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Kathmandu, Nepal (AHN) – Nepali Diasporas living in New York face a language barrier, creating a major challenge that causes immigrants to miss out on jobs and other opportunities in the United States.

Most of the Nepalis who reached the U.S. in search of green pastures are at the receiving end of downward socio-economic mobility, forcing them to lower their living standards in order to survive and support family members back home, a study has revealed.

“While in Nepal, people have dreams of doing well in the U.S. However, there is a huge difference between what you think of America and when you actually come here,” says New York-based non-profit organisation Adhikaar. “People have to work really hard to survive here.”

“Even if you are educated, you won’t be able to find a job of your choice if you don’t have the [right] documents,” a Nepali worker told the group. “You can earn money here, but not respect.”

Much of the problems faced by the Nepali-speaking community in New York City are typical of those faced by emerging communities. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 is not enough to survive and support a family in New York City, the report adds. Making matters worse, migrant workers in the informal sector are often exploited by the employers and are paid below the legal minimum wage.

The report titled “Snapshots of the Nepali-speaking Community in New York City: Demographics and Challenges” reveals that language barrier has become a major challenge for most of the Nepali-speaking people in finding jobs and other services. For example, many Nepalis in the U.S. do not have health insurance, and almost three-fourths of them face challenges in obtaining healthcare.

Many Nepali migrants are unable to transfer their work experience, skills and education from Nepal. Over half of the Nepalis in New York were involved in business or a professional sector in Nepal. While most Nepali immigrants are able to find jobs in New York, they are often low-wage jobs consuming long hours and providing few benefits. While immigration status is a reason for Nepali immigrants doing low-wage jobs, it is not the only one, the report adds. “Nearly half of the respondents to survey have the legal right to work in the U.S., yet most of them faced challenges.”

The most common types of job for men are works in restaurant, gas station, taxi or limousine and moving industry, while women often work as domestic workers and at nail salons or beauty parlours. Report has it that those who intend to earn degrees find themselves unable to attain their goal due to the number of hours they must work to pay for their education and living expenses.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – In an attempt to prevent President Barack Obama’s plan to bring terror suspects to the United States for trial, the House voted 212-206 on Tuesday to curb the government’s expenses in the fiscal year. The measure targeted funds aimed at transferring inmates from a military holding facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to prisons in the U.S.

The move hurts Obama’s efforts to close the controversial detention camp by next year or his attempts to transfer 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed in America.

“None of the funds made available in this or any prior Act may be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release to or within the U.S., its territories, or possessions Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee held at Guantanamo Bay as of June 24, 2009,” the bill explains.

The bill will be presented to the Senate for approval and would be sent to Obama to sign into law.

Upon assuming power in 2008, Obama had pledged to close down the notorious facility within a year but failed due to unyielding opposition from the U.S. Congress.

Currently, the prison, which is in Cuba’s Guantanamo naval base, holds nearly 170 detainees, including 58, who have been put into indefinite detention without trial.

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VA lending options are funded through the federal government with the United States, and serve to advantage individuals men and women who’ve served their nation as soldiers in war. The loan possibilities readily available to veterans are really appealing, making it fairly effortless for them to acquire housing as soon as they return from war. You can find minimal requirements that figure out regardless of whether a veteran can really qualify for any VA mortgage. For one of the most component, a veteran who has served on active duty and has an honorable discharge after a minimum of 90 times can apply for the VA house mortgage. Additionally, any veteran who served throughout the war for 181 times peacetime also can apply.

VA home loans are presented by exclusive lenders, banking institutions and home loan firms which have arrive on board for this useful and useful trigger. With VA property loans, borrowers can finance 100% on the home’s value and really purchase it with $0 down payment. This impressively compares to banks that want massive down obligations of 10 to 20% for typical residence financial loans. This alone goes to demonstrate how the country is dedicated to ensuring its war veterans are properly taken care of when they get house.

It is a lot simpler to qualify for the VA loan than it is for any standard loan mainly because it’s backed 100% through the federal government with the United States of America. Like a outcome, financial institutions have far more relaxed lending guidelines for VA applicants. Not to mention, VA household mortgage prices are very much reduced, running anywhere among 0.5 to 1% reduce than traditional lending options.

VA household financial loans offer reduced prices and decrease monthly obligations. Furthermore, no private home loan insurance is required, mainly because you will find also feasible possibilities for insuring as soon as you’ve a loan. The only issue that truly restricts you may be the reality that the veteran should reside within the home that they’re purchasing. Needless to say, this is not definitely a element for a lot of veterans, simply because in some cases it will be the very first time which they very own a house.

