Once the most sought after H-1B American work visa is still having nearly 20,000 slots open seven weeks after the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) started receiving applications for the financial year 2010 beginning October this year.
With the Bush administration pushing hard for a quick Congressional nod for the landmark India-United States civil nuclear agreement, a small group of senior Democratic lawmakers have demanded the detailed examination of the pact.The three-person group led by Massachussetts Congressman Edward Markey has said that there are many lingering questions about the deal that require further examination and hence the Congress should rule out any rush for an expedited vote.
The move will have a major impact on Indian women as they are the major beneficiary of the Obama-era rule.
American Vice President-elect Joseph Biden will travel to Pakistan this week to defuse regional tensions in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, according to a media report.
Pentagon has sought direct dialogue between India and China 'free of any coercive aspects'.
American auto industry's Big Three appear close to securing a bailout, with Wall Street Journal reporting that the White House and top Democrats have agreed in-principle for a $15 billion rescue plan -- less than half the amount sought by GM, Ford and Chrysler.
President Donald Trump has tapped Jerome "Jay" Powell to lead the US central bank, bypassing Janet Yellen for a second term despite praising her excellent management of the world's largest economy over the past four years.
Noted yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who recently laid the foundation stone for a $20 million yoga and ayurveda research centre in Houston, has been invited by US Congressmen to display his yogic excercises before them. Congressman Nick Lampson, who attended Ramdev's five-day yoga camp held in Houston, invited him to Washington DC.
Congressman Joseph Crowley, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives and the former chair of the Caucus on India and Indian Americans, has condemned the terror attack on Mumbai.
The proclamation by Congressman Nick Lampson from Texas praised the musical genius of Dr Balamuralikrishna and his multi-faceted contribution to Indian classical music, describing him as a 'legend.'
So far, neither Washington nor Wall Street seems to have fully grasped this political sea-change, or figured how to deal with it.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services would accept petitions for the H-1B work visas on the first five working days beginning April 1.
In yet another sign of deepening relationship between India and the United States, the Friends of Indian Caucus in the US Senate is holding a rare Congressional reception for the new Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar.
Obama's winning will underscore that in America anything is possible. My hope is that young Indian Americans will see Obama and say, 'I can go into public service as well'. My hope is that Obama will inspire Indian Americans to see politics as something noble, as something that can make a difference in people's lives, says Ro Khanna
Film director Amar Kaleka, the son of the gurdwara president who was killed in a 'supremacist' shootout last year in Wisconsin, is planning to challenge US Republican Paul Ryan in the 2014 congressional election, agencies report.
The US wants its trade with India to grow multi-fold, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told lawmakers.
Rahul 'Richard' Verma has been appointed to the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Verma, a partner with the international law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP, based in Washington, DC, was until recently the high-ranking Indian-American Congressional aide on Capitol Hill.
Voted to power with an absolute majority for the first time in nearly three decades, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, considered as an able administrator, promises "a fresh engagement" with the United States, a latest Congressional report has said.
India on Friday said it was confident of the passage of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal as it enjoyed bipartisan support among lawmakers, assuring that American firms would not be put at a disadvantage even if there is delay in getting a Congressional nod for the accord.
An influential US lawmaker, who heads the Congressional Committee that has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the subcontinent, has warned that South Asia poses the greatest terrorist threat to the United States. Congressman Gary L Ackerman, New York Democrat, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, declared, "South Asia is arguably the place from which America faces the greatest terrorist threat."
The crucial civil nuclear cooperation will be high on the agenda of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his 10-day visit to the United States and France, which begins on Monday.The prime minister will attend the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, where he would pitch for collective and multilateral approaches to deal with global challenges like food and energy crises and terrorism.
America's nuclear fuel supply assurances to India are a "political commitment" and the government cannot "legally compel" US firms to sell a "given product" to New Delhi, top officials told a Congressional panel as the administration worked hard to push the Indo-US deal through the Congress before September 26.
Ackerman and many of his colleagues on Capitol Hill have for long questioned the rationale of giving the F-16s to Pakistan as a part of the war on terror. The congressmen now want a comprehensive statement from senior officials about the complete scope of the F-16 programme with Pakistan that include the number of planes, updates made to existing planes, proposed armaments, schedule of delivery and source of payment.
The administration is leaving no stone unturned as it races against time to have the US-India civilian nuclear agreement completed by the Congressional adjournment date of September 26 even if indications are there that the lawmakers may return for a Lame-Duck Session after the November 4 presidential elections.
'The Bush administration, through a gag order on its written responses to Congressional questions, had sought to keep the Indian public in the dark on the larger implications of the nuclear deal, lest the accord run into rougher weather. But now its 26 pages of written answers have been publicly released by a senior United States Congressman.'
'China was a relationship from which Mr Modi had expected the most it seems.' 'It showed in a string of summits, and somewhat breathless celebration of Xi Jinping.' 'It was hasty and simplistic,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
Mark Zuckerberg said one of his greatest regrets was that Facebook has been slow in identifying the Russian information operations in 2016.
United States Congressman Jim McDermott has introduced major new legislation to, in his words, "unite the two great democracies of India and the United States together in development of new and renewable energy supplies". The legislation seeks to establish a Congressional Commission on Renewable Power Technology Commerce with India to study methods for improving and promoting bilateral renewable energy cooperation with India.
There's a strong sense inside the Democratic leadership that if you care about India, now is the time to stand up for it, says Graham Wisner, counsel at the top international lobbying firm Patton Boggs.
"Every country, whether it be India, United States, other country, could be potentially part of this small network of countries where terrorists can obtain material or expertise," said a senior US official.
Forex dealers said besides dollar's gains against other currencies overseas, increased demand from oil importers for the US currency put pressure on the rupee.
Even before the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement gets a nod from the Nuclear Supplier's Group, a hint of the US Congressional opposition has surfaced, in the form of a salvo fired by Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.Berman, a California Democrat, was the author of several 'killer amendments' to the enabling Hyde Act when it was debated and voted on the floor in 2006, all of which were defeated.
Dandekar is a former Iowa legislator representing the Marion area in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009 and in the Iowa Senate from 2009 to 2011.
Tamal Bandyopadhyay offers some unsolicited advice for a government wh,ich came to power, with brute majority and the nation's pragmatic chief money man.
Congressman Jim McDermott, who represents Washington state -- who incidentally voted against the enabling legislation also known as the Hyde Act two years ago -- said, "The likelihood of Congress taking up the nuclear issue again before the end of the year is, it will be very difficult."
The US also rejected 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's remarks that America and India have joined hands against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Mueller, who investigated into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, resigned on Wednesday.
'It certainly doesn't have to be accomplished at the end of the year. It will not turn into a pumpkin after some days! The next president and next Congress can take this up,' says expert K Alan Kronstadt.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom -- a Congressionally mandated body -- has urged the US State Department "to reaffirm its past decision to deny a tourist visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has been invited to attend a conference in New Jersey this August celebrating Gujarati culture."
In a letter to Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Trump said he was determined that New Delhi had "not assured" the US that it would "provide equitable and reasonable access" to the markets of India.
