The National Democratic Alliance government's parliamentary managers have a busy weekend ahead, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.

Shortly after it condemned the shelling of a United Nations-operated school in Gaza that killed at least 20 people and injured 90 others, the United States said that it has restocked Israel's supplies of grenades and mortar rounds.

Here are some stories that your newspaper probably missed out on today.

A freshman United States lawmaker committed an embarrassing faux pas when during a Congressional hearing he mistook two top Indian-origin American officials as representing the Indian government, quizzing them about "your country" and "your government".

Several American lawmakers have slammed India for failing to condemn Russia's aggression in Ukraine, Russian rebels' downing of flight MH17 and the annexation of Crimea. The leaders also raised the issue of repeated abuse and violence against minorities and women in India. Aziz Haniffa reports.

Ahead of his September visit, as many as 83 United States lawmakers have signed a letter asking House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of the Congress.

Israel bombed the Gaza Strip for the fourth day on Friday, killing eight Palestinians and tensions heightened after militants fired rockets towards the Jewish state from Lebanon for the first time since the beginning of a confrontation with Hamas.

Three top US lawmakers have asked the Congressional leadership to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of the US Congress when he visits Washington at the invitation of President Barack Obama.

Senior Republican Senator John McCain has joined the group of lawmakers urging Congressional leadership to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of the United States Congress.

Two US lawmakers write to the House Speaker asking to extend an invitation

Calling India an important partner of the United States, US Representative Ed Royce and George Holding in their letter to House Speaker John Boehner have said that the United States has no more an important partner in South Asia than India.

Being a pragmatist Modi is not likely to give preference to China over Japan. Both security and economic aspects are likely to shape Modi's decision in terms of engaging the two biggest economies of Asia, says Sana Hashmi.

A host of United States lawmakers attended an event on Capitol Hill on Friday to hail India's election and the Bharatiya Janata Party's landslide victory, and to also invite Narendra Modi to Washington to discuss issues ranging from counter-terrorism to bilateral economic cooperation and investment.

Former US Ambassador to India David Mulford, who served for five years in Delhi during the George W Bush administration, has sated that Washington should apologised publicly for the way former New York Indian Consul General Devyani Khobragade was strip and cavity searched last December following her arrest for alleged exploitation of her maid.

Raamdeo Agrawal says, an investor should figure out if the company actually makes money or not, making an investment comes later.

The West has always preferred a timid, half intelligent and a dependent India rather than a decisively independent and self-reliant one. A pliable Indian leadership suits the West best, says Tarun Vijay.

Five longtime Republicans -- K V Kumar, Puneet Ahluwalia, Suhail Khan, Ajay Kuntamukkala and Harry Walia -- have been named to the GOP's Asian Pacific American Advisory Council.

The government will take necessary action on lobbying by Walmart to enter India if US authorities come out with "something tangible" on this matter, but a probe here could not substantiate allegations against the global retail giant, Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot says.

'The diplomat's arrest has led to a major diplomatic spat, the likes of which I have not seen in my nearly three decades of covering the US-India relationship, says Aziz Haniffa. 'The knee-jerk reaction by the powers-that-be in Delhi was myopic to say the least.'

Indian-American Congressman Dr Amerish Bera feels that an apology will help India and the United States work through any misunderstandings. Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington, DC

India on Friday assured support to its nationals that law-abiding people have nothing to fear after authorities here arrested 31 Indians for alleged rioting in Singapore's worst outbreak of violence in over 40 years.

Aziz Haniffa reports from Washignton, DC, on Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh's three-day visit to the US capital.

Describing India's concerns as legitimate, a top United States official has said that there is no immediate danger of foreign fighters from Afghanistan moving towards the Indian border after 2014, when American troops leave the country.

Both the Barack Obama administration and United States lawmakers on Capitol Hill have expressed concern over the Indian Supreme Court's decision to uphold a law that criminalises consensual homosexual conduct.

India, China and other countries that have been cutting their oil imports from Iran have reached a point where it is "very very difficult" to reduce any further without seriously impacting their economies, US Secretary of State John Kerry has told lawmakers.

DFS writes to departments that haven't responded to RBI's request for information.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, has been named as Britain's most influential Asian by a weekly publication in London.

An influential Hindu organisation in the United States has slammed a group of lawmakers for introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives on record of India's religious freedom arguing that it is grossly inaccurate and aims to provoke.

A bipartisan Congressional resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives calling on the US government to continue the policy of denying a visa to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the grounds of religious freedom violations.

Republican Party leaders have denied extending an invitation to Narendra Modi to address Congressional leaders and Indian-Americans via video link next week.

The India that needs strategic alliances, defence cooperation and engaging meaningfully with neighbouring countries is quietly moving ahead with confidence, says Tarun Vijay

A group of top United States lawmakers have urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to release Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who allegedly helped to track down Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Veteran Pakistani diplomats Syed Ibne Abbas and Jalil Abbas Jilani would be the new Pakistani envoys to India and the United States respectively as part of a wide-ranging reshuffle of envoys in key capitals around the world.

Suspended Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi has been banned for life by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday.

Puneet Talwar, one of the most respected Middle East policy specialists in administration and Congressional circles, has been nominated by United States President Barack Obama to a senior State Department position.

Senior United States lawmakers told a Capitol Hill conference that India was crucial for stability in Afghanistan and the region as US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces prepare to withdraw from that war ravaged country.

In cyber security, India's main concerns are Pakistani and Chinese espionage. Which is exactly why the US needs to build up partnership with India.

The letter, to maintain the current policy of denying Narendra Modi a visa to the United States, was released just as the BJP president arrived in Washington DC for a round of meetings with US lawmakers. Aziz Haniffa reports

United States President Barack Obama has nominated Nisha Desai Biswal as the new assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs.

Disappointed over Pakistan's slow pace of trial in Mumbai terror attack case, a top American lawmaker has demanded that the seven suspects, including Lashkar-e-tayiba operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, be handed over to the International Criminal Court to bring them to justice.