Dr. Hiral Tipirneni wins Arizona Democratic primary for Congress

March 5, 2018 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Indian American physician Hiral Tipirneni defeated her Democratic rival Brianna Westbrook in Tuesday’s closely watched special 8th Congressional District primary on February 27th. Tipirneni, an emergency-room physician, and Westbrook, a progressive activist, were battling for the chance to take on the winner of the Republican primary in the April 24 special general election.

Republican Debbie Lesko won the GOP primary. The special election will settle who finishes the current two-year term for Trent Franks, who resigned in December after being accused of sexual misconduct. Elected leaders, activists, and fundraisers in the Indian-American community are celebrating the victory of an Arizona physician in that state’s 8th Congressional District Democratic primary.

“Thank you to everyone who knocked on a door, picked up a phone, & helped to spread our message through #AZ08! #grassroots,” said Dr. Hiral Tipirneni. She now has to defeat the Republican primary winner Debbie Lesko to possibly become the second Indian-American woman lawmaker on Capitol Hill.

The AAPI Victory Fund, a political action committee founded by an Indian-American Shekar Narasimhan, tweeted out immediately upon Tipirneni’s victory “Congratulations @Hiral4Congress #Mineta11 Candidate for winning Democratic Congressional District 8 primaryhttps://t.co/7aS1ZNsTzI via @azcentral #AAPIPower” The organization has endorsed her and is raising funds for her campaign.

Arizona’s 8th District is among the state’s most conservative, suggesting that whoever emerges from the Republican primary Tuesday is considered the favorite to head to Washington. But Democrats have fared better in federal elections across the country since 2016, suggesting the party will make a more competitive showing in the district than typically seen.

The New York Times does not give Tipirneni much of a chance at winning the seat describing District 8 as safely in Republican hands. Past elections results show Franks won 68.5 percent of the vote in the 2016 elections and almost 76 percent in 2014. However, it was a seat that was held by Democrat Gabby Giffords back in 2010. Giffords had to leave after being shot while addressing constituents. Giffords endorsed Tipirneni during the primaries.

The Arizona Democratic Party Chair Felecia Rotellini issued a statement congratulating Tipirneni, describing it as a hard-fought campaign. “She ran an incredible campaign focused on improving the lives of Arizonans in the Eighth Congressional District by offering real solutions for them. This is in direct contrast to the chaos Arizonans have seen on their television screens by the Arizona Republican Party,” Rotellini said, adding, ‘“The Eighth Congressional District deserves a representative that work to get things done for them – like safeguarding Social Security and Arizona’s AHCCCS while making sure their hard-earned tax dollars don’t go to waste in Washington. Dr. Hiral Tipirneni will do exactly that.”

“I think we won because our message was really connecting with voters, resonating,” a triumphant Tipirneni told The Arizona Republic. “I think they are looking for someone who brings something like my skill set to the table, somebody who is ready to work with people from all backgrounds and really focus on solving the problems at hand.”

Judge Ravi K. Sandill to Run for Texas Supreme Court Place 4

March 5, 2018 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Judge Ravi K. Sandill is running for the Supreme Court of Texas, Place 4, to bring balance to the institution that is” increasingly out of touch with the needs of everyday Texans,” he says. “After nearly a quarter century of one-party rule, our state Supreme Court increasingly caters to an extreme, special interest agenda and is ignoring its duty to the nearly 28 million Texans it is elected to serve,” Sandill said on his site. “On issues from public school finance to equal protection under the law, the court has failed to do its job. It is time for a change.”

On his website, he says that after nearly a quarter century of one-party rule, “our state Supreme Court increasingly caters to an extreme, special interest agenda and is ignoring its duty to the nearly 28 million Texans it is elected to serve.

On issues from public school finance to equal protection under the law, the court has failed to do its job.” He says he is running “to restore an independent voice to our state’s highest judicial body and to focus on the rule of law, rather than a fringe ideological agenda.”

Sandill who describes himself as a Texan, husband, dad and cancer survivor, grew up on military bases throughout Texas, attended college in Austin, and graduated from law school in Houston. He has served as judge of the 127th Civil District Court in Harris County since 2009 and, according to his website, is the first district court judge in Texas of South Asian descent.

After graduating law school, Sandill worked as a briefing attorney for Murry Cohen, senior justice on Texas’s First District Court of Appeals. He then went into private practice in Houston, where he focused on commercial, appellate, and trade secret litigation for a number of years. Sandill first ran for judge in 2008 and since then has presided over more than 225 civil trials and has adjudicated over 15,000 matters.

As a young attorney and just two months before he was to marry his law school classmate, Sandill was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the blood cells. He got married while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, but the cancer returned just six months later, requiring him to undergo a stem-cell transplant at age 27. Sandill has been cancer-free for more than 13 years.

He and his wife Kelly, a partner at the law firm of Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP, and their son Asher live in central Houston. The Indian American is from a military family and learned the value of service at a young age, he said. His father, Retired Lt. Col. Brij Sandill, served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force for a combined 28 years. The judge spent most of his childhood at Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, Texas, and Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, later moving with his family to Royal Air Force Station Lakenheath, England.

Sandill won the 127th district court seat in 2008, defeating a nearly three-decades long incumbent to claim the seat. Since taking over the seat, the Indian American judge has presided over more than 225 civil trials and has adjudicated over 15,000 matters. He was elected to a third term as judge in November 2016.

Sandill serves on the board of directors of the Garland R. Walker American Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to improving the skills, professionalism and ethics of lawyers, and is a frequent speaker on legal topics throughout Texas and the nation.

Sameena Mustafa running for Congress in Illinois’ 5th District

February 24, 2018 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Indian American activist Sameena Mustafa is running for Congress in Illinois’ 5th Congressional District, vying for the Democratic nomination in the March 20 primary. Mustafa is among four Democrats running in the primary, including incumbent Rep. Mike Quigley, who has held the seat since he was elected in 2009. The other candidates in the primary are Steve Schwartzberg and Benjamin Thomas Wolf.

Sameena’s story is the story of the American Dream. The story of opportunity, hard work and dedication to service. “I’m Sameena Mustafa. My background is I’ve worked in business, non-profit and the arts. Most recently I was a commercial real estate tenant advocate for 13 years representing groups, non-profits, small business that represent the most marginalized in our community, so women and girls, the LBT community, immigrants and refugees, and that has been my life’s work. I’ve been on boards, I’ve been a volunteer for domestic violence shelters, it is my passion to work for the community, and this is a continuation of that,” she told The Sun Times recently.

Mustafa, the daughter of Muslim immigrants from India who has lived in the 5th Congressional District of Illinois for three decades, has worked in business, the non-profit sector and the arts.

Sameena was born in Evanston, IL to Indian Muslim immigrant parents and grew up in the Edgebrook neighborhood of Chicago. Her father worked as an engineer at O’Hare, and her mother as a pediatrician at the Uptown Board of Health Clinic. Sameena attended Chicago Public Schools, Regina Dominican H.S., and graduated from Northwestern University.

After graduation, she managed a Planned Parenthood clinic, and for the past decade has worked in real estate as a tenant advocate for small businesses and community nonprofits serving women, immigrants, refugees, LGBTQ, and sexual assault survivors.

Sameena has lived in the 5th District for 30 years and currently resides in the North Center neighborhood with her husband, Talha.

Sameena has been a leader in the business, arts, and nonprofit communities for 25 years. For over a decade she has counseled and negotiated on behalf of small businesses and nonprofits against landlords and financial institutions as a real estate tenant representative and advocate for organizations such as Upwardly Global, Instituto del Progreso Latino, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, Rape Victim Advocates, Chicago Women’s Health Center and the Chicago Foundation for Women.

As a former Planned Parenthood manager, she is the only candidate in the race with direct healthcare experience in a federally-funded clinic.

In Congress, Mustafa said she will fight for economic justice, human rights and political reform to show that the 5th District stands for bold, progressive and inclusive leadership. Mustafa’s priorities include reproductive choice for women, Medicare for all, pushing for a living wage and empowering workers, ensuring rights and protections for all people, providing a path to citizenship to immigrants regardless of status, fighting voter suppression, rolling back the systemic architecture of mass incarceration, revamping the corporate and individual tax system, campaign finance reform, combating climate change, and protecting net neutrality, her site said.

“I will fight for the causes that are important to the people of the 5th District and work to resolve the issues that affect the American people most,” she said in a Chicago Sun-Times report. “We are living in a critical time in our history and the need for representatives who are not beholden to corporate donors and lobbyists has never been greater. This is why I will push for a constitutional amendment to ensure free and fair elections to address the corrosive effect of money in politics.”

“Fake News” Is Fake News

February 24, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

The people who created Facebook and Google must be smart. They’re billionaires, their companies are worth multi-multi billions, their programs are used by billions around the world.

But all these smart people, because of Congressional pressure, have swallowed the stories about “fake news”. Facebook hired a very large staff of people to read everything posted by users to weed out the fake stuff. That didn’t last too long at all before the company announced that it wasn’t “comfortable” deciding which news sources are the most trustworthy in a “world with so much division”. We all could have told them that, couldn’t we?

Facebook’s previous efforts to ask its users to determine the accuracy of news did not turn out any better. Last year, the company launched a feature that allowed users to flag news stories they felt were inaccurate. The experiment was shuttered after nine months.

“Fake news”, however, is not the problem. News found in the mainstream media is rarely fake; i.e., actual lies made from whole cloth, totally manufactured. This was, however, a common practice of the CIA during the first Cold War. The Agency wrote editorials and phony news stories to be knowingly published by Latin American media with no indication of CIA authorship or CIA payment to the particular media. The propaganda value of such a “news” item might be multiplied by being picked up by other CIA stations in Latin America who would disseminate it through a CIA-owned news agency or a CIA-owned radio station. Some of these stories made their way back to the United States to be read or heard by unknowing North Americans.

Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction” in 2003 is another valid example of “fake news”, but like the CIA material this was more a government invention than a media creation.

The main problem with the media today, as earlier, is what is left out of articles dealing with controversial issues. For example, the very common practice during the first Cold War of condemning the Soviet Union for taking over much of Eastern Europe after the Second World War. This takeover is certainly based on fact. But the condemnation is very much misapplied if no mention is made of the fact that Eastern Europe became communist because Hitler, with the approval of the West, used it as a highway to reach the Soviet Union to wipe out Bolshevism once and for all; the Russians in World Wars I and II lost about 40 million people because the West had twice used this highway to invade Russia. It should not be surprising that after World War II the Soviets were determined to close down the highway. It was not simply “communist expansion”.

Or the case of Moammar Gaddafi. In the Western media he is invariably referred to as “the Libyan dictator”. Period. And he certainly was a dictator. But he also did many marvelous things for the people of Libya (like the highest standard of living in Africa) and for the continent of Africa (like creating the African Union).

Or the case of Vladimir Putin. The Western media never tires of reminding its audience that Putin was once a KGB lieutenant colonel – wink, wink, we all know what that means, chuckle, chuckle. But do they ever remind us with a wink or chuckle that US President George H.W. Bush was once – not merely a CIA officer, but the fucking Director of the CIA!

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg now says: “We decided that having the community determine which sources are broadly trusted would be most objective”; “broadly trusted” sources being those that are “affirmed by a significant cross-section of users”.

Right, a significant cross-section of users – Will that include me? Highly unlikely. Broadly trusted sources – Will that include media like my Anti-Empire Report? Just as unlikely. Anything close? Maybe a single token leftist website amongst a large list, I’d guess. And a single token rightist website. Zuckerberg and his ilk probably think that the likes of NBC, NPR and CNN are very objective and are to be trusted when it comes to US foreign-policy issues or capitalism-vs-socialism issues.

On January 19 Google announced that it would cancel a two-month old experiment, called Knowledge Panel, which informed its users that a news article had been disputed by “independent fact-checking organizations”. Conservatives had complained that the feature unfairly targeted a right-leaning outlet.

Imagine that. It’s almost like people have political biases. Both Facebook and Google are still experimenting, trying to find a solution that I do not think exists. My solution is to leave it as it is. There’s no automated way to remove bias or slant or judgment from writing or from those persons assigned to evaluate such.

“I’m happy to have a president that will bluntly speak the truth in negotiations,” Eric Prince commented on Breitbart News. “If the president says some places are shitholes, he’s accurate.” Thus did Mr. Eric Prince pay homage to Mr. Donald Trump. Prince of course being the renowned founder of Blackwater, the private army which in September 2007 opened fire in a crowded square in Baghdad, killing 17 Iraqi civilians and seriously wounding 20 more.

Speaking of Haiti and other “shitholes”, Prince declared: “It’s a sad characterization of many of these places. It’s not based on race. It has nothing to do with race. It has to do with corrupt incompetent governments that abuse their citizens, and that results in completely absent infrastructure to include open sewers, and unclean water, and crime. It’s everything we don’t want in America.”

Like the US media, Prince failed to point out that on two occasions in the recent past when Haiti had a decent government, led by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which was motivated to improve conditions, the United States was instrumental in nullifying its effect. This was in addition to fully supporting the Duvalier dictatorship for nearly 30 years prior to Aristide.

Aristide, a reformist priest, was elected to the presidency in 1991 but was ousted eight months later in a military coup. The 1993 Clinton White House thus found itself in the awkward position of having to pretend – because of all their rhetoric about “democracy” – that they supported the democratically-elected Aristide’s return to power from his exile in he US. After delaying his return for more than two years, Washington finally had its military restore Aristide to office, but only after obliging the priest to guarantee that he would not help the poor at the expense of the rich – literally! – and that he would stick closely to free-market economics. This meant that Haiti would continue to be the assembly plant of the Western Hemisphere, with its workers receiving starvation wages, literally! If Aristide had thoughts about breaking the agreement forced upon him, he had only to look out his window – US troops were stationed in Haiti for the remainder of his term.

In 2004, with Aristide once again the elected president, the United States staged one of its most blatant coups ever. On February 28, 2004, American military and diplomatic personnel arrived at Aristide’s home to inform him that his private American security agents must either leave immediately to return to the US or fight and die; that the remaining 25 of the American security agents hired by the Haitian government, who were to arrive the next day, had been blocked by the United States from coming; that foreign and Haitian rebels were nearby, heavily armed, determined and ready to kill thousands of people in a bloodbath. Aristide was pressured to sign a “letter of resignation” before he was flown into exile by the United States.

And then US Secretary of State Colin Powell, in the sincerest voice he could muster, told the world that Aristide “was not kidnapped. We did not force him onto the airplane. He went onto the airplane willingly. And that’s the truth.” Powell sounded as sincere as he had sounded a year earlier when he gave the UN a detailed (albeit imaginary) inventory of the chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in Iraq, shortly before the US invasion.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide was on record, by word and deed, as not being a great lover of globalization or capitalism. This was not the kind of man the imperial mafia wanted in charge of the Western Hemisphere’s assembly plant. It was only a matter of time before they took action.

It should be noted that the United States also kept progressives out of power in El Salvador, another of Trump’s “shithole” countries.

On January 24 I went to the Washington, DC bookstore Politics & Prose to hear David Cay Johnston, author of “It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America”. To my surprise he repeatedly said negative things about Russia, and in the Q&A session I politely asked him about this. He did not take kindly to that and after a very brief exchange cut me off by asking for the next person in line to ask a question.

That was the end of our exchange. No one in the large audience came to my defense or followed up with a question in the same vein; i.e., the author as cold warrior. The only person who spoke to me afterwards had only this to say as he passed me by: “Putin kills people”. Putin had not been mentioned. I should have asked him: “Which government never kills anyone?”

Politics & Prose is a very liberal bookstore. (Amongst many authors of the left, I’ve spoken there twice.) Its patrons are largely liberal. But liberals these days are largely cold warriors it appears. Even though the great majority of them can’t stand Trump they have swallowed the anti-Russia line of his administration and the media, perhaps because of the belief that “Russian meddling” in the election led to dear Hillary’s defeat, the proof of which seems more non-existent with each passing day.

Sam Smith (who puts out the Progressive Review in Maine) has written about Hillary’s husband: “A major decline of progressive America occurred during the Clinton years as many liberals and their organizations accepted the presence of a Democratic president as an adequate substitute for the things liberals once believed in. Liberalism and a social democratic spirit painfully grown over the previous 60 years withered during the Clinton administration.”

And shortly afterward came Barack Obama, not only a Democrat but an African-American, the perfect setup for a lot more withering, health care being a good example. The single-payer movement was regularly gaining momentum when Obama took office; it seemed like America was finally going to join the modern advanced world. But Mr. O put a definitive end to that. Profit – even of the type Mr. Trump idealizes – would still determine who is to live and who is to die, just like Jews intone during Rosh Hashanah.

Poor America. It can travel to other planets, create a military force powerful enough to conquer the world ten times over, invent the Internet and a thousand other things … but it can’t provide medical care for all its people.

Now, three of the richest men in the world, the heads of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan Chase, which collectively employ more than a million people, have announced they are partnering to create an independent company aimed at reining in ever-increasing health-care costs for companies and employees alike. The three men will pursue this objective through a company whose initial focus will be on technology solutions that will provide US employees and their families with simplified, high-quality and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost. Almost no details were made available on how they plan to do this, but I predict that whatever they do will fail. They have lots of models to emulate – in Canada, Europe, Cuba and elsewhere – but to an American nostril these examples all suffer from the same unpleasant odor, the smell of socialism.

I say this even though their announcement states that the new company will be “free from profit-making incentives and constraints”. And Warren Buffet, head of Berkshire Hathaway, is cited on CNN as follows: “Warren Buffett says America is ready for single-payer health care. The billionaire investor tells PBS NewsHour that government-run health insurance ‘probably is the best system’ because it would control escalating costs. ‘We are such a rich country. In a sense, we can afford to do it.’” Of course the US could have afforded to do it 50 years ago. I really hope that my cynicism is misplaced.

The Trump Bubble (Written before the market crashed)

February 24, 2018 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Repeatedly, President Trump and his supporters have bragged about the “booming” stock market, attributing it to the administration’s marvelous economic policies and the great public confidence in those policies. Like much of what comes out of the Donald’s mouth … this is simply nonsense.

The stock market is, and always has been, just a gambling casino, a glorified Las Vegas. Every day a bunch of people, (gamblers) buy and/or sell one stock or another; sometimes they sell the same stock they bought the day before; or the hour before; or the minute before; the next day they may well do the exact reverse. All depending on the latest news headline, or what a corporation has done to elicit attention, or what a friend just told them, or a fortune teller, or that day’s horoscope, or just a good ol’ hunch. Or they make up a reason; anything to avoid thinking that they’re just pulling the lever of a slot machine.

And many people buy certain stocks because other people are buying it. This is what stock market analysts call a speculative bubble. Prick the confidence and the bubble bursts. “The stock market,” Naomi Klein has observed, “has the temperament of an overindulged 2-year-old, who can throw one of its world-shaking tantrums.”

Walter Winchell, the 1960-70s powerful and widely-syndicated gossip columnist of the New York Daily News, famously wrote that he lost his faith in the stock market when he saw that a stock could jump sharply in price simply because he happened to mention something related to the company in his column.

And all this occurs even when the stock market is operating in the supposedly honest way it was designed to operate. What are we to make of it when sophisticated investors devise a computer scam for instantaneous buying and selling, as has happened several times in recent years?

Yet President Trump and his fans would have us believe that the big jump in stock prices of the past year is testimony to his sterling leadership and oh-so-wise policies. What will they say when the market crashes? As Trump himself will crash.

Yes, that’s what they’re thinking of next. Among other things these cars will be able to catch speeders and issue tickets. But here’s the real test of the system’s Artificial Intelligence – Can the police car be taught how to recognize a young black man, drive to within a few feet of him, and fire a gun at his head?

US announces 2+2 ministerial dialogue with India to take place in Washington DC

February 17, 2018 Staff ReporterPolitics, Social Media, Travel, U.S. 0

In an on-going sign of growing partnership, the United States has announced that the inaugural “2+2” ministerial dialogue between its defense and state department secretaries and their Indian counterparts will take place in Washington. The dialogue is expected to be held on April 18 or 19.

“We expect to launch our inaugural 2+2 dialogue with India in Washington this spring, when secretary (Rex) Tillerson and secretary (James) Mattis will meet with their Indian counterparts to further deepen our security ties,” state department deputy secretary John Sullivan said during a senate hearing on the Trump administration’s Afghanistan-centric South Asia strategy.

The launch of the dialogue was announced in August last year. The White House had said in a statement, “establishing a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue … will elevate their (the two countries’) strategic consultations”.

While secretaries Mattis and Tillerson have met their Indian counterparts Nirmala Sitharaman and Sushma Swaraj before, this will be the first meeting in a 2+2 (or 2 by 2) format of simultaneous meeting.

This 2+2 replaces the strategic and commercial 2+2 that India and the US had been holding for a few years earlier, involving the defence and commerce ministries in discussions focussed on expanding defence and bilateral trade ties.

At the hearing, Sullivan spoke also of India’s involvement in Afghanistan in the context of President Trump’s south Asia strategy, which accords a larger role to India. “The United States and India share economic and humanitarian interests in Afghanistan,” he said.

“India has allocated more than $3 billion in assistance to Afghanistan since 2001. India further strengthened ties with Afghanistan with the signing of a development partnership agreement. We appreciate these contributions and will continue to look for more ways to work with India to promote economic growth …”

ICE arrests went up in 2017, with biggest increases in Florida, northern Texas, Oklahoma

February 17, 2018 Staff ReporterPolitics, Travel, U.S. 0

After years of decline, the number of arrests made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) climbed to a three-year high in fiscal 2017, according to data from the agency. The biggest percentage increases were in Florida, northern Texas and Oklahoma.

ICE made a total of 143,470 arrests in fiscal 2017, a 30% rise from fiscal 2016. The surge began after President Donald Trump took office in late January: From his Jan. 20 inauguration to the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, ICE made 110,568 arrests, 42% more than in the same time period in 2016.

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 25 that expanded ICE’s enforcement focus to most immigrants in the U.S. without authorization, regardless of whether they have a criminal record. Under President Barack Obama, by contrast, ICE focused its enforcement efforts more narrowly, such as by prioritizing the arrests of those convicted of serious crimes.

Despite the overall rise in arrests in 2017, ICE made about twice as many arrests in fiscal 2009, the year Obama came into office (297,898). This total generally declined in subsequent years.

ICE reports arrests geographically by “areas of responsibility.” Although they are named for field offices in major cities, these areas can encompass large regions of the U.S., with some covering four or more states. The Miami area of responsibility, which covers all of Florida, saw the largest percentage increase in ICE arrests between 2016 and 2017 (76%). Next were the Dallas and St. Paul regions (up 71% and 67%, respectively). Arrests increased by more than 50% in the New Orleans, Atlanta, Boston and Detroit regions as well.

Other ICE regions, including those on the U.S.-Mexico border, saw relatively little change in arrests compared with the 30% increase nationally. The Phoenix and El Paso areas, for example, rose around 20% each. The San Antonio and Houston areas in particular saw almost no growth from 2016 to 2017 (up 1% and 5%, respectively). No region reported a decrease in arrests.

The overall number of immigration arrests made by ICE in 2017 varied around the U.S., and the most arrests did not always occur in areas close to the U.S.-Mexico border or in places with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations (such as the New York and Los Angeles metro areas).

ICE arrests were highest in the agency’s Dallas area (16,520), which also saw the largest increase in absolute numbers between 2016 and 2017 (up 6,886). The Houston and Atlanta areas had the second- and third-highest totals in 2017 (each around 13,500), followed by the Chicago, San Antonio and Los Angeles areas (each with roughly 8,500 arrests).

The Dallas area led the nation in ICE arrests last year for the first time during the period analyzed (fiscal 2009-2017). In more recent years, areas closer to the Texas-Mexico border (including Houston and San Antonio) topped the list for arrests. However, the El Paso area, which is also located on the country’s southern border, had among the fewest ICE arrests in the nation in 2017, with fewer than 2,000 – just slightly more than in the Baltimore and Buffalo areas.

Despite a 39% increase in arrests, the New York area of responsibility had among the fewest total ICE arrests in 2017 (roughly 2,600), even though it includes the New York City metro area – home to one of the nation’s largest unauthorized immigrant populations, according to Pew Research Center estimates. The city itself has recently gained attention for its limited cooperation with federal immigration procedures and attempts to boost its “sanctuary city” status by expanding protections for unauthorized immigrants. New York was among several jurisdictions cited by ICE as having policies that restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Jurisdictions within the Baltimore, Buffalo and El Paso areas also made the list. (Many of these policies were enacted long before Trump took office.)

Recent immigration arrest patterns demonstrate a growing emphasis by federal authorities on interior enforcement efforts. While ICE arrests went up significantly between 2016 and 2017, arrests made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – the federal agency responsible for enforcing U.S. immigration laws on the border – have declined. CBP agents made 310,531 apprehensions in 2017, down 25% from 2016 and the lowest total in over 45 years. Despite this decrease, CBP apprehensions still far outnumber arrests by ICE.

Trump Regime on the Verge of Okaying Two New Warheads That Could Make Nuclear War More Likely

February 17, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Environment, U.S. 0

As has been reported since last summer, the Trump regime seeks to build two new nuclear weapons, one of which—a low-yield warhead for submarine-launched ballistic missiles—could make nuclear war more likely, say critics. The other warhead would be developed to be carried by submarine-launched cruise missiles, which haven’t been equipped with nukes since 2010.

Developing and building these new nukes are elements included in the not-yet-finalized 2018 Nuclear Posture Review. The last NPR was released in 2010. If approved by President Trump, a move which is expected later this month, it would mark a significant change from the Obama era when the emphasis on nukes as part of U.S. strategy was reduced.

That white dot shows the Hiroshima blast, and the red surrounding it is the explosive power of the W78 workhorse bomb that is currently fitted on 149 of the 399 land-based U.S. ICBMS. The Union of Concerned Scientists that created the image note that the W78 has a yield of at least 335 kilotons; Hiroshima was 14-15kt. In addition to the ICBMs, the U.S. has hundreds of missiles equipped with the W76 warhead at 100 kilotons, and the W88 at 475kt (31 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb).

Advocates of installing the lower-yield warhead on the submarine-launched Trident ballistic missile say it is a good thing specifically because it would mean the warhead would be more usable. Currently they complain, there is reluctance to actually launch any nuclear-tipped missiles because their yields make them so incredibly destructive. In other words, having a lower-yield weapon at hand would make it easier to “push the button.”

The draft NPR has trickled into the news since September when Bryan Bender first wrote about it at Politico. On Thursday, Ashley Feinberg took up the matter at The Huffington Post, posting a lengthy analysis of what the Pentagon calls a “pre-decisional” draft of the NPR along with a complete copy of it. On Monday, Michael R. Gordon at The Wall Street Journal reported from behind a paywall on the subject:

Supporters of the Pentagon’s plan say it is time for the U.S. to update its nuclear forces to deal with changing threats some three decades after the end of the Cold War. Critics worry that the Pentagon’s search for more flexible nuclear options could lower the threshold for their use.

The majority of the Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals are held in “active reserve” and would take considerable time to bring back to operational status. But together, they have about 3,500 nuclear warheads actively deployed and ready for action in minutes.

One of those many critics told Bender:

“If the U.S. moves now to develop a new nuclear weapon, it will send exactly the wrong signal at a time when international efforts to discourage the spread of nuclear weapons are under severe challenge,” said Steven Andreasen, a State Department official in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush who served as the director of arms control on the National Security Council in the Clinton administration. “If the world’s greatest conventional and nuclear military power decides it cannot defend itself without new nuclear weapons, we will undermine our ability to prevent other nations from developing or enhancing their own nuclear capabilities and we will further deepen the divisions between the U.S. and other responsible countries

The Journal again:

A major concern for the Pentagon is a new Russian ground-launched cruise missile that American officials say violates the treaty banning intermediate-range missiles based on land, which was signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev, leader of the then-Soviet Union. Russia’s decision to develop and deploy that system is described by the review as part of a Russian doctrine that calls for threatening the limited use of nuclear weapons, or perhaps even carrying out a limited nuclear strike, to end a conventional war on terms favorable to the Kremlin.

By developing a new American “low yield” system, the Pentagon review argues the U.S. will have more credible options to respond to Russian threats without using more powerful strategic nuclear weapons, which the Kremlin may calculate Washington would be reluctant to use for fear of unleashing an all-out nuclear war. Because the new weapons it is proposing would be based at sea, the U.S. wouldn’t need the permission of other nations to deploy them and their deployment wouldn’t violate existing arms-control agreements.

It’s not hard to imagine that if the U.S. develops the new low-yield warhead, so will the Russians, and possibly the Chinese. If the U.S. were to launch one or a handful of such nukes against a Russian hard target—say a ballistic missile submarine base—a Kremlin response in kind could be expected. And once the little nukes start flying, nothing would stop the big ones from soon following. Next thing you know, the world’s survivors are acting out the script from The Road in real life.

The 890 nuclear warheads currently deployed on U.S. submarines each have a yield of 7 to 31 times more power than the one dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Exactly what “low-yield” would mean is not yet defined. Trident missiles currently carry the city-busting W76 warhead at 100 kilotons (seven times more powerful than the 4-15 kiloton Hiroshima bomb) or the W88 at 475kt (31 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb). The new nuke would likely be in the 1kt-2kt range.

Although the actual toll will never be known for certain, the Hiroshima bomb killed around 80,000 people in a flash and at least another 100,000 from wounds and radiation-related sicknesses over the next 60 years. The fatalities from the bomb that took out Nagasaki were about half as many.

The horror of this alone gives pause to anyone except for the Dr. Strangeloves among us. However, decision-makers might be more willing to launch a nuke that yields, say, 10 percent of the Hiroshima bomb for use against a hard target such as, for instance, a deep underground weapons-manufacturing site in North Korea.

In other words, advocacy for building new mini-nukes is accompanied by a doctrinal shift that makes a mini-nuclear war “thinkable.” The main trouble with such thinking? Once such a war starts, keeping it mini by confining it to the delivery of a few small nukes—or solely to the nation that’s been hit with them—may well be impossible. Delivering two or three of these to North Korea might very well spur the Chinese to respond with some bombs from their own nuclear arsenal. Nuclear calculus is a dicey game.

The idea of building low-yield nukes is hardly new. Before the major global reduction of nuclear warheads that began in the late 1960s, the U.S. had thousands of such mini-nukes in its inventory—artillery shells, landmines, depth charges, torpedoes, short-range ballistic missiles, even a kind of bazooka.

It still has many nukes in the form of gravity bombs meant to be dropped from airplanes and warheads atop submarine-launched ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles that can be instantly configured for low yields. Of a total active deployment of 1,740 bombs and warheads, the United States has several hundred with in-flight “dial-up” capabilities. This allows for variable yields as low as 0.3 kilotons of TNT (1/50th the yield of the Hiroshima bomb) and as high as 340 kilotons.

At few months ago, James Doyle at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists wrote: In December [2016], the Defense Science Board—an independent group of experts and former officials that provides advice to the Defense Department—submitted a report advising the Pentagon to invest in low-yield nuclear weapons that could provide “a rapid, tailored nuclear option for limited use.” This recommendation struck a familiar note.

In 2003, the board issued a study entitled “Future Strategic Strike Forces” that suggested building small nuclear weapons with “great precision, deep penetration, [and] greatly reduced” yield and radioactivity. The board’s call led to investments in new warhead designs such as the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator—a warhead designed to destroy deeply buried or hardened targets including underground military command centers—and the Reliable Replacement Warhead. Both programs were cancelled in 2008, after millions of dollars had been spent.

Despite the board’s renewed interest in smaller nuclear weapons, and in weapons tailored for limited uses or specific effects, any effort to develop these weapons would encounter the same problem that earlier such efforts have encountered: It is impossible to determine if introducing weapons with these characteristics into the US stockpile, and planning for their use in certain scenarios, would strengthen deterrence or make nuclear war by miscalculation more likely. Building “mini” or tailored nuclear weapons might well lower the threshold to nuclear war; risking that outcome would only make sense if it were absolutely clear that introducing these weapons would remedy some dangerous weakness in deterrence.

Fortunately, no such weakness exists. Any nation using nuclear weapons against the United States or its allies risks a devastating response whose negative consequences would far outweigh any gains delivered by crossing the nuclear threshold.

One key aspect of mini-nukes is their potential for use as first-strike weapons in internationally prohibited “preventive wars” that the Bush Doctrine posited. For instance, striking suspected or actual nuclear facilities in Iran or chemical weapons operations in Libya was one of the rationales for promoting development of low-yield nukes in the early 2000s. Such attacks might not develop into all-out war when directed against non-nuclear nations. But there are no guarantees and the potential for guessing wrong in this matter is enormous.

Doyle continues:

Just as in the early 2000s, current proponents of mini-nukes or of vague “limited nuclear options” offer no convincing evidence that new weapons in this category are needed—or more importantly, that they would make nuclear use less likely. Instead, potential nuclear adversaries are likely to see the acquisition of additional weapons in this category as an indication that US opposition to nuclear use has decreased and that Washington may be the first to cross the nuclear threshold. Such an outcome would undermine global stability and increase the risk of nuclear war. Defense resources are better spent on strengthening US conventional forces.

And here’s Bender again: “It is difficult to imagine the circumstances under which we would need a military option in between our formidable conventional capabilities and our current low-yield nuclear weapons capabilities,” added Alexandra Bell, a former State Department arms control official. “Lawmakers should be very wary of any attempt to reduce the threshold for nuclear use. There is no such thing as a minor nuclear war.”

There is a much-ignored part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty—Article VI:

Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.

That should be item No. 1 on the minds of the drafters of the latest Nuclear Posture Review, not the development and building of more nuclear weapons.

Ronald Reagan didn’t have the right idea about a lot of things. But he was right in pursuing “a world free of nuclear weapons,” which he considered to be “totally irrational, totally inhumane, good for nothing but killing, possibly destructive of life on earth and civilization.” He and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev put that vision on a path to reality with their disarmament negotiations. Barack Obama also wanted a world with zero nuclear weapons. Less than three months into his first term of office, he said in Prague:

Some argue that the spread of these weapons cannot be stopped, cannot be checked — that we are destined to live in a world where more nations and more people possess the ultimate tools of destruction. Such fatalism is a deadly adversary, for if we believe that the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable, then in some way we are admitting to ourselves that the use of nuclear weapons is inevitable.

Just as we stood for freedom in the 20th century, we must stand together for the right of people everywhere to live free from fear in the 21st century. And as nuclear power — as a nuclear power, as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it, we can start it.

So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. I’m not naive. This goal will not be reached quickly — perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist, “Yes, we can.”

It’s true that most of the specific moves President Obama outlined in Prague toward global zero for nukes haven’t borne any fruit. But that doesn’t make his or President Reagan’s push in the no-nukes direction pollyanna-ish or in any other way wrongheaded. The last thing the man now in the White House should be doing is endorsing the building of more nuclear weapons based on the views of people who think deploying and using some small nukes would be valuable to U.S. security. But if it adds to his fantasies about raining fire and fury on North Korea, he no doubt will adopt this recommendation to the detriment of us all.

Indian Americans in Trump Administration

February 1, 2018 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

In the US, people of Indian origin are among the strongest supporters of the country’s Democratic Party, a recent study showed. In the past decade, the number of Asian-American voters nearly doubled to 3.9 million in 2012 from 2 million, making them among the fastest growing groups of voters in the U.S., according to the survey.

The researchers asked Indian-Americans how they would vote in the 2016 Presidential elections. Close to 60% of Indian-Americans polled said they viewed the Republican Party unfavorably. Only 17% said viewed Republican party hopeful Donald Trump’s party favorably. The remaining 24% said they didn’t have an opinion.

An impressive 84% of the 2.85 million-strong Indian-American community voted for Barack Obama in 2008, second perhaps only to African-Americans as a minority group. According to a Pew Research Center survey, of all the Asian American groups surveyed, Indian-Americans were the most Democratic-leaning, again at 65%. Only 18% favored Republicans.

However, since President Trump assumed office as the President of the United States, Indian Americans have been on his administration in record numbers. For the first time ever, an Indian American, Nikki Haley, was elevated to the Cabinet level position. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, is thought to be the first Indian-American woman appointed to a cabinet-level position. Other than Haley, there are currently only three other people of color in the Trump administration’s 24 cabinet or cabinet-level positions.

