Indian Americans have come together to raise funds for Connecticut State Representative Dr. Prasad Srinivasan’s Gubernatorial Bid Republican Primary. Fund raisers are being held across the state by the community. According to Dr. Srinivasan, the support has been overwhelming which has enabled the campaign to show a strong report for the quarter ending March 31st. The fund raising event in Stamford, on Friday, March 24th, was hosted by Dr. Thomas Abraham, Ravi Nichani, Anita Bhat and Viresh Sharma.
Dr. Srinivasan is currently serving his fourth term as the State Representative from Glastonbury. He is the Assistant Republican Leader and is the Ranking member of the Public Health Committee. He also serves in the Environment and Judiciary Committees. He serves on the Health Information Technology Council and as Co-Chair of the National Health Policy Council. A. medical practitioner in the Greater Hartford area since 1980, Dr. Srinivasan was named “Top Doctor” by Connecticut Magazine, eighth year in a row. Connecticut’s Fairfield Medical County Association established a Prasad Srinivasan Award for medical advocacy.
In terms of community involvement, Dr. Srinivasan had established the Prasad Family Foundation in 1999 to promote Education and donates Legislative Salary for worthy causes. He also serves as Ambassador of Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and as a Corporator for Hartford Hospital.
A physician by profession, Srinivasan opposed the legalization of cannabis for medical use in 2012, saying he believed in its efficacy, but was troubled by questions of practicality. But he relented in 2016 and voted to expand the law to allow the limited use of cannabis to treat children with conditions not treatable by conventional means.
He voted against repeal of the death penalty in 2012. He supported passage of the sweeping gun-control law passed in 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook School shooting of 26 children and staff. “I am old enough,” he said, “and I am young enough.”
An eloquent speaker and totally committed to high ideals in public and private life, Dr. Srinivasan has been serving as the Assistant Republican leader in the House, a Ranking member of the Public Health Committee, and a National Co-Chair of the Health Policy Council. He has been presented with numerous awards for his legislative leadership. He was the Top Doctor 7th year in a row by Connecticut Magazine.
Prasad Srinivasan is married to Mrs. Kala Prasad, a professional musician for over 30 years. Their two children graduated from Glastonbury High school. Son, Sashank Prasad, M.D., is Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Sashank’s wife, Kerry, is a high school teacher by profession, currently a stay home mom taking care of their two children. Daughter, Anusha Prasad-Rodriguez is the Head of Alternate Investments at Oppenheimer. Her husband, Paul, is a manager at Analysis Group, Inc. They have two daughters.
The Indian Ambassador to the United States Navtej Sarna met with Sen. Bernie Sanders and discussed bilateral ties between India and the United States. A tweet by the Indian Embassy in the US on Wednesday, last week said: “Ambassador Navtej Sarna warmly received by Sen. Bernie Sanders; enjoyed discussing positive outlook for Indian economy, strong #IndiaUSbonds & shared regional perspectives.”
According to the Indian Embassy, the Sarna-Sanders meeting was restricted primarily to discussions on US-India relationship and the Indian economy. Sarna, who only recently presented his credentials on Capitol Hill, has been making the rounds with various US legislators.
Sanders, who is the longest-serving independent in the US congressional history, had lost to his fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is now serving his term in the US Senate after winning re-election in 2012 with 71 per cent of the vote.
The left-leaning socialist values Sanders and President Donald Trump are on opposite sides when it comes to some of the major decisions taken by the latter. Sanders, who was the top contender to eventual Democratic Party nominee in the party primaries for the presidential elections, had attacked Trump’s position on climate change and called it “pathetic and an embarrassment to the world”.
Ambassador of India Navtej Sarna hosted a reception for a record 26 Governors of the States of the US at his residence on February 24 in Washington, DC. The gathering of governors from across the nation, representing both the major political parties, described as the first of its nature held in recent years, was attended by a record number of Governors, including Governors of Virginia, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virgin Islands, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Senior representatives of Governors of California, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania were also in the audience.
The universities in the U.S. have registered a decline in applications from Indian students following rising hate crimes and concerns over potential changes in visa policies by the Trump administration, according to a survey.
The new survey reveals that four in 10 U.S. colleges have experienced a decline in international applicants for the Fall 2017 term. The survey of around 250 colleges and universities—which will be released in its entirety later this month—was conducted in February by six higher-education groups, including the Institute of International Education.* More than three-quarters of institutions surveyed expressed concern about future enrollment.
According to a news release, the survey was initiated in response to fears “that the political discourse surrounding foreign nationals in the U.S. … could be damaging to international student-recruitment efforts.” Indeed, the most significant decline in applicants came from the Middle East, with universities reporting a 39 percent decrease in Middle Eastern undergraduate applications and a 31 percent decrease in graduate applications from the region. The survey was carried out by a coalition of six higher education associations in the U.S. and involved over 250 U.S. colleges and universities.
According to the initial findings of the survey, there was a 26 percent decline in undergraduate applications and 15 percent drop in graduate application from India for the new academic session beginning this autumn.
A complete and final version of “Open Doors 2016” was released March 30. Open Doors is a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the U.S., and U.S. students studying abroad for academic credit at their home colleges or universities.
The survey also said India and China currently make up 47 percent of U.S. international student enrollment, with almost half a million Indian and Chinese students studying in the U.S.
From China, there was a 25 percent drop in undergraduate applications and 32 percent drop in graduate applications. There was also a great deal of concern from students and families all over the globe, with the highest number of concerns emanating from the Middle East (79 percent), Asia (36 percent) and Latin America (34 percent).
The most frequently noted concerns of international students and their families, as reported by institution-based professionals, included perceptions of a rise in student visa denials at U.S. embassies and consulates in China, India and Nepal. The idea that the U.S. was now less welcoming to individuals from other countries. There were concerns that benefits and restrictions around visas could change, especially around the ability to travel, re-entry after travel, and employment opportunities, said the report.
Many people feared that President Trump’s travel ban order might widen to include additional countries. The survey was conducted by American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, the National Association for College Admission Counselling, International Association for College Admission Counselling, the Institute of International Education, Association of International Educators, and the College Board.
On Wednesday, March 29th, neurologist and founder of the Pain and Headache Centers of Texas, Dr. Pankaj Satija, 40, and his wife, Dr. Monika Ummat, also a neurologist, specializing in epilepsy at Texas Children’s Hospital, were told by Customs and Border Police officials they had 24 hours to sort out their affairs, before being removed to India, along with their two US-born children, Ralph, 7, and Zooey, 4.
Dr. Pankaj Satija and his wife, both immigrants from India living and working legally in Houston, were abruptly told by immigration officials they had 24 hours to leave the United States, Houston Chronicle reported. A new policy, they were told, no longer allowed them to extend their temporary permission to stay while they waited for permanent authorization.
The two doctors, who have been here legally for more than a decade and are highly specialized in their fields, were first astounded, then hysterical. Satija had 90 patients scheduled before the end of the week. “I was breaking down every two hours,” said the 40-year-old neurologist who helped found the Pain and Headache Centers of Texas and performs about 200 operations a month.
The couple have never even been issued a parking ticket and pay their taxes quarterly, rather than once a year. Satija’s wife, Dr. Monika Ummat, is also a neurologist specializing in epilepsy at Texas Children’s Hospital. They have two young U.S.-born children.
Satija and his wife renewed their temporary work authorizations and their travel documents every two years as required. They bought a house in West University Place and had two children, Ralph, who is 7, and 4-year-old Zooey.
The problem surfaced last year after new but little-known regulations resulted in their travel documents being issued only for one year, unlike their employment authorization which is valid for two years.
Further confusing the issue was that Customs and Border Protection officials stamped their travel document saying that it expired in June this year, when in fact fine print by another agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, noted that their document actually lapsed in June 2016.
But in the latest example of the government taking an unusually harsh stand on immigration and declining to consider cases on an individual basis, Customs and Border Protection officials told them late Wednesday that they were revoking their permits, giving them just a day to pack their bags, collect their children, and return to India where they haven’t lived in 15 years.
On Thursday, desperate, they called their legislators. They took to the media along with their attorneys to plead their case, wearing the blue surgical scrubs in which they had hoped to go to work. And they reported, as ordered, ready to leave the country, to customs officials at Bush Intercontinental Airport, where they were told the agency had suddenly reversed course.
“Somebody at a higher level has made that decision,” they were told by an agent. “I understand that you are physicians and a lot of lives are at stake.” The agency offered the couple three months of humanitarian parole, a rare measure allowing immigrants who are otherwise not permitted to enter the United States the opportunity to do so because of a “compelling emergency,” enabling them to sort out their paperwork.
The Chronicle reported that it was an unusual act of grace from an administration that has so far seemed intent on removing as many immigrants as it can, making few exceptions, even for those, like the Satijas, with good reasons to stay. The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection did not respond to questions Thursday. Arwen Consaul, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in an email that privacy rules meant the agencies could not comment on specific cases.
The couple had traveled to India last October after Dr. Satija’s father fell sick. Upon return, the Customs and Border Protection officials stamped their travel document saying that it expired in June of 2017. In fact, the USCIS noted that their document actually lapsed in June 2016. That set off the couple’s nightmare. Although, they were allowed back in the US through a program known as Deferred Inspection, they had to regularly report to CBP every month till they received new Advance Parole documents.
On March 29, they were told their Advance Parole documents were approved, and in the mail. But Customs and Border Protection officials told them that the agency now had a new policy and they were no longer able to extend their deferred inspection. They had to report to the airport the next day, would be deported to India.
But Satija’s lawyer, Amber Gracia with Quan Law Group, said the happy ending nevertheless reflects how harsh the administration’s policies have become. “The doctors are extremely lucky to have had the resources that they had,” she said from inside the lobby of the CBP offices at the airport shortly after they received the news. “But most people don’t have those resources. This shows that things are only going to get more difficult.”
The couple’s nightmare began with confusion over two conflicting dates on their paperwork. They have been here legally since 2002 after coming to do research and complete medical residencies and fellowships at such prestigious universities as Duke and Baylor College of Medicine.
Around 2008, the Houston Methodist Hospital System sponsored Satija for permanent residency, known as a green card. But because of rules limiting how many immigrants can actually receive permanent residency each year and a tremendous backlog in the overwhelmed system, the doctors were provided a provisional status until their green cards become available. The category for India is currently so behind that only immigrants who applied for the labor certification before June 2008 are receiving their green cards.
Nikki Haley, the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has claimed that her mother was not allowed to be a judge in India because she was a woman, while in fact women have been judges in the country since at least 1937.
Answering a question about the role of women at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, she said, “When you didn’t have a lot of education in India, my mother actually was able to go to law school. And she was actually put up to be one of the first female judges in India, but because of the situation with women she wasn’t allowed to sit on the bench.”
“But how amazing for her to watch her daughter become Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.,” she added. It’s been noted that women have been allowed to serves as judges in India since at least 1937.
Haley’s parents, Ajit Singh and Raj Kaur Randhawa, reportedly emigrated from India in the 1960s. But more than two decades earlier a woman, Anna Chandy, became a judge in Travancore in pre-Independence India.
Haley said that she is “proud” to be the daughter of Indian immigrants who believe the family is “blessed” to be American. Prefacing her answer to a question about President Donald Trump’s attempts to temporarily restrict people from six Muslim-majority countries and refugees coming to the U.S., she said, “I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants, who reminded my brothers, my sister and me every day how blessed we were to be in this country.”
“I do believe that the fabric of America is legal immigration. That is what makes the U.S. so fantastic,” she said. Haley denied that Trump’s attempts to restrict people from the six countries was based on religion and pointed out that several Muslim-majority countries were not covered by it. “I don’t think that’s what this is,” she said. “If that were the case, there are another dozen, you know, Muslim countries that could have been on the list.”
She said that nothing should be banned based on religion. “We will never close our doors in the U.S. We won’t. But what we did do was take a pause.”
Because of the difficulty of properly vetting people from those six countries as well as refugees, Trump pushed for the temporary ban. “This is not about not wanting people in,” she said, adding that it was about keeping terrorists out.
Jains, whose religion is based on non-violence, are celebrating the 2,615th birth anniversary of Tirthankar Vardhaman Mahavir. The Vatican sent greetings to people of the Jain religion for their annual festival and sought their collaboration in creating a non-violent society.
The message from the Vatican-based Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue accorded the “warmest felicitations” to those celebrating the 2,615th birth anniversary of Tirthankar Vardhaman Mahavir, who give Jainism its present-day form.
The annual festival called Mahavir Jayanti, is the biggest in their calendar, and falls on April 9 this year. Mahavir is the 24th and last tirthankara (teacher) of the Jain religion, which bases itself on the principle of non-violence.
“Violence, with its many and varied forms, has become a major concern in most parts of the world,” said the greetings from the Vatican. The Indian bishops’ office released it to the press on March 28.
“So, we wish to share with you on this occasion a reflection on how we, both Christians and Jains, can foster non-violence in families to nurture peace in society,” it said. “Causes of violence are as complex and diverse as its manifestations. Not so infrequently, violence stems from unhealthy upbringings and dangerous indoctrinations,” said the message signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
“Today, in the face of growing violence in society, it is necessary that families become effective schools of civilization and make every effort to nurture the value of non-violence,” the message said. “As believers rooted in our own religious convictions lets shape families into ‘nurseries’ of non-violence to build a humanity that cares for our common home and all its inhabitants.”
Acknowledging that non-violence is the “sheet-anchor” of Jainism, the message said, “It entails that we respect and treat the other, including the ‘different other,’ as a person endowed with inherent human dignity and inalienable rights. Avoidance of harm to anyone in any way is, therefore, a corollary to our way of being and living as humans.”
The message to the Jains is “a very good initiative and we all, irrespective of religion, should join hands to bring peace in the world,” said Bishop Raphy Manjaly of Allahabad, executive member of Indian bishops’ Office for Dialogue.
“It is always good to make an intervention via all people of good will. Whenever the humanity is in threat, people should step in and raise voices,” he told ucanews.com on March 29. The Vatican sends such greetings during various religious festivals including one for the feast of Diwali, or Deepavali, also known as the “festival of lights,” India’s most popular Hindu festival.
Jainism, born as a non-Brahminical religious movement in 6th century B.C. in India, has some 5 million followers among the country’s 1.2 billion people. They celebrate the anniversary by walking in processions, singing hymns, praying and sharing food.
Jains believe that one can attain nirvana (perfect bliss) only through tapas (austere life), which includes fasting and mortification; reverence to superiors in knowledge, faith and character; and rigid control of the senses, speech and intellect.
Indian-origin British director Gurinder Chadha has been honored with the 2017 Sikh Jewel Award for her immense contribution to British cinema. Chadha, whose films include “Bhaji on the Beach,” “Bend It Like Beckham” and “Bride and Prejudice,” received the award from Michael Fallon, U.K. Defense Secretary, at the Vaisakhi dinner organized by the British Sikh Association at the Lancaster Hotel here March 23.
The high commissioner of India to the U.K., Y. K. Sinha, who was the guest of honor, was also present on the dais. Chadha’s latest film, “Viceroy’s House” tells the true story of the final five months of British rule in India and coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Independence of India and the founding of Pakistan.
Upon receiving the award, Chadha said, “Some people use religion to divide – that is the theme of my film – and also the atrocities inflicted on us. It is a fair film.” Jasminder Singh, OBE, chairman and founder of Edwardian Hotels, writer, broadcaster and communications consultant Jagjeet Singh Sohal, and Khalsa Aid, founded in 1999, also received the Sikh Jewel Awards.
In his address, Sinha said, “We were really touched when we saw the films screened on the occasion depicting the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers, mostly Sikhs and Gurkhas in the two world wars, winning more laurels than others.”
“Sacrifices made by Sikhs are always remembered in India. The Government of India and the people of India gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by Sikhs,” added Sinha.
Fallon said he would be visiting India next month and will “utilize the opportunity to have greater defense cooperation between Britain and India.”
“Sadly, the contribution of over a million Indian soldiers in each great war is not taught in British schools and if it were, there would be a better understanding about our shared history,” said Dr. Rami Ranger, CBE, chairman of the British Sikh Association.
He urged the defense secretary to convey “our request to the education secretary that the contribution of Commonwealth countries in preserving our freedom is taught in schools, especially in the wake of Brexit when we will need to revisit and renew our tried and tested bond of friendship with these allies.”
Ranger also asked Member of Parliament Virendra Sharma and Councilor Julien Bell, leader of the Ealing Council to grant the association the opportunity to erect a “befitting memorial in Southall to pay tribute to a community for its supreme sacrifices for our freedom.”
The British Sikh Association also signed the Armed Forces Covenant alongside Fallon, to formally recognize the strong ties between the Sikh community and the armed forces.
There’s probably no one more excited for the 2017 film adaptation of “Baywatch” than Priyanka Chopra. “I loved ‘Baywatch’ so much growing up,” said the 34-year-old actress in Marie Claire’s April 2017 issue. “It was the quintessential American Dream. All those beautiful people in bathing suits, running slo-mo on the beach in Malibu — amazing!”
Global superstar Priyanka Chopra rocked Las Vegas at this year’s CinemaCon appearing with her co-stars at a special presentation for their upcoming summer comedy BAYWATCH. Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and other stars from the Paramount Pictures film joined Chopra at Caesars Palace to promote the highly anticipated motion picture which hits theaters on May 26 over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Chopra will be appearing in the upcoming film adaptation opposite Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Zac Efron, Charlotte McKinney and Kelly Rohrbach. Former “Baywatch” stars David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson will also appear in the lifeguard-centric film.
“I’m not someone who looks for love,” she told the beauty magazine. “I don’t believe in making it happen. My life has been shaped by so many serendipitous moments so far, I feel like, ‘Why screw with a good thing?’”
And while Chopra has achieved her American Dream by appearing in “Baywatch,” she still hasn’t achieved her ultimate dream yet: having children and lots of them. “As many as I can,” confirmed Chopra. “I love kids. Love, love kids. I prefer their company to the company of adults, actually.”
AIF Co-Chair Lata Krishnan received the 2017 Distinguished Citizen Award for her positive contributions to society with enduring impact, and her embodiment of qualities that make an individual’s life worthy of admiration: generosity, ability to inspire and desire to make a difference in our world today and in our future tomorrow. Lata received the award from the Commonwealth Club, the leading national forum for discussion of public issues.
The Commonwealth Club’s 114th Annual Dinner and 29th Annual Distinguished Citizen Gala was a dual celebration, reflecting on the last year of the Club’s events and accomplishments, as well as honoring outstanding members of the community who exemplify the Club’s values by presenting them with the Distinguished Citizen Award, an award reserved for those whose professional and humanitarian endeavors and accomplishments are worthy of recognition and celebration.
Recipients of this award have included local and global leaders whose contributions to society have had a positive and enduring impact, and who embody the qualities that make an individual’s life worthy of admiration: their generosity, their ability to inspire and their desire to make a difference in our world today and in our future tomorrow.
As the Chair of AIF, Krishnan’s responsibilities include developing global outreach programs and a strong group of trustees and volunteers, building partnerships with US and India based non-profits, and developing communications strategy and project selection. She is one of the leading women entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley, the co-founder of SMART Modular Technologies, Inc., and a member of the Angels Forum in Northern California. Her community efforts include being on the Board of Directors for the San Jose Tech Museum, Children’s Discovery Museum, San Jose Repertory Theater, The Indus Entrepreneur (TIE) Silicon Valley Chapter and a Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. She is also on the Advisory Board for Narika (Shelter for Abused Women in the Asian Community) and the Indian Business & Professional Women’s Association. Ms. Krishnan received a Bachelor of Science degree from the London School of Economics.
Byy the age of 40 Lata Krishnan had co-founded a tech company that was sold for $2 billion, won recognition as Silicon Valley’s highest paid female executive, had two kids, beat cancer, co-founded a booming tech investment firm and served as founding president of American India Foundation, the leading foundation by which desis funnel aid to India. Today Krishnan remains a happy homemaker who has established herself as a leading light in the Indian American community while serving as CFO of Shah Capital Partners which she co-founded with husband Ajay Shah. An example of the kinds of deals that have helped SCP thrive: in 2004 it led the $100 million buyout of Smart Modular Technologies, the same company Krishnan had co-founded in 1988 and sold to Solectron for $2 billion in 1999.
Lata Krishnan was born 1961 in Palghat India. After spending a part of her childhood in Kenya, she attended the London School of Economics. She graduated in 1982, then stayed in London to work as an auditor for Arthur Andersen and Hill Vellacott. In 1986 she moved to San Francisco to become a financial analyst at Montgomery Asset Management. Two years later Krishnan, her husband Ajay Shah and Mukesh Patel co-founded a quick turnaround chipmaker to take advantage of the booming demand for commodity memory chips. In 1995 Krishnan organized Smart Modular’s wildly successful IPO that won it recognition as one of the nation’s most promising companies.
By 1998 Krishnan’s $3.9 million salary and options earned her the distinction of being the highest paid female executive in Silicon Valley. By 1999 Smart Modular had $1 bil. revenues and was profitable enough to catch the attention of competitor Solectron. That OEM chipmaker paid $2 billion to acquire SMT which was then 35% owned by Krishnan, Shah and Patel. Krishnan and Shah used a small part of the proceeds to seed Shah Capital Partners which has acquired a controlling interest in a half dozen promising tech companies.
Krishnan lives with Shah, a son and a daughter in Fremont, California. Since the 1990s she has devoted much of her energies toward good works, inspiring others to do the same. “Children can be molded into good, caring people,” she said. “They lose their way for a variety of reasons, broken homes, financial instability, etc. If I can help one child have a better future, it is meaningful. This is what I want to be remembered for. These are more notable than the sales and stock figures.”
USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT), a payment technology provider of cashless and mobile transactions in self-serve retail, has announced that Priyanka Singh has been appointed as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer, effective March 31, 2017. She replaces interim CFO, Leland P. Maxwell, who will continue with USAT in a senior finance role.
Singh brings over 15 years of finance and accounting experience to the position, including five years in the payments industry. She joins the company from Global Payments Inc., a leading worldwide provider of payment technology solutions. Following the acquisition by Global Payments of Heartland Payment Systems in 2016, Singh was Vice President, Product Strategy and Innovation and Division CFO for Heartland Commerce, which focuses on point of sale solutions. Prior to the acquisition, she spent five years at Heartland Payment Systems, most recently as the Divisional CFO of the Heartland Commerce units and prior thereto as Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis. Previous to that, she spent several years with General Electric in various leadership roles at both GE Capital and GE Healthcare, focusing on financial planning and analysis, accounting, controllership, internal auditing and SOX compliance. Ms. Singh is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the AICPA, according to a press release.
“I am delighted to welcome Priyanka Singh as USA Technologies’ new CFO,” said Stephen P. Herbert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, USA Technologies, in a statement. “She has an impressive background in payments, which complements our business as well as our long-term objectives. Priyanka brings with her a wealth of experience that I am sure will serve us well, as our operations continue to grow. I would also like to thank Leland Maxwell for his dedicated service as our interim CFO and am delighted that he will continue with USAT as Senior Vice President of Finance.”
Richard Verma, the former U.S. Ambassador to India, was appointed as the School of Foreign Service Centennial Fellow at Georgetown University, in an announcement released March 27. Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service has announced the appointment of Ambassador Richard Verma as SFS Centennial Fellow.
Ambassador Verma served as the 25th United States Ambassador to India, nominated by President Obama in September 2014 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2014. During his two-year tenure, U.S.-India relations experienced a significant resurgence, with important gains made in defense, trade and clean energy. The Ambassador managed an unprecedented 9 meetings and 3 summits between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi, leading to over 100 new initiatives and more than 40 government to government dialogues.
“The Walsh School of Foreign Service is truly excited to have Rich Verma join us as a Centennial Fellow,” Senior Associate Dean Anthony Clark Arend said. “Ambassador Verma has a wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors. He will bring to the School a unique perspective that will help all of us re-imagine our mission in a new and changing world.”
The Centennial Fellows program at the School of Foreign Service brings distinguished practitioners and scholars to be resources for students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as the broader public.
Ambassador Verma will help support Georgetown’s India Initiative, a signature program to advance research and teaching around India, world affairs and the United States. With his 25 years of experience in the national security field, he will also be an important resource for students interested in Asia, security studies, and the US Congress and its role in foreign policy decision-making.
Ambassador Verma previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, where he led the State Department’s efforts on Capitol Hill. He worked in the Senate for many years, serving as Senior National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader and he also worked in the House of Representatives. He is veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he served on active duty as a Judge Advocate. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal.
The Ambassador also has a distinguished career in the private sector, serving as partner at the global law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and as Senior Counselor to the Albright Stonebridge Group. He served as a commissioner on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Commission and is a co-author of their landmark report, “World at Risk.” He was also a National Security Fellow at the Center for American Progress, a DC-based think tank.
Ambassador Verma received his Masters of Law from the Georgetown University Law Center, his Juris Doctor from American University’s Washington College of Law, and his bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University. He is the recipient of the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award, the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and was ranked by India Abroad as one of the 50 most influential Indian Americans.
“I’m really honored to be a part of the School of Foreign Service and the Centennial Fellows program,” Ambassador Verma said. “Georgetown has always been at the forefront of international relations scholarship, and I look forward to engaging with students, faculty and staff as we compare notes about developments in Asia, and in particular recent trends in India.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has appointed Indian American human rights attorney Jenifer Rajkumar as the director of immigration affairs and special counsel for the New York Department of State, last month.
The Department of State is the agency in charge of immigration in the state and Rajkumar, who unsuccessfully ran for a spot in the state’s 65th Assembly District last fall, is going to be on top of all the immigrant issues. Rajkumar’s focus includes implementing the governor’s immigration initiatives.
From serving two terms as the first South Asian district leader of Manhattan’s 65th Assembly District to serving on the legal team behind one of the largest gender discrimination case ever to go to trial, Rajkumar built an impressive resume of public service even before landing a position in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office as the director of immigration affairs and special counsel for the New York Department of State.
“I dedicated my career to social justice and making a difference in people’s lives,” Rajkumar said. “Throughout my career I’ve explored the best ways to make an impact.” For Rajkumar, the heart of her work has always been finding the best way to aid those in need, whether through litigation, policy or governance. She said that it’s the potential benefactors of her work—immigrants, women, the struggling—that have driven her to accomplish so much.
“My secret is that I think about the people that I want to help every day, the people [who] I met when I ran for office, the people [who] I met as a lawyer, the women and the workers [who] I have worked to represent,” she said. “I think about my parents.
They immigrated to this country in the 1970s with just $300 and a suitcase. My mom was born in a mud hut in India. They immigrated to the United States with little and were able to thrive here because of the opportunity this country provided. So, I am grateful every day. Every day I think about that and I’m grateful, and that gratitude drives me to work hard to help others.”
In the New York Department of State, Rajkumar has found a place where she feels effective. She called Cuomo “one of the biggest change agents in the nation” and works in the department on projects across the state to empower immigrants.
This involves drawing on her work as a lawyer to ensure that immigrants’ rights are fairly upheld. She is currently working on the Empire State Immigrant Legal Defense Project, an initiative to gather the state’s legal talent in the service of expanding legal services for immigrants. More information will be available in the near future, Rajkumar said.
Rajkumar also works closely with the state’s Office of New Americans, which helps newly arrived immigrants to integrate into New York state. With this office, she supports the NaturalizedNY Initative, which helps immigrants become legal U.S. citizens.
“We want to make sure that all newcomers to New York are fully integrated into our life and economy,” she said. “I’m very proud to be here because I believe (Gov. Cuomo is) the biggest change agent in the nation right now,” Rajkumar, who also ran for New York City Council in 2013 but fell short, told India-West, adding the governor has focused on paid family leave and marriage equality, among other hot-button issues in his time leading the state.
“I will be a driving force to implement the governor’s initiatives including drawing upon top legal talent across New York State to make sure immigrants are protected,” she said.
The Indian American community under the banner of the Federation of Indian Associations of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut (FIA) bid farewell to Dr Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Deputy Consul General of India in New York, who is returning to External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi, at the Royal Albert’s Palace in Edison, New Jersey, March 21.
The auditorium was fully packed with people reflecting the tremendous popularity of an amiable and selfless civil servant, who was always willing to help anyone in need of consulate services. Speakers representing various organizations pointed out the many contributions of Dr Mohapatra, especially opening the consulate accessible to the public.
The audience greeted him with a standing ovation. The FIA presented a plaque recognizing his work and showing the gratitude of the community.
Andy Bhatia, president of FIA, welcomed the gathering and introduced Dr. Mohapatra. Bhatia noted that Mohaptra interacted with the people as one of them instead of keeping aloof as a senior bureaucrat. He attended community functions and heard the problems of the people himself and often suggested solutions for them also.
FIA chair Ramesh Patel thanked Dr Mohapatra for his dedication in addressing the problems faced by the community as regards consular services among others. He said there were disagreements with him initially on several issues. But his humble approach and willingness to solve the issues were liked by all and it endeared him to all. He wished him success in the future assignments.
Srujal Parekh, executive vice president of the FIA noted that there will be a void in the community when Dr Mohaptra leaves. “We will miss you and your good works,” he said.
Dr Sanjay Gupta, who was one of the hosts of the event with Dr Kavita Gupta noted that Dr Mohaptra won the hearts of all those who interacted with him. Dr. Mohaptra is a physician who has excellent interpersonal skills including a very pleasant demeanor and problem solving attitude.
Padma Sri HR Shah, chairman of TV Asia wished Dr Mohaptra to return to the US as consul general or ambassador.
Padma Sri Dr Sudhir Parekh spoke about the open door policy of Dr Mohaptra which changed people’s attitude towards the consulate and its work.
Hirsh Vardhan Singh, who is running for Governor of New Jersey as a Republican, wished Mohaptra all success in future. He also spoke about the election saying that the community can influence the outcome if all those eligible went for voting. He noted that only 9 percent of the qualified Indian Americans voted in the last election. It reflects poorly on our community. It is not important whether you are Republican or Democrat, but it is important to be active in public affairs. Albert Jasani and Shobana Patel of Royal Albert’s Palace and Dr Raj Bhayani, were among the co-hosts.
Dr. Mohapatra thanked the people for their enormous support for him in the last three years. He said he could achieve many things only because of the support of the people.
He cited the reception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Madison Square Garden as an example. It was a huge success because of the tremendous support of the community.
He said he has unforgettable memories of New York and he will be always part of the Indian community here. “Interaction with the community and its feed back are important for the smooth functioning of the consulate. I embraced every opportunity to interact with the community.”
He also thanked the media for changing the perception about the consulate. He noted the community outreach programs conducted in the ten states that fall under the jurisdiction of the consulate. He met eight governors of the states which helped to strengthen bilateral relationship with India and improving the relations with the community.
Mohapatra said in all probability he will be in Delhi for the next 2-3 years. “I will give you my personal email. If you email me with any questions, you will definitely get a response,” he promised.
He invited everybody to get in touch with him if they visit Delhi without any hesitation and he would love to connect. Mohapatra said he was greatly touched by the gesture of FIA and others organizing the event.
Appeals to Govt. of India to put an end to violence against physicians
Physicians in India feel threatened and their lives are in danger. Some hospital administrators have begun to hire muscular looking bouncers, whose imposing presence deters patients’ relatives from aggressive behavior. The medical fraternity in several states is on strike, due to the recent incidents of violence against doctors. This is not good for the people we are committed to care and also is not benefitting the Doctors.
In a letter sent to the Prime Minister of India and several high ranking officials at the Government of India, Dr. Ajay Lodha, President of India condemned the ongoing violence against physicians across several states in India.
“We at AAPI, the largest ethnic medical organization in the nation, urge the government of India to make all the efforts possible and put an end to this ongoing violence against medical professionals and enable them to continue to serve the country with dignity, pride and security,” Dr. Lodha said in the letter sent to the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Health Minister, India’s ambassador to the US and the Ambassador of the US to India.
Recalling that from ancient times, physicians across India and around the world have been revered for dedicating their lives for the noble mission of preventing people from getting and saving millions of lives of people from illnesses, Dr. Lodha told the Indian government that “we as a community of physicians and individual members of this fraternity have decided to go into the medical profession with the best of intentions. We as physicians want to help people, ease suffering and save lives. Physicians of Indian origin are well known around the world for their compassion, passion for patient care, medical skills, research, and leadership.”
Expressing shock that despite these noble intentions, many doctors and nurses put their own lives on the line in the course of their jobs, facing attacks from the very people they are trying to help. “Violence against doctors has reached such an extreme in India that the medical staff is afraid to come to work and they need a police presence in the hospitals where they work,” Dr. Lodha said.
For instance, 49 doctors have been attacked in the state of Maharashtra alone since 2015. “The violence against physicians in India, will put a dent in these area, where we have been growing rapidly as world leaders and will cause irrevocable damage to the health industry in India and our image will be tarnished for ever, Dr. Lodha pointed out.
Pointing to reports by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), he said, more than 75% of the population of doctors have had to deal with some degree of violence or aggression directed at them, according to. Shockingly, a large proportion of doctors don’t report such incidents, believing them to be a part of the job so the true figures are likely to be higher. Incidents vary from minor verbal abuse all the way through to the murder or attempted murder of staff, Dr. Lodha said.
While security needs to be strengthened, enhancing the doctor-patient relationship is undoubtedly the most important factor in reducing violence. Improving the quality of medical facilities and reducing the financial burden on patient’s families is also important as large payments may be catastrophic for poorer people and if they then encounter poor facilities too, this may engender a feeling of corruption. There is even an online petition in change.org seeking safe work environment for doctors.
According to Lodha, these recent rapid increase in violence has the potential to tarnish India’s image globally as a rising super power. One of the world’s fastest growing economics, India is a dynamic market with immense opportunities in healthcare. With pioneering Indian companies offering a global work culture, India is becoming a preferred career destination for professionals looking for exceptional individual learning and unique growth opportunities. And, in recent decades, India is turning medical tourism hub, attracting millions of people from abroad.
The members of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), an umbrella organization which has nearly 90 local chapters, specialty societies and alumni organizations, with over 35 years of history of dedicated services to their motherland and the adopted land, are appalled at the growing violence against our fellow physicians in India, Dr. Lodha said. “We strongly condemn this ongoing violence and we are shocked by the lack of coherent action against such violence and protect members of this noble fraternity.”
Vanita Gupta, a longtime civil rights litigator and advocate, is the first woman to run the nation’s largest civil and human rights coalition at a time when advocates fear the Trump administration will roll back voting access and criminal justice reform. Gupta has been chosen as the new president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an umbrella organization founded 67 years ago that represents 200 national groups.
Gupta, 42, an Indian American lawyer, had headed the Justice Department’s civil rights division, under Obama administration. Gupta is the first child of immigrants to head the organization, which has been run for nearly 20 years by civil rights leader Wade Henderson. Gupta will take the reins of the Leadership Conference on June 1.
“This organization is perfectly situated to address the current assault on civil rights that we are seeing today,” Gupta said. “I think it’s unfortunate that we’re in such a polarized time and these issues appear to be politicized when fundamentally they are about the character of the country and what the country stands for.”
Three years ago, President Barack Obama appointed Gupta, who was the deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, to serve as the principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s civil rights division. She became known for her aggressive work prosecuting hate crimes and human trafficking, promoting disability rights, protecting the rights of LGBTQ individuals and fighting for voter access.
During her tenure, Gupta oversaw federal investigations of the Baltimore, Chicago and Ferguson, Mo., police departments; a discrimination lawsuit against North Carolina for reversing an ordinance that extended rights to people who are gay or transgender, and the successful appeals of Texas and North Carolina voter ID cases — all issues that provoked a fiery debate among Republican opponents of the measures.
“I was honored to have been at the helm of the civil rights division at a time where civil rights issues were front and center,” Gupta said. “Now, we are quite swiftly in a new day at a time of great division on these issues.”
