COLUMBIA, SC (TIP): South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has nominated Indian American Seema Shrivastava-Patel to be the next chair of the South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control. She has served on the Board since 2018 and has been Vice Chair since 2021.
If confirmed, Shrivastava-Patel, a first generation American of Indian heritage, will become the first woman of color to serve as Board chair. “Shrivastava-Patel is a highly respected member of the South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control and with six years of experience she is an expert on the workings of DHEC,” McMaster said in a March 15 statement.
“With this extensive knowledge of the agency and her experience as Vice Chair, she is the best choice to lead a smooth transition that will propel the agency forward and advance South Carolina’s public health and environmental missions.” As a member of the Board, Shrivastava-Patel helped navigate the agency through the Covid-19 pandemic, led the search for a new agency director, improved customer service, renewed a focus on recruitment and retention of staff, and emphasized the importance of measurable outcomes for the agency.
She has an extensive business background that includes a 20-year career in the convenience and food service industry and as president of the Carolina Convenience Corporation.
“I am grateful to Governor McMaster for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve as the next Chair and look forward to working with my colleagues, as well as DHEC’s team of talented and dedicated employees, to continue to move the agency forward for the people of South Carolina,” said Shirvastava-Patel.
The Board oversees the operations of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. The at-large seat on the Board was left vacant when former Chair Robert Bolchoz resigned from the position in December.
Shrivastava-Patel is a University of South Carolina graduate and resides in Lexington with her husband and two children. The governor’s appointment is subject to senate approval.
Tag: Indian-Americans
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Indian American Seema Shrivastava-Patel named South Carolina health, environment board chair
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Indian American policy expert Nisha Desai Biswal named deputy head of US development finance agency
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): President Joe Biden intends to nominate Indian American policy expert Nisha Desai Biswal as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), dealing with most critical challenges facing the developing world.
The American finance agency provides loans, loan guarantees, direct equity investments, and political risk insurance for private sector led development projects, feasibility studies, and technical assistance.
It invests across several sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology, with stated priorities of women’s empowerment, innovation, investment in West Africa and the Western Hemisphere, and climate change.
Biden’s intent to nominate Biswal, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs from 2013 to 2017 during the Obama administration, was announced by the White House Monday along with six other key posts. In that job Biswal oversaw the US-India strategic partnership during a period of unprecedented cooperation, including the launch of an annual US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, the White House noted. Biswal also initiated the C5+1 Dialogue with Central Asia and the US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue during her tenure as Assistant Secretary.
Biswal brings over 30 years of experience in US foreign policy and international development programs within the Executive Branch, Congress, and the private sector, according to her official profile.
Currently Biswal is the Senior Vice President for International Strategy and Global Initiatives at the US Chamber of Commerce, overseeing the US India Business Council and US Bangladesh Business Council.
Prior to her stint at the State Department, Biswal was Assistant Administrator for Asia at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), directing and supervising USAID programs and operations across South, Central, and Southeast Asia.
She has also spent over a decade on Capitol Hill, working as Staff Director on the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on Appropriations as well as professional staff on the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives. Biswal serves as the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid and is on both the Board of the National Democratic Institute and the US Institute of Peace International Advisory Council.
She is a member of the United States Institute of Peace Afghanistan Study Group and the Aspen Institute’s India-US Track 2 Dialogue on Climate and Energy. Biswal is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia, where she studied International Relations and Economics. -
Indian American executive Rahul Roy-Chowdhury to lead Grammarly from May 1
SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Yet another Indian American executive is set to lead a major US company. Rahul Roy-Chowdhury will take over as CEO of Grammarly, a cloud-based typing assistant that helps users with their writing, including reviewing spelling, grammar, punctuation and plagiarism reviews, from May 1.
The elevation of Roy-Chowdhury, current global head of product at the San Francisco headquartered company, was announced by the current CEO Brad Hoover in a Grammarly blogpost Tuesday, March 21.
“We’re now at an inflection point for our product and business. Seizing this moment and reaching the next orders of magnitude requires us to move faster and at a much larger scale,” he wrote.
“A new era of leadership can help drive this inflection. As such, after twelve years at the helm of Grammarly, I am passing the baton to our current Global Head of Product, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury,” Hoover wrote.
“Now is the ideal time for this transition. Grammarly is a deeply technical, product-led company,” Hoover wrote. “Rahul’s product and technology background is a tremendous asset, and he is well-positioned to help us navigate the path ahead.” “Rahul is also mission-driven and fiercely user-focused, and his experience and learnings from building Chrome into a platform can help us move faster at scale,” he wrote. “During his two years at Grammarly, Rahul has focused on driving excellence and helped us up-level as a company. He has pushed our thinking and driven the organization forward with clarity, keen judgment, and sound decision-making.
“Under Rahul’s leadership, we also took a big step forward with our product, increasing quality and introducing solutions to help beyond the revision stage of communication,” Hoover wrote.
Prior to Grammarly, Roy-Chowdhury was vice president for product management at Google where he had worked for 14 years. He has an MBA degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and also an MS in computer science from Columbia University. Grammarly is also introducing a brand-new artificial intelligence tool, the latest venture into the quickly expanding field of technology that can produce text, photographs, and videos from scratch in Silicon Valley. “The enthusiasm around AI is so palpable,” Roy-Chowdhury remarked. “We are witnessing a groundswell of support for this issue of communication.”
GrammarlyGO, an upcoming offering from the startup, is scheduled for release in April. According to Roy-Chowhury, who led the team that developed the product, it will assess context to construct and recommend phrasing for various circumstances based on a text’s level of formality and tone.
Grammarly has generally concentrated on the writing stage of the composition process. However, GrammarlyGO will provide input on the questions to ask and the information that could be helpful to include.
In a competitive market with many players, Roy-Chowdhury praised the company’s years of experience in ethical AI development, including work to eliminate bias in the underlying data.
“Our mission of improving lives by improving communication is a long-term aspiration—we’ve still barely scratched the surface of what’s possible!” Hoover wrote.
“Our core technology of artificial intelligence is accelerating in exciting and unprecedented ways, especially with the broader application of large language models coupled with continuously increasing computing power,” he wrote. “The market is appreciating the ability of AI to augment human agency and genuinely help people. While broader AI innovation and adoption may be a disruptor for some, it will be a great accelerator for Grammarly,” Hoover added. -
Indian American entrepreneur Sanjay Govil brings professional cricket to Washington
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Indian American entrepreneur Sanjay Govil has formed the US capital’s first ever own professional cricket team to compete in the Major League Cricket (MLC), a new T20 franchise league in the United States.
Named Washington Freedom, the new team will represent Washington, DC, in the inaugural edition of MLC in July, a transformative competition that will bring many of the world’s top cricketers to the United States, according to an MLC release.
The team unveiled its name and logo on March 15, with the mark featuring patriotic red, white and blue colors, stars from Washington, DC, city flag, and a bat and ball representing cricket, the world’s second most popular sport.
“The Washington, DC, area is home to hundreds of thousands of cricket fans, and it’s an honor to be able to bring a professional team to the nation’s capital with the Washington Freedom to compete in the groundbreaking Major League Cricket championship this summer,” said Govil, lead investor of Washington Freedom.
“The team’s mark and colors are a perfect fit for a team from the nation’s capital to compete on the global stage MLC provides for the world’s second most popular sport, which has more than 2.5 billion fans.”
The Freedom will bowl their first ball in July at a newly constructed MLC venue, Grand Prairie Stadium, in Grand Prairie, Texas, within the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex.
The 2023 season will feature 19 matches to be played over 18 days, opening on July 13 and building up to the first-ever MLC championship final to take place on July 30, 2023. The Freedom will compete alongside teams representing Texas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Seattle, playing the T20 format of the game.
The roster for the Freedom will be filled out with the announcement of multiple marquee overseas stars and the selection cream of American domestic at the MLC Domestic Player Draft on March 19 in Houston, Texas. Space Center Houston, the official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center, will provide an iconic venue and backdrop for the league’s first-ever draft.
“The launch of Major League Cricket will bring an American flavor to the world of cricket, and it’ll be fantastic to see the Washington Freedom take to the pitch representing the nation’s capital this summer,” said Justin Geale, the MLC Tournament Director.
The Freedom has partnered with one of the world’s leading cricket entities, Australia’s Cricket New South Wales, to lead preparation of the player roster and provide high performance services including coaching, sports science and sports medicine, performance analysis and team operations, the release said.
While the Freedom will not host any home matches in the 2023 season, MLC and the Freedom have already embarked on planning to build a world class home for the team in the Washington, DC, region.
The team has partnered with George Mason University (Mason) to study the feasibility of a new multi-purpose cricket and baseball facility. The ballpark would be designed to host MLC matches, Mason baseball games, and other events on the University’s Fairfax Campus in the Washington, DC, region. With a goal to be operational by 2025, the ballpark at Mason would be located in the heart of one of the largest cricket-loving populations in the United States and feature an international-grade arena for the Freedom to call their home.
More information on these plans will be announced following the conclusion of the feasibility study later this year, MLC release said.
Microsoft’s Indian American chief CEO Satya Nadella has also formed Seattle’s new professional cricket team named Seattle Orcas in partnership with Delhi Capitals’ co-owner GMR Group to compete in MLC.
The Seattle Orcas’ lead investor group includes Nadella, Soma Somasegar (Managing Director of Madrona Ventures), Samir Bodas (Co-founder and CEO, Icertis), Ashok Krishnamurthi (Managing Partner, GreatPoint Ventures) and Sanjay Parthasarathy (former senior executive at Microsoft and Avalara).
Meanwhile, according to an ESPNcricinfo report, besides Delhi Capitals, two other prominent IPL franchises — Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings — have bought stakes in MLC and will anchor franchises in New York and Texas respectively.
That means four out of the six teams in MLC overall will be helmed by IPL franchises, after Kolkata Knight Riders, one of the earliest investors in the tournament, took charge of the Los Angeles franchise.
While Mumbai, like Knight Riders, will run the New York franchise on its own, it said, Super Kings, too, have allied with a local investor in the Texas franchise. A similar strategic tie-up has been struck between San Francisco franchise, owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, and Cricket Victoria. -
Indian American community leader Neil Makhija running for County Commissioner in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA (TIP): A prominent Indian American community leader Neil Makhija has announced his run for Commissioner of Montgomery County — the third largest county in Pennsylvania with over 865,000 people.
If elected, the 36-year-old election law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, would be the first South Asian member to serve for the position left open by outgoing commissioner Valerie Arkoosh.
Ahead of the May 16 election, Makhija Saturday announced he will be taking a leave of absence as Executive Director of Impact, which has helped several Indian and South Asian candidates win political office.
“As Impact’s longest serving Executive Director, I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished,” he stated. “Impact has enfranchised South Asian voters and elected dozens of historic candidates across the country—from school boards all the way up to the Vice President of the United States.
“After years supporting these inspiring South Asian candidates, I’m excited to follow in their footsteps,” he wrote.
As Commissioner of Montgomery County, Makhija noted, “I would oversee a $500M+ budget and county government of 3,000 employees. Most importantly, I would administer the Board of Elections in one of the most critical counties nationwide in 2024.”
In 2021, Makhija was one of 13 civil rights leaders invited to the White House to advise President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on voting rights.
He was named by City & State PA as one of the “40 under 40” most influential people in Pennsylvania politics. In 2016, he was the Democratic nominee for the 122nd state House district, a race he lost.
In his former law practice, Makhija represented Pennsylvania counties in opioid litigation and notably, children and parents in an early class action against Big Tobacco companies who marketed flavored e-cigarettes to children. In 2019, he inspired and advised a US House Oversight Committee panel on an investigation into the youth e-cigarette epidemic, which led to a nationwide ban of flavored e-cigarettes.
Makhija worked at the White House, Senate, and earned his JD at Harvard Law School on the Horace Lentz Scholarship. While at Harvard, he founded the HLS Homelessness Coalition and was a Senior Policy Editor on the Harvard Law & Policy Review.
He received his BA from Sarah Lawrence College, where he studied neuroscience and served as co-president of his class and 2009 commencement speaker.
As the son of Indian immigrants, the Pennsylvania native is passionate about enfranchising underrepresented communities and engaging new citizens in state and local politics.
Montgomery County Commission is the governing body of Montgomery County, consisting of five members who are elected by districts. Each Commissioner is elected to a four-year term and represents approximately 45,000 constituents. The Montgomery County Commission’s responsibilities include control of all counties public funds, adoption of an annual budget reflecting anticipated income and expenses. -
Indian American actress Mindy Kaling presented National Medal of Arts by Biden
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Celebrity Indian American actress, producer and writer Mindy Kaling has won the prestigious 2021 National Medal of Arts given to artists and arts patrons “for giving voice to a new generation of storytellers.” President Joe Biden presented the award to Kaling, 43, also known as Vera Mindy Chokalingam, at a White House ceremony attended by First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, March 21.
“For giving voice to a new generation of storytellers. Imbued with humor and heart, Mindy Kaling’s work across television, film, and books inspires and delights, capturing and uplifting the experiences of women and girls across our nation,” Biden’s military aide read the citation as Kaling came forward to receive the award.
“The first woman of color to create, write, and star in a primetime sitcom, she empowers a new generation to tell their stories with their own irreverence and sincerity. The daughter of Indian immigrants — We know about that, right?” said the President.
“Our Vice President is a daughter of Indian immigrants — a mother who was a great scientist,” he said. “Above all, she’s hardworking and an adoring mom, just like her own mom was. And, Mindy, we know your mom is always with you in your spirit. We know that.” Kaling received the award with 22 other “extraordinary Americans: the National Medal of Arts to honor outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth support, and availability of the arts in the United States; and the National Humanities Medal to honor those who have — whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, philosophy, and so many other subjects,” Biden said.
“The work of our honorees is as diverse as the nation that celebrates with them today. But common threads weave them together in many ways in the very fabric of America: the pursuit of excellence, the drive to create, the yearning to connect, and the boldness to be truthtellers, bridge builders, and change seekers,” he said. “Above all, you’re masters of your craft.” Kaling was born to an architect father and an obstetrician-gynecologist mother who moved to the US in 1979 from Nigeria.
She lent her acting talents to such film comedies as ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ (2005), ‘License to Wed’ (2007), and ‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian’ (2009) and voiced characters for the animated movies ‘Despicable Me’ (2010), ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ (2012), and ‘Inside Out’ (2015).
She developed the innovative ‘The Mindy Project’, which centered on the life of Mindy Lahiri, an obstetrician-gynecologist who is fixated on finding a romantic partner.
Recently, she co-created and co-wrote the Netflix show ‘Never Have I Ever’, about a first-generation Indian American teenager, and ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’, a comedy series that centers on four college roommates.
Besides Kaling, the 2021 National Medal of Arts recipients include musician Jose Feliciano, artist Judith Francisca Baca, radio station owner Fred Eychaner, the International Association of Blacks in Dance, the Billie Holiday Theatre, producer Joan Shigekawa and painter Antonio Martorell Cardona.
Recipients of the 2021 National Humanities Medal winners are: ‘The Underground Railroad’ novelist Colson Whitehead, poet Richard Blanco, author Walter Isaacson, educator Johnnetta Betsch Cole, academic Henrietta Mann, author Ann Patchett, ‘The Joy Luck Club’ author Amy Tan, historian Earl Lewis, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, Native America Calling and author Tara Westover. The first National Medal of Arts were awarded in 1985 to renowned artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Martha Graham, and Richard Diebenkorn among others. Since then, the medal has been awarded annually to a wide range of individuals and organizations from various fields of the arts, including music, dance, theatre, visual arts, literature, and film. -
Indian American business leader Arun Agarwal named Dallas Community Bond Task Force chair
DALLAS (TIP): Indian American business leader Arun Agarwal has been appointed by Dallas Mayor Eric L Johnson to serve as Chair of the Community Bond Task Force (CBTF) Committee as part of the 2024 Capital Bond Program development process.
Agarwal currently serves as the President of the Dallas Park and Recreation Board, the CEO of Dallas-based textile company Nextt, and the Vice Chair of the Texas Economic Development Board, in addition to his other civic and business endeavors.
The CBTF is a 15-member group that will assist the Dallas City Council and city staff in reviewing and selecting projects for possible inclusion in the 2024 Capital Bond Program.
Agarwal and his colleagues on the task force will assess the city’s $13.5 billion needs inventory and recommend to the Dallas City Council a $1 billion package of priorities. The City Council will ultimately make the final decisions on ballot propositions and whether to call a bond election.
In his November 2022 State of the City Address, Johnson said that he wants the city’s next bond program to focus primarily on improving the “Three P’s” — public safety, potholes, and parks.
“We are working every day to make Dallas a safer, stronger, and more vibrant city — and we are making substantial, measurable progress,” Johnson announced on March 16. The upcoming bond program will provide us with a critical opportunity to build for our future by investing in public safety, in infrastructure, and in our most significant needs. Arun Agarwal has proven to be an effective and engaged leader in our city, and I am confident he will advocate for the right priorities for the people of Dallas.”
