News, Views and Information about NRIs.

A NRI Sabha of Canada's trusted source of News & Views for NRIs around the World.



October 31, 2011

Europe can learn from India, says Sebastian Vettel

The inaugural Indian Grand Prixitself was a big success, but the charm of the country also captured the hearts and minds of Formula One's superstars. Double world championSebastian Vettel, who wonSunday's race, summed up his experience of India in a philosophical way.
"It is great, I think, what the people did here in a short amount of time. We heard about it a couple of years ago but to put up this arena is incredible. I am very proud to be the first winner here in India. I think it is a very impressive country, very different to what we probably know from Europe, but very inspiring. If you keep your eyes and ears open, I think you are able to learn a lot, the way the people handle things here," the German Red Bull driver said.
"It is a big country, a lot of people, but sometimes it looks very different, but they get along with it and they are very happy here. They enjoy life and in the end that's what it is all about. If your life comes to an end, it is more the thoughts, the emotions, the friends, the friendships you take with you rather than whatever you have in your bank account. Even (if) the people have so little here, I think in a way they are much richer than a lot of people back in Europe. There is a lot we can learn."
Talking about the time he spent in India, Vettel said: "Obviously I haven't spent a lot of time here, so I can't judge as well as people from India, but it was very inspiring when I had a bit of time to spend in the country. I went to see the Taj Mahal which is obviously a touristy thing to do but driving there by car, and not falling asleep because the roads were pretty... it was a good adventure, let's say.
"Keeping your eyes open, there are a lot of things which make you appreciate a lot of things much more than you probably do. Yeah, it opens your eyes, as long as you allow yourself to look at certain things, so I think it was an inspiration and something that you should never forget."
Vettel also tried his hand at Hindi, cheekily saying: "Dhanyawaad... aapki aankhein bahut khoobsurat hain (thank you, your eyes are beautiful). Obviously that's for the ladies of India. You know the girls, to all the girls in India, you have beautiful women in this country. They have beautiful eyes." Second-placed finisher Jenson Button of McLaren added "beautiful smiles" to this quip, and complimented the Indian public. "I think we need to say a big congratulations to the Indian people for their efforts on building this circuit because the circuit itself is, I think in years to come, we are going to think of it as one of the greats. It is a very special circuit and I really, really enjoy driving around here. I hope we put on a good show and it is also great to see the excitement in the crowd. The people that are here, as there are quite a few people here, they are really getting into the mood and really getting into the action and it is good to see, really good to see, so a very special weekend and thank you to them," the Briton said.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher of Mercedes GP offered praise for the organisers: "To the organisers of the first Indian Grand Prix, I would like to send a big compliment; I'm sure that I am not the only one to say that this was a very positive debut." The other drivers unanimously praised the Buddh International Circuit and the event, and Vettel can't wait to get back here. "All in all, it was great to be here, a great circuit, which obviously - speaking about our job, about racing, that's what we judge most, the circuit is fantastic to drive. There are some great corners which we usually enjoy a lot, because it allows us to put the cars on the limit. This will be one of the races that settles in very quickly and we will all be happy to come back. Even though there has only been one race so far, I'm already looking forward to next year," he said.
Sebastian Vettel says 'don't want this to end'
"I think we can continue," Vettel beamed later. "The car is fantastic and the team is enjoying it. We are on a run since the beginning of the season. We enjoy every race. The great thing is when you walk in the garage every morning, they are flat out and pushing very hard. It's really enjoyable to see that knowing what we have achieved, we are still hungry, not lacking motivation. People come with questions but we come back with the right answers, so we don't want this to end," he added. 

Vettel files 

* From his 79th start, the German won for the 21st time. This is also his 11th win of the season, matching former champion Michael Schumacher's 2002 season record. Only Schumacher's 2004 season was more successful in F1 history with 13 wins. 

* Grabbed another record at the end of lap 42, surpassing Nigel Mansell's 1992 record for most laps led in a season, leading his 693rd lap in 2011. At the end of lap 49, Vettel became the first driver in history to lead 700 laps in 
one year. 

* Set the first grand slam of his career today (win/pole/fastest lap/led every lap). It is only the second grand slam in the last seven years. He is also the youngest man to set a grand slam.

Indian street food emerges the winner among Formula 1 racers

GREATER NOIDA: The Formula One stars have already shown their partiality towards the spicy Indian fare. To introduce them to the variety of Indian cuisine, afterhours-party organizers put up a food street on Sunday night. Dishes from different parts of the country, cooked delicately and beautifully assorted, were presented to the F1racers who were more than happy to dig in. 

The chefs at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort also baked a specia l cake that sported a chocolate pillar of F1 cars to celebrate Sebastian Vettel's win at the maiden Formula One Airtel Indian Grand Prix. Another four-foot-long F1 chocolate car decorated in the colours of Tricolour was also made and signed by all drivers and key members of the F1 fraternity. 

The drivers and team members, who started coming back to the resort by 8pm, enjoyed the food amid Rajsthani folk music and dance. Michael Schumacher, who has become a big fan of Indian cuisine, went for his favourite kebabs while several grilled dishes, kadi, tawa roti, rumali roti and naan were made live and served to the guests. 

Executive chef Shivanand Kain, told TOI that F1 team members, especially Vettel andSchumacher, and F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone have very fond of Indian food. Ecclestone and Vettel, he said, have even asked for the recipes. Their enthusiasm has prompted the resort to organize the live kitchen at the after party in which "we would give live presentation to the team members on how to make Indian food", Kain said. 

At the food street, tips were given on how to make the mouth-watering dishes. A special barbeque was also set up for kebabs. Organizers also arranged for stress-busting activities. 

Delhi govt hikes minimum property rates by up to 250%

NEW DELHI : For the second time this year, the Delhi government announced a steep hike in circle rates in a bid to garner more revenue and check the use of black money in property transactions.
Circle rates are the government's valuation of land in the city - differentiated into eight categories, A to H - below which a realty deal cannot be registered. After doubling the circle rates in February this year, the government on Monday further revised the rates with a hike in the range of 15% to 250%. The new circle rate regime is unlikely to affect real estate prices in the city. If anything, the hike may result in a price correction in certain areas as the black money component in property deals comes down. Property analysts said even the revised rates were much below real property values in the city.
The city government expects the revised rates to bring in additional revenue to the tune of Rs 800 crore annually.
Chief minister Sheila Dikshit said the revision was an attempt to bring circle rates closer to real property prices, although these were still lower than market values in many posh colonies. According to senior revenue department officials, in most cases , the actual rates of properties are not shown on paper due to which the government suffers loss in revenue in stamp duty and registration fees.

Impact of circle rates
NEW DELHI: With Delhi government hiking thecircle rates substantially on Monday, the city's realty market is expected to be impacted somewhat. It's going to be a two-pronged impact, say property experts. While the "white" component of the transaction will be going up as circle rates try to catch up with the grossly deflated market prices, the good news is that more genuine buyers are now expected to enter the market with financers taking a backseat.
Said real estate analyst Pradeep Mishra: "The reason for the impact on the property prices is that the component of the price that was white, comprising the stamp duty that was usually undervalued, will now go up." It's not going to be a huge jump though, say experts, despite the staggering 250 per cent hike in circle rates of upmarket colonies in Category A. Said Harish Sabharwal, a Mayur Vihar broker: "The circle rates are finally becoming more realistic, reflective of the market. Since this means that the stamp duty is going up, there will be a short-term impact." The hike will be passed on to the buyer, who will bear the additional load, said experts. Both Mishra and Sabharwal, however, feel the impact will be absorbed in the next few months. "Transactions will be affected only for a couple of months and then it'll go back to normal. The increase will also be absorbed," added Mishra.
In fact, properties in the region of more than a crore may see a rate correction, feel market watchers. That is because of the larger role of genuine buyers in this market. "With the revision in circle rates, the financier will not invest as heavily now. There are several reasons for this, like the stricter general power of attorney norms as well as higher stamp duty. The financier's profit margin is smaller in this scenario," added GP Tiwari (name changed), who invests in real estate. The impact of financiers taking a backseat, added Mishra, will be felt the most in properties in the range of Rs 1.5-2 crore and above. "A 5-10 per cent rate correction may happen in this category of properties," said Mishra.
In a market already impacted by rising interest rates, the hike in circle rates will play spoilsport, rue most industry watchers. "While Delhi's circle rates are comparatively lower than that of the other NCR areas, it's a substantial hike - between 100-250 per cent in all the upmarket colonies. Even the G and H category will have a 15 per cent increase. Property rates will obviously be affected," added Sabharwal. The hike however, is expected to be beneficial in the long run, as it will check transactions in black money and undervaluation of property, add experts.

Quest for greener pastures leaves 8,000 Indians stranded in Iraq

Chandigarh, October 31
Eight thousand Indians, who took the flight to disaster in search of greener pastures abroad but lost their bearings and landed themselves in trouble in Iraq, are yet to find their way back to where they belong. And it’s not just torn passports and zero finances that are preventing so many of them from leaving behind the life of danger and drudgery. 
They are just not willing to take the flight to safety after bidding adieu to the perilous process of clearing landmines in a country suffering from the pitiable aftermath of a bloody war, as they have sold off their fertile agricultural land and raised loans back home that are to be paid off.
Among 60 Indians breathing the air of safety and freedom after return to India following the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s active intervention is Zoravar of Bhatalian village in Hoshiarpur.
He has brought back along with him from Iraq a bagful of sordid memories and tales of sorrow and pain. At Chandigarh Judicial Academy Sector-43 this morning, Zoravar said return was no option for at least some of the 8,000 left behind.
“They have raised loans and sold off their land. So many others just do not have money to buy back their freedom from a life of constant hazard. How can they come back?” Zoravar questions.
In a voice choking with deep emotion, Zoravar shudders as he says Indians back in Iraq have AK-47s pointed at them and their passports torn by ruthless strangers, who insist it’s easy to come, and very difficult, rather impossible, to return.
Nearly 21 others at the judicial academy have almost the same tale to narrate. They say the dreams of the Indians there come crashing down as soon as they find themselves in an alien land among a set of people they are not familiar to. They are pushed around, manhandled, beaten and have food literally thrown at them. They have to digest insult in case of refusal to eat impalpable foodstuff.
To make matters worse, they were offered $300 against the promised amount of $1,200 - that too is often not paid. And they are sold off like slaves.
Ripal Kumar of Khojpur in Jalandhar district says he did manage to escape from desolation and the lurking feeling of constant danger to join a furniture firm. But there too, it was a tryst with inhuman attitude.
Zoravar and Ripal Kumar are now among 13 para-legal volunteers all set to work at the district level in tandem with the Legal Services Authority under the guidance of Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice MM Kumar.
Proudly displaying the newly issued identity cards, they say: “One’s identity is in one’s own country. Be the master of your own destiny in your country, instead of being just another faceless slave.” 

Six booked for immigration fraud


Zirakpur, October 31
Three persons have been duped of lakhs of rupees by a local consultant on the pretext of sending them to Singapore on work permit.
The police has registered a case against six persons of Mappel Consultant Company on the complaint of Santosh Singh, Surinder Singh and Deepinder Singh, all residents of Rajasthan.
The accused have been identified as Mahinder Sharma, Ramesh, Puja, Nitish and Vijender Kumar. In their complaint to the police, the complainants alleged that they were lured by advertisements published in various newspapers by the accused. The complainants stated that they had given Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000, but the consultant officials had asked them to give Rs 35,000 more.
Zirakpur SHO Yogi Raj said they had received several complaints in this regard.
He added that the accused had given advertisements in Rajasthan and Delhi-based newspapers and most of the victims belonged to Rajasthan and Delhi. 

