Community leaders laud the banker’s stellar contribution
NEW YORK (TIP): “The State Bank of India, which is the leading Indian bank, has been here in New York City since 1968. And then in 1973, we opened our branch, so we are here for long time – close to 50 years. So, perhaps we will have a great celebration in 2022. I’ll be remotely associated with it. It is just for the Indian community because when we came in here – at that time – there was hardly any corporate connection. It was largely for the Indian community. And therefore, till this date, one of the key functions of the bank is to serve the community, to be the connection of the community to India. It’s not that the community does not have choices. It has choices not to bank with us. We will be very happy if the community continues to associate with the bank”, said Mr. Ashwini Tewari, Country Head US Operations of State Bank of India. .
Mr. Tewari was addressing community leaders and fellow bankers at a farewell reception hosted by The Indian Panorama, a leading English Weekly on the East Coast, on July 16.
Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari is presented a plaque by The Indian Panorama and the Federation of Indians Associations NY/NJ/CT (FIA). Seen in the front row , from left to right: FIA Chairman Mr. Ankur Vaidya, Acting Consul General of India at New York Mr. Shatrughna Sinha, Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari, FIA President Mr. Anil Bansal, Mr. Jarnail Singh, owner of Richi Rich
Speaking about the importance the bank attaches to human relationships, Mr. Tewari said, “We have the best people. You want a nice warm feeling when you come to the bank. That is what you want. We offer a human connection”.
Mr. Ashwini Tewari addressing the gathering
Mr. Tewari spoke about a scheme his bank introduced to benefit senior citizens. “For any senior citizen we offer slightly higher rate of interest. There was an amazing story from here – One senior citizen came and you will be surprised to know – we had so many customers, not only Indians, white people who said this is a bank which calls me and recognizes me. I just can walk in and talk to people and get it. We earned 30-40 million in just a year in that deposit”
Mr. Tewari said he had had a wonderful stay in New York. He enjoyed working with his colleagues who extended their best cooperation, and his relationship with community which he will cherish forever.
Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari had taken over as Country Head , US Operations in April 2017. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Washington DC are under the country head’s jurisdiction.
Mr. Tewari who holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Electrical), is CFPCM certified and ACAMS certified. He is a career banker with over 29 years’ experience with State Bank of India in India and outside. Having joined as a directly recruited officer in 1991, Mr. Tewari has handled assignments in diverse areas of Credit, International Banking and Retail Banking, including Business Re-engineering and Technology. Prior to his assignment as Country Head, US Operations, he was Regional Head and General Manager, East Asia of State Bank of India, Hong Kong and oversaw the business development and control of State Bank of India in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea and the neighboring region.
Mr. Tewari served in diverse positions which include Deputy General Manager, (Operations & Information Systems), International Banking Group, Mumbai, Head of SBI’s Cash Management, Regional Manager, Branch Head etc.
Mr. Tewari now goes as MD and CEO of State Bank Cards and will be stationed at Gurgaon.
Laudatory remarks were made by a couple of community leaders which included FIA President Mr. Anil Bansal, Jaipur Foot Executive Member Mr. Alok Kumar, eminent attorney Ravi Batra , and Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, publisher/ editor of The Indian Panorama.
Warm welcome to Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari with a bouquet from Anu JainApeksha extends a flowery welcome to Mr. Shatrughna Sinha. Mr. Tewari, on extreme right, is seen applauding
Earlier, Mr. Ashwini Tewari and Mr. Shatrughna Sinha were greeted with bouquets.
Mr. Virendra Bansal, successor to Mr. Tewari pledged to carry forward his predecessor’s legacy
The distinguished gathering included Mr. Shatrughna Sinha, Acting Consul General , Ms Apeksha, Mr. Virendra Bansal (SBI) , Ms. Prem Lata (SBI), Mr. BLS Elango CE BOB , Mr. Patra, AGM BOB, Mr. Lokesh Kumar CE. BOI, Mr. Abhay Kumar CE Canara Bank, Mr. Anil Bansal President FIA , Mr. Ankur Vaidya, Chairman FIA , Mr. Alok Kumar , EM Jaipur Foot , Dr. Sunil Mehrra , former President AAPI -QLI, Ms Anu Jain, Director- Jain Foundation and EM RANA , Harish Thakkar President AIA, Mr. Prem Bhandari, President Jaipur Foot USA, Mr. Ravi Batra, Attorney, Ms Malini Shah, Mr. Jarnail Singh, Former President, Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana, and Prof. Indrajit S Saluja.
Among the media persons present were Mr. Gurinder Hothi from PTC TV , Mr. Pradeep Singh from Global Punjab TV , Mr. Zahid from TV Asia. and Mr. HP Singh from Parikh Worldwide.
Prof. Indrajit S Saluja who emceed, thanked the gathering for having made it to the event despite of the COVID challenge.
About 70 eminent Sikh leaders from across the country participated in the virtual meeting with India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu on July 13
WASHINGTON (TIP): The Sikh community in the US vowed to work for the development of Punjab, particularly in areas of education and environment, as they hailed the outreach efforts of the Indian Embassy here in resolving their issues.
The Sikhs in America are willing to invest in the development of Punjab, eminent Sikh American businessman Gary Grewal told PTI after the first-ever virtual meeting of the community with India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu last week.
About 100 eminent Sikh leaders from across the country participated in the virtual meeting with Sandhu, who organized the event as part of his outreach with the community.
“He encouraged us to do other good things. God has blessed us here, we should share with others…offering scholarships to students. Everybody (from the Sikh community) was very happy to be at the meeting. There was a lot of sharing of ideas and thoughts,” Grewal said, adding that many members of the community also discussed the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor with Pakistan.
“I appreciated that Ambassador Sandhu has invited the Sikh community members for this dialogue and it will be important there is concrete follow up to these suggestions which can engage many to contribute positively for the betterment of the younger generation in Punjab,” said Dr Rajwant Singh, president of EcoSikh, and co-founder, National Sikh Campaign.
He said it was important that the vast Punjabi and Sikh diaspora is engaged in rebuilding Punjab and create a brighter future for the state.
“We should be looking toward to future and India-US relations have great potential. Ambassador Taranjit Sandhu is the right person to move these forward,” said Surjeet Sidhu, an eminent Sikh American.
“I am committed to using technology for uplifting human lives. I’ll be thrilled to bring technology and technical jobs to Punjab in a real practical way,” tweeted Kuldip S Pabla after the event.
Sonia Dhami, a trustee of the Sikh Foundation and Fine Arts Commissioner for the city of Cupertino, said one of the ways they can work together was in the field of publications on Sikh arts, literature, religion and heritage.
According to Dr Singh, Sandhu invited the members on the call to support students in the rural areas and sponsor scholarships for education.
The Sikh Human Development Foundation, a charity organization based in Washington, the NRI Sikhs have given scholarships for higher education to 7,300 students from low-income families in Punjab and other neighboring Northern Indian States in the last 20 years, Singh said.
The results had been thrilling as most of these students have graduated and have found jobs, he said, adding that he suggested the initiative needed to be expanded with the support of the worldwide Punjabi and Sikh community.
EcoSikh had offered to plant more forests in other parts of India to mitigate the effects of climate change and was ready to partner with the Central and state governments on this challenge facing Punjab and India, he said.
EcoSikh has worked closely with Punjab governmental agencies on environmental issues and the state government has adopted its idea of planting 550 trees in each village in Punjab.
Nikki Guninder Kaur , a professor and author from Colby College, pointed out that there was ignorance about Guru Nanak in the country, asserting that it should be the top priority of the Sikh community to work to spread the message of Guru Nanak.
NEW YORK (TIP): Prominent Indian American community leader Dr. Sampat Shivangi has been elected as a Republican delegate for the fifth consecutive term to the party’s August convention in Florida that would formally nominate US President Donald Trump as its candidate for the November presidential elections.
Dr.Sampat S. Shivangi has been a conservative lifelong member of the Republican party, hailing from a strong republican state of Mississippi. He is the founding member of the Republican Indian council and of Republican Indian National Council which aims to work to help and assist in promoting President Elect Trump’s agenda and support his advocacy in the coming months. RINC is based on the principles of RJC and want to promote conservative ideas and principles.
Dr.Shivangi is the National President of Indian American Forum for Political Education which is the oldest Indian American association .For the last three decades he has lobbied for bills in US congress on behalf of India through his enormous contacts with US Senators and Congressmen. He is close to Bush family and was instrumental in lobbying for first Diwali celebration in the White house and President George W. Bush to make his trip to India. He had accompanied President Bill Clinton during his historic visit to India.
DENVER, CO (TIP): Following in the footsteps of her father Colonel (Ret.) G.B. Singh, Sikh American Naureen Singh will be serving in the armed forces as an officer. Naureen Singh, 26, a community organizer from Colorado Springs, has just been appointed a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
Naureen’s father Colonel (Ret.) G.B. Singh is the U.S. Army’s highest-ranking Sikh American to keep his turban while serving active duty.
Lieutenant Singh is now a second- generation Sikh American to serve as an officer in the Armed Forces. Her father, Colonel (Ret.) G.B Singh joined the U.S. Army in 1979, one of a small number of Sikhs allowed to retain articles of faith, grandfathered in after a change in policy in the early 1980s forbidding soldiers from exhibiting their religion with “conspicuous” clothing or style of hair or beard. While the Pentagon does not track religious affiliations within families serving, Singh believes they are among the very first to have two generations of Sikh Americans, serving as officers in the United States Armed Forces.
Naureen is currently a student at the University of Colorado- Denver, pursuing her master’s in Criminal Justice.
NEW YORK (TIP): Indian American Mamta Motwani Accapadi has been named vice provost for university life at the University of Pennsylvania, effective Aug. 17. The announcement was made last month by Provost Wendell Pritchett.
“I am delighted to welcome Mamta Accapadi to Penn at a critical moment in our history,” said Pritchett. “She is a highly experienced national leader in student affairs, whose career has been devoted to the goals of inclusion, community, and social justice. She has been a particular advocate for first-generation students, low-income students, and children of immigrants, reflecting her own background as a child of immigrants who went on to earn three degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.”
Accapadi has been vice president for student affairs at Rollins College in Orlando, Florida, since 2013, following four years as dean of student life at Oregon State University. Her earlier experience at UT-Austin included serving as university ombudsman, diversity education coordinator, advisor to Greek life and education, coordinator of the International Teaching Assistant Program, and assistant director of the Multicultural Information Center. She earned a Ph.D. and M.Ed. in higher education administration and a B.A. in microbiology from UT-Austin.
BOSTON (TIP): The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) recently announced the names of 76 scientists who have been selected for their 2020 Early Career Research Program. The list includes five Indian Americans.
They are: Arun Devaraj, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (WA), Ranganathan Gopalakrishnan, University of Memphis, Siddharth Karkare, Arizona Board of Regents for Arizona State University, Vedika Khemani, Stanford Junior University, and Karthish Manthiram, MIT.
Under the program, university-based researchers will receive grants for at least $150,000 per year and researchers based at DOE national laboratories will receive grants for at least $500,000 per year. The research grants are planned for five years and will cover salary and research expenses.
Arun Devaraj, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (WA)
Dr. Arun Devaraj is a Material scientist in the Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate. His research focus is in microstructure-property relationship of metallic alloys, oxides and composite materials. Dr. Devaraj has extensive experience specifically in applying atom probe tomography (APT) for material characterization, in addition to scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), focused ion beam (FIB), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES), scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) and in-situ high energy x-ray diffraction (HEXRD) at beamlines of various DOE synchrotron facilities.
Ranganathan Gopalakrishnan, University of Memphis
Ranganathan Gopalakrishnan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Memphis. His research focuses on applying aerosol science and technology to Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes as well as fundamental aspects of aerosol science.
Siddharth Karkare, Arizona Board of Regents for Arizona State University
Siddharth Karkare is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at Arizona State University. He comes to ASU following a 3-year post-doctoral research position at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab. His research is at the interface of accelerator physics and nano-science and focuses on the generation and manipulation of bright electron beams for various applications ranging from meter-scale electron microscopes to large km-scale particle colliders and free-electron lasers.
Stanford Junior University
Vedika Khemani Assistant Professor of Physics at Stanford completed her undergraduate studies at Harvey Mudd College, and her PhD at Princeton University. She was a Junior Fellow at Harvard University before starting as assistant professor at Stanford University. She works on theoretical investigations of quantum many-body systems and how they evolve dynamically.
Karthish Manthiram, MIT
Karthish Manthiram, the Theodore T. Miller Career Development Chair and Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering in MIT, is working to synthesize chemicals and materials that we encounter every day in a sustainable manner that eliminates the carbon footprint. With the support of the DoE Early Career Award, the Manthiram lab is specifically looking at how water can be used as a source of oxygen atoms to convert alkenes, which are two carbon atoms attached by a double bond, into an epoxide, a triangular configuration of two carbon atoms and an oxygen atom.
CHICAGO (TIP): Indian American Microbiologist Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty, who is most notable for his creation of a biology-based solution for cleaning up toxic spills using Burkholderia cepacia, or B. cepacian, passed away July 10 in Illinois. Chakrabarty, 82, was an Emeritus distinguished professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine (UIC).
Chakrabarty earned his PhD at the University of Calcutta in India in 1965 and then moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). After six productive years in Urbana, Chakrabarty moved to upstate New York where he introduced plasmid mediated biodegradation work to the General Electric Company, which was making its first move toward bio and environmental microbiology.
In his days as a young scientist at General Electric, Chakrabarty developed the B. cepacia bacterium in his laboratory. The bacterium has the ability to break down crude oil into simpler substances that can serve as food for aquatic life. B. cepacia was the subject of a landmark 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said forms of life created in the laboratory can be patented.
In “Diamond vs. Chakrabarty,” the U.S. Supreme Court held with a five to four vote that living, man-made microorganisms are patentable. The court ruled that patents could be issued for “anything under the sun that is made by man.” Many say that Chakrabarty’s battle for patent protection paved the way for future patenting of biotechnological discovery.
In 1979, Chakrabarty moved to the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and he remained at UIC until retiring in 2018. His large and productive laboratory group of Ph.D. students, postdocs and sabbatical visitors continued work with the molecular biology of plasmid-bearing Pseudomonas capable of metabolizing man-made toxic organic agents. An area of medically important research in Chakrabarty’s lab was the biosynthesis of alginate by the human infectious Pseudomonas.
Chakrabarty’s fame as the name on the first patent for a recombinant microbe led to a second career as an expert and lecturer on legal issues of patenting and intellectual property rights of biological significance. He sat on many American and international committees and taught in workshops for American and international judges on these matters. For his achievements in genetic engineering technology, he was awarded the prestigious civilian Padma Shri by the government of India in 2007. He was for many years a global roving ambassador for UIC.
NEW YORK (TIP): Indian origin Democrat Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, on Tuesday July 14 formally became the Democratic nominee to challenge Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
“We did it! Thank you to everyone who has supported our campaign to elect a senator who will fight for Mainers—not special interests,” Gideon said in a tweet after her victory.
“We are facing unprecedented challenges right now. The coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten our health, our safety, and our economy. And a broken Washington fails to take action because politicians put special interests and partisan politics before the people they’re supposed to represent. If we are going to come together and make real progress to improve the lives of people here in Maine and across the country, then we need new leadership. Because, after 24 years in Washington, Senator Collins has become part of that broken system, putting special interests and her political party first”, she further said in a statement.
Sara launched her campaign in June 2019 and has visited all sixteen counties in Maine, holding in-person and virtual events to meet and talk with voters about their concerns and challenges they face. Sara has been endorsed by more than 75 elected officials from across Maine, as well as the Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council, Maine Service Employees Association, Maine State Association of Letter Carriers, the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the National Resources Defense Council Action Fund, NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, End Citizens United, and Everytown for Gun Safety.
Daughter of Indian-American father and Armenian mother, Sara has raised a massive USD 23 million, which is a Maine record.
TRENTON, NJ (TIP): Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official Dr Rik Mehta has won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from New Jersey and will take on incumbent Democrat Cory Booker in the general election in November.
Mehta defeated another Indian American Hirsh Singh by 12,532 votes, 39%-34%. Mehta is the first Asian American to win a statewide primary election.
“Thank you to voters who voted for me and the Republican and conservative leaders statewide who embraced our campaign from the start as the only one capable of attracting new voters to the Republican ranks, defeating Cory Booker in November, and lifting down ballot candidates in key congressional, special legislative, county, and local races”, Mehta said in a statement.
Dr. Rik Mehta is a biotech entrepreneur, innovator, healthcare policy expert and a licensed pharmacist and attorney. Trained at world-renowned Rutgers University as a pharmacist and lawyer, Dr. Mehta worked at the United States Food and Drug Administration as a Consumer Safety Officer to advance policies to expedite and increase access to quality, affordable drugs and health care. He also enforced against pharmaceutical companies taking millions of illegal prescription opioids off the market.
The first Webinar on Augmenting US-India Healthcare Relations under Covid Challenge organized on June 1
NEW YORK (TIP) :The first webinar on June 1 focused on augmenting US-India Healthcare Relations under Covid Challenge. The panelists included Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, Consul General of India at New York, Prof. T R Bhardwaj, Vice Chancellor, Baddi University, HP, India, Mr. Vivek Padgaonkar, Ex Director, Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, Prof Saranjit Singh, Pharmaceutical Scientist, NIPER, India, Prof Kanwaljit Chopra, Chairperson, UIPS, PU, Prof Charles N Pozner, Head Emergency Medicine , Harvard University, Mr. Samrat Dani, Vice President, Fulton Bank, USA, Prof Pradeep Gupta, Burroughs Wellcome Professor of Pharmaceutics, Mr Roop Singh, Chief Business Officer, Birlasoft, USA, and Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, Publisher and chief editor The Indian Panorama.
H S Panaser
Welcoming and introducing the panelists Mr. H.S. Panaser, Chair, Global Indian Trade and Culture, USA. Spoke on the need for a series of webinars to deal with the subject of cooperation between the U.S. and India in the pharmaceutical sector. He said, “The dependencies and inter-dependencies of globalization especially between US and India, have been in headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic—and nowhere more so than in the Healthcare segment. More so, in pharmaceutical industry.
Mr. Panaser spoke about the Indian pharmaceutical scene and the healthcare sector. “The Indian healthcare sector is expected to reach Rs 19,56,920 crore (US$ 280 billion) by 2020. Rising income level, greater health awareness, increased precedence of lifestyle diseases and improved access to insurance would be the key contributors to growth. Indian Pharmaceuticals is a sunrise industry with a competitive advantage for India globally. we should leverage India’s position by unleashing entrepreneur spirit the bullish outlook for health care segment is now taking India in a forward momentum. The market size of India in Pharmaceuticals alone is estimated to be $100 billion and medical devices is $25 billion by 2025. Now with amendment in FDI policy where one can invest up to 100% specially if it is medical devices segment where India is importing 80% of medical devices”, Mr. Panaser said.
Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty
Ambassador Sandeep Charkavorty, Consul General of India at New York who inaugurated the webinar series, said he was not aware there was to be a formal inauguration.
“I think webinar, zoom and WebEx conferencing are the new normal. It is high time that we start reconditioning our life to this new format . So I’m very happy to be here with such a distinguished panel. I will first like to congratulate our friend Harry Panaser for bringing up this panel of speakers .He has been working in the health care sector for several years now and he has deep knowledge and connections here in the United States and back home in India and it is not surprising that he has decided to hold a seminar on Indo US cooperation and collaboration in health care , particularly in the context of Covid challenge. To set the ball rolling, I am very happy to inaugurate this webinar”.
Mr. T Srinivas
Mr. T Srinivas, the CFO of Bharat Biotech of Hyderabad, India which owns 160 global patents said, “Our products help people in over 65 countries live to their fullest potential. Our manufacturing facilities are approved by USFDA, KFDA and WHO. We have delivered over 3 billion vaccine doses all over the world.”
Mr. Srinivas said “We started working on Covid vaccine in March 2020. We are now working on animal trials in India.
Prof. T R Bhardwaj
Prof. T R Bhardwaj, Vice Chancellor, Baddi University, HP, India said it was a matter of pride that India has emerged as a global Pharmaceutical Competitor. One third of the world’s generic drugs and formulations as well as bulk drugs, and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) are manufactured in India. “You will be surprised to know that one third of India’s production is from Himachal Pradesh , mainly from Baddi area, in the neighborhood of Baddi University. Baddi is Asia’s largest industrial hub and is only 45 Km from Chandigarh”.
“India has always been considering profession of Pharmacy as service to the mankind. Dr Yusuf Hamied , CIPLA Limited, has already served the poor AIDS patients of Africa by providing Anti – AID medicines at the cheapest rates. The same service to the mankind has been further repeated by our PM to provide Hydroxychloroquine and other preventive drugs to US and other countries during Corona Pandemic.”
Prof Bhardwaj said “You will be pleased to know, it is a matter of pride for us, that Baddi University extended their hostels facility to the staff, working round the clock ,of all these manufacturing companies during Covid – 19 lockdown. Although at present we have around 75 FDA and almost 70 approved by regulatory agencies of other countries such as Australia, South Africa, Europe etc.”, said Prof Bhardawaj
Mr. Vivek Padgaonkar
Mr. Vivek Padgaonkar, Ex Director, Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India said:” India-US partnership has been consolidating over the years and COVID-19 pandemic has further bolstered Indo-US partnership through supply of HCQ and other APIs. While there has been a huge strain on the healthcare system due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, pharmaceutical companies have an unprecedented opportunity to play a significant role in this fight against the virus. With every adversity comes a learning opportunity. Covid-19 has been no exception. One major takeaway has been the power of collaboration”.
