Susi Ganesan's Tamil movie and its Telugu version Mallana starring Vikram and Shriya are going to be released simultaneously on the 21st August not only in India but throughout the world.

The detention of actor Shahrukh Khan in the United States may have raised a storm in India, but the arrest Ravi Shankar, associate professor of English and poet-in-residence at Central Connecticut State University, has received little or no coverage in Indian media.Though it happened a month earlier in New York City, the arrest, detention and the actions of the court have raised many questions. Shankar is now consulting attorneys in the case for the legal steps.

Thousands of people from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut jammed the sidewalks of Madison Avenue in Manhattan on Sunday

India's Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar received a warm welcome at the first meeting of the newly reconstituted US Senate India Caucus, at the ornate Mansfield Room of the US Capitol, in the presence of more than two dozen Senators from across the political divide. She said the event was "a tribute to India, to the Indian American community in the United States, to the warm and strong ties between our two countries," she said.

United States Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, the new Democratic co-chair of the re-constituted US Senate India Caucus, feels that he has impossible shoes to fill, that of erstwhile Senator and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Dodd, one of the senior-most members of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, addressed an overflowing audience of Indian Americans from across the country in the ornate Mansfield Room of the US Capitol.

Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan and Hard Kaur feature in the only major Bollywood show this summer in America.

The newly re-constituted US Senate India Caucus will resurrect itself on Tuesday evening with its first meeting for the year during which it will also formally welcome India's Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, who assumed duties two months ago.

Reader Pradeep C P has sent us a photograph.

The India-origin chief of The Hartford Financial Services, Ramani Ayer, will retire as chairman and chief executive officer of the Connecticut-based insurer by the end of this year.

US Senators Christopher Dodd, Connecticut Democrat and John Cornyn, Texas Republican have launched an attempt to revive the largely comatose US Senate India Caucus.

The honorary doctor of humane letters degree was conferred on Premji in recognition of his achievements as a 'renowned entrepreneur, global business leader and extraordinary humanitarian who has demonstrated a commitment to education and the well being of fellow citizens,' Wipro said. Premji is the second Indian recipient of this award. Nobel Prize winner Amartya Kumar Sen was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1995.

35 qualify for Scripps National Spelling Bee

The appointment of veteran diplomat Peter Burleigh as charge d'affaires at the American embassy in New Delhi was a Department decision and not on the recommendation of Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as had been rumored because of their earlier longtime working relationship, senior Administration sources have told rediff.com.

While Mayor Dannel Malloy will receive the Friend of GOPIO honor, Dr Natarajan, associate professor in the Department of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University, will be honored with the Indian-American Achiever Award, and Dr Kapur, director of music technology at California Institute of the Arts and professor of sonic arts at the New Zealand School of Music, will be presented the Young Person of the Year Award.

As public distaste at taxpayer-funded bail-outs has turned to "bonus rage" directed at specific individuals, the fear of physical harm has grown appreciably. For a vilified few, they really are out to get you.

So far, neither Washington nor Wall Street seems to have fully grasped this political sea-change, or figured how to deal with it.

United States President Barack Obama has met 40 budding high school scientists, nine of which were Indian-Americans, the highest number from any ethnic community in the country.

Dancing to the tunes of Slumdog Millionaire has become a craze at many fitness and dance schools across the US.

Caught in a racial row and faced with threats of boycott, the New York Post apologised on Friday over its controversial political cartoon, depicting the drafter of the US economic stimulus package as a chimpanzee, which many believe was a caricature of President Barack Obama.

Since early December 2008, Sreehari Gopalakrishnan has applied to 176 firms, and the rate of call back has steadily declined. "Earlier, it used to be from 20 to 30 places but now it is less than 10 per cent", says Gopalakrishnan, an analyst with a firm in Connecticut that does relocation management. With the current economic downturn and the housing slump, his company has several houses in its inventory worth millions of dollars.

A political cartoon depicting a chimpanzee as the drafter of the American financial stimulus bill has sparked a racial row in the United States, with Democratic leaders up in arms against the New York Post, for what they believe is an offensive reference to President Barack Obama.The cartoon, published by the right-wing Post, shows a police officer telling his colleague who has just shot a chimpanzee that 'they'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill'

India's highest ranked squash player Joshna Chinappa made it to the final qualifying of the main draw in the US $25,9000 Harrow Greenwich Open. She came from behind to get the better of a fighting Alexandra Norman of England 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 19-21, 11-6 in 64 minutes in Connecticut on Tuesday night.

