by admin | May 25, 2021 | Employment, Overseas
Mumbai : There has been a sharp decline among Indians seeking jobs in two top destinations — the United Kingdom by 42 per cent and US by 38 per cent – attributed mainly to the political situations there, a new survey by top global jobs portal Indeed has revealed.
Similarly, there has been a fall in the number of Indians wanting to work even in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 21 per cent, based on searches on Indeed, as per the survey results for 2016-2017 released here on Wednesday.
The report said that the prospects of Brexit could be a deterrent for Indian jobseekers in the UK, as other countries like Germany and Ireland have witnessed a 10 per cent and 20 per cent respectively increase during the same period.
Indeed India Managing Director Sashi Kumar said as one of the world’s largest hubs for IT talent, India has historically seen a steady outflow of IT professionals to countries like USA, UK and Australia.
“The new data shows an apparent reversal of that trend. The steadily growing Indian economy coupled with political uncertainties abroad has persuaded highly skilled Indian talents to stay back and find jobs here, which in turn has fostered a thriving ‘start-ups’ scene,” said Kumar
In fact, he said the research shows an overall five per cent decline in Indians looking to move abroad for job opportunities, while there has been a whopping 25 per cent increase in people from UK seeking jobs in India, and a 170 per cent increase in job-seekers from Asia-Pacific region to India.
He attributed the growing popularity of India as an ’employment destination’ to initiatives like ‘Make In India’ and ease of doing business, and the latest figures indicate a trend of people working in UK and Asia-Pacific regions willing to return to India.
Despite the declining figures, the USA still remains the top choice with 49 per cent of people searching for job opportunities there, followed by UAE (16 per cent), Canada (nine), UK (five), Singapore (four), Australia (three), Qatar (two), Bahrain and South Africa (one percent each).
In 1960, there were around 12,000 Indian immigrants to the USA, which increased to 2.4 million by 2015, making Indians the second largest immigrant group in the US after Mexicans.
There are around 1.50 million Indians living in the UK, making them the largest single ethnic minority group, accounting for nearly one-quarter of the total ethnic minority population in that country.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : Scott Pruitt, head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said he will on Tuesday formally announce a repeal of the Clean Power Plan, a signature effort by former US President Barack Obama to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
“The war on coal is over,” Pruitt said in a televised speech at an event in the US coal state of Kentucky on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Tomorrow in Washington D.C., I’ll be signing a proposed rule to withdraw the so-called Clean Power Plan of the past administration and thus begin the effort to withdraw that rule.”
Pruitt claimed that the Obama administration was “using every bit of power, every bit of authority to use the EPA to pick winners and losers in how we generate electricity in this country. And that’s wrong.”
A copy of the leaked proposal obtained by US media showed that Pruitt will scrap the plan citing reasons that it “exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority.”
“The EPA welcomes comment on the legal interpretation addressed in this proposed rulemaking,” wrote the leaked proposal.
Gina McCarthy, the EPA administrator under Obama who released the Clean Power Plan, said in a statement that a proposal to repeal it “without any timeline or even a commitment to propose a rule to reduce carbon pollution, isn’t a step forward.”
“It’s a wholesale retreat from EPA’s legal, scientific and moral obligation to address the threats of climate change,” McCarthy said.
“The (current) administration is using contrived problems with our energy system to take money out of consumers’ pockets and giving it to fossil fuel companies, so they can force a shift away from clean energy and back to dirty fossil fuel,” she said.
The Obama administration issued the plan in October 2015, requiring coal-fired power plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. However, the US Supreme Court voted five to four later to put it on hold.
In March this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, directing the EPA to “suspend, revise, or rescind” the Obama-era rule.
Trump, who once called climate change a “hoax,” also announced in June that his country will leave the Paris Agreement on curbing global warming.
His position on climate change was met with widespread criticism both at home and abroad.
A US environmental organization, the Natural Resources Defense Council, tweeted that the Clean Power Plan is the most important step the US has ever taken to curb dangerous impacts from climate change and that if the plan is repealed, it will take the EPA to court.
Myron Ebell, head of the non-profit libertarian think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, however, cheered the repeal as a step “designed to get the economy moving again.”
“If it had gone into effect, the ‘Clean Power’ Plan rule to limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas power plants would have been one of the most expensive regulations ever imposed, causing electric rates for consumers to go up and threatening the reliability of the electric grid,” he said in a statement.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : The US and Turkey have mutually suspended all non-immigrant visa services for travel between the two countries, after last week’s arrest of an American consulate employee in Istanbul, the media reported.
With some exceptions, the move implemented from Sunday effectively blocks Turks from travel to the US, and vice versa, indefinitely, reports CNN.
The US said it was “deeply disturbed” by the employee’s arrest, after he was charged over alleged links to Pennsylvania-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen who Turkey blames for the unsuccessful 2016 coup.
Turkey has pushed for the US to extradite Gulen, although the cleric has denied any involvement.
“Recent events have forced the United States government to reassess the commitment of government of Turkey to the security of US mission and personnel,” the statement by the US mission in Ankara said.
Just after the announcement by the US, Turkey on Sunday retaliated through its embassy in Washington, issuing a statement that effectively mirrored the one released by Washington, CNN reported.
“Recent events have forced Turkish Government to reassess the commitment of the Government of the United States to the security of Turkish Mission facilities and personnel.”
The Turkish embassy said the measure, effective immediately, would “apply to visas in passports as well as e-Visas and visas acquired at the border”.
Washington’s move, meanwhile, means that Turks will not be issued visas to visit the US unless they plan to move there.
According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency, the arrested consulate employee was a male Turkish citizen.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washignton : The US State Department has approved on Friday a possible $15 billion sale of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems to Saudi Arabia, according to a statement released by the Pentagon.
The Middle East country has requested to purchase 44 THAAD launchers, 360 missiles, 16 fire control station and 7 radars, Xinhua quoted the said the statement as saying.
The sale was part of the $110 billion package of defence equipment and services initially announced during US President Donald Trump’s May trip to Saudi Arabia, said an official from the US State Department on condition of anonymity.
“This potential sale will substantially increase Saudi Arabia’s capability to defend itself against the growing ballistic missile threat in the region,” said the statement from the Pentagon.
Congress has been notified about the possible sale and has 30 days to review the deal.
THAAD missile systems are deployed to defend against ballistic missile attacks.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani
Kabul : Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has signed a decree for the implementation of a partnership agreement signed previously by Kabul and Washington, the presidential palace said on Thursday.
The Office of the President said the decree was signed on Wednesday during the meeting of Bilateral Compact Executive Committee, known as Compact. It was attended by high level officials from both countries, including the US Embassy Charge d’Affaires and Commander of the US forces for Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported.
“The Compact is an Afghan-led initiative to demonstrate the government’s commitment to creating a peaceful, stable, and prosperous society and is an important factor upon which the US relied when developing key components of the US South Asia Policy, launched by President Donald Trump on August 21,” the palace said in a statement.
During the meeting, Afghan and US working groups highlighted the completion of the Compact’s four matrices focusing on governance, economics, peace and reconciliation, and security.
The partnership agreement was signed by former US President Barack Obama and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2012.
—IANS
