Three years after the horrific massacre of Sikh worshippers at the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, gurdwara by a gunman with ties to supremacist organisations, a federal system to help track hate crimes against Sikhs, Hindu, Arab American communities has been formalised.
Obviously having gotten the green light from the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi that if they lobby the Speaker to address a joint session of Congress, which he has not been able to do despite his three visits to the US, the Congressmen informed Paul Ryan that 'It is our understanding that if invited, the prime minister would accept.'
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has approved a legislation to recognise the religious and historical significance of Diwali. The legislation was introduced by Congressman Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, on the urging of the Hindu American Foundation. Now the Rules Committee has to schedule a date for the full House to take up this legislation on the floor and vote to formally recognise Diwali
China said the US delegation's visit to Dharamshala and their meeting with the Dalai Lama has "sent a very wrong signal to the outside world about supporting Tibetan independence and violated the US government's commitment not to support Tibet's independence."
United States President Barrack Obama and several Congressional leaders condemned the Mumbai blasts that killed several people.
Officials at a Congressional hearing cited last year's figure of 26 per cent denial to H1B visa applicants, that was the highest in recent years, and also pointed out instances where the visas were denied for flimsy reasons.
The two major American companies agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 10.
One of India's closest friends in the United States Congress, Representative Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat, on Tuesday asked Obama administration's point man for South Asia Robert Blake, as to what would happen if after the nuclear disaster in Japan, India may decide to forego the US-India civilian nuclear deal and rely more heavily on Iran for its energy requirements.
The 119 nearly identical construction sites, that could potentially house powerful weapons capable of reaching the American mainland, are similar to those seen at existing launch facilities for China's arsenal of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, the report said.
Disappointed over Pakistan's slow pace of trial in Mumbai terror attack case, a top American lawmaker has demanded that the seven suspects, including Lashkar-e-tayiba operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, be handed over to the International Criminal Court to bring them to justice.
The two nations had agreed on $700 million deal under which Pakistan was to pay $270 million (Rs 179 crore) from its national funds to purchase eight F-16s while the US was supposed to finance the rest of the amount from its Foreign Military Financing fund.
New York Democrat Gary Ackerman was arguably considered one of the most cerebral and strategic thinkers on foreign policy. He has been a regular visitor to India and a conspicuous presence at Indian American events and has a daughter-in-law who's Indian American too.
An influential immigration advocacy group representing Indian-Americans on Thursday urged the Biden administration not to issue the most sought-after H-1B work visa to any individual born in India, till the time the discriminatory country-cap on green cards or permanent legal residency is removed. The current per-country cap on issuing of green cards in the US has resulted in Indian professionals, mostly from the IT sector, having to wait for decades for their legal permanent residency. Issuing new H-1B visas to more Indians would add to this agonising painful wait for green cards, Immigration Voice said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his over four-hour visit to the US Capitol established a personal rapport with top lawmakers and seems to have won over his critics.
'There are voters that may only come out to vote for him because he's speaking to their issues and they may not be Democrat or Republican'
United States Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said that Al Qaeda is the primary enemy of United States in the Af-Pak region and those parts of the Taliban who support Al Qaeda is also American target.
The Syria war resolution drafted by members of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee permits up to 60 days of military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime and does not permit any boots on the ground, Congressional aides said.
America's new intelligence chief David Petraeus has predicted that Al Qaeda leaders may flee Afghanistan and the entire south Asia as they were being pressed hard by American forces.
Pointing to The Washington Post piece on Monday about the dramatic expansion in Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, Ackerman said the import of the story is "truly alarming" in the context of a pending sale by US of F-16 fighter-bombers.
American lawmakers, who were attending the Confederation of Indian Industry's launch of a new study on Indian investment in the United States at a Congressional reception on Capitol Hill, showered Ambassador Meera Shankar with a surfeit of kudos, much to her embarrassment.Congressman Joe Crowley, New York Democrat and co-chair of the India Caucus in the US House of Representatives, said, "Ambassador you are a rock star". He also spoke of her receiving "a rock star welcome".
Congressman Steny Hoyer, the majority leader of the US House of Representatives, defended against hypocrisy charges in US' foreign policies, and claimed to be India's friend and ally.
American lawmakers and experts called for cutting off aid to the country and listing it as a state sponsoring terrorism.
The Republicans, who hold the majority in the US House of Representatives, finally caved in and agreed to extend the pay roll tax cut for two months, as demanded by President Barack Obama and thus gave him a big political advantage on the eve of the election-year.
Forty-eight-year-old Verma, who played a quiet but key role in deepening Indo-US ties, will quit before the president-elect assumes charge as his team said the envoys, who are political appointees, will not be given any "grace period" beyond Trump's inauguration day.
Two of the US Cabinet members -- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transport Secretary Elaine Chao -- have resigned over the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters. US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund has also announced that he would resign this month after he faced criticism for failing to prevent Trump supporters from storming the building.
President Trump has condemned the shooting incident.
The Duke Clinical Research Institute study found that majority of the paediatric trials enrolled patients in at least one country outside the US.
The Iraqi Prime Minister shot back the following day essentially reminding Khalilzad who was in charge in Baghdad.
The Indian IT companies, which account for a large number of H-1B applications, are likely to face the additional financial burden because of this proposed increase in H-1B filing fees.
India is centrally important for America's success in the Af-Pak region, according to Richard Holbrooke, special United States representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan. "I want to be sure that everyone here recognises how centrally important India will be to this (the US success in Afghanistan and Pakistan)," he told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan convened by the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Poe alleged that Taliban is still based in Pakistan and it came as no surprise when a US drone strike killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor.
General David Petraeus, Commander of the US Central Command, on Tuesday refuted reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has lost confidence in the American and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces to succeed in Afghanistan.
US Congressman Frank Pallone, the founder and former co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans has slammed the Bhopal court's verdict of just a two year jail term for those responsible for the Bhopal tragedy as "outrageous" and said that erstwhile Union Carbide chief executive Warren Anderson should stand trial in India along with the others culpable for this carnage and receive the maximum punishment for the worst industrial disaster in the world.
So far this month, another $4.5 billion (Rs 33,000 crore) has flown into domestic stocks.
Influential US lawmaker Congressman Ed Royce has called for the shutting down of the Deobandi schools (madrassas) in Pakistan, which he alleged "continue to churn out terrorists that attack" democratic nations, including India and the United States.
The Trump administration terminated India's designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the Generalized System of Preferences in June.
The US House of Representatives and the Senate on Tuesday passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included key components of Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi's resolution language urging the Chinese government to end its military aggression against India along the LAC.
A day after the US dragged China to the World Trade Organisation, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is slated to brief two key congressional committees later on Thursday on how the Obama administration plans to make Beijing provide a more-level playing field to American firms.
This employment-based backlog is projected to double by fiscal 2030. The back log exists because the number of foreign workers whom US employers sponsor for Green Cards each year exceeds the annual statutory Green Card allocation. In addition to this numerical limit, a statutory seven per cent per-country ceiling prevents the monopolisation of employment-based Green Cards by a few countries.
