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India 4th most powerful nation in Asia but an 'underachiever': Lowy report

The USA holds the most power in Asia, followed by China and Japan

Online petition launched to extend H-1B visa holders' grace period

Amidst massive layoffs in the American tech sector that have resulted in a large number of Indian professionals being jobless, two Indian-American organisations have launched an online petition urging President Joe Biden to extend the grace period of H-1B visas holders from two months to a year. This means that once fired from a job, a foreign tech worker on H-1B visas would have one year to find a new job instead of the existing duration of 60 days, after which they have to leave the country. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. On behalf of immigrants (from the world, mainly from India and China) as well as naturalised citizens like Indian-Americans, Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies and Global Technology Professionals ...

From China to big sky: The balloon that unnerved the White House

The biggest question was how would China respond to all the furore that was unfolding at a rapid pace as Asia was asleep

Chennai-based pharma firm recalls eye drops from US after 55 adverse cases

A Chennai-based company has recalled its eye drops from the US market after a US govt agency has informed the company that several adverse events had taken place

US jobless insurance claims near historic low despite cooling economy

Applications for US unemployment insurance last week fell slightly, hovering around historically low levels as the labor market holds strong despite a weakening economy

US FTC is preparing potential antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com

The allegations the agency is preparing to make and the timeline for filing a complaint are still in flux, said the people, who asked not to be named speaking about a confidential probe

Adani rout eases, some relief after companies' market value almost halves

Friday was a relatively less damaging day in the stock rout that's wiped out about $112 billion from 10 Adani Group firms since US-based Hindenburg report

Weak earnings from tech giants call time on stocks rally, US payrolls loom

The MSCI World Stock Index slipped 0.2%, but was still near its highest since last August following a sharp rebound in recent weeks on hopes that central bank rate hikes are nearing an end

Dollar sustains momentum, rise slightly as traders await US jobs numbers

The dollar picked up against the euro, with the latter down 0.1% to $1.09 in early European trading

Oil prices rise as US recession fears over rate hikes ease, dollar weakens

Tamer rate hike expectations helped lower the dollar index, which supported oil prices as a weaker greenback makes the commodity cheaper for buyers holding other currencies

Prez Biden believed to have invited PM Modi for state visit to US: Report

US President Joe Biden is understood to have invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state visit this summer, PTI has learnt. The invitation has been accepted in principle and officials on both sides are now working on mutually convenient dates, according to multiple sources, who noted that it is currently in the early stages of logistical planning. Given that India is hosting a series of events this year related to G-20 leading to a summit in September, which among others would be attended by Biden, it is reliably learnt that officials from the two sides are looking for appropriate dates in June and July when not only both the US House of Representatives and the Senate are in session but Modi has a couple of days at his disposal when he does not have a predetermined domestic commitment or international engagements. At least a couple of days are required for the state visit, which among other things includes an address to the joint session of the US Congress and a state dinner at

Indian-American Conrad elected as Washington State Democratic Party chair

Indian-American political consultant Shasti Conrad has been elected as the new chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, becoming the youngest and first Indian-American woman to serve as a state party chair in the US. Conrad, 38, a political consultant, ran unopposed, with the support of Gov. Jay Inslee, Washington's Democratic US senators, most of the state's Democratic congressional delegation and a majority of other elected Democrats. I'm so honoured to have the opportunity to serve as Chair of our state party and build on the outstanding success Washington Democrats have earned at the ballot box for the last six years, said Conrad, who has worked on political campaigns since 2008 when she got her start as a field organiser working for then-Senator Obama's primary campaign. I'm excited to work with Democratic leaders from every community to build an unprecedented field operation that will carry the message of how Washington Democrats are delivering for working families to .

US industry seeks R&D policy for India's pharma sector ahead of Budget 2023

Ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24, the US pharma industry has said that India should come out with a research and development policy for its pharmaceutical sector. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to table the Union Budget for the financial year 2023-24 before parliament on February 1. It is time that the government of India comes out with a research and development policy for the pharmaceutical sector, Karun Rishi, president of USA-India Chamber of Commerce (USAIC) told PTI. Based out of Boston, the USAIC for the last 16 years has been organising the India-US health care summit which is attended by the who's who of the pharma sector from both India and the United States. In the BioPharma sector, the budget should aim to move up the value chain driven by research and development. Right policy push can provide India the fuel to become the R&D hub of the world, Rishi said in response to a question. For national security and stabilising the global supply chain,

Senior US diplomat Nuland to visit India for foreign office consultation

A senior American diplomat will travel to India for foreign office consultations with her Indian counterpart, an official statement said on Saturday. The India visit of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland follows Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu's trip to New Delhi early this month. Nuland's India tour is part of a four-nation visit, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Qatar from January 28 to February 3. In Kathmandu, she will engage with the new government on the broad agenda of the US partnership with Nepal, the State Department said in the statement. While in India, the Under Secretary will lead the US-India annual Foreign Office Consultations which cover the full range of bilateral, regional, and global issues. She will also meet with young tech leaders, it said. In Sri Lanka, Nuland will mark the 75th anniversary of US-Sri Lanka relations and offer continued US support for Sri Lanka's efforts to stabilise the economy, ..

India, China ahead of US and EU members in many respects: Russian FM Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke at length on the development of new centres of economic power, and financial and political influence

Mistakes made in handling classified records: Pence takes responsibility

Former Vice President Mike Pence has said that he takes full responsibility after classified documents were found at his Indiana home. In his first public comments since the discovery, Pence on Friday said he hadn't been aware that the documents were in his residence but his lack of knowledge wasn't an excuse. Let me be clear about something: Those classified documents should not have been in my personal residence, Pence said at Florida International University, where he was talking about the economy and promoting his new book, So Help Me God." Mistakes were made. The discovery made public by Pence's team earlier this week marked the latest in a string of recoveries of sensitive papers from the homes of current and former top US officials. The Department of Justice was already investigating the discovery of classified documents in former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort and at President Joe Biden's home in Delaware and his former Washington office. The announcement of th

Macleods Pharma recalls 10,000 bottles of anti-bacterial medication in US

Macleods Pharmaceuticals is recalling around 10,000 bottles of generic antibiotic medication in the US market due to a labelling error, according to the US health regulator. As per the latest enforcement report by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Macleods Pharma Inc, a US-based unit of the company, is recalling 10,052 bottles of Levofloxacin tablets, which are used to treat different types of bacterial infections. The company is recalling the affected lot due to"mismatching of the embossing on the tablets with the embossing mentioned in the package insert in the distributed bottles." Macleods manufactured the affected lot in its Baddi-based manufacturing plant in Himachal Pradesh. The company initiated the Class III recall in the US and Puerto Rico on January 5. As per the USFDA, a Class III recall is initiated in a situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences. The US generic drug market was estimate

People dying from cardiovascular disease up by 6.2% in US, says study

The number of people dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the US escalated during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic by 6.2 per cent, according to a study. The rise in the number of CVD deaths in 2020, from 874,613 CVD-related deaths recorded in 2019 to 928,741 in 2020, represents the largest single-year increase since 2015 and topped the previous high of 910,000 recorded in 2003, according to the latest available data from the Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics - 2023 Update of the American Heart Association, a global force for healthier lives for all, the study said. The study has been published in the journal Circulation. "While the total number of CVD-related deaths increased from 2019 to 2020, what may be even more telling is that our age-adjusted mortality rate increased for the first time in many years and by a fairly substantial 4.6 per cent," said the volunteer chair of the Statistical Update writing group Connie W. Tsao, an assistant professor at Harvard Medica

Always supported talks between India, Pak to ensure peace in South Asia: US

The US has reaffirmed that the pace, the scope and the character of any dialogue between India and Pakistan is a matter for the two countries, asserting that Washington has always supported talks between the two neighbours to ensure peace in South Asia. Responding to a question raised by a Pakistani journalist on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's recent remarks seeking peace talks with India, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Monday said that even though the United States wants to see regional stability in South Asia, its relationships with Pakistan and India "stand on their own". "We've long called for regional stability in South Asia. That's certainly what we want to see. We want to see it advanced. When it comes to our partnership our partnerships with India and Pakistan, these are relationships that stand on their own. We do not see these relationships as zero-sum," Price told reporters at his daily news conference. He further said that the "pace, scope, the character

Ready to assist Pakistan in solving its electricity issues, says US

The US is ready to assist Pakistan in resolving its electricity woes, a top official in the Biden administration has said, hours after the South Asian country faced a nationwide power breakdown due to a "frequency variation" in the national grid. According to the Ministry of Energy, the system of frequency of the national grid went down at 7:34 am local time on Monday, resulting in the breakdown on Monday, leaving millions of people without electricity, the second such outage in nearly four months. Of course, (we) have seen what has transpired in Pakistan. Our thoughts are with all those who've been affected by the outages. The US, of course, as you mentioned, has assisted our Pakistani partners across any number of challenges, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday. We're prepared to do so in this case, if there is something that we're able to provide. But I'm not aware of any particular request yet, he said. Pakistan is ...