tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119396522012-02-20T20:24:16.413-08:00Political India: Engaging AmericaPerspectives from the United StatesNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.comBlogger9271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-79521285706726313432012-02-20T20:24:00.000-08:002012-02-20T20:24:16.562-08:00Shooting the messenger
Marking a rare departure from article-posting on this blog, I’d like to take this opportunity to comment on a discussion originating in the columns of The Hindu, from an article I wrote for the newspaper, published on February 16 2012.
The reason I’ve chosen to offer this comment is because a member of an organisation mentioned in that article, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) has chosen to Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-78116864413609555942012-02-02T23:38:00.000-08:002012-02-02T23:39:30.180-08:00Letter From America: Blistering box-office barnacles!
From The Hindu
“Ten thousand thundering typhoons!” How cherished is that war cry, the
beloved image of an enraged, frothing Captain Haddock about to hurl
himself on to some hapless crook for swindling him out of a bottle of
rum. Many of us grew up with Tintin and his drunkard-turned-socialite
master of Marlinspike Hall, and they have, possibly along with the
Asterix series, become a Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-40470276914015470932012-01-24T02:20:00.000-08:002012-01-24T02:20:59.921-08:00Mughals at the Smithsonian
Photograph credit: The Smithsonian Institution
From The Hindu
Even if the India-United States relationship appears to
be a monochrome parade of banality in the political sphere, the
civilisational link between the two nations has never been more vibrant,
especially in the art world.
All of this forthcoming
year, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, one of the premier
Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-91018683103773949352012-01-16T05:47:00.000-08:002012-01-18T21:21:55.923-08:00Off-court champion
From The Hindu
The heart of a champion is immutable, so the saying
goes, and in the world of tennis that is sometimes tested more off-court
than on it. Venus Williams, formerly ranked No.1 in the world, winner
of no fewer than 21 Grand Slams and a breathtaking 43 career singles
titles, has proved just that over the recent months, and she's come out
on top.
While Venus launched her Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-34590206391338381552012-01-16T05:44:00.000-08:002012-01-16T05:44:52.167-08:00U.S. Marines in video identified, may face court martial
From The Hindu
The four United States marines who appeared in a video
that has embarrassed the country into a slew of high-level apologies to
the Afghan people have been identified and are likely to face
disciplinary proceedings in a court martial, according to officials
here.
The video, which shows U.S. marines urinating
on three bloodied corpses, allegedly of Taliban fighters, Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-11781904530577555092012-01-14T06:07:00.000-08:002012-01-14T06:07:46.431-08:00Manning likely to face court martial
From The Hindu
Snapped on camera after more than a year in military confinement,
he cut a diminutive figure as he was marched to his pre-trial court hearing
between two Army officers. Bradley Manning, the military intelligence analyst
charged with the biggest leak of state secrets in United States history, faces
the prospect a court martial and consequently, a higher likelihood of a Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-50025609894273492162012-01-14T06:04:00.000-08:002012-01-14T06:04:15.480-08:00Obama to give tax breaks to ‘insourcers'
From The Hindu
After a lull in 2011 during which United States President Barack
Obama focused on fire-fighting for domestic economic issues, his administration
would appear to have once again trained its gun on the thorny question of
outsourcing, particularly a thrust towards preventing jobs migrating to
off-shore locations such as India and China.
At a rare ‘Insourcing American Jobs' Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-27618752347113229032012-01-14T06:01:00.000-08:002012-01-16T05:43:14.333-08:00U.S. in a tight spot on Afghan video
From The Hindu
First it was the horrific images of prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu
Ghraib prison in 2004, then the ghoulish dismemberment of slain Afghan civilians
in 2009 by a possibly deranged, rogue team in Afghanistan. This week a
disturbing video that emerged on the Internet has once again put United States
soldiers in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
The video, purportedly Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-12514785493502943462012-01-14T05:59:00.000-08:002012-01-14T05:59:27.505-08:00A shot in arm for religious freedom
From The Hindu
When Muneer Awad, Executive Director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma, heard that his state had passed a new
law banning the consideration of Sharia law when deciding certain cases, he felt
the his right to religious freedom, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution, being eroded.
When he launched a legal case against the so Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-53778104032955111282012-01-11T12:19:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:19:58.979-08:00Romney extends lead with New Hampshire victory
From The Hindu
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts and frontrunner in
the race for the Republican presidential nominee, has won the primary in New
Hampshire garnering close to 40 per cent of the vote and a second straight
victory after the Iowa caucus last week.
While New Hampshire was widely expected to be one of the easier
states for Mr. Romney to capture, all eyes are Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-85225548924540754492012-01-11T12:17:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:17:50.035-08:00Geithner gets flak for poor info on TARP
From The Hindu
Every now and then news of the United States government exiting
specific investments it had made since 2008 under the Troubled Asset Relief
Programme (TARP) has trickled out of the Treasury. First, it was banking majors
such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley which made hasty bids to repay TARP
funds and resuscitate their market reputations. Next auto majors such as
Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-62124835347112318172012-01-11T12:14:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:14:16.429-08:00U.S. broadens definition of rape to include male victims
From The Hindu
For the first time in 83 years the United States Department of
Justice announced a “major” change in the definition of rape towards one that
took cognizance of male victims and also did away with ambiguities surrounding
the question of consent.
Until now the legal understanding of rape came from a 1927 rule
that defined it as “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-86585126695922774422012-01-11T12:12:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:12:21.177-08:00Congressional delegation heading to India
From The Hindu
Mark Warner, co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus and Democrat of
Virginia, will lead a five-member Congressional delegation on a visit to India
during January 7-14, according to a statement by his office.
Mr. Warner along with Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas,
heads the Senate group which played a key role in the India-U.S. civilian
nuclear agreement negotiationsNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-6555278397181987862012-01-11T12:11:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:11:06.035-08:00Pakistanis sentenced on terror charges in U.S.
From The Hindu
Marking the culmination of one of the most unusual
counterterrorism cases prosecuted by the United States against individuals with
a Pakistani connection, the Department of Justice announced on Friday that Irfan
Ul Haq (37) was sentenced to 50 months in prison for conspiracy to provide
material support to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Following the sentencing by DistrictNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-27037917466768145642012-01-11T12:09:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:09:21.140-08:00U.S. unemployment rate drops to 8.5%
From The Hindu
The United States Bureau of Labour Statistics has announced that
in December non-farm payroll employment rose by 200,000 and the unemployment
rate dropped to 8.5 per cent in a sustained if slow downward trend. The news is
likely to bring cheer to Democrats and the White House in an election year
focused on the economy.
Noting that the end of 2011 saw the economy gain Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-88075702359280011782012-01-11T12:06:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:06:52.089-08:00Obama outlines troop cuts, strategic shifts
From The Hindu
Making a rare appearance at the Pentagon to announce a “strategic
review” of the defence budget, President Barack Obama spoke cautiously of his
plan to trim down 490,000 troops and potentially close to $1 trillion in funding
without compromising national security.
While the President avoided getting into the details of the major
shift in defence policy, he summed it up Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-9705828360769136802012-01-11T12:05:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:05:11.026-08:00Federal Reserve to indicate interest rate path
From The Hindu
The United States Federal Reserve will break with longstanding
tradition to start announcing on a quarterly basis its forecasts for short-term
interest rates and other indicators of economic conditions, the Fed announced
this week.
In an unprecedented shift that will bring its practices more in
line with those of other central banks including the Reserve Bank of IndiaNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-66345002387309939342012-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:03:02.632-08:00Romney squeaks by in Iowa caucuses
From The Hindu
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, scored one of the
narrowest victories in caucus history and defeated former United States Senator
from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum by a mere eight votes on Tuesday.
Although Mr. Romney’s win at the first of a six-month season of
caucuses and primaries makes him a clear frontrunner to be the Republican
nominee in November’s Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-23463294140129673342012-01-11T12:00:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:22:33.479-08:00Chavez scores legal victory over Exxon
From The Hindu
An adjudicator has slashed by nearly 90 per cent the multi-billion
dollar settlement that Venezuela was required to pay oil giant Exxon Mobil
Corporation, marking a resounding victory for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
in a long-standing battle over the nationalisation of foreign-owned assets in
his country.
Chopping the initial $12-billion settlement claim by Exxon Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-51006919786561678742012-01-11T11:58:00.000-08:002012-01-11T11:58:50.845-08:00Romney on top as caucus season kicks off
From The Hindu
As the season of caucuses and primaries for selecting the
Republican presidential nominee kicks into fourth gear next Tuesday in Iowa,
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, has garnered a firm but narrow
lead over his rivals in an eclectic, and according to some, weak field of
contenders.
Though President Barack Obama still enjoys a comfortable lead over
MrNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-56337734830701522382012-01-11T11:55:00.000-08:002012-01-11T11:56:21.166-08:00Inter-faith leaders rally behind U.S. Muslims
From The Hindu
Citing flagrant violations of the Muslim community's rights by the
New York Police Department, a group of inter-faith leaders in New York City has
declined an invitation to attend an end-of-year breakfast event hosted by city
Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Leaders from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities said in
an open letter to Mr. Bloomberg they had decided to “Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-68062291436923041622011-12-28T14:06:00.000-08:002011-12-28T14:09:46.174-08:00Raising bioethical standards
From The Hindu
Last year archival research by Professor Susan Reverby of Wellesley College revealed that during 1946-48 United States scientists had conducted a series of macabre human experiments on vulnerable Guatemalans. The experiments, now widely acknowledged to be a gross violation of modern-day bioethics standards, saw a U.S. team headed by John Cutler, a U.S. Public Health Service Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-26635321979418426512011-12-27T05:21:00.000-08:002011-12-27T05:21:27.363-08:00The West's misconceptions about North Korea
From The Hindu
Following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il less
than two weeks ago, the world has speculated on the succession question and what
that means for stability in a region populated with nuclear weapons. While many
discussions have focused on the uncertainty surrounding the Pyongyang's process
of selecting its next leader, Bruce Cumings of the University of
Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-68832187278452898862011-12-27T05:19:00.000-08:002011-12-27T05:19:04.469-08:00Hacktivists post security firm private data online
From The Hindu
It reads like a list of all the companies that the Occupy Wall
Street Movement would target. Over the Christmas weekend a self-fashioned
Robin-Hood-style group of internet activists called Anonymous hacked into the
databases of a Texas-based security firm and posted a list of over 4,000
customers of the firm along with their private information on the Internet.
Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-57094926168128136492011-12-24T04:44:00.000-08:002011-12-24T04:44:07.952-08:00U.S. regulator approves new reactor design
From The Hindu
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted to
approve a rule certifying an amended version of nuclear reactor producer
Westinghouse's AP1000 reactor design for use in the U.S. The NRC said that this
amended certification would be incorporated into regulations and be valid for 15
years.
