Indian techie in US shoots family, self1 Apr 2009, 0330 hrs IST, TNN
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WASHINGTON/KOCHI: It is the heartland of every Indian techie’s gilded dreams. A bloodbath on Sunday evening has momentarily turned it into a
nightmare neighborhood. ( Watch ) A 42-year old Indian techie went on an apparent murder-suicide rampage in the heart of Silicon Valley on Sunday night, shooting dead his two school-going children and a family of three relatives visiting from India, before turning the gun on himself. Police said a woman in her mid-30s who appears to have been his wife survived the rampage and stumbled outside the house in an upscale Santa Clara neighborhood with multiple gunshot wounds. She is in hospital and listed in a critical condition. Details are sketchy pending investigation, but reports named the shooter as Devarajan Raghavan from Wynad region in the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, and his victims as his wife Aabha (who survived), their two school going children Akhil (11) and Ahaana (4), his brother-in-law Ashokan, Appu his wife Suchitra, and their new-born child Neha. Devarajan was said to be an engineer at the Silicon Valley tech major Yahoo and had worked with Microsoft before that in course of his 15 years in the United States. Ashokan had recently located to the US after working with Hewlett-Packard in Bangalore. Police are investigating the motive behind the apparent suicide-murder, but one officer was quoted by a local television station as saying financial troubles did not seem to be the reason. Police did not release the names of people in the incident or details pending notification of families. A news conference by Santa Clara police is expected at 3pm PST. The shooting recalled a similar rampage by Los Angeles-resident Karthik Rajaram, a financial advisor of Indian-origin who killed his family of five before he turned the gun on himself last October, reportedly because of financial troubles. Despite the economic downturn across the US and falling home price values there have been no reports of any large scale despair-killing in Silicon Valley, which is still regarded as the hub of innovation and enterprise in the United States. The one exception was an incident last fall when Jing Hua Wu, an engineer of Chinese-origin, shot dead three of his colleagues at chip-maker Si-port after he had been fired from his job. His victims included Si-port’s Indian-American CEO Sid Agrawal. Rivermark, the neighborhood in the township of Santa Clara where the latest rampage took place, is a typically quiet, upscale locality where most people work in the technology field. Sun Microsystems and Intel are among the storied companies nearby are nearby and many Indian families live in the neighborhood. “It’s such a quiet neighborhood. I don’t even hear anybody speaking in a loud voice,” the local San Jose Mercury News quoted Amit Sinha, a software engineer, as saying after Devarajan’s alleged killing spree. “And then there are 20 police with semi-automatic guns.” In fact, crime is so low in Rivermark that local resident disbanded a citizens’ crime watch group because the only problem was children jumping over neighbors’ fences. Devarajan had reportedly moved into the neighborhood only a week back, renting the new house. Some reports said the family had gathered there for a house warming. Devarajan’s children had just been enrolled in a nearby private school, which would suggest his financial situation may not have been dire. Police told the local media they found two handguns in the house, and investigations were underway to determine if they were the weapons used in the rampage. A news release by the Santa Clara Police Department said as follows: On Sunday, March 29th, at 8:30 PM, Santa Clara Police and Fire Department personnel responded to the report of an injured person in front of a town home in the 4300 block of Headen Way. The arriving officers determined the injured person, and adult female, had been shot and that there were several additional victims inside the home. Officers quickly evacuated the adult woman and an 11 month-old girl, who were rushed to a local hospital. The child has since passed away, but the woman is still alive in critical condition. She is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds. Four additional shooting victims were pronounced dead at the scene. They include 2 children, an 11-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, and 2 adults, a 35 year-old male and 25 year-old-woman. The suspected gunman was also pronounced dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. var zz=0;var sldsh=0; var imgid = ‘4342115′; wid=’541′; |
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Indian techie in US shoots family, self
April 2, 2009 — ColramaIndian Students in Mebourne face racist attacks
March 29, 2009 — ColramaAustralian police to Indian students:
Don’t speak loudly in public
19 Feb 2009, 2029 hrs IST, IANS
MELBOURNE: In an effort to counter attacks on international students, mostly of Indian origin, police in this Australian city are asking the
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young expatriates to moderate their social behaviour and not to speak loudly in their native language.
The law-enforcing authorities in Melbourne have been perturbed by a rise in violent attacks, dubbed as “curry bashing”, on students from the Indian subcontinent.
