Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri has been sworn in as the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, becoming the first Indian-American to occupy this top position in the US.

Chaudhuri was sworn in yesterday by the Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, as Chairman of the NIGC.

He will lead a team responsible for regulating and ensuring the integrity of over 450 Indian gaming facilities, associated with nearly 242 tribes across 28 states.

“I would like to thank President (Barack) Obama, the Senate, Secretary Jewell and those in Indian country who have supported my nomination,” Chaudhuri said after the swearing in.

“I will continue the important work ahead of us at the National Indian Gaming Commission and I look forward to working with my fellow Commissioner and the NIGC staff to continue our ongoing and collaborative efforts among tribes and tribal regulators to achieve compliance and protect the Indian gaming industry, which has become a vital economic development tool for so many tribes,” he said.

Chaudhuri has been serving as the Acting Chairman since October 2013.

Under his leadership, the Commission has maintained stability in operations and services and actively worked to strengthen the regulatory structure of the Indian gaming industry.

Chaudhuri has also taken active steps to ensure that the NIGC stays ahead of technological developments in Indian gaming and general operations management.

In early March, the Commission announced its intent to develop a technology division that furthers these efforts.

Prior to his appointment to the NIGC, Chaudhuri served as Senior Counsellor to the Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, where he provided guidance and assistance on a wide range of national policy issues, including Indian gaming, economic development, energy, Alaska affairs and tribal recognition.

Source:  Business Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. — India can be an important contributor to U.S. growth and its own development directly benefits American businesses, an Indian American top Obama administration trade official has said.

“India can be an important contributor to continued U.S. economic growth. Our trade with India correlates nicely with India’s own GDP growth rate. India’s growth thus directly benefits U.S. exporters and creates jobs in the U.S.,” said Arun Kumar, assistant secretary of commerce for Global Markets and director general of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service.

“If the United States and India get the economic relationship right, the result can be the ultimate win-win. We can help each other grow our economies, create well-paying jobs and bring our governments and our peoples still closer together,” Kumar said in his address to a conference on “Deepening the U.S.-India Commercial Partnership.”

He said India was the fourth fastest growing source of foreign direct investment into the U.S.

“Just three weeks ago, over 80 Indian companies were right here in Washington to hear the president speak at the Select USA investment summit and explore investment opportunities in the United States,” he said.

A strong Indian delegation at the summit reflected shared economic interest in heightening the two countries’ commercial engagement, Kumar said.

“In terms of growth potential, IMF estimates of India’s growth at 7.2 percent this year and 7.5 percent next year suggest that India will soon become the fastest growing large economy in the world,” he said.

Source: India West

USINPAC Congratulates Meera Komarraju, the Indian American chair of the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale’s Psychology Department, for being named the new dean of the university’s College of Liberal Arts on July 1 pending approval of the board of trustees.

The appointment of the Indian American academic’s new post, announced by Acting Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan Ford, follows a national search to replace former dean Kimberly Leonard, who left for a position at another institution.

Komarraju came to SIU as a lecturer in 1986 after completing her graduate training in psychology at Osmania University in India and the University of Cincinnati. At SIU she taught in the departments of psychology and management until her appointment as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in 2005. She became an associate professor in 2009 and a professor in 2014.

She has held administrative roles as director of the psychology department’s undergraduate program, chair of the department, and associate dean for student and curricular affairs in the college.

Her research interests include cognitive, non-cognitive and socio-cultural factors related to motivation and performance, teaching self-efficacy, and the influence of ethnicity and gender on perceptions of leadership effectiveness.

She is widely published in her field and has earned Fellow status from the American Psychological Association, Division 2, and MPA fellow status, the organization’s highest honor, from the Midwestern Psychological Association.

In addition, she has earned SIU’s university-wide Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award and has twice been its nominee for U.S. Professor of the Year. She is currently serving as co-chair of the advisory committee leading the search for a new SIU chancellor.

Komarraju holds a doctoral degree in applied social psychology from the University of Cincinnati and doctoral and master’s degrees in industrial-organizational psychology from Osmania University in India.

She also earned a master’s degree in psychology from Osmania University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, philosophy and English Literature from Nizam College in India.

Source: India West

USINPAC Congratulates 37-year-old Indian-American Vivek Murthy who was sworn-in as the US Surgeon General by Vice President Joe Biden at ceremony at Fort Myer on Thursday, becoming the youngest-ever in-charge of the country’s public health.

Murthy, who took the oath on the Gita, is now the highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama Administration.

“To have the opportunity to serve as Surgeon General is an extraordinary honour and a profound responsibility, and I want to thank President Obama for entrusting me with the stewardship of this office,” he said in his address on the occasion at Fort Myer military base.

Murthy is the country’s 19th Surgeon General. According to the surgeon general’s website, Murthy received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard. From there, he earned his medical degree and master’s in business adminisration at Yale University.

In addition to practicing internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, he in 2009 started a nonprofit, Doctors for America, composed of thousands of doctors supporting President Barack Obama’s healthcare initiatives.

As the US Surgeon General, Murthy carries the rank of Vice Admiral. The Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell also participated in the event.

“He is eminently qualified for the job,” Biden said on the occasion and described his family as an “incredible” in particular his grandmother who was also present.

“I am who I am because of my grandmother’s faith, my father’s strength, my mother’s love, my sister’s support and my fiancée’s unyielding belief in me. I am blessed to have all of them here with me today. I will always be grateful to them for the sacrifices they have made,” he said, with his parents and family members seated in the audience.

“My family was never supposed to have left our ancestral village. My father is the son of a farmer in rural India. He was supposed to have been a farmer, as was I. But for my grandfather’s insistence that his son get an education – even if that meant going into debt – we might have never left that village to go out in the world and – as my grandfather also insisted – start fixing what needed fixing,” he said.

“We were not supposed to have become Americans. My parents stopped in three other countries – including a brutal dictatorship – on their journey to get here. They saved up money and scrounged for information about job opportunities, always knowing that America was the destination,” Murthy said.

In his first major policy speech, Murthy vowed to improve the public health of the country. ”Public health does not exist in a vacuum. It is intrinsically linked to education, employment, the environment and our economy. There is a whole world beyond hospital corridors and clinic waiting rooms where people are struggling with issues of transportation, housing and development,” he said.

Source:  First Post

SEPARATION OF POWER IN THE U.S. POLITICAL SYSTEM

 A Project for India

These visitors are invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Their program is arranged by Meridian International Center.

Program Contacts: Mr. Henry Collins and Ms. Giuliana DeAngelis, Meridian International Center, 1624 Crescent Place, NW, Washington, DC 20009; telephone (202) 939‑5896 or (202) 939‑5878; toll‑free (800) 424‑2974; fax (202) 319‑1306; email HCollins@meridian.org or GDeAngelis@meridian.org

Department of State Program Contacts: Ms. Reva Gupta and Ms. Rachel Warga, Office of International Visitors; telephone (202) 632‑3311 or (202) 632‑9402; fax (202) 632-9350; email GuptaR3@state.gov or WargaR@state.gov

Accompanied By: Mr. Virgil Cioflec, International Visitor Liaison

April 20 ‑ May 8, 2015

___________________________________________________________________________

PROFESSIONAL OBJECTIVES

The Department of State has outlined the following specific objectives for the project:

•     Examine the structure and operations of state and local government in providing services to citizens;

•     Gain insight into the nature of political engagement by citizens, advocacy groups, and elected officials;

•     Explore examples of youth-focused political organizations; and

•     Expose participants to the range of actors that contribute to the political process.

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Mr. Jayanta Malla BARUAH

Member, Assam Legislative Assembly (Indian National Congress Party)

Mr. Harsh SANGHVI

Member, Gujarat Legislative Assembly (Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP])

Mr. Ganesh YADAV

President, Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress

BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Name:                                     Mr. Jayanta Malla BARUAH

Present Position:                Member, Assam Legislative Assembly (Indian National Congress Party)

Previous Positions:              Chief State Coordinator, Aam Aadmi Ka Sipahi campaign, 2008-2011,

Vice President, Assam State Youth Congress, 2006

General Secretary, Assam State Youth Congress, 2003-2005

General Secretary, B. Borooah College Students’ Union, 1991-1992

Education/Training:          B.A., Political Science, B. Borooah College, Guwahati, 1993

Address:                                  Assam Legislative Assembly, Dispur, Guwahati 781006, India

