A Hyderabad city infertility clinic has landed a US NRI couple in a fix, as they failed to tell them about a clause of surrogacy in the birth certificate of a baby, leaving their one-and-a-half year old daughter stranded, because both her US and Indian passports have been cancelled.

The clinic authorities had not mentioned the clause of surrogacy in the birth details, after which the GHMC issued a certificate naming the biological parents, not the surrogate parents. The NRI parents made an Indian passport for the baby and returned to the US, then produced the same birth certificate saying they are the actual parents in order to make a US passport for the child.

When the couple applied to the Indian Embassy in the US for a visa, the embassy found 2 ID cards of the child so they cancelled the Indian passport.

The distraught couple approached the US Consul in Hyderabad for a visa to Singapore and when they were questioned they mentioned the surrogacy, after which the Consulate cancelled the US passport of the child, and pointed out the nationality issue.

The couple was asked to reapply for an Indian passport and depending on the results of a DNA test to prove a link, which if not found, the parents will have to follow the adoption process over again, only after which the stranded baby will be issued a passport.

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A group of some 200 Indian workers who recently returned to India, said they were lured into a manpower supplying company run by two Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and were beaten up by the two Bangladeshis and assaulted for complaining about their plight to Indian embassy officials and social workers. They were also threatened with dire consequences if they did not report for work.

The workers, both skilled and unskilled had paid between Rs.90,000 and Rs.150,000 to Mumbai recruiting agent, Fahad Enterprises. They were promised jobs in a factory in Dammam but instead ended up in the manpower supplying company of the two Bangladeshis who forced them to do menial jobs like cleaners in various locations across the province.

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Mazibuye African Forum who claim to advocate socio-economic justice for indigenous Africans in South Africa, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal province has called for South African Indians to be excluded from transformation processes, citing "overt racism" towards black South Africans from the time Mahatma Gandhi was in the country.

Mazibuye, chairman said they are still calling for Indians to be completely excluded from Black Economic Empowerment unconditionally and with immediate effect.

He said to reiterate that their classification with Africans as a previously disadvantaged group is counter-productive and counter-revolutionary as well. As Indians have been overtly racist since they were brought in to South Africa by the British Imperial Government.

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The NRI Commission has served a summons to deputy commissioner of SAS Nagar (Mohali) in Punjab for not complying with its orders in connection with a case involving a complaint made by a Germany based NRI.

The case involves Surinder Singh of Germany who alleged that the sarpanch of his village had diverted water from drains onto his land at Chatt village in Mohali district.

The complainant approached various officials including the subdivisional officer but it was futile.

After he moved the Commission it asked the DC to look into the matter and submit a report, but nothing has arrived from the DC.

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The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCA was implemented in January by the US Department of Treasury and the IRS that contains comprehensive final regulations that mark a key step in establishing their approach to combating tax evasion. For Indian Americans this only means more compliance, but it can get complicated.

In effect FATCA provisions focus on keeping track of non-compliance by US taxpayers who hold foreign financial accounts, which must be declared and tax paid on their global income in the US. One of the most significant indictments of US taxpayers hiding income offshore includes the multi-million value account holders of HSBC India.

There are many many options one can apply but they are extremely complicated and the reams of forms and papers that need to be signed and attested are mind boggling. Ignorance of the ruling is not counted as a reason not to be penalised, so in short it is strongly advised that NRIs talk to their tax accountants, banks and financial consultants to make sure they are following the rule of law of FATCA.

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