WASHINGTON: Several Members of Congress have sent letters to CNN and MSNBC to highlight the lack of coverage of the Asian American and Pacific Islander vote during the 2008 presidential campaigns.

NEW YORK: To help develop a new generation of investigative reporters in an era of cutbacks at major news organizations, UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism has announced a call for entries for its second annual competition for three year-long fellowships in investigative reporting.

NEW YORK: Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, has introduced H. Res. 638 which expresses the House of Representatives' desire that the UN should amend Article 23 of the Charter to establish India as a permanent member of the Security Council.

NEW YORK: The importance of innovations in educational institutions for meeting the needs of the increasing number of youth over the next 20 years was stressed upon by prominent academics at the Innovation Forum held at the Indian Consulate in New York on Feb 13.

NEW YORK: Diwali, the most prominent of Hindu festivals, may soon be proclaimed as one of Utah State festivals.

CHICAGO: Equipped with latest hi-tech technology and built in less than three years with the world’s best brains in airport design and passenger services, Hyderabad’s new airport at Shamshadbad will start functioning on March 16 for international flights, according to Iftekhar Shareef, noted Chicago community leader hailing from Shamshadbad.

NEW YORK: The US-India Business Council (USIBC) expressed its deep sorrow over the death of the august Congressman Tom Lantos, who died last week after a precipitous battle with cancer. Congressman Lantos was a good friend of USIBC, a steadfast supporter of the US-India relationship, and a powerful moral authority on US foreign policy.

NEW YORK: Utah created a religious milestone on February 13 when its State Senate opened with a Hindu prayer containing Sanskrit mantras for the first time. Rajan Zed, the prominent Hindu priest, read this historic opening prayer from ancient Hindu scriptures before Utah Senate in Salt Lake City. After first delivering in Sanskrit, he then read the English translation of the prayer.

NEW YORK: In yet another campus shooting in the US, a heavily-armed former student gunned down five students and injured 16 others in a Northern Illinois University lecture hall before turning the gun on himself, shocking the country on Valentine's Day.

PURCHASE, NY: March has become a time for the nation to recognize women as a force in history and this year Manhattanville My Soldier is paying special attention to the women serving in the armed forces. Congress declared the month of March "Women's History Month" to promote the teaching of women's history and to recognize the role American women played in transforming culture, history and politics.