NRI ( Page 50 of 101 )

Indian-origin faces fraud charges in Singapore January 28, 2017 17:24

A Singapore based Indian-origin has been charged with multiple counts for helping others to fraudulently obtain cash payouts and bonuses amounting to $760,000. S Chandran a 35 year old was charged yesterday (27th January) with 58 counts of helping 49 claimants to fraudulently get state-funded Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) cash payouts and bonuses amounting to 1.1 million Singapore dollars ($760,000). A new agency reported the case as one of the biggest case of its kinds involving an alleged PIC promoter in the country. Chandran is the owner of firm Paradize Consultancy and was offered bail for 200,000 Singaporean dollars. Chandran will return to court on February 3rd. Chandran was the winner of “International Magicians Society’s Merlin Award” in the year 2014; he acted as a PIC broker and received about 400,000 dollars from the payout. He also holds a doctorate in the magic studies from the United States, the report said. The alleged offenses occurred between June 2013 and November 2014. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has conducted extensive investigations into a number of suspicious PIC claims. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore investigated the case and found many of the suspicious claims were linked somehow to Chandran. Around 200 people were called up to help in the investigations. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore scheme offers tax deductions or cash payouts to all the companies that invest in fields such as staff training, information technology or automation equipment to boost their productivity. If convicted, Chandran will face a mandatory penalty of four times the amount of cash payout or PIC bonus. He could also face a fine of up to 50,000 dollars or a jail term of up to five years per charge. Singapore man fined for abusing pet dog AMandeep

Indian-origin and Kristen Stewart creates new AI system January 27, 2017 12:24

An Indian origin has authored a new ‘Artificial Intelligence’ system, with a co-author none other than Hollywood actress Kristen Stewart, who is known for her roles in ‘Twilight’. The new AI system can make movie shots just look alike as if they were painted. Bhautik Joshi an Indian origin engineer has completed his studies from New South Wales and currently is working as a research engineer in Adobe “San Franciso Bay Area”. The process relies on machine learning, which is a type of artificial intelligence. It gives a look of an impressionistic painting to certain shots in the film short, which uses allusive images to follow a man through his day. The technique is being described as a neural style transfer, which differs from filters of Snapchat and Instagram. Bhautik Joshi said that current filters work with the information in the image and on Instagram filters is just a color lookup. To create effects, Snapchat and Instagram uses filters that are based on rules created by humans "If you come across this condition, do that to the image." The Snapchat’s software is designed to recognize eyes in a photo, so if a person wants to make an eye look like a cartoon character’s, it cannot do that. In contrast, style transfer, in this context, works by taking an image and breaking it down into blocks to identify its components and then comparing it to a reference image. If a person wants to make an image look as if it were painted in the style of Van Gogh's "Starry Night", the AI software would look for these corresponding features in the image that you want to alter, using a technique based on so-called neural networks. Joshi also said that sometimes, the results cannot be predictable, because unlike with the Snapchat filters, the computer is learning as it goes through the images. More than Two Million galaxies in Universe AMandeep

Indian-origin Lawmakers slammed Trump’s immigration policy January 27, 2017 10:26

Indian-origin lawmakers have slammed President Trump for signing executive orders to reshape the country’s immigration policies and described the move as “anti-immigration” that will “tear apart” families. Senator Kamala Harris, the first Indian-origin to be elected to the upper chamber of the United States congress said, President Trump has escalated his anti-immigrants stand with a series of executive orders that will “tear families apart,” and the policy will also weaken the public safety and national security. "Creating a deportation force to target immigrant families who are contributing to our society is not a show of strength. Asking taxpayers to pay for an unrealistic border wall is not a solution. And telling cities to deny public safety, education, and health services to kids and families is irresponsible and cruel," said Harris. She also said that the United States was “less safe” now because of the anti-immigration policies followed by the president. Immigrant people will report few crimes, families will be in fear and our communities and local economies will suffer. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal who is also the representative of Indian-American Seattle has slammed President Trump for moving forward with his "divisive agenda" that will do nothing to solve the real immigration issues. Donald Trump’s Immigration policies Jayapal said “President Trump has doubled down his agenda that pits mother against mother, neighbor against neighbor, tearing apart the fabric of our communities”. "We must take on enacting comprehensive and humane reform of our broken immigration system - to support the country’s economy, communities and families - but President Trump offers zero leadership in this area," she said. Jayapal said that "Instead of building a wall, they should address the underlying systemic issues that drive immigration and fix the country’s outdated immigration system. Instead of banning refugees and people based on their religion, they should welcome them with open arms." Senator Chuck Schumer and Democratic Whip Congressman Steny H Hoyer joined the lawmakers in opposing Trump's immigration policies. Senator Chuck Schumer said that “Donald Trump’s plans are totally based on alternative facts and will do nothing to keep people safe or fix the immigration system in a humane, pragmatic and effective way.” India true friend, Donald Trump AMandeep

