India-US Strategic News and Discussion

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 16 Jan 2014 16:36

Well, well, well just look how the cookie crumbled....I would love to see the expression on the face of geniuses sitting in foggy bottom who would have been rubbing their hands in glee when DK was arrested; and oh! the sermonizing...telling SDRE's from third world country about equality before law and fairness and all that...and who can forget the condescending tone of the SD spokeswoman.

I hope they'll equally respect the rule and fairness of law when the taxmen come calling along with finest of our Delhi Police. After all, the law needs to take its own due course w/o being swayed by who is in front of it - like the 'mighty' Americans. Judiciary being independent of Executive and all that...Wait! where did I hear that before? Ah! yes, the PB guy and his sermon passed off as press communication. Don't worry PB, we will be equally efficient in our application of local laws.

If you're doing business with India than there is rule you should never forget - don't ever piss-off the babus or they'll find ways to make your life miserable in more ways than you can imagine. This is just the beginning and we've dealing here with pretty straight forward stuff where US Embassy is in willful violation of the local laws. Just wait for the babus to tell you which Form in triplicate you guys did not fill and used the wrong ink. All as per the law of land of course. And as per Vienna Convention of Consular and Diplomatic relations, of course.

PS: The fees charged by American School in at par with what leading schools in the country (with international curriculum) charge. More prevalent in Mumbai than NCR, though.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 16 Jan 2014 16:45

dna ‏@dna 2m

American Embassy school under scanner for visa, tax violations http://dnai.in/c2gZ
------------------------------>>

The elite American Embassy school here is under scanner for suspected violations of tax laws and visa status of some of its staff which the Indian government views as "institutionalised fraud".

The sprawling school, located next to the US Embassy on American government-owned land, has about 1500 students on its rolls, nearly 500 of whom are from the US. The remaining students are from several other countries, including some locals.

Government sources said that they have information that several teachers of the school are working "illegally", in violation of visas granted to them. Moreover, it is in violation of tax laws.

Government views these violations seriously and is likely to initiate action in this regard, the sources said.

India, in 1973, had granted to 16 teachers of the school the "tax exempted status". However, as per information available with government, there were many more teachers who were working but not shown as such.

Meanwhile, a report in New York Times says that a handout for new teachers at the school has offered "some unusual guidance" to female teachers whose husbands will also be teaching at the school.

Instructing female spouses to list their occupation on visa applications as "housewife", the handouts state that they should not mention that they would be working. Indian officials regard this advice as illegal.

As per the news report, the handout notes that India has placed restrictions on the number of tax-free visas available to school employees. "So, if you are a teaching couple," the handout says, "we usually have the male spouse apply for the 'employment' visa and the female spouse be noted as 'housewife' on the visa application."

The report said that Paul Chmelik , the school's administrator had refused to comment on the visa issue.

The issues pertaining to the school are among those raised by the Ministry of External Affairs with the US government through a diplomatic note and figured in the discussions between US Deputy Secretary of State William J Burns and new Indian Ambassador to the US S Jaishankar in Washington two days ago.

"Deputy Secretary Burns conveyed that we take their concerns very seriously and will continue to address them via appropriate diplomatic channels," the US State Department said in a statement later.

India initiated a slew of initiatives in retaliation to the arrest and strip-search of its senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade, a 39-year-old 1999-batch IFS officer, on December 12 in New York on charges of visa fraud.

When contacted, the Spokesperson in MEA said, "we are aware of these reports (handouts). These are very serious issues and we will very carefully examine them." India has been demanding withdrawal of charges against Khobragade, who was indicted by a jury in New York hours before she left that country after getting full diplomatic immunity.

Apart from downgrading the privileges enjoyed by the US diplomats and their families, India also sought details about staff in American schools in the country for possible tax violations. It has also asked the Embassy to "discontinue" commercial activities undertaken by the American Community Support Association (ACSA) from its premises from today.

With India deciding to enforce strict reciprocity about the privileges enjoyed by American diplomats posted in the country, the government has already withdrawn extra privileges enjoyed by them such as airport passes which gave them special access at Indian airports.

I like the sound of the word "institutionalised fraud" and it seems entirely appropriate in the current context. In an environment where high sound words are flung casually this would be an appropriate retort.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 16 Jan 2014 16:48

rajanb wrote:<SNIP>

At the same time we can throw a party, invite them, and condescendingly give them the orders for Apaches, Chinooks, whatever. Awl ij well, buddy. Let us celebrate with a vegetable cheese burger and some Buds.

Brilliant...

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 16 Jan 2014 16:57

srin wrote:Well - American diplomats don't really have to do any diplomacy - they can typically get away with bullying and peddling wares. Diplomacy gets easier when backed by CBGs. That explains the general gracelessness and tactical blunders when caught in a piquant situation.

Other countries don't have the same advantages. So their diplomats need to be really skilled in deal-making and lobbying.

Absolutely true. Deep pockets enable recovery from tactical blunders and deliberate, offensive tactical decisions.

Rajiv Lather · Post by **Rajiv Lather** » 16 Jan 2014 17:26

At the risk of sounding a little crazy; I hope Devyani was properly debriefed when she returned to Delhi, preferably with a LD machine attached. Have to guard against "insertion".

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 16 Jan 2014 17:38

The US Embassy and its staff in Delhi and other locations is staring at paddling up the sh1t creek...without the paddle. They need to get their act together ASAP. Words like Institutional Fraud being used by Indian babus is a very bad omen...Rest assured, the US Embassy is at the minimum looking at paying some million of dollars in taxes and fines...all calculated retroactively, of course.

srin · Post by **srin** » 16 Jan 2014 17:43

Dependents working illegally without having a work visa ? OMG ! How did Infy pay to the US Govt for visa fraud, btw ?

rajanb · Post by **rajanb** » 16 Jan 2014 18:29

Wait!

"State rape" and "institutionalised fraud"! Methinks the Americans have overtaken their paki birathers who have only one undefensible phrase to their name: "non-state actors"

Now do you guys think that all this brouhaha is because of "non-state actors" at Foggy Bottom/United States of Dilli?

That would be an equal equal, wouldn't it?

( With apologies to my American friends, all of whom possess a sense of humour)

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 16 Jan 2014 18:55

I have few question about so called "Rape" near new Delhi station
Why mohterma was wondering alone in one of the worst area of paharganj at ungodly hours?
Why she is refusing medical confirmation of the rape?
Tourist guide from European country who visited India many time..............did not know that it is dangerous......give me break. Even swedish capital has some areas with similar reputationas paharganj.
Timing.........as if to confirm what American trash couple said on facebook.

Very sory and I do apologize to the feminists on BR, but dal mein kuch kala hei.

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 16 Jan 2014 19:01

pankajs wrote:Indeed, some of Nixon’s harshest utterances about Indians use perfectly printable language: “I don’t know why the hell anybody would reproduce in that damn country but they do.” Kissinger joked about the massacre of Bengali Hindus, and, his voice dripping with contempt, sneered at Americans who “bleed” for “the dying Bengalis.” Is Blackwill really untroubled by such statements?

Kissinger seems to have been, at heart, a male version of Alicia May - an enormously stupid "ugly American" with no idea how much on the wrong side of history he would land up being.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 16 Jan 2014 19:07

> Why mohterma was wondering alone in one of the worst area of paharganj at ungodly hours?

it was 4:30PM in the afternoon.
I dont know the exact site of this incident but if you cross over the NDLS platforms to the back side it is surprisingly free of people and cars just some warehouse and office type deserted things, a few street food carts and thats about it , even at mid day. apt place for a bunch of drug addicts to form a posse and go hunt some 'meat'.

paharganj is on the other side of the railway tracks though and quite busy...the road infront of station is busy at all hrs and lined with food shops also.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 16 Jan 2014 19:20

Admission for Citizens of India

Under the terms of a 1973 bilateral agreement between the governments of India and the United States of America, the American Embassy School was established to enable American children to study under the American system of education, as well as third country nationals (non-Indian, non-US) that are in Delhi on a temporary basis for the purpose of employment. The American Embassy School is not in competition with Indian schools, and is neither designed nor empowered to serve the needs of Indian students.

Nationality Cap

AES believes that a culturally diverse student body enriches the life of the School and in an effort to support this diversity, the total percentage of any nationality other than American should not exceed twenty percent (20%) in any grade level.

When any one nationality other than American meets or exceeds the 20% limit, no additional admissions will be allowed from that nationality group. All applicants from this nationality group will be placed in the wait pool. Once the nationality cap percentage falls below 20%, the Admissions Office will allocate seats to eligible applicants according to AES School Board policy. Nationality cap status will be updated in the News and Noteworthy section to the right of the page.

The American Embassy School is located in the heart of the diplomatic community of New Delhi. The School campus is spread over twelve acres. The buildings have been designed to blend into a small rocky hill which lends a friendly, informal atmosphere to the school. Housing facilities accommodate 34 faculty families on campus. While new elementary and middle school facilities were completed in 1999, the high school is currently being expanded to accommodate additional students.

AES has a strong international character. Although about 35 per cent of our 1473 students in nursery to twelfth grade are Americans, the majority of our students represent some 53 nationalities. Children of embassy personnel, world organizations, non-governmental organization officials and international business people attend AES. We prize the diversity of cultures represented in our student body.

Although only 20% can belong to other nationalities according to their wed statement from http://aes.ac.in 65% student belong to other nationalities. A clever play of words on 20% cap can be noticed here itself.

TKiran · Post by **TKiran** » 16 Jan 2014 19:25

I need some serious piskiatric help. I have been laughing all through the day thinking that we taught Khans a lesson. Nothing happened. No arrests, no FIR, no IT or ED rides, no press briefing by MEA, no action, nothing. No cavity aearches, no nothing.
What is the condition of my brain called? Perversion?

Can somebody ascertain if Amirkhans have been atleast shamed? Atleast that should give me an assurance that I haven't gone crazy. Could anybody tell if DK would be discharged of her Indictment, some heads would roll in SD, kya kare tenction bardasht nahin ho raha hai.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 16 Jan 2014 19:27

American Embassy School in eye of multi-crore tax scam

India is on the verge of gaining some leverage in the Devyani Khobragade case with the unearthing of what looks like a gigantic multi-year tax evasion scam by the American Embassy School here. Even as the US has declined to drop charges against Khobragade on the ground that it does not mess around with domestic law, India now can pressure the Americans to do so, given the growing dimensions of the tax evasion.

The Khobragade visa fraud case is now counterbalanced by what seems to be an American tax fraud in India that either went unnoticed or was ignored in the general need to defer to Uncle Sam in the past. In fact, there is some evidence—quoted in a New York Times story—that the spouses of American diplomats may have been encouraged to lie about their status to avoid having to get a separate work visa in India. Just as Devyani’s maid may have lied about her wages, US diplomats’ spouses may also have misrepresented their status.

The Americans who threw the rule book at Khobragade and preached visa ethics are now finding themselves on the wrong side of the law here. Washington needs to be worried, very worried, on two counts.

First, credible sources told this writer that the American Embassy School (AES) has been violating a number of Indian laws and fraudulently evading income tax since 1972. The cumulative tax evaded thus far and the penalties would easily run into scores of crores, if not more.

The American diplomats in India have also been found to be indulging in an institutionalised mechanism of visa and tax frauds for decades. Worse, unlike the Devyani incident, which was a one-off case, the AES scam has been routinely perpetrated at the behest of top officials of the US embassy in New Delhi. It is not clear if this was done with an overt or covert encouragement from the US State Department.

The diplomats who are appointed to man US embassy and Consulates in India are routinely encouraged to fill in their visa forms with false information.

Two, the headache for the Americans has increased further with The NYT publishing a damning report on the wrong-doings of AES, as predicted by this writer in his yesterday’s report.

The NYT report entitled School in India Ensnared in U.S. Diplomatic Spat hauls the Americans over coals on two specific counts.

Both these disclosures are damning. However, on the second disclosure the NYT has come up only with an incomplete fact. Here is the complete picture as far as this point is concerned.

The NYT report quoted Indian officials as saying that at least 16 teachers in Delhi were working illegally, and that smaller American schools in Mumbai and Chennai probably had several more.

These 16 teachers are those American diplomatic staff members who came to India with their spouses, falsifying their spouses’ personal details in their visa applications. Their perfidy does not stop here.

The 16 American teachers in question are the spouses of American diplomats who enjoy tax exemption while the spouses are not entitled to tax exemption. The American diplomats (who enjoy tax exemption) have given their own salary account number for transmitting salaries of their spouses. Thus, two salaries and one account.

This has all the looks of a scam. The Americans have been wrongly claiming tax benefits for those who are not entitled to these privileges.

The AES is a money churner. Its annual turnover is a whopping Rs 120 crore. Admittedly, a large portion of this income is above-board as a large number of US diplomats enjoy a tax-free regime. But then the number of tax-evaders is not small either; nor is the total tax evaded amount.

Now the question is: what next? What will the government of India do? Will the Indian tiger roar at the American eagle or will it just behave like a circus tiger and wag its tail to the American ring master?

This writer understands that nothing of this sort is going to happen. The Americans are not going to walk away from this without paying all outstanding taxes with penalties.