Bond programs, which must receive voter approval, are meant to pay for the city’s capital needs. That means the authorized funds cannot legally pay for salaries, benefits, and other ongoing programmatic costs.
Johnson said Agarwal’s appointment underscores his administration’s commitment to ensuring that parks are treated as a top priority in the bond program.
“While Dallas has many needs to address through our bond program, I believe parks, trails, playgrounds, and recreation centers are critical infrastructure in a modern city,” Johnson said. “When I was growing up in West Dallas and Oak Cliff, families like mine — folks who didn’t have access to private swimming pools, gym memberships, or country club memberships — depended on our city’s parks, trails, and recreation centers.
“Parks are a great equalizer for our communities, as well as an excellent driver of economic development. And I am confident that Arun Agarwal will be a strong advocate for our green spaces.” Agarwal said he is “honored to be appointed as chair of this community-focused group that will help guide critical discussions about our city’s future.” “I am particularly excited to help make major investments in parks, trails, and recreational facilities,” Agarwal said. “Mayor Johnson has been a true champion for our city’s parks and for the efforts to build a safer and more vibrant city. I look forward to working with Mayor Johnson, my colleagues on the task force, and the residents of Dallas as we prioritize our city’s most pressing needs.”
Similar to the development process of the 2017 Capital Bond Program, the Mayor and each City Council member have been asked to identify a total of six appointees to serve on the CBTF and its five “subcommittees,” including the Street Subcommittee, the Flood Protection & Storm Drainage Subcommittee, the Park & Trail Subcommittee, the Critical Facilities Subcommittee, and the Economic Development & Housing Subcommittee. -
Indian-origin teen Neel Moudgal wins $250K US science prize
NEW YORK (TIP): An Indian-origin teen has won a prestigious high schoolers’ science prize of $250,000 for developing a computer model to predict the structure of RNA molecules that can aid in quickly diagnosing diseases. Neel Moudgal, 17, was announced the winner of the Regeneron Science Talent competition on Tuesday, March 14. Ambika Grover, 17, was ranked sixth for an $80,000 award and Siddhu Pachipala, 18, placed ninth for a $50,000 prize. About 2,000 high school students competed in the Science Talent Search with 40 selected for the final round. According to the Society for Science that ran the competition sponsored by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Moudgal’s computational biology and bioinformatics project “can rapidly and reliably predict the structure of various RNA molecules to facilitate the development of novel diagnostics and therapeutic drugs for diseases such as cancer, autoimmune diseases and viral infections”.
Grover developed an injectable micro-bubble to break up blood clots and treat stroke victims by restoring the blood flow to the brain.
Pachipala used machine learning to assess a patient’s suicide risk. By analyzing a patient’s journal entries, the semantics in an individual’s writing could be correlated with their psychological health and risk of suicide.
Pachipala, who was chosen by the finalists as most exemplifying them, also was given the Seaborg Award.
The winners of the Science Talent Search program originally sponsored by Westinghouse and now associated with the current sponsor Regeneron have gone on to win 11 Nobel Prizes and two Fields Medals for mathematics.
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Five eminent Indian-origin women honored at the Indian Consulate on International Women’s Day
NEW YORK CITY(TIP): Five eminent Indian-origin women were honored at the Indian Consulate on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.
The Federation of Indian Associations, in association with the Consulate General of India in New York held its fifth annual International Women’s Day celebrations on March 8 and honored five women for their outstanding achievements.
Among the awardees was Deputy Mayor of New York City, Meera Joshi, an attorney by profession, who in her current role has accomplished several significant achievements, including transport innovations and equity cabinet. She also played a key role in implementing New York City’s Vision Zero program — a comprehensive strategy aimed at reducing traffic fatalities and injuries, the statement said. The other awardee was Radha Subramanyam, president and chief research and analytics officer at CBS – TV Net Corp. An award-winning media executive, Subramanyam has also been recognized as one of the ‘100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry’ by Automotive News.
Hina Patel is a TEDx speaker and executive leader leading a 200-employee engineering firm in three states. FIA said Patel is an advocate of women’s rights in workplaces and has worked towards gender equity.
Padmini Murthy is a physician and global health leader at the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) and has worked tirelessly to improve access to healthcare services, particularly for underserved women, the FIA said.
She has initiated several global health programs that focus on women’s health such as the women’s eye health taskforce and the Global Health council’s Maternal, Newborn and Child Health initiative.
Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter Falu Shah was also honored at the event that was also addressed by Dr Abha Jaiswal. Shah was, however, unable to attend the function as she was in India where she performed at the inauguration of the cricket test match between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Jaiswal, congratulated the 2023 recipients and encouraged the community to engage in more meaningful and community-impacting events.
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Indian American musician SANJ releases new fusion album named Nightingale
NEW YORK (TIP): For New York City based musician Sanjana Nayak, who goes by the name SANJ, the release of her debut album Nightingale just a few days ago is a culmination of a passion project.
SANJ’s music can be best defined as a fusion of silky Indian vocals that tap into her two decades of classical music training. She says that her music reflects sultry R&B flows inspired by songs that she grew up listening to.
As an artist in America with South Asian roots, she believes her music pushes the boundaries of traditional fusion music. She says about her debut album, “My music also highlights my creative ethos in a way I haven’t tapped into before.”She describes herself as an Indian-American innovative. Bred in Chicago and based in NYC, SANJ has been a lifelong singer, songwriter, and musician, and folds her passion for music into many facets of her life.
Her new wave of songwriting showcases her vision for sultry Desi-R&B, whilst still maintaining her stark colors and classic nostalgic sound that have won the hearts of many.By day, SANJ works in advertising strategy at Google, and performs often in venues across NYC by night. Already a social media star, SANJ has a following of over 150,000+ listeners across several platforms, and her Spotify saw 999% growth in 2022.
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Indian-American flight test engineer Ravi Chaudhary is confirmed by the US Senate as Assistant Secretary of Air Force
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The US Senate has confirmed Indian-American flight test engineer Ravi Chaudhary as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for the US Air Force, one of the top civilian leadership positions in the Pentagon.
The Senate on Wednesday, March 15, voted 65-29 to confirm the former Air Force officer’s nomination with more than a dozen votes being cast by the opposition Republican Party. Chaudhary previously served as a Senior Executive at the US Department of Transportation where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He was responsible for the execution of advanced development and research programs in support of the FAA’s commercial space transportation mission. While at the transportation department, he also served as the executive director of the regions and center operations, where he looked over the integration and support of aviation operations in nine regions.
During his service in the US Air Force from 1993 to 2015, Chaudhary completed a variety of operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments. As a C-17 pilot, he conducted global flight operations, including numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as ground deployment as the director of the personnel recovery center at multi-national corps in Iraq.
As a flight test engineer, he was responsible for flight certification of military avionics and hardware for the force’s modernization programs supporting flight safety. Earlier in his career, he supported space launch operations for the global positioning system (GPS) and led third-stage and flight safety activities to ensure the full operational capability of the first GPS constellation. As a systems engineer, Chaudhary supported NASA’s International Space Station protection activities to ensure the safety of NASA astronauts. He also served as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the Obama administration. In this role, he advised the president on executive branch efforts to improve veterans’ support for the AAPI community.
Chaudhary holds a Doctorate specializing in executive leadership and Innovation from the Georgetown University D.L.S. Program, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from St. Mary’s University as a NASA graduate fellow, an M.A. in Operational Arts and Military Science from Air University, and a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Academy.
He is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and holds Department of Defense acquisition certifications in programme management, test and evaluation, and systems engineering.
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Biden appoints two Indian-Americans to Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): US President Joe Biden on Friday, March 11 named two Indian-Americans — Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex, and Manish Bapna, CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council — to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
On Friday, Biden announced his intent to appoint 14 people to the Advisory Committee, which provides overall policy advice to the United States Trade Representative on matters of development, implementation, and administration of the US trade policy.
Among these include negotiating objectives and bargaining positions before entering into trade agreements, the impact of the implementation of trade agreements, matters concerning the operation of any trade agreement once entered into, and other matters arising in connection with the development, implementation, and administration of the trade policy of the United States, the White House said. Revathi Advaithi is CEO of Flex, “the global manufacturing partner of choice that helps a diverse customer base design and build products to improve the world”. Since assuming the role in 2019, Advaithi has been responsible for architecting the company’s strategic direction and leading Flex through a transformation that is defining a new era in manufacturing, the White House said. Prior to Flex, Advaithi was president and Chief Operating Officer for the electrical sector business for Eaton, a company with more than USD20 billion in sales and 102,000 employees.
She has also worked at Eaton’s electrical sector, Americas, and Honeywell, and serves on the Board of Directors of Uber and Catalyst.org.
Advaithi is a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Advanced Manufacturing CEO Community and joined the WEF Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders. She was recognized on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list for four consecutive years and named one of Business Today’s Most Powerful Women in India. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Manish Bapna is president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has been behind many of the most significant environmental milestones of the last half century — from the creation of bedrock environmental laws, to landmark legal victories, and foundational research, the White House said.
During his 25-year career, Bapna’s leadership roles have focused on tackling the root causes of poverty and climate change with strategies that are equitable, durable, and scalable. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the World Resources Institute, a research organization focused on the intersection of the environment and human development, for more than 14 years.
An economist by training, he got his start at McKinsey & Company and the World Bank before pursuing a career in advocacy at the Bank Information Centre. He has master’s degrees in Business and Political and Economic Development from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT, the White House said.
(Source: PTI) -
Two Indian American Democratic candidates to run for Virginia legislature
VIRGINIA (TIP): Two Indian American Democratic candidates have announced their bids for the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates.
Suhas Subramanyam, of Ashburn, a two-term delegate who currently represents the 87th House district, announced March 2 that he will run in the 32nd Senate District.
Kannan Srinivasan, of Potomac Falls, announced Monday, March 6 that he will run for the open 26th House District, which includes the South Riding and Brambleton areas, instead of the 27th District, where he had previously filed to run, local Loudon Times reported.
Subramanyam’s campaign, according to a press release would focus on “creating a robust economy that works for Loudoun families and businesses alike, protecting our freedoms like reproductive rights and voting rights from extremism, delivering a world-class education to our kids, and keeping our community safe and healthy.”
The redrawn 32nd District is much more geographically compact than the former boundaries of the 13th District and includes all of eastern Loudoun south of Route 7 and east of Evergreen Mills Road and Lenah Road.
Subramanyam, will face former Delegate Ibraheem Samirah, a Herndon Democrat who served one term representing the Sterling area and western Fairfax County before losing a primary in 2021, in a likely June primary for the Democratic nomination in a district where voters have favored Democratic candidates by more than 20-point margins in recent elections.
Loudoun County Supervisor Sylvia Glass said March 3 that she is endorsing Subramanyam.
Republican Greg Moulthrop, of Stone Ridge, previously announced that he is running in the 32nd Senate District. Moulthrop ran for the 87th House District seat in 2021, losing to Subramanyam by 17 percentage points.
A resident of Loudoun County, Subramanyam became the first Indian-American and South Asian to ever be elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 2019.
A technology and regulatory attorney, Subramanyam served as a White House advisor to President Barack Obama in 2015, where he led a task force on technology policy that addressed job creation, IT modernization, and regulating emerging technology.
Prior to that, he earned his law degree with honors from Northwestern University School of Law, volunteering at the Center for Wrongful Convictions, where he was part of the legal team that freed a man who had spent 21 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. For his professional accomplishments and work in the community, he was named to the Loudoun Times-Mirror’s ’40 Under 40′.
