A Film on BRTS Janmarg

NRIs secure voting rights in India

Finally, NRIs secure voting rights in India

New Delhi: A longstanding wish of millions of NRIs for voting right in India has come true with the Centre issuing a notification to this effect to enable them to exercise their franchise.
Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a gazette notification in this regard.
“Gazette notification has been issued giving voting rights to Non-Resident Indians,” overseas Indian affairs minister told Lok Sabha, replying to a question.
An estimated 11 million NRIs are living in various countries across the world.
However, the person will be able to exercise the franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on the polling day.
Ravi said NRIs, “who have not acquired citizenship of any other country and are living abroad owing to employment, education or otherwise, are now eligible to register their names in the electoral rolls” in their places as mentioned in their passport.
He said the Election Commission is likely to soon finalise the rules and regulations prescribing modalities for entry of names of NRIs in electoral rolls.
The government had decided to allow the NRIs to participate in the democratic process to further boost the two-way engagement.
As per the existing rules, an NRI’s name gets deleted from the voters’ list if he or she stays outside the country for more than six months at a stretch.
The new law will allow an Indian citizen residing abroad to enroll in voter’s list and exercise his franchise even if he or she remained away from place of residence in India for more than six months owing to employment, education or otherwise.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas earlier this year, had indicated that Indian passport holders living abroad could get voting rights by the time of next Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

Source: Times of India 25th November,2010

Looking to buy a house? Wait till March next year.

Those of you who wanted to buy a house, but have found the prices too steep, can take heart. If realty experts are to be believed, the coming March will see property prices coming down. The past one year has seen investor groups from across the country and abroad pumping money into Ahmedabad’s realty market.

Developers have taken advantage of this and hiked the residential property rates, comparing the city with metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

This had resulted in the investors’ share in residential segment going up to 75 per cent. According to experts, this is not an ideal situation for real estate. Hence, realty experts and consultants are expecting around 25 per cent correction in the residential property by March 2011.

Mukesh Vasani of City Estate Management said, “Investors’ share in residential segment here has gone up to 75 pc. Of which, 50 pc comprise investors from Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, NRGs and NRIs.”

Moreover, Vasani added that around 50-odd under construction schemes will produce an additional 12,000 to 15,000 unit houses. So, the investors of overpriced properties are willing to exit first. Same is the case with the small-time investor, he said.

Ashutosh Limaye, associate director (Strategic Consulting), Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, agrees with the trend. Explaining the reason for the looming crises, Vinod Thakkar, CEO of Square feet realty firm in Mumbai, said, “IT cities such as Pune, Hyderabad, Banglore and Chennai are still struggling to come out of the financial crisis. Hence, the realty market there is unstable, whereas Delhi and Mumbai have become super-speculative markets. The outskirts of Mumbai is also seeing some correction. For example, Kalyan has a poor infrastructure and is far away from the city.

Thakkar, who has opened a branch here, is hopeful. “Gujarat being a progressive state and Ahmedabad being the financial hub, it is seeing robust realty boom. This has motivated other state investors to pump in money here. If this continues, it can go the Mumbai way.”

Ahmedabad Mirror, 22nd November, 2010
Kuldip Tiwari

Canada PIOs must give up Indian passport.

Persons of Indian origin (PIOs) will now have to formally renounce their citizenship and surrender their Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship, according to new rules circulated by the Indian high commission here.

Canadian PIOs will have to pay a fee of $168 to get their Indian passport cancelled by the country's mission here.

"New rules require that Indian citizens acquiring foreign citizenship on or after June 1, 2010, must formally renounce Indian citizenship," the mission statement said.

But those who have acquired foreign citizenship before June 1, 2010, will be exempted from paying the so-called renunciation fee of $168.

On surrender of their Indian passport, PIOs will be issued a 'surrender certificate' which they will have to produce when seeking Indian visa or PIO card or OCI (overseas citizenship of India) card, according to the new rules.

On surrender of their Indian passport, PIOs will be issued a 'surrender certificate' which they will have to produce when seeking Indian visa or PIO card or OCI (overseas citizenship of India) card, according to the new rules.

