India's economic engine is revving up, but navigating the global headwinds requires sharp strategy. The rupee's recent volatility against the dollar underscores the complexities facing Indian businesses, impacting everything from import-export trade to domestic inflation. This week alone, we've seen significant shifts in the IT sector, with major players announcing restructuring and a renewed focus on AI-driven solutions. Meanwhile, the burgeoning startup ecosystem continues to attract substantial funding, despite a cautious global investor sentiment. The government's recent policy announcements on infrastructure development and digitalization are poised to further shape the business landscape, creating both opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurs and established corporations alike. Understanding these market dynamics is crucial for success in today's rapidly evolving Indian economy. Stay informed with Abtak.com for the latest insights and analysis on key sectors including finance, manufacturing, and technology – empowering your business decisions in a dynamic market. Explore the complete business news section now to stay ahead of the curve.
New Delhi: A U.S. visa on an Indian passport does not just unlock America. It also opens the gates to a world beyond borders. No paperwork. No consulate interviews. No long waits. If you have a valid multiple-entry U.S. visa with at least one past use, seventeen countries welcome you like an old friend. The passport itself does not hold the magic. That U.S. visa tucked inside does. Albania allows Indian citizens to stay for up to 90 days within a 180-day stretch, provided they have entered the United States at least once using that visa. Argentina also opens its arms, requiring only an online travel authorisation and proof that the traveller has used their B2 visa for a U.S. visit before. Once cleared, they can stay for 90 days. Over in the Caribbean, the Bahamas lets travellers stay for 90 days - no embassy visit needed - as long as the U.S. visa has been used once. Belize offers 30 days with just a multiple-entry U.S. visa or Green Card. Chile is more generous. Travellers can stay for 90 days, but the U.S. visa must be valid for at least six months beyond their arrival date. Colombia sets its own terms. It permits 90 days of stay if the visa or Green Card shows at least 180 days of life left. The Dominican Republic skips red tape entirely and hands out a tourist card on arrival. For 30 days, a U.S. visa or residency card will do. Georgia offers 90 days of breathing space within a 180-day window. A valid U.S. visa or residence permit must stay active during the entire stay. Guatemala mirrors the same rule - 90 days unlocked by a multiple-entry visa or U.S. green card. Mexico stands among the easiest destinations for Indian U.S. visa holders. A valid multiple-entry U.S. visa or green card lets you in for 180 days, with no questions asked. Montenegro offers 30 days. All you need is proof of a U.S. visa or green card. North Macedonia limits visits to 15 days but still recognises the U.S. visa's power. It must be valid long enough to cover your return and must allow multiple entries. Panama adds a few hurdles. The visa must have been used once, hold at least six months of validity and travellers need to carry proof of $500 along with a return ticket. Once that is sorted, 30 days of tropical calm await. Peru offers up to 180 days in a calendar year - provided your U.S. visa stays valid for six months from the day you land. The Philippines gives you 30 days too, but it asks for more. You will need that visa or residency permit, plus proof of accommodation, funds and a return ticket. Serbia treats U.S. visa holders like welcome guests. You can stay for 90 days over a 180-day span if your visa has been used before and still has time left. Singapore keeps it short but sweet. For 96 hours, it lets you pass through if you hold a valid non-eVisa U.S. visa and an onward ticket via sea or air. Each of these destinations offers a unique entry path. But all agree on one thing - a U.S. visa, if valid and used, unlocks doors that would otherwise stay closed. Most countries ask that the U.S. visa be multiple-entry. Many insist it is already been used to enter the United States. Six months of remaining validity is a common threshold. Travellers are often asked to show return tickets, hotel bookings and enough funds to support their trip. Rules may shift without warning, so double-check each destination's immigration website or contact their embassy before finalising plans. This is not a secret anymore. The U.S. visa on your Indian passport has quietly become a key - one that now fits seventeen different locks.
