Senator Joseph R Biden, Jr, the chairman of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who will be the key player in moving the US-India civilian nuclear agreement forward in Congress if India succeeds in getting in back on the Congressional court expeditiously, says it may be possible to get the deal consummated this year, but that it's going to be in terms of a best-case scenario a photo-finish.
The United States has high level of expectations about a new momentum of India's economic growth under the new government, a senior American Senator on Thursday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi who expressed desire to take the relationship to a new level.
US Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, told Rediff.com that he appreciated India's concerns over the massive American military largesse for Pakistan, considering the reports that such aid has often been diverted for a potential military confrontation with India.
He will create history because this would be the first-time ever the US Congress' powerful Upper House.
'Kamala likes south Indian food.' 'She likes a special rasam which her husband also likes, she likes coconut rice, she likes puri aloo...'
A key Congressional committee has confirmed the nomination of an Indian American counsel to the key post of US District Court judge for Washington, DC.
Harris, 59, is scheduled to formally accept the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on Thursday to take on Republican rival Donald Trump, 78, in the November 5 election.
Top US Senator Christopher Dodd would travel to India next month as part of his effort to give a new thrust to Indo-US relationship, before the November visit of President Barack Obama.
US Senator John Cornyn, the founder and co-chair of the Friends of India Caucus in the US Senate with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, has exhorted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to throw in the towel on the US-India civilian nuclear deal. Cornyn also urged Dr Singh to try and resurrect the deal from the life-support it is on now.
'I think of that young baby, still in her diapers, balancing with her arms held up by her mother, a Tamil woman wearing a salwar kameez and a dupatta, seated on a stoop,' recalls Aseem Chhabra.
'Democrats don't care about those on H-1B visas. They don't care about the Green Card backlog.' 'President Trump wants to stop the massive flow of illegal immigrants and focus on a robust and legal immigration system.' 'Indian Americans would thrive in such an immigration system.'
Ahead of the presidential and legislative elections, the US Senate voted on Thursday to bar federal contractors from using taxpayers' money to move American jobs offshore.
'Washington senses that the anchor sheet of India's strategic autonomy lies in its longstanding partnership with Russia, which remains firm and immutable despite the changes in world politics in the post-Cold War era,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.<
US Senator Mark Warner, co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, while lauding the burgeoning Indian investment in the US, has urged Indian companies to also explore making such investments in the American heartland instead of the traditional areas in order to change misperceptions on globalisation.
Speaking at a hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee, Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said: "There are mixed signals here that are very, very troubling and that the United States needs to be able to have alternatives for carrying out its foreign policy in that region."
US Senator Sam Brownback warned India of the impending "danger" from China, which he said was becoming economically and militarily stronger by the day due to its encouraging policies for attracting foreign direct investment.
Led by Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, a battery of his party colleagues from the House of Representatives alleged that Trump incited his supporters for violence on January 6 as they stormed the Capitol Hill wherein Congressmen and Senators were performing their constitutional duty of counting and certification of the November 3rd presidential election results.
'There are reports that the Biden administration is contemplating imposing CAATSA sanctions against India, the largest democracy on Earth'
Two US lawmakers have asked nine foreign-based firms, including some leading Indian companies that used 20,000 of such visas, to disclose details about their workforce and their use of the special programme.
The US Senate has rejected a White House-backed strong gun control bill, with President Barack Obama slamming the decision as "shameful" and accusing the lawmakers of surrendering to the powerful firearms lobby.
Congressional sources said on Tuesday that the bill was unlikely to be taken up during the current session as there are 'limited legislative days left' and so much work to do.
One bill provides $60.8 billion for Ukraine, with over 80 percent of it for helping Kyiv amid its ongoing war with Russia, including replenishing supplies of US made weapons and ammunition.
Senator John Cornyn, Senate Majority Whip for the 114th Congress, in a letter to Obama, has said "it is ill-advised" to pursue any civil nuclear agreement with Pakistan.
Democrat Senator Mark Warner and his Republican colleague in the Senate Dan Sullivan, during a programme in Washington asserted that the erstwhile Obama administration and the US Congress designating India as a major defence partner is a significant step forward in taking the India-US relationship to the next level.
Passed by the House by 352 to 65 votes, the bill now heads to the US Senate for it to be sent to the White House for the President to sign it into law.
Seven aid workers who were working for the World Central Kitchen, a charity delivering food to besieged Palestinians, were killed in the Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday. The victims comprised three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian.
Indian-American Amit Priyavadan Mehta has been confirmed by the US Senate as a federal judge in the District of Columbia, becoming the first Asian Pacific American to occupy this important position.
Initial indications that the perpetrators of this attack were Pakistani and that the attack emanated from Pakistan, says US Senators.
Following four days of the impeachment trial, the 100-member Senate voted to impeach Trump by 57-43 votes, 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for conviction.
H-1B visa reform bill introduced in US Senate
The resolution was introduced by Senator John Cornyn, Republican Senate Majority Whip, and Senator Mark Warner, ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signalled that he would largely bypass the New Hampshire primary next week and instead would focus on South Carolina where the Republican presidential primary is scheduled for February 24.
The third Republican candidates' presidential debate on Wednesday evening turned into a slugfest between the two desi candidates in the fray: Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy
The House of Representatives needs to pass similar bill to avoid a government shutdown this weekend. House, in which the Republicans currently has a majority, is expected to pass the bill, but unlikely to include funding for the border wall.
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