NRI Club

This year the Punjab government will be inviting 550 Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Punjabis to witness the historic celebrations of the 550th Parkash Parb to be celebrated in November, NRI Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi said on Wednesday. Further, the minister said that the arrangements of boarding, lodging as well as transportation would be made by the Punjab government. He also said that these NRI Punjabis would be taken to visit Sultanpur Lodhi, Batala, and Dera Baba Nanak. The Punjab government is also planning to honor those NRIs who have been carving out a niche for themselves in various spheres, thus earning laurels for the country. The ‘Achiever Awards’ would start for those NRIs which the department has been directed to work out the modalities.  The awards would be given from the next year. 

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 10 th  March 2019 announced that Lok Sabha polls  2019  will be held in seven phases. The results of the  2019 general election  will be out on May 23. With the election just a few weeks, there is a buzzing question as to whether NRIs c an cast their vote online or not? The answer is no.  Having said that , according to ECI regulations, a  non-resident Indian, who holds an Indian passport, can vote in his/her hometown after registering as an Overseas Voter. The NRI must fill the Form 6A, which can be downloaded online  at nvsp.in or by using Voter helpline mobile app  or can be taken from the nearest Indian Mission. The duly filled forms with supporting documents must be submitted to the Electoral Registration Officer in the constituency in person or via post. After verification, the ECI will add the NRI to the electoral rolls as an 'Overseas Voter’. Once the person returns to India, he or she will ...

Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in   Srinagar, locally known as  Siraj Bagh  with 20 lakh Tulips of over  60 varieties of early, mid and late blooming Tulips  in its lap is Asia’s largest Tulip  garden . The mega 15-day Tulip festival, part of  Bahaar-e-Kashmir  (spring in Kashmir) the event, kick-started with the opening of the Tulip garden on Saturday, April 1 st , 2019.  The festival was earlier known as the Model Floriculture Center and showcased a wide variety of flowers including hyacinths and daffodils, among others. Later on, tulips took over the entire garden and covered a majority of the space.  The  Tulip garden, a  seven-layered garden  was opened in 2008 by the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. It is  nestled in the foothills of Zabarwan Range, a place where you can witness the colorful tulips bloom in the beautiful backdrop of Dal Lake.          ...

The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival of Mumbai held in Mumbai in February every year. The nine-day event features artworks, craft exhibition, literature, culinary workshops, children’s activities, theatre, dance shows, and music performances in  outdoor as well as indoor settings . This year, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary as well as the 150th birth anniversary of  Mahatma Gandhi.  The message of the festival this year is environmental preservation and restoration, aptly reflected in the theme “Hara Ghoda” (green horse). The theme of mindfulness and sustainable living carries on into the culinary track as well, with a focus on using local ingredients and lesser-known vegetables, reducing kitchen waste, and creatively using left-over food. The makers in the festivals don’t have to present items that are expensive, but a healthy mix of cost and variety of range in products will surely inspire people to use and try recycled products with great...

The Pushkar Mela also is known as the Pushkar Camel Fair is a unique celebration of the beauty of the coveted “ship of the desert” – the camel along with some other cattle. It is estimated that more than 2 lakh people from all around the world visit this unique mela, which mainly focuses on trading camels and cattle, camel races which are the main attraction and a variety of other cultural performances and art exhibits. This year the dates of the Mela (Fair) are from 4th to 12th November 2019. The Pushkar Mela is also a holy pilgrimage for Hindus, pilgrims that visit Pushkar come to take a holy dip in the Pushkar Lake and offer prayer to Lord Brahma, the deity residing in the temple at Pushkar. It is said to be the only temple of the deity in the country, which makes it an important pilgrimage spot for people of faith. The Pushkar Mela creates a grand event cherished with a huge carnival including an array of musicians, magicians, dancers, acrobats, snake charmers ...

At the height of summer, in early June, Shimla the quaint capital of Himachal Pradesh holds a Summer Festival every year.  A week-long festival Shimla Summer Festival  is very popular with tourists as well as locals as they get to witness a variety of programs which include flower shows, exhibitions of paintings, photographic competitions, cuisine extravaganza, book festivals and power packed cultural evenings.  Several A-listing celebrities share the stage with budding local talent along with local schools who put up performances during the festival. The festival celebrates the change of season and observes a huge association of men and women who gather and celebrate the advent of summer. They pay reverence to the gods by singing and dancing in gratefulness. They thank their gods for a rich harvest and the repetition of this bliss is also requested for the following year. The entire state showcases exuberant pomp and grandeur during this festival. With its richly tinte...

The Union Cabinet of India has approved the introduction in Rajya Sabha the Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Bill, 2019. The bill empowers passport authorities to impound or revoke passport or travel documents of NRIs who fail to register their marriage in India or Indian Missions & Posts within 30 days of getting married in India or abroad. The Bill is an outcome of a joint initiative of the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Law and Justice. The objective of the Bill is to create more accountability and offer more protection against the exploitation of Indian women by their NRI spouses. It envisages (i) Registration of Marriages by Non-Resident Indians; (ii) Amendment of the Passports Act 1967 and (iii) Amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973. The introduction of the Bill was necessitated by the Ministry of External Affairs due to numerous complaints received from Indian na...