In his first month as attorney general, Jeff Sessions has taken steps to undo the Justice Department’s policy toward transgender students in public schools, reversed the department’s position on a Texas voting rights law found unconstitutional by several courts, changed the administration’s policy on the use of private prisons and said he will be much tougher on crime by increasing the prosecution of drug and gun offenses. Sessions has also tied a recent increase in violent crime to a lack of respect for police officers and vowed that his department would be more supportive of law enforcement.
Her work on criminal justice reform has won the respect of liberals such as former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and conservatives including Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, and David Keene, a former president of the National Rifle Association, who has praised Gupta’s “collaborative approach.” She is the mother of two sons, and her husband is the legal director of the D.C. Legal Aid Society.
The Leadership Conference was founded in 1950 by Roy Wilkins of the NAACP and has coordinated advocates to lobby on behalf of every major civil rights law. Gupta will head the conference and the conference education fund.
“When Wade announced his decision, we set out to find an exceptional individual, someone with a passion for advocacy, a record of achievement, a strategic vision and the skills to lead our organizations, our dynamic coalition and this nation to a more just and inclusive future,” said Judith Lichtman, chair of the Leadership Conference board. “Vanita is that individual.”
Gupta is the younger of two daughters of Indian parents who immigrated to the United States in the late 1960s. She grew up in Philadelphia, graduated from Yale University and New York University Law School and has devoted her career to civil rights issues.
Prominent Indian American author and spiritual guru Deepak Chopra, who is known around the world as a leader of alternative medicine, has voiced his concerns about President Donald Trump’s mental health. Chopra appealed to Trump directly, asking the president to quell his fears by submitting himself to a mental health evaluation.
Chopra had said in the past that then-candidate Donald Trump suffers from “very poor self-esteem,” comparing his emotional development to that of a three-year-old child, has now questioned the president’s mental health. Deepak Chopra took to Twitter “I say this with trepidation. Is @POTUS brain impaired? If so what does this mean for the future of the world? What can we do? God bless,” he tweeted Monday.
He directed his second tweet on the subject straight to Trump. “Dear @realDonaldTrump @POTUS Would you please submit to a psychiatric and neurological evaluation to restore our confidence. Thank you sir,” he wrote.
On March 19, in a series of cryptic messages, Chopra turned to neurologists to ask if “the symptoms of frontal lobe dementia include disinhibition, paranoia, compulsive behavior.” He added: “Should this be a national concern?”
He next tweeted this message at the president and theoretical physicist, cosmologist, best-selling author, science and public policy advocate Lawrence M: “Paranoia disinhibition and compulsive behavior can be symptoms of frontal lobe dementia. Neurologists pls advise.”
However, this is not the first time that Chopra has expressed “concern” over the president’s mental health. In an interview with Fox News Radio host Alan Colmes in June 2016, Chopra had called Trump “belligerent” and “emotionally retarded.”
“He is unfortunately, and you know I would never say this unless I believe it to be 100 percent true, but he represents the racist, the bigot, the one who is prejudiced, the one who is full of fear and hatred,” he said, adding that he was “fearful of what would happen to the U.S. and the rest of the forbid if, God forbid, he became president.”
Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country, and they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success, according to a comprehensive new nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center.
And, among the many groups that make up Asian Americans, people of Indian origin stand out as people with most education and highest income level. The household median income in the US was half as compared to that of an Indian American household. According to a report by the US Census Bureau, the median household income of Indian Americans was $103,821 in 2015. In comparison, the median household income in the US, overall, was $53,889.
The US Census Bureau report, titled Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: May 2017, was released on March 17, on the occasion of the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) in May. The overall median income data for the year 2015 came from a separate report that is available on the Census Bureau’s website. The APAHM report concluded that the median income of households headed by the Asians alone or in combination population in 2015 was $76,260. But, within Asian households, too, an Indian American household’s median income was much higher. “Median household income differed greatly by Asian group. For Asian Indian alone, for example, the median income in 2015 was $103,821; for Bangladeshi alone, it was $49,515,” the report said.
The report estimates the Indian American population was four million in 2015, which makes it the second largest Asian group. “The Chinese (except Taiwanese) population was the largest Asian group, followed by Asian Indian (4.0 million), Filipino (3.9 million), Vietnamese (2.0 million), Korean (1.8 million) and Japanese (1.4 million),” the report read. The steady increase in the number of Indian American-owned firms complements the aloft trend in income and population. In 2012, the number of Asian-owned firms in the US was 1.9 million. Impressively, the Asian American ownership has spiked up nearly 24 percent from 2007 till 2012. With similar intensity, the Indian American-owned firms showed a steady growth of 20 percent during 2007-2012. In 2012, Indian Americans owned 377,486 firms in the US, compared to 308,491 in 2007.
The data indicates that the percentage of Indian American-owned firms to that of Asian-owned firms in the US did not change during 2007-2012. During this period, the Indian Americans owned nearly 20 percent of the total Asian-owned firms. Interestingly, from 2007 to 2012 while the number of Indian American firms grew by 22 percent, the White American firms witnessed a decline of five percent.
Overall, the report indicates positive trends for Indian Americans n terms of income, population and entrepreneurial initiatives.
ATLANTA, March 22, 2017 – Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) President and CEO Chip Rogers has been selected to speak at the 2017 Hunter Hotel Conference.
The three-day conference, now in its 29th year, is a “hotel real estate and finance conference designed for hotel owners and investors.” The 2017 program explores financing, franchising, asset management, hotel PIPs, and myriad other topics focused on hotel ownership, investment, and development.
Rogers will speak alongside AH&LA SVP, Member Relations Matthew MacLaren during the general session on Friday, March 24, at 9 AM, in a presentation titled “Your Government & Your Business.” A former Georgia senator and Georgia Senate Majority Leader, as well as AAHOA’s past vice president of government affairs, Rogers is well acquainted with the interrelationship of politics and business.
“Hunter is one of the best industry conferences around, not only for its rich variety of speakers and subject matter, but for its thoughtful exploration of what it means and what it takes to be a successful hotel owner, investor, or developer,” Rogers said. “The opportunity to offer some of my own thoughts and insights on a subject so important to hospitality is truly an honor.”
The Hunter Hotel Conference will be held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis on March 22-24. For more information, please visit hunterconference.com.
Founded in 1989, AAHOA is the largest hotel owner’s association in the world, with more than 16,000 small business owner-members. AAHOA members own almost one in every two hotels in the United States.
Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney who was fired by Trump administration after refusing to resign earlier this month, is headed to the NYU School of Law. Bharara will join the law school as a distinguished scholar in residence starting April 1, the university announced on March 21, 2017.
“I am honored to join the NYU School of Law, one of the great educational institutions in America, and I welcome the chance to contribute in such a thoughtful setting,” Bharara said in a statement through the school. “I am thrilled for this opportunity to continue addressing the issues I so deeply care about — criminal and social justice, honest government, national security, civil rights, and corporate accountability, to name a few.”
Other distinguished scholars in residence at the school typically pursue their own research, participate in panel discussions and student forums, and collaborate with various centers devoted to specific areas of law and public policy.
The position is considered a full-time one with the school but does not preclude Bharara from taking on other engagements, NYU law spokesman Michael Orey told The Washington Post. “He may also teach, but we have no specifics on that at this time,” Orey said.
Bharara is no stranger to the NYU campus. He had previously given talks and participated in panel discussions at the law school, including one last January on cybersecurity and another in 2015 on insider trading prosecutions and public corruption. Bharara was also the law school’s convocation speaker in 2015.
“Speak simply and listen intently. Those are the hallmarks of great leaders, not just great lawyers,” he told the graduating class then. “The law is merely an instrument, and without the involvement of human hands, the law is as lifeless and uninspiring as a violin kept in its case.”
Bharara graduated from Harvard College and Columbia Law School. On March 11, Bharara’s nearly eight-year tenure as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York came to an abrupt end after he said he was fired. Bharara had refused to tender his resignation after the Justice Department asked all 46 U.S. attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama to leave their offices.
Bharara had developed a reputation for being one of the most influential and independent prosecutors in the country, best known for going after Wall Street as well as members of both political parties.
In 2015, The Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins described Bharara as “the most powerful prosecutor in the country” for whom “no target is apparently too big.” Bharara also had developed a reputation for wit and outspokenness; FBI Director James B. Comey said the impression he gave was “if Jon Stewart was a prosecutor.”
During his tenure, Bharara has indicted 17 prominent New York politicians for malfeasance — 10 of them Democrats, Jenkins reported. He also investigated New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo after he closed an ethics commission. In 2012, he was named one of Time Magazine’s most influential people.
Seema Verma, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on March 14, in a solemn ceremony at the White House. After being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Indian American Seema Verma placed her hand on the Bhagavad-Gita as she was sworn into her new role.
Surrounded by her husband Sanjay, daughter Maya, son Sean, as well as her mother and sister, Verma said she cannot wait to begin the work of overhauling key parts of the American healthcare system that covers more than 100 million Americans.
“Today, our healthcare stands at a crossroads, and we have no choice but reform it,” Verma said. President Trump has chosen “One of the leading experts” on state-based healthcare solutions in the country, said Vice President Pence introducing Verma. He credited her for designing Indiana’s Medicaid system, Healthy Indiana 2.0 while he was Governor of that state, and in states like Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and elsewhere to make health care a matter of “personal responsibility and effective care.”
“The President has asked you to bring your expertise to D.C.,” Pence said, adding, “We’re confident that you’ll help restore health care decision making to the states, and in the process help make the best healthcare system in the world even better.”
Pence played a large part in endorsing Verma for the post. She is likely to play a key role in the healthcare reform of President Donald Trump, who has made a priority to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act put into place by former President Barack Obama.
Verma, who was confirmed by the Senate in a 55-43 vote on March 13, largely along party lines and after Democratic attempts to delay what was an inevitable appointment in a Republican majority Senate. This was unlike the confirmation of most other Indian-Americans in the past who have usually been endorsed in a bipartisan vote or by a large majority.
Verma’s appointment by Trump and the opposition by the Democrats in the Senate was driven not only by ideology but also by the critical position she occupies running a massive system that enrolls more than 100 million Americans.
At her Senate confirmation hearing, Verma defended her approach by saying that low-income people are fully capable of making health care decisions based on rational incentives. She also said she does not support turning Medicare into a voucher plan under which retirees would get a fixed federal contribution to purchase private coverage from government-regulated private insurance plans.
Dr. Ajay Lodha, president of The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin which represents more than 100,000 physicians, praised Verma’s accomplishments, while hoping that the problems faced by patients under the Medicare drug plan would be improved under her leadership. “Drug coverage has gone down and for patients under Medicare who are all above 65, and not healthy and needed medications – I hope she can do something for them.” Dr. Lodha said.
Verma has found out-of-the-box solutions to design state Medicaid programs in Indiana and several other states, as the Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady, R-Texas, noted in a statement. Describing Verma as “the perfect person” for the job, Brady said, “I look forward to working with her to return control of health care back to states and give patients across America more control over their own care” In Indiana, Verma, who has a background in public health, designed a Medicaid expansion along conservative lines for Pence, according to Associated Press reports.
Most beneficiaries are required to pay modest premiums. And the program uses financial rewards and penalties to steer patients to primary care providers instead of the emergency room. Critics say the plan has been confusing for beneficiaries and some have incurred penalties through no fault of their own, the AP reported.
Verma, following the ceremony, spoke of her plans to fix the current healthcare system. “Today, our health care stands at a crossroads and we have no choice but to fix our health care system. Under President Trump’s leadership and vision, we finally have an incredible opportunity to move our health care system into one that puts Americans in charge of their health care and will ensure that all Americans have access to quality health care that they can afford,” she said.
Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was removed from his post by the Trump administration on March 11, was overseeing an investigation into stock trades made by the president’s health secretary, according to a person familiar with the office.
According to reports, Tom Price, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, came under scrutiny during his confirmation hearings for investments he made while serving in Congress. The Georgia lawmaker traded hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of shares in health-related companies, even as he voted on and sponsored legislation affecting the industry.
Price testified at the time that his trades were lawful and transparent. Democrats accused him of potentially using his office to enrich himself. One lawmaker called for an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, citing concerns Price could have violated the STOCK Act, a 2012 law signed by President Obama that clarified that members of Congress cannot use nonpublic information for profit and requires them to promptly disclose their trades.
The investigation of Price’s trades by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which hasn’t been previously disclosed, was underway at the time of Bharara’s dismissal, someone familiar with the investigation was reported to have said.
Asked about this report during an appearance today on ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Tom Price said he and his lawyers haven’t received any indication of a federal investigation into his stock trades. “I know nothing about that whatsoever,” Price said.
In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that Price traded more than $300,000 worth of shares in health companies over a recent four-year period, while taking actions that could have affected those companies. Price, an orthopedic surgeon, chaired the powerful House Budget Committee and sat on the Ways and Means Committee’s health panel.
Bharara was one of 46 U.S. attorneys asked to resign after Trump took office. It is standard for new presidents to replace those officials with their own appointees. But Bharara’s firing came as a surprise because the president had met with him at Trump Tower soon after the election. As he left that meeting, Bharara told reporters Trump asked if he would be prepared to remain in his post, and said that he had agreed to stay on.
When the Trump administration instead asked for Bharara’s resignation, the prosecutor refused, and he said he was then fired. Trump has not explained the reversal, but Bharara fanned suspicions that his dismissal was politically motivated via his personal Twitter account.
Along with the Price matter, Bharara’s former office is investigating allegations relating to Fox News, and has been urged by watchdog groups to look into payments Trump has received from foreign governments through his Manhattan-based business. Bharara’s former deputy, Joon Kim, is now in charge of the office, but Trump is expected to nominate his replacement.
The crusading prosecutor – dubbed the “sheriff of Wall Street” – was the only Indian American U.S. attorney in the nation. Acting deputy Attorney General Dana Boente had called US Attorney Preet Bharara and told him President Trump was firing him, hours after he announced he would not resign under the guidance of a directive issued a day earlier by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Responding to his firing, the crusader on corruption, said, “By the way,” Bharara said in a second tweet, “now I know what the Moreland Commission must have felt like.” Bharara was referring to a commission that was launched by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013 to investigate state government corruption, only to be disbanded by the governor the next year as its work grew close to his office. “I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the U.S. Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life no matter what else I do or how long I live,” Bharara tweeted mid-morning March 11. “One hallmark of justice is absolute independence, and that was my touchstone every day that I served,” Bharara said.
With a series of events, the Consulate General of India in New York celebrated International Women’s Day, with a grand finale event culminating on March 8 here in New York. A panel discussion on ‘Balancing Act -Women in 21st Century’ was held, and was attended by dozens of invited guests. Consul General Riva Ganguly Das, in her opening remarks talked about the challenges women continue to face as they balance their career and family.
The discussion was moderated by Dr. Hetal Gor,a physician, entrepreneur, political activist, women’s advocate and philanthropist with panelists comprising of Linda Bowden,Regional president, PNC Bank; Nina Pineda, WAVC-TV reporter; Dr. Nimisha Shukla, physician and entrepreneur and Seema Jagtiani, resident of Amogh Insurance & Wealth Management Agency. The discussion was followed by Q&A session.
Earlier, to mark International Women’s Day, photo exhibition on ‘Women of India’ by Prof. Doug Hilson was organized at the Consulate on March 6,2017. Honoring the accomplishments and contributions of women from diverse backgrounds at the International Woman’s Day event. Consul General with the Hon. Maria Isabel Nieto, President of Society of Foreign Consuls and honoree Malini Shah on March 02, 2017.
Jubilant crowd in USA welcomes Capt. Amarinder Singh’s party’s landslide victory in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Elections
Civil rights attorney and author Deepa Iyer was awarded the 2017 Justice in Action Award by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund on March 2nd, during the organization’s annual gala at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, in New York City.
The Justice in Action Awards are presented annually to individuals for their outstanding achievements and their contributions in promoting justice and equality. The other recipient was Marie Oh Huber, general counsel of eBay Inc. The event was emceed by NYC Chief Digital Officer Sree Sreenivasan.
Past recipients include Congressman John Lewis, Yoko Ono, David Henry Hwang, Sandra Leung, Fareed Zakaria, Jose Antonio Vargas, BD Wong, Don H. Liu, Mira Nair, George Takei, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Harry Belafonte, Seymour Hersh, Larry Tu, Ivan Fong, John G. Chou, A.B. Cruz III, and Margaret Cho.
Over 700 leaders of the civil rights, legal, business, and arts communities across the country are expected to attend AALDEF’s 2017 Justice in Action Awards Gala. The evening began with a cocktail reception and silent auction, followed by the Justice in Action Awards ceremony and a banquet dinner.
A leading racial justice activist, Deepa Iyer served for a decade as the executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), focusing on community building in post-9/11 America. She teaches in the Asian American studies program at the University of Maryland. As Senior Fellow at the Center for Social Inclusion, Deepa Iyer provides analysis, commentary and scholarship on the ways to build racial equity and solidarity in light of the rapid demographic transformation in America’s neighborhoods, schools and workplaces.
As Senior Fellow at the Center for Social Inclusion, Deepa Iyer provides analysis, commentary and scholarship on the ways to build racial equity and solidarity in light of the rapid demographic transformation in America’s neighborhoods, schools and workplaces. Deepa is an attorney who has worked on civil and immigrant rights issues in the non-profit and governmental sectors for 15 years.
Most recently, Deepa served as Executive Director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) for a decade. While at SAALT, Deepa shaped the formation of the National Coalition of South Asian Organizations (NCSO), a network of local South Asian groups, and served as Chair of the National Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA). Prior to her tenure at SAALT, Deepa served as Legal Director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center; Trial Attorney at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; and Staff Attorney at the Asian American Justice Center.
Deepa is the author of the book, We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future, published in November 2015. Deepa’s opinion editorials on issues ranging from the post 9/11 backlash to immigration reform to anti-Black racism have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Al-Jazeera America, and The Nation.
An immigrant who moved to Kentucky when she was twelve, Deepa graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School and Vanderbilt University. Deepa is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Race Forward. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Since 1974, AALDEF has been protecting and promoting the civil rights of Asian Americans across the nation through litigation, advocacy, organizing, and community education. All proceeds from the gala will go directly towards supporting AALDEF’s legal and educational programs in immigrant rights, economic justice for workers, voting rights and civic participation, educational equity, housing and environmental justice, and the elimination of hate violence, police misconduct, and human trafficking.
India and the members of other G4 group of countries, Brazil, Germany and Japan have stated that they are willing to consider temporarily suspending their veto rights when and if they are made permanent members of the UN Security Council.
In a joint statement, delivered by India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin at an inter-governmental negotiations meeting on Wednesday, March 8th, the G4 nations of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan emphasized that an overwhelming majority of the UN member states supports the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent membership in a reformed Security Council.
On the issue of the veto, Akbaruddin said the question of veto has been addressed by many from differing perspectives but the G4 approach is that the problem of veto is not one of quantity (of extending it immediately to new permanent members) but of quality — of introducing restrictions.
“Our position is imbued with this spirit. While the new permanent members would as a principle have the same responsibilities and obligations as (the) current permanent members, they shall not exercise the veto until a decision on the matter has been taken during a review,” the G4 statement said. This change of heart is meant to hasten the process of making the G4 countries – India, Brazil, Germany and Japan – permanent members of the elite UN body sooner rather than later.
A proposal to this effect was set forward on Tuesday, March 7th by India’s Permanent Representative, Syed Akbaruddin, who was speaking on behalf of the G4 at the Inter-Governmental Negotiations on Council reforms. In the scenario G4 proposes, the new permanent members will, in principle, have veto powers that the current five members have. They just won’t exercise the veto until a decision, specifically on this matter, has been taken during a review.
That may sound reasonable to G4 members but it is strongly opposed by Uniting for Consensus (UfC), a 13-member group that includes Pakistan. Veto or no veto, Pakistan remained stoutly opposed even to this new G4 proposal.
UfC wants to create a new category of elected membership with longer terms than the current two years. For two decades, it has been blocking the reform process and waging a decades-long battle against expanding permanent membership. And as far as India is concerned, it’s UfC member Pakistan, which has been a thorn in its side.
Akbaruddin called the UfC proposal “old hat”. Any proposal for Council reforms without an expansion of the number of the permanent seats does “grave injustice to Africa’s aspirations for equality”, he said. G4 also believes UfC’s proposal is counter-productive and a ploy to block the addition of new permanent members.
“It will actually widen the difference between permanent and non-permanent members even more, tilting further the scales in favour of a dispensation that was valid in the special situation in 1945 but is no longer now,” the G4 statement said.
The bloc warned that the issue of veto was important but member states should not allow it to have a “veto over the process of Council reform itself.” Akbaruddin, on behalf of the G4, said the grouping was open to “innovative” and differing ideas compiled in a composite text to achieve UN reform. He asserted that the mere expansion in the category of non-permanent Security Council members will not address the “malaise” afflicting the UN body.
The statement points out that a negotiating text is a basic requirement for work at the UN. “While we are aware of no other way to proceed but this, we are open to innovative ideas to rework the UN system,” the statement said.
The G4 nations said it unfortunate that they have not heard any innovative ideas but a few countries bringing old rejected models for consideration of the member states yet again. “Merely possessing veto power, even without its use, has a telling impact on the Council’s working methods. But some of us propose more veto-wielding members in the Council, while calling for improved working methods of the Council. How can this dichotomy be justified,” said Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, Samaa.tv reported. The veto, Lodhi said, could be counterbalanced in the Council by strengthening the voice of elected members.
The G4 member states believe that some have “conflated and confused” regular elections to the Council with accountability. “Ensuring a perpetual campaign mode is not the best form of accountability,” the G4 statement said, without naming UfC or Pakistan. “No side is happy though with the current impasse in security council reform. “The issue of veto is important, but we should not allow it to have a veto over the process of Council reform itself,” said Akbaruddin.
Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has been fired by the Trump administration after refusing an order to resign. Bharara was one of the 46 Obama-appointed federal prosecutors who were told to submit their resignations on Friday, March 10th by the Justice Department, and he confirmed that he both refused to resign, and was then fired, in a tweet on Saturday, March 11th.
Bharara was appointed by Obama in 2009, and has earned the reputation of a “crusader” prosecutor. The 48-year-old Bharara has made a national and international mark for himself with many high-profile cases and investigations including foreign countries, insider trading and those involving US politicians.
The Trump administration had sought the resignations of 46 attorneys, who were appointed by former President Barack Obama. Defending the move, a White House statement said that both the George W Bush and Bill Clinton administrations made similar requests at the beginning of their term. In all there are 93 US attorneys. Many of them have already left their positions, but 46 attorneys who stayed on in the first weeks of the Trump administration have been asked by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign “in order to ensure a uniform transition,” Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said on Friday.
The crusading prosecutor – dubbed the “sheriff of Wall Street” – was the only Indian American U.S. attorney in the nation. Acting deputy Attorney General Dana Boente had called US Attorney Preet Bharara and told him President Trump was firing him, hours after he announced he would not resign under the guidance of a directive issued a day earlier by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the U.S. Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life no matter what else I do or how long I live,” Bharara tweeted mid-morning March 11. “One hallmark of justice is absolute independence, and that was my touchstone every day that I served,” he added.
“By the way, now I know what the Moreland Commission must have felt like,” Bharara tweeted a day later, referring to an independent body set up by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to investigate political corruption. The commission was abruptly disbanded a year later.
Bharara’s firing came only two days after reports emerged that his office had been asked by watchdog groups to investigate whether President Donald Trump’s business ties with foreign governments violated the Constitution.
Shortly after Trump was elected last November, Bharara met with him at Trump Towers in New York City. “We had a good meeting. I said I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on,” Bharara told reporters after the meeting. Bharara said he had also met earlier with Sessions who had asked him to stick on in his role. “He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing,” he had told reporters.
The president had uncharacteristically placed a call to Bharara’s office on March 9th, according to a report in The New York Times. Ethics protocols restrict communications between the White House and prosecutors, and Bharara told the newspaper he called the White House back to say the Attorney General’s office had advised him not to speak directly with the president, in keeping with ethics protocols. “The president reached out to Preet Bharara on Thursday to thank him for his service and to wish him good luck,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email to The Times.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-New York, praised Bharara in a statement March 11. “His relentless drive to root out public corruption, lock up terrorists, take on Wall Street, and stand up for what is right should serve as a model for all U.S. attorneys across the country. He will be sorely missed,” said Schumer. Bharara had worked as Schumer’s chief counsel for four years and the senator had recommended him for the post. Interestingly, after his appointment to the U.S. attorney’s office, Bharara had launched an investigation into one of Schumer’s donors.
During his seven years in the role, Bharara prosecuted several high-profile businessmen involved in insider trading, including former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta, McKinsey senior partner Anil Kumar, and Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam.
Bharara filed charges against Indian diplomat Khobragade in 2014 alleging that she committed visa fraud by lying on her employer contract about under-paying her Indian maid, Sangeeta Richard. Bharara’s office was currently investigating claims into possible fraud in fundraising for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat. He is also investigating whether aides to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, were involved in bribery and bid-rigging.
Bharara’s office convicted ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate majority leader Dean Skelos of corruption in separate trials last year. Bharara previously served as Assistant United States Attorney in Manhattan for five years, taking on the Mafia, as well as Asian gangs.
Vichal Kumar, president of the South Asian Bar Association of North America, is reported to have stated in a statement, that Bharara’s legacy is one South Asian legal professionals and the greater legal community can only hope to emulate. His dedication to public service throughout his career is exemplified by his devotion to protecting the rights of all communities and not shying away from the toughest challenges. “We are proud of his accomplishments and wish him the best of luck,” Kumar added.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein, said she is surprised to hear that Trump and Sessions have abruptly fired all 46 remaining US attorneys. “At a time when Attorney General Sessions has recused himself from major investigations into the Trump campaign, the independence of federal prosecutors could not be more important. That’s why many of us have called for the appointment of a special prosecutor,” she said, and added, “Under previous administrations, orderly transitions allowed US attorneys to leave gradually as their replacements were chosen. This was done to protect the independence of our prosecutors and avoid disrupting ongoing federal cases.”
Harmeet Dhillon, a top California state Republican operative is a front-runner for the position of chief of the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department. Harmeet Dhillon, 48, a senior Republican leader from California, interviewed with attorney general Jeff Sessions last week, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 9th.
Harmeet Dhillon, a successful trial lawyer in California, the first woman and Indian-American to represent her state in the national Republican Party, if selected for the post would replace Vanita Gupta, another Indian-American who held the post in the second term of the Obama administration. Dhillon could not comment on the matter when contacted.
Dhillon received national recognition when she covered her head with her shawl and said a Sikh prayer at the Republican Party Convention last year where President Donald Trump was anointed as the candidate for the White House.
If nominated by US President Donald Trump, San Francisco-based Dhillon would replace another Indian-American Vanita Gupta to the position in the Department of Justice. Gupta, who was appointed by former US President Barack Obama, put in her papers once Trump was sworn in. The name of Dhillon, an accomplished lawyer, has popped up at a time when the Indian-American community have been hit by at least three hate crimes in the last two weeks. Established in 1957, the Civil Rights Division works to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the vulnerable members of society.
Heading an eponymous law firm in San Francisco founded in 2006, Dhillon has received numerous awards as a top lawyer, including the Northern California Super Lawyer in business litigation by Thomson/West Publishing, an accolade reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in the jurisdiction.
She previously served at the Justice Department before going into private practice, and is credited with growing GOP support in the heavily Democratic state. As an at-large Indian-American delegate from California, Dhillon delivered the invocation to start the second day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland July 19, 2016. Watched by not just the thousands of Republican delegates at the Convention, but the nation and the world, Dhillon is remembered for delivering a Sikh prayer in Gurmukhi.
Born in Punjab, Dhillon came to the United States as a small child with her family. She attended public schools in North Carolina, where her father started his medical practice, and she graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. She majored in Classical Studies at Dartmouth College, where she was the editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth Review. She did law at the University of Virginia Law School.
A lifelong Republican, she served as Vice Chair of the California Republican Party for three years before becoming the first woman-of-color ‘National Committeewoman’ to the Republican National Committee May 1, 2016, when the California GOP elected her at the state convention. With that election, Dhillon also became the first Indian-American on the RNC, and promised to stir things up during her four-year stint at the high table. That term may be cut short if the Trump administration selects her to head the important position as head of the Civil Rights Division at DOJ.
Criticism has come from conservative circles. According to Powerline, an online post from the Right, “Dhillon has certain liberal sympathies and holds certain liberal views. As discussed below, this turns out to be the case. Thus, the selection of Dhillon for a position as important as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights would be a stunning betrayal of conservatives by the Trump administration. Conservatives believed (and still do) that President Trump would eschew political correctness and identity politics, relieve local police departments of excessive federal oversight, clamp down on voting fraud, and take a hard line on illegal immigration.”
Dhillon has considerable litigation experience having represented a range of clients in state and federal courts and administrative tribunals, from e-Commerce leaders, private companies, entrepreneurs, celebrities, film and music artists, authors, advertising executives, franchisees, public utilities, educational institutions and nonprofits. She has won numerous awards and recognition for her pro bono legal work on behalf of domestic violence survivors, religious discrimination plaintiffs, and political refugees, according to her website. Her experience also encompasses securities, entertainment, employment discrimination and civil rights matters. She has developed a niche practice offered by a mere handful of companies in California, in election and campaign law matters.
At a recent Harvard Business School Conference on ‘Creating Emerging Markets’ held in Mumbai, Shahnaz Husain, who was a ‘Case Study’ and now a ‘Subject’ and part of the Curriculum on Emerging Markets at Harvard, Boston
Prof Geoffrey Jones, Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Harvard Business School, stated at the conference, “We felt compelled to include Shahnaz Husain in Harvard Business School’s Creating Emerging Markets project, both because of her entrepreneurial role in creating India’s natural beauty market and her strong belief in the importance of corporate social responsibility. In both regards she is a pioneer and a role model, and we were delighted and humbled that she was willing to spare her time to help the project succeed. We anticipate that the interview will be widely used by educators and researchers, and by many others interested in seeing how she became so successful and impactful.”
Shahnaz Husain`s journey as an entrepreneur is a great inspiration for all the young entrepreneurs and startup ventures. Shahnaz Husain is one of the rare and few first generation women entrepreneur, pioneer, visionary and an innovator, who introduced a totally new concept of Ayurvedic Care and Cure worldwide. She created a brand with universal appeal and application. Shahnaz Husain`s brand found place in the international market for Ayurvedic beauty care. In a world ridden with environmental degradation, Shahnaz Husain ventured into the world of nature and its healing powers, taking the Indian herbal heritage of Ayurveda to every corner of the globe with a crusader’s zeal.
Shahnaz Husain was candid in her utterance when questions were thrown to her. The pioneer of Ayurvedic beauty care has achieved unprecedented international acclaim for her practical application of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of herbal healing. Just when there was a worldwide “back to nature” trend, Shahnaz Husain recaptured an ancient herbal system and made it relevant to modern demands.
The suave and soft-spoken, Shahnaz’s study of Ayurveda, the Indian holistic system of herbal healing, strengthened her faith in nature after finding that it could offer the ideal answers to protective, preventive and even corrective cosmetic-care. What started as a young women entrepreneur`s dream is today one of the biggest brand in the cosmetic care space, the Shahnaz Husain Group. Shahnaz Husain is the CEO and the Brand Ambassador of the group. Today, the group has a chain of over 400 franchise clinics, shops, schools and spas worldwide, as well as ayurvedic formulations for skin, hair, body and health care covering almost 138 coutries. Her journey, from one herbal clinic to a worldwide chain, is one of unprecedented success. What started as a small business at home at a time when internet was unheard of, went on to become one of the greatest brands across the globe in the ayurvedic care segment.
Caption
Shahnaz Husain, Who was a ‘Case Study’ and now a ‘Subject’ and part of the Curriculum on Emerging Markets at Harvard, Boston, seen with Prof Geoffrey Jones at the Harvard Conference held in Mumbai
Ambassador of India Navtej Sarna hosted a reception for a record 26 Governors of the States of the US at his residence on February 24 in Washington, DC. The gathering of governors from across the nation, representing both the major political parties, described as the first of its nature held in recent years, was attended by a record number of Governors, including Governors of Virginia, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virgin Islands, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Senior representatives of Governors of California, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania were also in the audience.
Ramping up its diplomatic profile in Washington with an eye on the Donald Trump administration’s orientation towards business, the Indian embassy, for the first time, hosted a reception for US governors who gather in the capital every year for their winter meeting. It’s a prestigious event that India won the chance to host, over stiff competition from other missions.
Founded in 1908, NGA is one of Washington D.C.’s most respected public policy organizations and is called the “collective voice” of the nation’s governors. Its prestigious membership includes the governors of all 55 US’ states, territories and commonwealths.
The reception aimed at showcasing for the governors the business potential of the partnership not only between the United States and India, but also between US states and India — Sarna called for “even greater attention” on the need for “state-to-state relations”.
Welcoming the guests, Ambassador Sarna noted that this evening interaction reflected the solid ground of bipartisan political and popular support on which the India-US strategic partnership is based. He emphasized that the India-US relationship is a symbiotic one which embodies our shared values of freedom, democracy and federation.
The Indian Ambassador underlined the particularly fruitful economic relationship between India and the United States that has greatly benefitted the two countries- providing jobs, creating resources and making both countries globally competitive.
Urging US companies to be part of the Indian success story, Ambassador said that India’s booming economy creates strong demand for U.S. goods, helping to create jobs and prosperity. Ambassador added that Indian companies operate in most U.S. states and are present in diverse sectors like IT and telecommunications, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, education, financial service and manufacturing.
Ambassador drew attention to the immense contribution of the high tech sector in promoting bilateral economic cooperation. From 2011-15, studies by reputed business houses reveal that more than 400,000 jobs have been directly and indirectly supported by the Indian tech companies recording a growth of 10% annually. Over the last 5 years, Indian tech companies have paid over $20 billion as taxes, $7 billion towards social security contributions and impacted over 120,000 American lives through Corporate Social Responsibility contributions.
While summing up, Ambassador said that since US and India are both federal in their polity and governance systems, States will always have a critical role to play in spurring growth and facilitating investments. India’s Prime Minister, who has himself been the Chief Minister of a State for more than a decade, is a strong believer in ‘cooperative federalism’. This platform of cooperation between the Indian Embassy and NGA thus provides us with fertile ground for fruitful and active cooperation between State level authorities of our two countries.
On the behalf of NGA, its Chair, Gov. McAuliffe of Virginia highlighted the rapid strides and holistic growth in the bilateral relationship. Fondly recalling his eleven day visit to India in November 2015 (as the head of a Trade and Investment Mission), he highlighted the various opportunities that a growing Indian market represents to US companies and investments. On behalf of NGA, he assured the gathering that NGA and its components- the US State Governments, will continue to work closely with India to assure a safe and secure work and living environment for Indian citizens in the US as well as a productive business environment conditioned by a favourable regulatory and legal set-up.
To express their appreciation and regard, Vice Chair of NGA, Gov. Sandoval then presented a memento to Ambassador Sarna. The evening’s formal programme concluded with the screening of several visual presentations showcasing the themes of ‘Invest and Make in India’ jointly prepared and produced by the Ministry of External Affairs, Invest India Corporation, NASSCOM and the Embassy of India in Washington D.C.
The ambassador reminded his guests — who included CEOs and business leaders from India and the United States — the importance that Prime Minister Narendra Modi attaches to the development of states in India under the larger concept of “cooperative federalism”.
The reception comes close on the heels of a combined delegation of 27 US members of the House of Representatives that visited India last week, and set another record for the maximum number of lawmakers the country hosted at the same time.
Indian American judge Amul Thapar, once considered by President Donald Trump to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, is being vetted by the White House for a federal appeals court seat.
Currently a federal district court judge, Thapar is considered a frontrunner for one of two openings on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, BuzzFeed reported, citing two lawyers familiar with the process.
Amul Thapar was among the shortlisted potential nominees for Supreme Court judge picked by President Donald Trump during the Fall comapign. Thapar’s name had figured in Trump’s second list of individuals who would be considered for the nomination of a Supreme Court judge. The list was announced on September 23 last year.
