The Indian Panorama

Tag: Honors – Awards and Accomplishments

  • Indian American attorney Harmeet Dhillon under consideration for key Department of Justice post

    Indian American attorney Harmeet Dhillon under consideration for key Department of Justice post

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American attorney Harmeet Dhillon, a California GOP leader and vocal supporter of Trump, is under consideration to run the civil rights branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a report by Los Angeles Times.

    Dhillon is a nationally recognized trial lawyer, trusted boardroom advisor, and passionate advocate for individual, corporate and institutional clients across numerous industries and walks of life. She has been awarded the prestigious designation of Northern California Super Lawyer in business litigation by Thomson / West Publishing, an accolade reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in the jurisdiction.

    Harmeet has practiced before numerous state and federal courts and administrative tribunals across the United States, has successfully handled numerous trials (jury and bench), arbitrations, and mediations (including international arbitrations), and has resolved many business disputes prior to the initiation of litigation. Admitted to practice law in New York and California, she has been a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

  • Indian American Civil rights activist Deepa Iyer receives Justice in Action Award

    Indian American Civil rights activist Deepa Iyer receives Justice in Action Award

    NEW YORK CITY(TIP): Indian Americancivil rights activist and attorney Deepa Iyer received Justice in Action Awards from The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) at its 2017 Gala on March 2, 2017 at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, in New York City.

    A leading racial justice activist, Deepa Iyer served for a decade as the executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), focusing on community building in post-9/11 America. She teaches in the Asian American studies program at the University of Maryland. As Senior Fellow at the Center for Social Inclusion, Deepa Iyer provides analysis, commentary and scholarship on the ways to build racial equity and solidarity in light of the rapid demographic transformation in America’s neighborhoods, schools and workplaces.

    The AALDEF Justice in Action Awards recognizes exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and efforts in advancing social justice. Past recipients include Congressman John Lewis, Yoko Ono, David Henry Hwang, Sandra Leung, Fareed Zakaria, Jose Antonio Vargas, BD Wong, Don H. Liu, Mira Nair, George Takei, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Harry Belafonte, Seymour Hersh, Larry Tu, Ivan Fong, John G. Chou, A.B. Cruz III, and Margaret Cho.

    Since 1974, AALDEF has been protecting and promoting the civil rights of Asian Americans across the nation through litigation, advocacy, organizing, and community education. All proceeds from the gala will go directly towards supporting AALDEF’s legal and educational programs in immigrant rights, economic justice for workers, voting rights and civic participation, educational equity, housing and environmental justice, and the elimination of hate violence, police misconduct, and human trafficking.

  • Indian American Dhiren Amin honored with Police Award

    Indian American Dhiren Amin honored with Police Award

    EDISON, NJ (TIP): The Indian Business Association congratulated IBA President Dhiren Amin who was recognized by the Honor Legion of the Police Departments of the State of New Jersey. He was presented with Honored Citizen Award by President Michael Manzo.

    The Honor Legion is a nonpolitical association that fosters and encourages many fraternal and charitable causes. It was incorporated in 1966 under the simple premise of recognizing the ‘Finest of the Finest’ for their many acts of heroism and valor. In their 50+ years of existence, more than 6,000 law enforcement officers, representing agencies throughout the state of New Jersey, have been accepted into the association.

    The IBA has a long tradition of working with law enforcement. We salute and thank all the individuals associated or connected with law enforcement for their service.

     

  • Seven Indian American Students named finalists for 2017 Truman Scholarship

    Seven Indian American Students named finalists for 2017 Truman Scholarship

    WASHINGTON (TIP): A total of seven students of Indian origin have been nominated for the prestigious Harry S Truman Scholarship this year. The scholarship finalists are Shreya Ganeshan from the University of Georgia, Samarth Gupta from Harvard University, Megan Patel from Georgetown University, Maya Durvasula from Duke University, Anjali Misra from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Manju Bangalore from the University of Oregon, and Anjana Murali from the University of Pittsburgh. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation reviewed more than 750 files from 315 institutions before selecting its finalists, according to a news release from KU.

    The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by former President Harry S. Truman four decades ago to inspire and support Americans from diverse backgrounds and from across the United States. Scholarship is awarded to college juniors for display of leadership potential and their commitment toward public service. As part of the scholarship, students are provided up to USD 30,000 for their graduate studies. Every year hundreds of students apply for this scholarship but only 60 Truman Scholars are named nationwide. This year the Truman Scholarship Foundation reviewed 768 potential scholars from 315 educational institutes across the United States of America out of which 199 students were picked to compete for the scholarship.

    A regional review panel appointed by the scholarship foundation will interview the finalists between March 3 and April 7. The final list of the scholars will be announced on April 21.

  • Indian student’s vision for glaucoma app wins national recognition

    Indian student’s vision for glaucoma app wins national recognition

    A 17-year-old Tesoro High senior Shalin Shah was one of four teenage recipients of the Young Innovators to Watch award, a part of Mobile Apps Showdown at the CES convention, the largest technology trade show in the world. He created Lumos, an affordable mobile application that will screen a person’s eyes for glaucoma. He developed the $30 lens that goes with it.

    It’s the second time Shah has been honored by Living in Digital Times, the organization that runs the Mobile Apps Showdown.

    He was chosen among 75 applicants from around the country based on the potential, creativity and sophistication of his invention. Judges included teachers, venture capitalists and software and hardware developers.

    “When you watch enough of these, you can spot out the real deal,” said Robin Raskin, founder and president of Living in Digital Times. “He is just an incredibly articulate, talented kid.”

    Shah spent months working on his mobile application, guided by Dr. Anand Bhatt of UCI Medical Center. Normally, a glaucoma screening requires a doctor’s visit and the use of an ophthalmoscope to view the fundus, the internal lining of the eye and measure the health of a patient’s retina.

    Shah created a lens that attaches to a smartphone and takes a digital image of the eye. Results show on the screen in real time.

  • Alaska Airlines names Charu Jain new Vice President and CIO

    Alaska Airlines names Charu Jain new Vice President and CIO

    WASHINGTON (TIP): On February 16, Alaska Airlines board of directors named Charu Jain vice president and chief information officer (CIO) of Alaska Airlines.

    Jain comes to the airline from IBM Global Business Services, where she led the team helping American Airlines integrate its IT systems. Prior to that she worked 20 years at United Airlines in progressive roles from programmer to senior managing director of airline operations technology and technology integration before leaving the company in 2012. As Alaska’s CIO, Jain will lead a department of more than 400 information technology professionals.

    “Charu’s experience as both an airline executive and consultant is perfectly suited to help Air Group successfully integrate Virgin America from a technology standpoint,” said Brandon Pedersen

    Alaska Airlines executive vice president of finance and CFO. “Throughout her 24-year career, Charu has been able to blend thoughtful leadership with a focus on results and we’re excited to have her onboard.”

    Jain has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Lucknow University in India and an MBA in International Management at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

     

  • INDIAN STUDENT WINS PRINCETON UNIVERSITY’S TOP HONOR

    INDIAN STUDENT WINS PRINCETON UNIVERSITY’S TOP HONOR

    PRINCETON, NJ (TIP): Neereja Sundaresan, an Indian origin student has been named one of the winners of the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship, Princeton University’s top honor for graduate students. The fellowships support their final year of study at Princeton and are awarded to one Ph.D. student in each of the four divisions (humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering) whose work has exhibited the highest scholarly excellence.

    Sundaresan, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering who came to Princeton in 2012, has a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Through experimental study, her dissertation explores non-equilibrium condensed matter physics with photons.

    Her adviser Andrew Houck, a professor of electrical engineering, said Sundaresan has excelled at expanding her base of knowledge, learning skills such as nanofabrication and quantum measurement, teaching and mentoring other students, and making exciting discoveries in the lab. “In short, Neereja is a superstar,” Houck said. “She is a gifted experimentalist who can bring her talents to bear on many problems at once and can lead teams of researchers both within my group and across several research groups.”

    After graduation, Sundaresan plans to contribute to ongoing quantum computing research. “Through the course of my Ph.D. I will have gained a solid foundation for a meaningful career in research. … As research in this field requires similar principles of device design, fabrication and measurement, I will be able to leverage the skills I’ve gained at Princeton while learning new ones,” she said. “I think that these research initiatives will have broad and illuminating applications beyond the goal of universal quantum computation.”

  • 21-YEAR-OLD DELHI STUDENT GETS RS 1.25-CRORE JOB OFFER FROM UBER

    21-YEAR-OLD DELHI STUDENT GETS RS 1.25-CRORE JOB OFFER FROM UBER

    DELHI (TIP): A student of Delhi Technological University (DTU) has received a job offer with an annual salary of Rs.1.25 crore from US Based Cab hailing company UBER Technologies. This is the second-highest offer received by a student at DTU ever. In 2015, software giant Google hired a student Sidharth for an annual salary of Rs.1.27 crore.

    Sidharth, a computer science engineering student, has been offered the position of a software engineer at the San Francisco office of Uber, and the salary includes basic pay and other benefits. Sidharth’s basic pay package is Rs 71 lakh, which goes up to Rs 1.25 crore with other benefits.

    “It was a delight to have received the job offer and I am now looking forward to move to San Francisco,” said Sidharth. An alumnus of Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, the 21-year-old said he was looking to travel around the world with the money from his new job.

    He described the recruitment process as grilling, where he had to solve problems on the spot.

    “I had actually done a seven-week internship with Uber earlier. So this is a pre-placement offer that I have received. Along with me, I think there is someone from one of the IITs,” he said.

    The eldest son in the family, Sidharth had scored 95.4% in his Class 12 board examinations, with 98 out of 100 in computer science and mathematics. He says his percentage dipped because of a low score in English.

    He later cleared the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and landed a seat at DTU– formerly known as Delhi College of Engineering.

    “From the beginning, I wanted to do computer science engineering and with my score I was not getting the subject at any of the IITs. Moreover, I love Delhi and did not want to move from here,” he said.

    He is the first engineer of the family. His father is a planning consultant and mother a freelance transcriber. He has a younger brother who also studies at DPS Vasant Kunj.

  • ITV Gold hosts appreciation event for ‘Insight Tonight with Ashok Vyas’

    ITV Gold hosts appreciation event for ‘Insight Tonight with Ashok Vyas’

    An afternoon of appreciation was organized here to mark three years of ‘Insight Tonight with Ashok Vyas’ and celebrate four decades of the popular Indian channel ITV Gold. The luncheon event at Heritage of India in Queens dwelled on intellectually stimulating themes for the select audience with the help of speakers as well as a satirical play performed by the NJ based theater group named ‘Prayaas’.

    ‘Insight Tonight with Ashok Vyas’ is a unique, interactive live show with panel discussions on contemporary social, political, cultural and philosophical issues every Monday and Tuesday on ITV Gold.

    The event emceed by Ashok Vyas began auspiciously with Vedic mantras chanted by Shastri Jagdish Tripathi. CEO of ITV Gold Deepak Viswanath thanked all program hosts and program producers of his channel.

    Author and motivational speaker Sunil Robert Vuppula spoke on the ‘Importance of dialogue’ and emphasized the need to be open to listen to others. Corporate coach and consultant Vibhuti Jha focused on the need of integrity and honesty for a TV news and conversation to be credible. ‘How media is playing its role in stimulating relevant dialogue’ was elaborated by Fellow of World Policy Institute Swadesh Rana.

    How politicians, religious leaders and media often exploit the plight of victims to their advantage — this thread ran through a small skit titled ‘Aaj Ka Gaddha’, which generated peals of laughter. The skit’s director Ameeya Mehta and performers Dhana Shri, Dhananjay, Himanshu Joshi and Deepak received generous applause from the audience.

    President of ITV Mrs Sathya Viswanath gave away token of appreciation to artists and panelists of the show as well as guests. She had co-founded ITV with her husband, Dr Banad Viswanath who left his mortal frame two years ago.

    This was also an afternoon of love and memories and inspirations. Dr Shashi Shah appreciated the role of ITV for the community and touched upon the versatility as well as interviewing skills of Ashok Vyas. In his speech, Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos also mentioned Ashok’s skill of asking pointed questions in polite but firm manner. He also urged Indian Americans to take active role in the political process of their adopted country. Maragos presented citations from his office to Mrs Sathya Viswanath, attorney Michael Phulwani, Dr Hetal Gor and Ashok Vyas.

    Leaders of the Indian community present on the occasion included senior advisor to  Comptroller Maragos, Dilip Chauhan, Publisher of The South Asian Times Kamlesh Mehta, Dr Narinder Kukar, CPA Rajeev Kaul, Prof A D Amar, Prof Maya Chaddha, Rashmin Master and Dr Rakesh Sharma.

  • Indian American State Representative Niraj Antani Named AMVETS 2016 ‘Legislator of the Year’

    Indian American State Representative Niraj Antani Named AMVETS 2016 ‘Legislator of the Year’

    COLUMBUS (TIP): State Representative Niraj Antani (R -Miami Township) has received the 2016 Legislator of the Year award by American Veterans (AMVETS) Department of Ohio.

    “I am very thankful to AMVETS for this award, but I am more thankful for all the veterans they serve who protected our nation while in the military,” Antani said. “I will continue to fight for our veterans at the Statehouse. The post 9/11 veteran unemployment rate in Ohio is abysmal. Our veterans deserve better when they return home, and I will fight for them.”

    Each year, AMVETS Department of Ohio recognizes legislators who have shown continued support of veterans issues and demonstrated the ideals and goals of the AMVETS Department of Ohio. Antani accepted this award on Saturday, February 11th, 2017 in Columbus.

    Antani is serving his second term in the Ohio House. He represents the 42nd District, which covers most of southern Montgomery County. Having been elected age 23, now 25, he is the youngest currently serving member of the House. In addition, he is the second Indian-American state elected official in Ohio history, and the first Indian-American Republican.

    Antani was named to Forbes Magazine’s list of the top “30 Under 30” people in the United States for Law & Politics in 2015. In 2016, the conservative media organization Newsmax named him the 2nd most influential Republican in the nation under age 30. In addition, in 2013 he was named to the “Top 30 Conservatives Under Age 30 in the United States” list by Red Alert Politics and the Montgomery County Republican Party named him the “Republican Man of the Year.”

  • Indians in the United States of America: Significant Achievers

    Indians in the United States of America: Significant Achievers

    India gained independence from British raj on August 15,1947 and adapted a constitution becoming a Republic on 26th January 1950. On this occasion of 68th Republic Day, we can very proudly say that Indians have been contributing significantly in the building and progress of their homeland and adapted land-USA.With a population of about 3.8million (either born in India or reported Indian ancestry or race), they are among the wealthiest communities in the US, with a median annual household income of $88,000 compared with the national median of $49,800. They are among the most highly educated racial or ethnic groups in the U.S. According to the data from the American Community Survey, 40.6% of Indian Americans 25 and older have graduate or professional degrees, and 32.3% have bachelor’s degrees; an additional 10.4% have some college education. constitute ten percent of all medical students in America.

    Indian migrants began arriving in the United States in the beginning of 19th century. In 1813, a group of daring Indians established a Ghadar Party with dedicated patriots like Lala Har Dayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Abdul Hafiz Mohamed Barakatullah, and Rashbehari Bose. They started a weekly Urdu newspaper “Ghadar” launching Ghadar Movement seeking India’s independence from Britain. Many members of this Party were later executed by the British Sarkar on their visit to India. The Washington Chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) launched centenary celebration of the Ghadar Movement that was followed up by multiple events at different parts of the USA. I had the great honor and privilege to be the president of GOPIO at that time.

    Indian Americans are becoming increasingly visible in US politics, journalism, academia, or business.In the field of science and technology, Indians have become back bone of recent inventions. Two Indians have been awarded Nobel Prize for their contributions to science and medicine. They are: Hargovind Khorana Nobel Prize for Physiology & Medicine in 1968, and S. Chandrashekar Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983.

    Indian doctors, numbering more than 35,000, constitute over five percent of all physicians in USA and about 36% of scientists at NASA are Indians.

    Indians with significant achievements as academicians, inventors, and high-level administrators include: Vinod Khosla (co-founder of Sun Microsystems), Vinod Dham (creator of the Pentium chip), Sabeer Bhatia (founder and creator of Hotmail), Arun Netravalli (president of AT & T-Bell Labs), Rajiv Gupta (GM of Hewlett Packard), Sanjay Tejwrika (Microsoft Testing Director of Windows 2000, Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar (Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart), Rakesh Khurana (Dean of Harvard College), Jamshed Bharucha, (President Emeritus of Cooper Union previously Dean of Arts & Sciences at Dartmouth College and Provost at Tufts University), Vijay K. Dhir (Dean of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science), Dinesh D’Souza (President of The King’s College, New York), Anjli Jain (Executive Director of CampusEAI Consortium, Dipak C. Jain (former Dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University), Vistasp Karbhari (President of the University of Texas at Arlington), Pramod P. Khargonekar (Vice Chancellor of Research, University of California, Irvine), Renu KhatorChancellor of the University of Houston System and President of the University of Houston), Pradeep Khosla (Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego), Vijay Kumar (Associate Dean of School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania), Geeta Menon (Dean of the Undergraduate College at New York University Stern School of Business), Nitin Nohria (Dean of Harvard Business School), Sethuraman Panchanathan (Executive Vice President and Chief Research and Innovation Officer at Arizona State University), Michael Rao (President of Virginia Commonwealth University), Beheruz Sethna (President of the University of West Georgia), Dr. Paul Shrivastava ( Distinguished Professor and Director, David O’Brien Centre for Sustainable Enterprise, Concordia University), Molly Easo Smith (President of Manhattanville  College), Kumble R. Subbaswamy (Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst), Subra Suresh (President of Carnegie Mellon University), Satish K. Tripathi (President of University at Buffalo).

    Other academicians of international fame are: Manjul Bhargava (Professor of mathematics at Princeton University and winner of Fields Medal, 2014), Abhijit Banerjee (Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at MIT), Kaushik Basu (Chief Economist of the World Bank), Jagdish Natwarlal Bhagwati (Professor of Economics at Columbia University), Raghuram Rajan, Professor University of Chicago and former Governor of Reserve Bank of India), (Salman Akhtar, Distinguished Professor at the Jefferson Medical College), Muzaffar Alam and C. M. Nain (Professors in South Asian Languages & Civilizations at the University of Chicago), Akhil Amar (Professor of Law at Yale Law School).

    Indra Nooyi (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo), Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft), Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google), Ajay Banga (President and CEO of MasterCard), Rono Dutta (former President of United Airlines; Chairman of Air Sahara), Rajiv Gupta (General Manager of Hewlett Packard), Anshu Jain (former co-CEO of Deutsche Bank), Sanjay Jha (CEO of Global Foundries and former CEO of Motorola Mobile Devices), Vyomesh Joshi (Executive Vice President of Imaging and Printing Group, Hewlett-Packard Company), Thomas Kurian (President of Product Development at Oracle Corporation), Victor Menezes (Chairman of Clearing House Association; former Chairman and CEO of Citibank), Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft), Ranji H. Nagaswami (Chief Investment Officer for AllianceBernstein Fund Investors), Shantanu Narayen (CEO of Adobe Systems), Dinesh Paliwal (Chairman and CEO of Harman International), Arati Prabhakar (Director of DARPA), Rajeev Suri (CEO of Nokia), Padmasree Warrior (CTO of Cisco Systems), Rakesh Gangwal (former CEO and Chairman of US Airways Group), Rajat Gupta (former Managing Director of McKinsey & Company), Vikram Pandit (former CEO of Citigroup), Kanwal Rekhi (former EVP and CTO of Novell), Deven Sharma (former president of Standard & Poor’s), Salman ‘Sal’ Khan (founder of Khan Academy, a free online education platform), Amar Bose (founder and chairman of Bose Corporation), Bharat Desai (co-founder and chairman of Syntel), Sant Singh Chatwal owner of the Bombay Palace chain of restaurants and Hampshire Hotels & Resorts), Vinod Khosla (founder of Khosla Ventures; co-founder of SUN Microsystems), Vinod Dham (designed the Intel Pentium Chip Processor).

    Indians are being recognized in the field of arts and entertainment. Some of the recent successes include:Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014; M. Night Shyamalan (Hollywood director), Mira Nair (director and producer), Kal Penn (actor), Omi Vaidya (actor), Sheetal Sheth (actress),Waris Ahluwalia (fashion designer), Aziz Ansari, Russell Peters, Aman Ali, Russell Peters,Rajiv Satyal, Anish Shah, Azhar Usman ((actors and comedians). Norah Jones (singer and winner of multiple Grammy Awards).

    Fareed Zakaria (columnist for Time magazine and host of Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN), Zubin Mehta (former conductor, New York Philharmonic Orchestra; receiver of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame), Zarin Mehta (executive director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra), Nicki Minaj (pop singer and rapper), Nina Davuluri (crowned Miss America 2014).

    Kiran Desai (winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize), Siddhartha Mukherjee (physician and 2011 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction), Anita Desai (novelist; shortlisted for the Booker prize three times), Vikram Seth (poet, novelist, travel writer), Uday Singh Taunque (first Indian American to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom; posthumously awarded Bronze Star and Purple Heart gallantry awards),

    Indians have started making their mark in political and administration both at local and national level. Notables include: Kamala Harris (United States Senator from California), Nikki Haley (former Governor of South Carolina and now US Ambassador to the UN), Kumar P. Barve (majority leader Maryland House of Delegates), Mervyn M. Dymally (41st Lieutenant Governor of California, (1975-1979); member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1981-1993), Kashmir Gill (mayor of Yuba City, California, Faz Husain (first native of India to win elected office in Michigan), Bobby Jindal (former Governor of Louisiana; Vice Chairman of the Republican Governors Association), Aruna Miller (member of the Maryland House of Delegates), Ami Bera (U.S. Representative for California’s 7th congressional district), Raja Krishnamoorthi (U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 8th congressional district), Ro Khanna (U.S. Representative for California’s 17th congressional district), Pramila Jayapal (U.S. Representative for Washington’s 7th congressional district), and Dalip Singh Saund (first Asian-American member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California).

    Preet Bharara (United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York), Cathy Bissoon (judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania), Nisha Desai Biswal (Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs), Joy Cherian (first Asian head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), Huma Abedin (aide to United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton), Arif Alikhan (former Assistant Secretary for Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; former Deputy Mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety for the City of Los Angeles), Preeta D. Bansal (member and past chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom; former Solicitor General of New York), Aneesh Chopra (Federal Chief Technology Officer of the US), Rashad Hussain (U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), Neel Kashkari (former interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability in the United States Department of the Treasury), Neal Katyal (Solicitor General of the United States), Gopal Khanna (Chief Information Officer of Minnesota), Narayana Kocherlakota (President of Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis), Kris Kolluri (New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation), Vivek Kundra (Federal Chief Information Officer of the US), Farah Pandith (Special Representative to Muslim Communities for the United States Department of State), Rachel Paulose (former United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota), Anant Raut (counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee), Rajiv Shah (formerUnder Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics; current Administrator of USAID), Ambassador Islam A. Siddiqui (Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative), Rajen Anand (Executive Director, USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion), Sabita Singh (first judge of Indian descent in Massachusetts history), Subra Suresh (Director of National Science Foundation), Vinai Thummalapally (served as U.S. Ambassador to Belize), Richard Verma (Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, at the Department of State), Vince Girdhari Chhabria (judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California), Manish S. Shah (judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois), Srikanth Srinivasan (judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit), Kalpana Chawla (NASA space shuttle astronaut, who died in space shuttle blast), Sunita Williams (NASA astronaut), Vivek Murthy (Surgeon General of U.S.; former Vice Admiral of U.S. Health Corps), Sanjay Gupta (neurosurgeon; CNN chief medical correspondent; declined offer by President Barack Obama to be nominated U.S. Surgeon General) Our young generation is making us proud. About 73% of National Spelling Bee winners since 1999 have been Indian Americans. Indian Americans Account for Nearly One-Third of Science Talent Search Finalists.

    (The author can be reached at 1509 Coat Ridge Road, Herndon, VA 20170; raabta.india@gmail.com)

  • AVI DANDIYA: A Crusader for environmentally and socially clean India

    AVI DANDIYA: A Crusader for environmentally and socially clean India

    WE ARE UPDATING THIS STORY – PLEASE CHECK BACK SOON

  • US University Receives USD 1.5 Million Grant For Jainism Studies

    US University Receives USD 1.5 Million Grant For Jainism Studies

    Washington:  An Indian-origin philanthropist, Mohini Jain, has made a grant of USD 1.5 million to University of California (UC) Davis to advance studies in Jainism.

    Mohini Jain, a retired teacher, gave the gift which will establish the Mohini Jain Presidential Chair for Jain Studies in Department of Religious Studies as part of a larger effort to position UC Davis as a leader in the study of Indian religions and the interdisciplinary field of South Asia studies broadly.

    A formal announcement in this regard is expected to be made on February 21.

    “In our multicultural, global world, it is important to escape boxed-in points of view,” Jain said in a statement, hoping that the impact of the chair at UC Davis will be a broadening of minds and a renewed focus on dialogue and peace.

    The chair will be awarded to a scholar with a well- established record for creative, exceptional and interdisciplinary research on Jainism.

    As a member of the religious studies department, the holder of the chair will help develop curriculum in Jain studies, offer graduate courses in Jainism, pursue a vigorous research agenda, give public lectures, and contribute to the development of a religions of India and South Asia studies initiative at UC Davis by participating in community outreach, a media release said.

    “This gift will further diversify and strengthen our expertise in world religions and is another step toward UC Davis serving as a leader in India religions and Asia studies globally,” said Archana Venkatesan, chair of the religious studies department and associate professor of religious studies and comparative literature.

    Mohini Jain was a research scientist at UC Davis in the 1980’s and then served as a high school science teacher for 19 years, retiring in 2008.

    In 1988, she made her first gift in honor of her husband, the late Anil K. Jain, a distinguished faculty member in electrical and computer engineering.

    Each year, the College of Engineering recognizes outstanding students in the field through the Anil K. Jain Memorial Fund.

    The Mohini Jain Family Foundation established an endowment at the UC Davis School of Education to provide annual support for doctoral students whose research has the potential to improve public education and has made two matching gifts in response to the UC Davis Foundation’s matching fund for graduate students, in addition to many other gifts in support of the UC Davis Chancellor’s Fund and the School of Education, among others.

    Jain is a trustee of the UC Davis Foundation and a member of the foundation’s executive committee, the University said.

  • Purdue University Indian Professor named as Jefferson Science Fellow; Indian Student among 2017-2018 Churchill Scholars

    Purdue University Indian Professor named as Jefferson Science Fellow; Indian Student among 2017-2018 Churchill Scholars

    Karthik Kannan is a Professor at Purdue’s Krannert School of Management

    WASHINGTON (TIP): It was a double bonanza for Indian academics at #PurdueUniversity, Indiana. Indian American Karthik Kannan, a Professor at Purdue’s Krannert School of Management, was named to the 2017-18 class of Jefferson Science Fellows, an initiative of the Office of Science and Technology Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State. Shovik Bandyopadhyay an MPhil student of Haematology department at Purdue University was among the 15 students named as 2017-2018 Churchill Scholars by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States.

    Karthik Kannan is also academic director for the MBA programs (two-year MBA, STEM-MBA, Weekend MBA), academic co-director for MS in BAIM (Business Analytics and Information Management), and co-director for IAC (Information and Analytics Center).

    Kannan has proposed the concept of “Design for Instincts” as a way to organize businesses in the current age, and his research focuses on the same theme. Specifically, he studies how different aspects of information technology may be used to exploit human instincts and biases in order to nudge/manipulate behavior. His papers have been accepted in several leading conferences and journals in the information systems area. He is a member of AIS and INFORMS. He is also a CERIAS Fellow and Krannert’s Faculty Fellow.

    Shovik Bandyopadhyay
    Shovik Bandyopadhyay is an MPhil student of Haematology department at Purdue University

    Shovik Bandyopadhyay, of Eureka, Missouri, studies biological science in the College of Science and Honors College. He is laying the foundation to pursue his goal to discover new and better treatments for blood cancers. Bandyopadhyay, a 2016 Goldwater Scholar, has conducted research in the lab of Ji-Xin Cheng, a professor of biomedical engineering and chemistry, and spent his summers in the lab of Stephen Oh at Washington University in St. Louis. He initiated a cooperative effort between their laboratories to research the combination of two drugs for a synergistic interaction to fight chronic myelogenous leukemia.

    The Churchill Scholarship provides funding to American students for a year of Master’s study in science, mathematics, and engineering at the University of Cambridge, based at Churchill College. The Scholarship was set up at the request of Sir Winston Churchill in order to fulfil his vision of US-UK scientific exchange with the goal of advancing science and technology on both sides of the Atlantic, helping to ensure our future prosperity and security.

  • Indian American Official in Obama administration Arun M. Kumar elected Chairman & CEO of KPMG in India

    Indian American Official in Obama administration Arun M. Kumar elected Chairman & CEO of KPMG in India

    KPMG in India announced the election of Arun M. Kumar as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the firm for a five-year term, beginning February 5, 2017.

    Arun Kumar succeeds Richard Rekhy, who led the firm as CEO for over four years. Arun Kumar was elected by the KPMG India Board and ratified by the India Partners. The firm executed a well-defined governance process for the selection of the CEO that aligns with the objective of building on its success as well as attracting the best talent available for this role.

    Arun Kumar brings a wealth of international leadership experience to KPMG India, including his tenure in public service in the United States for the last three years as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of US and Foreign Commercial Service in the Obama Administration. In that role, he led a global organization of senior professionals present in 78 countries and all the 50 states in the US and served with distinction. On behalf of the US Government, Arun also worked to strengthen commercial ties between India and the United States and played a key role in establishing the India-US Strategic & Commercial Dialogue and a renewed India-US CEO Forum.

    Arun spent the majority of his career with KPMG in the US, including serving on the KPMG US and KPMG Americas Boards from 2008-2013. He led Management Consulting / Finance Management, for the West region of KPMG, US from 2005 to 2013. He has also served on KPMG’s Global Management Consulting leadership team.

    On his appointment, Arun Kumar said: “I am honored to have been elected as the Chairman and CEO of KPMG in India. I have worked closely with the people of KPMG India for many years and have always been impressed by their world class talent. I am excited to have this opportunity to work with the KPMG team in India to continue to build an organization that is recognized for their quality and for the impact they have on our clients, our people and the community in general.”

    John Veihmeyer, Chairman, KPMG International said: “Our global clients recognize the increasing significance of India as the fastest growing major economy in the world. I am delighted to welcome Arun back to KPMG. He is a trusted leader, who is recognized for his integrity, strategic vision and enduring relationships and I am confident that under Arun’s leadership, KPMG India will continue to provide exceptional service to our clients, enhance our brand and further strengthen our reputation for the highest quality”.

  • Former NYC Health& Hospitals CEO Dr. Ram Raju takes key role at Northwell Health

    Former NYC Health& Hospitals CEO Dr. Ram Raju takes key role at Northwell Health

    NEW YORK (TIP):Dr. Ram Raju, former president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, is joining Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in the state of New York.

    Raju, who in November stepped down from his position as president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, will serve as senior vice president and community health officer at Northwell.

    In his new role, Raju will evaluate the needs of the most- vulnerable communities Northwell Health serves, assess programs that enhance the health system’s ability to respond to those needs and collaborate with community-based organizations to create problem-solving solutions.

    “Ram’s vast experience, deep commitment to caring for vulnerable communities and keen understanding of New York’s healthcare delivery system make him the ideal individual to lead our efforts,” said Michael J. Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, according to a press release. “His most recent work with NYC Health + Hospitals certainly enhances his ability to respond to this challenge.”

    NYC Health + Hospitals, which Raju led from January 2014 until November 2016, is the largest municipally owned health system in the U.S. and a major safety net provider, serving a large proportion of poor and uninsured patient. But it has struggled financially, facing a potential budget gap of $1.8 billion in 2020. At Northwell, Raju’s role will entail examining programs aimed at improving the health system’s response to the community’s needs and working with local organizations to address them.

    Northwell created the position of community health investment officer specifically for Raju, who said his time at NYC Health + Hospitals taught him about what vulnerable communities need and how health policies can affect their outcomes. “My new role with Northwell will enable me to promote, sustain and advance an environment that supports equity and diversity, and help eliminate health disparities

    within the communities served by Northwell throughout the city, Long Island and Westchester County,” Raju said in a press release.

    Before working at NYC Health + Hospitals, Raju was CEO of the Cook County Health & Hospitals System in Chicago, the country’s third-largest public health system. Dr. Raju has extensive leadership experience. Prior to NYC Health + Hospitals, he served as CEO for the Cook County Health & Hospitals System in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest public health system, where he improved cash flow by more than $100 million and changed the system’s financial health during his tenure from 2011-14. He began his medical career at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn and went on to serve as chief operating officer and medical director at NYC Health + Hospitals’ Coney Island Hospital. In 2006, he became the HHC chief medical officer, corporate chief operating officer and executive vice president. Under his leadership, HHC continued to reach great heights in quality, patient safety and health care data transparency.

    Dr. Raju earned his medical diploma and Master of Surgery degree from Madras Medical College in India. He underwent further training in England, where he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and later received an MBA from the University of Tennessee and CPE from the American College of Physician Executives.

    He served as vice-chair of the Greater New York Hospital Association and currently sits on the boards of numerous city, state and national health care organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the New York Academy of Medicine and the Asian Health Care Leaders Association.

    Dr. Raju is the recipient of numerous national recognitions, including Modern Healthcare’s list of the nation’s “100 Most-Influential People in Healthcare.” Modern Healthcare also named him one of the “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare” and one of the “50 Most-Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare.” In 2013, he was named a Business Leader of Color by Chicago United.

  • Indian-American student from Texas named 2017 Presidential scholar nominee

    Indian-American student from Texas named 2017 Presidential scholar nominee

    MISSOURI CITY (TIP): Shreya Bhadriraju, an Indian-American teen is among 60 students in the US who have been nominated for the 2017 Presidential Scholars program for exemplifying academic and artistic excellence. A student of Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas, Shreya is among the Arts nominees announced by The National YoungArts Foundation on January 31 for the 2017 US Presidential Scholars.

    Modeled after National YoungArts Week, the organization’s signature program held annually in Miami. YoungArts’ regional programs offer life-changing experiences, guidance and support to YoungArts Winners nationwide through interdisciplinary workshops, seminars and master classes with renowned leaders in their fields. This year, 691 emerging artists (ages 15-18 or grades 10-12) from 42 states were selected as YoungArts Winners for their outstanding work and accomplishments across the literary, visual, design and performing arts. Regional programs are open to Winners from all award levels-Finalist, Honorable Mention and Merit-and will take place in Miami, Los Angeles and New York in February, March and April, respectively, with opportunities to engage with local audiences in their communities.

    “YoungArts’ regional programs bring together some of the nation’s most valuable cultural and educational institutions to support our nation’s next generation of artists,” said Carolina García Jayaram, President and CEO of the National YoungArts Foundation. “We are especially proud to announce a new partnership with the CAP UCLA, which makes real the vision to expand our reach across the country, and provide many more aspiring artists with the collaborative and career-building experiences that define YoungArts.”

    During the program, all Scholars receive a Presidential Medallion presented on behalf of the US President and participate in several recognition activities.

  • EMMA STONE SCOOPS BEST ACTRESS FOR ‘LA LA LAND’

    EMMA STONE SCOOPS BEST ACTRESS FOR ‘LA LA LAND’

    Just a couple of weeks after her big Golden Globes win, ‘La La Land’s leading lady Emma Stone has won another award at the 2017 SAG Awards. Emma was able to walk away with Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

    The 28-year-old, who plays a struggling but savvy actress in the musical comedy, fought off competition from Amy Adams for ‘Arrival’, Emily Blunt for ‘The Girl on the Train’, Natalie Portman for ‘Jackie’ and Meryl Streep for ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’.

    As she collected the award, Stone told the fellow actresses in the audience, “You are the greatest and your talent and intelligence are mind-blowing.”

    After thanking her writer-director Damien Chazelle and co-star Ryan Gosling (“Ryan, you’re the best, that’s just the truth, no one can argue with that”), Stone praised the room’s artists and filmmakers for creating work that is reflecting society and sharing joy.

    “We’re in a really tricky time in the world and in our country, and things are very inexcusable and need action,” she said. “I’m honored to be part of a community that wants to reflect things back to society.”

    The awards are being handed out at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.

  • Two Indian American authors make it to Wellcome Book Prize 2017 longlist

    Two Indian American authors make it to Wellcome Book Prize 2017 longlist

    NEW YORK (TIP): Two Indian Americans – Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee and late Stanford neurosurgeon Dr. Paul Kalanithi were among those longlisted for 2017 Wellcome Book Prize.

    Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee

    Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, a stem cell biologist, and a cancer geneticist. He is the author of ‘The Laws of Medicine’ and ‘The Emperor of All Maladies: A biography of cancer’, which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction and the Guardian First Book Award.

    Siddhartha Mukherjee was longlisted for his non-fictional work “The Gene: An Intimate History,” which was published in May 2016. The Gene’ is an epic, moving history of a scientific idea coming to life. The story of the gene begins in an obscure Augustinian abbey in Moravia in 1856, where a monk stumbles on the idea of a ‘unit of heredity’. It intersects with Darwin’s theory of evolution, and collides with the horrors of Nazi eugenics in the 1940s.

    Late Stanford neurosurgeon Dr. Paul Kalanithi

    Paul Sudhir Arul Kalanithi, who died of lung cancer in March 2015, was named to the list for his memoir, “When Breath Becomes Air,” which was released posthumously in February 2016.

    Paul Kalanithi was a neurosurgeon and writer. At the age of 36, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.

    ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity – the brain – and finally into a patient and a new father.

    The 2017 longlist of 12 books was selected by a judging panel chaired by celebrated Scottish crime writer Val McDermid, alongside Simon Baron-Cohen, Gemma Cairney, Tim Lewens and Di Speirs. The Wellcome Book Prize celebrates the topics of health and medicine in literature. It awards£30,000 each year to the winning author, and aims to stimulate interest and debate about medical science through books and reading. The prize crosses genres: fiction and non-fiction are both eligible, so its shortlists can include biography, crime, historical fiction, current affairs, sci-fi and more.

    The shortlist for the prize will be announced at a press conference on Tuesday 14 March at the London Book Fair. The winner will be announced at an evening ceremony on Monday 24 April at Wellcome Collection.

  • Ashok Amritraj Appointed UN in India Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goals

    Ashok Amritraj Appointed UN in India Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goals

    Award-winning Hollywood film producer and Wimbledon tennis player, Ashok Amritraj has been appointed the United Nations in India Goodwill Ambassador for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Chairman and CEO of the Hyde Park Entertainment Group, Mr. Amritraj is the first Ambassador for the UN in India.

    An internationally-renowned iconic filmmaker, Ashok Amritraj has made over 100 films during the span of his 30-year extraordinary career garnering global acclaim as well as worldwide revenues in excess of $2 billion. He has been a pioneering force in bridging India and Hollywood through film and media.

    Accepting the honor, Mr. Amritraj said “I look forward to working with the United Nations in India to amplify awareness about the SDGs. It is a tremendous opportunity that brings together my personal desire to serve the country of my birth, and my passion to leverage the power of the media for the creation of diverse, socially-relevant content”.

    Welcoming Mr. Amritraj to the UN Family, Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator said, “We look forward to working with Mr. Amritraj as a powerful advocate for the SDGs, and to his support in showcasing innovations and cutting-edge solutions to development challenges that are being generated in India”.

    A passionate believer in the power of the media to effect social change, Mr. Amritraj produced and hosted the acclaimed series, ‘Chance of a Lifetime’ in partnership with the UNHQ in which young filmmakers from Asia competed to create original, short stories highlighting issues related to water, HIV/AIDS, gender equality, migration and education. The winners were feted at the Cannes Film Festival.

  • Indian-American attorney appointed to key White House post

    Indian-American attorney appointed to key White House post

    WASHINGTON(TIP): US President Donald Trump has appointed prominent Indian-American attorney Uttam Dhillon to a key White House position to assist him on ethics and compliance matters.

    Dhillon, who served as chief oversight counsel for the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, has been appointed as special assistant to the President.

    In this position, he would be part of the legal team to serve under White House Counsel Donald F McGahn with respect to compliance and ethics matters.

    Prior to joining Financial Services, Dhillon served as chief of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement.

    He previously worked as an associate deputy attorney general for the Department of Justice, Chief Counsel for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, Policy Director for the US House of Representatives Policy Committee, and as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles.

    Dhillon graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley in 1987.

    Other members of the team are Stefan C Passantino who has been commissioned to serve as deputy assistant to the President and deputy counsel to the President along with Scott Gast and James D Schultz who have been commissioned to serve as special assistants to the President and associate counsel to the President.

    “The appointment of a team of this caliber reflects the importance of ethics compliance to the President and this administration,” said White House counsel Don McGahn.

  • TV Asia Chairman HR Shah and 2 others from USA among recipients of Padma awards

    TV Asia Chairman HR Shah and 2 others from USA among recipients of Padma awards

    NEW YORK (TIP): TV Asia Chairman/CEO and prominent Indian American community leader HR Shah was on Wednesday, January 25 named for the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor in the field of Literature & Education – Journalism. Two other Indian Americans are also named for this year’s Padma Shri award – Ustad Imrat Khan in the field of Art-Music and Anant Agarwal in the field of Literature & Education.

    The Padma awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President of India has approved conferment of Padma Awards to 89 persons. The list comprises of 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 5 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and 6 posthumous awardees.

    Mr HR Shah is the recipient of the prestigious 2005 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which is bestowed only on those who display significant contributions to their own communities and to the US at large. He has received more than a hundred awards and citations from across the globe in serving ethnic American communities in different fields. He is a founding member of GOPIO as well as Past President and Trustee of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Ellis Island-National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO). As the Chairman and Trustee of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (USA), the world famous institute of Indian culture, education, music and the arts, he has worked for the upliftment in lifestyle of Indians via education. With TV Asia, Mr Shah is the first NRI to run a 24/7 TV station in North America. He is also the first NRI to own a chain store business anywhere in the world – Krauszer’s Food Stores.

    Shah said “I am deeply humbled, honored and overjoyed that the Republic of India has decided to confer on me the Padma Shri”. He said he would “rededicate” himself to help India and US further strengthen their ties.

    “I look forward to receiving the Padma Shri in New Delhi later this year and rededicate myself to helping India and the United States further their close relations, as well as to promote India’s rich culture and heritage,” Shah said, January 25 after he was announced as a recipient of India’s prestigious civilian honor.

    (Click here to Read the profile of HR Shah published recently in The Indian Panorama)

    Ustad Imrat Khan, younger brother of sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan, has established his reputation not only by an absolute mastery of two different instruments, the sitar and the surbahar, but also by the consistent purity and integrity with which he presents every aspect of the great Indian classical genres, spanning the whole spectrum of feeling and expression. He is the senior performer of the Imdadkhani gharana, the school of sitar and surbahar performance named after his grandfather Imdad Khan. He spends a portion of each year teaching classical Indian music and instructing sitar students at Washington University in Saint Louis. In 1988 Imrat Khan received a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award from the president of India.

