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Dubai: Kanara Entrepreneurs Ltd. (KEL) Dubai, hosted a very successful event recently for its members at Ivory Grand Hotel Apartments in Dubai. The non-profit, mutual benefit corporation chartered and founded by individuals from the Kanara region, to encourage, support, guide and nurture entrepreneurship, has been serving the community in Dubai for over 15 years

The theme for the event ’Future Proofing Careers – Transforming to Perform’ did appeal to the audience who came from different age groups and walks of life. As usual, it was a well-attended event, that provided valuable insights and inputs to the members and guests, aspiring entrepreneurs and job seekers alike on how to deal with the unprecedented disruption across various spheres of life, which included businesses and professional careers.

The theme of this event revolved around a panel discussion with some of the eminent faces in Dubai and moderated by one of the finest business journalists and Forbes contributor Ms. Natasha Dsouza. The panel of expert speakers comprised of

• Sheila Nazareth – Senior VP, Business Strategy & Value Delivery, Emirates Airlines;
• Marilyn Lydia Pinto – Founder & Managing Director, Kids Finance Initiative;
• Charmaine Dsouza – Director, Experience and Strategic Partnerships, Palmwood;
• Martin Victor Alva – Director, Digital Transformation & Customer Experience, RazrCorp.;
• Deen Ashraf – Founder and iMagining Director, Brains at Work

As per the feedback received from several attendees, it was indeed a well-conceived and widely participated session that offered an opportunity to share enriching experiences by the speakers from different backgrounds. The audience benefitted the most, learning how and where to hit the ‘refresh’ when it comes to their career planning and navigating through the age of digital disruption and prepare for the exciting future.

Lead member Aloysius Fernandes welcomed the gathering and opened the session, Chairman Ivan Fernandes and President Robert D’Sa felicitated the panel speakers and Associate Director Events, William Dsouza delivered the vote of thanks.

Dubai, Apr 12: With the objective of bringing awareness among the NRI community on the proposed changes in tax laws with the implementation of Direct Tax Code (DTC) from the next financial year, Kanara Entrepreneurs Ltd (KEL), Dubai conducted a workshop titled “Direct Tax Code – Impact on NRIs” at the India Club on Saturday, April 9.  Over 125 KEL members and guests attended this event along with lead members from KE Bangalore and the core members of Dimensions in Mumbai.  The program started with a welcome address by the President of KEL Dubai, Mrs. Shobha Mendonca.  Mrs. Mendonca introduced the key note speaker Mr. Mark D’Souza – Chartered Account and President Elect – KE Bangalore.

Mr. Mark D’Souza in his presentation gave an overview of the existing tax laws, definition of terms applicable to NRIs such are non-resident, not ordinarily resident and resident as applicable under the Income tax laws as well as under foreign exchange management act (FEMA).  Mr. D’Souza gave valuable tips on how to manage the NRI status, what taxes are applicable for NRIs and how one should plan their return to India to obtain the benefit of being non-resident during that tax year. He said that all income generated in India except for the interest on NRE and FCNR accounts are taxable in India.  When tax deduction at source (TDS) is mandated, the deduction will always be at the highest slab for NRIs.  NRIs need to file their taxes and apply for refund of these excess deductions.  As of now several crores of unclaimed refunds are lying with the government on this account as NRIs fail to file their taxes and claim back the excess amounts deducted thru TDS.  He also touched on the consequences of not filing the income tax returns on time.  He mentioned that July 31 is the deadline for NRIs to file their taxes for the previous year.  Mark stressed that all NRIs must maintain a record of all their visits to India for the last 10 years (including copies of the immigration stamps from their passports) as they count towards computing the number of days towards their residency in India for that particular year.  While counting the no. of days of stay in India he said that both the day of arrival and day of departure are counted as days of stay in

He also covered the topic on Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement  (DTAA) signed by India with various governments including UAE government to avoid the impact of the same income being taxed twice.  However, he said that to be eligible under DTAA, you need to pay tax in your resident country.  As UAE does not have direct taxes, it will not be possible to get benefits under DTAA for residents of UAE.  He also mentioned that with the implementation of the Direct Tax Code (DTC) which will unify and replace all existing direct tax laws, you could be considered resident for tax purposes if you stay for more than 60 days in a financial year as the extension to 182 days will no longer be available.

