O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Merkel magic
German Chancellor’s historic victory
Germany has shown how much it values its Chancellor by giving her a record-breaking number of votes. Angela Merkel is often called the most powerful woman in politics. She is that. She is equally the less flattering terms used for her — frugal, uninspiring speaker, and a tough negotiator. Above all, Merkel is a unique person who took on the leadership of her nation, and soon Europe, notching up much success in her endeavours.

Unique challenge
Aadhaar a must, but needs time
The Supreme Court order telling the government not to make Aadhaar compulsory for any benefits or services provided to people is more an embarrassment and speed breaker than a roadblock in the latter’s desperate attempt to start direct benefit transfer (DBT) before the Lok Sabha elections. The fundamental objection the court has to the unique identity (UID) scheme is the lack of any legislative basis for it. That is a valid point.

Buddhist heritage
Saving monuments and attracting tourists
There are approximately 900 Buddhist heritage sites scattered across India, yet the country is unable to tap this huge foreign tourist potential, as most of these are in dire need of restoration. There are 500 million adherents of this faith across the world who could possibly be attracted to India, the place of its origin. Unfortunately, only a fraction of them visit the land of the birth of Buddha. In this context, the restoration of six Buddhist stupas by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Akhnoor, Jammu & Kashmir, is good news for the state, which is majorly dependent on tourism.

• Thought for the Day

ARTICLE

Redrawing frontiers
Stability in the Gulf region is in the interest of India
by G. Parthasarathy
Israel’s armed forces invaded Lebanon in 1982, with the aim of creating a buffer for the security of its northern borders. Within months, the PLO led by Yasser Arafat and his armed cadres were forced to leave Lebanon, the Syrian Air Force was virtually wiped out in air battles with the Israeli Air Force and Syrian forces had to be withdrawn from Lebanon. In the years following the Israeli action, Lebanon was engulfed by ethnic and sectarian conflict. Its first invasion of Lebanon was not without its costs for Israel. The invasion saw the emergence of the Hezbollah as a powerful Iranian backed militia, which has in subsequent conflicts, seriously challenged the might and avowed invincibility of Israel’s armed forces.

MIDDLE

Do good and get abused
by Surinder Singh Grewal
The urge to do something good for the poor or needy remains the passion with some Punjabi souls, perhaps a legacy of the liberal farming community instinct. Paradoxically, while doing a small favour for a noble cause, I received choicest of abuses in return, as opposed to the usual ‘thanks’. In the late 1970s, I was posted at Hoshiarpur after my selection for the post of a gazetted officer. My generosity level was elevated when Mr was replaced by Dr as a prefix and PAS after my name on the name plate. Thanking God through helping poor became a habit.

OPED — Diaspora

Cananda Calling
Milestone for Punjabi cinema
Gurmukh Singh
The recent Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) proved to be very lucky for Punjabi cinema. It was for the first time in the history of the world’s premier film festival that a Punjabi film made an entry and was voted as the best film from Asia.

• THE TRIBUNE VISA WINDOW

EDITORIALS

Merkel magic
German Chancellor’s historic victory

Germany has shown how much it values its Chancellor by giving her a record-breaking number of votes. Angela Merkel is often called the most powerful woman in politics. She is that. She is equally the less flattering terms used for her — frugal, uninspiring speaker, and a tough negotiator. Above all, Merkel is a unique person who took on the leadership of her nation, and soon Europe, notching up much success in her endeavours. The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) she leads now bears her stamp, and she is widely looked upon by women, in Germany and elsewhere, as an inspiration. World leaders treat her with respect, even as in certain parts of Europe she is reviled as the architect of the austerity measures that she has spearheaded in order to shore up the euro.

The recent election that has left her poised for a triumphant third term poses its own challenges. The county has given her the votes, but she lacks an absolute majority in both the Houses of Parliament. Allies of the CDU have not fared well, and thus she will have to seek the support of opposition parties. However, for someone who has built a reputation as a negotiator, this is not an insurmountable difficulty. She is credited with her deft and tough handling of the Eurozone sovereign debt meltdown.

While German voters have shown that they appreciate Merkel’s calm and disciplined governance, her third term will throw up more challenges. Even as Germany has fared reasonably well in the Eurozone crisis, many in the country, called working poor, are under-employed and feeling the economic strain. As she comes into power on the wings of high expectations, she will need to please her domestic constituency, which will now be more demanding. The Eurozone crisis is far from over; Greece might need a third bailout; other nations might need help. Merkel is bound to be kept busy and the world will be waiting to see if the “slow and steady” approach that she has adopted will still be able to weave its magic. The German Chancellor has already been assured of her place in history, now she will have a chance to build a legacy, which may be dependent more on Europe than Germany.

Unique challenge
Aadhaar a must, but needs time

The Supreme Court order telling the government not to make Aadhaar compulsory for any benefits or services provided to people is more an embarrassment and speed breaker than a roadblock in the latter’s desperate attempt to start direct benefit transfer (DBT) before the Lok Sabha elections. The fundamental objection the court has to the unique identity (UID) scheme is the lack of any legislative basis for it. That is a valid point. The government has been unable to push the Bill to give the scheme legal validity since 2010. More than issues with the Opposition, various agencies of the government itself have been undecided over the character of the UID.

Not making UID compulsory because of the tardy and irregular implementation of the scheme is a good reason, but the fact that it is not only a smart idea but also a necessity cannot be ignored. At present there is no pan-India or cross-department identity, a loophole that is exploited by many to escape detection — as in taxes — or get benefits from more than one source — as with LPG cylinders. At the same time, there are varying proofs of identity required for various schemes, which many are not able to procure, and therefore unable to claim due benefits. The UID can address both these problems. Security and crime detection is an incidental benefit that would flow from a mass database of every resident of the country — with biometric information that cannot be faked — accessible anywhere instantly.

The government woke up to scheme rather late in its second term, and the pressure came from the top UPA leadership keen on establishing its do-good credentials with the poor. Its attempt to push through the DBT scheme — cash into beneficiaries’ bank accounts — can backfire if implemented without the requisite infrastructure in place. No one left out is going to like it. However, without the UID, it will not be possible to connect a subsidy to a bank account. There are, thus, two things the government has to do — bring in the law on Aadhaar, and roll out the scheme at its natural pace, lest a good idea be ruined in gestation.

Buddhist heritage
Saving monuments and attracting tourists

There are approximately 900 Buddhist heritage sites scattered across India, yet the country is unable to tap this huge foreign tourist potential, as most of these are in dire need of restoration. There are 500 million adherents of this faith across the world who could possibly be attracted to India, the place of its origin. Unfortunately, only a fraction of them visit the land of the birth of Buddha. In this context, the restoration of six Buddhist stupas by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Akhnoor, Jammu & Kashmir, is good news for the state, which is majorly dependent on tourism.

The country has around 45 mega Buddhist tourist destinations. The entire length and breadth of India has sites that have the footprints of Buddha. Bihar was among the first states to realise and explore the potential of Buddhist tourism. With cooperation of the ASI, it took a leap to earn the eighth spot among all states — ahead of Goa and Himachal Pradesh — in foreign tourist arrivals. A series of archaeological excavations and restorations, besides infrastructure upgrade at Bodh Gaya, Rajgiri and Nalanda helped Bihar attract around 7 lakh foreign tourists per annum.

Not to be left behind, Gujarat has carried out a series of archaeological excavations at Vadnagar, which promise to bring the industrialised state on the Buddhist circuit too. The state government is planning to add nearly a dozen Buddhist sites to Vadnagar to woo tourists from Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and the Far East, especially Japan. Last December, the J&K Tourism Department sent a plan to the ASI, proposing to install basic facilities at Parihaspora, Harwan and Kanispura-Ushkura, which have ruins of Buddhist monasteries. The department also announced the publication of a well-documented coffee-table book on Buddhist sites of the state. With Akhnoor stupas restored, the state can now boast of a meaningful Buddhist pilgrimage circuit, which includes the world famous monasteries of Ladakh.

Thought for the Day

Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established. — Confucius

ARTICLE

Redrawing frontiers
Stability in the Gulf region is in the interest of India
by G. Parthasarathy

Israel’s armed forces invaded Lebanon in 1982, with the aim of creating a buffer for the security of its northern borders. Within months, the PLO led by Yasser Arafat and his armed cadres were forced to leave Lebanon, the Syrian Air Force was virtually wiped out in air battles with the Israeli Air Force and Syrian forces had to be withdrawn from Lebanon. In the years following the Israeli action, Lebanon was engulfed by ethnic and sectarian conflict. Its first invasion of Lebanon was not without its costs for Israel. The invasion saw the emergence of the Hezbollah as a powerful Iranian backed militia, which has in subsequent conflicts, seriously challenged the might and avowed invincibility of Israel’s armed forces.

