Office space allotted to its functionaries at the Congress headquarters on 24 Akbar Road has, over the years, emerged as a reliable yardstick to measure a leader's standing in the party hierarchy, says Anita Katyal.

Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid speaks about the importance of the fourth edition of the India-US Strategic Dialogue, which he co-chaired with United States Secretary of State John Kerry in New Delhi

Opposing a government-panel proposal to hike FDI limit in multi-brand retail, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Wednesday said such a move will hurt interest of small traders and mostly benefit large corporates.

Next week, US Secretary of State John Kerry travels to India for the fourth annual US-India Strategic Dialogue

The British government is under increasing pressure to order an inquiry into claims that the country's security services were covertly gathering a mass of personal data from some of the world's largest Internet firms through a US spy programme.

The Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz has formally nominated its chief Nawaz Sharif for the office of prime minister after the party moved towards a simple majority in the 342-member National Assembly or Pakistan's lower house of parliament. The final approval for Sharif's nomination will be made during a meeting of the PML-N's parliamentary committee before the start of the first session of the new National Assembly.

On the eve of his visit to Japan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to the Japanese media on the agenda of his visit. This is an excerpt

In what could be yet another historic appointment in the annals of the Indian-American community's immigrant experience, senior administration sources have told rediff.com that Nisha Desai Biswal is strongly tipped to be appointed the new assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs

Industry sources told India Abroad they wouldn't shed any tears if the legislation died in the House.

Katrina Lantos Swett, chair, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, tells Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa that the USCIRF will be uncompromising about denying Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi entry into the US.

In its latest lobbying disclosure report filed with the US Senate and the House of Representatives for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, the various lobbying issues of Walmart during the period included 'discussions related to FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in India'.

In 2013-2014, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said growth would be between 6.1% and 6.7%. In 2014-2015, India, he said, wants growth to be above 7%.

RBI norms on foreign control of corporations will clear the air.

Phase-wise revocation of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and return of power projects to Jammu and Kashmir are the two most important wishes of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

It behooves US to encourage integration of India into the Asia-Pacific, says US Congressman Ed Royce.

After quitting the United Progressive Alliance coalition on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam on Monday demanded that India should boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting scheduled to be held in Colombo in November.

Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement of the House Judiciary Committee, Bruce A Morrison, of the Morrison Public Affairs Group, argued for making green card a convenient route for sponsoring employers and eliminate the need to rely on the H-1B status for a long period, if at all.

Amid flaring of tension between the United States and Venezuela following the death of its President Hugo Chavez, United States President Barack Obama has said that America is interested in developing a 'constructive' relationship with the Venezuelan people.

Describing India as an 'anchor of stability' in the region and an important partner, an influential United States Congressman has expressed confidence in the future of Indo-US strategic partnership.

A Joint Parliamentary Committee will probe the controversial chopper deal, with the government on Wednesday asserting that there will be "no cover up" as it was determined to go to the root of the scam and give maximum punishment to the guilty.

The only Indian American lawmaker in the United States Congress, Dr Amerish 'Ami' Bera, on Tuesday made his debut as a member of a Congressional Committee that has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to South Asia.

The latest fan of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to be the American Samoan delegate, Eni Faleomavaega, the ranking Democrat on the house foreign affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, which has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to South Asia. Aziz Haniffa reports.

With the Budget Session of Parliament getting underway, the United Progressive Alliance government is hoping that its pending legislations will eventually be approved this time even though financial business will naturally have to be given precedence,k says Sunita Moga

The blast outside the United States embassy in Turkey on Friday that claimed two lives was a terrorist attack, the US State Department has said. "We can confirm a terrorist blast at a check point on the perimeter of our embassy compound in Ankara, Turkey, at 1.13 PM local time," said State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

The United States senate on Tuesday approved Democratic Senator John Kerry as the next secretary of state, who is set to replace Hillary Clinton.

United States Senator John F Kerry -- President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next Secretary of State -- has asserted that he would be strongly opposed to any cuts in America's considerable aid to Islamabad.

The decision was taken during the eighth meeting of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission in New Delhi on Tuesday. The meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and his Sri Lankan counterpart Prof. GL Peiris.

United States President Barack Obama on Monday named former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as his next defence secretary, and also nominated his counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan, who was involved in the planning of the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, as the new Central Intelligence Agency chief.

The way the system works here, it is difficult to think Akbaruddin Owaisi will be ever be punished for uttering those hateful words, laments Tarun Vijay

Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to become a member of the United States House of Representatives, has been named to two key Congressional committees through which she would play an important role in the country's foreign policy and homeland security. Gabbard, 31, who represents Hawaii's second Congressional District, has been named as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Homeland Security Committee

Ami Bera, a California-based Indian-American physician, was on Friday sworn in as member of the United States House of Representatives, becoming only the third from the community to enter the Congress.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had collapsed last month and suffered a concussion, is being treated with blood thinners for a clot in a vein of her brain and doctors are confident of a complete recovery.

The United Progressive Alliance government has made up its mind to move a resolution on Wednesday in Rajya Sabha to get nine Members of Parliament of the Samajwadi Party suspended for their misbehaviour and disruptions during the debate on the job quota bill for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.

Apprehending that the Samajwadi Party and the BGahujan Samaj Party would bail out the United Progressive Alliane on FDI in retail, the opposition in Lok Sabha on Wednesday warned these parties as also Dravida Munetra Kazhagam that history will not pardon them if they sided with the government on the issue despite opposing it during the nationwide protest.

After raising strong objections to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's comments allegedly comparing Members of Parliament shouting slogans in the Well of Parliament with animals -- three Bharatiya Janata Party MPs on Friday gave a notice in the Rajya Sabha for alleged breach of privilege by him.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Friday criticised Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar for comparing Opposition Members of Parliament with animals.

Terming the 2008 Mumbai attacks as a "crime against humanity", Ed Royce, the next chairman of the powerful House Foreign Relations Committee has said that there is a need to exhort pressure on Pakistan to bring to justice the culprits of the mayhem.

A high-level meeting will be convened soon to decide on probing the India operations of Chinese Telecom companies -- 'Huawei' and 'ZTE' -- against the backdrop of the US calling the two firms a threat to American national security.

Keith Vaz, the Indian-origin Labour member of Parliament, has emerged as Britain's most influential Asian in a list of 101 powerful people from the region, which includes the likes of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire Hinduja Brothers and leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul.

The small Indian-American community -- constituting just about one per cent of the US population -- never had it so good as under the Barack Obama administration, with a record number of community members being roped in to head top administrative positions.