Ashish Kumar Sen

Human rights groups have urged the U.S. military not to repatriate more than a dozen Chinese Muslim detainees facing possible release from Guantanamo Bay, saying they are likely to face torture and even execution if sent back to China.

It's not often that India and Pakistan agree on something. When they do, it becomes cause for congratulatory phone calls from Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to the foreign ministers of both countries.

American President George W Bush’s administration holds the distinction of having the highest number of Asian Americans ever to serve in a US administration. The number of Indians serving the current administration in various capacities has steadily grown over the past year. Ashish Kumar Sen profiles some of these appointees.

It was an event the BJP had every reason to coo about, just the opportunity to flaunt its formidable support base among the NRIs. But just as the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas mela got under way in Delhi, internecine squabbles in the US chapter of the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP) embarrassed the Sangh parivar into thinking of restructuring such overseas chapters.

EVERY day, Bhairavi Desai confides, she "visits" India , Pakistan , Haiti , Ghana ... the list is endless. And then, even before you have time to respond to her ambitious claim, she breaks into a disarming giggle and explains, "But I never have to leave New York !"

IF WORDS like LAN, wi-fi, RFID boggle your mind don't worry, even some of the gurus of the industry confess that the market is "a pretty confusing place these days." There are lots of different technologies for different markets and very often there is confusion," admits Yatish Pathak, president of San Francisco-based SOMA Networks. "All that wi-fi really is, is that it's a wireless replacement of in-building LAN," he explains helpfully .

"It's going to be the bar code of the future," he says proudly. CEO of Matrics, a Columbia, Maryland-based firm, Sodha is at the forefront of the development and standardisation of low-cost, high-performance, UHF radio frequency identification smart label technology. Simply put - his company deals in RF tagging technology.

Sitting among his Indian and Pakistani friends, Khwaja Ashraf often jokes that Indians and Pakistanis get along best when a third force is in control. "When the British ruled India , Hindus and Muslims used to celebrate each other's festivals," says the Berkeley, California-based vice-president of the Pakistani American Congress. "And here in America , we have a wonderful relationship."