The US Citizenship Act 2023 introduced by Congresswoman Linda S nchez creates an earned roadmap to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants, providing Dreamers, TPS holders, and some farmworkers with an immediate path to citizenship.
In a huge relief for H-1B visa holders, a White House-backed bipartisan deal has been unveiled under which automatic work authorisation would be granted to about 100,000 H-4 visa holders, who are spouses and children of a certain category of H-1B visa holders. The National Security Agreement that was announced on Sunday after long negotiations between the Republican and the Democratic leadership in the US Senate also provides a solution to about 250,000 aged-out children of H-1B visa holders. The move comes as good news for hundreds and thousands of Indian technology professionals who are waiting in a painstakingly long wait for a Green Card, in the absence of which their spouses cannot work and their aged-out children face the threat of deportation.
The US House of Representatives and the Senate on Tuesday passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included key components of Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi's resolution language urging the Chinese government to end its military aggression against India along the LAC.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Friday backed the proposed data privacy and cryptocurrency bills, saying India is putting in place the most forward-looking policies and regulations. Ambani, who has been a votary of Indians owning and controlling their own data and the nation drafting strict rules around how digital information is stored and shared, said nations have the right to build and protect strategic digital infrastructure. Stating that data is the 'new oil', he said every citizen's right to privacy has to be safeguarded. "India is putting in place the most forward-looking policies and regulations," he said at the Infinity Forum, hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
"Critical data which has to be resided in India is an important component that needs to be clarified, as this will be arguably uncovered on an ad hoc basis as we move forward."
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by residents of Sonipat seeking opening of the roads connecting Delhi and Haryana at Singhu border here, which have been blocked by farmers protesting against three agri laws and asked the petitioners to approach the High Court.
One fallout of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification will be reflected in the Opposition's role in Parliament and related institutions.
Called the US Citizenship Act of 2021, the legislation modernises the immigration system, and also proposes to eliminate the per country cap for employment-based green cards, a move that would benefit thousands of Indian IT professionals whose current wait period for legal permanent residency runs into several decades.
Addressing soldiers in Lepcha after celebrating Diwali with security personnel stationed near the border, Modi said the circumstances of the world are such that the expectations from India are constantly rising.
The deal was, however, dismissed by the Democrats as a 'non-starter'.
Nadella's visit comes at a time when the Indian government is taking a strong position on issues like data localisation and tightening the rules for e-commerce companies as well as social media platforms.
The bill now heads to the White House for President Donald Trump's approval.
On Sunday, Rajya Sabha passed the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
The 'ghar wapsi' was marked with celebratory atmosphere at Ghazipur border, where protestors, chiefly members and supporters of the Tikait family-led Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), danced to patriotic and regional tunes hailing the farming community.
'The cabinet approval is a logical step. It doesn't hold any more significance than what we have already stated on November 19.'
However, members requested the government and the presiding officers of both the House to end the proceedings early citing the festive season and New Year celebrations ahead.
In his reply to a letter written by Dhankhar, Kharge said the Chairman's letter 'unfortunately justifies the autocratic and arrogant attitude of the Government towards Parliament'.
The world needs to wake up to this new dimension of war at sea and be prepared to face the 'unknown enemy' who have the advantage of attacking at their choice of location and time, cautions Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The Bill provides for according Indian citizenship to the the Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 years even if they do not possess any document.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
'...helping the government, citizens, and companies get the balance right.' 'As great as technology is, these are societal questions, not just technical ones.'
'The government till now said that we did not want a meeting, now that we have specifically told them when, where and what of the meeting, there is no response from them'
In a major move that will benefit hundreds and thousands of Indian IT professionals in America, the Biden administration has introduced an ambitious immigration bill in Congress which among other things proposes to eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based green cards.
India is unlikely to join the ongoing negotiations for a plurilateral deal on e-commerce at the World Trade Organization (WTO), notwithstanding a change in stance on data localisation and cross-border flow of data. Under the new draft digital personal data protection (DPDP) Bill, put out on Friday for public consultation, the government has proposed free cross-border flow of data with 'friendly' nations, significantly easing its earlier stance on data localisation. India has so far stayed out of a group of 87 countries, including the US, European Union, China, and Japan that are negotiating trade-related aspects on e-commerce since December 2017.
The United States Senate has passed the landmark comprehensive immigration reform bill that will provide a pathway to citizenship to some 11 million illegal immigrants, including over 240,000 Indians.
'We want to send a notice to the BJP that Rajputs are no longer their slaves.'
The letter by Singh, who is camping at the Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida along with his faction members since December 2, came as protestors marked the birth anniversary of former prime minister and farmers' leader Chaudhary Charan Singh.
Even as outsourcing demand from Europe revives after the debt crisis, data protection regulations in the region governing trans-border data flows could hurt the $108 billion Indian IT-ITeS industry.
An industry representative and an academician had expressed their reservations during the deliberations, says Srikrishna
'To treat a Hindu fleeing persecution and certain death in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan on par with a Muslim voluntarily sneaking into India for economic reasons or otherwise is callously cruel, blatantly perverse and grossly unjust.' 'The concept of equality cannot be invoked to perpetuate a historical wrong that needs to be righted,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
The Centre has summoned to New Delhi the chief secretaries and directors general of police (DGPs) of Assam and Mizoram for a meeting on Wednesday while the restive inter-state border was calm, a day after armed clashes left six dead and over 50 injured, officials said.
Trump has refused to sign any stopgap spending bill that does not has provisions to fund a wall along the US-Mexico border which he says is essential to stop the flow of illegal immigrants.
Why do we need a cure here for peculiarly Western diseases when we don't have those diseases, and which the West itself is not trying to cure, asks Debashis Basu.
The ruling Congress is seeking to retain power in Chhattisgarh by banking on the welfare schemes of the Bhupesh Baghel government, while the Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to corner it on the issues of alleged corruption, religious conversions and unfulfilled poll promises.
'If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,' Trump said.
The farmers lifted blockades on highways at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders and took out a 'Victory March' to celebrate the repeal of three contentious farm laws and the Centre's written assurance to fulfil their other demands, including constituting a committee for legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
He is currently on a two-day swing to the crucial State of Iowa. On January 15, Iowa would kick off the 2024 Republican presidential primary season.
The government will have to move a bill in Parliament to repeal the three agri laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year, Constitution and legal experts said on Friday.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, has organised protests in different states on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the farmers' movement against three central farm laws.
Bihar became the first non-NDA state and overall second after the BJP-ruled Assam to pass GST bill.
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