HC: Decide ‘preferably’ within two months

Govt accommodation for District, Divisional Town Planners
Chandigarh, October 31
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Adviser to the UT Administrator to decide ‘preferably’ within two months the issue of providing a District Town Planner and a Divisional Town Planner government accommodation akin to architects and executive engineers.
The deadline was set by the Bench of acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina on a petition filed by Pankaj Bawa and another petitioner against the UT and another respondent. The directions came after senior standing counsel for UT Sanjay Kaushal accepted the notice on the asking of the court.
The Bench observed, “The petitioners, who are working as District Town Planner and Divisional Town Planner, have approached this court with a prayer that they be considered for allotment of government accommodation similar to architect and executive engineer because they are drawing the same pay scale.
“In that regard, reference has been made to the amendment dated August 20, 2010, carried in the Government Residences (Chandigarh Administration General Pool) Allotment Rules, 1996, where the post of architect was added for allotment of house in category IX (old).
“To that effect, the petitioner has already sent a representation to the respondents on August 20, 2010, which is still pending with the Adviser to the Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh.”
Before parting with the order, the Bench further added, “Keeping in view the nature of the prayer made, we are of the opinion that it will be appropriate to issue directions to the Adviser to the Administrator to take cognisance of the representation and decide the same expeditiously, preferably within a period of two months, by passing a speaking order. The writ petition stands disposed of with the aforesaid directions.”

HC stays demolition of ancient monument

Chandigarh, October 31
Issuing notice of motion for November 8, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the alleged demolition of a 300-year-old mound in the complex of Fatehgarh Sahib gurdwara.
The directions by the Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina came on a petition filed by Chandigarh-based advocate Tekwinder Singh. Seeking issuance of directions to immediately stop the destruction of the ancient monument of religious and architectural significance, he contended it was existing as ruins of Shahi Quila, Sirhind, which was destroyed by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in 1710.

HC: Courts can’t dictate to states on recruitments

Chandigarh, October 31
Refusing to direct the State of Punjab to fill the vacancies of PCS (executive) and other officers, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that the courts cannot ask the States to hire or carry out recruitment process at regular intervals.
The ruling by the Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina came on a petition filed by Karam Singh against the State of Punjab and other respondents.
In his petition, Karam Singh had earlier sought issuance of directions to the State of Punjab “to make regular recruitment to posts like PCS (Executive), as is being done by the Union Public Service Commission and other neighbouring States”.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Anmol Rattan Sidhu had placed reliance on Articles 38 and 39 of the Constitution and argued that the policy of the State should be directed towards securing the citizens' right to adequate means of livelihood and also to secure a social order for promotion and welfare of the people. The Bench observed: “It may be true that in the State of Punjab, the posts of PCS (Executive) and allied services are not being filled, but there may be numerous reasons for not doing so.”
The Bench added: “Firstly, the directive principles of State Policy in Articles 38 & 39 (A) are not enforceable, as they are guidelines for the State to frame its policy to achieve the aforesaid goal. Secondly, the right to adequate means of livelihood would not be fulfilled by filling the post of PCS (Executive), as there are large number of other posts in the State which are also required to be filled.”
12 IPS posts vacant: DGP 
Hoshiarpur: There is a shortage of about 12 Indian Police Services officers in Punjab. And the state government had already written in this regard to the Union Home Ministry, DGP Anil Kaushik said this here on Monday. Kaushik, who was at the Police Recruits Training Centre in Jahan Khelan, 8 km from here, said 5,000 new constables were being recruited. — OC

Amidst cheers & fears, Earth home to 7 Billions

Arrival of two baby girls in Uttar Pradesh and Manila marks the milestone
New Delhi, October 31
The world’s population today crossed the seven billion mark with the arrival of two baby girls, one in India and the other in Philippines. That the birth of girls should mark the milestone is good augury in times when there’s greater evidence than ever before to point out that women have a larger role to play in population stabilisation.

As the world welcomed its symbolic 7 billionth babies -- Nargis born to Ajay and Vineeta in Mal, 20 km from Lucknow, and Danica May Camacho born in Manila - UN Population Fund Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin commented, “Given greater opportunities and rights, women make decisions that slow population growth, and this impact is being seen worldwide.”
His sentiment was echoed by policy planners back home, with the Registrar General of India and Census Commission C Chandramauli pointing out that now is India’s best chance of reducing population and sustaining that reduction.
“Census 2011 revealed rapid strides in female literacy. Not only was female literacy more than male literacy in urban and rural areas, even the gap between the two had reduced substantially. If this trend continues, women’s aspirations for smaller families and better standards of living will grow. This will fuel population stabilisation,” Chandramauli told The Tribune today.
Asked how he viewed today’s landmark, the Census Commissioner said it was a “mixed event”. “We must celebrate the arrival of every child but we must also seriously introspect. According to projections, we will cross China’s population in 2030. This is a revised projection. Earlier, we were to cross China’s numbers in 2060. We must work to revise the 2030 projection and push beyond,” he said.
The Registrar General pointed out that current trends in population reduction were promising and if sustained, they could prevent us from crossing China’s population by 2030. “A revision of 2030 is very much possible provided we sustain our gains. For the first time in three Censuses, our most populated states showed a decline of 4% in population growth rate in 2011. Decadal growth rate of population also declined for the first time ever to 17.64%. It had been otherwise rising. Uttar Pradesh, which had been growing in excess of 25% in three Censuses, grew at 20% in 2011. This was true of other populous states. If we sustain these levels, we can surprise ourselves,” Chandramauli said.
Census 2011 trends showed that the population growth in UP dropped from 26 to 20% between two decades; in Bihar from 29 to 25%; in MP from 24 to 20% and in Rajasthan from 28 to 21%.
Chandramauli further pointed out that in 2011, India posted a record high gap in its numbers with China. “The population gap between India and China was 238 million in 2011. In 2011 it was just 131 million. This means we can do well provided we create an enabling environment powered by education and health where couples realise the importance of smaller families. Our strategy must be multi-pronged and the focus should be on improving the quality of people and reducing their quality by population stabilisation,” he said.
The RGI described investments in the education and skill development of youth as critical if the fruits of demographic dividend are to be reaped.

Issue of interim capital rocks UK House

Dehradun, October 31
The issue of interim capital once again rocked the state Assembly today after Uttarakhand Kranti Dal MLA Pushpesh Tripathi raised objections to the building of new premises for the Uttarakhand Assembly in Dehradun when it continues to be an interim capital of Uttarakhand.
During Question Hour, Congress MLA Amrita Rawat asked the government about the pace of the construction of the new premises for housing the Uttarakhand Assembly for which the Centre has already allocated funds.
Replying to the starred question, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant said the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Committee constituted for the selection of a suitable spot for locating the new Vidhan Sabha had not presented its report so far.
He said only the Vidhan Sabha and not the government could ask the committee to present its report within a specific time frame.
He said Rs 88 crore had been sanctioned by the 13th Finance Commission for the new Assembly building which had to be utilised within five years. The delay could automatically lead to a lapse of funds.
Intervening in the matter, Pushpesh Tripathi expressed surprise how money could be spent for a new Assembly building when Dehradun has not even been accorded the status of a permanent capital. In protest, he walked out of the House.

Rly Minister expresses concern over misuse

Nainital, October 31
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has expressed concern over gross misuse of the Tatkal Seva offered by the institution.
He said if the number of complaints pertaining to the seva did not come down in the future, the Railways would be left with no other option but to close it down and look for a viable alternative.
Talking to mediapersons while returning from the Dhanachuli area of Nainital where he had come on a personal visit, Trivedi said the Railways was mulling initiating a probe into the misuse of the seva by a premier investigating agency like the CBI.
He said it was important to unmask the persons responsible for misusing the facility extended by the Railways for passengers needing to travel in emergency situations.
To a query on the issue of the security of passengers, he said the entire security set-up of the Railways was being streamlined and there were plans to bring the entire rail security network under the ambit of the Railways Protection Force.
He once again reiterated the commitment of the Railways to improve the facilities for the passengers travelling by the general class. He said since 90 per cent of the people travel by this class on a daily basis, it was pertinent to ensure that they received proper basic facilities for their travel. He said focused attention would be paid to the needs of these general passengers.
He himself got a first-hand experience of the people travelling in the general class when he entered the general bogey of Doon Express at Kathgodam station last evening.
A delegation of those in the tourism industry in Nainital met the minister seeking a direct rail connectivity to Mumbai from Kumaon. The minister said this could only be done once the basic infrastructure was improved for which work was under way.
During his two-day visit to the region, the minister has hinted at starting a Shatabadi link between Kumaon and New Delhi soon. It is learnt that the officials have got down to the business of preparing a proposal for the same. The introduction of a Shatabdi between Kathgodam and New Delhi will go a long way in promoting tourism and other business in the region.

Vivekananda Express arrives in city


Chandigarh, October 31
Vivekananda Express, the special exhibition train showcasing the life and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, arrived at the railway station this morning. The train was launched in January this year by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on the eve of the 150th birth centenary of Swami Vivekananda.
Mayor Ravinder Pal Singh Palli, Special Secretary (Finance) CS Talwar and Ramakrishna Mission general secretary Swami Anant Atmananda were among those who inaugurated the four-day exhibition in the five-boggie train near platform 1. An exhibition-cum-sale of books was being organised near the train.
“The train was launched by the Railways at Howrah with a view to disseminate Swami Vivekananda’s legacy among the younger generation. His signatures and some of his sayings are also on display,” said a senior Northern Railway official.
The exhibition threw light on the life and achievements of Swami Vivekananda. It had six coaches, in which photographs, write-ups and other exhibits were on display. Two other coaches contained rare photographs and archival material.
Black-and-white images of Swami Vivekananda’s brothers, Mahendranath Dutta and Bhupendranath Dutta, his ancestral house, the grand reception hosted for him at Calcutta in 1897 and disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhansa soon after his demise were among those on display.
The official added, “The train has arrived from Ambala and will remain at the local railway station till November 3. Then it will move to Kalka for four days, before leaving for Patiala on November 7. The train will also go to Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jammu before ending its year-long journey at Varanasi in January next.”

Pargat Singh justifies high expenditure

Bathinda, October 31
Punjab Sports Director Pargat Singh today justified the expenditure by the state on the second Kabaddi World Cup. Admitting that it was a "bit in excess", Pargat Singh, a hockey veteran, pointed out that the Union Government, too, had spent crores on hosting the recent Commonwealth Games in Delhi. "Then why can't the Punjab Government show a similar enthusiasm for kabaddi," he asked.
Singh, who was in Bathinda to oversee preparations for the event, claimed kabaddi and hockey were the only two popular games in Punjab. "The expenditure on entertainment alongside kabaddi is also the need of the hour." He also refuted allegations that the Punjab Government was only promoting one sport for its own benefits.
The Sports Director said companies like DLF, Pearl, Trident and a few others were sponsoring the event this time. "Money to the tune of Rs 10 crore is likely to be collected from sponsorships," he said. Pargat Singh said nearly 25,000 people were expected to watch the inaugural ceremony. 

Gwen Stefani Stuns as Cinderella for Halloween


Pop princess Gwen Stefani became a Disney princess forKate Hudson's Halloween party in the Brentwood area of L.A. on Saturday night.
The singer, designer and mother of two, 42, transformed into Cinderella with absolutely stunning results.
Stefani donned the scullery-maid-turned-belle-of-the-ball's trademark powder-blue gown, white gloves and blonde updo with tiara.
No word yet on what Kingston, 5, and Zuma, 3 -- her adorable, fashion-forward boys with hubby Gavin Rossdale -- will wear for their trick-or-treating outing this year.
The "Harajuku Girls" singer isn't the first star to channel a Disney character for Halloween. Kim Kardashian was Aladdin's Jasmine in 2009, and Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon and their twins Moroccan and Monroe dressed up as The Incredibles last week, among many others.

COMMON ISSUES IN NRI MARRIAGES


‘NRI marriages’, as generally understood, are between an Indian
woman from India and an Indian man residing in another country (thus
NRI – non-resident Indian), either as Indian citizen (when he would
legally be an ‘NRI’) or as citizen of that other country (when he would
legally be a PIO – person of Indian origin).
In the eagerness not to let go of such lucrative marriage offer, the
families totally ignores even the common cautions that are observed in
traditional matchmaking. They also ignore that in case of things going
wrong in an NRI marriage, the woman’s recourse to justice is greatly
constrained and complex. The aggravated risk in such marriage is the
woman is being ‘isolated’ far away from home in an alien land, facing
language constraints, communication problems, lack of proper
information about the local criminal justice, police and legal system.
The situation is worsened by lack of support network of friends and
family and monetary constraints which leaves the deserted wife
completely helpless and stranded.
Following are some of the typical instances of the issues that could
arise in NRI marriages
Woman married to an NRI who is abandoned even before being
taken by her husband to the foreign country of his residence.
Woman brutally battered, assaulted, abused both mentally and
physically, malnourished, confined and ill treated and forced to
flee or was forcibly sent back.
A quick engagement, followed by a massive wedding, a huge
dowry and a honeymoon, after which the NRI husband flies out of
India while the wife waits for her visa.  The menace of
‘honeymoon brides’ is a big problem to deal with as over 20,000
brides have not seen their husbands after their honeymoon.
In some cases, the children were abducted or forcibly taken away
from the woman.
COMMON ISSUES IN NRI MARRIAGES

Following are some of the typical instances of the issues that could
arise in NRI marriages
Woman married to an NRI who is abandoned even before being
taken by her husband to the foreign country of his residence.
Woman brutally battered, assaulted, abused both mentally and
physically, malnourished, confined and ill treated and forced to
flee or was forcibly sent back.
A quick engagement, followed by a massive wedding, a huge
dowry and a honeymoon, after which the NRI husband flies out of
India while the wife waits for her visa.  The menace of
‘honeymoon brides’ is a big problem to deal with as over 20,000
brides have not seen their husbands after their honeymoon.
In some cases, the children were abducted or forcibly taken away
from the woman.

Woman who reached the foreign country of her husband’s
residence and waited at the international airport there only to find
that her husband would not turn up at all.
Abandoned in the foreign country with absolutely no support or
means of sustenance or escape and without even the legal
permission to stay on in that country.
NRI husband was already married in the other country to another
woman
Husband had given false information on any or all of the
following: his job, immigration status, earning, property, marital
status and other material particulars, to con her into the marriage.
Husband, taking advantage of more lenient divorce grounds in
other legal systems, obtained ex-parte decree of divorce in the
foreign country through fraudulent representations and/or behind
her back, without her knowledge
Woman was denied maintenance in India on the pretext that the
marriage had already been dissolved by the court in another
country.
Woman who approached the court, either in India or in the other
country, for maintenance or divorce but repeatedly encountered
technical legal obstacles related to jurisdiction of courts, service
of notices or orders, or enforcement of orders or learnt of the
husband commencing simultaneous retaliatory legal proceeding
in the other country.
Do check the NRI groom’s personal information particulars
such as :
Marital status: if he is single, divorced, separated, Employment
details : qualification and post, salary, address of office, employer
and their credentials, Immigration status, type of visa, eligibility
to take spouse to the other country
Dos & Donts
Dos
Financial status, Properties said to be owned by him in India,
residence address, family background, Visa, passport. Voter or
alien registration card, Social security number.
Have regular and meaningful communication with the man and
his family over a period. Make sure that the two persons to be
married meet personally and interact freely and frankly in
comfortable atmosphere to make up their minds.
Insist on a registered marriage along with the religious marriage to
be solemnized in India with adequate proof like photographs etc.
Insist on keeping in touch with the bride even after the marriage on
phone and e-mail and through local friends and relatives and get
alert if at any point there is any reluctance or difficulty in this.
Equip the woman with knowledge of the laws of the foreign
country and the rights she enjoys there, especially against any
form of abuse or neglect, including domestic violence and if she
can get residence permit and other protections as a victim of
domestic violence or abuse.
Inform people you trust if you face domestic violence in any form -
physical, emotional, financial, and sexual. Keep a log of all acts of
violence you face.
Have a bank account in your exclusive name near your residence
that you can use in case of any emergency.
Keep a list of contact details of neighbors, friends, relatives,
husband’s employer, police, ambulance, and the Indian embassy
or high commission, if abroad.
Leave photocopies of all important documents including your
passport, visa, bank and property documents, marriage certificate
and other essential papers and phone numbers with parents or
other trustworthy people in India or abroad. In case they are
lost/forcibly taken away/mutilated/destroyed by or at the instance
of spouse or in-laws, the copies will come in handy; if possible,
keep a scanned soft copy with you and any person you trust so that
the same can be retrieved if necessary.o Try to keep a photocopy of husband’s personal details including
passport, visa, property details, license number, social security
number, voter or alien registration card, among others.
Do not take any decision in haste and do not get pressurized to do
so for any reason whatsoever.
Do not make matrimony a passage to greener pastures abroad by
falling prey to lucrative schemes to migrate to another country or
promises of getting green card through marriage.
Do not finalize marriage matters, without meeting the family or
over long distance, on phone or through e-mails.
Do not get pressurized in taking impulsive decisions of marriage
proposal with an NRI just because it appears too perfect to be true.
Do not negotiate your daughter’s marriage via a bureau, agent or
middleman or trust them blindly
In case matrimonial negotiations takes place via matrimonial
sites, verify the details and authenticity of particulars submitted
about the groom.
Do not finalize matters in secrecy – publishing the proposal
among the near and dear ones, friends and close relatives could
help you in getting vital information which you may not be able to
collect otherwise .
Do not agree on the marriage taking place in the foreign country
Do not be coerced into acceding to dowry or any other
unreasonable demand made by or on behalf of your husband in
order to end your desertion. Inform officials immediately if being
forced to do so.
Do not remain quiet, if faced with desertion or any other cruelty by
husband and/or in-laws whether in India or abroad. Approach the
authorities.
Donts
Do not forge/fabricate papers or legal documents for somehow
going abroad and do not become a party to illegal acts under
pressure, allurement or instigation from anyone.
Do not be forced into participating in legal action in country of
husband’s residence. You can file a case in India and cannot be
forced to defend a case filed against you by husband abroad -
especially divorce. India has more women-friendly laws than
many other countries.
Do not panic if your husband obtains divorce in the other country
with or without your knowledge since it is not valid in India. Its
valid in India only if you participate in that case.
Do not defame husband and/or in-laws without evidence as they
may slap a defamation case against you. Speak only the facts at the
right fora - before police/lawyer/social worker/court etc.
Do not be vindictive and take law in your hands. Never resort to
violence or any illegal act to settle scores with deserter husband
and/or in-laws. Approach government authorities in case of any
problem in the marriage. Do not file false/frivolous complaint.


Sharjah flight awaits go-ahead


Chandigarh, October 30
The flight from the city to Sharjah will be delayed as international airliner Air Arabia is yet to get the green signal from the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), New Delhi. The flights were scheduled to take off from the local airport in the first week of November.
The operation of more international flights from the city has also been delayed as the Ministry of Environment and Forests is yet to give its nod to the setting up of an international airport, for which the Punjab government has already acquired 603 acres on the Mohali side.
According to sources, Air Arabia was planning to launch its maiden Chandigarh-Sharjah flight in the first week of November. But as the file submitted by the international airliner to the DGCA was still awaiting clearance, the airliner would not be able to start its operations by November 15. A senior official of Air Arabia said they had already submitted documents relating to operations from the city and if they got the nod within the next few days, they would be able to start the flight by the second week of November.
Airport director HS Toor said customs had already initiated steps for setting up immigration facilities at the airport and the Chandigarh Police and customs had been asked to handle immigration at the airport.
He said they had already requested the Ministry of Defence to increase the timings of ATC facility so that more flights could operate from the city.
He said once they got clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, work on construction of the terminal building and the car parking would be started immediately.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Ministry of Environment and Forests visited the site of the international airport at Mohali after the local airport authorities sought clearance from the ministry for the construction of the terminal and other facilities. The officials listened to the grievances of local residents.

FAKE BAIL BONDS


Third accused arrested
Chandigarh, October 30
The crime branch of the city police today arrested the third member of the gang involved in furnishing bail bonds for undertrials on the basis of forged documents. 
The police has arrested Amit Kumar who used to furnish bail bonds on the basis of fake documents. A fake identity card and salary slip of the Punjab Government was also recovered from his possession. The gang was busted following the arrested of the first accused, Sachin, of Burail here on October 25.
Inspector Amanjot Singh, in charge of the crime branch, said Amit was arrested following the interrogation of the second accused, Manoj Kumar. Earlier in June, the crime branch had busted a similar gang which was involved in the preparation of bogus bail bonds.

Gang making bogus bail bonds busted

Cops seek names of beneficiaries from court

Chandigarh, October 29
The crime branch of the city police has busted a well-organised gang involved in generating bogus bail bonds for criminals at the Sector 17 District Courts. An alleged key operator of the gang, Manoj Kumar, was arrested by the police yesterday.
This is the second such gang involved in making fake documents for bails that has been busted in the last four months.
Investigations carried out so far reveal that the list of beneficiaries include some hardcore criminals. Based on the interrogation of the suspects, the police has requested the court authorities to provide it with details of the beneficiaries.
The main suspect in the case, Manoj Kumar, a resident of Mundate village in Muzaffarnagar district (UP), was arrested from Sector 17 on Friday.
Another accused, Hardit, alias Balbir Singh, is absconding. The police has also recovered fake documents, including identity card and salary slips of Punjab Government which were used for filing bail sureties.
Another member of the gang, Sachin Kumar, a resident of Burail, is already in the custody of the police since October 25.
In a similar case, Virender Singh, a tainted Junior Engineer (JE) of the Punjab irrigation department was arrested in June. Virender and his associates used to file sureties. He had reportedly filed sureties for over 100 criminals and most of them were granted regular bail against their criminal cases.
The police has also filed a detailed chargesheet against Virender Singh in the district courts. Police sources said a reply to the request of the police seeking details of beneficiaries under trial and pertaining to fake documents furnished by Virender Singh was still pending in court.
Crime branch Sub-Inspector Sohan Lal, who is the investigating officer in the case, said they got a tip-off about the gang operating in the district courts during investigation of the gang involving Virender Singh. “The investigations have revealed that the gang was operating in the court for a long time,” he said.
A case under various sections of the IPC has been registered against Manoj and Hardit at the Sector 17 police station.

October 30, 2011

Seven billionth baby coming today!

Rethink strategy, advise demographers

New Delhi, October 30
Mid UN projections of the world’s seven billionth baby to be born in India on Monday, demographers today struck a note of caution, asking the government to reposition family welfare efforts.
Ashish Bose, member, National Population Commission chaired by the PM, today asked the Government to wind up its family welfare department and divert funds to education and skill development of the existing population. Half of our people are below 25 years; 65 pc are below 35 years. “As such, the department is doing nothing,” he said, adding that even the Commission last met two years ago, indicating a lack of commitment on the front.
S.C. Gulati, member, Government’s technical working group on population, said, “China followed one child norm and reduced the population growth rate to 0.6 pc”.
Despite crores going into the National Rural Health Mission launched in 2005, the target of reducing Total Fertility Rate to 2.1 by 2012 looks unattainable. India had however recorded a decadal population growth of 17.64 per cent in 2011 Census, the lowest in 90 years.
At the current rate of decline, it will take Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh 18 to 45 years to achieve a TFR of 2.1. The high TFR states (with TFR over 3) also have over 40 per cent of our population, adding to pressures on resources like food and land.
“Education and provision of reproductive health services and nutrition were responsible for achieving the TFR of 2.1 in Kerala in 1988 and in Tamil Nadu in 1993,” Health Ministry officials told The Tribune. At present, India has a TFR (the average number of children expected to be born per woman during her entire span of reproductive period) of 2.6, ranging between 1.7 per cent in Kerala and 3.9 per cent in Bihar.
Demographers agree that India has not done well on the family planning front. Even today the unmet need for contraception is a whopping 27 per cent and 20 per cent is unwanted fertility. “It only means you are unable to provide contraceptives even to those who need them. Your whole programme focuses on sterilisations and not on condoms, intra uterine devices and oral pills, which help space children. The Government must bring in injectibles, and must counsel couples and tell that every contraception comes with some side effects; to manage these effects the health system needs to be equipped,” said Poonam Muttreja, head, Population Foundation of India.

