing Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles under extreme conditions. Taking the perfection of driving high performance cars to the next level, the participants of the Advanced Training programme will be trained by expert drivers from AMG Driving Academy, Germany, to perfect the challenging cornering techniques and learn how to gain better control of the performance vehicles on the world class race track.

Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented, "We at Mercedes-Benz believe that 'Racing is a state of mind' and we are passionate about our legacy in motorsports. As one of the main pillars of Mercedes-Benz Performance Drive, our AMG Driving Academy has been a stepping stone to fulfill the long cherished dream of racing and taking it up as a profession with the help of a systematic module. It is a proud moment for all of us in announcing the introduction of the Advanced level of this highly successful programme."

Mercedes-Benz Performance Drive is a well packaged platform that includes the AMG Driving Academy, StarDrive Experience, Track Day Experience, International Driving Experience, Star Off-Road Experience, Young Star Drivers Programme. These provides an all-round training to the motoring enthusiasts and give them a real time feel of the world of motorsports. The advance training programme will give a fascinating and ultimate driving experience to the participants and will be a gateway to the Pro Training programme of the AMG Driving Academy.

Since its inception the AMG Driving Academy has received an impressive response from the enthusiasts of motorsports. This can be clearly seen as all the slots for the advance training programme were sold out even before the inauguration of the course. The price for the advanced course is Rs 1,00,000/- for a two day training programme at the Buddh International Circuit, which has been lauded by F1 legends like Michael Schumacher. This training module will comprise driving the high performance AMG vehicles like the C 63 AMG, E 63 AMG and the SLS AMG, from the Mercedes-Benz stable. The ability to hold these cars stable at high speeds and master the art of perfect cornering at such high speed, will define the driving skills of the racers under this course. Expert drivers and instructors from AMG Driving Academy, Germany will provide the expert guidance to the participants both in classrooms and on the Buddh International Circuit.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA

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USIBC brings CEOs of Fortune 100 to meet with P. Chidambaram
Blankfein, Nooyi, Kravis, McGraw, Kaye, Fishman, and Banga reconfirm U.S. industry's commitment to India's growth

By - R Sayed - NRIpress.com

WASHINGTON, DC- April 17, 2013:   India's Finance Minister, the Honorable P. Chidambaram, met with investors today at a private interaction hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) as part of the Minister's week-long North America investor "road show," aimed at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) at a time when the country needs it most. India currently holds a record high current account deficit and FDI could be the key to closing that gap.

The off-the-record lunch meeting convened top global industry leaders to discuss with the Finance Minister the opportunities that exist in India and candidly addressed some of the challenges companies face in the market which affects investor sentiment. Topics of conversation included infrastructure, retail, agriculture, life sciences, financial services, legal services, and real estate.

"Global industry wants India to succeed. India will succeed. I know this past year has caused a lot of concern, but this year is over and by elections we will achieve our ambitious economic agenda," said Finance Minister Chidambaram.

"We commend Minister Chidambaram for his leadership during these complex times. The American business community continues to look to India as a partner in the global economy ripe with investment opportunities. My colleagues and I remain committed to working collaboratively with Government of India and Indian industry to identify innovative solutions to India's challenges," said USIBC Chairman Ajay Banga, President & CEO, MasterCard.

The intimate gathering reflected combined assets of more than $2 trillion. Participants included former USIBC Board Chairpersons: Indra Nooyi, CEO, PepsiCo Inc; Frank Wisner, Foreign Affairs Advisor, Patton Boggs, and former U.S. Ambassador to India; Chip Kaye, Co-President, Warburg Pincus; and Harold McGraw III, Chairman, President, and CEO, The McGraw Hill Companies. Also in attendance were Lloyd Blankfein, CEO, Goldman Sachs; Jay Fishman, CEO, The Travelers Companies; Doug DeVos, President, Amway; Olivier Brandicourt, President of Emerging Markets, Pfizer; John Hele, CFO, MetLife; Jacques Tapiero, President of Emerging Markets, Eli Lily; Peter Kellogg, CFO, Merck; and Henri Courpron, CEO, ILFC, among others.

The U.S.-India Business Council was formed in 1975 at the request of the United States and Indian governments to advance two-way trade and deepen commercial ties. Today, USIBC is the premier business advocacy association comprised of nearly 400 of America's and India's top companies dedicated to enhancing the U.S.-India commercial relationship.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Obama backs sweeping bill on immigration reforms

Washington, April,17,2013:  President Barack Obama has come out in support of a compromise immigration reform legislation unveiled by a bipartisan group of senators offering a 13-year path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants, including 260,000 Indians.

The bill does not include everything he wanted, but it is largely consistent with his principles for comprehensive reform said Obama in a statement after key senators from the so-called Gang of Eight made up of four Republicans and four Democrats.

The proposed legislation would create such a path of citizenship only after steps are taken to secure the border with Mexico, from where as many as 60 percent of the illegal immigrants have come.

After leaving the Oval Office, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator John McCain were optimistic about the bill's progress.

Schumer told reporters the compromise bill will move ahead, despite not being as wide-ranging as Obama had hoped.

"And so, we are feeling very good about this. Things are moving in a very, very good way. And the president's support of our proposal, even though he would not fully agree with it, is sort of just the right place to be," Schumer said.

After being introduced by Schumer, the immigration bill is to undergo hearings next week. It would likely reach the Senate floor in late May or early June. But it's expected to face tough opposition in the Republican controlled House.

The bill offers a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants through a 13-year process that requires workers to pay a fine and back taxes, as well as pass a background check.

All of that, however, remains contingent on three "triggers," described by Republican senator Marco Rubio, one of the "Gang of Eight," Sunday.

They include forming an "e-verify" system for employers to check the legal status of workers; tracking immigrants entering and leaving the country, and bolstering border security, which Rubio specified would "include fencing."

The trigger system is the main difference between the Senate proposal and that of the president.

"The president, for instance, didn't believe in a trigger. We did. But we created a trigger that's achievable and specific, so it can't be used as an excuse not to provide a path to citizenship," Schumer said Tuesday.

Obama acknowledged the difference in a statement after his meeting with the two senators-but praised the bill, nonetheless.

"This bill is clearly a compromise, and no one will get everything they wanted, including me. But it is largely consistent with the principles that I have repeatedly laid out for comprehensive reform," he said, urging the Senate to act "quickly."

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.IANS

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Rama Prasad Goenka: The business titan and takeover king (Obituary)

Kolkata,April,14,2013:  Long before takeovers became the norm for the country's industry captains to spread wings, RPG Group founder Rama Prasad Goenka showed India Inc. the inorganic way of business growth through a series of acquisitions.

Regarded as "takeover king", Goenka (popularly known as RP) in 1979 established the RPG Enterprises with four companies - Phillips Carbon Black, Asian Cables, Agarpara Jute and Murphy India - which he inherited when the family assets were divided.

The four constituent units then had an annual turnover of around Rs.105 crore, but by 1990 - even before the opening up of the country's economy - Goenka was presiding over one of the leading business conglomerates in India, as he added brick by brick by acquiring mostly companies once owned by British merchants.

In 2010, when Goenka divided his business empire among his two sons, the total turnover had touched Rs.18,000 crore, with its imprint in several countries of Asia, Europe, North and South America and Africa.

