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NEWTON, Iowa - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) on Monday said his campaign made a "dumb mistake" when it circulated a memo criticizing rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's financial ties to India. ADVERTISEMENT In an interview with The Associated Press, Obama disavowed the memo which carried the headline — " Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab) — and referred to Bill and Hillary Clintons' investments in India; her fundraising among Indian-Americans; and the former president's $300,000 in speech fees from Cisco, a company that has moved U.S. jobs to India. "It was a dumb mistake on our campaign's part and...

Sen. Barack Obama is on the defensive after his campaign staff referred to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's political affiliation as "D-Punjab." A three-page analysis of the Bill and Hillary's Clinton's investments, titled "Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab)'s Personal Financial and Political Ties," was sent out to news organizations. It also slams Hillary's record on outsourcing, and on protecting American jobs. The document was sent with the understanding that news organizations not reveal that the Obama campaign was the source. When asked about the document, Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama told the New York Times: "We did give reporters a series of...

<p>WASHINGTON - A major Indian-American organization yesterday accused Barack Obama's presidential campaign of "engaging in the worst kind" of stereotyping for slamming Bill and Hillary Clinton's close ties to India.</p> <p>Obama's team circulated an opposition research memo Thursday, hours after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's congressional financial disclosure forms were made public. The statement accused the former first couple of reaping "significant financial rewards from their relationship with the Indian community." The Obama memo bashed Bubba for investing in companies that ship U.S. jobs to India, and accused his wife of raking in gobs of campaign cash from Indian-Americans and favoring Indian businesses over heartland jobs. It labeled her "Sen. Clinton (D-Punjab)."</p>

Shortly after the Clinton campaign released the financial information, the campaign of Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, circulated to news organizations — on what it demanded be a not-for-attribution-basis — a scathing analysis. It called Mrs. Clinton “Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab)” in its headline. The document referred to the investment in India and Mrs. Clinton’s fund-raising efforts among Indian-Americans. The analysis also highlighted the acceptance by Mr. Clinton of $300,000 in speech fees from Cisco, a company the Obama campaign said has moved American jobs to India. A copy of the document was obtained by Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, which provided...

ARLINGTON, Va. - Sen. George Allen met Wednesday with Indian-American political leaders concerned that he referred to a rival's campaign staffer as "macaca" and told the Virginia native of Indian descent, "Welcome to America." Members of the US Indian Political Action Committee said they have received hundreds of e-mails about the comments Allen made Friday at a speech that S.R. Sidarth was videotaping for his Democratic challenger, Jim Webb. "Obviously this is something that has us very, very concerned," said Sanjay Puri, a northern Virginia businessman and founder and director of the committee, which claims 30,000 members. "The remarks are...

RICHARDSON (AP) - When Ron Patel talks to customers at the Super 8 Motel he owns, he usually does so in English. When he speaks to the housekeeping staff it's often in Spanish. When he talks to his wife, it's in the Indian language Gujarati. It's a complicated but increasingly common scene in U.S. hotels and motels, about one-third of which are owned by Indians, according to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. To help keep order in the multilanguage environment, many hotel operators are turning to a Gujarati-Spanish phrasebook developed for hotel owners and being expanded and more widely...

By Sonia Moghe ASSOCIATED PRESS 11:40 a.m. August 4, 2006 RICHARDSON, Texas – When Ron Patel talks to customers at the Super 8 Motel he owns, he usually does so in English. When he speaks to the housekeeping staff it's often in Spanish. When he talks to his wife, it's in the Indian language Gujarati. It's a complicated but increasingly common scene in U.S. hotels and motels, about one-third of which are owned by Indians, according to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. To help keep order in the multilanguage environment, many hotel operators are turning to a Gujarati-Spanish phrasebook...

An Indian American political activist, to whom US Democratic Senator Joe Biden made a controversial remark that had raised the hackles of the community, has now come to the rescue of the senator. Manish Antani, 23, a resident of Nashua, New Hampshire, and a self-described Indian activist, has been quoted as saying that he was "100 per cent behind him (Biden) because he did nothing wrong". Biden was caught on a local television network as telling Antani, "I've had a great relationship (with Indian Americans). In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go...

