The United States served notice this week that it will keep existing COVID-19 restrictions on international travel in place for now due to concerns about the surging infection rate because of the delta variant. It was the latest sign that the White House is having to recalibrate its thinking around the coronavirus pandemic as the more infectious variant surges across the U.S. and a substantial chunk of the population resists vaccination.It was also a reversal from the sentiment President Joe Biden voiced earlier this month when he said his administration was “in the process” of considering how soon the U.S. could lift the ban on European travel bound for the U.S. after the issue was raised by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to the White House.
The United States said it would maintain restrictions on international travel into the country, sidestepping European pressure, pointing to a surge of cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant at home and abroad. “We will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “The more transmissible Delta variant is spreading both here and around the world.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the restrictions would continue for now. “Driven by the delta variant, cases are rising here at home, particularly among those who are unvaccinated, and appears likely to continue in the weeks ahead,” she said.
The rising cases also are causing the administration to take a closer look at policies on wearing masks. On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first major federal agency to require its health care workers to get COVID-19 vaccines. And over the weekend, U.S. health officials acknowledged they’re considering changing the federal government’s recommendations on wearing masks. The delta variant is a mutated coronavirus that spreads more easily than other versions. It was first detected in India but now has been identified around the world. Last week, U.S. health officials said the variant accounts for an estimated 83% of U.S. COVID-19 cases, and noted a 32% increase in COVID hospitalizations from the previous week.
The rise in cases has prompted some state and local officials to reinstate masking guidance, even for vaccinated Americans.The White House follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance released in May, which states those who are unvaccinated don’t have to wear masks indoors. They’ve thus far made no changes to Biden’s public events, and the president is still traveling the country and participating in events unmasked.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on CNN’s State of the Union this Sunday that recommending that the vaccinated wear masks is “under active consideration” by the government’s leading public health officials. “We’re going in the wrong direction,” Fauci said, describing himself as “very frustrated.” The surge in the delta variant poses a major political challenge for Biden, who called it a “great day” for Americans when the CDC released its relaxed masking guidance in May and on July 4 declared that “the virus is on the run and America is coming back.” He’s spent the past few months shifting his focus from dire warnings to Americans to get vaccinated to public events pitching his infrastructure, education and jobs proposals, which are currently in the middle of fevered negotiations on Capitol Hill.
The administration has touted strong economic growth as fears about the pandemic waned, states relaxed their coronavirus restrictions and their economies opened back up. But the surging delta variant risks undermining that economic progress and drawing Biden’s attention away from his domestic agenda and Democratic Party priorities like gun, voting and policing reforms, back to the risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic. It could also highlight one of the administration’s greatest struggles thus far: The sluggish vaccination rate nationwide. As of Sunday, 69% of American adults had received one vaccination shot, according to the CDC — still slightly below the 70% goal Biden had set for July 4. Sixty percent of Americans have been fully vaccinated.
When asked Monday if he had confidence he could get unvaccinated Americans to get the shot, Biden said, “we have to,” but ignored a follow-up question on how. And prior to the VA’s announcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki skirted questions from reporters on why the administration hadn’t yet issued its own vaccination mandates for healthcare workers, deferring to the CDC for guidance and hospitals and healthcare associations on the ultimate decision.
Psaki acknowledged that the administration runs the risk of undermining its vaccination goals by further politicizing an already fraught issue if the president becomes the face of vaccine mandates. “The president certainly recognizes that he is not always the right voice to every community about the benefits of getting vaccinated, which is why we have invested as much as we have in local voices and empowering local trusted voices,” she said. Still, it’s clear the administration is taking steps to address the continued impact of the pandemic. Biden announced Monday that those Americans dealing with so-called “long COVID” — sometimes debilitating side effects caused by the illness that last for months after the initial infection — would have access to disability protections under federal law.
“These conditions can sometimes, sometimes, rise to the level of a disability,” he said, adding they’d have accommodations in schools and workplaces “so they can live their lives in dignity and get the support they need.”And the CDC advised Americans against travel to the United Kingdom this past Monday given a surge in cases there. Most of continental Europe has relaxed restrictions on Americans who are fully vaccinated, although the United Kingdom still requires quarantines for most visitors arriving from the U.S. Airlines say, however, that the lack of two-way travel is limiting the number of flights they can offer and seats they can sell. But the rise and prevalence of COVID-19 variants in Europe, especially the delta mutation, has caused the Biden administration to tread slowly about increasing transatlantic travel.
The Maldives has received more tourist arrivals between January and July 2021 than that for the whole year of 2020, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism released last week. Tourism Ministry data showed that the Maldives received 559,000 tourists as of July 17, 2021, the same number of tourists it received for the whole of 2020, reports Xinhua news agency. Minister of Tourism Abdulla Mausoom was quoted by state-owned PSM News as saying that the government was targeting 1.3 million tourist arrivals by the end of the year.
Mausoom said that the Maldives is currently receiving an average of 5,000 tourists per day and 23 per cent of arrivals are from neighbouring South Asian countries. Tourist arrivals to the Maldives declined significantly in 2020 due to border closures amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Maldives must maintain an average of 4000 daily arrivals throughout the year or experience a significant influx of tourists during holiday periods in order to reach the set target of 1.5 million tourists in 2021.
At present, 148 resorts and 364 guesthouses are known to be fully operational in Maldives.Maldives reopened borders to all nationalities from 15th July 2020. All visitors are granted a 30-day free on-arrival visa with a confirmed booking for a stay at any registered tourist facility in the country.
While there is no mandatory quarantine or testing on arrival, tourists traveling to Maldives are required to complete an online health declaration form and provide a negative PCR test result taken at least 96 hours prior to their departure. The negative PCR test result must be attached while completing Traveler Health Declaration form, which has to be submitted online via IMUGA (www.imuga.immigration.gov.mv), by all arriving passengers before arrival (but not exceeding 24 hours before arrival time).
The long wait will soon be over for foreigners who have been banned from entering Canada for nearly 16 months. Beginning August 9, fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents of the United States currently residing in the US will be permitted to enter Canada.Non-essential travel into Canada has been banned since March 2020, something the Canadian government said was necessary to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. International travelers may also be allowed to enter Canada beginning September 7, provided the “COVID-19 epidemiology remains favorable,” the Canadian government said in a statement Monday.
Entry to Canada will continue to be prohibited for all foreign travelers who are not fully vaccinated. All fully vaccinated American citizens and permanent residents must have received the full series of a vaccine — or combination of vaccines — accepted by the Canadian government at least 14 days prior to entering Canada, according to the statement. Currently, those vaccines are manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Other vaccines, including those from China or Russia, will not be recognized by Canada. Officials say they are continuing to “look into it” and will announce policy changes accordingly.
Travelers must provide proof they have been vaccinated. In a significant concession, unvaccinated minors younger than 12 entering Canada with vaccinated parents or guardians will not have to quarantine for 14 days. In another change to policy, fully vaccinated travelers will not need a post-arrival test unless they have been randomly selected at the port of entry to complete a Covid-19 molecular test. All travelers coming into Canada, regardless of vaccine status, will need a negative PCR or molecular test within 72 hours of requesting entry.The White House declined to commit to reopening its northern border to Canadians, though.
“We are continuing to review our travel restrictions and any decisions about reopening travel will by guided by our public health and medical experts,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “We take this incredibly seriously, but we look and are guided by our own medical experts. I wouldn’t look at it through a reciprocal intention,” Psaki said. The United States has set up working groups with allies in the United Kingdom and the European Union on reopening travel, but the results of those discussions haven’t been clear. The EU lifted travel restrictions for US citizens last month.
The United States has improved the travel advisory for India, upgrading from Level 4 category to Level 3 which urges citizens to reconsider travel. The Level 4 category means no travel. “Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine. Before planning any international travel, please review the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s specific recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers,” the advisory by the U.S. State Department said.
The State Department advisory comes after the CDC issued a Level 3 ‘Travel Health Notice’ for India due to COVID-19. The CDC suggests that people reconsider travel to destinations that are classified as Level 3, and that if people travel there, they should make sure they are fully vaccinated before they go. The updated advisory further asked its citizens to “exercise increased caution due to crime and terrorism.”
In April, the U.S. issued a Level 4 travel health notice for India as the country was reeling under the second wave of COVID-19. In related news from Ottawa, Canada, the Canadian government, in a statement July 19, announced it would open its borders for international travel from Sept. 7, 2021. The government intends to open Canada’s borders to any fully vaccinated travelers who have completed the full course of vaccination with a Government of Canada-accepted vaccine at least 14 days prior to entering Canada and who meet specific entry requirements, the Canadian government said in a statement.
“Subject to limited exceptions, all travelers must use ArriveCAN (app or web portal) to submit their travel information. If they are eligible to enter Canada and meet specific criteria, fully vaccinated travelers will not have to quarantine upon arrival in Canada.” In the first step, starting Aug. 9, 2021, the government has planned to allow entry to American citizens and permanent residents who are currently residing in the United States and have been fully vaccinated. This strategy will allow the government to continue monitoring variants of concern in Canada and vaccine effectiveness. Using these layers of protection, the Government of Canada can monitor the COVID-19 situation in the country, respond quickly to threats, and guide decisions on restricting international travel, the statement said. (ANI)
Neha Parikh, the former president of Hotwire and a board member of Carvana, has been named CEO of Waze, the app that leads millions on the road tyo reach their destinations. Parikh replaces Noam Bardin, who stepped down as CEO of the Google-owned navigation service last November after leading the company for 12 years.Neha Parikh, a former president of the travel website Hotwire, comes with a broad experience in the travel and navigation-based industry. Parikh was previously a board member of Carvana, an Israeli online car retailer and stepped down as the CEO of the company after 12 years.
She has also worked as the board member of Tailwind Acquisition Corp. and worked in several positions for nine years at Hotels.com which is a subsidiary of Hotwire and became the youngest and first female president of the company. Parikh started her career in 2000 as a Management Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is a multinational professional services network of firms. After working at the company for a year, she worked in several other positions like a business analyst, marketing manager, and demand and growth strategy consultant.
At Hotels.com, which is a subsidiary of Expedia Group, Parikh started as a Product Manager and in her nine-year career in the company, she achieved the position of Senior Vice President. Before starting her career in the field of business and management, Parikh completed her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and her Masters in Business Administration from Northwestern University.
After Parikh was announced as the CEO of Waze, a spokesperson of the company said that as she leads into the future, Parikh will remain hyper-focused on the passionate community of the company, their beloved brand, and the best-in-class products. About joining the company, Parikh said in a statement that she is thrilled to align with a company that puts its customers first as relentless customer focus has been central to her career.
A month before joining Waze as a CEO Parikh shared a post on her Linkedin account announcing that she would be joining the company in a month. Talking about Waze in her post, Parikh said that anyone who knows her well knows that she is a fan of the company as it is about helping other people.
“As Neha leads Waze into the future, she will remain hyper-focused on our passionate community, beloved brand, and best-in-class products,” a spokesperson for the company said. A month before assuming her new role at Waze in June, Parikh shared a post on her LinkedIn account that detailed her inclination for the brand. “Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a (vocal!) Waze superfan both because it 100 percent helps me outsmart traffic but also because at its core, Waze is about people helping other people,” she wrote.
The San Francisco, Calif.-based executive is a veteran of the online hospitality brand Expedia, and has served in a variety of positions at two of the corporation’s subsidiaries: Hotels.com and as Hotwire’s youngest and first female president, according to PTI. Waze, according to the agency, currently has over 140 million active monthly users in more than 185 countries who drive more than 40 billion kilometers every month. The app can give out directions in 56 different languages and employs over 500 people, a significant number of which are based out of Israel.
Parikh first started with Expedia Group in 2008 with Hotels.com, where her responsibilities and expertise spanned product development, customer relationship marketing, pricing and strategy, culminating in her role as senior vice president of global brands for Hotels.com before assuming the role of president of Hotwire in 2017. In addition, Parikh has held marketing and product development roles at Dade Behring (a Siemens healthcare company) and worked as a management consultant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLP. Parikh was also appointed to the board of Carvana, the online car marketplace, in April 2019. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
United Airlines is placing a jumbo-sized order of narrow-body aircraft. The company is purchasing 270 new planes from Boeing and Airbus.Last year, U.S. airlines were fighting to survive. Struggling in the depths of the pandemic, they received an infusion of cash and cheap loans from the U.S. government and, between aid packages, furloughed tens of thousands of workers. Business and international flights are still down from pre-pandemic levels, but domestic leisure travel, the kind where single-aisle planes dominate, is roaring back. United is planning for growth and ready to spend billions to get there, though it did not mention a specific price tag on Tuesday.
“It’s a plan that’s a nose-to-tail plan for the future,” United’s Andrew Nocella told reporters on Monday. “And it’s something we’ve actually been working on for many, many years.” The company says this is the biggest jet purchase placed by a U.S. airline in the past decade. (In 2011, American Airlines purchased 460 planes in one fell swoop.) And factoring in the new planes that United had already ordered, the company will get 500 new jets over the next few years. They’re intended to replace some older planes and expand the total size of the fleet, allowing for more daily departures. In addition to adding new planes, United will also be retrofitting every narrow-body plane in its directly operated fleet, a process that will take several years. The retrofits will put more premium seats per aircraft, as well as add seatback entertainment on all seat backs and improve carry-on bag storage.
“It’s really making the gate-checked bags a thing of the past,” promised United’s Toby Enqvist in a call with reporters on Monday. “We’re going to have space for each and every customer’s [carry-on bags] … even on a full flight.” The order will include 200 Boeing planes from the 737 Max series (which returned to service six months ago after nearly two years grounded over a deadly software flaw) as well as 70 Airbus A321neo aircraft. United, perhaps anticipating criticism for planning big investments so soon after requiring taxpayer aid, heavily emphasized the potential positive ripple effects on the U.S. economy from placing this order. The company argued that the purchase will directly create 25,000 new unionized United jobs, while indirectly supporting many more jobs at manufacturers, airports and travel destinations. And the company was adamant that air travel, even the still-depressed international and business travel, would come roaring back.
Richard Aboulafia, an aviation industry analyst with the Teal Group, notes that these kinds of bulk airplane orders aren’t exactly written in stone. Airlines can place a big order but then shift exactly when the planes get delivered (and actually paid for), based on how business is going. “We’re talking about the last of these planes being delivered, if things are great, four or five years hence,” he says. “If they’re not so great, six or seven years hence. If they’re terrible, how about never — does never work for you?” And he noted that now is a reasonable time to place these orders. Borrowing money is cheap, fuel prices are rising, and new planes are more fuel efficient than their predecessors.
The Canadian government has announced that the Canada-US border agreement on travel restrictions will be extended for another month to July 21. “In coordination with the US, we are extending restrictions on non-essential international travel and with the US until July 21st, 2021,” Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in a tweet on Friday.
Blair also said the government is planning measures for fully vaccinated Canadians, permanent residents, and others who are currently permitted to enter the country and will provide further details on June 21.
The new extension comes a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial premiers met to discuss the possibility of opening the land border between the two countries, which has been closed for non-essential travel since March 2020. The restrictions, which do not cover trade or travel by air, has been extended several times. he current restrictions were to expire on June 21.
Trudeau said on June 13 he had spoken with US President Joe Biden about how to lift the restrictions, but added that no breakthrough has been achieved. The Trudeau government closed its borders to non-essential travellers in March 2020. Since then, it has adjusted the rules to require Covid-19 testing before and after arrival, as well as a period of mandatory quarantine. Canada also limited international flights to just four airports in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary. In the fall of 2020, Canada expanded the list of travellers who were exempt from travel restrictions.
International students going to a Designated Learning Institution with a Covid-19 readiness plan were allowed to come to Canada to study. The exemptions also included extended family members, as well as travelers coming to Canada for compassionate reasons such as a funeral. In February 2021, Canada also added the mandatory hotel quarantine on incoming international travelers. New airport arrivals were to go immediately to wait for the results of a Covid-19 test at a government-approved hotel at their own expense.
The European Union is officially recommending that the 27-member bloc lift restrictions on US travelers, a long-anticipated move that will allow a return to near-normal travel with the continent for the first time since the pandemic began, according to diplomats.The European diplomats spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement planned for Friday. EU ambassadors decided Wednesday to approve a proposal to add the United States — along with Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia — to its “white list” of places where nonessential travelers are allowed in from across the bloc, sources said. Although this list is nonbinding, it seeks to harmonize travel rules across the European Union. Some European countries, including Greece, Portugal, and Spain, are already accepting vaccinated US travelers.
Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved a European Commission proposal from May 3 to loosen the criteria to determine “safe” countries and to let in fully vaccinated tourists from elsewhere.The full resumption of transatlantic travel still has one further hurdle: The United States has yet to say when it will reciprocally lift its ban on E.U. travelers, although that move is similarly expected within weeks.Inclusion on the “white list,” created in June 2020, means E.U. countries can accept travelers regardless of their vaccination status, although each individual country can set its own requirements for entry and quarantine. Australia, Israel, Japan and New Zealand are among the countries already on the list.
Under current restrictions, people from only seven countries, including Australia, Israel and Singapore, can enter the EU on holiday, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated. The current main criterion is that there should be no more than 25 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the previous 14 days. The trend should be stable or decreasing and there should be a sufficient number of tests, which would need to show a minimum percentage of negative tests. Variants of concern can be taken into account.
The resumption of travel will be a major boost to tourism-dependent economies across the continent. Following a slow start to vaccine rollouts, European officials and policymakers hope that the bloc will reach herd immunity by July. So far, around 45 percent of the nearly 450 million E.U. residents have been inoculated with at least one shot, and around half of those have been fully vaccinated.Earlier this week, the E.U. Parliament also formally approved legislation to create a digital certificate system starting July 1 that would scrap quarantine requirements for people who can prove they are vaccinated or that they have recently recovered from covid-19 or tested negative for the virus.
(Reuters) -The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has eased its travel recommendations for 61 countries, including Japan from its highest “Level 4” rating that had discouraged all travel to recommending travel for fully vaccinated individuals, the agency confirmed Tuesday. The new ratings, which were not previously reported and posted on a CDC website Monday, lower 61 countries to “Level 3,” including France, South Africa, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Italy. A U.S. State Department official said it was in the process of revising its travel advisory to reflect the CDC changes.The CDC said the change comes after its revised its criteria for travel health notices. The CDC said it has also revised its rating for the United States to “Level 3” from “Level 4.”
On May 24, the State Department had urged against travel to Japan, citing a new wave of coronavirus cases before the Tokyo Olympics are set to begin July 23.The CDC said the new criteria for a Level 4 “avoid all travel” recommendation has changed from 100 cases per 100,000 to 500 cases per 100,000. The CDC added that many countries have lower ratings “because of the criteria changes or because their outbreaks are better controlled.” The CDC added it expects more countries to get lower ratings.Other countries being lowered to “Level 3” include Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Libya, Panama, Poland, Denmark and Malaysia.
Many of the countries that now have lower ratings remain on the U.S. government’s list of countries subject to severe travel restrictions — and most have been subject to the restrictions since early 2020.The United States bars nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have been in China, the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, South Africa, Brazil, Iran and the 26 Schengen nations in Europe without border controls within the previous 14 days.
There are reports that OCI Card holders transiting through 3rd countries have been denied permission to board flights to India as these OCI cardholders were not carrying their old passport bearing its number in the OCI Card.
In view of the above, it is once again reiterated that it is mandatory to carry both old and new passports in case the OCI card holders are traveling on the strength of OCI card bearing old passport number in it.
The OCI guidelines on renewal which have been in force since 2005 are as follows:
OCI card is required to be re-issued each time a new passport is required by the cardholder up to the age of 20 years.
OCI card is required to be re-issued once and acquiring a new passport after completing 50 years of age.
The Government of India has given an extension in time till June 30th 2021 to get OCI Cards re-issued in accordance with the above guidelines. (Source: Consulate General of India, New York press release.)
The OCI card, which allows lifelong visa free travel to India with certain limitations to people of Indian-origin, was suspended by the Indian government on April 11 amidst a nationwide lockdown and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The sudden decision had created chaos and anxiety among the hundreds and thousands of Indian-origin people. A large number of them had taken to the social media platforms like Twitter to vent out their anger.The travel restrictions on those having OCI cards were subsequently relaxed, which so far has been mainly in the emergency categories, those travelling for work or minors with OCI card holders whose parents are Indian citizens.
Travel is finally bouncing back following the doldrums of the Covid-19 pandemic, including with the launch of not one, but two new low-cost airlines in the U.S. Avelo Airlines started service out of its West Coast base of Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles at the end of April, and is ramping up services to nearly a dozen destinations in the western U.S. before setting its sights farther east later this year with a second base in New Haven, Connecticut.
Now, an East Coast upstart is also entering the fray. From JetBlue founder and former CEO David Neelman, Breeze Airways has put tickets on sale starting today after nearly three years in the offing. Fares start at just $39 each way – a nod to the airline’s 39 launch routes among 16 cities. Its first flights took place on May 27, 2021, between Tampa, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina; and from Charleston to Hartford, Connecticut, with more flights being added to the schedule throughout June and July.
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Breeze will focus most of its operations out of four main airports: Tampa, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia; and New Orleans. But the new carrier’s route map includes 16 cities in the Midwest, Southeast, and Eastern U.S.
The Routes
The airline’s first-ever flight was scheduled to operate on May 27—just in time for the travel rush of Memorial Day Weekend—from Charleston to Tampa, and on to Hartford, Connecticut. Additional routes will be added through July.
The upstart airline is the brainchild of David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue and prolific airline creator (Breeze Airways is the fifth air carrier he’s launched; others include Brazil-based Azul and Canada’s WestJet). Neeleman’s business strategy for Breeze is to target smaller airports in cities overlooked by other carriers. “Breeze provides nonstop service between underserved routes across the U.S. at affordable fares,” he said in a statement on Friday. “A staggering 95 percent of Breeze routes currently have no airline serving them nonstop.”
Additional destinations include Providence; San Antonio; Pittsburgh; Akron; and Huntsville, Alabama, among others. This summer, the carrier’s average flight length will be about two hours.And there are already plans in the works to expand Breeze’s route network in the near future. “These 16 cities are just the beginning for Breeze,” Neeleman said. “The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation’s air service has meant many secondary markets and smaller cities have seen a significant reduction in flights. There are so many city pairs needing nonstop service around the country, we have a further 100 cities under consideration.”
The Planes
Breeze will start with a fleet of 13 single-class Embraer E-190 and E-195 regional planes this summer. Each plane seats between 108 and 118 people and seats are in a two-by-two layout, meaning there are no dreaded middled spots. In October, the airline will start taking delivery of 60 larger, brand new Airbus A220 planes. (Breeze is scheduled to receive one of the planes per month for the next five years.) The airline says its A220s will include a premium cabin class and operate on routes longer than two hours.
The onboard experience
With his new venture, Neeleman seems to be centering the brand on the same friendly, budget-conscious ethos that put JetBlue on the map with travelers. Breeze bills itself as the U.S.’s “seriously nice” carrier, and says it will use “technology, ingenuity, and kindness to improve the travel experience.” Its fare classes range from “Nice,” “Nicer,” and “Nicest.”
“Nicest,” Breeze’s premium business class product, will debut in the fall onboard the A220 planes. The other two fare class are bookable now. “Nicer” fares come with perks like a free checked bag, a carry-on bag, priority boarding, complimentary drink and snack, as well as extra legroom (between 33 and 39 inches of pitch, depending on the aircraft).
“Nice” is the cheapest option, which only covers a personal item—such as a purse or backpack—and a seat with between 29 and 31 inches of pitch. That amount of space is on par with ultra-low-cost carriers like Spirit, but fliers also have the option to upgrade to an extra legroom seat for a fee. There are extra charges to choose a seat (starting at $10), and bring a carry-on for the overhead bin or check a bag ($20 for either). Although it’s structured like a basic economy fare, it’s not as restrictive as similar products on other airlines.
All fares, including the cheapest, have flexible ticketing policies, with no change or cancellation fees. According to Breeze’s statement: “Guests can change or cancel a flight up to 15 minutes before scheduled departure without penalty. Unused funds from changes and cancellations are automatically saved in the guest’s Breeze account and do not expire for 24 months.” All flights will feature free in-flight entertainment—TV shows and games—that will stream to personal devices. The Airbus A220 planes will also have in-flight Wi-Fi. Fares are on sale now at flybreeze.com.
Amid the imbalanced access to COVID vaccine doses, some tourist-reliant destinations that have made headway with inoculating the local population are now earmarking extra doses for arriving travelers. Places like the Maldives, certain islands in the Caribbean, New York City, and Alaska have announced such measures over the past couple of months.
Government officials of the tourism-dependent Maldives have announced plans to offer coronavirus vaccines to international visitors as an incentive to reopen travel. The South Asian nation’s tourism minister said on CNBC this week that a new Maldivian tourism campaign, dubbed ‘3V,’ for ‘Visit, Vaccinate, Vacation,’ aims to make shots available for vacationers who travel to Maldives, once all local residents have been offered a vaccine. “The main idea of tourism being open is to provide a reasonably safe tourism with minimum inconvenience,” Maldivian Tourism Minister Abdulla Mausoom said in an interview. “So once the country gets vaccinated, then we will move on to ‘3V’ tourism.”
The Maldives, which is known for its glamorous overwater bungalows and pristine Indian Ocean beaches, is currently open to U.S. visitors who are fully vaccinated, and unvaccinated travelers who acquire a negative coronavirus PCR test no more than three days prior to travel. Its tourism board has also set a goal of 1.5 million tourist arrivals for 2021, with about 350,000 of those visits accounted for as of mid April. Mausoom said many remote workers have relocated to the islands during the pandemic, but that the vaccination campaign is necessary for the Maldives to jumpstart its travel economy: “When we reach this year’s target [of 1.5 million], still we will have a shortfall of what the country needs.”
The logic behind these initiatives is not hard to follow: The tourism industry has been gutted by the pandemic, and locales want a safe way to restart what is a major economic engine. But the policies might give some travelers pause, as they can appear to use up doses still needed by locals or favor the more privileged who can afford to book a long-haul trip for the shot. They also can seem to facilitate the chance for wealthy travelers to skip ahead of more at-risk people around the world. So should travelers take these doses if a destination is offering them?
“I think the idea that, for example, single-dose vaccines like Johnson & Johnson, ought to be available to people when they arrive in a country, for whatever reason they’re traveling, is a very good idea,” says Chris Beyrer, a professor of public health and human rights at Johns Hopkins. “Now those people won’t be fully protected for two weeks, but it’s a simple strategy and you don’t have to wait the additional three or four weeks for a second dose.”
New York City plans to offer the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to tourists in places like Times Square and the High Line. The state has also created pop-up clinics for both residents and visitors inside subway stations and airports. But Alaska, which relies heavily on the summer cruise season, is planning to offer travelers doses of Pfizer or Moderna shots (which require two doses) at its four largest airports starting June 1.
Some say the programs are really only ideal if the visitors are from an area where vaccine access is lacking. “It depends on where people are coming from,” says Leana Wen, emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University and former health commissioner of Baltimore. “There are of course many individuals from countries that don’t have nearly enough vaccine, and if they arriving at a location that does have vaccination, absolutely they should take advantage of it. As long as the individuals who are living in these locations are first given access, I don’t see a problem with the overall concept.”
In fact, experts agree that American travelers really shouldn’t be participating in vaccine on arrival programs, since the U.S. has readily available doses its own population. “The other equity issue is you’re traveling somewhere to get a vaccine where you could be taking it away from locals who need it more,” says Arthur Caplan, head of the division of medical ethics at NYU. “So you have to weigh that, too. You don’t want to take supply.” Although the majority of destinations that have offered up doses to visitors have said their local populations have adequate vaccine access, Caplan urges travelers to use scrutiny when evaluating these claims. “Vaccine politics are complex because some of these countries are run by business interests that very much depend on tourism,” he says. “I don’t always trust what they say.”
While these are concerning points, some experts say the programs—if properly executed—could help to protect residents. “That’s the other side of this, that there are so many places in the world that rely on tourism and [the] travel industry, and where the people who live there and work there who are not tourists have a right to be protected,” Beyrer says. “So do you keep tourism shut down? Or do you open it and try to do it in ways that are safe?”There are also other potential benefits for local populations. “It’s been a really challenging year and a half, and many of these places that have relied on tourism have been decimated,” Wen says. “If this is what it takes in order to get their economy back and get the standard of living back for their residents, who are we to give judgements?”
Another major concern for both epidemiologists and travelers? People who are unvaccinated boarding flights or trains to get inoculated. The CDC cleared only fully vaccinated people for widespread travel this summer. “I think you should be vaccinated before you get there,” Caplan says. “Getting vaccinated when you arrive at your tourist destination still means that you have at least a couple of weeks before you build up immunity, and you may need a second shot in some cases. I’d want to be fully vaccinated before I got to the airport, got on that plane, or got to my destination. I would not be waiting. I think that’s very unwise.”
Although it’s not ideal, Wen says that it could be possible to travel to get a vaccine. “Travel can be very safe, as long as people take the necessary precautions,” such as wearing a mask and avoiding removing it, she says. “There are ways to keep safe while traveling but they must be extremely vigilant if they are not yet vaccinated.”
Before making a decision, Wen advises each traveler to weigh the facts against their own situations. “I think there is an ethical argument one could be making that vaccine tourism leaves behind those who are financially not able to do so, and it is a real concern,” she says. “However there is also the argument of sustaining the tourism industry in countries that have been really hard hit as well. I would say that people need to make their own individual ethics judgments about whether they feel comfortable taking part in this.”
Newswise — With coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions easing up, the best words to describe the 2021 summer travel season outlook are “cautiously optimistic.” That’s according to University of Delaware’s Sheryl Kline, Aramark Chaired Professor of Hospitality, Sri Beldona, professor of hospitality business management, and Robert Nelson, associate professor of hospitality business management in UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.
“We believe that it will be a much more positive travel year for the Delaware Valley region, particularly the New Jersey and Delaware beaches, and also remote locations across the U.S.,” said Kline, who is also deputy dean of the Lerner College.
Over the winter, Kline and Beldona worked with the Delaware Data Innovation Lab Delaware Data Innovation Lab supported by CompassRed to develop a prototype for a hospitality sentiment tracker. This prototype tracks sentiments on travel and safety using consumer-based online review data across the State of Delaware. Early indicators showed that proprietors were taking conscious steps to be compliant with COVID-19 safety measures. Customers noticed and commented on precautionary measures these establishments put in place and expressed their comfort level in social media posts.
“While there is a pent up demand for domestic travel, the overall travel experience is going to depend on how COVID-19 guidelines continue to be observed,” Beldona said. “Through our research we have learned that consumers are hyper aware of how the travel industry reacted to the government restrictions and precautions taken to cope with this pandemic.”The term “vacci-cation” for vacations being planned after sufficient vaccinations and before office life resumes has also entered the lexicon to describe what is expected of this summer, Beldona said.
“As more people are fully vaccinated, they will become more comfortable traveling for much needed vacations and to visit family,” Kline said. “However, when they leave home, vacationers will definitely see more sanitation stations and improvements in cleaning practices. This is one legacy of the pandemic that will not go away.”
Beldona added, “There will be more cars on the road versus air travel. Beach rentals in Delaware are reporting higher occupancies than usual. It’s going to be a big summer for Airbnbs.” He also said more people will be visiting out-of-the-way places and having more family reunions. But what you won’t see will be any extra incentives or travel discounts. “Prices won’t be lowered because the demand is there,” Beldona said.
With the increased demand, there will be increased pressure on restaurants, hotels and commercial tourism operators to find employees. Anecdotally, Kline, Beldona and Nelson are seeing the demand for employment at travel destinations growing, especially at the Delaware beach areas and other more remote locations such as national parks and destination all-inclusive resorts.“Tourists are booking trips, but hotels, restaurants and other segments of the industry have no labor,” Nelson said. “Many of them depend on imported labor via J1 visas that are not available this year.”
The outlook is not quite as strong for major cities as remote, local getaways. The tourism recovery for places like New York and Chicago is predicted to progress at a much slower pace, according to Nelson. “Major gateway cities are dependent on international travelers and business travelers, both of which are expected to recover more slowly,” Nelson said. “Also, business travel naturally slows in the summer months.” As for international travel? Trends indicate that growth in domestic travel will outperform that of international travel significantly this summer, Beldona said. “Countries are still trying to figure out how to allow people from different countries into their cities and how long they will need to quarantine,” Kline said. “It might be best to travel domestically and to stay local.”
Air India has admitted to a massive data breach that compromised the personal data of about 4.5 million passengers. The hackers were able to access 10 years’ worth of data including names, passport and credit card details from the Atlanta-based SITA Passenger Service System, Air India said in a statement on May 21.It disclosed the scale of the breach nearly three months after it was first informed by the IT provider.The breach that happened in late February had compromised the data of some major global airlines, too. SITA at that time had said that Singapore Airlines, New Zealand Air and Lufthansa were among those affected.
Air India said almost 4.5 million passengers globally were affected in the “highly sophisticated” attack but did not specify how many of them were its travelers. It said no password data was breached during the attack and that the company was investigating.The breach, confirmation of which comes two months after SITA’s Passenger Service System (PSS) was hacked, affected customers who registered between August 2011 and late February 2021, Air India said in a statement. Compromised data includes customers’ name, data of birth, contact information, passport information, frequent flyer data and credit card data, although CVV/CVC numbers weren’t included.
Password weren’t accessed by the hackers, Air India added, although it’s urging all customers to change their passwords as a precaution.
The airline said it first learned of the incident on February 25, but only learned the identities of affected passengers on March 25 and May 4.The company said it recommended in an email to its customers that they should change their account passwords as a precaution.
Air India started as a mail carrier in 1932 before gaining commercial popularity. It has been incurring losses since its 2007 merger with a state-owned domestic carrier, Indian Airlines. The debt-laden carrier is currently in the process of finding new buyers.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is accepting applications for two funding opportunities under the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program. The grant opportunities will provide up to $10 million in grants for citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country.
These competitive grant opportunities are open to organizations that prepare lawful permanent residents for naturalization and promote civic integration through increased knowledge of English, U.S. history, and civics. USCIS received support from Congress through appropriations to make these funding opportunities available to communities.
“It is critical that we provide immigrants pursuing citizenship and the organizations who help support their efforts with the tools to be successful,” said Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “The Citizenship and Integration Grant Program helps those preparing to become U.S. citizens to successfully integrate into American society. This administration recognizes that naturalization is an important milestone in the civic integration of immigrants, and we will continue to provide support for individuals hoping to establish new citizenship in our country.”
“USCIS is committed to empowering immigrants to pursue citizenship and the privileges that accompany it,” said Acting USCIS Director Tracy Renaud. “The Citizenship and Integration Grant Program equips immigrants with the tools they need to be successful throughout their journey to become new U.S. citizens and beyond. This year, USCIS is reaching out to more organizations that provide services to underserved communities to ensure that all who are eligible to apply for these grants—or to pursue naturalization—are able to do so.”
USCIS seeks to expand availability of high-quality citizenship and integration services throughout the country under the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program:
Citizenship Instruction and Naturalization Application Services:This opportunity will fund public or nonprofit organizations that offer both citizenship instruction and naturalization application services to lawful permanent residents. USCIS expects to award 33 organizations up to $250,000 each for two years through this opportunity. Applications are due by July 16, 2021.
Refugee and Asylee Integration Services Program:This grant opportunity will provide extended integration services with a focus on individualized programming to former refugees and asylees to attain the skills and knowledge required for successful citizenship. It will also provide other services that foster a sense of belonging and attachment to the United States. The program has expanded eligibility to include lawful permanent residents who were admitted or entered the United States as Cuban or Haitian entrants or individuals admitted on a Special Immigrant Visa. USCIS expects to award six public or nonprofit organizations with experience in serving refugees up to $300,000 each for a period of two years through this opportunity. Applicants must design an integration support program that provides a suite of services to program beneficiaries to promote long-term civic integration and citizenship. Applications are due by July 16, 2021.
USCIS expects to announce award recipients in September 2021.Since 2009, the USCIS Citizenship and Integration Grant Program has awarded about $102 million through 473 grants to immigrant-serving organizations. These grant recipients have provided citizenship preparation services to more than 279,000 lawful permanent residents in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
To apply for these funding opportunities, visit www.grants.gov. USCIS encourages applicants to visit www.grants.gov before the application deadline to obtain registration information needed to complete the application process.
Effective May 17, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will temporarily suspend the biometrics submission requirement for certain applicants filing Form I-539, Application To Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, requesting an extension of stay in or change of status to H-4, L-2, and E nonimmigrant status.
In a May 13, 2021, notification (uscis.gov), the agency said it will allow adjudications for those specific categories to proceed based on biographic information and related background checks, without capturing fingerprints and a photograph.This suspension will apply through May 17, 2023, subject to affirmative extension or revocation of the suspension period by the USCIS director.
This temporary suspension will apply to applicants filing Form I-539 requesting the following:
Extension of stay in or change of status to H-4 nonimmigrant status;
Extension of stay in or change of status to L-2 nonimmigrant status;
Extension of stay in or change of status to E-1 nonimmigrant status;
Extension of stay in or change of status to E-2 nonimmigrant status (including E-2C (E-2 CNMI Investor)); or
Extension of stay in or change of status to E-3 nonimmigrant status (including those selecting E-3D).
This suspension will apply only to the above categories of Form I-539 applications that are either:
Pending as of May 17, 2021, and have not yet received a biometric services appointment notice; or
New applications postmarked or submitted electronically on or after May 17, 2021.
However, the agency clarified that it retains discretion on a case-by-case basis to require biometrics for applicants who meet the criteria above, and any applicant may be scheduled for an application support center (ASC) appointment to submit biometrics.Nevertheless, it said that Form I-539 applicants who have already received a biometric services appointment notice should still attend their scheduled appointment.
Effective May 17, 2021, Form I-539 applicants meeting the criteria above are not required to submit the $85 biometric services fee for Form I-539 during the suspension period. USCIS will return a biometric services fee if submitted separately from the base fee. For more details visit uscis.gov/news/In another notification, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the Department of Homeland Security is withdrawing a 2018 notice of proposed rulemaking that proposed to remove the International Entrepreneur program from DHS regulations.
The International Entrepreneur (IE) parole program, first introduced in 2017, will remain a viable program for foreign entrepreneurs to create and develop start-up entities with high growth potential in the United States. The program will help to strengthen and grow our nation’s economy through increased capital spending, innovation, and job creation.
Today’s announcement is consistent with President Biden’s Executive Order 14012: “Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.” The executive order requires the secretary of homeland security to “identify any agency actions that fail to promote access to the legal immigration system.”
“Immigrants in the United States have a long history of entrepreneurship, hard work, and creativity, and their contributions to this nation are incredibly valuable,” said Acting USCIS Director Tracy Renaud. “The International Entrepreneur parole program goes hand-in-hand with our nation’s spirit of welcoming entrepreneurship and USCIS encourages those who are eligible to take advantage of the program.”
The initial IE final rule was published on Jan. 17, 2017, and was scheduled to take effect on July 17, 2017. This final rule guided DHS in the use of its parole authority to grant a period of authorized stay, on a case-by-case basis, to foreign entrepreneurs who demonstrate that their stay in the United States would provide a significant public benefit through the potential for rapid business growth and job creation.
Prior to the effective date, DHS published a final rule to delay the implementation date of the IE final rule to March 14, 2018. This allowed DHS additional time to draft and seek public comments on a proposal to rescind the IE final rule. However, in December 2017, a federal court vacated the delay, requiring USCIS to begin accepting international entrepreneur parole applications consistent with the IE final rule. Since then, the program has been up and running, and USCIS continues to accept and adjudicate applications consistent with existing DHS regulations.
Under the IE program, parole may be granted to up to three entrepreneurs per start-up entity, as well as their spouses and children. Entrepreneurs granted parole are eligible to work only for their start-up business. Their spouses may apply for employment authorization in the United States, but their children are not eligible for such authorization based on this parole. Additional information on eligibility and how to apply is available on the International Entrepreneur Parole page. USCIS will plan information sessions and other outreach activities to ensure foreign entrepreneurs are aware of this opportunity and how to pursue it.
Most U.S. fliers only think of travel documents when checking their passport is valid before an international flight. But as Real ID, a new federal law mandating which forms of identification will get passengers through airport security, takes effect, that mentality will need to shift.
New rules set strict regulations on what identification will be accepted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at security checkpoints—even for flights within the U.S. In many cases, this means using a standard driver’s license will no longer get you onboard a plane. (The deadline for travelers to have a Real ID has been pushed back to 2023 due to COVID-19 delays.)
The deadline for Americans to obtain a REAL ID card has been pushed back once again due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Homeland Security announced last week. Here’s everything you need to know to ensure you have the right up-to-date identification for your travels.
What is the new Real ID rule?
The regulation is part of a law passed by Congress in 2005, which set new federal security standards for driver’s licenses and other forms of identification used to board planes in the U.S. The new standards apply to all states and territories. After the rules go into effect, driver’s licenses and other IDs that don’t meet the new requirements will not be accepted by the Transportation Security Administration for passing through airport security checkpoints.
Even if you have a TSA PreCheck or a Clear membership, you will need a Real ID-compliant form of identification to make it past airport security. A Global Entry card is considered Real ID–compliant and will be accepted under the new rules. Children under 18 get some leeway, as TSA does not require them to present identification when traveling with a companion within the U.S. As always, on an international trip, passports or other documents may be required by the airline or other agencies.
When does the rule change happen?
The new rules will go into effect on May 3, 2023—this deadline was pushed back three years due to coronavirus concerns. That’s the date that all U.S. residents need to have a Real ID-compliant driver’s license or other approved identification in hand to make it past airport security.
How do I get a Real ID driver’s license?
The majority of states are now issuing driver’s licenses that are accepted under the new rules. You simply need to visit your DMV to renew or replace your old license with a Real ID version. (This usually takes more documentation—and sometimes more money—than obtaining a driver’s license did in the past, and your state’s DMV website should have a list of the required paperwork.)
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The Department of Homeland security also announced in February 2020 that individuals applying for a Real ID can now electronically submit the numerous documents required before arriving at the DMV. The move is an effort to help states and residents streamline the process to meet the May 2023 deadline. According to the U.S. Travel Association, an industry lobbying organization, “tens of millions of Americans do not yet possess REAL ID-compliant identification,” so the electronic document submission is a good step forward. The application process for a Real ID driver’s license includes showing documents such as a social security card, multiple proofs of address, and a birth certificate or passport, among others.
What other forms of identification work to board a plane under the new rules?
Valid passports or passport cards will still work to get you through security for domestic flights, and passengers will still need them to board international flights. Global Entry membership cards are also valid under the new regulations, as are various forms of military ID and other government-issued IDs. You can see a full list of accepted documents on the TSA’s website.
How do I know if my current driver’s license is acceptable under Real ID rules?
Real ID driver’s licenses are marked with a star in the top corner. (It’s worth noting one confusing state policy: Ohio. Its old licenses have a gold star, while its Real IDs have a black star.) Enhanced driver’s licenses—which are slightly different, but are issued by some states in addition to Real IDs and are also acceptable under the new rules—have a flag in the corner.
What happens if I show up at the airport without an acceptable ID under the new rules?
TSA says you will not be let through security, and you will not be able to fly. In rare occasions in the past, if a flier forgot their ID for a domestic trip, TSA might have worked with them to verify their identity in a different way—like by asking them certain questions about their personal information. But the agency says that after Real ID is implemented, those days are over. “TSA has no plans to provide an alternate verification process to confirm a traveler’s identity,” says TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein. “Counting on TSA to provide that option to travelers who do not have a Real ID-compliant driver license or identification card is not a good strategy.”
The U.S Embassy in India encourages U.S. citizens who wish to depart India to take advantage of currently available commercial flights. Airlines continue to operate multiple direct flights weekly from India to the United States; additional flight options remain available via transfers in Paris, Frankfurt, and Doha.
President Joe Biden has issued a proclamation restricting entry into the United States of certain nonimmigrant travelers who have been physically present in India. These restrictions will go into effect on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 12:01 AM EDT. The full text of the proclamation is available here.
The U.S Embassy in India encourages U.S. citizens who wish to depart India to take advantage of currently available commercial flights. Airlines continue to operate multiple direct flights weekly from India to the United States; additional flight options remain available via transfers in Paris, Frankfurt, and Doha.
The policy will not apply to American citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPR), or other people with these specific exceptions:
Any immigrant who has an unused or unexpired immigrant visa;
Any non-U.S. citizen spouse of a U.S. citizen or LPR;
Any non-U.S. citizen who is the parent or legal guardian of a U.S. citizen or LPR, provided that the U.S. citizen or LPR child is unmarried and under the age of 21;
Any non-U.S. citizen who is the sibling of a U.S. citizen or LPR, provided that both the non-U.S. citizen and the U.S. citizen or LPR sibling are unmarried and under the age of 21;
Any non-U.S. citizen who is the child, foster child, or ward of a U.S. citizen or LPR, or who is a prospective adoptee seeking to enter the United States pursuant to the IR-4 or IH-4 visa classifications;
Any holders of nonimmigrant visas in the following categories: C-1, D, C-1/D air and sea crew, A-1, A-2, C-2, C-3, E-1, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-4, or NATO-6; or
Students who already possess a valid student (F or M) visa and who will begin their studies on or after August 1, 2021. (Note that direct travel to the United States from India with a student visa may begin no more than 30 days prior to the start date of a student’s classes.)
Visa holders with definite plans to travel who can demonstrate qualification for a National Interest Exception (NIE) may contact the U.S Embassy or Consulate that issued their visa to request a national interest exception prior to travel. (The contact email for the Embassy in New Delhi is NewDelhiNIE@State.gov.) Your request must include the following information to seek an exception: last name, first name, date of birth, place of birth, country of citizenship, passport number, visa Number and category, travel dates, travel purpose, and national interest category–including a clear justification for receipt of a NIE.
Qualifying family members do not need a NIE or any pre-approval from the embassy or consulates. Travelers should bring proof of relationship when initiating travel to the United States. More details on NIEs are available here.
If you currently have a flight booked, or plans to travel to the United States but do not fall into an exception category, contact the embassy or consulate that issued your visa before departing, as you may not be allowed to travel at this time. General travel information between India and the U.S as well as information about COVID-19 within India, is available via the U.S. Embassy here.
This proclamation will remain in effect until terminated by President Biden. Thirty days after the proclamation, and then at the end of every calendar month, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra will recommend whether the president should continue, modify, or terminate this proclamation.
Note that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice and the Department of State has issued a Level 4 Travel Advisory recommending against all travel to India. Level 4 is the highest advisory level due to greater likelihood of life-threatening risks. U.S. citizens who must travel to India are strongly urged to get fully vaccinated before travel and to continue to take personal health safety measures to protect themselves, including practicing social and physical distancing, cleaning hands with soap/hand sanitizer frequently, wearing masks, and avoiding crowded areas with poor ventilation.
The CDC’s broader guidance for fully vaccinated people–including information about when you should still wear masks and maintain social and physical distancing–is here; be sure to review our other vaccine availability and safety resources as well.
The U.S. told its citizens to get out of India as soon as possible as the country’s covid-19 crisis worsens at an astonishing pace.
In a Level 4 travel advisory — the highest of its kind issued by the State Department — U.S. citizens were told “not to travel to India or to leave as soon as it is safe to do so.” There are 14 direct daily flights between India and the U.S. and other services that connect through Europe, the department said.
Indian authorities and hospitals are struggling to cope with unprecedented covid infections and deaths. Official data on Thursday showed new cases rose by a staggering 379,257 over the prior 24 hours, another record, while 3,645 additional lives were lost. More than 204,800 people have died.
“U.S. citizens are reporting being denied admittance to hospitals in some cities due to a lack of space,” the website of the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India said in a health alert. “U.S. citizens who wish to depart India should take advantage of available commercial transportation options now.” All routine U.S. citizen services and visa services at the U.S. Consulate General Chennai have been canceled.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anyone returning to the U.S. from overseas must have a viral Covid-19 test between three and five days after travel. Individuals who haven’t been vaccinated should also stay at home and self-quarantine for a week.
The South Asian nation now has the world’s fastest-growing caseload with 18.4 million confirmed instances. The virus has gripped India’s populace with a severity not seen in its first wave. Mass funeral pyres, lines of ambulances outside overcrowded hospitals and desperate pleas on social media for oxygen underscore how unprepared India’s federal and state governments are to tackle the latest outbreak.
The unfolding tragedy is prompting some of the world’s biggest corporations to organize aid. Amazon.com is harnessing its global logistics supply chain to airlift 100 ICU ventilator units from the U.S., and the equipment will reach India in the next two weeks. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said he was “heartbroken” by the situation and the tech behemoth is using its voice, resources and technology to aid relief efforts and help buy oxygen concentrators.
Blackstone Group Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said his private equity firm is committing $5 million to support India’s covid relief and vaccination services to “marginalized communities.” Local companies, too, are wading in, with the philanthropic arm of India’s most valuable company — Reliance Industries Ltd., controlled by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani — pledging to create, commission and manage 100 ICU beds that will become operational mid next month.
As thousands of doctors, nurses and non-medical professionals work around-the-clock to save what patients they can, countries around the rest of the world are drawing up their bridges.
Within Asia, Hong Kong banned flights from India, as well as Pakistan and the Philippines, for 14 days from April 20. Singapore has barred long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who have recently been in India from entering. Indonesia is also denying entry to people traveling from India.
Further afield, the U.K. has added India to its travel ban list, and the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have halted passenger flights from India. Canada last week banned flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days. Australia banned flights from India this week.
India has extended the suspension on international commercial flight operations till May 31, 2021. However, international passenger flights under air travel bubble arrangements will continue.
“In partial modification of circular dated 26-06-2020, the competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the above subject… regarding scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of 31st May, 2021,” the circular issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
The circular said that the restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA. Passenger air services were suspended on March 25, 2020 due to the nationwide lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19. Domestic flight services, however, resumed from May 25, 2020.
Meanwhile, the US has announced that starting May 4th, on the advice of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control, COVID-19 experts, medical experts and national security advisors — travel restrictions will come into force for India,” Vice President Kmla Harris announced last week.
Harris, who was visiting Cincinnati, said, “There is no question that it (COVID surge in India) is a great tragedy, in terms of the loss of life, and as I have said before, and I will say again, we as a country have made a commitment to the people of India to support them.”
“And we’ve made already a commitment in terms of a dollar amount that will go to PPE (personal protective equipment) and a number of other things. But it is tragic. And, you know, my prayers go to the people on the suffering, the blatant suffering that is happening,” she added. President Joe Biden’s Spokesperson Jen Psaki said the restrictions were being imposed because “of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in India.”
The restrictions cover South Africa, China, Iran, Brazil, Ireland, Britain and the 29 countries belonging to the common visa zone known as the Schengen Area. US citizens and legal residents and their immediate family members are exempt from the restrictions, as also are diplomats, but they are advised to follow precautions. They are asked to test themselves for COVID-19 between three and five days after arrival.
If those who are vaccinated test positive, they have to isolate themselves for seven days. Those who are not vaccinated are asked to self-isolate for seven days, regardless of the test results. At a news conference on Friday before the restriction was announced, White House Coronavirus Response Co-ordinator Jeffrey Zientsin said, “In terms of travel from India, we remain in very close contact with our foreign counterparts and are continuously monitoring the situation.”
“Our current inbound travel precautions and mandatory testing before travel — the quarantine for unvaccinated individuals and the retesting during that quarantine period — those are all in place for all international travel and have been effective,” he added.
According to VacationRenter’s booking data, summertime rental reservations are up 125% this year over last. And as Americans resume travel, its data analysis reveals noteworthy travel trends among our customers as we look forward to summer 2021.
The US Travel Association concurs, that roughly 9 out of 10 Americans are planning to travel within the next six months. As travellers in the United States resume travel, they’re vacationing with safety (and fresh air) in mind. Here are five travel trends noted by VacationRenter:
1. Starting small
Looking at VacatonRenter’s current bookings for summer 2021, reservations for small groups — consisting of two or four people — are leading the charge by a significant margin. Even groups of six are outpacing odd-numbered bookings and larger groups. The upshot of this two-by-two trend: couples who have been isolating together seem to be traveling together.
2. Seeking private space
Overall, we’ve found that more people are seeking out accommodations and destinations with a guaranteed buffer zone from other travelers. Searches on the VacationRenter site for entire homes — as well as villas and cabins — far outpaced accommodations with shared spaces and amenities. In fact, bookings for houses and villas in March 2021 were up 160% and 200%, respectively, over the same time last year.
3. Choosing traditional and ocean-breezy destinations
While some folks may have headed for the hinterlands to isolate (or work remotely) during the height of the pandemic, there appears to be a return to traditional — yet still fresh-air-infused and outdoorsy — destinations from June through August. Destin, Florida tops the list for summertime destinations by 18%.
4. Pools and pet-friendly spaces
Pools and pets have proved to be the top filters for online summertime vacation searches in 2021. This spring, 28.1% of all travellers who booked through VacationRenter used its pool filter as they searched for their ideal summer getaway. A private pool or even a dip in an uncrowded, shared pool (given that most resorts and homeowners associations now limit pool numbers) has obvious appeal.
5. Last-minute bookings
VacationRenter saw many travelers booking within days of arrival, even to airline-accessed destinations, such as Puerto Rico — where a surprising 11% of bookings were made the day before travel.
Once thought to be nearing ‘herd immunity’ with rapidly declining case numbers, India is now the latest hotspot experiencing a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases. This time around, the country is seeing cases linked to a “double mutant” coronavirus variant – which has been shown to be even more contagious than the initial virus. With the benefit of hindsight, countries around the world are taking swift action to cut off international travel to try and stop or at least slow the spread of this new variant. Let’s take a look at the countries now taking action, as well as what specific measures are being taken.
The UK, Singapore, New Zealand, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE, Iran, Hong Kong and Canada have imposed restrictions on passengers arriving from India by allowing only citizens to enter their borders. With Iran and Kuwait also suspending flights from India on account of the Covid-19 surge here, a dozen countries have now imposed some form of fresh restriction on travellers from India to protect their jurisdictions from the virus spread.
Which countries have imposed restrictions?
The UK, Singapore, New Zealand, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE, Iran, Hong Kong and Canada have imposed restrictions on passengers arriving from India by allowing only citizens to enter their borders. Even passengers who have been to India in the previous 14 days or are transiting through an airport in India are not allowed to enter.
Other countries like France have imposed a strict quarantine routine for passengers arriving from India, while the US has issued an advisory asking people not to travel to India, even if fully vaccinated. Australia, on the other hand, has said that it will restrict the number of its citizens that can enter its borders from India.
Why did United Airlines cancel its flights out of Delhi?
US-based United Airlines has canceled its flights out of Delhi to destinations such as Newark, San Francisco and Chicago citing “ongoing Covid-19 travel requirement discussions with local authorities” that were impacting its ability to operate the flights. However, the airline later said that it was resuming its flights from Sunday. Also, its Mumbai flights continued to operate as per schedule.
Has the US restricted travel from India?
No, the US has not yet announced any fresh restrictions on travelers from India. But the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention issued a non-binding advisory asking people to not go to India even if fully vaccinated. The US State Department has echoed this advisory. It must be noted though that the US Embassy in New Delhi has cancelled in-person visa appointments and interview-waiver appointments from April 26 till May 9 in light of “current pandemic conditions”. Emergency services for American citizens will continue and consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata will continue to offer limited visa appointments.
Air India cancels UK flights from April 24 to 30
National carrier Air India has decided to cancel flights between India and the UK from April 24 to 30. The move comes after Britain recently announced travel restrictions on non-UK and non-Irish citizens.
“Passengers who were to travel between India and UK, may kindly note that in view of recent restrictions announced by UK, flts from and to UK stand cancelled from 24th to 30th April ’21. Further updates regarding rescheduling, refunds & waivers will be informed shortly.”
“Between 24th to 30th April ’21 we are in a process to schedule once a week flight to UK from Delhi & Mumbai. Information regarding the same will also be updated on our Website and Social Media Channels.”
Recently, the UK said it will impose travel restrictions on air passengers coming from India due to the fast-spreading coronavirus variant in the South Asian country.
India was added in the ‘Red List’ of countries, or those countries whose citizens cannot freely travel to the UK. Reports had quoted UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock terming the decision as a difficult but a vital one to make.
As per norms, non-UK or Irish citizens will not be allowed to enter the European country post early morning on Friday. Presently, Vistara, Air India, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways operate flights between the two countries.
Last year, India had suspended all flights to and from the UK from December 23 in the wake of the new mutant strain of novel coronavirus found in the European country. (IANS)
Emirates suspends flight services to India from April 24
Dubai-based airline Emirates will suspend flight services to India from 11.59 p.m. of April 24. “Effective 24 April 2021 Saturday, 2359 local time Dubai and for the next 10 days, Emirates flights from India to the UAE will be suspended.”
“Furthermore, passengers who have transited through India in the last 14 days will not be accepted to travel from any other point to the UAE.”
Recently, the gulf country announced travel restriction on non-UAE citizens travelling from India. Non-UAE citizens will not be allowed entry into the country from April 25, for 10 days until May 4. The ban comes at a time when India is facing a massive surge in Covid-19 cases.
ATLANTA, Ga., Apr. 19 – AAHOA, the nation’s largest hotel owners association, is pleased to welcome Dean Heyl as its new Vice President of Government Affairs. He will lead AAHOA’s Washington, D.C. office and join the association’s Executive Leadership Team.
“As hoteliers navigate the road to recovery, I am confident that Dean’s deep policy background and connections with lawmakers will enhance our advocacy efforts. Hotel owners across the country are struggling. The issues confronting them are complex, and we must continue to educate lawmakers about what they can do to help these small business owners come out on the other side of this pandemic. From labor and taxation issues to franchising and economic relief, Dean’s experience will be critical to supporting AAHOA’s ongoing advocacy efforts. His previous work with several national and international associations is an invaluable asset to our government affairs efforts. Dean is a valuable addition to our team and will help AAHOA further establish itself as the foremost resource and advocate for America’s hotel owners,” said AAHOA President & CEO Cecil P. Staton.
Heyl brings decades of experience from many sectors of the U.S. government and in the c-suites of substantial industry associations. Prior to joining AAHOA, he served as the U.S. Department of Labor’s director of the Office of Public Liaison where he reported directly to the U.S. Secretary of Labor. In this role, Dean was responsible for stakeholder outreach with an emphasis on COVID-19 issues, including PPP, as well as OSHA and Wage and Hour guidance. Dean also worked with several national and international associations as chief legal officer, federal lobbyist, executive director, and senior advisor.
Prior to his work for the Department of Labor, Heyl served as the International Franchise Association’s Chief Legal Officer, where he oversaw all federal, state and local advocacy efforts related to the franchise business model. Additionally, he worked for the Direct Selling Association as a state and federal lobbyist and before that was the Executive Director of the Coalition for Affordable Accounting. His earlier public sector experience includes serving as a senior advisor to the Idaho Attorney General and Governor. From 2008 – 2011, he was a member of the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council.
“I have been fighting for entrepreneurs for more than 20 years and look forward to doing the same for AAHOA Members. AAHOA’s bold vision statement to be the foremost resource and advocate for America’s hotel owners resonated with me,” Heyl said. “I look forward to building upon AAHOA’s excellent government affairs foundation and helping the nation’s hoteliers progress on the road to recovery.”
AAHOA is the largest hotel owners association in the world. The nearly 20,000 AAHOA members represent almost one in every two hotels in the United States. With billions of dollars in property assets and hundreds of thousands of employees, AAHOA members are core economic contributors in virtually every community. AAHOA is a proud defender of free enterprise and the foremost current-day example of realizing the American dream.
Aerospace major Boeing expects demand for more than 2,200 new jets valued at nearly $320 billion over the next 20 years in India. In its annual Commercial Market Outlook (CMO), Boeing anticipates resilient long-term demand for commercial airplanes and services.
The CMO cited that Covid-19 pandemic has sharply reduced Indian air travel last year, however, the country’s domestic passenger traffic is recovering more rapidly than in most other countries and regions, recently reaching 76 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
Besides, India’s passenger traffic has been predicted to outpace global growth, doubling from the pre-pandemic levels by 2030. At present, India’s passenger market is the world’s third largest. Furthermore, India’s economy is predicted to grow at 5 per cent annually through the forecast period, the highest of any emerging market.
“Many more Indians will travel by airplane for leisure and business as incomes rise tied to industrialization and an economic growth rate in South Asia that leads all emerging markets,” said David Schulte, managing director of Regional Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
“With greater demand for domestic, regional and long-haul travel, we anticipate India’s commercial fleet will grow four-fold by 2039.” As per the CMO, India’s air carriers have opportunities for growth in international markets.
Schulte noted that several airlines have started or plan to start non-stop routes between India and North America to serve a passenger preference for direct service flights.
Boeing India President Salil Gupte said: “India’s burgeoning manufacturing and services business means the region is uniquely positioned to become a major aerospace hub.”
“We remain committed to partnering across India to develop the nation’s aerospace ecosystem, as continued investment in the civil aviation infrastructure and talent will enable sustained growth.” (IANS)
The construction of the arch of the world’s highest railway bridge that soars 359 metres above the bed of the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir was completed last week, with the Northern Railways zone of Indian Railways terming the achievement a milestone.
The 1.3-kilometre-long bridge aims to boost connectivity to the Kashmir Valley and it is being constructed at a cost of ₹1,486 crore as part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project.
In a statement, the Railway Ministry said that this was one of the most difficult parts of the bridge over the Chenab and this achievement is a major leap towards the completion of the 111-km-long winding stretch from Katra to Banihal.
“It is arguably the biggest civil engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history. The 5.6-metre last piece of metal was fitted at the highest point today and joined the two arms of the arch that currently stretch towards each other from both the banks of the river,” the statement said. This completed the shape of the arch that will then loom over the treacherous Chenab, flowing some 359 meters below.
“After completion of the arch work, removal of the stay cables, filling of the concrete in the arch rib, erection of the steel trestle, launching of the viaduct and track laying work will be taken up,” the statement said.
The completion of the historic arch work was also seen by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Railway Board Chairman and CEO Suneet Sharma and General Manager, Northern Railway, Ashutosh Gangal, through video conferencing.
“This bridge is 1,315 metres long and the highest railway bridge in the world being 359 metres above the river bed level. It will be 35 meters higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris,” the Ministry said.
The US administration is working to establish a set of standards for people to prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19. An administration official said last week that the White House is working with government agencies, tech companies and non-profit organizations to plan and coordinate the effort, which is likely weeks away from being finalized. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, there will be no centralized universal federal vaccinations database.
The effort has gained momentum amid President Biden’s pledge that the nation will start to regain normalcy this summer and with a growing number of companies — from cruise lines to sports teams — saying they will require proof of vaccination before opening their doors again.
The administration’s initiative has been driven largely by arms of the Department of Health and Human Services, including an office devoted to health information technology, said five officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the effort. The White House this month took on a bigger role coordinating government agencies involved in the work, led by coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients, with a goal of announcing updates in coming days, said one official.
Some sectors, like the travel industry, are calling for a uniform system to verify Covid-19 vaccinations. Although the Biden administration previously said the federal government should not be involved in efforts to create such a system, they are now working to do just that.
The passports are expected to be free and available through applications for smartphones, which could display a scannable code similar to an airline boarding pass. Americans without smartphone access should be able to print out the passports, developers have said.
Other countries are racing ahead with their own passport plans, with the European Union pledging to release digital certificates that would allow for summer travel.
Meanwhile, The American Civil Liberties Union says plans to roll out a standardized vaccine passport must account for social inequalities and privacy rights. Anything short is a “nonstarter.” ACLU senior policy analyst Jay Stanley warns “there’s a lot that can go wrong.” “Any proposal for vaccine credentials must be primarily paper-based, decentralized, and protect privacy,” he said in an article published on the organization’s website Wednesday.
Several organizations and tech companies have already started developing smartphone apps and other digital systems to store and verify vaccination information. The idea is to make it quick and easy for individuals wishing to board flights or attend events to verify their vaccination status.
Stanley said any system that is exclusively digital would alienate individuals and communities without access to mobile devices or knowledge how to use them, such as senior and low-income people, or those with disabilities. “There are a lot of people who don’t have cellphones, especially some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” Stanley told CNN. “Over 40% of people over 65 do not have smart phones, so any system must have a paper-based functionality or it’s a nonstarter.”
The ACLU recommends a system that’s primarily paper-based, but with a digital option, so that no one is left out. “We don’t want people who can’t afford to have cellphones to be excluded from societal benefits,” Stanley said. “We want people to be able to go to concerts or private events even if they don’t own a cellphone.” Any passport system that tracks and records users’ whereabouts and actions is a bad idea, Stanley said.
Lockdowns will likely become a thing of the past once England emerges from restrictions in June, Professor Chris Whitty has said, as he suggested Britain will treat coronavirus like the flu in the future. England’s chief medical officer said the UK would have to learn to live with the virus, noting that up to 25,000 people can die in a bad flu year without the figure hitting the headlines. “It is clear we are going to have to manage it, at some point, rather like we manage the flu. Here is a seasonal, very dangerous disease that kills thousands of people and society has chosen a particular way round it,” he said.
Speaking at a Royal Society of Medicine webinar, said the government would only be forced to “pull the alarm cord” if a dangerous new strain suddenly started to spread, but that it was “not realistic” to think Covid variants could be kept out of the country. Whitty said the government’s ambition was to shrink Covid deaths to the lowest level possible, but warned that society would not tolerate sweeping restrictions to prevent similar numbers of deaths to those from seasonal flu.
“We need to work out some balance which actually keeps it at a low level, minimises deaths as best we can, but in a way that the population tolerates, through medical countermeasures like vaccines and in due course drugs, which mean you can minimise mortality while not maximising the economic and social impacts on our fellow citizens.”
Boris Johnson has repeatedly stated that his roadmap for leaving lockdown will provide a “cautious but irreversible” path to “reclaiming our freedoms”. The rapid rollout of the UK’s largest vaccination programme has begun to bear fruit in pushing down infections, hospitalisations and deaths from coronavirus.
Daily Covid cases in the UK have plummeted in recent months from a record 81,570 on 29 December to 4,479 in the past 24 hours. Deaths and hospitalisations have also fallen dramatically, with the number of patients currently in hospital with Covid at just 10 per cent the level of the peak of the second wave. Today was the 18th day in a row that the UK has recorded coronavirus-related deaths in the double digits, marking a dramatic drop from 19 January when 1,362 Covid fatalities were reported in a single day.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday that India holds the world record for fastest road construction. “We made three world records in March. India now holds world record for fastest road construction. We made it to Guinness World Records by building a 2.5 km 4-lane concrete road within 24 hours. We also built 1-lane 25-km bitumen Solapur-Bijapur road within 24 hours,” the minister said, reported ANI.
In February, Patel Infrastructure Limited, an contractor of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) created a world record by laying the highest quantity of concrete on a four-lane highway in 24 hours. The record was set for laying of Pavement Quality Concrete (PQC) for a four-lane highway of 2,580 meters length within 24 hours. Starting at 8 am on 1 February, 2021, they finished the job, totalling 2,580 meters X 4 lanes i.e. approximately 10.32 lane kilometres by 8 am next morning. With a width of 18.75 meters, as much an area as 48,711 square meters of concrete was laid for the expressway in 24 hours. The highest quantity of concrete laid in 24 hours – 14,613 cubic meter was achieved. It was part of the greenfield Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai 8-lane Expressway project.
Another NHAI contractor completed single lane of the four-lane stretch of 25.54 km being developed between Solapur-Vijapur (NH 52) in 18 hours. Hyderabad-based construction company IJM India carried out the construction work, according to media reports. “About 500 contractual workers worked hard for the project,” Gadkari said earlier.
The ministry of road transport and highways has constructed 13,394 km of highways in fiscal year 2020-21. Gadkari said that the pace of highways construction in the country has touched a record 37 km per day in financial year 2020-21.
“Tremendous progress has been achieved in building national highways across the country… These achievements are unprecedented and have no parallel in any other country in the world,” the minister mentioned. The achievement was remarkable as it was achieved despite constraints posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he further added.
“Cumulative cost of ongoing project works has increased by 54 per cent at the end of the financial year 2020-21, compared to the financial year 2019-20 (as on March 31),” the minister said.
Indian Americans have welcomed the Indian government’s recent announcement on Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holders not needing to carry their old passports while traveling to India. On March 29, the Indian consulate in San Francisco circulated a press release that carried two announcements about the OCI card.
“The timeline for re-issuance of OCI cards in respect of OCI card holders, who may be required to get their OCI card re-issued, has been extended till 31 December 2021,” read the first announcement. Earlier it was until June 31, 2021.
The second announcement was: “Henceforth, the OCI card holders traveling on the strength of their existing OCI card bearing old passport number are not required to carry their old passport. However, carrying of the new passport is mandatory along with the OCI card.”
Recently, there has been some confusion circulating among Indian Americans with regards to travel to India.
As per media reports, OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) cardholders transiting through third countries have been denied permission to board flights to India as those OCI cardholders were not carrying their old passport bearing its number on the OCI card.
The article said that it was mandatory to carry both the old and new passports in case the OCI cardholders are traveling on the strength of the OCI card bearing the old passport number in it.
On March 26, the Consulate General of India’s office in San Francisco issued a press release, which stated the following: “Henceforth, the OCI card holders traveling on the strength of their existing OCI card bearing old passport number are not required to carry their old passport. However, carrying of new passport is mandatory along with the OCI card.”
Even though the Indian Ministry of External Affairs would be informing immigration officers around the world about this new regulation, there was still a slight chance that some officer in some country who was not up to speed on this new regulation, could create a problem.
Based on this, it would be wise to carry both passports to avoid any such situation when traveling to India. On the matter of re-issuance of the OCI card, the guidelines for the renewal are as follows:
OCI card is required to be re-issued each time a new passport is required by the cardholder up to the age of 20 years. This is requested due to the changes in appearance of the cardholder during their growth years.
Between the ages of 20 and 50, no re-issuance of the OCI card is required by the cardholder at the time of renewal of passport.
However, when the cardholder reaches the age of 50, the OCI card needs to be re-issued just once at the time of renewing the cardholder’s passport.
In order to further ease the travel of OCI cardholders to India, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that the timeline for re-issuance of OCI cards in respect of OCI cardholders who may be required to get their OCI card re-issued, has been extended till Dec. 31, 2021. The previous deadline was June 30, 2021.
Americans who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can safely travel at home and abroad, as long as they take basic precautions like wearing masks, federal health officials announced on Friday, a long-awaited change from the dire government warnings that have kept many millions home for the past year.
In announcing the change at a White House news conference, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stressed that they preferred that people avoid travel. But they said growing evidence of the real-world effectiveness of the vaccines — which have been given to more than 100 million Americans — suggested that inoculated people could do so “at low risk to themselves.”
The shift in the C.D.C.’s official stance comes at a moment of both hope and peril in the pandemic. The pace of vaccinations has been rapidly accelerating across the country, and the number of deaths has been declining.
Yet cases are increasing significantly in many states as new variants of the coronavirus spread through the country. Just last Monday, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the C.D.C. director, warned of a potential fourth wave if states and cities continued to loosen public health restrictions, telling reporters that she had feelings of “impending doom.”
Updated Information for Travelers
Fully vaccinated travelers are less likely to get and spread COVID-19. However, international travel poses additional risks and even fully vaccinated travelers are at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading new COVID-19 variants.
CDC recommends delaying international travel until you are fully vaccinated.
If you are fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorized vaccine:You should continue to follow CDC’s recommendations for traveling safely and get tested 3-5 days after travel.
You do NOT need to get tested before leaving United States unless your destination requires it.
You do NOT need to self-quarantine after arriving in the United States.
International Travel Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People
Have You Been Fully Vaccinated?
People are considered fully vaccinated:
2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine
If you don’t meet these requirements, you are NOT fully vaccinated. Keep taking all precautions until you are fully vaccinated.
If you have a condition or are taking medication that weakens your immune system, you may NOT be fully protected even if you are fully vaccinated. Talk to your healthcare provider. Even after vaccination, you may need to continue taking all precautions.
Before you travel
oMake sure you understand and follow all airline and destination requirements related to travel, testing, or quarantine, which may differ from U.S. requirements. If you do not follow your destination’s requirements, you may be denied entry and required to return to the United States.
oCheck the current COVID-19 situation in your destination.
While you are traveling:
oWear a mask over your nose and mouth. Masks are required on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations.
oAvoid crowds and stay at least 6 feet/2 meters (about 2 arm lengths) from anyone who is not traveling with you.
oWash your hands often or use hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol).
Before you arrive in the United States:
oAll air passengers coming to the United States, including U.S. citizens and fully vaccinated people, are required to have a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 3 days before travel or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months before they board a flight to the United States.
After travel:
oGet tested with a viral test 3-5 days after travel.
oSelf-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms; isolate and get tested if you develop symptoms.
oFollow all state and local recommendations or requirements after travel.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it, severely affecting businesses across various industries. While some were able to survive with a shift to online sales and services, not every sector was as fortunate.
One of the most affected industries was tourism, and in the past year, it has struggled to bounce back from a dismal 2020, which saw a massive decline in tourist arrivals in and out of America. However, tourism in the U.S. may be on the rise again sooner than previously thought.
Tourism in Pandemic-Stricken America
Limitations on travel have severely affected our pandemic-stricken country. The statistics are astounding, surpassing even the impact on the travel industry after 9/11, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA). As a result, tourism across the country is affected across different levels and state lines.
Popular destinations like California and New York have polarized projections. While California is expected to recover more quickly than the rest of the country thanks to strong fiscal relief and the waning pandemic, tourism in New York paints a very different picture. Highly anticipated events such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, and the New Year’s Eve ball drop saw a significant reduction in spectators, leading to a glum outlook. This leaves many wondering when pre-pandemic levels will be restored.
Las Vegas is another major tourist spot that was not spared from the effects of COVID-19, susceptible to the same sudden drop in visitors between 2019 and 2020. Fortunately, things are starting to look up for the city and its hotels a year after the pandemic gripped the country. As the number of COVID-19 cases drops and more people are vaccinated, fewer restrictions address much of the pent-up demand. Casino floors and restaurants can now operate at 50% capacity as large gatherings capped at half the limit can also take place.
The newfound attraction to Las Vegas is not only due to the confidence in lower COVID-19 cases and its respective recovery. It also helps that there’s a diverse range of tourist attractions here, to begin with, as highlighted by this list of things to do in Sin City by Poker.org. The Strip is home to resorts like the Aria, Bellagio, and the Venetian – all iconic destinations in their own right. You’ll also find well-loved restaurants like Peppermill that are absolutely worth the visit. Exploring Vegas goes beyond the city lights as tourists can also take in the majestic views of Red Rock Canyon. These attractions are just some of the highlights that visitors can enjoy when in Nevada as the COVID-19 outlook continues to look even more promising in the coming months.
As some tourist hotspots like Vegas boast a positive path to recovery, others are still very much clouded in uncertainty. States such as Florida and equally sunny Hawaii fall somewhere in the middle, with more than half of Hawaiians opposing the return of tourists while others seek to encourage more movement in tourism.
What’s Next for Tourism in the U.S.?
The varying states of progress in these tourist hotspots illustrate how the fight against COVID-19 still has a long way to go, especially when it comes to the tourism industry. However, there is one fact present in all these examples: Progress is well underway. The Biden administration’s goal to vaccinate 100 million peoplein the first quarter provides much needed support for local businesses, especially smaller-sized enterprises. Whether you’re a local hotel hoping for guests or a restaurant that needs diners, there is a silver lining yet to be reached akin to Vegas’ impressive and optimistic trajectory.SAG top honours for ‘Chicago 7’ sets up intriguing Oscar raceThe Trial Of The Chicago 7 — Aaron Sorkin’s 1969 courtroom drama for Netflix — was judged the year’s best performance by a motion picture cast at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards for film and television on Sunday. Starring the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Frank Langella and Mark Rylance, it marked the first time a film from any streaming service won the guild’s ensemble award.
The win now strengthens the film’s case for the Oscars (April 25). This even as modern recession-era movie Nomadlandgrabbed many of the pre-Oscar awards, including the Golden Globes.
The SAG awards though remain a key predictor of Oscar glory, where actors form the largest voting bloc. FYI: Last year, South Korea’s Parasitebegan its historic charge to the Best Picture Oscar by winning SAG’s top prize.
Also:For the first time in SAG awards’ 27-year history, all four of the winning film actors were people of colour. The late Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis picked up the best actor and best actress awards, respectively, for jazz period film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
And while Daniel Kaluuya won best supporting actor for portraying Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah, South Korea’s Yuh-jung Youn won best supporting actress for Minari, an immigrant tale set in 1980s Arkansas.
The colossal cargo ship that became stuck on the banks of Egypt’s Suez Canal last week, blocking traffic through the crucial waterway, was finally freed from the shoreline by engineers on Monday afternoon.
The so-called Ever Given, a 224,000-ton, 1,300-foot-long container ship registered in Panama, was “successfully refloated” and its course straightened at around 3 p.m. local time, after engineers spent days trying to pull the fully laden vessel with tugboats, according to statements from Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority and stakeholders.
Some 30,000 cubic-meters of sand was dredged to help dislodge the Ever Given, along with the deployment of 11 harbor tugs and two seagoing tugs. The Suez Canal was no longer jammed as the massive vessel was towed to a location outside the channel for further inspection, according to Boskalis Westminster, the parent company of the Dutch salvage firm hired to extract the ship.
“I’m extremely proud of the outstanding job done by the team on site as well as the many SMIT Salvage and Boskalis colleagues back home to complete this challenging operation under the watchful eye of the world,” Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis Westminster, said in a statement Monday. “The time pressure to complete this operation was evident and unprecedented.”
The Ever Given “will be repositioned to the Great Bitter Lake,” located halfway between the northern and southern ends of the Suez Canal, “for an inspection of its seaworthiness,” according to Evergreen Marine Corp., the Taiwanese firm that is leasing the chartered vessel.
“The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service,” Evergreen Marine Corp. said in a statement Monday. “Once the inspection is finalized, decisions will be made regarding arrangements for cargo currently on board.”
Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie was expected to announce the resumption of navigation through the canal on Monday evening.
The Ever Given, which is almost the size of the Empire State Building, was on its way from China to the Netherlands when it ran aground last Tuesday morning near the southern end of the 120-mile-long artificial waterway that slices through Egypt’s northeast corner. The Suez Canal Authority said a sandstorm and high winds had caused poor navigation and low visibility.
Shipping traffic came to a complete halt while the vessel remained stuck sideways across the Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest trade routes that provides the shortest maritime link for goods traveling from Asia to Europe by connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
Shoei Kisen Kaisha, the Japanese company that owns the Ever Given, said in a statement last Thursday that it was working with local authorities in the North African country to resolve the situation, which was proving “extremely difficult.”
“We sincerely apologize for causing a great deal of worry to ships in the Suez Canal and those planning to go through the canal,” the company added. As the blockage neared the one-week mark, there were growing concerns over how it could impact the global economy and supply chains. About 12% of the world’s trade volume passes through the Suez Canal, including approximately 1.9 billion barrels of oil per day.
The decline in travel due to COVID-19 has devastated our economy and torn at the very fabric of our society. Our economy suffered shocking impact—nearly $500 billion in lost travel spending, resulting in $64 billion in missed federal, state, and local tax revenue since the beginning of March.
Around the world, international arrivals are estimated to have dropped to 381 million in 2020, down from 1.461 billion in 2019 — a 74 percent decline. In countries whose economies are heavily reliant on tourism, the precipitous drop in visitors was, and remains, devastating.
According to recent figures from the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the decline in international travel in 2020 resulted in an estimated loss of $1.3 trillion in global export revenues. As the agency notes, this figure is more than 11 times the loss that occurred in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis.
Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for one out of every 10 jobs around the world. In many places, though, travel plays an even greater role in the local economy.
Consider the Maldives, where in recent years international tourism has accounted for around two-thirds of the country’s G.D.P., when considering direct and indirect contributions.
As lockdowns fell into place worldwide, international arrivals in the Maldives plunged; from April through September of 2020, they were down 97 percent compared to the same period in 2019. Throughout all of 2020, arrivals were down by more than 67 percent compared with 2019. (Arrival numbers slowly improved after the country reopened in July; the government, eager to promote tourism and mitigate losses, lured travelers with marketing campaigns and even courted influencers with paid junkets.)
This Fact Sheet provides key travel data, which showcases the dramatic losses suffered by the travel industry in 2020.
For more details, read: https://www.ustravel.org/research/fact-sheet-travels-dramatic-losses-2020
The Golden Chariot luxury train to tourist destinations and heritage sites across south India resumed from Bengaluru after a four year break, an official said on Sunday.
“The 6-coach luxury train chugged off from Yesvantpur station in the city with South Western Railway General Manager A.K. Singh flagging it off,” Bengaluru Divisional Manager A.K. Verma told IANS.
In its first-round trip, christened ‘the Pride of Karnataka’, the train will cover Bandipur national park, Mysuru, Halebidu, Chikkamagaluru as well as Goa in 6 days and 7 nights.
The week-long journey also takes passengers to Unesco world heritage sites of Badami caves, Pattadakal temples and Hampi palace ruins in the state’s northwest region before returning to Bengaluru.
“Though the train has capacity to carry 48 passengers in single and double cabins in 6 coaches, about 30 of them are travelling in this trip, occupying single and double cabins,” said Verma.
In its second-round trip, christened ‘Jewels of South India’ from March 21, the train will chug through Mysuru to Mahabalipuram, Thanjavur and Chettinad in Tamil Nadu and Kochi in Kerala, including its backwaters in 3 nights and 4 days.
The ticket fare for deluxe cabin is Rs 3,20,130 for 2 persons and Rs 2,40,100 for a single passenger.
The package includes onboard meals, transport for sightseeing, entrance fee to all tourist sites covered in the trip and charge of guides.
Launched originally by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in partnership with the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) in 2008, the former took over the operations of the train in 2020.
“The train offers travellers an opportunity to experience the historical, architectural and scenic beauty of South India in the comfort of luxurious amenities and international service standards,” said the IRCTC in a statement.
The renovated and refurbished luxury coaches boast of complimentary WiFi and OTT streaming onboard, choice of Indian and international cuisine, and wines.
The service includes cultural shows by artistes onboard.
Each of the 6 coaches are named after dynasties that ruled south India over the centuries.
Each coach has 4 cabins with a mix of 30 twin beds and 13 doubles beds. One cabin has been designed for specially-abled.
Two restaurants — Ruchi and Nalapaka — serve delicious meals while ‘Madira’ bar serves choicest of beers, spirits and wines.
Arogya, the spa-cum-fitness center offers traditional Ayurvedic therapies with modern workout machines. (IANS)
Blackstone Group Inc. and Starwood Capital Group have agreed to acquire hotel owner and operator Extended Stay America Inc. for $6 billion, a bet that a rare bright spot for the lodging industry during Covid-19 can shine brighter as the U.S. emerges from the pandemic.
The companies provided details of the deal, which real-estate executives say is the largest sale in the hotel sector during the Covid-19 period earlier this week.
As bookings plunged across the U.S. hotel industry over the last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Extended Stay, which specializes in economy temporary housing for healthcare professionals, proved stronger than its peers.
Private equity company Blackstone’s and investment firm Starwood’s cash offer of $19.50 per share represents a premium of 15.1% to Extended Stay’s share closing price on Friday.
Shares of Extended Stay, which owns and operates 650 hotels in the United States, rose more than 17% before the opening bell.
“Extended Stay has demonstrated resilience over the past year despite persistent challenges due to government lockdowns and travel restrictions,” said Barry Sternlicht, chief executive officer of Starwood Capital.
“We are excited about the company’s growth opportunity as restrictions ease.”
Extended Stay’s stock has more than doubled in the past 12 months, outperforming its larger peers Marriott and Hilton which gained between 60% and 65%.
Extended Stay is a midprice hotel chain that focuses on lodging for guests interested in staying for weeks or longer, offering kitchen facilities and more space than a typical hotel room. During the pandemic, its rooms and suites attracted essential workers, healthcare professionals and others who needed to travel.
That business helped Extended Stay achieve a 74% occupancy rate last year, Blackstone said. The average occupancy rate across all U.S. hotels was 44%, according to hotel data-tracking firm STR.
In a move welcomed by many of Europe’s traumatized travel destinations, the European Union’s leadership is considering a digital health pass that would allow E.U. citizens who have received a COVID-19 vaccine to travel for work or tourism.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, tweeted that the goal of such a “Digital Green Pass” is to provide “proof that a person has been vaccinated; results of tests for those who couldn’t get a vaccine yet; [and] info on COVID-19 recovery” enabling residents to move safely within the E.U. and abroad.
Israel, which has successfully vaccinated 39% of its population, has already implemented a similar program, called a “green pass” that allows the vaccinated access to gyms, concerts and restaurants, while Denmark has already announced its own plans to introduce a digital health passport.
There are also several private-sector and non-government digital health passports already being rolled out, including the IATA Travel Pass, which was developed by the International Air Transport Association for travellers. Another getting significant traction is CommonPass, developed by The Commons Project Foundation, a non-profit that builds digital data platforms for public good, which will be used by Jet Blue, Lufthansa and United in coming weeks. The organization is also in talks with hotels, concert venues and sports leagues in the United States.
The idea is not without controversy, particularly among human rights activists, data protection advocates and countries with limited access to vaccines. Nonetheless, vaccine passports, if implemented well, offer one of the fastest routes to controlling the coronavirus while shoring up economies devasted by COVID-induced restrictions. Should the rest of the world catch up?
Where would vaccine passports be used?
The tourism industry is the most eager to put them into practice. Airlines such as Qantas are already demanding proof of vaccination or recovery for international flights; so too are certain cruise lines. Spain and Greece, whose tourism-dependent economies desperately need a robust summer travel season, are considering opening up travel corridors with the U.K. and Israel, respectively, to citizens who can prove their vaccination status.
There are applications beyond travel as well: Universities could open up with confidence knowing that their students are vaccinated, employers could start hiring again, movie theaters and concert venues could once again open their doors.
How would vaccine passports work?
Typically, they will entail an app that users can show officials to prove their status. The CommonPass app notifies users of entry rules, such as a vaccine or a negative COVID-19 test, then helps verify that they have met the requirements, either by connecting with the relevant clinic, health authority or pharmacy that provided the service, or by having the consumer download test results or vaccination information to their phone. The data itself is not stored on the user’s phone; instead the app generates a QR code that can be scanned just like a digital boarding pass, confirming that the customer has met the requirements. Customers without smart phones can print out the confirmation codes instead.
Unlike country- or industry-specific digital health apps, CommonPass does not set the rules. It allows gatekeepers to set their own parameters, whether they are specific test providers, authorized vaccination clinics or recovery criteria, and provides the platform to ensure they are met. “Ultimately, what we’re really building is a common trust network,” says CEO Paul Meyer — an internationally recognized registry of verified health organizations, so that a country or venue can be confident that their specific needs are met.
I have a paper that says I am vaccinated. Shouldn’t that be enough proof?
It’s true that countries in Africa and Asia have long demanded proof of vaccination against yellow fever and other diseases from visitors. But the “yellow card’ used for verification is easy to forge and hard to replace (getting an additional vaccine is often easier than getting a new card, even if it’s not medically advised).
Having these kinds of vaccine “cards” for COVID-19 would be even more complicated. With great demand and limited supplies of vaccines, the potential for fraud is high. So too is the possibility of confusion: there are multiple vaccines currently in use globally, with more in the pipeline. And people who have already had the virus may, in the future, need different vaccine requirements.
Juggling those multiple criteria would present a major challenge for immigration officials, airline check-in counters and other doorkeepers. Governments may want travel and commerce to resume as quickly as possible, says Meyer. But their first obligation is to the health and safety of their populations. “If everyone’s wandering around with pieces of paper in random languages about some test they allegedly got on the other side of the planet, it’s hard to make the decision to open up,” he says. “What a universally recognized health pass achieves is confidence that the person who wants to come into my country is the same person who actually got that vaccine. I know what kind of vaccine it was, and how long ago. I know what kind of test was given, and that was it from a reputable lab instead of some fly by night clinic that happened to have a printer.”
How long will it take before vaccine passports are widespread?
A couple of months at least. European nations like Spain and Greece are hoping to have systems set up in time for the summer travel season, but it will take time to get all the regulations in place.
The bigger problem in the E.U. is access to vaccines. The United States says it will have enough vaccines for its entire population by end of May, and the United Kingdom anticipates that all over-50s will be vaccinated by that time. But, due to the slow rollout of vaccines on the continent, it won’t be until September that E.U. citizens will be in a similar position, long after the peak holiday season. This summer could resemble something out of an E. M. Forster novel, with vaccine-rich Americans and Brits taking over southern Europe’s holiday hotspots, while locals are forced to stay at home.
That disparity could actually lead to an increase in cases, says Francisco Femenia-Serra, a tourism specialist at Nebrija University’s Social Sciences School in Madrid. While vaccines stave off severe COVID-19 cases in vaccinated individuals, it is not yet clear if they can prevent transmission. “We will have tourists who are protected by the vaccine, and that is important, but what about local communities? If our tourism and hospitality industry workers are not protected it could be another disaster.”
Isn’t it unfair to require vaccine passports when not everyone can get one, or wants to get one?
That’s the argument of countries like France and Germany, and organizations such as the World Health Organization, who say that health passes tied to vaccinations will increase inequality until everyone has an opportunity to get vaccinated. The U.K’s Equality and Human Rights Commission says vaccine requirements for travel or access to venues could lead to “unlawful discrimination.” Belgium’s acting foreign minister, Sophie Wilmès, tweeted that while the idea of a standardized European vaccine verification system was a good one, there should be “no question of linking vaccination to the freedom of movement around Europe. Respect for the principle of non-discrimination is more fundamental than ever since vaccination is not compulsory and access to the vaccine is not yet generalised.”
The proposed health passes will likely increase inequality, says Anthony Dworkin, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, but they will still be vital for economies reeling from lockdowns and travel restrictions: “Some element of unfairness is the price we will have to pay for a kind of partial reopening.”
Ok, I’m fully vaccinated, I downloaded the app, and I’ve booked my tickets. Can I throw away my mask?
Nope. Even with health passports in hand, social distancing measures will still have to stay in place for a long while yet. Not everyone can or will get the vaccine, and the risk of new variants looms large. Until vaccines are universally available, that means even holiday hotspots will have to ensure that venues are well-ventilated, patrons wear masks, and everyone keeps washing their hands.
“A vaccine passport alone won’t bring us back to normal,” says Femenia-Serra. “It’s just one small step towards healing the economic devastation [in the tourism sector]. A passport or a negative test shouldn’t be an excuse to do whatever I want. Once I get to wherever I am going, I still need to behave in the right way. Because if we don’t, there is another disaster waiting for us after the summer is over.”
Tata Group and private airline Spicejet remain in the fray for buying Air India as all the other bids have been rejected, according to sources close to the development.
Bids by others have been rejected after the evaluation of the expressions of interest (EoI) where multiple bids were received.
The transaction advisors have been in touch with the interested bidders regarding several queries and the qualified bidders will be intimated only after the government is satisfied with the responses from the bidders.
Apart from Tata Sons and Spicejet, Tata Sons and the New York-based Interups Inc backed by strategic NRI investors from the US and Europe are said to be the interested bidders for the national carrier.
DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey had earlier said that the government has received multiple expressions of interest for the strategic disinvestment of Air India.
The process has been divided into two stages. In stage one, expressions of interest have been submitted by the interested bidders and they will be shortlisted based on the eligibility criteria and other terms mentioned in the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM).
In stage two, the shortlisted interested bidders will be provided with a request for proposal (RFP) and thereafter there will be a transparent bidding process.
A group of 209 employees of Air India had also put in a bid. Essar and Pavan Ruia of Dunlop and Falcon Tyres had also put in bids for Air India.
After several years of heavy financial losses and complaints of poor quality services by passengers, AIR INDIA, the national carrier is likely to return to its original owners, the Tata Group of Companies. Tata Group, who has been in the aviation sector for a long time, has expressed a keen interest in taking over Air India for quite some time now. .
The Tata group has already begun due diligence and is likely to put in a formal bid soon, close to the deadline. Air India Express, a low-cost subsidiary of the airline and the Air India’s real estate assets; a part of the airline will also be on sale.
Tata sons holds a 51% stake in AirAsia India. Tata Group also has a joint venture in the airline business by the name Vistara. Thereafter, if the Tata bid is deemed accepted, the 90 day period for handover shall commence and end by November 30 or at the most, by December 31. So, one possible scenario is for Tata to take control of Air India by January 1, 2021.
While the other bidders are not known yet, globally, airlines are under severe stress due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant disruption on air travel and tourism. Tata is widely believed to emerge as the sole bidder for Air India and the salt to software conglomerate is likely to place a bid before August 31, the last date for bids for Air India, which the government has repeatedly said it will not be extended. According to reports, the Tata group has already begun due diligence and is likely to put in a formal bid soon.
On the ensuing structure for the airline business, there is speculation that Tata is planning to merge its existing stake in AirAsia with Air India into a single entity. Air India has been passing through a critical financial condition from much before the Covid-19 onslaught. The crippling effect of the pandemic, especially in the aviation sector, has further brought its finances to a precarious position. Recently, its pilots and other employees are on the warpath as Air India has laid off employees and started a Leave Without Pay (LWP) scheme.
From Tata Airlines and Air India to Vistara and AirAsia India, the Tata group has been an important part of the growing aviation sector in India. From Tata Air Lines and the long-since nationalised Air India to strategic joint ventures with AirAsia Berhad and Singapore Airlines (SIA) for AirAsia India and Vistara, respectively, Tata has been present in the aviation sector. The two joint venture airlines operate independently with their respective business models – low-cost (AirAsia) and full-service (Vistara).
Air-India began operating in 1932 as Tata Airlines, named after J. R. D. Tata, its founder. The line carried mail and passengers between the Indian cities of Ahmadabad, Bombay, Bellary, and Madras, and Karachi, Pakistan. Within a few years Tata Airlines’ routes included the Indian cities of Trivandrum, Delhi, Colombo (in Sri Lanka), Lahore, and other locations in between.
In 1946, at the conclusion of World War II, the airline became a public company and was renamed Air-India Limited. In just two years, with the government having a 49 percent share in the company, the airline was flying further outside of India, with regular flights to Cairo, Geneva, and London. The line’s name changed again to reflect its new scope of operations, becoming Air-India International Limited. Now, after several decades, the ownership is likely to return to the Tata Group, who had started the airline, now known as AIR INDIA.
The Government of India has refreshed its guidelines for international arrival in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with a specific focus on those arriving from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa.
Which international passengers are these new guidelines applicable to?
These new Standard Operating Procedures are applicable for all incoming international travelers coming in from the UK, Brazil or South Africa transiting through flights originating from the UK, Europe and Middle East. The broader categorization for these locations has been done because there are no direct flights between India, and Brazil and South Africa; and most of the passengers arriving from these countries arrive through transiting flights from Europe or Middle East.
What are the guidelines for international passengers arriving from these places?
In addition to the usual procedures of filing out a self-declaration form and submitting it on the Air Suvidha portal at http://www.newdelhiairport.in, those arriving on flights from the UK, Europe and the Middle East will have to get an RT-PCR test done prior to their flight and will be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival at the Indian port of entry. If the outcome of these tests at the airport is negative, the passengers have to undergo home quarantine for seven days and then get re-tested. If they again test negative, they must self-monitor their health for another seven days. However, in case they test positive at any stage after arrival, they will be put in isolation and the treatment protocols will be applicable.
What do passengers needs to keep in mind?
For passengers taking onward flights to smaller airports after arriving at one of the international hubs in India like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, etc it will be mandatory to declare their final destination while filling out the self-declaration form prior to taking the flight. Upon arrival at the port of entry, like all other passengers in this category, they will have to go through the mandatory self-paid confirmatory molecular tests, and will be allowed on their connecting flights only if they test negative. Therefore, the government has recommended that for all those taking connecting flights within India, there should be a gap of at least 6-8 hours between the two flights. For example, if someone taking a flight from Johannesburg to Ranchi via Dubai and Delhi, there should be at least 6-8 hours of time between the flight arriving into Delhi from Dubai and the one departing from Delhi to Ranchi.
How will passengers arriving from Brazil, the UK and South Africa be identified?
The government has asked airlines to identify the international travellers arriving from or transiting through United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa (during past 14 days) and segregate them in-flight or while disembarking to facilitate the authorities to follow the due protocol in respect of these travellers. The immigration officers of these airports will also ensure identification of travellers from their passports, who originated or transited from the UK, Brazil and South Africa during past 14 days.
What about other international passengers?
For other passengers not falling in this category, the rules remain the same and they will be subject to the existing exemptions and quarantine norms upon arrival. However, all those who came in contact of travelers arriving from UK, South Africa and Brazil who test positive (either at the airport or subsequently during home quarantine period), shall be subjected to institutional quarantine in separate quarantine centers and would be tested on the seventh day (or earlier if develop symptoms). These will supersede all guidelines issued since August 2, 2020.
“This Standard Operating Procedure shall be valid w.e.f. 22nd February 2021 (23.59 Hrs IST) till further orders,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Wednesday.
The guideines have been divided in three sections based on the origin of travel.
All international travellers except those coming through flights originating from United Kingdom, Europe and Middle East will be required to submit a self-declaration form on the online ‘Air Suvidha’ portal before the scheduled travel.
They would also need to upload a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test report. This test should have been conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey.
“Each passenger shall also submit a declaration with respect to authenticity of the report and will be liable for criminal prosecution, if found otherwise,” the guidelines said.
According to the guidelines, all international travellers coming or transiting through flights originating from the United Kingdom, Europe and Middle East have to additionally submit a Self-Declaration Form (SDF) for Covid on the online ‘Air Suvidha’ portal before the scheduled travel and will be required to declare their travel history of the past 14 days.
“While filling SDF, apart from providing all other information required in the SDF, passengers need to select: Whether they plan to disembark at the arrival airport or take further flights to reach their final destination in India.”
“Based on this selection, the receipt of SDF will display ‘T’ (Transit) in easily readable and bigger font than other text. The passengers will need to display this receipt to the state authority or government officials at the airport for segregation.”
As per the guidelines, travelers from the UK, Brazil and South Africa taking connecting flights from the international airport they land at will have to give a sample at designated area and exit the airport only after confirmation of negative test report which may take 6-8 hours.
“Those transit travelers from UK, Brazil and South Africa who are found negative on testing at the airport shall be allowed to take their connecting flights and would be advised quarantine at home for 7 days and regularly followed up by the concerned state or district IDSP. These travelers shall be tested after 7 days and if negative, released from quarantine, and continue to monitor their health for a further 7 days.” (IANS)
As Tampa prepares to host the Super Bowl this weekend, Florida hoteliers remain committed to keeping human trafficking out of their hotels and their communities. Every year, thousands of football fans converge on the event’s host city in the runup to the game. Unfortunately, sex traffickers who exploit the most vulnerable in our society are all too eager to bring their illicit enterprise to the party. That is why hotel owners are going on offense to protect their guests, their employees, and trafficking victims by completing AAHOA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Trainings (HTAT). These trainings play a crucial role in empowering hoteliers and their employees to identify and respond to trafficking situations. Owners are keeping their guard up against traffickers even though the number of fans and attendees at this year’s Super Bowl will be significantly lower than in years past due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The sheer number of people at high-profile events like the Super Bowl are an attractive draw to human traffickers. These criminals prize anonymity and seek out low-profile locations to exploit their victims. That is why it is so important for hoteliers and their teams to understand what trafficking looks like and know how to respond if they see something amiss,” said AAHOA President & CEO Cecil P. Staton. “To date, thousands of hotel employees and owners across the country have completed AAHOA HTAT, and our recent training blitz across Florida could not have come at a better time.”
In December, AAHOA held the HTAT Florida Compliance Series to ensure its members in the sunshine state satisfied Florida’s human trafficking awareness training requirement that went into effect on Jan. 1. The Series, held in ten cities throughout the state, offered AAHOA members and their employees a free developed in partnership with Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST). Successful completion of the training, BEST Inhospitable to Human Trafficking Training sponsored by AAHOA, brings hotels into compliance with the mandate.
“Unfortunately, instances of trafficking are on the rise as criminals exploit people struggling with the multitude of hardships the pandemic imposes on our communities,” said Staton. “Hoteliers must remain vigilant, and AAHOA is proud to give them the tools they need to protect their guests and employees and, potentially, save lives.”
AAHOA is the largest hotel owners association in the world. The nearly 20,000 AAHOA members represent almost one in every two hotels in the United States. With billions of dollars in property assets and hundreds of thousands of employees, AAHOA members are core economic contributors in virtually every community. AAHOA is a proud defender of free enterprise and the foremost current-day example of realizing the American dream.
Once one of the world’s most powerful travel documents, the might of the US passport has been diminished during the pandemic. With US Covid-19 cases now beyond the 26 million mark, some nations continue to view American vacationers warily.
The current global pandemic has many Americans rethinking the way they travel. Road trips and camping vacations have grown in popularity, as many Americans have discovered the country has more than its fair share of stunning natural landscapes, from the Grand Canyon to Acadia National Park. Some people have even created memorable vacations in their backyards.
However, if you’re itching to leave the U.S., there are several countries around the world that will accept you (and your negative coronavirus test results), though some specific restrictions will apply. If you decide to travel, be sure to evaluate the risks and understand the safest ways to travel. You should also look out for yourself and others by taking necessary safety precautions and investing in one of the best face masks for travel.
Note that due to the pandemic, travel guidelines are constantly changing; you’ll want to check your destination’s official tourism website periodically before your trip. And, consider purchasing travel insurance, so you don’t lose money if your U.S. passport is no longer accepted at the last minute.
Below are the countries that currently accept travelers from the United States. If you decide to travel, you’ll also want to check with the State Department for information on returning from your visit as there are some restrictions in place, including specific airports you must transit through and quarantine rules in some cases. As of Jan. 26, the CDC requires all passengers traveling to the U.S. from a foreign country (including American citizens) to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before their flight. (Note: All mentions of coronavirus tests refer to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test unless otherwise stated. This information was accurate at the time of publication and will be updated as additional information becomes available.)
In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether travel to international destinations is a good idea. There are obvious health risks. Nations might change rules at any time. You may have to follow stricter curfews and mask mandates than Americans are used to. Violations could involve hefty fines and even jail time. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US State Department provide Covid-19 risk assessments by country.
Also, keep this in mind: All air passengers age 2 and older must show proof of a negative Covid-19 test that’s no more than 72 hours old to enter the United States. That includes US citizens returning from trips to other countries. Be sure to get information on testing sites in your destination for your return trip before you go. US embassies report some places are having trouble returning test results within the 72-hour window.
One of the most comprehensive COVID-19 travel regulations is now in effect, nearly a year into the pandemic. All travelers—including citizens—entering the U.S. need a negative COVID test in order to board a flight from an international destination. The screening must be a viral test taken within three days of departure, according to the protocols put in place by the CDC.
Airlines are responsible for verifying the medical documentation, and in some cases denying boarding to those without proper test results. As a result, carriers have adapted a slew of new technologies to streamline the new process.
United Airlines, for instance, launched a “Travel-Ready Center” on Monday. Available through United’s app and website, the new online hub is a “one-stop shop where customers can review their specific COVID-19 travel requirements for upcoming travel, find local testing options in select markets, and upload any testing or vaccination records,” the airline says.
When a passenger uploads their test records to the Travel-Ready Center, United employees verify them electronically. After a passenger is deemed “travel-ready,” they are allowed to check in for their flight. Passengers who upload test results can be cleared for check-in and receive a mobile boarding pass all before arriving at the airport.
Later in February, United plans to launch a test-booking feature that would allow its passengers to make an appointment at one of more than 15,000 testing sites around the world. If the passenger tests negative and is able to travel based on the new protocols, the test provider will directly alert United.
Delta has similarly launched an online tool to help its passengers find acceptable testing centers around the world. Additionally, Delta is waiving change fees on international flights booked on or before January 12 (the day the new requirements were announced) if the ticket was originally scheduled for travel through February 16.
The fee waiver is presumably so customers have more time to schedule a test before departure, but getting a test might be less time consuming than travelers think, thanks to some flexibility in the CDC requirements. “A new feature is the inclusion of rapid testing into the mix, so it doesn’t necessarily mean it only has to be a PCR test,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on the airline’s recent earnings call. “And with the growth of antigen testing, the quality of antigen testing that’s out there, and the supplies in place, you literally could get some of these tests done within a 10-minute interval shortly before you return.”
American Airlines has also expanded a partnership with health passport app VeriFly: Passengers on all of American’s international flights can now download the app, choose their destination, and see their travel requirements. After uploading their COVID-19 test documents to the app, VeriFly will confirm the date and type of test, and send a QR code once approved for gate agents to scan.
Other airlines in the U.S. and around the world have been taking similar steps, even before the new CDC testing guidelines were announced. In December, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss, United, and Virgin Atlantic began to roll out the CommonPass app—which makes test results easy to read, similar to VeriFly—on certain routes from New York, Boston, London, and Hong Kong. Other international carriers, including heavy hitters like Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad, have signed on for customers to use a similar app: IATA Travel Pass.
The majority of airlines’ new online tools have capabilities for passengers to upload their vaccination status as well, which some experts have predicted could become the next travel requirement in order to board international flights.
Now passengers traveling on Air India can fly direct to Hyderabad from Chicago’s O’hare Airport. The first-ever nonstop flight service between Chicago and Hyderabad launched on Jan 13. The new route is welcomed by passengers traveling from across the US to destinations in Southern and Central India.
“It’s very fortunate that the Indian Government arranged a direct flight from the US to Hyderabad. I came especially to Chicago to take this flight,” said Vijaya Mandeila who traveled from Houston to Chicago O’hare airport to take the maiden flight with his wife and two children.
Mandeila was among the first 238 passengers to board a full flight operated by the state-of-the-art Boeing 777-200LR aircraft offering eight first-class and 35 business class seats on Jan 13. Mandeila says that while he flies to India only once in two years, the new direct flight is very convenient. “The first port of entry will be Hyderabad, and all customs checks and luggage will directly go through Hyderabad instead of Delhi. It saves us time, especially when traveling with family and young children,” Mandeila said.
Air India’s direct flights from Chicago to Hyderabad will operate every Wednesday leaving Chicago at 2130 hrs. (local time) to arrive in Hyderabad at 0040 hrs with domestic connections to Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Bangalore. The return flight from Hyderabad to Chicago will operate weekly every Friday, departing from Hyderabad at 1250 hrs. and arrive in Chicago at 1805 hrs. (local time) on the same day.
Consul General Amit Kumar Commences Launch Ceremonies
The official launch of the first direct Air India flight from Chicago to Hyderabad commenced with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Consul General Amit Kumar at Chicago O’hare Airport on Jan 13. Amber Achilles Ritter, deputy commissioner Chicago Dept of Aviation; Benjamin Sipiora, O’Hare terminal manager for the City of Chicago; Chris Diaferio, executive director of The Chicago Airlines Terminal Consortium (CATCO), also participated in the ceremonies.
Hyderabad is the capital of southern India’s Telangana state, a significant center for India’s tech industry and a cultural melting pot with more than four dominant languages, including Urdu, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi.
Consul General Kumar stated that the new route builds connectivity between the US and India, facilitating commerce, trade, tourism and promoting people to people exchanges. Consul General Kumar took the opportunity to commend Air India for its support during the Vande Bharat Mission’s initial phases. “More than 45,000 people have traveled from Chicago as part of Vande Bharat Mission flights in over 160 flights last year. The Government has reached out to our citizens stranded across the world to facilitate a repatriation and outbound international travel of more than 47.2 lakh people under Vande Bharat Mission so far,” Kumar said in remarks after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan 13.
Chicago to Hyderabad Direct Flight Receives Tremendous Community Response
Chris Diaferio, executive director of The Chicago Airlines Terminal Consortium (CATCO), which maintains and services the city-owned equipment that Air India uses, said he was delighted with the expansion and the ongoing commitment and partnership with Air India. “We are thrilled. We love Air India. We love that they continue to support their community with better options for travel. Air India has been here from the very start and is now adding more service, especially when there are continued challenges for the airline industry. We could not be more delighted,” Diaferio said.
Consul General Kumar also congratulated Air India and the team in Chicago headed by Vikash Shahal, airport manager and Sampath Jayasekar, senior sales assistant, on the expansion of Air India’s services in the USA. “We have received a tremendous response for this flight. It is very encouraging to see the amount of enthusiasm. We thank our passengers,” said Shahal. Sampath Jayasekar, senior sales assistant who is originally from Hyderabad, said that he felt proud that his native state of Hyderabad now has a direct flight to the US. “Our flight today is completely sold out, including first-class, business class and economy. We are getting an excellent response from the community. People from Andhra are especially excited about the new route. The nonstop flights to Hyderabad are full for the next three weeks,” Jayasekar said.
Passengers were offered a small token and special meals to commemorate the flight. Air India has also resumed offering full hot meals on board. A small group of community members participated in the launch’s diya lighting ceremony, followed by Ganesh aarti sung by Shreya Addanki. Mythri Addanki, Miss Telugu Universe 2020, was among the prominent youth who joined the launch event. “This is a momentous occasion and a big first step in how we are connecting Indians in the US and back home. I am Hyderabadi. I know we have a huge community here in Chicago and across the US. It’s a great way to make sure we are connected to our home, especially during Covid-19, when family is more important than ever,” said Addanki.
Sunil Shah, a prominent community leader and president of the Federation of India Associations (FIA) who attended the event, stated, “It’s an exciting moment for Chicago and Air India. I think so many people from Hyderabad will benefit from this flight. One more nonstop flight from Chicago will assist business travelers and people traveling back home.”
Neil Khot, Chicago area community leader said that while a nonstop flight from Chicago to Hyderabad is a big feather in the cap and will facilitate India’s economic and technological expansion between India and the US, he looks forward to Air India’s first direct flight to Mumbai.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday it will require a negative Covid-19 test from all air passengers entering the United States — a move it says may help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Air passengers will be required to get a viral test within three days before their flight to the United States departs, and to provide written documentation of their lab results, or documentation of having recovered from Covid-19, the agency said in a statement to CNN.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield is expected to sign the order on Tuesday and it will go into effect on January 26. “Variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus continue to emerge in countries around the world, and there is evidence of increased transmissibility of some of these variants,” the CDC said in a statement. “With the US already in surge status, the testing requirement for air passengers will help slow the spread of the virus as we work to vaccinate the American public.”
If a passenger does not provide documentation of a negative test or recovery, or chooses not to take a test, the airline must not allow the passenger to board, the CDC said.“Testing does not eliminate all risk, but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer, healthier, and more responsible by reducing spread on planes, in airports, and at destinations,” Redfield said in the statement.
The new variant of coronavirus, which appears to be more transmissible, has already been found in at least 10 states in samples dating back to mid-December. An airline industry group has expressed support for the new measure.
“[We are] writing to express our support for a [CDC] proposal to control the spread of COVID-19, including variants of the virus, by implementing a global program to require testing for travelers to the United States,” the industry group Airlines for America wrote to Vice President Mike Pence on January 4.
The new rule is similar to one put in place last month for passengers from the UK to the US, which requires that passengers have a negative test within three days of boarding their flight. For the UK requirement that went through last month, airlines can be subject to criminal penalties if they fail to comply, and passengers can be subject to criminal penalties if they willfully give false or misleading information.
The earlier requirement for UK travelers was a response to a new coronavirus variant that was identified in the UK. While the variant appears to spread more easily, there’s no evidence that it’s any more deadly or causes more severe disease, according to CDC.
At least 72 cases of a variant first identified in the UK have been found in 10 US states, according to data posted Monday by the CDC. That includes at least 32 cases in California, 22 cases in Florida, five cases in Minnesota, four cases in New York, three cases in Colorado, two cases in Connecticut, and one case each in Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Georgia.
The variant has been identified in dozens of countries worldwide.
Air India Express announced that Indians in the UAE will no longer be needed to register with the Indian Embassy for travelling back to the nation.
Air India Express, on October 12, announced that Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will no longer be needed to register with the Indian Embassy for travelling back to the nation. As part of the Air Bubble agreement between the two countries, the airline said that passengers travelling from UAE to India can book flights directly with Air India Express.
Phase 7 of Vande Bharat Mission
Last week, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had said that the Vande Bharat Mission of the central government has brought back nearly 20 lakh employable Indians to the country from foreign shores. The Ministry of External Affairs had also informed that under the phase seven of the Vande Bharat Mission, which has been operational since October 1, 873 international flights have been scheduled from 25 countries to be operated during the course of October 2020.
MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said that the Phase 7 mission include flights from among the 14 countries with which India has a bilateral ‘air bubble’ arrangement in place. He added that the air bubble agreement has been working satisfactorily. Further, Srivastava also said that the flights in phase 7 include Air India and Air India Express flights, private and foreign carriers, chartered flights, naval ships and land border crossings.
As the air travel industry attempts to find its footing after the holiday travel rush, Dubai-based airline Emirates has announced a welcome bit of good news: Its much-anticipated premium economy cabin has officially launched.
“While others cut back, Emirates is working hard to restore the products and services that we’ve had to suspend or adjust due to pandemic precautions, and introduce new offerings and enhancements,” Emirates CEO Tim Clark said in a statement.
The new premium economy cabin is located at the front of the double-decker plane’s main deck—or first level—and has 56 seats in a 2-4-2 layout. Each seat has 40 inches of pitch and is 19.5 inches wide. (Seats in its regular economy class have 32 to 34 inches of pitch and are 18 inches wide).
According to the carrier, Emirates premium economy seats emulate design elements found on its beloved business-class product. The new seats feature “cream-colored anti-stain leather with stitching details and a wood panel finishing,” an airline release said. Each seat also has a six-way adjustable headrest, calf rests, footrests, and an in-flight entertainment screen measuring 13.3 inches wide.
“Our First, Business and Economy experiences reset industry standards when they were introduced, and we are confident that our Premium Economy will also make its mark as a distinct premium offering,” Clark said.
The airline received its first Airbus A380 fitted with the new cabin class at the end of December. Five additional A380s with premium economy seats will be delivered throughout 2021 and 2022, in addition to being installed on a handful of the airline’s forthcoming Boeing 777X jets that will join Emirates’ all wide-body fleet in 2023. The carrier is also considering retrofitting its current A380 planes with the new premium cabin.
For now, Emirates premium economy seats on the single A380 will only be offered as a complimentary upgrade to certain customers “until we have a viable number of seats in our inventory,” Clark said. The airline has yet to announce which routes the new plane will fly, but Clark noted that the aircraft will be scheduled “on various routes so that our customers can experience our latest offering in all classes.” No additional service elements were announced, so the new cabin will likely have the same service standards as regular economy.
Other additions on board the new A380 include upgrades and refreshes to Emirates’ three other cabin classes, including wider and taller doors on the first-class suites; revamped flexible leather headrests in economy; refreshed design trims and modern fittings in the jet’s famous first-class shower spa; and a new color scheme for its business- and first-class bar lounge.
Both the shower spa and bar area have reopened to passengers as of October—with some COVID-19 safety tweaks, like drinks to-go from the bar to avoid congregation—after going on pause earlier in the pandemic.
To celebrate the premium economy cabin’s launch and entice bookings in the new year, Emirates is also having a fare sale, bookable through January 18 for travel through the end of May. Round-trip fares in economy between the U.S. and Africa start at $699, $909 to East and South East Asia, and $798 to Dubai; business-class fares start at $3,119 to the Middle East and $3,499 to Africa.
