The Indian Panorama

Tag: Africa

  • Looking Ahead: Western World wants the best and leave the rest while tightening immigration controls

    Looking Ahead: Western World wants the best and leave the rest while tightening immigration controls

    By Prabhjot Singh

    TORONTO (TIP): “Poaching the best and ignoring the rest” appears to be the new immigration mantra of the developed and flourishing West that it wants to portray and implement in 2026. Conveying a strong message to the nations overflowing with manpower resources, both raw and skilled, the elite group of nations—most sought after by prospective immigrants—has been gradually barricading the borders to minimize the “infiltration.” To cap it, member nations of this group have set in motion both legal and inhumane deportation processes to get rid of what they call “dead wood,” as most of their ageing sections of society have met their requirements of the workforce.

    When the new Liberal government, led by Mark Carney, assumed office in April this year and presented its maiden budget in November, it clearly indicated that it would “look for the best of brains” to head new groups of scientific research. Bowing to the pressures, the Liberal government not only scaled down immigration levels but also introduced drastic cuts to the intake of international students. This major shift in the immigration rigmarole spells doom for hundreds of thousands of youngsters who want or aspire to make one of the developed Western nations their new home. Those with no skills find the immigration doors closed for them for now.

    Donald Trump, soon after starting his second term in office in January of the outgoing year, started sending through full loads of US Air Force aircraft, bereft of basic passenger facilities, with immigration seekers without proper documents to the countries of their origin, including India. And the process has been continuing unabated since then. Hundreds of thousands have already been sent home unceremoniously. Aircraft loads of “unwanted immigrants” are even now leaving the shores of various North American ports for destinations in South Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world regularly. Incidentally, those being deported exclude the brain doctors, engineers, and scientists.

    It is not only the closure of a channel that was taking a lot of loads off the governments of developing nations, but it has now started rebuilding the pressure on shrinking job opportunities and resources in these immigration feeder nations. While their best talent would be leaving the shores of the country, they would be left with numbers that they would find extremely difficult to adjust to under the tightening global economic norms.

    The brain drain would continue unabated, thus putting additional pressure on these fund- and resource-starved nations. Producing a doctor with six to eight years in a government medical institution in India costs the state a minimum of Rs 20 lakh. The same is the case with an engineer or IT specialist groomed at a government institution; the money spent by the state is no less than that of a doctor. And once these young, bright doctors, engineers, and IT experts step out of their institutions, the developed nations are out poaching for them. Instead of repaying the society that spent on their training and grooming, they leave their homelands, lured by green pastures overseas.

    The result is obvious. Their home turfs suffer from a shortage of doctors, engineers, technocrats, and other professionals. A simple case to illustrate this dilemma is the acute shortage of mental health officers in the country. Despite directions from the Apex Court that each district in the country must have a mental hospital, not even 20 per cent of districts in the country have such a facility. There is an acute shortage of super specialists in a country like India. Many medical colleges fake figures to show specialists and super specialists on their faculties, while in fact their services are requisitioned mostly from the private sector at the time of inspections.

    It is not health care. Other areas, especially information technology, science and research, engineering, and related areas, would continue to be impacted by the changed immigration policies of Western nations.

    Other than these technical or scientific “brains,” countries like India are also facing an acute shortage of middle-rung officers in their defense forces. One foremost reason is that pay packages are perhaps not as attractive as their counterparts’ pass-outs from IITs. Then some of the perks associated with jobs in the defense sector have been spiked so much that their added attractions have vanished in recent years. Even a lifetime career in the defense forces is not guaranteed under the Agnipath Yojana. Intriguingly, some of the able-bodied youth, looking for green pastures overseas and shirking jobs in uniform at home, were forced to join the armed forces overseas, as it happened in the case of Russia.

    There is an urgent need for a fresh look at the immigration policies of the nations with abundant manpower or human resources. A country like India needs to regulate its brain drain as well as the outflow of its raw human resources. It also comes with a need to audit the education and healthcare infrastructure in the country. India, for example, can market both its education and health care potentials as a retort to the Western world.

    Otherwise, developing economies would continue to lose their best to the West and keep the rest for their own use.

    (Please print the detailed intro of Prabhjot here)

  • Looking ahead: Challenges galore for those seeking immigration

    Looking ahead: Challenges galore for those seeking immigration

    By Prabhjot Singh

    TORONTO (TIP): “Poaching the best and ignoring the rest” appears to be the new immigration mantra of the developed and flourishing West that it wants to portray and implement in 2026. Conveying a strong message to the nations overflowing with manpower resources, both raw and skilled, the elite group of nations—most sought after by prospective immigrants—has been gradually barricading the borders to minimize the “infiltration.” To cap it, member nations of this group have set in motion both legal and inhumane deportation processes to get rid of what they call “dead wood,” as most of their ageing sections of society have met their requirements of the workforce.