But this should not be taken for granted. The government must be kept under a tight leash and two things must be ensured: (i) the entire evaded tax money is realised from the US government, along with penal interest; (ii) an institutionalised system is put in place removing scope for any financial wrong doing by American or any foreign diplomats in India.

If this happens, in retrospect the Devyani Khobragade incident would be seen as a good thing which cleansed the proverbial Augustan stables.

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 16 Jan 2014 19:30

TKiran wrote:I need some serious piskiatric help. I have been laughing all through the day thinking that we taught Khans a lesson. Nothing happened. No arrests, no FIR, no IT or ED rides, no press briefing by MEA, no action, nothing. No cavity aearches, no nothing.
What is the condition of my brain called? Perversion?

Can somebody ascertain if Amirkhans have been atleast shamed? Atleast that should give me an assurance that I haven't gone crazy. Could anybody tell if DK would be discharged of her Indictment, some heads would roll in SD, kya kare tenction bardasht nahin ho raha hai.

You have seen only the trailer saar. Indian Babus don't do things in 'shackinawe' like the khan. They will take their time, file everything in triplicates and at the same time keep the victim on a slow boil. This will be very slow and very painful for khan and SD until they cry 'ui maa'. Then everything will be dropped and peace will prevail. Well at least what is left of it.

member_22872 · Post by **member_22872** » 16 Jan 2014 19:37

OT: rsingh ji, Those are wrong questions to ask sir. A foreign tourist, even for that matter anyone new toa city don't know what are good and what are bad parts of a city are. More over everyone should have the freedom to go anywhere they please at anytime they please. Asking such questions means a way to say "hey you are not supposed to be in those parts, you were there anyway, so deserve it, now shut up". We become callous towards atrocities finding ways to justify social injustices.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 16 Jan 2014 19:41

Dilbu wrote:
TKiran wrote:I need some serious piskiatric help. I have been laughing all through the day thinking that we taught Khans a lesson. Nothing happened. No arrests, no FIR, no IT or ED rides, no press briefing by MEA, no action, nothing. No cavity aearches, no nothing.
What is the condition of my brain called? Perversion?

Can somebody ascertain if Amirkhans have been atleast shamed? Atleast that should give me an assurance that I haven't gone crazy. Could anybody tell if DK would be discharged of her Indictment, some heads would roll in SD, kya kare tenction bardasht nahin ho raha hai.
You have seen only the trailer saar. Indian Babus don't do things in 'shackinawe' like the khan. They will take their time, file everything in triplicates and at the same time keep the victim on a slow boil. This will be very slow and very painful for khan and SD until they cry 'ui maa'. Then everything will be dropped and peace will prevail. Well at least what is left of it.

Agree .. just was going to respond along the same lines. The babus will turn the screws slowly and keep the situation fluid but tense. The idea seems to be to keep the charges hanging over the heads of the US diplomats and make them cry uncle.

Me thinks the game is to get the charges against DK dropped and not tit for tat response. If the Americans do nothing to remedy the situation in NY the sword will fall after enough time has been allowed for a solution. Of course the Indians will demand and get the back taxes and penalties in either case.

That may not exactly be what most of us had in mind and certainly not what I had in mind but me thinks that is what the babudom has in mind. They definitely do not want to escalate this if it can be avoided. Out babudom does not go in for cowboy-giri and slash and burn like the Americans.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 16 Jan 2014 19:44

AmberJi,

Couldn't locate your post where you were lamenting forumites like me castigate the likes of PB and ND as Uncle Toms and 2-bit something just because they have a contrarian view from us, and in the process it lowers the discourse on BR.

Boss, I assume you are an erudite scholar and I am even honored to have a conversation whether you chose to reply to me or not. But sir, 2+2=5 is not a contrarian opinion. Not articulating your country of origin's viewpoint when in positions of power and going out of your way way to please white power structure by distancing and going after your own is a quintessential definition of Uncle Tom.

Based on the above definitions, it is not crude or demeaning to BR or striking below the below the belt to cast PB, ND, Fareed Zakariah and many others in US positions of power as Uncle Toms (BTW: there is nothing particularly criminal about being an Uncle Tom. An uncle Tom does well for himself/herself, but Indians who go ga ga over their "success" need to know that they are Uncle Toms).

Likewise, a little twit like Sumit Ganguly (and other NRI MUTUs whose op-eds have been posted here) harping on treatment of servants in India and mocking India like NYT/WaPo racists when the issue at hand, custodial rape of DK, has nothing to do with that when looked at dispassionately, shows they either have a very low IQ or as I said are MUTUs and Uncle Toms.

