For the third consecutive year in a row, and his fourth such speech since he was elected in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the UN General Assembly, outlining his outlook on India’s place in the world. Referring to India’s large population, he said that the world grows when India grows, and transforms when India reforms, pointing to examples of the country’s progress and impact: in the area of vaccines and pharmaceuticals, particularly to counter COVID, green technology and the promise of 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030, and poverty alleviation. He also enumerated how many Indians had been provided water connections, banking access, insurance coverage, health services and homes, although his claim that these “all-inclusive” development goals had been achieved only in the “last seven years”, struck a politically partisan note that was out of place. Moving to regional matters, Mr. Modi pointed to the contrast between India’s actions and those of Pakistan and China in veiled references. In an apparent message to Pakistan, he linked events in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have taken control, to the problem of “regressive thinking” that leads to the use of terrorism as “a political tool”. He also called for safeguarding the maritime sphere from the “race of expansion and exclusion” and referred to the need for investigating the “origins of the coronavirus”, subjects China is sensitive about. Addressing the UN directly for its own shortcomings, the PM said that time waits for no one, urging the UN to speed up the reforms process that has been flagging for more than a decade, which would include an expanded Security Council. This, he explained, is the only way to restore the credibility of global governance institutions.
Mr. Modi’s strongest words came at the beginning of his speech, where he launched a defense of the state of Indian democracy, which has come in for some criticism over the past few years. He said India had been named the “mother of democracy” for its adherence to democratic values, symbolized by its diversity, pluralism, inclusivity, and equality, that allowed someone like him, who had once worked at his father’s tea stall, to become the country’s leader. The PM’s words appeared to be a response to comments made during his Washington visit, where U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris stressed the need to strengthen democratic processes internally. Even as he addressed the UN, protesters outside criticized his government for actions against activists, NGOs, the laws on agriculture and citizenship, and incidents of lynching and mob violence. While the PM’s commitment to India’s “great tradition of democracy” was heartening, it will be measured not by words at the world body, but by answers and actions on the ground in India.
WASHINGTON (TIP):President Joe Biden will nominate Indian American Erik Ramanathan, a longtime political ally and fundraiser to serve as ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden, the White House announced on Wednesday, September 22. A political appointee, Ramanathan is the chairman of the board of a health nonprofit, Heluna Health, serving more than 80 million Americans with over 500 programs addressing population health and community resilience issues. These include maternal and child health, nutrition, literacy, supportive housing, infectious disease, addiction, and front-line and supportive efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
He was previously Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Program on the Legal Profession, following his role as Senior Vice President – General Counsel of ImClone Systems, a public biotechnology company, according to a White House statement. Ramanathan has also held major leadership roles on the non-profit boards of New Politics Leadership Academy, Shady Hill School, and Immigration Equality.
Earlier in his career, he was a health care attorney with Proskauer Rose LLP. Ramanathan earned a BA at Johns Hopkins University and a JD cum laude from Harvard Law School.
He has been an LGBTQ+ community leader for more than three decades and is the recipient of honors including the Global Vision Award for service to the LGBTQ+ and HIV+ immigrant and asylee communities.
Ramanathan, according to Politico, wanted Biden to run for president in 2016. He has served on the national finance committees of Biden for President and of the Democratic National Committee, according to his LinkedIn.
“If confirmed, I look forward to serving with a talented team of diplomats to build upon our deep and venerable friendship with Sweden,” he said in a statement. “I will work to advance our partnership in areas including trade, investment, defense, and human rights while strengthening collaborations with respect to the many challenges we face together, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the climate crisis.” statement. Ramanathan joins a record 40 plus Indian Americans working in the Biden-Harris administration. Besides Vice President Kamala Harris, the team includes Vivek Murthy serving his second term as ‘America’s Doctor’ and Vinay Reddy as Biden’s speechwriter.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Vice President Kamala Harris, on September 5, spokewith Ajay Banga, Executive Chairman of Mastercard and Board Member of the Partnership for Central America (PCA) and Jonathan Fantini Porter, PCA’s Executive Director, about their work in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and applauded their efforts to increase private sector investment and improve livelihoods in the region in partnership with the Department of State, USAID, and other agencies. The Vice President shared her vision for the Root Causes Strategy and the Call to Action she announced in May, updates from her trip to Guatemala and Mexico in June and discussed ways to continue working together. In addition, they also discussed her trip to Singapore and Vietnam.
The Partnership for Central America is a non-profit organization created in response to a Call to Action by Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role overseeing diplomacy towards the Northern Triangle and Mexico. The Partnership aims to coordinate practical solutions to advance economic opportunity, address urgent climate, education and health challenges, and promote long-term investments and workforce capability in support of a vision of hope for Central America.
Partnership members will make significant commitments to help send hope to the people of the region and sustainably address the root causes of migration by promoting economic opportunity.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American community organization IMPACT has urged President Joe Biden to reform US immigration laws by abolishing green card caps and quotas and including 200,000 children of long-term visa holders to protect all Dreamers.
Neil Makhija, IMPACT Executive Director, raised the community’s concerns “about the urgent need to expand voting rights and fight for immigration reform” at a meeting with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House last Thursday.
Makhija, who met Biden and Harris alongside 13 Asian American civil rights leaders, noted it was the President and Vice President’s first in-person meeting with national South Asian and AAPI political leaders.
The meeting, he said in a media release, “was a significant step towards recognizing Indian American and AAPI voices as we work towards building a multi-racial democracy that works for us all.”
Makhija said he “discussed the importance of protecting the right to vote, a bedrock issue that affects every other policy impacting our community.”
He urged the President to reform US immigration laws by abolishing green card caps and quotas and including 200,000 children of long-term visa holders in efforts to protect all Dreamers.
The President, according to Makhija, “acknowledges that our communities are essential to the fabric of America, but our current laws undermine these values.”
“As always, IMPACT remains committed to advocating for policies that advance our communities’ interests forward,” he said.
Thanking Biden and Harris “for reaffirming their commitment to working alongside AAPI leaders to protect our communities,” Makhija said, IMPACT “looked forward to working with them to expand voting rights, reform our immigration policies, and combat anti-Asian hate.”
According to a White House readout of the meeting Biden and Harris pledged to work with the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA & NHPI) community on immigration reform.
They “restated their support for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, farm workers, TPS (Temporary Protected Status) holders, and essential workers through budget reconciliation,” it said.
“The conversation focused on the importance of combating the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, economic opportunity, commitment to equity, protecting the sacred right to vote, and immigration reform.”
Biden and Harris reiterated their “promise to work together to ensure the needs of the diaspora of the AA & NHPI communities are heard, uplifted and met,” the White House said.
Ashook Ramsaran, President, Indian Diaspora Council International (IDC), New York
The Indian Diaspora Council International (IDC) congratulates the people of United States of America (USA) on the 245thanniversary of the Declaration of Independence and conveys its best wishes for continuing progress in championing the cause of freedom, justice and liberty throughout the world. Despite recent setbacks due to the devastation effects of Covid-19, widespread protests to achieve racial and economic inequities, many attacks on Asians in America, and perpetuating misinformation leading to ideological disputes in some segments of society, America and its institutions remain strong and resilient as a progressive nation.
We are grateful for the enormous sacrifices made for the hard fought independence of USA and the continuing diligence and determination to maintain and advance freedom and liberty which universally endear the USA as a beacon of hope, freedom and refuge for the persecuted and downtrodden. USA’s struggle for independence and promoting freedom exemplify the indomitable human spirit to choose and make decisions for “the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness”, and has inspired nations, racially diverse and ethnic groups and individuals to advance their own struggles for freedom. The USA strives to be introspective and adapt to changing times and recognition of past injustices to better serve the needs of its citizens with established institutions and processes for social justice.
The celebration of USA independence is also of historic significance to the rapidly growing Indian American community who have benefited enormously from the Luce-Celler Immigration Act of 1946 signed into law on 3rd July 1946 by President Harry Truman granting naturalization rights to Filipinos and Asian Indians. The Immigration Act of 1946 also “allowed Filipino Americans and Indian Americans to naturalize and become United States citizens”. Upon becoming US citizens, the new Americans could own homes and farmland, and petition for family unification. This reversed the Naturalization Act of 1870 which had denied Asians the right to gain US citizenship.
