The US is 'putting every ounce of its energy' to eliminate the long visa wait time in India, including sending a cadre of consular officers to the country and opening up its other overseas embassies as far away as Germany and Thailand for Indian visa applicants, according to a senior US visa officer. India was one of the very few countries where applications for US visas saw a major upswing after coronavirus-related travel restrictions were lifted. There have been growing concerns in India over the long waiting period for first time visa applicants, especially for those applying under B1 (business) and B2 (tourist) categories.
The 457 visa programme, used by over 95,000 foreign workers, a majority of them Indians, was replaced on March 18 by a new Temporary Skills Shortage visa programme.
In light of the surge in COVID-19 in some countries, hospitals across India conducted a Mock drill COVID-19.
China Thursday offered to play a 'constructive role' to ease tension between Pakistan and Iran following their missile strikes against each other over the last two days and asked the two countries to 'exercise restraint and calmness and avoid escalation'.
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
Saudi Arabia relies more heavily on migrant labour than any other large country.
The government has identified 355 foreign employers who were found to be harassing Indian workers abroad, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Facing accusations of delay in placing orders for vaccines, the government on Thursday defended its vaccine procurement policy saying it has been pursuing Pfizer, J&J and Moderna since mid-2020 for the earliest possible imports, and has even waived local trials for well-established foreign vaccine makers.
Utkarsh Mishra's impressions of the Narendra Modi roadshow in Varanasi.
"I will personally on Friday, May 31 at 10 am will come before the SIT and will cooperate with the investigation and will respond to it (charges). I have faith in court and I am confident I will come out of false cases through court," Pajwal said in a video statement aired on Kannada TV channel Asianet Suvarna News.
As Ae Watan Mere Watan and Swatantra Veer Savarkar release this week, Utkarsh Mishra takes us down history and reminds us about India's freedom struggle.
The US government has removed a regulation proposed by former president Donald Trump's administration that sought to narrow the definition of "specialty occupation" under the H-1B visa regime. The change comes as a relief for Indian information technology firms, which are among the largest users of such visas. "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has formally vacated a regulation that would have redefined the H-1B specialty occupation, restricted off site placement of H-1B employees, and otherwise increased employer compliance obligations. "The vacatur follows a federal court ruling that set aside the regulation because the agency did not have good cause to bypass notice and comment rulemaking, in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act," explained immigration law firm Fragomen.
'These are people whom very few give importance and they were doing a mammoth job for the nation.'
Shiv Sena workers on Friday assaulted and blackened the face of an RTI activist at Latur in Marathwada region, after he "exposed" an illegal construction case.
The effort is to make the PM's interaction with the diaspora at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Sports city stadium on February 13 the largest he has addressed.
The electoral battle in Varanasi, according to locals and political experts, is not about whether the PM will win for a third successive occasion, but if he will increase his share of the votes polled and his win margin.
Canada will be pausing all in-person services at the consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru and is now directing all Canadians in India to the High Commission in New Delhi.
HSMP Forum, which supports and assists skilled workers in the United Kingdom, has claimed that British immigration officials humiliate, harass and abuse highly skilled Indian workers returning from foreign trips.
The alpona (artwork) on the steep, winding road leading to Makaibari bears testimony to the visit of G20 delegates for the second tourism working group meeting in April last year. The lush tea bushes, the delegates joining in for the moonlight plucking of Silver Tips Imperial first flush, a favourite of late Queen Elizabeth II, cut a picture of mystical magic. But it's not the Kurseong tea garden's only shining moment - the last few years have been busy for the estate and its bungalow.
India on Friday assured support to its nationals that law-abiding people have nothing to fear after authorities here arrested 31 Indians for alleged rioting in Singapore's worst outbreak of violence in over 40 years.
A leisure trip to Sri Lanka proved fatal for JD-S workers when the blast took place very close to the dining table as they sat for breakfast at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, one of the major targets of the deadliest terror strikes in the island nation's history, family members said.
'Not even a single rupee from the electoral bonds should be allowed to be used in the election.' 'If it is used in the election, it will taint India's electoral process itself.'
BSP VP Jai Prakash Singh Rahul Gandhi will not succeed in Indian politics because his mother was a foreigner.
All were released on $250,000 bond, the Department of Justice said.
In the reprisal attacks, several missiles struck the city of Kharkiv with two children among those injured, the Ukrainian military said.
"Such a slogan is not a political decision you can choose to take. It is about human rights and they are universal and binding around the world," Neuendorf said.
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 party would consider aligning with any party after assessing the post-poll situation, she said.
New strains of coronavirus found in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil have not been detected in Amravati, Yavatmal and Satara districts of Maharashtra where cases have spiked recently, the state government said on Friday.
Some soccer players have raised concerns over the rights of fans travelling to the event, especially LGBT+ individuals and women, whom rights groups say Qatari laws discriminate against.
The Biden administration has announced that it is delaying the H-1B policy of the previous Trump administration on allocation of the popular foreign work visas by continuing with the lottery system until December 31, 2021, to give the immigration agency more time to develop, test and implement the modifications to the registration system. On January 7, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced to do away with the traditional lottery system in deciding the successful applicants for the H-1B visas. 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.
Labour Law in Saudi Arabia has called for replacement of foreign workers in stores by Saudi nationals.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused NIA officials of attacking villagers in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP hit back at her saying that the attack on the NIA officials is Sandeshkhalli 2.0 orchestrated by the state.
Thackeray had addressed the audience as his deshbhakt and deshpremi brothers and sisters" instead of the traditional invocation of "Hindu brothers and sisters" at the Shivaji Park gathering in Mumbai.
According to the study, the proportion of foreign-born care workers overall has more than doubled over the last 10 years. Such workers care for the old and the infirm in old age homes and other nursing homes. Nationally there are 120,000 foreign-born workers in care homes or home care -- nearly a fifth of all care workers looking after the elderly. Recent migrants playing this key role have originated from India, Poland, the Philippines, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
India is one of the top three sources of international recruitment for British employers struggling to meet talent shortages, according to a major industry report.
The federal agency issued a summons to Vaibhav Gehlot (43) last week, asking him to appear before the investigating officer of the case at its headquarters on A P J Abdul Kalam Road here under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
H-1B workers have minimal skills, says Infosys whistleblower
Armoured vehicles of the Israel Defense Forces are seen during their ground operations at a location given as Gaza.
The prime minister was apparently referring to Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg's controversial 'toolkit', which she tweeted and then deleted, outlining ways in which people can participate in the farmers protest.
