Kerala to press for voting rights of diaspora

September 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is organising the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-Europe (PBD-E), a regional diaspora event, at the Hague in the Netherlands Sep 19. The event, to be held at the World Forum, is to "celebrate the success of Indian diaspora and unite them for a better India".

June 12th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Friday lashed out at the central government for only making announcements and not doing anything to help the diaspora and those who have returned from abroad.

June 5th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Welcoming the address of President Pratibha Patil to the Indian parliament, the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) in Belgium said the importance of the Indian diaspora must not be viewed only in static economic terms but as social and cultural ambassadors of India, EuAsiaNews reported Friday. President Patil in her address to the parliament said Thursday India would deepen its ties with its 25-million diaspora in 130 countries that has emerged as an important force in respective countries of domicile.

April 16th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Defence Minister A.K. Antony said here Thursday that the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala will make a clean sweep in the Lok Sabha elections.

April 16th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Despite hopes of a high turnout, only 59 percent of over 20 million electorate in Kerala turned out to vote Thursday. In the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the state recorded 71.45 percent voting average.

February 25th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Contrary to media reports, there has been no 'exodus' of the diaspora from the Middle East to India, and remittances are not falling, says the Centre for Development Studies. This was found in a survey the respected Thiruvananthapuram-based think tank conducted among 15,000 households at 300 locations in Kerala between June and December 2008, said S.

February 22nd, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala's Finance Minister Thomas Isaac Saturday said that the state was the 'safest place' for the diaspora to invest their hard earned money. 'Already many in the Middle East are looking for safe places to invest their hard earned money.

February 21st, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, who tabled the state budget in the assembly Friday, has allocated Rs.100 million (Rs.10 crore) for the newly-floated Pravasi Welfare Fund, a scheme to help those non-resident Malayalis who have not completed two years of employment abroad but have to return on account of the global meltdown. 'This is basically for those who have spent a lot of money to go abroad, and as the first step, we will have a registry of those returning and the money will be allocated after studying their needs,' said Isaac.

February 17th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac Wednesday hinted that his budget, to be presented Friday, would have some special offers for the large number of NRIs, who are returning home after losing their jobs due to the economic slowdown. 'The situation in the Middle East is such that by June this year more than 200,000 people will return.

February 15th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The first reactions from Kerala to the interim budget presented in Parliament Monday by Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee have been those of disappointment. Mukherjee, presenting the interim budget on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is recovering from heart bypass surgery, said additional steps would have to be considered in the regular budget to be presented by the next government, after the ensuing general elections in a month or two.

February 5th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Friday asked the central government to help the large number of the state's diaspora who have lost their jobs in the Middle East.

February 4th, 2009 THALASSERY - Beleaguered Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Kerala state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan Thursday lashed out at the Planning Commission for failing to support the state government in helping the large number of the Kerala diaspora likely to be affected by the economic meltdown. Speaking to reporters here on the third day of his state wide march, Vijayan said the state government has recently launched the Pravasi Welfare Fund, meant for the rehabilitation of the diaspora who are now in trouble as a large number of jobs in the Middle East are being cut.

January 30th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The Migration Research Unit, affiliated to the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) here, will work with the Chandigarh-based Centre for Rural Research and Industrial Development (CRRID) to conduct the first-ever comprehensive study on international migration from Punjab. S. Irudayarajan, head of the the research unit which is funded by the Ministry for Overseas Indian Affairs, said that they will be providing the questionnaire for the survey and also provide the sampling design.

January 16th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac Saturday said the state is soon going to feel the heat of the economic slowdown as remittances from abroad are certain to fall in the coming months. 'It is going to be a tough time on account of the fall in remittances which incidentally have been keeping the state afloat for several years,' Isaac told reporters after the meeting of the Kerala State Planning Board here.

December 25th, 2008 NEW DELHI - The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Friday warned against a diaspora meet being held under the aegis of an organisation called 'Pravasi Bharati' in Thiruvananthapuram in January and clarified that it was not affiliated to any government body. The organisation called Pravasi Bharati does not have any affiliation with the central government or the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, the office of the Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said here.