The 10 Most Trusted Immigration Consulting Companies

www.insightssuccess.in August 2018

10 TRUSTED

THE

MOST

IMMIGRATION C O N S U LT I N G C O M PA N I E S

Editor’s Pick

A Bond beyond the Boundaries!

Expert’s Viewpoint

Overseas Education

Karan Pratap Singh Director

Rajan Pratap Singh Chairman & CEO

Kuldip Singh Founder & In-House Lawyer

SUNRISE INTERNATIONAL Helping People Achieve their Dreams with Extraordinary Immigration Solutions

Editorial

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mmigration” is not just a term that is rotating in our minds for last few years, it’s the term that has left our world spellbound and speechless for quite some time. Immigration has always been the pathway which human beings have choosen for their survival. It is one such process, which is helping people making a living, or helping people to live. Immigration is helping people from developing and under-developed countries to find a better career abroad.

Though there are numerous controversies surrounding this topic, there are various factors which make this an outstanding option for the growing youth of the nations who aim to make something extraordinary. Even though the United States have come up with new immigration policies, migration of people across the countries is still happening and it continues to serve as a pathway to extraordinary career for the people all over the globe.

Immigration: An Exceptional Gateway to an An Extraordinary Career

As one of the most renowned thought had once said , “If there is a will, there is a way.” In this fast pacing world, everything is changing at an equal fast pace. Many countries are coming up with the newer set of rules, but that is not to stop immigration, rather to welcome foriegners in newer and better ways.

Foreign policies of multiple counties are exemplary proofs that there are still a number of countries which are more than ready to welcome foreigners and offer them a friendly environment. Among them, a few are Portugal, Iceland, New Zealand, Morocco, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Canada, Austria, Ireland, and Thailand.

Immigration not just offers an elaborate lifestyls , better salary packages, and abundance of career opportunities, immigration opens up dimensions of a better life instead.

Rajarshi Chatterjee

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Shraddha Deshpande Managing Editor Rajarshi Chatterjee Contributors Aishwarya , Nupur Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Co-designer Savita Pandav Picture Editor Alex Noel Art Editor Mayur Koli Visualiser Asha Bange Business Development Manager Akansha Garewal Marketing Manager Dhruv Apte Business Development Executives Ashwini, Tejaswini Research Analyst David Circulation Manager Vivek Bangade Database Management Prashant Chevale Technology Consultant Swapnil Patil sales@insightssuccess.com

August, 2018 Corporate Ofď€ ces:

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SUNRISE INTERNATIONAL

Cover St y INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

ARTICLES Digi Payments

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22

The Age of Disruptive Banking through Digital payment Solution

To Look Out For

34

XIPHIAS Immigration: Empowering People to be Global Citizens

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Immigrants whom History will always remember

Editor’s Pick A Bond beyond the Boundaries!

CONTENTS

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EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. An Advisory Firm with an Exclusive Focus on EB-5 Financial Due-Diligence

30 Global Tree Erasing Boundaries and Creating Opportunities

40 World Immigration Consultants Offering Tailored Innovative Immigration Services

CXO Standpoint

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28

Leader’s Insights

Expert’s Viewpoint

Corporate Social Responsibility in India: Driving Competitive Advantage

Overseas Education: Planning for a dream career

36

Pitching Excellenence Eminence at the Edge

10 IMMIGRATION M ost

THE

TRUSTED

CONSULTING COMPANIES

Immigration Consultants, Helping People Build Careers Beyond Boundaries

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he rise in the competition in the employment sector and lucrative job offerings in the developed countries are giving a hike in the number of immigration all over the globe. However, traveling to one country from another and then finding a job with an attractive package is not easy; rather, it is near to impossible. There emerges the need for organizations that can help people with the entire process from visa application to settling in a new country. To bring out the leading business organizations in this sector, we have come up with our latest edition of “The 10 Most Trusted Immigration Consulting Companies”.

On the Cover of this edition, we have Sunrise International, helping people achieve their dreams with extraordinary immigration solutions. Sunrise International is a renowned immigration consulting company built on the pillars of ethics and integrity. Their verticals include Immigration Advisory for High Net worth Businessmen (Migration on the basis of Investment), Immigration Advisory for Skilled Professionals such as Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, IT Professionals, etc. (Migration by Qualification and Work Experience) and also Advisory for Students seeking to Study Overseas. Wherein, they also provide free of cost admission assistance and visa filing. The company also runs a Language School by the name of Sunrise School of Language Training where IELTS, PTE, and Languages among many others are professionally taught to students of all ages.

Along with such an interesting Cover Story, we have included stories of various other leading immigration companies.

Among them, we have, EB5 India Advisory Private Limited, an advisory company, based in India, which has its whole and sole focus on resolving and simplifying the intricacies revolving around EB-5. Global Tree is a leading overseas careers consulting company offering a wide array of solutions for a range of key verticals. It claims to be the only organization with the prime focus on Immigration-Overseas education and Training related concerns.

Another such premium immigration consultation firm dedicated to delivering excellence to its clients is World Immigration Consultants (WIC). Its dedicated team of immigration experts assists the customers at every stage of application- from the moment they inquire to the moment they have their visa in hand. Along with such exciting profiles, we have further enlisted numerous companies including Immigration Xperts, Trehan Consultants PVT.LTD, BBC Migration Consultants, Zentora Overseas Careers, Murthy Immigration Services Private Limited and WVP Services Pvt Ltd, among many others.

To bring forward the views of the leaders of the industry, we have further included an Interview with Varun Singh, Managing Director of XIPHIAS Immigration. He leads XIPHIAS Immigration which aims at being the most recognized advisory firm in the Immigration industry and empowers the clients and their families in the entire process of being a global citizen.

A renowned entrepreneur with more than a decade of extraordinary work experience, Vikas Agarwal, CEO at Gateway Abroad, has contributed to our magazine while talking about Overseas Education: Planning for a dream career. To keep the lamp further ignited, our in-house editors have masterly crafted articles including A Bond Beyond the Boundaries and Immigrants whom History will always remember.

Hope this edition will keep the inspiration ever ignited and help people immigrate easily, and quickly.

Cover Story

Karan Pratap Singh Director Rajan Pratap Singh Chairman & CEO

Kuldip Singh Founder & In-House Lawyer

10 IMMIGRATION M ost

THE

TRUSTED

CONSULTING COMPANIES

SUNRISE INTERNATIONAL Helping People Achieve their Dreams with Extraordinary Immigration Solutions

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As we do highly specialized visa types, it can be said that we have our own niche

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ost companies are often defined by their business turnover but there are some who defines themselves with their principles and unique business strategies. Meet Sunrise International, a renowned immigration consulting company built on the pillars of ethics and integrity. They consider their clients as top priority with revenues and else coming secondary in that list. They believe that if the company is able to provide competent and courteous services to its clients, business from referral will automatically follow. This is a win-win situation for the client as well as the company and that is what drives Sunrise International towards the path of success.

Their verticals include Immigration Advisory for High Net worth Businessmen (Migration on the basis of Investment), Immigration Advisory for Skilled Professionals such as Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, IT Professionals etc.

(Migration on basis of Qualification and Work Experience) and also Advisory for Students seeking to Study Overseas.

Wherein, they also provide free of cost admission assistance and visa filing. The company also runs a Language School by the name of Sunrise School of Language Training where IELTS, PTE and Languages among many others are professionally taught to students of all ages.

Therefore, Sunrise International claims “As we do highly specialized visa types, it can be said that we have our own niche.”

Achieving Milestones on the Way to Success For extraordinary contribution towards the immigration industry, Sunrise International is recognized by various renowned organizations in numerous categories as Top Education Consultant in the World 3 years in a row by a Canadian Government funded Institution, No.1 Consultant in India 7 years in a row by a Canadian Government funded Institution, Highest Excellence in Recruitment by Canadian Government funded Institution. The company proudly states that its key management has been consistently awarded amongst the Top Entrepreneurs of North India multiple times by State level or Centre level dignitaries (including Chief Ministers of State, Deputy Chief Ministers of State, Cabinet Ministers etc).

“We have even been recognized by our Institutional Partners (Govt. Institutes) for maintaining Top Ethical Practices and Top Professional Practices in the Indian Market,” states Rajan Pratap Singh, Chairman & CEO of Sunrise. The other categories include Top 10 Agents in India by Canadian Government funded Institution, and Top Performing Agent in India by Govt. funded Institution.

What sets Sunrise International Apart?

With 23 years of corporate existence and 100+ employees in its group including Lawyers, Accountants, Legal Experts, and Case Filing specialists; Sunrise International's clients

Additionally, all its clients are also benefitted as it has a 360-degree approach towards assistance e.g., if a client comes to Sunrise Immigration Consultants for IELTS training, they train them and then assist them for Admission, then for visa filing, and once they finish their program of choice in the foreign country then if they are eligible, the company can also assist them for PR. Therefore, in a way – Sunrise International is a one stop solution to all their requirements.

The key management of the company has an operational role. Therefore, their strong experience is a value addition to any of its clients. Another huge advantage that Sunrise International has over its competitors is their structure which is more like a law firm in contrast to any other business house. This implies that they don't put their resources and investment into client acquisition as much as it does on servicing the ones that the company already has.

Karan Pratap Singh, Director of Sunrise International says, “Most of our competitors invest everything in marketing but their technical knowhow on the complex subject matter of Immigration is extremely poor. Our technical know-how and our understanding of Immigration Laws of different countries as well as Indian laws give us an unparalleled edge over our competitors.”

To Look out for We represent some of the Top Institutions in the World known for their academic excellence. We provide students with world class services. We assist them for Admission (pre application strategizing and then making the admission application and following up with the university), we do their visa filing, we are also able to assist them for further requirements once they are in the foreign Country for their future apps such as study visa extensions and Immigration applications etc.

Crossing the Hurdles and Making a Mark Like any other company Sunrise International too faced multiple challenges on its way. The biggest hurdle that they have crossed was during beginning stages. While having a word with the leading personality of the company, Kuldip

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If we are able to provide competent and courteous services to its clients,business from referral will automatically follow w

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naturally get the benefit of having experts from a wide spectrum clubbed under one roof. Besides this, the sheer depth and wealth of knowledge and experience that the team collectively possess in the domain of Migration consulting is unmatched.

Singh, The Founder and In-House Lawyer, said, “Not only was it our small size of operations at that time that was a hurdle but it was also our strong ethics that made it hard to compete with Consultancies who had little regard for their ethics or way of operating.”

In those days, the internet was a luxury owned only by a few people only so information was restricted and the competitors made the best out of it. Kuldip further added, “As our competitors accepted every case, regardless of whether the person was eligible to apply or not, and because they had a huge capita, this allowed them to invest into opening more branches and scaling their operations at least 5-6 times faster than we could.”

Though it was difficult, the team stated that their founder's never ending vision to continue only Ethical Advisory in the Immigration Realm has today made them an undisputed leader in the field of Immigration where people now appreciate the genuine advice provided to them. “Surely, the journey to success for us was a lot tougher but it was more rewarding in the long run,” added Kuldip.

To conclude, the Immigration Industry i.e., comprising of mushrooming consultants was not only unregulated, but provoked unethical methods leading to completely incorrect advises to potential migrants. Sunrise International's founder, given his specialization in Immigration and Naturalization Laws noted this and desired to establish an Immigration Company which provided legal services to potential migrants. And, that was when the Sunrise Immigration Consultants emerged. Even today Kuldip so guides the team to provide highly specialized legal services

About the Leader Sunrise was founded by Kuldip Singh, a Lawyer with over 47+ years of legal experience. On noticing the plight of innocent people getting scammed by unprofessional Immigration Consultants in India, Kuldip was pained. He further got a resolve to do something about it when he met a Lawyer in the UK in early 1990s, who also suggested that given the fact that incredibly dubious immigration consultants were taking millions of people in India on to the wrong paths, that there was a need to have a legal service provider. He then established Sunrise in 1995 as a legal immigration consultancy operating in Top Countries of the World.

23 years of hard work and uncompromising values, along with Kuldip's impeccable guidance has led Sunrise International to become a brand that is synonymous with Trust and Ethics.

While talking about Success, Kuldip stated, “Success to us is not what is reflected on balance sheets and Bank accounts. It is when a client who has gone overseas through our services contacts us and says that their life has changed for the better and that it would not have been possible without us. We feel incredibly proud in that moment.”

Credentials and/or Licenses: The company’s in-house Lawyer and Founder, Kuldip Singh is an Immigration Lawyer with almost five decades of legal experience in the field of Immigration Law. He is a member/associate member of the Top Associations of the World including American Immigration Lawyers Association, Canadian Bar Association, Inter Pacific Bar Association, American Bar Association, Punjab and Haryana Bar Association, International Bar Association –UK, Investment Migration Council, and Switzerland among many others.

In addition to that, Sunrise Immigration Consultants’ Vice President, Awalpreet Kaur Takkar is one of the few Licensed Immigration Advisers in India as per New Zealand's Government rules. The company is also a license holder under the Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act of 2014.

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Success to us is not what is reflected on balance sheets and Bank accounts.

It is when a client who has gone overseas through our services contacts us and says that their life has changed for the better and that it would not have been possible without us.We feel incredibly proud in that moment

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to all its clients whether they are a skilled professional, a high profile businessman looking to invest and migrate to another country or a student aiming for overseas studies.

An Expert’s Advice for the Youth The company’s management says ‘Immigration Consulting is rewarding career with the ability to make a difference in someone’s life. That difference can be positive or negative (negative if they got a refusal of visa due to a mistake by the consultant). Of course no one can guarantee a visa as it is up to the decision makers i.e., Visa Officers to render a positive or negative decision, but there is a great responsibility on us as consultants to use our legal mind to the best of our abilities and ensure that there is no negligence on the file. Also, a lot of new-comers are eager to make a quick buck from this field that is a wrong approach that is sure to be a cause of concern. Have a patient and long term view – let your clients recognize your efforts and they will create monetary success for you by referring their friends and relatives.”

The Step towards Future Sunrise International strongly believes in philosophy of continuous improvement and in accordance to that they strive each day to better their processes for adding more value to its clients. In terms of expansion, the company is expanding its operations and opening Company owned offices in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of India to increase its market penetration and share. Company’s founder states, “We are also increasing our product portfolio in each of our verticals so as to provide our clients with a diverse range of visa types to choose from.”

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10 IMMIGRATION M ost

THE

TRUSTED

CONSULTING COMPANIES

Company Name

Management

Brief

BBC Migration Consultants bbcmigration.com

B B Charania Founder

BBC Migration & Education Consultants is a Premium Overseas Study and Immigration Advisor

Eb5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. eb5expert.in

Utsav R. Doshi Financial Due Diligence (Mentor)

Eb5 India Advisory exclusively focuses on EB-5 immigration,assisting applicants from the process’ inception to receiving permanent green card.

Global Tree globaltree.in

Subhakar Alapati Founder, & Director Srikar Alapati Founder & MD

Global Tree is a leading overseas career consulting company that focuses on Immigration-Overseas education, and training related concerns.

Immigration Xperts immigrationxperts.com

Manish Srivastava Director & Founder

ImmigrationXperts consultancy is an expert consultancy firm with an aims to serve the applicants and executing their dream by successfully allowing them visa.

Murthy Immigration Services murthyindia.com

Suchitra Devi Director

Located in Chennai, with satellite offices in Hyderabad, Mumbai & Bengaluru, MISPL is the only law firm in India affiliated with the U.S.-based Murthy Law Firm.

Sunrise Immigration Consultants sunriselegalservices.com

Kuldip Singh Founder

Sunrise Immigration Consultants is a leading immigration consulting company built on the pillars of ethics and integrity.

Trehan Consultants trehanconsultants.com

Naresh Kumar Trehan Director

Trehan Consultancy is a renowned firm providing all services from recruitment, staffing and selection, to outplacement and consultancy.

World Immigration Consultants worldimmigration consultants.com

Shaik Imran Hussain Founder

World Immigration Consultants(WIC) is recognized and regarded as a premium immigration consultation firm dedicated to deliver excellence to its clients.

WVP Services wvpinternational.com

Megha Khari Director

WVP International consultant is one of the finest immigration consultants with sound good experience in offering high-quality solutions in visa application processing.

Zentora Overseas Careers zentora.com

Shubhi Shah Director

Zentora was conceptualized, created and has commenced with the sole premise to assist the aspirants who dream of settling abroad to realize their ‘Migration Dreams’.

Immigration:

XIPHIAS

Varun Singh

MD XIPHIAS Immigration

Empowering People to be Global Citizens

I

n every industry, there are some positive factors and some negative factors which build the pillars of the sector. In an industry like Immigration, there exists a huge chance of unethical processes which ultimately misleads people, spoils careers and destroys life. Apart from others, ahead of the race, XIPHIAS Immigration stands as a highly recognized immigration consultancy ďŹ rm known for its excellent advisory services. While having an interview with Varun Singh, Managing Director of XIPHIAS Immigration, he shared with us some interesting factors of the industry, and his company is creating an impact on the society with its extraordinary services.

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August 2018|

Interview with Insights Success 1) What are the main goals of your company? What kind of services / solutions / products is offered by XIPHIAS Immigration at par with the current industry standards?

XIPHIAS Immigration aims at being the most recognized advisory firm in the Immigration industry and empowers the clients and their families in the entire process of being a global citizen. Our bouquet of services includes Skilled Migration Services, Study Abroad Services, Corporate Migration Services and Investment Immigration Services.

2) Tell us something about the Founder/CEO and founding story?

XIPHIAS, the Group Company, was founded by Mr. Rohit Kumar in the year 2002 with the company XIPHIAS Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd. which got registered in 2005. Seeing the potential and need for a good Consultancy in the Immigration sector, I formed XIPHIAS Immigration in the year 2008. Over the years, we have moved from a five member team to more than 200 across the globe.

And, we are still expanding!

3) How did you cope up with the biggest challenges of the immigration consulting industry? How did you strike a balance in the journey?

The biggest challenge of the Immigration Industry is the wrong sales. Rather than understanding the dreams of the people and guiding them towards it, most of the immigration consultants these days take invoices only for the sake of making money and profit.

At XIPHIAS, we share a transparent relationship with our clients and do not give false assessments and hopes.

4) What are the various marketing strategies and how do you use social media to be ahead of the race?

August 2018|

Social Media is the “in-thing” and XIPHIAS likes to stay ahead of the market trend. XIPHIAS gets most of its clients through reference and word of mouth!

More than 80% of our business happens through positive word of mouth.

5) What benefits your clients are getting from XIPHIAS Immigration? Give us some examples of your satisfied clients.

XIPHIAS Immigration is the onestop consultancy for all the immigration services. Right from the Initial Assessment to Post landing Services, we ensure a smooth migration for all our clients. Satisfied clients are plenty and you can view there positive testimonials on our website https://www.xiphiasimmigration.c om/reviews.html .

6) To you, how does success look like?

Satisfied Clients!

7) Do you have any credentials, awards or important licenses?

Please describe.

Being a member of the Investment Migration Council, we have awards like Business & Leadership Excellence Award, Most Promising Immigration Consultancy Company of the Year, Global Business Leadership Award and The APJ Abdul Kalam Excellence Award, to name a few.

But our biggest award are the positive reviews of our clients and the bond which we share with our clients.

8) How does your business or organization differentiate itself from competitors? Advice you would like to give to new-comers in the market?

XIPHIAS has no competition! We are unique and the best! Yes, there

are a lot of players in the industry, but nobody can be a competitor for XIPHIAS. And, the only advice I will give to these players is that they should do ethical sales.

Do not misguide the client and play with their dreams.

9) What are your future goals for company’s betterment and any plans to expand?

Expansion is inevitable and XIPHIAS has grown multifolds since inception. When we started, we had only a team of 4-5 employees and now, we have our offices in Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi, Dubai and Canada. Our only goal is to exceed the clients expectations and keep delivering premier, personalized advisory experience to help them achieve their dreams of resettling in foreign land.

10) Being a leader in the industry, share with us your point of view about the industry.

Immigration is a sunrise sector and is highly emerging. Nobody wants to be a Local citizen and people are more keen on becoming Global Citizens. Everybody wants to improve their standard of living and immigration assures a better life for not just an individual but also his/her family. It is definitely, and will always be, the best industry to be in!

11) How is XIPHIAS Immigration helping students in pursuing a career abroad?

Studying aborad is an exhilarating experience and XIPHIAS is always eager to help the future generation in getting the best of the opportunities available. We have partnered with more than 300 colleges across the globe and provide free services to them. We also help these students with end to end career opportunities.

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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN INDIA Driving Competitive Advantage

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orporate Social Responsibility (CSR) today in India is a Corporate Reality. With the advent of the Companies Act, 2013, many companies who fall within the specified criteria are under the ambit of the CSR laws which specify that 2% of your average net profit of the last 3 years be spent on CSR. It has been brought to reality in the Section 135 of the new Companies Act. But what is Corporate Social Responsibility? Corporate Social Responsibility, put very simply, is the framework for the role of business in society. It is the set of standards of behaviour to which a company subscribes in order to make its impact on society positive and productive. In the global context it is looked at with Sustainability of a company as well as its social footprint. In India, due to the constraints on the new law, it has become more focused on the external community and excluded internal practices of the companies. Also, with the advent of time over the last four years, CSR has been made a “local issue” and companies told to focus of the area of their operations, which has automatically led to the exclusion of economically backward states in the outreach of CSR. The field of CSR has grown exponentially in the last decade. More companies than ever before are engaged in serious efforts to define and integrate CSR into all aspects of their business, with their experiences being bolstered by the growing body of evidence that CSR has a positive impact on business economic performance. India along the way became the first country in the world to mandate CSR as a part of corporate compliance. But, has it become

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another “tax” for organizations? Or are corporations looking at gaining a strategic advantage using the funds that they are deploying for CSR? The primary role of businesses is to generate wealth and profits but businesses also owe its responsibility towards society, first, as a result of the impact of its own operations and, secondly for being a unit of society in which it operates. CSR is not about 'doing good', it is not even about being seen to be doing good, it is about recognising a company's responsibility to all its stakeholder groups and acting in their best interest. Being the leading members of society, business organizations are expected to play a leading role in solving some of its major problems. And yes, more than the financial resources, it has the intellectual and manpower resources to create solutions that benefit them in the medium to long term.

BENEFITS OF CSR There are many reasons why it pays for the companies both big business and small and medium sized enterprises to be socially responsible and be conscious about the interest of the key stakeholders. Companies are now recognising that dealing with environment and social issues can provide business benefits when reputation risk is high and “sustainable” competitiveness and development becomes a key strategy.

August 2018|

Leader’s Insights The impact of CSR on sustainable business can be unbundled in 5 overlapping elements.

• enhancing reputation and brands • more efficient operations • improved financial performance • increased sales and consumer loyalty • increased ability to attract and retain quality employees.

Companies are benefiting from adopting corporate responsibility policies in response to globalisation, through access to markets, cost and risk reduction, improved productivity and competitiveness and improved public image.

So, how does a company engage in strategic CSR? Companies, in India are not allowed to derive direct business benefits from their CSR activities. But, there is no way that a market for your product, enhanced supply chain for raw material, potential employees and users cannot be created as a part of CSR!

Shubhrajyoti Bhowmik Managing Partner

The first step to use CSR strategically for your organization is to map your key stakeholders. Every company, whether dealing in goods or services have well defined stakeholders.

There are key engagements that happen with each of these stakeholders. The idea is to map your activities to the benefit of these stakeholders and also in accordance with the Schedule VII of the companies act that defines what all activities can be done as a part of CSR. The key is to see medium to long term. Immediate short term returns on CSR are few. Let us take an example of an SME that is into Sustainable Products using renewable sources of energy. Now, the largest market for such goods being made is in the Rural areas where there is a definite lack of access to energy. If this SME were to invest CSR funds into a tinkering lab in a rural or semi-rural area, there is a high chance that some products that are specifically addressing rural issues can come up, which the SME may integrate into its product portfolio.

Thus, we can say that, the age of cheque- book philanthropy is giving way to sustainable development in India. Keeping pace, social initiatives by businesses now come under the politically correct umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility and welfare or philanthropy as an acceptable motive is history.

