New rules to stop Indian workers settling in UK

LONDON: UK announced that Indian and other non-EU professionals will have to return to their countries of origin after their work visaexpires instead of being allowed to settle here after working for five years.

Currently, immigration rules allow non-EU professionals to settle in Britain indefinitely after working for five years.

This provision is likely to be soon scrapped under the David Cameron government's plans to cut immigration.

Setting out several measures the Cameron government had taken since assuming office in 2010, Home secretary Theresa May said: "Under Labour, temporary immigration led to an automatic right to settle here. So we're breaking that link, making sure that immigrants who come here to work go home at the end of their visa".

Speaking at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, May drew applause as she announced changes to immigration rules that would enable officials to deport foreign nationals who commit crimes in Britain, and seek to stay on using the right to family life under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

Earlier, immigration minister Damian Green reiterated the government's commitment to tighten immigration rules, and cited two examples from Delhi to allege abuse of the visa system for students and workers.

Recalling the annual cap of 21,700 for foreign workers, Green said: "I saw, in our office in Delhi, a man being interviewed for his visa. He said he was coming for a skilled job working on a busy production line making machinery.

He needed an interpreter for his visa interview. He would not be safe on a busy, dangerous production line".

Steve Jobs – the most brilliant practioner of perfect timing….

There can be no doubt in anyone'ss mind that Steve Jobs was one of the most dynamic, most innovative and most impactful business leaders of our times. Much has already been written about all this. My post today is on a small but different point – how Steve Jobs understood the meaning of perfect timing; and how even the Gods were forced to reward him with the perfect timing for his departure…. 

There is this concept that everyone knows of – departing on time. A little too early and one feels that one could have done a little more with one’s time. A little too late and one feels that one stayed on for too long. The right timing is what makes the real heroes stand out. Take Gandhiji for example. His timing couldn’t have been more perfect. He found himself at the right time in South Africa – where circumstances pitchforked him into the middle of the anti-colonial struggle there. He came back to India to find a near-vacuum in the struggle against the British. Through more than thirty years of his struggle in India, he managed to get the timing right for the Khilafat movement, the non-cooperation movement and eventually the Quit India movement. Not before he got the full independence for India did Gandhiji rest. Not till the last of the British left the Indian soil could anyone stop Gandhiji. Gandhiji’s departure from this planet was perfectly timed – just after he had delivered his goal to his countrymen. Not minute too soon. Not a minute too late. The gods conspired to confer greatness on the father of the nation. 

Steve Job’s case is something similar. There could not possibly have been a better time for him to depart from this life. 

Just look at the financial performance of his company. In the 3^rd quarter of this fiscal (Apple fiscal ends September each year), Apple clocked revenues of $28.6 billion, a growth of 82% over the previous year. Mind you, these are not the results of an upstart, small company which would naturally record fast growth rates. Apple was already a monolith a year back – nearly the same size as other iconic companies like Pepsico and nearly double of Coca Cola Company Limited. Apple’s 3^rd quarter profits stoo at $.7.3 billion, a growth of 125% over the same period last year. Such results are simply unheard of in the corporate sector – especially in America where revenue growths of 10% are considered excellent. Even Indian companies – with their much smaller bases – are unable to record such high rates of growths. These results are a tribute to the genius of Steve Jobs. 

All through his life, Steve Jobs understood the meaning of timing. While othere management gurus could only talk about it, Steve Jobs practiced perfect timing. His first award winning product was no doubt the humble ipod in 2001, even though the Mac had been launched earlier. This simple product was able to put “1000 songs” into a mini frame that could easily be carried in a small wallet or even a shirt pocket. From 2001 to 2004, Apple milked the success of the ipod. As sales of the original ipod started declining, Apple introduced a new model of ipod with incessant regularity – starting with the ipod mini in Jan 2004, the ipod music+photo model in Oct 2004, the ipod shuffle in Jan 2005, the ipod nano in Sept 2005 and ipod video player in Oct 2005. But even as these design innovations perked sales up, Jobs knew that the ipod was going to go into decline. Pronto, in June 2007, the iphone was launched and the company revenues soared again. Jobs followed the same relentless spirit of innovation and perfect timing with the iphone launching a new model every year with the iphone 3G coming out in June 2008, the iphone-3 in June 2009 and the iphone-4 in June 2010. Just a few weeks back, the company unveiled the latest iphone – the iphone 4S. 

With the launch of the iphone, Steve Jobs took Apple into a different orbit altogether. Under normal circumstances, one would have expected Jobs to milk the iphone for a few years before introducing the next big innovation. But maybe Jobs knew of what the future held for him. His sense of timing had to be perfect. And so, while the iphone sales were still soaring, the ipad was launched in April 2010 and the follow-up model, the ipad-2, was launched a year later in March this year. 

