An Indian student Mahesh Subramaniam was found dead in his apartment in Kentucky in the US nearly 18 days ago.

Mahesh was a science student at the North Kentucky University and his parents, who received his body only on Thursday, are inconsolable.

“As an only son we not only lost a son but we lost everything,” his mother Sharvathy Subramaniam says.

The death of 20-year-old Mahesh is yet another incident that has raised questions about the safety of Indian students in America.

On January 18, 2008, 29-year-old Abhijeet Mahato of Jharkhand, who was a PhD student at North Carolina’s Dukes Pratt School of Engineering, was shot dead at an off-campus apartment complex.

On December 13, 2007, two Louisiana State University research students from Andhra Pradesh, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, were shot dead in a flat near their campus.

In Mahesh’s case preliminary autopsy reports haven’t been able to establish the cause of his death.

His family has been asked to wait for six weeks for the final report and they say the US authorities are yet to contact them.

But they do have a request for the authorities.

“In future this should not happen to other students. I request both governments to take more precautionary measures for international students,” Sharvathy pleads.

And the family waits for a word on what exactly led to this tragedy before they can file a police complaint. Source: IBNLive.com

The rupee turned weak and was quoted lower by about seven paise against the US currency at 39.55/56 a dollar in morning trade on Wednesday on heavy dollar demand amid weakness in equity markets, which fell back after a strong start.

Despite weakness in dollar against major currencies in overseas market after the US Federal Reserve announced a surprise rate cut by 75 basis point on Tuesday, the Indian unit came under pressure due to dollar purchases by banks.

In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee resumed better at 39.40/43 a dollar on the back of a strong bounce in equity market in early trading session this morning.

It, however, fell back to 39.55/56 in late morning deals against previous close of 39.4850/4950 as the market failed to hold initial gains.

The BSE benchmark Sensex bounced by 946.66 points to 17,676.60 in the initial five minutes of trade, later later fell back to 17,285.26 at 1030 hrs, up 555.32 points from previous day’s close of 16,729.94.

Forex dealers said there was all-round dollar buying in exchange market in early trade.

Heavy FII pullout from equity also weighed on the rupee sentiment. Foreign Institutional Investors reported outflows of $3 billion in the last five days. Source: IBNLive.com

Tata Tea has forayed into the out-of-home beverage segment by unveiling their first outlet of Chai Unchai in Bangalore.

Sangeeta Talwar, executive-director, Tata Tea, said: “Chai Unchai is crafted as a retail space in the out-of home segment that connects with youth in an exciting and differentiated manner. The new adda or hangout is designed to be cool – neither a kiosk nor a parlour but with an ambience that is warm, friendly, unpretentious and fun.”

“The outlet offers both tea and non-tea beverages with a range of unique snack offerings especially designed for it. Chai Unchai is another first in the industry in the way it has been conceptualised and executed. We are confident we will make a compelling connect with young people,” she added.

Pankaj Dant, general manager (marketing & sales), Tata Tea, said: “Our research shows that this segment has a huge opportunity as consumers are constantly looking at different options for a satisfying out-of-home beverage experience. The design for the outlet has come out of a need expressed by the younger generation for a place where they can just be themselves.” Source: business-standard.com