GOPIO NEWS BULLETIN
September,
2003
CONTENTS
v
Rules on Sales Proceeds of Immovable Properties and
Repatriation by NRI/PIOs Relaxed
v
Fiji Labour Party Looks to Supreme Court for Resolution
v
Indians, the Most Employed among Asians in
v
Bust of Gandhi Inaugurated in
v
Guyana President Visits India and
Ancestral Village
v
Punjab Formulates Policies to Attract NRI Investments
v
PIO Human Rights Perspectives and Experiences
v
GOPIO CHAPTER NEWS
-
GOPIO-Belgium Calls Upon MEP Neena Gill
v
GOPIO Sets Up Cultural Council
v
Book in
v
GOPIOs
Business and Professional Service Bulletin Board
SALES PROCEEDS OF IMMOVABLE
PROPERTIES AND REPATRIATION BY NRI/PIOs
During
the financial year 2002-2003, the Reserve Bank of
The
immovable property may have been acquired by the NRI/PIO in any one of the
following ways:
- Acquired by purchase
from out of funds received in
- Acquired by way of
inheritance/legacy
- Acquired out of local
funds or prior to becoming an NRI/PIO
- Acquired by availing a
Housing Loan from an authorized dealer/Housing Finance institution.
Each
of these cases are further examines below:
(1)
Acquired by purchase from out of funds received in
- The immovable property
was acquired by the seller in accordance with the provisions of the foreign
exchange law in force at the time of acquisition by him/her or the provisions
of the FEMA.
- The sale proceeds
allowed to be repatriated does not exceed the foreign exchange brought in to
acquire the property.
- In case of residential
property, the repatriation of sale proceeds is restricted to not more than two
such properties.
(2)
Acquired by way of inheritance/legacy
As
per the earlier provision an NRI/PIO was allowed to repatriate an amount not
exceeding USD.100000/- per calendar year out of assets acquired by
inheritance/legacy. But this has been amended and now NRIs
can repatriate upto US $ 1 million from the sale
proceeds of immovable property acquired by way of inheritance/legacy. This
limit of US $ 1 million is the overall limit fixed for repatriation out of NRO
accounts in a calendar year for all purposes including education, medical
treatment etc.
(3)
Acquired out of local funds or prior to becoming an NRI/PIO
In
case the NRI/PIO has acquired the property before he became an NRI/PIO or the
NRI has purchased the property out of his local funds, then the sale proceeds
of such a property will be governed by the following rule:
- Authorised
dealers are permitted to repatriate sale proceeds of immovable property held by
the NRIs/PIOs for a period of 10 years and credited
to NRO accounts upto a limit of US $ 1 million per
calendar year. This US $ 1 million is the overall limit fixed for a calendar
year for different purposes such as education, medical treatment etc. For
example, if the NRI has already availed the facility of repatriation from NRO
account US $200000 for medical treatment, then the balance US $ 800000 will
only be available for repatriation in that calendar year for repatriating sale
proceeds of immovable properties.
(4)
Acquired by availing a Housing Loan from authorized dealer/Housing-Finance
institution
As
per FEMA authorised dealers or housing finance
institutions are permitted to provide housing loans to NRIs/PIOs
for acquisition of residential accomodation in
In
all the above cases, the proceeds net of applicable taxes only are eligible for
repatriation.
As
per FEMA 1999, authorised dealers are required to
obtain Income Tax Clearance Certificate /No Objection Certificate from the
Income Tax Assessing Officer before allowing remittance of foreign exchange to
a non-resident any sum chargeable under the Income Tax Act 1961, like
remittance of sale proceeds of immovable property, remittance of assets in
India acquired by way of inheritance/legacy etc. The Central Board of Direct
Taxes have issued a Notification whereby an NRI can submit an undertaking
addressed to the Assessing Officer accompanied by a certificate from a
Chartered Accountant for compliance with the Income Tax provisions in lieu of the
Income Tax Clearance Certificate/ No Objection Certificate as aforesaid.
The
formats of the Undertaking and Certificate from the Chartered Accountant are
available from commercial banks.
On
receipt of the proof of sale of the immovable property, Undertaking and
Certificate as per the formats the authorized dealer will arrange for
repatriation of the eligible amount.
Fiji
Labour Party Looks to Supreme Court for Resolution
The
Fiji Supreme Court on
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase
has told the Labour camp that he will have 14
ministers from Labour, but if the Supreme Court rules
in Labour's favour that its
entitlement should be 47 per cent or 17 positions, then an additional three
from Labour will be appointed. Labour
leader Mahendra Chaudhry
had advised Mr Qarase that
the FLP wants the issue of its proportional entitlement to Cabinet seats
determined ahead of assumptions of office by FLP ministers.