'The Bush doctrine has since provided the intellectual framework for war in Afghanistan and later in Iraq. It has since legitimised rhetoric like 'axis of evil' when describing North Korea and Iran. It has since been called the clearest manifestation of America's irrational turn to unilateralism over international cooperation.'

The Cricket Council of the United States is planning to hold a Twenty20 tournament, pitting club teams from North America and countries like India and Pakistan against each other from April 4 to 12 next year. The USD 100,000 tournament would be held in South Florida and will be contested by 48 teams.

Sapana Doshi said, "It doesn't mean that our effort against Prop 8 (the initiative to ban same sex marriages) was a complete failure. We spread so much awareness. It has forever changed the way people think about same sex couples. For example, our family has been transformed. And so many families in California agree that we are denied our fundamental right. The verdict is a sad setback but not a defeat."

Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama, by flipping Virginia, Ohio, Iowa and New Mexico from red states in the 2004 elections to blue in this year's contest, took a commanding lead in the 2008 US Presidential Election, causing CNN to project him the winner and the 44th President of the United States of America

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of the $180-billion American giant GE, says he is paranoid and is gearing up for any eventuality.

The Berman Bill H R 7081, named after Howard Berman, a Democrat strongly opposed to the deal on non-proliferation grounds and who converted only a couple of days back, was adopted with 86 voting for and 13 against. The Senate also rejected the killer amendments introduced by Democratic Senators Byron Dorgan and Jeff Bingaman to ensure that the US nuclear exports to India do not help boost New Delhi's nuclear weapons programme

Legendary actor and humanitarian Paul Newman has died of cancer aged 83. The actor, who was a mentor to artists and social activists, passed away at his home in Westport, Connecticut on September 26 surrounded by family.

Speaking to media persons after the hearing where senior Bush Administration officials testified on the agreement, Dodd, asked the first question by rediff.com as to the bottom line vis-a-vis the possible approval of the deal by Congress by September 26, said, "The evidence in the past has been that there is a strong desire to reach agreement, and a clear understanding of the value and importance of this."

ONQI is a new rating system designed to evaluate foods from the healthiest (100) to the least nutritious (1).

The most recent manifestation of Sanjaya-mania comes from the Mohegun Sun Casino in New Haven, Connecticut, where Sanjaya gave a live performance (August 6). Sanjaya reportedly performed two singles from his forthcoming debut album.

Neel Kashkari, who was nominated by President George W Bush to the post of Assistant Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs, has been confirmed by the Senate and has begun work in his new job, even if it is only for the next six months.

Neel Kashkari, who was the Senior Advisor to US Treasury Secretary Henry M Paulson, was nominated by President Bush to the post of Assistant Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs and has been confirmed by the US Senate.

The Young Professional Committee of the Share and Care Foundation, a New Jersey-based social service agency, raised $31,000 at its second annual charity gala at the Manhattan Penthouse in New York City.

A Sikh truck driver was arrested for wearing a kirpan and his turban "forcibly" removed while he was entering a Connecticut court to contest a traffic violation charge, a community advocacy group said on Tuesday.

President George W Bush has appointed Dr Sambhu N Banik of Bethesda, Maryland as a member of the President's Committee of People with Intellectual Disabilities, to serve out the remainder of a two-year term, which is expiring in May 2009. Banik is a noted clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology and counseling at Bowie State University in Maryland.

A survey of 1,100 scientists across 130 universities and research institutes across the country threw up interesting results as 29 per cent believed in the philosophy of 'karma', 26 per cent accepted the principle of life after death and seven per cent researchers gave credence to existence of ghosts.

Nayan Chanda of Yale University was chosen for his contribution to arts, Prasad Srinivasan for community service, and Sameer Ahuja was chosen as the 'Young Professional of the Year'

Situated on a five acre plot, the temple has four centres: The Temple of Unity, the main temple; the Indian heritage community centre; the museum of Indian journey to the US and the Ganga Sagar meditation and sculpture gardens.