New York — Indian American Punit Renjen was appointed  the next CEO of U.S.-based accounting giant Deloitte’s global operations, becoming the first person of Indian origin to head a “Big-Four” audit firm.

Renjen joins a growing list of persons of Indian origin like Indira Nooyi, Satya Nadella and Anshu Jain, who have made it to the top posts at multi-billion dollar global corporations like PepsiCo, Microsoft and Deutsche Bank, respectively.

Deloitte, which is present across 150 countries, including India, and employs over 200,000 people, is one of the four largest audit firms in the world and competes with PwC, KPMG and EY.

Hailing from Rohtak, Haryana, Renjen will assume his new role of Deloitte Global Chief Executive Officer from June 1. He will succeed Barry Salzberg in this role and is currently serving as U.S. business chairman and CEO of the group.

“I am honored to have been elected as Deloitte Global’s next CEO,” Renjen said in a statement.

“Renjen’s leadership appointment is part of a rigorous and comprehensive nomination and member firm partner ratification process that occurs every four years and includes all member firms of the Deloitte worldwide network,” Deloitte said.

Renjen, who has been with Deloitte for over 27 years, grew up in India and holds a bachelor’s degree with honors and a master’s degree in management from Willamette University.

Renjen did his schooling at Lawrence School, Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh, after which he left for the U.S. to pursue higher studies.

He has held a number of leadership positions, including chairman and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP. In addition to being chairman of Deloitte LLP, he currently also serves as a member of the board of directors of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte Global), and as chairman of the Deloitte Foundation board of directors.

His new role would begin on the first day of Deloitte’s new fiscal year on June 1, 2015.

An earlier India-West report added that revenue at Deloitte, which seeks to expand in emerging markets like India, South America and Africa, grew 6.5% to $34.2 billion in the financial year ended May 31, led by a double-digit increase in consulting income.

The Indian arm of Deloitte, according to India-based LiveMint, has been one of the fastest growing divisions, posting a double-digit increase in revenue in the last financial year. Deloitte’s network includes 47 member firms operating in 150 countries and 200,000 employees.

Renjen was named one of the “Top 25 Most Influential Consultants” by Consulting magazine in 2007.

Source: India West

Washington,  (PTI) Influential India- American lawmaker, Ami Bera said he will build on President Barack Obama’s India trip and work with the country’s new Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to take bilateral ties forward.

Jaishankar, who today took charge as the country’s new Foreign Secretary, till yesterday was the Indian Ambassador to the US.

“Congratulations to new Foreign Secretary Jaishankar. He’s been an excellent ambassador to the US and a dedicated public servant to India,” Congressman Bera said.

Bera is Co-Chair of Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans –- the largest country specific caucus in House of Representatives.

“Building on the momentum of the Presidential trip to India that I just returned from, I look forward to working with the new foreign secretary to advance the US-India relationship,” said Bera, who is the only Indian-American lawmaker in the current Congress.

Source: Niti Central

USINPAC congratulates noted economist  Arvind Panagariya for taking charge of the newly-created NITI Aayog.

The NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khuallar and other senior officials briefed the vice-chairman about the newly created body.

Panagariya is expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the chairman of the Aayog, later in the day.

The government had announced the appointment of vice-chairman, 2 full time members, 4 ex-officio members (Union ministers) and 3 special invitees for the Aayog on January 5.
Economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat were appointed as full-time members by the Prime Minister. They are expected to join shortly.

NITI Aayog has replaced the 65-year old Planning Commission, a vestige of the socialist era.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh will be the ex-officio members while their colleagues Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Zubin Irani and Thawar Chand Gehlot would be special invitees.

The government had notified the Cabinet resolution (on January 7) regarding the constitution of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog which was approved by the Prime Minister on January 1. The government had also notified the names of the office bearers of the Aayog.

The 62-year-old Panagariya is an Indian-American economist and professor of Economics at Columbia University.

The earlier Planning Commission had a deputy chairperson at the helm, with Prime Minister as its chairperson.

Panagariya is known for his market-friendly views and is a close associate of well-known trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati.

Panagariya has earlier been the chief economist of the Asian Development Bank and a professor of economics and co-director, Centre for International Economics, University of Maryland at College Park.

Holding a PhD degree in Economics from Princeton University, Panagariya has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in various capacities.

Source: The Times of India

USINPAC  congratulates Rupesh Srivastava for getting appointed to the board of trustees of the Ferris State University in the US state of Michigan.

Srivastava,  who graduated from Ranchi University in Jharkhand, will serve an eight-year term on the university’s governing body, the daily India West reported citing a university release Wednesday.

Srivastava is president, chief executive officer, and founder of Youngsoft Inc. and H2H Solutions. The Indian-American entrepreneur also serves on the board of Lawerence Tech University, ESSPL and Car4nurses . He was a TIE Detroit president from 2010 to 2014 and a charter member for the organisation. Srivastava is a founding member of Ynotlearn, Car4Nurses, Youngtronics, and ESPPL.

The businessman was awarded the Pride of India Gold Award in 2006, and received the Salute to Excellence Award from the Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce in 2007.

Source: Business Standard

Washington, January 14 California’s Indian-American Attorney General Kamala Harris, a “good friend” of President Barack Obama, has thrown her hat into the ring for the 2016 race to replace fellow Democrat veteran Barbara Boxer in the US Senate.

“I will be a fighter for the next generation on the critical issues facing our country,” pledged Oakland, California-born Harris, 50, the state’s first Indian-American and first African American top law officer announcing her run on her website on Tuesday.

“I will be a fighter for middle class families who are feeling the pinch of stagnant wages and diminishing opportunity,” added the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican-American father.

“I will be a fighter for our children who deserve a world-class education, and for students burdened by predatory lenders and skyrocketing tuition. And I will fight relentlessly to protect our coast, our immigrant communities and our seniors,” Harris said.

Harrison’s mother Dr Shyamala Gopalan is a breast cancer specialist who emigrated from Chennai in the 1960s while her father Donald Harris is an economics professor at Stanford University.

Hours after Harris announced her run, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer said he would decide soon whether to take on the follow Democrat in the November 2016 election.

Steyer and Harris would be among the most formidable contenders for Boxer’s seat, along with former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has said he is “seriously considering” a run, according to CNN.

Harris, the former district attorney of San Francisco who was just re-elected to her second term as attorney general, was the first to formally declare her candidacy since Boxer announced last week that she would not run for re-election in 2016.

Harris’ position was strengthened on Monday when Lt Gov Gavin Newsom bowed out of contention. Newsom, 47, is reported to be interested in running for governor when Jerry Brown faces term limits in 2018.

If Harris wins, she would be the first ever Indian-American in the 100-member US Senate.

Three Indian-Americans have been elected to the US House of Representatives: Dalip Singh Saund, Bobby Jindal and Ami Bera, who was re-elected for his second term last November.

There are also currently two US governors of Indian origin – Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley – both Republicans are said to be mulling presidential runs in 2016.

Obama last year caused a bit of a stir when he called Harris “by far the best-looking attorney general.” He later called long time friend Harris to apologise for saying: “She’s brilliant and she’s dedicated, she’s tough. She also happens to be, by far, the best-looking attorney general … It’s true! C’mon.” Harris graciously accepted the President’s apology.

Source: The Tribune