It is very likely that the issue of outsourcing could be a key point that comes up during the November elections. The President has stated that the tax concessions should go to companies that create jobs in the US and not overseas.

Pointing out that the existing tax code provides tax breaks to the tune of millions of dollars to companies that create jobs and profits in other countries, Obama stressed on the fact that one of the main points to be focused on is encouraging companies to increase investment in the United States. This cycle is proving to be disadvantageous to the country, and in order to break it the President proposes to have a more generous and permanent extension of tax credit to companies that are involved in research and innovation inside the US. He expressed his opinion that if the country did have any tax breaks they should be going to companies that created jobs within the nation, not outside.

The President was delivering a speech on economy in the state of Ohio, and had the Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland at his side. Ironically, Strickland was well known for his support to Indian companies till recently, when after realizing that he was behind in opinion polls, he passed an executive order banning outsourcing. His argument is that outsourcing undermines the economic development of the US and has undesirable business consequences.

The IT sector in India has reacted to these US developments saying that the move is discriminatory, and is akin to a trade barrier. Recently the Indian IT sector was hard hit by the US raising entry visa fees for the H-1B and L1 visa, which was what most IT companies took when they sent their professionals to work on US projects.

The apex body of the IT and ITES industry says it will take up the issue with its US counterparts under the leadership of the Nasscom delegation, which will visit the US later this month. They have also sought governmental support to take up the matter with American authorities.

President Obama says that across America, people agree on the fact that rebuilding the infrastructure of the nation is the way for the country to once again be one of the leading economies of the world. And it is to this precise end that his administration has put together the six-year infrastructure plan that he was proposing. President Obama says this proposal will enable small businesses to upgrade their plants and equipment and encourage large corporations to start putting their profits into the economy. By putting Americans to work, the economy could start picking up, he said. He pointed out that due to the steps that his administration had taken, the economy is showing sure signs of recovery. This financial markets have stabilized and approximately three million Americans who were previously unemployed have a job due to the economic plan that was put in place since he assumed office.

The campaign which got started in June aims at convincing US billionaires to give away at least half of their fortunes either during their lifetimes or after death. Billionaires who responded promptly include Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CNN founder Ted Turner and entertainment executive Barry Diller.

The Giving Pledge, as it has come to be called, has listed out the names of all individuals and their kin who have committed to the project.

The people behind the campaign have also said that many of the donors have committed to sums much more than the 50 per cent minimum level. Sating that the pledge is more of a moral commitment than a legal contract, the campaign also hopes that the billionaires who pledge their money to philanthropy would publicly state their intention in writing.

Leading from the front, Buffet pledged 99 per cent of his money in 2006 to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and family charities. Meanwhile, Bill and Melinda Gates have also given away more than $28 billion to their own foundation.

Giving Pledge has also stated that the aim of the whole initiative is to target billionaires who would want to give away. However, the initiative may also be believed as have stemmed from the efforts taken by many in the past so as to encourage and acknowledge such charitable deeds.

The United States has announced a global fund, costing $350-million, to help provide clean-energy technology to the so-called developing countries, and pledged to contribute $85 million to the multinational fund.

The 5-year programme has been named the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (REDI, or the Climate REDI.)

The US also invited top officials to participate in a ‘green summit’ to be held in Washington in 2010.

Steven Chu, United States Energy Secretary, announced at the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, that the multinational programme will help “speed up the delivery of technologies related to renewable energy to the developing and underdeveloped nations.” The global initiative, Steven Chu added, will enable the developing and underdeveloped countries combat the greenhouse-gas emissions in a better manner.

The 2-week United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen began on December 7, 2009.

The world leaders are meeting in Copenhagen to forge a new treaty to deal with the huge problem of global warming in order to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Among the programmes of the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative is the one to supply solar-energy lanterns and LED lanterns to millions of people in the developing countries who have no access to electricity – thus providing a low-cost alternative to kerosene-lamps that are both costly and polluting.

A statement issued by the White House said that the Climate REDI programme is expected to yield “immediate economic as well as public-health benefits.”

The Climate REDI programme is also aimed at improving the efficiency of electrical appliances, sold around the world, through “coordinating incentives and setting global standards.”

The programme will establish an online platform to share information among the members of the group called the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF). It will, in addition, render technical aid to poorer countries to develop strategies related to renewable energy.

While the United States will contribute $85 million to the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands have together pledged to put in $200 million.

Italy, Sweden and Australia have announced that they will contribute to Climate REDI, the statement from the White House said.

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced at the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen that Washington will host, in 2010, a ministerial-level meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF).

The MEF, which is a working group of the largest emitters of greenhouse-gases in the world, was launched by United States President Barack Obama in March 2009.

The goal of the MEF is to promote international discussions on combating climate change as well as to encourage the use of clean energy, Steven Chu said.

The announcement by the United States of the ministerial-level meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate after came as developing nations, led by countries in Africa, boycotted the UN Climate Summit on December 14, 2009. They returned to the meeting only after obtaining guarantees that the Climate Summit “will not sideline talks about the future of the Kyoto Protocol.”

This is where Obama sees a major paradox. According to him the notion that America would have to import nurses makes absolutely no sense. He in fact has suggested that the best possible approach to meet this shortfall is to train people inside the country. He has been quoted as saying that “For people who get fired up about the immigration debate and yet don’t notice that we could be training nurses right here in the United States.”

This could mean bad news for nurses from India who are looking at seeking a career out there in lucrative US. The US Congress has even introduced a legislation, called Nursing Relief Act of 2009, to create a special category of nursing visas, which would facilitate much faster and easier brining of trained nurses from Asian countries like India. According to the proposed law, it would look at making provisions for the new category of visas for registered nurses with an annual limit of 50,000.

As per the legislation, there are more vacant nursing positions in the US than there are qualified registered nurses and nursing school candidates to fill those positions. With Obama going all out to train nurses in his country itself, the thousands of aspiring nurses have started staring at a bleak future.