Former BCCI president IS Bindra passes away
New Delhi (PTI): Former BCCI president Inderjit Singh Bindra, who played a major role in ushering in a new era of cricket marketing, passed away here on Sunday. He was 84.
He is survived by a son and daughter.
Bindra served as the board president from 1993 to 1996, and was also the president of the Punjab Cricket Association from 1978 to 2014.
In 2015, the PCA stadium was renamed as IS Bindra Stadium as a tribute to his inspiring work as an administrator.
Jay Shah, chairman of the International Cricket Council, wrote on his 'X' account: “Deepest condolences on the passing of Mr. I S Bindra, former BCCI president and a stalwart of Indian cricket administration. May his legacy inspire future generations. Om Shanti.”
As Shah mentioned, Bindra was indeed a stalwart of Indian cricket administration, having started the association with the game as an official in 1975.
He was best remembered for his role in organising the 1987 World Cup — then known as the Reliance Cup — in India and it was the first time the global event was moved out of England after the 1975, 1979 and 1983 editions.
He managed the coup in the company of his close friend late Jagmohan Dalmiya and then BCCI chief NKP Salve, and it opened the
Indian television market to the new possibilities of cricket marketing.
Bindra, who retired from cricket administration in 2014, also worked as the principal advisor of the International Cricket Council when Sharad Pawar held the president’s post.
Before that in 1994, Bindra had approached the Supreme Court of India to break the monopoly of Doordarshan in cricket broadcasting.
A favourable verdict from the apex court helped Bindra and his team bring global companies like ESPN and TWI to the Indian market, which soon expanded to be the biggest in the world.
However, his official life was not without its share of bitter moments as the support he gave to Lalit Modi after the spot-fixing saga in the IPL earned him his share of brickbats.
Bindra also played a pivotal role in the appointment of Haroon Lorgat as the Cricket South Africa CEO, and that move too did not win him many friends.
But overall, Bindra remained one of the architects of modern Indian cricket from a commercial perspective.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
