US to accept H1B visa applications from today

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would from Thursday accept receiving petitions for H-1B visa applications - the most sought after US work visa by Indian IT professionals - for the fiscal 2011 beginning October 1, 2010.

As mandated by the US Congress, the fiscal year cap (numerical limitation on H-1B petitions) for 2011 is 65,000.

Additionally, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals who have earned a US master’s degree or higher are exempt from the H-1B cap.

The USCIS has not announced any cut off date for accepting the visa petitions; as was the practice till the year before when the US agency used to receive applications several times the number mandated by the Congress and had to resort to computerized draw of lots to identify successful applicants.

“USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received and will notify the public of the date on which USCIS received the necessary number of petitions to meet the H-1B cap,” an official media release said.

Even as there is signs of revival of US economy, but the continued high unemployment rate is likely to result in much longer time to fill up the pool of 65,000 H-1B visas for 2011 could, similar to last year’s scenario in which the number of petitions for 2010 H-1Bs didn’t get near the cap until December 2009.

“If needed, USCIS will randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit from the petitions received on the final receipt date. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions that are not selected, as well as those received after the final receipt date,” it said.

The USCIS said petitions for new H-1B employment are exempt from the annual cap if the beneficiaries will work at institutions of higher education or related or affiliated non-profit entities, non-profit research organisations or governmental research organisations.

Petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries who will work only in Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands are exempt from the cap until December 31, 2014.

Manmohan Singh to get World Statesman award

The Appeal of Conscience Foundation on Friday announced to felicitate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with its prestigious World Statesman Award for the year 2010.

The award would be presented to the Prime Minister in September, said John Negroponte, the former Deputy Secretary of State, at a reception hosted at the residence of Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Meera Shankar in Washington on Thursday.

Ms. Shankar said the Prime Minister has graciously accepted the award.

Among the past recipients of this prestigious award include British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2009), French President Nicolas Sarkozy (2008), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2007) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2006).

The Appeal of Conscience Foundation was founded by Rabbi Arthur Schneier in 1965. It has worked on behalf of religious freedom and human rights throughout the world.

This interfaith coalition of business, religious and foreign policy leaders promotes peace, tolerance and ethnic conflict resolution.

It also provides a voice of conscience to protect minorities at a time of increasing ethnic conflict in many regions of the world.

First ever same-sex wedding in Washington

In the socially conservative capital of the United States an old mould was shattered on Tuesday as Washington DC bore witness to the first ever same-sex wedding within its borders.

Under the district's new same-sex marriage law, which received official sanction from a Supreme Court decision last week, lesbian couple Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend tied the knot at the headquarters of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT lobby group.

The approval given to the same-sex marriage law by the city council was immediately challenged by a lawsuit contending that residents had a right to vote on the law as well.

Local courts as well as U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected the appeals, allowing the District of Columbia to join other same-sex-marriage-supporting states such as Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

“This argument has some force,” Justice Roberts wrote, regarding the case.

“However, I conclude that a stay is not warranted. … It has been the practice of the court to defer to the decisions of the courts of the District of Columbia on matters of exclusively local concerns.”

Following the rejection of the appeal, the Superior Court of DC Marriage Bureau posted an understated note that read: “NOTE: Pursuant to the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, A18-248, effective March 3, 2010, same sex couples may apply for marriage licences in the District of Columbia.” The law still demands a waiting period of three business days before marriage licences can be issued.

Speaking to ABC News, Ms. Young earlier said, “We feel gratitude that we are being included. We have the legal right to love each other and to provide. I think everyone can understand that.”

According to the White House, President Barack Obama “supports full civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples and opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.”

Further, the President supports the repeal of the “Don't Ask Don't Tell” policy in the armed forces “in a sensible way” and believes in ensuring adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation, the White House adds.

Three dead in U.S. campus shooting

A woman opened fire during a biology faculty meeting at a southern U.S. campus on Friday, killing three biology professors and injuring three other employees at the school, officials said.

Authorities say Amy Bishop, an instructor and researcher at the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus, opened fire during an afternoon faculty meeting. Bishop has been charged with one count of capital murder, which means she could face the death penalty if convicted.

She was taken on Friday night in handcuffs from a police precinct to the county jail and could be heard saying, “It didn’t happen. There’s no way .... they are still alive.”

The shooter was caught without incident at the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus, outside a science building, and no students were harmed, according to university spokesman Ray Garner. Local media reported the shooter was a faculty member, though Garner said he could not identify her. Officials said a man was also being detained.

University spokesman Ray Garner said the three killed were Gopi K. Podila, the chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences, and two other faculty members, Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel Johnson.

Two others are in critical condition, and a third who was wounded was upgraded to fair condition. The injured were identified as department members Luis Cruz-Vera and Joseph Leahy and staffer Stephanie Monticello. Their specific conditions were not released.

University police secured the building and students were cleared from it. There was still a heavy police presence on campus Friday night, with police tape cordoning off the main entrance to the university.

The Huntsville campus has about 7,500 students in northern Alabama, not far from the Tennessee line. The university is known for its scientific and engineering programs and often works closely with NASA.

The university posted a message on its Web site Friday afternoon telling students the campus was closed Friday night and all students were encouraged to go home. Counsellors were available to speak with students.

It’s the second shooting in a week on an area campus. Last Friday, a 14-year-old student was killed in a middle school hallway in nearby Madison, allegedly by a fellow student.

Bin Laden takes credit for Christmas Day attempt

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden issued a new audio message claiming responsibility for the Christmas day bombing attempt in Detroit and vowed further attacks.

In a recording carried by the Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel, Bin Laden addressed U.S. President Barak Obama saying the attack was a message like that of September 11 and more attacks against the U.S. would be forthcoming.

“The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the September 11,” he said.

“America will never dream of security unless we will have it in reality in Palestine,” he added. “God willing, our raids on you will continue as long as your support to the Israelis will continue.”

On Christmas Day, Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attemped to blow up the Northwest Airlines flight he was sitting on as it approached Detroit Metro Airport. But the bomb he was hiding in his underwear failed to explode.

Abdulmutallab told federal agents shortly afterward that he had been trained and instructed in the plot by Al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen.

There was no way to confirm the voice was actually that of Bin Laden, but it resembled previous recordings attributed to him.