India, Oct. 6 -- Kaushik Raj, an Indian student and journalist who earned a place at the prestigious Columbia University in the US, plus a $100,000 scholarship, was denied a visa by the American administration.

Raj, a freelance reporter, had secured admission to the Ivy League institution's MS in Data Journalism. The post-graduate programme was scheduled to start on August 15; however, his visa was rejected the same month.

"The visa application took a lot of time. The US government had briefly stopped issuing student visas, and when it resumed there were no appointment slots available. I managed to get a slot after trying for 10 days," Raj told HT over the phone.

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