“In the middle of this global crisis, Indian pharma has proven to be consistent and reliable. The biopharmaceutical industry generates significant economic value in terms of job creation, R&D investment, and medications that improve patient productivity. However, the first quarter of 2020 saw disruption of many industries’ supply. Currently, Indian pharmaceutical companies account for around 40 per cent of the generic drug supply to the US market.”
Vivek said “We can partner with innovators (e.g., Serum Institute of India with two companies on the vaccine for COVID-19; Gilead is partnering with many Indian companies on Remdesivir.”
Prof Saranjit Singh
Prof Saranjit Singh, Pharmaceutical Scientist, NIPER, India said “Covid pandemic has helped Indian Industry to regain the stature to certain extent. Over a 10-year period (2009-2018), the U.S. saved about two trillion dollars through generic drugs. Foremost is re-building faith in Quality of Indian Generic Drug Production. He emphasized the importance of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and research and the visionary who initiated the institute, Late Prof Emeritus Harkishan Singh. There is a need for impetus for industry to get above the basic GMP compliance to high-tech manufacturing, so that quality is built into the product, and not tested. The academia also needs to rise to occasion and shall collaborate for training of students in high-tech emerging areas with leading International institutions using e-modes. The country needs to establish Centre’s of Excellence (COE) in areas, like viral drug research, continuous manufacturing, etc. Innovation and deep scientific research have to be thrust areas for pharma institutions in future” quoted Prof. Singh.
Prof Kanwaljit Chopra
Prof Kanwaljit Chopra, Chairperson, UIPS, PU, India emphasized the research at the university. She quoted a range of top CEOs and professionals in Academia, Government and Industry who are from Punjab University globally in Pharmaceuticals.
Prof. Charles N Pozner
Prof. Charles N Pozner, Head Emergency Medicine , Harvard University, presented the video clipping on operations process of stimulation now reaching India.
Mr. Samrat Dani
Mr. Samrat Dani, Vice President, Fulton Bank, USA presented his experience of putting finance in API and infrastructure. He highlighted the concept of mergers and collaboration in Medical Devices as well.
Prof. Pradeep Gupta
Prof. Pradeep Gupta, Burroughs Wellcome Professor of Pharmaceutics, talked on the importance of Universities participation in research and development on pharmaceutical formulations and new drug discoveries.
Mr Roop Singh
Mr Roop Singh, Chief Business Officer, Birlasoft, USA said: “Birlasoft has invested in next generation transformational PV Tools/ Platforms powered with cognitive technologies including ML/AI and natural language processing which have the capacity to deliver insights from the data-based evidence coming out of clinical trials to help us very rapidly understand which drug and vaccine candidates we should double down on because they hold the most promise to be effective and safe, vs. those in which we should stop investing.
Prof. Indrajit S. Saluja
Summing up the deliberations, Prof. Indrajit S Saluja congratulated panelists for an extremely meaningful discussion . He congratulated Harry Panaser for taking the initiative to bring the best minds together from the pharmaceuticals sector. Prof. Saluja appreciated Prof. Tilak Bharadwaj for making a solid claim for US India collaboration. Prof. Bharadwaj said India had a lot to attract US companies to operate in India. Strong manufacturing base, cost effectiveness, established network of labs, scientists and professionals, strong marketing and distribution network , potential growth of clinical trials, , fast growing health industry, quality control – all these are good enough attractions.
Prof. Saluja also recalled the great contribution of Padma Shri Prof. Harkishan Singh to promotion of pharmaceutical research and development. He recalled Prof. Kamaljit Singh Chopra’s words: “ His stellar contribution is the field of pharmaceuticals has had a great impact on research in the field of pharmaceuticals”.
NEW YORK (TIP): The Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council in association with the Consulate General of India, New York organized the second webinar in the series “Augmenting US India Trade Relations – 2020” on July 1.
Welcoming the panelists, Mr. H.S. Panaser, President of The Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council said, “US strategic and trade affairs experts feel that US and India will be key to future production of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals not only to fight Covid-19 crisis but long thereafter.
“In the United States, every seventh American is seen by an Indian doctor, which will soon be 6:1, signifying the contribution of the diaspora in the American healthcare system. Today, as the world fights the corona pandemic and the US becomes its worst victim, with over 100,000 deaths and counting, health diplomacy has emerged as the new unifier for the two democracies and the driver for an intense partnership promising a big relief to the world with a timely vaccine against the coronavirus.
“Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council” wants to accelerate and promote US India Relation in Healthcare industry. We are helping in FDI, collaborations, mergers and technology transfers and researchers and students exchange programs. The US has already identified Indian pharmaceutical companies as one of the partners for mass productions to meet global demands. We were privileged to have CFO of Bharat Biotech Mr. T Srinivas in our first Webinar and you will find another Executive who are launching a Covid vaccine
Panelists included Devi Prasad Misra, Consul (Trade, Education and Commerce), Dr. Subroto Chatterjee, Dr. H. G. Koshia, Mr. Suresh Khanna, Mr.Roopesh Bhargava, Mr. Anand Krishnamurthy, : Mr. Gary Pasricha, Mr. Ajit Chawla, Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, and Mr. H.S. Panaser
Mr. Devi Prasad Misra
Mr. Devi Prasad Misra, Consul Trade, Education and Commerce at the Indian Consulate in New York participated briefly.
Dr. Subroto Chatterjee
Dr. Subroto Chatterjee is a Professor of Pediatrics and medicine in the division of Cardiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of a Medicine. His expertise is in the area of heart disease and inflammation. He has published over 200 papers book chapters. And has received international and national awards for his discoveries and patents. He serves as a thought leader to Merck, Novartis and has founded several Biotech companies
Prof Chatterjee said, “Studies show that inflammation is the underlying factor among others contributing to excessive morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients. And this pathology is attributable to the release of cytokines subsequent to the binding of the virus to the angiotensin-2 receptors in white cells circulating in the blood. One of these cytokines ,known as interleukin-6(IL-6) bind to cells in the blood vessels -further amplifying the release of cytokines causing multi-organ failure and death. Immunotherapy using antibody against IL-6 /IL-6 receptors has shown promise with delayed viral clearance and markedly improved recovery from infection and reduced hospitalization time.”
Dr. H. G. Koshia
Dr. H. G. Koshia is working as Commissioner at Food & Drugs Control Administration (FDCA), Gujarat, INDIA since January 2009. Notified as Commissioner of Food Safety of the Gujarat State from 5th August 2011. Diverse experience of 33 years in regulatory affairs working in government and industry. Leading a cross-functional team of 1465 diverse regulatory experts to implement; enforce applicable regulation to regulate 4697 drug manufacturers and 39865 sales units in Gujarat.
Hemant said, “The crisis has faded many boundaries and brought people and countries together to stand united against the fight! More so true when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry – India has stood as a strong partner and friend with many countries including the US and fulfilled the duty of ‘Pharmacy of the World’. I see tremendous avenues of US-India continued partnership in biomedical & pharmaceutical research and strengthen our regulatory & scientific relationship further. Exchange of knowledge, technology, science, and talent are few to name.”
