Karam Chand 106, and wife Kartari 99, married in Punjab in 1925 and moved to the UK in 1965. They recently celebrated their 86th wedding anniversary and could now be the longest married couple in the UK.

The couple who live in Bradford, Yorkshire have eight children, 27 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren.

Karam attributes his longevity to his moderation in food and drink. Kartari says good wholesome food with no artificial ingredients is her mantra, but she is ready to go when God calls her.

They live with their youngest son and his family, who consider it a privilege to look after the old couple.

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At the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi announced the launch of a special fund called the Pension and Life Insurance Fund that will contribute to a pension and insurance cover to low paid workers mostly in Gulf countries.

The scheme is voluntary, and available to those who want to use it. It will provide an annual co-contribution of up to Rs.3000 for females and Rs.2000 for male Indians working overseas, who will be required to partly contribute for their pension and insurance cover.

This will be available only to those workers who obtain proper immigration clearance before going abroad. It also provides life insurance cover for a specified period in case of natural death.

Over 5 million skilled and semi-skilled workers on temporary contract visas abroad will benefit from the scheme.

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Reports that a leading Indian curry powder brand available in the Gulf and Middle East contains high levels of 'Sudan4', a dye that causes cancer, has alarmed NRI consumers.

The Eastern Condiments' factory in Kerala was allegedly raided and 1200 kilos of the contaminated chilli powder was confiscated and destroyed at the company's premises in the presence of officials of the Spices Board of India. Samples were also sent for further chemical examination.

Sudan dyes are red dyes used for colouring oils, waxes, petrol and shoe and floor polishes. It is banned for use in food products in some countries.

One official of Eastern Condiments Pvt Ltd, denied there was a raid on the premises, and confirmed that the company is ISO certified. He called the reports a malicious campaign distributed by scare mongers on social networking sites.

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Deepak Raheja and Shyamsunder Agrawal, who were held hostage for some 20 days in the Chinese trade hub of Yiwu by local traders, were released and moved to a hotel in Shanghai by Indian officials with the help of Chinese police.

Raheja said the local traders did not resist even though they had surrounded the hotel in Yiwu where they were staying pending their move to Shanghai, where they will stay till they recuperate from the torture and ill-treatment they suffered at the hands of the local traders.

The two men however cannot leave China immediately as their travel documents have been impounded by the Yiwu court in connection with the case of pending payments, said to be millions of Yuan for products supplied to the owner of the company the men worked for.

China assured India it has initiated criminal proceedings against five local suspects and will give due attention to the safety of Indian nationals on its soil.

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Indian origin doctors living in the UK and USA are looking for jobs back home in India. They are exploring teaching options as well, given the demand that Indian medical colleges pose.

Some doctors will be retiring shortly and given the slowdown in the West a reverse brain drain is occurring. Younger doctors that have recently passed out are also considering options to head back to India because of the dearth of decent assignments in the West.

India could well be a safer bet for them what with the growth opportunities in the medical fraternity in India, as well as which the BPIO held talks with the Indian government requesting recognition for doctors holding UK medical degrees.

It is believed India has a shortfall of over 600,000 doctors and 100,000 nurses.

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