Mark also touched on the impact of Wealth Tax which if passed as is, which will have a significant impact on NRIs.  As per the existing draft, the wealth taxes is applicable on all your global assets and are to be included in your tax filings.  As per the proposed DTC, wealth tax is applicable at 1% on all assets exceeding Rs. 1 crore.

He concluded by saying that in view of the above and the proposed DTC, it is very important for NRIs to plan their presence in India during the relevant tax year, so that they are not only able to plan their residential status under the Act but also obtain optimum advantage under the applicable tax treaty.

The new KE Global web-site that integrates all its chapters under one umbrella and provides extensive opportunities for its members to interact with others online for both business and social networking in addition to providing information on all the news and events was launched jointly by the Presidents of KE Dubai and Bangalore along with the Mr. Freddy Mendonca, Chairman of Dimensions.

Several of our members were formally inducted at this event.  Ivan Fernandes, Chairman of KE Global and Shobha Mendonca installed the KE lapel pins on these members and welcomed them into KEL.  Mr. Julian Lewis, Director of Membership handed over the welcome kits to each of these members.

Immediate past President of KEL, Mr. Albert Rodrigues as part of the house keeping mentioned that KEL has been providing quality events and thereby gaining popularity, which is reflected in the growth of its membership. He said that this year we have inducted 60 new members and it is critical for members to utilize every opportunity provided for networking under KEL as well as their strategic partners such as TIE Dubai who conduct several events with similar objectives.   He also urged members to register and exploit the opportunities provided through the new website (www.keglobal.org).  Albert again stressed on the recent venture fund and asked members who are looking at equity funding to get in touch with KEL.  He also updated on the business plan contest that was conducted by KE Global for MBA students from eighteen colleges as part of Verve 2011 in Mangalore. He encouraged members to participate in the activities of KEL and provide valuable suggestions on their needs and ideas for fostering a better network of entrepreneurs and professionals.

Mr. Michael D’Souza, Director of Mentoring, proposed the vote of thanks.  He thanked the speaker, all the members of KE Bangalore and Dimensions who made the extra effort to come to Dubai and attend this program, the sponsors of the event, staff of India club and the audience.  Mr. Alfred Vaz, Director of Events coordinated and anchored the event. This event was sponsored by Globelink West Star Shipping LLC, Dubai.

Mangalore, Mar 18: The inaugural of VERVE-2011, the Management Fest organized by AIMIT Business School of St Aloysius College(Autonomous), Mangalore took place at 4 p.m. on 17th March in the auditorium of AIMIT Campus. The college choir sang the prayer song and invoked God’s blessing on three days events to follow. It was followed a presentation on various events organised by the college during the last one year was presented and was followed by the presentation on Insignia 2011.

Mr Ivan Fernandes, Chairman, KE Global, Dubai was the Chief Guest for the inaugural. Dr Beena Dias, faculty Co-ordinator, Verve 2011 welcomed the gathering. Rev Dr Oswald Mascarenhas SJ, Chairman, MBA Dept, AIMIT, addressed the gathering and spoke about his 8 months experience at Aloysius Institute. He spoke about his vision and the introduction of 30 percent new events concept every year followed by giving examples of Procter and Gamble (P & G) and he said this could be achieved by Signs, Symbols, Metaphors and Meanings. Rev Fr Joseph Rodrigues SJ, Rector, St Aloysian Institutions presided over the function and gave the presidential address wherein he spoke about the universal symbols for the event. Fr Denzil Lobo SJ, Director, AIMIT, introduced the campus and spoke about the Jesuit ethos. He stressed the need of creativity and critical thinking in imparting education and that is what the Institution tries to implement to make students coming out of the Management & IT school more conscientious, compassionate and committed.

