https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/thousands-of-indian-techies-return-home-as-us-rejects-visa-extensions-119032200327_1.html



Indian techies living in the US are having a hard time as the US government has refused visa extensions. While some are still struggling over filing a new H-1B visa, many were left with no option but to return to India.

Apart from the increase in outright denials, there has also been a sharp rise in the number of requests for evidence (RFE). These are notices the US authorities issue to visa applicants seeking more information and documents on their applications. This not only delays the visa process but also increase costs for companies.

An engineer, who returned to India nine months ago, tells ET that "shifting with a kid who was born in the US was challenging".

Though the USCIS this week said it would resume premium processing of the H-1B visa, Indian IT firms are still struggling with extension of the visas.

According to industry experts, tightening of the visa process is primarily due to the change in regime that has focused on securing more jobs for Americans.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/03/18/feature/does-affirmative-action-help-or-hurt-asians-who-dont-fit-the-model-minority-stereotype/?utm_term=.985b8d302e1b&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1

If you are driving east on Florin Road toward Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, you will pass under a pedestrian bridge that has a message permanently affixed to it: “If you dream it, you can do it.”

It’s the kind of message I have seen in neighborhoods where aspirations far surpass resources — and in that way it is fitting. More than three-quarters of students at Burbank qualify for free lunches. A fifth of students come from households where Hmong is the primary language. The school has one of the highest concentrations of Hmong students in the city.

It was here, last year, that school counselor Janet Spilman and teacher Katherine Bell dreamed up a scheme: They would get every eligible senior to apply to college — any college. “It wasn’t just the 4.0s,” Bell told me in December, sitting in the light-filled front office. “It was the 2.0s and everyone who was within one year … of being eligible” to apply. In the end, they wrangled about 400 students into the school’s two computer labs, sat them down and walked them through the application process.

The massive undertaking taught Spilman and Bell a lot about what was keeping students from making post-high school plans: Many Hmong students had no idea they were “college material.” Some said they had thought about college but no adult had ever spoken to them about it. Others fretted about the finances and negotiating with parents who expected them to remain home.

When Students for Fair Admissions sued Harvard in 2014 over its race-conscious admissions policies, only one member of the organization was described in detail, a young man who, according to the lawsuit, deserves a seat at the university. He is the son of Chinese immigrants, attended one of the nation’s top high schools, was captain of the tennis team and got a perfect score on the ACT. By contrast, Hmong students at Burbank come from a community with a childhood poverty rate of about 40 percent statewide.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/24/harris-goes-big-her-second-big-idea/?utm_term=.f88e810dfe90



As a matter of politics, it may be brilliant. Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) is rolling out her second big policy initiative (the first a major tax revamp with what amounts to a vast expansion of the earned-income tax credit, allowing some workers to get an extra $500 per month). She proposes to close the “teacher pay gap.” (For those old enough, remember the Cold War “missile gap”?) The Associated Press reports:

She pledged by the end of her first term to close a pay gap that Harris said currently amounts to teachers making about $13,000 a year less than other college graduates. . . .

Harris’ campaign is citing a study from the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute that found that what’s called the “teacher pay penalty” — the difference in compensation for teachers and comparable public workers — is larger than ever. The Economic Policy Institute study puts the teacher compensation penalty at a record-high 11.1 percent in 2017.

Harris, a U.S. senator from California, plans to release more details of the plan next week, but she said her proposal will amount to the largest federal investment in teacher pay in American history. It was not immediately clear how much money Harris is calling to be diverted to educators’ pay or how the plan will be funded, but she told a packed gymnasium at Texas Southern University that the cost shouldn’t be the question.

The reason this is rather brilliant politics has to do with numbers, but not the ones Harris cites.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as of the fall of 2018, 50.7 million children attended public school. Consider that one or two parents/voters usually go with each student. Then consider: “Public school systems will employ about 3.2 million full-time-equivalent (FTE) teachers in fall 2018.” Some of those teachers are also parents with children in public schools, but it’s safe to say more than 50 million Americans live in a household with a public school student and/or teacher. That’s a very big pool of voters who would stand to benefit from Harris’s proposal, whatever you think of the merits.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-yield-curve-is-inverted-remind-me-why-i-care-quicktake/2019/03/22/46dccb9e-4cd1-11e9-8cfc-2c5d0999c21e_story.html?utm_term=.4f1f406d7165

If you’re wondering what a yield curve is and why there’s so much fretting in the U.S. over it flattening -- and parts of it even inverting -- you’re not alone. Late last year, Google searches for “yield curve inversion” shot up to their highest level ever. Here’s what the fuss is about.

1. What’s a yield curve?

It’s a way to show the difference in the compensation investors are getting for choosing to buy shorter- or longer-term debt. Most of the time, they demand more for locking away their money for longer periods, with the greater uncertainty that brings. So yield curves usually slope upward.

2. What are flat and inverted yield curves?

A yield curve goes flat when the premium, or spread, for longer-term bonds drops to zero -- when, for example, the rate on 30-year bonds is no different than the rate on two-year notes. If the spread turns negative, the curve is considered “inverted.”

3. Why does it matter?



The yield curve has historically reflected the market’s sense of the economy, particularly about inflation. Investors who think inflation will increase will demand higher yields to offset its effect. Because inflation usually comes from strong economic growth, a sharply upward-sloping yield curve generally means that investors have rosy expectations. An inverted yield curve, by contrast, has been a reliable indicator of impending economic slumps, like the one that started about 11 years ago. In particular, the spread between three-month bills and 10-year Treasuries has inverted before each of the past seven recessions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/03/21/californias-super-bloom-is-best-years-so-vibrant-it-can-be-seen-space/?utm_term=.3d1512ea07f5

California may never have seen a super bloom like this before. Although it’s been only two years since the last one, locals say this one is even better.

