Centre cancels visa of German exchange student sent back for participating in Chennai anti-CAA protests: Report

-

The Centre has revoked the visa of German exchange student Jakob Lindenthal, who was told to leave the county after he participated in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act at IIT-Madras, Indian Express reported.

Lindenthal, a post-graudate student of physics at the Technical University of Dresden (TUD), told Indian Express the Indian Embassy in Germany informed him that his visa had been cancelled on 8 February. Officials, however, did not give him any reason for their decision, he said.  Lindenthal was earlier advised by the Embassy against returning to India on his current visa, Indian Express reported.

Lindenthal left the country on 25 December, two days after the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in Chennai told him to do so or face deportation. The move came after he participated in multiple protests against the CAA.  In one protest, he was holding a placard that had an indirect reference to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Germany between 1933 and 1945 during the Hitler regime. Images from the protest show him holding a placard which read "1933-1945... we have been there" and another which read "No democracy without dissent".

Jacob Lindenthal , an exchange student at IIT Madras took part in an anti-CAA protest in Chennai. News18

Lindenthal was part of a student exchange programme between IIT-Madras and TUD and arrived in India in July 2019. He would have completed his course in May 2020. His visa was reportedly going to expire in June 2020.

Kim Magister, Head of Press Office and Public Relations at the university in Dresden confirmed that Lindenthal's visa had been cancelled, as per the report. "Lindenthal’s visa has indeed now been officially cancelled, meaning that he is no longer able to travel to India to continue his student exchange. However, he was able to successfully complete one semester at the IIT Madras. For this period, he will receive a Transcript of Records from our partner university,” she told The Indian Express.

IIT-Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthi said the decision to cancel Lindenthal's visa was taken by the immigration authorities and that the institute was not involved.  “If the visa is granted, the student or visitor comes, else they do not. This is the process followed everywhere," he said.

Following Lindethal's expulsion from India, the TUD has decided to introduce special workshops to “optimally prepare” students for such foreign exchange programmes, said Magister adding that Lindenthal has also been invited to talk about his experiences in India.

Protests against the amended citizenship law spread across many cities and university campuses in India in December, with protesters alleging that the law, which seeks to fast-track citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from three countries, discriminates against minorities.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2wXYBUU
FP Staff

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

Aditya L1 Mission: Spacecraft is nearing its final phase, says ISRO chief

-
Aditya L1 spacecraft is nearing its final phase, and manoeuvres to enter the L1 point are expected to be completed by January 7, 2024, according to ISRO Chairman S Somanath. “Aditya is on the way. I think it has reached almost its final phase,” the ISRO chief told PTI on the sidelines of an event organised at VSSC to commemorate the 60th year of the First Sounding Rocket Launch. Aditya L1, India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun, was successfully launched on September 2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. The spacecraft, after travelling about 1.5 million km from Earth over 125 days, is expected to be placed in a Halo orbit around the Lagrangian point L1, considered closest to the Sun. He said that the last preparations for the spacecraft’s entry into the L1 point are currently underway incrementally.”Possibly by January 7th, the final manoeuvres will be done for entering into the L1 point,” Somanath added. Among other tasks, it will capture and tr
Read more