Mr. Suresh Khanna
Mr. Suresh Khanna, Engineer by education, was Founder Chairman of M/s.Stabicon Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. A Contract Research & Development Organization and Designated Partner of M/s. Dossiers Solutions Services LLP, a leading Regulatory Affairs Company. He is a Business Advisor and Member of the Boards of a few companies in both India and abroad. Currently he is a Steering Committee Member of KDPMA, Chairman of Pharma Training Institute and Permanent Trustee of Karnataka Pharmaceutical Trust (KPT), a not for profit Organization, engaged in the upliftment of Pharmacy Education in India.
Mr Suresh Khanna said “India stated that India has a huge potential for providing Pharma Services which people generally don’t talk about. India has very experienced and qualified pool of professionals who can assist in Formulation Product Development, Compiling Product Dossiers/API DMF’s for registration in markets worldwide, SOP Writing, Clinical/BE studies & Clinical Data Management, Validation protocols, setting up Pharmacovigilance Call etc. at a very competitive cost. These costs will be affordable by many small and medium Centers scale companies in USA, thereby making them more competitive commercially worldwide. These services are akin to services provided successfully by Indian software Industry worldwide.”
Mr. Roopesh Bhargava
Mr. Roopesh Bhargava is an Experienced in leading and growing all sectors of a business (Pharmaceuticals/ Nutraceuticals/ Vaccines) for the last three decades with Proven Credentials. He has served Companies like Sanofi as Senior Director / Besins Healthcare as Managing Director and Bharat Serums & Vaccines as Chief Operating officer till very recently .He has the experience of having Worked in Greater India, China and US markets. Currently, he is a consultant to the Pharmaceutical Companies to make it dynamic and Progressive organization. Possessing excellent communication skills and able to establish sustainable and profitable relationships with Customers, suppliers and stakeholders across the country.
He said “India and US have to augment each other to ensure that best of the Medicines / Vaccines reach to fellow humans at an affordable price with excellent Quality. India Supplies 40% of total Generic medicine required by USA. The Capacity to Produce vaccines also lies with India as required. Hence faster approvals and joint efforts by each other is the call of the day. The advantage which India has in terms of cost efficiency, Economic drivers, Policy support and Investments can be fully leveraged under the trying circumstances for a Win- Win situation.”
Mr. Anand Krishnamurthy
Mr. Anand Krishnamurthy, CEO, Coolsoft LLC, is a fast-growing company, focused on AI and ML it is providing consulting and application development services in Information Technology. COOLSOFT combines technical expertise with in-depth business knowledge to provide the best solutions to organizations in Healthcare, Transportation and Telecom.
Anand said “In the area of Pharmaceuticals, Science and technology will and should play a key role. Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning will assist us in finding new cures for diseases. This will aid in discovery of cures for rare diseases where the ROI for the drug companies is not significant. Technologies such as blockchain will aid in the fight against counterfeit drugs which will save lives lost due to fake drug usage and administration. AI/ML and Genomics will cause as much a change to the human race as the industrial revolution did. More importantly, the close collaboration between academia, researchers and philanthropist between India and US should and will result in making new and affordable drugs for now and the future.”
Mr. Gary S. Pasricha
Mr. Gary S. Pasricha is the managing partner of the law firm of Pasricha & Patel LLC. He has been practicing law for over 25 years, specializing in representing businesses and individuals in business law matters such as contracting, mergers and acquisitions, secured lending, import and export regulations, labor law, and business immigration
Garry presented a ppt on laws in US under Covid 19 especially PPE
Mr. Ajit Chawla
Mr. Ajit Chawla is SVP & Global Head, Digital Business Unit, Birlasoft, a CK Birla group company whose Mission statement is “Making Societies more productive by helping our customers run their business”. Guided by the company mission,
“Both lives and livelihoods are important. Return-to-work strategies need to be comprehensive yet pragmatic. While on one side, organizations in sectors such as Pharmaceuticals who engage in mission-critical operations cannot afford more disruptions, their employees also look for confidence and assurance on health & safety front to return to work. Guided by its Mission statement “Making Societies more productive by helping our customers run their business”, Birlasoft has launched a solution named intelliOpen™ that leverages digital technologies to empower its customers to make their facilities safer during and post COVID-19. intelliOpen can help organizations in all industries but considering the ones in life-sciences industry touch human-lives directly, we are specially motivated in helping them balance productivity with safety.”
Prof. Indrajit Saluja
Prof. Indrajit S Saluja is the Publisher-Editor of The Indian Panorama (New York; Dallas), Advisor on Board at Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council., USA, President, Indo-US Media Inc., President, Opinio Media, Inc. is an Academician, Journalist, Writer, Poet, Speaker, Actor, Television Host/ Anchor. Recipient of many honors and awards, Prof. Saluja has served on Panjab University Academic Council and Languages Faculty and was nominated to a 2-year term on the National Youth Advisory Committee, headed by Prime Minister of India. Currently based in New York, he hails from Punjab, India where he was a college teacher of English language and literature for 35 years.
Prof. Saluja said there were enough areas and opportunities for cooperation between US and India. He underlined the present geopolitical scenario in which China which has hitherto been monopolizing trade with US , has fallen out with the nation which contributed most to its growth. It is an opportune time for India to take advantage of the situation and broaden its manufacturing base to substitute China for US needs of products from pins to toys to electronics etc.
Mr. H.S. Panaser
Mr. H.S. Panaser is the Founder and President of Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council, USA. He is a strong and innovative leader with more than three decades of experience in fortune 500 companies in Pharmaceutical, Medical Tourism and Food and Health segment in Global Marketing. Harinder had been working for over a decade as Chair for a Super PAC promoting US India relations. His Other affiliations and experience includes Chair, NJ, NY Chapter, US India Political Action Committee, Ex. President, Global Haryana Chamber of Commerce, Advisor on Board, C3Summit International LLC, Ex. President, US SAARK Business Forum, Director A I Nexus, President – Global Marketing NYSO, India and Ex. Member on Board, Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, USA.
Panaser concluded by thanking the speakers at the panel of this webinar and saying as we quote “India has emerged as a global capital of generic medicines and can contribute to the world by producing cheap drugs, including vaccines. With US support in scientific advancement and technology at its command, a high-quality medical research enabled to India can aid the mass production of vaccines and essential drugs in India, eventually helping the world facing a crisis like Covid-19 currently.”
“In a continued effort of this series of webinars we are trying to get representatives from The Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Chemicals, Government of India to join our webinar and address The Indian diaspora connected to the health care industry in the United States”, Panaser concluded. .
CHICAGO (TIP): Prof Vinay Kumar has been named the Lowell T. Coggeshall Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Pathology at University of Chicago.
Kumar is a pioneer in the field of the cellular and molecular biology of natural killer cells and a global leader in medical education. He was one of the first to propose the existence of a novel subset of lymphoid cells with antileukemic activity, subsequently identified as natural killer cells. His research has focused on understanding the origin and differentiation of these cells and their role in the rejection of transplanted bone marrow. His group also discovered that mutations in the human perforin gene give rise to severe and fatal disorders of immune dysregulation. This paradigm-shifting work has been recognized as a “pillar of immunology” by the Journal of Immunology.
