Six Indian-origin students have made it to the 2024 Class of Distinguished New Americans and each of them has won the $90,000 fellowship grant for up to two years. Thus, they have entered the prestigious cohort of Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows, including Dr Vivek Murthy, the first US Surgeon General of Indian descent who played a crucial role in leading national response to epidemic outbreaks, and healthcare leader Nirav Shah who worked for US CDC.

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, since its establishment in 1998, has supported nearly 800 New Americans – immigrants and children of immigrants – for their educational pursuits in USA. As immigrants themselves, Paul and Daisy Soros believe in the transformative impact of a single opportunity for talented individuals seeking to fulfil their potential in the land of American Dream. Every year, the merit-based graduate school program provides $90,000 fellowship grants to 30 students of various ethnic origins, with ‘potential to make meaningful contributions to the United States.’

PC: Pdsoros.org

Akshay Swaminathan from New Jersey

The $90,000 fellowship grant will support Akshay Swaminathan’s Ph.D. studies in biomedical data science at Stanford University. He has developed several data-driven tools, including a suicide detection system. The budding data scientist has published 40 research papers and co-authored a book on applying quantitative methods to address healthcare-related issues. He has also built a primary care clinic in Bolivia. His current research focuses on the role of AI in healthcare.

Being a language instructor and author, Akshay Swaminathan founded ‘Start Speaking’ platform to help language learners. He led ESL programs for Chinese immigrants and published 5 textbooks. He founded ‘Start Speaking’ platform to help language learners. As a future physician, he aims to bolster the healthcare system in marginalized regions. The third-generation Indian American born in a Tamil family practices Carnatic music as a way of nurturing his cultural roots.

Shubhayu Bhattacharya from Los Angeles

Kolkata-born Shubhayu Bhattacharya noticed common healthcare challenges in his community across India and California. Deeper research and a quest for solutions led him to found a startup, Auditus Technologies, to roll out hearing devices for adults suffering from dementia. He was pursuing a double degree in biomedical engineering and applied mathematics and statistics from Hopkins University at the time.

Later, he invented the first computational bedside system to monitor and classify motor functions in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. His Ph.D. thesis on AI methods for effective TBI treatment was published in leading health journals, and he was invited to deliver a keynote at international conferences. An MD student at Harvard, Shubhayu wants to become a physician-engineer in neurocritical or neurosurgical care. He aims to harness big data to improve the effectiveness & accessibility of brain injury care.

Malavika Kannan from Pennsylvania

One of the $90,0000 Paul & Daisy Soros fellowship winners in 2024, Malavika Kannan will fund her Master’s program in Fine Arts (Fiction) with the grant. Currently a senior at Stanford University, Malavika is a published author of ‘All the Yellow Suns’, a coming-of-age novel narrating the emotional journey of a queer Indian American girl as she explores her identity, engages in activism, and finds love. Her fictional pieces surrounding the themes of identity, culture and politics have been published in The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Refinery29, and The San Francisco Chronicle. She aspires to be a novelist and a professor of literature.

Keerthana Hogirala from Chicago

Keerthana’s family moved to the US from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh when was 6. Her family endured a prolonged period of uncertainty during the wait for naturalization. The experience motivated Keerthana to make the most of the opportunity available to her amid the green card backlog. After graduating in neuroscience, she became a special education teacher at DC Public Schools.

She was instrumental in leading DC schools’ response to COVID-19 pandemic. She gradually overhauled operations with her innovative approaches. Her subsequent role as chief of staff put her in charge of the DC schools’ multi-year digital transformation initiative. She earned a full-tuition merit scholarship for MBA and 90% tuition merit scholarship for MPP. Keerthana is now pursuing an MBA and MPP dual degree at the University of Chicago. Her future goal is to address pressing public needs and drive social development in underprivileged communities.

Ananya Agustin Malhotra from Georgia

Ananya Agustin Malhotra of Indian and Filipino descent developed a deep interest in global history and international relations owing to her multiethnic background. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University. She was a Rhodes Scholar while pursuing an MPhil in modern European history at Oxford University. Ananya actively advocates for women rights as well as peaceful foreign policies with focus on nuclear disarmament and risk reduction.