When Thapar was confirmed in 2008, he became the first South Asian American to join a federal district or appeals court bench. Thapar was among the 21 names that Trump said he would consider to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court.
The nomination list now assumes significance since Trump, as the 45th president of the United States, would be in a position to nominate the three Supreme Court judges.
Thapar currently holds the position of US District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The first Article II Judge of South Asian origin, he was nominated to this position by the former Republican president George W Bush.
“He has taught law students at the University of Cincinnati and Georgetown. Thapar has served as an Assistant US Attorney in Washington and the Southern District of Ohio,” the Trump Campaign said.
Immediately prior to his judicial appointment, Judge Thapar was the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Judge Thapar received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
The lawyers told BuzzFeed that the FBI in February interviewed people who know Thapar as part of a background check, a practice that is common as a final step before a nomination process. BuzzFeed said the lawyers were not aware of any other candidates.
It’s not expected that any nominations for lower-level court vacancies will be announced until Judge Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, is confirmed. Roughly 13 percent of all authorized federal judgeships, 120 seats to be exact, are open, the report said.
Judge Thapar is considered a strict constructionist — a conservative legal philosophy that calls for a narrow reading of the U.S. Constitution, the report added. Among his cases were the high-profile criminal case against an elderly Catholic nun convicted of breaking into a military facility used to store uranium as part of a protest. In that case, Thapar sentenced the then 84-year-old nun to 35 months in prison, less than the prosecutors’ recommended prison time.
Indonesia is currently the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, but Pew Research Center projects that India will have that distinction by the year 2050, while remaining a majority-Hindu country, with more than 300 million Muslims. The Muslim population in Europe also is growing; with the projected 10% of all Europeans to be Muslims by 2050.
In 2015, according to estimates, there were 3.3 million Muslims of all ages in the U.S., or about 1% of the U.S. population. Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study found that 0.9% of U.S. adults identify as Muslims. A 2011 survey of Muslim Americans, which was conducted in English as well as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, estimated that there were 1.8 million Muslim adults (and 2.75 million Muslims of all ages) in the country. That survey also found that a majority of U.S. Muslims (63%) are immigrants.
According to a Pew Research report, there were 1.6 billion Muslims in the world as of 2010 – roughly 23% of the global population. But while Islam is currently the world’s second-largest religion (after Christianity), it is the fastest-growing major religion. Indeed, if current demographic trends continue, the number of Muslims is expected to exceed the number of Christians by the end of this century.
Although many countries in the Middle East-North Africa region, where the religion originated in the seventh century, are heavily Muslim, the region is home to only about 20% of the world’s Muslims. A majority of the Muslims globally (62%) live in the Asia-Pacific region, including large populations in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey.
Pew’s demographic projections estimate that Muslims will make up 2.1% of the U.S. population by the year 2050, surpassing people who identify as Jewish on the basis of religion as the second-largest faith group in the country (not including people who say they have no religion.
A recent Pew Research Center report estimated that the Muslim share of immigrants granted permanent residency status (green cards) increased from about 5% in 1992 to roughly 10% in 2012, representing about 100,000 immigrants in that year.
Muslims are the fastest-growing religious group in the world. The growth and regional migration of Muslims, combined with the ongoing impact of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) and other extremist groups that commit acts of violence in the name of Islam, have brought Muslims and the Islamic faith to the forefront of the political debate in many countries. Yet many facts about Muslims are not well known in some of these places, and most Americans – who live in a country with a relatively small Muslim population – say they know little or nothing about Islam.
There are two major factors behind the rapid projected growth of Islam, and both involve simple demographics. For one, Muslims have more children than members of other religious groups. Around the world, each Muslim woman has an average of 3.1 children, compared with 2.3 for all other groups combined.
Muslims are also the youngest (median age of 23 years old in 2010) of all major religious groups, seven years younger than the median age of non-Muslims. As a result, a larger share of Muslims already are, or will soon be, at the point in their lives when they begin having children. This, combined with high fertility rates, will fuel Muslim population growth.
While it does not change the global population, migration is helping to increase the Muslim population in some regions, including North America and Europe.Americans view more warmly the seven other religious groups mentioned in the survey (Jews, Catholics, mainline Protestants, evangelical Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons). But views toward Muslims (as well as several of the other groups) are now warmer than they were a few years ago; in 2014, U.S. adults gave Muslims an average rating of 40 degrees in a similar survey.
Vin Gopal, a well known Indian-American Democratic Party activist and small-business owner in New Jersey, has formally announced his run for the New Jersey state Senate on February 22. Gopal recently stepped down after serving for four years as the chair of the Monmouth County Democratic Party, a perch from where he is credited with engineering several electoral victories to mayoral, city councils and the state assembly.
If Gopal wins, he will be the first Indian-American state Senator. His first fundraiser March 1 is in the home of a Bangladeshi-American couple Nasreen and Ghulam Suhrawardi in Colts Neck, N.J. A Senate race, he estimates, will cost around $2 million and he is counting on the community support for the elections in November 2018.
According to Gopal, the most pressing issues facing the district and the state: “We have pressing property tax issues. We have a mass municipality problem in 566 towns — parking authorities, sewage authorities, school districts. These are not popular issues to take on and I think both parties have failed on this issue and I want to go in and try to bring some consensus and work hard to really help the taxpayers of the state.”
Gopal believes that “We need to seriously look at our school funding formula. We need to seriously look at our overall property tax structure. We need to look at this grip of municipalities and government that New Jersey currently has.”
In his opinion, New Jersey, because of the last several governors, not just Gov. Christie, has severe, severe economic problems. Gopal wants both parties to come together, with a Democratic governor which I believe will be Phil Murphy, to come together and solve some of these economic problems. “And we can do that by solving the school funding program, by solving the issue of 566 municipalities. We have towns in Monmouth County that have a population of 200, 300, 400 people and they have full municipal services. That hurts every taxpayer in the state.”
On Gov. Christie’s “Fairness Formula” Gopal, says, “I think it’s a terrible formula that he has. I support the one that Senate President [Steve] Sweeney and Assemblyman [Eric] Houghtaling and Assemblywoman [Joann] Downey have in the 11th District which takes the politics out of it and actually gives fairness. That way you don’t have legislators in different areas of the state wanting to get money for their district. I think we need a fair formula.”
According to him, his hard work and dedication have paid off. Gopal, who owns a successful business that now has 14 employees, recalls, “When I started my business 10 years ago, I was the only one there. I went months without taking a paycheck. I worked very hard. I’ve been a board member of our county chamber of commerce. I am very passionate about the economy, creating jobs and ending the political gridlock that exists. I think Sen. Beck has been in office for nearly 20 years as a lobbyist and as a legislator and I think it’s just simply time for a change.”
The Indian community in the United States has reached out in solidarity with the victims of an apparent hate crime in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an Indian professional, was fatally shot dead and two others were shot at, last week at a bar in Olathe, Kansas.
The shooter yelled “get out of my country” shortly before shooting the two men he thought were Middle Eastern. Both Srinivas (who died) and Alok (who survived) are immigrants of Indian origin. Ian Grillot was shot while trying to defend these two Indian men.
Many community members remain in shock over the shooting in Olathe, a suburb of Kansas City, when a drunk white man allegedly opened fire on two young Indian engineers, screaming racial slurs and telling them “Get out of my country.”
A candle-light vigil for the victims of the hate crime in Kansas was held on Sunday, Feb. 26, at Oak Tree Road, Iselin, New Jersey. The event was organized by the South Asian Community Outreach (SACO) under the leadership of Sam Khan, Chairman, Founder and President of SACO, Dr. Nimisha Shukla and other active members. This was part of SACO’s effort to bring the communities together and stay standing as one in tough times, with the SACO slogans:
“Hate for None, Love for All”. And “Unity in Diversity” were some of the banners members of the community carried at the rally. Attended by hundreds of members from the New York tri-state, representing several organizations, including elected officials, to show their solidarity and diversity. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Jew religious organizations’ representatives participated in this protest against the hate.
Sam Khan said, “SACO’s message is that all of us must stand together, because such racist policies embolden bigots in our society and has already led to an increase in hate crimes — and now killings — towards all people of color. A bigot sees no difference between Indians, Iraqis and Yemenis; or Hindus, Muslims, Christian and Sikhs.”
In a message, Dr. Nimisha Shukla said, “And so, weeping tears for Srinivas Kuchibotla, who lost his life to this hatred which is gripping our country, but standing together, clinging together, never forgetting we are together, choosing love over hate, again and again and again, let us shout: WE ARE ONE.”
Sai Kota, cousin of the victim Srinivas Kuchibhotla, along with his other family members, also spoke at the protest and requested everyone to sign the petition against hate crime. Others who had attended and spoke at the protest rally included Middlesex County Freeholder Shanti Narra, County Freeholder Charles Kenny, County Freeholder Kenneth Arm wood, Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin, Edison Councilman Ajay Patil, Pastors Amon Sharon and from different churches, a speaker from a Hindu temple, members of the organization Indian-American Muslim Council, President Minhaj Khan, New Pakistan PAC Dr. Ejaz Ahmed, Peter Kothari from Indo American cultural society,Manher Shah and Harshad Patel of IBA, Nilesh Dasondi, Parul Amin , Sanjeev Kapoor from IAFA, Col Tavathia and Seema Jagtiani from Shradha, Pakistan Day Parade Chairman Dr.Zubair,Members of the TANA Telugu Association of North America, Srujal and Saurin Parikh from FIA, Secretary of the Federation of Malayalee Associations of Americas (FOMAA) Jiby M Thomas, Syriac Kurian, Aniyan George, President of KANJ Swapna Rajesh, Ajith Hariharan, Saji Paul, Jos Vilayil, Anil Nair, Jay Kulambil, Jithesh Nambiar, Ajayan Venugopal, Sheela Sreekumar, Dr.Smitha Manoj, Anne George, Peter George, Savith Sampath from the Sadhana Coalition of Progressive Hindus, Secretary of NJ World Malalayee Council Jinesh Thampi , community leaders Juned Qazi, Harkesh Thakur from the Jersey City Sikh Temple, and past District Governor of Lions Club Mahesh Chittnis.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres has extended the term of Atul Khare, the highest ranking Indian civil servant at the U.N., as the Under- Secretary General for Field Support till April 2018. Khare plays a key role in tamping down the sexual abuse and exploitation scandal in U.N. peace-keeping operations.
“The Secretary General has decided that the mandate of senior officials working in the Peace and Security pillar should be maintained for another one year,” his spokesperson Farhan Haq said Feb. 15. This also related to Guterres setting up a team to review the working of the UN in order to carry out his promise of reforming the U.N.
“This important work will require both expertise and experience from principals and all staff members,” Guterres said while announcing the review.
Khare will also serve on the U.N.’s Senior Management Group, the high-level body chaired by the Secretary-General that deals with policy and planning matters across the U.N. A medical doctor by training, Khare joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1984 and has since served in several UN positions, many relating to peacekeeping.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had appointed Atul Khare of India as Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, Department of Field Support ion January 2015. He succeeded Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh.
Khare brings to the position strategic management and innovative reform expertise in both headquarters and field perspective. Currently providing charitable medical advice in India, Khare has a long senior career with the United Nations, most recently as Assistant Secretary-General leading the Change Management Team (2011-2012) and Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and Deputy Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York (2010-2011).
He was previously Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) at the level of Under-Secretary-General (2006-2009), working earlier as Chief of Staff and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General with the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET).
Former Director of The Nehru Centre and Minister (Culture), High Commission of India in London (2005-2006), Khare served during his tenure with the Indian Foreign Service in its diplomatic missions in France, Mauritius, Senegal, Thailand and the United Kingdom, as well as the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York.
Khare holds bachelor’s degrees in medicine and surgery from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, as well as master’s degrees in business administration and leadership from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.
While announcing that the 37th annual India Day parade will be on Sunday, August 20 on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, Andy Bhatia, who has assumed charge as the president of the Federation of Indian Association in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, in an exclusive interview with this writer, said, “The parade management will be totally different this year.”
India Day Parade is known to be the 2nd largest in the world after India’s own Republic Day parade in New Delhi. Describing that the 37th annual parade will be a way of presenting India’s unique culture and vibrancy, Bhatia, a well known community activist and leader said, “Th iconic India Gate will be installed in the food court area and we will reach out to the New Yorkers in advance to come and enjoy the Indian cuisine.”
According to Bhatia, the India Day Banquet to celebrate 70th Independence Day will be on Saturday, August 19. There will be a solid one hour entertainment and a well-known singer is expected to entertain by singing in different Indian languages. “This year it will be a sit down dinner with white glove service. We will announce the program and the menu in advance,” Bhatia said.
According to Andy Bhatia, “There will be the first ever fundraiser –GIFT BAZAAR- on April 29 & 30 at the TV Asia studios in Edison, NJ. The plan is seek the members of the Indian American community to donate to FIA unwanted gifts received and new merchandise. FIA will issue a tax deductible receipt for the value and sell them at the Gift Bazaar to raise funds for its community projects,” he said.
Its’ not all about fun with the new leadership of FIA under Andy Bhatia, he said. A college fair to target the second generation will also take place in the Fall this year. It will be open to all young people wanting to meet with college recruiters. In addition, FIA is also planning on holding visa camps in NJ, PA, LI and CT, making it easier for people to take benefit of the Consular services in their own neighborhoods, Bhatia said. .Among others, he said, there are plans being made to hold an event in Connecticut that will be of interest to South Asians and their friends,” Bhatia informed this writer.
Andy Bhatia, who is the president of American Sales and Marketing Partners LLC, who has extensive experience in the airline/travel industry. He retired as the Area Sales Manager for Air India in New York, where he worked for nearly 35 years, both in the field and at the North American Headquarters in various capacities.
He has served in the FIA in various capacities for several years. For a quarter of a century, he actively participated in organizing the India Day Parade and Diwali Festival in New York City and Diwali Mela in Jackson Heights, among other community events in the Tri-State area on behalf of Air India.
He was honored thrice by the FIA and the National Federation of Indian Associations (NFIA.) He is credited with conceptualizing and launching the ‘Know India Seminars’ in USA and Canada which were attended by more than 6000 American travel agents to qualify as India tourism specialists. He also formulated the concept of selling co-op tours by agents in non-conflicting sales territories to increase tourist bookings to India.
Organizations including the Gujrati Samaj USA, City Council of New York, and Jackson Heights Merchants Association too honored him. He was also selected for the Paul Harris Fellowship Award of Rotary International for International Relations in 1998. The travel industry honored him several times.
Another honor he cherishes was the WICC Radio Station’s Community Service Salute (1971, 1974) for community service in the Greater Bridgeport area. He was also honored by the Rotary Club of Bridgeport with the Outstanding Young Man of America award (1971 and 1974) for leadership qualities when he was a student.
He was also instrumental in the launching a bi-monthly India Travel newsletter and the Traveler’s India magazine. He continues to be engaged in the industry as a consultant and serves as a member of several travel trade associations including the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s New York Chapter and the American Society of Travel Agents, Airline Sales Managers Association and SKAL International.
He also worked at the Public Relations and Development Office at the University of Bridgeport as executive secretary of the Committee on Informal Education. He chaired the Halsey International Scholarship Program consisting of community support groups representing sixteen countries including India’s Shastri Scholarship Committee.
Andy Bhatia assumed charge as the President of FIA on January 1 along with a new team comprising of Srujal Parikh (executive vice president); Alok Kumar (vice president); Chhavi Dharayan (secretary); Jatin Patel (joint secretary); Himanshu Bhatia (treasurer); Anand Patel (immediate past president) promising that an all out effort will be made to expand the activities of the organization.
The signature events of the FIA, including the India Day Parade, India Day Banquet and the Dance pe Chance. Expanding the programs of FIA to Connecticut and Queens/Long Island areas are also being explored, he said.
While China was once the hot emerging market for foreign investment — with its consistent double-digit GDP growth and massive population — it’s begun to lose luster in recent years amid slowing growth and what many businesses say is a deteriorating atmosphere for foreign companies. But India, with economic growth that’s been picking up steam, promising trends in demographics, urbanization, and infrastructure development, and a government that’s courting foreign investment, is starting to look more appealing.
“The rates of return for international investors [in India] have been average,” said Mini Roy, managing director at Standard Chartered Bank for emerging markets, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. “But there’s an expectation that if India opens up, you could make so much more. That’s why people are going.”
Speaking at Asia Society in New York on February 7 at an event on investment opportunities in India, Roy noted that, in spite of the shock demonetization announcement in November that voided certain currency notes, the government has made considerable strides in liberalizing the economy and making it more transparent and accessible for foreign investment. Two particularly promising sectors are infrastructure and consumer goods. “It’s a huge economy with a lot of people and they all need stuff,” she said.
Naveen Aggarwal, India-U.S. corridor leader at KPMG India, said that the country’s young population presents enormous potential, and a drive to connect far-flung regions by developing digital and transportation infrastructure means more and more of them will become active players in the economy. Half of India’s 1.25 billion population is under 25-years-old, and they’re rapidly urbanizing. “The modern Indian consumer is wanting to look better, travel better, eat better, and is aspirational, “Aggarwal said. “[There are] very different categories of products getting consumed today, ranging from automobiles to personal care products and restaurants.”
He also noted that of the 350,000 babies born around the world each day, 70,000 are in India. But currently, only 3 percent of them use diapers, which is one indicator of the untapped potential. “The opportunity there is $70 billion,” he said. “That’s the kind of consumerism we’re looking at in India — with the kind of urbanization and shift in demographics that we’re going to see.”
In the above video of the program, panelists discuss other sectors “ripe for investment” in India and the implications of government economic policies.
Kishan Bhatt, a Princeton University senior, is among 10 students recognized by Princeton University as Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI). Bhatt, from Edison, New Jersey, is at the Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton. His focus is global health and health policy as well as American studies. He is also a health policy scholar at Princeton’s Center for Health and Wellbeing.
Established in 2006, SINSI is designed to encourage, support and prepare the nation’s top students to pursue careers in the U.S. federal government, in international and domestic agencies. Through rigorous academic training integrated with work experience, the goal of the highly competitive scholarship program is to provide students with the language and workplace skills needed to succeed in the public policy arena.
This year, for the first time, two groups of students have been admitted to the program. Seniors and first-year Master in Public Affairs students were able to apply for the graduate scholarship, and four graduate scholars were admitted. In addition, all freshmen, sophomores and juniors were invited to apply for new SINSI internships, and six students were admitted. In previous years, a total of five students were selected annually for SINSI during their junior year.
Kishan Bhatt, a senior from Edison, New Jersey, is a Wilson School concentrator and a certificate candidate in global health and health policy and American studies. A U.S. health policy scholar at Princeton’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, he cares deeply about policies that encourage medical innovation, disease prevention and value-based health care delivery.
During summer 2016, Bhatt analyzed clinical cost and outcomes data for Remedy Partners, a technology start-up that serves 1,300 hospitals participating in Medicare’s $12 billion Bundled Payment for Care Improvement program. Previously, he researched counter-bioterrorism strategy at the Federation of American Scientists, publishing a report for federal officials on the legal and biological tools to deter and detect potential disease threats. Bhatt has studied abroad in Spain and directed an international exchange program connecting 80 high school students from Japan and the United States. He serves as a four-year senator for the Undergraduate Student Government, a peer career adviser, an Orange Key tour guide and a fellow with the Human Values Forum.
Also among the 10 recipients was Nabil Shaikh, a senior from Reading, Pennsylvania, whose major is politics, along with pursuing a certificate in global health and health policy. During summer 2016, Shaikh spent two months as a Princeton Global Health Scholar in Hyderabad, where he surveyed more than 100 terminally ill cancer patients on their experiences with accessing end-of-life care, as part of his thesis program.
Nabil Shaikh, a senior from Reading, Pennsylvania, is a politics major and a certificate candidate in global health and health policy and in values and public life. Shaikh, who cares deeply about global access to health care and health disparities, has spent his time at Princeton broadening his understanding of how various actors and policies shape health and wellness in society.
During summer 2016, Shaikh spent two months as a Princeton Global Health Scholar in Hyderabad, India, where he performed thesis research surveying more than 100 terminally ill cancer patients on their experiences with accessing end-of-life care. He then spent time in Trenton, New Jersey, as a policy research intern at the New Jersey Department of Health, focusing on minority and multicultural health. Shaikh is active in the activities of the Muslim Life Program, Muslim Advocates for Social Justice and the Office of Religious Life. He has served as treasurer for the Pace Council for Civic Values and as a freshman trip leader for Community Action.
Indian American Nirmal Narvekar, the new head of Harvard University’s endowment, is elading efforts to make changes to the fund by outsourcing most of its assets and lay off about half the staff, media reports say. Narvekar, who started his new role of endowment head in December, intends to slash half of the Harvard Management Co.’s 230-person staff and shift most of its money to outside managers.
The new chief executive of Harvard Management Co, which manages the university’s endowment, announced the plans in a letter, said the investment arm will shut down its internal hedge funds and let traders go by the middle of 2017, essentially abandoning a so-called hybrid model that was unique among big endowments.
The internal team that oversees real-estate investments will spin out into an independent group that is expected to keep managing money for Harvard. HMC will lay off roughly half of its 230-person staff, by the end of the year.
“The investment landscape has evolved significantly, requiring us to adapt two aspects of HMC’s organizational and investment models in order to maximize performance over the long term,” Narvekar wrote in the letter.
For decades, Harvard’s investment performance was the envy of the financial world, but it has lagged rivals for some years now and posted its worst performance since the financial crisis in fiscal 2016 when the portfolio lost 2 percent.
Harvard has long operated differently from most other schools, including fellow Ivy Leaguer Yale, managing some of its money internally and farming out only a portion to external managers.
Harvard first hinted at upcoming changes in June as performance continued to lag. While Narvekar is preparing to lay off dozens of employees, he is also hiring a team of four investors who he said will be instrumental in moving Harvard away from its specialized asset class investing approach to a more generalist model.
The four are Rick Slocum, who will join in March as chief investment officer, and Vir Dholabhai, Adam Goldstein and Charlie Saravia, who will be managing directors. Goldstein and Saravia worked with Narvekar previously when he ran Columbia University’s $9.6 billion endowment.
Narvekar, tasked to turn around the $35.7 billion fund, has proven that outsourcing could work, as he did with a 20-person staff at Columbia recently, outperforming Harvard in the process, a Bloomberg report said. “We can no longer justify the organizational complexity and resources necessary to support the investing activities of these portfolios,” Narvekar, 54, wrote Jan. 25 in a letter to Harvard. “Therefore, we have made some important but very difficult decisions.”
Harvard’s recent returns have trailed rivals in recent years. The endowment’s annualized gains of 5.7 percent over the 10 years ended June 30, 2016, are second-lowest among Ivy League schools and below the 8.1 percent returns of Yale University and Narvekar’s former employer Columbia, the WSJ reported. The endowment’s budget provides more than a third of the university’s operating budget and contributes to the costs of student financial aid, research and professor salaries.
New York, NY: “It’s very great joy that I want to invite you all to come and be part of the 35th annual American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) Convention 2017 to be held at brand new state of the art Convention Centre, totaling an area of about 225,000 square feet the prestigious Harrah’s Resort in the beautiful Atlantic City in New Jersey from June 21 – 15, 2017,” Dr. Ajay Lodha, President, AAPI, declared here today.
The convention is expected to be addressed by the US President, by senior world leaders, US Senators, Nobel Laureates, Governors, Congressmen, and celebrities from the Hollywood and Bollywood world.
“The annual convention this year is being organized by AAPI’s New York Chapter. Elaborating on the efforts and preparations that have been devoted to put together this unique event, Raj Bhayani, MD, 2017 Convention Chair, said. “We have been working hard to put together an attractive program for our annual get together, educational activity and family enjoyment. I and the Co-Chairs are fortunate to have a dedicated team of convention committee members from the Tri-State region helping us. We are expecting a record turnout and hence I would encourage early registration to avoid later disappointment.”
According to Dr. Lodha, the organizing committees have been working hard to make the AAPI Convention of 2017 rewarding and memorable for all with Continuing Education Meetings, National and India based Health Policy Forums, Youth Seminars, New Physician and Resident Student meetings. Physicians attending this convention will benefit not only from cutting edge CME, but also the camaraderie of their alumni groups and share in our common heritage. Social events are all being planned meticulously so that maximum benefit can be accomplished.
“Many of the physicians who will attend this convention have excelled in different specialties and subspecialties and occupy high positions as faculty members of medical schools, heads of departments, and executives of hospital staff. The AAPI Convention offers an opportunity to meet directly with these physicians who are leaders in their fields and play an integral part in the decision-making process regarding new products and services,” Dr. Gautam Samadder, President-Elect, pointed out.
With 125,000 square feet of total meeting space, Harrah’s Waterfront Conference Center and other halls of 50,000 square feet with no pillars, the largest meeting facility of its kind from Baltimore to Boston, with excellent view of stage by every attendee, and having ample space for exhibition booths display with recognition by our members, the Resort is truly one of its kind in the world.
In addition to the exhibition hall featuring large exhibit booth spaces in which the healthcare industry will have the opportunity to engage, inform and educate the physicians directly through one on one, hands on product demonstrations and discussions, there will be focused group and specialty Product Theater, Interactive Medical Device Trade Show, and special exhibition area for new innovations by young physicians.
“The vast shopping arcade and exhibition booths will display of various booths representing real diamond/colored stone jewelry, artificial jewelers, exquisite clothing of various types, finance, travel, food, pharmaceuticals, and newer technology. The elegantly made souvenir will offer equal opportunity to display members’ articles and research work,” Dr. Naresh Parikh, Vice President of AAPI, highlighted.
“Alumni meetings for networking, match-making, also an AAPI-India Strategic Engagement Forum to showcase the AAPI initiatives in India like Trauma Brain Injury Guidelines, MoU on TB Eradication in India and recognition of AAPI award winners will make this Convention unique,” Dr. Suresh Reddy, Secretary of AAPI, said.
The Convention offers 12 credit hours of cutting edge CMEs as per AMA guidelines by well renowned thought leaders in their respective areas, being organized by Drs. Jagat Narula and Atul Prakash. Spiritual session is to be led by renowned Brahmakumari Shivani Didi. The Women’s Forum will feature well renowned women leaders, politicians, academicians, artists, sports women, and is being coordinated by Drs. Purnima Kothari and Udaya Shivangi.
According to Dr. Manju Sachdev, Treausrer of AAPI, “The A-Z Package is available for $599 for AAPI members, includes all meals , entertainments, general events, fashion shows, spiritual sessions, Women’s Forum and 12hrs of CME. Do take advantage of early discount before prices go high. Standard Room rate is $159 per night, plus taxes with free parking and wifi. Suites are available at discounted negotiated prices for registered participants of the convention.”
Madhu Aggarwal, MD, Chair, AAPI BOT, says, “The CEO Forum, which is by invitation will have CEOs of leading healthcare firms, who will give their thought process on the development of medical science and current changes, especially with the ongoing national discussions on the repairing/repealing of the Healthcare delivery in the nation. Also, for the first time, AAPI is inviting CEOs preferably with their innovative technologies in the field of medicine.”
“The AAPI Research Symposium is an exciting venue to learn about and present new and exciting research as well as case reports and discussions,” says Dr. Aaditya Desai, MD
YPS President and an organizer of the contest. “Presenting before the Indian physician community adds a personal feel to the event that provides an additional sense of pride. I have presented at many renown national meetings at this point in my career, but my parents were particularly proud of my accomplishments with AAPI,” added Atul Nakhasi, MD, MSRF President.
The Convention will also offer special emphasis on Integrative Medicine (AYUSH) and Medical innovations. AAPI Talent show at the Harrah’s newly built elegant Theatre will provide a perfect setting for our AAPI delegates to display their talents. Being put together by Drs. Seema Arora and Amit Chakrabarty, the competitive session for the AAPI members will be judged by well renowned artists and philanthropists, has attractive prizes.
The dazzling Fashion Show will be one of a kind by famous fashion designers from the nation. The extravaganza mouth watering ethnic cuisine with everyday “Theme Menus” with variety of display of best of the culinaries will be a treat for the young and the old.
Physicians of Indian Origin in the United States are reputed to be leading health care providers, holding crucial positions in various hospitals and health care facilities around the nation and the world. Known to be a leading ethnic medical organization that represents nearly 100,000 physicians and fellows of Indian Origin in the US, and being their voice and providing a forum to its members to collectively work together to meet their diverse needs, AAPI members are proud to contribute to the wellbeing of their motherland India and their adopted land, the United States. The convention is forum to network, share knowledge and thoughts, and thus, enrich one another, and rededicate ourselves for the health and wellbeing of all peoples of the world.
“Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. Do not miss on the Early Bird Special. We look forward to seeing you in Atlantic City, New Jersey!” said Dr. Ajay Lodha. For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org
WASHINGTON, DC: The Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna hosted a Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill “to celebrate India’s engagement with the 115th US Congress”, on Tuesday, February 14th.
Addressing an impressive gathering of members of Congress, prominent Indian Americans, congressional staffers, business representatives and media, Sarna said that he was looking forward for a more robust economic and commercial cooperation as India retains its spot as the fastest growing major economy.
Desccribing the upcoming visit of 27 distinguished members of Congress as a very important milestone, demonstrative of the high degree of interest in India, and the strong bipartisan support for the India-US relationship, based on shared democratic values and converging strategic interests.
Congressman Steny Hoyer, House Democratic Whip, echoed the bipartisan support for the relationship with India and emphasized the cooperation on security issues between the two largest democracies. Congressman Pete Olson said about the positive contributions of the Indian American community. He emphasized on the significance of the port of Houston for energy exports.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats, said about the importance of US-India cooperation while addressing the threat arising from the extremist radical terrorism. He spoke on the potential of US companies contributing in the economic transformation of India.
Congressman Ami Bera, Democratic Chair of the House India Caucus said that the increase in the number of elected Indian Americans currently in the Congress is a testimony to the remarkable strides, the Indian American community has made and growing closeness between the two countries based on shared values. Bera said that the India Caucus is the largest one in the Hill and his firm belief is that the US-India relationship will be a defining one for the 21st century.
Other members of Congress present were Senator Jeff Flake, Congressman Bob Goodlatte Chairman of House Judiciary committee, Congressman Andy Harris, Congressman Ted Poe Chairman House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-proliferation and Trade and Congressman Joe Kennedy. During the reception, Republican Niraj Antani was awarded with 2016 Legislator of the year award.
The Sikh Foundation has announced of its plans to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, beginning March 10 with a special exhibit at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum on “Pride and Promise.”.
The golden jubilee celebrations will have three components: A Golden Gala titled, The Pride & Promise will be held at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, CA, on May 5th, 2017; A Conference: on Advancing Sikhs through Education at Stanford University, CA, has been planned for May 6th & 7th, 2017; and finally, an exhibition, titled “Saints and Kings: Arts, Culture, and Legacy of the Sikhs,” will be on display at the Asian Art Museum through June 18. Portraits and treasures of the 18th century warrior Maharaja Ranjit Singh will be on display. The exhibit will also feature a timeline of the first Indians who arrived in America: pioneering Sikhs, who settled in California’s Central Valley in the early 1900s.
The exhibit will also feature works from Narinder Singh Kapany’s extensive collection of Sikh art. The Indian American physicist, who is known as the “father of fiber optics,” founded the Sikh Foundation in 1967 and currently serves as the organization’s chairman. The display will focus on three themes, among which are a glimpse of the Sikh religion, with a focus on Guru Nanak; and the courtly art of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who unified several small kingdoms into one, with the capital in Lahore. Three portraits of Singh will be on display, along with a large, wooden box inlaid with ivory, and an emerald ring with his inscription.
The 50th year anniversary celebrations of the Sikh Foundation will also feature a series of lectures at Stanford University, and a three-day gala, beginning May 5. Two ministers from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet are expected to attend: Navdeep Singh Bains, minister of science and economic development, and Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan.
The Sikh Foundation is a cultural organization, not religious, said Kapany, adding that he wants Americans to understand the Sikh culture, especially in view of the current xenophobic climate of the country
ATLANTA, GA – The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and “Hotel Management” have joined forces to create and produce a series of one-day conferences collectively known as Hotel ROI.
Offered exclusively to hotel-industry professionals, Hotel ROI will be held in seven U.S. cities in 2017. The conferences are designed to both share insights and spark discussion on issues critical to hotel ownership, investment, and development. Hotel ROI deviates from the traditional conference model of panel discussions and exhibit halls, instead creating an open and inclusive atmosphere that promotes lively, productive discussion.
Data provided at Hotel ROI is market specific to ensure that takeaways are fully relevant and immediately actionable. “We are thrilled to partner with Hotel Management, one of the most widely read publications in hospitality, to offer Hotel ROI to AAHOA members,” said AAHOA President and CEO Chip Rogers. “Over the course of just one day, these conferences will provide high-level ideas and insights that are virtually guaranteed to make every attendee a more successful and effective hotelier.”
Describing AAHOA’s role in lodging, Rogers said. “As the largest hotel owners’ association in the world, we, all of us, are in a unique position of leadership and responsibility. You see we made an industry that is thriving. And it is thriving in no small part because of the incredible efforts made every day by the very people in this room,” Rogers said. “However, we also share a responsibility. An obligation to serve millions of Americans every day in their home away from home. By every measure, we are meeting and exceeding our obligations.”
Citing the latest industry data—like the fact that the travel and tourism industry is responsible for over 8 million jobs in the United States—Rogers detailed how the lodging industry helps to prop up the country as a whole. “While these numbers are impressive, think about what it means in the lives of those who actually make our industry what it is,” he said. “You see the millions of jobs it helps create, and the billions of dollars of economic effect. It ultimately means that kids get to go to college, families get to take vacations, and the American Dream is realized in all corners of our country.”
Hotel ROI launches in Houston on April 24, followed by Los Angeles (June 22), Chicago (Aug. 10), Baltimore (Aug. 24), Pittsburgh (Sep. 14), Atlanta (Sep. 27), and Charlotte (Oct. 11). For more information, please visit www.hotelroi.com.
Founded in 1989, AAHOA (www.aahoa.com) is the largest hotel owners association in the world, with more than 16,000 small business owner-members. AAHOA members own almost one in every two hotels in the United States.
Indian American Charu Jain has been named vice president and chief information officer of Alaska Airlines by the airline’s board of directors. Jain comes to the airline from IBM Global Business Services, where she led the team helping American Airlines integrate its IT systems. Prior to that she worked 20 years at United Airlines in progressive roles from programmer to senior managing director of airline operations technology and technology integration before leaving the company in 2012.
As Alaska’s CIO, Jain will lead a department of more than 400 information technology professionals. “Charu’s experience as both an airline executive and consultant is perfectly suited to help Air Group successfully integrate Virgin America from a technology standpoint,” said Brandon Pedersen, Alaska Airlines executive vice president of finance and CFO. “Throughout her 24-year career, Charu has been able to blend thoughtful leadership with a focus on results and we’re excited to have her onboard.”
Alaska Airlines and Virgin America along with their regional partners, fly 40 million customers a year to 118 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. With Alaska and Alaska’s global partners, customers can earn and redeem miles on flights to nearly 1,000 destinations in the U.S. and worldwide. Learn more about Alaska’s award-winning service and unmatched reliability atnewsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).
Jain was previously with IBM Global Business Services, where she led the team helping American Airlines integrate its IT systems. Prior to that she worked for 20 years at United Airlines in progressive roles from programmer to senior managing director of airline operations technology and technology integration before leaving the company in 2012.
Stamford, NY: “We lack a voice for Indian Americans in the United States. We need a stronger voice. And I want GOPIO-CT to be voice for all Indian Americans in our state and beyond,” declared Anita Bhat, who assumed charge as the President of GOPIO-CT during an inaugural event of her new executive team at the Hampton Inn, Stamford, CT on Friday, February 10, 2017.
