Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi of India

Vayalar Ravi was born in 1937 in Vayalar, a village inAlappuzha District inKerala,to a middle-class family.

Ravi was born in Vayalar, Alappuzha District, Kerala.

Ravi was elected to the 5th Lok Sabha in 1971 from Chirayinkil in Thiruvanathapuram district; he was re-elected to the 6th Lok Sabha in 1977, serving until 1979.

Amidst these hectic political activities Vayalar Ravi remains engaged and excited.

Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi is in anguish because he is being asked to prove that his faith in Hinduism is genuine.

Ravi married Maria Francis some four decades ago.

RIYADH, 6 May 2006 — Visiting Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has a full plate of problems when he meets Minister of Labor Ghazi Al-Gosaibi here on Tuesday.

Shri Ravi was married to Mrs Mercy Ravi in the year 1969, who is also a writer and a political activist.

Ravi was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971 from Chrayinkil in Thiruvananthapuram District.

Ravi is a well-known trade union leader of Kerala.

A post graduate and a bachelor of law, Shri Ravi is an excellent orator and a profolic writer and an outstanding parliamentarian.

Ravi is a staunch Nehruvian and a believer of ‘reforms with a human face.

His wife, Mercy Ravi is a member of the Kerala Assembly.

Ravi said there was no room for any controversy over the secret letter by the Bush administration to House Foreign Affairs Committee since the Prime Minister told Parliament that India retained the right to conduct nuclear tests.

Senior Congress leader Vayalar Ravi is going to court with a defamation suit against the authorities of the famous Guruvayoor Sri Krishna temple in Kerala for holding a purification rite (punyaham) in the temple after Mr Ravi`s son Ravikrishnan offered prayers there with his wife soon after their marriage.

The Thanthri, head priest, justified his decision saying that Mr Ravi`s son is not a Hindu as his mother Mercy Ravi is a Christian.

Ravi found the going difficult caught as he was between his own ambition and that of Mr.

Ravi has maintained his own individuality in Congress politics, fearlessly expressing his views and making his mark as a thinking politician.

His personal initiatives notwithstanding, there are several other reasons why Mr Ravi was considered for this position.

Ravi said he would speed up the procedure for granting voting rights to Non Resident Keralites and raise their issues actively with the central government.

Thrissur: Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has said that expansion of the United Democratic Front is not on the cards.

Thrissur: Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Vayalar Ravi has said that the Church has played an important role in ensuring social justice for the downtrodden in society.

ALAPPUZHA: Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Vayalar Ravi said here on Sunday that CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat should clarify to the public and the cadres on why the party had earlier “declared” Mayawati as a.

Ravi married Mercy Ravi, a political activist as well as a writer, in 1969.

Ravi was elected to the KPCC in 1967 and became an AICC member.

Ravi had refused to contest in the 1970 Assembly elections in Kerala when Antony and Chandy became the youngest MLAs.

Ravi was again elected to the Kerala Assembly in 1987.

Ravi is a widely travelled person and has represented India three times at the United Nations General Assembly.

Ravi is also a well-known trade union leader of Kerala.

A postgraduate and a bachelor of law, Ravi is an excellent orator, a prolific writer and an outstanding parliamentarian whose knowledge of constitutional matters is legendary.

He was one of my oldest friends since I met him in the early 1980s and we were in regular touch for about 25 years,' Ravi said in a message.

More so, a man of the ilk of Vayalar Ravi is bound to do justice not just to the non-resident Keralites (NRKs) but look seriously at the problems faced by all Indians working in the Gulf.

Everyone from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the friendly neighbourhood grocer in Matar Kadeem would know why Ravi was given the post and what he was supposed to do or say.

Ravi says that, to begin with, the Pravasi Centres would be set up in the Gulf states, European countries and the United States, where the bulk of Indian expatriates were working.

Ravi says he expects that the embassies would give their suggestions to ensure that those working abroad would not be victims of labour law violations.

New York, Sep 24 - The role of Indian Americans in the country's economic growth has been below potential and much of the inward remittances in India have come from the Gulf, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi has said.

New Delhi, Jan 31 Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi is set to leave on a four-nation European tour Wednesday night.

The rising costs of living combined with fall in the value of the dollar has severely eroded the real wages that an overseas worker receives," Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said here.

Ravi was speaking at the fourth ministerial consultation on overseas employment and contractual labour for countries of origin and destination in Asia.

Ravi said labour laws in Gulf countries do not cover a large number of workers in the Gulf who work in farms and households.

Ravi praised Yemen’s minister of labour and social affairs.

25 million overseas Indians Ravi said that there are about 25 million Indians all over the world.

ProfileShri Vayalar Ravi was born in 1937 in Vayalar, a village in Alappuzha District in Kerala, to a middle-class family.

Ravi was married to Mercy, a writer and political activist, in the year 1969.

Now a Rajya Sabha member and Union Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Ravi has also served as AICC (All India Congress Committee) General Secretary and KPCC (Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee) President.

Vayalar Ravi was considered a young and dynamic leader since his entry into politics.

Though a key figure of the anti-Karunakaran axis for long, Ravi had a brief stint in the Karunakaran camp in early 1990s.

Stockhom, 22 Dec (IANS) Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi expressed satisfaction over his three-day visit to Sweden Friday.

Ravi met several Swedish ministers.

Ravi said the veteran politician's comments had come after 33 long years.

Kochi, Dec 15 : Entry of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) into the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala is not on the Congress agenda, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said today.

Asked if the issue would be discussed during the debate on the political resolution at the ongoing state conference of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) here, Mr Ravi said only topics mentioned in the political resolution would be discussed and this was not on the agenda.

Asked about the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) improved performance in the state assembly elections recently, Mr Ravi said this was only because of the BSP's tie-up with the Left parties.

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said Friday that he would persuade the external affairs ministry to take up the case of Indian fashion designer Anand Jon, who faces sexual impropriety cases in the US.

Speaking to reporters here, Ravi said from the multiplicity of new cases cropping up in New York and Florida it seemed that the designer is being framed.

His family had reportedly approached the minister for help last year after which Ravi had asked Indian diplomats in the US to provide consular help to the fashion designer.

Citing projects sanctioned by the centre including the Vallarpadam Container terminal project, Vizhinjam port and rail coach factory in Palakkad, Ravi said most of the projects got sanction due to timely intervention by him and Defence Minister A.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Centre would take all steps to reduce the air fares in the Kerala-Gulf sector, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said here today.

ANICentre keeping close watch on violence against ChristiansUnion Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Vayalar Ravi has assured Christian leaders here that the government is keeping a close vigil on the recent spate of violence against the community in some parts of the country.

Ravi said the Orissa government had failed to stop a terror organisation like Bajrang Dal, a radical Hindu group, from carrying out attacks on Christians.

New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has strongly criticized sections of the media for their criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs recent speech in which he had called upon corporate India to curb fat salaries for top executives and avoid conspicuous consumption.

KOCHI: Measures are being taken to make offices of the Protector of Emigrants (PoE) more accessible to people, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has said.