Email: jayantamallabaruah@gmail.com

Languages:                              Assamese (primary), English

U.S. Travel:                             No previous U.S. travel

Other Travel:                          Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, 2012)

Professional Background:       Mr. Jayanta Malla Baruah is one of 126 legislators in the Assam state assembly and represents the Indian National Congress Party, which has a majority of the seats in the single-chamber body. In his previous work as General Secretary and Vice President of the Assam State Youth Congress, and throughout his service with the Aam Aadmi Ka Sipahi youth brigade, Mr. Baruah demonstrated a strong commitment to the engagement of youth in civic and political affairs. As Chief State Coordinator of Aam Aadmi Ka Sipahi, a campaign initiated by Congress Party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi in 2009, Mr. Baruah helped popularize the United Progressive Alliance’s youth programs. Since his election, Mr. Baruah has worked to improve higher education in his district, began construction on a polytechnic college and planned for construction of another engineering college. He has also been working on an Industrial Training Institute, exclusively for women.

Name:                                     Mr. Harsh SANGHVI

Present Position:                     Member, Gujarat Legislative Assembly (Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP])

Concurrent Positions:             National General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJP youth wing), 2013-present

Education/Training:                Certificate course on export/import of diamonds and jewelry, South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Surat, 2003

Memberships:                          Assurance Committee, Gujarat State Legislative Assembly, 2012-present
Veer Narmad South Gujarat University Senate, Surat, 2011-present

Committee Member, Athwalines Jain Sangh and Umra Jain Sangh, Surat, 2010-present

Committee Member, Uttar Gujarat Jain Sangh (Jain community organization), 2009-present
Committee Member, Banaskata Swetamber Murtipujak Sangh, 2009-present

Address:             Gujarat Legislature Secretariat Viththalbhai Patel Bhavan, Sector-10 Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382010, India

Email: mlamajura@gmail.com

Languages:              Gujarati (primary), English

Professional Background:       At 27, Mr. Harsh Sanghvi was the youngest member of the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat when he won his seat, one of 182 in the unicameral assembly, in 2012. A year later, then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi appointed Mr. Sanghvi as the National General Secretary of the BJP Youth Wing, the BJYM. Mr. Sanghvi remains a key advisor on youth issues to Mr. Modi, who is now Prime Minister; he also oversees the operation of over 4,000 (and growing) “Modi Cafés” and “NaMo Tea Centers” across the country—a BJP initiative to engage youth on college campuses, promote Modi’s ideas and developmental model, and build a “youth vote-bank” for the upcoming parliamentary elections in India. As the national head of BJP’s youth wing, Mr. Sanghvi formulates, monitors, and executes BJP’s policies and programs that impact over 20 million youth members of BJYM across India.

Name:                                     Mr. Ganesh YADAV

Present Position:                President, Mumbai Youth Congress

Concurrent Positions:             General Secretary, Jayalakshmi Foundation (non-profit)

Youth President, Yadav Mahasabha (community organization)

Previous Positions:            Member, National Pool Team, All-India Youth Congress (IYC), 2011

State General Secretary, Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress, 2010-2012

Education/Training:        M.M.S., Management Studies, University of Mumbai, 2010

B.M.S., Management Studies, University of Mumbai, 2007

Address:                               11/462, Shriram Bhavan, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Matunga, Mumbai 400 019, India

Email: mpycpresident@gmail.com

Languages:                             English

U. S. Travel:                            No previous U.S. travel

Professional Background:       Mr. Ganesh YADAV was elected a General Secretary of the Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress in 2010 and became president of the organization within two years. Since then, Mr. Yadav has helped young Indians participate in local economic and political affairs in a variety of ways. For example, he generated nearly 7,000 jobs for Mumbai’s underprivileged youth by engaging 92 companies in a job fair. Through 50 health camps in the last two years, he arranged free medical aid (including 200 heart surgeries) to thousands of patients, and he formed 45 self-help groups that continue to empower over 1,000 slum-dwelling women of Mumbai. He is forming a labor union of auto-rickshaw drivers as a means of mobilizing youth and offering various youth-development programs to them.  Mr. Yadav advises the leadership of the IYC (a wing of the Indian National Congress Party) on youth issues, represents IYC at the national and international youth conventions, and articulates IYC policy and programs at various forums.