The Indian Panorama

Tag: Indian-Americans

  • Indian Americans Neha Gupta and Reema Shah Named by  Joe Biden to Office of White House Counsel

    Indian Americans Neha Gupta and Reema Shah Named by  Joe Biden to Office of White House Counsel

    WASHINGTON  (TIP): US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday, January 11,  named two Indian Americans – Neha Gupta  and Reema Shah – to the Office of the White House Counsel.

    Ms Shah, who had served on the debate preparation team for Joe Biden on the Biden-Harris Campaign, has been named as Deputy Associate Counsel while Ms Gupta, currently an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel for the Biden-Harris Transition, has been named as Associate Counsel in the Office of the White House Counsel.

    Ms Shah was an associate at Latham & Watkins and a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the Department of Justice. She served as a law clerk to Justice Elena Kagan on the US Supreme Court and Judge Sri Srinivasan on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Originally from New Jersey, Ms Shah is a graduate of Harvard College, Cambridge University and Yale Law School.

    Ms Gupta served as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, where she was general counsel to several city agencies, litigated constitutional and statutory challenges to city laws and administrative decisions, and participated in the office’s affirmative public protection advocacy.

    Previously, Ms Gupta clerked for Judge Michael Daly Hawkins of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Richard Seeborg of the US District Court for the Northern District of California. A New York native born to Indian immigrants, Ms Gupta is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School.

    Joe Biden also named Samiyyah Ali as Deputy Associate Counsel, Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo as Associate Counsel, Tona Boyd as Special Counsel, Megan Ceronsky as Associate Counsel, Martine Cicconi as Associate Counsel, Sean Crotty as Associate Counsel and Ashley Deeks as Associate Counsel and Deputy Legal Advisor to the National Security Council.

    These officials will, under the direction of White House Counsel Dana Remus, help restore faith in the rule of law and the accountability of government institutions, the transition said.

    “My administration has no greater task than restoring faith in American government. Our White House Counsel’s Office will be built upon a foundation of integrity and honesty. This qualified and crisis-tested legal team will ensure that this administration is accountable and always operates in service of the American people,” said Joe Biden.

    Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said: “The American people deserve a government that is open, honest, and transparent. These dedicated public servants will help us meet the unprecedented challenges facing our nation while upholding the highest standards of ethics and integrity”.

  • Indian American Sabrina Singh Named White House Deputy Press Secretary

    Indian American Sabrina Singh Named White House Deputy Press Secretary

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American Sabrina Singh has been named as the White House Deputy Press Secretary in the upcoming Joe Biden administration in the US.

    Ms Singh was Press Secretary to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the Biden-Harris campaign.

    US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced additional members of the White House staff on Friday.

    According to a statement by Biden-Harris transition team, the appointments demonstrate that the president and vice president-elect are building an administration that “looks like America and is ready to deliver results for the American people on day one.”

    Prior to her role on the campaign, Ms Singh served as Senior Spokesperson for Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign and National Press Secretary for Cory Booker’s presidential campaign.

    She previously served as Deputy Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee, Spokesperson for American Bridge’s Trump War Room and Regional Communications Director on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

     

    She has also worked at SKDKnickerbocker, served as Communications Director for Rep. Jan Schakowsky and worked at various Democratic committees.

  • Indian American Lawmaker Ro Khanna Sees Two challenges before America after Capitol riot

    Indian American Lawmaker Ro Khanna Sees Two challenges before America after Capitol riot

    WASHINGTON (TIP): In the aftermath of the Capital riot by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, Indian American lawmaker Ro Khanna believes America faces two challenges on the economic and cultural fronts to rebuild faith in democracy.

    “It’s a big challenge for us,” the third-term progressive Democrat in the House told Business Insider in a telephonic interview on Jan 8, two days after the riot when asked about the state of American democracy.

    “I think there’s two challenges for the country,” Khanna said. “The challenge of economically-left behind places and people where you don’t have economic wealth generation, without basic healthcare, without basic housing.”

    “And then you have the deeper question, and that is the cultural challenge,” he said noting “how we’ve become a multi-racial multi-ethnic democracy” thanks to the immigration post-’65 from non-European countries.

    “I mean we’re the most diverse we’ve ever been in our nation’s history — it’s easy to conceive of a nation on philosophical principles if there is also a cultural similarity,” Khanna said.

    “To conceive of a nation on philosophical principles, of a commitment to our constitution, when you have such incredible racial diversity, such incredible religious diversity and the racial history we do, is a very, very difficult project,” he said.

    “And I think a large part of our challenges — how do we begin to improve the communication between Americans who come perhaps from very different perspectives,” Khanna said.

    “I guess the point is we need a bold economic vision, but we need to couple that with leadership that looks for finding commonalities of Americans with great differences,” he said.

    “And it’s a difficult project, but there’s never been a multiracial, multiethnic democracy in the history of the world. And so what we’re trying to do is very hard as well,” Khanna said.

    “In the Congress, we need to begin a dialogue with each other in ways that lowers the volume of the screaming on cable news and looks for ways to respect Americans and understand their anxieties, understand their perspectives, and find some common fabric for this country,” he said.

    Khanna also stressed the “need to rethink the role that social media has had in encouraging diversion realities and how we try to structure and design social media so that there are common sources of information.”

    “We have to look at education across the country in terms of giving people the ability to sort out facts from conspiracy theory,” Khanna said.

    “And then we have to look at the communities that have been left out and why and why some of the anger may be there and the anxiousness may be there with the changes the country is going through, and how to respect the dignity of these places that have been left behind,” he said.

    “And if we can do that, you’re not going to get to everyone, but maybe you’ll get to some, and that builds a coalition of people going forward,” Khanna said.

    Khanna, who has made a name for himself as a strident opponent of the US government’s interminable support for the “forever wars”, hoped the US would end the war in Yemen and pull out the remaining US troops in Afghanistan.

    The Indian American lawmaker said he was also “working with Sen. Bernie Sanders on a war powers resolution to make sure that Congress has to be consulted before we get into any other wars.”

    Asked about his expectations from the Biden administration on the national security and foreign policy front, Khanna said, “I’m hoping we end the war in Yemen.”

    Encouraged by preliminary conversations with people in Biden’s team, he believed the new administration is “going to make it a priority to stop our support for the Saudis and stop the bombing in Yemen. That has to be a priority.”

    Favoring a pull out of the remaining US troops in Afghanistan, Khanna said, “There needs to be a peace negotiation, and then we ought to leave.”

    “We should make it clear that if there’s ever emerging threats or terrorist threats to our homeland from [Afghanistan], we reserve the right to conduct and we reserve the right to go in again,” he said. “But there’s no point in having a permanent presence there.”

    Asked if after the Capitol insurrection, Republicans will still support Trump, Khanna said, “It’s the first time I’ve seen a break. Not just by lawmakers, but also by [Trump’s] Republican friends.”

    “I think the images of the Capitol being stormed, it really shifted people’s mindsets,” Khanna said. “There’s something about the sacredness of the Capitol, about a belief in stability for American democracy.”

  • Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Tests Positive for COVID-19 

    Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Tests Positive for COVID-19 

    WASHINGTON  (TIP): Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said on Tuesday, January 12 ,  that she has tested positive for coronavirus after being locked down in a secured room at the US Capitol where several Republican lawmakers recklessly refused to wear masks in the moments after the January 6 attack.

    “I just received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one,” 55-year-old Ms Jayapal tweeted.

    In a statement, Ms Jayapal said she began quarantining immediately after the attack on the Capitol, fearing and foreseeing exactly what would occur given the number of maskless lawmakers sitting in the same room with her.

    The duration in the room was multiple hours, she said.

    “Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them,” she said.

    “Only hours after President (Donald) Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic – creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack,” she added.

    “While I am isolating per the Capitol Physician’s instructions, I will continue to work to the best of my ability because the deep urgency of our many crises is paramount,” she said.

    Dr. Brian Monahan, the Attending Physician of the US Congress, advised representatives and Congressional staff on Sunday that those in the secured room could have, “been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”

    “I am also calling for serious fines to be immediately levied on every single Member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol,” Ms Jayapal said. “Additionally, any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be immediately removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms. This is not a joke. Our lives and our livelihoods are at risk, and anyone who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy.”

    In December, Ms Jayapal was elected as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), making her one of the most powerful US lawmakers in the 117th Congress.

    On Monday, January 11,  Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey said that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

    “Following the events of Wednesday, including sheltering with several colleagues who refused to wear masks, I decided to take a Covid test. I have tested positive,” Mr Coleman tweeted on Monday.

  • President Donald Trump is Impeached

    President Donald Trump is Impeached

    Becomes the first U.S. President in US history to be impeached twice

    WASHINGTON (TIP): President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time on January 13, charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office.

    With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Mr. Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Mr. Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol, urged on by the President’s calls for them to “fight like hell” against the election results. Ten Republicans deserted  Mr. Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a “clear and present danger” if Congress should leave him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20.

    The Capitol insurrection stunned and angered lawmakers, who were sent scrambling for safety as the mob descended, and it revealed the fragility of the nation’s history of peaceful transfers of power. The riot also forced a reckoning among some Republicans, who have stood by Mr. Trump throughout his presidency and largely allowed him to spread false attacks against the integrity of the 2020 election.

    Chaos and mayhem at the Capitol on January 6.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked Abraham Lincoln and the Bible, imploring lawmakers to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign “and domestic”.

    She said of Mr. Trump: “He must go, he is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”

    Holed up at the White House, watching the proceedings on TV, Mr. Trump took no responsibility for the bloody riot seen around the world, but issued a statement urging “NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind” to disrupt Mr. Biden’s ascension to the White House.

    In the face of the accusations against him and with the FBI warning of more violence, Mr. Trump said, “That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers.” Mr. Trump was first impeached by the House in 2019 over his dealings with Ukraine, but the Senate voted in 2020 to acquit him. He is the first President to be impeached twice. None have been convicted by the Senate, but Republicans said on Wednesday that could change in the rapidly shifting political environment as officeholders, donors, big business and others peel away from the defeated President.

    The soonest Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell would start an impeachment trial is next Tuesday, the day before Mr. Trump is already set to leave the White House, Mr. McConnell’s office said. The legislation is also intended to prevent Mr. Trump from ever running again.

    Mr. McConnell believes Mr. Trump committed impeachable offences and considers the Democrats’ impeachment drive an opportunity to reduce the divisive, chaotic President’s hold on the GOP, a Republican strategist told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

    Mr. McConnell told major donors over the weekend that he was through with Mr. Trump, said the strategist, who demanded anonymity to describe Mr. McConnell’s conversations.

    In a note to colleagues on Wednesday, Mr. McConnell said he had “not made a final decision on how I will vote.”

    Unlike his first time, Mr. Trump faces this impeachment as a weakened leader, having lost his own re-election as well as the Senate Republican majority.

    Even Trump ally Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, shifted his position and said Wednesday the President bears responsibility for the horrifying day at the Capitol.

    In making a case for the “high crimes and misdemeanors” demanded in the Constitution, the four-page impeachment resolution approved on Wednesday relies on Mr. Trump’s own incendiary rhetoric and the falsehoods he spread about Mr. Biden’s election victory, including at a rally near the White House on the day of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

    A Capitol Police officer died from injuries suffered in the riot, and police shot and killed a woman during the siege. Three other people died in what authorities said were medical emergencies. The riot delayed the tally of Electoral College votes that was the last step in finalizing Mr. Biden’s victory.

    Ten Republican lawmakers, including third-ranking House GOP leader Liz Cheney of Wyoming, voted to impeach Mr. Trump, cleaving the Republican leadership, and the party itself.

    Ms. Cheney, whose father is the former Republican Vice-President, said of Mr. Trump’s actions summoning the mob that “there has never been a greater betrayal by a President” of his office.

    Mr. Trump was said to be livid with perceived disloyalty from Mr. McConnell and Ms. Cheney.

    With the team around Mr. Trump hollowed out and his Twitter account silenced by the social media company, the President was deeply frustrated that he could not hit back, according to White House officials and Republicans close to the West Wing who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

    From the White House, Mr. Trump leaned on Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to push Republican senators to resist, while chief of staff Mark Meadows called some of his former colleagues on Capitol Hill.

    The President’s sturdy popularity with the GOP lawmakers’ constituents still had some sway, and most House Republicans voted not to impeach.

    Security was exceptionally tight at the Capitol, with tall fences around the complex. Metal-detector screenings were required for lawmakers entering the House chamber, where a week earlier lawmakers huddled inside as police, guns drawn, barricade the door from rioters.

    “We are debating this historic measure at a crime scene,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

    During the debate, some Republicans repeated the falsehoods spread by Mr. Trump about the election and argued that the President has been treated unfairly by Democrats from the day he took office.

    Other Republicans argued the impeachment was a rushed sham and complained about a double standard applied to his supporters but not to the liberal left. Some simply appealed for the nation to move on.

    Rep. Tom McClintock of California said, “Every movement has a lunatic fringe.”

    Yet Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. and others recounted the harrowing day as rioters pounded on the chamber door trying to break in. Some called it a “coup” attempt.

    Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., contended that Mr. Trump was “capable of starting a civil war”.

    Conviction and removal of Mr. Trump would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, which will be evenly divided. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania joined Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska over the weekend in calling for Mr. Trump to “go away as soon as possible”.

    Fending off concerns that an impeachment trial would bog down his first days in office, Mr. Biden is messaging Senators to divide their time between taking up his priorities of confirming his nominees and approving COVID-19 relief while also conducting the trial.

    The impeachment bill draws from Mr. Trump’s own false statements about his election defeat to Mr. Biden. Judges across the country, including some nominated by Mr. Trump, have repeatedly dismissed cases challenging the election results, and former Attorney General William Barr, a Trump ally, has said there was no sign of widespread fraud.

    The House had first tried to persuade Vice-President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke their authority under the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office. Pence declined to do so, but the House passed the resolution anyway.

    The impeachment bill also details Mr. Trump’s pressure on state officials in Georgia to “find” him more votes.

    While some have questioned impeaching the President so close to the end of his term, there is precedent. In 1876, during the Ulysses Grant administration, War Secretary William Belknap was impeached by the House the day he resigned, and the Senate convened a trial months later. He was acquitted.

    (Based on AP story)

  • Hong Kong arrests 53 for plot to overthrow govt

    Hong Kong (TIP): The Hong Kong police arrested 53 people in dawn raids on democracy activists on Wednesday in the biggest crackdown since China last year imposed a new security law which opponents say is aimed at quashing dissent in the former British colony.
    Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy advocates were arrested in raids on 72 premises as the authorities said last year’s unofficial vote to choose opposition candidates in city elections was part of a plan to “overthrow” the government. “The Chinese Communist Party (CPC) has further turned the screw in Hong Kong,” said Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong. “We should not be seeking to contain China but to constrain the CPC,” Patten said. Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee said those arrested had planned to cause “serious damage” to society and that authorities would not tolerate such subversive activities. Biden’s pick for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, tweeted, “The arrests are an assault on those advocating for universal rights.” — Reuters

    Assange denied bail
    London (TIP): A British judge on Wednesday denied bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, ordering him to remain in jail while courts decide whether he will be sent to the US to face espionage charges.
    District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said Assange “has an incentive to abscond” and there is a good chance he would fail to return to court if freed.
    On Monday, Baraitser rejected an American request to extradite him to face spying charges. — Agencies

  • Blot on US democracy

    President Trump deserves to be prosecuted

    An attempted coup, a failed insurrection or mob madness, however it gets labelled for posterity, the attack on the United States Capitol will remain a blot on American democracy, for it was instigated by President Donald Trump through his speeches and tweets full of lies, disinformation and fake news. He is solely responsible for the death of four and injury to scores of rioters, whom he unleashed in an attempt to derail the joint session of the Congress certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory. An institution’s strength lies in its permanence and equally in the impermanence of individuals who hold power for fixed tenures. The office of the US President will overcome this temporary loss of glory on January 20 when Trump makes way for Biden, for which upholders of institutional integrity should be applauded.

    First among those to restore order was US Vice President Mike Pence, who called in the National Guard and returned to the dais of the Senate to reconvene the Congressional proceedings and count the votes. He told Trump’s thugs, ‘You didn’t win.’ Equally strong was the condemnation by the Republican Senator and Chairman of Senate Committee on Judiciary, Lindsey Graham, who said, ‘Count me out. Enough is enough.’ Many Republican Congressmen have not just proclaimed Biden the legitimate President of the US, but have also denounced Trump by voting against his objections to the election process.