In the meanwhile Qarase
has named 14 members of the Fiji Labour Party to be
included in Cabinet, with Chaudhry standing out as
the notable absentee. The 14 Labour members, Prime
Minister Qarase has picked are- Pratap
Chand as Minister for National Reconciliation and
Unity; Krishna Datt as Minister for Special
Education, the Disabled and National Library Services; Vijay Singh as Minister
for Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs; Satendra Singh
as Minister for Environment; James Krishna as Minister for Natural Disaster
Management; Surendra Lal as
Minister for National Parks and Recreational Areas; Udit
Narayan as Minister for Employment Opportunities; Dr Gunasagran Gounder as Minister
for Health Promotion; Ram Sharan as Minister for
Arts, Culture and Heritage; Ragho Nand
as Minister for Drainage and Flood Protection and Management; Gaffar Ahmed as Minister for Prisons; Permal
Mupnar as Minister for Transport; Vyas
Deo Sharma as Minister for Veteran Affairs and Pravin Singh as Minister for State Properties.
Both
leaders, however, have agreed to go back to the Supreme Court to resolve the
proportionality clause. Mr Qarase
is offering 14 seats while Labour maintains they are
entitled to 17 seats.
Mr Chaudhry said it would
not be correct for the Labour to proceed to be in a
Cabinet that was not "constituted in accordance with the
Constitution". He said his view was reinforced by the Supreme Court's
decision that Cabinet must be comprised of qualifying parties in proportion to
their respective membership of the House of Representatives.
Mr Qarase said pending the
determination by the Supreme Court, he is keen to proceed
with the appointment of 14 as his initial selection from Labour.
INDIANS, THE MOST EMPLOYED
AMONG ASIANS IN
Indians in
Recently the British Home Secretary, David Blunkett while addressing the Asian Awards in the UK said
Indians in Britain have broken through the glass ceiling through their
enterprise, innovations and aspirations. Britain is home for many Indian
immigrants and an estimated 1.5 million Indian community (NRI/PIO) live in
Britain. In terms of education, it has emerged more successful than any other
ethnic groups. Their contribution to the British economy is massive and they
are the highest tax payers. The success of people of Indian origin living and
working in Britain becomes more evident every time the Asian Whos who
International is published. There are over 393,000 Indians in London who make
up a sixth of the capitals population and includes 171,000 who were born in India.
BUST OF GANDHI INAUGURATED IN
A
bust of Mahatma Gandhi was inaugurated in a village named after the fourth such
monument to be erected in the country, over 44 per cent of the population of
which consists of people of Indian origin whose forefathers came here from
Uttar Pradesh and
The inauguration
ceremony last week in Gandhi village, which was so named in the late 1960s, was
attended by village leaders and school children.
Visiting Guyanese President Bharat Jagdeo said on Monday he was 'touched' by the warm reception
the people of his ancestral village in Uttar Pradesh accorded him on Sunday,
August 23rd. A trip to Thakurian
village in Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar, from where his
ancestors migrated to Guyana
to work in the sugarcane fields nearly 100 years ago, while on a six-day state
visit to India. "It was an emotional moment for me," the 39-year-old
leader said responding to questions from reporters after Indian President APJ
Abdul Kalam ceremonially received him with gun salute
and guard of honour in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan where Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior ministers were also present.
About 50 per cent of the 700,000 population of
Speaking on the sidelines
of an interactive meeting jointly organized by the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII), Jagdeo
said, "Besides the line of credit being extended by India, we are looking
for another $100 million credit for modernisation of the sugar mills,
including setting up cogeneration facility for production of power utilising
the sugarcane waste," the president said. Leading a high-level ministerial
delegation to discuss ways of enhancing economic and cultural cooperation, Jagdeo
is accompanied by five representatives of the Guyanese chamber of commerce.
PUNJAB FORMULATES POLICIES TO
ATTRACT NRI INVESTMENTS
Punjab has a population of 20.2 million
and there is a great potential for attracting investments from NRIs for setting up
industrial, educational, technical and medicinal projects in
This competitive and hard working nature of the
Punjabis combined with high average growth rate, high literacy rate and highest
per capita income in the country makes
Most
of the NRIs who came to invest in the industrial
sectors in the past have gone back disappointed as they were unable to digest
the numerous controls, bureaucratic delays in the approval of investment
proposals, and the corruption. GOPIO International hopes that the
PIO HUMAN RIGHTS
PERSPECTIVES & EXPERIENCES
GOPIO CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
Human Rights Perspectives and Experience: People of Indian Origin in
the
In-Depth Reports, Discussions and Analyses. Experiences of People
of Indian Origin Living Outside of
Sponsored By
St. Johns Universitys
Center on Latin American & Caribbean Studies
on
at
St. Johns University
Bent Hall Auditorium
Jamaica New York
Co-Sponsored By
Global
Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Inc.