    When the new Liberal government, led by Mark Carney, assumed office in April this year and presented its maiden budget in November, it clearly indicated that it would “look for the best of brains” to head new groups of scientific research. Bowing to the pressures, the Liberal government not only scaled down immigration levels but also introduced drastic cuts to the intake of international students. This major shift in the immigration rigmarole spells doom for hundreds of thousands of youngsters who want or aspire to make one of the developed Western nations their new home. Those with no skills find the immigration doors closed for them for now.

    Donald Trump, soon after starting his second term in office in January of the outgoing year, started sending through full loads of US Air Force aircraft, bereft of basic passenger facilities, with immigration seekers without proper documents to the countries of their origin, including India. And the process has been continuing unabated since then. Hundreds of thousands have already been sent home unceremoniously. Aircraft loads of “unwanted immigrants” are even now leaving the shores of various North American ports for destinations in South Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world regularly. Incidentally, those being deported exclude the brain doctors, engineers, and scientists.

    It is not only the closure of a channel that was taking a lot of loads off the governments of developing nations, but it has now started rebuilding the pressure on shrinking job opportunities and resources in these immigration feeder nations. While their best talent would be leaving the shores of the country, they would be left with numbers that they would find extremely difficult to adjust to under the tightening global economic norms.

    The brain drain would continue unabated, thus putting additional pressure on these fund- and resource-starved nations. Producing a doctor with six to eight years in a government medical institution in India costs the state a minimum of Rs 20 lakh. The same is the case with an engineer or IT specialist groomed at a government institution; the money spent by the state is no less than that of a doctor. And once these young, bright doctors, engineers, and IT experts step out of their institutions, the developed nations are out poaching for them. Instead of repaying the society that spent on their training and grooming, they leave their homelands, lured by green pastures overseas.

    The result is obvious. Their home turfs suffer from a shortage of doctors, engineers, technocrats, and other professionals. A simple case to illustrate this dilemma is the acute shortage of mental health officers in the country. Despite directions from the Apex Court that each district in the country must have a mental hospital, not even 20 per cent of districts in the country have such a facility. There is an acute shortage of super specialists in a country like India. Many medical colleges fake figures to show specialists and super specialists on their faculties, while in fact their services are requisitioned mostly from the private sector at the time of inspections.

    It is not health care. Other areas, especially information technology, science and research, engineering, and related areas, would continue to be impacted by the changed immigration policies of Western nations.

    Other than these technical or scientific “brains,” countries like India are also facing an acute shortage of middle-rung officers in their defense forces. One foremost reason is that pay packages are perhaps not as attractive as their counterparts’ pass-outs from IITs. Then some of the perks associated with jobs in the defense sector have been spiked so much that their added attractions have vanished in recent years. Even a lifetime career in the defense forces is not guaranteed under the Agnipath Yojana. Intriguingly, some of the able-bodied youth, looking for green pastures overseas and shirking jobs in uniform at home, were forced to join the armed forces overseas, as it happened in the case of Russia.

    There is an urgent need for a fresh look at the immigration policies of the nations abundant with manpower or human resources. A country like India needs to regulate its brain drain as well as the outflow of its raw human resources. It also comes with a need to audit the education and healthcare infrastructure in the country. India, for example, can market both its education and health care potentials as a retort to the Western world.

    Otherwise, developing economies would continue to lose the best to the West and keep the rest for their own use.

    (Prabhjot Singh is a Toronto based senior journalist. He writes on sports, politics and culture. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)

  • A Christmas Wish for a World at Peace

    A Christmas Wish for a World at Peace

    By Prof. Indrajit S. Saluja

    As the world prepares to merrily celebrate Christmas on December 25, with carols, candles, gifts and gatherings my kids have been so enthusiastic about, my thoughts drift, inevitably and uneasily, to people across continents who will mark this season not with joy, but with fear, deprivation and grief. When one surveys the globe today, a grim common thread binds distant lands and diverse societies: conflict. It manifests in many forms—economic, political, ethnic, ideological and military—but its consequences are uniformly cruel. Peace, despite humanity’s bitter experiences, continues to elude us.

    History offers no shortage of warnings. The twentieth century alone witnessed two World Wars whose scale and savagery reshaped the world. World War I, sparked by nationalism, imperial rivalries and diplomatic failure, left nearly 20 million dead and shattered empires. Instead of ushering in lasting peace, it sowed the seeds of resentment and economic despair that gave rise to fascism and World War II. That second conflagration, the most destructive in human history, claimed over 60 million lives, devastated Europe and Asia, and culminated in the nuclear annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, grim reminders of humanity’s capacity for self-destruction.

    In the aftermath of World War II, leaders vowed “never again.” Institutions such as the United Nations were created to resolve disputes through dialogue, not arms. Yet the decades that followed tell a sobering story. The Cold War divided the world into hostile blocs, bringing proxy wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Africa and Latin America. While nuclear deterrence prevented direct confrontation between superpowers, millions perished in regional conflicts fueled by ideological rivalry.

