NEW YORK, NY: The Muslim Democratic Club of New York (MDCNY), on February 16, 2016, voted to endorse United States Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Presidential Primary. Sanders received unanimous support in a vote held at the club’s membership meeting on Tuesday evening.
“MDCNY is proud to make its first ever endorsement in a national race by supporting Bernie Sanders. His honesty, integrity, and progressive agenda are in line with the principles of our club,” said MDCNY President Murad Awawdeh. “For too long, anti-Muslim rhetoric in this election has attempted to push our communities to the margins. Our voice and vote will be felt as we activate our members throughout New York to mobilize our communities to vote for Sanders in the April primary. We also plan to volunteer remotely to provide support in the earlier primary states.”
MDCNY Secretary Mohammad Khan remarked “the Sanders campaign offers a refreshing break from the establishment politics that favor the wealthy and well-connected. For communities like ours, which have long been marginalized, we need someone with a transformative vision for change.”
After a virtual tie in Iowa and a decisive win in New Hampshire, the Sanders campaign is picking up increasing momentum going into the remaining primary elections.
The Muslim Democratic Club of New York is a city-wide organization dedicated to increasing the civic empowerment of Muslim New Yorkers and advancing progressive policies in the Democratic Party.NY
The recent dispute between FBI and Apple pits three important principles against one another. On the one hand, it’s about the right of the U.S. government to investigate thoroughly the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11, in order to prevent the nation and the world from future terrorists attacks. The dispute has raised questions about the need and importance of maintaining the privacy of every individual. It is also about the right of the most valuable (and iconic) American company to go about its business without the government undercutting the key promise it makes consumers — that their most private communications are kept safely under lock and key.
A federal judge’s order to help the FBI hack into the encrypted iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, who in December, together with his wife, killed 14 of his co-workers at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California, has been rejected by Apple. The couple carried out the attack on behalf of ISIS, although there is no evidence they did so at the direction of the group. The US Justice Department has been on the offensive, criticizing Apple for refusing to help unlock a phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who died after the terror attack that killed 14 people in December.
The dispute between FBI and Apple has set the stage for what promises to be one of the great commercial battles of the next years, between the U.S. government and the tech companies that are the most important engine of the booming American economy. Big tech companies argue that if it is known Apple has given the U.S. government such an access, then consumers around the world will be leery of using Apple and Google and other U.S. technology products. Thus, it could result in many tens of billions of dollars being lost and, therefore the business is at stake.
The FBI has argued for years that it faces a “going dark” problem, that its investigations of everything from child pornographers to terrorists are hampered, or even completely undercut, by the fact that so much Internet communication is now encrypted to a level that the U.S. government can’t break. As a result, the FBI wants a “backdoor” into the encrypted communications platforms engineered by American tech companies.
Federal prosecutors in a motion las week have asked a judge to compel Apple to cooperate, saying CEO Tim Cook had made it clear the company wouldn’t willingly comply with an earlier order to help unlock the phone used by Farook. “Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack … Apple has responded by publicly repudiating that order,” prosecutors wrote in the filing in federal court in Riverside, Calif. Apple’s resistance is “based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy,” prosecutors wrote. Apple “is not above the law.”
The motion offers a sharply worded response to Cook’s public message earlier this week, where he refused to “hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers.” Cook said that providing prosecutors with software to unlock the terrorist’s iPhone would provide a “back door” to its devices. Prosecutors said Cook’s statements have been misleading and if the company complied, the government would still need a warrant to access a device and Apple would keep custody of the software.
Apple says, helping the FBI to decrypt Farook’s iPhone would give the government access to all other similar iPhones and would also lead to an unfortunate precedent in which the government could eventually access encrypted communications on any American tech platform. Google has publicly supported Apple’s position. The revelations by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden in 2013 about just how much U.S. tech companies had been playing footsie with the U.S. government had an effect on the firms’ bottom lines around the globe. A 2014 paper by the New America think tank estimatedthat the Snowden revelations cost U.S. tech companies billions of dollars.
Since Snowden went public, companies such as Apple and Google — two of the world’s most valuable companies — have incorporated much greater encryption into their products and have also been at pains to show that they will not go along with U.S. government demands to access their encrypted products.
According to reports, no evidence has emerged that Farook and his wife had any formal connection to a terrorist organization, and the plot involved only the couple and the alleged connivance of Marquez. What might be found on Farook’s iPhone therefore is more than likely simply only some additional details to buttress the overall account of what we know already. It’s unclear what help, if any, the contents of Farook’s phone might provide investigators. Nearly seven weeks of potential messages, texts, photos and data are missing — from Oct. 19, when Farook last uploaded his phone to iCloud, to Dec. 2, when he carried out a shooting rampage at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. No evidence has surfaced so far to indicate Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were in contact with terrorists, or had received outside support, before the attack.
On one side of the debate inside the US administration were White House advisors who favored using quiet pressure to persuade Cook and other tech executives to cooperate. That approach has borne fruit, they say. Over the last year, tech companies have shut down social media accounts used by Islamic State, handed over subpoenaed material that suspects had loaded on “cloud” servers, and given other crucial help. But members of President Obama’s national security team wanted more. Together with state and federal prosecutors around the country, they viewed tech companies as making money while protecting terrorists, kidnappers, pornographers and others who use encryption to hide illegal schemes.
“In the court of public opinion, a dead terrorist whose phone might have connections to more terrorists is pretty attractive from the standpoint of prosecution, but the legal question is not made easier because of that,” Ryan Calo, an assistant law professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and an expert on privacy law, has been quoted to have said. No court has ruled on whether a tech company could be forced to find a way around its own security features, Calo said.
Balanced against that is what the tech companies lose if they are seen to be doing the bidding of the FBI — tens of billions of dollars and also the strong possibility of losing market share to other non-American tech companies, particularly software and cloud computing firms, around the world.
Although the fight between American tech companies and the FBI hunting terrorists is undeniably important, to some degree it may also be increasingly moot. ISIS’ key social media-encrypted platform is Telegram, which is engineered by a Berlin-based tech company that can simply ignore the rulings of American federal judges as well as legislation passed by the U.S. Congress.
Apple and its supporters say the dispute isn’t over the unknown contents of one phone, but about the government trying to establish a precedent that it can force a company to hack its customers’ devices. That could open floodgates for requests from local, state and federal prosecutors, they warn, and cripple customers’ confidence in Apple products, especially in lucrative overseas markets where distrust of government surveillance is higher. Apple’s advocates fear that giving in to the FBI now ultimately would help criminal hackers and authoritarian governments, which might use the software to trace secret communications of political opponents and human rights activists.
Charlotte, SC: South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio in his bid to be the nominee of the Republican Party in the upcoming presidential elections. “If we elect Marco Rubio, every day will be a great day in America,” she said alongside the Florida senator during a rally in suburban Columbia.
Polls suggest Trump continues to hold a big lead in South Carolina and in upcoming states, as Cruz works to rally the Republican Party’s most conservative wing and Rubio tries to consolidate mainstream Republicans behind his candidacy. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich continue to battle for a spot at the table, while retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson struggles for relevancy.
A highly coveted endorsement from popular Nikki Haley — one Jeb Bush himself had described as “the most powerful, meaningful one in the state” earlier this week — has gone to Rubio. Haley’s endorsement was a major setback for Bush, who said her decision left him “disappointed.”
Nikki Haley, the popular Indian American governor, who is being speculated as a possible US vice presidential candidate, said she was tasked with identifying the best candidate as she surveyed the crowded GOP field.
In her endorsement, Haley said: “I wanted somebody that was going to go and show my parents that the best decision they ever made for their children was coming to America. We say that every day is a great day in South Carolina. Ladies and gentlemen, if we elect Marco Rubio, every day will be a great day in America!” Haley said.
“You know that I always say I am the proud daughter of Indian parents. That reminded us every day how blessed we were to live in this country,” she said in her brief remarks. Haley said she wants a president who is going to have the backs of military veterans and those in active duty.
“I want a president that knows that when we fight wars, we win wars. I want a president that understands we have to stop the federal mandates that have been pushed on the states like Obamacare and the EPA,” she said. In endorsing Rubio, Haley said: “I wanted somebody with fight, somebody with passion, somebody with conviction to do the right thing, but also somebody humble enough to remember you work for all the people.”
“But I want a president who understands that they have to go back to Washington, D.C., and bring a conscience back to our Republicans. Our Republicans need to remember what we are about, which is about balanced budgets, cutting debt, building reserves and making sure that they understand that this guy, he is all about term limits in D.C., and that is what we want to see in a president,” Haley said. “We were excited when we got the word that this was a real possibility,” Rubio said after securing Haley’s endorsement.
“For us and for me, I have said this before, and I would say, despite the endorsement, I would say this: She represents everything I want the Republican Party to be about — fiscal responsibility and a limited federal government. All the things that our government should be about and all the things our party should be about, she embodies,” Rubio said.
Haley is viewed as an asset in a Republican Party that has struggled to appeal to non-white voters. She made a high-profile speech at the National Press Club in September, and in January was picked by congressional leaders to give the Republican response to President Obama’s final State of the Union speech. Her decision to endorse Rubio follows her earlier criticism of GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
“Every time someone criticizes him, he goes and makes a political attack back,” Haley said in September. “That is not who we are as Republicans. That’s not what we do. That not what I want my South Carolinians to do.” Haley has also urged her fellow Republicans to celebrate the contributions of legal immigrants, a pointed departure from Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. Haley said, electing Rubio would “show my parents the best decision they made for their children was coming to America.”
(Washington, DC: February 19, 2016) Kamala Harris, the first ever person of Indian Origin to win a state wide election in the state of California, and now considered a favorite to win the US Senate race in the same state, has doused speculation that she may be on President Obama’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees, saying during a campaign event at a San Jose union hall that while she is flattered to have her name mentioned, she has no interest in the job at this time.
Harris’ name as a possible Supreme Court nominee arose shortly after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday. Harris addressed the speculation almost immediately when she appeared before the union members, insisting she “was not putting my name out there.” It was her first public event since Scalia’s death.
While presenting the Attorney General’s annual California Data Breach Report at Stanford University, Harris said, “I’m not interested,” she politely told an inquiring television news reporter. As the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, Harris is an appealing prospect for those pushing for more diversity on the Supreme Court. But it would have been extremely difficult for a liberal politician from California to survive what is expected to be a bruising confirmation process in the Republican-led Senate.
Harris, 51, said her focus is on her current job and her campaign to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. “I’m not putting my name in for consideration. I do not wish to be considered. I am running for the United States Senate,” Harris emphatically told reporters after the union rally.
According to reports, Harris didn’t say who she wants the president to nominate, but suggested it should be someone with “practical life experience.” She also would favor a nominee who would protect abortion rights, and marriage equality for same-sex couples, she said.
“Maybe I’m biased, but I’d like to see someone who’s actually seen the impact of the court and the rulings of the court. Someone who’s thinking of it not just in a way that is theoretical, but … how these laws and these rulings affect real people,” she said.
Karris, a progressive, has always been in the forefront of Civil Rights, Equality and Openness. Harris used herself as an example, saying that she never would have been elected were it not for the not for the educational opportunities she received because of the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that found segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. Harris said that ruling allowed her to be a member of the second class that integrated Berkeley public schools in the 1960s.
California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris
She criticized the current Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling that struck down a key part of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965, ending federal oversight of election laws in Southern states. Harris said the court “gutted it” and she vowed, if elected to the Senate, to work to reinstate those voter protections that civil rights advocates credit for with transforming the South by ensuring blacks could vote. The attorney general also criticized members of the Senate Republican leadership who vowed to block any Supreme Court nominee put forth by the Democratic president.
“I think the Republicans have been outrageous on this issue. Outrageous,” Harris said. “This president is going to be in office through January of next year. We, as Americans, deserve to have a fully-staffed United States Supreme Court. There are very important issues before the Supreme Court right now.”
California’s primary is set for June 7. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election. Leading in the polls and with two victories in statewide elections under her belt, Harris is the front-runner in the Senate race. Her top Democratic rival is Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange. Their Republican challengers include Tom Del Beccaro and George “Duf” Sundheim, both Bay Area attorneys who were former chairmen of the California Republican Party.
Former Obama White House advisor David Axelrod mentioned the possibility of a Harris nomination on a weekend news show, and Harris’ name has popped up on hypothetical lists from the New York Times, Associated Press, USA Today, the National Law Journal and the wonky but well-regarded SCOTUSblog.
“Kamala Harris would be an unusual choice — most recent appointments have been federal court of appeals judges — but a plausible one,” said Erwin Chemerinksy, dean of the UC Irvine School of Law. “However, there are so many plausible names. I doubt anyone has inside information so it is just all speculation.”
She is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and earned her law degree at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Harris as a veteran prosecutor and astute, ambitious political leader. Harris also has been a strong Obama supporter since he was a U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois.
For more than a decade, she worked as a prosecutor in Alameda County and San Francisco, and tried cases involving charges of drunk driving, sex crimes, assault and homicide. Her transition to electoral politics began in 2003 during her successful campaign to unseat San Francisco Dist. Atty. Terence Hallinan. Harris was elected attorney general in 2010, narrowly beating L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, a Republican. She was reelected in 2014 by a wide margin.
Her parents divorced when Harris was a toddler and her late mother, who was a breast cancer researcher at UC Berkeley, raised Harris and her sister, Maya, to be proud African American women during a tumultuous time in the United States. Harris was a student in the second class to integrate Berkeley’s public schools in the late 1960s. Her sister has served as advisor to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
Harris’ national profile got a boost when Obama gave her a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. The headlines continued in 2013 when Obama apologized publicly for having described her as “the best-looking” attorney general in the country.
For all her demographic and political strengths, Harris does not come from the judicial realm. She has staked out liberal positions on issues that would raise the ire of Republican Senate leaders who already have warned Obama to leave the nomination to the next president.
Throughout her political career, Harris has articulated clear positions on many controversial, divisive issues that could come before the nation’s high court. Harris favors the protection of abortion rights, an end to the federal ban on medical marijuana and a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. She backs major changes in the criminal justice system, in part to address racial disparities, including shorter sentences for low-level drug crimes and a shift in government funding from prisons to crime prevention.
As attorney general, Harris has taken actions conservatives would no doubt take issue with during a Senate confirmation hearing, should one ever occur: She refused to defend Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage in California until the U.S. Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. Harris defended a state law that required members of public employee unions to help pay for collective bargaining. A case challenging those requirements — Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Assn. — is pending in the Supreme Court and could yield a 4-4 decision in Scalia’s absence. Harris, who has been supported politically by the California Teachers Assn., appealed a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge’s ruling in the case of Vergara vs. California, which threw out the state’s tenure process for grade school teachers. Harris criticized a federal appeals court for rejecting Obama’s executive actions on immigration, a case that is also pending before the Supreme Court.
Harris has brushed aside the speculation, although questions about the issue will follow her during her ongoing campaign for U.S. Senate ahead of California’s June 7 primary. “While the attorney general is honored to be mentioned in these conversations, she’s committed to her current job and continuing her fight for California families in the U.S. Senate,” campaign spokesman Nathan Click said Monday. Harris declared: “I am running for Senate.”
The Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans was once the largest of all the groups in the US Congress. However, recently, the numbers have been dwindling. Efforts by several Indian American community leaders have been on for months now. During a meeting organized by the representatives of several Indian-American organizations on February 5, 2016,
Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., a first-term Congresswoman from New York joined the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.
Rice, who represents Long Island in New York pledged to help raise the dwindling number of lawmakers on the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans. The meeting hosted by the Indian American Voters Forum, was held at the Long Island, N.Y. at the home of Virander Bhalla, chairman of IAVF. It was meant to kick-start a renewed effort to increase the membership of the India Caucus. “While the Indo-U.S. relations have blossomed under President Obama, the India Caucus has a vital role to play in taking this relationship to the next level,” Rice is quoted saying in a press release.
Rep. Grace Meng, D- N.Y., who was present at the event also pledged to work towards enhancing the membership on the Caucus. “The U.S and India share and unbreakable bond and the work of the Caucus on India and Indian Americans continues to strengthen this special relationship, and highlight the important role that the Indian-American community plays in every sector of our society,” Meng was quoted to have said. “It is critical for the Caucus to continue this important work and as a member, I look forward to doing so,” she added. Both lawmakers were presented with plaques by India’s Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay.
Bhalla said this was not the first time IAVF had furthered the goals of the caucus. “In 2009, Riti Bhalla, a television host and member of the Indian American Voters Forum successfully connected with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to get her to join the Senate India Caucus,” Bhalla recalled. Dr. Ajay Lodha, president-elect of AAPI, and Dr. Vaijinath Chakote, president of the Queens & Long Island chapter of AAPI, appealed to other community leaders to join IAVF’s initiative. Dozens of community leaders representing the Association of Indian Americans, the Nargis Dutt Foundation, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, the Long Island Indian Association and the Rajasthan Association, attended the event.
Former Indian American Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is endorsing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for president. Rubio campaign adviser Todd Harris confirmed the endorsement Feb. 5. It was the second from a former GOP presidential candidate for Rubio last week.
Rubio is trying to seize on a better-than-expected third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses as he sprints across New Hampshire ahead of this week’s first-in-the-nation primary. Rubio was addressing an audience of more than 700 before the confirmation that Jindal had offered his support. Jindal was a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination from last June until November.
In other news from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, AP reports that when Jindal exited the governor’s office, he left behind a string of IOUs for his economic development deals, at least $155 million of which could come due during the next four years of Governor John Bel Edwards’ term.
The former governor made commitments for incentive payments and construction projects tied to various business deals, without providing money to cover those long-term costs. Instead, Edwards inherited a budget awash in gaps and depleted savings accounts — on top of the obligations to which his predecessor committed the state.
Governors regularly make commitments to companies beyond their terms, leaving their successors to pick up the remaining tab. But Jindal’s obligations come as Edwards, a Democrat who took office earlier this month, grapples with the state’s deepest financial crisis in nearly 30 years.
In the upcoming 2016-17 budget year, the Edwards administration will owe an estimated $50 million to companies from Jindal’s economic development deals, about $11 million from the state construction budget and another $39 million in direct cash from the general fund.
That doesn’t count spending from any tax break programs through which companies in Louisiana can lessen what they owe the state. “Obviously, there have been commitments made that take a huge chunk of general fund dollars to satisfy,” said Edwards’ chief financial adviser, Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne. “We’re going to satisfy contractual obligations that we have to.”
Jindal invested a strong focus on drawing business to Louisiana, and he announced a string of projects over his eight years in office. The Republican counted among his biggest achievements $62 billion in economic development wins estimated to create tens of thousands of jobs.
Those deals are estimated to cost more than $344 million in incentive and construction payments for Jindal’s successors, with commitments that run until 2030, according to data provided to The Associated Press shortly before Jindal left office.
RALEIGH, N.C. – Indian-American candidate for North Carolina State Senate Jay Chaudhuri has been endorsed by the North Carolina AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, the Triangle Labor Council, the Raleigh Police Protective Association and the Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association. The groups emphasized Chaudhuri’s career devoted to fighting for North Carolina workers.
“Throughout his career with State Treasurer Janet Cowell and Attorney General Roy Cooper, Jay Chaudhuri has stood up for the issues that matter to our members,” said Triangle Labor Council President Michael Gravinese. “We endorse Jay because as State Senator, he’ll be a champion for workers and working families throughout the state.”
“I’m honored that these groups representing hard-working North Carolina union members, firefighters and police officers have chosen to support me,” said Chaudhuri. “We rely on these workers and public servants to do their jobs every day, and as State Senator, I’ll work hard to build a better economy for them and for everyone in the state.”
The Primary is slated for March 15th. If Chaudhuri wins the primary from the heavily Democratic District 16, he would be as good as elected before the November general elections, making him the first Indian-American state Senator in North Carolina.
He is fighting a tough battle against his rival Ellis Hankins who was the head of North Carolina League of Municipalities for 17 years. The District 16 seat opened up when incumbent Josh Stein declared his run for state Attorney General. To date Chaudhuri has raised almost $290,000 from 571 contributors. “This is a very competitive Democratic primary,” he acknowledged.
Chaudhuri said he hoped the latest endorsements would increase the grassroots machinery he has working on his campaign including some 40 volunteers who have helped make some 62,067 calls and door knocks to voters. Hankins said he had “lots of volunteers” engaged in putting up neighborhood signs, and preparing for monitoring early voting sights and carrying out polling etc.
District 16 includes parts of Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville and western Wake County. Morrisville has a rising number of Indian-Americans and Chaudhuri hopes they will come out to swell his numbers on primary day. Chaudhuri said the labor groups’ endorsement recognized his career fighting for working families. “I have a track record of getting things done including taking on multibillion dollar companies to protect children on the Internet, and helping recover more than $100 million from life insurance companies,” he said.
In addition to the AFL-CIO, Teamsters Local 391, the Triangle Labor Council, the Raleigh Police Protective Association and the Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association, Chaudhuri has been endorsed by nine current and past elected officials: State Treasurer Janet Cowell, Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane, State Representative Gale Adcock, Wake County Commissioner John Burns, Wake County Commissioner Sig Hutchinson, former Raleigh City Council Member Rodger Koopman, former Raleigh City Council Member Randy Stagner, Morrisville Town Council Member Steve Rao, and former Morrisville Mayor Margaret Broadwell.
Chaudhuri has a Masters in international affairs from Columbia University and a law degree from North Carolina Central University. He was a legislative aide to Democratic U.S. Senator Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin. From 2001 to 2009, he was special counsel to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, where he is credited with developing major policy initiatives such as drafting the statewide strategy to combat methamphetamine; spearheading the AG’s Campus Safety Task Force after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2006; being involved in the national multi-state investigation of MySpace and Facebook, helping negotiate an agreement between 49 state attorneys general and MySpace to create a task-force on online safety tools.
From 2009 to mid-2015, Chaudhuri was general counsel and senior policy advisor to State Treasurer Janet Cowell, where he managed all corporate governance and legal matters for the department which handled the $90 billion pension fund among other things. “When I announced my candidacy in May, I laid out my plan to meet, listen to and discuss issues with voters across the district so we can work together to move North Carolina forward,” said Chaudhuri. “We now have a strong grassroots-oriented staff to help us do exactly that.”
With increased stereotyping and hatred towards Muslims around the world, President Obama advocated religious tolerance and unity. During his first ever visit to a mosque in the United States on February 3, President Barack Obama joined Muslim Americans from around the nation at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, Maryland, and said: “We’re one American family. And when any part of our family starts to feel separate or second-class or targeted, it tears at the very fabric of our nation.”
Obama noted that violence against the Muslim American and Sikh American communities has surged in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks last November – in which extremists affiliated with the Islamic State killed 183 people – and the San Bernardino shootings in December, when a Muslim American couple killed 14 people at a rehabilitation center for handicapped people.
“I know that in Muslim communities across our country, this is a time of concern and, frankly, a time of some fear. Like all Americans, you’re worried about the threat of terrorism,” said the president, who removed his shoes before entering the mosque, in deference to Islamic custom. “But on top of that, as Muslim Americans, you also have another concern – that your entire community so often is targeted or blamed for the violent acts of the very few,” he said.
“I’ve had people write to me and say, ‘I feel like I’m a second-class citizen.’ I’ve had mothers write and say, ‘my heart cries every night,’ thinking about how her daughter might be treated at school. A girl from Ohio, 13 years old, told me, ‘I’m scared.’ A girl from Texas signed her letter ‘a confused 14-year-old trying to find her place in the world,’” said Obama.
“These are children just like mine. And the notion that they would be filled with doubt and questioning their places in this great country of ours at a time when they’ve got enough to worry about — it’s hard being a teenager already — that’s not who we are.”
Obama stated that hate crimes must be reported and punished. He encouraged the community to speak out against hateful rhetoric and violence against any faith, and to reject religious extremism.
The president rejected the notion that America is ‘at war with Islam’, stating: “We can’t be at war with any other religion, because the world’s religions are a part of the very fabric of the United States, our national character. And we can’t suggest that Islam itself is at the root of the problem. That betrays our values. It alienates Muslim Americans.”
Muhammed Ahmed Chaudhry, CEO of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, and a volunteer with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, joined Obama on his visit to the Baltimore mosque. Chaudhry is reported to have told the media that after the visit that he had been invited to the White House for dinner with the president last year and had encouraged him to visit a mosque.
Chaudhry said it was heartwarming to see the president remove his shoes before entering the mosque. “It showed respect and true leadership,” he said. The visit to the mosque was a great symbolic way for the president to highlight the Muslim American community’s positive contributions to the U.S.
According to reports, half of Americans say the next president should be careful not to criticize Islam as a whole when speaking about Islamic extremists, while four-in-ten want the next president to speak bluntly about Islamic extremists even if the statements are critical of Islam as a whole. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that blunt talk is preferred by two-thirds of Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party (65%), while seven-in-ten Democrats and independents who lean Democratic express the opposite view, saying the next president should speak carefully about Islamic extremism so as not to criticize Islam as a whole.
While many Americans are concerned about Islamic extremism, the new survey shows that most people think the problem with violence committed in the name of religion is people rather than with religion per se. Indeed, fully two-thirds of Americans say the bigger problem is that some violent people use religion to justify their actions (68%). Only about a fifth (22%) say the bigger problem is that the teachings of some religions promote violence.
Obama’s call for tolerance and unity have been criticized by some. Trump chided Obama for the mosque visit. “He can go to lots of places. I don’t know, maybe he feels comfortable there,” Trump told Fox News. Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio also lashed out against Obama’s mosque visit, criticizing the president for “pitting people against each other.”
“He’s basically saying that America is discriminating against Muslims,” said Rubio during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, acknowledging that there was discrimination, but radical Islam is a bigger threat.
In fact, Obama’s words, in fact, bore a close resemblance to President George W. Bush’s remarks after 9/11, when he called Islam a religion of peace and criticized discrimination and attacks against American Muslims. Why were those 2001 comments by a Republican president welcomed, while Obama’s very similar comments today were not? Part of it is surely partisanship. But Americans have also become less and less accepting of Islam. When PRRI asked the same question in 2011, for example, just 47 percent of Americans agreed that Islam was incompatible with American values, and 48 percent disagreed.
“Three weeks after 9/11, an ABC News poll found that Americans had a more favorable view of Islam than unfavorable, 47 percent to 39 percent,” notes Shibley Telhami of the Brookings Institution. “But a decade later, the picture changed dramatically. A poll I conducted in April 2011 showed that 61 percent of Americans expressed unfavorable views of Islam, while only 33 percent expressed favorable views.”
“The president’s first visit to an American mosque is a significant step in the right direction and will hopefully encourage our nation’s political and religious leaders to join him in pushing back against rising Islamophobia,” said Council on American Islamic Relations Maryland outreach manager Zainab Chaudry, who was invited to the president’s visit to the mosque.
“We welcome President Obama’s historic visit and applaud his remarks both rejecting anti-Muslim rhetoric and reminding our fellow Americans about Islam’s long history in our nation and about constitutional protections guaranteeing religious freedom,” said CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad.
The historic 45-minute speech at a large, suburban Baltimore mosque was attended by some of the country’s most prominent Muslims. In what appeared to be a counter to the rise in Islamophobia, Obama celebrated the long history of Muslim achievement in American life from sports to architecture and described Muslims as Cub Scouts, soldiers and parents, pointing out the mother of the pre-med college student who introduced him at the podium.
Obama’s visit is likely to be compared with a landmark speech to the Islamic world early in his presidency. At Cairo University, Obama in 2009 called for a “new beginning” between the Islamic world and the United States, noting shared interests on issues such as extremism but also acknowledging mistakes made over centuries by all societies in the name of culture and faith.
Congressman Ami Bera, D-California, the only Indian-American on Capitol Hill is facing an roadblock from within the Democratic Party with the local activists not giving the District 7 representative, the majority needed for an unqualified endorsement.
Bera’s votes on issues such as Syria refugees and trade are coming under intense examination as local Democrats debate withholding endorsement from him in his re-election race against Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, a Republican. This Jan. 31 shortfall in support came on the heels of a rejection from his hometown activists at the Elk Grove-South County Democratic Club, opposed him as a choice for the Democratic ticket.
The Congressman who represents District 7, met activists at a regional endorsement party in Sacramento Jan. 31, where he secured only 61 percent of the vote instead of the 70 percent which would have put him over the top for being the nominee. Thirty nine percent opposed him.
Bera is campaigning for his third term in Congress to represent CD-7, a district comprised of portions of Sacramento, Elk Grove and Folsom. His chief opponent is Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, a Republican.
The backlash against Bera has come primarily from labor groups, who oppose the congressman’s vote supporting the Trans Pacific Authority bill, which gives the president “fast-track” latitude to create trade treaties with other countries without Congressional oversight. A total of 160 Democrats in the House voted against TPA in June 2015. The measure passed 218 to 208.
Many members of the Sikh American community in Sacramento also opposed Bera during the 2014 election cycle for his failure to recognize the 1984 anti-Sikh riots – after Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination – as “genocide.”
Community activists have also opposed Bera for his vote supporting HR 4038, which would prevent any refugee from Syria or Iraq from entering the U.S. until the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence certify that they are not dangerous.
Alex Gilliland, Bera’s communications director in Washington, D.C., explained to India-West that if Bera had received 70 percent or more of the vote, he would have automatically received the endorsement. “While he did not get 70 percent of the vote, he got over 50 percent so he moves forward in the endorsement process and is confident he’ll get the party’s endorsement on Feb. 28,” she said. Gilliland also said that Bera has not yet announced his position on the Trans Pacific Partnership; he is waiting for a key report which will be released in May, she said.
“Congressman Bera voted to remove labels from foreign meat, to ban state protections on genetically-modified food, and to condemn President Obama,” said Amar Shergill, a local attorney and delegate, in a press statement. “It is a sad truth that when Congressman Bera is under pressure, he votes with Republicans to benefit multinational corporations at the expense of local families. “We are very concerned that he is under the influence of those that care more about overseas investments than American jobs,” added Shergill.
Robert Longer, a California Democrat and union political director, has been a supporter of U.S. Rep. Ami Bera since Bera’s first election campaign. He’s walked door-to-door with Bera to drum up votes, and he hosted a fundraiser for Bera at his Elk Grove home. But disillusion began to set in in June, when the second-term Democratic congressman broke with his party to vote for a trade bill fiercely opposed by labor unions.
“It kind of opened up the door to a lot of scrutiny and looking at his record, which maybe some folks didn’t really do before that,” said Longer, the legislative-political director for Communications Workers of America Local 9421. “Once folks did, myself included, we saw a lot of things that we didn’t like.”
Bera, whose last two term victories have been won on extremely slim margins in one of the costliest races in the country, is now looking to get his endorsement at the state Democratic Party Convention scheduled for Feb. 28. Since he was elected four years ago, Bera has been a target for Republicans trying to gain a seat in a district that is about evenly split between the two parties. Republicans are gleeful about this setback.
Dissatisfaction with Bera’s vote for the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade deal with Asian countries led by President Obama, has upset labor groups; and his stand on limiting refugees from Iraq and Syria has put him on the wrong side of many Democrats.
Bera will step up his efforts aiming to get the okay at the state party convention where regional clubs and other local groups are not invited and voting is conducted through delegates and proxies.
Responding to the loss of support from within Democratic ranks, Bera had said during a visit to India late December that “My job is to serve my district and to address the issues that matter to residents. Washington is broken and I firmly believe that we must work together, across the aisle, to get things done and I will continue to do that.” If he wins the nomination, Bera will be running against Republican Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones.
NASHUA, N.H. — The absence of a clear political triumph in Iowa put both Democratic candidates in unexpected positions coming into New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton is digging in for a tough fight against Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in next week’s primary in New Hampshire, according to her advisers. Clinton is trying to spark political momentum and fund-raising energy after only a razor-thin victory in the Iowa caucuses. Things have come a long for the former First Lady, who once was considered a sure winner, goes to New Hampshire trailing behind her rival by at least 20 points, and especially after a razor thin victory in Iowa.
The Clinton campaign had considered shifting its focus to Nevada and South Carolina, which hold nominating contests later in February. But Clinton, with the strong support of former President Bill Clinton, decided she would help herself more by closing the gap in New Hampshire, where polls show Sanders with a double-digit lead. The Clintons even hope she might pull off an upset win here, as she did in 2008, given their long history of campaigning in the state. “This is going to be a great week of campaigning,” Clinton said.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
For the Clintons, the New Hampshire primary holds an emotional attachment. It is the state that made Bill Clinton the “Comeback Kid” after he overcame scandal to place second here in 1992. Hillary Clinton said she “found my own voice” in New Hampshire in 2008 with a surprise victory here after finishing third in Iowa.
Some analysts say, the uncertain outcome in Iowa dealt a jolting psychological blow to the Clinton campaign, leaving volunteers, donors and aides confused throughout the night, and then crestfallen. Hillary Clinton urged the voters who gave her a surprise win in 2008 to get behind her again. “New Hampshire, come with me this week,” she told the crowd in Nashua just before The Associated Press called the Iowa race. A woman shouted, “We are!”
According to reports, Sanders and his team are said to be making plans to spend more than $1 million on television commercials in an attempt to solidify his advantage. He also drew about $3 million in donations in the 24 hours after his caucus speech Monday night, his campaign said; with $28 million on hand, compared with Mrs. Clinton’s $38 million, Sanders advisers expressed confidence that he would not stumble like other insurgent presidential candidates of the past.
Sanders had hoped to unnerve Clinton by eking out a win in Iowa, and instead found himself trying to spin gold out of his “virtual tie” with her in the caucuses. Yet he and his advisers welcomed the sudden prospect of increased competition from Clinton here because it played into the expectations game as the Sanders campaign would like to play it.
Bernie Sanders
The Clinton campaign has already sought to dismiss any potential victory by Sanders here as irrelevant, given the state’s history of rewarding candidates from New England. “I know I am in a contest with your neighbor,” Mrs. Clinton saidTuesday night in Hampton, N.H. “We are in his backyard.”
Sanders has vowed to campaign hard across New Hampshire and said that as in Iowa, his campaign would focus on getting supporters to the polls on election night. “Secretary Clinton won here in 2008,” he told a group of reporters in Keene after a rally. “Secretary Clinton has a very formidable political organization and, as you know, has virtually the entire political establishment on her side. So, you know, we are taking nothing for granted.”
The 2016 presidential nomination process officially got underway tonight, and Ted Cruz was the big winner. In first-in-the-nation caucuses in Iowa, Hawkeye State voters chose Cruz over the other leading GOP candidates, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. Charles Krauthammer said that the Iowa caucus was a major inflection point on the Republican presidential campaign, as it punctured the aura of invincibility surrounding Donald Trump. “Had Trump won, it would have reinforced the sense of inevitability, the momentum he had,” Krauthammer explained. “This is the first time he’s encountered defeat.”
The days after the Iowa Caucus, where the front runner Trump lost to Ted Cruz and Rubio came a very close third, the Republican presidential contenders were attacking a young freshman Cuban-American senator who came away from the Iowa caucuses with a strong result that has given him momentum ahead of the New Hampshire primary on February 9. Yet they were not referring to Ted Cruz, the Texas senator, who cruised to victory on Monday, but Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, who came third.
Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz – were at the No. 2 and 3 spots in the GOP nomination race nationally, albeit with a sizable gap behind the frontrunner Donald Trump. While Rubio poses a threat to Cruz and Trump, whom he almost beat in Iowa, he poses a bigger immediate obstacle to other right-of-centre establishment Republicans who are banking on a strong performance in New Hampshire to catapult their struggling campaigns into the top tier.
On the campaign stump, the 44-year old son of Cuban immigrants whose life epitomises the American dream sells himself as a “generational choice” who can beat either Hillary Clinton, 68, or Bernie Sanders, 74, in the general election.
Cruz and Rubio are Cuban Americans. Rubio’s grandfather remained in the U.S. despite a removal order and his parents arrived separately in the 1950s. Cruz’s father came to the U.S. and then moved to Canada, where Cruz was born; his mother was an American citizen. The attacks against Rubio has gtrown stronger ever since his surprise good performance in Iowa.
“This isn’t a student council election, everybody. This is an election for president of the United States. Let’s get the boy in the bubble out of the bubble,” snarked Chris Christie. He was referring to Rubio’s tendency to be rather scripted in his appearances — one New Hampshire reporter compared him to “a computer algorithm designed to cover talking points.”
Christie, pressing further — and when does Chris Christie not? — has also been saying that the speech Rubio sticks to is the same one he’s been giving since 2010. It’s true that there’s always the part about his parents, the striving Cuban immigrants. And you do get the feeling you’re supposed to vote for him because his dad and mom believed in the American dream.
As a young man, Rubio himself was not particularly hard working. In fact, in his memoir he admits he could be “insufferably demanding.” But he did sympathize with his parents’ struggles, and when his father, a bartender, went on strike in 1984, young Marco became “a committed union activist.”
According to reports, Rubio was a slow starter, education-wise, but he eventually graduated from law school, saddled with a load of student debt. This is, as he always points out, a familiar American story. The next part, where he instantly runs for office and acquires a billionaire benefactor who helps him out by underwriting low-stress jobs for Rubio and his wife, is slightly less average.
On the issues, Rubio says he has a new generation’s answers to the nation’s economic problems. The answers are mainly about reducing business taxes and regulations, but he says it in a much more youthful way. He’s anti-choice, even for victims of rape and incest. Lately, he’s taken to pointing to instances when he supported legislation that did include an exception. This is true. As long as a bill makes it harder for women to have access to abortion rights, he’s there.
He becomes one of the famous bipartisan “Gang of Eight” pushing for immigration reform. Rubio is a valuable partner for the Gang, and he makes them pay with repeated concessions, including a very strong provision for additional border security. Finally, the path-to-citizenship bill passes the Senate 68 to 32. “We are a compassionate people,” he says on the Senate floor.
In the competition with the other super-conservative Cuban-American contender, Ted Cruz, Rubio is regarded as more likable. This is not a heavy lift. He is also competing with Cruz for the affection of Christian conservatives, and while Rubio has always mentioned God in his political speeches, lately he’s been ramping things up. One of his ads in Iowa was about “the free gift of salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ.”
The immigrant presidential contenders are fighting to win the Hispanic voters in the nation, which is very crucial to win the general election. Their efforts to paint the other as not tough enough on immigration showed how far to the right the discussion on immigration has shifted, to a point that the Gang of Eight immigration reform plan Rubio once supported is completely off the table, said Stella Rouse, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland. “That’s not even part of the Republican discussion of what can be accomplished,” Rouse said.
Cruz called the bipartisan Gang of Eight bill, passed by the Senate in 2013 and that included a series of steps over the years that led to applying for citizenship, a “massive amnesty plan.” “He was fighting to grant amnesty and not to secure the border. I was fighting to secure the border,” Cruz said.
Cruz’s campaign chairman told a group of GOP Hispanics that Cruz wants to be the champion of legal immigration. He also told them that Cruz supports “attrition through enforcement” for people not legally in the country, a phrase that the group interpreted as self deportation. “I have never supported legalization and I do not intend to support legalization,” Cruz said in the debate. Princeton University political scientist Ali Valenzuela said Rubio is in a better position than Cruz to take a moderate stance on immigration – as well as other issues – that might appeal to Latino voters in the general election. Rubio talked about immigration in a way that sounded “sincere” and “heartfelt” like he knew what he was talking about,” Valenzuela said.
“Immigration is not an issue that I read about in the newspaper or watch a documentary on PBS or CNN,” Rubio said in the debate. “My family are immigrants. My wife’s family are immigrants. All of my neighbors are immigrants. I see every aspect of this problem. The good the bad and the ugly,” he said.
The Republican establishment is thrilled: A moderate-sounding Gen X senator from a swing state! And one so good at spin he managed to give a victory speech in Iowa after he came in third. No wonder all the other candidates are jealous.
Washington State Senator Pramila Jayapal has declared her intention to run for the U.S. Congress on January 21st. In her announcement, she declared that she wants to be the voice of masses left behind by the concentration of wealth in the hands of 1 percent.
Describing herself as a “bold, progressive fighter,” Jayapal announced she is running for the Democratic primary scheduled for March 26. She hopes to replace long time Congressman Jim McDermott who is vacating the District 7 seat that leans Democratic.
Jayapal faces off against at least two other Democratic aspirants who have declared so far: King County Council Chair Joe McDermott and State Rep. Brady Walkinshaw. The news outlet Seattlepi.com reported Walkinshaw already has some $300,000 in his campaign coffers and has bagged some key endorsements from leaders in the LGBT community and among environmentalists, as well as some long-time party activists.
Jayapal was elected to the state Senate in 2014, from the 37th Legislative District where she has lived for 20 years and which is one of the most racially and economically diverse districts in the state. But the U.S. Senate District 7 is an amalgam including some prosperous areas and Jayapal has her work cut out for her.
“I am a fighter not for the one percent, but for working men and women; not for austerity, but social security; not for deportations and breaking up families, but building stronger middle class families; not for prisons, but public education, college debt relief and criminal justice reform,” asserts Jayapal on her campaign website.
She is the second left-of-center politico thrown up by the Indian-American community in Washington state, the first being Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, an avowed Socialist whom Jayapal has strongly supported in the past two years.
Jayapal notes in her speech that she stood up for Arabs, Muslims and Sikhs after 9/11 “when few people would.” She attacked Republican frontrunner in the presidential primaries, Donald Trump for “whipping up hate and fear across the country, resulting in a rise in anti-Muslim violence.” She called for protecting Planned Parenthood.
“I’ve been on picket lines and at negotiating tables with numerous labor unions for more than a decade. And I’ve helped bring movements together—labor and community, gay, women and immigrant,—so that we can expand ourselves and see our intersections,” said Jayapal.
Sounding very much like Sawant, Jayapal said, “I’m running for Congress because our system is rigged for corporations and the wealthy, but we can fight back.” Jayapal said. Her core issues are raising the minimum wage, expanding Social Security and Medicare, and ensuring debt-free college for young people across America. “I’m ready to take on the powerful, while organizing inside, outside and in-between the two,” she said.
Jayapal came to the U.S. at the age of 16, sent by her parents to study at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. “My parents took all the money they had, which was about $5,000 at the time, and used it to send me here to this country because they believed that this was the place I would get the best education and have the brightest future,” she said. After graduating, she worked on Wall Street as a financial analyst, also getting an MBA from Northwestern University. After a few years she quit the private sector to work on social justice issues advocating for women and immigrants and civil and human rights.
She is credited with leading one of the largest voter registration efforts in Washington state, which is said to have got more than 23,000 new Americans to register. Jayapal pushed for setting up the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs in Seattle and was co-chair of the Seattle Police Chief Search panel.
She is the founder of OneAmerica, (previously called Hate Free Zone), Washington state’s largest immigrant advocacy organization, and lobbied hard for the passage of President Obama’s 2014 Dream Act that enabled children of illegal immigrants to find a path to legal status.
In May 2013, she was recognized by President Obama as a White House “Champion of Change.” She lives in Columbia City with her son and husband, and has another grown stepson who lives in Colorado.
In India, the Hindu nationalist government “generally failed to curb a rise in anti-Muslim violence and intimidation, at times appearing to encourage or take advantage of religious divisions for political gain,” the U.S.-based Freedom House said in its annual report.
Across South and Southeast Asia, religious extremism gave rise to increased tensions and violence last year, the Freedom House said in its annual report. Released on January 27, the report features Asia as a region where “religious nationalism [is] linked to political tensions” and highlights six countries — all in South and Southeast Asia.
“In a range of Asian countries, strained political institutions were paired with various forms of religious nationalism or extremism,” noted a statement accompanying the report. In Myanmar, anti-Muslim discrimination “remained a serious problem,” the report notes, adding that it is unclear whether the newly elected National League for Democracy government will be able to address the issue.
In Muslim-majority countries, meanwhile, secularists and other minorities bore the brunt of the oppression. The report highlights a series of attacks in Bangladesh on atheist bloggers, foreigners and Shiites carried out by Islamist radicals. In Malaysia, increased conservatism has led to the persecution of the LGBT community, and in Brunei “the government restricted minority religious displays and moved toward implementation of a harsh new criminal code based on sharia.”
Among the listed nations, only Sri Lanka is singled out as a country that has seen a de-escalation, with Buddhist nationalists losing influence following last year’s surprise change in leadership. The country in fact saw one of the largest gains on the report’s ratings, shooting up 14 points to 55 on an index ranking freedom from 0 to 100. The country also was bumped up from “not free” to “partly free” on the reports’ three-tiered ranking system.
Across Asia, just 41 percent of the countries surveyed fell into the “free” tier. “In many countries with authoritarian governments, the drop in revenues from falling commodity prices led dictators to redouble political repression at home and lash out at perceived foreign enemies,” said Arch Puddington, senior vice president for research, in a statement accompanying the report, which also highlighted Thailand as a nation where “the previous year’s dramatic setbacks for freedom … continued to fester.” The region also performed poorly in Transparency International’s annual Corruptions Perception Index, which was released Jan. 27.
On 168 countries surveyed, much of Asia received less than 50 on a 100-point scale of perceived corruption. Cambodia performed the worst in Southeast Asia, scoring just 21 points, followed by Myanmar at 22. Singapore and Hong Kong were the only Asian nations to receive scores higher than 70.
“Has Asia Pacific stalled in its efforts to fight corruption?” asked Srirak Plipat, regional director for Asia Pacific. “This year’s poor results demand that leaders revisit the genuineness of their efforts and propel the region forward with actionable measures.”
With the Republican Presidential Candidate leading the GOP polls across the nation, a group called “Indian-Americans for Trump 2016” registered with the Federal Election Commission as a political action committee, has been on January 21st. The group hopes to garner the support of Indian Americans to elect Donald Trump as the next president of the United States.
The group’s president, A.D. Amar, a business professor at Seton Hall University, told the media that discussions about the PAC first started in December. “I was surprised at the strength Trump had among the Indian professionals and Indian community,” he said. “I have never seen Indians so united behind a candidate.”
The group of Indian-Americans which believes New York billionaire Donald Trump is the answer to America’s perceived ills, both domestic and international, will work to muster funds and advocate for GOP support for the controversial Republican frontrunner to become the next President of the United States.
Among the numerous candidates in the field including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Senator Ted Cruz, cardiologist Ben Carson, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, this group of Indian-Americans believes Trump has his finger on the pulse of the American people and a proven record that makes him the best one to lead the country.
New York-based attorney Anand Ahuja will serve as vice president and Devendra “Dave” Makkar will be treasurer, according to a press release issued by the organization. New Jersey local news publisher Sudhir Parikh will be chair of the fundraising and advisory committee.
In the press release, the PAC said, “The officers of the Indian-Americans for Trump 2016 urge all Americans to join in the effort and support Donald Trump in his endeavor to make America great again by electing him the next President of the USA.”
Amar cited Trump’s stances on illegal immigration and the economy as key factors for the group’s support of him. He also said that the group’s members were drawn to the fact that Trump has said he will not be taking money from PACs or special-interest groups. “Trump is going to keep the lobbies out, and he is going to focus on the general population,” Amar said.
Trump has proclaimed he does not take money from PACs. Amar said the new PAC was established to raise funds to carry out a grassroots campaign. “We will be building chapters around the country starting with Washington, D.C., California, and New York City, to get support from Americans, particularly Indian-Americans.”
What attracts Amar and the other founders of the PAC to Trump is his policies and pronouncements on illegal immigration and the economy. “In my 44 years in America, amnesty has been given to illegals two or three times, and yet the number is growing,” Amar said. “Trump is right when he says ‘You go back, apply, and we will process you” and that is the right way.”
Amar believes the perceived difference between Trump’s style and his management will translate to a change after the election. “Our election process is kind of a revolution,” Amar said. “In a revolution, these kind of statements are not unexpected. In my observation, he is going to be a different person once he’s nominated.”
Washington, DC; January 24, 2016: With less than year of his presidency left, no one yet knows where the Obamas will head on January 20, 2017, when the next president is sworn in on Capitol Hill. The recent debate over where President Barack Obama will establish a library to house his official papers — a debate now settled in favor of Chicago — serves as a reminder that we’ll soon see the end of the administration and the launch of an Obama post-presidency.
The Obamas are attached to Chicago — the president launched his political career there as a community organizer and celebrated his landmark 2008 election win. Obama’s presidential library and foundation will also be based in the Windy City.
“All the strands of my life came together and I really became a man when I moved to Chicago,” Obama said last year when he made the announcement about the library site. “That’s where I met my wife. That’s where my children were born,” he explained. But so far, there is no clear sign that Chicago is the family’s next destination. “Chicago probably seems a bit too small for them now,” said Peter Slevin, a professor at Northwestern University in the Chicago suburbs and the author of “Michelle Obama: A Life.”
So what will life be like for Barack Obama after two terms at the White House? To judge by recent comments, Obama as an ex-president will end up reverting to his most successful political persona: an inspirational figure helping to guide America forward on painful, thorny issues of race and social justice.
Every time someone close to them shows interest in a lavish property in Palm Springs or Honolulu, the press speculates about a veiled investment for the First Couple. But so far, no dice. Nothing concrete has emerged.
The only hint given by the US president? He has said that family will be his priority. “They — and Michelle — have made a lot of sacrifices on behalf of my cockamamie ideas, the running for office and things,” Obama told ABC in 2013, referring to his daughters.
In early 2017, Malia — the Obamas’ older daughter — will be at university. Sasha, now at the private Sidwell Friends school in Washington, will have more than half of her high school studies ahead of her.
Slevin says that like Clinton, Obama could settle down in the New York. “Their friends are expecting the Obamas to live in Washington and then surely move to New York,” he told AFP.
“New York has much to offer them at a time when they would like to be a bit more anonymous than it is possible to be in Chicago.”
Michelle Obama, a trained lawyer, has repeatedly rejected the idea that she would enter politics as Clinton did following her eight years as first lady. “There are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes and Michelle is not running for president,” Barack Obama said a few weeks ago.
Obama, who enjoys writing, is expected to focus on the traditional — and lucrative — art of writing his autobiography in his post-presidency. “Memoirs have always been an acceptable means of making money and cashing in on the presidency,” says historian Mark Updegrove, who is the director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas.
Well-paid speaking engagements — at home and abroad — should pour in. “The question is how much you want to commercialize having been the commander-in-chief,” adds Updegrove, the author of “Second Acts: Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House.”
Obama has said he hopes to work with minority youths in tough neighborhoods — where the dropout rate, unemployment and incarceration rates are higher than elsewhere — to give real meaning to the phrase “equal opportunity.”
While some former presidents of the White House have faded into the background, others have made a significant mark during their so-called second act. John Quincy Adams, who left office in 1829 after failing to win re-election, returned to Congress where he stayed until the end of his life, using his gift for soaring oratory to make the case against slavery.
William Howard Taft, who was president from 1909-1913, then became the chief justice of the US Supreme Court. Could Obama — a former president of the Harvard Law Review who will be 55 years old as he starts his post-White House life — be tempted by the high court?
“I think being a justice is a little bit too monastic for me,” he told The New Yorker in October 2014. “Particularly after having spent six years and what will be eight years in this bubble, I think I need to get outside a little bit more.”
The example of the two Democratic presidents before him — Carter and Clinton, who both launched foundations that are respected beyond America’s borders — could serve as a guide for Obama. Persistent rumors also suggest he could be interested in teaching courses at Columbia University in New York, where he studied in the early 1980s. “I love teaching. I miss the classroom and engaging with students,” he told The New Yorker.
Obama delivered one of the most important speeches of his career, a vintage performance that included emotional references to the President’s personal experiences and an explicit promise to keep working on the initiative after he leaves the White House in 2017.
“I grew up without a dad. I grew up lost sometimes and adrift, not having a sense of a clear path. And the only difference between me and a lot of other young men in this neighborhood and all across the country is that I grew up in an environment that was a little more forgiving,” Obama said. “This will remain a mission for me and for Michelle not just for the rest of my presidency, but for the rest of my life.”
Two protesters were removed Sunday, January 24th from a Donald Trump rally after holding up a banner that read “Stop Hate.” One of the protesters — Arish Singh, a Sikh-American man — responded to the incident on Sunday, tweeting, “I am not a Muslim. But you don’t have to be a Muslim to stand against anti-Muslim bigotry.” Singh and another man were escorted out of the rally in Muscatine, Iowa, as members of the audience chanted, “USA!”
The turbaned Sikh man was ousted out of Donald Trump’s campaign rally in US, after he interrupted the Republican presidential frontrunner’s speech by displaying a banner that read ‘Stop Hate’, the media reported.
The man, wearing a beard and bright red turban, tried to interrupt Trump’s speech when he was addressing a rally on Sunday in Muscatine High School, Iowa, a mid-western state of the US. The incident began as Trump was raging against “radical Islamic terror”, about the 9/11 terror attacks, and the San Bernardino shooting, a common theme in his speeches.
The Sikh protestor stood up and revealed a banner reading “Stop Hate”. Security officials soon escorted him out of the rally amidst chanting of “USA, USA, USA” by Trump’s supporters, reported abcnews.
“We have radical Islamic terror going on all over the place, all over the world, and we have a president that won’t say it,” Trump was quoted as saying at the rally. As the Sikh raised his banner, Trump waved his hand and said, “Bye. Bye. Goodbye.”
“He wasn’t wearing one of those hats, was he? And he never will, and that’s OK because we got to do something folks because it’s not working,” said Trump, pointing to the crowd and referring to the protestor.
In the last few months, before Trump takes the stage an announcement is read telling Trump’s supporters to “not harm a protestor” but instead to chant “Trump, Trump, Trump,” as an alert to security that a protestor has been spotted. The crowd roared Sunday after the protestor was escorted out and shouted “USA, USA, USA”.
Trump is campaigning in Iowa ahead of the next week’s crucial caucus. Latest polls showed that he has taken a lead over his nearest Republican rival Ted Cruz. Iowa Caucus on February 1 is considered crucial as it would set the trend for the rest of the presidential primaries over the next few months.
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton Jan. 7 courted Indian Americans and the larger group of Asian-American voters, telling members of the nation’s fastest growing racial minority that she disagrees with the “hateful rhetoric” of her Republican challengers.
“They forget a fundamental lesson about our great country,” she told several hundred people gathered in a hotel ballroom in suburban Los Angeles. “Being an open and tolerant society does not make us vulnerable. It’s at the core of our strength.”
Clinton’s campaign stop in the San Gabriel Valley, an enclave home to more than a half million Asian-Americans, marked the launch of her grassroots outreach to the growing pool of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, called “AAPI for Hillary.” Those voters have trended Democratic in recent presidential elections, though they are still considered up for political grabs. Their influence is considered critical in some swing states. California is not one of those, having voted for a Democrat for president every election since 1992.
Republicans suggested Clinton’s visit is more about raising campaign cash. “The reality is Democrats have long taken the AAPI community for granted, and Hillary Clinton will be no different,” said Ninio Fetalvo, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.
Clinton made her appeal to Asian-American and Pacific Islander voters in a Southern California region where a number of cities are now majority Asian-American and store signs in Mandarin and Cantonese line the streets.
“Their party identity is not cast in stone,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, an Indian American professor of public policy and political science at the University of California, Riverside. “There’s still potential for persuasion there.”
In a half-hour speech, Clinton told constituents she would be the one to fix the nation’s broken immigration system, improve access to higher education, and increase wages — all issues considered top priorities for the Asian American electorate. She vowed to reduce the visa backlog and help unauthorized immigrants with deep community ties that “deserve the chance to stay.”
“Ultimately this is more than an economic or political issue,” she said. “It’s a family issue.”
Nearly 4 million Asians voted in the 2012 presidential election, a 547,000 increase over 2008. According to exit polls, nearly three-quarters of Asian-American voters favored President Barack Obama in the 2012 election. They comprised about 3 percent of the total electorate.
The Asian-American community has been the subject of relatively little discussion in the Democratic and Republican primaries.
PTI adds: The group, called “AAPI Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) for Hillary,” was launched in Southern California in the presence of a large number of Asian American leaders, including Indian Americans.
At the launch, Clinton pledged to address the concerns of the community, including those related to immigration and visas.
In her speech, Clinton pledged to work to reduce the backlog for family visas to reunite immigrant families.
“Applicants from the Asia-Pacific region make up about 40 percent of the family visa backlog. Some from the Philippines have been waiting for a visa for 23 years. If you’re a U.S. citizen and your brother lives in India, it will take at least 12 years just to get him a visa,” the former secretary of state said.
“We have got to do more to help the millions of people who are eligible for citizenship take that last step. I will work to expand fee waivers so more people can get a break on the costs. I will increase access to language programs to help people boost their English proficiency.
“I don’t want anyone who could be a citizen now to miss out on that opportunity,” she said.She also explained the reasons for her early outreach to the community.
“That is essential because right now, it’s one of the fastest-growing communities in this country, but it’s a community that votes at a lower rate than others,” Clinton said.
America’s ties to the Asia-Pacific region have always been important, but in the 21st century they will be absolutely vital, she said.
“I was very proud when my husband’s administration launched the first-ever White House initiative on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders,” she added.
The United States, she said, is a country built by the hard work of generations of immigrants and America is stronger because of its diversity and openness.
She also identified Donald Trump – the Republican presidential front runner – in her speech.
“I disagree with the Republican front-runner, Mr. Trump. See, I think America is great because generations of hardworking Americans have made us great. Our values and our ideals have made us great,” Clinton said.
“The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It’s not even close,” President Obama said last on January 12, 2016, while delivering his eighth and final State of the Union address to the nation on Tuesday night. The address was both a victory lap, celebrating the accomplishments of the last seven years, and a condemnation of what President Obama perceives to be alarmist rhetoric being used on the campaign trail over the last several months. He said those who argue the economy is crumbling and foreign enemies are gaining ground are “peddling fiction” and full of “hot air.”
There were plenty of policy proposals for the coming year to deal with issues like education, medicine, immigration, gun violence, gender equality, and the minimum wage. But delineating those proposals was not the point of the President’s.
He recognized “four big questions” regarding the economy, technology, security and democracy that the United States still faces and urged Americans to continue to address these concerns after his presidential term ends. Still, the president expressed confidence in his achievements and asserted that “the state of our union is strong.”
Obama strongly, although implicitly, condemned the campaign rhetoric of Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. However, he also vowed to work to mitigate the political divisiveness of today’s culture. “It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency – that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office,” said the president.
After explaining his vision of the future—one that is inclusive of all races and religions and free of vitriolic politics—President Obama laid out a list of everyday Americans who he says convince him that such a future is possible, from soldiers to students to young immigrants.
“That’s the America I know. That’s the country we love. Clear-eyed. Big-hearted. Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word,” he said. “That’s what makes me so hopeful about our future. Because of you. I believe in you. That’s why I stand here confident that the State of our Union is strong.”
But there were lows, too. The most negative point occurred when President Obama conceded that al Qaeda and ISIL do pose “a direct threat” to US citizens. “[I]n today’s world, even a handful of terrorists who place no value on human life, including their own, can do a lot of damage,” he said. “They use the Internet to poison the minds of individuals inside our country; they undermine our allies.”
President’s address has drawn criticism from some. David French at the National Review argues that Obama’s reminders of the strength of the United States “inadvertently highlights one of his greatest failures.” He acknowledges that Obama’s statements that the U.S. has “the world’s strongest economy and the world’s strongest military” are true but explains that Obama is not the reason for these strengths. French says that Obama’s policies have actually led to increased threats from the Islamic State group, Libya and Iran.
President Obama emphasized the importance of unions in building a strong economy. “Middle-class families,” he declared, “are not going to feel more secure because we allowed attacks on collective bargaining to go unanswered.” Tuesday night’s address may not have been President Obama’s most hopeful, but it may be the most representative of his presidency—a presidency of peaks and valleys in which every success has been preceded and followed by a hard fought struggle. President Obama ended his speech by stating, “I stand here, as confident as I have ever been, that the state of our Union is strong.”
Raja Krishnamurthi’s Congressional bid appears to have gained momentum with the Indian American candidate for a seat from the state of Illinois after he has bagged endorsements from top U.S. lawmakers including the influential Nancy Pelosi. Krishanmoorthi, 42, is seeking to enter the House of Representatives from the eighth Congressional District of Illinois and has been endorsed by 16 members of Congress, including Pelosi and Congressman Jan Schakowsky. His immediate challenge is to get through the March 15 primary contest before the general election.
“Raja will bring to Congress a tireless work ethic and deep experience in the public and private sectors,” Pelosi, who is leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives, said. “These qualities will enable him to pursue our common goal of fighting for progressive causes and strengthening and growing our middle class,” she said in a recent statement. “I strongly endorse Raja Krishnamoorthi because he is a true progressive and the best candidate to represent the working families in Chicago’s Northwest suburbs,” Pelosi had said.
Attorney and entrepreneur, Raja has also been endorsed by David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Obama. In total, his campaign is supported by over 100 local and national leaders and organisations. Krishnamoorthi previously was the policy director and a senior advisor for Barack Obama’s 2004 US Senate campaign, and also served as an advisor to Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign.
He served as Deputy Treasurer of Illinois from 2007-2009 under Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, and in 2010 ran for the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Comptroller, losing to David E Miller by less than one per cent of the vote. Born in New Delhi on July 19, 1973, his parents immigrated to Buffalo, New York when he was three months old.
Krishnamurthi currently serves as president of Sivananthan Labs and Episolar, Inc, small businesses that develop and sell products in the national security and renewable energy industries. He is a co-founder of InSPIRE, a non-profit organisation that provides training to Illinois students and veterans in solar technology, and was formerly Vice-Chairman of the Illinois Innovation Council, which promotes innovative technologies that support economic growth and job creation.
Early this month, Krishnamoorthi earned endorsement of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) International. The 8th District covers the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, and its eastern boundary includes portions of O’Hare airport.
It’s not often you get to mention the Democratic and Republican front-runners for the 2016 presidential nominations, the sitting U.S. president, and the leader of the Catholic Church in the same sentence in a news article. Monday is an exception.
According to a new poll from Gallup, Americans have named Hillary Clinton, the presumptive 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, and President Barack Obama as their most admired woman and man in the world in 2015; Clinton polled at 13 percent, with Obama at 17 percent. What comes next, in terms of men, might come as a shock to some: Pope Francis and Donald Trump are tied for second at 5 percent.
This is the 20th time Clinton has finished first in the rankings, while Obama has received the honor for the eighth time.
The contrast between the Holy Father and the billionaire businessman couldn’t be more clear. Francis traveled the world in 2015, including a well-received visit to the United States, preaching a message of charity for the poor, peaceful coexistence with Muslims, and welcoming desperate refugees from places like Syria. Trump, on the other hand, rose to the forefront of American politics by calling some Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers while advocating for the closure of some mosques and for forbidding Muslims from entering the United States. It’s not clear how much the two men agree on social issues: Francis vocally opposes gay marriage and abortion, while Trump’s beliefs are difficult to discern.
In the women’s category, Clinton was followed by 2014 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai, with 5 percent. The women’s rights advocate was followed by Oprah Winfrey and first lady Michelle Obama, tied with 4 percent.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) has been chosen by Republican leaders in Congress to give her party’s response to President Obama’s final State of the Union address, which he’s delivering to Congress on Tuesday, January 12th, 2016.
The prestigious invitation was the natural next step for a governor who earned national attention and applause for her handling of the aftermath of a mass shooting in her state this summer. For that, Haley topped the list for one of the most notable governors in 2015:
After an avowed white supremacist shot and killed nine black parishioners in a Charleston church this June, Haley handled her role as the state’s griever-in-chief with grace, choking up in an emotional speech soon after, and a few months later delivering a speech in Washington calling on the GOP to be more tolerant toward minorities.
But it was the way Haley forcefully put herself at the front of the charge to end displays of the Confederate flag on public property that won her the most praise. As presidential candidates appeared to hem and haw, Haley called for the state legislature to remove the flag from statehouse grounds — something it did shortly after. “I knew that it was giving a lot of people a pass to do what was right,” she told The Washington Post’s Abby Phillip.
Tuesday’s address is also a natural platform for Haley to try out for a job some in her party have considered her for: The GOP vice presidential nominee. For a few minutes Tuesday, she’ll be a voice for her party in a speech that is likely to have major electoral overtones. She’ll be drawing contrasts between Obama’s — and by extension, likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s — vision for America and the Republican vision, while attempting to make the case to the nation that Republicans should lead it instead.
This moment was a long time coming. Whispers of Haley’s national potential began the moment in 2010 that she came from relative obscurity to win a crowded primary — as an Indian American female state legislator who defeated three more-established white male politicians — and eventually become South Carolina’s first female and first minority governor.
Haley’s background already looked like a no-brainer to be a vice presidential short-lister for a party that badly wants to make inroads with women, minorities and younger voters: She is the daughter of Indian immigrants, and at age 43, she is the youngest current governor in the U.S., despite being in her second term.
Haley has got to tap into whatever poise and courage she summoned during the post-Charleston Confederate flag debate to help make Tuesday’s speech go smoothly. The eyes of the nation will once again be on her. And if she does well, they may be for the rest of the year.
A little more than two years after being nominated by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to become the next prosecutor of Bergen County, Indian American Gurbir Singh Grewal is scheduled to be appointed the acting prosecutor Jan. 4.
Grewal, who was nominated by Christie in September 2013, will take over for the departing John Molinelli who concluded his 14-year tenure Dec. 31, according to a NorthJersey.com report.
A resident of Glen Rock, N.J., Grewal will become the first Sikh American to serve as a county prosecutor, leaders of the Sikh community told NorthJersey.com.
The 42-year-old Grewal joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2010 and serves as the chief of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark. He had previously represented the government in a case in which the president of a New Jersey-based textile company was sentenced to a three-year prison term for defrauding investors of millions.
“He’s an extraordinary talent,” state Sen. Kevin O’Toole, whose district includes Bergen County, told NorthJersey.com. “He’s very thorough and very fair. He doesn’t have a political bone in his body.”
Prior to taking the office in Bergen County, acting Attorney General John Hoffman swore Grewal in as an assistant attorney general, senators told NorthJersey.com.
The New Jersey senators were somewhat concerned that Hoffman is an acting attorney general and now Grewal will be an acting prosecutor.
“We went through two years of no nomination and now at the very end of this session we get an acting prosecutor,” state Sen. Loretta Weinberg told NorthJersey.com. “We did not have the benefit of a gubernatorial nomination and a full hearing on a county prosecutor nor have we ever had the benefit of a full hearing for the attorney general who is appointing the acting prosecutor.”
No explanation was given as to why Molinelli was not reappointed for the position.
Going forward, Christie will have to re-nominate Grewal in the new legislative session, then Grewal must be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
At the time of his nomination, Christie in a statement said Grewal “has the right credentials and background to be the chief law enforcement officer for Bergen County. He also brings diversity to a highly diverse county.”
Grewal, who speaks Punjabi and Hindi, comes from one of the fastest growing segments of New Jersey’s population. The number of Indian Americans in the state increased 73 percent during the 2000s. In Bergen, that number grew by 40 percent to 24,973 by 2010 or 2.8 percent of Bergen County’s overall population.
Grewal is a graduate of Georgetown University and received a law degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at The College of William & Mary. The Indian American is past president of the South Asian Bar Association of New York and is a member of the New Jersey Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been voted as the seventh most popular leader in the world in a new poll topped by US President Barack Obama. Modi evoked a favorable view from 24 per cent of people polled throughout 65 countries around the world as opposed to 20 per cent unfavorable, giving him a score of +4 per cent in the WIN/Gallup survey for ORB International’s ‘International World Leader Index’.
Modi was however beaten by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was named the sixth most popular leader but had a higher unfavourable score than the Indian leader – 30 per cent. Obama grabbed the topmost spot with a score of +30 per cent with a whopping 59 per cent in his favour and 29 per cent unfavourable. “President Obama is significantly more admired around the world than anyone else,” the survey said. Obama is followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel (+13 per cent) with British Prime Minister David Cameron completing the top three with a score of +10 per cent. Cameron scored a 37 per cent favourable rating while another 28 per cent viewed him unfavourably. People in South Asia were the most friendly to the British leader, with 53 per cent saying they viewed him favourably and just 12 per cent saying they viewed him unfavourably.
He was also popular in the rest of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, where 44 per cent of people viewed Cameron favourably. The other leaders that made it to the top 10 include French President Francois Hollande (4th), Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (5th), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (8th), Saudi Arabia King Salman.
The Maharashtra Congress today said the United Nations’ multi-dimensional poverty index developed in 2013 showed that 41% of people in Gujarat were poor. “Out of 41% of the poor, 18.5% live in severe poverty. How can a state where every fifth person lives in abject poverty and 41% in poverty claim to be a model for anyone,” Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Sachin Sawant said at a press conference. He said the study showed that besides 41% poor, another 17% are vulnerable to poverty in Gujarat.
The state is ranked 12th in terms of development needs and falls in the “less developed” category. It is not the most developed state in the country, but on the contrary, it is the 12th most developed state, according to the RBI, he said.
Similarly, a state that boasts of agriculture growth, has 25 per cent of its population suffering from hunger and its condition is even worse that Odisha, he said. Gujarat is ranked 13th (24.69% of its population facing hunger) out of 17 states, in terms of states with the highest percentage of population affected by hunger, while the national average of such population is 23.31%, he said.
Hitting out at BJP national treasurer Piyush Goyal, who yesterday said that Gujarat had not seen farmers’ suicides, Sawant, quoting documents submitted by the Gujarat government in the legislative assembly, said from 2008 to 2013, 122 farmers committed suicide due to inability to repay their loans, crop losses and other reasons.
Sawant said the national growth rate had reached 9.3% during the UPA regime and all states, including Gujarat, had benefited. “By speaking about Gujarat and criticising other states, Modi insults people of those states,” he said, adding that the MPCC would bring out a book highlighting Narendra Modi’s “lies”. “BJP should be called Bahut Jhooti Party,” he said.
ndian Americans Steve Rao and Satish Garimella were officially sworn in to the Morrisville, N.C., City Council earlier in December with the former also being elected as mayor pro tempore. Rao, who is perhaps the first Indian American elected to office in North Carolina’s Triangle region, had been considering a move to run for lieutenant governor, but decided to remain on for the duration of his council term that ends in 2017.
With a 4-to-3 private vote in favor of Rao, the City Council elected the Indian American sales executive to serve in Mayor Mark Stohlman’s stead should he be out of town or incapacitated. Later, in a public vote, the council confirmed Rao to the seat by 6-1. “I assure the council I will give it my all every day,” Rao said at the meeting, thanking Stohlman and the entire council for the appointment. Rao continued by praising the council for its work in getting many projects done.
Michael Schlink, who was also sworn in with Liz Johnson, spoke highly of Rao, who has never missed a council meeting in his time in office. “I think you’ve continued to bring officials and business leaders to the table to help residents in Morrisville,” he said at the meeting.
A sales executive for tech company Alphanumeric Systems, Rao has also helped found a number of India-focused groups including TiE and the N.C. Indian Political Action Committee, and is also a founding member of the Morrisville Innovation Foundation and the HOTTovation program to help entrepreneurs launch their business ideas.
A graduate of Emory University, earning his B.A. in political science and his J.D. from the West Virginia University College of Law, Rao was elected to office in 2011 and re-elected in 2013.
After edging out Vicki Scroggins-Johnson for the mayor pro tem seat, Rao still said he will need her help on the council. Garimella takes over for Kris Gardner, who did not run for re-election in November after claiming the then-empty seat a year ago.
The Indian American was sworn in by Stohlman on the Bhagavad Gita in lieu of the Bible, and was accompanied by his wife, son, parents and founder of the local Hindu Society of North Carolina Gangadhar Sharma.
“This is really a humbling experience for me, honestly,” said the Mumbai-born Garimella at the Dec. 8 council meeting. “I promise that I will give this honor my very best.” Gardner, who was praised for his work during his time as councilman, wished Garimella well as the Indian American takes over his seat. Garimella, who is a principal technical architect at AT&T, earned his bachelor’s degree in electronics from the University of Mumbai and his M.S. in computer science from the University of Tulsa.
Harish I. Patel, a Democratic Party candidate for State Representative in Illinois’ 40th Legislative District, discussed his progressive policy agenda for the communities of Avondale, Logan Square, Albany Park and Irving Park on December 16, 2015 with a room full of local Muslim community leaders.
Patel, who immigrated to Chicago from India when he was just 14 years old and says he is running to bring independent Democratic leadership to the communities of the 40th District, said too many elected officials, including his opponent, who are supposed to stand up against privatization and budget cuts, are often only interested in getting along with the power brokers. The incumbent state representative in his district cannot effectively represent his constituents, because his only priority is to represent his funders, Patel said.
“We need to stand up strongly against the right-wing, destructive agenda of Governor Rauner, which prioritizes corporate interests and resorts to corrupt politics. These anti-people practices have been hurting all of us adversely for a long time,” said Patel.
Patel said he is running this year because he cannot sit back and watch every organization he has worked with to bring resources and support to immigrant communities and young people be devastated by Gov. Rauner’s shortsighted cuts, while the current State Representative fails to effectively fight back. He added that people are in desperate need of real independent and progressive leadership to effectively address their concerns and to move the State of Illinois forward.
“It is another way to infuse new energy and new ideas into the conversation about the future of our State. It is an opportunity to expand the electorate so more voices like mine and yours are heard.”
As a State Representative, Patel insists he will put the needs and concerns of the diverse communities that make up the 40th District first and bring an independent voice to Springfield. He will rally for a fair income tax, in which wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share in taxes, fight back against devastating cuts to social services, support an equitable funding model for public schools, support democratically-elected school boards, and champion fully funding pensions for public employees.
Patel has a strong track record of working on progressive issues as a part of numerous eminent organizations across Chicago, including Southwest Youth Collaborative, Chicago Votes, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, and more. “This rich exposure to public life has prepared me to go to Springfield to bring people together, despite the gridlock, and to work for real solutions for the people of Illinois.”
Local leaders in attendance included Mehrdad Azemun, Seemi Choudry, Aiman Beg, Moin Haque, Asad Jafri, Sana Jafri, Hina Mahmood, Malik Mujahid, Sadiq Patel, Arif Patel, Abdelnasser Rashid, Rafiq Talaty, Sophia Zaman, and Ashfaq Syed. Check out www.harishipatel.com/vote to learn more about his campaign and to register to vote.
The United States remains the world’s preeminent exporter of arms, with more than 50 percent of the global weaponry market controlled by the United States as of 2014. Arms sales by the U.S. jumped 35 percent, or nearly $10 billion, to $36.2 billion in 2014, according to the Congressional Research Service report, which analyzed the global arms market between 2007 and 2014.
Trailing the U.S. in weapons receipts is Russia, with $10.2 billion in sales in 2014, followed by Sweden with $5.5 billion, France with $4.4 billion and China with $2.2 billion, reports The New York Times.
The top weapons buyer in 2014 was South Korea, a key American ally, which has been squaring off with an increasingly belligerent North Korea in recent years. Iraq was the second biggest weapons buyer, as the country seeks to build up its military capacity following the withdrawal of the bulk of American ground troops there. Brazil was the third biggest buyer, primarily of Swedish aircraft.
Looking back into the year 2015, among the many things that has transformed the world, if there was one thing that stands out is the closest bond between India and the United States. Under the leadership of U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ties between the two greatest democracies have evolved into strong and productive.
A “budding bromance” between India and the U.S. or “Modbama” as Foreign Policy called it, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama, took their ties to a new high in the year gone by. The year began with Modi, once a persona non grata in the U.S., staging what was called a “diplomatic coup” with an invitation to Obama to be the first U.S. president to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day.
Beyond the symbolism, Obama’s “game changing” second visit to India in four years saw “Barack” warming up to Modi and sent what the U.S. called an “important message” to the world about their commitment to realise the full potential of India-U.S. relationship. The White House’s first National Security Strategy since 2010 reflected the changing relationship with Obama saying the U.S. was “primed to unlock the potential of its relationship with India” as part of its rebalance to Asia and the Pacific.
Nine months later, Modi returned the compliment with yet another hugely successful visit to the U.S. with a warm hug for Obama, a courtship with Silicon Valley and a love fest with the Indian diaspora. But even before Modi and Obama had their fifth bilateral meeting in New York, the two nations, at their first strategic and commercial dialogue, reached five key agreements.
Topping the list was a decision to step up their counter-terrorism efforts with Washington, for once, recognising the threat posed by South Asian terror groups, including Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, and the D company. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar ended the year on another high note. “Gelling well” with his U.S. counterpart Ashton Carter, they agreed to further expand their growing defence partnership to make it what Carter called an “anchor of global security.”
As Carter welcomed India’s rise in the Asia-Pacific region, the two countries committed to identify additional projects for possible co-development and co-production of high technology items. Meanwhile, Obama called his “friend and partner” Modi a couple of times on a new hotline, first to win his support for the Paris climate deal and then to thank him for India’s positive role in reaching the historic accord.
At his year-end victory lap, Obama highlighted American leadership in bringing China, India and Brazil on board for the Paris climate deal among his successes of 2015 from thawing relations with Cuba to halting Iran’s nuclear program. The White House also acknowledged India’s “substantial sacrifice” in backing the sanctions against Iran that helped Washington seal the deal with Tehran.
“President Obama and Prime Minister Modi have a very, strong and productive relationship, not just on climate change but broadly,” Todd Stern, the U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change said last week. “It was a quite extraordinary fact that within the space of four months there were two head of the state visits, one first to the United States in September of 2014 and then Prime Minister Modi invited the President to India just four months later in January,” the official said.
Thereafter the two leaders have been close communications with each other. “They met on the margins of the UNGA in New York and they met on the first day of the Paris meeting,” Stern said. According to Stern the meeting was a very warm and positive, cordial and detailed.
