Total outstanding student loan debt in America is expected to exceed $1 TRILLION this year. Millions of hardworking, taxpaying, educated Americans are being crushed under the weight of their educational debts, while the economy continues to sputter. Support a REAL economic stimulus and jobs plan. Support the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012 (H.R. 4170). Since 1980, average tuition for a 4-year college education has increased an astounding 827%. Since 1999, average student loan debt has increased by a shameful 511%. In 2010, total outstanding student loan debt exceeded total outstanding credit card debt in America for the first time ever. In 2012, total outstanding student loan debt is expected to exceed $1 Trillion. In short, student loan debt has become the latest financial crisis ... Continue reading →
Washington DC - A senior US State Department official on Thursday evening confirmed to India America Today that the Indian government was in touch with their US counterparts about the Kairi Shepherd case, with the official confirming, “We are in contact with India regarding this case.” During the regular daily briefing at the US State Department, Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokesperson, stated she was uncertain if any communication had taken place, telling journalists, “I don’t know whether we’ve been approached by the Indian side.” Nuland, however, clarified, “One thing I did want to say about this case, further to what we have said before, is that prior to 2001, US immigration law did not provide for automatic acquisition of US citizenship for an adopted ... Continue reading →
Gerald L. Gordon, CEO, FCEDA Fairfax, VA - India America Today spoke with Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) as Fairfax County, along with Fairfax-based George Mason University (Mason), prepares to host a 40-member business delegation from India that aims to strengthen trade and economic ties with the United States. The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) Summit for US-India Trade & Economics (SUITE 2012) will be May 22-25. This is the third IACC summit in the US and the first to be held outside New York City. After meeting two times in New York, this is the first time the IACC summit is being held elsewhere. What is Fairfax County’s interest in having the summit here? ... Continue reading →
Santa Clara, California - The IT industry received a nudge to rethink innovation and move beyond the ongoing rebundling process as the first keynote address got under way at The Indus Entrepreneurs Conference (TIEcon) 2012 on Friday, May 17 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. “Intellectual renewal of a large company is not only about the products that we work on, but how we work,” said Vishal Sikka, head of Technology and Innovation for SAP, during the first keynote of the conference, urging, “Let’s stop wasting time on things that add no value and let’s do something purposeful with our lives.” On a question about the influence of his growing up in India, Sikka said, “There’s a sense of respect for ... Continue reading →
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta/ Credit: Tejinder Singh Washington DC - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta will leave next week for a week-long trip to Asia, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little announced today. Panetta will leave May 30 to participate in the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore and will then travel to Vietnam and India. On the way to Asia, he will visit with head of the US Pacific Command, Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, at his headquarters in Hawaii as well as with service members assigned there. The secretary then flies to Singapore to deliver remarks at the opening plenary session of the Shangri-La Dialogue where he is expected to speak about U.S. defense policy in an era of austerity. He will also hold ... Continue reading →
Washington, DC - With both houses of the Indian Parliament clearing the Anand Marriage Amendment Bill 2012, there was a sense of joy and satisfaction among Sikhs across the globe, including in the United States. The bill paved the way for the validation of Sikh traditional marriages, amending the Anand Marriage Act of 1909, thus providing for compulsory registration of "Anand Karaj" marriages. Welcoming the passage of the law in Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and Lok Sabha (Lower House) of the parliament, Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Washington based Sikh Council on Religion and Education, said, “This is an historic day for Sikhs in the Independent India after a long and hard struggle. Not having a full recognition of their observances and their customs in ... Continue reading →
Turkmenistan - Representatives of Turkmenistan, Pakistan, and India have signed an agreement aimed at the construction of a pipeline that would cross Afghanistan to bring Turkmen gas to India and Pakistan. The US-backed deal was signed in the Turkmen Caspian resort of Avaza on May 23. Representatives of India's state-owned Gail Ltd. and Pakistan's private Inter State Gas System joined Turkmenistan in signing the deal. The concept of the estimated $7.6 billion pipeline was first raised in the mid-1990s, but construction has yet to begin. Turkmen officials have said the proposed 1,735-kilometer pipeline could carry 33 billion cubic meters a year. According to supporters of the project, the pipeline could be operational by 2016, if the security situation in Afghanistan is stable. The United States ... Continue reading →
Rajat M. Nag, Managing Director General, ADB/ Credit:Al Teich Washington DC - Asia is booming, but rising inequality in the distribution of wealth and a lack of good governance present significant challenges, according to a top development banking official from the region. Addressing a select audience of journalists, policy makers and academicians, Rajat Nag, Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said Asians were richer and healthier today, but there is another face of Asia; two-thirds of the world’s poverty is sheltering there. At a Newsmaker press conference at the National Press Club, Washington, DC, Nag said that the pictures of "glitzy towers" of Asia were real but the other face of staggering poverty and malnutrition was also just as real. “In this ... Continue reading →
