An Indian national who admitted that he assaulted a girl on a flight from Seattle, Washington to Newark Liberty International Airport, was sentenced Jan. 5, to 90 days in prison.

Vijaykumar Krishnappa, 29, pleaded guilty Nov. 8 last year, before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark in Newark federal court to a superseding information charging him with assault in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, while on a United Airlines flight from Seattle to Newark on July 23, 2017, Krishnappa intentionally assaulted a girl who was unknown to him and seated next to him on the flight, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Craig Carpenito, said in a press release.

Krishnappa admitted that while the victim was asleep, he intentionally touched her near her groin over her leggings without her consent.

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Actor, director, author and comedian Aziz Ansari, won a Golden Globe award for his acting in the TV series Master of None, a Netflix comedy original he co-wrote with Alan Yang.

This was Ansari second nomination in the category  “Best performance by an Actor in a TV series — Musical or Comedy” and he beat out some heavyweights in Anthony Anderson of  “Black-ish,” Kevin Bacon, “I Love Dick,” William H. Macy from “Shameless” and Eric McCormack, “Will and Grace”. In 2017, Ansari won the Emmy award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, for Master of None.

“I seriously didn’t think I would win because all the websites said I would lose,” Ansari said in his short address on stage. He thanked fellow actors and “Italy for all the great food,” and concluded with, “I thank my parents for giving me so much love.”

Ansari plays Dev Shah in Master of None, a 30-year old actor in New York. The series moves from the personal to the political, featuring his real parents and friends. In its two seasons, it has portrayed the life of millennials today as they search for real love and purpose, learn about their parents’ sacrifices, and roam the world to take on new challenges. It deals with serious issues of immigrant lives and cultures, growing up in America, women’s rights, equality, LGBTQ rights, and racism in the film industry.

Others at the Globes

From the woman in charge of the Golden Globes ceremony, to a special invitee at the glittering event, Indian-Americans featured in the second most-watched show after the Oscars.

Mumbai-born Meher Tatna, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, gave a speech in the first hour of the awards ceremony, speaking about the mission of the organization. She also announced to $1 million grants to journalists organization, International Consortium of Investigative Journalism, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Tatna, a reporter for the Singapore daily, The New Paper,  was elected president last June.

In a way, Tatna is the perfect person to run the show, Vanity Fair said in a Jan. 5 article, at a time when Hollywood is under fire on the treatment of women. A graduate in economics from Brandeis University, Tatna appeared in a soap opera an did voices on The Simpsons. She has suffered butt-pinches as a waitress, offensive casting calls as an actress, and uncertain economics as a print reporter, Vanity Fair said. All the actresses at the event wore black and almost everyone wore a broach on the lapel that read #TimesUp, an initiative by Hollywood stars to support workers in other industries as well as in the film industry who are victims of sexual harassment.

Activist and academic Saru Jayaraman, whose story has been chronicled in the book, The Accidental American, was a special invitee introduced to the audience by the host of the show Seth Meyers, who noted that she was part of the #TimesUp initiative. Jayaraman is the co-founder and co-director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley.  After 9/11, Jayaraman helped organized displaced World Trade Center workers, to establish ROC, which now has more than 18,000 worker members, 200 employer partners, and several thousand consumer members in a dozen states nationwide. A graduate of Yale Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Jayaraman wrote a seminal book in 2013, Behind the Kitchen Door, documenting the lives of restaurant workers and fast-food chain workers. Her most recent book out in 2016 is Forked: A New Standard for American Dining.

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NEW YORK – Indian American Nambi Seshadri has received the Alexander Graham Bell Medal from the IEEE, in field of communications and networking.

According to a press release, Seshadri received the 2018 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal for his “contributions to the theory and practice of wireless communications.”

“We are delighted with the news of this great honor for Dr. Seshadri. Networking and wireless communications are driving the fourth industrial revolution, and Dr. Seshadri’s work is at the forefront of it. This medal is a testament to how Rensselaer graduates are changing the world for the better,” said Shekhar Garde, the Dean of Rensselaer School of Engineering, where Seshadri graduated from in 1986.

Seshadri was the senior vice president and CTO of the broadband and connectivity group at Broadcom Corporation, until January 2016.

While there, he was responsible for many of the wireless initiatives such as spearheading the development of technologies like 2G, 3G, and 4G cellular communications, mobile multimedia, low-power WiFi, and many others.

Prior to joining Broadcom Corporation, Seshadri was a longtime member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Lab Laboratories and was the head of communications research at AT&T Shannon Labs.

At Bell Labs, Seshadri was asked to work on reliable digital speech communications for what is known today as 2G cellular systems.

He also devised methods to analyze the effect of wireless channel impairments on state-of-the-art speech coders and built novel error-protection schemes that ensured reliable speech communications, along with Carl-Erik Sundberg, Richard Cox, and Joachim Hagenauer.

A decade later, Seshadri and his colleagues pioneered techniques for wireless communications using multiple transmit antennas, which created a new field of wireless communications called space-time coding and has influenced the development of cellular as well as Wi-Fi systems that we have been using,

In 2000, Seshadri was elected as a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), he was then elected to the National Academy of Engineering (USA) in 2012 and as a foreign member of the Indian National Academy of Engineering in 2013.

Seshadri holds approximately 200 patents and is the co-recipient of the 1999 IEEE Information Theory Paper Award for his paper with Vahid Tarokh and Robert Calderbank on space-time codes.

His JSAC paper on space-time coding modems was selected by the IEEE Communication Society for publication in “The Best of the Best: Fifty Years of Communications and Networking Research” in 2003.

Currently, Seshadri is an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of California in San Diego and serves as the consulting chief technologist to Quantenna Communications as well as an adviser to several startups.

Seshadri earned his B.E. degree in electronics and communications from Regional Engineering College (now NITT), in Tiruchirapalli, India (1982) and his M.S. (1984) along with his Ph.D. (1986) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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NEW YORK – Pakistani American Atif Qarni, who is also a military veteran, was appointed as the Secretary of Education for the state of Virgina by Virginia Gov.-elect Ralph Northam.

According to the Potomac Local, Qarni is an 8th-grade civics and economics teacher at Beville Middle School in Woodbridge, Virginia as well as a former sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve who attended George Washington and George Mason University.

 “It is very important to me that we have a secretary of education in the Commonwealth of Virginia that understands the classroom. Someone who knows K-12 education and has a vision of where to take K-12 in the coming years,” Northam said in a statement.

“If we want to build an economy that works better for every family, no matter who you are, no matter where you live, we must begin with the foundation of a world-class education. We can accomplish it if we support our educators and school support professionals, uphold accountability, invest in and expand STEAM curriculum, and make early childhood education a priority,” he added.

Qarni has been active in local politics for a long time, now but has failed each time in elections.

In 2013, he challenged Robert G. Marshall for the 13th District House of Delegates seat and lost in a Primary Election against State Senator Jeremy McPike, two years later.

According to the Potomac Local, Qarni received the news of his appointment by phone, after a two-week interview process.

“I’m looking forward to using the things I’ve learned in the last 10 years as a classroom teacher,” Qarni told the Potomac Local.

According to various news reports, Qarni will oversee policy and support to the state’s K-12 schools and higher education institutions; he will be replacing current Education Secretary Dietra Trent.

After losing his local run, in his Oct. 2, 2015, Washington Post Op-Ed piece, “What happened when a Muslim ran for local office in Virginia,” Qarni wrote:

“Virginia Democrats claim to fight for ethics reform, represent working-class people and lead a big-tent party, yet they groom and recruit mostly white, Christian, male candidates. There is no greater insult to a Muslim American (especially a combat veteran of the Iraq war) than to depict him as a terrorist. I was disappointed with the state of affairs in my own party. Muslim Americans proudly serve their communities in many capacities — in the military, as public school teachers, as state and federal government employees, as doctors, as lawyers and so forth — because they love this country. In a political capacity, many Muslim Americans, including me, are actively involved in raising money, knocking on doors and hosting events for candidates. But when it comes to running for office, we’re not considered ‘American’ enough.”

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NEW YORK – Indian American Democrat Aruna Miller, who was elected as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 2010, has recently filed nomination papers to run for the U.S. Congress from Maryland.

Miller is a civil engineer by profession and has been endorsed by EMILY’S List as well as 314 Action, a political action committee dedicated to electing more STEM candidates.

Miller has worked for the Montgomery County for 25 years before she was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2010, where she represents the 15th District and serves on the Appropriations Committee.

Miller came to the U.S. when she was 7-years-old and according to a PTI report, her political interest was sparked by the Bush v Gore election in 2000.

“As an immigrant, I have been afforded incredible opportunities here. I want to pay it forward and make sure we keep the doors of opportunity open to all our citizens. Congress needs more experienced, progressive legislators at this critical time, if we are going to enact and keep policies that really serve the best interests of the people and our country,” Miller told PTI.

“I’m an experienced legislator and I think that’s exactly what Congress needs right now: people with legislative experience that understand the give-and-take of trying to come up with solutions,” she added.

Along with Miller, five other Democrats will be running for Congress in Maryland this year, including, Andrew Duck, Chris Hearsey, Roger Manno, David Trone and Afghan-American Nadia Hashimi, as well as Republicans Amie Hoeber, Lisa Lloyd, Matt Mossburg and Bradley Rohrs.

The primary elections for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District is scheduled for June 26 and if elected, she will be replacing John Delaney, who said that he will not be seeking re-election for Congress since he has decided to run for president in 2020.

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NEW YORK – The Indian government has suspended an American adoption agency for “negligence” in its assessment of Wesley and Sini Mathews, the adoptive parents of three-year-old Sherin Mathews who according to the autopsy report, died of “homicidal violence” on October 7, 2017 after she allegedly choked on milk while being “physically assisted” by her adoptive father.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi took the decision to suspend the Authorized Foreign Adoption Agency (AFAA) and the government has written to the Indian Embassy in the U.S. as well as the Central Authority, which is the nodal body for adoptions in the U.S. and Holt International, informing them about the decision, reported PTI.

“We have suspended the operations of Holt International because we found it negligent in the assessment of the adoptive parents and also in the post placement assessment of the family,” Lt. Col. Deepak Kumar, CEO of Child Adoption Resource Authority, told PTI, adding that the decision on cancelling the AFAA’s authorization will be taken after they receive detailed reports from the Indian Embassy and the Central Authority.

Even the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj sought a probe into the “adoption process” after hearing of Sherin’s tragic death in October.

While Wesley is charged with injury to a child, which can be punishable up to life in prison, Sini is charged with child endangerment or abandonment relating to the death, which can be punishable by up to two years in jail.

They are both due back in court on Jan. 26 to try to regain custody of their biological 4-year-old daughter who is currently living with family in the Houston area.

After the incident, Child Adoption Resource Authority has made mental well-being of NRI applicants seeking to adopt a child in India, an important criterion for determining their eligibility.

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NEW YORK – Yogi Adityanath will visit the U.S. in May, marking his first overseas trip as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Adityanath has come to the U.S. before as an MP, and this time will most likely be meeting the heads of Boeing, Facebook, Adobe, Medtronic, Pratt & Whitney and Cargill as well as visiting Silicon Valley, reported The Economic Times.

UP health minister Siddharth Nath Singh told the Economic Times that he will be leading a team to the U.S. in March to prepare for the CM’s visit which is being organized by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

“UP will be holding a Global Investors Summit in Lucknow in October. Ahead of that, the CM in May could visit six-seven US cities like New York, Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Chicago to meet business heads and encourage them to invest in UP,” Singh told the Economic Times.

“USISPF will be setting up industry interactions for the minister and hosting roadshows for the CM across the US in New York, Washington, Chicago and Silicon Valley. It will be an opportunity to showcase how UP is becoming more foreign investor friendly and attract US investors,” Nivedita Mehra, managing director of USISPF, said.

The summit, held in Lucknow in October 2017, to attract foreign investors, saw representatives nearly 20 American companies as well as prominent NRIs of UP. It was modeled after the one started by Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.

“The CM is very popular and as there is a large presence of Purvanchalis – from UP and Bihar – in the US; a community event could also be organized for the CM,” Singh added.

Adityanath’s trip will include a visit to Toronto and Vancouver too, in Canada.

Adityanath has said his government was committed to make UP investment-friendly, ensure round-the-clock electricity and provide better road connectivity as the state has a lot of business opportunities in areas such as power generation, development of infrastructure, smart cities development, electronics, IT and renewable energy, the Economic Times report said.

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NEW YORK – Indian American businessman and hotelier Nik Patel of Florida, who pleaded guilty to a massive fraud of more than $179 million, was caught trying to flee the country.

According to the Orlando Sentential, Patel tried to board a plane in Kissimmee on Saturday, just five days after his sentencing, and was headed to Ecuador.

“On January 6, 2018, Patel traveled from his residence to the Kissimmee Gateway Airport in Kissimmee, Florida for the purpose of fleeing the United States…” prosecutors said in a request for a warrant filed by Patrick King, assistant to U.S. Attorney in Chicago John Lausch. “Patel was in possession of a passport… that appeared to be issued by the Government of India.”

The document doesn’t say how authorities were notified about Patel’s escape, but had been monitoring his actions and now faces an additional charge of flight to avoid prosecution.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Patel is accused of selling about 26 fake loans to a Milwaukee financial firm, Pennant Management.

The indictment accuses Patel of falsely saying his loans were guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was also sued in civil court and most of his assets have become a part of a civil-court receivership.

Patel had pleaded guilty more than a year ago and was free on bond while he supposedly helped the court recover money he stole. His cooperation was expected to help reduce his time in prison, but after his attempt to flee the country, he could face much more time in prison.

He has had numerous sentencing hearings postponed over the past three years.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Patel was the high-rolling owner of First Farmers Financial and was buying hotels in Orlando and other cities and also invested in restaurants, including Mingo’s, a restaurant in downtown Orlando.

Investigators have recovered about $100 million by selling off Patel’s hotels, cars and other property but the damage he has created is too large with Mingo’s and Pennant Management closing almost immediately.

Those who invested with Pennant have claimed losses directly tied to the Patel allegations, including the Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund, which sued the USDA for $50 million, though the USDA has denied responsibility for the fake loans.

Patel is also accused of using Pennant’s money to buy five hotels and personal luxury items such as his $4 million house. Those hotels were auctioned off to raise $80 million and his home was sold for $3.25 million in 2015.

Besides the loans to the Wisconsin company, Patel had also made several conventional loans, totaling $20 million, which were not part of the alleged USDA loan scheme.

