All stories by Lalit K Jha
US House to vote on Trump impeachment on Wednesday
Rediff.com12 Jan 2021The Democrats have enough votes to impeach the president in the House, which requires a simple majority. But the Senate, where the Republicans have a razor-thin 51-50 majority -- requires votes of two-third of the members to remove the president out of the office.
Trump issues emergency declaration for for Biden inauguration
Rediff.com12 Jan 2021The emergency in Washington DC will be effective from Monday till January 24.
Biden names 2 Indian-Americans to Office of White House Counsel
Rediff.com12 Jan 2021United States President-elect Joe Biden on Monday named two Indian Americans -- Reema Shah and Neha Gupta -- to the Office of the White House Counsel.
US Democrats to step up bid to impeach Trump
Rediff.com11 Jan 2021The move to impeach Trump gained momentum on Sunday with the House Democrats announcing to introduce the article of impeachment against the outgoing Republican president on Monday.
Twitter permanently suspends Trump's account
Rediff.com9 Jan 2021'After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them -- specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter -- we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,' Twitter said in a statement on Friday.
Easter attacks: US charges 3 Sri Lankans
Rediff.com9 Jan 2021Mohamed Naufar, Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Riskan and Ahamed Milhan Hayathu Moahmed are currently in custody in Sri Lanka, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Friday.
Google removes Parler from Play Store for inciting violence
Rediff.com9 Jan 2021The move by the two Silicon Valley companies came the day when Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account due to "risk of further incitement of violence".
Indian-American Sabrina Singh named White House Deputy Press Secretary
Rediff.com9 Jan 2021Singh was Press Secretary to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the Biden-Harris campaign.
House will move to impeach Trump if he doesn't resign 'immediately': Pelosi
Rediff.com9 Jan 2021Trump, who lost the November 3 elections, would be succeeded by Joe Biden on January 20 as mandated by the Constitution.
Pelosi speaks to US army chief on preventing Trump nuclear strike
Rediff.com8 Jan 2021Reiterating her demand to remove US President Trump from office, she said, "The situation of this unhinged president could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy."
Cop injured in US Capitol riot dies, toll rises to 5
Rediff.com8 Jan 2021US Capitol Police Officer Brian D Sicknick was injured while engaging with protesters on Wednesday and returned to his division office, where he collapsed.
Biden lauds Vanita Gupta as 'proud daughter' of Indian immigrants
Rediff.com8 Jan 2021"As associate attorney general, the number three job at the department, I nominate Vanita Gupta. A woman I've known for some time. One of the most respected civil rights lawyers in America," Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware as he announced some of the key nominations in the Justice Department on Thursday.
Trump accepts US election result, condemns Capitol riots
Rediff.com8 Jan 2021'To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay'
Storming of Capitol Hill: More top officials resign
Rediff.com8 Jan 2021Two of the US Cabinet members -- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transport Secretary Elaine Chao -- have resigned over the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters. US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund has also announced that he would resign this month after he faced criticism for failing to prevent Trump supporters from storming the building.
Invoke 25th Amendment to remove Trump: Democrats to Pence
Rediff.com8 Jan 2021"The president's dangerous and seditious acts necessitate his immediate removal from office," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement on Thursday.
Modified H1-B visa process to give priority to wages, skill level
Rediff.com8 Jan 2021The United States on Thursday announced that it will modify the selection process for H-1B visa, giving priority to salary and skills instead of the current lottery procedures. The final rule to be published in the federal register on January 8, officials said, is aimed to protect the economic interests of US workers and better ensure the most highly skilled foreign workers benefit from the temporary employment programme. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Trump's FB, Insta to be blocked until inauguration: Zuckerberg
Rediff.com7 Jan 2021The possibly first ever blocking of a head of a state by Facebook comes in the wake of the unprecedented storming of the United States Capitol by Trump's supporters on Wednesday and thus disrupting the constitutional process of counting and certification of the Electoral College votes of the presidential elections.
Trump supporters storm US Capitol; 4 dead in violence
Rediff.com7 Jan 2021In an unprecedented assault on democracy in the US, thousands of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building here and clashed with police, resulting in four deaths and interrupting a constitutional process by Congress to affirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the election.
Biden picks Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general
Rediff.com7 Jan 2021US President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Indian-American Vanita Gupta to be the associate attorney general and roped in Judge Merrick Garland for the position of attorney general.
US Congress ratifies Biden-Harris's electoral win
Rediff.com7 Jan 2021A joint session of the US Congress on Thursday formally certified the electoral victory of Joe Biden as the next US president and Kamala Harris as the vice president in the November 3 election. The formal certification by the joint session came in the wee hours of Thursday local time.