In her first ever presidential address, Bhat, who has been active community organizer and philanthropist, laid out her plans for the next one year under her presidency. According to Bhat, her new team will make an all out effort to increase membership of GOPIO-CT; Bhta said, wants to strengthen GOPIO-CT through strong partnership and collaboration with other organizations of Indian origin in the state. She pointed out to AAPI-CT Chapter whose mebers have come to be part of the day’s deliberations.
Other plans, Bhat and her team have envisaged include: Creating a vibrant youth team; actively engaging with and in local community activities benefitting the larger American society; and, GOPIO-CT to be a liaison between the governments of India and the United States.
“We feel privileged that we are able to serve in local soup kitchens, walk to support cancer patients, and impact our community in numerous other ways. We could not have accomplished any of this without the support of our sponsors and our biggest fans–you,” she said.
The executive committee consists of Pradeep Govil, Exec. Vice President; Varghese Ninan, Vice President; Bhavna Juneja, Secretary; Deepender Gupta, Jt. Secretary; Viresh Sharma, Treasurer; and Shailesh Naik, and Immediate Past President
Board Members are: Meera Banta, Louella D’Silva, Ravi Dhingra, and Ritu Johorey. The Scholarship Committee has Sanjay Santhanam (Chair); Hari Srinivasan, Tara Sharma, and
Priya Easwaran (Exec. Director) as its members. The Young Professionals Network is being chaired by Nisha Govil. Board of Trustees are” Anita Bhat – Chair; Dr. Thomas Abraham – Secretary, Comptroller; Santosh Gannu; Joe Simon; Amarjit Singh; and Shelly Nichani – Ex-Officio.
Echoing similar sentiments, the chief Guest for the evening, Connecticut Assemblyman Dr. Prasad Srinivasan, in his eloquent speech highlighted the need for Indian Americans to come together, stand united and work for the greater good of the larger American society. Stating that, he has declared his candidacy for the governor’s office in the state of Connecticut, Dr. Srinivsan said, “It’s ben a long journey and I know the challenge is great ahead. MY goal is to make our beautiful state more prosperous and more friendly for people of all backgrounds to live.” Pointing to the fact that several large companies have left or leaving Connecticut due to the dismal fiscal policies of the state government,” DR. Srinivasan urged the elite gathering of Indian American leaders to “join me as work together to make Connecticut a prosperous state again.”
The event attended by nearly 100 members from across the state honored Shelly Nichani, Shailesh Naik, and Sangeeta Ahuja, both past presidents of GOPIO-CT who have worked hard and with total dedication for the growth of the organization. Pradeep Govil, Exec. Vice President, said, GOPIO-CT serves as a non-partisan, secular, civic and community service organization – promoting awareness of Indian culture, customs and contributions of PIOs through community programs, forums, events and youth activities. GOPIO is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. It seeks to strengthen partnerships and create an ongoing dialogue with local communities. The organization’s mission is to promote the well being of People of Indian Origin (PIO) and to enhance cooperation and communication between PIOs and other communities.
Varghese Ninan, Vice President, said, This year, GOPIO-Connecticut celebrates the 11th year of activities since its inception. What started out as the collective vision of a few like-minded individuals in partnership with the local Indian community, and their modest goals, has evolved into an exemplary community service organization thanks to the tremendous support of the community.
Earlier, in his welcome and inaugural address of the GOPIO-CT 2017 Activities Launch Party which included networking cocktails and dinner, Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman of GOPIO-International, gave a brief outline of the organization’s history and contributions in the past two decades years. GOPIO Connecticut Chapter was launched in March 2006. It is part of the GOPIO International network which has almost 100 active chapters in 40 countries. GOPIO International was formed in 1989 at the first convention of PIOs held in New York. GOPIO has been actively campaigning for issues of interest to the Indian community on Capitol Hill and at the European Union.
Dr. Abraham, who has behind the NRI/PIO movement in the last 3 decades, had Abraham coined the word PIO (people of Indian origin) in 1989, when he put together the First Convention of People of Indian Origin in New York. The greatest achievement of Dr. Abraham is initiating and building several NRI/PIO Indian community institutions in the last 38 years, as follows: Dr. Abraham has been instrumental in the creation of several organizations, including, Federation of Indian Association (FIA) of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut; National Federation of Indian-American Associations (NFIA); GOPIO International; Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center; Jagdish Bhagwati Chair for Indian Political Economy at Columbia University; National Indian American Association for Senior Citizens (NIAASC) ; South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS); and, The Indus Nanotechnology Association (TINA). Through these organizations, Dr. Abraham has helped to build a solid base for the Indian Diaspora and India in various countries. For more details, please visit:www.gopioct.org
Aicon Gallery in New York is presenting Seed for History and Form – Tebhaga, a group exhibition curated by Sumesh Sharma, co-founder of Clark House Initiative, Bombay, featuring work by Richard Bartholomew, Jyoti Bhatt, Biren De, Haren Das, Aurélien Froment, Laxma Goud, Somnath Hore, M. F. Hussain, Mohammad Omar Khalil, Rachid Koraïchi, Aurélien Mole, Krishna Reddy, and Michael Kelly Williams.
According to press release on the exhibit, “Survey shows deflect us from histories of art that engage in cross-pollination of ideas, form, and techniques across geography, language, and culture. Such seeds, often ignored and misunderstood due to endogamous art research, lead to untold histories and biases towards a linear understanding of the arts. Inclusion into art history and its long serving linear timeline to the Occident, that is fattened as it descends through survey shows and geography-specific exhibitions, only continues to serve an understanding of history that suffers from the lack of translation. In art history, the act of translation should not be an act aided simply by a dictionary and etymology, but one that makes us rethink relationships to color, form and the idea of the visual.”
Conceptualism had its early history when Pablo Picasso and the Polish Avant-Garde were looking at face masks in the colonial collections that are now to be seen in the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. There was an idea of translation in this looking that gave birth to many etymologies. The etymology of modernism is a distinct idea in India, one that may manifest itself today in the homes Indians build for themselves, claiming them to be modern homes. If Joseph Beuys was the Shaman who performed a radical act that changed the possible definitions of the term artist, thereby allowing those heretofore outside the linear art history of North America and Europe leeway to enter, then these middle-class Indians may also define their own modernism.
What were the geo-political translations of a few men and women who gathered each year to teach printmaking through a series of workshops on the Atlantic coast of Morocco? This exhibition discusses those seeds of form, tracking geography from Santiniketan in Eastern India, to Dakar in Senegal, and ending in New York. It spans the life and work of Krishna Reddy and Mohammed Omar Khalil, and listens to the songs of Amadou Badiane and Somnath Mukherjee through Aurélien Froment’s cinema, while Michael Kelly Williams narrates the objectivity of form in sculpture that began in printmaking, and we study what makes Somnath Hore’s etchings both minimal and viscerally political. Does a drought effect conceptualism and modernism? Haren Das’s woodcuts narrate life in rural Bengal. How do blacksmiths in Dakar challenge form and materiality through history, like the standing sculpture of an ancient Surya (Sun God) or a stone Buddha from ancient Gandhara?
The right to land after the Bengal famine, described as the Tebhaga movement, where sharecroppers asked for a reduction in rent in return for giving grain to the landlords, was supported by the artists of Bengal. In this exhibition, a painting from the 1960s by M. F. Hussain defines the seeds of India’s modernism as one based on the independence a nascent nation, depleted of its strength through colonialism, but now somewhat lost in its circumstances.
Jyoti Bhatt celebrates M. F. Hussain, who was later vilified by the Indian right for his art, by making a portrait of Hussain in the tricolors of the India flag. Aurélien Mole makes a poignant critique on India’s Progressive Artists Group, by inviting Akbar Padamsee’s muse, Arai Kesava Naidu, to the National Gallery of Art in Mumbai for her first time, despite her body being a source of that artist’s forms. Biren De’s drawings move from cubist renditions of pastoral Bengal to ones that circle out to tantric meditation and spiritualism, an element now celebrated in museum exhibitions of Indian modernism.
Laxma Goud, coming from the arid part of the Indian Andhras, puts a form to Indian erotica and an artist’s vision to vocabulary, camouflaging erotica in deep lines of cubist rendition uncovering many surprises. Rachid Koraïchi’s calligraphed ceramic hand in Arabic announces New Year wishes to the residents of the city of Saint Denis, a Parisian suburb. As the city welcomes 2017, it leaves behind the travesties of 2016 by celebrating an Algerian artist. Diasporas have created forms of conceptual intrigue in their role as a constant influence on creative thought. The Progressive Artist Group in Bombay was catalyzed by two Jewish refugees, Rudy Von Leyden and Walter Langhammer, who had fled Europe to Bombay and brought the rejection of classical form to the students of the Sir JJ School of Arts, among whom was M. F. Hussain. Like the sharecroppers of Bengal, artists ask for their share in art history not through representation but adequate translation that hears their narrative.
The exhibition is open from February 23 – March 25, 2017 at the gallery, located at 35 Great Jones St., New York NY 10012.
Dr. Ram Raju is joining Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in the state of New York, the health system announced Friday. Raju, who in November stepped down from his position as president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, will serve as senior vice president and community health officer at Northwell.
“Northwell Health created a position that enables me to pursue my passionate interest in improving population health and addressing the social determinants of health,” Dr. Ram Raju, the former chief executive officer of one of the country’s largest public health system, NYC Health and Hospitals Corp., “I thoroughly enjoyed the many years I spent at NYC Health + Hospitals, which gave me valuable insight into the needs of our most-vulnerable communities and how health policies can positively influence the delivery of care and improve outcomes.”
NYC Health and Hospitals has roughly 42,000 employees, 11 acute-care hospitals, five nursing homes, six diagnostic and treatment centers, more than 70 community-based health centers, a large home care agency and one of the region’s largest providers of government-sponsored health insurance MetroPlus Health Plan.
In his new role, Raju is expected to work on finding ways to meet the needs of Northwell’s most vulnerable communities. Northwell, a system with 21 hospitals and 550 outpatient facilities, sees 2 million people every year in the New York metro area and beyond.
“Ram’s vast experience, deep commitment to caring for vulnerable communities and keen understanding of New York’s healthcare delivery system make him the ideal individual to lead our efforts,” said Michael J. Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, according to a press release. “His most recent work with NYC Health + Hospitals certainly enhances his ability to respond to this challenge.”
NYC Health + Hospitals, which Raju led from January 2014 until November 2016, is the largest municipally owned health system in the U.S. and a major safety net provider, serving a large proportion of poor and uninsured patient. But it has struggled financially, facing a potential budget gap of $1.8 billion in 2020.
At Northwell, Raju’s role will entail examining programs aimed at improving the health system’s response to the community’s needs and working with local organizations to address them.
Northwell created the position of community health investment officer specifically for Raju, who said his time at NYC Health + Hospitals taught him about what vulnerable communities need and how health policies can affect their outcomes.
“My new role with Northwell will enable me to promote, sustain and advance an environment that supports equity and diversity, and help eliminate health disparities within the communities served by Northwell throughout the city, Long Island and Westchester County,” Raju said in a press release.
Before working at NYC Health + Hospitals, Raju was CEO of the Cook County Health & Hospitals System in Chicago, the country’s third-largest public health system. “Ram’s vast experience, deep commitment to caring for vulnerable communities and keen understanding of New York’s health care delivery system make him the ideal individual to lead our efforts,” said Northwell Health president and CEO Michael J. Dowling in a statement. “His most-recent work with NYC Health and Hospitals certainly enhances his ability to respond to this challenge.”
A graduate of Madras Medical College in India, Raju underwent further training in England, where he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He later earned an M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee and CPE from the American College of Physician Executives.
Raju, who served as vice chair of the Greater New York Hospital Association, currently sits on the boards of numerous city, state and national healthcare organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the New York Academy of Medicine and the Asian Health Care Leaders Association.
Indian Americans overwhelmingly use H1-B or the work visa. Most recently, under Obama administration their spouses, who are on H-4 visa were allowed to work. However, things are changing with the new Trump administration at the healm and Republicans and some Democratic lawmakers consider that high-tech Indian workers are stealing away American jobs.
The Trump administration, media reports suggest, has launched a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s immigration policies, especially on the H-4 visa holders — spouses of H-1B visa-holders. According to a report, the Trump administration is reviewing a 2014 Obama ruling that allowed those in the country on H4 visas to work beginning mid-2015.
President Donald Trump said to be considering an executive order that would rescind employment authorization for H-4 visa holders, leaving 180,000 women, mostly from India, frantic about their ability to continue to work in the U.S.
H-4 visas are given to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, highly-skilled foreign workers, the majority of whom are from India. Until 2015, H-4 visa holders – who often had skill levels comparable to their spouses – were not allowed to work. In 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that some H-4 visa holders, whose spouses were on track for permanent residency in the U.S., would be able to work.
“Allowing the spouses of these visa holders to legally work in the United States makes perfect sense,” USCIS Director León Rodríguez said in February 2015. “It helps U.S. businesses keep their highly skilled workers by increasing the chances these workers will choose to stay in this country during the transition from temporary workers to permanent residents. It also provides more economic stability and better quality of life for the affected families.”
At a press briefing on February 8th organized by New America Media, Sally Kinoshita, deputy director of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, told reporters that a leaked memo from the Trump administration proposes to end work authorization for H-4 visa holders. “H-4s are vulnerable because the Department of Homeland Security extended work permits to them under the regulations in 2015 and this draft memo seeks to rescind those regulations,” she said.
A leaked draft of an executive order titled “Protecting American jobs and workers by strengthening the integrity of foreign worker visa programs” appeared on the New York Times Web site Jan. 27. In the draft, Trump proposes sweeping changes to several highly-skilled foreign worker visa programs, including H-1B workers.
Indian American state legislator, Rep. Srinivasan has declared his candidacy for the governor’s office in the state of Connecticut. A 4th term state representative, Dr. Prasad Srinivasan, an allergist, was elected six years ago to the state House of Representatives.
In an exclusive interview with this writer, Srinivasan, 67, of Glastonbury, CT said, “I am very clear in my mind. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, maybe six months in my mind the idea has been brewing. My wife and I talked about it. We decided the time was right to run for this position.”
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a Republican, State Sen. Rob Kane, R-Watertown, Peter Lumaj, a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2012 and the GOP nominee for secretary of the state in 2014, and State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, are some others who have already thrown in their towels in the ring, trying to unseat an unpopular governor of the state, under whose rule major companies and millionaires are “forced to leave the state” due to dismal fiscal policies.
A physician by profession, Srinivasan opposed the legalization of cannabis for medical use in 2012, saying he believed in its efficacy, but was troubled by questions of practicality. But he relented in 2016 and voted to expand the law to allow the limited use of cannabis to treat children with conditions not treatable by conventional means.
He voted against repeal of the death penalty in 2012. He supported passage of the sweeping gun-control law passed in 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook School shooting of 26 children and staff. “I am old enough,” he said, “and I am young enough.”
An eloquent speaker and totally committed to high ideals in public and private life, Dr. Srinivasan has been serving as the Assistant Republican leader in the House, a Ranking member of the Public Health Committee, and a National Co-Chair of the Health Policy Council. He has been presented with numerous awards for his legislative leadership. He was the Top Doctor 7th year in a row by Connecticut Magazine.
Prasad Srinivasan is married to Mrs. Kala Prasad, a professional musician for over 30 years. Their two children graduated from Glastonbury High school. Son, Sashank Prasad, M.D., is Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Sashank’s wife, Kerry, is a high school teacher by profession, currently a stay home mom taking care of their two children. Daughter, Anusha Prasad-Rodriguez is the Head of Alternate Investments at Oppenheimer. Her husband, Paul, is a manager at Analysis Group, Inc. They have two daughters.
According to the senior, physician, “Connecticut has been prosperous in our lifetimes, and we can get back to prosperity again. But the path of divisive special interest politics that Governor Malloy and the Democrats in the legislature have chosen is not working. We need to change things around to revive our state. We need new leadership and new vision to conquer the old problems that are continuing to hold us back. That is why I want to be your governor. I have the energy, enthusiasm and experience to overcome these challenging issues to bring prosperity to Connecticut and ensure a bright future for our children. I ask you to join me in working toward a better tomorrow for Connecticut.”
Prasad Srinivasan has been a successful Legislator and works across the aisles. Making his case for running for this office, he says, “I am running to be your governor because I know that, if we work together, we can make these changes and put Connecticut on the right track.
“I have a simple story. I moved to Connecticut in 1980. I chose Connecticut because it was then a state that had everything going for it. Over the last thirty-six years, my wife and I have raised our two children in Connecticut and built a successful medical practice here. We have lived our American dream right here in Connecticut.”
Dr. Prasad Srinivasan, a long time resident of the town of Glastonbury, has been practicing in Glastonbury and the Hartford area for over 30 years, and been treating pediatric and adult patients with allergies. Dr. Srinivasan has been an accomplished Legislator, Physician, Business Owner and Philanthropist and won many endorsements, accolades, awards and recognitions.
On November 8th 2016, Prasad Srinivasan was elected to his fourth (4th) term as the State Representative of the Glastonbury 31st Assembly District. He is an Assistant Republican Leader and Ranking Member of the Public Health committee in Connecticut General Assembly besides being a member of Environment and Judiciary committees.
Prasad Srinivasan was chief pediatric resident at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He did his fellowship in allergy and immunology at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. He is a graduate of Baroda Medical College in India. He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. His community involvement is remarkable and has been recognized on numerous occasions.
Dr. Srinivasan has kept his promise to give 100% of his state legislative salary to worthy causes, and has been actively engaged in community services throughout his career. He was the Ambassador, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and was the Corporator, Hartford Hospital. He was instrumental in founding the Prasad Family Foundation in 1999 which awards merit-based scholarships to graduates of GHS and need-based scholarships for college education across the country. He established the Prasad Srinivasan Award for dedication to medical advocacy established by Fairfield Medical County Association
Pointing to the fact that the state spiraling downwards, Dr. Srinivasan says, “ Our businesses, large and small, are leaving our state. People are moving out of the state. Young people do not see the same opportunities that drew us to Connecticut in 1980. This pattern has to end. We can make it happen.”
Dr. Srinivasan says, “We deserve a better Connecticut, and our children deserve a brighter future. We need to revive our state so we all can prosper. Together, we can take back our state, turn it around and bring prosperity back to Connecticut for ourselves and our children.”
“Threats of attacks on an international stock exchange, a major dam, a nuclear power plant, possible sabotaging of oil/gas pipelines, air safety systems of airports, or potential blocking of an international canal or straits have much wider implications and pursuant complications far beyond national frontiers,” Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations said at the world body. He was addressing UN Security Council at an Open Debate on “Threats to International Peace and Security caused by terrorist acts: Protection of Critical Infrastructure” today, 13 February 2017.
Reiterating that protection of critical infrastructure is primarily a national responsibility, the Indian envoy told world leaders that given that much of our technologies and base templates for systems around the world are similar, because, “threats serve the purpose of creating disruption on a scale far beyond the immediate area of attack. They affect the population on a much broader scale. They force the multiple stakeholders providing basic services to be on constant guard. Thus, they not only add to the stress on these stakeholders and their societies but also raise the cost of services provided.”
These attacks, have crippling effects not only on daily life in a bustling metropolis but targeted a country of a billion people, he said. “The global nature of information and communication technologies raises the necessity for an international vision and coordination on policy aspects with the aim of enhancing capabilities,” he added.
According to Akbaruddin, increasingly the ideas, industries, markets, resources, services and products we share are interconnected in ways like never before. Increasingly, from the way we trade to the way we invest; the way we travel to the way we eat; indeed the way we think to the way we live – all in some way or the other depend on a spread of complex and sensitive networks. “These interconnections that underpin the provision of essential societal functions have created a new form of vulnerability, giving terrorists the chance to threaten targets that would perhaps otherwise have been unassailable,” he said.
The Indian Ambassador to the UN stated that big urban centers like Mumbai, New York and London have become targets as impact on cities serving as financial hubs affect the economy of the country in multiple ways. He pointed to the fact that the investigations into the heinous terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008 revealed the impact its perpetrators wanted to have on the psyche and economy of the whole of India.
Lamenting that despite years of concern, states have addressed few international instruments addressing issues of threats from cyberspace. Current international law is not well positioned to support responses to cyber attacks. “Security Council decisions that impose binding counter-terrorism duties do not mention cyber attacks,” he pointed out.
Stressing the importance of collaboration among nations, the Indian envoy said, it is “key to moving the perimeter you defend from your front door to the edge of your neighborhood. Critical infrastructure protection from terrorist cyber attacks requires a “global neighborhood watch program” because, as they say, there is safety in numbers. Any effective collaboration requires trust. And currently, there is a trust deficit. The lesson from the past is that, international law on terrorism has largely developed through states reacting to terrorist violence. We hope this is not the case again and the resolution adopted earlier today is a first small step in an area where much more needs to be done,” he told the world leaders
Indian American tabla player Sandeep Das was part of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble that won a Grammy in the ‘Best World Music Album’ category for “Sing Me Home.” Yo-Yo Ma’s ‘Sing Me Home’ features tunes composed or arranged by different global artists as it examines the ever-changing idea of home.
The album was released to accompany a documentary on Ma’s project entitled ‘The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble’.
Apart from Ma and Das, musicians on the album include the New York-based Syrian clarinet player Kinan Azmeh, who was recently stranded overseas when US President Donald Trump imposed a ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Azmeh could return to country after a court rejected Trump’s travel ban order.
Das, who was dressed in red kurta, said the ensemble sent a powerful message of unity and respect for each other’s cultures.
“It is third time lucky for us. I am very proud of who I am and where I come from be it culturally or musically. I wish there were more acknowledgment from my own country for the music that is deep-rooted and in our blood over glitz and glamour,” Das told PTI over phone from Los Angeles just after his win.
“It is not a complaint but merely a wish. I hope there is more awareness about traditional music. I was invited to Harvard University but my alma mater Banaras Hindu University is yet to see something of worth in me.”
Das, who was dressed in a red kurta, said the ensemble sent a powerful message of unity and respect for each other’s cultures. “When things like this happen, it impacts us directly because a lot of us come from a lot of those countries,” Das told reporters after accepting the award. “In the current situation, I think we’ll keep playing more music and sharing more love.”
World Music category also included Anoushka Shankar’s “Land of Gold,” which is about the global refugee crisis. The 35-year-old Indian American musician was accompanied by her husband, British director Joe Wright, at the music ceremony. For a sixth time in a row after being nominated, Shankar did not win a Grammy.
Shankar, the daughter of famous sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, received her first ever Grammy nomination at the age of 20 but she is yet to bag an award despite multiple nominations.However, her late father won two individual Grammys as well as two in collaborations.
ATLANTA, February 9, 2017 – Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) Secretary Jagruti Panwala is scheduled to be speaker on the panelist at the Network of Executive Women in Hospitality (NEWH) Leadership Conference in Denver. The NEWH Conference is held biannually and promotes the development of hospitality industry careers, innovation, and education.
Panwala, a longtime hotelier, will take the NEWH stage as part of the Hotel Remix: Reinventing the Modern Stay Experience panel. The panel will explore hot-button issues in hotel development as well as trends in hotel design and amenities. She will be joined on the panel by Larry Broughton, broughtonHOTELS; John Hogan, Full Service Core Brand Hotels; Joseph Khairallah, Marcus Hotels & Resorts; and Jeanne Starling, MGM Resorts International. Hotel Management Editor at Large, Rouse Media President, and “No Vacancy” podcast creator Glenn Haussman will moderate.
NEWH will be held Feb. 9-11 at The Marriott City Center. For more information, please visit NEWH.org. Founded in 1989, AAHOA is the largest hotel owner’s association in the world, with more than 16,000 small business owner-members. AAHOA members own almost one in every two hotels in the United States.
Jagruti Panwala was elected as the first ever female Secretary of Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) during the four-day annual convention held last year at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Bruce Patel was elected as the new chairman of AAHOA, while Chip Rogers continues to serve as the President of & CEO of the three decades long organization.
Jagruti Panwala succeeded to chair of AAHOA in 2019, a first for the 27-year-old organization founded by hoteliers to fight ethnic and racial discrimination in the U.S. hospitality industry. Begun by fewer than 100 hoteliers in 1989, AAHOA has more than 15,000 members and ended 2015 with $11.4 million in revenue.
Panwala is a businesswoman in Ivyland, Pennsylvania, where she is part of a family hotel company and president and CEO of Wealth Protection Strategies, an investment management business she founded in 1999. She has been active in AAHOA for more than a decade, holding leadership positions since 2011 when first elected female director at large, eastern division. Re-elected in 2014, she has also co-chaired the Women’s Hotelier Committee for five years and served on the strategic planning committee for two years. She testified to Congress against proposed harmful labor laws. Her focus repeatedly has been getting more women, independent and young hoteliers involved. In 2011, she received the prestigious AAHOA Chairman’s Award of Excellence.
She is a second-generation hotelier who migrated from Surat, India, with her parents when she was a teenager. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two children. Panwala said the message she wants to AAHOA members to hear is that getting involved in the association can make a difference in their lives and in their businesses. “I want all of our members to value their membership and to get meaningful benefits from AAHOA. But to get more out of AAHOA, you must put more into AAHOA – not just by attending meetings, but by taking courses, by serving on committees, and by being an ambassador, for example. I learned that first-hand.
“It’s why I want more members to participate; it’s why I will continue to champion those things that make it worth both your time and your money to be an active member of AAHOA. My new position represents trust by the members that is special and sacred, so I intend to serve in a way that justifies this faith in me – serve in a way that makes all of us proud to be part of the hospitality industry and to be members of AAHOA.” AAHOA in recent years has leveraged its power and influence on Capitol Hill and is expanding its legislative advocacy to state and local levels.
The 68th Republic Day of India was celebrated by the Federation of Indian Associations of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut with its annual much expected dance competition – Dance Pe Chance, a colorful dance festival, showcasing the talents and creativity of budding artists from the New York region. More than 450 students representing nearly a dozen popular dance schools from the tristate area participated in the event that was held on January 28 at the Plainfield High School, NJ.
“It was heartening to watch young children, some of them as young as five, showcasing their talents, while the choreographers displayed their creativity in the dance sequences, costumes and techniques,” said Andy Bhatia, President of FIA. Different themes including patriotism, worship of Lord Ganesha, and life at an American school were featured.
Participants from the region, competed for honors in three categories – minor, junior, and senior dance contests, according to organizers of this much-anticipated event. The evening was kicked off with the opening remarks by Srujal Parekh, executive vice president, who introduced Mamta Narula, the master of ceremonies. Chhavi Dharayan, general secretary and chair of the Dance Pe Chance for the third consecutive year, introduced the DPC team.
Among the “Minor” category, the winners are: Best Costume: Fusion Arts; Best Choreography: Aum Dance Creations; Creativity (renamed as technique): Arya Dance Academy; 3rd place: Nirmiti School of Dance; 2nd place: Aum Dance Creations; and 1st place: Arya Dance Academy.
In the Junior category, the winners are: Best Costume: Nirmiti School of Dance; Best Choreography: Dance 4 Ever; Creativity (renamed as technique): Dancing Shiva; 3rd place: Aatma Performing Arts; 2nd place: Arya Dance Academy; and 1st place: Dancing Shiva.
The Senior group winners include: Best Costume: Aatma Performing Arts; Best Choreography: Aum Dance Creations; Creativity (renamed as technique): Arya Dance Academy and Nritya Creations; 3rd place: Aatma Performing Arts; 2nd place: Nritya Creations; 1st place: Arya Dance Academy; and, Best of the Best: Arya Dance Academy.
Anand Patel, FIA’s past president, formally welcomed all the participants. As per tradition, the new officials of FIA took the oath of office during the event. Andy Bhatia (president) Srujal Parikh (executive vice president); Alok Kumar (vice president); Chhavi Dharayan (secretary); Jatin Patel (joint secretary); and Himanshu Bhatia (treasurer) took the oath office before outgoing president Anand Patel and Deputy Consul General Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra.
Ramesh Patel, chair of FIA, felicitated the outgoing and incoming officials and praised the team behind the event. H.R. Shah, recipient of the 2017 Padma Shri award was also felicitated at the event.
Jonathan Hollander, founder of the Battery Dance Company, and Dr. Kavita Gupta, were among the judges for the evening. Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Albert Jasani of Royal Albert’s Palace, Rajeev Bhambri of India Abroad, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Yash Paul Soi and other prominent members of the community presented the trophies to the winners.
In his address Deputy Consul General Mohapatra noted the quality of the performances and saluted each team for their excellence. He announced that TV Asia will be hosting a live program every Tuesday with a consulate official to answer questions about passport or visa related matters. He asked people to utilize it to get correct information.
During a historic celebration of the 68th India Republic Day commemoration, Supervisor Anthony J. Santino, Town Clerk Nasrin Ahmad and the entire Hempstead Town Board welcomed the Indian American Forum, local Indian-American residents and outstanding performers and speakers on Januury 26th. The cultural event commemorates the anniversary of India becoming a republic after declaring independence from British rule. It is the largest event of its kind on Long Island.
“We are proud to celebrate the beautiful culture and heritage of the great nation of India, specifically the many Indian-Americans who have enriched our local communities and contributed greatly to our quality of life for many generations,” stated Santino. “The Town of Hempstead is honored to host a joyous celebration of India Republic Day, and we thank the many Indian-American neighbors who came out to support this wonderful event.”
Santino presented the prestigious Town of Hempstead India Republic Day Award to honorees Neeta Bhasin and Sunita Manjrekar for their decades of hard work and dedication to the local Indian-American community. Patriotic vocal performances presented by Jyoti Gupta and her group, and also were beautiful dances presented by Shilpa Jhurani and her students. Present at the evet were Miss India New York, Miss Teen New York, Mrs. Indi a New York and several other beauty pageant winners
Neeta is the founder of ASB Communications, a full-service international multicultural advertising and marketing organization. She also established Event Guru Worldwide, which produces one of Times Square’s biggest events, Diwali at Times Square. What’s more, Neeta has a prominent role as a television personality on ITV, the oldest South Asian TV network in the United States.
Sunita is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor with more than 17 years of experience and proven leadership, specializing in the field of substance abuse and workforce development. Additionally, Sunita works as the Director of Employment Programs at the Nassau County Department of Social Services, developing innovative and creative programs to help the public assistance population achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence.
“I am proud to partner with Supervisor Santino in hosting the town’s largest India Republic Day ceremony,” said Ahmad. “The Indian-American community’s dedication to our township is one of the attributes that makes our town such a great place in which to live, work and raise a family.”
Santino also welcomed to the event Tejinder (TJ) S. Anand, CPA, CGMA, who served as the keynote speaker. Tejinder is a partner with the firm of T.S. Anand & Company CPAs, P.C. The New York firm has more than 25 years of professional experience in accounting, taxation and financial audits, specifically tailored to the not-for-profit organizations.
The ceremony, which was co-sponsored by the Indian American Forum, also offered many cultural features including a number of traditional Indian songs and dances. Akbar Restaurant provided Indian delicacies for attendees to enjoy after the ceremony.
“I would like to thank the Indian American Forum, honorees Neeta Bhasin and Sunita Manjrekar, keynote speaker Tejinder S. Anand and all our distinguished guests and talented performers for taking part in this annual celebration of India Republic Day,” concluded Santino. “We are proud to join together with our township’s Indian-American community to mark this important milestone in world history.”
“As Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, We Will Resist,” said a statement issued by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). “We stand at a critical juncture in world history. The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States represents a direct threat to millions of people’s safety and to the health of the planet.”
While expressing its commitment to equality, inclusion, and justice, “we pledge to resist any efforts by President-Elect Trump’s administration to target and exploit communities, to strip people of their fundamental rights and access to essential services, and to use rhetoric and policies that divide the American people and endanger the world,” the statement said.
Trump’s campaign used explicit racial appeals to win the support of disaffected white voters, promising to restore their economic and social standing by deporting millions of immigrants, building a wall, creating a Muslim registry, banning Muslim immigration, and punishing Black dissent.
“The actions of the Republican Hindu Coalition today do not reflect the breadth and diversity of the Indian American community, or our Diaspora,” asserted Bera at a press conference organized by the AAPIVictory Fund Jan. 31, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
“I’m very troubled by the Executive Order,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, told the media, especially as it affected Green Card holders. The Trump administration’s exemption of permanent residents soon after passing the Executive Order, he contended, was a “reversal” in the face of the public outcry, and insisted that the order itself was “an assault on the Constitution.”
Sunita Viswanath, a co-founder and board member of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, appealed to Indian Americans to “resist” the Trump order. The Sikh Coalition, an advocacy organization, strongly objected to the Trump temporary ban supported by RHC. “The Sikh Coalition rejects this order as unconstitutional and will continue to stand in solidarity with communities targeted by discriminatory policies,” the organization said, adding, “We support an immigration system that treats people with fairness and dignity, not one based on stereotypes masquerading as law,”
On the social media networking site Twitter, activist Deepa Iyer called for a “Twitterstorm” against RHC on Jan 31. The author of the award-winning book, “We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim and Sikh Immigrants” and a Senior Fellow at the New York City-based Center for Social Inclusion, Iyer tweeted, “Progressive Hindus stand w/Muslims, refugees, condemn #Muslimban; call out GOP Hindu Coalition.”
Meanwhile in the New York region, as many as 19 Indian-American academics from universities in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania joined over 4,000 scholars from prestigious institutions across the nation Jan. 27, opposing President Trump’s executive order last week for a suspension of visas and other immigration benefits to nationals from certain Muslim countries.
The academics that included Nobel laureates, members of the National Academy of Sciences and faculty and department heads of universities and educational institutions from New York to California, signed an open letter opposing Trump’s 90-day suspension of visas and other immigration benefits to all nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The ban is likely to become permanent after the 90-day suspension period. As many as 90 Indian-American professors and other academics across the U.S. had signed the letter, including people from Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and MIT, among others.
The academics have outlined three main reasons for their opposition, including the executive order’s discrimination against a large group of immigrants and longtime residents of the U.S. which is based solely on their country of origin, all of which have a majority-Muslim population. This executive order “is inhumane, un-American and entirely disproportionate to the threat it is purporting to address,” the letter said.
“This executive order would significantly damage the United States’ reputation for academic excellence in higher education. United States research institutions directly benefit from the work of thousands of researchers from the nations affected by this executive order,” the letter said.“The United States academic community relies on these talented and creative individuals for their contributions to the cutting-edge research,” it added.
The prominent Indian-American academic signatories to the letter include Karna Basu, Associate Professor of Economics, Hunter College, City University of New York; Kalyan Chatterjee, Distinguished Professor of Economics and Management Science, Department of Economics, The Pennsylvania State University; Anind K. Dey, Professor and Department Head, Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University; Sampath Kannan, Henry Salvatori Professor and Chair, Computer and Information Science Department, University of Pennsylvania and Yash Kanoria, Assistant Professor of Decision, Risk and Operations, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. The academics urged President Trump “to reconsider his stance to be more consistent with the longstanding values and principles of this country.”
“The actions of the Republican Hindu Coalition today do not reflect the breadth and diversity of the Indian American community, or our Diaspora,” asserted Bera at a press conference organized by the AAPIVictory Fund Jan. 31, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
LA Times reported that 28 other Asian American politicians in California and around the nation have sent a letter to President Trump asking him to rescind his executive order banning citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya from entering the U.S. for 90 days.
The letter noted that Asian Americans have been targeted with similar policies in America’s past, including the Chinese Exclusion Act in the 1880s, which was the nation’s first major law excluding specific immigrants from the county. During World War II, Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps.
“Your 2,800-word executive order drips with cruel irony as it turns away refugees trying to escape the same Islamic terrorism and violence that you naively claim will be repelled from our shores if we only embrace your bigoted and cowardly directive,” the letter stated
Meanwhile the Republican Hindu Coalition, which worked closely with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and his transition team, is in the eye of a storm within the Indian-American community for its support of the President’s temporary ban on people from seven countries – an executive order that has itself brought forth an eruption of protest by many around the country.
“We applaud the Trump administration for taking this decisive move to protect our citizens from Islamic terror,” Shalabh Kumar, chairman of RHC said. That unqualified support for the ban has invited a storm of criticism from many Indian-Americans, Hindus and non-Hindus, political activists and former administration officials.
The majority-Democrat Indian-American community has lashed out against his stand. California Congressman Ami Bera, Democratic Party activist Shekar Narasimhan, and author and activist Deepa Iyer and others, have assailed the RHC for supporting the temporary ban. Others rejected the Executive Order as “illegal,” and former Indian-American diplomats said it made Americans less safe.
Two other Hindu organizations, Hindu American Foundation and the Sadhana Coalition have come out against Trump’s ban which indefinitely bars Syrian refugees from entering the United States. It also suspends all refugee admissions for 120 days and blocks all citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries considered high-risk – Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen — from entering the United States for 90 days.
In his first days as President Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai has aggressively moved to roll back consumer protection regulations created during the Obama presidency, media reports stated.
Pai took a first swipe at net neutrality rules designed to ensure equal access to content on the internet. He stopped nine companies from providing discounted high-speed internet service to low-income individuals. He withdrew an effort to keep prison phone rates down, and he scrapped a proposal to break open the cable box market.
As per reports, as the chairman of the F.C.C., Pai released about a dozen actions in the last week, many buried in the agency’s website and not publicly announced, stunning consumer advocacy groups and telecom analysts. “They said Pai’s message was clear: The F.C.C., an independent agency, will mirror the Trump administration’s rapid unwinding of government regulations that businesses fought against during the Obama administration,” The Times wrote.
“With these strong-arm tactics, Chairman Pai is showing his true stripes,” said Matt Wood, the policy director at the consumer group Free Press.
“The public wants an F.C.C. that helps people,” he added. “Instead, it got one that does favors for the powerful corporations that its chairman used to work for.”
Pai, a former lawyer for Verizon, was elevated by Trump to the position of chairman after serving as a minority Republican member for the past three years. Known for being a stickler on conservative interpretations of telecommunications law and the limits of the F.C.C.’s authority, Pai said he was trying to wipe the slate clean.
“The biggest target will be net neutrality, a rule created in 2015 that prevents internet service providers from blocking or discriminating against internet traffic. The rule, which was created alongside a decision to categorize broadband like a utility, was the tech centerpiece of the Obama administration.”
On Friday, the F.C.C. took its first steps to pull back those rules, analysts said. Pai closed an investigation into zero-rating practices of the wireless providers T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. Zero-rating is the offering of free streaming and other downloads that do not count against limits on the amount of data a consumer can download.
Diaspora Indians with foreign citizenship and OCI/PIO card holders are being turned away by Reserve bank of India from depositing their demonetized currencies, although the government of India had announced that it had extended the date for NRIs to deposit their currencies till June 30th, 2017. However, Diaspora Indians with foreign citizenship after standing outside the gate for several hours and when they reach the gate, they have been told that only NRIs with Indian passport can go inside. “It is a major issue to be corrected,” said Dr. Thomas Abraham, in an exclusive interview with this writer. “GOPIO has now taken up this issue and has sent this appeal to Hon. Prime Minister Modi and to other officials at the Indian government.
Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) has started a Peition Online campaign appealing Prime Minister of India to allow OCI/PIO card holders as well as Diaspora Indians with Foreign Citizenship to deposit or exchange their demonetized Indian currencies at the Reserve Bank of India branches in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Nagpur. Diaspora Indians standing in the line for hours in front of RBI offices are turned away by security guards when they reach the gate.
“Indians who left India to earn their living should not be deprived of their hard earned money because they were not in India to deposit the demonetized notes when banks were accepting the notes,” Dr. Abraham, who has been instrumental in creating GOPIO and numerous other Indian American organizations, and is considered a leading voice representing the millions of Diaspora Indians around the world, said.
“This is a major issue for the Diaspora Indians and it can be easily resolved, there is no need for the Government to separate out NRIs from PIOs, we are all (overseas Indians) Diaspora Indians,” said GOPIO International President Niraj Baxi.
With an estimate of holding an average of Rs. 5,000 per person, the 30 million Diaspora Indians and NRIs have about Rs. 15,000 crores which is about 1% of the demonetized currencies. Although Govt. of India in a notification extended the date for the exchange to June 30th at the Reserve Bank of India branches, Diaspora Indians including those holding OCI/PIO card holders are not allowed to deposit their demonetized currencies.
According to the Govt. of India’s new rules, NRIs/PIOs bringing demonetized notes have to declare and certify by an income tax official at the port of entry airport.
“The Govt. of India (GOI) has made such rules, but the problem is that this information has not been published and NRIs/PIOs arriving in India are not informed to get such document on the amount of demonetized currency one is bringing which is signed from an income tax official and secondly even if one knows about this rule, no one at the airport knows where such income tax person is sitting,” said Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman of GOPIO International.
“Indians who left India to earn their living should not be deprived of their hard earned money because they were not in India to deposit the demonetized notes when banks were accepting the notes,” continued Dr. Abraham.
In an appeal to the Prime Minister of India, GOPIO wrote that it supported demonetization effort, however, Diaspora Indians are faced with some issues pertaining to demonetization which need to be corrected as follows:
Diaspora Indians with Foreign Citizenship, and PIO and OCI card holders be given the same opportunity for depositing old and obsolete currency notes as given to NRIs (Indian Passport holders), allowing them to deposit up to Rs. 250,000 of Indian currency in the Reserve Bank of India instead of notified amount of Rs. 25,000;
Some of the NRIs, and PIO and OCI card holders have old currency notes safely kept in their residences in India for reasons such as education of their children in India, supporting old age parents, helping family members, etc., so allow RBI and Banks having NRO accounts to accept the old currency notes up to Rs. 2,50,000.
As it may not be practical on account of job situation or other reasons, Diaspora Indians with Foreign Citizenship, and PIO and OCI card holders are not able to visit India and hence be permitted to deposit in their bank account in India through an authorized agent, the amount certified by the foreign branches of State Bank of India or Indian Missions in the country of their residence or in RBI / NRO accounts with various banks in India.
Finally, since all Diaspora Indians with Foreign Citizenship, PIO and OCI card holders may not be able to visit India prior to June 30, 2017, they should be allowed to deposit old currency notes at either the Reserve Bank of India/NRO Accounts maintained with various banks in India up to December 31, 2017.
“Although demonetization intentions are good, the people who have been hurt finally are the sincere and hardworking Diaspora Indians who do not have any black money but GOI has restricted them to deposit their old notes,” Dr. Abraham added.
It is a major issue to be corrected and GOPIO has started a campaign among the NRIs/PIOs to sign up a petition to Prime Minister Modi through a link in its website, www.gopio.net. Hundreds of Diaspora Indians have already signed this petition.
“GOPIO had sent out an appeal to Prime Minister Modi on this issue early last week. However, we have not heard from his office. The problem is that a lot of our Diaspora Indians are waiting in India to deposit their demonetized currencies before they return back to their countries they live,” stated Dr. Abraham.
GOPIO has now launched a signature campaign so that Diaspora Indians holding foreign passport are treated equally as NRIs holding Indian passport. We are getting tremendous response from people. Please see a compilation of these responses in the attached pdf file. Please file a story in your publications since it is a major issue for the Diaspora Indians as they are not allowed to deposit their demonetized currencies.
Dr. Abraham has urged the Indian Diaspora on behalf of the GOPIO International Executive Council, to sign up this petition and forward it to family members and friends (including in India) and request them to sign up and support this campaign. “Our goal is to reach 10000 signatures in one week and we need your help and support,” the veteran community leader, said.
The petition and more information on the campaign is here: https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-of-india-allow-diaspora-indians-and-pio-oci-card-holders-to-deposit-or-exchange-demonetizednotes?recruiter=669342563&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive
· Himanshu Jain, Bethlehem, PA, USA: “My wife and I visited R.B.I., New Delhi on January 10, 2017, waited in line at the gate of the premises for about an hour, only to be told rudely by the security guards that we would not be allowed to come in because we did not have Indian passport (we hold US passports and OCI cards). We could not even speak to an authorized representative of the bank. It was a humiliating, wasteful experience. We felt grossly misled and cheated with information that kept changing frequently and depended on which authority we talked to. It has left us disgusted, confused and with no further direction about what to do with our legitimate, hard earned Indian currency. We very much appreciate GOPIO’s efforts in finding a reasonable solution to this artificially created problem.”
· Arjun Modi, Venice, CA, USA: “I am signing this because I am a hard working OCI holder, who has paid all required taxes, on time, and to Indian as well as United States government. I should be given a chance to deposit my Rs. 500, and Rs. 1,000 notes as they are hard earned, and LEGAL “WHITE” money. My OCI card states in clear writing that OCI card holders have “Parity with NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) in financial, economic and educational fields EXCEPT in relation to acquisition of agricultural and plantation properties”. This is a financial/economical, so why am I not being given parity with NRIs in this matter!?
Also, earlier, Prime Minister Hon. Shri Narendra Modiji had stated that everyone will be given a chance to deposit their hard-earned legal money after the 30th December, 2016 deadline. It is my hope that this will be considered seriously, and that I, along with my fellow OCI/PIO persons, will be given an equal chance to contribute to supporting demonetization and development of OUR INDIA. No OCI/ PIO discrimination.”
· Chandra Has Roy, Crumlin, United Kingdom: “I had saved money in my residence which was not accessible to me as I was in UK. It seems unfair that I cannot use my own white money due to the changes during my absence.”
· Mr. Singh, Oyster Bay, NY, USA: “I’m signing this this because I should deserve what I was promised by Government of India on my OCI card, equal treatment as NRIs in regards to all financial, & economical matters. Government of India is breaking its legal promise! Very disappointing!”
· Nirvana Dutt, Edgware, United Kingdom: “It is preposterous to penalize genuine NRIs who have been greatly inconvenienced by this retrospective order & steps should be taken to rectify this. For example & as smacking of Indian incompetence, there is no sign at the airport to give arriving NRIs any guidance as to what procedures to follow when carrying Indian currency which has been suddenly taken out of circulation.”
· Roopa Lutzenberger, Croydon, United Kingdom: “I have made every effort to contact RBI, three emails given by them including on circular bounced. I enquired everywhere. Now I travelled to Mumbai to try my luck all the way from Hyd. Disheartened to see it doesn’t work. Tweeted PM, Sushma Swaraj, Finance Ministry, Jaitley n more but no response. My family is tired on hearing about SBNs from me all during this trip which was supposed to be an enjoyable holiday. All we ask is fair deal. Our OCI booklet says equal financial representation which we feel deprived now of. Please act. Thank you.”
· Roop Goyal, Redlands, CA, USA: “There is no reason to treat OCI or foreigners with demonetized Indian currencies different from NRIs. The idea is that they were not in India when the demonetization occurred. In fact, June 2017 deadline is short for people staying outside India.”
· Kumar Gupta, Australia: “On one hand, OCI/PIO are praised for billions of foreign exchange remittance and investment on other hand PM Modi ji wants OCI to forget their hard earned WHITE money. The FEMA rules clearly allow import/export of 25K by any person. At least I expect Govt. of India to announce whether they are willing to consider deposit by OCI or not. If not, then why?”
As per estimates by South Asian Americans Leading Together, currently, more than 450,000 people of Indian origin living in the U.S. are stated to be undocumented.. In an executive order, President Donald Trump stated, he will withhold federal funding from “sanctuary cities,” which provide protection from deportation to the nation’s 11 million undocumented residents, and reauthorized the “Secure Communities” program.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States willfully violate federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States,” stated Trump in the executive order. “These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic,” he said.
The freshman Senator from California, Kamala Harris, a Democrat, said in a press statement: “Because of these executive orders, our nation is now less safe: immigrants will report fewer crimes, more families will live in fear, and our communities and local economies will suffer.”
“California has an outsized stake in this fight. No state has more immigrants than we do – both documented and undocumented. I intend to continue fighting back aggressively and speaking up for the vulnerable communities that are being attacked by this administration,” she said.
The new law has been criticized for racial profiling, as law enforcement officials can pick up anyone they suspect of being undocumented. In a joint press release issued Jan. 26 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and SABA, the organizations noted that Trump’s “xenophobic executive orders” target people of color and encourage racial and religious profiling of Muslims and Sikhs, among others.
“Today’s executive orders push the nation further away from core American values of equality and freedom, sow fear in communities of color that already face increasing violence, hostility and attacks, and make us and the country less safe — all under the guise of national security,” stated Suman Raghunathan, executive director of SAALT, in a press statement.
The Secure Communities program mandates local law enforcement to act as immigration agents. Under the aegis of the program, police have the authorization to ask for proof of residency from anyone they interact with. That information is then turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine whether the person has committed a deportable offense.
Sanctuary cities are those that have stated they will not participate in the Secure Communities program, and provide protection from deportation to undocumented residents within their jurisdiction. Trump has pledged to strip federal dollars from sanctuary cities.
As per analysts, legal permanent residents can also be deported if they have committed an aggravated felony, or a crime of moral turpitude, which is vaguely defined. Laws vary from state to state, but in New York, for example, evading a subway fare would potentially make a legal resident deportable. In other states, a traffic violation could lead to the deportation of a legal resident.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Los Angeles chapter held a press conference Jan. 26, decrying the president’s action. “We are deeply troubled by the direction of our country and this administration’s apparent desire to appease his anti-immigrant and white supremacist supporters,” said the organization in a press statement.
Lakshmi Sridaran, director of National Policy and Advocacy at SAALT, is reported to have stated: “For the first time, we are seeing an impact throughout the entire spectrum of our immigration system,” she said. “Everyone is under suspicion,” stated Sridharan. “It is a recipe for disaster,” she said, reinforcing the fact that law enforcement can ask for proof of residency from legal and undocumented residents.
“Essentially, the police officer in a local community cannot just walk up to you and ask for your papers, but they can arrest you for something and then send your biometric data to DHS or ICE, who will then run your information through a database to determine if you are here legally,” she clarified.
Aravinda Pillalamarri, 47, an Indian-American woman was stopped, quizzed about immigration status in the United States. Aravinda Pillalamarri, along with her husband had been the inspiration behind Shahrukh Khan’s film Swades, was stopped and asked by police if she was in the US “illegally”, an incident which comes amid rising fears over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
She was walking in her Bel Air neighborhood in Maryland on the morning of December 21, a routine with her, when she said she was stopped by a Bel Air Police Department officer, The Baltimore Sun reported. Pillalamarri, who was born in India but moved with her parents to the US when she was young, was asked by the police officer about what she was doing and she replied that she was walking.
The officer continued to ask several questions. When she asked why the officer was asking her so many questions, he replied because someone had called police. “Walking while brown?” Pillalamarri then asked the officer.
The report said a police supervisor arrived at the scene and began to question Pillalamarri more aggressively. The supervisor told her she wasn’t free to leave because she “was under criminal investigation”.
She was asked why she didn’t have an identification with her. “Why don’t you have ID?” she said the supervisor asked her. “Are you here illegally?” Once the officers had run her name through their computer system, Pillalamarri said, she was allowed to leave and walked to her home, just a few doors away. Pillalamarri has lived in Bel Air for more than 30 years and is a US citizen. Her parents came to America from India when she was a baby. She went to Bel Air High School.
“Only when the supervisor asked ‘are you here illegally’ did my sense of colour, and of being unequal, come forth and my interest in my civil rights took a back seat to get out of the situation safely,” she was quoted as saying.
“Public safety does not need to come at the cost of civil rights,” she added. “I am sharing this incident here not to ask anyone here to find fault or take sides. We are all on the same side and can use this as an opportunity to learn and improve. The responsibility to uphold civil rights is one that all of us share, and we need to do our part and also expect the police to do their part.”
All legal residents are encouraged to carry their green cards. Undocumented residents will live in fear of any type of interaction with police and are unlikely to seek help from law enforcement when needed.
“You’re going to see a change in the way we do business,” Nikki R. Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said in her maiden address to media personnel after assuming g charge as the US ambassador to the United Nations. “Our goal with the administration is to show value at the U.N., and the way we’ll show value is to show our strength, show our voice, have the backs of our allies and make sure our allies have our back as well.”
The first ever Indian American to be appointed to a Cabinet post in the US history, ambassador Nikki R. Haley, issued a stark warning last week to allies and rivals abroad, saying in her first remarks at the headquarters of the world body that the Trump administration would hold to account those who do not back the United States. “For those who don’t have our back,” she added, “we’re taking names; we will make points to respond to that accordingly.”
Haley, 45, a former Republican governor of South Carolina and one of Trump’s most outspoken critics during the campaign, had tried to distance herself from some of what Trump has said about international diplomacy. She has said she favors continuing sanctions against Russia, for instance, but also cooperation with the Kremlin on counterterrorism. She has said she is concerned about security threats posed by refugees, and while she said climate change was “on the table,” she said she did not favor policies that imperiled business.
In her brief remarks to reporters, Haley offered no further details in brief remarks to reporters, nor did she take questions, before presenting her diplomatic credentials to the secretary general, António Guterres. A former socialist politician from Portugal who took over the United Nations at the start of the year, Guterres is under pressure to persuade the Trump administration to not gouge the organization and to uphold America’s international obligations, including on climate change.
The United States is the United Nations’ largest single donor, providing 22 percent of its regular budget, according to the terms of an international agreement that sets a country’s contribution based on its wealth. That assessed contribution pays for operating expenses like the electricity bills at its headquarters and human rights investigations in places like Syria and South Sudan. The United States also contributes voluntarily to other United Nations programs, including those that provide food and blankets to refugees fleeing war zones and that immunize children against preventable diseases.
President Trump had dismissed the United Nations as a social club and suggested the United States could cut its funding of the organization’s efforts. His “America first” pledges have raised concerns among diplomats at the United Nations about his commitment to international cooperation. The administration’s antipathy toward the United Nations has been sharpened since a Security Council resolution last month condemning Israeli settlements. Trump and Haley have criticized the Obama administration’s decision not to veto the resolution. And several
Republican senators have supported legislation threatening to defund the United Nations unless the Security Council reverses the terms of the resolution, which Council diplomats say would be politically unworkable.
“This is a time of strength, this is a time of action, this is a time of getting things done,” Ms. Haley said, adding that she was prepared to re-evaluate the United Nations’ efforts.
“Everything that’s working we’re going to make it better. Everything that’s not working we’re going to try and fix. And anything that seems to be obsolete and not necessary we’re going to do away with,” she said.
Deepak Gupta of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is part of the watchdog team that sued President Donald Trump for violating the Emoluments Clause, a constitutional provision that prohibits federal officials from accepting “any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever” from a foreign state without congressional approval.
The Trump International Hotel, along with Trump Tower in New York and many other of Donald Trump’s business interests, all figure in a federal lawsuit filed, claiming that President Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause when foreign entities book rooms at the D.C. hotel or lease Trump office space.
The emoluments lawsuit against Donald Trump is an audacious gamble. The clause clearly bars Trump from receiving payments from foreign governments, including from state-owned corporations. Yet Trump’s business empire, from which he refuses to divest, is continually receiving emoluments from foreign states in the form of cash, loans, licensing deals, and building permits. (In 18th-century parlance, an “emolument” was any good or service of value.)
So CREW has asked U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams to rule that Trump’s acceptance of these emoluments is unconstitutional and prohibit him from taking any more. This suit may well fail. If it does, it could help Trump, taking emoluments off the table as grounds for impeachment and allowing his administration to dismiss the issue as fatuous harassment. Democrats would lose a potent rallying cry, and the emoluments criticism would fade from the political arena. The suit is an audacious gamble; it could certainly backfire. But even if it does, it will have a silver lining—functioning as the opening volley in a sustained assault on Trump’s unlawful conflicts of interest.
The Emoluments Clause has never before been tested in court—although the legal luminaries who joined CREW’s complaint appear convinced that judicial intervention is necessary. Eminent constitutional law professors Laurence Tribe and Zephyr Teachout, as well as Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California–Irvine School of Law, are participating in the suit along with Deepak Gupta, a Supreme Court advocate of considerable renown.
In an interview with NPR, Deepak Gupta talked about the non-profit’s lawsuit against President Trump claiming he is violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. “The Supreme Court in the 1980s decided a case called Havens that involved housing discrimination organizations,” Gupta said. And that could be a precedence, Gupta said.
Describing that a potential gift to Trump, “describes something that I give you without getting anything in return. And emolument describes a payment where maybe I expect something in return. And the argument that the Trump lawyers are making is, well, this is OK as long as it’s fair market value. That ignores the fact that built into the price is some profit that comes to Donald Trump. And this is not just some abstraction. It’s happening already. And diplomats have told news organizations on the record that they are moving their business there because they want to curry favor with the president.”
Stating the objective of the suit, Gupta, said, “The purpose of this lawsuit is not simply to get some documents in discovery. Although Discovery will be important because President Trump has been so secretive about his holdings. But this is not just about the tax returns. This is about testing the proposition that the framers really meant it when they said that the president has to have undivided loyalty to the American people and should not have financial entanglements with foreign governments.”
Ajit Varadaraj Pai has been appointed as the Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission, appointed by President Donald Trump in the earliest days of that administration. He is the first Indian American to hold the office.
Ajit Pai is the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission. He was nominated to the FCC by President Barack Obama and was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on May 7, 2012.
Commissioner Pai’s regulatory philosophy is informed by a few simple principles. Rules that reflect these principles will result in more innovation, more investment, better products and services, lower prices, more job creation, and faster economic growth.
Pai introduced a proposal that would not only extend that waiver for a full five years, but expand it. If passed by the rest of the agency’s commissioners, any service provider with fewer than 250,000 subscribers will not be bound by the transparency requirements.
The plan mirrors a similar, bipartisan proposal in Congress, and Pai, in a statement, argued that the regulations would have an unreasonable impact on small business. “Federal regulations have a disproportionate effect on small businesses — businesses that are often the linchpin of a more competitive marketplace and that don’t necessarily have compliance resources,” he said. Still, it will likely be disappointing to any customers buying service from one of those providers and hoping to keep track of what they’re paying for.
When the FCC passed its net neutrality rules in 2015, they included transparency measures for internet service providers. Big providers were required to submit information to regulators and consumers on data caps, fees, and speeds, but the order also included a temporary waiver for providers with less than 100,000 subscribers. After a re-extension, the transparency requirements would have gone into effect this month. Pai has made no secret of his hostility to the net neutrality rules, saying recently that the rules’ “days are numbered.”
Commissioner Pai has been an outspoken defender of First Amendment freedoms. Public safety is a top priority for Commissioner Pai. He took action to ensure that consumers can reach emergency services whenever they dial 911. Commissioner Pai has fought to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs. He was the first commissioner to demand an end to corporate welfare in a recent major spectrum auction; the agency ultimately agreed, saving taxpayers over $3 billion. Pai was the first member of the FCC in over two decades to call for revitalizing the AM radio band; the basic reforms he proposed were adopted in 2015. He also urged the FCC to create a task force to study the “Internet Protocol Transition” and report on obsolete rules that could be repealed; that task force was created. He proposed a way for the FCC to address petitions filed by the public much more quickly; that “rocket docket” is now in place and has dramatically sped up the agency’s decision-making.
HR Shah, an Indian-American entrepreneur, is the recipient of this year’s Padma Shri award announced in New Delhi, last week. A recipient of the 2005 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Shah is also a well-known entrepreneur, philanthropist and community leader.
Shah is among three recipients of the honor from the US. “I cannot believe it and am still trying to fathom this wonderful news. I am deeply humbled, honored and overjoyed that the Republic of India has decided to confer on me the Padma Shri,” said Shah who has lived in the US for 46 years.
Shah has said that he would “rededicate” himself to help India and US further strengthen their ties. “I look forward to receiving the Padma Shri in New Delhi later this year and rededicate myself to helping India and the United States further their close relations, as well as to promote India’s rich culture and heritage,” Shah said yesterday after he was announced as a recipient of India’s prestigious civilian honor.
Shah is originally from Bahadarpur in Gujarat. He is also chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (USA). “It is recognition of my work for more than 35 years and I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government as well as the people of India for rewarding me with this highest civilian honor,” he said.
“I am also grateful to my family, friends and well-wishers who have supported me all these years,” said Shah, who is the first NRI to run a 24/7 TV station (TV Asia) in North America since 1997, reflecting his diverse interests.
TV ASIA was started by Amitabh Bachchan in 1993. Shah is the first NRI to own a chain store business anywhere in the world. A turnaround expert, he became prominent for rescuing Krauszer’s Food Stores, New Jersey’s largest chain having over 400 convenience stores.
Mahler for Vision: a concert for the restoration of Vision is being staged
at the prestigious Stern Auditorium/ Perelman Stage in Carnegie Hall in New York City. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection” is slated for Monday, February 13th, 2017 at 8 PM
Net proceeds will benefit HelpMeSee, committed to ending Cataract blindness, a press release stated. The concert aims to highlight the restoration of vision to the millions around the world affected by treatable cataract blindness. The net proceeds of Mahler For Vision will benefit the visionary organization HelpMeSee and its unique efforts to end preventable cataract blindness and enrich the dignity of all those affected through the innovative use of cutting edge technology and transformative socio-economic models for distributing these critical public health services.
“Music has the extraordinary power not only to gather communities to solve problems like preventable cataract blindness, but also to illuminate the solutions to those problems. Mahler’s own words in the Resurrection Symphony, ‘O believe, my heart, that you have not suffered in vain,’ offer to all who seek the radiant hope for a future of light and joy,” said Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
Featured Artists include, George Mathew, Artistic Director and Conductor; Elmira Darvarova, Concertmaster (Former Concertmaster, MET Orchestra); Indra Thomas, Soprano; Susanne Mentzer, Mezzo-soprano; and members of MasterVoices. Ted Sperling, Artistic Director featuring principal musicians from the world’s great orchestras, ensembles, and academies, are generously donating their artistry to eradicate cataract blindness.
HelpMeSee is a non-profit social enterprise committed to ending the global health crisis of cataract blindness, the leading cause of preventable blindness which impacts over 20 million people worldwide. By developing the world’s first comprehensive Eye Surgical Simulator to provide training to address the critical shortage of skilled cataract specialists, HelpMeSee is building local capacity and bringing affordable and high-quality care to under-served markets.
HelpMeSee’s comprehensive solution to cataract blindness includes surgical training, patient outreach, and support for sight-restoring cataract procedures that standardize the quality of care, medical supply chain, and evaluation practices to ensure safe surgeries. Since founding in 2010, HelpMeSee partnered with 290 partner surgeons across 10 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and supported over 250,000 surgeries.
Forbes, Bloomberg News, Voice of America, Vision Monday, All India Radio, and Philanthropy News Digest are among the news media which have featured HelpMeSee.
Music for Life International, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization that was established to create social impact in a variety of sectors through music. MFLI presents musical concerts and related programs to promote the awareness of major international humanitarian crises and other public interest issues in the US and around the world. MFLI takes its name from the legendary MUSIC FOR LIFE concert organized by Leonard Bernstein in 1987 at Carnegie Hall. music4lifeinternational.org
Committed to helping Asian Indian kids with food allergy
“I have increasingly been seeing children with food allergies in my clinic and in my social circles, with many of them having severe, life-threatening allergies to multiple foods,” says Dr. Chitra Dinakar, the Gies Endowed Faculty Scholar and Clinical Professor in Food Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research at the Sean N Parker Center, Stanford University. According to Dr. Dinakar, who was until recently a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Director, FARE Center of Excellence at Children’s Mercy, Division of Allergy/Immunology at Children’s Mercy Hospital, what she saw in her patients had a direct similarity in with recent data that food allergy is considered to be the second wave of the allergy epidemic with up to 8% of children having food allergies in the USA.
Dr. Dinakar was deeply concerned that “a significant percentage of them were of Asian Indian origin, and whose parents and grandparents had no history or knowledge of food allergies. Moreover, some of them had allergies to foods that were not commonly reported in the USA population (e.g. urud dal), and hence were finding it challenging to get appropriately diagnosed and treated.”
Dr. Chitra Dinakar receives Distinguished Fellow Award from American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
These concerns and studies prompted Dr. Dinakar, who had completed her fellowship in Allergy/Immunology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, and has been at Children’s Mercy since then to review the scarce literature published on this topic and her search revealed the possibility that Asians have higher odds of food allergy compared with white children, but significantly lower odds of formal diagnosis.
Dr. Dinakar who began her new career in January 2017 at the Sean N Parker Center, Stanford University, found that immigrant populations tended to develop the diseases of the society they migrated to. Australian-born Asians had higher odds of developing atopic disease when compared to Asian-born immigrants, and foreign-born children had an initially lower prevalence of atopic disease, which increased after residing in US for more than10 years.
“I also discovered that there is a significant knowledge gap regarding food allergy trends in the Asian Indian population in the US,” Dr. Dinakar says. According to her, Asian Indians have an ethnically unique diet and may have ‘unusual’ or ‘different’ food allergies than the “Top 8” (milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish). Additionally, there are no standardized tests to diagnose these unique food allergies or recommendations regarding cross-reactive patterns and foods that are a must-avoid. To her surprise, the allergist also found that Asian Indians as a demographic population is typically left out of most large-scale studies since they do not meet the standard research inclusion criteria for “minority ” or “medically underserved” groups. “I therefore believe it is critically important to recognize, diagnose, and treat these unique allergies in this understudied population to optimize nutrition and growth,” says Dr. Dinakar.
Dr. Dinakar chaired the Joint Task Force Practice Parameter Workgroup on Yellow Zone Management of Asthma Exacerbations. She has served on review panels for grant funding programs such as the National Institutes of Health, and has been a member of the UMKC Pediatric Institutional Review Board. She has been involved in more than 50 investigator-initiated, NIH-sponsored, and industry-sponsored clinical trials, and has over 60 peer-reviewed publications, and 2 book chapters. She is an invited speaker at national and international allergy conferences, and mentors junior faculty, A/I fellows, residents and medical trainees.
Loving children comes naturally to this physician of Indian origin. The opportunity to help care for the health and well-being of the future citizens of India, comprising over one thirds of its population, was compelling and irresistible, inspired her to take up this noble Medical profession. On graduating as the valedictorian from high-school, she was fortunate to be selected to join one of the premier medical institutions in India, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER). Admission at JIPMER is through a nationally competitive entrance examination, and all admitted students receive a generous tuition scholarship from the government of India, which made the decision easy for her.
Dr. Dinakar has been passionately interested in studying food allergy trends among Asian Indians for several years. She began with a pilot survey launched in Kansas City that showed there was a variety of food allergies reported in Asian Indians. She then extended her study to capture a larger cohort throughout the USA in the form of a multi-center collaboration with Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an accomplished pediatrician and food allergy/asthma researcher, from Northwestern University. IRB approval was obtained at the two collaborating institutions, Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
The aims of the ongoing Asian Indian Food Allergy Survey are to 1) understand generational differences in food allergy in the Asian Indian population living in the USA 2) determine the top food allergens in this specific population, 3) and to better understand the interplay between genetics and the environment in the development of atopic illness. The goals are to capture child and parent demographics (including birth country and state, age of migration), history and nature of food allergy diagnosis (including symptoms, age of onset, and testing), and the presence of other atopic illnesses. The key inclusion criteria include being of Asian Indian heritage living in the USA and having a child with food allergy.
Dr. Dinakar and her team reported the preliminary results of the survey at an invited oral presentation at the International Food Allergy Symposium, ACAAI Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX in Nov 2015. Among the 114 Asian Indian children with food allergies approximately two-thirds of the allergies were reported to be diagnosed by a physician. Over two-thirds of them were diagnosed by blood or skin allergy tests, and approximately one-third were revealed through a supervised oral food challenge. Tree nut was the most common food allergy in this population and was reported in six out of every 10 children. This finding was unexpected since it is not the most common food allergy in the general population of the U.S.A.
Dr. Dinakar notes that, some of other food allergies noted were to chickpea flour, capsicum (variant of green pepper), and to Indian lentils. Despite the small sample size, a large variety of food allergens that are typically not seen in the general population was reported, including foods such as avocado, banana, beef, bulgur wheat, coconut, corn, eggplant, food dye, garlic, ginger, green peas, jalapeño peppers, kiwi, melon, rice and tomato. Additionally, one in ten parents self-reported that they had a food allergy.
“While the study is still on-going, the preliminary findings are important as they reveal that individuals of Indian descent living in the US tend to be allergic to foods that are frequently not thought of as common food allergens,” Dr. Dinakar, whose expertise includes pediatric asthma, food allergic disorders, atopic and immunological disorders, and health care quality and outcomes, says. “I will follow up on this study by evaluating allergic diseases in the Indian subcontinent and determine reasons for the exponential spike.”
Dr. Dinakar, who serves on the Editorial boards of four reputed Allergy/Immunology journals (AllergyWatch (Associate Editor); Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; Allergy and Asthma Proceedings; Current Treatment Options in Allergy),and serves as the USA Regional Editor of the World Allergy Organization Web Editorial Board, invites all families of Indian origin to participate in the collection of this critically important information at the link below: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SouthAsianFoodAllergySurvey
“The data we capture will enable us to start gaining an understanding of why Asian Indian families in the USA are increasingly developing severe allergic diseases such as food allergies, asthma and environmental allergies. It will also help us develop appropriate treatment and prevention strategies for this unique population, one that is typically not well-represented in routine research studies.”
As of today, about 350 individuals have responded to the survey, while the team would like to have a group of 1000 or more from different regions of this country to participate in the survey, so that it would adequately reflect the food allergy status of the Asian Indian population living in the USA.
Dr. Dinakar has served in leadership capacities at national Allergy/Immunology organizations. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI) and recently got elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI). She was on the Board of Regents of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Section of Allergy/Immunology in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP-SOAI) and is an elected member of the prestigious American Pediatric Societies (APS). She is a former President of the Greater Kansas City Allergy Society and a former Board member of the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation. She is a board member of the Food Equality Initiative and the Food Allergy Support Group of Greater Kansas City.
Dr. Dinakar, who has been awarded with numerous awards was the recipient of the “Distinguished Fellow Award, American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in 2016.
“I was honored to receive the “Distinguished Fellow Award” from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), a professional organization of more than 6900 allergists/immunologists from across the world, at their annual meeting in November, 2016. According to the ACAAI website, this award is presented to “a Fellow who has made significant contributions to allergy, asthma or immunology in the United States or Canada and/or has an outstanding reputation as a clinician/teacher, dedication to ACAAI activities, scholarly achievement and leadership qualities”. In the words of Dr. Bryan Martin, the President of the ACAAI, “Dr. Dinakar is incredibly active in the College and has been instrumental in the quality of College educational endeavors. She supports the practicing allergist as a Director of the ABAI, and the College representative on the Council of Pediatrics Subspecialties. She is a wonderful mentor and tireless worker for the allergy community.”
Last year, she was thrilled to receive “The Woman in Allergy Award” by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). The annual award “honors an individual who has advanced the role of women in medicine or made a significant contribution to the specialty”. In the words of the 2016 ACAAI President Dr. James Sublett, “Dr. Dinakar is one of those “go-to individuals” who is always willing, when asked, to step up and take a leadership role. Whether it’s leading the development of a Practice Parameter, or chairing a College committee, we know the job will be done well and on time.”
Some of the awards Dr. Dinakar was bestowed with include, “Excellence in Service” (for Distinguished Editorial Service), Missouri State Medical Association (2016), “Woman in Allergy Award” by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (2015), “Acellus Teacher of the Year” award by the International Academy of Science (2015), the “Award of Excellence” by the American Association of Allergists & Immunologists of Indian Origin (AAAII, 2009), “Golden Apple Mercy Mentor Award” by Children’s Mercy Hospital, and an honorary “Kentucky Colonel” awarded by the Governor of Kentucky. She is listed on the Consumer Research Council’s ‘Guide to America’s Top Pediatricians’; Best Doctors in America; Kansas City Magazine’s ‘SuperDocs’ and ‘435 Magazine’ Best Doctors.
