The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 10

The International News Weekly INTERVIEW/OPED
September 01, 2017 | Toronto
09
The Indian government allows NRIs to open bank accounts
in India which can be opened even when they are abroad
Ravinder Pal
Singh Walia
Various accounts which
an NRI can avail of are discussed
as below:
1. Non-Resident Ordinary
(NRO) Account:
• Non-Resident Ordinary
Account is an account
which can be opened
without approval with
transactions in rupees.
• NRO account may be
opened/maintained in
the form of current, savings,
recurring or fixed
deposit accounts.
• It can be opened independently
or jointly
with residents.
• The account is denominated
in Indian rupees.
• Permissible credits to
NRO accounts are remittance
received in permitted
currency from
outside India through
normal banking channels,
legitimate income
in India of the account
holder such as rent,
pension and interest,
sale proceeds of assets,
including immovable
property acquired out
of rupee/foreign currency
funds or by way
of legacy/inheritance.
Eligible debits such as all
local payments for investment
as specified
by the Reserve Bank
and remittance outside
India of current income
like rent, dividend, pension,
interest, net of applicable
taxes, of the account
holder.
All the interest coming
from an NRO account is
taxable.
The limit of USD 1 million
per financial year for
repatriation of money
includes sale proceeds
of immovable properties
held by NRIs.
2. Non-Resident (External)
NRE Rupees Account:
• Such account has to be
maintained in Indian
rupees, and it is the
most commonly used
by NRIs. However, the
deposit is in foreign
currency only.
• NRE account may be in
the form of savings, current,
recurring, or fixed
deposits accounts. Such
accounts can be opened
only by the non-resident
himself and not through
the holder of a power of
attorney.
• Balance in the NRE account
is freely repatriable.
• Account interest income
and balances held
in an NRE account are
exempt from income
tax and wealth tax respectively.
• All legal foreign exchange
transactions
concerning NRIs can be
done through this account.
3. Foreign Currency Non-
Resident (Bank) Account-
FCNR (B) Account:
• FCNR (B) accounts are
only in the form of term
deposits of 1 to 5 years.
• Accounts can be in any
convertible currency
such as the US dollars,
Pound, Yen.
• Loan up to Rs 100 lakh
can be extended against
security of funds held
in FCNR (B) deposits.
• The balance and the
interest in this account
are exempt from tax.
• The account is used for
investing in India or
payment of exports.
How to open NRI Bank Account?
Opening an NRI bank
account is easy. The important
steps involved are as
under:
1. The form to open an
account can be downloaded
from the website
of the bank of one's
choice.
2. The documents required
for opening an
account are a photocopy
of passport, a set of two
recent coloured photographs
of passport size
and visa or residence
permit of the country
the NRI is residing.
3. These along with the
filled-up forms have
to be submitted to the
bank for verification.
4. Verification is done
either by officials at
the Indian embassy or
consulate in the country
of his residence or
the Notary Public. If
the chosen bank has an
overseas branch in the
applicant's city, documents
are verified at
that branch.
5. The payment for the
processing has to be
made along with the
submission of documents.
After the account is
opened, the NRI applicant
can authorize a local citizen
to operate the account.
For this, a verified power
of attorney is required to
be issued. NRIs can appoint
nominees for their account,
which could be a resident
Indian or NRI.
India has immense talent, a second
Sindhu possible: P.V. Sindhu
By Tridib Baparnash
New Delhi: Impressed by
Badminton Association
of India (BAI) President
Himanta Biswa Sarma's
initiative to create a pool
of players for the 2018
Commonwealth Games
and Asian Games, star
shuttler Pusarla Venkata
Sindhu said the country
has immense talent and
the day is not far when
another Sindhu or Saina
Nehwal will emerge.
Sindhu, who recently
bettered her bronze medal
performances at the 2013
and 2014 World Championships
to clinch the silver
at the 2017 edition in
Glasgow, went down to
Nozomi Okuhara of Japan
in a nerve-wrecking
one hour 50 minute final
at the Emirates Arena on
Sunday.
This was India's best
show in a World Badminton
Championship with
the country bagging two
medals for the first time.
Sindhu's city mate Saina
had settled for the bronze
on Saturday after losing
her semi-final to Okuhara.
But women's singles in
India suffers from a lack
of depth as, apart from
the Hyderabadi duo, there
is absolutely no other big
name in the national circuit.
But Sindhu is hopeful
of seeing emerging
shuttlers making it big on
the international stage.
"I wish the very best
to the BAI. I would like to
see a second Sindhu coming
up and that is very
much possible. India has
immense talent," Sindhu
told IANS in a telephonic
interview.
At 22, Sindhu has four
medals from global tournaments,
including a silver
at the 2016 Rio Olympics,
besides the various
Superseries and Grand
Prix titles, but the hunger
is still on.
"It really feels amazing!!
However, this is just
the beginning and I have
a long way to go and many
more laurels to bring for
India," she said.
Asked about the deciding
game of the World
Championship final, when
both Sindhu and Okuhara
were locked at 20-20, the
Hyderabadi said: "All I
was thinking was to play
one point at a time and
move ahead. I wanted to
stay away from the pressure
and focus on my
game."
Prior to their World
Championship final, Sindhu
and Okuhara enjoyed
a 3-3 head-to-head record
and the tie could have
headed either way on Sunday.
Commenting on her
opponent, Sindhu said:
"Okuhara was never
easy... It was the final and
obviously was going to be
a tough one with tough
rallies going on."
"I never took her easy.
I was prepared for the
match to be really long,
but unfortunately it wasn't
my day," she added.
Sindhu finished her
semi-final at around 2:30
am on Sunday morning
and she was again back
on the court after 17 hours
for the final, which went
on for 110 minutes to become
the second-longest
women's singles final in
history.
When probed about
her preparations for the
summit clash, Sindhu
stressed on the importance
of sound sleep and
good food.
"Well, I didn't have
too much time between
my final and semi-final.
Hence I focused on resting
well to be ready for the
finals. There was nothing
much we could do with
the scheduling of the tournament;
so I rested well,"
she said.
Besides national coach
Pullela Gopichand, Sindhu
credited her Indonesian
coach Mulyo Handoyo for
helping improve her fitness
level, which was evident
from the 73-shot rally
in the second game.
"Along
with
Gopichand, I have been
training under an Indonesian
coach who has helped
immensely in training for
the games as well as for fitness.
"Everyone is asking
about that particular
rally, but every rally was
equally long and there
were too many shots from
both sides. We both were
really tired but it turned
out to be one exciting contest,"
she said.
Sindhu, who was made
Bridgestone India's brand
ambassador for three
years on Wednesday, is
now aiming to continue
her winning momentum
at the Korea and Japan super
series, in September.
On a lighter note, the
shuttler revealed that she
had to sacrifice her favourite
ice creams and biryani
for the World Championship
silver.