Techie's ‘remote job in India or relocate to Vietnam' dilemma splits Internet
The second offer came with a twist. 'Rs 25 LPA Vietnam – first 6 months remote (first 3 months performance review + 3 months visa/work permit documentation). \~\$2.5k/month. 13-month salary bonus (variable). Office in HCMC / Saigon,' they said. They further mentioned being vegetarians and comfortable cooking for themselves, adding, 'Please help me decide which one to pick. Thanks.'In an edit, they clarified: 'I am 25 years old, I have 4 yoe [years of experience, I make Cloud Applications on SAP BTP. In Vietnam, my Rs 25 LPA will be subjected to a flat 20% tax.'Take a look at the post here: Social media users were quick to dive in with their takes, some practical, some personal, and some philosophical.One of the users made a compelling point about stepping out of one's comfort zone, saying, 'There are more language barriers within India than between India and Vietnam Just because a barrier exists doesn't mean you stay put. Barriers are meant to be overcome.'advertisementAnother user encouraged them to take the international opportunity: 'It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance. The skillset and world view I've seen in Vietnamese creators online is something I wish I had. India can sometimes feel too familiar, even when you move cities.'Several others agreed that Vietnam made better financial sense. '25 lakhs in Vietnam would feel like 30 in India. You could easily visit home twice a year, too,' a user said. Someone drew attention to the professional contrast, writing, 'You have to choose whether you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in an ocean. Tech-wise, Vietnam is still growing, but that leaves space to make an impact. India's scene is ahead but saturated.'A particular user pointed out the quality-of-life perks when they said, 'Vietnam is cheaper to live in than India. And the international exposure? Definitely a plus. Surprised so many people are still leaning towards India.'While Reddit couldn't arrive at a unanimous answer, it offered the techie a global perspective, and possibly a nudge towards the road less taken.Must Watch
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
From India to Vietnam: Where trade talks with the US stand ahead of Trump's deadline
US President Donald Trump has said he will send letters to select trade partners facing tariff hikes as early as Monday, piling pressure on countries to strike a deal with Washington before a new August 1 deadline. Trump announced on Friday the levies' imposition would be pushed to August 1 to allow time for talks to wrap up, but said he signed 12 letters to inform some countries of rate hikes, which will likely be sent on Monday.(AFP) The White House announced sharp levies on dozens of economies in April, citing a lack of "reciprocity" in trade relations, which were set to kick in on Wednesday, July 9. Also Read: 'It's all fake': In bombshell claim, White House insider says Trump's tariff threats a 'theatrical show' Trump announced on Friday the levies' imposition would be pushed to August 1 to allow time for talks to wrap up, but said he signed 12 letters to inform some countries of rate hikes, which will likely be sent on Monday. With Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the administration was "close to several deals," where do things stand for economies from Taiwan to the European Union? EU: 'Ready' for deal The European Union said it is "ready for a deal" with Washington, with the bloc's trade chief meeting his US counterparts Thursday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was targeting an "agreement in principle" when it came to the initial July 9 cutoff. Bessent said the European Union is "making very good progress" after a slow start. With no deal, the US tariff on EU goods doubles from the "baseline" of 10 percent to 20 percent -- with Trump previously threatening a 50 percent level. Vietnam: A pact with uncertainties Washington and Hanoi unveiled a trade pact Wednesday with much fanfare and few details, but it allowed Vietnam to avoid Trump's initial 46 percent tariff. Under the agreement, Vietnamese goods face a minimum 20 percent tariff while products made elsewhere face a 40 percent levy -- a clause to restrict "transshipping" by Chinese groups. But there remain questions on how the higher levy would apply to products using foreign parts. There is also a risk that Beijing will adopt retaliatory measures, analysts warned. Japan: Rice, autos at stake Despite being a close US ally and major source of foreign investment, Japan might not escape Trump's tariff hike. Tokyo's trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa has made numerous trips to Washington through the end of June. But Trump recently criticized what he described as Japan's reluctance to open up further to US rice and auto exports. "I'm not sure we're going to make a deal," Trump said, adding that the country could pay a tariff of "30 percent, 35 percent, or whatever the number is that we determine." India: A good position Indian manufacturers and exporters want to believe they can avoid a 26 percent tariff. Negotiations between both countries have been going well for weeks, and Trump himself suggested at the end of June that a "very big" agreement was imminent. Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, said the feedback he received "suggests positive developments." But he maintained that the situation was fluid. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stressed that agriculture and dairy products remain "very big red lines." South Korea: Muted optimism Seoul, which is already reeling from US tariffs on steel and autos, wants to avert a sweeping 25 percent levy on its other exports. Cooperation in shipbuilding could be a bargaining chip, but "at this stage, both sides still haven't clearly defined what exactly they want," said new President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday. "I can't say with confidence that we'll be able to wrap everything up by July 8," he added. Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan in the wings Other Asian economies including Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, which faces a 49 percent tariff, wait with bated breath. Indonesia has indicated willingness to boost energy, agriculture and merchandise imports from the United States. Bangladesh is proposing to buy Boeing planes and step up imports of US agriculture products. Taiwan, for whom Washington is a vital security partner, faces a 32 percent duty without a pact. Although both sides have faced bumps along the way, Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said "negotiators from both sides are working diligently" to find a path forward. Switzerland: Hope for delay Switzerland's government said Washington has acknowledged it was acting in good faith, and assumes its tariff level will remain at 10 percent on July 9 while negotiations continue. But without a decision by the president as of the end of June, Switzerland did not rule out that levies could still rise to a promised 31 percent.
