From: vikas@deolali.Eng.Sun.COM (Vikas Deolaliker)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,news.answers
Subject: [soc.culture.indian] FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Supersedes: <scifaq_722278802@deolali>
Followup-To: poster
Date: 20 Dec 1992 16:59:27 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc., Mountain View, CA
Distribution: world
Expires: 2 Feb 1993 17:00:02 GMT
Reply-To: vikas@deolali.Eng.Sun.COM (Vikas Deolaliker)
NNTP-Posting-Host: deolali

Archive-name: india-faq

*****  ANSWERS    TO    FREQUENTLY   ASKED   QUESTIONS  *********

READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST A QUERY.

This message is automatically posted once a month. Hopefully  this
will  reduce the amount of repetitive junk that is posted on sci.
If you have answers to frequently asked questions that you  would
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want to see this article ever again, Please add this subject line
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Thank You,


Vikas Deolaliker

vikas@sun.com

*****************************************************************


Contents:

1)	Information on Passport Renewals 
2)	Addresses of Indian Consulates  in  US  
3)	Information on Remitting Money to India 
4)	Misc Junk..  
5)	Indian  Books and Magazines 
6)	Indian Newspapers Subcriptions
7)	Indian e-mail Addresses 
8)	Shortwave Radio Frequencies 
9)	Visitors Visa  
10)	Visitors Medical Insurance.  
11)	Custom Regulations 
12)	Tourist Information
13)	Pal to Secam Conversion 
14)	Sending Flowers to India
15)	Printing Indian Language Texts using TeX and/or PostScript
16)	Addresses of U.S Consulates in India
17)	Visa Cutoff Date

************************************************************************
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Subject: 1) Information on Passport Renewal

The Passport can be renewed anytime. 

It is very important to contact the Indian Consular Office which has
jurisdiction over your state of residence. The PROCEDURES FOLLOWED BY
DIFFERENT CONSULAR OFFICES DO VARY. Some consular offices accept personal
checks. 

They charge $6.00.

You also need to affix proper return postage on a self-addressed envelope
for registered mail. 



PROCEDURES FOR RENEWING INDIAN PASSPORTS
  This is a summary of an ad placed by the Indian consulate, San Francisco
in Jan 1991.
 You can get application forms by calling up 415-291-1403 at any time, 
leaving your name and address on the answering machine.
  Passports can be renewed any time between one year before and one year
after the date of expiry. If the passport is already 10 years old, a new
booklet is issued for which 3 photos are required along with the old
passport. The fee for renewal or new booklet is $6. New passports are
valid for 10 years.
  If your passport is lost or damaged, you have to make a special appli-
-cation (6 copies and 7 photos)
 They accept personal checks.

THE BOTTOM LINE 

CALL THE CONSULATE WHICH OFFERS NRI SERVICES TO YOUR REGION
AND ASK THEM  FOR THE DETAILS. 

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 2) Addresses of Indian Consulates in US

	STATES			                     ADDRESS
	======		          	       ===========================
Alabama, Delaware, Dist. Of Columbia,          Embassy Of India
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,         2536 Massachusetts Ave. NW,
Maryland, Mississipi, Arkansas, Tenness        Washington DC 20008.
Virginia, W. Virginia & the Bahamas            Tel. 202-939-7000/9839
North Carolina, South Carolina.

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,              Consulate General Of India,
New Hampshire, New Jersy, Newyork, Ohio,        3 East 64 Street,
Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island,        New York, NY 10021
Vermont, Virgin Islands. 		        Tel. 212-879-7800

Alaska, Arizona,Hawaii, Nebraska, New Mexico,   Consulate General of India,
New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas,    540 Arguello Blvd.
Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Kansas, Colorado,    SAN FRANSISCO, CA 94118.
Montana, Idaho, California. 			Tel. 415-668-0683

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota,   Consulate General Of India,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Missouri.150 North Michigan Ave. #1100
						CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60601
						Tel: 312-781-6280


Phone Ext:

Washington, D.C

   Indian Embassy: 202-939-7000 (Main Number)
                          -7061 (I don't know for which dept.)
                          -7066 (Passport Enquiries: after 2:00 pm)
                          -7065 (To verify whether they have sent back the
                                 passport, after you send it to them for
                                 extension. Contact: Mrs. Nagarathnam)
                          -7068 (Birth Certifcate: Contact Mr.Seti)
                          -7060 (Contact Mr.Karry - I don't know for what)
                          -9806 (For Customs/Duty Information)
			  -9850 (For Passport Renewal)


