The United States has given the go-ahead for a $2.1 billion sale of eight Boeing Co P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India -- the largest arms sale by the US till now. On March 12, the State Department informed the US Congress that it had decided to clear the sale after factoring in 'political, military, economic, human rights and arms control considerations'.Boeing has said it would deliver the first P-8I in 48 months of sealing the deal and the remaining seven by 2015.
The $700 billion, however, will not be given to the Treasury in one go to bail out the troubled financial institutions and the distribution of money will come about in three stages, the first of which will be in the magnitude of $250 billion followed by a tranche of $100 billion and finally of $350 billion.
"The ideals of the charter are now facing a challenge as serious as any since the UN's founding: a global movement of violent extremists... these extremists defy the fundamental principles of international order," Bush said.
Highly placed sources, who are closely monitoring the US situation, admitted that passing of the 123 Agreement by the US Congress could be hampered by the financial crisis or alternatively, it could lead to the process being passed with ease. Senior officials, however, made it clear that even if the 123 agreement was passed, it would not be signed by the prime minister during his Washington meeting with President Bush.
CEO and founder of popular site LinkedIn Reid Hoffman on Thursday urged the US Congress and the Obama Administration to remove the cap on H-1B visas, which enable foreign nationals to live and work in the United States.
A series of defining photographs from across the globe.
Warning that terrorists are "likely" to use nuclear or biological weapons in the next five years if urgent action is not taken, an official US commission has said Pakistan is the weakest link in world security.
In the final step to operationalise the India-United States nuclear agreement, American President George W Bush has sent the text of the landmark agreement to the US Congress for final approval.The move by the White House comes five days after the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group granted a waiver for India to carry out nuclear commerce.In a statement, the White House said it was transmitting the text of the agreement 'concerning peaceful uses of nuclear energy'.
The United States has sought to insulate its request to the Congress for a cut in economic and security aid to Pakistan from its relationship with the country, asserting that it has no intention to lower ties with Islamabad.
Rule will hit 1,000 firms that moved jobs to India, elsewhere. Total jobs abroad pegged at 3 million.
US President Barack Obama has announced that tax cuts for America's wealthiest -- who constitute 2 per cent of the entire population -- will end.
"The recovery plan we passed is the first step in getting our economy back on track. But it is just the first step," he said in his maiden address to the joint session of US Congress.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group finally gave its nod to the India-specific waiver on Saturday.The decision came after the NSG held fresh rounds of unscheduled discussions on grant of a waiver for India, after marathon parleys on Friday failed to produce a consensus, with China joining a clutch of countries having reservations over the move.Diplomats from 45 countries constituting the nuclear cartel had been engaged in hectic and tough negotiations.
Democrat Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, met president-elect Donald Trump amidst speculation that she is being considered to be made the American Ambassador to the United Nations.
The only Indian-American in Congress won the election in 2012 and re-election in 2014 by wafer-thin margins. His race this year is officially a 'close contest'.
It will impress upon Barack Obama and the US Congress of the need to make changes to American policy towards Pakistan. Its members plan to meet the Obama-Biden transition team shortly and with US Senators and Representatives at a January 27 conference in Washington, DC.
Pro-deal lawmakers like Congressman Gary Ackerman continue to express their angst over the close India-Iran ties. The lawmakers have warned that this could be a spoiler to the envisaged strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi.
A 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Singh said it is generally recognised that Indian diplomacy over a period of time has gained "more and more impact".
Amid reports of a US Congress probe against India's largest drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories, data show that many leading multinational companies such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Merck are also under the scanner of the US drug regulator, for more or less similar violations as Ranbaxy is alleged to have committed.
The US said that it sees positive indicators in Pakistan, but...
Congressman James Sensenbrenner, the senior most Republican was among a high-powered delegation of US lawmakers, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that visited India last month. Sensenbrenner has made it clear that the US Congress will not ratify any global climate change agreement if India is not a party to it. This delegation focused on global warming and energy among other issues. He said without India & China, the US will be at an economic disadvantage in a global treaty.
Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to America, United States Congress member Tulsi Gabbard on Sunday described him as 'man on a mission' and as leader with 'plan of action' for India.
In a statement a couple of days ago, the business chamber said, 'The Indo-US civilian nuclear initiative will bring India into the international nuclear non-proliferation mainstream and enhance the safety of India's civil program. The initiative will also help to revitalize the US nuclear industry and create thousands of high-tech American jobs.'
With only five legislative days left before the US Congress is scheduled to adjourn, the Indo-US nuclear deal is literally down to the wires, with the first real opportunity to push the initiative to Senate floor expected to arise on Tuesday. The big question doing the rounds is whether the Bush Administration will be able to persuade the lawmakers to complete the process on time.
Pakistan is trying to get more F-16s from the US as well as looking towards countries like Russia and France for new aircraft to replace old ones to match India's defence purchases.
'We are relying on the understanding of other partners in this effort. We are asking people to look closely and quickly in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, to move expeditiously, and we hope that will happen, and then we'll go to the US Congress,' Boucher was quoted as saying last week in Japan, a transcript of which has been released in Washington.
Modi is likely to seek support of Switzerland and Mexico for India's membership of the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group as both these countries are key members of the elite group. The issue is likely to figure during Modi's meeting with Obama in Washington.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington, DC-based Arms Control Association believes India's expectation of a 'clean exemption' at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting scheduled for August 21 is "a fantasy".
The influential Indian-American community has swung back to action to push the N-deal ahead.
Ahead of the crucial Itentaional Atomic Energy Agency meeting on Friday, a group of arms control experts has urged both the atomic watchdog and Nuclear Suppliers Group to look at the Indo-US nuclear deal 'very carefully and remove all ambiguities'.
The various official growth forecasts for the year have moved from 8 per cent-plus to 8 per cent-minus, with only the pessimists saying it will fall to as low as 7 per cent -- which the country can live with in a downturn.
5 other politically-charged fashion choices in recent times.
In the wake of the movement in recent days with speculation rife that Prime Minister Singh is willing to go ahead with the deal even if the Left allies in the coalition withdraw their support, the Bush administration -- which some perceived was a totally unrealistic statement, but which sources said was consequent to indications from New Delhi that there would be movement on the deal from its current moribund status -- vowed to work to complete the deal.
"The bottom line is, from now until January 20, we will continue to work to support this agreement. We will continue to encourage the Indian government to approve it. And if such time, it is approved, whether that is today, tomorrow, or January 19, we will make every effort to move it through Congress," State Department's Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said on Tuesday.
Asking the US Congress to "act soon" on the crucial civil nuclear agreement with India, the White House has said the Bush administration will work very closely with members of the Congress to ensure the passage of the deal in a "timely fashion".
Ashish Sharma wonders what kind of services low skill people provide to high-skill people who increasingly spend more time in virtual worlds, thanks to ongoing wealth gains at the top.
Defence Secretary Mattis said he cannot certify that Islamabad has taken 'sufficient actions' against the dreaded Haqqani terror network.
One reason that the United States has advanced as a justification for an exemption for India from the NSG guidelines is that India will be a contributing partner in the non-proliferation regime, once it accepts safeguards. When India insists that the deal is purely for energy and not for assisting in non-proliferation even by implication, the NSG members become perplexed and suspicious
The prime minister has emerged as the most widely-travelled PM compared to his predecessors.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday alleged that he was being targeted by the Bharatiya Janata Party government as he belonged to a backward community and because some people were trying to settle scores with him.