In recent weeks, flowers have exploded in parts of Central and Southern California and are advancing north.

In some places, it’s been termed the “super bloom apocalypse.”

Interstates have become parking lots, mountain canyons have had to be closed, flower chasers have been found stuck in the mud by helicopters, and folks have tumbled down hillsides trying to get the perfect shot.



A super bloom is simply an outbreak of flowers that exceeds the norm. They tend to occur about once a decade on average in California, but this is the second in three years. The last one followed record precipitation in the winter of 2016-17.

Abundant rain and mountain snow are again responsible for this year’s bloom. The past winter ranked 47th-wettest on record in California. This followed a rather dry start to winter and a fall full of wildfires.

https://insights.dice.com/2019/03/19/h-1b-visa-green-card-employment/



As H-1B hiring continues to dog frustrated domestic tech pros, a new study shows companies are offering green cards to foreign workers who agree to come stateside via the visa program.

Envoy Global, a company focused on helping companies sponsor and manage work visas globally, recently published a study showing 66 percent of queried employers say they offer green cards to employees with work visas. The same percentage say they begin the green card process on behalf of H-1B and other visa holders the first year they’re employed with the company.

“Leading companies think about immigration strategically. For example – companies that offer foreign nationals benefits that allow them to remain in the U.S. longer are finding more success in retaining foreign talent,” says Richard Burke, CEO of Envoy Global. “With heightened political scrutiny comes heightened anxiety among foreign nationals looking to work in the U.S. Companies that are able to provide their employees peace of mind by offering them a clear path to a permanent green card are getting ahead of the competition in retaining the best talent.”

Costs aren’t spared, either. Envoy Global found 80 percent of employers who sponsor foreign employees via a visa program like H-1B pay for all fees related to obtaining a green card. Although companies typically have a ‘payback’ agreement if a green card worker quits before the agreed-upon employment time has concluded, less than half (49 percent) require continued employment for H-1B and similarly visa’ed employees.

Envoy points to competition as a main driver for companies offering green cards to visa employees. “Now more than ever, foreign national employees are looking for the peace of mind and security associated with long-term sponsorship,” writes Envoy. “When choosing between competing offers for positions in the U.S., a path to permanent residence is a powerful incentive.”

In addition to the 66 percent who start the green card process within the first year of service, an additional 28 percent of companies hiring H-1B and other visa employees say they initiate the permanent residence process within five years of hiring a foreign worker, drawing a direct path to citizenship.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-part-of-midwest-starts-flood-cleanup-downstream-region-braces-for-inundation/2019/03/20/e068ab36-4b26-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html?utm_term=.cfe7df819e45&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1



FREMONT, Neb. — Chris Sewall stood with a push broom in front of an emergency shelter he manages for at-risk children, sending water sloshing down the front steps Wednesday afternoon. It had been nearly a week since he had to evacuate 10 teenagers from this facility, and the floodwaters had finally receded.

The basement still had about four inches of water, but Sewall was optimistic.

“We look around,” he said, gesturing to neighboring houses where soggy furniture had been hauled into muddy front yards. “We’re feeling pretty lucky.”

Piles of damaged appliances, water-stained upholstery and black garbage bags stretched toward the roofs of single-story houses that had been flooded when rain and melting snow produced record-high river levels. One homeowner had placed a detached door under a sump pump’s downspout, a makeshift ramp to redirect the flow into the driveway.

Communities across the Midwest are facing massive cleanup efforts after last week’s late-winter “bomb cyclone” caused at least four deaths, forced the evacuation of entire communities and drenched vast tracts of land with icy and often polluted water. Nebraska’s emergency agency set the estimated cost of the destruction at $1.3 billion on Wednesday, including $400 million for dead livestock, $440 million in lost grain and $439 million in damaged infrastructure.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/20/health/hot-tea-linked-to-higher-cancer-risk-study-intl/index.html

(CNN)Many people start their day with a cup of tea. But those who drink it piping hot could be increasing their risk of esophageal cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers found that tea drinkers who liked their beverage to be warmer than 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) and consumed more than 700 ml of tea per day -- about two large cups -- had a 90% higher risk of esophageal cancer, when compared to those who drank less tea and at cooler temperatures.

The study looked at more than 50,000 people in Golestan, a province in northeastern Iran.

"Many people enjoy drinking tea, coffee, or other hot beverages. However, according to our report, drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of esophageal cancer, and it is therefore advisable to wait until hot beverages cool down before drinking," said Dr. Farhad Islami, of the American Cancer Society and the study's lead author.

Previous research has found a link between hot tea drinking and esophageal cancer. This study, published Wednesday in the International Journal of Cancer, was the first to pinpoint a specific temperature, according to the authors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/03/18/whales-keep-eating-plastic-dying-this-ones-stomach-had-pounds-calcifying-trash/?utm_term=.f71c1257ad26



By the time Marine biologist Darrell Blatchley arrived at the fishing village Saturday, the young Cuvier’s beaked whale was already floating, dead in the water, its eyes sunken and ribs protruding through its skin. The current off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao had washed away the blood it vomited before its death.

He already knew how the 15-foot-long whale had died.

“I knew this whale had died due to plastic ingestion,” Blatchley, president and founder of the D’ Bone Collector Museum, told The Washington Post, noting that the animal showed telltale signs of dehydration and emaciation. “I was not prepared for the amount of plastic.”

The autopsy he conducted revealed more than 88 pounds of waste in the young whale’s stomach — grocery bags, plastic garbage bags, four banana plantation sacks and 16 rice sacks.

“It was so bad the plastic was beginning calcification,” he said. “The plastic had been there a long time. The stomach was trying to absorb it any way possible.”