NEW YORK - US President Donald Trump's administration has called in tens of thousands of tax and aviation safety employees back to work without immediate payment as the longest partial government shutdown entered its 25th day with him and the Democratic Party leaders obstinately refusing to negotiate on his demand for funding for a wall along the Mexico border in the budget. Without a budget all but the essential services have shut down and about 800,000 federal employees are on furlough or temporary layoff...

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump has called up the family of Indian-origin police officer Ronil Singh who was shot to death allegedly by an illegal immigrant in the US state of California last week, the White House said. Corporal Ronil Singh, 33, of the Newman Police Department was shot and killed during a traffic stop at Merced Street and Eucalyptus Avenue just before 1 a.m. on December 26. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement on Thursday about the President's call...

LOS ANGELES,CA - To commemorate the spirit of giving during  Thanksgiving  , a free eye care clinic was held on Nov 29 in Downtown Los Angeles by the Anekant Community Center and the International Jewelry Center, with support from the Diamond Club of West Coast, the International Diamond and Colored Stone Association, Dr. Nitin Shah, and Dr. John Larcabal. Around 275 people had preregistered for the event and over 265 tenants and employees in the Downtown LA area attended...

NEW DELHI - Seasoned diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla has been appointed as the next ambassador of India to the United States. Shringla, a 1984-batch Indian Foreign Service diplomat will succeed Navtej Sarna.  “He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” the Ministry of External Affairs said on Dec 20th. At present, Shringla is serving as Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Senior diplomat Riva Ganguly Das, presently Director General of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 

WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives has approved more than $5 billion in funding for the President's border wall in its stopgap spending bill, close to 24 hours before the partial government shutdown deadline. The spending bill was approved by the House on Thursday with 217 votes in favour (all Republican) and 185 against, only eight of which were cast by Republicans. The Senate will discuss the bill on Friday, although it is unlikely to approve it since Democrats have enough votes...

WASHINGTON - The US Senate has approved a short-term spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown during the holidays, but it does not include funds demanded by US President Donald Trump to build the wall along the Mexico border. The bill, pushed by the Republicans and supported by the Democrats, includes funds to finance the administration for seven weeks from Friday midnight -- when the current ones expire -- till February 8. The House of Representatives is expected to approve the bill on Thursday...

KUALA LUMPUR - Relatives of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 victims on Friday handed over five suspected pieces of the debris discovered in Madagascar to authorities on Friday. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER, disappeared from radar on March 8, 2014, some 40 minutes after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing with 239 people on board, 154 of them Chinese. Grace Nathan, the daughter of one of the passengers on the plane, was one of the three who handed over what they said

INDIA - India's public healthcare system is sick. In late September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration launched Ayushman Bharat, meaning Long Life India, to address this illness. This initiative, which has been described as the "world's biggest healthcare programme" will insure more than 500 million Indian citizens who currently have no coverage. Will "Modicare", as the programme has been labeled, cure what ails India's public health care system?

By JAIDEEP SARIN
CHANDIGARH- The number of asylum seekers in Canada from India, a majority of them Sikhs, has soared by over 300 per cent in the past two years alone, with the Canadian government agencies acknowledging “renewed support for separatism in the Punjab region”. The ‘Refugee Claims Analysis Report’, compiled by the Intelligence and...

ANAHEIM, CA - The Nov.6 mid-term saw nearly 100 Indian-American candidates in federal, state and local office races. This unprecedented involvement in the political arena has boosted the profile of the community. In congressional contests, the re-elections went smoothly while several candidates in their first run, performed strongly. The state races yielded the richest hauls. A few things stand out: a majority of those coming into office are Democrats; women were equally present as candidates and winners;