| US Immigration Reforms Bill |
| On 27 June 2013, the United States Senate passed Bill No. S.744, “The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act 2013.” While the current Bill is not expected to impact adversely against foreign students, including from India, Indian IT industry has raised concerns over some measures in the Bill that relate to skilled non-immigrant visas, which, if brought into force, after the completion of US Congressional processes in both Houses, is likely to place more onerous requirements on H1-B/L-1 visa dependent firms including higher wages; enhanced audit by U.S. agencies; non-displacement guarantee/additional recruitment notice requirements; and higher visa fees. The concerns of Indian IT companies have been conveyed to the U.S. side at Ministerial levels during the recent meetings of Homeland Security Dialogue in May 2013, Strategic Dialogue in June 2013, and at the CEOs Forum in July 2013 by Home Minister, Finance Minister, Commerce & Industry Minister and External Affairs Minister. The Indian Embassy in Washington is working with IT industry to create more awareness in the US Congress on concerns of Indian IT companies regarding the Senate Bill. Government is examining the Senate Bill with regard to its WTO compatibility. However, the matter can only be taken up before the WTO Disputes Settlement body at an appropriate time once the Senate Bill becomes law. The Minister of External Affairs Shri Salman Khurshid gave this information in a statement in Lok Sabha today. |
Rouhani wins Iran's Presidential election Moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani won Iran's presidential election on Saturday, the interior ministry said, scoring a surprising landslide victory over conservative hardliners without the need of a second round run-off.Interior minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar announced on state television that Rouhani secured just over 50 percent of the ballot based on a 72 percent turnout of 50 million eligible voters. Mr Hassan Rouhani ... got the absolute majority of votes and was elected as president," Najjar said. Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a hard-line conservative, lagged behind with about 16 percent of the votes. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, he too a hard-line conservative, earned 11 percent. The voter turnout was 72.7 percent. President-elect Hassan Rohani, sixty four years old, is known as a moderate conservative. He has been stressing the need to improve ties with Western nations, and is back...
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