“In fact, they talked so long that – they were both supposed to go – and did go finally, but they were a little bit late to the announcement of this big Mission Innovation idea on R&D that both – well, the United States, India, China, many other countries ultimately were part of,” the U.S. official said. “So I think, that the call later, sort of more towards the end, was a check-in call to see how we were doing and to urge us all on together toward a successful conclusion. And I think it was done in that spirit, not in the spirit that there was some specific thing that had to be done before the agreement could get completed,” Stern said.
At the end of the election cycle in November next year, whosoever American voters choose as the new tenant of the White House next November, one thing is clear: Relations between India and the U.S. are poised for a take-off given solid bipartisan support for this.
Sanjay Pradhan, an Indian-American World Bank official, has been tapped to lead an international initiative to promote government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens. Pradhan, who currently is Vice President for Change, Leadership and Innovation at the World Bank, would assume the new charge by mid-2016.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched by eight Heads of State at the UN General Assembly in 2011, and in just four years, 69 countries have joined the partnership, along with hundreds of civil society groups and several multilateral organisations. “Sanjay will help ensure that OGP continues to succeed in its mission to promote government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens,” a statement said.
Pradhan, who holds a PhD and a Bachelors degree from Harvard University, will lead the OGP Support Unit, and will report to an international Steering Committee of 11 governments and 11 civil society leaders. “My long-standing passion for how open government can transform the lives of millions around the globe has led me directly to OGP,” Pradhan said.
“OGP represents a historic opportunity to advance the open government agenda through a unique platform built on peer learning and the collaboration between government and civil society around the world,” he said in a statement.
“In his former senior position at the World Bank, Pradhan has proven to be a thought leader and practitioner in open government since before the phrase was even coined,” said Alejandro Gonzalez, OGP Steering Committee Civil Society co-chair. “He is a trusted and experienced interlocutor with both governments and civil society around the world. Said to be widely respected figure in the development community, Pradhan brings a wealth of open government experience to the role,” he said.
Since 1986, he has held three Vice president positions at the World Bank Group (WBG) where he led the development of WBGs Governance and Anticorruption Strategy; helped launch Global Partnership for Social Accountability; and incubated ICT-mediated citizen feedback.
He also launched Open Contracting with Partners; and rolled out a flagship Collaborative Leadership for Development program to help leaders in government and civil society undertake collaborative actions. PTI LKJ AJRThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched by eight Heads of State at the UN General Assembly in 2011, and in just four years, 69 countries have joined the partnership, along with hundreds of civil society groups and several multilateral organisations.
“Sanjay will help ensure that OGP continues to succeed in its mission to promote government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens,” a statement said. Pradhan, who holds a PhD and a Bachelors degree from Harvard University, will lead the OGP Support Unit, and will report to an international Steering Committee of 11 governments and 11 civil society leaders.
“My long-standing passion for how open government can transform the lives of millions around the globe has led me directly to OGP,” Pradhan said. “OGP represents a historic opportunity to advance the open government agenda through a unique platform built on peer learning and the collaboration between government and civil society around the world,” he said in a statement.
“In his former senior position at the World Bank, Pradhan has proven to be a thought leader and practitioner in open government since before the phrase was even coined,” said Alejandro Gonzalez, OGP Steering Committee Civil Society co-chair. “He is a trusted and experienced interlocutor with both governments and civil society around the world. Said to be widely respected figure in the development community, Pradhan brings a wealth of open government experience to the role,” he said.
Since 1986, he has held three Vice president positions at the World Bank Group (WBG) where he led the development of WBGs Governance and Anticorruption Strategy; helped launch Global Partnership for Social Accountability; and incubated ICT-mediated citizen feedback. He also launched Open Contracting with Partners; and rolled out a flagship Collaborative Leadership for Development program to help leaders in government and civil society undertake collaborative actions.
While his attempts to become the first Asian American President of the United States did not come to fruition, Bobby Jindal, whose current term as governor of the state Louisiana coming to a close, as the state’s constitution allows only for two terms as governor, preventing Jindal from running for a third term, Jindal said he will return to working with the think tank he had started several years ago, America Next, where he says he “will be outlining the blueprint for making this the American century.”
“The people of Louisiana are a strong, resilient people, and it has been an absolute honor to serve this state the past eight years,” Jindal said in a statement. In terms of his party allegiance, he says the GOP has “to be the party of growth, and we can never stop being the party that believes in opportunity. We cannot settle for the Left’s view of envy and division.”
The elections to choose his successor dragged on for weeks. When no one held the majority of the vote in the primary election Oct. 24, a runoff election was held Nov. 21 with Democrat John Bel Edwards named Jindal’s his successor after garnering 56.1 percent of the vote, edging out Republican candidate David Vitter, who collected 43.9 percent of the vote. Edwards, with the win, becomes the first Democrat to hold the governor seat since 2008.
In a statement, Jindal congratulated Edwards, saying, “Louisiana is in a stronger position today than it ever has been, and I am very optimistic about the future of this great state. … Over the next few weeks, (Jindal’s wife) Supriya and I are committed to work very closely with the governor-elect, his family and his staff to ensure a seamless transition for the next administration.” However, in his statement congratulating Edwards, Jindal took the high road. “Now is the time for everyone to put politics and partisanship aside and make sure our new governor is ready on day one,” he said.
Bobby Jindal, 44, made a number of statements attempting to thrust himself into the forefront of the GOP candidates, including pleading with people to stop referring to individuals as “Indian American or Irish American” and just call everyone American. He also released a book in late November, “American Will,” a history book that Jindal called a “call to arms,” demonstrating how individual choices can steer the course of a country at one of America’s “most consequential crossroads.”
The book provided history lessons with a GOP slant, including a view on President Barack Obama’s stance on gun control, the Louisiana Purchase, Joseph Kennedy’s tenure as U.S. ambassador to Britain during the time of WWII, as well as nuggets of his personal history.
His viewpoints and the book, however, didn’t generate enough of a buzz. And after support for his candidacy faded, relegating him to the undercard Republican presidential debates, Jindal decided Nov. 17 it was time to bow out of the race. In a blog post on his campaign site, Jindal said, “This is not my time, so I am suspending my campaign for president.”
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump got a taste of the disgust and anger of New Yorkers for his invective against Muslims last week when members of the City Council, led by Council’s Democratic speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito rallied against the Republican frontrunner on the steps of City Hall Dec. 9. The rally was also joined by a group of interfaith leaders.
Chanting “enough is enough” and “dump Trump,” council members took part in the rally condemning Trump’s comments in which he called a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States.
According to a POLITICO New York report, Mark-Viverito who has criticized Trump for his comments about Latinos, immigrants and women — warned about the danger of Trump’s inflammatory language, adding that bias attacks in the city would not be tolerated. “We will not let Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric go unchecked and unchallenged. There’s nothing left to say about Donald Trump, except that he is a disgusting, racist demagogue who has no business running for president, period.”
Mark-Viverito — who has criticized Trump in the past for his comments about Latinos, immigrants and women — warned about the danger of Trump’s inflammatory language, adding that bias attacks in the city would not be tolerated.
“What Donald Trump has called for — banning Muslims from entering our nation — is xenophobic, racist, Islamophobic, and his fear-mongering is fanning hate,” Mark-Viverito was quoted as saying. “We will not let Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric go unchecked and unchallenged. There’s nothing left to say about Donald Trump, except that he is a disgusting, racist demagogue who has no business running for president, period.”
Trump reacted to the rally as well. In an emailed statement responding to the rally, Trump told POLITICO New York that perhaps Mark-Viverito should focus on the “filthy conditions of New York city.” A few days before the rally and the charges against him, responded to criticism from Mayor Bill de Blasio by calling him the “worst mayor in the United States” and criticizing “the dirty streets, the homeless and crime.”
Imam Khalid Latif, the executive director for the Islamic Center at New York University, said the anti-Muslim sentiment fueled by Trump’s remarks is “arguably worse” than what Muslims experienced in the days and months after the Sept. 11attacks, according to the report.
“The disparaging comments Donald Trump had made over the course of his campaign against minorities of all kinds — including Muslims, Latinos, African Americans, those with special needs and others — are but symptoms of a deeper and ever-going bigotry that our nation must confront,” Latif was quoted as saying.
Rabbi Bob Kaplan of the Jewish Communities Relations Council said in a statement that when someone has a faith and when someone is a Muslim (to say)that they simply should not be allowed to come to our country, our world, our democracy, is simply unacceptable. “I am asking all of our fellow Americans to take the scales off of their eyes and recognize that hatred can only lead to war,” said the Rev. Que English of the Bronx Christian Fellowship, according to a Tasnim news agency release.
At one point, a heckler tried to defend Trump, but her shouts were drowned out by chants of “enough is enough,” CBS News was quoted as saying by Tasnim.
President Obama met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to discuss their efforts to put in place a lasting framework to address global climate change. The two leaders discussed the urgent threat posed by climate change and reaffirmed their commitment to a successful agreement in Paris.
According to a White House Press Release, the two leaders agreed that the Paris agreement must drive serious and ambitious action by all nations to curb carbon pollution, while at the same time protecting the ability of countries such as India to pursue their priorities of development, growth, and poverty eradication.
The President and Prime Minister committed their teams to work closely to achieve these objectives. Additionally, the President welcomed Prime Minister Modi’s initiatives to increase renewable energy deployment in India, his leadership to form a solar alliance, and our partnership to launch Mission Innovation, a ground-breaking new initiative that will accelerate the pace at which we can develop and deploy affordable clean energy technology to populations around the world.
In addition to the climate agenda, the two leaders discussed additional steps to deepen their countries’ strategic partnership on bilateral, regional, and global issues.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with President Obama
Meanwhile, the White House heaped high praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he has a clear understanding of the India-U.S. relationship and a clear vision for where he wants to take his country. President Barack Obama “certainly does respect Prime Minister Modi and has appreciation for his skills and abilities as a politician,” the White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters here Wednesday when asked about the relationship between the two leaders.
“He also is somebody who is given the very difficult challenge of sitting atop the world’s largest democracy — that’s not easy work, and the President of the United States has special insight into how difficult it is.”
Obama has found “Modi to be somebody who is honest and direct,” he said. He is “somebody who has good command of the facts; somebody who has a clear understanding of the issues that confront his country and our relationship,” Earnest said. “He is also somebody that has a clear vision for where he wants to take his country. And that makes him not just an effective politician but an effective Prime Minister.”
Earnest noted that Obama “has had the opportunity to consult with Prime Minister Modi on a number of occasions. And I think that isn’t just a testament to their good working relationship — it actually is a testament to the important issues that are at stake between our two countries.”
“And the ability of the leaders of our two countries to work through those issues and to advance our shared interests is a good thing — it’s a good thing for the world, it’s also a good thing for the citizens of our two countries,” Earnest said.
Asked if Obama had invited Modi for a seventh meeting early next year at the White House, the spokesman said he was not “aware of any meetings that are on the agenda at this point, but I certainly wouldn’t rule out another visit by Prime Minister Modi before the end of next year.”
Indian Americans are known to be more leaning towards the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. Recently, a number of conservative-minded Indian-Americans have formed a group to mobilize their powerful community for supporting Republican candidates in their White House run, saying this is a “very important time in history.” The Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) has been modelled after groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will serve as the chairman of the newly-formed Republican Hindu Coalition, which officially launched November 17 in Washington, DC.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky; along with Reps. Ed Royce, chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Pete Sessions, chairman of the House Rules Committee, attended the launch, which began with the traditional Hindu ceremony of lighting of lamps. Also in attendance were Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire; and Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin.
The RHC’s founder, Chicago-based businessman Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar, has promised to personally donate at least $2 million to Republicans running for office in 2016, and the coalition aims to give at least $10 million to GOP candidates this cycle. Kumar has been a generous donor to Republicans, sending $50,000 to Mitt Romney’s joint fundraising account in 2012 and more than $100,000 to the Republican Party and its candidates over the past five years.
“An organization like the RHC could dramatically change history,” Gingrich told the audience at the launch. The former House Speaker also spoke about the “dangers of Pakistan” and “radical jihadists” which he said were a common enemy for India and the U.S., adding he had grave concerns about the dangers of Pakistan. Kumar designed the RHC to mobilize Indian-Americans into an influential conservative force and to tighten business and strategic ties between India and the U.S.
“Shalli, thank you so much for what you’re doing,” McConnell told the businessman, saying how glad he was that India was moving away from socialism and toward free market principles. Turning to the audience, which included influential Indian-American businessmen, McConnell said of the GOP: “Believe me, it’s your natural home and we welcome you.”
Kumar, a Chicago-based industrialist, initiated the group to promote conservative principles like free markets and limited government with a focus on Indian- Americans. “This is a very important time in history. Kumar, chairman of AVG Advanced Technologies, is hoping to organise a congressional delegation in India after they formally launch the coalition next month.
He said while many Hindus are ideologically conservative-leaning, they have not yet mobilised to vote for Republicans. The US and India can draw closer on a number of issues, including getting the US to rely more on India for manufacturing than China, he said. The technology entrepreneur got the idea for the RHC when he saw how successful and influential the Republican Jewish Coalition has been with lawmakers in Washington and across America. “Having watched the Republican Jewish Coalition work to achieve its goals … I was inspired to found RHC,” Kumar said.
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 was quoted as saying. “We are actually giving away our economic future to China, the world is a lot less secure today than it was seven years ago, and conservatives and Republicans have to win and take the White House. This is the time when Hindu-Americans should very actively get involved,” Kumar said.
Born in Punjab, Kumar migrated to the US in 1969. He was a supporter of the Democrat party until he met President Ronald Reagan in 1979, becoming a staunch Republican. A new Indian-American lobby on Tuesday convened a powerful group of Republicans — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — in a Washington hotel as it pledged to raise millions in campaign cash for GOP candidates this cycle.
“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. 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.
Additionally, the RHC is hoping that in light of the 2014 election of the business-minded Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the U.S. and India can draw closer on a number of issues, including getting the U.S. to rely more on India for manufacturing than China. “We are actually giving away our economic future to China, the world is a lot less secure today than it was seven years ago, and conservatives and Republicans have to win and take the White House. This is the time when Hindu Americans should very actively get involved,” Kumar added in a media report.
Some issues Kumar feels will be resolved with a better U.S.-India relationship include fiscal discipline; the free enterprise system; limited government; a strong national defense; and a strong posture against terrorism globally.
Kumar, who was a Democrat until 1979, said it is imperative that a change is made in the White House. Hindu Americans are also prolific donors to political campaigns, but they contribute on an individual basis so efforts are scattered, said Kumar. “We currently have very little influence on policy-making. With the forming of the RHC, we will finally have a platform from which Hindu American voices can be heard,” he stated. The Coalition has not yet announced its support for any Republican presidential candidate, said Kumar.
The newly-launched coalition will first focus its attention on the Obama Administration’s recent decision to sell eight nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, worth an estimated $600 million, Dr. Sampat Shivangi, co-founder of the Republican Hindu Coalition, is quoted to have said. Shivangi said the Coalition and its supporters are concerned about the proliferation of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and its impact on the safety of India and its citizens. Shivangi said he was initially hesitant about joining a “Hindu”-named coalition. “But Gingrich changed my mind,” he stated, noting that the Coalition is open to Republicans of all faiths who have an interest in the India-U.S. relationship.
‘A moment comes, but comes rarely in history, when we step out from the old to new, when an age ends, and when a soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance’. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru delivered these inspiring words in his speech, ‘Tryst of Destiny’ in1947. He is still remembered for his vision and commitment to bring India from out of oppression into freedom, modernity, and self-reliance.
As we have celebrated the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru on November 14th, 2015, we are in awe as we recollect his contribution, not only towards gaining India’s independence but also for laying a strong foundation of a pluralistic and forward looking India. Yet, half a century after his death, the current leadership of India is busy trying to downplay his legacy for political expediency, and to re-create a nation away from the democratic and secular tradition he has championed.
When India gained Independence, there were monumental challenges resulting from the partition and the ongoing violence between Hindus and Muslims. The urgent task facing the leadership at the time was the resettlement of 6
million refugees, and arresting the spread of further violence. Nehru put together a team of dedicated patriots such as Sardar Tarlok Singh, Sarojini Naidu and S.K. Ghosh to limit the violence, as well as rescue and recover
abandoned and abducted women and children.
When the British left, the Government, headed by Nehru, faced another important task: the national integration of 562 princely states. A newly created State department under the decisive leadership of Sardar Vallabhai
Patel along with Nehru ensured the integration of the country in a remarkably short period of time.
If we look back at history for a moment, we would admire how Nehru brought together exceptional people of different ideologies such as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, S.P. Mookerjee, John Mathai, C.H. Bhabha and Shanmukham Chetty to be reflective of India’s secular and multi-faceted character in the Constituent Assembly. The Congress party delivered on the promise that the constitution they were about to create would reflect the aspirations of the Indian people.
The constitution of India was amongst the largest in the world with 395 Articles and 9 Schedules. The preamble spells out the basic philosophy and the solemn resolve of the people of India to secure justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for all its citizens. What Nehru has accomplished through this document with significant help and support from Ambedkar also is part of his vision to empower marginalized sections of the society.
Nehru was committed to ensuring social justice and the welfare of the masses as far back as 1938 by setting up the National Planning Committee under the banner of the Congress Party for the very purpose of improving the quality of life of ordinary citizens. These efforts culminated in creating a permanent planning commission to establish a just social order to ensure the equitable distribution of income and wealth. Nehru’s actions in these matters paint him as a socialist, however, he strongly believed that planning was essential to the development needs of a poor country with scarce resources, which needed to be managed optimally.
He was also concerned about the unequal access to land which was a big problem in rural India. After independence, the issue was prioritized, and by 1949, different states had passed land reform legislations to abolish the ‘Zamindari’ system and empowering the rural peasantry while doing away with the institutionalized exploitation by the feudal lords.
Nehru was a strong proponent of self-reliance, clearly recognizing that underdevelopment was the result of a lack of technological progress. Consequently, a new Industrial policy was enacted to develop key industries. While Independent India was in its infancy, he identified the production of power and steel for self-sufficiency and planning. In collaboration with other countries, India built steel plants in Rourkela (Orissa), Bhilai (M.P.) and Durgapur (W. Bengal). Dam projects were undertaken in various places to produce hydro-electric power, including the
flagship Dam at Bhakra Nangal, Punjab. The first oil refinery was inaugurated in Noonmati, Assam in 1962 as another leap forward towards industrialization. Nehru called them ‘the temples of modern India’.
Nehru was determined to foster a ‘scientific temper’ as he provided leadership in establishing many new Engineering Institutes, the most important being the premier Indian Institute of Technology, 5 of which were started between 1957 and 1964. His farsightedness is also evident in granting deemed university status to the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, and setting up the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Defense Research and Development Organization, and laying the foundation stone for the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Nehru’s own words stated that these would become ‘visible symbols of building up the new India and of providing life and sustenance to our people’.
Soon after independence, India embarked upon a nuclear program aimed at developing its nuclear capacity for peaceful purposes. As we know by now, Dr. Homi Bhabha’s pioneering work in this regard is widely acclaimed in
enhancing India’s capabilities in this area. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Program helped to establish the Indian Space Research Organization.
Nehru recognized the importance of education as a tool for empowerment and the establishment of the University Education Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan and Secondary Education Commission under the chairmanship of Dr. A. L. Mudaliar laid the foundation of education and higher education. The Indian Council of Cultural Relations was also established under Maulana Azad to promote policies pertaining to India’s external cultural relations.
Nehru also played a crucial role as a leader of the non-aligned world, shaping India’s foreign policy for the post-independence period. His charismatic personality, along with deep understanding of the country and the world enabled him to be an effective spokesman for the developing world and an advocate for liberation movements across the globe.
Undoubtedly, Nehru helped to build institutions that stood the test of time. The emerging nations during that period such as Yugoslavia, Egypt and Ghana failed in this regard, and results are quite evident for all of us to
see. Nehru’s vision and leadership were critical in shaping India as we know it today. According to ‘Journey of a Nation’, edited by Anand Sharma, Nehru laid the foundation of a self-reliant, productive and confident India, creating many of its Institutions leaving an indelible stamp on every aspect of the country.
Sadly, there are regressive forces at work now to undo the Nehruvian legacy and to take us back to the age when the soul of the nation was suppressed. Among reflective Indians, especially NRIs, it is time to realize that the ongoing Nehru bashing has been somewhat counterproductive. Nehru’s respect for democratic procedures and his inclusive vision will continue to remain relevant, without which a modern India might cease to exist! To revise a
famous quote to fit this narrative, ‘if India is to progress, Nehru is inescapable… we may ignore him at our own risk’.
Writer is a former Chief Technology Officer at the United Nations and Chairman of the Indian National Overseas Congress, USA.
Vini Samuel, an attorney by profession, was elected mayor of Montesano, Washington by landslide victory making her the first Indian American female mayor in the United States. Samuel received more than 67 percent of the vote, leading 762 to 366.
“It’s wonderful, it’s exciting and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude,” Samuel said on November 03, 2015. “This has always been about Montesano and coming together as one town and trying to get things done. I think the race went perfectly. We worked really hard and I appreciate the show of confidence. I think we ran a pretty solid, positive campaign. The goal was always about coming together and keeping the city of Montesano as the focus of the conversation,” she added.
Samuel, who was born in Quilon, Kerala, and raised in Juneau, Alaska, characterized the tiny town of Montesano as “a little piece of Americana.” Samuel attended Western Washington University, where she received a B.A. in history and English literature; she obtained her law degree from Seattle University.
Samuel, who has previously served on Montesano’s city council, said she was campaigning on the issue of transparency in city politics.
The tiny town of Montesano in northwest Washington State has approximately 2,300 registered voters.
All results on November 03, 2015 were preliminary results. Ballots mailed were still valid and ballot drop boxes throughout the county remained uncounted. The election will be certified on Nov. 24. However, Incumbent Ken Estes conceded the race soon after the initial tally of votes by the Grays Harbor County Auditor’s office.
“I’ve come to the realization this is not my time,” Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, a onetime rising Republican star, said while declaring that he was withdrawing from the campaign to be the next presidential nominee of the Republican Party. Jindal, the first ever Indian American Governor, whose popularity has plummeted in his own state, dropped out of the presidential race on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, conceding that he was unable to find any traction. Jindal withdrew days before a runoff election in the Louisiana governor’s race, a contest in which the candidates in both parties have intermittently criticized the once-popular incumbent.
Jindal is the third candidate in the now 14-member Republican field to drop out of race. Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin also ended their campaigns.
During his months long campaign, Jindal had unveiled a series of policy proposals, ferociously attacked Donald J. Trumpand spent considerable time courting conservatives in Iowa, which begins the presidential nominating process. None of it worked. He raised little money, did not rise high enough in the polls to appear on the prime-time debate stage and was overshadowed by unconventional candidates such as Trump and Ben Carson. “We spent a lot of time developing detailed policy papers, and given this crazy, unpredictable election season, clearly there just wasn’t a lot of interest in those policy papers,” Jindal said in an interview on Fox News Tuesday night.
Jindal, 44, a son of Indian immigrants, was first elected governor in 2007, two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and he initially enjoyed great popularity. But he fell out of favor in a second term characterized by fiscal crises and frequent out-of-state travels. Seventy percent of Louisianans disapprove of his job performance, according to a University of New Orleans poll taken this month.
He was his state’s secretary of health at age 24 and oversaw its public universities by 28.
Jindal, who effectively began his presidential bid by declaring Republicans “the stupid party” in the wake of the 2012 election, tried to win attention to his long-shot White House campaign with a number of gambits. He placed a hidden camera in a tree outside the governor’s mansion to record a family meeting in which he first informed his children he was running for president and released the video to the news media.
Jindal, the first ever Indian American to be on the campaign mode, seeking to win the White House has been trailing behind almost all other Republican candidates. After trailing behind in the campaign, it appeared that Jindal was gaining some momentum. In a survey published Nov. 2 by Public Policy Polling, Iowa GOP voters gave Indian American Bobby Jindal, R-La., a healthy amount of support.
Bobby Jindal
Jindal, according to the PPP survey of 638 “usual Republican primary voters” in Iowa taken from Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, earned 6 percent support. The Louisiana governor is now slotted as the fifth-most supported Republican presidential hopeful, tied with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. In addition to polling about support, the survey asked about favorability, in which Jindal received 60 percent favorability. Bush, on the flipside, had only a 30 percent positive viewing, with 43 percent viewing him negatively. Carson and Cruz were the only two candidates ahead of Jindal’s favorability.
According to published sources, his record of good governance in his state is lackluster. He is described as a supporter of the rich. In his state, he was in favor of abolishing all corporate and personal income tax but in favor of raising the sales tax in order to make up for the loss of revenue to the state. His legislature wisely refused to go along with him for such regressive taxation.
Jindal refused to accept federal funding of $1.65 billion to expand Medicaid to the poor. He is pro-life and anti-abortion, and against same-sex marriage. He is against public funding of embryonic stem cell research. He favors the teaching of intelligent design in schools. He was against enforcing laws for the prevention of hate crimes in his state. His state ranked last for transparency in the United States.
Month after month, week after week, Gov. Bobby Jindal has been working to make himself relevant to the 2016 presidential election. Every week, Jindal made some (increasingly) desperate attempt for attention and relevance. On the rare occasion he made an appearance in Louisiana, he’s done everything possible to establish himself as a champion of “religious freedom.” He signed an executive order to give license to businesses to discriminate against same-sex couples. He’s even championed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would outlaw same-sex marriage.
As per media reports, despite having made a wreck of the state’s budget (including structural deficits for years), he’s also sold his soul to Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. He had approved more than $700 million in tax increases, in an attempt to earn GOP votes in Iowa and New Hampshire portraying himself as the candidate most violently against tax increases.
Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, son of immigrant parents from India, said that immigrants who do not adopt American values represent an “invasion”. “Immigration without integration is not immigration; it’s invasion, he told ABC 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. “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.
In the statement announcing his departure, Mr. Jindal indicated he would return to focusing on policy issues. “One of the things I will do is go back to work at the think tank I started a few years ago — where I will be outlining a blueprint for making this the American century,” he said.
With several high profile endorsements already rendered, Raja is further bolstered with Chicago community leader Iftekhar Shareef and AAHOA [Asian American Hotel Owners Association] coming together to bring about greater national awareness of the candidacy of Raja Krishnamoorthi, a democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress from the eighth congressional district in Illinois at an event held on Friday, November 13, 2015 at India House in Hoffman Estate, IL.
Raja Krishnamoorthi thanked community leaders and AAHOA leadership for invigorating new enthusiasm and new excitement in the community in rallying behind his candidacy and added that this gives him a new momentum to his campaign. Raja said “I am running for congress for you and for your families and emphasized that he acutely understands the challenges the families are facing and will fight for their economic security. He pledged that when he goes to congress, he emphasized “you will go with me to congress to represent the dreams and hopes of each one of us.
Raja Krishnamoorthi thanked the leaders gathered at the event for extending a substantive and meaningful help and said he is deeply committed to working families’ agenda and he will employ his valuable experience both in the public and private sector to strengthen the working families.
Iftekhar Shareef, Principal Host, in his introductory address said Raja Krishnamoorthi bears tremendous promise as the next United States Congressman primarily because he is uniquely and exceptionally qualified as he deeply understands the issues and the challenges the nation and the local communities face. Iftekhar Shareef added that he will continue to strive to evoke collective community enthusiasm to deliver for Raja the victory he so tremendously deserves. Iftekhar Shareef pledged that our team will remain a driving force in helping put together many more events in order to bring energy and momentum to Raja’s candidacy.
Balvinder Singh another champion of Indian-American community offered his full support to Raja Krishnamoorthi, he endorsed Raja’s candidacy and said that he will work with Washington leadership in mobilizing support for Raja.
Kalpesh M. Joshi, Regional Director [Upper Midwest] of AAHOA and the event Co-Chair earlier welcomed the gathering of community leaders and outlined the commitment of AAHOA in throwing its far reaching robust support behind Raja Krishnamoorthi and added that AAHOA is deeply committed to backing Raja Krishnamoorthi with its resources and networking capabilities to help in reaching out nationwide to bring to bear the tools necessary for Raja to win the elections.
Earlier, Chirag Patel, AAHOA’s Vice President for Governmental Affairs outlined the strategy of AAHOA and its political action committee in channeling the support for Raja Krishnamoorthi because he understands the growing challenges and impediments the hospitality industry faces and the burdensome regulatory provisions which seriously impedes the business. Chirag Patel said AAHOA recognizes the potential in the candidacy of Raja Krishnamoorthi who can defend the goals AAHOA is committed to.
Keerthi Kumar Ravoori in his brief statement said Raja Krishnamoorthi is gaining momentum among the voters as he represents a new fresh invigorating voice for the Asians to help represent their dreams and hopes. Babu Patel appraised Raja Krishnamoorthi about the challenges business community is facing in the nation particularly the mounting untenable tax burden placed on them.
In conclusion, Raja Krishnamoorthi thanked and acknowledged the event hosts: Iftekhar Shareef, Kalpesh Joshi, Chirag Patel, Balwinder Singh, Ajeet Singh, Harish Kolasani, Keerthi Ravoori, Dinesh Gandhi, Babu Patel, Jagmohan Jayara & Mujeeb Ahmed.
“France is at war,” President François Hollande of France declared on Monday, November 16, 2015, and has called for an amendment the French Constitution to fight potential terrorists at home and for an aggressive effort to “eradicate” the Islamic State abroad. In the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris that had killed 129 people Friday night in Paris, France has begun attacking the Syrian targets, home to ISIS that is believed to be behind the brutal murders of innocent civilians across this City of Lights.
“The deadly attacks across Paris last week that claimed 129 lives were planned and organised from Syria,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday. “The attack was organised, conceived, and planned from Syria,” CNN quoted Valls as saying in a radio interview. The prime minister said more than 150 raids were conducted on militant targets in different areas of France earlier in the day.
“We are making use of the legal framework of the state of emergency to question people who are part of the radical jihadi movement… and all those who advocate hate of the republic,” he said.
At least nine people have been arrested so far. Five of the detainees were identified over the weekend, and on Monday another two were named by the Paris prosecutor as Ahmad al-Mohammad and Samy Amimour, a BBC report said.
President Obama on Monday stressed solidarity with the French people after deadly attacks rocked that nation and defended his administration’s policy in fighting ISIS. “ISIS is the face of evil,” Obama said at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Antalya,Turkey. “Our goal is to… destroy this barbaric organization.”
Three teams of terrorists — all outfitted with suicide vests and armed with Kalashnikovs — swarmed six locations in Paris on Friday night and killed 129 people in a spree of shootings and explosions. France’s president called the attacks — which ISIS claimed responsibility for — an “act of war” and on Sunday night launched airstrikes on the terror group’s de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria.
Meanwhile, most Americans feel despair, and a presentiment that it is only a matter of time before something similar happens here, media reports here suggest. Even as Americans have felt the pain of the French, they have worried, not surprisingly, considering 9/11, about whether their country is next.
Law-enforcement officials and transportation agencies in major U.S. cities stepped up security measures over the weekend in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that he has directed state agencies to be on high alert following the attacks and has beefed up security protocols on trains, bridges and popular tourists locations.
New York City Mayor Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview with NBC New York on Friday that the New York Police Department is on high alert. The NYPD’s antiterrorism officers have been deployed to the United Nations and at the French Consulate. “Thank God there’s no specific threats toward New York City that we know of,” de Blasio said. “We believe this…is isolated to Paris. But it is a very, very painful thing to see Paris go through this again.”
According to analysts, the terror attacks in France depended on four things: easy access to Paris, European citizens happy to massacre their compatriots, a Euro-jihadist infrastructure to supply weapons and security agencies that lacked resources to monitor the individuals involved. These are problems the United States does not have — at least not nearly to the degree that Europe does, undermining its ability to defend itself. American policy makers have eyed Europe’s external border controls skeptically for many years: The Schengen rules, which allow for free border-crossing inside most of the European Union, have made life simple for criminals.
Complicating matters is the ease with which a terrorist might slip out of Syria, cross through Turkey and enter Greece and the European Union, as at least one of the Paris killers appears to have done. Counterterrorism often boils down to a search for a few individuals, and the chaos surrounding the flood of refugees — a record 218,000 entered the European Union just last month — has exacerbated the difficulty of keeping track of such incoming security threats.
But the United States is faced more with the domestic challenge. It appears the Paris attacks involved both Middle Eastern operatives and Muslims from France and Belgium. Americans have traveled to ISIS-controlled territories at a rate of roughly a third that of their European Union coreligionists.
The United States may have some advantage: an intelligence, law enforcement and border-control apparatus that has been vastly improved since the cataclysm of 9/11. Post-9/11 visa requirements and no-fly lists weed out most bad actors, and both the Bush and Obama administrations demanded that countries in our visa waiver program provide data on extremists through information-sharing pacts called HSPD-6 agreements. Improvements continue, like an advance passenger information/passenger name recognition agreement with the European Union of 2012.
ISIS has neither an air force nor a navy. It cannot directly confront the military forces arrayed against it by the West in the aggregate. So it strikes back in the only way it can, with terrorist attacks on the civilian populations of the sponsoring nations, such as what happened in Paris on Friday night. These tactics are as predictable as they are horrific.
It is time for the world community to form something comparable to a NATO alliance for antiterrorist activities in the Middle East. The member states could determine from their military officials what military force would be required to surround Raqqa, Syria, and totally eliminate the ISIS presence in that city. When that is completed, the new coalition should pursue a similar strategy with respect to Mosul in Iraq and other ISIS strongholds.
The combat troops and the military resources for that alliance should predominantly come from Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and so on. The United States and European countries should provide training, equipment, intelligence, transportation and perhaps a small contingent of special forces.
The choices available to the United States, and our European allies, in response to such actions are equally stark: either vastly engage our troops in the field to defeat ISIS (“boots on the ground”), or end our military involvement and rely on the countries in the region to resolve what is essentially an outbreak of an old religious civil war using 21st-century weapons and media.
Obama underscored that the wave of terror attacks in Paris and the fight against ISIS necessitate that the two nations work more closely together to share intelligence — efforts that are currently underway. “Paris is not alone,” Obama said highlighting attacks in Beirut, Turkey and Iraq.
A leading economic analysis group warned Friday that rising communal tensions in India were damaging Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reform plans and could scare off investors.
A report by Moody’s Analytics said members of Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, were fueling strife with provocative comments, an apparent reference to recent controversies over beef consumption and other domestic issues that have riled minorities, particularly Muslims.
“While Modi has largely distanced himself from the nationalist gibes, the belligerent provocation of various Indian minorities has raised ethnic tensions,” the group said. “Modi must keep his members in check or risk losing domestic and global credibility.”
The comments by Moody’s Analytics, a research division of the corporation that operates a separate credit rating agency, add to a growing debate in India over Modi’s policies and allegedly pro-Hindu rhetoric. The Indian leader took office in May 2014 promising to focus on economic growth. However, his conservative party, which has ties to hard-line Hindu groups, has garnered more headlines for pursuing laws seen as catering to India’s Hindu majority and for questionable statements by its politicians.
Some BJP-led states have banned the consumption of beef on the grounds that it’s offensive to Hinduism, which regards the cow as sacred. In September, a Muslim in northern India was lynched by a Hindu mob on suspicion that he ate beef; eight of 11 men accused in the death reportedly are relatives of a local BJP worker.
A BJP lawmaker, Sakshi Maharaj, said afterward: “We are ready to kill and get killed for cows.”
Modi did not appear to help matters when he finally spoke on the issue three weeks later, calling the killing “sad and undesirable” but saying his political opponents were trying to exploit it.
In recent weeks, scores of leading scientists and artists have returned awards given to them by government bodies in protest of what they call a growing climate of religious and cultural intolerance.
n August, a 76-year-old secular writer and critic of Hindu fundamentalists, M.M. Kalburgi, was gunned down in his home in southern India. This week, students at the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India finally called off a strike they launched more than four months ago in protest of the government’s appointment of Hindu conservatives to lead the institution’s governing body.
An Indian activist participates in a candlelight vigil in New Delhi on Oct. 3 against the slaying of a Muslim who was killed allegedly for eating and storing beef in his house.
Modi, a canny communicator who has cultivated a relationship with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, has sought to project an image of a muscular, modernizing India, which plays well among his many middle-class supporters as well as audiences overseas.
But the Moody’s report, titled “India Outlook: Searching for Potential” and written by Sydney-based economist Faraz Syed, could rattle Modi’s government by drawing a connection between the sectarian strife and India’s lagging economic performance.
The report said India’s economic growth rate of 7.3% in September was “below potential” and the country’s exports could be hurt by a slowdown in global demand. It also noted that India’s stock market, which boomed on excitement over Modi’s victory, has fallen 11% because of the government’s “consistent failure to deliver key economic reforms.”
Modi faces another key test in early November with elections in Bihar, one of India’s largest and most impoverished states, where the BJP is locked in a tight battle with a coalition of rival parties.
Modi, who has campaigned vigorously in the state, drew criticism this week when he told a rally that the BJP’s opponents would take affirmative action slots from Hindu lower classes and give them to “another community.” Commentators said it was an unspoken reference to Muslims, who make up a large minority in Bihar and about 14% of India’s 1.2 billion population.
“Overall, it’s unclear whether India can deliver the promised reforms and hit its growth potential,” the Moody’s report said. “Undoubtedly, numerous political outcomes will dictate the extent of success.”
Special correspondent Parth M.N. contributed to this report.
The United States has made “the long bet” on India as an important partner in advancing their collective security interests in the South Asian region, according to a senior Obama administration official. “In the South Asia region, we have made the long bet on India as an important partner in advancing our collective security interests,” said Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Nisha Desai Biswal at an event here last week.
“The United States and India have a unique ability and opportunity to shape this region’s future for good,” she said at the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army, according to the transcript of her address released by State Department Oct. 19.
Nisha Desai Biswal
And, to that end, earlier this year President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out a Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, Biswal noted.
“This landmark document affirms the importance of safeguarding maritime security, ensuring freedom of navigation – especially in the South China Sea – and peacefully resolving territorial and maritime disputes,” she said.
“We’re also building India’s capacity through our defense trade – like that C-17 they brought their soldiers to Washington in, or the C-130s they used to deliver relief supplies after Nepal’s earthquake,” Biswal said. Last month, the Indian Air Force finalized a $3 billion deal for Apache and Chinook helicopters, she noted.
The U.S. was also helping India develop aircraft carrier and jet engine technology as part of their Defense Technology and Trade Initiative launched back in 2012. U.S. and India are also “increasingly cooperating in countering the threats posed by non-state actors through increased counter-terrorism cooperation in the region,” she said. The recently-signed Joint Declaration on Combating Terrorism paved the way for greater intelligence sharing and capacity building.
The U.S., she noted, conducted “more military exercises with India than any other country and we are fast becoming India’s biggest defense partner”. “Great examples include Exercise Yudh Abhyas, an Army to Army exercise that brought 150 Indian Army soldiers to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State where they arrived aboard an Indian Air Force C-17, and MALABAR, currently underway with India and Japan.”
“Together with 225 American soldiers, our armies practiced working together in peacekeeping and counter-terrorism operations,” Biswal said. “They also exchanged views on regional security and emerging challenges in the Indo-Pacific.” The US and India have also reached a major announcement on peacekeeping cooperation and the two countries are going to jointly train peacekeepers with several countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Eight Indian Americans have been named “Hillblazers” by the campaign of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., for raising at least $100,000 each for the Democratic frontrunner. Their names are prominently displayed on the election website of the Hillary campaign.
As per the list, updated Sept. 30, the Indian Americans Hillblazers are Ankit N. Desai, of Washington, D.C.; Shefali Razdan Duggal, of San Francisco; Raj Fernando, of Chicago; Frank Islam and Mahinder K. Tak, of Maryland; Deven J. Parekh, of New York; and Kamil and Talat Hasan, of California. It also has three Pakistani Americans as Hillblazers: Shaista Mahmood, of Virginia; and Asif Mahmood and Imaad Zuberi, both of California.
The United Nations came to be established in 1945 as a result of the world of 70 years ago, responding to the crisis of the World War II. The United Nations Security Council, the most powerful body of this international organization that represents the world’s 192 countries, has been dominated by the FIVE Permanent member states. India has served seven terms as a non-permanent member of UNSC and has echoed the need for expansion and reform in the Security Council. A permanent seat in UNSC would elevate India to the status of USA, UK, France, China and Russia in the diplomatic sphere and warrant India a critical say in all global matters that matter globally. The United Nations continued to be a representative of the world order of 1945.
Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister of India, has strongly pitched for reforms in the United Nations Security Council and pointed out that neither India with nearly a sixth of the world’s population nor the largest continent Africa in terms of number of countries were on board. India has made several attempts, making a strong pitch for early reforms of the United Nations Security Council before a gathering of Africa’s leaders, saying both India and Africa can no longer be excluded from their “rightful place” in the world body. “Although Indians and Africans comprise nearly 2.5 billion people, our nations continue to be excluded from appropriate representation in the institutions of global governance,” Sushma Swaraj said last week. Swaraj, who addressed the ministerial meeting of the third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi, also referred to the scourge of terrorism faced by India and Africa, and said the menace of non-state actors and cross-border terrorism has acquired a new dimension.
“India and Africa can no longer be excluded from their rightful place of the permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council. How can we expect legitimacy from a governance structure that excludes the entire African continent and a country, which represents one-sixth of humanity?” Over 180,000 Indian troops have participated in U.N. peacekeeping missions – more than any other country, she pointed out.
She said India was committed to a people-centric approach for cooperation with African countries focusing on capacity building, human resource development, and technical and financial support for mutually agreed priorities. Unless there were more democratic global governance structures, a more equitable international security and development framework will continue to elude the world, Swaraj said.
She said “A major issue is that of UN Security Council reforms. The Security Council continues to be representative of a world order of 1945. It is inconceivable that the Security Council today does not have any permanent representation from Africa, which is the largest continent (in terms of number of countries),” Sushma Swaraj said while addressing the third India-Africa Editors’ Forum meeting here.
She said it was also incomprehensible that India, which represents almost one-sixth of the world’s population and has all credentials to be a permanent member of the Security Council, was still out of it. We all need to work together to remove this anomaly and the media has an important role in this,” she said.
India will surely have to cultivate a global consensus which will include the P-5. India is not the only country in the world eyeing a spot in UNSC. Other competing nations include the likes of Japan, Germany and Brazil. India commands three distinct characteristics which make its case for a permanent seat compelling. Currently having a population of 1.28 billion, India will become the most populous country in the world by 2022. Such a large portion of the planet’s population cannot be altogether ignored or kept at a distance from the decision making table of UNSC which brings with itself the “veto” power. Secondly, India happens to be the second fastest growing economy in the world making it an ideal destination for foreign investment and future growth. Thirdly, India is ruled by a democratic, secular government which has never been upstaged by an army coup and can be labelled as a “responsible” nuclear power.
A reform in UN Security Council would necessitate the need for an amendment in the UN Charter which is possible only when a resolution is adopted by two-third member nations in the UN General Assembly. It has to be further ratified by the constitutional process of two-third member nations including P-5. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest is on record stating “President (Obama) would support the inclusion of India in that process (reform of UNSC)” but cables leaked by Wikileaks quoted Former US Secretary of State and arguably the next American president Hillary Rodham Clinton ridiculing countries like India as “self appointed front-runners” for a permanent membership of UNSC.
“We are dismayed at the opaque manner in which the Security Council continues to mandate peace operations, without any accountability or transparency,” India’s Permanent Representative Asoke Kumar Mukerji said at a General Assembly session on peacekeeping operations. “The human costs of this failing are evident in both the rising number of casualties among UN peacekeepers, as well as an alarming growth in the number of civilians, now reaching 60 million according to the Secretary General, whose lives are being disrupted by the conflicts that an ineffective Security Council is powerless to resolve,” Mukerji added. He appealed to Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft to “take the lead to prioritize agreement on an early reform of the Security Council during this 70th Session.”
Since he decided to enter the race to become the next President of the United States, Jindal has done everything possible to position himself for a serious run at the White House. Jindal has been polling at or below 1 percent in each national poll conducted by various news media outlets across the nation.
However, after failing to receive the necessary 2.5 percent support in a CNN poll to achieve a spot at the national debate’s main stage Oct. 28, the Louisiana Indian American governor told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Oct. 20 he isn’t committed to attending the CNBC undercard debate. “We haven’t made a decision yet,” Jindal told Blitzer. “They still have the opportunity to do the right thing.”
A new poll out Monday, October 26th confirms that Ben Carson is topping Donald Trump in Iowa’s Republican caucuses — this time by 14 points. According to the Monmouth University poll released Monday, Carson is leading Trump 32% to 18% among likely Republican Iowa voters. In a Monmouth poll conducted in August, the two had been tied at 23%. The poll confirms a shift in the state identified by two other polls in the past week. In the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll, Trump was up 9 points, and Quinnipiac University showed him up 8 percentage points.
The poll had good news for other GOP candidates, as well. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has picked up 6 percentage points since August, to 10%. That’s good enough to tie for third place with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Jeb Bush has picked up three points to be in fifth place, at 8%. His favorability rates have also improved 8 points since August. On the other hand, Carly Fiorina’s post-debate bounce has seemingly ebbed, as she dropped from 10% in August to 5% in Monday’s poll.
Earlier this months, polls pointed to Donald Trump as their strongest general election candidate, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that highlights the sharp contrast between the party’s voters and its top professionals regarding the billionaire businessman’s ultimate political strength. Seven in 10 Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say Trump could win in November 2016 if he is nominated, and that’s the most who say so of any candidate. By comparison, 6 in 10 say the same for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who, like Trump, has tapped into the powerful wave of antiestablishment anger defining the early phases of the 2016 contest.
Jindal, the first ever Indian American to be on the campaign mode, seeking to win the White House has been trailing behind almost all other Republican candidates. Jindal, in the CNN/ORC poll published Oct. 21, joined Jim Gilmore and George Pataki with less than 1 percent support. Four hundred sixty-five Republicans were polled. Those polled were asked who would be their first choice among the current GOP candidates and Jindal received an asterisk, or less than 1 percent support. When asked for their second choice, 1 percent of those polled said they would choose Jindal.
According to published sources, his record of good governance in his state is lackluster. He is described as a supporter of the rich. In his state, he was in favor of abolishing all corporate and personal income tax but in favor of raising the sales tax in order to make up for the loss of revenue to the state. His legislature wisely refused to go along with him for such regressive taxation.
Jindal refused to accept federal funding of $1.65 billion to expand Medicaid to the poor. He is pro-life and anti-abortion, and against same-sex marriage. He is against public funding of embryonic stem cell research. He favors the teaching of intelligent design in schools. He was against enforcing laws for the prevention of hate crimes in his state. His state ranked last for transparency in the United States.
Month after month, week after week, Gov. Bobby Jindal has been working to make himself relevant to the 2016 presidential election. Every week, Jindal made some (increasingly) desperate attempt for attention and relevance. On the rare occasion he made an appearance in Louisiana, he’s done everything possible to establish himself as a champion of “religious freedom.” He signed an executive order to give license to businesses to discriminate against same-sex couples. He’s even championed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would outlaw same-sex marriage.
As per media reports, despite having made a wreck of the state’s budget (including structural deficits for years), he’s also sold his soul to Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. Although he has approved more than $700 million in tax increases, Jindal desperately wants GOP voters in Iowa and New Hampshire to see him as the candidate most violently against tax increases. According to CNBC’s guidelines, candidates need at least 2.5 percent on an average of NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CNN and Bloomberg polls to qualify for the main stage event, debating to win the Republican presidential nomination.
In an ever growing clout of Indo-Canadians, 15 Liberal candidates of Indian origin, 3 from the Conservative Party and an Indo-Canadian belonging to New Democratic Party (NDP) won the election to the Canadian Parliament in the general elections to 338 seats. The Liberals got a parliamentary majority that will allow them to govern without relying on other parties.
The results of the national elections to the Canadian Parliament were declared on October 20th, 2015. The Indian-Canadians more than doubled their representation in the Canadian parliament from eight to 19 as Canadians voted out the Conservative Party by handing out a landslide to the Liberal Party.
Gosal lost to fellow Indian-Canadian Ramesh Sangha of the Liberal Party in Brampton Center, and Grewal of the Conservative Party lost in Fleetwood-Port Kells, British Columbia. But the biggest surprise was created by Darshan Kang of the Liberal Party, who won the Calgary Skyview seat for his party for the first time in 50 years by beating fellow Indian-Canadians Devinder Shory of the Conservative Party and Sahajvir Singh Randhawa of the New Democratic Party.
The outgoing minister of state Tim Uppal retained his seat by beating Amarjeet Singh Sahi of the Liberal Party and Jasvir Deol of the NDP in Edmonton Mill Woods. Most Indian-Canadian victories came in Canada’s biggest province of Ontario.
In Brampton East, Raj Grewal of the Liberal Party beat Harbaljit Kahlon of the NDP and Naval Bajaj of the Conservative Party. Bajaj is the former president of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce. In Brampton West, Kamal Khera of the Liberal Party beat Ninder Thind of the Conservative Party. In Brampton North, Ruby Sahota of the Liberal Party beat outgoing MP Parm Gill of the Conservative Party and white Sikh Martin Singh of the NDP.
While longest-serving MP Deepak Obhrai, a 65-year-old Conservative lawmaker, won for the seventh time from Calgary Forest Lawn, outgoing minister of state Bal Gosal and four-time MP Nina Grewal were prominent Indian-origin Canadians who lost their fight to hold back their seats to the Parliament.
“I have a strong record both as a representative of the constituency as well as working in government and in the opposition over the years I have been in Parliament,” Obhrai, who began his career as a Reform Party lawmaker, was quoted as saying by the Calgary Sun.
For over a century, Canada has benefited from the talent and hard work of newcomers from India. Tens of thousands of Indians continue to make the journey to Canada every year to help us build our country, our economy and, in many cases, to settle permanently and become Canadians.
Canada remains a destination of choice for visitors, students and business travellers from India. In 2013, Canada issued more than 130,000 visas to people coming to visit family, friends or as tourists. Canada welcomed almost 14,000 students and admitted more than 33,000 Indian citizens as permanent residents.
The Canadian government has been making changes to facilitate legitimate travel, welcoming more visitors, businesspeople and students to Canada than ever before. The Business Express Program (BEP), introduced in 2008, was created to ensure faster processing of visa applications for businesspeople. In addition, the Worker Express Program, which provides expedited service to applicants sent to Canada by companies under the BEP, was introduced in India in June 2009 and has since benefited more than 7,200 Indian citizens.
In addition to the BEP, in July 2011, the government extended the duration of multiple-entry visas from five to 10 years allowing visitors to enter and exit Canada for up to six months at a time over a 10-year period. The Parent and Grandparent Super Visa remains a fast and convenient option for parents and grandparents who want to spend longer periods of time with their families in Canada. By the end of February 2014, more than 31,000 Super Visas had been issued, and almost 97 percent of qualified Super Visa applicants were approved.
According to reports, more than 33,000 Indians became permanent residents in 2013, a 17 percent increase since 2008. The number of visitor visas issued in 2013 to Indian citizens represents an increase of 14 percent since 2008. Nearly four times more Indian students entered Canada in 2013 than in 2008 when 3,566 Indian citizens entered Canada as students. Canada welcomed more than 50,000 parents and grandparents to Canada during 2012 and 2013. Canada plans to welcome 20,000 more over the coming year.
Indian-Canadians make up over three per cent of Canada’s population of about 35 million and have become a significant political force. There were eight lawmakers of Indian-origin in Canada in 2011.
The 2015 Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been criticized by India but lauded by Republican presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio after its release October 14th.
The report listed India as a Tier 2 country, in which “the violations engaged in or tolerated by the government are serious and characterized by at least one of the elements of the ‘systematic, ongoing and egregious’ standard, but do not fully meet the CPC (countries of particular concern) standard.”
Six out of 29 state governments in India enforced existing “anti-conversion” laws and there were also reports of religiously motivated killings, arrests, coerced religious conversions, religiously-motivated riots, and actions restricting the right of individuals to change religious beliefs, according to the report.
“In some cases, local police failed to respond effectively to communal violence, including attacks against religious minorities, although local officials used broad authorities to deploy police and security forces to control outbreaks of religiously-motivated violence,” it read. The local non-governmental organization Act Now for Harmony and Democracy reported over 800 religiously-motivated attacks from May through the end of the year, it said.
India snubbed the report that expressed concern over reports of religiously-motivated killings in the country, saying the Indian constitution provides every citizen equal religious, political and social rights.
According to media reports, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the report is “internal to the U.S. administration. It is widely acknowledged that the Indian constitution guarantees equal rights – religious, political and social rights – to its citizens, including its minorities; and any abuses are handled by internal process, including the judiciary, a vibrant media, civil society and the National Human Rights Commission etc.”
However, the report gave a thumbs-up to the Indian authorities as they “continued to enforce laws designed to protect ‘religious sentiments’ and minimize the risk of religious violence, which some argued had the effect of limiting freedom of expression related to religion.”
Meanwhile, Rubio called for Pakistan to be designated as a Country of Particular Concern, adding the State Department does not utilize the tools it has to name and shame violators of religious freedom. “Religious freedom must be a bedrock of American foreign policy. The stakes are too high for anything less. We need to redouble our efforts to serve as a beacon for religious freedom around the world and press countries to implement policies that protect religious expression and worship,” Rubio said in a statement.
The administration should re-designate countries every year for their religious freedom violations, Rubio urged. In its global overview, the report said, in 2014, non-state actors committed some of the world’s most egregious abuses of religious freedom and other human rights. Government failure, delay, and inadequacy in combating these groups often had severe consequences for people living under significant and dire restrictions on, and interference with, their exercise of freedom of religion, it said. Pakistan has been placed as a Tier 1 country, comprised of “countries whose governments engage in or tolerate particularly severe violations of religious freedom that are systematic, ongoing and egregious,” the report said.
Indian American and Asian American organizations, joined the White House in launching a public awareness campaign to address bullying in the middle of National Bullying Prevention Month. The “Act To Change” public awareness campaign was launched by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Sikh Coalition and Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment to empower Asian American and Pacific Islander youth, educators and communities with information and tools to address and prevent the problem.
The Initiative, co-chaired by Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy and led by Ahuja, is housed within the U.S. Department of Education. “The ‘Act To Change’ campaign, and the strong coalition behind it, is a critical and necessary step forward for empowering our communities to stand up against bullying,” Sapreet Kaur, Sikh Coalition executive director, said in a statement.
“Bullying is a major civil rights issue for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in particular,” Initiative executive director Kiran Ahuja said in a statement. “We’ve seen too often AAPI groups, including Sikh, Muslim, Micronesian, LGBT, and limited English-proficient youth, targeted for bullying and harassment.”
Sikhs have become the poster child for this pervasive problem in post 9/11 classrooms, largely because of their articles of faith. The Sikh Coalition’s 2014 national bullying report found that 67% of turbaned Sikh children in varying U.S. communities have been bullied.
“The bullying of Sikh children is an epidemic,” said the Sikh Coalition’s Law and Policy director Arjun Singh. “Misinformation and misunderstanding regarding the Sikh faith, coupled with a dramatic increase in bigoted dialogue towards religious minorities, has resulted in intolerance and bullying in our schools.”
The campaign website, ActToChange.org, and its social media tag #ActToChange, provide AAPI youth and community members with platforms to share their stories, engage in dialogue around bullying awareness and prevention, and “Take the Pledge” to join the #ActToChange movement.
Video testimonials, music playlists, and blog stories provide messages of empowerment and support from AAPI athletes, artists, entertainers, and community members. As one in three AAPIs does not speak English fluently, the campaign offers resources in multiple languages: Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.
Campaign partners will host a live event in Los Angeles, Calif., at the Japanese American National Museum Nov. 21. The public event will feature armchair dialogues and performances with distinguished personalities and community members. Prior to the event, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national civil rights organization — will host high school advocacy training, expanding upon its existing “APA Y-Advocate” program to include a bullying prevention curriculum.
Maulik Pancholy, a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPI, said, “Growing up, sometimes people made me feel like an outsider; I was the perfect storm of nerdy, gay and Indian American,” in discussing the campaign. “But now, I’ve come to find that those very things that were sometimes used as fodder against me are the things I love the most about myself,” he wrote in a White House blog post.
“I have the privilege to be connected to amazing communities of incredible people: people who know that it’s actually cool to nerd out about stuff, who celebrate the strength and joy of what it means to identify as LGBT, and who appreciate the rich cultural heritage of being Indian American.”
“It’s okay to be weird, but it’s NOT okay to be bullied,” said Pancholy, noting: “Every day, kids of all ages suffer from being bullied in schools across the country.” In the AAPI community, this problem is often complicated by cultural, religious and linguistic barriers that can keep AAPI youth from getting the help they need, he said.
“And we’ve seen that certain AAPI groups — including South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Micronesian and limited English proficient youth — are more likely to be the targets of bullying,” Pancholy wrote.
Every year, Indians for Collective Action, one of the oldest San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit organizations focused on development and social entrepreneurship in India, has been honoring outstanding people who have been doing groundbreaking work to help the most under-served communities in India.
This year, ICA is celebrating its Annual Recognition Dinner honoring Padmashree and Magsaysay Award winners Dr. Prakash Amte and Dr. Mandakini Amte of LBP, Pune, India, and Padma Bhushan Dr. Thomas Kailath, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, Calif. (the Indian American educator is also the recipient of the 2014 Science & Technology Innovation Award from President Obama), on Oct. 11 at the India Community Center.
Since 1974, Dr. Prakash Amte (son of renowned humanitarian Baba Amte) and Prakash and Mandakini Amte, along with their organization Lok Biradari Prakalp, have spent 40 years bridging the gap between the two worlds — that of the beneficiaries of modern science and technology and of the Madia Gond tribals, who live on the fringes of society without such basic necessities as food, clothing and shelter.
The doctor couple helped them assert their rights and intervened to mediate disputes and get rid of abusive officials. Today, the Amtes’ tribal area hospital treats 40,000 patients a year free of charge. Also, the popular animal orphanage run by the Amtes at Hemalkasa, Maharashtra, promotes the survival of animals as a part of nature’s balance.
Thomas Kailath, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, has been widely acclaimed for his contributions to science and technology. His numerous recognitions include the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2007, a Padma Bhushan award in 2009 from the president of India, and election to the major science and engineering academies in the U.S., India, UK and Spain.
In 2014, President Barack Obama honored him with a U.S. National Medal of Science for “transformative contributions to the fields of information and system sciences, dedicated and sustained mentoring of young scholars, and for translation of scientific ideas into entrepreneurial ventures that have had a significant impact on industry.”
Kailath has been actively supporting numerous community and philanthropic initiatives in this country and in India, including ICA’s Sarah Kailath Women’s Leadership Program in India, since 2008. The cost of the event is $55 per person and $65/pp at the gate, which is partially tax deductible. You can register online for the event at: www.icaonline.org
A recent Pew Research Center study has predicted that Asian immigrants will surpass those of Hispanics by the year 2055 in the United States. The study, published Sept. 28, said that immigration in the U.S. has increased from 9.6 million in 1965 to 45 million this year. And by 2065, researchers said there will be roughly 78 million immigrants throughout the nation.
In the 50 years since 1965, America’s population growth was heavily weighted by new immigrants coming over with their children and grandchildren to the tune of 55 percent. In turn, the nation’s demographics have shifted.
In 1965, 84 percent of Americans were non-Hispanic white people. But by 2015, non-Hispanic white people accounted for 62 percent of the population. The Hispanic population in the nation, over that same time span, has grown from 4 percent to 18 percent. Likewise, the Asian population grew from 1 percent in 1965 to 6 percent this year.
The data reflects the change resulting from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 when the U.S. swept away a national origins quota system that favored immigrants from Europe. It changed its focus to family reunification and skilled immigrants.
Pew’s researchers have determined that there will be another shift coming, but within the immigration population. While Hispanics have accounted for the largest percentage of the population among U.S. immigrants since the 1965 act, Asians will slowly overtake the lead in that category in the next 40 years. Currently 47 percent of immigrants are of Hispanic descent. Asian immigrants, which include Pacific Islanders, account for 26 percent in 2015.
While Hispanics will have a larger population for the considerable future, by 2055, researchers said, Asian immigrants will leapfrog Hispanics as the largest immigrant population in the U.S., at 36 percent to 34 percent. That percentage gap will grow by 2065 to a 7 percent margin with Asian immigrants totaling 38 percent of the population to Hispanics’ 31 percent.
In total population, Asians will account for 14 percent of America’s total population – those born in the U.S. and abroad – by 2065, up from the 6 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, by 2055, no racial or ethnic group will constitute a majority of the population. The non-Hispanic whites’ population in the country will be less than 50 percent by 2055 and is projected to be 46 percent by 2065.
The historic visit by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi to the United States last month has strengthened the bonds between India and the US, the two largest democracies of the world and opened up new avenues of co-operation, top American lawmakers have said.
“There are many different areas and sectors where the U.S. and India’s growing friendship will cover mutually beneficial ground. Prime Minister Modi’s second visit to the U.S. has allowed us to continue to strengthen those bonds and explore new opportunities for us to work together,” Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard, said.
Gabbard is the first ever Hindu Congresswoman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She was among the top American lawmakers to have met Modi and attended his address to the community at SAP Center in San Jose, California. During her meeting with Modi, she and other members of Congress discussed plans to build U.S.-India relations and promote technology partnerships. “Prime Minister’s 2-day tour of Silicon Valley included meetings with technology executives who offered their ideas and assistance in bringing India fully into the digital world,” she said.
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who also met Modi in San Jose, said Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley is symbol of the collaboration and cooperation between the US and India. “Innovation and entrepreneurship are values that both of our countries excel at and serve as a model for,” he said. Among the members of Congress who attended the event were the Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi; Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Ami Bera and George Holding, co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Indians and Indian Americans; Eric Swalwell; Mike Honda and Jim McDermott.
Congressman Matt Salmon said the India and the U.S. were natural partners. “Our growing cooperation on issues like counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, and maritime security is a positive development for the region and the world,” he said. “At the same time, our economic and commercial ties have not kept pace with our deepening political ties,” he said.
“I am pleased to support the elevation of commercial issues in the recently concluded first U.S.-India Strategic and Economic Dialogue and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the U.S., where he heard ideas first-hand from entrepreneurs and business leaders in Silicon Valley on how we might advance our economic relationship,” Salmon said.
Following her meeting with Modi over the weekend, Congressman John Garamendi said that he raised the concerns of about the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in India with the Prime Minister. He is Sikh Caucus Co-Chair. “I appreciate that Prime Minister Modi gave me the opportunity to discuss these critical issues. Rest assured that he knows where I stand and that the message of my constituents was heard loud and clear,” he said.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was honored on by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations for her leadership in removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state capitol building grounds this summer. The award was given at a dinner ceremony by Harvard Foundation Director S. Allen Counter at Winthrop House in Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass on October 1st, 2015.
In her speech, Haley talked of a “New South” that was tackling historical problems of racial and economic inequality, the Harvard Crimson reported in its online edition. Haley also indicated the Republican Party was committed to solving the problems of the poor and people of color in her state. “I would not have won the Republican primary if this were a racially intolerant party,” she is quoted saying in the Crimson.
Haley is considered a “Rising Star” in the party, and her national image rose dramatically following her decision to remove the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds after the massacre of 9 black members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. by white supremacist Dylann Roof.
Haley spoke about the difference between how South Carolinians responded to the massacre compared to the violence that ensued in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland, after killings of unarmed blacks at the hands of police there. The uprisings, she said, hurt black people already facing police violence whereas in South Carolina people came together to mourn the loss of life.
Harvard Foundation Director S. Allen Counter presented her with an award of appreciation for her calls to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state capitol this past summer. In remarks in Winthrop House, Haley described the bright future of a “New South” dedicated to tackling historical problems of racial and economic inequality. She also offered a defense of the Republican Party and its values in solving problems for low-income people and people of color in her state.
Haley entered the political spotlight this summer after nine black members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., were shot and killed, allegedly in a racially motivated attack by Dylann Roof. Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state capitol in the wake of the killings, and many people throughout the country celebrated her subsequent signing of the bill that took the flag down.
Reflecting on her choice to call for the removal of the flag, Haley said that “the State House belongs to all people, and it needed to be welcoming to all people. That was not possible with the flag flying,” she concluded.
Haley spoke in depth about how South Carolina residents responded to this summer’s massacre, contrasting it with the violence that erupted in cities like Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore after killings of unarmed black people at the hands of police there.
Haley, while maintaining that “black lives do matter,” argued that the uprisings in other cities in fact hurt black people who face police violence. Charleston, in contrast, saw no violence in the wake of the church massacre, with Haley describing the local reaction as a peaceful coming together to mourn the loss of life. Haley met with University President Drew G. Faust and Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana during her visit, according to Counter.
Let’s pause a moment to thank an under-appreciated Congress for one of its great accomplishments: the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which turned 50 on Saturday. The law ended the era of race-based immigration, a quota system based on national origin that overwhelmingly favored white European immigrants.
If you have ever wondered how and why this country had to stop looking at itself as the America of the Disney movies of the mid-1960s — the ones with Fred MacMurray and Keenan Wynn, where everyone seemed to be white and Midwestern and the men wore bowties to supper — you can look to the 1965 law, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, which greatly widened the gateway to immigrants from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, among other places.
The White House was host to a citizenship ceremony today to celebrate Hart-Celler. The speakers included the historian Taylor Branch, who quoted President Johnson’s stirring words at the signing ceremony at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. The bill, Johnson said, corrected the “harsh injustice” of national-origins quotas, erasing “a cruel and enduring wrong in the conduct of the American nation.”
Mr. Branch said he counted himself among the historians who view Hart-Celler as “a third pillar of democratic fulfillment from the Civil Rights era, along with the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
He placed the bill on a long, slow timeline of American course-correction and self-improvement, a step forward for a country that had learned to turn away from white supremacy, the ownership of human beings and the subjugation of women and was now confronting the many varieties of legal and institutional discrimination and forced inequality.
Hart-Celler affirmed, Mr. Branch said, “that the United States is founded not on any language or ethnic identity,” but rather on the idealism embodied in its founding document’s first three words: “We the people.”
Speaking to the 15 newly sworn citizens in the room, Branch said, “You are a testament to that ideal.” He noted that the bill gets little attention, is misunderstood by many and scorned by some. “There is no Martin Luther King of immigration reform,” he said, “nor any landmark anniversary on par with Selma and the March on Washington.”
But you could say Hart-Celler’s landmark anniversary is the one held in the heart of every immigrant on the day he or she takes the naturalization oath, rejecting old allegiances and joining the citizenry, full-fledged and proud.
The United States has long been—and continues to be—a key destination for the world’s immigrants. Over the decades, immigrants from different parts of the world arrived in the U.S. and settled in different states and cities. This led to the rise of immigrant communities in many parts of the U.S.
The nation’s first great influx of immigrants came from Northern and Western Europe. In 1850, the Irish were the largest immigrant group nationally and in most East Coast and Southern states. By the 1880s, Germans were the nation’s largest immigrant group in many Midwestern and Southern states. At the same time, changes to U.S. immigration policy had a great impact on the source countries of immigrants. In 1880, Chinese immigrants were the largest foreign-born group in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Nevada. But with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Chinese immigrants were prevented from entering the U.S. As a result, other immigrant groups rose to become the largest in those states.
Fifty years after passage of the landmark law that rewrote U.S. immigration policy, nearly 59 million immigrants have arrived in the United States, pushing the country’s foreign-born share to a near record 14%. For the past half-century, these modern-era immigrants and their descendants have accounted for just over half the nation’s population growth and have reshaped its racial and ethnic composition.
Looking ahead, new Pew Research Center U.S. population projections show that if current demographic trends continue, future immigrants and their descendants will be an even bigger source of population growth. Between 2015 and 2065, they are projected to account for 88% of the U.S. population increase, or 103 million people, as the nation grows to 441 million.
These are some key findings of a new Pew Research analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data and new Pew Research U.S. population projections through 2065, which provide a 100-year look at immigration’s impact on population growth and on racial and ethnic change. In addition, this report uses newly released Pew Research survey data to examine U.S. public attitudes toward immigration, and it employs census data to analyze changes in the characteristics of recently arrived immigrants and paint a statistical portrait of the historical and 2013 foreign-born populations.
Immigration since 1965 has swelled the nation’s foreign-born population from 9.6 million then to a record 45 million in 2015. The current immigrant population is lower than the 59 million total who arrived since 1965 because of deaths and departures from the U.S. By 2065, the U.S. will have 78 million immigrants, according to the new Pew Research population projections.
The nation’s immigrant population increased sharply from 1970 to 2000, though the rate of growth has slowed since then. Still, the U.S. has—by far—the world’s largest immigrant population, holding about one-in-five of the world’s immigrants.
Between 1965 and 2015, new immigrants, their children and their grandchildren accounted for 55% of U.S. population growth. They added 72 million people to the nation’s population as it grew from 193 million in 1965 to 324 million in 2015.
This fast-growing immigrant population also has driven the share of the U.S. population that is foreign born from 5% in 1965 to 14% today and will push it to a projected record 18% in 2065. Already, today’s 14% foreign-born share is a near historic record for the U.S., just slightly below the 15% levels seen shortly after the turn of the 20th century. The combined population share of immigrants and their U.S.-born children, 26% today, is projected to rise to 36% in 2065, at least equaling previous peak levels at the turn of the 20th century.
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act made significant changes to U.S. immigration policy by sweeping away a long-standing national origins quota system that favored immigrants from Europe and replacing it with one that emphasized family reunification and skilled immigrants. At the time, relatively few anticipated the size or demographic impact of the post-1965 immigration flow. In absolute numbers, the roughly 59 million immigrants who arrived in the U.S. between 1965 and 2015 exceed those who arrived in the great waves of European-dominated immigration during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Between 1840 and 1889, 14.3 million immigrants came to the U.S., and between 1890 and 1919, an additional 18.2 million arrived.
After the replacement of the nation’s European-focused origin quota system, greater numbers of immigrants from other parts of the world began to come to the U.S. Among immigrants who have arrived since 1965, half (51%) are from Latin America and one-quarter are from Asia. By comparison, both of the U.S. immigration waves in the mid-19th century and early 20th century consisted almost entirely of European immigrants.
As a result of its changed makeup and rapid growth, new immigration since 1965 has altered the nation’s racial and ethnic composition. In 1965, 84% of Americans were non-Hispanic whites. By 2015, that share had declined to 62%. Meanwhile, the Hispanic share of the U.S. population rose from 4% in 1965 to 18% in 2015. Asians also saw their share rise, from less than 1% in 1965 to 6% in 2015.
The Pew Research analysis shows that without any post-1965 immigration, the nation’s racial and ethnic composition would be very different today: 75% white, 14% black, 8% Hispanic and less than 1% Asian. The arrival of so many immigrants slightly reduced the nation’s median age, the age at which half the population is older and half is younger. The U.S. population’s median age in 1965 was 28 years, rising to 38 years in 2015 and a projected 42 years in 2065. Without immigration since 1965, the nation’s median age would have been slightly older—41 years in 2015; without immigration from 2015 to 2065, it would be a projected 45 years.
By the early 20th century, a new wave of immigration was underway, with a majority coming from Southern Europe and Eastern Europe. By the 1930s, Italians were the largest immigrant group in the nation and in nine states, including New York, Louisiana, New Jersey and Nevada.
The composition of immigrants changed again in the post-1965 immigration era. By the 1980s, Mexicans became the nation’s largest immigrant group; by 2013, they were the largest immigrant group in 33 states. But other immigrant groups are represented as well. Chinese immigrants are the largest immigrant group in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Indians are the largest immigrant group in New Jersey. Filipinos are the largest immigrant group in Alaska and Hawaii.
Shashi N. Kumar, an Indian American has been named to two posts at the Maritime Administration. Currently the academic dean at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kumar will take on the roles of deputy associate administrator and national coordinator for the Maritime Education and Training at MARAD’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. At MARAD, Kumar is expected to lead the efforts in bolstering the country’s pool of merchant marines and help address the needs of state and federal maritime academies.
Dr. Shashi Kumar
“After serving at the United States Merchant Marine Academy since January 2007 as the academic dean and as interim superintendent three times, I am moving on to pursue other challenges,” Kumar said in a statement. Kumar is a graduate of the University of Ulster, Maine Maritime Academy and the University of Wales, Cardiff, the latter from which he earned his doctorate in applied economics.
He has been honored with a number of awards pertaining to his service and leadership over the years, and, in June, was named an honorary alumnus of USMMA. A member of several marine- and maritime-based organizations, Kumar got his start in the industry at Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. in Singapore as the company’s master mariner in 1979. After about seven years there, Kumar moved on to the Maine Maritime Academy where, from 1987 to 2007, he served as the founding dean of the Loeb-Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics. Kumar will be leaving USMMA this month.
The Bihar state election, which begins on October 12 and concludes on November 8, will be the “biggest electoral test” for the Modi-led BJP government thus far, a top American think-tank has stated. The upcoming Bihar Assembly election this month will be the biggest electoral test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi this far, scholars from a top American think-tank have said, noting that the ramifications of its results will be felt far away from the state’s borders.
“No matter what the voters of Bihar decide, the ramifications will be felt far beyond the state’s borders,” scholars Milan Vaishnav and Saksham Khosla from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – a top U.S. think tank – wrote in an op-ed last week. If it prevails, this victory could provide the central government with new momentum. A win would bring BJP closer to a Rajya Sabha majority and boost its chances ahead of state elections in 2016 and 2017.
If it falls short, it would be a big blow, especially because Modi has associated his own reputation so closely with the campaign, even recently announcing a $ 19 billion (Rs1.25 lakh crore) economic package for the state, the Carnegie scholars wrote. The election could also make or break the careers of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his new found ally, Lalu Prasad Yadav, the think-tank scholars said.
“Kumar’s star, once among the brightest of all state leaders, has dimmed after the 2014 general election debacle. For Yadav, who will likely return to jail to serve time for a corruption conviction, a victory would maintain his and his family’s relevance in state politics,” they wrote. “Forming an alliance in Bihar would provide Congress some comfort for its spate of recent electoral defeats and boost the standing of the party’s heir-in-waiting, Rahul Gandhi,” they said.
Historically, Indian Americans have a played a key role in defining the relationship between India and the United States. Leaders from both India and the US have emphasized the contributions of the fast growing and influential Indian American community in the US in bringing India and the US closer than ever before in their histories.
President Barack Obama has said they welcome the role of Indian-Americans sought by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development of India. “Prime Minister Modi has called on the Indian diaspora in the United States which is very large and very successful to contribute their talents to India’s progress. “And that’s something that we welcome,” Obama said yesterday after his hour-long meeting with Modi at the UN headquarters here wherein the Prime Minister spoke about his weekend trip to Silicon Valley and how this would help the development of India.
“I was in Silicon Valley over the weekend. I experienced the strength of American innovation and enterprise that provide the foundation of American success. “I also saw the driving force of our relationship — youth, technology and innovation — and the natural partnership of Indians and Americans in advancing human progress,” Modi said.
Referring to his visit to California, Modi informed Obama about the conversations he had relating to startups, renewable energy and how the visit would probably lead to many new technology partnerships between India and U.S. In this context he also referred to the Start Up Konnect event where 40 startups from India had come to basically benefit from the ecosystem that already exists in the Silicon Valley and how India would create a similar ecosystem where startups would eventually scale up to larger entities, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the U.S. to woo American investors, the White House said President Barack Obama would work closely with him to expand economic opportunity for both Americans and Indians. “There are any number of reasons why the President would work closely with his counterpart, Prime Minister Modi,” on strengthening India-U.S. economic ties, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday.
Modi, who arrived in New York, had his third summit with Obama within a year after meeting investors in New York and tech leaders at Silicon Valley giants like Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Tesla among others.
When Obama travelled to India in January, “there was much discussion of the important economic ties between our two countries,” Earnest said in response to a question about the just concluded first India-U.S. strategic and commercial dialogue.
Several American business leaders had also travelled to India at the same time “to engage in discussions with Indian business leaders and leaders in the Indian government to discuss strengthening the ties between our two countries,” he noted.
“The idea here is that by strengthening these ties, we can expand economic opportunity in both of our countries; that the more business that American businesses can do in India, the more economic opportunity that it creates back here in the U.S.,” Earnest said. “There’s also a potential that Indian businesses choosing to invest in the United States could also expand some economic opportunity here as well,” he said. “So there are any number of reasons why the President would work closely with his counterpart, Prime Minister Modi,” Earnest said. Modi “understands these kinds of dynamics and shares the President’s goal of trying to deepen these ties with an eye toward expanding economic opportunity for the citizens in both the United States and India,” he said.
Earnest also reiterated Obama’s support for India’s inclusion in a reformed Security Council, but suggested India “take on additional responsibilities” in international matters by, for instance, playing “a constructive role in the climate talks in Paris.” The spokesperson recalled that during his first trip to India back in 2010, Obama had announced that the U.S. “would be supportive of including India in the United Nations Security Council in the context of reforming essentially the governance structure of the United Nations. That continues to be the position of the United States, and I think it reflects the increasingly important role that we’re seeing India play around the world,” he said.
“And as the world’s largest democracy and as a country whose economic influence is only growing, we would welcome additional opportunities for India to take on additional responsibilities when it comes to contributing to the shared interests of the international community,” Earnest said. “Certainly one way to do that would be for India to play a constructive role in the climate talks in Paris; that as a growing economy, India could make an important statement about the future of our planet by making a serious commitment in the context of those negotiations.” Obama and Modi have had talked about it in the past, Earnest said, “and I would anticipate that they’ll talk about it again in advance of the Paris climate talks.”
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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
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, 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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 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.
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 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, 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.”