Examples of those who hold contrarian views from many of us on BR are few, but one prominent example is that prof Taufak Ahmad who felt India should diffuse the situation while not absolving US conduct. I disagree with him, but he is someone whose contrarin views ought be accorded the respect it deserves because he sees both sides of the issue.

Bottom line: Like TSP does in its so called "disputes" with India, the narrative of US and its Uncle Toms and MUTUs involve repetition of a simple false hood, while those of us on BR and sensible Indians counter with complex truths that MUTUs and Uncle Toms are in capable of doing either deliberately or out of craven loyalty to whites.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 16 Jan 2014 19:49

Hit them with a big tax bill including penalties for the last couple of decades. Should easily mop up a few hundred crores. As penalty, withdraw the tax benefit for even the 16 exempted ones, as the US blatantly misused it.

I am surprised by the low media coverage given on this issue. And the NY times article tries to couch it as due to diplomatic spat, and ignores the fact that it is the US government which is deliberately asking its citizens to lie to avoid paying taxes. Basically, the US government is encouraging criminal activity by its citizens against a poorer country, to lie for visa, and avoid paying taxes.

I hope people share the news and stress the word "institutionalized fraud by US government" in their fb/twitter/blogs.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 16 Jan 2014 19:54

^^
And taking food out of the mouth of the poor by committing tax fraud. To shock and awe using trumped up charge of "human trafficking" is one thing but when the time for paying taxes in a poor country came they ducked alright. So much from the champion of human rights.

Can there be a bigger fraud than the United states?

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 16 Jan 2014 19:57

venug wrote:OT: rsingh ji, Those are wrong questions to ask sir. A foreign tourist, even for that matter anyone new toa city don't know what are good and what are bad parts of a city are. More over everyone should have the freedom to go anywhere they please at anytime they please. Asking such questions means a way to say "hey you are not supposed to be in those parts, you were there anyway, so deserve it, now shut up". We become callous towards atrocities finding ways to justify social injustices.

Not true. These tourists study in detail (books,blogs,city guids) to the final detail. You have no idea sir. Secondly there are no prohibited areas for foreign tourists. If you come to Brussels then do not go to Gare de midi area as you may be looted infront of police. It is in books,blogs and in social media. Every city in world has its own bad areas. Paharganj...........heck i feel personal insult if my driver take a shortcut through that area. As for foreign tourists, it is fool of gora kids who want to spend one month in India for 1000 euros +free ka hasish. Middle aged gori ladies are taken as of being "easy"by locals.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 16 Jan 2014 20:04

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 891377.cms

But questions about the school have sent a deep shudder through the expatriate community here. The school, which is next to the United States Embassy on land owned by the American government, has a swimming pool, tennis courts and vast athletic fields. Its stone classroom buildings and generous libraries could grace an Ivy League campus. Its price tag — around $20,000 a year — rivals that of some of New York City's top private schools. A small army of uniformed security men patrol its perimeter.

Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, said the visa instructions listed on the teachers' handout were "clearly a violation of tax law."

The handout notes that India has placed restrictions on the number of tax-free visas available to school employees. "So, if you are a teaching couple," the handout says, "we usually have the male spouse apply for the 'employment' visa and the female spouse be noted as 'housewife' on the visa application."

One reason the school is widely admired is that it has a veteran and respected staff of teachers recruited in part by generous pay packages, including tax benefits.

A senior Indian official estimated that the American Embassy School had at least 16 teachers working illegally, and that smaller American schools in Mumbai and Chennai probably had several more. Schools are not alone in this: Many tax laws in India are at best fitfully enforced and often widely ignored.

Does that give them right to deliberately violate indian tax laws and falsely state on Visa forms while applying for Visa? This handout is clear proof of illegality committed by them.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 16 Jan 2014 20:17

rsingh. The incident happened at 4:30pm which is not an ungodly hour. Once your first premise is wrong no point in going on.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 16 Jan 2014 20:19

Director of AES , Paul B Chmelik, is not having any sort of immunity, consular or diplomatic. Neither the School is US Embassy which can not be entered by Indian Authorities. Although the land may belong to USG but it is not diplomatic property. Violation of various laws may land them in serious trouble now or later.

vic · Post by **vic** » 16 Jan 2014 20:21

If US Embassy schools, clubs are not registered and recognized the we are looking at Income Tax, customs duty, vat, TDS, Services Tax, FEMA penalties and interest of around a Rs. thousand crore per annum or more.

arun · Post by **arun** » 16 Jan 2014 20:22

American Embassy School in eye of multi-crore tax scam : First Post

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 16 Jan 2014 20:22

These acts are crime and wherever and whenever it happens and to whomsoever it is wrong and we need to improve our policing. Rape can not be condoned nor taken lightly.