Tamil-Americans protest against ban on Jallikattu January 24, 2017 11:30

Hundreds of Tamil-Americans had held a rally at the Gandhi statue in Washington D.C in the support of their cultural festival, demanding to lift the ban on the bull taming sport. Where as in Norfolk, Virginia outside the headquarters of PETA dozens of people held protest. In the rally a large number of children and women holding posters raised their slogans in support of Jallikattu and vented out their anger again the animal rights group “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is leading the support to ban the popular culture by stating it is a torture to the animal. Babu Vinayagam one of the anti-PETA protestors at the Mahatma Gandhi Statue outside the Indian Embassy in Washington said, that they love their animals and knows how to treat them. He also said the rally was to show their solidarity with their people how are back home fighting against ban on Jalikattu. Most of the slogans were written in Tamil, but at times the crowd shouted “Down, Down PETA,” venting their anger towards the animal rights group. The crowd also shouted “We want Jallikatu.” Vinod Kumar, an IT professional from Tamil Nadu, said, adding, expatriate Tamilians want a permanent solution and an ordinance route to lift the ban on Jallikattu. He also said that they want a legislative measure, so that this old tradition could be continued forever. The rally was one of the largest protest and demonstration in front of the Indian Embassy in recent years. Nalini Britto spoke on behalf of the Greater Washington Tamil Diaspora, which had organized the anti-PETA, pro-Jallikattu rally in Washington, she said that they may be away from home, but their home is always with them, she said they are Tamil people and are proud of their heritage; it was their pride which was being taken away from them. Jallikettu Tamilians pride activists envy Meanwhile a local news channel in Virginia reported a protest outside the PETA headquarters in Norfolk. The news channel reported that dozens of people travelled to Hampton Roads from all across the world to protest outside the PETA headquarters. Protesters stood outside of the headquarters in Norfolk and told to local news that they were protesting the organizations influence on the court decisions. Karthik Rangarajan one of the protest organizers said "What PETA has done is that there is a prevention of cruelty act in India, which was backdoor amended, through the lobbying that PETA did." In a recently released statement, PETA alleged that these protesters are anxious to overturn the court decision and they want to preserve a culture as heinous “as fox hunting was in the UK” and “Bull fighting is in Spain” Trump Administration pace to restrict H-1B Visa AMandeep

NRI Arrested on Dowry Charge January 24, 2017 11:26

According to Banjara hill police NRI fitness trainer was arrested on 23 January (Monday) for harassing his wife for dowry and cheating his in-laws for Rs 1.5 crore. P Preadeep Reddy 35 years old is an Australia-based fitness trainer, who operated F45 fitness center on Road No. 92 in Jubilee Hills Hyderabad. Pradeep married to Divya Ligamaneni in the year 2008 and they have a 5 year old daughter. According to the complaint reports, it is alleged that Pradeep that taken Rs 1.5 crore from Divya and her parents a couple of years ago to launch F45 fitness center and had duped them, it was also alleged that Pradeep had taken by demanding Rs 10 lakh as cash and 30 tola gold as dowry. The complaint also alleged that Pradeep physically and mentally kept torturing Divya and also maintained affairs with other women. The Banjara Hill police registered a case under sections 420, 406, 506 of the IPC and sections 3 and 4 of the DP Act. “Pradeep was arrested on Monday and was taken to judicial custody,” Inspector K Srinivas said. Indian teacher found guilty in teacher employment scheme AMandeep

