As the issue of H1B visa clampdown has gained ground, and after the US last week accused Indian companies TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering H1B visas, US officials struck a conciliatory tone yesterday, with the State Department spokesperson Mark Toner saying, "we want to see US India business-to-business ties remain strong."

The US government is looking for ways to control immigration to ensure highly skilled immigrants (which the government describes as Masters and PhD holders) get a larger share of H1B visas. The US market accounts for 60% of Indian IT's revenues, and changes in worker movement will require Indian companies to revise the outsourcing model that has driven their growth for the past two decades. 

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) says that the company has won its largest ever export order worth Rs. 10,000 crore, to set up a 1,320 MW super thermal power project in Bangladesh. The order, won by BHEL against competitive bidding, is from Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL). The scope of work for the project spans from designing to commissioning of the thermal sets.

Stock in spotlight: Jain Irrigation Systems, whose share price has rallied sharply today after its ban on trades on futures and options contracts has been lifted.  The midcap stock has been an outperformer over the last 12 months, with its share price rising over 79% in that period. 

Photo of the day: The world's best slackliners show off their skills at an altitude of 2000m, walking on a 2 cm thick elastic strap. Fred Marie/Barcroft Images