NOMINATIONS INVITED FOR BHARATVANSHI GAURAV SAMMAN 2009
 
Nominations are invited for the Bharatvanshi Gaurav Samman - 2009 from eminent personalities of Indian Diaspora by Antar-Rashtriya Sahayog Nyas (Trust for international co-operation). The Award carries Rs. one lakh in cash, a citation, a plaque and a shawl. The nominations along with detailed bio-data are to reach the Nyas Office at 6-M, Bhagat Singh Market, New Delhi-110001 by 30th September 2008.
 
The Antar-Rashtriya Sahayog Nyas was created with the objective of maintaining close contacts with the Indian Diaspora and to acknowledge and appreciate their achievements by publicly honoring at least one person every year to be selected for excellence for working for the Indian Diaspora. The Nyas honored Ranjith Ramnarain of South Africa in 2005, Satnarayan Maharaj of Trinidad & Tobago in the year 2006 and Dr. Thomas Abraham of United States in January 2008 at New Delhi for their contributions to the Diaspora.
 
The Selection Committee includes prominent members of the Indian Diaspora such as Sir Aneroodh Jagnauth, President of the Mauritius Republic; Mahendra Choudhry, Finance Minister of Fiji; Basdeo Pandey, former Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago; Dr. Ved P. Nanda, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Denver University, USA; Subhash Chandra, Chairman & Managing Director Zee Telefilms Ltd.; and R. P. N. Singh, Chairman S. S. R. Medical College, Mauritius.  J. C. Sharma, former Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, is the President of the Nyas.
 
TWO PIO MALASIAN MPs HELD FOR HOLDING PROTEST RALLY
 
Two Indian origin lawmakers were among three opposition members of the Malaysian parliament who were arrested in Malaysia for joining a rally to seek the release of detained activists of a Hindu body. Indian origin lawmakers, S Manikavasagam and R Sivararsa, and their Malay colleague, Zuraida Kamaruddin, had joined a rally to seek freedom for five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) activists, and 65 others detained under the stringent Internal Security Act (ISA).
 
The lawmakers, from the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), were among six detained by the police. They were released on bail later. The PKR party has emerged at the head of an opposition alliance with an unprecedented 82 members in parliament and rules in four of the country's 13 states. The protest, held in front of the Istan Negara, the palace of the royal head of the state, is the first such involving elected representatives.
 
Holding of rallies requires police permission in Malaysia. Around 70 who rallied, including children, had gathered in front of the Istana Negara, demanding the release of the 70 men currently detained under ISA at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping. The children were accompanied by their mothers as well as other family members.
 
The official said that all except the six left after they were asked to. The rally was organised by the Hindraf and joined by members of the Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA, a human rights body.
 
According to Hindraf national event coordinator Kannan Ramasamy, they gathered to appeal to the King Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin to advise Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar to release all the ISA detainees.
 
Five Hindraf leaders - M Manoharan, P Uthayakumar, V Ganabatirau, R Kengadharan and K Vasantha Kumar - are serving two-year jail terms under ISA after they organized a protest rally on Nov 25 last year alleging discrimination against the two million-plus Tamil Hindus in jobs and education. They also alleged that over 35,000 Hindu shrines had been demolished in the last five decades.
 
Appeals for the release of the "Hindraf-5" from abroad and from different quarters within the country, including members of ruling coalition Barisan Nasional, have not been heeded by the government. The royal head of the state issued a decree in April to confirm the detention of the five and directed that they serve their full two-year terms.
 
SOUTH AFRICAN INDIAN COUPLE MOVES DURBAN COURT OVER RACIAL SLUR
 
A young Indian couple, allegedly targeted with racial slurs for six months by their African neighbors who called them ''coolies'' and told them to ''go back to India'', have made very emotional appeal to Equality Court in the South African city of Durban. Gopaul Mohun and his wife, Radhika, residents of Amanzimtoti, south of Durban, told the court that they had been insulted by their neighbor Msizi Joel Mosondo and his family for the past six months.
 
''They said we were cane cutters and that is all we are fit for,'' Mohun said in the papers filed in the court.
 
''Mr Masondo said he was oppressed and that he fought for this country and that Indians only benefited from his hard work,'' he said.
 
Masondo's wife said: ''You coolie, go back to India where you belong,'' Mohun alleged.
 
''The family uses derogatory racial words and phrases and tells neighbors about 'these Indians','' he said. Mohun told the court that he had twice tried to serve warning notices on the Masondo family but they had refused to accept it.
 
''He and his family continue to make violent threats...on me and my family despite my attempt to bring peace. The police told me that Masondo's wife had refused to allow her husband to accept the notices and said that she doesn't care about me because I am a nuisance to them,'' he said.
 
But Masondo, in a brief affidavit, replied that Mohun was the ''trouble maker''.
 
''Therefore, while the case and investigation is going I'm not responding to anybody like Mr Gopaul who brews trouble now and again and talks too much'', said Masondo. 
 