She has authored/co-authored several policy briefs. Her research papers, writings on world history, international law and order, security, peace and other works were published in popular media such as Global histories, American Oxonian, and Oxford Review of Books. She has effectively collaborated with her alma matter – Princeton University – on projects of science and global security. She is currently enrolled in the Juris Doctor Program at Yale University.

Aayush Karan from Wisconsin

A summa cum laude graduate pursuing Ph.D. in Quantum Science and Engineering at Harvard University, Aayush Karan has been exceptional at academics since childhood. His research skills are remarkable too. From his high school research in low-dimensional topology to undergraduate research involving application of mathematical concepts to solve scientific problems, his work earned him several rewards, including Davidson fellowship and Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

Aayush inherited his passion for scientific research from his parents, who moved to USA from India for advanced research in cancer biology. In future, he aims to contribute towards safe and effective utilization of AI technology. If not research, he immerses himself in creative pursuits, exploring various mediums of storytelling, from music to writing.

The post 30 Distinguished New Americans include 6 Indian Students for Their Potential to Make Impactful Contributions to USA appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

In a major development for air travelers under the Biden-Harris administration, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a mandate for airlines to credit automatic cash refunds to passengers in the event of flight cancelations, significant flight schedule/itinerary changes, and other specific circumstances (defined in the mandate). Termed as ‘final rule by DOT’, the mandate requires airlines to honor passengers’ right to a quick refund in the below scenarios, as evident from what US Transportation Secretary said, “Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them – without headaches or haggling.”

PC: IndianEagle.com

Canceled or significantly changed flights: Passengers are entitled to a refund if their flight is canceled or significantly changed, and if they do not accept alternative travel arrangement or travel credits/vouchers offered. As defined by the DOT rule for airlines, “significant changes” to a flight include departure or arrival delays beyond 3 hours domestically and 6 hours internationally.

DOT considers departures or arrivals from a different airport than the actual one booked by the passengers as significant changes to a flight. An increase in the number of connections (for instance, changing an itinerary from a one-stop flight to a two-stop flight) is also defined as a significant change to flights. If airlines modify an itinerary to provide connection(s) at different airports than the ones specified in the itinerary at the time of booking, passengers can refuse this significant change and request a cash refund.

A downgrade to the passenger’s ticketed class of travel, to say from business class to premium economy or standard economy, comes under “significant changes” to a flight, according to DOT. A change of planes, which makes a flight(s) “less accessible or accommodating to a person with a disability” is also a significant change, and therefore, a must consideration for a refund against cancelation.

Significantly delayed baggage return: The DOT rule for automatic cash refunds enables passengers to claim a refund of their checked bag fee if they don’t get the checked baggage within 12 hours of their domestic flight arriving at the gate, and 15-30 hours of their international arrival, depending on the length of the flight.

Extra services not provided: The Department of Transportation requires airlines to refund the fee that a passenger pays for Wi-Fi, seat selection, or any other extra service – if they fail to provide the paid service.

DOT underlines a standard refund policy for airlines   

A standard refund policy for airlines operating to, from and through the United States is the other principal objective of the DOT final rule. DOT standardizes the refund process for airlines – which was otherwise cumbersome and full of hiccups such as making a formal refund request, filling out extra digital paperwork, waiting for hours on the phone. Below are the refund norms that airlines are directed to comply with:

Automatic: Airlines must automatically credit refund amounts without passengers having to explicitly request a refund in case of flight cancelation.

Prompt: Airlines must issue refunds within seven business days of refunds becoming due to credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods.

Cash or original form of payment: Refund amounts must be credited to passengers in cash or whatever original payment method they used to book flight tickets, like credit card or airline miles. Airlines may not enforce vouchers, travel credits, or other forms of compensation unless the passenger gives his/her explicit consent to accept alternative compensation.

Full amount: Airlines must provide full refunds of the ticket purchase price, minus the value of any portion of transportation already used (partially used tickets). “The refunds must include all government-imposed taxes and fees and airline-imposed fees, regardless of whether the taxes or fees are refundable to airlines,” said DOT.

DOT’s final rule directs airlines to quickly communicate to passengers about their right to a refund of the ticket and extra service fees, as well as any related policies in the event of flight cancelation.

