INCOIS Director elected vice chair of ‘IOCINDIO' sub-commission
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) Director T.M. Balakrishnan Nair has been elected as the vice-chair of 'IOCINDIO' sub-commission through an electoral process held at the First Intergovernmental Session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Central Indian Ocean (IOCINDIO-1). The election was supported by 13 member states of IOCINDIO, said a press release on Friday.
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Mint
16 hours ago
- Mint
Trump's crackdown on foreign students threatens to disrupt pipeline of inventors
Ajay Bhatt had never been on a plane when he left India for City University of New York to pursue a graduate degree in 1981. More than four decades and 130 patents later, billions of people are still using Bhatt's most-recognizable invention, the Universal Serial Bus, or USB. 'My dad really didn't want me to go," Bhatt recalls. But, he said, 'This was the country where you could get the very best education, and everybody was welcoming." High-skilled immigration has long been part of the secret sauce that gave the U.S. the world's most dynamic economy. Studies show newcomers punch well above their weight in innovative output and entrepreneurship. They authored 23% of U.S. patents from 1990 to 2016, according to a 2022 study by Shai Bernstein of Harvard Business School and four co-authors. They founded or co-founded more than half of America's billion-dollar startups, according to another study. Immigrants co-founded or played a major early role in Nvidia, Alphabet and Tesla. From Elon Musk to lesser-known figures such as Bhatt, many of these inventors and founders originally came to the U.S. on student visas. President Trump's policies could disrupt that pipeline. In May, the Trump administration paused interviews with student-visa candidates to vet their social-media activity and said it would begin to 'aggressively revoke" the visas of Chinese students at U.S. universities. It also sought to block Harvard University from enrolling foreign students; that order has been stayed by a federal judge. 'We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools," Trump said last month. 'They can't get in because we have foreign students there. But I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country." The U.S. hosted more than 1.1 million international college students in the 2023-24 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education. In fiscal 2024, the government approved 263,000 applications by foreign graduates for temporary employment under the Optional Practical Training program, or OPT, and 52,000 onetime students or dependents rotated into H-1B work visas, which can lead to citizenship. Trump's nominee for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director, Joseph Edlow, said in a confirmation hearing May 21 that he would like to develop regulations 'that would allow us to remove the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 students beyond the time that they are in school." F-1 is the main visa used by students. 'For too long, woke, so-called 'elite' institutions like Harvard have admitted inordinate numbers of foreign students and allowed antisemitic violence to ravage their campuses—hindering Jewish students' education, prompting concerns of espionage, and threatening U.S. national security," a White House spokeswoman said. 'Ensuring that guests in our country want to learn and contribute positively to our educational environment, rather than undermine Americans' safety, is critical to a strong U.S. economy." The changes outlined by Edlow would effectively kill the OPT program, said Stuart Anderson, who now runs the National Foundation for American Policy, which supports high-skilled immigration. That would make it impossible for many foreigners to start U.S. businesses after they graduate and significantly dim the allure of American universities for international students, he said. In a 2022 study, Anderson found that immigrants founded or co-founded 319 of 582 U.S. startup companies that had achieved valuations of $1 billion or more, including Stripe, Instacart and Epic Games. Nearly half of those had been founded by immigrants who attended U.S. universities as international students, the study said. Instagram was co-founded by a Brazilian, Mike Krieger, who studied at Stanford University. 'It's not that surprising that a lot of international students end up starting a business, because risk-taking is obviously in their makeup," Anderson said. 'They're willing to take a chance and travel a long way to study in another country. It's an entrepreneurial thing to do." Gleb Yushin, a materials scientist who was born in the Soviet Union, considered schools in a handful of other countries—Germany, Japan, the U.K.—before deciding to get his Ph.D. at North Carolina State University. 'In Europe, there was an invisible ceiling…that would prevent immigrants from reaching their full potential," said Yushin, who came to the U.S. in 1999 on an F-1 visa, like Bhatt. The company he co-founded, Sila Nanotechnologies, has raised more than $1.3 billion from investors, employs roughly 400—mostly in Alameda, Calif., and Moses Lake, Wash.—and developed groundbreaking technology for improving batteries, Yushin said. Whether the world's best and brightest will continue flocking to American universities is an open question. Angelika Fretzen came from Germany to do postdoctoral research at Harvard University 1998. She joined a biotech startup alongside four other post-docs and spearheaded the development of Linzess, now a leading drug for irritable bowel syndrome. The company grew to employ as many as 500 people, plus hundreds more at manufacturers, suppliers, labs and partner firms across the country. As is often the case, the early days of Fretzen's career were hard, marked by routine failed experiments. Boston's community of scientists, many foreign, repeatedly helped her get back on the horse. 