“It is energizing to me to know that colleagues I admire and respect believe in my passions,” says Dr. Dinkar with a sense of pride and accomplishment. “At the same time, it is humbling to realize that this honor was possible only because of the unstinting mentorship and encouragement of path-breaking leaders and supportive colleagues. I have found that almost every person I encounter has a story to tell, and their personal battles and victories inspire and motivate me. To me, therefore, the awards are a reflection of the collective “goodness” of the amazing people I have been fortunate to interact with in my life.”
Having had the benefit of experiencing healthcare delivery in two nations, both In India and the US, at near-opposite ends of the spectrum, Dr. Dinakar is well aware of the breakthroughs and limitations in healthcare globally. “I am passionate about minimizing health care disparities and moving healthcare quality forward in every which way I can, one baby step at a time. Having been blessed with receiving top-notch training in both India and the USA, I am passionate about advancing cutting-edge research knowledge in both these countries, and using the expertise and understanding gained to improve global health.” She hopes that her new assignment at Stanford University “will enable me to accomplish my goals.”
Being a pediatrician, and a mother of two young college boys- the older a sophomore at Stanford, and the younger a Freshman at UC Berkeley, Dr. Dinakar is an unabashed and ardent believer in the power and ability of the future global citizens to take mankind forward.
Dr. Dinakar also believes that many young Indian Americans are doubly blessed with having the benefit of both “Nature and Nurture.” In other words, the majority of them have inherited priceless genes and drive that brought their incredibly hard-working and motivated parents/grandparents to cross continents in a desire to ensure a robust future for their progeny. According to Dr. Dinakar, “while there are unique generational, cultural, language, social and economic challenges in growing up as the children of immigrants in the USA, the opportunities presented to them are limitless. After all, this is “the land where dreams come true!”
Addressing the young Indian Americans, Dr. Dinakar says, “You are extraordinarily gifted and loved beyond measure. Feel empowered to unlock your phenomenal potential and translate your dreams into reality.”
Dr. Dinakar finds time and passion to be actively involved in every aspect of her family life. “I believe that my family is a microcosm of the world around me, and how I interact with my family defines and shapes how I interact with the world. I believe that each one of the members of my family tree (vertically and horizontally) is exceptional and extraordinary, and am deeply grateful for the countless ways in which they have enriched and fostered my growth, either directly or by example.”
“I am a kinetic person and enjoy putting my fast muscle fibers and mitochondria to work,” describes Dr. Dinakar of herself. A classically trained Bharathnatyam dancer, she learned ballroom dancing after coming to the USA. She revels in all kinds of dance movements, including Bollywood. A competitive track athlete in school/college, she says, “nostalgic memories motivate me to represent my hospital in the annual Kansas City-wide Corporate Challenge events, where I typically medal in the 100m and 400m sprints, and Long Jump events.” She was the captain of the basketball team in medical school and “I play 2 on 2 basketball with my boys in the driveway, when the weather permits. My boys are talented musicians and I enjoy listening to them. I also love reading good books and watching movies, though I wish there were 36 hours in a day!”
The coming of age of the Indian American community is more evident in the new year than ever before, especially after experiencing unprecedented political success in the general elections and assuming office in the nnewly inaugurated US Congress and Senate.
Forbes reports that, during last year’s elections, four of its members – Ro Khanna (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) – were elected to the United States Congress, while a fifth, Representative Ami Bera (D-CA), won re-election to a third term. This represents the largest number of Indian Americans to ever serve in Congressional history. Also, elected was Kamala Karris, a first time Senator from the state of California, whose mother hails from India.
Judge Dilip Singh Saund became the first Asian American to be elected to Congress in 1956. Nearly four decades later, Bobby Jindal (R-LA) was elected to the House of Representatives from Louisiana before launching a successful gubernatorial bid in the state.
“ Indian Americans are approximately 1% of the U.S. population and for the first time ever they now make up 1% of the U.S. Congress ,” notes M.R. Rangaswami, the founder of the San Francisco-based nonprofit Indiaspora. “This doesn’t count the scores of Indian Americans senior staffers serving on Capitol Hill working for dozens of members on both sides of the aisle.”
Beyond the legislative branch, Donald Trump’s election to the White House is also proving a boon to some members of the community. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC) has been tapped to become the first ever Indian American U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations while Indiana native Seema Verma has been nominated by the president-elect to run the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Several other Indian Americans are poised to receive presidential appointments in the new administration as well.
The recent slate of elections and appointments is a part of a relatively new, larger trend: the growing success of Indian Americans in the public service arena.
Forbes reports that since American immigration laws were liberalized in 1965, Indians traveled to the U.S. in record numbers and the Indian American community has become the wealthiest, most educated diaspora in the country. While they have dominated the medical, engineering and computer science industries for decades, Indian Americans are only recently experiencing a commensurate level of achievement in public life.
Until President Obama took office in January 2009, not a single Indian American had ever served as an American ambassador. Now there are two, Atul Keshap in Sri Lanka, and Richard Verma in India. “Both Keshap and Verma have earned consistent praise from across the political spectrum for their crucially important diplomatic work,” wrote Forbes.
Nisha Desai Biswal served as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs while her equally and widely respected deputy, Manpreet Anand, is also Indian American. Countless other exceptionally qualified Indian Americans have also served in varying levels across the Executive Branch and will continue to do so during the Trump Administration.
The Indian American community has also made its mark on the judiciary, said the report.
In 2013, Sri Srinivasan became the first Indian American appellate court judge after being unanimously confirmed by the Senate to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Srinivasan was shortlisted by President Obama to replace Justice Anton Scalia on the Supreme Court following his unexpected death in 2016. Kentucky District Court Judge Amul Tharpar’s name has been floated as a possible contender for the vacancy under Donald Trump.
In addition to numerous local and state judges like Sanjay Tailor in Chicago’s Cook County, several Indian Americans are serving as so-called “Article III” judges, judges who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the US Senate.
“As Indian Americans have continued to succeed and prosper in the United States, their sense of commitment to the United States, desire to give back, and simultaneously strengthen and be a part of the fabric of the country has also grown as well,” Sanjeev Joshipura, director at Indiaspora, told Forbes.
Donald Trump took over as the 45th US president on Friday, January 20th, 2017 after winning a highly divisive campaign. Trump at and after the inauguration, behaves in the same way as he had conducted his upstart campaign, with a mixture of blustery salesmanship and contempt for the established political order.
In doing so, the new Republican party leader sent a clear signal to the country and the world: He plans to govern as he campaigned, refusing to align himself even with his own Republican Party and taking his message directly to the American people.
Trump assumed the presidency of a country still unsettled after a polarizing election and entered office with less support in polls than any other president in recent history. Trump won the majority of the US Electoral College vote, but lost the popular vote to his opponent, Hillary Clinton, by nearly 3 million votes, making any attempt to unify the country that much more difficult.
In a ceremony that capped a remarkable rise to power, Mr. Trump presented himself as the leader of a populist uprising to restore lost greatness. He outlined a dark vision of an America afflicted by “the ravages” of economic dislocation and foreign exploitation, requiring his can-do approach to turn around.
“I will fight for you with every breath in my body, and I will never, ever let you down,” Mr. Trump told hundreds of thousands of rain-soaked admirers and onlookers in a forceful 16-minute Inaugural Address from the West Front of the Capitol. “America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.”
According to analysts, Trump did nothing to dispel concerns that he would bring the cult of personality he built over the election campaign into the White House, and he offered little in the way of olive branches to the tens of millions of Americans who did not vote for him in the most divisive election in modern US history. A former reality TV star,
Donald Trump offered an apocalyptic vision of reality: an America besieged by crime, immigration, terrorism and unfair trade deals. “The American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” he pledged, as he presented himself as a champion of the ordinary American.
“The gloomy picture Trump sketched of the nation flies in the face of evidence that the economy is in healthy shape, crime is down and the nation is relatively safe and secure,” wrote James Olipher of the Reuters. “He did nothing to dispel concerns that he would bring the cult of personality he built over the election campaign into the White House, and he offered little in the way of olive branches to the tens of millions of Americans who did not vote for him in the most divisive election in modern U.S. history,” her added.
After warning the public on the extent of the problems, Trump suggested, as he did during his campaign, that he and his “movement” are the only solution. He did not mention the Republicans in Congress with whom he will partner to govern and certainly not the Democrats who have fiercely opposed him.
“We are transferring power from Washington D.C. and giving it back to you, the American people.” Trump campaigned as an outsider, railing against the sins of both his Republican Party and the Democratic Party. And, it became clear as he delivered his speech on the steps of the Capitol, that he intends to remain that outsider, the rebel leader who takes power with one foot still on the battlefield.
In Trump’s speech, historians said, there were echoes of Franklin D. Roosevelt with Trump mentioning “the forgotten” Americans left behind by the forces of trade and globalization, of Richard Nixon’s “silent majority”, and of Ronald Reagan’s pledge to restore the nation’s greatness.
Trump has told visitors in recent weeks that he had looked to the inaugural addresses of Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy for inspiration. There were echoes of both in his words: Reagan’s blunt rejection of the Washington status quo (“government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem”), and Kennedy’s call to join a grand national project (“the torch has been passed to a new generation”).
But Mr. Trump did not have the uplifting vision with which Mr. Reagan ended his speech. And he attached his Kennedy-like promise to send forth a message to his campaign slogan “America First.” According to him, “We will seek friendship and good will with the nations of the world,” he said. “But we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.”
He got started right away with rolling back the policies of his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, by issuing orders freezing new regulations from recent weeks and ordering agencies to “ease the burden” of the Affordable Care Act during the transition from repealing to replacing the law. He also concluded the NAFTA treaty relieving the US of its obligations to the world treaty that Obama had signed years ago.
Trump spent little time trying to expand his appeal to the majority of Americans who view him unfavorably, according to opinion polls. Instead, he appeared to speak directly to his most fervent supporters.
Hours before his departure, outgoing President Barack Obama posted on Twitter to thank followers and hint that he would not fade away. “I won’t stop,” he said. “I’ll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humor, and love.”
With the economic inequality and the middle class being left behind becoming major themes in the pre and post election seasons, Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has launched a new research institute that will be focused on economic inequality, stepping outside the traditional bounds of the central bank’s focus on monetary policy.
Described as ‘Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute’, the new initiative will conduct and promote research that increases economic opportunity and inclusive growth for all Americans.
Ohio-born Kashkari, who has a bachelor’s and a master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, has taken a nontraditional approach to solving problems as Federal Reserve president of Minneapolis. In contrast to many Fed officials, he has no training as an economist.
“Travelling around the Ninth District has helped me understand the economic challenges that we face in our region. Too many families rightly feel that their kids don’t have access to a bright future,” Kashkari said in a press statement.
“While this Institute will bring together the best academic scholarship from around the nation, the intended effect is on the personal level, helping families and communities improve their prospects,” he said.
Speaking at the Minneapolis Urban League recently, Kashkari said by supporting scholarship on issues of economic inequality, the institute will help direct policy makers outside the Fed toward potential solutions. While the solutions may not be imposed by the Fed, the institute’s research would be part of fulfilling the central bank’s goal of maximum employment, Kashkari said.
The initiative was described by Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen as an important initiative with potential for finding economic opportunity for people. “The Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute is an important research initiative focusing on some of the most pressing economic issues we face as a nation,” Yellen said in a statement.
“This work has the potential to help more Americans find real economic opportunity. I hope that scholars inside and outside the Federal Reserve System will contribute to this important work,” she said. The Institute, based at the Minneapolis Fed, is a long-term commitment designed to engage a broad range of scholars. It will look beyond aggregate economic indicators to examine how national policies impact diverse communities of people within the U.S. economy.
Such scholarship, Keshkari said, will allow the Federal Reserve System to better achieve one of its primary missions – maximum employment – and generate important new insights for other policymakers and the public.
The Institute will adopt a multidisciplinary approach that includes the participation of leading academics from a variety of fields, including economics, education, law, public health, public policy and sociology. A distinguished group of academics have joined the advisory board to help launch the Institute, including Raj Chetty, professor of economics at Stanford University and Greg Kaplan, professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
Suhag Shukla, Executive Director, Legal Counsel, and co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), has been named one of twelve “faith leaders to watch in 2017” by the Center for American Progress, the Center for American Progress announced Jan. 18. Sapreet Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s executive director in 2009, was the other South Asian featured on the list.
Amid many changes happening throughout the country, the center noted that “faith leaders can fill the critical dual roles of holding political leaders accountable to communities and witnessing the shared vision of a more just nation and world.”
It added, “Both individually and collectively, people of faith, their voices, and their actions will be integral to fighting back against injustice and ensuring that all people are treated with dignity and equity.” Shukla is the co-founder of HAF and currently serves as its executive director and legal counsel.
“I’m humbled to be included alongside other prominent American faith leaders,” the Indian American activist said in a statement. “However, doing this work and being honored in this way is only possible because of the dedication and hard work of the entire team behind HAF, as well as that of our supporters.”
The foundation is an advocacy organization for the Hindu American community. It educates the public about Hinduism, speaks out about issues affecting Hindus worldwide and works with intrafaith and interfaith organizations to advance its mission of religious liberty.
Shukla embodies true religious liberty, ensuring that plurality and the rights of religious minorities are at the heart of religious freedom advocacy, the report said.
Since starting as the Sikh Coalition’s executive director in 2009, Sapreet Kaur has transformed the organization into a large and visible civil rights organization that provides legal defense and advocates on issues of hate crimes, racial and religious profiling, safe schools, employment discrimination, and religious liberty. Shedding a light on the lesser-recognized faith, in 2013, Kaur was the first Sikh to speak at a Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service. In 2016, Kaur and her team launched the groundbreaking Sikh Project, a collection of photographs of diverse Sikh Americans that complicates the narrative and sparks conversation about what it means to be American.
In all of her work, Kaur prioritizes building bridges within the interfaith community, ensuring that the Sikh Coalition’s advocacy work supports not only Sikh civil rights but also the rights of all people. Going forward, Kaur is committed to pushing back on attacks on religious minorities and lesser-known communities and taking a stand against fear mongering and discrimination.
Shedding a light on the lesser-recognized faith, in 2013, Kaur was the first Sikh to speak at a presidential inaugural prayer service, the center news release noted. Last year, Kaur and her team launched the Sikh Project, a collection of photographs of diverse Sikh Americans that complicates the narrative and sparks conversation about what it means to be American.
The gauntlet of leaders to watch represent the best of faith traditions: optimism that the future can and will be more just and strength and perseverance to fight to make it so, the center stressed. Their leadership is desperately needed, and CAP’s Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative looks forward to the inspiration their work will provide in the coming year, it added.
Indo-American Hotelier, Sunil Tolani has been nominated to receive the HIND RATTAN, a prestigious award by 36th International Congress of Non Resident Indian on January 26th, 2017, in New Delhi, India.
According to a CNN report by Mariac NN, “I have met many humanitarians but not quite like Mr. Sunil Tolani who continues to impact the world by his immeasurable philanthropy. He has been honored and recognized with different awards and there is one yet to come which is the PHILANTHROPY AND OUTSTANDING HUMANITARIAN AWARD FOR 2012 by the Indian Community Of Southern California, this Janury 2012. Tolani was One of top vote WINNER of Holiday Spirit award in OC where the judges described : “Owner’s focus is people, not money in the annual recognition of Orange County business owners who are kind, generous and full of good will all year long.”
In his own words, Tolani says, “I have always seen travel as a tool that could improve the world. Giving back to the community is not only the right thing to do — it’s also good for business when corporate responsibility and sustainability are rooted in our business, they drive operational efficiencies, customer loyalty, and Team Member morale as recognition and corporate responsibility go hand-in-hand, and are key factors in creating a culture of awareness, inclusion, and respect. It’s important for us to recognize our Team Members’ efforts to make a positive difference in the world. Prince Organization is doing more than ever to fulfill its mission of corporate responsibility by creating opportunities, strengthening communities, celebrating cultures, and living sustainably.
“I always wanted to be a Social Entrepreneur by exemplifying high standards in leadership, citizenship, and innovations, one who can be an inspiration and a rare example of highest customer service others can emulate, a mentor to newcomers. Our hotels engage with community organizations and play an active role through volunteerism and donations to support those who are challenged with supporting themselves. The generosity of the Tolani Family and dedication and commitment of our many PRINCE associates has resulted in hundreds of personal hours and free room nights that have been provided to many non profit organizations for their charity auctions and fundraising events. Education is the foundational cornerstone of our organizations’ corporate responsibility commitment. Our organization has proudly initiated multiple scholarship funds to help many well deserving young adults achieve their educational goals established the “ Scholarship for the American Dream” with endowments that encourages others to create their own American Dream. Participating schools select the recipients and preference is given to students of minority groups.
“I view charity and philanthropy as two very different endeavors. For many years, practiced charity, simply writing checks to worthy causes and organizations, since the budget has immensely increased , I have engaged in “venture philanthropy.” My approach to our grant-making activity is with much the same vigor, energy and expectation as I do in business. Viewing my grants as investments, and expect a return – in the form of improved student achievement for our education reform work.
“The catch phrases that drive my life and philanthropy include: Enjoy every day; Think outside the lines; risk, learn and grow; ideas are easy, execution pays off; constantly improve; Admit mistakes, fix them and move on; problems are opportunities; hard work makes winners.”
Vanita Gupta, chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division, stepped down from her post last week as President-elect Donald Trump prepared to launch his administration, says the Civil Rights Law will change dramatically under President Donald Trump.
The Indian American lawyer was appointed to the position in 2014. In the Obama administration, the Justice Department often took on an advocacy role, championing the rights of minorities, especially the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. In a landmark move last year, Gupta sent a letter to every public school in the country, telling them to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that conformed with their gender identity.
As per a NY Times report, in the final weeks of the Obama administration, the Justice Department won the first hate-crime case involving a transgender victim and sued two cities for blocking mosques from opening. Prosecutors settled lending-discrimination charges with two banks, then sued a third. They filed legal briefs on behalf of New York teenagers being held in solitary confinement, and accused Louisiana of forcing mentally ill patients into nursing homes.
And then, with days remaining, prosecutors announced a deal to overhaul Baltimore’s Police Department and accused Chicago of unconstitutional police abuses. During Obama’s two terms in office, the DOJ’s Civil Rights division has opened 25 civil pattern-or-practice investigations into local law enforcement agencies to investigate allegations of misconduct, including excessive force; unlawful stops, searches and arrests; and discriminatory policing, among others, reported the Washington Post.
Much of the division’s work requires “culture change in institutions or requires change, sustained change over a term of years,” Gupta said, in an interview with the Washington Post. The attorney said she had anxieties about whether the Trump administration would continue the work, especially under the leadership of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s nominee to head up the Justice Department.
“The project of civil rights has always demanded creativity,” Gupta said in an interview with the New York Times. “It requires being bold. Often that means going against the grain of currentday popular thinking. Or it requires going to the more expansive reading of the law to ensure we are actually ensuring equal protection for everyone.” “(You) bend the arc of history itself — not merely by serving your clients, but by harnessing the law as a force for positive change,” she said.
(Trumbull, CT: January 25th, 2017): Indian Americans continue to come in large numbers and settle down in the state of Connecticut particularly in towns with reputations for excellent schools. The latest figures from the U.S. Census show 37,545 people of Indian origin living in the state, an increase of about 14,000 from 2000. In the last five years since the last census, there has been a very significant influx of Indian Americans in the Constitution state. The reasons to move here, Indian Americans say, remain education and opportunity.
This fast growing presence of the Indian American community was evident when nearly three hundred people from across the southern state of Connecticut came together to participate in the New Year and Christmas celebrations organized by the Malayalee Association of Southern Connecticut (MASCONN) on Saturday, January 1st, 2017 at Madison Middle School, Trumbull, CT.
The more than three-hours long cultural extravaganza, mostly by children and youth was in many ways “reliving the culture and traditions” and a is way of “cherishing the past with a view to pass it on to the future generation.” Bollywood, classical, folk dances with music from the yesteryears to the present, along with a magic show, culminating with a grand buffet dinner were highlightsw of the celebrations. Homemade cookie sale by children for the benefit of a local charity was an added attraction.
Living in countries that are far away from their homeland, in the midst of different cultures, busy with the day-to-day mundane work and home tasks, the Non Resident Indian (NRI) community made this “land of opportunities” their home, have brought with them these cultural traditions and have sought to pass them on to their children, who are often born and raised here.
The celebration of Christmas and New Year with traditional and modern Indian cultural events provides them with a perfect opportunity to encourage the new generation of children of Indian origin to witness, learn and appreciate these rich traditions, even while it offers the first generation NRIs to stay connected and cherish the rich cultural heritage they hold so dear to them as well as it serves as a way of showcasing these traditions to the larger American community.
“MASCONN an offshoot of the natural growth of the Indian-American especially Malayalee Community in the southern Connecticut region,” said Unni Thoyakkattu, President of MASCON, in his welcome address. “In a very short period, we have grown by leaps and bounds and we strive to meet the growing needs of our community. In his welcome address, Unni described the many initiatives the new organization has spearheaded successfully in the past decade. He referred to the MASCONN-Kids Club which has recently been launched, and urged the youth and children to become members of it. He thanked the Kids Club members who had made cookies, brownies and other sweets at home and had displayed a colorful sale. The money generated was to be given in charity to the Cancer Society at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Bridgeport.
Tijo Josh, an organizer of the event, said, “We thank every performer, their parents, and their choreographers for your effort and commitment. Thank you for your cooperation with everything. We really appreciate everyone for being on time, being on the ball and ready to show your best. You did an excellent job by making your performance within the allotted time. Because of you, we were able to get through the programs as planned. Start getting ready for the next big event – Onam2017. You keep raising the bar in what you do and we want to make this even better – the best show in Southern CT.”
Renowned community leader with decades of experience in community service and sales/marketing, Andy Bhatia has been elected as the president of the Federation of Indian Association in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which organizes the largest India Day Parade in New York City.
The soft spoken Bhatia assumed charge as the president of the largest Indian American organization on January 1 along with a new team comprising of Srujal Parikh (executive vice president); Alok Kumar (vice president); Chhavi Dharayan (secretary); Jatin Patel (joint secretary); Himanshu Bhatia (treasurer); Anand Patel (immediate past president) promising that an all out effort will be made to expand the activities of the organization.
The signature events of the FIA, including the India Day Parade, India Day Banquet and the Dance pe Chance will be organized to attract more people with new features which will take them to the next level. A college fair for the youth and a fundraising event for the organization in April are also being planned. Expanding the programs of FIA to Connecticut and Queens/Long Island areas are also being explored .
Andy Bhatia is the president of American Sales and Marketing Partners LLC, who has extensive experience in the airline/travel industry. He retired as the Area Sales Manager for Air India in New York, where he worked for nearly 35 years, both in the field and at the North American Headquarters in various capacities.
He has served in the FIA in various capacities for several years. For a quarter of a century, he actively participated in organizing the India Day Parade and Diwali Festival in New York City and Diwali Mela in Jackson Heights, among other community events in the Tri-State area on behalf of Air India.
He was honored thrice by the FIA and the National Federation of Indian Associations (NFIA.)
He is credited with conceptualizing and launching the ‘Know India Seminars’ in USA and Canada which were attended by more than 6000 American travel agents to qualify as India tourism specialists. He also formulated the concept of selling co-op tours by agents in non-conflicting sales territories to increase tourist bookings to India.
Bhatia was also instrumental in the launching a bi-monthly India Travel newsletter and the Traveler’s India magazine. He continues to be engaged in the industry as a consultant and serves as a member of several travel trade associations including the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s New York Chapter and the American Society of Travel Agents, Airline Sales Managers Association and SKAL International.
He also worked at the Public Relations and Development Office at the University of Bridgeport as executive secretary of the Committee on Informal Education. He chaired the Halsey International Scholarship Program consisting of community support groups representing sixteen countries including India’s Shastri Scholarship Committee.
Organizations including the Gujrati Samaj USA, City Council of New York, and Jackson Heights Merchants Association too honored him. He was also selected for the Paul Harris Fellowship Award of Rotary International for International Relations in 1998. The travel industry honored him several times.
Another honor he cherishes was the WICC Radio Station’s Community Service Salute (1971, 1974) for community service in the Greater Bridgeport area. He was also honored by the Rotary Club of Bridgeport with the Outstanding Young Man of America award (1971 and 1974) for leadership qualities when he was a student.
Srujal Parikh, executive vice president, is working for New York Police Department. He has been serving in the executive committee for more than five years. He is a co-founder of South Asian Community Outreach, co-founder and president of National School of Cricket USA, trustee of Indian Officers Society at NYPD, former vice president of the Edison Cricket Club, which has legends like Sunil Gavaskar as honorary members. “My passion of serving the community comes from my parents, who served a small town of Gujarat through Lions Club International,” he said.
He was instrumental as a team leader in coordinating the first ever South Asian celebration of America’s Independence Day in Edison Township by South Asian Community Outreach. He also served as a co-chair of Dushera Festival in Edison Township.
Alok Kumar, vice president, is a native of Darbhanga, Bihar. A resident of Old Bridge, New Jersey, he has been involved with several organizations in addition to the FIA, including Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America ( BJANA), and South Asian Community Outreach (SACO). Kumar, who has a masters degree in computer science is a young entrepreneur who acquired IT companies such as Acme Technology Group, United Business Solutions, & Spino. He later started a new portal to find right jobs. www.thegreatbrains.com
Chhavi Dharayan, secretary, has been working with the FIA since 2011 in various capacities. She served as secretary in 2016 also. She was the co- chair of Dance Pe Chance, to celebrate India’s Republic Day, in 2012 and became the chair for 2015, 2016 and 2017. The event created history with the maximum number of participants in 2015. “As the chairperson for Dance Pe Chance 2017, I look forward to an equally magnificent competition as was in the past two years
“It has been a magnificent journey wherein I got an inimitable opportunity of community service and was instrumental in promoting Indian culture, heritage, music and dance,’ she said.
Dharayan is a business graduate, who has been running an IT consultancy for the last 16 years
Jatin Patel, joint secretary has been with the FIA community since 2013. He holds a masters degree in engineering and has a background in Information Technology and Business. After spending 10 years in the IT departments of AT&T, Ingersoll-Rand and Coach, he has branched off into running his own businesses mainly in the food service, hospitality and beauty industries.
Himanshu Bhatia, treasurer is a business professional. “I have a passion for the social cause and philanthropy. I bring open minded approach to the business and to the society for the betterment of all,” he said. Bhatia holds a masters degree in engineering from NJ Institute of Technology and has worked for Oracle Global Health, Pfizer, Merck and Galexo Smith Klein prior to going into business for himself.
Discusses maternal morbidly and mortality in India with PM Modi
“I had a fruitful discussion with the PM on very burning but ignored issue on maternal morbidly and mortality in India which is one of the highest in the world,” Dr. Sampat Shivangi, Chair of Mississippi State Board of Mental Health, told this writer. The discussions with the Indian Prime Minister was held soon after being bestowed with the highest civilian honor , Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Sanman award for the year 2016 on January 9, 2017 in Blengaluru by the Hon. President of India, Shri Pranav Mukhejee.
A very soft spoken and pioneering Indian American physician, Dr. Shivangi, believes that in many cases, maternal morbidly and mortality in India is worse than some African nations, in spite of tremendous changes have occurred and transformed India. During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru last week, Dr. Shivangi said, “I requested the Prime Minister and drew his attention to the fact that the cause of mother who is the focal point in a family but forgotten entity. I appreciated his efforts and his movement on a child girl, Beti Padao, Beti Bachao and appealed to him to include and add “MAAKO BACHAO” a movement that will go long way in reducing such a devastating problem.”
According to Dr. Shivangi, “Modiji was touched by my request and I am much grateful for his receptive audience. I assured him that we would join in such a movement to help our motherland,” the Indian American physician informed this writer.
Dr.Shivangi has held high offices in USA including as an advisor to US Health & Human Services appointed by then President George W. Bush, a member of the Mississippi state Board of Health by Governor Haley Barbour, then a Chair of the State Board of Mental Health.
Recently a street was named in the state of Mississippi as DR.SAMPAT SHIVANGI STREET by the state for his work and contributions to the cause of Mental Health. The National President of Indian American Forum for political Education, the oldest Indian American associations, Dr. Shivangi has lobbied for several Bills in US Congress on behalf of India through his enormous contacts with US Senators and Congressmen for the last three decades.
Dr. Shivangi has been close to Bush family and was instrumental in lobbying for first Diwali celebration in the White house and President George W. Bush to make his trip to India. He had accompanied President Bill Clinton during his historic visit to India, Dr. Shivangi has worked enthusiastically in promoting India Civil Nuclear treaty and recently US India defense treaty that was passed in the US Congress and signed by President Obama.
The well known and well respected physician, who is an active member of the prestigious American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), he is a strong believer and Supporter of AAPI for more than two decades including founding President of AAPI MS.
Dr. Shivangi has carried out number of philanthropic projects in India including Primary & middle schools, Cuturral Center, IMA Centers that he opened and he brought first ever US Congressional grant to AAPI to study Diabetes Mellitus amongst Indian Americans.
Of the awardees, six are from the U.S., two each from Britain and the United Arab Emirates, and one each from 27 other countries the world over. Five other Indian Americans sharing the honors were Hari Babu Bindal for environmental engineering; Bharat Haridas Barai, Mahesh Mehta and Ramesh Shah for community service; and Nisha Biswal for community leadership. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards and delivered the valedictory address on January 9th.
Captions
1 The PBD award presentation by the President of a India Hon Mukherjee to Dr. Sampath Ssivangi
Dr. Shivangi in conversation with the Prime Minister of India, Hon. Modiji at Pravasi Bharathiya Samman award event in Bangalore.
Udaipur, India: December 30, 2016: The ground breaking 10th annual Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) 2016 organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) concluded here on Friday, December 30th, with identifying tangible ways to develop more efficient and cost effective healthcare delivery in India, and secured commitments to invest in the state of Rajasthan by Physicians of Indian origin.
While welcoming the nearly 500 delegates from the US, India and abroad to the GHS 2016 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Udaipur, Dr. Ajay Lodha, President of AAPI, gave a brief introduction into the making of the Global Healthcare Summit. “Global Healthcare Summit held annually in India across the states in partnership with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), and Medical Council of India (MCI), with the cooperation from the Ministry of Health and Overseas Indian Affairs, has come to be recognized for the many initiatives it has given birth to and the numerous joint recommendations of the standard of care for major diseases affecting the people of India,” he said.
“Let us develop a structural relationship between AAPI and the government of India,” Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, India’s Minister for Health, told the hundreds of international delegates, while inaugurating the GHS 2016 at the American International Institute of Medical Sciences in Udaipur, India by lighting the traditional lamp.
The Summit was packed with seminars, workshops and symposiums on modern research and topics. The scientific program of GHS 2016 was developed by leading experts with the contributions of a stellar Scientific Advisory Board and International Scientific Committee, said, Dr. Gautam Samadder, President-Elect of AAPI.
The GHS offered educational and training programs on areas that need special attention, including high priority areas such as Cardiology, Maternal & Child Health, Diabetes, Oncology, Surgery, Mental Health, HIT, Allergy, Immunology & Lung Health and Gastroenterology, Transplant and impact of comorbidities, and AYUSH by world leaders in the field of medicine, said Dr. Naresh Parikh, Vice President of AAPI.
The Conference in collaboration with several professional associations from all over the world, accredited from Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education for 12 hours of credits will be applied for, Dr. Manju Sachdev, Treasurer of AAPI, reported.
GHS 2016, a three-day event began on December 28th by Hon. Minister for Health, Rajasthan, Shri Kali Charanji Saraf with inauguration of the first ever international Research & Poster Contest, which had a record 294 participants from across the world competing for cash prizes and recognition.
“For the very first time, we are doing an international Research Project in India as part of the Global Healthcare Summit,” Dr. Ajay Lodha, president of AAPI, said. said. “Encouraging young medical researchers of Indian Origin, AAPI has organized a first ever AAPI International Research Competition in collaboration with Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, RNT Medical College, Udaipur and AIIMS Delhi,” Dr. Lodha added.
The Research Paper Competition was conducted under five categories: Clinical Sciences and Patient Based Research; Basic Science/translational research; Innovations in Healthcare; Hospital and Healthcare Management; and AYUSH, Dr. Suresh Reddy, Secretary of AAPI, said.
“I am willing to invest two hundred crore Rupees in Rajasthan,” Dr. Kiran Patel declared at the prestigious CEO Forum and Leadership Meeting. With additional investments from the banks, Dr. Patel said, the total investment could be upto Rs. 1,000 crores in the state of Rajasthan. With the state requiring more trained personnel to support the growing healthcare needs, he is willing to establish a Medical College in Rajasthan.
The CEO Forum was represented by CEOs of major hospitals, teaching institutions and healthcare sectors, including pharmaceutical, medical devices and technology from around the world, exploring potential opportunities for collaboration. More than 50 opinion leaders and expert speakers drawn from major centers of excellence, institutions and professional associations from across the globe addressed the delegates at the Summit.
Healthcare CEO’s shared their experiences and best practices generating a white paper for recommendation to MOH and GOI for broader implementation. Areas of ongoing skill training, investment in infrastructure, modernizing healthcare delivery, and private-public collaboration specific to the state of Rajasthan in the healthcare sector were discussed and specific plans were laid, which will be sent in a White Paper report for follow up in the coming months.
“Man has muscle but woman has heart. I can be anything that a man can be, but a man cannot a mother.” Kiran Bedi, Lt. Governor of Puducherry, told AAPI delegates at the prestigious Women’s Forum, which had a galaxy of successful women, who shared with the delegates their own stories of growing up and facing challenges with conviction and courage, and have today become role models for other women around the world.
Sonal Kalra, Chief Editor of Hindustan Times, Entertainment Magazine, moderated the Forum. Dr. Madhu Aggarwal, AAPI’s BOT Chair, shared of her experiences growing up in a family with her three sisters, all of them, having worked hard and have been able to become Physicians. “My parents insisted on the need for education and that paid off.”
Hon. Home Minister, Rajasthan, Shri Gulab Chandji Kataria applauded the achievements and contributions of Indian American physicians in the healthcare field in the United States and for their love for their motherland, which has made them come back to make a positive difference in the healthcare delivery system in India.
Hon. Minister for Health, Rajasthan, Shri Kali Charanji Saraf, presented an overview of the healthcare needs of the state and suggested ways AAPI could collaborate with the government of Rajasthan. “I pledge my support and commit myself towards the achievement of AAPI’s worthy goals. I am quite certain that with your expertise and the skills that you possess we shall be able to achieve many goals that we have set forth.”
A welcome reception and a scintillating cultural program with Gulabo and International, showcasing the rich cultural traditions of the state of Rajasthan was a treat to the hearts and souls of all delegates. The cultural events by talented artists displayed elegantly how the culture of the times embodying the essence of art and culture of their respective times in history.
Dr. Ajay Lodha said, “The past Summits have helped develop strategic alliances with various organizations. It is these learning and relationships that have now enabled us to plan ahead and prepare for this outstanding event that has already received confirmation from very passionate Indian Americans who are very passionate about serving their homeland, Mother India.”
Dr. Gautam Samadder, President-Elect of AAPI, while proposing vote of thanks, stated that “AAPI is taking on the many challenging issues and will work together and do all that we can to make healthcare delivery more efficient, affordable and modern in India.” He urged all AAPI members and guests to be part of the next Global Healthcare Summit to be held in Kolkotta from January 1st to 4th, 2018. For additional information on AAPI and its Global Healthcare Summit, please visit: www.aapiusa.org; www.aapighsindia.org
Dr. Kiran Patel commits, Rs. 1,000 crore, wants to establish a Medical College in Rajasthan
Udaipur, India – December 30, 2016: “I am willing to invest two hundred crore Rupees in Rajasthan,” Dr. Kiran Patel declared at the prestigious CEO Forum and Leadership Meeting as part of the 10th annual Global Healthcare Summit at the Radisson Blu Hotel auditorium, Udaipur, India on December 28, 2016. With additional investments from the banks, Dr. Patel said, the total investment could be upto Rs. 1,000 crores in the state of Rajasthan. Sharing his own experiences of investing in the state of Gujarat and in the United states, Dr. Patel, a pioneering Cardiologist of Indian origin said, with the state requiring more trained personnel to support the growing needs, he is willing to establish a Medical College in Rajasthan.
Organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the powerful panel was represented by CEOs of major hospitals, teaching institutions and healthcare sectors, including pharmaceutical, medical devices and technology from around the world, exploring potential opportunities for collaboration. Healthcare CEO’s shared their experiences and best practices generating a white paper for recommendation to MOH and GOI for broader implementation. Areas of ongoing skill training, investment in infrastructure, modernizing healthcare delivery, and private-public collaboration specific to the state of Rajasthan in the healthcare sector were discussed and specific plans were laid, which will be sent in a White Paper report for follow up in the coming months.
In his welcome address, Dr. Ajay Lodha summarized some of the achievements of the Global healthcare Summit in the past decade. “Global Healthcare Summit held annually in India across the states in partnership with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), and Medical Council of India (MCI), with the cooperation from the Ministry of Health and Overseas Indian Affairs, has come to be recognized for the many initiatives it has given birth to and the numerous joint recommendations of the standard of care for major diseases affecting the people of India,” he said.
More than 50 opinion leaders and expert speakers drawn from major centers of excellence, institutions and professional associations from across the globe addressed the delegates at the Summit. The esteemed panel of speakers included, Hon. Home Minister, Rajasthan, Shri Gulab Chandji Kataria; Hon. Minister for Health, Rajasthan, Shri Kali Charanji Saraf; Ms. Veenu Gupta, Principal Sec. Health; Dr. D.P. Singh, RNT Medical College; D.G. Shah, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance; Dr. Sudharshan jain of Abbott; Dean Runetta, Indian Embassy, New Delhi; Neil Simon, President of AUI; Shubnum Singh, MAX MIHR; Wendy Brandon, CEO Central Florida Regional Hospital; Dr. Raja Babu Panwar, RUHS; Dr. Mahesh Mishra, AIIMS; Dr. Shakti Gupta, AIIMS; Dr. Prof. Bipin Batra, NBE; Prof. Dr. G. G. Gangadharan; Dr. VijaydeepSiddharth, AIIMS; Dr. Vijay Tadia, AIIMS; Dr. Angel Ranjan Singh, AIIMS; Dr. Ramesh Joshi, Host. Org. Secretary; Dr. Ajay Lodha, President of AAPI; Dr. Gautam Samadder, President Elect; Dr. Naresh Parikh, Vice President; Dr. Manju Sachdev, Treasurer; Dr. Madhu Aggarwal, Chair, Board of Trustees; and Dr. SampatShivangi. The panel was moderated by Anwar Feroz, Honorary Advisor of AAPI.
Veenu Gupta, Principal Sec. Health, state of Rajasthan gave a detailed presentation on the inititiaves by the government of Rajasthan in the healthcare sector and the potential areas of collaboration between the state and NRIs.
During a special presentation with Special Focus on Patient Centric Model, Dr. Sudharhan Jain stressed the need for India to have a patient centric approach and about the implications, challenges and the lessons learned. Another important discussion on advances and recent developments on Medical Tourism and how the state of Rajasthan can utilize the infrastructure to attract people from around the world.
Hon. Home Minister, Rajasthan, Shri Gulab Chandji Kataria applauded the achievements and contributions of Indian American physicians in the healthcare field in the United States and for their love for their motherland, which has made them come back to make a positive difference in the healthcare delivery system in India. Describing physicians of Indian origin as “most required Indians,” the Minister urged AAPI to identify ways to make healthcare reach the remotest villages in the state of Rajasthan. “If AAPI wants to establish or offer any educational opportunities in the state of Rajasthan, I commit my full cooperation in the areas of continuing medical education,” he said.
During his address, Hon. Minister for Health, Rajasthan, Shri Kali Charanji Saraf, presented an overview of the healthcare needs of the state and suggested ways AAPI could collaborate with the government of Rajasthan. “I pledge my support and commit myself towards the achievement of AAPI’s worthy goals. I am quite certain that with your expertise and the skills that you possess we shall be able to achieve many goals that we have set forth.”
Dr. Ajay Lodha said, “The past Summits have helped develop strategic alliances with various organizations. It is these learning and relationships that have now enabled us to plan ahead and prepare for this outstanding event that has already received confirmation from very passionate Indian Americans who are very passionate about serving their homeland, Mother India.” For additional information on AAPI and its Global Healthcare Summit, please visit: www.aapiusa.org; www.aapighsindia.org
“Man has muscle but woman has heart,” Kiran Bedi tells AAPI delegates
“Man has muscle but woman has heart. I can be anything that a man can be, but a man cannot a mother.” Kiran Bedi, Lt. Governor of Puducherry, told AAPI delegates at the prestigious Women’s Forum during the 10th annual Global healthcare Summit at the Radisson Blu Hotel auditorium, Udaipu, India on December 28, 2016. Organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) the Women’s Forum had a galaxy of successful women, who shared with the delegates their own stories of growing up and facing challenges with conviction and courage, and have today become role models for other women around the world. Sonal Kalra, Chief Editor of Hindustan Times, Entertainment Magazine, moderated the Forum.
While sharing her own life’s story, Kiran Bedi said, “As a child, I grew up hearing an absolutely revolutionary statement from my parents: ‘Kiran, you are no less than anyone in the world. Both you and your brother are the equal,’” Stating that women are no less than men, Bedi told the AAPI delegates that the difference is the access to opportunities. “If you have the right kind of opportunities, and do not use them, only you are to blame. “I was able to work and succeed in a men’s world.” she told the audeince.
“When you have equal opportunity, both men and women will be the same. The difference is how to use your opportunities and how you are able to generate positive energy around you,” she told a cheering audience. Her advice to women was, “Rise above the gender biases. If I am doing better today, I can contribute to make the world a better place for all, in the process bettering yourself each and every day so that you can change your perception and make yourself better than others…”
Amrita Fadnavis, Co-Chair of the Women’s Forum, and the Vice President of AXIS Bank, shared with the enthusiastic audience about her own life. “From early in life, my parents stressed on individuality. I was able to grow up with boys and shared equal responsibilities,” she said. Describing that a turning point came in her life, after her marriage to the current Chief Minister of the state of Maharastra, Mr. Fadnavis.
“While I was already working before marriage. And I liked to continue my work and music in spite of people pushing me to give up job. It’s been a great journey for me and I never wanted to give up my identity and my job helps me stay connected with people and the latest in my area of work. It’s about your conviction, confidence and realizing your values. It make a huge difference,” she said. Describing that woman is a multi-tasker, who can be a mother, wife, career-oriented and many more, Fadnavis said, “When you study woman, you know how talented they are. The importance of woman comes when you realize the importance of homemaker.”
Zeenat Aman, Bollywood Actress, said that she comes from a woman-centric family. “From eary on in life, my mother convinced me that there isn’t anything that you can not do. Its all about having faith and resilience,” she said. Her suggestion to all women was; “Give 100 percent of yourself to everything that you do; as a mother, daughter and at work. I have tried to be a mother to my children in the same was my mother has been to be.” Looking at the men in the packed auditorium, the Bollywood star said, “All mothers have to be deeply respected.”
Dr. Madhu Aggarwal, AAPI’s BOT Chair, shared of her experiences growing up in a family with her three sisters, all of them, having worked hard and have been able to become Physicians. “My parents insisted on the need for education and that paid off.” Stating that she is well liked by staff and patients she serves in the US, Dr. Aggarwal said, It’s all due to my hard work, being polite, humble, and discipline. I have a busy practice. And I am able to give back to the community. I have been inducted into the Hall of Fame in US, which is a rare honor for any Indian American.”
Veenu Gupta, Principal Secretary, Health, Government of Rajasthan, said, how through hard work and dedication, she was able to become what she is today. “But the crown was full of thorns,” she said. “People need to understand and recognize the need to give up the discriminatory traditions,” she said.
Dr. Ratna Jain, Former Mayor of Kota, Brahma Kumari Chakradari of the Brahma Kumari Foundation, Dr. Savita of the Brahma Kumari Foundation, Dr. Shabnam Singh of the Max Institute; Preeti Malhotra of the SMART Group; Dr. Udhaya Shivanghi, Chair of AAPI’s Women’s Forum were other panelists who addressed the audience and spoke about the noble initiatives they have undertaken, after having overcome many initial challges from family, society and cultural groups, and how they have become successful in life.
The Forum had a brief discussion with special focus on addressing Child and Maternal health. The all women experts panel, had prominent women leaders from various fields including, Hospital CEO’s, Academicians, Leading Researchers, Healthcare Industry, Government, Public Health, Media, Bollywood and others.
During a lively Question and Answer session, panelist offered insightful responses to questions from both men and women from the audience. You do what is your duty to do. Don’t wait for acceptability,” Kiran Bedi said, “You do not have the right to change others’ attitude but when you continue doing what is your duty and recognition will come at the end.”
P. Nadda wants to develop structural relationship between AAPI and Govt. of India
Udaipur, India — December 28th, 2016: “Let us develop a structural relationship between AAPI and the government of India,” Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, India’s Minister for Health, told the hundreds of international delegates, while inaugurating the 10th annual Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) 2016 on December 28th at the American International Institute of Medical Sciences in Udaipur, India by lighting the traditional lamp, along with others on the podium. Organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) that serves as an umbrella organization for more than 160 member associations nationwide, GHS 2016 offers a platform to nearly 100,000 physicians of Indian origin it represents, to explore ways to giving back to their motherland.
“It is your love for your motherland that has brought you here today,” Nadda said as the audience cheered him loudly. While describing them as leading luminaries, excelling in the medical field, contributing to make a positive impact in the healthcare sector through their dedication, commitment, knowledge and skills, Nadda, who is a physician himself, said, “We are optimistic about making a positive change in the health scenario of India, where we are seeking to have a high quality, affordable healthcare to all of our citizens.”
In his introductory welcome address, Dr. Ajay Lodha, President of AAPI, reminded the Minister that the Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) has come to be recognized as been a very unique and a truly pioneering effort to address areas of concern which are of significant consequences on health care scenario in India. Past summits have identified areas of mutual interest and also integrated advancements of healthcare facilities in India besides ways and means of tackling long term concerns leading to long-term collaborations. He reminded the audience of many outcomes of the Summit, which have resulted in establishing free medical care clinics across India, medical camps, and establishing of India-centric guidelines for management of Hepatitis C, Brain Injury and Trauma. He urged the Government of India to “support our initiatives and thus help us help the healthcare needs of our motherland, India.”
The nation’s growing wealth has yet to find a panacea for India’s overburdened public health care system. Acknowledging that there is a dichotomy in India, which is a huge challenge for the government and its more than a billion people, Nadda said that “even as we grow economically to be a powerful nation, healthcare is a huge challenge. There is an urgent need to enhance the healthcare delivery in India.”
Seeking collaboration and participation from AAPI in every possible area in the large healthcare sector in India. “You know the needs of the nation. Now, it’s your responsibility to see where your expertise and services will fit in and how you can make a positive impact in the healthcare system in India,” the Minister told the AAPI delegates.
During his address, Nadda presented an overview of the healthcare needs of the country and suggested several areas where AAPI could collaborate with the government of India, including establishing Memorandum of Understanding with international organizations, which will support healthcare in India; Transferring advanced research and experiences in the medical field and enhance the quality of medical education in India; Organizing healthcare/medical camps in rural and economically backward regions of the nation; and, addressing hygienic and preventive measures and enhancing the healthcare delivery in India.
C. Saraf, Rajasthan’s Minister for Health, proposed that each AAPI member return to one’s place of birth and identify the local needs of the place and invest one’s time and resources and talents and skills there in order to make a positive impact on the health of your native place. “If AAPI has a project in its efforts to enhance the healthcare system in Rajasthan, the Ministry of Health will collaborate and provide all possible support to it,” the Minister promised the AAPI delegates who had come from around the United States to participate in the 10th edition of the Global Healthcare Summit in Udaipur.
Others who had addressed the event included, Dr. Kirti Jain, who spoke passionately about the many initiatives he had undertaken, and about the Project Life, that is aimed at daving the lives of thousands of women in the state of Rajasthan. Mrs. Amrita Fatnavis, the wife of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and a leading singer, underscored the need to recognize the fact that the love for the motherland that has reckoned the physicians of Indian origin to return to India, seeking ways to make India and its over a billion people live healthier life. Raju Purohit, a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, along with several dignitaries, including AAPI’s executive committee members and the chair of AAPI’s BOT, adorned the podium.
GHS 2016, a three-day event began with the first ever day long international research and poster contest and had as many as 300 participants from India and abroad, competing at the prestigious contest. Cash prizes and Certificates were awarded at the inaugural ceremony to winners of the contest.
A mega entertainment show by local artists took the AAPI delegates down the memorable and nostalgic moments of India’s rich cultural heritage. The cultural event by talented artists displayed elegantly how the culture of the times shaped the ways in which the Bollywood world and its popular stars of each period embodied the essence of art and culture of their respective times in history.
“Our ability to share knowledge and influence the medical world has never been greater,” said Dr. Lodha, President of AAPI. “The advancement of modern technology, the quality of care we provide and the values that we support can reverberate around the world as never been before,” he said.
“While the networking and the CMEs help educate AAPI leadership and member physicians on cutting edge disease topics and cutting edge intervention, through this work during GHS 2016, AAPI is excited to showcase the full heights that Asian Indian physicians have reached, elevate educational quality, stimulate the AAPI general physician members, bring further recognition to these renowned physicians, and inspire our young physicians-in-training,” Dr. Lodha explained. For additional information on AAPI and its Global Healthcare Summit, please visit: www.aapiusa.org; www.aapighsindia.org
Udaipur, India: December 28, 2016: Sh. Kali Charan Saraf, Rajasthan’s Cabinet Minister for Medical and Health Services, Medical Education, Ayurveda & Indian Medical Methods, inaugurated American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI)’s first ever international Research & Poster Contest during the 10th annual Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) 2016 in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
A record 294 participants from across India and abroad competed at this prestigious international research contest at the 10th annual Global Healthcare Summit being organized in Udaipur by AAPI in collaboration with the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs & Ministry of Health and the government of Rajasthan, with participation from some of the world’s most well known physicians, and industry leaders is being be held at the famous Radison Blu, Udaipur, India from December 28th to 30th, 2016.
“For the very first time, we are doing an international Research Project in India as part of the Global Healthcare Summit,” Dr. Ajay Lodha, president of AAPI, said. said. “Encouraging young medical researchers of Indian Origin, AAPI has organized a first ever AAPI International Research Competition in collaboration with Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, RNT Medical College, Udaipur and AIIMS Delhi,” Dr. Lodha added.
“It was so heartening to receive a huge response with nearly 300 abstracts submitted for the research contest and poster presentation. It was a very challenging task for the judges to pick the winners. Every abstract submitted was of high quality,” Dr. Lodha, who was instrumental in bringing the GHS to Udaipur, said.
“In our continued effort to expand and broaden the scope, AAPI, with AIIMS as ADVISOR to the AAPI International Research Competition and in collaboration with AIIMS, RUHS and RNT has now taken this competition to the international level and at the upcoming 10th Annual Global Health Summit,” Dr. Lodha said.
The Research Paper Competition was conducted under five categories: Clinical Sciences and Patient Based Research; Basic Science/translational research; Innovations in Healthcare; Hospital and Healthcare Management; and AYUSH.
“All Medical Students, Residents, Young faculty up to 10 years after PG, Research Associates, Research Scientists, PhD Students, Hospital and Healthcare Management Students, AYUSH Professionals, Young Innovators etc. of India origin are invited to submit articles/abstract based on Original Research done by him/her and that it has not been presented, published or submitted anywhere else, are welcome to apply to win in this prestigious international competition,” said Dr. Ajay Lodha.
The candidates had two ways for competing in this research competition. Those that if selected and were willing to travel to Udaipur had the opportunity to display and present their abstracts during the poster session organized on December 28th, 2016. The candidates invited for the live poster presentations were provided one day boarding and lodging in Udaipur. The finalists and the top three winners were presented with awards during the inauguration ceremony during the Global Healthcare Summit held in Udaipur, India.
The second category was for those that intended to participate on-line only. They were not required to attend the AAPI GHS 2016 in person on 28th December 2016. All candidates received a certificate of participation.
“It also gives students the opportunity to meet with and interact with the attendees at the Convention to share ideas, gain new insights, and understand possible practical applications, while giving students an opportunity to sharpen their communication skills. Above all, it serves to recognize and reward outstanding student research,” said Dr. RajuBbabu Panwar, Vice Chancellor of RUHS, Jaipur.
According to Dr. Shakti Kumar Gupta, Superintendent of AIIMS, New Delhi, the Academic Affairs Committee on behalf of AAPI had invited authors to submit their research abstracts and posters for presentation at the 2016 Global Healthcare Summit, Udaipur, India.
The competition was open to both members and non-members of AAPI, to students, residents, faculty and medical practitioners. Non-medical professional can submit their health related research work also unselected categories, Dr. D.P. Singh, Principal of RNT Medical College, Udaipur, explained.
“While Indian medical students are known to use research done from abroad, this high quality contest has provided a forum for medical students and researchers in the area of health to showcase their research, exchange ideas, and improve their communication skills while competing for prizes during GHS in December 2016,” said Dr. Ramesh Joshi, Organizing Secretary of the Research and Poster Contest.
“Indian American Physicians are way ahead in the medical field, and contribute immensely towards medical research. The Research Competition gives students the opportunity to share their research ideas and results during the GHS in a special forum that provides visibility for their work,” said Dr. Gautam Samadder, President-Elect.
“It will also give students the opportunity to meet with and interact with GHS attendees to share ideas, gain new insights, and understand possible practical applications, while giving students an opportunity to sharpen their communication skills,” said Dr. Naresh Parikh, Vice President.
“Above all, it serves to recognize and reward outstanding student research,” Dr. Manju Sachdev, Treasurer of AAPI, said, “The Research Competition gives students the opportunity to share their research ideas and results during the GHS in a special forum that provides visibility for their work.”
Chaired by Gopal Batra, MD, FCCP, the AAPI Academic Affairs Committee had over 15 prominent physicians of Indian origin from around the globe were on the panel of judges who evaluated and decided on the final winners. Each winner, chosen from among the nearly 300 abstracts submitted from around the nation, received a citation and a monetary award from K. C. Saraf, Rajasthan’s Minister for Health during the inaugural day of the Summit.
“As the Chairman for AAPI Global Health Summit, I am very pleased to inform you that AAPI (USA) is hosting its 10th Global Health Summit from December 28 -30, 2016 in the most spectacular City of Lakes, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India,” announced Dr. Lodha. “This GHS promises to be one with the greatest impact and significant contributions towards harnessing the power of International Indian diaspora to bring the most innovative, efficient, cost effective healthcare solutions to India.” For more information on the contest, please visit: http://www.aapiresearchcomp.org/ and www.aapiusa.org; www.aapiresearchcomp.org
The coming of age of the Indian American community is evident all over with the tiny less than 1% of the US population leading in several areas of American life. With the record number of Indian Americans holding high jobs in the Obama administration, many more are even trying to take an active role in the politics of the country by trying to get elected to public offices across the nation. They are the most affluent and best educated of any immigrant group in the country, according to Pew. They include doctors, engineers, tech entrepreneurs and educators, and form a rich donor base.
Now, many more Indian Americans are entering politics and seeking elected offices, cementing their place at the table of decision makers. The elections held on November 8th this year has sent One US Senator and four Indian Americans to the US Congress.
The Indian American community will honor the successful US Indian American lawmakers at a gala on January 3 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington, DC, according to organizers. The annual Indiaspora Gala, which has in the past celebrated the presidential inauguration, has been changed this year to feature an “Indiaspora 2017 Leadership Conference and Gala.”
The Gala, which coincides with the swearing-in of the 115th Congress, will honor the “Fab Five,” five Indian Americans recently elected or re-elected to the U.S. Congress — Sen.-elect Kamala Harris, Rep. Ami Bera, and Reps.-elect Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi — as well as two Indian Americans named to senior positions in the incoming presidential administration: Gov. Nikki Haley and Seema Verma. The Gala is meant to showcase and celebrate the Indian American community’s progress with the theme, “From Success to Significance.”
Nearly a thousand leading Indian-Americans from all walks of life, and eminent people from India, are expected to attend the Conference and Gala. Among them will be about 200 senior political officials (Senators, Congressmen/women, Governors, Ambassadors and Mayors) from various parts of the country.
Michelin Star chef-inspired Indian cuisine, music and dancing will be part of the Gala festivities, according to a press release. Indiaspora will also invite members of the new presidential administration and members of Congress from both parties. In addition, the 2017 Leadership Conference & Gala will showcase elements of Indian culture.
Indiaspora Board member Shekar Narasimhan said, “The Indian American community has come of age as it is an active participant in American civic life, and our ‘Leadership Conference and Gala’ will personify our move from success to significance.”
The daytime session of the event is planned as an intellectually stimulating conference including high-level keynote speakers and panelists discussing events of importance to the Indian American community, such as the future of U.S.-India relations, Indian American success stories that break stereotypes, the increasing popularity of elements of Indian culture in the United States, and the political maturation of the Indian American community.
A record five Indian Americans were sworn into office in Washington, D.C., om January 3rd. making it a truly a memorable year for people of Indian origin in the United States. The election of these six is a historic symbol of the rightly recognizable Indian American community’s growing political influence in the mainstream American politics.
Kamala Harris, D-Calif, a former state attorney general who had won the U.S. Senate election on November 8 in a landslide became the first Indian American U.S. senator. Harris, 52, joined by friends and family in the Capitol Building, was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., looking on. “I am humbled and honored to serve you and the people of California. Let’s get to work,” Harris tweeted following her swearing-in ceremony. The new senator, one of seven new senators sworn in, replaces Barbara Boxer, who retired after 24 years in office.
Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., representing the state’s 7th Congressional District; Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., representing the 8th Congressional District; Ro Khanna, D-Calif., representing the 17th Congressional District; and Ami Bera, D-Calif., representing the 7th Congressional District, were the Congressmen of Indian origin who were sworn into office last week.
Krishnamoorthi won in the November election in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, which includes some Chicago suburbs. The Indian American entrepreneur — president of Sivananthan Labs & Episolar Inc. — served as a policy adviser to President Barack Obama in 1999 when the community organizer ran for Congress. The relationship continued as Obama ran for the U.S. Senate in 2002. Krishnamoorthi was endorsed by the president leading up to the election.
“I will continue to focus on the middle class and our commitment to ensure that hard work is rewarded. I am ready to join and lead the efforts to make sure that working families who play by the rules are not left off the agenda in Washington,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. “I am humbled by the trust the people of our district have placed in me to fight for them in Congress.”
Jayapal, the first Indian American woman in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first person of color in the state’s Democratic delegation and the first woman to represent the seventh Congressional District, said this position is all about the community, not just her.
“Today is not about me. It’s about we,” said Jayapal in a statement. “It’s about the movement of hundreds of thousands of people in Washington’s 7th Congressional District, a diverse coalition of people from all walks of life, who want to ensure we continue to provide opportunity for all. Jayapal, who takes over for Jim McDermott, is one of only 23 members of Congress born in another country.
Ami Bera has been voted to Congress in California’s 7th Congressional District since 2013. “Today I’m honored to be sworn in to the 115th Congress — grateful to serve and ready for the work ahead,” Bera, the only 3rd term Indian American ever to be in the US Congress, tweeted moments after being sworn in.
Ro Khanna won in California’s 17th Congressional District after a very bitter fight against longtime Rep. Mike Honda. The Indian American lawyer won by more than 20 points in the 2016 election. “Even as the nation continues to heal from the political divisiveness of the past year, I am proud to begin 2017 by representing Silicon Valley in Congress,” Khanna said in a statement. “We need bold ideas and sound policies that provide opportunities to those our changing economy and technological revolution has left behind, and invest in policies that support working families to better prepare all children for the future.
“As a son of immigrants and grandson to a freedom fighter during India’s independence movement,” Khanna added, “the protection of civil rights no matter a person’s gender, race, or sexual orientation, will always be side-by-side with my commitment of economic fairness for all.”
Sumul N. Raval, M.D., D.AB.P.N, a leading neuro-oncologist at Monmouth Medical Center and Community Medical Center, both RWJBarnabas Health facilities, recently earned a prestigious international award for providing state-of-the-art treatment to people with brain tumors.
Dr. Raval was presented with the GBM Heroes Award (Glioblastoma Multiforme) during the 21st Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology held in Scottsdale, Arizona organized by CURE® magazine. The honor recognizes individuals who have dedicated their lives to helping patients with GBM and their families, according to CURE® magazine. This year’s conference drew 3,600 Neuro-Oncologists, Neuro-Surgeons, Radiation Oncologists, Neuro-Radiologists and Scientists from 55 countries, and is the most comprehensive neuro-oncology meeting in the world.
A board-certified neurologist who completed fellowship training in neuro-oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Raval is among only 200 physicians nationwide who are fellowship-trained in the highly specialized field of neuro-oncology.
“This is an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime honor,” says Dr. Raval, noting the global recognition is especially rare for a doctor at a community hospital. “I am humbled and grateful to receive this award.”
Robert Braun, vice president of cancer services for RWJBarnabas Health, says that Dr. Raval is very deserving of this honor. “Dr. Raval has earned national recognition for participating in clinical trials to advance knowledge about treatment options for brain tumors, and his research has been published in peer-reviewed medical journals and also presented at national meetings of the American Society for Clinical Oncology,” he says. “We are so fortunate to be able to offer his expert care to our patients and their families.”
Dr. Raval “is one of the few neuro-oncologists who brings world-class care to families in their own backyard,” notes CURE, a renowned cancer magazine with nearly 1 million readers.
Dr. Raval is founder and director of the David S. Zocchi Brain Tumor Center at Monmouth Medical Center – New Jersey’s first and most comprehensive facility specializing in brain tumors – in an effort to bring leading-edge care to the local community. Today, the program draws patients from across the country and as far away as Sweden, Russia, Venezuela, Turkey and India.
In addition, Dr. Raval is a staff neuro-oncologist at Community Medical Center, where he also holds a leadership role as incoming treasurer of the medical staff. A diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, he is president of Garden State Neurology & Neuro-Oncology, with offices located in West Long Branch and Toms River.
Judy Zocchi, whose late husband was treated by Dr. Raval, nominated him for the honor. “He always is a support in spirit, financially and personally… No matter how busy his schedule is, if you are a brain tumor patient, he will make the time, no matter what.”
Dr. Raval also is a chairman of Board of trustees and past president of the Monmouth and Ocean County Chapter of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (MOCAAPI). Dr. Raval has received numerous awards for his efforts including “The Jersey Choice Top Doctors in New Jersey” by New Jersey Monthly for the past four years.
An authority on brain tumors, Dr. Raval is a speaker, fundraiser, physician and most importantly a compassionate humanitarian.
President-elect Donald Trump appointed PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi on to the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum that will consult with him on implementing his economic agenda on December 14th. Calling her one of the “pioneering CEOs,” Trump stated that “America has the most innovative and vibrant companies in the world, and the pioneering CEOs joining this Forum today are at the top of their fields.”
“My administration is going to work together with the private sector to improve the business climate and make it attractive for firms to create new jobs across the United States from Silicon Valley to the heartland.”
The forum is headed by Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of the investment company Blackstone and includes Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, and CEOs Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla, Uber’s Travis Kalanick; Jamie Dimon of Chase and Mary Barra of General Motors. Trump’s transition team said that forum members will give Trump their views on government policy, job-creation and productivity “in a frank, non-bureaucratic and non-partisan manner.”
Nooyi heads a multinational with an annual revenue of $63 billion that employs 110,000 people.
A graduate of Madras Christian College in Chennai, she has management degrees from the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata and Yale University.
In 20016, Fortune magazine unveiled its 51-person 19th annual “Most Powerful Women in the U.S.” list on September 8, with the Indian American CEO Indra Nooyi at No. 2, just behind General Motors Co. CEO and chairwoman Mary Barra.
Fortune pointed to Nooyi’s vision to diversify the soda giant’s beverage and food offerings, and including more healthy options, as moves that have inspired the renewed faith Wall Street investors are showing in the company.
Also, she’s yielded some pretty solid results. PepsiCo’s market cap has increased 18 percent over the last year, bringing it to a whopping $155 billion, under her watch. Nooyi, 60, is in her 10th year as the company’s CEO and back in April she appeared onstage at the Women in the World Summit in New York City and addressed the “unfinished business” of work-life balance.
She spoke candidly about her mixed feelings about being a successful businesswoman and the “huge number of sacrifices” she made as a mother to reach the top. Watch the video below where she talks about what she would say if she “had to write a letter to myself as a younger person.”
Fortune added that experts believe PepsiCo is primed for more acquisitions in the health space soon as Nooyi — who ranked No. 2 on last year’s list — further diversifies out of the declining soda category. Lockheed Martin president and CEO Marillyn Hewson; IBM chairwoman, president and CEO Ginni Rometty, and Fidelity Investments president and CEO Abigail Johnson round out the top five. The inauguration team organizes the festivities for Trump’s swearing in as president on Jan. 20.
President-elect Donald Trump met with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and 12 other technology titans on Wednesday, December 14th in a bid to heal rifts and get them on board with his program of creating more jobs and increasing investments in the US.
Trump, who had slammed the technology sector during his campaign for exporting jobs and manufacturing overseas, hailed them as an “amazing group of people” at the start of the meeting in Trump Tower and promised them, “I am here to help you folks do well.”
Nadella, who was accompanied by Microsoft President Brad Smith, refused to speak to reporters as he entered and left the Trump Tower. While people in the technology sector criticised Trump during the campaign mostly because of their perception of his social and immigration policies, Nadella was silent in public.
After the election, Nadella congratulated Trump in a post on LinkedIn. But in an implied criticism of the Trump campaign’s perceived rhetoric, he also wrote, “Our commitment to our mission and values are steadfast, and in particular fostering a diverse and inclusive culture.”
Nadella seemed ill at ease during the start of the meeting, which was open to the media. When the participants around the conference table introduced themselves, Nadella, who was seated at a corner away from Trump, said curtly, “Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.” When it was Smith’s turn, he tried to make up for Nadella by saying, “And like Satya, pleased to be here.”
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and also the owner of The Washington Post, which continues its editorial campaign against Trump, set the conciliatory tone from the other side, saying, “I’m super excited about the possibility that this could be the innovations administration.”
A summary of the meeting released by the Trump transition team listed first among items discussed, “Creating more jobs for American workers.” This could impact Indian tech and business process sectors that rely heavily on outsourcing.
Last week, Trump said that he would not allow foreign workers on temporary H-1B visas for technology professionals to displace American workers. Access to visas for hi-tech workers, which worried technology leaders, did not figure in the summary. Among other items discussed were eliminating barriers preventing American companies from doing business in other countries and America’s competitive trade dynamic and market access with China.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai was not invited to the meeting as CEO Larry Page and President Sergei Brin of Google’s holding company, Alphabet, were there. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t there either and Sheryl Sandberg, the COO represented the company.
“Thanks to your support all these years, Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF) has performed 1.5 million free eye surgeries at eight hospitals,” said Murali KrishnaMurthy, CEO of SEF. “Construction of the ninth hospital is happening at Jaipur, Rajasthan and will be ready in December 2017. We still need to raise a million dollars each for the Hyderabad and Indore hospital projects so the construction of these can begin next year as soon as land acquisition is complete. The hospital construction cannot be started next year if we are unable to raise million dollars each for these hospitals and hence will need your continued timely support you have provided us in the past.
Sankara Eye Foundation reached a new milestone on May this year. It celebrated our 39th Founder’s Day to commemorate the launch of SEF initiative in Coimbatore 39 years ago with a small medical center. “Today, SEF has grown to eight super specialty eye care hospitals across India performing over 500 eye surgeries a day,” said Murali Krishnamurthy, who has been spearheading Foundation’s the operation across the US. “The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano is a proud sponsor of the Sankara Eye Foundation,” he added.
The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, Joint ownership with physicians, is the only freestanding, full-service hospital in North Texas dedicated solely to heart and vascular health care. The hospital is acknowledged as a regional and national leader in cardiovascular care. Its commitment to providing safe, quality, compassionate care is rooted in medical and service excellence.
The hospital is ranked 5th in the nation in heart valve surgery*, 6th in the country in open heart surgery*, and #1 in the Dallas-Ft. Worth cardiac surgery market**. As a medical destination for heart and vascular care, the hospital offers advanced care in multiple cardiovascular specialties. Additionally, the hospital is actively engaged in more than 80 clinical research trials. Guests are treated to the hospital’s signature Five-Star Service, which has earned Inpatient and Emergency Department satisfaction scores*** that rank among the top hospitals in the country.
Once again, Sankara Eye Foundation has been applauded for its work ethics and transparency by Charity Navigator which examines two broad areas of a charity’s performance: its Financial Health and its Accountability & Transparency. Even with the new enhanced financial rating methodology used this year, SEF managed to hold onto its 4 star rating.
SEF undertook the 5-city concert tour with the famous trio Shankar Ehsaan Loy and the New Generation. SEF staff and volunteers worked round the clock, and their dedication paid off with the concerts being sold out in almost all cities.
The audience were treated to an eclectic mix of songs both from the bygone era and today’s times, performed by the trio and the New Generation. The crowd found it very hard to stay seated with the high intensity, foot tapping numbers and the atmosphere was magical throughout.
SEF is still mostly volunteer run and is supported by over 50,000 donors all over the USA and the collective efforts are paying off. SEF received the top 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for sound fiscal management, commitment to accountability and transparency. We also won the IMC Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Performance Excellence trophy in the health care category.
Even though our uncle literally forced us to start the Sankara Eye Foundation, now we realize that this is the best thing that has happened to us. We have made so many friends and that has enriched our lives beyond imagination. Initially I used to think that I was making a difference in the lives of our dear visually handicapped brothers and sisters but now it is dawning on me that I am the biggest beneficiary. I am so fortunate and grateful for this golden opportunity. Let us, together, eradicate curable blindness – Vision 20/20 by 2020. In order to get more information on how to join us on this noble mission, please visit:http://www.giftofvision.org
Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan who has built a reputation as a fierce prosecutor of public corruption cases, said last week that he intended to remain in office under President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration. Bharara, who was appointed to the position in 2009 by President Obama, made the announcement after meeting with the president-elect at Trump Tower.
Bharara, 48, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said Trump had asked to see him to discuss “whether or not I’d be prepared to stay on as the United States attorney to do the work as we have done it, independently, without fear or favor for the last seven years. We had a good meeting,” Bharara continued. “I said I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on.”
Bharara said that he had already talked to Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, who is Trump’s choice for attorney general. “He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing,” Bharara said. The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets reported Bharara met Trump Nov. 30 afternoon and was asked by the incoming president if he would like to continue in office. Bharara said he would.
Bharara, who before becoming the United States attorney served as chief counsel to Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, did not elaborate on how the meeting was arranged. But Schumer, in a statement issued after Bharara made his announcement, said, “President-elect Trump called me last week and asked me what I thought about Preet Bharara continuing his role as U.S. attorney. I told him I thought Preet was great,” Schumer added, “and I would be all for keeping him on the job and fully support it. I am glad they met, and am glad Preet is staying on.”
Trump also asked Schumer how best to reach Bharara, and the senator provided Mr. Trump with Bharara’s direct line, said a person who was briefed on the call and spoke on the condition of anonymity. United States attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and typically offer their resignations after a new president takes office. Trump did not immediately issue a statement about his decision, but Bharara, in his comments, said that Trump had asked to meet with him “presumably because he’s a New Yorker and is aware of the great work that our office has done.”