August 2018|

About the Author Shubhrajyoti Bhowmik is the Managing Partner of Saher Development Consultants and has over 13 years of experience in and around CSR. He has been associated with the promotion of strategic CSR as a core business component since 2007.

He consults companies on how to make their CSR more Strategic and Effective.

His goal is to transform how SMEs transact with communities and create win- win CSR platforms for growth and change in India.

He has a diverse range of experience in Livelihoods Promotion, Rural Entrepreneurship, MSME Cluster Development, Employee Engagement Strategy Development, Information Technology for Development (ICT4D), Community Relations, and change initiatives.

His goal is to transform how SMEs transact with communities and create win- win CSR platforms for growth and change in India.

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THE AGE OF DISRUPTIVE

Banking THROUGH DIGITAL PAYMENT Solution

he way people make payments are changing faster due to the improved integration of digital technology. This has benefited the industry with increased competition and consumer demands.

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most payment solutions will be done through digitalenabled mediums rather than cash or cheque. This will result in more engagement of mobile phones and digital software applications.

The changes can be witnessed in Travel, E-commerce, Household Bill payments etc. The recent integration of technology in payment solutions makes transactions fast and seamless and can be done at the comfort of your homes.

Various business outlets are accepting more of mobile payment which is helping them to improve customer experience. The addition of instant alerts, appreciation notifications and instant payment delivery is making this innovation more interesting.

Although we are witnessing a considerable change in the payment solution industry, there is still a consistent use of the cash and cards, which solely depends on the geographical setting. In some places, people prefer cash and cards, while in other places, they encourage the more use of digital solutions; for example: The United States and Canada. Analysis has shown that in these areas, they are likely to switch completely to technology enabled payment solutions.

• Customer-Focused Strategy as a Priority Customer experience post business encounter is what makes a difference in the industry. Digital banking solutions are improving the way customers feel after making their payments. In the past years, one need to stand in a queue in the bank before they can make even the smallest transaction, but the integration of technology innovation has reduced the stress to the lowest level. We can witness improved services and instant expense management which is helping everyone that is using this medium to stay above the crowd

The payment solution processes will become more innovative because of the following disruptive trends; • Digital Banking and Remote Payment Approval As the younger aged masses are turning up to technology more than the traditional mediums, there is a notion that

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• Improved Customer Satisfaction through Rewards A customer tends to check back on the sales-person who gave them a tip or discount after purchase. This is also applicable in payment solution. After people makes a purchase online or even via cards and the seller offers them

August 2018|

Digi Payments

a certain percentage of discount, they will always want to come back. The good news is that most business enterprises are supporting this idea in collaboration with the finance institutions.

• FinTech Collaboration and Expansion of Networks The innovation in payment solution is incorporating feasibility of resource management between the financial and non-financial organizations. Through this development, the result will lead to easy merging of both the traditional medium of resource management concepts with the recent and digitalized concepts. Various financial organizations that may not be able to handle the process of migrating from the traditional format to the digitalized platform finds ease in doing so by partnering with technology companies.

Organizational growth is measured both in market value, infrastructure and the extent of their networks. The integration of digital technology advances in payment provisions helps especially the finance-oriented establishments to easily expand their reach, even to the most hidden places in the world. This helps to touch the lives of people no matter the class and status and it repays with tremendous customer growth.

• Improved Security and Payment by Codes Security is huge concern when money is involved. People are so conscious and very inquisitive about how their money will travel from the sender to the receiver. In so many cases, they will even think that such platforms as

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digitalized mediums are not trustworthy as a single wrong number can direct their money to unknown destination.

The transaction as of the old was true cheques. But today, there will be a limited need for those methods, rather, payment will simply be done by inputting a certain username and password and your dashboard will be opened. Through this page, you can easily make every payment. The age of digitalization is turning the whole process into code-based and this raises the question of how to stay safe. It is also believed that for security purposes, the instant notification of transaction, linking of secured email and encryption to individual data and disasterrecovery provisions will lead the innovation to better direction. This concern has a big deal with blockchain, augmented reality, IoT and biometrics.

You may be asking how the future will look like with techenabled payment solutions. As the world is growing and globalization is gaining a good ground, people blends in to what they see that is working well. So, as digital payment solution is making even the life of the lay man on street easy, more people in the near future will completely adopt this innovation. It will not harm the financial institutions, but it will be great if they can migrate or better integrate some form of technology strategies in their financial solutions. This change may be slow, but it will be consistent as the technology changes are not giving room for procrastination.

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EB5 INDIA ADVISORY PVT. LTD. An Advisory Firm with an Exclusive Focus on EB-5 Financial Due-Diligence

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ith the changing geopolitical scenario, immigrating to the United States of America has become a talk of the town. Increasing difficulties in accessing the H1B route and waiting period having been extended to 25 years, aspiring Indians have realized that EB-5 is the only viable route for migrating to the States. EB-5 as a scheme was introduced by the US Government in 1991, however, it started becoming popular in India since 2015. Prior to that, alternative routes were available. With an investment of approximately INR 3.5 Cr. in a U.S. based project, applicants become eligible to obtain their provisional and subsequently permanent green cards of the world’s most powerful nation. While it sounds simple, EB-5 commands specialized attention for a smooth navigation to achieving your dream green card and at the same time enhancing safety of your investment.

EB5 India Advisory Private Limited is an advisory company, based in India, which has its whole and sole focus on resolving and simplifying the intricacies revolving around EB-5.

The Team of Experts The foundation of EB5 India Advisory Private Limited is its team’s knowledge of financials and their investigative capabilities. It is important to note that they aren’t immigration agents. Every single team member that works for EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. is either a post-graduate or a Masters. The company has qualified Chartered Accountants, U.S. qualified CPAs, MBAs, and Lawyers as a part of its core team. Unlike a regular immigration process, be it a student visa or work visa, EB-5 requires enormous understanding of financials and legal aspects, both from

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Indian as well as U.S. perspective. The execution team of EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. thus comprises of extremely well qualified professionals with financial and legal background.

Exceeding in the Race EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. is India’s one and only EB-5 focused advisory firm, which doesn’t do nor intends to do visas for any other countries or other categories except for EB-5. This specialization makes the company niche in this sensitive space.

Prodigious Services Provided by EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. A good successful EB-5 petition involves four different types of services, each of them being a major section of service in it.

Source of Funds – This commands a voluminous amount of paper work and any failure to document it properly leads to a scrutiny, RFE (Request For Evidence), which is issued

by USCIS on the applicant. Once an RFE is issued, the chance of your success in obtaining the provisional green card diminishes.

How EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. address this issue?

We have Chartered Accountants who understand the Indian paper-work and fund flow, as well as US ecosystem. This dual advantage helps us to bridge the gap underlying in financial interpretation. Dividend, agricultural income, long term capital gain (up to

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2018), and several others are tax free in India. However, these sources of incomes are taxable in USA. Hence, when an attorney in USA reads the income tax return while preparing your SOF summary, they would need proper assistance on how different sources of income, tax-free and taxable, have added to the net worth of the applicant over a period of several years.

How EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. address this issue?

We have a FEMA Consultant who is professionally associated with us, and who advises on various compliances to avoid any possible litigation from RBI. Indo-USA DTAA Tax Planning – Tax planning is required prior as well as subsequent to receiving the green card.

How EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. address this issue?

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Utsav R. Doshi Financial Due Diligence (Mentor)

We place your investment safety and liquidity first

We have US qualified CPA who help us assist in double taxation avoidance planning.

Project Analysis & Financial Due Diligence – This is the most crucial aspect. Unless a project is thoroughly vetted, by an independent due-diligence consultant, the risk of losing your investment money shall remain highest.

How EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. address this issue?

There are tons of projects available in USA for EB-5 investment. To a common man, they all look good. All of them have nice websites, good offices, corporate executives, etc. But none of that is required for a successful EB-5 petition. It requires tremendous amount of Financial & Legal Due-Diligence to shortlist the most optimal case.

To retain independence in assessment, we have not attached ourselves with any one or two or five particular projects. Our team keeps analyzing various EB-5 projects round the year. The objective is to drill the Regional Centre, and identify the pros and cons of one over the other. This is a horrendous task requiring

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FEMA & RBI Compliances – The investment under EB-5, as and when done from Indian bank account, would require compliances to RBI guidelines.

knowledge of Promoter Background Check, Cash Flow Analysis, Repayment Schedules, Lien Set-up, Project Life-cycle, Collaterals, type of Pledge offered to EB-5 investors, Capital Stack, Strategizing Exit, asking and documenting Questions, Legal vetting of PPMs, DCF Valuation, position of Bank vis-à-vis- EB-5 investors in case of liquidation, Job Analysis, Buffer Provisioning, and several other fact finding techniques.

A Word to the Aspiring EB-5 Applicants It is important for applicants to not get carried away with fancy project ideas, photos, and videos. The success of one’s application is directly correlated to the efforts put in by their consultant in documenting sources of funds and also in the due diligence conducted prior to the applicant’s investment.

EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. is the smart option to turn to, for honest opinions, smooth process, and right decisions.

To access knowledge driven content, visit: www.eb5expert.in

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OVERSEAS EDUCATION Planning for a dream career

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ith more and more chunk of the population planning for a dream career and looking for a non-traditional, practical, friendlier way of learning, the number of students stepping out to seek their higher education overseas is rising manifold, every moment. However, why are so many Indian students – both at undergraduate and postgraduate level seeking their higher education in a foreign land? Answers are pretty simple. Even though there are some excellent universities giving quality education in India, most of the students are not able to cut owing to exceptionally high competition. The population in India is still ever burgeoning, and the number of institutions has not increased at that steady pace leaving many of them disheartened. The courses back in the country are still traditional; result oriented and hardly renders a competitive advantage to anyone in the global market.

On the other hand, the global degrees are highly regarded in India, imparts a broader point of perception to a student and gifts them with an excellent global alumni network which they can rear through the rest of their lives.

Earlier, people would not even dare to think of having a global degree unless from a wealthy family. Foreign education was expensive, adapting to a foreign land was difficult, and communication with family and folks back home was almost non-existent. A person would technically be cut off from their homeland to be able to earn a degree from a foreign country.

However, today, the entire scenario is very different.

With more and more universities giving a wide range of scholarships amounting to even the full tuition fee funding, presence of active and separate international student wings , excellent telecommunication systems

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ensuring a connection with family back home , and ease of getting an educational loan to fund study, more and more Indian students are turning towards foreign education. On top of that, students have understood the importance of exploring a new culture and the enriching experience and logical thinking it imparts to them.

Today, studying in countries like US, UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, France, etc. are no longer an unachievable dream because of the range of information available online, the facilities and conveniences extended by the institutions, the support and sponsorship funding available with the government, the ease of visa procedures and most importantly the excellent overseas consultancies who have come forward to extend their helping hand in the entire process. The intake prerequisites in the institutions have become much more transparent, the international student bodies have become much more supportive and driven, the local people in the foreign lands have become way very friendly, and the information present at hand has become very detailed. Today, the highly competent counselors sitting at the offices of overseas education consultants have smoothened the entire process of overseas education – starting from choosing a course, to applying to the institutions, to getting an offer letter, to looking for accommodation and even the journey for the first time abroad for the students. Everything these days is streamlined and well planned of time as far as higher education abroad is concerned - with the information present on the internet and the help from the overseas education consultants (like us at Gateway Abroad; www.gatewayabroad.com), stepping out to chase your dream of abroad education is just a thought away.

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Expert’s Viewpoint

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vikas Agarwal,CEO at Gateway Abroad, is a renowned entrepreneur with more than a decade of extraordinary work experience. In his professional journey of more than 10 years, he has served various companies at numerous prestigious roles. For displaying excellent skills, Vikas has also won numerous awards during his career. He had an outstanding academic career with his PhD in Medical Textiles from Heriot Watt University, UK and that too with a full scholarship reward.

He did B.Tech in Textile Technology, Technological Institute of Textiles and Sciences, Bhiwani, India. He describes himself as “A dedicated individual with strong problem solving and negotiating skills, a good network of contacts in the higher education industry, enriched experience of recruitment counseling and marketing.”

Vikas Agarwal CEO

Gateway Abroad

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GLOBAL TREE Erasing Boundaries and Creating Opportunities

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ith the rise of globalization, the distances are shrinking, and people are migrating all over the world. There is a vast young Indian population looking forward to great opportunities. So, Indians play a pivotal role in the economy of various countries around the world. Indian immigration industry is in its nascent stage and it is said to grow further. Immigration advisors help people make wiser decisions, and it is of significance that people choose the right advisor for themselves.

Global Tree is a leading overseas careers consulting company offering a wide array of solutions for a range of key verticals. It claims to be the only organization with the prime focus on Immigration-Overseas education and Training related concerns. Apart from these, it also focuses on Investor Visas, Work Visas, Dependent Visas, and Visit Visas. It has been providing these services under one roof, with 10,000+ success stories and a growth rate of 100% for five years in a row.

The company ensures that its clients have the potential of meeting their goals by providing customized necessary information and guidance they need for any of the Visa processes.

Global Tree aims to be a global leader in giving career direction and enlivening lifetime dreams of overseas aspirants and to help them with unique and end-to-end comprehensive, personalized services through a professional and holistic approach.

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Why Choose Global Tree?

Global Tree believes in apt profile matching, i.e., the solution is provided according to the profile’s suitability. It is known for guiding its clients with right career choices.

Continually updated with the changes in the industry, the company tries to provide faster solutions to the same process, which already exists in the market. Along with its unmatched expertise, the firm has made sure that its charges are economical to cater to maximum people. Specializing in filing visas under any category, Global Tree is one of the few Consultants that process Visas for more than 70 Countries. It also helps in foreign exchange, air ticketing, and pre-departure and post-landing support. The company also has tie-ups with several licensed service providers.

Global Tree believes that its success is measured by the positive impact it has on the lives of others and not through the superficial metrics like money. Moreover, it has successfully made a difference for a considerable number of people.

The Cultivators of Global Tree First generation entrepreneurs, Mr.Subhakar Alapati and Mr.Srikar Alapati founded Global Tree to make the globalization dream a reality. Subhakar is a self-driven and inspiring personality. He has over 14 years of experience in the field of Overseas Education, Immigration, and training.

He is a prolific writer and his thoughts have been regularly published in leading newspapers like Times Of India, The Hindu and Eenadu, and also have been publish in

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international journals like Forbes, New York Times and Business Insider. His views about Overseas Education and Immigration are shared by multiple news channels across India.

These two visionaries have long worked towards perfection.

Their hard work and dedication coupled with their insight and strategy have shaped Global Tree to be the juggernaut that it is today.

Distinguishing Methodologies With a dedicated team of counselors & consultants, immigration attorneys, and accountants, Global Tree is fully equipped to ensure a smooth transition into one’s destination country. Besides, being comprised of consultants with extensive know-how, the company has got the highest visa success rate and conversion rate in the industry. This it owes to its review system- Internal Evaluation Report (IER) that helps in taking up candidates with 100 percent eligibility. At Global Tree, it leverages social media for running the marketing campaigns to make sure that they reach out to their targeted audience in the best way possible; a strategy that has proven effective.

The organization has an active research team that keeps abreast with the ever-changing rules and regulations of the border agencies and consulates around the world. Apart from that, they take the responsibility of being wholly aligned with the ever-changing policies of immigration authorities across several boundaries, working very closely with the high commissions of various countries.

Awards and Recognitions A well-renowned magazine has felicitated Global Tree in the category- Overseas Education & Immigration and awarded top in 10 Most Promising Immigration Consultant for 2017. It is also considered as India’s most credible immigration and Education consultant .Global tree was August 2018|

Srikar Alapati Founder & MD

Subhakar Alapati Founder & Director

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On the other hand, Mr.Srikar after completing engineering in electronics and communications, he set up his entrepreneurial venture in the purpose of fulfilling people’s global dreams. He is extremely dedicated towards his profession and has an eye for detail .He carries over 15 years of experience and has a relentless passion for innovation and customer satisfaction. He has a knack for realizing the potential for students and immigrants to find success overseas.

