Category Archives: India-US Relations Blog

Indian-American Nandita Bakhshi appointed as the President and CEO at Bank of the West!

Nandita BakhshiIt is a matter of immense pride and joy among the Indian-American population when Nandita Bakhshi was appointed as the President and CEO of Bank of the West – a subsidiary of the French multinational bank, BNP Paribas, which is one of the largest banks in the world.

Bakhshi, 57 will replace her predecessor, Michael Shepherd, who will now take on the role of Chairman of a new holding company encompassing all U.S based BNP Paribas subsidiaries. She is said to officially take the reins as CEO and President on the 1st of June 2016, after a month of training, scheduled to start on April 1. Nandita Bakhshi’s rich experience and leadership roles in top US banks like Washington Mutual (now JP Morgan Chase), TD Bank, Bank of America, First Data Corp, Home Savings of America and Banc One Corp has won her this spectacular achievement. She currently serves on the board of the Consumers Bankers Association and is the recipient of a New England News “Woman of the Year” award in 2002.

Head of International Retail Banking, BNP Paribas, Mr. Stefaan Decraene said “We are extremely pleased to welcome Nandita Bakhshi to Bank of the West. Her extensive experience in product and distribution, coupled with her visionary thinking, relentless customer focus and values-driven philosophy will serve us well in taking Bank of the West to greater heights.” BNP Paribas is set out to revamp its US operational strategy to meet new regulations. Michael Shepherd is all praises for the new President and CEO, “I am very pleased that Nandita Bakhshi is joining Bank of the West. Her energy, innovative ideas and proven record of accomplishments are a great combination with our strong franchise and corporate culture,” he added.

Nandita Bakhshi graduated with a Bachelor’s in History from University of Kolkatta and holds a master’s degree in International Relations and Affairs from Jadavpur University, India. Her most recent leadership role was VP and Head of North America where she was responsible for driving innovation and improvising the digital channels to provide customers with a unified and seamless banking experience. On that note, USINPAC congratulates Nandita Bakhshi on her new endeavor and journey as CEO and President at Bank of the West. Cheers to that!

Richard Verma: Taking US-India Relations to a New Level

Verma Rich DC 300 DPI

During his stint as Senior National Security Adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Richard Verma was called the “Most Influential Indian American Congressional Aide.” After being appointed as the new US envoy to India, he is now referred to as the “Most influential Indian American in India.”  Verma took the lead after Nancy Powell resigned in March, 2014. The extraordinary connection between President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set an ambitious vision for the two economies to accomplish global economic growth and other remarkable developments. In the last decade, the two countries have made dynamic progress in every category to strengthen bilateral relations.

“The future between the two nations is looking brighter than ever with a number of collaborations that are in the process including the second mission to Mars with Nasa to provide navigational support,” Verma stated recently. He also announced that US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter will come to India in April, this being his third visit in less than a year, which marks the dawn of a new era in the Indo-US security relationship, moving to greater heights of partnership in the “not-so-distant” future. The implementation of the Joint Strategic Vision for Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean regions will strengthen the ties between the provinces; explore multilateral opportunities for engagement that will bolster long term peace, prosperity and stability for all.

When questioned about the recent decision to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan which caused unrest and drew protests in India, he said, “There should be zero tolerance for terrorism and Pakistan should do more to fight terror and safe havens, however, India-US defense ties are qualitatively and quantitatively different from any other country in South Asia. India-US ties are independent of Pakistan”. Moving on to bilateral trade which has grown substantially in 2015, he remarked that there are 500 US companies in India and is hoping that bilateral trade will reach $500 billion a year and that America is waiting to start negotiations on Bilateral Investment Treaty. “Fundamentally, our two countries are stronger when we come together and the global impact we can have on peace and prosperity,” said the US Ambassador.

USINPAC congratulates Indian-American Raja Krishnamoorthi for winning the Chicago Democratic nomination

Raja KrishnamoorthiRenowned businessman and legislative genius Raja Krishnamoothi was a front-runner for the 8th Congressional District race, who registered a glorious win in the Democratic Congressional primary in the State of Illinois, defeating the state Senator.

Krishnamoorthi’s victory is an inspiration to all Indian Americans and this historic opportunity represents a chance of a lifetime for the current and future generations. It is a matter of immense pride and the dawn of new shinning hope among all Indian Americans, for another individual of Indian blood to be elected to the US House of Representatives in the November general elections. Krishnamoorthi polled 57 percent of votes defeating his arch rivals – State Senator Mike Noland, who bagged 29 percent and Deb Bullwinkel at 13 percent.

Raja Krishnamoorthi hails from New Delhi, India and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Princeton University, New Jersey, followed by a degree with honors in Law from Harvard in the year 2000. He served as a policy director and advisor for Barrack Obama’s US Senate campaign in 2004 as well as the Presidential campaign in 2008. He is currently the President of Sivananthan Labs and Episolar Inc that manufacture and sell products in the national security and renewable energy industries. He is also the co-founder of Inspire, a nonprofit organization and has served as the Vice Chairman of Illinois Innovation Council.

USINPAC was honored to host a radio interview with Raja Krishnamoorthi where he spoke about his vision and ideas about the new economy- including strengthening the quality of life of working families, making college affordable, bolstering small businesses, reforming immigration system and improving America’s infrastructure. More importantly, he stressed on pursuing and bringing about changes in economic equality, social security, healthcare and advocating policies to increase minimum wages.

Source:  The New Indian Express

USINPAC Urges Appointment Of Indian American To US Supreme Court

www.usinpac.com
USINPAC Urges Appointment Of Indian American To US Supreme Court
Created White House Petition for Indian Americans to Sign and Show their Support


USINPAC Urges Appointment Of Sri Srinivasan To Us Supreme Court
February 15, 2016 Contact: info@usinpac.com
USINPAC announced today its support of President Obama to nominate one of the several qualified Indian American to the US Supreme Court, including Justice Sri Srinivasan.  In connection with such announcement, USINPAC has created a petition on the White House’s official website for Indian Americans to sign and show their support for such a nomination, a link to which can be found HERE.  Also, USINPAC announced that it has a lobbying strategy in place to support an Indian American nominee to the US Supreme Court.  All US Supreme Court appointees must be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and USINPAC’s decade long history and experience of advocacy for Indian Americans on Capitol Hill will be a key asset supporting Srinivasan or any other Indian American if nominated by Obama.

USINPAC’s advocacy strategy is one that has never been seen before by any ethnic community in the United States, and has been developed because of the high stakes of this appointment.  A US Supreme Court justice is one of the greatest honors that can be bestowed upon an American because such justice would be able to shape US laws for decades to come and forever be etched in American history.  USINPAC’s advocacy strategy includes multiple Congressional briefings, several in person meetings with key Senators whose approval is needed to confirm the Justice, and unleashing the energy from the Indian American grassroots across the country to encourage their Senators to approve such justice.  All aspects of their strategy have been successfully employed before by USINPAC for other issues over the past decade, and will be refocused to support an Indian American Supreme Court nominee.

“President Obama should know that if he nominates Srinivasan or any of the other several qualified Indian Americans to serve on the US Supreme Court, USINPAC is standing ready to advocate for his or her confirmation and will expend every effort towards that end” said Sanjay Puri, Chairman of USINPAC. “Having an Indian American on the US Supreme Court is a once in a life time opportunity and supporting an Indian American’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate will be our top priority.”

Srinivas currently serves as a justice on the U.S. Court of Appeals DC Circuit and has been appointed to judicial positions by both President Obama and President Bush, and such appointments have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans.  Several other Indian Americans have been named in media reports, and USINPAC urges President Obama to appoint any one of them due to their exceptional qualifications, including but not limited Neal Katyal, former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, and Kamala Harris, the Attorney General of California and a US Senate candidate.

About USINPAC:

The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) is the voice of over 3.2 million Indian- Americans and works on issues that concern the community. It supports candidates for local, state and federal office and encourages political participation by the Indian- American community.

Visit http://www.usinpac.com/ for more details.

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Indian-American nominated to the US Advisory Board on Human Trafficking

HaroldMIT SOGUS President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-born Harold D’Souza, a victim of human trafficking, to the key post

In a world torn by war and unrest, the story of a victim-turned-policymaker comes as a shining beacon of hope for the world to be inspired by. In a recent highly admirable move, President Obama nominated Harold D’Souza, an Indian-American victim of human trafficking, to a key position on the US Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.

Harold D’Souza was born in Vadodara, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat. He secured an L.L.B. and an M.Com. degree from the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara before taking up a job as a Sales Manager in India. As a result of a series of unfortunate events, Harold landed up becoming a victim of labor trafficking and debt bondage. Finding his feet in the United States of America, Harold went on to pull himself out of his debilitating circumstances with the active support of the system for protection of victims of such crimes.

By 2008, Harold had become a Senior Supply Chain Associate with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, a position he has held since then. He was a founder member of the National Survivors Network (NSN), which was launched by the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST) in 2011, and he has also been active with End Slavery Cincinnati. His work against slavery and human trafficking was given special recognition by the Greater Cincinnati Human Trafficking Conference 2015, where he was invited to be an advocate to create awareness about the issue.

His nomination to the US Advisory Council on Human Trafficking by the President himself comes as a welcome acknowledgment of his struggle as a victim as well as a socially responsible survivor of human trafficking in the USA. This move is likely to help foster better Indo-American relations with respect to the protection of human rights and ending slavery, both causes India is dedicated towards.

We at USINPAC stand staunchly against evil practices like debt bondage, slavery and human trafficking, at a national as well as international level. We are proud supporters of Harold D’Souza and the global fight against all such brutalization of human rights and dignity. We, along with the entire Indian-American community, wish Harold well and hope that his appointment will prove highly effective in creating strong Indo-American advocacy towards ending slavery and human trafficking.

Source: Business Standard