From H1B visa rules to Haj subsidy: 5 key developments

In other news, Mistry seeks Sebi's intervention in battle with Tata

Business Standard brings to you a list of five key developments across the country.

H1B visa rules 
 

US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has been actively considering ways to revamp a temporary visa programme used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Possibilities for reforming the distribution of H1B visas, used largely by the information technology (IT) sector, were discussed at a meeting last month with chief executives of these companies at Trump Tower, said two sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to talk about the closed-door talks.

How old is the Moon? 
 

The Moon is at least 4.51 billion years old - up to 140 million years older than previously thought, according to a new study of minerals called zircons brought back from the lunar body to the Earth by the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. The Moon's age has been a hotly debated topic, even though scientists have tried to settle the question over many years and using a wide range of scientific techniques.

The rise of robots

The robots are coming, but the march of automation will displace jobs more gradually than some alarming forecasts suggest. A measured pace is likely because what is technically possible is only one factor in determining how quickly new technology is adopted, according to a new study by the McKinsey Global Institute. Other crucial ingredients include economics, labour markets, regulations, and social attitudes.

Tata vs Mistry

Ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry has written a letter to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman U K Sinha seeking the regulator’s intervention on alleged violation of corporate governance and insider trading norms in some Tata group companies. In a six-page letter to Sebi, he said, “Considering that the conduct of corporate governance in the Tata group has been considered a benchmark for governance in the Indian securities market, and indeed a signal to the world at large of how corporate India conducts itself, and how misconduct is regulated in India, it is important that I write this letter to keep you apprised.”

Haj subsidy

The government has formed a high-level panel to look into the Haj subsidy issue in light of a 2012 Supreme Court order on gradually reducing and abolishing subsidy given to pilgrims by 2022, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event, the Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) said the panel, inter alia, is expected to figure out if the pilgrims can travel to Saudi Arabia paying less or equally if there is no subsidy.