World science body slams tougher U.S. visa rules

[leftchick]

PARIS (Reuters) - A leading world science body denounced tougher U.S. visa policies on Thursday after its Indian-born president said he failed to get permission to enter the country on charges he was hiding information that could be used for chemical weapons.

Professor Goverdhan Mehta, 62, an internationally recognized organic chemist invited to a conference by the University of Florida, has denied the charges and said he was rejected because he could not recall details of research he did 40 years ago.

The protest from the Paris-based International Council for Science (ICSU) came only a week before President George W. Bush was due to visit India with another scientific issue -- a planned civilian nuclear cooperation deal -- high on the agenda.

The ICSU and the U.S. embassy in New Delhi disagreed over details of the row. The embassy said it had not denied a visa but asked Mehta for more information on his work before his application can proceed.

The ICSU said Mehta had provided it with written proof his visa was denied and it complained that tough visa rules imposed after the September 11, 2001 attacks were keeping many foreign scientists from needed exchanges with their U.S. colleagues.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060223/pl_nm/security_usa_india_dc

[aquart]

1. Except for Dubai where you can do it online.

Wasn't that a post here yesterday?

[mom cat]

4. I think today also. Wonder why the US is no longer the top choice of

the world's brightest and best young minds.

[kineneb]

2. BushCo, leading the charge back to the Middle Ages.

Gee, are we heading the direction of the Ottoman Empire? Take a vibrant, scientificly advanced culture and stop it dead in its tracks (Islam, circa 1300 CE)?

Can't have an exchange with them "furreners" that threaten us with new ideas. Quick, close them boarders (and our minds, too).

Aarrgh- these vermin make me crazy.

[leftchick]

3. it is maddening

<snip>

Mehta, a former head of the Indian Institute of Science who has taught in the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Japan, said the consulate accused him of hiding information that could possibly be used for chemical weapons when he could not give details of his doctoral thesis.

"I did my Ph.D 40 years ago," he told the Deccan Herald in Bangalore, the southern Indian high-tech center where he lives. "I told them I did not remember the topic. Science has progressed and changed completely since then."

The ICSU, which has coordinated major international research programs and promoted free exchange of scientists and their data since 1931, expressed "grave concern" over the case.

"It clearly illustrates that, despite some progress, all is far from well with regards to the visa policies and associated practices for scientists wishing to enter the U.S.," he said.

.... I expect that the protests when he visits India will be extra big this time.