Fed’s Caution
The US Federal Reserve’s decision to lower its benchmark interest rate to a range of 4.25-4.50 per cent marks a turning point in its monetary policy.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over increased denial rates for H-1B petitions, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said that the US has reduced H1-B visas for Indians seeking to work there despite PM Modi’s mega programme.
Gandhi was referring to the Prime Minister’s “Howdy, Modi” event in the United States last month.
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“The question that everyone should ask the BJP government is who is being benefitted during their tenure. The Prime Minister went to the United States and held his ‘Howdy, Mody’ event but America increased the number of rejections of H1-B visas for those Indians wanting to work there,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
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भाजपा सरकार से ये सवाल तो सबको पूछना चाहिए कि उसके कार्यकाल में किसकी भलाई हो रही है।
प्रधानमंत्री जी ने अमेरिका जाकर अपनी ‘हाउडी मोदी’ तो कर आए लेकिन अमेरिका ने वहाँ काम करने की इच्छा रखने वाले भारतीय लोगों के एच-1बी वीजा ख़ारिज करने में बढ़ोत्तरी कर दी। pic.twitter.com/NpI4FSrjPO
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) November 7, 2019
The H1-B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
With Trump administration’s restrictive ‘America First’ policy, denial rates for H-1B petitions have increased significantly from just six per cent in 2015 to 24 per cent in the third quarter of the current fiscal, a study carried out by an American think-tank has shown.
The study by the National Foundation for American Policy, based on data received from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services or USCIS, also reflects that denial rate for H-1B visas is highest among major Indian IT companies, thus giving credence to charges that Indian companies are being unduly targeted by the current administration.
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