Do it yourself Halloween costumes

Halloween Special


HAUNTED HOSPITAL
The Charles Camsell Hospital is located in Edmonton, Alberta, and the building that stands originally opened in 1946. Since 1996, the building has been abandoned since the hospital shut its doors. The original part of the building that no longer exists was a tuberculosis sanatorium that reached its peak in the 1950s. Some of the patients in this sanitorium were put there by force, and other patients that had certain defects were sterilized without the patients approval. The hospital has bore witness to many deaths and tragic events, including in 1982, when a man working on the roof fell to his death.
The hospital is believed to be haunted, and people who just even walk past it feel as though there are hundreds of eyes looking at them through the boarded up windows. Satanic symbols and graffiti are a plethora on the fences, not helping the sites reputation as a dark and scary place. The fourth floor of the hospital was home to the psychiatric ward during its existence. On a recorder, the scream of a young woman has been captured there. A psychic believed this was the spirit of a teenage girl who had ripped her nails off from her fingers. The second floor was the surgical wing, and to this day there are still blood stains on the floor in one room. In the morgue, the elevator has been known to go up and down on its own accord. Footsteps are often heard, indicating that some of the patients still walk the halls, even in death.

Superstition keeps Mukesh Ambani the Richest Man Out of Billion-Dollar House

A year ago, we brought you the story of Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, who built a Mumbai skyscraper for $1 billion and planned to use it as a private residence -- all 27 stories of it.

Well, looks like we jumped the gun a little. A report in the U.K.'s Daily Mail says that the building stands empty today because of the family's fears that living in it would bring them bad luck. The belief is based on the Indian system of vastu shastra, similar to the Chinese practice of feng shui. According to the Vaastu Shaastra website, "Vastu shastra relates to the universe, delivering peace, prosperity, health and happiness to the people."

Among other things, good vastu shastra requires that houses be constructed from the eastern portion first, that they must sit on a square or rectangular plot and that they can't share a wall with an adjacent property.

We're not exactly sure where Ambani's building, called the Antilla, ran afoul of the rules, but with its Lego-like layout -- the Daily Mail describes it as a "jigsaw-puzzle facade"-- and un-houselike features including three helipads and six stories of parking, Ambani isn't taking any chances. While he uses the place for parties and movie screenings in the private theater, he hightails it home to his nearby 14-story apartment building to sleep.

Or maybe, as The Wall Street Journal speculates, the real disruptive energy is coming from Ambani's neighbors, the citizens of Mumbai, who roundly criticized him for building such an expensive and ostentatious pleasure palace in a country where the average income is just over $1,000 a year. 

mukesh ambaniAmbani (pictured at right) wouldn't be the first billionaire to buy a house and not live in it. The Journal cites the case of Larry Ellison, who bought the 249-acre Porcupine Creek estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for $43 million and rarely uses it. Then there's hedge fund billionaire David Tepper, who last year paid $43.5 million for a beachfront estate on the shores of Long Island -- and then proceeded to knock it down. Wonder what the vashtu shasta gods would have to say about that.

10 People Who Changed The Internet


With the birth of the internet came great possibilities for many entrepreneurs, and few people have had such a great influence as the people in this list. They went beyond the invention of the internet, email and websites, and changed the way that we live our lives with just a few very significant websites.

Searching – Larry Page & Sergey Brin – Google

BrinPage460 10 People Who Changed The InternetI couldn’t even count the amount of times I use Google in a day, it’s become so accurate and intuitive that it’s the only search engine that I need, but of course that’s not all it does. It makes me money with AdSense, helps people to find my website, search for my own images on the internet, powers people’s phones, hosts a social network, and so much more. Google keeps growing and buying other companies to add to their portfolio and improve their service; on the internet, Google is king.
By the looks of things, these two are the richest, and most successful internet entrepreneurs in history, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to be changing anytime soon. They were introduced by their professor at Stanford and started working on Google, went live in 1997 as part of Standford University’s website at google.stanford.edu and the rest, as they say, is history.

Social Networking – Tom Anderson – Myspace

thomas anderson 10 People Who Changed The InternetI can see the comments coming already ‘what about Facebook?’, ‘what about Friendster’, but Tom is on the list because he made social networking what it it today – he brought it to the masses. It may not be the best social networking platform on the internet, but there was a time when we were all using it, because everyone else was using it as well. You could add bands as friends, and browse through music, way before Facebook allowed you to listen on their site, but best of all, it laid out the blueprint of how we network with friends on the internet.
Myspace isn’t really what it used to be, with a large number of users having switched to Facebook for good, many of whom (myself included), have closed their accounts. It was at one time the largest social network on the planet though, and for that Tom deserves a mention. Tom sold Myspace in early 2008 and left in 2009, not liking the direction the website had taken, he’s even got a Facebook page now.
“People seem very confused why I’m on Facebook. I’ve had a profile since 2005 and a “fan page” since 2009…Why am I not on MySpace? Because, I left the company in early 2009, and like most of you, I don’t like using it anymore.. not a fan of what the new folks have done with MySpace.”

Music Sharing – Shawn Fanning – Napster

11 Shawn Fanning 10 People Who Changed The InternetBefore Kazza and Limewire, there was the original, and largely illegal peer to peer network – Napster. Napster set the president for online music downloading, as well as a lot of the legal troubles back in the day before there were so many competitors. For the first time on the internet, it was possible for the masses to be able to share their music with each other and download music and videos for free.
As many of you probably know, Napster learnt their lesson the hard way and got slammed with masses of legal problems, and eventually had to be shut down. Nevertheless, it lead the way for similar services, and gave us all a taste of what it’s like to download music for free. It now runs a service similar to Spotify in that you pay a subscription and you can stream music from a library online. What’s interesting about this is that Sean Parker, who was one of the co founders, now owns a stake in Spotify, which is Napster’s biggest rival (now owned by Best Buy).