The carrier is allowing fee-free changes for up to two years after the original booking date on all trips for travel on or before June 30, 2021, as long as changes are to the same destination or within the same region in the same travel class. To find fares that are part of the sale, visit .
Four of Air India’s most experienced women pilots took off from San Francisco (SFO) on January 11th, (India time) for Bengaluru to operate the first-ever scheduled service between south India and the US. It is also the first time that an all-women cockpit crew of an Indian carrier flew over the North Pole.
“This will be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by Air India or any other airline in India…The total flight time on this route will be of more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed on that particular day,” Air India said in a statement. The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km, with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours, an Air India official said.
The four record-setting pilots operating the almost 18-hour AI 176 that was scheduled to reach Bengaluru (BLR) early morning today are captains Zoya Aggarwal, Papagari Thanmai, Akansha Sonaware and Shivani Manhas. They are flying a Boeing 777 200 (long range or LR) VT-ALG that is named ‘Kerala’. The SFO airport wore the Indian flag colours to celebrate this occasion.
Bengaluru-SFO shortest flight distance is over 14,000 km, about 1,000 km more than Delhi-SFO. Very often airlines take longer routes to get tail winds and avoid headwinds. Kerala, for instance, took the longer Pacific route from Delhi to SFO on Wednesday with the same set of four pilots. The inaugural to Bengaluru came back via over the North Pole — getting tail winds on both sectors.
“Air India’s woman power flies high around the world,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said on Twitter. “All women cockpit crew consisting of Capt Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akansha Sonaware & Capt Shivani Manhas will operate the historic inaugural flight between Bengaluru & San Francisco,” Mr. Puri said.
Flight AI176 will depart from San Francisco in the U.S. at 8.30 p.m. (local time) on Saturday, and land at the Kempegowda International Airport at 3.45 a.m. (local time) on Monday. “Captain Zoya Aggarwal is an accomplished pilot with a flying experience of more than 8000 hrs and command experience in a B-777 aircraft of more than 10 years and more than 2500 flying hours,” the national carrier said.
The flight will operate with a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft VT ALG with a seating capacity of 238 seats, including eight First Class, 35 Business Class, 195 Economy class configuration, besides four cockpit and 12 cabin crew, Air India said.
Almost fully booked
The first ever direct flight between the two tech hubs is almost fully booked — 225 out of 238 seats — despite the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns over air travel.
The flight, which has long been in the pipeline, will be the first direct non-stop flight between the west coast of the United States and southern India. Given the significant population of south Indians in San Francisco, home to the Silicon Valley, a direct flight has been a long-pending demand.
The biweekly flight will take off to San Francisco from Bengaluru on Mondays and Thursdays, and leave San Francisco for Bengaluru on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
In the past, research into outbreaks on airplanes focused on flights that took place last spring, when planes were full, passengers mostly didn’t wear masks and preventive measures weren’t broadly understood. A new study, however, examined a more recent outbreak on a flight that put numerous containment measures in place — and the results were not great for travellers.
In September, an outbreak occurred aboard a flight from Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand. The 86 passengers onboard went into a mandatory 14-day quarantine in New Zealand, and seven eventually tested positive. Researchers at the New Zealand Ministry of Health found that at least four were infected on the flight.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER, with a capacity of nearly 400 passengers, was only 25% full and the four people infected in flight were seated within four rows of one another during the 18-hour trip.
The in-flight outbreak occurred when additional precautions were in place and passengers were more cautious. But researchers still identified a number of holes. Two of the four people infected on the plane said they didn’t wear masks on the flight. The airline also did not require passengers to wear masks in the lobby before boarding or be tested preflight.
Previous studies on the risk of infection during air travel are mixed (airplane filtration systems are thought to help, even when a passenger is infected), but the latest research suggests that airlines need to tighten precautions even more to avert in-flight outbreaks.
Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that it is in the final development phase of the IATA Travel Pass, a digital health pass that will support the safe reopening of borders. IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 290 airlines comprising 82% of global air traffic.
Governments are beginning to use testing as a means of limiting the risks of COVID-19 importation when reopening their borders to travelers without quarantine measures. IATA Travel Pass will manage and verify the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories, and travelers.
IATA is calling for systematic COVID-19 testing of all international travelers, and the information flow infrastructure needed to enable this must support:
Governments with the means to verify the authenticity of tests and the identity of those presenting the test certificates.
Airlines with the ability to provide accurate information to their passengers on test requirements and verify that a passenger meets the requirements for travel.
Laboratories with the means to issue digital certificates to passengers that will be recognized by governments, and;
Travelers with accurate information on test requirements, where they can get tested or vaccinated, and the means to securely convey test information to airlines and border authorities.
“Today, borders are double locked. Testing is the first key to enable international travel without quarantine measures. The second key is the global information infrastructure needed to securely manage, share, and verify test data matched with traveler identities in compliance with border control requirements. That’s the job of the IATA Travel Pass. We are bringing this to market in the coming months also to meet the needs of the various travel bubbles and public health corridors that are starting operation,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
IATA Travel Pass incorporates four open-sourced and interoperable modules which can be combined for an end-to-end solution:
Global registry of health requirements – enables passengers to find accurate travel information, testing, and eventually, vaccine requirements for their journey.
Global registry of testing/vaccination centers – enables passengers to find testing centers and labs at their departure location, which meet the standards for testing and vaccination requirements of their destination.
Lab App – enables authorized labs and test centers to share test and vaccination certificates with passengers securely.
Contactless Travel App – enables passengers to (1) create a ‘digital passport,’ (2) receive test and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for their itinerary, and (3) share testing or vaccination certificates with airlines and authorities to facilitate travel. Travelers can also use this app to manage travel documentation digitally and seamlessly throughout their journey, improving the travel experience.
IATA and International Airlines Group (IAG) have been working together in the development of this solution. They will undertake a trial to demonstrate that this platform, combined with COVID-19 testing, can reopen international travel and replace quarantine.
The airline industry demands a cost-effective, global, and modular solution to safely restart travel. IATA Travel Pass is based on industry standards, and IATA’s proven experience in managing information flows around complex travel requirements.
IATA’s Timatic is used by most airlines to manage compliance with passport and visa regulations and will be the base for the global registry and verification of health requirements.
IATA’s One ID initiative was endorsed by a resolution at its 75th Annual General Meeting in 2019 to facilitate travel processes with a single identity token securely. It is the base for the IATA Contactless Travel App for identity verification that will also manage the test and vaccination certificates.
“Our main priority is to get people traveling again safely in the immediate term that means giving governments confidence that systematic COVID-19 testing can work as a replacement for quarantine requirements. And that will eventually develop into a vaccine program. The IATA Travel Pass is a solution for both. And we have built it using a modular approach based on open source standards to facilitate interoperability. It can be used in combination with other providers or as a standalone end-to-end solution. The most important thing is that it is responsive to industry’s needs while enabling a competitive market,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President, Airport, Passenger, Cargo, and Security.
The first cross-border IATA Travel Pass pilot is scheduled for later this year, and the launch is slated for quarter one 2021.
Now that coronavirus vaccines are starting to roll out in the US and abroad, many people may be dreaming of the day when they can travel, shop and go to the movies again. But in order to do those activities, you may eventually need something in addition to the vaccine: a vaccine passport application.
Several companies and technology groups have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their Covid-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials that could be shown in order to enter concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries.
The Common Trust Network, an initiative by Geneva-based nonprofit The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum, has partnered with several airlines including Cathay Pacific, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as hundreds of health systems across the United States and the government of Aruba.
The CommonPass app created by the group allows users to upload medical data such as a Covid-19 test result or, eventually, a proof of vaccination by a hospital or medical professional, generating a health certificate or pass in the form of a QR code that can be shown to authorities without revealing sensitive information. For travel, the app lists health pass requirements at the points of departure and arrival based on your itinerary.
“You can be tested every time you cross a border. You cannot be vaccinated every time you cross a border,” Thomas Crampton, chief marketing and communications officer for The Commons Project, told CNN Business. He stressed the need for a simple and easily transferable set of credentials, or a “digital yellow card,” referring to the paper document generally issued as proof of vaccination.
Large tech firms are also getting in on the act. IBM (IBM) developed its own app, called Digital Health Pass, which allows companies and venues to customize indicators they would require for entry including coronavirus tests, temperature checks and vaccination records. Credentials corresponding to those indicators are then stored in a mobile wallet.
IBM’s Digital Health Pass app creates an online vaccine credential that can be stored in a mobile wallet. In an effort to address one challenge around returning to normalcy after vaccines are distributed widely, developers may now have to confront other challenges, ranging from privacy issues to representing the varied effectiveness of different vaccines. But the most pressing challenge may simply be avoiding the disjointed implementation and mixed success of tech’s previous attempt to address the public health crisis: contact tracing apps.
Early on in the pandemic, Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) set aside their smartphone rivalry to jointly develop a Bluetooth-based system to notify users if they’d been exposed to someone with Covid-19. Many countries and state governments around the world also developed and used their own apps.
“I think where exposure notification ran into some challenges was more of the piecemeal implementation choices, lack of federal leadership … where each state had to go it alone and so each state had to figure it out independently,” said Jenny Wanger, who leads the exposure notification initiatives for Linux Foundation Public Health, a tech-focused organization helping public health authorities around the world combat Covid-19.
To encourage better coordination this time, The Linux Foundation has partnered with the Covid-19 Credentials Initiative, a collective of more than 300 people representing dozens of organizations across five continents and is also working with IBM and CommonPass to help develop a set of universal standards for vaccine credential apps.
“If we’re successful, you should be able to say: I’ve got a vaccine certificate on my phone that I got when I was vaccinated in one country, with a whole set of its own kind of health management practices… that I use to get on a plane to an entirely different country and then I presented in that new country a vaccination credential so I could go to that concert that was happening indoors for which attendance was limited to those who have demonstrated that they’ve had the vaccine,” said Brian Behlendorf, executive director of Linux Foundation.
“It should be interoperable in the same way that email is interoperable, the same way that the web is interoperable,” he said. “Right now, we’re in a situation where there’s some moving parts that get us closer to that, but I think there’s a sincere commitment from everybody in the industry.”
Part of ensuring wide usage for vaccine passports is accounting for the large subset of the global population that still doesn’t use or have access to smartphones. A few companies within the Covid-19 Credentials Initiative are also developing a smart card that strikes a middle ground between the traditional paper vaccine certificates and an online version that’s easier to store and reproduce.
“For us it’s [about] how that digital credential can be stored, can be presented, not only through smartphones but also in other ways for those people who don’t have access to stable internet and also who don’t own smartphones,” said Lucy Yang, co-lead of the Covid-19 Credentials Initiative. “We’re looking into it, and there are companies who are doing really promising work.
\CommonPass has partnered with several airlines to start rolling out its health credential app on select international flights. Once they build a vaccine passport, companies will need to make sure people are comfortable using it. That means confronting concerns about the handling of private medical information.
CommonPass, IBM and the Linux Foundation have all stressed privacy as central to their initiatives. IBM says it allows users to control and consent to the use of their health data and allows them to choose the level of detail they want to provide to authorities.
“Trust and transparency remain paramount when developing a platform like a digital health passport, or any solution that handles sensitive personal information,” the company said in a blog post. “Putting privacy first is an important priority for managing and analyzing data in response to these complex times.”
With vaccines manufactured by multiple companies across several countries in varying stages of development, there are a lot of variables that passport makers will need to account for.
“A point of entry — whether that’s a border, whether that’s a venue — is going to want to know, did you get the Pfizer vaccine, did you get the Russian vaccine, did you get the Chinese vaccine, so they can make a decision accordingly,” said Crampton. The variance can be wide: the vaccine developed by Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, for example, has an efficacy of 86% against Covid-19, while the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna each have an efficacy of around 95%.
It’s also unclear how effective the vaccines are in stopping the transmission of the virus, says Dr. Julie Parsonnet, an infectious disease specialist at Stanford University. So while a vaccine passport app will show that you’ve received the shot, it may not be a guarantee that you safely attend an event or get on a flight.
“We still don’t know if vaccinated people can transmit infection or not,” she told CNN Business. “Until that is clarified, we won’t know whether ‘passports’ will be effective.”
Still, Behlendorf anticipates that the rollout and adoption of vaccine passports will happen rather quickly once everything falls into place and expects a variety of apps that can work with each other to be “widely available” within the first half of 2021. “Rest assured, the nerds are on it,” he said.
India’s national carrier Air India is set to connect Bengaluru and San Francisco via a non-stop flight from 2021, the Kempegowda International Airport. As of January 11, 2021, Air India will launch 2x weekly flights between Bangalore and San Francisco, as follows: AI175 Bangalore to San Francisco departing 2:30PM arriving 5:00PM
AI176 San Francisco to Bangalore departing 8:30PM arriving 2:30AM (+2 days)
The US-bound flight will operate Mondays and Thursdays and will take 16hr, while the India-bound flight will operate Tuesdays and Saturdays and will take 16hr30min. The Boeing 777-200LR that will be used for this route features three cabins, including first class, business class, and economy.
“This would be the first non-stop flight between Bengaluru and the United States, connecting the world’s two tech hubs — the original Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley of India.
“The first non-stop flight between Bengaluru and San Francisco is a significant milestone for BLR Airport and will transform it as the new gateway to India. This will tremendously help passengers, enabling faster and easier access to cities on the West Coast of the United States.”
As per the statement, the new non-stop service is expected to meet the demand of corporate customers for travel to San Fracisco and adjoining areas in the US.
“Air India plans to operate a 238-seater Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, to serve the largest unserved international origin/ destination (O/D) market for BLR Airport. Bengaluru and San Francisco are ranked first and second, respectively, among the world’s top 45 digitally advanced cities.”
“The new route sets two records — it would be Air India’s longest route at 14,000+ km (8,698 miles) and longest flight to and from India (over 16 hours). The national carrier has opened ticket booking from November 25.”
The United Arab Emirates will extend its “golden” visa system – which grants 10-year residency in the Gulf state – to certain professionals, specialized degree-holders and others, the UAE’s vice president said on Sunday.
Foreigners in the UAE usually have renewable visas valid for only a few years tied to employment. The government in the past couple of years has made its visa policy more flexible, offering longer residencies for certain types of investors, students and professionals.
All holders of doctorate degrees, medical doctors and also computer, electronics, programming, electrical and biotechnology engineers are eligible, UAE Vice President and the ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said in a statement.
Also eligible are those with specialized degrees in artificial intelligence, big data and epidemiology, as well as high school students living in the UAE who rank top in the country and students from certain universities with a GPA of 3.8 or higher.
After first announcing a long-term visa plan in 2018, the UAE in 2019 started granting 5- and 10-year renewable visas to certain foreign investors, entrepreneurs, chief executives, scientists and outstanding students.
The emirate of Dubai, a Middle East trade and tourism hub, in September said it would grant visas renewable every five years to wealthy foreign retirees.
An oil and gas producer, the UAE’s economy has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices, prompting many expatriates to leave.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced a proposed rule that would limit discretionary work authorization for aliens who have final orders of removal and who have been temporarily released from DHS custody on an order of supervision (OSUP). The rule would align the issuance of discretionary employment authorization with the administration’s priorities to protect U.S. workers and strengthen immigration enforcement. The rule will encourage these aliens to depart the country. Orders of supervision allow DHS to place conditions on and monitor aliens with final orders of removal who have been temporarily released from DHS custody until DHS has the travel documents necessary to remove the alien from the United States. The OSUP contains several conditions for release, including a requirement that aliens cooperate with efforts to procure the travel documents for removal, check in with DHS on designated dates, and present themselves for removal once it is arranged. “Authorizing employment benefits to aliens who have already had due process and have been ordered removed by the U.S. government undermines the rule of law and weakens DHS enforcement and removal operations,” said USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow. “This effort would also remove the economic incentive for these aliens to not cooperate in the effort to obtain travel documents to return to their home countries.” Under current regulations, an alien who has a final order of removal and who is temporarily released from DHS custody on an OSUP is generally eligible for an employment authorization document (EAD). This creates a disincentive for the alien to depart or cooperate with their home country to obtain travel documents to depart the United States. These aliens have used substantial government resources throughout the removal process and have ultimately been ordered removed from the United States by an immigration judge. Under the proposed rule, only a small subset of these aliens who can demonstrate that DHS has determined that their removal from the United States is impracticable would remain eligible for discretionary employment authorization. DHS will require such aliens to establish economic necessity to work, consistent with other discretionary EAD categories, and USCIS will assess whether they warrant a favorable exercise of discretion for a grant of employment authorization. In addition, aliens who qualify for discretionary employment authorization under the proposed rule and subsequently seek to renew their work authorization would also be required to establish that their employer participates in E-Verify and is in good standing in the program. The proposed rule also would limit the validity period of the employment authorization for aliens released on an OSUP to one year, regardless of whether it is an initial or a renewal employment authorization. When a final rule is published, the changes made by the rule will apply to initial and renewal applications filed on or after the final rule’s effective date. Aliens who are employment-authorized prior to the final rule’s effective date will remain employment authorized until the expiration date on their EAD, unless the EAD is terminated or revoked. The final rule also would not affect applications to replace EADs granted before the final rule’s effective date.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today plans to implement a revised version of the naturalization civics test. The agency first announced plans to revise the civics test in July 2019. USCIS revised the civics test as part of a decennial update to ensure that it remains an instrument that comprehensively assesses applicants’ knowledge of American history, government and civic values. The civics test is administered to applicants who apply for U.S. citizenship and is one of the statutory requirements for naturalizing. Applicants who apply for naturalization on or after Dec. 1, 2020, will take the updated version of the test.Those who apply before Dec. 1, 2020, will take the current version of the test. “USCIS has diligently worked on revising the naturalization test since 2018, relying on input from experts in the field of adult education to ensure that this process is fair and transparent,” said USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow. “Naturalization allows immigrants to become fully vested members of American society, with the same rights and responsibilities as citizens by birth, and offering a fair test, which prepares naturalization applicants for these responsibilities, is of upmost importance to our agency.” The revised test includes more questions that test the applicant’s understanding of U.S. history and civics, in line with the statutory requirements, and covers a variety of topics that provide the applicant with more opportunities to learn about the United States as part of the test preparation process. The revised test will not change the passing score, which will remain at 60%. Candidates must answer 12 questions correctly, out of 20 in order to pass. USCIS will maintain the current guidelines for statutorily established special considerations for applicants who are 65 years old or older and have at least 20 years of lawful permanent resident status. These applicants will be asked 10 questions and must answer a minimum of six questions correctly in order to pass. The test items and study guides can be found on the Citizenship Resource Center on the USCIS website. USCIS has also updated the USCIS Policy Manual (PDF, 323.82 KB) accordingly; see Volume 12, Part E, English and Civics Testing and Exceptions, Chapter 2, English and Civics Testing. USCIS piloted the test with community-based organizations and volunteers across the country in summer 2020. The data collected from this pilot was used to help USCIS make determinations about the language and grammatical structure of individual test items, linguistic and cognitive weights assigned to each test item, and to identify those items appropriate for applicants who are 65 years or older, have held lawful permanent resident status for at least 20 years and are granted special consideration by statute. For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis) and LinkedIn (/uscis).
New York’s LaGuardia Airport is the city’s latest hub to open a COVID-19 testing site—and the tests are free to all, even those without insurance. Although all three New York-area airports now have testing facilities, LaGuardia became the first to offer tests free of charge when the new site opened its doors earlier in October. Located on the first floor of the Terminal B parking garage, the walk-up testing site is open to New York residents, visitors, and airport employees with no appointments required. The facility is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and those getting tested will also receive free parking in the Terminal B garage.
Tests are administered by NYC Health & Hospitals clinicians via PCR nose swabs, and results are available by phone within 48 hours. While the tests are free, patients with insurance will be asked to provide their policy information but will not be charged a copay or co-insurance fees. (More information can be found on New York’s Test and Trace Corps website.) Similar nose swab tests conducted at other airport sites run about $150 per screening.
Although the airport location is a convenient option for fliers on their way to countries or states that require a negative COVID-19 test to enter or travel more freely, there is no guarantee results will be available by the time the plane lands.
LaGuardia’s free tests are part of a larger push from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to have complimentary tests available at New York’s airports. A similar free testing site is set to open John F. Kennedy International Airport in coming weeks, according to the Port Authority.
Numerous airports and airlines are hoping that widespread testing for COVID-19 can help restart air travel by enabling fliers with negative test results to bypass lengthy quarantine requirements. The airports’ free tests come as United Airlines announced a similar free rapid testing trial program for passengers on its Newark-to-Heathrow route. Although only customers who test negative for the virus will be allowed to board those flights, the passengers will still be required to follow the U.K.’s 14-day quarantine regulations upon landing in London
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced last week it sent a proposed rule to the Federal Register radically changing how it selects H-1B temporary professional workers. The H-1B program was intended to allow employers to fill gaps in their workforce and remain competitive in the global economy, however it has now expanded far beyond that, often to the detriment of U.S. workers. Data shows that the more than a half million H-1B nonimmigrants in the United States have been used to displace U.S. workers. This has led to reduced wages in a number of industries in the U.S. labor market and the stagnation of wages in certain occupations. These latest efforts on H-1B visas are part of a larger Trump Administration goal to protect American workers.
“We have entered an era in which economic security is an integral part of homeland security. Put simply, economic security is homeland security. In response, we must do everything we can within the bounds of the law to make sure the American worker is put first,” said Acting Secretary Chad Wolf. “The Department of Homeland Security is honored to take this important step toward putting Americans first and to continue to implement President Trump’s agenda to keep our economy secure.”
This rule will combat the use of H-1B workers to serve as a low-cost replacement for otherwise qualified American workers.
The new rule will:
Narrow the definition of “specialty occupation” as Congress intended by closing the overbroad definition that allowed companies to game the system;
Require companies to make “real” offers to “real employees,” by closing loopholes and preventing the displacement of the American worker; and,
Enhance DHS’s ability to enforce compliance through worksite inspections and monitor compliance before, during, and after an H1-B petition is approved.
Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School and co-author of a leading 21-volume immigration law series, says that though the rule is premised on preserving jobs for U.S. workers, it overlooks the economic benefits of high skilled foreign workers. If you’d like to connect with Prof. Yale-Loehr about this development please contact him directly at 607-379-9707 or SWY1@cornell.edu
Yale-Loehr says: “The rule would scrap the current random selection system and instead select H-1B workers based on their salaries. The highest paid workers would be allowed to file an H-1B petition; workers offered lower salaries might not be able to file a petition if more than 85,000 higher paid H-1B workers filed petitions first. Current H-1B regulations already require employers to pay the higher of the actual or prevailing wage for similarly situated U.S. workers. Thus, it is hard to know what more the proposed rule would do.
“By effectively increasing salaries for H-1B workers, the proposed rule would harm all employers trying to hire foreign temporary professional workers, but especially schools, startup companies, and smaller companies that cannot afford to pay the high salaries that Silicon Valley and other big companies offer.
“The rule is premised on preserving jobs for U.S. workers. However, the rule fails to understand that many nonimmigrant workers, especially high skilled foreign workers, help grow the economy. For example, one study found that every H-1B worker creates about five jobs for U.S. workers in the technology sector. “The new proposed rule may score points with the President’s political base, but it flunks Economics 101.”
The Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C, issued a public notice regarding a change in its outsourcing service provider. The notice is as follows: The existing service center of Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) located at 1250, 23rd Street, NW, Washington DC 20037, for providing outsourcing services for Visa, OCI, Renunciation, Passport and Global Entry Program (GEP) (Website: in.ckgs.us) will shut down its operations at close of business (5 p.m. EST) on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020.
The Consulate General of India in New York has changed its service provider for visas and other services from Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) to VFS Global. According to a press release, the existing service center of Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) located at 235 West, 23rd Street, New York 10011 will no longer be providing outsourcing services for Visa, OCI, Renunciation, Passport and Global Entry Programme (GEP) (Website: www.in.ckgs.us)and will shut down its operations at close of business on October 14, 2020.
The new service provider, VFS Global will commence its operations from November 02, 2020. The press release detailed the options available to applicants during this transition as follows:
In this context, applicants can only submit applications on the CKGS website before the above deadline. Applicants must ensure that the documents are shipped to CKGS with suitable pre-paid return envelope in a manner to ensure it reaches CKGS by October16, 2020. Any applications received after October 16, 2020 at CKGS will be returned to the applicants without processing.
With effect from October 14, 2020 and till VFS Global commences its operations on November 02, 2020, the Consulate General of India, New York will provide services in emergency cases directly. Applicants falling under CGI, New York jurisdiction are advised to follow the instructions given below to avail emergency service
(i) Visa: Emergency visa will be issued to the eligible categories allowed to travel to India as per the advisories issued by the Government of India. Applicants for emergency visa may write an email to visa.newyork@mea.gov.in or through PRAMIT dashboard available on our website www.indiainnewyork.gov.in explaining the exigency, The Consulate thereafter will inform you of the next steps.
(ii) Passport: For emergency passport services, applicants are requested to send an email to passport.newyork@mea.gov.in or through PRAMIT dashboard available on our website www.indiainnewyork.gov.in. Once the request has been approved by the Consulate, the applicant will be informed of the procedure for initiating application process. The approved applicants may send the completed form by postal mail to Consulate along with return pre-paid envelope for further processing.
(iii) OCI: All OCI services will remain suspended till the new service provider takes over on November 02, 2020.
(iv) Attestation Services: Miscellaneous Consular services such as Power of Attorney, Birth Certificate, PCC etc. shall be continue to be accepted by postal mail. These can be applied through the following link — https://www.indiainnewyork.gov.in/Miscellaneous_general_info_new
The contact details of VFS Global, service fee details, operational hours, website e will be published on Consulate’s website shortly.
Any further query should be addressed through PRAMIT dashboard available onwww.indiainnewyorgov.in
Resuming international flights remains one of the most contentious issues in reopening as several countries across the world are going through a second wave of Covid-19 infections, and opening airports to foreigners is being seen as a major reason.
Most of the countries have resumed international flights in a staggered manner but these central and South American countries have so far not allowed international flights since March.
Panama: Panama will welcome international tourists from October 12. A negative SARS-CoV-2 PCR or antigen test from within 48 hours will be required to get an exemption from quarantine. On March 23, Panama suspended all international passenger flights.
Argentina: Argentina is likely to resume international flights from October 12, or a few days later, but by mid October, the government has said. This South American nations has been observing one of the most stringent lockdowns.
Guyana: This South American country will resume international flights from October 12.
British Airways will start its London-Lahore flights from October 12. At present, British Airways flies between London and Islamabad. British Airways will start its London-Lahore flights from October 12. At present, British Airways flies between London and Islamabad.
Global airlines body International Air Transport Association has recently predicted that the global airline industry will burn through USD 77 billion in cash during the second half of 2020 despite the resumption of flight services. “The cash drain continued during the summer months, with airlines expected to go through an additional USD 77 billion of their cash during the second half of this year and a further USD 60-70 billion in 2021. The industry is not expected to turn cash positive until 2022,” it said.
The aviation sector in India has also been significantly impacted due to the pandemic. In July, the country’s largest airline IndiGo declared a net loss of Rs 2,884.3 crore for the first quarter of 2020-21.
My international travelers, their trip begins the moment they arrive at an airport abroad. And entering a country from any of these top 10 international gateways ensures your journey will get off to a smooth start. Many of them have undergone dramatic transformations in recent years, as various famous architects worked their magic, creating bright and airy spaces, with amenities ranging from spas and yoga rooms to outdoor gardens and swimming pools. These terminals are such an antidote to jet lag, you might even want to extend your layover. Read on to see how the votes stacked up in our 33rd edition of our annual Readers’ Choice Awards.
Istanbul Airport (IST)
Opened just last year amid great fanfare—and with bold ambitions to become theworld’s biggest airport—the new IST is already garnering praise for its modern design by Grimshaw Architects, which has netted awards for its emphasis on efficiency and sustainability. With high-tech touches like a fleet of robots to direct passengers through the 818-million-square-foot hub and runway capacity to move a total of 90 flights per hour, the airport is poised to take off as a major global player.
Zurich Airport (ZRH)
As Switzerland’s largest international airport, Zurich is also the main hub for Swiss International, which operates no fewer than nine lounges (and those lounges are no joke, with champagne and whiskey bars). Looking for a place to buy some duty-free chocolate? There are more than 80 shops here to browse. Readers also like the variety of restaurants and bars—even grocery stores—and, if weather cooperates, an outdoor observation deck with sweeping views of the action on the runways.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai (BOM)
As the second busiest airport hub in India, Chhatrapati Shivaji has been transformed in recent years from an aging, overcrowded facility to a gleaming international hub. The modern Terminal 2, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, has won prizes for its airy, open design; it also features a wealth of dining and shopping options, including its GVK First and Business class lounge that offers spa and shower facilities and a full meal service. There’s also a four-star transit hotel right in the airport for layover travelers
Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)
Hong Kong’s international airport offers fast connections to the city from its island aerie, via an Airport Express that whisks travelers from terminal to city center in 24 minutes. It’s also one of the region’s top connecting hubs, with service to dozens of destinations in mainland China alone. Passengers on a layover appreciate the wide array of premium class lounges, amenities like nap rooms, and the Regal Airport Hotel attached to the main terminal, which Skytrax consistently ranks as one of the world’s best airport hotels.
Tokyo International Airport/Haneda (HND)
For years, Tokyo’s Haneda was primarily a domestic airport, but it’s gaining long-distance flights—and a strong international following. What accounts for its popularity? Simply put, it’s not Narita, the country’s bustling international hub that’s a 45-mile drive from the capital, notorious for, among other things, the $200 cab fare it takes to get there. Haneda, by contrast, is just ten miles from city center, but it’s not just proximity that wins over fliers. More than just a close-in alternative, Haneda gets high marks for the comfort and cleanliness of its terminals, a wide array of shopping and dining options, and fast and efficient transportation links to downtown Tokyo.
Sangster International Airport (MBJ)
For travelers to Jamaica, a great way to begin a vacation is to avoid the region’s hectic hub airports and fly directly into Montego Bay airport. A quieter alternative to, say, San Juan, it’s developed a following not only for its clean and efficient facilities, but for its “Club Mobay” VIP lounge program for both arrivals and departures, offered in partnership with the area’s leading hotels. Essentially, it’s a concierge-style service that whisks you through formalities, ensuring that you barely touch the airport on your way out the door—and onto that blissful beach retreat you came for.
Dubai International Airport (DXB)
As one of the biggest airports in the world overall, Dubai, unsurprisingly, also has one of the world’s biggest duty-free shopping centers. As the base for flag airline Emirates, a Reader’s Choice favorite, Dubai is also served by scores of international airlines—and it’s long been a popular stopover destination for North American travelers heading to the Far East or South Pacific. Amenities like zen gardens and nap pods help make pass the time on a stay of any length.
Incheon International Airport (ICN)
Seoul’s main international airport opened 20 years ago on reclaimed land in the port city of Incheon, and has been expanding ever since: A second passenger terminal opened in 2018, part of the airport’s aim to double its capacity to 100 million passengers annually. Primarily serving the country’s two main airlines, Korean and Asiana, Incheon International also gains points for its spacious VIP lounges and amenities, including an indoor skating rink, a spa, and a “Cultural Street” with local cuisine and dance performances. While it’s 30 miles from the capital, a high-speed rail link makes the trip from terminal to city center in 43 minutes.
Doha (DOH)
Hamad International Airport is a major connecting hub for Qatar’s eponymous home airline, also a Readers’ Choice pick, and at times, it can seem more like a resort hotel than a bustling transportation hub, with amenities like a fitness center, squash courts and an indoor swimming pool. It’s gotten high marks for its premium amenities, with no fewer than eight premium lounges, plus quiet rooms and child’s entertainment zones for passengers in any airline class. For those on longer layovers, there is an upscale hotel right inside the terminal, with half- or full-day rates available.
Singapore Changi Airport (SIN)
That Changi again snagged the top spot among world airports is no surprise, given that it’s home to our readers’ favorite carrier, Singapore Airlines, making it an ideal gateway to dozens of locations in the region. The airport is a destination in itself, with an indoor waterfall, butterfly garden, and open-air decks and restaurants. Transit passengers can take a free city tour, lounge by the swimming pool, or binge-watch flicks at the free 24-hour cinema. Traveler readers also like the self-boarding gates and free and fast Wi-Fi, and family travelers appreciate the vast play areas.
The Trump administration moved Oct. 6 to cut back H-1B visas for foreign skilled workers and tightened wage-based entry barriers citing “data” that more than 500,000 Americans have lost their jobs because of “H-1B non-immigrants.” India and China account for the lion’s share of H-1B visas. As per U.S. government data, India accounts for upwards of 70 percent, most years.
In a call with reporters, Acting Deputy DHS Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said about one-third of the people who have applied for H-1B visas would be denied under the new rules. With Trump laid up with COVID-19, his poll numbers tanking and less than 30 days to go before the U.S. election, the timing of the H-1B visa hammering is business as usual for foreign workers.
“It would have been a surprise if this hadn’t happened,” an H-1B worker on site at JP Morgan in New York City told IANS. The worker asked not to be named. The salary requirement will be a “game changer” in favor of the Trump administration, this worker said.
Many H-1B workers expressed a version of the same sentiment. They’ve seen this movie before. It’s Trump’s all-base, all the time anthem to fire up his most vocal supporters, they said.
The latest blow comes as the ducks line up across multiple departments that coordinate and monitor the crisscrossing elements of foreign worker visas: U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security.
The Department of Labor’s revisions to minimum salary requirements take effect Oct. 8 and the DHS’ H-1B revisions will hit home in 60 days. “When seeking to employ an H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 visa, U.S. employers must attest that they will pay non-immigrant workers, during the period of authorized employment, the higher of the prevailing wage or the actual wage paid to other employees with similar experience and qualifications,” the Department of Labor announced.
The gaslighting of the “low cost H-1B pay check is a well worn anthem and has become louder in the Trump years. The word “undercut” was used multiple times on Oct. 6 in a round robin of smoothly coordinated press-releases and telephonic briefings across the DOL and DHS.
The DOL rule will raise the four salary tiers for employees on H-1Bs and other professional visas, which currently begin at the 17th percentiles for each industry, to the 45th percentile.
“Under the existing wage levels, artificially low prevailing wages provide an opportunity for employers to hire and retain foreign workers at wages well below what their US counterparts – meaning U..S workers in the same labor market, performing similar jobs, and possessing similar levels of education, experience, and responsibility – make, creating an incentive – entirely at odds with the statutory scheme – to prefer foreign workers to U.S. workers, and causing downward pressure on the wages of the domestic workforce,” reads an excerpt from the DOL interim final rule.
The Department is also tightening the screws on the definition of “specialty occupation” to make it align with what it calls the “verbatim” description.
In parallel, DHS will narrow the definition of “specialty occupation,” require companies to make “real” offers to “real employees,” and turbocharge its own ability to ensure compliance “before, during, and after an H1-B petition is approved.”
“Data shows that the more than a half million H-1B non-immigrants in the United States have been used to displace U.S. workers,” reads a statement from the Department of Homeland Security
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, Calif., agreed with several big U.S. business groups, which argued President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by imposing the immigration restrictions. The order, at odds with the conclusion reached by a federal judge in Washington, means the fight will likely move to an appeals court.
White said his order doesn’t apply nationwide but only to the members of the plaintiff organizations. Those members, which include giants like Amazon.com and Microsoft Corp., comprise hundreds of thousands of U.S. businesses of all sizes and from a cross-section of economic sectors.
Trump declared in a June proclamation that foreign workers pose a threat to the U.S. labor market amid the downturn caused by coronavirus pandemic. His decree froze new H-1B and H-4 visas, used by technology workers and their families, as well as L visas for intracompany transfers and most J visas for work- and study-abroad programs, including au pairs, through the end of the year. Thursday’s order also blocks restrictions on J and L visas.
In his ruling, White distinguished the visa ban from Trump’s earlier travel ban restricting nationals of six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., which was upheld by the Supreme Court as a legitimate exercise of the president’s power to conduct foreign affairs.
The visa ban “deals with a purely domestic economic issue — the loss of employment during a national pandemic,” the judge wrote. “This court rejects the position that the proclamation implicates the president’s foreign affairs powers simply because it affects immigration.”
White added, “There must be some measure of constraint on presidential authority in the domestic sphere in order not to render the executive an entirely monarchical power in the immigration context.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation sued to block the restrictions, saying they impede the hiring of engineers, executives, IT experts, doctors, nurses and other critical workers who help drive the American economy.
The Chamber is a longtime supporter of high-skilled immigration and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which provides legal status for some migrants who entered the country as children.
Approximately 580,000 foreign workers with H-1B visas in specialized jobs are in the United States, according to the suit. Almost 160,000 L visas were issued in 2019 for executives, managers and employees with special experience and their dependents, and about 300,000 exchange visitors enter the U.S. annually on J visas, the Chamber said. Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, is among the companies that have expressed support for a court order blocking Trump’s policy.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has vowed to address the Indian-American community’s concerns related to the H-1B work visa, which President Donald Trump’s administration has temporarily suspended, the media reported.
Biden made the remarks while addressing a virtual fundraiser organized by the community on Tuesday, The American Bazaar reported on Wednesday. “It makes parents wonder whether their kids will have the kind of future they dreamed of when they came here.
“As President, I promise I am going to draw on the best, not the worst, beat this pandemic and build the economy back, help our kids get a good education and make sure healthcare is a right not a privilege,” the former Vice President was quoted as saying.
In June, the Trump administration suspended the H-1B and several other categories of foreign work visas until the year end. The decision has been opposed by Indians, who have received as much as 70 per cent of H-1B visas over the past five years.
US business leaders have also criticized the move saying it will block their ability to recruit critically needed skilled workers from foreign countries. Slamming Trump for the move, the Democratic nominee said: “This President makes things worse, not better.”
While praising the community for their hard work and entrepreneurship, he said Indian-Americans have powered the economic growth of the US and helped forge cultural dynamism in the country, adding: “That is a continuation of who we are, we are a nation of immigrants.”
Biden has chosen Indian-origin California Senator, Kamala Harris as his running mate for Vice President. During the virtual event, Biden also spoke to Vivek Murthy, who served as surgeon general during the former Barack Obama administration, during which also recalled the work he had done to forge close India-US relations, reports The American Bazaar.
“Seven years ago, as Vice President, I told a business owner in Mumbai that the US-India partnership was the defining relationship in the 21st century. “I am not just saying it now, I said it then and I mean it… I will work to make sure it occurs,” he added.
Meanwhile, support for Biden among Indian-Americans appears to have fallen by 11 per cent compared to the voting for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 elections, according to polls.
