In India, Protecting a Whistle-Blower
142830
The Internet is being put to novel use in Indiaâs southern state of Karnataka: as a shield to protect a bureaucrat against powerful and potentially dangerous enemies.
5964
One of these days, a government expert will be punished for lying on a witness stand. Raising his right hand. Swearing to tell the truth.
472865
It is perhaps appropriate that the man who has killed the most-wanted brigand in the country should be called K Vijay Kumar. The 1975 batch police officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre had volunteered in 2000
76831
(InfoWorld) - India's chief outsourcing association has admitted there may be instances of U.S.Â visa abuse by Indian companies, but said the problems are confined to "small, fly-by-night operators." Most of the Indian companies that sponsor large numbers of U.S. visas are "publicly listed and ethically managed," the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) said on Thursday. Any abuse of U.S. visas at such companies would tend to be less than at smaller operations, it added. However, NASSCOM admitted in its statement that small companies are "an area that may need more attention." The association's comments come after further allegations of U.S. visa abuse by two U.S. senators this week. Following their complaints last month aboutÂ alleged misuse of H-1B visas by Indian outsourcers, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, and Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, this weekÂ questioned the use of large numbers of L visasÂ by Indian outsourcers. Information from the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) indicated that the companies using the most H-1B visas are the same firms that use the most L visas, the senators said. That made them suspect that companies are using L visas to circumvent worker protections required under the H-1B program. The allegations come as the U.S. Senate attempts to revive an immigration reform bill which includes a provision for increasing the number of H-1B visas available. Earlier this month, Patni Computer SystemsÂ reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to pay back-wages to employees brought to the U.S. under the H-1B visa program, who then worked at lower salaries than U.S. workers would get for similar work. Patni is among the top 10 users of H-1B and L-1 visas from India. The senators wrote letters toÂ nine Indian companiesÂ in May, asking them for details on their use of H-1B visas. Among the companies were top Indian outsourcers including Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, and Wipro. The nine companies together account for close to 20,000 visas, the senators said. Companies appear to be increasingly using H-1B visas to displace qualified American workers, Grassley said in May. India's Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath warned at the time that the complaints could have repercussions at the ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, since the issue of work permits is a trade issue. Those negotiations fell through this month, not due to work permits but on account of differences over subsidies and tariffs on agriculture products. NASSCOM replied to the two senators in May but has yet to receive any acknowledgement, the association said on Thursday. It said it looks forward to a positive engagement that will address the politicians' concerns withoutÂ disrupting the growing two-way tradeÂ between India and the U.S. The H-1B visa is an employer-sponsored, non-immigrant visa that allows a foreign worker to come to the U.S. temporarily to perform services in a specialty occupation. The L-1 visa, a popular type of L visa, is a non-immigrant visa that allows companies in the U.S. or abroad to transfer certain classes of employee from their foreign operations to a U.S. operation. L visas are designed to give multinational companies the freedom to transfer managers and specialists within the company to their U.S. offices, Durbin said on Tuesday. But some of these companies have hundreds, and, in some cases, thousands of L visa workers, he said. "I find it hard to believe that any one company has that many individuals that are legitimately being transferred within a single year," Durbin said. "I find it even harder to believe that these L visas are being used appropriately when many of the same companies are some of the largest employers of H1-B workers." TCS of Mumbai was the largest user of L visas in 2006, with 4,887, according to a list of the top 20 L users posted by the two senators on their Web sites Tuesday. The list also includes the names of multinational companies such as IBM and Intel. Â
486945
Leaders of India's software industry and Mumbai police are disputing a Silicon Valley entrepreneur's allegations that they failed to investigate his claims that an employee stole critical software code from an Indian subsidiary.
510055
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations, hit by a number of scandals, plans to revise its rules to better protect whistle-blowers, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.
173680
India's Railways Minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav, faces legal proceedings over allegations of bribery.
74305
After an H.P. employee was raped and killed by a driver the company employed, Indiaâs highest court may force international firms to do more to guard local workersâ safety.
403770
Crime may not pay, but blowing the whistle on companies that swindle the government sure can. Jim Alderson got &#36;20 million in one settlement and split &#36;100 million with another whistleblower in a related case, both involving Medicare fraud by the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain and a company it acquired.
381925
It&#39;s a weird case involving the sale of illicit internet porn, video via cell phone and the internet auction sell of VCDs. Unfortunately, the legal system in India has made this story even stranger by holding
9413
Blog: For a limited time only, a major software industry group is dangling the reward for workplace whistleblowers, but it's at its sole discretion to decide what's worthy of the jackpot.
206327
Thousands of federal doctors and medical researchers who receive some of the highest salaries in government don't enjoy the same protections to blow the whistle on wrongdoing as other civil servants, a judge has ruled.
575126
A court in India orders a fresh investigation into the alleged role of a former minister in anti-Sikh riots of 1984.
647593
The former operations officer for the U.N. anti-poverty agency in North Korea is a whistleblower who should be protected from retaliation, the author of the U.N. whistleblower protection policy said Monday.
57934
Filmmakers Yash Chopra and Ram Gopal Varma have been provided security cover by the Mumbai police in view of the underworldÂs interest in obtaining overseas rights for their films.
703894
Health passports for athletes, a whistleblowing hotline and quicker sample testing could soon find a role in the fight against doping.
322832
The Bush administration was running   several intelligence programs, including one major activity,   that it kept secret from Congress until whistle-blowers told   the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, the   committee's chairman said on Sunday.