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A young, clinically obese Frenchman who was stranded in the United States because he was deemed too heavy to fly finally took a plane to Britain today, one step closer to going home.

Kevin Chenais, who weighs 230 kilogrammes (500 pounds), arrived at London’s Heathrow airport with his parents after Virgin Atlantic agreed to fly him back from New York.

Chenais, 22, had been in the United States since May 2012 for treatment for a hormone imbalance.

He had been set to return home on British Airways last month but the airline refused to accept him as a passenger, saying he was too heavy.

The family subsequently tried to sail across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2, but the cruise ship’s owners also refused to have him onboard.

After arriving at Heathrow, a visibly exhausted Chenais described the ordeal to return home as "terrible, terrible, terrible".

"The flight was really hard," he told AFP as he sat on his mobility scooter at the airport.
"I didn’t stop crying for the whole flight."

Kevin, who was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the Stars and Stripes, praised Virgin for flying him out from New York’s JFK airport and paying for the economy-class flights for him and his parents.

"That was very kind of them," he said, "but I was very uncomfortable -- I have a lot of problems with the skin on my thighs and the seat was small."

The family were met at Heathrow by French consular staff who arranged for him to travel to France on a Paris-bound Eurostar train later today.

The family will them make their way to the town of Ferney-Voltaire near the Swiss border.
Chenais, who requires frequent oxygen and regular care, expressed his anger at British Airways and the Queen Mary 2’s owners Carnival for refusing to take him home.

Indian entrepreneurs can build next Google, says Eric Schmidt

 India’s entrepreneurial innovators have the potential to build the "next Google" if the country "plays its cards right" and ensures Internet access for millions of its citizens, Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt has said.

In an essay written for the book ’Reimagining India: Unlocking The Potential of Asia’s Next Superpower’ edited by global consulting firm McKinsey, Schmidt dubbed India "an Internet laggard" saying he feels Internet in the country today is like where it was in America in about 1994 - four years before Google was even born.

He said India must increase its Internet penetration across towns and cities, a move that will have a positive impact on its economy and society.

The former Google CEO said he witnessed the creative potential of India’s people all around him in Silicon Valley where India-born entrepreneurs account for 40 per cent of start-ups.

"Just think what will happen when India’s entrepreneurial innovators are able to create great global companies without leaving their country. They will change the world. Hundreds of large firms focused on the Internet will be founded and will succeed by focusing purely on Indian consumers, Indian taste, Indian style, Indian sports.

"Can anyone of those companies ultimately become the next Google? Of course."
"That may not happen for quite a few years. But if India plays its cards right, we will soon see Indian engineers and small businesses tackling Indian problems first, then exporting the solutions that work best," Schmidt said.

With a total population of 1.2 billion, India has over 600 million mobile-phone users but only about 150 million people regularly connect to the Internet.

In 2011, India’s Internet penetration rate was 11 per cent, "far below" that of developed nations where penetration rates average 70 per cent.

India’s Internet penetration rate is less than a third of China’s penetration ratio of 38 per cent and less than half of those in developing countries, which average 24 per cent.
"By any reasonable definition, India is an Internet laggard... In spite of its well deserved reputation as one of the world’s leading IT and software development hubs, India is far from being the connected society many foreigners imagine," Schmidt said.

The number of India’s broadband users, 20 million, is even smaller, Schmidt said however adding that India is on the cusp of a connectivity revolution.

"I believe India has the chance to leapfrog its current connectivity challenges, bring Internet access to a majority of its citizens - and even raise its penetration ratio to 60 or 70 per cent within the next 5-10 years," he said.

He said if India connects its next 500 million people with Internet, it would make the country the largest open-access Internet market in the world.

"In 10 years’ time I predict it will be almost impossible for any child in India to imagine what life was like before the Internet. But to realise that promise India must make the right technology choices," Schmidt said.

Schmidt stressed that one key choice India should make is how quickly it builds out the fixed-line networks in its cities and towns adding that fiber-optic cables are by far the best way to promote higher connectivity.

India should also get its cellular technology right, making the transition from 2G and 3G to 4G technology as quickly as possible.

Fourth generation technology makes "far more efficient use of the spectrum and users can get so much more bandwidth out of it".

Schmidt said it may take time for India to achieve these two goals because its telecommunications industry is undercapitalised and has a lot of debt.

"But I am confident that eventually the transformation will happen," he said.

The Google head said investing in a bigger, faster telecom network will have a big payoff for India as that network combines with one of the most "radically life-altering developments" of the last decade - the emergence of moderately-priced mobile devices.

"In India this phenomenon is sure to unleash a customer-driven revolution on a scale we have never seen before in education, financial services, healthcare and entertainment," he added.

Indian techie files lawsuit against Bosch

An Indian techie has filed a lawsuit against Bosch, a German multinational engineering and electronics company, alleging that the firm compelled Indian employees in the US to pay their tax refunds back to it.

In a lawsuit filed through national plaintiffs’ law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP ("Lieff Cabraser"), Indian national Suraj Kamath today charged that Bosch unjustly enriched itself by requiring all of its non-US citizens employees to pay to Bosch federal and state tax refunds the employees had received while working in the US.

In the class action lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the complaint seeks certification by the Court of a class consisting of "All non-US citizens who were, are, or will be employed by Bosch from whom Bosch has demanded payment of their tax refund amounts.

It is estimated that at least 160 persons are class members. The complaint seeks monetary damages and injunctive relief.

"I worked diligently for Bosch for years. When I objected to Bosch’s demand to pay back all tax refunds I had received, Bosch threatened to fire me, send me back to India, and make my life miserable. The way Bosch treats its employees is wrong and that’s why I am standing up to Bosch for myself and my fellow colleagues at Bosch," Kamath alleged.