It’s not surprising then that Apple has been recording revenue growths of the kind not seen before. Revenue growths were 33% in FY04, 68% in FY05, 39% in FY06, 27% in FY07, 53% in FY08, 14% in FY09 and 52% in FY10. And then of course, the way FY11 is going, Apple will beat its own past records by growing perhaps at more than 80% this year. In just 8 years, Apple’s turnover would increase from just $ 8 billion to perhaps more than $100 billion this year. The sense of timing is apparent again here, as the FY11 revenue growth numbers – the last year of Jobs’ life – are the highest ever in the company’s history. If this is not an example of great timing, what is? 

Most people say that the world lost Jobs too early. There is a sense of remorse and sadness that this great innovator died so early. But just think about it – isn’t this the way Jobs himself would have wanted it? To go at the peak of his career. To go when everyone is asking: why? Just like in the case of Gandhiji, looks like the Gods have conspired in the case of Steve Jobs also. 

The real truth is that Steve Jobs was brilliant in many things. He was a brilliant innovator; he was a brilliant marketer. But what is not known well enough is that he was a brilliant timer of events. It’s almost like he scripted his own death – timed beautifully with the best period of his company’s life….that’s the true genius of this brilliant man…..

US broadcaster deported from India

New Delhi, Sept 24 : Radio broadcaster and founder-director of Alternate Radio, David Barsamian was deported from New Delhi airport on Friday. He had come on a tourist visa and was to leave for Kashmir to study the issue of two thousand unmarked graves. In November 2010 US academic Professor Richard Shapiro was denied entry by the immigration authorities in New Delhi. Shapiro is the chairman and associate professor of the Department of Anthropology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. He is the husband of Angana Chatterji, co-convener of the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir. In May this year, J-K government deported human rights activist Gautum Navlakha from Srinagar airport.

Association of Parents of Parents of disappeared persons spokesperson said that David after reading a State Human Rights report on the unmarked graves had informed him that he would visit the valley next week. Immigration officials cite the reason for deportation as violation of laws .David during his previous visit he came on a tourist visa and later wrote reports on human rights violation in Kashmir. This is not permitted since he did not come on a journalist visa. David visited India in 2008 and in Febuary this year. He also delivered lectures.

He made a call to Pandit Dehu Chaudhri who is his sitar guru. Pandit said that he sounded shaky and was glad that  his life is  safe. Noted Documentary filmmaker Sanjay Kak said that he received a email which said that he was  sad and furious and so tired.

NRI husbands lose passports for wife harassment

New Delhi, Oct 6 : The Regional Passport offices across the country have constituted a women complaint cell for Non Resident Indians (NRI) . Based on a complaint from the spouse the office will confiscate the husband’s passport. The highest number of complaint was recorded in Jallandhar.

We have so far received 198 complains and seized passports of 59 people in these cases. We are working on other cases and will take action on them soon,” Parmeet Singh Regional Passport Officer  said. She said such cells would help provide justice to women being harassed by their husbands living abroad.

National Commission for Women has a NRI cell. The NRI Cell was formally inaugurated on the 24th of September, 2009. NRI Cell deals with complaints received from India and abroad resulting due to cross country marriages wherein there is any deprivation of women’s rights or any issue involving grave injustice to women. Since its inception around 350 cases have been registered.

The issue of feasibility of dual passport to women who marry NRIs/PIOs was taken up with Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Law and Justice. However under existing Passport Act, 1967 the same is not feasible, the MEA has assured the following: if a wife is harassed and deserted and is without her passport and if the original passport is valid and the husband has that in his custody, she can make an application to the Passport Office and a new passport will be given after verifying passport particulars from original Passport issuing authority, in case she does not have any record or photocopy of her old passport.

Eligible Punjabi NRI voters register now

Eligible Punjabi NRIs, who are eagerly looking forward to voting in Indian elections, need to be first registered as voters at their place of residence in India. Hundreds of Punjabi NRIs live in different parts of the world including US, Britain, Canada, the Gulf countries, Australia, New Zealand, south-east Asia and Europe. As per the amendment of the Representation of People's Act, in order to be eligible to be registered as voters in India, every overseas elector who is not present in his place of ordinary residence in India due to employment, education or other reasons and has not acquired citizenship of any other country and who is not included in the electoral roll has the right to have his name registered in the electoral roll of the constituency in which his her place of residence in India as mentioned in his her passport is located. So speaking in terms of rule 8A of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, every NRI whose place of residence in India is located in the state of Punjab and who has completed 18 years of age as on 01.01.2011, and wants to register his name in the electoral roll is required to submit claim application in Form 6-A for registration in the electoral roll of the constituency in which his her place of residence as shown in the passport is located. The claim application or Form-6A as it is commonly known can be either submitted in person directly to the registration officer of the constituency concerned or sent to such registration officer by post along with the necessary documents. When the claim application is sent by post, it should be accompanied by photocopies of the relevant pages of the passport duly attested by the competent official of the Indian mission in the country concerned. So NRIs, what are you waiting for? Apply now to get registered as voters in India.