The UGC has however made it clear that admission to a certain university will depend on the institute’s admissions policy for these individuals, even after appearing to CUET. Foreign nationals will still be excluded from the CUET requirement despite the new regulations because institutions are free to set their policies for admitting international students on 25% supernumerary seats.

“International candidates, NRIs, and OCI candidates may also apply for CUET (UG) 2023 and may appear in any of the cities outside of India that have been designated as exam centers. Nonetheless, all international, NRI, and OCI applicants are urged to visit the university’s website, read any pertinent policies, and follow their advice,” said UGC Chairperson M. Jagadesh Kumar.

The National Testing Agency introduced 24 exam sites outside of the country this year for the CUET, the entrance exam to the majority of central universities, including Delhi University (DU). The candidates can apply for the exam at https://cuet.samarth.ac.in/ website.

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Vedhik IAS Academy, which offers high-quality online training for civil services aspirants, opened its off campus at Kattakada near Thiruvananthapuram on January 6.

Inaugurating the centre located at Church Road in Kattakada, I B Satheesh MLA, expressed the hope that the off campus would provide opportunities for civil service aspirants from rural areas to gain access to high quality training.

“Lack of opportunities often come in the way of highly talented students from rural background gaining entry into the civil services.  If proper opportunities are provided and their confidence boosted, they will be able to excel in competitive examinations and score high ranks,” Mr. Satheesh said.

Noting that two youths from the Kattakada assembly constituency had secured high ranks in the recent civil services examination, he said institutions like Vedhik IAS Academy has a key role to play in spotting and training talented students.

Mr. N Sakthan, former Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, who was the chief guest, said the off campus of the academy would be a boon for bright students who fail to come up in life due to financial constraints and lack of opportunities.

Reverend Biju Thampy, Vice-president of New India Church of God and founder of Vision Rescue, offered prayer and blessings at the ceremony.

Akku, the first student of the Kattakada centre, was given the Vedhik Erudite Scholarship sponsored by the Young People’s Christian Association (YPCA). Akku is the first student from the transgender community at Vedhik IAS Academy.

Vedhik IAS Academy’s Marketing Vice-president Shri Simon Tharakan and Ward Member Shri Satheendran Kattakada were among those spoke.  The centre director Manoj T Kurien welcomed the gathering and Associate Director Robin Julius proposed the vote of thanks.

The academy, with presence in 14 countries including the Gulf, has 129 centres in India and abroad. It has campuses in all the Educational Districts in Kerala.

This is the third off campus of Vedhik IAS Academy in the district, other centres being located in Thiruvananthapuram city and Neyyattinkara.

The Academy recently came out with a unique package that provides civil services coaching for aspirants from class VIII till the age of 32 at a one-time registration fee of just Rs 29,999.

Besides, the institution has rolled out a Vedhik Erudite Scholarship Programme with one-school-one-IAS as the motto, assuring free training to brilliant students who are economically backward. The scheme, supported by sponsors, envisages enrollment of 10,000 boys and girls across Kerala. The beneficiaries will be selected by a panel headed by the head of the respective educational institutions.

The Kochi-headquartered Vedhik IAS Academy is helmed by India’s top retired IAS and IPS officers and distinguished academics. While the dean is Kerala’s former Director General of Police Dr Alexander Jacob, the Chancellor is Dr Babu Sebastian, former VC of MG and Kannur Universities in Kerala.

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The decision taken is in line with the long-term vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of transforming India and making the country self-reliant and technologically advanced.The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will continue to play its role, the government said, adding that the new organization will supplement it.“It’ll guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies in a friendly regulatory environment,” said Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Atomic Energy & Space.

These reforms, the government said, will allow ISRO to focus more on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions and human spaceflight programme. The Public Sector Enterprise ‘New Space India Limited (NSIL)’ will endeavor to re-orient space activities from a ‘supply driven’ model to a ‘demand driven’ model, thereby ensuring optimum utilisation of space assets.

