PM unveils model of Netaji memorial Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday unveiled the model of a memorial dedicated to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, to be set up in Andaman and Nicobar To mark Netaji’s 126th birth anniversary, Modi also named 21 islands of the Union Territory after Param Vir Chakra awardees Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on Parakram Diwas, in New Delhi on Monday | ANI bhubaneswar l tuesday l january 24, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI 80,000 Indians in US face layoff heat Have to find a new job within two months or leave the country; share plight on social media platforms; Spotify to cut its staff base by 6% u M A k A N N A N @ Bengaluru WITH a series of layoff announcements by all top tech companies globally in recent weeks, reports suggest that 60,000-80,000 Indian IT professionals in the US have lost their jobs. A majority of them are said to be on H-1B and L1 visas, who will have to find another job within 60 days or pack up. Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet together have laid off 51,000 employees. Till now, 312,600 employees have lost jobs, according to Layoffs.fyi, which compiles data from public reports and tracks layoffs. In 2023 alone, 174 tech companies laid off 56,570 employees. Many affected Indians have shared their stories on various social media platforms. Mon- ambigha M, one of the impacted Google employees, said in a LinkedIn post that she must spring back into action as being an immigrant on an H-1B visa does not give her the flexibility to take time off. She joined Google only 10 months ago. After working with Google for three years and six months, Kunal Kumar Gupta received the termination mail. “I am immediately open to work and would need immediate assistance to find a role as I am on an H-1B visa which gives me 60 days to find a job,” Gupta said. Meanwhile, Swedish music streaming firm Spotify on Monday announced that it is reducing its employee base by 6%, or about 600 employees. In a note to employees, CEO Daniel Ek said, “While we have made express read Digvijay slams govt on Govt to track & deport surgical strike, Pulwama 3.5L ‘rogue’ foreigners Srinagar: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday sparked controversy by saying that no proof was given on the Army’s 2016 surgical strikes and no information was shared in the parliament about the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF men were killed | P8 New Delhi: The Central government is set to introduce an upgraded ‘track and deport’ process to tackle the issue of foreigners staying in India illegally. As per home ministry sources, there are over 3.5 lakh foreigners whose visa has expired | P7 Mary Kom to lead ministry’s Oversight Committee Chennai: Multiple world champ M C Mary Kom will lead a five-member Oversight Committee to probe various charges against the WFI chief and submit its report in four weeks. Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former India shuttler Trupti Murgunde, ex-TOPS CEO Rajagopalan and ex-SAI ED Radhika Sreeman are the other members on the panel | P11 great progress in improving speed in the last few years, we haven’t focused as much on improving efficiency... And in a challenging economic environment, efficiency takes on greater importance. So, in an effort to drive more efficiency control , costs... I have decided to restructure our organisation.” According to HR experts, it is not difficult for those who lost jobs in the US to find one in India. Vijay Sivaram, CEO of Quess IT Staffing, expects hiring intent for IT professionals across tech and non-tech companies to revert to its pre-pandemic levels. “Hot skills such as full stack engineers, data analysts and scientists, DevOps specialists, and cloud engineers will be sought after,” he said. 200,000 Tech employees lost jobs in the US since November 30-40% Spotify Swedish music streaming company decides to trim 6% of its workforce, or 600 employees Of the affected are Indian IT professionals who are on H-1B and L1 visas 60 days Grace period for non-immigrant visa holders to find another job, or they will have to leave the US Pradhan’s poll plans ups HC Lawyer political heat in Odisha collected E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Political climate of the state has begun to heat up after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced that he will be contesting in the next general elections. While the ruling BJD exuded confidence of forming the next government in the state for the sixth time despite Pradhan’s entry the Congress welcomed his decision. , Even as Pradhan holds his cards close on the matter of contesting for Assembly or Lok Sabha and the constituency of his choice, there has been speculations that he has been preparing ground to try his luck from Dhenkanal parliamentary seat. Pradhan has been frequenting Dhenkanal district ever since the party launched the Lok Sabha Pravas programme under which Union ministers are visiting different parliaDharmendra mentary constituencies and spending Pradhan nights there. Sambalpur is the other Lok Sabha seat that is stated to be the choice of Pradhan. Political analysts feel Sambalpur will be safer than Dhenkanal which has been favouring the BJD in the last few elections. Nitish Ganga Deb, the scion of the Deogarh royal familiy, is the sitting MP from Sambalpur while three Assembly constituencies under the seat are repContinued on P5 resented by BJP  . Judges don’t face poll, but people are watching: Rijiju S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi Union law minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday threw another barb at the judiciary, saying though judges don’t face public scrutiny or polling like politicians, people are definitely watching and forming opinions based on their performance. Speaking at a Delhi Bar Association event, Rijiju said, “Judges don’t have to face elections. They are also not subjected to public scrutiny. Although the public can’t elect judges, they are watching them. Their judg- ments, the way they work and “mass scale”. “CJI told me that the manner in which they dis- there should be some restricpense justice, people are looking tions on social media. CJI asked and are also forming an us to take some stern opinion. In the age of sosteps against people cial media, nothing can who are commenting be hidden.” on judges. We are conAfter Chief Justice of sidering it. But when India D Y Chandrachud’s people are criticising at request for imposition a mass scale, what can of restrictions on social we do?” Rijiju asked. media against adverse Reiterating that his comments on judges, the letter to the CJI dated Kiren Rijiju Centre is considering to January 6, did not seek take stern steps, he said, government nominees but wondered what could be on the collegium, he said it was done if the criticism is on a meant as a follow up of the SC’s verdict in the NJAC case. “I wrote a letter to CJI on 6th Jan... Nobody knew about this for 2/3 days but someone got to know and the headline was that law minister has written a letter to CJI for government representatives in collegium.... Collegium consists of five judges, how can I add someone else in the collegium?” Rijiju asked. He said the Centre respects the judiciary as its independence is absolutely necessary for democracy “If the dignity of ju. diciary is lowered, then it can’t be protected,” he said. kickbacks to ‘buy’ verdicts P R A M DA S @ Kochi IS there a price tag to get favourable verdicts? That is what a leading lawyer practising in the Kerala High Court had his clients believe when he collected lakhs of rupees from them. The money he , told them, was meant as kickbacks for HC judges. The shocking revelation was made in the report submitted by the HC’s vigilance wing after a detailed probe into the dealings of Saiby Jose Kidangoor. The probe was launched after revelations by HC lawyers as well as a directive from the court. The wing found instances of Saiby collecting money from clients by taking the names of judges P V Kunhikrishnan, A Muhamed Mustaque and Ziyad Rahman A A. The HC vigilance wing recorded statements from several lawyers. One said Saiby allegedly received `25 lakh from a client to be given as bribe to a judge. Another lawyer put the number at `50 lakh. A third lawyer said Saiby collected `25 lakh from a film producer, accused in a case, claiming some amount was for a judge. The probe officer concluded that Saiby’s acts violated Section 35 of the Advocates Act.