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OBAMA NIOMINATES INDIAN-AMERICAN TO NATIONAL COUNCIL OF ARTS

US President Barack Obama nominated Renee Ramaswamy, a Bharatanatayam exponent, to the prestigious National Council of the Arts for a five year term. Ramaswamy founded the Ragamala Music and Dance Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1992 and has been popularising this classical Indian dance form in America. Ranee is to be a Member of the National Council on the Arts for a term expiring September 3, 2018.

Since 1984, Renee has been a disciple of Alarmel Valli, one of India's greatest living masters. Renee has worked with celebrated artists such as poet Robert Bly, jazz musician Howard Levy and legendary composer/ violinist L Subramaniam.

Among her many grants and fellowships are 13 McKnight Artist Fellowships, a Bush Fellowship, and an Artist Exploration Fund grant from Arts International. Her work is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Dance Project, and the Japan Foundation. In 2011, she was chosen as the McKnight Foundation Distinguished Artist. Ranee and co-Artistic Director Aparna Ramaswamy were named the 2011 'Artist of the Year' by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

3 NRis HONORED FOR PROMOTING HINDI IN UK

Three NRIs and a Nottingham-based organisation have been honoured by the Indian High Commission for their outstanding work in promoting Hindi in the UK. The awardees are Mahendra Kishore Verma of York University, Dr Krishna Kumar, Chairman of Gitanjali Multilingual Literary Circle, Birmingham, Kavita Vachaknavi, internationally renowned blogger and Kavya Rang, a global association of poets, writers, Nottingham, UK. High Commissioner Jaimini Bhagwati presented them with shields, shawls and citations on World Hindi Day 2013.

Mahendra Kishore Verma, who received the John Gilchrist UK Hindi Shikshan Samman, said he was happy to receive the recognition.

Dr Krishna Kumar, a graduate from IIT, Madras, made an impassioned plea for promoting Sanskrit, Hindi and regional languages in India after he received the Dr Harivansh Rai Bachhan UK Hindi Literary award.

Kavita Vachaknavi who received the Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi Award for journalism suggested that the High Commission should have a website in Hindi.

Jai Verma, Chair of the Kavya Rang, Nottingham, who received the Frederick Pincott UK award for dedication to Hindi Propagation said Hindi should not only be the "rashtrabhasha" in India but a recognised language at the United Nations.

Usha Verma and Krishna Kanhaiya received cash grants from the High Commissioner for their books "Sim Card tatha anya kahaniyan' and 'Kitaab Jindagi Ki' respectively.

Deputy High Commissioner Dr Virendra Paul and Minister (Coordination) in the High Commission S S Sidhu were present at the award ceremony held at the India House.

HINDUJAS EMERGE AS THE RICHEST ASIANS IN BRITAIN

Leading NRI businessmen Srichand Hinduja and Gopi Hinduja, Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Hinduja Group, have emerged as the richest Asians in Britain in 2013. The London-based Hinduja brothers have come out top this year with net wealth assessed at 12.5 billion pounds - up 3 billion pounds on the 2012 figure.

According to the list, "While other organisations have been cutting costs at a time of recession, the Hindujas splashed out USD 1.1 billion (725 million pounds) on buying Houghton, the US lubricant and specialised chemicals group that has been a market leader in its field.

The report said, "The Hindujas have always made a big effort with their philanthropic work and in building up a close relationship between Britain and India, not only in business but also in the cultural and educational fields."

Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta, is listed number 3 in the list with a fortune worth 3 billion, down 200 million pounds from last year.

Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul is listed as 95th in the 'Asian Rich List' brought out by the Eastern Eye Newspaper, a publication of the Garavi Gujarat Group headed by Ramniklal Solanki. Lord Paul has wealth worth 845 million, up 170 million pounds from last year.

Naresh Goyal, Chief of Jet Airlines, is 12th in the list with a fortune worth 440 million, up 165 million pounds over last year.