Erasing Boundaries and Creating Opportunities

awarded as Times Education Icon 2017 by Times of India. It is one of the very few Immigration and education Consultants recognized by Australian High Commission, Canadian High Commission, UK Border Agency, Irish High Commission, New Zealand High Commission, and many more, ensuring faster visa approvals. It is also associated with ICEF, AAERI, and is a member of AIRC. Global Tree has tie-ups with attorneys like ICCRC & MARA. Buoyant about a Fruitful Future Global Tree believes in growing with its employees, and its employees’ growth is the defining factor of its success.

Additionally, its clients’success has taken the company forward, and it plans to have their satisfaction to the maximum even in the future. To take this ahead, it plans to open more offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi, another branch in Hyderabad, and more branches in tier one and tier two cities across India. Global Tree wants to spread its subsidiaries even wider and hence is planning to open an overseas office next year.

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Immigrants Whom

HISTORY WILL Always Remember T

he history of the world is always interesting. It is amazing to read the evolution of the human beings and exploring about the time when people started settling to make a living. Soon, they started civilizing. But then the time started changing and people started redefining their lifestyles. People started exploring out of their natives and settling in some foreign lands. Again, the time has arrived when people are migrating and the era of immigration has resurfaced yet again. While walking through the pages of history and recent times, we have come across few names of the immigrants who have made it large, extraordinary and so giant that their impressions are left for eternity. Under mentioned are few such names which will always feature in the list of unforgettableimmigrants’, if one is ever created from the pages of history.

• Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer is the most renowned personality behind the development of American Journalism. He is known for his extraordinary contribution towards developing American Journalism and then playing a leading role in the creation of the most prestigious prize in the sector of journalism. He was actually born in Hungary, and was then induced to the United States by the recruiters of the American Military. He has majorly contributed to the world of journalism and even before his death; he bequeathed an amount that founded the Columbia School of Journalism. Since 1917, the prize that bears his name is given to the extraordinarily performing journalists.

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• Rita Moreno Born in Puerto Rico, Rita Moreno is one such woman who has bagged all those awards which one can name in the world of entertainment, viz, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and even Tony awards. While leaving behind her father and younger brother, Rita immigrated to the mainland with her seamstress mother. She was on Broadway by the young age of 13 and got her first big break in the show business as “the Spanish Elizabeth Taylor.” She is famous for her role in West Side Story and Singin' in the Rain.

• John Muir Scottish by birth, John Muir, immigrated to the United States as a child with his family when they decided to join the Disciples of Christ. The family settled in Wisconsin and became farmers. He is also known as the man who helped preserve many of the natural treasures of the United States. He is the co-founder of the Sierra Club and he has also established Yosemite National Park, but it is known that he has maintained strong Scottish ties for major portion of his life.

• Madeleine Albright Born in the then called Czechoslovakia, the daughter of a diplomat with ties to the leader of the Czech independence movement, Madeleine Albright has been the face of America all around the world for years. She was the first female Secretary of State of the United States of America. During the movement when Czechoslovakia was dissolved by Hitler, she was forced

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To Look Out For Wide Web” and that directory later became Yahoo, one of first popular web portals on the internet which eventually became a multi-billion dollar search engine.

• Charlize Theron Hollywood has always been known for glamour. Born in South Africa, Charlize Theron, a popular movie star, worked in Milan and New York during her teenage before moving to Los Angeles to pursue her career of acting. She is most famously known for her appearances in the movies like Celebrity, Monster and Aeon Flux.

She has even won the best actress Academy Award for her role in Monster.

• Rupert Murdoch Rubert Murdoch, born in Australia, inherited an Australian newspaper at a young age of 23. Later, he expanded its wings and spread the business across British lands and then US media properties. Today, he owns the New York Post and Chicago Sun-Times, and the Fox film Studio, broadcast network and cable news station.

into exile and eventually she along with her family fled to the United Kingdom and then to the States.

• Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man who doesn’t need any introduction, body-builder, actor and a man of fame.

Born in Austria, Arnold moved to the United States just after winning the title of Mr. Universe in his 20s. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and became a renowned movie star. Some of the films which he is renowned for are the Terminator trilogy and Conan the Barbarian. Most interestingly, he was elected as the 38th Governor of California in 2003 and re-elected in 2006.

• Jerry Yang The irony stands here. The Co-Founder and Former CEO of Yahoo, Jerry Yang, was not accustomed with the English language, rather, he did not even know a single English word when he immigrated to the United States as a child from Taiwan. Due to the fear that Taiwan will soon be annexed by China, Jerry was brought to the States and his name was changed from Chih-Yuan to Jerry Yang. Jerry’s love towards Mathematics and Computer Science made him to begin a website directory called “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World

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• Sen. Mel Martinez Born in Cuba, Mel Martinez immigrated to the United States at the age of 25 as a part of Operation Peter Pan, in which the government of the United States cooperated with the Catholic Church with an aim to bring Cuban children to the States. He has served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2001 to 2004 and was elected as US Senator in the year 2004.

• Elie Wiesel Born in Romania in the year 1928, Elie Wiesel was deported to Auschwitz by Nazis in 1944. He was placed in a French Orphanage after World War II and then moved to New York as a correspondent for an Israeli newspaper. He is the author of more than 30 books and most amazingly, he was even awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 1986 for his efforts towards fighting racism and violence.

Among so many names to recall, the history remembers many other immigrants who have made it big. And, to name a few, we must not miss out on Sammy Sosa, Michael J. Fox, Dikembe Motumbo, George Soros, Dave Mathews and Ret. Gen. John Shalikashvili among many others.

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Eminence AT THE EDGE

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xecutive summary

Since Internet of Things technology started to gain mainstream traction, multiple platforms, solutions and strategies have been developed. At the moment there are more than 450 ‘platforms’ commercially available.

Yet, realistically speaking, most of these have been designed for a very specific function on out-dated technology and mostly down a vertical application path.

Similarly, gateway players have developed powerful gateway technology with a portion that generically aggregates data to the cloud.

Why? Well, historically, technology companies argued that the best way to quickly create commercial value was to develop a strong vertically integrated application encompassing an ecosystem of partners.

The quickest way to show value was to focus on a vertical and go after it. We have a different view.

The true power and differentiator in IoT.nxt resides in our full IoT stack capability encompassing the edge and the cloud.

Background Our thinking from the outset has been that we wanted to adopt thinking and develop tech that creates horizontal

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interoperability between multiple systems and platforms in a technology agnostic manner.

In 2002, it was all about the cloud.

Amazon Web Services was launched and, when OPC Unified Architecture was released in 2006 enabling secure communication between devices, data sources and applications, adoption of IoT began to rise. The early adopters developed their projects with the cloud in mind. The thinking being a simple connected mindset where billions of sensors will be deployed and easily spin up supercomputers at low cost in the cloud to process all of this valuable Big Data… how could they go wrong?

During the .com bomb era, people ran around with amazing ideas that they thought would take over the world once mass adoption took place. This was followed by an implosion which saw a huge number of concepts, ideas and investments disappear. A similar trend is developing in the adoption of IoT and in digitalisation in general.

Part of the demise of this is because they were too early on the initial curve and either ran out of cash, were unable to build what they said they could, or saw new, sexier, more agile technology drive competitors closer to adoption.

The .com bomb was a rationalisation and a reality for companies and their investors resulting in fortunes being made and lost in the hype. Timing is key in driving Big Tech. If you’re too soon, you are potentially busy

Nico Steyn CEO IoT.nxt developing a concept that will not only age quickly but give competitors plenty to learn from and piggy back off allowing them to develop better tech that is more relevant and value driven.

Often a cool idea is exactly that - a cool idea, but without real substance it doesn’t get wide commercial adoption.

The commercial viability ultimately sits with the ability of a product to produce ‘real value’, whether quantitative or qualitative.

And then there are the guys who make it.

Amazon, Alibaba, Google. They were unprofitable for a number of years before they started to bear fruit simply because they played the long game.

They saw past the hype and created products of real value. They made sure they will be relevant in future economies.

The importance of timing Timing is everything, and tech is hard to time We entered this market at the perfect time. Two years in, our solution is strong and businesses at enterprise level are rallying to adopt Big Data technology. They’re embracing VR, AR, AI, cognitive, algorithmic

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Pitching Excellenence machine learning technologies as they become a reality.

