Comedian Aziz Ansari has publicly responded to allegations of sexual impropriety detailed in a story published over the weekend, saying in a statement that his encounter with a woman “by all indications was completely consensual.”
In a piece published Saturday on babe.net, a 23-year-old photographer from Brooklyn described a date with the comic that allegedly ended with him forcefully kissing her in his apartment and trying to have sex with her repeatedly. She told the outlet that it was “painful” watching Ansari accept his Golden Globe last week while wearing a Time’s Up pin in support of combating sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.
“I believe that I was taken advantage of by Aziz,” the woman told babe.net. “I was not listened to and ignored. It was by far the worst experience with a man I’ve ever had.”
Ansari confirmed, via his statement, that he had met the woman at a September party, exchanged numbers and went on a date that ended with sexual activity.
“The next day, I got a text from her saying that although ‘it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable,” Ansari said. “It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said.”
He added: “I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue.”
The detailed story, which included the woman saying she tried to move away from Ansari and her describing “verbal and non-verbal cues,” also sparked a debate around consent and the mass reckoning on sexual misconduct.
Ansari has publicly declared himself a feminist and co-wrote a New York Times bestseller with a prominent sociologist about dating and love in the digital era.
He also won best TV actor in a comedy at the Golden Globes on Sunday for his role on “Master of None,” the Netflix series he co-created. A storyline in the second season involves Ansari’s character discovering a likable showbiz friend and partner is a serial sexual harasser, and the fallout after the allegations become public.
“I think it was around the time Roger Ailes was getting all these reports filed against him, and the same way it happened for Bill O’Reilly,” Ansari told Vulture in May 2017. “So it was like, ‘Okay, what if this is one of those types of guys and we just get the audience to love him? And then pull the rug out from under them at the end and reveal that he’s actually not a good dude?'”
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen before the FCC Net Neutrality hearing in Washington February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
WASHINGTON – Fifty Senate lawmakers have endorsed a legislative measure to override the Federal Communications Commission’s recent decision to deregulate the broadband industry, top Democrats said Monday.
The tally leaves supporters just one vote shy of the 51 required to pass a Senate resolution of disapproval, in a legislative gambit aimed at restoring the agency’s net neutrality rules.
Those rules, which banned Internet providers from blocking or slowing down websites, were swept away in a December vote led by Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Republicans had argued the rules were too restrictive for the industry, while Democrats said they provided a vital consumer protection.
The resolution aims to overturn the FCC’s decision and prohibit the agency from passing similar measures in the future. It has the support of all 49 Democratic senators as well as one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
“With full caucus support,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the lawmakers spearheading the effort, “it’s clear that Democrats are committed to fighting to keep the Internet from becoming the Wild West where ISPs are free to offer premium service to only the wealthiest customers while average consumers are left with far inferior options.”
To win passage of the resolution, its supporters must recruit one more Republican member to their ranks. But the measure must survive the Republican-majority House and be signed by President Donald Trump to take effect.
After an independent agency makes a decision – such as the FCC’s net neutrality deregulation – federal lawmakers have a window of 60 legislative days to reverse the move under the Congressional Review Act. As of last Tuesday, 40 senators had signed onto the resolution to challenge the FCC under the act. Since then, another 10 have joined the effort.
Democrats have said they plan to make net neutrality a midterm campaign issue, forcing vulnerable GOP candidates to stand with their party and adopt a position that, according to some surveys, is at odds with that of the broader public.
For years, well-heeled lawyers and lobbyists for the telecom and cable industries battled the equally formidable influence of Silicon Valley over the ground rules that would determine how the Internet functioned in the future.
That debate broke into the public consciousness in 2015, as the FCC under chairman Tom Wheeler took the step of regulating Internet providers like legacy telephone companies. The new rules subjected companies such as AT&T and Verizon to strict bans on the blocking or slowing of Internet content. They also banned the practice of speeding up other content in exchange for extra fees, opened the door to new consumer privacy rules and even raised the prospect of future controls over the price of Internet service.