    The end of the Cold War briefly raised hopes for a “peace dividend.” Instead, the world entered a new phase of instability. Ethnic conflicts tore apart Yugoslavia. Genocide scarred Rwanda. The Middle East remained trapped in cycles of war and retaliation. The US-led interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, launched in the name of security and democracy, produced long wars whose human and economic costs far outweighed their gains. Terrorism emerged as a global threat, feeding on unresolved grievances and failed states.

    Today, conflict has returned with alarming intensity to Europe itself, a continent that once prided itself on having learned the lessons of history. The war between Russia and Ukraine has inflicted immense suffering on ordinary people: cities reduced to rubble, millions displaced, families torn apart, and an entire generation growing up amid sirens and uncertainty. Whatever the geopolitical arguments advanced by either side, the human cost is undeniable and indefensible.

    This is not an isolated tragedy. From Gaza to Sudan, from the Sahel to Myanmar, violence continues to uproot lives. Economic conflict, too, is pervasive: trade wars, sanctions, debt crises and widening inequality pit nations and classes against one another. Even societies not directly at war feel the consequences through inflation, refugee flows, energy shortages and a growing sense of global insecurity.

    One might ask: how, after centuries of bloodshed, does humanity still fail to learn? Part of the answer lies in the persistence of ego, power politics and short-term thinking among leaders. War is often justified in the language of national interest, honor or security, yet it is invariably paid for by civilians. Children lose schools, the sick lose hospitals, and the poor lose whatever fragile stability they possess. Reconstruction takes decades; trauma lasts generations.

    Christmas, at its core, is a celebration of peace, compassion and goodwill. The image of a child born in a manger has endured precisely because it speaks to humility and humanity, not conquest. At this moment, therefore, it is worth articulating a simple, perhaps unfashionable wish: that this Christmas brings wisdom to leaders who command armies and shape destinies.

    In particular, one hopes that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky pause, even briefly, to reflect not on strategy or prestige, but on their people, the soldiers in trenches, the civilians in bomb shelters, the parents who bury their children. History will not judge them by how long they fought, but by whether they found the courage to stop.

    Peace, contrary to popular belief, is not weakness. It requires moral strength to shed ego, to compromise, and to accept that no victory built on ruins can truly be called a triumph. Europe learned this lesson after 1945; it must not be forgotten now.

    In this context, any genuine effort toward peace deserves encouragement, regardless of who undertakes it. If President Donald Trump seeks to play a role in ending the conflict, one can only wish him success. The world has seen enough failed wars and broken promises. A negotiated settlement, however imperfect, is infinitely preferable to endless bloodshed. If peace were to come to a ravaged region through such efforts, it would indeed be a gift worthy of global recognition.

    One might even indulge in a Christmas metaphor: Santa Claus, bearer of goodwill, presenting the Nobel Peace Prize not as a personal accolade, but as a symbol of what humanity values most, the saving of lives. Such symbolism matters, because it reminds leaders that history honors peacemakers long after warriors are forgotten.

    Ultimately, however, responsibility does not rest with leaders alone. Citizens, media and institutions must resist the idea that war is something normal. We must question narratives that glorify violence and demand accountability for decisions that destroy futures. Future generations will inherit the world we leave behind. They should not look back on us as idiotic warmongers who knew the costs of conflict yet chose it anyway.

    As candles are lit this Christmas, let them illuminate not just homes, but consciences. Let the season renew our collective commitment to dialogue over destruction, empathy over enmity, and peace over pride. For without peace, no celebration—Christmas or otherwise—can ever be complete.

    Merry Christmas, and may it bring the world closer to the peace it so desperately deserves!

  • Indian American Global venture capitalist Deven Parekh nominated to IDFC board

    Indian American Global venture capitalist Deven Parekh nominated to IDFC board

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): President Joe Biden has nominated Deven J. Parekh, a leading Indian American global venture capitalist, to the Board of Directors of the US International Development Finance Corporation for a fresh term of three years.
    The White House sent the nomination of Parekh, a Managing Director at Insight Partners, a growth equity investment fund based in New York City, to the Senate Thursday. Parekh was initially nominated as a member of the IDFC board for a term of three years by President Donald Trump in June 2020.
    Since joining Insight in 2000, Parekh has made more than 140 investments in enterprise software, data, and consumer internet businesses globally, including in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Australia, according to his White House profile.
    In addition to his work at Insight and for the Development Finance Corporation, Parekh serves as a Board Member for the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NYU Langone, the Tisch New York MS Research Center, and the Economic Club of New York.
    He has previously served on the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Advisory Board of the US Export-Import Bank, and the Technical Advisory Council of the Federal Communications Commission.
    He is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Publicolor, a non-profit organization focused on New York City public schools. In 2021, Parekh received the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award. He is also a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
    Prior to joining Insight, Parekh was a Principal at Berenson Minella & Company, a New York-based merchant banking firm, where he served on the M&A Committee.
    He also worked for Blackstone on M&A and other investment activities. Parekh has a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
    By statute, the Development Finance Corporation Board of Directors includes four members recommended to the President from Senate and House leadership. Parekh is the nominee recommended by the Senate Majority Leader.