Some of the planetary exploration missions will also be opened up to the private sector through an ‘announcement of opportunity’ mechanism, the government said.With this, the government believes that there is an opportunity for large- scale employment in the technology sector and India becoming a global technology powerhouse.

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US President Donald Trump’s move to suspend H-1B visas and other visas for this year is putting immigrants in perpetual anguish. Evidently, it is affecting the American dreams of many young Indians.

Ninety per cent of applicants for the H-1B visa are from India. 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. It would also impact a large number of Indian IT professionals who are seeking renewal of their H-1B visas. There are a total of over 4.5 lakh H-1B visa holders and majority of them are Indians.

A twitter user with the name H1BimmigrantAnshu Sharma, who runs a company in the US, tweeted,“Banning all H1B visas means CEOs like me have to open offices and hire more people in countries like Canada that allow immigration. The visa ban is morally wrong and economically stupid. What happened to being “for legal immigration”?

India’s apex IT body NASSCOM said H-1B Visa ban is misguided and harmful to the US economy. The IT body said in a statement that the new proclamation will prevent our companies and thousands other organisations from accessing the talent they need from overseas.

A Grim future for Tech Companies?

The business leaders fiercely opposed the move saying that it will block their ability to recruit critically needed workers from countries overseas. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said on Twitter he was “disappointed” and that “we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all.” “Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Disappointed by today’s proclamation-we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all,” Pichai said.

About three-quarters of H-1B visas go to people working in the technology industry. According to the state department, the number of non-immigrant visas issued in 2019 declined for the fourth consecutive year, to 8.7 million from 10.9 million in 2015.CompTIA, a trade group that represents big tech companies like Amazon and Google parent company Alphabet Inc. said the move would deal a lasting blow to the economy.

Nandini Nair, an immigration partner at Greenspoon Marder, said to a media,“Many spent thousands of dollars filing paperwork for each H-1B visa applicant. They expended all of this money and planned their budgets and workforce capabilities on these visas and that’s now shot,” Nair said.Many workers have been unable to travel since the coronavirus pandemic shut borders across the world. “A lot of these workers are now prisoners in the U.S. because they don’t have a valid visa stamp in their passport,if they go, they can’t come back in,” Ms. Nair said.

Creating Opportunities for talents within the country

On the contrary, VikramAhuja, Co-Founder of Talent 500 by ANSR believes this is the exact opportunity to explore the potential of Indian companies and talent within the country.“We think this is a fantastic opportunity for the growth of Global Capability Centers (GCC’s) which allows global companies to access top talent and build teams where they are.GCC’s in India have grown at 50% year-on-year and have emerged as the strongest growth-driver for the Indian IT Industry,” he said.

He also said that H-1B will impact a lot of deserving professionals from accessing well deserved opportunities, “but at the same time is a terrific opportunity for talent to access newer opportunities which will come up in India due to enterprises needing to build great team irrespective of where they are,” Vikram Ahuja said.

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DUBAI 08/06/2020

Expatriate workers in Oman will not face a two-year work ban in the Sultanate if they switch jobs from one company to another, provided they furnish proof that their work contract has ended or they have been terminated. The decision, issued by the Royal Oman Police on June 7, will be published in the Official Gazette and implemented in January 2021.

Lieutenant General Hassan Bin Mohsin Al Shraiqi, Inspector-General of Police and Customs, announced that some provisions of the executive regulations of the Law on the Residence of Foreigners will be amended.

Article No 1 says: “Article 24 of the executive regulations of the Law on the Residence of Foreigners is replaced by the following text: “It is permissible for a foreigner to transfer from one employer to another, provided the employer has a licence to recruit workers, on condition that they provide proof of the end of work contract or termination of it. They must also provide evidence of the approval of the competent government authority on allowing the signed contract with the second employer and it must be in accordance with the controls set by the competent authority. “The transfer of an expat’s residency shall result in the transfer of the residence of his family members to the second employer, if the conditions necessary for his residency are met.”

He said that until the procedures for transferring the residence are completed, the first employer will be responsible with regard to everything related to the residence of the expatriate.

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