To address continued bullying in schools, the DOE provided principals with additional guidance in creating rigorous anti-bullying plans, and new measures will hold them accountable for enforcing those plans. For example, for the first time, efforts to combat bullying and harassment will factor into a school's Quality Review. more>

Beck, a comedian-turned anchor, went on a tirade on medical care in India in a weak attempt to damage the healthcare reform bill on Capitol Hill and, likely, also to disparage the recent foreign policy success of the Obama administration at courting India. more>

The brutal job market paired with the rising cost of education and the declining rupee are all reasons many Indian graduates are forgoing the visa line at the American Embassy this year. more>

While in much of the world newspapers have been waning in economic health, India’s print media remains one of the few bright spots. more>

A Sikh family that reported a burglary last week in Texas was handcuffed, asked about the Mumbai terror attacks, and told by a police officer he “knows Muslims.” more>

An atmosphere of discrimination existed against Indian-American professionals. They were at a disadvantage in getting government contracts, as they were considered inferior to their fellow professionals who had grown up and studied in the United States. more>

The hunky dory life for the Premi family began to go awry when a different kind of trouble started brewing for Jagmohan in school this past winter. A boy – who Pritpal says was an “Arabi,” meaning of Middle Eastern descent – started bullying his son mercilessly, teasing him and physically accosting him at every opportunity. more>

According to Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, N.Y.C. graduation rates jumped from 47 percent in 1986 to 60 percent in 2006. Yet, lots of works still need to be done. more>

“For centuries, the American Dream has called millions to our nation’s shores. Unfortunately, at present, the dream is fading for too many because they lack the skills needed to succeed in our country,” said Republican Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX). more>

Last week, Jagmohan Singh Premi, a student of Richmond Hill High School, was punched in the face as a student tried to take off his patka (turban). This was not the first time. more>

The report’s findings are a sobering reminder that, although the community has come a long way in protecting their civil rights in America, there is still a long road ahead. more>

“There has been a very big upswing in remittances to India from the United States because more people are servicing their wealth management needs in India,” said New York-based Dave Majumdar, head of marketing for South Asia, Western Union Company. more>

With hopes of earning good wages and getting permanent residency in the United States, they came from Kerala to rehabilitate the Gulf Coast areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Instead, the 500 workers, mostly pipe-fitters and welders, were put to physical and psychological strain. Forced to share cramped quarters for which they had to pay an exorbitant sum, these workers were threatened with deportation when they protested against their condition. more>

Over the years, the Indian-American community has gone from strength to strength in American politics. Now, as the race for the 2008 U.S. presidential elections heats up, the community is set to play a crucial role. more>

As a result of the United States' existing legal framework, which renders the likelihood of visa sponsorship slim for many, a disproportionate number of international students are being railroaded into industries that more readily sponsor visa applications. These include areas such as engineering, consulting, financial services and investment banking. more>

A new January 1, 2007, ruling will force hospitals in New York state to provide health care to people who are uninsured or underinsured at discounted or very low rates and to inform patients about how much financial aid is available for their care. more>

After she tried to reform the practices of her mosque in West Virginia, and conducted a mixed-gender congregation in a mosque in Manhattan, Mumbai-born writer and the voice of the Islamic feminist movement, Asra Nomani, 40, said: I very much watch my back, look for danger in the shadows and always carry my cell phone, fully charged. more>

Two years after the 9/11 tragedy, a Sikh was brutally attacked by five white men who assumed he was a terrorist, simply because of his turban. The shockwaves of that moment, however, still resonate with him. more>

After a two-year effort and great cost, Manufacturing & Technologies News obtained an “elusive” unpublished Department of Commerce report that the Bush administration stifled. The 336-page report spells out corporate America’s hiring practices abroad. more>

Last week’s rallies were described by immigration advocates as the biggest social movement of Hispanics since the United Farm Workers of Cesar Chavez. The plans for protests, vigils, and marches also included a less visible tier of people stirred to action over U.S. immigration policy: non-Latinos. more>

Although President Bush allocated funds for the teaching of Hindi in New Jersey schools, parents and community members in the West Windsor-Plainsboro district discovered these classes are not being offered to their children. Members of the organization, “Hindi in U.S. Schools,” are appealing directly to president to intervene. more>

U.S. immigration authorities arrested Narendra Mandalapa, a South Asian Indian, for filing nearly 1,000 possibly fraudulent labor-based petitions for computer professionals from India and Pakistan. Assets worth over $5 million were seized. more>

Swarnalata Agarwal, a South Indian senior immigrant, who doesn’t like American food and had difficulty communicating in English with other residents of the rehabilitation center, finally has found a place where she can eat vegetarian Indian food of her choice, and speak in her mother tongue with other residents, and even with the nurses, staff and doctors. more>

That Indian worker hauling crates on a truck at Sabzi Mandi in Jackson Heights in New York, or the busboy in a restaurant in Cerritos area in California, or even a professional worker who flits back and forth between home in India and the United States on a tourist visa to earn some extra money, are part of a million illegal immigrants who live and work in the United States, according to a new report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) based in Washington, D.C. more>

A class lawsuit was filed against one of the oldest Hindu temples in North America for the violation of federal and labor laws. Cooks and priests at the temple claimed that they were routinely compelled to work more than 65 hours a week without overtime pay. more>

For many, Mott Street in lower Manhattan is the place for the best Chinese food, but for one student at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, the area conjures images of the sad conditions in which turtles and other marine life are kept and sold, sometimes illegally. more>

During a school field trip to Washington, D.C., 17-year-old Owasi Mhsri was targeted and searched 13 times out of 16 checkpoints. Meanwhile, his Caucasian classmates sailed through untouched. Students from the California community are organizing on his behalf. more>

The suspension record of a 15-year-old Sikh student who wore a small ceremonial knife to school has been revoked. Balancing religious freedom and school safety, school authorities have allowed him to wear a smaller version of the sacred symbol. more>

The events that stacked against Modi started with a massive Internet protest launched by the Coalition Against Genocide (CAG); the group’s founder, the Indian Muslim Council, has been lobbying against Modi since the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Both the Indian and the U.S. governments were caught off guard when the visa issue surfaced. more>

Labor union leaders from India are on a nine-city month-long tour to meet with their American counterparts. Their mission: to speak out against the practice of outsourcing to India and other countries, which, they claim, is a "race to the bottom" for the workers, rampant with exploitation and massive layoffs in the public sector. more>

South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), founded last year by one college grad with a dream, aims to reach half of the South Asian population in the United States, which is under 30 years of age. She has organized on campuses nationwide to register students and raise voter awareness. more>

Over the past few years, Sikhs have carried out a vigorous public relations campaign to make mainstream America more aware of the Sikh religion and stem hate crimes against their community. With the appointment of Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, they hope to see a change in attitude. more>

After building a life of affluence in the United States, Yaskhi decided to heed to his call for service to the people of his state and roots. He relocated to India with his wife and family earlier this year and decided he would give up his green card if he won the Lok Sabha elections. more>

Bollywood mega shows—events that showcase big Indian singing and dancing stars—have become big business in the New York area. But the big payoffs come with big risks. more>

There are around 156,000 restaurant workers in New York City, including all the five boroughs. South Asian workers comprise around 2.5 percent of that workforce; some 3845 persons from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh work as busboys, servers, cart waiters, cleaners, chefs and sometimes all at once in a single day. This is their story. more>

Representatives from New York, Texas and elsewhere are asking the Homeland Security Department to probe the mistreatment of a Canadian citizen passing through O’Hare on her way home from India. Customs officials defaced Berna Cruz’s passport and deported her to India after threatening her with arrest. more>

Johannesburg was the neutral venue for the volatile India-Pakistan cricket match, but nothing beat seeing the match live through the night at a small venue that labels itself as ‘India-Pakistan-Bangladesh’ in Manhattan, with a sizeable crowd from all the three countries wildly cheering the teams. more>

Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, affirmed that the United States is increasing its tilt towards India—from economic to security matters. more>

Eighty percent of the foreign exchange pouring into China is from “Overseas Chinese.” In India, the corresponding figure is a dismal 20 percent. Even as India begins to court its diaspora, China is far ahead, monetarily, business-wise, and culturally. more>

According to unofficial figures, there are fewer than 20 Indian police officers in the New York Police Department and not a single Indian works as a firefighter. Here are recollections of two Indian NYPD officers working in Manhattan on September 11. more>

About 300 Bene Israelis live in the United States. They’re a community that traces its roots to a group of shipwrecked Jewish refugees from the Middle East, who landed on the Konkan cost near Mumbai centuries ago. Romiel Daniel, a Mumbai native, estimates that the majority live in New York and Long Island. “People never believe that I am Indian and Jewish,” he says. “They think I converted, or walked into the synagogue by accident.” more>

Indian Americans often complain that their community does not participate enough in the political process in this country. But last week’s instance in Georgia when incumbent Rep. Cynthia McKinney lost the primary, shows that Indian Americans can make a difference. more>

Roger Chugh appointed Assistant Secretary of State in New Jersey, Seema Singh named Public Advocate. Their appointments mark the growing influence of the South Asian community in a state that is fast overtaking New York as America’s “salad bowl.” more>