Category: Politics

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Narendra Modi discuss opportunities

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

San Jose, CA – This evening at SAP Center in San Jose, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) shared the stage with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he was welcomed by a crowd of more than 18,000 people. Just before the Prime Minister took the stage, he met with Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and other Members of Congress to discuss plans to build U.S.-India relations and promote technology partnerships.

“Today I met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and welcomed him during this visit that has been focused on technology and innovation and how they can be leveraged to empower people in both of our countries,” said Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. “There are many different areas and sectors where the United States and India’s growing friendship will cover mutually beneficial ground. Prime Minister Modi’s second visit to the United States has allowed us to continue to strengthen those bonds and explore new opportunities for us to work together.”

The Prime Minister’s 2-day tour of Silicon Valley also included meetings with technology executives who offered their ideas and assistance in bringing India fully into the digital world. India is the world’s fastest-growing economy, and use of the Internet and smartphones is growing rapidly, providing new markets for American companies.

Modi Receives Rousing Welcome & Protests in New York

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Indian-Americans gave a rousing welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he arrived in New York on September 23rd. He was in the U.S. to participate in the United Nations summit on development and give a boost to his “Make in India” and “Digital India” programs.

Arriving at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, he stepped out of his vehicle and greeted at least 500 people, including drummers and dancers, waiting for him and waved to them. Secret service agents ran around him, trying to set up a cordon as the crowds surged and Modi tried to get closer to it. The supporters chanted, “Modi, Modi” and distributed sweets. They gathered about four hours before his arrival.

Modi informally met members of the Indian community from the New York and Chicago areas. Vasudev Patel, a physician from Atlanta who met Modi, said some of those meeting him offered their expertise. Modi, he said, welcomed their offers and asked the Indian community in the U.S. to contribute to India’s development efforts.

According to a press release by the organizers of the reception to the Indian Premier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose popularity graph has reached 87%  was  jubilantly  and enthusiastically welcomed by Indian-Americans who thronged under the banner of  “ Indian American Community”,   on September 23  in front of Waldorf Astoria Hotel where he will be staying  in New York City.

They carried the  playcards  depicting “AMERICA WELCOMES MODI”,  “NEW YORKERS LOVE MODI”  and uncontrollably shouted “MODI, MODI, WELCOME MODY” to express their love, respect and exhilaration for Modi who is determined to make India an economically prosperous and militarily strong nation.

As seen from the following political developments  Modi is expected to take Indo-American relationship to new heights. Secretary of State John Kerry announced his intention to take bilateral trade between India and USA to 500 billion dollars  from the present 100 billion dollars. Vice President  Joe Biden has said that he would like  India  to make the best friend of America.

Pentagon has established Rapid Reaction Cell to speed up its defense ties with India and accelerate the process of co-development and co-production of hi-tech military equipment in the country. Indian Cabinet has cleared the purchase of Boeing’s Apache and Chinook helicopters in a deal worth around $3.1 billion.

Recognizing the threat posed by outfits like the al-Qaeda, LeT and the D-Company, India and the US today agreed to deepen cooperation in fighting terrorism and asked Pakistan to bring to justice to the 2008 Mumbai attack perpetrators. According to some press reports, US National Security Advisor Susan Rice recently met Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, Raheel Sharif and warned him to desist from issuing  the threats of nuclear attack  to India otherwise USA would rethink its financial and military relationship with Pakistan. In order to contain China’s naval presence in the Indian Ocean Region, USA is nudging India to cooperate with it.

Meanwhile, a group of Sikhs and the Patidar community supporters demonstrated outside the UN headquarters, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Sustainable Development at a special UN summit. Under the banner of Sikhs for Justice, over 200 Sikhs, alleging human rights violations in Punjab, demanded referendum in 2020 for a separate Khalistan. The protesters, raising anti-India and anti-Modi slogans, urged the world body to take steps to meet their demand.

“There is massive violations against minorities, in particular against Christians, Sikhs and Muslims,” SFJ leader Bakhshish Singh Sandhu claimed Friday. Side by side in a separate enclosure were a few dozen members of the Patidar community from Gujarat who are living in different parts of the country. “We want justice from police brutalities. As many as 4,000 youths are still in police custody. There has been police brutality against innocent people. So far no action has been taken against the police officials responsible for this,” one Anil Patel claimed.

Amidst beating of drums and shouting of ‘Modi-Modi’ slogan, a few hundreds of community members gave the visiting Prime Minister a boisterous welcome as the Prime Minister’s entourage entered Waldorf Astoria Hotel straight from the JFK Airport. The people had been patiently waiting on the barricaded sidewalks for long, much before he entered the hotel to have a glimpse of their leader. There were men and women, both young and old, even a few young children standing next to their parents. And the wait was worthwhile.

Climate Change & UNSC Reform On Modi-Obama Agenda In New York

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Summit on Monday, September 28th, 2015 with the U.S. President Barack Obama focused on climate change and India’s appeal for reform of the U.N. Security Council. Modi’s America visit saw him travel to the West Coast, visiting San Jose, Calif., where he interacted with the tech giants. In a message before leaving for home, Modi said his U.S. visit demonstrates the “extraordinary depth and diversity” of the bilateral relationship and that a lot of ground had been covered in his five days in the U.S.

Modi said, “As terrorism threats grow, we have resolved to deepen our cooperation.” He also thanked Obama for the U.S.’ support to India for a permanent seat in a reformed U.N. Security Council and appreciated its support for India’s membership of the international export control regimes within a targeted time frame.

This was the third meeting between the leaders of the world’s oldest and the largest democracy in about a year. They met last year during Modi’s US visit and then in January earlier this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met US President Barack Obama in New York and discussed a host of issues. Obama warmly received Modi by hugging him before their meeting, the third between them since May last year. “I am encouraged by India’s commitment to clean energy. Its leadership on climate change will set tone for decades,” President Obama said after the meeting.  We appreciate our friendship and partnership with India,” the US president said.

As per reports, Modi flew down from San Jose, holding bilateral meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron and later with French President Francois Hollande. In his address at the Leaders’ Summit on U.N. Peacekeeping, hosted by the U.S., Modi said India is ready to contribute monetarily to a memorial for slain U.N. Peacekeepers. He announced new contributions to the U.N. Peacekeeping Operations including additional battalion of up to 850 troops.

The peak of the 5 day visit was the India-U.S. summit meeting, lasting an hour, saw Modi and Obama exchange warm hugs in greeting, in a reiteration of the personal chemistry between the two leaders. Obama in his media statement, said his talks with Modi focused on climate change and the upcoming climate change talks in Paris. He said both sides agreed that it is a crucial issue and all countries have responsibility for fighting climate change. Obama said he was “encouraged by the impressive nature of Modi’s commitment to clean energy. And I really think the Indian leadership in the upcoming Paris conference will set the tone not just today but in the decades to come (on climate change).”

India and the US discussed trade, investment, defense and education. Modi, in his statement, said the U.S. president and he “share an uncompromising commitment on climate change, without affecting our ability to meet the development aspirations of humanity. We have both set ambitious national agendas.”

Talking about his visit to the West Coast, the PM said, “I was in Silicon Valley over the weekend and experienced the strength of American innovation and enterprise. Youth, technology and innovation are the driving forces for the natural partnerships of Indians and Americans in advancing human progress,” the PM said. The meeting gave the two leaders an opportunity to build on the discussions they had in New Delhi in January when Obama travelled to India to attend the Republic Day Parade as its chief guest.

In the dialogue, India and the US on Monday agreed to deepen cooperation in fighting terrorism and asked Pakistan to bring to justice the 2008 Mumbai attack perpetrators. The Modi-Obama meeting comes close on the heels of the conclusion of the inaugural strategic and commercial dialogue between the US and India.

Narendra Modi’s US Visit: A Missed Opportunity

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

The UN General Assembly was an important forum for India and PM Modi to reaffirm the country’s commitment to the sustainable development goals, said Himanshu, an author and an associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and visiting fellow at Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi.

“The media euphoria about the US visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is yet to die down. While the visit has been termed successful for the excitement it generated over Modi’s meeting with top corporate honchos, and the primary reason for the world leaders to assemble at the UN General Assembly was to launch these ambitious goals and targets, the cacophony of the historic reception accorded by the corporate giants to the Prime Minister meant that SDGs, which would have been guiding principles of governance, remained at best at the periphery,’ he stated.

Describing it to be a historic opportunity where the world community led by the UN had agreed on basic principles and goals of development to be pursued by individual countries for the next 15 years, which is a follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were launched 15 years ago with 8 goals and 12 identifiable targets, anchored to specific targets with the objective of reducing the extent of these deprivations to half by 2015, including poverty eradication, gender empowerment, sanitation, and maternal and child health, the Indian writer said, “The overall performance of MDGs may be questionable, with many countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, falling behind most targets on health, gender and nutrition, but they were successful in initiating a debate on key targets for measuring and tracking development in the last 15 years.”

According to Himanshu, India’s own performance on many of the MDG indicators has not been great, with the country missing targets on nutrition, health, sanitation and education, he pointed out that, of the 12 indicators, India is on course to meet the target of poverty reduction, reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS, reducing gender disparity in primary education and making technology accessible to the poor, but is lagging behind on all other indicators. “Notable among these are the targets of reduction in hunger, universal primary education, reduction in under-5 mortality rates, reduction in maternal mortality rates, reduction in the spread of malaria and other diseases, and basic provision of safe water and sanitation. This, despite the fact that the last 15 years were the years of fastest rate of growth for the Indian economy since independence and also the years of significant reduction in poverty,” Himanshu wrote.

As per Himanshu, SDGs remain merely guiding documents agreed upon by the members of the UN. They do not impose any obligation on nation states to include them in national social and economic policies. This has been the problem with MDGs and will continue to be the issue with SDGs. But they do suggest issues of convergence on some of the vexed topics of development. In that sense, these are like the directive principles of state policy in our Constitution.

India’s own performance has not been satisfactory, although there are signs of marginal improvement in recent years, Hinshu states. “We continue to remain the country with the highest rate of open defecation, the highest rate of malnutrition and the lowest work participation of women. The improvements in these are not just necessary as development indicators, but also for growth to be sustainable.

“While the present National Democratic Alliance government has been sensitive to these issues, with the Prime Minister making sanitation, hygiene, protecting and educating the girl child and education important national issues, these have not been backed by adequate attention to planning. Nor has there been any increase in additional spending for these.:

Himanshu is of the opinion that the UN General Assembly was an important forum for India and Prime Minister Modi to reaffirm the country’s commitment to these development goals. This was also an opportunity to build consensus on the urgency of undertaking reforms to tackle these persistent problems. “However, the priority given to India’s demand for permanent status in the Security Council and the focus on “Digital India” meant that this was another missed opportunity.”

NRIs Responsible for changing the world’s perception of India: PM Modi in San Jose

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics 0

Indians living abroad are responsible for changing the world’s perception of India, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India told the Indian American community in California here on Sunday, September 27th, 2015. Using the analogy of cricket broadcasts, he said Indians in the US had a better view of what was happening in India than those who live in the country. “You are making the world change from here. Those who resist change will become irrelevant in the 21st century,” addressing thousands of Indian-Americans at the SAP Centre in San Jose, Modi said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the 21st century belongs to India and the world has begun to acknowledge the fact, as he addressed an 18,000-strong cheering crowd of Indian community members at the SAP Centre in San Jose. According to reports, Modi, in an over hour-long address to a “Modi, Modi” chanting crowd, also said that terrorism and climate change are the main challenges facing the world and urged all nations to unite in facing the twin threats. In a rock star reception like the one he had received at Madison Square Garden last year, Modi also asked the crowd for a “certificate” of his performance in the 16 months he has been in power.

He said the world now acknowledges that the 21st century belongs to India, to loud cheers.

“Sometime ago India was striving to join with the world, but today the times have changed and the world is thirsting to join with India,” he said. He also said he will give his every moment and every particle of his body in working for India’s betterment.

Asking the crowd for a certificate of his 16 months in power, Modi asked the rapturous crowd: “Did I live up to my promises, working day and night, and the responsibility that I have undertaken…Have I lived up to that?” to loud cheers and chants of “Modi, Modi”.

Modi, who said he was visiting the West Coast after 25 years, said he was seeing a “vibrant picture” of India in the large Indian tech community that lives and works here. Modi praised the “nimble fingers” of the Indian tech experts who “have made the world acknowledge India” with their competence, innovations.

He said he did not see the large numbers of Indians working in the US and other foreign countries as a brain drain, but as a “brain deposit”. Modi called terrorism and global warming as world’s main challenges and asked all nations to unite to fight this scourge as there was no such thing as good or bad terrorism.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said terror and global warming were the two big threats the world was facing. Modi said the world should stop differentiating between “good terrorism and bad terrorism. The UN is celebrating its 70th anniversary but till now it has not been able to arrive at a definition for terrorism. If defining it takes so much time, how many years will it take to tackle terrorism,” he said.

“Humanist forces in the world will have to put pressure so that it is decided in black and white what is terrorism. Since there is no definition, talk about good terrorism and bad terrorism is going on. We cannot protect humanity with this good and bad terrorism,” Modi said, adding that “terrorism is terrorism”.

Standing on a podium that turned slowly so that he could address everyone, Modi said the brain drain that was discussed for many years has now become brain gain. “I look at it differently. This is actually a brain deposit that is waiting for an opportunity to be of use to the motherland,” he said, adding that the time for that had arrived.

Highlighting how he had opened a new silent front against corruption, he said Aadhaar cards had helped weed out five crore fake gas connections and subsidy was now being given only for 13 crore units. This, he said, led to a saving of at least Rs 19,000 crore. He added that 30 lakh people had given up their gas subsidy under the Give It Up campaign.

Recalling the Ghadar movement in the US by Sikh migrants in the early 20th century, Modi said, “If those who came to work on the farms then wanted to do something for the Independence movement, the youth of today want to work for alleviating poverty back home.” The speech also mentioned the first Indians who made a mark in West Coast, including Jayaprakash Narayan, who studied in California.

“The world now accepts that this century will be India’s. And this has happened not because of me, but the 1.25 billion Indians,” he said, adding that India has now moved from the fringes to become the focal point. Often having to pause for the cheering crowd to settle down, Modi said his confidence in the country stemmed from the fact that India was young. “A country with 800 million youth and 1.6 billion young arms cannot be held back,” he said. The PM finished his address by announcing a direct Delhi-San Francisco Air India flight thrice a week from December 2 onwards.

Narendra Modi Concludes Historic Visit to USA

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics 0

After a highly successful visit, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, on a visit to the United States from September 23 to September 28, 2015, to attend the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA, returned on Monday, September 28th after a historical visit, winning many a heart.

During the visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended and spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at the headquarters of the United Nations. India also hosted a G-4 summit in New York, which was attended by Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, President of Brazil, Dilma Roussef.

In a first for the Premier of India, Modi visited the Silicon Valley, and the West Coast of USA on September 26 and September 27, 2015. During which he met several business leaders and the Indian diaspora in USA. Modi, who is known for using the social media extensively, visited the headquarters of the social networking site ‘Facebook’ and held meetings with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Tim Cook CEO of Apple, Sundar Pichai CEO of Google, Paul Jacobs of Qualcomm, John Chambers of Cisco Systems. Prime Minister Narendra Modi garnered support for ‘Digital India’ campaign by these top Chief Executive Officer’s of different companies.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met several world leaders on September 28, 2015 in New York and also attended the peacekeeping summit. He held bilateral talks with the President of United States of America, Barack Obama, President of France, Francois Hollande, Prime Minister of United Kingdom, David Cameroon, President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Neto, President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, President of Sri Lanka Mathripala Sirisena, President of Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fateh el- sisi, President of Guyana David A. Granger.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his United States visit from New York last week with unmistakable signals that he wishes to take India on a higher growth path through American investments and technology collaboration, inviting U.S. business to enter India without inhibitions and join his “Make in India” campaign.

That Modi, during his second visit to the U.S since becoming the prime minister, devoted his five-day visit largely to wooing the investment community, and the tech-entrepreneurs later in California to make his dream of digital India program, an emphatic success, was evident from the list of people he was to meet both in New York and California – Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and CEOs from other media entities as well as Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JP Morgan, Steve Schwarzman, chairman, CEO of Blackstone, Charles Kaye, Co-CEO of Warburg Pincus, and Peter Hancock, president and CEO, AIF Insurance, all in New York and, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Paul Jacobs of Qualcomm, John Chambers, CEO of Cisco and Shantanu Narayen, the president and the CEO of Adobe. The Prime Minister visited Google while in California where he will reach evening of Sept. 26.