Chicago:

1. Consulate General of India-----312-781-6280
2. Consul Commerce----------------312-781-6274
3. Consul General-----------------312-781-6271
4. Passport Section---------------312-781-6268
5. Vice Counsel-Passport, Visa----312-781-6288
6. Visa Section-------------------312-781-6289
7. India Govt. tourist Office-----312-236-6899
                                  312-236-7869


************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 3) Information on Remitting Money to India

There are three major banks which advertise  regularly  in  India
Abroad.  These banks offer wide variety of services including CDs
and money transfer facilities to India. Since the  banking  poli-
cies change everyday, it is best that you get the latest informa-
tion from the banks themselves. Their toll free numbers are list-
ed as follows.

i)   State Bank of India
	New York				California	
	 1 (800) 227-4309		1 (213) 623-7250 (L.A.)	
	 1 (212) 735-9600 (Park Ave) 	1 (213) 865 5009 (Artesia)	
	 1 (718) 445-3900 (Flushing)
	 	

	Chicago 				Washington
	 1 (800) 621-1299		1 (202) 296-4061
	 1 (312) 621-1200


ii)  Citibank India Investments
	Call 1 (800) CITI-NRI for NRE,FCNR accounts 
	     1 (800) 248-4674
	Call 1 (716) 634-2390 for application for rupee draft.
iii) American Express
	Call 1 (800) 688-5494


************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 4) Misc. Junk

i)  	If you need the toll free number of any company in USA PLEASE call 
    	1 + (800) + 555-1212. They will even thank you for using their company. 
ii) 	If you need to call directory assistance of any state call 
	1 + (area code of the state )  + 555-1212. You should however know 
	which city in that state your friend lives in. 
iii) 	For local assistance call 411. Again you should know the city. 
iv)	If you need the STD code of any city in India call the AT&T operator
	dial 0+0 (In most of the places ).



************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 5) Indian Books and Magazines


There are a lot of good Indian magazines but I only have information on 
these . If you all know how to subscribe and how much damage it does to 
our pocket books, Please let me know . 


ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY OF INDIA
	The General Manager (RMD)    
	The Times of India	    
	Dr. D.N. Road
	Bombay 400001
	India
	Rs. 1560-00 (by air)
	Rs.  620-00 (by sea)




DHARMAYUG

	(1)	10-Dariyaganj, New Delhi - 110 002
	(2)	139, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad-380 009
	(3)	13/1, Goverment Place East, Calcutta -69
	(4)	Gangagruh, 3rd Floor, 6-D Nungambakkam High Road,
		Madras - 600 034
	(5)	40/1 S&B Towers, 88, M.G.Road, Bangalore 560 001
	(6)	407/1 Tirath Bhavan, Carter Gate, Pune-411 002

	UK Bch:	P.O.Box 57, Gloucester GL2 6DS, UK.
	Tel (0452) 306546


INDIA TODAY
	India Today International
	Living Media India Ltd.
	404 Park Avenue South
	New York, NY 10016
	212-481-0040
	212-779-8206 (FAX)
	Subscription - $49 payable to Living Media India Ltd.

EPW
	Economic and Political Weekly
	Hitkari House,
	284 Shahid BhagatSingh Marg,
	Bombay 400 038 
	India 
	Cost: $80 p.a checks o.k

BUSINESS INDIA

	Wadia Bldg,
	17/19 Dalal Street, 
	Fort,  Bombay 400 001
 	India	
	Tel + 91 (22) 27-4161/27-1558



MAIL ORDER BOOKS

		South Asia Books
	P.O. Box 502
	Columbia, Missouri 65205
	(314) 474 0116

	The Asia Society/"Bookmarks"
	725 Park Ave.
	New York, NY 10021

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 6) Indian Newspapers

If you want to stay in touch with events back home, the simplest
alternative is to subscribe to one of the Indian papers published in the
US. The two best known are INDIA ABROAD and INDIA WEST. 

INDIA ABROAD
43 West 24th Street,7th floor
New York
NY 10010
212-929-1762
(There are three US editions, Eastern, Midwest and Western, besides
Canadian and British editions. Specify which edition you want.)
Subscription:6 months $15, 12 months $26

INDIA WEST
5901 Christie Avenue, Suite 301
Emeryville,CA 94608
415-652-3552
Subscription: 6 months $15, 12 months $25, 24 months $45.
They accept Visa/MC

The following dealer advertises that they supply all Indian newspapers and
magazines, as well as books. Ask them for their price list.
 