In 2005, Kamath, a citizen of India, began working for Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions, Ltd  ("RBEI") in India. In March 2009, RBEI transferred Kamath to the US, where he worked as a Project Manager in Santa Barbara, California, until May 2013.
"The Indian citizens who Bosch brought to the United States have contributed to the US economy and helped Bosch grow and prosper in America," Daniel M Hutchinson, counsel for Kamath and the proposed class, said in a statement.

"All Bosch employees should receive their full wages, and that includes the tax refunds they are entitled to. These employees deserve to be treated fairly, and not have their livelihoods threatened for insisting that Bosch comply with the law," Hutchinson said.

The complaint alleges that on December 21, 2012, Bosch sent letters to Kamath and other Bosch employees listing the amounts of tax refunds the employee had received for tax years 2006 through 2011.

Bosch directed that the employee "repay this amount" to Bosch by check before January 15, 2013, or arrange for payroll deductions by no later than December 27, 2012, the complaint alleges.

The tax refund amounts sought by Bosch totaled in the tens of thousands of dollars for many employees.

According to complaint, Kamath objected to Bosch’s demand.

In response, the complaint alleges that Bosch informed Kamath that, if he did not sign a form declaration promising to pay Bosch the full amount of his tax refunds, Bosch would fire him and require him to return to India.

Bosch managers allegedy threatened Kamath, stating, "We will make sure that your career is destroyed and you will not be able to find a job anywhere. We will make your life miserable if you don’t sign [the declaration promising to pay back to Bosch the tax refunds you received]."

Following Kamath’s refusal to comply with Bosch’s demand, Bosch required Kamath to return to India in May 2013, even though his visa was valid until March 1, 2014. In addition, Bosch refused to pay Kamath a performance pay amount that Bosch owes him for his work in 2012.

Other Bosch employees who complied with Bosch’s coercive tactics have had the tax refund amounts taken by Bosch through payroll deductions, the complaint alleged.
There was no immediate reaction from Bosch.

1.6 billion people on social networks: study

 An estimated 1.61 billion people, more than one in five globally, will log in to social networking sites at least monthly this year, the research firm eMarketer has said.

The study said the number was up 14.2 per cent from a year ago and growth will push that number up to 2.33 billion by 2017.

The highest penetration of social network users, according to eMarketer, is in the Netherlands, at 63.5 per cent. Norway was second at 63.3 per cent, followed by Sweden (56.4 per cent), South Korea (54.4 per cent), Denmark (53.3 per cent), the United States (51.7 per cent) and Finland (51.3 per cent).

A majority of residents were also on social networks in Canada (51.2 per cent) and Britain (50.2 per cent, according to the report based on data from research firms, government agencies, media outlets and company reports.

The 1.61 billion figure represented 22 per cent of the world’s estimated population, the survey said yesterday.

The report said India is seeing the highest growth this year of 37.4 per cent, though only 7.7 per cent of the population uses social networks. Indonesia’s numbers will climb 28.7 per cent and Mexico will grow by 21.1 per cent. eMarketer said.

All three of those countries are also high-growth areas for Facebook, the world’s largest social network with more than one billion users.

The US remains the country with the greatest number of Facebook users, at 146.8 million, but with India’s large population and expected growth rate, it will have the largest Facebook population of any country by 2016, according to the report.

NRI hotelier gets ’Pride of India’ award

NRI hotelier Joginder Sangar has been conferred with the prestigious ’Pride of India’ award for his outstanding contributions towards promoting art and culture of India in the UK.

Sangar, the CEO and Chairman of a Group of Hotels in Central London and West London, was conferred with the ’Pride of India’ award for 2012 by India International Foundation.

Britain’s transport minister Stephen Hammond, MP presented the award to Sangar at Marriott Heathrow Hotel last night in the presence of leading dignitaries like Lord Swraj Paul and S S Siddhu, Minister (Coordination) in the Indian High Commission here.

NRI solicitor Hari Singh, founder Chairman of HSLaw Solicitors and Notary received the award in the field of Judicary/Law while Deepak Kuntawala, Founder of DVK, a global commodity trading and finance boutique company enhancing interests in private equity, wealth management and fund management was chosen for the award for his achievement in the field of Business.

Receiving the award, Sangar who played a key role in building the new Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan centre here, said Indian culture is appreciated all over the world and "we must not only preserve them but also try to promote them."

He said he always considered business as secondary.

"Deep in my heart, I always gave prominence to social work, art and culture. Without taking interest in our culture, business has no meaning."

The citation said, "Sangar devotes much of his time to fundraising and philanthropic work with success."

Other recipients were Kamel Hothi, Head of Nice Markets at Lloyds TSB responsible for Asian Strategy; Deepak Khazanchi, pioneer of modern Bhangra (Art and Culture); Sonal Minocha, Dean, University of Bedfordshire Business School, (Achievements in Education) and Natasha Mudhar (Achievement in Media).

Winners also include Amarjit Sethi (Medicine); Seema Malhotra (Legislature); Professor Tejinder Singh Virdee (Science); Mahima Pandey (Social Services); Rajiv Ouseph (Sports) and East End Foods plc (Indian Business House of the Year 2012).
Rami Ranger, chairman of the Sun Mark ltd was declared the outstanding businessman for winning the Queen’s Award for the fifth year in succession.

Dinesh Shonchhatra, a leading Mortgage broker received the President’s Award.
Speaking on the occasion, Lord Paul praised Indian democracy and said, "We should be proud from where we came and we should be proud where we live."
S S Sidhu, Minister Coordination in the Indian High Commission here echoed the sentiments expressed by Lord Paul and said "our democracy is forceful as anywhere in the world."