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WebWeavers #8: Sites For The Prodigal Son by
Ashish Kumar
Indian goes abroad, makes it big, decides not to come
back. That's the likely story almost every NRI will tell you. But how do
they keep in touch with the vibrant Indian culture, their finances, their
friends and family back home in India? Read on and find out...
NRI Online http://www.nriol.com/
NRI
Online is an creative and extensive Web site, which focuses on
Non-Resident Indians worldwide. The Web site was instituted in 1997 by a
group of NRI professionals to help Non-Resident Indians use the Internet
and the World Wide Web to enhance their information availability and
provide a complete range of Internet services. Services offered by this
site include news and views, NRI Online exclusives [Juicy Snippets,
Featured Articles, Columnists, Poets Corner], a community, resources like
Yellow Pages, a Web Directory, classifieds, a people search, Indian baby
names[!], forex rates and NRI FAQs.
The Taj Gift Shop http://www.tajgifts.com/
Can’t
find that special gift? Try Taj Gifts, a gift shop from the Taj Group of
Hotels. This gift shop boasts of the Request-A-Gift service where members
can ask them to deliver gifts of their choice. So go right ahead and make
a request! The site also has chocolates, flowers, cakes, Indian sweets,
Philips Electronics, leather goods, ceramic, Tanishq jewellery watches,
silverware, toys and games, and also Taj holidays. All prices are
indicated in U.S dollars, and payments are accepted by credit cards,
transactions being 100% safe. Other attractions at this Web site are their
Valentine Specials which consist of heart-shaped cakes and chocolates,
silver, gold and diamond hearts, red roses and even a singing heart.
India Properties http://www.indiaproperties.com/
Indiaproperties.com
maintains a comprehensive record of real estate across India that is for
either sale or rent. This information can be easily accessed for free by
any individual at Indiaproperties.com. House-hunters need not waste
weekends searching for a house any more - on Indiaproperties.com, you can
search through thousands of listings to find your dream house. You can
also list your property requirements for a prospective owner, broker,
builder or developer to contact you. Real estate agents now have a
nationwide database of properties at their fingertips, making buying,
selling or renting property as easy as pie.
Wallet Watch http://www.walletwatch.com/
WalletWatch
can be used as your Internet-based "personal finance manager." It shows
off features like online BSE and NSE quotes, with an online portfolio
manager handling your investments ranging from equity and debentures to
fixed deposits. The concept revolves around the "My Wallet" page- this is
your customizable page for handling your investment portfolio, with
news,tickers, alerts and charts. Other services on offer include equity
watch, discussions, chats, news, market roundups, reports from research
and broking companies, daily market highlights, a daily mailer and a
search option. The Website is easy to navigate and easier to personalise.
HomeIndia http://www.homeindia.com/
Homeindia
embarked on its maiden voyage in February 1998 with its online post
service, the first in the world. This service by Homeindia enables NRI’s
to write letters to their friends and relatives from the HomeIndia.com Web
site. These messages are posted to the recipient - free of cost - by
Homeindia. Till date, they claim to have delivered about 2,00,000
messages. In recognition of their service, Homeindia was voted India's
Most Useful Website at the Indian Internet Awards. The site also has an
online gifting service which enables NRI’s to order gifts to be delivered
to recipients in India. Other services include matrimonials, jobs in
India, information services and religion. All these services are targeted
to the requirements of the online NRI community.
IndiaInfo http://www.indiainfo.com/
The
Indiainfo.com Website has a large, devoted and increasing number of fans
even though their site is pretty slow. They claim to be the first
personalized Indian portal to provides India-related content in the form
of real-time news coverage, business updates and stock quotes. They also
provides a range of channels offering the latest in entertainment,
lifestyle, food and other services. Other products like mail, chat,
message boards, search engines, directories and localized content. They
also have Careerindia.com, which is a career Web site which combines
employee-employer interaction and matches job profiles with personal
skills; Thatscricket.com is just another drop in the ocean of sports Web
sites and also provides new, features and analysis.
Khoj http://www.khoj.com/
Khoj
is a popular Indian search engine, and it probably was the first. They
have a Thought For The Day, a Link Of The Day, a Recipe Of The Day and an
India Fact Of The Day. Other directory services are in the field of arts
[dance, music...], business, computing, education, entertainment,
government, news, regional information, society and culture, sports and
travel.
GlamSham http://www.glamsham.com/
A
site for Indian films and theatre. They have a photo gallery, where a few
well-known photographers have put up some of their pictures. A New Faces
section, top ten movie lists, a jukebox where you can listen to film
songs, contests and goodies such as wallpapers and calenders are some of
the other attractions available.
MarriageIndia http://www.marriageindia.com/
MarriageIndia
is a Web site dedicated to matrimony and all related tortures. You can
avail of "marriage-related products" [a subtle way to say marriage halls,
caterers, decorators et al], the matrimonial section, mahurats [for those
who believe in the magic of numbers/dates and times], marriage songs
[stuff to do the jig on] and more. In "Marriage Customs", you can also
read all about Indian marriage customs. Last but not the least, there are
classifieds for partners - if you're looking for someone to spend the rest
of your life with, search the Male Profiles or Female Profiles in the
matrimonial section. You can also submit your profile if you so wish.
And that's it for this week. Come back soon!
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Ashish Kumar
specializes in Web-related articles and can be contacted via email at arem@mantraonline.com
The views expressed
in this document are solely those of the author.
This material is copyright Ashish Kumar, 1999, and is
reproduced here with permission. Duplication withour prior permission is a
violation of law. All trademarks are copyright their respective owners.
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