Industry groups sought to have the rules repealed – filing a lawsuit against the FCC that ultimately ended in defeat. Broadband providers said, among other things, that the FCC rules prevented them from developing innovative new business models. A three-judge panel ultimately sided with the FCC.
With the election of Trump, Republicans who opposed the regulations received another chance. Pai, who had been an outspoken critic of the rules, became the FCC’s chairman, and quickly moved to dismantle the net neutrality rules.
Much as the broadband industry did in 2015, today’s opponents of the FCC have vowed to open a new chapter of litigation and congressional action to reverse the vote. The first lawsuits to challenge Pai’s decision could come as early as the end of this month. And a vote on the Congressional Review Act could take place this summer, depending on what else Congress has on its schedule.
A logo of Indian Oil is picture outside a fuel station in New Delhi, India August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
BARMER, INDIA – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the construction of a $6.8 billion refinery in the western state of Rajasthan, hopeful to lift national capacity to meet the surge in fuel demand.
By 2030, India’s demand for petrol and diesel is expected to go up by two-thirds to 170 billion litres, as an expanding middle class spends on cars and air travel.
The 180,000-barrel-per-day refinery and petrochemical project in the state bordering Pakistan is being built by the country’s third-biggest state refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) in a tie-up with the state government.
The foundation stone for the project was first laid in September 2013 by the then ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi. However, the project remained a non-starter as the state government had not given adequate incentives.
The project is now estimated to be completed by 2022-23, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.
Modi said the project will create employment for thousands of people in Rajasthan which elects a new state assembly in December.
To make the project viable, the state government has offered an interest-free loan of 168.45 billion rupees ($2.63 billion) to HPCL to be paid back in 15 years from the commissioning of the project, Pradhan added.
Energy analysts are, however, skeptical about the project’s profitability in a land-locked desert state.
The Rajasthan refinery will have to bear the crude transportation costs as well as deal with water scarcity, said a senior executive at a private refiner who requested anonymity, citing company policy.
Pradhan said underground water will be drilled in the region and will be desalinated and used in the refinery. A senior HPCL official said a water pipeline is being considered.
Rajasthan accounts for a meagre 1.07 percent of water resources in the country, according to official data.
Pradhan said the Rajasthan refinery will buy about 50,000 bpd oil from the nearby oilfield operated by Cairn India Ltd., a unit of Vedanta Resources.
However, a senior HPCL executive said his company prefers to fully operate the refinery on Vedanta’s oil to cut transportation costs.
“The ability to process imported crude oil, commonly known as ‘swing capacity’, will also be built,” he explained.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi hug after attending a signing of agreements ceremony at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India January 15, 2018. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
NEW DELHI – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was discussing with India ways to strengthen security cooperation against the menace of Islamist extremism that both democracies faced.
Netanyahu spoke while on a six-day tour of India, the first by an Israeli premier for 15 years, and is being feted by Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist party has long admired Israel for its tough posture against terrorism.
India, wary of upsetting Arab nations on which it was dependent for oil, and heeding the sentiments of its own large Muslim minority, kept a distance from Israel for decades. But under Modi, the two sides have embraced a closer relationship based on security and economics.
The right-wing Netanyahu told a security conference that India and Israel were two democracies with a natural affinity, but their open and liberal societies faced risks.
“Our way of life is being challenged, most notably, the quest for modernity, the quest for innovation (are) being challenged by radical Islam and its terrorist offshoots from a variety of corners,” he said.
Both Israel and India have long sought to counter militant Islamists – in Israel’s case, mainly from Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai region and, in India’s case, mainly from Pakistan. Away from the public eye, India and Israel have been cooperating against the threat through, in part, intelligence sharing, officials say.
“We’ve discussed in this visit how we can strengthen our two nations in the civilian areas, in security areas, in every area,” Netanyahu told the conference.
His trip to India comes just six months after Modi made the first trip by an Indian prime minister to Israel, during which he did not go to Ramallah, seat of the self-ruling Palestinian Authority and a customary stop for leaders visiting the region.
Netanyahu toured the Taj Mahal on Tuesday and will also visit Modi’s home state of Gujarat and India’s financial capital Mumbai.
He will join an 11-year-old Israeli boy, Moshe Holtzberg, whose parents were murdered by Pakistan-based militants in Mumbai in 2008, for a memorial event at Mumbai’s Jewish centre where the attack took place.
The boy, who lives with his grandparents in Israel, arrived on Tuesday as a guest of Modi.
NEW DELHI – In India, the rich and poor inhabit vastly different worlds. Now, many fear, new government rules will deepen that divide with different-colored passports.
On Friday, India’s Foreign Ministry issued new rules saying that citizens who require emigration checks will now carry orange passports, while those who don’t will carry blue ones.
The new orange passports are supposed to protect vulnerable laborers from exploitation abroad, but critics argue that the orange and blue color coding could lead to discrimination against poor and illiterate workers and effectively render millions of Indians second-class citizens.
India is the world’s largest exporter of migrant labor; 1 in 20 migrant workers worldwide are Indian-born – a number that has rapidly risen in the past 25 years. Indian émigrés sent home $69 billion in 2015, making their country the world’s top recipient of remittances. But many of those who travel, especially those who provide cheap, unskilled labor, are very vulnerable to exploitation.
In the past few years, scandals involving the Indian diaspora in Persian Gulf countries have shaken citizens. In 2016, Reuters reported that 55-year-old Kasthuri Munirathinam, who worked as a housemaid in Saudi Arabia, became the face of migrant tragedy in the gulf after she described how her employer chopped her arm off in a fight that ended with her having to crawl out a second-floor apartment window. Saudi police at the time said that Munirathinam’s arm was amputated because of a fall and that she was mentally ill.
In Qatar, figures from the Indian Embassy in Doha showed that more than 500 Indians died between 2012 and 2014. Human rights groups said construction workers had been subjected to squalid living conditions and were working in intense heat and humidity in preparation for soccer’s 2022 World Cup.
To protect workers, India requires unskilled migrants to get clearances from the Indian government before traveling to a number of countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Malaysia and Yemen.
But people who have graduated high school, or the 2 percent of Indians who pay income tax, don’t need to get clearances for travel, as skilled or educated workers are less likely to be exploited abroad. Those who need emigration checks are identified on the last page of their passport.
The new passport design, the Foreign Ministry said, would do away with the last page and instead use the colored covers to differentiate so that it will make it easier for immigration and law enforcement officers to spot travelers who require vetting before they travel to certain countries. The theory is this would also make human trafficking more difficult as border officials would immediately know which people need the extra permission to travel.
India is one of the world’s most unequal societies. Oxfam’s India chief executive in 2017 said that just 57 billionaires control 70 percent of the nation’s wealth. Critics said the entire system of emigration clearance reinforces the divide between rich and poor.
Nitin Pai, director of a Bangalore-based public policy think tank, criticized the new rules.
“However well-intentioned the move to create different colored passports for different kinds of travelers, it is wrong and must be reconsidered. Already officials treat citizens differently based on their class . . . different passport colors will worsen it,” he wrote on Twitter.
Oomen Chandy, former chief minister of the southern state of Kerala, said, “If this becomes a reality, the moment an orange color passport holder lands in a foreign country, he will be treated with disdain, and it will have a telling impact on such people’s character and individuality. This should not happen at all.”
Victims of the Kearny Fire with K. Devadasan Nair, Consul of Community Affair at the Indian Consulate in New York (Photo Courtesy: Swapnil Deshmukh)
Several Indian students were without a home on the freezing morning of Jan. 5, the day after the first snow storm of the year, when fire engulfed their apartment at 238-240 Maple Avenue in Kearny, New Jersey. Indian-American organizations and the Indian government stepped in to help these 11 Indian students in their hour of need.