VA residence financial loans are just one particular on the things that indicates how very much patriotism there’s amongst the American individuals, federal government incorporated. The mere truth that this alternative has been extended to people who have served the country in war indicates just why the dedication and commitment noticed is there.

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – With a new majority taking control of the House next year, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday to tackle a backlog of bills during a “lame-duck” session. Their agenda includes whether to extend Bush administration tax cuts for all or only for the middle class and elections to new leadership posts for the coming 112th Congress.

Lawmakers this week will return to work on a dozen annual appropriations bills for the 2011 fiscal year. They passed a stopgap measure on their last day of session in September before the mid-term elections, temporarily funding government operations.

Debate will also focus on tax cuts implemented in 2001 and 2003 that are due to expire in January.

Democrats want a permanent extension of tax breaks for middle class families earning less than $250,000 a year. Republicans, however, want to extend tax cuts for all, including high-income earners.

The GOP proposal would cost the government $3.7 trillion over 10 years, while the Democratic plan would cost $3 trillion.

Together with the 9.6 percent unemployment rate, the issue has been a source of vitriol between Democrats and Republicans during the months before the mid-term elections. But leaders from both parties issued overtures in the past week.

“I’m going to meet with both the Republican and Democratic leaders… and we’re going to sit down and discuss how we move forward,” President Barack Obama said in South Korea on Friday, two days before he returned to the White House.

“My number one priority is making sure that we make the middle class tax cuts permanent, that we give certainty to the 98 percent of Americans who are affected by those tax breaks,” the president added. “I continue to believe that extending permanently the upper-income tax cuts would be a mistake and that we can’t afford it.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who earlier this month backtracked on his comment that the GOP’s overarching goal is to make Obama a one-term president, said in a statement on Thursday, “I’m willing to listen to what the president has in mind for protecting Americans from tax increases.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the fourth highest-ranking lawmaker in his chamber, wants a compromise that would extend tax cuts for families earning $1 million instead of $250,000.

“I hear Sen. McConnell talking about small business but under his plan, people like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates… would get a tax break,” Schumer said on “Face the Nation” on CBS on Sunday. “It would much, much better to raise the limit to $1 million rather than give it to people who are multibillionaires… the only group in America who’s had a gain in income.”

Lawmakers will also take up the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Moscow. The agreement was signed by President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart in April but still requires ratification by the U.S. Congress.

The United States and Russia hold more than 90 percent of nuclear weapons worldwide. The new START replaces a treaty that was signed in 1991 just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and that expired last year.

The old treaty limited warheads to 2,200 and launch vehicles to 1,600. The new START limits deployed warheads to 1,550 and launchers to 800.

Top Republicans who do not support the current treaty have raised concerns about modernization and missile defense.

“We need to modernize our nuclear force, the weapons that are left, to make sure they continue to be a deterrent,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “We need to make sure that we can employ — deploy missile defense systems that are apart from START.”

“[Sen.] Jon Kyl is working with the administration to get better modernization to make sure that missile defense is not connected to START,” added Graham.

The lame-duck session is scheduled until Friday. No votes were on the calendar on Monday and it is unclear if lawmakers will accomplish the items on their agenda, which could also include a bill in the Senate repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the law against openly gay members of the military.

Side-by-side their work on the floor, they will be electing new leaders for the coming Congress in January, when House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) takes the speakership and current Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) becomes the minority leader. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will remain at the helm of a caucus made weaker by losses in the elections.

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New Delhi, India (AHN) – United States President Barack Obama, on the second day of his three-day visit to India, has appreciated New Delhi for its developments and vowed his nation’s support in the world’s largest democracy’s quest for a permanent United Nations Security Council seat.

In a landmark address at the Indian Parliament on Monday, Obama said that India had been an “indispensable” U.S. partner and the relationship between them would one of this century’s defining partnerships.

Obama told dignitaries, “As two global leaders, the United States and India can partner for global security – especially as India serves on the Security Council over the next two years. Indeed the just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a U.N. that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate.”

Despite Obama’s timeline, analysts do not expect India to get permanent seat so soon.

Pakistan quickly responded to Obama’s comments and said that Washington should not be swayed by “power politics”. Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Obama’s comments added complexity in the process of council reforms. “Pakistan hopes that the US will take a moral view and not base itself on any temporary expediency or exigencies of power politics,” he added.

The United States, China, Russia, France and Britain are the permanent five members of the Security Council presently. India, Japan, Brazil and Germany are keen on joining the group.

However, Obama said big authorities mean big responsibilities too and highlighted Myanmar’s human right abuse cases on which India had failed to do enough to condemn it.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The decision by the United States Federal Reserve to pump $600 billion into the nation’s economy by buying U.S. Treasury Bonds has sparked international criticism led by Germany and China.

China and Germany represent the world’s second- and fourth-largest economies respectively. In addition, they were joined by Brazil and South Africa in criticizing the “quantitative easing.” Quantitative easing is the economic term for buying assets to attempt to boost the economy and lower unemployment.

However, Germany, China, Brazil and South Africa allege that the scheme will not help the U.S. economy and will instead create more problems in the rest of the world. Quantitative easing is expected to lower the value of the dollar, which will make U.S. exports cheaper in world markets.

That means that U.S. exports would be more competitive against German and Chinese exports.

Indeed, the dollar did plunge in value against several of the world’s currencies on Thursday.

Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Friday said the U.S. Federal Reserve’s move would undermine efforts to create a level playing field in the currency markets.

China Central Bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan said the U.S. should focus on reforming the international currency system. He argued that if the U.S. central banking policy is good for the U.S., but not good for the rest of the world that it might have a negative impact on the rest of the world.

The U.S. has criticized China for artificially keeping its currency devalued for many years to make its exports cheaper. But China made that move when its country had full employment and a budget surplus. The U.S. central bank is not buying U.S. Treasury bonds to deflate the value of the dollar abroad but rather to try to pour money into the American economy – which currently has a budget deficit – and to stimulate the weak economy to encourage American businesses to hire unemployed American workers at a time of continued high unemployment.

Germany also criticized the move because they said it would add to America’s deficit.

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Olympia, WA, United States (AHN) – Republican Dino Rossi conceded the Senate race in Washington state Thursday night to give Sen. Patty Murray, one of the most vulnerable incumbents this election, a fourth term.

More than 600,000 ballots remain to be counted and tallying continues, but the race ended when Murray opened up a lead. After leading by 27,000 votes, the Democrat pulled ahead and doubled her lead, widening it to 2.56 percent.

The latest update from the secretary of state had Murray with 51.27 percent and Rossi trailing with 48.73 percent.

“I ran for the Senate because I believe we need a basic course correction from where Washington, DC, has been taking us and to make sure this country is as free, as strong and as prosperous in the future as it has been in the past to preserve the best of America for future generations,” Rossi said in his concession speech in Bellevue.

“That was a message that found a very receptive audience all across this state, though not quite receptive enough,” added the Republican, a real estate executive who ran twice for governor. “Thank you for letting me have an honest, straightforward discussion with you about our future.”

The victory gives Democrats 53 seats in the Senate, a reduced majority that faces a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Republicans made significant gains nationwide on Tuesday and won key seats, including the former Senate seat of President Barack Obama.

It also makes Murray, the state’s first woman senator and the fifth highest ranking senator as secretary of the Democratic conference, one of comparatively few incumbents who fended off anger among voters coupled with national Tea Party activists who made this election year especially difficult for moderates and veteran lawmakers.

The Tea Party had been criticized as an out-of-state, special interest group that tried to influence elections nationwide, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday congratulated Murray for “withstanding $7 million in third party spending to win re-election.”

Only the race in Alaska, between Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Republican Joe Miller, remains undecided. Whoever wins the contest will caucus with the GOP, but the outcome will also add to the Tea Party’s mixed results in its first electoral test.

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HE ARRIVED on Argentina’s political stage almost by chance. Nestor Kirchner, the obscure governor of a far-flung Patagonian province, was elected to the presidency in 2003 when few others wanted the top job in a country whose economy had collapsed amid default and devaluation. His departure was equally abrupt, cut down by a heart attack when aged only 60 and seemingly still at the apogee of power. His passing will almost certainly accelerate change in his own country, and gives a sudden twist to the political kaleidoscope in Latin America.

In his time in the spotlight Mr Kirchner became Argentina’s dominant player. He claimed much credit for his country’s vigorous recovery, though in truth he inherited the sound fiscal policy and floating exchange rate that, along with rising commodity prices, were responsible. History has vindicated his bruising treatment of holders of the defaulted bonds; something similar has since been visited by the United States administration on creditors of the American car companies and now, perhaps, on mortgage lenders. He warmed the hearts of Argentines with the comforting notion that it was the evil IMF, rather than their own mistakes, which was responsible for a once-rich country’s penury. In 2007 they elected his wife, Cristina Fernandez, in his stead. But Mr Kirchner remained the power behind the throne. Although less popular than in the past, he might well have won a presidential election due next October by exploiting the opposition’s divisions. …

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