The United States said Monday it would not allow foreign students to remain in the country if all of their classes are moved online in the fall because of the coronavirus crisis.

“Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States,” US Immigration and Custom Enforcement said in a statement.

“Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status,” ICE said.

“If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.”

ICE said the State Department “will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.”

F-1 students pursue academic coursework and M-1 students pursue “vocational coursework,” according to ICE.

Most US colleges and universities have not yet announced their plans for the fall semester.

A number of schools are looking at a hybrid model of in-person and online instruction but some, including Harvard University, have said all classes will be conducted online.

Harvard said 40 percent of undergraduates would be allowed to return to campus but their instruction would be online.

There were more than one million international students in the United States for the 2018-19 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE).

That accounted for 5.5 percent of the total US higher education population, the IIE said, and international students contributed $44.7 billion to the US economy in 2018.

The largest number of international students came from China, followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

There has been a 200 per cent rise in cyber incidents in India in the last couple of months but there is no evidence that the cases increased due to the tensions between India and China, Chief Information Security Officer in the Prime Minister’s Office Gulshan Rai said on Monday.

‘There have been larger cases of phishing, service issues and ransomware which have gone up. These cases have gone up not merely because of heightened tensions, these cases have gone up from January and February-end because of the culture of working from home,’ he said.

During an interactive session organised by payments company EPS here, Rai also said that offices typically have necessary security measures taken in, and urged people to be more careful about what they download and stick to verified applications itself.

‘It is certainly true that during the last couple of months, the cyber incidents (like) hacking systems have gone up significantly. Somebody may say more than 200 per cent (increase), that’s the figure which is available,’ he said.

‘… there is no evidence as of now that the attacks have gone up due to the tensions between the two countries (India and China),’ he added.

He was responding to a query by a reporter that after the violent faceoff between India and China, there were a lot of reports that cyber attacks would increase on India’s infrastructure and banking services.

Rai said there are dedicated agencies which are monitoring the situation and preventing the attacks.

Ties between India and China have hit a new low following the violent clashes in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, which left 20 Indian army personnel dead. India has also banned 59 Chinese apps citing security concerns.

To a question on reliance on Chinese products, he said China is a world leader in manufacturing and everyone buys from the country knowing that they are vulnerable.

This is where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for self-reliance is crucial, Rai said, adding that other countries, including America and European nations, are also looking at ways of reducing dependence on China.

‘I think in a couple of years, there will be a lot of shifting towards an Aatma Nirbhar programme. America, Europe as well, everyone is charged up. We need to take steps to check on the misuse or the misfunctioning of the Chinese systems and there are ways and means to do that,’ he said.

In order to reduce incidents of fraud in banking, Rai suggested a method where the receiver of funds from online transfers is not able to withdraw the money for an hour.

He said there is a need to overhaul cyber security architecture at banks because of the rapid changes in technologies, even though a significant amount of ground has been covered in the past.

In cases of critical infrastructure like refineries and power plants, Rai said it is a blessing in disguise that much of such facilities in India are not connected to the wider internet but eventually efficiency needs will force them to get connected and there will be a need for better security at such facilities.

The incident at the atomic power station at Tamil Nadu’s Kudankulam in 2019 was blown out of proportion by the media, he said, adding that systems connected to the internet and the plant operations were totally segregated there.

‘The attack happened on the MIS system in the office, where the hackers have been able to reach and get the files and post it on the dark net. Our control system was safe and they are not connected on the internet,’ he said.

Washington, DC: The United States will continue to stand strong in the ongoing conflict between India and China, said a top White House official on Monday. He further claimed that no one in China’s periphery is safe from Chinese aggression.

When asked about the US Navy deploying two aircraft carriers in the South China Sea amid the ongoing tensions, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said, “The message is clear. We’re not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether it’s in that region or over here.”

“Our military might stands strong and will continue to stand strong, whether it’s in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else,” he added.

Meadows went on to add that the US’ mission is to make sure the world knows that it still has the preeminent fighting force in the world.

Meanwhile, India and China continue to remain locked in a stand-off in areas like Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Springs in Ladakh. The tensions have heightened between the two countries after their respective army personnel clashed in Galwan Valley resulting in the death of 20 Indian troops.

China begins withdrawing troops from Ladakh

Yesterday, the Chinese military began withdrawing troops from the Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held lengthy discussions a day earlier.

However, Ladakh standoff is not the only dispute that China is currently engaged in. It has conflicts in both the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Beijing has heavily increased the military presence in many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area. It should be noted that both the East and South China sea are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending COVID-19 related assistance and for hosting SAARC leaders’ meeting for coordinated efforts in the region.

The Afghan President said this today during the virtual meeting which was called by him to discuss host of issues including building a regional and global consensus on peace talks with Taliban.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from 20 other Countries and international organisations including the United Nations.

During the meeting, issues concerning Afghan peace and reconciliation process and support of the regional partners for an independent, unified, democratic and sovereign Afghanistan were discussed.

India, one of the largest development partners of Afghanistan, with commitment of more than 3 billion US dollars , reiterated the importance of an inclusive, Afghan–led, Afghan–owned and Afghan – controlled peace and reconciliation process.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said that India has been  proactive in assessing and dealing with the challenges caused by COVID-19.

In his virtual address to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on implementing the vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Mr Shringla said that saving lives has been our foremost priority. He said, while the case load in the country continues to be high, India  has fared comparatively better than many other countries with a low death rate and high recovery rate. He said, we have also substantially ramped up our capacities in the healthcare sector in the past few months.

He said,  to  deal with the economic challenges posed by the pandemic and bring the  economy of the country back on track, the Prime Minister has enunciated a forward-looking economic approach under the rubric of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan. The stimulus package of nearly  20 Lakh Crore rupees launched  under the Abhiyaan aims to both reinvigorate the economy and provide a social safety net to our vulnerable sections. Mr Shringla said, Industry associations such as the ICAI are a critical part of our economic diplomacy and outreach. 

The Government and the World Bank have signed a 750 million US dollar agreement for the MSME Emergency Response Programme. It aims at  supporting  increased flow of finance to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which are severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. 

The World Bank’s MSME Emergency Response Programme will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of some 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs. The Ministry of Finance in a statement said, this is the first step among a broader set of reforms that are needed to propel the MSME sector over time.

India has achieved a remarkable feat  by performing more than one crore COVID-19 tests since the outbreak of Corona pandemic in the country. Starting from less than 100 tests per day, a multiple-fold increase in a few months was made possible by dedicated teams of various stakeholders including research institutions, medical colleges, testing laboratories, Ministries, airlines and postal services. During the last 24 hours, more than 3 lakh 46 thousand COVID samples have been tested in the country.

To effectively deal with Coronavirus, the Government adopted the test-track-treat strategy for early detection and containment of the pandemic. Government promoted the indigenous manufacturers for developing equipment and materials required for COVID-19 testing to become self-reliant. In January this year, India had only one testing laboratory for COVID-19 at National Institute of Virology, Pune. Today, more than 11 hundred government and private laboratories chains are testing Corona virus samples across the country. ICMR is continuously ramping up its facilities by approving new laboratories, RT-PCR kits, True Nat Test, CBNAAT Test for COVID-19 testing. ICMR has also recommended the use of rapid antigen test kits for diagnosis of COVID-19 in containment zones in combination with the RT-PCR test. India is also producing high-quality, low-cost testing swabs which resulted in the production of millions of swabs in record time and at a fraction of the cost of the imported ones.

Former US National Security Advisor (NSA) John Bolton has said that China’s behaviour in Eastern Ladakh along the LAC worries the United States of America and every citizen in China’s periphery. In an interview with DD India , Mr. Bolton said that China is known to engage in a range of unacceptable behaviour.

Speaking over a host of other issues , former US NSA Mr. Bolton said, Indo-US relationship will witness new peaks in the 21st century. He also asserted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is immensely popular among Indian Americans.

Union Home Ministry has  permitted conduct of examinations by Universities and Institutions.

In a letter to the Union Higher Education Secretary it said that the final Term Examinations are to be compulsorily conducted as per the UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities and as per the Standard Operating Procedure  approved by the Union Ministry of Health and  Family Welfare.

The Delhi government has completed the door-to door health survey in the city’s COVID-19 containment zones, covering around 3.68 lakh people. Over 1.66 lakh antigen tests have been conducted in 445 COVID-19 containment zones.

On the 29th of last month, the Union Home Ministry had said that the door-to-door survey would be done in containment zones on priority basis by 6th July.

The Union Government has said, a total of four lakh 24 thousand 433 people affected by Coronavirus have recovered in the country so far.

In the past 24 hours, 15 thousand 350 people recovered from COVID-19 and with this, the recovery rate reached 60.86 per cent.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry yesterday said, a total of 24 thousand 248 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country during the last 24 hours taking the total number of cases to six lakh 97 thousand 413.

In a single day, 425 deaths were reported taking the nationwide toll to 19 thousand 693. Presently, the total number of active Corona cases in the country is two lakh 53 thousand 287.

National Security Advisory Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed border issues in a telephone conversation last Sunday. The two Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on the recent developments in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas.

The External Affairs Ministry said that the two Special Representatives agreed that both the sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of bilateral relations. They also said that the two sides should not allow differences to become disputes.

Therefore, they agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquility.

In this regard, they further agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously. The two sides should also ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas. They re-affirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo and work together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquility in border areas. It was also agreed that the two Special Representatives will continue their conversations to ensure full and enduring restoration of peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols.