|
|
|
|
|
immigration
BILL Supporters of the new legislation on increasing visa fee for highly skilled workers say the H-1B quota is going disproportionately to Indian IT firms. The opponents claim it would harm the IT industry functioning out of the US, which is heavily dependent on skilled foreign workers. By Ashish Kumar Sen in Washington Soon after the United States Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform legislation on Thursday, US President Barack Obama praised lawmakers for approving a Bill he said was consistent with the “key principles of commonsense reform”. But, he added, the Bill was a compromise. “By definition, nobody got everything they wanted. Not Democrats. Not Republicans. Not me,” said Obama.
INDIA REACTS |
|
|
uttarakhand Axis
of disaster (Click to
see Graphics)
|
|
US visa fee may price Indians out Supporters of the new legislation on increasing visa fee for highly skilled workers say the H-1B quota is going disproportionately to Indian IT firms. The opponents claim it would harm the IT industry functioning out of the US, which is heavily dependent on skilled foreign workers. By Ashish Kumar Sen in Washington
Soon after the United States Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform legislation on Thursday, US President Barack Obama praised lawmakers for approving a Bill he said was consistent with the “key principles of commonsense reform”. But, he added, the Bill was a compromise. “By definition, nobody got everything they wanted. Not Democrats. Not Republicans. Not me,” said Obama. “And certainly not us,” US and Indian information technology companies privately fumed. The US-India business lobby and Indian officials are smarting over parts of the Senate legislation they say unfairly targets global IT services companies, which are enabling US firms to remain competitive, by restricting their access to skilled workers that they need to drive economic growth and create jobs. The legislation raises the cap on H-1B non-immigrant visas for highly skilled workers from 65,000 to 1,10,000 a year. That cap could be raised as high as 1,80,000 a year depending on demand. That’s the legislation’s silver lining as far as Indians looking to live the American Dream are concerned. However, the Bill places onerous restrictions on companies that rely heavily on H-1B visas and raises their cost of doing business in the US. Specifically, the legislation imposes a higher fee on H-1B and L1 visa programmes on the international IT services sector and would create an uneven playing field that will harm US clients, including the majority of Fortune 500 companies, according to critics of this part of the legislation. (The L1 non-immigrant visa allows foreign workers to transfer to their company’s US office for a fixed period of time.) Under the legislation approved by the Senate, employers will have to pay a steep fee for the admission into the US of a non-immigrant worker on an H-1B or L1 visa. This fee varies. Companies that employ 50 or more employees in the US will have to pay $5,000 for each of the fiscal years 2015 to 2024 if more than 30 per cent and less than 50 per cent of the employees are H-1B or L visa holders. This fee rises sharply to $10,000 for fiscal years 2015 to 2017 if the employer employs more than 50 per cent and less than 75 per cent H-1B and L visa holders. Industry unhappy The US-India Business Council (USIBC), which with 365 members, most of them Fortune 500 companies, is the largest bilateral business association in the US, finds these sections of the legislation troublesome. “While the US-India Business Council and its Coalition for Jobs & Growth support meaningful immigration reform, the Gang of 8 Bill, as written, unfairly targets American companies trying to remain globally competitive by reducing their ability to contract with global IT service providers and restricting their access to the international expertise they need. Such restrictions could stifle US innovation, slow local job creation and force companies to move jobs overseas,” USIBC President Ron Somers told The Tribune. The ‘Gang of 8’ that Somers referred to is a bipartisan group of US Senators — Arizona Republican John McCain, Florida Republican Marco Rubio, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez and Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet — that helped craft the immigration legislation. An Indian official, who spoke on background, said the impact of the legislation is a “legitimate concern on our side”. Anti-India tone In the Senate, the debate over raising the H-1B visa cap at times took on a decidedly anti-India tone. Durbin, the senator from Illinois, complained that a bulk of the H-1B visas had been awarded to IT services companies headquartered in India. He rattled off a list of Indian IT companies, including Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy, that have been among the top recipients of H-1B visas in recent years. “Americans would be shocked to know that these H-1Bs are not going to Microsoft. They’re going to these firms, largely in India, who are finding workers, engineers, who will work at low wages in the US for three years and pay a fee to Infosys or these companies. I think that is an abuse of what we are trying to achieve here,” Durbin said in comments reported by The Hill, a congressional newspaper. But it’s not just India or Indian firms that stand to gain from a higher H-1B visa cap. Microsoft and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have been just some of the prominent voices in the IT industry that have for years lobbied the US Congress to increase the number of H-1B visas offered to skilled foreign workers. Indian officials in Washington have been reluctant to publicly wade into what they see as a domestic debate in the US. However, in a rare departure from this studied silence, Nirupama Rao, India’s Ambassador to the US, wrote a column in USA Today in April in which she made the case for a “generous visa policy for highly skilled workers,” which she said “would help everyone; both nations would come out winners.” “Many IT companies, such as Tata Consultancy Services, WIPRO, Infosys and HCL that are based in India, bring employees to the US — and for good reason. They provide the continuity and institutional knowledge required to serve commercial and governmental clients well — in the same way that Americans often staff the foreign offices of their own corporations. The expertise of these workers is crucial because they helped develop many of the devices and software that maintain and protect networks. Without their knowhow, IT would simply not work the way it should,” Rao wrote. Without Indian IT professionals who work in the US on H-1B and L1 visas, “US businesses and consumers would not benefit from the services they have come to rely on,” she wrote. “Jobs would not be created and, in fact, could go elsewhere, including overseas. Local, state and federal tax revenues would, sadly and inevitably, decline.” Indian voice Indian officials have gone to great lengths to shine a spotlight on the investment by Indian companies in the US. “There is no Godzilla effect here,” the Indian official who spoke on background said, referring to some concern in the US that Indian companies are stealing American jobs. In 2012, NASSCOM, a trade association of Indian IT and Business Process Outsourcing industry, said in a report that in the past five years, Indian IT companies had created more than 2,80,000 jobs in the US, of which around 2,18,000 are held by US citizens or US Green Card holders. It’s not just the tech sector in which Indian firms are present. They are spread over a range of sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, hospitality, education and energy. “Hundreds of companies of Indian origin currently operate in the United States — these companies have put down roots, invested millions of dollars, and are today an integral part of the economic and social fabric,” according to a Confederation of Indian Industry report. The Senate bill passed in a 68-32 vote, winning the support of all Senate Democrats and 14 Republicans. However, the Republican-dominated US House of Representatives is not inclined to approve similar legislation. Critics of the Senate Bill see in this reluctance an opportunity to excise what they say are unhelpful sections of the legislation. Only after both Houses of the US Congress approve the legislation can it be sent to Obama to sign into law. Members of the USIBC’s Coalition for Jobs & Growth are committed to working with the Obama Administration and the US Congress to eliminate what they see as being narrow protectionist provisions in the current legislation. “The USIBC Coalition prefers H.R. 2131, the SKILLS Visa Act, that was passed out of committee in the House [on Thursday], which does not follow the problematic approach of the Senate Bill, which will hamper American companies’ competitiveness,” said Somers.
|
|
INDIA REACTS
The
rupee at 60 should have been party time for IT companies and their stocks. With the default advantage of a weak currency boosting the export oriented sector, the outperformance has been missing due to the overhang of the US Immigration Bill. The Bill is now one step closer to becoming legislation as it cleared the US Senate’s test vote by 67-27, seven more than the 60 needed. Analysts say the Bill remains a big worry for the IT sector and big players such as TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, Cognizant and Wipro, as it will increase costs, both for visas and wages, and affect business models of companies. Global industry Responding to queries from The Tribune, Nasscom, industry body for Indian IT companies, has in no uncertain terms opposed the provisions of the Senate Bill for “singling out” a group of companies and “being punitive” in nature. Nasscom in a statement to The Tribune said, “The passage of S.744 is a significant step for the Senate as they moved to advance much-needed reforms to America’s immigration policies. The passage was expected and unfortunately the Senate Bill has provisions that arbitrarily single out a group of multinational information technology companies. These proposals amount to punitive treatment of this industry”. Nasscom has pointed out that the Bill does not taken into account the contribution made by Indian IT companies to the US economy and “dictates” to US corporations how to pursue business and select partners. “This fails to recognise the vital services that global IT services companies deliver; the innovation and competitiveness they have spurred in thousands of US businesses, and the investments these global IT services companies make in the US. In effect, the Senate Bill would dictate how American companies can and cannot pursue their business operations and select business partners in the future, when the importance of information technology and process management will only continue to increase,” Nasscom has said. When contacted by The Tribune, TCS and Infosys said they would not be able to comment on the Immigration Bill. Time for change Analysts at Motilal Oswal Securities say the Bill in its current form would imply that the companies with less than 85 per cent local employees in the US (the entire Indian IT services) industry would be barred from working from client locations — a clause that has potential impact on the industry’s business model. IT companies are taking various steps readying themselves to comply with the anticipated changes in regulations. According to Motilal Oswal analysts, action by almost every company is under way to align with the new normal for compliance, the degree of which remains uncertain, but higher costs seem given, due to visa fee penalties, more locals onsite and higher salaries to those employed on H1B visa. However, the report says if the immigration Bill is passed with the outplacement clause intact, it calls for a change in the business model for the industry. Proportion of onsite locals in the US is 20-50 per cent at present, which will have to be increased to 85 per cent in a period of three years. Various options are being considered to adhere to the anticipated changes, including hiring more locals onsite than before, squeezing the off-shorability in contracts and bringing more work offshore, acquiring local companies to increase the ratio of locals (for example BPOs), setting up proximity centres to service clients from nearby locations and applying for Green Cards of as many employees as eligible, so that they no longer fall in the H1B category. US will suffer too Industry, while admitting the adverse impact of the Bill, says in the long run business sense will prevail. Says Rahul Kanodia, CEO & VC, Datamatics Global Services, “The new US visa policy will not only impact the Indian IT industry adversely, but more importantly would adversely impact the quality of customer service and margins for the end clients in the US. Being a political move, the economic repercussions of the same will surely be felt in both the countries. However, I strongly feel that this initiative will lose steam in the long run since US companies would ultimately step in to protect their margins and service quality.” The impact will not just be on the IT sector but on the entire GDP of the country because the IT sector has a huge multiplier effect on India’s economy. International financial services house JP Morgan estimates the Bill could take away as much as 0.3-0.4 per cent of India’s GDP for financial year 2015. According to JP Morgan, India’s IT exports at $87 billion are around 4 per cent of the country’s GDP. Also, there is a significant multiplier effect this sector exerts on the Indian economy via consumption and growth of ancillary industries like real estate, travel, transportation and hospitality.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Time to tend to the local populace
THE biggest ever operations launched by the Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) in Uttarakhand after the natural disaster that followed heavy monsoon rain and floods would be completed by June 30 with the safe evacuation of more than 1 lakh pilgrims and tourists stranded at various places in the Garhwal Himalayas. It is feared that more than 4,000 people could have lost their lives in the calamity. With the initial challenge of evacuating stranded pilgrims getting over, the immediate task coming up for the Uttarakhand state government is providing relief and rehabilitation to the local population, which has suffered tremendous damage to homes, shops, hotels, agricultural land and animals. During the past fortnight, the entire effort remained focused on evacuation, while the local population, spread over an area of 40,000 sq km, found itself completely ignored. While the state government is yet to fully assess the damage suffered by the locals, it is estimated that 2,300 villages in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Pithoragarh have suffered massive damage, with houses and roads completely washed away. There are hundreds of villages in the narrow valleys that remain completely cut off, with even foot tracks washed away, and need relief supplies dropped by air. It is believed that a population of more than 2 lakh in these remote villages has been suffering since a fortnight without any help. It was only in Pithoragarh district that the Army helped evacuate villagers stranded in remote border areas. Not far from the Kedarnath shrine, People in eight villages of the Kalimath area are the worst sufferers. Apart from losing more than 100 men of these villages who worked at Kedarnath shrine to earn their living during the Char Dham Yatra season, these villages remain cut off since June 17. Similarly, people in Mandakini and Alaknanda valleys are also cut off and have suffered damages to homes and agricultural land. Reports of such massive damage have also reached from villages in Uttarkashi and Chamoli villages. Rotting bodies a hazard
As many as 35 bodies have been cremated thus far while it is feared more than a thousand could be lying there. The state government has announced that DNA samples would be taken from each body before cremation for subsequent identification. The shortage of wood, inclement weather and the stench from the bodies is hampering the cremation process. The government had sent a police team to coordinate with the ITBP, but most of the police jawans fell ill and were sent back. A fresh team has been sent. The wood for cremation was airlifted to Kedarnath in the ill-fated MI-17 helicopter of the IAF that crashed in the Gaurikund area, killing 20 armed forces personnel on June 24. The rotting bodies, meanwhile, continue to pose a serious problem of disease in the area.
Rishikesh-Dharasu-Uttarkashi-Gangotri
Rudraprayag-Gaurikund road
Tanakpur-Pithoraghat-Tawaghat-Ghatiabagarh
Road Jauljibi-Munsiyari
Rishikesh-Joshimath-Badrinath-Mana
Other roads in state Efforts are being made to open lateral roads with the help of the BRO. However, full focus will shift to these roads once all major axes are clear. Lalit Mohan, Chief Engineer, PWD, Uttarakhand, told The Tribune it would take Rs 560 crore to repair these damaged roads. “While the minor repair would take a month and a half, major restoration will take some time,” he said.
Kedarnath shrine: The worst hit, bearing the maximum burnt of nature’s fury, with most casualties following cloudburst on June 17. Most deaths happened on the 14 km trek from Gaurikund to Kedarnath. Govindghat: The base camp of Hemkund Sahib was hit badly by the Alaknanda river, destroying bridges, buildings and roads. Road link to outside world snapped. Many deaths occurred due to vehicles being submerged. Badrinath
Dham: More than 25,000 pilgrims were stranded here, though no causalities. A challenge to evacuate such large numbers as road link is damaged. Yamunotri and
Gangotri: Highways to both pilgrimages snapped at several places, leaving thousands stranded on road.
Rescue ops: Army and ITBP launch operations on June 20. High &
dry: Several survivors who took climbed surrounding hills to escape flooded valleys died of starvation. Washed
away: Several drowned as buildings and hotels along the banks of the Bhagirathi and other distributaries are destroyed. 200
villages: Hit across state, with damage to houses, shops, hotels, agriculture land and animal stock. Economy: The closure of the Char Dham pilgrimage, which has come to be the backbone of the Garhwal region’s economy, will hit the local population.
—Dr Anil Joshi, founder of the himalaya environmental studies and conservation organisation (hesco), a noted social scientist conferred with the padma shri.
—Sunder Lal Bahuguna, eminent environmentalist who has waged a relentless battle against the construction of tehri dam.
— Awdhash Kaushal, founder of rural litigation and entitlement kendra, who won a legal battle against mining in mussoorie in the ’80s, and a strong advocate of hydel projects.
ARMY BIGGEST EVER Army operation, “Surya Hope”, launched by its Central Command to rescue more than 1 lakh pilgrims and tourists following the floods. OPERATES IN different axes: ROAD OPENED from Sonprayag to Gaurikund, base camp of Kedarnath. SOLDIERS WITH SPECIALISED mountaineering equipment reach stranded people between Gauri Kund and Rambara PARATROOPERS SAVE 16 people from Jangle Chatti area, near Rambara, from a riverbed. TEMPORARY BRIDGE built across the Alaknanda at Govindghat to evacuate Hemkund Sahib pilgrims ROAD OPENED between Gangriya and Govindghat to facilitate movement on foot. REACH GANGOTRI to bring stranded pilgrims down to Harsil. CAMP AT HARSIL provides shelter, food and medical services. 10,000 Troops deployed: in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand; and seven districts of UP. RESCUES ALL stranded pilgrims from Yamunotri, moving two columns from Dharasu and Barkot simultaneously. BURMA BRIDGE set up across the Alaknanda at Lambagar on Badrinath-Joshimath axis to evacuate pilgrims on foot. HELI-BRIDGE created at Lambagar to transport hundreds across the Alaknanda. COMMUNICATION NODES established at Gaucher, Harsil, Joshimath and Rudraprayag to enable people to contact families. Fifty satellite phones set up by Army at different locations. UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES launched to look put for people in isolated places.
“Operation Rahat” brings relief from the skies Airlifted: 15,113 stranded people (till June 27). Sorties: 1,820 (till June 27). Material: Airlifted 2,81,080 kg of relief material and equipment. Aviation fuel: Supply bridge set up on June 21 at Dharasu in Uttarkashi. C-130 J aircraft: The first landed at Dharasu.
AN-32: Russian-made IAF transport aircraft landed at Dharasu airfield with disaster communication equipment.
120: Excavators and bulldozers deployed. 30 km: Roads to be built afresh. 4,000: BRO personnel and labourers at work on war-footing. The focus: To keep all main axes open and connect places still cut off.
Main axes opened: Rishikesh-Uttarkashi and Rishikesh-Joshimath-Govindghat. Readymade footbridge installed at Pandukeshwar across the Alaknanda, near Govidghat.
Involved in back-up operations
District Magistrates have started distribution of ‘gratuitous relief’; are ensuring there is no shortage of diesel, kerosene, and LPG. Have started to assess the damage caused to the public infrastructure, and are starting restoration work. Letters sent
to the Chief Secretaries of all states to get the details of missing persons from their states who recently visited Uttarakhand. Relief camps
are being organised at different places, with provisions for food and shelter. Free access for stranded tourists to all state guest houses as well as tourist rest houses of the state government, and ex gratia assistance of Rs 2,000 is being provided to stranded pilgrims. Free transport is being arranged for all till their respective destinations. Special counters have been established at Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Haldwani and Kathgodam. Special train bogies are being arranged in different trains to help the pilgrims reach their destinations. Free mobile/landline connectivity being arranged for pilgrims at various places to contact their families. Efforts are being made so that families of the missing/affected get updated information regarding the situation on the ground. Information being updated on the state website (uk.gov.in). Details of missing persons being put up on the website. Facility created on the website for friends and relatives to upload details/photos of missing persons.
ITBP A total of 30,816 pilgrims had been rescued by the ITBP till June 28, 2013. Around 300 ITBP personnel in Joshimath, 300 in Gaucher, and 300 in Uttarakashi (Matli) are involved in rescue operations in the Garhwal region. Besides, 600 personnel from two ITBP battalions stationed at Merthi and Pithoragarh are assisting in road clearance and rescue, visiting villages to inquire about locals well being in the Kumaon region. NDRF The National Disaster Relief Force deployed after the natural disaster struck has helped rescue 500 pilgrims from the Kedarnath axis. Nine personnel of the NDRF and six of the ITBP lost their lives in the MI-17 helicopter crash on June 24.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
THE biggest ever operations launched by the Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) in Uttarakhand after the natural disaster that followed heavy monsoon rain and floods would be completed by June 30 with the safe evacuation of more than 1 lakh pilgrims and tourists stranded at various places in the Garhwal Himalayas. 
The battleground has now shifted to the House of Representatives. It will also need to be approved before becoming legislation and the industry says it is working on the House side where the language of the Bill is less harmful to Indian companies and opposition to the Bill is expected to be stronger.
There are 63 villages in Uttarkashi district, 35 in Pithoragarh, 22 in Rudraprayag and 20 in Chamoli district that are completely cut off and need air dropping of urgent relief supplies. The Central government has accepted the state government’s request to deploy IAF helicopters for another fortnight to airdrop relief. Apart from suffering huge losses due to damage to their houses, hotels, dharamshalas and agricultural fields, the closure of the Char Dham yatra for at least two years would add to the miseries of the local people.
Another gigantic problem the state government faces is the disposal of the bodies decomposing at Kedarnath and Rambara since June 17.
The BRO has deployed 30 bulldozers and excavators on this route. The road up to Pithoragarh is through for all traffic. Beyond Pithoragarh, the road is through up to Kilometre 83. Beyond that up to Tawaghat, about 4 km road has been breached at more than 30 locations. The road has been opened between Kilometre 80 and 96 for light vehicles. Efforts are being made to connect Dharchula for all vehicles. Major breaches are at Kilometre 82.50, 84.30, 97.42, 99.35, 101.80, 106 and 107. Two bridges are also damaged before Tawaghat at Kilometre 100.57 and Kilometre 102.09. A 150-ft bridge at Tawaghat has been washed away. Where immediate road connectivity cannot be provided, foot track connectivity has been established.
The axis has been kept open despite heavy rain and fresh damage at many places up to Govindghat. There are two trouble points — at Srinagar and Sirobhgarh. There are major breaches beyond Govindghat. A 50m bridge at Lambagarh has been washed away. Efforts are on to link the road from both Govindghat and Badrinath sides. A footbridge has been installed at Pandukeshwar across the Alaknanda near Govidgaht on the Joshimath-Badrinath axis.
There is a need to review all existing economic policies of the state and make future planning ecologically compliant. The policies are framed by politicians, bureaucrats and some elite experts who are unaware of the ground realities. There is an urgent need to involve local communities in deciding the future, taking into account the centuries old wisdom of the Himalayan people.~
There has been an urgent need for a Himalayan policy in the country. I have been advocating large-scale plantation and control of reckless exploitation of the resources in the Himalayas. There is no other way than planting trees and working on sustainable development models in the hills~
It is wrong to hold the construction of hydro-electric projects responsible for the disaster. Rather, Tehri Dam acted as a saviour for the people by storing excess water. The people of the state are dependent on tourism and hydro-electric projects and the so-called environmentalists have no answer to the developmental needs of the poor hill people. Even sadhus and saints have become environmentalists after the natural disaster.~
TEAM REACHES Pindari glacier to rescue 50 tourists.
Tragedy: One MI-17 helicopter — doing heavy-lift operations — crashed with 20 armed forces personnel on board, killing all, near Gaurikund on June 24.
Rebuilding connections
Challenge: Continuing heavy rain; fresh landslides and breaches. Being cleared quickly. 