According to NJ.com, 23 more people and 10 other families were also affected by the fire that morning and Desi Talk had a chance to speak with a few of those individuals who lost everything in the fire that day.
Swapnil Deshmukh, a graduate student at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), who came to the U.S. from Maharashtra in August 2015 to pursue his master’s degree in information security, said “at around 6:30 – 7 a.m. when everyone was sleeping, the fire alarm went off, so I went downstairs to check and saw fire coming out of the heating unit in the basement. So I called 911 and went upstairs to tell everyone to get out of the building.”
Deshmukh said he just left as is in the clothes he was wearing, “I lost everything including my passport and visa documents. I came from India with three bags in my hand and now I have nothing, I have to start from scratch now.”
Ashish Kulkarni, also an NJIT graduate student from Pune, who came to the U.S. about two years ago, remembered to take his passport and student ID with him when he fled the building.
Firefighters battling the blaze in the freezing cold temperatures. (Photo Courtesy: Swapnil Deshmukh)
“I was trying to stay calm,” said Kulkarni, who thought that the fire would only stay contained to the basement and not reach their apartment on the third floor. But strong winds carried the fire up, spreading to the second and third floors.
“The people living on the second floor were able to collect most of their belongings but we, being on the third floor, just ran out and were able to grab only a couple things in hand,” said Kulkarni recalling how scary and cold it was that day.
Nayan Sadafer, also from Pune, said he was getting ready for work that day when he heard the fire alarm go off at around 7 a.m.
“I was getting ready for work and I heard the fire alarm so I went into my room and saw smoke and thought that my room was on fire, but I later realized that it was actually in the basement and we were being told to leave the building as someone called 911,” said Sadafer. He grabbed all of his documents before running out.
He told Desi Talk the building took about two to three hours to burn down, after which he went to work.
Firefighters attempting to put out the fire. (Photo Courtesy: Swapnil Deshmukh)
He said the last two weeks have been the “worst two weeks of my life.” He works in the back room at For All Children and Adult Dentistry, nearby. His friend who works with him is in India on vacation.
NJ.com reported how the dark smoke from the fire could be seen from miles, as firefighters worked in below-freezing temperatures, to fight the blaze. Water pressure was one of the biggest challenges in those temperatures.
“Local residents as well as businesses also provided food to anyone who needed a meal, the Library acted as a warming center, and donation drop-off locations were set up around town,” NJ.com reported.
Deshmukh, Kulkarni and Sadafer all said the Indian Consulate along with the Indian government has been working with them in recovering the belongings they lost in the fire that Friday, especially any important documents. The American Red Cross, the Mayor of Kearny, Alberto G. Santos, as well as other Indian organizations are also helping out by providing them with food, shelter and clothing, they added.
Currently, several people are living with other friends in the area Sadafer said, because rooms are available because people are away on vacation to India. But some have now found another apartment nearby.
The destruction caused by the fire. (Photo Courtesy: Swapnil Deshmukh)
Deshmukh said that Srujal Parikh, the president-elect of Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), has been calling him about four to five times a day just to check up on them and make sure that whatever else is needed is given to them.
“They called the Consulate in New York informing them of their situation and in return they got invited to the Consulate. When Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty heard about their situation he called and explained the situation to me asking if FIA could help out and I gave in,” said Parikh. According to Parikh, the Indian Consulate found out about the situation after one of the students tweeted to the Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj asking for help. Swaraj has a reputation for responding promptly to Indian residents abroad who encounter problems.
“We also provided them with food, clothing, cooking utensils, and $50 gift cards to grocery stores and have even made accommodations for nine beds, since two of the students have moved out to live with other people,” Parikh told Desi Talk.
Parikh also said that while the students are ready to get back on their feet and move on with their lives, they need legal help to get compensated by the landlord, for belongings lost in the fire, such as laptops and other expensive items.
“For the first two nights following the fire, they weren’t able to sleep but when I met them a couple days back they told me ‘Srujal bhai, we are very thankful to you and the members of your organization. You gave us a new direction in life, otherwise we had lost hope’,” Parikh said. The students also expressed a wish to work with FIA in the future.
Frozen water on the building. (Photo Courtesy: Swapnil Deshmukh)
United States District Court Judge Bernard Friedman of Michigan has dismissed the sexual assault charges which were laid against Indian-American Dr. Jumana Nagarwala for practicing female genital mutilation on 7-year-old girls from Minnesota whose mothers brought them to Metro Detroit last year. Several other charges however, remain in place.
“To prove their guilt on this charge, the government must show that defendants transported a minor ‘with intent that (the minor) engage in … any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense.’ … The facts alleged in the indictment do not support this charge because, as a matter of law, FGM, while a prohibited criminal act, is not ‘criminal sexual activity,’” Friedman is quoted saying in his judgment, in a news report carried by Detroit News.
According to CBN News, in early 2017, Nagarwala was the first person to be charged under the United States law criminalizing female genital mutilation as her and at least eight other alleged conspirators are accused of participating in a conspiracy to cut prepubescent girls as part of a religious procedure practiced by some members of the Muslim sect Dawoodi Bohra, based in India, according to EndFGMToday.
Prosecutors say the girls were cut but defense lawyers claim the procedure performed on them was benign and not female genital mutilation.
“We respect the opinion of the court and are reviewing our options for a potential appeal. Moreover, we stand ready to proceed with the remaining charges against the defendants,” U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Gina Balaya told The Detroit News.
The practice allegedly took place at the clinic of Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, who along with Nagarwala, has been charged with conspiracy, genital mutilation, transporting minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, lying to a federal agent and obstructing an official proceeding. If convicted they face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The judge’s decision to drop Nagarwala’s sexual assault charges is seen as a setback for those who were advocating against FGM.
“We are very disappointed and troubled by the Court’s dismissal of Count 6 of the indictment. The Court, in its legalistic scrupulosity, argued that the government offered no convincing argument showing that the phrase ‘sexual activity,’ as used in the federal transportation of minors statute § 2423(a), is synonymous with the phrase ‘sexual conduct,’ as used in § 750.520b(1)(a),” attorney Elizabeth Yore, an international child advocate and the head of the EndFGMToday initiative, is quoted saying in CBN News. She called the court’s decision “mind-numbing” asserting, “We do not agree with the Court’s legalistic jujitsu, which, as a result, leaves young victims who are transported across state lines at great peril to this barbaric procedure. We agree with the government’s argument that the jury should be left to decide this important fact issue,” Yore added.
Maple and Cranberry Drumsticks are easy to make and fun to eat. MUST CREDIT: Photo for The Washington Post by Renee Comet
Chicken drumsticks are often relegated to kids’ meals, perhaps a notch up from chicken tenders. This is a surprisingly winning and simple preparation – and a nice change from your typical teriyaki marinade – upgraded for easier eating by trimming.
Why trim the drumstick ends? Because doing so makes them easy and neat to pick up and eat. As the chicken legs roast, the tendons that are no longer attached to the ends will retract. You can cover the exposed bones with aluminum foil, avoiding sticky fingers.
Keep this recipe in mind as a meaty snack for watching football playoffs.
4 Servings
MAKE AHEAD: The chicken needs to marinate for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight.
Use a sharp chef’s knife or cleaver to cut off the end (ankle) of each drumstick. Discard them. (This step is optional.)
Place the drumsticks in a gallon-size zip-top bag, along with the cranberry sauce or relish, maple syrup, oil, a four-fingered pinch each of the salt and pepper, and the sage. Seal and massage through the bag to coat evenly. Lay the bag in a glass or ceramic baking dish that’s large enough to hold the drumsticks in a single layer. Let sit for 1 hour at room temperature, turning the bag over a few times, or refrigerate up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Open and pour the contents of the bag into the baking dish, arranging the drumsticks in a single layer. Turn to coat with all the sauce you can extract from the bag. Roast (top rack) for about 45 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, using tongs to turn the drumsticks about halfway through the oven time.
Nutritional Analysis: Per drumstick: 270 calories, 24 g protein, 7 g carbohydrates, 16 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 180 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 6 g sugar
SOURCE: Adapted from “Harvest: 180 Recipes Through the Seasons,” curated by Emilie Guelpa (Hardie Grant, 2017).
Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Apple and Sunflower Seeds. MUST CREDIT: Photo by Goran Kosanovic for The Washington Post.
Roasting Brussels sprouts until they are deeply browned and their outer leaves have crisped is one of the most enticing ways to cook them. The method has turned around countless Brussels sprout naysayers, including my husband, who gobbles them up prepared this way but cannot stand them steamed.
The accompanying recipe builds on that trusty basic, adding easy flourish and flavors that accentuate and complement the vegetable. After roasting the sprouts, which were simply drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, you toss them with toasted sunflower seeds to highlight the vegetable’s nutty undertone. Then you add diced fresh apple, which adds contrasting sweet freshness and color.
A vinaigrette made with apple cider vinegar, grainy mustard and a touch of honey ties the elements together and lends a bright punch to the sprouts’ earthiness. It’s such an effortless, healthful side dish, yet it yields a multitude of pleasure. Serve alongside roasted meat or poultry, or atop a smear of hummus.
Krieger is a registered dietitian, nutritionist and author who hosts public television’s “Ellie’s Real Good Food.” She blogs and offers a weekly newsletter at www.elliekrieger.com.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apple and Sunflower Seeds
4 servings
From nutritionist and cookbook author Ellie Krieger.
Ingredients
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons hulled, unsalted sunflower seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/3 cup diced red apple (1/4-inch pieces; unpeeled)
Steps
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the Brussels sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet, and then toss them with 1 tablespoon of the oil and the salt. Roast (middle rack) for 30 to 40 minutes, until they are deep golden brown, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
Meanwhile, place the sunflower seeds on a small baking sheet, place in the oven (lower rack) and toast for 6 to 8 minutes, until fragrant. Let cool.
Whisk together the remaining tablespoon of oil, the vinegar, mustard and honey in a liquid measuring cup, to form an emulsified vinaigrette.
Once the Brussels sprouts are done, transfer them to a serving bowl. Toss with the apple, sunflower seeds and dressing; serve right away.
Nutrition Per serving: 140 calories, 5 g protein, 13 g carbohydrates, 9 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 105 mg sodium, 5 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugar
Newly elected members of the Executive Council of the India Association of Long Island, were sworn in Jan. 9, in Merrick, Long Island.
The newly elected Executive Council of India Association of Long Island held its swearing-in ceremony Jan. 9, at Merrick Golf Course in Merrick, Long Island. Gunjan Rastogi is the new president of the organization, and is joined by a tem of talented individuals who are experts in their fields, a press release from the organization said.
Dr. Neeta Jain, District Leader, District 25, swore in the new officeholders in the presence of a large number of guests, including past presidents of IALI, dignitaries, community leaders, and other IALI members and invited guests.
Oath Ceremony program was hosted by IALI Executive council 2018 and team members.