The post All about US DOT’s Final Rule for Airlines: Biden Empowers Travelers to Get Cash Refunds Quickly and Automatically appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Happiness is flying higher at the lowest fares! We are thrilled to announce that Air India, one of our airline partners, has rolled out discounted economy fares for select flights from USA to India. The fares starting as low as $374.50 are simply unbeatable and unmissable for a limited period through 30 April 2024. Hurry to buy your cheapest Air India tickets from IndianEagle.com, a highly trusted travel-booking partner of Indians in America.

The discounted fares are available only for one-way travel until 20 May 2024, from New York JFK and Newark EWR airports to major destinations in India, such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram. If Chicago is your origin of travel, you can fly only to New Delhi and Mumbai at the lowest airfare starting from $399.50. The sale is also available for Air India flights to Vadodara in Gujarat, and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh only from Newark Liberty International Airport.

Air India Fare Sale: Important details

• Booking period through 30 April
• Travel period through 20 May
• Booking available on IndianEagle.com
• Fare deals are subject to seat availability
• Travel should start from JFK, EWR, ORD airports

Those in Pennsylvania can save as much as $400 on Air India tickets per person if they choose NY JFK or Newark EWR as their origin of travel to India rather than booking a one-stop itinerary from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. The current lowest fare from Philadelphia to New Delhi starts at $753 for flights scheduled through May 2024 – which is nearly $400 more than Air India’s current promotional fare starting at $374.50.

What is the right time to travel to India from USA? When it comes to traveling back home, any time of the year is the best time. However, the right time is when you get to save BIG on airfares, skip long airport queues, and travel comfortably. The current Air India flight sale through IndianEagle.com makes it the ideal time for you to plan your trip to India from Chicago, New Jersey, and New York before the summer travel season peaks up.

The post Air India Flights Sale: Book Your Travel from USA to India at Fares Starting as Low as $375 appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Srinivas Pallia from New Jersey is appointed as the global CEO and MD of Wipro, a leading IT behemoth operating in 66 countries directly and indirectly. His taking over the role from Thierry Delaporte inflated the cohort of Indian-origin CEOs worldwide. The second quarter of 2024 has just started, and the world is surprised to see the third Indian-origin tech leader having ascended the hot seat in the C-suite of a conglomerate, after Dhivya Suryadevara and Sridhar Ramaswamy.

PC: Wipro | LinkedIn

Wipro CEO Srinivas Pallia’s journey is similar to that of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Both the CEOs had started their journey in the same year 1992. Microsoft hired Nadella as a young engineer and Pallia joined Wipro as a product manager back then. Srinivas Pallia, a fresh graduate from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in 1992, walked into Wipro headquarters, Bengaluru with his appointment letter, confidence, and ambitions but without knowing that he would lead the global enterprise and its more than 2,50,000 employees 32 years down the lane from then.

Satya Nadella’s career advice, “Don’t wait for your next job to do your best work”, holds true for Srinivas Pallia’s 32-year illustrious career spanning various leadership roles at Wipro, from India to America. His unwavering loyalty to Wipro, a surprise to Millennials and Gen Z, is reflective of what Satya Nadella said in an interview with CNBC, “Instead of viewing your current job as an obstacle to achieving your career goals, look at it as an opportunity to demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment to work, as well as your willingness to learn.”

Srinivas Pallia held eight leadership roles and left an imprint of his singularity in each role before he took the reins of Wipro as its CEO and MD. His “strong track record of leadership through some of the most significant technological shifts the industry has seen” culminated at the topmost echelon of the company. In his new role, he will continue to be posted in New Jersey where he was serving as the CEO of Americas 1, one of Wipro’s four strategic market units. Prior to New Jersey, he spent 8 years in Minneapolis as the General Manager of Central Operations and then as the Vice President of Enterprise Business in the US.

In 2008, Business Today magazine featured Mr Pallia among India’s 25 Hottest Young Business Executives. He is a fitness freak. A pair of running shoes is the one of the few things that he packs into his bag whenever he books business flights to India and other destinations. “I have got to get my daily dose of exercise and I have been known to go for a workout as late as 11 pm,” he told Business Today.