INDO-US BOOKS AND JOURNALS INC.
35-52 73rd Street
Jackson Heights
NY 11372
For Subscription info Call Mr Singh (7:00pm - 9:00pm EST)
(718) 899-5590 


"The Hindu" International Edition can be obtained from

The Hindu, 
Kasturi Bldg,
859/860 Anna Salai,
Madras 600002
India

	For USA and Canada
M/s Peekay International Inc.,
4-40, 44th Drive, Long Island City,
New York, NY, 11101, U.S.A.
Tel : (718) 786-4460
Telex : 4933794 SHREE
Fax : (718) 786-5512.

	For U.K. and Europe
Parry Murry & Co. Ltd.
Prudential House, 9th Floor,
Wellesley Road, Croydon,
LONDON CRO 9XY, United Kingdom.
Tel: 01-681-5441/2
Telex: 266874-UBIQUE G.

Annual Subscription rates (by Airmail from Madras) effective 9th June, 1990.

	U.S. $42-00 or Br. 26.00 pounds.


************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 7) INDIAN E-MAIL ADDRESSES 


	***** A NOTE ABOUT "FINGER"ing INDIAN SITES******* 

NCST has not received information for shiva.ernet.in and thus 
finger @shiva.ernet.in FAILS.

First of all, it is *NOT* like the finger of UNIX systems.  It is just a 
database maintained at NCST - a database that has enough info.

To get info and help about email addresses in India, type

% whois -h sangam.ernet.in  help

For a list of all the nodes in India, type

% whois -h sangam.ernet.in ""		# The double quotes are essential 

This w'd give info regarding the nodes presently represented in the
data base maintained by the NCST people at Bombay.

For a list of the nodes present in a given city, type

% whois -h sangam.ernet.in  city_name

where city_name can be part/whole of the city u wish to send mail to.
for eg. for a list of all node names in bangalore, try
% whois -h sangam.ernet.in bang

Once the exact node name is known, to obtain the login name of the
person you wish to contact,

% whois -h sangam.ernet.in  name_of_the_person@node_name

where name_of_the_person can be part/whole of the person's last/first
or middle name [ Nick names not allowed :-) ]

All searches are case-insensitive.

The NCST people are maintaining this database as a service to the public.
It is not polite to  flood the postmaster's mailbox with
requests regarding the database and with requests for forwarding the mail.
If the database FAILS to answer your query ONLY THEN send mail to 

postmaster@the_node_u_want_to_send_mail.ernet.in

The internet address of shakti.ernet.in is 144.16.1.1

       ********************************************************

                             SITES IN INDIA


  +============== ADDRESSING INDIAN SITES FROM OUTSIDE INDIA ==============+
  |                                                                        |
  |  If you are at a site that can     |   USER@SITE.ernet.in              |
  |  handle domains                    |                                   |
  |------------------------------------------------------------------------|
  |  If you are at a site that can't   |   ...!uunet!UUCP-PATH!USER        |
  |  handle domains                    |                                   |
  |------------------------------------------------------------------------|
  |  Where: UUCP-PATH  - is the uucp path for the site. See list below.    |
  |         USER       - recipient's mail name on the destination host.    |
  |         SITE       - recipient's site name on the (ERNET) network.     |
  |                                                                        |
  |  Note:  Users using the C-shell under Unix systems may have to quote   |
  |         the "!" characters in the mail address.  This can be done by   |
  |         using "\!" in place of "!".                                    |
  +========================================================================+

     Each site is required to have a postmaster who can answer general
     inquiries about users and hosts at that site.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITE        ORGANISATION/INSTITUTION                 UUCP-PATH
====        ========================                 =========

AHMEDABAD:
iimahd      Indian Institute of Management           shakti!iimahd
plasma      Institute for Plasma Research            shakti!plasma
prl         Physical Research Labs                   shakti!prl

