Indian American Twins Honored with ‘Everyday Young Hero’ by Youth Service America January 18, 2020 11:25
The Indian American twins are striving hard to spread the knowledge of the disastrous side effects that are caused due to consumption of drugs, smoking and vaping.Seventeen-year-old Indian American twins from New York were recognized with the ‘Everyday Young Hero’ award by Youth Service America. The twins, Renee and Rhea Mendonca are said to be seniors at Susan E. Wagner High School in New York and also the founders of Wings of Hope.A press release has said that, the twins have started an organization at the age of 10, when they had been prompted to do so after the death of their grandfather which was caused due to pulmonary fibrosis. The aim and mission of the twins is to educate the young and the youth and also to spread the knowledge regarding the dangers and the disastrous effects of vaping.The seventeen -year- old twins have a 24-hour online helping on instagram and email where in they can be contacted by vaping addicts anonymously. The instagram account being @wings_ofhope and the email being This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. // It is said that around 150,000 youth have been reached out by the Wings of Hope. The youth were said to be from around several countries which includes the US, Haiti, Congo, Malawi,, Nicaragua, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Columbia among the others.The twins had also written letters to the governors of 50 States in the US and the President Donald Trump, in order to ban e-cigarettes in the US as they had observed that 85 per cent of students between the age 12-17 were hooked on becoming a slave to flavored e-cigarettes. A letter has also been written to the JUUL, which is an e-cigarette company, as they protested against the social media advertisements which are misleading the teenagers for the usage of e-cigarettes.It has been said that, the marketing campaigns and flavored pods that are targeted towards underage teenagers have been withdrawn by JUUL. The press release has also said that it had been first banned in New York which was then followed by ten other states.A song, “Break Free Of All Addictions” have also been composed and sung by the twins in order to get their message spread across. Various online articles have been initiated in order to spread their message and a blog has also been created, which is called as Anti-Vaping Mondays, wherein the stories of youth across the globe who were addicted and how they gradually came out of it and set themselves free from addiction with the help of Wings of Hope, is being written.The President and CEO of YSA Steve Culbertson has said that, everything that YSA looks for in the young leaders has been exemplified by the twins Renee Mendonca and Rhea Mendonca.By Shrithika Kushangi
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Schengen Visa Application Fee Hike from February 2 January 17, 2020 12:56
The Schengen visa fee is said to get increased from Euro 60 currently, to Euro 80 making it costlier for people to travel to Europe. The new fees is said to be coming into effect…
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Tatkal Passports to get Issued on the Same Day for Indian Expats in Dubai January 11, 2020 12:50
The Consulate in Dubai has announced that the issuing of the passport Indian expats in Dubai and the northern Emirates can now be done on the same day under certain condition which includes higher fee.The…
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Fire at Rann Utsav, Four Tents of the NRI Families Burnt to Ashes January 10, 2020 16:32
The state government’s annual desert festival, Rann Utsav has witnessed a major fire that broke out in the tent city. The incident took place in Dhordo village near Bhuj on Thursday morning. The fire is suspected to be caused by a short-circuit and was doused by the two fire tenders who deployed at the tent city. Investigation is in process although there were no casualties recorded.Three NRI families from the US were present when the incident had taken place. The NRIs are said to have come in order to participate in the festival from Ahmedabad.The manager of the tent city, Anil Gupta said that the fire broke out in one of the tents when the NRI families headed to the dining hall for breakfast. No sooner did the fire broke out than, all the four tents caught fire and were reduced to ashes which also included the belongings of the NRI families.An official from the Khavda police station has said that the tent city contained 400 tents in total and luckily the NRI families were out of their tents carrying their passports along with them when the fire broke out. He said that two firefighters were deployed at the tent city who doused the fire and had prevented it from spreading to other tents. Investigation to know the exact cause of the fire is being made.A member from the NRI family said that the fire has completely destroyed the four tents and no efforts were made by the management to douse the fire causing loss of clothes, valuables, credit cards, driving licenses and two passports.By Shrithika Kushangi
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World’s Most powerful Passports in 2020: India Stands at 84th position January 10, 2020 14:13
The Indian passport featured on the 84th position among the world’s most travel-friendly passport index 2020 that has been released by the Henley Passport Index on Wednesday. The Henley Passport Index periodically ranks the world’s…
