For the United States, reducing the wait time for US visas for Indians is the “number one priority”, the new US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said, according to reports.

Mr Garcetti is taking charges at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started preparations to fly to the US on a state visit on June 22. US President Joe Biden is also expected to visit India later this year to attend the G20 summit in Delhi.

“I am very excited to be the ambassador here not only when Prime Minister Modi will come to the US but President Biden will be able to come here as well. That’s historic. I am not sure if this has happened before, both leaders visiting each other’s country in a gap of just months,” Mr Garcetti told NDTV in an exclusive interview on Thurdsay.

On a question whether he would be looking into the issue of long wait time for US visa, Mr Garcetti said, “Absolutely, and the President said, ‘Eric, go fix this’. It’s not just a 10th or 11th priority. It’s the number one priority for me.”

“I think visas touch Indians more directly than anything else that America does. And it’s a good problem to have. More and more Indians want to come to the United States, to study, as tourists… We are committed to solving this problem,” the US Ambassador said.

“Already, wait times (for visa) are down 60 per cent since the beginning of the year. In January, February and March, we processed a record number of visas. Last year the largest source of student visas came from India than any other country. Hold on, in the next few weeks, when our leaders meet, you will get many announcements. And even before that we are prepared for the student visa season and already the wait time is getting shorter and shorter. We want more Indians to continue to come to America,” Mr Garcetti said.

The US is on track to issue more than a million visas to Indians this year, a top official had said in April. The US is also prioritising H-1B and L visas, the most sought-after by information technology professionals from India, Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, had said in April.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

Mr Garcetti, while talking about India’s G20 presidency amid the war in Ukraine, told NDTV that India’s G20 presidency is “impressive” as “India is a bridge between the past and the future, between east, west, north, south”.

“We stand with India on those aspirations to make sure G20 is not just about the war in Ukraine. We won’t stop speaking out strongly about an unprovoked invasion by Russia. I am sure Indians understand how important borders and sovereignty are. At the same time we know there are relationships that have been there for decades,” he told the television network.

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This is for the first time in the institute’s 62- year history that it gave away medals, awards and degrees to the virtual avatars of the students.

Students along with the chief guest Nobel Prize winner Professor Duncan Haldane couldn’t congregate for the convocation, they attended the ceremony through their digital avatars on a virtual stage.

Over 2000 students participated in the ceremony from the safety of their homes and had their e-avatars walk up the dais to receive medals and degrees from the virtual avatars of dignitaries and the director.

IIT Bombay holds its 58th convocation ceremony;

Awards Degrees to Students' Virtual avatars.@iitbombay pic.twitter.com/QGnercGhD2

— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) August 23, 2020

It took a team of around 20 people over two months to put together the glorious ceremony. Apart from the convocation, IIT Bombay also virtually connected the students with friends and organized viewing of hostel videos.

Students virtually walked through their departments and loitered in the corridors too.
In June, IIT Bombay became the first major institute to scrap all face to face lectures for the rest of the year.

While many were impressed with the idea there were many who thought the quality of animation could be much better. Here are a few reactions:

A result of too much bargaining with the creativity firm.

— Pawan Dalal 🇮🇳 (@_pd5) August 23, 2020

WTH is this? Complete wastage of resources. It is as good as sending everything through email.

— 🌿 Wandering🌿 (@iprashantvns) August 23, 2020

Nice creativity

— V.Aravinda Rajan (@VAravindaRajan1) August 23, 2020

This is so cool 😂

— Richa Naja Jain (@RichaNaja) August 23, 2020

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The top Court said that there needs to be clarity in scheme as the delay in conducting exams will clash with admission process of universities. The court told the Centre that favorable conditions may vary from state to state and hence, the Centre must consider when they will revisit their decision, may be after a month.

The Supreme Court of India was hearing a plea filed by some parents whose children were to appear in the CBSE board exams. The parents had said in the plea that the board students could be exposed to COVID-19 infection if they appear for exams amid rising number of coronavirus cases in India. The top court had on June 17 asked the CBSE to consider cancelling the pending class 10th and 12th board examinations and allot marks on the basis of internal assessment.The CBSE board exam was postponed due to the coronavirus lockdown. However, on May 18, the Ministry of Human Resource Development released a revised time table for the pending board exams.

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“Studies have revealed alarming data regarding the suicide of students across the country.To prevent depression,behavioural problems,stress etc.we are launching this initiative for students.The education department will also partner in this project,”the Minister said.

She said that the state has already counselled over 5 lakh people at homes in and in isolation wards through phones.The project will be implemented on three levels –Anganwadi and Asha Workers,school counsellors,online and phone counsellors.“First,Anganwadi and Asha workers will be given the checklist for fieldwork to counsel in-person.Second,we will be using the service of existing school counsellors who are well-aware of the students in a particular school and third,we will be using the help of online and phone counsellors.”A helpline number‘1056-Disha Number’is provided.Both parents and students can call on this number for counselling.

A high-level committee would collect data regarding student suicides and would chalk out plans to prevent it.“It is a serious issues that needs attention.Suicide prevention will be given priority in the state particularly in the backdrop of COVID-19,”the Minister said.

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