While she received 77 per cent of votes from Indian-Americans, the 2020 Asian American Voter Survey (AAVS) released earlier this month found Biden getting only the support of 66 per cent. Trump’s support has however, increased by 12 per cent in the court years to 28 per cent. (IANS)
India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has updated the Guidelines for international arrivals in India. Per the announcement of the Ministry, here are the guidelines:
Before Planning for Travel
i. All travelers should submit self-declaration form on the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72 hours before the scheduled travel. ii. They should also give an undertaking on the portal that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health. iii. Only for compelling reasons/ cases of human distress such as pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parent(s) with children of the age of 10 years or below, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days. iv. If they wish to seek such exemption under para (iii) above, they shall apply to the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72 hours before boarding. The decision taken by the government as communicated on the online portal will be final. v. Travelers may also seek exemption from institutional quarantine by submitting a negative RTPCR test report on arrival. This test should have been conducted within 96 hrs prior to undertaking the journey. The test report should be uploaded on the portal for consideration. Each passenger shall also submit a declaration with respect to authenticity of the report and will be liable for criminal prosecution, if found otherwise. The test report could also be produced upon arrival at the point of entry airport in India.
Before Boarding
i. Dos and Don’ts shall be provided along with ticket to the travelers by the agencies concerned. ii. All passengers shall be advised to download Arogya Setu app on their mobile devices. iii. At the time of boarding the flight/ ship, only asymptomatic travelers will be allowed to board after thermal screening. iv. Passengers arriving through the land borders will also have to undergo the same protocol as above, and only those who are asymptomatic will be enabled to cross the border into India. v. Suitable precautionary measures such as environmental sanitation and disinfection shall be ensured at the airports. vi. During boarding and at the airports, all possible measures to ensure social distancing to be ensured.
During Travel
i. Travelers who had not filled in self-declaration form on the portal shall fill the same in duplicate in the flight/ship and a copy of the same will be given to Health and Immigration officials present at the airport/ seaport/ Iandport. Alternatively, such travelers may submit self-declaration form on the online portal at arriving airport/ seaport/ Iandport as per the directions of the concerned authorities, if such facility is available. ii. Suitable announcement about COVID-19 including precautionary measures to be followed shall be made at airports/port and in flights/ships and during transit. iii. While on board the flight/ ship, required precautions such as wearing of masks, environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene, hand hygiene etc. are to be observed by airline/ ship staff, crew and all passengers.
On arrival
i. Deboarding should be done ensuring social distancing. ii. Thermal screening would be carried out in respect of all the passengers by the Health officials present at the airport/ seaport/ Iandport. The self-declaration form filled online shall be shown (or a copy of physical self-declaration form to be submitted) to the airport health staff. iii. The passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to medical facility as per health protocol. iv. Post thermal screening, the passengers who have been exempted from institutional quarantine (decision as indicated on the online portal in advance) will show the same to the respective State Counters on their cell phones/other mode before being allowed home quarantine for 14 days. v. The remaining passengers shall be taken to suitable institutional quarantine facilities, to be arranged by the respective State/ UT Governments. vi. These passengers shall be kept under institutional quarantine for a minimum period of 7 days. They shall be tested as per ICMR protocol available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/Revisedtestingguidelines.pdfIf they test positive, they shall be assessed clinically. a. If they are assessed as asymptomatic / pre-symptomatic/ very mild cases, they will be allowed home isolation or isolated in the Covid Care Centre (both public & private facilities) as appropriate. b. Those having mild/ moderate/ severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated Covid Health facilities and managed accordingly.If found negative, they shall be advised to further isolate themselves at home and self-monitor their health for 7 days. vii. In case, any symptoms develop they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the state/national call center (1075). NOTE: States can develop their own protocol with regards to quarantine and isolation as per their assessment post arrival of passengers in the state concerned.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a Policy Memorandum adopting the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision on Matter of Z‑R‑Z‑C.
The decision holds that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries who travel abroad using a Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-issued travel document under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 244(f)(3) generally will retain the same immigration status on their return that they had at the time of departure. Exceptions apply to aliens inadmissible under certain criminal or national security grounds or with immigrant or nonimmigrant visas they present for admission to the United States.
This travel does not satisfy the “inspected and admitted or paroled” eligibility requirement for obtaining adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence. This is consistent with the agency’s previous clarification that a TPS beneficiary’s authorized travel does not execute a final order of removal.
Furthermore, this decision is in line with the Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendments Act of 1991 (MTINA), which specifies that TPS beneficiaries who travel using a valid DHS-issued travel document retain the same immigration status upon return.
“Temporary Protected Status is by its very nature temporary,” said USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow. “It should not provide a path to lawful permanent resident status or citizenship. Misinterpretation and inconsistent application of this law has previously allowed those pathways for alien TPS beneficiaries. This was a mistaken distortion of what Congress intended when creating this temporary program.”
Recognizing TPS beneficiaries’ potential reliance on USCIS’ past practice and treatment of their temporary travel abroad, USCIS will limit how it applies Matter of Z-R-Z-C to minimize adverse impacts to this group. This decision does not affect TPS beneficiaries who adjusted status to lawful permanent residence under past practice and/or prior guidance or who have pending applications for adjustment of status.
In addition, USCIS will only apply Matter of Z-R-Z-C prospectively to TPS beneficiaries who departed and returned to the United States under section 244(f)(3) of the INA after Aug. 20, 2020, the date of the AAO’s adopted decision.
Meanwhile, Office for Immigrant Advancement Director Yusufi Vali has said that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is making significant changes to the naturalization application. Starting October 2, it is raising the cost of application from $725 to $1,200 and eliminating the fee waiver for most low-income residents.
USCIS is also increasing the permanent residence (green card) application fee and implementing an asylum application fee, making the United States one of four countries to do so.
For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and LinkedIn (/uscis).
The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants. The population of immigrants is also very diverse, with just about every country in the world represented among U.S. immigrants.
Pew Research Center regularly publishes statistical portraits of the nation’s foreign-born population, which include historical trends since 1960. Based on these portraits, here are answers to some key questions about the U.S. immigrant population.
How many people in the U.S. are immigrants?
The U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 44.8 million in 2018. Since 1965, when U.S. immigration laws replaced a national quota system, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. has more than quadrupled. Immigrants today account for 13.7% of the U.S. population, nearly triple the share (4.8%) in 1970. However, today’s immigrant share remains below the record 14.8% share in 1890, when 9.2 million immigrants lived in the U.S.
What is the legal status of immigrants in the U.S.?
Some 27% of immigrants were permanent residents and 5% were temporary residents in 2017. Another 23% of all immigrants were unauthorized immigrants. From 1990 to 2007, the unauthorized immigrant population more than tripled in size – from 3.5 million to a record high of 12.2 million in 2007. By 2017, that number had declined by 1.7 million, or 14%. There were 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2017, accounting for 3.2% of the nation’s population.
The decline in the unauthorized immigrant population is due largely to a fall in the number from Mexico – the single largest group of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. Between 2007 and 2017, this group decreased by 2 million. Meanwhile, there was a rise in the number from Central America and Asia.
Do all lawful immigrants choose to become U.S. citizens?
Not all lawful permanent residents choose to pursue U.S. citizenship. Those who wish to do so may apply after meeting certain requirements, including having lived in the U.S. for five years. In fiscal year 2019, about 800,000 immigrants applied for naturalization. The number of naturalization applications has climbed in recent years, though the annual totals remain below the 1.4 million applications filed in 2007.
Generally, most immigrants eligible for naturalization apply to become citizens. However, Mexican lawful immigrants have the lowest naturalization rate overall. Language and personal barriers, lack of interest and financial barriers are among the top reasons for choosing not to naturalize cited by Mexican-born green card holders, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey.
Where do immigrants come from?
Mexico is the top origin country of the U.S. immigrant population. In 2018, roughly 11.2 million immigrants living in the U.S. were from there, accounting for 25% of all U.S. immigrants. The next largest origin groups were those from China (6%), India (6%), the Philippines (4%) and El Salvador (3%).
By region of birth, immigrants from Asia combined accounted for 28% of all immigrants, close to the share of immigrants from Mexico (25%). Other regions make up smaller shares: Europe, Canada and other North America (13%), the Caribbean (10%), Central America (8%), South America (7%), the Middle East and North Africa (4%) and sub-Saharan Africa (5%).
Who is arriving today?
More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year. In 2018, the top country of origin for new immigrants coming into the U.S. was China, with 149,000 people, followed by India (129,000), Mexico (120,000) and the Philippines (46,000).
By race and ethnicity, more Asian immigrants than Hispanic immigrants have arrived in the U.S. in most years since 2010. Immigration from Latin America slowed following the Great Recession, particularly for Mexico, which has seen both decreasing flows into the United States and large flows back to Mexico in recent years.
Asians are projected to become the largest immigrant group in the U.S. by 2055, surpassing Hispanics. Pew Research Center estimates indicate that in 2065, those who identify as Asian will make up some 38% of all immigrants; as Hispanic, 31%; White, 20%; and Black, 9%.
Is the immigrant population growing?
New immigrant arrivals have fallen, mainly due to a decrease in the number of unauthorized immigrants coming to the U.S. The drop in the unauthorized immigrant population can primarily be attributed to more Mexican immigrants leaving the U.S. than coming in.
Looking forward, immigrants and their descendants are projected to account for 88% of U.S. population growth through 2065, assuming current immigration trends continue. In addition to new arrivals, U.S. births to immigrant parents will be important to future growth in the country’s population. In 2018, the percentage of women giving birth in the past year was higher among immigrants (7.5%) than among the U.S. born (5.7%). While U.S.-born women gave birth to more than 3 million children that year, immigrant women gave birth to about 760,000.
How many immigrants have come to the U.S. as refugees?
In fiscal 2019, a total of 30,000 refugees were resettled in the U.S. The largest origin group of refugees was the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by Burma (Myanmar), Ukraine, Eritrea and Afghanistan. Among all refugees admitted in fiscal year 2019, 4,900 are Muslims (16%) and 23,800 are Christians (79%). Texas, Washington, New York and California resettled more than a quarter of all refugees admitted in fiscal 2018.
Where do most U.S. immigrants live?
Nearly half (45%) of the nation’s 44.4 million immigrants live in just three states: California (24%), Texas (11%) and Florida (10%). California had the largest immigrant population of any state in 2018, at 10.6 million. Texas, Florida and New York had more than 4 million immigrants each.
In terms of regions, about two-thirds of immigrants lived in the West (34%) and South (34%). Roughly one-fifth lived in the Northeast (21%) and 11% were in the Midwest.
In 2018, most immigrants lived in just 20 major metropolitan areas, with the largest populations in the New York, Los Angeles and Miami metro areas. These top 20 metro areas were home to 28.7 million immigrants, or 64% of the nation’s total foreign-born population. Most of the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population lived in these top metro areas as well.
How do immigrants compare with the U.S. population overall in education?
Immigrants in the U.S. as a whole have lower levels of education than the U.S.-born population. In 2018, immigrants were over three times as likely as the U.S. born to have not completed high school (27% vs. 8%). However, immigrants were just as likely as the U.S. born to have a bachelor’s degree or more (32% and 33%, respectively).
Educational attainment varies among the nation’s immigrant groups, particularly across immigrants from different regions of the world. Immigrants from Mexico and Central America are less likely to be high school graduates than the U.S. born (54% and 47%, respectively, do not have a high school diploma, vs. 8% of U.S. born). On the other hand, immigrants from every region except Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America were as likely as or more likely than U.S.-born residents to have a bachelor’s or advanced degree.
Among all immigrants, those from South Asia (71%) were the most likely to have a bachelor’s degree or more. Immigrants from Mexico (7%) and Central America (11%) were the least likely to have a bachelor’s or higher.
How many immigrants are working in the U.S.?
In 2017, about 29 million immigrants were working or looking for work in the U.S., making up some 17% of the total civilian labor force. Lawful immigrants made up the majority of the immigrant workforce, at 21.2 million. An additional 7.6 million immigrant workers are unauthorized immigrants, less than the total of the previous year and notably less than in 2007, when they were 8.2 million. They alone account for 4.6% of the civilian labor force, a dip from their peak of 5.4% in 2007. During the same period, the overall U.S. workforce grew, as did the number of U.S.-born workers and lawful immigrant workers.
Immigrants are projected to drive future growth in the U.S. working-age population through at least 2035. As the Baby Boom generation heads into retirement, immigrants and their children are expected to offset a decline in the working-age population by adding about 18 million people of working age between 2015 and 2035.
How well do immigrants speak English?
Among immigrants ages 5 and older in 2018, half (53%) are proficient English speakers – either speaking English very well (37%) or only speaking English at home (17%).
Immigrants from Mexico have the lowest rates of English proficiency (34%), followed by those from Central America (35%), East and Southeast Asia (50%) and South America (56%). Immigrants from Canada (96%), Oceania (82%), Europe (75%) and sub-Saharan Africa (74%) have the highest rates of English proficiency.
The longer immigrants have lived in the U.S., the greater the likelihood they are English proficient. Some 47% of immigrants living in the U.S. five years or less are proficient. By contrast, more than half (57%) of immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for 20 years or more are proficient English speakers.
Among immigrants ages 5 and older, Spanish is the most commonly spoken language. Some 42% of immigrants in the U.S. speak Spanish at home. The top five languages spoken at home among immigrants outside of Spanish are English only (17%), followed by Chinese (6%), Hindi (5%), Filipino/Tagalog (4%) and French (3%).
How many immigrants have been deported recently?
Around 337,000 immigrants were deported from the U.S. in fiscal 2018, up since 2017. Overall, the Obama administration deported about 3 million immigrants between 2009 and 2016, a significantly higher number than the 2 million immigrants deported by the Bush administration between 2001 and 2008. In 2017, the Trump administration deported 295,000 immigrants, the lowest total since 2006.
Immigrants convicted of a crime made up the less than half of deportations in 2018, the most recent year for which statistics by criminal status are available. Of the 337,000 immigrants deported in 2018, some 44% had criminal convictions and 56% were not convicted of a crime. From 2001 to 2018, a majority (60%) of immigrants deported have not been convicted of a crime.
How many immigrant apprehensions take place at the U.S.-Mexico border?
The number of apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border has doubled from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2019, from 396,579 in fiscal 2018 to 851,508 in fiscal 2019. Today, there are more apprehensions of non-Mexicans than Mexicans at the border. In fiscal 2019, apprehensions of Central Americans at the border exceeded those of Mexicans for the fourth consecutive year. The first time Mexicans did not make up the bulk of Border Patrol apprehensions was in 2014.
How do Americans view immigrants and immigration?
While immigration has been at the forefront of a national political debate, the U.S. public holds a range of views about immigrants living in the country. Overall, a majority of Americans have positive views about immigrants. About two-thirds of Americans (66%) say immigrants strengthen the country “because of their hard work and talents,” while about a quarter (24%) say immigrants burden the country by taking jobs, housing and health care.
Yet these views vary starkly by political affiliation. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 88% think immigrants strengthen the country with their hard work and talents, and just 8% say they are a burden. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 41% say immigrants strengthen the country, while 44% say they burden it.
Americans were divided on future levels of immigration. A quarter said legal immigration to the U.S. should be decreased (24%), while one-third (38%) said immigration should be kept at its present level and almost another third (32%) said immigration should be increased.
Note: This is an update of a post originally published May 3, 2017, and written by Gustavo López, a former research analyst focusing on Hispanics, immigration and demographics; and Kristen Bialik, a former research assistant.
With the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic in near constant fluctuation, state rules and regulations are having to adapt rapidly. For those planning a family vacation or simply wishing to travel to another state, it is important to stay up-to-date on the latest statewide regulations.
There are some states that do not have restrictions. For those that do, here is a list of what each state is mandating.
Alaska
Beginning on August 11, nonresidents have to arrive with a negative Covid-19 test that was administered 72 hours or less. There is one other testing option.Travelers who opt for testing five days or less before arrival must be retested at the airport and limit their interactions until the test returns negative.
All travelers also must complete a traveler declaration form and receive another Covid-19 test seven to 14 days after arriving in Alaska.
Travelers can opt out from taking Covid-19 tests, but they must self-quarantine for 14 days or the duration of their stay, whichever is shorter.
According to the CDC, “people in quarantine should stay home, separate themselves from others, monitor their health, and follow directions from their state or local health department.” Leaving your home state to enter a state with a mandatory quarantine means you need one place to stay and to stay put.
Connecticut
Any traveler coming from a state that has a positive rate of 10 out of 100,000 people or a 10% or higher positivity rate must self-quarantine for 14 days. The traveler must have spent more than 24 hours in said state for the rule to apply. Everyone also needs to complete a travel health form.
Visitors can opt out of the 14-day quarantine if they can provide proof that they have had a negative Covid-19 test in the past 72 hours.
There are currently 34 states on the 10% or higher positivitylist.
Florida
People traveling from Connecticut, New Jersey and New York are required to self-quarantine for 14 days once arriving in Florida. Some exceptions include those involved in commercial activity or for any academic purpose such as internships. Everyone is responsible for their own costs that are involved with quarantining.
Hawaii
Anyone traveling to Hawaii must quarantine for 14 days after their arrival. Beginning September 1, travelers can show proof of a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours to avoid the quarantine. Hawaii delays quarantine lift until September 1
Upon arrival, passengers are required to sign a form saying that they know about the 14-day quarantine and that it is a criminal offense should they violate it.
For travel between islands, a mandatory form must be submitted online within 24 hours of departure. Passengers cannot fly if their temperature is above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
Idaho
In Ada County, which includes Boise, travelers coming from outside Idaho are encouraged to quarantine for 14 days.
Illinois
There are no statewide restrictions, but a 14-day quarantine is required for visitors heading to Chicago from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah and Wisconsin.
Kansas
Travelers need to quarantine for 14 days if they have traveled to Florida or been on a cruise. Travelers must also quarantine if they traveled to Arizona between June 17 and July 27 or if they’ve traveled to a country with a CDC Level 3 Travel Health Notice With Restrictions. Some countries include the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Brazil and China.
Travelers must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival or sign a form stating they’ve received a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours. Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Vermont are exempt from quarantining or having a negative test.
Maryland
Maryland residents who travel out-of-state need to have received a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of their arrival or get tested as soon as they return. Nonresidents should be tested within 72 hours of arrival and quarantine until they receive a negative result. If their test is positive, it is recommended that they cancel their trip.
Any resident who travels outside of Maryland to a state with a coronavirus testing positivity rate of more than 10% needs to self-quarantine until a negative test result is received. The District of Columbia and Virginia are exempt from this rule. As of July 31, the states include Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas.
Massachusetts
Beginning August 1, all visitors and residents must complete a travel form before arriving in Massachusetts (unless they are arriving from a state designated by the Department of Public Health as low risk).
Travelers must “quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72 hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts.”
Those waiting on test results need to quarantine until they receive their negative results.
Failure to comply with these directives may result in a $500 fine.
New Hampshire
Those traveling from outside New England states (Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island) that are visiting for an extended period of time are asked to self-quarantine for two weeks.
New Jersey
All travelers to New Jersey from states that have a Covid-19 testing positivity rate of 10% or higher or have 10 people test positive for every 100,000 residents is asked to quarantine for 14 days. This rule does not apply for visitors spending less than 24 hours in the state.
The state government is also asking travelers to fill out a voluntary survey regarding information about where you are traveling and your destination.
As of July 31, there are 36 states and US jurisdictions on the list.
New Mexico
As of July 1, those traveling from out-of-state are required to self-quarantine for 14 days or the length of their stay in New Mexico, whichever is shorter.
New York
All travelers who have recently visited a state with a positive testing rate of 10% or higher over a seven-day rolling period or had a positive test rate of 10 or more per 100,000 residents must quarantine for 14 days.
There are 36 states currently on the list.
Those traveling by airplane must fill out a travel form before exiting the airport or face a fine of $2,000. Those traveling to New York through other methods such as cars and trains must fill out the form online.
Ohio
Travelers visiting Ohio from states reporting positive testing rates of 15% or more must self-quarantine for 14 days. As of July 29, the states currently include Arizona, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas and South Carolina.
Pennsylvania
Visitors traveling from states with a high number of Covid-19 cases are asked to quarantine for 14 days. As of July 24, they are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Rhode Island
Those traveling to Rhode Island from a state that has a positive testing rate of 5% or more must quarantine for 14 days. Travelers can opt out of the quarantine if they can provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of their arrival.
Those waiting on test results must self-quarantine until a negative test result arrives. However, the state still recommends quarantining for 14 days as opposed to relying on a negative test result.
South Carolina
Travelers who have visited an area with ongoing community spread of the coronavirus should quarantine for 14 days from when they left that area.
Vermont is allowing visitors to self-quarantine before they travel as long as they use a personal vehicle to travel. They must make minimal stops and follow precautions such as wearing a face mask or covering, washing their hands and staying six feet apart. They must self-quarantine for 14 days or for seven days if they receive a negative test.
If travelers use public transportation such as an airplane or bus, they must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival or for seven days followed by a negative Covid-19 test.
Washington, DC
Visitors traveling to or from a high-risk state must self-quarantine for 14 days. The restrictions exclude Virginia and Maryland.
There are currently 27 states on the list.
Wisconsin
There is no statewide quarantine mandate, but all visitors coming from elsewhere to Wisconsin are being asked to stay home as much as possible for 14 days upon arrival while checking for Covid-19 symptoms. Within Wisconsin, it is not recommended that people travel to other private or rental homes within the state.
(Courtesy: CNN.COM)
Underwater habitats allow scientists to perform continuous night and day diving without requiring hours of decompression between dives. Like astronauts in space, they can stay underwater for days or weeks at a time.
Currently, the only underwater habitat that exists is the 400-square-foot Aquarius, in the Florida Keys, which Costeau stayed in with a team of aquanauts for 31 days in 2014. Designed in 1986 and originally owned by the NOAA, in 2013 Florida International University saved Aquarius from being abandoned after the NOAA lost government funding. Family tradition
Cousteau comes from a family of famous oceanographic explorers. He’s the son of filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau and grandson of Aqua-Lung co-creator Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The project is a joint effort between the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center (FCOLC) and Béhar’s design firm Fuseproject, as well as their partners, which include Northeastern University, Rutgers University and the Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity Foundation.
Despite his emphasis on ocean research, Cousteau said he’s “a big proponent of space exploration,” noting they are similar in nature. Both types of missions require humans to be in isolation in extreme, untenable conditions. Because of that, Béhar’s design, which can house up to 12 people, focuses on wellness as well as scientific and technological capabilities, including recreation areas and windows designed to let in as much light as possible.
“We’ve worked recently on a lot of small living environments. We’ve worked on robotic furniture for tiny apartments,” Béhar said about Fuseproject. “So I think we had a good sense of how to design for comfort in constrained environments. That said, the underwater environment is completely different.”
“We wanted it to be new and different and inspiring and futuristic,” he continued. “So (we looked) at everything from science fiction to modular housing to Japanese pod (hotels).” The design is also meant to echo ocean life, with its structure inspired by the shape of coral polyps.
Béhar and his team also studied the underwater research habitats that have come before Proteus, including the Aquarius. All other forerunners were temporary structures built for single missions, like NASA’s experimental SEALAB I, II, and III from the 1960s.”Those habitats were purpose built, they were small and they had great limitations,” Cousteau said. “So we’re building off of…(a) foundation by all those amazing pioneers that came before us.”
Diving ahead
While the project currently has some backing from the private sector, it is currently seeking further funding. Beyond backers, the station’s wet and dry labs can be leased to government agencies, corporations and academic institutions.
Part of the plan is to offer regular visibility about what is happening on Proteus, including live streams and VR/AR content. In this way Cousteau hopes to engage a wider audience. “Imagine if you found something amazing — whether it be microcosmic like a pharmaceutical, or macrocosmic like the next greatest animal — if you could show it to classrooms and universities,” he said. “Our mission is to be able to translate complex science into something that the average person not only maybe will understand, but fall in love with.”
The government of India has agreed to allow U.S. air carriers to resume passenger services in the U.S.-India market starting July 23, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Friday. The Indian government, citing the coronavirus, had banned all scheduled services, prompting the U.S. Transportation Department in June to accuse India of engaging in “unfair and discriminatory practices” on charter air carriers serving India. The Transportation Department said it was withdrawing an order it had issued requiring Indian air carriers to apply for authorization prior to conducting charter flights, and said it had approved an Air India application for passenger charter flights between the United States and India. A group representing major U.S. airlines and the Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment on Friday. India‘s Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Twitter it was moving to “further expand our international civil aviation operations” and arrangements from some flights “with US, UAE, France & Germany are being put in place while similar arrangements are also being worked out with several other countries.” “Under this arrangement,” it added, “airlines from the concerned countries will be able to operate flights from & to India along with Indian carriers.” The U.S. Transportation Department order was set to take effect next week. The Trump administration said in June it wanted “to restore a level playing field for U.S. airlines” under the U.S.-India Air Transport Agreement. The Indian government had banned all scheduled services and failed to approve U.S. carriers for charter operations, it added. The U.S. government said in June that Air India had been operating “repatriation” charter flights between India and the United States in both directions since May 7.
President Trump has been calling for ban on immigrant workers to the US. He has suspended work visas to the end of the year. However, as per a report from CII, a total of 155 companies with origins in India are responsible for generating over $22 billion in investments and nearly 125,000 jobs in the US, according to a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The report titled ‘Indian Roots, American Soil 2020’ showed that the states with the top concentrations of Indian companies reporting were New Jersey, Texas, California, New York, Illinois and Georgia.
The corporate social responsibility and research and development expenditure of the companies stood at $175 million and $900 million, respectively.
Texas, California, New Jersey, New York, and Florida are home to the greatest number of workers in the US directly employed by the reporting Indian companies.
The surveyed companies disclosed the highest amounts of foreign direct investment were in Texas, New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Massachusetts.
Indian investments in 20 U.S. states stand at over $100 million each, showed the survey.
Around 77 percent of the companies plan to make more investments in the world’s largest economy and 83 percent of the companies plan to hire more employees locally in the next five years.
The CII survey respondents are from sectors including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, aerospace and defense, financial services, manufacturing, tourism and hospitality.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said: “The survey results show that the U.S. is a preferred investment destination for Indian companies which are contributing significantly to supporting local jobs. The results in the survey capture a snapshot in time, documenting tangible investments and direct jobs only, so I believe that the actual economic impact of Indian FDI in the U.S. is much larger.”
He further said that it is critical that the U.S. government continues to provide a supportive policy environment for Indian companies to flourish and enhance their operations in the U.S., especially to aid economic recovery at this time.
Actress Soundarya Sharma, who had approached the Indian embassy and Ministry of External Affairs for assistance to return to India amid a coronavirus pandemic, has opted out of travelling by the repatriation flight phase one so that people who are in distress can travel back home first.
Soundarya said, “I am certainly missing my folks back home but the priority is not me. It’s for those who are in a difficult situation here and have to get back. As it’s a must have for them and I always have felt my happiness should not be at anyone cost. My appeal was for the people and I am so thankful to everyone for mission VANDE BHARAT,” she added.
Soundarya had approached the Indian embassy and Ministry of External Affairs for assistance, along with more than 400 Indians including students who are stranded in the USA amid the coronavirus pandemic. The actress was in Los Angeles to attending an acting course at Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
The actress, who featured in the film Ranchi Diaries, had earlier said, “I would humbly request the Indian embassy and the MEA for a stimulus package for all those students and fellow Indians who are stuck here to help overcome this situation and hopefully arrange an evacuation flight back to India,” she said.
Actress Soundarya Sharma believes getting stuck in Los Angeles due to COVID-19 pandemic and experiencing the struggle to get access to essentials things has turned out to be a life-altering period for her. She says that she tries not to think about when she will be able to return to India because the wait is “never-ending”.
“Honestly, it’s been a true life-learning experience for me. I had never even imagined myself to be in lockdown in a place like Los Angeles,” Soundarya told IANS.
“I had come here to attend an intensive acting course at Lee Strasberg and New York Film Academy and then we were shooting in Universal Studios the day they announced this pandemic. Since then, things changed completely. The corona happened and now these protests are going on. The situation is quite grim and things are different, so it’s been an experience and I’ve learnt so many things during this time,” she added.
Reflecting upon the challenges that came with the global shutdown, she said: “When they announced this pandemic, I was here in Los Angeles and I used to go out every day at 6 am in the morning, standing in the queues, I could not get grocery for almost one-one and half month and I had to manage with very little whatever I used to get. There was so much paranoia. Then, I did not have masks and sanitisers and gloves, initially. So, that was again a big challenge. I had to make my own mask.
“My flight was cancelled almost 5 times. So that was another challenge for me. Now because of these protests and riots which were happening, my apartment where I used to live was West Hollywood, West Beverly Hills and I had to move out of my apartment because of the situation. Now, I have moved to a much safer place in Central Beverly Hills. I mean challenges were there at different levels, we all do have challenges,” she added.
The actress, who made her debut in the digital world with “Raktanchal”, is coping up with her struggles by keeping a positive attitude.
“I am learning Spanish. I am watching a lot of performances, as in movies and important shows. Because being a medical student, I never watched films and performances so I am doing my homework that way. I do lots of workouts, I go for a walk because it was not a 100% lockdown, so I used to go for my workout. Since, I’m spiritually inclined, I meditate a lot. It really helps me. I realise that we all do take things so much for granted in our life but life has its own plans now, it’s become like we are taking it day-wise. So, this whole period of quarantine and lockdown has been really different and evolving, as in on a personal level,” she said.
She has realised that “life is not about just achievement, it’s about fulfilment”.
“I felt fulfilled by helping and doing my bit for people who were needy, who needed the most and people who were stranded, whatever bit I could do, I cooked for them for Eid. I had to give up my seat on the repatriation flights. So, this whole process, this whole thing has made me very selfless and made me realise the value of things and grateful for even the smaller things we have in a nutshell. This is a quite selfless period for me,” she added.
The actress who has worked in the Bollywood film “Ranchi Diaries” is not spending her time fretting over getting back to India.
“I try not to think too much about when I’ll be flying back home because it’s never-ending. It’s been almost 5 months for me to be here and months that I’ve seen my folks. So stuck in a foreign land alone can be quite emotionally challenging. I’m just taking it day-by-day. I do face-time my family but then being on your own and dealing with things and you know so many things happening, it can be quite emotionally draining and challenging,” she said.
On the work front, she was recently seen in the web series “Raktanchal”. The crime drama is inspired by real events that happened in Purvanchal, Uttar Pradesh, in the eighties, around the time when state development work was distributed through tenders. It streams on MX Player.
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, the second stunning election-season rebuke from the court in a week after its ruling that it’s illegal to fire people because they’re gay or transgender.
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the program that protects immigrants who were brought to the country as children and allows them to work. The court on Thursday ruled President Donald Trump didn’t properly end the program, which then-President Barack Obama created in 2012. Trump attempted to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2017 shortly after being elected on a largely anti-immigrant platform. Here’s what the high court’s decision means:
Immigrants who are part of the 8-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program will retain their protection from deportation and their authorization to work in the United States — safe almost certainly at least through the November election, immigration experts said.
The 5-4 outcome, in which Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices were in the majority, seems certain to elevate the issue in Trump’s campaign, given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of his first presidential run in 2016 and immigration restrictions his administration has imposed since then.
Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal wing of the court in a 5-4 decision. Roberts, citing the Administrative Procedure Act, called the administration’s reasoning for ending the protections “arbitrary and capricious.”
The justices rejected administration arguments that the eight-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is illegal and that courts have no role to play in reviewing the decision to end it.
“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies,” Roberts wrote. “We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action. Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients.”
Trump, through the Department of Homeland Security, committed in September 2017 to ending the program, leading to the court challenges. He blasted the decision in a series of tweets on Thursday, calling it “horrible and politically charged.”
Trump didn’t hold back in his assessment of the court’s work, hitting hard at a political angle. “These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!” he wrote on Twitter, apparently including the LGBT ruling as well.
DACA was created by President Barack Obama in 2012 after intense pressure from immigrant advocates who wanted protections for the young immigrants who were mostly raised in the U.S. but lacked legal status.
The program protects them from deportation — granting a two-year reprieve that can be extended and by issuing a work permit and a Social Security number.
DACA recipients must meet several requirements, including having no criminal record. Immigrants who are accepted into the program and later get arrested face deportation to their home country.
They also must have been 30 or younger when the program was launched and brought to the U.S. before age 16.
The application cost is nearly $500, and permits must be renewed every two years. The application and renewal process take several weeks, and many immigrants hire lawyers to help navigate the process.
DACA does not give beneficiaries legal U.S. residency; they are simply given a reprieve from deportation while being allowed to legally work. The overwhelming majority of DACA recipients are from Mexico. One in four of them live in California.
Frustration grew during the Obama administration over repeated failures to pass the “Dream Act,” which would have provided a path to legal U.S. citizenship for young immigrants brought to the country as children.
The last major attempt to pass the legislation was in 2011. Immigrant activists staged protests and participated in civil disobedience in an effort to push Obama to act after Congress did not pass legislation. DACA is different than the Dream Act because it does not provide a pathway to legal residency or citizenship. Still, DACA recipients are often referred to as “Dreamers” — a reference to the earlier proposals that failed in Congress before Obama’s action.
Years of impasse in Congress over passing comprehensive immigration reform are what prompted then-president Barack Obama to create DACA by executive order in the first place, in 2012. The program gives people two-year renewable reprieves from the threat of deportation while also allowing them to work.
DACA recipients were elated by the ruling. “We’ll keep living our lives in the meantime,” said Cesar Espinosa, a DACA recipient who leads the Houston immigration advocacy group FIEL. “We’re going to continue to work, continue to advocate.”
International graduates in the US Optional Practical Training (OPT) program may have to deal with OPT suspension soon. This comes as the US government considers further immigration restrictions to manage the devastating impact of COVID-19.
The OPT is a student visa extension which allows eligible international graduates to work in the US for up to 12 months after completing their studies. STEM majors get an additional 24 months. OPT is one of the only options available to graduating international students to stay and work in the United States and suspending OPT would mean that most international students who get a degree from a U.S. college or university would be forced to leave the country after graduating.
News reports suggest the Administration will soon take steps to suspend OPT, the Optional Practical Training program for international students who graduate from U.S. colleges and universities, along with restrictions to other legal immigration channels. This would be a significant mistake that will hurt our economy long term while providing no substantial impact on job or wage growth in the short term.
[Suspending OPT] would be a significant mistake that will hurt our economy long term while providing no substantial impact on job or wage growth in the short term. Research shows that each foreign-born STEM graduate who stays and works in the U.S. creates 2.62 jobs for native-born Americans. Suspending OPT would mean that most international students who get a degree from a U.S. college or university would be forced to leave the country after graduating.
First, the US government took the first step by suspending entry of immigrants deemed risky to the US. Then, it released an executive order directing agencies to “address this economic emergency by rescinding, modifying, waiving, or providing exemptions from regulations and other requirements that may inhibit economic recovery”.
If the Administration immediately ends OPT and stops issuing renewals and extensions, many international graduates, including those graduating this year with pending OPT applications, might no longer qualify for their immigration status and could be forced to leave before having an opportunity to fully contribute to the U.S.
OPT allows international students who are studying at or have graduated from universities and colleges in the U.S. to maintain their student status and be authorized to work for an American employer in their field of study. Approximately 200,000 international students are living in and contributing to the United States thanks to OPT today.
Providing options to stay and work in the country after graduation is critical for retaining U.S. educated graduates, and for attracting future students, as well. Over the last few years, the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to limit legal immigration have contributed to alarming drops in international student enrollment rates, costing the U.S. economy more than $11 billion. Meanwhile, countries like Canada have rolled out more options for international students, and have seen enrollment rates grow as a result.
Because international students typically pay full tuition, their enrollment helps subsidize costs for domestic students and expands teaching and research capacity. However, recent drops in enrollment have cost some universities millions of dollars in lost revenue, and experts are already predicting a 25% drop in international enrollment next year because of COVID-19. Ending OPT could dramatically accelerate these losses.
If graduates are forced to leave, America’s investment in their education will directly benefit our competitors and leave a massive gap in our skilled workforce. With no prospect of employment after graduation, many students would stop coming to study in the first place, sacrificing one of America’s greatest competitive advantages and abandoning our role as the global leader in education and innovation.
International graduates on OPT make critical contributions to America’s national security and economy; that’s why more than 324 employers in trade, industry, and higher education associations wrote to the President, urging him to keep OPT in place.
Recently 21 Republican Members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf ahead of an announcement, urging the Administration to keep OPT intact. The letter explains:
“We urge the administration to publicly clarify that OPT will remain fully intact so we send the right messages abroad about the U.S. as an attractive destination for international students. As countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, China and Australia bolster immigration policies to attract and retain international students, the last thing our nation should do in this area is make ourselves less competitive by weakening OPT. The program is essential to the many international students who desire not just to study in the U.S. but also have a post completion training experience.”
There are thousands of citizens-in-waiting who, amid a ballooning backlog, may be unable to complete their naturalizations in time to vote in the 2020 election. An estimated 650,000 citizenship applications were pending in the first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31.
As state after state imposed social distancing and other measures to mitigate the virus’s spread, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services suspended most of its activity on March 18, and the agency notified thousands of immigrants of the delay to sworn them in as US citizens.
Lawmakers from both parties have urged the Trump administration to conduct the oath remotely to make up for a pause in naturalization ceremonies during the health crisis.
The agency recently began holding naturalization ceremonies in small groups, compared with the hundreds who typically gather to be sworn in, but many of those working with immigrants say that so few are being processed that it may be impossible to make up for lost time this year.
Before the pandemic, about 63,000 applicants took the oath of allegiance each month in small-town courthouses and convention centers around the country. Covid-19 lockdowns postponed the final steps in the process — interviews and ceremonies — potentially delaying citizenship for several hundred thousand people before the end of 2020, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which leads a network of nonprofits helping green-card holders become naturalized citizens.
The delays caused by the pandemic follow moves by the Trump administration to tighten scrutiny of naturalization applications, making the process more cumbersome, as well as financial troubles engulfing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is expected to start furloughing workers in coming weeks.
“I do not anticipate this administration will drop their emphasis on vetting and fraud detection to expedite these naturalization applications,” said Randy Capps, who researches naturalization at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. “It means this backlog will probably keep growing.”
A group of lawful permanent residents whose applications have been approved by the U.S.C.I.S. office in Philadelphia but stalled because of the pandemic filed a lawsuit in federal court this month asking for an expedited process to ensure that they are sworn in as citizens by late September in order to meet voter-registration deadlines.
Naturalization applications generally surge during presidential election cycles, but the potential implications of clearing the way for thousands of new citizens to vote differ from state to state.