The tycoon - born March 1, 1930 - had business interests spanning a wide range and across diverse sectors like power generation, transmission and distribution, electricity transmission engineering, tyres, carbon black, retail, entertainment, plantations and information technology.

The diversity of the bouquet was unique then in the sense that most of his contemporaries had concentrated on their core areas of operations.

His undivided business empire encompassed - CESC, Noida Power Co. Ltd., RPG Raychem, Spencer, CEAT Tyers, Saregama India (previously Gramophone Co of India), KEC International, Phillips Carbon Black, Fujitsu ICIM (now Zensar Technologies), Harrisons Malayalam, Firstsource Solutions Ltd and RPG Life Sciences.

Goenka was born into one of the oldest business families established in Kolkata by Ramdutt Goenka who moved from Dundlod in Rajasthan in 1820 to do business with the English East India Company. The firm was into banking and later traded in commodities like textiles, jute and tea.

RPG received his training from his grandfather Sir Badridas Goenka who was chairman of Imperial Bank of India and of FICCI. It was his grandfather who had taught him an old Marwari value: word of mouth is much more sacrosanct and important than any legal document.

A few years back, RPG said in an interview that experience taught him the second lesson: "Nothing should be hidden from the three most important persons in your business sphere - your lawyer, banker and your doctor".

The Presidency College and Harvard Unviersity alumnus went on an acquisition spree in the 1980s, beginning with tyre company CEAT in 1981, that created a national media buzz.

The group then went on to acquire Searle India - now RPG Life Sciences (1983), the age-old Gramophone Company - now Saregama India (1985), Harrisons Malayalam (1988), and finally CESC and Spencer (1989).

The reclusive and spotlight-shy entrepreneur scripted quite a few chapters in the history of Indian business. His most prized catch was Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, now CESC Ltd., a more than 100-year-old power firm set up by the British.

However, he also had a few setbacks.

Dunlop was one of them. He bought the company in 1984 jointly with Manohar Rajaram Chhabria but eventually had to leave it to cut losses.

His efforts to acquire Bombay Dyeing also did not succeed.

Despite his business empire spreading across the country, Goenka stayed rooted in Kolkata, though the city witnessed a sharp fall in entrepreneurial activity. "If I am not a Bengali, then who is?" he used to say often.

Like his father, Keshav Prasad Goenka, who had distributed the family assets between his three sons decades ago, the RPG Group patriarch in 2010 amicably divided his entire business between his two sons - Harsh Vardhan and Sanjiv, who were running all the companies within the umbrella branding.

Next year RPG's younger son Sanjiv launched a new group corporate identity RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group for the companies controlled by him.

Goenka was chairman emeritus of both the groups with a combined turnover of around Rs.30,000 crore.

The octogenarian industrialist was like a guardian of Bengal industry captains, who rushed to the visionary man for precious advice.

"He was a very close family friend of ours. He was exceptionally intelligent In his death, not only Bengal but India has lost one of its prominent sons," said a crestfallen Birla family patriarch Basant Kumar Birla.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA, (India)

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Three 'triggers' for US immigration reforms

Washington,April,14,2013: A key architect of a bipartisan proposal for US immigration reforms has outlined three policy steps that would have to be taken before America's 11 million undocumented workers can apply for legal status.

The "triggers" embedded in a legislative proposal to be unveiled Tuesday by the Senate "Gang of Eight" are necessary to ensure workable reforms that discourage immigrants from coming to the US illegally, Republican Senator Marco Rubio said Sunday.

Under the package worked out by the bipartisan group of four Democrats and four Republicans, it would take 10 years for undocumented workers to get a green card, and then another three years to gain citizenship.

Along the way, undocumented workers would have to pay a fine and back taxes and pass a background check. The size of the fine remains unclear.

"All of these things are going to happen because they are triggers, triggers for the green card process that we are laying out in our proposal," Rubio said on CNN Sunday. "That is the incentive to ensure they happen."

Rubio, who made the rounds of Sunday talk shows, disputed conservative critics who say a pathway to citizenship is tantamount to amnesty.

"This is not amnesty. Amnesty is the forgiveness of something. Amnesty is anything that says do it illegally, it will be cheaper and easier," he told "Fox News Sunday."

Meanwhile, Politico, an influential Washington newspaper focusing on politics, reported that the business community is "preparing to unleash their lobbying forces broadly on Capitol Hill in hopes of securing changes to the package."

The business community has long supported the idea of immigration reform - particularly the high-tech sector and the construction industry, which badly need the workers, but they don't support some of the specifics leaking out of the Senate proposal, it said.

"I think the immigration groups, high-tech community, there are lots of interests that are implicated, the agriculture industry, lots of concerns and interests that will matter a lot to people, to companies that rely a lot on Indian technology consulting companies," veteran lobbyist Tony Podesta, was quoted as saying.

Several tech lobbyists cited by Politico said they think the Senate Gang of Eight's plan won't increase the number of H-1B visas, currently capped at 65,000 annually, with 20,000 more for those with advanced degrees, by nearly enough.

The Senate package is expected to contain a provision that will not allow companies to displace an American worker in the same region and occupation unless the entire number of American workers in that occupation has remained the same or increased, it said.

That provision could have a big impact on large companies like IBM, Deloitte and Accenture. And Indian companies like Infosys, TCS and Wipro, heavy users of H-1Bs for their US workforce, will have to pay big fees under a new fee formula, Politico said.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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New Saudi labour law won't affect genuine workers: Salman Khurshid

New Delhi/Berlin,April,13,2013:  Saudi Arabia's new labour policy will affect only illegal immigrants and not genuine workers employed in the Kingdom, India's External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said.

"Genuine workers don't need to worry. It will impact only those who don't have proper work permit," Khurshid told IANS in the course of a brief chat in Berlin where this correspondent who had travelled with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week.

Khurshid said Indian workers play an important role in Saudi Arabia's economy and the Kingdom's authorities recognise this.

"Saudi Arabia needs Indian labour. Removal of illegal immigrants will open the doors for genuine workers," the minister said.

Saudi Arabia recently introduced a new policy called Nitaqat (classification) that seeks to remove illegal immigrants and boost employment for locals by reserving 10 percent of jobs for them. Over 300,000 firms in Saudi Arabia reportedly do not employ any locals and the Nitaqat policy seeks to deal firmly with this.

under the new law introduced earlier this year, foreigners are allowed to only work for their legal sponsors and their spouses won't be allowed to take up jobs. Also, the expatriates cannot perform any job other than the one mentioned in their job cards.

These provisions have sparked fears of mass deportation of Indian expatriates. There are more than two million Indians in Saudi Arabia and thousands of them do not have proper work permits. Nearly 4,000 Indian expatriates have already informed the Indian embassy in Riyadh that they don't have proper work documents.

Khurshid said new Saudi law was not just for Indians and it would also affect thousands of illegal immigrants from countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. "For genuine workers it will open up opportunities," he said.

Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed are scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia later this month to discuss the matter with the authorities and find a possible solution.

After meeting Saudi Ambassador to India Saud Mohammed Alsati in New Delhi Friday, Ravi announced that the Indian government would provide all assistance to its workers in the Kingdom who do not have proper documents to return home.

