US consulate in Hyderabad starts Operations

Hyderabad, March 5: Five months after it was inaugurated,the US consulate here has started visa services, fulfilling a long pending demand of visa seekers from Andhra Pradesh and boosting Hyderabad's image as an international business destination.

The consulate started partial functioning Wednesday, taking over 20 percent of the work being handled by the US consulate in Chennai.

Functioning from Paigah Palace, a heritage building in Begumpet near the old airport, the consulate will initially conduct 100 visa interviews a day. The number of daily visa applications will be increased to 400 next month.

The US consulate in Chennai is presently handling 500 applications every day for visas from Andhra Pradesh.

Consul General Cornelis M.Keur said full consular services for US citizens would also be available in Hyderabad, according to a statement issued late Wednesday.

Officials said the opening of the facility would save 70,000 trips from Hyderabad and other parts of Andhra Pradesh every year to Chennai.

US Ambassador to India David C.Mulford had formally inaugurated the consulate, the fourth in India after Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.

Then US president George W. Bush, during his visit to Hyderabad in March 2006, had announced the setting up of the consulate.

"When we selected Hyderabad to be the host city to our new consulate general, we did so in clear recognition of its importance as a major social political and commercial centre. Hyderabad is a city that works," Mulford had said.

The US consulate, which will initially have 16 visa windows, will work out of the temporary facility for six years before moving into a proposed permanent facility to be built in Gacchibowli area at a cost of $60 million.

The state government has allotted 12 acres of land for the consulate in Gacchibowli, an area where several US giants including Microsoft have their campuses.

Out of about two million Americans of Indian origin, an estimated 400,000 hail from Andhra Pradesh.

Tata's Nano to be launched on March 23-Video

New Vizag airport terminal opened

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Rs. 95-crore new integrated terminal building at Visakhapatnam airport was inaugurated here on Saturday and named after the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

With a sprawling built-up area of nearly 22,000 sq. metres, the new terminal building is made of glass and steel and billed as environment-friendly. Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel, who was scheduled to attend, cancelled his visit at the last minute.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who inaugurated the swank new facilities, noted that facilities for 24-hour operations and night landing had not been provided.

He would make efforts to get these facilities.

On a whirlwind tour of the district, Dr. Reddy went on a spree of laying foundation stones.

These included stones for the Rs.7,214-crore Babu Jagjeevan Ram Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi project at Sabbavaram, to irrigate eight lakh acres in the region, the AP University of Law, a new project to upgrade the road between Anakapalle and Anandapauram via Sabbavaram into four lanes at a cost of Rs. 347 crore, and for Apollo Hospitals in the Health City. He also distributed cheques to self-help group women.

Reacting to the Opposition’s criticism that the spree of foundation stones was aimed at the general elections, he stated at a meeting in Sabbavaram that development was a continuous process and the Congress government wanted to create permanent assets through major irrigation projects
(Source The Hindu)

Sakshi TV First HDTV Launched

Indian Americans are the best educated and top earners

The 1.5 million Indian Americans in the US continue to top the US Census charts as the best-educated, highest-paid and top-placed community among the 38.1 million foreign-born population in the country. As per a fresh analysis of data on the foreign-born population from the 2007 American Community Survey, 74 percent of Indian-born US residents had bachelor's degree or higher, which was far more than the figure for people born in any other foreign country.

This was also nearly three times the 27 percent of the foreign-born and about 28 percent of the natives having bachelor's degrees, showed the new analysis that was released by the US Census Bureau of the Commerce Department. These figures come from the new detailed characteristic profiles on the foreign-born population, or people who were not US citizens at birth, available on the basis of their countries of birth. "Among the foreign-born, those from India, Australia and the Philippines have the highest median household incomes," said the analysis, indicating the top positions Indian enjoy among the US workforce.

"The median household income for US residents is $91,195 (per annum). The foreign-born from Somalia and the Dominican Republic had some of the lowest median household incomes," the survey added. For Indians, this is several notches higher than the median household income of $50,740 for the total population, $46,881 for the foreign-born population and $51,249 for the native population.

In terms of people careers, India-born residents were again on the top of the ladder with just 8.3 percent of the group's population engaged in the so-called labour-intensive jobs. This is, indeed, a long way from the days of early migration when Indians mainly came to the US as labourers to build the country's railroad. "US residents born in India have the highest percentage of civilian-employed people working in management, professional and related occupations," the survey said, adding 69 percent of the population were in that category.

The survey showed that people from India ranked fourth in terms of sheer numbers when it came to the foreign-born living in the US. Mexicans topped the list with 11.7 million, followed by China (1.19 million), the Philippines (1.7 million), India (1.5 million) and Vietnam (1.1 million). "These new selected population profiles highlight the diversity among the many different foreign-born groups in the United States," said Elizabeth Grieco, chief of the Census Bureau's immigration statistics staff. "This diversity is due in part to the way the various communities were established, whether it be through labour migration, family reunification or refugee flows."

Satyam to exercise cost-cutting, relocate onsite staff

New Delhi: Satyam Computers today announced cost-cutting measures including relocating onsite support staff to tide over the current financial crisis in the company and meet the challenges posed by the global economic slowdown.
Satyam CEO A S Murthy said in an address to employees, “I am asking for your help to reduce, avoid or defer operational expenses wherever and whenever possible” adding, “Once our situation eases and conditions allow, we will revert to normal practices.”
Services suspended include limousine service, business class travel, hotel stays for associates in cities where Satyam has guest houses,and car services for intra-city conveyance. “As a policy, the pre-sales, solution architect, delivery and operational support personnel will be located in the low-cost countries. All units have to sharply reduce by more than 60 per cent non-billable domestic and international travel,” he told the associates.
The company has also put a freeze on expenses relating to internal issues. “All capital expenditures, unless required to meet customer deliveries, are being suspended till further notice. This includes renewal of laptops and office renovation. These measures are necessitated not just because of our financial situation but are relevant given the larger economic slowdown,”he said.
The company has suspended external training as well as the advertising and marketing co-lateral expenses for the time being.
“We will maximise the use of internal training facilities and instructors,” Murthy said, adding that the company will also terminate the lease of several rented premises to provide sizable saving.

Satyam employees in Green Card fix

Hyderabad Feb 19 :Of the approximately 11,000 employees of Satyam [Get Quote] USA, 7,000 are on H1B visas, says Mathew Daniel, a vice president of US operations at the company.

Though Satyam has faced considerable problems following the January 7 confession by its founder Ramalinga Raju of fraud, Daniel says Satyam has no plans to lay off any employees. Though insurance giant State Farm became the latest client to withdraw its contract with the scandal-tainted company, Daniel said Satyam has acquired 15 new clients in January alone.

On the ground, though, reports suggest that many Satyam employees have begun shopping around for alternate employment. Further, those applied for Green Cards through the company could face problems, according to Buffalo, New York-based attorney Danielle Rizzo. "Satyam's fraud has created a minefield of immigration problems for its foreign national employees in the United States," she said.

"It is possible that Satyam's I-140 petitions, whether pending or approved, will be denied or revoked for fraud. An essential piece of an I-140 petition is the petitioner's showing that it has the ability to pay the beneficiary's proffered wages. Satyam has admitted to accounting fraud, meaning that the I-140 petitions all necessarily relied on fraudulent documents," Rizzo said.

"I think the chances of I-140 revocation, even for approved petitions, are quite high. Even though it is not the employees' fault, the petition is filed by the employer and one of the key requirements in an I-140 is the employer's submission of evidence of its ability to pay.

"USCIS regulations require that evidence of ability to pay be submitted in the form of audited financial statements, federal income tax returns, or an annual report filed with the SEC. Clearly any of these documents would have contained fraudulent financial information. It is not only the beneficiary's fraud that would invalidate a petition but the petitioner's as well," she said.

Some of Rizzo's clients have filed petitions on behalf of former Satyam employees. "We have filed for more than two dozen people. Other law offices might also be filing for Satyam employees. We can assume that a sizeable number of workers are moving out," she said.

Those working at State Farm are among the ones leading the rush to the exit. Satyam can farm them out to other clients, but that requires approval from the USCIS, which may not be forthcoming.

The American Competitiveness in the Twenty First Century Act (AC21) permits post-6th year H-1B extensions in three-year increments if their I-140 petition has been approved, and whose priority date is not current. But if the USCIS cancels their I-140 approval later, the employees lose their legal status. They have to start the labour certification process all over again.

The AC21 also allows portability, meaning one can move to another company if his I-140 is approved and his I-485 petition has been pending for 180 days. But if the I-140 is revoked or withdrawn, it is not portable, except if it is withdrawn after the I-485 has been pending for 180 days.

"But revocation for fraud is not a withdrawal; thus the I-140 would no longer be valid for permanent portability purposes. Based on the high likelihood that Satyam's I-140 petitions will all be revoked, the safest course of action for former Satyam employees would thus be to start a new green card application from scratch as soon as possible with a new employer," Rizzo said.

Revocation of an approved I-140 for fraud also results in the beneficiary losing the priority date established by the petition, and underlying labour certification. Satyam employees who find new US employers can start the green card process afresh with a new PERM application. However, if the Satyam I-140 petition is revoked prior to their receipt of a Green Card, the earlier priority date is likely to be lost.

"It would appear that as US companies terminate their contracts with Satyam, there will be US consulting companies vying for those contracts who are more than willing to sponsor former Satyam employees for non-immigrant status and potentially also for new Green Card applications," Rizzo noted. "Because of the legal complications created by Satyam's fraud, however, each of these cases must be carefully analyzed by an immigration attorney."

Officials with Satyam say they foresee no such problems. The Securities and Exchange Commission has not taken any action against the company in the US, and unless the SEC takes action, the USCIS cannot take cognizance, they point out.
(Source USA Today)

California to cut 20,000 state employees

Los Angels, Feb 17 (Reuters) - California, which is on the brink of running out of cash, will notify 20,000 state workers on Tuesday their jobs may be eliminated, a spokesman for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday.

The announcement came a day after California lawmakers narrowly failed to pass a $40 billion budget that would have plugged the state's deficit with a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts.

"In the absence of a budget, the governor has a responsibility to realize state savings any way he can," said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the Republican governor. "This is unfortunately a necessary decision."

The layoff notices will affect about 20 percent of state workers, McLear said, adding the cuts would extend to every part of state government.

The positions would be eliminated in June in preparation for California's next fiscal year, which starts in July.

California, America's most populous state and the world's eighth biggest economy, has experienced a dramatic fall in revenues because of the housing downturn, rising unemployment and a sharp pullback in consumer spending.

To conserve cash, the state has stopped public works projects, furloughed state employees for two days a month and postponed sending out tax refunds.

One-fourth US tech firms started by Indians

The US lawmakers may be seeking to restrict entry of skilled foreign workers to save jobs of their citizens, but a new research shows that Firms founded by immigrants coming from places like India are creating thousands of jobs every year in the country. The research, conducted by professors of Duke University and the University of California, also shows that an immigrant figures among the founders of every fourth engineering and technology firm in the country. Further, every fourth engineering and technology company founded by immigrants have Indians as its founders.

"There was at least one immigrant key founder in 25.3 per cent of all engineering and technology companies established in the US between 1995 and 2005 inclusive," says the report titled 'America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs'. These entities generated over 52 billion dollars in 2005 sales, while creating just under 4,50,000 jobs as of 2005. Even as the findings of the research pitch for entry of more skilled foreigners, the US Congress has approved a proposal to restrict firms, receiving the government's bailout package, from hiring H1-B visaholders, if they are to replace Americans.

The research, conducted by Vivek Wadhwa, Ben Rissing and Gary Gereffi from the Duke University and AnnaLee Saxenian from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that Indians lead the tally of all the technology and engineering firms started by immigrants in the US between 1995 and 2005. Indian immigrants are followed by those from the UK, China and Taiwan. According to the report, majority of the Indian immigrants (46 per cent) founded software firms and 44 per cent started companies in innovation/ manufacturing-related services. Further, Indian immigrants mostly found technology and engineering firms in California.

Satyam case to CBI

Hyderabad, Feb.16:- The Home Minister, Mr K Jana Reddy, on Monday confirmed that the government has issued a GO to hand over the Satyam Computers case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Speaking to mediapersons here, Mr Jana Reddy said that the Chief Minister, Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, had already written to the Prime Minister stating that his government had no objection for a CBI probe into the Satyam Computers scam. The investigation into the Rs 7,000-crore scam was complex one and investigation by multiple institutions would only bring out real facts in it. He reminded that the scam has rocked the corporate world.

Mr Reddy said that the government had issued the GO on February 13 for CBI inquiry into the Satyam Computers scam and the same was sent to the High Court

Eight-year ban on Satyam can be reviewed: WB

New Delhi Feb 15: Giving some hope to crisis-ridden Satyam the World Bank (WB) has said it could review the eight-year ban imposed on the company provided the software exporter takes corrective action.
A WB official said Satyam has to show it has again become a responsible vendor to do business with when asked whether the multilateral lending agency would relax the ban on the software exporter.
“The vendor would have to demonstrate that corrective action had been taken to address the original causes of the ineligibility,” a WB official from Washington told PTI.
The official further said action should substantiate that Satyam is again a responsible vendor with whom the bank can do business.
The bank banned Satyam Computer Services for eight years in 2008 for providing improper benefits to bank staff and for failing to maintain records relating to fees charged for sub-contractors.
Satyam has a strong case for a review of the ban since its old board and management have been changed after its disgraced founderchairman B Ramalinga Raju admitted to fudging accounts to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore.
The bank’s guidelines for vendors have provisions for relaxing or scrapping bans on entities on fulfilling certain conditions including bona fide change in ownership or management.
Following the disclosure of the fraud by Raju the government superseded the erstwhile board of Satyam replacing it with one having its nominees.
The present board headed by former Nasscom president Kiran Karnik has taken steps to revive the company including appointing a new chief executive officer.
The bank had banned Satyam in September 2008 from doing any business with it but the debarment was made public in December.
Apart from Satyam, two other Indian firms, Wipro and Megasoft were also debarred by the WB though for different reasons. PTI

Satyam in talks with LIC for funding


Scam-hit it major Satyam computer has initiated preliminary discussion with Life Insurance Corporation of india (LIC) on funding, a senior LIC official said.
“We have held informal talks but have not so far received any concrete proposal from Satyam,” the official told PTI here on condition of anonymity.
The life insurer was open to any viable proposal the official said. Satyam recently received loans of Rs 600 crore from IDBI Bank and Bank of Baroda which has rendered it financially comfortable in the short term.
Satyam is understood to have pledged some part of its land bank with the two financial institutions and is open to the idea of doing so in the future as well to raise loans.
The Hyderabad-based company has approached two more public sector banks and LIC for more funding to meet its short-term requirements such as salaries and vendor and rental payments.
It is understood that satyam still requires a similar amount in the near term.
Asked whether LIC is planning to up its holding in Satyam, the source said the company would watch the situation in satyam before taking any decision. LIC now holds a 4.24 per cent stake in Satyam.
“Satyam has an eminent board including LIC’s executive director S B Mainak that has brought back the confidence. They have good receivables and a strong client base. It appears that things are going well in Satyam,” the official said.
Asked whether LIC planned to up its stake in L&T which has reportedly evinced interest in acquiring Satyam the official declined to comment.
“We make investments which are found to be viable by our equity market team,” the official said.
LIC has around 18 per cent stake in the engineering giant. L&T has tripled its stake in satyam from four per cent to over 12 per cent in January and has now emerged as a frontrunner to acquire the beleaguered IT major. PTI

TCS changes recruitment strategy

Tata Consultancy Services, the country's largest IT company, has changed its hiring strategy and will focus on just-in-time hiring or real-time talent management. "TCS has decided to adopt the policy of real-time management whereby we will hire in the last three months of the final year of graduation rather than a year before," said S Ramadorai, managing director and chief executive officer, TCS. This will not only help the company to optimise and increase its utilisation, but also align its hiring strategy closer to the demand and supply of business, a company spokesperson said.

The company is working on ways to reduce the two-month training period by half. TCS, with over 130,000 employees, has already freezed lateral hiring and plans to hire only on need basis. "The decision is also been based on our constant interaction with the academia, which have been telling that students are not pursuing higher studies as they get jobs and also during the academic year they tend to get lax," added the company's spokesperson.

The decision will not impact the company's current hiring plan of recruiting over 24,000 students for FY10. The step comes immediately after the Nasscom announcement to hire students only in their eighth semester. "Some firms were hiring in the fourth or fifth semester of an academic year. However, now the IT trade body and companies have decided to hire only in the eighth semester of the academic year," said Nasscom President Som Mittal. Mittal felt that this will help the students as well as the industry. "When you hire that early, students get confused and do not focus on their studies. Besides, we also realised that since many would get jobs they would not concentrate on further studies," added Mittal.

Lalu Prasad budgets for fare cuts, 43 new trains

New Delhi (IANS): The estimated 14 million passengers who travel by trains in India daily had reasons to cheer on Friday, as Railway Minister Lalu Prasad cut fares by 2 percent, introduced 43 new routes and hiked the planned expenditure for expansion, in spite of the economic downturn that saw lower freight revenues last quarter.

Presenting the interim rail budget for 2009-10 in parliament in his inimitable style, punctuated by light-hearted digs at members of the opposition, Lalu Prasad also announced the extension of 14 routes, an increase in the frequency of 14 trains and additional spending on safety.

He also earmarked a higher plan expenditure of Rs.37,905 crore (Rs.379.05 billion/$7.58 billion) towards expansion next fiscal, against revised estimates of Rs.36,773 crore (Rs.367.73 billion/$7.35 billion) for 2008-09, hoping for higher passenger and freight earnings since January.

The minister, who had presented all five previous rail budgets for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and earned worldwide repute for charting the dramatic turnaround of Indian Railways, also reported higher earnings on both passenger and freight segments, despite the economic slowdown.

"I have great pride that, in its journey of service to the nation, the Indian Railways have reached an important milestone," said Lalu Prasad, hardly reflecting the fact that his measures were interim in nature, as convention in an election year demands that the regular budget is left to a new government to present.

"I can proudly say that Indian Railways scaled a new pinnacle every year and now stand at the zenith of success from where, without imposing any burden on the common man, the railways are set to establish the historic landmark of earning a cash surplus before dividend of more than Rs.90,000 crore (Rs.900 billion/$18 billion) in five years."

The Indian Railways are the second largest railroad in the world under a single management, running more than 11,000 trains every day, 7,000 of which are for passengers.

The network comprises 108,706 km and ferries 14 million passengers daily from 6,853 stations across the length and breadth of the country. This is the reason why it is the only ministry that has a separate budget.

Indian industry by and large welcomed the measures announced, especially the decision to enhance the capacity of wagons and the push for dedicated freight corridors across the length and breadth of the country.

"Freight corridors, containers and improved passenger amenities announced in the budget will go a long way in making India's railway network more modern and efficient," said the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), though, said the budget could have lowered freight rates as well - an opinion shared by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

"The minister has refused to respond to the current slowdown by cutting freight rates and helping Indian industry and economy in the midst of a slowdown," said FICCI president Harsh Pati Singhania.

During Lalu Prasad's budget speech, the best part was undoubtedly reserved for passengers. He said among the 43 new trains, four would be his pet project, the "Garib Raths" - the fully air-conditioned trains aimed at economically weaker sections of society.

He did not disappoint other travellers either, recalling in his budget speech that he had reduced second-class fares of all mail and express trains by 5 percent for tickets costing more than rupees Rs.50 per passenger.

"Respecting the aspiration of long distance passengers, I have decided this year to reduce the second-class and sleeper class fares of all mail, express and ordinary passenger trains by 2 percent for tickets costing more than Rs.50 per passenger," he said, announcing similar cuts in air-conditioned classes.

"Earlier, at the time of the railway budget, people were apprehensive about the possible increase in passenger fares. Now, on the other hand, on the eve of my budget, people appeared not only hopeful but sanguine about the likely reduction in passenger fares."

The minister admitted that 2008 was a mixed year for Indian Railways. The first half showed a 9 percent increase in freight revenues and 14 percent jump in earnings from passengers.

"However, in October and November, the growth in freight loading was adversely impacted by the recession in the international markets," he said, adding: "But we are not only hopeful but confident that the budget targets for passenger and goods earnings set for this fiscal will be surpassed."

The minister, who has been guest lecturer at institutions like Harvard and the Indian Institutes of Management for the dramatic turnaround of the railways, also patted himself on the back for the achievements in the past five years. His eyes were clearly on the ensuing national elections.

He said the transformation of the country's railway system was fundamentally different from the financial turnaround witnessed among private sector firms, that "resort to anti-people measures like increase in prices, retrenchment of employees and lockouts".

"Railways have kept the human aspect as the central focus and achieved an extraordinary feat without putting any extra burden on the common man or the employees," he said, adding that in the process safety of passengers had also not been compromised.

He said the number of accidents had come down to 194 in 2007-08, against 325 in 2003-04.

"This declining trend is continuing in 2008-09 also. The number of consequential train accidents during April to November in the current year decreased to 117 as compared to 138 during the corresponding period of the previous year."

Lalu Prasad, who had recently visited Japan and rode the famous "bullet train", also said that his ministry was examining the feasibility of running such trains on five sectors and commissioned a study for the Delhi-Patna sector.

Telugu Techie's and Consultancy officials arrested in Visa fraud in Iowa USA

DES MOINES, Iowa - Federal authorities on Thursday announced the arrests and indictments of 11 people in six states as part of an investigation into visa and mail fraud.

An indictment names Vision Systems Group Inc., a New Jersey company that has an office in Coon Rapids, Iowa.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Whitaker said the information technology company brought highly educated foreign workers into the United States to fill supposed vacancies in high-tech jobs.

The company is accused of filing documents with the government showing the workers were employed in Iowa, where they could be paid less than if they worked on the coasts.



"We allege those workers were actually on the coasts working in much higher-wage jobs although they were receiving wages that were the prevailing wage in Iowa and thereby, we allege, dislocating and displacing United States workers that could have done those jobs in those locations," Whitaker said.

The government also is seeking the forfeiture of $7.4 million in proceeds raised through the alleged offenses.

Whitaker said the workers came to the country under an H-1B visa, which allows college educated foreign workers to come to the U.S. to fill vacancies in high-tech jobs, such as computer programming and engineering.

"This is an enforcement effort that points to a significant vulnerability in our visa process and we're trying ... to close these loopholes and to take away the incentive to conduct these fraudulent schemes," Whitaker said. "This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as this investigation goes."

According to the 10-count indictment, Vision Systems Group and some of its workers submitted false statements and documents in support of their visa petitions, and that the false documents were mailed or wired to state and federal agencies.

The documents include certifying to the Department of Labor the name of each worker, the job they are performing, the wage they are being paid and the location where they are working.

The indictment alleges that Vision Systems Group failed to maintain a permanent office for workers in Iowa, but Whitaker declined to comment on whether the Coon Rapids office identified in documents was an operating office.

Some company workers are accused of mailing tax returns with W-2's attached to the Iowa Department of Revenue when they actually worked in other states.

Only 65,000 skilled workers are allowed into the U.S. on H-1B visas. They can stay in the country for three years with an option for an additional three years.

The workers who were arrested Wednesday are:

Shiva Neeli, arrested in Boston on conspiracy and mail fraud charges;
Ramakrishna Maguluri, arrested in Atlanta on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Villiappan Subbaiah, arrested in Dallas on conspiracy and mail fraud charges;
Suresh Pola; arrested in Philadelphia on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Chockalingham Palaniappan, arrested in San Jose, Calif., on conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud charges;
Vijay Myneni, arrested in San Jose, Calif., on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Venkata Guduru, arrested in New Jersey on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Amit Justa, arrested in New Jersey on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; and Karambir Yadav, arrested in Louisville, Ky., on conspiracy and mail fraud charges.

Vishnu Reddy, who was arrested in Los Angeles on conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud charges and named in a separate indictment, was identified as the president of Pacific West Corporation, of Santa Clara, Calif. Another indictment named Praveen Andapally, who was arrested in New Jersey on conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and for false statement in Immigration matter. He identified as president of Venturisoft Inc., of South Plainfield, N.J.

Whitaker could not immediately identify the country of origin of each individual but said that some of the workers are from India and Pakistan.

Mike Aytes, acting deputy director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the H-1B program is a good program but that some adjustments will be made.

"We're because it illustrates some vulnerabilities in the program, vulnerabilities that this kind of investigation is helping to deal with and we expect we will make some additional adjustments in the program based on what we found here to ensure the integrity of the Immigration system in the United States," Aytes said.

Whitaker said those who were arrested are not considered a national security risk and are interviewed before they enter the country.

"Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, we have vetted these employees ... so even though they're not in the same location they're supposed to be and there may have been fraud conducted on the documents, at the same time there are other systems in place that should review these folks for national security issues," he said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Social Security Administration all participated in the investigation.
(Source Chicago Tribune)

US Senators seek H-1B hiring ban

In what could be a cause of worry for Indian IT professionals, two US Senators have introduced amendments to the economic stimulus bill, which if passed would prevent US companies receiving the federal bailout money, from hiring H-1B visa holders.

The amendment if approved by the Senate would have an immediate impact on Indian IT professionals, as it is they who are the major beneficiaries of the H-1B visa programme. An amendment in this regard has been co-sponsored by the Republican Senator from Iowa, Chuck Grassley and the Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. Introducing the amendment on the floor of the Senate, Senator Sanders said: "It is essentially saying that there would be a suspension of H-1B programme of any institution, which would be receiving TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Programme) funds for just one year."

Seeking bi-partisan support to his amendment, Sanders said: "I firmly believe that companies going through layoffs that employ H-1B visas (holding workers) have a moral obligation to protect American workers by putting them first during these difficult times." Sanders also quoted a recent media report that said that the American banking industry had requested for more than 21,000 visas for foreign guest workers over the last six years. "Hiring American workers for limited available jobs should be a top priority for businesses taking taxpayer money through the TARP program," Senator Grassley said, adding if banks are going to be getting American taxpayer money than they should be hiring American workers.

"With the unemployment rate at 7.2 per cent, there is no need for companies to hire foreign workers through the H1-B programme when there are plenty of qualified Americans looking for jobs," Grassley said. He said he supports the H-1B program, but it should be used in the way it was intended as a temporary measure to supplement a company's need for hi-tech or specialised workers when none are available in the US. Observing that H-1B and other work visa programs were never intended to replace qualified American workers, Grassley argued now that many qualified bank employees are unemployed, banks who want to hire workers shouldn't have a hard time finding what they need from an American workforce.

Grassley along with Senator Dick Durban had introduced a comprehensive H-1B and L visa reform bill in the previous 110th Congress. This was aimed at giving priority to American workers and crack down on employers who deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs. The Senator has also asked questions of both US and foreign-based companies about their use of the H-1B visa programme.

US Consulate in Hyderabad to issue visas by month-end

The American Consulate General, Hyderabad is likely to start issuing visas by the end of the month after the necessary software is installed, according to the Consul General Cornelis M Keur.
Students from AP going to the US will also get tips at the Consulate for their safety in the US. On Friday, Cornelis Keur was invited for a meeting with state government officials to discuss the safety of students from the state in the US in view of the increasing attacks on them.
Minister for energy and in-charge of AP NRIs’ cell, Shabbir Ali, ministry of external affairs (MEA), joint secretary Ravi Shankar Isola and additional secretary to government (protocol), N V Ramana Reddy participated in the meeting held with the Consul General.
Around 100 Praja Rajyam activists attacked the Telugu Desam office at Banjara Hills and created a ruckus over certain comments made by Telugu Mahila president Roja against the Yuva Rajyam president Pavan Kalyan. Nine TD activists from Visakhapatnam, who had come to meet the Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, were injured in the attack and they were given medical attention.

Nano may hit roads on March 3

Tata Motors may launch its ambitious small car Nano, the cheapest car of world, on March 3, the day of birth anniversary of Tata Group founder, Jamsetji Tata.

Its first recipient may be a celebrity from business world, political class, film industry or social sector.

The booking for much awaited small car would start from the end of February, with an amount of around Rs 70,000. However, the official spokesperson of Tata Group declined to disclose any details and said, "We have not announced an official date or any marketing plans so far."

Leading celebrities including President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Opposition Leader LK Advani may witness the roll of small car, a symbol of India's expertise and efficiency in auto mobile sector.

The car may also be presented to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, for his unsuccessful efforts to woo the project for West Bengal in the midst of stiff opposition from opposition parties, especially, Trinamool Congress.

The car would be rolled out from company's Pantnagar utility, in one standard and two other models at rupee Rs 1 lakh, Rs 1.24 lakh and Rs
1.34 lakh respectively.

