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.

The post US keen on reducing waiting period for visas for Indians appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

It was on September 22 that the International Space Station (ISS) performed an avoidance manoeuver to avoid a collision from small space junk. Soon after the incident, Nasa revealed that the manoeuver was made possible by a joint operation by the Russian and US flight controllers, and the space agency urged better management of space debris to world countries. And now, a new report has suggested that 75 per cent of space debris in the space is unknown objects.

The new study suggested that satellite-threatening debris in the high-earth orbit is not tracked closely enough, and it could negatively impact the functioning of satellites that are responsible for serving multifarious things on the earth that includes navigation, communication, and weather services.

Human-made trash has been steadily increasing in the orbit since the 1950s as it was during this time that humans started launching satellites. According to space experts, orbital debris comprises old, defunct satellites and, rockets that were used to take these satellites to the earth’s orbit.

“It’s important that we continue to observe the geosynchronous region with large telescopes wherever possible, to start to build up a more complete feel for the faint debris environment. With this survey, we’ve probed deeper than ever before, and still, the population appears to be climbing as our sensitivity limit is reached. While we’re dealing with small number statistics here, it’s unsurprising that we see many more small, faint objects than large, bright ones,” said James Blake, a PhD student at the University of Warwick Department of Physics and the lead author of the study.

A few months back, the International Astronomical Union had slammed Elon Musk’s Starlink project, claiming that the rising number of satellites on earth’s orbit could affect star gazing. Some other space experts believe that increased space debris could trap humans on the earth, as they will be unable to conduct deep space missions in the future due to these rising trash.

The post Rising number of space debris in earth’s orbit could destroy satellites appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Mr Trump told reporters he had given his “blessing” to a partnership between TikTok and US firms Oracle and Walmart.

The president had ordered the app to be banned in the US, citing national security concerns. US security officials fear data collected by TikTok’s owner may be handed to the Chinese government.

TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has denied accusations that it is controlled by or shares data with China’s ruling Communist Party.

#WeAreTikTok and we are here to stay! pic.twitter.com/AaA8OhpvGx

— TikTok US (@tiktok_us) September 19, 2020

On September 19, Mr Trump said the deal would ensure the data of the estimated 100 million Americans who use the app was safe, telling reporters: “The security will be 100%.”

“I have given the deal my blessing,” Mr Trump said as he left the White House ahead of an election rally in North Carolina. “I approve the deal in concept.”

President Trump’support for the deal comes days after his administration said it would bar people in the US from downloading Tik Tok through any app store from Sunday.

Hence the US Department of Commerce decided that it is postponing TikTok ban until September 27. The decision was taken as the US President gave green-signal for the Oracle-Tik Tok deal.

Oracle will be TikTok’s “trusted technology provider,” meaning Oracle will house the entity’s data in its U.S. servers — a boon to a cloud computing business that has lagged behind those of Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft.

It will also get access to monitor TikTok’s source code and algorithms.

Walmart Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon will sit on Tiktok Global’s board and is discussing a commercial partnership with TikTok.

TikTok Global will likely be headquartered in Texas and will hire at least 25,000 people, Trump said, without mentioning a timeline for those hires.

ByteDance would retain a majority stake in TikTok’s assets and control the closely guarded algorithm that determines what clips users see.

The new company will hold an initial public offering in about a year.

Oracle Corp. is the winning bidder for a deal with Tik Tok’s US operations, after main rival Microsoft Corp. announced its offer of the video app was rejected.

However, the deal still needs to get the approval of China, where ByteDance. is based.
Oracle plans to take a 12.5% stake in a round of financing that would precede an IPO

TikTok also said that together, Oracle and Walmart Inc. could end up with as much as 20%.

The new company, called TikTok Global, will seek a U.S. IPO and raise a pre-IPO round of financing.

Existing Bytedance investors that could participate in the pre-IPO round include Sequoia Capital, General Altantic and Coatue Capital.

A host of other companies made proposals or considered bidding. Microsoft Corp. was rebuffed because it wanted to control all of TikTok in the U.S., a condition that didn’t sit well with Beijing.

The post Oracle TikTok deal get Trump’s blessing appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

India is among 169 nations who voted in favour of the resolution.

The Omnibus Resolution on Comprehensive and Coordinated Response to the Covid-19 pandemic was overwhelmingly adopted by the 193-member General Assembly on September 11.

The resolution acknowledges the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) “key leadership role” in responding to the outbreak, a reference the United States objected to as it opposed the resolution.

The US and Israel voted against the resolution and Ukraine and Hungary abstained. The US had accused WHO of mismanaging the COVID-19 pandemic and also siding with China.

India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu tweeted “India votes in favour of the Covid-19 omnibus resolution in the General Assembly recognising the pandemic as one of the greatest global challenges that calls for a global response based on unity, solidarity and multilateral cooperation.”

The resolution “reaffirms its commitment to international cooperation, multilateralism and solidarity at all levels and as the only way for the world to effectively respond to global crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic and their consequences, and acknowledges the key leadership role of the World Health Organisation and the fundamental role of the United Nations system in catalysing and coordinating the comprehensive global response to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The UNGA resolution also reiterated Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for a global ceasefire amid the pandemic in order to better facilitate the fight against COVID-19. The text also called for the removal of all “unjustified obstacles”, referring to the sanctions imposed on various countries, so that they could access factors needed to combat the disease outbreak.

The post India votes in favour of UNGA COVID-19 resolution appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was heading from Tehran to Beirut when the pilot staged a safety manoeuvre, in an incident that Iran’s Foreign Ministry said would be investigated.

Tensions have spiked between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when US President Donald Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and re-imposed sanctions that have battered Iran’s economy.

Iran’s official IRIB news agency quoted a passenger describing how his head had hit the roof of the plane during the change in altitude, and video showed an elderly passenger sprawled on the floor.

All the passengers left the plane, some with minor injuries. The plane arrived back in Tehran in the early hours of Friday.
The US military’s Central Command, which oversees American troops in the region, said the F-15 aircraft was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian aircraft when it passed near the Tanf garrison in Syria where US forces are present.

Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the F-15 “conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner this evening.”

“The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at Tanf garrison,” Urban said. “Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.”

He added the intercept was carried out in accordance with international standards.
The pilot of the passenger plane contacted the jet pilots to warn them to keep a safe distance and they identified themselves as American, IRIB reported.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the necessary legal and political actions would be taken, according to the ministry’s website.

Israel and the United States have long accused Mahan Air of ferrying weapons for Iranian-linked guerrillas in Syria and elsewhere.

The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

The post Close shave for Iranian passenger plane over Syrian airspace appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Protesters were carrying placards which included slogans like “Hate Has No Home Here”, “Senator Durbin Hates Indian Immigrants” and “Racism is a Disease”. Indian immigrants, including women and children also participated in the protest rally.

“These are taxpaying law-abiding skilled immigrants who are already in the country for many years- doctors, engineers, scientists and professors. They are stuck in the long green card backlog which will span 150 years! What we are doing here is protesting Senator Durban’s hold on the bill yesterday and he is making sure that Indian immigrants who are already here would not get equal treatment under the law, which is unfair,” said Aman Kapoor, Immigration Voice president.

Today protests broke out outside @SenGaryPeters’s office protesting @SenatorDurbin’s bigotry against Indian immigrants.

Durbin needs to be constructive by negotiating with Senator Lee, instead of shamelessly grandstanding on the Senate floor.

Sen Peters needs to denounce Durbin pic.twitter.com/m0Jl0cWCMs

— Immigration Voice (@immivoice) July 23, 2020

During the rally, the group also demanded that the green card backlog must be cleared up before the wait time.

The decision to ban visas are a huge set back for 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.

They would now have to wait at least till the end of the current year before approaching the US diplomatic missions to get stamping.

The post Indian H1B visa holders protest in Washington appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

With the election campaign going completely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden named Indian-American Medha Raj as his digital chief of staff.

Raj will work across all facets of the digital department to streamline and coordinate how to maximise the impact of its digital outputs, the Biden campaign said.

“Excited to share that I’ve joined Joe Biden’s campaign as the Digital Chief of Staff. 130 days to the election and we’re not going to waste a minute!’’ she wrote on LinkedIn.

Raj is based out of the Los Angeles area in Southern California. She worked for eight months on the Pete Buttigieg campaign, from August 2019 to March 2020.

A graduate in international politics from Georgetown University, Medha Raj has earned her MBA from Stanford University.

The US is the hardest-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 2.64 million official cases and over 128,000 deaths.

The post Joe Biden names Medha Raj as digital chief of staff appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic, according to a study published in the US science journal PNAS.
Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009.
It possesses “all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans,” say the authors, scientists at Chinese universities and China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
From 2011 to 2018, researchers took 30,000 nasal swabs from pigs in slaughterhouses in 10 Chinese provinces and in a veterinary hospital, allowing them to isolate 179 swine flu viruses.
The majority were of a new kind which has been dominant among pigs since 2016.
The researchers then carried out various experiments, including on ferrets, which are widely used in flu studies because they experience similar symptoms to humans — principally fever, coughing and sneezing.
G4 was observed to be highly infectious, replicating in human cells and causing more serious symptoms in ferrets than other viruses.
Tests also showed that any immunity humans gain from exposure to seasonal flu does not provide protection from G4.
According to blood tests which showed up antibodies created by exposure to the virus, 10.4 per cent of swine workers had already been infected.
The tests showed that as many as 4.4 per cent of the general population also appeared to have been exposed.
The virus has therefore already passed from animals to humans but there is no evidence yet that it can be passed from human to human — the scientists’ main worry.
“It is of concern that human infection of G4 virus will further human adaptation and increase the risk of a human pandemic,” the researchers wrote.
The authors called for urgent measures to monitor people working with pigs.

The post New Swine flu discovered in China, humans infected appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

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.

The post An American dream cut short appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The post Trump offers to mediate between India and China appeared first on The Gulf Indians.