H1-B visa applications open April 2, says US immigration agency

Applications for the much sought-after H-1B work visa – used extensively by Indian IT professionals – for the fiscal year beginning October 1, will be accepted beginning April 2, a US federal immigration agency announced Tuesday.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said H1-B applications will be considered accepted on the date it takes possession of a properly filed petition with the correct fee instead of the date on which it was sent.

India's software and services companies earn around 60 per cent of their revenues from the US and employ a large number of professionals there.

In a statement, USCIS listed out the details of the fees, which starts at $ 325 to $2,000 by a petitioner who employs 50 or more employees in the US, and where more than 50 per cent of its workers in the US are on H-1B or L-1 non- immigrant status.

This year, the USCIS is charging $750 for employers with 1 to 25 full-time equivalent employees, and $1,500 for employers with 26 or more full-time equivalent employees. Another $500 listed as fraud prevention and detection fee.

Employers seeking premium processing service, in which an application is processed within 15 days, need to submit an additional $1,225.

The Congressionally-mandated limitation on H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2012-13 is 65,000, as in previous years. Additionally, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals who have earned a US master’s degree or higher are exempt from the fiscal year cap.

“If the number of applications received exceeds the numerical cap, USCIS will randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit from the pool of petitions received on the final receipt date,” USCIS said in a statement, adding that it will reject cap-subject petitions that are not selected, as well as those received after the final receipt date.

Petitions for new H-1B employment are exempt from the annual cap if the beneficiaries will work at institutions of higher education or related or affiliated non-profit entities, non-profit research organisations or governmental research organisations, USCIS said.

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook

View the original article here

Iran says nuclear talks to resume on April 13

Tehran:  Long-stalled talks between Iran and world powers are to be revived on April 13 at a place yet to be agreed, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced on Wednesday.
"The date has been set, but the negotiations for the venue are still ongoing," Salehi told AFP.
"Turkey has announced its readiness to host the talks, and my personal priority is Istanbul," he added.
The talks carry hopes of defusing a tense international showdown over Iran's nuclear activities that has sent oil prices soaring.
Israel has brandished the threat of possible military action against Iran's nuclear sites, while the United States has put its energies into sanctions and diplomacy but has not ruled out the military option.
Salehi made his announcement as he welcomed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Tehran for a two-day visit focusing on Iran's nuclear programme and bilateral ties.
On Erdogan's arrival, Salehi told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that the next round of the talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group comprising the United States, Russia, France, Britain, China and Germany would take place on April 13.
Speaking to AFP, Salehi said that a "suggestion" from the P5+1 for a venue had been received and was being studied, and that the location "will be announced soon."
He did not say what venue had been proposed by the world powers.
The last round, held in Istanbul in 2011, ended in failure. The round before that, in 2010, was in Geneva.
In Brussels, a European diplomat confirmed to AFP that the next round of negotiations would start on April 13 but that a location had not yet been agreed.
Turkey's ambassador to Tehran was quoted by Iran's Press TV as saying: "Turkey stands ready to host the talks between Iran and the P5+1 group, but everything depends on an agreement between Iran and the P5+1."
Erdogan arrived in Tehran from South Korea, where he had attended a nuclear security summit with other world leaders including US President Barack Obama.
Salehi did not directly respond to an AFP question about whether Erdogan was carrying any message from Obama to Iran's leaders, saying: "So far we've only talked about bilateral issues."
Obama on Monday warned in Seoul that "time is short" for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iran.
"Iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands," he said.
Erdogan, who was accompanied by several key ministers and intelligence and military officials, was to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his visit, Iranian officials said.
Turkey relies on Iran for 30 per cent of its oil imports, and has refused to go along with sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe, saying it will observe only UN-mandated restrictions on Iran.
However, Turkey is also a NATO member, and it has agreed to deploy parts of an anti-missile shield that could be used against Iran, a point that has generated friction in the past with its neighbour.
The two countries are heavyweight players in the Middle East.
They hold different positions on several issues, notably on Syria. Ankara wants to see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down as part of a solution to the crisis there, while Tehran is giving Assad political and material support.
Salehi said Iran-Turkey trade currently amounted to $16 billion a year but could reach $30 billion by 2015.

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook

View the original article here

Eight Air India unions threaten strike from April 2, international flights could be hit

Negotiations over unpaid salaries between an Air India pilots' union and the airline’s management in Mumbai on Wednesday have failed.

This could affect international flights as these pilots were earlier with Air India, when international and domestic flights operated separately. The domestic unit earlier flew under the Indian Airlines brand.

Representatives from eight other unions are scheduled to meet with the aviation secretary and Air India management in New Delhi on Thursday.

The group of eight unions says that employees have not been paid for four months and on Wednesday wrote to the Prime Minister seeking his “urgent intervention” in releasing salaries to employees, failing which they will strike work beginning April 2.

The strike will likely affect Air India's international flights.

“We … appeal to you for your kind and urgent intervention to resolve the situation and appeal to you for justice,” the Joint Forum of Guilds/Unions/Associations of Air India said in a letter sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.

The Forum includes the Indian Pilots Guild, Air India Aircraft Engineers Association, Air India Engineers Association, All India Service Engineers Association, Air India Employees Union, Air Corporation Employees Union, Air India Officers Union and Air India Cabin Crew Association, representing almost all classes of Air India’s 33,000 employees.

A majority of employees have expressed their inability to work from April 2 due to non-payment of salaries over several months, the Forum claimed.

“Due to non-payment of wages for an extended time period, the employees are unable to meet their financial commitments and family responsibilities,” the letter said, pointing out that a significant number of them came from “humble background and modest means”.

The letter also pointedly said that “unlike Air India, which can turn to the central government for funds, employees have no such option”.

“The respective employees and their families alone have to suffer the humiliation of loan defaults and ensuing stress,” it added.

Noting that employees have been working and enduring hardship for the past year, the letter claimed that they are “no longer able to bear this agony, which has been thrust upon them for no fault of theirs”.

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook

View the original article here

Sunidhi Chauhan set to marry in April

By Hindustan Times

Shy, reserved and hugely talented musician Hitesh Sonik has revealed that he will be marrying singer Sunidhi Chauhan next month.

"First I was her fan. Now, I am going to be her husband," Sonik told IANS.

He has known Sunidhi for 15 years. "She was a little more than a child when she won the Meri Awaz Suno music contest on television. That is when when we became friends. Gradually, over the years as she grew into a fine singer, our friendship blossomed into love," says Hitesh softly.

He is the grand-nephew of the well-known music composer Sonik of the Sonik-Omi pair of the 1960s and 1970s.

Says Hitesh proudly: "My grand-uncle Sonik was blind by birth. He first struggled to establish himself as a singer. Then, when he lost his voice, he got together with his nephew to form the successful Sonik-Omi composing duo who gave us such evergreen hits as Kanha Re Kanha (Truck Driver), Kaan Mein Jhumka Chaal Mein Thumka (Sawan Bhadon) and Raaz Ki Baat Keh Doon To (Dharma)."

Hitesh who served as an assistant musician to Vishal Bhardwaj in 11 films is now trying to establish himself as an independent composer. "I have done songs in Luv Ranjan's Pyaar Ka Punchnaama and Raghav Dhar's My Friend Pinto. Now I'm working on the songs of Luv Ranjan's new film Akaash Vani."

And yes, Hitesh lets out shyly that Sunidhi has sung for him. "She has so far sung my composition only once, in My Friend Pinto. Just because she is the woman in my life doesn't mean I would want to use a voice as powerful as hers until it is needed for one of my compositions."

Hitesh intends to keep the professional and personal spheres apart. "That Sunidhi is a wonderful singer is only a part of her personality. I love her first and foremost for the person she is. She has blended so well into my family. My folks dote on her. And I am also very comfortable with her family."

Hitesh says there is very little time and so much to do before the wedding. "We thought the wedding would be an intimate affair. But when we went through her and my invitation lists, we discovered we had to invite a lot more people than we thought. We are working on the preparations. April is not far off. She is a very busy singer and I have my assignments. We made sure we both had time to prepare for the wedding."

View the original article here

India's spy satellite to be launched in April

Chennai:  A wholly Indian-built spy-surveillance satellite - the Radar Imaging Satellite or Risat-1- that can see through clouds and fog and has very high- resolution imaging is slated for launch in April, a senior official of the Indian space agency has said.

An official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said thorough tests were being done on the Risat-1. "The Risat-1 is put to thermal vacuum test (a test to check the satellite's functioning in space environment). It is a complex microwave satellite being built for the first time in India. The satellite is expected to be launched in April," the senior official told IANS, not wishing to be named because of the organisational rules.

In earlier satellites, one major component, the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) was imported, but in Risat-1 that has also been developed in India.

He said Risat-1 is the first such satellite being built by India and is a bit complex compared to other remote sensing/earth observation satellites built and sent up earlier.

According to ISRO officials, Risat-1 at 1,850 kg is the heaviest microwave satellite to be built by India.

The satellite would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry, and the high resolution pictures and microwave imaging could also be used for defence purposes.

Risat-1 will have all weather, day and night imaging capability.

The satellite's synthetic aperture radar can acquire data at C-band.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan had said last October that the space agency would launch two more satellites - Risat-1 and SARAL - before 2011-end. But that did not happen. He also said two more satellites - AstroSat and Aditya - will be launched in 2012-13.

Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for use. India has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions, from more than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market.

In 2009, ISRO had launched 300 kg Risat-2 with an Israeli built SAR enabling earth observation on all weather, day and night conditions. The satellite can look through clouds and fog.

With 11 remote sensing/earth observation satellites orbiting in the space, India is a world leader in the remote sensing data market. The 11 satellites are TES, Resourcesat 1, Cartosat 1, 2, 2A and 2B, IMS 1, Risat-2, Oceansat 2, Resourcesat-2, Megha-Tropiques.

According to ISRO officials, the rocket that would sling Risat-1 will be the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle's (PSLV) upgraded variant called PSLV-XL.

The rocket would weigh around 320 tonnes at lift-off and will be the third such expendable rocket to be sent up by ISRO, and first time to launch a remote sensing satellite.

ISRO had used the PSLV-XL variant (rocket with extended strap-on motors than what the base model has) for its moon mission (Chandrayaan-1) in 2008 and for launching its communication satellite GSAT-12 in 2011.

The PSLV is a four-stage (engine) rocket powered by solid and liquid propellants alternatively. The first and third stages are fired by solid propellant and the second and fourth stages are fired by liquid propellant.

ISRO has developed three PSLV variants. The first is the standard variant weighing around 290 tonnes with six strap-on motors measuring 11.3 metres with a fuel capacity of nine tonnes.

The other two rocket variants are the PSLV Core Alone without the six strap-on motors and PSLV-XL with longer strap-on motors measuring 13.5 metres having a fuel capacity of 12 tonnes of solid fuel.

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook

View the original article here