Top Stories

In a world that is getting increasingly inter-dependent and interconnected, the Indian Diaspora, comprising Overseas Indians both of the PIO as well as the NRI kind, are metamorphosing into true ‘Global Citizens’, contributing their mite both to their host countries as well as to the expanding Indian economy. And despite their ethnic heterogenousness and multicultural entity, a shared cultural paradigm of values, ethos and pluralistic harmony has bonded them all together in a fine warp and weave of the fabric that is India. Our Diaspora is as multilingual and multi-ethnic as pluralistic India is, holding within its fold people of different states, languages, faiths and regions. But the spirit of India has always tended to transcend these barriers both within and without the Indian nation.

Our Diaspora is also a force to reckon with today, with the older variety of PIOs having established themselves well as responsible citizens of their host countries, and the newer variety of NRIs contributing their skills and expertise to their host nations while at the same time remitting billions of their collective incomes to their home country every year, to reflect as a considerable percentage of inflows into the country, so much so that in the case of some states like Kerala, these remittances augment a whopping 25% of the state economy.

Turbulence has hit this section of our Diaspora predominantly employed in the Gulf Arab states, after recent developments like the Arab spring have rocked the foundations of governments in this part of the world. Reactive measures such as the Saudi Arabian government’s new “Nitaqat” labor-law, and other Gulf states intending to follow in its footsteps, have injected a considerable amount of anxiety into these communities of new-age migrants who until now looked to these economies as a mecca for gainful livelihoods far from home. NRI achievers focuses on this issue, profiling the GCC countries and their economies, taking a look at Kerala’s “Gulf-remittance economy”, and inviting the views of Vayalar Ravi, the Indian Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs.

Apart from this, we bring you interesting glimpses from the various other segments we usually carry in every issue, like profiles of overseas and domestic achievers, news from the worlds of cinema and fashion, heritage architecture, and of course, our ubiquitous travelogue. New additions in this issue include a tentative section on sports, and a column on real estate and property.

We hope you will enjoy this mix of content, and as ever, we welcome your feedback on what you like and what more you would like to see in your magazine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *