The Indian Panorama

Tag: Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi

  • NYC Mayor Eric Adams holds a Round Table with Indian American CEOs

    NYC Mayor Eric Adams holds a Round Table with Indian American CEOs

    Roundtable Discussion with the CEOs

    NEW YORK (TIP): Adams, on April 18, addressed CEOs of leading Indian companies from diverse sectors such as banking, finance, pharmaceuticals, retail, diamond and IT at a CEO roundtable organized by the Consulate General of India in New York in partnership with the NYC Mayors Office for International Affairs.

    CEOs participating in the roundtable included Suresh Muthuswamy, Chairman, North America, Tata Consultancy Services, Michael McCabe, Tata Sons Country Head – North America, Bhavani Parameshwara, Executive Director and President, Indievat Inc. (an ITC-owned company). Amneal Pharmaceuticals Co-CEO New York Branch Chintu Patel, Strides Pharma Chief Business Officer Shivprasad Naikoti, State Bank of India (SBI) New York Branch CEO Prashant Tripathi, Canara Bank CEO Jaya Rajappan, Empire State Titans Founder and Owner Hiren Kumar, Kushal Choksey, co-founder of Tattva Truffles, Gaurav Varma of USISFP, Anjan Lahiri of Naikenz, Chief Regional Manager Amit Malik from Bharat Electronics, Akshay Chaturvedi Country Head-USA for ICICI Bank Ltd, Tejas Shah CEO of Kiran Jewels, Sandeep Shah of Sandeep Diamond and Co-Founder of Recognize Franscisco D’Souza.

    NYC Mayor Eric Adams Said – “It is very important that we understand the role of the Indian community in the city’s prosperity in three areas. One, I want to encourage them to participate in the political scene, which should be part of their business plan.” The Mayor also suggested making a bridge between school, high school kids and youth. With the company who has required skills our kids will need for the future. And lastly, it’s important that we give them the tools to help our kids intern and volunteer. We want to continue to expand and let them know that we are a partner in growing their business together,” Adams said.

    From Left: Deputy Consul General Dr. Varun Jeph, Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, NYC Mayor Hon. Eric Adams, Consul General Hon. Randhir Jaiswal, Commissioner Edward Mermelstein and Deputy Commissioner of International Affairs Dilip Chauhan.

    Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General of India in New York, said the mayor’s discussion and roundtable with CEOs of major Indian companies provide an opportunity to see “how we can strengthen our business engagement with New York City and India.” US relationship,” especially economic ties in the startup, tech, finance, and energy sectors. Jaiswal highlighted that India is the world’s fastest growing major economy and the country is expanding digital public infrastructure at the fastest pace globally and the roundtable amplified this message.

    Dilip Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner for New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, highlighted the priority and importance the Mayor’s Office places on attracting international businesses and companies to base as well as expand in the city. Deputy Commissioner Dilip Chauhan said the office is focused on increasing economic engagement with the international business community and outlined the incentives being offered to companies looking to expand their footprint in the city’s five boroughs – Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Chauhan stressed that the mayor’s message is “GET STUFF DONE” New York City is a City of YES. Chauhan manages the portfolio of trade, investment and innovation for the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Officials accompanying the mayor included Mira Joshi, Deputy Mayor for Operations, Andrew Kimball, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and Edward Mermelstein, New York City Commissioner for International Affairs.

    Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff in the NYC Mayor’s Office for International Affairs Aisata Camara, Deputy Chief Counsel in the Office of the Mayor and Chief Counsel for City Hall Rahul Agarwal, Deputy Commissioner for Public Private Partnerships and Economic Development NYC Mayor In the Office of International Affairs Kristen Edgren Kaufman and senior official Rana Abbasova.

    Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General of India, presenting a book on Millets to NYC Mayor Eric Adams.

  • GOPIO led community delegation meets Mayor Eric Adams and his top officials

    NEW YORK (TIP): GOPIO officials along with other Indian community organizations were invited to New York city Hall on March 1st to discuss issues of the Indian community and perspectives on how the community can be involved in the city. It all started with GOPIO’s condemnation of the defacing of Mahatma Gandhi statue at the Union Square Park in February and GOPIO requesting Mayor Eric Adams to increase police presence in the park area as well as to apprehend and punish culprit.

    Indian American community leaders with New York City officials after an interactive meeting at the City Hall.
    From L to R: Mukund Mehta, Kavita Motwani, Lal Motwani, Braj Aggarwal, Ketan Shah, Karthikeya Parashar, Prof. Rajasekhar Vangapaty, Gobind Munjal, Sudhir Vaishnav, Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Chief Advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Dr. Thomas Abraham, Dr. Vimal Goyle, Girish Patel and Beena Kothari

    City Hall was represented by Mayor Adam’s Chief Advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin and Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi. The Indian community delegation was headed by GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham along with GOPIO-Manhattan Executive VP Prof. Rajasekhar Vangapaty, VP Dr. Vimal Goyle and Treasurer Braj Aggarwal as well as GOPIO-New York Chapter Hon. Chair Lal Motwani and President Beena Kothari. Other community representatives were Association of Indians in America (AIA) President Gobind Munjal, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Executive Director Sudhir Vaishnav, Bhakti Center Program Coordinator Kartikeya Parashar, Society of Indian American Engineers and Architects (SIAEA) President Ketan Shah, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir National Coordinator for Public Affairs Girish Patel and Mukund Mehta, President of India Home and Indo-American Senior Citizen Center of New York.

    At the beginning of the meeting, GOPIO Chairman Dr. Abraham thanked Mayor Adams for appointing many Indian Americans in high position of the city administration. In addition to the issue of defacing of Mahatma Gandhi statue, many other issues were discussed at this power meeting of the City officials with the community. The community representatives urged the mayor to keep status que on gifted and talented classes for elementary classes. The delegation told the city officials that the gifted should always be given the opportunity to advance further in pursuit of knowledge and to achieve their full academic potential. Other issues brought out include discrimination, civil rights violations and violence against religious institutions in New York city. Chief Advisor Lewis Martin suggested to set up a committee from the community to work closely with NYPD on some of these issues. The following have been nominated to work on these issues with Girish Patel coordinating this effort along with Braj Aggarwal, Lal Motwani, and Beena Kothari. This committee will reach out to the larger Indian community on these issues.

    Indian American community leaders with New York Mayor Eric Adams in front of the CityHall,
    Front Row, from L to R: Girish Patel, Gobind Munjal, Beena Kothari, Dr. Thomas Abraham, Mayor Adams, Prof. Rajasekhar Vangapaty, Braj Aggarwal and Mukund Mehta,. Rear row, from l. to r.: Karthikeya Parashar, Lal Motwani, Dr. Vimal Goyle, Kavita Motwani, Ketan Shah and Sudhir Vaishnav.

    Once major part of the discussion was on how to bring businesses to New York City, vis-à-vis New York businesses setting up business in India. The delegation told city officials that many Indian companies are setting business outfit in the US and that Indian Americans in New York city could serve as conduit to reach out to businesses in India. It was suggested that whenever trade and business delegations come to New York, City’s International Affairs Department must reach them out and hold meetings with them. Another Business Promotion Committee headed by Dr. Abraham was nominated along with Prof. Rajasekhar Vangapaty, Sudhir Vaishnav, Mukund Mehta, Ketan Shah and Karthikeya Parashar.

    The delegation also suggested the city officials to continue with Diwali celebration and to hold a special celebration from the City for the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence to honor the largest democracy of the world.

    After the meeting with city officials, the delegation met Mayor Eric Adams and interacted with him. Mayor Adams gave high marks for the community’s contribution to make New York an exciting city to live.

    (Based on a Press Release)