A member of the Wipro Executive Board, Srinivas Pallia believes that upskilling is a stepping stone to every milestone in life. When ‘upskilling’ was in not anyone’s dictionary, he added an advanced leadership program certificate from Canada’s McGill University to his portfolio in 2006. He pursued a global business, strategy and leadership program from Harvard Business School in 2019.

Mr. Pallia, an avid hiker who loves challenges, wore the hat of CEO when Wipro is having a bumpy ride across leadership transition, senior-level talent attrition, low employee morale, business underperformance, inflationary pressures, economic uncertainty in certain geographies, etc., according to industry analysts. As he assumed office as MD and CEO of Wipro, he has immediately been tasked with energizing the workforce, regaining stakeholders’ confidence, aligning their goals to the company’s mission & vision, boosting revenues, and likes.

The post Wipro’s New Global CEO is Srinivas Pallia in New Jersey: Interesting Facts about His Journey from Product Manager appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

On April 8, an Indian-origin woman took the Oath of Allegiance and became a US citizen at the age of 99, much to the surprise and delight of Indians stuck in the #GreenCardbacklog. The naturalization of Daibai, a great grandmother of US-born kids of Indian descent, not only made headlines but also elicited an overwhelming response from all quarters. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shared a lively picture of Daibai holding the certificate of her new status, with the adage, “They say age is just a number”, on X (formerly Twitter).

PC: USCIS

The nonagenarian, who would turn 100 in 2025, has divided Green Card applicants from India into two groups – the hopefuls and the cynics – over her naturalization that took place in Orlando, Florida. The hopefuls celebrated Daibai’s newly attained US citizenship and called it a ray of hope amid the challenges of America’s outdated immigration system. They found her journey to citizenship inspiring for those on the verge of losing hopes even for legal permanent residency in the land of American Dream.

The news of Daibai having become a US citizen before she hit a century has driven google searches, ‘What is the maximum age for naturalization?’, ‘What is the current Green Card wait time for H1B visa holders from India?’ The cynics opined that her stars aligned to make her a US citizen, while the 134-year Green Card backlog is like a life sentence to nearly 11,00,000 Indians. They are happy for her; on the other hand, they are afraid whether many H1B visa professionals would be able to live as long as 100 years or more for a Green Card.

“I hope to become an American citizen before turning 99,” wrote an individual in response to the news of Daibai on X, calling for pressing reforms in the US immigration policy that seems to perpetuate the unprecedented wait times for Indians. Another individual wrote that like the 99-year-old Indian woman, he would be headlined for taking the Oath of Allegiance with senile bones, withered cheeks, drooping shoulders, unstable feet, and a toothless smile after 75 years from now. “I don’t want to die within months of receiving the citizenship. Rather, I would like to taste the fruit of my efforts to become a US citizen,” wrote one of the individuals.

“Not many immigrants know that the civic test for US Citizenship comes a lot easier for senior citizens aged 65 years or more. If they have resided in the US as permanent residents for at least 20 years, they are eligible an easier and simpler version of the civic test for naturalization. What is more interesting is that they can take the test in their native language,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats, a leading community portal for Indians in America.

The post 99-year-old Great Grandmother from India Gets American Citizenship This Week appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

After months of having weighed up the prospects of Bengaluru and Hyderabad as a new hub for international operations out of South India, Air India decided to bet on Kempegowda BLR Airport. As a significant milestone in its transformation journey to becoming a world-class airline, Air India announced strategic plans to make Bengaluru Airport its second hub in the country. Its collaboration with Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) will not only make Bengaluru a primary gateway to South India, but also make the airport a connecting hub for international departures and arrivals.

PC: Indian Eagle

This move will give an impetus to Air India’s network expansion plans for the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The principal objective of developing Kempegowda BLR Airport into a premier hub is to increase long-haul air connectivity to and from South India over the next 5 years, other than high operational efficiency and elevated passenger experience. The hub-and-spike model that the new Air India hub would be based on will facilitate international departures out of Bengaluru for passengers from the southern parts of India, as well as domestic connections for international arrivals at Bangalore International Airport.

“The South Indian Diaspora in America, for instance, have been vocal about their wish for direct connectivity from Dallas to Hyderabad, Boston to Chennai, Atlanta to Kochi, Seattle to Bengaluru, and Chicago to Hyderabad. The upcoming Bangalore hub of Air India would help fulfil the wish, as flying NRIs to and from their home towns across South India via Bengaluru’s Kempegowda Airport seems more feasible than via the overcrowded New Delhi Airport which see hundreds of flight delays and cancellations due to intense fog during winter every year,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats.

“The success of Air India’s SFO to Bengaluru service may have been a driver for Tata Group’s decision to set up a south Indian hub,” said the chief travel advisor of Indian Eagle, a leading air-ticketing partner of Air India. Evidently, the Tata Group of airlines including Air Vistara and Air India Express, is looking to capitalize on the high passenger load factor for Bengaluru by strengthening their presence at the award-winning Garden Terminal of Bangalore Int. Airport. “The airline-airport synergy is key to harness the untapped growth potential of this sector, according to Air India CEO & MD Campbell Wilson.

Moreover, a dedicated lounge for premium passengers of Air India and Air Vistara would be set up as part of the Tata Group of airlines’ upcoming hub at BLR Airport. The proposed lounge would be located in Garden Terminal (T2) that UNESCO has recognized as one of the most beautiful facilities in global aviation.

Do you think that Air India’s upcoming Bengaluru hub will help decongest New Delhi Airport and save you from the hassles of connecting through the busiest Indian airport? Share your view in the comment section below and subscribe to our monthly newsletter for latest updates that could impact your travel to/from India.

The post Air India’s New Hub at Bengaluru Airport to Open More International Routes to South India over Next 5 Years appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The Middle East airlines are targeting more US destinations where Air India is still waiting to make an entry to. Air India’s plans for direct flights to Boston from India have reduced into mere speculations, while Etihad Airways connected Boston to India via its hub starting March 31. Turkish Airlines added Detroit to its US-India network, while Air India is yet to fulfil Michigan Indians’ long-drawn demand for Detroit to India flights.

In the latest development, Turkish Airlines is launching service to Denver, Colorado in June this year. The first and only Middle East carrier to be operating one-stop flights from Denver to India and other countries, Turkish Airlines will compete with Lufthansa and British Airways, the biggest operators of international travel to Colorado. Both airlines offer their best deals for Denver to Delhi, Denver to Hyderabad, Denver to Bengaluru, and Denver to Mumbai flights through IndianEagle.com, a leading air-ticketing partner of Indians in America.

Turkish Airlines flights between Denver and Istanbul will offer further connections to New Delhi and Mumbai. Initially, Denver to Istanbul flights (TK202) will be operated three times a week; the frequency will become 4x weekly with effect from 14 July, 2024. In one month of the service starting on 11 June, the TK202 schedule will comprise Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. It will give Indians of Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Arizona flexibility to plan their trips to India from Denver International Airport via Istanbul.

The greatest advantage of flying Turkish Airlines is transit via Istanbul, one of the best hub airports with free stopovers. Travelers having a significant layover in Istanbul can go for a free Istanbul tour or stopover. Check out our exclusive guide on the Istanbul Stopover Program offered by Turkish Airlines. Generous check-in baggage allowance (2 bags) is another advantage of booking Turkish flights over flying Lufthansa with one check-in bag.

Reportedly, Turkish Airlines will be operating Denver flights with an Airbus A350-900, one of the best aircraft in the fleet of major airlines including Air India, Lufthansa, Emirates, and Singapore Airlines. A350-900 is a widebody, long-range passenger aircraft with a cozy economy travel class and a luxurious cabin for business class travel.

The post Turkish Airlines Adds Denver to Its USA-India Network for One-stop Flights via Istanbul appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Indians in the US do often look for travel companions for their parents arriving from India so that the latter can be assisted through immigration and other checkpoints on arrival at bustling US airports. High-in-demand wheelchair assistance is the other option that NRIs rely on to ensure their elderly parents’ smooth navigation through language barriers at US airports. Neither of the options – travel companion and wheelchair service – is easily available during peak season. Therefore, the excitement for a reunion with parents, most of whom do neither speak nor understand English, is fraught with apprehensions.

However, a welcome relief is on the horizon for non-English speaking travelers from India and other countries. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is conducting a pilot trial of an innovative hand-held device for real-time language translation and interpretation. The device can facilitate communication between travelers with limited English proficiency and TSA officers, thereby ensuring a hassle-free airport experience for the former and operational efficiency for the latter.

