WASHINGTON DC (Diya TV) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the White House for the first in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit.  PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden. PM Modi is on a three-day visit to the United States, his first official visit to the country since Biden took the office. On Thursday, Modi held separate meetings with Vice President Kamala Harris.

President Biden will also nominate Indian American Erik Ramanathan, a longtime political ally and fundraiser to serve as ambassador to Sweden. Ramanathan joins a record 70 plus Indian Americans working in the Biden administration. 

The Houston doctor fired for distributing expiring COVID-19 vaccines instead of throwing them out claims he was punished for giving “the vaccine to too many individuals with ‘Indian’ sounding names. Dr. Hasan Gokal has sued Harris County Public Health for $1 million, alleging that the agency “demonstrated a pattern of discrimination and hostility against Dr. Gokal based on his South Asian race and Pakistani national origin.”

Ravi Kapur contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON DC (Diya TV) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has officially started his U.S. tour and met face to face for the first time with Vice President Kamala Harris.  They discussed the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific region at a time when the U.S. is trying to solidify its pivot toward Asia and strengthen ties with allies to take on China’s growing influence in the region. In addition, Modi met with the Prime Minister of Australia and the heads of Adobe, Blackstone, and Qualcomm.

Electric car maker Tesla broke ground on a new production facility in California and will produce the company’s large-scale battery system called Megapack. News of the previously unannounced factory was confirmed by Lathrop Mayor Sonny Dhaliwal in a Facebook post that was deleted and re-posted. The Indian American Mayor says  “The future of green energy will be produced right here in our community.”

Sony Pictures Networks India has agreed to acquire Zee Entertainment. If the deal materializes, it will bring together two of the largest broadcasting giants in India that run large cable television networks, streaming services, music labels, and own scores of other digital assets, to better compete with companies like Netflix and Disney.

Ravi Kapur contributed to this report.

SAINT PAUL (Diya TV) — The NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves have promoted Sachin Gupta to interim head of basketball operations. This is a historic move making Gupta the first person of Indian origin to run an NBA basketball organization. Gupta began his career as a special advisor with the Houston Rockets and since then has held several executive roles with other teams.

A  mega drug bust for India .Officials say they seized nearly three tonnes of heroin originating from Afghanistan worth nearly 3 billion dollars amid the chaos following last month’s takeover of the country by the Taliban. Two people have been arrested so far and the investigation is on going.

India’s Fresh Works is getting ready to launch it’s initial public offering valuing the customer relationship software company at more than 10 billion dollars. The company started off in Chennai India but is now based in California, and says it wants to compete with rival Salesforce in the US. 

Ravi Kapur contributed to this report.