The steep increase in visa fee of certain categories of H-1B and L1 visas was part of the $600 million border security bill signed by the US President Barack Obama, last week, to strengthen security along the US-Mexico border.
India said on Wednesday that it has conveyed its concerns to the United States over the hike in fees for H1B and L category visas and hopes for an 'early resolution' of the issue as the move was affecting Indian companies.
India has expressed concern over the hike in visa fee by the US, saying it is "discriminatory" and largely affects Indian IT professionals.
The decision to hike US H-1B visa application fee to $100,000, trade talks and the GST rate cut will be the key drivers for stock market movement this week, analysts said.
The Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta) has hiked the fees for its postgraduate programmes by Rs 25,000 from the next session to strengthen its infrastructure.
Commuters on national highways and expressways will need to pay more for their road journeys, as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has increased toll charges by an average of 4 to 5 per cent on highway sections across the country. The revised toll charges for motorists on national highways across the country have come into effect from Tuesday, a senior highways ministry official told PTI.
Tuition fee does little to even meet the institutes' operating expenses; directors differ on fee hike.
The US move comes in the midst of protests by India that the increase incorporated in the Border Security Bill is discriminatory against Indian companies and needed to be amended.
'If I have to go back, I would rather go back now because I don't want to face that situation when I'm in my 40s.' A young couple's journey through immigration uncertainty reveals not just the human cost of policy announcements, but a surprising rekindling of love for the homeland left behind.
In a first, graduating students from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) have decided to pledge Rs 200 per month in favour of the institute from their salaries for one year.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday permitted banks to increase charges on ATM cash withdrawals beyond the mandatory free monthly usage by Rs 2 to Rs 23 per transaction from May 1.
High-tech industry bodies have welcomed the move to drop a hefty $3500 fee increase in the H1B visa programme, which would also benefit Indian professionals seeking jobs in the US. Hailing the move, they said the US must retain top talent from around the world to retain America's economic leadership.
In spite of effecting a fee hike by 200 per cent, IIM-A is now running at a deficit of Rs 7-8 crore (Rs 70-80 million), against a corpus of Rs 170 crore (Rs 1.7 billion) in 2001. The institute had asked for a fund of Rs 54 crore from the government of which only Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) has been disbursed so far. Last year, IIM-A hiked fee for its flagship post graduate programme course by 200 per cent from Rs 5,50,000 to Rs 11 lakhs (Rs 1.1 million).
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net sellers of Indian equities in September, withdrawing Rs 23,885 crore (around $2.7 billion) and taking year-to-date outflow to Rs 1.58 lakh crore ($17.6 billion).
Among Sensex firms, Trent, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Eternal and ITC were the major laggards. Selling in HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also dragged the key indices. However, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and State Bank of India were among the gainers.
A bench of Justices R M Lodha and A K Patnaik, however, directed that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi shall not encash the FDR deposited towards the enhanced fee by the operators pursuant to a directive by the Delhi high court.
IIM C and IIM A have hiked their fees for post graduate programme by Rs 1 lakh.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav promised that if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar, it will ensure every family has a member with a government job, enacting legislation within 20 days of forming the government.
Fund managers queued up to grab a pie of the new pension scheme that opens for subscription on May 1. But even before the scheme is launched, they are complaining of it being a loss-making business with the investment management fee fixed at 0.009 per cent.
'New announcements are made every day which brings tremendous amount of instability and uncertainty.' 'Relying on America has become a big problem.'
The Indian team has returned from the US after holding trade talks with their American counterparts in New York, an official said on Thursday. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who led the team, will be back on Friday.
With more than 1.2 million Indians stuck in green card backlogs, investor-driven EB-5 programme sees rising interest as a secure route for migration to the US.
Most pharma shares dropped, dragging the BSE Healthcare index down by 2.14 per cent after Trump's move to impose 100 per cent import tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs from October 1. Wockhardt shares tanked 9.4 per cent.
If the measure passed by the United States Senate to virtually double the fees for issuing visas to temporary skilled workers eventually passes into law, it will be harmful to virtually everyone concerned.
Motorists using expressways will have to shell out more from Monday as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to hike tolls across the country by an average of 5 per cent. The annual revision of highway user fee, which is expected to be in the range of average 5 per cent, was earlier to come into effect on April 1. But the hike was deferred due to the Lok Sabha elections.
Or will he just repeat what we all know on the new GST rates - worked out under desperation and which become effective tomorrow?" Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
Trump's proposed policy limits undergraduates from any one country to 5% at select top US universities, raising concerns for Indian aspirants eyeing elite colleges.
India's disappointment over recent 'protectionist' measures by the United States, including increase in visa fee for IT professionals and Ohio's ban on government outsourcing, will be raised at the high level ministerial meeting in Washington on Tuesday.
Sushmita Sen is the hero of Aarya. So why won't she be paid on par with Bollywood A-listers?
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The International Air Transport Association on Tuesday criticised the increase in airport development charges imposed by Mumbai and New Delhi, saying the burden on the already beleaguered global airline industry is a 'wake up call' for the Indian government.
'The kids are already used to this place. We go back and that's a different environment.' 'So, mentally, emotionally we are stressed.'
Leading brokers are expected to increase brokerage rates in the coming weeks, as they navigate a series of regulatory changes that are expected to squeeze profitability. According to industry sources, top brokers may soon begin charging for equity trades and raise the flat fees for intra-day and derivatives trading by 10-30 per cent. Several smaller players have already hiked their brokerage charges, signalling a potential end to the zero-brokerage era that has drawn millions of new investors into the stock market and fuelled active trading.
'In 2014 the BJP built its campaign around 'jija ji' (brother-in-law) and corruption, shouting about Vadra, 2G and coal scams. Yet today, all those cases have quietly been shut. The people are not fools. They can see the reality--that Congress and BJP are in a hidden alliance'
The Biden administration has proposed a massive hike in immigration fees, including the much sought-after H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers, which is very popular among Indian tech professionals. Under the proposed rule, published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday, the application for the H-1B visa increases from $460 to $780, and L-1 from $460 to $1,385. The application fee for O-1 visas has been proposed to increase from $460 to $1,055.
The BCCI announced that domestic cricketers affected by the COVID-curtailed 2020-21 season will be paid 50 per cent additional match fee as compensation for the disruption and also hiked their remuneration for the upcoming season.
To increase the adoption of credit on United Payments Interface (UPI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is looking at an interchange fee for transactions lower than that for a credit-card transaction. Sources in the know said these charges could be 1-1.2 per cent. Fintech participants concur with the view that the interchange fee is expected to be lower than that for a credit-card transaction.
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