NRI Facts
Patel most common Indian surname in US
The US Census Bureau study found that Patel, ranked 172nd, is the most common Indian surname in America. A total number of 145,000 Patels are in the US.The study was based on returns from the 2000 census that takes place every ten years, with the Western name Smith taking the top position.The second most common Indian last name was Singh, its overall ranking was 396th, with 72,642 Singhs in the country. Singhs are Sikhs and also Hindus with roots in states other than Punjab.Khans ranked at 665th, but Khans come from Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as India.Shah ranked at 831, Sharma at 2247, Kumar at 2293 and Desai at 2540. Guptas, Reddys, Mehtas and Raos brought up the rear.The growth of the Indian origin population was the highest among all Asian origin groups. From 820,000 in 1990 it rose to 1.6 million in 2000 and is the third largest Asian American group in the US.
Indian Diaspora is largest in globalized world
More than 20 million Persons of Indian Origin and some 6 million Non resident Indians are spread over 136 countries, making the Indian diaspora the largest in the world.More than 40 percent of the population are from the diaspora in Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana and Surinam. In Southeast Asia, Malaysia leads with 7.3 percent of its population being from India.The situation in Malaysia however is disturbing, with divisions along racial lines, reinforced by religion, culture, language and occupation. Thousand of Indians returned to India after racial riots in 1969. In 2003 a number of Indian IT professionals were maltreated by Malaysian authorities. Over 40 percent of serious crimes in Malaysia are committed by Indians, who also have the highest suicide rate and cases of domestic abuse and deliquency abound.
India Now Festival starts in London
Kicking off a summer of celebrations marking London's links with India, Mayor Ken Livingstone sailed down the River Thames alongside a custom built replica of the Taj Mahal.The three month festival will feature 1,500 events focusing on Indian art, theatre, food, fashion, music, dance, film and will have an economic slant as well.Mayor Livingstone acknowledged India as an emerging economic superpower, and an important nation with an important culture. He stated London is aiming to strengthen its ties with India and lent his support to a festival tour of London promoting the time spent in the city by Mahatma Gandhi, starting in 1888, when lived in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, the inner temple and Farringdon Street during his years training as a barrister. Livingstone will visit India in November to demonstrate the interest in the city's relationship with India.Of London's population, over 430,000 are of Indian origin. India is the second largest country with inward investment projects in London. 212,000 Indians visited London in 2006. 4,000 students study in London contributing 60 million pounds to London's economy.
Hindu followers in Australia double
The '06 census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed that followers of Hinduism in Australia have doubled since 1996 and now comprise 0.7 percent of the total population.Budhists have also doubled to more than 2 percent, Islam followers make up 1.7 percent and Judaism 0.4 percent. Christians remained the largest group.
Emigration from India started over 2,500 years ago !
The emigration of people from India has been recorded as starting over 2,500 years ago when adventurers travelled by sailboat to the shores of Africa, South East Asia and the Far East. The voyagers negotiated the ocean waters to venture to Java, Sumatra, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bali and the Philippines tackling the monsoon winds and taking with them to their new lands, a rich contribution of culture, calligraphy, methods of cultivation, handicrafts and new industries, all in the calmness and peace of the time. Later the abolition of slavery prompted the occupying European countries of England, Holland, France, Portugal and Spain with their accompanying military forces, to move Indian labour to the sugar plantations of Jamaica, South Africa and Mauritius, and builders of the Kenya Railway were sourced from the Punjab. Farmers were needed in Canada and were taken there from the Punjab around the 1930s.
Further along history Britain and the US needed factory workers and skilled professionals and admitted Indians in substantial numbers from the 1960s onwards.Most recently at the end of the twentieth century Indian info tech workers went over to fix the dreaded Millennium Bug in computer systems, followed by thousands of IT professionals. This is the new generation of the Indian diaspora who continue to maintain their links with India through their way of life, culture, food and religions.
The US Census Bureau study found that Patel, ranked 172nd, is the most common Indian surname in America. A total number of 145,000 Patels are in the US.The study was based on returns from the 2000 census that takes place every ten years, with the Western name Smith taking the top position.The second most common Indian last name was Singh, its overall ranking was 396th, with 72,642 Singhs in the country. Singhs are Sikhs and also Hindus with roots in states other than Punjab.Khans ranked at 665th, but Khans come from Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as India.Shah ranked at 831, Sharma at 2247, Kumar at 2293 and Desai at 2540. Guptas, Reddys, Mehtas and Raos brought up the rear.The growth of the Indian origin population was the highest among all Asian origin groups. From 820,000 in 1990 it rose to 1.6 million in 2000 and is the third largest Asian American group in the US.
Indian Diaspora is largest in globalized world
More than 20 million Persons of Indian Origin and some 6 million Non resident Indians are spread over 136 countries, making the Indian diaspora the largest in the world.More than 40 percent of the population are from the diaspora in Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana and Surinam. In Southeast Asia, Malaysia leads with 7.3 percent of its population being from India.The situation in Malaysia however is disturbing, with divisions along racial lines, reinforced by religion, culture, language and occupation. Thousand of Indians returned to India after racial riots in 1969. In 2003 a number of Indian IT professionals were maltreated by Malaysian authorities. Over 40 percent of serious crimes in Malaysia are committed by Indians, who also have the highest suicide rate and cases of domestic abuse and deliquency abound.
India Now Festival starts in London
Kicking off a summer of celebrations marking London's links with India, Mayor Ken Livingstone sailed down the River Thames alongside a custom built replica of the Taj Mahal.The three month festival will feature 1,500 events focusing on Indian art, theatre, food, fashion, music, dance, film and will have an economic slant as well.Mayor Livingstone acknowledged India as an emerging economic superpower, and an important nation with an important culture. He stated London is aiming to strengthen its ties with India and lent his support to a festival tour of London promoting the time spent in the city by Mahatma Gandhi, starting in 1888, when lived in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, the inner temple and Farringdon Street during his years training as a barrister. Livingstone will visit India in November to demonstrate the interest in the city's relationship with India.Of London's population, over 430,000 are of Indian origin. India is the second largest country with inward investment projects in London. 212,000 Indians visited London in 2006. 4,000 students study in London contributing 60 million pounds to London's economy.
Hindu followers in Australia double
The '06 census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed that followers of Hinduism in Australia have doubled since 1996 and now comprise 0.7 percent of the total population.Budhists have also doubled to more than 2 percent, Islam followers make up 1.7 percent and Judaism 0.4 percent. Christians remained the largest group.
Emigration from India started over 2,500 years ago !
The emigration of people from India has been recorded as starting over 2,500 years ago when adventurers travelled by sailboat to the shores of Africa, South East Asia and the Far East. The voyagers negotiated the ocean waters to venture to Java, Sumatra, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bali and the Philippines tackling the monsoon winds and taking with them to their new lands, a rich contribution of culture, calligraphy, methods of cultivation, handicrafts and new industries, all in the calmness and peace of the time. Later the abolition of slavery prompted the occupying European countries of England, Holland, France, Portugal and Spain with their accompanying military forces, to move Indian labour to the sugar plantations of Jamaica, South Africa and Mauritius, and builders of the Kenya Railway were sourced from the Punjab. Farmers were needed in Canada and were taken there from the Punjab around the 1930s.
Further along history Britain and the US needed factory workers and skilled professionals and admitted Indians in substantial numbers from the 1960s onwards.Most recently at the end of the twentieth century Indian info tech workers went over to fix the dreaded Millennium Bug in computer systems, followed by thousands of IT professionals. This is the new generation of the Indian diaspora who continue to maintain their links with India through their way of life, culture, food and religions.
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