WASHINGTON DC (Diya TV) — President Joe Biden plans to nominate Indian American Ravi Chaudry as the Air Force’s next assistant secretary for installations, environment, and energy. Chaudry is a former Federal Aviation Administration official who served in the Air Force for more than 20 years. If confirmed he would take over a massive portfolio spanning Air Force and Space Force installations worldwide. 

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation announced the appointment of its new Chairwoman, Sonu Ratra, the co-founder and President of IT consulting and talent solutions provider, Akraya as well as the founder of Women Back to Work. Ratra is the first woman and person of color to lead the SVLG Foundation.

Indian American women techies,  Susmita Dutta and Shruti Haldea,  took center stage as Apple unveiled its next line-up of products, including MacBook Pro, next-generation AirPods, and other products and services. 

NEW YORK (Diya TV) — In a historic first, the new Mayors of Calgary and Edmonton, Canada are of Indian descent. Jyoti Gondak and Amarajeet Sohi will be leading their respective cities. Gondek is also Calgary’s first ever female Mayor. In both elections, voters expressed a desire for change, and largely rejected candidates opposed to public health measures to deal with COVID-19.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren wants Amazon to break up after a Reuters report found that the e-commerce giant ran a systematic campaign of creating knockoffs and manipulating search results to boost its own private brands in India, one of the company’s largest growth markets.

In tech news MindBody is acquiring fitness company ClassPass, which allows users to pay for a monthly subscription, allowing them to access a number of classes across a spectrum of fitness genres. The company was founded by Indian American Payal Kadakia.

NEW YORK (Diya TV) — 66 houses were vandalized and at least 20 homes of Hindus set on fire in Bangladesh over an alleged social media post considered blasphemous. This comes amid protests by the minority community against incidents of temple vandalism during the Durga Puja last week.

Colin Powell, the first Black US Secretary of State whose leadership in several Republican administrations helped shape American foreign policy has died from complications related to  COVID-19, He was 84.

Diwali celebrations have resumed in Fremont and Cupertino, California after a one year hiatus due to the pandemic. Actor and comedian Omi Vaidya was the Grand Marshall at the Festival of Globe event in Fremont. And Congressman Ro Khanna was one of several elected officials to attend the Bay Area Diwali event organized by the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce.