US President Donald Trump has extended the freeze on the most sought-after H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas by three months to protect American workers, saying while therapeutics and COVID-19 vaccines are recently available, their effect on the labour market and community health has not yet been fully realised. The decision will impact a large number of Indian IT professionals and several American and Indian companies who were issued H-1B visas by the US government for the fiscal year 2021 beginning October 1. The freeze on various categories of work visas was ordered by Trump through two proclamations on April 22 and June 22 last year.
Kharge said the leaders of INDIA parties have come together as democracy is under threat under the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former foreign minister and vice-chairman of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party was arrested again on Tuesday, moments after being released from a prison in Rawalpindi on the orders of a top court.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
India has voiced deep concern over the deteriorating security situation and large-scale loss of civilian life in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, urging the parties to work towards creating conditions necessary for peace and restarting direct negotiations through de-escalation and ending violence.
The interim government in Pakistan's Punjab province on Wednesday claimed that some '30 to 40' terrorists are hiding at the Lahore residence of former prime minister Imran Khan, giving him an ultimatum of 24 hours to hand them over or face stern action.
This is not a new rule, but very few people know about it.
Qatar will be the first team since Italy in the second World Cup in 1934 to participate in the finals for the first time as a host without having previously qualified for the tournament.
It said the decision was a result of the United States government's 'pro-growth economic agenda'.
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.
Assuming we still have a Modi-led majority government after May 2024, there is no guarantee that reforms will move at anything more than a snail's pace, though we must be thankful even for that, notes R Jagannathan.
"Which foreign powers may be interested in taking advantage of unrest and instability in Manipur? Does the geopolitics of south east Asia also have a role in these events," he asked.
The proclamation that comes into effect on June 24, is expected to impact a large number of Indian IT professionals and several American and Indian companies who were issued H-1B visas by the US government for the fiscal year 2021 beginning October 1.
Two US lawmakers have introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that aims at granting an automatic right to H-4 visa holders to work in the country, a move which will benefit the spouses of thousands of foreigners, including Indians, and also address the labour shortage affecting American businesses. H-4 visas are issued to dependent spouses and children who accompany H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3 visa holders to the United States. Many H-4 visa holders are highly skilled people in their own right and previously had careers of their own or worked to support their families.
'The BJP had won elections when the Akhlaq issue and award wapsi happened and the party will win this time too,' he said.
Recognition of educational qualifications acquired abroad will send a strong message to foreign specialists and skilled workers that 'you are highly valued, appreciated and respected in this country,' Federal Minister for Education Annette Schavan said.
Lack of trust in employers has often led Chinese workers to balk at takeovers they fear will worsen employment conditions.
Human resources minister Datuk S Subramaniam said there are around 1,50,000 Indians living in Malaysia 'illegally' and both the Malaysian and Indian governments are taking steps to reduce the number.
Pawar also announced a panel of senior party leaders to draw a future course of action. Party workers and leaders, however, demanded that Pawar withdraw his decision.
"Those who do not return by 25th September will have to make their own arrangements for boarding, lodging and return journey," Swaraj said in a tweet.
In remarks that angered Israel, Guterres had told the Security Council ministerial meeting on Tuesday on the Israel-Hamas conflict that it is "important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum."
In his valedictory address at the two-day National Executive meeting of the BJP in the national capital on Tuesday, Modi spoke about areas where the party needs to be strengthened ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
What's different this time is that global financial stress -- which has its genesis in four policy choices made in recent years -- is juxtaposed with a more resilient real economy, observes Sajjid Z Chinoy, chief India economist at J P Morgan.
While the US government did not reveal the nationality of the arrested people, names released by authorities indicate that 10 of them are either Indians or of Indian-origin.
The USCIS announcement indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.
Algerian commandos are pursuing Islamic militants who are believed to be still holding a number of foreign hostages at a remote gas facility in Algeria. "The operation is still going on," British Prime Minister David Cameron said, 36 hours after Algerian special forces stormed the complex, in which Algerian authorities said four foreign workers and 18 militants have been killed.
A Silicon Valley IT company in the US has been ordered to pay $40,000 in back wages to eight Indian workers who worked up to 122 hours a week and received as little as $1.21 an hour.
Qin, who recently succeeded Wang Yi, had a phone call at the request of Bilawal on January 9, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement in Beijing said on Tuesday.
Nearly 5,000 workers in Malaysia, including foreigners, will be retrenched by 137 employers in the next three months as the global economic recession hits the country, Human Resources Minister S Subramaniam said in Kuala Lumpur.
Reopening the country to people seeking green cards, or legal permanent residence, Biden in his proclamation on Wednesday said that the policy of former US President Donald Trump does not advance the interests of the United States.
Twenty six former employees of the Shenzhen-based Chloride Phoenixtec Electronics Company in southern Guangdong Province had appealed to the city's labour arbitration authority, demanding that the company compensate them for insults and for the unfair dismissal of seven of them, state run Global Times reported on Tuesday.
Union minister Smriti Irani reacted furiously to the Congress leader's barb at the prime minister over the Rafale purchase and the tense situation in Manipur.
Inaugurating the solidarity rally, Venugopal, a Rajya Sabha MP, strongly condemned the war unleashed by Israel in Gaza and their attacks against hospitals and refugee camps there.
As of now, foreign employees applying for withdrawal of provident funds are required to open bank accounts in India.
Foreign firms that have made huge investments in China to take advantage of its cheap labour resources watched warily as Japanese car major Honda struggled to open its plants even a week after workers resorted to a flash strike.
Sex workers in Kolkata's largest red light area Sonagachi have been asked by an NGO, working for their welfare, not to entertain Africans who are regular visitors to the place in the wake of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
In yet another immigration-friendly move that would benefit thousands of Indian-American women, the Biden administration has agreed to provide automatic work authorisation permits to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, most of whom are Indian IT professionals.
Amid fierce battles between Gaddafi's troops and rebels on the eastern frontline of Ajdabiyah on Monday, nearly 1,000 foreign workers and wounded Libyans were evacuated from the besieged western city of Misurata that was pounded by the government forces.
In sectors like IT, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, and transportation, the H-1B One Workforce grant programme would be used to upskill the present workforce and train a new generation of workers.