The 2020 election of Indian origin Kamala Harris as Vice President, and the appointments of the Vivek Murthy as US Surgeon General and Vanita Gupta as Associate Attorney General, as well as many others in prominent positions, reflect the changing demographics and the diversity of America as well as the rapid strides that Indian Americans are making in the political landscape.
WASHINGTON (TIP): A day after President Biden arrived from Geneva after his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he signed on June17, into law a bill creating a federal holiday to commemorate Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in Texas.
“Great nations don’t ignore the most painful moments. They don’t ignore those moments in the past. They embrace them,” Biden said in remarks in the East Room before a crowd that included lawmakers and 94-year-old Opal Lee, who campaigned to make the day a national holiday. The president, who spoke of efforts in some states to restrict voting rights, said the date doesn’t just celebrate the past but is a call for action.
The Juneteenth story
The celebration started with the freed slaves of Galveston, Texas. Although the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the South in 1863, it could not be enforced in many places until after the end of the Civil War in 1865.
Laura Smalley, freed from a plantation near Bellville, Texas, remembered in a 1941 interview that the man she referred to as “old master” had gone to fight in the Civil War and came home without telling the people he enslaved what had happened.
“Old master didn’t tell, you know, they was free,” Smalley said at the time. “I think now they say they worked them, six months after that. Six months. And turn them loose on the 19th of June. That’s why, you know, we celebrate that day.”
Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived at Galveston on June 19, 1865, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. That was more than two months after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia.
Granger delivered General Order No. 3, which said: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
The next year, the now-free people started celebrating Juneteenth in Galveston. Its observance has continued around the nation and the world since. Events include concerts, parades and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation.
WHAT DOES ‘JUNETEENTH’ MEAN?
The term Juneteenth is a blend of the words June and nineteenth. The holiday has also been called Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day.
Often celebrated at first with church picnics and speeches, the holiday spread across the nation and internationally as Black Texans moved elsewhere.
The vast majority of states recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or a day of recognition, like Flag Day, and most states hold celebrations. Juneteenth is a paid holiday for state employees in Texas, New York, Virginia and Washington, and hundreds of companies give workers a day off for Juneteenth.
WHY NOW?
The national reckoning over race helped set the stage for Juneteenth to become the first new federal holiday since 1983, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and had 60 co-sponsors. Bipartisan support emerged as lawmakers struggle to overcome divisions that are still simmering following the police killing last year of George Floyd in Minnesota.
Supporters of the holiday have worked to make sure Juneteenth celebrators don’t forget why the day exists.
“In 1776 the country was freed from the British, but the people were not all free,” Dee Evans, national director of communications of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, said in 2019. “June 19, 1865, was actually when the people and the entire country was actually free.”
There’s also sentiment to use the day to remember the sacrifices that were made for freedom in the United States — especially in these racially and politically charged days. Said Para LaNell Agboga, museum site coordinator at the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center in Austin, Texas: “Our freedoms are fragile, and it doesn’t take much for things to go backward.”
New Delhi (TIP): Days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met key officials in the Biden administration in Washington DC, the US announced Thursday, June 3, that it will distribute Covid-19 vaccines to India as part of its “strategy for global vaccine sharing”.
President Joe Biden made the announcement and Vice President Kamala Harris called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding Washington’s plans to make vaccines available to other countries, including India.
Initial estimates suggest India will get about 2-3 million doses in the first tranche of doses via COVAX and directly from the US. This is a day’s dose for India – on Thursday, the country administered 2.62 million doses, according to a provisional official report. These included 24,04,166 first dose beneficiaries and 220,805 second dose beneficiaries.
A US statement said that the administration will begin sharing the “first 25 million doses of COVID vaccines” with countries as part of the framework for sharing at least 80 million vaccines globally by the end of June.
Biden said: “At least 75 per cent of these doses — nearly 19 million — will be shared through COVAX, including approximately 6 million doses for Latin America and the Caribbean, approximately 7 million for South and Southeast Asia, and approximately 5 million for Africa, working in coordination with the African Union and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.”
“The remaining doses, just over 6 million, will be shared directly with countries experiencing surges, those in crisis, and other partners and neighbours, including Canada, Mexico, India, and the Republic of Korea,” he said.
Biden said: “We are sharing these doses not to secure favours or extract concessions. We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic, with the power of our example and with our values.” Source: Indian Express
Some of 6 million doses for ‘surge’ nations to be shipped to India
WASHINGTON (TIP): US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, June 3, spokewith India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and three other world leaders and informed them that the US will begin sharing the first 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to their respective countries.
Harris and PM Modi further discussed strengthening efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The call was initiated by the American side, top government sources said. During the call, Harris stressed the Joe Biden administration’s efforts to ‘achieve broad global coverage, responding to surges and other urgent situations ad public health needs and helping as many countries as possible who requested vaccines’, according to Senior White House Advisor and Chief Spokesperson Symone Sanders.
Thanking Harris, PM Modi tweeted, “I deeply appreciate the assurance of vaccine supplies to India as part of the US Strategy for Global Vaccine Sharing. I also thanked her for the all the support and solidarity from the US government, businesses and Indian diaspora.” Modi and Harris also discussed ongoing efforts to further strengthen India-US vaccine cooperation, “and the potential of our partnership to contribute to post-Covid global health and economic recovery”, added the prime minister in his tweet.
The prime minister also expressed the hope to welcome Harris in India ‘soon after the normalization of the global health situation’. Also Read – Uyghur exiles describe forced abortions, torture in Xinjiang Apart from Modi, Harris also dialed President Andres Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala, and Prime Minister Keith Rowley, Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). “The Vice President notified each of the leaders that the Biden-Harris Administration will begin sharing the rest 25 million doses of COVID vaccines to their respective countries and others, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s framework for sharing at least 80 million vaccines globally by the end of June,” the White House said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday, June 3, announced his plans to allocate 75 per cent – nearly 19 million of the first tranche of 25 million doses – of unused COVID-19 vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing programme to countries in South and Southeast Asia as well as Africa. In a statement, President Biden provided details on how the US will allocate the first 25 million of the vaccines to lay the ground for increased global coverage and to address real and potential surges, high burdens of disease, and the needs of the most vulnerable countries. “At least 75 percent of these doses – nearly 19 million- will be shared through COVAX, including approximately 6 million doses for Latin America and the Caribbean, approximately 7 million for South and Southeast Asia, and approximately 5 million for Africa,” Biden said. “The remaining doses, just over 6 million, will be shared directly with countries experiencing surges, those in crisis, and other partners and neighbors, including Canada, Mexico, India, and the Republic of Korea, he said.
The Biden administration had been under pressure to send the excess COVID-19 vaccines with the US to nations like India, which are facing severe vaccine shortages. “We are sharing these doses not to secure favors or extract concessions. We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic… And we will continue to follow the science and to work in close cooperation with our democratic partners to coordinate a multilateral effort, including through the G7, Biden added. COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organisation.
President Biden on May 17 had said the US will share 20 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses with other countries, taking the total number of such shots to 80 million. Ten million is equal to one crore. The additional 20 million doses will be of the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech, Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, on top of 60 million AstraZeneca Plc doses he had already planned to give to other countries. Biden said the United States “also recognize that ending this pandemic means ending it everywhere. As long as this pandemic is raging anywhere in the world, the American people will still be vulnerable. And the United States is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts that we have demonstrated at home.
NEW YORK (TIP): The surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths in India is nothing short of heartbreaking, says the U.S. Vice President U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said that the welfare of India was critical to the United States. She highlighted the assistance the U.S. was sending India and offered her condolences to those who have lost people to the pandemic. “As many of you know, generations of my family come from India. My mother was born and raised in India. And I have family members who live in India today. The welfare of India is critically important to the United States,” Ms. Harris said in a recorded message delivered at a diaspora event on COVID-19 relief for India.
The other speakers at the event were senior State Department official Ervin Massinga, who is involved with the U.S. effort in India, USAID official Anjali Kaur, Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, physician and volunteer Gunisha Kaur, entrepreneurs and philanthropists Lata Krishnan and M.R. Rangaswami.
“The surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths in India is nothing short of heartbreaking,” Ms. Harris said, as she offered her condolences.
“As soon as the dire nature of the situation became apparent, our Administration took action,” she said. While U.S. lawmakers and private citizens had been vocal for support to India as the second COVID-19 wave broke across the country, the Biden administration was widely criticized for being slow to act, with administration officials keeping largely silent days after other countries had stepped in to offer help to India.
However, since then, the U.S is sending, by its count, more than $100 million in assistance to India. Assistance of various forms has been mobilized on a massive scale by private citizens and the administration. There has been a public outpouring of grief and calls to help India, that have continued weeks into the outbreak in India.
“On Monday, April 26, President Joe Biden spoke with the Prime Minister to offer our support. By Friday, April 30, U.S. military members and civilians were delivering relief on the ground,” Ms. Harris said, outlining the material help that had been sent (N-95 masks, oxygen cylinders) and saying more was on the way.
“Meanwhile, we have announced our full support for suspending patents on COVID-19 vaccines – to help India and other nations vaccinate their people more quickly,” Ms. Harris said. Earlier this week the Biden administration said it would support a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, an unprecedented move.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, when our hospital beds were stretched, India sent assistance. And today, we are determined to help India in its hour of need. We do this as friends of India, as members of the Asian Quad, and as part of the global community,” Ms. Harris said.
“This has hit everyone in the diaspora on a personal basis,” said Mr. Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora, an organization that works on diaspora engagement and philanthropy. “Someone has lost a relative, a friend, a sibling, a child to this dreaded pandemic in India,” he said.
Both Ms. Krishnan, who founded the philanthropic organization the American India Foundation, and Ms. Anjali Kaur spoke about the importance of transparency in the use of assistance.
‘Sub-granting’ of funds
Mr. Rangaswami said the government should consider permitting the “sub granting” of money, which was prohibited after the Foreign Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was amended last year. “In this time of need, I would definitely say that is a good thing for the Indian government to take at pretty quickly,” he said, calling for a limited-time waiver for last-mile organizations which were at greatest risk if they did not have access to sub-grants.
WASHINGTON (TIP): An Indian –origin businesswoman, who imports goods and supports widowed women in India, has participated in a round table with Kamala Harris and asked the US Vice President to back a global plastic policy.
Lalitha Chittoor, the owner of Eco All Trading LLC, a small micro business involved in wholesale trading of sustainable products such as stainless steel, bamboo, birch wood attended the round table with Harris in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday along with her daughter. Ms Harris brought up the administration’s climate change efforts and said a policy staffer would follow up with her. Ms. Chittoor’s business founded in 2019, is women-owned and imports goods from India and supports widowed women in India. She told the round table that the small businesses were really part of the heartbeat of every community. “Our small business leaders are not only business leaders, you are civic leaders, community leaders, role models,” she said. “It is our small businesses that hire from the community, that uplift the community, that have regular customers who come in and you can recognize if they’re having a bad day and you already know what they want to they don’t even have to put in an order,” she said.
Ms Harris said those in need of assistance have been opening up their car trunks to pick up food boxes but leave handwritten notes and sometimes a tip thanking the volunteers.
“These families who have nothing because they’ve lost so much, tipping the volunteers for their generosity and recognizing the dignity of their work,” she said, Born in Chennai and a naturalized citizen of the US, Ms Chittoor started her business at the behest of her daughter. Her primary customers are restaurants, federal government, state government, school cafeterias, prison cafeterias, hospital cafeterias.
During the round table, Ms Chittoor asked Ms. Harris to back a global plastic policy.
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women called for increasing women’s participation and leadership in decision-making to solve global challenges.
NEW YORK (TIP): The 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65), the UN’s largest gathering on gender equality and women’s rights, opened March 15, as an almost entirely virtual session, with the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the foreground, and preparing the ground for the forthcoming Generation Equality Forum, which will kick off in Mexico City from 29-31 March.
The two-week long gathering for UN Member States, civil society organizations, gender experts, and other international actors aims to build consensus and agree on a roadmap to advance gender equality, with the focus this year on the theme, “Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.
Recent reports on the theme have reconfirmed that the glass ceiling remains for women around the world, restricting their participation in decision-making, with women serving as Heads of State and/or Government in only 22 countries; women holding just 25 per cent of parliamentary seats, and 12 countries having no women ministers in cabinets at all. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities – from increased reports of domestic violence, unpaid care responsibilities, rates of child marriage and millions of women plunging into extreme poverty as they lose their jobs in higher numbers than men.
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said: “This pandemic has been the most directly discriminatory crisis the world has ever seen. It has treated most harshly those most deprived, and affected women’s lives across the world. But with firm political will to achieve fast-tracked, equal power-sharing, women and men can together address this and the other urgent challenges of our time, from climate change to conflict.”
“This is the vision of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals and the vision of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. It is the vision of civil society and multitudes of young people who are already leading the way, and of all those who will join us in the Generation Equality Action Coalitions. It is surely also the vision of those assembled for the Commission on the Status of Women,” she added.
As the UN Secretary-General report published on this year’s theme underlines, for power-sharing to become today’s reality, violence against women in public life must be significantly eliminated, and social norms, access to financing, and legal and institutional frameworks, have to be transformed, so that they support women’s equal participation and decision-making. Governments should also strengthen normative, legal, and regulatory frameworks, especially the implementation of gender quotas. Enhancing women’s civil society activism is also critical for transformative change at national and global levels.
High-profile speakers including US Vice-President Kamala Harris, France Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities Élisabeth Moreno, Mexico Vice-Minister for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Martha Delgado Peralta, European Commissioner For International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen, among others, are expected to address the Commission this year. The full list of speakers is available here.
CSW65 is an important bridge to the Generation Equality Forum, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the Governments of Mexico and France, in conjunction with youth and civil society. The Forum will kick-off in Mexico City from 29 – 31 March, and culminate in Paris from 29 June – 2 July. It is designed to inspire urgent action, commitments and investments in gender equality. An interactive virtual side event on 19 March will be a curtain-raiser to the Generation Equality Forum kick-off in Mexico.
As part of its efforts to catapult progress on gender equality, leaders of the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalitions – new and innovative partnerships including governments, feminist and youth movements and organizations, the private sector and international organizations – have unveiled the concrete action steps that they see as central to a new and bold feminist agenda within the next five years. These range from the accelerated introduction and implementation of laws and policies prohibiting all forms of gender-based violence to protect 550 million more women and girls worldwide, to introducing policy measures to recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work and create at least 250 million decent care jobs or doubling the annual growth rate of funding for feminist, youth-led and grass-roots women’s groups.
The opening session of CSW65 on March 15 featured statements from global leaders, including the Chair of the 65th Commission on the Status of Women MherMargaryan; the UN Secretary-General António Guterres; UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; civil society representative VirisilaBuadromo and youth leader Renata Koch Alvarenga.
Along with the 18 official meetings that include Ministerial Round Tables, the general discussion and interactive dialogues, hundreds of side events and parallel events hosted by UN Member States, UN Agencies and civil society organizations will take place in the coming two weeks, mostly in a virtual format.
Ahead of CSW65, UN Women supported partners to organize regional consultations with Ministers, gender equality experts and civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Arab States, to build consensus and action priorities towards the Commission’s outcome, which is expected to be adopted at the conclusion of the second week.
Biden has appointed at least 55 Indian-Americans to key leadership positions in his administration ranging from his speechwriter to the NASA, to almost every wing of the government.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian Americans are “taking over the country”, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, March 4, referring to the large number of “incredible” professionals from the community holding key positions in his administration. In less than 50 days of his presidency, Biden has appointed at least 55 Indian-Americans to key leadership positions in his administration ranging from his speechwriter to the NASA, to almost every wing of the government. “Indian — of descent — Americans are taking over the country: you Dr. Swati Mohan); my Vice President (Kamala Harris); my speech writer, Vinay (Reddy). I tell you what. But thank you. You guys are incredible,” President Biden said during a virtual interaction with scientists at NASA who were involved in the historic landing of Perseverance rover on Mars on February 18. Indian American scientist Swati Mohan leads the guidance, navigation, and control operations of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. Biden, who was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, has created history by appointing at least 55 Indian-Americans to key positions in his administration. This does not include Vice President Harris, which is an elected position, and Neera Tanden, who a day earlier withdrew her nomination from the position of Director of White House Office of Management and Budget. Nearly half of them are women and a sizable number of them are working in the White House. So far, the Obama-Biden administration (2009-2017) has the distinction of appointing the largest number of Indian Americans in any administration. The previous Donald Trump administration was not lagging far behind as it appointed the first ever Indian-American with a cabinet rank and inside the National Security Council.
The Biden administration has for the first time appointed such a large number of Indian Americans in the first 50 days of his administration. This past week, Dr. Vivek Murthy testified before a Senate Committee for US Surgeon General and Vanita Gupta is all set to appear for her confirmation hearing for Associate Attorney General Department of Justice.
“It is impressive to see how many Indian Americans were ready to go into public service. There have been so many additions since we launched our Government Leaders list last month on Presidents’ Day. I am so proud to see our community is going from strength to strength,” eminent Indian American philanthropist and Indiaspora founder M Rangaswami told media.
While the community is disappointed that Tanden had to withdraw her nomination because of stiff opposition from the Republicans, Indian-American women have reached a new height in the Biden administration. Biden sought to speak with Swati Mohan, Guidance and Controls Operations Lead, Mars 2020. She is not a political appointee though.
Indian American women appointed by Biden include Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, State Department; Mala Adiga: Policy Director to Dr Jill Biden; Aisha Shah: Partnership Manager, White House Office of Digital Strategy; Sameera Fazili, Deputy Director, US National Economic Council (NEC); Sumona Guha: Senior Director for South Asia at the National Security Council, White House; and Sabrina Singh: Deputy Press Secretary, Vice President White House.
Shanthi Kalathil has been appointed as Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights, National Security Council, White House; Garima Verma has been named as Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady; Sonia Aggarwal as Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation; Office of Domestic Climate Policy, White House; Neha Gupta: Associate Counsel, Office of White House Counsel; and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel, Office of White House Counsel.
Tanya Das has been appointed as Chief of Staff, Office of Science, Department of Energy; Shuchi Talati: Chief of Staff, Office of Fossil Energy, Department of Energy; Mini Timmaraju: Senior adviser to the director, Office of Personnel Management; Sohini Chatterjee: Senior Policy Advisor US Mission to the United Nations, Aditi Gorur: Policy Advisor, US Mission to the United Nations; and Bhavya Lal is the Acting Chief of Staff, NASA.
Dimple Chaudhary has been appointed as Deputy General Counsel for Nationwide Resource Protection Programs, Environmental Protection Agency; Sharmistha Das is the Deputy General Counsel, Department of Homeland Security; Ruchi Jain is the Deputy Solicitor for General Law, Department of Interior; Meera Joshi is the Acting Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Administration, Department of Transportation; Aruna Kalyanam is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax and Budget, Department of the Treasury.
“We are thrilled that this administration reflects the diversity of America by including an unprecedented number of South Asians. The Biden-Harris administration’s inclusion of South Asians in key senior staff roles will undoubtedly inspire countless South Asians to aspire to public service and run for public office. This is a proud moment for our community,” Neha Dewan from South Asians for Biden told PTI.
Gautam Raghavan, Deputy Director in Office of Presidential Personnel; Bharat Ramamurti, Deputy Director of National Economic Council; Tarun Chhabra, Senior Director for Technology and National Security at National Security Council White House; Vedant Patel, Assistant Press Secretary President at the White House are among several other Indian-Americans who got key posts in the Biden administration.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Kiran Ahuja, an Indian American civil rights lawyer and an advocate for Asians, has been nominated by President Joe Biden to head the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As a member of Biden’s transition team, Ahuja was in charge of ensuring a smooth move by the agency overseeing the federal government’s civil service to the new administration. Ahuja, who was born to immigrants from India and grew up in Georgia, would join at least 30 other Indian Americans nominated by Biden to senior positions in his administration. She had served in former President Barack Obama’s administration as OPM chief of staff. OPM also coordinates the recruitment of government employees and manages their health insurance and retirement benefits programs. Now the CEO of Philanthropy Northwest, a network of charitable organizations across six states, Ahuja will have to be confirmed by the Senate in her new position. Announcing her nomination Tuesday, the White House said Ahuja grew up in Savannah, Georgia, “as a young Indian immigrant in the wake of the civil rights era.” She shares an educational background with Indian American Vice President Kamala Harris having attended a historically Black institution like her. Harris went to Howard University for her bachelor’s degree and Ahuja to Spelman College in Atlanta. With a law degree from the University of Georgia, Ahuja “began her career as a civil rights lawyer at the US Department of Justice, litigating school desegregation cases, and filing the department’s first student racial harassment case,” according to the White House. Initially in the Obama administration she had been the executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, “leading efforts to increase access to federal services, resources and programs for underserved Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.” She also served as the founding executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, an advocacy organization spearheading policy and education initiatives.
LONDON (TIP): British Labour Party MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi on Wednesday, February 10, expressed concern over the arrest of labor rights activist Nodeep Kaur over the farmers’ agitation, saying the abuse of peaceful protest activists, especially women, is an affront to democracy and civilized society.
“Alarmed to learn of sexual assault and torture allegations in police custody of Punjabi trade unionist Nodeep Kaur, who after four weeks hasn’t even been granted bail,” Dhesi tweeted. He added, “Abuse of peaceful farmers protest activists, especially women, is an affront to democracy and civilized society.” Earlier, Punjab-origin politician Dhesi had sent a letter, signed by over 100 MPs and Lords, to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the ongoing farmers’ protests, asking him to raise this matter with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they next liaise. On Monday, the Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes asked the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to ensure relief for Nodeep Kaur. The Commission also sought a report by February 23. It said it has taken suo motu notice of the issue since the woman is a resident of the state. Nodeep Kaur, 23, was arrested on January 12 during the farmers’ protest at Kundli in Haryana. Nodeep’s case came to the fore as US Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris claimed in a tweet that she was “tortured and sexually assaulted” in police custody.
However, the police said she was facing serious criminal cases.
Jennifer Lopez ha a word with Kamala Harris at the Inauguration.Tom Hanks was a great attraction as host of the star-studded “Celebrating America” nighttime celebration.Jon Bon Jovi (left) and Demi Lovato (right) joined host Tom Hanks (center) for “Celebrating American35,000 fireworks lighted up DC at theinauguration.
WASHINGTON (TIP): An emotional Lady Gaga performed a dramatic version of the U.S. national anthem, Garth Brooks sang a cappella, and Tom Hanks hosted a star-studded nighttime celebration to cap President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, January 20. On a day marked by diversity and appeals for unity, Gaga wowed in a huge fuchsia Schiaparelli couture silk skirt and black top adorned by a large gold brooch of a dove carrying an olive branch as she sung “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.
Gaga at one point gestured to the U.S. flag flying high over the Capitol, the seat of Congress that just two weeks ago was attacked by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump seeking to overturn Biden’s election victory.
“She slayed it. I AM GAGA FOR GAGA!!!” actor Ed Helms wrote in a tweet.
Ahead of her performance, Gaga said on Twitter she wanted to “acknowledge our past, be healing for our present, and be passionate for a future where we work together lovingly.” Country singer Brooks, a Republican, chose jeans and a black shirt and took off his black Stetson hat to sing an unaccompanied version of “Amazing Grace”, asking Americans at the ceremony and watching at home to sing the last verse along with him.
Afterward, before replacing his coronavirus mask, Brooks hugged or shook hands with Biden, former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, outgoing Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Jennifer Lopez, dressed in white pants and a long matching coat, performed a medley of “This Land is Your Land” and “America The Beautiful,” interjecting in Spanish the part of the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance that says, “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” At just 22 years old, poet Amanda Gorman captured the mixed emotions of the past four years with a poem in which she referred to herself as a “skinny Black girl, descended from slaves and raised by a single mother (who) can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one.” The cultural celebrations continued Wednesday night with a broadcast across television and social media, hosted by “Forrest Gump” actor Hanks, who is known as “America’s Dad.” The events, bringing together some of the biggest white, Black and Hispanic celebrities, marked a sharp contrast with Trump’s inauguration in 2017, which was low on star power. Wednesday’s TV special, called “Celebrating America,” opened with Bruce Springsteen, standing alone with an acoustic guitar on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, singing “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
Standing nearby, Hanks acknowledged “deep division and a troubling rancor” in recent years but said “tonight we ponder the United States of America … and the hopes and dreams we all share for a more perfect union.”
Other performers included John Legend, Demi Lovato and country singers Tim McGraw and Tyler Hubbard, who paired for a song about unity called “Undivided.” Delivery drivers, healthcare workers and others also told stories of perseverance during the coronavirus pandemic. Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl, the son of a public-school teacher, dedicated a song to “all of our unshakeable teachers.” The show concluded with Katy Perry, in a white gown with blue and red trim, singing her hit “Firework.” Biden and his wife, Jill, watched from the White House as fireworks lit up the sky around the capital city’s monuments. Reuters
Trump had cut off US funding to the WHO, saying it was “virtually controlled by China.”
WASHINGTON / UNITED NATIONS(TIP): The US rejoined the World Health Organisation (WHO) in one of the first official orders of the Joe Biden presidency, reversing a key foreign policy decision his predecessor Donald Trump took last year after accusing the UN health agency of incompetence and bowing to Chinese pressure over the coronavirus pandemic. In April last year, as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading across the globe, Trump cut off US funding to the WHO, saying it was “virtually controlled by China.” He then went further, triggering the process to pull the US completely out of the organisation.The withdrawal was due to go into effect in July this year, but Biden’s order will cancel it. Biden in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, the first day of his presidency, said, “The United States intends to remain a member of the World Health Organisation.” “The WHO plays a crucial role in the world’s fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic as well as countless other threats to global health and health security. The United States will continue to be a full participant and a global leader in confronting such threats and advancing global health and health security,” Biden wrote.
The UN Secretary-General welcomed the US’ re-engagement with the WHO, saying supporting the health agency is “absolutely critical” to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. He said Washington joining the global vaccine initiative will boost efforts to ensure equitable access to vaccines for all countries.
Guterres said now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop the virus and its shattering consequences.
The US has been the largest funder to the WHO, contributing more than USD 450 million per annum. The US has been a party to the WHO Constitution since June 21, 1948.
As the world reached a “heart-wrenching milestone” of two million COVID-19-related deaths less than a week ago, Guterres lamented that the deadly impact of the pandemic has worsened due to the absence of a global coordinated effort and said that “vocationalism” by governments is “self-defeating” that will delay a global recovery. Guterres has said the UN is supporting countries to mobilize the largest global immunization effort in history and the world organization is committed to making sure that vaccines are seen as global public goods – people’s vaccines.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden signed the executive order, reversing Trump’s decision to withdraw from the WHO. “This will strengthen our own efforts to get the pandemic under control by improving global health, and tomorrow we are not wasting any time,” she said.
The WHO’s Executive Board has been meeting virtually this week, and the Biden administration announced that a US delegation, headed by Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, will participate. Fauci will deliver a speech on January 21 to the WHO as head of a US delegation to lay out how the administration intends to work with the WHO on reforms, supporting the coronavirus response and promoting global health and health security
“Once the United States resumes its engagement with the WHO, the Biden-Harris administration will work with the WHO and our partners to strengthen and reform the organisation, support the COVID-19 health and humanitarian response, and advance global health and health security,” the White House said in a fact sheet.
Business Roundtable welcomed the decision of Biden to not to withdraw from the WHO. “We need international cooperation to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control here in America and around the world.
Business Roundtable applauds President Biden’s decision to re-engage with the WHO to improve the international response to the pandemic and welcomes his commitment to WHO reform to prevent and better respond to future public health crises,” it said,
Biden signed 15 executive reversing some of the key policies of his predecessor Trump
WASHINGTON (TIP): With President Joe Biden signing nearly two dozen executive actions, fulfilling major campaign promises and addressing the challenges of race, health and economy head-on, Vice President Kamala Harris has said the new administration has “hit the ground running”. On day one in the office on Wednesday, Biden signed 15 executive orders and two other directives, reversing some of the key foreign policies and national security decisions of his predecessor Donald Trump. The orders, the White House said, are aimed at addressing the major problems being faced by the country. The executive orders ranged from rejoining the Paris agreement on climate change, halting America’s withdrawal from the World Health Organisation, revoking Muslim travel ban and stopping immediate construction of Mexico border wall.
“We have hit the ground running,” Harris, 56, said on Thursday, a day after the historic inauguration wherein Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States and she became the first-ever woman vice president of the country. Harris is the 49th Vice President of the US.
Harris, who is also the first-ever black American and Indian-origin person to occupy the position, had a busy first working day.
In the morning, she and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff joined Biden and First Lady Jill Biden to watch the virtual presidential inaugural prayer service hosted by the Washington National Cathedral. Thereafter she joined Biden in receiving the daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office of the White House. In the afternoon, Harris joins the president for his remarks on the administration’s COVID-19 response. She was standing by his side, as he signed a series of executive orders and other presidential actions responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
Soon thereafter, Harris joined the president in a briefing from members of their COVID-19 team on the coronavirus response and the state of vaccinations.
In between her busy schedule, Harris administered the oath of secrecy to Avril Haines, America’s first woman spy chief. “Earlier today, I swore in our first Cabinet member, Avril Haines, after her confirmation by the Senate last night. As the Director of National Intelligence, Director Haines will be dedicated to keeping the American people safe,” Harris said in a tweet. In her capacity as DNI, 51-year-old Haines would oversee as many as 18 American intelligence agencies, including CIA and FBI.
Meanwhile, Emhoff posted a picture of him and Harris walking towards the Oval Office. “Honored and ready to get to work. It was a great first day,” the Second Gentleman tweeted. On Friday, Harris will join Biden in attending the daily briefing, after which the two leaders would have lunch together in the private dining room, the White House said.
Harris will receive a briefing with the president on the state of the economic recovery in the state dining room. Then she will join Biden for his remarks on the administration’s response to the economic crisis. The president will also sign executive orders in issues related to the economy.
In the evening, Harris will hold a virtual meeting with National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and small business owners affected by COVID-19 to discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s plan to address the ongoing economic crisis.
“Kamala Harris is now the 49th Vice President of the United States. But, of course, in more ways than one, she is not the 49th but the first. The first African American woman, the first Asian American woman, the first woman, to hold the office of the vice presidency in our nation’s history,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor on Thursday.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the inauguration was a breath of fresh air for the country. “The inauguration of Joe Biden as president, Kamala Harris as vice president of the United States, with all of the newness that that presented, first woman, first African-American woman, first Asian-American woman, the best. Not just about demography, but about the quality of leadership. So exciting,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol Hill.
Joe Bidenis sworn in as the 46th President, Kamala Harris as the 49th Vice president
Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton attend inauguration
Biden tells the nation ‘democracy has prevailed’, calls for unity
Kamala Harris takes oath as the 49th Vice president of the USA. US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s first Latina member, administered the oath of office (CNN Screenshot)
I.S. Saluja
WASHINGTON (TIP): Democrat Joe Biden was sworn in as president of the United States on Wednesday, January 20, assuming the helm of a country reeling from deep political divides, a battered economy and a raging coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans.
With his hand on a five-inch-thick heirloom Bible that has been in his family for more than a century, Biden took the presidential oath of office administered by US Chief Justice John Roberts just after noon (1700 GMT), vowing to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
“Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew, and America has risen to the challenge,” Biden said as he began his inaugural address. “Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause: the cause of democracy…At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.” Biden, 78, became the oldest US president in history at a scaled-back ceremony in Washington that was largely stripped of its usual pomp and circumstance, due both to the coronavirus and security concerns following the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump. The norm-defying Trump flouted one last convention on his way out of the White House when he refused to meet with Biden or attend his successor’s inauguration, breaking with a political tradition seen as affirming the peaceful transfer of power. Trump, who never conceded the November 3 election, did not mention Biden by name in his final remarks as president on Wednesday morning, when he touted his administration’s record and promised to be back “in some form.” He boarded Air Force One for the last time and headed to his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida. Top Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence and the party’s congressional leaders, attended Biden’s inauguration, along with former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, became the first Black person, first woman and first Asian American to serve as vice president after she was sworn in by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s first Latina member.
Harris used two Bibles, including one owned by Thurgood Marshall, the first Black US Supreme Court Justice.
Biden takes office at a time of deep national unease, with the country facing what his advisers have described as four compounding crises: the pandemic, the economic downtown, climate change and racial inequality. He has promised immediate action, including a raft of executive orders on his first day in office. The ceremony on Wednesday unfolded in front of a heavily fortified US Capitol, where a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building two weeks ago, enraged by his false claims that the election was stolen with millions of fraudulent votes. The violence prompted the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives to impeach Trump last week for an unprecedented second time. Thousands of National Guard troops were called into the city after the siege, which left five people dead and briefly forced lawmakers into hiding. Instead of a throng of supporters, the National Mall on Wednesday was covered by nearly 200,000 flags and 56 pillars of light meant to represent people from US states and territories.
WASHINGTON (TIP): US President-elect Joe Biden today named Indian American Rohit Chopra as the head of a federal agency tasked with protecting the interests of consumers financials. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Chopra will succeed Kathleen Laura Kraninger as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau regulates the offering and provision of consumer financial products or services under the federal consumer financial laws and educates and empowers consumers to make better-informed financial decisions.
Mr Chopra is currently a Commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission. He has actively advocated to promote fair, competitive markets that protect families and honest businesses from abuses.
He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2018, and he has pushed for aggressive remedies against lawbreaking companies, especially repeat offenders. Together with state and international law enforcement partners, he has worked to increase scrutiny of dominant technology firms that pose risks to privacy, national security, and fair competition, the transition said.
Rohit Chopra previously served as Assistant Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), where he led the agency’s efforts on student loans. In 2011, the Secretary of the Treasury appointed him to serve as the CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman, a new position established in the financial reform law. He also served as a Special Advisor at the US Department of Education.
In these roles, Rohit Chopra led efforts to spur competition in the student loan financing market, develop new tools for students and student loan borrowers to make smarter decisions, and secure hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds for borrowers victimized by unlawful conduct by loan servicers, debt collectors, and for-profit college chains.
The announcement of Mr Chopra came along with Biden naming several key administrative positions.
“Our administration will hit the ground running to deliver immediate, urgent relief to Americans; confront the overlapping crises of COVID-19, the historic economic downturn, systemic racism and inequality, and the climate crisis; and get this government working for the people it serves,” Joe Biden said.
“These tireless public servants will be a key part of our agenda to build back better – and I am confident they will help make meaningful change and move our country forward,” he said in a statement.
“To meet the unprecedented challenges facing the American people, we will need deeply experienced and knowledgeable leaders across our administration,” Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said.
“These remarkable public servants reflect the very best of our nation, and they will help us contain this pandemic, create an economy that works for working people, and rebuild our country in a way that lifts up all Americans. President-elect Biden and I look forward to working with them to deliver results for the American people,” she said.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American lawmakers hailed the leadership of US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, expressing confidence that the two leaders will heal the country, courageously face challenges and build back better. During the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s official Asian American inaugural ball, hosted virtually by the leading Indian-American advocacy organization IMPACT, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois said he is extremely happy that both Biden and Harris are finally able to take over leadership.
Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents California’s 17th Congressional District, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, said he cannot stress “what an amazing moment this is for our community and the multi-racial democracy in America.” Congressman Ami Bera, representing California’s 7th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives, said Biden and Harris are humble people who get the importance of this moment in time to heal this country, to bring the nation together and “face with courage the challenges that are ahead of us.”
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said at the AAPI ‘Inaugural Ball: Breaking Barriers’ that she is proud and excited to call Harris the next US Vice President – the first woman, first South-Asian American and the first Black American to ever be elected to this “position of public trust. “Today we prove that our democracy still works and that the power always belongs to the people through the power of our vote,” she said at the virtual inaugural ball held on Tuesday, Jan 19, and added that she cannot wait to see the brighter world that “we will build together.”
Indian American Neera Tanden, nominated by Biden as the Director of Office of Management and Budget at the White House, said she is honored to be part of the Biden-Harris administration.
“I know for many in our community there is so much to be proud of. Not only can we celebrate an incredibly diverse cabinet, but we can also celebrate the fact that we have the first vice president” who is of Asian descent.
Following the swearing-in of Harris, IMPACT Executive Director Neil Makhija said generations of immigrants came to the US for a better life for their children. “Today, the daughter of an Indian immigrant, who made dosas on the campaign trail, and spoke to her ‘chithis’ in her nomination speech, took her oath of office as Vice-President of the United States. “And as Kamala Harris takes her place in the American story, the hearts of her countrymen and women are swelling with pride and hope for the future,” he said, adding that the inauguration of Harris is not only the culmination of an American dream but “marks the launching of millions of new dreams. Beginning today, a generation of American children will grow up knowing only an Indian-American and Black woman as vice-president of the United States.” As Harris has said, she may be the first, but she won’t be the last. “And, with her as an inspiration, we look forward to helping the next generation prove her right,” Makhija added. National, grassroots organization South Asians for Biden’s National Director Neha Dewan said Biden and Harris are the “right leaders” for this moment “when we are experiencing multiple, converging crises, and their leadership gives us all hope that we can emerge from this as a stronger country.” She said the organization is heartened by the fact that the South Asian community played a critical role in the 2020 election and looks forward to deepening the community’s engagement in government and politics in the months and years ahead. With Harris breaking barriers as the first Black and South Asian woman elected to national office, Dewan said: “for South Asians who wondered whether this moment could ever be possible, today affirms that America at its best is a land of limitless opportunities.”
WASHINGTON (TIP): Just before the historic inauguration, US President-elect Joe Biden has either nominated or named at least 20 Indian Americans, including 13 women, to key positions in his administration, a new record in itself for this small ethnic community that constitutes one per cent of the country’s population. As many as 17 of them would be part of the powerful White House complex.
The January 20th inauguration, the 59th in all, wherein Biden has been sworn in as the 46th President of the United States is already historic in the making as for the first time ever a woman Kamala Harris would be sworn as the vice president of the country.
Harris, 56, is also the first ever Indian-origin and African American to be sworn in as the Vice president of the United States.
It is also for the first time ever that so many Indian Americans have been roped into a presidential administration ever before the inauguration. Biden is still quite far away from filling all the positions in his administration.
Topping the list is Neera Tanden, who has been nominated as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and Dr Vivek Murthy, who has been nominated as the US Surgeon General.
Vanita Gupta has been nominated as Associate Attorney General Department of Justice, and on Saturday, Biden nominated a former foreign service official Uzra Zeya as the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights.
“The dedication that the Indian American community has shown to public service over the years has been recognized in a big way at the very start of this administration! I am particularly pleased that the overwhelming majority are women. Our community has truly arrived in serving the nation,” Indiaspora founder M R Rangaswami told media. Mala Adiga has been appointed as Policy Director to the future First Lady Dr Jill Biden and Garima Verma would be the Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady, while Sabrina Singh has been named as her Deputy Press Secretary.
For the first time ever among the Indian Americans include two who trace their roots to Kashmir: Aisha Shah, who has been named as Partnership Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy, and Sameera Fazili, who would occupy the key position of Deputy Director at the US National Economic Council (NEC) in the White House.
White House National Economic Council also has another Indian American, Bharat Ramamurti, as Deputy Director.
Gautam Raghavan, who served at the White House in the previous Obama Administration returns to the White House as Deputy Director in Office of Presidential Personnel.
Among Biden’s inner circle is his top confident for year Vinay Reddy, who has been named as Director Speechwriting.
Young Vedant Patel all set to occupy a seat in the White House lower press, behind the briefing room, as Assistant Press Secretary to the President. He is only the third-ever Indian American to be part of the White House press shop.
Three Indian Americans have made their way to the crucial National Security Council of the White House, thus leaving a permanent imprint on the country’s foreign policy and national security.
They are Tarun Chhabra: Senior Director for Technology and National Security, Sumona Guha, Senior Director for South Asia, Shanthi Kalathil: Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights.
Sonia Aggarwal has been named Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation in the Office of the Domestic Climate Policy at the White House and Vidur Sharma has been appointed as Policy Advisor for Testing for the White House COVID-19 Response Team.
Two Indian Americans women have been appointed to the Office of the White House Counsel: Neha Gupta as Associate Counsel and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel.
Also, for the first time in any administration, the White House would have three other South Asians in key positions. Pakistani American Ali Zaidi as Deputy National Climate Advisor White House; Sri Lankan American Rohini Kosoglu as Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President and Bangladeshi American Zayn Siddique: Senior Advisor to the White House Deputy Chief of Staff.
During the campaign, Biden had indicated that he would rope in a large number of Indian Americans.
“As President, I’ll also continue to rely on Indian American diaspora, that keeps our two nations together, as I have throughout my career,” Biden had said in his address to the Indian American community during a virtual celebration of India’s Independence Day on August 15, 2020.
“My constituents in Delaware, my staff in the Senate, the Obama Biden administration, which had more Indian Americans than any other administration in the history of this country and this campaign with Indian Americans at senior levels, which of course includes the top of the heap, our dear friend (Kamala Harris) who will be the first Indian American vice president in the history of the United States of America,” Biden said in his video address.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bharat Ramamurti
Deputy Director of the National Economic Council
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Presidential Election on November 3, 2020 between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, in a perverse way, was somewhat akin to 9/11 – albeit, the conflict was internal – as our Republic was convulsing, our divisions deep
and open, and the very fabric of our nation laid bare and in conflict. Despite being the
preeminent nation of laws in human history, Law & Order was unwelcome to too many of our neighbors and fellow Americans. And a nation that was inhabited by those who abandoned a society encrusted with landed gentry for one that defined “fate” and “destiny” on the wings of “merit” alone – and called it the American Dream – was now seriously flirting with Communism’s more appealing sibling, Socialism – where all get what they need and want, by just taking it from those who got ahead. Sweet and Godly “compassion,” however, is not Socialism. Thrown in the dustbin created by hubris, these new American Leaders, like the Evil Queen in “Snow White” asking the “mirror,” “who is the fairest of them all,” these new Leaders – elected or community loud mouths – fancy themselves “perfect,” and issue mandates for removal of Monuments – even of George Washington; my favorite, Thomas Jefferson; the scoundrel, Alexander Hamilton; and even Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator. And then there are folks who have no chance like General Robert E. Lee, who honorably accepted defeat in our great Civil War, or John Newtown, a slave-trader, who found God, became a Preacher, authored “Amazing Grace,” and helped cause slavery to be outlawed in Great Britain. Amazing Grace today defines hope itself. You need not be a devout Christian to know that Judas, who in a singular act of betrayal, gave up Jesus to the Romans and caused Him to be crucified, and, later became the well-loved “Saint Jude” – the Saint, who helps you find things you lost. Indeed, we are lost – in materiality, ego and self, which Mother Nature, heated up by global warming, is ready to eradicate humanity to save the planet – which many leaders fight about what started the fire, when every firefighter knows first “put out the fire,” then look for arsonists. I know that hubris comes easily to the ignorant or the wicked. For our cherished Republic, a gift from Founders like Ben Franklin, either do harm; both together, are an existential threat – which about eighty (80) million Biden Voters and seventy-four (74) million Trump Voters have tasted together. It is now the American Spring, in full blossom – in ways similar to the Arab Spring, and yet, in answer to it.
President Donald J. Trump at a MAGA Rally
The Great Disrupter – has achieved much good, from Criminal Justice Reform to kick-starting Middle East Peace to Warp Speed Vaccine for a battle-weary population, and our fiscal house anemic and bleeding jobs and souls. But his cadre of disruption-amplifiers, from Steve Bannon, Steve Miller, and our own Rudy Giuliani, are headed for positions – personal and policy – that are more distant from “honor” and “truth,” but closer to the always sought-after “loyalty,” which weaves a path to the ever-attractive “consolidated power” – the very concept, and a goal – our cherished and honorable Founders deemed un-American, as it devalues American Exceptionalism – built, as it is, on the genius of purposefully separating “power,” by constitutional design, at every turn, and then again for benefits of redundancy – so as to deny “tyranny” a residence in these united States of America (“united,” being the humble lower case, yet more powerful, as an “adjective” always is over the proud and useless “noun.” Our original name was lower-case; our current, a noun).
To not concede the election, and to even block the Biden Transition from full access to government resources, as federal law mandates, is pure Trumpian joy to his base. By that simple statement, we have upon us a new Civil War, where slavery is not the bone of contention – for there can be no proponents of that economic model, even as slavery was not originally racist, but an aftermath of victory in war: pillage & plunder. As slaves could be of the same race. It is later, about 500 years ago that slave-trading, like Blood Diamonds, became an evil enterprise in, and with, Africa. Indeed, the bronze door knocker to my office in Manhattan is of William Wilberforce – the enlightened soul who successfully campaigned to abolish the African Slave Trade in England, supported as he was, by John Newton. Sadly, not a single person has recognized that Great Abolitionist door-knocker in my office..
This 2020 Civil War – is about Law & Order, and keeping the American Dream. They say, “[p]olitics makes strange bedfellows.” Well, no one can truly argue that Joe Biden is against Law & Order, or isn’t a great supporter of the American Dream, even as New York State Attorney General Tish James and New York County District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. appear to not only argue, but are in court dealing with President Trump, for his actions as a civilian. Of course, POTUS’ Attorney General Bill Barr has until 11:59a.m. January 20, 2021 to do likewise to President Barack Obama and inter alia, then-Vice President Joe Biden, for their official acts, etc. We are in a Twilight Zone, in more ways that desirable.
President-elect Joe Biden at a campaign rally
There is no doubt that Joe Biden will be sworn in on January 20, 2021, and Kamala Harris, as an African-American woman (and situationally, also Indian-American) as our President and Vice President, respectively. The world leadership has collectively let go and breathe deeply – independent of Eric garner and George Floyd who made that act famous, as each came loaded with baggage – as normalcy, defined by centuries of wisdom embedded in protocols, will re-emerge, an state secrets will again separate policy errors from policymakers, and leave public “respect,” at maximum strength as a calibrated tool, all the way to public “insult,” leaving “private insult” to be candidly used, with the percussion effect of a table smacked in anger for emphasis. But, I write to issue a “Surgeon General’s Warning” to the body politic here at home, and across the world: Donald J. Trump may have come down the escalator almost alone on June 15, 2015 to throw his hat in the ring to be POTUS 45, but on January 20, 2021 he takes with him almost 75 million Trump Voters, and 88.9 million Twitter followers. Poetically, I note that Trump-the-POTUS has 32.8 million Twitter followers. All prior Presidents over last 50 years or more, have largely remained silent and kept quiet after leaving the White House, and declining, in the main, to opine on their successor.
“Normalcy,” at Least Political and Geopolitical, Is Now Consigned to History.
Well I hate to say this, but President-Elect Joe Biden and leaders across the world, buckle up!
As Donald J. Trump, to the great delight of his large and effusive base, will not go quietly into the night and instead, will opine even more freely on matters big and small, public and private. Republicans, let alone Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, also are not free to go back to “normalcy,” as Trump “owns” the Republican party’s base.
We are now blessed with an activated citizenry, which makes governance more transparent, and responsive. That, used to be good. It still will be, not because we, as Americans are better than other human beings, but because we live in a nation that our Founders created with an architectural design that exceeds the Pyramids, Parthenon, Colosseum, Great Wall of China, and the Taj Mahal. America is designed to harness competing and ambition-driven energy for self-gain, and turn it into enhancing the public good. Pure alchemy.
Politicians who wish to be shepherds of quiet and distracted sheep, as before, will have to be on top of their game, to figure out where the public wants to go, and then get there first, so as to lead. Perhaps, Lincoln’s Gettysburg recipe, Government of, by and for the people, will finally pay dividends to the most elusive of that trilogy: “for the people.”
The lab of global suffering -The Wuhan Lab
The great battle upon us is: Can Americans be safe without the Police, and can the merit-based American Dream co-exist with Socialism? And, in addition, another battle rages: Social Media, be it Big Tech or individual users, will they destroy representative democracy, as they did the media, and render it into merely Mob Rule, aka direct democracy – the one that killed the great Socrates in Athens for being a “nag” and asking the question, “why.” And, then, there is yet another battle that will render the above two irrelevant: the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Mao, a mastermind and globally under-estimated, created a 100 year plan, that included their “Golan Heights” (well before Golda Meir, born in Kyiv, seized it in 1973, and Bibi Netanyahu recently renamed, Trump Heights), with the secret 1949 Karachi Agreement land acquisition, the size of which would leave one breathless; followed up, by swallowing Tibet in 1958, etc.; and reviving Chinese’s Ming Dynasty’s Tribute System – as opposed to Western Nations’ Feudalism – is Commercial favoritism and tributes paid to China, the superior nation. Their OBOR, BRI, and inter alia, AIIB, has weaponized money-giving into land-grabbing in exchange for non-payment of debt – converting unpaid loans to seizure of land and assets that a traditional war could not achieve for China. Having weaponized debt, they weaponized reefs, as in Mischief Reef, and since late last year, they weaponized Viruses by lab-engineering them to bypass human auto-immune system with a “master key,’ the spike glycoprotein, a Trojan Horse, and gave it a deceptively harmless name of coronavirus or Covid-19, and used it to start an undeclared war against us, and the rest of the world.
Unleashing this Virus is a crime against humanity. It’s like a Bond movie, where they are playing for the world. Well, sadly and infuriatingly, 250,000 Americans have died, and more will in CCP’s Undeclared War on all of us. And yet, we do nothing, other than try to find a vaccine and accuse each other of not fighting the virus correctly. Leaving China unpunished and worse, un-stopped. I tried, and failed, to get Trump as president to cancel China’s debt here, as well as globally, just to offset, in part, the damage and injury China caused. War reparations can only occur – if we are willing to stand up – or will we profit our way into slavery, Ming Style?
The recent election was a fraud on the Voters. They were told we are fighting “an invisible enemy” (or “we were not fighting the Virus correctly”) No we are not. The virus is invisible; the enemy isn’t. Indeed, look at any map – from 1949 – and all of us can all find it. Show me a current map issued by China, aside from its breathless growth, partially, illegally, it is hard to miss.Hat tip to Marcus Aurelius: Neville Chamberlain Was an Honorable and Reasonable Man.
Finally, Neville Chamberlain was the epitome of normal leadership, and saw in Hitler, our own mistakes that created the disastrous Weimar Republic and gave birth to the Third Reich. He dealt with him, in a calibrated way. He lost. Churchill begged FDR to get involved, joined up with Stalin, no angel, and faced Hitler down. Chairman Mao, and his hand-picked successors, an unbroken line of the faithful High Priests of Maoism, with President Xi Jinping being an exceptional leader worthy of not only rejuvenating the Ming Tribute system, but a reincarnation of Chairman Mao in a Brooks Brothers Business Suit.
POTUS Must Do More.
President Trump – will you ignore the Trademarks given to you and the lovely Ivanka – and use your remaining days as America’s fiduciary and defend us – as FDR did after Pearl harbor – when we have now suffered more deaths than 100 Pearl Harbors?
Wolf Warriors Stay at Home and Safe, While Virus Kills Relentlessly.
President-Elect Joe Biden – will you stand up and defend us from the Wolf Warriors that stay comfortably at home, as their Virus does its damage unrelentingly, including, Denmark’s recent discovery of a mutant strain, Cluster 5, which the WHO says is drug resistant. That means the current vaccines – Pfizer’s and Moderna’s 95% effective – are not effective against it.
We are on the precipice of an Armageddon, death-by-virus and starvation-by-lockdown, while China seizes property and assets in exchange of “debt” for “equity.” Exactly what we didn’t teach the Russians after the Berlin Wall came down, which our CPAs and Attorneys know so well to keep the capital markets robust for capitalism to work, China created a different system, just as they are creating at every level, including, making our use of sanction-capacity as a punishment irrelevant. Just ask Russia, Iran and China how they do business, and settle the business accounts outside of “SWIFT”.
n God We Trust
Time to heal – may be premature – unless, President Biden can assure 74 million Trumpers that Law & Order is necessary for Public Safety, which is even more important than Public Health, and that the American Dream – meritocracy – is what our cherished separated-powers regime aimed to achieve in perpetuity. And, then, and only them, will E Pluribus Unum be a fact, instead of a slogan.
(The author is an eminent attorney based in New York. He can be reached at ravi@ravibatralaw.com Twitter @RaviBatra)
Move expected to benefit tens of thousands of Indian professionals
WASHINGTON (TIP): US President-elect Joe Biden plans to increase the number of high-skilled visas, including the H-1B, and eliminate the limit on employment-based visas by country, both of which are expected to benefit tens of thousands of Indian professionals impacted by some immigration policies of the outgoing Trump administration. With Kamala Harris as his deputy, Biden is expected to reverse the move of the outgoing Trump administration to revoke work permits to the spouses of H-1B visas, which had adversely impacted a large number of Indian families in the US. All these are part of a comprehensive immigration reform that the Biden administration plans to work on, either in one go or in separate pieces. “High-skilled temporary visas should not be used to disincentivize recruiting workers already in the US for in-demand occupations. An immigration system that crowds out high-skilled workers in favor of only entry level wages and skills threatens American innovation and competitiveness,” according to a policy document issued by the Biden campaign.
“Biden will work with Congress to first reform temporary visas to establish a wage-based allocation process and establish enforcement mechanisms to ensure they are aligned with the labor market and not used to undermine wages. Then, Biden will support expanding the number of high-skilled visas and eliminating the limits on employment-based visas by country, which create unacceptably long backlogs,” it said.
H-1B visas, which expand the available pool of high skilled workers in the US, is a non-immigrant visa that allows American 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.Employment-based visas, also known as green cards, allow migrants to gain lawful permanent residence in the US in order to engage in skilled work. Noting that currently, the number of employment-based visas is capped at 140,000 each year, without the ability to be responsive to the state of the labor market or demands from domestic employers, the policy document said that as president, Biden will work with Congress to increase the number of visas awarded for permanent, employment-based immigration — and promote mechanisms to temporarily reduce the number of visas during times of high US unemployment.
In June, Trump had suspended the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers. In October, the Trump administration had announced new restrictions on the H-1B non-immigrant visa programme, which it said is aimed at protecting American workers, restoring integrity and to better guarantee that H-1B petitions are approved only for qualified beneficiaries and petitioners.
According to the policy document, Biden will also exempt from any cap recent graduates of PhD programs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields in the US who are poised to make some of the most important contributions to the world economy.
“Biden believes that foreign graduates of a US doctoral programme should be given a green card with their degree and that losing these highly trained workers to foreign economies is a disservice to our own economic competitiveness,” it said.
The Biden administration plans to create a new visa category to allow cities and counties to petition for higher levels of immigrants to support their growth.
“The disparity in economic growth between US cities, and between rural communities and urban areas, is one of the great imbalances of today’s economy. Some cities and many rural communities struggle with shrinking populations, an erosion of economic opportunity, and local businesses that face unique challenges.
“Others simply struggle to attract a productive workforce and innovative entrepreneurs. As president, Biden will support a programme to allow any county or municipal executive of a large or midsize county or city to petition for additional immigrant visas to support the region’s economic development strategy, provided employers in those regions certify there are available jobs, and that there are no workers to fill them,” the policy document said. The holders of these visas would be required to work and reside in the city or county that petitioned for them, and would be subject to the same certification protections as other employment-based immigrants, it argued.
According to the policy document, Biden believes that keeping families together and allowing eligible immigrants to join their American relatives on US soil is critically important, but the current system is poorly designed with per-country caps that prevent applications from being approved in a timely fashion.
That means approved applicants may wait decades to be reunited with their families, it said. “As president, Biden will support family-based immigration by preserving family unification as a foundation of our immigration system; by allowing any approved applicant to receive a temporary non-immigrant visa until the permanent visa is processed; and by supporting legislation that treats the spouse and children of green card holders as the immediate relatives they are, exempting them from caps, and allowing parents to bring their minor children with them at the time they immigrate,” the policy paper said. PTI
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