Polls have indicated that most Latin American and Asian immigrants, who most likely account for the majority of those whose citizenship petitions are pending, would tend to vote Democratic. In states like California, which is solidly blue, the addition of tens of thousands of newly minted voters would be unlikely to have a significant effect.
It could be a different story if potential voters were excluded in contested states, such as Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas. Nearly 200,000 immigrants became citizens in those four states in the 2018 fiscal year, according to official data, representing 26 percent of those naturalized that year.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in recent weeks have urged U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to administer the oath remotely or waive it altogether.
Senators Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, and Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico, who are both sons of naturalized citizens, sent a letter on May 22 to Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, who heads the agency, requesting that he “take all necessary measures” to enable naturalizations to proceed, including with virtual ceremonies.
Then, earlier this month, 14 members of Congress from both parties sent a letter of their own, calling the oath “largely ceremonial” and citing a law that could be invoked to justify temporarily suspending it.
“Given the unprecedented circumstances currently facing our country, we ask that these authorities be utilized to remotely administer or waive the Oath of Allegiance amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the letter.
A spokesman for U.S.C.I.S. said that rescheduling naturalization ceremonies was a “top priority as we enter our phased reopening,” which began on June 4. The agency had introduced ceremonies with social distancing last month, and the sessions are starting to be held more frequently, he said.
However, he ruled out remote oaths. The ceremonies must be public under immigration law, he said, and to comply with federal regulations, all applicants must appear in person.
The spokesman also said that online ceremonies presented “logistical challenges” because personal appearances allow reviewers to verify applicants’ identities and collect their green cards, which previously served as proof of legal residency. Holding the ceremonies online also raised security concerns, he added.
Many of those who work with immigrants seeking naturalization said there was a need for flexibility during a health emergency.
“There is legal room for U.S.C.I.S. to make appropriate accommodations for remote oath ceremonies, but it takes will and interest to do so,” said Ur Jaddou, who was chief counsel at the agency during the Obama administration.
“All around the government, agencies have made bold accommodations in response to Covid-19,” said Ms. Jaddou, who is now director of D.H.S. Watch, an advocacy organization that monitors immigration agencies.
While there have been partisan splits over how to address unauthorized immigration and overhaul the country’s immigration system, historically there has been a bipartisan embrace of naturalization. Former President George W. Bush has hosted a ceremony at his institute.
Under President Trump, who has issued a series of policies to curb legal immigration, the leadership of the agency — which handles visas, green cards and asylum claims, in addition to citizenship applications — has adopted a policy of strict scrutiny when adjudicating applications.
About nine million legal permanent residents are eligible for citizenship, but a much smaller number typically apply. Applicants must fill out a 20-page application, pass background checks, submit an array of supporting documents, and pass civics and English tests as well as an interview. They pay a $725 fee. If they hire a lawyer, the additional cost ranges from $1,500 to $3,500.
OCI card holders who wish to come to India on account of family emergencies like critical medical conditions of immediate family members or death have also been granted permission to travel to India.
The Home Ministry on Friday eased restrictions on entry of foreign nationals into the country norms, allowing a larger number of Overseas Citizen of India cardholders and foreign nationals related to OCI cardholders or citizens to enter India.
The specific categories who have been issued permit to travel to India include minors who the OCI Card and whose parents are Indian nationals.
OCI card holders who wish to come to India on account of family emergencies like critical medical conditions of immediate family members or death have also been granted permission to travel to India.
Government has also allowed married couples, where one spouse is an OCI card holder and the other is an Indian national, to enter the country.
Students who are OCI card holders, where at least one of their parents is an Indian citizen or an OCI card holder, can also travel to India.
75 special repatriation flights to 7 US and Canadian cities between June 5 & June 30
State-run carrier Air India has opened bookings for around 300 flights to various destinations in the USA, Canada, UK and Europe under phase-3 of the Vande Bharat Mission. The move resulted in “overwhelming” demand from travelers as the airline received around six crore hits on its website during the first two hours of opening the bookings.
“Demand for seats from India on flights planned under Mission Vande Bharat-3 is overwhelming. Sectors/ Flights are being opened in a systematic manner for booking, on the website,” AIR INDIA tweeted.
“Those who wish to travel to US and Canada and fulfil required entry conditions can book themselves on these outbound flights. Some foreign airlines have already carried out evacuation flights & are planning to operate more flights. These flights will also take foreign nationals,” Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed on Twitter on Wednesday.
However, he added that normal international civil aviation operations will only start when the situation normalises. “Right now most of our metro cities are under some form of restrictions due to which people from other cities cannot travel to catch flights and we also have a requirement for mandatory quarantine on arrival. We have to wait for the domestic operations to touch about 50-60 per cent and consider the behaviour of the virus and its spread to fully lift these restrictions and lockdown. Till then flights under Vande Bharat Mission are facilitating both inbound and outbound international passengers,” he said in a series of tweets.
Also, the behaviour of the virus and its spread will be taken into account before a decision is taken about international travel. Till then flights under Vande Bharat Mission are facilitating both inbound and outbound international passengers, the minister said.
According to the latest MHA guidelines, international flights can resume in the third phase of unlocking, which does not yet have a tentative deadline to it.
The airline later tweeted again, “Bookings for select destinations in USA, Canada, UK & Europe etc under Phase3 of #MissionVandeBharat opened at 5pm today. Around 60 million hits received till 7 pm on our website & 1700 seats sold through website alone in 2 hrs. Bookings continue & tickets are being issued.”
The third phase of the mission will begin from (Thursday) June 11 and continue till June 30. Air India will operate five flights in this phase of Vande Bharat Mission to evacuate nearly 1,200 Indians nationals stranded in the UK between June 18 to June 23. The airline will operate 70 flights to evacuate Indians stranded in the US and Canada between June 11 to June 30, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said.
Giving a major relief to the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders stranded abroad, the Ministry of Home affairs on Friday relaxed the visa and travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 lockdown for certain categories.
The MHA Spokesperson in a tweet said, “Relaxing visa and travel restrictions imposed in wake of COVID-19, certain categories of OCI cardholders stranded abroad have been permitted to come to India.”
The MHA in a detailed notification said that the categories now eligible to return to India for minor children born to Indian nationals abroad and holding OCI cards, OCI cardholders who wish to come to India on account of family emergencies, such as a death in the family, couples where one spouse is an OCI cardholder and the other is an Indian national, and they have a permanent residence in India and University students who are OCI cardholders (but are not minors) and whose parents are Indian citizens living in India.
The MHA also said that travel restrictions imposed on May 7 would not apply to any aircraft, ship, train or any other vehicle deployed for bringing back the above-mentioned categories of OCI cardholders who are stranded abroad.
The decision comes in the wake of several complaints raised by the Indians stranded abroad. The OCI card is issued to people of Indian origin, allowing them visa-free travel in most cases.
Over 23,000 Indians, who had been stranded abroad after the lockdown was imposed in March, have been repatriated from dozens of countries under the government’s “Vande Bharat Mission”.
The government has deployed Air India passenger jets and Indian Navy warships to the United States, Europe, the Gulf region, Australia and several countries in Southeast Asia, as well as neighbouring nations like Nepal and Bangladesh, to bring back Indian citizens.
On Thursday the government said the “Vande Bharat Mission”, whose second phase was to end today, had been extended to June 13, with nearly 50 countries being covered. (IANS)
“AAPI supports the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act S.3599/ HR6788, introduced by Senators Durbin, Perdue, Young, Coons addressing Shortage of doctors, nurses, and urges the Congress to approve the bill and allow the thousands of immigrant Indian American doctors on green card backlog to bolster the American health care system and extend their patient care whole-heartedly without disruption,” said Dr. Suresh Reddy, President of AAPI.
Dr. Reddy was responding to the Bill. the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, introduced by U.S. Senate Democrats Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, along with Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Todd Young (R-IN), and Chris Coons (D-DE), which recaptures 15,000 green cards to provide a temporary stopgap to quickly address our nation’s shortage of doctors. This legislation will help underserved communities with physician shortage to recruit more physicians and thus effectively extend health care coverage.
The Health care Resilience Act S.3599/ HR6788 would recapture 25,000 unused immigrant visas for nurses and 15,000 unused immigrant visas for Physicians. This would help the American health care force to mobilize the medical professionals to the areas of health care needs.
Healthcare continues to be at the center of the national debate, especially in the context of the global Corona Virus pandemic affecting millions of people in the United States. This deadly virus has claimed lives of many healthcare professionals who are in the frontline caring for the hundreds of thousands of patients affected by this disease.
An estimated 800,000 legal immigrants who are working in the United States are waiting for green card. This unprecedented backlog in employment-based immigration has fueled a bitter policy debate but has been largely ignored by the Congress. Most of those waiting for employment-based green cards which would allow them to stay in the United States are of Indian origin. The backlog among this group is so acute that an Indian national who applies for a green card now can expect to wait up to 50 years to obtain it. The wait is largely due to the annual per-country quota immigration law, which has been unchanged since 1990.
This heightened demand for physicians will only continue to grow, and will soon outpace supply leading to a projected shortfall of nearly 122,000 physicians by 2032. Thus, recapturing the unused visas/Green cards that are available for International Medical Graduates is critical to addressing this mounting shortage of physicians.
In a detailed report on Green Card delays affecting Indian American physicians, the Green Card Backlog Task Force by AAPI had pointed out that there are over 10,000 Physicians waiting for Green Card for decades. AAPI members would like to see the Green Card backlog addressed, which it says has adversely impacted the Indian American community. During their annual Legislative Day on Capitol Hill, they have stressed the need for bipartisan efforts in passing the Health care Resilience Act, which will recapture and provide Green Cards for physicians serving in America’s under-served and rural communities.
“Consider this: one-sixth of our health care workforce is foreign-born. Immigrant nurses and doctors play a vital role in our health care system, and their contributions are now more crucial than ever. Where would we be in this pandemic without them? It is unacceptable that thousands of doctors currently working in the U.S. on temporary visas are stuck in the green card backlog, putting their futures in jeopardy and limiting their ability to contribute to the fight against COVID-19,” said Sen. Durbin.
“This bipartisan, targeted, and timely legislation will strengthen our health care workforce and improve health care access for Americans in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support these vital health care workers,” the Senator from Illinois pointed out.
“The growing shortage of doctors and nurses over the past decade has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis,” said Sen. Perdue. “Fortunately, there are thousands of trained health professionals who want to practice in the United States. This proposal would simply reallocate a limited number of unused visas from prior years for doctors and nurses who are qualified to help in our fight against COVID-19. This shortage is critical and needs immediate attention so that our healthcare facilities are not overwhelmed in this crisis.”
Specifically, the Senators’ proposal:
Recaptures unused visas/green cards from previous fiscal years for doctors, nurses, and their families
Exempts these visas/green cards from country caps
Requires employers to attest that immigrants from overseas who receive these visas will not displace an American worker
Requires the Department of Homeland Security and State Department to expedite the processing of recaptured visas
Limits the filing period for recaptured visas to 90 days following the termination of the President’s COVID-19 emergency declaration
“AAPI joins other similar organizations including American Medical Association, Illinois Health and Hospital Association, American Hospital Association, American Organization for Nursing Leadership, Physicians for American Healthcare Access, American Immigration Lawyers Association, and National Immigration Forum, that have come in support of The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act,” said Dr. Sampat Shivangi, Chair of AAPI’s Legislative Committee.
Dr. Seema Arora, Chair of the Board of Trustees of AAPI, urged the members of Congress to include physicians graduating from U.S. residency programs for Green Cards in the comprehensive immigration reform bill. “Physicians graduating from accredited U.S. residency programs should also receive similar treatment. Such a proposal would enable more physicians to be eligible for Green Cards and address the ongoing physician shortage,” she said.
Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalgadda, President-Elect of AAPI, said, “AAPI has once again succeeded in bringing to the forefront many important health care issues facing the physician community and raising our voice unitedly before the US Congress members.”
“AAPI welcomes this bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Perdue, Durbin, Young and Coons; the bill would help address the critical healthcare shortage in the United States, a weakness that has been evident during the COVID-19 national emergency,” said Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, Vice President of AAPI.
“The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act recognizes the importance and the need of immigrant doctors, nurses and their families. At this critical time, addressing shortages in the health care workforce is imperative. By ensuring unused visas do not go waste, the bill will help doctors, nurses and their families, who have been waiting in line, immigrate sooner,” said Dr. Raghuveer Kurra, Chair of AAPI Committee on Green Card Backlog.
“Thousands of Indian-American Physicians have been affected by the backlog for Green Card. This negatively impacted their ability to work and provide the much-needed health care services for the people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic across the nation,” said Dr. Ram Sanjeev Alur, Co-Chair, AAPI Committee on Green Card Backlog. “These Indian physicians constitute less than one percent of the country’s population, but account for nine percent of the American physicians. One out of every seven doctors serving in the US health care system is of Indian heritage. These Indian origin Physicians provide medical care to over 40 million American population living in rural and underserved areas,” added Dr. Pavan Panchavati, Co-Chair, AAPI Committee on Green Card Backlog.
Dr. Ravi Kolli, Secretary of AAPI, said, “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. was already facing a serious shortage of physicians largely due to growth, aging of the population and the impending retirements of many physicians.” Raj Bhayani, Treasurer of AAPI, pointed out, “This shortage was dramatically highlighted by the lack of physicians in certain key areas during the COVID-19 pandemic which forced states to recall retired physicians, expand physicians’ scope of practice, and amend out of state licensing laws.”
AAPI has recently heard calls from New York , New Jersey and California for physicians from out of state to help them care for patients, and there will be more areas of need in these states and also nationally who certainly will need additional physician force for staffing their hospitals, fever clinics, COVID care centers and Emergency rooms in near future.
According to Dr. Suresh Reddy, “AAPI has been consistent in bringing many important health care issues faced by the physician community and raising our voice unitedly before the US Congress members. we have been able to discover our own potential and have been playing an important role in shaping the health of each patient with a focus on health maintenance rather than disease intervention. AAPI is also instrumental in crafting the health care delivery in the most efficient manner and has been striving for equality in health care globally.”
For more details on AAPI and its legislative agenda, please visit: www.aapiusa.org
Though most of us don’t know when we’ll travel again, Emirates is ready to put its planes back in the air. Today, the Dubai-based airline announced that it will resume passenger flights to nine destinations this month, including one city in the U.S.
As of May 21, Emirates flights will operate from Dubai to Chicago, London, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Toronto, Sydney, Frankfurt, and Melbourne, making it among the first airlines to resume long-haul services to the U.S. “We are pleased to resume scheduled passenger services to these destinations, providing more options for customers to travel from the UAE to these cities,” Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ chief operating officer said in a statement. As several of the destinations currently have travel bans and other entry restrictions in place, the airlines says it will only accept passengers who meet the criteria for entering their destination country.
For those concerned about safety on planes during the ongoing pandemic, the airline says they’ve made the necessary accommodations. “We have implemented additional measures at the airport in coordination with the relevant authorities in respect to social distancing and sanitization,” Al Redha said in the statement. “The safety and well-being of our employees, customers and communities, remain our top priority.”
Last month, the airline became the first in the world to begin using blood tests to screen passengers before they board Emirates flights; they have also announced that Emirates’ cabin crews, boarding agents, and ground staff who interact with travelers will be wearing personal protective equipment, including safety visors and disposable gowns. In-flight service has been modified to minimize contact, printed reading materials removed, and all cabin baggage must be checked. Planes are also being disinfected between every flight.
Since April, Emirates has primarily been operating repatriation flights for United Arab Emirates’ residents, after a two-week suspension of operations in late March per UAE government orders. In addition to the just announced passenger flights, Emirates will continue to fly repatriation routes prior to May 21, including those from Dubai to Tokyo Narita; Dubai to Conakry, Guinea; and Dubai to Dakar, Senegal.
Earlier this month, Qatar Airways announced that it was beginning to gradually resume service as well, and is planning to fly to 52 destinations by the end of this month. This includes two U.S. cities, Dallas and Chicago, according to a press representative for the airline. Turkish Airlines—which had stopped all international flights—is also increasing flight service gradually, Reuters reports. They plan to fly to 19 countries this month, and work up to 99 in September.
Though most of us don’t know when we’ll travel again, Emirates is ready to put its planes back in the air. Today, the Dubai-based airline announced that it will resume passenger flights to nine destinations this month, including one city in the U.S.
As of May 21, Emirates flights will operate from Dubai to Chicago, London, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Toronto, Sydney, Frankfurt, and Melbourne, making it among the first airlines to resume long-haul services to the U.S. “We are pleased to resume scheduled passenger services to these destinations, providing more options for customers to travel from the UAE to these cities,” Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ chief operating officer said in a statement. As several of the destinations currently have travel bans and other entry restrictions in place, the airlines says it will only accept passengers who meet the criteria for entering their destination country.
For those concerned about safety on planes during the ongoing pandemic, the airline says they’ve made the necessary accommodations. “We have implemented additional measures at the airport in coordination with the relevant authorities in respect to social distancing and sanitization,” Al Redha said in the statement. “The safety and well-being of our employees, customers and communities, remain our top priority.”
Last month, the airline became the first in the world to begin using blood tests to screen passengers before they board Emirates flights; they have also announced that Emirates’ cabin crews, boarding agents, and ground staff who interact with travelers will be wearing personal protective equipment, including safety visors and disposable gowns. In-flight service has been modified to minimize contact, printed reading materials removed, and all cabin baggage must be checked. Planes are also being disinfected between every flight.
Since April, Emirates has primarily been operating repatriation flights for United Arab Emirates’ residents, after a two-week suspension of operations in late March per UAE government orders. In addition to the just announced passenger flights, Emirates will continue to fly repatriation routes prior to May 21, including those from Dubai to Tokyo Narita; Dubai to Conakry, Guinea; and Dubai to Dakar, Senegal.
Earlier this month, Qatar Airways announced that it was beginning to gradually resume service as well, and is planning to fly to 52 destinations by the end of this month. This includes two U.S. cities, Dallas and Chicago, according to a press representative for the airline. Turkish Airlines—which had stopped all international flights—is also increasing flight service gradually, Reuters reports. They plan to fly to 19 countries this month, and work up to 99 in September.
History was made as India’s national carrier, AIR INDIA’s inaugural flight to the United States originating from Bombay, now renamed as Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, after brief layover in London, arrived at the Idlewild Airport, now known as the JFK International Airport in New York on May 14th,1960.
Nancy Kuo, the first local employee hired in 1959 by the then country head of AIR INDIA, Peter Mahta, recalls the initial days, as it set forth on a new journey, adding a new feather to its long flying history around the world. Ms. Kuo, a Columbia University graduate was 23 years old when she had joined AIR INDIA in New York and retired after 40 years of service. “I was interviewed by Peter Mahta, the U.S & Canada Regional Director at Air India, for a position as a reservation agent,” recalls Ms. Kuo. “I was the first local Reservation agent hired by Air India in the U.S. There was a total of eight employees, including Ashok Dutt, Sales Manager; Bill Shaw, Cargo Manager; Don Gazdar, Reservations Manager; and I.”
Air India ad in May 4,1960 edition of the New York Times
Working in four small rooms within the offices of Tata Inc., on 425 Park Avenue in New York City, AIR INDIA’s successful business operation began 60 years ago. Reservations, ticketing and teletype were in a one room with three desks. “As we were preparing for the first transatlantic flight on May 14, 1960, we needed more staff and larger offices and moved to the 11th floor on 410 Park Avenue,” Ms. Kuo says.
Dilip Dulai was hired for accounting and stayed with Air India until his retirement. Airport traffic was handled by British Airways and there weren’t any AIR INDIA staff at JFK Airport. “I remained with AIR INDIA — through numerous personnel changes, in different positions and office locations in New York City — until my early retirement almost 40 years later. Now, in 2020, it has been 60 years since the inaugural flight. It is a bittersweet milestone as most of my colleagues from that time have passed on,” says Ms. Kuo, who is now in her Eighties living in Queens, NY.
Andy Bhatia, a veteran of Air India sales department in North America, a close link between the fast-growing Indian American community and the national carrier of India, had served the Airline for 34 years in the US. For several decades he was the face of AIR INDIA at numerous community events, where the national carrier made its mark among the community members across the country.
AIR INDIA was not only a carrier to the small Indian community in the US, recalls Anil Bansal, President, Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), Founder & Executive Chairman of the former Indus American Bank, and the President of the First National Realty Management, Lyndhurst, NJ. AIR INDIA was a link and a life line between India and the early settlers who had come to the US pursuing greener pastures in this land of opportunities.
First Day Cover issued by the Indian Postal Department
In a congratulatory note on this special occasion, Mr. Bansal said, “Congratulations to Air India for serving the Indian community in the US for the past 60 years since their first flight arrived in New York on May 14, 1960. Those of us who came here as students in the 1960s or 1070s, remember how AIR INDIA brought news and entertainment from back home by making available a selection of new feature length Indian movies to be shown every weekend on the University Campuses and a special edition of the Hindustan Times with condensed weekly news from back home,” Mr. Bansal gratefully acknowledges.
By organizing art and essay competitions, and by offering books, magazines, entertainment, unique posters and recipe books, which were always much sought after by all, Mr. Bansal says, AIR INDIA played a significant role in the life of the growing Indian community in the US.
“Best of all, AIR INDIA helped many Indian organizations in showcasing India’s rich history and culture in the United States,” Mr. Bansal, who is leading the largest Indian organization in the US on its golden jubilee years, says. “FIA has been partners with Air India for 50 years, virtually from Day 1 that FIA was founded. They have always supported us, it has been a great association, partnership and friendship.”
Headquartered in Bombay (Mumbai), AIR INDIA’s first ever scheduled air service was inaugurated in 1932 by J.R.D. Tata, flying mail and passengers between Karāchi, Ahmadābād, Bombay, Bellary, and Madras. By 1939 routes had been extended to Trivandrum, Delhi, Colombo, Lahore, and intermediate points. After World War II, in 1946, Tata Airlines was converted into a public company and renamed Air-India Limited. Two years later, to inaugurate international services between Bombay (Mumbai) and Cairo, Geneva, and London, Air-India International Limited was formed.
Nancy Kuo, First Air India employee
In 1953 India nationalized all Indian airlines, creating two corporations—one for domestic service, called Indian Airlines Corporation (merging Air-India Limited with six lesser lines), and one for international service, Air-India International Corporation. The latter’s name was abbreviated to Air-India in 1962. In the following decades as India’s flag carrier, the airline extended its international routes to all continents except South America and Australia, and it expanded its cargo operations. To gain a competitive advantage in computerized reservation searches, the airline removed the hyphen from its name in 2005 to become Air India.
J. R. D. Tata founded Tata Airlines in 1932 as a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now Tata Group). After World War II, regular commercial service in India went back to normal, Tata Airlines changing its name to Air India and becoming a public limited company on the 29th of July 1946.
On June 9th, 1948, Air India introduced a regular service from Bombay to London, and two years later, AIR INDIA started regular flights to Nairobi. In 1993, AIR INDIA’s first Boeing 747-400, named Konark, operated the first non-stop flight between New York City and Delhi. In 1996, Air India started using its second US gateway at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Services to Air India’s third US gateway at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark were introduced in the year 2000.
In October 2016, AIR INDIA changed the Delhi – San Francisco route previously operated over the Atlantic Ocean to flying over the Pacific Ocean, in order to take advantage of jet stream winds and use less fuel. With the total flown distance being over 15,200 kilometres (9,400 miles), AIR INDIA operated the world’s longest non-stop regular scheduled commercial flight.
Nancy Kuo being congratulated and presented with a memento on 35 years of service by Shankar Ghose, Regional Director USA & Canada on her left and P.K. Sinha, Manager USA & Canada on her right.
AIR INDIA has been an innovator of sorts, flying chef-on-board as early as 1987 when the four best restaurant chefs of them world flew on board AI flights serving delectable food to First and Business food on order. The meal sampling that followed from the myriad choice in the menu served onboard was a great experience. Not only was the taste very good, the health issue was attended by no visible oil or heavy spices. It was a gastronomical delight for all media participants.
AIR INDIA has many first in its glorious 60 years history of flying to the US. It marked the International Women’s Day in 2019 by flying all-women-crews to various cities – Washington DC, Newark, Chicago & San Francisco. The national carrier flew four flights to the US with women pilots as its commanders. Air India says it has become the first airline to fly around the world with an all-female crew, just ahead of International Women’s Day. “Air India scripted history by flying an all-women crew flight around the world,” the airline said in a statement on Facebook, after Flight AI 174 touched back down in New Delhi.
“Literally with high flying women. All 4 Air India flights into US today, JFK, Newark, Chicago & SFo were commandered by women pilots. We were delighted to honour 8 women pilots at the Consulate on #Internationalwomensday. Big thanks to Vandana Sharma of @airindiain& FIA,” tweeted Consul General of India, New York, Sandeep Chakravorty.
In addition to the four flights to the US, the airline flew all-women-crew flights to destinations including Milan, Frankfurt, and Singapore. Air India reiterated that by flying all-women-crew in its flights it wants to stress on its constant efforts to encourage women by giving them an equal opportunity in the workplace.
Air India’s Delhi-San Francisco non-stop service on August 15, India’s 73rd Independence Day, created history — it became the first Indian commercial flight to fly over the Polar region, The flight did its bit to save the environment and also ensured that the journey between the two cities becomes shorter.
The opening of the Polar route will help Air India’s operations to all the five cities in the US that it flies to — New York, Newark, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington DC. Potentially, the opening of the Polar route could lead to Air India no longer operating the ‘around the world’ flight that it currently plies to reach San Francisco. The Delhi-San Francisco route was launched in 2015.
AIR INDIA has been in the forefront when calamities struck Indians living abroad. The services rendered by AIR INDIA has continued to this day. “Right now, during this COVID pandemic, we salute AIR INIDIA for the bravery and the service they are providing to evacuate stranded Indians from America and other countries. FIA and the Indian community will remain grateful,” Mr. Bansal acknowledges.
Nancy Kuo is seen with Peter Mahta, Regional Director-Americas (retired) on his 80th birthday
The first AIR INDIA special flight, which took off from San Francisco with 225 Indians on board, landed in Mumbai on Monday, May 11th, 60 years later it started its operations in the US. The passengers departed from San Francisco International Airport on Saturday under the Government of India’s Vande Bharat mission on Sunday. “First AI spl flight from the US brings in 225 Indians from San Francisco to Mumbai. Thank @airindiain @MoCA_GoI and Maharashtra Govt for support and coordination. Great work by CG Sanjay Panda and Team @CGISFO,” External Affair Minister S Jaishankar tweeted.
According to India’s Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, of the 64 flights that will leave for the 12 countries, seven flights would be dedicated to the U.S., another seven to U.K., 10 to UAE, five to Saudi Arabia, five to Singapore, two to Qatar.
Over the past six decades, AIR INDIA has come to be trusted for its consistency and dedicated services unique to the national carrier. “If I were to send my aged parents or a minor child, or any newcomer to the United States, I always look forward to AIR INDIA for a reliable service and confidence in helping them reach safely home,” says Dr. Narendra Kumar, past President of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. “While many of us ignore the lack of services or the attitude of other international flights, we tend to complain about or take for granted several services AIR INDIA offers to the Indian American community,” he adds.
With expansion and bigger competitions from other airlines, AIR INDIA began to borrow in order maintain its operations around the world. In 2013, Air India cleared some of its debts by selling and leasing back the newly acquired Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Also, as a part of the financial restructuring, the airline sold five of its eight Boeing 777-200LR aircraft to Etihad Airways.
In 2018, the Indian government tried to privatize Air India by selling 76% of its stake in the national carrier but failed because no private-sector buyer expressed interest in the state-owned airline. In January 2020, the Indian government approved a new proposal to divest 100% stake in Air India, which will be followed by the Expression of Interest (EoI) document to be issued this month.
Not many are happy are happy about the national carrier of India becoming privately owned business. “We wish Air India a bright future and hope things will improve, and they will continue as an independent airline,” Mr. Bansal says.
(By Ambassador Anil Trigunayat, former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta)
Covid 19 virus has brought the world to a stand still and overly defensive mode. Countries are cut off with one another with increasing restrictions on movement. Only stranded citizens or some special categories have been allowed to be repatriated or evacuated from abroad. Borders are sealed within countries and with the outside world. Economies are in recession, industry in shut down and the countries in lock down. Travel and Tourism have become things of the past at least in the short term. Airlines and other logistics are looking for lifelines and financial bail outs to stay afloat. Health care of citizens and handholding of the industry and economy are the primary concerns of the world leaders.
In this dire situation of isolation and social distancing some restrictive measures have been taken that might impact on the free movement of people to other countries for travel, tourism, or immigration. It might take much longer for the world to become a normal place.
On April 22, President Trump has signed an executive order “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak” declaring that “In the administration of our Nation’s immigration system, we must be mindful of the impact of foreign workers on the United States labor market, particularly in an environment of high domestic unemployment and depressed demand for labor…..Furthermore, lawful permanent residents, once admitted, are granted “open-market” employment authorization documents, allowing them immediate eligibility to compete for almost any job, in any sector of the economy. There is no way to protect already disadvantaged and unemployed Americans from the threat of competition for scarce jobs from new lawful permanent residents by directing those new residents to particular economic sectors with a demonstrated need not met by the existing labor supply. Existing immigrant visa processing protections are inadequate for recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak. The vast majority of immigrant visa categories do not require employers to account for displacement of United States workers. While some employment-based visas contain a labor certification requirement, because visa issuance happens substantially after the certification is completed, the labor certification process cannot adequately capture the status of the labor market today. Moreover, introducing additional permanent residents when our healthcare resources are limited puts strain on the finite limits of our healthcare system at a time when we need to prioritize Americans and the existing immigrant population. In light of the above, I have determined that the entry, during the next 60 days, of certain aliens as immigrants would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.” It does exclude the spouses of US citizens, Doctors and Nurses and Health care professionals in the context of Covid 19 and those Immigrant Investor E-5 visa programme. ALL US visas have already been temporarily suspended and may take much longer to be revived. Green Card applications have been put on hold. It may sound innocuous. But it is in keeping with President Trump’s election speeches during 2015-16 and his subsequent emphasis on “American first“ and even most recently announced special financial assistance to the US industries which will shift back their businesses to the country. It also tends to set an example that for all the US problems the immigrant work force is responsible forgetting in the process that USA is a nation of immigrants and whose contributions have been critical to it becoming a hyper power and the biggest economy in the world. Similar anti-immigrant rhetoric has become a common place of political parlance. in European countries where extreme political right wingers are gaining substantial mileage, it is a dangerous trend even if politically expedient in the short term.
India has a highly successful diaspora of over 30 million comprising Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who have acquitted themselves creditably in their host countries and the country of origin. Several have reached the pinnacles of success and are heading the biggest Multi-National Corporations in the West. They have done well in science, medicine, industry, agriculture and enterprise. In the Silicon Valley the Indian software professionals and companies have become a gold standard and contributed to US becoming the most advanced knowledge economy. They are the largest claimants of the H1B professional visas even though it has been a point of discussion between the Indian and US authorities time and again. Many have become successful politicians and Governors and, in some countries, even the Prime Ministers and Heads of State. It is a matter of pride that in the UK the Finance and Interior Ministers belong to this category. In the top ten industrialists in the UK there are several early Entrepreneurs of Indian Origin (EIO). In the Canadian Cabinet of PM Trudeau several accomplished Indians from the sub-continent have made a mark. Indian origin people in the US account for nearly 4 million about whom President Trump spoke glowingly during his February visit to India let alone the famous “Howdy Modi “ event in Houston Texas where he walked around the stadium with PM Modi for the cheering huge Indian crowds. NRIs and PIOs have become the hall mark of excellence and a reliable bridge between their adopted countries and India. The Brain drain of yore has converted into the “Brain trust” of modern times.
Likewise, in the West Asian region over nine million Indians have become the integral part of the exceptional development and progress especially of the oil rich gulf economies. They comprise of high-quality professionals, bankers, entrepreneurs, medical professionals including nurses and para medic staff and blue-collar workers.Their enterprise, loyalty and discipline are admired and respected by their local hosts. They have helped the Indian economy through foreign exchange remittances and most of it stays back in the country unlike from some other regions which are market driven deposits. They have been remitting over US $ 40-50 bn annually from the gulf region and India gets the highest remittances world wide. However, the general down turn in the gulf economies and low crude oil prices have had an impact on employment and remittances in recent years . With the Covid 19 pandemic combined with lower crude prices the economies are expected to contact by 25-30% and major projects might be deferred or a complete restructuring of their economic model might ensue in a changed global order. This obviously will have an adverse effect on the employability of expatriate work force in these countries. World Bank estimated that in view of deadly corona virus pandemic remittances to India are likely to drop by 23 percent from US$ 83 bn ( 2019) to US$ 64 bn this year. It will be largely due to fall in the wages of migrant workers. Retrenchments and repatriation in large number may follow which will have its socio-economic consequences on several sending states. In addition those industrialists and entrepreneurs who set up shops abroad might find it difficult to salvage their balance sheets without huge injection of capital and state support. This vicious cycle will have its own dynamic that is difficult to exactly define and predict at this stage.
Indian government has been the first responder to evacuate thousands of her citizens as well as from many other countries from the conflict and Covid zones. In the wake of Covid 19 and to express solidarity with the world, Prime Minister Modi initiated the digital diplomacy and video conferencing with our neighbours and many world leaders including G20 to galvanize global concert and effort. To ensure the welfare of Indian citizens he spoke to the Heads of State and Governments of the countries where larger numbers of the Indian diaspora are located and sincere assurances have been received from their leadership at the highest level. Embassies have been charged to extend all assistance to the community in distress.
By the end of Covid 19 Government interventions and role will be enhanced to mitigate, control the spread of virus and ensure healthy recovery of the maximum people and to salvage the economy. But this will also likely lead to greater restrictions on the border management and immigration controls will be severe especially in the developed world which has as such failed the high standards the rest of the world held them in this fight against the pandemic. Restrictions on movement will be unfortunate and must be dispensed with even by those who feel the rising unemployment in their countries has increased due to migrant workforce and not due to wrong policy choices and lack of factual determination on the part of political and industrial leadership. Unfortunately, UN and other international bodies have also disappointed in recent times. Recourse, therefore, lies in continued bilateral and multilateral engagement.
India has kept in abeyance multiple-entry, life-long visas given to Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders till international travel remains suspended, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Tuesday.
The order, however, said that card holders who are already in India can stay in the country for any length of time.
The ministry said that it has issued an order “specifying that the right of multiple entry life-long visa facility for visiting India for any purpose granted to persons registered as OCI cardholders would continue to be kept in abeyance till the prohibition on international air travel of passengers from/to India is lifted by the Government of India”.
“Any foreign national holding an OCI card who intends to travel to India for compelling reasons during this period would have to contact the nearest Indian Mission,” it said.
Further, in case of persons holding OCI card who are already in India, the OCI card shall remain valid for their stay in India for any length of time.
All existing visas granted to foreigners — except those belonging to diplomatic, official, UN international organisations, employment and project categories — shall remain suspended till prohibition on international air travel of passengers from and to India is lifted by the government, the order said. (IANS)
The Finance Ministry on Friday announced relief to those who have been facing difficulty with the status of their residency in India under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, due to lockdown and suspension of international flights.
Owing to outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19), several NRIs and foreign visitors have been forced to prolong their stay in India. This has changed the status of their residency having implications on their taxability in India.
The Finance Ministry has now decided not to include extended stay of foreign visitors and NRIs in India due to lockdown in determining their residential status.
Considering various representations received from people who had to prolong their stay in India due to lockdown and suspension of international flights, expressing concerns that they will be required to file tax returns as Indian residents, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday allowed discounting of prolonged stay period in India for the purpose of determining residency status, a government statement said.
The Finance Ministry further stated that as the lockdown continues during the financial year 2020-21 and it is not yet clear as to when international flight operations would resume, a circular excluding the period of stay of these individuals up to the date of normalisation of international flight operations, for determination of the residential status for the financial year 2020-21 shall be issued after the flights are resumed.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued a necessary circular to this effect. The circular makes it clear that any period of stay in India post March 22 to March 31 will not be included for calculation of number of days required to determine residency status for tax purpose. Also, visitors who had to be quarantined for a period even before March 22 will also get relief.
Even if an individual has departed on an evacuation flight on or before March 31, 2020, his period of stay in India from March 22 to his date of departure shall not be taken into account.
It may be noted that there are number of individuals who had come on a visit to India during the previous year 2019-20 for a particular duration and intended to leave India before the end of the previous financial year for maintaining their status as non-resident or not ordinary resident in India.
The status of an individual whether he is resident in India or a non-resident or not ordinarily resident, is dependent, inter-alia, on the period for which the person is in India during a year. (IANS)
Indian Embassy in US calls for registration of Indian Citizens to be transported back to India
Almost 200,000 Indians have registered with the country’s missions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for repatriation flights that will begin operating from May 7, with officials saying priority would be given to workers who have lost jobs and people with medical emergencies.
The Indian government had on Monday announced it would begin repatriating Indians stranded around the world because of the Covid-19 crisis from May 7 and authorities said naval ships and chartered flights would bring back hundreds of thousands of people in phases.
“Given that the Embassy/Consulate have received almost 200,000 registrations for travelling back, it will take time for all people to be accommodated on these flights,” said a statement issued by the Indian consulate in Dubai late on Monday.
The first two special flights from the UAE to India will operate from Abu Dhabi to Kochi and from Dubai to Kozhikode on Thursday, the statement said. “The passenger lists for both these flights will be finalised by the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, and the Consulate General of India, Dubai, on the basis of registrations in the…database for this purpose launched a few days back,” it added.
The statement said priority would be given to “workers in distress, elderly people, urgent medical cases, pregnant women as well as to other people who are stranded in difficult situations”.
The cost of tickets and other facilities, such as quarantine after reaching India, would be “conveyed in due course and will have to be accepted by each passenger”, the statement said.
However, experts from the UAE’s aviation and travel industries indicated to Gulf News that the cost of a ticket on the special flights would be almost double the price of a normal ticket for this time of the year.
“A one-way repatriation ticket to Delhi will cost approximately Dh 1,400-Dh 1,650 – this would earlier have cost between Dh 600-Dh 700 [during these months],” said Jamal Abdulnazar, CEO of Cozmo Travel.
“A one-way repatriation flight ticket to Kerala would cost approximately Dh 1,900-Dh 2,300,” he said.
Gulf News reported that price could be a burden for a majority of people taking these flights because they had “either lost their jobs or are sending back their families because of uncertainty on the work front”. The aviation and travel industry experts said the higher rates couldn’t be avoided because social distancing norms would limit the number of passengers on each flight.
Indian ambassador Pavan Kapoor told the daily that the missions in the UAE had “prioritised the list of passengers and given it to Air India”. He added, “We would call and email each passenger to contact Air India to get their tickets issued. The first two flights on Thursday would be to Kerala, considering the high number of applicants from the state.”