    This attack against the American bicameral legislature was fuelled by fake news and conspiracy theories spread over social media; thus, it is a fearsome trailer of new media’s potential to distort public opinion through white lies. Even the presidential election result of 2000 was challenged and was settled only after a US Supreme Court verdict, though it triggered works like The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast. While a book illuminates, a tweet incites, as discovered by Twitter and Facebook, which belatedly suspended Trump’s account for 12 hours. The National Association of Manufacturers, a pro-Trump lobbying firm, and many others have termed the mob attack seditious and asked Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to sack Trump. He deserves to be prosecuted.
    (The Tribune, Chandigarh)

  • Indian-origin frontline workers, artists in UK on the New Year’s Honors List

    The majority of awards are for the contributions people have made in their communities, with 14.2 pc of recipients coming from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background

    LONDON (TIP): Indian-origin frontline workers, academics, actors and musicians are among 1,239 people recognized for their extraordinary contributions in the UK’s annual New Year’s Honors List released on Thursday. Among the year’s highest honors, Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton has been knighted and British actress Sheila Hancock is made a dame in the list released on New Year’s Eve.
    The majority of awards are for the contributions people have made in their communities, with 14.2 per cent of recipients coming from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) background.
    British Indian television and Bollywood actor Nina Wadia is conferred an OBE for services to entertainment and charity alongside Dipanwita Ganguli, Principal of Sutton College, for services to Adult Education in London.
    Professor Partha Sarathi Kar, a Consultant and Endocrinologist at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust gets an OBE for services to people with diabetes and Belfast-based businessman and peer Lord Diljit Rana is being honored for services to business and to the economy in Northern Ireland.
    “In a year when so many have made sacrifices to protect our NHS and save people’s lives, the outstanding efforts of those receiving honors today are a welcome reminder of the strength of human spirit, and of what can be achieved through courage and compassion,” said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
    “The 2021 New Year Honors offer us an opportunity to salute their dedication and recognize many who have gone above and beyond in their contribution to our country. As we begin a new year and continue to come together to fight this virus, may their service and stories be an inspiration to us all,” he said. West Midlands based musician Steven Kapur, known as Apache Indian, becomes a Medallist of the Order of the British Empire for services to music and young people.
    Others in the category include Sanjay Jayenedra Kara, Trustee of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha or London’s Neasden Temple for services to community cohesion and public and charitable service in the UK; Charandeep Singh, founder of Sikh Food Bank, for services to charity during the COVID-19 response; and Anand Bhatt, co-founder of Aakash Odedra Company, for services to dance and to the community in Leicester.
    The MBEs include Professor Alka Surajprakash Ahuja, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales, for services to the National Health Service (NHS) during COVID-19; Dr Harnovdeep Singh Bharaj, consultant, diabetes and general medicine at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, for services to people with diabetes in the South Asian community; Anita Goyal, for services to diversity and female empowerment; and Bhaven Pathak for services to business and British Hinduism, among others.
    Public sector workers make-up 14.8 per cent of the list and include firefighters, medical professionals, teachers, police officers and local government workers — all of whom are being recognized for making a huge individual impact, and in particular in the response to COVID-19.
    This year’s Honors List also highlights how Britain’s business sector has stepped up to deliver for the country during the pandemic.
    From small business owners diverting their resources or changing business models to support the response effort to supermarket workers making sure all their vulnerable customers were stocked up with essential items, it showcases 111 recipients being recognized for services to business and the economy. The annual list is the result of the UK Prime Minister’s steer to the Main Honors Committee, which sifts through thousands of nominations and is conferred in the name of the Queen.

  • Indian American Gitanjali Rao named Faces of Democracy’s 100th face

    Indian American Gitanjali Rao named Faces of Democracy’s 100th face

    NEW YORK (TIP): Time magazine’s first ever ’Kid of the Year’, Indian American scientist and inventor Gitanjali Rao has been named by Germany based Faces of Democracy initiative as its ‘100th face of democracy’.
    The 15-year-old young, who won the Time honor for developing a device that can warn of lead in drinking water and an app that detects “cyberbullying” on the internet, has described democracy as a “core value for the common good of people.”
    “It is how we have been brought up, so it is the core value for the common good of people,” Rao told Sven Lilienström, founder of Faces of Democracy in an interview focused on democracy, educational equality and how science can regain peoples’ trust.
    Asked how she felt on learning she had won Time’s 2020 Kid of the Year title over 5,000 competitors, Rao said, “It was a surreal moment. I’m honored, humbled, and beyond excited to be named Kid of the Year!
    “There’s something so exciting about being able to share your story and I’m representing kids from all walks of life, no matter their gender, their age, or where they come from,” she said. “I’m hoping that I can prove anyone can be an innovator.”
    Time and Nickelodeon, Rao said, “have done an amazing job highlighting optimism, kindness, positivity, especially in these tough times, especially highlighting the work of our generation. Each of us has different talents and we try to light up the community with whatever we can.”
    Describing basic human rights such as clean water, clean air as “our biggest problem”, Rao said, “We need to solve the problem of contamination of natural resources by treating, preventing, and detecting them.”
    Asked if  science needs to become younger and increasingly ‘female’, Rao said, “I believe the ingenuity of youth needs to be harnessed and Universities and Organizations should open up their doors for us.”
    “Research labs, internships, and other opportunities to explore should not be limited to adults if we want to encourage a problem-solving mindset,” she said. “Traditional education needs to start incorporating innovation at an early stage.”
    “In terms of females, there are several girls in STEM organizations, but the majority of them are introduced to coding and programming,” Rao said. “I believe there needs to be a shift in how girls are introduced to STEM.”
    “They need to see a connection to the real world and should be introduced to the latest technologies broadly,” she said. “They can then choose their areas of interest and go deep into it.”
    Asked what her generation can change to make education in the US fairer, Rao said, “I recognize there is an inequality in education. Some schools barely have internet access while others have 3D printing labs.”
    “My innovation workshops are a small step in sharing with rural schools and other underprivileged schools that you can start anywhere, start with a simple idea, and reach out to mentors who may provide you more access to materials and experts.”
    ”You need not be limited to what the school provides. If you have a phone, there is no excuse to not reach out or say that we were not given a fair chance,” Rao said.
    “I believe science is a fact, but it needs to be communicated well to bring about a social change and a feeling of trust,” she said when asked how science can regain peoples’ trust in these coronavirus times.
    “The more we educate and bring awareness to people with facts, causes, and effects, the more it gains trust. For example, when I started researching for Tethys, the lead detection tool, people knew about the lead in drinking water in Flint,” Rao said.
    “Just three months into my research, I found that there are several states, communities, and part of the world with the same issue, but it just didn’t gain enough attention.”
    “As we try to solve problems using science, bringing awareness to these problems are equally important,” Rao said. “When Universities work on research, I believe awareness should go hand in hand for people to gain trust.”

  • Indian -American Raj Iyer to be Pentagon’s Chief Information Officer: Iyer’s ranking is equivalent to three-star general

    Indian -American Raj Iyer to be Pentagon’s Chief Information Officer: Iyer’s ranking is equivalent to three-star general

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian-American Raj Iyer will take over as the Pentagon’s Chief Information Officer, a new position established in July 2020. Dr Iyer will be the highest ranking Indian-American civilian at the Pentagon equivalent in rank to a three-star general. He will supervise an annual budget of $16 billion for US Army IT operations and over 15,000 civilians and military personnel in over 100 countries.

    In his new role as CIO, Iyer will serve as principal advisor to the Secretary of the Army, setting the strategic direction and objectives for information technology and information management.

    Previously, Iyer was partner and Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting LLP where he led multiple technology programs supporting government clients.

    Iyer, originally a native of Tamil Nadu, grew up in Bengaluru and moved to the US after graduating from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi. He arrived in the US to pursue higher studies with just enough money to pay for tuition and rent for one semester through his father’s lifetime savings, but was soon able to secure a full fellowship to complete all of his graduate education.

    Iyer will help the US Army achieve “digital overmatch” against near peer adversaries such as China and Russia. The US Army has committed to leveraging advanced technologies such as cloud computing, robotics and AI for future war fighting through a concept called Multi Domain Operations.

  • Indian American Vijay Shaker Nominated by Donald Trump for the position of Associate Judge

    Indian American Vijay Shaker Nominated by Donald Trump for the position of Associate Judge

    Washington (TIP): US President Donald Trump has nominated Indian American advocate Vijay Shanker for the position of Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
    In a communiqué to the Senate on Sunday, Trump said the nomination of Vijay Shanker is for a period of 15 years.
    If confirmed by the Senate, Vijay Shanker will replace John R Fisher, who has now retired. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court for Washington DC.
    Trump had first announced Shaker’s nomination last June. Currently, he serves as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, and as Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section.

    Before joining the Department of Justice in 2012, Vijay Shanker was in private practice with the Washington, DC, offices of Mayer Brown, LLC
    Upon graduation from law school, Vijay Shanker served as a law clerk to Judge Chester J Straub on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
    Vijay Shanker completed his bachelors, cum laude, from Duke University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as a Notes Editor for the Virginia Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

  • Indian American Niraj Antani sworn-in as Ohio State Senator

    Indian American Niraj Antani sworn-in as Ohio State Senator

    COLUMBUS, OH (TIP): Indian American Republican Niraj Antani, who was elected to the Ohio state Senate from the 6th District, was sworn-in on Monday, January 4. The lawmaker, who served as a State Representative from January 2015 until now, became the first Indian American State Senator in Buckeye state history.
    “I am so grateful to be able to represent the community in which I was born and raised as a State Senator,” the senator said in a statement. “I will continue to work hard every day for each Ohioan so that they can have the opportunity to achieve their American dream. In this uncertain economic and health time, we must diligently strive to enact policies for the benefit of all Ohioans.”
    Antani defeated Democrat Mark Fogel in the November election.
    The 6th Senate District includes southern, eastern, and northern Montgomery County, which has an Indian American population of more than 87,000.
    Antani said on the election night that “to be elected as Ohio’s first Indian American State Senator is a testament to America’s beauty.”
    “I thank the voters for entrusting in me with this sacred honor, to be their voice at the Statehouse,” he said.
    “As State Senator, I will work hard every day so all Ohioans can have the opportunity to achieve their American Dream.” On December 17, the last day the Ohio House met, Antani thanked the voters and community for giving him an opportunity to serve. “I am so thankful to have been given the privilege to serve the community in which I was born & raised,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Thank you to my voters, supporters, & everyone who has been here along this journey. I look forward to going across the rotunda to the State Senate!”
    The senator, who was born and raised in the Miami Township, graduated from Miamisburg High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Ohio State University
    In Ohio, a State Senator has a four-year term.

  • Indian American Vanita Gupta named associate attorney general

    Indian American Vanita Gupta named associate attorney general

     Biden says she is ‘proud daughter’ of immigrants from India.

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Vanita Gupta is one of the most respected civil rights lawyers in America and a “proud daughter” of immigrants from India who has fought for greater equity, US President-elect Joe Biden has said as he nominated the Indian-American to be his associate attorney general.
    If confirmed by the Senate, Gupta, 46, would be the first woman of color to serve in this role.“As associate attorney general, the number three job at the department, I nominate Vanita Gupta. A woman I’ve known for some time. One of the most respected civil rights lawyers in America,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, as he announced some of the key nominations in the Justice Department on Thursday.
    Gupta started her career at the NAACP Legal Defence Fund. She then went on to the ACLU and then to the Justice Department during the Obama-Biden administration, where she led the civil rights division, Biden said.
    “At every step, with every case, she fought for greater equity and the right to right the wrongs of a justice system where they existed,” he said.
    She has done so by bringing people together, earning praise from across the ideological spectrum for her approach to solving some of the thorniest problems the country faces, he added.
    During the Obama-Biden administration, Gupta was put in charge of investigating the abuse of power in police departments in Ferguson, Missouri and other communities torn apart by acts of violence and racial injustice.
    Gupta helped institute common sense police reforms to build greater equity, safety, and trust. She was commended for her work by both law enforcement and those advocating for changes in the criminal justice system, Biden said.
    “That’s a rare achievement and it speaks volumes about her capacity to unite people in common purpose, which is what this is all about. Uniting the American people. Born in Philadelphia, a proud daughter of immigrants from India, does that sound familiar?” Biden said while looking at Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
    “If confirmed, Vanita will be the first woman of colour to serve as associate attorney general. And I’m grateful. I’m grateful that Vanita is leaving her current job, leading one of the premier civil rights organizations in the world as she answers the call to serve once again to ensure that our justice system is even more fair and more equitable,” he said.
    In her remarks, Gupta said there were not many agencies in the federal government like the Department of Justice that bears the name of a value.
    “By virtue of that name, at that value of justice, we know the department carries a unique charge and north star,” she said.
    “At its best, it is the keeper of the sacred promise. Is the promise of equal justice for all, that no one is above the law. And when those promises are pursued with vigor and brings light to our nation and serves as a beacon to the world. But when abandoned, we degrade our democracy, and sew the division that we’ve come to know all too well,” she said.
    The first time, Gupta said, she felt the absence of that promise as a four-year-old child would have her earliest memories.
    “My appearance will proud immigrants from India,” she said.
    An opportunity that was made possible by the civil rights movement and the 1965 immigration and nationality act.
    “One day, I was sitting in a McDonald’s restaurant with my sister, mother and grandmother. And as we ate our meal, a group of skinheads at the next table began shouting ethnic slurs at us, throwing food at us until we had to leave the restaurant,” Gupta said, adding that it was an early memory but one that was seared in her mind.
    “That feeling never left me of what it means to be made to feel unsafe because of who you are. I kept another feeling with me though too, and that is one that is ingrained that has been ingrained in me by my parents and shared by my husband, whose family fled violence and war in Vietnam and sought refuge on these shores,” she said.
    They believed more than anything in the promise of America, loving this country brings with it the obligation to do the necessary work to make it better. Those two feelings for her converge in the work ahead, she said.
    The horrific events at the Capitol reminded that American democracy cannot be taken for granted, that the US has a long history of disinformation, white supremacist violence, mob violence, Gupta said.
    “It also reminded us that our values and our Constitution, and our democracy do not protect themselves. It is people with courage who do that,” she said, adding that this moment demanded bold leadership.
    “The Department of Justice, as it has done throughout its storied history, will have to uncover and reckon with hard truths, hold people, companies, and institutions accountable to our Constitution and laws, drive change where there is injustice and heal a nation that is starving for leadership and decency and hope,” she said.
    (Source: PTI)

  • Indian American Groups Condemn Attack on US Capitol

    Indian American Groups Condemn Attack on US Capitol

    “The violent attack on the United States Capitol was disgusting. This act of sedition, stoked by Donald Trump, is a threat to our country and to every American’s rights and wellbeing. It must not be tolerated,” said Ajay Bhutoria, national finance committee member of Biden 2020.
    WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American groups have strongly condemned the storming of the Capitol Hill by President Donald Trump’s supporters, describing the incident as an assault on the US democracy.
    “The violent attack on the United States Capitol was disgusting. This act of sedition, stoked by Donald Trump, is a threat to our country and to every American’s rights and wellbeing. It must not be tolerated,” said Ajay Bhutoria, national finance committee member of Biden 2020, and one of the vice chairs of the Presidential Inauguration Committee. He asserted that the scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect the true America.
    “The United States of America built the most powerful economy in the world in no small part due to the stability of our government and the peaceful transfer of power we have enjoyed for generations,” he said.
    Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF) in a statement condemned in the strongest terms the assault on the Capitol by “extremists” in a misguided attempt to overturn the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
    “Violence has no place in democratic protest. Disinformation intended to sow distrust in our democratic processes has no place in a democracy. We strongly denounce those who encouraged and enabled this violence,” SALDEF executive director Kiran Kaur Gill said.
    The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) also condemned the violence, chaos, and anarchy that unfolded at the US Capitol building on Wednesday.
    It was a sad day for America and for democracy at large, it said in a statement. “Hindu Americans are uniquely attune to the foundations of and threats to democracy, as many of us trace our heritage to the Republic of India, the world’s largest democracy. Hindu values and ideals are American values and ideals and the bonds between our people, our commitment to freedom, equality, and representative democracy remain unshaken,” the HAF said.
    The Alliance to Save and Protect America from Infiltration by Religious Extremists and Coalition of Americans for Pluralism in India condemned the presence of Indian tricolor by rioting mobs at the Capitol Hill.

  • Indian American Muslim Council asks Modi to stop persecution of Muslims

    Indian American Muslim Council asks Modi to stop persecution of Muslims

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Alleging that persecution of Muslims in India has “increased beyond one’s imagination,” a leading advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the US has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the violence and save India’s secular constitution. “The Narendra Modi government must demonstrate to all Indians and the international community that the Constitution is still in effect,” Ahsan Khan, president of the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) stated Monday.

    “This will require putting a stop to the violence against Muslims by groups affiliated to the larger ideological fraternity of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),” Khan added in a media release.
    India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ideologically affiliated with RSS, a Hindu nationalist right wing volunteer organization. IAMC noted that India is set to celebrate its Republic day on Jan. 26 in honor of the day its Constitution came into effect in 1950 “to secure for all its citizens justice, liberty and equality and to promote fraternity among them all, without regard to caste or creed.”
    Khan alleged that a series of recent incidents suggested “Indian state legitimized the persecution of Muslims, encouraged, and enabled violence against the largest minority community in the country.”
    Condemning the vandalization of the grave of Brigadier Mohammed Usman, an Indian Muslim war hero killed in action during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1947, Khan said it “marks yet another low in India’s rapid descent into fascism.” “The fact that the grave of a true national hero and martyr like Brigadier Usman was targeted shows that the nationalism of Hindutva is not about the nation at all, nor does it adhere to the norms of any religion,” he said.
    “Rather, it is a narrow, bigoted creed that does not regard anything as sacred in its naked drive for power and supremacy.” “Be it Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh, there is no limit to persecution of Muslims by the state,” said Khan. “Being a Muslim in India has become a nightmare and that needs to stop.”
    Numerous cases of harassment of interfaith couples had been reported in the aftermath of the anti-conversion ordinance issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
    Khan noted that over 100 former civil servants from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and other branches of the services, declared that the Ordinance turned the state into “the epicenter of politics of hate, division and bigotry.”
    These former civil servants including former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and former Adviser to the Prime Minister TKA Nair have urged Adityanath, to withdraw the controversial law.
    Mohammad Jawad, IAMC national general secretary, referred to recent attacks on Muslim households and places of worship in Ujjain, following rallies carried out by Hindu right wing groups.
    “In Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh on Jan. 31, police razed the house of a daily wager who had built his house over the past 35 years, pushing a family of 19 to the street,” he alleged.
    “It was done in a one-sided action by the Police after the local Muslim community resisted vandalism of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha workers who tried to create communal disturbance by chanting Hanuman Chalisa in front of a mosque, and later damaging its minaret,” Jawad said.
    Members of right-wing Hindu groups used collection of donations for the construction of Ram temple as a pretext to create fear among Muslims, he alleged.
    Claiming that the “agitation for demolition of Babri mosque during the 1990s was turned into a source of majoritarian violence,” Jawad alleged that “Hindutva groups are following a familiar model of violence.”
    IAMC said it’s is dedicated to promoting the common values of pluralism, tolerance, and respect for human rights that form the basis of the world’s two largest secular democracies – the United States and India.

