Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari, an Indian-American US Air Force colonel, is among 11 new NASA graduates who have successfully completed their over two years' of basic astronaut training . Astronaut candidate training included practice, and testing in spacewalking, robotics, International Space Station systems, T-38 jet proficiency, and Russian language.

According to a Union Home Ministry notification, a number of foreign nationals are in the country since imposition of travel restrictions and are unable to exit the country during the validity of their visa.

According to a recent survey, more than half of doctors working in high-risk environments said there were either shortages or no supply at all of adequate face masks, while 65 per cent said they did not have access to eye protection. Furthermore, 55 per cent said they felt "pressurised" to work in a high-risk area despite not having adequate PPE.

The temporary suspension of immigration will affect those who are legally seeking entry into the United States for employment but it will not impact the ones who are already living in the country, the order said.

"Indian men are 150 per cent more likely to work in health or social care roles than their white British counterparts," according to the report.

The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Indian Consulate in Dubai started e-registrations on Wednesday night to form a database of those wanting to return to India. Over 50% of the applicants are from Kerala. Malayalees comprise more than 1 million of the 3.4 million Indians in the UAE.

The court has directed them to answer a series of questions including as to how many families have basic amenity of housing in India as well as in Tamil Nadu, population and housing ratio in the country and in the state, when 'Housing for All' mission of the central government would be achieved.

Backed by the Reserve Bank of India, it’s an ambitious approach that combines privacy protection with credit reporting: if it works, it could unlock the credit market for millions of Indians while offering new levels of data security and consumer control.

25% of the international realty market in London also belongs to Indians with investments around GBP 1 bn while they also invested more than $2 bn in the Dubai real estate mkt in the first half of 2015.

Liberty House had last year stepped in to acquire units of Caparo Group, Lord Swraj Paul's steel company that went into administration.

United Arab Emirates-based Lulu Group, has decided to invest Rs 5,000 crore in India over the next four years, largely for setting up shopping malls.

The scheme, popularly known as Qrops, has been approved by Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs, the body in the UK that collects and administers taxes.

Most fund houses in India don’t allow NRIs from US and Canada because of the cumbersome compliance requirements under FATCA.

Jaishankar, while interacting with NRIs in Australia, Surinam, the US, Singapore, Quatar, Malaysia, the UK and Mauritius through video conferencing on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, also said he would find a practical solution to the issue of tracing of roots for non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIOs).

The US-based Zoom, which is also being used to conduct school classes besides corporate meetings, has also been tightening its encryption as it has come under fire globally for privacy issues.

At a time when most established brands are struggling with their supply chain, the young blood has stepped up its game to make its presence felt and let the world know that it care and can deliver. Brand Equity decodes what’s working for younger, smaller brands and what the post-lockdown world may have in store.

As per the new Budget, the profit-linked income tax exemption for promoters of affordable housing with a 30 sq m limit will apply only to the four metropolitan cities.

Trumpnomics will probably kick-start the decline of the US as we know it. Getting back our best brains, trained in the best institutes, will be the biggest capital we can have to climb to the pinnacle.

This week's "Poke Me" invited your comments on "H-1B issue in US provides the right push – and opportunity – for India".

In trying to answer this question, the first thing that needs to be done is to define what the BCCI does. What are its primary tasks and objectives?

India is currently in a sweet spot, with its working-age population expected to grow by a third over the next three decades, at a time when China and Russia will see a fall of over 20% .

In its Global Economic Outlook 2020, Fitch said the number of people affected by coronavirus will keep rising in the coming weeks but that the outbreak will remain contained. However, there are downside risks to this scenario.

India cannot — and need not — let its economy be sacrificed at the altar of COVID-19 mitigation.

Barclays specified the cost of the three-week nationwide lockdown to be alone at USD 90 billion, which is over and above the lockdowns announced by various states like Maharashtra earlier. They also said that the RBI is most likely to go for a 0.65 per cent rate cut in the April review and will slash interest rates further by 1 per cent during the course of the year.

It’s the lack of clarity that makes one wonder if the note was a knee-jerk reaction, or a well-thought-out strategy.

There will be up to 70% on from small businesses that includes up to 50% off artisan handloom and handicrafts. Up to 75% on 'interesting finds' from startups, 40% off on women-made products, up to 80% off on fashion, accessories and home products.

When the Covid-19 pandemic caused a sudden shortage of hand sanitisers, alcoholic beverage major Pernod Ricard was among the companies in the US that stepped up to ensure there was no dearth of the product in the market. Leading the initiative was Ann Mukherjee, who took over as chairman & CEO of Pernod Ricard North America in December 2019. Mukherjee has spent almost 30 years in sales, marketing and brands, including with Frito-Lay North America and SC Johnson. The Kolkata-born Mukherjee was last month chosen by US President Donald Trump to be part of a high-profile group to advise the American government on how to kick-start US manufacturing in the post-pandemic era. Trump has formed several such groups to focus on various sectors of the economy. In an interview with Ishani Duttagupta, Mukherjee says that re-entering life and enabling safe travel will be the biggest challenges that all nations face in a post-lockdown world. Edited excerpts...You took over the reins at Pernod Ricard North America only last December; how are you dealing with the crisis caused by the pandemic?My first priority was the health and safety of our employees. That meant creating an infrastructure and agile ways of working to enable working from home through confinement. It also meant creating and maintaining safety protocols for our essential frontline workers, especially our teams in production facilities and distilleries. Second, we focused on our ability to give back to the communities we serve and partner with. Given our entrepreneurial culture, many teams went into action creating opportunities with speed. Working closely with the White House COVID taskforce, we were able to get clearance to produce and supply hand sanitiser for the US government. We provided this free of cost to help first responders across the country. Our Jameson team --- realizing that many bartenders that partner to make the brand great would be out of work – donated $600,000, and generated another $700,000 in matching funds, to the US Bartenders Guild charity fund. Also, our on-premise team worked with multiple charities to provide free meals for hospitality workers affected by the crisis.Finally, we dealt with the crisis by closely collaborating with our distributor partners to keep our business open in the short term, while working together to create a roadmap for recovery. We leveraged our resilience and our culture of conviviality to keep spirits high -- and work with optimism -- during difficult times.As the head of the American operations of an European giant, what are the challenges? Are there any cultural issues?Honestly, cultural issues never even enter the conversation. The culture is centred around conviviality…..bringing people together. That is true for what we sell and how we interact together as business units. Our CEO Alex Ricard sets the tone and walks the walk. He is a very expansive thinker and an inclusive leader who unites us and our different experiences to make for a more powerful whole. Take me for example. He hired an Indian American with very strong roots in India, with North American commercial experience and global marketing experience. He looks for people with broad perspectives and experiences. 75649631Is the American market for scotch whisky growing?Scotch is the best-selling imported whiskey in the US by revenue. Blended scotch has been somewhat flat, with some growth during the crisis, and we see that with our iconic Chivas brand. Single malt is where we see the growth; sales increased almost 10% last year. Our Glenlivet brand has been a huge driver of that growth, bringing new drinkers into both the brand and the category. The brand is positioned to challenge the more traditional conventions of scotch drinkers and celebrates the young unconventional drinker, especially appealing to women who are now open to enjoying single malt as their drink of choice.You are part of the team of top CEOs advising President Trump on reviving the US economy. What are some of the key issues that you think the US government needs to address at this point? It’s an honour to serve the country in this capacity. Our number 1 objective is to help the administration bring back and rebuild confidence. It is a very difficult balance between managing public health and insuring a sustainable economy. We must protect the population from this virus but we need to ensure there is an economy to come back to post the recovery. If we open too quickly, we might be back in confinement; if we don’t re-open with smart speed, we might create a bigger crisis. So we need to ensure that there are the right protocols in place for recovery, ensure there is adequate supply and access to protective accessories needed, and the right partnerships in place with private enterprise, local government and federal oversight. What should the Indian government do?As the world’s largest democracy, India has a very strong state-driven government system with strong central government oversight, not unlike the US. It is critical to get that balance right and work together to strengthen and unite the mosaic that is India. India defines entrepreneurship. It is vital to tap into that cultural advantage and unite business leaders, scholars and government to create out of the