Clinton hopes India will do “even more” to cut Iran oil imports

♦ May 9, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment

[ [ [['A picture is worth a thousand words', 5]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/why-facebook-bought-instagram-4-theories-160400376.html’, ‘[Related: Why Facebook bought Instagram: 4 theories]‘, ‘ ‘, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘ ‘, ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 9]], ‘http://contributor.yahoo.com/join/yahoonews_virginiabeach’, ‘[Did you witness the jet crash? Share your story with Yahoo! News]‘, ‘ ‘, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘ ‘, ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], ‘http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj’, ‘[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]‘, ‘ ‘, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘ ‘, ], [ [['Dick Clark', 11]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/dick-clark-dies-at-82-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/c/21/c217c61aa2d5872244c08caa13c16ec5.jpeg’, ’500′, ‘ ‘, ‘Reuters’, ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg’, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘AP’, ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/’, ‘ ‘, ‘http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg’, ’550′, ‘ ‘, ‘ ‘, ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg’, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘AP’, ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg’, ’500′, ‘ ‘, ‘AP’, ] ]

[ [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], ’28924649′, ’0′ ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], ’28811216′, ’0′ ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], ’28805461′, ’0′ ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], ’28771014′, ’0′ ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], ’28759848′, ’0′ ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], ’28747556′, ’0′ ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], ’28744868′, ’0′ ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], ’28746030′, ’0′ ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], ’28731764′, ’0′ ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], ’28723797′, ’0′ ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], ’28712293′, ’0′ ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], ’28687424′, ’0′ ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], ’28667224′, ’0′ ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], ’28660934′, ’0′ ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], ’28647343′, ’0′ ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], ’28630306′, ’0′ ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], ’28493546′, ’0′ ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], ’28413590′, ’0′ ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], ’28413590′, ’1′, ‘Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ‘, ‘on Yahoo! Music’, ‘http://music.yahoo.com’ ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], ‘videoID’, ’1′, ‘overwrite-pre-description’, ‘overwrite-link-string’, ‘overwrite-link-url’ ] ]

chain link fence Charlotte F1 Hot Babes chemistry guide home remedies for stretch marks

Robert Creamer: If He Were President, the Far Right Would Lead Romney Around by a Ring in His Nose

♦ May 9, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment

Believe that, as President, Mitt Romney would revert to his days as a “Massachusetts Moderate?” Think again.

Every bit of evidence indicates that if he were President, the Far Right would lead Romney around by a ring in his nose.

Just last week, we saw it clearly on display. It didn’t take but two weeks for the Far Right to force the Romney campaign to sever its ties with openly gay Richard Grinnell, who it had hired as its foreign policy spokesman. The campaign itself argued that it had begged Grinnell to stay. But right wing talk show host Brian Fischer of the American Family Association, who had led the drive to force Grinnell’s resignation, declared it a major victory.

On his radio show, Fischer bragged that Romney had learned his lesson and would never again hire a gay or lesbian in a major campaign role. And you certainly didn’t see Romney contesting that assessment.

Instead we’ve seen Romney lined up shoulder to shoulder on TV with Tea Party icon Michele Bachmann, and Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell — a potential Romney VP pick and a champion of “trans-vaginal ultrasounds.”

The reason why there is not a chance that Romney will ever reinvent himself once again as a “moderate” is that he wasn’t really a “moderate” in the first place. He’s always practiced one version or the other of ultra right wing, “let Wall Street run wild” Romney economics. And he’s never given one thought to firing workers, cutting pensions, loading companies with debt and bleeding them dry of millions of dollars.

But you can’t really say that he is a committed believer in any economic principle or political value. Mitt Romney is committed to one thing and one thing alone — his own success. He has shown he has no core values whatsoever.

That’s why it wasn’t hard at all for Romney to shed his “moderate” past positions on issues like abortion rights, contraception, gay rights and immigration and to become what he himself calls a “severe conservative.”

