News, Views and Information about NRIs.

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September 20, 2011

Immigration firm sealed, owner held


Chandigarh, September 20
The UT police today arrested owner of an immigration firm in Sector 42 in a case of immigration fraud.
Harjit Singh, owner of Continental Consultants, was booked on a complaint by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs after it came to light that the accused was operating without a licence.
KC Badhok, director, Minister Overseas Indian Affairs, New Delhi, reported to the police that Harjit Singh had been sending people abroad illegally.
The police registered a case under Sections 10 and 24 of the Immigration Act at the police station-36.
The police said they had received a report from the ministry that Harjit had been given a licence, valid for three years, by the Protector of Emigrants to operate the firm in 2003. After its expiration in 2006, the immigration firm continued to operate without getting a valid licence. The firm has been sealed. 

60,000 professionals return to India annually: Study


Chandigarh, September 20
India is among top few countries that have been witnessing strong “return migration”. While a study revealed that nearly 60,000 top professionals are returning to India every year for the past three years, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs puts the number of returning professionals at a lakh a year.
“It is because of the booming Indian economy that has been witnessing 7 to 8 per cent annual growth against some of the European or advanced countries staggering at below 1 per cent growth,” says A. Didar Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
Most of those returning are IT specialists, finance experts, besides those from service areas, including health care, hospitality and other areas.
A Didar Singh was here to release the Study of Indian Diaspora with particular reference to development and migration from the State of Punjab. The study was conducted by a team of Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) here. The study team was headed by a retired diplomat, Paramjit Singh Sahai, and included Dr Krishan Chand, Pawan Kumar and Tania Sahai.
The Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs will ink another MoU with CRRID to make the Institute a research partner on issues facing Indian diaspora. At present, the Ministry has agreements with four research institutes in India besides an equal number of partners in overseas organisations.
Didar Singh held that though India’s avowed policy was not to encourage migration from its shores but at the same time it was signing agreements and going for human resources mobility partnership with various countries to ensure well-being of Indian workers, especially skilled workers.
Migration, he said, was linked to global development. It was why the migrant force moves to areas of opportunities. Besides enhancing skills that is the key in migration, the Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs is also in the process of standardising and certifying these skills.
He also clarified that anyone holding an Indian passport, whether living in India or abroad, was entitled to hold agricultural land and plantation in the country. The same facility was not available to the People of Indian Origin or those holding Overseas Citizen of India card.
While talking about the voting rights, he said even those born outside India but holding an Indian passport can get themselves registered as voters at the address of their parents or the last address of the family in India on which passports have been issued to them.
Punjab Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal said primary tasks before the government was to prepare people for legal migration and ensure that laws concerning NRIs about their property and also those relating to matrimonial affairs were in place to minimise their hardships.
Earlier, Sucha Singh Gill, Director-General , CRRID, talked about the study undertaken by the Institute while Rashpal Malhotra, Executive Vice-Chairman, CRRID, highlighted various projects undertaken by CRRID for preparing a data bank of the NRIs.

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Batala NRI murder case: Suspension of SHO revoked


Batala, September 20
The high-profile murder case of Canada-based NRI Gurinder Singh Gill has taken a new turn with SSP Gurkirpal Singh revoking the suspension orders of Batala (City) SHO Parladh Singh.

Notably, the SHO was placed under suspension a day after Gurinder Singh was gunned down in broad daylight by a local councillor, Rajbir Singh Bhullar, in front of the local courts, barely 50 metres away from the SSP’s residence on September 9.
The police had registered an FIR against six persons, including Bhullar. Two of the accused, including Rajbir’s brother Yadvinder Singh, were still at large.
The SSP said an inquiry had been initiated into the SHO’s role by SP (headquarters) Narinder Singh Bedi and his conduct was found to be “unimpeachable in all respects”. However, this claim is being contested by senior Congress leaders, including former Minister and Gurdaspur District Congress Committee president Sukhjinder Randhawa, who has alleged that the police in general and the SHO in particular were sheltering Yadvinder. “Ten days have elapsed after the brutal murder and the police are still groping in the dark. The role of the SHO has come under scanner and I will be petitioning DGP PS Gill to conduct a fresh inquiry into his conduct,” said Randhawa.
On why the police had failed to arrest the remaining two accused, the SSP said the cops were busy in the SGPC elections over the past few days. DSP (City) Sakattar Singh echoed the same views.
Meanwhile, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Ashwani Sekhri has demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder. 

Govt gets two more months for Vienna shootout probe


Chandigarh, September 20
Two years after the fatal shooting of a visiting guru at a Sikh temple in Vienna resulted in rioting across northern India, the State of Punjab today told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that 58 accused had been arrested in the case.

Taking a note of the assertion, the Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Sabina granted further time of two months to the investigating agencies to complete the investigation in all the 75 cases registered at Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar and Ludhiana in May 2009.
Appearing on behalf of the State, Punjab Advocate-General Baldev Singh filed the latest status report by way of an affidavit of Punjab DGP PS Gill. Baldev Singh asserted five special investigation teams had been constituted.
Three of the teams were headed by Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar commissioners of police. In all, 445 persons were examined as witnesses and about 58 accused were arrested.
Efforts were being made to arrest the remaining accused for the completion of investigation. The Advocate-General further submitted that reports or challans under Section 173 CrPC have been filed in 11 cases in Jalandhar district, two each in Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts and one case in Amritsar district.
The Advocate-General said the police had to face practical difficulties in the investigation of such cases as persons from the public were reluctant to come forward to depose.
Although the Punjab Police was occupied with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committed elections, the special investigation teams still made best efforts to complete the investigations.
On the Advocate-General’s request, the Bench granted time till November 21 to make further efforts to complete the investigations. As the case came up for hearing, Punjab DGP and the Home Secretary were present.
A petition in public interest has been filed in the matter by Phagwara-based General Samaj Manch.
Guru Sant Ramanand was attacked by six men armed with knives and a pistol during clashes at a religious ceremony at a temple in Vienna. He later succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. 

Dead space satellite falling towards Earth


Huge Defunct Satellite Will Fall to Earth This Week

By SPACE.com Managing Editor Space.com | SPACE.com – Mon, 19 Sep, 2011
A dead climate satellite that has been circling Earth for 20 years will make a fiery death plunge this week, with some pieces of the 6 1/2 ton spacecraft expected to reach the surface of the planet, NASA officials say.
The bus-size Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, will likely plummet down to Earth sometime around Friday (Sept. 23), according to NASA's latest projections. There is a 1-in-3,200 chance that UARS debris could hit a person, though NASA considers that scenario extremely remote.
"Re-entry is expected Sept. 23, plus or minus a day," NASA officials wrote in an update posted Sunday (Sept. 18). That means that by Saturday (Sept. 24), the UARS satellite should slam into Earth's atmosphere and break apart.  [Photos: Space Debris & Cleanup Concepts]
The space agency's space debris experts predict that at least 26 large pieces of the satellite will survive the scorching temperatures of atmospheric re-entry. But exactly where the UARS satellite debris will fall is uncertain.
NASA officials have said that the drop zone for UARS satellite debris could be anywhere between the latitudes of northern Canada and southern South America, an area that includes much of the planet.
The satellite should re-enter over a 500-mile (804-kilometer) track, according to NASA officials. Since 75 percent of Earth is covered with ocean, there is a high likelihood that the satellite will re-enter over the sea or a remote, uninhabited stretch of land, Victoria Samson, the Washington Office Director of the Secure World Foundation, an organization dedicated to the peaceful use of outer space, told SPACE.com last week.
If the satellite does fall while flying over a populated region of Earth, skywatchers on the ground could see a dazzling light show if they have clear weather, Nick Johnson, chief scientist of NASA's Orbital Debris Program at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said on Sept. 9.
As of Sunday, the UARS was flying in an orbit that reached a high point of about 149 miles (240 km) above Earth, according to NASA's latest update. That is down from an orbit that peaked at an altitude of 171 miles (275 km) on Sept. 8. [Infographic: NASA's Falling UARS Satellite Explained]
And UARS is falling closer to Earth with each passing orbit.
The huge satellite is 35 feet (10.7 meters) long and 15 feet (4.5 m) wide, and has been falling faster than anticipated (initial re-entry estimates pegged its plunge to somewhere between late September and early October) due to increased solar activity last week. Solar activity can cause the Earth's atmosphere to heat and expand, increasing drag on low-flying spacecraft.
The U.S. Strategic Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and NASA are keeping a close eye on the falling UARS spacecraft, but have said that they will only be able to pinpoint the satellite's point of impact to within about 6,000 miles (10,000 km) about two hours before re-entry due to its unpredictable nature, U.S. Air Force Maj. Michael  Duncan, deputy chief of the U.S. Strategic Command's space situational awareness division, told reporters on Sept. 9.
NASA launched the $750 million UARS spacecraft in 1991 to study the ozone layer and other chemical compounds in Earth's upper atmosphere to better understand their role in the planet's climate. The satellite was initially designed for a three-year mission, but it lasted for 14 years until newer satellites made it obsolete.
The UARS satellite was decommissioned in December 2005 when NASA commanded the spacecraft to fire its thrusters one last time to use all its remaining fuel to place it on a years-long path toward disposal in Earth's atmosphere.
If any pieces of the satellite debris do fall over or near a populated area, NASA and the U.S. military warn the public not to touch UARS remains. Instead, local law enforcement officials should be contacted, NASA officials said.
Any debris from the UARS satellite still remains the property of the U.S. government and cannot be sold for profit to collectors or on eBay, they added.

HC nod to shift Gikki case out of Jalandhar


Where the case stands transferred yet to be known
Chandigarh, September 20
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has transferred the trial pertaining to the murder of Gurkirat Singh Sekhon, alias Gikki, out of Jalandhar district.
An hotelier's young son, Gikki was allegedly murdered by SAD MLA Sarabjit Makkar's nephew Ram Simran Singh Makkar, alias Prince, who is also a SAD councillor. The victim, Gikki, and Prince were childhood friends as they had studied together.
As the case came up for hearing, Justice Rajan Gupta made it clear that the case was being transferred out of Jalandhar. As a detailed order was not yet available, it is not certain where the case stands transferred.
The High Court, on the previous date of hearing, had issued notice to Jalandhar Commissioner of Police, complainant in the case and other co-accused. They were asked to explain why the trial shall not be stayed during the pendency of the petition for transfer of the case.
The notices were issued by the High Court during the resumed hearing of a petition filed by Ram Simran Singh Makkar, prime accused in the case. On August 10, Makkar moved the High Court for transfer of trial out of Punjab. The petitioner contended fair and independent trial could not be expected in Punjab as there was a very strong hate campaign against the accused in the case.
Alleging complainant Rajbir Singh was playing an active role in the hate campaign, the petitioner submitted that the district administration, too, had become paralysed to protect the accused.