box solutions. Private enterprise will need to understand that we as CEOs have not only a fiscal responsibility to our companies, but also a societal responsibility. One feeds the other; without a vibrant market, our businesses cannot thrive, so working together as a collective across business and government is key.The alcobeverages sector traditionally didn’t have women in top roles. Do you see that changing? What are the challenges?I absolutely see it changing, though I wish progress was faster. Companies need to reflect their consumer base, and a majority of everyday purchase decisions globally are made by women. That fact is only accelerating as women become more educated, empowered as single parents or heads of households across many countries. In beverage alcohol in the US, a majority of decisions are actually made by women. The challenge is that we need corporate boards and top management teams to get more rigorous about achieving this objective. Companies must put shorter term and longer term 5-10 year succession plans in place to achieve ambitious targets for women in top management roles; they need to be identified early, developed, and given aggressive career plans to groom them for these positions. This is a passion point for Pernod Ricard driven by our Chairman, Alex Ricard. It’s about achieving better balance…and I personally like this approach. It isn’t about favouring one gender over the other, it’s about getting the right balance reflective of the marketplace and in creating tomorrow’s workforce now. Going forward, what do you think are the biggest challenges that your company and sector will have to grapple with as lockdown gradually lifts across the US and the world?Re-entering life safely is the biggest challenge the world faces. Whether it’s re-entering your neighbourhood, your town, travelling within your own country, or beginning to travel the world again. It also will be parents letting go of their children after they kept them from harm in confinement, and trusting school systems to keep them safe. And family members trusting each other to maintain safety protocols as they come back home from work. We all will lose control when we come out of confinement. In our industry, our biggest challenge will be restaurants, hotels, bars and pubs. How can you enjoy and connect, but safely from a distance? Can smaller establishments have viable businesses when there need to be fewer patrons? It will be a new normal, and we need to work together to make it viable and enjoyable.What do you think are the major differences between the liquor market in the US and Europe?I believe the liquor market is very similar in the two continents. During this crisis, we have seen the market stay strong through in-home consumption, with some of the bar and restaurant consumption shifting to home consumption. People are drinking brands they know and trust. They are also looking for premium experiences to help overcome the difficulty of confinement. For us at Pernod Ricard, we have the world’s largest premium portfolio with a large stable of familiar and trusted brands. So we have seen positive performance from our portfolio in both continents. What has your experience been as a woman in a typically male-dominated industry?Joining Pernod Ricard was a great fit for me. My husband and I love entertaining, bringing friends and family together because we believe creating special moments together makes life worth living. That is exactly the spirit and culture of conviviality. So when I joined the company, I invited my leadership team to my home for a night to meet the Mukherjees as part of a bigger leadership summit. My husband, who is very proud of his bar, rebuilt all the shelves so he could light up and showcase all of the incredible Pernod Ricard brands. I show my compassion through food. So I made samosas, mutton biriyani, raita, chicken cutlet and chapali kababs, and for my vegetarian team members, I made dal makhani, matter paneer, aloo dum. As a parting gift I gave everyone a small Ganesh so our paths moving forward would have no obstacles. I believe that if you are to be a meaningful leader, you must bring your whole and authentic self to work. As a woman, I don’t shy away from sharing my personal stories as a wife, mother and daughter, or from sharing my vulnerabilities as a woman leader in how I manage, try to instil trust and inspire others. After all, we are in the human being business. Do you see a timeline for recovery of firms such as yours in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis?The only thing that is certain about this crisis is that it is uncertain. Until we have viable testing and treatment and eventually vaccines, we cannot fully recover. So the key right now is to be agile. Adjust as the marketplace adjusts. That means new ways of working, helping your workforce to be in a mode of agile planning and execution. We can help people through the stops and starts this will cause by helping them see the bigger long-term goal of recovery and viability.Do you have any connections with India?I have very strong connections with India. 98% of my family is still in India, in my native hometown of Kolkata, New Delhi where I went to high school, as well as Mumbai and Bengaluru. We talk to them daily/weekly to keep in touch and stay connected through this crisis. We speak Bengali at home as a family. I am very proud of my sari collection and dress Indian any chance I get. We have a very strong Indian community here. I am as Indian as I am American and am a better person for it. I hope and pray that everyone stays safe and recovers with prosperity.