Virtually coinciding with the Israeli attack on Lebanon, Oded Yinon, an Israeli Government analyst, came out with a plan for redrawing the boundaries of what the Americans were to later describe as the “Greater Middle East”, extending from Pakistan to Turkey. While advocating a long-term plan to for the annulment of Israel’s Camp David Accord with Egypt and its destabilisation, Yinon envisaged “total dissolution of Lebanon” as a precedent for the dissolution of Syria and Iraq. Syria, he argued, would fall apart into a Shia Alawite-dominated State along its coast, a Sunni State in the Aleppo area, another Sunni State near Damascus, hostile to the Sunni north, and the Druzes with a State in “our Golan”, and in the Hauran and northern Jordan.

With the bloody Iran-Iraq conflict triggered by Saddam Hussein encouraged by the Reagan Administration then gathering momentum, Yinon held: “In Iraq, a division into provinces along ethnic/religious lines as in Syria, in Ottoman times, is possible. So, three or more States will exist around the three major cities of Basra, Mosul and Baghdad. Shia areas in the South will separate from the Sunni and Kurdish North. It is possible that the present Iranian-Iraqi confrontation will deepen this polarisation. The entire Arabian peninsula is a natural candidate for dissolution due to internal and external pressures”. In the years that have followed the Yinon analysis, the Greater Middle East has witnessed traumatic and bloody conflicts and internal turmoil, as civilizational, religious and sectarian rivalries have torn societies and nations apart.

Iraq’s Saddam Hussein brought misery and suffering to his own people after his ill-advised invasion of Kuwait, which followed the war he imposed on Iran with American support. After fellow Arabs, notably Syria and Egypt, joined the Americans to pulverise his armed forces and impose crippling economic sanctions in 1991, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was torn apart in a second American-led invasion. This invasion in 2003 ended the minority Sunni domination of Iraq and its replacement by a Shia-dominated government. As many as 1,33,000 Iraqis perished in this second invasion. The new Shia-dominated dispensation is, however, not only facing de facto Kurdish separation in the north, but also confronts a bloody insurgency by its Sunni minority, duly backed by its Gulf Arab neighbours. Libya was thereafter invaded by NATO forces from France and the UK, backed by the Americans, for regime change, getting the erratic, but secular Gadaffi replaced by Islamist oriented leaders. Libya has not only become a focal point for Al Qaeda activity, but also appears headed towards being administered virtually as two separate entities —Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.

The much-touted Arab Spring, which was supposed to usher in a new era of democratic change, exposed the harsh reality that countries with no experience of democratic traditions and institutions cannot be transformed overnight into vibrant democracies, merely because of demonstrations by an urbanised and educated urban middle class. Nowhere has this emerged more clearly than in Tunisia and Egypt, where elections produced rulers with Islamist inclinations, who are not exactly votaries of pluralism and modernism. In Egypt, an elected Islamist President has been overthrown by a largely secular military, which has a tradition of not only dominating political life, but also wielding vast economic clout. It is, however, noteworthy that the monarchies in the Gulf, Morocco and Jordan, with long-standing administrative and traditional political structures, were able to not only survive demonstrations, but emerge more confident of being able to deal with public discontent, than those authoritarian rulers, who were forced to succumb to pressures for democratic transformation.

The Arab Spring, however, has had the most destabilising impact caused by demonstrations against the secular and modern minded, but brutally authoritarian regime of Syria’s President Bashr al Assad. An estimated 120, 000 Syrians have perished in the brutal conflict, which has not only widened the Shia-Sunni rift across the Muslim world, but has also unexpectedly led to the beginnings of Russian-American cooperation, to moderate the American propensity for regime change, through military intervention. Syria has been forced to forego its chemical weapons — a development pleasing to the heart of Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose air force had earlier effectively destroyed Syria’s clandestine nuclear weapons-related facilities. The bloody civil war in Syria, however, continues.

Sunni elements in Syria remain divided between the “moderate” Free Syrian Army, which is being armed and backed by the US and its NATO allies, while more extremist Islamist elements are being backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. The Assad regime, which depends heavily on Russian diplomatic and military support, continues to receive steadfast backing from key Shia allies — Iran, Iraq and the Hezbollah. Unless a UN-brokered peace can be arranged, which presently appears unlikely, Syria appears inevitably headed for a partition along sectarian, ethnic and religious fault lines. This would be continuation of a trend where Sudan has been partitioned on religious/ethnic lines and Iraq’s Shia-Sunni-Kurdish fault lines have been accompanied by fears of tacitly US-backed Kurdish separatism. Moreover, after doors for its entry to the European Union were irrevocably shut,Turkey appears to be adopting a more assertive role in the “Greater Middle East”. An autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan absorbing Turkey’s insurgent Kurds, with its American-installed oil pipelines traversing through Turkey, would be welcomed by Turkey’s rulers.

India has quite rightly frowned on separatism in Iraq and built bridges to the new dispensation there. Stability in its neighbouring Gulf region, with its vast energy resources and where 6 million Indians reside, remains the key area of interest for India. India has also opposed American/NATO military intervention in Syria, which could destabilise its Gulf neighbourhood. It is really for the people of the “Greater Middle East” to determine their destinies, without destabilising meddling by outsiders.

MIDDLE

Do good and get abused
by Surinder Singh Grewal

The urge to do something good for the poor or needy remains the passion with some Punjabi souls, perhaps a legacy of the liberal farming community instinct. Paradoxically, while doing a small favour for a noble cause, I received choicest of abuses in return, as opposed to the usual ‘thanks’. In the late 1970s, I was posted at Hoshiarpur after my selection for the post of a gazetted officer. My generosity level was elevated when Mr was replaced by Dr as a prefix and PAS after my name on the name plate. Thanking God through helping poor became a habit.

Since my wife was on the family way and had gone to the village, I used to have dinner at a dhaba near the bus stand. It was famous for the delicious food served with fried dal being its speciality. My first dinner revealed the importance of the special fried dal when I saw a number of customers purchasing it in different types of containers for dinner. In front of every table, there was a crisp notice on the wall “Thali ke sath chamcha nahin milega.” (No spoon shall be provided with the thali). The hotel was charging Rs 5 per ‘thali,’ with an option to eat as much one wants. The servant at the dhaba informed me that in the thali system people eat more dal than chapattis and hence no spoon is provided. Black lentils and gram (Mahn Chole) dal, cooked on slow heat and fried with onion and pieces of ginger, tomato, garlic, green chillies and with the flavour of dhania was served with makki ki roti throughout the winter months.

One late evening when I arrived for dinner, I was the only customer and the shop was about to shut. As I started with my meal, one more customer with half-torn, dirty clothes splashed with white wash and hands smeared with various colours entered the shop and asked for one thali. Perhaps he had come after finishing a white-wash job. The way he started eating it appeared as if he was desperately hungry like a wolf. I took pity on him. There was power failure and a petro max lamp was lit at the counter. While paying my bill, I told the manager to take the payment for that fellow as well. He charged for both of us thinking that either he was working for me or known to me.

After stepping down from the hotel, I stopped at a ‘rehri’ parked in front of the hotel selling bananas. I purchased two and started eating, while sitting on the seat of my newly purchased Lambreta scooter. What was going to happen at the counter was my point of interest. This gentleman, I saw coming towards the counter after washing his hands. He took out from his pocket a piece of cloth in which he had wrapped a Rs 5 currency note. He extended that note towards the manager. I could see in the light of the petro max, the manager refusing to take the money and gestured with a finger that a man sitting there had already paid for him. The poor fellow did not budge and insisted that manager should take the payment as he did not know anybody here who could pay for him. There was a heated argument between them. The fellow was enraged because his self esteem was hurt. He wanted to pay and the manager would not accept. “I may be poor but am not a beggar”, he shouted but manager did not budge.

Putting back the Rs 5 note in that piece of cloth, he got down murmuring from the shop and came towards the other side of the banana rehri, where his cycle with the tin can and the brush on the back was kept. The rehriwala asked him “What is the matter, you were very angry with Lalaji?” “Yar kamaal ki baat hai, naa jaan naa pehchaan koi sala, haramzada meri roti ke paise de kar chala gya…….”

It is difficult to translate typical Punjabi abuses he gave but what he meant was that somebody not known to him and paid for his food. What is this nonsense, he must be an idiot, bloody fool and stupid. He publicly abused me and I was silently listening and digesting all his choicest abuses, considering them as dal makhni, taken without a spoon.

OPED — Diaspora

Cananda Calling
Milestone for Punjabi cinema
Gurmukh Singh

Director Anup Singh (middle) explains a scene on the sets of Qissa

The recent Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) proved to be very lucky for Punjabi cinema. It was for the first time in the history of the world’s premier film festival that a Punjabi film made an entry and was voted as the best film from Asia.

Qissa, a Punjabi film by Switzerland-based filmmaker Anup Singh, wowed audiences during its screenings and when the festival concluded on September 15, it was voted as the best Asian film of TIFF 2013.

One could not believe it when Toronto film festival artistic director Cameron Bailey opened the envelope and announced Qissa as the best film from Asia!

Qissa is the story of a Sikh, Umber Singh (played by Irrfan Khan), who is uprooted from his village near Rawalpindi following Partition of India. He was forced to move to India with his wife and three daughters.

The film portrays his displacement, both physical and emotional. And as Umber Singh tries to rebuild his life, the loss of home and identity trigger such intense emotions within him that he turns not only against those around him and his family but also himself.

Since a son is seen as the perpetuation of family name in the male-dominated society, Umber Singh, unable to have a son even after three daughters, raises his fourth daughter as a son and goes on to marry ‘him’ to a young girl. It is then that all family secrets spill out!

Qissa director Anup Singh told this correspondent that the film resonates with his own family’s life story after the Partition: How they were displaced, how they first moved to India and then to Tanzania, where Anup was born in Dar-e-Salam, and how they again moved back to India after 15 years in East Africa.

"Our family was displaced by the Partition, and my grandfather was very bitter about being uprooted from his roots. He knew he would never be able go back to his roots. He remained very bitter," Anup Singh said.

Umber Singh, protagonist of the film, symbolises his grandfather, who never came to terms with his loss of home and identity in 1947, Anup said.

When the news of Qissa winning the award reached him in Geneva, Anup Singh said, "It was my wedding anniversary and the award doubled the celebrations. Some of the actors were travelling and heard the news as soon as they landed in Mumbai from Toronto and jumped and danced excitedly at the airport itself! Irrfan Khan was ecstatic and sent me personal congratulations as soon as he heard. All the cast and crew see Qissa as their own baby and celebrations are swinging in India, Germany, France and the Netherlands, where all our cast, crew and co-producers reside."

He added, "We believe that our Qissa caravan has just reached the first watering-hole in Toronto. There is still a vast desert to cross to reach our audience. It has been invited to numerous major festivals all over the world."

According to Anup Singh, "Qissa is going to be dubbed into German. There are talks about dubbing it into Hindi."

The film will be released in India early next year and later in Europe, Canada and the US.

Audiences will be surprised to see Irrfan Khan, who plays the role of Umber Singh in the film, speaking almost flawless Punjabi.

"Initially, I was concerned whether I will be able to speak Punjabi properly, but it worked out very well. I worked very hard on my Punjabi with the help of my theatre friends," said Irrfan, who was in Toronto for the world premiere of the film.

Interestingly, "Qissa also features Tisca Chopra, who is related to writer Khushwant Singh. She plays the role of Umber Singh’s wife Maher.

Turban issue to the fore again

Just two months after the Sikhs in French-speaking Quebec province of Canada heaved a sigh of relief when the Quebec Soccer Federation rolled back its ban on turbans on soccer fields, the Sikh community is faced with another challenge.

This time, it is the proposed Charter of Values by the Quebec Government, which seeks to ban clothing — turbans by Sikhs, hijabs and naqabs by Muslim women, yarmulkes (skull cap worn by Jewish people) and large-sized crucifixes by Christians — by public employees in their place of work.

The ruling Parti Québécois says, it is introducing the legislation to separate religion from state. Though that is the intended message of the charter, the fact remains that xenophobia has raised its ugly head in the French-speaking province after France banned turbans and scarves in public schools in 2004 and hijabs and veils in public places in 2010.

Critics see the move to introduce the so-called secular Charter Values as a ploy to create political divisions between the Quebeckers and one million immigrants in the province. Most of these immigrants are Muslims from the Arab world and Francophone Africa.

Though exact numbers are not available, there could be about 10,000 Sikhs in Quebec. Many turban-wearing Sikhs joined Muslims and other Canadians in a rally in Montreal at the weekend to oppose the proposed Charter. The issue has galvanised the whole Sikh community across Canada and Sikh organisations are mounting pressure on the federal government and political parties to force Quebec to abandon the proposed legislation.

How many Sikhs will be impacted by the Quebec ban?

"There are no Sikhs in civil service in Quebec and there are a few turban-wearing doctors and university professors. Though institutions can seek exemptions for their employees, we are a long way off. No one knows whether this legislation to create the Charter of Values will be passed," says Prof Manjit Singh, who has been a resident of Quebec since 1961 and currently serves as a Sikh chaplain at McGill University in Montreal.