BANGALORE:
cdacb	    Centre for Development of Advanced Comp  shakti!vigyan!cdacb
cdotb       Centre for Development of telematics     shakti!vigyan!cdotb
cedtcal	    CEDT, REC - Calicut			     shakti!vigyan!cedtcal
cmmacs 	    Center for Math Modelling & Comp. Simln. shakti!vigyan!cmmacs
crlbel      Central Res. Lab., Bharat Elec. Ltd.     shakti!crlbel
csirb       Council for Sci. & Industrial Research   shakti!vikram!csird!csirb
cdacb       Centre for Development of Advanced Comp. shakti!cdacb
erdc	    ER & DC, Trivandrum			     
iiap	    Indian institute for Astrophysics	     shakti!vigyan!iiap
iimb	    Indian Institute of Manangement, Bang 
iisc	    Indian Institute of Science
isac	    ISRO Satellite Centre, Bang.
isibang	    Indian Statistical Institute
isro	    ISRO
itibang	    Indian Telephone Industries, Bang
kmc	    KMC
mku	    Bio-Informatics Centre, Madurai Kamraj
ncb         NCST's Office in Bangalore               shakti!ncb
            also Natl. Ctr. for Software Development shakti!ncb 
nttf	    Nettur Tech Training Foundation
psgtech	    PSG College of Tech, Coimbatore
psi	    PSI Data Products, Bang
sjce	    SJ College of Eng, Mysore
swabiman    Aeronautical Development Agency
tifrbng	    TIFR Centre, IIS Campus, Bang
vigyan      Indian Inst. of Sci. - Comp. Centre      shakti!vigyan
vidya       Indian Inst. of Sci. - KBCS Group        shakti!vigyan!vidya
vidyut      Indian Inst. of Sci. - EE Department     shakti!vigyan!vidyut
yantra      Centre for AI and Robotics               shakti!yantra
vigyan	    Raman Research Institute		     shakti!vigyan!rri

BOMBAY:
agni        IG Institute of Development Research     shakti!agni
barct1	    Bombay Atomic Research Centre
iitb	    Indian Institute of Technology, Powai    shakti!iitb!cc
iitb	    Indian Inst. of Technology - CC I        cc.iitb.ernet.in 
iitb        Indian Inst. of Technology - cse	     cse.iitb.ernet.in
iitb	    Indian Inst. of Technology - ee	     ee.iitb.ernet.in
cmcb	    CMC Ltd
ncst	    National Centre for Software Tech
nitie       Natl. Inst. for Trg. in Industr. Engg.   shakti!nitie
sameer      Soc. for Applied Microwave Electronic    shakti!betaal!dhr
            Engineering and Research                 uv!sameer 
shakti      Nat'l. Centre for Software Technology    shakti
tarang      Society for Appl. Microwave Engg.        shakti!betaal!tarang
tifr        Tata Institute of Fundamental Research   shakti!tifr
tifrvax     Tata Institute of Fundamental Research   shakti!tifrvax
xtech	    St. Savier's Technical Institute

CALCUTTA:
bose        SN Bose Natl. Ctr. for Basic Sciences    shakti!bose
isical      Indian Statistical Institute             shakti!isical
kbcscal     Indian Statistical Inst. (KBCS Group)    shakti!kbcscal
saha	    Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
veccal      Variable Energy Cyclotron                shakti!veccal

CHANDIGARH:
imtech      Institute of Microbial Technology        shakti!vikram!imtech

DELHI:
aiims 	    All india institute of medical sciences  shakti!vikram!aiims
altos	    Altos Computers Pvt. Ltd.
cdotd       Centre for Development of Telematics     shakti!vikram!cdotd
cmcdel      CMC, Delhi				     shakti!vikram!cmcdel
cmetd	    Centre for railway information sys
cris	    Centre for Railway Information System    shakti!vikram!cris
csird       Council for Sci. & Industrial Research   shakti!vikram!csird
doe	    Department of Electronics
doehq	    DOE HQ, Lok Nayak Bhavan
ertle	    Ertl East, Calcutta
ignca	    Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts
iitd	    Indian Inst. Of Technology- CS
insa	    Indian National Scientific Academy
insdoc	    Indian National Scientific Documentation
isid	    Indian Statistical Institute
isidev	    Institute for Studies in Industrial Dev
jnuniv	    Jawaharlal Nehru University
netearth    Indian Inst. Of Tech- CS
nifm	    National inst for Financial Management   shakti!vikram!nifm
nmc	    National Microelectronics Council, DOE
nsc	    Nuclear Science Centre
piyush	    Controller General of Accounts
pranjan	    Controller General of Accounts
seco	    Seco &* CG Division, DOE
tifac	    Tech., Infor and forecasting
vikram      Dept. of Electronics, Govt. of India     shakti!vikram
iitd        Indian Inst. of Technology- CS Dept. I   shakti!vikram!iitd
iqbal       Natl. Assn. of Software & Service Cos.   shakti!vikram!iqbal
wapcos	    Water and Power Consultancy

HYDERABAD:
cmch        CMC Limited                              shakti!cmch
uohyd	    University of Hyderabad

