Jerry Wang, 34, the CEO of Sunnyvale California-based Herguan University and the University of East-West Medicine, has been charged in a San Jose District Court with a 15 count indictment on visa fraud including that he forged federal documents to allow foreign students to enter and stay in the US.
Federal agents raided the Herguan University in California and arrested Wang on Thursday. Wang faces a maximum penalty of up to 85 years in prison if convicted of all charges. He could also have to pay a fine of up to a million dollars.
Wang's father and mother have also been named in the 10-page indictment, which alleges that between 2007 and 2011, they submitted false transfer letters and forged other visa documents required for non-immigrant students to the US Department of Homeland Security's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP).
The Wangs collected tuition fees and other payments from Herguan students in exchange for maintaining their false student visa records.
The case could spell trouble for the about 450 students of Herguan, most of whom are from India. A photograph on the university's website shows some graduating students, half of whom are Indians.
The university, however, wrote on its website that the charges against Wang have not affected Herguan and that Wang has resigned from his post.
The university is "open and and conducting classes as usual. Government charges against the Designated School Official, who has resigned, regarding immigration issues, have not affected the University. Students will find classes scheduled as usual," it said.
The university added that if students have valid visa status "nothing has changed for you."
The university is seeking Wang's replacement and has appointed Doreen Simmons as the interim chief operating officer.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement that in light of the allegations, Herguan and the University of East-West Medicine could lose authorisation to enroll foreign students.
"Foreign students who are currently enrolled at these universities may continue to attend classes as long as the schools remain SEVP-certified and the students are able to maintain their lawful immigration status," ICE said.
The ICE has issued both schools a notice of intent to withdraw, the first step in revoking the schools' SEVP certification.
The universities have 30 days to respond to the notice and request an interview to contest the action.
The indictment charges Wang with conspiracy to commit visa fraud; use of false documents; aggravated identity theft; and unauthorised access to government computers.
Wang made his initial appearance in federal court on Thursday and is scheduled to be formally arraigned August 20.
The school offers computer science and business degrees and was granted federal approval in 2008 to accept foreign students.
The San Jose Mercury News quoted a Herguan graduate Rajiv as saying that the news of the raid came as a shock. He said foreign students were told if "that in the next 15 days, if something doesn't change, you either have to find a different school or leave the country."
Last year over 1000 Indian students were affected by the Tri-Valley scam after the university was raided and shut down by authorities on charges of a massive immigration fraud.
Many students had faced the threat of deportation to India after the scam was uncovered. Federal authorities had alleged that Tri valley had been paid millions of dollars by foreigners to obtain student visas that authorised them to remain in the US.
The university, which had around 1,500 Indian students, was was later closed down.
Bomb scare in Madurai, former member of banned Al Umma outfit receives parcel bomb
MADURAI: Bomb scare returned to haunt the temple city of Madurai as a small time realtor with alleged links to the banned Al Umma outfit received a parcel bomb on Saturday.
An employee of the realtor who received the parcel at the real estate office in one of the busy commercial spots opened it and informed the police, who rushed there and defused the explosives. "The parcel contained two sets of explosives. One had the explosive material connected to a battery and timer while the other had a bundle of explosive material without being connected to battery and timer,'' said a senior police official.
Police said the parcel was handed over to Arumugam, a goldsmith in Krishnan Koil street by a youth on Friday night. The youth described as fair and tall and aged about 25 years had asked Arumugam to hand over the parcel to Umar Farooq, a realtor with alleged Al Umma links who had his office in the locality. On Saturday morning, Arumugam asked his errand boy to hand over the parcel in Umar Farooq's office located nearby. Umar Farooq's employee Ismail received the parcel and opened it to find the bombs, police said. Ismail informed the police, who rushed there with bomb detection and disposal squad and defused the bomb.
The explosive device were much similar to the bombs detected in Madurai earlier in intensity, material used as well as technology, said the police officer. The city had witnessed bombs exploding or detected before they could explode since 2010, including once during BJP leader L K Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra last year. The two explosions in the past had not caused much damage. Curiously, the police had not made much headway in any of the cases.
The present parcel bomb has surfaced coinciding with the conference of the Sourashtra community in Madurai for which Gujarat chief minister was invited. But police say they are yet to ascertain if the bombs targeted the conference.
"We are interrogating several persons. Only after a through enquiry we can arrive at the facts," said the police official. Senior police officials, including city commissioner Sanjay Mathur, officials from special intelligence unit and special investigation team have begun inquiry. Police are interorgating Umar Farooq and his friend Jamal.
Umar had received the parcel from a boy who told him that he was coming from a courier office, police said. On opening the parcel, he found the bombs attached to a battery and informed police.
The bombs were "sophisticated", police said, adding, bomb squad personnel defused them. A top police official said Umar had many enemies in other terror outfits. He is being questioned to trace the boy's identity, police sources said.
The email, forwarded on Friday by one Ajay Kashyap to the chief secretaries of Rajasthan, Delhi and few other states, claimed that a man from Bihar was planning to trigger blasts in Delhi on August 15, state intelligence sources said.
The email also contained specific details of the man, it claimed, would carry out the blasts, they said.
Efforts are on to trace the source of the email and the sender's identity.
Arvind Kejriwal hasn't yet called his new enterprise a war machine, but he has gotten to know his enemy - the political class - quite a bit in the last one year. Natural then, that he has now chosen to become one of them, ostensibly to know them all better, and probably convert a few of them.
On Friday evening, delivering a "fast-breaking speech", Kejriwal announced the inevitable course-correction - from challenging the supremacy of Parliament to highlighting its supreme strength.
"Having faced with an indifferent government, we have realised the need to reposition our struggle on the street in such a way so that we can enter Parliament, not just for capturing power, but for uprooting the corrupt government and changing the entire system. For that we need to fight on the street to mobilise a revolutionary movement for all-round change," he told the audience at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
Kejriwal billed the Team Anna effort as the "first revolutionary movement of the people since JP's" where "every decision will be taken amidst the people and with the permission of gram sabhas". Incidentally, Team Anna also seems to have timed its political plunge to pre-empt Baba Ramdev's political launch slated for August 9.
Kejriwal's quantum jump from civil society activism into electoral politics stands in stark contrast to what he used to spout at high-charged public gatherings. " Hum chunke nahin aaenge," he used to holler into cheering crowds, voicing his deep disgust about party politics.
Now, the latest grapevine creeping out of Team Anna camp has it that Kejriwal may contest toLok Sabha from his home state Haryana in General Elections 2014. His firebrand colleagueKiran Bedi might take on Union minister - and sworn enemy of Anna camp - Kapil Sibal in Delhi's Chandni Chowk constituency, and man Friday Manish Sisodia could take his chances against Sandeep Diskhit - the Congress MP from East Delhi.
That should leave "apolitical" figures in the Anna camp like Justice Santosh Hegde and Medha Patkar perplexed, but not those among the political class who have been challenging them to drop the facade of being "apolitical" and take the plunge.
The IIT graduate has a steep task ahead of him, but he is not new to risk-taking missions and confronting powerful enemies. During his RTI campaign, he also realised the importance of leading from the front and thus parted company with his early mentor, Aruna Roy.
Much before Rahul Gandhi started his 'talent-hunt', Kejriwal had carried out his own to thrash out a crack team comprising people with equal dare and determination like Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Sisodia. His search for a marketable 'face' led him to Anna Hazare. He successfully catapulted the Idea of Anna from a Maharashtra village into the heart of Lutyen's Delhi.
From the 2011 Jantar Mantar-Ramlila Maidan shows to 2012 Jantar Mantar 'evolution', Kejriwal showed his unparalleled event management skills. The whole campaign was played out as the "second freedom movement" by using the magnifying powers of 24X7 TV and by cashing in on the public's disgust with mounting corruption.
Despite slowdown, jobs in global corporations growing, cash reserves reach $5 trillion
NEW DELHI: Even as there is unending bad news on the global economic front, one dimension of the international economy seems to be flourishing - foreign affiliates of trans-national corporations (TNCs). Their employment figures are rising, sales and assets are up, and so is their value added product. And they have amassed a cash reserve of $5 trillion.
Recently released data in the World Investment Report 2012, prepared by the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) , shows that during 2011, foreign affiliates employed an estimated 69 million workers, who generated $28 trillion in sales and $7 trillion in value added. This is a substantial increase over the pre-crisis average during 2005-2007 when their employment stood at about 52 million, sales were $21 trillion and $5 trillion was the value added product, especially in the context of a slowing economy all round.
The total assets of foreign affiliates have risen from $44 trillion in the pre-crisis years of 2005-2007 to an eye-popping $82 trillion in 2011. Royalties and license fee receipts of foreign affiliates rose by 55% to $242 billion in 2011.
Despite these healthy economic indicators of the TNCs, their record levels of cash have so far not translated into sustained growth in investment levels. UNCTAD estimates that these cash levels have reached more than $5 trillion, including earnings retained overseas.
Data on the largest 100 TNCs show that during the global financial crisis, they cut capital expenditures in productive assets and acquisitions (especially foreign acquisitions) in favour of holding cash. Cash levels for these 100 firms alone peaked in 2010 at $1.03 trillion, of which an estimated $166 billion was additional - above the levels suggested by average pre-crisis cash holdings.
Although recent figures suggest that TNCs' capital expenditures in productive assets and acquisitions are picking up, rising 12 per cent in 2011, the additional cash they are holding - an estimated $105 billion in 2011 - is still not being fully deployed.
Renewed instability in international financial markets will continue to encourage cash holding and other uses of cash such as paying dividends or reducing debt levels. Nevertheless, as conditions improve, the current cash "overhang" may fuel a future surge in FDI.
Projecting the data for the top 100 TNCs over the estimated $5 trillion in total TNC cash holdings results in more than $500 billion in investable funds, or about one third of global FDI flows.
Ten years jail for attacking govt staff’s family
KOCHI: With CPM agitations spiralling out of control and resulting in widespread attacks on government officials and offices belonging to rival political parties, director general of prosecution on Friday submitted a draft amendment to the Indian Penal Code andCriminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
The draft amendment defined provisions to protect family members of government officials, and made attacks on party offices a crime punishable with five years imprisonment.
According to the amendment framed by director general of prosecution T Asaf Ali, anyone causing grievous hurt to a member of a public servant's family in retaliation to any act done by the official while discharging his/her official duty, shall be punished with imprisonment of/up to 10 years and fine. If the attack only results in simple injury, the punishment will be imprisonment of/up to three years and fine.
The amendment proposed is an extension of existing provisions in the Indian Penal Code (section 333 and 332), which stipulate imprisonment of/up to 10 years and fine for causing grievous hurt to a public servant whereas causing simple hurt is punishable with imprisonment of/up to three years and fine. Family of the public servant is defined in the proposed amendment to include the wife or husband of the public servant, their legitimate and illegitimate children and any person related to the official by blood, marriage or adoption.
The director general of prosecution also suggested amending Indian Penal Code to make attacks on party offices a punishable crime with imprisonment of/up to five years and fine.
The punishment will be for causing damage to property other than public property, which includes property owned by any recognized political party registered under the Representation of People Act of 1951 and voluntary organizations registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1870 or similar laws.
In addition to being amendments intended to rein in rampaging political activists, they would also be the first batch of amendments to the Indian Penal Code and CrPC made by the state government.
"This would be the first amendments to Indian Penal Code and CrPC being suggested by the Kerala government. No such amendments have been made by the Kerala government before," the DGP said.
Delhi Airport Metro repairs to take longer
NEW DELHI: The wait for the Airport Metro Express just got longer. The internal deadline for repairing the line, which was shut down by the concessionaire on July 8, has been reset to mid-September, said sources. Earlier, the urban development ministry had said the repair would be completed by August-end.
The reason for the rescheduling is the need for more rectification, said sources, along with the slow pace of work by Delhi Metro. "Delhi Metro is still examining the defects. As it's a time-consuming task — the inspection can only be done by climbing the girders and closely examining the bearings — the internal deadline has been rejigged," said a senior government official who is part of the committee on the airport Metro. Officials say workers are being put on the job even as the required machinery is being procured.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has now decided to inspect all the 2,000-odd bearings used in the elevated section of the 22.7km line.
