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

As we entered 2015,  we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the supporters and friends for getting associated with USINPAC during 2014.  We are extremely grateful for the generosity of our funders, donors, volunteers, partners and sponsors  who  showed active interest in USINPAC initiatives and are continuing to play an imperative role in moving the organization. Your support allows us to continue to set goals, reaching 3.2 million Indian-Americans and work on those issues that concern the community.

With over 12 years of experience working for the Indian American community in the U.S, USINPAC in significant ways supports candidates for local, state and federal office and encourages political participation by the Indian- American community.  In the year 2015, we plan to emphasize more on “fair and balanced policies” and ensure that the concerns of the community are effectively addressed.

This year felt like the future arrived all at once. We witnessed one of the most historic win by Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only won the hearts of the people in India but abroad too. His presence at Madison Square Garden was truly a spectacle like no other.  PM Modi in his quintessential style made everyone thrilled by his visionary speech. USINPAC played an integral part in this historic event and we thank the entire community  for their support and presence at Madison Square Garden.

This year USINPAC organized a bi-weekly series of  ‘Leadership Dialogues’, focusing on topics which are monumental both for India and the United States. The series was widely accepted and appreciated from lawmakers and senior policy experts, leaders of Indian American community, and the investor and media communities in the United States.  The series featured eminent experts from the United states and India, including various think tanks, BJP ministers, CEO’s and media professionals. The leadership dialogue sessions have been instrumental to the USINPAC mission of serving as a unified voice of the Indian American community. We thank all our experts and callers for participating is this exceptional webinar and getting involved with the NRI community.

USINPAC in the year 2014 performed phenomenally well. USINPAC organized “US-INDIA: THE ROAD AHEAD”,  a special event in honor of the new incoming Indian Government and Prime Minister  Narendra Modi. The seminar focused on the US- India Post Election Landscape on Bilateral Trade. The Seminar took place in the US Capitol Visitor Center. The speakers for this seminar were a well known congressman and senators, including Congressman Ami Bera, Congressman Joe Crowley and many more. The seminar primarily focused on to build healthy relationships that will be able to rise to a level unseen before in US-India relations.

USINPAC concluded the grassroots campaign to schedule a Joint Session of congress address by PM Modi. Due to the Prime Minister’s brief U.S. sojourn, the intervening U.S. Congressional holiday schedule, and the House of Representatives’ urgency to leave Washington to prepare for the November elections in their home districts, the Joint Session Address by Prime Minister did not take place in September 2014.  However, the USINPAC membership came away with an exceptional understanding that the journey – building a case for an enduring bilateral relationship, has been more important than the destination.  To this end, USINPAC wishes to extend its heartfelt thanks to each and every member of Congress – Senate and House – who have engaged with our membership in this bipartisan effort.

When PM Modi competed the first month of his election victory, he received strong support towards his vision of a Vibrant India by prominent overseas Indians who have received the prestigious Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) is the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians. This initiative among the PBSA awardees from various countries was one of the most central aspects of USNPAC.

USINPAC also organized a Congressional Briefing on US Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Exports to India and a conference on US-India Counterterrorism Cooperation. It is the supporters like you who are assisting to bring the services closer to the people. Thank you once again as we continue to scale and reach out to more issues that are still a concern. Twenty fifteen holds a bright future for USINPAC as we are all set to get off to a roaring start with our first delegation of the year, Water and Waste Water Management.

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