According to an estimate, around 35,000 Indian students are studying in various institutes in this second largest city of Australia.
The Indian students would be “taught”, according to a front page article in The Age newspaper Thursday, to moderate their social behaviour and not to speak loudly in native Indian languages while in public.
Indian students would also be advised against making an obvious display of wealth and not to carry laptops and iPods in late night trains.
Melbourne, which is considered one of the safest destinations in the world, has seen the crime rate go up in western suburbs by as much as 27 percent last financial year. Indian students have been at the receiving end in a number of these violent robberies.
Now the Melbourne Police is making a special effort to counter what is believed to be racially-motivated attacks.
“They need to make sure they walk through a well-lit route, even if it might be longer, and they are not openly displaying signs of wealth with iPods and phones, and not talking loudly in their native language,” Inspector Scott Mahony of Melbourne Police has been quoted by The Age as saying Thursday.
Some organizations have already expressed their views about the current drive. The Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA) is one such grouping.
“It’s not being told to other communities or other students, ‘Don’t speak loudly in your native tongue, don’t carry laptops’,” the FISA head Raman Vaid has said.
It is believed the Australian authorities are seriously worried about the negative message such attacks can convey to students who plan to come to Australia in the future.
“Melbourne is one of the most peaceful cities and such attacks are an aberration. I am sure police would be able to control such negative incidents and restore Indian students’ confidence pretty soon,” Indian education consultant Pankaj Sharma said.
NRI: St Louis :Four Indian students killed in accident
March 24, 2009 — ColramaA sad day:
Four Indians die after US cop’s car on wrong side hits their vehicle.
Anita Lakshmi, 23,
Anusha Anumolu, 23,
Priya Muppvarapu, 22 —
Satya Chinta, 25,
Nitesh Adusumilli, 27, (critically injured)
One Indian and US cop critically injured.
Cop Christine L. Miller, a patrol officer. (critically injured)
FOUR INDIAN students killed in a road accident in the US were hit by a car driven by an off- duty woman police officer going the wrong way, according to media reports citing investigators.
The four students were killed last Saturday in Des Peres St. Louis, Missouri, when a car they were travelling in was broadsided by Christine L. Miller, a patrol officer. The officer was speeding and possibly drunk, investigators said. Nitesh Adusumilli, 27, who was driving the victims’ car and Miller were both listed in critical condition on Sunday at St. John’s Mercy Medical Centre in Creve Coeur. Miller, the highway patrol said, was “ clinging on to life”.
Miller was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of Dougherty Ferry Road when her Mitsubishi Eclipse struck the passenger side of Adusumilli’s Honda, the police said. Adusumilli’s fiancée, Anita Lakshmi, 23, was dead along with Anusha Anumolu, 23, and Priya Muppvarapu, 22 — Lakshmi’s roommates — and Satya Chinta, 25, Lakshmi’s cousin.
Adusumilli works at AMDOCS, a software firm in Chesterfield. His mother is a yoga instructor in India; his dad, a real estate agent. The rest were studying IT at Eastern Illinois University. IANS
Survivor of crash shielded from news
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/23/2009
DES PERES — They were returning home after a night out of dinner and bowling — five Indian twenty-somethings having fun in All-American fashion.
Their lives bridged two worlds, the traditional and modern. They pursued jobs and education in the United States. But their families mostly remained back in India. One couple out that night planned to marry in May — a traditional marriage arranged by their families thousands of miles away.
They were headed home to Nitesh Adusumilli’s place in Ballwin. But as they turned onto Dougherty Ferry Road early Saturday morning, their car was struck by an off-duty police officer driving the wrong way, police said.
Four in Adusumilli’s car died. Adusumilli, 27, was listed in serious condition Sunday at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur. He was aware, recognizing faces, but visitors were warned not to disclose details of the auto accident, said Suren Pathuri, president of the Telugu Association of St. Louis, a group for speakers of the Indian dialect.
Off-duty Sunset Hills cop who killed 4 may
face manslaughter charges
By Carolyn Tuft
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/23/2009
DES PERES — Police are considering manslaughter charges against an off-duty Sunset Hills police officer who struck a car, killing four college students.
“Obviously, it’s manslaughter that we are looking at,” said Sgt. Al Nothum of the Missouri Highway Patrol. “We have strong suspicions that she had been drinking prior to the crash.”
While toxicology tests are probably complete at the hospital, Missouri Highway Patrol accident reconstruction officers may not get the results for some time, Nothum said. The troopers’ investigation will take at least three weeks.
Then, the case will be referred to the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office. It will be up to St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch’s office as to what charges, if any, will be filed.
The officer, Christine L. Miller, 41, of Kirkwood, is a 12-year veteran of the Sunset Hills police department. She is still in critical condition, Nothum said.
Miller has one son — Brian C. Miller, 22 — who currently faces manslaughter charges. Prosecutors in Laclede County, Mo., allege that Brian C. Miller was intoxicated when he crashed his car last year into a tree in the southwest Missouri county and killed a passenger.
Brian Miller is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter. The charge alleges that he was intoxicated when he crashed his 1997 Acura at 6:20 p.m. on July 27. His passenger, Salvatore R. Carrabino, 23, died.
A second passenger, Aaron M. Stanton of Lee’s Summit, was seriously injured in the crash in Laclede County. Brian C. Miller is also charged with second-degree assault in connection with Stanton’s injuries. Prosecutors allege in that case that Miller was driving while intoxicated, court records show.
In the Laclede County accident, police say that Miller was driving along State KK in Lebanon when Miller lost control of his car. The car left the right side of the road and struck a tree. Brian Miller was also seriously injured.
At 1:45 a.m. on Saturday, Christine L. Miller was driving her Mitsubishi Eclipse the wrong way when it crashed head on into the vehicle carrying five people, including the four who were killed.
The victims in the crash included three graduate students studying technology at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill. They were Anusha Anumolu, 23; Prya Muppvarapu, 22; and Anitha Lakshmi Veerapaneni, 23. They were roommates who also previously attended Oklahoma City University.
Our earlier story: Survivor of crash shielded from news
The trio were in the St. Louis area with the third person killed in the crash — Satya Chinta, 25, of Aurora, Ill., who was Veerapaneni’s cousin.
Nitesh Adusumilli, 27, of Ballwin, was driving the vehicle carrying the women who were killed. Adusumilli is listed in serious condition today at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur.
Holi: Wishing All A Happy & Colorful Holi
March 6, 2009 — Colrama
Watwani sends you the following message.
Let us join in and wish each other.
May God Splash
COLORS
of Success & Prosperity over
You & Your Family.
NRI Sikh woman wins NY lawsuit against NWL for discrimination
November 21, 2008 — ColramaNRI Sikh woman wins NY lawsuit
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The Sikh Coalition relies on your financial support to sustain its initiatives and broaden its services. In addition to supporting the Sikh Coalition directly, we encourage you to use matching donation programs offered by many employers. The Sikh Coalition is a 501c (3) non-profit organization. Thank you for your support. |
AFTER a legal battle lasting more than three years, a Sikh woman, who faced racial, religious and sexual harassment at her workplace, has forced her employer to not only pay her compensation, but also make changes in its employment policies.
“ The settlement reached between Sukhbir Kaur and her employer, National Wholesale Liquidators ( NWL), sends a strong message to private employers that discrimination against Sikhs is illegal and will be harshly punished,” non- profit organisation Sikh Coalition said in a statement on Wednesday.
In her lawsuit filed with the help of Sikh Coalition, Sukhbir had alleged that in 2004, a store manager of the NWL had harassed her because she was a Sikh, a woman, and an Indian.
She alleged the manager told her to remove her turban because she “ would appear sexier without it”. Sukhbir also said she was harassed by the manager, when she spurned his repeated advances.
Despite her complaints, NWL failed to take appropriate action to address and correct the harassment. Instead, she was fired. Sukhbir then filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which conducted an investigation in 2005. The investigation revealed that many South Asian workers at NWL’s Long Island City store in Queens, New York were being harassed. Having failed to persuade the NWL to reach a voluntary settlement, both the commission and Sikh Coalition finally filed a lawsuit against it.
The case was finally settled late last month with a consent decree filed in the court.
Under this settlement, NWL agreed to pay compensation of nearly Rs 13 million to the nine victims of harassment, including Sukhbir. It also agreed to make changes to its workplace and policies that would rid the company of discrimination.
Prominent among these changes include adoption of an anti- discrimination policy and complaint procedure approved by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, workplace posters about discrimination, and antidiscrimination training.
“ Because of Sukhbir’s courage, NWL is a better workplace for all of its employees,” said Harsimran Kaur, legal director of Sikh Coalition.
