Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and India's Ambassador to Liberia Shamma Jain have been injured in a minor car accident in Liberia on Thursday, Minister for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has said..
"If they say that my son should not enter Guruvayur temple, it is not correct. It is not a good approach. Let the people say," Ravi, whose wife is a Christian, told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Kochi.
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, who met with an accident in Liberia, will be airlifted to Chennai for further treatment.
Minister of Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi is out of danger after a car accident in Liberia on Thursday, the Indian High Commissioner in Abuja said, even as his visit to Nigeria has been cancelled.
Deshmukh, who is Science and Technology Minister, was given additional charge of the Ministry immediately after Virbhadra Singh resigned in the wake of a Himachal Pradesh court framing corruption charges against him in a 23-year-old case in June, this year.
The returnees included all Indians like overseas Indians, students, tourists, and businessmen.
Overseas Indian affairs minister Vayalar Ravi said Government was in the final stage of establishing a 'Return and Resettlement Fund' that will provide 'reasonable level of financial security' to the overseas returnees.
Overseas Indian affairs minister Vayalar Ravi said on Wednesday investment promotion, sharing of knowledge and property issues relating to the expatriates will be among the main themes of the three-day meet to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 8.
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi was today given additional charge of ministries of science and technology, earth sciences and micro, small and medium enterprises following ill health of Vilasrao Deshmukh.
The four recommendations came from Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs,Vayalar Ravi, member of US Congress Joseph Crowley and Dalis Adler, staff associate, sub-committee on the Middle East and South Asia under the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The government has identified 355 foreign employers who were found to be harassing Indian workers abroad, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Ravi, who attended the Ministerial Consultations on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin in Asia in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, said the (wage) figure should be 'realistic' and needs to reflect the conditions in each of the countries where the workers are employed.
Ravi, who inaugurated the 15th national biennial convention of the National Federation of Indian Americans in Seattle, Washington, told rediff.com that the Government of India and his Ministry are committed to the safety and protection of Indian students in the US and anywhere in the world, and that during his visit he would meet with the relevant authorities in the US to make sure that the welfare of the Indian students is ensured.
In a meeting with Minister for Overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi in New Delhi on Tuesday, Australian Education Secretary Lisa Paul said her country is committed to have a help line for Indian students to lodge their complaints and to seek other support.
India will soon make a comprehensive amendment to emigration laws to protect its labour force abroad, especially in the Gulf region, from being exploited by unscrupulous recruiting agents.
All the chief ministers from the northeast states have confirmed that will be attending the 9th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said on Wednesday.
The government on Tuesday said it is aware of the plight of the 1,200 Indian workers stranded in Angola and will take all necessary steps for their return. "The government is taking steps for their return," Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said in the Rajya Sabha.
Efforts are underway to ensure that Indian Medical Graduates are also allowed to appear unconditionally for the second round of recruitment that is likely to take place in April, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said.
The young couple got married in Chennai on December 22.
'If any Pravasi attends the event he will not be disappointed,' says Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi.
The minister for Overseas Indian Affairs says he is aware of the problems expatriates face when they travel to India with their Overseas Citizen of India cards.
The scheme has been launched in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Gulf, and is aimed at helping women who have been deserted by their overseas Indian spouses or are facing divorce proceedings.
Giving a platform to Keralites in the Gulf to air their grievances, an exclusive session on Non-Resident Indians in that region was held as the 11th Pravasi Divas began in Kochi on Monday.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko on Wednesday alleged that the Libyan army had shot dead an Indian worker there and the authorities of the violence-torn country falsely claimed it to be a death in a road accident.Vaiko said 42-year-old Murugiah from Tirunelveli district was shot dead by the Libyan Army after it ordered the workers to vacate their place of accommodation. "On February 22, they were forced to vacate the place and the army opened fire on them."
India's Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs Vayalar Ravi, keynoting the 15th biannual convention of the National Federation of Indian Associations, said the election of Senator Barack Obama as the new President of the United States had rewritten not just the history of America, but the history of the world.
India plans to create a special centre to attract investments from overseas Indians as also to facilitate creation of a global Indian consortium to work with apex trade bodies, states of India and various associations of overseas Indians.
Holding the 'nexus' between agents responsible for the 'exploitation' of Indian workers in Gulf countries, New Delhi on Friday said it would tighten rules for their recruitment.
Australia will ask India to crack down on unscrupulous education agents in India who give misleading information to students willing to pursue studies in the private institutes Down Under.
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said the diaspora community has been contributing significantly to India's economy by sending billion of dollars in remittances and government is launching the scheme to support them on their return to the country.
Kerala will have to wait. The next Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in Chandigarh," and not in Thiruvananthapuram, said Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi.
There will be no requirement of emigration clearance from October 1 for Indians travelling abroad, with the government on Thursday admitting that the 'retrograde' scheme was a cause of 'harassment' and 'corruption'.
Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi in reply to a question said India's remittance from abroad is $27 billion which is the highest in the world.
An amendment to the Indian Immigration Act governing the conduct of manpower agents is now waiting for the mandatory clearance from the union cabinet, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said in Dubai on Tuesday. Of the 56 complaints received so far this year, 13 licences were cancelled while 27 were suspended. Twenty-eight licences of recruiting agents were cancelled in 2006 and 65 were suspended.
India has restricted all women under 30 years of age who have not completed high school from being permitted to work abroad.
The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin will celebrate its Convention 2009 in Chennai, India, January 6 and 7 at the Trident Hotel, just before the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2009 event.
Pravasi centres to be set up in embassies