Why will he remain a “severe conservative” if he is elected President? Because people who have no core values have no backbone. You won’t find Mitt Romney taking a stand against the dyed-in-the-wool ideologues that dominate the Republican caucus in Congress.

Those Republican ideologues may be way out of the mainstream, but they definitely have core values. Some of them were so committed to those values that they were willing to take our country to the brink of bankruptcy last year due to their unwillingness to give an inch of compromise.

The plain fact is that people with no core values never stand up to people who have core values. The fact is that Mitt Romney has the backbone of a jelly fish and that is precisely why the first time the ultra right wing pulls his chain and demands that he heel, he will fall right into line.

Even if he decided he wanted to challenge the right wing agenda propounded by the committed minions of the Tea Party, in a confrontation he would fold in an instant. When you have no core values, it’s always much easier to go along with the demands of passionate, committed true-believers than it is to stand your ground.

And the Far Right knows this is true. Last week, right wing icon Grover Norquist was very clear. He said he was not looking for presidential leadership from Romney. He believes that the leadership of the Republican Party will continue to come from right wing Republicans in Congress. All he asked of a president, he added, was enough digits on his hand to hold a pen to sign the bills embodying Congress’ right wing agenda.

Watch how Romney behaves when he delivers the commencement speech at far right Liberty University on May 12. Liberty University was founded by the late Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell. Now it’s run by his son, Jerry Falwell Jr.

After the 9/11 attacks, Falwell Sr. said that “abortionists,” “feminists,” and “the gays and the lesbians” helped cause the 9/11 attacks. According to CNN:

On the broadcast of the Christian television program ‘The 700 Club,’ Falwell made the following statement: ‘I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.’

Until recently, Liberty University banned inter-racial marriages between its students. Today it requires parental permission.

As recently as 2010, Liberty University Law School withdrew as a co-sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference in protest after the conference allowed the homosexual group GOProud to co-sponsor the event.

When Romney speaks at Liberty University will he speak out against that kind of intolerance? Or, true to form, will he instead worship at the altar of ultra-right wing ideology and say just what the leadership of Liberty University wants to hear? I might be wrong, but I’ll bet that not one critical word escapes his lips.

Romney’s unwillingness to challenge the far right does not pertain solely to the social conservative right. It also goes for economic right wingers like Grover Norquist, who want to return America to the bad old days of more Bush-like tax cuts for the wealthy, and the deregulation of Wall Street that did such damage to the middle class and led to the Great Recession that cost 8 million jobs.

And it also goes for the Neo-Con foreign policy right. Seventy percent of the 40 individuals identified by the Romney campaign as its foreign policy advisers served in the Bush administration and were responsible for the catastrophic Neo-Con foreign policy.

No, in exchange for the Republican nomination, Romney has sold his soul to the extreme right. He has willingly walked into the right wing inner sanctum, and even if he wanted to, he doesn’t have the backbone to escape.

Robert Creamer is a long-time political organizer and strategist, and author of the book: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, available on Amazon.com. He is a partner in Democracy Partners and a Senior Strategist for Americans United for Change. Follow him on Twitter @rbcreamer.

?

?

?

Follow Robert Creamer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rbcreamer

“; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, ‘top’, {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: ‘clear-overlay’}); });

Learn Maths carpet cleaning camarillo quick facelift http://www.pinnaclecampers.com.au/

Lakewood Village TX Real Estate – 400 Green Meadow Lakewood …

♦ May 8, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment

Search Properties Advanced Search

Home Alarms Child Abuse Resources dr roller basketball drills

Health system ready to implement overhaul | Health and Fitness

♦ May 8, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment


By Jonathan J. Cooper
/ The Associated Press

Published: May 05. 2012 4:00AM PST

PORTLAND ? Now that federal officials have all but committed to giving Oregon nearly $2 billion to redesign its Medicaid system, the state?s health care industry faces the challenge of getting it done. Officials said Friday they?re pressing ahead.

Gov. John Kitzhaber has convinced the Obama administration that he can deliver better health care at a lower cost by investing in preventive care that reduces avoidable hospitalizations ? a model that?s shown some success in pilot projects. But nobody?s ever tried to do it for 600,000 patients on Medicaid.

The state announced Thursday that the federal government had tentatively agreed to spend $1.9 billion over five years in exchange for a state commitment that it will ultimately save $11 billion over a decade.

?The federal investment is a very smart investment, and Oregon?s health care community stands ready to make sure it?s an investment that will pay off in better care, better health and lower costs in the years to come,? George Brown, president and chief executive of Legacy Health, a hospital group, said at a news conference Friday.

Brown chairs a committee of health companies that want to implement the plan in a three-county region that comprises the Portland metro area. It?s one of 14 groups applying to be among the first ?coordinated care organizations,? which will be responsible for managing the health care of patients in their region within a fixed budget. Many of the potential care organizations include hospitals, insurance companies, physician groups, mental health providers and county governments agreeing to work together.

The first $620 million is scheduled to arrive July 1, but the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services first must formally approve Oregon?s application for a waiver from standard Medicaid requirements.

The money will significantly reduce severe cuts in payments to health care providers that are slated to begin this summer, allowing providers to invest in new infrastructure and staff. Kitzhaber said each coordinated care organization will make its own decisions about what it needs to buy.

They?re likely to invest in technology to share information between providers, health officials have said, and in community health workers like Becky Wilkinson, who works with patients making frequent emergency room visits.

Wilkinson calls herself a ?patient advocate? who works hard to connect with her clients on their level and be a ?bridge? between the patient and the doctor. For some clients, she helps them navigate the health care system so they know where to get the services they need and how to manage their illness. Sometimes she calls them daily to make sure they?re taking medication, or goes with them to doctor?s appointments. For others, she might check in just once a week.

?Thinking outside the box, spending just a little bit of money at a time is something that can really help the system and the patients overall,? Wilkinson said Friday.

Her work has reduced the number of trips her clients make to the emergency room, but traditional Medicaid has no mechanism to pay for it, officials have said.

Kitzhaber and his health care advisers have worked closely over the past year with President Barack Obama?s administration to design the program and negotiate the funding. Details were hashed out in a meeting at the White House with some of Obama?s senior health and budget advisers Tuesday afternoon, Kitzhaber said.

The governor said he isn?t concerned that his initiative would be derailed if Obama loses his re-election bid or Republicans take control of both chambers of Congress.

?It?s never been a partisan issue here in Oregon,? he said. ?I?d be very, very surprised if it was a partisan issue in Washington.?

View The Bulletin?s commenting policy ?

View the discussion thread.comments powered by Disqus

Article source: http://www.bendbulletin.com/article/20120505/NEWS0107/205050383/

thebrandauthority.net las cruces nm real estate Industrial Electricians perth contractorsinsurancepittsburghpa.com

Chelsea tops Liverpool?to win FA Cup

♦ May 8, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment

By ROB HARRIS

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 6:38 p.m. ET May 5, 2012

WEMBLEY, England (AP) -Four goals in four FA Cup finals, and now four winners’ medals for Didier Drogba.

Cementing his status as Chelsea’s player for the big occasions, Drogba clinched a 2-1 victory over Liverpool on Saturday to prove his enduring value to the team at the age of 34.

“He is my hero,” midfielder Frank Lampard said. “No striker I have ever played with has scored so many important goals in finals.”

In fact, no player has ever scored in as many FA Cup finals as Drogba.

“That’s the reason why I came here, to win trophies and to make history with the club,” said Drogba, who joined Chelsea in 2004. “The result is great for us, for the fans, for the club. Our fourth FA Cup final, fourth win, fourth trophy.”

But it could be his last FA Cup as the Ivorian’s contract expires at the end of the season.

“He’s not 65. He’s a top professional,” Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo said when asked about Drogba’s future.

