NEW YORK: Three Indian American community leaders have been elected to the standing committees of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

NEW YORK: PepsiCo's Indra K. Nooyi has been elected Chairman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC) - the first woman to ever serve at the helm of this premier business advocacy organization.

NEW YORK: The Chinese Institute of Engineers USA, in conjunction with the National Engineers Week (E-Week), has conferred the 2008 Asian American Engineer of the Year Award (AAEOY) on seven prominent Indian Americans from various high tech companies all over the US.

NEW YORK: Reductions of greenhouse gas emissions required on a global scale cannot be achieved without the cooperation of the US, the European Union, China and India, according to Richard C. Levin, President, Yale University.

NEW YORK: In yet another shocking crime story involving South Asians, Virginia police found the charred remains of a woman’s body wrapped in a comforter, in a wooded area off a highway in Mecklenburg County, Virginia on Jan 16.

NEW YORK: Scholar, intellectual and peace activist Arun Gandhi — the fifth grandson of Mahatma Gandhi — has landed in an unseemly controversy for his purported anti-Semitic views expressed in a recent article he wrote for the Washington Post online.

NEW YORK: The Department of Education, New York City has decided to end race-based quotas in a specialty school following a class action suit by an Indian couple.

NEW JERSEY: The New Jersey General Assembly on Jan 10 gave final legislative approval to RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction) legislation Assembly members Upendra J. Chivukula, John F. McKeon, Linda Stender, and Louis Manzo sponsored to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey through a regional alliance of 10 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

NEW YORK: Following the recent visit to India by leaders of United Way, the global, non-commercial charity organization has embarked on a major expansion of its India activities and increased benefits to the needy in India.

HOUSTON: Indian-American Piyush Bobby Jindal, a conservative Republican, recreated history as he was sworn in as the youngest governor of once racially segregated US state of Louisiana. He promised a "New Louisiana" that will be a magnet for the dreamers, the risk-takers, the adventurers, the leaders of America’s new economy, Jindal said immediately after being sworn in as Louisiana’s 55th governor.