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."
Pakistan's ungoverned spaces are a problem in the war on terror and militants operating there are able to do hit-and-run raids across the border in Afghanistan, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said. "If you look at South Asia, there is a problem -- a kind of coming together of the ungoverned spaces of Pakistan with the difficult-to-defend Afghan border," Rice said.
In a move which could speed up the extradition of India-born surgeon Jayant Patel from the US to face manslaughter charges in Australia, one of the 14 charges against him has been dropped.
The Bush administration wants to learn more about the work of Pakistan's disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan and his network activities even as Islamabad maintains the matter related to him as "a closed chapter".
The US loses around $1 to 1.6 trillion annually due to corruption at the public services and private enterprises, estimated David M Luna, director, Anti-corruption & Governance Initiatives.
The Bush administration has been firm in its support for the US-India civilian nuclear agreement and it continues to be so, a US State Department official said. Gonzalo R Gallegos, director, Department's Office of Press Relations, made this observation when asked about more information on the reports that the nuclear deal between the two countries is close to dead.
The report praised the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre for implementing an inclusive and secular platform that included respect for the right to religious freedom.
When asked if India should be test-firing a nuclear capable missile at a time when Washington is trying to dismantle the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea, McCormack replied: "It's not the first time they've test-fired missiles.
In its Annual Human Rights Report for 2006, the State Department also said 'attacks against religious minorities and promulgation of anti-religious conversion laws were (areas of) concern'.
The state department, in its annual report on terrorism, said terrorist activities along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir are on the decline, but Pakistan-based militant outfits like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and other terrorist groups continue to plan attacks in the Valley.
The United States has welcomed President Pervez Musharraf's decision to lift emergency rule on December 16, calling it a positive and significant step to steer Pakistan back towards democracy. "It's a positive and significant step. We look forward to the elections taking place in early January," US State department spokesman Sean McCormack said in his briefing.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry, a cycling enthusiast, today broke his leg in a bike accident in France and will return home for further treatment.
A three-member delegation of US Commission on International Religious Freedom wanted to make a one-week visit starting on Friday to meet government officials, religious leaders and activists in India.
Abdul Aziz Haqqani, a top leader of Pakistan-based dreaded Haqqani network, has been named 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' by the United States for his involvement in planning and carrying out attacks against Afghanistan.
The list, posted on a website link launched by the US regulator, includes ABB, HSBC, Nokia, Unilever, Cadbury, Total and Siemens among others.
Despite making "some progress" in tackling the menace of trafficking, India needs to do more in designating and empowering a national agency to carry out an effective law enforcement response to the crime.
Dismissing speculations that the India-United States nuclear agreement was 'dead', the Bush administration has said that Washington will continue to work towards making the landmark deal a reality. "We are still very supportive of the deal. We still would like to see it move forward, but the Indian government and the political system is engaged in a debate, and we'll see what the outcome out of that debate is," US States Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
The report will address what 'we think the overall impact was and who caused it, and who did it', Trump said.
"What is required is to convince the NSG of the non-proliferation benefits of the deal," Stratford, director at the Office of Nuclear Energy Affairs in the US State Department, said.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, says a Financial Times report, had ordered the Bank's HR chief to give Shaha Riza, a lady official of the bank with whom Wolfowitz was romantically linked, a huge pay hike and promotion.
Geelani was operated at Tata Memorial Hospital on Monday and the doctors had successfully removed the malignant tumour from his only surviving kidney.
US State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey ruled out a deal with Pakistan.
Iraqi news channel Al Sumariya TV claimed local sources in Iraq's Nineveh province had confirmed that Baghdadi and other leaders in the Islamist group were wounded yesterday in the coalition bombing raid.
Hailing the Havana meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the US State Department on Monday said it welcomed any efforts on the parts of the two leaders to discuss "outstanding concerns".
Rice argued that the re-positioning of American diplomats from Europe to India was indeed making a difference to foreign policy.
43.2 million people follow the Indian premier on the social media platform.
The United States on Wednesday said that it would support India's effort in getting some of the steps cleared for the finalisation of the India-United States civil nuclear agreement, but those steps have to be taken by India first. "There are a number of different steps that will need to be taken in order to finally conclude all aspects of this agreement. It's up to India to go through some of those steps on their own," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Director Rajeev Nath is sure his next film will create controversy.
A closed-door meeting of the NSG has been convened by the US on the sidelines of the 51st general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In what may be seen as worst fears of National Security Advisor M K Narayanan coming true, a US report on terrorism has said pro-Pakistan Jaish-e-Mohammed was investing in commodity market and real estate to raise funds for its terrorist activities.
The Bush administration has expressed hope that the US Congress will pass a legislation on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in a manner that would not make radical changes in the historic agreement so that they could "faithfully" implement it.
Private carrier Jet Airways has obtained security clearance from American authorities to fly to the United States.
Nehru rejected a British-US proposal which said 'neither India nor Pakistan can entirely give up its claim to the Kashmir Valley,' and thus 'each must have a substantial position in the Valley'.
Anita Datar is the sole US citizen to have been killed in the attack.
The training was in technical and practical aspects of dealing with cyber crime and cyber terrorism in the programme.\n
"After one year of unsuccessful authoritarian rule, this is the best way to address the Maoist insurgency and to build a brighter future of Nepal's people," the statement said.
A US State Department report on human trafficking has placed India on a Tier 2 'watch-list' because of what it said were existing bonded labour practices and the lack of adequate action to effectively end this.
The stagnation in US-Russia relations does not augur well for New Delhi's strategic interests, says Harsh V Pant and Raj Kumar Sharma.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances