WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — A group of Kashmiri Americans along with former American military personnel and Indian American Congressional candidates protested outside of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC to denounce what they say is that nations support of terror. With Kashmir in the headlines daily, the group gathered to spread awareness of the $4 billion the U.S. spends in aid to Pakistan, despite the fact 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was in hiding there.
House Democrats officially announced two articles of impeachment against President Trump, with one charge alleging abuse of power and another related to obstruction of Congress. A vote in the Judiciary Committee is possible within days with a full House vote by Christmas. In response, President Trump said the proceedings were baseless and partisan and expects to be fully exonerated by the Senate.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science or AAAS announced of the 443 leading scientists in various fields named an AAAS Fellow, 21 of them are of Indian descent. The naming of AAAS Fellows began in 1874, and includes icons like Thomas Edison.
The following are 2019 AAAS Fellows of Indian descent:
SECTION ON BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Kanwarpal Singh Dhugga, International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) (Mexico)
Justin P. Kumar, Indiana University
Harmit Singh Malik, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Kirankumar S. Mysore, Noble Research Institute, LLC
Aleem Siddiqui, University of California, San Diego
SECTION ON CHEMISTRY
Krishnan Raghavachari, Indiana University
SECTION ON ENGINEERING
Avinash Kumar Agarwal, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (India)
Rajeevan Amirtharajah, University of California, Davis
Ravi Bellamkonda, Duke University
Ashutosh Chilkoti, Duke University
Guru Madhavan, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
Vinothan N. Manoharan, Harvard University
Gopal R. Rao, Materials Research Society (MRS)
Asok Ray, Pennsylvania State University
SECTION ON INFORMATION, COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATION
Noshir S. Contractor, Northwestern University
Sampath Kannan, University of Pennsylvania
SECTION ON MATHEMATICS
Kavita Ramanan, Brown University
SECTION ON MEDICAL SCIENCES
Subbarao Bondada, University of Kentucky
SECTION ON NEUROSCIENCE
Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, Centre for Brain Research, Indian Institute of Science (India)
Piali Sengupta, Brandeis University
SECTION ON STATISTICS
Nandini Kannan, Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF)
SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) – The mutilated body of a Hindu woman was found in a field in southeastern Pakistan. Police say 40 year old Daya Bheel was murdered in the latest suspected attack against minorities in the Muslim-majority country. Authorities say they have arrested some suspects but have not determined a motive.
The Khosla family has donated nearly 2 million dollars to the Nudge Institute to help fight poverty. The philanthropists have donated millions of dollars for many other causes.
And disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-fried pleaded not guilty to eight different counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy before a U.S. federal court in the Southern District of New York. U.S. prosecutors allege that under Bankman-Fried’s direction, FTX, once considered one of the largest and most-trusted cryptocurrency exchanges, transferred billions in customer assets to his trading firm, Alameda Research. If convicted of these charges, Bankman-Fried faces up to 115 years in prison.
Tragic news out of Nevada. Authorities say an Indian American toddler has died in a devastating Christmas day car crash and his mother is in critical condition fighting for her life. Authorities say the accident happened on a busy Las Vegas boulevard and they were returning home from a trip in California.
Anil Beephan is now the first Indian American Republican ever to be elected to the New York State Assembly in Albany. So far only Indian American Democrats have been elected to the state legislature. Beephan will also become the first minority to represent Dutchess County and at 29 years old, he’s the youngest GOP rep in the state legislature. He’s currently in the tech industry and has also worked as a volunteer firefighter.
Vice President Kamala Harris has named Indian American Rajeev Badyal to a key national advisory group, responsible for strategy and recommendations to improve and maintain space policy. Badyal already works for Amazon, helping launch satellites into orbit.
SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) – The Golden State Warriors first-ever Bhangra Night made its debut during the Warriors-Jazz game at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The Warriors say it’s a chance for the team to connect with the Bay Area’s rapidly growing South Asian community and fan base. Only Diya TV was on hand to capture the festivities. This change from the annual Bollywood night was supposed to take place in 2020 but was postponed because of the pandemic.
A federal jury in San Francisco has convicted Sivannarayana Barama of insider trading. Authorities say he used the quarterly financial performance of Palo Alto Networks before that information was released to the public and then traded in that company’s stock while that information was still confidential. Barama worked in IT for several Silicon Valley companies.
U.S. Border Patrol caught more than 4000 Indians illegally crossing the Mexico border in October and November. That’s more than double compared to the same time frame last year. An Indian man recently died climbing a border wall in Texas. The Biden administration is struggling to contain a surge of illegal immigration at the southern border.