Meanwhile, Srinivasan announcing his House run Monday stated, “My experience in both the public and private sectors will serve the residents of Loudoun and Virginians across the Commonwealth well. I will fight for our public schools, stand up for gun safety, and protect abortion rights.” Srinivasan immigrated from India in 1993 and has been a Loudoun resident for almost 25 years, according to his campaign.
He most recently has worked as a director of finance at device warranty and insurance company Asurion and vice president for finance at celebrity chef José Andrés’s restaurant business, the José Andrés Group. Loudoun Now reported.
Srinivasan said his values come from experience, including being hit by a truck as a young man and being denied Medicaid assistance. He now serves as vice chair of the Virginia State Medicaid Board, and on the Loudoun Economic Development Advisory Commission.
In 2019, Srinivasan ran unsuccessfully against Republican Loudoun County Treasurer Roger Zurn.
He launched his House of Delegates campaign with 20 Democratic endorsements, including Loudoun elected officials US Rep. Jennifer Wexton, state senators Jennifer Boysko and Barbara Favola and state delegates David Reid and Irene Shin. Srinivasan is the only announced candidate in the newly configured district, which has no incumbent. The district lies west and south of Dulles Airport and stretches from the Dulles Greenway to the southeastern corner of Loudoun County. -
Indian-origin professor Laxmi Balachandra files lawsuit against US college alleging racial discrimination
BOSTON (TIP): An Indian-origin associate professor at the Wellesley Business School, Massachusetts has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was subjected to racial and gender discrimination, according to a media report.
Lakshmi Balachandra, associate professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College alleged she lost career opportunities and faced economic losses, emotional distress, and harm to her reputation because of mistreatment and administrators’ failure to investigate her concerns, The Boston Globe newspaper reported on February 27.
Balachandra joined Babson’s faculty in 2012 and earned tenure in 2019.
In her lawsuit, she called out Andrew Corbett, a professor and former chair of the college’s entrepreneurship division, as the “primary direct perpetrators of the discriminatory work environment.” According to the complaint filed in US District Court in Boston dated February 27, Balachandra alleged that Corbett, who oversaw teaching assignments, class scheduling, and annual reviews, only allowed her to teach required courses in entrepreneurship despite her requests to teach electives – even though she had taught such classes previously at MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Business School. “Babson favors white and male faculty and predominantly reserves awards and privileges for them,” Balachandra’s complaint alleged.
According to the complaint, despite her research record, expressed interest, and service to the college, she was denied numerous leadership positions and opportunities for more time to conduct research and write.
“Such privileges are routinely given to white male faculty in the entrepreneurship division,” the complaint read.
Balachandra’s attorney, Monica Shah, said that the professor has also filed a charge of discrimination with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.
Meanwhile, Babson College has responded that it takes concerns or complaints seriously and has well-established protocols and resources in place to thoroughly investigate and address them.
“The college is home to a diverse global community where equity and inclusion are valued and incorporated across every facet of campus, and where discrimination of any kind is not tolerated,” a spokesperson of Babson College was quoted as saying. Balachandra, who is currently on leave for a fellowship at the National Science Foundation, is seeking unspecified damages, the report added. -
British Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill gets threatening email
LONDON (TIP): Britain’s first female Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill has said she was forced to contact police after receiving a threatening email message saying: “watch your back”. The senior Labor MP for Birmingham, Edgbaston said that following the email, she is forced to keep a bodyguard at her constituency surgery meetings.
“It was very direct. It’s a worry because I’m with my daughters in the constituency all the time. My family lives there. It really puts into context the kind of job that you do. It’s tough enough as it is, but then when you’re faced with that, there’s very little support. This latest direct threat has really worried and concerned me,” Gill told the media on Saturday, March 4. “As a woman, when you put yourself forward and you want to address injustices and you care about issues that affect your constituents, you’re then faced with people that think it’s okay to say this sort of stuff to you.” Instead of using an alias, the threat was sent from a legitimate account with a genuine email address, which left Gill shocked. “I could not believe that this person used their place of work email to actually make that threat,” Gill, who had been a target of hate campaigns in the past, said.
Gill has reported the incident to the West Midlands Police.
“Once you’ve raised it with the police, they’ve got to go away and do an investigation, but there’s no real understanding of the impact it has on you, your everyday work, the psychological impact, the kind of always looking behind your shoulder,” she told media.
Gill was recently accused of undermining victims of sexual abuse, according to a Guardian report.
The Shadow Secretary of State for International Development had sent a series of WhatsApp messages to a group undermining allegations of sexual abuse within gurdwaras. -
Two Indian American corporate leaders appointed by Joe Biden to his Export Council
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): US President Joe Biden has announced his intent to appoint two Indian Americans to his powerful Export Council which is the principal national advisory committee on international trade.
The president on Tuesday, February 28, announced a list of members he intends to appoint to the council, according to a White House press release. Punit Renjen, the former CEO of Deloitte Consulting, and Rajesh Subramaniam, CEO and president of FedEx, have their names on the list of members the President intends to appoint as members of the influential President’s Export Council.
The council will be headed by Mark Edin, chairman of Kastle Systems.
More than two dozen leaders from the corporate sector, labor, real estate, national security and law, have been tapped into the President’s Export Council. On December 31 last, Renjen retired as Deloitte Global CEO after having served in the role since June 2015. He now serves as Deloitte Global CEO Emeritus. Subramaniam, as President and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Corporation, is responsible for providing strategic direction for all FedEx operating companies. Subramaniam is chair of the five-person Executive Committee, which plans and executes the corporation’s strategic business activities.
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Indian dairy shop owner in New Zealand is targeted by robbers
WELLINGTON (TIP): A dairy shop owner of Indian descent and his family were left traumatized after robbers stormed his shop in West Auckland to steal cigarettes and cash. Uresh Patel from Kaurilands said he was at the back of the shop when burglars entered and attacked on Monday, ripping the till from the counter and stealing cigarettes.
