Even after Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind 9/11 attacks, was killed by U.S. Navy SEAL at Pakistan in 2011, the Al-Qaeda’s role in Terrorism never ceased to an end.

This week, the U.S state department have designated Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden as “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”. According to the state department, this “imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the U.S”.

According to global news reports, Hamza bin Laden has been included in the watchlist after he threatened terror attacks against the United States. However, his current location is yet to known. He is the second son of Osama who’s targeted by U.S. after Sa’ad bin Laden, who was killed in 2009.

Not just that, US also is planning to strike at top brass of Al-Qaeda and in the process, the State department has declared a whopping amount of 25 million dollars for any information provided in regard to Ayman-al-Zawahiri’s capture. Ayman al-Zawahiri is the current leader of al-Qaeda in U.S

In what can be called a biggest loss to multinational IT companies in India, the IT sub index in Bombay Stock Exchange witnessed a downfall of close to 3%. When it comes to the potential deprivation, it’s a cumulative a loss of 22,000 crore for TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL companies – painful isn’t it?

While shares of Infosys fell by 2.50%, TCS and Wipro experienced a 2.18% dip in its share value. The business experts attribute this crisis to key changes in H1-B visa program and re-introduction of ‘Protect and Grow American Jobs Act’ in US Congress.

With a view to crack down all concerns and irregularities in H1-B visa programme, two lawmakers Darrell Issa and Scott Peters in US introduced it. Also, the bill is likely to hike the minimum salary of H1-B visa from $60,000 to $1,00,000 per annum.

Given these conditions, days prior to Trump’s inaugural ceremony, the bitter condition of Indian IT companies has slipped into a worsening and worrying state. And, no company is ready to bare such losses in the coming future. However, it remains to be seen whether the bill, introduced in US Congress, gets passed or not!

Leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday slammed Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu for his indifference towards farmers and for failing to complete a single irrigation project after he took over as Chief Minister three years back.

Speaking at the Rythu Bharosa Yatra in Prakasam district, Jagan said though three years had passed, it was a matter of shame that Naidu had not commissioned a single irrigation project and the state had been reeling under severe drought.

“He has thrown Rs 100 crores for Veligonda project like crumbs which will not be sufficient for any viable purpose and if allocations are done in such a manner we do not know when this project will be completed,” he said.

Jagan alleged that Naidu was more interested in kickbacks than the welfare of farmers.

“Three years are completed and after two years there will be elections which we will win and we shall complete all the pending projects,” he said.

All turncoats should face elections before joining other parties and governance is not about engineering defections, he said.

Naidu has taken the life out of Aarogyasri scheme and watered down fees reimbursement scheme putting the future of students at crossroads.

While YSR has built 42 lakh houses Chandrababu Naidu did not build a single house, Jagan said. People should join hands to reject such leaders, he said.

In a huge blow to lakhs of Indian students, the US Department of Education revoked the recognition of the largest accreditor of private or for profit colleges, Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).

The ACICS Council has accredited about 250 SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) certified colleges and schools. With the revocation of recognition of the Council, lakhs of Indian students who have graduated from the ACICS listed institutions are denied an extension of the optional practical training (OPT) from the 12th of December.

This means that the international undergraduate and graduate students students might also be required to migrate to other colleges as their institutions will not be eligible for OPT extension in future as they have lost their accreditation.

However, students with F-1 status, who have completed or have been pursuing their degrees for more than 9 months, are allowed to work by way of getting Optional Practical Training (OPT) to complement their field of studies, and extends for a period of 12 months, working for a US company.

Those who graduate from a US institution with a degree in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) can apply for an extension of their OPT for an additional 2 years.

Already, the US immigration and customs officials have started rejecting applications of the F-1 visa holders, who graduated from these 250 institutions and who had applied for OPT extensions, forcing them to study for another degree from an accredited college in the US if they want an OPT extension.

Even though ACICS is no longer a federally recognised accrediting authority, the US department of education will continue to provisionally certify ACICS-accredited institutions for continued participation in the federal student aid programmes for up to 18 months, which allows institutions to seek accreditation from another federally recognised accrediting agency.