Learning – Jimmy Wales – Wikipedia

Jimmy Wales 10 People Who Changed The InternetMany people have a love/hate relationship with Wikipedia, because of it’s ability to provide you with excellent and well referenced information, as well some complete nonsense. Jimmy Wales founded Wikipedia, which is a user generated internet encyclopedia, back in 2001. It currently indexes over 20 million articles and has helped hundreds of thousands of students world wide find ‘inspiration’ for essays and reports. If I’m looking for something on Wikipedia, I more often not just Google it, because the wiki I’m looking for is usually in the top 3 results.
Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site, and it has about 90,000 regularly active contributors. Wikipedia can be seen in 282 languages and is currently the largest encyclopedia on the internet… no surprises there. It’s currently ranking sixth globally among all websites on Alexa and having an estimated 365 million readers worldwide. It is estimated that Wikipedia receives 2.7 billion monthly pageviews from the United States alone. Just to keep in the spirit of things, this whole paragraph was made up from information on Wikipedia.
Jimmy Wales really had changed the way in which we learn on the internet, because even though there’s some bad information on there, a lot of it is well referenced and full of the facts we’re looking for.

Shopping – Jeff Bezos – Amazon

25stream.600 10 People Who Changed The InternetAmazon.com is the internet’s most popular and trusted online retailer, and has completely changed the way we shop. The death of the high street is all down to onlineshopping and there’s no better retailer than Amazon for finding the best deals with service you can trust. The website was one of the first of it’s kind and went live way back in 1995, when most of us were still trying to get to grips with a keyboard. It started as a bookstore to rival chains such as Barnes & Noble, but it soon diversified and spread to many more countries around the world in an effort to turn a profit. It survived the burst of the dot.com bubble and finally made a profit in 2001 on the sale of over 1 billion dollars worth of goods.
The growth was initially quite slow, and it took me a while to get into it too, but with free shipping, a huge selection of products and some of the best prices on the internet, it’s hard not to love them. Now as the world’s largest online retailers and Jeff Bezos being worth more than $19Billion, Amazon.com has made a permanent mark on how we use the internet.

Watching – Chad Hurley & Steve Chen – YouTube

youtubemain 10 People Who Changed The InternetThe world of online video watching took a lot longer to get off the ground, due to internet speeds and hosting fees, but it’s well and truly here to stay now, with no website more popular than YouTube. Started by two former PayPal employees Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, YouTube was launched in 2005, and was sold less than 2 years later in November 2006 to Google for $1.65 billion – not bad for a couple years work. YouTube offer the ability to upload an unlimited amount of videos for people over the 18, so long as it didn’t include adult content.
The site made huge changes to viral media, with fun and short videos becoming much more easily accessible with YouTube’s fast loading time and unintrusive website. It also created the ‘YouTube Star’ where people could make their own regular videos and earn money through Google AdSense, which has provided full time careers to some users. YouTube seems to have gone downhill a bit recently, with their annoying adverts, but they’re still the market leader and name we think of when we think about online videos.

Blogging – Matt Mullenweg – WordPress

Screen shot 2011 10 28 at 11.52.28 10 People Who Changed The InternetAgain, I’m hearing cries of ‘what about David Bohnett, the creator of GeoCities’ and ‘what about blogger.com or Tumblr’, and the answer is simple, Matt Mullenweg did it right. GeoCities was a massively popular site back in the day, but the customizations made it look childish and usage went so far down that they’ve closed it all together. WordPress on the other hand is the most popular blogging platform on the internet because of its usability and easy to install plugins that can make every site look unique. No doubt that the majority of people reading this are using WordPress for their own site, and we recommend it as we use it for IncomeDiary and ExpertPhotography.
It’s not just changed the way we blog, because the capabilities of WordPress go far beyond that now, and they’re so easy to use, that just about anyone can do it. To say that the reach of WordPress is substantial would be an understatement, as it’s used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet’s “top 1 million” websites and as of August 2011 powers 22% of all new websites. Matt has made a big change to the way we use the internet, because we’re not just spectators anymore, we’re now a part of it.

Gaming – Mike Morhaime – Blizzard

mike morhaime 2010 10 22 16 41 29 10 People Who Changed The InternetMike is currently worth nearly $2billion because of the way that he managed to revolutionize the way that online gaming is done, with one of the most popular games of all time – World of Warcraft. WoW alone has over 10 million online gamers, all of which have to pay a monthly subscription to play. I’m not trying to say that he changed the internet because he managed to make so much money out of it, I’m saying that he’s created a game so popular, that 10 million people happily pay for it and spend their time on the internet, using it. There are of course other games on the internet, such as Runescape, or simple games you may find on sites such as Miniclip, but no game seems to rank higher with gamers than WoW.
Matt has helped online gamers realize that there are some things that are just worth paying for, and that’s set a president for other online gaming sites too. His community is vast and virtual world, huge.

Communicating – Niklas Zennström & Janus Friis – Skype

cn image.size .wear01 skype0509 10 People Who Changed The InternetNiklas and Janus have had a pretty interesting career so far, with their part in the online music peer to peer network Kazaa (which was the most downloaded program in 2003), and more famously, Skype, an online telephone based on the same principals. Within just five years of it’s launch, it already had over 300 million users, proving itself to have a place in business and pleasure. I personally use it to talk to friends who live abroad, as well as Skyping in when I work from home.
Zennström and Friis have had a bit of an on again, off again relationship with Skype, selling it to eBay for €2.1 billion in 2005, as well as being a part of the investment team that bought it back in 2009, where they re-joined the Skype board, before selling it to Microsoft for $8.5 billion, in May of 2011, netting them approximately $1 billion. International calling is almost a thing of the past these days, and even if you did want to make a phone call, it’s cheaper to use Skype credit. With mobile phone apps, you can now take it with you anywhere, it’s truly become a part of the way we use the internet, and it seems to be here to stay.

File Sharing – Bram Cohen – BitTorrent

Bram Cohen Bit Torrent 10 People Who Changed The InternetYes, there are of course plenty of legal uses for torrenting, but that’s not typically what we think of when we hear the name BitTorrent. The BitTorrent network revolutionized the peer to peer network by breaking up much bigger files into parts and sharing them with multiple users to download from, which was a distinct advantage over the traditional p2p network. The BitTorrent network has many illegal implications, where you can download and share files such as music,movies, software and TV shows in just a couple hours, although Cohen himself claims to have never violated copyright law.
The program launched in the 2004, and now there’s thousands of websites and programs dedicated to the sharing of files, for whatever the use may be. Whether you’re using it for legal or illegal purposes, you can’t deny the fact that torrenting has changed the way we share large files on the internet and Bram Cohen has been a huge part of that.