Daily Briefing: Why US student visa has fewer Indian takers

The American dream, however, may be losing its sheen. Consider this: Data from the US State Department shows a sharp 38 per cent drop in the F-1 student visas issued to Indians from January to September compared to the same period last year.

What’s behind this slowdown? Here’s what we found.

Only in Express

The likes of all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer don’t come by easily, and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) know it. At the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction last month, KKR spent nearly half its purse on the Indore-based Iyer. Snatched up for Rs 23.75 crore, he became the fourth-most costliest player in the league’s history. Speaking to The Indian Express, Iyer remains a true sportsman. “Once the tournament starts, it almost becomes immaterial. You might be a Rs 20 lakh player or a 20 crore player, you have to win,” he says.

Read all that Iyer had to say in the latest edition of the Idea Exchange.

From the Front Page

Almost half a century later, Syria as they say is feeling the winds of change. President Bashar al-Assad was forced to flee the country as Islamist rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) marched into the Syrian capital Damascus. As of Sunday, Assad was reportedly taking asylum in Russia. His exit, marking the end of the Assad family’s rule since 1971, was met with celebrations in the streets of Damascus.

In capitals elsewhere, including New Delhi, caution remains the keyword.

Must Read

CM of the tinsel town: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ swearing-in ceremony was a star-studded affair, including political elites, corporate honchos, Bollywood stars andsants. The significance of the grandeur goes beyond the pomp and show. In her latest column,Neerja Chowdhury writes on how the event underlined the subalternisation of Indian politics and its glamourisation.

Playing it safe: India is wary of over-dependence on the dollar. India’s neighbourhood was fraught with social and political unrest on the back of depleting dollar reserves. Warned against de-dollarisation by US President-elect Donald Trump, the Reserve Bank of India has a plan to de-risk its trade ties.

Plotting for success:Pushpa 2 (The Rule) was pegged as a pan-India spectacle right from the start. It has all the makings of a good masala film. The makers picked Patna as the venue for its grand trailer launch, cementing that it’s not a “South Indian film”. And soon, the film grossed a staggering three million tickets in advance sales, the highest ever in India. The trade-off, however, seems to have been the movie’s plot. “Pushpa 2 is not looking for depth… Instead, the film relies heavily on Puspha’s swagger,” opines Alaka Sahani.

‘My brother… He’s going to kill me.’And then, the line went quiet, recounts Bandari Srikanth. On December 1, his wife, Kongara Nagamani, was hacked to death in a case of suspected ‘honour killing’. The killing of the 27-year-old police constable from Hyderabad sent shockwaves across the country. We speak to the husband and try to unravel thestory behind the crime.

And Finally…

Lehengas, hair wigs, thermocol balls, and children’s books – you’d think these items are unrelated to each other but they appear together in the latest report by India’s apex anti-smuggling agency. These are just a few of the inventive ways smugglers have found to bring illicit cash and drugs such as heroin and cocaine into India.

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we speak about the current situation of Indo-China relations, a case at the International Court of Justice on climate change, and how to treat active landslide zones in Uttarakhand.

Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta

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