"The joint inspection committee had found that 90% of the 540 bearings that had been inspected were defective. Based on that, DMRC has been asked to check all the bearings on the corridor. More than 80% of the bearings are expected to be compromised," an official said.
Sources said that with over 1,500 bearings requiring being attended to, the work schedule had to be extended as well. "There is little likelihood of the rectification work being completed before September 20," said a source.
The urban development ministry is still awaiting the report on the examination of the girders, said officials. "Systra has been asked to examine the girders," said the official, adding that prima facie, their defects don't seem to be serious. "However, an independent party, decided by both Delhi Metro and Reliance Infrastructure, will monitor the rectification work, so that both parties are satisfied," said the official.
Last month, the concessionaire R-Infra had shut down the Airport Metro Express, citing safety reasons. According to R-Infra, the defects in bearings and girders had forced the concessionaire to slow down the speed of the trains to an abysmal 15kmph at places, and put commuters at risk.
Delhi Metro had, however, denied that the safety of the corridor was being compromised by the defects.
Cops suspect new terror module behind Pune blasts
PUNE: The investigating agencies suspect that a new terror module engineered Wednesday's blasts on Jangli Maharaj road here. The suspicion stems from the nature of the material used in the bombs and the modus operandi of the group, crime branch sources said.
The investigators believe five to six persons carried out the blasts. They said they are yet to determine whether the new module is directly linked to or is a splinter outfit of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which was involved in the German Bakery blast and several other terror attacks across the country.
Officers from the Gujarat anti-terrorism squad(ATS), who are in Pune, are examining the sketches of the two men who purchased bicycles from a shop at Phadke Haud in the city around eight hours before the first bomb went off. Three bombs were strapped onto three bicycles, two of which were traced to the shop. The sketches were prepared based on the description given by the bicycle shop owner and his two employees.
A special team of the Pune police is checking the registers of all lodges in the city and also questioning their owners to try and get any leads about the persons involved in the blasts.
The crime branch as well as the ATS are examining the CCTV footage taken from shops on Jangli Maharaj road, Phadke Haud and Shaniwar Peth. The men who purchased the bicycles from Phadke Haud are suspected to have taken the Shaniwar Peth route.
The investigating agencies are also looking at the possible involvement of Maoists, extremist right-wing Hindutva groups and other extremist Islamic outfits in the blasts. Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria, who is camping in Pune to supervise the investigations , has formed three teams, each headed by a deputy commissioner of police, to look into each angle.
Home ministry sources said the involvement of Maoists was unlikely. However,the investigating agencies in Pune said they have taken cognizance of the Maoist angle as posters on Naxal propaganda had been found at a few places in the city over the last four months.
NEW DELHI: Even as there is unending bad news on the global economic front, one dimension of the international economy seems to be flourishing - foreign affiliates of trans-national corporations (TNCs). Their employment figures are rising, sales and assets are up, and so is their value added product. And they have amassed a cash reserve of $5 trillion.
Recently released data in the World Investment Report 2012, prepared by the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) , shows that during 2011, foreign affiliates employed an estimated 69 million workers, who generated $28 trillion in sales and $7 trillion in value added. This is a substantial increase over the pre-crisis average during 2005-2007 when their employment stood at about 52 million, sales were $21 trillion and $5 trillion was the value added product, especially in the context of a slowing economy all round.
The total assets of foreign affiliates have risen from $44 trillion in the pre-crisis years of 2005-2007 to an eye-popping $82 trillion in 2011. Royalties and license fee receipts of foreign affiliates rose by 55% to $242 billion in 2011.
Despite these healthy economic indicators of the TNCs, their record levels of cash have so far not translated into sustained growth in investment levels. UNCTAD estimates that these cash levels have reached more than $5 trillion, including earnings retained overseas.
Data on the largest 100 TNCs show that during the global financial crisis, they cut capital expenditures in productive assets and acquisitions (especially foreign acquisitions) in favour of holding cash. Cash levels for these 100 firms alone peaked in 2010 at $1.03 trillion, of which an estimated $166 billion was additional - above the levels suggested by average pre-crisis cash holdings.