“Three kids came in and one jumped over the counter. Two others came from the other side and grabbed the cash register,” Patel told The NZ Herald. “I heard my wife and daughter screaming. I rushed outside and tried to catch one of them but he attacked me and got away,” he said. According to the police, two of the culprits were found and arrested in Glen Eden “without further incident”, and another was held in the store by the public.
“On top of that traumatizing event, we had to deal with the police who came half an hour later, they interrogated us like we are criminals,” Manisha, Patel’s wife, told The NZ Herald. She rued that nothing has changed ever since 34 year-old Janak Patel was stabbed to death in December 2022 by robbers in Sandringham, Auckland, where he worked.
Following Janak’s death, New Zealand erupted in protests with people turning up in huge numbers shouting “enough is enough” and holding placards reading, “change the law”, in front of then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s electoral office in Mt Albert.
Last month, Kanna Sharma’s gas station on Kaurilands Road in Auckland was ram-raided by robbers for a third time in a row.
According to New Zealand government statistics, there were close to 23 ram raids in the Northland region alone until November 20, 2022.
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Punjab Police lodge FIR a month after NRI complained of assault
JALANDHAR (TIP): A US-based NRI, who was in Jalandhar to spend time with his family, faced an assault and it took the police full one month to lodge a case.
The matter was brought before the media by former BJP minister Manoranjan Kalia. On January 27, assailants chopped off 36-year-old NRI Amit’s two fingers from the left hand with a sword. He underwent surgeries but his fingers remain stiff. His elder brother Puneet, who resides in Rama Mandi, too was attacked with the sword on his back, but he escaped without any major injury.
Father of Amit and Puneet, Gurbax Puri, who, too, is a US citizen, alleged: “We had been visiting the police staff for getting a case lodged for the past one month. Every time we went to the police station, we were asked to reach a compromise or get ready to face a counter FIR. We kept showing them the CCTV as an evidence to make our point that we are not to be blamed, but no one listened to us.”
He said when he contacted Kalia, he called them to his place. “I understood the entire matter and called up ADGP NRI Affairs Parveen Sinha. He intervened in the matter and finally an FIR was lodged today,” Kalia told the media persons. Gurbax Puri said, “We have faced such a shoddy treatment at the hands of the police that we do not feel like coming back to India again.”
Narrating the January 27 incident, Puneet said, “I and Amit were going home on our Activa scooter. Just then, some car-borne people, including two men and a woman, passed abusive remarks. We asked them the reason. Instead of replying, they began attacking us with a sword. They caused me injuries on my back. My brother Amit faced more grievous injuries. We had to rush him to hospital. Since he was working as a driver in the US, we doubt if he will be able to go into the same occupation again. We still have no clue as to who those people were and why they attacked us so badly.
Rama Mandi SHO Navdeep Singh said, “It was actually a case of road rage. Now, the other side has also got an MLR done. We need to look into that as well.”
Don’t feel like coming back again
Every time we went to the police station, we were asked to reach a compromise or get ready to face a counter FIR…no one listened to us. We have faced such a shoddy treatment that we do not feel like coming back to India again, said Gurbax Puri, victim’s father.
(Source: TNS)
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Indian American Shama Hakim Mesiwala creates history as California judge
Parminder Aujla
SACRAMENTO (TIP): Indian American Shama Hakim Mesiwala created history with her confirmation as Associate Justice of the California Third District Court of Appeal to become the first South Asian and Muslim American woman on any appellate court in the US.
Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero administered the oath of office to Mesiwala after she was unanimously confirmed as an associate justice of the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento, according to California Courts website.
The 48-year-old Democrat was confirmed on Feb 14 by the Commission on Judicial Appointments after being nominated by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Dec 23, 2022.
She was rated exceptionally well qualified, the highest rating given by the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE), according to her official bio on California Courts website.
Congratulating Mesiwala on her unanimous confirmation, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association noted she “is the first South Asian American woman and the first Muslim American woman CA state appellate court justice.
A native Californian, Mesiwala was born in Stanford in 1974 and raised in Cupertino among the fruit orchards and burgeoning technology industries of Silicon Valley. Her father immigrated from Mumbai, India in the 1960’s for educational opportunities and freedoms found only in America. She attended all public schools, graduating from UC San Diego magna cum laude in three years. She started law school at UC Davis King Hall at age 20 and graduated in 1998.
Mesiwala devoted her legal career to public service. She represented indigent criminal defendants at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Sacramento and the Central California Appellate Program, where she argued cases before the California Supreme Court and California Courts of Appeal, according to the website.
Mesiwala then transitioned to working for the judiciary. She was a central staff attorney at the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District for one and a half years, followed by a chamber’s attorney for Justice Ronald B. Robie for 11 years.
She was appointed commissioner in 2017 and 10 months later, judge of the Sacramento County Superior Court. In her six years on the trial court, Mesiwala presided over from criminal jury trials to juvenile dependency, drug court, mental health hospital hearings, civil harassment restraining order hearings, collaborative courts, and small claims.
She created Northern California’s first Indian Child Welfare Act courtroom. And she served as the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) judge for the Hall of Justice. Mesiwala is also active in the community. She has been professor of Appellate Advocacy to over 650 students at UC Davis Law School for a decade; president of the Schwartz/Levi American Inn of Court; cofounder of the South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento and host of its annual Diversity Law Student Reception for 15 years; and member of the California Supreme Court Ethics Opinion Committee.
For her community service, Mesiwala has received the UC Davis Law School’s pro bono certificate, the Unity Bar community service award, the Women Lawyers of Sacramento Frances Newell Carr award, the King Hall Legal Foundation’s judge of the year award, and named a Sacramento Bee top 25 Asian American/Pacific Islander change maker. Mesiwala lives in Yolo County with her spouse of 20 years and their only son.
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Indian-origin British schoolboy travels to Poland with stationery for war-hit Ukrainians
Nirpal Shergill
LONDON (TIP): A 10-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy and award-winning fundraiser has travelled to Poland with his parents to hand over books and other stationery products collected in the UK for Ukrainian children displaced by Russia’s invasion.
Milan Paul Kumar from Bolton in Greater Manchester, northern England, arrived in the Polish city of Krakow earlier this week ahead of the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Friday. According to local reports, Kumar and his family visited the Meeting Point integration center organized with the support of UNICEF and run by the Zustricz Foundation, among others.
“Most importantly, I have made lots of new friends who I will visit again,” Kumar tweeted during his humanitarian mission. He handed over colored pencils, markers and coloring books acquired in a collection organized in Bolton and also donated gifts to add to the resources of a neighboring public library so that they could be used by Polish and Ukrainian children.
The schoolboy began his journey at the Ukrainian Centre in Bolton and while in Krakow was also invited to the Ukrainian Consulate by Wiaczeslaw Wojnarowskyj, the General Consulate of Ukraine.
His humanitarian mission this week has been backed by several organizations, including the Tesco Staff and National Literacy Trust.
Kumar, who washed vehicles to raise funds and donated his pocket money to the Ukraine Schools Appeal last year, is a recipient of the Princess Diana Award 2022 for his fundraising efforts and is also the #iwill Ambassador for Social and Humanitarian Action for the youth action movement based in London.
Last month, he received a letter from Queen Consort Camilla in praise of his story-telling efforts through a charity called Silver Stories.
The idea behind the initiative is to help children in their reading skills as Silver Readers while reading to older members of the communities, called Silver Listeners. In 2020 during the COVID lockdown, he was honored with the British Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award for his fundraising activities through a self-published book entitled ‘COVID Christmas Parade’, about a young boy spreading festive cheer during the pandemic. It raised money for the National Literacy Trust to support children whose literacy and learning had been adversely impacted by COVID-19.
“I feel proud knowing I have made a difference in the lives of other children affected by COVID-19 because reading promotes health and well-being. I love reading and learning about the world through books and I want to help as many children as possible discover the magic of reading and all the great benefits it comes with,” said Kumar.
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Indian American Chicago based artist raises $420,000 for Turkey, Syria
CHICAGO (TIP): When a massive earthquake shook Turkey and Syria a few days ago, the tremors of how a sudden calamity can turn lives upside down were felt across the globe. While humanitarian support and social organizations rushed to see how they can help those impacted by the disaster, many individuals around the world were also looking at how to pitch in and where to send across charity. During this time, Syed Rehman, an artist who runs his custom home design studio in the suburbs of Skokie near Chicago decided to go beyond and directly help the needy. He not only started a campaign through his very active Instagram handle but also was inspired to go himself to Turkey and offer help.
“I have been involved with many charities in the past and when this calamity struck, suddenly an overwhelming number of people began sending me messages asking if there is a campaign I have started”, Rehman told the media. But it was Rehman’s little daughter who acted as a catalyst that led him to dive headlong into humanitarian work.
“One day, my daughter came back from school and asked me if I could go to Turkey and help the earthquake victims there,” he recalls. “I saw this as a sign from God and I immediately got in touch with Human Concern International (HCI), Canada. Soon, we decided that we will fly to Turkey along with their team.”
On the ground, Rehman discovered that the situation remains more dismal than we can see on screens. He along with the team not only distributed aid but also cooked hot meals for many who were rendered homeless by the earthquakes.
Rehman also continued posting a series of videos from the earthquake sites to explain to people the extent of the disaster while seeking support from people to donate generously. “We have been able to raise $420,000 for the people,” he says.
Rehman’s experience on the ground has overwhelmed him and he has not been able to get back to his business as he is constantly thinking of ways in which he can provide help.
In a series of videos posted from Gaziantep where the rubble as a result of the earthquake could be seen, Rehman spoke how he had been seeing hundreds of tall buildings just collapsed on the ground and cars crushed totally.
Syed Rehman is the founder of Modern Wall Art, a custom home décor studio that creates pieces using Arabic calligraphy.
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Indian American Community leader Darshana Patel to run for California Assembly
Parminder Aujla
SACRAMENTO (IP): Indian American community leader and research scientist Darshana Patel, a Democrat, has announced that she would run for the California State Assembly from the North County in 2024.
“As the daughter of immigrants who struggled to realize the American Dream, I know the challenges that families can face during hard times,” she told the media. “I am running for state Assembly because I want to make sure that every person has the opportunity to succeed and thrive, and because I can use my experience as a scientist, elected school board member, and a civic leader to make a difference in their lives.”
California’s Assembly District 76 includes the cities of Escondido and San Marcos, portions of San Diego, and numerous unincorporated communities in San Diego County.
Patel’s campaign earned early endorsements from Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna.
In her campaign announcement, Patel said she wants to invest in public education, protect the environment, improve healthcare access, and keep communities safe. Patel, 48, was elected to the Poway Unified board when the district was struggling because of financial mismanagement and criminal embezzlement and helped to restore fiscal responsibility, the media said. She was reelected in 2020.
In addition to her work on the school board, Patel serves on the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs and as president of the San Diego County School Boards Association.
Darshana Patel lives with her husband and their three daughters in San Diego. The research scientist has a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Occidental College and a PhD in Biophysics from the University of California, Irvine.
Recently, Patel was awarded the 2023 Occidental College Alumni Seal Award’s Alumna of the Year.
Patel previously held executive positions on the Park Village Elementary Parent Teacher Association, Education Foundation Board, Rancho Penasquitos Planning Board, and Rancho Penasquitos Town Council.