Back home, the workers are looking to start afresh. Their best bet seems to be rehabilitation packages.

Asked whether Indians are being targeted abroad, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said, "One cannot make such a general statement."

The number of Indians who left during the grace period till October-end is 1,34,281, the Indian Embassy here said in a statement.

All passengers coming to India will have to fill in a new detailed customs form on their arrival from tomorrow.

High costs, poor job prospects and wrangles over work permits are persuading a host of Indian students with foreign degrees to return home.

There were about 10,000 Indians before the start of the serious strife between government troops and Sunni militants backed by al Qaeda in Iraq.

The minister said the government has already set up an Indian Workers Resource Centre in Dubai and will set up two more in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.

South Sudan's capital is witnessing heavy fighting due to clashes between former rebels and government soldiers in several parts of the city.

V K Singh said presently, a section of Indian workers facing difficulties in two major Saudi companies -- Saudi Oger and the Saad Group -- are being brought back to India.

Around 1,500 blue collar workers from Tamil Nadu are among those who are using the amnesty to come back to the country.

Union Bank of India announced reduction in its MCLR up to 15 basis points across all tenors, effective May 11. Overnight MCLR has been reduced by 15 bps to 7.15 per cent from 7.30 per cent and one-month MCLR by 10 bps to 7.25 per cent.

A law requiring 120 days' stay in India to claim Non-Resident Indian (NRI) status needs to be changed, an association representing NRIs has demanded, citing economic disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In official emails to permanent residents who have enquired about the availability of these flights, the high commission has indicated that at this point, the flights are available only to Canadian citizens and their immediate family members who are permanent residents and accompanying them on the flights.

Khanna, 43, is the only Indian-American lawmaker to be named to the White House's Opening Up America Again Congressional Group which comprises Congressmen from both the Republican and the Democratic parties.

Indian-American Dr Madhvi Aya, who contracted the coronavirus in the line of duty in New York, the country's COVID-19 epicentre, could only exchange text messages with her husband and daughter from her hospital bed before she lost the battle to the deadly virus.

Trump's plan to temporarily suspend immigration in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and to protect American jobs, has shocked Indian IT companies and technology professionals. As they anxiously await how the restrictions will pan out, New York-based immigration lawyer Cyrus D Mehta explained its likely impact.

Figures released this week by the National Health Service England show that of the 13,918 patients who died in hospitals till April 17 after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, 16.2 per cent were of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background and those identifying with Indian ethnicity made up 3 per cent of that.

Seema Nanda has announced her decision to step down as the CEO of the Democratic National Committee, the top administrative position in the main Opposition party, ahead of the presidential elections in November.

Renu Khator, an Indian-American university chancellor, has been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences for her contributions in the fields of education and academic leadership.

New York is the epicentre of the pandemic in the US and currently has 295,106 COVID-19 cases with over 17,000 deaths.On Tuesday, 337 people died of the disease in the state.

"Indian men are 150 per cent more likely to work in health or social care roles than their white British counterparts," according to the report.

The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Indian Consulate in Dubai started e-registrations on Wednesday night to form a database of those wanting to return to India. Over 50% of the applicants are from Kerala. Malayalees comprise more than 1 million of the 3.4 million Indians in the UAE.

Ashok Michael Pinto, who has worked as a Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to former president George W Bush, was on Monday nominated as US Alternate Executive Director of IBRD for a term of two years.