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NEW YORK – Two Indian American teenagers, Saaketh Vedantam, a junior at American Heritage School in Plantation, Florida and Vignesh Rajmohan, a senior at James L. Mann High School in Greenville, South Carolina, are among 12 contestants who will compete in the 2018 ‘Who Wants to Be a Mathematician Championship’, to be held in San Diego on Jan. 13.

According to the championship’s website, Vedantam says that he loves calculus and calls it the ‘Crazy 8’s’ while Rajmohan is enjoying his ongoing research project on natural methods of water purification.

The contestants are selected based on their scores on an online qualifying test with questions on algebra, trigonometry, probability, and the history of math.

The game will be broadcasted live online at: www.livestream.com/psav/wwtbam2018

The winner receives a prize of $10,000: $5,000 for themselves and $5,000 for their school’s math department.

This is the ninth year that this championship is taking place and more than 800 students have won over $500,000 in cash and prizes.

‘Who Wants to Be a Mathematician’ is part of the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego which is attended by more than 6,000 mathematicians.

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An Indian-American developer has donated 8 acres of land to a Christian school in Rockford, Illinois.

Sunil Puri, president of First Midwest Group, and his family, donated the land adjacent to Rockford Christian Schools, valued at more than $2.7 million. It was officially gifted to the Rockford Christian Education Association Dec. 26, “and will be used for future expansion of the school,” Puri posted on the First Midwest Group Facebook site. The parcel is adjacent to their existing facilities on Bell School and Guilford sd. fronting I-90.

“The enrichment of this area and education is close to my heart. I was welcomed to Rockford University and embraced by the Rockford community as a foreign student,” Puri said on Facebook, adding, “This land will allow for future growth by establishing a site for construction of a new elementary school.”

Rockford Christian Schools, on its website, shows expansion plans for the adjacent land, and outlines the envisioned campus. The RCS, said it had “significant expansion plans which include building an Indoor Fitness and Recreation Facility, a Center for the Arts, and a residence hall to enhance its college-preparatory experience and serve as a home for students from around the nation and the world.”

This is not the first time Puri and his family have donated land to that educational institution. According to rrstar.com, the Puri family and First Midwest Group donated 20 acres of land in 1996 for the original school, and another 2 acres in 2002 for a science and humanities center.

“We are thrilled, as a 20 year partnership, we’ve just seen this grow from a farm into what it has turned into and I can’t think of any better stewards of this land and the legacy than Rockford Christian,” Puri said on the First Midwest Group’s Facebook page. “This is something that is dear to my heart. I’ve driven by it and I’ve seen the progress and the growth over this period of time.” Puri added.

According to his biography on the company website, Puri, 57, was born in Bombay, and  immigrated to the United States in 1979 to attend Rockford University, where he graduated in 1982 with a B.S. in accounting.  He also graduated from the Harvard Business School Program of Management and Leadership.

He co-founded the real estate development firm, First Midwest Group, formerly First Rockford Group, in 1984.  The company develops retail, office, and warehouse projects, owns and operates restaurant and hospitality properties, and currently has more than 350 tenants, the company website says.

Puri was a principal in the development of a technology office park in Pune, India in 1988, and continues to pursue real estate opportunities in India, and has several private equity investments in India and China, according to First Midwest Group.  While most of his Vaprojects are concentrated in Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, Puri has also developed properties in California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

In Rockford, Illinois, where he is based, Puri is actively involved with the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).  He serves on the Executive Committee and as a Trustee of Rockford University, is on the Rockford Area Economic Development Council Board, and is involved in several philanthropic initiatives.

He also served on President Barack Obama’s  White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, according to his biography.

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Infosys Ltd. on Tuesday said it has signed an agreement with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), resulting in an effective tax rate of about 100 basis points lower going forward.

The Advanced Pricing Agreement (APA), now concluded following discussions initiated in 2015, is expected to result in reversal of tax provisions of about $225 million made in the previous periods and boost the company’s consolidated basic earnings per share by about $0.10 for quarter ended December 31, the Bengaluru-based company said in a statement. http://bit.ly/2mbawWj

APA is an agreement between a taxpayer and the tax authority defining an appropriate methodology for computing taxable income.

The agreement covers financial years from 2011 to 2021 and the company expects to payout about $233 million over the next few quarters due to difference between taxes payable as per APA and the actual amount paid in the prior periods.

The APA will enhance predictability of company’s tax obligations in respect to U.S. operations, Infosys added.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump will meet on Tuesday with Republican and Democratic lawmakers in an uphill search for an election-year compromise on protecting thousands of young, undocumented immigrants from deportation.

Trump and his Republicans, who control the U.S. Congress, and the Democrats seem far apart on an agreement as they gird for midterm congressional elections in November. Trump says he wants any immigration deal to include funding for a border wall with Mexico and a tightening of immigration restrictions.

“We are going to build the wall,” Trump said in a speech on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Democrats want a deal to help the estimated 700,000 young “Dreamer” immigrants, whose protection from potential deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program ends in early March.

But, under pressure from immigrant groups, they are reluctant to give ground to Trump on the issue of the wall – his central promise from the 2016 presidential campaign.

“There have been some discussions but our position is clear and their position is somewhat clear. We want to drill down and see if there is some room for negotiations,” a White House official said.

Top congressional leaders are not expected to attend Tuesday’s meeting. Instead, the guest list is set to include lawmakers from both parties involved in the immigration debate, such as Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, a Democrat.

Nancy Pelosi, head of the Democratic minority in the House of Representatives, indicated she did not expect much progress from the meeting.

“I would have more faith in the meeting if they would have people going who really knew the issue from our side,” she said, adding that she was not criticizing Durbin.

Many of the Dreamers are from Mexico and Central America and have spent most of their lives in the United States, attending school and participating in society.

Trump put their fate in doubt in early September when he announced he was ending former President Barack Obama’s DACA program, which allowed them to legally live and work in the United States temporarily.

Trump, under pressure from some conservatives, has said any DACA deal with Democrats must include ending “chain migration,” which could jeopardize the parents of Dreamers who are still in the United States illegally, and a visa lottery program.

Some House Republicans want to use Dreamer legislation to add more funds for immigration enforcement, which advocacy groups fear would be used to go after the relatives of the young immigrants.

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican, said that the session on Tuesday would not simply consist of lawmakers presenting Trump with a plan for him to reject or accept.

“It’s less us coming up with something and getting a yes or no from the president, but having the administration actively engaged in it,” Tillis told Reuters, adding, “and the president is.”

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NEW YORK – Food has always been a funny topic for Indian Americans, especially those who were born here in the United States.

Some people love their mother’s cooking and think they will never be able to live without it while others don’t even like the sight of Indian food, or at least their staple food.

There have been many blogs and websites out there like “As Indian As Apple Pie” by Anupy Singla who has also written a few recipe books as well on mixing together Indian and American flavors, but the latest book released on American cooking with Indian Style is “Masala & Meatballs: Incredible Indian Dishes with an American Twist” by Asha Shivakumar.

Born and brought up in South India, when Shivakumar came to the United States after getting married, she missed her mother and grandmother’s cooking.

“My mum, whom I consider a superwoman, could whip up meals for 50 people, just like my amma, in a few hours without breaking a sweat. She taught me how to cook, from the most basic of dishes to the fanciest of meals. Moving to America after my marriage, miles away from the comfort of my mum’s kitchen in India, I had to learn to cook a decent, edible meal,” Shivakumar writes in her book and when her first child was born, she had to try different combinations of food “for his fussy palate” and decided to share those combinations on her blog called “Food Fashion Party.”

Now she has come out with her first cook book “where Indian flavors and the American palate meet” and each recipe is tied to her own experiences, explaining the significance of each dish from breakfast to dessert.

While some dishes look rather intriguing like ‘Cracker Chaat,’ ‘Bruschetta with Spiced Eggplant or Eggplant Bhurtha,’ and ‘Potato and Chickpea Burger with Apple Cilantro Chutney’ others sound not worthy of even touching, such as ‘Fried Banana Bread’ and ‘Chickpea-roasted Garlic Fries.’

There were three dishes in particular which stood out and could be useful in any dish: the ‘Fruity Lassi Ice Pops’ which gives a healthy twist to a summertime dessert as well as a classic drink loved by many Indian Americans, ‘Instant No Yeast Naan’ for which Shivakumar provides a step-by-step, illustrative process of making the bread most commonly used with Punjabi dishes that every Indian American kid likes and my favorite ‘Apple Cilantro Chutney’ which combines two of my favorite condiments together.

I don’t know about you, but looks like I’m going to try out some of these recipes when I go home tonight because Shivakumar has made cooking ‘Indian dishes with an American twist’ simple for me.

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NEW YORK – The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has clarified that the Trump Administration has no plans to end extension for H-1B visa holders whose petition for Green Card has been accepted, as was reported earlier.

The clarification by USCIS will come as a huge relief for hundreds of thousands of H-1B visa holders, and for those visa holders who are now in an advanced stage of their Green Card petitions.

Earlier, the Trump Administration had reportedly floated a memo in the Department of Homeland Security to gauge if it was viable to reinterpret the “may be given” clause when it comes to renewing the initial term of the H-1B visa, which is for three years, up to a maximum of six years.  After six years, extensions are given, usually in two-year increments, to those visa holders whose petitions for Green Card has been accepted.

The reported memo outlined a proposal where H-1B visa holders, whose Green Card petitions has been accepted, to ‘self-deport’ from the US till the time they got permanent residency. The intention was to throw open those jobs for American citizens. An estimated 500,000-750,000 visa workers would have been impacted by the draconian move, if it had been enacted.

