NRI scientist wins top US award

Times of India is reporting that an Indian American scientist whose research helped US Defence Contractor company Lockheed Martin has been named the Scientist of the Year:

An Indian American scientist, who led a breakthrough research that helped Lockheed Martin win a key role in the US Army's Future Combat System, has been named '2006 Scientist of the Year' by the Minorities in Research Science (MIRS) organization.

A quick googling of this NRI tells me that he is Principle Research Engineer at Lockheed Martin:

ABHIJIT MAHALANOBIS is a Principal Research Engineer at Lockheed Martin, Orlando, and is currently the technical lead for the Automatic Target Recognition programs in the Research and Technology Group. He is a fellow of the SPIE and is responsible for over 100 journal and conference publications.

This means, that he must be a US citizen having lived most of his life in USA. This leads me to my next conclusion that he is NRI, but not "Non Resident Indian" but "Nahin Raha Indian" or "Never Returning Indian". So why does Times of India care about some American winning some award who just happens to be of Indian origin - he's a US citizen now living in USA and working in USA and not working in Department of Defence or ISRO in India.

First Hurdle in the US-India Nuclear Deal cleared

Yay I am happy... because the House cleared the US-India Nuclear Deal, now renamed "US and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act, 2006"
From Reuters (Congress panel moves on US-India nuclear deal - 06/27/06) :

After months of delay during which the deal was mired in controversy, the House of Representatives International Relations Committee voted 37 to 5 to make changes in U.S. law that would allow the agreement to proceed. ... Rep. Tom Lantos, a California Democrat who co-sponsored the bill with Hyde, said "the impact of this legislation on the new geo-strategic alignment between India and the United States for the balance of the 21st century ... cannot be overstated."

What Happens Next?

• Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote tomorrow (Thursday 28th June)

• House and Senate will then send bill vote to full chambers which is likely in July. Since the deadline of 60 days is built into the bill, so it is likely to become a law by August, before Congress recesses, assuming it goes through from now on.

More updates tomorrow...


(Note also: My First Blog directly from Writely, so sorry if the formatting is not great)

President Bush in India

Good news, since President is in India now becoming the 4th president to visit India. I hope the nuclear deal gets through as it will really strengthen the two democracies. After all the richest nation and the largest democracy of the world, when they come together, you get a very strong power as a result.
There have been a lot of protests in India about his visit unfortunately. This deal is going to be debatable, but I think it will come through eventually. It's just great to see how the things have been coming through over the past few days in regards to India-US deal. I have been reading a lot about it, and some articles I found nice and interesting:

• George Bush in India - what is success?
• Kerry 'backs' India nuclear deal - Nice, atleast in USA the opposition is intelligent, just don't oppose the government's decision just for the sake of it, like it goes in India.
• A guide to mysterious India for Mr Bush - Also my favorite!
• Indian-US nuclear deal 'progress'

I hope President Bush also talks about IT and Nuclear deal and the trip goes well, because I believe the power and IT stocks this week and next will be partially dependent on that. So I see power and IT stocks going up. (Disclaimer: Not a recommendation, do your own research before investing. I will not be responsible in any manner for any losses incurred by you)

Happy Journey President Bush! Have a good time in India