Although recent figures suggest that TNCs' capital expenditures in productive assets and acquisitions are picking up, rising 12 per cent in 2011, the additional cash they are holding - an estimated $105 billion in 2011 - is still not being fully deployed.
Renewed instability in international financial markets will continue to encourage cash holding and other uses of cash such as paying dividends or reducing debt levels. Nevertheless, as conditions improve, the current cash "overhang" may fuel a future surge in FDI.
Projecting the data for the top 100 TNCs over the estimated $5 trillion in total TNC cash holdings results in more than $500 billion in investable funds, or about one third of global FDI flows.
Recently released data in the World Investment Report 2012, prepared by the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) , shows that during 2011, foreign affiliates employed an estimated 69 million workers, who generated $28 trillion in sales and $7 trillion in value added. This is a substantial increase over the pre-crisis average during 2005-2007 when their employment stood at about 52 million, sales were $21 trillion and $5 trillion was the value added product, especially in the context of a slowing economy all round.
The total assets of foreign affiliates have risen from $44 trillion in the pre-crisis years of 2005-2007 to an eye-popping $82 trillion in 2011. Royalties and license fee receipts of foreign affiliates rose by 55% to $242 billion in 2011.
Despite these healthy economic indicators of the TNCs, their record levels of cash have so far not translated into sustained growth in investment levels. UNCTAD estimates that these cash levels have reached more than $5 trillion, including earnings retained overseas.
Data on the largest 100 TNCs show that during the global financial crisis, they cut capital expenditures in productive assets and acquisitions (especially foreign acquisitions) in favour of holding cash. Cash levels for these 100 firms alone peaked in 2010 at $1.03 trillion, of which an estimated $166 billion was additional - above the levels suggested by average pre-crisis cash holdings.
Although recent figures suggest that TNCs' capital expenditures in productive assets and acquisitions are picking up, rising 12 per cent in 2011, the additional cash they are holding - an estimated $105 billion in 2011 - is still not being fully deployed.
Renewed instability in international financial markets will continue to encourage cash holding and other uses of cash such as paying dividends or reducing debt levels. Nevertheless, as conditions improve, the current cash "overhang" may fuel a future surge in FDI.
Projecting the data for the top 100 TNCs over the estimated $5 trillion in total TNC cash holdings results in more than $500 billion in investable funds, or about one third of global FDI flows.
The draft amendment defined provisions to protect family members of government officials, and made attacks on party offices a crime punishable with five years imprisonment.
According to the amendment framed by director general of prosecution T Asaf Ali, anyone causing grievous hurt to a member of a public servant's family in retaliation to any act done by the official while discharging his/her official duty, shall be punished with imprisonment of/up to 10 years and fine. If the attack only results in simple injury, the punishment will be imprisonment of/up to three years and fine.
The amendment proposed is an extension of existing provisions in the Indian Penal Code (section 333 and 332), which stipulate imprisonment of/up to 10 years and fine for causing grievous hurt to a public servant whereas causing simple hurt is punishable with imprisonment of/up to three years and fine. Family of the public servant is defined in the proposed amendment to include the wife or husband of the public servant, their legitimate and illegitimate children and any person related to the official by blood, marriage or adoption.
The director general of prosecution also suggested amending Indian Penal Code to make attacks on party offices a punishable crime with imprisonment of/up to five years and fine.
The punishment will be for causing damage to property other than public property, which includes property owned by any recognized political party registered under the Representation of People Act of 1951 and voluntary organizations registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1870 or similar laws.
In addition to being amendments intended to rein in rampaging political activists, they would also be the first batch of amendments to the Indian Penal Code and CrPC made by the state government.
"This would be the first amendments to Indian Penal Code and CrPC being suggested by the Kerala government. No such amendments have been made by the Kerala government before," the DGP said.
Delhi Airport Metro repairs to take longer
The reason for the rescheduling is the need for more rectification, said sources, along with the slow pace of work by Delhi Metro. "Delhi Metro is still examining the defects. As it's a time-consuming task — the inspection can only be done by climbing the girders and closely examining the bearings — the internal deadline has been rejigged," said a senior government official who is part of the committee on the airport Metro. Officials say workers are being put on the job even as the required machinery is being procured.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has now decided to inspect all the 2,000-odd bearings used in the elevated section of the 22.7km line.