Kiran Karnik appointed as New 'Satyam' chairman

New Delhi Feb 6 :A day after Satyam veteran A S Murty was named the company's CEO, the Government announced the appointment of Nasscom past-president Kiran Karnik as chairman of its six-member board.
The announcement was made here by Corporate Affairs Minister P C Gupta, whose ministry had earlier moved the Company Law Board to disband the erstwhile Satyam board after disclosure of fraud by company founder Ramalinga Raju.

Pursuant to the directions of the CLB, the Government initially constituted the board of Satyam with three members including Karnik, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh and past presiding officer of Securities Appellate Tribunal C Achutan.

The Government later expanded the board of Satyam by nominating three more members including CII chief mentor Tarun Das, LIC nominee S Balakrishna Mainak and past president of ICAI T N Manoharan.

The board had held several meetings at the IT company's headquarters and had cleared the appointment of Murty and two other advisers.

Karnik, who will head Satyam, was Nasscom president in 2001-02 and has earlier held several key positions in the IT sector. He has also served as managing director of Discovery Network in the country.

30% drop in US bound students

Hyderabad Feb. 6: The number of students aspiring to study in the United States has come down apparently because of the series of killings of AP youth in recent months in that country.
In all, eight youth from the state have been murdered in the US in the last one and half years. The latest killing to be reported from the US was that Mr R. Sudhir Kumar, a techie from the city, who was found dead in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Educational consultants in the city said that the number of students applying for higher education in the US had fallen by at least 30 per cent this year compared to last year. Of course, recession is one reason for the decrease but the killings are also been cited as a reason.
“Parents are naturally worried about the safety of children,” said Mr Rajeev Dhawan of Global Education Consultants. “The recession and lack of jobs in the US has also brought down the numbers.”
Authorities of Uniti Foundation, an arm of the US consulate, also said the number of students had come down this year after increasing from 83,833 in 2007 to 94,563 in 2008.
“Safety is one of the parameters,” said Manjiri Ganu, educational advisor of Uniti Foundation in the city. “Now they will probably give it more weight.”
She added that increased awareness on how to ensure personal safety would reduce apprehensions of students going to the US .
The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in the city has decided to conduct an awareness seminar in collaboration with the US consulate on safety precautions to be taken in the US .
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the postmortem report of Mr Sudhir Kumar will be released only after two more days. Mr Azad, vice-consul from Indian consulate general office, has been camping in Atlanta to oversee the paper work required.
Dr Satyanarayana Reddy, president of Telugu Association Metro Atlanta, said donations were being collected to send the body back to Hyderabad . “It would cost nearly 12,000 US dollars for the transportation,” he said. Back in Hyderabad , relatives of Mr Sudhir Kumar approached Minister for NRI affairs, Mr Shabbir Ali, and apprised him the state of affairs.

Infosys gets call from Satyam clients

New Delhi, Feb 6 : Infosys Technologies today said some of Satyam clients have approached it, but the company will examine the proposals whether they bring any value to the firm before taking a decision.

"Some of them (Satyam's clients) have reached out to us.. We have said if any of the Satyam's client approaches Infosys, we will examine it and if it fits what we want to do then we will go ahead... Clients have a right to go to anybody of their choice. We have not pro-actively gone out and poached," Infosys HR Director T V Mohandas Pai said today.

The IT major, which is braving the slowdown is also taking a number of steps to hold on to the profit margin which include no or subdued salary increase, cut in variable pay, reducing onsite work and increase employee utilisation rates.

"Wages increase for next year is going to be subdued if at all there is a wage increase. About 11,000 people are on the variable pay structure. 90 per cent of the variable salary is paid in advance, which has been reduced to 80-85 per cent.

"Utilisation is low at 73 per cent...we can go up to 82 per cent. Our onsite work is about 32 per cent now. We can bring it down by pushing more work offshore by 2-3 per cent. So we have many levers," he said. "The variable salary depends on revenue and profitability of the company and as the revenue and profit growth slows, the salary would be correspondingly shaped up," Pai said, adding Infosys has a limited tolerance policy for non-performers.

He said India's software export growth rate could be less than the forecasted 16-17 per cent (by Nasscom) during the current fiscal due to the economic downturn.

"The industry is going through turbulent times. The probability that the growth rate will be lower than the 16-17 per cent is higher," he said.

So there is pricing pressure and vendor consolidation will happen, he said adding that for the three quarters, the company has been able to keep margins intact and it will wait for this quarter.
(Source AJ)