There are 6.5 million Indians in the Gulf, including 2.45 million in Saudi Arabia. A large number of them are from the southern state of Kerala.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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A Senior American Cardiologist starts a “MUNNADE KARNATAKA” campaign movement from USA

New York, April,12, 2013: Almost in a dramatic move, the Indian National Overseas Congress USA has full throttled its KARNATAKA CHAPTER to help the Congress Party in its forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Karnataka State in May 2013.   

Dr. Dayan Anand Naik declared, “We want to see Karnataka back on the path of progress.  Congress has historic responsibility in building a model and prosperous Karnataka on its own strength. Karnataka State and Bangalore are at the forefront of rapid economic and technological growth India is currently experiencing.  It must be remembered that during the tenure of Hon. S.M. Krishna and Hon. Veerappa Moily Karnataka state prospered exceedingly well and developed ‘Grand Bangalore’.

Emphasizing, he pointed out, “Since 1980 Karnataka leads the nation in GDP and per capita GDP as compared to other states in India.  During the Congress regime of above Chief Ministers, Karnataka became home of largest biotechnology with 50% of large firms in Bangalore.”

His “Munnade Karnataka” (Aghe Chalo Karnataka) campaign theme is a clarion call to throw out the corrupt leaders like B.S. Yeddyurappa and the BJP government and bring back the Congress whose manifesto is to focus on development and good governance.  Yeddyurappa the former Chief Minister faced in Court, fifteen cases of corruption including him and his family members.  He was jailed.  This is the first Chief Minister who has been jailed because of corruption.”

Calling on all Karnatakans in USA and all around the world he summoned, “We want all  like minded Kannadigas to support the Congress party and its candidates in the upcoming Assembly elections and reassured that this new Congress will bring back the glory of the Karnataka State and uplift the spirits of Kannadigas in the State and around the world.”

Dr. Dayan Anand Naik, an acclaimed cardiologist by profession, is the new Karnataka INOC Chapter President, who is also a community activist.  He was born and educated in Karnataka and speaks with passion and power.  He is recipient of several prestigious awards and accolades in USA.  As President of the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (a membership organization of 60,000 doctors), he welcomed Indian origin (a membership organization of 60,000 doctors) he welcomed Smt. Sonia Gandhi to an AAPI convention in Washington D.C. where she addressed over 5,000 Indian doctor physicians when she visited USA in 2001.

The INOC appointment of Dr. Naik, who is also a New York clinical Associate Professor of Cardiology at Medical College, was endorsed in New York recently by two Congress high command leaders namely Shri S.M. Krishna who appointed him  Karnataka Chapter President and he was inaugurated by Shri Veerappa Moily at White Plains, New York.  

Other close associates of Dr. Naik’s Karnataka Chapter team include Capt. Jerome Pereira (Secretary) who is a relative of Shri Oscar Fernandes and has served the Congress Party in several capacities for a long period both in Karnataka and the USA.  Dr. Vaijinath Chakote, an internal medicine specialist, serves as Treasurer.  He hails from Bidar District in Karnataka and his family has long history of association with the Congress Party.  Hon. Dharam Singh, former Chief Minister of Karnataka was elected from his District and is also a family friend. Similarly, many other Karnatakian members of his team are staunch members of the Congress Party. 

George Abraham, the President of the Indian National Overseas Congress, USA, giving a strong backing to this initiative, urged all Karnatakians to “take back their state by electing a Congress government that had earlier made Bangalore the Silicon Valley of India”. 

“Time is ripe for change in Karnataka”, said Shudh Prakash Singh the senior Vice President of INOC USA. “People wish to bring back clean leaders who will make solid progress just as senior leaders like Shri Veerappa Moily brought innovative ideas to make Karnataka a hub of IT.” George Abraham and Shudh Prakash Singh  joined hands with Dr. Naik and urged all like minded Kannadigas in USA and around the world  who firmly believe that only the Congress Party has a long history of successful nation-building track record in India and can be expected to continue doing the excellent job.   Clearly only the Congress party has a strong foundation, experience, vision and principles of good governance, to improve the quality of life in Karnataka and all India.

Dr. Naik concluded that he would work closely with George Abraham and Shudh Prakash Singh and rally their support for the Congress party and capture the moment and remain in constant touch with the KPCC and the Congress leaders in Karnataka.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Global Information Technology Report Highlights Lack of Progress in Bridging the New Digital Divide

•    Global Information Technology Report 2013 finds most developing economies are still failing to create the conditions necessary to close the ICT-related competitiveness gap with advanced economies
•    Finland, Singapore, Sweden lead the Networked Readiness Index. The US, ranked 9th, benefits from strong ICT infrastructure and innovation but is hindered by its political and regulatory environment
•    BRICS economies must address weaknesses in their digital and innovation ecosystems to ensure sustained productivity gains and future growth

New York, USA, April,12, 2013:  Despite efforts in the past decade to improve information and communications technologies (ICT) infrastructure in developing economies, there remains a new digital divide in how countries harness ICT to deliver competitiveness and well-being, according to the 12th edition of The Global Information Technology Report, released today by the World Economic Forum.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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US immigration deal expected soon

Washington, April 10, 2013:  A bipartisan group of senators plans to announce a deal within a week on the fate of over 11 million illegal immigrants, including some 260,000 Indians, living in the shadows, according to a media report.

But a committee markup on the legislation being prepared by the Senate's "Gang of Eight" - four Democrats and four Republicans -- is not expected until at least the week of May 6, providing a long period for debate and changes, Politico reported Tuesday citing Senate aides.

The influential Washington news site focusing on the capital said the schedule outlined by the aides is meant to satisfy Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a favourite of arch conservative tea party movement, who has said repeatedly that he wants a full debate and amendment process, to maximize the chances that the final vote is an overwhelming majority.

"We are optimistic that we will be able to introduce legislation soon," the Politico cited a Senate aide as saying.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick "Leahy has agreed to hold a hearing as soon as possible after the legislation is introduced, and has promised to have unlimited debate and amendments during the committee markup."

 "Assuming Republican members push for as much time as possible, the committee debate will last through the next recess, giving plenty of time for public debate and review," the aide added.

The Senate will return May 6 after a break for the last week of April.

Leahy and the Gang of Eight decided to hold a hearing next Wednesday on the bill, according to two Senate aides cited by Politico. The timing of the hearing is meant to serve as a backstop, forcing the senators to release the bill language by then, it said.

In a statement late Tuesday, Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said he wants the Senate process to play out. Rubio also wants other hearings in other committees, Conant added.

"Senator Rubio will be requesting that his Senate colleagues arrange multiple public hearings on the immigration bill," he said. "We believe that the more public scrutiny this legislation receives, the better it will become."

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IANS

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Obama pushes hard for Chandigarh-born judge

Washington, April 10, 2013:  President Barack Obama is making a hard push for the Senate confirmation of a Chandigarh-born Indian-American legal luminary, Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan, to what is "often called the nation's second-highest court".

If confirmed Srinivasan, 45, who in August last year was named principal deputy solicitor general of the US, succeeding another Indian American, Neal Kumar Katyal, would create history as the first appeals court judge of South Asian heritage.

"With a coordination and an energy that echo a Supreme Court nomination fight, the Obama administration is pushing for" Srinivasan's confirmation," said The New York Times on the eve of Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing Wednesday on Srinivasan's nomination to the US Court of Appeals for the American capital.

"The White House is lobbying some of the president's most vocal foes," noted the influential US daily with administration officials "trumpeting the endorsement of top Republican lawyers like Kenneth W. Starr, the special prosecutor who investigated the Clintons."

"If the effort fails, it could lead to a confrontation with the Senate over the long-simmering issue of judicial nominees," the Times said.

"The court is of major importance to any White House because it often takes cases that decide the constitutionality of rules and regulations issued by federal agencies," it said.

The Washington Post Editorial Board giving the Post's View wondered how far Senate Republicans' "unwarranted obstruction" of Obama's nominees would extend?

Srinivasan's "gold-plated legal resume is outmatched only by the glowing terms conservative advocates such as Theodore B. Olson, Kenneth W. Starr and Paul Clement used in their endorsements of his nomination," it noted.

"It would be a counterproductive mistake for lawmakers to confuse consideration of Srinivasan's nomination with a vote on the Obama years or policies," the Post said.

"It's not. It's about the institutional interest that both parties have in allowing presidents to staff the government and judiciary with well-qualified nominees of their choice, a norm that senators of both parties have eroded, we hope not irreparably," it said.

The Huffington Post, meanwhile, reported that some unnamed "legal analysts" are floating Srinivasan "as a potential frontrunner for the next Supreme Court opening."

New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin, suggested Srinivasan's Senate hearing will serve as a "dress rehearsal" for a future Supreme Court confirmation battle:

"The stakes in this nomination are clear: if Srinivasan passes this test and wins confirmation, he'll be on the Supreme Court before President Obama's term ends," he said.

Ami Bera, the sole Indian-American member of the House of Representatives, also came out in support of Obama's nominee saying "Sri Srinivasan would be an outstanding court of appeals judge."

"He is widely regarded as one of the best legal minds in the country. His integrity, wealth of experience, and education make him extremely well equipped to serve as a judge on the DC Circuit, one of our country's most important courts," he said.

"His appointment would make history and be a proud moment for the Indian American and broader Asian American communities," Bera said.

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..............IANS

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Punjab NRIs to get 10 percent quota in projects, plots

Chandigarh, April 08, 2013:  Announcing its aim to make Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) equal partners in Punjab's development, the Punjab government Friday announced a comprehensive plan to reserve 10 percent quota in projects and plots in the state for them.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Friday said the new industrial investment policy being notified by the state government would have 10 percent quota in industrial plots for the Punjabi Diaspora. He said the NRIs had been demanding this for investing in Punjab.

"All new colonies of urban development agencies would also have 10 percent quota in residential plots for NRIs," he announced after reviewing the implementation of promises made to NRIs at the two-day NRI conference in the state January this year.

He said that Punjab is the first state in the country to make registration of marriages by NRIs mandatory to curb fraudulent marriages by them. He said that there have been scores of instances of NRIs leaving behind innocent brides in the lurch.

Badal said the Punjab Human Smuggling Act has been notified to check frauds on innocent youth by illegal travel and immigration agents in the name of sending them abroad.

"I have issued strict instructions to Punjab Police to launch a concerted drive against such agents, so that they could not destroy the life of innocent youth," Badal said.

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.........IANS

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GOPIO to honour American charity, three others...

Washington, April,07, 2013: The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) has selected AmeriCares, the non-profit global health and disaster relief organization, for its Service to India Award.

The Connecticut Chapter of the community organisation would present the award to the charity that delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world at its annual awards banquet on April 20 at the Italian Centre, Stamford.

Three Indian Americans will also be honoured for service to the community and/or India or the society at large, according to a GOPIO release

In 2006, AmeriCares deepened its commitment to India by establishing a local presence in Mumbai. AmeriCares India today responds to emergency medical needs and delivers medical aid to health care providers in 26 Indian states and union territories.

AmeriCares India continues to expand its reach with free mobile medical clinics that provide access to health care in the Mumbai slums.

Dr. Ramamurti Shankar, John Randolph Huffman Professor of Physics and Professor of Applied Physics Yale University, New Haven will be recognized for his contribution to Basic Sciences.

Shankar works on the application of Quantum Field Theory to particle, statistical and condensed matter physics in which he has over 100 publications.

Rakesh Narang, President and Founder of Wire & Plastic Machinery Corporation, New Haven, Connecticut, will be recognized in the category of Entrepreneurship and Business Acumen. His company is a leading global equipment supplier for the wire and cable industry.

Suresh Sharma, founder of Milan Cultural Association, Hartford, Connecticut has been selected for community service. Sharma founded Milan to create visibility of Indian American community for mainstream America and a legacy not of diversified regionalism but of cultural heritage and unity in diversity.

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..........IANS

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The Asian Awards 2013 Honours Global Achievers From Asia - hosted by Lord Sebastian Coe KBE (16th April 2013, Grosvenor House Hotel, London)

The awards is the only event in the UK calendar celebrating achievements of individuals originating from the Asian continent including those residing in UK, India, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and other South and Far East countries, across entrepreneurialism, the Arts and public ife.

Previous inspiring and high-profile winners have included record-breaking cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Muttiah Muralitharan, legendary artists Freddie Mercury (posthumously), Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, Academy Award Winner AR Rahman to powerful business magnates Ratan Tata and Vijay Mallya.

London, UK, April 07, 2013:  Global stalwarts and leading lynchpins of Asian entrepreneurialism, the Arts and public life, will gather amidst the grandeur of the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London, on the 16th of April 2013 for the third annual Asian Awards.

The Asian Awards, which traditionally has honoured outstanding achievers from the South Asian community, will in 2013 widen its remit of pioneering nominees to include, for the first time, entrants originating from the Asian continent including those residing in UK, India, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and other South and Far East countries.

In the span of two short years, The Asian Awards has established itself as one of the world’s most prestigious events and this expansion now gives the awards unparalleled global appeal.

Renowned for recognising and applauding the finest talent from a wide plethora of fields, including the Arts, Business & Entrepreneurship, Technology and Sport, The Asian Awards will once again host a star-studded night of glittering entertainment, sumptuous fusion cuisine, rousing speeches, a charity auction with proceeds going to Arms Around the Child and the esteemed awards ceremony. The event will be hosted by London 2012 Olympic mastermind Lord Sebastian Coe KBE.

This year, the esteemed panel of judges have brought their insight and expertise to a remit of award categories, including Business Leader of the Year; Entrepreneur of the Year; Philanthropist and Social Entrepreneur of the Year; Outstanding Achievement in Music, Art & Design, Sport, Cinema, Television, Science and the Contribution to Sustainability Award.

The Asian Awards Founder Paul Sagoo, of consultancy Lemon Group feels the expansion is a significant step forward:
“This geographical expansion means that The Asian Awards can now truly live up to its name and celebrate global Asian achievement on an even grander scale” We had always planned to recognise the achievements from the global Asian community and this is an exciting time for The Asian Awards.” adds Sagoo.

Baroness Verma of Leicester, Chair of Judges, said: “The Asian Awards is an inspirational platform from which to celebrate some of the world’s most inspiring people. As Chair of Judges, I am delighted to preside over the judging process. To be working with so many esteemed judges to select the winner is an honour and I’m proud that the process is rigorous, transparent and robust.”

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...........R Sayed NRpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Aligarh, April, 06, 2013: Juned Qazi with a team of  24 visionaries in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh  are associated with Youth Coalition of India a non profit social organization, working for youth development. YCI support youth groups and their activities.

Junaid Qazi, Face book post:- 
Main Objectives :
 1. To organize youth with the objective of harnessing their energy for common good.
 2. To promote leadership among youth and helping them to choose right direction for future development.
 3. To promote interaction between youth from different sections and echelons cutting across regional boundaries.
 4. To raise political awareness among youth so as to enable them to take decision about extending issue based support to political parties, if they so wish.
 5. To help youth to choose right career path based on individual capabilities and choice.
 6. To actively assist the youth in securing employment
 7. To inculcate right values and nationalist feelings among youth for the overall welfare of society / Country.
 8. To promote sprit of “BROTHERHOOD “cutting across all religions, cast, creed, linguistic and regional boundaries.
 9. To promote equality and respect for each other.
 10. To spread of the feeling of responsibility toward the society and the nation and organized them to render community services at different levels.
 11. To establish rapport with different organizations including industries and enterprises and to impress upon the latter the imperative need to extend employment opportunities for youth.
 12. To engage in discourse with the government for formulation and implementation of right policies aimed at youth welfare and development.
 13. Advocacy for adoption of right policies and program for creation of employment opportunities for youth including substantial participation by the private enterprises and industries of India.
 14. To publish journals and periodicals incorporating views of youth for wide dissemination of ideas.
 15. To provide channels for expression of ideas and views to facilitate sharing of thoughts.

We will share more news with you shortly about YCI its activites and objectives and the people invloved....! and Juniad Qazi's Indian road show....!

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA

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Ajit Gulabchand appointed Chairman of Construction Skills Development Council

Construction Skills Development Council is the Sector Skill Council for the Construction sector approved by the National Skill Development Corporation, a PPP of the Ministry of Finance

Mumbai, April 4, 2013: Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), has been appointed Chairman of the Construction Skills Development Council (CSDC) – the Sector Skill Council for the construction sector approved by the National Skill Development Corporation, a Public Private Partnership of the Union Ministry of Finance.

The industry-led Construction Skills Development Council would bring together all stakeholders in the construction arena to achieve the common goal of creating a skilled workforce for the construction sector. The 20-member CSDC Governing Council to be chaired by Mr Gulabchand would comprise nominees of the Construction Federation of India, CREDAI, Builders Association of India, and National Highway Builders Association, besides leading industry representatives, and Government nominees.

The Construction Skills Development Council – one of 18 Sector Skill Councils approved by the National Skill Development Corporation till date – would focus on the manpower requirements of the real estate (residential, commercial, and industrial as well as SEZ) sector, and infrastructure arena, utilities like power and irrigation, urban infrastructure, and transportation (railways, civil aviation, roadways, and ports).

The Construction Skills Development Council would work jointly with large private companies and institutions to devise industry-based curriculum, set training and exam standards, offer good quality vocational training, and provide industry-endorsed certification. It would help create a skill development plan, while setting up sector specific competency standards. It would then work out training mechanisms to develop modules for trainers. Eventually, it would conduct certification of trainers as well as for workers. It would also undertake accreditation of all sector specific courses.

Functioning as an autonomous body, the Construction Skills Development Council would have a CEO and other staff.  It would be provided with an initial grant by the National Skill Development Corporation as well as by industry, and, subsequently, become self-sustainable.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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New Delhi, April 3, 2013:  PM of India's speech at the CII AGM New Delhi - “I am delighted to be here today to inaugurate the CII annual meeting for 2013. I have always believed that both government and business have to be partners in writing the story of development of this ancient land of ours, and CII has been a greatly valued partner over the past many years. As different governments have steered the economy through the complex task of implementing economic reforms, CII has consistently pushed the business case for reforms and helped our country to achieve its full economic potential.

I benefited greatly from this partnership as the Finance Minister in the 1990s and I welcome it today as Prime Minister. I thank my friend Shri Adi Godrej for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts with captains of Indian industry, at a time when I know Industry is deeply interested in the state of our economy.
 
I last addressed your Annual session seven years ago in 2007. That was just before the global economic crisis, when the world was booming, the collapse of Lehman Brothers was a year away, and India was experiencing growth at over 9 percent per annum.

Circumstances have changed since then, not just in India but all over the world.
 
In my last address I chose to strike a contrarian note. At a time when everything seemed to be going exceptionally well, I struck a note of caution. I said that while we have achieved much, we also have a great deal more to do to create a growth process that is truly inclusive. I also said that while the visible growth and prosperity of Indian big business, including especially its presence abroad, was in many ways a projection of India’s success, there was also need to reflect on the social responsibilities of business. I specifically mentioned the need for restraint in the matter of paying salaries and conspicuous consumption.
 
Some of my friends later told me that my remarks seemed unnecessarily downbeat at the time, but you will agree that these are precisely the issues that began to receive global attention in the aftermath of the global economic crisis.
 
I propose to strike a contrarian note once again. If the business mood was unduly optimistic in 2007, I think it is unduly pessimistic today.

This needs correction. Let me explain.
 
In 2007, I often heard it said that government had become irrelevant because India will grow at 9 percent whatever the government does. The consensus today is that unless the Government acts swiftly, our growth, which has already decelerated, will be perennially stuck at 5 percent.
 
Naturally, I welcome the rediscovery on the part of business of the importance of government! More seriously, I do believe that the role of government at this stage is indeed crucial. I do not believe our future is 5 per cent growth. We grew at an average of about 8 percent in the last ten years and we can get there again. And that should be our combined endeavour. But this calls for speedy and decisive government action.
 
Government is not the prime mover of growth. In a private sector led economy – and I repeat, we are a private sector led economy with 75% of investment being in the private sector which includes farmers, small businesses and the corporate sector – the driver of growth is indeed private investment. But the private sector needs an environment in which enterprise can flourish and create both jobs and stimulate growth. It needs an environment, which will ensure that this growth is inclusive. The environment today is not what it should be, and that is what the Government must correct.
 
A corrective strategy must be based on a correct analysis of the problem. Our growth has slowed down to 5 percent, which is clearly disappointing. But this is not a permanent reduction in our longer-term growth potential. As I have said, our economy grew at 8 per cent over the past ten years. If we go back to 15 years the average was also 7.5 per cent. This kind of dynamism doesn’t disappear suddenly, and we must prove the prophets of gloom as wrong. We are seeing, I believe, a temporary downturn, which does happen. After all, business cycles have been a recurrent theme of all textbooks in economics in the past. I believe, we have seen a temporary downturn, which does happen from time to time. We must recognise it as such and take corrective action.
 
Part of the problem is due to the global slowdown, which has affected all countries. The world, which recovered well from the 2008 financial crisis, is stumbling badly over the second crisis, provoked by the sovereign debt problems of the Eurozone. Growth is negative in the Eurozone and zero in Japan. I have just returned from the BRICS Summit. Brazil is growing at the rate of 1.5 percent, South Africa at the rate of 2.6 percent and Russia at the rate of 3.7 percent. China has done much better at 7.5 percent, but this is much lower than the rate at which China was growing earlier.
 
We cannot do much about the global slowdown. We can only wait for the world to get back to more normal conditions. In the meantime, we have to accept that our exports will be weak and our current account deficit in the Balance of Payments, higher than it should be. We have to learn to cope with these problems.
 
But we can act forcefully to deal with the many domestic constraints that have arisen, which must be removed if the economy is to perform at its full potential.
 
The first step in dealing with our domestic problems is to restore macro economic balance. Over the past several years, our fiscal deficit expanded to a level, which is simply unacceptable. This is partly because of a conscious policy of fiscal stimulation, which was followed by many countries.
 
Most countries that followed this policy are now reversing the process. We must do so also. That is precisely what the Finance Minister has tried to do. He has targeted a reduction in the fiscal deficit of about half a percent of GDP in 2013-14 and announced continuing reductions of that order each year, up to 2016-17. We are determined to do everything possible to achieve this target.
 
I must emphasise that this reversal is necessary not just to satisfy international financial analysts. It is necessary to ensure that the financial savings in our system are available to support investment in the economy instead of being absorbed by government deficits. It is also necessary to bring inflationary pressure under control. Inflation has been a problem and though it is softening, it needs to be brought down further.
 
We have also taken calibrated steps towards rationalising fuel subsidies. Petrol is now fully decontrolled and that has worked well with petrol prices moving up and down with world prices. Diesel is moving gradually towards market based pricing over the next few months. The subsidy outflow on LPG has also been capped. We hope that the Direct Benefits Transfers arrangement, based on the Aadhar platform will ensure better targeting of other subsidies – particularly kerosene – and in due course other subsidies, and prevent leakages.
 
All these steps have sent a message of serious intent on fiscal consolidation, which is well appreciated internationally.
 
Fiscal expansion has led to an expansion in the current account deficit, which is expected to be around 5 per cent of GDP. This is more than twice the traditional comfort level of say 2.5 percent. We can expect some reduction from this level in 2013-14, reflecting the lower fiscal deficit targeted in this year's Budget and also the lower subsidies on petroleum products. But this reduction will be modest initially. We must therefore plan to finance a higher than normal current account deficit in our Balance of Payments for a few years.
 
We financed a CAD of over $90 billion in 2012-13 without a loss in our foreign reserves. We will take all steps to ensure that inflows remain strong for the next two years. I believe a well-managed Indian economy, seen to be back on a high growth path can attract continuing capital flows of this order.
 
Restoring macro economic balance is one element of economic management. The other is the creation of an environment that is conducive to a revival of investment. The growth rate of the economy is strongly correlated with investment rate. The private sector is the major source of investment in India. But both public and private investment declined in 2011-12 as a share of our GDP. This decline in investment must be reversed.
 
The most important thing we can do to revive the investment climate domestically is to deal with the many impediments affecting the implementation of infrastructure projects. There are many projects that have been stuck either for want of regulatory clearances or, in the case of power projects because of fuel supply problems. For a variety of reasons, inter governmental decision-making has slowed down.

One reason is a hesitation on the part of officials to take some critical decisions.
 
It is to deal with this problem that we set up the Cabinet Committee on Investment. It was designed to fast-track regulatory clearances for industry and infrastructure and to resolve inter Ministerial differences at the Ministerial level. I am encouraged by the progress that we have made in the last three months by the work of this committee.
 
In the petroleum sector, investments worth $20 billion for exploration and production activities in 40 oil blocks had been held up for many years because of lack of security clearances. The CCI has made a difference. Clearances have been given for five blocks. We hope to resolves issues relating to another 31 blocks within the next two weeks.
 
I believe the progress we have achieved is particularly significant because these blocks were awarded many years ago, but were held up for want of clearances.
 
In the power sector, issues relating to the NTPC's proposed 2000 MW project in Jharkhand's North Karanpura area have now been resolved.

This project, to be built at a cost of Rs 14,000 crore, had been pending for the last 13 years because of differences between the Ministries of Power and Coal.
 
 The CCI has also streamlined the processes of granting environment and forest clearances for mega projects. Clearances for 12 coal mining projects have been fast tracked. These projects would add 37 Million Tonnes to our annual coal production. Coal mining projects have now been exempted from public hearing for one time capacity expansion up to 25%, provided that public hearing had taken place earlier. It has also been decided that no fresh Environmental Clearance shall be required for a mining project at the time of renewal of mining lease, if clearance was earlier obtained under the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006.
 
Linear projects like roads, railways and transmission lines pass through a large number of villages. A number of such projects were getting delayed because obtaining consent of each Gram Sabha under the Forest Rights Act is time consuming. Such projects are now exempt from obtaining the consent of Gram Sabha provided that the rights of Primitive Tribal Groups and Pre-agricultural Communities are not affected and the State Governments have certified that all rights under the Forest Rights Act have been recognized and vested. This would help enormously reduce the time taken in obtaining Forest Clearances and would also ensure that the rights of forest dwellers are fully protected.
 
Often, linear projects involve only small stretches of forest land. Earlier work could not be taken up even on the non-forest portion unless Forest Clearance was available for the forest land. Now, work on the non-forest part can begin, subject to certain conditions.
 
The Supreme Court, on being approached by the government, has allowed delinking of Environmental and Forest clearances in case of linear projects. Procedures have been simplified to enable easier access to aggregates for construction work.
 
The Environmental Clearance procedure for Special Economic Zones has been brought in line with the framework prescribed for National Investment and Manufacturing Zones under the National Manufacturing Policy which would allow the State Governments to delegate powers to State Pollution Control Boards and would exempt individual units from public hearing if the Special Economic Zone as a whole had undergone public hearing.
 
This year's Budget has also introduced some important initiatives to stimulate investment. It has proposed a 15% investment allowance over and above normal depreciation for investment of Rs 100 crore or more. I hope industry takes full advantage of this forward-looking measure.
 
The budget has also proposed zero customs duty for plant and machinery for semi conductor wafer FABs and extended the availability of non-tax benefits to micro small and medium enterprises for three years even after they graduate to a higher category. We must do more for supporting small and medium industry as this sector will be the key component support structure for larger industry and will be a major source of productive, creative jobs.
 
The full effect of all these decisions will be felt in the next few months, and I hope they will go far in improving investor sentiment. We will carry this process forward and do even more in the coming days.
 
In addition to supporting domestic investment, we have given clear signals that we welcome foreign investment which has a critical role in bringing in modern technology and globalising our economy. Even as our Indian industry steps out to invest abroad, we must welcome foreign investors coming to India, and using India as a part of their global supply chain. The liberalization of FDI in multi-brand retail, civil aviation and other areas, are important signals. We are reviewing the FDI policy comprehensively to see what more can be done in the coming months.
 
The recent legislative measures in the Banking Sector have paved the way for granting of new bank licences by the Reserve Bank of India.

This step has been long awaited.
 
The scheme for Financial Restructuring of State Distribution Companies has been notified and several state governments are now working with the Ministry of Power to take advantage of the scheme. This should help restore the financial health of the power sector to a considerable degree.
 
The problem of fuel supply – both coal and gas - to power projects has been posing problems. The Ministries are working to reach a resolution of these problems in a time-bound manner. I hope we will see results in the next three weeks.
 
Other reform measures are also being contemplated. The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Committee has made a number of recommendations, which will be carefully considered. The Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill has been cleared by the Cabinet and will soon go to Parliament.
 
