Washington: The landmark immigration bill, which offers a path to citizenship for more than 11 million - including over 260,000 Indians - undocumented immigrants and increasing H-1B visas today passed its first legislative test.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on the fifth day of its deliberations that included 300 amendments to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act - passed it by 13-5 votes.
The bill passed through the key Senate committee only after lawmakers reached a deal on H-1B visa expansion plan. The bill (No 744) now goes to the Senate for approval - which is expected to witness another round of negotiations and tough bargaining. It needs 60 votes to pass the 100-seat Senate.
Welcoming the passage of the legislation, US President Barack Obama said that it is largely consistent with the principles of commonsense reform he has proposed and meets the challenge of fixing the broken immigration system....
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12:16 PM, May 22, 2013
Washington: In a "major breakthrough", two influential American Senators on Tuesday reached an agreement on the contentious H-1B visa expansion plan, which Congressional aides said is a compromise between the demand of the tech-industry and the concerns of the labour unions. The deal reached between Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, covers eight amendments sponsored by the latter to make the process for granting H-1B visas more...
11:40 PM, May 21, 2013
Kolkata: Violence broke out on Tuesday at an anti-chit fund rally, held by Democratic Students Organisation (student wing of Socialist Unity Centre of India) in Kolkata. Police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the participants of the rally, who were trying to hold a law violation programme. There are reports of injuries on both sides. More details are awaited. ...
03:35 PM, May 14, 2013
In their book Flight of the Buffalo, corporate gurus James Belasco and Ralph Stayer beautifully state the politics of change when they say, "change is ...
12:59 AM, May 07, 2013
Thiruvananthapuram: The pro-CPI(M) youth outfit Democratic Youth Federation of India would launch a campaign to "uphold secular culture" in Kerala from April 30 to May 8. In a statement, DYFI state president M Swaraj and secretary TV Rajesh said the organisation would hold meetings across the state at the grassroot level. The aim of the campaign is to "uphold secular culture and isolate religious terrorism," the statement said. The UDF...
12:03 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Chennai: Raising strong objections to certain aspects of Centre's Direct Benefits Transfer, Tamil Nadu chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday said the scheme in its present form should "not be operationalised" in the state as it is an "infringement" on the authority of state governments. In a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalithaa wondered if the state governments were expected to look on as mere "bystanders", far removed...
02:31 AM, Apr 28, 2013
Islamabad: Seven persons were killed and over 60 others injured in five bomb attacks in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Karachi on Tuesday, including one that was carried out by a suicide bomber who was trying to target the minority Shia Hazara community. The suicide attacker detonated his explosives-laden truck when he was stopped by Frontier Corps personnel at a check post near Alamdar Road, an area in Quetta...
07:59 AM, Apr 24, 2013
After Nitish Kumar's clear assertion that the JD(U) would not be comfortable with the BJP projecting Narendra Modi as the NDA's candidate for the position of Prime Minister, Shiv Sena has also echoed similar sentiments. Shiv Sena spokesperson Rahul Narvekar joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the matter. Q. By opposing Modi are the allies trying to push BJP to name a weaker candidate and later squeeze BJP to...
05:44 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Jammu: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday accused both PDP and BJP of dividing people in the name of religion and asked them to remain aware of conspiracies aimed at creating a wedge between communities. "Dividing people in the name of region or religion can be the handiwork of 'pen and ink pot' (PDP's symbol) or 'Kamal' (BJP's symbol), but the bearers of 'red flag with plough' (NC's symbol) has...
08:55 PM, Apr 17, 2013
While most of the political parties are against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister, only the AIADMK and the Shiromani Akali Dal support him. ...
03:30 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Mumbai: There seems to be more trouble for the National Democratic Alliance as the Shiv Sena has now said that the Bharatiya Janata Party should make it clear as to who will be its Prime Ministerial candidate. An editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, says an NDA meeting should be called and a decision should be taken. In reference to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the editorial further says...
09:20 AM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: The war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal United has escalated as Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi hit out at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "JD(U)'s statement in Delhi's national executive against our leaders was completely unwanted," Modi said. "We will discuss our future course of action on April 18 in our national executive meet," Modi added. Nitish Kumar on Sunday did...
03:26 PM, Apr 16, 2013
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at its biggest ally Janata Dal United saying it should refrain from targeting its allies and instead focus on removing the "corrupt" United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had, in a veiled threat to the BJP, made it clear that his party will not accept the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the NDA's prime ministerial nominee. ...
03:58 PM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha has vouched for senior party leader LK Advani to be the Prime Ministerial candidate. He said if Advani is available to be the PM candidate, it will end the debate on NDA's PM nominee. "Advaniji is the senior-most, most respected leader and if he is available to lead the party and government, then that should end all discussion. Everyone should fall in...
01:42 PM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: Are the ties between the Janata Dal United and the Bharatiya Janata Party reaching breaking point over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate? Senior leaders from Bihar will meet party chief Rajnath Singh on April 18 in Delhi. The Bihar BJP leaders say Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's veiled threat over Narendra Modi is not acceptable. "The Chief Minister's attack on Narendra Modi is against...
11:22 AM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party is scrambling to tackle Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's ultimatum on its Prime Ministerial candidate. The Bihar BJP core group will meet party chief Rajnath Singh on April 18 in Delhi. The BJP will discuss Nitish's ultimatum on keeping out Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from the PM race. Top state leaders of the BJP will join the meeting, including Sushil Modi, Mangal Pandey,...
09:55 AM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) drama played out on Sunday with the Janata Dal United (JDU) giving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a year-end deadline to declare its Prime Ministerial candidate. By Sunday evening, the BJP hit back saying that the key NDA ally should rather focus on targeting the UPA than its own allies. Hoping to gain some advantage of this BJP-JD(U) squabble, the Bihar Congress tried...
07:52 AM, Apr 15, 2013
Guwahati: Five years after the deadliest terror attack in Assam that killed 100 and injured 300 the main accused National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) chairman Ranjan Daimary has got bail. Daimary was handed over by Bangladesh in 2010. The CBI did not oppose bail for Daimary. A clear hint that he may be on board for the ongoing peace process with militant outfit NDFB. "Not a question of supporting...
10:17 PM, Apr 14, 2013
New Delhi: A compromise between the Janata Dal United and the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to be in the offing, according to sources. The JD(U) may not insist on the BJP immediately announcing its Prime Ministerial candidate, sources say. The JD(U) may give the BJP six to eight months to decide on a PM candidate. The JD(U) resolution on the NDA's PM candidate that was to come up in the...
11:54 AM, Apr 13, 2013
New Delhi: The Janata Dal United national executive meet is set to be held in the national capital on Saturday. JD(U) office bearers met party chief Sharad Yadav on Saturday morning ahead of the meeting. The JD(U) has already raised pitch on the Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate. It has clearly said that it wants the name to be announced at the earliest. JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari though said...
10:31 AM, Apr 13, 2013