Facing criticism, potential 2008 presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday defended his recent remark that "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." The Delaware senator said his words were taken out of context. On a recent edition of the C-SPAN series "Road to the White House," Biden is shown in New Hampshire boasting about his support among Indian-Americans. "I've had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight...

by Mark Finkelstein July 7, 2006 If you're a Republican senator who makes a remark with insensitive racial connotations, you're toast. Ask Trent Lott. But if you're a Democrat? Hey, no problem! Then again, woe betide the Republican senator who offers an awkward description of the workings of the internet. That's the world according to Time reporter Ana Marie Cox, who appeared on last evening's Scarborough Country. For those who might have missed the Biden flap, on a recent campaign swing to New Hampshire, Biden told an Indian political activist: “You cannot go into a Dunkin Donuts or a 7-Eleven...

WASHINGTON - Facing criticism, potential 2008 presidential candidate Joe Biden has been forced to explain his recent remark that "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." On a recent edition of the C-SPAN series "Road to the White House," the Delaware senator is shown shaking hands with a man and boasting about his support among Indian-Americans. "I've had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent....

Indian-Americans lash out at US Senator By Sridhar Krishnaswami in Washington | Friday, 07 July , 2006, 12:03 Ranking Democrat in the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph Biden, who allegedly made comments belittling Indian Americans, has come under attack from an organisation representing the community. Senator Biden during his recent trip to New Hampshire told an Indian American activist that "in Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7/11 [a chain store] or a Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking". Slamming Biden for...

Biden Say What? A Biden Moment, as it were. In thanking a young Indian-American man for the support of his Indian-American group, Sen. Biden touts how Indians are the fastest growing immigrant group in Delaware and says, "You CANNOT go into a 7-11 or a Dunkin Donuts without an Indian accent."

Kamil Hasan, a long time Silicon Valley based educator, entrepreneur, and angel investor was recently selected At-Large Member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and a Member of the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party. Hasan's goal is to help the Indo-American community gain well-deserved political clout to make major influences on the competitiveness, economic growth, and the future direction of US. He says that he is enjoying getting involved in politics as it is very exciting, especially the hope that his efforts of today could have a major impact on the future generations and in some ways, on...

New Delhi: The Indian diaspora is today the third largest Asian community in the US, is upwardly mobile and is on its way to becoming a political force in that country. Cherian Samuel, a scholar at the Institute of Defence Studies and Anlyses (IDSA), made the observation here during a seminar Thursday on Indo-US relations, organised ahead of George W. Bush's visit. Samuel said Indian Americans totalled about 1.7 million in the US according to the 2000 census, their numbers having gone up by an incredible 106 percent since 1990. It grew at a rate of 7.6 percent annually in...

Washington, Feb 5: An Indian American was among those detained by the US police along with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and Beverly Young, wife of a Republican Congressman, at the time of President George W Bush's State of the Union Address to Congress. The person, who did not want his identity revealed, was questioned by the police and authorities for close to an hour before being released. This was because he resembled someone on a Secret Service photo watch list, a media report said. The man was a personal guest of Florida Democract Alcee Hastings at Bush's address last week...

Dallas, April 29: Today's great American hotel owner is more likely to be named Patel and have roots that extend to the Indian state of Gujarat, than to be named Trump and lay claim to premier properties in the New York area. Immigrants from India, almost all with ties to Gujarat, have become a dominant force in the US hotel industry. They own about half of the US economy lodging facilities and almost 37 per cent of all hotel properties here, according to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), based in Atlanta. This means that if a traveller stops...

If figures released by the US's Centre for Immigration Studies can be relied upon, the last five years have seen the highest influx into the US — no matter the cataclysmic 9/11 terror strikes and the stringent curbs and border scrutiny in its wake. A report released by the centre, which favours stiffer checks on immigration, says that 7.9 million immigrants have entered the US between 2000 and 2005, more than any other five-year period in the nation's history. This influx is said to have taken the total number of foreign-born persons in the US to 35.2 million. The number...

As the US Congress considers some tough immigration proposals to tighten the entry process into the country, a new study shows that of the 35.2 million foreign-born population in America in 2005, around 1.4 million are Indians. There are 35.2 million foreign-born people with the number of illegal immigrants anywhere between 9 to 13 million, according to the study by the Centre for Immigration Studies. "The 35.2 million immigrants living in the country in March 2005 is the highest number ever recorded -- two-and-a-half times the 13.5 million during the peak of the last great immigration wave in 1910," said...

Though pleased that the White House would be celebrating Diwali this year, the United States India League has said the celebrations should reflect the festival's status as Hinduism's most important one. The League, a representative body of Indians in the US, has also urged President George W Bush to attend the function, noting that his presence would send the 'right signals to his friends in India and the Indian American community'. According to the League's executive director, Don Feder, merely 'going through the motions of having a pro forma Diwali celebration' would not be enough. "Diwali is Hinduism's most importance...