Trump, keeping his promise at the campaign, gave India a “leadership role” in Washington’s global strategy across a broad geographic swath. “I am thrilled to salute you, Prime Minister Modi, and the Indian people for all you are accomplishing together,” Trump told the Indian premier last June. “We welcome India’s emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner,” said his national strategy unveiled last month.

Indian-Americans appear to be disproportionately represented in Trump’s nominations compared to other minority groups, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a political science professor at the University of California, Riverside, who researches Asian Americans’ civic participation.

But Ramakrishnan suggests that the appointments don’t seem to be a conscious attempt on the White House’s part to diversify its ranks. Rather, the choices appear to be about filling vacancies with experienced and highly connected individuals who are ideologically aligned with the Trump administration ― some of whom just happen to be of Indian descent.

“As far as we can tell, the Trump administration is not taking race or ethnicity into account much, if at all, in terms of appointments, unlike the Obama administration, which was trying to have as diverse set of appointments as possible,” Ramakrishnan said. “I think it’s almost incidental that these people happen to be Indian-American. The fact that they’re Indian-American [doesn’t appear] to make any difference over and beyond what their prior background or political orientation is.”

Trump appointed Ajit Pai as the Chairman of the Federal Communication Commission, a position with a vast portfolio overseeing of the Internet, mobile phones, airwaves, broadcast and communications. Raj Shah serves as his deputy adviser and principal deputy press secretary. Uttam Dhillon, another deputy adviser, is also his deputy counsel.

Seema Verma serves as the administrator of the health insurance programs for seniors and the poor. Trump also tapped Vishal J. Amin, a senior counsel on the House Judiciary Committee, as the White House’s new intellectual property enforcement coordinator, and Neil Chatterjee, an energy adviser for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as a member of the federal energy regulatory commission. Krishna R. Urs, a career member of the Foreign Service, was nominated to be the ambassador to Peru.

These prominent Indian-Americans are now helping the Trump White House push its conservative agenda on everything from repealing the Affordable Care Act to overhauling government regulations and scrapping net neutrality rules.

While Ajit Pai has been in the news for his controversial move to do away with net neutrality, as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Verma hasemerged as a key player in Republicans’ controversial quest to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. She is a health policy expert from Indiana who crafted an alternative to Medicaid in her state that won the approval of conservatives.

“I think Indian-Americans and certainly the Indian immigrant press certainly takes notice when people get appointed, and there’s a little bit of ethnic pride knowing there are Indian-Americans in powerful positions, regardless of the administration,” Ramakrishnan said. “But I don’t think Trump is making inroads with the Indian-American community based on the appointments he has made. Policies like the immigration ban, anti-immigrant rhetoric, the Affordable Care Act, are issues that Indian Americans care about. [Trump’s positions] are opposed to the way the vast majority of Indian-Americans stand.”

Several groups working on raising political profile of Indian-Americans

February 1, 2018 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Immigrants from India first arrived in the United States in small numbers during the early 19^th century, primarily as low-skilled farm laborers. In recent decades the population has grown substantially, with 2.4 million Indian immigrants resident in the United States as of 2015. This makes the foreign born from India the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans, accounting for almost 6 percent of the 43.3 million foreign-born population.

In 1960, just 12,000 Indian immigrants lived in the United States, representing less than 0.5 percent of the 9.7 million overall immigrant population. Migration from India swelled between 1965 and 1990 as a series of legislative changes removed national-origin quotas, introduced temporary skilled worker programs, and created employment-based permanent visas. In 2016, Indians were the top recipients of high-skilled H-1B temporary visas and were the second-largest group of international students in the United States.

Today, the majority of Indian immigrants are young and highly educated, and have strong English skills. Many work in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. From 1980 to 2010, the population grew more than eleven-fold, roughly doubling every decade (see Figure 1). In 2013, India and China supplanted Mexico as the top sources of newly arriving immigrants in the United States.

Along with the success stories in the academic, business and high-skilled jobs along with one of the highest income groups, Indian Americans have come to celebrate, the unprecedented successes in the recent elections, specifically the November 2017 polls, a group of Indian American philanthropists, community leaders, and political operatives have come together to formally launch initiatives to keep things headed in the right direction.

The group has launched the Indian American Impact Project and the Indian American Impact Fund — collectively known as “Impact” — to build a nationwide pipeline of Indian American leaders in politics, policy and government

Impact, co-founded by Raj Goyle, chief executive officer of Bodhala and former member of the Kansas state House, and Deepak Raj, chairman of Pratham USA and founder of the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University, the new initiatives will help talented and patriotic Indian Americans run for office, win and lead, it said.

“Despite rapid growth and professional success, for too long Indian Americans have been underrepresented in elected office from state capitols to the U.S. Congress,” said Goyle in a statement. “As a result, our needs, concerns, and priorities often go unheard in the halls of power. At a time when our community and our values are under attack by xenophobic rhetoric and regressive policies, it is more critical than ever that Indian Americans build and wield political power to fight back.”

The Impact Project and Impact Fund was formally launched Jan. 17. It is based in Washington, D.C. and is co-founded by former Kansas Democratic State lawmaker Raj Goyle, currently the CEO of Bodhala, a company that helps the legal community optimize operations, and Deepak Raj, chairman of the well-known non-profit Pratham USA and founder of the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University.

Both initiatives are led by Gautam Raghavan, who previously served as vice president of policy for the Gill Foundation, as an Advisor in the Obama White House, and in various roles for the 2008 Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee.

“Despite rapid growth and professional success, for too long Indian Americans have been underrepresented in elected office from state capitols to the U.S. Congress,” Goyle is quoted saying in the press release. “As a result, our needs, concerns, and priorities often go unheard in the halls of power. At a time when our community and our values are under attack by xenophobic rhetoric and regressive policies, it is more critical than ever that Indian Americans build and wield political power to fight back,” he added.

As of January 2018, five Indian Americans currently serve in the United States Congress: Senator Kamala Harris, D-California; and Representatives Ami Bera, D-California, Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, Ro Khanna, D-California, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois.

Impact said it is also tracking an additional 60 Indian-Americans currently serving in state and local office as state legislators, mayors, city council members, judges, and other elected positions.

The Impact Project Board of Directors includes Priya Dayananda, managing director of Federal Government Affairs for KPMG LLP, Vinai Thummalapally, former U.S. Ambassador to Belize and former executive director of SelectUSA, and Mini Timmaraju, executive director of External Affairs at Comcast and former National Women’s Vote Director for Hillary for America.

The Impact Fund Board of Directors includes Ravi Akhoury, former chairman and CEO of MacKay Shields LLC, and Raghu Devaguptapu, partner at Left Hook Strategies and former political director for the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC). Vikas Raj, managing director of Accion Venture Lab, will serve as a non-voting observer on both boards.

“This is our time,” said Raj. “Across the country, a record number of Indian Americans are running for office. We can’t leave it to chance that they will win on their own. We owe them our support — and we have a plan to help them run, win, and lead.”

Indiaspora, another grp with similar objectives, is one of the most influential Indian American organizations in recent years. It has announced the appointment of Mumbai-born Sanjeev Joshipura, 42, as executive director. Joshipura previously served as director of the group founded and chaired by Silicon Valley entrepreneur and community activist M.R. Rangaswami.

Indiaspora is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit organization which says it serves as “a platform to facilitate U.S.-India bilateral relations and trilateral ties with select countries, increasing Indian-American community engagement, and redefining philanthropy among Indian Americans.” It provides a network of Indian-Americans and Indian leaders.

“It is my privilege to work for this organization, whose mission and values I truly believe in, and whose members I enjoy interacting with daily,” said Joshipura. “Indiaspora has achieved a lot since its inception in 2012, and I look forward eagerly to working with and leading the team to even greater heights moving forward.”

“I can guarantee that you will not see MR on a golf course anytime soon,” Joshipura said. “He is far too passionate about the causes he is involved with to hang up his boots just yet.” He said his priorities in 2018 are in two areas. “First, fostering closer trilateral relationships among prominent Indian-Americans, Indians and leaders from third countries which have a large Indian diaspora, and/or have tremendous potential for collaboration in specific fields of activity. And, second, being a catalyst for effective philanthropy,” he said.

In 2017, the organization held a second gala to celebrate five Indian Americans who were elected to the House and Senate: Reps. Ami Bera and Ro Khanna, D-California; Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington; Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois; and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California. The organization has raised more than $500,000 to bring two additional staffers on board, in addition to Joishipura, and Mansi Patel, who serves as marketing manager.

The organization is also launching a broad philanthropy study to determine how Indian Americans give back to India. Indiaspora is working with several NGOs to “better tell the India story, with the aim of getting more donor dollars to India,” said Rangaswami.

“There are not enough resources for anybody who happens to be Indian-American to win. There needs to be obviously criteria and we have that. And, in having people like Raghu [Devaguptapu], Mini [Timmaraju], Priya [Dayananda], Gautam [Raghavan] and obviously myself, we have a considerable amount of people of political talent and expertise associated with the organization.”

He called running for office “a brave and difficult thing to do. So we applaud anyone who is willing to step up and give it a shot. However, we also want to help prospective candidates think strategically about when, how, where, and why they are running for office so they are best positioned to win.”

International Hindi Day held at Indian Consulate in New York

January 23, 2018 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

The Hindi Sangam Foundation of USA celebrated International Hindi Day at the Consulate of India in New York on Saturday, January 13th. The Hindi Conference is part of a series of initiatives undertaken by the Consulate for promotion of Hindi language in the coming year.

“There is a great need to build capacity for the teaching of Hindi in the USA where most Hindi teachers lack formal teacher’s training to teach Hindi to 21st century digital learners”, Professor Janis Jensen, the director of STARTALK projects at Kean University, said. Professor Janis Jensen was the keynote speaker at the Hindi Diwas event.

Jensen was concerned about the quality of the Hindi language teachers at the university and requested India’s Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty as well as the Indian-American community to support the Masters’ Program in Hindi pedagogy at Kean University. This master’s program, Jensen said, is the only program which prepares people to teach Hindi at schools and prepare for doctoral programs.

Chakravorty assured Jensen he would extend all possible support to keep the program running. He also emphasized the significance of the Hindi language adding, “it is high time that we supplement our talk to support the Hindi language and start acting on supporting meaningful teaching of the Hindi language and other learning programs outside of India.” He promised those present of support from the Government of India for such efforts.

Dr. Jennifer Eddy, presented information on the New York State Teacher Certification program for teaching the Hindi language in grades 7-12 and said that the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Critical Languages Education program, which is offered at Queens College, is willing to teach Hindi since there are many Indian-Americans living in Queens.

Also at the celebration, Ria Dadheech performed to the song “Ghoomar” from the upcoming film Padmaavat and recited the popular poem titled “Jhansi Ki Rani.” Other students representing Educators Society for the Heritage of India, Hindi USA and the Hindi Sangam Foundation STARTALK program also performed at the celebration.

The event was organized by Ashok Ojha, the president of Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Hindi Sangam Foundation and the program director of YHS and the Sangam-Franklin STARTALK Hindi Language and Culture Program 2017, who also announced that the Fifth International Hindi Conference will take place in September, this year.

In the past years Consulate General of India hosted a number of Hindi conferences, notably the third International Hindi Conference held in May 2016, which was attended by dozens of language experts associated with various US universities including Columbia, NYU, UCLA and UT Austin. In 2014 and 2015 the consulate collaborated with Hindi Sangam Foundation and the New York University and Rutgers University, NJ to organize the first and second International Hindi Conferences at the respective university campuses.

AAPI’s historic Global Healthcare Summit Concludes in Kolkata

January 2, 2018 Ajay GhoshHealth, India, U.S. 0

CEOs Forum, Women’s Forum, Launching Free Health Clinic, First Responders Training, CMEs, Research Contest, Fashion Show, Cultural extravaganza, Touring Dubai, UAE Assam, Kolkata, & Bhutan Major Highlights

(Kolkata, India: January 1st, 2018) The 11th edition of the annual Global Healthcare Summit organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), USA concluded here at the historic City of Joy, Kolkata in West Bengal, India on December 31st at the famous JW Marriott with CEOs Forum, Women’s Forum, Launching Free Health Clinic, First Responders Training, CMEs, Research Contest, Fashion Show, Cultural extravaganza, Touring Dubai, UAE Assam, Kolkata, & Bhutan to be major highlights of the Summit.

At the valedictory event presided over by India’s Vice President, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, he urged Physicians of Indian Origin to return to India and rededicate their lives for the wellbeing of their motherland, India, as all the opportunities are now available here.

“I would be happier if you people can come back to India and do something to help the society. Earlier the opportunity was very less here so people went to different parts of the globe for work. But now everything is available in India,” Naidu said. “Apart from conducting CMEs, seminars and workshops, AAPI must consider collaborating with various governments and other private organizations in establishing a state-of-the-art healthcare facility in each district of the country where affordable treatment is dispensed,” the Vice President of India told the delegates.

The Governor of West Bengal, Shri Keshri Nath Tripathi, the Minister for Urban Development, West Bengal, Firhad Hakim and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. GHS 2017 was attended by the over 1000 leading experts from several countries, and focusses on sharing best practices, developing efficient and cost effective solutions for India.

In his welcome address, Dr. Gautam Samadder, President of AAPI, said, “This GHS has promised to be one with the greatest impact and significant contributions towards harnessing the power of international Indian diaspora to bring the most innovative, efficient, cost effective healthcare solutions to India,” described Dr. Samadder. “AAPI has capped the voluminous achievements of the past 34 years with a clear vision to move forward taking this noble organization to newer heights.”

According to Dr. Naresh Parikh, President-Elect of AAPI, who had proposed the vote of thanks, the scientific program of GHS 2017 was developed by leading experts with the contributions of a stellar Scientific Advisory Board and International Scientific Committee, while the event featuring plenary sessions, interactive round-tables, clinical practice workshops, and meet the expert sessions.

Dr. Ashok Jain, Chairman of AAPI’s BOD, in his address, summarized some of the achievements of AAPI including the 16 free healthcare clinics, AAPI’s legislative initiatives in the US, and the ongoing collaboration with the government of India and the state governments and several NGOs in helping healthcare efficient and cost effective.

The Vice President of India praised AAPI and its noble “mission for India is to play an important role in making quality healthcare accessible and affordable to all people of India. It is indeed a laudable objective as both accessibility and affordability are the need of the hour, especially in a vast developing country like India with a huge population of middle class and lower middle class.”

The Conference was organized in partnership with the ministry of overseas Indian affairs and ministry of health and family welfare, along with collaboration with over 15 professional associations from all over the world.

The GHS 2017 featured some of the biggest names in the healthcare industry, especially at the 6th annual CEO leadership forum with leaders from across the globe. GHS 2017 was attended by over 100 opinion leaders and expert speakers from many countries across the globe to present cutting edge scientific findings as these relate to clinical practice, representing major Centers of Excellence, Institutions, and Professional Associations are represented by the invited chairs and speakers.

Offering trainings to First Responders, a CEO Forum by a galaxy of CEOs from around the world, inauguration of AAPI-sponsored clinic, CMEs, cultural events, Dinner Cruise on the Ganges, interactive roundtables, clinical practice workshops, scientific poster/research session and meet-the-expert sessions, Women’s Forum by internally acclaimed successful worm from India, a special session on Public-Private Partnership featuring AAPI Healthcare Charitable showcase & innovation, and Town Hall sessions resulting in a White Paper on helping create policies benefitting the people of India, are only some of the major highlights of the Healthcare Summit, Dr. Samadder said.

AAPI, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Madhyamgram Metropolitan lunched a healthcare clinic offering medical care to the much need people of the region at the Prajapati Bhavan, Basunagar, Madhyamgram in the outskirts of Kolkata on December 29th, 2017.

Over 30 physicians of Indian origin, led by Dr. Gautam Samadder, President of AAPI and Dr. Madhu Aggarwal, Chairwoman of the AAPI Charitable Foundation attended the free one day healthcare clinic at the suburban center, and treated over 200 patients during the day long clinic.

“This is the first ever clinic sponsored by AAPI in the state of West Bengal and this is the 15th across the nation,” Dr. Samadder told during a welcome reception organized by the local Rotary Club in honor of the physicians who had travelled early in the morning on a bus to serve the much needed patients at the clinic. “AAPI provides financial assistance and medical care by AAPI members to the people of this historic city,” he added.

During a press conference attended by the media at the Hotel, members of the leading print and electronic media interacted with AAPI leaders, including Dr. Samadder, President of AAPI, Dr. Sampat Shivangi, chair of AAPI’s Legislative Committee, Anwar Feroz, AAPI’s Strategic Adviser, and Dr. Chandan K Sen, Chairman, AAPI Global Healthcare Summit – Kolkata.

Dr. Chandan K Sen, Chairman, AAPI Global Healthcare Summit – Kolkata, said, “It has been a privilege to serve you as the Chairman of this XI AAPI Global Healthcare Summit. Americans with Indian heritage are uniquely positioned to enrich the United States as well as India through collaborative efforts utilizing the strengths unique to each of the two countries. I welcome you to Kolkata, where intellectual curiosity is woven deep into the fabric of its society.”

According to Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Secretary of AAPI, the scientific program of GHS 2017 was developed by leading experts with the contributions of a stellar Scientific Advisory Board and International Scientific Committee, while the event featuring plenary sessions, interactive round-tables, clinical practice workshops, and meet the expert sessions.

The GHS Young Innovators Research Competition at the famous Calcutta Medical College helped facilitate dissemination and exchange of best practices among the upcoming young physicians of Indian origin from around the world. The winners of the Research Paper Competition conducted under various categories, were awarded with a citation, cash award and trophy at the inaugural gala this evening.

A special unique to the GHS 2017wais a session on the Impact of Cinema on Public Health and awareness with a live conversation with Bollywood stars and producers, including Dr. Kapasi, Shekar das, Dipankar Banerjee, who shared their personal experiences of making movies on social themes that imparts education on various social topics.

The Women’s Leadership Forum was coordinated by Dr. Udaya Shivangi, and had featured Bollywood star Sharmila Tagore. The Forum addressed as to how empowering women and educating them will help reduce infant mortality.

The Healthcare Forum, addressed by leading industry leaders, including Sudhanshu Pandey. Joint Secretary, Department of commerce, Indian Government; Dr. Gautam Samadder; Jayshree Mehta, Mediacl Council of India; Dr. Sanku Rao, GAPIO; Dr. Girdhar Gyani, Hospital Association of India; Dr. B R Shetty; Dr. Sangita Reddy; Dr. D C Shah of IPA: Dr. Naresh Parikh; Preetha Rajaraman; Dr. Pradeep Majhajan; Dr. Rajeev Mehta of BAPIO; Dr. Kali Pradip Chaudhury; Dr. Shubnum Singh; Dr. Anupam Sibal; and Jonathan Ward of the US Consulate in Kolkata.

In collaboration with the American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine, AAPI organized a 3-day workshop/training (EMTC) training over 150 first responders, including police, para-medical professional at the KPC Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata as part of the GHS.

Choreographed and designed by famous fashion designer, Nachiket Barve, AAPI members and leaders catwalked on the ramp, showcasing their talents, exquisite taste for the finest clothing and attire, proving yet again the Indian American physicians are not only famous for their brilliant healthcare, but also could be leaders in the fashion world.

The theme chosen for the GHS this year was Healthcare, Career and Commerce, with the focus on Women’s Healthcare, including high priority areas such as Cardiology, Maternal & Child Health, Diabetes, Oncology, Surgery, Mental Health, HIT, Allergy, Immunology & Lung Health, Gastroenterology, Transplant and impact of comorbidities.

The Summit had offered delegates a taste of delicious food each day and live music concerts by popular Bollywood singers Usha Uthup, Alka Ygnik who kept the audience spell bound for over two hours each with their melodious singing and live interaction with the audience.

Indian Americans comprise of 4 million people, representing around 1.25% of the U.S. population as of 2015. Indians contributed 17% of total earnings in the US from foreign students totaling $6.5 billion last year. An estimated 10% of all physicians and surgeons in the US are of Indian origin. An estimated 100,000 physicians and fellows of Indian origin currently serve in the US. In biological and biomedical sciences studies workforce, data from 2015 show that people of Indian origin in the US account for 14.6% of the total workforce holding 72000 jobs.

Earlier, as part of the GHS, AAPI delegates had a memorable visit from December 24-27, to the city of Dubai and the kingdom of Abu Dhabi, where they were greeted by the local high ranking officials, who have expressed interest in collaborating with the physicians of Indian origin in the Gulf Region. The delegates, apart from visiting the city and its major tourists attractions, had a fruitful visit to the famous NMC Hospital, Abu Dhabi and meeting with the founder and chairman, Dr. Shetty. The pre-summit tour to Dubai provided the AAPI delegates with a unique Christmas Dinner Cruise, City tour to Palm Island, Khalifa Tower, Burj Hotel, Dubai mall, Dubai Museum, etc.

Desert Safari including camel ride and belly dancing shows.

The Post GHS TOUR to the heavenly Bhutan from January 1-4, 2018, will take delegates to the world renowned and ancient Takshang Monestary, Hike in Tiger’s Nest, Buddha Dordenma, National Heritage museum & Dochula. For those who want to enjoy the beautiful Assam, can tour this beautiful state of Assam from January 4-8, 2018, touring Kaziranga National Park including Rhino Park, Nehru Stadium, Assam Rajyik State Museum, Guwahati Market, Kamakhya Temple and dinner at the Governor’s Mansion. The Summit will also offer everyday Guided Tours and Evening Entertainments to the delegates, and will conclude with a special New Year’s eve gala party, welcoming the New Year 2018 with family, fun and entertainment.

Founded in 1984, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) represents one of the largest health care forum in the United States with the goal to facilitate and enable Indian American Physicians to excel in patient care, teaching and research and to pursue their aspirations in professional and community affairs. AAPI-Charitable Foundation is committed to serve the poorest of the poor in remote areas of India and USA. AAPI has always been present when calamities strike whether it is hurricane Harvey, Tsunami, Katrina, or earthquakes of Gujarat and Maharashtra. AAPI has hosted ten Indo-US/Global Healthcare Summits and developed strategic alliances with various organizations both in the US as well as in India. These summits are aimed at sharing of expertise towards improvement of healthcare in the US as well as in India.

AAPI has been strategically engaged in working with the Union and State Governments of India for the past ten years and has collaborated with more than 35 professional medical associations, pharmaceutical and medical device companies to address the health care challenges of a rapidly developing India. “It is the passion, willingness and staunch loyalty towards the former motherland that draws several AAPI members to join this effort & by working with experts in India, AAPI is able to bring solutions that are India centric & takes us closer to our lofty vision of making quality healthcare affordable & accessible to all people of India,” said Dr. Gautam Samadder.

“With the changing trends and statistics in healthcare, both in India and US, we are refocusing our mission and vision, AAPI would like to make a positive meaningful impact on the healthcare delivery system both in the US and in India,” Dr. Samadder said. For more information on Global Healthcare Summit, please visit www.aapiusa.org

US-India strategic ties to grow in 2018

December 26, 2017 Ajay GhoshIndia, U.S. 0

India’s relationship with the United States is expected to continue to grow in the New Year, analysts say. The new US security plan released last week said: “We will deepen our strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in the Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region.” Washington also pledged to increase quadrilateral cooperation with Japan, Australia and India. “We welcome India’s emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner. We will seek to increase quadrilateral cooperation with Japan, Australia and India.”

After US President Donald Trump gave a leadership role to India in his new “America First Security Strategy”, New Delhi voiced appreciation for Washington laying importance to the bilateral relationship.

“We appreciate the strategic importance given to India-US relationship in the new National Security Strategy released by the US,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said last week. “As two responsible democracies, India and the US share common objectives, including combating terrorism and promoting peace and security throughout the world,” Kumar said.

In November, India, the US, Japan and Australia held a quadrilateral meeting in the Philippines on the sidelines of the East Asia and Asean Summits to discuss the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.

This assumes significance given China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea and attempts to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean. Kumar said: “A close partnership between India and the US contributes to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as to the economic progress of the two countries.”

Trump’s security strategy also stated that the US would continue to push Pakistan to speed up its counter-terrorism efforts. “We will press Pakistan to intensify its counter-terrorism efforts, since no partnership can survive a country’s support for militants and terrorists who target a partner’s own service members and officials,” it said.

The India-US relationship is going to get stronger and better under the Trump administration in a wide range of areas, including regional security issues, trade and economy, terrorism, a senior White House official has said.

“India is a natural ally of the United States, because of the shared commitment to democracy and to counterterrorism, and because the region is so vital to the US security,” Raj Shah, the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, told a group of India . Shah’s comments came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump held their second bilateral meeting in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.

The two countries are going to have a “strong relationship and it’s going to get stronger” under this president, Shah, the highest-ranking Indian-American ever in the White House press wing, told a group of Indian reporters last week.

“India is a natural ally of the United States, because of the shared commitment to democracy and to counterterrorism, and because the region is so vital to the US security,” he said. Shah said that the US-India relationship should stand on its own leg and “not be contingent” on any other relationship.

There are a lot more in common between India and the US than that between the US and China, he said. “The relationship with Modi is his relationship with Modi. He likes (him),” he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States on 25-26 June at the invitation of the new President of the United States Donald trump. This was Modi’s first meeting with Trump, although the two leaders had spoken to each other on three occasions after Trump won the election. One call was made by Modi and two by Trump, the last one being by Trump in end-March to congratulate Modi for the emphatic victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh elections.

Republican Tax Plan to increase inequality

December 22, 2017 Ajay GhoshU.S. 0

Republicans, finally on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 muscled the most sweeping rewrite of the nation’s tax laws in more than three decades through the GOP-led House and Senate with a dozen GOP Congressmen voting against their own Bill, giving President Trum his biggest and first ever legislative victory.

The vote, largely along party lines in the House was 227-203, while in the Senate was 51-48, which capped a GOP sprint to deliver a major legislative accomplishment to President Donald Trump after a year of congressional stumbles and non-starters.

This bill is a massive handout to corporations and the wealthiest among us at the expense of average tax payers. Every independent analysis, including the Tax Policy Center, has determined that the vast majority of benefits will go to the top 1% of earners – like President Donald Trump himself. This bill will increase the already out of control income inequality in the country. Need more proof? The paltry tax credits to middle and lower income earners expire after 10 years while corporate tax cuts are permanent.

The massive $1.5 trillion package would touch every American taxpayer and every corner of the U.S. economy, providing steep tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy, and more modest tax cuts for middle- and low-income families. It would push the national debt ever higher.

Democrats called the bill a giveaway to corporations and the wealthy, providing little if any tax help to the less-than-well-to-do and no likelihood that business owners will use their gains to hire more workers or raise wages.

And the Republicans’ contention that the bill will make taxes so simple that millions can file “on a postcard” — an idea repeated often by the president — was simply mocked.

“What happened to the postcard? We’re going to have to carry around a billboard for tax simplification,” declared Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee.

Tax cuts for corporations would be permanent while the cuts for individuals would expire in 2026 in order to comply with Senate budget rules. The tax cuts would take effect in January. Workers would start to see changes in the amount of taxes withheld from their paychecks in February.

The standard deduction used by most families would be nearly doubled, to $24,000 for a married couple, while those who itemize would lose some deductions.

The Republicans went ahead with the Bill with over two-thirds of the nation still disapproving of it. House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed criticism of the widely unpopular package and insisted “results are what’s going to make this popular.” The Republican tax bill is an audacious attempt to accelerate the economic trends of the last half-century.

Over the last few decades, the rich have not only enjoyed the largest pre-tax raises, by far. They have also received big tax cuts. The middle class and poor, meanwhile, have suffered from slow-growing incomes — and from overall tax rates that are higher today than in the mid-1960s. The second part of the story is less known. But it’s also crucial. The great tax-cutting revolution of the last half-century hasn’t actually been a tax-cutting revolution for most Americans. The middle-class and poor families now face higher total tax rates than a half-century ago.

Now the GOP tax plan is expected to widen inequality even further. Their tax bill doesn’t touch the payroll-tax rate — again, the single biggest tax that most households pay. The bill does cut income taxes for the middle class, but only modestly and only temporarily. The tax cuts benefiting the wealthy, including cuts to the inheritance tax and the corporate tax, are much larger and permanent.

The Tax Policy Center has estimated the long-term effects of the Tax plan on each income group with the tax bill amounting to an enormous effort to increase inequality.

The scoop of the weekend seems to have come from International Business Times, which reported that the final version of the Republican tax bill contains a real-estate provision that could enrich President Trump and multiple members of Congress. President Obama, on the other hand, made reducing inequality his top domestic priority. He kept the Bush tax cuts on the middle class and poor but not the rich. His health care law increased taxes on the affluent to pay for better medical care for the non-rich. Barack Obama, when he was President, called rising inequality “the defining challenge of our time.”

By redistributing money from richer households to poorer households, progressive tax systems can moderate the level of inequality in post-tax income. However, the 2017 GOP Tax Bill showers most of its goodies (tax cuts) on the richest people in the country while doing little for poor and middle-income households.

Since the past tax cuts by President George Bush and President Ronlad Regan, income inequality has continued to rise in the nation. The gap between the “haves” and “have nots” is widening, according to the latest data out this week.

The rich are money-making machines. Today, the top mega wealthy — the top 1% — earn an average of $1.3 million a year. It’s more than three times as much as the 1980s, when the rich “only” made $428,000, on average, according to economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.

Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of the American population earned an average of $16,000 in pre-tax income in 1980. That hasn’t changed in over three decades. Millennials, born in the 1980s, only have a 50% likelihood — a coin toss chance — of earning more money than their parents did, according to research released by the Equality of Opportunity Project.

Over time, the rich became more lucky — or more greedy. Today the top 1% take home more than 20% of all U.S. income. As the wealthy earned more, someone else in America had to get less. The bottom 50% went from capturing over 20% of national income for much of the 1970s to earning barely 12% today. The turning point started around 1980, as seen in the graph below. By the mid-1990s, the fortunes of the top 1% were clearly on the rise and those of the bottom half were declining rapidly.

During the last several decades, income inequality in the United States has increased significantly — and the trend shows no sign of reversing. The last time inequality was as high as it is now was just before the Great Depression. Such a high level of inequality is not only incompatible with widely held norms of social justice and equality of opportunity; it poses a serious threat to America’s economy and democracy.

The current tax plan by the Republicans will sure to add to the already growing disparity of income and the poor and the middle class are bound to stagnate or become poorer while the rich and the multi-national corporations will continue to grow and amass more wealth at the cost of the poor.

Republicans-led US Senate approves Tax Bill that benefits the wealthy and big corporations

December 6, 2017 Ajay GhoshU.S. 0

In the early hours of Saturday morning, December 2nd, Senate Republicans passed their version of a sweeping tax overhaul. Roughly five hours earlier, the Senate Finance Committee publicly released their final proposal of the Bill after weeks of closed door consultations and few days of public scrutiny of the important Tax Bill that will leave over a over a Trillion Dollars to the US deficit.

The Senate passed its tax plan in a 51-49 vote early on Saturday morning, with Vice-President Mike Pence presiding over the chamber and after a frantic rewrite. Bob Corker was the sole Republican to vote against the bill, which would bestow huge benefits on US corporations and the wealthiest Americans. “We think this is a great day for the country,” the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said at a celebratory press conference.

Democrats remained united in their opposition, attacking the legislation as a giveaway to corporate America and the wealthy. “In the waning hours, this bill is tilting further towards businesses and away from families,” said Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, in a floor speech on Friday. “Every time the choice is between corporations and families, the Republicans choose corporations.”

The bill, among other things will continue to create inequality in the nation. The rich bnenfitting from the tax-cuts, while the poor and the middle income groups to be marginally benefitting from the plan, and that to for a period of 10 years only. The richest 20 percent of households reap 90 percent of the benefit of the tax cuts over that time period, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

The main focus of the tax bill is business. Republicans’ stated goal is to boost the economy. They argue that the best way to do this is to cut the taxes that businesses pay on profits, allowing companies to reinvest the money in new equipment and workers. In fact, the Senate bill centers on provisions to permanently cut the corporate tax rate — the rate paid directly by companies like Apple or Ford Motor — to 20% (from a top rate of 35%) starting in 2019, while also allowing a new deduction for individual taxpayers who own their own businesses.

Business owners tend to be wealthy — whether their assets take the form of stock holdings or privately owned ventures. The upshot is that the Senate tax plan’s benefits skew dramatically toward top earners.

According to the preliminary Tax Policy Center analysis, the top 1% of earners — those taking home more than about $900,000 a year — were set to reap about 60% of the total tax cut, for an average of more than $32,000 annually apiece. The top 0.1% — those earning $5 million or more — were to get an extra $200,000.

The GOP’s Senate tax bill, which passed in a close party-line vote, could give President Donald Trump his first legislative victory after Congress failed to overhaul the nation’s health system earlier this year.

It’s too early to tell precisely how the GOP tax plan would affect individual taxpayers. That’s because, in an effort to muster votes, Republicans continued tinkering with the tax bill behind closed doors up until a few hours before it actually passed, and the economists who typically crunch the numbers on new legislation haven’t had time to examine the tax bill’s results.

Like the House tax bill, passed earlier this month, the Senate version is largely built around reorganizing and lowering what corporations and other businesses pay in taxes in hopes of spurring economic growth. That said, middle-class Americans could be able to count on a tax cut too, at least during the next few years — assuming, that is, that the Senate bill can be reconciled with the House version and become law. You’ll probably see a tax cut, but maybe only in the short term.

Senate Republicans initially repealed the Alternative Minimum Tax, but have brought it back now in order to pay for some other additions. The AMT is intended to be a minimum tax on the wealthy. In this version, the GOP raises the income levels where it hits so it will affect fewer people. For individuals, the minimum threshold goes from $50,600 to $70,600. For those filing jointly, the threshold rises from $78,750 to $109,400.

Trump campaigned on a promise to cut middle-class taxes. And the Senate is delivering — sort of. One analysis of the tax plan, by the Tax Policy Center, a centrist think tank, found the average middle earner (someone taking home about $50,000 to $90,000) would reap an $850 tax break in 2019, benefiting in part from a standard deduction that would double to $12,000 for singles and $24,000 four couples.

Another preliminary analysis, this one by The New York Times, defined middle-class earners as those making $40,000 to $140,000 — and found that many of those, particularly the people that rely on the state and local tax deduction, could actually see a tax increase next year. However, the last minute, at the instance of Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins, would allow taxpayers to continue to deduct up to $10,000 in property taxes, would likely soften the blow for at least some of these middle-income taxpayers.

For most of the Americans, the benefits of the tax cuts are also likely to be temporary, as the tax breaks for them will expire in 2026, while the huge tax cuts for the corporations are made permanent. The bill also uses a new way to account for inflation, which could push some taxpayers into higher brackets. By 2027, savings for the average taxpayer earning roughly $50,000 to $90,000 will have shrunk to just $50, the Tax Policy Center found.

During the campaign Trump promised a tax cut that would be “revenue neutral.” The idea was that, while government receipts might initially fall when rates were cut, economic growth would boost American’s incomes enough to replace the lost revenue despite the lower rates. Howver, even accounting for economic growth, the Senate plan will add about $1 trillion to the debt over the next decade, according a report from non-partisan Joint Committee On Taxation.

Many economist believe that piling still more debt on top of what the government already owes — currently $14 trillion — could eventually lead investors to sour on U.S. bonds. The result would be higher interest rates, which would push up borrowing costs for everyone from the government itself to most U.S. businesses. That in turn could choke off whatever extra growth the tax cuts spurred in the first place.

The stated goal of tax reform is improving the economy, and the right-leaning Tax Foundation predicted in November that the bill (as it stood at the time) could ultimately help the U.S. add almost a million new jobs over the next decade. But economists are divided about whether that growth will in fact play out as hoped.

The Tax Foundation tends to see rates remaining low, even as the deficit increases — hence its rosy job forecast. But many economists disagree. Earlier this month, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania estimated the tax cut could add as little as 0.03 to 0.08 percentage points to annual GDP growth over the next decade, which would presumably bring far fewer jobs.

the big winners in the GOP bill that the Senate passed early Saturday morning are corporations and the wealthy. Trump himself ― a billionaire ― stands to gain millions through the elimination of certain taxes. Far from being a middle-class tax cut, the measure is a massive corporate giveaway, a bill that recycles decades of Republican ideology on trickle-down economics and trusts that executives will hand over their new gains to average-income workers. “If my friends here want to give a tax cut to the middle class,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) asked on the Senate floor Thursday, “why don’t we give a tax cut to the middle class?”