As irrelevant solutions are being seeded out, the IoT.nxt approach to the problem of IoT is making us a major contender; cementing our position in the market.

If we look at the solutions currently available, we understand more than most of these ‘platforms’ have all been built in the cloud. Five years ago everything was in the cloud, it is therefore unsurprising that it is still dominating IT discussions.

Anyone who has, up until this point, embarked on an IoT initiative, has probably 1. built a solution that resides in the cloud; 2. leverages the power of the cloud and its ability to centralise and leverage processing power from the supercomputers that exist there; 3. adopted a top down approach incorporating the cloud as the central power behind the application.

The competitive landscape Looking at the IoT industry and where the ‘competition’ and ‘incumbents’ are in the current IoT cycle, it is evident that IoT development are in a perfect bubble that I believe is not far from rationalisation. I think it will be less severe than 2000 as I think investors have been more calculated; but there certainly will be a correction in the not so distant future. Driving my belief in this is that you need this type of event for eminence to be created. People need to start understanding where the true value lies. The companies that have the ability to lock into this IoT business value proposition and convert that into investor value will survive and will gain eminence. There are a number of great technologies and concepts available but only the ones that are able to truly unlock value will remain.

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What sets us apart The IoT.nxt approach has been somewhat different, defying the norm and, to date, it is my firm belief that ours is the only company that has this unique approach. Addressing the problems of interconnectivity from the bottom up, our solution acknowledges the power of the cloud and Big data, but also acknowledges that power is greatly diminished or even nullified if the edge layer is not correctly managed.

Our definition of interoperability and data orchestration is, at times, diluted by platform players claiming to provide the same. They don’t.

The general platform interoperability discussion talks to cloud interoperability. This is a hugely complex play that causes massive headaches for some of the most influential players as they try to fathom how to seamlessly integrate multiple platforms. API’s are the talk of the day, with the current solution to solving this dilemma, but it is simply not sustainable or practical. On a whiteboard it might look great having several platforms integrated via API and then plugging into some ESB via microservices, but I challenge to you to construct all of that and take into consideration the small part all of these guys initially did not deem necessary – the edge.

This methodology is hugely reliant on smart sensor technology that has the ability to push data into the cloud.

There’s a heavy reliance on networks and, as a result, ‘platforms’ are struggling to grapple with edge technology, all the while hopeful that a 5G, no, 20G network will resolve this problem.

At almost all the international conferences we have attended in the last 24 months the major discussion has been Big Data and smart sensors, so most of the more mature platforms have been designed around the premise

of them being able to receive data directly from the sensor. The problem now is how to talk back to the sensor or machine and, more importantly, how to do this cross platform. An even bigger issue creeping to the forefront of discussions are regarding ecosystems in which near real-time data feeds are crucial.

Yet still, the focus is on the cloud and understandably so, especially if you have invested millions into a technology that is reliant on the cloud.

We do not believe this.

For some time now we’ve been saying that the edge is eating the cloud.

We’re not implying that the cloud will lose relevance. What we’re saying is that a true IoT ecosystem will become less and less reliant on the cloud and, in fact, that ecosystem design will rely heavily on edge capabilities.

A natural oversight, but a crucial detail destined to form an integral part of this industry’s ability to commercialise in the near future. The IoT industry is inhibited by an inability to create interconnectivity and interoperability at the edge.

Retrofit and decrease the barrier to entry and sweat the assets.

Correctly designed and engineered, edge technology enables edge interoperability and, more importantly, the ability to retrofit into legacy systems. Legacy systems, to a large extent, were disregarded, with current players relying on the ‘rip and replace ‘mentality that has governed and, to a degree, plagued the IT industry since the beginning, befuddling brands that have become household names.

This mentality of winner takes all is not congruent with the ideation of a connected world and certainly does not embrace the concept of true scalability.

Having to rip out and replace existing technology and infrastructure on your journey towards digitalisation introduces a huge amount of additional

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complexity, disruption and a cost, all of which makes it a difficult sale to the business, contributing to the slow adoption rate of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

So whilst the ‘big dogs’ are all trying to figure how they can develop and ensure technology lock-in to secure future revenue, they’re contributing towards the mixed message that is being sent out to the market, diluting the value of IoT technology as a tool to unlocking real business value.

Value is a simple exercise for any business leader – Look at expenditure, then ROI. Satisfied? Great. Here’s the next question - is it relevant to my business?

All data is not the answer.

When we enter into discussions with big companies, the issue of legacy investments in technology at the edge comes up without fail. Remember that everyone is selling some type of cloud platform that is going to ‘change the business’, but that cloud engine is reliant on edge data i.e. devices, sensors, machines, protocols, PLCs, SCADAs, CCTV, access control systems - the list goes on and on.

Clients start considering negotiating with each vendor and realising that, much like when our 1000 piece holiday puzzles has 1 missing piece can ruin the picture and make the whole exercise seem futile. It’s the same with many of the algorithms and predictive applications - the true power of these platforms lie in their ability to provide companies with insights. For this they are 100% dependent on having the correct, filtered, aggregated, curated, secure, real-time data from the edge, and they need all the pieces of the data puzzle to build the Big Data picture.

In every environment, on every piece of the puzzle there is information that is critical to the task at hand, and then there’s other information that isn’t needed in real-time. Things like whether a device needs to be serviced in a weeks’ time, whether stock is going to be depleted by the end of the

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month, etc. Now consider a sensor having a fixed normal range, and only recording exceptions rather than all data all the time - you’re able to reduce the amount of data passed by around 60%- 90% in real time monitoring environments, as a basic statistic.

We are throwing away the rule book.

While the rest of the industry scrambles to figure out how to showcase the exponential value of IoT whilst also attempting to lock clients in to their technology stack, we’re taking the IoT rule book and throwing it out of the window.

We don’t care what technology our clients have now, and what technology they will have in five years’ time. We don’t talk about vendors, we talk protocols. We’re driving our clients to get to Big Data quicker, using what they have, thanks to our trademarked Raptor.

Raptor technology is the missing link in most of the discussions around digitalisation. A normalised, edge layer of physical and virtual intelligence that can be retrofitted, deployed and connected seamlessly into an ecosystem of existing technologies and things, radically reducing the cost and time of having to develop multiple edge integrations into disparate cloud applications.

The IoT.nxt Power-play Being able to retrofit onto all deployed devices, whether analog-, or IP-based has a huge benefit.

• It reduces disruption to business processes, • cost of implementation, • cost of training, • cost and impact of enterprise-wide change management, • reduces vulnerability and cyber risk because of less technology disparity at the edge, • reduces data moving across the network that • reduces the cost of the network and network congestion,

• reduces processing required at the cloud platform level as the data has already been curated at the edge, • reduces the cost associated with maintenance of edge integrated gateways, • has less attack surface at the edge as the gateways are rationalised and • simplifies real-time subsystem integration All of this allows us to better leverage the power of our cloud platform as we can now understand the up-, and downstream effects of an event-triggered occurrence and effect dynamic and seamless recalibration and interoperability throughout ALL edge connected devices.

We ensure that all the pieces of the puzzle are in the box, and ready to be pieced together to create the big picture.

Conclusion Edge normalisation of data at the edge gateway layer form the foundation for rapid digitalisation and digital transformation. The disruption that everyone talks about is vested in the ability for an organisation to continue its business but iteratively and rapidly start to address the core issues within its business through digitalisation. This leads to more visibility on a real-time basis allowing for dynamic recalibration back into the business ecosystem to achieve optimised levels of production and efficiency that bring about change and new ways of doing the same thing, better.

Peer-to-peer intelligence and learning will further drive this thinking – Raptor thinking - making us even more relevant as the necessity to drive edge analytics and decision making in critical business environments nullifies the cloud. Are you with me?

If you control the edge you unlock the cloud, a bottom up approach.

