In his testimony to the Congress in Capitol Hill on 7 March 2007, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates suggested a massive increase in H-1B visas saying,

“It makes no sense to tell well-trained, highly skilled individuals – many of whom are educated at our top colleges and universities – that the United States does not welcome or value them. For too many foreign students and professionals, however, our immigration policies send precisely this message.”

I don’t completely agree with Mr. Gates. I am of the opinion that students graduating from accredited US Universities be automatically qualified for Permanent Residency status (Green Card).

H-1B visas allow US Corporations and Universities to temporarily employ foreign workers who have a the equivalent to a US Bachelor’s Degree. Corporations argue that these visas provide a steady flow of highly skilled professionals who are in short supply, and reduce the need for them to move their operations abroad. However, it should also be noted that the H-1B system is widely abused.

The H-1B system is itself tied up in knots. Firstly, international students who apply for a F-1 student visa to the US must convince the authorities that they do NOT intend to remain in the US after they graduate from school. At the same time, there exists a quota of 20,000 visas to be issued to candidates who have graduated with a Masters’ degree from a US University. It seems the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is contradicting itself here.

From a student / immigrant perspective, the H-1B system is nothing but a bundle of inconvenience. The H-1B visa has has a six- year time limit, putting immigrants and their families at the risk of being forced to return to their home country, if their Green Card application is not approved before this 6-year deadline. H-1B holders must leave the US if they are laid off or if the sponsoring company goes out of business. Spouses of H-1B holders need a separate sponsor in order to be able to work or to even obtain a Social Security Number. An H-1B holder can only work for their sponsoring employer and cannot start a new business.

A 2006 study conducted by a team of students researchers from the Master of Engineering Management (MEM) Program at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering revealed that these skilled immigrants provide the US a great global edge by contributing to the economy, creating jobs, and leading innovation. Immigrants are fueling the creation of hi-tech businesses across the US and creating a wealth of intellectual property. The team made thousands of phone calls and received responses from 2054 engineering and technology companies founded in the US from 1995 to 2005.

• In 25.3% of these companies, at least one key founder was foreign-born. Immigrants were most highly represented as founders in the semiconductor, computer, communications, and software fields. Of all immigrant-founded companies, 26% have Indian founders.
• In the fields of engineering and technology, over half (52.4%) of Silicon Valley start-ups and 18.7% of Research Triangle Park start-ups had one or more immigrants as a key founder.
• Nationwide, these immigrant-founded companies produced $52 billion in revenues and employed 450,000 workers in 2005.

The team’s analysis of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) patent databases revealed that immigrants were named as inventors or co-inventors in 24.2% of international patent applications filed from the U.S. in 2006, majority of who are Chinese and Indians. Clearly, skilled immigrants have become a significant driving force in the creation of new businesses and intellectual property in the U.S. — and these contributions have significantly increased over the past decade.

Presently, the wait time for skilled immigrants from India and China to be granted Permanent Resident status (Green Card) stands at nearly six years because the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is backlogged. There is yearly limit of around 140,000 Green Cards for skilled workers and no more than 9,800 (7%) of the visas are allowed to be allocated to immigrants from any one country. Thus, the proportion of skilled immigrants allowed into the US from India and China is the same as that for immigrants from Iceland and Senegal. This obviously puts Indian and Chinese immigrants at a disadvantage.

Thus, the present immigration policy does no good for America. Immigrants educated in US Universities and trained in US Corporations are forced to return home, to become competitors. We believe that a more practical solution would be to automatically grant Green Cards to international students completing degrees in mathematics, engineering and sciences from accredited institutions of higher learning. By carefully screening and being highly selective about the quality of students being admitted into the US would help the country maintain its competitive edge.

So the Economist has an article suggesting that the Nobel peace prize should be withheld this year. Apparently, they’ve come across a research report that claims the world has been more peaceful in recent times … I disagree … Readers ?

Monday morning brought with it a peice of news that came as no surprise to many, including myself. Pakistan is on a nuclear binge, and appears to be building a new plutonium reactor, according to US satellite image reports.

Tuesday morning brought in a shocking peice of news. According to Tuesday’s Washington Post, the Bush administration has admitted that it had been aware of Pakistan’s nuclear expansion plans for a long time now !! .. Well, then why wasn’t Congress told about it ? .. And why are Congressmen keeping mum about this ?

It seems to me that Congress seems to be more interested in playing around with rubbish like same-sex marriage laws, rather than more serious issues like National Security and defense … And the ruling Republican party is only too happy ….

Ok c’mon we’ve all heard it … that President George W. Bush greeted the English Prime Minister with a gangsta-rap-style, “Yo !, Blair” …. and then followed it up with a friendly banter, that included the word “shit” …

So what’s the big deal about it ? …. C’mon, everybody knows that “shit” is hardly considered a profanity these days … at least in relative terms, compared to the plethora of “lovely” words that the modern linguistic universe is flush with … They say it will create a bad impact on kids watching television … watching their country’s leader utter profanities like that … I can say this with utmost confidence … the average 6-year old today knows more profanities than I did at 18 ….

I beg to differ …. It won’t create any neagtive impacts … rather, it will drill some common sense into the masses … that the President of the United States is as human as everyone else is … and speaks the same language as they do …. And there’s nothing wrong with that, especially if the President in question is a man like George W. Bush ..

For those not following the developments religiously, it all started on June 25th, 2006. Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier from an army outpost inside Israel, and killed two others. They demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners. Israel refused to negotiate, and demanded the release of the soldier.

On June 27th, Israel began operation Summer Rains, and invaded the Gaza strip to recover kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and stop rocket fire from Hamas terrorists. Fierce fighting ensues, resulting in casualties on both sides.

On July 12th, Hezbollah terrorists cross the blue line border with Lebanon, attack an Israeli patrol, killing 3 and capturing 2 soldiers. Israel responds with airstrikes and missile attacks from a ship, in the process, has severed air and road links of many cities in Lebanon and has pounded Beirut airport, crippling air traffic to the capital.

Although the Lebanese government has pleaded innocence, the offensive has continued unabated, since Hezbollah terror camps and artillery are based in Lebanon. Hezbollah even has members elected in their senate.

Today on 17th July 2006, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the fighting in Lebanon would end when the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas were freed, rocket attacks on Israel were stopped, and the Lebanese army was deployed along the border.

And now look at how India deals with Pakistan … Our friendly neighbours who periodically send us gifts with terrorist affection – Beginning with the Mumbai bomb blasts (1993), IC 814 plane hijack (2000), Akshardam (2002), Parliment shootout (2001), then the Mumbai bus bomb blasts (2003), and now the latest 7/11 train bomb attacks in Bombay …. In each of these cases, the government, irrespective of which party is in power, has failed to do the needful to apprehend the guilty and prevent future attacks. Instead, they meekly give in to the terror attacks, encouraging more attacks in the future … Apparently the government doesn’t mind its citizens being slaughtered like sheep …

Day after day, our soldiers go missing in action at LoC, citizens get blown to pieces and all Indian leadership does is to read those silly speeches, saying “We condemn this cowardly act of terror. We express strong disapproval of our neighbouring country which provides support and encourangement to the terrorists.” …… Why don’t they just record that speech and just play it whenever needed ?

Its high time India gives a fitting reply to all these activities …. The only solution to all this is to put an end to the issue once and for all …. If a tiny country like Israel, surrounded by enemies on all sides, could fight a six-day war (1967) with four powerful nations (Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Egypt) and emerge victorious, its surely possible for us to secure victory against Pakistan and put an end to the acts of barbarism against our countrymen …

All thats required is some guts … unlike the spineless nature of every government thats been elected to date …