And the bill makes other changes that reach far beyond the tax code itself. It repeals the individual mandate from the Affordable Care Act, a major change that was added in recent weeks as part of a broader GOP effort to dismantle the Obama-era law. The measure is expected to leave 13 million more people uninsured. It authorizes oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. And by curtailing deductions for state and local taxes, it will put pressure on some state and local spending on education, transportation and public health programs.

The tax package still must clear a couple more hurdles before it can become law. There are numerous differences between the House and Senate versions, ranging from when certain tax cuts expire to how the estate tax is handled, and though none are seen as showstoppers, complications could arise.

“The bill is investing heavily in the wealthy and their children — by boosting the value of their stock portfolios, creating new loopholes for them to avoid tax on their labor income, and cutting taxes on massive inheritances,” Lily Batchelder, a New York University professor who worked as an economist under President Barack Obama, said. “At the same time, it leaves low- and middle-income workers with even fewer resources to invest in their children, and increases the number of Americans without health insurance.”

America’s rich have gotten richer for decades, while the middle class and poor have seen meager gains. Since the mid-20th century, the top 1 percent have more than doubled their share of the nation’s income, from less than 10 percent to more than 20 percent. The tax overhaul the Republican Party passed through the Senate would make America’s income inequality worse. Maybe a lot worse, economists say. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on the Senate floor that this day would be remembered as one of the “great robberies in U.S. history.”

Preet Didbal is the 1st Indian-American Sikh woman to become mayor in the U.S.

December 6, 2017 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Preet Didbal, a longtime Planning Commissioner and lifetime Yuba City resident, and City Councilmember since 2014, was sworn in on December 5th, possibly making her the first Indian-American Sikh woman in the U.S., to lead a city. She was appointed by the Council and was sworn-in as the mayor of the city that thousands of Indian-American Sikhs have called home for more than a 100 years, finally has a woman mayor belonging to that community.

“I’m speechless. It’s so humbling,” Didbal told the media. “Seeing someone that looks like you, that comes from the same faith as you, to be elected in a public office in this country is inspiring and exciting. And it’s definitely moving,” Sikh Coalition’s Jaydeep Singh is quoted saying in the a media report.

While there have been male Sikh mayors in the past, including the most recent, Ravi Bhalla of Hoboken, New Jersey, and before that, former Mayor of Laurel Hollow in New York, Harvinder Singh Anand, Didbal is likely the first Sikh woman to occupy that office, according to kcra.com. “Congratultions to Mayor Preet Didbal!” the Sikh Coalition tweeted.

Didbal, a single mother, has lived in Yuba City, raising her daughter who attends River Valley High School there. According to her bio on the Council website, Didbal’s “focus is built around children being raised in a community that invests in the success of young people and will look to develop more youth and family activities.” She is also committed to creating an economic environment that will provide good-paying jobs for returning college graduates, the site says. The Sikh Coalition estimates around 500,000 people who follow the Sikh faith live in the United States.

9.3 million family-based visas issued in 10 years, White House says

December 6, 2017 Staff ReporterTravel, U.S. 0

For the first time, the White House said, the federal government has counted the green cards issued between 2005 and 2015 to migrants admitted through family preference, or as immediate relatives of migrants already admitted into the country in perhaps the fullest portrait of “chain migration” ever developed.

“For years, we’ve known that large numbers of immigrants have been coming based on petitions from previous immigrants,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Lee Cissna told Fox News. “But this is the first time we really kind of see the whole scope of the problem. And legislators or policymakers at DHS can do what they need to do address the problem.”

During the ten-year time frame, officials said, the U.S. permanently resettled roughly 9.3 million new immigrants on the basis of family ties. That’s more than 70 percent of all new immigration in that period, the White house said, adding it is also the primary driver of low-skilled workers’ entry into the U.S. A phenomenon analyst say most directly hurts American minority groups with comparable skills.

“These numbers are explosive. They show that American immigration skews almost entirely towards family-based admissions,” said a White House official who briefed Fox News on the data. Mexico is at the top of the list with 1.7 million admissions, India and the Philippines each have more than 600,000, and Iran has more than 80,000.

President Trump has urged congressional Democrats to address chain migration in any compromise on the so-called “Dreamers” immigrants brought here as children who will face deportation in March if a deal on their disposition is not reached.

On Fox News, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed the President’s call to end chain migration in exchange for any deal on DACA. McConnell explained that last year’s Presidential election gave lawmakers a mandate to enact the pro-American immigration reforms that the President campaigned on. McConnell also warned that it would be “dumb” and political suicide for Democrats to shut down the government and endanger national security over unrelated legislative policy matters, such as granting work permits to illegal immigrants.

Republican Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia have proposed eliminating the preference afforded to extended and adult family members. “We have current immigrants determining who future immigrants will do – will be, independent of their ability to be contributory to our economy,” Perdue told Fox News.

The group “New American Economy,” compromised of 500 mayors and business leaders committed to comprehensive immigration reform notes that 40 percent of America’s Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. “Could we do it better? Should we have more focus on merit? Absolutely,” said the group’s Executive Director Jeremy Robbins. “But that doesn’t mean in the least that we don’t want to be reuniting families, strengthening communities and bringing more people here.”

No change in H-1B visa system: US

December 6, 2017 Staff ReporterTravel, U.S. 0

Amid the H-1B visa row in India, the US government has said there has been no change in law regarding the H-1B regime and the system continued to be as before. Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for State for South Asia Thomas Vajda said no legislation has been passed so far on the particular category of visa.

“(There is) no change in the law today for H-1B (visa) regime or system in the United States… President (Donald) Trump asked for review of the H-1B system…but no steps have been taken. Many changes in law, so many cases, require changes of legislation. But so far no legislation has been passed on H-1B. For the moment, the system remains as it has in the past,” Vajda told reporters after an interactive session with members of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Following Trump’s election as US president on a protectionist platform, the US has announced stricter norms for issuing the H-1B and L1 visas. India’s Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said in October that the issue of H-1B and L1 visas, which have facilitated the entry of Indian IT professionals, has been raised strongly with Washington.

Responding to a query regarding reducing pet coke imports from the US, Vajda said the US sees energy as the most potential area for inc. “The US is committed to increase energy export and support for India’s economic development,” he said.

Vajda said both the governments of India and the US have been hopeful and supportive for completion of contract between the Westinghouse Electric Company and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India to build six nuclear reactors in India.

Republicans-led US Senate approves Tax Bill that benefits the wealthy and big corporations

December 4, 2017 Staff ReporterFinance/Economy, U.S. 0

Ambassador Nikki Haley warns “N. Korean regime will be utterly destroyed” if war breaks out

November 30, 2017 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Echoing the sentiments expressed by President Donald Trump during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in August this year, The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations warned on Wednesday November 29th that the North Korean regime “will be utterly destroyed” if a war breaks out, a day after that country launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a new provocative test.

Haley’s comments are a continuation of the Trump administration’s responses to North Korean military displays. The president stated in August that he would unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea if it continued threatening the US and its allies.

Nikki Haley ratcheted up talk of war with North Korea in reaction to the isolated country’s most recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, warning that Kim Jong-un’s government is on a road to ruin.

“We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it,” ambassador Nikki Haley said at an emergency UN Security Council meeting. “If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday.”

“And if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed,” Haley said. “The nations of the world have it within their power to further isolate, diminish and, God willing, reverse the dangerous course of the North Korean regime.”

During an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Haley asked the members of the panel to increase the sanctions imposed on North Korea and to implement penalties established by the council earlier in the year, The Hill reported. Haley also warned the panel that North Korea’s latest missile test has brought Pyongyang and Washington “closer to war.”

If war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed,” Haley said. “The dictator of North Korea made a choice yesterday that brings the world closer to war, not farther from it,” Ambassador Haley added.

Also on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that he would put forth “additional major sanctions” against North Korea in reaction to the recent ICBM test. Trump added that “the situation will be handled.”

North Korea’s latest ICBM test on Tuesday was its first in more than two months, and the rocket that was launched flew further than any previous launches. The distance of the launch allegedly put the US mainland into the range of the missile, according to North Korean state media. It is the third ICBM test conducted by North Korea, which has also carried out six past nuclear tests. In all, the North Koreans have test-fired rockets 18 times since Donald Trump took office in January. Of the missiles tested before that, one was intermediate-range, two were medium-range, eight were either short-range or medium-range and the range of one is unknown, according to various North Korea watchers. Four fired on June 8 were believed to be surface-to-ship cruise missiles. U.S. military officials said that the missile tested Tuesday appears to be a new variant.

As a result of the continuous pressure the US has put on Pyongyang, on November 20, Trump officially declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism. While speaking of the designation, Trump said: “In addition to threatening the world with nuclear devastation, North Korea has supported international acts of terrorism including assassinations on foreign soil.”

On November 15, as tensions between the two countries continued to heat up, the US military stated their B-1 bombers are capable of dropping nuclear weapons, and the US possesses “secret silos” of nuclear hardware.

“As long as there is a continuous hostile policy against my country by the US and as long as there are continued war games on our doorstep, then there will not be negotiations,” Pyongyang’s ambassador to the UN, Han Tae Song said.

In October, North Korea mimicked the the Trump administration’s tough talk and threatened an “unimaginable” strike on the US, as tensions further ramped up over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, North Korean state media reported.

A missile capable of reaching the United States topped with a nuclear warhead is considered to be Pyongyang’s ultimate goal. They want it because they believe the US will eventually try to remove Kim Jong Un from power. But would the United States try to topple the Kim regime if North Korea could respond with a nuclear attack?

Pyongyang believes Washington wouldn’t, and that’s why the country sees nuclear weapons as the key to sparing Kim Jong Un from a fate similar to that which befell Moammar Gaddafi in Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

The long-range missile is what really scares the United States because it means there is an existential threat of a nuclear attack, according to John Delury, a professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Relations.

“We are in a somewhat dangerous period of a threat perception gap, as Americans adjust to the sense of vulnerability to North Korean retaliation that South Koreans and Japanese have lived with for quite some time,” he said.

Ajit Pai, FCC chairman wants net neutrality ended

November 30, 2017 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Ajit Pai says his children are being harassed over net neutrality

Ajit Pai, President Trump appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is all set to scrap rules around open internet access, a move that would allow giant cable and telecom companies to throttle broadband speeds and favor their own services if they wish.

Ajit Pai followed through on a pledge to try to repeal “net neutrality” regulations enacted under the Obama administration. The current rules treat internet service providers such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon as if they were utility companies that provide essential services, like electricity. The rules mandate that they give equal access to all online content and apps.

Pai said those rules discourage investments that could provide even better and faster online access. Instead, he said new rules would force ISPs to be transparent about their services and management policies, and then would let the market decide.

“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet,” Pai said in a statement. Pai distributed his alternative plan to other FCC commissioners in preparation for a Dec. 14 vote. Although the FCC’s two Democrats said they will oppose the proposal, the repeal is likely to prevail as Republicans dominate 3-2. The vote for net neutrality in 2015 was also along party lines, but Democrats dominated then.

Equal treatment for all web traffic has been a fundamental principle of the internet since its creation but companies have increasingly put their thumb on the scales of access. AT&T, for example, doesn’t count use of its streaming service DirecTV Now against wireless data caps, potentially making it seem cheaper to its cellphone customers than rival TV services. Rivals would have to pay AT&T for that privilege. Regulators, consumer advocates and some tech companies are concerned that repealing net neutrality will give ISPs even more power to block or slow down rival offerings.

A repeal also opens the ability for ISPs to charge a company like Netflix for a faster path to its customers. Allowing this paid-priority market to exist could skew prices and create winners and losers among fledgling companies that require a high-speed connection to end users.

Meanwhile, in an interview this week, Ajit Pai said his family has become the target of harassment. Protesters against the new policy had put up cardboard signs at Pai’s home in suburban Virginia. One sign, appearing to refer to Pai’s children, read: “They will come to know the truth. Dad murdered Democracy in cold blood.”

Pai said those signs crossed a line, even as he noted the charged debate over net neutrality. “I understand that people are passionate about policy, but the one thing in America that should remain sacred is that families, wives and kids, should remain out of it. And stop harassing us at our homes.”

Pai has said his proposal would restore a “light-touch” regulatory framework for Internet services and would stop the government from micromanaging the Internet. Broadband and wireless companies such as Comcast and Verizon applauded Pai’s move. But Internet companies and activists see the undoing of net neutrality as an invitation for corporate abuse, in which service providers block websites they do not like and charge Web companies for speedier delivery of their content.

“It was a little nerve-racking, especially for my wife,” Pai said. Pai suggested that the intense criticism leveled at him for targeting neutrality rules can lead to the type of harassment his family experienced. “That’s one of the things I think is very unfortunate about all the vitriol and hot air that’s out there is that if you keep going out there and peddling this misinformation like, ‘This is the guy who is going to break the Internet and destroy democracy,’ it’s not surprising that some people get alarmed by it.”

Pai said in a statement, “Internet regulation activists have crossed the line by threatening and harassing my family. They should leave my family out of this and focus on debating the merits of the issue.”

Indo-US Democracy Foundation’ launched on Nehru’s Birthday

November 23, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

By George Abraham

‘Indo-US Democracy foundation,’ a Think Tank was inaugurated on November 14 – Nehru’s birthday – at a function held in Bayside, New York. Mr. Paul Vallone, a New York City Council Member, lighted a lamp and inaugurated the organization. He lauded the creation of the think tank and expressed hope that it will facilitate constructive dialogue between communities while promoting democratic values and principles.

“The mission of the Indo-US Democracy foundation is to create awareness on threats to democracies in India and U.S. and to educate the public. Towards that end, we will be analyzing developing trends and informing our audience of the increasing danger to our way of life” said George Abraham, the Executive Director of the think tank. “The primary reason we have done the inauguration on November 14 is quite significant. Our mission fits well within the Nehruvian vision for India and that is to be a strong advocate for individual liberty and human justice to all citizens regardless of color, caste, creed, religion or gender” Abraham added.

Prof. Manu Bhagavan, Professor at Hunter College, the keynote speaker lauded the contribution of Nehru to India and reminded the gathering that Nehru’s vision of ‘Progressive internationalism was premised on the principle that free people everywhere should determine their future—together—under the aegis of forged common ideals. Differe¬nce and the will of the locality had to be respected, under the proviso that neither could serve as an excuse to oppress’.

Dr. Jit Chandan, Professor at City University, noted Nehru’s contributions in the area of higher learning such as establishing IITs and IIMs and asked the new generation to seize the opportunities and create history.

Dr. Joseph Cheruvelil, a retired Professor at St. John’s University pointed out that the Nehruvian vision transformed India and the Institutions he has helped to create are continuing to provide stability and strength to Indian democracy.

Mr. Yuvaraj Singh, a graduate student at Columbia University who was also a panel member, highlighted Nehruvian perspective on Democracy that it isn’t about propagating one set of ideologies or relying on one source of ideas. It’s about paying heed to your opposition, collaborating with those who you might not agree with you, and adopt the best of all ideas wholeheartedly for the advancement of the common goals and objectives. “Nobody embodied that better than Pt. Nehru. So the key lesson is that Democracy thrives on the opportunity to collaborate and not on the ambition to beat the opponent” Mr. Singh added.

Mr. Harbachan Singh, Secretary-General of INOC, USA in his welcoming address said “In this very complex and fast-moving geo-political world environment and the nuclear age, it is essential for a think tank like body to be constantly up to speed and monitoring the world developments in every field of endeavor. It is to appraise national and international governments and to figure out which way the political and environmental winds were blowing through various technological means to forestall detrimental effects and calamities of war or natural disasters.”

Mr. Bipin Sangakar, the President of Jawaharlal Nehru foundation recollected the story of Martin Luther King’s visit to India upon Nehru’s invitation and how the civil rights movement in U.S. got transformed with Gandhian principles going forward.

Professor Inderjit Saluja, Chief Editor of the Indian Panorama Newspaper moderated the meeting and added ‘the progressing India of today, ready to assume economic leadership of the world , is the gift of a visionary who knew it was important to strike a balance between the harsh realities of struggles facing a nascent nation and the need to take bold leap forward in the realms of economy and technology, notwithstanding the challenges of ensuring basic needs for the billions, to take the nation on a path to progress. He was acutely aware of the dire need to protect the fledgling democracy and attendant values of freedom, justice, and peace. Nehru’s legacy is a bright star on the horizon of India’s history, impossible to be overlooked or ignored”. Malini Shah thanked all the supporters and well-wishers at the meeting and urged close cooperation with the Think Tank.

Radhika Jones to lead pre-eminent celebrity-driven magazine ‘Vanity Fair’

November 23, 2017 Staff ReporterSocial Media, U.S. 0

Radhika Jones, 44, has been chosen to be the chief editor of Vanity Fair, the world’s celebrity driven magazine announced here on November 13^th. Jones will take over as editor-in-chief of the celebrity-driven magazine that takes a splashy view of America and the world.

Jones garnered high praise from the likes of Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue and artistic director of Conde Nast which owns Vanity Fair. She becomes only the second woman to helm the magazine, and follows in the giant footsteps of the British media icon Tina Brown, who launched the new incarnation of the magazine as its editor in chief from 1984-1992. Jones succeeds current editor Graydon Carter, who has been there since 1992, and is known for raising the celebrity-driven bar of the magazine, which also however, carries serious political and economic pieces.

“In Radhika, we are so proud to have a fearless and brilliant editor whose intelligence and curiosity will define the future of Vanity Fair in the years to come,” Wintour said in a statement about Jones who lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and son. “I’m honored and excited to succeed Graydon Carter as editor in chief of @VanityFair,” Jones tweeted Nov. 13.

The New York Times, where Jones has been the editorial director of the books department for the past year, broke the story about her appointment. The Times called Jones a “surprise choice” to lead Vanity Fair.

In an interview with Vanity Fair the day the announcement was made Nov. 13, Jones talked about her inspirations and hinted at where she may take the magazine. But not much about her parents, one of whom happens to be Indian, her mother, and Robert L. Jones, her father, a well-known singer and guitarist from the 1950s and ’60s, according to his biography on a folk music website.

Jones will lead Vanity Fair through its 24th annual Oscar Party in March, the fifth annual New Establishment Summit, the brand’s 105th anniversary and the continued digital expansion of The Hive, the title’s newest brand launch.

Jones, who takes over officially Dec. 11, previously held senior editorial roles at The New York Times, Time and The Paris Review. She joins Vanity Fair from the Times, where since November 2016 she was Editorial Director, Books, overseeing daily and Sunday reviews and expanding the desk’s digital coverage at the intersection of books, news and ideas. At Time, Jones led all arts and entertainment coverage for the brand.

“Radhika is an exceptionally talented editor who has the experience and insight to drive the cultural conversation—balancing distinctive journalism with culture and humor,” Bob Sauerberg, president and CEO of Condé Nast is quoted saying in the press release. “Her experience covering news and entertainment has given her a thorough understanding of the importance of chronicling and celebrating the moments that matter. With her expansive worldview, I know she will guide Vanity Fair’s history of provocative and enduring storytelling well into its future.”

Prior to The New York Times, Jones spent eight years at Time rapidly rising through the ranks to become deputy managing editor in 2013. Prior to joining Time in 2008, Jones was the managing editor of The Paris Review, managing editor at Grand Street, an editor at Artforum, and the arts editor of The Moscow Times, where she began her career.

Jones has a B.A. from Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia, where she has also taught courses in writing and literature. Born in New York City, she grew up in Cincinnati and Connecticut. “There is nothing else out there quite like Vanity Fair,” Jones is quoted saying.

Assaults against Muslims in U.S. surpass 2001 level

November 23, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

By Katayoun Kishi

The number of assaults against Muslims in the United States rose significantly between 2015 and 2016, easily surpassing the modern peak reached in 2001, the year of the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of new hate crimes statistics from the FBI. In 2016, there were 127 reported victims of aggravated or simple assault, compared with 91 the year before and 93 in 2001.

But assaults are not the only form of hate crime carried out against Muslims and other religious groups. The most common is intimidation, which is defined as reasonable fear of bodily harm. Anti-Muslim intimidation also increased in 2016, with 144 reported victims, compared with 120 the previous year. These numbers, however, are still dwarfed by the 296 victims of anti-Muslim intimidation in 2001.

Certain types of crimes that damage or destroy property, including vandalism, also have risen, from 70 cases against Muslims in 2015 to 92 last year.

Overall, there were 307 incidents of anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2016, marking a 19% increase from the previous year. This rise in hate crimes builds on an even sharper increase the year before, when the total number of anti-Muslim incidents rose 67%, from 154 in 2014 to 257 in 2015.

As in previous years, the largest number of all types of hate crime incidents against religious groups targeted Jews. In 2016, there were 684 anti-Jewish hate crime incidents, marking a slight increase from 664 in 2015. By comparison, in 2016, there were 62 hate crimes against Catholics and 15 against Protestants.

Amid the recent rise in incidents of hate crimes, most Muslims in the U.S. say their community faces discrimination. In a Pew Research Center survey conducted in early 2017, three-quarters of Muslim American adults (75%) say there is “a lot” of discrimination against Muslims in the U.S., a view shared by nearly seven-in-ten adults in the general public (69%).

In addition, half of U.S. Muslim adults (50%) say that in recent years it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S., with 10% of this group attributing this to discrimination, racism and prejudice. In general, nearly a quarter of U.S. Muslim adults (23%) view discrimination, racism or prejudice as the most important problem facing American Muslims today.

The FBI collects hate crime data from about 15,000 law enforcement agencies that voluntarily participate, which means the annual statistics likely undercount the number of hate crimes in a given year. Still, the report is a useful tool for comparing hate crimes over time and tracking the minimum number of these crimes that have occurred in a given year.

Under Trump, US hate crimes rise, Hindus and Sikhs among those targeted

November 15, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

The FBI has reported an increase in hate crimes in the US for a second consecutive year, with Hindus and Sikhs among those targeted in the more than 6,000 incidents of crimes motivated by biases towards religions, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

There were 10 incidents of hate-crimes against Hindus and seven against Sikhs in 2016 — the year of the rise of Donald Trump as a politician and his election as president.

The maximum number of hate crimes were related to race or ethnicity in 2016— 3,483 — with more than half against African Americans. Religion-related hate crimes came second, with Jews and Muslims targeted the most. Another 1,076 hate crimes were linked to with sexual orientation, while other incidents were linked to disability, gender and gender-identity.

Hate crimes against Muslims— a group targeted by Trump — saw a steep rise, increasing to 307 incidents in 2016 from 257 in 2015 and 154 in 2014.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), an organization that tracks hate-crime and discrimination, said the rise in hate crimes “coincides with Donald Trump’s racist, xenophobic campaign and its immediate aftermath”.

The FBI and the justice department did not make that connection. “The department of justice is committed to ensuring that individuals can live without fear of being a victim of violent crime based on who they are, what they believe, or how they worship,” attorney general Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

The SPLC contends that the actual number of hate crimes may be much higher. In a report, they said that the “actual number of hate crimes may be as high as 250,000 – more than 40 times the 6,121 incidents that the FBI reports for 2016. But the FBI figures do serve as a rough barometer for what’s occurring in our country”.

The number of hate crimes against Hindus, whose numbers are estimated to be around of 2.1 million, were not listed separately in the 2014 FBI report, but have figured independently in the next two annual reports —with five in 2015 and 10 in 2016.

The number for hate crimes against Sikhs, whose population is estimated to be 500,000, went up from six in 2015 to seven in 2016. The community has been a victim of hate crimes as they are usually mistaken as Arabs due to their turbans. The targeting of Hindus is also usually due to their being mistaken as Arabs.

Abhijit Das to Run for Massachusetts Congressional Seat

November 15, 2017 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Abhijit Das, the president and CEO of Troca Hotels, has announced he is running for the 3dr District Congress in Massachusetts. The Democrat candidate made the official announcement on his birthday amidst friends, family and community members at the Stonehedge Hotel and Spa in Tyngsborough. The seat ib being vacated by Niki Tsongas in November, 2018.

“As most of you know, I’m not a fan of [President] Donald Trump,” Das said, adding that the unequivocal denunciation of hatred, bigotry and racism should be a prerequisite to running for president. “That notwithstanding, we should not demonize those who voted for him nor can we simply ignore their voices. It is by engaging other viewpoints that we ultimately achieve understanding, compromise and progress,” he said.

Das attended the Brooks School in North Andover and earned a BA in political science from Middlebury College in Vermont. He later earned a law degree at the University of Michigan’s law school, focusing on constitutional law and the American political sector.

“It was there (at the University of Michigan) that I learned the power of democracy,” he said.

Early in his career, Das served as law clerk to U.S. District of Maryland Judge Benson Legg. There, Das said he was witness to the power of the federal government, its compassion and its injustice.

Before starting Troca Hotels in 2011, Das was senior director of development for Hilton Hotels in South Asia, resurrecting 28 hotels in India from none. With Troca Hotels, Das’ mission is to revitalize communities.

“Our state of the economy is troubling,” Das noted. “Something is not working and we need to fix that. We must work diligently to turn this place to one of opportunity and innovation.”

Das says his platform includes the economy, innovation, education and the mental health crisis, among other issues.

“Washington is broken. I entered the possibility of this race because I saw friends (on both sides) shouting at each other,” Das said. “True dialogue is what we need. We need someone who is going to cross over that line and say, ‘let’s talk.’”

The Democrat is among eight individuals from his party, as well as two Republicans, who hope to be victorious next November for the seat being vacated by Lowell-based Democratic incumbent Niki Tsongas, who is retiring after the current term.

“Our state of the economy is troubling. Something is not working and we need to fix that. We must work diligently to turn this place to one of opportunity and innovation,” Das said at the time in his announcement. His platform, he said, will focus on the economy, innovation, education and the mental health crisis, among other issues.

The 44-year old Das was born in Woburn, and grew up in North Andover. He went to Brooks School, studied political science at Middlebury College in Vermont, and took two semesters of classes at UMass Lowell, where his mother Mitra Das is in her 45th year teaching sociology, the Eagle-Tribune reported.

Indian Americans score major victories in elections across the US

November 10, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

The November 7, 2017 elections across the United States underscored the growing influence of the Indian Americans and their coming of age and assuming greater roles in key states in the greatest democratic nation in the world’s political history. Indian Americans, a community of about 4 million people, who are now aggressively pursuing public office and a role in the country’s politics, matching their economic clout and academic advancements, also scored major victories, including to two state senates: Manka Dhingra in Washington on the west coast, whose victory flipped control of the senate to Democrats, and Vin Gopal’s victory on the east coast, flipping a long held Republican seat in New Jersey to the Democratic column.

Indian Americans Ravi Bhalla and Phalguni Patel easily won their respective races in New Jersey in which they had been targets of anonymous flyers that sought to portray them as a terrorist and an outsider, in the case of Patel, from a cricket-crazy immigrant community.

Manka Dhingra, the Indian American Democratic candidate for the Washington 45th Legislative District state Senate seat, won the Nov. 7 general election convincingly and, in turn, flipped the majority party of the state from Republican to Democrat.

Dhingra ousted her Republican counterpart, Jinyoung Lee Englund, to the tune of 55.4 percent to 44.6 percent in retaking control of the state. The former King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office senior deputy prosecuting attorney received 16,156 votes to Englund’s 12,997.

“I was proud of and excited about the result,” Dhingra said. “It reinforces the message from the beginning to make it about the people. It was about honesty, integrity and compassion. From the beginning I was clear I wanted a campaign run on values and not one that does attack ads. You are what Democracy looks like. And when Democracy wakes up, justice wins,” she said in her speech.

Vin Gopal, the former Monmouth County Democratic chairman with deep roots in the party there, defeated longtime state Sen. Jennifer Beck in the state’s 11th legislative district. According to unofficial results from the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, Gopal defeated Beck 28,750 votes to 25,108 votes.

Beck, an 11-year legislator, conceded to Gopal on Tuesday night, dealing a blow to Republicans in the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature. The race was one of the most expensive and closely watched in the state. “I have been so honored to serve you and I want to wish Vin Gopal the best as he now takes the reins in District 11,” Beck told her supporters. “I wish him the best of luck and offer him any assistance I can lend him in the transition.”

Another major victory for the NRI community was, despite an 11^th hour racist attack which depicted him as a terrorist, Indian American Ravi Bhalla emerged victorious, as he was elected the first Sikh mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey. “I’m very humbled and honored to represent a great city and the Indian American community,” The Sikh-American City Council member topped five other candidates on Tuesday and succeeded Dawn Zimmer, who decided not to seek a third term.

While campaigning for the mayoral race, the Indian-American born and raised in New Jersey was called a “terrorist” in targeted racist attacks. Anonymously distributed flyers featured a picture of Bhalla with the message “Don’t let TERRORISM take over our Town!”

The 44-year-old politician responded to the flyers, saying last week they were troubling but “we won’t let hate win”. “I want to use this incident as an opportunity to affirm to each other and our children the value of living in a diverse community where we are judged by the content of our character — not by the color of our skin or how we worship,” Bhalla wrote in a Facebook post.

Phlaguni Patel was elected to the education board of New Jersey’s Edison county, a major hub where Indian Americans live. The fifth big win of the night was Dimple Ajmera, to City Council, Charlotte, North Carolina.

“H(Y)UGE day yesterday,” wrote Shekar Narasimhan, a top Democratic strategist in an email to a request for response. The word “H(Y)UGE” was borrowed from Bernie Sanders, who ran against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2016. That was his way to describe something massive, momentous.

Elections were held on November 7 for the state executive, including governors, legislative, municipal and school boards in New Jersey and Virginia and for other state bodies, local boards, judicial bodies and vacancies in other states.

The victories give Democrats a huge psychological boost that could help their fundraising and candidate recruitment. It could also accelerate the pace of Republican retirements, as Republican Bob McDonnell’s win in the 2009 Virginia governor’s race did for Democrats.

Buoyed by the November 7, 2017 victory, Democrats declared the start of their comeback with the goal of reclaiming control of the two chambers of Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—from Republicans.

“The door is certainly open for us,” said Nancy Pelosi, top Democrat in the House, going over the election results with reporters and the implications for the 2018 congressional races.

Pelosi said she was reminded of victories in similar elections in 2005 that led to Democrats taking the two chambers in 2006.

Democrats posted victories in an entire range of elections held on Tuesday to governorships in Virginia and New Jersey, legislatures, municipal and judicial bodies, using an unprecedented demographic and cultural mix of candidates that were so representative of the new America.

Governor Rick Scott appoints Dr. Zach Zachariah to the Florida State University System Board of Governors

November 10, 2017 Ajay GhoshU.S. 0

Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, one of the nation’s leading cardiologists, medical director of UHealth Cardiology in Fort Lauderdale, FL, has been appointed to the Florida State University System Board of Governors by the Governor of Florida, Rick Scott on October 27^th, 2017. Dr. Zachariah has previously been appointed by Governor Rick Scott to serve on the Board of Medicine.

“It is an honor to serve on the 17-member board, whose responsibilities include defining each institution’s mission, setting the curriculum, and managing the system’s coordination and operation,” said Zachariah, whose term will run until January 9, 2019. “I am looking forward to exploring potential public-private educational partnerships and programs with academic institutions like the University of Miami.”

Along with the Indian American cardiologist, Gov. Scott also appointed another Indian American Jay Patel, and Patricia Frost, Tim Cerio, and Ned Lautenbach to be on the Board of Governors. They have been appointed to terms beginning Oct. 27 and ending Jan. 6, 2019. The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate, but are expected to be formalities.

The 17-member Board of Governors oversees the 12 universities within the State University System of Florida, which is the nation’s second-largest public university system, according to their website.

According to media reports, Zachariah, a GOP fundraiser considered among the most influential Indian-American Republicans, has been a longtime friend of the Bush family. During the tenure of President George H. W. Bush, and his sons, President George W. Bush and two-term former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, he held several influential positions. He belonged to the White House Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders and was chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine.

Director of the Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute. In addition, he is also Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine, and a member of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health. Among Dr. Zachariah’s professional credentials are certification in the American Board of Internal Medicine and in the sub-specialty Board of Cardiovascular Diseases.

He is also a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the Society for Cardiac Angiography, the American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the Society of Clinical Scientists. In addition, his research papers and abstracts have been published in Circulation, the American Journal of Cardiology, the Southern Medical Journal, the Royal Society of Medicine, and Clinical Research. Dr. Zachariah received his medical training at the Armed Forces Medical College in Poona, India, and did his medical residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey.

He was awarded a fellowship in cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic. There, he worked closely with the late Mason Sones, M.D., who pioneered the technique of coronary arteriography and paved the way for modern cardiology. Dr. Zachariah has personally performed over 10,000 cardiac catheterizations and 2,000 PTCA’s. In addition, Dr. Zachariah is a member of the Commission to study long-term care in the State of Florida and was appointed by Florida’s Insurance Commissioner.

Dr. Zachariah is a member of the Health Advisory Committee and the Citizen Advisory Committee appointed by U.S. Senator Connie Mack. Active with the American Heart Association, Dr. Zachariah is President of the Broward Region, and past President of the American Heart Association, Florida Affiliate.

Zachariah served at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the NIH, as a member of the U.S. delegation to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and as President of the Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute at Holy Cross Hospital.

His awards include the Ellis Island American Legend Award, the Child Advocate of the Year Award, Father of the Year Award, Spirit of Life Award from City of Hope, the Golden Heart Award from the American Heart Association, Freedom Foundation Medal of Honor from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Currently, Dr. Zachariah serves on the Advisory Board of The Universal News Network, www.theunn.com

Kenneth Juster unanimously confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to India

November 10, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Kenneth Juster, who has worked to cement India-U.S. relations over the past 16 years, was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on November 2nd as the next U.S. Ambassador to India. Juster takes over from Indian American Richard Verma, an Obama appointee who was asked to step down Jan. 20, before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The post has been vacant since January. Trump nominated Juster Sept. 5.

Juster currently serves as the deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs and deputy director of the National Economic Council. “I was proud to support Ken’s nomination to be our country’s representative in India, one of our most important defense partners in the region,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, who co-chairs the Senate India Caucus with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

“I have known Ken since we were in law school in the 1970s. As Ambassador, I trust his decades of work on critical issues like trade, cybersecurity and defense will help advance the U.S.-India relationship in a positive direction,” said Warner, who also serves as vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in a press statement released shortly after Juster was confirmed.

Juster is seen as a veteran India hand. He founded and served as the U.S. Chair of the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group, and was one of the key architects of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership initiative between the United States and India.

“His work related to India played an important role in the transformation of the U.S.-India relationship and helped provide the foundation for the historic civil nuclear agreement between the two countries,” noted Warner.

Juster has also served at the State Department and at the Commerce Department. His first call of duty will be to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad Nov. 28-30. After Trump was elected to office, several Indian American business leaders expressed concern as to whether the summit, co-hosted by India and the U.S., would occur this year.

Later this month, Trump’s daughter Ivanka will be leading a powerful delegation of business luminaries to the GES. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the three-day event. On Sept. 28, Juster sailed through his hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, handily fielding questions on bonded labor on human trafficking. The nominee emphasized that both countries could continue to work together to combat climate change, despite Trump’s pull-out of the Paris Agreement this summer. Juster noted that India has expressed great interest in clean technology and energy from renewable sources. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Oct. 26.

Juster was nominated by President Trump in September, and is in time to join the ongoing preparations for the Global Economic Summit end of November, being hosted jointly by Washington and New Delhi, where the U.S. delegation will be led by the President’s daughter Ivanka Trump.

A key player in the making of the U.S. – India civil nuclear agreement back in 2005, Juster will be pushing forward the administration’s ambitious agenda of strengthening the strategic alliance with India particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. This in the midst of a rare asymmetric drumbeat from Washington about India’s emerging global power status and Pakistan’s harboring of terrorists.

In his testimony at the Committee hearings, Juster said he looked forward to advancing “our strategic partnership with India – a relationship that is critical to promoting U.S. national security and economic interests.” He also spoke of the contributions of the nearly 4 million Indian-Americans, and stressed that as a democracy, India’s government and its civil society community was already “grappling” with issues like bonded labor and human rights as well as sex trafficking. He said he would find the right “interlocutors” to address American concerns in every area of concern.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal among those honored at Kerala Center’s 25th annual awards gala

November 7, 2017 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

(Long Island, NY: November 5, 2017) Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian American woman elected to the U.S Congress, representing Washington state’s seventh Congressional District, was among those honored at the 25^th annual gala of the The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center at the World Fairs marina, Queens, New York on Saturday, November 4thg, 2017.

