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Eighty-five Indian nationals have been discharged from the Russian military so far and efforts are on to secure the release of 20 more Indians, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Monday. The Indian side is expected to take up the issue of discharge of the remaining Indians when Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday on the margins of the BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan, people familiar with the matter said. Modi had strongly raised the issue of early discharge of the Indian nationals working in the Russian Army during his talks with Putin in Moscow in July. The Indian side is in "very close touch" with interlocutors in the foreign and defence ministries of Russia on the issue of Indians "who were, illegally or otherwise, contracted into fighting in the Russian Army", Misri said at a media briefing on Modi's visit to Russia for the BRICS Summit. The prime minister will leave for Kazan on Tuesday ...
The UK government on Monday tabled a tough new set of measures to bring down the country's immigration numbers, including a much higher salary threshold for foreign workers to access skilled visas and a clampdown on bringing family members as their dependants. UK Home Secretary James Cleverly delivered a statement in the House of Commons to reveal that under the crackdown, which will also impact Indians, medics on Health and Care visas will no longer be able to bring any family members with them. For those applying under other skilled worker visa routes, the salary threshold for an application will rise from the current GBP 26,200 to GBP 38,700. The same salary amount will apply to those applying under the family visa category, which currently stands at GBP 18,600. "Immigration policy must be fair, consistent, legal, and sustainable," Cleverly told the Parliament. In total, this package plus our reduction in student dependants will mean around 300,000 fewer people will come in fut