One of the three Indian Navy ships that set off on Monday night to evacuate stranded Indians – INS Shardul – will go to Dubai to bring back expatriates, the defence ministry said. The other two warships – INS Jalashwa and INS Magar – were sent to the Maldives. All three warships will return to Kochi.
Kapoor also said there would be flights almost on a daily basis to various destinations in India. Other officials said Indians stranded in the UAE with visit and tourist visas and those with cancelled visas would also be given preference for returning home.
The Indian missions in the UAE will convey details of further flights to different destinations in India in the coming days. “We seek patience and cooperation from everyone as the Government of India undertakes this massive task of repatriation of Indian nationals,” the statement said.
The UAE is home to more than two million Indian expatriates. Their welfare figured in a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed on March 26.
Transport from USA
As per the press release issued by Ministry of Home Affairs on 4 May 2020, Government of India will be facilitating the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad on compelling grounds in phased a manner. Details may be seen at Click Here
The purpose of this form is only to collect relevant information for planning purposes by the Government of India. The Embassy/Consulate will inform you about the commencement of flights from US to India. Incomplete forms will not be considered.
In case of any flights arranged from the U.S. to India, one must agree to:
Undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine, either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment-basis, on my arrival in India as per the protocols framed by the Government of India;
Bear the expenditure of travel and mandatory quarantine for self and family members;
Abide by the instructions and requirements as detailed by the crew of the flight/Embassy or Consulate/Government of India/ medical personnel before, during and after boarding of the flight, and also after disembarkation at the designated airport in India; and
Submit the undertaking as provided at (Download Undertaking Form), to authorized Embassy/ Consulate staff before boarding the flight.
Register on the Aarogya Setu App on reaching destination
Sens. Durbin, Perdue teamed up on the bill to bring relief to US health care professionals
A bipartisan group of senators introduced new legislation Thursday to grant 40,000 unused green card slots to foreign health care workers needed to help U.S. medical professionals fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., a longtime stalwart of immigration-related legislation, unveiled the bill with his colleagues, Sens. David Perdue, R-Ga., Todd Young, R-Ind., and Chris Coons, D-Del.
The bill would authorize up to 25,000 immigrant visas to go to foreign nurses and up to 15,000 for doctors who are eligible to come to the United States or who are already here on temporary work visas. These immigrant visas would lead to employment-based green cards. The legislation would also allow U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to give out slots from a pool of previously unclaimed green cards for the families of these medical workers.
“Consider this: One-sixth of our health care workforce is foreign-born. Immigrant nurses and doctors play a vital role in our healthcare system, and their contributions are now more crucial than ever. Where would we be in this pandemic without them?” said Durbin, the Democratic whip, in a statement. “This bipartisan, targeted, and timely legislation will strengthen our health care workforce and improve health care access for Americans in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Perdue noted that a growing shortage of doctors and nurses in the United States over the past decade has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.
“Fortunately, there are thousands of trained health professionals who want to practice in the United States,” he said. “This proposal would simply reallocate a limited number of unused visas from prior years for doctors and nurses who are qualified to help in our fight against COVID-19.”
Every year, 160,000 employment-based green cards are slated to be given out, but not all of the slots get filled. The ones that don’t get used get taken off the table for that year.
That has let to an accumulation of about 200,000 such unused green cards over the last three decades. Under the legislation introduced Thursday, the government would be allowed to “recapture” around 40,000 of those visas.
“I think this is a really surgical intervention, to use a relevant term,” said Bruce Morrison, a former congressman who lobbies for the American Hospital Association.
“At a time when the problem we have on the front lines of our response to the pandemic is that there aren’t enough resources, doctors and nurses,” he said. “This is a tailored and targeted response to precisely that problem.”
Currently, there are more than 10,000 medical residents already in the country on nonimmigrant J-1 visas and H-1B visas, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Those residents are American-trained health care workers, but their strict visa requirements often do not afford them the flexibility to serve changing needs amid the coronavirus crisis. For example, they are not allowed to take on telehealth appointments or take shifts at hospitals other than the ones that have specifically sponsored their visas.
Foreign nurses, on the other hand, often are approved to come to America on employment-based green cards. But even after their applications are approved, many get stuck in their home countries due to U.S. processing delays and backlogs.
The new Senate bill would circumvent the politics that typically bog down immigration-related legislation in Congress, Morrison said.
“It is very easy to keep something from happening in Washington — it’s the skill that is very prevalent,” he said. “This is not a change that the so-called restrictionists may be concerned about.”
Well who doesn’t like travelling and exploring new, beautiful places? And if you are a travel enthusiast as well as someone who travels a lot, you know the struggle of deciding what clothes to pack to take along with you. However, let’s not forget how important it is to take out the time to decide an airport outfit. Well, you can now search for your favorite travel outfit with the help of an image search tool. Using an image finder tool is now so helpful for the young travelers to keep their outfit up to date. By performing reverse image search of fashion image or photo, they can easily find out the exact features of their favorite travelling outfit.
The era of wearing really fancy and heavy clothes to the airport has long been bid farewell to. People now do consider what they should wear while travelling which will keep the in the trend game while making comfort as a top priority. The right clothing can have a very positive influence on you overall. The confidence that is felt in a cool outfit is beyond the imagination. Obviously, when you are travelling, you have to make sure that you reach your destination with a clear mind and your clothing can really have an influence on your thinking pattern.
So it is essential that you take out the time to decide an airport outfit that will inspire your 2020 travel and we have surely come up with some of the best and the most trending ideas of the year, for you.
Lili Reinhart look absolutely gorgeous and all ready to travel
No better way to make these super versatile jeans pop up other than by pairing them up this super cool black shirt because you can never go wrong with black and as everyone says, ‘’when you feel confused, wear black.’’
But these aren’t the only things making Lili look spot on. The real show stopper is the tweed coat which adds up all the spice to this really simple outfit. And well, mules were definitely the best option to go with because not only would they provide you with comfort while you travel, but they also add that classiness to your look.
So, wouldn’t it have been unfair if Lili’s this look wasn’t on top of the list? Well, exactly. This is the perfect go-to look which doesn’t make her look to plain and at the same time not too off the board.
Isn’t this the boss-girl kind of look to fly to your destination?
Well, if you want to get that ‘’model-off-duty’’ kind of appearence, then be sure to pair a high-rise trousers with a tucked in shirt. And to make one look more composed and if you are someone who thinks long coats are just a little too much or uncomfortable and want a replacement, then you should definitely go with the cropped jacket because let’s just admit it, this does look graceful from every aspect.
This is the most put together look for 2020 which is ideeal to be classified as one of the favorite airport outfits of the year.
Gigi’s travel outfit
And guess who it is? The queen herself. This was Gigi’s travel outfit to Milan for the year 2020. As we all know that this year is all about oversized clothing and big capacious bags, it is appropriate to say that this year screams the ‘’go big or go home’’ motto. And Gigi’s look really goes hand in hand with the trend.
The olive green oversized coat is everything you need to make your outfit look chic. Not to forget the beige tote in her hand which looks a perfect fit with the overall look. She paired these up with monochrome trainers and them amazing shades.
We ain’t calling Gigi a queen without any reasons. She is a real show stopper. And just like the look she did to the airport for Milan, Gigi made sure that she didn’t violate the fashion trends of 2020 while being at Tokyo’s airport as well.
Again, an oversized blazer but this time, she went for a black T-shirt and obviously, you can not get the right look without the right sunglasses and so Gigi went with the micro sunglasses for the look making sure, that her look would make the heads turn and stay in the best airport lookbook of the year.
Victoria Beckham with the oversized bottoms
Victoria Beckham with the oversized bottoms look absolutely iconic at the airport. Although she wore this look for 2017, but we think that the oversized bottoms and the top that she’s wearing, wouldn’t limit the appreciation to a specific year only.
Sometimes, you just have to go with a very easy look but you have to make sure that you stay classy, and this is surely what Victoria did. Her ‘’Fashion stole my smile’’ shirt was the perfect top-off to the look and made everyone go crazy for it.
Rihanna adds style to whatever she does
Well Rihanna for sure knows how to do it. Starting off with how gorgeous her fluffy coat looks, let’s just appreciate and agree on the fact that Rihanna adds style to whatever she does. Rihanna’s JFK look at the airport holding not one but TWO bags makes everybody’s jaws drops because she has proved it that the amount of bags do not matter until or unless you carry yourself with all the grace and class. And she, for sure is doing so.
Following the sharp economic downturn and suspension of business operations triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of US firms employing H-1B visa holders have laid off numerous employees.
If an employer terminates the contract of H-1B visa holders, the employees need to find new employment within 60 days to retain the H-1B status or face the prospect of being deported to their home countries. This existing rule has exacerbated the problems of H-1B visa holders who have been laid off.
Several reports in the US media have cited Indian H-1B visa holders as expressing concerns that it will be virtually impossible for them to find new jobs if they are laid off, given the rapidly slowing economy.
The Indian government has asked the US to extend the validity of visas, including H-1B and other types of visas, held by Indian nationals who have been hit by the Covid-19-related economic slump, people familiar with developments said on Friday.
A petition on the White House website is requesting the US administration to extend the 60-day period to 180 days to protect H-1B workers in these difficult times. The petition further states: “Most H-1B workers are from India and cannot travel home with children who are US citizens as many nations [have] announced an entry ban, including India.”
It adds: “The Covid-19 situation is getting worse with massive lay-offs expected. The economic conditions may have a significant impact on H-1B workers.”
The petition has nearly 49,000 signatures but will get a response from the White House only if it reaches 100,000 signatures by April 18.
The Indian side is hopeful the US administration will step in to help H-1B visa holders.
The H-1B programme is a non-immigrant work visa that allows American employers to hire foreign workers for specialist jobs, and Indians are the largest beneficiary of the programme.
Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla took up the matter during his telephone conversation with US deputy secretary of state Stephen Biegun on Wednesday, when the two sides also discussed ways to enhance cooperation to counter the pandemic and ensure the availability of essential medicines and equipment.
“We have been in touch with the US government, requesting them to extend the validity of visas of Indian nationals – H-1B and other types of visas – who are stranded in the US due to the pandemic,” said one of the people cited above, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“We are closely monitoring related developments,” the person added, without giving details.
As New York state climbs the steep face of its COVID-19 curve, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order vastly widening the scope of practice for some healthcare providers and absolving physicians of certain risks and responsibilities.
Along with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, both the states’ governors signed executive orders this week waiving licensing requirements or granting temporary licenses to foreign-born and foreign-licensed physicians in training in the U.S., in order to lessen the pressure on the work force currently stretched thin, according to a Times of India report.
The new relaxation of the rules could mean that nearly 1,000 Indian physicians currently on J-1 and H-1B visas could join coronavirus fight.
Med Page Today reports that, the order’s provisions include eliminating physician supervision of physician assistants, nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and others; enabling foreign medical graduates, such as those of Indian origin, with at least a year of graduate medical education to care for patients; allowing emergency medical services personnel to operate under the orders of NPs, PAs and paramedics; allowing medical students to practice without a clinical affiliation agreement, and lifting 80-hour weekly work limits for residents; granting providers immunity from civil liability for injury or death
Suspending usual record-keeping requirements; allowing several types of healthcare professionals with licenses in other states to practice in New York; and suspending or revoking hospitals’ operating certificates if they don’t halt elective surgeries.
The order, which remains in place through at least April 22, was met mostly with applause, though with some hesitation around work-hour limits, the report said.
Meanwhile, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin is doing its part to help as well. AAPI announced it has organized national tele-conferences on COVID-19, in collaboration with the Indian Embassy and National Council of Asian Indian Americans.
“While COVID-19 continues to disrupt life around the globe, AAPI is committed to helping its tens of thousands of members across the U.S. and others across the globe,” said AAPI president Dr. Suresh Reddy.
Reddy notes that, as concerned physicians witnessing the growing COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our society, healthcare system and economy, AAPI has embarked on several initiatives.
The most effective so far, he said, has been offering twice a week conference calls having been attended by over 2,000 physicians from across the United States.
The teleconference on March 27 was unique as it was jointly organized by AAPI, Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, and National Council of Asian Indian Americans, the release said.
Anurag Kumar, Minister of Community Affairs, while praising the numerous efforts of AAPI, especially in this season of pandemic affecting the world, enumerated the many efforts of the Embassy to help Indians, and with particular focus on the nearly 200,000 Indian students in the U.S., the release said.
The teleconference was moderated by Dr. Lokesh Edara, who lauded AAPI’s efforts in providing such a forum to join in and share their expertise with their fellow physicians and thus provide the best care practice to their patients, especially in this season of fastspreading Covid-19 global pandemic, the AAPI release said.
Dr. Prasad Garimella was a main speaker at the conference. The Indian American physician is a critical care medicine specialist in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and has been practicing for 20 years.
He specializes in critical care medicine, pulmonary disease. Garimella gave an overview of the situation in the state of Georgia, and the many challenges his state faces as the pandemic is fast spreading.
“Everyone needs to act like a health care professional and needs to have the best attitude in order to defeat this deadly virus,” he said, according to the news release. “Social distancing is not isolating. Keep in touch with loved ones. Stay busy and stay connected. Filter and assess the news, look for credible sources to rely upon.”
Dr. Arunachalam Einstein was another speaker, who is an emergency medicine specialist in Everett, Washington. He specializes in emergency medicine and internal medicine. Einstein gave an update of case status in his state.
Another main speaker for the day was Dr. Usha Rani Karumudii, an infectious disease specialist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Easton Hospital and UPMC Passavant.
Kanumudi, in her address, said coronavirus has been there for long. The new virus is called novel because it’s highly infectious and we have high number of people with symptoms.
Another major initiative of AAPI has been the “Donate a Mask” program.
March 30 was National Doctors Day, an annual celebration aimed at appreciating and honoring physicians who help save lives everywhere.
“I want to take this special opportunity to thank our physicians for responding to late-night phone calls, working long hours and providing unswerving care. Today, more than ever, we know the sacrifices they make to put the health of their communities first,” Reddy said in a statement.
“We do acknowledge that these are challenging times, more than ever for us, physicians, who are on the frontline to assess, diagnose and treat people who are affected by this deadly pandemic, COVID-19. Many of our colleagues have sacrificed their lives in order to save those impacted by this pandemic around the world,” he said.
As weary travelers returned to the U.S. amid coronavirus-related travel restrictions, they were greeted with packed, hourslong waits for required medical screenings at airports.
Posts on social media indicated passengers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport waited upward of four hours in winding lines, eliciting criticism from elected Illinois officials.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker tweeted at President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, noting that the customs process is under federal jurisdiction and demanding they take action to address the crowds. His concerns were echoed on Twitter by his fellow Democrats, Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth.
“This is unacceptable, counterproductive and exactly the opposite of what we need to do to prevent #COVID19,” Duckworth tweeted. “The Trump Administration must send more support to O’Hare immediately.”
While U.S. citizens, green card holders and some others are allowed to return home, travelers from Europe are being funneled to one of 13 U.S. airports where they’re subject to health screenings and quarantine orders.
Acknowledging the long lines at those airports in tweets posted just after midnight, the Department of Homeland Security’s acting secretary said the screenings take about a minute per passenger.
“Right now we are working to add additional screening capacity and working with the airlines to expedite the process,” Chad Wolf tweeted. “I understand this is very stressful. In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience.”
The dense crowds at the selected airports — among the busiest across the country — formed even as public health officials call for “social distancing” to stem the spread of the virus.
“I’m less concerned about having to stand here for the amount of time that I am, and more concerned about where the people are traveling from that are around me and what they may or may not have been exposed to,” Dorothy Lowe told WFAA-TV at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where some waits stretched to three hours.
The Texas airport’s Twitter account responded to passengers who raised concerns about the cramped conditions, saying its customer experience team was taking “extra precautions” and that hand sanitizer was available in all terminals. Meanwhile, O’Hare and Chicago police offered queuers bottled water and snacks, according to the airport’s Twitter account.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
Travelers from restricted countries in Europe, China and Iran are being advised to self-quarantine for 14 days after reaching their final destination in the U.S. “If you don’t have to travel, I wouldn’t do it,” Trump said.
In view of the rapid spread of coronavirus, the Government of India has suspended Travel Visas to India until April 15, with a few exceptions, according to a statement by the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC.
The Indian government has issued the following instructions:
All existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN / International Organizations, employment and project visas, stand suspended till 15 April 2020. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT (0800 EST) on 13 March 2020 at the port of departure.
Visa free travel facility granted to OCI card holders is kept in abeyance till 15 April 2020. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT (0800 EST) on 13 March 2020 at the port of departure.
Any foreign national who might need to travel to India for compelling reasons may contact the nearest Indian Mission / Consulate.
All incoming travelers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after 15 February 2020 shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT (0800 EST) on 13 March 2020 at the port of departure.
All incoming travelers, including Indian nationals, would be subject to medical screening and can be quarantined for a minimum of 14 days on their arrival in India.
International traffic through land borders will be restricted to designated check posts with robust screening facilities. Ministry of Home Affairs will separately notify these check posts.
Following the shutting down of university campuses in various parts of the US in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the government on Thursday advised Indian students to avoid international travel.
The Consulate General of India in New York in its advisory asked the students to either stay put in on-campus housing or move in with friends unless it is necessary. The campuses which have closed are now offering online classes to the students in the US.
The government advised the students who are staying in on-campus housing and have been asked to leave by the school authorities, to check with the university if they can stay back. “If the universities are not accepting applications or have not approved applications for continued housing, ask friends if they will be able to host for the period for which the university has shut down,” the advisory said.
The consulate asked the students to check with their respective university about how to avail of health services, international student services, and any other essential services which are impacted in case on-campus services are suspended.
The consulate has advised the students to avoid all non-essential travel internationally and domestically. “In case students do plan on international travel, they should check with designated school officials (DSOs) how any possible future international travel restrictions may challenge their F1 or J1 visa status,” the advisory said.
The government in its advisory told students that they will be subjected to medical screening upon arrival and may be put in quarantine for a minimum of 14 days, in case they plan to return home in India. (IANS)
Think your driver’s license is enough to get you through airport security in the United States and onto your domestic flight? Maybe not.
Some two-thirds of US state driver’s licenses are not compliant with a post-9/11 security law set to go into effect on October 1. Those who are not compliant will not be able to fly if they don’t have other forms of “REAL ID-compliant” identification.
Concerned about the impact on travel, the head of the US Department of Homeland Security loosened the restrictions this week, allowing the various state agencies to accept identity documents electronically.
“Ensuring every state is REAL ID compliant by October is one of the Department’s top priorities,” said DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, in a press release. “While progress has been made, the real work is still ahead because approximately two-thirds of all licenses are presently not compliant with REAL ID.
“Rest assured, our Department will continue to examine other viable options to improve upon this process and continues doing everything it can to inform Americans ofthe requirement to obtain a REAL ID before the full enforcement deadline later this year.”
While Wolf says this “pre-submission” of documents will result in a faster application process, it’s not clear how much faster it will be.
That’s because, as Wolf says, “an in-person visit is still required, as is showing up with physical copies of your documents.”
Starting October 1, travelers must have a “REAL ID-compliant” driver’s license, US passport, US military ID or other acceptable identification to fly within the United States.
The REAL ID Act, which established minimum security standards for the issuing of state licenses and their production, prohibits federal agencies from accepting licenses from states not meeting those minimum standards for certain activities.
To get a REAL ID-compliant state driver’s license, the DHS requires applicants provide documentation showing their full legal name, their date of birth, their Social Security number, two proofs of address of principal residence and lawful status. States may impose more requirements.
If you can’t produce acceptable identification, your US airport’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint will not clear you for flight. The TSA is part of the Department of Homeland Security. That could lead to serious backups at US airports starting October 1.
While many states have been issuing compliant documents for years, travelers shouldn’t assume their driver’s licenses and other documents meet the requirements. For example, Georgia became compliant in 2012 and California became compliant in 2018, but their driver’s licenses issued prior to those times in those states are not compliant.
Check if your state driver’s license or identification card is REAL ID compliant simply by looking for a star in the upper right-hand corner. Some state departments of motor vehicles will confirm REAL ID status online.
Still a backlog
The Department of Homeland Security reported this week that 48 of 50 states in the US are REAL ID compliant, up from January 2017, when only 26 states were. The two remaining states that haven’t started issuing new IDs are Oklahoma and Oregon.
Collectively, those 48 states have issued more than 95 million REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards.
While the US Travel Association applauded the government’s “pre-submission,” decision, “the challenge remains that tens of millions of Americans do not yet possess REAL ID-compliant identification,” said Tori Emerson Barnes, USTA executive vice president of public affairs and policy, in a statement.
A post 9/11 measure
The REAL ID Act’s requirement were part of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that the federal government set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Since the act’s 2005 passage, the federal government has implemented TSA Pre-Check and other programs that offer more security than REAL ID, said Barnes. That’s why the USTA is lobbying federal authorities to accept membership in those programs as a substitute for REAL ID. (DHS hasn’t said yes, at least not yet.)
US House Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Arizona) and Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Florida) have introduced legislation that would allow the TSA to accept membership in its Pre-Check program as a substitute for REAL ID.
Officials at USTA, which represents major airlines, hotels, state and local tourism boards and other travel industry members, worry that their members will lose customers who suddenly can’t fly within the US starting October 1, 2020.
A US passport qualifies as a REAL ID.
Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images
REAL ID-compliant state driver’s licenses or other state photo identity cards
A new federal regulation that took effect throughout the US could make it more difficult for legal immigrants dependent on government assistance to obtain permanent residency permits, known as green cards.
The so-called “public charge” rule, which went into effect on Monday, also applies to applicants for extension of non-immigrant stay in the US or change of non-immigrant status, reports Efe news.
Amid a months-long legal battle, President Donald Trump’s administration will start enforcing the regulation, which may transform the current US immigration system into one with a heavier emphasis on criteria such as a migrants’ income, age or academic training.
Although court appeals were still pending, the measure was implemented after the US Supreme Court on February 21 lifted an injunction that had been imposed by an Illinois district court.
The high court had earlier lifted injunctions against the policy that had been imposed by courts in the states of New York, California, Washington and Maryland.
The rule will not apply to immigrants who already have green cards nor to those applying for citizenship.
Refugees and people seeking or have been granted political asylum were also among those excluded from the restrictions.
Trump’s run to the White House in 2016 was fuelled in part by his vow to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and take other steps to crack down on illegal immigration.
Although the President enjoys strong backing from within his own Republican Party just over eight months prior to the 2020 general election, some former supporters-turned-critics say he has not done enough in that regard.
But many Republicans also want a partial – or even total – crackdown on legal immigration, warning that conservatives will not be able to win national elections in the future due to a steadily increasing number of traditionally Democratic-voting Hispanics in Texas and other states.
The new system, which has a lower annual salary threshold (£25,600) is likely to enable more Indians to access employment opportunities in the post-Brexit UK. Citizens of the European Union will no longer enjoy preferential access to living and working in the post-Brexit UK from January 1, 2021 under a new points-based immigration system likely to benefit Indian professionals who are already preferred by British employers.
Announcing the radical change on Wednesday, home secretary Priti Patel – daughter of Indian-origin immigrants – said the ‘free movement’ enjoyed by EU citizens over decades of UK’s membership of the EU will end, offering more opportunities to global talent.
The UK already issues more than half of its work visas to Indian professionals (52 per cent of Tier 2 visas). The new system, which has a lower annual salary threshold (£25,600) is likely to enable more Indians to access employment opportunities in the post-Brexit UK.
British business organizations cautiously welcomed the new regime, hailing the scrapping of cap on work visas, but feared severe labor shortages when low-skilled EU citizens will no longer be available in hospitality, care, food processing and other sectors.
Patel advised them to adapt and train 8 million economically inactive people in the UK population: “UK businesses will need to adapt and adjust to the end of free movement…(It) is important that employers move away from a reliance on the UK’s immigration system as an alternative to investment in staff retention, productivity, and wider investment in technology”.
The new system’s policy document states: “For too long, distorted by European free movement rights, the immigration system has been failing to meet the needs of the British people. Failing to deliver benefits across the UK and failing the highly-skilled migrants from around the world who want to come to the UK”.
“Our approach will change all of this. We are implementing a new system that will transform the way in which all migrants come to the UK to work, study, visit or join their family…From 1 January 2021, EU and non-EU citizens will be treated equally”.
Applicants will need to have at least 70 points under heads such as a confirmed job offer, knowledge of English, education qualifications and salary level. Indian students enrolling from September this year will also be eligible for post-study work visa valid for two years.
Jim Bligh of the UK chapter of Confederation of Indian Industry said: “We welcome the Home Office’s proposed new system, which rightly recognises that immigration to the UK should be based on skills, salaries and knowledge of the English language”.
“For business, it’s essential that the system retains flexibility for employers, particularly those bringing in highly-skilled workers on short-term assignments to support UK plc’s growth and transformation. It will also be important to ensure salary thresholds are not a deterrent to finding staff with the right specialist skills from around the world.”
Acting British high commissioner to India, Jan Thompson, added: “The new is great news for Indian nationals looking to work in the UK. It puts Indian applicants on a level playing field, and prioritizes those with the greatest skills and talent – something which India has in abundance”.
Usha Parashar, chair of FICCI UK, said: “The majority of Indian businesses in the UK require skilled manpower. The new point-based immigration system coupled with the lower salary threshold is a positive move. This has been a long standing demand of FICCI members”.
“The new system will benefit not just qualified professionals from India but also large number of Indian students in UK universities”.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s new Ambassador to the United States, has presented his credentials to President Donald Trump at a special ceremony held in the White House on Thursday, February 7th, 2020. The envoy was accompanied by his wife and peer Reenat Sandhu, currently serving as the Indian Ambassador to Italy.
According to a statement released by the Indian Embassy in Washington, Trump warmly welcomed Sandhu back to Washington and wished him success in his new role as New Delhi’s top diplomat in America. President Trump also fondly recalled his friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their several interactions.
Ambassador Sandhu said in a statement that the vision and guidance provided by Prime Minister Modi and President Trump in the last three years have moved India and the United States towards greater strategic convergence.
Ambassador Sandhu affirmed his commitment to work towards strengthening strategic partnership between India and the United States, which is anchored in mutual trust and friendship, democratic values and people-to-people ties.
At the State Department, Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, welcomed Sandhu back to Washington and said in a tweet that the new envoy was a “strong champion of US-India ties”.
Addressing a 200-plus strong gathering of senior US administration officials, lawmakers, business leaders, educators, Indian-American community activists including a good number of Sikhs, press and media persons, at his official residence in Washington, Thursday evening, Sandhu said: “It is like coming back home.”
With more than 2,000 US companies present in India and over 200 Indian companies in the United States, India-US bilateral trade last year hit $160 billion, said Taranjit Singh Sandhu, newly-appointed Indian Ambassador to the United States.
Speaking at a reception hosted by US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Ambassador Sandhu said that than 2,000 US companies have a presence in India today. “Over 200 Indian Companies have invested US$18 billion in the US, creating more than 100,000 direct jobs,” Ambassador Sandhu said in his remarks. “Two-way investment, between India and US reached, US $60 billion in 2018. Bilateral trade is growing at 10 percent, on a year-to-year basis, and reached $160 billion in 2019.”
He said bilateral numbers made him bullish about Indo-US relationship. “The best is yet to come. When US capital and expertise meets the Indian market and Indian mind, we should aim for nothing less, but the sky,” Ambassador Sandhu said. “I look forward to working with, USISPF and each one of you, in this endeavor of taking our relationship to new heights.”
Here are other highlights from his speech:
India has one of the youngest populations in an aging world. India is a land of 800 million young people. By 2020, the median age in India is just 28, compared to 37 in China and the US, 45 in Western Europe and 49 in Japan. The youth have the ability to think big, think out of the box, innovate, and bring, transformational changes. They are forward looking, and are hungry, for development. They are full of hope, and optimism.
The youth are the drivers of, the new start-up, ecosystem in India. India is the third largest, start-up base in the world. India added 13,00 tech startups last year.
India is home today to around 27 unicorns, i.e. startup companies, valued at over $1 billion. Companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Big Basket, are home-grown, and have revolutionized lives in India.
India is also home to more than 2 million social enterprises, companies which cater to diverse social causes. In the last eight years, over 1.2 billion Indians have received their biometric IDs — Aadhaar, as it called.
Aadhaar is also the largest and most successful IT project ever undertaken in the world, with 1.1 billion people (92% of the population) having a digital proof of identity. In 2016, India overtook the US in terms of internet users. India’s internet user base is now the second largest in the world. There are about 1 billion, mobile users today.
In mobile data consumption today, India is in the first position, ahead of US and China put together. India is the fourth largest automobile market in the world, and the 7th largest for manufacturer of commercial vehicles.
Indian educational institutes have produced the minds, that now lead the global corporations, like Google, Microsoft, MasterCard, Nokia, IBM. India is fast becoming an Artificial Intelligence Hub in the world, with reports suggesting, that 60% of India’s GDP by 2021 will come from AI.
India is the also, largest cinema producer in the world. More Bollywood films are watched by people than from any other industry. There are more Bollywood and Hollywood collaborations now.
Prime Minister Naredra Modi has set the goal for India to grow from a $3 trillion economy today to a $5 trillion economy by 2024 and a $10 trillion economy by 2030. In this journey, Prime Minister Modi has made it clear that the US is a preferred partner for trade and business.
The potential for co-operation between United States and India is limitless. The relations between two governments has found a new momentum, getting its energy from the warm friendship between President Trump our Prime Minister Modi.
Sandhu, who has replaced Harsh Vardhan Shringla, had previously served as the deputy chief in the Indian embassy in Washington.
Streamlined and elegant, with two long wings situated at the rear, this looks like a gas-guzzling super jet built for criss-crossing the planet with scant regard for environmental impact.
In fact, it’s the design for electric passenger airplane that strives for efficiency, sustainability and glamor. The concept aircraft is the work of New-York based designer Joe Doucet, who was inspired by his frequent business travel short-haul flights to produce something capable of making the journey without producing typical aviation engine emissions.
Doucet’s design, the Her0 Zero Emissions Airplane uses electric-powered propellers located at its rear to provide the thrust, while sweeping wings that end in large, upturned winglets, provide the lift.
Her0 is one of several electric jet concepts that have premiered in recent years, as the aviation industry grapples with how to continue to grow while also trying to reduce its environmental impact.
This Her0 blueprint, Doucet tells CNN Travel, has both practical and aesthetic purpose. Propellers, he says, are reliable and efficient. The trade off is a slightly longer flight time — about 20% — but the designer reckons this wouldn’t be an issue on short or medium haul flights.
As for the swept-back wing design, this is to ensures the airplane’s well balanced — most of the weight will be in the back of the aircraft, as that’s where the battery will be situated.
Aesthetically speaking, Doucet says he wanted the plane to look “somewhat futuristic” but also be an attractive travel option for fliers.
“If you can make this something that is desirable, something that makes people question why it’s not there, you have a better chance of forcing the hand of industry to respond to consumer demand,” he says.
Doucet describes himself as a “designer, entrepreneur, inventor and creative director” — but he’s not an aeronautical engineer, and this his first foray into the world of aviation.
The designer says he drew upon his years of frequent flying in an attempt to find a solution to an issue that he’d been considering for some time. “I really follow problems where they take me, and try to address the solutions elegantly,” he says.
Her0, Doucet acknowledges, may never see the light of day. But the designer’s sole goal is to open up a conversation, if interest around his design encourages progress towards electric planes, he’ll count it as a success. As it is, he’s already been approached from aviation engineers, suggesting improvements and discussing potential collaboration.
A British Airways flight has set a new speed mark for a commercial passenger plane crossing the Atlantic. The fight landed early Sunday morning at Heathrow Airport in London after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York just four hours and 56 minutes earlier.
British Airways confirmed the flight time for the Boeing 747 plane, saying the company prioritizes safety over speed. That set a new speed record for subsonic — or slower than the speed of sound — commercial aircraft, according to Flightradar24, which tracks global flights.
The previous record was held by a Norwegian Air flight, which flew between the two cities with a flight time of five hours and 13 minutes. The flight had been expected to take 102 minutes longer.
The recent average flight time between New York and London is 6 hours and 13 minutes, according to Flightradar24. The wind and air currents were considered ideal for a fast flight. The supersonic Concorde flights used to fly across the Atlantic in just over three hours, but stopped flying in 2003.
“The flight was riding a much stronger than usual jet stream, with winds over 200 mph propelling the aircraft,” says senior CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.
“The supercharged jet stream is also responsible for powering Storm Ciara, which has brought damaging wind gusts and massive waves to the UK, Ireland and other parts of Northern Europe this weekend.
“The jet stream is a fast moving ‘river of air’ high in the atmosphere, around the height that commercial airliners fly. The jet stream is responsible for carrying weather systems around the planet.”
The plane landed at Heathrow airport at 4:43 a.m., almost two hours earlier than scheduled. Its top speed during the flight was 825mph (1,327km/h), according to Flightradar24, an online flight-tracking service.
Motivated by more restrictive immigration policies under the Trump administration and the difficulty of obtaining green cards in the United States, the number of Indians obtaining permanent residence in Canada has more than doubled since 2016. Given current trends, Indian scientists and engineers will likely continue to see Canada as an attractive alternative location to make their careers and raise a family.
The number of Indians who became permanent residents in Canada increased from 39,340 in 2016 to 80,685 in 2019, through the first 11 months of 2019, an increase of more than 105%, according to a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data. Full-year Canadian statistics will likely show more than 85,000 Indian immigrants in 2019.
What are the reasons for this stunning increase in immigration from India to Canada? “Canada is benefitting from a diversion of young Indian tech workers from U.S. destinations, largely because of the challenges of obtaining and renewing H-1B visas and finding a reliable route to U.S. permanent residence,” said Peter Rekai, founder of the Toronto-based immigration law firm Rekai LLP, in an interview.
In the United States, the denial rate for H-1B petitions for continuing employment (primarily for existing employees) is 12% under the Trump administration, four times higher than the denial rate of 3% in FY 2015. For new employees on H-1B petitions the denial rate was 24% through the first three quarters of FY 2019, compared to 6% in FY 2015.
Due to the low number of employment-based immigrant visas (green cards) and the per-country limit, an Indian-born professional might need to wait decades before obtaining permanent residence in the United States.
Many U.S. and Indian technology companies have opened affiliate offices in Canada. The Canadian government, for its part, has streamlined its work permit process for tech workers and provides a clear path to permanent residence, notes Rekai.
“Indian nationals are ideally suited to Canada’s points-based selection system, which places a high value on youth, post-secondary education, and high-skilled foreign and (especially Canadian) work experience,” said Rekai. High-level English language skills are required to qualify for permanent residence under Canada’s Express Entry points system, which may be one reason the number of immigrants from China has remained relatively flat in the past few years. Chinese nationals who do not garner enough points through Express Entry could still gain permanent residence under programs run by Canadian provinces, which focus on skills needed by local employers and place less importance on language ability.
Another factor in the rise of Indian immigrants in Canada is the ability of Canadian universities to attract international students at record levels. In 2017, the number of international students in Canada increased by 20%. In 2018, international student enrollment at Canadian universities rose again, by 16%.
At the same time, at U.S. universities new enrollment of international students declined by more than 10% between the 2015-16 and 2018-2019 academic years.
Canada makes it easy for an international student to transition to work after graduation, which creates a path to permanent residence. However, the Trump administration has announced plans to restrict or eliminate Optional Practical Training (OPT), including in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Optional Practical Training allows international students to work after graduation in the U.S. for 12 months or an additional 24 months in a STEM-related job. The administration has also put forward other restrictions that would make an education in America less appealing to international students. (See here.)
The rise in Indian students coming to Canadian universities is likely a significant reason that Indian immigration has surged. The number of Indian international students studying at Canadian universities rose from 76,075 in 2016 to 172,625 in 2018, an increase of 127%, according to the Canadian Bureau for International Education. In contrast, at U.S. universities, the number of international students from India enrolled in graduate-level programs in computer science and engineering fell by 21% (18,590 fewer graduate students) from 2016 to 2017.
Canada plans to increase legal immigration. “To further ease the challenges of a shrinking labor force and an aging population, our new multi-year immigration levels plan sets out the highest levels of permanent residents that Canada will welcome in recent history,” declared Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen in 2018. By 2021, Canada is expected to increase legal immigration to 350,000 a year, a rise of 63,490, or 22%, from the 2017 level of 286,510.
In the United States, legal immigration fell by 7% between 2016 and 2018, one of the first concrete signs of the impact of the Trump presidency on legal immigration. Due to Trump administration policies, and without any changes in the law by Congress, the annual number of new legal immigrants to the U.S. could decline by as much as 30%, or up to 350,000 a year, from the 2016 U.S. immigration level of 1,183,5050, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis.
The implementation of the administration’s public charge rule, the travel ban and diminished refugee admissions are the key factors that will more precisely determine the new, lower level. Reducing legal immigration and thereby slowing labor force growth means lower long-term economic growth may become Donald Trump’s most lasting legacy.
The points system in Canada mostly works because it is flexible and responds to employer needs, and that part of the system is likely impossible to implement in the United States because of America’s different governmental structures. Peter Rekai has noted that it could be dangerous to import the Canadian points system wholesale into the United States. “Putting broad immigration decision-making into the hands of a strong executive can lead to ‘be careful what you wish for’ outcomes,” according to Rekai. “An ideologue in an empowered U.S. executive branch (e.g., White House aide Stephen Miller) could significantly change the focus of U.S. immigration through executive order or action.”
More important to attracting employers and skilled workers to Canada is how much easier it is in Toronto and other Canadian cities to employ professionals comparable to H-1B visa holders. Under the Canadian government’s Global Skills Strategy, the country’s adjudicators approve many applications for high-skilled workers within two weeks and, in contrast to the U.S., the number of applications denied is low.
New restrictions on H-1B visas and international students, combined with long waits for employment-based green cards, make America a less attractive destination than Canada for many high-skilled immigrants and their employers. Based on current trends, the situation is likely to grow worse for U.S. companies seeking to attract talent to America.
Among advocates of immigration restriction, it’s almost an article of faith that newcomers from rich countries are more desirable than those from poor countries. In early 2018, President Donald Trump reportedly expressed a desire for more immigrants from Norway and fewer from countries such as Haiti, labeling the latter with an expletive. Writing in 1896, restrictionist Francis Walker made a similar argument, calling East European immigrants “beaten men from beaten races.”
This view comes partly from racial bigotry and negative stereotypes. But it also stems from two misconceptions about U.S. immigration: Restrictionists ignore the importance of institutions, and they underestimate how effective the U.S. is at selecting the talented, the hard-working and the ambitious.