Mint
6 hours ago
- Mint
We're Losing the Plot on AI in Universities
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- An artificial intelligence furor that's consuming Singapore's academic community reveals how we've lost the plot over the role the hyped-up technology should play in higher education. A student at Nanyang Technological University said in a Reddit post that she used a digital tool to alphabetize her citations for a term paper. When it was flagged for typos, she was then accused of breaking the rules over the use of generative AI for the assignment. It snowballed when two more students came forward with similar complaints, one alleging that she was penalized for using ChatGPT to help with initial research, even though she says she did not use the bot to draft the essay. You may be interested in The school, which publicly states it embraces AI for learning, initially defended its zero-tolerance stance in this case in statements to local media. But internet users rallied around the original Reddit poster, and rejoiced at an update that she won an appeal to rid her transcript of the academic fraud label. It may sound like a run-of-the-mill university dispute. But there's a reason the saga went so viral, garnering thousands of upvotes and heated opinions from online commentators. It laid bare the strange new world we've found ourselves in, as students and faculty are rushing to keep pace with how AI should or shouldn't be used in universities. It's a global conundrum, but the debate has especially roiled Asia. Stereotypes of math nerds and tiger moms aside, a rigorous focus on tertiary studies is often credited for the region's economic rise. The importance of education — and long hours of studying — is instilled from the earliest age. So how does this change in the AI era? The reality is that nobody has the answer yet. Despite the promises from edtech leaders that we're on the cusp of 'the biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen,' the data on academic outcomes hasn't kept pace with the technology's adoption. There are no long-term studies on how AI tools impact learning and cognitive functions — and viral headlines that it could make us lazy and dumb only add to the anxiety. Meanwhile, the race to not be left behind in implementing the technology risks turning an entire generation of developing minds into guinea pigs. For educators navigating this moment, the answer is not to turn a blind eye. Even if some teachers discourage the use of AI, it has become almost unavoidable for scholars doing research in the internet age. Most Google searches now lead with automated summaries. Scrolling through these should not count as academic dishonesty. An informal survey of 500 Singaporean students from secondary school through university conducted by a local news outlet this year found that 84% were using products like ChatGPT for homework on a weekly basis. In China, many universities are turning to AI cheating detectors, even though the technology is imperfect. Some students are reporting on social media that they have to dumb down their writing to pass these tests or shell out cash for such detection tools themselves to ensure they beat them before submitting their papers. It doesn't have to be this way. The chaotic moment of transition has put new onus on educators to adapt, and shift the focus on the learning process as much as the final results, Yeow Meng Chee, the provost and chief academic and innovation officer at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, tells me. This doesn't mean villainizing AI, but treating it as a tool, and ensuring a student understands how they arrived at their final conclusion even if they used technology. This process also helps ensure the AI outputs, which remain imperfect and prone to hallucinations (or typos), are checked and understood. Ultimately, professors who make the biggest difference aren't those who improve exam scores but who build trust, teach empathy and instill confidence in students to solve complex problems. The most important parts of learning still can't be optimized by a machine. The Singapore saga shows how everyone is on edge, and whether a reference-sorting website even counts as a generative AI tool isn't clear. It also exposed another irony: Saving time on a tedious task would likely be welcomed when the student enters the workforce — if the technology hasn't already taken her entry-level job. Demand for AI literacy in the labor market is becoming a must-have, and universities ignoring it does a disservice to cohorts entering the real world. We're still a few years away from understanding the full impact of AI on teaching and how it can best be used in higher education. But let's not miss the forest for the trees as we figure it out. More From Bloomberg Opinion: This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Catherine Thorbecke is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia tech. Previously she was a tech reporter at CNN and ABC News. More stories like this are available on
New Indian Express
9 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Trump steps up push for trade deals before July 9 deadline, but hints at more time for talks
Trump imposed elevated tariff rates on dozens of nations that run meaningful trade surpluses with the US, and a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries in response to what he called an economic emergency. There are separate 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum and a 25% tariff on autos. Since April, few foreign governments have set new trade terms with Washington as the Republican president demanded. Trump told reporters early Friday that his administration might be sending out letters as early as Saturday to countries spelling out their tariff rates if they did not reach a deal, but that the US would not start collecting those taxes until Aug. 1. On Friday night, he said he would 'probably send out 10 or 12' letters on Monday, each reflecting 'different amounts of money, different amounts of tariffs and somewhat different statements.' He and his advisers have declined to say which countries would receive the letters. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rejected the idea that Aug. 1 was a new deadline and declined to say what might happen Wednesday. 'We'll see," Bessent said on CNN's "State of the Union". "I'm not going to give away the playbook.' He said the US was 'close to several deals,' and predicted several big announcements over the next few days. He gave no details. "I think we're going to see a lot of deals very quickly,' Bessent said. Trump has announced a deal with Vietnam that would allow US goods to enter the country duty-free, while Vietnamese exports to the US would face a 20% levy. That was a decline from the 46% tax on Vietnamese imports he proposed in April — one of his so-called reciprocal tariffs targeting dozens of countries with which the US runs a trade deficit. Asked if he expected to reach deals with the European Union or India, Trump said Friday that 'letters are better for us' because there are so many countries involved. 'We have India coming up and with Vietnam, we did it, but much easier to send a letter saying, 'Listen, we know we have a certain deficit, or in some cases a surplus, but not too many. And this is what you're going to have to pay if you want to do business in the United States.' Canada, however, will not be one of the countries receiving letters, Trump's ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, said Friday after trade talks between the two countries recently resumed. 'Canada is one of our biggest trading partners,' Hoekstra told CTV News in an interview in Ottawa. 'We're going to have a deal that's articulated." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants a new deal in place by July 21 or Canada will increase trade countermeasures. Hoekstra would not commit to a date for a trade agreement and said even with a deal, Canada could still face some tariffs. But 'we're not going to send Canada just a letter,' he said.