  • US modifies H-1B visa selection process; gives priority to wages, skill level

    US modifies H-1B visa selection process; gives priority to wages, skill level

    • The next H-1B visa filing season is slated to start on April 1

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The outgoing Trump administration on Friday modified the selection process for the H-1B visa, giving priority to salary and skills instead of the current lottery procedures.
    The notification was published in the Federal Register. It would come into force in 60 days.
    The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
    The next H-1B visa filing season is slated to start on April 1.
    The notification, which comes with less than two weeks left in President Donald Trump’s tenure, is the latest effort to bar the entry of immigrants to the US. However, it is too early to say how the modification would impact Indian companies as there is a possibility of the incoming Biden administration reviewing the notification.
    There was no reaction from any companies or business bodies on the notification so far.
    Restricting immigration has been a focus of the Trump administration since its first days when it issued the travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, and it has continued into Trump’s final year in office as the White House uses the coronavirus pandemic as cover.
    Last week, Trump extended the freeze on H-1B visas along with other types of work visas and green cards until March 31.
    Democratic leader Joe Biden, who will be sworn in as President on January 20, has promised to lift the suspension on H-1B visas, saying Trump’s immigration policies are cruel.
    Officials on Thursday said the move is aimed to protect the economic interests of US workers and better ensure the most highly skilled foreign workers benefit from the temporary employment programme.
    Modifying the H-1B cap selection process will incentivize employers to offer higher salaries, and/or petition for higher-skilled positions, and establish a more certain path for businesses to achieve personnel needs and remain globally competitive, said US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
    “The H-1B temporary visa programme has been exploited and abused by employers primarily seeking to fill entry-level positions and reduce overall business costs,” said USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow.
    “The current H-1B random selection process makes it difficult for businesses to plan their hiring fails to leverage the programme to compete for the best and brightest international workforce and has predominantly resulted in the annual influx of foreign labor placed in low-wage positions at the expense of US workers,” he said.
    This effort will only affect H-1B registrations (or petitions, if the registration process is suspended) submitted by prospective petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions.
    It will be implemented for both the H-1B regular cap and the H-1B advanced degree exemption, but it will not change the order of selection between the two as established by the H-1B registration final rule, USCIS said.
    The Department of Homeland Security had published a notice of proposed rulemaking on November 2 last year. It carefully considered the public comments received before deciding to publish the proposed regulations as a final rule, USCIS said.
    According to the final rule, a version of which was released by Department of Homeland Security, “While administering a random lottery system is reasonable, it is inconsiderate of Congress’ statutory purposes for the H-1B programme and its administration.” Instead, a registration system that faithfully implements the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) while prioritizing registrations based on wage level within each cap will incentivize H-1B employers to offer higher wages, or to petition for positions requiring higher skills and higher-skilled aliens that are commensurate with higher wage levels, to increase the likelihood of selection and eligibility to file an H-1B cap-subject petition, it said.
    Moreover, it will maximize H-1B cap allocations, so that they more likely will go to the best and brightest workers, and it will disincentivize abuse of the H-1B programme to fill relatively lower-paid, lower-skilled positions, which is a significant problem under the present selection system, the final rule said.
    The changes in this final rule will apply to all registrations, including those for the advanced degree exemption, submitted on or after the effective date of the final rule.As per Congressional-mandated cap, USCIS in one year can issue a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas. It can also issue another 20,000 H-1B visas to those foreign students who have completed higher studies from a US university in STEM subjects.
    During the public notice period, the department said, several commenters expressed support for the rule and the need to stop visa fraud, abuse, and flooding of petitions by certain staffing or consulting companies.
    One commenter said the proposed rule would disincentivize companies from abusing the H-1B programme and harming US workers. Other commenters said the proposed rule would decrease potential visa abuse by employers and make sure all workers were paid according to their skill set as employers no longer would be able to lower labor expenses by hiring foreign workers.
    (Source : PTI)

  • January 8 New York & Dallas E-Edition

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    E-Edition

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  • The unprecedented assault on the Capitol-the temple of Democracy the world looks to on January 6

    The unprecedented assault on the Capitol-the temple of Democracy the world looks to on January 6

    • Chaos and violence as Pro-Trump mob occupies U.S. Capitol
    • The shameful and disgraceful act in pictures

    A violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 6,  and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s Presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Mr. Trump in the White House.

    The nation’s elected representatives scrambled to crouch under desks and don gas marks, while police futilely tried to barricade the building, one of the most jarring scenes ever to unfold in a seat of American political power. Four people died on the Capitol grounds, and Washington’s mayor instituted an evening curfew in an attempt to contain the violence.

    The rioters were egged on by Mr. Trump, who has spent weeks falsely attacking the integrity of the election and had urged his supporters to descend on Washington Wednesday to protest Congress’ formal approval of Mr, Biden’s victory. Some Republican lawmakers were in the midst of raising objections to the results on his behalf when the proceedings were abruptly halted by the mob.

     

  • Indian Americans in the incoming Biden administration

    Indian Americans in the incoming Biden administration

    Jaskiran Saluja

    NEW YORK (TIP): Joe Biden-Kamala Harris team has nominated a number of Indian Americans to positions in their administration. It is a common knowledge that Indian Americans have excelled in every field. They are CEOs of top Corporations, distinguished professionals and academics, besides doing very well in businesses. In politics, too, they have announced their arrival in a big way. Their administrative acumen is also well recognized.

    Here are some Indians Americans whose nominations have already been announced. It is believed, many more Indian Americans will soon be joining the incoming Biden-Harris administration. 

    1. Neera Tanden
      Director of the Office of Management and Budget

    President-elect Joe Biden nominated Neera Tanden to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget on November 30, 2020. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she would make history becoming both the first woman of color and the first South Asian American to lead the OMB.

    Born in 1970 in Bedford, Massachusetts, obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1992, and a law degree from Yale Law School in 1996.

    She worked for the campaign of President Bill Clinton, who was seeking reelection that year. The following year, she landed a job at the White House press office. Later, Tanden joined the White House domestic policy office as an associate director.
    In 2000, she served as a policy director and deputy campaign manager for former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s victorious senatorial bid from New York. She went on to work for the newly elected senator as a legislative director from 2003 to 2005. During Clinton’s first presidential run in 2008, Tanden served as a policy director, and in the general election campaign, she worked for Barack Obama as domestic policy director.

    In the first Obama administration, Tanden was one of the point persons on the Affordable Care Act, as a senior advisor to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

    In 2010, she joined the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, as the chief operating officer. In November 2011, she succeeded John Podesta as the organization’s President and CEO.

    1. Vivek Murthy
      Surgeon General of the United States

    Vivek Murthy was nominated as the next US Surgeon General, a role he previously held during the Obama administration, by President-elect Joe Biden on December 7, 2020. Currently serving as a member of Biden’s team, as co-chair of the COVID task force, Murthy will reprise the role he held from 2014-2017, albeit with more responsibility.

    If confirmed, this time around Murthy will be a part of a team responsible for responding to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 280,000 Americans and hospitalized millions more.

    Murthy could face difficulty in receiving a confirmation from the senate however, given the opposition he faced during his Senate confirmation process in 2014.

    Born in England to Indian immigrants, Murthy was raised in Miami after his parents moved to the US to establish their medical practice. After earning his BA in biochemical sciences and graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1997, Murthy received his MD from Yale School of Medicine and his MBA from Yale School of Management. As an 18-year-old freshman at Harvard, Murthy co-founded VISIONS Worldwide, a non-profit organization aimed to raise HIV/AIDs education in the US and India, with his sister Rashmi.

    1. Vanita Gupta

      Associate Attorney General

    If confirmed by the Senate, Gupta would be the first woman of color to serve in the role of associate attorney general

    Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, as he announced some of the key nominations in the Justice Department on Thursday, January 8, “As associate attorney general, the number three job at the department, I nominate Vanita Gupta. A woman I’ve known for some time. One of the most respected civil rights lawyers in America”.

    Gupta started her career at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She then went on to the ACLU and then to the Justice Department during the Obama-Biden administration, where she led the civil rights division, Biden said.

    “At every step, with every case, she fought for greater equity and the right to right the wrongs of a justice system where they existed,” he said.

    She has done so by bringing people together, earning praise from across the ideological spectrum for her approach to solving some of the thorniest problems the country faces, he added. During the Obama-Biden administration, Gupta was put in charge of investigating the abuse of power in police departments in Ferguson, Missouri and other communities torn apart by acts of violence and racial injustice.

    1. Bharat Ramamurti
      Deputy Director of the National Economic Council

    Bharat Ramamurti was nominated as the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council (NEC) by President-elect Joe Biden on Dec. 21, 2020.

    He is currently the Managing Director (MD) of the Corporate Power program at the Roosevelt Institute. Ramamurti previously worked as the top economic advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren during her 2020 presidential campaign.

    “I’m honored to be joining the Biden-Harris administration as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. We have much to do to get through this crisis and create a stronger and fairer economy — and I’m excited to get to work alongside this great team,” he tweeted.

    He will also be working with Biden-picks Joelle Gamble and David Kamin on the National Economic Council.

    After earning his bachelor’s from Harvard College, Ramamurti received his JD from Yale Law School. He then worked as an intern for the Boston Red Sox’s legal department.

    Ramamurti currently lives in Boston with his wife and child.

    1. Vedant Patel
      Assistant Press Secretary

    Before being named as Assistant Press Secretary, Vedant Patel served as a senior spokesperson of the Biden Presidential Inaugural Committee. During the 2020 general election campaign, he was the Regional Communications Director for the Democratic nominee. During primary campaign, he served as the Nevada and Western Primary-States Communications Director for Biden. Patel has also worked as Communications Director to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Western Regional Press Secretary at the Democratic National Committee, and Communications Director to former Rep. Mike Honda. Born in Gujarat, India and raised in California, Patel is a graduate of the University of California-Riverside and the University of Florida.

    1. Vinay Reddy
      Director of speechwriting

    Before being named as director of Speechwriting, Vinay Reddy served as a Senior Advisor and Speechwriter for the Biden-Harris campaign. During President Obama’s second term, Reddy served as chief speechwriter to Vice President Biden.

    Reddy played several roles during the Obama administration, having served as both senior speechwriter at the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, and as deputy speechwriter for the Obama reelection campaign.

    Reddy, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, also worked as a speechwriter for the Buckeye State Sen. Sherrod Brown.

    After leaving the White House, he worked as Vice President of Strategic Communications for the NBA.

    Reddy, second of three sons of Indian American parents, studied in Ohio’s public schools from kindergarten through law school. He is an alumnus of Miami University and the Ohio State University College of Law. He currently lives in New York with his wife and their two daughters.

     7.Gautam Raghavan
    Deputy Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel

    Gautam Raghavan is a trailblazing Indian American who has served in multiple positions at the White House and on Capitol Hill in the past decade. Prior to being named as the Deputy Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel, he worked as the Deputy Head of Presidential Appointments on the Biden’s transition team. Raghavan is one of a number of Obama officials tapped by Biden who has worked with the president-elect. Before joining the Biden transition last year, Raghavan served as Chief of Staff to Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, for roughly two years.

    Before that, he was the founding executive director of Indian American Impact Fund, a political advocacy group that encourages and support members of the community that run for elected offices across the country.

    Like many Biden officials, Raghavan also has experience working with the president-elect, having served as an Advisor to the Biden Foundation.

    Raghavan also worked as the Policy Director of the Gill Foundation, based in Denver, Colorado, one of the oldest and largest private foundations dedicated to the cause of LGBTQ equality.

    From 2011 to 2014, Raghavan served in the Obama White House as the president’s liaison to the LGBTQ and the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. He was the first openly gay Indian American official in the Obama administration.

    He also served in the White House Liaison Office for the US Department of Defense and as Outreach Lead for the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Working Group.

    1. Mala Adiga
      Policy director Jill Biden

    Mala Adiga has been named the policy director to the would-be First Lady Jill Biden in November 2020. Previously, she served as a senior advisor to Dr. Jill Biden, and as one on the Biden-Harris Campaign. Adiga has also served as the Director for Higher Education and Military Families at the Biden Foundation.

    During the Obama administration, Adiga served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She also served as both Senior Advisor to the Ambassador-at-Large and as Director for Human Rights on the National Security Staff.

    Prior to that, she was Counsel to the Associate Attorney General in the Department of Justice. Before entering government service, Adiga worked on the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.

    Adiga was a litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago and clerked for US District Court Judge Philip Simon in the Northern District of Indiana before joining the campaign.

    Adiga, whose parents are from Udupi in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, grew up in Illinois. She is a graduate of Grinnell College, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and the University of Chicago Law School.

    Adiga’s father Dr. Ramesh Adiga, who is the second among three siblings, came to the United States at the age of 25 to hone his skills as a vascular surgeon. Mala’s mother Jaya Adiga had studied medicine in Vellore.

    1. Aisha Shah
      Partnerships Manager, White House Office of Digital Strategy

    Aisha Shah, who was born in Kashmir and raised in Louisiana, has been named as a Partnerships Manager in the 12-member White House Office of Digital Strategy. Shah, an Advancement Specialist for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, previously served as a Digital Partnerships Manager for the Biden campaign. Her previous stints include working as an Assistant Manager on the Corporate Fund of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and serving as a Strategic Communications Specialist at Buoy, an integrated marketing firm that specializes in social impact communications. She is a graduate of Davidson College.

  • January 1 New York & Dallas E – Edition

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    E-Edition

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  • Boris Johnson celebrates ‘amazing moment’ of UK’s exit from the EU

    Boris Johnson celebrates ‘amazing moment’ of UK’s exit from the EU

    LONDON (TIP): Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday, January 1,  hailed the “amazing moment” of the UK’s formal exit from the European Union and in his New Year message voiced his government’s ability to do things “differently” and “better” after leaving the 27-member economic bloc following arduous negotiations.

    Despite technically leaving the European Union on January 31, 2020, the UK remained tied to the economic bloc’s rules as a member of the single market and Customs Union, which ended at 11 pm on Thursday night as the UK and EU began a brand-new trading partnership under the terms of a new free trade agreement (FTA).The UK officially left the EU, three and half years after the UK public voted to leave in the Brexit referendum held in 2016. But it stuck to the EU’s trading rules for 11 months while the two sides intensively negotiated their future economic partnership. A landmark treaty was finally agreed on Christmas Eve, and became law in the UK on Wednesday. The end of the Brexit transition period concludes Britain’s membership of the economic bloc on the basis of the last-minute FTA, raced through Parliament to become law after the Queen’s Royal Assent earlier this week.

    “This is an amazing moment for this country. We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it,” said Johnson, who took the UK out of the EU in January six months after becoming prime minister. “And I think it will be the overwhelming instinct of the people of this country to come together as one United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland working together to express our values around the world,” he said.

    In reference to Oxford University’s “beacon of hope” in the form of an approved vaccine against COVID-19, he noted: “As the sun rises on 2021, we have the certainty of those vaccines.

    “Pioneered in a UK that is also free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends in the EU. Free to do trade deals around the world. And free to turbocharge our ambition to be a science superpower.

    “A new room temperature vaccine that can be produced cheaply and at scale, and that offers literally a new lease of life to people in this country and around the world,” he said. Under the new arrangements, UK manufacturers will have tariff-free access to the EU’s internal market, meaning there will be no import taxes on goods crossing between Britain and the continent. But it does mean more paperwork for businesses and people travelling to EU countries, while there is still uncertainty about what will happen to banking and services, the BBC reported.

    While the full implications of the new UK-EU FTA will become known in the coming weeks and months, there is some anxiety about the impact on the logistics industry. UK ports, including Dover and the Eurotunnel, have been bracing for delays as a result of new changes that come into force from Friday.

    The Northern Ireland protocol agreement with the EU will keep the land border with EU member-country Republic of Ireland free-flowing, after the EU and UK agreed to move new regulatory and customs processes to the Irish Sea, but that means checks are focused on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

    The end of the Brexit transition period concludes the UK and EU’s years of bitter rowing in the wake of the EU referendum, which saw 17.4 million voters (52 per cent) back Brexit while 16.1 million (48 per cent) voted to stay in the bloc.