The chief Guest, Mr Ivan Fernandes gave the key note address. “Dare to dream, take the step and seize the opportunities which come your way”, was his message to all the participants gathered. He said that it is about participating in the event but not about winning which was the most motivating line to the participants. He said like the sports who kept on practising day and night students need to work hard to give a brilliant performance. He also said that the future of each and every person is in their hands and they have lived every page of their life and the next page is said to be blank and the blank page is what we are going to do in future. He ended by saying unlock your potential and prove yourself during the event. The Vote Of Thanks was given by Mr Govil Saldanha, Student Co-ordinator, Verve 2011.

The inaugural was followed by the ICE BREAKING SESSION where each of the participating teams gave a brief introduction to the team through enacting some of the contemporary issues in life. Twenty teams from all over the Country are participating in the two days events.

Mangalore, Jan 22: Kanara Entrepreneurs (KE) Global conducted a workshop on ‘Inspiring the next generation of Entrepreneurs’  as part of the launch of the Entrepreneur Cell at the St. Aloysius Institute of Management and Information Technology (AIMIT), Beeri, Mangalore on 21^st January 2011. The three hour session kept the young audience glued to their chairs listening to some of the inspiring presentations from existing and potential entrepreneurs.

In his welcome speech, Fr. Denzil Lobo, Director of AIMIT declared that this was a red letter day in the history of AIMIT as it now gives a platform of support to all those students who have the passion to be entrepreneurs.  He said that we want our students to be the world’s best entrepreneurs and to achieve it the Entrepreneur Cell will receive mentoring support from KE members who are all successful entrepreneurs from this region.  He was happy that in the last four batches that have passed out, four students have started their own businesses.  He reiterated that by setting up your own business, you not only make yourself independent but also create opportunities to several others around you.  He thanked all the KE members who have come down from Bangalore and the Gulf to support this initiative to help these young people take up entrepreneurship.  ‘It should be your desire to be an entrepreneur, you cannot succeed unless you struggle, and all successful entrepreneurs have overcome their struggles to be successful’ he said in his message to the young entrepreneurs.

In his presentation on ‘KE Global – Nurturing Entrepreneurs’, Ivan Fernandes, Chairman of KE Global spoke on what it takes to be an entrepreneur. He spoke on his journey as an entrepreneur and how he withstood his passion as well as KE Global’s objectives and how it can support young entrepreneurs.  In his presentation, he gave the opportunity for the young audience to hear to several of our successful entrepreneurs through video clips.  Ivan said that it is not important for you to have a strong family background or deep pockets before you jump into the entrepreneur bandwagon.  You just need to have the passion and the self-confidence that you are capable of achieving your dream.  While the path is risky, as long as you have the ‘never give up’ attitude and stick to your passion you will be able to achieve your objectives, he said.  Success is not all about money but the satisfaction of achieving your objectives.  Money is always a byproduct and most successful entrepreneurs end up making money.  He stressed, that all successful companies had a well knitted team, it is the team that succeeds, not individuals.  Your business plan must have a value proposition that the market will embrace and you need to know the best mechanism to provide this value to your customers.  While speaking on KE Global and its objectives, Ivan mentioned that it was started to build a network of entrepreneurs from the Kanara region to encourage and support potential entrepreneurs.  While in the past there were no organiz

ations to mentor new businesses and as a result they had to go through every pitfall and experience it themselves, today with some of the entrepreneurs coming forward to share their experiences and help young entrepreneurs with their business plans, it gives a huge boost to all the young potential entrepreneurs to get going.

