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Syed Zia ur Rehman, Editor and CEO of yahind.com. ©Gulf News

A website that serves the many needs of non-resident Indians

Syed Zia ur Rehman, the man behind www.yahind.com, was in Dubai recently to look into the possibility of setting up offices of the website in the emirate.

The website provides extensive information about a wide range of topics to non-resident Indians (NRIs). The Indian Embassy and Indian Consulate General's offices in Saudi Arabia have accredited yahind.com and provide regular updates about relevant information.

Launched three years ago during the visit of Indian minister Jaswant Singh to Saudi Arabia, the website soon found a mention in the international media.

"NRIs from the Gulf as well as from USA, Canada, Australia and European countries became aware of it and found it to be interesting and useful. Since then it has been recording thousands of hits every day. It is the first NRI community portal with many related links so that anyone visiting the site saves time," claims Syed.

"I am aware that not all NRIs own a computer. Many have to go to Internet cafes and pay by the hour to access Internet. Time is of paramount importance to them," he added. Though he has had to invest money from his own savings, he hopes the venture will break even in the near future.

"At present, 20 people from all over the Gulf contribute to yahind.com, and have helped me enrich the site without expecting any returns," said Syed. A computer programmer from Hyderabad, India, he conceptualised the website and worked on it for almost four years before it came to fruition.

"In the early stages, I used to work for five to six hours daily after I came home from work. Later, the overwhelming response of users to the website became my driving force," said Syed, who works as an executive director of a company in Riyadh.

A remarkable person with a passion for knowledge, he has a masters degree in Public Administration and a diploma in Internet Programming from India, a diploma in Small Business Management from the USA. He has also completed a course in journalism from UK.

Syed has ensured that yahind.com is approved by Net Nanny and has refrained from including pop-up banners that can become very irritating to the user.