    The UK’s lengthy divorce from the bloc has dominated the political landscape on both sides since the vote in June 2016 and brought Johnson to power in 2019 with a promise to “get Brexit done”.While Brexit was at the heart of the UK prime minister’s New Year message, it was largely dominated by references to the hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and the government being forced to tell people “how to live their lives, how long to wash their hands, how many households could meet together”.

    “I can imagine that there will be plenty of people who will be only too happy to say goodbye to the grimness of 2020. But just before we do, I want to remind you that this was also the year when we rediscovered a spirit of togetherness, of community,” he said.And striking an optimistic note, he pointed to the UK’s upcoming leadership of both the G7 and the United Nation’s COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow this year. “And an open, generous, outward-looking, internationalist and free trading global Britain, that campaigns for 12 years of quality education for every girl in the world; 2021 is the year we can do it, and I believe 2021 is above all, the year when we will eventually do those everyday things that now seem lost in the past,” he said.  UK remained a “friend and ally”, but he added that the choice to leave the EU was “the child of European malaise and many lies and false promises”.President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said: “It was worth fighting for this deal because we now have a fair and balanced agreement with the UK, which will protect our European interests, ensure fair competition, and provide much needed predictability for our fishing communities. “Finally, we can leave Brexit behind us and look to the future. Europe is now moving on,” she said on December 24.

    (Source: PTI)

  • Meet the richest in 2020

    Meet the richest in 2020

    The richest people on Earth are not immune to the coronavirus. As the pandemic tightened its grip on Europe and America, global equity markets imploded, tanking many fortunes. When we finalized this list, Forbes counted 2,095 billionaires, 58 fewer than a year ago and 226 fewer than just 12 days earlier, when we initially calculated these net worths. Of the billionaires who remain, 51% are poorer than they were last year. In raw terms, the world’s billionaires are worth $8 trillion, down $700 billion from 2019.

    METHODOLOGY

    The Forbes World’s Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 18, 2020. Some people become richer or poorer within days of publication. We list individuals rather than multigenerational families who share fortunes, though we include wealth belonging to a billionaire’s spouse and children if that person is the founder of the fortune. In some cases we list siblings or couples together if the ownership breakdown among them isn’t clear, but here an estimated net worth of $1 billion per person is needed to make the cut. We value a variety of assets, including private companies, real estate, art and more. We don’t pretend to know each billionaire’s private balance sheet (though some provide it). When documentation isn’t supplied or available, we discount fortunes.

    #1 Jeff Bezos

    Net Worth: $113 B

    Age: 56

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Amazon

    Industries: Technology

    Jeff Bezos founded e-commerce colossus Amazon in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle. He remains CEO and owns a nearly 11.2% stake. He divorced his wife MacKenzie in July 2019 after 25 years of marriage and transferred a quarter of his Amazon stake to her. MacKenzie Bezos’s 4% slice of Amazon makes her one of the world’s richest women. In 2018, Amazon had $230 billion in revenues and a record $10 billion in net profit, up from $3 billion the prior year. In March 2020, Amazon announced it would hire 100,000 workers to meet increased demand during the coronavirus pandemic. Bezos owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company that is developing a rocket for commercial use.

    #2 Bill Gates

    Net Worth: $98 B

    Age: 64

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Microsoft

    Industries: Technology

    With his wife Melinda, Bill Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charitable foundation. In February 2020, the Gates Foundation said it would spend up to $100 million to improve detection and treatment of the novel coronavirus. Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft — he owns just over 1% of shares — and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets. In mid-March, Gates said he’s stepping down as a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen (d. 2018) in 1975. The foundation works to improve global health and to create equal opportunity for people around the globe. To date, Gates has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.

    #3 Bernard Arnault & family

    Net Worth: $76 B

    Age: 71

    Country/Territory: France

    Source: LVMH

    Industries: Fashion & Retail

    One of the world’s ultimate taste-makers, Bernard Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. In November 2019, LVMH struck a deal to buy American jeweler Tiffany & Co for $16.2 billion, believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever. LVMH spent $3.2 billion in 2019 for luxury hospitality group, Belmond, which owns or manages 46 hotels, trains and river cruises. His father made a small fortune in construction; Arnault got his start by putting up $15 million from that business to buy Christian Dior in 1985. Four of Arnault’s five children work in corners of the LVMH empire: Frédéric, Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre.

    #4 Warren Buffett

    Net Worth: $67.5 B

    Age: 89

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Berkshire Hathaway

    Industries: Finance & Investments

    Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time. Buffett runs Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 60 companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen. The son of a U.S. congressman, he first bought stock at age 11 and first filed taxes at age 13. He’s promised to give away over 99% of his fortune. In 2019 he donated $3.6 billion, much of it to the foundation of friends Bill and Melinda Gates. In 2010, he and Gates launched the Giving Pledge, asking billionaires to commit to donating half their wealth to charitable causes.

    #5 Larry Ellison

    Net Worth: $59 B

    Age: 75

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Software

    Industries: Technology

    Larry Ellison cofounded software firm Oracle in 1977 to tap into the growing need for customer relationship management databases. He gave up the Oracle CEO role in 2014 but still serves as chairman of the board and chief technology officer. Oracle has grown in part through steady acquisitions of software companies, the biggest of which was $9.3 billion for Netsuite in 2016. In May 2016, Ellison pledged $200 million to the University of Southern California for a cancer treatment center. In 2012, Ellison spent $300 million to buy nearly all of Hawaiian island Lanai; so far, he has built a hydroponic farm and a luxury spa there. Ellison joined Tesla’s board in December 2018, after purchasing 3 million Tesla shares earlier that year.

    #6 Amancio Ortega

    Net Worth: $55.1 B

    Age: 84

    Country/Territory: Spain

    Source: Zara

    Industries: Fashion & Retail

    Amancio Ortega is one of the richest men in Europe, and the wealthiest clothing retailer in the world. A pioneer in fast fashion, he cofounded Inditex, known for its Zara fashion chain, with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera (d. 2013) in 1975. He owns about 60% of Madrid-listed Inditex, which has 8 brands, including Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, and 7,500 stores around the world. Ortega typically earns more than $400 million in dividends a year. He has invested his dividends primarily into real estate in Madrid, Barcelona, London, Chicago, Miami and New York.

     

    #7 Mark Zuckerberg

    Net Worth: $54.7 B

    Age: 35

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Facebook

    Industries: Technology

    Facebook. the social network Zuckerberg runs, has become a go-to communications tool during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, his philanthropic and advocacy arm, announced it would help quadruple the Bay Area’s COVID-19 testing capacity. Zuckerberg started Facebook at Harvard in 2004 at the age of 19 for students to match names with photos of classmates. He took Facebook public in May 2012 and still owns about 15% of the stock. In December 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook stake over their lifetimes.

    #8 Jim Walton

    Net Worth: $54.6 B

    Age: 71

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Walmart

    Industries: Fashion & Retail

    Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He gave away $1.2 billion in Walmart stock in June 2019, but remains the richest Walton in part thanks to an estimated 44% stake in Arvest Bank. Jim sat on Walmart’s board for more than a decade before yielding the seat to his son, Steuart, in June 2016. Collectively, he and other heirs of Sam Walton own about half of Walmart’s stock. Jim and sister Alice are spearheading a program that will issue $300 million in bonds to help charter schools invest in facilities.

    #9 Alice Walton

    Net Worth: $54.4 B

    Age: 70

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Walmart

    Industries: Fashion & Retail

    Alice Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. She has focused on curating art, rather than working for Walmart like her siblings, Rob and Jim. In 2011 she opened the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in her hometown, Bentonville, Arkansas. Crystal Bridges features works from the likes of Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Mark Rothko. She and brother Jim are spearheading a program that will issue $300 million in bonds to help charter schools invest in facilities.

    #10 Rob Walton

    Net Worth: $54.1 B

    Age: 75

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Walmart

    Industries: Fashion & Retail

    Rob Walton is the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He took over as Walmart’s chairman upon his father’s death in 1992. Walton retired as chairman in June 2015 and was replaced by his son-in-law, Greg Penner. He still sits on Walmart’s board. He and other heirs of Sam Walton collectively own about half of Walmart’s stock. After a deadly mass shooting at one of its stores, Walmart said in September 2019 it would limit ammunition sales and discourage ‘open carry’ of guns.

    #11 Steve Ballmer

    Net Worth: $52.7 B

    Age: 64

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Microsoft

    Industries: Technology

    Steve Ballmer is the high-wattage former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 to 2014. He joined Microsoft in 1980 as employee No. 30 after dropping out of Stanford’s MBA program. Ballmer oversaw Microsoft at a difficult time, after the first dot-com crash and through efforts to catch Google in search and Apple in mobile phones. The same year he retired from Microsoft he bought the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. He has ramped up his philanthropy since 2014, putting over $2 billion into a donor-advised fund, with a focus on lifting Americans out of poverty. In 2018, he invested $59 million in Social Solutions, which makes software for nonprofits and government agencies.

    #12 Carlos Slim Helu & family

    Net Worth: $52.1 B

    Age: 64

    Country/Territory: Mexico

    Source: Telecom

    Industries: Telecom

    Mexico’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helu and his family control America Movil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm. With foreign telecom partners, Slim bought a stake in Telmex, Mexico’s only phone company, in 1990. Telmex is now part of America Movil. He also owns stakes in Mexican construction, consumer goods, mining and real estate companies and 17% of The New York Times. His son-in-law Fernando Romero designed the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, home to Slim’s extensive, eclectic art collection.

    #13 Larry Page

    Net Worth: $50.9 B

    Age: 47

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Google

    Industries: Technology

    Larry Page stepped down as CEO of Alphabet, the parent of Google, in December 2019 but remains a board member and a controlling shareholder. He cofounded Google in 1998 with fellow Stanford Ph.D. student Sergey Brin. With Brin, Page invented Google’s PageRank algorithm, which powers the search engine. Page was CEO until 2001, when Eric Schmidt took over, and then from 2011 until 2015, when he became CEO of Google’s new parent company Alphabet. He is a founding investor in space exploration company Planetary Resources and is also funding “flying car” startups Kitty Hawk and Opener.

    #14 Sergey Brin

    Net Worth: $49.1 B

    Age: 46

    Country/Territory: United States

    Source: Google

    Industries: Technology

    Sergey Brin stepped down as president of Alphabet, parent company of Google, in December 2019 but remains a controller shareholder and a board member. He cofounded Google with Larry Page in 1998 after the two met at Stanford University while studying for advanced degrees in computer science. Google went public in 2004 and changed its name to Alphabet in 2015. Brin has been absent from public Alphabet events for much of 2019; he spends his time on Alphabet’s moonshot research lab X. Brin is reportedly funding a high-tech airship project.

    #15 Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family

    Net Worth: $48.9 B

    Age: 66

    Country/Territory: France

    Source: L’Oreal

    Industries: Fashion & Retail

    Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is the richest woman in the world and the granddaughter of L’Oreal’s founder. Bettencourt Meyers and her family own 33% of L’Oreal stock, which recorded its best sales growth in more than a decade in 2019. She has served on L’Oreal’s board since 1997 and is chairwoman of the family holding company. She became France’s reigning L’Oreal Heiress in 2017 when her mother Liliane Bettencourt, then the world’s richest woman, died at age 94. Bettencourt Meyers serves as the president of her family’s philanthropic foundation, which encourages French progress in the sciences and arts. Together, L’Oreal and the Bettencourt Meyers family agreed to donate $226 million to repair Notre Dame cathedral following the April 2019 fire.

  • Indian American Bharat Ramamurti named to Biden-Harris economic team

    Indian American Bharat Ramamurti named to Biden-Harris economic team

    WASHINGTON (TIP): President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have added another Indian American to their economic team to “lift all Americans out of the current economic crisis” caused by covid-19 pandemic. Bharat Ramamurti, a former top economic adviser to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign, will serve as deputy director for Financial Reform and Consumer Protection, on the National Economic Council (NEC). David Kamin, a law professor at New York University School of Law, was also named deputy director of NEC, while Joelle Gamble, was named Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy earlier in December, Biden named Brian Deese, who helped lead Obama’s efforts to bail out the automotive industry and negotiate the Paris climate agreement, to lead the council, which coordinates the country’s economic policymaking.

    Indian American Neera Tanden, named to lead Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is another key member of Biden-Harris economic team.

     “These qualified and talented individuals represent the incoming administration’s commitment to having a team of diverse experts ready to build our economy back better,” Biden-Harris transition team said Ramamurti, Managing Director of the Corporate Power program at the Roosevelt Institute, also served as counsel for banking and economic policy in Warren’s Senate office.

    He was also appointed in April to serve on the Congressional Oversight Commission for the CARES Act by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Born in Massachusetts, Ramamurti is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two daughters.

    On being named as NEC member, Ramamurti tweeted, “I’m honored to be joining the Biden-Harris Administration as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council.

    “We have much to do to get through this crisis and create a stronger and fairer economy — and I’m excited to get to work alongside this great team.”

    The council will help Biden and Harris “lift all Americans out of the current economic crisis — and build a strong, inclusive, and more resilient economy for the future,” the transition stated.

    “Working families are struggling through the deepest, most inequitable economic and jobs crisis in modern history,” said Biden. “This is no time to build back the way things were before — this is the moment to build a new American economy that works for all.” “Today’s appointees have broad viewpoints on how to build a stronger and more inclusive middle class,” he said. “With their robust experience and qualifications, they will provide the needed voices to guide my administration in overcoming our nation’s unprecedented economic challenges.”

    “In the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, this team is ready to hit the ground running on day one to rebuild an economy that works for working people and all those looking to work,” said Harris.

    “These seasoned public servants have the knowledge and experience to act quickly and decisively to address this economic crisis, responsibly open our economy, and put people back to work.”

    “And I look forward to working with them to create jobs and opportunity for all Americans,” added the Indian American leader. “President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris share a bold agenda to build our nation back better than before for working families,” said incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.

    “These individuals join an impressive group of White House staff and advisors focused on making sure every American has a fair shot to pursue and achieve the American dream.”

  • 10 Indian Americans in Houston honored for their services to community, promoting Hindu culture

    10 Indian Americans in Houston honored for their services to community, promoting Hindu culture

    HOUSTON (TIP): Ten Indian American youths here have been honored for their services to the community and promoting Hindu culture. According to the Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH), a non-profit organization, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the winners and called the awards an opportunity for the Indian diaspora, particularly the youths, to further strengthen the connection with their roots.

    “The winners will surely help propagate the richness of our magnificent identity, particularly among the young generations,” Modi said in a letter to the HGH, which honored the youths at its 10th annual awards event on December 19. “The Indian diaspora settled in different parts of the world have been the ambassadors of our glorious culture and tradition. With the noble philosophy of love, harmony and compassion, Sanatan Dharma is a guiding light to humanity. Its universal appeal has always attracted and influenced the people across the world. Our rich cultural heritage is marked by a continuity spanning thousands of years, transcending physical and geographical boundaries,” the prime minister said.

    The awardees were nominated by various Hindu faith-based organizations.

    Consul General of India in Houston, Aseem Mahajan, presented the awards and lauded the youths for displaying leadership and participation in the community.

    The awardees were Anish Nayak (Sewa International), Anusha Sathyanarayan (Eternal Gandhi Museum of Houston), Nithya Ramankulangara (Sri Meenakshi Temple Society), Sandeep Prabhakar (Global Organisation of Divinity), Kruthi Patel (BAPS), Vipaschit Nanda (Arya Samaj), Abhimanyu Aggarwal (Hindu Heritage Youth Camp) and Rajit Shah (Vallabh Vidya Mandir).

    Two special awards were presented to Namita Pallod of Sanatan Hindu Dharma and Komal Luthra of Young Hindus of Greater Houston. Dr Madan Luthra, a 73-year-old retired scientist, was awarded the 2020 Akhil Chopra Unsung Heroes award for his selfless service during the pandemic. He and his team stepped in during the pandemic to help community members coping with emergencies, accidents, medical issues, death and bereavement and family disputes. One of his biggest contributions was to start a plasma donor registry for COVID-19 patients with Sewa volunteer Kavita Tewary. In his keynote address, actor Nitish Bharadwaj of the popular television serial, Mahabharat, fame, congratulated the youths for bringing accolades to India and raising the country’s image in the world. “Hindus have proved to the world that they assimilate wherever they go. They not only introduce other cultures to India’s richness, but also imbibe the positive qualities of the country they live in. NRI’s are India’s peace ambassadors,” he said. The event was hosted by Vallabh Priti Seva Samaj, Houston. 

    (Source: PTI)

  • Indian American Vedant Patel  is  named by Biden as White House Assistant Press Secretary

    Indian American Vedant Patel  is  named by Biden as White House Assistant Press Secretary

    He is currently a senior spokesperson for the Biden-Harris presidential Inaugural Committee.

    WASHINGTON (TIP): U.S. President Elect Joe Biden announced December 25, additional members of the White House communications and press team,  including India-born Vedant Patel, who was appointed to the role of Assistant Press Secretary. Mr. Patel was a key member of the Biden-Harris campaign and is currently a senior spokesperson for the Biden-Harris presidential Inaugural Committee. Prior to this he was on the Biden team during the Democratic primaries, leading communications for Nevada and other Western states. He has also worked as Communications Director for Indian American congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a progressive lawmaker from Washington state. Mr. Patel was born in India and raised in California as per a bio released by the Biden-Harris transition team. Mr. Patel will work on the team of White House Press Secretary designate Jen Psaki.