“…USCIS is not considering a regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the United States by changing our interpretation of section 104(c) of AC-21, which provides for H-1B extensions beyond the 6 year limit. Even if it were, such a change would not likely result in these H-1B visa holders having to leave the United States because employers could request extensions in one-year increments under section 106(a)-(b) of AC21 instead,” said Jonathan Withington, Chief of Media Relations at US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in a statement.

“The agency is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out the President’s Buy American, Hire American Executive Order, including a thorough review of employment based visa programs,” he added.

Immigration Voice, an advocacy group fighting for the rights of skilled visa workers in the US, including to remove country caps on workers from India for permanent residency, expressed satisfaction at the USCIS clarification.

“We are ECSTATIC to share this Breaking News,” it said in a post on its Facebook page, on Monday night. “USCIS has announced to us that it is retracting its policy to deny all H-1B visa through (beyond) year 6 based on section 104. This is a GREAT development. And we thank USCIS to make (for making) the right decision,” it said.

“Immigration Voice members should however remain alert and remain active in pushing for bill H.R.392 because UCSIS will not stop in looking for reasons to deny individual renewal applications. We have been able to prevent the blanket denial but there is expected to be uptick in the individual case denial. USCIS retraction statement specifically said that it will not issue blanket H-1B denials based on section 104, but it has not commented on the very high rate of denial for the individual cases. This is a proof that when immigration community comes in together to advocate for sane policies, it results in a success. We need to do the same thing with the bill H.R.392,” said Immigration Voice.

McClathchy Bureau, which had first reported the memo in the DHS to ‘self-deport’ H-1B visa workers, in a report on Tuesday, January 9, said: “Under intense pressure from the business and technology communities, the Trump administration appears to be backing away from a policy change that could have forced foreign tech workers out of the country,” adding that despite what USCIS said, “the agency reversed course on that proposal.

“…multiple sources with direct knowledge of the conversations inside the department said that was not true, and that the administration had shifted over the last two weeks in response to the swift and harsh reaction from the business community,” the report said.

Credit also goes to the bipartisan effort of Democrat Congresswoman from Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard, and Rep. Kevin Yoder, a Kansas Republican, who sent a joint letter to President Donald Trump, urging him “not to deport H-1B holders awaiting permanent residency processing.”

“We strongly believe this action would be harmful to the American economy, credibility, and relations with India and the Indian-American community,” wrote Yoder and Gabbard on Friday. Both are members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

Earlier, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had warned it would be “tremendously bad policy” to tell highly skilled people they are not welcome to stay in the United States.

Groups that represent Indian companies and workers — such as the National Association of Software and Services Companies, Immigration Voice and Compete America — started deploying lobbyists and other representatives at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to argue against possible regulatory changes that could prevent foreign tech industry workers from keeping their visas longer than six years, according to U.S. and India-based industry sources and worker advocates familiar with the plans, reported McClatchy.

The administration’s decision to drop consideration of the policy shift was met with cheers by foreign-worker representatives.

“This a major accomplishment for everyone who came together to express their outrage about a cruel and vindictive policy proposal,” said Leon Fresco, who served as a deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department in the Obama administration and who now represent H-1B workers.

The McClatchy report also shed some new light on an upcoming ruling on the H-4 visa work permit, or EAD for some spouses of H-1B visa workers.

“Citing a proposal to eliminate the work authorization for the spouses of H-1B workers, one industry source said the Trump team was already taking steps to make the program so burdensome that it could potentially accomplish the same goal even if regulations are not changed,” the report said, indicating that even if the Trump Administration did not outright take away the EAD, they would in all likelihood impose tough new rules which would make it hard to qualify for one.

“They’re trying to encourage these people to leave our country,” the source said, according to the McClatchy report.

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NEW YORK – Baljinder Singh, 43, from Carteret, New Jersey is the first naturalized Indian American citizen to be stripped of his U.S. citizenship under the Trump administration.

This is the first case under a government initiative which is designed to clamp down on fraudulent immigration, reported AFP.

According to the Justice Department, Singh flew into San Francisco in 1991 with no travel documents or proof of identity and gave his name as Davinder Singh,

He then dodged a subsequent court hearing, ordering him to be deported in January 1992 but a month later he filed for asylum under the name Baljinder Singh, which he then abandoned after getting married to his American wife in 2006, automatically becoming a naturalized citizen.

AFP reported that last Friday, a federal judge in New Jersey revoked his naturalization, reverting him back to lawful permanent resident, which means that he can be subject to removal proceedings.

“I hope this case, and those to follow, send a loud message that attempting to fraudulently obtain U.S. citizenship will not be tolerated,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Francis Cissna said.

The Justice Department said that this was the first denaturalization under Operation Janus, a long-running Department of Homeland Security initiative against fraudulent immigration and the government did file a complaint against Singh last September.

Last September the initiative identified 315,000 cases where fingerprint data was missing, raising concerns about the naturalization process, the USCIS plans to prosecute 1,600 other cases.

Since he took charge last year, President Donald Trump has majorly cracked down on illegal immigration.

