Anew ‘internship visa,’ approved by the Union Cabinet to help foreigners gain professional experience in India, does not include a “restricted category” to thwart applications from countries such as Pakistan and China. A senior official of the Home Ministry said India wanted to open its doors to talent from across the globe and let foreigners gain professional experience in the country. Young people welcome Explaining the reason for not having any restricted list for this category of visa, the official said: “We welcome young people from across the world. There is going to be a surge in demand for such visas when foreign companies start operating here. We will decide each application on a case-by-case basis.” Asked whether this meant there was no blanket ban on applicants from Pakistan and China, the official responded: “We have included a security clearance clause in this category of visa. A final decision would be taken by security agencies.” As reported by The Hindu , the NDA government removed Iran from the list of countries that were put in the restricted visa category last year. Conference visa seekers from China were also removed from this category
Winters are extremely hectic for Sushma Patel, a vegetable grower in Uttar Pradesh’s Chunar town. Her farm is in the fertile plains of Ganga where people grow three crops a year. But this is the only season when she can grow vegetables. And before that, she needs to manually dig out shreds of plastic and wrappers from her one-hectare (ha) farm. “This is all because of the nullah,” she says, pointing at an open drain that runs through her field, carrying sewage from the neighbourhood to the Ganga. “Every monsoon, the drain overflows and inundates the field with a thick, black sludge and plastic debris. We cannot even go near the field as the stench of sewage fills the air,” she says. But Patel has no one to complain to as this is the way of life for most people in this ancient town. About 70 per cent of the people in Chunar depend on toilets that have on-site sanitation, such as septic tanks and pits. In the absence of a proper disposal or management system, people simply dump the faec...
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