Drogba scored his eighth goal in eight games at Wembley in the 52nd minute of the 131st final of the competition, with Chelsea already leading through Ramires’ deflected 11th-minute strike.

Drogba slotted the ball through defender Martin Skrtel’s legs and into the net after being fed by Lampard as a lethargic Liverpool posed little threat.

That was until Liverpool substitute Andy Carroll breathed life back into the game when he pulled one back in the 64th after teasing his way around Chelsea captain John Terry.

Chelsea had to survive a late, intense Liverpool onslaught, with Carroll believing he had equalized when a close-range header was swatted away on the goal line via the crossbar by goalkeeper Petr Cech.

But the referee waved away Liverpool’s appeals for a goal, with replays indicating that the entire ball did not cross the line.

And Terry went on to become the first captain to lift the FA Cup four times with the same club.

“It’s fantastic, it’s what we live for,” Terry said. “At times people have slated us as too old, past it or not together but as a team we come together and unite when our backs are against the wall.”

As they have been for most of the season. Chelsea’s freefall, though, was halted after Di Matteo replaced Andre Villas-Boas as coach two months ago until the end of the season.

While Chelsea is still languishing outside of the four Champions League qualification places in sixth place in the English Premier League, the team can win the European Cup for the first time by beating Bayern Munich in two weeks.

“I’m very happy for the players because we’ve been heavily criticized this season and we’ve got the trophy and have the chance for another one,” Di Matteo said. “It’s been a difficult season but the players have made the club proud. It’s been hard work but we came through it.”

Di Matteo, who also won the FA Cup twice as a player for Chelsea, is making it increasingly difficult for the club not to extend his contract.

“He has been brilliant,” Lampard said. “He has turned the club around.”

Liverpool had hoped the return of Kenny Dalglish in January 2011 would similarly rouse its faltering fortunes.

But while the Reds won the League Cup in February, their Premier League form has been even worse than Chelsea’s – sitting eighth – and they didn’t even play in Europe this season.

Dalglish suggested his team’s inability to make an impact on Saturday until midway through the second half was a sign of its inexperience.

“We were excellent for the last half hour, but the game lasts for 90 minutes,” he said. “You can’t give a team like Chelsea a two-goal head start. It’s credit to our lads that they went close to an equalizer after Andy scored, but they had left themselves too much to do.

“I don’t think the first hour was a reflection of the quality of the players we had out there … these players will get better and benefit from this experience – they’ve been in two cup finals in this season.”

Liverpool gifted Chelsea the opener after a pair of mistakes. Jay Spearing initially gave the ball away in midfield to Juan Mata, who set Ramires free to charge toward the Liverpool goal.

Goalkeeper Pepe Reina was beaten too easily at his near post by Ramires when a shot was deflected in by the goalie’s knee.

It was a reflection of a shoddy first-half performance from Liverpool, which struggled to break through a Chelsea back four including Ashley Cole, who went on to win his seventh FA Cup final, with the first three coming at Arsenal.

Despite scoring the semifinal winner and being Liverpool’s most expensive player, Carroll was dropped in favor of Luis Suarez up front, but the isolated striker struggled to make an impact.

Carroll, though, netted after just 10 minutes on the pitch to make it 2-1.

Stewart Downing’s tenacity down the left flank paid off, challenging Boswinga before the ball fell to Carroll to lash it into the net.

“Until they scored it was very, very comfortable,” Lampard said. “They bombarded us and it was hard to deal with.”

But Chelsea clung on to win the world’s oldest knockout competition for a seventh time.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


advertisement

More newsOtto Greule Jr / Getty Images

Sounders shut out Union

??Highlights: Mauro Rosales scored the lone goal as the Sounders defeated the visiting Union 1-0 on Saturday.


MLS roundup: Red Bulls get past Galaxy

TORONTO (AP) -Chris Pontius and Hamdi Salihi scored second-half goals and D.C. United beat Toronto FC 2-0 on Saturday, relegating the Reds to the worst start in MLS history at 0-8-0.

windscreen repairs perth buy diamonds SEO dominator coupon King Adjustable Beds

Meet an Inmate: Dating Site Seeks to Make Criminal Love Connections

♦ May 8, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment


Looking for a “fun-loving” and “passionate” single man or woman?

Aren’t we all. Well, a new site is putting a new spin on online dating.

Meet-An-Inmate (dot) com features lonely citizens across the United States of America desperately seeking love … behind bars. “These inmates have nothing but time on their hands and can’t wait to hear from you,” the site reads.

Inmatez

“Even though these men and women are in prison, it doesn’t mean that they are bad individuals,” the company SWEARS. “The majority of these inmates are fun, loving, passionate, clever, reliable, and very sexy.”

Obviously not that clever … but no matter.

One brunette serving time for vehicular homicide writes on her profile page that “I always have a smile on my face.” She must be one of the gang leaders.

Another inmate poses in her bra and some show off curves in swimwear … not that you’ll be able to experience them in person for at least 3-5 years.

The site claims to want to “bridge the gap between criminals and the outside world” by finding them pen pals. As if online dating weren’t shady already.

payroll Outsourcing san jose flooring contractors breast augmentation nyc organic chemistry guide

‘Avengers’ smashes record: $200.3 million debut

♦ May 8, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment

In this film image released by Disney, Chris Hemsworth portrays Thor, left, and and Chris Evans portrays Captain America in a scene from “The Avengers,” expected to be released on May 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Disney, Zade Rosenthal)

In this film image released by Disney, Chris Hemsworth portrays Thor, left, and and Chris Evans portrays Captain America in a scene from “The Avengers,” expected to be released on May 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Disney, Zade Rosenthal)

In this film image released by Disney, Samuel L. Jackson portrays Nick Fury in a scene from Marvel’s “The Avengers.” The film will be released on May 4. (AP Photo/Disney, Zade Rosenthal)

In this film image released by Disney, Chris Evans, portraying Captain America, left, and Robert Downey Jr., portraying Tony Stark, are shown in a scene from “Marvel’s The Avengers” (AP Photo/Disney, Zade Rosethal)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Hulk, smash.

That’s what Captain America tells the Incredible Hulk to do in “The Avengers,” and that’s what the Marvel Comics superhero mash-up did at the box office, smashing the domestic revenue record with a $200.3 million debut.

It’s by far the biggest opening ever, shooting past the previous record of $169.2 million for the debut of last year’s “Harry Potter” finale.

“The Avengers” added $151.5 million overseas over the weekend to bring its total to $441.5 million since it began opening internationally a week earlier.

That raised the film’s worldwide haul to $641.8 million in barely a week and a half, more than its Marvel superhero forerunners “Iron Man,” ”Iron Man 2,” ”Thor” and “Captain America” took in during their entire runs.

If distributor Disney’s domestic estimate Sunday holds when the final weekend count is released Monday, “The Avengers” would be the first movie ever to haul in $200 million in a single weekend.

A $200 million total for every movie in release is considered a great weekend for the business as a whole, so “The Avengers” redefines the standards for a blockbuster debut.

“If ‘The Avengers’ is any indication, we’re going to see a leap rather than a gentle little nudge into new territory, and the lineup is there to justify it going forward,” said Greg Foster, chairman and president of the huge-screen IMAX cinema chain.

Crowds were so anxious to see the film on IMAX’s giant screens that Foster said the company had only one problem: it ran out of seats to sell.

Hollywood launched a potentially record-shattering summer with a vengeance, “The Avengers” landing as just the first of three huge superhero tales that highlight a lineup filled with other blockbusters in the making.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” follows on July 3 and “The Dark Knight Rises” wraps up the current Batman series on July 20.

Until the “Harry Potter” finale, 2008′s “The Dark Knight” had held the revenue record with a $158.4 million debut. Before that, the record-holder was 2007′s “Spider-Man 3″ with $151.1 million.

So anticipation for those two films could rival that of “The Avengers.”

Along with the superhero films, Hollywood’s summer lineup includes the action tales “Men in Black 3,” ”G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” ”Battleship,” ”Total Recall” and “Prometheus,” director Ridley Scott’s return to the sci-fi territory of his horror hit “Alien.”

Big family fare includes the animated adventures “Brave,” from “Toy Story” creator Pixar Animation, and the sequels “Ice Age: Continental Drift” and “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.”

The comedy lineup features Adam Sandler’s “That’s My Boy,” Will Ferrell’s “The Campaign” and Sacha Baron Cohen’s “The Dictator.”

Associated Press

granny flats perth outback hunter Charlotte Roofing freelance web designer

Utah leads in commercial real estate construction | Real Estate News

♦ May 7, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment

For the first time since the recession began, development and construction of commercial real estate is on the rebound nationally, and Utah is among the leading states.


This entry was posted in Real Estate News by admin. Bookmark the permalink.

spa water care small business guide modular kitchen cabinets dallas gastric bypass surgery

Clinton to tell India: Cut back on Iran oil

♦ May 7, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment

Shannon Stapleton / AFP – Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waves upon her arrival at the airport in Kolkata, India on Sunday.

By NBC News and msnbc.com news services

KOLKATA, India – The United States will seek assurances that India will reduce its purchases of oil from sanctions-hit Iran during a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the South Asian giant this week, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday.

Clinton started a three-day trip to India on Sunday that will coincide with a visit by a large Iranian trade delegation, as India walks a tightrope of strengthening ties with ally the United States and sating its fast-growing energy needs.

She arrived in India from a 24-hour visit to Bangladesh, where NBC News reported that she visited the US Embassy in Dhaka to thank worker and expressed ?hurt? at a local opinion poll that showed most people believe the U.S. is anti Muslim.

During her visit, Clinton will also make the case for the country to open its supermarket sector to foreign chains such as U.S. giant Wal-Mart Stores – a major economic reform that has stalled under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.

India has publicly rejected Western sanctions but has pushed refiners to cut imports of oil from Iran by 15-20 percent – enough, it hopes, to win a waiver from Washington.

The United States in March granted exemptions to Japan and 10 European Union nations from its sanctions, which are aimed at pressuring Iran to end its nuclear programme. India and China, Iran’s biggest buyers of crude, remain on a list at risk if they do not cut oil imports “substantially”.

“Our assessment is India is making good progress but we really need to receive assurances that they are going to continue to make good progress,” a senior U.S. official, travelling with Clinton, told reporters.

The 56-member trade delegation, led by the president of Iran’s chamber of commerce, will also arrive on Sunday for another round of talks on how the two can trade via a rupee mechanism set up to skirt sanctions. A previous trade mission of Indian businesses to Iran in March had proved unproductive.

“These are not going to be strategic trades of any kind,” the U.S. official said. “So I don’t think that we are too concerned about this, but we’ll obviously want to hear from the government what they see as the focus of this trade delegation.”

Shannon Stapleton / AFP – Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to students at the Dhaka International School in Dhaka, Sunday.

Relations between the United States and India have blossomed in recent years, especially during the presidency of George W. Bush, which signed a landmark civilian nuclear pact with India. But irritants, especially over trade and investment barriers, have raised temperatures of late.

Clinton arrives in India leaving behind her a stormy visit to China, which saw Beijing and Washington tussle over the fate of a blind Chinese human rights activist who had escaped 19 months of house arrest and fled to the U.S. embassy.

From Kolkata, Clinton will travel to New Delhi on Monday to meet Singh. Afghanistan and India’s controversial proposals on retroactive taxation are likely talking points, Indian sources told Reuters last week.

Reuters contributed to this report.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

?

swimming pool international cell phone rental margaritaville frozen concoction maker climbing kilimanjaro