But turban-wearing Dr Sanjeet Singh Saluja, who is an emergency room doctor at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, is a worried man.

Born and raised in Montreal Dr Saluja says, he is now unsure about his future in the city where he was born.

The Sikh doctor says his faith is very important for him and he won’t "feel comfortable giving up that part of my persona."

Angry over the proposed Charter of Values by Quebec, Toronto-based top Sikh entrepreneur Surjit Babra, who runs the worldwide SkyLink aviation group, adds, "Members of the Sikh faith have migrated to all parts of the world and become highly contributing citizens, without compromising on symbols of their faith. Quebec can ill-afford the economic loss and social fallout that will undoubtedly result from the message it is sending, that it is closed for business to people of faith, be they Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians or of other faiths."

The turban issue, which first hit headlines in Canada in the late 1980s when Baltej Singh Dhillon was denied entry into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) because of his turban, is not yet over in this country where Sikhs are now one of the major immigrant groups and where Punjabi is one the top three or four spoken languages.

THE TRIBUNE VISA WINDOW
ASK THE US EMBASSY

The Tribune has launched a collaborative effort with the US Embassy, New Delhi, to provide answers to common questions on consular topics. The US Embassy will answer general questions regarding immigration and travel-related queries.

If a student does his/her graduation in the USA, is he/she eligible to apply for a green card? How much time does it take for the students to permanently settle in the USA? Once they finish their graduation and also their F-1 visa expires, what next step should they follow to stay there? What is the difference between obtaining a "Green Card" and getting a "Citizenship"? I also want to say that since these students spend so much time in USA for school and also spend so much money there, there should be some lenient ways of obtaining a Green Card or Citizenship.

All non-immigrant visas, including student visas (F1), are for people who plan to stay in the US temporarily for a specific purpose. So if a student goes to study in the US, he/she should expect to return home shortly after graduation. A student visa does allow the student to work in the US for up to 29 months in some fields, but this, too, is temporary. There is no provision to stay in the US after studies and become a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR), the legal term for those people who have a "Green Card". It is possible after graduation to be hired and receive a work visa. In some cases, employers can petition for foreign employees to get a green card. All of that comes after someone has successfully completed their studies, which is the purpose of the student visa. However, if someone’s purpose in applying for a student visa is to live permanently in the US, they are not likely to receive the student visa. The student visa is for study, not immigration.

The difference between being an LPR and a citizen is that LPR status grants the right to live in, leave and re-enter, and work in the US. It does not grant other legal rights, like voting in US elections. Also, LPRs must spend most of their time in the US; if the US Government believes that the permanent resident has not maintained sufficient ties to the US to demonstrate intent to keep their Green Card, the LPR can lose their status. Citizenship, however, never goes away. LPRs can become citizens after a certain amount of time, passing an exam, and other legal processes.

I am a student of M.Tech Mechanical Engineering. I wanted to study in the USA. What are the options? Is it compulsory to take the GRE along with TOEFL?

The options have to do with your career plans, not a visa. We recommend you get in touch with EducationUSA, our official source for higher education in the US. That organisation can help you find the right school, take appropriate tests, apply, get accepted, plan your finances and prepare for travel to the US. Only then, would you come to the Embassy or Consulate for a visa. If you convince a visa officer that you are a credible student with a plan to use your visa to study, you can qualify for a student visa. But the whole process starts with you determining your educational goals and EducationUSA is your best source for guidance on that topic. You may call EducationUSA at its toll-free number, 1-800-103-1231, Monday-Friday from 2 pm to 5 pm. An education adviser will be available to assist you.

I applied for US immigration on the basis of my daughter being a US citizen. However the work visa card and travel documents were sent back to the sender as the postman failed to deliver these at my daughter's address. Meanwhile, I returned to India. My interview date has still not been notified. I am a multiple tourist visa holder. Can I revisit on the valid tourist visa or not?

If you have a valid tourist visa for the US (B1/B2), then you can use it to travel there. If you are applying for a tourist visa and have an immigrant visa pending, we may ask if your intent is to visit or live permanently in the US. We will not issue a tourist visa to someone who plans to use it to live in the US. If an applicant plans to visit and return while their immigrant visa is in process, we may issue the tourist visa. As for the immigrant visa process, your interview and paperwork, you can email us at support-india@ustraveldocs.com and we can get you a specific answer.