Starting in New York Sept 24, Modi made a strong pitch for investment in India during a roundtable with top Wall Street CEOs at Waldorf Astoria where he is staying. He touted India’s 7.3 percent GDP growth last year, noting that there has been a 40 percent increase in Foreign Direct Investment. He talked about his government’s efforts during the last 15 months to increase investment in areas of taxation, infrastructure and FDI.

By and large, the CEOs appreciated the steps taken by the government on ease of doing business, on economic growth and reforms. All of them, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters, were very bullish on India and said that India has a lot of potential for investment. They also acknowledged that financial market reforms have already started and more reforms would happen in the days to come.

Together, these companies like JP Morgan, Blackstone, Warburg Pincus and AIF Insurance, at the roundtable, manage billions and billions of dollars. “Most of them have exposure to India. So, this was a very good opportunity for the Prime Minister to listen to their experience of doing business with India, to see what concerns they had and how we could work to remove those concerns,” Swarup said.

“CEOs were very interested in India’s start-up sector. They appreciated steps taken by government to make business easier,” Modi tweeted after the hour-long meeting with CEOs.

The Prime Minister assured the investors that “work is already underway” to resolve their issues and asked the CEOs to give him a detailed note on all the concerns raised during the meeting which will be examined in detail and responded to. Modi “took on board” suggestions made by the executives as he outlined the scale of development he expects to happen in India and the tremendous opportunities it offers to foreign institutional investors and for FDI.

Giving the CEOs an indication of the quantum of investment required, Modi told them that India is going to construct 50 million houses, 600 villages are going to be connected with broadband and 24×7 electricity would be provided to all in an environmentally sustainable way. For these developments, 175 Giga watts of renewable energy are going to be created, 50 big cities are going to have metros. Modi’s point was India was not just among the fastest-growing economies but had also done much towards the ease of doing business, something that should attract investors.

Before flying back to India after his 5-day visit to US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made another pitch for reforms in the United Nations Security Council, during the world body’s peacekeeping summit today. At the summit, he also acknowledged his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharief, with a wave.

In New York, PM Modi and President Barack Obama decided to “further refine” the Indo-US strategic partnership while pushing ahead with cooperation in the areas of security, counter-terrorism, defence, economy and climate change. However, linking with the diaspora comprises an important facet of Modi’s foreign visits, including the current visit to the United States.

Modi makes strong pitch for UNSC reforms

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed for reforms in the UN Security Council in order to maintain its relevance and credibility as an international body and for proper representation in the core UN body so that countries can strive to reach their goals more effectively.

In an address on Friday at the UN Sustainable Development Summit, Modi, speaking in Hindi, also outlined India’s goals for fighting climate change and said he hoped developed countries would make separate provisions for fighting climate change without slotting it under the head of development.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the audience at the opening session of the UN summit with ‘namaste’.

New York (US): Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the United Nations Summit
New York (US): Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the United Nations Summit

Wearing a brown bandgalla, the prime minister came to the podium and turned to the dais where those presiding over the session on Friday were seated and greeted them with a ‘namaste’.

On either side of the dais, large TV monitors showed Modi speaking while on a split screen a sign language interpreter relayed his speech.

His Hindi speech was simultaneously translated into English, Russian, French and Spanish and made available on earphones and on the internet.

Making a strong pitch for reforms in the UNSC and its expanded membership, Modi said: “Change is necessary in the UNSC in order to maintain its relevance and credibility, as also proper representation by countries so that we are able strive for our goals more effectively.”

Modi spoke of the need for reducing dependence on energy so that the world can strive towards “sustainable consumption”. He suggested a global education programme to prepare future generations to protect the environment to make it sustainable.

“I hope that developed countries will fulfill their financial commitments towards development and climate change without in anyway putting the two under the same head,” he said.

Modi outlined India’s climate change goals saying he represents a culture that calls the earth “mother” and that India over the next seven years will create 175 GW of renewable energy capacity.

“I represent that culture that calls the earth Ma.. The Vedas says that the earth is the mother and we are its sons,” he said in Hindi at the summit.

He said that India has outlined ambitious programmes to fight climate change.

Besides creating 175 GW renewable energy capacity, the country would also stress on energy efficiency, tree plantation, coal tax, clean environment, cleaning up of rivers, waste to wealth movement and sustainable development.

He outlined the government’s programmes towards financial inclusion, saying 180 million new bank accounts had been opened, which he termed as the biggest empowerment for the poor. He said the government was working towards a Pension Yojana to ensure pension reaches the poor.

Modi said earlier there was talk only of the private sector or public sector, but his government has focused on the “personal sector”, like individual enterprise through micro finance, innovation, start ups, creating opportunities and providing clean water, power, health, education, hygiene for all — all that is needed to live a decent life.

He said the government has fixed a time limit for the programmes, and added that women empowerment is a major part of his government’s policy through “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” (Save the girl child, educate the girl child), which the government has made into a household mantra. Another was to make agriculture more remunerative by connecting fields to markets.

Modi said his government is taking steps to mitigate the agrarian crisis, revive the manufacturing sector, improve the services sector, and stressing on investments in the infrastructure sector and focusing on creating smart cities, which are sustainable and the centres of development.

He said India’s path is linked to sustainable development as it is linked to India’s tradition of calling the earth Ma.

He said in the UN international cooperation should be at the centre of sustainable development and to fight climate change.

“The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the bedrock of our enterprise for a sustainable world,” he stressed.

He called for international partnership to fight climate change. Modi ended his speech with a ‘namaste’ to his audience.

Harish Jajoo Bids To Be A Mayor Of Texas City

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Harish Jajoo, an Indian-American engineer is making a bid to become the first South Asian mayor of Sugar Land in the US state of Texas, a media report said. Harish Jajoo, who has been a Sugar Land City Council member since 2011, has lived in the city, which has 35 percent Asian population, since 1985 after migrating first to Canada and then the US.

Harish Jajoo, an Indian-American engineer is making a bid to become the first South Asian mayor of Sugar Land in the US state of Texas, a media report said. Harish Jajoo, who has been a Sugar Land City Council member since 2011, has lived in the city, which has 35 percent Asian population, since 1985 after migrating first to Canada and then the US. Jajoo, who is one of two Indian-Americans on the six-person city council, will face colleague Joe Zimmerman — and possibly others who have not declared yet — in the 2016 election to replace mayor James Thompson, Houston chronicle.com reported Sept. 17. “I look different, I talk different, maybe I eat different… But my values for the city are no less than the next person,” Jajoo was quoted as saying. He said he knows that eventually a South Asian will be mayor of the city, but stressed that he was “not looking for that label”. Founded as a sugar plantation in the mid 1800s and incorporated in 1959, Sugar Land is located in Fort Bend county, some 18 miles southwest of Houston. The county’s Asian population has grown more quickly than any other group, according to a 2013 report by Stephen Klineberg, sociology professor at Rice University, about Houston’s increasing diversity, and his colleague Jie Wu. Between 2015 and 2040, the population of voting age Asian-Americans is expected to grow by 80 percent while the population of Asian-Americans in general is expected to grow by 74 percent, according to a study by Paul Ong and Elena Ong of the University of California, Los Angeles’ Center for the Study of Inequality and the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.
Harish Jajoo

Jajoo, who is one of two Indian-Americans on the six-person city council, will face colleague Joe Zimmerman — and possibly others who have not declared yet — in the 2016 election to replace mayor James Thompson, Houston chronicle.com reported Sept. 17. “I look different, I talk different, maybe I eat different… But my values for the city are no less than the next person,” Jajoo was quoted as saying. He said he knows that eventually a South Asian will be mayor of the city, but stressed that he was “not looking for that label”.

Founded as a sugar plantation in the mid 1800s and incorporated in 1959, Sugar Land is located in Fort Bend county, some 18 miles southwest of Houston. The county’s Asian population has grown more quickly than any other group, according to a 2013 report by Stephen Klineberg, sociology professor at Rice University, about Houston’s increasing diversity, and his colleague Jie Wu.

Between 2015 and 2040, the population of voting age Asian-Americans is expected to grow by 80 percent while the population of Asian-Americans in general is expected to grow by 74 percent, according to a study by Paul Ong and Elena Ong of the University of California, Los Angeles’ Center for the Study of Inequality and the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.

Combatting Terrorism Is Top Priority For India, US

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

Washington, DC: September 22, 2015: Describing Indo-US relationship into “a defining counter-terrorism partnership for the 21st century” India and the US have called on Pakistan to bring perpetrators of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice on Tuesday in an India-US Joint Declaration on Combating Terrorism issued at the end of the first India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue that set the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third summit with President Barack Obama next week.

Both the nations reaffirmed the commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms, which constitutes a profound threat to global peace and security, and to uphold our common values of democracy, justice, and the rule of law. They reaffirmed President Obama’s and Prime Minister Modi’s vision to transform the U.S.-India relationship into a defining counterterrorism partnership for the 21st century, while reiterating the threat posed by entities such as Al-Qa’ida and its affiliates, Lashkar-e-Tayibba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company, and the Haqqani Network, and other regional groups  that seek to undermine stability in South Asia.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and US Secretary of State John Kerry, who led the dialogue, “reaffirmed the commitment of India and the United States to combat terrorism in all its forms,” the declaration said. Describing terrorism as “a profound threat to global peace and security, and to uphold our common values of democracy, justice, and the rule of law,” the declaration reaffirmed Obama and Modi’s “vision to transform the US-India relationship into a defining counterterrorism partnership for the 21st century.”

The declaration also “reiterated the threat posed by entities such as Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, Lashkar-e-Taeba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company, and the Haqqani Network, and other regional groups that seek to undermine stability in South Asia.” Calling on Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, Swaraj and Kerry strongly condemned the July 27, 2015 terrorist attack in Gurdaspur, Punjab, and August 5, 2015, attack in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir.

Swaraj and Kerry, the declaration said, had also commended the continuing efforts to finalise a bilateral agreement to expand intelligence sharing and terrorist watch-list information.

They also commended progress toward India’s entry into the US Department of Homeland Security Global Entry Programme and the inclusion of Mumbai in the Strong Cities Network, a forum to build sub-national resiliency against violent extremism,

Swaraj and Kerry also commended progress toward a Memorandum of Understanding between the Indian National Police Academy (Hyderabad) and the New York Police Department.

The proposed next meeting of the Homeland Security Dialogue will be held in early 2016.

The declaration also recognised the serious threat posed by ISIL/Daesh to global security and affirmed efforts to degrade and defeat this threat in accordance with the provisions of UN Security Council Resolutions. The declaration recalled the signing of the US-India Counter-terrorism Cooperation Initiative (CCI), establishment of the Homeland Security Dialogue in 2010, and several other joint initiatives.

It also reaffirmed their support for a UN Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism that advances and strengthens the framework for global cooperation and reinforces that no cause or grievance justifies terrorism. Swaraj and Kerry also commended the meeting of the US-India Terrorist Designations Exchange in July 2015 to strengthen cooperation on domestic terrorist designations. Also commended was the proposed next round of the Counter-terrorism Joint Working Group in early 2016.

Innovation, Digital Economy, Clean Energy On Modi’s Agenda During U.S. Visit

Ajay GhoshPolitics, Science & Technology 0

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi sets out to win over America again with an outreach to the Indian-American community, three themes would animate his journey-entrepreneurship and innovation, digital economy and renewable energy. According to reports, landing in New York on Sep 23 evening, Modi will have an interaction with potential investors, a discussion with media and communication majors and a dinner with CEOs of 40-plus companies focusing on infrastructure and manufacturing in aid of his “Make in India” initiative, next day.

Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit the Bay Area since Morarji Desai picked up an award at University of California, Berkeley in 1978 and Indira Gandhi visited Los Angeles in 1982.

Among the leaders of Fortune 500 companies expected at the dinner meeting with Modi at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel are Lockheed Martin chairman Marillyn A Hewson, Ford Motor president Mark Fields, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Johnson & Johnson chairman Jorge Mesquita. Modi will then head to the Silicon Saturday after addressing the UN global summit Friday.

The first Indian Prime Minister to visit California in more than three decades, Modi is set to have meetings among others with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerbergand electric carmaker Tesla’s iconic CEO Elon Musk. Besides a town hall style question-answer session at Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters, Modi will also be meeting Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai and Shantanu Narayen, India-born CEOs of Microsoft, Google, and Adobe respectively. His first stop in California will be at Tesla’s Fremont plant on Saturday. Here more than the zero emissions cars that it makes, Modi would be interested in its “Powerwall”, a home battery charged by solar panels, for India’s clean energy initiative.

With many an Indian at the forefront of innovation in the Silicon Valley, Modi will be looking at how to maximise opportunities at a digital economy dinner that evening attended by several Indian-American tech leaders as also Cisco Chairman John Chambers, and QualcommChairman Paul Jacobs among others.

Next day after discussing “how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges” at the Facebook townhall, Modi, who has more Facebook fans than any politician except Barack Obama, will head to the Googleplex in Mountain View, Santa Clara. Besides Pichai, Modi will also be meeting Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google’s new holding company Alphabet Inc, there.

At Googleplex, Modi will also witness the start of a 15 hour hackathon or a marathon software coding session with some 150 Indian programmers looking to produce software and applications relevant to India for Modi’s Digital India and Skill India missions. Hosted by the Indian IT industry trade body, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), along with a clutch of start-ups in India and the U.S., the hackathon will have a simultaneous session at Tech Mahindra’s Noida facility.

Later that day he would participate in a roundtable on renewable energy hosted by Precourt Institute for Energy of Stanford University in cooperation with the U.S. Commerce Department.

Modi, who last year got a rockstar like reception when he gave a speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden, would be hoping to recreate that magic at a community reception in San Jose on the evening of September 27.

More than 45,000 people have registered for free passes for the event at the 19,000-seat SAP Centre organised by an Indian American group. Back in New York on September 28 after his two-day visit to the Silicon Valley, Modi will have his third summit with Obama within a year in the backdrop of the first India-U.S. strategic and commercial dialogue in Washington on September 21 and 22.

Joe Biden, John Kerry, & Sushma Swaraj Renew Commitment to Grow U.S.-India Trade Relations

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

Washington, D.C., September 21, 2015 – Kicking off the inaugural U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue and commemorating the 40th anniversary of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), the annual USIBC Leadership summit featured addresses by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, and other high-ranking officials from both governments and industry leaders.

Continuing the dialogue established by President Obama and Prime Minister Modi in the last year, Vice President Biden delivered an address highlighting the importance of the U.S.-India trade relationship and the U.S. commitment to growing bilateral trade to $500 billion over the next few years. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to the importance of building stronger U.S.-India ties and reinforcing India’s position as an ally in the region.

USIBC Chairman Ajay Banga – who is President and CEO of MasterCard – delivered the State of the Council address. “The eyes of history remain fixed on India and the United States as they move closer to ushering in what could be a whole new era.  A new era for India.  A new era for India-U.S. Relations. It’s a new era that could see global trade accelerate and increase with Indian membership in organizations like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum,” said Banga.

The summit welcomed addresses from Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State, Independent Charge, for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, and Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy.

The summit also featured a panel discussion on “Why Make in India?” moderated by CNBC anchor Seema Mody, featuring Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Amitabh Kant; Emerson President Ed Monser; Chairman of HDFC Deepak Parekh and Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Bharti Mittal.

USIBC presented its prestigious Global Leadership Awards to Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo

USIBC presented its prestigious Global Leadership Awards to Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, and Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director of HT Media, one of India’s largest publicly listed media companies. Both were honored for their contributions and commitment to driving a more inclusive global economy and for their roles as women leaders.

The awardees were introduced by Purna Saggurti, Chairman Global Corporate & Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch who also serves as one of USIBC’s board of directors.

“These extraordinary leaders have made a lasting impact on their industries and on U.S.-India relations,” said Saggurti. “They have been a true inspiration to business and leaders across the globe and have raised the bar for all of us.”

 

“The USIBC plays a critically important role in strengthening the relationship between two great nations,” said Indra Nooyi. “There are tremendous opportunities ahead to work together in new ways that capitalize on our collective strengths and pave the way to shared prosperity for our countries, our companies and our citizens. PepsiCo is deeply committed to being part of this dialogue, and it is humbling to be honored at this year’s historic celebration.”