KANPUR:
iitk        Indian Inst. of Technology - I           shakti!iitk
kalyan      Indian Inst. of Technology - III         shakti!vikram!kalyan

KHARAGPUR:
iitkgp      Indian Institute of Technology           shakti!iitkgp
sys320	    Indian Institute of Technology

MADRAS:

imsc        The Institute of Mathematical Sciences   shakti!shiva!imsc
iitm	    Indian Inst. of Technology
shiva       Indian Inst. of Technology- CS Dept.     shakti!shiva
ssf         SPIC Science Foundation                  shakti!shiva!ssf
            School of Mathematics

NAGPUR:
nerri	    National Env. Eng. Research Inst.

PILANI:
bits	    Birla Institute of Tech.

PUNE:
cwprs	    Centre Water and Power Research Station
gmrt        Giant Metre-Wave Radio Telescope         shakti!gmrt
iucaa       Inter-Univ Ctr. for Astronomy & Asphys.  shakti!iucaa
ncl	    National Chemical Lab
parcom      Centre for Development of Advanced Comp. shakti!parcom
unipune     University of Poona, CS Department       shakti!unipune
trddc	    Tata Research

SURATKAL

krec        Karnataka Regional Engineering College   shakti!krec


************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 8)  Shortwave Radio Frequencies:

Reception report based upon last two weeks in Tucson.

*  All times are GMT 
*  ++ means station continue before/after given time.

=======================================================================
                               BBC
=======================================================================
Bengali     1330:1400                9605 ,11920 ,15245
Hindi       1400:1445          7235 ,9605 ,11920 ,15245
Pushto      1445:1515                             15245
Urdu        1515:1600                9605         15245
Bengali     1630:1700                9605 ,11750 ,15245
Hindi       1715:1730                9605 ,11750 
Urdu        1730:1745                9605 ,11750 

=======================================================================
                               VOA
=======================================================================
Pushto      0000:0030          7105        11780 
Hindi       0030:0100          7105 ,      11780 ,15210 ,17780 ,21475
Hindi       0100:0130                                    17780 ,21475
Urdu        0100:0130          7105 ,      11780
Urdu        1330:1430                      11805 ,15435 ,17875 ,21520 
Pushto      1430:1515          7295 ,      11845 ,15435 ,       21520
Dari        1515:1600          7295 ,      11845 ,15435 ,       21520
Bengali     1600:1700                9590 ,11880         

========================================================================
                          Voice of Germany 
========================================================================
Urdu        1430:1515                9615 ,11785 ,15105 ,15240 ,15595 ,17825
Hindi       1515:1600                9615 ,11785 ,15105 ,15240 ,15595 ,17825

========================================================================
                            Radio Pakistan 
========================================================================
News        0230:0245                      15114.5, 17640, 21730
Islamabad   1000:1330++             9644.5
Urdu        1330:1530                      13665 ,15605 ,17554.5
News        1600:1630                      13665 ,15605 ,17554.5

>From 0230-0245 and 1615-1630 are news at slow speed.
========================================================================
                             All India Radio
========================================================================
9910               0000:0115      English
9610               0130:0230++    Urdu Service
15120,11830        0130:0250++    News in various languages
15020,9700         1300:1500      Sinhalese
11620              1300:1610++    News in various languages
9565               1330:1500      English
10030,9950,7412    1330:1450++    News in various languages
11620            ++2030:2230      English

=======================================================================
                        Radio Afghanistan (Relayed from USSR)
=======================================================================
Pushto      0200:0300            9555 ,11770
Persian     0300:0400            9555 ,11770

                                              Shaikh M Javed


Also, here is the subscription blurb from London Calling monthly magazine
(the programme journal of the BBC World Service in English). This is a
neat little magazine with introductions to BBC programs for the month and
also the frequencies chart for the whole world:

LONDON CALLING is available in all parts of the world at an annual 
subscription rate of 12 pound (US$20). Write to Rosemarie Reid at this 
address:

LONDON CALLING,
PO Box 76, Bush House, Strand,
London, England, WC2B 4PH

For a  free copy of London Calling  call/write
BBC,
630 5th Avenue,
N.Y, N.Y 10111-0002 
(212) 581-7100

A pointer to an anonymous ftp site for Radio programs/Freq listings:

nic.funet.fi: /pub/dx/schedules

-rw-rw-r--  1 huopio    ftp          17744 Sep 24 20:11 air.txt
-rw-rw-r--  1 huopio    ftp           3602 Jan  4 22:06 australia.txt
-rw-rw-r--  1 huopio    ftp          36052 Dec  2 06:32 bbc-english.txt
-rw-rw-r--  1 huopio    ftp          17636 Aug  1 10:49 bbc-programs.txt
-rw-rw-r--  1 huopio    ftp           5561 Oct 12 15:54 rpakistan.txt
-rw-rw-r--  1 huopio    ftp           3708 Jan  4 22:46 sri.txt
-rw-rw-r--  1 huopio    ftp          35878 Jan  4 22:51 voa-freq.txt


************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 9) VISITOR VISA INFORMATION:

      Information on the documents required for visitor's visa to USA :-
 
  When the  person you  are inviting  applies to the  consulate for the
  visitor's  visa, he/she   has to    show documents  indicating   your
  financial  capability  to  support  their   visit  for  the specified

  duration.It  seems  the  consulate  people are  more concerned  about
  potential immigrants, rather then financial capability.
  
  (1) Form I-134.
      Affidavit of Support (this form is printed by U.S. Department
      of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service) The Form-134
      must be filled completely and Notarized.  
  (2) Bank Balance statement (copy)
  (3) A letter of verification of employment. (copy)
  (4) A valid visa. (H-1 if working etc) (copy)
  
  	You only need to send copies of items 2, 3 and 4. They are not
  a must, but  they will  prove that you have  sufficient funds to take
  care of  the visitors during  their  visit, which   in turn will make
  getting the visa a little easier.
 
 ** Note **
   The INS office in San Francisco informed me that I need to send 
   Form I-134 and a personal letter of invitation to my parents. They
   then have to take it to the American Embassy. 

   To get the form I-134 call your local INS office. 

   
   For information of Federal Government Services.
   eg. phone number of American Consulate in gondwanaland.
    Call
	1 (800) 726-4995

 VISA BY MAIL!!!
  	If the visitors are over  50 years  of age they  can MAIL  all
  these things along with their passports to  the nearest US consulate,
  else they will have to go in person.
 

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 10) VISITOR MEDICAL INSURANCE 

The Companies who provide such insurance are listed below. You simply must 
contact them for further information.

INDIA 

Bombay:

        General Insurance Corporation of India
	Industrial Assurance Building
 	Churchgate, Bombay 400 020
 
	Subsidiaries:
	National Insurance Co. Ltd.
 
 	New India Assurance Co. Ltd, 
 		New India Assurance bldg,
 		87 M.G. Road, Fort, Bombay-400 023.

Delhi:

 	Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.
 		Oriental House,
 		P.B. No. 7037,
		A-25/27 Asaf Ali Road, 
		New Delhi-110002.
 	
 
Madras:

 	United India Insurance Company
 		24 Whites Road
 		Madras 600014
  		The claims are handled by a company called Mercury in
  		USA - tel# (800) 527-2586 

Calcutta:	
	
	National Insurance Co. Ltd.
	1, Shakespeare Sarani (AC Market)
	6th Floor,
	Calcutta
	Head Office: 3 Middleton Street Calcutta. 

 
 USA

  
 	First Farwest Insurance
  	400 SW Sixth Ave
	Portland, OR 97204
	ph: (503)224-7740

 
	Travel Insurance Services
	Box 299, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
	800-227-2432
	(415) 932-1387 
 
 
	Community Insurance Agency
	Broker/President Ramesh Patel, 3116 W. Devon Ave., Suite 203,
	Chicago IL 60659.
	1-800-344-9540
 
	Rupa Insurance Agency
	1939 Lincoln Hwy,
	Edison NJ 08817
	1-800-GET-RUPA
 
	International   Visitor's Trust  
	Washington  D.C. 
	(416)    928-4500 
 
	International Health Insurance Trust
	Administered by the Smith-Sternau Organization, Inc.
	1255 23rd St., N.W., Suite 300, Washington D.C. 20037. 
	1-800-368-5969
 
	Massachussets Indemnity and Life Insurance Co.
	9200 WATSON ROAD, ST. LOUIS, MO 63126.
	(314)-849-5555.
  
  
 	Blue Cross / Blue Shield. 