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NRI Suffered Serious Injuries after Car Overturns January 09, 2020 15:14
Kirit Thummar, an NRI who lives in Ahmedabad has experienced a crash as his car collided with a truck and then into the traffic island on Udhna-Magdalla Road on Wednesday. The NRI who lives in Ahmedabad was returning in a car with two others after visiting a friend’s house in Vesu. Kirit has suffered serious injuries as he was sitting beside the driver and was taken to the New Civil Hospital (NCH) and then to Mahavir Hospital in an unconscious state.The NRI’s daughter who is a doctor at a hospital in Sola area of Ahmedabad did not want to register any complaint, said an official from Khatodara police who is investigating the case.By Shrithika Kushangi
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Billionaire Vinod Khosla has been Sued by the State of California January 09, 2020 12:36
The state of California has sued Vinod Khosla who is a billionaire venture capitalist as he has illegally restricted the public from entering into the beach. Khosla has denied the access to the public to a beach next to the property he owns in San Mateo County.The beaches in California are public land under the California Coastal Act objecting to which Vinod Khosla was sued by the state of California.According to the report in CNBC, Khosla has bought the land surrounding Martins Beach for $32 million in 2008 and has been fighting since then as he has restricted and locked the entry for public.It has been 12 years that Khosla has been fighting this battle as the under the California Coastal Act, the beaches in California are public land.TechCrunch has said that, Khosla has been fighting to “keep private a stretch of beach in front of an 89-acre property that the billionaire venture capitalist purchased in 2008.”The state of California has said in a lawsuit that Khosla has “improperly and illegally” restricted the entry of public to the beach. The suit has also added saying that Khosla will “continue to deny, impair and obstruct” the right of public to use the Martin’s beach, without the orders of the court.A statement has been made by Dori Yob Kilmer, a lawyer of Khosla, saying “the claims asserted in today’s lawsuit have been extensively litigated and repeatedly rejected by the courts in a prior lawsuit.”By Shrithika Kushangi
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Indian students in UK Protest against the ‘brutal crackdown’ on Universities January 08, 2020 16:11
A protest against the Narendra Modi governments’s “brutal crackdown” on universities and minority communities will be held in UK by a group of students under the banner of South Asians Against Fascism and the SOAS India society.This protest is scheduled to be from 8am to 8pm being a day long sit-in protest in front of London’s India House. This is to resist the Indian government’s repressive moves. The demonstration also consists of poets, artists, and academics who will be engaged in teach-ins and performances.The organizers of the event released a statement saying that,” the working class is also going for a national strike on the same day against the anti-people, anti-workers policies of the government…students across India will boycott classes and come out to the streets…”The strike is said to be a nationwide strike by the central trade unions with the slogan “Educate! Agitate! Organize!” which is a against the policies of the government.The general secretary of AITUC Amarjeet Kaur said, the 10 central trade unions participating in the nationwide strike included AITUC, INTUC, CITU, AICCTU, CUCC, SEWA, LPF along with several sectoral independent federations.The protest has been supported by the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as he has tweeted showing his support. The Modi-Shah Govt’s anti people, anti labour policies have created catastrophic unemployment & are weakening our PSUs to justify their sale to Modi’s crony capitalist friends. Today, over 25 crore workers have called for #BharatBandh2020 in protest. I salute them. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 8, 2020 The protest has also gained support by several Left-leaning farmer’s bodies and the expected people to join the all-India strike is over 25 crore.By Shrithika Kushangi
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Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy Responds to NRI’s Social Media Appeal January 08, 2020 14:11
Maneti Manoj, an NRI in Kuwait has posted in social media that he was cheated by the agent while being sent to Kuwait. He posted that he has been forced to do menial jobs and was not even given proper food.Manoj is a native of Balkonda mandal in Nizamabad district to whose social media post the Minister of Roads and Buildings Vemula Prashanth Reddy has responded. The Minister asked the NRI affairs section of the government in order to ensure the safe return of Manoj.The Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy has also asked Muralidhar Reddy and Vinay who are the NRIs in Kuwait to follow up Manoj and extend necessary help.By Shrithika Kushangi
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Widow Cheated By A Man Posing As An NRI January 07, 2020 12:31