Gujrat example comes to mind where women feel safe in Ahmedabad even at late night.

vic · Post by **vic** » 16 Jan 2014 20:25

ramana wrote:rsingh. The incident happened at 4:30pm which is not an ungodly hour. Once your first premise is wrong no point in going on.

Ramana people who have committed the crime are being arrested and prosecuted. It was not a rape on Orders of MEA by Delhi Police. Also that is not an area one can wander into. That area is well known for druggies, junkies and drug peddlers. frankly all posts on Dutch girl rape are OT and should be deleted.

saip · Post by **saip** » 16 Jan 2014 20:28

vic wrote:
ramana wrote:rsingh. The incident happened at 4:30pm which is not an ungodly hour. Once your first premise is wrong no point in going on.
Ramana people who have committed the crime are being arrested and prosecuted. It was not a rape on Orders of MEA by Delhi Police. Also that is not an area one can wander into. That area is well known for druggies, junkies and drug peddlers. frankly all posts on Dutch girl rape are OT and should be deleted.

It is all the more reason why it should have been under the police scanner all the time.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 16 Jan 2014 20:34

Delhi police stuff .. OT deleted.

saip · Post by **saip** » 16 Jan 2014 20:41

OT. Deleted.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 16 Jan 2014 20:51

KaranM,
Please help stick to topic. This is the Indo-US News and discussion thread.
Others show some restraint.
Thanks, ramana

KLP Dubey · Post by **KLP Dubey** » 16 Jan 2014 20:53

vic wrote:If US Embassy schools, clubs are not registered and recognized the we are looking at Income Tax, customs duty, vat, TDS, Services Tax, FEMA penalties and interest of around a Rs. thousand crore per annum or more.

In addition to jail time.

Madhusudhan · Post by **Madhusudhan** » 16 Jan 2014 20:55

Are there any updates on the status of the other 14 maids in the US? Action on the school may be delayed while the Babudom figures out how to proceed with that issue. Until then, this can be used as leverage (unless a US prosecutor goes rogue).

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 16 Jan 2014 20:56

i am guessing the pressure will continue till charges on DK are dropped, then the matter will return to some form of balance point
probably the new equilibrium will be at a different place to where it used to be
been awfully quiet around the NY DA's office of late...?

saip · Post by **saip** » 16 Jan 2014 21:13

Madhusudhan wrote:Are there any updates on the status of the other 14 maids in the US? Action on the school may be delayed while the Babudom figures out how to proceed with that issue. Until then, this can be used as leverage (unless a US prosecutor goes rogue).

So there are 14 maids whose status is not exactly on the level and the US has something like 16 or more people in India with questionable status. Equal, equal?

About T2, T3 visa business, don't Indian Immigration officers check the visa type before they allow an Indian citizen to leave? Then again they may not be aware of this Visa classification. At least in the future they should be briefed that no one on T2,T3 visa can leave the country without express permission of the MEA. That will probably make them lie on their visa application with active collusion of the US embassy, thus providing another stick to beat the US embassy with!

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 16 Jan 2014 21:20

Ramana, noted.

BTW, amongst all the discussion of these perks and stuff, have we seen any reports of the US folks sitting in India and doing all the reports and stuff on HR etc? This is probably an opportune time to put a stop to all that rubbish as well.
Enough of the Katherine Mayo style drain inspector reports.

Javee · Post by **Javee** » 16 Jan 2014 21:24

While at it, we also need to RTI and find out the number of missionary visas that India gives out in year for US citizens. Touching that would defn hit a raw nerve in the US.

rajanb · Post by **rajanb** » 16 Jan 2014 21:35

Javee wrote:While at it, we also need to RTI and find out the number of missionary visas that India gives out in year for US citizens. Touching that would defn hit a raw nerve in the US.

We need to know a lot more things. At this juncture the Americans would be asking their moles in our establishment to halt the downhill skiing which is gaining in acceleration. We catch even one and their "handler" ( Sorry, but I am a John Le Carre fan) we need to expel some more. Use this to clean up our act too!

BTW, some posts suggests that two American diplomutts have been expelled? Is that true? I presume Wayne and Wife?

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 16 Jan 2014 21:44

^^'One was expelled the wife went on her own I would assume.