Rami Ranger, winner of four consecutive Queen's Awards for enterprise in international trade between 2009 and 2012, is 42nd in the list with a fortune worth 125 million, up 32 million pounds over last year.

BHARAT MASRANI FIRST INDIAN APPOINTED CEO OF TOP CANADA BANK TD TRUST

Bharat Masrani, who is in charge of Canada's top financial institution TD Trust's US personal and commercial banking operations, will take over as the CEO as of November 1, 2013. Masran is the first person of Indian-origin person to become CEO of Canada's top financial institution. Currently Sarabjit Marwah is the highest-ranking Indian in corporate Canada as the number two in Scotiabank in Toronto. The 56-year-old Masrani was born in Uganda to Indian parents has been with TD Trust since 1987, started his career as a Commercial Lending Trainee where he rose to Account Manager, Commercial Accounts in 1988. He progressed through a number of positions and responsibilities before assuming the role of Vice President and Head, Corporate Banking Canada.

In 1996, Masrani was appointed TD's Vice President and Country Head for India and then to Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance and Co-Head in Europe in 1997. In 1999 he also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of TD Waterhouse Investor Services in Europe. Prior to his current position, Masrani was Vice Chair and Chief Risk Officer, Corporate Office, TD Bank Financial Group. Masrani earned his Bachelor of Administration with Honours in 1978 and then his MBA in 1979 from York University's Schulich School of Business. He currently lives in Portland, Maine, with his wife Shabnam and two children.

The TD's Board selected Masrani for the top job because of his excellent execution of his boss Ed Clark's strategies in the US where acquisitions of many banks, including those of Commerce Bancorp for more than $8-billion and some Florida banks, made TD Trust as one of the top ten banks in the US. In fact, the bank has more branches in the US (over 1,300) than in Canada (1,100). Outgoing CEO Ed Clark said, "Bharat brings a continuity of strategy, culture and values. I am extremely confident in the future of TD." TD Trust chairman Brian Levitt said, "As we look to the future, the Board is confident that Bharat's leadership, breadth of experience and global business insight will serve him well".

MINISTER RAVI TO DISCUSS NITAQAT WITH CMs

India's Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has said that he is convening a meeting of Ministers of States in India that will be hit by a possible exodus of Indian overseas workers when Saudi Arabia implements the new labor policy of 'Nitaqat'. The Indian government is asking the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to facilitate alternative job opportunities and make arrangements for those wanting to come back. Ravi said he will discuss with states the issue of the government taking care of airfares of deserving Indians returning home. The Saudi law will hit thousands of the 1.5 million Indian workers. Among the states that are worst affected include Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Indian Embassy had been asked to facilitate Indian workers with documentation and other issues if they wanted to shift base or look at job opportunities in neighboring countries.

Ravi said he will meet ministers of nine states, including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and Rajasthan from where large number of workers went to Saudi Arabia for employment. Ravi admitted the issue was serious. Ravi will visit Saudi Arabia for talks with the government there but the date had not been fixed.

GERMANY RELAXES IMMIGRATION RULES

The German government's recent efforts to attract highly qualified workers from non-European Union countries have come as a big boost for Indian professionals who now find many other countries reluctant to lay out the red carpet for them. Germany's blue card scheme offers highly educated and skilled non-EU candidates the opportunity to live and work in Germany and the rest of EU.

Besides IT, there is a huge demand for skills in Germany in engineering and health sectors. According to German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche, the largest number of blue cards, 983, were issued to workers from India.

Germany is also taking active steps to better link with origin countries (such as India) and to provide a better welcome for immigrants," says Thomas Liebig, head of OECD labour market reports. But it's not just highly qualified Indians being attracted to Germany. Late last month, the German government also introduced steps to make it easier for skilled workers from non-EU countries to get their qualifications recognised in the country as the first step towards working there.

This is to address the huge skills shortages in areas such as engineering, train driving and plumbing. The new rules which were passed by the chancellor, Angela Merkel's cabinet are likely to come into effect from July 2013.