IANS
NRI: Sid Agarwal : suspect assailant Jing Hua Wu had work, money problems
November 21, 2008 — ColramaExtracts from Mercury News
911 calls offer glimpse of SiPort tragedy; suspect had work, money problems
Posted: 11/20/2008 01:03:54 PM PST
Jing Hua Wu with his twin sons who are now 6 years old Wu has been… ( Courtesy of the Wu family )
The first caller from outside a small chip-making company told a Santa Clara police dispatcher that he saw the victims “shot in the head.”
Dispatcher: Sir, do you know where they’re at?
Caller: They’re shot in the head.
Dispatcher: In the head?
Caller: Yeah. Yes. The head.
Dispatcher: Are you sure the suspect has left the building?
Caller: Yes.
That exchange was part of three audio files released Thursday by the Santa Clara Police Department following a California Public Records Act request by the Mercury News. The calls dispatchers received came moments after three executives were killed a week ago, police say, by Jing “Jerry” Hua Wu, an engineer fired that same day for “poor performance.”
The raw exchanges between employees to dispatchers offer a brief, rare glimpse into the tragedy at SiPort, a company on Scott Boulevard that makes chips for mobile devices. While the motive for the violence is not known, it appears Wu was having both trouble at work and substantial problems with his flagging personal finances.
His attorneys in the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office refuse to disclose whether his declining fortunes played a motive in the shootings. But a review of his investments by the Mercury News — he owns 17 properties in three states — indicates that in the months before the killings, the housing bubble burst and many of Wu’s once-promising real estate investments tanked.
Whatever was troubling the married father of three, on Nov. 14, it all came to a head.
Police say all three managers had agreed to meet with Wu in a conference room on that Friday afternoon — a few hours after he was fired. Police say he shot them all, left the scene and was arrested the following day without incident. Wu, who has declined media interviews, was arraigned Wednesday on murder charges without entering a plea.
On the dispatch recordings, two employees calling from SiPort identify the shooter right away and say they saw the 47-year-old Wu with a gun. They told dispatchers Wu fled the building wearing a baseball cap and beige clothing and drove off.
The first call came in at 3:52 p.m. and the longest call was 3 minutes and 40 seconds. When police arrived, they found three managers dead inside: Marilyn Lewis, 67, of San Jose, head of human resources; Brian Pugh, 47, of Los Altos, vice president of operations; and Sid Agrawal, 56, of Fremont, chief executive and co-founder.
While speculation centers on Wu’s employment problems at SiPort, property records show he also was facing significant financial woes due to the real estate downturn. While he looked prosperous on paper, with properties in California, Arkansas and Washington, several are worth less than he paid for them. And records also indicate that he also is tapping heavily into the equity in his Mountain View home.
It appears that Wu qualifies for a taxpayer-funded legal defense for several reasons. His investments are underwater; he is in jail without bail until the trial; and he is not earning a wage. A private attorney in a triple homicide would typically cost 500,000 to $750,000.
Wu invested in two houses in comfortable suburban neighborhoods of Vancouver, Wash., with good schools in 2005 and 2007 — near the top of the then-booming market, said Vancouver Realtor Lisa Costa. At the time, property in the city was appreciating rapidly, with equity in some locations ranging from 10 to 25 percent.
But when the bubble burst, Wu was caught holding the properties.
For instance, Wu bought one of the houses — on Northeast 145th Street — for $280,426 in May 2007. Its assessed value quickly shot up to $308,000, Costa said. But the latest assessment puts its value at only $276,000 — less than Wu paid 18 months ago.
“I’m sure when he bought it, he thought he was going to make money,” Costa said, “but the market shifted virtually overnight.”
Wu also owes more than the current value of two houses he bought before the crash in an affluent gated retirement community in Hot Springs, Ark., according to Realtor Keitha Turner of Village Pro.
Both houses in Hot Springs Village are now worth less than when he bought them in 2000 and 2005, despite the considerable amenities of the gated community, including nine golf courses and 11 lakes in the heart of the scenic Ouachita Mountains.
He bought one house in 2000 for $198,000; the other in 2005 for $215,000. “If you could even find a buyer, with so many houses in the Village for sale,” Turner said, “his would probably go for $10,000 to $20,000 less than he paid.”