Rep. Jayapal of Kerala origin, a rising star in the Democratic Party, was honored for her achievements in Political Leadership. Attorney Appen Menon, a partner at Wormser, Kiely, Galef & Jacobs LLP law firm in New York for contribution in Legal Services; writer Dr. Sheela N.P. for Literature; Dr. A.K.B. Pillai for Humanities; Community volunteer Sheela Sreekumar for Community Service; and Ginsmon Zacharia, for achievement in Media, were others who were honored for their achievements in their respective field of specialization or for their service to the society at its 25th Anniversary Awards Banquet.

The Center also honored five of its pioneers with Silver Jubilee Year Life Time Achievement Awards. The 25th Jubilee Year Life Time Achievers are Shanti Bhavan Founder Dr. Abraham George, Industrialist and Founder & Chairman of Sami-Sabinsa Group Dr. Muhammed Majeed; Philanthropist Sreedhar Menon; Columbia University Professor P. Somasundaran and Entrepreneur Dilip Varghese. Also honored with a ‘surprise award” was E M Stephen, the pioneer and first President and the Center’s current Executive Director for his visionary and hard work in establishing and running the center in the past quarter century.

While lauding the contributions and achievements of the Malayalee community, chief guest at the gala, Consul General of India in New York Sandeep Chakravorty, “Kerala Diaspora has made India so proud. They are incredibly strong and enormous,” he said. Referring to the strong Indo-US relationship, the Indian Ambassador paid tributes to the larger Indian American community for their contributions towards making the relationship between the largest and the greatest democracies to be growing and poised to be stronger for the next 100 years.

In her address, Congresswoman Jayapal shared with the audience her own growing up in a traditional Kerala family, immigrating to the US as a student and the aspirations of the family. “My parents would be delighted to hear of this honor today at the Kerala Center,” she told the audience, referring to her family’s long association with Sreedhar Monon, a founding member and pillar of the Kerala Center.

Pointing to the fast growing Indian American community, the lone woman Representative from South Asia in the US Congress said, “There are many more coming forward to fight elections and making our voices heard” in the decision making process of our nation’s destiny, she said, while referring to at least 8 persons of South Asian origin contesting elections in her state in the upcoming elections this week. Urging the Indian American community to be more politically active, Jayapal said, “If you don’t vote, you are giving away your voice.”

While describing today as the “greatest day for Kerala Center” the Executive Director E.M. Stephen said that the Center had recognized 140 achievers in the last 25 years, who have continued to become bigger achievers and contributors to the society. He called upon the new generation of Indian Americans to come forward and take on more responsibilities at the Center and in the larger community and the society.

“Kerala Center has been honoring outstanding achievers since 1991 and every year we invite nominations and the committee has to make a unanimous choice for a candidate in a category to receive the award and this year is no different from previous years in terms of their achievements,” said Kerala Center President Thambi Thalappillil. “In 25 years, Kerala Center has become a secular civic institution providing services to the Indian American community and we are recognizing those who were honored earlier by the Center and who went on to become successful achievers and contributors to society with Life Time Achievement,” said Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman of the 25th Anniversary Dinner.

The gala began with the national anthems of both Indian and the Un ited states sung beautifully by the youth group members of the Kerala Center, and they entertained the audience with cinematic dances. The event concluded with light music entertainment and a sumptuous dinner.

Born in Chennai, India, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is the first Indian American woman elected to the U.S House of Representatives. She is a Senior Whip for the Democratic Caucus, Vice Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, First Vice Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and she also serves on the prestigious House Judiciary Committee. Before getting elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Jayapal served in the Washington State Senate and was the founder and executive director of OneAmerica, the largest immigrant advocacy organization in Washington state.

Appen Menon is a partner at Wormser, Kiely, Galef& Jacobs LLP, a law firm in New York and has been providing legal service for the last 3 decades. He represents banks in problem loan workouts and litigation involving debt recovery and mortgage foreclosures and advises financial institutions in their compliance and regulatory matters and on Letters of Credit and secured lending. His corporate law practice includes domestic and foreign corporations in matters relating to domestic acquisitions, cross-border acquisitions involving India and the United States, while representing business entities in their corporate transactions, litigation and corporate governance. Menon also represents corporations in their professional visa matters such as H-1, L-1 and PERM. His clients include technology companies, banks and multinational corporations.

Dr. Sheela N.P. is an accomplished writer in numerous journals and periodicals. She has seven published works including a novel, for which she was the recipient of an international award. She began her teaching career at St. Xavier’s College, Aluva, where she served as the Head of Hindi Department for 35 years. She had also served as a visiting faculty in several seminaries for Malayalam and Sanskrit. She has a Ph.D. in comparative literature and elegy from Cochin University of Science and Technology. In addition, Sheela has post-graduate degrees in Hindi, English, Sanskrit and Malayalam and also diplomas in Theology and Christian women education.

Dr. A.K.B. Pillai is an integrated personality of wisdom, spirituality and creativity. He has higher levels of education in many disciplines, including an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in Anthropology, for which he held a Research Fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health, USA. He continues as an Associate of University Seminars (post- doctoral) at Columbia University. His specializations include Comparative Literature with techniques of creative writing, other disciplines in the humanities and medical sciences. Dr. A.K.B. Pillai is a practitioner of his own Integral Development Therapy, Personality Development System and Developmental Transcultural Psychiatry, with resources also drawn from psychological and mystical Yoga sciences. Dr. Pillai’s lifelong dedicated philosophy is that all wisdom is for social well-being, which he practices with his spouse, Professor Donna Pillai. He is listed in many Who’s Whos of the world.

Sheela Sreekumar is involved in many local, national and global community organizations in the US and is working for the community around her. Born and brought up in Vayalar, Kerala, she attended N.S.S. Women’s College, Trivandrum and later completed her Law Degree from The Government Law College in Ernakulam. After coming to the US, she has served as the President of Karuna Charities of New York; the President and Board of Trusty Chair of Kerala Association of NJ; Advisor to World Malayalee Council of NJ; Chairperson of FOMAA’s Mid- Atlantic Region; Representative of D.C. 37, and also as the Secretary of Asian American Association at New York City Housing Authority. Currently Sheela works as a Community Coordinator of Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability Unit at the New York Housing Authority to help the residents for their job education and financial stability.

Hailing from Thodupuzha, Ginsmon Zacharia dedicated 17 years of his life to the news media. Currently he is coordinator of the Indo-American Press Club, an organization that he founded and chaired. His decision to choose print and visual media indeed served him right. He is also the Director of Jaihind TV USA, which made headlines hosting reality shows in all major North American cities. It served as a platform for young talents to be heard and seen and loved by the viewership of the channel. The weekly program US Dairy brought to the attention of the authorities the difficulties and problems the Indian immigrants face in the US. Having successfully started and established newspapers in UK and US with circulation in Canada, he strategized techniques to earn the reader’s trust. He is the publisher and chairman of Jaihind Vartha, Aksharam magazine and The Asia Era in the US. For more information on The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center and diverse activities and programs throughout the year, please visit: http://keralacenterny.com

Mudita Bhargava to run for Governor of Connecticut

November 1, 2017 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

“I am a different kind of Democrat and why — because I’ve not been a politician and I am a pro-business progressive:” Bhargava says

Mudita ‘Dita’ Bhargava, 45, the vice chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party and a former Wall Street banker, has declared her candidacy for governor, becoming the only woman in a field of four men vying in the primary to replace Democrat Dannel P. Malloy. Malloy announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election.

“I am a different kind of Democrat and why — because I’ve not been a politician and I am a pro-business progressive. And, if we don’t put a different kind of Democrat in the general election, it’s going to be very difficult for us to win,” she said. “Now, there is too much at stake for our state to turn into a red state. I am very focused on making sure that we keep it a Democratic state.”

According to reports, Bhargava, a Greenwich-based businesswoman, has raised more than $53,000 in the 18 days since she announced formation of an exploratory committee for her candidacy. Bhargava, who describes herself as a “pro-business progressive,” has raised well in excess of funds raised by any other candidate in that period of time, owing to contributions from the state’s Indian-American community. She is pledging to invite new business investment in Connecticut and create a welcoming job market for college graduates.

Bhargava said she is wearing her identity as an Indian-American woman on her sleeve. “About 3 percent of Connecticut’s population is Asian, and I am a very proud Indian-American and am quite close to the South Asian Community in Connecticut,” she said. “Five years ago, I co-founded the India Cultural Center of Greenwich which has a wide reach in Southern Connecticut. I have a good relationship with Dr. Abraham, and he was very supportive during my State Rep run and is also supporting me for my gubernatorial exploratory campaign and he did say that he will host an event for me.”

Bhargava told the media that she saw Connecticut at an economic and fiscal crossroads. “I want to bring to the state ideas that need to be implemented immediately,” especially in the areas of good-paying jobs and a thriving business sector. Bhargava made an unsuccessful bid for state Representative from Connecticut’s 151st District last year, going up against a Republican incumbent in a majority GOP district. She said that despite the loss, the contest gained her name recognition — helping win her election this past January to be vice chair of the state’s Democratic Party.

She said her experience as a Wall Street banker and her business acumen bring much to the table. “I have more than two decades of financial sector experience. It took courage, perseverance and hard work to break down barriers and be successful as an ethnic woman in a male dominated field. I plan to bring that same tenacity to help our state overcome its current challenges.”

She wants to see the tax base and industry base expanded. “So, I want to make sure that the businesses that are here — the small and large businesses —especially the small businesses because they employ more than 90 percent of our population across the country — feel empowered to stay and continue to do business in Connecticut. And, I want to attract new businesses and new industries to the state,” she said.

Born in Ontario, Canada, Bhargava grew up with two sisters, raised by a single mother following their parents’ divorce. She has a degree in electrical engineering from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. She moved to the U.S. with her mother and sisters and became a citizen in 2004. Bhargava moved to Connecticut in 2007 from New York, after marrying her husband, Dan Pelletier. The couple has two children — Arya, 8, and Kalyan, 7.

Bhargava’s last private sector job was with RBS, but she also worked as a Wall Street trader and portfolio manager at Bear Stearns, Citadel Investment Group, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, and Dillon Read Capital Management.

She said she has reached out to the Indian-American community’s leaders, including Dr. Thomas Abraham, the co-founder of the National Federation of Indian American Associations and the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin.

She said the modest-sized Indian and South Asian-American communities were nonetheless politically active in Connecticut and she has found them supportive. “A good portion of the funds I’ve raised so far have come from Indian-Americans, and I expect to continue to receive that support,” she said. She said she has been happy to receive donations from citizens and even green card holders and that state financing requires candidates to raise at least $250,000.

“I come from a family with a lot of history and a lot of knowledge about Indian culture and history, and my grandfather — the late Dr. P.L. Bhargarva — was a renowned professor in Sanskrit and History, and he was awarded the President’s Medal in India for his scholarly work. He’d written 14 or 15 books and so in our family, Indian culture as very much an integral part of our upbringing,” she said. “I used to go to India almost every other year and spend the summer with my grandparents in Jaipur. So, I am very close to the culture and I am very proud of that — of my heritage. My kids are half-Indian, but they both understand and speak Hindi.”

Bhargava said the reason she founded the India Cultural Center of Greenwich was to continue that legacy. “A lot of the people who come to our events — about 30 to 40 percent — are non-Indian and we are very happy to share our culture with the broader community,” she said. She said she was also motivated by the bigotry, xenophobia and misogyny often associated with the presidential campaign and administration.

“When I was campaigning last year, I avoided talking about Donald Trump —I wanted to talk about the issues in Connecticut, and I am still focused on that,” she said. “But there came a time when my opponent had said that he supports Donald Trump and after that Access Hollywood tape came out, he still, when asked, two days later, whether he still supports Trump, he said, yes.

Then it became very personal to me, because this was a direct attack on women, and then I made it a point to say, ‘Listen, this is not the first and last time that Donald Trump is going to do this.’ He wants to be the leader of the country and people will follow his lead and he sets an example, and his xenophobic, misogynistic behavior, he’s giving people and open ticket, because there a lot of people out there who do carry insecurities, who are hateful, but there wasn’t this license to express it.”

She said he has “emboldened” racists and bigots. “And, so, when I was campaigning last year, I made the point that he is going to open this up …and, I said, we’ve come so far but I can assure you that this will happen again, and not surprisingly, and literally very soon after, I had made this point, I got this mail sent to my home with my walk-card—my campaign material defaced—and my face defaced and it said, ‘Go back to where you came from.’

“We’ve come way too far in our country and we stand on the shoulders of leaders who have made it a point to educate our folks that diversity makes us stronger, but this will make us weaker as a country and there’s way too much at risk for us not to double-down and stand up to this type of rhetoric and this kind of behavior.”

The publication, in a recent report, said that Bhargava took a step towards a possible run for governor in 2018 when she resigned from her post as vice chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party. Bhargava had held the post since January and resigned Aug. 15 in a letter to party chair Nick Balletto, the report noted. In her resignation letter to Balletto, Bhargava said she was considering a run for statewide office, the Time report added.

“Our state is facing some deep challenges,” Bhargava said last month, the Greenwich Time reported. “I’m trying to determine how I can help in the best possible way. My resignation is the first step, and the next step is talking to people throughout the state, hearing their concerns and seeing how I can best help.”

“We simply can’t afford to keep doing things the same way and expect a different outcome,” Bhargava wrote in her letter to Balletto, the Time reported. “We need new solutions to overcome Connecticut’s fiscal and economic challenges while advancing progressive goals.”

“We have to significantly improve the economic environment in Connecticut for our businesses and families to stay and to thrive,” she added in the Daily Voice report. “There needs to be a fresh, proactive and effective approach to how we deal with the challenges facing our state, starting with the budget.”

8 killed in ISIS-linked terror attack in NYC

November 1, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Eight people were killed and about a dozen more were injured on Halloween Day when a motorist in a rented pickup truck deliberately drove down a bike path in lower Manhattan and mowed down several people before crashing into a school bus. Officials said it was a terrorist attack — the deadliest in New York City since Sept. 11, 2001.

The man hopped out of the truck and shouted “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,” before firing a BB or pellet gun, four senior law enforcement sources told the media. A police officer on patrol in the area returned fire, hitting the suspect in the abdomen and ending the Halloween horror less than a mile from the World Trade Center.

Law enforcement sources said the man left a note in the truck claiming that he committed the attack for the Islamic State terrorist group, although it was not known whether he was imitating other IS-inspired road attacks in Europe or was under the group’s control.

“This was an act of terror and a particularly cowardly act of terror,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a briefing. “We know this action was intended to test our spirit.”

The suspect was identified as a 29-year-old Uzbek immigrant named Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, who entered the United States in 2010, law enforcement officials said. Records revealed that Saipov had lived for a time in Paterson, New Jersey. The weapons investigators recovered turned out to be a pellet gun and a paintball gun.

“Today, there was a loss of innocent life in lower Manhattan,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. “This is a tragedy of the greatest magnitude.” The attack began unfolding at 3:05 p.m. when the southbound truck veered onto a bike path on West Street near Houston Street. “He entered the bike path at Houston Street and exited the bike path when he collided with the bus at Chambers Street,” O’Neill said.

Argentina’s foreign affairs minister said five of the victims were Argentine, and the group had been celebrating the 30th anniversary of a school graduation. The official identified them in a statement as Hernán Mendoza, Diego Angelini, Alejandro Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernán Ferruch. Belgium’s foreign affairs ministry said one of the victims was a national of that country.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the attack appeared to be the work of a “lone wolf.” “There’s no evidence to suggest a wider plot,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of today’s terrorist attack in New York City and their families,” President Trump said in a statement. “My Administration will provide its full support to the New York City Police Department, including through a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We offer our thanks to the first responders who stopped the suspect and rendered immediate aid to the victims of this cowardly attack.

Gopal Vin hopeful of flipping Senate seat in NJ

November 1, 2017 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Vin Gopal, an Indian American and a former Monmouth County Democratic Party chairman, is running for the 11th District state Senate seat representing Monmouth County in New Jersey, hoping to clinch it away from the Republican Party. Gopal’s announcement is a direct challenge to state Sen. Jen Beck, a Republican, who currently holds the seat. Beck will be seeking re-election. If Gopal succeeds in flipping the 11th District seat held since 2012 by Republican incumbent Jennifer Beck this November 7, he would become the first Indian-American State Senator in New Jersey’s history.

Gopal was unopposed in the June 6 primary, receiving the Democratic Party’s nod for the state’s 11th district. Gopal is running on a ticket with the two Democratic Assembly representatives who currently represent the district and will also be running to keep their seats, Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling (D, Neptune Township) and Assemblywoman Joann Downey, (D, Freehold Township).

Gopal served for four years as the chair of the Monmouth County Democratic Party, a perch from where he is credited with engineering several electoral victories to mayoral, city councils and the state assembly. In an interview over the weekend with Desi Talk, Gopal said his campaign has raised $600,000 so far out of a target of $2 million he estimated earlier was needed to win the race. “I have personally knocked on 3,500 doors and have another 300 volunteers” doing the same. “I am working hard to unseat a long-time incumbent,” Gopal acknowledged.

The American Federation of Teachers, New Jersey chapter has endorsed Gopal. The teachers union represents about 30,000 education workers across New Jersey. “I am proud to endorse Phil Murphy, Christine Lui Chen and Vin Gopal,” said Meng. “All are exceptional candidates who will fight tirelessly for New Jersey’s hard-working middle-class families,” Rep. Meng said in a press release. “I look forward to working with each of them to strengthen our economy, create jobs and ensure equal pay and affordable health care for all.” Gopal has held rallies with other candidates running for office, including most recently in Asbury Park, N.J., Democratic gubernatorial favorite Phil Murphy. New Jersey’s only Indian-American State Assemblyman Raj Mukherjee has also actively campaigned for Gopal.

“As a proud small business owner and life-long Monmouth County resident I love the State of New Jersey and I believe it is headed in the wrong direction,” said Gopal. “I have volunteered as a board member for our county chamber of commerce, as president of my town’s business owners association, as a volunteer EMT and a volunteer member for the county’s Big Brothers, Big Sisters Board. As your Senator, I will fight for every taxpayer in the 11th District.”

Garden State Equality, the state’s largest and most active gay and lesbian rights advocacy organization, has formally backed Vin Gopal for state senate in the battleground 11th District. “We consider Vin Gopal a friend, and we know he will have our back with Phil Murphy in Trenton,” Christian Fuscarino, executive director of Garden State Equality, told InsiderNJ. “We know we will have two allies. Vin Gopal is someone we can count on, and we know we can take him at his word,” Fuscarino said.

“I’m hoping everyone will take this seriously and if they do this could have a major impact on this race,” the Vin Gopal said of the endorsement. “There are not many districts where we can sway an election, but this is one.”

FIA welcomes Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty

November 1, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, in a welcome reception hosted in honor of the new Consul General, Sandeep Chakravorty, on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at Royal Albert’s Palace in Edison, NJ, offered full cooperation to the Indian Ambassador.

While addressing the FIA leaders, Chakravorty said that this is the best time for the U.S.-India bilateral relationship, “on October 18th, Secretary Tillerson gave a speech in Delhi, which plays out the roll path for the next 100 years in U.S.-India relations.”

“There are 4.2 million Indians here; I think that number will grow because Indians are very welcome in this country. Indians are contributing enormously to the development of this country and I think the responsibility of the consulate will increase in time. The consulate is here to service the U.S.-India relationship and to service the Indian Diaspora here and if we are not able to do that successfully then I think there is a problem with us,” he said.

Chakravorty also addressed the many issues that the Indian American diaspora face including the OCI problem of having to go back and forth with FedEx, “the consulate is working on the matter and we are thinking of sending text messages now instead of emails to notify that the service has been delivered” because sometimes those messages tend to go into the spam folder of one’s email account.

He stated that today, we don’t have the luxury of having one-on-one meetings anymore like back in the day, since the population of Indians in America have increased, but that should not stop us from finding a solution to the problems that already exist and said that in order to tackle these problems; the consulate has been and will be holding an open house every other Wednesday each month along with the consulate coming to you wherever you are.

Among the many dignitaries who had come around to welcome the new Ambassador to New York included the FIA Board and Committee members including the Chairman, Ramesh Patel, who said he is hopeful that the ambassador will work with the FIA to solve the various ongoing problems regarding visa statuses, as well as Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh of Parikh Worldwide Media, who welcomed the Consul General to New Jersey and Padma Shri H.R. Shah of TV Asia.

“I have had an opportunity to interact with Ambassador Chakravorty several times since his arrival, of course we all know that he is a remarkable and brilliant young man. He has achieved high office early in his travel career. He has been a deputy high commissioner in Dhaka and before coming to New York, he was the ambassador in Peru and Bolivia. I’m sure the day is not too far that we will have to go to Washington D.C. to meet him as he will be the U.S. Ambassador of India,” Dr. Sudhir Parikh said.

H R Shah told the audience that Chakravorty’s “job is a big job and he has so many difficulties” as Consul General of India in New York because he has to cover 11 states containing of 1.7 million people, which is not easy at all, “he has to work, we have to salute his work and keep high hopes that he will do a great job. Don’t ask him what you are going to do for us, ask him what we can do for you.”

Others who spoke on the occasion include Albert Jhasani, owner of Royal Albert’s Palace; Shobna Patel, former president of FIA; the Deputy Consul General of Israel Amir Sagie; Kenny Desai, chairman of tax group; Dhiren Amin, President of the Indian Business Association and Deepak Patel from Dunkin Donuts.

According to the Indian Envoy, “I’m here to serve you, I’m here to help you in your activities in your presence in the United States and through you I want to leverage you and your presence for the betterment on the U.S.-India relationship and the betterment of my country.”

Tillerson Meets Modi, Swaraj; discusses H1 visa, terrorism, trade, technology, Indo-Pacific

November 1, 2017 Staff ReporterFinance/Economy, India, Travel, U.S. 0

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on his first visit to India as a cabinet member, discussed expanding and solidifying U.S.-India security and strategic cooperation in various regions of the world, including North Korea, as well as in trade, economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his meeting with Tillerson, praised Washington for the upward trajectory of bilateral relations between the two democracies and shared the resolve “on taking further steps in the direction of accelerating and strengthening the content, pace and scope of the bilateral engagement,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement reported by Indo Asian News Service.

While in New Delhi, Tillerson continued exhorting Pakistan for harboring terrorist groups within its borders. “There are too many terrorist organizations that find a safe place in Pakistan from which to conduct their operations and attacks against other countries,” Tillerson said at a joint press conference with Swaraj, according to the video available on the MEA website. These terrorist groups threatened Pakistan’s own stability, he added, reiterating what he had said in a major foreign policy speech before embarking on his tour to several countries including India and Pakistan.

Trump Admin policy makes H-1B Visa extension harder to get

November 1, 2017 Staff ReporterTravel, U.S. 0

With a recent move, the Trump administration has made it more difficult for the renewal of non-immigrant visas such as H-1B and L1, popular among Indian IT professionals, saying that the burden of proof lies on the applicant even when an extension is sought. Rescinding its more than 13-year-old policy, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said that the burden of proof in establishing eligibility is, at all times, on the petitioner.

USCIS said the previous memorandum of April 23, 2004, appeared to place this burden on this federal agency. “This memorandum makes it clear that the burden of proof remains on the petitioner, even where an extension of non-immigrant status is sought,” USCIS said in an Oct. 23 memorandum.

Under the previous policy, if a person was once found to be eligible for a work visa initially, they would usually be considered for extension of their visa. Now during every extension, they need to prove to the federal authorities that they are still eligible for the visa they apply for.

William Stock, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said that the change is being made retroactively to people already living in the country and not just to new visa applicants.

“In adjudicating petitions for immigration benefits, including non-immigrant petition extensions, adjudicators must, in all cases, thoroughly review the petition and supporting evidence to determine eligibility for the benefit sought.”

The new policy is in line with the Trump administration’s goal to protect American workers from discrimination and replacement by foreign labor, NumberUSA website said. This new policy will make sure that only qualified H-1B workers will be allowed to stay in the U.S. and will help crackdown on visa fraud and abuse, it added.

Indians get most of the H-1B visas although there are no national quotas for the facility. The new directive is in sync with the Donald Trump administration’s goal to protect American workers from discrimination and replacement by foreign labour, NumberUSA website said.

India looking forward to visit by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson

October 26, 2017 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics, Travel, U.S. 0

India says it is looking forward to a visit by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson to New Delhi next week to further strengthen a partnership based on a shared commitment to a rule-based international order. External affairs ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar welcomed a recent statement by Tillerson calling for an expansion of strategic ties.

“We appreciate his positive evaluation of the relationship and share his optimism about its future directions,” Kumar said. In an address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank on October 18th, Tillerson has said the world needs the U.S. and India to have a strong partnership as he pointedly criticized China, which he accused of challenging international norms needed for global stability.

He said the United States and India shared goals of security, free navigation, free trade and an international rules-based order which is increasingly under strain.

Tillerson’s remarks come as a boost to India at a time when its ties with China have suffered a setback following a recent border standoff. Declaring, “We share a vision of the future,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has unveiled a centennial roadmap marking a “profound transformation” in United States-India cooperation “in defense of a rules-based order” with New Delhi “fully embracing its potential as a leading player in the international security arena.”

The Secretary pointed to what he considered a “more profound transformation that’s taking place, one that will have far-reaching implications for the next 100 years: The United States and India are increasingly global partners with growing strategic convergence.”

“Our nations are two bookends of stability – on either side of the globe – standing for greater security and prosperity for our citizens and people around the world,” he said. “President (Donald) Trump and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi are committed, more than any other leaders before them, to building an ambitious partnership that benefits not only our two great democracies, but other sovereign nations working toward greater peace and stability,” he said.

The speech gave form and substance to the administration’s policy towards India and not just South Asia, but the broader Indo-Pacific region stretching from the vulnerable western flank of the U.S. It touched on a wide range of areas of cooperation ranging from military and defense to economics and trade, and from promotion of democracy to freedom of navigation.

“Tillerson’s speech was one of the most thoughtful and forward leaning speeches from this administration,” asserted Jeff M. Smith, research fellow on South Asia at The Heritage Foundation. The core of the cooperation between the U.S. and India and New Delhi’s enhanced role that Tillerson outlined lies in the Indo-Pacific region where the “world’s center of gravity is shifting” — an area where the Washington and its allies confront China, which he said “subverts the sovereignty of neighboring countries and disadvantages the U.S. and our friends.”

In effect, President Donald Trump’s point-man for foreign policy, just dramatically ratcheted up U.S. support for India’s role in the Indo-Pacific region vis-a-vis Beijing, delivering a clear message of preference for the democracy just as the Chinese Communist Party Congress was getting underway in Beijing, and days before Trump’ was scheduled to visit China.

India, Tillerson said in no uncertain terms, weighed heavier on the scale of strategic security and economic cooperation in Asia. “We’ll never have the same relationship with China, a nondemocratic society, that we have with India,” asserted Tillerson during questions and answers after a speech. Tillerson outlined the game-plan for an Indo-Pacific region where Washington was already engaged with India and Japan, and hopes to rope in Australia to make a quartet countering China’s aggressive stance in the South China Sea.

“We need to collaborate with India to ensure that the Indo-Pacific is increasingly a place of peace, stability, and growing prosperity – so that it does not become a region of disorder, conflict, and predatory economics,” clearly pointing at China.

“The emerging Delhi-Washington strategic partnership stands upon a shared commitment upholding the rule of law, freedom of navigation, universal values, and free trade,” he said, asserting further that, “Our nations are two bookends of stability – on either side of the globe – standing for greater security and prosperity for our citizens and people around the world.” Experts see this as the clearest statement of U.S. objectives vis-a-vis Asia and India, coming from this or previous administrations.

Nikki Haley calls Russia’s interference in US elections as ‘warfare’

October 26, 2017 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Nikki Haley , the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations called Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 election “warfare” — wording that President Trump repeatedly has shied away from. Nikki Haley blasted Russia’s efforts to “sow chaos” in elections across the world during a conference hosted by the George W. Bush Institute.

“The Russians, God bless them, they’re saying, ‘Why are Americans anti-Russian? And why have we done the sanctions?’ Well, don’t interfere in our elections and we won’t be anti-Russian,” Haley said. “When a country can come and interfere in another country’s elections, that is warfare.”

Trump has never used such bold language when discussing Russia. The President has instead consistently questioned the U.S. intelligence community’s assesment that the Kremlin interfered in the election. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia used cyber-enabled means in an attempt to help President Donald Trump win the White House, an allegation the Kremlin has denied.

“We have to be so hard on this and we have to hold them accountable,” Haley said during a panel discussion with former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice held by the George W. Bush Institute in New York last week.

“When a country can come interfere in another country’s elections that is warfare. It really is, because you’re making sure that the democracy shifts from what the people want,” she said. “This is their new weapon of choice and we have to get in front of it.”

Congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller are investigating alleged Russian interference in the election, including whether there was any collusion between Trump associates and Moscow. Trump has denied that there was any collusion between his campaign and associates and Russia.

Mona Das to run for Washington state’s 8th Congressional District

October 17, 2017 Ajay GhoshPolitics, Profiles, U.S., Women 0

Mona Das, an Indian American woman from the state of Washington, has announced her plans to run for the Democratic nomination representing Washington state’s 8th Congressional District. If elected, she will replace Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, who is serving his seventh term as the U.S. Representative for the state’s 8th District.

Das said her passion for working for positive change is fueled by the Bernie Sanders movement and the new energy it ignited. “I am honored and excited to be running for Congress from the 8th District and to represent voters in both Eastern and Western Washington,” Das said in a statement. “Sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option. Unlike the current representative, my voice will be powerful and inclusive.”

Das is running one district over from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, who was elected last fall to her first term in the House. Interestingly, in the Seattle/Pugent Sound area, eight Indian American women are running for various elected offices, or have been elected, including Seattle city council member Kshama Sawant, and Jayapal. Jayapal is the first Indian American woman to serve in the House; Sen. Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California, is the first Indian American to serve in the Senate.

Das immigrated from India to the U.S. with her parents as a child. She launched her career with international and domestic software companies in the Pacific Northwest. Thirteen years ago, she started her own mortgage company and built it into an award-winning lender in 50 states, serving a population of homebuyers typically ignored by other lenders, according to a Das campaign news release.

“My focus in business has to been to reach out to underserved homebuyers, to educate them, and to champion their home ownership dreams,” she said. “As a community leader, I advocate for those who need a strong voice – immigrants, women and others in our communities who are often overlooked.

“Americans are dissatisfied with government. They want to see more unification, less division,” she said. “In my travels around the district I’ve been hearing that voters have had enough. Enough of absentee leadership. Enough indecisveness. I am a listener, a consensus-builder, a fighter, and I intend to bring it all to this office on behalf of residents in the 8th District.”

As H-1B hopes dim, rich families eye ‘investor visas’ for children

October 17, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Families, especially those whose children are studying in the US, are increasingly making inquiries about EB-5 visas – also known as investor visas.+ As the H-1B work visas are getting difficult to come by for entry level jobs, usually for freshly qualified individuals, investor visas have shot into the limelight.

For those keen on applying for EB-5, a move by the US government that has extended the due date for investments via regional centres – a significantly more popular mode of investment for obtaining the EB-5 visa – by a little over two months, from September 30 to December 8, has come to their aid. This is the second such extension in 2017, as the earlier expiry date of April 28 had been extended to September 30.

“President Trump has signed into law – ‘HR 601’ – which is a continuing resolution for funding the federal government till December 8. This has extended the EB-5 regional centre program beyond the expiry date of September 30,” says Rajiv S Khanna, managing attorney, Immigration.com.

Even as an EB-5 reform bill is on the anvil, which could increase the level of investments required and possibly include other strictures, Khanna adds, “Under the US Constitution, the government cannot make laws that change vested rights retroactively. Therefore, if you have already invested and filed your EB-5 papers, I don’t see why you need to worry about subsequent changes in the law.”

There appears to be a strong correlation between the challenges posed in obtaining an H-1B and the renewed interest in this investor visa. TOI had reported earlier on an increase in inquiries for H-1B applications where salaries are at the entry level. It had also reported that graduates from IITs who were offered US based jobs last year are facing work visa challenges

According to the 2016 report by Open Doors, a research agency, there are nearly 1.66 lakh students in the US who make up 15.9 per cent of the total international student population. If a family can afford an EB-5, it enables the student to work in the US without facing H-1B related hurdles.

Immigration experts and firms that specialize in immigration-linked investments have been seeing a sudden spate of inquiries after extension of the deadline. Jeffrey DeCicco, CEO and chief compliance officer, CanAm Investor Services, says, “The current wait time and proposed new restrictions on H-1B visas have already spurred a significant demand for EB-5 from India and this trend is likely to continue. Families with means to enter the program increasingly see EB-5 as a way to cut as many as 10 years off the waiting time to get a green card and also as a way to allow their children to work freely in US without the need for a corporate sponsor.”

Those opting for the EB-5 need to invest $1 million (around Rs 6.5 crore) in new commercial projects or half a million (nearly Rs 3.25 crore) for operations in specified rural areas or regions with higher unemployment known as targeted employment areas— the objective being to create at least 10 permanent full time jobs for US workers.

US indirectly wants to grow itself on money of others…!!! So it can boast more about its “Supremacy” in world, has forgotten that US was formed from many such immigrants who arrived there.

EB-5 offers two routes of investments. One, where the investor directly sets up his own business. The other, via investment in recognized regional centers, which, in turn, sponsor business entities. The latter is a more popular investment route. Of the 90 EB-5 visas issued to Indians between October 1, 2015, till September 30, 2016, 76 were for investments via regional centres. While figures of such visas granted to Indians are still in two digits, it is a sharp rise from just five such visas issued in 2005 (see table). Investors are granted a “conditional” permanent residence for themselves, spouse and children below the age of 21. After two years, they have to apply for lifting of the “conditions”. If approved, they and their family can permanently live and work in the USA.

According to industry estimates, since 2008, over $18.4 billion has been injected via the EB-5. Official country-wise breakup is not available, though.”EB-5 investors need to do significant due diligence of the borrower, the project, and the regional centre. One of the main requirements of the EB-5 program is that the investor’s money must be ‘at risk’ during the investment period. Any regional center that offers or implies a guarantee of any sort should immediately be removed from consideration,” cautions DeCicco.

Trump, top Democrats agree to work on deal to save ‘dreamers’ from deportation

September 21, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Democratic leaders announced late Wednesday that they agreed with President Donald Trump to pursue a legislative deal that would protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation and enact border security measures that don’t include building a physical wall.

The president discussed options during a dinner at the White House with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that also included talks on tax reform, infrastructure and trade. Trump has showed signs of shifting strategy to cross the aisle and work with Democrats in the wake of the high-profile failures by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Trump, however, appeared to send shifting signals Thursday on how far he would go with Democrats over signature issues such as the border wall and the fate of so-called undocumented “dreamers.” In a series of tweets, Trump wrote that “no deal” was made on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, an Obama-era program that has allowed 690,000 dreamers to work and go to school without fear of deportation. He further wrote that agreements on “massive border security” would have to accompany any new DACA provisions, and insisted that “the WALL … will continue to be built.”

But he again put lawmakers on notice that he favors some protections for the young dreamers. “Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military?” Trump wrote in back-to-back tweets. Really! … They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own – brought in by parents at young age. Plus BIG border security.”

Trump tweeted, “The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.” A possible alliance between Trump and the Democrats on immigration would represent a major political gamble for a president who made promises of tougher border control policies the centerpiece of his campaign and pledged to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border. A majority of Republicans, especially in the House, have long opposed offering legal status, and a path to citizenship, to the nation’s more than 11 million undocumented immigrants.

In a sign of the potential trouble for the president, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, an immigration hard-liner and early Trump supporter, wrote that if reports of a potential immigration deal are accurate, the president’s “base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair. No promise is credible.”

Trump has vacillated over the fate of the dreamers, who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. Under mounting pressure from the right, Trump moved two weeks ago to begin dismantling the program.

In announcing the decision, the president made clear that he expected Congress to pursue a plan to protect the DACA recipients, offering a six-month delay until their two-year work permits begin to expire in March.

In a statement, the White House described the meeting as “constructive” and said the administration “looks forward to continuing these conversations with leadership on both sides of the aisle.”

Congressional aides familiar with the exchange said that Trump and the party leaders agreed to move quickly on legislation to protect dreamers, though aides did not disclose whether they agreed that the goal should be for dreamers to eventually be offered a path to citizenship.

In a statement, Schumer and Pelosi said they had “a very productive meeting at the White House with the President. The discussion focused on DACA. We agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides.”

And Republican leaders are already wary of the spending agreement Trump brokered with Democrats last week on a three-month spending plan to raise the debt ceiling and keep the government funded. Pelosi and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., met earlier Wednesday to begin discussing the broad parameters of the forthcoming immigration debate. Ryan’s team signaled that despite the administration’s eagerness to quickly seal the deal, it will take awhile.

Raj Shah appointed as Deputy Assistant to President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary

September 19, 2017 Staff ReporterProfiles, U.S. 0

Raj Shah, another Indian American has been moved up the ranks in the White House by President Donald Trump. According to a White House announcement, has shifted one of his top Indian-American White House appointees from a communications position to one where he will be dealing more directly with the press as a second-in-command spokesperson for the administration.

Raj Shah will serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary. He formerly served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director. In a White House staff reshuffle, President Trump made Hope Hicks, his Interim Communications Director, permanent. Trump co-opted Mercedes Schlapp, a conservative columnist and entrepreneur, as his Advisor for Strategic Communications.

Trump also bumped up another Asian-American, Steven Cheung, to the position of Special Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Response. Cheung previously served as Special Assistant to the President and Assistant Communications Director.

Shah proved his mettle at the research and communications director in the Republican National Committee before he came to the White House. At the RNC, Shah was the director of research and deputy director of communications. Best known for having developed the playbook for the GOP to defeat then Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, Shah kept up a barrage of attacks on her through the campaign. When his former boss, Rience Preibus, head of the RNC, was recruited by Trump, Shah moved with him to the White House. The latest reshuffle is a result of a somewhat tumultuous couple of months in the communications wing of the White House, with several resignations and firings.

As an RNC Research Director Shah manned an army of dirt-diggers against Democrats, big and small. In an interview with News India Times when he was at the RNC in 2016, Shah spoke about his ‘laser focus’ on Clinton’s record and the alleged email scandal that rocked the Clinton campaign.

During 2013-2014, Shah was the co-founding partner and managing director of America Rising LLC, a Republican opposition research group, where he developed the organization’s Hillary Clinton opposition research book.

Something about his tenacity and qualifications is apparent from what Priebus said about Shah when he made him director of research at RNC — “Raj will take the helm of a top-notch Research Department as we prepare to defeat Hillary Clinton and the Democrats in 2016 and to hold them accountable for their records. Raj is the expert on the subject of all things Clinton, and his expertise will be an asset to our party.”

Shah’s work with the RNC began when he was just 22-year old , pulling news clips at 5 a.m. fresh out of college after getting his Bachelor of Arts and Government degree from Cornell University. This even though he was born and brought up in an apolitical and religious Jain family of Democrats in Connecticut. He would have followed the then traditional Indian-American career path of medicine or law, but 9/11 happened as he was graduating from High School and his focus changed completely. Now at the White House, he will be directly working with current Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and in her absence, he could be officiating for the daily press briefings on national television.

Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi appointed co-chair of the New Economy Task Force

September 19, 2017 Staff ReporterFinance/Economy, U.S. 0

Indian American Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Rep. Ami Bera have been appointed on September 13th to serve as co-chairs for the New Economy Task Force for the Democratic party, along with representatives Susan DelBene, Debbie Dingell and Darren Soto. Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., the House Democratic Caucus chairman, announced the launch of the “Jobs for America” task forces, for which Indian American freshman Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and three-time congressman, Rep. Ami Bera, were named among the co-chairs.

The task forces serve as a unified effort from House Democrats to craft a real legislative agenda for America that will benefit the hardest-working Americans and middle-class families across the nation, according to a Democratic Caucus news release.

They will create opportunities for job growth, boost hardworking families and give every worker the opportunity to achieve the American dream by developing legislation focused on investing in key industries, restoring worker benefits, removing barriers to help workers find stable and well-paying jobs, helping our veteran communities transition to the workforce, and identifying jobs of the future, the caucus added.

“I’m honored to take a leading role in crafting our job-focused agenda for the new economy. Fundamentally, building the economy of the future means ensuring that out workers have the in-demand skills they need to thrive and that businesses have the advanced infrastructure they need to grow. On the New Economy Task Force, I look forward to working with my colleagues to accomplish both these goals,” Krishnamoorthi said in a press release.

The task force will take a forward-leaning approach to job growth by looking at rapidly advancing technology, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and ensuring that workers are trained for the jobs of tomorrow. The task force is one of five Democratic Caucus Jobs for America Task Forces aimed at identifying opportunities and solutions for American workers in five key areas: Rebuilding America, Jobs with Dignity, Access to Jobs, New Economy, and Reinvesting in Our Returning Heroes.

“Congressman Krishnamoorthi understands just how important it is to take a proactive and aggressive approach to jobs and our economy, and I’m grateful for his leadership in this important endeavor,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley.

“Our economy isn’t working for far too many Americans. Middle-class families and hardworking men and women struggle to attain the opportunities they so greatly deserve, find financial security and retire with confidence,” said Crowley in a statement. “Americans want to know what Democrats stand for and how we’ll fight for them. This effort will provide a specific roadmap for how families in Queens, the Bronx, and across America can obtain better wages, better jobs, and a better future.”

Over the course of several months, Bera, Krishnamoorthi and the 18 other co-chairs of the task force will meet with business and labor leaders, entrepreneurs and middle-class Americans to develop a legislative package that will benefit all Americans, the news release said.

The New Economy Task Force is one of five Democratic Caucus Jobs for America Task Forces aimed at identifying opportunities and solutions for American workers in five key areas, including Rebuilding America, Jobs With Dignity, Access to Jobs, New Economy and Reinvesting in Our Returning Heroes.

Trump nominates Kenneth Juster as ambassador to India

September 13, 2017 Staff ReporterIndia, Profiles, U.S. 0

Kenneth Juster, who had played a key role in laying the foundations of the India-US nuclear cooperation agreement, has been nominated as the new U.S. ambassador to India.

President Donald Trump’s decision to appoint Juster was announced by the White House on Friday evening. It will have to be approved by the Senate. His nomination is a mark of importance that Trump places on building closer economic, trade and strategic relations with India.

Juster, 62, had served as the Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs from January to June under President Donald Trump. He was also the Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security from 2001 to 2005 under former President George.w. Bush.

Juster still holds the position of Acting Counselor of the Department of State. The diplomat represented Trump for the advance work and negotiations for the May G7 summit in Italy.

The New Delhi position has been vacant since January when Richard Varma resigned along with most political appointees of former President Barack Obama’s administration.

The nomination of the new envoy follows Trump’s announcement in his Afghanistan policy speech last week that “another critical part of the South Asia strategy for America is to further develop its strategic partnership with India”.

He simultaneously delivered Pakistan the sternest warning by a US leader saying that it has “much to lose” if it continues to harbor terrorists.

As the Under Secretary for Commerce, Juster played a key role in developing the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement between US and India.

During his tenure, he founded and chaired the US-India High Technology Cooperation Group, and played an important role in developing the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) initiative.

The NSSP laid the foundation for increased civilian nuclear and space cooperation, and high-technology trade and expanded dialogue on missile defense.

For these contributions, the US-India Business Council honored him with the Blackwill Award in 2004.

Between leaving the Bush administration in 2005 and joining the Trump administration this year, Juster had served as the executive vice president of the technology company Salesforce.com and as managing director at the global investment firm Walter Pincus.

Juster is a graduate of Harvard University. He has served as the chairman of Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and as a vice chairman of the Asia Foundation.

Survivors in wake of Harvey’s floods being searched in Texas

September 4, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

A week after Hurricane Harvey came ashore in Texas, rescuers kept up a marathon search for survivors on Friday as large pockets of land remained under water after one of the costliest natural disasters to hit the United States.

The storm has displaced more than 1 million people with 44 feared dead from flooding that paralyzed Houston, swelled river levels to record highs and knocked out the drinking water supply in Beaumont, Texas, a city of about 120,000 people.

Chemicals maker Arkema SA and public health officials warned of the risk of more explosions and fires at a plant owned by the company. On Thursday blasts rocked the facility, about 25 miles east of Houston and zoned off inside a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) exclusion zone, after it was engulfed by floodwater.

With the presence of water-borne contaminants a growing concern, the National Weather Service issued flood watches from Arkansas into Ohio on Friday as the remnants of the storm made their way through the U.S. heartland.

The Neches River, which flows into Beaumont and nearby Port Arthur, was forecast for a record crest from Friday well above flood levels. The flooding and loss of drinking water forced the evacuation of a hospital on Thursday. Two of the last people remaining in their flooded home near the river, Kent Kirk, 58, and Hersey Kirk, 59, were pulled to safety late Thursday.

“They were the last holdouts, the last house,” said Dennis Landy, a neighbor who had spent the day in his airboat ferrying people from a small, remote group of houses near Rose City, Texas, close to the Neches’ banks, to safety. It took an hour of coaxing by a rescuer but Hersey Kirk finally let herself be carried from her wheelchair to the airboat and then to a Utah Air National Guard helicopter.

“I’m losing everything again,” she said. “We got flooded in Ike, in Rita. My husband just got a new car – well it was new to him anyway. It’s sitting in 5 feet of water.” Harvey roared ashore late last Friday as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in half a century. It dumped unprecedented quantities of rain and left devastation across more than 300 miles (482 km) in the southeast corner of the state.

Moody’s Analytics estimated the economic cost from Harvey for southeastern Texas at $51 billion to $75 billion, ranking it among the costliest storms in U.S. history. Much of the damage has been to Houston, the U.S. energy hub.

At least 44 people were dead or feared dead in six counties including and around Houston, officials said. Another 19 remained missing. Some 779,000 Texans have been told to leave their homes and another 980,000 fled voluntarily amid dangers of new flooding from swollen rivers and reservoirs, according to federal estimates.

Tens of thousands crowded in evacuation centers across the region. A new hurricane, Irma, had strengthened into a Category 3 storm, the midpoint of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, on Friday. It remained hundreds of miles from land but was forecast to possibly hit the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and neighboring Haiti by the middle of next week.

Seventy percent of Harris County, which encompasses Houston and has a population of about 4.6 million people, was covered with 18 inches (45 cm) or more of water, county officials said. As signs of normal life returned to Houston, the nation’s fourth most populous city, there were concerns about health risks from bacteria and pollutants in floodwater.

The Houston Astros baseball team, forced to play away from the city due to the floods, will return and play at its home field on Saturday. It has invited shelter residents to attend its double header against the New York Mets, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said on his Twitter feed.

Flooding has shut some of the nation’s largest oil refineries and hit U.S. energy infrastructure, which is centered along the Gulf Coast. It has sent gasoline prices climbing and disrupted global fuel supplies.

The national average for a regular gallon of gasoline rose to $2.519 as of Friday morning, the highest since August 2015, up 17 cents since before the storm hit, according to motorists advocacy group AAA. The storm knocked out about a quarter of U.S. oil refining capacity and the signs of restarts were tentative.

In major Texas cities including Dallas, there were long lines at gas stations, prompting state regulators to tell people they were sparking a panic and saying there were ample fuel supplies. Power outages had decreased from peaks of over 300,000 to about 160,000 homes and business in Texas and Louisiana as of Friday morning, data from utilities showed.

Trump seeks to work with India while talking tough on Pakistan’s ‘terrorist’ havens

August 28, 2017 Ajay GhoshIndia, U.S. 0

President Donald Trump has called on India to play a greater role on Afghanistan, while chastising Pakistan over its alleged support for Afghan militants – an approach analysts say will probably not change Pakistan’s strategic calculations and might push it in directions Washington does not want it to go. President Donald Trump committed the U.S. to an increase in troop levels to Afghanistan and enlisted India’s help in the 16-year conflict.

In a televised prime-time address to the nation from Fort Myer, Virginia, U.S., August 21, 2017, Trump criticized Pakistan for providing “safe havens to terrorist organizations” and warned Islamabad it had much to lose by supporting insurgents battling the U.S.-backed Kabul government. “We are committed to pursuing our shared objectives for peace and security in South Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

Pakistan, he said, has much to lose by continuing to harbor terrorists. “It is time for Pakistan to demonstrate a commitment to civilization, order and peace,” Trump said, adding that 20 organizations designated as terrorists by the U.S. operated in Afghanistan and Pakistan. “For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror,” and noted the threat was heightened when two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, lived side-by side.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, America’s interests are clear, said the president. “We must stop the re-emergence of safe-havens that enable terrorists to threaten America; and we must prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us,” Trump said.

Successive U.S. administrations have struggled with how to deal with nuclear-armed Pakistan.

In some ways, the US is dependent on the South Asian nuclear nation. The United States has no choice but to use Pakistani roads to resupply its troops in landlocked Afghanistan. U.S. officials worry that if Pakistan becomes an active foe, it could further destabilize Afghanistan and endanger U.S. soldiers.

According to reports, Trump did resist some advisers’ calls to threaten to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism unless Islamabad pursued senior leaders of the Afghan Taliban and the allied Haqqani network. “Pakistan should not be reassured by this speech, but it could have gone a lot worse for them,” said Joshua White, a National Security Council director under former President Barack Obama. “There were voices within the administration who wanted to move more quickly and aggressively to declare Pakistan not just a problem, but effectively an enemy.”

“Trump’s policy of engaging India and threatening action may actually constrain Pakistan and lead to the opposite of what he wants,” Zahid Hussain, a Pakistani security analyst, was quoted to have said. “It is kind of putting Pakistan on notice,” said Rustam Shah Mohman, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Kabul, predicting a bumpy road ahead for relations. Hussain said Trump “crossed a red line” as far as Pakistan was concerned when he implored India to deepen its involvement in Afghanistan.

Relations between Pakistan and the United States have endured strain during the 16-year war in Afghanistan, especially after al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces inside Pakistan in 2011. The Obama administration had already begun trimming military aid to Pakistan. Last year, the Pentagon decided not to pay $300 million in pledged military funding, and Congress effectively blocked a subsidized sale of F-16 jets to Pakistan.

Analysts say Trump is likely to further curtail military aid to pressure Pakistan. But any effort to isolate Pakistan would face problems from China, which has deepened political and military ties to Islamabad as it invested nearly $60 billion in infrastructure in Pakistan. The “billions” would stop flowing, Trump said, and outlined a sharp contrast toward India with which he said, Washington would strengthen the strategic partnership as a major pillar of South Asia and the Indo-Pacific policy.

Mohman, a former ambassador, said if the United States kept putting pressure on Pakistan, then Islamabad would drift farther from the American sphere of influence. “We have options,” he said. “We can go to China and Russia, and I think the U.S. can’t afford that.”

The Pakistani government said Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif met with the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday and would speak in coming days with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “on the state of play in the bilateral relationship as well as the new U.S. policy on South Asia”.

Indian-Americans have welcomed the tough stance on Pakistan, and the public recognition of India’s positive role in Afghanistan as a successful culmination of their years of advocacy in every administration to recalibrate South Asia policy. “It’s definitely a positive change — a clear, unquestionable, and open pivot to India,” said Krishna Srinivas, vice president and executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based bipartisan non-profit, US-India Security Council. “There are no ifs and buts about it,” said Srinivas.

“This is a drastic 180-degree change,” in U.S. policy, Dr. Sampat Shivangi, a longtime Republican activist from Mississippi, and current president of IAFPE, said. “For decades, we have been fighting hard to have Washington lean toward India and see Pakistan for what it is,” Shivangi said. “U.S. administrations have always ultimately bowed down to Pakistan,” not so now, Shivangi said.

Fareed Zakaria, an Indian-American talk-show host on CNN, contended Trump’s remarks on Pakistan were not a strong break from the previous administration. “… people appear to have forgotten the unusually blunt testimony that Adm. Mike Mullen, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave to Congress in 2011,” Zakaria noted.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, said, “The president made a strong pitch for assistance to Afghanistan and noted India has already contributed $3 billion in aid (to Kabul). It signals a very positive development. The two countries are going to grow closer.”

“Pakistan has to be fairly nervous this morning,” Richard Rossow, senior adviser and Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said. “We’ve got a president who has shown he is pretty willing to turn on a dime,” he said.

Milan Vaishnav, director and senior fellow of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, largely praised Trump’s speech, noting that New Delhi was likely breathing a sigh of relief as Trump re-committed to combating terrorism in the region, repudiating his past position before he sought office, in which he sought to end the longest war the U.S. has ever engaged in, which has thus far claimed an estimated 2,400 American lives.

“A rising Taliban creates dilemmas for New Delhi that it cannot live with,” stated the Indian American researcher. New Delhi welcomed the hard line Trump took on Pakistan, insisting it must cut off support for terrorist groups of face strict consequences, said Vaishnav. “Indians have reveled in this harsh rhetoric.”

Americares responds to Assam Floods

August 1, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Americares India has deployed medical teams to treat survivors of severe flooding in the state of Assam. More than 700 villages in 26 of Assam’s 32 districts have been damaged due to flooding caused by heavy rainfall. Incessant rains in recent weeks have disrupted normal life and have inundated thousands of acres of agricultural land. The flooding has caused landslides, blocked highways and damaged roads and bridges. Without access to safe drinking water, sanitation and health care facilities, the health of hundreds of thousands of people is at risk.

Americares has emergency response teams working in two of Assam’s worst hit districts—Karimgunj and Lakhimpur. Doctors and medical volunteers are providing primary care in flood-affected areas through health camps in remote villages. Americares plans to treat approximately 4,000 patients through these health camps. Additionally, relief will be provided through the distribution of health and hygiene kits.

“The heavy rains have heightened health concerns in the state,” said Shripad Desai, Americares India managing director. “Dysentery, skin infections and water-borne diseases are a major issue. We are focused on meeting survivors’ most immediate health needs.”

Americares India, based in Mumbai, provides emergency medical and humanitarian aid in response to floods, cyclones, earthquakes and other disasters. Most recently, the Americares India team responded to the 2016 floods in Assam and Bihar and conducted long-term health systems recovery in Tamil Nadu in the aftermath of the 2015 floods. Americares India also provides health education, supports health worker safety programs and operates seven mobile health centers that provide free primary care services in more than 130 locations across the slums of Mumbai.

Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that responds to people affected by poverty or disaster with life-changing health programs, medicine and medical supplies. Each year, Americares reaches more than 90 countries and all 50 U.S. states with over $600 million in innovative health programs and quality medical aid. Americares is the world’s leading nonprofit provider of donated medicine and medical supplies. For more information, visit americares.org.

Trump administration reverses DAPA in ‘house cleaning’

June 27, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

In a huge blow to the immigrant community, the Department of Homeland Security June 15 rescinded a 2014 executive order that provided relief from deportation to the undocumented parents of American citizens.

More than 111,000 undocumented Indian parents of American citizens would have benefited from former President Barack Obama’s Nov. 20, 2014 executive order – known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans. Along with relief from deportation, the initiative would have allowed undocumented parents to obtain drivers’ licenses and work authorization. The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are 284,000 undocumented Indian nationals currently residing in the U.S. Nationwide, more than 4.3 million undocumented U.S. residents would have benefitted from DAPA.

In the same action, DHS announced that the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – which provides relief from deportation to 700,000 undocumented youth – would remain intact, for now. But on the same day, the Trump Administration announced that the program was still under consideration for rescission.

“There has been no final determination made about the DACA program, which the president has stressed needs to be handled with compassion and with heart,” Jonathan Hoffman, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, told The New York Times.

Shortly after Obama issued the DAPA directive in 2014, 26 states immediately sued, saying the order placed an unfair economic burden on them, because of the increased number of drivers’ licenses they would have to issue. The lawsuit went all the way to the Supreme Court, which issued a split decision June 23, 2016, sending the case back to a lower court, which had previously deemed the directive unconstitutional.

DHS Secretary John Kelly noted in a June 15 memo that the order had never been implemented, because of the litigation against it. “I have considered a number of factors,” said Kelly, citing the preliminary injunction, and the ongoing litigation.

“After consulting with the Attorney General, and in the exercise of my discretion in establishing national immigration enforcement policies and priorities, I hereby rescind the November 20, 2014 memorandum,” wrote Kelly.

The White House did not issue a press statement regarding the new DHS memo. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at a June 19 briefing that the action taken by DHS was due to the pending case.

Immigrant rights organizations decried DHS’s action, calling it “callous.” South Asian Americans Leading Together said in a press statement that it “condemns the Trump administration’s decision to rescind DAPA.”

“Day after day, the Trump administration is perfecting the process of terrorizing immigrants,” said Suman Raghunathan, Indian American executive director of SAALT, in a press statement. “From ‘Muslim Bans’ to calls for border walls to yesterday’s announcement to rescind DAPA, President Trump has made it clear that he is committed to criminalizing immigrants and placing as many barriers as possible between immigrants and their families.”

SAALT noted there are more than half a million undocumented Indians in the U.S., and 40 percent of them could have benefited from the program.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice also denounced the DHS memo. “While the DAPA and expanded DACA memo have long been blocked by a federal court and the decision to rescind the memo does not come as a surprise, we are reminded of what could have been. Those programs would have protected millions of undocumented immigrants who today, along with thousands of other immigrants, are being ripped apart from their families, detained, and deported,” said AAJC in a press statement.

“The administration’s efforts to target and vilify immigrants in myriad ways, from mass deportations to the Muslim ban and the VOICE office, will not be ignored just because it is currently maintaining DACA. We will continue to resist these policies and stand up for justice and the dignity and humanity of all people,” stated the organization.

The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum said in a statement that is was glad the administration understands the importance of DACA. “Many immigrants live every day in fear of deportation and DACA will allow children and young adults to continue to grow, learn, thrive and become vital contributors in their communities,” said Kathy Ko Chin, APIAHF president and CEO.

“Similarly, if it had been enacted, the DAPA program would have helped to keep families intact. Now, half a million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders face the possibility of being separated from their family members as well as unsurmountable barriers to improving their health and well-being. We will continue working to support and uplift those families,” stated Chin.

India and the United States in the Trump era: Re-evaluating bilateral and global relations

June 23, 2017 Ajay GhoshIndia, U.S. 0

As Trump-Modi Summit is planned for June 26^th, the bilateral relations between India, the largest democracy and US, the most powerful nation on earth has come under scrutiny. The Donald Trump’s election at a time of growing and converging interests between India and the United States necessitates a re-evaluation of several aspects of Indian domestic and foreign policy, wrote Dhruva Jaishankar, a political analyst and foreign policy fellow at Brooking New Delhi. He has identified four areas in which Trump’s election affects Indian interests: bilateral relations (encompassing trade, investment, immigration, and technological cooperation), the Asian balance of power, counterterrorism, and global governance.

Marshall M. Bouton, senior fellow for India with the Asia Society Policy Institute, says all variables point to the Trump administration “seizing the opportunity decisively” to strengthen ties with India on shared interests vis-a-vis China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the economic front. In a recent paper entitled “The Trump Administration’s India Opportunity” he argues both President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are “highly nationalist and pro-business” with their ‘India First’ and ‘America First’ slogans. They consider themselves dealmakers. Couple that with bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress for a strong relationship with India, and you have a recipe for success at the bilateral talks scheduled for June 26.

The meeting between Modi and Trump has been described as a get-acquainted meeting and a personal one, an aspect important to both men. Trump puts a great deal of importance to how he is seen and treated,” she said. The two leaders see themselves as having certain similarities – being outsiders to the traditional political power system; being sneered at by many political observers; yet managing to win. Nevertheless, Modi has traveled around the world and established personal relations, even with a person as different from him as former President Barack Obama, which is not yet an opportunity Trump has grasped, if anything, to the contrary

Jaishankar argues that India needs to continue to engage with the Trump administration and other stakeholders in the United States—including the U.S. Congress, state governments, and the private sector—in all of these areas. New Delhi must attempt to convince Washington that India’s rise is in American interest. This idea provided the underlying logic behind the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations’ engagement with India, but it will be more difficult to sustain given the United States’ new political realities and impulses.

According to him, India must insure against the prospect of a more “normal” America, an imbalance of power in the Asia-Pacific, divergent counterterrorism priorities, and a relative vacuum in global governance. While in many instances U.S. power cannot be fully replaced or replicated, India will have little choice but to invest in relationships with other countries to achieve its desired outcomes, while more forcefully projecting its own influence and leadership. This will mean deepening bilateral economic, social, and technological relations with the likes of Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia, as well as smaller powers such as Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Canada, and Australia, especially in areas where they boast comparative advantages.

Jaishankar also notes that New Delhi must double down on its “Act East” policy in order to preserve a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. This will mean enhancing its military capabilities, deepening its Indo-Pacific security partnerships, assuming greater regional leadership, developing eastward connectivity, and participating more actively in Asian institutions, even while continuing to seek opportunities for sustainable economic and commercial cooperation with China. On counterterrorism, India will have to convince the United States to adopt policies that compel the Pakistani state to stop its support and tolerance for terrorist groups. India must also consider the possibility of contributing more in military terms to support the Afghan government in Kabul. Finally, without harboring unrealistic expectations, India must continue efforts to advance its entry into apex institutions of global governance, in order to position itself to play the role of a leading power.

However, experts acknowledge the lack of India expertise in the Trump administration which to-date has not named an ambassador to India, leave alone an assistant secretary of state for South Asia to replace Nisha Desai Biswal, who stepped down when President Trump was elected.

“Clearly they don’t know each other and the major purpose is to develop a personal relationship,” said Walter Andersen, director of the South Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, D.C. in the first one-on-one meeting at the White House. Plus of course, reviewing important issues, he added.

Trump and Modi are showmen who go with the gut. and both are expecting a good relationship. Andersen even speculated that in the few days left for the June 26 meeting, Trump would appoint an ambassador or even an assistant secretary of state for South Asia. Bouton sees a convergence of U.S. and Indian security interests in his perceived similarities between the two leaders, qualities that have potential benefits for both nations. “President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both highly nationalist and pro-business in their orientation, are likely to find common ground,” Bouton says. Especially as each prides himself as a dealmaker, and somewhat of a rebel within their party folds. Add to all these, the bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress, for strong U.S.-India ties.

Bouton urges in his May essay that Trump first of all, develop a common strategic view of the U.S.-India relationship, especially as it relates to shared interests in China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; then make India a clear strategic and diplomatic priority; demonstrate American commitment to India’s expanding role in Asia; develop new avenues for U.S.-India cooperation on defense and security; and lastly, manage economic relations, especially on trade and immigration issues, positively while looking for ways to expand ties.

A Brookings Institution paper published this month authored by Dhruv Jaishankar, urges Modi to continue to engage with Washington, even if it is more difficult in a Trump administration, in the areas of trade, investment, immigration, technological cooperation, the Asian balance of power, counterterrorism, and global governance.

India is in a good place with the U.S. as the bilateral takes place, analysts say. Despite the political divide in the country, members of the Indian-American community on both sides of the divide hope for and expect a positive outcome to the first meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Their overarching concern however, is the status of H-1B visa holders and future applicants, who they say make up a significant part of the Indian-American community and are invaluable to the American economy and brain trust in the 21st century.

“I have conservative expectations from the meeting – not too high and not too low,” said Shekhar Tiwari, a Washington, D.C.-based businessman, supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party, founder of the U.S-India Security Council and the American Hindu Coalition.

Mahinder Tak, a leading Indian-American Democratic political activist and fundraiser in Greater Washington, D.C., however, was very upbeat about the upcoming bilateral. “I am very happy about the meeting. It is critical. President Trump must respect India as the largest democracy,” she said. “I hope Prime Minister Modi will ask about H-1B visa regulations. We need technology experts and India has such bright young people who can contribute to this economy,” Tak said.

Ohio’s only Indian-American state representative Niraj Antani, a millennial, told News India Times via a text statement that he expected a “productive and great meeting between the leaders of the two most important democracies in the world. I am confident President Trump and PM Modi will strengthen the relationship between the United States and India,” Antani said.

Shariq Ahmad becomes chairman of NJ town Democratic Committee

June 22, 2017 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Shariq Ahmad, who was a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and a chief-of-staff to Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, has recently become chairman of the Edison Democratic Organization.

“We’d been trying to get him to come back home from DC for a while, but he seemed to enjoy being down there in the Senate. He’s a very talented guy, and now that we have him back, I’m proud that he’s on my team,” Karabinchak told the Observer.

In an agonizing duel to rule Edison, one fraught with history, fractious fighting, incredibly strange bedfellows, and ultimately revenge, Shariq Ahmad prevailed at the Pines Manor last week by turning out incumbent Keith Hahn for the chairmanship of the local Democratic Committee. Hahn lost to Ahmad by one vote.

The final was 71-70 Ahmad, as the sitting chairman failed to diffuse an insurrection by minority members of the committee, which came tinged with the byzantine bloom of establishment politics – and the fierce resurrection of a local political animal.

Ahmad serves as the chief of staff to Assemblyman Robert Karibinchak (D-18), who got to the statehouse in part politically owing to a deal Hahn cut with the Middlesex Democratic Committee, presumably to keep his chairmanship, with his further support sealed for incumbent Mayor Tom Lankey. The surfacing of a warpaint-wearing Ahmad as an 11th hour challenger infuriated Hahn fans, who feared the complicity of the Middlesex Democratic Party brain trust and a quiet tomahawking of their chief.

Phil Murphy for Governor had strong ties to Ahmad, while Hahn was an early backer of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulup for Governor. Dogged by years of headline headaches concerning ranks that often blocked out minority leadership, the establishment found itself with a unique opportunity to gong that narrative while simultaneously off-loading wild man Hahn.

“I always knew from when I first came in that I was going to be a transitional guy. I think the party will be in good hands with Shariq moving forward,” Hahn told MyCentralJersey.com. “He has a great relationship with the Mayor and Council and we are happy he came home to serve the residents of the 18th District,” Hahn said to the Observer.

“I’m excited, I want to do what I can to bring the different leaders in Edison together and I think I am uniquely positioned to do that because I have a good working relationship with people on all sides,” Ahmad told MyCentralJersey.com. “I aim to help heal some of the wounds that have opened over the last few years,” he said to nj.com.

Sree Sreenivasan resigns as Chief Digital Officer in New York Mayor’s Administration

June 22, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration took another hit recently with chief digital officer Sree Sreenivasan leaving his post. The Indian American’s May 12 departure marks the eighth high-profile exit from City Hall within the past year, according to a New York Post report.

The former Metropolitan Museum of Art chief digital officer joined de Blasio’s team in October last year. He didn’t give a reason for his sudden resignation, the Post reported. Mayoral spokesman Ben Sarle declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding Sreenivasan’s departure in the Post report, but said the move was in line with a reworking of the City Hall tech team.

“We wish Sree all the best,” Sarle said in a statement cited by the report. “Moving forward, it was a natural fit to centralize digital strategy under the chief technology officer, Miguel Gamino.” Sreenivasan was appointed to the post in New York City in August 2016, with de Blasio praising the Indian American co-founder of the South Asian Journalists Association’s experience that would help “move our city’s digital ecosystem into the 21^st century” At the time, Sreenivasan said about being named to the post, “It’s a real honor for me to serve as the CDO of the world’s greatest city.”

Prior to his work at City Hall, Sreenivasan served for three years as the first Chief Digital Officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he led a 70-person team to increase the museum’s digital presence. In October 2015, he was appointed by Mayor de Blasio to the Commission on Public Information and Communication (COPIC), where he worked to increase access to, and education about, City information online. Before his work at the Met, he spent 20 years as a member of faculty of the Columbia Journalism School and a year as Columbia University’s first Chief Digital Officer. He was a founding member and contributing editor at neighborhood news site DNAinfo, and throughout his career, he has written for various publications, including the New York Times, and was a popular technology reporter on WABC-TV, WNBC-TV and WCBS-TV.

An immigrant from India, Sreenivasan was born in Japan and lived in Bhutan, the former Soviet Union, New York City, Myanmar, India and Fiji before receiving a Bachelor’s degree in History from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and receiving a Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University in 1993. He is a proud graduate of P.S. 6 in Manhattan and also attended St. Joseph’s of Yorkville. He and his wife, Roopa Unnikrishnan, a Rhodes Scholar and innovation consultant, live in Manhattan and are parents of twins who study in a NYC public school.

Sreenivasan replaces Jessica Singleton, who stepped down last month, according to govtech.com, to pursue an MBA at Harvard Business School. Days after he had to resign from his $328,900-a-year job at Met, Sreenivasan described in an interview to Quartz magazine how he pulled off turning “a public firing into a masterpiece of personal branding” —and how his methods might work. “He demonstrated a deft, natural mastery of his medium, social media, and gave his network the ammo they would need to help him out of his predicament,” the magazine wrote.

The City of New York is dedicated to improving engagement with residents and businesses by developing tools that will enhance government transparency, improve delivery of City services, and promote civic engagement. The Office of Digital Strategy (NYC Digital) works closely with the Mayor’s Office of Operations, Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, NYC Economic Development Corporation, NYC Law Department, Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, NYC & Co, Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation, Department of Small Business Services, and the Mayor’s Communication’s Office to help develop forward-thinking policies and usage for digital tools to better serve the public and support the growth of New York City’s tech ecosystem.

Judge Sabita Singh nominated to Massachusetts Appeals Court

June 20, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Sabita Singh, the first Indian American judge in Massachusetts, was nominated May 31 by Gov. Charlie Baker to serve on the state’s Appeals Court. Singh – who served as the president of the South Asian Bar Association from 2005 to 2006 and has also served as the president of SABA’s Greater Boston chapter – was appointed to the state’s District Court by Gov. Mitt Romney in 2006. The jurist was born in Bihar, and moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was three.

Singh was appointed to the District Court in 2006 by Governor Mitt Romney. Judge Singh is “well respected within the District Courts and come with decades of experience serving the Commonwealth,” said Governor Charlie Baker. Judicial nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the Governor’s Council.

“Judge Singh and Attorney Kelley are well respected within the District Courts and come with decades of experience serving the Commonwealth,” said Baker, referring to a second nomination of Michelle Kelley as Clerk Magistrate of the Wrentham District Court. Both nominations will have to be confirmed by the Massachusetts Governor’s Council.

“If confirmed both the Appeals and District Courts will benefit greatly from their knowledge, commitment and skill,” said the governor.

Applicants for judicial openings are reviewed by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and recommended to the governor. Governor Baker established the JNC in February, 2015 pursuant to Executive Order 558, a non-partisan, non-political Commission composed of volunteers from a cross-section of the Commonwealth’s diverse population to screen judicial applications. Twenty-one members were later appointed to the JNC in April, 2015.

The Appeals Court is the intermediate appellate court to which most appeals from the Massachusetts Trial Courts and a number of administrative bodies are made. The Court has one Chief and 24 Associate Justices. Singh is First Justice of Concord District Court.

She is also a member of the District Court’s Appellate Division where she hears appeals from District Court civil matters. She began her career as a law clerk to the justices in the Superior Court Department of the Trial Court. She then went on to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, writing appellate briefs and arguing before the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court.

Thereafter, Judge Singh spent seven years in the private sector with Bingham McCutchen LLP before returning to the public sector as Special Counsel for Criminal Civil Rights Enforcement at the United States Attorney Office in Boston.

She received her Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law in 1990 and her Bachelor of Arts in the Administration of Justice from Pennsylvania State University in 1987. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at Northeastern University School of Law and Instructor at Harvard University. She has also served as President of the South Asian Bar Association of North America and the South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston. Justice Singh was born in India and now resides with her family in Lincoln.

Narendra Modi to meet with Donald Trump on June 26th

June 15, 2017 Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump will meet for the first time on June 26 during the Indian leader’s two-day visit to the United States, with their discussions expected to set the agenda for strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership.

“Their discussions will provide a new direction for deeper bilateral engagement on issues of mutual interest and consolidation of multi-dimensional strategic partnership between India and the US,” the Indian external affairs ministry said in a statement on Ju ne 12th.

The White House said the leaders can be expected to set forth a “common vision” for expanding the US-India “partnership” in an “ambitious and worthy way”. U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week and said he looked forward to playing host to a visit by Modi to Washington.

President Trump is looking forward to “advancing our common priorities — fighting terrorism, promoting economic growth and reforms and expanding security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region”, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.

Trump saw India as a “true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world. The two discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defense,” it said. Modi said he had “also invited President Trump to visit India

The US statement added that Trump and Modi resolved to “stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism”. Modi had congratulated Trump after his election win in November, saying he appreciated his “friendship” with India.

During the US election campaign, Trump wooed Indian-American voters and was largely positive about India. He had praised Modi for championing bureaucratic reform and economic growth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Washington DC on June 25 and hold talks with President Donald Trump the following day, the Ministry of External Affairs said. This will be his first visit to the US after Trump became president earlier this year. Contentious issues such as the Paris Climate Change Agreement and H1-B visa are likely to figure in the talks between the two leaders.

The White House said Trump spoke with Modi to congratulate him on the outcome of recent state-level elections. Trump expressed support for Modi’s economic reform agenda. “President Trump also said he looks forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in Washington later this year,” the White House said in a statement. No date for the visit was mentioned.

Terrorism is expected to figure significantly on the agenda of both countries, according to officials and experts. The issue of America’s H-1B visas for highly skilled foreigners could be next for India, and trade for the US.

The US has emerged as a top arms supplier to India and the two sides will be looking to move forward with deals such as unarmed drones that India wants for its navy, Reuters reported citing sources in New Delhi.

Equally important, the two leaders, who have spoken three times on phone since Trump’s election last November, will use the meeting to strike a personal rapport for the future. Their officials have met and interacted over phone multiple times.

The US withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and Trump’s harsh remarks could come up, but Indian officials have said that climate change was never going to figure prominently in discussions with this White House, knowing where it stands on the issue.

Another area for discussion between the two leaders is Trump’s efforts for stricter norms for the H1-B visa program — often used by IT companies to hire Indian engineers in the US. Terrorism is another major area to be discussed during the talks.

Bilateral trade between the 2 nations could find a prominent place during discussions. The US trade deficit with India is among those Trump has tasked the US commerce department to investigate and recommend correctives.

Trump recently pulled US out of the Paris accord, accusing India of receiving “billions of dollars” in exchange for signing it. India hit back saying there was no truth in Trump’s claims. “First of all, there is absolutely no reality. India signed the Paris agreement not because of pressure from any country nor greed. We signed the agreement because of our commitment to protecting the environment,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said at a press conference.

Trump’s “America first” policy has also put a considerable strain on Indian tech companies’ earnings. The Trump administration is also looking to put a cap on the H1-B work visa, there by putting thousands of Indian engineers at risk of losing their jobs.

It is expected that Modi-Trump discussions will provide a new direction for deeper bilateral engagement. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders, the ministry added. “Prime Minister will hold official talks with President Trump on June 26. Their discussions will provide a new direction for deeper bilateral engagement on issues of mutual interest and consolidation of multi-dimensional strategic partnership between India and the US,” the ministry said.

Why Trump Should Woo India

June 15, 2017 Staff ReporterIndia, U.S. 0

Last week, President Trump kicked off his first trip abroad with visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories, signifying the importance that he places on the Middle East. This engagement followed a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom Trump emphasized his admiration for, in April. Also that month, Vice President Mike Pence visited the Asia-Pacific region in a tour intended to reassure countries like South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and Australia that the U.S. still stood beside them.

But one critical nation has been missing from the Trump administration’s Asian charm offensive: India. Since the president’s inauguration in January, no U.S. cabinet-level official has touched down in Delhi to start the process of guiding the crucial U.S.-India relationship.

The Asia Society Policy Institute has published a paper examining the Trump administration’s opportunities in India. Fortuitously, this period of neglect is about to end: In June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reportedly scheduled to visit the United States. President Trump should use the occasion to signal to India that his administration is eager to make a major push in strengthening U.S.-India ties.

Bolstering ties with India would be advantageous for several reasons. First, as a fellow democracy and an emerging global power and economy, India represents significant opportunities for the United States. Next, India can be a critical partner in both the fight against terrorism and in navigating the complex geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region. Lastly, in Prime Minister Modi, President Trump has a counterpart prepared to make compromises to take the relationship to the next level.

As an ascendant power within Asia and around the world, India is positioned to be a critical long-term partner for the United States. Today, it is the world’s fastest growing major economy with a rapidly expanding market and labor force that will be a critical engine of global growth. India is also a nuclear power, has the world’s third-largest military, is boosting its naval capabilities, and has become the biggest purchaser of international arms.

Indian leaders have extended their sights beyond South Asia to play a greater role in global development and governance. Delhi has developed friendly ties with critical countries around the world and increased its engagement with multilateral forums and groupings, partnering in initiatives likes the BRICS New Development Bank. Once a big recipient of foreign aid, India has become a donor nation, a welcome sight for a U.S. administration seeking greater burden-sharing by others.

Second, India is a natural partner for the United States in two of its core security challenges — countering terrorism and managing a peaceful Asia-Pacific region.

In Saudi Arabia, President Trump called for “a coalition of nations who share the aim of stamping out extremism.” Long a victim of terrorism itself, India has extensive experience in fighting radicalization. India has cracked down on terrorism but, except for in Kashmir, has done so without alienating its Muslim population (the second-largest in the world) and while maintaining friendly ties with countries across the Muslim world. U.S.-India counter-terrorism cooperation has been a critical component of the bilateral relationship and both countries are working to help Afghanistan in this area. If President Trump is looking for countries to join his “coalition,” he could benefit from looking to and learning from India.

India is an equally appealing partner in the Asia-Pacific, where it can play a positive role in managing stability, enhancing prosperity, and serving as a successful model for democratic development. India has started to echo Washington’s concerns about maritime disputes in the South China Sea and the need to sustain a rules-based regional order. Delhi’s growing engagement with the region’s institutions is also a welcome development. By supporting India’s inclusion in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the United States can fill out India’s East Asia institutional resume, which already includes ASEAN, the East Asia Summit, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Even as India has stood up to China, it has managed a collaborative relationship with Beijing in certain areas, showing how a peaceful relationship can be sustained despite lingering mistrust and a border dispute. Above all, by signing a Logistics Exchange Memorandum in 2016, which the U.S. long sought, India signaled its intention to enhance military cooperation with the U.S. in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Finally, Delhi is also eager to strengthen bilateral ties. As one of the few countries spared Trump’s criticism during the presidential campaign, India remains cautiously optimistic about working with the Trump Administration — a trait not shared wholeheartedly by some U.S. partners in Asia. Though Delhi is concerned about President Trump’s immigration policies and American companies remain skeptical of India’s position on trade and intellectual property rights, areas of mutual interest dwarf areas of potential disagreement.

In Modi, Trump has a reliable partner who has already tilted India closer to the United States than any previous Indian leader. Modi, who shares Trump’s pro-business and nationalist inclinations, enjoys robust political standing after recent victories in state elections and is positioned to win a second term in 2019. This is fortunate because his vision for India aligns well with U.S. interests. Modi’s economic reforms have eased restrictions on foreign investment and made way for a national market through a Goods and Services Tax. And his Act East policy aligns well with U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific.

The timing is right for the Trump administration to elevate the relationship with India and forward U.S.-India ties. The challenge will be dedicating the requisite diplomatic time and attention in the midst of the challenges confronting the administration. If Modi visits the United States in June, it will be the perfect opportunity to send a signal that the United States is committed.

Anil Singh appointed to Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court

June 1, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has appointed Indian American jurist Anil Singh on May 22 to serve in the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. “Appointed by the New York Governor, Justice Jeffrey Oing and Justice Anil Singh join Justice Peter Tom in the First Department, which now has three Asian Pacific American sitting judges for the first time. We offer our congratulations to these decorated jurists,” stated the organization, adding: “Diversity on the bench is being strongly reflected on the First Department bench, and we are gratified to be witnessing this historic development firsthand.”

“These tremendously qualified jurists bring a wealth of knowledge and diverse experience to New York’s Appellate Court,” Governor Cuomo said. “I am proud to appoint these judges to their new roles where they will continue to uphold principles of law and fairness to move New York forward,” Cuomo in a press statement.

Singh – who was elected in 2013 to the New York State Supreme Court’s First Judicial District – is the first Indian American to be appointed to the Appellate Division. Cuomo announced Singh’s elevation to the role, along with the appointments of eight others.

The Asian American Bar Association of New York lauded the appointment of Singh, along with the appointment of Asian American jurist Jeffrey Oing, who also currently serves on the New York State Supreme Court.

“The Asian American Bar Association of New York is proud to recognize an historic first for the Appellate Division, First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York,” said the organization in a press statement.

Singh was born in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, in 1958 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1976. He earned a B.A. in political science and history from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1980, and went on to obtain his J.D. from the Antioch College of Law in Washington, D.C.

Singh was first elected as a New York City Civil Court Judge in 2002. He was designated an Acting Supreme Court Justice in 2010 and was elected to the role three years later. In April 2015, Singh was appointed to the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court, where he ruled on real property cases; contract disputes and claims involving business torts; shareholder derivative actions; commercial class actions; accounting and legal malpractice claims; and insurance coverage declaratory judgment actions.

New Jersey town accepts settlements in lawsuits over mosque denial

June 1, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

A New Jersey township that voted against a mosque has agreed to settlements in lawsuits filed by the federal government and the organization that put forward the plan for a mosque. According to nj.com, the Bernards Township Committee met with its Planning Board and by a majority, agreed on May 23, to accept the two settlements. This was after years of rejecting the mosque that was planned for the Liberty Corner section of the township.

The lawsuits were filed by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and the U.S. Justice Department, both of them claiming that the denial of the mosque was an act of discrimination.

The Mayor of Bernards, Carolyn Gaziano told nj.com that the details of the settlement could not be revealed until they wre finalized in a few days. The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge also did not comment on the settlement, which according to nj.com, could be expensive, in light of a precedent set by the 2014 settlement in Bridgewater Township where the city paid $7.75 million to settle the lawsuit brought by another entity when it was denied permission to build a mosque at a certain site.

The issue of getting permission to build the mosque at Liberty Corner has been going on for four years, with many members of the public claiming it was not prejudice but rather about the location that conditioned their opposition. Howe ever, on December 31st, 2016, a federal judge put paid to that view and ruled the town’s insistence that the mosque make more parking spaces than those required in churches or synagogues, was unconstitutional.

According to nj.com, the mosque idea was rejected in December 2015 after 39 planning board meetings and intense community opposition. The Islamic Society then sued on grounds of religious discrimination because of the demand for extra parking spaces. Even though the mosque met zoning requirements, it was denied by the township. That, the Islamic Society, claimed was illegal, the news report said.

6 NRIs from New Jersey charged in $120,000 phony IRS phone scam

May 27, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Half a dozen Indian Americans in Jersey City, N.J., were arrested in connection with an IRS telephone scam that scored the group more than $120,000 on May 17. According to Middlesex County Prosecutors Andrew Carey, Ronak Butani, 24; Jay Kakadiya, 24; Akashkumar Chovatiya, 23; Divyesh Patel, 23; Jagdishkumar Patel, 22; and Brijeshkumar Parmar, 26, were charged with multiple counts of money laundering and conspiracy, NJ.com reported.

Local, county and federal investigators discovered that the group of Indian Americans called people and told them that they owed hefty sums of money in taxes. If they didn’t pay up, they would be arrested, the fake IRS callers would say, according to the report.

Authorities said that the callers would tell the people on the other end of the line to purchase gift cards at retail stores in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Once purchased, the callers instructed the people to read the gift card numbers over the phone to make purchases, NJ.com reported.

The group allegedly also told victims in some cases their family members had been arrested and needed money for lawyer fees or bond, the report said, citing the prosecutor’s news release. Carey said people in India were involved in the scam, it added.

Indian national pleads guilty in U.S. to role in multimillion dollar call-center scam

May 27, 2017 Staff ReporterIndia, U.S. 0

An Indian national pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in liquidating and laundering victim payments generated through various telephone fraud and money laundering schemes via India-based call centers.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez of the Southern District of Texas, Executive Associate Director Peter T. Edge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Inspector General J. Russell George of the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and Inspector General John Roth of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) made the announcement.

Harsh Patel, 28, an Indian national who most recently resided in Piscataway, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas. Sentencing is set for Aug. 7, 2017.

According to admissions made in connection with the plea, Patel and his co-conspirators perpetrated a complex scheme in which individuals from call centers located in Ahmedabad, India, impersonated officials from the IRS or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in a ruse designed to defraud victims located throughout the United States. Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, call center operators targeted U.S. victims who were threatened with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay alleged monies owed to the government. Victims who agreed to pay the scammers were instructed how to provide payment, including by purchasing stored value cards or wiring money. Upon payment, the call centers would immediately turn to a network of “runners” based in the U.S. to liquidate and launder the fraudulently-obtained funds.

According to his plea, since around January 2015, Patel worked as a runner operating primarily in New Jersey, California and Illinois. At the direction of India-based co-conspirators, often via electronic WhatsApp text communications, Patel admitted to purchasing reloadable cards registered with misappropriated personal identifying information of U.S. citizens. Once victim scam proceeds were loaded onto those cards, Patel admitted that he liquidated the proceeds on the cards and transferred the funds into money orders for deposit into various bank accounts while keeping a percentage of the victim funds for himself. Patel also admitted to receiving fake identification documents from an India-based co-conspirator and other sources and using those documents to receive victim scam payments via wire transfers.

To date, Patel, 55 other individuals, and five India-based call centers have been charged for their roles in the fraud and money laundering scheme in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas on Oct. 19, 2016. Patel is the third defendant thus far to plead guilty in this case. Co-defendants Bharatkumar Patel, aka Bharat Patel, 43, and Ashvinbhai Chaudhari, 28, pleaded guilty on April 13, 2017, and April 26, 2017, respectively.

The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

HSI, DHS OIG and TIGTA led the investigation of this case. Also providing significant support was the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs; Ft. Bend County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office; police departments in Hoffman Estates and Naperville, Illinois, and Leonia, New Jersey; San Diego County District Attorney’s Office Family Protection/Elder Abuse Unit; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Small Business Administration – Office of Inspector General; IOC-2; INTERPOL Washington; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS; U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service; and U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Northern District of Alabama, District of Arizona, Central District of California, Northern District of California, District of Colorado, Northern District of Florida, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Illinois, Northern District of Indiana, District of Nevada and District of New Jersey. The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau also provided assistance in TIGTA’s investigation.

Senior Trial Attorney Michael Sheckels and Trial Attorney Mona Sahaf of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, Trial Attorney Robert Stapleton of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Mark McIntyre and Craig M. Feazel of the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

A Department of Justice website (link is external) has been established to provide information about the case to already identified and potential victims and the public. Anyone who believes they may be a victim of fraud or identity theft in relation to this investigation or other telefraud scam phone calls may contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) via this website.

Anyone who wants additional information about telefraud scams generally, or preventing identity theft or fraudulent use of their identity information, may obtain helpful information on the IRS tax scams website, the FTC phone scam website and the FTC identity theft website.

GOPIO’s Upper New York Chapter holds 9th Annual Dinner and Dance

May 27, 2017 Staff ReporterEntertainment, U.S. 0

GOPIO’s Upper New York Chapter held its Ninth Annual Dinner and Dance on April 29, 2017, to celebrate the arrival of Indian Indentured Laborers to Guyana. This program was held at Starlite Pavilion, Richmond Hill, Queens, New York and was coordinated by Mr. Jhairam Persaud, President of the GOPIO Upper New York Chapter.

Jhairam Persaud’s, welcome address was followed by two speeches and a book launch. Dr. Sharla ShiromieKargi spoke on “Mental Health issues in Guyana and the Caribbean” with emphasis on suicide rates in those areas. Mr. Dennis Ramdin spoke about the “Vihara Poverty Project “.

Dr. BasdeoMangru, a prominent author and historian, launched his book, “Champions of Indo-Guyanese Welfare, 1838-1938”. His book concentrates on the individuals and groups who championed the welfare of Indian workers in the 100 years following their landing in Guyana in May1838.

Later, Dr. Leslie Ramasammy, the son of an immigrant, spoke about “Adversities and Continued Rising of Indian Immigrants”. Dr. Ramasammy is the former Minister of Health and Minister of Agriculture and he referred to indenture-ship as a form of re-engineered slavery and his words resonated very well with the audience.

The GOPIO Service Awards were presented after the book launch and the former Test Cricketer and coach, Mr. Joseph Stanislaus Solomon won the Community Service Award. Mr. Solomon is currently involved in the selection process of the West Indies team and was coaching a local team in his native Guyana until retiring in 2005.

Shiva Ayyadurai to run for U.S. Senate Candidate in Mass

May 27, 2017 Staff ReporterProfiles, U.S. 0

Indian American scientist and entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai, the man who has claimed he invented email, is vying for a seat in the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Ayyadurai, 53, will challenge the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for the seat in 2018.

Despite never having run for public office, entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai said he’s not intimidated by the possibility of squaring off against Democrat Elizabeth Warren in one of the highest-profile U.S. Senate races of 2018.

Ayyadurai, who announced his Republican U.S. Senate bid in February, said that while he may not be the GOP establishment’s candidate, his track record of overcoming barriers and fighting big institutions makes him the best person to take on the high-powered incumbent.

“I know that Warren — in spite of (what) people think she is — is extremely weak,” he said in an interview. “She’s a formidable enemy, but weak in the sense that where she’s fundamentally coming from, her basis of where she’s coming from, has massive weakness and I know how to expose that weakness.”

Ayyadurai, a Republican, officially filed for his candidacy in the race March 17 and has been publicly supported by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who had intended to run for the same seat before backing away.

Ayyadurai, 53, moved to the U.S. from India as a child. He compared the Democratic senator and former Harvard University professor to those at the top of India’s caste system — a social structure in which he said his family held a low position.

“If you look at what we have today, we have a neo-caste system and at the top of that heap is people like Warren,” he said. “They are the academics, career politicians and lawyer/lobbyists. And that clan … is extremely spineless, they never expect to be challenged. And I’ve challenged them.”

Taking a jab at reports from the 2012 Senate campaign suggesting that Warren claimed Native American heritage in her academic career, Ayyadurai added that he’s “the real Indian who can beat this fake Indian.”

“India has a caste system, so the fact that my parents even made it here was pretty significant,” Ayyadurai, who was 7 in 1970 when he came to the U.S. with his parents, leaving their low-caste classification behind, told India-West. “I think that motivated and compelled my interest not only in the political system but also medicine.”

Ayyadurai, who has earned a bachelor’s, two master’s and a doctorate from MIT, is the chairman and chief executive of CytoSolve, a company that provides a revolutionary platform for modeling complex diseases as well as for discovering multi-combination therapeutics.

He echoed this argument in his new book, “All-American Indian: This Fight is Your Fight” — a play on the Massachusetts Democrat’s newly released publication titled “This Fight is Our Fight.”

Ayyadurai has emerged as a systems scientist, inventor and entrepreneur since coming to the U.S. nearly four decades ago. He also calls himself the “Real Innovator” and “All American Indian” on his campaign page. He believes that Washington, D.C., needs true problem solvers as opposed to politicians who “are just screaming at each other.” “I hope to inspire people,” he told the media. “In the first 100 days when I get in, we’re going to be proposing solutions through our bills and get people involved around that.”

Time is right for push on U.S.-India ties, says Asia Society Policy Institute Paper

May 27, 2017 Staff ReporterIndia, U.S. 0

The U.S. strategic partnership with India provides an opportunity to advance many of the key foreign policy objectives of the Donald Trump administration, according to a new issue paper published by the Asia Society Policy Institute.

“The convergence of U.S. and Indian security interests and policies, together with parallel ‘America First’ and ‘India First’ economic policies, holds potential benefits for both nations,” Dr. Marshall M. Bouton, Senior Fellow for India at the Asia Society Policy Institute, writes in the paper.

The issue paper posits that President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both highly-nationalistand pro-business, are likely to find common ground. Additionally, “strong bipartisan support in Congress for U.S.-India ties and official optimism in India about relations with the United States under the Trump administration argue for seizing the opportunity decisively.”

The issue paper urges the Trump administration to move rapidly on five fronts: Develop with Prime Minister Modi a common strategic view of the U.S.-India relationship, especially as it relates to shared interests in China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; Make India a clear strategic and diplomatic priority; Demonstrate American commitment to India’s expanding role in Asia; Develop new avenues for U.S.-India cooperation on defense and security; Manage economic relations, especially on trade and immigration issues, positively while looking for ways to expand ties.

“Among the major countries that seek the administration’s attention, India stands out for the opportunities it offers to advance U.S. objectives,” Bouton writes. “The two nations’ security interests are increasingly aligned. Their economic interests could be an obstacle to closer partnership but, with careful management and imaginative leadership, could become a new frontier in the relationship.”.

For 60 years, the Asia Society has sought to explain the diversity of Asia to the United States and the complexity of the United States to Asia, and to be a bridge in problem-solving within the region and between Asia and the wider world. With a problem-solving mandate, the Asia Society Policy Institute builds on this mission by tackling major policy challenges confronting the Asia-Pacific in security, prosperity, sustainability, and the development of common norms and values for the region.

Manka Dhingra to run for Washington State Senate

May 27, 2017 Staff ReporterProfiles, U.S. 0

Senior deputy King County prosecutor Manka Dhingra officially announced her candidacy for Washington’s state Senate in the 45th legislative district. Dhingra, on her campaign site, said she hopes to break the partisan gridlock that continues to prevent needed action in areas such as education funding.

The Indian American candidate said she intends to use her experience to expand and improve mental health and violence prevention, as well as protect the rights of women and immigrants in what she deems an “increasingly hostile political environment.”

The seat is subject to a 2017 special election and is currently held by Republican Sen. Dino Rossi.

Dhingra, a Redmond resident and Democrat, is touted in the release as an award winning PTSA mom, anti-domestic-violence advocate and community leader, making her first run for political office.

“After building a career as a prosecutor, mental health and domestic violence prevention leader, and volunteering in my kids’ schools, I recognized the urgent need to stand up for our rights and values following the election of President Trump,” Dhingra said. “We are facing direct attacks on the progress we have made in building a strong economy, a skilled, diverse workforce, great public schools, and the fundamental rights of women and immigrants. To protect what we cherish here on the Eastside, we need new voices with experience and passion.”

After beginning her career prosecuting sexually violent predators and domestic violence cases, Dhingra developed expertise in criminal justice reforms that address the needs of the mentally ill, veterans, and others for whom traditional jail — and the high costs of prosecution and incarceration — were neither reducing repeated criminal behavior nor helping restore lives.

As current Chair of King County’s Therapeutic Alternative Unit, Dhingra supervises the Regional Mental Health Court, Veterans Court, and the Community Assessment and Referral for Diversion program.

“We can improve public safety, save taxpayer resources and help people through difficult times by closing the revolving door of jail, homelessness, and crime that impacts too many Vets and people struggling with mental illness and chemical dependency,” Dhingra said. “Through innovation and reform, we can continue making progress at the state level in how we address these interrelated challenges, helping people and strengthening communities.”

As an advocate for women, Dhingra co-founded Chaya, a non-profit dedicated to reducing systemic violence in the region’s growing Asian communities through education, prevention, and organizing.

“Working with victims and the families, I recognized specific language and cultural barriers to reporting and self-protection in violent situations,” Dhingra said. “In the State Senate I will continue to advocate for policies that reduce violence in all our homes and communities.

A mother of two children, who attend Redmond Middle School and Redmond High School, Dhingra received the state PTSA Golden Acorn Award for her past work at Redmond Elementary School and remains a proud Girl Scout cookie mom.

“Our schools are the foundation of our community, and where we first nurture the passion that drives our economy, cures diseases, builds bridges, and creates works of art,” Dhingra said. “It is appalling that some politicians still refuse to sit down and address court-mandated funding solutions that provide every child their right to a quality education. As a product of public schools whose parents came to this country to provide education and opportunity for our family, I pledge to be part of the solution if elected to the State Senate.”

Dhingra said she is a commuter in a two-job household struggling with traffic and the pace of growth that creates day-to-day challenges for area families.

“I am a working mom who sits in traffic every day. I appreciate that dynamic growth of our economy comes with challenges to our quality of life,” Dhingra said. “I want to work with my colleagues on common sense reforms to our transportation system, continued expansion of transit, and thoughtful management of how and where we grow as a region. I want the Eastside to continue driving global innovation, and still be able to drive to work, school, and other activities.”

Dhingra holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Washington School of Law and Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley. She has been a prosecutor with King County since 2000.

Dhingra and her husband, Harjit Singh, an engineer at SpaceX and former Microsoft executive, live in the Education Hill neighborhood of Redmond.

Senate Judiciary Committee approves Amul Thapar for 6th Circuit

May 27, 2017 Staff ReporterProfiles, U.S. 0

The US Senate Judiciary Committee on May 18 approved Judge Amul Thapar, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, on a vote of 11 to 8. Thapar’s nomination now moves to the Senate floor. The Indian American jurist – who is currently the district court judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky and the first Article III judge of South Asian descent – is expected to be confirmed, since Republicans have a 52-48 majority in the Senate. A simple majority – not 60 votes – is required for confirmation.

The American Bar Association – which does not recommend judges but does rate them – gave Thapar its highest ranking of “well qualified” on April 24. The judge has also received approbation from the South Asian Bar Association of North America, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. However, civil rights groups have criticized him for stance on human rights.

A day before the vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, 24 organizations stated their concern about the nominee, particularly his 2016 ruling that struck down a prohibition on judges making contributions to political organizations or candidates.

In that ruling, Thapar equated political donations with freedom of speech. “There is simply no difference between ‘saying’ that one supports an organization by using words and ‘saying’ that one supports an organization by donating money,” he ruled in the case of Winter vs. Volnitzek.

“Put more plainly, if a candidate can speak the words ‘I support the Democratic Party,’ then he must likewise be allowed to put his money where his mouth is,” wrote Thapar.

As such, political contributions were protected by the First Amendment, ruled Thapar. His opinion was later reversed by a three-judge circuit panel.

The organizations raised their concerns about “Thapar embracing the ‘money is speech’ paradigm,” noting that the Supreme Court itself does not treat financial contributions as being equal to actual speech.

“If Judge Thapar had his way, wealthy donors and special interests could be able to give unlimited sums of money directly to candidates for office. Thapar would make it even harder than it is now for everyday people to be heard and affect who runs for office, who wins elections, and what issues get attention; and easier for powerful politicians to make secret wink and nod deals with their richest contributors,” wrote the concerned organizations.

The People For the American Way, one of the signatories to the letter, also delivered 25,000 petition signatures to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 17, asking senators to reject Thapar’s nomination.

“Survey after survey shows that Americans believe that there should be less money in politics. Judge Thapar is set to take us further in the wrong direction,” wrote PFAW.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights – which will be led by Indian American civil rights activist Vanita Gupta, beginning in June – had earlier expressed “serious concerns” about the jurist’s record, noting his controversial rulings on several cases, including a case in which he allowed a diabetic inmate to continue to be denied insulin; and sentencing three pacifists – including an 82-year-old nun – to lengthy prison terms after they broke into a nuclear power plant in Oakridge, Tennessee, and spray-painted peace slogans.

US lawmaker calls for abolishing H1B visa lottery system

May 27, 2017 Staff ReporterIndia, U.S. 0

A top Republican lawmaker has demanded abolition of the lottery system in allocating H-1B visas, the most sought-after by Indian IT professionals, to restore the original purpose of the programme to bring the “best and brightest” to the country.

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner said the program is in a “desperate” need of reform and it must be addressed with a serious, clear-eyed approach. “In the current system, 85,000 H-1B visas are allotted by lottery annually. If there is competition to come to the US, we should ensure we get the best and brightest, not just roll the dice and accept the results,” Sensenbrenner, Chairman of the House Judiciary Sub-committee on Immigration and Border Security, wrote in an op-ed in the Forbes magazine.

Applicants with specialised skills should be selected for specific positions, the way the programme intends, Sensenbrenner said, arguing that by shuffling foreign applicants through a lottery system, they empower businesses to replace qualified American workers with cheaper labour.

“Higher standards and stricter qualifications must be enforced. No job that could be filled by a qualified American worker should be given to a visa holder for less money,” Sensenbrenner said.
The Republican from Wisconsin alleged that over the years, the H-1B programme has transformed into a way for companies to undercut American workers and replace them with foreign labour for significantly less money.

“Eighty per cent of H-1B workers receive less than the median wage – this is not only a violation of the spirit of the programme, but it also disadvantages American-born job seekers,” he rued.
Sensenbrenner said in his home state, a number of the largest local employers are utilising the programme in order to maintain their bottom lines.

“Serious reforms are necessary to tamper abuse of the programme, level the playing field, and bring the process back to its original purpose,” he said. In his Forbes op-ed, he also said that “it’s imperative we reassess the laws and regulations governing the H-1B visa programme to ensure that our country no longer tolerates questionable hiring and firing practices of American and foreign workers”.

Last month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop “visa abuses”. Trump said his administration is going to enforce ‘Hire American’ rules that are designed to protect jobs and wages of workers in the US.

Out of all 75000 merely 7500 really has specialized ‘skills’, rest are cheap labor. The executive order also calls upon the Departments of Labor, Justice, Homeland Security, and State to take action against fraud and abuse of our visa programs.

Neil Chatterjee tapped for key energy dept. job

May 13, 2017 Staff ReporterBusiness, Politics, U.S. 0

President Donald Trump has nominated Indian American attorney Neil Chatterjee to fill one of the vacancies on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees electricity, natural gas and oil at the national level.

Chatterjee will play a key role in Trump’s program to reshape energy policy, most of which is opposed by environmentalists and Democrats, if his appointment is confirmed by the Senate, reports IANS. He is the second Indian American to be tapped by Trump for a major regulatory position with a controversial mission.

The other is Ajit Pai, current chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who is spearheading the administration’s drive to end net neutrality, a policy that prevents internet service providers from giving special treatment to preferred web companies.

Chatterjee holds the influential position of energy policy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and helped shape energy legislation. His work backed the senator’s campaign against regulations to restrict use of coal for electricity generation.

A lawyer by training, Chatterjee started as an intern with the House Works and Means Committee. Between his stints on Congressional staff, he has been a lobbyist for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Chatterjee, 40, grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, where his parents worked in cancer research. He is married with two sons and a daughter. Among the issues he will likely deal with are Trump’s plans to allow the construction of the Keystone pipeline to carry crude oil from Canada to Texas, which was stopped by former President Barack Obama, and several gas pipeline projects.

Politico reports that Chatterjee was named along with Rob Powelson, a Pennsylvania regulator, to fill two of the three vacancies in the FERC leadership, according to an official White House statement. If confirmed by the Senate, the new Republican members will take positions that expire in 2021 and 2020, respectively, and restore the agency’s quorum

As energy policy advisor to McConnell, Chatterjee serves as his liaison to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Nutrition. Over the years, according to his bio, he has played an integral role in the passage of major highway and farm policy and he has been a leader in the energy policy space shepherding efforts to combat cumbersome regulation and most recently working to lift the decades old ban on U.S. crude oil exports.

Prior to serving with McConnell, Chatterjee worked as a Principal in Government Relations for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and as an aide to House Republican Conference chairwoman Deborah Pryce of Ohio. He began his career in Washington with the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Chatterjee was recently named one of the 25 Most Influential People on Capitol Hill by Congressional Quarterly and has also been named a top energy staffer to watch by National Journal and Energy and Environment Daily. He is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Some praise, many criticize Trumpcare passed by Congress

May 13, 2017 Ajay GhoshHealth, Politics, U.S. 0

Indian-American groups have divergent views about the new Republican healthcare bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4th. Seema Mehra, Trump’s administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, praised the GOP bill, even as Democratic Congressman Ami Bera, of California, one of the 10 physicians, 8 of them Republicans, in the U.S. House,, lashed out at it warning millions might lose healthcare. The GOP bill passed by a slim margin of 4 votes.

Bera said the American Health Care Act, that expects to keep President Trump’s top campaign promise to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, leaves “millions of hardworking Americans “worrying about whether they will be able to stay on their health care plans. It also eliminates protections for pre-existing conditions, he said.

“We cannot play politics with people’s lives, and what happened today put political goals ahead of the lives of hardworking Americans.,” Bera said. All four Indian-American lawmakers on Capitol Hill voted against the Republican bill.

Meanwhile, Mehra, a 20-year veteran in the healthcare industry, called it a “historic” day as the country moves “toward patient-centered healthcare instead of government-centered healthcare.”

“I have worked in the field of Medicaid for 20 years and have heard from many mothers like myself who have shared their struggles and their hopes for a more affordable, more sustainable healthcare system,” Mehra said in a statement May 4 after the passing of the bill in the House. “It is important that our most vulnerable citizens, the aged, the infirm, the blind and the disabled have more choices, greater access and peace of mind when it comes to their healthcare,” she added. “The bill that was passed today is a great first step achieving this goal,” Mehra claimed.

The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin however, has taken a measured stand calling on Congress to “Amend not end” the existing system under Obamacare. The AAPI, during its Legislative Day May 3, on Capitol Hill, urged lawmakers to increase the number of residency slots, foreseeing a shortage of doctors in the future; reforming the Stark law relating to physician referrals for Medicare and Medicaid patients; and allowing the selling of insurance across state lines.

The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, the nation’s only pan-Asian children and families advocacy organization, expressed its deep disappointment by the House that voted 217-213 to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The repeal bill, known as the American Health Care Act, sets out to dismantle major provisions of the ACA including consumer protections for those with pre-existing conditions; it dramatically cuts Medicaid; and it reduces financial assistance available. This repeal bill now goes to the Senate. If passed and signed by President Trump, 2.7 million New Yorkers will stand to lose coverage including over 1.6 million individuals living in NYC’s 5 boroughs.

“We’re dismayed by the House’s repeal vote. Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, we have witnessed a significant drop in the number of uninsured Asian Pacific Americans (APAs). The uninsurance rate among APAs has been slashed in half nationally,” said Vanessa Leung, Co-Executive Director.

“As a navigator agency, we have helped hundreds of individuals and families enroll in health insurance and linked them to an array of health resources because of the ACA. In New York, Asian Pacific Americans account for roughly 20% of Medicaid, over 25% of Essential Plan, and 10% of Child Health Plus enrollees. Many Asian Pacific Americans are also solo-preneurs and small business owners who, before the ACA, would not be able to access affordable coverage for themselves and their employees. The ACA continues to be an essential lifeline for our children and families,” said Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza, Director of Policy.

“The work to protect our health care is not over. We will advocate with the Senate to ensure that the ACA is upheld. We will stand together with our partners to continue fighting so that all communities have opportunities to live healthy and productive lives and have access to quality and affordable health care,” Anita Gundanna, Co-Executive Director.

Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, released the following statement regarding the House of Representatives vote on the American Health Care Act: “The House of Representatives voted today to take a critical step forward in reforming our health care system by approving the American Health Care Act. We’ve continually urged Congress to adopt changes to our health care system that would benefit AAHOA’s 16,500 members and their 600,000 employees nationwide. We support provisions that would simplify employer reporting requirements, restore the definition of full-time employee and alleviate complex tax policies. While not perfect, the American Health Care Act is a step in the right direction. We’ll continue to speak to Congress about more reforms that will lower costs for employers and workers alike while leading to greater and more affordable coverage.”

Meanwhile, the nation’s premier medical body, the American Medical Association, strongly opposed the bill saying if it were to become law, “millions of Americans would lose health insurance coverage, and the safety net provided by Medicaid would be severely eroded.” It also criticized “Last-minute changes” to the bill allowing states to apply for waivers from critical consumer protections under current law and providing additional funding for high-risk pools and reinsurance mechanisms, saying those changes “failed to remedy the fundamental flaws of the bill.” Six other specialty medical associations also issued a statement against the bill.

Prof. Gyan Prakash to lead “The Culture and Politics of Resentment.”

May 5, 2017 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Professor Gyan Prakash, an Indian-American professor at New Jersey’s Princeton University will lead six scholars from around the world in a program focusing on “The Culture and Politics of Resentment.”

The Fung Global Fellows Program, administered by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, brings together international research scholars from the social sciences and humanities around a common topic. For the 2017-18 academic year, the scholars will work on “The Culture and Politics of Resentment.”

“Resentment is a powerful emotion for expressing culture and politics,” Prakash said. “Experiences and memories of humiliation, oppression and marginalization have stimulated emotions of resentment, and produced compelling demands for political inclusion and justice around the world. Alternatively, rage against what is seen as the ‘tyranny of the minority,’ inequality, the corruption and aloofness of elites, the ‘foreign,’ and the illegitimate have generated powerful populist upsurges against the perceived enemies of a homogeneous body of ‘the people.’

“The goal for our new cohort will be to explore the full range of phenomena involved in the culture and politics of resentment, the conditions that produce such sentiments, and the projects they advance,” he said.

“Given that the rise of populist politics that relies on a powerful sense of resentment has important implications for democracy across the world, our idea is to explore it from a historical perspective and from different disciplinary points of view,” Prakash explained. He will hold a series of seminars, lectures, and conferences on the topic during the year.

The program is funded by a portion of a $10 million gift from Princeton alumnus William Fung of Hong Kong that is designed to increase substantially the University’s engagement with scholars around the world and inspire ideas that transcend borders.

The first group of fellows came together around the theme of “Languages and Authority” — an examination of how languages interact with political, social, economic and cultural authority. The second cohort focused on “Global Diffusion,” an examination of how certain policies, specific modes of social categorization, and cultural templates spread to nations around the globe while others never catch on. In the program’s third year, fellows focused on “Ethnic Politics and Identities” — the causes, narrative modalities and consequences of the politicization of ethnic, racial and national divides from a comparative perspective. The cohort completing the current academic year is focused on “International Society — Institutions and Actors in Global Governance.” The scholars are working on examining the emergence, functioning and effects of international organizations and transnational associations of all types from a cultural, historical, political, sociological or other perspective.

Prakash specializes in the history of modern India. His book “Mumbai Fables” (Princeton University Press and Harper Collins, India), was adapted for the film, “Bombay Velvet”, released in 2015, for which he wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay. His general field of research and teaching interests concerns urban modernity, the colonial genealogies of modernity, and problems of postcolonial thought and politics. He advises graduate students on modern South Asian history, colonialism and postcolonial theory, urban history, global history, and history of science.

He is the author of several books including “Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India” (1990), and “Another Reason: Science and the Imagination of Modern India” (1999), and has co-authored a book on world history, “Worlds Together, Worlds Apart” (2002). He has also produced an edited volume, “Noir Urbanisms: Dystopic Images of the Modern City,” and a co-edited volume, “Utopia/Dystopia: Historical Conditions of Possibility” which were published by Princeton University Press in Fall 2010. “The Tower of Silence”, a book based on a 1927 detective novel manuscript that he discovered and edited, was published in 2013.

Rep. Frank Pallone to pressure Trump against hate crime

May 5, 2017 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

Rep. Frank Pallone has promised to pressure the Trump administration to do more to prevent hate crimes. The Congressman from New Jersey held a roundtable discussion with Indian American leaders to discuss issues like immigration and hate crimes April 20, at a Hindu temple in Edison, N.J. Pallone, a co-founder of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, called it an honor to interact with community leaders and praised the South Asian communities for their “tremendous contributions” to the country.

Organized by Amit Jani, Pallone’s former Congressional aide, the event discussed about concrete steps that could be taken. Among those steps, the need for sensitivity training for the community and law enforcement, and “shooter training” in places like temples and mosques, that have been subjected to attacks around the country.

“The hate crimes we have seen in recent month are completely unacceptable and this bigotry must strengthen our resolve to work towards tolerance and provide justice and protection for victims who have been targeted,” Pallone is quoted saying in a press release. “I will also push the Trump administration to do more to combat the growing number of hate crimes throughout our nation and step back from the toxic rhetoric on immigration, race, and religion that is dividing our nation.”

The attendees included Edison Councilwoman Sapana Shah; South Brunswick Board of Education Member Deven Patel; Kanu Patel, CEO of Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS); BAPS representative – Vinay Limbachia; Indian Business Association (IBA) President Dhiren Amin; – South Asian Registration Initiative (SARI) Chairman – Ritesh Shah; Sudhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus – Board Member – Savith Sampath; Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund representative, Raj Groomer; South Asian American Caucus (New Jersey Democratic State Committee) Co-Chair – Satish Poondi; TV Asia Senior Vice President and News Director Rohit Vyas; New Jersey South Asian Bar Association President Bhaveen Jani; South Asians for America (SAFA) Co-Chair Neha Dewan; Association of Indian Americans in North America (AIANA) President Sunil Nayak; Rutgers Indian American Group Leader Priya Kantesaria, a student leader; Edison Indian Senior Citizen Association President Ghansyam Patel; Bengali American Women’s Development Initiative (BAWDI) Founder Nadia Hussain; and Bengali community leader Kumud Roy.

US Senate Confirmation Hearings held for Judge Amul Thapar even as civil rights groups express concerns

May 3, 2017 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

Judge Amul R. Thapar, who was on President Trump’s short list for the Supreme Court, faced questions from senators on Wednesday, April 26^th regarding his nomination to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Thapar, who hails from Kentucky, was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, who praised Thapar as “a bright, fair, and dedicated man who will make a tremendous addition to the Sixth Circuit. He is a keen legal mind who applies the law fairly to all who enter his court-room.”

The Sixth Court of Appeals serves Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Thapar currently serves on the district court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He is the first Article III judge of South Asian descent. The American Bar Association – which does not recommend judges but does rate them – gave Thapar its highest ranking of “well qualified” on April 24. The judge has also received approbation from the South Asian Bar Association of North America, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Democrats were much less charitable. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin questioned Thapar at length about his membership in the Federalist Society, an organization the Illinois Democrat said had an outsized role in selecting the people on Trump’s short list to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.

Thapar noted that he was a member of group, which he identified as an “open-debate” society, for three or four years before he became a judge. Durbin expressed concern and said, “They like you and that’s the point I’m trying to get to.” Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse defended the Federalist Society during his questioning of Thapar.

The People for the American Way, and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights – which will be led by Indian American civil rights activist Vanita Gupta, beginning in June – expressed “serious concerns” about the jurist’s record.

The Leadership Conference noted that Thapar had a history of controversial rulings, including a case in which he allowed a diabetic inmate to continue to be denied insulin; and sentencing three pacifists – including an 82-year-old nun – to lengthy prison terms after they broke into a nuclear power plant in Oakridge, Tennessee, and spray-painted peace slogans.

As his wife, father, mother, former law clerks and children looked on, Thapar was grilled on several issues, including controversial rulings, his alleged support of corporate and Republican interests, and his allegiance to Trump and to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization which has had great influence in getting conservatives appointed to judicial roles.

“I’ve always ruled fairly to the best of my ability,” responded Thapar to a question regarding his alleged allegiance to corporate interests. “I’ve ruled time and again against corporations and in support of the little guy.”

The judge cited his ruling in a 2016 case regarding a woman who was stripped of her $800 per month Social Security benefits. In that case, Thapar said that the Social Security Administration had violated the due process rights of the woman by not allowing her to challenge evidence presented against her. “When the government re-determined her right to disability payments – and categorically excluded some of her medical evidence because it had ‘reason to believe’ the evidence was fraudulent – she never got a chance to challenge that factual assertion before anyone,” wrote Thapar in his 33-page ruling, saying that the SSA had acted unconstitutionally. He also referred to a 2010 case where he ruled against Massey Energy, in support of coal miners who were suffering from hazardous conditions underground, in violation of labor safety laws.

Shri Thanedar to run for Governor of Michigan

May 3, 2017 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

Ann Arbor, Mich.-based entrepreneur Shri Thanedar, the former chief executive officer of Avomeen Analytical Services LLC and three-time winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, has filed papers to run for governor of Michigan in 2018.

The Indian American filed papers with the Secretary of State’s Office April 5, allowing him to raise funds for his campaign. Though he has filed for his candidacy, Thanedar has made no formal announcements of his candidacy, according to a Detroit News report. Thanedar, who filed as a Democrat, launched Avomeen in 2010 and made headlines late last year when he gave his employees $1.5 million in holiday bonuses, collectively.

Thanedar, former CEO of Avomeen Analytical Services, was named 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year by multinational finance giant Ernst and Young and made local headlines in December for giving his employees a collective $1.5 million in holiday bonuses.

The India native submitted paperwork to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office on April 5 that would allow him to raise funds for a gubernatorial campaign, but he has not yet announced any formal plans to seek the post. If he runs, Thanedar would join a growing Democratic field that includes former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, former Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed and former Xerox executive Bill Cobbs. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, is also considering a run for governor.

Thanedar, who earned an M.B.A. from Fontbonne University and a doctorate degree from the University of Akron, was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999, 2007 and 2016. Thanedar made and lost a fortune in Missouri before moving to Michigan and finding new success. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported he bought and built up a chemical analysis firm there, eventually purchasing a Ferrari and constructing a 13,000-square-foot mansion.

But the Great Recession and financial industry crash hit his company and acquisitions hard, reportedly prompting a lender to take him to court, where a bankruptcy judge appointed a receiver to sell the business.

Jim Hines, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Saginaw and president of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, has announced his candidacy on the GOP ballot. Attorney General Bill Schuette and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley are contemplating bids, the report added. Incumbent Gov. Rick Snyder cannot seek re-election in 2018 under Michigan’s term-limits law. The Michigan 2018 primary is Aug. 7.

Surya Dhakar announces candidacy for Virginia House of Delegates

May 3, 2017 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

Indian American physician Surya Dhakar is running for the Virginia House of Delegates District 56. A Republican candidate, Dhakar is vying for the seat currently held by Republican Peter Farrell, who is not seeking re-election. Dhakar has put his name in the pool of candidates looking to fill the seat being vacated by Republican Peter Farrell, who is not seeking re-election.

Dhakar has had a dental practice in Henrico County for more than 20 years, and has served on a number of state and county advisory boards, including the Virginia Board of Dentistry from 2011 to 2015. He lives in Henrico County with his wife, where they raised their two children, who now have children of their own. “We want our children and grandchildren to have the same freedom and opportunity we’ve cherished (since emigrating to Henrico County),” Dhakar said on his campaign page. “As your delegate, I will continue that service and I promise to be honest, devoted and accessible to you,” he said.

If elected, Dhakar promises to advance and protect a fiscally responsible conservative agenda of lower taxes and end wasteful spending; exceptional public schools that deliver an excellent education; healthcare that functions for families at lower costs; and to restore the sense of community.

A past and present member of several state and county advisory boards, Dhakar is one of the seven contestants. He served on the Viriginia Board of Dentistry from 2011 to 2015; and served as president of the Indian Association of Virginia, twice. Dhakar’s poll promises include lower taxes, improved public schools and lower costs of healthcare services.

Among the other GOP candidates are John McGuire, Graven Craig, George Goodwin and Matt Pinsker. The 56^th District includes Louisa County, portions of Goochland, Henrico and Spotsylvania counties. The area is heavily Republican; so much so that the Democrats did not run for this seat since 2009. This year, however, two Democrats are in the fray. From January till March, the Indian American physician raised more than $58,000; nearly equal to all others, combined. The district has been held uncontested by Republicans since 2009. The primary election is scheduled for June 13. Should Dhakar advance, the general election is slated for Nov. 7.

Vishal J Amin, Neomi Rao join Trump administration

April 25, 2017 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

US President Donald Trump has named two more Indian Americans to key senior positions in his administration. He named Vishal J Amin as the intellectual property enforcement coordinator in the president’s executive office and Neomi Rao as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget.

When confirmed, they will join Nikki Haley, Seema Verma, Ajit Pai and others of Indian descent in key positions. As US ambassador to UN, Haley holds a cabinet position, the highest federal office ever held by an Indian American.

Amin is currently serving as senior counsel on the House Judiciary Committee. His earlier positions included stints in President George W Bush’s White House as associate director for domestic policy and in the department of commerce. He studied neuroscience for his bachelors degree from Johns Hopkins University and received his law degree from Washington University in St Louis.

Rao is a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and also serves as a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. She was associate counsel to President George W. Bush; counsel for nominations and constitutional law to the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary; and law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the US Supreme Court. Rao went to the University of Chicago and Yale University.

India, US reaffirm strategic partnership; shared perspectives in region

April 19, 2017 Ajay GhoshIndia, Politics, Travel, U.S. 0

The United States and India reaffirmed a strategic partnership that involves not only a growing defense relationship but also shared perspectives of the region. Rounding off his first regional visit, US NSA, HR McMaster held talks with prime minister Narendra Modi, NSA, Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S. Jaishankar. According to the PMO, the two sides “exchanged views on how both countries can work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability.”

A statement by the US embassy said the US reaffirmed India’s status as “major defence partner”. “The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defense and counterterrorism cooperation. The visit was a part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad.”

A new era of cooperation between the US and India was ushered in on July 18, 2005 in Washington DC when President George Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh concluded a set of far reaching initiatives which will pave the way for a closer economic and strategic partnership between the two countries at Government and at industry levels.

The US and India share common values based on their democratic, multi–cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies, as well as a strong entrepreneurial spirit, all of which support the bilateral Strategic Partnership.

Both the US and India are committed to full exploitation of the mutual benefits of globalization, which is an irreversible process driven by technology and the development of human resources in an increasingly knowledge-based world. Through mutual harnessing of technology and human capital, the US and India can forge a unique partnership to achieve greater competitiveness and prosperity for the citizens of both nations.

In this context, the planned visit by PM to travel to Washington DC for his first summit with Donald Trump this summer, assumes importance. It is believed McMaster’s discussions included talks on the visit, though there was no official confirmation.

Official sources said the discussions with the Indian leadership covered situation in Afghanistan, West Asia and DPRK. McMaster has separately been quoted as saying that the North Korean issue was “coming to a head”.

On the issue of Afghanistan, Indian sources said there appeared to be a continuation of US policy, based primarily on counter-terrorism and supporting building up of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). “We both want the same outcomes in Afghanistan. The difference is in our resources and approach,” said high level sources.

‘You don’t drain a swamp with a slogan’: Bharara knocks Trump for replacing ‘muck with muck’

April 10, 2017 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara took several shots at the administration of President Donald Trump on April 6^th calling for “facts not falsehoods” as the basis for political discourse and a more welcoming stance towards immigrants in his first public speaking event since being fired one month ago.

Bharara sprinkled the hour-long speech with humor, including a joke about the size of the crowd clearly aimed at Trump. But Bharara also made a series of thinly veiled criticisms of the new administration, referring multiple times to Trump’s campaign pledge to “drain the swamp” in Washington. “You don’t drain a swamp with a slogan. You don’t drain it by replacing one set of partisans with another. You don’t replace muck with muck,” Bharara, 48, said at the Cooper Union in New York.

“To drain a swamp you need an army corps of engineers, experts schooled in service and serious purpose. Not do-nothing, say-anything, neophyte opportunists who know a lot about how to bully and bluster but not so much about truth, justice and fairness.”

Bharara was fired by Trump on March 11 after refusing to step down. While he was among 46 U.S. attorneys told to submit their resignations, his dismissal was a surprise because Trump had asked him in November to stay in the job.

In his first public appearance since being fired, Indian American former top federal prosecutor Preet Bharara took swipes at President Donald Trump. “To drain a swamp you need an army corps of engineers, experts schooled in service and serious purpose, not do-nothing, say-anything neophyte opportunists who know a lot about how to bully and bluster but not so much about truth, justice and fairness. Draining a swamp takes genuine commitment to justice and fairness and not attention to what benefits one group over another or divides one group against another,” he said.

Bharara acknowledged the presence of some of his former colleagues, including some from his press office who he said “were the only people who stood between me and the dishonest media,” in another swipe at Trump. “That’s called tongue and cheek,” Bharara said.

He also thanked New York University’s School of Law for giving him a job as the distinguished scholar in residence. “My father-in-law was really happy to hear that I was going to have a job,” he said. During the lecture, Bharara reflected on his time as Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor and his office’s accomplishments in rooting out corruption and fighting terrorism and insider trading cases. Even when Bharara was in office, he repeatedly dismissed speculation that he will eventually run for public office and reiterated that he will not enter politics. “I don’t have any plans to enter politics just like I had no plans to join the circus. I mean no offense to the circus,” he said to laughter from the audience. Bharara called on American citizens to unite and continue the fight against injustice, saying active citizenship matters and is “desperately needed now more than ever, individually and collectively.”

Nikki Haley proposes; India rejects offer to mediate with Pakistan

April 10, 2017 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

India has rejected an offer from the U.S. to help de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan April 4, saying that its position on the bilateral redressal of all issues between the two countries has not changed. India further said that the international community needed to address the terrorism coming out of Pakistan. “Government’s position for bilateral redressal of all India-Pakistan issues in an environment free of terror and violence hasn’t changed,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

“We, of course, expect the international community and organizations to enforce international mechanisms and mandates concerning terrorism emanating from Pakistan, which continues to be the single biggest threat to peace and stability in our region and beyond,” he said.

“I would expect that the administration is going to be in talks and try and find its place to be part of that process,” the former governor of South Carolina said, adding that she “wouldn’t be surprised if the president participates as well.”

The reaction came after Indian American Nikki Haley, the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, said April 4 that the U.S. was concerned about relations between India and Pakistan, and that President Donald Trump might get involved in a peace process between the two South Asian countries.

“This administration is concerned about the relationship between India and Pakistan and very much wants to see how we de-escalate any sort of conflict going forward,” Haley, who holds a cabinet rank in the Trump administration, said. During his campaign in 2016, Trump had offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, but was careful to add that it was only if the two nations wanted him to. In an interview to The Hindustan Times, Trump said that he “would be honored” to be a moderator. “I think if they wanted me to, I would love to be the mediator or arbitrator.”

Haley’s comments were in response to a question from a reporter at her news conference on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of April. The reporter pointed out that India does not want a mediator for talks with Pakistan, while Islamabad wanted the U.S. or another country to facilitate talks, and asked if the U.S. would get the leaders of the two countries to meet.

Her statement about India-Pakistan relations, therefore, is important, and is the first high-level Trump administration statement on India’s relationship with Pakistan. While it is not clear what steps the U.S. could take, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet Trump in Washington in May where the two could potentially discuss the matter.

“We don’t think we should wait until something happens,” Haley said. “We very much think we should be pro-active in what we are seeing, tensions rise and conflicts seem to bubble up and so we want to see if we can be a part of that. So, that will be something you will see, that is something that members of the National Security Council participate in,” she said

Haley also said that she sounds strong because that’s how her Sikh parents raised her in Punjab. She said she does her “job to the best of my abilities and if that comes out blunt, comes out strong, I am one of two brothers and a sister and my parents raised us all to be strong.”

Her father Ajit Singh Randhwa, is from Amritsar district. He is an agriculture science professor. Her mother is Raj Kaur Randhwa. One of her brothers, Mitti Randhwa, was an Army officer who saw action in Operation Desert Storm, 1990-91, leading a company tasked with finding chemical weapons.

Just over two months into her office as the first Indian American to be appointed to a cabinet-level position, she has made waves by calling a spade a spade. She has called the UN Human Rights Council “corrupt”, the UN of being a partner of a “corrupt” government, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a “war criminal”, and declared she was free to “beat up on Russia”.

And she perceives her job as shaking up the UN and pulling it by its purse strings, kicking and screaming, to carry out reforms.

21-yr-old Chetan Hebbur to run for NY City Council

April 9, 2017 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Chetan Hebbur is giving a run for New York City Council. A New York University senior, 21, Hebbur wants a shot at succeeding Rosie Mendez, who is term-limited out. “The city needs younger voices who represent change,” he told the media. Hebbur, who expects to earn his bachelor’s degree from NYU in 2017, said in a New York Post report that the city needs younger voices who represent change.

Hebbur, an Indian American student majoring in mathematics and economics at New York University, has announced he is running for the New York City Council District 2 seat. If he wins, the Democrat would tie former Bronx Councilman Joel Rivera for the title of youngest city lawmaker in Big Apple history. Rivera was 22 when he was elected in 2001. The budding politico plans to rely on his fellow students to secure a spot on the ballot to represent the East Village, Lower East Side and Murray Hill. “You only need a tiny slice of the pie and there are 50,000 students at NYU,” Hebbur said.

Hebbur, a Democrat, is counting on his fellow classmates to earn a spot on the ballot for the District 2 seat representing the East Village, Lower East Side and Murray Hill, which will become open as incumbent Rosie Mendez is termed out. A Dallas native, Hebbur works as a marketing consultant at Toews Corporation in New York. He announced his candidacy for the council in March.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Hebbur has intentions of rebuilding the city’s critical infrastructure while sending a clear message of the need for fact-based politics in America. “My time at NYU has made me attached to the area and community, and changes need to be made,” he said in his profile.

Added Hebbur in the report, “I want to get my peers on the same page and actively make a difference in our community,” adding that he hopes to change NYU students’ anger at President Donald Trump through a local movement.

Among the issues Hebbur is campaigning to resolve, if elected, are implementing a fact-based policy, a review of all public health legislation, supporting nonprofits and advocacy groups, and supporting criminal justice. He hopes to launch an online portal for people to vote on policy proposals, and to measure local support for each piece of legislation, the Post reported.

Hebbur, who is running a grassroots campaign, criticized the current council for proposing progressive policies but not executing them, according to the report. He cited the Save a Life, Carry Naloxone campaign, which touted expanding access to the life-saving overdose antidote to 700 pharmacies, it added.

“I plan to do things differently and create change,” the Dallas native said. He wants to transform NYU students’ anger at President Trump into a local movement. “I want to get my peers on the same page and actively make a difference in our community,” he said.

He wants to use the internet and social media to create more government transparency. He hopes to launch an online portal for people to vote on policy proposals, and to measure local support for each piece of legislation.

Hebbur also believes in a “grass-roots approach” to his campaign. That means he has no money. “We already have a full staff pro bono, and when I meet officials for lunches, they usually offer to pay anyways,” he joked. New York’s primary election is Sept. 12 with the general election slated for Nov. 7.

Hirsh Vardhan Singh enters New Jersey Governor’s race

April 7, 2017 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Hirsh Vardhan Singh, a successful businessman and engineer, will announce his run for Governor of the Great State of New Jersey. A Republican, Singh said he believes the state has been suffering due to petty partisanship and offers a bold vision to improve the lives of New Jersey residents through the Fairness Formula, strategic infrastructure development, medical malpractice and tort reform, tax cuts for small businesses and the legalization of cannabis, according to a statement from his campaign office.

Hirsh explains his main concerns from the highest property taxes nationwide, to a lack of well-paying manufacturing jobs, below par K-12 education, and State over-regulation, which have harmed the realization of the American Dream by attacking social mobility. He will explain his plan to bridge the gaps of division in the state.

Hirsh is a product of New Jersey. He grew up in Atlantic County, New Jersey and earned an engineering degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Hirsh is a results-driven leader who directs and manages small and large teams of corporations providing the most cutting edge engineering solutions and services nationwide across civilian and defense government agencies.

Last week, on February 21, Hirsh addressed the Ocean County GOP – one of the most influential county organizations in New Jersey. In his speech, Hirsh pointed out that problems faced by New Jersey are a result of a flawed philosophy of government held by state leaders, and believes the solution has always been right in front in the state motto: Liberty and Prosperity. Through Liberty we attain Prosperity.

As New Jersey Governor, Hirsh plans to work tirelessly to bring prosperity back, fix the state’s sky rocketed property tax, the broken education system, fix transportation infrastructure, and make New Jersey a national leader in technological innovation.

Singh will focus his campaign on fixing property taxes, wages of manufacturing jobs, K-12 education and state overregulation, the campaign team said. The candidate added that state overregulation has harmed the realization of the American Dream by attacking social mobility.

The New Jersey primary is on June 6, 2017. Voting information can be found at http://singhfornewjersey.com/vote/.

Indian Americans in Connecticut raise funds for Dr. Prasad Srinivasan’s Gubernatorial Bid in Republican Primary

April 7, 2017 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Indian Americans have come together to raise funds for Connecticut State Representative Dr. Prasad Srinivasan’s Gubernatorial Bid Republican Primary. Fund raisers are being held across the state by the community. According to Dr. Srinivasan, the support has been overwhelming which has enabled the campaign to show a strong report for the quarter ending March 31st. The fund raising event in Stamford, on Friday, March 24th, was hosted by Dr. Thomas Abraham, Ravi Nichani, Anita Bhat and Viresh Sharma.

Dr. Srinivasan is currently serving his fourth term as the State Representative from Glastonbury. He is the Assistant Republican Leader and is the Ranking member of the Public Health Committee. He also serves in the Environment and Judiciary Committees. He serves on the Health Information Technology Council and as Co-Chair of the National Health Policy Council. A. medical practitioner in the Greater Hartford area since 1980, Dr. Srinivasan was named “Top Doctor” by Connecticut Magazine, eighth year in a row. Connecticut’s Fairfield Medical County Association established a Prasad Srinivasan Award for medical advocacy.

In terms of community involvement, Dr. Srinivasan had established the Prasad Family Foundation in 1999 to promote Education and donates Legislative Salary for worthy causes. He also serves as Ambassador of Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and as a Corporator for Hartford Hospital.

A physician by profession, Srinivasan opposed the legalization of cannabis for medical use in 2012, saying he believed in its efficacy, but was troubled by questions of practicality. But he relented in 2016 and voted to expand the law to allow the limited use of cannabis to treat children with conditions not treatable by conventional means.

He voted against repeal of the death penalty in 2012. He supported passage of the sweeping gun-control law passed in 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook School shooting of 26 children and staff. “I am old enough,” he said, “and I am young enough.”

An eloquent speaker and totally committed to high ideals in public and private life, Dr. Srinivasan has been serving as the Assistant Republican leader in the House, a Ranking member of the Public Health Committee, and a National Co-Chair of the Health Policy Council. He has been presented with numerous awards for his legislative leadership. He was the Top Doctor 7th year in a row by Connecticut Magazine.

Prasad Srinivasan is married to Mrs. Kala Prasad, a professional musician for over 30 years. Their two children graduated from Glastonbury High school. Son, Sashank Prasad, M.D., is Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Sashank’s wife, Kerry, is a high school teacher by profession, currently a stay home mom taking care of their two children. Daughter, Anusha Prasad-Rodriguez is the Head of Alternate Investments at Oppenheimer. Her husband, Paul, is a manager at Analysis Group, Inc. They have two daughters.

Meeting with Sen. Sanders, Ambassador Sarna discusses bilateral ties

April 7, 2017 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

The Indian Ambassador to the United States Navtej Sarna met with Sen. Bernie Sanders and discussed bilateral ties between India and the United States. A tweet by the Indian Embassy in the US on Wednesday, last week said: “Ambassador Navtej Sarna warmly received by Sen. Bernie Sanders; enjoyed discussing positive outlook for Indian economy, strong #IndiaUSbonds & shared regional perspectives.”

According to the Indian Embassy, the Sarna-Sanders meeting was restricted primarily to discussions on US-India relationship and the Indian economy. Sarna, who only recently presented his credentials on Capitol Hill, has been making the rounds with various US legislators.

Sanders, who is the longest-serving independent in the US congressional history, had lost to his fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is now serving his term in the US Senate after winning re-election in 2012 with 71 per cent of the vote.

The left-leaning socialist values Sanders and President Donald Trump are on opposite sides when it comes to some of the major decisions taken by the latter. Sanders, who was the top contender to eventual Democratic Party nominee in the party primaries for the presidential elections, had attacked Trump’s position on climate change and called it “pathetic and an embarrassment to the world”.

Ambassador of India Navtej Sarna hosted a reception for a record 26 Governors of the States of the US at his residence on February 24 in Washington, DC. The gathering of governors from across the nation, representing both the major political parties, described as the first of its nature held in recent years, was attended by a record number of Governors, including Governors of Virginia, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virgin Islands, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Senior representatives of Governors of California, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania were also in the audience.

Deepak Chopra asks Trump to have his mental health evaluated

March 30, 2017 Ajay GhoshProfiles, U.S. 0

Prominent Indian American author and spiritual guru Deepak Chopra, who is known around the world as a leader of alternative medicine, has voiced his concerns about President Donald Trump’s mental health. Chopra appealed to Trump directly, asking the president to quell his fears by submitting himself to a mental health evaluation.

Chopra had said in the past that then-candidate Donald Trump suffers from “very poor self-esteem,” comparing his emotional development to that of a three-year-old child, has now questioned the president’s mental health. Deepak Chopra took to Twitter “I say this with trepidation. Is @POTUS brain impaired? If so what does this mean for the future of the world? What can we do? God bless,” he tweeted Monday.

He directed his second tweet on the subject straight to Trump. “Dear @realDonaldTrump @POTUS Would you please submit to a psychiatric and neurological evaluation to restore our confidence. Thank you sir,” he wrote.

On March 19, in a series of cryptic messages, Chopra turned to neurologists to ask if “the symptoms of frontal lobe dementia include disinhibition, paranoia, compulsive behavior.” He added: “Should this be a national concern?”

He next tweeted this message at the president and theoretical physicist, cosmologist, best-selling author, science and public policy advocate Lawrence M: “Paranoia disinhibition and compulsive behavior can be symptoms of frontal lobe dementia. Neurologists pls advise.”

However, this is not the first time that Chopra has expressed “concern” over the president’s mental health. In an interview with Fox News Radio host Alan Colmes in June 2016, Chopra had called Trump “belligerent” and “emotionally retarded.”

“He is unfortunately, and you know I would never say this unless I believe it to be 100 percent true, but he represents the racist, the bigot, the one who is prejudiced, the one who is full of fear and hatred,” he said, adding that he was “fearful of what would happen to the U.S. and the rest of the forbid if, God forbid, he became president.”

Amul R. Thapar nominated to top judicial post by Trump

March 29, 2017 Staff ReporterProfiles, U.S. 0

Indian American Judge Amul R. Thapar of Kentucky has been nominated by President Donald J. Trump on March 20, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. If confirmed, Amul R. Thapar of Kentucky will serve as a Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The son of Indian-American immigrants, Judge Thapar serves on the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. With his 2008 nomination by President George W. Bush and subsequent confirmation and appointment, Judge Thapar became the nation’s first Article III judge of South Asian descent.

Before his service on the bench, he was the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Before that, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Ohio and the District of Columbia. He began his legal career in private practice, after clerkships with Judge S. Arthur Spiegel on the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and then with Judge Nathaniel R. Jones of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Judge Thapar received his BS from Boston College in 1991 and his JD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Welcoming Trump’s decision, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, “I applaud the President for announcing his intent to nominate my friend, Judge Amul Thapar, to serve on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Throughout his already impressive career of public service, Amul has shown an incredible intellect and an unshakable dedication to the law. He has earned the respect of his colleagues, and I know that he will bring to the Sixth Circuit the same wisdom, fairness, and ability that he has shown on the District Court. President Trump made an outstanding choice and I look forward to the Senate’s confirmation of Judge Thapar.”

Preet Bharara’s investigation of HHS Secretary Tom Price cost him job

March 23, 2017 Ajay GhoshProfiles, U.S. 0

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was removed from his post by the Trump administration on March 11, was overseeing an investigation into stock trades made by the president’s health secretary, according to a person familiar with the office.

According to reports, Tom Price, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, came under scrutiny during his confirmation hearings for investments he made while serving in Congress. The Georgia lawmaker traded hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of shares in health-related companies, even as he voted on and sponsored legislation affecting the industry.

Price testified at the time that his trades were lawful and transparent. Democrats accused him of potentially using his office to enrich himself. One lawmaker called for an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, citing concerns Price could have violated the STOCK Act, a 2012 law signed by President Obama that clarified that members of Congress cannot use nonpublic information for profit and requires them to promptly disclose their trades.

The investigation of Price’s trades by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which hasn’t been previously disclosed, was underway at the time of Bharara’s dismissal, someone familiar with the investigation was reported to have said.

Asked about this report during an appearance today on ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Tom Price said he and his lawyers haven’t received any indication of a federal investigation into his stock trades. “I know nothing about that whatsoever,” Price said.

In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that Price traded more than $300,000 worth of shares in health companies over a recent four-year period, while taking actions that could have affected those companies. Price, an orthopedic surgeon, chaired the powerful House Budget Committee and sat on the Ways and Means Committee’s health panel.

Bharara was one of 46 U.S. attorneys asked to resign after Trump took office. It is standard for new presidents to replace those officials with their own appointees. But Bharara’s firing came as a surprise because the president had met with him at Trump Tower soon after the election. As he left that meeting, Bharara told reporters Trump asked if he would be prepared to remain in his post, and said that he had agreed to stay on.

When the Trump administration instead asked for Bharara’s resignation, the prosecutor refused, and he said he was then fired. Trump has not explained the reversal, but Bharara fanned suspicions that his dismissal was politically motivated via his personal Twitter account.

Along with the Price matter, Bharara’s former office is investigating allegations relating to Fox News, and has been urged by watchdog groups to look into payments Trump has received from foreign governments through his Manhattan-based business. Bharara’s former deputy, Joon Kim, is now in charge of the office, but Trump is expected to nominate his replacement.

The crusading prosecutor – dubbed the “sheriff of Wall Street” – was the only Indian American U.S. attorney in the nation. Acting deputy Attorney General Dana Boente had called US Attorney Preet Bharara and told him President Trump was firing him, hours after he announced he would not resign under the guidance of a directive issued a day earlier by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Responding to his firing, the crusader on corruption, said, “By the way,” Bharara said in a second tweet, “now I know what the Moreland Commission must have felt like.” Bharara was referring to a commission that was launched by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013 to investigate state government corruption, only to be disbanded by the governor the next year as its work grew close to his office. “I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the U.S. Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life no matter what else I do or how long I live,” Bharara tweeted mid-morning March 11. “One hallmark of justice is absolute independence, and that was my touchstone every day that I served,” Bharara said.

Indian American group to organize events in US to help prevent hate crimes

March 23, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

A Chicago-based Indian-American Public Affairs Committee (IAPAC) has launched a campaign across the US to spread awareness about hate crimes against the community. The committee plans to organize a series of grass root events and town halls across the country. “There is a need to bring understanding about the people of Indian-American and represent their interests,” Ashwani Dhall, one of the founding members of IAPAC, said in a statement.

The group plans to launch a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of the Indian Diaspora in the United States – the intrinsic part they pay in contributing to society and the economy, and subsequently to help cut down hate crimes against the community.

IAPAC touts itself as a bipartisan and grassroots organization to advocate and safeguard the India-US relationship and the interests of Indian Americans. IAPAC hopes to spread the word about how Indian Americans have been an intrinsic part of the American fabric for more than 100 years, according to a statement.

The core feature of the initiative would be events organized by the IAPAC in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas and Seattle. “By bringing together elected officials, local and business leaders and the media, the aim is to assure the Indian-American community that incidents like the hate-crime in Kansas City are not tolerated or repeated,” the statement said.

IAPAC wants to ensure that correct information about any existing policies is disseminated to people and there is no room left for rumors, it said.

“It was heartening to hear President Donald Trump denounce the Kansas City incident right at the start of his address to the Congress,” said Vinesh Virani, president of IAPAC. “We have hope that the current administration will work to bring everyone together.”

He added: “We are a group of people of Indian-origin who are doctors, small business owners, hoteliers, IT professionals, executives, essentially people from all fields, who had been closely involved in the local politics during last year’s general elections.”

Though IAPAC has not termed itself as a political committee, it seems to be on the lines of the Israeli American Political Action Committee, which also is one of the biggest lobbying groups on Capitol Hill. It’s important that local Indian American groups all over the US follow the same initiative by IAPAC and create more awareness in their local communities.

New Jersey seniors to hold annual convention in August

March 15, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

The Federation of Indo-American Seniors Associations of North America will hold its annual convention from Aug. 25-27. The announcement was made by President Popat Patel at a FISANA meeting held last month at Gurudev restaurant in Rahway, New Jersey.

In his speech, Poptal Patel promised to bring FISANA to a higher level than where it stands now and announced a bigger and more colorful convention for this year.

The president also introduced Dhiren Parikh, who highlighted future programs and asked all members their inputs to be forwarded to Ratilal Patel or Popat Patel.

Women’s Wing Chair Bina Joshi of the Indo-American Seniors Association of Woodbridge township requested all FISANA members to donate new and used clothes for women and girls for a container she is shipping to Gujarat.

Preet Bharara fired after refusing Trump Administration’s order to resign

March 15, 2017 Ajay GhoshU.S. 0

Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has been fired by the Trump administration after refusing an order to resign. Bharara was one of the 46 Obama-appointed federal prosecutors who were told to submit their resignations on Friday, March 10th by the Justice Department, and he confirmed that he both refused to resign, and was then fired, in a tweet on Saturday, March 11th.

Bharara was appointed by Obama in 2009, and has earned the reputation of a “crusader” prosecutor. The 48-year-old Bharara has made a national and international mark for himself with many high-profile cases and investigations including foreign countries, insider trading and those involving US politicians.

The Trump administration had sought the resignations of 46 attorneys, who were appointed by former President Barack Obama. Defending the move, a White House statement said that both the George W Bush and Bill Clinton administrations made similar requests at the beginning of their term. In all there are 93 US attorneys. Many of them have already left their positions, but 46 attorneys who stayed on in the first weeks of the Trump administration have been asked by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign “in order to ensure a uniform transition,” Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said on Friday.

“I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the U.S. Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life no matter what else I do or how long I live,” Bharara tweeted mid-morning March 11. “One hallmark of justice is absolute independence, and that was my touchstone every day that I served,” he added.

“By the way, now I know what the Moreland Commission must have felt like,” Bharara tweeted a day later, referring to an independent body set up by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to investigate political corruption. The commission was abruptly disbanded a year later.

Bharara’s firing came only two days after reports emerged that his office had been asked by watchdog groups to investigate whether President Donald Trump’s business ties with foreign governments violated the Constitution.

Shortly after Trump was elected last November, Bharara met with him at Trump Towers in New York City. “We had a good meeting. I said I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on,” Bharara told reporters after the meeting. Bharara said he had also met earlier with Sessions who had asked him to stick on in his role. “He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing,” he had told reporters.

The president had uncharacteristically placed a call to Bharara’s office on March 9th, according to a report in The New York Times. Ethics protocols restrict communications between the White House and prosecutors, and Bharara told the newspaper he called the White House back to say the Attorney General’s office had advised him not to speak directly with the president, in keeping with ethics protocols. “The president reached out to Preet Bharara on Thursday to thank him for his service and to wish him good luck,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email to The Times.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-New York, praised Bharara in a statement March 11. “His relentless drive to root out public corruption, lock up terrorists, take on Wall Street, and stand up for what is right should serve as a model for all U.S. attorneys across the country. He will be sorely missed,” said Schumer. Bharara had worked as Schumer’s chief counsel for four years and the senator had recommended him for the post. Interestingly, after his appointment to the U.S. attorney’s office, Bharara had launched an investigation into one of Schumer’s donors.

During his seven years in the role, Bharara prosecuted several high-profile businessmen involved in insider trading, including former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta, McKinsey senior partner Anil Kumar, and Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam.

Bharara filed charges against Indian diplomat Khobragade in 2014 alleging that she committed visa fraud by lying on her employer contract about under-paying her Indian maid, Sangeeta Richard. Bharara’s office was currently investigating claims into possible fraud in fundraising for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat. He is also investigating whether aides to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, were involved in bribery and bid-rigging.

Bharara’s office convicted ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate majority leader Dean Skelos of corruption in separate trials last year. Bharara previously served as Assistant United States Attorney in Manhattan for five years, taking on the Mafia, as well as Asian gangs.

Vichal Kumar, president of the South Asian Bar Association of North America, is reported to have stated in a statement, that Bharara’s legacy is one South Asian legal professionals and the greater legal community can only hope to emulate. His dedication to public service throughout his career is exemplified by his devotion to protecting the rights of all communities and not shying away from the toughest challenges. “We are proud of his accomplishments and wish him the best of luck,” Kumar added.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein, said she is surprised to hear that Trump and Sessions have abruptly fired all 46 remaining US attorneys. “At a time when Attorney General Sessions has recused himself from major investigations into the Trump campaign, the independence of federal prosecutors could not be more important. That’s why many of us have called for the appointment of a special prosecutor,” she said, and added, “Under previous administrations, orderly transitions allowed US attorneys to leave gradually as their replacements were chosen. This was done to protect the independence of our prosecutors and avoid disrupting ongoing federal cases.”

Sikh man’s shooting in Washington investigated as hate crime

March 15, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

It was yet another incident, where the shooter shouted: “Go back to your country,” at a Sikh man, Deep Rai, and shooting and injuring him on Friday, March 10^th in a suburb of Seattle, WA. According to news reports, the gunman – who is still at large – told him to “go back to your own country.” Local authorities have confirmed that the shooting is being investigated as a potential hate crime.

Working with local Sikh community members in Washington, the Sikh Coalition has helped facilitate widespread local and national media coverage and worked with local, state and federal officials, urging them to: conduct a thorough hate crime investigation; improve laws and regulations relating to bias prevention; organize Know Your Rights forums to build resilience in targeted communities; partner with Sikh Americans to expand Sikh awareness and appreciation; and, the Sikh Coalition has urged the Sikhs around the world to practice their faith fearlessly.

Meanwhile, thousands Have Joined the #LoveMyNeighbor Campaign. The U.S. government’s orders on immigration continue to fan the flames of xenophobic backlash. In addition to backlash against Sikhs, threats and violence have targeted Muslim and Jewish communities. It is for this reason that the Sikh Coalition has partnered with Auburn Seminary to launch an interfaith letter-writing campaign to show our solidarity with both communities. This initiative emphasizes to our American Muslim and Jewish classmates, neighbors and colleagues that we are strongest as a nation when we stand together. #LoveMyNeighbor.

USCIS wants legal aliens to carry documents, or else be fined, jailed

March 15, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has ruled that Green Card holders and visa holders, like those on H-1B, L-1, J or F-1, H4 visa, and even those having an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) must carry legal documents papers when traveling in and out of the country and at all times within the United States, or face the risk of being fined or imprisoned, or even both.

With a large-scale immigration crackdown on undocumented foreigners imminent after President Donald Trump’s new executive orders, it’s important for all documented residents in the US to keep proof of their legal status in the country.

And for those in the pipeline for a Green Card, a misdemeanor charge could have terrible repercussions when it comes to being adjudicated for legal permanent resident status. The same applies for Green Card holders who wish to become US citizen.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services rule states: ‘Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d). Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.’

Another sub-section of the rule says: ‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General is authorized to require any alien to provide the alien’s social security account number for purposes of inclusion in any record of the alien maintained by the Attorney General or the Service.’

USCIS suspends Premium Processing for All H-1B Petitions

March 15, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Starting April 3, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions, a statement issued by the USCIS stated. This suspension may last up to 6 months. While H-1B premium processing is suspended, petitioners will not be able to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service for a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker which requests the H-1B nonimmigrant classification. We will notify the public before resuming premium processing for H-1B petitions.

The premium processing service allows an applicant or his potential employer to pay $1,225 to receive a response to his petition within 15 days. If USCIS has not responded within 15 days, the fee is refunded, though the application still receives expedited processing, according to a bulletin issued by the agency March 3. H-1B visas are used by U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers, most often from India, in specialty occupations.

“This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark,” said the agency in a bulletin.

USCIS has said the temporary suspension of premium processing could last as long as six months. The agency has said it will reject any form I-907 – request for premium processing – filed with an H-1B petition. If a check is issued to cover both applications, USCIS noted it will have to reject the H-1B application as well.

“Since FY18 cap-subject H-1B petitions cannot be filed before April 3, this suspension will apply to all petitions filed for the FY18 H-1B regular cap and master’s advanced degree cap exemption (the ‘master’s cap’),” noted USCIS, adding that the suspension also applies to petitions that may be cap-exempt.

H-1B petitioners can still expedite their applications if they meet one of the following criteria: a severe financial loss to company or person; an emergency situation; humanitarian reasons; a non-profit organization whose work benefits the cultural and social interests of the U.S., certain Defense Department situations; or USCIS errors. Such requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The temporary suspension does not apply to other non-immigrant classifications.

New Leadership team takes charge at Maheshwari Mahasabha of North America (MMNA)

March 11, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

Vikas Bhutada (from Michigan) has been unanimously elected as the New President of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of MMNA (Maheshwari Mahasabha of North America) for the four year (2017- 2020) term. A newly elected 9 member team of NEC represents different regional chapters of MMNA in USA and Canada. The leadership team at MMNA is elected by the life members of MMNA as per the election guidelines and the bylaws. Shyam Maheshwari (from Michigan) has been elected as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of MMNA for a 2 year term. A 10 member team of BoT manages the bylaws and provides overall governance.

Highlighting the “Vision 2020” for MMNA, Vikas has defined a roadmap for the next 4 years for MMNA. He has reiterated MMNA’s commitment to its ongoing initiatives for Women Empowerment (SAKHI), Youth ( RAYS), Matrimonial matchmaking and Education Support to needy students in the community. In addition, MMNA would also start new efforts to support its Senior Citizens in the community; promote business – entrepreneurship in the community; and launch the MMNA digital initiative to enable enhanced fellowship amongst its members and efficient implementation of its planned initiatives. Importantly, as per the new vision, MMNA will also significantly enhance its outreach and philanthropic activities in the local communities where its regional chapters are located in North America.

MMNA also organizes its flagship biannual International Maheshwari Rajasthani Convention (IMRC) in North America, that is widely attended by its members and the international community. The next IMRC is expected to take place in the second half of 2018.

MMNA NEC Team members include Jitendra Muchhal, Mukul Rathi, Lata Maheshwari , Abhilasha Rathi,Ashish Daga,Vijayshri Choudhary,Baldev Bhojwani,Rajesh Rathi & Arun Mundra. MMNA BoT Team members include Sushma Pallod, Suresh Deopura, Giridhar Heda, Rajesh Kabra, Vinod Maheshwari, Ghanshyam Heda, Dev Maheshwari, Ghanshyam Birla and PJRathi. For more information about MMNA and its activities, please visit www.mmna.org

The ‘Domestic Violence Green Card’: Immigrant Visa Petitions for Victims

March 1, 2017 Staff ReporterU.S. 0

If you’re the victim of domestic violence and you’re not a United States citizen or permanent resident, you may be eligible to file your own application for what is commonly called a “domestic violence green card.” Typically, green cards (permanent resident status documents) are obtained when a family member or an employer sponsors an immigrant’s application to reside in the United States on a permanent or long-term basis.

However, if you’re residing in the U.S. and suffering as a victim of domestic violence, you are able to self-petition for a green card under a provision of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). If you’re not currently residing in the U.S. but your abuser is an employee of the U.S. government or a member of the uniformed services, you can still file for your own green card if you were abused by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident while present in the United States. Finally, if you’re an illegal immigrant suffering domestic violence, you aren’t immediately eligible for the “domestic violence green card” but you can still receive protection from the government if you qualify for a special non-immigrant visa called a U visa.

The U visa doesn’t grant you automatic access to government benefits, but you’ll become eligible for consideration for benefits by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department (USCIS). For more information on the U visa, visit the USCIS website or U.S. Immigration Support.

A federal immigration form that allows some immigrant domestic violence survivors on H4 visa to apply for independent Employment Authorization Document (EAD), is being applauded by Indian-American advocacy organizations. According to activists this is the final step to activate Section 814(c) of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2005 which was intended to address this problem. It was announced on the last day of the Obama administration Jan. 19, and the Trump administration let it stand on Feb. 14 after a review.

Section 814(c) amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to provide eligibility for employment authorization to certain abused spouses of non-immigrants admitted under 15 separate immigration categories. More than 10 years later, the final rule implementing this section has finally become effective, advocates say.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued Form I-765V, “Application for Employment Authorization for Abused Nonimmigrant Spouse,” Jan. 19. The document, which is available on the USCIS website (uscis.gov/i-765v), is confidential, thus preventing the abuser from learning of the application and helping an applicant gain security and independence.

New Jersey on verge of becoming first state in US to prohibit marriage before the age of 18

February 17, 2017 Staff ReporterCulture/Religion, U.S. 0

New Jersey is on the verge of becoming the first state in the United States to prohibit anyone younger than 18 from getting married. At present, children ages 16 and 17 may marry with parental consent. Also, children under 16 may marry if they obtain parental consent and a state judge’s approval.

The New Jersey state Senate committee approved a bill on Monday to that effect. If passed, the bill (A3091) would make New Jersey the first state in the nation to remove all exceptions to the law that says people must be 18 years old to get married, reported NJ Advanced Media. The measure passed the state Assembly, 64-0, in November, and Monday’s action sets up a vote for final passage in the full Senate.

Fraidy Reiss of Westfield, founder and executive director of Unchained At Last, a non-profit organization that helps young women and girls leave forced marriages, was quoted as saying the problem is more widespread than people think. Between 1995 and 2012, 3,500 minors got married in New Jersey — some as young as 13. “Some had an age difference (large enough) to make it statutory rape,” Reiss told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The practice is driven by some religiously conservative parents “who do not want their child to have boyfriends or to go to college unattended,” Abed Awad, a legal expert from Hasbrouck Heights who is an expert in religious law, testified. “They want control and decide who their child marries at a young age,” rather than allowing their child to mature and decide, ‘I’m in New Jersey, I’m an American, I’m going to college. I am going to decide who I marry.”

There is some opposition to the measure. State Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren), who voted against the bill, insisted there should be exceptions to the law, arguing for people enlisting in the military, saying they often marry young. He also raised the possibility of teenage girls who get pregnant before the age of 18, want to tie the knot, and would find it hard to get health insurance on her own. However, the committee voted 10-1 to pass the bill, with state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) abstaining.

H-4 Visa holders likely to lose work permit under Trump Executive Order

February 15, 2017 Ajay GhoshBusiness, India, U.S. 0

Indian Americans overwhelmingly use H1-B or the work visa. Most recently, under Obama administration their spouses, who are on H-4 visa were allowed to work. However, things are changing with the new Trump administration at the healm and Republicans and some Democratic lawmakers consider that high-tech Indian workers are stealing away American jobs.

The Trump administration, media reports suggest, has launched a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s immigration policies, especially on the H-4 visa holders — spouses of H-1B visa-holders. According to a report, the Trump administration is reviewing a 2014 Obama ruling that allowed those in the country on H4 visas to work beginning mid-2015.
President Donald Trump said to be considering an executive order that would rescind employment authorization for H-4 visa holders, leaving 180,000 women, mostly from India, frantic about their ability to continue to work in the U.S.
H-4 visas are given to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, highly-skilled foreign workers, the majority of whom are from India. Until 2015, H-4 visa holders – who often had skill levels comparable to their spouses – were not allowed to work. In 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that some H-4 visa holders, whose spouses were on track for permanent residency in the U.S., would be able to work.
“Allowing the spouses of these visa holders to legally work in the United States makes perfect sense,” USCIS Director León Rodríguez said in February 2015. “It helps U.S. businesses keep their highly skilled workers by increasing the chances these workers will choose to stay in this country during the transition from temporary workers to permanent residents. It also provides more economic stability and better quality of life for the affected families.”
At a press briefing on February 8th organized by New America Media, Sally Kinoshita, deputy director of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, told reporters that a leaked memo from the Trump administration proposes to end work authorization for H-4 visa holders. “H-4s are vulnerable because the Department of Homeland Security extended work permits to them under the regulations in 2015 and this draft memo seeks to rescind those regulations,” she said.
A leaked draft of an executive order titled “Protecting American jobs and workers by strengthening the integrity of foreign worker visa programs” appeared on the New York Times Web site Jan. 27. In the draft, Trump proposes sweeping changes to several highly-skilled foreign worker visa programs, including H-1B workers.

New US report exposes India’s mistreatment of minorities

February 15, 2017 Staff ReporterCulture/Religion, India, U.S. 0

India fails to comply with international standards on freedom of religion leading to the discrimination and persecution of religious minorities, said a new report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The report, “Constitutional and Legal Challenges Faced by Religious Minorities in India” said that, although the country’s Constitution guarantees equal rights to religious minorities, the government fails to comply with international standards.

US Commission on International Religious Freedom
(http://www.uscirf.gov/) has asked newly-appointed President Donald Trump to put
“religious freedom and human rights at the heart of all trade, aid, and diplomatic
interactions with India” and urge the Government of India “to push Indian
states that have adopted anti-conversion laws to repeal or amend them to
conform to international norms.”

In an unusually sharp critique of the BJP-led NDA government, the USCIRF
wants the US administration to identify and act against “Hindutva groups
that raise funds from US citizens and support hate campaigns in India”,
adding, “Such groups should be banned from operating in the US if they are found
to spread hatred against religious minorities in India.”

Referring to the March 2016 amendment to the FCRA, introduced “to legalize
funding by foreign entities to political parties”, the USCIRF states, “
The amendment enables foreign Hindu organizations to send money to
India-based radical Hindu organizations”.
It insists, these radical groups “have been seeking funds for the
controversial Ghar Wapsi campaign ”, launched by Hindutva groups to aggressively
oppose the right to convert to religions like Islam and Christianity.

Especially citing a report prepared by US-based South Asia Citizens Web
(SACW), “Hindu Nationalism in the United States”, USCIRF says, the report
refers “policies and actions of Hindu radical groups in the US, and covers
tax records, newspaper articles, and other sources on the NGOs in the US
affiliated with the Sangh Parivar … and BJP.”

USCIRF approvingly quotes the SACW report as saying, “India-based Sangh
affiliates receive social and financial support from its US-based wings, the
latter of which exist largely as tax-exempt non-profit organizations in the
US.”

SAWC, says USCIRF, identifies US-based organizations which carry out these
activities. These are “Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad of
America, Sewa International USA, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation-USA, and the
Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party-USA.”

USCIRF regrets, “While the Indian government continues to use the FCRA to
limit foreign funding for some NGOs, Hindutva supporter organizations have
never come under the scrutiny of the FCRA”, adding, “With the new
amendment to the FCRA, these foreign-based radical Hindu organizations will be able
to send funds to India, without restriction, to support hate campaigns.”

At the same time, the report states, the FCRA is being used against
organizations which take up human rights of minorities, pointing to how the Modi
government has been blocking funds “to hamper the activities of NGOs that
question or condemn the government or its policies”.

It also enumerates India’s failure to ensure the rights of Dalit people, those from socially and economically poor castes, once considered untouchables. “Religious minority communities and Dalits, both have faced discrimination and persecution due to a combination of overly broad or ill-defined laws, an inefficient criminal justice system, and a lack of jurisprudential consistency,” the report said.

Hindus form the majority 80 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people while Muslims form some 15 percent. Christians, the second largest religious minority, form just 2.3 percent. Dalits and tribal people make up 70 percent of India’s 27 million Christians.

In 2016, at least 10 Christians were killed and over 500 members of the community were attacked for their faith or for allegedly converting people to Christianity, said a report by the Catholic Secular Forum in January 2017.

“Symbolic and structural violence has increased in the country since 2014. The government needs to respond to such violence in a much more sensible way rather than denying it,” said Samuel Jaikumar of the National Council of Churches in India, a union of all Protestant and Orthodox Churches.

The U.S. report said that seven of the 29 states have adopted laws banning religious conversions, which has resulted in inequitable practices. The report said that state governments have described church humanitarian aid and development “as a cause of improper and unethical conversions.”

The report also said that India’s law to regulate foreign funding has consistently been used against civil society organizations, charities and other non-governmental organizations that question government policies.

In June 2015, India put the leading Christian charity, Caritas International, on its watch list. The charity, which is the social arm of the Vatican, was scrutinized for alleged “anti-India activities,” the report said.

With a special reference, in this context, to the clampdown on human
rights activist Teesta Setalvad for “violating” FCRA, the report praises her
for “campaigning to seek criminal charges against Indian officials, including
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for their alleged involvement in the
anti-Muslim riots.”

Referring to the Indian Divorce Act 2001 that restricts inheritance, alimony payments, and property ownership of people from interfaith marriages, the report said the law is “problematic.”
“The act also interferes in the personal lives of Christians by not allowing marriage ceremonies to be conducted in a church if one of the partners is non-Christian,” it added.

The cow protection laws in India which restrict or ban cow slaughter are “often mixed with anti-Muslim sentiment,” the report said. Cow slaughter “has remained a perpetual source of tension between Hindu, Muslim and Dalit communities.”

In recommendation, it said that India should stop harassing groups, reform anti-conversion laws, and establish “a test of reasonableness” surrounding prohibitions on cow slaughter. It also asked India to adopt the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Hindu temple opens in California’s Santa Clarita

February 15, 2017 Staff ReporterCulture/Religion, India, U.S. 0

Sri Siddhi Vinayaka Temple Santa Clarita (SSVTSC), where the main deity is Lord Ganesh, had its grand-opening on February nine evening in Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita (California).

Mission of Sri Siddhi Vinayaka Temple of SSVTSC, a non-profit organization, is “to serve Santa Clarita community by offering a place to worship, practice spirituality, celebrate festivals and cultural activities”. It plans to have Ganesh Puja (worship) and other services every Saturday, besides various activities/programs for everyone round the year, including programs for children and charity food donations.

Temple opening puja was performed by priest Cherukupalli Narasimhacharya and Tyger White of Santa Clarita Valley Interfaith Council also participated in the celebrations. Temple leaders/volunteers reportedly include Mano Dhana, Suman Dutta, Prakash, Deepthi Rajaraaman, Gautam Deepthi, Kavitha Muru, Aparna Kiran, Vijay Sharma and Ritu Khadiya.

Meanwhile, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, commended efforts of temple leaders and area community towards realizing this Hindu temple. Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that it was important to pass on Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society and hoped that this temple would help in this direction. Zed stressed that instead of running after materialism; we should focus on inner search and realization of Self and work towards achieving moksh (liberation), which was the goal of Hinduism.

In Hinduism, Lord Ganesh is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world has about one billion adherents. There are about three million Hindus in USA.

Incorporated in 1987, City of Santa Clarita is claimed to be “one of the best places to live in California”. Notable people associated with it include Oscar winner filmmaker Tim Burton, Olympian gold medalists track-field sprinter Allyson Felix and swimmer Anthony Ervin, etc. Cameron Smyth and Dr. Kenneth W. Striplin are Mayor and City Manager respectively.

Prakash Patil is ‘Mr. United Nations 2016’

February 15, 2017 Staff ReporterEntertainment, Profiles, U.S. 0

Extraordinary talented and handsome International Model/Actor – Prakash Patil was nominated as Mr. USA from USA at United Nations Pageant World finals and brought home the winning title the “MR. United Nations 2016”. Pageant was held in Knutsford Court Hotel, Kingston, Jamaica country with contestants participating from many different countries across the world.

The United Nations Pageant has been conceptualized as a prestigious international event, bringing together representatives of a wide range of communities and cultures from all over the Globe; from the world’s most culturally diverse state, the delegates aim to share common values and foster international friendship and understanding. The pageant’s principal objective is to identify and showcase the world’s best tourism cause ambassadors; those who have the skills, talents and personalities best suited to promote their respective countries in furtherance of tourism, international goodwill and cultural harmony. Apart from a strong emphasis on goodwill tourism protection programs and destinations promotion.

Prakash was judged on different rounds namely High Fashion Wear, National Costume, Evening wear, Sportswear and Interview (Question and Answer) and charity work. During Interview round Prakash articulated with excellent social and conversational skills. He expressed himself clearly, diplomatically, and projected a pleasant personality, and approachable at all times. At National costume he worn outstanding Shervani (Sponsored by Vasavi Collections) a national symbols/heritage of his country. Prakash dignified spirit, energy, creativity and the own personal interpretation with sense of style. In Fashion Wear round Prakash had enlightening costume (Sponsored by Designer Mischka Velesco),his fashion & style on the runway was memorizing. He won Best High Fashion Award.

He is very well-renowned and commercially successful model as compared to other Indian Models in USA. He has accomplished so much in such a short span of time.

Prakash had worked on main stream American Modeling runway such as Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Couture New York Fashion Week, NYC Fashion Week, IIFA preview runway, Brooklyn Fashion Week and had been show stopper for high scale designers. Prakash has been featured in top notch magazines like Floss magazine, Moetic Magazine, Alize La Vie Magazine, Vicissitude Magazine, Black Tie International Magazine, globalfashionwire.com etc.

The recent title of Mr. United Nations has undoubtedly added another feather in his already decorated cap, which gives a moment of pride, not just to Prakash but to each and every one of us. Patil stands out from other models; because he has expanded his brand into other forms of entertainment, is professional under any and all circumstances; has incredible talent, class, and poise. Prakash is known not only for being attractive but also for knowing how to work all the angles. In addition, his talent, skill, looks; accomplishments, personal traits, and overall brand make him commercially more marketable and most successful amongst his Indian Model Peers in the USA.

As an Actor Prakash played a lead role in music video album for famous Bollywood singers Shreya Ghoshal and Pankaj Kumar which has more than 164,0000 views on youtube. Patil played a unique role as actor in films like The Other Side of New York, Spices of Liberty, They always Win and currently Brand ambassador for Lejubon Ties.

Prakash’s air fare around trip was sponsored by Aeroworld travel agency (www.aeroworldtravel.com) and is one of best travel agency to make your travel destinations a great pleasure. Prakash added, “I am very thankful to Mohinder Singh and Arora K Simi sponsoring and believing in me.”

The humble and soft-spoken Prakash gives all the credit of his success to his parents who live in India and Special thanks to Mr. Leon Williams (CEO & President of United Nations Pageants). After winning the most coveted title of Mr. United Nations, Prakash adds, “I wish to thank everyone for giving me such a great opportunity to showcase my talent across the globe. It is a great moment of glory as I am honored at such a prestigious event in front of such illustrious guests. I look forward to using this opportunity to achieve greater heights and giving back to those who have showered their love on me and believed in me. I will utilize my achievements for the welfare of people in the world and towards world peace.”

Sandeep Das and team wins 2017 Grammy for Album ‘Sing Me Home’

February 15, 2017 Ajay GhoshEntertainment, India, U.S. 0

Indian American tabla player Sandeep Das was part of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble that won a Grammy in the ‘Best World Music Album’ category for “Sing Me Home.” Yo-Yo Ma’s ‘Sing Me Home’ features tunes composed or arranged by different global artists as it examines the ever-changing idea of home.

The album was released to accompany a documentary on Ma’s project entitled ‘The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble’.

Apart from Ma and Das, musicians on the album include the New York-based Syrian clarinet player Kinan Azmeh, who was recently stranded overseas when US President Donald Trump imposed a ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Azmeh could return to country after a court rejected Trump’s travel ban order.

Das, who was dressed in red kurta, said the ensemble sent a powerful message of unity and respect for each other’s cultures.

“It is third time lucky for us. I am very proud of who I am and where I come from be it culturally or musically. I wish there were more acknowledgment from my own country for the music that is deep-rooted and in our blood over glitz and glamour,” Das told PTI over phone from Los Angeles just after his win.

“It is not a complaint but merely a wish. I hope there is more awareness about traditional music. I was invited to Harvard University but my alma mater Banaras Hindu University is yet to see something of worth in me.”

Das, who was dressed in a red kurta, said the ensemble sent a powerful message of unity and respect for each other’s cultures. “When things like this happen, it impacts us directly because a lot of us come from a lot of those countries,” Das told reporters after accepting the award. “In the current situation, I think we’ll keep playing more music and sharing more love.”

World Music category also included Anoushka Shankar’s “Land of Gold,” which is about the global refugee crisis. The 35-year-old Indian American musician was accompanied by her husband, British director Joe Wright, at the music ceremony. For a sixth time in a row after being nominated, Shankar did not win a Grammy.

Shankar, the daughter of famous sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, received her first ever Grammy nomination at the age of 20 but she is yet to bag an award despite multiple nominations.However, her late father won two individual Grammys as well as two in collaborations.

Lawmakers of Indian Origin critical of Trump’s immigration policy

February 15, 2017 Staff ReporterIndia, U.S. 0

Indian-American lawmakers have slammed US President Donald Trump for signing executive orders to reshape the country’s immigration policies, describing the move as “anti-immigrant” that will “tear apart” families.

Trump has escalated his anti-immigrants stand with a series of executive orders that will “tear families apart,” while weakening the public safety and national security, said Senator Kamala Harris, the first Indian-American to be elected to the upper chamber of the United States Congress.

Indian-American Senator Kamala D. Harris, D-California, a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, introduced her first piece of legislation Feb. 9, the Access to Counsel Act, that would guarantee those detained while attempting to enter the United States, access to legal counsel. It is doubtful this bill would be passed in a Republican-majority Senate. She was joined in the House of Representatives by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, who introduced companion legislation.

Harris said the reports of refugees, Green Card holders, and even U.S. citizens—many of whom women, elderly, or children— held for long periods of time, and denied access to volunteer lawyers, spurred her to introduce her first piece of legislation since she took office early january.

Despite temporary restraining orders against holding Legal Permanent Residents, accounts of protracted holding at ports of entry still came in, even after the reversal in the agencies’ policies, Harris said.

Rep. Jayapal’s companion legislation was co-signed in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. John Conyers, D-Michigan, Zoe Lofgren, D-California, Jerrold Nadler, D- New York, Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, Judy Chu, D-Ca., Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, Eric Swalwell, D-Cal., Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Cal., and Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-New Mexico.

“Creating a deportation force to target immigrant families who are contributing to our society is not a show of strength. Asking taxpayers to pay for an unrealistic border wall is not a solution. And telling cities to deny public safety, education, and health services to kids and families is irresponsible and cruel,” said Harris.

She said that the US was now “less safe” because of the “anti-immigrant” policies followed by the President. “Immigrants will report fewer crimes, more families will live in fear, and our communities and local economies will suffer,” Harris said.

Indian-American Seattle representative Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who has earlier announced not to attend Trump’s presidential inauguration, slammed the President for moving forward with his “divisive agenda” that will do nothing to solve the real immigration issues.

“He has doubled down on his agenda that pits mother against mother, neighbour against neighbour, tearing up the fabric of our communities,” Jayapal said.

“We must take on enacting comprehensive and humane reform of our broken immigration system – to support our economy, our communities and our families – but the President offers zero leadership in this area,” she said. “Instead of building walls, we should address the underlying systemic issues that drive immigration and fix our own outdated immigration system. Instead of banning refugees and people based on their religion, we should welcome them with open arms,” she said.

Jayapal said that as a world superpower it is US’s moral responsibility to provide a sanctuary to all who need it most. The lawmakers were also joined by Senator Chuck Schumer and Democratic Whip Congressman Steny H Hoyer in opposing Trump’s immigration policies.

“President Trump’s plans are based on alternative facts and do nothing to keep us safe or fix our immigration system in a humane, pragmatic and effective way,” Schumer said.

Madhuri Dixit launches Indian Academy Awards in California

February 15, 2017 Staff ReporterEntertainment, India, U.S. 0

Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit joined entertainment executives at a news conference to announce details of the first-ever Indian Academy Awards in July this year. Known for its entrepreneurship and technological innovation, Silicon Valley may soon find itself in the global spotlight courtesy of another industry — entertainment. India-based Cineyug and Brainstorm Entertainment have joined forces to bring to the audiences the first Indian Academy Awards.

With an aim to take Indian film industry closer to its global dream, at a press conference held Jan. 27 at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, Calif., the organizers announced the unique selling proposition of these awards along with unveiling the flashy ‘Golden Knight’ trophy.

“Where else to do it than here in the Silicon Valley where Indians have put India on the global map? They have created so many disruptive things that have changed the way things work in the world and the way society and everything else is percieved,” said Dixi. “I’m so glad that we’re doing it here.”

Promising to bring “the best of Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood together to create history in the entertainment world,” the award ceremony is to be organized by Los Angeles-based Brainstorm Media.

“We wanted to create a platform for Indian cinema and world cinema,” said Vandana Krishna, co-founder of Brainstorm Entertainment. “The whole idea came when we were looking at cinema and how it was going global; we figured out that the Indian film industry is going global today. Therefore, the awards are a celebration, a dedication to this democratic academy. These awards are for the people, by the people and of the people.”

Announcing an open voting system, Krishna stressed that the voting process would be a “transparent, honest and an absolutely credible” one. “We will be doing a global voting to engage viewers across the world who are cinema lovers to vote and choose their favorite stars,” she said.

Global audiences will be a part of the jury, she said, inviting the fans to register and participate on www.indianacademyaward.com, where very soon they will be able to vote for their favorite films and stars in over 17 categories. A credible certifying agency will be auditing the entire process.

The awards, which will be hosted by none other than Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, will be a two-day extravaganza of live performances featuring top stars from Bollywood, South Indian cinema and Hollywood, which will be choreographed by contemporary dance guru Shiamak Davar along with music and fashion shows.

BAPS celebrates Indian-American culture at the Texas capitol building in Austin

February 15, 2017 Staff ReporterCulture/Religion, India, U.S. 0

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha hosted a celebration of Indian-American culture at the historic Texas State Capitol in Austin earlier this month. The celebration was sponsored by State Representative Matt Rinaldi of House District 115, who represents a BAPS temple in Irving, Tex.

On the morning of Feb. 1, a group of BAPS representatives were recognized during the 85th Legislative regular session, where a resolution commemorating this inaugural event was read. The resolution also noted the myriad of contributions by Indian-Americans to the Lone Star State and lauded BAPS’ commitment to community service in Texas and across the nation, a BAPS press release said.

Throughout the day BAPS members from across Texas met with their respective state representatives and senators to share the background on the Hindu faith and on the Indian-American community’s history and growth.

Hosted by BAPS, at the historic Texas State Capitol on Feb. 1, State Representative Matt Rinaldi of House District 115 fondly spoke of the contributions of Indian-Americans to the Lone Star State.

“This event is not only a chance for Indian-Americans to learn about government, but also for their government to learn about Indian culture and to provide a learning experience for senators and representatives,” the press release quoted Rep. Rinaldi as saying.

Throughout the celebration, speakers shared their thoughts on the diverse contributions of Indian-Americans to the economic and cultural fabric of Texas. “We value what BAPS has done for our community, from its Walkathon to its Health Fair…BAPS works tirelessly to make Irving, Texas and our district a better place,” Rep. Rinaldi continued.

“I am honored to be here this evening. I know firsthand from my work and relationship with BAPS about what a great job it does and how it impacts thousands of lives across the state,” Chris Wallace, president of the Texas Association of Business said. His remarks highlighted the importance of nurturing and advancing the relationship between the growing population of over 275,000 Indian-Americans in Texas and the state government, the press release noted.

The program also touched on the role of the BAPS temples. “Inspired by His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, places of worship, such as the beautiful, hand-carved stone mandir in Stafford, Texas, reflects the diverse culture of our state and demonstrates that the contributions of the Indian-American diaspora go beyond simply the economic realm,” said Ketan Inamdar of Missouri City, Tex.

The current spiritual leader, Mahant Swami Maharaj, as always inspired the Indian- American community to celebrate our shared culture and develop a sense of identity and pride in our heritage, he said.

AARP Foundation offers Tax assistance

February 15, 2017 Staff ReporterCommunity, U.S. 0

WASHINGTON, February 9, 2017 – Beginning today through April 18, AARP Foundation is providing free tax assistance and preparation through its Tax-Aide program. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, in its 49th year, is the nation’s largest free tax assistance and preparation service, offering free tax preparation help to anyone, especially those who are 50 and older, who cannot afford a tax preparation service.

Some locations offer assistance in additional languages, including Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese. For more information or to locate an AARP Foundation Tax-Aide site, visit aarp.org/findtaxhelp or call 1-888-AARPNOW (1-888-227-7669). An appointment may be required.

“Our bilingual volunteers generously give their time to help taxpayers who don’t speak English or speak English as a second language prepare their returns,” said Daphne Kwok, AARP Vice President of Multicultural Leadership, Asian American and Pacific Islander Audience Strategy. “We need more bilingual volunteers so if you can help translate, please join our Tax-Aide volunteer team so that we can expand our services to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.”

Tax-Aide, which is offered free of charge, is available to AARP members and non-members and includes more than 5,000 locations in neighborhood libraries, malls, banks, community centers and senior centers nationwide. Since 1968, Tax-Aide has helped nearly 50 million low- to moderate-income taxpayers.

In 2016, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide volunteers helped 2.7 million people navigate complicated tax codes, ensure proper credits and deductions and file their federal and state tax returns. Taxpayers who used AARP Foundation Tax-Aide received $1.41 billion in income tax refunds and more than $240 million in Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs). AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is offered in conjunction with the IRS.

AARP Foundation works to ensure that low-income older adults have nutritious food, affordable housing, a steady income, and strong and sustaining bonds. We collaborate with individuals and organizations who share our commitment to innovation and our passion for problem-solving. Supported by vigorous legal advocacy, we create and advance effective solutions that help struggling older adults transform their lives. AARP Foundation is the affiliated charity of AARP.

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