INDIA RECEIVED $70 BUILLION IN REMITTANCE IN 2012

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi gave the figure quoting a World Bank report. India had received over $ 66.13 billion in remittances in the year 2011-12 while in 2010-11, the amount was $ 55.62 billion. The remittances to the country through private transfer of funds have been on the rise in the last few years. India received $53.63 billion in 2009-10 while in 2008-09, the amount was $ 46.9 billion.

GULF INDIANS WARNED NOT TO CARRY HOME MORE THAN RS. 7500

Indian embassies in the Gulf region have advised NRIs staying in the region not to carry large amounts of Indian currency while travelling to India. NRIs found carrying large amounts of cash in the form of Indian currency while visiting India have faced problem at airport. In some cases the currency being carried by NRIs has even been found to be counterfeit.

There is misconception that NRIs are allowed to carry Indian currency back to India. According to the statement, only Indian residents are allowed to carry up to Rs 7,500 in Indian currency per person when travelling abroad or returning to India. In all other cases of foreigners, and those Indian nationals who are not residents of India/ Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), it is prohibited under Indian law to either take any amount of Indian currency from India or to bring it into India.

INDIAN AMERICANS WELCOME LAUNCH OF ELECRTONIC POSTAL ORDER

Launch of the electronic postal order would go a long way for Indian-Americans seeking information from the Indian Government and other state governments under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

A number of Indians living in the US said that RTI has now become accessible to the Indian citizens living abroad after the Postal Department last week launched Indian postal order in electronic format (eIPO).

"With eIPO, I now have the ability to discern conflicting information about governance in India in the news by going directly to the source - the government," Vishal Kudchadkar, a volunteer with the non-profit Association for India's Development (AID) at Los Angeles, told PTI.

"It has been seven long years since we started this campaign for our right to information. It has been a difficult journey and during this time we have had to depend on friends in India to file RTIs on our behalf," said Arun Gopalan, a volunteer with Association for India's Development, Greater Washington Metro area chapter.

"Their non-availability meant a missed opportunity. That will no longer be the case with this new eIPO. It would be ideal if the list of email id of PIOs is also available on this portal and the information exchange is completely digitized, but we will take this for now," Gopalan said.

While the convenience factor is obvious, the more far reaching impact would be the sense of empowerment NRIs are going to feel in nation building.

KAL PEN ENDORSES ANEESH CHOPRA FOR VIRGINIA LT. GOVERNOR

Noted Indian-American actor-turned-political activist Kal Pen has endorsed ex-White House tech czar Aneesh Chopra's bid for Virginia Lt Governor.

"I know he represents a new and sorely needed approach to government. He will work tirelessly for a state government that works better and fairer for all, and respects and empowers Virginians no matter who they are. I've seen him do this on behalf of the President, and I'm excited to give him a hand as he does this in Virginia," Kal Penn said in an e-mail urging people of Virginia to support Chopra in his maiden electoral venture.

Kal Penn, has a national appeal among the youths in the country and in the November presidential elections, President Barack Obama had tapped him to galvanize young American voters.

Both Kal Penn and Aneesh Chopra worked together in the White House in the first term of the Obama Administration. "I'm excited that Aneesh is tapping into the energy that propelled President Obama and Tim Kaine to victory last November," Kal Penn wrote, adding that he is proud to support Chopra.

If elected, he would be the first Indian-American to hold the top post in Virginia. "I decided to run for Lieutenant Governor because I firmly believe that our state government can be smarter, faster, better, and fairer for all Virginians. This is a message that is resonating across the Commonwealth, and I look forward to engaging with more Virginians on it in the coming months," he said.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Chopra has spent his life focusing on education and innovation. He attended Johns Hopkins University and then the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Given his talent, he was tapped by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as his Secretary of Technology. In 2009, Obama appointed him as the nation's first Chief Technology Officer, a post he served with distinction for two years.