The crimes Wu is accused of have reverberated there. One of Wu’s renters demanded Saturday that Turner change the locks on Wu’s property, she said, for fear the test engineer would show up and kill them.
In fact, Wu has been locked inside the mental health ward of the main county jail since his arrest. In another of the 911 calls, a SiPort employee, said he knew who had done the shootings.
Caller: I heard shots fired and I saw a gun. The guy’s name is Jing, I don’t know his last name, (pause) Wu.
The caller also talks about what happened moments before the gun went off. “He was in an argument with two employees.”
When the dispatcher asks if the employees know who the shooter is, the caller doesn’t hesitate.
The answer is: Yes.
NRI:Student Pulluri Sashanka shot at in Murfreesboro, USA
November 18, 2008 — Colrama
Another AP student attacked in the US
By Sitarama Seshu in Hyderabad
REELING under the shock of a series of attacks on students from Andhra Pradesh, the state of Andhra Pradesh woke up to yet another shocker from the US. A 22- year- old student from Hanamkonda was shot at in his apartment at Murfreesboro in Middle Tennessee on Saturday.
Pulluri Sashanka is struggling for life at the Nashville Hospitals with two critical bullet wounds on his hand and stomach. A native of
Warangal district in Telangana, Sashanka went to the US in August 2006 to pursue his MBA from the Middle Tennessee state university.
He did his BTech before leaving for the US. “ We learnt from Sashanka’s friends that four of them had returned to the apartment from college. But Sashanka went out again to get his books from the car when a group of African- Americans shot at him and fled from the spot,” the boy’s father P. Sudhakar said on Sunday.
Braving the injuries on his stomach and hands, Sashanka reached his friends, who alerted the police and medical staff. The motive behind the shooting is not known.
Doctors performed an operation to remove the bullets, sources said. “ We have been kept in the dark by the US authorities.
Why did they take nearly 24 hours to pass on information to the parents? The hospital authorities are also refusing to give details,” said one of the relatives. The family members are complaining that even Sashanka’s friends were not allowed inside the hospital to know his condition.
The boy’s close friends, Sunil and Imran, who are camping at the hospital, are in constant touch with his family members.
Sudhakar is getting ready to fly to the US. The district superintendent of police V. C. Sajjanar called on the family at their residence in Hanamkonda and extended his support to obtain a passport and visa as early as possible. The SP also spoke to US embassy officials and urged them to issue the passport to Sudhakar immediately.
The family urged the Andhra Pradesh government to inquire about his condition and ensure that he gets the necessary medical treatment.
The attack on the student came close on the heels of murder of a student, who hailed from Hyderabad, in the US. Arpana Jinaga, 24, who was working as a software engineer in EMC Corporation in Seattle, was found murdered in her apartment in Redmond, a suburb of Seattle, early this month.
She was the sixth student from Andhra Pradesh to be killed under mysterious circumstances in the US, in less than a year.
The series of killings has the families of students worried.
MTSU Police: Student shot off campus
Victim ‘raised his hands up at me and made a crying sound,’ neighbor says
UPDATE: 1 P.M.
A 23-year-old MTSU student was shot in the back by a stranger as he walked from the parking lot to his College Point apartment late Friday, he told police shortly after being shot.
Shashanka Pulluru, a master’s candidate majoring in business at the university, is listed as a no information patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, according to a Vanderbilt public affairs spokeswoman. He was transferred to the hospital around midnight Friday from Middle Tennessee Medical Center.
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When police arrived at the scene of the shooting around 11 p.m. they were approached by Pulluru’s neighbor, Stephanie Smotherman. She guided police to the living room of Pulluru’s apartment, where he was bleeding but coherent.
Pulluru told Murfreesboro Police Officer Sam Day that after arriving at his apartment he was approached by a group of men.
“The victim stated that he was shot from behind and then the male subjects fled the parking lot,” Day reported. “He appeared to have a gunshot wound to his abdomen.”
No motive for the shooting is known, according to Murfreesboro Police spokesman Kyle Evans.
Smotherman, who lives across from Pulluru, said she was watching television on the night of the incident and had her door open when she heard gunshot.
“I ran to the door and saw (Pulluru) walking right in front of the door across the way from me,” she said. “He raised his hands up at me and made a crying sound and closed the door. I called 911 right away.”
She didn’t see the shooter, she added.
“It was just really weird,” she said. “I went to the door a second after I heard the gunshot and nobody else was out there.”
