February 04, 2012
US proposes changes in F-1 & H-1B visas to attract skilled workforce
4 FEB, 2012, 01.17AM IST, PTI
WASHINGTON: Amidst pending comprehensive immigration reform, the United States has proposed several steps - including changes in the F-1 and H-1Bvisas - to attract foreign skilled workforce, a move likely to benefit professionals from countries like India.
Prominent among these reforms include providing work authorisation for spouses of certain H-1B visa holders, 17-month extension of optional practical training (OPT) for F-1 international students to include students with a prior degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, allow for additional part-time study for spouses of F-1 students and allow outstanding professors and researchers to present a broader scope of evidence of academic achievement.
In addition, the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) announced that on February 22, it would launch its 'Entrepreneurs in Residence' initiative with an Information Summit in Silicon Valley.
This will bring together high-level representatives from the entrepreneurial community, academia and federal government agencies to discuss how to maximize current immigration laws' potential to attract foreign entrepreneurial talent.
Finally, a win for India on foreign soil
India win the second T20 against Australia in Melbourne, ending a streak of 16 games abroad without a win.
India’s winless streak on foreign soil began in June in the Caribbean, stretched through the whole England tour and continued in Australia. That’s a total of 16 international games — 10 Tests, four ODIs, and two T20s — out of which India lost 13. But the streak came to an end today in Melbourne, where a rare Australian collapse in the second T20 allowed India the win they had been waiting for.
Gautam Gambhir’s unbeaten fifty and a rare good start of 43 runs with Virender Sehwag set up India’s chase for 132. Virat Kohli controlled the middle overs with Gambhir with a 54-run stand, before MS Dhoni took the chase home. It was the first time on the tour that India had outplayed their opponents in all three departments.
February 03, 2012
Srinivas, Vemuri interchange positions at Infosys
BANGALORE: Infosys Ltd today announced that two of the company's top leaders - B G Srinivas and Ashok Vemuri -- would interchange their positions.
Srinivas, Global Head of Manufacturing & Engineering business, would take over as the new leader of the company's Financial Services & Insurance business. Vemuri, present Global Head of its Financial Services & Insurance business, would now lead the company's Manufacturing & Engineering business.
The changes are effective April one,Bangalore-headquartered, NASDAQ-listed IT major said in a statement.
Vemuri and Srinivas, both members of the Infosys Board of Directors, would continue with their existing regional leadership responsibilities for the Americas and Europe, respectively, it said.
"This change builds on our successful organisation transformation last year to broaden key leadership experiences at Infosys", the statement said.
The transition builds on the significant contributions made by both Srinivas and Vemuri over the past decade as they have successfully spearheaded their respective businesses, incubated new businesses and expanded Infosys' footprint in the American and European markets, the company said.
"This change brings cross industry perspectives to accelerate transformation and innovation for our clients", it said.
Rupee at 3-month high; traders expect 48.60 levels in near term
MUMBAI: The rupee hit a three-month high on Thursday, encouraged by gains in domestic equities, and after manufacturing data in China and Germany boosted investor appetite in high-yielding emerging market assets.
Factory activity in the United States, China and Germany grew in January, data released Thursday showed, raising hopes that the world economy is not deteriorating as seriously as feared before.
The rupee closed at 49.15/16, after touching 48.9425 -- its highest since Nov. 1, according to Thomson Reuters data. It closed at 49.2650/2750 on Wednesday.
The euro rose against the dollar on Thursday after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China was considering greater involvement in the EFSF euro zone rescue fund and its successor, the ESM, traders said.
"I see more inflows into India, despite the sharp rise in equities and rupee, although the size may be moderate compared with January," a senior trader with a foreign bank said.
Traders expect the rupee to strengthen to 48.60 to the dollar in the near term.
The local currency posted its largest monthly gain in at least 17 years in January, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The rupee's 7.45 per cent January gain followed a 16 per cent drop in 2011 which made it Asia's worst performer for the year.
The 30-share BSE share index closed 131.27 points, or 0.76 per cent, higher at 17,431.85 points, its third straight day of gains.
"Expect sentiment on rupee to remain strong ahead of the budget," said A. Prasanna, economist at ICICI Securities, a primary dealership in Mumbai.
What companies need to do to continue to be successful
3 FEB, 2012, 03.48AM IST, VIVEK KAUL,ET BUREAU
Nitin Pangarkar is a Professor at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. He has spent more than fifteen years teaching strategic management in business schools around the world. Putting all that experience together, he has recently authored High Performance Companies -Successful Strategies from the World's Top Achievers (Jossey-Bass. A Wiley Imprint - 2012). In this interview, he gives CD a glimpse into the book and what companies need to do to continue to be successful. Excerpts:
How do you define a high-performance company?
Quite often, high performance is associated with profitability, for e.g., in the pre-financial crisis days, Goldman Sachs or GE would have been considered high performers because they exhibited excellent profitability. One potential problem with defining high performance based on profitability is that average profitability levels differ across industries, e.g., the airline and retailing industries are notoriously difficult ones to make money in, but the average profitability in soft drinks tends to be much higher.
Facebook-type site to change calculus of maths teaching
CHENNAI: In 2005, American writer Thomas Friedman was so impressed with Chennai-based online mathematics education platform HeyMath that he featured it in his book The World is Flat and wrote that "HeyMath's mission is to be the math Google".
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