Warning over Indian trade zones
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A senior Indian politician adds to the growing unease over new economic zones, but ministers defend the policy.
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Health officials worldwide are worried about unacceptable levels of lead and other metals in certain Ayurvedic preparations.
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SRINAGAR: Illegal fencing by India of Line of Control in Kashmir has been going in violation of agreements and most of the projected work is reportedly nearing completion.
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Officials call on international community to open crossing points for trade.
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An Adriatic fishing zone off Croatia prompts EU warnings of negative consequences.
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Investment funds controlled by foreign governments could trigger a protectionist backlash, a report warns.
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(InfoWorld) - Putting new restrictions on H1-B visas in the U.S. would be a barrier to trade, the president of a large Indian trade association said Wednesday. The remarks come in response to an inquiry by two U.S. senators into alleged misuse of the visas. Trade between the U.S. and India is two-way, and U.S. companies like Dell , Microsoft, Oracle, and Hewlett-Packard are benefiting from higher sales of computers and software to India's IT industry, according to India's NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies). NASSCOM made public on Wednesday contents of a letter about the issue, which it sent to U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Richard Durbin, who are investigating the alleged misuse of H1-B visas. It appears that companies are using H1-B visas to displace qualified, American workers, Grassley said in a statement earlier this month. New provisions proposed by the senators to ensure that H1-B visas are being used to meet a worker shortage and not to replace U.S. workers have been included in a bipartisan compromiseÂ immigration bill currently before the U.S. Senate. Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa, and Durbin, a Democratic senator from Illinois, earlier this month wrote to nine Indian companies, asking them for details on their use of the H1-B visas. NASSCOM said it had sent letters on behalf of the nine Indian companies to the senators. The nine companies together account for close to 20,000 H1-B visas, the senators said on their Web sites. Among the companies that received these letters were India's top outsourcers Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro. NASSCOM considers the issue of work permits like the H1-B visas and intracompany transfers from India to the U.S. as a trade issue that should not be confused with immigration issues. "We want to avoid this being confused as an immigration issue, particularly because it has come up in an immigration bill," NASSCOM's president Kiran Karnik said. India's minister for commerce and industry, Kamal Nath, has also warned of repercussions on ongoing World Trade Organization negotiations if there were any attempts to restrict H1-B visas. NASSCOM particularly objects to a clause in the immigration bill that prohibits companies from hiring H1-B employees if they employ more than 50 people and more than 50 percent of their employees are H1-B visa holders. This prohibition will affect the U.S. operations of Indian outsourcing companies as often they have to take staff from India to work on clients' projects, according to Karnik. These workers are in the U.S. on H1-B visas because they have the knowledge and experience to handle clients' requirements, Karnik said. It is also difficult for Indian companies to hire technical staff in the U.S., because of a tight labor market, he added. Taking staff from India on H1-B visas is not a way to get cheap labor, according to Karnik. The rules of the H1-B visa program allow H1-B visa holders to change jobs within the U.S., and market forces ensure that wages cannot be artificially suppressed, he added. The H1-B visa is an employer-sponsored, nonimmigrant work visa for a foreign worker coming temporarily to the U.S. to perform services in a specialty occupation. Indian outsourcing companies depend on these visas as a significant proportion of their staff work at client locations in the U.S. NASSCOM and some U.S. technology companies have asked for an increase in the current H1-B visa cap, which limits the number of visas annually to 65,000. In its letter to the senators, NASSCOM also mentioned that the largest outsourcing contracts from the Indian private sector, as also from the Indian government, have gone to U.S. companies. It said Indian students now form the biggest group of foreign nationals studying in U.S. universities, spending an estimated $3 billion a year. India is a major buyer of a whole host of U.S. goods and services, including aircraft, wheat, branded garments, and accessories, and the rapidly growing Indian economy is importing ever-larger quantities of these goods and services, NASSCOM said.
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India's drive to adopt a western economic model is threatening those who make their living from the jungle.
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In India and Sri Lanka, panic swept regions struck by the tsunami disaster after the Indian government warned that fresh tsunamis might strike.
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IndiaÂs prime minister warned that China had moved ahead in securing oil and natural gas supplies around the globe.
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Caution is necessary when attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in services and it&#39;s important to have the right mix of policies, the United Nations Conference on Trade
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The product recall over child labor allegations could deter other Western brands from sourcing their production to India
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One of the countryâs biggest insurance firms today announced plans to transfer more than 1,100 jobs to India over the next few years, sparking fears of a âcrisisâ in the UK.
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YORK, UK, Jun 29 (IPS) - African farmers could soon find themselves forced  out of the lucrative European market for agricultural products as  retailers and government move towards a zero tolerance policy on  chemical residues in food.
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1. With the coming of the New Year, two significant developments in the world of commerce and industry open themselves to India. Both are connected with the world trading order, of which India is a part: one
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An adverse panel recommendation could threaten Northgate Minerals' golden opportunity.
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CHICAGO Researchers are warning that some herbal remedies from India may contain dangerous levels of lead, mercury and arsenic. A Harvard Medical School study found levels high enough to cause poisoning in