Smotherman said Pulluru lives in the apartment with a group of roommates.
Detective Sgt. Joel Davis and Detective Richard Presley are investigating the shooting.
EARLIER
MTSU Police confirmed Sunday night that an MTSU student was shot over the weekend at an off-campus apartment.
Murfreesboro Police Department is investigating the incident, according to MTSU Police. MPD officials could not be reached late Sunday for comment.
NRI: Dr Dev Chopra & Dr Salim Yusuf Acievements recognised
November 14, 2008 — ColramaUS varsity honours Indian physicist
New York: Indian-American physicist Dev Chopra has been honoured as Professor Emeritus by the Texas A&M University, which has also recognised him as the most successful science professor in first 100 years of the university’s history.
Chopra, who graduated from Panjab University, was declared Professor Emeritus by university president Dan Jones at a function recently, an official statement said.
“It is a great delight and a great honour, on behalf of the students, faculty, and the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, to bestow upon you the honour of Professor Emeritus,” Jones said.
Chopra, who worked as physics professor and department head at A&M-Commerce for 33 years, said: “I always told my students I wanted to give them their money’s worth.”
He was named Regents Professor of Physics in 1995, becoming the university’s first recipient of the award.
He published over 70 refereed articles and contributed to several books, coached a large number of masters students, and received $1.5 million as research grants from external sources.
“Dr. Chopra is the most successful science professor in the first 100 years of the university,” said Ben Doughty, a professor of physics at A&M-Commerce and former department head.
Chopra had his masters in physics from the University of Nebraska, and PhD in the same subject from New Mexico State University.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
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Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
Indo-Canadian doc bags US award
New York:
The American Heart Association has awarded eminent Indo-Canadian scientist Salim Yusuf with its Clinical Research Prize for 2008 for his work in cardiovascular disease.
A professor of medicine and director of the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Yusuf received the award from the American Heart Association president, Timothy J. Gardner, over the weekend during its annual convention in New Orleans.
“A cardiologist and epidemiologist, Dr. Yusuf has carried out a highly regarded international research programme utilising large scale clinical trials, meta-analyses and epidemiologic studies using innovative designs to definitively address, and provide reliable answers to, questions of great consequence to the health of populations around the world,” Gardner said in his speech.
A graduate of Saint John’s Medical College in Bangalore, Yusuf coordinated the first International Study of Infarct Survival, which demonstrated the benefits of beta-blocker drugs in treating acute heart attacks, Gardner said.
At the National Institutes of Health, Yusuf led the studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction and the Digitalis Investigations Group study.
“These seminal studies revolutionised the management of patients with heart failure and have set the approach for much clinical research in the field,” Gardner said.
With a PhD from the Oxford University, Yusuf is known for establishing the world’s first study examining the impact of societal changes on health behaviours, risk factors and disease in more than 400 communities in 18 countries.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Andhra Pradesh Govt Initiative on NRIs
November 14, 2008 — ColramaOther state Governments must take notice of how the Government of Andhra Pradesh has helped out returning NRIs from Middle East.
The Government of Kerala must make special efforts in this matter to resettle NRIs returning from Gulf.
AP Gulf returnees enter construction biz
Most Gulf returness have found employment in the construction sector under a AP government programme. Other repatriates, mostly unskilled workers, have been rehabilitated through funds from the Rajiv Yuva Shakti Yojana used to procure agricultural implements
Hyderabad: Almost 70 per cent of those who had returned to Andhra Pradesh in November 2007 under the amnesty declared by the United Arab Emirates have got jobs.
Most have found employment in the construction sector under a special state government programme. Other repatriates, mostly unskilled workers, have been rehabilitated through funds from the Rajiv Yuva Shakti Yojana used to procure agricultural implements.
Around 70,000 Indian illegal workers had taken advantage of the amnesty scheme to return home, but there were many who did not have the money to pay for their return fare
The Indian consulate in Dubai arranged for the return of a large number of the impoverished workers through special loan schemes, which allowed them to pay when they returned home. The Andhra Pradesh government, however, brought back about 13,000 penniless illegal migrants at government cost in special chartered flights last year.
Many of the returnees were skilled and semi-skilled workers, like turners, fitters, masons, framers, joiners, finishers, shuttering workers and had experience of working methods on large-scale projects in the Gulf.
holding job fairs in collaboration with construction and other business enterprises. These fairs were held in districts with high illegal migration, such as Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and East Godavari.
The state government’s Overseas Manpower Company of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (OMCAP) has also been able to help about 700 people locate jobs overseas. The agency assisted a group of young men to find jobs as security guards in Macau. Jobseekers have also found employment as skilled workers with proper work permits in Gulf countries like Oman.
The manpower corporation was one of the recommendations of a six-member panel headed by Minister for Minorities and NRI Affairs Mohammed Ali Shabbir. Set up two years ago, OMCAP acts as a facilitator for prospective migrants, who register with the agency; they are helped to find jobs and are assisted in obtaining passports, visas, air tickets and occupational competency certificates.
According to M.V. Ramana Reddy, special secretary, NRI Affairs, Andhra Pradesh, the state government is in discussions with private insurance companies to come up with “attractive insurance packages for unforeseen circumstances for the migrant workers.”
There are around a million people from Andhra Pradesh in Saudi Arabia, forming the largest segment of Indians in the country. In other Gulf countries like the UAE and Kuwait, Andhra Pradesh residents form the second largest group of Indians.
A large number of these workers living in the Gulf countries are illegal migrants, who are exploited and unable to return home. Most of the illegal immigrants have gone to the Gulf countries on visit visas and have then disappeared to work at jobs without work permits, turning themselves into illegal workers at the mercy of their employers.
The workers get trapped, as they are unable to return home without the necessary exit documents. A large number of them have been tricked by labour or travel agents who promise them regular work visas.
The relatively lax method of giving visas has aggravated the problem of illegal migrants. While visas to several countries with high immigration carry the applicants’ photograph on them, the Gulf countries are yet to adopt these modern visa issuing methods. The screening for visa sponsors is inadequate and all this results in fraud and exploitation of the migrants.
The state government has requested the ministry of external affairs to streamline the process of issuing visas in consultation with host countries in order to protect the interests of migrant workers.
Source: IANS
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Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
Grand Finale: Kumbabhishekam Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation (SVBF), Stroudsburg, PA
July 19, 2008 — ColramaKumbhabhishekam – The Grand Finale – July 27, 2008
The Grand Finale, July 27,2008 – is a memorable day for the Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation devotees.
The day started with offering Poornakumbam to our Guru His Holiness Sri Sri Bharathi Teertha Mahaswamiji the 36th Pontiff of Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham Sringeri, through live Video telecast between Stroudsburg USA and Srigeri India. This was followed by Acharya’s Anugraha Bhashanam. Acharya expressed that he was very pleased with the Kumbhabhishekam and the Yajanas performed at SVBF, USA and showered his blessings to Padmasri. Gauri Shankar, Dr. Yegnasubramanian, the priests, volunteers and devotees.
The devotees had the privilege of having Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s darshan. Swamiji, in his Anugraha Bhashanam praised Dr. Yegnasubramanian and Padmashri Gauri Shankar for successfully completing the world class vedic event and recognized Padmashri Gaurishankar’s contribution to Hindu religion and Dr. Yegnasubramanian’s efforts in protecting the Vedas.
Devotees felt the presence of divine power as Lord Varuna was pleased and blessed with a very heavy downpour for 2 hours during Maha Purnahuti and Vasordhara Homa.
The priests from India, US and Canada recited Veda Mantras to bless the devotees and conclude the Kumbhabhishekam Ceremonies.
The conclusion of this Mega event is believed to be a beginning for many more such Vedic events at SVBF, Stroudsburg.
Visit the temple regulary and enjoy the Grace of Goddess Sharadamba and Swamiji.
Program : Kumbabhishekam
Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation (SVBF), Stroudsburg, PA
Please take part in the following celebrations at Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation (SVBF), Stroudsburg, PA . and see how Maha Swamiji’s desire of Adi Sankara Prathishtapana and Veda Gosham (by 175 Vedic scholars of all the four Vedas from all over India) come true! Detailed brochure is posted in this album.
July 12th to July 14th – Kumbabishekam of Sri Sharadamba Temple and Swarna Rathotsava in the evening of July 14th.
July 16th to July 20th Satachandi Mahayajna
July 16th to July 27th Atirudra Mahayajna
July 17th to July 27th Koti Kumkuma Archana
Please visit www.svbf.org … for further details on parking, accommodation etc.
Please visit community.webshots.com … for latest updates on the construction of the new temple
Posted by Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Kendra at 5:52 AM
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