"The joint inspection committee had found that 90% of the 540 bearings that had been inspected were defective. Based on that, DMRC has been asked to check all the bearings on the corridor. More than 80% of the bearings are expected to be compromised," an official said.
Sources said that with over 1,500 bearings requiring being attended to, the work schedule had to be extended as well. "There is little likelihood of the rectification work being completed before September 20," said a source.
The urban development ministry is still awaiting the report on the examination of the girders, said officials. "Systra has been asked to examine the girders," said the official, adding that prima facie, their defects don't seem to be serious. "However, an independent party, decided by both Delhi Metro and Reliance Infrastructure, will monitor the rectification work, so that both parties are satisfied," said the official.
Last month, the concessionaire R-Infra had shut down the Airport Metro Express, citing safety reasons. According to R-Infra, the defects in bearings and girders had forced the concessionaire to slow down the speed of the trains to an abysmal 15kmph at places, and put commuters at risk.
Delhi Metro had, however, denied that the safety of the corridor was being compromised by the defects.
Cops suspect new terror module behind Pune blasts
PUNE: The investigating agencies suspect that a new terror module engineered Wednesday's blasts on Jangli Maharaj road here. The suspicion stems from the nature of the material used in the bombs and the modus operandi of the group, crime branch sources said.
The investigators believe five to six persons carried out the blasts. They said they are yet to determine whether the new module is directly linked to or is a splinter outfit of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which was involved in the German Bakery blast and several other terror attacks across the country.
Officers from the Gujarat anti-terrorism squad(ATS), who are in Pune, are examining the sketches of the two men who purchased bicycles from a shop at Phadke Haud in the city around eight hours before the first bomb went off. Three bombs were strapped onto three bicycles, two of which were traced to the shop. The sketches were prepared based on the description given by the bicycle shop owner and his two employees.
A special team of the Pune police is checking the registers of all lodges in the city and also questioning their owners to try and get any leads about the persons involved in the blasts.
The crime branch as well as the ATS are examining the CCTV footage taken from shops on Jangli Maharaj road, Phadke Haud and Shaniwar Peth. The men who purchased the bicycles from Phadke Haud are suspected to have taken the Shaniwar Peth route.
The investigating agencies are also looking at the possible involvement of Maoists, extremist right-wing Hindutva groups and other extremist Islamic outfits in the blasts. Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria, who is camping in Pune to supervise the investigations , has formed three teams, each headed by a deputy commissioner of police, to look into each angle.
Home ministry sources said the involvement of Maoists was unlikely. However,the investigating agencies in Pune said they have taken cognizance of the Maoist angle as posters on Naxal propaganda had been found at a few places in the city over the last four months.
The investigators believe five to six persons carried out the blasts. They said they are yet to determine whether the new module is directly linked to or is a splinter outfit of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which was involved in the German Bakery blast and several other terror attacks across the country.
Officers from the Gujarat anti-terrorism squad(ATS), who are in Pune, are examining the sketches of the two men who purchased bicycles from a shop at Phadke Haud in the city around eight hours before the first bomb went off. Three bombs were strapped onto three bicycles, two of which were traced to the shop. The sketches were prepared based on the description given by the bicycle shop owner and his two employees.
A special team of the Pune police is checking the registers of all lodges in the city and also questioning their owners to try and get any leads about the persons involved in the blasts.
The crime branch as well as the ATS are examining the CCTV footage taken from shops on Jangli Maharaj road, Phadke Haud and Shaniwar Peth. The men who purchased the bicycles from Phadke Haud are suspected to have taken the Shaniwar Peth route.
The investigating agencies are also looking at the possible involvement of Maoists, extremist right-wing Hindutva groups and other extremist Islamic outfits in the blasts. Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria, who is camping in Pune to supervise the investigations , has formed three teams, each headed by a deputy commissioner of police, to look into each angle.
Home ministry sources said the involvement of Maoists was unlikely. However,the investigating agencies in Pune said they have taken cognizance of the Maoist angle as posters on Naxal propaganda had been found at a few places in the city over the last four months.
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