More than two dozen lawmakers and prominent Indian Americans gathered at the US Capitol for the annual Diwali celebration, highlighting the contributions of the Indian American community and the strong US-India relationship. The event, organized by the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, also featured addresses from several Congressmen and Senators who expressed support for Indian Americans and emphasized the importance of the US-India partnership.
Nepal court releases rape accused cricketer Lamichhane on bail
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will arrive in New York on Sunday to participate in the high-level 77th session of the UN General Assembly, which kicks off on September 20 with the opening of the general debate.
We have our own problems for sure and they are not trivial, but for now, our economy is in not too bad a shape, our politics is as personality-driven and authoritarian as that of most countries in the world. We must make the best of what we have and not be excessively unhappy looking at the grass on the other side of the septic tank which may not be greener after all!, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
The future challenger to Narendra Modi would be somebody who can bring the Hindus and Muslims together again. The Hindus as Hindus, not broken caste groups, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Ramesh Menon, the veteran journalist suggests Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi what he should do if he wants to win 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Speed skating - Swings wins mass start, brings first Belgian Winter gold in 74 years.
'Absolute non-violence is not only sinful, but immoral.' 'This doctrine of non-violence benumbed the revolutionary fervor, softened the limbs and hearts of the Hindus, and stiffened the bones of enemies.' A revealing excerpt from Vikram Sampath's Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966.
Mahinda Rajapaksa completed 50 years of parliamentary politics in July this year. He was elected as a Member of Parliament at the young age of 24 in 1970. He has since been elected president twice and has been appointed prime minister thrice.
10 central trade unions have called a nationwide shutdown against 'anti-worker policies' of the central government. Apart from being successful in Bengal, Kerala and NE states, the bandh has also got support from Cong leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
After a 6.5-hour debate, the upper house clears the bill. Amit Shah said the bill is not anti-Muslim and Indian minorities have nothing to fear from its passage.
According to observers, with pro-China Rajapaksa winning the election, the result will have a bearing on India's presence in the Indian Ocean region where Beijing is increasingly making inroads.
Rajapaksa is the first president to be sworn in outside Colombo.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Sukanya Verma recaps all the action at this year's MAMI.
President Maithripala Sirisena's new Cabinet was also sworn in and Rajapaksa was named the new minister of finance and economic affairs.
According to a UN report, people live long, healthy lives in these 12 countries.
A round-up of all the results from the 16th World Athletic Championships in London
The winners of the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest have been announced. The winning shot was taken by Turkish Associated Press photographer called Burhan Ozbilici, with an image he has simply titled An Assassination in Turkey. Showing Mevlut Mert Altintas shouting after shooting Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey, on December 19 2016.
'If all goes well, Modi will visit the Maldives later this year. But two Indian concerns remain unaddressed: President Yameen's intentions about Mohammad Nasheed and China,' says Rajeev Sharma.
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton apologised on Thursday to former US tennis star James Blake, who was arrested after being wrongly identified as a suspect in a fraud ring and said he is concerned over how much force is used.
Colombo's enduring interests suggest the relationship between the Sri Lanka and China will only strengthen, says Nitin Pai.
Sri Lankans on Thursday voted in large numbers in the bitterly contested presidential election in which incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa is seeking a record third term against his friend-turned-foe Maithripala Sirisena, with an unusually high voter turnout in Tamil and Muslim areas.
From the Syrian civil war to the Ukrainian crisis to the terror unleashed by the dreaded Islamic State, there was no lack of news in 2014. In this five-part series, rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee would seek to placate the hawks in the RSS by stating that the writing of history should not be one-sided. At the same time, he would project a moderate 'Nehruvian' image of himself as the archetypal liberal politician who would strive to attain a balance between conflicting viewpoints. A fascinating profile of the former prime minister and Bharat Ratna by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Shankar Raghuraman.
Obama's decision to visit India must be a result of his judgement that Modi is a man of action, feels Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Rajeev Srinivasan on how India has continued to disappoint, but could outdo Singapore one day.
At least three people were killed and nearly 100 others injured when communal clashes broke out in a popular Sri Lankan tourist region, even as President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday warned rioters against taking law into their own hands in curfew-bound areas.
Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Monday promised reservations to Muslims as well as Marathas, implementation of Rajinder Sachar committee report, and support for `statehood to Andaman and Nicobar' in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, released in Mumbai.
A recent inquiry report by the Geneva-headquartered Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has cast serious aspersions on the claims of the Sri Lankan government over alleged war crimes duirng the conflict with the LTTE. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may attend the opening ceremony for the Sochi Winter Olympics, but China has ruled out any formal meeting with President Xi Jinping whose attendance at the Games has already been confirmed.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's sage advice remains as relevant today as it was during his lifetime, says Vivek Gumaste.
The global stigma of discrimination will go only when Asians and Africans have the self-confidence to be themselves, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray
Since the US and India broadly share similar interests in Sri Lanka, they should coordinate closely to ensure that the country preserves its democratic institutions, says Lisa Curtis
Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela's condition remains "critical but stable", South African President Jacob Zuma said on Saturday hoping he will be out of the hospital soon.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman believes trade and people-to-people interactions between India and Pakistan can contain the fall-out of "flare-ups" like the recent killing and beheading of two Indian soldiers near the Line of Control in Kashmir.
Over a week after the superstorm Sandy battered the United States east coast, another significant storm is forecast to hit already-ravaged New York and New Jersey states bringing in high winds, storm surge and snow in some areas.
Asian Americans favourability rating of Romney is considerably lower, about half of the level for Obama, says a study on the political and social attitudes of Asian Americans released in Washington DC. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Vishwas More, retired chief engineer of the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University labs, who proudly proclaims he is 'a life-long Republican', and a veteran of political conventions, will attend his fifth Republican National Convention this week in Tampa, Florida, as an alternate delegate.
Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan, 45, a brilliant Indian American legal mind, who, in August last year was named principal deputy solicitor general of the United States, succeeding Neal Kumar Katyal, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia.