The ruling Pakistan People's Party's efforts to finalise a constitutional reforms package suffered a major setback after it failed to achieve consensus with the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on the procedure for appointing judges and on renaming the North West Frontier Province.

Indian-origin lawyer Rashad Hussain will be America's new special envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, a post vital to President Barack Obama's bid to repair the United States' strained relations with the Islamic world.A White House lawyer, Hussain was nominated to the key post as he had played an important role in developing partnerships with the Muslim world, Obama said. Hussain is entrusted with deepening and expanding the partnerships with Muslims.

Hussain will become the special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, an intergovernmental group with 57 member countries from the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Caucasus, Balkans, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

A powerful Republican Congressman has asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to demote United States Agency for International Development administrator Rajiv Shah, the co-coordinator of the US Government relief operations in Haiti, for not having enough African-American on his staff.

The Congress, on Monday, sought to disapprove the opposition move to impeach Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran saying it is not proper to air opinion on a matter which is under consideration of the apex court.

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has predicted that the issue of climate change is likely to figure on the agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Washington, DC on November 24, on a State Visit. "The whole area of green technologies is an area in which Indian business, instead of being passive recipients of technology from the world, can in fact emerge as active suppliers of technology to the rest of the world," he said.

Veerappa Moily was forced to defer the Judges (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Bill, 2009 after the Opposition, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and Left, took strong objection to Clause VI of the Bill which states that High Court and Supreme Court Judges would declare their assets but the same would not be made public.

Republican United States Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the founder and co-chair of the newly reconstituted US Senate India Caucus, believes that the Caucus is 'really unique' because "it's the only country caucus that I am aware in the Senate."Cornyn addressed the packed audience of Indian Americans community leaders from across the country.

Not a single reference to the LeT. Not a single reference to its continuing terrorist infrastructure. And, we have provided dignity to Pakistan's baseless allegations against Baloch freedom-fighters by agreeing to make a reference to Balochistan in the joint statement in the context of terrorism by indirectly bringing on record Pakistan's projection of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and other Baloch leaders as terrorists, bemoans B Raman

United States lawmakers, who attended the annual Sikh American Heritage Dinner on Capitol Hill organized by the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, pledged to support the community's efforts to serve in the armed forces without compromising their religious principles.

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

Get Ahead presents an interview with six Indian-origin youngsters who won prestigious fellowships in the United States. Here, Previn Warren, a 26-year-old Harvard Law undergraduate, discusses how he came to win the prestigious grant and what he intends to do with the money.

A New York-based civil rights organisation on Thursday told the United S Congress how Asian American voters, including Indian Americans, faced hurdles in 11 states and in the District of Columbia during the 2008 presidential elections that prevented them from exercising their franchise

Following is the trascript of President Pratibha Patil's address to the joint sittingof Parliament on Thursday.

United States President Barack Obama has appointed two Indian-Americans, Rashad Hussain and Shomik Datta, to his legal team -- the White House Counsel. Hussain has been appointed as Deputy Associate Counsel to the US President and Dutta will be special assistant to President's Counsel, Greg Craig, the White House said. These appointments were made on January 28.

The resolution urges Americans to commemorate the impact that King's trip to India in 1959 and his study of Gandhian philosophy had in shaping the Civil Rights Movement and creating political climate necessary to pass legislation to expand civil rights and voting rights for all Americans.

Those who are appointed to the EC must be like Caesar's wife -- above suspicion, men of impeccable integrity and credibility, and must be seen as fair and impartial in order to command the respect of citizens of this country and of all political parties.

United States President Barack Obama has appointed yet another top Indian American legal mind to a senior position in his administration. Rashad Hussain, 30, who recently served as a trial attorney at the US Department of Justice, was named by Obama as Deputy Associate Counsel to the President.Before his stint with the DOJ, Hussain was working as a law clerk to Damon K Keith on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Detroit, Michigan.

Under attack from the international community for not reining in terrorist outfits, Pakistan on Thursday said that it will not allow use of its territory for terror activities."I assure you and I assure the House that I will never ever allow my soil, Pakistani soil to be used for terror activities," Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.Terming the Mumbai incident as 'unfortunate', Gilani said, "We condemn terrorism."

Congressman John Conyers of Michigan -- Gupta's home state where he was born and raised and went to medical school -- in his letter urged his fellow Democrats to join him in 'signing a letter to President-elect Barack Obama that Dr Sanjay Gupta not be nominated for the post', arguing that the celebrity physician and medical correspondent 'lacks the requisite experience needed to oversee the federal agency that provides crucial health care assistance.'

A run-in between the judiciary and the executive over appointment of three Supreme Court judges and an impeachment move against a High Court judge topped the issues that kept the Law Ministry's hands full in an year, which also saw some progress on the introduction of the Judges Inquiry Bill 2008 to check corruption.

What must India do, strategically and procedurally, to ensure that the nation does not ever again endure a brutality like the terrorism Mumbai encountered last fortnight? Readers suggest solutions

The Supreme Court on Friday snubbed the special committee of the Punjab Assembly for usurping judicial functions in passing certain directions at the time of expelling former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh and two others in the Amritsar land scandal.

The administration is leaving no stone unturned as it races against time to have the US-India civilian nuclear agreement completed by the Congressional adjournment date of September 26 even if indications are there that the lawmakers may return for a Lame-Duck Session after the November 4 presidential elections.

"In terms of India, in terms of South Asia, you cannot find a more knowledgeable person than Joe Biden. And indeed, right now, the Biden-Lugar legislation on Pakistan is the most important piece of legislation in terms of foreign policy on the Hill. It's trying to reorient our foreign policy toward that country to make it more comprehensive -- not just one that was individual-based and transactional as it was before."

US Senators Joseph R Biden, Jr (Delaware Democrat), who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Richard Lugar (Indiana Republican), the committee's ranking member, unveiled landmark legislation Tuesday designed "to promote an enhanced strategic partnership with the people of Pakistan."

The Pakistan Muslim League-N, headed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has decided to pull out of the coalition government in Pakistan over the judges row.Several rounds of talks between the PML-N and the Pakistan People's Party, which heads the coalition government, have hitherto failed to resolve the issue of restoration of judges, sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during last year's emergency. However, Sharif added that the PML-N would remain in the coalition.

Indian doctors won a landmark legal battle against the British government when the House of Lords ruled that the state "was wrong" in issuing guidelines discriminating against overseas graduates, mostly Indians,for employment in its health services.

Upholding the revision petition filed by the highly skilled migrants programme forum against retrospective changes effected to HSMP in November 2006, the high court in its judgement said: "The old scheme constituted an integrated and entire programme." It said that it was 'not open to the government to alter the terms and conditions upon which the pre-arranged stages were to be implemented.'

Pakistan's disgraced atomic scientist A Q Khan, under house arrest for the past four years after admitting to proliferating nuclear technology, has said that he is under 'illegal detention' and hopes that the new government will soon lift restrictions on his movement.

US think tank Lisa Curtis talks about the Pakistan polls and its aftermath.

The use of beacon light, which is seen as a status symbol, is till now restricted to a select category of people from politics, judiciary, executive and legislature.

Boucher said the Bush administration was satisfied with investigations carried out by Pakistani authorities along with the Scotland Yard.

"The resolution expresses our unwavering support in the wake of this brutal attack for Pakistan to be restored to a full democracy. The resolution also reaffirms the commitment of the United States to assist the people of Pakistan in combating terrorism, and promoting a free and democratic Pakistan," Ackerman said.

In a setback to the Bush administration, the US Justice Department has ordered a formal criminal probe into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes of terror suspects under the supervision of a federal prosecutor.

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice has made a suggestion for protecting whistle-blowers from the dreaded contempt law, till inquiry into such charges, as part of an effort to ensure accountability of judges. The proposal has been mooted for inclusion in the Judges (Inquiry) Bill 2006 which is expected to be introduced in Parliament shortly.

In the past six months, (Pakistan President Prevez) Musharraf has been seriously weakened, the major non-religious political figures have been diminished, and the US has been publicly involved in the deal-making leading to Pakistan's next government. The biggest security challenge for the US, however, comes from the newly emboldened violent extremists who are challenging the authority of the Pakistani state

Sexual predators are scary, but the bigger threat may be what your kids do by accident.

Close on the heels of a blistering missive by Congressman Tom Lantos, warning the TSA not to indulge in religious profiling of Sikhs several other lawmakers, both in the House and Senate, have also slammed the agency.

The resolution now goes to the US Senate for a concurring vote.