Facing up to IT
On visa rules posing challenge to Indian IT companies
Stringent visa rules around the world pose the stiffest challenge for Indian IT companies
A globalising world enabled the spectacular rise of India’s information technology industry over the last couple of decades. The IT sector not only pulled up the GDP but also came to symbolise young India’s aspirations. With the world now bending towards protectionism, it faces a challenge to its talent-centric, software export model. In recent weeks, a slew of countries, which are estimated to account for three-fourths of the industry’s revenues, have placed stricter rules on their companies getting talent from overseas. Whether the challenge of protectionism fades out or deepens over a longer time horizon will depend on the global economic outlook. The visa rule changes for Indian tech personnel weren’t wholly unexpected, especially after Brexit and Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. on the back of, among other things, promises to put the brakes on outsourcing. Only, now governments are acting upon such rhetoric in some countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore and Australia. President Trump signed the ‘Buy American, Hire American’ executive order last week, seeking to raise the bar for the award of H-1B visas, an important route for Indian companies, so that they are given to the “most-skilled or highest-paid” beneficiaries. Earlier this month, the U.K. scrapped a category of short-term visas that have been used extensively by Indian companies to get their IT professionals on-site. The Australian equivalent of this is the recent junking of what are called the ‘457 visa’ rules. Singapore has reportedly kept approvals for work permits on hold for a while now. Continue Reading...........
IMPORTANT WORDS & THEIR MEANING FROM ARTICLE
1) Spectacular (भव्य) - Spect-acc-u-lar
- Meaning - beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way - Adjective
- an event such as a pageant or musical, produced on a large scale and with striking effects - Noun
- Synonyms - display, striking
- Antonyms - expected, common
- Example - It's a typical action film with plenty of spectacular stunts.
2) Bending (झुकने) - Bend-ing
- Meaning - shape or force (something straight) into a curve or angle - Verb
- Synonyms - curve, angle
- Antonyms - straight, unbent
- Example - The trees were bending before the storm.
3) Slew (धसान) - Sl-ew
- Meaning - turn or slide violently or uncontrollably - Verb
- a violent or uncontrollable sliding movement - Noun
- Synonyms - abundance, bundle
- Antonyms - individual, debt
- Example - They dealt with a slew of other issues.
4) Rhetoric (वक्रपटुता) - Rhet-ric
- Meaning - the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques - Noun
- Synonyms - oratory, eloquence
- Antonyms - quiet, conciseness
- Example - Her speech was just empty rhetoric.
5) Scrapped (फेंकना) - Scrap-ed
- Meaning - discard or remove from service (a redundant, old, or inoperative vehicle, vessel, or machine), especially so as to convert it to scrap metal - Verb
- Synonyms - discard, dismiss
- Antonyms - accept, keep
- Example - We scrapped our plans for a trip to France.
6) Gauge (अनुमान) - Ga-age
- Meaning - an instrument that measures and gives a visual display of the amount, level, or contents of something - Noun
- estimate or determine the amount, level, or volume of - Verb
- Synonyms - benchmark, indicator
- Antonyms - extreme, estimate
- Example - It's difficult to gauge one's character.
7) Amid (मध्य में) - Am-id
- Meaning - surrounded by, in the middle of - Preposition
- Synonyms - amidst, among
- Antonyms - beyond, outside
- Example - Their marriage took place amid a blaze of publicity.
- Meaning - show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing - Verb
- Synonyms - absolve, amnesty
- Antonyms - accuse, charge
- Example (English) - There is unlikely to be any precedent of people being exculpated even though they have admitted they are guilty.
- Example (Hindi) - ऐसे पूर्व निर्णय का कोई भी उदाहरण मिलना मुश्किल है जिसमें किसी ने दोषी होना स्वीकार किया हो और फिर भी उसे दोषमुक्त कर दिया गया हो।
Now considering the article above as a Reading Comprehension question, try to answer the following -
- Suggest a new title to the article.
- What steps can be taken to avoid such visa issues?
Given below are some words to check your vocabulary you can make sentences with those words in the comment section which will be reviewed by us.
- Stricter
- Outsourcing
- Beneficiaries
- Economic