This was followed by an inspiring presentation from Mr. Claudius Pereira, Director of Mentoring at KE Bangalore.  Claudius spoke on ‘Do you have it in you – Ideas for today and tomorrow’.  He spoke on why each one of us is a born champion.  How our Gratitude with Attitude dictates our Altitude.  He gave specific examples on how great personalities such as Amitabh Bachan, Rajnikanth and Sachin Tendulkar have climbed the ladder of success through their attitude and gratitude.  He also said that this is the era of communication and to be successful you need to have a clear communication strategy.  To be an effective communicator you need to think, listen and speak.  He went to describe the struggle of an entrepreneur to that of a cocoon which struggles to break open the shell and gain strength for its wings.  ‘Your personality is a combination of your skills, attitude and knowledge and it is you who blends it to make it your own’ he said.  While knowledge can be acquired, attitudes can be changed while skills are in born that can always be sharpened.  He spoke on three types of people – survival oriented, maintenance oriented and growth oriented and stressed that as entrepreneur you need to be growth oriented to make it happen.  In the current era, to be successful you need to ensure that you use your mind, skills and tools available to you.

Mr. Praveen Prabhu, COO of BuildID and Foradian Technologies who is an alumni of AIMIT, then shared his experiences of how he feels becoming an entrepreneur.  He said while the initial period was very tough and they were not able to make any major breakthrough, their quick response of creating the soft font at the launch of the Indian Rupee symbol last year put them in the limelight.  He stressed that this incident made them change their vision to KISS – ‘Keep it simple stupid’.  He said that it is not necessary to have a complex solution to succeed but most of the time it is a simple solution that is applied at the appropriate moment.

This was followed by another presentation from Melroy from Maritz Pharma, which was launched a few months back.  Melroy, a student of last year’s batch at AIMIT mentioned how they had to think differently and apply a total different approach in selecting and distributing pharmaceutical products as there are already more than 17,000 pharma distributors in India.

The last part involved two final year students – Ajit Deshpande and Sreekanth V.  These students have a business idea to provide biometric solutions to the hospitality industry to improve customer service.  They put forward their thoughts and ideas to the audience and why they think it is worth venturing out in implementing such solutions.

Fr. Ozzie Mascarenhas, Chairman of the Business School summed up the proceedings.   In his concluding remarks he said that such a Cell is mandatory for every institution as unless the students have an opportunity to mingle with existing entrepreneurs and get tips on the practical aspects on the reality of running businesses, they will base it on theoretical aspects that they learn in college, which does not help them when they venture out.

The program was well conducted by Mr. Anil Rego, the Director of Events at KE Bangalore.  Mr. Charles Gomes, President of KE Bangalore proposed the vote of thanks and Mrs. Shobha Mendonca, President of KEL, Dubai presented bouquets to all the speakers. The event ended with networking over refreshments.  Several Lead Members of KE Bangalore and KEL, Dubai participated in this event and shared their thoughts and experiences with around 150 students that attended this event.

Final year students who want to be entrepreneurs and have a business idea that needs to be nurtured and mentored, can get in touch with KE Global through email on info@kanaraentrepreneurs.com.  The mentoring support is available to all final year students from all colleges in and around Mangalore.

Dubai, Jan 15: Kanara Entrepreneurs Ltd., Dubai (KEL) conducted a workshop on the Importance of having an Will as an Expatriate in the UAE, at the India Club in Dubai on 15^th January 2011. The three hour session was anchored by Mr. Mohammad Marria, Senior Estate Planner from Just Wills (the largest estate planning organization in the UK) proved successful with an overwhelming response to this event.

In his presentation, Mr. Marria covered topics on

1. Why is it mandatory for every expat to have a Will?
2. What principles of Shariah Law get applied to inheritance?
3. How the estate inheritance in this country can get complicated as it comes under the purview of Shariah Law, UAE / GCC laws, laws of your home country?
4. What precautions an expatriate must take with respect to protecting his assets – from bank accounts to residence visas of spouses to minimize the impact on death of one party?

Mr. Marria started by saying that when you die in the UAE, the following things happen irrespective of whether you have a Will or not.

1. You bank accounts whether in your personal name or in joint names, get frozen as per the Shariah Law.
2. As majority of the spouses are sponsored by their husbands, on the death of the husband the residence visas of the wife and children get cancelled as per the Law of the UAE.
3. The Embassy / Consulate of your home country are informed as per International Law.

Now, each of this can have significant impact on the grieving family.

1. If all money was in the accounts which are frozen, then this money is not available to the family until the Shariah court authorizes its release.  He said that Shariah Courts take several aspects into consideration before issuing the succession certificate that is required for release of these funds.
2. Ensure that all debts of the deceased are settled from his estate before distribution to his successors.
3. Ensure that the estate is distributed in accordance with the principles of Sharia.  As per Sharia, the wife is titled to 1/8 of the husbands Estate, each of the parents are entitled to 1/6 of the estate, the sons receive 2 shares while the daughters receive 1 share.

He said that if you are not a Muslim residing in the UAE and have a properly drafted Will which clearly states that you are not a Muslim and do not want Shariah Law to be applied for distribution of your estate, the Shariah Court will authorize distribution of your estate as per your Will. Hence Will is very important for all expatriates especially if you are not a Muslim.

As a precaution, he recommended that you have bank accounts in individual names as UAE does not have the concept of ‘Either or Survivor’ as is available in some other countries like India.  Hence, to prevent all accounts getting frozen, it is recommended to have accounts individually for both husband and wife such that when one party dies, the other account is still available.  In addition, he suggested having offshore accounts including non-resident accounts in your home country.

He also stressed on the need of having a life insurance policy with clear beneficiary mentioned from Insurance companies that do not come under the purview of Shariah.  The reason being that insurance can be paid to the beneficiary within 30 days of death and this can be then used to settle all the debts of the deceased from credit card dues to personal loans and mortgages.  This will help the courts to decide faster on implementing your wishes specified in your Will.

1. On the issue of residence visa, Mr. Marria said that majority of the spouses are in the UAE on dependent visas.  So the husband is their sponsor.  On the death of the sponsor, all dependent visas are cancelled and they need to leave the country within 30 days.  This creates a huge hurdle for the family to come back to the UAE and handle issues related to inheritance.  Hence, he recommended that where possible, to have independent visa for the wife such that her status does not get impacted with the death of her husband.  He also suggested that those women, who work should look at getting direct employment visas from their company as this will protect them in the worst scenario of losing their husbands while in the UAE.
2. Marria also strongly recommended that both the husband and wife must have a general power of attorney authorizing the other partner to act on the other partner’s behalf just in case an event occurs where he or she is disabled and unable to act.  It is important as while the Will is only executed on one’s death, the power of attorney will help in executing all matters until death.

Mr. Marria stressed that with a Will, you still need to go to a Shariah Court and get it executed so that these assets are passed on to the successors.  To ensure acceptance of these Wills by the Shariah Court, these Wills need to be properly drafted, compliant with the local Shariah Law, UAE Law and International Laws (law of your home country).  Once it is done, it needs to be attested by the Consulate or Embassy of your home country.  The Will must then arabised and notarized in UAE.  In the absence of notary, the Will must be attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that it is valid and accepted by the Shariah Courts.

The session started with the President of KEL, Mrs. Shobha Mendonca welcoming the guests. She said that this workshop is unique and can have a profound impact on all of us in ensuring that our estate is passed on to our successors without much hassles.

Mr. Michael D’Souza, Director of Mentoring proposed the vote of thanks.  He said that while KEL has given an opportunity to all to understand the importance of having a Will, it is now up to us to go ahead and prepare a Will such that we die in peace and leave our successors also in peace.  Mr. Alfred Vaz, Director – Events was the master of ceremony. The program concluded with networking and dinner.