Good morning,
The spies are everywhere. Or they seem to be in China’s case. Just two weeks ago, the Royal Family in the United Kingdom was roiled by the alleged links between Prince Andrew and a suspected Chinese spy. Last month, at least nine telecoms firms in the United States were hacked as part of a sprawling Chinese espionage campaign. On Monday, the US Treasury Department said that a Chinese state-sponsored actor hacked into employee workstations, gaining access to unclassified documents. China, however, has denied the allegation, calling it a “smear tactic”.
On that note, let’s get to today’s edition.
Big Story
The shiny American dream that promises endless possibilities in the land of the United States has long enamoured young Indian men and women. Many line up at the visa offices seeking a H-1B that would allow them to work in the US. A section of Americans, however, want the dream all to themselves.
The debate on H-1B workers has divided the Donald Trump camp. Launched to help fill the skill gap in the US workforce, the H-1B programme finds many supporters among tech CEOs. The ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) cohort, however, has criticised American firms for hiring “cheap labour” on the back of the H-1B visa instead of US citizens. Billionaire and Trump’s close advisor, Elon Musk, who has backed skilled immigration, sought to address the criticism. On Sunday, he said the H-1B system is “broken” and “needs major reform”. And what does he suggest? “Making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically.”
What exactly is the H-1B programme, whom does it benefit, and why has it ignited debate in the US? We explain.
The H-1B debate is one of culture vs merit. Saikat Majumdar opines why the “Trump-Musk nexus” would be its end-all and the “nerds would run the country, supported by jocks”.
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Losing shine: Central bank data obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) request has revealed a disturbing trend. Many of those who pledged gold to secure loans default on them. Gold loan non-performing assets (NPAs) — or loans defaulted by borrowers — of banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) rose 30 per cent in just three months. The gold loan defaults point to a slowing economy’s impact on income levels.
From the Front Page
Milestone: Ending the year on a high, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) commenced the SpaDeX or Space Docking Experiment on Monday night. The docking technology will be key to ISRO’s future missions, including sending an Indian to the moon.
Strike: Punjab came to a halt Monday as farmers protested over several key demands. The Supreme Court is set to take stock today of the Punjab government’s efforts to provide treatment to farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on indefinite hunger strike for 35 days.
Must Read
In memoriam: In 2013, the Manmohan Singh-led government decided to do away with separate memorials for departed leaders citing a lack of space. So, it isn’t surprising that the Congress’s demand for one for Singh has led to a squabble. History has it that who gets a memorial – and where – is often a factor of who holds power at the time.
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Mayday: When the Jeju Air plane crashed at South Korea’s Muan International Airport, it was attempting a risky belly landing – one without the landing gear. Why did the landing gear fail to deploy? Why was the aircraft coming in so fast? There are many questions over what went wrong with the Jeju Air Boeing. Here are some answers.
And Finally…
The Border Gavaskar Trophy has been nothing short of a nightmare for Team India’s star batsmen. Tame dismissals at Melbourne mean the curtain is beginning to slide down from above. Is the Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retirement announcement round the corner? The question is no longer of “if” but “when”.
Don’t miss today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, where we look back at India’s biggest sporting moments of 2024.
That’s all for today. See you in 2025!
Sonal Gupta
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Business As Usual by EP Unny
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