“As the representative of a media group that realizes the importance of looking at both India Shining, and the Other India to get a real picture of what is happening in our country, and as a woman leader in a nation where women are finally coming into their own, I am delighted to receive this award. Our two countries, both democracies, have a strong and free media and I see increasing opportunities for collaboration as media and technology companies from India and the U.S. navigate the evolving digital landscape,” said Shobhana Bhartia.

Renowned Indian-American artist, Natvar Bhavasr who is known for his abstract expressionism and “color-field” painting was awarded the Artistic Achievement Award. “My work aims to transcend boundaries and I am honored to receive this award that recognizes my Indian roots and my training in arts that took place in the United States. I would not be the artist I am today had it not been for the inspirations that have guided me in my absorbing the gifts offered by both cultures, my birthplace India and my half a century’s participation in the creative life of New York City,” said Natvar Bhavsar.

USIBC President Mukesh Aghi said, “In a world filled with complex security and economic challenges, the U.S.-India relationship matters more now than ever before. It is no surprise that Prime Minister Modi’s next stop is in Silicon Valley, the bedrock of entrepreneurship and innovation – those are the areas that will grow our economies, but also an area that requires strong talent and a continual commitment to foster a strong business environment. To achieve this end a crucial step is being taken to launch U.S. Business Centers in India to support the entry of U.S. small and mid-sized companies, universities, and skills’ providers into the market.”

Attending companies included leaders from MasterCard, PepsiCo, Bank of America, Boeing, American Tower Corp, Amway, Cigna, Dow, Pfizer, and UST Global.

Prime Minister Modi’s Approval Ratings Spike: Pew Research Study Finds

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Almost three-quarters of Indians now think economic conditions are good. And about two-thirds have a very favorable view of current Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This high level of approval is two to three times that for other leading Indian politicians, according to a new 2015 Pew Research Center survey conducted among 2,452 respondents in India from April 6 to May 19, 2015.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, by far, India’s most popular political figure. And the intensity of his support is much stronger than that enjoyed by other leading politicians. He enjoys robust backing among both his own party members and adherents of the opposition, and in rural areas as well as in cities. Fully 87% of Indians say they have a favorable opinion of Modi. This backing is up from 78% in 2013, prior to his election as prime minister. (See this Pew Research Center survey for pre-election sentiment.) And this support is quite intense. Almost seven-in-ten Indians (68%) have a very favorable view of the BJP leader today.

Modi’s appeal is a driving force behind this upsurge in Indians’ positive mood. Those who have a lot of confidence in Modi voice greater satisfaction with the direction of the country today than those with only some confidence in the prime minister. Respondents who have a lot of confidence in Modi also say the nation’s economic situation is very good.

And those who have a lot of confidence in Modi are more likely to expect the economic situation in India to improve a lot over the next 12 months.

In 2015, a year after an election swept the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into power, public satisfaction with India’s direction has nearly doubled and pride in the country is up compared with findings from a Pew Research Center survey conducted in December 2013 and January 2014.

Moreover, Modi’s aura has reinvigorated Indians’ faith in their government. About two-thirds of respondents who have a lot of confidence in the prime minister say the influence of the national government is now very good. On the world stage, Indians still feel underappreciated. But their belief that India gets the respect it deserves is up 12 percentage points after Modi’s first year in office. Moreover, more than seven-in-ten of those surveyed express a lot of confidence in Modi’s handling of international relations.

The Modi phenomenon transcends India’s traditionally partisan politics. On most of the challenges facing the nation, the prime minister and his party enjoy support from both the BJP party faithful and followers of the opposition Congress party. Moreover, Modi and the BJP now have greater backing than Congress in rural areas, traditionally a Congress stronghold.

Roughly six-in-ten or more self-identified Congress supporters approve of Modi’s handling of a range of issues: access to clean toilets (66%), unemployment (62%), helping the poor (61%) and inflation (61%). And majorities of Congress backers approve of the prime minister’s efforts against terrorism (56%) and corruption (56%). Only on Modi’s dealing with communal relations do less than half of Congress followers approve of his efforts.

Modi has also succeeded in winning over rural Indians, both for his party and himself. The BJP is now slightly more popular in the Indian countryside than in its cities. And the party’s favorability now exceeds that of Congress in urban areas by 31 points (83% for BJP, 52% for Congress) and in rural India by 25 points (89% for BJP, 64% for Congress). Modi is more popular than presumptive Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi in both rural areas by 23 points (Modi 89%, Gandhi 66%) and in cities by 31 points (Modi 84%, Gandhi 53%).

Nevertheless, Indians believe their country still faces myriad challenges. More than eight-in-ten say crime, jobs, inflation and corruption are very big problems. Concern about air pollution is up 22 points in just the past year, complaints about poor-quality schools are up 20 points and worry about health care is up 15 points. And Indians see the world as a challenging place. Nearly three-quarters say they are very concerned about global climate change. A similar proportion say neighboring Pakistan poses a very serious threat to India.

First Friends of MP Family Picnic in New Jersey

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

People with common heritage of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and residing in New York New Jersey Tristate area came together and celebrated their  First Friends of MP Family Picnic in New Jersey  on Sun 20th Sept, 2015. The whole day Picnic was a grand success, with participation from people of all parts of New York New Jersey Connecticut, and with origins in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Khandwa, Dewas and other towns of MP.  The pleasant sunny weather and ambience of Liberty State Park, NJ right next to Statue to Liberty added to the fun atmosphere. The Friends of MP Conclave in New York in early 2015

gave a booster to the NRIs from MP to coalesce for a friendly family get- together.

With around 120 attendees of all ages, the day started with Indore’s traditional  Poha -made on the site by men participants – laced with Ratlami Sev, Jeeravan and accompanied by Jalebi/Kachori. Then followed sports and games and catching up of friends, many meeting each other after many years and connecting on many common roots / relationships. Lunch again was MP’s signature  Choorma – Dal – Batee, which was really relished by all. Future years may see  Baflaa, which is truly a Malwa Cuisine. Lunch was followed by a Social Hour of introductions and plans for future such get – together and with much larger participation. While thousands of people from MP may be in the NY Tristate area, this was the first such gathering of its sort at the people’s level in many years, making attendees happy and nostalgic.

The planning and execution for the event was managed by a Core Team of Jitendra Muchhal, Rakesh Bharagava, Dr. R Kakani, Rajiv Goyal, Rajesh Mittal, Raj Bansal, Pankaj Gupta and Navneet Trivedi over last few months . Right from name labels to conversations, usage of Hindi and Malwee language was encouraged through out the day, also coinciding with MP’s hosting of World Hindi Conference this month.

Indian-Americans Form New Group to Boost Republicans

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Although Indian Americans are known for their leanings towards the Democratic Party, conservative-minded Indian Americans are forming a new Republican group to mobilize the community to back Republican candidates in what the founder calls “a very important time in history,” according to a media report.

Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar, a prominent Indian-American businessman and a major supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken the lead in forming the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC). The coalition aims to promote conservative principles such as free markets and limited government, with a focus on how they relate to Indian Americans, Fox News reported.

According to reports here, the organization is modeled after groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition, and plans to spend big in next year’s elections, it said. “This is a very important time in history. The country has suffered so much so dramatically in the last eight years, and another four or eight years of the same direction, the US as we know it will come to an end,” Kumar told FoxNews.com.

While many Hindus are ideologically conservative-leaning, they have not yet mobilized to vote for Republicans, he said. “Hindu Americans tend to be like other minorities when it comes to voting – they are Democrats or are neutral, or they just don’t vote,” said Kumar, chairman of AVG Advanced Technologies.

Yet the RHC is hoping to change this, and has gained the backing of some big-name Republicans, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich agreeing to serve as honorary chairman for the group. Kumar said they have received a great deal of support from the Republican National Committee and high-ranking congressional Republicans. They are also hoping to organize a congressional delegation to travel to India after they formally launch the coalition next month.

Kumar said that while the RHC is proud that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – whose family is from India – is running, they have not yet backed any of the candidates seeking the Republican nomination in 2016. However, Kumar has pledged to personally donate at least $2 million and raise millions more for the eventual Republican nominee, Senate and House candidates and Republican groups.

Nikki Haley Among Four Indian Americans Recognized in Politico Magazine’s ‘Politico 50’

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Four Indian Americans have been recognized in Politico Magazine’s “Politico 50” this year for their contributions to politics in the U.S. The magazine names a list of 50 people whom they deem to be “thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics” in the current year.

Among those acknowledged on the list include South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, columnist Ramesh Ponnuru (and his wife, political adviser April Ponnuru), economist Raj Chetty, and surgeon and writer Atul Gawande.

Haley, coming in at No. 9 on the list, was integral in the removal of the Confederate flag from outside the statehouse in the wake of the Charleston shootings, noted Politico. “It was a bright spot in a year marked by racial tension,” according to the magazine’s bio on Haley.

Ramesh Ponnuru and his wife April both came in at No. 32 on the list. Politico describes them as “the young reigning couple of forward-thinking conservative ideas.” Ramesh is a senior editor at National Review and a columnist for Bloomberg View, and is a critic within the Republican party, according to Politico.

At No. 39 on the list is Chetty, an economist at Stanford and Harvard universities. Chetty and a team of researchers did a study and found out that growing up in different neighborhoods has a serious impact on social mobility. As stated in the magazine, “Little political attention has been paid to the role of neighborhoods in social mobility since civil rights reform efforts in the 1970s. But thanks at least in part to Chetty’s fresh approach to the data, politicians are taking note again.” Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is now using Chetty’s ideas in public speaking events.

Gawande came in at No. 50 on the list. His essay in 2009 on skyrocketing healthcare costs indirectly led to President Barack Obama’s push for what would become the Affordable Care Act. The surgeon wrote a book released in the fall of 2014 saying doctors are not prepared to help terminally ill people die well. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy topped the list. Other notable figures included Pope Francis (No. 4), Secretary of State John Kerry (No. 7) and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (No. 8).

Joe Biden, John Kerry, Sushma Swaraj to Address USIBC 40th Annual Leadership Summit

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Washington, D.C., September 15, 2015 – Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, and other high-ranking officials from both governments, along with captains of industry from both countries, will address the U.S.-India Business Council on the occasion of its 40th anniversary on September 21 in Washington, DC, to kick off the first U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.

“It’s a privilege for USIBC to host government and business leaders from both countries on the eve of the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue and on the occasion of the council’s 40th anniversary. The founding principle of the council four decades ago – which grew out of the vision of then-U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger – remains even more true today:  the world’s largest democracies share a love of freedom and an entrepreneurial spirit that – if nurtured – can help realize the full potential of India-U.S. relations,” said USIBC Chairman and MasterCard President and CEO, Ajay Banga.

“The U.S. business relationship with India is one of the most valuable in the world, and we have seen great progress over the last 40 years,” said President of USIBC Mukesh Aghi. “We are honored to welcome these distinguished speakers from both countries – from both public and private sectors – on the occasion of this milestone anniversary.  This level of bilateral engagement and commitment to furthering trust and cooperation has been one of USIBC’s hallmarks for the past four decades and will be for decades more to come,” said USIBC President, Mukesh Aghi.

The government to government dialogue at this year’s summit will also include U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal.

The Council also honors business and government leaders for their commitment towards building a more inclusive global economy. This year’s honorees include CEO and Chairman of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi and Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group, Shobhana Bhartia.

Formed in 1975 at the request of the U.S. and Indian governments, the U.S.-India Business Council is the premier business advocacy organization, comprised of top-tier U.S. and Indian companies advancing U.S.-India commercial ties. USIBC is the largest bilateral trade association in the United States, with liaison presence in New York, Silicon Valley, and New Delhi.

India’s Bid To Security Council Seat Gets A Boost As UN Adopts Negotiations On Reforms

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

United Nations: The UN General Assembly on Monday, September 14th, 2015 adopted a negotiating text by consensus for the long-pending Security Council reforms, setting the stage for talks on the issue at its 70th session, boosting India’s bid for a permanent seat in the revamped world body.

India termed as “historic” and “path-breaking” the adoption of the document, saying the decision puts the Inter-Governmental Process formally on an “irreversible text-based negotiations path” and changes the “dynamics” of the negotiations on achieving UNSC reforms. India’s Ambassador to the UN Asoke Mukerji said the “most important aspect” of Monday’s decision is the text circulated by Kutesa in July which “we have agreed will be the guiding basis for our deliberations in the 70th General Assembly session”.

UN General Assembly President Sam Kutesa convened a plenary meeting to take action on the draft decision on the “Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters”. During the meeting, he also circulated letters containing the positions of key countries, including Russia, the U.S. and China which refused to contribute to the negotiating text.

There was no voting on the decision to continue text-based UNSC reforms in the 70th session of the General Assembly and it was adopted by consensus. The draft decision contains a negotiating text which has positions of UN member states on Security Council reforms and how the powerful 15-nation body should be expanded in its permanent and non-permanent categories.

The adoption is a significant step towards beginning talks on the long-stalled reforms process in the 70th session of the Assembly on the basis of a negotiating text, a first in the last seven years of Inter-Governmental Negotiations that have been conducted so far without the basis of any text.

“What you have delivered today… to all 193 Member States of the United Nations, is truly historic and path-breaking on several counts,” Mukerji told the Assembly. “It becomes especially memorable taking into account the stiff challenges and pressures that were brought upon you and your office to step back from this issue, which has been on the agenda of the UNGA for nearly 23 years,” he added.

It was a breakthrough of sorts by circulating the text to UN members that will form the basis for the Inter-Governmental negotiations on the UNSC reforms. With the adoption, the General Assembly decided to “immediately continue Inter-Governmental Negotiations on Security Council reform in informal plenary of the General Assembly at its 70th session, building on the informal meetings held during its 69th session, as well as the positions and proposals made by member states…”

The draft also states that an open-ended Working Group on the negotiating text will be convened during the 70th session “if member states so decide”. Kutesa had appointed Jamaica’s Permanent Representative Courtenay Rattray to chair on his behalf the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reforms.

Kutesa, in a letter to all UN members in July, had circulated the text containing the positions of countries on Security Council reforms and how the UN body should be expanded in its permanent and non-permanent categories. He also circulated letters containing the positions of groups and member states that indicated they did not wish their proposals to be included in the body of the negotiating text. These countries include the U.S., Russia and China.

Mukerji on Monday said the need for a supportive international peace and security environment is urgent and “if the Security Council continues to be ineffective, the lives of millions of people and the uninterrupted flow of trade, investment and technology, all of which depend on a stable and predictable global political environment will be jeopardised”. He said the decision to carry forward the reforms process is not just a “technical decision, nor is it a rollover but highly substantive”.

“This is the first time in the history of the Inter-Governmental Negotiation (IGN) process that a decision on UNSC reform has been adopted through an official formal L Document of the UNGA. This is the most positive and unique development, as so far, over the last seven years we have only been making statements in the air, or at each other, with easily deniable or disputable summaries, or at times compilation text(s), to register our endeavours,” he said. He said the adoption of such a “substantive decision” on UNSC Reforms “changes the dynamics of the Inter-governmental negotiations” completely.

Mukerji noted that India was among the first to seek to conclude the UNSC reform process by the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. “This decision sets the IGN process formally on an irreversible text-based negotiations path, which had been your priority from the first day of your Presidency,” Mukerji said. “The twin objectives of saving our work done in the 69th UNGA and carrying it meaningfully forward have therefore both been achieved,” he added.

He added: “This is as clear and explicit as any mandate could ever be. We now know that with the adoption of this truly historic decision, we can meet in the 70th Session of the UNGA under the leadership of our Chair, the Permanent Representative of Jamaica, Ambassador Courtenay Rattray and build upon the significant work undertaken by him in the 69th Session.

“It is our hope that with the adoption of this Decision, we will now move purposefully towards concluding our negotiations during the 70th Session, so that we fulfil the unanimous mandate given by our leaders in the World Summit of 2005 for ‘early reform’ of the Security Council to make it… ‘more broadly representative, efficient and transparent and thus to further enhance its effectiveness and the legitimacy and implementation of its decisions’.”

“We have got something after 23 years which is a document on the table. From now it is going to be much more in terms of what they are used to doing at the UN which is to negotiate with a text in front of us,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Asoke Mukerji said.

The 193-member General Assembly adopted by consensus, on the last day of the 69th session, a text that sets the stage for negotiations on the long-pending issue of UNSC reform during the 70th session that commenced on Tuesday, September 15, 2015.

Obama, Modi Likely to Meet in New York on September 28th

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to meet in New York later this month. Both are coming to the United Nations to address the General Assembly. Obama along with Vice President Joe Biden and several of his cabinet ministers, is set for a high-level engagement with the Indian leadership in a series of meetings later this month. This would be the highest level of engagement between the two countries since Obama’s trip to New Delhi in January to attend the Republic Day parade as the chief guest of Prime Minister  Modi.

Officials had a hard time setting up the meeting on one of the busiest days for the American president, given his address to the U.N. General Assembly earlier that day. Modi, on the other hand, would be flying in from Silicon Valley on Sept. 27 after addressing Indian Americans at the SAP Center in San Jose.

While no official announcement has been made yet, the proposed meeting is a reflection of the seriousness and commitment of the two leaders to this bilateral relationship. Notably, in the January joint statement, the two leaders committed themselves for more regular meetings. The Modi-Obama meeting in New York would cap more than a week of high-level India-U.S. engagement, most of it in Washington.

It is believed that Biden is keen to be part of this engagement. It was Biden who, during a visit to India a few years ago, who set the ambitious goal of increasing bilateral trade from the current $100 billion to $500 billion per annum.

Therefore, it might not be surprising to learn that Biden is taking the lead once again when it comes to economic ties. Several cabinet-ranking officials, along with corporate leaders from both countries, are expected to be present at the 40th anniversary Leadership Summit of the US-India Business Council on Sept. 21.

Energy Minister Piyush Goyal and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzeker are among those confirmed to attend the event. The next day TERI North America is to host the 6th India-U.S. Energy Partnership Summit. However, the first ever India-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, to be hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry at Foggy Bottom, is likely to be the center of attraction. While the dates of this dialogue have not been announced, it is expected to be held on September 22.

The decision to expand the India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue to a commercial one was taken during Obama’s January visit to India. Kerry, along with Pritzeker, would lead the U.S. delegation, while the Indian delegation would be led by Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sitharaman.

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will be part of the Indian delegation. Indian Ambassador Arun K. Singh and his American counterpart Richard Verma are expected to be present.

Modi has digital designs on Silicon Valley

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics 0

After wowing Indian Americans on the East Coast and wooing US big business to ‘Make in India’ last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now out to win over the Silicon Valley for his Digital India initiative.

The first Indian leader to visit California in more than 30 years later this month, Modi will go to Facebook for a town hall style question answer session and visit other top tech companies like Google and Adobe systems as also electric carmaker Tesla.

As the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced Sunday the September 27 town hall at the company’s Menlo Park, California, headquarters will “discuss how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges.”

Modi, who has more Facebook fans than any politician except for Barack Obama, is the first Indian prime minister to visit the Bay Area since Morarji Desai picked up an award at University of California, Berkeley in 1978 and Indira Gandhi visited Los Angeles in 1982.

Besides meetings with Sundar Pichai and Shantanu Narayen, India born chief executives of Google and Adobe respectively, he is also expected to attend events with Indian American entrepreneurs and social investors.

At Tesla, more than the zero emissions cars that it makes, Modi may be interested in its “Powerwall”, a home battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels, for India’s clean energy initiative.

Modi’s visit to the Bay Area, home to a large number of Indian techies, is designed to win support for his “Digital India,” initiative that aims to expand Internet access, boost electronics manufacturing and develop apps to improve the delivery of government services.

“The visit allows Modi to build relationships with tech firms that want to invest in India, while also fostering support from the Bay Area’s influential Indian-American community,” Venktesh Shukla, president of the Silicon Valley branch of non profit organization TiE, also known as The Indus Entrepreneurs, told the San Jose Mercury News.

For Modi, “it’s a very well thought effort to capitalise on the connection he has with the diaspora and involve them at a point in time when India is perceived to be on a positive track in terms of governance,” Subimal Bhattacharjee, a cyberspace policy analyst and former India head of General Dynamics, the US defence contractor, told the Los Angeles Times.

Modi, who last year got a rock star like reception when he gave a speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden, is expected to do it again Sep 27 in San Jose.

An Indian American group organizing a community reception for Modi at the 19,000-seat SAP Centre says that more than 45,000 people have registered for free passes.

After the San Jose event, Modi flies back to New York for a summit meeting with US President Barack Obama Sep 28. The Modi-Obama meeting in New York would cap a week long high level India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue in Washington DC.

Internet War between anti and pro Modi factions Before Modi Visit

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

A month before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to arrive in the United States and travel to Silicon Valley to meet IT entrepreneurs and the Indian-American community, a petition critical of his “Digital India” plan has set off an Internet war between anti and pro Modi factions in this country.

In an Aug. 27 letter entitled “Faculty Statement on Narendra Modi Visit to Silicon Valley,” posted on the blog of Academe Magazine, 123 U.S. academics, mostly of Indian descent, cautioned U.S. high tech industry leaders to follow standards of freedom of expression and right to privacy if they strike any deals with India on grounds that the Modi government was vitiating these rights and freedoms. It also chastised the Indian-American community for what it described as euphoria over the Prime Minister’s Sept. 27 visit to California.

Prime Minister Modi will be in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meetings Sept. 25, and will make a one-day trip to Silicon Valley to meet IT leaders and the Indian-American community Sept. 27, before rushing back for a one-on-one with President Obama Sept. 28.

The anti-Modi petition described the anticipation over the Modi visit “uncritical fanfare” and said his national project “Digital India” was threatened by a lack of safeguards about privacy of information, “and the near certainty that such digital systems will be used to enhance surveillance and repress the constitutionally-protected rights of citizen.”

Among the signatories were a few non-Indian professors such University of Chicago Divinity School Professor of Religion Wendy Doniger, whose book An Alternative History of India, was pulled off shelves by publishers Penguin India when challenged by a school teacher for hurting religious sentiments. “Those who live and work in Silicon Valley have a particular responsibility to demand that the government of India factor these critical concerns into its planning for digital futures,” the letter said. It also harked back to the U.S. denial of a visa to Modi from 2005-2014 over the Gujarat violence of 2002 where 1,000 people died.

In response, a petition drive on Change.org, by Modi supporters had garnered 1,133 signatures as of Sept. 3, from “professors, researchers, scientists, scholars, students, and professionals with undergraduate, graduate or doctoral degrees from universities across North America,” in other words, going beyond just the humanities scholars and experts on South Asia who sponsored the anti-Modi petition.

Entitled “Oppose Prejudice and Fear-mongering in the “Faculty Statement on Narendra Modi’s Visit” the change.org petition accused the opposing faction of straying “far” from the scope of “sane discourse,” without respect for facts and integrity.

Their critique of Digital India’s potential for increased surveillance of citizens, “seems a desperate ploy rather than any genuine concern for India,” it said, noting that digital initiatives were undertaken before Modi came to power, “a fact that never bothered them (South Asia academics) when the UPA government, with which several U.S. based South Asian academics have had close ties of patronage and privilege, was in power.” The United Progressive Alliance was the Congress Party-led coalition helmed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Bringing up the 2002 violence in Gujarat, the pro-Modi petitioners said, was a “deplorable attempt to exhume ugly lies about Modi’s attitude towards Muslims.” Modi’s massive victory at the polls and in Indian courts, it said, vindicated him, “and unless the South Asia studies faculty who have perpetuated these charges so recklessly have new evidence that they can present before courts in India and before the Indian people, they must recognize that they are running a campaign not for justice but for destroying justice and democracy.”

The pro-Modi letter claimed there was a media conspiracy against Modi. “There is growing evidence of a systematic process of defamation against India and Narendra Modi in the international press and in a large part of the elite English-language Indian media,” the letter said, adding that, “No government that seeks to restrict freedom of speech would permit the amount of calumny that passes off as news in India.”

The letter accused anti-Modi forces of silencing free speech, noting that Modi had been prevented from addressing a Wharton Business School meeting through a video-conference by a similar confluence of academics a few years ago. “It is an unspoken about reality that the academic pseudo-consensus on South Asia, with its demonization campaign of Modi at the center, sustains itself entirely on a system of exclusion, censure and silencing.”

Modi to Visit Tesla, Google on Silicon Valley Visit

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the campuses of electric car manufacturer Tesla and search engine giant Google when he visits the Silicon Valley here Sept. 26 and 27.

Various media have reported that Modi is also scheduled to visit SanDisk, Adobe Systems, Facebook and Twitter. But Venkatesan Ashok, India’s Consul General in San Francisco, toldIndia-West that only the Google and Tesla visits are confirmed thus far. “We are exploring other options as well,” he said.

At Tesla, Modi is scheduled to meet Indian American Deepak Ahuja, who has served as the company’s chief financial officer since 2008. Jai Vijayan, Tesla’s CIO, is also scheduled to participate in the meeting. At Google, Modi is tentatively scheduled to meet with Sundar Pichai, the company’s recently-appointed CEO.

Modi will also be meeting with Adobe Systems president and CEO Shantanu Narayen, Madeline Burr, a spokeswoman for the company, told the media. Two events have been scheduled for Sept. 26, at the San Jose, Calif., Fairmont Hotel. That afternoon, Modi will address a group of community leaders at a luncheon hosted by the Consulate.

That evening, the prime minister will attend a “Digital India, Digital Economy” presentation at the Fairmont, also hosted by the Consulate. Indian American business leaders, as well as the non-Indian business community, are expected to attend the evening event, said Ashok.

More than 45,000 people have registered to see the prime minister give a speech at the SAP Center in San Jose. Tickets – which are free – were distributed through more than 500 community organizations partnering in the event. Registration ended Aug. 24.

The SAP Center seats a maximum of about 18,000 people. The mega-event is being organized by the newly-formed Indo American Community of the West Coast. IACWC volunteer Khanderao Kand, who is co-chairing the event with Silicon Valley venture capitalist Naren Gupta, told India-West that tickets will be distributed on a random lottery draw, with first priority going to those who registered through participating organizations.

Plans are currently underway to facilitate the additional 22,000 people who will not get SAP Center seating, said Kand. A live feed of the prime minister’s speech will be broadcast at a nearby location.

The IACWC had initially considered AT&T Park in San Francisco from which to broadcast the live feed. The outdoor ballpark seats more than 41,000 people. But Kand said that venue was ruled out because of noise from nearby San Francisco International Airport and the possibility of rain.

The committee is now considering the Arena Green Park, nearby the SAP Center. Kand said details will be finalized within the next two weeks. Each registrant for the event is undergoing a background security check and will also have to undergo a security check at the event site, said Kand.

No public funds are being used for the event, reported The Times of India, noting that the IACWC turned down a $50,000 donation from the State Bank of India. The newspaper also reported that several Silicon Valley companies have donated $50,000 apiece towards an $800,000 fund that is being used to host the SAP Center event. Organizers have warned attendees not to pay for tickets, as the event is free, both at the SAP Center and at the live feed site.

Silicon Valley To Roll Out Red Carpet For Modi

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics 0

It’s going to be a love-fest when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Silicon Valley this September, bringing together technology giants and a leader who believes in technology as a weapon for good governance and economic development. Multiple events may be in store for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley, scheduled to take place around Sept. 27, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings.

While numerous community organizations are getting together to have a big bash on the lines of the Madison Square Garden extravaganza last September, some technology leaders are chalking up a smaller, more intimate gathering with the Prime Minister.

In the San Francisco Bay area, which houses an estimated half million people of Indian descent, a large number in the technology industry, a reception is being planned on the evening of Sept. 27 at the SAP Center, an indoor arena in San Jose which can seat close to 20,000. That effort is being led, as was the case in Madison Square Garden, by a newly formed organization, Indo-American Community of West Coast USA, which is looking to entrepreneurs, community leaders, physicians, motel owners and representatives of various organizations, as well as individuals for support, Khanderao Kand, one of the founders, told News India Times. Rao has served in senior capacities in the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh of the West Coast area and is a big-data technology entrepreneur.

The IACWC-USA held its first meeting July 19, attended by Vijay Chauthaiwale, head of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Foreign Relations Department, visiting San Francisco to oversee preparations for the community reception and India’s Consul General in San Francisco Venkatesh Ashok. India’s Ambassador Arun K. Singh conferred via video from Washington, D.C. “The event is a historic moment for the Indian community in Silicon Valley and the diaspora in general,” Chauthaiwale is quoted saying in a press release. The last Indian prime minister to visit Silicon Valley was Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949.

“He is the first (Indian) leader to be tech savvy,” and the community is all enthused by the prospect of his being here, Kand said. “He could even connect with Mark Zuckerberg,” of Facebook fame, Kand said, adding, “There is tremendous interest among techies.”

That is the part of the program being drawn up by the Indian government in coordination with a number of Silicon Valley high profile entrepreneurs. Shailesh Mehta, managing general partner at GraniteHill Capital Partners, a venture capitalist firm based in San Mateo, Ca., told News India Times, planning was just getting off the ground. The “big fan” of Modi said Indian-Americans in California want to put their best foot forward. “America does not stop in Washington, D.C. There’s a lot going on elsewhere,” he laughed.

Mehta said the meeting he is helping organize, “will be smaller and discussion will be on specific issues,” and it might be held at Stanford (University). “Our approach is – what can we offer to India, about technology here in the Valley, and on India’s technology agenda.” The focus will be on initiatives the Prime Minister has taken like Digital India, Swachh Bharat and the tech aspect of India’s development, said Mehta who is also a co-founder of The Indus Entrepreneurs or TiE, the storied IT mentoring organization.

Indian-Americans in Silicon Valley were very active in Modi’s elections, Vivek Wadhwa, a technology entrepreneur and academic, recalled. “People donated and held events to support Modi’s victory and many multimillionaires here gave money and advice,” during the BJP campaign, he said, adding, “Modi owes them a lot for helping him.” Besides, “His values are in sync with people here. His ministers are applying technology solutions to India’s major systems. It’s a love fest,” Wadhwa said, one which the likes of Zuckerberg, and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin would might likely join.

Nikki Haley Says She Will Consider Vice Presidential Ticket

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Indian American Nikki Haley has said she will consider a vice presidential ticket next year if given a chance but is currently focused on her job as governor of the South Carolina. “If there is a time where a presidential nominee wants to sit down and talk, of course I will sit down and talk. But, you know, I am very aware you have 16 really great candidates, and that means you’re going to have 15 very good potential vice presidential candidates,” Haley, 43, told members of the National Press Club at a luncheon meeting here. Haley said she did not want to waste her time thinking about this now.

“I really don’t think about that. I want to keep my promise to the people of South Carolina, which is to make every day better than the day before it. If a nominee asks me to sit down, of course I’ll talk to them, and then we’ll go from there,” she said. “I’m going to let all of this play out. That’s what I care about. That’s what’s important to me. If there’s a time and place to think about it, we’ll do it then. But I’m not going to waste any energy on that now,” Haley said.

She said the people of the country are extremely frustrated right now with both Republicans and Democrats, because they have gotten so used to shouting and yelling that they have forgotten to listen. “All the people of this country want is action. That’s not too much to ask for. That’s what we were sent to our offices to do,” she said, adding that there is no accountability on any members of Congress or Senate to have to do anything.

“I think, as a public, we have to demand action. We can’t demand yelling. We can’t demand great speeches. We can’t demand quotes in the paper. We have to demand action, and you either deliver or you don’t,” she added. Responding to a question, Haley described Donald Trump – a frontrunner Republican presidential candidate – as a friend and a smart businessman.

“He’s been a supporter of mine, and I consider him a friend… He’s a smart businessman. He’s accomplished a lot during his career. It accomplishes nothing to get mad at anybody that criticizes you. So every time someone criticizes him, he goes and makes a political attack back. That’s not who we are as Republicans. That’s not what we do. That’s not what I want my South Carolinians to do. That’s not what I want us to do going toward,” Haley said.

“What Americans want to hear is policy. They won’t want to hear how someone offended you. They want to know they’re sending someone up to the White House that’s going to be calm and cool-tempered and not get mad at someone just because they criticize them. We would really have a world war if that happened,” she said.

The Post and Courier adds: One member of the media at the Press Club lunch that was high on Haley’s chances was syndicated conservative political columnist George Will. The positives he listed were that Haley isn’t really needed to win the South, since the region will go overwhelmingly Republican in 2016. Instead, he said, “she blunts the war on women” argument that Democrats have been tossing at Republicans. Also, “She’s fluent and articulate,” he said.

Haley broke little new ground in her hour-long appearance where she was introduced as an Indian American, 43 years old and the first minority and female governor in the state.

She told the audience about the state coming together after the Emanuel AME Church mass slaying and how the shooting of black motorist Walter Scott by a white North Charleston policeman didn’t lead to rioting like it did in Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo.

“Today there truly is a New South,” she said in her prepared speech. “It is different in many ways, perhaps most especially in its attitudes toward race. We are still far from perfect. We still have our problems. There’s still a lot more to do. But the New South, in many ways, is a place to look toward, rather than to look away from, when it comes to race relations and racial advancement.”

Unauthorized immigrant population stable for half a decade

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

An estimated 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2014, according to a new preliminary Pew Research Center estimate based on government data. This population has remained essentially stable for five years after nearly two decades of changes.

The recent overall stability contrasts with past trends. The unauthorized immigrant population had risen rapidly during the 1990s and early 2000s, from an estimated 3.5 million in 1990 to a peak of 12.2 million in 2007. It then dropped sharply during the Great Recession of 2007-09, mainly because of a decrease in immigration from Mexico.

The overall estimate has fluctuated little in recent years because the number of new unauthorized immigrants is roughly equal to the number who are deported, leave the U.S. on their own, convert to legal status, or (in a small number of cases) die, according to the Pew Research analysis. The new unauthorized immigrant total includes people who cross the border illegally as well as those who arrive with legal visas and remain in the U.S. after their visas expire.

Pew Research estimates that, since 2009, there has been an average of about 350,000 new unauthorized immigrants each year. Of these, about 100,000 are Mexican, a much smaller share than in the past. In the years leading up to the Great Recession, Mexicans represented about half of new unauthorized immigrants.

Due to the slowdown in new illegal immigration since the Great Recession, unauthorized immigrants are less likely than those in the past to be recent arrivals. The share of unauthorized-immigrant adults who have lived in the U.S. for a decade or more has nearly doubled, from 35% in 2000 to 62% in 2012, according to a Pew Research estimate released last year. Only 15% in 2012 had lived in the U.S. for less than five years, compared with 38% in 2000.

Because they are more likely to be long-term residents, unauthorized immigrants also are increasingly likely to live with children born in the U.S. Pew Research Center estimates that in 2012, 4 million unauthorized-immigrant adults, or 38%, lived with their U.S.-born children, either minors or adults. In 2000, 2.1 million unauthorized-immigrant adults, or 30%, lived with their U.S.-born children. (The total number of unauthorized immigrants with adult or minor children born in the U.S. may well be higher, as these figures do not count those whose children live elsewhere.) The Pew Research estimates are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and American Community Survey, using the widely accepted “residual method.”

The unauthorized immigrant population estimate includes people who have been granted temporary relief from deportation under various federal programs. Last year, President Barack Obama took executive action to expand an existing program and establish a new one that would offer work permits and deportation relief to an estimated 5 million unauthorized immigrants. The actions – which are on hold because of a lawsuit by 26 states – would be open to unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, or who are parents with a child who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, as long as they meet certain requirements.

Indian Diaspora In Plans Grand Reception For PM Modi

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics 0

The Indian community in the U.S. is planning to host a mega reception for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will travel to San Francisco after addressing a United Nations summit on sustainable development on September 25. About 500 Indian-American organisations have joined hands to host a grand reception for Modi in San Jose, Silicon Valley, on September 27, Rakhi Israni, spokesperson of Indo-American Community of West Coast (IACW) said in a statement.

“Prime Minister Modi has done a superb job in his first year in office, and it is evident by the public’s response to the upcoming event how excited the Indian diaspora is about the future of India,” the statement said. Online process for registration of reception’s organisers has been completed, it said. The United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda will be held from September 25 to 27 and will be convened as a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly. Modi is expected to address the gathering on September 25 and then travel to San Francisco, becoming the fourth Indian premier to visit the U.S.’ West Coast.

His visit to San Francisco would also revive — after a gap of four decades with the exception of the former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao in 1994 — the post-independence tradition of Indian prime ministers visiting the US cities other than New York or Washington DC.

The thriving Indian diaspora in the US, in particular those on the West Coast and the Silicon Valley has welcomed Modi’s decision to visit San Francisco. Massive preparations are on to accord a grand welcome to him at the SAP Center, one of the largest indoor stadium in the Silicon Valley, known as the tech hub of the world. The event is expected to be attended by an around 18,000-strong audience.

“The reception is timed around the scheduling of many high impact meetings and programs, all of which stand to promote the shared ideals of innovation and entrepreneurship that define both Vibrant India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Silicon Valley,” the IACW statement said.

The visit shall also highlight the contributions of India and Indian-Americans to the technology and clean energy sectors, it said. The PM is likely to visit the offices of Internet giant Google. In California, he will make a speech at the famous Stanford University. Modi had given his maiden address to the UN General Assembly last year and had then travelled to Washington to meet U.S. President Barack Obama.

Over 40,000 Sign Up for Prime Minister Modi’s Visit to California

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics 0

More than 40,000 people have signed up for India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reception being organized by the Indian American community in the Silicon Valley area of California September 27th this year. As per reports, the number is expected to increase after the registration process is opened to those not affiliated to the 500 community organizations which have joined hands for the reception.

Given that the capacity of SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. — an indoor arena in the heart of Silicon Valley — is just 18,000, the “Indo-American Community of West Coast,” a group created recently to organize the reception, would have to resort to a lottery to determine who would get free tickets to attend the event.

Khanderao Kand, convener of the Indo-American Community of West Coast, tweeted Aug. 22: “25K already registered for Silicon Valley event. Individual registrations to open next week.” In September last year, Modi addressed about 20,000 Indian Americans at the Madison Square Garden in New York, which was also attended by about 40 top American congressmen and senators. Modi is scheduled to travel to San Francisco after addressing a high-level summit on sustainable development hosted by the U.N. on Sept. 25.

Modi’s visit to San Francisco would also revive — after a gap of four decades with the exception of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in 1994 — the post-independence tradition of Indian prime ministers visiting U.S. cities other than New York or Washington, D.C.

Bobby Jindal Warns Of Immigrant ‘Invasion’

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

The growing debate on the controversial issue of immigration has divided the nation as no other issue has in recent times. Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, son of immigrant parents from India, says that immigrants who do not adopt American values represent an “invasion”. “Immigration without integration is not immigration; it’s invasion, he told ABC Sunday when asked about tough stances against illegal immigration taken by Republican front-runner Donald Trump and other party candidates.

“Look, as a child of immigrants, my parents have never taken this country for granted,” said the Louisiana governor who was born in the US three months after his pregnant mother came from India. Every single day they are grateful to live in the greatest country in the history of the world. And I think this election is largely about the idea and the idea of America is slipping away in front of us,” Jindal said.

“When it comes to immigration policy, what I’ve experienced and seen is that a smart immigration policy makes our country stronger; a dumb one makes us weaker. We’ve got a dumb one today,” he said. “Yes, we need to secure our border. Stop talking about it. I think we need to insist that folks who come here come here legally, learn English, adopt our values, roll up our sleeves and get to work.”

Pressed on what he meant by “adopt our values,” Jindal, who is currently 13th among 17 Republican candidates polling an average of 1.8 percent votes, said that the US must avoid what has happened in some European countries. “You’ve got second-, third-generation immigrants that don’t consider themselves part of those [European] societies, those cultures. We in our country shouldn’t be giving freedoms to people who want to undermine the freedom for other people,” he said.

“I think we need to move away from hyphenated Americans,” Jindal said taking up his pet theme. We’re not African-Americans or Asian-Americans, Indian-Americans, rich or poor Americans: we’re all Americans. And the reason this is so important: immigration without integration is not immigration; it’s invasion. My parents are proud of their Indian heritage, but they came here to be Americans and they love this country. They wanted to raise their children as Americans,” he said.

Republican voters appear to be warming to Trump’s unconventional and confrontational style. In Iowa, the first nominating state, Trump is the first choice among 23 percent of likely Republican caucus goers — jumping from 4 percent in May, according to a Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll this weekend. In a surprising surge to second, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is polling at 18 percent.

Notwithstanding his 13th rank among 17 presidential hopefuls, Indian-American Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has said he is the best Republican contender for the White House and is headed towards becoming party’s nominee. “I think after we get past this summer of silliness and insults, the voters are going to begin to look at who is prepared to do the job. Who has the intelligence, who has the courage, who has the experience? I believe I’m the candidate best able to do this job on the first day,” Jindal, 44, told ABC in an interview aired.

“Look I think I’m going to be the nominee. I think Donald Trump (the leading Republican aspirant) has done a great job tapping into the anger, the frustration that voters feel, not only with (US) President (Barack) Obama but with the Republican leadership as well,” he said. Dismissing that his campaign does not seem to be catching fire at all, he said, “I disagree with that. We’re seeing great momentum in Iowa. We’re seeing standing only crowds. What I see is that voters haven’t committed to any candidate yet. In Iowa, in these early states, they’re kicking the tires, they’re asking the tough questions. This is a wide open race. They certainly seem to be attracted to Donald Trump.” A two-term Governor of Louisiana, Jindal is currently ranked 13th among a crowded list of 17 Republican hopefuls.

India-U.S. To Sign Pact On Exchange Of Information On Terrorists

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Terrorism continues to be the global menace affecting the entire world. India and the US have been impacted by terrorism for decades now. India and the U.S. are likely to sign a pact on exchange of information on terrorists on a real time basis during the counter-terrorism and homeland security dialogue scheduled to be held in December. The Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-6) is a model text agreement proposed by the United States to India for exchange of terrorist screening information between Terrorist Screening Centre (TCS) of the U.S. and an Indian agency.

The agreement is likely to be signed during the US-India Counter-terrorism and Homeland Security Cooperation dialogue to be attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his American counterpart Jeh Johnson in next December. The U.S. has already finalised such agreements with 30 countries. TSC is a multi agency organisation administered by FBI which consolidates several terrorist watch list maintained by different US government agencies into single terrorist data base on terror suspects.

The data base include name of the terror suspect, nationality, date of birth, photos, finger prints (if any), passport number. The U.S.-India Homeland Security Dialogue takes place between India’s Home Ministry and the US Department of Homeland Security to enhance homeland security cooperation and discuss building capacity in cyber security and critical infrastructure protection, countering illicit finance, global supply chain security, megacity policing, and science and technology.

These senior-level exchanges facilitate strategic homeland security partnership and enhanced operational cooperation in investigations, capacity building, and countering threats. Law enforcement engagement proposals include sharing lessons learned and best practices in SWAT team training and responding to mass casualty exercises, improving both nations’ capabilities to respond to terrorist incidents and natural disasters.

Nikki Haley’s New Chief of Staff Swati Patel Reminisces About Roots

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S., Women 0

Swati Patel, who became South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s chief of staff this month, remembers feeling like a “rare bird” while growing up in Anderson. Haley announced Aug. 26 that she has chosen Patel to replace James H. Burns as her chief of staff. Burns is returning to the Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough law firm where he was a partner before joining Haley’s team in 2014.

“I can’t think of anyone who is more widely respected or uniquely qualified to lead our team than Swati Patel,” said Haley in a statement issued by her office. “(Patel’s) steady leadership as legal counsel has strengthened our staff, guided our administration and helped us deliver results to the people of South Carolina — and, as chief of staff, Swati will keep that momentum going.”

Like Haley, Patel is an Indian American, the daughter of Indian immigrants. In the 1960s, her parents each came to Raleigh, N.C., where her father graduated from North Carolina State University with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He later worked at the Owens Corning and Bosch plants in Anderson.

Patel was 6 years old when her family moved to Anderson. At the time, she said, there were only about five Indian American families living here. “Growing up as the child of immigrants in the 1970s in a small town in South Carolina, you were definitely looked at as different,” said Patel, who attended Concord Middle School, McCants Middle School and T.L. Hanna High School.

Swati S. Patel“I never felt unwelcome or discriminated against,” she said. “People just didn’t know how to categorize me.” A University of South Carolina graduate, Patel, 44, is the wife of a Columbia physician and the mother of a 10-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter. Her younger sister is a pediatrician in Charleston. Patel has spent almost her entire professional career at the Statehouse complex in Columbia.

While in college, she was appointed to serve as a page by Alex Macaulay, a former state senator and retired judge from Walhalla. After receiving her law degree, Patel worked with legislative committees and the state Judicial Merit Selection Committee.

Patel has a decade of experience as an attorney in the governor’s office. She was deputy legal counsel and then chief legal counsel for former Gov. Mark Sanford before becoming Haley’s top legal adviser in 2011.

Patel said the added managerial responsibilities will be one of the biggest challenges of her new position. She said she hasn’t given any thought to her next career move after Haley’s final term as governor ends in January 2019. “I am just taking it day by day and week to week,” Patel said.

Congressional Candidate Ro Khanna Marries Ritu Ahuja

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Congressional candidate Ro Khanna and Ritu Ahuja were married in the state of Ohio on August 29th, with Pandit Ashok Bhargava officiating at Severance Hall, the home of the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Times reported. Ro Khanna is seeking to unseat a sitting Congressman in the California 17th Congressional District, located in the heart of Silicon Valley in the Southern area of the San Francisco Bay Area. The district encompasses portions of both Santa Clara County and Alameda County including the cities of Fremont, Newark, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Santa Clara, North San Jose, and Milpitas.

Ahuja, 36, is a product marketing specialist in New York for Bulgari, the Italian jewelry and accessories company. She graduated from Georgetown and received a master’s in strategic communications from Columbia. The bride is a daughter of Usha Ahuja and Monte Ahuja of Hunting Valley, Ohio. The bride’s father is the chairman of Mura Holdings, an investment firm, and is the chief executive of Transmaxx, an automotive transmission parts supplier, both in Solon, Ohio.

Khanna, 38, is the vice president for strategic initiatives in the Santa Clara, Calif., office of Smart Utility Systems, an energy-efficiency software company. The Indian American lawyer is also a lecturer in economics at Stanford University, and a Democratic candidate for Congress from Cupertino, Calif.

From 2009-11, Khanna worked for the Obama administration as a deputy assistant secretary of commerce. He graduated from the University of Chicago and received a law degree from Yale. The groom is a son of Jyotsna Khanna and Vijay Khanna of Churchville, Pa. The groom’s mother retired as a substitute special-education teacher in the Council Rock School District in Newtown, Pa. His father retired as a chemical engineer in the Springfield, Pa., office of R

Ro Khanna, the young Indian American says, he is prepared to  move beyond the finger pointing and game-playing with concrete solutions to create good paying jobs and to move America’s economy into the 21st century. He’ll be more than a vote; he’ll be a strong voice for the Bay Area’s working families and communities. Ro understands how critical innovation and technology are to maintaining America’s position as the greatest and most dynamic economy in the world. Just as important, he appreciates the diversity of our district and will continue to be an outspoken advocate in Washington for working together for the common good.

A long time resident of Fremont, Ro was drawn to Silicon Valley after graduating from law school. He worked at the Silicon Valley law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he represented high technology companies in intellectual property cases. Following his mother’s example, Ro is a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Stanford University and an Adjunct Professor at Santa Clara Law School. Governor Jerry Brown  appointed  him to the California Workforce Development Board for the State of California, where he serves as chair for the Advanced Manufacturing Committee.  Ro also served on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte as well as tutoring local high school students in his spare time. His pro bono legal activity includes work with the Mississippi Center for Justice on several contractor fraud cases on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims and co-authoring an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in the Mt. Holly case to allow for race discrimination suits under the Fair Housing Act of 1968

Raj Raj Fernando Held Fund Raiser helps Clinton Raise $450,000

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Indian Americans are raising to be on the right side of the political spectrum as the General Elections are drawing near. During a fundraiser organized by Indian American Raj Fernando, Hillary Clinton raised at least $450,000 July 21 at the Chicago home of Raj.

(Rajiv) Fernando, a longtime donor, owns Chopper Trading that specializes in high-frequency transactions and was recently purchased by Chicago-based competitor DRW. Fernando personally gave the family charity between $500,001 and $1 million according to the foundation’s contributor list, and his company donated between $100,001 and $250,000, according to media reports.

Fernando has helped raise money in the past, raising more than $500,000 for the President Barack Obama reelection campaign, as well as his firm matching donations made by employees to more than 100 charities. He was appointed to a security advisory board by Obama but later resigned from his post.

The Indian American previously worked in trading positions at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. Fernando, a graduate of Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., is active in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, serving on the Foreign Policy Program Leadership Committee at the Brookings Institution and the board of directors for the American Security Project. He is a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and serves on the boards of Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Paws Chicago.

About a dozen of Clinton’s top campaign bundlers — donors who have raised at least $100,000 for her presidential bid — work in finance and investing, such as private equity investors Imaad Zuberi and Deven Parekh, and hedge fund managers Marc Lasry and Orin Kramer. Morgan Stanley vice chairman Tom Nides, who worked for Clinton at the State Department, said the new policies haven’t caused any waves on Wall Street and predicted they’re unlikely to hamper Clinton’s fundraising.

Meanwhile, in related news, an Associated Press analysis shows that donors increasing their stakes in the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation during the first six months of this year included veteran Democratic fundraisers Haim Saban, S. Daniel Abraham and Barbara Streisand, either personally or through their charitable arms. Others include Frank Giustra, a Canadian mining magnate who is one of the top donors to the foundation at more than $25 million, and data entrepreneur Vinod Gupta.

Congressman from New York Endorses Illinois Candidate For Congress

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

A leading Democratic Party official and veteran Congressman has extended his support to an Indian-American candidate for the U.S. Congress as he gears up for the long haul to the Illinois Democratic primary March 16th, 2016.

Congressman Joseph Crowley, D- NY, vice chair of the Democratic Caucus in Congress, endorsed Raja Krishnamoorthi’s campaign for Congress from District 8 in Illinois. While Krishnamoorthi has the support of several other federal lawmakers, Crowley’s endorsement counts because of his position in the Democratic Caucus and his name recognition within the Indian-American community nationally.

“Through our work with the Indian-American community, I’ve been impressed by Raja’s tenacity and determination to get things done,” Rep. Joe Crowley told News India Times in an email response. “Raja is a proven leader and I look forward to working alongside him in Congress.”

Krishnamoorthi was also endorsed by Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Illinois, on Aug. 13, who said the candidate would best represent the interests of the middle class and small business in his district. District 8 covers parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane and Lake counties, which contain pockets of concentration of Indian-Americans.

“Congressman Crowley’s endorsement gives Raja exposure to a national Indian-American audience,” his campaign manager Justin Lamorte told News India Times. While the endorsement was made at an individual level by the Congressman and was not a party endorsement, his position in the party counts.

“Representative Crowley is an influential leader in the Party,” Lamorte noted. He said Crowley’s support was yet another sign of the strength and momentum of the campaign. Most recently, the campaign set up a Women for Raja Committee which has garnered some 100 members already, Lamorte said.

This is Krishnamoorthi’s second attempt at getting the Democratic Party endorsement which he lost in 2012 to party favorite Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran. Duckworth is running for the U.S. Senate, leaving the seat open. So far, Krishnamoorthi has one other aspiring Democrat, state Senator Michael Noland of Elgin, to contend with.

Noland’s campaign fundraising at this time however, is trailing Krishnamoorthi who reported net contributions of $621,000 to his campaign for the last Federal Election Commission filing quarter ending June 30. Other candidates might jump into the fray over the next few months however.

Congressmen Crowley is the 8th Members of Congress to support his campaign, the others being the Democratic contingent from Illinois including Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Luis Gutiérrez, Danny Davis, and Dan Lipinski, as well as Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas and Jim Himes of Connecticut. Krishnamoorthi has a slew of Democratic Party officials at the local and state levels also supporting his bid.

Krishnamoorthi is former deputy treasurer of Illinois and currently President of Sivananthan Labs and Episolar, Inc., small businesses that sell products in the national security and renewable energy industries. He is a co-founder of InSPIRE, a non-profit providing training to Illinois students and veterans in solar technology. He served previously as vice chair of the Illinois Innovation Council. Krishnamoorthi lives in Schaumburg with his wife, Priya, and their two sons.

U.S. Waiting For Prime Minister Modi’s Visit Next Month: Nisha Biswal

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

The month ahead is going to be intense for the United States-India relations as the two countries inaugurate strategic and commercial dialogue in September in Washington during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second visit to the U.S. since becoming India’s Prime Minister last year, Nisha Desai Biswal, assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian Affairs, said in New York last week.

Biswal spoke on August 4th at the Indian Consulate in New York as part of the series of monthly Media- India lecture. The topic was “Vision of India-U.S. Relations in the coming years and its strategic significance in the global context”. She covered a range of subjects starting from economic relations to strategic aspects of bilateral partnership, the strong political relations, frequent visits at ministerial level and the role played by Diaspora.

The lecture was followed by Q & A session moderated by Consul General, Ambassador Dnyaneshwar M Mulay. The event was attended by a large number of people representing diverse backgrounds.

“We are very much looking forward to Prime Minister Modi’s return visit to New York” as well his visit to Silicon Valley,” Biswal said. She said that California is abuzz with anticipation and excitement over the tremendous opportunity Modi’s visit to the state brings.

Biswal visited California late last month to meet with IT entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley apparently to prepare ground for the upcoming visit of the Prime Minister, the second only by an Indian Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949.

She said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker “are very much looking forward” to hosting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the whole Indian delegation this fall. She said that work is already underway to make the visit an increasingly “significant and consequential” engagement between the two countries.

She said that during her visit to Silicon Valley, she noticed that entrepreneurs, scientists and investors are very focused on how to find new paths to partnership between the two countries are looking at new technologies that will power solution to the big challenges. “India is a development laboratory for very cutting edge new ways of tackling old challenges,” news reports quoted her as saying.

Biswal said bilateral trade has tripled in the past decade from $36 billion in 2005 to over $100 billion in 2014-15, setting the leaders of the U.S. and India on a more ambitious trajectory, calling for a quadrupling to 500 billion dollars in two-way trade in future. “We are ambitious, but we are bullish that that the ambition is going to be realized,” she said, implying that while $500 billion in two-way trade may be a pretty high target to be achieved, the U.S. is hopeful that it can be realized.

Indian American Leaders Endorse Long Island Candidates In Polls

Ajay GhoshPolitics 0

Community activists, business leaders and prominent Indian Americans from across Long Island gathered in Albertson last week to endorse Anthony J Santino, candidate for Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead, and Nasrin Ahmad running for re-election as Town Clerk. “Both candidates were endorsed by the Indian American Voters Forum,” said Varinder Bhalla, chairman and founder of the INVF, an organization formed in 2003 to screen candidates in local elections.

Representatives from several other organizations also endorsed the two candidates, among them Sunil Modi, president of NY Association of Indians in America; Surender Dhall, president of the World Punjabi Organization; Usha George, president of Indian Nurses Association of New York; Mohinder Verma, president, Indian American Business Association of New York; Benjamin George, chairman, Long Island Malayalee Association; Animesh Goenka, former national president of Association of Indians in America; Gobind Munjal, past president of the India Association of Long Island, as well as Inder Bindra, former president of the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation.Businessman Harry Singh Bolla and cancer physician and recipient of India’s Padma Shri award Dr. Dattatrey Nori, as well as Meena Chopra of the Akbar chain of restaurants were also present.

Santino, the recipient of many awards from Indian-American community organizations, was praised for his two decades of support for the community for which he was recognized by India’s Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay on India’s Independence Day Aug. 15 last year.

Those present also praised Ahmad. “Nasrin is a very important leader of the South Asian community of Long Island and is worthy of our total support”, said Goenka. Her office processes marriage and birth certificates as well as passports, among its other responsibilities.

The Santino Ahmad endorsement meeting was also attended by Matthew Thomas, treasurer, Long Island Malayalee Association, Gunjan Rastogi and Jyoti Gupta, both executive committee members of Indian American Leadership Initiative; Rohit Vyas, founder president of New York’s Diwali Mela, Nassau County Human Rights Commissioner Thomas George; and Alpa Singhvi, deputy county attorney of Nassau County.

Rep. Ami Bera Introduces House Resolution on India’s Independence Day

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Congressman Ami Bera, Co-chair of Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, has introduced a resolution to recognize India’s Independence Day and the significance of the US-India partnership. The resolution introduced by the lone Indian-American lawmaker commemorates the 68th anniversary of India’s Independence Day on August 15, and celebrates the contributions of Indian Americans in various sectors of the American society.

“As the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy, the US and India share common values and the growing partnership between the two countries makes sense,” it said. The resolution also recognizes the importance of continuing and growing the strategic partnership between the United States and India to further common goals of supporting democracy, pluralism, and rule of law.

With a population of more than 1.2 billion people, the Republic of India is the world’s largest democracy, and shares a commitment to promoting human rights and freedom, it said. Mentioning the economic dimension of the US relationship with India, which is based on trade and investment interests, the resolution said these ties have helped create jobs and growth in both countries.

“On this Independence Day anniversary, and as the son of Indian parents, I’m proud to recognize the contributions of this community to our military efforts, law enforcement, scientific innovation, and so many other aspects of public life,” said Bera. The resolution was co-sponsored among others by Tulsi Gabbard, the only Hindu-American in the House, Joseph Crowley, Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, Elliot Engel, top Democrat on House Foreign Affairs committee, and George Holding, co-chair of Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.

Atul Keshap named US envoy to Sri Lanka, Maldives

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Atul Keshap, a senior Indian-American foreign service official, has been named as ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. After Richard Rahul Verma, who is the US ambassador to India,  Keshyabp has become the second Indian American named the country’s envoy by President Barack Obama.

“I am honoured that these talented individuals have decided to serve our country. They bring their years of experience and expertise to this administration, and I look forward to working with them,” he said announcing Keshap’s appointment with three others.

Currently as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, a position he has held since 2013, Keshap assists Nisha Desai Biswal, the first Indian-American to lead the bureau. Now with Keshap’s appointments, Indian Americans would be serving as US envoys in three of eight SAARC nations. Another Indian American, Puneet Talwar as assistant secretary for political-military affairs, serves as a bridge between the State and Defence departments.

And Arun Madhavan Kumar as assistant secretary of commerce and director general of the US and Foreign Commercial Service is charged with boosting US trade abroad. Keshap previously served at the State Department as a US Senior Official for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2012 to 2013.

From 2010 to 2012, he was the Director for India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. Prior to that, Keshap was Director for United Nations Human Rights in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs from 2008 to 2010 and Deputy Political Counselor at the US Embassy in New Delhi, India from 2005 to 2008.

He served as Director for Near Eastern and North African Affairs in the National Security Council from 2003 to 2004 and as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs from 2002 to 2003. Keshap’s earlier assignments with the State Department included postings in Morocco and Guinea. Keshap received a BA and MA from the University of Virginia.

With over a score direct Obama appointees in high places, two governors, a House member, a state attorney general and eight state legislators, Indian Americans have over the years gained power and influence far beyond their numbers.

Bobby Jindal Hopeful of Race to White House After Winning Presidential Debate

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Not giving up after being on the bottom level in popularity ratings, Indian American Louisiana Gov.  Bobby Jindal  with his impressive performance, appeared to come out as the joint winner of the second-tier Republican presidential debate, multiple news outlets and political analysts have said. Fox News flash polls declared Carly Fiorina and Jindal to be the winners of the GOP’s undercard debate.

In a statement, Jindal’s campaign manager Timmy Teepell declared victory. “We saw plenty of smooth talking and famous names running for president, but only one candidate in the race has the backbone, the bandwidth and the experience to get the job done as president – Gov. Jindal,” he said.

Jindal, 44, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Punjab before he was born, is the first Indian American to ever run for a U.S. presidential election. Though currently faring at 13th position among a crowded field of 17 Republican presidential candidates, Jindal, for some political analysts, made an impressive appearance at the first televised Republican presidential debate for those who could not make it to the main discourse for the top 10 candidates.

“I think the American people are looking for real leadership. That’s what I’ve done in Louisiana, that’s what I’ll do in America,” Jindal asserted. “I’ve got the backbone; I’ve got the bandwidth; I’ve got the experience to get us through this. I’m asking folks not just to join my campaign but join a cause. It is time to believe in America again.”

Jindal also used the occasion to slam not only  President Obama  but also his other top Republican opponents while solidifying his stance that he is a top candidate. “We’ve got a lot of great talkers running for president. We’ve already got a great talker in the White House. We cannot afford four more years of on the job training. We need a doer, not a talker. We also need a nominee, a candidate who will endorse our own principles,” he said.

“Jeb Bush says we’ve got to be willing to lose the primary in order to win the general. Let me translate that for you. That’s the establishment telling us to hide our conservative principles to get the left and the media to like us. That never works. If we do that again, we will lose again; we will deserve to lose again.”

Michele Bachmann, a former presidential candidate, said that Jindal won the Aug. 6 debate. “Watching the #GOPDebate with millennials, their response is favorable towards @BobbyJindal whose responses have been strong and specific,” she wrote on Twitter. Jindal was also one of the most talked about candidates on Facebook.

According to Facebook, Jindal had 2.1 million people making 4.9 million interactions about him, making him the 10th most talked about Republican presidential candidate. According to the local Advertiser newspaper, Jindal delivered a solid, if less than spectacular, performance in the second-tier debate.

“There are two goals in a debate: get through it without making a major mistake and then try to distinguish yourself from the other candidates. I thought Gov. Jindal got through without making a mistake, but I’m not sure he distinguished himself from the other candidates on the stage,” said political analyst Josh Stockley of the University of Louisiana at Monroe’s.

Jindal said America must insist on a simulation in the case of immigration. “Immigration without simulation is an invasion. We need to tell folks who want to come here they need to come here legally. They need to learn English, adopt values, roll up their sleeves and get to work,” he said.

Jindal also reiterated his stance on hyphenated Americans, saying he was tired of “hyphenated identities.” He has in the past insisted that Americans are not “Indian-Americans or African-Americans or Asian-Americans” but just “Americans.” Asserting that the country needs a doer, Jindal has said he will provide real leadership to America if elected president in the November 2016 elections.

In related news, a report in the Washington Post added: One of the GOP’s rising stars made her case in Cleveland Aug. 6 for why she should be taken seriously as a potential vice presidential running mate.

Indian American South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who rose to national prominence this spring as she led the removal of the Confederate battle flag from her state’s Capitol grounds, was the featured guest at the Republican National Committee’s summer meeting in Cleveland a few hours before the primary debate.

Haley called on the party’s candidates to show “respect” in the debate and to offer substance and details about solving the nation’s problems. Haley, who has not endorsed a candidate, said she is looking for a nominee who “speaks from their gut.”

Registration Web Site Launched for Narendra Modi’s Silicon Valley Visit

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics 0

Consul General in San Francisco Venkatesan Ashok, Deputy Chief of Mission Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu and national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party Ram Madhav were among hundreds in attendance Aug. 9 to launch the registration process for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Nearly 400 representatives from more than 160 organizations met to discuss Modi’s arrival to the Bay Area. The prime minister will address a reception at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., Sept. 27.

The majority of the passes for the event will be distributed through the partnering organizations. Those interested in attending the event can visit the Web site, which was launched at the conclusion of the meeting:www.pmmodiinca.org.

Plans are well underway for the visit, including high-impact meetings and programs to promote the shared ideals of innovation and entrepreneurship that define Silicon Valley and the Modi-led India, said a press release.

Modi’s visit is anticipated to further his mission of empowering Indian people through the use of technology, as well as allow him to connect with the technology hub of the world with one of the world’s largest customer bases, India.

The Aug. 9 meeting got underway with Ashok issuing the mandate entrusting the organization called Indo American Community of the West Coast with the task of uniting all organizations for the purpose of planning the event. In accepting the mandate, the event’s convener, Khanderao Kand, noted the diversity of organizations present at the inaugural event. “We understand that the IACWC is a platform through which we must bring together the entire community, regardless of language, culture, religion or profession.”

Ashok, Sandhu and Madhav all stressed the importance of the diverse communities of IACWC to unite for the planning, with Madhav addressing the crowd at the meeting, stating three main prongs to Modi’s goals: unity, security and prosperity. The national general secretary said the event will help the prime minister communicate his objectives to a larger audience and help create the unity he wants.

Sandhu concurred with Madhav’s comments, stressing the importance of the event in the eyes of the world. He said that unity brings political strength, which could lead to a stronger India of the future.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis Pitches For Investment During Visit to New York

Ajay GhoshFinance/Economy, India, Politics 0

NEW YORK — Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last week made a high pitch for investment in his state, telling U.S. businesses that he wants to provide a boost to not just “make in India’ campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, but supplement that with ‘Make in Maharashtra’ as well. And he explained why investors should be in interested in Maharashtra.

Addressing prospective investors at a round table organized by the U.S.-India Business Council in New York June 29Fadnavis said the state government has taken measures to promote ease of doing business in Maharashtra because the government wants the state should be viewed as a top destination for doing business by domestic and international investors.

The chief minister, who was on a five-day visit to the United States was accompanied by senior government officials from the state. The USIBC meeting in Manhattan was the first of his official engagement in New York.

He said that the government wants to provide business to both medium and small enterprises and create much-needed jobs in his state. Fadnavis pitch for foreign investment was endorsed by USIBC. Its president Mukesh Aghi said at the meeting that Council’s member companies have been encouraged by the ease of doing business in Maharashtra.

“Now is the right time to invest in Maharashtra. It is a land of immense opportunity. I assure you that once you decide to come…we will do everything for you. Our government has decided that there is going to be no more red tape but only red carpet,” he told investors and the business community.

He said that the government is looking for joint ventures in critical projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor, smart cities, adding that the government was inviting investments in manufacturing, agriculture, aviation, engineering and information technology.

The Chief Minister was also hosted by the Friends of Maharastra and the Indian Consulate in New York at the at the Pierre Hotel in New York. The sit-down dinner was attended by an estimated 300 people, inclduing leadeers of the Indian American community from the Tri-State area. The minister and his family were welcomed with koli dances and vada pav was on the menu.

At the Pierre Hotel, the minister reiterated what he said ealier during the day at the USIBC, urging people to come and make investment in Maharashtra which he said has the best infrastructure for doing business. At the reception he was accompanied by Minister of Industry Subash Desai who also spoke about the availability of skilled labor and a business friendly climate in Maharashtra.

The chief minister’s visit came less than two weeks after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited U.S. and w as also hosted by the USIBC in New York. The visit primarily aimed at attracting foreign direct investment in India’s infrastructure and other sectors.

Said Aghi: “I have no hesitation in saying that the state has the potential to emerge as a high ranking state on the ease of doing business index.” Earlier, the chief minister was received at the Newark International Airport by New Jersey Governor. During the day-long visit, Fadnavis met with the New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as well as other senior political leaders from New York City and Connecticut.

In a press release, India’s Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay told reporters that, given the large population of Indians in the New York-New Jersey area, Fadnavis will hold meetings with the states’ leadership and promote it as an attractive investment destination, not only among the diaspora but to a larger American audience.

Mulay said given Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on the ‘Make in India’ campaign and the country’s ambitions to grow at a fast economic rate, states must also take the lead and contribute actively to the economic development of the country. “Unless that happens, rapid growth will not take place and benefits of the economic growth will not reach small towns and rural areas,” he said.

Iran Comes Off 30 Years Of Isolation With Historic Nuclear Deal

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Ending more than three decades of isolation by the major world powers across all continents, Iran reached a historic deal with six world powers on  July 14, 2015 that promises to curb Tehran’s controversial nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief. The agreement, a focal point of U.S. President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, appears set to reshape relations between Iran and the West, with its effects likely to ripple across the volatile Middle East. “This deal offers an opportunity to move in a new direction,” President Barack Obama declared at the White House in remarks that were carried live on Iranian state television. “We should seize it.”

The agreement bars most research and development work until after year 10. But then the restrictions come off quickly and the breakout time diminishes to just a few months, which is about where it is today. The Nuclear deal will curb Iranian nuclear programs and ease fears of a nuclear-armed Iran threatening the volatile Middle East. In exchange, Iran will get billions of dollars in relief from crushing international sanctions. The accord, reached after long, fractious negotiations, marks a dramatic break from decades of animosity between the United States and Iran, countries that have labeled each other the “leading state sponsor of terrorism” and “the Great Satan.”

The accord was announced  by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in a joint statement in the Austrian capital, Vienna. Zarif acknowledged that the final agreement wasn’t perfect, but  described the announcement as a “historic moment.” He said, “Today could have been the end of hope, but now we are starting a new chapter of hope.”

The breakthrough came after 20 months of thorny negotiations between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry  made a statement in Vienna , saying “this is the good deal that we have sought.” Kerry stated that while the deal is historic, the implementation is what matters. “I’m not going to stand here and tell you every is going to work without a bump,” he said. Kerry added that the deal  contains ample mechanisms  for ensuring the terms are met, however, and that the agreement makes evident the consequences of non-compliance.

In Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said “a new chapter” had begun in his nation’s relations with the world. He maintained that Iran had never sought to build a bomb, an assertion the U.S. and its partners have long disputed.

Beyond the hopeful proclamations from the U.S., Iran and other parties to the talks, there is deep skepticism of the deal among U.S. lawmakers and Iranian hardliners. Obama’s most pressing task will be holding off efforts by Congress to levy new sanctions on Iran or block his ability to suspend existing ones.

US House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, predicted the deal would embolden Iran and fuel a nuclear arms race around the world. It will be difficult for congressional Republicans to stop Obama, however, because of his power to veto legislation. Israel, which sees Iran as a threat to its existence, strongly opposes leaving the Islamic republic with its nuclear infrastructure in place. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has furiously lobbied against a deal, called the agreement a “stunning historic mistake.”

Iran, with the backing of Russia and China, its main weapons suppliers, managed to win agreement that the embargo would not be permanent. The deal called for the embargo to be lifted after a maximum of eight years for ballistic missiles and five years for conventional weapons. But the time frame could be shortened if the International Atomic Energy Agency certifies that Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Iran got more up front relief than the United States wanted, with the most important sanctions — those on the energy and financial industries — possibly being lifted this year if Iran complies with the principal requirements in the accord. However, the accord contains provisions for “snapback” sanctions if a panel of nations should detect Iranian cheating.

“History shows that America must lead not just with our might but with our principles,” Obama rightly summed up the historic deal. “Today’s announcement marks one more chapter in our pursuit of a safer, more helpful and more hopeful world.”

Hillary Clinton pitches to working Americans at presidential campaign rally

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton promised on Saturday, July 10, 2015  to fight for a fairer society for ordinary Americans, staking out a place on the left to cut off any budding challenge for the Democratic nomination. In the first major rally of her campaign for the November 2016 presidential election, Clinton touched on many of the issues that energize liberal Democrats. She highlighted her support for gay marriage, women’s rights, income equality, clean energy and regulating Wall Street.

Speaking on New York’s Roosevelt Island, with Manhattan’s skyscrapers as a backdrop, Clinton promised to “make the economy  work for everyday Americans, not just those at the top” if elected president. The former secretary of state praised working families for leading America’s economic recovery after the financial crisis of 2008. “You brought our country back. Now it’s time – your time to secure the gains and move ahead,” she told a crowd of several thousand supporters.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton

Meanwhile, the fast growing and powerful Indian-Americans are staking their claim as early supporters of the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for the presidential race of 2016. At a recent fundraiser, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a low-key stop at a gathering of high-profile Indians. No media was allowed at the event where attendees paid $2,700 per plate for some face time with the former First Lady.

The fundraiser, hosted at the home of art collector and retired U.S. Army Colonel Dr. Mahinder Tak and her husband businessman Sharad Tak, was attended by nearly 100 people during which,  $300,000 was raised, Tak told the media. Clinton touched on all her pet projects and interests but also more. “She talked about the current state of the U.S. economy, relations with India, praised (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and his successful trip to the U.S., women’s rights and children’s rights, and increased drug use in the population, including among youth,” Tak said.

Among those present were businessman Sanju Bansal, co-founder of MicroStrategy, a worldwide provider of enterprise software who is now CEO of the Virginia-based data analytics company, Hunch Analytics, founded by President Obama’s first Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra. Chopra was represented by his wife Rohini Dhir. Parag Mehta, former LGBT liaison on the Obama-Biden transition team, former director of communications and also director of training at the Democratic National Committee and special assistant to the Secretary, Department of Labor, was there; IT entrepreneurs Payal and Chandra Tak, Sudhakar Keshavan, chairman and CEO of the publicly traded management consultancy IFC International which posted gross revenues of $949 million in 2013; businesswoman Devinder Singh; Arun Gupta, partner at the venture capital firm Columbia Capital; and Shekar Narasimhan, DNCs co-chair of the Indo-American Council and managing partner at Beekman Advisors, and several other heavy hitters. Former U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, also showed up.

“She’s the most experienced of all the those running, man or woman, Republican or Democrat,” Tak said. “She’s a household name all over the world. And at the White House she put ‘women’s rights are human rights’ on the map,” she added.

Bobby Jindal With 2% Popularity Is Not To Be On 1st Republican Primary Debate

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Republican primary voters will get more insight this week into the presidential candidates vying for their party’s nomination as the contenders prepare to square off in the first primary debate. And with the rise of Donald Trump and the drama his surge has provoked, the first debate is arguably the most anticipated 2016 election event to date. The first GOP primary debate will take place Thursday at 9 p.m. EST on Fox News, is co-hosted by Facebook and will feature the top 10 leading candidates for the GOP nomination.

As per the reports here, Bobby Jindal will not be appearing in the first Republican primary debate, which is limited only to those who are in the top ten. The debate, conducted by Fox News, will take place in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 6. The first ever Indian American vying to be on the ballot to be the next American President , Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is now ranked 13th in a crowded race of Republican presidential aspirants, according to the latest national poll July 31.

Fox News  has decided to limit participation in its two-hour debate to the candidates ranking in the top 10 in an average of recent national polls. That will relegate seven candidates to the one-hour, junior-varsity debate with consequences to their image and standing that are difficult to predict but could be substantial. Jindal is nearly certain to miss the cut for the prime-time event, based on recent national polls. His campaign has minimized the importance of the debates, instead stressing the importance of the early states.

Jindal, 44, also the first-ever Indian American governor, has just two percent of Republican votes, compared to his top-ranking Republican opponent Donald Trump with 20 percent of votes, according to the poll. With 20 percent of Republican voters supporting him, Trump is the clear leader in the Republican presidential primary field, but he trails behind three leading Democratic contenders by wide margins in the general election match-ups, according to the Quinnipiac University national poll.

Behind Trump are Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with 13 percent of votes and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush with 10 percent. No other Republican tops six percent, and 12 percent are undecided. Trump also tops the “no way” list, as 30 percent of Republican voters say they would definitely not support him. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is next at 15 percent, with Bush at 14 percent.

Jindal played familiar rhetorical notes in his appearance Monday, August 3rd, in a nationally televised forum featuring most of the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential candidates, who produced few if any surprises or shocks. “I’m so tired of this president and the left trying to divide us,” said Jindal, 44. “We’re all Americans. We’re not hyphenated Americans.”

“This is the most important election of our lifetimes,” Jindal said in his wrap-up. “This is about the future of America, getting off the path to socialism,” said Jindal, the Baton Rouge-born child of immigrants from India, who has consistently shunned a tag as an Indian-American and has praised assimilation in the proverbial melting pot.

“This president is trying to turn the American dream into the European nightmare,” he said, repeating another of his favorite phrases. Jindal earlier had touted his record in cutting the state budget in Louisiana, slashing the government workforce and creating private sector jobs. “We need a doer, not a talker,” he said in his valedictory. “We can’t afford four more years of on-the-job training.” And, he assured the audience, he has the “bandwidth” and “backbone” to get the job done. “We’ve had seven years of a great talker,” he said. “Let’s elect a doer. “Let us believe in America again.”

Among the Democratic hopefuls for the nomination, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is supported by 55 percent of Democratic voters nationwide, with 17 percent for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and 13 percent for Vice President Joe Biden. No other Democratic candidate tops one percent, while 11 percent are undecided.

Kumar Barve’s Public Servant Recognition To Boost Efforts To Congressional Bid

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Kumar Barve’s “Public Servant of the Year” by the International Leadership Foundation by a foundation that focuses on the achievements of Asian-Americans, is expected to boost his efforts to win a Congressional seat in the upcoming general election. Barve, the first Indian-American to be elected to a state legislature in this country to the Maryland state Assembly Delegate was recognized at an annual dinner in Washington D.C. on July 30th. Barve is currently running for the U.S. Congress from the open seat in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, and this award could serve him well in marshaling the support of the increasingly politically active Asian-American community in District 8.

Elected in 1990 to the Maryland state Assembly, Barve has been a mentor to numerous Indian-Americans seeking public office around the country. During his tenure in the Assembly, he has served as the leader of the Montgomery County delegation and as Majority Leader in that lower house. A social progressive and fiscal conservative, Barve is known to be a pragmatist and bridge-builder, with a record of being able to form coalitions around issues that need to be legislated.

“Kumar Barve is an historical civic leader in the Asian Pacific American community.   He is the forerunner who opened doors for thousands of others to engage in the civic life of their communities and enter into public service careers”, ILF CEO and co-founder Chiling Tong is quoted saying in a release. The ILF focuses on high achievers in the Asian-American community.

Barve is a women’s rights and abortion rights activist and served as treasurer in the Maryland chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League and its Political Action Committee from 1986 to 1990. He was on Maryland NARAL’s board of directors from 1989 to 1990. Yet, with a record of speaking his mind, in June 2010, he slammed that organization in an open letter, for its endorsement choices. “Thank you for endorsing me for reelection,” he wrote to the NARAL PAC Chair Tracy Terrell, adding, “However, for the first time in 24 years I am stunned by many of the endorsement decisions of the PAC.” Barve also strongly advocates on education and environmental issues.

Born and brought up in the U.S., his parents, both of whom are no more, hailed from the Gujarat region. Over the years and especially during his campaign for the U.S. Congress, Barve, 56, has called out his heritage and talked of helping strengthen U.S.-India relations if sent to Capitol Hill. If elected he would be the 3rd Indian-American to be in the House of Representatives after Dalip Singh Saund from California (1957) and current Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

The graduate of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. works as the Chief Financial Officer at the Maryland-based company, Environmental Management Services since 1992. His Congressional campaign recently received a shot in the arm when the Asian American Action Fund endorsed his bid.

Democrat Nidhi Makhija Contests Bridgewater Mayoral Race

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S., Women 0

For the first time in the history of the state of New Jersey, an Indian American woman, a Democrat, Nidhi Makhija is contesting a mayoral race in the town of Bridgewater. The town’s current Mayor Dan Hayes has filed to run for re-election in the November race, and he will face Democratic challenger Nidhi Makhija.

Innovator, IT Business Executive & Partner, Nidhi Makhija is primed to move from private consulting to public service with her vision to lead Bridgewater Township to the list of “TOP 10 Most Livable Towns in New Jersey.” A keen community player, she hopes to improve citizen quality of life and governance in the township through her methodical approach of planning, implementation and management of her “4C Model” for the Township.

Nidhi MakhijaNidhi was born the youngest daughter in a family of four sisters in a small town in India. With an Engineering undergraduate degree, she went on to earn a Business Management MBA in Finance. A U.S. Big Five Consulting job offer started her American Dream where she’s worked with some of the most influential companies across the U.S. and the globe. She is now a thriving entrepreneur, business IT consultant, mother of 2 children & an American Citizen who is ready to give back to the community that helped her become more of the leader she is today. She believes women play natural roles as nurturers, planners, leaders, innovators, managers, organizers& caregivers. Now is the time to play an even greater role fueling local government success and contribution. Her life’s philosophy is made up of the three pillars below. She hopes to apply that philosophy to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Bridgewater Township.

Career Highlights & Milestones include, over 20 years of significant multi industry, national & international experiencein Fortune 500 as a IT & Business Consultant; worked with powerhouses such as KPMG, Siemens, Price Waterhouse, Bearing Point, etc. Undertook sponsored training on Leadership from YALE School of Management, Connecticut; financial oversight of budgets ranging from $100,000 to $10 million; implemented solutions for reputed companies such as General Motors, Siemens Public Service Networks & Communications, Government of Pennsylvania, SSM Healthcare, Mosaic Agro, Symbol Technologies etc., and Civic Service engagement with Education Foundation of Bridgewater Raritan, 4H Youth Development, Somerset County Leadership Program, School PTO, Actively supports South Asian NGOs.

Tota Singh, Minister for NRI Affairs in Punjab State Government Heckled in New York

Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics 0

Tota Singh, Minister for NRI Affairs in Punjab State Government, was the target of wrath by hundreds of Sikhs in Richmond Hill, Queens, NY on July 19 who hurled him abuses as well as shoes for his alleged inaction to convict police officers involved in extra-judicial killings of thousands of innocent Sikhs during counter-insurgency operations in early 1990s

Tota Singh and other leaders from his Akali Dal Party were scheduled to address a meeting at Richmond Hill. But before that could take place hundreds of Sikhs protesting the visit and chanting slogans gathered at the venue, surrounding surrounded the area, according to group Sikhs for Justice, a Sikh rights monitor. New York police took to people to custody.

According to newspaper reports, the standoff between the Sikhs and Singh’s delegation continued for more than three hours and a heavy contingent of the New York Police was summoned at the scene.

“The North American Sikh groups are opposing the Akali Dal party for its failure to convict police officers involved in extra-judicial killings of thousands of innocent Sikhs during counter-insurgency operations in early 1990s,” SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said.

Tota Singh led a delegation to the United States and Canada to garner support of the Punjabi Diaspora for the 2017 state Assembly elections.

“We will not allow Akali leaders to visit America and challenge those Sikhs who oppose Akali policies and have taken political asylum for their political views,” organizer of the protest rally Himmat Singh said, according to Indian newspaper reports.

The ruling Akali Dal said in a statement in state capital Chandigarh that the attack in New York was an act of “frustration” by some “vested interests” who do not want the Akalis to paint a true picture of Punjab abroad. In an apparent bid to get political mileage the opposition Congress party described the incident as “manifestation of the anger that NRI Punjabis, particularly the Sikhs, have against Badal (current state chief minister) and his government for their hollow promises and failure on all fronts.”

Indian Govt. Rejects Devyani Khobragade’s Plea for Dual Citizenship for Her Children

Ajay GhoshCommunity, India, Politics 0

The Government of India has rejected IFS officer Devyani Khobragade’s plea seeking dual citizenship for her children, who are American nationals, saying Indian law does not allow this. Khobragade, who was India’s deputy consul-general in New York when she was arrested and charged with visa fraud, had recently approached the Home Ministry officials with the plea.

“We have conveyed to Khobragade that her children are not eligible for dual citizenship and hence her plea cannot be processed,” a senior Home Ministry official said. Her daughters were born in India but accepted U.S. citizenship as Khobragade’s husband is an American national. The IFS officer is accused of suppressing this fact to her employer, Ministry of External Affairs. The children held Indian passports, too.

After coming to know that Khobragade’s daughters held American passports, the MEA revoked the children’s Indian passports. She has challenged the decision in the Delhi High Court. The government took the action as dual citizenship is only applicable to those children who were born outside India. Khobragade’s daughters were born in Mumbai. Children of foreign diplomats, who are born in India, are given dual citizenship till the period of their parents’ service in India.

The government recently told the Delhi High Court that Khobragade obtained U.S. and Indian passports for her two daughters in violation of Indian law, without informing the MEA. This, it argued, raises serious questions about her “trustworthiness and integrity.” “Devyani Khobragade’s submission that the U.S. passports were only used for travel to U.S.A. does not in any way dilute the gravity and seriousness of her misdemeanor and are blatant violations of Indian Passports Act,” it said.

Ali Najmi Declares Candidacy For New York City Council

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Ali Najmi, a South Asian American, has declared his candidacy for New York City Council. Ali, a Democrat, is running to win from District 23, in this section of Queens — heavily populated by South Asian families, many of which have immigrated from India.  It’s a tight-knit community, an ethnic enclave, and should Najmi win the race this fall, he will become the first elected official of South Asian descent in the history of New York City. The district’s seat became vacant this June after Councilman Mark Weprin resigned to take a position in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration.

Najmi — a 30-year-old defense attorney who previously served as Weprin’s legislative director and recently nabbed an endorsement from 2014 gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout — is hoping his résumé and strong ties to the community will help him win what is expected to be a crowded Democratic primary in September. And in this community, being a South Asian kid from the neighborhood does indeed go a long way.

Ali Najmi said he is running for the City Council to make sure that all communities are respected and included in the City’s public holidays, and for this Diwali should be acknowledged as an important holiday

“I urge Mayor Bill de Blasio to demonstrate to our community the respect we deserve by adding Diwali to the public school holiday calendar. Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Buddist communities should have their holiday recognized. It is right thing to do and it is the New York thing to do. New York has a wonderful tradition of adapting to the needs of new and growing communities. Let’s continue that tradition by adding Diwali to the school calendar,” he said July 13.

New York is home to well over 250,000 adherents to these faiths, and recognition of Diwali as a public school holiday will be an important acknowledgement of their countless contributions to this great city, the campaigners said last week.

“Ali Najmi will be a Council Member that fights for all communities to get the recognition that they deserve. We are proud to stand with him today to call on the Department of Education to recognize Diwali as a school holiday,” said Pam Kwatra, Founder and Chair of South Asian 4 Better Choice.

Ali Najmi, a defense attorney, was honored by the New Kings Democrats for his work as a community organizer. Ali has led successful efforts to increase funding for youth programs in his community and he has r​allied to improve local public schools and expand library service.

He has worked closely with labor unions as the political director of the Alliance of South Asian American Labor (ASAAL) . Ali is a co-founder of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York and is the past president of the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club.

India highest recipient of US economic assistance: USAID

Ajay GhoshBusiness, Finance/Economy, India, Politics 0

Washington, DC: India is tipped to be the second largest economy in the world with the GDP going to be second only to China by 2050. Today, it is the third largest economy in the world after the US and China. However, the US, the largest economy in the world today has been providing assistance to India more than any other nation in the world.

The US provided $65.1 billion as economic assistance to India between 1946 and 2012, according to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) statistics.

It was the highest among the economic assistance provided to 200 countries and regions by the US during the period. USAID is the lead US government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realise their potential.

The data, which was inflation adjusted, shows India received $65.1 billion in economic assistance, followed closely by Israel, which got $65 billion. Pakistan, which received a total of $44.4 billion from the US, was among the top five countries of the total 200 nations and regions getting the economic assistance.

Indian economic aid was spread over various sectors and programs, including child survival and health, development assistance, HIV/AIDS initiatives, migration and refugee assistance, food aid and narcotics control. Some $26 billion of the total aid was provided for various USAID programs.

In comparison, of the total economic assistance provided to Pakistan, $13.8 billion was given for USAID programs, while $13.7 billion was attributed to the Economic Support Fund and Security Support Assistance.

US committed to take partnership with India still higher: Joe Biden

Ajay GhoshFinance/Economy, India, Politics, U.S. 0

“We are committed to take this relationship further” for the well being of both the US and India as also for the advancement of the international community, Joe Biden said suggesting that the world was “at the cusp of another sea change decade.” To seize this “historic moment, Biden said “the US was pursuing a strategy of rebalancing to the Asia Pacific region” and “America’s deepening friendship with India is an indispensable part of our Asia rebalance strategy.”

“US-India partnership has reached a new level” under President Barack Obama, he said last week in keynote speech on the future of the US-India partnership to mark the tenth anniversary of the landmark India-US civil nuclear deal. The nuclear deal “removed the single largest irritant in the relationship between the two greatest democracies,” he said on the conclusion of a conference hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

“Together we transformed the bilateral relationship into a global partnership based on shared values, interests, responsibilities,” he said. “All of these will go to shape the next century if we stay the course. India’s Act East and US Rebalance in Asia is good news for the region as well as good news for the partnership,” he said.

The joint strategic vision for the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region that Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued in January “serves as a beacon,” Biden said. “And every day we are working to try to make this vision a reality,” he said recalling that Obama had during his January visit to India had “declared that the US can be India’s best partner.”

“That’s our goal,” he said. “Change is taking place,” Biden said. “It’s a historic moment in the world, let’s seize it. We have a chance to bend history just a little bit,” he said. “This is one of those moments when our common interests are going to continue to converge and our countries have the potential to reach new heights.”

Earlier, addressing the Conference, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal recalled that “Ten years ago, access to nuclear, space, and other forms of high technology were among the most contentious issues between India and the United States.”

“Today those issues are part of the foundation on which we’re building a lasting partnership,” she said.

“In defence, the US is now India’s largest supplier, and we are launching new co-development and co-production projects that will expand our ties and advance Prime Minister Modi’s Make in India initiative,” she noted.

“Clearly, our relationship with the US has transformed rapidly in the last ten years to become a full-spectrum relationship, covering virtually all fields of human endeavour,” said the Indian ambassador Arun Singh.

Indian ambassador Arun Singh
Indian ambassador Arun Singh

“It is now embedded in the larger vision of a global strategic partnership,” he said asserting “that no relationship between India and another country can today match the range, depth, quality and intensity of the India-US partnership. Going forward, I see the US continuing to play a role in India’s transformation, and see India and the US joining hands to make the world a better place for our two nations and the rest of the world,” Singh said.

Nikki Haley For Vice President?

Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S., Women 0

There are rumors across the nation that the GOP is actively considering South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to be its vice presidential candidate after her handling of the June 17 Charleston shooting and its aftermath. Politicians and pundits alike applauded Haley, a 43-year-old Indian-American, for raising bipartisan support to take down the controversial Confederate flag from state grounds. Some predicted the buzz could carry over into a 2016 nomination.

David Beasley, the last Republican governor who took on the Confederate flag, which had fluttered in front of the 19th-century capitol building for 54 years, in 1996 “lost his job,” noted Politico, an influential Washington news site, but “Nikki Haley may get a promotion.”

“Her VP stock is probably on the rise again at the moment,” Republican analyst Ford O’Connell told the Hill, going on to say that she could appeal to young, female and minority voters — groups the GOP has historically had trouble capturing. “She could stop the bleeding of women to Hillary Clinton,” he added.

The move attracted praise immediately, but it also fed speculation about Haley’s future. Her term in South Carolina runs through January 2019, though many have wondered if she’ll cut her time short to run in 2016.

Haley herself has remained quiet on the issue. After winning re-election last year, she wrote a statement that “speculation is just that.” In 2013, at a campaign stop attended by GOP contenders Rick Perry, Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal, she was more specific, telling reporters her campaign for governor didn’t mean “something national.”

“Haley’s decisive action to drive the final removal of the banner from statehouse grounds quickly and relatively cleanly in the glare of the national spotlight proved a well-timed audition for higher office ahead of the 2016 Republican veepstakes,” it suggested. “Nikki showed leadership in this instance, and she represents a new Republican face in the South,” strategist Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid, told Politico.

“Campaign 2016 has already devolved into theatre and absurdity,” wrote Doug Heye, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee, in the Wall Street Journal but “Haley recently showed that politics and government can still live up to our best ideals.”

“Haley’s words, actions, poise, and determination-her courage-over the past month have helped her state heal,” he said noting “Speculation has increased about her potential as 2016 vice-presidential nominee.”

“Other state figures had faltered when confronting the legacy of the Confederate flag and pushing for its removal. But Haley’s quick call for it to be taken off has allowed her to bask in glowing reviews,” said CNN.

“The once-rising star, whose shine had faded after her 2010 gubernatorial victory, has emerged from the flag battle as the face of the ‘new South,’” it said. Shortly after the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds, Haley told CNN that placing the flag there in 2000 was a poor decision.

“I think the more important part is it should have never been there,” she said. “These grounds are a place that everybody should feel a part of. What I realized now more than ever is people were driving by and felt hurt and pain. No one should feel pain.”

Haley, the youngest current governor in the US and the first woman and the first Indian American to serve as Governor of South Carolina, had previously been a supporter of the flag as a symbol of Southern heritage honoring residents’ ancestors.

But it was after a week of funerals for the nine churchgoers who were gunned down by a white man in a historic black church in Charleston with the alleged intent of “starting a race war” that Haley said she decided that the flag had to come down.

“The biggest reason I asked for that flag to come down was I couldn’t look my children in the face and justify it staying there,” she was quoted as saying.

“Now there’s more reason to come to this state. I am proud to say that it’s a new day in South Carolina.”

Dinesh D’Souza ordered psych counseling

Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

A New York Judge has ordered Dinesh D’Souza, an Indian-American conservative scribe and Obama critic filmmaker, to do community service for four more years for breaking campaign-finance laws and undergo further counselling.

Judge Richard Berman clarified on Monday July 13th that under the sentence he handed down after D’Souza pleaded guilty last year, he has to do eight hours each week for the entire five years he’s on probation and not just the eight months he was confined to a halfway house.

The Manhattan federal court judge also read aloud a report from a court-appointed psychologist who called D’Souza “arrogant” and “intolerant of others’ feelings,” according to the New York Post.

“In my mind it was never contemplated that the eight hours only applied to the period of home confinement,” Berman was quoted as telling defence attorney Ben Brafman.

He later read out a report from a psychologist who saw D’Souza, the maker of the anti- Obama film “2016: Obama’s America”, and then ordered him to continue attending weekly sessions, the Post said.

“The client tends to deny problems and isn’t very introspective,” the psychiatrist wrote. “The client tends to deny problems and is arrogant and intolerant of others’ feelings.” But so long as D’Souza stays on track with his community service, he will be allowed to visit his daughter in London and his elderly mother in India later this year, Berman said.

D’Souza pleaded guilty last year to illegally shelling out $20,000 in contributions in the name of others for Republican Wendy Long’s failed 2012 bid to defeat Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Asia Society Policy Institute To Work For India’s Membership in APEC

Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

Despite having a population of 1.2 billion and the world’s ninth largest economy, India remains excluded from several regional economic organizations like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) — a situation experts say is detrimental to both India and the international community.

India’s economy is only partly integrated into the global economy, particularly regional trade arrangements in a dynamic Asia-Pacific. The emergence of regional trade agreements such as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) threatens to further distance India from the global supply chains critical to Prime Minister Modi’s “Make in India” initiative.

Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) has convened a high-level, international task force to develop a strategy for India’s membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. To be chaired by Kevin Rudd, ASPI will develop the case for India’s membership in APEC, identify the benefits and obstacles to it, and seek to generate support for India’s membership in India and among APEC members.

Rudd served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister and as Foreign Minister. As Chair of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism, Rudd is leading a review of the UN system.

Ajay Banga, co-chair of ASPI, is President and Chief Executive Officer of MasterCard and a member of its board of directors. He serves as a member of President Obama’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Amb. Shyam Saran, another co-chair of ASPI,  was Foreign Secretary of India from 2004 to 2006 and currently serves as Chairman for the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a think tank specializing in studies on economic and trade issues.

The task force will include members from India, the United States, and key APEC member economies from Asia. ASPI will share a report of the task force with the Government of India, APEC member economies, and business communities in all those economies in early 2016. The Confederation of Indian Industry is partnering with ASPI on this initiative.

Rudd noted that India’s delayed entry is as much about the negotiation process as internal economic issues. “The dynamic of any negotiating room at the top is always in the direction delay, it is rarely in the direction of decision,” Rudd said. “There are two things that are eternal: the kingdom of heaven and the bureaucracies of our various countries.”

“Business globally, and especially in the U.S., should be delighted by the prospect of India joining APEC,” said Banga. “An India that’s much more open, much more aligned with the trade protocols and practices of APEC members, is an India that is way better positioned for integration into global supply chains.”

Shyam Saran, one of several panelists appearing via Skype, emphasized that his country realizes the importance of international economic associations. “Let me say very categorically that India is very keenly interested in becoming part of APEC,” he said, adding that the country has in fact applied in the past but was stopped by a moratorium on new members.

Asia Society Policy Institute To Work For India’s Membership in APECPanelists pointed out that some member countries remain skeptical of India’s ability to conform to APEC trade norms and culture. “The U.S. reluctance to embrace India into APEC for these many years has been a fear that India would slow down the process of moving toward greater trade facilitation and liberalization,” Fred Bergsten, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. “India, along with some other countries, has sometimes caused problems for global trade negotiations.”

Bergsten added that if India were to join APEC, it could pave the way to membership in the even more exclusive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Being part of an organization like this, according to Peterson Institute estimates, could expand India’s exports by as much as $500 billion per year by 2025.

Sunil Kant Munjal, joint managing director and chairman of Hero MindMine Institute Ltd., said that it’s hard for India to institute the needed reforms as quickly as countries like China did. “There’s literally not one other large economy in the world that has given civil liberties first and has tried to turn itself into a market economy and a global market economy,” he said. “It is a fairly unique experiment in that sense, so some of the things have been slower than we’d like, but it’s also because of the complex and extremely diverse society that we have in India.”

India’s entry into the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), which accounts for nearly 60 percent of global GDP, would provide a pathway for greater integration into the region’s economy. It would also ensure that trade remains a unifying force in the region, where competing trade regimes are straining ties.

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