    Anant Agarwal is currently the president of eDX.com in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. In 2012, he was named by Forbes magazine among the 15 “classroom revolutionaries” who are using innovative technologies to reinvent education for students and teachers globally. Agarwal did his early education in city’s St Aloysius College right from std 1 to second PUC (1977). He then moved to IIT-Madras where he did his BTech, and followed it up with MS and PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University, USA. At MIT, he led the development of Alewife, an early cache coherent multiprocessor, and founded Tilera, a fabless semiconductor company focusing on scalable multicore embedded processor design.

    Here is thecomplete list of 2017 Padma award winners. The list comprises of 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees.  19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 5 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and 6 Posthumous awardees.

    PADMA VIBHUSHAN / Awardee Field of Prominence

    • Sharad Pawar / Public Affairs
    • Murli Manohar Joshi / Public Affairs
    • P.A. Sangma (posthumous) / Public Affairs
    • Sunder Lal Patwah (posthumous) / Public Affairs
    • K.J. Yesudas / Art – Music
    • Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev / Others – Spiritualism
    • Udipi Ramachandra Rao / Science & Engineering

    PADMA BHUSHAN / Awardee Field of Prominence

    • Vishwa Mohan Bhatt / Art – Music
    • Devi Prasad Dwivedi / Literature & Education
    • Tehemton Udwadia / Medicine
    • Ratna Sundar Maharaj / Others-Spiritualism
    • Swami Niranjana Nanda Saraswati / Others-Yoga
    • H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (Foreigner) / Literature & Education
    • Cho Ramaswamy (Posthumous) / Literature & Education –Journalism

    PADMA SHRI / Awardee Field of Prominence

    • Basanti Bisht / Art-Music
    • Chemanchery Kunhiraman Nair / Art-Dance
    • Aruna Mohanty / Art-Dance
    • Bharathi Vishnuvardhan / Art-Cinema
    • Sadhu Meher / Art-Cinema
    • T K Murthy / Art-Music
    • Laishram Birendrakumar Singh / Art-Music
    • Krishna Ram Chaudhary / Art-Music
    • Baoa Devi / Art-Painting
    • Tilak Gitai / Art-Painting
    • Aekka Yadagiri Rao / Art-Sculpture
    • Jitendra Haripal / Art-Music
    • Kailash Kher / Art-Music
    • Parassala B Ponnammal / Art-Music
    • Sukri Bommagowda / Art-Music
    • Mukund Nayak / Art-Music
    • PurushottamUpadhyay / Art-Music
    • AnuradhaPaudwal / Art-Music
    • WareppaNaba Nil / Art-Theatre
    • Tripuraneni Hanuman Chowdary / Civil Service
    • T.K. Viswanathan  / Civil Service
    • Kanwal Sibal / Civil Service
    • Birkha Bahadur Limboo Muringla / Literature & Education
    • Eli Ahmed / Literature & Education
    • Narendra Kohli / Literature & Education
    • G. Venkatasubbiah / Literature & Education
    • AkkithamAchyuthan Namboothiri / Literature & Education
    • Kashi Nath Pandita / Literature & Education
    • Chamu Krishna Shastry / Literature & Education
    • Harihar KripaluTripathi / Literature & Education
    • Michel Danino / Literature & Education
    • Punam Suri / Literature & Education
    • VG Patel / Literature & Education
    • V Koteswaramma / Literature & Education
    • Balbir Dutt / Literature & Education – Journalism
    • BhawanaSomaaya Literature & Education-Journalism
    • Vishnu Pandya Literature & Education-Journalism
    • Subroto Das Medicine
    • Bhakti Yadav Medicine
    • Mohammed Abdul Waheed Medicine
    • Madan MadhavGodbole Medicine
    • DevendraDayabhai Patel Medicine
    • Harkishan Singh Medicine
    • MukutMinz Medicine
    • Arun Kumar Sharma Others-Archaeology
    • Sanjeev Kapoor Others-Culinary
    • MeenakshiAmma Others-Martial Art
    • GenabhaiDargabhai Patel Others-Agriculture
    • ChandrakantPithawa Science & Engineering
    • Ajoy Kumar Ray Science & Engineering
    • ChintakindiMallesham Science & Engineering
    • Jitendra Nath Goswami Science & Engineering
    • DaripalliRamaiah Social Work
    • Girish Bhardwaj Social Work
    • KarimulHak Social Work
    • BipinGanatra Social Work
    • Nivedita Raghunath Bhide Social work
    • AppasahebDharmadhikari Social Work
    • Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal Social Work
    • ViratKohli Sports-Cricket
    • Shekar Naik Sports-Cricket
    • Vikasa Gowda Discus Throw
    • Deepa Malik Sports-Athletics
    • MariyappanThangavelu Sports-Athletics
    • DipaKarmakar Sports-Gymnastics
    • P. R. Shreejesh Sports-Hockey
    • Sakshi Malik Sports-Wrestling
    • Mohan Reddy Venkatrama Bodanapu Trade & Industry
    • Imrat Khan (NRI/PIO) Art-Music
    • Anant Agarwal (NRI/PIO) Literature & Education
    • H.R. Shah (NRI/PIO) Literature & Education-Journalism
    • Suniti Solomon (Posthumous) Medicine
    • Asoke Kumar Bhattacharyya (Posthumous) Others-Archaeology
    • Dr. Mapuskar (Posthumous) Social Work
    • AnuradhaKoirala (Foreigner) Social Work

    (Source: PIB)

     

  • Indian American Student Wins Big in Literary Contest on Dental Health

    Indian American Student Wins Big in Literary Contest on Dental Health

    NEW YORK(TIP): Arth Patel, an Indian American Student at The UCLA School of Dentistry was the winner of the first annual My Kool Smiles Scholarship Fund essay contest, sponsored by the Benevis Foundation. Arth earned a $5,000 scholarship for his winning essay on “How can dental health contribute to the well-being of families and children?”

    In his essay, Arth discussed his experience growing up in rural India where quality dental care was not available and how his family benefited from access to community-based dental health care programs after moving to the United States. He discovered his passion for dentistry while volunteering at a local community health clinic.

    “Kool Smiles created this scholarship fund to support talented students who are passionate about making a difference in dental care,” said Dr. Dale Mayfield, Chief Dental Officer for Kool Smiles. “Our 2016 essay question reflects the idea that dental health can impact so much more than a child’s smile. We look forward to reading what students have to say about this important topic.”

    The $5,000 scholarship was awarded to Arth whose essay on dental health demonstrated clarity of content, originality, creativity and persuasiveness.

  • INDIANS SCORE BIG WITH QUEENS AMBASSADOR AWARDS

    INDIANS SCORE BIG WITH QUEENS AMBASSADOR AWARDS

    QUEENS, NY (TIP): A borough wide search by the Times Ledger Newspapers identified five members of the Indian Community who merited the Queens Ambassadors Award “Honoring immigrants who make Queens great” which will be bestowed on January 26, 2017 at the Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony to be held at LaGuardia Plaza Hotel in Queens. They are Harbachan Singh, Malini Shah, Dr. Uma Mysorekar, Dr. Dheeraj Kamalam and Jagir Singh Bains.

    Harbachan Singh is a former Chairman of the United Nations Headquar ters Committee on Contracts and since his retirement has been a community activist in Queens for the past several years. He serves or served as a President of several organizations including the Sikh American Friendship foundation, the Queens Civic Congress, the Saul Weprin Democratic Club, the Holocaust Center at the Queens borough Community College and on the Boards of Queens Borough President’s General Assembly, Queens District Attorney’s Advisory Council, Committee Chair of Community Board 8 and First Vice President of Queens Hospital Center’s Advisory Board. His activity involves giving testimony at the NYC Council Hearings, addresses at Churches and government agencies or institutions and fighting for the Queens residents vis a vis the authorities especially on quality of life issues. He is a recipient of numerous accolades and awards for his work and contribution.