        Nationwide 


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Subject: 11) CUSTOM REGULATIONS 


NEW BAGGAGE RULES
  Foreign tourists, NRIs and Indians travelling abroad can now bring in
electronic diaries, video cameras, CD players, laptop computers and
colour TVs of 15 cm screen by paying the usual customs duty.
  Travellers will now enjoy enhanced duty-free allowance worth Rs 3,000
and Rs 150,000 in case of transfer of residence.
  The duty-free allowance for Indians travelling abroad for more than three 
days has been raised from Rs 2,400 to 3,000.
  The TR rules have been made more flexible by condoning a shortfall of the
required stay of up to 1 year in special cases. A Collector of Customs
can sanction this shortfall up to 2 months.
  13 consumer durables like VCRs, color TV and airconditioners worth Rs 150,000
would now be allowed under the TR rules and Rs 30,000 under mini-transfer 
rules. This will apply even if the items are purchased at the transit points 
while returning to India.

OTHER CHANGES IN CUSTOMS REGULATIONS
  Import duties for allopathic drugs are reduced from 110% to 80%, and
for homeopathic drugs from 65% to 40%.
  Self-assessment of goods would be permitted for established importers as well
as government undertakings where there are no disputes about classification.
This could be described as a "green channel" as the goods would usually
be cleared without scrutiny, though there would be occasional spot checks.
  Chemical testing, where necessary, will now be done at various
laboratories in the private and public sector as well as the existing
customs laboratories. 

CARRYING GOLD TO INDIA
 Gold including ornaments, except those studded with stones or pearls,
will be allowed to be imported as a part of baggage by passengers of
Indian origin subject to certain conditions. The quantity of gold
imported will not exceed 5 kg per passenger and he should have stayed
abroad for a period of atleast six months. The import duty is, to be
paid in convertible foreign currency, Rs. 220.00 for 10 grams of gold
in any form (ornaments or coins).

CALL YOUR NEAREST CONSULATE AND THEY WILL GLADLY MAIL YOU ACCURATE AND UP 
TO DATE INFORMATION . 

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Subject: 12) Tourist Information


The goverment of India, Department of Tourism has offices in many countries 
to provide tourist information to people who wish to take their vacation
in India.  They are called India Tourist Office. I found the address of some 
and I am sure there must be others in USA. If somebody knows let me know.


New York
	
	India Tourist Office
	30 Rockefellar Plaza,
	Suite 15,
	North Mezzanine,
	New York, NY 10012.

L.A. 
	India Tourist Office
	3550 Wilshire Blvd.,
	Suite #204,
	Los Angeles,
	CA 90010-2485
	(213) 380-8855
Chicago
	India Tourist Office
	(312) 236-6899
	(312) 236-7879

Call this office for a brochure. They are some great plans that you probably
never knew existed. Most of them are however for NRI or Foreign Citizens and 
require payment in Dollars. 

INDRAIL PASS

The Indrail Pass gives unlimited rail travel within India in the
specified time period. It is available to non-Indian citizens as well
as Indians residing outside India. It can be purchased through the General
Sales Agents (details below), though any competent travel agent should
be able to fix you up. It can also be bought from major stations in India.
Main plus points include eliminating the need to buy tickets for every
trip, though reservations are necessary. There are special reservation
quotas on some trains for Indrail holders.
  It is available in 3 categories: AC, First Class, Second Class. It is
not advisable to take the AC pass since not many trains have AC First Class.
The First Class pass also covers AC Sleeper and AC Chair Car.
  GSA details:
  Hariworld Travel, New York. 212-957-3000
  Also in Toronto, 416-366-2000
  Fares:
		AC		First		Second
1 day		65		29		12	(all in USD)
15	       270	       135	     	65
30	       410             205              90
90	       800             400             175

(Also available for 7,21,60 days. Kids below 12 pay half)
There are also odd rules like a foreigner can buy a pass for his/her
spouse. 
  Another plus point is that you can make reservations upto 360 days
in advance, i.e. even through your travel agent in the US-though you
would have to have the pass in hand before making reservations.
  Much useful information about the Pass regulations(in fact, about
the Indian Railways as a whole) can be found in "India by Rail", by
Roylston Ellis, published by Bradt Publishers. Some information is
also available in "Eurail Guide" and "Thomas Cook's Overseas Timetable"



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Subject: 13) Pal to Secam Conversion


The following businesses do Pal to Secam conversions.  


	Kothari Video Taping Services Inc.
	909 Apple Drive,
	Schaumburg,
	IL-60194
        (708) 884-0912.


	Roopsons			SOMI International
	1734 Oaktree Road		1115 Inman Ave, Suite 130
	Edison, NJ 08820		Edison, NJ 08820
	(908) 906-7976			(908) 548-3065

   Edison has two zip codes. (08820 & 08818)  Check with them for correct one.
Also, call them after 4pm (EST).  The owner (the only person who understands
what PAL or NTSC is!) is out taking care of supplies and other stuff during
the daytime.  They are open 7 days a week from 11am to 8pm.