'If I had faced the kind of adversity that I think some of our young students here are facing right now," Fretzen says, 'I would have probably gone back to Germany and done the regular career in some pharmaceutical company." Trump recently suggested that foreign students at Harvard might be 'troublemakers" and that the school should cap international enrollment at lower levels. In a May 29 interview with Newsmax, Vice President JD Vance dismissed concerns about the effect on U.S. technological prowess of fewer foreign students. 'This idea that American citizens don't have the talent to do great things, that you have to import a foreign class of servants and professors to do these things, I just reject that," Vance said. A crackdown on foreign student visas and related abuse is 'an opportunity for American citizens to really flourish." Bhatt got the idea for the USB in 1991 after watching his wife and daughter struggle with a printer. At the time, external devices such as printers and keyboards came with unique cables that plugged into specific ports on a computer, some of them similar in appearance and compatible with only certain brands. The jumble of wires made personal computers daunting for non-geeks to use. Bhatt's supervisor at Intel, where he had recently started working, was skeptical of the USB but gave him time to work on it. A year and a half later, the company's management was convinced, and Bhatt began building a consortium of manufacturers, including Microsoft, International Business Machines, HP and eventually Apple, to agree to a universal standard. 'I owe all my success to the opportunities that were given to me in the U.S.," says Bhatt, who is now retired. For his scientific achievements, Bhatt in May was awarded India's equivalent to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. On a visit to his home country to receive the honor, he was struck by the number of parents who now want to send their college-age children to study in Britain, Canada, Australia or Singapore instead of the U.S. Bhatt doubts he would have been able to convince his own father to let him come to the U.S. in the current environment. 'I don't think he would have allowed me," he said. Write to Paul Kiernan at
Time of India
21 hours ago
- Time of India
Kill the Bill: Elon Musk declares war on Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill'
In Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1, the Bride doesn't just seek revenge—she draws blood with elegance, precision, and a katana. , freshly unshackled from his stint inside Trump's government, seems to be channelling the same energy—only this time, the blade is fiscal discipline, and the target is 's so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On Wednesday, Musk tweeted to his 180 million followers with a message that could've come straight out of Tarantino's trailer: 'Call your Senator. Call your Congressman. Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.' Attached was a photoshopped poster of Kill Bill, with Trump's face clumsily plastered over David Carradine's and the bill clutched like a samurai scroll of doom. The Bill in question? H.R.1, passed by the House on May 22. A sprawling $4 trillion mega-package that extends Trump's 2017 tax cuts, pumps funds into border security, expands defence spending—and raises the debt ceiling to eyewatering new heights. MAGA Republicans call it 'historic.' Musk calls it 'a disgusting abomination.' From DOGE to Doomsayer Only days ago, Musk was working inside the belly of the beast as head of DOGE—Trump's ironically titled Department of Government Efficiency. Appointed as a 'special government employee,' he spent 130 days trying to trim Washington's flab. Today, he's torching it from the outside. 'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' Musk posted on X. 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong.' He followed up with a flurry of economic memes, deficit graphs, and that now-viral Kill Bill parody poster, putting him squarely at odds with the very president who once called him 'America's Tech Da Vinci.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Debt Slavery and GOP Dissonance Musk didn't stop at aesthetics. He's gone full Paul Revere with PowerPoint slides. Calling the bill 'Debt Slavery,' he warned that America is 'in the fast lane to fiscal suicide.' By his math, the legislation could blow the deficit past $2.5 trillion and inflate the national debt by as much as $5 trillion—figures echoed, though slightly more cautiously, by the Congressional Budget Office. 'This spending bill contains the largest increase in the debt ceiling in US history!' Musk wrote. 'Congress is making America bankrupt.' Some in the GOP are rattled. Musk was the largest Republican donor of the 2024 election cycle—and now he's threatening to fund primary challenges against any lawmaker backing the bill. 'In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,' he posted, turning his money cannon on the very party he helped prop up. Trump's Cool, Congress's Calculus The White House, meanwhile, responded with Trumpian defiance. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shrugged it off: 'This is one big, beautiful bill, and he's sticking to it.' Trump even posted a nostalgic screenshot of Musk thanking him for the DOGE appointment—equal parts reminder and rebuke. House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to reach out. Musk left him on read, then shared a video clip of Johnson's defence of the bill with a blunt caption: 'We need a new bill that doesn't grow the deficit.' Senator Kevin Cramer was less concerned. 'I don't think very many senators are that interested in what Elon has to say,' he told reporters. 