Hyderabad: YSR Congress has come down heavily on AP CM for his remarks on Polavaram describing it as his dream project and the false claim of owning up the project though he took it up for personal gains discarding state interests.

Botsa Satyanarayana said that Chandrababu Naidu telling that Polavaram has been his dream project is ridiculous as it was he who tried to scuttle it while YSR had moved to all posts to get clearances and laid the foundation stone in 2005.

Blatantly telling that he has sacrificed special status for Polavaram is the height of insane thinking as Polavaram was included in the State Reorganisation Act with Centre taking responsibility for executing the work in full.

There was absolutely no need for him to take up Polavaram from the hands of Centre unless he has an ulterior motive of nepotism and kickbacks. Special status is beneficial to all the people of the state but taking the Polavaram project from the hands of Centre only benefits his own coterie and contractors.

Now claiming that Polavaram has been his dream project opens yawning gap between his words and deeds as the project was never talked about during his nine-year term earlier and when YSR had taken up the project, it was Chandrababu Naidu who had met the Chief Ministers of neighboring states with an open agenda of stalling the project.

Special status has been sacrificed by Chandrababu Naidu to take over the Polavaram project from the Centre only to allocate contracts to his favored few and get kickbacks, he said.

Veteran top producer of Tollywood, Aswini Dutt shared his views on various issues in ‘Open Heart’ program conducted by a news channel recently. Having disclosed the close bonding between Chiranjeevi and his, the senior producer said, “I wanted to contest in elections as an MP in 2004. Hearing my request Chiranjeevi garu conveyed my wish to Chandrababu garu. And the response from the CM was great. I was offered Vijayawada MP ticket then.”

Political analysts, however, felt CBN had done that favour to Chiranjeevi as the latter was not in active politics then. “As and when Chiranjeevi launched PRP, CBN thought of every possible strategy to checkmate Chiranjeevi and tried to apply it through his pro TDP media and sending coverts in PRP. Moreover, he prompted AP NGOs to agitate against union ministers during state’s bifurcation.” analysts informed.

Further they added, “Having been intolerant with the craze generated on ‘Khaidi Number 150’, CBN denied permission for the conduct of pre release event of the film in Vijayawada and Guntur. He maybe worrying if Chiranjeevi shatters his hopes of winning the election battle again in 2019. All these factors led unrest on CBN which made him committing unwanted blunders.”

The Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh which had looked invincible is now in utter shambles following the internal strife between father and son. This could not have come at a more opportune time for the BJP.

UP‘s Assembly election schedule has been released and post-demonetization, the public in UP could so easily have gone against the BJP. But added to the split in the Samajwadi Party now is another significant factor.

MIM led by the Owaisi brothers is going to contest the Assembly elections in UP in Muslim majority regions. Muslims have generally voted for the SP in UP but with the arrival of MIM and a weakened SP, there may be huge shifts to MIM.

And most important of all, the Owaisi brothers have a tendency to rake up communal feelings with their vitriolic speeches.

In such a scenario, the Hindus of UP may forget all their demonetization woes and choose to back the BJP which would be smart enough to capitalize on anything retrograde said by the Owaisis.

Having won two seats in Maharashtra Assembly elections, the MIM is keen on transforming itself into a pan-India party. And a strong showing in UP would definitely realign political equations across the nation.

It is an open secret that YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is an out and out Christian, displaying his immense faith in Bible. But he is also a politician; so he has to project himself as a secular person praying at all temples.

On Friday, Jagan turned a true Bhakt of Lord Siva, when he had a darshan of Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy at Srisailam temple.

He wore typical Hindu-style attire — dhoti and kurtha, sported Vibhuti smeared across his forehead and performed Abhishekam for the Lord. He was also given divine blessings by the temple priests.

This is not the first time that Jagan has sought to appeal the Hindus. He visited Tirumala temple in the past but his lack of declaration of Christian faith triggered a controversy.

He also performed yagnams and performed special prayers at Godavari and Krishna Pushkarams. Apparently, he has realised that his Christian faith is being cashed in on by the Telugu Desam Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party combine in the elections. That is why, he is trying to prove to the world that he believes in all faiths.