Spicy chickpeas, pressed chicken sandwiches with vindaloo sauce, dhals, curries, chutneys and roti or naan, aka flatbreads, are on offer at fast-food restaurants in the US.

Denver's Bombay Bowl promises "Simple food. Endless choices". Hungry foodies are offered a choice of protein foods, spiced up or down.

Borrowing the assembly-line concept, customised service and quick pick style of national fast-food chains, Amar Singh, the owner has just one location thus far, but is in good company, what with restaurants like Merzi in Washington DC and Chutney's with two locations in Cambridge, Mass.

Some customers are intimidated by the reputation that Indian cuisine is invariably going to scald your palate with fiery spices, so smart owners include typically western sides such as mashed potatoes and steamed dumplings.

Sanjay Kansagra of Chutney's knew he would have to cater to his market so he includes liberal interpretations of traditional foods that appeal to his customers, such as 'nanini' sandwiches stuffed with lamb seekh kebabs.

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Sabith Khan a public affairs specialist, has been appointed to revitalise the 18 year old Muslim Public Service Network (MPSN) that grooms young American Muslims for public service and civic leadership positions.

New executive director Khan says he believes the MPSN needs to form strong alliances with organisations in the US and engage the community creatively so they come together and re-learn the meaning of community development.

Khan was born in Mysore and lived most of his life in Bangalore before moving to the US.

The MPSN's Summer Fellowship programme has groomed many who have made a name in public service, most prominent of whom is Rashad Hussain the son of a mining engineer from Bihar, who was named by President Obama as a US Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The American Muslim community is among the richest, best educated communities in the country and can make a deep impact and move forward, grow, and create more partnerships and alliances.

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At a Republic Day celebration on Jan 26 in San Francisco a group of protesters gathered outside the entrance of the Palace of Fine Arts, to demand the release of two "prisoners of conscience".

This referred to the recent sexual abuse of prisoner Soni Sori 35, a school teacher from Dantewada who exposed police misconduct in the framing of several cases against her. She was forced to flee to Chhatisgarh and was arrested before she could file a petition in the Supreme Court.

While in custody the Chattisgarh police allegedly tortured Sori in the most gruesome unspeakable intimate ways causing damage to her vagina, rectum and spinal cord.

A petition doing the rounds, also demands that torture and prison abuses must end and the law that gives unchecked power to authorities including the UAPA, AFSPA and CSPSA be abolished.

The petition is to be submitted to PM Manmohan Singh, CM of Chattisgarh Raman Singh and President Patil.

The San Francisco protest was held for the release of Soni Sori, and her nephew journalist Linga Kodopi 25, who have been held by Chhatisgarh police since October for their alleged collusion with Maoist rebels in the region.

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India-born Canadian Nazir Karigar claims that he paid Union Minister Praful Patel $250,000 as a bribe in 2007.

Karigar says the bribe was paid to help Canadian firm Crypto Metric strike a $100 million deal with Air India for a facial recognition security system. The deal however never came through.

The Civil Aviation Minister rubbished the charges as baseless and preposterous.

Praful Patel says he has written to PM Manmohan Singh after the Delhi bureau chief of the Globe and Mail sought his reaction to the allegations.

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The US Sikhs for Justice have hired a lobbying firm to educate American media on the identity, image and message of Sikhism, and the significance of the Golden Temple, This comes after TV host Jay Leno's controversial comment on his Late Night TV talk show, when the Golden Temple was shown as the summer home of Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate.

The lobbyists will approach NBC to provide a forum for a panel of Sikh scholars and notables on the sanctity and sensitivity of the religion.

NBC will also be asked to run a prime time documentary on Sikhism for the purpose of educating the media on Sikhs and to put an end to the decade long spree of violent hate crimes against Sikhs in America.

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