News India Times
July 17, 2015
10
– that’s all you need to know
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By a StaffWriter
sia Society, a leading
United States organiza-
tion focused on the Asia
Pacific region,
announced its Asia 21
Young Leaders Class of 2015,
July 8. Among them were several
Indians and an Indian-
American, as well as some
Nepalese, Pakistanis, a
Bangladeshi, and a Sri Lankan.
Those selected represent private,
public and non-profit sectors
and Asia Society hopes through
this initiative to help these
young leaders under the age of
forty build a "critical mass to
impact global affairs for decades
to come."
Those selected over the last 10
years of the program's existence
have formed a network of more
than 800 young leaders from 30
nations, Asia Society said in a
release. Seen as the potential
pool for solving some of the
most acute challenges that face
the region, these candidates
were chosen for their proven
service and abilities, the organi-
zation said.
This year's 32 leaders come
from 22 countries, and percent
work in the private sector, 44
percent in the non-profit sector,
and six percent in the public sec-
tor.
Indian-American Rajeev
Goyal made the cut as co-
founder and co-director of the
Nepal-based non-profit,
Kanchenjunga Koshi Tappu
Biodiversity Education Land
Trust (KTK-BELT). Goyal, a for-
mer Peace Corps volunteer was
national director of the Push for
Peace Corps initiative from 2008
2011, a campaign to double the
size of the Peace Corps. He
founded KTK-BELT in 2013. The
organization aims to mitigate
ecosystem fragmentation in the
eastern Himalayas by designing
a contiguous educational land
trust stretching from Koshi
Tappu, Nepal’s largest aquatic
bird sanctuary, to Mt.
Kanchenjunga, the 3rd tallest
peak in the world.
Those from India are Mishi
Choudhary, executive director of
SFLC.in, and legal director of
Software Freedom Law Center; is
a technology lawyer and an
effective online civil liberties
activist; Manish Dahiya, execu-
tive director and global head of
Energy Complex, Noble Group,
focuses on enabling the balanc-
ing of growing energy neds with
the obligation to provide basic
power to people. Sanjay
Vijayakumar is chairman,
Startup Village and CEO of
MobMEWireless Solutions, con-
sidered one of the most innova-
tive companies in India.
Vijayakumar was rated by India
Today as one of the thirty-seven
Indians driving the future of
India, and Forbes placed him in
the “Just 30 Club.” ; Aarti Wig, co-
founder and country director,
Yunus Social Business India, has
helped set up the world’s first
Yunus Social Business Fund in
Mumbai, which has funded
seven social entrepreneurs
across India, and is creating a
social business incubator pro-
gram with India's premier man-
agement school and a social
business market company for a
leading international shoe com-
pany.
She also conceived of a new
financial instrument that will
leverage commercial capital to
pay for social success in social
enterprises.
Nepal and Pakistan scored
two candidates each. Nepal's
Narayan Adhikari, South Asia
Representative for
Accountability Lab and Umanga
Pandey, Founder and Director,
KG Nepal; Pakistan's Mohsin
Mustafa from the Strategy and
Program Development depart-
ment at The Aman Foundation,
and Muhammad Sabir, commu-
nity worker and founder,
Slumabad.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are
represented on the list by Korvi
Rakshand, founder of JAAGO
Foundation, and Chatrini
Weeratunge, an international
development specialist, respec-
tively.
A
Several Indian-Americans Among 2015 Asia Society Young Leaders
From News Dispatches
A
mit Priyavadan Mehta,
who was born in India
and came to the U.S. as
a young child, was formally
sworn in late last month as
United States District Judge for
the District of Columbia, the
first Asian Pacific American on
the bench.
Son of immigrants who
came to the United States in
the early 1970s, Mehta was the
embodiment of the American
dream, the National Law
Journal said in a report quoting
speakers at the June 19 cere-
mony.
Judge Sri Srinivasan of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit, who administered
the oath of office, said he and
Mehta came from communi-
ties that took “special pride in
what today signifies.”
The journal report said that
Mehta in his remarks noted
that the ceremony had the feel
of an Indian wedding—
although he lamented that he
couldn’t fulfill his dream of rid-
ing in on a horse like in a
Bollywood movie.
Mehta was confirmed in late
December. He was previously a
partner at Zuckerman Spaeder
and spent several years at the
Public Defender Service for the
District of Columbia.
The report quoted Dr. Sanjay
Desai, a childhood friend of
Mehta’s and the director of a
medical training program at
Johns Hopkins Hospital, as say-
ing that Mehta always had a
“deep and sincere sense for jus-
tice.”
1st Indian-American Judge In D.C. Federal Court Sworn In
Photo courtesy national law journal
By Suman Mozumder
C
ongress Party, the main
opposition in India’s
Parliament since Prime
Minister Narendra Modi of
Bharatiya Janata Party came to
power about a year ago, wants
its followers in the United
States to start a counteroffen-
sive against BJP’s “attempt to
convince”Washington as well
as some lawmakers that every-
thing in India is much better
under the present government
than during the earlier admin-
istration.
Anand Sharma, former
Cabinet Minister in the
Congress-led government, now
Deputy Opposition Leader in
the Rajya Sabha and party
spokesperson, told overseas
supporters in Manhattan July 7,
that INOC should get better
connected with the Indian
Diaspora. "It is time to fight the
communal forces and create a
counter narrative,” said
Sharma, one that portrays the
BJP Government and its back-
ers like the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangha as right
wing political entities out to
destroy India’s secular fabric.
“India will not remain what it
is, if these forces of right wing
communalism get stronger,”
Sharma said, according to a
release from INOC-USA. He
urged overseas Congress sup-
porters to reach out to youth in
the diaspora and bring them
into the fold.
George Abraham, chairman
of the INOC-USA told News
India Times Sharma's point
was to encourage non-resident
Indians to emphasize the secu-
lar nature of India and push
Congress Party supporters to
get their act together to count-
er the influence of the BJP and
its supporters here.
Congress Party Seeks To Gain Support Of Indian-Americans
Indian National Overseas Congress- USA, leaders pose with visiting party leader and former minister Anand Sharma
at a meeting in Manhattan July 7. From left: George Abraham, chairman of INOC-USA, Prasad Kambhampaty, executive
committee member, Juned Qazi, President, Chandrakant Patel, Harkesh Thakur, EC member, Anand Sharma,
Mohinder Singh Gilzian, senior vice-president, Jose George, treasurer, R. Jayachandran, president of
Kerala Chapter, Dr. Dayan Naik, president, Karnataka Chapter.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta receives the oath of office from Judge Sri Srinivasan
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on June 19.