Does pal to ntsc, and 8mm or NTSC to pal also. Cost is $13 for 3 hrs plus
2.50 for supply of Panasonic Standard Grade tape.
	
        Maharaja Foods And Imports
	4320 Suite E, University Drive
	Huntsville, Alabama 35816
	Phone # (205)830-4951.

   	S. Krishnan
   	7136 Shawnee Way,
   	Reynoldsburg OH 43068
  	Ph: (614) 759-8341



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Subject: 14) Sending Flowers to India

i) Mr. Motiwala, Oriental Florist,
   Taj Mahal Hotel,
   Apollo Bunder, 
   Bombay - 400 039
   tel: 202 3366
   fax: 287 2734 (Rs. 400 + Rs. 25(delivery) )

ii)INDOGRAM 
   
   Indogram does not serve Madras anymore. 
   tel: (800) 834-7274 (Calif)
	(800) 624-8007 (Others)
   Cost: ~$30.00

iii) Any florists in U.S. who is member of FTD 
     (800) FLO-WERS

   There is a charge of $28.00 added to all the orders.  
   The order has to of a minimum of $35.00
   There are three kinds of orders that can be placed
	a) Assortment of Flowers, in a box: $35.00
	b) Flower Arrangement, in a vase: $45.00
	c) Plant: $45.00


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Subject: 15)	Printing Indian Language Texts using TeX and/or PostScript

TeX/PS:
	There are two transliteration packages for TeX that are
available by anonymous ftp:

1.	The first package, itrans, has been developed by Avinash
Chopde avinash@contex.com, currently supports Devanagari and Tamil.
It uses the Washington Tamil Metafont font (developed at U of
Washington) and a Postscript Devanagari font (developed by Avinash).
It also supports Frans Velthuis's Devnag font (see item 2 below).

	"itrans" is a package for printing transliterated
indian language documents. The input may be in TeX format, or may
be a dumb textual document (no word processing features). Version 2.1
was released in October 1991.

	The package includes all C-sources, the PostScript Devanagari font,
and the Metafont Tamil font. It is available as a compressed tar
file, at these FTP sites:
cs.duke.edu (128.109.140.1), in dist/sources/itrans21.tar.Z
ftp.stolaf.edu, in pub/sci/itrans21.tar.Z
This package DOES NOT include Frans's Devnag font, you have to get it
separately.

2.	The second package Devanagari for Tex has been developed by
Frans J. Velthuis (velthuis@rc.rug.nl).  It has Computer Modern fonts
for Devanagri.  It is available by anonymous ftp from
june.cs.washington.edu in the directory ~/tex in devnag.tar.Z


Macintosh:

	Macintosh fonts for Devanagari and Tamil are available by
anonymous ftp from mac.archive.umich.edu.  They are in the file
indianfonts.sit.hqx in the directory
mac/system.extensions/font/type.three.fonts  The fonts are in a
binhex/stuffit format.  If you don't know how to decode these formats,
see the postings on comp.sys.mac.announce or comp.sys.mac.misc.  These
fonts are absolutely free.


Punjabi Fonts:
You have to buy these fonts.
Adobe Type 1 Punjabi fonts for use with IBM-PC (Windows 3.0)
and Macintosh computers. They are also made available, as per special
requests, for the NeXT machines.

Address is:
Jasbir Singh
P.O. Box 32010
Cleveland,  OH 44132
(216)731-6561

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Subject: 16)	Addresses of U.S Consulates in India

	U.S Embassy			U.S Consulate
	Shanti Path,			5/1 Ho Chi Minh Sarani,
	Chanakyapuri			Calcutta 700071
	N.Delhi 110021			91+??+44-3611
	91+11+600651

	U.S Consulate			U.S Consulate
	Lincoln House			Gemini Circle Mount Road
	78 Bhulabhai Desai Road,	Madras 600006
	Bombay 400026			91+44+473-040
	91+22+8223611

  The U.S Consulate in Calcutta no longer handles Immigrant Visa
Cases. The job is now taken up by the Bombay consulate. 


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Subject: 17)	Visa Cutoff Date Phone Numbers
	
	Visa Cutoff Date Announcement 	(202) 663-1541
	Visa Information		(202) 663-1225
	Online Visa Information
	via PC				(202) 647-92255












Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian