Cancelling about 2,000 visa appointments made by bots, zero tolerance for fraud: US Embassy in India
New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI): The US Embassy in India has said its consular team is "cancelling" about 2,000 visa appointments made by "bots", while asserting it has "zero tolerance" for agents and fixers who violate its scheduling policies.
The embassy informed this in a notice shared in a post on X on Wednesday.
A senior US official also confirmed the development.
"Consular Team India is cancelling about 2000 visa appointments made by bots. We have zero tolerance for agents and fixers that violate our scheduling policies," the embassy wrote on the social media platform.
The notice shared in the post underlined that the team has "identified bad actors" who made about 2,000 visa appointments that "violated our scheduling policies".
"Effective immediately, we are cancelling these appointments and suspending the associated accounts' scheduling privileges," it said.
"We will continue our anti-fraud efforts. We have zero tolerance for fraud," the notice says.
There is a very high demand for the US visas, both among students and tourists, besides travellers in other categories.
In 2023, the US Mission in India had processed a record 1.4 million visas overall.
The American universities attract a large number of Indian students, and the US consular team in India had in 2023 issued over 1,40,000 student visas -- more than in any other country.
Consular Team India is canceling about 2000 visa appointments made by bots. We have zero tolerance for agents and fixers that violate our scheduling policies. pic.twitter.com/ypakf99eCo
— U.S. Embassy India (@USAndIndia) March 26, 2025
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
