NRI Affairs

01/09/2026

A major victory for India’s student protesters.

The Supreme Court has invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to quash FIRs registered across the country over the July demonstrations and barred states and Union Territories from filing fresh cases relating to them.

The Court said it acted to protect the future prospects of young people who had joined the protests in good faith.

Following the ruling and renewed government assurances, the Cockroach Janta Party withdrew its September 5 march in Delhi.

Read the full story:
https://www.nriaffairs.com/supreme-court-quashes-protest-firs-nationwide-as-cjp-withdraws-september-5-march/

01/09/2026

Nearly 100 elected officials and political candidates across the United States have pledged to reject campaign contributions linked to India’s Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The signatories reportedly include Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna, Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and New York congressional nominee Brad Lander. Khanna has also announced that he will give away a US$6,600 contribution from a billionaire donor described as having RSS ties.

The pledge follows RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s controversial appearance at Madison Square Garden and growing scrutiny of the influence that Hindu nationalist networks exercise through diaspora money and political access.

Read the full story:
https://www.nriaffairs.com/nearly-100-us-political-figures-pledge-to-reject-rss-linked-campaign-money/



The Humanism Project Hindus for Human Rights - Australia & New Zealand Periyar Ambedkar Thoughts Circle Australia - PATCA Anthony Albanese Julian Hill MP Mehreen Faruqi David Shoebridge Ben Carroll MP Chris Minns

31/08/2026

“A passport is not proof of citizenship.”

That statement by India’s Ministry of External Affairs left millions of passport holders asking an unsettling question: if a passport does not establish citizenship, what does?

Alok Prasanna Kumar examines the distinction between nationality and citizenship, the evolution of India’s citizenship laws, and the growing difficulty of proving citizenship in a country where birth records remain incomplete.

For Bengali-speaking Muslims and other marginalised communities, this legal ambiguity has already carried grave consequences. But the issue reaches far beyond them: without a definitive citizenship document, the rights of countless Indians may depend on bureaucratic discretion.

Read: https://www.nriaffairs.com/beyond-the-passport-the-legal-ambiguity-of-indian-citizenship/

30/08/2026

What can the fall of the East India Company teach us about confronting Big Tech?

Historian William Dalrymple argues that today’s technology giants are accumulating wealth, political influence and power in ways that echo the notorious corporation that once ruled vast parts of India.

The East India Company appeared untouchable—until lawmakers found the political will to dismantle it. The legal instruments to restrain entrenched corporate power still exist, Dalrymple says. What is missing is the nerve to use them.

Read:
https://www.nriaffairs.com/destruction-of-east-india-company-gives-us-lawmakers-a-blueprint-for-confronting-big-tech-historian/

30/08/2026

Less rain does not necessarily mean less danger.

India’s 2026 monsoon is revealing a troubling paradox: much of the country has received below-average rainfall, yet intense cloudbursts have caused deadly floods and landslides.

Kerala received around 22% less rain than normal between 1 June and 5 August—but more than twice its usual rainfall during one devastating week.

With El Niño rapidly strengthening and potentially becoming exceptionally powerful, the crucial question is not simply how much rain India receives, but where, when and how intensely it falls.

Read the full analysis:
https://www.nriaffairs.com/a-super-el-nino-could-make-indias-monsoon-drier-yet-more-dangerous/

28/08/2026

Over 600,000 Indian travellers visited Singapore in the first half of 2026, and India posted the highest tourism spending growth of any source market, S$374 million in Q1, up 8% year-on-year.

Singapore's tourism board has partnered with MakeMyTrip on a campaign running through November, offering deals on Singapore stays of four nights or more, plus a parallel offer for HSBC Premier members.

Singapore welcomed 8.19 million visitors overall in H1 2026. India remains one of its most important, consistent markets.

Full story:

26/08/2026

New RBI data shows NRI deposit inflows fell 23% in the April-June quarter. That sounds like it contradicts the record $56.85 billion FCNR(B) surge we reported earlier this month. It does not.

The RBI's own bulletin confirms the scheme's real surge, $65.4 billion, happened between 8 June and 21 August, mostly falling in the next quarter, not this one. Within April-June itself, FCNR(B) inflows were essentially flat.

What actually drove this week's decline: NRE deposit inflows collapsed to just $141 million, down from $1.99 billion the year before.

The next quarterly report, covering July-September, is the one that will actually show the surge.

Full breakdown: https://www.nriaffairs.com/nri-deposit-inflows-q1-fy27-rbi-data-2026/

24/08/2026

In Bangladesh, a youth-led uprising forced Sheikh Hasina from power. Could India’s growing “Cockroach” movement eventually pose a similar challenge to Narendra Modi?

From unemployment and failing institutions to attacks on democratic freedoms, Promod Puri argues that India’s frustrated young generation is finding its voice — and that the political establishment may have underestimated its power.

“The metaphor is almost perfect. Cockroaches are notoriously difficult to eliminate. They survive, multiply and emerge from places where nobody expects them.”

Read the opinion piece: https://www.nriaffairs.com/the-cockroaches-are-coming/

23/08/2026

“We are not a monoculture. We never have been.”

At Victoria’s Premier’s Multicultural Gala Dinner, the message from across the political divide was unusually clear: diversity is not something added to Victoria — it is part of Victoria’s story.

Premier Ben Carroll rejected the idea of a supposedly monocultural past as a “lie”, while federal Assistant Minister Julian Hill warned against the “myth of the monoculture” and declared: “As Australians, we seek unity, not uniformity.”

Opposition Leader Jess Wilson echoed the message: “These stories are not a footnote. They are Victoria’s story.”

Carroll also pledged free dental care for Victorians and foreshadowed a major new policy on community languages.

Read the full report on NRI Affairs:
https://www.nriaffairs.com/victorian-leaders-reject-myth-of-monoculture-as-premier-carroll-pledges-free-dental-care/

21/08/2026

A new H-1B fee proposal has cleared a key White House review, signalling more costs ahead for a visa programme Indian professionals rely on most.

The DHS proposal, cleared on 19 August, concerns petition fees for H-1B workers, though specific details have not been made public yet. No new fee has taken effect. It still needs to be formally published and go through public comment before becoming final.

This follows a year of escalating H-1B changes, including the $100,000 fee introduced in September 2025 and a weighted lottery system that already reshaped who gets selected.

Full breakdown:

A new DHS H-1B fee proposal has cleared White House review, signalling more costs ahead for a visa programme Indian professionals