A 40 year old widow was conned by a man who cheated her for INR 3.9 lakh through a matrimonial site. The man claimed to be an NRI residing in the United Kingdom. He later contacted her on a matrimonial site where they came to know each other.The man told that he had to pay the penalty at the New Delhi Airport for carrying diamonds along with excess baggage with him. Understanding that she was stuck in a fraudulent situation, the victim lodged a complaint with the Adugodi police who have successfully arrested the accused. Arman Malik, the accused was taken into custody under the IPC Section 420 and are further looking into the case to get more insights.The woman clarified in her complaint that she created a profile on the matrimonial website, Jeevansaathi.com in December 2019 and came around to know Malik who posed himself as a well established NRI based out of UK. Malik also assured the victim that he would come visit India within 5 days and that the two would get married then.It was later on December 30, 2019 that Malik called the victim in a state of distress and panic claiming that the customs section in the New Delhi airport has caught him for carrying diamonds and excess luggage. He said that he needs to pay a penalty to get through the airport. Thinking that Malik was actually in trouble and was in need of urgent money, the victim transferred INR 2.7 lakh that day itself followed by INR 1.2 lakh the day after. Following that, she called Malik to get hold of him but found that his phone was switched off. Again on January 02, 2019, she received another call from Malik asking her to transfer another INR 85,000 to get the remaining packets that he left with the customs at the New Delhi airport. It was then that the victim realized that she had been conned and lodged a complaint with the police. The police then worked to trace the account and the accused for further progress into the case.The cases of fraudulency through the matrimonial websites have been on a rampant rise in recent times, especially with that of widows. The cases are increasing gradually with every passing year.By Somapika Dutta
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NRI Woman’s 18 Lakh Diamond Necklace Stolen January 07, 2020 12:25
In recent news, a United Stated based NRI woman lodged a complaint against an unidentified woman for allegedly stealing her diamond necklace worth INR 18 lakh. The same is believed to have happened from the counter of a beauty parlour located in Sector 16-17 of Hisar. The complaint had been lodged and the police have already started working on the case but no leads have been found yet that could lead to the accused woman. The case had been lodged under the Section 380 (theft) under the Indian Penal Code. The NRI woman, Prem Gaur is originally a resident of the Sargathal Village in the Sonipat district. In the issued complaint, Gaur clarified saying that she lives in America with her husband and children and has been in India for the last 10 months.Further emphasizing and clarifying on the situation, Gaur stated saying that on December 30, she came to visit her brother Peshl Kumar Sharma at his house which is located in Sector 9-11 in Hisar. It was on the same day that she and her sister in law, Rajbala went to Chugh beauty parlour which is stationed at the house of Monika Chugh. During her facial treatment, Gaur opened her diamond necklace and handed it over to her sister in law who was busy talking to someone else on the phone. Rajbala clarified saying that she kept the diamond necklace on the counter.After the treatments done, when Gaur and her sister in law returned home, they realized that they didn’t have the necklace with them. In panic, they all went back to the parlour to retrieve the necklace but couldn’t find a trace of the same around.By Somapika Dutta
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Expat Keralites Should be Included in the Ration Cards, Demands Arise at Loka Kerala Sabha January 04, 2020 10:47
A demand was raised at the Loka Kerala Sabha (LKS) in order to include the expat Keralites in the ration cards. It has also been demanded that, they should be provided with proper training and awareness which helps them invest in beneficial ways and ensure value-addition. Another demand has also been raised at the LKS regarding the special employment exchange for NRKs who have returned.The coverage of the insurance to the families of the NRKs and Kerala houses being set up in all the states, a Legal Aid Centre in order to ensure legal help to the divorcee women from abroad or the women who are subjected to domestic violence are the other requirements which were raised for discussion. Several matters that are related to expats which includes the opportunities for investment were discussed at the LKS.Writer Benyamin who was the moderator of Open Forum at the LKS said that the concept of Loka Kerala Sabha is special as it treats the NRKs as citizens and not as a mere source of money.Writer Manasi described Loka Kerala Sabha being a heavenly place for the NRKs who are deeply disturbed by the emotional trauma of migrating from their native place.P T Kunhu Muhammed gives the credit to the NRKs for the present prosperity of Kerala. He added saying that the efforts of the NRKs despite facing rejections from both their native place and the migrated land is the cause for the prosperity that Kerala is currently facing.Loka Kerala Sabha is described as the best platform by Muralee Thummarukudi, in order to collect funds as well as collecting the ideas from the NRI community.By Shrithika Kushangi
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