South Africa has recently witnessed heightened racial tensions with renewed xenophobic attacks that has left more than 63 people killed and displaced over 70 000
 
SIKHS MARCH TO PROTEST HATE CRIMES IN NEW YORK
 
The Sikh community in New York marched through the streets in Queens Borough protesting a spate of hate crimes against Sikh school students and calling upon the Department of Education in the city to take proactive action to stop the menace.
 
Nearly 200 people on Monday marched from the two gurdwaras in Richmond Hill, which has a large Sikh population, to the Richmond Hill High School, where Jagmohan Singh Premi, 18, was punched in the face June 3 after a student tried to remove his patka (smaller turban). School authorities suspended the attacker from the school soon after.
 
Within a week of that incident, Gurprit Kaur, a 12-year-old student at Public School 219 in Flushing, discovered that a fellow student had cut off a portion of her religiously-mandated uncut hair.
 
Last year, 15-year-old Harpal Singh Vacher's turban was yanked off and his hair sheared with scissors by a fellow student in a school in Elmhurst, also in Queens. The attacker was later convicted of hate crime.
 
Sikh men have become targets of bias crimes because of their distinctive look, more so after 9/11. The Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy and rights group, released a report in April which said that almost 60 percent of the 400 Sikh students surveyed had suffered bias-based harassment or violence in city schools.
 
John Liu, New York City Council Member who is on the Council's Education Committee addressed the protesters. "Continuing inaction by the department of education in the face of repeated bias attacks in our public schools is utterly reprehensible, not only because of the bigotry and hate involved but also because the department refuses to acknowledge the magnitude of this persistent problem," Liu said.
 
In both Premi and Vacher's case, he said, the department ignored warning signs and pleas for help from the victims.
 
New York City Schools chancellor Joe Klein had earlier met the Sikh community and said new bias regulations were being implemented.
 
The protest coordinator Sonny Singh, however, said the education department is reactive - it takes action only after an incident. "But the community wants it to be proactive to prevent hate crimes. And we have resolved to keep taking to the streets to achieve our aim," Singh said.
 
CANADIAN IMMIGRATION IN EXCHANGE FOR INVESTMENT
 
Immigration to Canada takes more than three years. But people desiring to invest Canadian $400,000 can get a fast track permanent residency or even Canadian citizenship in much lesser time under the investor category.
 
Renaissance Capital Inc. (RCI), a Montreal-based investment facilitator has been helping investors 'jump-the-queue.' RCI has been approved by the Quebec government in Canada. The investor can deposit $400,000 in government bonds, securities or in some social programs and businesses. If an investor does not have all that money, RCI can arrange a loan provided the immigrant pays non-refundable Canadian $120,000. The agency obtains all clearances from the federal and provincial governments concerned on behalf of the investors. An investor can buy land and do his/her own farming. About 3000 people have already taken advantage of the investor category and migrated to Canada.
 
DRIVING LICENSES TO OCIs IN GURGAON
 
The district administration in Gurgaon has announced that it would issue Indian driving licenses to Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), treating them on par with non-resident Indians (NRIs). Children of OCIs can also be enrolled in any educational institution here, just like NRI children are. OCIs are essentially foreign nationals and have been denied this privilege so far. This announcement makes Gurgaon as one of the select cities which give save benefits to  OCIs and NRIs.
 
Gurgaon has many multinational companies (MNCs) which employ NRIs, foreign nationals as well as OCI card holders; their stay could be either for business purpose, or because of the project period of the company for which they work.
 
Under the OCI scheme, persons of Indian origin who were once citizens of India are eligible to become OCIs. When in India, they are not required to report to the police or other foreign office for any length of their stay in India, nor do they require employment visa to work in the private sector. However, they are not allowed to hold government jobs. They also cannot acquire agriculture and plantation land.
 
BRUTAL AND CALLOUS MURDER OF A LIQUOR SHOP OWNER IN NEW ZEALAND
 
The Indian community in New Zealand was shocked at brutal and callous murder of a Liquor shop owner Mr. Navtej Singh in Manurewa, Auckland recently.
 
Navtej Singh, after being shot, started bleeding profusely and desperately called for help as reported by the media. However, the police took longer time to reach the premises where the victim was lying, delayed the entry of paramedics.  The delay cost the victim his life, making Singh's young wife prematurely widow.
 
In the last few years, a number of people of the same fraternity have been killed and a large number of people have been gruesomely attacked, some suffering severe and lifelong injuries. Despite the numerous complaints by the community leaders, no official inquiry has been carried out against the police for their lack of prompt response and negligence in discharging their duties prudently.
 
BRITISH GOVT. SCRAPS BONDS FOR FAMILY VISITORS AND ALLOWS PROFESSIONALS TO RETURN
 
The British government had a controversial proposal to introduce financial bonds for people visiting their relatives in Britain. The South Asian community led by the Indian community campaigned strongly against the proposal forcing the Government to withdraw the proposal. British citizens or permanent residents in Britain will have to become 'licensed sponsors' before their relatives can be allowed to visit.  Sponsors will be obligated to ensure that their visitors leave before the expiration of the visa.  A sponsor, who fails in his duties, can face a ban on bringing anyone else into the UK.
 