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WORLD IMMIGRATION CONSULTANTS Offering Tailored Innovative Immigration Services

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n India, most of the people aspire of immigrating abroad to create a better quality of livelihood for their family, get a good job and engage more capital. In order to turn these dreams into reality, the immigration industry is expanding through leaps and bounds. Ranging from travel agents to established Immigration Consultancy Firms, everyone strives hard to cater to the rising needs of migration services. Also, immigration being a significant step for an Indian, these firms are playing a vital role making it easy and affordable with their experience, knowledge and maturity.

One such premium immigration consultation firm dedicated to deliver excellence to its clients is World Immigration Consultants (WIC). The firm consistently works hard to keep the customer applications in safe hands from day one.

Also, WIC’s dedicated team of immigration experts assists the customers at every stage of application- from the moment they inquire to the moment they have their visa in hand. Its contribution in minimizing the challenges, confusion and frustration associated with the PR visa application processes is one-of-its-kind.

WIC is on a mission to provide honest, reliable and accurate guidance to its customers. The firm takes pride in addressing that it handles each client profile with utmost care and expertise. Having tie-ups with Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council ( ICCRC) Agents, the firm delivers customized solutions to its clients for securing a permanent residency or student visa, based on expert analysis.

Meet the Cornerstone of WIC Shaik Imran Hussain is the Founder of World Immigration Consultants. He has been a pioneer in stirring multiple portfolios at various renowned companies like Accenture, Microsoft, UST Global, and JP Morgan. Imran’s 40

passion for technology and sales encouraged him to gather PR data for one of his close friends. Even after taking significant strides by visiting various consulting firms to gather this information, he was unable to receive a substantial feedback.

Acknowledging that the immigration eco-system majorly lacked transparency and people have to deal with fake promises of the agents, Imran decided to bring-in transparency in this sector. By gaining deep expertise and making constant efforts he launched World Immigration Consultants with an aim to transform the immigration sector.

Astounding Services “We at World Immigration Consultants make conscious effort to bring transparency in our dealings so that clients can take informed decision about their future” says Imran.

WIC is on a mission to provide world-class immigration services with highest transparency at an affordable cost. The firm delivers extraordinary PR visa services to its customers, helping them to work and settle in countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Germany. In addition to PR visa services, WIC also caters to study abroad and visa services for USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and Europe.

WIC is consistent in using various standard social media platforms for its digital marketing operations to target those segments in which the customers are willing to avail PR services. It has formed a framework where the customer profiles undergo a Three tier verification process- three process consultants work on each profile to minimize the risks.

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10 IMMIGRATION M ost

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TRUSTED

CONSULTING COMPANIES

Apart from this, the firm also offers exclusive services for International Resume Marketing as well as Post Landing.

Surpassing Challenges WIC has overcome several challenges on its pathway of achieving success. The biggest challenge was the client getting unrealistic commitments without any eligibility check of their profile from the consulting firms. The firm had to struggle in order to bring-in transparency to the immigration sector and convince the clients about ground reality.

A Distinctive Firm WIC works with a philosophy to maintain utmost transparency with its clients. It is a unique immigration consultant firm which delivers all-inclusive services at affordable prices. Instead of making money, the firm is instrumental in quenching every single customer’s need.

Shaik Imran Hussain Founder

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We at World Immigration Consultants make conscious effort to bring transparency in our dealings so that clients can take informed decision about their future

Customer’s Voice “When i decided to migrate, there were many questions which were lingering in my mind. To get answers to my questions, I approached various consultancies but my problem worsened because each of them had different set of suggestions for me. However, it was different with WIC. From day one they were very clear on my profile and did an honest assessment and communicated only those options for which I was 100% eligible. Moreover, they are really good at placement assistance. I am fully satisfied with my association with WIC and I strongly recommend you to choose WIC as your trusted confidant and immigration consultant” – Vinod, Bangalore.

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While talking to the founder about the challenges WIC has faced in its initial years, he asserted “Despite we faced problems we sticked to our pledge for transparency.

Although it was a slow start, however it started showing results eventually.”

Future Enactments By maintaining 100% transparency and high customer satisfaction levels, WIC is all set to attain a position amongst the leading immigration consultants in India in the coming future. Delivering quality with transparency, its aim is to establish itself as a brand and trek newer success heights.

“I approached various consultancies but had little clarity on which country to migrate. Then I got in touch with WIC which helped me to zero in the country for which I was best fit according to my profile and work experience. Last month I got my PR visa and i am getting myself ready to fly.

Thanks for all the support WIC” – Rahul Bhattacharya, Kolkata

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A bond

BEYOND the BOUNDARIES! A beautiful phrase in Sanskrit reads “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”. It means “The World is nothing but One Family”. The beauty of this phrase sparkles even more, once we delve deeper into its meaning. It gives a message of peaceful-coexistence; the co-existence which fosters the environment of peace and prosperity across the globe. It illuminates the path of global citizenship. The citizenship that creates the much-needed economic balance among the countries of the 21st century.

Humanity was never meant to grow in isolation. The history of mankind itself speaks on this ideology. Whenever we have united and fought for a common cause, we have blossomed with the fragrance of success, every-singletime. But, there are some incidences too when we tried fighting our individual battles on our own, and

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Editor’s Pick kissed the palms of defeat as a result.

The message we received was crystalclear. All we needed to do was to make the right choices. And, we have chosen the right ones indeed.

In the 21st century ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ is not just a choice to make, it is the ‘Call of the time’. The times in which we are living now, world has moved far-far away from the challenges of the battle-fields. The challenges we are facing upfront are of much greater significance because they have a direct impact on the population at large. We are talking of the challenges of running on the path of economic development, removing economic imbalance, bringing food to every platter and fighting the common enemies like poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. Quite understandably, these battles are too difficult to be won if fought individually. But, we are fortunate to have the tools of globalization and liberalization in our hands. The tool which continually shatters the boundaries of demarcation across the countries, the boundaries which has kept the children of humanity separated for a long time.

Today, if any Multinational company in a first world country makes enormous profit, it shares the pie with several third world countries either by the means of revenue, or by the provision of their services or by employing their work-force.

On one hand, when Indian doctors and engineers have been contributing towards health-care and infrastructure development in countries like the USA, the UK and Japan; at the very same

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time, the multi-billion-dollar firms of the USA, the UK and Japan are burning their night oils to bring electricity and internet to multiple corners of Indian villages which are isolated from rest of the world.

Spark of Amalgamation Different sections of the planet have been gifted with different kind of resources and natural habitats. Some countries have been blessed with high minerals and oil reservoirs, while some are having rich sources of engineering developments. While some have the richness in sectors of educational advancements, some have the power to feed the world with their agricultural capabilities.

The question arises; do they have the monopoly of exhausting the resources that belongs to them?

Certainly not. Obviously, they will have the fair share of the benefits but the same should also be shared with the not-so-fortunate ones. The best thing is that this is actually happening. The boundaries are being shattered with every passing day. The gulf oil from Middle East is running billions of the vehicles across the globe. The agricultural food from countries like India is feeding many empty stomachs of relatively lesser developed countries. Students from any country have the access to move and gain the degrees from any country of their choice. The job-seekers have the flexibility to pick and choose the profession across the globe as per their liking and capabilities.

Even at the cultural front, the age-old traditions of Yoga, which was originated in India, is benefitting multiple sections of the western civilization. Such is the beauty of amalgamation.

Essence of Togetherness Gone are those days when a sudden plan to travel offshores used to bring multiple headaches to individuals. Be it a medical emergency, a business tour, a vacation on holiday or any educational tenure; people have been travelling a lot, more than they have ever done in the history before.

Today, with improving bilateral ties among the countries, the VISA and Passport norms have been eased. Moreover, we have a plenty of valuable immigration consultants to provide the much-needed guidance one need to plan their movement outside their native countries.

Even if one travels to the farthest parts of the planet, one will always get a hint of the diaspora they belong to. Indian rice-curry in American suburbs and western food chains in Indian markets are few real proofs of amalgamation.

The world has been shrinking at a fast pace and the mentality of acceptance has been expanding at a greater pace. This was never seen before. For the realization of the dream of 'One-Family', the situation can’t be better. All we need to do is to break the shackles of conservative ideologies and open our arms, open our arms to embrace the brotherhood and open our arms to embrace the inclusiveness.

Together we can win more. Together we can achieve more. Let’s spread the message of togetherness. Let’s be the Family that we are always believed to be.

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