He is the senior editor and co-author of five pathology textbooks, including Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, which has been translated into more than 13 languages and is the most widely used pathology text in the world. He has received many honors for his research, including election as a fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Sciences in 2004, and the 2019 Gold Headed Cane Award, which is the highest honor granted by the American Society for Investigative Pathology.
WASHINGTON (TIP): US President Donald J. Trump June 25 announced his intent to nominateVijay Shanker, of the District of Columbia, to serve as Associate Judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
Vijay Shanker serves as Senior Litigation Counsel in the United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, and as Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section. Before joining the Department of Justice in 2012, Mr. Shanker was in private practice with the Washington, D.C., offices of Mayer Brown, LLP, and Covington & Burling, LLP. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Shanker served as a law clerk to Judge Chester J. Straub on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Shanker earned his B.A., cum laude, from Duke University and his J.D. 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.
He has briefed and argued almost sixty federal appeals, including four en banc rehearings. Mr. Shanker is currently serving on detail as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, where he investigates and prosecutes violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related offenses and advises attorneys and leadership on a range of legal issues and litigation matters.
From October 2012 to February 2014, Mr. Shanker served in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, first as Senior Counsel and then as Acting Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Shanker has been awarded the Attorney General’s John Marshall Award, the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, and the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service.
Mr. Shanker received his Bachelor of Arts degree in public policy studies, cum laude, from Duke University. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was named to the Order of the Coif and served as a Notes Editor on the Virginia Law Review. He was awarded the Roger & Madeleine Traynor Prize for “the graduate who has produced the best written work” and also the Law School Alumni Association Best Note Award. Following law school, Mr. Shanker clerked for the Honorable Chester J. Straub on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
NEW YORK (TIP): Rakesh Vohra, George A. Weiss and Lydia Bravo Weiss University Professor at Penn, has won the 2020 SIGecom Test of Time Award for his paper, “Calibrated Learning and Correlated Equilibrium.”
The SIGecom Test of Time Award recognizes research published between ten and twenty-five years ago that has, as the name suggests, stood the test of time in its field. SIGecom is the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Economics and Computation, so it celebrates work that has “significantly impacted research or applications exemplifying the interplay” of those two topics.
Vohra’s paper, originally published in the journal Games and Economic Behavior in 1997, has served as an essential contribution to the literature on game theory.
Vohra is a Penn Integrate Knowledge professor with appointments in Penn Arts and Sciences’ Department of Economics and Penn Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering. He works at the intersection of economics, systems engineering, computer science and business, and is the Co-Director of the Warren Center for Network & Data Science. He is best known for his work on forecasting in low information environments and his many contributions to the economic field of mechanism design.
NEW YORK (TIP): A group of 58 Indian-origin executives heading various companies across 11 different countries, including the US, Canada and Singapore, collectively employ more than 3.6 million people and account for a combined USD 1 trillion in revenue, USD 4 trillion in market capitalization, according to a list released by a US-based top Indian diaspora organization.
Indian-origin business leaders are reaching the pinnacle of corporate success in greater numbers than ever, many use their platforms for social change advocacy, said Indiaspora, a nonprofit organization of global Indian diaspora leaders from various backgrounds and professions.
The Indiaspora Business Leaders List of 58 executives head companies headquartered across 11 different countries, including the US, Canada, England, and Singapore and these companies have delivered annualized returns of 23 per cent during the tenure of these executives, outperforming the S&P 500 by 10 per cent.
These companies collectively employ more than 3.6 million worldwide and account for a combined USD 1 trillion in revenue and USD 4 trillion in market capitalization.
“We wanted to capture this incredible feat that our community is achieving with increasing numbers,” said Indiaspora founder MR Rangaswami, a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur and investor.
“The impact that the Indian diaspora is having in the realm of business is remarkable. It’s one of the reasons we launched this project, and we hope our lists will continue to raise the profile of those who have reached the very top of their fields while also serving as agents for positive change,” Rangaswami said.
The stereotype of the Indian CEO is someone who represents the tech sector, but this list of 58 CEOs dispels that myth, he said, adding that these leaders represent many different sectors, including banking, electronics, consumer goods, and consulting.
Releasing the list during a virtual press conference, Rangaswami said that these executives are as young as 37, all the way to age 74 with the median age of these executives being 54.
During this coronavirus pandemic, these companies have made lots of humanitarian aid contributions, and also, they’re taking care of their employees, their customers, their supply chain.
“So these companies are doing a lot to respond to COVID-19,” Rangaswami said.
Many of the executives on the list have taken an active position on issues like Black Lives Matter in making sure that they also stand along with the black community in terms of getting racial equality and racial justice, he said.
The list of Indian-origin CEOs includes immigrants from India as well as professionals born in countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia, England, and the US.
“I’m amazed to see how far we’ve come in terms of representation in business,” said Raj Gupta, former CEO of Fortune 300 company Rohm and Haas, and one of the first executives of the Indian diaspora to join the ranks of corporate leadership along with pioneers such as Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo and Dinesh Paliwal of Harman International.
“There used to be only a handful of us leading corporations. Now that we are reaching prominence, I am eager to see how the next generation leaves its own legacy,” said Gupta, an Indiaspora member, who serves as Chairman of two companies on the Business Leaders List, Aptiv and Avantor.
“It’s inspiring to see so many leaders of Indian heritage playing a significant role in business and in society,” said Ajay Banga, President and CEO of Mastercard.
“Our culture and our values are a common starting point. But it’s what we do with the opportunities presented to us that make a difference. When we lean into our diverse experiences to deal with challenges like the pandemic or racial injustice, we can have an even greater impact on the lives of those around us,” he said.
Indiaspora said that many of these diaspora executives have led their companies in advancing social change by addressing racial injustice, climate and sustainability justice, and the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 through policy and financial commitments.
Tech industry leader Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, has announced new goals for racial equity, including improving leadership representation of underrepresented groups at Google, and an “economic opportunity package” for the Black community.
Many of the leaders’ companies have created or contributed funds in response to COVID-19, with monetary and humanitarian aid totaling more than USD 400 million, Indiaspora said.
The Indiaspora Business Leaders List also calls attention to the presence of a glass ceiling that women, including Indian women, still face. Out of 1,000 companies represented on the Fortune 500 list, only 61 have women CEOs; the Indiaspora List has a marginally higher percentage of women, yet includes only five women out of the 58 leaders.
“It’s an honor to join so many outstanding leaders on this year’s Indiaspora Business Leaders list, each of whom is making a meaningful impact within their industry,” said Reshma Kewalramani, MD, CEO and President of Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
“As a physician and CEO dedicated to creating transformative medicines that improve the lives of people with serious diseases, I believe deeply in the critical role a diverse and inclusive culture plays in being able to achieve that mission at Vertex,” she said.
BOSTON (TIP): Indian origin Yogesh Surendranath is among nine faculty members in the MIT School of Science who have been granted tenure by MIT.
Solving environmental challenges by studying and manipulating chemical reactions is the focus of Yogesh Surendranath’s research. Using chemistry, he works at the molecular level to understand how to efficiently interconvert chemical and electrical energy. His fundamental studies aim to improve energy storage technologies, such as batteries, fuel cells, and electrolyzers, that can be used to meet future energy demand with reduced carbon emissions.
Surendranath joined the Department of Chemistry in 2013 after a postdoc at the University of California at Berkeley. His PhD was completed in 2011 at MIT, and BS in 2006 at the University of Virginia. Suendranath is also a collaborator in the MIT Energy Initiative.
JOHANNESBURG (TIP): Jayraj Bachu, a founding member and national leader of South Africa’s only Hindu political party, has succumbed to Covid-19. He was 75.
The Durban resident Bachu was cremated on Saturday, July 4.
Bachu’s son Umesh told the weekly Sunday Tribune that his father passed away less than a week after he was admitted to hospital after an antibiotics course failed to address an influenza infection.
“Unfortunately, on Friday evening I received a call from the hospital to say he had taken a turn for the worse. They said two family members could go to the hospital, but by the time I got to the hospital my dad had passed on,” Umesh told the weekly.
“He was not at the stage where he was on a ventilator. Reality of the virus hits you when it happens close to home. It was devastating for my mom, me and my siblings that we could not see him one last time,” he said.
Bachu had served in community and political organizations for over five decades. Last year, he joined others to register the Hindu Unity Movement (HUM) with the Independent Electoral Commission.
He explained at the time that HUM was established because there had not been a voice in provincial, national or local governments catering to the needs of the Hindu community.
“Existing Hindu religious and cultural organizations are working from outside government to address the issues facing the community, but we need someone on the inside to get these issues addressed effectively,” Bachu said.
Bachu’s lifelong friend Ram Maharaj, who is the national chairman of HUM and also the president of the South African Hindu Dharma Sabha, said Bachu had endeared himself to the community because of his positivity and diplomatic approach to everything he did.
Maharaj said Bachu had led the fight since the 1980s to allow fireworks during Diwali when there were plans by government to ban its use at private homes.
Bachu is survived by wife, Renuka, children Vinod, Umesh, Reshma Harinarain, Rinku Singh and a number of grandchildren.
HOUSTON (TIP): Advanced Cardiovascular Care Center P.A. and its owner and administrator have agreed to pay $400,000 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act (FCA), announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
Owner Dr. Annie T. Varughese, 57, and administrator Babu Varughese, 64, both of Spring, conducted business in three clinics located in Houston, Conroe and The Woodlands.
From June 4, 2013, through June 4, 2016, the company submitted claims to Medicare for cardiology services. These included cardiac external counterpulsation treatments, transthoracic echocardiography studies and duplex scans that were not reasonable and medically necessary. Therefore, they failed to meet the Medicare coverage and documentation requirements.
Further, patient files lacked documentation that Varughese directly supervised the cardiology services as Medicare requires. The company billed Medicare for services under Varughese’s provider number when she was not in the office and, at times, not even in the United States.
“Putting financial gain ahead of medical necessity undermines the integrity of the Medicare program,” said Special Agent in Charge Miranda Bennett of the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General (DHHS-OIG). “We will continue investigate and hold accountable those who submit false claims to federal health care programs.”
“The largest area of fraud committed against the federal government today is by unethical healthcare providers who inflate or fabricate Medicare or Medicaid bills,” said Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI. “Billing Medicare for services that are not necessary and/or not provided constitutes fraud. American taxpayers are the ones who ultimately bear the financial burden created by this, as healthcare fraud translates into higher premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for consumers. We ask for the public’s help in reporting and exposing dishonest healthcare providers.”
SACRAMENTO (TIP): Indian origin Rep. Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA) Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation heavily criticized President Trump after he formally withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Communities around the United States are grappling with increasing cases of coronavirus and instead of funding a national testing strategy and ramping up testing and contact tracing, the President has chosen to cut testing and to shift the blame by withdrawing the United States from the WHO. No response has been perfect, including the WHO’s. But the WHO is playing a critical role by coordinating the global response and providing important guidance and information about the virus. It is this information and guidance that has helped countries in Europe and Asia tackle and contain the virus. They bent the curve. Our cases are increasing. If the WHO is to blame: why has the U.S. been left behind while many countries from South Korea to New Zealand to Vietnam to Germany return to normal?” he questioned.
That answer starts at the White House. Time and time again, even before COVID-19, the President has downplayed the danger of pandemics. They proposed cuts to the CDC and DoD pandemic preparedness programs, which I helped reverse. They disbanded the National Security Council office responsible for preparing for these outbreaks, which I opposed. They tried to cut funds to defeat Ebola during an actual Ebola outbreak, which Congress rolled back. Is it any surprise that when a pandemic came, this President was not prepared? Historically, the United States and the World Health Organization have worked hand in hand. We helped defeat smallpox and nearly eliminated polio. We used to lead the world in combatting infectious disease. Those efforts aligned and supported WHO’s efforts. Not this time. America lost its best chance to defeat this virus once the President began to minimize the pandemic and shift blame onto others, instead of assuming responsibility and actually leading our country through this crisis. Today’s decision comes as no surprise”, he further added
Rep. Bera has been a leader in Congress on global health security. He chaired the first congressional hearing on the coronavirus on Feb. 5th, sounded the alarm after the Trump Administration disbanded the global health security office in the National Security Council in 2018, and is a member on the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security, which in November 2019 made a series of recommendations to prevent pandemics.
UNITED NATIONS (TIP): Two eminent Indian – origin agricultural experts have been named members of an international scientific group, aimed to offer foremost scientific evidence for sustainable food systems, established by UN chief Antonio Guterres ahead of a global food summit next year.
Prof. Rattan Lal of Ohio State University and Dr. Uma Lele of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) are among the Scientific Group Members named by Guterres, a statement issued by the UN spokesperson said.
Lal, a preeminent Indian-American soil scientist, was named last month as the 2020 World Food Prize Laureate for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production that conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change.
Lal serves as distinguished university professor of Soil Science and founding Director of the Carbon Management & Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University.
A native of India and citizen of the United States, Lal has in his career of over 50 years and across four continents promoted innovative soil-saving techniques that benefited the livelihoods of more than 500 million smallholder farmers, improved the food and nutritional security of more than two billion people and saved hundreds of millions of hectares of natural tropical ecosystems.
Lele, the first woman to be awarded a Ph. D. in agricultural economics by Cornell University, was elected President Elect of the International Association of Agricultural Economists in July 2018.
According to Lele’s profile on her website, she has five decades of experience in research, operations, policy analysis, and evaluation in the World Bank, universities and international organizations.
Guterres, in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Rome-based Agencies, will convene the Food Systems Summit in 2021, as a critical contribution to the Decade of Action to deliver the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The summit aims to raise global awareness to understand the food systems challenges that nations must solve, build a global conversation on the way in which nations produce, process, and consume food, and galvanize global actions and commitments to change food systems to provide safe, nutritious food for all within the planetary boundaries.
As noted by the Secretary-General in the recent policy brief on the Impact of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition, investment both during and after the coronavirus crisis can accelerate movement toward food systems that are more inclusive and resilient to future pandemics and that offer better protections for all, the UN statement said.
With a view to facilitate this process and its success, Guterres formed a number of support structures. A multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee will provide strategic guidance and feedback on the Summit’s overall development and implementation.
