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Trump admin plans $70,000 fee on post-study work programme, Indians likely to be hit hardest
Three months passed with no fix acknowledged. It is not clear when the fix was effected. . Amid protests against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Union government has further upgraded his existing Z+ security cover, with more personnel now deployed outside his residence, at the Election Commission office and for his personal security, HT has learnt. Click here for more . The Donald Trump administration has argued that it may shut down the OPT program altogether if the fee is not imposed. Read more here .
The choice of the chief guest for the event on January 26 is determined by a combination of strategic, diplomatic and economic factors, and also signals the strength of bilateral relations. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday made a proposal to charge American universities a $70,000 fee for every international student they nominate to work in the US, as part of the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. The DHS has defended the proposed rule, which will be opened for public comment for a period of 30 days, citing the need to combat visa fraud and protect American workers from foreign competition.
A security researcher has said he warned the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the country’s cyber-security agency, CERT-In, about flaws in the Commission’s voter-services website and its ECINET app back in July. He said they could expose election officials’ contact details and let attackers read or forge data in the app. Om Monday, a day after HT sent both agencies questions about his findings, CERT-In told him in an e-mail that one of the flaws had been fixed and that work on the rest was “under progress”. India is exploring the possibility of having Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations next year against the backdrop of hectic efforts by the two countries to finalise a trade deal by the year-end, people familiar with the matter said.
