Aziz Haniffa In Washington,DC

Stories by Aziz Haniffa In Washington,DC

Headley's guilty plea: 'Good deal'

Headley's guilty plea: 'Good deal'

Rediff.com   19 Mar 2010

Law enforcement sources rubbished allegations that Headley was a double agent for US intelligence and that this was why he was not being made available for interrogation by Indian intelligence.

India asks US to relax visa norms for workers

India asks US to relax visa norms for workers

Rediff.com   19 Mar 2010

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said he had strongly brought up India's concern over the denial of professional visas for its workers, in his meetings with senior Obama Administration officials.

Single policy for FDI in banking, insurance soon

Single policy for FDI in banking, insurance soon

Rediff.com   19 Mar 2010

India will unveil a single policy for foreign direct investment, including in sectors such as financial services, insurance and banking by March 31, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has disclosed.

Doha talks: Minister reaffirms India's commitment

Doha talks: Minister reaffirms India's commitment

Rediff.com   19 Mar 2010

Sharma met US trade representative Ron Kirk, agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack and deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman and other senior Obama Administration officials.

Rao downplays nuke bill delay; US firms dismayed

Rao downplays nuke bill delay; US firms dismayed

Rediff.com   18 Mar 2010

The uncertainty over the fate of the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill in Parliament has caused a considerable amount of concern to members of the United States-India Business Council, as some of them had lobbied feverishly in the US Congress to get the agreement approved.USIBC President Ron Somers voiced his concerns at an interaction with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, during her six-day visit to the United States

US, India ink framework for trade ties

US, India ink framework for trade ties

Rediff.com   18 Mar 2010

Over the past five years, US-India trade has more than doubled and the US continues to be India's largest trading partner -- if goods and services are counted -- a total bilateral trade standing at $65.9 billion in 2009.

Sanctions against Iran no solution, says India

Sanctions against Iran no solution, says India

Rediff.com   17 Mar 2010

Even as United States President Barack Obama's efforts to reach out to Iran to dissuade Teheran for developing a nuclear weapons capability have apparently failed miserably and the talk in Washington is now about slapping Iran with punitive sanctions, with some in the US Congress even suggesting military action, India has counseled dialogue and warned that sanctions and anti-Iran fervour could further destabilise the region.

We are monitoring situation in Sri Lanka: India

We are monitoring situation in Sri Lanka: India

Rediff.com   17 Mar 2010

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who visited Sri Lanka last week and met President Mahinda Rajapakse and senior Sri Lankan officials, has said that India had been reassured over the Lankan government's efforts to return internally-displaced persons to their homes and also hopeful over a future political process to alleviate the lot of the Tamil-speaking community and other minorities.

Rakesh Mohan joins Yale faculty

Rakesh Mohan joins Yale faculty

Rediff.com   12 Mar 2010

Mohan has been appointed as the Professor in the Practice of International Economics and Finance in the Yale School of Management, and as Senior Fellow in the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University; Yale University President Richard C Levin said in a statement on Friday.

Citigroup elated over WEF honour for Shamina Singh

Citigroup elated over WEF honour for Shamina Singh

Rediff.com   12 Mar 2010

The World Economic Forum last week named former Clinton Administration official, erstwhile Congressional staffer and longtime Democratic Party activist Shamina Singh, 41, as one of its Young Global Leaders for 2010.

'Singh's forbearance saved us from Indo-Pak war'

'Singh's forbearance saved us from Indo-Pak war'

Rediff.com   12 Mar 2010

Former Bush Administration official Ashley J Tellis, considered one of US' foremost strategic experts, praised Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his forbearance in dealing with Pakistan, while the addressing the Congress on the impending threat posed by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba on Thursday.

'Headley's arrest changed US' perception on LeT'

'Headley's arrest changed US' perception on LeT'

Rediff.com   12 Mar 2010

Lisa Curtis, erstwhile Central Intelligence Agency South Asia analyst and ex-senior Congressional staffer on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has said that the arrest and findings from the investigation of Chicago-based Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative John Coleman Headley, has awakened US officials to the gravity of the threat of the LeT and other Pakistan-based terrorist groups.

'LeT could soon become No: 1 terror network'

'LeT could soon become No: 1 terror network'

Rediff.com   12 Mar 2010

Professor Marvin Weinbaum, Scholar-in-Residence at the Middle East Institute, who has served in several US administrations as an expert on South Asia, particularly in the State Department's Policy Planning Bureau and Bureau of Intelligence and Research, told Congress on Thursday that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, responsible for the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, could surpass or replace Al Qaeda as the number one terror network worldwide.

'LeT has been slaughtering Indians for decades'

'LeT has been slaughtering Indians for decades'

Rediff.com   12 Mar 2010

US Congressman Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South Asia, Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Pakistani military, accusing it of continuing to tolerate and pander to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the terrorist outfit that carried out the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Austin celebrates a champion  of Indian classical

Austin celebrates a champion of Indian classical

Rediff.com   10 Mar 2010

Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain will join the Indian-American community in Austin and leading Texas lawmakers March 6 to honor Arunachala 'Raj' Nagarajan for his nearly four-decade-old commitment to Indian classical music in the United States.

US woos immigrant entrepreneurs

US woos immigrant entrepreneurs

Rediff.com   10 Mar 2010

Egged on by more than 160 venture capitalists, including several Indian Americans -- the majority of whom are from California's Silicon Valley -- United States Senators John F Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, and Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican, have introduced legislation to create jobs in America and increasing America's global competitiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs obtain US visas.

How Rashad Hussain's past is troubling him today

How Rashad Hussain's past is troubling him today

Rediff.com   10 Mar 2010

Right wing US conservatives led by the likes of nationally-syndicated columnist Cal Thomas have launched a vitriolic campaign against Indian American Rashad Hussain. They pilloried President Barack Obama for appointing him as Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference and called for Hussain's ouster, calling him a 'voice of radical Islam.'

South Asians for Obama in a new avatar

South Asians for Obama in a new avatar

Rediff.com   10 Mar 2010

Hrishi Karthikeyan, who co-founded SAFO with Devendra 'Dave' Kumar, told rediff.com: "We like the SAFO name, but since the initial objective was to win the election on behalf of Obama and that was achieved, we wanted to keep the organisation around to continue to build others types of positive change."

S Asians for Kamala Harris urges community role

S Asians for Kamala Harris urges community role

Rediff.com   9 Mar 2010

Two attorneys in San Francisco, Sheila Bapat and Neha Shah, and a writer/producer in Los Angeles, Saurabh Kikani, have formed South Asians for Kamala Harris to help get San Francisco District Attorney Harris elected as California's next attorney general.

'Sad I won't be there to see healthcare results'

'Sad I won't be there to see healthcare results'

Rediff.com   9 Mar 2010

Neera Tanden, one of the senior-most Indian Americans in the Obama administration, has quit the administration to rejoin her former liberal and progressive think tank in Washington, DC. She was a key adviser on health-care reform policy and worked with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.