The British government has now scrapped a controversial proposal to introduce financial bonds for people visiting their relatives. The widespread criticism led British Immigration Minister Liam Byrne to take the unprecedented step of broadening the three-month process of consultation on the proposal to include ordinary people in India.

The government said visitors will now be allowed to stay for a maximum of six months. While there will be no financial bonds for family visitors, those who broke the rules will face civil penalties. Under a new system, British citizens or those who are permanent residents in Britain will have to become licensed sponsors before their relatives can be allowed to visit.

"Sponsors will have a duty to ensure that their visitors comply with the terms of their visa and that they leave before the visa ends... If sponsors fail in their duties, they face a ban on bringing anyone else into the UK, or in more extreme cases, fines of up to 5,000 pounds or imprisonment," the government said.

The government has also introduced a new low-cost three-month group visa for tourists that is likely to be tested in India before worldwide implementation.
 
In another development with a major policy change, Britain has decided to allow thousands of Indian professionals, who left the country after the November 2006 immigration rules changes, to return.  Over 5,000 highly skilled migrants, most of them Indians, had left Britain following the changes that were challenged in the High Court. On April 8 this year, the court ruled that the November 2006 changes could not be applied retrospectively.

Amit Kapadia, executive director of the HSMP Forum that successfully led the legal challenge, said: "We are happy to have fulfilled our commitment in ensuring those affected by the November 2006 illegal changes are able to return back to UK with due honour... Even the time they spent in their home country after the changes would be counted towards the settlement criteria on their return to UK."

He said the forum will closely monitor the implementation of the court's judgment and would work with officials to ensure that all affected professionals were treated with respect and dignity in restoring their status as highly skilled migrants in the UK.
 
WELFARE FUND TO ASSIST BLUE COLLAR WORKERS
 
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is assessing the feasibility of setting up a welfare fund to assist blue collar workers and other Indian expatriates who are low paid laborers, destitutes or could be in jail for overstaying in countries in the Meddle East.

In the Gulf region, there are four million Indian workers who annually remit as much as $5 billion back to India. MOIA has various proposals to fund the scheme, such as higher fee for a no-objection stamp on emigration clearance required (ECR) passports. Emigration clearance is required for most of the countries in the Middle East. There is a dire need for funds for welfare activities such as the repatriation and medical treatment.
 
INDIANS HIGH ON DEMAND IN SAUDI MEDICAL AND IT SECTORS
 
There is tremendous scope for Indian professionals, especially in the medical and IT sectors of Saudi Arabia, which hopes to meet its requirements by bringing workforce, an official has said.

"We are looking towards India to meet our requirements for nurses, technicians, pharmacists, physicians and specialists, especially for our neonatal, intensive care, oncology, physiotherapy and other departments," Sami Mohammed Badawood, director general of health in Jeddah, said.

He was addressing the annual meeting of Indo-Saudi Medical Forum in Jeddah, which also marked a farewell reception for Indian Consul General Ausaf Sayeed.

As many as 600 Saudis were enrolled for medical education in India last year and this figure could go up to 6,000 in the coming years, Sayeed was quoted as saying in a Saudi newspaper.

He also called for equalization of Indian degrees in this part of the world reminding that India's booming economy, which currently offered lucrative job offer, might prevent its people from moving out of the country if they were not treated at par with others in terms of salaries and positions overseas.
 
US GOVT SUES COMPANY FOR NOT HIRING SIKH FOR HIS LOOKS
 
A Texas company has been sued for religious discrimination by the United States government after it did not hire a Sikh who refused to shave his beard and take off his turban. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is seeking punitive damages for Sukhdev Singh Brar, a certified security officer in the Dallas area, apart from back pay and compensation for pain and suffering caused to him. Brar applied for a job at the Champion National Security Firm in Richardson in October 2005.
 
"When I finished applying, she (a company representative) called me for an interview, and told me, 'I'm going to hire you, but you have to shave and take off your turban,'" he was quoted as saying by CBS.
 
Brar says he told the representative what she was saying was against federal law and his religion. "I cannot cut my hair. I cannot take off my turban," he said.
 
"She told me, 'This is our company policy and we cannot change our company policy.'"
 
The government wants the court to order the company to change its hiring practices.
 
"Essentially, they're asking, demanding someone give up their deeply held religious beliefs for a job. In that regard, I think it's very egregious," said Bill Backhaus, EEOC.
 
Before the EEOC filed the lawsuit against Champion National Security, it tried to resolve the case. But the government said the company wouldn't budge.
 
Since the 9/11 terror attacks, the government says there have been more than 1,000 cases involving people from the Mid-East or South Asia, the CBS reported.