Letters from Readers
Reactions to March cover story on investing in India (March 2015)
Informative and clear guidance. Not usually seen in articles of this genre.
Rajan Srinivasan
Online Comment
Indian Law is more confusing. I’ve been investing in India for long time and now after 2014 all my investments in mutual funds from Reliance, HDFC, Axis, Sundaram, SBI are blocked. Only Birla MF is active—the rest are blocked for U.S. and Canada residents. Only FD and insurance are open for U.S. and Canada residents.
Gaurang Patel
Online Comment
Website Bonus Feature
Jigar Patel answers:
Thanks for your comment. While I agree that Indian law is sometimes confusing, blocking of your investments has nothing to do with Indian laws. RBI regulates investments of all NRIs and as per current laws, NRI from all countries, including USA and Canada are allowed to invest in domestic mutual funds in India. Major mutual fund houses have stopped accepting funds from US residents because of compliance issues related to FATCA of USA. There is no restrictions by RBI or Indian government. The decision is subjective and is taken independently by respective mutual fund houses. There are still few mutual fund houses that do accept investments from US residents. There has always been negative perception about Indian laws but over a period of time, Indian laws, both related to investments and taxation, have become very investor friendly.
Well researched article in theory. Practically investment and taxation climate in india is very bad at the momoment. Not advisable for an NRI to invest.
Kevin
Online Comment
Jigar Patel answers:
Thanks for your comment. While I think current investment climate in India is very positive, it is subjective in nature and would depend on the investor. However, I strongly believe the taxation climate is extremely positive for NRI investors. For an average NRI investing his hard earned money in India, India offers many incentives to earn taxfree return. The NRE bank FD interest is taxfree and long term capital gain on equity or equity mutual fund is also taxfree. Additionally, an investor would also get an indexation benefit (about 9% p.a.) for long term capital gain on other assets (real estate, gold, other) i.e. no tax if your investment return is less than indexation rate (e.g. 9%). This is not theory but very practically implemented and many NRIs are taking benefit of the same incentives. Please note that the investor would have to pay tax and/or comply with rules, regulations and other requirements of his country of residence. As mentioned earlier, whether advisable to invest in India or not is very subjective. Thanks.
More responses to editorial on Gov. Bobby Jindal and identity (Feb 2015)
The editorial rejecting Bobby Jindal’s call for ‘Indian-Americans’ to, in essence, disown their heritage is to be commended. For me, the whole debate concerning the degree and nature of assimilation is reducible to the simple outcomes of my own personal experience. Coming from a WASP background, my life has been immeasurably enriched through friendships with Americans of South Asian heritage developed over the last few years. These friends have proudly retained their cultural identity. It is because of their enthusiasm for their heritage that I have been introduced to the magnificent worlds of classical Indian music, traditional South Asian sculpture, sacred architecture, and yes, to Bollywood and samosas as well. And I emphasize, introduced to these experiences not overseas but here as part of the American landscape. It is important for this nation to retain this diversity because this is the soul of the creative/entrepreneurial spark of society. It would be a calamitous loss if we as a community were all to be reduced to the polystyrene homogeneity of the ‘fast-food’ culture.
Adrian Smythies
Birmingham, Alabama
First, I enjoy reading every issue of Khabar, despite having no relation to your demographic target. Why? Because, like some of your readership, I am a 3rd generation immigrant. Perhaps my interest stems from the culture that permeates your pages. You see, any traditions that could have derived from my Eastern European stock are long disappeared, and/or consciously sublimated to whatever my grandparents ascribed to mainstream Americana after arrival.
So your unusually strident “Stop Being Indian-American!” got my attention. Even so, after a quick read I conclude your and Governor Jindal’s objectives may have more in common than not.
Immigrants for a variety of reasons and by definition have chosen to divorce themselves from a mother country. A choice to completely insulate themselves from their new homeland is a disservice to both, as you noted.
While you provided proportionately microscopic context for Jindal’s statement delivered in London, England, we know this country to be rife with problematic immigrant enclaves. Surely a politician can be afforded a degree of pandering, if not demagoguery, on the subject of assimilation before such an audience. After all, the answers to the questions: to cocoon, or not, for how long, and to what extent are all going to amount to degrees, are they not?
Your deliberations about the American melting pot and interpretations of Jindal’s point of view desperately called for more context for this reader to be convinced of Jindal’s cultural whitewashing. Did he really declare war on cultural roots?
Emil Walcek
President, EJW Associates, Inc.
Handloom essential for khadi fabric
I was delighted with the topic titled “Ready-Made or Reddy-Made” in your recent column Satyalogue (January 2015 issue). Being a textile technocrat from India who arrived here in 2006, I would like to mention a fine but not easily detectable mistake.
Para three reads, “Khadi—cloth hand woven on spinning wheels—was, during India’s journey to Independence…” It should read as “Khadi—cloth hand woven on handloom (Haath Karghao)—was, during India’s journey to Independence…”
Comment: Spinning wheels convert cotton slivers in a cotton yarn by attenuating cotton fibers from cotton slivers (Puni) and twisting them all together in a continuous strand of thread called coarse yarn.
To make khadi fabric, a handloom is essential. Handloom consists of three main parts—heald, reed, and shuttle. The heald separates the incoming single yarn sheet of warp yarn into two sheets. The shuttle inserts weft yarn through the heald separated warp sheets. The reed beats weft yarn inserted through the heald separated warp yarn sheet to the fall of the cloth. Thanks a lot for your generalized but quite impressive presentation on the subject of khadi cloth.
Mahesh Patel
Dallas, Georgia
What’s on YOUR mind?
We welcome original, unpublished letters from our readers. You could either respond to a specific article in Khabar or write about issues relevant to our community. Letters may be edited for length and other considerations. Longer submissions by readers may be considered for the “My Turn” column.
Email: letters@khabar.com • Fax: (770) 234-6115.
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Note: Views expressed in the Letters section do not necessarily represent those of the publication.
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