Indian Teacher Found Guilty In Teacher Employement Scheme January 23, 2017 17:13

According to the federal officials an Indian teacher was found guilty of a scheme to defraud his fellow Indian teachers by using an employment scheme. Eastern Texas Federal Prosecutor Richard L. Durbin announced on 20th January (Friday) that George Mariadas Kurusu appeared before Federal Magistrate Judge David B. Fannin and admitted that he was guilty to foreign labor contract, fraud, tampering with a witness or victim and making false statements on visa applications. According to the prosecutors, Kurusu admitted that from the year 2012 December to 2016 May, he had defrauded several teachers out of $50,000 for a visa package to get jobs and H-1B visas in Texas. Several schools across the United States hire teachers from other countries for the subjects in which there are no enough qualified American teachers and bring them on H-1B visas which are meant for the professionals. Kurusu was on an H1-B visa and was teaching classes at Fort Stockton Independent School District in Texas. According to statements released by the prosecutor’s office, Kurusu had set up a company named ‘Samaritan Educational Services’ and then he advertised jobs in Fort Stockton Independent School District in local newspapers of Hyderabad. When people started applying for jobs, he made it appear as if they had to apply for the jobs via him. Kurusu charged a huge amount of fees and gave the people an impression that they were paying for the paper works. Then Kurusu used personal information of those people to create a buffer so that all communications to and from the Fort Stockton Independent School visa application process went through him. When the teachers arrived in the United States, Kurusu sets them with bank accounts which electronically transfer funds provisions that sent him 15 percent of their salary to the account of SES claiming it was for the consolation and for what he claimed ensuring that they had their jobs and visa. When investigations started to begin, Kurusu warned his victims if they cooperated with officials then they would lose their jobs. Indian origin convicted for harassing US officials AMandeep

Indian Origin Convicted for Harassing US Officials January 23, 2017 12:16

A 56 years old Indian-American man made over three thousand harassing interstate phone calls to United State officials and some with death threats, has been convicted by a federal court in California. Kulwant Singh Sandhu was found guilty by Eastern California Federal Prosecutor Phillip A Talbert on 20th January (Friday) of two counts of making harassing phone calls. Assistant Federal Prosecutors ‘Nirav Desai and James Conolly’. Prosecuted the case before Judge Garland E Burrell. According to the prosecution Kulwant Singh Sandhu started making, harassing phone calls to the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington D.C. and to private individuals in 2012. In 2015 alone Sandhu made more than three thousand calls and left 350 voice mails. The Securities and Exchange Commission regulates the stock markets and the securities industry. The prosecutor's office said “Sandhu’s voicemails were profanity-filled with obscene language that repeatedly called for the Securities and Exchange Commission personnel and others, to be among other things, rounded up, publicly hanged, water-boarded, burned alive, shot, and blown up with rockets and tanks. "His comments were mostly sexually graphic and he always targeted individuals”. Sandhu is to be sentenced in April this year and can face a maximum of two years in prison along with a fine of $250,000 for the two charges, he was convicted for. Trump’s Administration Pace to restrict H-1B Visa AMandeep

Indian Origin Body Found In Suitcase January 20, 2017 13:32

A 46 year old Indian origin woman’s body was found inside a suitcase, which was dumped in an alleyway by a man believed to be her ex-husband. Kiran Daudia was a resident of Leicester whose body was found by a member of the public in a walkway off Cromer Street in Leicester on 17th January. Kiran was the mother of two children and she was working at UK’s popular retail call center ‘Next’. According to the police Ashwin Daudia a 50 year old of Lyme Roadm Leicester was charged with the murder of Kiran Daudia and will appear at Leicester Magistrates Court on 26th of January. The man who was arrested, is believed to be Kiran's ex-husband. Leicestershire Police had said in a statement that a 50 year old man was arrested and charged with murder, he has been remanded into custody and will appear at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Thursday. Cromer Street and a nearby property on Mayfield Road remained cordoned off on Wednesday while police examined the scene. Police has asked the local people to contact force if they have seen anyone pulling suitcase in the area of Lyme Street and the alleyway Cromer Street in the late afternoon or early evening on 16th January. Kiran’s family said in a statement that, Kiran was a loved mother, daughter, sister and aunt, she will be missed by all of them. And they also requested for their identities not be revealed. Kiran’s former workplace also expressed shock at her death. A spokesperson for Next said that, “Company was shocked to learn of the tragic death of its colleague Mrs Kiran Daudia in such horrific circumstances. She was a long-standing, highly respected and much loved, she had worked at Next for 17 years and our thoughts are with her family, friends and co-workers at this saddest of times. Kiran will be sorely missed. India told UK no role for third party on Kashmir AMandeep