    Ms. Malini Shah is a well -known community leader who is currently President of her diamond company, Difference Inc. In addition to running a successful jewelry business, Malini is the founder of Nritya Kala Kendra, Inc., a cultural organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the ancient and modern arts of India.

    Through classes, workshops, lectures, visiting artist programs, Nritya Kala Kendra presents numerous educational programs all around New York City and abroad. She has spent more than 30 years teaching children in some of India’s most prestigious schools, including the Modern School, one of India’s most distinguished educational institutions, sat on the Advisory Board of Queens Museum, Queens. She also serves as cultural ambassador and a community icon, and has traveled extensively all over the world for festivals sponsored by Indian Tourism Development, and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. At present, she serves and volunteers as a Community and Cultural Liaison for Council Member Paul Vallone. She also Volunteers and serves as representative for NYC Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to the Museum of Arts and Design Board of Trustees in Manhattan. Malini also serves on The Cinton Democratic Club, Executive Board as Membership Chair. Malini has received many prestigious awards such as “Jewel of India Award. City Council Citations, “Outstanding Mother Award” by C.A.P.S.C, Hind Ratan Award for Outstanding Service, Positive Indo-American Image Award. Leadership in the Arts and Culture from Assemblyman Nick Perry,” Exceptional women Award” to name a few.

    Malini lives with her husband, Niles Shah, in Queens. Mr. Shah also shares his wife’s love of community service and has actively helped the community by assisting and supporting those who want to make a difference.

  • Six Indian Americans honored with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman

    Six Indian Americans honored with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman

    BENGALURU (TIP): Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State, Department of State, community activist Dr. Sampatkumar Shivangi; community activist Ramesh Shah, environmental engineer Hari Babu Bindal, philanthropist and organizer of Modi’s historic Madison Square Garden event in 2014, Dr. Bharat Barai; and the founder and former president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, Dr. Mahesh Mehta are the six Indian Americans who received 2017 Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA) from President Pranab Mukherjee on January 9 at Bengaluru.

    Dr. Sampat S. Shivangi is a renowned Indian American leader. A street in Mississippi is named after him in recognition of his contributions to the progress and welfare of the community. He was the first Indian American to be appointed for the top health post, the Chairman of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, in 2014. Dr. Sampat Shivangi was the advisor to the US Secretary of Health and Human Services in the presidential regime of George W. Bush. He is the founder and president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian-origin in Mississippi. The CEO of US Info Systems of Mississippi, he is one of the trustworthy confidantes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    One of the recipients of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, India-born and Chicago-based Dr. Bharat Barai is the director of oncology department at Methodist Hospitals in Indiana. He got a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest serving member of a State Medical Licensing Board in the US. He is a community activist and philanthropist too. He treats uninsured, disadvantaged patients and works to reduce medical expenses for them. Known for his unconditional community services, personal integrity and professional excellence, Dr. Bharat Barai is also in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coterie of close associates.

    Another Indian American awardee of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, Dr. Mahesh Mehta is the founder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America. He also founded the Hindu Heritage Foundation of America, Friends of India Society International, India Quality Group and several other organizations. He has many widely published articles on socio-cultural, socio-economic and socio-political aspects to his fame. ‘Hindu Philosophy in Action’ is the latest from Dr. Mahesh Mehta’s repertoire of books and journals. Dr. Mehta is a cofounder and director of Hindu University of America in Orlando, Florida.

    Nisha Desai Biswal is an Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs among the six Indian American recipients of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2017. She helms the United States’ foreign policies and external affairs in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh and other countries in central Asia. Under her distinguished leadership, the US Department of State ensures and enhances human security and national security in south and central Asian nations. Based in Washington DC, Nisha Desai Biswal leads the US’ bilateral consultations with Central and South Asia to deepen ties with those Asian nations.

    The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) is the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians. PBSA is conferred by the President of India as a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conventions organized annually since 2003 on Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin or an organization or institution established and run by the Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin in recognition of their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.

    The 14th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention was held in Bengaluru from 7-9 January, 2017. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards were conferred by the Hon’ble President at the PBD Convention on 9 January, 2017 in the valedictory session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations in an impressive ceremony.

    A 11-member Jury-cum-Awards Committee, with Hon’ble Vice-President as Chairman and Hon’ble External Affairs as Vice-Chairman and nine other distinguished members from various walks of life, considered the nominations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, 2017 and had unanimously thirty nominees.

    President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman on Nisha Desai Biswal, US Assistant Secretary of State. Seen in the picture, from L to R: General VK Singh, Minister of State for External affairs, President Pranab Mukherjee, Nisha Desai Biswal with her honor scroll and Luiss Da Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal who was also conferred the honor. Photo/Jay Mandal on assignment
    President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman on Nisha Desai Biswal, US Assistant Secretary of State. Seen in the picture, from L to R: General VK Singh, Minister of State for External affairs, President Pranab Mukherjee, Nisha Desai Biswal with her honor scroll and Luiss Da Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal who was also conferred the honor. Photo/Jay Mandal on assignment

    Nisha Desai Biswal delivered the acceptance speech on behalf of the awardees.

    The list of thirty awardees is as follows:

    1. Gorur Krishna Harinath Australia Community Service
    2. Rajasekharan Pillai Valavoor Kizhakkathil Bahrain Business
    3. Antwerp Indian Association Belgium Community Service
    4. Nazeer Ahamed Mohamed Zackiriah Brunei Community Service
    5. Mukund Bhikhubhai Purohit Canada Business
    6. Nalinkumar Sumanlal Kothari Djibouti Community Service
    7. Vinod Chandra Patel Fiji Social Service
    8. Raghunath Marie Antonin Manet France Arts & Culture
    9. Lael Anson E. Best Israel Medical Science
    10. Sandip Kumar Tagore Japan      Arts & Culture
    11. Ariful Islam Libya Community Service
    12. Tan Sri Dato Dr. Muniandy Thambirajah Malaysia Education and Community Service
    13. Hon’ble Pravind Kumar Jugnauth Mauritius Public Service
    14. 14 H.E. Mr. Antonio Luis Santos da Costa Portugal Public Service
    15. Raghavan Seetharaman Qatar Business Management
    16. Zeenat Musarrat Jafri Saudi Arabia Education
    17. Singapore Indian Association Singapore Community Service
    18. Carani Balaraman Sanjeevi Sweden Medicine
    19. Susheel Kumar Saraff Thailand Business
    20. Winston Chandarbhan Dookeran Trinidad & Tobago Public Service
    21. Vasudev Shamdas Shroff United Arab Emirates Community Service
    22. India Social and Cultural Centre, AbuDhabi United Arab Emirates Philanthropy and Community Service
    23. Hon’ble Priti Patel United Kingdom Public Service
    24. Neena Gill United Kingdom       Public Service Service
    25. Hari Babu Bindal USA Environmental Engineering
    26. Bharat Haridas Barai USA Community Service
    27. Nisha Desai Biswal USA Public Affairs
    28. Mahesh Mehta USA Community Service
    29. Ramesh Shah USA Community Service
    30. Sampatkumar Shidramapa Shivangi USA Community Leadership.