PC: TSA

TSA officers are currently using the language translation technology at Philadelphia International Airport. The smart hand-held device, smaller than a mobile phone, can translate messages and/or instructions into as many as 83 languages, including Hindi. It also helps TSA officers communicate to those with hearing difficulty and visual impairment, as it displays security instructions on a small screen and renders audio versions too. Precisely, the airport experience is all set to be transferred for both non-English speakers and the specially-abled.

If TSA officers need to check the carry-on bag of an Indian traveler who does not understand English at all, they can speak into the device which, in turn, will display and read out the instruction in Hindi. Similarly, the traveler can respond in English through the device. It’s that simple! The cutting-edge device can save up to 10,000 pre-programmed messages and their translations in 83 languages.

What other Indian languages, in addition to Hindi, are supported by the TSA’s translation-interpretation device? Although this is not specified yet, TSA assures that the device will add more languages and words to its library through regular software updates. Five such devices have been deployed at Philadelphia Airport’s busiest checkpoints across international terminals, A-East and A-West, and Terminals B and DE (which also operate domestic flights). The devices are rechargeable and portable.

Hope the device will be rolled out to immigration checkpoints at US airports once it proves to be viable in translating colloquial English phrases such as ‘pat-down’. The language translation device would come to the rescue of non-English-speaking senior citizens from India and other countries, who may face a sort of interrogation by CBP officers during immigration clearance at entry airports in America. It seems that a pleasant post-arrival experience awaits Hindi-speaking Indian travelers at US airports.

Recently, Turkish Airlines, one of the few best airlines offering transit stopovers, launched SmartMic translation devices at its hub airport in Istanbul. The smart device, well-versed in 52 languages and 72 accents, is aimed at eliminating the communication gap between foreign passengers and the staff at Istanbul Airport. It is anticipated that other airlines, like British Airways, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, and Cathay Pacific operating flights from India to USA, take a cue from TSA and Turkish Airlines.

The post TSA is Testing a Smart Language Translator at US Airports; Good for non-English Speaking Travelers from India appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

In 2023, the Indian Police arrested five people involved in a most shocking incidence of forgery against NRIs. All the five accused, including a lawyer, had teamed up to forge the documents of an NRI’s land valued at Rs 40 crore. NRIs and OCIs, who live abroad most of the time in a calendar year, do often fall prey to such crimes as land encroachment, forgery, unauthorized money withdrawals…in India. Precisely, one out of every 3 NRIs is a victim of organized crime, according to the NRI Grievance Forum led by Indian American Subhas Balappanavar in San Francisco.

Indian Diaspora, at over 30 million, is not only the largest in the world but also more successful than any other immigrant community. Besides their substantial contribution to the economy of their country of residence, they play an important role in bolstering India’s foreign exchange reserves through investments, remittances and deposits. More than one-fourth of NRIs, OCIs and PIOs invest a significant portion of their overseas earnings in various sectors, including real estate, stocks, mutual funds and bonds, in India.

PC: IndianEag;e.com

Some own ancestral properties in India, some others deposit their money in Indian bank accounts, and a large number of NRIs send money to their families and relatives back home. The total remittance inflow into India in 2023 accounts for $125 billion, which is higher than the net worth of the richest Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Notably, India is the largest recipient of foreign remittances. A common concern of the overseas Indian community with active financial ties to their homeland is their susceptibility to fraud and deception.

Non-residents are an easy target for scamsters who indulge in criminal activities from property encroachment to signature forgery and illegal bank withdrawals. And seeking legal action is full of challenges for NRI victims. They are often plagued by jurisdictional complexities, lack of proper awareness and guidance, and lengthy legal proceedings often requiring NRIs to be physically present for extensive documentation, court appearances, etc.

The grim situation of NRIs who lose their hard-earned money to swindlers prompted the NRI Grievance Forum to advocate for the ‘NRI Protection Bill’ at every Indian embassy and consulate, marking one of the largest worldwide initiatives by NRIs. This month, Subhas Balappanavar and his team visited all 6 consular offices across the USA and petitioned them to protect NRI investments and assets in India. They had already emailed their concerns to the Prime Minister of India and also submitted the memorandum at Indian consulates in East Asia, Australia, Middle East, Europe and Canada.