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said “The Commission is able to reach
Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-3542591608810291372011-12-24T04:42:00.000-08:002011-12-24T04:42:10.366-08:00Payroll tax cut, a crucial victory for Obama
From The Hindu
John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, agreed
to extend the Democrat-supported payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for
two months into the New Year, thereby forestalling a tax rise of $40 per week
for an average middle class family and handing President Barack Obama an
important election-year victory.
After weeks of intensifying pressure over a Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-81359856631256417262011-12-22T10:24:00.000-08:002011-12-22T10:24:10.978-08:00Both sides to blame for NATO attack: U.S.
From The Hindu
The United States has ironically risked escalating anger in
Pakistan over the November 26 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation attack, as it
issued a half-baked apology for the “misunderstanding,” and defended NATO for
acting in “self defence and with appropriate force after being fired upon.”
Following the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers the shooting
incident in Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-28002455818174744072011-12-22T09:19:00.000-08:002011-12-22T09:19:29.056-08:00Israel faces an explosive situation
From The Hindu
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad may have a lot less to worry
about than he thinks he does.
Back in 2009, following his anointment as President, Barack Obama
secretly approved the sales of game-changing “bunker-buster” bombs to Israel.
His predecessor George W. Bush had refused the Israelis' initial request in
2005, and frozen most U.S.-Israeli defence cooperation Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-84799920770553172612011-12-22T09:14:00.000-08:002011-12-22T09:14:57.912-08:00Manning trial: focus on mental competency
From The Hindu
The pre-trial military hearing of Bradley Manning (24), the U.S.
Army intelligence officer accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of
confidential files to online whistleblower Wikileaks more than a year ago, will
focus on one question: whether he was mentally competent and technically
qualified to hold the sensitive role that he did.
With Mr. Manning facing the Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-38121056045374113592011-12-22T08:59:00.000-08:002011-12-22T08:59:23.724-08:00Political instability worries U.S.
From The Hindu
Even as the reality of Democratic People's Republic of Korea
leader Kim Jong-il’s death sunk in, speculation in Washington centred on the
likely spike in uncertainty in the politics of that country and its potentially
reduced engagement with the world that this could engender in the medium term.
In the face of the murky succession question in the DPRK reaction
from the Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-62498029615755139182011-12-17T12:06:00.000-08:002011-12-17T12:06:06.700-08:00Sighting Big Red
From The Hindu
Trust technology to give you some good cheer this
Christmas.
If there is one system that the United States depends on to
protect its skies from hostile forces it is the North American Aerospace Defence
Command, or NORAD
.
However, even with its unrivalled firepower and high-tech
satellite systems, the secretive organisation is put to its ultimate test every
year around Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-58848707608784905672011-12-17T09:49:00.000-08:002011-12-17T09:49:07.028-08:00Ex-Freddie, Fannie chiefs charged with fraud
From The Hindu
In a move that marked one of the U.S. government's first major
legal actions against company executives for their role in causing the 2008
financial meltdown, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged six
former bosses of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) with securities fraudNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-19939490870475986692011-12-17T09:47:00.000-08:002011-12-17T09:47:05.964-08:00U.S. panel finds gaps in bioethics protections
From The Hindu
Following last year's revelations that U.S. researchers had
conducted macabre human experiments on Guatemalan prison and mental hospital
inmates between 1946 and 1948, a presidential Bioethics Commission has said it
could not unequivocally say all federally funded research provided human
subjects with “optimal protections against avoidable harms and unethical
treatment”.
Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-64656036252026041632011-12-17T09:45:00.000-08:002011-12-17T09:45:16.814-08:00Switzerland may free nuclear smugglers
From The Hindu
In an unexpected turn of events Swiss authorities announced a
decision to enter into a plea bargain with the notorious Tinner family members,
who have been in jail over nuclear smuggling charges in the illicit network of
disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
The Tinners, Friedrich and his two sons Urs and Marco, were also
accused of being informants for the Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-65358862628075194872011-12-17T09:43:00.000-08:002011-12-17T09:43:19.440-08:00Blaming China and U.S., Canada says quitting Kyoto
From The Hindu
Canada this week set a dangerous precedent that could unravel
global progress towards mitigating climate change, when it said that it had
decided to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol.
Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent said, “The Kyoto Protocol
does not cover the world's two largest emitters, the United States and China,
and therefore cannot work.” He added that theNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-15303844222166398562011-12-17T09:40:00.000-08:002011-12-17T09:40:44.070-08:00Gingrich draws flak for remarks on Palestinians
From The Hindu
Newt Gingrich is treading that fine line between being on fire and
being in the line of fire. The former Speaker of the House, who is famous for
causing a federal government shutdown owing to a personal rivalry with
then-President Bill Clinton, has been the poll leader for several weeks now.
Yet last weekend he might have stepped into a maelstrom of
controversy on the Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-60670551836975020812011-12-12T06:24:00.000-08:002011-12-12T06:24:04.773-08:00Burns to kick off Asia tour with Delhi visit
From The Hindu
The United States State Department has announced that Deputy
Secretary of State William Burns will travel to India on December 10, 2011 for a
series of meetings with senior government officials.
In New Delhi Mr. Burns will aim to discuss “a broad range of
bilateral, regional, and global issues, underscoring the continued growth in the
strategic partnership,” the Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-84149215453204101682011-12-09T11:04:00.001-08:002011-12-09T11:08:35.351-08:00Two killed in Virginia Tech shooting
From The Hindu
At least two individuals were killed on Wednesday afternoon in a shooting at Virginia Tech University, which in April 2007 was the site of the deadliest single-man gun rampage in the United States’ history.
One victim, police officer Deriek Crouse (39) was shot at near-point-blank range by the gunman, who police said to have approached the officer as he was making a traffic Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-54613636837093058922011-12-09T10:58:00.001-08:002011-12-09T11:03:45.118-08:00Blagojevich gets 14 years in jail
From The Hindu
Milorad “Rod” Blagojevich, former Illinois Governor and Democrat, was slapped with an unprecedented 14-year jail sentence in a federal corruption case after a jury found him guilty on 17 out of 20 charges earlier this year. He was convicted of wire fraud, attempted extortion, soliciting bribes, conspiracy to commit extortion and conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes.
Mr. Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-83302682231517761842011-12-09T10:52:00.001-08:002011-12-09T11:09:41.027-08:00Fai pleads guilty to conspiracy
From The Hindu
Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai (62) , a Kashmiri-origin U.S. citizen arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on July 19, 2011 for allegedly acting as an unregistered lobbyist of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy and tax violations.
Fai’s guilty plea pertained to a decades-long scheme to conceal the transfer of at least $3.5 Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-1817022146746332212011-12-07T08:56:00.001-08:002011-12-07T08:57:44.007-08:00Occupy movement targets foreclosed homes
From The Hindu
The Occupy movement in the United States took its first step
towards civil disobedience on Tuesday when it occupied homes foreclosed by banks
in a bid to prevent families from being evicted.
In what it described as “a national day of action” Occupiers in
Brooklyn, New York, said that their action was aimed at highlighting fraudulent
lending practices and “illegal Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-7716313850764652912011-12-07T06:52:00.001-08:002011-12-07T06:53:24.184-08:00Drone downed in Iran reportedly CIA's
From The Hindu
The unmanned aerial vehicle said to have been captured by Iranian
forces last week was being operated by the CIA, United States officials have
been quoted as saying.
Reports in major U.S. news outlets such as the Washington Post
and CNN quoted several unnamed officials confirming that “the
unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth
Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-77240650916396806892011-12-07T06:50:00.001-08:002011-12-07T06:51:48.310-08:00Halliburton destroyed spill evidence: BP
From The Hindu
BP, the company held responsible for the worst oil spill in the
United States' history, has accused one of its contracting companies,
Halliburton of destroying vital evidence relating to the explosion of the
Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20, 2010, in which 11 rig workers were killed and
more than 200 million gallons of crude spewed into the Gulf of Mexico.
In a dramatic Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-47757271058684050772011-12-07T06:49:00.001-08:002011-12-07T06:50:03.649-08:00U.S. left out of Lat Am’s organisation
From The Hindu
The United States was handed a healthy helping of hemispherical
humility last week when, along with Canada, it was excluded from a new
organisation representing Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC.
Predictably CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States, has been strongly supported by Latin American political heavyweights who
have fallen foul of Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-9727452121638353532011-12-03T08:17:00.001-08:002011-12-03T08:22:11.288-08:00U.S. unemployment drops below 9%
From The Hindu
President Barack Obama's sigh of relief must have blown the petals off flowers in the White House Rose Garden.
After
hovering above the 9 per cent mark for most of 2011, the United States'
unemployment rate finally dropped to 8.6 per cent for November,
representing a silver lining in an otherwise difficult economy.
In
its monthly report, the Bureau of Labour Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-845030870090557502011-12-03T08:11:00.001-08:002011-12-03T08:14:23.187-08:00Bill removes country-specific green card cap
From The Hindu
The United States House of Representatives has passed a
bill eliminating country-specific caps on green card application
numbers in a move that left most people wondering whether it was a real
change in U.S. immigration policy or whether it was pure political
posturing.
For while H.R. 3012, the so-called
“Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act,” would allow vastly Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-55324355530117470782011-12-03T08:09:00.001-08:002011-12-03T08:10:57.943-08:00Ambassador warmly welcomed on Capitol Hill
From The Hindu
The Senate India Caucus, headed by John Cornyn,
Republican of Texas and Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, welcomed
Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the United States, to Washington and
called for an even closer bilateral relationship in economic areas.
Speaking
at a ceremony at the Senate Dirksen Building on Capitol Hill, the two
Senators praised Ms. Rao’s Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-12415705667225124192011-12-03T07:52:00.001-08:002011-12-03T08:08:23.807-08:00S and P downgrades American, European banks and upgrades Chinese
From The Hindu
Following its ground-shaking downgrade of the United States' sovereign
debt rating from AAA to AA+ on August 5, top credit rating agency
Standard & Poor's downgraded several major U.S. and European banks
this week and concurrently upgraded several Chinese financial
institutions.
Trapped in its sweeping negative assessment were some of the biggest
names in the U.S. Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-80379582683384088272011-12-03T07:29:00.001-08:002011-12-03T07:34:55.712-08:00American Airlines files for bankruptcy protection
From The Hindu
In a development that underscored weakness in the
United States economy, the parent company of American Airlines, the
country’s fourth-largest airline operator, has filed for Chapter 11
Bankruptcy Protection.
AMR Corporation, the owner of
AA, said that it had filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11
reorganisation in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-85829014185257478482011-12-03T07:22:00.001-08:002011-12-03T07:27:18.813-08:00Occupy LA, a model of restraint?
From The Hindu
In stark contrast to the violent repression of the
Occupy Wall Street marches across the nation, authorities in Los
Angeles, California, showed restraint towards protesters outside City
Hall even after a Sunday midnight deadline for their evacuation passed.
Although
pepper-spray and tear-gas have been periodically deployed against
Occupy protesters ever since its Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-91911878447680707022011-12-03T07:18:00.001-08:002011-12-03T07:21:31.989-08:00Setback to U.S. on cluster munitions protocol
From The Hindu
History is replete with examples of nations that sought to promote an insidious goal cloaked in humanitarian terms and under the guise of an innocuous improvement in the status quo.This week a group of nations led by the U.S. attempted to do exactly that, seeking to foist on to the world an unprecedentedly lax Protocol on Cluster Munitions, one of the most dangerous Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-31321176206970149802011-11-26T08:27:00.001-08:002011-11-26T08:27:51.370-08:00U.S. official pursuing India education missionFrom The Hindu
Ann Stock, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, will travel to India November 26-December 2, 2011 to follow up on the U.S.-India Higher Education Summit, the U.S. Department of State announced.
Her engagements in India come in the wake of the October Summit, for which Indian Minister for Human Resources Development Kapil Sibal visited Washington.
Per a statement by the StateNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-90942205174153080302011-11-26T08:26:00.001-08:002011-11-26T08:26:47.026-08:00Taliban, ISAF get bitter on TwitterFrom The Hindu
While the Internet's democratisation of communication has empowered the ordinary citizen to engage with those quite distant to them in the real world, this compression of cyber-distance has raised the thorny of question of whether groups such as the Taliban have the right to freely post anti-West messages.
The latest controversy surrounding this issue has fixed the spotlight on Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-60955724432517976782011-11-26T08:25:00.000-08:002011-11-26T08:25:52.774-08:00U.S. cuts third quarter growth estimateFrom The Hindu
Exerting additional downward pressure on an already-muted rate of economic growth in the United States economy the U.S. Commerce Department cut third quarter growth estimates for 2011 from 2.5 per cent to 2 per cent.
The bad news on the growth front compounded Monday's failure in the Congressional supercommittee on deficit reduction, as a gridlock over tax increases and cuts to Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-48127623137703620932011-11-26T08:24:00.000-08:002011-11-26T08:24:07.411-08:00India can do better, suggests OECDFrom The Hindu
A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has suggested that while India’s growth record in recent years was unprecedented, a focus on labour markets and agricultural growth could spur the country to a better poverty alleviation record.
The report, “Perspectives on Global Development in 2012: Social Cohesion in Shifting World” noted that China Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-78136792478723241362011-11-26T08:22:00.000-08:002011-11-26T08:22:22.106-08:00U.S. spending-cuts panel draws a blank
From The Hindu
When the approval rating of an institution is at an all-time low of nine per cent, one would think it would go out of its way to avoid any glaring failure in carrying out its duty.
Yet, even after the reputational debacle that the U.S.Congress suffered over the summer owing to its near-failure to reach a deal on a limit for the ballooning debt, it has again endangered its Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-90094834235621937652011-11-26T08:20:00.001-08:002011-11-26T08:20:35.552-08:00U.S. wants “level playing field” for nuclear companiesFrom The Hindu
The State Department said that the U.S. hoped India would provide American companies with “level playing field” even as they seek to resolve the impasse over India’s Nuclear Liability Act.
In response to a question fromThe Hindu on whether the new rules notified by the Indian government last week would help advance negotiations on this matter the State Department issued a Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-5151408404361689132011-11-26T08:17:00.000-08:002011-11-26T08:17:53.983-08:00Map row: India objects, U.S. relentsFrom The Hindu
A State Department Spokesperson clarified that the map of India on the Department’s website, which showed Pakistan Occupied Kashmir as part of the territory of Pakistan, “did contain some inaccuracies which were associated with the boundaries of some geographic features [and] this was unintentional.”
The Spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, responded to a question from The Hindu sayingNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-60477368089247328102011-11-21T11:53:00.000-08:002011-11-21T11:53:50.202-08:00New York wakes up to another home-grown terror plotFrom The Hindu
Even as the United States pursues the al-Qaeda across the world and kills off its top leaders, there is concern that it may be becoming a victim of its own success.
This perverse outcome is a result of the terror outfit's charismatic leadership inspiring nascent fundamentalists to follow in their footsteps once they attain “martyrdom”, and the latest example of this dangerous Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-4604089372657467462011-11-21T11:52:00.000-08:002011-11-21T11:52:31.855-08:00Haqqani on “slippery ground”From The Hindu
Ambassador Husain Haqqani, has always been a man walking a tightrope and now he may be reaching the end of the line.
While he has still not packed his bags and returned to Islamabad, sources here indicated that he might well be on “slippery ground,” especially since he was “considered close to Washington but GHQ dislikes him”.
Dissatisfaction with his actions were said to echo Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-34255756249839227062011-11-18T14:00:00.000-08:002011-11-18T14:00:09.363-08:00U.S. L1 visa rejections at 40 %From The Hindu
A group of senior industry representatives from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) were in town this week to discuss numerous positive developments on the trade and investment front with United States Senators and Congressmen. However, they also pressed home the point that visa rejection rates, as high as 40 per cent for the L-1 visa, needed to come down.
Speaking to The Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-56373728451994094922011-11-18T13:59:00.000-08:002011-11-18T13:59:11.011-08:00U.S. “studying” Indian nuclear liability regulationsFrom The Hindu
The United States State Department said that it was “in the process of studying the content” of the new rules on the Indian Nuclear Liability Act as notified by the Indian government earlier this week.
Of the two segments in the Act, which were of concern to the U.S., the Government of India’s notification on the regulations did not alter Section 46, which allows Indian citizens Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-11328302794153900852011-11-18T13:57:00.000-08:002011-11-18T13:57:53.607-08:00Police action against Occupy protest, again
From The Hindu
Even as they celebrated their two-month anniversary Occupy Wall Street protestors got the rough end of the stick in New York City this week, first being forcibly evicted from Zuccotti Park on Tuesday and then on Thursday running the gauntlet of police arrests and blockades.
After their tents were torn down and their property was trashed using bulldozers Occupy protestors were Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-33190134547857262032011-11-18T13:56:00.000-08:002011-11-18T13:56:15.355-08:00Could the U.S. become a proliferator?
From The Hindu
Even as the United States continues to chide other nations on the risks of nuclear proliferation it suffered an embarrassment this week when an independent government watchdog said that the U.S. “faces challenges” in terms of its efforts to minimise proliferation and terrorism risks associated with nuclear power.
In a stinging report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-27030409482100620422011-11-18T13:54:00.000-08:002011-11-18T13:54:06.902-08:00Bullet-hits leave a hole in White House security
From The Hindu
Even as Barack and Michele Obama were attending various events in faraway California last week they had little idea that their home at 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington had come under fire from a hail of bullets.
While initial reports only indicated that shots had been fired in the vicinity of the White House, the Secret Service, charged with protecting the President of Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-68835435228987011852011-11-18T13:52:00.000-08:002011-11-18T13:52:21.250-08:00Occupy protesters forcibly evicted
From The Hindu
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg really knows how to go for the jugular. Similar to President Barack Obama's covert strike against Osama bin Laden, Mr. Bloomberg sent police officers in riot gear into the very epicentre of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, at 1 a.m. on Tuesday and forcibly evicted every peaceful protester there.
In an action that Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-9604502465110821602011-11-18T13:50:00.000-08:002011-11-18T13:50:22.850-08:00Enough is enough, Obama tells Beijing
From The Hindu
In a surprising bout of candour, United States President Barack Obama lashed out at Chinese authorities over the alleged undervaluation of the Yuan, saying most economists estimated it was devalued by 20 to 25 per cent and that it was time for China to move towards a market-based system for their currency.
Speaking at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organisationNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-45864240446371951512011-11-13T17:02:00.000-08:002011-11-13T17:02:09.602-08:00Virtually sensitiveFrom The Hindu
Can complex parallel universes created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) really prepare U.S. soldiers for conflict in countries like Afghanistan? NARAYAN LAKSHMAN
H e was getting nowhere. The more Private Neil Lambert of the United States Army quizzed the headman on why there were outsiders in the village at night, the more opaque the Pashtun chieftain's answers became.
While Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-24106536476878036882011-11-12T08:21:00.000-08:002011-11-12T08:21:11.057-08:00U.S.-China tensions colour APEC meet
From The Hindu
This week even the stunning sunset-and-white-sands setting of Hawaii was not enough to take the edge off sharp divisions between United States and Chinese delegates in Honolulu for a summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organisation.
Two distinct areas of disagreement between the two nations were in the spotlight — trade policy and human rights in Tibet.
On Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-54397870519683775412011-11-11T09:57:00.000-08:002011-11-11T09:57:52.902-08:00Lenient term for U.S. 'kill team' soldier
From The Hindu
To anyone who has watched the Hollywood cult series “Predator,” of a monstrous alien that slaughtered humans and then took their body parts as trophies, the actions of a rogue killer squad of United States soldiers in Afghanistan must have sounded familiar.
This week Calvin Gibbs (26), clearly a violent and possibly mentally unstable Staff Sergeant leading the U.S. Army's Fifth Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-51835674451605548312011-11-11T09:56:00.000-08:002011-11-11T09:56:31.172-08:00U.S. interested in Indian helicopter tenderFrom The Hindu
The United States has expressed strong interest in participating in India's tender for attack helicopter and heavy-lift helicopters despite the snub it received earlier this year in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition, according to a top official.
In remarks to the Defense Trade Advisory Group, Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-63068153953162911262011-11-11T09:55:00.000-08:002011-11-11T09:55:27.836-08:00National Competition Policy likely by January: MoilyFrom The Hindu
India is likely to have a National Competition Policy by January 2012, according to Minister for Corporate Affairs Veerappa Moily. He is here to hold consultations with officials this week.
In comments to a group of journalists, he said: “The draft policy is already before the government. We will take the opinions of the State governments. I have sent [the draft policy] to all theNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-32235120604297315832011-11-11T09:54:00.000-08:002011-11-11T09:54:00.292-08:00Studying the report, says U.S.From The Hindu
The United States has issued a guarded response to the International Atomic Energy Agency's report on nuclear weapons capability development by Iran, declining to comment specifically on the possibility of more sanctions or military action against the Ahmadinejad administration.
Responding to queries at a media briefing State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that the Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-75162761527678316692011-11-11T09:52:00.000-08:002011-11-11T09:52:54.602-08:00Rajaratnam faces a record $92 million fine
From The Hindu
A New York judge slapped a record $92.8 million fine on Raj Rajaratnam (54), the Sri Lankan born billionaire hedge fund manager convicted in May on 14 counts of insider trading charges. Last month Mr. Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for using a network of informants to garner roughly $70 million in illicit profits.
The United States Securities and Exchange Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-60410671477951292422011-11-11T09:50:00.000-08:002011-11-11T09:50:55.748-08:00Fourth woman accuses Cain of harassment
From The Hindu
Herman Cain, leading candidate in the race for Republican presidential nominee and former CEO of Godfather Pizza Company, tasted a different kind of baked dish this week — humble pie.
After issuing stout denials in the face of sexual harassment accusations by three women in the last few weeks Mr. Cain was embarrassed into facing down a fourth woman's claims of inappropriate Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-80210572131962916072011-11-11T09:46:00.000-08:002011-11-11T09:46:36.217-08:00Michael Jackson doctor convicted in star’s death
From The Hindu
Conrad Murray (58), physician to the ‘King of Pop' Michael Jackson, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after a six-week trial over the celebrity singer's death. The Texas doctor now faces anywhere between four years in prison, the maximum sentence, to probation, the minimum. He is also likely to lose his medical licence.
In retrospect
A twelve-person jury returned Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-6171610386062109352011-11-08T10:01:00.000-08:002011-11-08T10:01:35.767-08:00It boils down to ecology vs. economy for ObamaFrom The Hindu
American President Barack Obama may find himself in boiling oil even as he faces his biggest environmental policy challenge before the 2012 presidential elections — the outcome of a controversial plan to transport vast amounts of tar sands crude from Canada to Texas through the now-infamous Kestone XL pipeline.
Over the weekend close to 10,000 protesters mobbed the White House Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-77054109469602375162011-11-05T09:55:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:55:07.254-07:00India-U.S.-Japan trilateral likely this yearFrom The Hindu
A top United States official announced that the first ever India-U.S.-Japan trilateral is likely to be held before the end of 2011. This week the State Department confirmed that it was working with the governments of India and Japan to schedule this “important gathering to discuss regional issues.”
On Friday U.S. Deputy Secretary William Burns said in a speech here that that Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-29701603877574882412011-11-05T09:53:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:53:16.767-07:00Governor faces flak for joining Hindu ceremonyFrom The Hindu
Even as the United States has grappled with difficult questions of religious tolerance especially since the 9/11 terror attacks, Islam has often been at the centre of this debate. Yet ever so often the slanted views of a few individuals tarnish the image of other religions as well, and this week Hinduism appeared in the spotlight.
The furore was centred on Kentucky Governor Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-35035606968513205332011-11-05T09:52:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:52:02.419-07:00U.S. Congress urged to re-think Pakistan relationshipFrom The Hindu
There is deep concern within the United States Congress about the Obama administration’s strategy of relying on Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence to broker a deal with various militant groups in the Af-Pak region, it emerged at a Congressional hearing this week.
In a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday titled “2014 and Beyond: U.S. Policy Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-6511882271372692582011-11-05T09:50:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:50:49.879-07:00U.S. unemployment ticks down to 9%From The Hindu
After an unrelenting three month-stretch of 9.1 per cent unemployment, the United States economy finally returned to the psychologically-important 9 per cent mark in October, a month that saw the labour markets add another 80,000 jobs.
In its monthly jobs report, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) noted that employment in the private sector rose, with modest job growth Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-48589537912175063652011-11-05T09:49:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:49:19.232-07:00Fed slashes growth, employment projectionsFrom The Hindu
In an announcement that is likely to deepen concerns over the U.S. economic woes the Federal Reserve has slashed growth and employment projections for 2011 and 2012.
Data projections released by the Fed suggested that it had revised a measure of the average, or “central tendency,” for the U.S. economy's 2011 gross domestic product growth rate from the 2.7-2.9 per cent range to theNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-66060622852041431902011-11-05T09:47:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:47:55.894-07:00Occupy protesters' repression stuns U.S.
From The Hindu
While the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York on September 17 captured the imagination of the world for its reliance on non-violent civil disobedience, recent weeks have seen the centre of gravity of the protests move to Oakland, California, where the unprecedented scale of violent repression by police has stunned the nation.
Searing criticism was levelled at Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-85340066343292020162011-11-05T09:46:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:46:16.301-07:00There is a lot of deep technical expertise in India: Bill Gates
From The Hindu
While markets will be eyeing this week's G20 meeting in Cannes for the actions it takes towards stabilising the Euro-zone economic crisis, there is a growing concern that the G20's aid and development agenda may get less attention. But what about the plight of the poor during this time of economic troubles? On the eve of the summit the G20 held a 75-minute session with Bill Gates,Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-30729222320039082112011-11-05T09:34:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:34:46.393-07:00For LeT, India remains the “primary target”: U.S.From The Hindu
A report by the United States Department of Defence submitted to Congress this week suggested that India remained the “primary target” of LeT, the militant group from Pakistan that is held responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
This assessment, contained in the Report to Congress on U.S.-India Security Cooperation, was accompanied by strong arguments made in favour of deepening Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-70483547324227736032011-11-05T09:33:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:33:34.510-07:00India facing heavy burden of neglected tropical diseases
From The Hindu
Even as the world welcomed the seven billionth member of the global population this week, medical researchers warned that rapid-growth economies such as India’s still had a high proportion of morbidity with more than 290 million Indians suffering from Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).
In an article on A Disproportionate Burden of NTDs found in India and South Asia, tropical Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-90314389996050638572011-11-05T09:30:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:30:50.376-07:00America shOWS its soul
From The Hindu
For many of us covering politics in the United States for foreign publications, no mystery has been greater than the power of resurgent conservatism in recent years.
While nearly two decades of laissez-faire policies under former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush succeeded in bankrupting the American middle class and driving it to Depression-era despair, the initial, Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-16475147279580252182011-11-05T09:28:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:28:34.739-07:00Digital media potential U.S. policy tool?From The Hindu
Today there is little doubt about the enormous potential of open-use, digital and social media to significantly impact major geopolitical events, from last year’s Tehran street protests to the recent weeks’ Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City.
Yet one aspect of the phenomenon that is only gradually being understood is how nations such as the United States could possibly Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-18038609970951852052011-11-05T09:27:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:27:42.520-07:00Indian concerns on LeT take priority: HillaryFrom The Hindu
“Indian concerns” were one of the main reasons why the United States had not insisted on Pakistan shutting down the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group behind the Mumbai attacks of 2008, said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week.
At a Congressional hearing on the U.S. policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Ms. Clinton gave her response to a query from Representative Ed Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-63356261311836398502011-11-05T09:26:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:26:07.665-07:00300 Tri-Valley students may be sent homeFrom The Hindu
Up to 300 students, a majority of them Indian, are likely to be sent home after United States immigration authorities spent more than nine months investigating the Tri-Valley University (TVU) visa fraud case.
Following a meeting held on Friday between Indian officials and their U.S. counterparts at the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Immigration and Customs Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-75614450263280456072011-11-05T09:25:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:25:07.849-07:00India ranked 132 on business-friendly reformsFrom The Hindu
Even as the United States has continued to press India to undertake more investor-friendly reforms under the bilateral Strategic Dialogue, the World Bank on Thursday virtually congratulated India and 29 other countries for significant strides in making their regulatory environments more business-friendly.
In a report titled Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-78526783075655680172011-11-05T09:24:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:24:04.085-07:00Pakistan nuclear safeguards a worry, says U.S. reportFrom The Hindu
A “radical takeover” of Pakistan, which possesses “approximately 90-110 nuclear warheads,” or a proliferation by radical sympathizers within Pakistan’s nuclear complex in case of a breakdown of controls,” could have an impact on the country’s nuclear safeguards, according to a report issued this month by the United States Congress.
The U.S. Congressional Research Service report onNarayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-13123654188502518802011-11-05T09:23:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:23:07.392-07:00Goldman Sachs declares Q3 loss
From The Hindu
Even as world markets continued to see increased volatility amidst growing uncertainty investment banking major Goldman Sachs has declared a third quarter loss of $393 million, only its second quarterly loss since it went public in 1999.
Notwithstanding a 59 per cent decline in compensation levels that followed in the wake of this loss the firm still managed to set aside a Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-40583224122888647632011-11-05T09:21:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:21:49.070-07:00Republican debate gets personalFrom The Hindu
Even as the sweltering summer of Obama-bashing wore thin in the ongoing Republican nomination debates, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney slugged it out in the latest debate in Las Vegas this week and it descended into an ugly brawl.
The softer, Obama-targeting tone of the debate all but disappeared when the two frontrunners confronted each Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-2259086186912404032011-11-05T09:20:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:20:49.348-07:00Chinese national in U.S. trade secrets theftFrom The Hindu
The U.S. Department of Justice has removed the veil of secrecy over the murky dealings of Kexue Huang, a Chinese national and permanent U.S. resident, who pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of economic espionage to benefit a component of the Chinese government and one count of theft of trade secrets.
The companies he allegedly stole trade secrets from were Dow AgroSciences Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-50145918959233019882011-11-05T09:19:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:19:53.156-07:00U.S. NSA heading to IndiaFrom The Hindu
Thomas Donilon, United States National Security Advisor, will be making a trip to India later this month, where he will meet with his Indian counterpart Shiv Shankar Menon and other leaders, the State Department announced.
Following a stop in Beijing Mr. Donilon’s visit to New Delhi is aimed at reviewing recent developments in the U.S.-India strategic partnership, and discussing Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-53814062128175551362011-11-05T09:18:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:18:32.780-07:00Citi posts 74 % rise in Q3 net incomeFrom The Hindu
Citigroup, a beleaguered financial leviathan during the recent years of market distress, proved it had bounced back strongly after it announced that its third-quarter net income had touched $3.8 billion, a steep rise of 74 per cent over the same period a year ago.
Resuscitating its flagging credit card business, Citi said that although its core revenue fell during the same period Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-20588947208175414772011-11-05T09:16:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:16:32.093-07:00Obama nod for Occupy Wall Street
From The Hindu
He could not resist drawing the obvious parallel. When United States President Barack Obama spoke at the unveiling of a towering, 30-foot sculpture of civil rights leader Martin Luther King on Washington's National Mall, he came as close as he could to endorsing Occupy Wall Street, the modern-day equivalent of the 1960s social movement.
Reflecting on Dr. King's Mahatma Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-37439013545700371132011-11-05T09:15:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:15:00.554-07:00Investment treaty pact “soon”: Hillary
From The Hindu
The United States will soon resume technical level discussions on a new Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with India, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who made the announcement during a speech that linked U.S. foreign policy and economic opportunities for domestic job creation.
Describing India as an “Asian tiger”, the Secretary suggested to the Economic Club of Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11939652.post-81596115605063071272011-11-05T09:13:00.001-07:002011-11-05T09:13:28.624-07:00Lula, Kufuor recognised for eradicating chronic hunger
From The Hindu
Even as the world’s poor continue to suffer daily under added pressure from the global economic downturn, this week two former Presidents were awarded the 2011 World Food Prize for their success in tackling chronic hunger in their countries.
In an elegant ceremony at the State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of Ghana, and Luiz Narayan Lakshmannoreply@blogger.com0