An independent Scientific Group will bring to bear the foremost scientific evidence, and help expand the base of shared knowledge about experiences, approaches, and tools for driving sustainable food systems.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed will Chair the Advisory Committee, which will comprise Member State representatives as well as senior officials of relevant UN agencies, other international organizations, and individual experts across different sectors, including farmers, indigenous peoples, civil society, researchers, academics, young people, and business leaders.
The Scientific Group will be Chaired by Dr. Joachim von Braun of Bonn University Germany.
NEW YORK (TIP): Indian American Pulitzer Prize–winning physician author Siddhartha Mukherjee and Harvard economist Raj Chetty figure among 38 naturalized US citizens on Carnegie Corporation of New York’s 2020 list of ‘Great Immigrants’ for their role in combating covid-19 pandemic.
New Delhi born Mukherjee has been honored for using “his communication skills to educate the public and build awareness about covid-19 through forums and his widely read essays.”
Raj Chetty, also New Delhi born, makes the list for launching “a real-time data tracker to measure the economic impact of the pandemic and assisted decision-makers as they implemented new public policies.”
The philanthropic foundation which since 2006 has celebrated “Great Immigrants, Great Americans” on America’s July 4 Independence Day has this year highlighted the work of millions of immigrants “playing an essential role in the covid global health crisis.”
A noted oncologist, Mukherjee has since 2009 served on the faculty of Columbia University, where he is associate professor of medicine and a practicing physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Mukherjee’s “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. It figures among one of the 100 most influential books written in English since 1923. In 2015, Ken Burns turned it into a documentary titled “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies.”
In 2014, he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honors.
In May this year, Mukherjee was selected by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on a 15-member Blue-Ribbon Commission focusing on improving tele-health and broadband access in response to the Covid-19 health crisis.
Chetty received his PhD from Harvard in 2003 at the age of 23 and is one of the youngest tenured professors in the university’s history.
He has been named one of the top economists in the world by the New York Times and the Economist magazine. He was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2012.
Chetty also directs Opportunity Insights, a research lab that aims to identify barriers to economic and social mobility and develop scalable policy solutions to overcome them, the Corporation said.
“Chetty is optimistic about the potential of big data to inform policy and revive the American dream for the next generation, including immigrants — like his own family — who have long pinned their hopes on its promise,” it said.
“For us and many immigrants, that’s what America’s all about. If you work hard, you can move up, you can do whatever you want. The sky’s the limit,” he was quoted as telling the Harvard Gazette.
A third of the 2020 honorees are helping the recovery from covid pandemic by serving as nurses and doctors, as well as scientists who are striving to find effective treatments and a vaccine, the foundation said.
Overall, the 2020 Great Immigrants represent 35 countries of origin and a wide range of contributions to American life, from human rights and computer science to art, business, education, health care, journalism, music, politics, religion, research, and sports.
Joining 600 previous outstanding immigrants, the 2020 honorees, who mark the 15th class of Great Immigrants, will be recognized with a full-page public service announcement in the New York Times on July 4 and through a social media tribute.
“Millions of brave Americans responded with selflessness and urgency to covid-19, including immigrants, who represent one out of six nurses and one out of four physicians,” said Carnegie President Vartan Gregorian.
“Their contributions to health care, biomedicine, the nation’s food system, and many other critically important sectors are immeasurable,” he said saluting them.
Gregorian noted that earlier Great Immigrants are also addressing the pandemic, including José Andrés, a chef whose nonprofit has helped feed millions of needy people and subsidized the reopening of hundreds of restaurants.
Noubar Afeyan, a biotechnology entrepreneur cofounded Moderna, an early front-runner in the race to develop a covid-19 vaccine and David Ho, a renowned AIDS researcher is now working to limit the spread of the virus that causes covid-19.
LONDON, UK (TIP): The UK India Business Council has announced that Jayant Krishna has accepted the invitation of the Board to become its new Group Chief Executive Officer. He will take charge from August 3.
“Jayant brings a wealth of senior-level corporate and governmental experience from India and the UK to UKIBC, having previously led key initiatives of the Prime Minister’s Skill India mission as CEO, and Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC),” the council said in a statement.
Krishna, who will be the first UKIBC Group CEO to be based in India, will be replacing the current Group CEO, Richard Heald, OBE after a term of 10 years. Richard will step up to the role of Chair from September 1, 2020, succeeding the current Chair, Lord Davies of Abersoch, CBE who will retain a close association with the UKIBC by assuming the position of President of a new UKIBC Senior Leadership Council.
“I’m pleased to accept this extraordinary opportunity to work towards further strengthening UKIBC’s support to UK and Indian industry, encouraging bilateral investment, and helping businesses succeed. UKIBC will continue to bolster two-way trade and investment flows between UK and Indian businesses,” Krishna said.
Prior to this, Jayant was with the Tata group for over two decades. A British Chevening Scholar, he held various leadership roles at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), including Director, Life Sciences & Healthcare (UK & Europe), Regional Director (UK & Ireland), Regional Manager in London, Global Delivery Centre Head in India, and Global Relationship Manager for one of TCS’s top five accounts worldwide, while based in London.
Earlier, Krishna was a management consultant at a division of Tata Sons. More recently, he has been Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC and Executive Director, Public Policy at the Wadhwani Foundation, focusing on Indian economic reforms and US-India bilateral business ties. He has chaired and served on multiple committees of the Government of India, chaired several taskforces of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and is an Independent Director on the Boards of various companies.
Over the past years, UKIBC has grown in size, scope, impact, and sustainability, expanding its presence in both the UK and India through the development of a range of advisory, support and consultancy services supporting both Indian and UK companies operating in the UK-India economic corridor.
Group CEO & Chair (Designate), Richard Heald, OBE said, “The combination of Jayant’s insights of India, his extensive networks within government in India as well as his knowledge of UK and Indian corporates are unique. The appointment of our Group CEO in India underscores our ambition to make the UKIBC more bilateral in nature.”
MILWAUKEE (TIP): Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has tapped Medha Raj’s talent for his digital campaign.
“Excited to share that I’ve joined Joe Biden’s campaign as the Digital Chief of Staff,” said Raj in a LinkedIn Post. “One hundred and thirty days to the election and we’re not going to waste a minute!”
It was earlier reported that as the Digital Chief of Staff, Raj will “work across all facets of the digital department to streamline and coordinate how to maximize the impact of its digital outputs”.
With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping America shifting the battle for the White House to online platforms, Raj is expected to play a key role in the Biden campaign.
According to latest polls, former Vice President Biden is leading Republican incumbent President Donald Trump by eight points. Trump rules the Twitter world, but loves campaign rallies.
Raj, a graduate in international politics from Georgetown University, and an MBA from Stanford University, was once part of the former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. He dropped out of the race on March 1 and has endorsed Biden.
According to media reports, as part of its efforts to ramp up its digital operations, Biden campaign has also appointed Clarke Humphrey to act as deputy digital director for grassroots fundraising.
Humphrey previously worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Christian Tom was named as the new director of digital partnerships.
They will be joined as the new digital organizing director by Jose Nunez, who comes from the presidential campaign of Indian-American senator Kamala Harris, who too has dropped out of the presidential race.
Biden, 77, secured the Democratic presidential nomination on June 5 by securing a majority of delegates to challenge Trump in the Nov 3 election.
He would formally accept his Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s scaled back convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Aug 20 due to corona pandemic.
The convention will be broadcast live from Milwaukee, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) has announced.
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