Despite recent developments that have accelerated the impending extradition of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, who has been in custody in London's Wandsworth Prison for over two years, the last month has seen his uncle Mehul Choksi dominate the headlines instead with his circus-like exhibition in the Caribbean that has involved red herrings such as a "girlfriend", to whom his wife seemed to have no objection, and possibly concocted stories of being kidnapped and manhandled. Choksi was widely regarded as Modi's Svengali in Mumbai when he returned from Belgium to expand his business. He had fled to Antigua well before news around how Modi finagled thousands of crores from Punjab National Bank (PNB) and other institutions through a series of allegedly coordinated and fraudulent actions involving letters of undertaking, or LoUs.
Experts said this would not only reduce Infosys' dependence on the H1B visa, which has seen increased restrictions under the current US administration. It will also help the company in building an employee pyramid for its future operations.
"In terms of local taxes, in terms of local small business productivity, local large business competitiveness, their educational outcomes, their entrepreneurial work, that's what matters," the Microsoft CEO said.
With accurate strategies you can create an online presence, reach out to employers and maximise your chances of getting employed.
The OF saga has led to sex-workers looking at cryptocurrency as an alternative, notes Devangshu Datta.
E-commerce companies managed to beat the odds by adopting a flexible approach in terms of transforming their business models and leveraging emerging technologies. They had to constantly align their objectives with evolving customer needs. With companies hiring thousands of temporary workers, expanding to smaller cities, and launching new products, e-commerce giants gird up to celebrate the peak festival season without Covid restrictions after a three-year time-out.
India's largest IT company Tata Consultancy Services will consider acquisitions in Europe and plans to increase headcount at its Latin American and Chinese operations to 1,000.
Aseem Chhabra presents his list of 10 international films that mattered to him, stories that he connected with and characters that gave him a better understanding of the human condition.
Zendaya wins. Sheryl Lee Ralph makes history. Micheal Keaton delivers a beautiful speech.
The Biden administration on Friday issued a formal notification to delay the implementation of the previous Trump regime's controversial rule to raise mandatory minimum pay for foreign workers on H-1B visa, the most sought after among Indian IT professionals. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The Department of Labour in its federal notification published on Friday said that it is considering whether to propose a further delay of the final rule's effective date and accompanying implementation periods that are currently scheduled to take effect on May 14, 2021, and July 1, 2021, respectively.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first-ever in-person meeting with President Joe Biden raised a number of issues involving the Indian community in America, including access for Indian professionals in the US and speaking about the H-1B visas, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said.
Tulsidas Balaram, who passed into the ages last week, was a member of the Indian football team which reached the semis at the Olympics and won an Asian Games gold medal.
'These experiences were necessary for my journey.'
The Pakistan army is staring at the greatest, scariest, existential threat to its power in their country. This threat has come from a populist riding democratic power, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Some foreign guest workers in the US will be able to re-submit their applications for the H1-B visa, the most sought-after non-immigrant visa among Indian IT professionals, if their petition was solely rejected because it was based on the initial registration period, according to a federal agency. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such re-submission of applications is for those whose applications have been rejected or administratively closed solely because the requested start date was after October 1, 2020. The H-1B visa allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
Several individuals and organisations, including the US Chambers of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration's recent rules related to the H-1B visa, terming them "arbitrary" and "haphazard" regulations that will undermine high skilled immigration into America. Early this month, the Trump administration announced new restrictions on H-1B non-immigrant visa programme which it said is aimed at protecting American workers, restoring integrity and to better guarantee that H-1B petitions are approved only for qualified beneficiaries and petitioners, a move which is likely to affect thousands of Indian IT professionals.
The coming together of the Quad and the Australia-UK-US grouping would be a formidable adversary, moving toward the creation of a 'thousand ship navy' that reins in the PLA navy in the Indo-Pacific.
Urvashi Vaid dreamed of a common movement for social justice that could address them all: Racism, gender oppression and homophobia. Sandip Roy salutes the memory of Urvashi Vaid, one of America's most prominent LGBT activists, who passed into the ages this month.
Among IT services firm, Cognizant witnessed over 60 per cent of its initial applications rejected, followed by Capgemini, Accenture, Wipro, and Infosys. In 2018, the top six Indian firms got just 16 per cent or 2,145 H1B work permits.
Reskill and Restart - powered by Infosys Wingspan - takes job seekers on a guided journey, beginning with aptitude and skills assessment, followed by curated job-specific skills training, and culminating in matching them with available positions.
Even though North America still accounts for 60 per cent of Infosys's revenue, the company is starting to see good growth in Europe, which contributes around 25 per cent to the company's top line. Even Australia also has emerged to be a strategically important market, with a contribution of 10 per cent to the overall revenues.
Rediff reader Anmol More shared his experience.
This is expected to benefit subcontractor firms such as Manpower Group, Randstad, Adecco, Kelly Services, Allegis Global Solutions and a host of other boutique staffing firms which supply skilled manpower to technology companies in the US.
The denial rate jumped from 4% to 41% for Tech Mahindra, from 6% to 34% for TCS, from 7% to 53% for Wipro and from just 2% to 45% for Infosys.
US President-elect Joe Biden plans to increase the number of high-skilled visas, including H-1B, and eliminate the limit on employment-based visas by country, both of which are expected to benefit tens of thousands of Indian professionals impacted by some immigration policies of the outgoing Trump administration.
'I love clean air but Russia and China, you look at a map you have all these spots and India and many others are spewing it in. What do you suggest?'
'If jobs do not happen, the demographic dividend we have will become a demographic disaster.'
'These accusations of my film being a copy only makes our chances at the Academy harder.'
The OTT menu is sparkling with brand new goodies. Here are Sukanya Verma's 10 recommendations for the week.
Both have made factory jobs the centre of their economic agendas. Kanika Datta explains the practical limits to their ambitions.
From acquiring creative agencies, to setting up onsite innovation centres and turning around BFSI with entirely new digital offerings, 2018 had seen the IT industry going from initial lows to new highs.
H-1B visa reform bill introduced in US Senate
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Friday came under scathing attack from rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio who blasted the real estate mogul on his immigration stand and for hiring foreigners in his business projects, as the debate turned shriller ahead of the crucial "Super Tuesday".
The 'Protect and Grow American Jobs Act', which, makes important changes to the eligibility requirements for H1-B visa exemptions was re-introduced on Wednesday
The American Immigration Lawyers Association, which had earlier opposed the measure, described it on Friday as 'disappointing'. It argued that this would prove to be counterproductive as it prevents the US companies to hire the best available global talent. The H-1B has mostly benefitted Indian techies.
The nine-member jury found in an Oakland, California court on Wednesday that the TCS did not have a "pattern or practice" of intentionally discriminating against non-South Asian workers due to their race or national origin.
The economic downturn has wiped off thousands of jobs from hundreds of the American companies, but the same crisis has prompted the US administration to announce a massive hiring of 50,000 police personnel.
ITServe's lawsuit against the USCIS alleges that the agency has no authority to misinterpret the existing regulations and shorten the approval durations.
The OTT menu is looking hot as ever with brand new offerings. Sukanya Verma tells you what you can catch this week.
