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Sri Lanka told reveal fate of 'disappeared' cartoonist
New York, June 10 - Sri Lankan authorities should challenge a parliamentarian’s claim as to the whereabouts of a political cartoonist who was forcibly disappeared in 2010 and provide information on his fate, Human Rights Watch said Monday.
Lawmaker Arundika Fernando told the Sri Lankan parliament June 5 that Prageeth Ekneligoda, a cartoonist and government critic who has not been seen since leaving work Jan 24, 2010, is currently living in hiding in France.
Poison found in two letters sent to NY mayor
New York, May 30 - Two threatening letters sent last week to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg contained the poison ricin, the city's police department announced Wednesday.
One of the letters was received last Friday at a New York municipal office and the other arrived at an office in Washington that houses the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an advocacy group Bloomberg founded to push for stricter gun control laws.
Bloomberg never came in contact with the letters.
The letters contain threats against Bloomberg over his policy against the unrestricted sale of firearms, an effort in which he has become more active after the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school massacre last December.
Preliminary tests performed on the letters confirmed the presence of ricin, a deadly poison.
US consumer confidence hits five-year high
New York, May 29 - US consumer confidence increased again in May to hit a five-year high, said a report by the research institute of Conference Board.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose to 76.2 from the revised-up figure of 69.0 in April, the report said Tuesday. The May reading marked the highest level since February 2008 and topped market estimates, reported Xinhua.
The report showed that the present situation index increased to 66.7 from 61.0, while the expectations index, which is a gauge of consumers' expectation for business conditions over the next six months, improved to 82.4 from 74.3 last month.
Spanish art gets privileged space in New York museum
New York, May 25 : New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has reopened its European paintings galleries after a two-year renovation, giving a privileged space to Spanish masters Velazquez, El Greco and Goya.
Prior to the overhaul, the Met's large collection of works by Velazquez, Goya, Ribera, Murillo and El Greco had been distributed in different galleries organized either by artistic movement or thematically.
But as of Thursday, this museum now has a dedicated space for Spanish art.
UN asks Russia for more peacekeepers
New York, May 23 - Russia has been asked to increase the level of staff it commits to UN peacekeeping missions around the world, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said.
"Our peacekeepers are in great demand. We have been asked to increase the number of peacekeepers involved in UN peacekeeping operations," Kolokoltsev said after meeting UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman.
Kolokoltsev said that about 80 Russian police officers are currently serving with eight UN peacekeeping operations.
India urged to protect Bangladesh war crimes witness
New York, May 16 - Authorities in India and Bangladesh should take all necessary steps to protect Shukhoranjan Bali, a long-missing witness in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
Bali, a Bangladeshi, claims he was abducted by the Bangladeshi police from the entrance to the ICT courthouse, detained, then forced by security forces across the border into India.
In India, he claims he was detained and tortured by the Border Security Force (BSF) before being held in Kolkata’s Dum Dum jail.
India urged to protect Bangladesh war crimes witness
New York, May 16 - Authorities in India and Bangladesh should take all necessary steps to protect Shukhoranjan Bali, a long-missing witness in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
Bali, a Bangladeshi, claims he was abducted by the Bangladeshi police from the entrance to the ICT courthouse, detained, then forced by security forces across the border into India.
In India, he claims he was detained and tortured by the Border Security Force (BSF) before being held in Kolkata’s Dum Dum jail.
Indian American wins US business chamber award
New York, May 10 : An Indian American businessman has been awarded by a US business chamber as its 2013 Ambassador of the Year.
Kiran Patel was named as the 2013 Ambassador of the Year by the Henderson Chamber of Commerce in the city of Henderson in the US state of Kentucky, thegleaner. com reported Thursday.
"Like previous winners of the Ambassador of the Year Award, (Patel) puts in several hours every day at their job and is very active in the chamber: attending ribbon cuttings, Brown Bag lunch events and other chamber events held throughout the year," the report quoted award presenter Janet Hortin as saying.
Indian-American woman running for US city council
New York, May 7 - An Indian-American woman is running for a city council in the US state of Washington, according to a media report.
Clinical pharmacist Vandana Slatter is running for the Bellevue City Council and challenging the incumbent, Don Davidson, the Northwest Asian Weekly reported Monday.
Vandana works as a senior regional medical sciences liaison official at American biopharmaceutical company Amgen and is also a public leader, her campaign website said.
'Sinister' quest for gold lands man 20 years' prison
New York, May 4 - A Jersey City man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for targeting Indian-American families for their high-quality jewellery in a series of home break-ins in 2009.
Miguel Ortiz and his crew of burglars took their search for gold to a "sinister" level, said Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey on Thursday sentencing Ortiz at the Burlington County Courthouse in Mount Holly, New Jersey, according to phillyBurbs. com.
UNSC sets up new political mission in Somalia
New York, May 4 - The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to establish the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (or UNSOM), the world body said.
The mission will be based in the Somali capital Mogadishu from June 3 for a one-year initial period.
The Council stressed the need for "effectively coordinated international support for Somalia's federal government", and said the mission's mandate would in particular include providing assistance to the government and the existing African Union peacekeeping force
(AMISOM) with advice on peace and state building.
Sikh group offers a million dollars for Sajjan Kumar's conviction
New York, May 2 - A US based Sikh rights group has announced a million-dollar reward for those individuals whose testimony and evidence may result in the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar.
The reward will be given to those individuals who will come forward with tips, evidence and testimony leading to the reversal of a Delhi court's judgement acquitting Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) announced.
SFJ said it would engage top advocates to prosecute the appeal against the acquittal of Kumar before Delhi High Court.
Indian in US given jail for selling drugs
New York, May 1 - An Indian in the American state of Indianapolis has been sentenced to three years in jail for selling drugs and is facing deportation to India after serving his sentence.
Phulbir Singh used four aliases. He was given the prison term by Delaware Circuit Court Judge 5 Thomas Cannon jr, who also said that nobody knew who the accused was given that he used different names and had no clear identity since arriving in the US, the Muncie Free Press reproted.
Singh was blamed for selling drugs that killed people and for not having a legal status in the country.
However, representatives of a gurdwara in Indianapolis said that Singh, 28, was a hardworking man with a helpful attitude.
US consumer confidence improves
New York, May 1 - US consumer confidence increased in April after an unexpected drop in March, said a report by the research institute Conference Board.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index reached 68.1 in April, higher than the revised figure of 61.9 in March, reported Xinhua.
The report showed that the present situation index increased to 60.4 from 59.2, while the expectations index, which is a gauge of consumers' expectation for business conditions over the next six months, improved to 73.3 from 63.7 last month.
Indian American students shine in California science fair
New York, April 27 : Indian American students shone in this years's California State Science Fair, grabbing the top award, six first place honours and various other awards.
Eesha Khare, a 12th grade student of Lynbrook High School in San Jose, California, won the top award for 'Project of the Year' in the senior grade at the fair held earlier this year, India-West reported Saturday.
Khare also won a $5,000 for her project, 'Design and Synthesis of Hydrogenated TiO2-Polyaniline Nanorods for Flexible High-Performance Supercapacitors'.
Indian American wins Wharton School award
New York, April 26 : ZenKars, a venture of an Indian American and his friend, won the 2013 Perlman Prize at the 2013 Wharton Business Plan Competition.
Awarded by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the award also carries a cash prize of $30,000, according to a statement issued out of Philadelphia.
Founded by the student team of Indian American Venkat Jonnala and Jean-Mathieu Chabas, ZenKars is an online model connecting used cars from corporate directly to consumers targeting a $600-billion market.
ExxonMobil reports slightly higher earnings
New York, April 26 - US supermajor ExxonMobil Corp. said Thursday it earned $9.5 billion in the first quarter, up 1 percent from the same period in 2012.
"ExxonMobil achieved strong results during the first quarter of 2013, while investing significantly to develop new energy supplies," chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said in a statement.
The company earned $2.12 per share in the quarter, up 6 percent from the January-March 2012 period.
ExxonMobil beat the average analyst profit estimate of $2.05 per share, but revenues came in below expectations.
American Airlines grounds all US flights
New York, April 17 - American Airlines, the No. 3 US carrier, Tuesday grounded all its domestic flights due to a problem that paralyzed its electronic reservation system.
In a message via Twitter, American Airlines announced that none of its aircraft flying domestic routes would be taking off until 5 p. m. while problems with the system were resolved.
The airline had announced around midday that the tool it uses for its reservations network, Sabre, had gone down, but shortly thereafter it said that the problems that were preventing access to its system were not related to Sabre.
New York's last fire watchtower in danger of disappearing
New York, April 16 : The Harlem Fire Watchtower, the last structure of its type in New York City, is in need of an immediate restoration to prevent it from disappearing as a landmark in northern Manhattan.
The 14-meter structure, also known as the Mount Morris Fire Watchtower, is in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem.
It was one of 11 such towers built in 1856 around New York City to protect Manhattan at a time when most buildings were constructed of wood.
Spanish business leaders to woo US investors
New York, April 10 - The Spanish Business Council for Competitiveness, or CEC, embarks this week on a tour of several US cities during which it will explain the opportunities offered by Spain's economy to international investors.
The first presentation will be made Wednesday at the New York campus of Spain's IESE Business School and will be run by the CEO of Spanish power giant Iberdrola, Jose Ignacio Sanchez Galan, who will be accompanied by CEC President Fernando Casado.