Rosaiah quits, Kiran Kumar Reddy new Chief Minister for Andhra Pradesh, India Now

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah on Wednesday stepped down after14-and-a-half months in office citing “advanced age and work pressure” and Speaker of the Assembly Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy was chosen by the AICC leadership to succeed him.

Fifty-year-old Reddy will be sworn in as the 16th Chief Minister by Governor E.S.L Naraimhan at Raj Bhavan at 10 a.m. on Thursday. The Governor earlier accepted Mr. Rosaiah's resignation and requested him to continue in office till the formation of a new government.

On a day of swift developments, Mr. Rosaiah declared his intention to quit at a press conference in the Secretariat from where he drove to the Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation. Mr. Rosaiah succeeded Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on September 3, 2009 after the latter was killed in a helicopter crash.

The 78-year-old Chief Minister told The Hindu that the strain of office was telling upon his health and he had requested the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership during his visit to New Delhi on Tuesday to relieve him “of the burden.”

Twin challenges

Under these circumstances, the AICC leadership favoured putting in place a new Chief Minister who has the energy and stomach for facing the twin challenges of the agitation for a separate Telangana State and the continued defiance by Congress MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy. Another factor that appeared to weigh in favour of a change was the need for the government to be prepared to face the fall-out of the Justice Srikrishna Committee's report on the Andhra-Telangana issue. The report is expected to be submitted before December 31.A team of senior AICC leaders comprising Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Law Minister Veerappa Moily and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad flew in here by a special flight from New Delhi as observers for a CLP meeting to choose Mr. Rosaiah's successor.

Resolution passed

The CLP unanimously adopted a one-line resolution, requesting Congress president Sonia Gandhi to select the new leader. It passed another resolution expressing deep appreciation for the services rendered by Mr. Rosaiah as Chief Minister.

Mr. Mukherjee briefed Ms. Gandhi about the CLP proceedings. He later invited Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy to the Lake View Guest House for consultations after which an official announcement was made that Ms. Gandhi had chosen Mr. Reddy as the new CLP leader.

After his return from New Delhi on Tuesday evening, Mr. Rosaiah kept his decision to quit a secret till the last moment. He announced late at night that a CLP meeting was being convened to discuss party affairs. A majority of the 33 Ministers were also in the dark.

“No political reason”

Mr. Rosaiah held that there were no political reasons for his resignation. He said that earlier, as Finance Minister, he had to handle only one department, but upon his elevation as Chief Minister, he had to coordinate the activities of all the departments. “The burden on me became heavy,” he said.

Deputy CM

PTI reports:

Mr. Moily told journalists that Ms. Gandhi had decided that the State would have a Deputy Chief Minister from the Telangana region. The name for the post will be decided later, he said.

Tier 1 (general/HSMP) to be closed;Tier 2 (general) subject to a limit of 20,700 places for 2011-12

A Clear story about Current UK Immigration Cap
25th November 2010: A day after the Home Secretary announced the number of skilled migrant workers with job offers coming from outside the EU will be cut by a fifth, it is now clear that Tier 1 (general) route will be closed.

Tier 1 (entrepreneur and investor) route, on the other hand, would be reformed, while Tier 1 route for persons of exceptional talent would be introduced.

The UK Border Agency has asserted: `The Home Secretary announced on 23 November 2010 a number of changes to immigration policy in respect of Tiers 1 and 2 of the points-based system, designed to deliver the government's commitment to place a limit on non-EU economic migration to the UK.

`Further details of these changes will be published before they are implemented in April 2011.

`The changes announced are: Tier 1 (general) route will be closed. Tier 1 (entrepreneur) route will be reformed to make it more attractive. We will introduce flexibilities and create a new avenue for promising start-up companies which do not meet our investment threshold.

`Tier 1 (investor) route will also be reformed to offer an accelerated route to settlement, depending on the level of investment.

`The Tier 1 (entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (investor) routes will not be subject to a limit on numbers.

`A Tier 1 route for persons of exceptional talent will be introduced. This will cover migrants who have won international recognition in scientific and cultural fields, or who show sufficient exceptional promise to be awarded such recognition in the future.

`Applications by those with exceptional promise will be endorsed by a competent body in the relevant field. The 'exceptional talent' category will be subject to a limit of 1,000 places. Tier 2 will continue to be open to migrants working in these fields.

`Tier 2 (general) route will be subject to a limit of 20,700 places for 2011/12.

`This limit will not apply to: in-country applications from those already in the UK; dependants of Tier 2 migrants; Tier 2 (general) applicants who are filling a vacancy with a salary of more than £150,000; Tier 2 (sportsperson) applicants; Tier 2 (minister of religion) applicants; and Tier 2 (intra company transfer) applicants.

`Tier 2 (intra company transfer) applicants in the established staff sub-category will be able to stay in the UK for up to five years if they are paid more than £40,000 per year; those paid between £24,000 and £40,000 will be able to enter for up to 12 months within a specified period.

`The current rules will continue to apply to Tier 2 (intra company transfer) migrants in the graduate trainee and skills transfer sub-categories.

`Tier 2 (general) applications will be restricted to graduate-level vacancies. The Migration Advisory Committee will advise us on what are to be considered graduate-level jobs, and we will amend the shortage occupation list accordingly. Existing Tier 2 (General) migrants in jobs below graduate level will be able to extend their permission to stay if they meet current requirements.

`The minimum level of English language competency for Tier 2 (general) applications will be increased from basic to intermediate level (B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference).

`Applications for certificates of sponsorship will, where the limit applies, be considered on a monthly basis. If the monthly allocation is oversubscribed, applications will be ranked according to: shortage occupations in the first instance; whether the post requires higher academic qualifications; and salary.

`Potential workers who are granted a certificate of sponsorship will have three months in which to apply for a visa.

`There will be a new criminality threshold, requiring applicants to be clear of unspent convictions, for all those applying for settlement.

`Tier 1 and Tier 2 migrants applying for settlement will need to meet the salary criteria that applied when they last extended their permission to stay.

`If an applicant fails to pass the minimum English language requirement, their application for settlement will be refused.

Indian students face trouble over new UK visa rules

The Indians students in UK are in trouble because of a new visa rule. They have badly hit by the new strict immigration rules. The new rules reportedly disenfranchise non-European nationals in the country despite of holding Highly Skilled Migrant visas.

The Indians said that they had switched from student visas to the HSM Program (HSMP). The HSPM visa allows non-European nationals to work in Britain and settling in UK. Now,Britain has changed its criteria for HSMP visas and the new rule came into force in early December last year.

At least 30,000 Indian HSMP visa-holders have been affected and they have formed a campaign group, HSMP Forum Ltd, to fight and to establish the old rule again.

On February 6, the forum filed a case in the London High Court asking for a judicial reviewto end the government’s punitive visa policies.

Amit Kapadia of the HSMP Forum said;

The Indians switched to HSMP visas after completing their higher studies. But now, they won’t qualify for further HSMP visa extension.

The new change in HSMP extension rules doesn’t allow people to continue their careers and settle in UK due to the unfair changes to the HSMP extension criteria.