New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) In a "special gesture", Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a joint session of Trinidad and Tobago's Parliament during his official visit to the island nation in July, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday. Secretary (South) in the MEA Neena Malhotra, at a special briefing here, also said that the speaker's chair in Trinidad and Tobago's Parliament was gifted by India, which is again a "symbolic reminder of the strong democratic and parliamentary traditions" between the two countries. Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita paid ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 9: In line with its vision to become an engine of growth and diverting from an oil-based economy, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has restructured its visa programme to offer renewable residency of up to 10 years for investors, entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, athletes and students. The UAE's "Golden Visa" programme provides talented and high-net-worth Indians and other nationalities the opportunity of long-term residency in the Gulf nation, UAE officials said. One of the most significant aspects of the government-regulated visa programme is that the applicants do not requir ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Days after Russian woman Nina Kutina was taken into custody for living in a cave inside the forest near Gokarna with her two daughters, her ex-husband, an Israeli citizen, is demanding shared custody of their daughters."I just want to be able to see my daughters a few times a week and take care of them. My concern is that if they go to Russia now, it will be tougher to keep in touch with them. I wish they could stay in India," Goldstein said on Wednesday.Dror Goldstein, 38, who lives f ...Read More >
Berlin/New Delhi: Germany has introduced a visa that allows people from outside the European Union (EU), including Indians, to live and work in the country as freelancers for up to one year. Known as the Freelance Visa or Freiberufler visa, it is designed for self-employed professionals such as writers, designers, consultants and artists. The visa can later be extended for up to three years if the individual continues to meet the necessary requirements. It offers a chance to explore Germany's culture and economy while working independently. The Freelance Visa is part of Germany's larger visio ...Read More >
The situation has sparked panic among students and parents alike, with many considering alternative destinations such as Germany and Canada to avoid losing an academic year. The United States is witnessing a steep drop in Indian student arrivals this year, with education consultants reporting a 70-80 per cent dip in outbound traffic. The decline, largely from cities like Hyderabad, is being attributed to a persistent freeze in US visa appointment slots and a sharp spike in rejection rates, leavi ...Read More >
Kolkata, August 3: The money trail of the deposits accumulated in the two bank accounts of Santa Paul, the arrested Bangladeshi model from Kolkata, is currently under the scanner of the Kolkata Police. Sources said the investigating officials are also thoroughly examining the inward and outward remittances from these bank accounts to find out whether fictitious transactions were made through them. At the same time, city police insiders said, the investigating officials are also probing the source of funds for purchasing the four luxury cars that are registered in the names of the arrested Ban ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the 11 documents required to be submitted by an elector for Bihar's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral roll as opposed to seven documents in summary revision conducted previously showed the exercise was "voter friendly". A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, which resumed hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the June 24 decision of Election Commission to conduct SIR in poll bound Bihar, said despite petitioners' arguments that non-acceptance of Aadhaar was exclusionary, it appeared the large number of documents was "ac ...Read More >
PNN New Delhi [India], May 20: With rising temperatures and vacation time in summer just around the corner, summer travel to Europe is seeing a huge boom from Indian tourists. According to recent reports, there has been a whopping 29% increase in Schengen visa applications from India, signifying strong demand to discover the cultural festivals, historic cities, and picturesque landscapes Europe has in store. Due to more efficient processes and enhanced travel assistance, Indian travelers are now opting to apply Schengen visa online with Akbar Travels--one of India's most reliable travel bran ...Read More >
Chandigarh: After conducting searches at 11 locations across Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids at seven more sites in the two states on Friday in connection with the "donkey route" cases involving illegal immigrants deported from the US.During Wednesday's raids, the ED recovered 30 original passports from the residence of an agent allegedly involved in facilitating illegal migration through the donkey route. "Credible evidence has been recovered, indicating that agents conducted cash and hawala transactions worth several crores by duping prospe ...Read More >