The statement said, "It is a punishable offence under the Indian Passport Act 1976, to apply for an Indian passport re-issued or travel on an Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship." - IANS

Source: Times of India, 17th October 2010

Special airfare for Gujaratis visiting state during Swarnim celebration

With A view to attract Gujaratis living outside the state to the Swarnim Gujarat celebrations, the government has announced a special package with low airfare.

Gujaritis flying down to the state between April 25 and May 5 will be given the benefit of low fares. A government statement on Wednesday said state Civil Aviation minister Saurabh Patel has announced this package. “This special discount will be given to Gujaratis flying from Coimbatore, Chandigadh, Guwahati, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore so that they can attend the golden jubilee celebration of the statehood of Gujarat,” said Patel.

The statement added that Jet Airways has announced that it will give 30 to 50 per cent discount during the period of Swarnim Gujarat celebrations.

The statement quoted Naved Desai, the Chief of Jet Airways in Gujarat as saying: “Travellers will get 30 to 50 per cent discount between April 25 and May 5 under the Swarnim Gujarat Air Package.”


Express News Service Tags : celebrations, airlines Posted: Thu Apr 22 2010, 02:59 hrs Ahmedabad:

Statue of Unity, The World’s tallest statue will be here in Gujarat

Statue: Statue of Unity
Depicts: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Place: Sadhu dwip, Narmada dam, Gujarat
Height: 182 metres
Installed: Proposed
Source: ahmedabad mirror

Gujarat-origin woman among richest in Thailand: Forbes

Published: Saturday, Sep 4, 2010, 11:09 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: Ahmedabad | Agency: DNA


Young entrepreneur Nishita Shah Federbush is in the club of richest in Thailand. The 30-year-old woman of Gujarati origin, who has her business empire in Bangkok, has found a respectable place in the Forbes report on Thailand’s 40 richest people.

The report published on September 1 puts Shah in 24th rank with net worth of $340 million. Shah dropped three ranks down from the 21st rank in 2009, although she has gained $60 million in her net worth. In the Forbes list of 2009, her net worth stood at $280 million.

Nishita Shah is director of her family’s business in Precious Shipping Public Company Ltd, a dry bulk shipper founded by his father, Kirit Shah. She is holding the position in the company since 2002. She holds around 9.85 crore shares, which account for 9.48% of the total paid-up capital of the listed company. Precious Shipping has a fleet size of 44 ships.

She is also director in other non-listed companies, including Globex Corporation Ltd, Graintrade Ltd, Unistretch Ltd, and Geepee Air Service Ltd.

Nishita’s father Kirit founded the group in 1989 and subsequently took it public in 1993. Her family migrated from India to Burma and then to Thailand many years ago.
The wealth was calculated using share prices and exchange rates as of August 20, 2010. Shah has been regularly in the Forbes list of richest in Thailand. In 2008, she was ranked 19th with net worth of $375 million while in 2007 she was ranked 12th with net worth of $350 million.

Nishita has done bachelor of science in business administration with concentration in finance and business law from Boston University School of Management.
She is also a licensed pilot. Besides, she owns a clothing company called Burn Baby and has launched her own fashion label ‘Nsha’.

The company’s first chapter opened more than 150 years ago. That’s when her forefathers named - Khetsee and Devjee-from Gujarat migrated to the boomtown of Bombay where they planted the roots of their business.
In 1868, one of Devjee’s sons and a business associate established an office in Rangoon of what was then Burma, and the GP Company became a bona fide business.
Named after the two men, Gangjee Premjee & Co traded only in rice sourced from Burma, Vietnam and Thailand, which was then sold mainly to the Middle East and Africa.

In 1918, Gangjee Premjee & Co sowed new seeds by moving its operational base to the Thai capital of Bangkok.Premjee’s son Chimanlal was the only non-Chinese rice trader in the capital.The Premjee family later adopted the surname ‘Shah’.
In 1976, Chimanlal’s only son, Kirit-then aged 22-was told by his father to circumnavigate the globe to meet present and future customers.