The Forum urges the Indian Government to enact the NRI Investment Protection Bill and establish a centralized NRI Investigation Agency to address NRI grievances, digitize documentation processes, and provide timely resolution. Its other proposals include legal protection for property disputes, provisions for online FIR filing, online inquiry and documentation, 90-day timeframe for issue resolution, non-bailable warrants for accused parties, invalidation of counter FIR against NRIs, and prosecution of officers involved in false arrest of NRIs.

The NRI Protection Bill also advocates for a uniform tax structure for NRI taxation in India in terms of TDS etc. Swift repatriation of investments and online voting facility are other proposals of the bill. Assurance of safety and legal protection can go a long way in encouraging NRIs’ participation in the nation’s growth, reiterates Subhas Balappanavar.

The post What’s NRI Protection Bill that Indian Diaspora Urges Indian Government to Sign into Law for Their Assets in Home Country appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

After having recently got two Indian-origin CEOs, Sridhar Ramaswamy and Dhivya Suryadevara, America selected the top winner of Regeneron Science Talent Search 2024 from the Indian immigrants community. 17-year-old Achyuta Rajaram from New Hampshire won America’s Junior Nobel (as the STEM competition is popularly known) and bagged a whopping cash prize $250,000 as the most promising scientist of tomorrow. This is the second consecutive win for Indian Diaspora in the United States after Neel Moudgal from Michigan emerged the top winner in the same competition in 2023.

PC: Societyforscience.org | Achyuta Rajaram (left), Arnav Chakravarthy (right)

Achyuta Rajaram, a high schooler with dreamy eyes and unkempt hair, has been awarded as the first place winner for developing an automatic method to identify which parts of a computer model are responsible for ‘thinking’ and ‘decision making’ when it comes to interpreting images. In machine learning and artificial intelligence, the algorithms of a computer model work by certain patterns in data to respond to queries. His thought-provoking research can be likened to a deep dive into the human thought process, understanding which neurons in the brain respond to stimuli in the form of a picture.

“Achyuta’s research improved our ability to discover what computer models ‘think’ when they analyze a photo and which parts of their ‘mechanical brains’ are contributing to the decision making. For example, when a model identifies a car in a photo, does it first identify wheels and use this to identify ‘car-ness,’ or does it look for something else?” notes Society for Science, an American nonprofit that promotes STEM education programs and competitions. His project could help make computational algorithms “more effective, fair and safe”.

Indian American Achyuta Rajaram attributes his interest in computer science and coding to his parents, Nivedita Chevvakula and Rajaram Ramaswamy Kumaraswamy, who gave him an exposure to emerging technologies from a young age. Jazz drumming, teaching chess strategy, and organizing in-house tournaments are among his favorite activities beyond computers. He co-heads the physics, chemistry and chess clubs at Phillips Exeter Academy. After graduation, he plans to major in computer science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and continue his research in Artificial Intelligence.

Arnav Chakravarthy among top 10 winners at 2024 Regeneron Science Talent Search

The other Indian-origin teen honored at the 2024 Regeneron Science Talent Search is Arnav Chakravarty from Sunnyvale, California. 18-year-old Arnav made it to the top 10 winners and took home $50,000 cash prize for his research that may help improve therapies for age-related human diseases like Alzheimer’s. He intensively studied how certain immune system cells known as macrophages regenerate themselves in an ageing body. Arnav Chakravarty’s research is based on recent studies that discovered that macrophage cells may be replenished by the bone marrow in aging humans

Interestingly, Arnav is cofounder and CEO of SciLynk Inc., an AI-driven startup for scientists and researchers. Nasdaq’s Entrepreneurial Center selected him as a ‘Face of Entrepreneurship’ in 2021 out of 30,000 young entrepreneurs across the globe. At the same time, he is interning at Stanford Medicine where he is leading a cancer research project. He is also the state secretary of the California Future Business Leaders of America, according to Society for Science.

The post Achyuta Rajaram Tops 2024 Regeneron Science Talent and Wins $250K Prize; Arnav, AI Startup CEO, Ranks among 10 Winners appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.