'It's amusing. But we're serious policymakers.' Elon and Donald: The Fallout Some men campaign. Elon Musk campaigned on something. What that "something" was, in hindsight, feels like a mix of politics, pharmaceuticals, vanity, and chaos theory. The Ketamine Candidate Musk's drug use didn't begin with the Trump campaign—it simply became more theatrical. While the Wall Street Journal had reported as early as 2023 that Tesla board members were alarmed by his use of Ambien, The New York Times now paints a darker picture. By 2024, Musk was reportedly taking ketamine so frequently it affected his bladder function. MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms followed, often at private parties across the globe. One image reviewed by NYT showed a pill organiser containing around 20 substances—some labelled as Adderall. The effect? Public incoherence, private panic. What Musk claimed was bi-weekly therapeutic use looked, to many insiders, like daily microcosmic meltdown. The Campaign Trail Becomes a Custody Battle Musk didn't just endorse Trump—he practically embedded himself in the campaign. He appeared at rallies, brought his son X into the Oval Office, and travelled with the child on the trail. Grimes, the boy's mother, objected—saying it violated a custody agreement. But that was just one chapter in Musk's domestic soap opera. In February, right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair revealed she had given birth to Musk's 14th child. She claimed Musk offered $15 million and $100,000 a month to keep it quiet. When she refused, Musk filed for a gag order. Simultaneously, Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis was pregnant with two more of Musk's children via surrogate—reportedly unaware of St. Clair. If his public persona was spiralling, his private life was already in freefall. Governing with a Chainsaw Inside the administration, things were just as unhinged. After Trump's win, Musk helped design DOGE, rented a cottage at Mar-a-Lago, and joined transition calls with foreign leaders. But colleagues quickly became alarmed. He insulted cabinet members, showed up disoriented to briefings, and raised eyebrows at the inauguration with what neuroscientist Philip Low later condemned as a Nazi-style salute. At CPAC, he donned sunglasses, accepted a chainsaw on stage, and delivered a performance that many said looked more like Burning Man than Beltway. His exit in May 2025 wasn't shocking. The only surprise was that it hadn't come sooner. Exit Wounds Musk's departure from government wasn't a clean break. It was a scorched-earth retreat. He arrived as a tech messiah, a billionaire savant here to trim the fat of government. He left as a psychedelic Cassandra—raging on social media, estranged from his allies, and battling legislation he once helped shape.
Hans India
a day ago
- Hans India
GHMC General Council holds discussions on monsoon prep
Hyderabad: The GHMC General Council meeting on Wednesday held detailed discussions on monsoon preparedness and other basic amenities. The 11th meeting was chaired by GHMC Mayor Gadwal Vijaylakshmi. During this meeting, the members voiced their outrage at the horrific attack on innocent individuals by terrorists in Pahalgam. The council members extended their heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of this attack and held a two-minute moment of silence to pray for the peace of the souls who have departed. GHMC Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi has called on both authorities and public representatives to collaborate effectively for the city's progress. Prior to the start of the meeting, the Mayor spoke at the council gathering and stated the Chief Minister has guaranteed that there will be ample funding available for infrastructure and welfare development within GHMC, and she expressed his appreciation for the support given to the development of Baldia through the allocation of funds. The pre-monsoon sanitation initiative aims to clean all streets to prevent seasonal diseases. She stressed the program's large-scale implementation for city cleanliness and urged officials to work with local representatives, MLAs, MLCs, and MPs for its success. Zonal review meetings are addressing public concerns, and decisions have been made to resolve issues raised by corporators. The mayor confirmed that corporators will collaborate with officials on sanitation, de-silting, Nala development, and infrastructure improvements in various zones. The aim is to identify new routes for the approximately 744.22 km of roads designated in CRMP-1 and to transfer the management of a total of 1142.54 km of roads to private agencies for the next five years (2025-2030), while seeking approval for a budget of Rs 3825 crore for this initiative. Furthermore, the corporators from various parties claim that they made plans to remove the officials due to alleged irregularities in the tenders for vehicles intended for use in the monsoon relief efforts. In the meeting, BRS corporators raised concerns about the arrest of Baba Fasiuddin, a Congress member from Borabanda, alleging his involvement in a suicide. They raised slogans and held placards demanding Fasiuddin's arrest. Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi intervened and successfully calmed the upset corporators. She mentioned that a First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged and that the case is currently being investigated. 'The law will take its course, and if the BRS corporators have any additional evidence related to this issue, they are urged to present it to the investigating authorities,' she stated. However, BJP corporators expressed their discontent with the council meeting. During the session, BJP corporators resolved to remove the Mayor over issues related to road maintenance, street lighting upkeep, sanitation, birth certificate processing, entomology, and the construction and upkeep of flood water canals. Other issues discussed were the operation of HYDRA, the status of street lighting, the process for issuing birth and death certificates, the rainwater harvesting pits built by GHMC, the restoration of RTC bus stops, the absence of essential infrastructure in cemeteries, and the painting and beautification projects carried out on flyovers throughout the city. The meeting was attended by MPs Eatala Rajender, Raghunandan Rao, MLCs Vijayashanti, Balmuri Venkat, Mirza Riaz ul Hassan Effendi, Mirza Rahmat Baig, Addanki Dayakar, MLAs Zulfiqar Ali, Majid Hussain, Kausar Moinuddin, Rajasekhar Reddy, Bandari Laxma Reddy, Commissioner R.V. Karnan, Additional Commissioners Sneha Shabarish, Venugopal, Venugopal Reddy, Pankaja, Subhadra,and others were present.