Supported By
The Guyanese East Indian Civic Association (GEICA)
And Several Other Institutions & Organizations
Contact:
Ashook Ramsaran
718-969-8206, E-mail: ramsaran@aol.com
Sudha Acharya
718-523-7668 eMail: sacharya@netzero.net
GEICA - Prakash Singh
718-939-8194 eMail: geica@aol.com
Admission is Free *****
Attendance Confirmation Requested
PROGRAM OUTLINE
Friday,
Saturday,
October 25, 2003
Conference Venue - St Johns University
8:30am
Registration
9:00am
Opening
Remarks (SJU/CLACS, GOPIO)
9:15am
General
Remarks (with Speaker)
9:30am
Keynote
Address (On: Violations in General)
10:15am
Refreshments
10:30am Session
I Country Reports -- Region I
11:30am
Discussion
12:00pm
LUNCH
(with Speaker)
1:00pm Session
II Country Reports -- Region II
3:45pm
Refreshments
4:00pm
Session
III Country Reports -- Region III
8::00pm
Dinner
Sunday,
October 26, 2003
Working Session Off-Premise
(Selected 1015 persons)
9:30am
Introductory
Remarks
9:15am
Discussion
12:15pm
Closing
Remarks
12:30pm
Lunch
Region I The
Caribbean, Guyana, Malaysia, Trinidad, Suriname, Fiji, Bangladesh
Region II
Kenya, South
Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Other Africa, Mauritius
Region III Australia,
Canada, Europe, United Kingdom, United States, Other Americas
SPEAK AT THE CONFERECE OR
PRESENT A SCHOLARLY PAPER
Please
send an abstract to Secretary General Ashook Ramsaran at ramsaran@aol.com or call 718-969-8206.
GOPIO CHAPTER NEWS
GOPIO
Brussels,
Ms. Gill said that in view of the fact that a
majority of Indians are affected by the discriminatory Pension policy of the
Belgian Government, the Indian government should take up this issue at the
earliest and at the appropriate Government level. She also assured the
delegation that being the member of the Group of Friends of India in the
European Parliament; she would also ask the Indian authorities as well as other
MEPs in the group to raise the issue at the
appropriate level.
This was the third in the series of contact
programme the GOPIO Belgium has embarked upon to seek support and reach to the
European Members of Parliament of the People of Indian Origin. The delegation
was composed of Sunil Prasad, President; Nawab Khan,
Assistant Treasurer and Ms. Ramya Lakshminarasimhan,
Assistant Secretary. The delegation requested Ms. Gill to take up the pension
issue also in the European Parliament.
GOPIO SETS UP CULTURAL COUNCIL
GOPIO
has set up a Cultural Council to promote artists of Indian origin. Toward this
goal, GOPIO Cultural Council will host details artists who would like to
perform in countries with large NRI/PIO population.
NRIs/PIOs artists as well as
artists from
BOOK ON
A
new book by Dr. Jagat Motwani,
published by Center for Asian, African and Caribbean Studies
in cooperation with GOPIO.
The
book provides a great reading for every Indian American family and prospective
immigrants. The book has almost every thing what one would like to know about
India in America from ancient times to today: America the, dreamland of
immigrants; history of immigrants (1600-2002); immigration legislation; Asian
Indians: A model ethnic minority; their socio-economic statistics compared with
other ethnic groups; Do Indian Americans ghettoize?; their dispersion in all
the fifty sates and big metropolis cities; the Indian-ness we fear to lose;
Indian values compared with American values; political participation and
political clout; presidential political appointments; relationship with PIOs from indentured countries; affirmative action and
Indian Americans; Mahatma Gandhi statues; civil disobedience: Thoreau -
Gandhi - Martin Luther King; America - a melting pot or an ethno-cultural
mosaic?; what has India given to America?; Gadar
movement; and first Indian Congressman Dalip Singh Saund. The book emphasizes that
Hard
cover, 378 pages, Price: US$20 + $2 shipping ($10 overseas mailing)
To
order a copy, mail a check or money order, payable to:
GOPIO,
GOPIO Chapter Initiation
GOPIO
is looking for community activists in major cities of the world to initiate
chapters. One can initiate a chapter and become part of this global network of
people of Indian origin by visiting GOPIOs Chapter Initiative website www.gopio.net/chapter_initiative.htm
to get a copy of the guidelines governing GOPIO chapters. Alternately, call
GOPIOs International coordinator Dr. Jagat Motwani at 631-421-4688 in USA.
Business and Professional Services Bulletin Board
NRIs/PIOs
and businessmen from India are encouraged to publicize businesses and services
though GOPIO Business Council Bulletin Board free of charge. Please visit www.gopio.net/wboard/bulletin.htm
Editorial Board
v Dr. Thomas Abraham (Stamford, CT, USA)
v Prashant Gupta (Chicago, IL, USA)
v
Sunil Prasad (Brussles, Belgium)
Visit GOPIOs Official site at www.gopio.net
