New Delhi
In 2019, an estimated 80,000 Indians decided to settle in Canada. There was over 100 per cent increase in this figure than what was in 2016 at 39,000.
There are other broad picture figures. Between 2016 and fag end of 2021, about six lakh Indians have given up their citizenship. In fact, since 2014, 23,000 millionaires have left Indian shores, perhaps permanently. We call this brain drain; and it is happening phenomenon for decades now.
India reportedly has the largest transnational population, with approximately 35 lakh people living
in the United Arab Emirates, 27 lakh in the US, and 25 lakh in Saudi Arabia.
The UN World Migration Report 2020 states that India also had the highest number of migrants living abroad
with over 17.5 million.
In December 2021, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs informed Parliament that no less than
8,81,254 Indians gave up their citizenship from 2015 to September 30, 2021.
These scenarios suggest there is 'drain out' of Indian talent to the western countries - essentially
for good money, good life and social security.
What should spark off a conscious debate is the so-called 'brain drain' has happened at every level.
Indian-born Parag Agrawal is the new CEO of Twitter.
Agrawal began his career at the company as an engineer just 10 years ago and has made his
way up the career ladder.
The list of India-born tech CEOs include Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai,
IBM's Arvind Krishna and Parag Agrawal are the new CEO of Twitter.
Gita Gopinath was last year appointed as the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and New Zealand Cricket's Ajaz Patel did well to claim all 10 Indian wickets in a test match.
A report by the Global Wealth Migration Review says nearly 5,000 Indian millionaires —
2 percent of all high-net-worth individuals — moved abroad in 2020 alone.
India has considered the world as a family, but so much talent waste or moving out of the motherland
is certainly a matter of concern.
Studies have also found that since 2015, nearly nine lakh Indians have given up their citizenship.
It is also claimed that 7000 millionaires left India in 2019 alone.
Experts say these do affect the talent pool at the national level and also cost the country billions in tax revenue.
During the Parliament session in December 2021, no less than the union Ministry of Home Affairs admitted that
as many as 8,81,254 Indians gave up their citizenship from 2015 to September 30, 2021.
As of the year 2020, India's diaspora stood at about 1.8 crore.
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On Rana Ayyub row, India slams UN rapporteurs says, "no one is above law"
New Delhi
India has taken exception to UN special rapporteurs on the right to freedom of opinion and human rights for "advancing a misleading narrative" on the Rana Ayyub-ED probe episode and insisted that"no one is above law".
“Allegations of so-called judicial harassment are baseless and unwarranted. India upholds the rule of law, but is equally clear that no one is above the law. We expect SRs (special rapporteurs) to be objective and accurately informed. Advancing a misleading narrative only tarnishes the UN's reputation," India’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva said in a tweet.
The matter was subsequently followed up with a note verbale – or a diplomatic correspondence – from the Indian permanent mission. The issue was also taken up by the Indian side with the UN office in Geneva.
India's rebuttal came after a statement was issued by Irene Khan, special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and Mary Lawlor, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
The statement said there were “relentless misogynistic and sectarian attacks online” against journalist Rana Ayyub must be investigated by Indian authorities and the “judicial harassment against her brought to an end". .
The probe by the Enforcement Directorate against Ms Ayyub was launched in September 2021, based on a first information report (FIR) by Ghaziabad police, in which the complainant – Vikas Sankrityayan – had accused her of illegally acquiring public money.
On February 10, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached funds worth Rs 1.77 crore from bank accounts of Rana Ayyub, alleging that donation raised by her for relief work through an online crowd-funding platform used for personal expenses. There was also an allegation of money laundering.
In a statement issued on February 11, Rana Ayyub refuted all allegations.
The Enforcement Directorate had alleged that journalist Rana Ayyub, associated with a noted
western publication, knowingly indulged in “Proceeds of Crime including its acquisition and possession" and thus assets worth Rs 1.77 crore has been attached under the Money Laundering Act.
“Rana Ayyub has cheated the general Public Donors in a pre-planned manner and with the intention to cheat the general public donors”.
The ED order says that Ms Rana Ayyub’s scam started right from the time she collected the money and started withdrawing it from the savings account of herself and her family members.
The ED order further said that a Fixed Deposit amounting to Rs 50 Lakh was booked from her saving bank account through net banking and opening a separate Current bank account and subsequently, funds were transferred from her saving bank account and bank account of her sister and father and did not utilize it for the purpose for which it was raised by Rana Ayyub.
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Jaishankar meets Bangladesh FM Momen on backdrop of 'debt trap' remarks
New Delhi
On his tour of Germany and France, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar had a "good meeting" with his Bangladesh counterpart Dr. AK Abdul Momen.
Both the leaders noted that 2021 was a "great year" for the relationship and pledged to take it to a higher level in the new year.
"Good meeting with Bangladesh FM Dr. AK Abdul Momen. Appropriate that it should be on International Mother Language Day. Noted that 2021 was a great year for the relationship. Committed to taking it to an even higher level in 2022," Dr Jaishankar tweeted.
Diplomatic sources indicate that both Dhaka and New Delhi have begun 'preparations' for Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India later this year.
"The visit is expected to further accelerate the friendship between the two countries," a source said.India and Bangladesh are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relationship this year.
Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla said on Monday that as Bangladesh commemorates fifty years of its independence, it ought to be noted that its "growth has proven its detractors wrong".
Shringla also said that Bangladesh has emerged as a 'role model' for strong socio-economic growth.
Interestingly at a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Bangladesh foreign minister Dr Momen said while India had offered Lines of Credit and Japan had also helped with infrastructure financing, incoming loans had been “declining”, and it was China that had “come forward with a basket of money and aggressive, affordable proposals”.
Dr Jaishankar was at the panel along with counterparts from France, Australia and Japan among others.
In a dig at China, Dr Jaishankar cautioned countries seeking loans from Beijing.
"We have now seen countries including in our region being saddled with large debts. We have seen projects which are commercially unsustainable: airports where an aircraft doesn’t come, harbours where a ship doesn’t come,” the External Affairs Minister said.
Obviously the reference from Jaishankar was to the predicament Sri Lanka has landed.
His reference was to the 'debt situation' in Sri Lanka, where there have been concerns over the Hambantota port and the Mattala airport, both developed with Chinese loans. But Sri Lanka has struggled to pay back and ultimately handed over the port on a 99-year old lease to a Chinese company.
Dr Jaishankar, a career diplomat and also an expert on China said, “It’s obviously in the interest of the consumer country concerned, but it’s also in the interest of the international community because unsustainable projects don’t end there. Often the next is, debt becomes equity, and that becomes something else".
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