Bharara’s tenure of more than seven years as the United States attorney in Manhattan has been exceeded in the past 100 years by only two of his predecessors: Mary Jo White and Robert M. Morgenthau.
The South Asian Bar Association of North America President Vichal Kumar, in a statement, said the organization was “enthused” about the initial reports of Bharara remaining in office. “Bharara’s selflessness, humility and dedication to public service continue to inspire many attorneys who have heard the call to serve,” Kumar said.
Bharara has shown a record of independence as a prosecutor, as well as a willingness to take on powerful figures in state government, Democrats included. “Preet has shown as a prosecutor that he is willing to take on the political establishment,” said Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former chief of Mr. Bharara’s corruption unit who is now a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling. “He’s also shown he can win. There is no question that these are qualities that the president-elect admires.”
Bharara recently concluded a two-year term as a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and as Chair of its Subcommittee on White Collar Fraud. He is Co-Chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group of the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. Bharara graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in Government in 1990, and from Columbia Law School with a J.D. in 1993.
Tejesh Kodali, 45, of Edison, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court to committing visa fraud. The conspiracy to commit visa fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing for Kodali is scheduled for March 13, 2017.
Kodali, the chief executive officer and managing director of two companies admitted on Dec. 1, to recruiting foreign nationals to enroll at a “pay to stay” New Jersey college to keep their student visa status and get full-time work authorizations without having to attend classes.
On April 5, 2016, 22 brokers, recruiters, and employers, including Kodali, were charged with enrolling foreign nationals in the University of Northern New Jersey, a purported for-profit college in Cranford, New Jersey (UNNJ) which was actually created by Homeland Security Investigations in September 2013. It was not staffed with instructors or educators, had no curriculum, and conducted no actual classes or education activities. It operated solely as a storefront location staffed by federal agents posing as school administrators.
Kodali – an Indian citizen and lawful permanent resident in the United States – was the director of operations of Promatrix Corp. and Blue Cloud Techs Corp., entities that claimed to be international student recruiting and consulting companies located in Edison.
The Homeland Security set up UNNJ represented itself as a school that, among other things, was authorized to issue a document known as a “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status – for Academic and Language Students,” commonly referred to as a Form I-20. This document, which certifies that a foreign national has been accepted to a school and would be a full-time student, typically enables legitimate foreign students to obtain an F-1 student visa. With the visa, they can enter or remain in the United States while they study full-time at a certified institution.
Kodali told his foreign national clients that for a fee, they could enroll at UNNJ without having to attend any classes and that their enrollment would enable them to fraudulently maintain their nonimmigrant status. With full knowledge that the recruits were not bona fide students and would not attend any courses, earn credits, or make academic progress toward any legitimate degree at UNNJ, Kodali caused Forms I-20 to be issued to the foreign nationals.
Kodali also caused the foreign nationals to be reported in government databases as legitimate foreign students. “In order to deceive immigration officials, Kodali and his foreign clients obtained and created fraudulent student documents, including attendance records and transcripts,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, said.
After enabling them to maintain their student visa status, Kodali also conspired to secure fraudulent work authorizations for some of their foreign clients. He admitted that his intention was to profit from the scheme by outsourcing these foreign individuals through Promatrix and Blue Techs as information technology consultants with various businesses in the United States for commissions. In total, Kodali and his conspirators fraudulently maintained and attempted to obtain 37 student visas and/or work authorizations.
Gautam N. Yadama, assistant vice chancellor for international affairs and professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named dean of the Boston College School of Social Work. Yadama will begin his term in July. He succeeds Alberto Godenzi, who is retiring as dean after 15 years of service.
Yadama, an internationally respected researcher whose interdisciplinary work has focused on understanding the social and environmental challenges of the rural poor in South Asia and China, has conducted extensive community-based research throughout India, China and Nepal.
Yadama said he was delighted to join Boston College and lead the faculty at the School of Social Work. “The Boston College School of Social Work is highly visible in the profession for its emphasis on tackling key challenges in social work,” said Yadama. “Its faculty have been significant in shaping the grand challenges for social work and taking on intractable and perennial problems confronting our most vulnerable and disenfranchised. The school is pursuing social work practice rooted in place to generate social innovation, integrate immigrants, explore race and place to provide stable lives for African American children, empower disadvantaged youth, and realize environmental justice in urban spaces.
His research examines the overarching questions of how communities successfully self-govern and collectively provide essential public goods and common-pool resources vital for their livelihoods; how government and non-governmental organizations engage and collaborate with these communities; and how social and ecological interactions influence the sustained implementation of household and community interventions to overcome social dilemmas and improve wellbeing.
A gifted scholar and teacher noted for curricular innovation, he has won Distinguished Faculty Awards from both Washington University and the Brown School of Social Work. Fluent in English, Telugu and Hindi, Yadama has also served as director of international programs at the Brown School of Social Work and as a visiting professor in India, Azerbaijan, Mongolia and the Republic of Georgia.
The author of the recent book Fires, Fuel and the Fate of 3 Billion: The State of the Energy Impoverished, he currently serves as an advisory group member with the Implementation Science Network for the National Institutes of Health, addressing the issue of household air pollution around the world.
In announcing the appointment, Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley praised Yadama as a leader whose reputation for interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of social work will benefit Boston College. “The search committee and I are confident that Gautam Yadama is the right leader for the School of Social Work,” said Quigley. “His experience in the communities of Cleveland, metro St. Louis and around the globe, his vision for the field of social work, and his imaginative approach to cross-school collaborations all resonated with faculty, staff and students. I expect that colleagues across campus will quickly come to value Gautam as an important partner.”
Born in India, the son of a United Nations administrator, Yadama came to the United States with his family after high school. He received his bachelor’s degree in management from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, and master’s and doctoral degree in social policy and planning from Case Western Reserve University.
Pareena Lawrence has been named as the new president of Hollins University, a private women’s college based in Roanoke, Virginia. The University of Delhi graduate, who came to the U.S. in 1989 to earn her Ph.D. in economics from Purdue University, is the first minority woman to serve as president in the university’s 175-year history. She will assume the leadership role in July 2017, succeeding retiring president Nancy Oliver Gray.
Hollins University is one of the oldest women’s universities in the U.S. It has an undergraduate and graduate population of about 800 students. Addressing faculty and students on the day she was named president, Lawrence spoke of her roots and growing up in a household of modest means in Northern India. As a teenager, she was given the opportunity to attend an all-girls high school. “It had a transformational impact on me,” said Lawrence. “I grew in self-confidence, found my voice, developed grit and determination, and learned how to set goals and achieve them.”
She was heavily recruited by the school and turned down other institutions to make Hollins her home. Current president Nancy Oliver Gray is retiring after serving in the role for 12 years. Lawrence takes office in July 2017, she is currently the provost and chief academic officer of Augustana College. Lawrence has a proven track record of doing big things, and she’s hoping to do even more at Hollins.
On a college campus, a sweatshirt gift from the student body was as good as gold for new Hollins President Pareena Lawrence at her introduction Tuesday night. The Indian-born educator has focused on liberal arts, women’s education and international development her entire life.
“As I put all these pieces together it just felt like I’d come full circle and it was time to go lead a women’s only Liberal Arts college,” Lawrence said. Women’s-only education was recently thrust into the national spotlight following the happenings at nearby Sweet Briar College. Lawrence sees this as a prime opportunity for Hollins to thrive across the globe.
Ruchir Baronia, a 13-year-old Indian American has built a mobile app that can send predefined text messages with the current location when the user inputs a volume key pattern on his/her mobile device (by pressing the volume buttons in a specific sequence) or when he/she speaks a user defined voice recognition key word without having to launch the application or unlock the phone.
The California teen has used a computer, emulation software, android phones, android studio, Pocketsphinx (voice recognition library), and java were used to create this mobile app, he says.
“I experimented with multiple API’s to achieve the most accurate voice recognition and location. I was also able to reduce CPU usage by multi-threading my application,” says the young computer master. “During the development phase, I created 21 different app builds. By the end of 16th build, I was able to achieve the functionality that I wanted. After this, I polished my user interface (UI) to simplify it, and to provide more customization for the user. I was finally satisfied with the app in my 21st build. Results I created an efficient mobile app that quickly contacts for help in emergency situations.”
According to him, “My app runs in the background, so it can be used without launching it, even when the device is locked. An SMS with the location of the user can be sent just by saying a keyword or pressing the volume buttons in a specific pattern. My application runs on approximately 97.3% of android devices, with a minimum android version of API 14, or Android 4.0.3/Ice Cream Sandwich, which means that my app can run on almost all Android devices efficiently.”
Last year Ruchir Baronia, 13, of San Ramon, Calif. — about an hour away from the heart of the Silicon Valley — decided that he wanted to learn how to code. Since that time, Baronia has learned Java, joined an online community of coders and created five mobile phone apps (view his apps here: http://bit.ly/2g7nRKT).
He created another app called Rescuer, a hands-free text messaging app for emergencies. Rescuer was selected as a second-place winner in the California Science Fair and also won the 2016 Raytheon Academic Junior Special Achievement Award. His latest app Blare (found here: http://bit.ly/2fEmQhp), a program to help find lost phones with voice, has received mention on tech website CNET (see article here: http://cnet.co/2d8oc2J).
Anticipating a more protectionist U.S. technology visa program under a Donald Trump administration, India’s $150 billion IT services sector will speed up acquisitions in the United States and recruit more heavily from college campuses there, Reuters reported.
Indian companies including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro have long used H1-B skilled worker visas to fly computer engineers to the U.S., their largest overseas market, temporarily to service clients.
Staff from those three companies accounted for around 86,000 new H1-B workers in 2005-14. The U.S. currently issues close to that number of H1-B visas each year. President-elect Trump’s campaign rhetoric, and his pick for Attorney General of Senator Jeff Sessions, a long-time critic of the visa program, have many expecting a tighter regime.
“The world over, there’s a lot of protectionism coming in and push back on immigration. Unfortunately, people are confusing immigration with a high-skilled temporary workforce, because we are really a temporary workforce,” said Pravin Rao, chief operating officer at Infosys, India’s second-largest information technology firm.
While few expect a complete shutdown of skilled worker visas as Indian engineers are an established part of the fabric of Silicon Valley, and U.S. businesses depend on their cheaper IT and software solutions, any changes are likely to push up costs.
And a more restrictive program would likely mean Indian IT firms sending fewer developers and engineers to the United States, and increasing campus recruitment there.
“We have to accelerate hiring of locals if they are available, and start recruiting freshers from universities there,” said Infosys’ Rao, noting a shift from the traditional model of recruiting mainly experienced people in the U.S.
“Now we have to get into a model where we will recruit freshers, train them and gradually deploy them, and this will increase our costs,” he said, noting Infosys typically recruits 500-700 people each quarter in the U.S. and Europe, around 80 percent of whom are locals.
Trump’s election win and Britain’s referendum vote to leave the European Union are headwinds for India’s IT sector, as clients such as big U.S. and British banks and insurers hold off on spending while the dust settles.
In India’s IT hub of Bengaluru and the financial capital Mumbai, executives expect a Trump administration to raise the minimum wage for foreign workers, pressuring already squeezed margins.
Buying U.S. companies would help Indian IT firms build their local headcount, increase their on-the-ground presence in key markets and help counter any protectionist regulations. Indian software services companies have invested more than $2 billion in the United States in the past five years. North America accounts for more than half of the sector’s revenue.
“We have to accelerate acquisitions,” said Rao at Infosys, which in the past two years has bought companies including U.S.-based Noah Consulting and Kallidus Technologies.
A coming of age story of a shy student who uses a family trip to an old Anglo-Indian town as an escape from his failed semester will open the 13th annual edition of the South Asian International Film Festival, Nov. 30. The five-day festival, to be held at the East Village Cinemas in lower Manhattan will screen a select combination of full-length films, shorts, and documentaries in a variety of genres.
Set in 1979, Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial feature “A Death in the Gunj”, starring an ensemble cast of Vikrant Massey, Tillotama Shome, Om Puri, Tanuja, Gulshan Devaiah, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sarbh, and Ranvir Shorey, tells the story of Shyamal Chatterjee (Massey). At the outset, his family trip to McCluskiegunj has the makings of a perfect family holiday, but something is amiss. In the week that follows, Shyamal’s quiet unraveling is overlooked by the family revelers, until the holiday ends with an implosion.
Described as the largest film premiere destination for South Asian filmmakers in the United States, SAIFF was founded in New York City due to the lack of support for many emerging filmmakers and the overall underrepresentation of Indian cinema in a capital that is recognized by the world as the birthplace of independent filmmaking, according to the festival website. The festival is committed to exhibiting films from South Asia (i.e India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal) and within the Indian diaspora.
“Shor se Shuruaat”, an omnibus feature of mentored short films around the central theme of noise will close the festival, Dec. 4. It includes seven films from seven different directors, conveying seven different stories on the same theme. From freedom of speech getting stifled, to someone experiencing noise for the first time, to a dysfunctional world where one lives within the constraints of what is acceptable sound, to the cynical noise of this commercialized world, to the deafening silence of a death row inmate and his need for sound, to the unique relationship of people who see and hear too much, to finally the destructive noise of social media and the redemption it provides, all films tell the story of people who want to get out.
The short films have been mentored by stalwarts like Mira Nair, Shyam Benegal, Imtiaz Ali, Zoya Akhtar, Nagesh Kukunoor, Sriram Raghavan and Homi Adajania. Other films to be screened include “With You For You Always”, directed by Azad Alam (HBO Short Film Competition); “Maroon”, directed by Pulkit (Feature Competition); “Lens”, directed by Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan (Spectrum); “Riff Raff”, by Pakistani director Ahmed Arif (HBO Short Film Competition); “Mantra,” directed by Nocholas Kharkongor (Feature Competition); “Veham” by Hassan Amin of Pakistan (HBO Short Film Competition); “Autohead” by Rohit Mittal (Feature Competition); “Chidiya” by Mehran Amrohi (Specturm); “Sherry” by Altamash Jaleel ( HBO Short Film Competition); “The Tiger Hunter”, an American comedy film, written and directed by Lena Khan (Feature Competition); “Chutney” by Jyothi Kapur Das (HBO Short Film Competition); “Relevations” by Vijay Jayapal (Feature Competition); “The Last Music Store” by Megha Ramaswamy (Specturm); and “Dobaara” by Bejoy Nambiar (Spectrum).
Pakistani film “Gardaab” (Whirlpool) by Harune Massey is the festival’s centerpiece film. Set in Karachi, the film is an intimate portrait of a city torn by violence.
It’s a story of the city’s inhabitants as they navigate through this violence, fighting to preserve their humanity. A gritty fast paced thriller, the film is also a tale of an unlikely romance that blossoms amidst this chaos.
The 2016 general elections have just ended. The President is still to assume office. However, speculations are on as to who will succeed or will be the nominee to fight President-elect Donald Trump in 2020. There are several aspirants and leading candidates who are likely to be the Democratic Party nominee in the 2020 general elections.
Kamala Harris, the first Indian-American to be elected to the US Senate, is a potential Democratic presidential candidate for 2020 elections, Washington Post, a leading American newspaper stated last week. Harris, 51, whose mother was from Chennai and father from Jamaica, is one among the six Democratic leaders, whom The Washington Post said are the top contenders to bag the party’s nomination for the 2020 presidential elections.
Interestingly four of these are women. The other three being outgoing First Lady Michelle Obama, Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York. Other two potential Democratic presidential candidates according to the US daily are Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey and Governor John Hickenlooper from Colorado.
“Harris will not officially become a US senator from California for more than a month, but she is already regarded as national-candidate material in four years,” Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza wrote in his article.
“It is not hard to see why. She is the first African American woman elected to the Senate since Carol Moseley Braun in 1992. Harris also represents the largest and most Democratic state in the country, a huge financial launchpad to a presidential bid,” he said, noting that through mid-October, she had raised more than $13 million for her Senate candidacy.
“Her law-and-order background – she was elected and reelected attorney general in California – also will appeal to many Democrats. Whether Harris wants to – or will be ready to run for national office so soon after being elected to the Senate remains to be seen,” Cillizza said.
Harris is a two-term popular Attorney General of California. She was elected to the United States Senate from California in a landslide. She was endorsed by outgoing US President Barack Obama, in her Senate race.
The Washington Post columnist also said First Lady Michelle has true star power. “She gave the two best political speeches of the past two years – the first at the Democratic National Convention in July, the second in New Hampshire in the fall, an emotional condemnation of Trump’s America,” he said.
“Obama has one thing – with the possible exception of Booker – that the rest of the people on this list lack: true star power. She would start the race not only totally known by base Democrats but also absolutely beloved. The issue for Obama is that being a candidate in your own right is very different from being a surrogate for a candidate,” he wrote. However, Obama in the past has said she has no interest in running for office.
“No matter how many people said I couldn’t do it, I won my races for District Attorney and Attorney General,” Harris said. “I’m a fighter – I’ve fought for the people of California, especially those most in need. This campaign for Senate has ended, but the work is just beginning. And now I’m ready to take that fight to Washington.” For now, Senator-elect Kamala Harris will take the oath of office as California’s next Senator on January 3, 2017.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won an online poll of readers for Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ in 2016, beating out other world leaders, artists and politicians as the most influential figure of the year.
According to the Time magazine, Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed Sunday at midnight. He placed well ahead of his closest contenders, including US President Barack Obama, US President-elect Donald Trumpand Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the “yes” vote. Modi also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and Hillary Clinton (4 per cent).
Time also analyzed the moments from 2016 when this year’s poll contenders were most talked about. For Modi it was on October 16, when the Indian leader suggested during a summit of BRICS nations in Goa that Pakistan is the “mothership” of terrorism+ .
Modi won the Time’s readers’ poll in 2014 as well, securing more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast. He was again among contenders for the annual honor in 2015, but was not among the final eight candidates shortlisted by Time magazine editors for the title. Last year German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time’s ‘Person of the Year’+ .
Every year, Time’s editors decide who from among world leaders, presidents, protesters, astronauts, pop icons and disrupters should be person of the year. But they also ask readers to cast their votes and decide who they think most shaped a particular year.
The poll results, analyzed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differ across the world and in the US. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey, where there’s a large concentration of people of Indian origin. Every year, TIME selects the most influential person of the year, noting, for better or for worse, the person or group of people who have had the largest global impact over the past 12 months. In partnership with Opentopic and IBM’s Watson this year, Time editors were also able to see how candidates were influential on the Internet.
Modi performed particularly well among voters in California and New Jersey, earning 17% and 12% of all “yes” votes in those states, respectively. In Washington, D.C., the President, First Lady Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton were the most popular choices, with 8% of “yes” votes each. In Rhode Island, Assange earned a noteworthy 20% of votes.
As for the President-elect, Donald Trump’s margin as the top recipient of “yes” votes is highest in North Dakota, Mississippi, Alabama, Wisconsin and Louisiana—all states won by Trump in the presidential election. By comparison, his percentage of those votes was lowest in Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and Washington D.C.—all of which went to Clinton.
Since 1927, TIME has selected the most influential person of the year, identifying the person or group of people who have had the largest impact—positive or negative—on the world during that year. Though the editors make the ultimate decision as to who has earned the title each year, the reader poll provides insight into how the world perceives influence.
Dr. Dave Ashok Chokshi has been appointed a member of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health by President Obama on December 1. He was among more than a dozen people appointed by outgoing President Barack Obama to key administration posts. Others appointees included Roel C. Campos, Linda Garcia Cubero, B. Alvin Drew, retired Lt. Gen. Judith Ann Fedder, Gen. Edward Rice Jr., Frederick H. Black Sr., Jane Holl Lute, Elizabeth Young McNally, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Pedro A. Sanchez, Peter Altabef, John Donovan and Steve Smith for various boards and committees.
“These fine public servants bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their important roles,” Obama said in a statement. “I look forward to working with them.”
Dr. Dave Ashok Chokshi is the Chief Population Health Officer of OneCity Health and Senior Assistant Vice President at New York City Health + Hospitals – the largest municipal health care system in the U.S. He practices primary care at Bellevue Hospital and is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Population Health and Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.
In 2012, he served as a White House Fellow at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he was the principal health advisor in the Office of the Secretary. His prior work experience spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including positions with the New York City and State Departments of Health, the Louisiana Department of Health, a startup clinical software company, and a global health nonprofit dedicated to improving access to medicines in developing countries.
Dr. Chokshi has written on medicine and public health in The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, Health Affairs, and Science. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Parkland Health & Hospital System and was elected a Fellow of the American College of Physicians this year. Dr. Chokshi received a B.A. from Duke University, an M.Sc. from Oxford University, and an M.D. from University of Pennsylvania.
Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) officers will join RLHC/Vantage leadership on the main stage this week at the Red Lion Hotels Corporation/Vantage 2016 International Education Conference and Trade Show in Las Vegas.
AAHOA Chairman Bruce Patel, Vice Chairman Bhavesh Patel, Treasurer Hitesh “HP” Patel, Secretary Jagruti Panwala, and CEO Chip Rogers will spend two days with the RLHC/Vantage family to talk about industry issues and build upon the already-strong relationship they enjoy with the brand. On Tuesday and Wednesday, event attendees will have the opportunity to visit the AAHOA booth on the conference trade-show floor, while Wednesday will feature an AAHOA presentation on the main stage.
In addition, AAHOA member attendees will have the opportunity to undergo Certified Hotel Owner (CHO) training and testing all day today. “We’ve built an amazing relationship with both RLHC and Vantage over the years,” said AAHOA Chairman Bruce Patel. “Now that the two brands are one, we’re excited to consolidate and strengthen those relationships for maximum mutual benefit.”
Spokane, Wash.-based RLHC purchased Vantage Hospitality earlier this year. The 2016 conference is the first annual Red Lion event since adding Vantage to the RLHC family of hotels.
“I’m grateful to RLHC for granting AAHOA such a strong presence at their annual conference this year,” said AAHOA CEO Chip Rogers. “We look forward to spending time with the brand’s franchisees and talking a little bit about AAHOA’s role in helping grow and develop the hotel industry.”
Founded in 1989, AAHOA (www.aahoa.com) is the largest hotel owners association in the world, with more than 16,000 small business owner-members. AAHOA members own almost one in every two hotels in the United States.The conference will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. For more information, visitjoinvantagehotels.com/conference.
“Nuclear terrorists” can strike anywhere, the head of the UN atomic watchdog warned on Monday at the start of a week-long ministerial conference on preventing misuse of radioactive materials and attacks on facilities.
“Ensuring effective nuclear security is important for all countries, including those which possess little or no nuclear or other radioactive material,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said.
“Terrorists and criminals will try to exploit any vulnerability in the global nuclear security system. Any country, in any part of the world, could find itself used as a transit point. And any country could become the target of an attack,” he said in Vienna.
Countries all over the world have stepped up their investment in nuclear security with support from the IAEA, and have been working to reinforce staffing levels with more than 10,000 police, border guards and other specialists trained in the past six years, Amano said.
The IAEA has given countries over 3,000 instruments for detecting nuclear material and this year provided radiation detection equipment and other assistance to Brazil during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
This year, the IAEA also hosted the International Conference on Computer Security in a Nuclear World looking at the growing issue of cybersecurity as the reliance on digital systems within nuclear facilities grows.
(Los Angeles, CA – December 5, 2016) After theatrical runs in Washington, D.C., Chicago and San Jose, 23 sold-out screenings at mainstream and South Asian film festivals around North America and multiple audience and jury awards under its belt, the smart, witty, coming-of-age comedy feature, “Miss India America,” is now available to watch on Netflix.
The brainchild of husband/wife creative team Ravi Kapoor (director/co-writer) and Meera Simhan (actor/co-writer), the cross-cultural comedy is set against the backdrop of the Indian beauty pageant world in Los Angeles. Inspired by Simhan’s one-woman-show of the same title, “Miss India America” stars Tiya Sircar (The Internship, 17 Again, Vampire Diaries, The Good Place) and Hannah Simone (of Fox television series New Girl fame), along with a supporting cast of talented actors, including Kosha Patel, Satya Bhabha, Cas Anwar, Rizwan Manji, Anjali Bhimani and Bernard White. Produced by Megha Kadakia and Saurabh Kikani and distributed by MarVista Entertainment, the feature film “establishes an authentic tone that pays respect to Indian cultural norms, while poking gentle fun at these traditions,” raves The Hollywood Reporter.
“This film has already had such an incredible journey around North America,” said co-producers Kadakia and Kikani. “We are thrilled that our passion project is now available to the masses on an important and viable platform such as Netflix. We hope audiences continue to embrace the film, just as they have on the big screens.”
Claimed to be “the world’s most exclusive yoga experience”—a 75-minute yoga session on the top of red rocks in the Valley of Fire in Nevada—costs $3,499. It includes roundtrip flying of the yoga enthusiasts from Las Vegas Strip to Valley of Fire, about 55 miles away, in a helicopter; and is said to be adaptable for all skill levels.
A joint venture of award-winning and Las Vegas headquartered Maverick Aviation Group and Silent Savassana, “HeliYoga: Limitless” yoga class is reportedly held on one of the highest peaks of Valley of Fire.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, urged City of Las Vegas and Clark County to offer free yoga classes, like some cities were undertaking in the country. Providing an opportunity to avail the multiple benefits yoga offered, it would be a nice welcoming gesture for the tourists and a befitting expression of thanks towards the hard working locals.
Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out.
Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.
According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to a “2016 Yoga in America Study”, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.
Maverick claims to serve over 225,000 guests annually; while Silent Savasana states to offer “a distinctive, fun, and inspiring version of yoga” with a tagline “A Work In, Not a Work Out”. The Valley of Fire is said to derive its name “from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago”.
If you want to experience a powerful work featuring a letter from Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler urging him not to undertake aggressions that would “reduce humanity to the savage state,” head over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Mumbai-based contemporary artist Jitish Kallat’s “Covering Letter” is an immersive installation and video projection, which presents a historical letter by Gandhi to Hitler, written five weeks before the start of World War II. Kallat reincarnates this letter as a film of mist.
In the spirit of his doctrine of universal friendship, Gandhi begins the letter with the greeting “Dear friend,” according to the museum. The letter offers a passionate plea to Hitler to pursue peace rather than war. Kallat describes this correspondence as a plea from a great advocate of peace to one of the most violent individuals who ever lived.
Kallat believes these lines by Gandhi can go “way beyond its intended recipient” and speak to perhaps “anyone now to create a space of self-reflection.”
Kallat’s interest in remediating history through the actions and words of historical figures aligns “Covering Letter” with his earlier work. In his “Public Notice” series, Kallat, whose body of work is vast, spanning painting, photography, drawing, video, and sculptural installations, staged sculptural and interactive interventions that similarly appropriated texts by Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Swami Vivekananda.
Kallat’s “Covering Letter” is the first exhibition of this work in the U.S. The exhibit will remain on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Perelman Building through March 5, 2017.
President-elect Donald Trump who is scouting for talent to join his administration has met Indian American real estate executive, Sandeep Mathrani. The Chicago-based executive is the third Indian American to meet with Trump and the other two, Nikki Haley and Seema Verma, have been selected for positions in his administration.
Crain’s Chicago Business said that Mathrani is the CEO of General Growth Properties, which owns malls. It quoted a company official, Kevin Barry, as saying on Monday: “Sandeep is meeting with Trump today, I can confirm that, but no further color available.”
Crain’s Business said: “Mathrani earned $39.2 million last year – more than any other CEO of a U.S. real estate investment trust – so leaving the private sector for a government post would involve a major financial sacrifice.”
Haley was selected for the cabinet-rank post of Ambassador to the UN and Verma to be the next head of the government health insurance programmes.
In addition, Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu elected to Congress, has also met with Trump. She is a Democrat, but like Trump she is a critic of US interventions abroad while advocating a strong action against terrorism.
“How we respond to this crisis is a test for America”
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an unprecedented letter to doctors and other medical professionals on November 15 asking for their help to solve the United States’ devastating opioid epidemic. “The opioid epidemic is one of the most pressing public health crises we’re facing,” Murthy told The Huffington Post. “My hope is that we can mobilize clinicians around the country to join the national movement we’re building to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic.”
“The issue of addiction affects everyone regardless of political party,” race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, he said, adding that the effort to combat the drug epidemic has been bipartisan. The urgency to address addiction is only growing,” Dr. Murthy said. He vowed to continue his work to “change how we’re talking about addiction and get people to step forward and ask for help.”
The new report said that 78 people die every day in the United States from opioid overdoses, a number that has nearly quadrupled since 1999. It estimated that the annual economic toll related to alcohol is $249 billion and that the toll related to drugs is $193 billion.
The majority of people who misuse substances do not develop a use disorder, the report said. But roughly one in seven Americans — 14.6 percent of the population — are expected to develop such a disorder at some point.
Only about 10 percent of people with a substance use disorder receive any type of specialty treatment, the report said. And while more than 40 percent of people with such a disorder also have a mental health condition, fewer than half receive treatment for either.
From 40 percent to 70 percent of a person’s risk for developing a substance use disorder is genetic, the report said, but many environmental factors — like how old he or she is when first drinking or trying drugs — can influence the risk.
People who first drink alcohol before age 15 are four times more likely to become addicted at some time in their lives than are those who have their first drink at age 20 or older, the report said.
Nearly 70 percent of those who try an illicit drug before the age of 13 develop a substance use disorder within seven years, the report said, compared with 27 percent of those who first try an illicit drug after the age of 17.
“The deaths caused by prescription drug, heroin and fentanyl overdoses are growing exponentially every year, yet this report fails to provide any detailed road map for how best to curb opioid addiction,” Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, said in a statement. The magnitude of the opioid epidemic, he said, “demanded a far more detailed discussion.”
In addition, the report comes at the tail end of the Obama administration, which pleaded unsuccessfully with Congress this year for $1 billion to fight the opioid epidemic. Congress instead set aside $181 million, a move that a disappointed President Obama said was better than nothing.
In his letter, Murthy noted that 2 million people in American have a prescription opioid use disorder, an unprecedented level of addiction that’s contributed to both increased heroin use and the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C. He noted that prescriptions for opioids have skyrocketed disproportionately to chronic pain levels. The epidemic is also increasingly deadly: Opioid overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999.
In addition to the letter itself, the surgeon general’s office launched a website called TurnTheTideRx and issued an opioid prescribing pocket card for health care providers about how to treat patients who are in pain. Murthy encouraged health care providers to sign a pledge to educate themselves about treating pain safely and effectively, to screen patients for opioid use disorder, to connect them with evidence-based treatment, and to talk about and treat addiction as a chronic illness.
“In combination, our hope is that these will help clinicians to shape their practice and be part of the solution when it comes to addressing the opioid epidemic,” Murthy explained. Doctors started the opioid epidemic, and they can help solve it. Still, Murthy thinks that if doctors helped fuel the epidemic, they can help stem it, too.
At 37 years old, physician, public health advocate, entrepreneur and grassroots organizer Vivek Murthy is one of the youngest U.S. Surgeon Generals in our nation’s history, and the first one of Indian descent. Prior to his confirmation, he was a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Hospitalist Attending and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He was President and cofounder of Doctors for America, a national grassroots organization of 15,000 medical students and physicians advocating for high-quality and equitable health care. In 2011, Dr. Murthy was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health. Dr. Murthy is also cofounder of TrialNetworks, Epernicus and VISIONS.
“It’s time to change how we view addiction,” Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the surgeon general, said in releasing the report. “Not as a moral failing but as a chronic illness that must be treated with skill, urgency and compassion. The way we address this crisis is a test for America.”
Seema Verma, who has worked closely on healthcare with Vice President-elect Mark Pence in Indiana state, has been nominated by Donald Trump to be the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services overseeing government health insurance programs.
By assigning her “to the dream team that will transform our healthcare system,” a major campaign promise, President-elect Donald Trump by choosing Seema Verma for a high-level position in his administration, is on his way to revamp the system. Verma is the second Indian American to be on the new administration to be formed by Trump.
Announcing his intent to nominate them, Trump said: “Together, Chairman Price and Seema Verma are the dream team that will transform our healthcare system for the benefit of all Americans.” About Verma, Trump said: “She has decades of experience advising on Medicare and Medicaid policy and helping states navigate our complicated systems.”
“I look forward to helping him tackle our nation’s daunting healthcare problems in a responsible and sustainable way,” Verma said after Trump’s announcement.
Verma comes to the job with extensive Medicaid experience. Her consulting firm, SVC, Inc., worked closely with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to design Indiana’s Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. The expansion, known as the Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0, went into effect early last year, and Verma’s involvement in it may prove important as Congress and the Trump administration, including the Vice-president elect, make decisions on the future of Obamacare.
Indiana’s unique Medicaid expansion was designed to appeal to conservatives. HIP 2.0 asks covered people to make a small monthly payment to access health insurance. A missed payment can result in six-month lockout from insurance coverage. Those provisions aren’t allowed under traditional Medicaid, but Indiana got a federal waiver to implement them.
With a track-record of developing Republican-friendly healthcare programs, Verma will play a crucial role in carrying out the high-priority Trump campaign promise of scrapping President Barack Obama’s healthcare program, popularly known as Obamacare, and replacing it with “something better.”
Although Verma’s job is not of cabinet rank now, it has great political importance and she will be in the national spotlight because she will be working on the controversial Republican vow to end Obama’s signature healthcare program, which attempts to make affordable health insurance available to all, and come up with a new model.
The Medicare program that she will oversee provides insurance for over 46 million retirees and senior citizens, who are a politically powerful block, and Medicaid, which covers the poor, has about 60 million people enrolled in it. Together they are about a third of the U.S. population. Additionally now, she will have to help shape a program for those who are outside of these two programs and do not get health insurance from their employers.
Her appointment has been widely welcomed by the growing Indian American community. Dr. Ajay Lodha, the president of the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin, said, “The Indian community of physicians is very excited by the appointment of an Indian American to this high-level position by Present-elect Trump. We will support her endeavors,” he added. “We expect her to make Medicare more patient-friendly, especially in reforming the part of it that provides medicines.” There are nearly 70,000 doctors of Indian descent working in the US, making them an important constituency for healthcare reforms.
Susan Jo Thomas, who heads the Indiana insurance advocacy group Covering Kids and Families, says Verma’s contributions to HIP 2.0 made Medicaid expansion possible in a Republican state. “She understood that in order to get expansion in this state, it’s more about what is palatable, what can get approved,” she says.
Rep. Charlie Brown, the ranking Democrat in the state’s public health committee. “She is a smooth operator, and very, very persuasive,” he says. Brown worked in opposition to Verma in crafting the Healthy Indiana Plan, but said she was effective across party lines at incorporating the Pence administration’s wishes. She’s very resourceful and intelligent,” says Brown. “But the question now becomes, ‘What will be her marching orders as they relate to Medicare and Medicaid?’ ”
Verma, who heads a healthcare consulting company, SVC Inc., helped develop a public healthcare system in Indiana for implementing Obamacare. Among other things, it requires those using it to make contributions to it, even if it is a dollar for the poorest, which is opposed by many Democrats. She has also consulted with other Republican-run states on healthcare issues. Verma was awarded the Indiana state award, Sagamore of the Wabash, by Pence.
The more than three-hours long cultural extravaganza, mostly by children and youth was in many ways “reliving the culture and traditions” and a is way of “cherishing the past with a view to pass it on to the future generation.” Bollywood, classical, folk dances with music from the yesteryears to the present, along with a magic show, culminating with a grand buffet dinner were highlightsw of the celebrations. Homemade cookie sale by children for the benefit of a local charity was an added attraction.
Tijo Josh, an organizer of the event, said, “We thank every performer, their parents, and their choreographers for your effort and commitment. Thank you for your cooperation with everything. We really appreciate everyone for being on time, being on the ball and ready to show your best. You did an excellent job by making your performance within the allotted time. Because of you, we were able to get through the programs as planned. Start getting ready for the next big event – Onam2017. You keep raising the bar in what you do and we want to make this even better – the best show in Southern CT.”