Indian origin Entrepreneur May Lead FDA January 19, 2017 12:38

Balaji S Srinivasan an Indian origin American, who is a successful Silicon Valley based entrepreneur and CEO of a bitcoin startup. Srinivasan is being considered for Donald Trump administration’s pick to lead the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) after he met Donald Trump. Srinivasan met Donald Trump at the Trump towers in New York on the 12th of January, but no official announcement has been made yet. Sean Spicer, who is the incoming White House Press Secretary has confirmed that Srinivasan is being considered for the position of head FDA. FDA is the important federal agency for drug and pharma industry. Spicer also said that Jim O’Neil, who is the managing director of Mithril Capital Management is also being considered for the position in the FDA. Balaji Srinivasan is currently serving as the CEO and co-founder of 21.Co and is also a partner in the Andreessen Horowitz. Srinivasan had also won the FDA approval as a genomics entrepreneurial. According to Srinivasan’s Linkedin profile “ He is broadly interested in new technology, which a particular focus on ‘real world’ application’s digital bits interface with physical atoms and substantive problems, such as quantified self (healthcare), MOOCs/edtech (education), Bitcoin (finance), drones, and 3D printing." Srinivasan has also served as a lecturer in the Departments of Statistics and Computer Science at the Stanford University. Srinivasan described himself as a computer scientist, investor, entrepreneur and academic on his website. He was the CTO and Co-founder of Counsyl, which is a genomics startup that began in a Stanford dorm room, which now tests 4 % of all American births. Srinivasan stepped back from an executive role in November 2012 after working for ten years in genomics and five years at Counsyl to work on other areas of technology. According to the media reports Srinivasan is closely associated with Peter Thiel, who is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and co-founder of Paypal. AMandeep

Five Year Sikh not allowed in to School for Wearing Turban January 18, 2017 11:04

A 5 year old Sikh boy was denied from school enrollment in Australia for wearing a turban, as it does not align with school’s uniform policy. Sagardeep Singh Arora father of the child has quoted by saying to a local news that “It was disappointing that his son was forced to abandon his religious practices ad identity to access to an education in Melbourne’s Melton Christian College. Arora had lodged a claim with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Arora also said that he believes in having a common school uniform is very important in promoting the identity of the school and integration. But the students must be allowed to wear their significant religious faith symbols and articles of faith. It is immoral for a school which do not allow its students to practice their beliefs. Arora said that they are in talks with different organizations like schools, police and army, regarding the importance of hair and turban in Sikhism in Australia and other countries. But still the Melbourne’s Melton Christian College has refused to review their uniform policy. It is so disappointing that Sikh community are still struggling with issues like this, even after having a long history of the Sikh community in Australia. "While practicing our religious beliefs, we wish to show an expression of solidarity with the wider Australian community," he added. According to the reports, Melbourne Christian College has provided a written response to the VEOHRC in which the school has refused to include any additional items amid the existing permitted uniform protocol. In the written response College said, that the history of their college represents more than 30 years of inclusive religious tolerance. Children of the school have been in classrooms and grounds together, playing and learning wonderfully oblivious to their religion. They are proud of that heritage of inclusiveness. MCC said that they acknowledge the disappointment which Sagardeep and his family have felt. They respectfully recognize Aurora’s disappointment that the uniform protocol of the school means that non prescribed items are not permitted to be worn in addition to the school uniform. The result is that they have agreed that college uniform will be maintained as it is, without permitting additional items." Sikhism is a small religion, but it is a growing minority in Australia. Sikh community can trace its origin in the nation to the 1830s. At present Australia is home to more than 72,000 Sikhs, and it is expected that in this year’s census the population of Sikh’s is going to increase. In a landmark case in September 2008, a Brisbane private school was forced to back down on a strict uniform policy that would have forced a Sikh boy to cut his hair and remove his turban. AMandeep