Ahmedabad: A 36-year-old resident of Chanakyapuri registered a complaint of cheating, forgery, and forging documents against two visa consultants who allegedly duped the complainant and his wife out of Rs 37.50 lakh after promising to arrange a UK work permit visa. Based on the complaint by a senior executive at a firm in Sanand, Sola High Court police registered a case on Friday under BNS sections 318(4) (cheating, dishonestly inducing the person deceived to deliver any property to any person), 336(3) (forgery, intending that the document or electronic record forged shall be used for the purp ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 13 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to intervene in the matter related to Nimisha Priya facing the death penalty in Yemen. This comes amid reports of a 37-year-old Indian nurse from Kerala scheduled to be executed on July 16. The trial court convicted her of killing the Yemeni national, a decision that the country Supreme Judicial Council upheld in November 2023. Kindly find enclosed my letter dated March 24, 2025, to the Union Minister for External Affairs. It is learnt from the ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI) Two people died and four others were injured after a fire broke out at a house in east Delhi's Old Govindpura area on Tuesday evening, an official said. Police have identified the deceased as Tanveer (28) and Nusrat. A call was received at Jagatpuri police station at 8.46 pm regarding a fire incident at Band Gali, Old Govindpura, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said. When a police team reached the spot, it found that 10 people were trapped inside a residential building that caught fire, the DCP said. With the help of police personnel and fir ...Read More >
BENGALURU -- Police in India are trying to piece together the story of a Russian woman who was found living in a cave in the southern state of Karnataka with her two young daughters. Nina Kutina was rescued on 9 July by policemen who were on a routine patrol near Ramteertha hills in the Gokarna forest, which borders the tourist paradise of Goa. Authorities say the 40-year-old and her daughters - six and five years old - do not have valid documents to stay in India. They have been lodged in a detention centre for foreigners near Bengaluru, the state capital, and will be deported soon. Kutina ...Read More >
Hyderabad/New Delhi: In a major reform aimed at streamlining travel and immigration processes, the central government has announced that visas can now be issued within a single day, provided all required documents are submitted. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar chaired a high-level review meeting with senior officials of the Foreign Affairs Department at North Block on Wednesday, focusing on visa simplification and enhanced monitoring of illegal immigrants. Officials briefed the Minister on the progress made in visa reforms. The number of visa sub-categories has bee ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The RGIA police arrested one Satyanarayana for alleged involvement in an international human trafficking racket being run in the guise of a gold business, on Saturday. Satyanarayana was attempting to courier rolled gold jewellery samples to an agent in Muscat in Oman, RGIA Inspector Balaraju said. The arrest was followed by a complaint from one Lankapally Mary from West Godavari district, who lodged a complaint with the RGIA police two days back. In her complaint, Mary said that she was intending to go abroad for work when she came across Satyanarayana in August 2023. He promised ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) recent directive mandating large sections of voters in Bihar to furnish proof of citizenship in order to remain on the electoral rolls. Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petition seeks to quash the ECI's June 24 order initiating a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar. The plea argues that the directive violates constitutional provisions inclu ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 10 (ANI): Morocco's Ambassador to India, Mohamed Maliki, underscored the expanding scope of India-Morocco relations during a wide-ranging interaction in the national capital. Highlighting deepening cooperation in trade, defence, investment, counter-terrorism, and beyond, he outlined key areas of collaboration and ambitious plans for the future. Also Read | Ukraine-Russia War: Moscow Blasts Kyiv With Another Missile, Drone Barrage, Killing at Least 2. "I think the sky is not even the limit for us... because we believe in making India, we believe in the capabilities of ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) Indian students, tourists, business travellers and those working in technology firms planning to head to the United States may soon have to pay more than double the existing visa fee due to a new 'visa integrity fee' being imposed by the US, according to immigration service consultants. The 'visa integrity fee' finds a mention in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' (now an Act) signed by President Donald Trump on July 4. Immigration domain watchers and firms facilitating students for study abroad have been closely watching this bill before Trump signed his package of tax bre ...Read More >
While on patrol last week looking for any tourists who might have gotten stuck in the landslide-prone forests in the southern Indian town of Gokarna, police inspector Sridhar S.R. spotted a statue of a Hindu deity peeking out through the lush green vegetation. Moving closer, he saw makeshift curtains made of red saris that obscured the entrance to a cave. When he looked in, he was surprised to find a woman and two young girls living inside. The discovery on July 9 in Karnataka State set off day ...Read More >
New Delhi: America's H1-B visa has been an important way for foreigners to get work here and people from all over the world try to get this document, especially Indians who go to great lengths to get an H1-B visa in large numbers. According to reports, the Trump administration is going to make big changes in the rules for issuing this visa, which can have a direct impact on Indians. The Trump administration is also considering making the citizenship test stricter. Joseph Edlow, the new director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), said in an interview to the New York Times ...Read More >
Washington DC [US], August 2 (ANI): The new Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs) are located in Boston, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Edison, Orlando, Raleigh, and San Jose, bringing the total number to 16 nationwide. A 17th centre is planned to open in Los Angeles later this month. The expansion, announced jointly by the Indian Mission and VFS Global, aims to make essential services more accessible to Indian Americans and other applicants seeking India-related documentation. The centres will handle a comprehensive range of services, including India visa applications, overseas Citizenshi ...Read More >
Mumbai: An auto rickshaw driver, who earns Rs 5-8 lakh per month is garnering peoples' attention due to a unique way, but the catch is, he's earning all this money without driving his vehicle. The auto driver offers a simple 'bag-holding' service to visa applicants just outside the US Consulate. This 'no tech, no formal business plan, and no startup funding' brilliance has netizens lauding the driver's business plan. Rahul Rupani, a product leader at Lenskart, shared the auto driver's story on LinkedIn regarding his experience at the US Consulate. Rahul was outside the US Consulate for his ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jul 3 (PTI) An Air India flight from Delhi to Washington, which took off on July 2, could not complete its journey after it developed a technical glitch during a scheduled refuelling stopover in Vienna, the Tata Group-owned airline said on Thursday. Consequently, its return flight from Washington to Delhi, scheduled on July 2, was also cancelled. Also Read | India Weather Forecast: Monsoon in Active Phase, Heavy Rainfall to Continue in Most Parts of India for Almost Entire Week, Says IMD Scientist. Of late, frequent delays and cancellations of long-haul flights by Air India have bee ...Read More >
Hyderabad: BRS senior leader T Harish Rao on Wednesday strongly condemned Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's "baseless and misleading" statements regarding irrigation and water rights in Telangana. Harish Rao accused Revanth Reddy and his Congress government of "mortgaging Telangana's rightful share of water resources and attempting to mislead people with fabricated data and staged presentations." Expressing outrage over the Chief Minister's closed-door meeting with Congress legislators at Praja Bhavan, Harish Rao asserted, "Revanth Reddy, your government deserves to be lashed for betraying Telan ...Read More >
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 14 (ANI): Russian woman Nina Kutina and her two children were rescued by Gokarna Police and processed by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Bengaluru before being sent back to a rescue centre in Tumakuru. Kutina, who had been living with her daughters in a cave near Gokarna, defended her lifestyle and rejected the claims made about her situation. You give already a lot of lying information. We have big experience to stay in natural, in jungle, and we were not dying, and I did not bring my children, my daughters to die in jungle. They did ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday issued a stern reminder to Indian nationals traveling abroad following recent arrests in the United States, underscoring the critical need to adhere strictly to local laws and protect India's international reputation. The caution comes amid rising incidents of legal troubles faced by Indians overseas, highlighting the consequences of unlawful conduct in foreign countries. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal referred to two notable cases: an Indian tourist allegedly caught shoplifting goods valued at nearly $1,000 from a US store, and ...Read More >
New Delhi: Traffic in central Delhi will be affected on Thursday as the traffic police has issued an advisory due to the Janmashtami and Tazia processions.According to police, the traffic movement in Paharganj is likely to be affected from 1.30pm in view of the shobha yatra for Janmashtami and the Tazia procession.The Janmashtami procession will start from Mandir Shri Banke Bihari Ji in Paharganj's Sangatrasan Bazar and pass through Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Chuna Mandi, Main Bazar, Munja Chowk and Arakashan Road. The Tazia procession will start from Ajmeri Gate and proceed through Pul Paharganj ...Read More >
Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards will now be cancelled if the holder is sentenced to at least two years in prison or named in a charge sheet for an offence carrying a punishment of seven years or more, according to a new government notification. The home ministry announced the change through a gazette notification issued under clause (da) of section 7D of the Citizenship Act, 1955. "An Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) registration shall be liable to get cancelled when a person has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years or has been charge-sheeted for an offen ...Read More >
Those persons who are staying illegally in the US or have committed visa fraud will be held responsible, the country's embassy in India said on Saturday. The US Embassy in a brief statement on X also said if anyone breaks the US law, they will be punished with "significant criminal penalties". "Those who are in the United States illegally or commit visa fraud will be held responsible. If you break US law, you will be punished with significant criminal penalties," the embassy said in its post. ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Narcotics Enforcement Wing (H-NEW) team has apprehended four foreign nationals, including two Nigerians and one each from Tanzania and Sudan, who were illegally residing in India even after their visas had expired. Police arrested Maxwell Anthony Izuchukwu (29) and Chinaza Nnanna Vivian alias Ibrahim Niasha (38), both from Nigeria, Mwajuma Almasi Masisila (30) from Tanzania, and Ahmed Hamid Abujabr Hamid (27) from Sudan. According to police, Mwajuma Almasi Masisila, a native of Tanzania, came to Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, India, on a tourist visa. She has associations ...Read More >