First, the caricatures offered up by Trump and Walker don’t come close to describing reality. Immigrants tend to be poor when they arrive on American shores, but they and their children rapidly move up. Native-born children of immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador who were born to families near the poverty line tend to earn about the median income:
Getting Ahead
Income percentile of sons of low-income immigrants*
Source: Leah Boustan
* Father’s birthplace for sons at 25th income percentile, sons’ average income percentile (1997-2015)
The children of immigrants from India and Pakistan are even more upwardly mobile.
So why do immigrants born in poor countries — and their children — succeed in the U.S.?
One big reason is that U.S. institutions are more effective at generating economic prosperity than institutions in developing nations. The U.S. has a reasonably functional and responsive government, property rights and the rule of law, a fairly efficient corporate culture and a large stock of accumulated knowledge and expertise. When immigrants and their children adapt to the American way of doing things, their natural potential is put to much better use than in their home countries.
There’s another powerful reason immigrants from poor countries do well in the U.S.: selectivity. The U.S. doesn’t just let in people randomly; in most cases, it carefully chooses those who are most likely to succeed.
For one thing, the system selects for education. About 12% of U.S. immigrants come via employment-based green cards, often after spending some time in the H-1B visa program. These individuals tend to be highly educated. And so do their families; 66% of U.S. immigration is done via various family reunification programs. As unauthorized immigration to the U.S. has dried up and gone into reverse, the average education level of new immigrants has soared:
The amount of selectivity is different for different countries. In a recent paper, economist Ed Lazear used a simple model to show how the education levels of a particular ancestry group in the U.S. — say Algerian-Americans — depends not just on the average education levels of the source country, but also on the size of its population and its degree of access to the U.S.
Lazear suggested that larger countries that send relatively small numbers of immigrants to the U.S. will tend to send their best and brightest. This explains why India, with 1.3 billion people and low average education levels, is the source of what is arguably the most elite group of immigrants in the U.S.
Looking at the data, Lazear found that just knowing three things — a country’s population, the number of immigrants it sends to the U.S. and the average education level in that country — allows one to make a highly accurate prediction of how educated the immigrants from that country will be. Selectivity ends up being the most important factor, by a considerable margin. Importantly, Lazear also finds that selectivity strongly predicts income, showing that the system isn’t just picking immigrants with useless paper degrees.
Of course, education isn’t the only kind of skill that the system selects for. The simple act of coming to a strange new country and starting a whole new life, often without even speaking the language, requires an uncommon amount of courage, ambition and grit. That’s probably why immigrants from Mexico, for whom selectivity is the lowest because of the big porous land border, are still very upwardly mobile. Because of low average education levels and racial discrimination, Mexican-Americans don’t tend to reach parity with the native-born, but they do close much of the gap.
So the evidence shows that the U.S. system is actually very good at selecting talented go-getters from abroad. Restrictionists who believe that immigrants from poor countries will make the U.S. a poorer place are simply wrong.
The U.S. State Department plans to issue new guidance that could make it more difficult for some pregnant women to obtain visas to visit the United States, a department official and a congressional aide said Wednesday.
The forthcoming regulations are aimed at cracking down on what the Trump administration calls “birth tourism,” the latest in a series of government efforts to restrict foreign travelers from reaching U.S. soil.
Most people who are born in the United States are entitled to U.S. citizenship, even if their parents are not citizens. It is unclear how many people travel to the United States to give birth each year with the intention of obtaining citizenship for their children; the U.S. government does not publish statistics on “birth tourism.”
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment Wednesday, referring questions to the State Department.
The new rule, first reported by BuzzFeed, is expected to appear “shortly” in the Federal Register, according to the State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the rule before it is issued. A congressional aide briefed by the department also confirmed the new rule.
The guidelines, which the State Department will circulate to U.S. consular officers, will affect B1 and B2 nonimmigrant visas, otherwise known as temporary visas for business, tourism or medical treatment. The U.S. government issued 5.7 million B1 and B2 visas in fiscal year 2018.
The official said the new guidelines will not prohibit pregnant women from obtaining visas but will extend discretion to consular officers, who will have to determine whether a woman is planning a visit to the United States solely for the purpose of giving birth. It is unclear how they would make that determination or whether they will try to verify pregnancies.
A congressional staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a regulation that has not yet been published, said the State Department had a conference call Wednesday to tell lawmakers the broad strokes of the policy. The Trump administration is concerned that pregnant women are coming to the United States to give birth and instantly claim U.S. citizenship for their children. Consular officers would use their judgment when screening cases, the staffer said, and would not ask every woman applying for a visa – some of which are valid for years – whether they are pregnant.
Consular officers already interview visa applicants about their reasons for travel and are expected to determine that their stay in the United States will be limited in duration before issuing visas.
The Center for Immigration Studies, a right-wing think tank that advocates for lower immigration levels, estimated that there are about 33,000 births per year to women who arrived in the United States on tourist visas and then left the country. The organization said its estimate was “based on a combined analysis of birth certificate records and data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Both estimates represent a rough approximation, based on limited data, of the possible number of births to women who came to America specifically to have a child and then left once the child was born.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 3.8 million live births in the United States in 2018.
India and the US are close to concluding a trade package that would provide enhanced market access to both countries, Outgoing Indian Ambassador to the United States and the newly appointed India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who will leave Washington later this month, has said.
Shringla made the comments while addressing a group of Indian-American entrepreneurs during a farewell lunch on Friday last week organized for him by TiE DC, a regional chapter of the global non-profit membership and mentoring organization for entrepreneurs. “We are close to concluding a trade package that would provide enhanced market access to both countries,” Shringla said during the event.
Shringla, who is scheduled to leave for India later this month, said that the India- US bilateral trade has increased significantly in the last one decade and it is expected to be over USD160 billion by 2019. Noting that there are a lot of complementarities between the Indian and the US economy, the Ambassador said that Indian-American entrepreneurs and in particular organizations like TiE DC play an important part in strengthening these bilateral ties, not only people to people but also economic and strategic relationship.
Ravi Puli, an entrepreneur from TiE DC, said that in just about a year, Shringla has made a great impact on India-US relationship. “As an ambassador, he has taken the US- India relations to a level that all of us are feeling very proud and we are looking forward to take it even further with his leadership as a foreign secretary of India,” he said. The event was attended by eminent Indian-American entrepreneurs from in and around Washington DC and leaders of other chapters from various parts of the country.
Ambassador Shringala was accorded a spate of farewells, including by the Trump administration, the Congressional leadership and America Inc., and a reception hosted by Shringla himself, where spiritual guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, offered blessings to the departing envoy.
The Jan. 10 reception at the ambassador’s residence, now known as India House, was attended by nearly 500 members of the Indian American community from across the country, senior administration officials, Congressional staffers and leading policy wonks from all of DC’s think tanks.
At the reception, Sadhguru after reciting a shloka, predicted that the U.S.-India ties would mature with Shringla at the helm of diplomacy as India’s next foreign secretary, declaring that this relationship is imperative to benefit the whole world.
“This relationship between the two most resilient democracies on the planet is not just important for these two nations,” he said, adding, “How we build this relationship will determine many things globally.”
Shringla, in his brief remarks, at the outset, said among much laughter that “there was an ambassador friend of mine, who was very fond of the saying that all good things have to come to an end, and so they must and this is where we are.”
He said, “The year 2019, has been a great year. We’ve had some ups and we’ve had some downs, but on the whole, we can welcome 2020 with the fullest satisfaction that the (U.S.-India) relationship that was extremely close, extremely cooperative, which had all the resonance of a very, very strong friendship has started 2020 with an even better, closer, and warmer relationship.” Shringla told the guests that he looked forward to “seeing you in Delhi,” and to more laughter, added, “With all the direct flights we started, it’s not too much of an effort.”
Thus, he said, “We look forward to seeing members of Congress, the administration, the media, businesses, those who are from the Indian community, and of course, all of our other friends who might not belong to these categories, are all welcome.”
“We look forward to staying in touch, staying connected and this is one thing I’ve said everywhere I’ve gone, that as I leave, I take with me the distinct feeling that we really have one of our most important relationships right here in the United States,” he said. “It is a relationship that will continue to be important for us in time to come, and you can be sure that out of Delhi, we will see how we can take this relationship forward in every way possible.” And Shringla reiterated, “Your help in that is absolutely indispensable.”
The outgoing Ambassador, who would take up his new assignment as India’s next foreign secretary later this month, however, did not give an exact date for the inking of the much anticipated trade deal. The trade deal was first announced by US President Donald Trump when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
At a reception accorded him by the State Department and held at the historic Blair House, which sits opposite the White House, the Trump administration’s point person for the subcontinent, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells, predicted that Shringla would be “the captain” of the U.S.-India relationship. “It has been extraordinary, what you have been able to achieve,” she said. Wells, who was headed to India later that week to attend the Raisina Dialogue, pointed out that Washington and New Delhi have been working for the last two decades to realize the goal of becoming “a natural partner,” referring to a term that was first coined by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his visit to the U.S.
Earlier on Jan. 7, at a farewell for him hosted by the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) — a breakaway group from the USIBC, which is headed by Mukesh Aghi, who earlier was president of the USIBC, Shringla said, “What we are really looking for is to provide the basis for an exclusive partnership in trade between our two countries that can give US companies preferential market access to India and Indian companies the preferential market access to the United States.”
Shringla made the comments while addressing a group of Indian-American entrepreneurs during a farewell lunch on Friday organised for him by TiE DC, a regional chapter of the global non-profit membership and mentoring organization for entrepreneurs.
India and the US are close to concluding a trade package that would provide enhanced market access to both countries, India’s outgoing Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said. Shringla made the comments while addressing a group of Indian-American entrepreneurs during a farewell lunch on Friday organized for him by TiE DC, a regional chapter of the global non-profit membership and mentoring organization for entrepreneurs. “We are close to concluding a trade package that would provide enhanced market access to both countries,” Shringla said during the event.
Ever the quintessential diplomat, outgoing ambassador and India’s next foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said the hiring of a second lobbying firm, is to engage a changed U.S. Congress, although it was apparently prompted by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives’ India-bashing over the humanitarian crisis and communications blockade in the aftermath of the Indian government’s repeal of Article 370 that provided special status to this only Muslim-majority state in the country.
Shringla acknowledged that the few U.S. lawmakers who continue to be critical of the Indian government’s actions and “are pushing on his issue, perhaps because they don’t have a full understanding of the situation or they don’t want to have that, but as I’ve said, we have fully engaged with Congress and will continue to do that.”
He said he had instructed “all my colleagues that this is the highest priority — not the other things you are doing — and whatever you have, you drop that and you go and meet people, meet Congressmen, meet staffers, but get our point of view across, so that they can take into account,” the efforts of the government of India to alleviate the situation in Kashmir.
“And, it’s not a one-off thing. You have to constantly go and update them on the situation,” Shringla said. But he said, “There are some like Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rashida Tlaib (D.-Mich.), and Ilhan Omar that are pushing a certain line that seems to be rigid. We’ve tried to engage them, we’ve tried to explain to them the situation, but despite that, the formulation they’ve come up with, as to how they would like Congress to look at it, is counter-productive, besides being factually incorrect and not reflective of the current situation.” Shringla argued, “If you are not open-minded, if you are not objective on this issue, there is not much anyone can do.
Last month, the Indian government hired Cornerstone Government Affairs for an initial period of three months through end February to represent it in Washington for a contract worth $40,000 a month, for which Cornerstone — in a filing with the Department of Justice — said it would provide its client with “strategic counsel, tactical planning and government relations assistance on policy matters before the U.S. Government, the U.S. Congress, and select state governments, as well as academic institutions and think-tanks.”
GOPIO International officials, Life Members and chapter officials from the New York area were invited to an interactive meeting at the Indian Consulate in New York on Jan. 13th. This was a new initiative from the Indian Consulate, ‘Chalo Consulate’ where community representatives could interact with Consulate officials and discuss issues of the community and find solutions to them. Indian Consulate was represented by Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty and all other Consulate officials including Consul for Trade Devi Prasad Misra, Consul Vipul Mesariya Political & Press, Information and Culture), Consul Murugesan Ramaswamy (Consular, Passport, Visa & OCI), Consul for Community Affairs A.K. Vijayakrishnan and Head of the Chancery Jaideep Chola.
GOPIO was represented by its Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham, International Coordinators Lal Motwani and Harbachan Singh, GOPIO-New York Vice President Inderjit Singh, GOPIO-CT President Ashok Nichani, GOPIO-Central New York President Patsy Leopald, GOPIO North Jersey Vice President Dhnanjay Desai and many other Life Members and chapter officials. GOPIO also invited a few other community representatives to this meeting including South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) and The Kerala Center.
The Indian Consulate in New York has launched PRAMIT program through its website where most of the consular and other information can be channeled in a very effective way.
Consul General Chakravorty said, “To strengthen response management system of Consulate, we have focused on e-Governance solutions and designed in house a web application named PRAMIT (Pravasi Mitra). Within few months of its launch it has become very popular among the users. PRAMIT web application has dashboard based centralized monitoring and response system for calls as well as messages form users. At present through PRAMIT we are able to monitor as well as reply every Call/Queries within one business day. It is very simple and user-friendly web application.”
According to CG Chakravorty, on an average the Consulate handles 800- 1000 applications/applicants per day. In last one year through PRAMIT and has handled around 16000+ message queries as well as processed around 4000+ misc services applications (Aug-Dec 2019) and answered/replied around 32,000+ calls (April-Dec 2019). PRAMIT has been proven to be an effective e-Governance tool to handle various issues related to Indian Community.
“Most importantly, we never missed a single call/message after PRAMIT was launched and our website has been visited by around 2.7 million people in the 13 months,” added CG Chakravorty.
GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham said that GOPIO works very closely with all Indian missions worldwide for the benefit of the Indian Diaspora community. Participants at the meeting could also bring out general community issues at this meeting.
At the end of the meeting, GOPIO officials presented Ambassador Chakravorty two First Day Covers released by the US Postal Service at the First Convention of People of Indian Origin in New York in 1989. Dinner and networking followed. “It was a highly productive meeting,” said GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham.
Net international migration added 595,000 to the U.S. population between 2018 and 2019, the lowest level this decade. This is a notable drop from this decade’s high of 1,047,000 between 2015 and 2016.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 population estimates released show that international migration added about 7.9 million people to the nation’s population since the last census in 2010. Annual growth in net international migration slowed between 2015 and 2016 and has been declining since.
Migration patterns measured since 2015 primarily reflect three major trends: declining immigration of the foreign born, increasing foreign-born emigration, and changes in Puerto Rican migration following Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
China replaced Mexico to become the largest sending country of foreign-born immigrants to the United States as of 2018.
The population estimates show that net migration from Puerto Rico to the 50 states and the District of Columbia, which rose after Hurricane Maria, reversed between 2018 and 2019. More people are moving to than away from Puerto Rico.
Foreign-born immigration is the largest contributor to net international migration and is measured based on the American Community Survey (ACS) estimate of the foreign born whose residence one year ago was outside the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Island Areas.
Foreign-born immigration this decade peaked at 1.46 million in 2016 and declined by 250,000 to 1.21 million in 2018, according to the ACS.
China replaced Mexico to become the largest sending country of foreign-born immigrants to the United States as of 2018. At the beginning of the decade, Mexico was the largest, but immigration from Mexico has dropped significantly since the recession at the end of the last decade.
Since 2010, immigration from China and India has either approached or surpassed Mexican immigration levels while immigration from Canada has remained relatively unchanged.
More People Moving to Than Leaving Puerto Rico
Estimates of net Puerto Rico migration are based on residence one year ago from the ACS and Puerto Rican Community Survey (PRCS).
The estimates also incorporate flight passenger data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to account for recent movement following Hurricane Maria.
Net migration from Puerto Rico to the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia increased from 78,000 during the 2017 period (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017) to 123,000 during the 2018 period (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018), which covers the month Hurricane Maria made landfall.
However, it reversed during the 2019 period (July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019), resulting in net in-migration of 8,000 people to Puerto Rico.
State Estimates
Florida, California, Texas, New York and Massachusetts typically gain the most migrants from abroad and comprise about half of net international migration for the nation most years.
Mid-decade estimates showed large increases in net international migration in Florida, California and Texas, but modest increases for New York and Massachusetts. Texas doubled from 59,000 to 118,000 between 2010 and 2015, which surpassed New York’s mid-decade estimate of 84,000 to become the third largest net migration state. Several states approached or dipped below 2010 levels this year.
Between the last census in 2010 and July 1, 2019, international migration added 1,107,000 people to Florida; 1,022,000 to California; 819,000 to Texas; 698,000 to New York; and 362,000 to Massachusetts.
What Does Migration Measure?
Migration occurs when a person changes their usual residence across a geographic boundary, regardless of citizenship or legal status, according to the Census Bureau.
International migration is the movement between the 50 states and the District of Columbia and abroad.
This excludes commuters, tourists and business visitors, but does include immigrants, temporary migrants and the native born moving between the United States and foreign countries, movers between the United States and Puerto Rico and deployed U.S. military personnel.
What Is “Net” Migration?
Net migration measures in-migration minus out-migration. It is positive when more people move into than leave a geographic area and negative when more people move out than move in.
Net international migration is a more complete measure than immigration for estimating population change since it accounts for people leaving the United States.
Who Are the Foreign Born?
The Census Bureau defines the foreign born as people who are not U.S. citizens at birth. The foreign born include naturalized citizens and non-citizens but not people born in a foreign country to U.S. citizens.
Net international migration in 2019 is a projection and is subject to revision as more recent data on foreign-born migration become available. In addition, previous years in the time series may be revised to include more recent data on people who leave the United States.
See the Vintage 2019 methodology statement for a description of input data and methods, as well as other migration components not highlighted in this story.
Vintage 2019 Population Estimates for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and counties will be released in the spring of 2020. Demographic characteristics will be released in the summer of 2020.
Anil Srivatsa, All Geared Up To Set Records With Drive The World: The Worlds Longst On-Road Expedition To Spread Awareness About Organ Donation
North Brunswick, NJ. January 04, 2020: the Million Donor Project will hit the road in the fifth series of the Gift of Life Adventure (GOLA). This time, the road to organ donation awareness will take Anil Srivatsa to every nook and corner of North and South America (over 55,000 kilometres over the span of three months).
The route covers not only major cities, but also takes team GOLA through back roads into the heart of 15 nations in the two continents.
The Journey of a Kidney Donor, Anil Srivatsa who went through emotional upheavals and the subsequent making of a champion for the cause of Organ Donation. He donated his kidney 5 years ago and is now driving around the world in his own car to tell his story on how he became an accomplished athlete after donating his kidney as a world record holder in the World Transplant Games 2019 held in Newcastle, UK
He will address the following points during the course of telling his story:
– How he dealt with all the fears associated with organ donation
– His journey through the legal and procedural issues that plagues Organ Donation around the world
– Speaking about concerns that only first-hand interactions with a live donor can help address.
– what it takes to truly become an organ donor by throwing light on what happens after you sign up.
– He deals with religious and superstitious myths that surround Organ Donation and busting them would help save lives.
– Life saving and life giving Information that no one has told you about.
He has a wealth of stories as he accumulates and shares his experiences having driven through 43 countries. Driven over 100K kms taking over 400 days of being on the road and sharing his story with over 74000 people through over 250 plus talks in schools, colleges, Rotary Clubs, Community centres and companies.
He is currently driving from New Jersey to Alaska across Canada to Argentina and back to New York adding another 55000 kms over the next 150 days. He is passing by our community and we would love for you to interact with Anil. He is a great story teller and you don’t want to miss it.
A fully crowd funded effort the Gift of Life Adventure Foundation’s drive around the world is literally fuelled and fed by tax deductable contributions made via facebook, GoFund me and other means of charitable contributions including venmo, paypal and more.
TeamGOLA consists of Anil Srivatsa and his wife Deepali Srivatsa, both American’s living in North Brunswick NJ where they are now working to grow their 501 (c) (3) Non Profit Organization Gift of Life Adventure Foundation Inc.
GOLA 1: A week long cycling expedition in Spain 6 months post surgery to show that an organ donor and recipient can lead an active and healthy lifestyle
GOLA 2: A cross continental on-road expedition from India to Scotland to spread awareness about organ donation
GOLA 3: Drive from Italy to Oman to help the kick start the Million Donor Project
GOLA 4: Drive around India for 5 months spanning 27000 kms
The Gift of Life Foundation
The Gift of Life Foundation is a registered NGO/NPO in USA and India that was founded in June 2017 by Anil Srivatsa. The GOLA Foundation serves in the field of medical, health, education and allied activities; identifying life changing events in the lives of qualified individuals (predominantly women and children) or communities and fund the various interventions to ensure long term and short term positive outcomes for them. The events that fall in the realm of the said Trust include Organ transplants, Lifesaving Medical procedures, Education, Mental health, Civic health and housing, Disaster and refugee relief, Domestic violence rehab, Women and Child sexual abuse intervention and rehab, Long term medical care, Govt. Policy advocacy, public education and awareness
THE BACK STORY
Sept 5 2014 changed my life when I donated my kidney to my brother. I realized the value of this donation and how this changed his life where he now in turn saves lives every day as a doctor. I found that people were afraid to donate. This fear came from ignorance. As a member of the journalist/media fraternity, I made it my mission to tackle this ignorance so more people would come out and give the valuable gift of an organ after their life time if not during it.
I had to become an example to other donors and inspire them to explore the idea of gifting a life. I had to pick an activity that attracted the attention of the people I pass and the media, who would give me the exposure and platform to spread my message. I picked overland driving as this was the most effective way of touching peoples lives and them mine. Thus the gift of life adventure was born.
I undertook my first adventure when I took my brother on a 7 day cycling adventure in the hills of Spain just 6 months after the transplant to show that life can be back to ordinary if not extraordinary. The press showed up and helped. The awareness was beginning. I was becoming a part of the voice that was growing louder together.
I got drawn into my mission even deeper when I decided to drive with my family (Organ donation is a family decision and mine played an inspiring part in my decision) on a road trip from Bangalore India, to Scotland UK. A 74 day journey where along the way we met and spoke to may organizations and people about the mission. I used my personal funds by selling off the one apartment I had so I can earn the trust of all and their support. This journey gave me a sense that awareness has to translate to action and after a pivotal meeting with an organization we met in Norway the Million Donor Project was born.
The million donor project is all about the family. Traditionally in India and many parts of the world, organ donors would register with an organization and did not speak to their families about it and when time came, the families did not make good the donation from lack of knowing. I decided to address this part of the process and designed an app that captures the intent and communicates it to the family via an SMS thereby starting a conversation at home. It is considered bad luck to speak about death in most homes. If the family knows, there is no need for signing up with ANY organization and the donation rate would be higher with the family behind it. The app is found at http://www.giftoflifeadventure.com/signup
To promote the Million Donor project, I drove again from Italy to Dubai which took 2 months across 20 nations, with speaking engagements at various rotary clubs for their support within their communities.
How the Foundation was Born
3 months ago I was approached by an acquaintance I met during the road trip to Scotland and sought my help to help his 17 year of Brother-in-Law navigate the Organ transplant process in India so he can have his kidney transplant. Malik and his brothers flew in from a small impoverished town in Afghanistan and in the watchful care of the Gift of Life Adventure Foundation (an NGO, non -profit) that I set up post the ordeal I went through for them only . I realized the laws in India need to be more user friendly and I could not do so as an individual. If the Afghan Brothers went through this, every India goes through this. Something had to change. I have rallied the support of the media, the hospitals and the now appointed lawyer to help me move the needle on the law and for this I need more funding than I can personally afford. This is a major project that is being built bit by bit until the bigger funding agencies can kick in. I want your help in getting me there for this module. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVl5zxhuukI&…
Dr. Suresh Reddy, President of AAPI, who led AAPI’s Expedition to Antarctica
Several years of meticulous planning, discussions, and organization, came to fruition as 190 delegates of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) Families and Friends from across the United States and India embarked on the Ocean Atlantic Ship operated by Albatros Expeditions on November 30th, 2019 from Ushuaia, the southernmost town on Earth in Argentina on a voyage to Antarctica, the seventh Continent, known as the Last Horizon on Earth.
The voyagers were welcomed on board by AAPI’s young and dynamic President, Dr. Suresh Reddy, who has been along with Dr. Vandana Agarwal, Chair of AAPI’ Cruise to Antarctica, working very hard, coordinating the efforts with Vinod Gupta from the Travel Agency, ATG Tours, the crew and leadership of the Cruise and the AAPI leaders and members with varied interests and ages ranging from 10 to 90, who had flown in from around the world for this once in a lifetime memorable and historic voyage to the White Continent.
The Ship carrying the sailors began its journey on November 30th, 2019 from the Ushuaia Sea Port with a prayer song to Lord Ganesh, chanted by Dr. Aarti Pandya from Atlanta, GA. Later in the evening, the voyagers sat down for a sit down dinner at the elegantly laid tables at the Restaurant with delicious Indian Cuisine, prepared by Herbert Baretto, a Chef from Goa, India, specially flown in to meet the diverse needs of the Indians who are now the exclusive Voyagers on Ocean Atlantic.
As the sun was still shining beyond midnight, members of the voyage were seen posing and taking pictures on board the ship with the background of the mighty ocean and the scenic mountains of Argentina at the background.
On December 1st morning, AAPI members were alerted to be mindful of the most turbulent Drake Passage, where the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean merge, through which our ship was now sailing with winds gusting through over 50 kms an hour from the south west. The rough with fast moving sea currents contributing to a turbulent weather, several voyagers took shelter in anti-nausea meds.
Throughout the day, there were special safety classes periodically, helping the voyagers on ways to navigate the zodiacs, the kayaks, the walks on the ice and snow once we reach our final destination. They were lectures on different aspects of wildlife on Antarctica, the species, especially the varieties of penguins, the mammals and the birds that inhabit the Continent. The participants were educated on the Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change and Impact, Whale Hunting, and many more relevant topics with scientific data by the Expedition Crew.
The evening was special for the voyagers as the Captain of the ship welcomed the delegates to the Ship and to the Expedition to Antarctica. He introduced his crew leaders to the loud applause from the delegates, as he toasted champagne for a safe and enjoyable journey to Antarctica.
On December 2nd morning, we woke up to milder weather and calmer ocean with the winds subsiding to about 20 kms an hour and ship sailing smoother with the temperatures below 7 degree Celsius. The crew on the ship described the sail to be the smoothest and the weather and wind conditions to be one of the calmest they have ever witnessed. However, the entire day was cloudy with the sun hiding behind the thick clouds upon the ocean.
After sailing across the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans and through the turbulent Drake Passage, and the South Ocean, finally, the day arrived for the Voyagers. The one they had been eagerly waiting for. On December 3rd, our ship, the Ocean Atlantic anchored on Danco Island, off the coast of the 7th Continent, Antarctica, officially discovered in 1820, although there is some controversy as to who sighted it first
The excitement of the voyagers had no bounds as they dressed up in their waterproof trousers, navy blue jackets, with hats and glosses and mufflers. They set out in groups marching off the Ship into the Zodiacs in tens in each Zodiac.
The wind and the ocean were calmer. The sun continued to hide behind the thick clouds. We headed off in Zodiacs to view icebergs, the glaciers, the land on a beach studded with penguins, as the Expedition Crew from the ship drove the AAPI delegates to the shore on the Danco Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, for the first time.
The glaciers, mighty mountains covered with pristine and shiny snow, the icebergs in multi-shapes and colors, floating on the Bay, made the Zodiac ride to the shore a memorable experience for each one.
As the voyagers walked to the shore on a narrow path on the soft snow surface, leading up to the snowcapped mountains, it was a dream come true for all. The fresh water melting from the glaciers and the ice and snow on the one side and on the other little rocks and mountains filled with snow, the Danco Island was picture perfect.
Penguins in small colonies of their own seemed unaffected by the voyagers landing onto the Penguin land. Hearing their unique and enchanting voices for the first time, as most of them sat steady, while a few walked from one end to the other, it was a scene everyone long dreamt to be part of, as it was another memorable experience in the life of everyone.
Penguin behavior is endlessly fascinating. We learnt that, in the Antarctic spring, hundreds of gentoo penguins as paraded before us, reestablishing their bonds, mating, staking their claims, and thievishly stealing stones from one another for their nests.
In the afternoon, after lunch and a lecture on the history of Antarctica, the Ocean Atlantic ship, travelling about 25 nautical miles, for the first time ever, landed on the Antarctic Continent as she reached the shores of Paradise Bay, a beautiful island, where the famous Brown Center, the Argentinian Research Station was located.
Trekking up the Hill on the snow and ice filled terrains, even as the serene and picturesque glaciers in vivid shapes and texture, it was mesmerizing and the Bay on either side, was breathtaking.
The following morning, the voyagers got onto the Zodiacs and sailed to Port Lockroy, a sheltered harbor with a secure anchorage on the Antarctic Peninsula since its discovery in 1904. The Port also is home to a Museum and a British Post Office, where the early visitors to the Continent lived and explored the wildlife of the last Horizon. The Museum has preserved the antiques used by the early voyagers, who are an important part in the history of Antarctica.
Bright sun light flashing on the Lamoy Point on our way south towards the northern peninsula of the White Continent greeted us all this morning on December 5th. The announcement over the microphone at 6.15 woke us all up, letting us know of the mild weather conditions with 7 degrees Celsius and 27 km s wind speed with bright sunny day was a welcome change from yesterday.
The wind made the waters of the Bay mildly rough as we set out from the ship. For the first time during the voyage, to the much delight of the AAPI delegates, the sun chose to come out from behind the clouds and shone brightly on the voyagers, making the snow shining and glowing with the rays of the sun filling the surface of the earth. It was delightful to see the Penguins close to the AAPI delegates, some of them walking beside them crossing their pathway.
Upon landing on the shore across from the tallest mountain on the Peninsula, Mount Frances with the height of 2,300 meters high, our zodiacs elegantly cruised through the calmer waters to the mountain range called the Princes and the Seven Dwarfs. We were fortunate to find penguins resting on ice floes, and sometimes had the opportunity to approach closely in Zodiacs for excellent photo ops.
The stunning views of the glaciers and the mountains, and the soft and shiny snow spread across the shore, led us all to the snowy hills, as we trekked to the top.
The opportunity of a lifetime for bird lovers, as we watched the blue eyed Antarctic terns, beautiful black-browed albatross, and other pelagic birds, including fulmars and petrels, nesting, resting, flying above us and trying to reach the bright blue skies. The wandering albatross, with the largest wingspan of any bird, is one of the many wildlife spectacles South Georgia affords.
We found ourselves at the top of the spectacular colony of penguins, and black-browed albatross. Brown Skuas flew over the colony while penguins, albatross, and shags took care of their eggs. We spend a good bit of time photographing the birds and generally taking in such wonderful experience and close views of the wildlife.
Colonies of penguins greeted us with their enchanting voices. We watched in awe as some of the tiny penguins walking up, from the bottom of the hill to the top, flapping their feathers occasionally.
Many of us waited patiently to have an opportunity to view the eggs upon which the Penguins were sitting to hatch their eggs. Some were lucky to photograph a few couples mating while we were trying to figure out the male from female.
Leaving the breath taking landscapes was not an easy choice as we were soon called to embark on the zodiac cruises and return to Ocean Atlantic, our ship, as she was patiently waiting to take us to the next destination of our expedition to the Last Horizon.
After a lunch Barbeque on Deck Seven of the Ship, the Ocean Atlantic took us through the beautiful Lemaire Channel on the Continent. Braving the cold and gusty winds, the voyagers got together for a group picture of the entire voyager group on Deck Eight of the ship, as they were awed by the beautiful glaciers, the mighty snow-caped mountains, and the floating ice bergs.
After journeying about five hours, we reached in the evening at the Melchiors Island, as the bright sun continued to shine upon us. During lunch and on way to the Island, the voyagers were thrilled to spot whales showing up their heads periodically.
The journey through the Bay was another memorable experience with the stunning landscape all along the route especially as the sun continued shine brightly on the snow peaked mountains turning the waters closer to the glaciers from blue to green. We had over an hour of Zodiac cruise exploring the sea life on the Antarctic’s South Ocean.
We climbed up to the top deck of the ship to have yet another amazing experience as the Ocean Atlantic Ship sailed through the Bay filled with Ice Sheet Rocks that are nearly a meter thick, slowly and steadily, slicing the Snow Ice, marching forward towards the Plenau Bay.
It was here at Plenau Bay, 39 brave AAPI members had the unique experience of taking “Polar Plunge” in the Atlantic Continent, which was 0.7 degree Celsius, while the rest of the AAPI delegates watched the brave men and women, taking a memorable dip and swim back to the ship, in the freezing cold waters of the White Continent.
We woke up this morning on Friday December 6th to a bright and sunny day, calmer ocean with 9 kms of wind speed. A picture perfect day for expedition. We went on zodiacs, cruising through the blue waters of the Half Moon Island, a cluster of snowy mountains shaped as a half moon.
Searching for wild life in the ocean with the voyagers looking out eagerly for any seals or whales did not seem to result in success as the sea animals and those on the shore seemed to hide in their resting places. Members of a Zodiac cruise reported of spotting a Leopard Seal swimming not too far from the Zodiac.
Finally, the zodiac captains took us to the shore where for the first time we landed on dark stony surface full of rocks, stones and pebbles. Our expedition crew leader reported that the shore was completely covered with ice and snow in the beginning of the season, barely a month ago.
At the backdrop of the glaciers and the imposing mighty mountains around us, we hiked up the hill intruding sometimes into the Penguin Highways, where we saw colonies of penguins resting under the bright sun. It was delightful to watch a few hopping on tiny rocks from one to another, unnerved by the visitors from the Other Continents on earth.
For the first time we were delighted to watch different kinds of Penguins, Gentoo, Adelie, Chinstraps, in the thousands sitting on a single rock glazing at the ocean waters. The photo ops for the voyagers were simply incredible. And while penguins are delightful in films and nature documentaries, watching the penguin life being lived around you is simultaneously uplifting and humbling.
We spotted a few huge Weddell and Crabeater seals, as well as Antarctic fur seals, whose populations have rebounded since the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and the 1972 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals. They were resting on the rocks unmoved by the voyagers in several zodiacs watching them in awe. The bright sun and the gentle breeze embracing the voyagers, it was a perfect day to cruise and explore the White Continent.
In the afternoon while back on the ship, we were invited to climb up to the Decks 8 and 9 of the ship to view the entrance/passage to the famous Deception Island. And the ship sailed through this narrow path into the Island with majestic dark mountains on our right side, while on the left were the snowcapped mountains overlooking the Bay. As the gusty winds made us shiver, the voyagers standing on the top deck of the South Ocean, posed for pictures. We were lost in the stunning beauty created by the Mother Nature, for all of us to enjoy and cherish forever.
The final landing on the Last Horizon on Friday December 6th afternoon was at the Deception Island for the AAPI Voyagers. An unusually bright shining sky with gentle winds welcomed us to the shore of the black soft sand with little stones spread all along the 36 kms wide island.
The volcanic eruption here over 50 years ago, which reportedly continues to be active event today, has turned the island and the mountains into dark colored. Saw a huge seal on the shore resting with birds and few penguins of the Continent enjoying the mild weather, the voyagers trekked up the hill on the dark sand while the panoramic and breathtaking views on the snowy mountains beyond the Bay hovering over the blue waters of the Last Horizon.
On the Ship, immediately after settling down in each one’s cabin, the voyagers were invited to learn about safety on the ship and participated in a safety drill. Shelli Ogilvy, the Veteran Expedition Leader introduced the 22 Expedition Members with extensive maritime experiences from around the world, and over 60 other crew members to the voyagers.
Nine hours of Continuing Medical Educations (CMEs) were a major highlight of the Cruise to Antarctica. Led and organized by Dr. Krishan Kumar the informative and interactive sessions by experts was much appreciated by the voyagers. AAPI provided a hands on CPR Training on board to the crew of the ship, Ocean Atlantic, educating them on ways to help passengers in case of emergencies.
Each evening at cocktail hour the entire expedition community gathers in the lounge for a ritual, we call Recap. As you enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, various naturalists gave talks, showed videos, and our expedition leader would outline the following day’s schedule.
The evenings were fun filled with members spending time together with their select friends and families, singing, playing cards games, discussing politics to medicine to healthcare and sharing jokes and snippets with one another in smaller groups. The cultural events included live music sung by Dr. Radhika from Chicago, Dr. Aarti Pandya, Dr. Dharmija, and Dr. Madnani, in addition to several local talents of AAPI’s own, leading and vying to win the Anthakshri contest.
On December 7th evening, the voyagers had Black Tie Nite with many of them learning and playing Pokers until the early hours of the morning. As the ship began its return journey back to the shores, Dr. Aarti Pandya led the voyagers in a prayer song dedicated to Lord Hanuman, God of the Winds for a safe and smooth sailing.
After toasting Champagne with the Captain of the ship, the finale on December 8th was a colorful Indian Dress Segment, where the adorable AAPI women and men walked the aisle in elegantly dressed in Indian ethnic wear depicting different states of India.
Earlier, the AAPI delegates had toured the beautiful and serene National Park in Ushuaia, on the world famous Route 3 that runs from Alaska to the southern tip of the world in Argentina. At the Park, Dr. Reddy led the AAPI delegates carrying the AAPI banner, spreading the message of Obesity Awareness, which is a major objective of Dr. Reddy’s Presidency, taking the message of Obesity Awareness Around the World.
Dr. Suresh Reddy thanked Dr. Vandana Agarwal Chair of the AAPI Cruise Committee, Dr. Ravi Kolli, Secretary of AAPI, Dr. Ranga Redy and Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, both past President of AAPI, Dr. Krishan Kumar, and several Regional Chapter Presidents for their hard work and dedication for making the Expedition memorable for all.
Memories of relaxing and rejuvenating morning walk across the island with breath taking views in abundance of Mother Nature, will last a life time for everyone who has been part of the historic expedition to the Seventh Continent. For more details on AAPI and its next voyage to Antarctica in January 2020, please visit; www.aapiusa.org
Ajay Ghosh, who was part of the AAPI Family and Friends Expedition 2019 to Antarctica
In a Level 4 travel advisory — the highest of its kind issued by the State Department — U.S. citizens were told “not to travel to India or to leave as soon as it is safe to do so.” There are 14 direct daily flights between India and the U.S. and other services that connect through Europe, the department said.
The restrictions cover South Africa, China, Iran, Brazil, Ireland, Britain and the 29 countries belonging to the common visa zone known as the Schengen Area. US citizens and legal residents and their immediate family members are exempt from the restrictions, as also are diplomats, but they are advised to follow precautions. They are asked to test themselves for COVID-19 between three and five days after arrival.
Penguin behavior