Punjabi NRIs to Visit India to Support AAP election Campaign January 17, 2017 15:17

Around ninety Punjabi people of Indian Origin from Canada are going to fly to Punjab for Aam Admi Party (AAP) campaign, In 16 of the largest constituencies in Punjab for the upcoming assembly elections. They all will be arriving on 19th January. Surinder Mavi a 31 year old from Brampton said that he wants to be the part of a real change, Mavi has also helped in organizing the plane to India loaded with APP ‘election volunteers”, and was quoted as Toronto Star. He also said that volunteers from Toronto are part of a campaign and they will see thousands of Indian expatriates who will be arriving in Delhi and also in Punjab to help AAP in the upcoming elections. Mavi’s interest in politics began 8 years ago, when he realized that bribes were unnecessary and basic rules must be respected such as, stopping when the traffic signal is red. In the upcoming elections, Mavi will be riding an AAP campaign bus that will support a rally in 16 largest constituencies of Punjab. Mavi joined the Canadian branch of AAP, which had a tremendous burst into the political scene in India two years ago with a platform which ensured to end the culture of bribe taking. The key issues which will be addressed in the campaign are, AAP’s proposals to fight drug abuse among youth in Punjab and programs which will give more support and money to farmers to cultivate more crops. Azad Kaushik, Canadian president of the Overseas Friends of BJP, admitted to "an anti-incumbency factor" in Punjab. But he told the Star over the phone from Delhi, where he was visiting, that the BJP's economic record would keep its coalition with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in power in Punjab. Kaushik had also accused AAP for ‘failing miserably’ in Delhi which it governs. Polls which were conducted in the recent months showed a widely different results. But now AAP is also having a quite significant impact in the Punjab. The Punjab state election is likely going to witness a three way fight between SAD-BJP, Congress and AAP for 117 seats. AMandeep

NRIs and PIOs Face Heat of Demonitization January 16, 2017 16:28

After local residents in the country stood hours in long lines for the exchange of their old 500 and 1000 currency notes, now NRIs and People of India Origin (PIO) are waiting in the long queues to exchange their old notes at 5 designated RBI branches in the country but because of severe strict conditions several of them have had to return disappointed. Tempers ran high outside the central bank branches as people coming from long distances were denied entry by the guards on the grounds that they were not carrying the requisite documents. Many NRIs complained that they were not allowed to speak to officials who could at least listen to their grievances. Ritu Diwan an agitated US national said, though she had a foreign passport, her family still visits India every year. She still had few Indian currency notes and she wants to exchange them, but most of the NRIs and PIOs were not allowed inside the RBI. Mr. Prime Minister are we supposed to burn Indian currency that we still have? She said. Diwan also said “This unnecessary harassment simply indicates that PIOs are no more welcome to the country. Dharamveer, another US national, said PIOs generally keep some amount of Indian currency as they frequently visit India. And there is no point in paying commission on the exchange of currency for each visit. He also said that any PIO who keeps visiting the country easily have 50,000 to 1,00,000 worth of Indian currency and Dharamveer has challenged the government to prove their currency as black money and forfeit that from them. We do not spend that money in the country where we live now, but the country of our origin. He said that by chance, he was there at this time and wanted to exchange a few of his currency notes, but they were not allowed to do so. It was very frustrating. Many PIOs were turned away from RBI, protested that they do not have millions of rupees, but they only had few thousands which the administration must exchange. People were frustrated towards the policy of the government and according to the reports. As a mark of protest NRIs threw defunct currency notes at the gate of RBI. Besides NRIs, many Indian citizens who failed to deposit their old currency notes during the 50 day limitation period, were also turned away from RBI after standing in the queue for hours. Prime Minister said that the currency could be still exchanged till March 31st 2017 at RBI, said Ram Kumar. Some people were still coming to RBI to exchange their notes hoping that security guards would allow them to enter and exchange their scrapped currency notes. AMan Deep