India is a young nation and this gives us the opportunity of reaping a demographic dividend. But to realise this dividend we need to build our human capital, through the scaling up of vocational training and apprenticeships. The National Skill Development Authority and the recent Budget announcement on promoting skill-based training through the private sector should help us in making our youth “work ready”. I firmly believe that good employment is the best form of inclusion. I want industry to work closely with government in promoting skill development. I also urge industry to pay greater attention to offer productive job opportunities to people from disadvantaged communities, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes; in other words the affirmative action must not remain simply a paper exercise, but a living reality.
 
I have briefly outlined the many areas where Government is taking steps to revive our economy. I would urge Indian industry to have faith in our determination and avoid getting swamped by a mood of negativism. One of the advantages of being a democracy is that our shortcomings and our deficiencies are always put before the public. And there are indeed many deficiencies. Corruption is a problem.

Bureaucratic inertia is a problem. Managing coalitions is not easy. But these problems have not arisen suddenly. They were there even earlier, when the economy was growing at 8 per cent per annum.
 
We can in my view get back to 8 per cent growth even as we try to make the longer-term changes in our system to deal with these problems. And what is more, we can achieve growth of an inclusive kind.
 
The real message of the experience with the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, which ended in 2011-12, is that we not only grew at an average rate of 8 per cent, our growth was far more inclusive than earlier. Poverty declined much faster. Our agricultural growth rate accelerated. Real wages in rural areas grew much faster. Real consumption in rural areas grew much faster. And the poorer States of our Union grew much faster. This inclusive outcome was the result of a combination of faster growth with a structure that benefited rural areas combined with many government programmes, which encouraged greater inclusion.
 
If we did it in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, there is no reason why we cannot do even better in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.
 
I would like to conclude by saying that we have entered a decisive phase in our post independence economic history. If we can return to the high growth path that we were on a few years back, it would bring about a transformation in our economy in ten years generating new employment opportunities for our young people and reducing age old poverty to very low levels.
 
I sincerely believe that each one of us, and the world at large, has a stake in India’s economic rise as a plural, liberal and secular democracy.

At times when our democratic processes frustrate us, do remember that it is this very democracy, this commitment to pluralism, commitment to these freedoms that we all cherish, that are the firm foundation of this ancient land’s resurgence as a modern nation.
 
I urge each one of you to keep faith and call on you to partner with the Government in our effort to put the economy back on the path laid out in our Twelfth Five-Year Plan. I wish this conference and the CII all success.

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.............R Sayed NRipress.com Inc USA (India)

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Tata BlueScope Steel unveils a New Corporate Identity

Pune, April, 02, 2013: Tata BlueScope Steel, a joint venture between Tata Steel and BlueScope Steel has announced launch of a new logo for its corporate brand and its coated steel business.

Speaking about the new logo, Mr. Harish Pathak, Managing Director, Tata BlueScope Steel said, "The new logo represents our coated steel business and embodies the key brand attributes of Aesthetics, Trust and Flexibility. It aligns with the high customer value that we offer through our aesthetically pleasing steel solutions and will connect with our customers and stakeholders. The new logo captures the Company’s vision to achieve leadership position in the Coated Steel Business and its applications."

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Plans customer service campaign
An innovative machine heath check campaign
A Pan India activity to cover all its excavators and Hoisting equipments

Pune, April, 02, 2013:  SANY Heavy Industry India Pvt. Ltd, global leader in manufacturing of construction equipment including crawler cranes and excavators is proposing to achieve customer delight by offering innovative services for its customers. Company is planning to provide a pan India health check for its machines at customer’s door steps.

Launching this program from its facility at Pune titled “Sany Service – Always Near Always There”, the company wishes to reinstate its commitment to provide its customers with quality service for its products. Also company aims to enhance equipment working cycles and lower down time thru this campaign. This campaign will run from April to June 2013.

Launching this campaign, the company Managing director Mr. Alex Wu opined that, “This service campaign is a platform for Sany to enhance its customer satisfaction by achieving higher availability and optimum utilization of Sany products. This service campaign and proactive heath check will enhance customer good will and will make Sany excavators and cranes the most sought after products for its customers.

During this campaign we are going to do 360 degree check-up of machines, during this check-up will do analysis of machine, will trained operator and owner, we will also evaluate and give machine condition report. All this machine checkup and analysis will be done free of cost during this campaign.

Mr. T R Badarinarayan – Chief Executive Officer Sany India said, “This unique health checkup exercise covering Pan india , will not only act as a proactive service on Sany machines, but will be an opportunity for Sany to impart to its customers the basics of equipment maintenance practices. These will pave way for customer delight thru larger equipment availability, hence larger returns on Sany products”, he said.

“This service campaign is an opportunity for us to understand the pulse of our customers. Through this campaign, we aim to get closer to our machine owners, end users and highlight the importance of after sales support. We aim to achieve customer delight in equipment maintenance and satisfaction through this campaign”, remarked Mr. Prabhat Kumar Tiwari, Business Head of Sany excavators Division.

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Pune, April 01 2013: Miami based high fashion brand Eva Danielle inaugurated her  flagship store in Pune over an intimate evening of cup cakes and hi tea at Phoenix market City East Court recently.    Also present on the occasion was Femina Miss India- Earth 2012 Prachi Mishra.

The prominent guests that were present at the Launch were city Builder Tanveer Inamdar of TAIN constructions, Ms. Cinzannia Rodirgues of OIA, Bollywood photographer Sameer Belvalakar –amongst others who were welcomed by Vidya Tiwari a prominent designer who hosted the evening and Eva Danielle. The guests were able to feel the luxury of handpicked fabrics from all across the world.

Eva Danielle has fans that include Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, the Pussy Cat Dolls, Janice Dickson, the Go Go’s, and many more.

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..........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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New Delhi, March, 30, 2013:  Indian National Overseas Congress (I), USA in its continuing mission to work on behalf of the Diaspora in dealing with issues that concern them dispatched a position paper with its Senior Vice-President Mr. Shudh Prakash Singh to New Delhi to discuss the recommended changes to the recently promulgated OCI card rules.

Mr. Shudh Prakash Singh met with Hon. Sushil Kumar Shinde, on March 16, 2013 and held discussions as regards modifying some of these rules promulgated by the Home Ministry. Mr. Shinde has promised to take a look at some of these rules that have become major irritants to the Indian Diaspora wherever the OCI card rules apply.

‘As an organization that works closely with the Indian National Congress, the leading party in the UPA Government, we feel that it is our duty to bring these matters to the attention of the highest official possible for a quick resolution’ said George Abraham, President of the INOC. ‘We are committed to play the role as a bridge between Government of India and its Diaspora in U.S. on some of these important issues, Mr. Abraham added.

Earlier in the month, a delegation of INOC led by George Abraham had traveled to DC and presented the Memo to Her Excellency Nirupama Rao, Ambassador to U.S. INOC has recently established an NRI-Interface Council headed by Anand Ahuja Esq to deal with various Diaspora Concerns.

According to the new rules, the OCI registration certificate and India visa have to be re-issued each time a new United States passport is acquired after the holder completes the age of 20 or 50. Re-issuing of an OCI card is not mandatory for those between the ages of 21 and 50 though the holder can avail of the service as an option.

The argument is that the OCI card and lifelong visa have the number of the US passport included in them. When a US passport is renewed, the new number should appear on the OCI card and the visa, for which a re-issuance is necessary. ‘The rationale put forth is contradictory’ the letter said.

‘Since it admits that renewal of passports, regardless of age, always creates a new number, but renewal of passports for individuals under the age of 20 and above the age of 50 warrants re-issuance and a fee.

These rules, the letter said ‘may be unknowingly or unintentionally arbitrary and capricious. We therefore, urgently request the government of India to reconsider these and carry out its promises to streamline the process of symbolically integrating OCI with their motherland’.’ To the best of our knowledge, the rational basis for these rules has not been articulated by the promulgating ministry’ the letter added.

If the reason is terrorism related, the letter pointed out ‘then it is the 21-49 years group that would likely require re-issuance, not those under age of 20 or those above the age of 50..If there the reason is to ensure that the OCI card reflects an accurate representation of facial characteristics, then this age breakdown does not logically stand since physical features change little over the ae of 50 – as compared to those who are 21-49’.

The letter added: ‘ It is often noted that China’s rise was marked by rational administrative policies that enabled the inflow of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) from its vital Diaspora. Similarly, India can also accelerate its development if it provides mutually beneficial policies that invite and encourage *Pravasis* rather than inhibit them the opportunity to assist their motherland.

Mr. Shudh Prakash Singh also visited Hon. Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Hon. Preneet Kaur, Minister of State for External Affairs and submitted the copies of the memorandum and held further discussions.

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.............R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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Shri. Rajeev Shukla, Union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs Presents  Aniruddha Deshpande With The SYMBIOSIS KRIDA-BHUSHAN AWARD

Every Year Symbiosis SPA felicitates and presents the KridaBhushan award to the sports person who has done remarkable work in sports training and promotion. The Standing Committee of Symbiosis Spa unanimously recommended the name of Mr. AniruddhaDeshpande, President, Pune District and Metropolis Badminton Association and Pune District Chess Circle for innovative contributions in promoting sports and engraving the name of Pune city on the sports map of India for theSymbiosis KridaBhushan Award - 2012.

This year Symbiosis Spa conducted KridaBhushan award ceremony on 26th March 2013 at the auspicious hands of Shri. Rajeev Shukla, Union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs. Dr.S.B.Mujumdar, Founder and President of Symbiosis, Dr.Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director, Symbiosis, Dr. Satish Thigale, Director of Symbiosis Spa and winner of this award Mr. Aniruddha Deshpandewere present on this occasion.

Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar in her welcome address insisted on need of promotion of sports in schools and Colleges. She briefed about the various sports facilities available in Symbiosis International University and SIU’s Sports Board activities. She also expressed the need of establishing Sports Universities to cultivate sports talent.

Dr. Thigale in his speech briefed about how KridaBhushan award instituted in 2001 to recognize sports personality who has dedicatedly worked to promote sports.Dr. Mujumdar in his address talked about the importance of sports in life. He also insisted to cultivate Indian talent in Wrestling and Chess.

After the citation reading Shri.RajeevShukla felicitated and awarded Mr. Aniruddha Deshpande, with Rs.2100/-,citation and memento. On this occasion Mrs. SonaDeshpande was felicitated by Mrs. Sanjeevani Mujumdar.

While speaking on this occasion Mr.Deshpande suggested that to promote various other sports,  Sports League should be formed. He also expressed the need of State Government’s support to establish Sports Universities.

Shri. Rajeev Shukla in his chief address advised Mr.Deshpande to promote sports like Wrestling,  Archery  and Boxing in our country. He advised to focus on issues like Injury Management,  Infrastructure Management required in in sports.

Poonawalla brothers Shehzad  who works in the Parliamentary Affairs ministry and Tehseen who is a regular face on prime time news television, flew in for this function with Rajeev Shukla. Ameya Yeravdekar, Ketan Ruikar, Rajeev Yeravdekar, Entrepreneurs Vaidehi Rege and Prafful Sarda financial wizard Ashish Malpani amongst others also graced the occasion.

Prof. Bindu Ronald delivered the vote of thanks.

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.........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

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DC, March, 29, 2013: At the invitation of the Maryland General Assembly, Ambassador Nirupama Rao visited the State House in Annapolis on March 27 and addressed both the House of Delegates and the State Senate. She also met the Speaker of the House of Delegates, Mr. Michael Busch.
 
As the first legislature set up in the United States, predating the Capitol in Washington DC, the Maryland General Assembly has a rich history. It was in the building of the State House that then General George Washington resigned from his commission of the continental army to become the first President of the United States.

In her address at the House of Delegates, Ambassador Rao described the legislature as a “Temple of Democracy” symbolizing the “fundamental bedrock” of democracy on which the India-U.S. partnership  is  founded. She recalled the visit of Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley to India in 2011 and highlighted the growing interaction between Maryland and the states of India in cooperative pursuits making a difference in the lives of people in both countries.
 
Ambassador Rao was introduced to the delegates by House Speaker Michael Busch.

The Maryland General Assembly has three Indian-American legislators, including Majority Leader of the House of Delegates, Mr. Kumar Barve, Delegate Sam Arora, and Delegate Aruna Miller. In her remarks, Ambassador Rao praised their achievements and paid tribute to the Indian American community for its stellar  role in advancing the India-U.S. partnership.
 
In the State Senate, Ambassador Rao was introduced by Senator Jim Rosapepe, who described her as the envoy of the world’s largest democracy. In her address from the Senate podium, Ambassador Rao expressed her deep appreciation to the Senators for the welcome extended to her and spoke of India-U.S. partnership as an indispensible part of India’s efforts to educate and empower its youth.
 
During her visit to the State House, Ambassador Rao was accompanied by Maryland’s Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Rajan Natarajan.

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...........R Sayed NRIpress.com Inc USA (India)

Photo Courtesy Indian Embassy

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Increasing demand for flexible workspace takes Regus network past the 1,500 mark

Pune, March, 29, 2013: Regus continues to lead the global flexible and mobile working trend with the opening of its 1,500th business centre worldwide, in Pune, India. The availability of Regus flexible workspace in one of India’s leading IT corridors will help businesses of all sizes to open up new revenues or work more efficiently in the region.

As the world’s largest provider of flexible workplaces, Regus continues to expand its network across the world, with a footprint now covering some 600 cities and 99 countries. Regus is on track to achieve a network of at least 2,000 business centres globally by 2014.

Madhusudan Thakur, Regional Vice President, South Asia, Regus, commented “It is entirely appropriate that the 1,500th Regus centre is in India, because it’s a key growth market for Regus and our customers. With its strong economy and growing demand for flexible working, there is huge potential to develop our network in India to support the growth of local and international companies.”

Pune is a thriving centre for both automotive and IT companies. Known as India’s Motor City, it has a growing roster of global car manufacturers and parts suppliers, including Tata, Mercedes Benz and Jaguar Land Rover. The IT sector is also booming, and the latest Regus centre in the city is located at one of India’s most sought-after IT hubs, in Baner.

Madhusudan continues: “As ever, Regus is going to the locations that matter to companies and staff. Not just the high-profile Indian cities like Mumbai, but the other places where local and international businesses are congregating – Pune is a perfect example. Our presence in these locations helps businesses to grow their footprint, improve their efficiency, recruit talent, and work productively. We’re delighted to support businesses in Pune’s IT corridor, and we’ll be delighted to support businesses at many other new locations in 2013. Any place where businesses can grow or work better through flexible workspace, Regus will be there.”