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In case people haven’t noticed, Amitabh Bachchan has stopped giving interviews since the second half of 2017. Even when his 75th birthday arrived, he was steadfast in his resolve to stay mum.

When he makes up his mind to do something, no mountain can move Mr. B to change his mind. And no one had better try either.

This year, Mr. B has decided to train for his role as a football coach in Nagraj Manjule’s “Jhund”, although he is not required to play much football on camera for the film.

Mr. B’s logic: “I know I don’t play football. But the audience doesn’t know that.”

Every year, the cynics think he will wear himself out. Each time, Mr. B surprises his fans and dismays the cynics by re-inventing himself without seeming to.

In 2017, Mr. B was heard more than seen. While he was seen in only one film last year, namely Ram Gopal Varma’s “Sarkar 3”, Mr B did voiceovers for as many as three — Srijit Mukherjee’s “Begum Jaan”, new director Sankalp Reddy’s “The Ghazi Attack” and Rajiev Dhingra’s “Firangi”.

Among the many monumental achievements of his career, the multitude of narrations and voiceovers form a peculiar place in Mr. B’s oeuvre.

Once I asked him why is the profusion of voice performances and he said, “Bhai, kya karen? They are all friends who want me to do this for them. How can I say no to them? Tomorrow if you direct a film and ask me to be part of it, would I be able to say no?”

Mr. B doesn’t say no to friends. Years ago, a desperate filmmaker needed Mr. B to make a guest appearance in a Kannada film about a man who must fulfill his wife’s dying wish to meet her favorite actor. When I requested Mr. B, he not only did the needful but refused to accept a single penny.

This happened 10 years ago. That spirit of must-do remains. Last year, a friend’s daughter from the U.S. wanted to meet Mr. B. As usual, the request was followed up from his office by his incredibly efficient secretary Rosy and an appointment fixed with a request that the guest reach the venue five minutes before the appointed time.

Mr. B doesn’t pause to congratulate himself or to introspect. He just moves on. In 2018, he has huge plans. Besides brushing up his footballing skills to play the football coach, there is a very hush-hush plan by R. Balki — and I don’t know whether I should be talking about this, but what the hell — to bring Mr. B and Sridevi together in an autumnal love story on the lines of “Bridges Of Madison County”.

Then, of course, there is director Vijay Krishna Acharya’s “Thugs Of Hindostan”, where Mr B is doing the most daring stunts ever. For the last 20 years, his family, specially wife Jaya, has been imploring him to give up the dangerous stuff.

“But does he listen? He will just say ‘Okay’ to our pleas and then do as he pleases,” grumbles Jaya.

Sure enough, Mr. B has landed up with an arm in a sling. When I asked him how it happened, he shot back testily: “My arm is in a sling only so that you can ask me how it happened.”

Ouch.

Physical discomfort is nothing new to him.

“What does one do? One just bears with it, goes on working as best as possible,” says the man who inspires us all to hope that 75 is actually the new 40.

The most annoying question you can ask him is how do you go on so tirelessly? I’ve got a range of responses to that from him.

Stubbornly, I ask the question again, and he says, “You make it sound like an accusation. How do I go on? I go on because my body allows me to, until it allows me to. I am just glad I am not sitting in a corner in a wheelchair.”

Moral of the Bachchan story: When you are rocking, why think about the rocking chair?

The post At 75, Big B Just Keeps On Going appeared first on News India Times.

NEW YORK – Channing Dungey, the President of ABC Entertainment, announced that the network will put an Indian American twist on the classic show ‘The Greatest American Hero,’ which will be run by Nahnatchka Khan, the current showrunner of ‘Fresh off the Boat’.

“We’re actually developing a reboot of ‘The Greatest American Hero’ that stars an Indian American woman. That comes to us from Nahnatchka Khan,” Dungey told slashfilms.com.

According to the slashfilms.com report, the original series of ‘The Greatest American Hero’ ran from 1981 to 1983 and starred William Katt as a teacher who gains super powers from an alien suit with his lack of ability and finesse creating the comedy.

According to bleedingcool.com, Dungey said that it was important for Khan to tell the same kind of story as the original, but through a completely different perspective.

Since ABC will not be showing ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ and other Marvel spinoffs, many fans were concerned if the network was even going to put on anymore superhero shows.

“The question really is more what kind of superhero show, what’s the tone, how are we doing it? I would never say we’re closing the door on superheroes,” Dungey added.

ABC will be coming out with another show during their pilot season called ‘The Jetsons,’ which is a live-action sitcom based on the animated series about a family in the future.

The post ABC to reboot ‘The Greatest American Hero’ with Indian American lead appeared first on News India Times.

He debuted in the Hindi film industry with “Love Sex Aur Dhokha” and went on to grab the limelight by delivering powerful performances. Geared up to enthrall cinema lovers with more thought-provoking projects, actor Rajkummar Rao says he is here for a marathon and not a rat race.

From performing on the stage at Shri Ram Centre in Delhi to picking up the nuances of acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, the 33-year-old actor started in the industry with no godfather. In a span of eight years, he has cemented his space with his work in films like “Kai Po Che!”, “Shahid”, “Aligarh”, “CityLights”, “Bareilly Ki Barfi” and”Newton”.

Rajkummar believes the times are changing for outsiders seeking a break in Bollywood.

“Being an outsider, I know it is not easy for an outsider to (get a break) in the industry; but I think times are changing. Writers in this generation are coming with some wonderful stories. Our directors too are experimenting with their storytelling and that is the reason why actors like me and so many of us are getting great characters to portray on screen,” Rajkummar told IANS.

“I just hope this journey continues and I keep challenging myself. I just want to push the envelope with every film. I really do not want to find any comfort zone. It is just a very humble beginning. I have just started and it feels like ‘Love Sex Aur Dhoka’ is just released… It has been seven years and there is a long way to go. I am here for a marathon actually, not a rat race,” added the actor on the sidelines of season 2 of Signature Start Up ‘Masterclass’.

He says there was never a Plan B for him.

“This is the only thing I have always thought of doing since my school days. I always wanted to be a film actor. I always chased that dream and I started by doing theatre in Delhi. Then I went to FTII from where I landed in Mumbai in 2008,” said Rajkummar, who says FTII gave him the confidence to face the camera.

“Somewhere, I feel that people take FTII actors seriously because we commit two to three years of our lives to learn acting,” he said.

The struggle began when the Gurugram boy landed in Mumbai.

“For me, the first two years in Mumbai were a bit tough. As Mumbai is an expensive city, it was not easy for me to cope up with a lot of expenses here. But my family really supported me.”

His career has seen him work with names like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Richa Chadha, Huma Qureshi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Rani Mukerji. And starry tantrums are not something he had to deal with.

“I think I was very lucky that I got to work with some really wonderful actors and directors. It is team work. You cannot really work alone here. I’m glad that whoever I worked with till date were equally passionate about their work in acting or in making films.”

Rajkummar’s popularity has also not affected his attitude. Besides his performances, people often compliment him for his humility.

Brushing that off, he said: “I just be myself as I am doing this (acting) for myself. I wanted to work all my life in films, not because I wanted to prove a point to anyone. I genuinely fell in love with acting. When there is true love, there is no other feeling. I think this is what I breathe for every day, to act in front of the camera.”

How does he deal with failure?

“As long as people see my effort, my sincerity and they write good things about me, I am okay with it. Because I cannot really control whether a film works or not. I can only control my sincerity and see that I, as an actor, give 100 percent to whatever I am doing.

“It does feel bad, but it’s fine. You have to keep doing it and take the chance,” said Rajkummar, whose films “Love Sonia”, “5 Weddings”, “Omerta” and “Shimla Mirchi” are slated to release this year.

Inspired by Hollywood actor Daniel Day-Lewis’ commitment to his work, Rajkummar, who is filming for “Fanne Khan”, does not like to follow a “herd mentality”.

“There will be people always telling you to do this or that. You have to make your own mistakes and learn from them. There’s just one life, so do what you want to do.”

The post Am In Film Industry For Marathon, Not Rat Race: Rajkummar appeared first on News India Times.

Filmmaker Karan Johar says that there should not be a divide between the small and the big screen as television is a stronger medium than cinema.

Karan has been a part of the small screen with shows like “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa” and “India’s Got Talent” and will be now be seen co-judging a reality show titled “India’s Next Superstars” on Star Plus.

“I don’t think you should make a divide between television and film. Today as we know it television is a stronger medium than films, Karan told reporters in a group interaction on Friday.

The filmmaker, 45, says the digital platform and television has become huge.

“Today it reached out to at least nine times the audience… If three million people watch cinema and 27 million people watch television. So what is a bigger platform? Today digital and television is going to be huge. I respect those who earn name and money from television,” he added.

Karan will be seen in “India’s Next Superstars” along with director Rohit Shetty. The show will air from January 13.

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Superstar Shah Rukh Khan has thanked his fans for showering love and appreciation to the teaser of “Zero”.

The teaser of his first creative collaboration with director Aanand L. Rai released on the first day of 2018.

The teaser shows Shah Rukh essaying a vertically challenged man, dancing away at a party. The teaser ends with a dialogue in which he talks about people call him a “zero” and how he amplifies the lives of others if he stands behind them.

“Thank you all for making ‘Zero’ feel like a hero. Sometimes our importance in life is not who we are, but what we make others become by our presence in their lives. Aanand L Rai‘s ‘Zero’ stands for that. ‘Zero’ 20 million,” SRK tweeted.

The central character of the Red Chillies Entertainment film is described as ‘Paagal’, ‘Aashiq’, ‘Awaara’ and more, but he is seen happy in his own world, not seeking empathy from anyone. His disability does not stop him to live a happy life.

The film, releasing on December 21, also features Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif, but the teaser does not divulge anything about their roles. The actors had last featured together in “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”.

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