For years it has been one of the (many) dirty secrets of NRI communities around the world. Successful NRI men – in an overwhelmingly majority of cases highly qualified professionals in IT, Banking and Engineering – taking their Indian wives back to India and abandoning them before returning to their …
Read More »#NRI: Lord Loomba, Professor Nathu Ram Puri honoured with Pravasi Bharatiya Divas samman
Lord Loomba A Liberal Democrat peer and a multi-millionaire businessmen have been named as the British recipients of this year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award at the 2015 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Non-Resident Indians Day) event held in Gujarat. Lord Raj Loomba and Professor Nathu Ram Puri, founder of the Purico Group, …
Read More »#NRI: ‘Come and be a part of the India Growth Story’, Sushma Swaraj urges young NRI’s
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has urged young Diaspora Indians to participate in the India growth story and become “ambassadors” in making the country “great”. Addressing Indian expats at the annual in Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event in Gujarat, Ms Swaraj called on second and third generation Indians overseas to “connect, …
Read More »#RockStar: ‘Come and invest at home’, Modi tells delirious NRI’s Down Under
Senior officials from India’s opposition Congress party this weekend questioned the authenticity of the thousands of expats who have flocked to catch a glimpse of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Australia.
However, the newly-elected premier has built a reputation for being unperturbed about questions surrounding his popularity, particularly among Non-Resident Indians.
Mr Modi was greeted by yet another mammoth crowd at a sports stadium in Sydney on Monday, with many of the supporters traveling hundreds of miles on a train named the ‘Modi Express’, frantically cheering the Indian leader.
"I know that behind this affection lie expectations," Modi told the excited crowd. "We want to create the India you are dreaming of."
Modi's appearance at the 21,000-seat Allphones Arena, which hosted the Rolling Stones last week, underscored the rock star status he enjoys among some Indians abroad.
He promised lifetime visas to people of Indian origin, repeating an offer he made to expatriates in the United States that would seek to strengthen cultural and business ties between overseas Indians and their home country.
One audience member told Reuters that many found Mr Modi “very inspiring” and “made a lot of sense”.
About 300,000 Indians live in Australia, but trade between the two countries stands at around $15 billion a year, or just a tenth of that between Australia and China.
Modi urged overseas Indians to boost investment at home, reprising an appeal made elsewhere, including the United States, where he sold out New York's Madison Square Garden in September.
He took office in May vowing to create jobs and ignite the Indian economy after years of sluggish growth, launching signature initiatives such as 'Make in India' and 'Clean India'.
Modi often reminds voters of his humble roots as the son of a railway-station tea vendor, in contrast to the privileged circumstances of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has dominated Indian politics since independence from Britain in 1947.
Australia is emerging as a key source of thermal coal for India's growing number of electricity users, as they give up older fuels such as wood and kerosene.
Indian trade and infrastructure conglomerate Adani Enterprises has signed a pact for a loan of up to $1 billion from the State Bank of India for a $6 billion Australian coal mine, rail and port project.
Another Indian conglomerate, GVK, and Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, have won an environmental permit for a second coal mine in Australia, costing $10 billion.
But Modi still has some way to go in winning over potential investors.
"He is expecting people to contribute," said Santosh Kashid, who migrated to Sydney 10 years ago.
"However, unless you make India a place to live and work it won't be possible to attract people back home."
Read More »#NRI: Sushma Swaraj to inaugurate London edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will inaugurate this year’s Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas – the annual event that celebrates the achievements and contributions of the Diaspora Indian community, which will be held in London for the first time. The two-day event will kick off 17 October at the Queen …
Read More »#NRI: London to host special overseas edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
The Indian government has chosen London to host a special one-off edition of the ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ (Non-Resident Indian Day), the annual awards ceremony that celebrates the achievements and contributions of the Diaspora Indian community. The event is staged at a major Indian city every January 9, the day …
Read More »#NRI: Billionaire Hinduja brothers call for BETTER ENGAGEMENT of prosperous Indian Diaspora community
The London-based billionaire Hinduja brothers have called for greater engagement of the British-Indian Diaspora community to kick-start the flagging trade relationship between the UK and India. The Hindujas – Sri and Gopichand, who are currently ranked Britain’s wealthiest individuals with a combined fortune of nearly £12 billion – said policy …
Read More »#GoingHome: How NRI’s are returning home to help Modi become India’s next PM
Adapa V Prasad, a 60-year-old entrepreneur from Washington DC, has been risking Maoist violence in central India for the sake of the man he wants to see become the next prime minister, Narendra Modi. Travelling door-to-door in tribal areas of Chhattisgarh state, he has been asking people to vote for …
Read More »#India’sLostVotes: Engaging NRI’s in India’s Democratic Spectacle
With a population of 1.21 billion, India is the largest democracy in the world. Out of the total population, some 814 million Indian’s are registered to vote in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, currently underway. Statistics obtained for previous Lok Sabha elections, held between 1952 to 2004, reveals that only …
Read More »Indian government to seek NRI assistance to shore up Rupee – Report
India is considering calling on its millions of non-resident citizens to help reverse a record slide in the rupee and does not favour the idea of a global sovereign bond at this time, senior government officials have told Reuters. However, the government strongly denied having ruled out a sovereign bond …
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