The new team includes the following members:
President – Gunjan Rastogi
Vice President – Lalit Aery
Secretary – Shashi Malik
Treasurer – Hargovind Gupta
Members at Large: Kuljeet Ahluwalia, Rajeev Chaudhary, Ekta Singh Dass, Sushil Khanna, Surin Manaktala, Balaji Nagaraj, Sujata Seth and Mohinder Singh
Event Advisor – Jyoti Gupta
Finance Chair – Vimal Goyal
Cultural Chair – Amita Karwal
Co-chair – Dr. Ujwala Shah
Membership Chair – Pradeep Tandon
Women’s Forum Chair – Veena Lamba
Co-chair – Lalita Mansukhani and Shalini Pawa
Committee Members: Ravi Kanta Verma, Rachna Shahdadpuri and Rizwana
Sangeet Forum Chair – Anjana Kashyap
Co-chair – Saroj Aery
Senior Forum Nassau County – Vijay Goswamy
Co-Chair – Surinder Kade
Senior Forum Suffolk County – Kanta Dutta
Co-Chair – Neena Sawe
Meditation Chair – Narinder Kapoor
Co-chair – Sujata Seth
Outreach Program: Mukesh Modi
Co-Chair – Dr. Jag Kalra
Child Enrichment Chair – Neeru Bhambri
Committee Member – Hargovind Gupta
Public Relations – Ratna Bhalla
Communication Chair – Rajeev Chaudhary
Kids Forum Chair – Ekta Singh Dass
Hospitality Chair – Sushil Khanna
Sports Chair – Surin Manaktala
Media Chair – Indu Shyam Gajwani
The new president gave a speech on her vision for the organization in the coming year including continuing current popular programs and launching the Child Enrichment Program which helps children with science projects and their homework, and enhancing Sports Forum with indoor activities. She also dwelt on using social media to contact every potential member to strengthen IALI’s network, and partner with non-profit organizations.
New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio speaks during Diwali Celebration at his residence, “Gracy Mansion” in New York. New York; October 22, 2017 Photo:-Jay Mandal/On Assignment
Brooklyn-based New York University Tandon School of Engineering, in partnership with New York City Cyber Command, launched the New York Cyber Fellows initiative Jan. 10. The program is described as a unique, affordable online cybersecurity master’s degree program. It has been designed in conjunction with leading New York City employers to address the acute shortage of highly trained technical professionals in the city and nation, a press release from TSE said. The NYU engineering school was renamed New York University Tandon School of Engineering following a $100 million donation Oct. 5, 2015, from Indian-American philanthropists Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon to build on the engineering school’s cross-disciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives. A U.S. News & World Report announced NYU Tandon’s online graduate program in Computer Information Technology tied for No. 2 . in the nation and the best in the Northeast region, NYUTandon noted in a Jan. 11 press release.
According to NYUTandon, The NY Cyber Fellows program answers a call from Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “New York Works” initiative to add 10,000 cybersecurity experts to the city’s workforce within a decade. It offers scholarships of as much as 75 percent of tuition to U.S. residents, bringing the total tuition to $15,000 for the entire program—lowest of any cybersecurity master’s degree program in New York City. Applications are now open and the deadline to apply for the fall semester is May 1.
“A more affordable degree in this field means more New Yorkers will develop the skills to defend our digital city and land a great job. We’re proud to work in partnership with NYU’s Tandon School to launch the program this fall and I encourage New Yorkers to apply now,” Mayor Bill de Blasio is quoted saying in the press release. “This is exactly the kind of program New York needs to attract companies in this fastgrowing sector, and to help New Yorkers compete for those good jobs.”
As part of the fellowships, NYC Cyber Command (NYC3), which leads the City of New York’s cyber defense efforts, plans to offer Cyber Fellows access to the NYC3 Cyber Range—a virtual laboratory with realistic simulation for hands-on training and development.
“The Cyber Range will expose students to simulation, testing, and research into a wide range of security and technology concerns associated with securing one of the largest digital cities in the world,” sGeoff Brown, New York City Chief Information Security Officer and Head of NYC Cyber Command, is quoted saying in the press release, adding, “We’re proud to support a program that opens up a career in cyber defense to more students, allowing the next generation of cyber professionals to better resemble the diversity of the society they will be charged to protect.”
To shape the program, NYU Tandon said it elicited curriculum recommendations from NYC Cyber Command and leading sectors of the city’s economy. Business partners include Blackstone, Bridgewater Associates, EY LLC, Goldman Sachs, IBM Security, Jefferies, Loki Labs, Morgan Stanley, and Synack. “Perhaps the most important element of the New York Cyber Fellows program is the way it will reflect our collaboration with influential New York employers including NYC Cyber Command to ensure students get the precise hands-on education they need,” said Professor Nasir Memon, founder of NY.
FILE PHOTO – People hold signs against U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed end of the DACA program that protects immigrant children from deportation at a protest in New York City, U.S., August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department on Tuesday said it would take the “rare step” of asking the Supreme Court to overturn a judge’s ruling and allow the Trump administration to dismantle a program that provides work permits to undocumented immigrants raised in the United States.
The Trump administration said it has appealed the judge’s injunction – which said the Obama-era program must continue for now – to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
But the Justice Department will also petition the Supreme Court later this week to intervene in the case, an unusual action that would allow the government to bypass the 9th Circuit altogether in its bid to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program starting in March.
“It defies both law and common sense” that a “single district court in San Francisco” had halted the administration’s plans, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “We are now taking the rare step of requesting direct review on the merits of this injunction by the Supreme Court so that this issue may be resolved quickly and fairly for all the parties involved.”
Last week, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco issued a temporary injunction halting plans to end the program while a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision is pending.
He ordered the government to resume renewing DACA and work authorizations for the 690,000 immigrants who held that status when Sessions announced the end of the program Sept. 5. Homeland Security officials said Saturday that they would comply with the court order and resume accepting applications to renew work permits for the immigrants, also known as “dreamers.”
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D), who filed one of the federal lawsuits that led to the temporary injunction, said Tuesday he was confident that the higher courts will uphold the judge’s order.
“The unlawful action by the Trump Administration to terminate DACA impacts the lives and livelihood of hundreds of thousands [of] Dreamers, their colleagues, our universities, our businesses and our economy,” Becerra said in a statement.
As Sessions noted, it is rare to ask the Supreme Court to step in before the lower courts have completed their work. The justices could take the case if they decide it is important enough, or rely on their usual pattern of waiting until the appeals court has acted.
Until the Justice Department files its specific request with the Supreme Court, it is hard to predict how quickly the justices might act. The department did not ask the Supreme Court for a stay of Alsup’s ruling, which would have prompted quicker action on the part of the court.
The fate of DACA recipients is at the heart of a legislative dispute on Capitol Hill that could result in a government shutdown later this week. President Trump says that President Barack Obama exceeded his authority when he created the DACA program in 2012, and that Congress must pass legislation protecting dreamers if they are to be allowed to stay.
Trump has expressed sympathy for the immigrants, who were brought to the United States by their parents as minors and did not knowingly break the law. But he is also pushing for border security and other measures as part of any legislative deal.
Alsup’s ruling said that California and other plaintiffs had shown they were likely to succeed on their claims that the Trump administration’s revocation of the nearly six-year-old program was “capricious” and not in compliance with federal laws.
He said states, immigrants and public universities faced significant losses if a court found that the administration had acted improperly in terminating the program.
Government lawyers have argued that Trump had the authority to rescind DACA in September, and that the courts did not have the power to review it under federal law.
The American Civil Liberties Union blasted the Trump administration for appealing the decision as “the latest in a disturbing pattern of hostile actions directed at young immigrants across America.”
Lorella Praeli, the ACLU’s director of immigration policy, said that Trump has failed to broker a deal with Congress that would protect the immigrants.
On Tuesday, more than 300 immigrants who have DACA protections went to Capitol Hill to lobby key Republican senators to pass legislation that would grant them U.S. citizenship. Democratic leaders in Congress want to include protections for the dreamers in any spending deal hammered out before government funding expires Friday.
“Republicans today have a choice: To follow the leadership of Donald Trump or to come out and understand that it’s not okay what’s happening,” said Ambar Pinto, a 24-year-old Alexandria resident whose parents brought her to the United States from Bolivia when she was 12. “They need to make a choice. We can no longer wait. They need to do it now.”
Pinto has DACA protection, but said her 17-year-old brother was not old enough to apply before the Trump administration ended the program.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen before the FCC Net Neutrality hearing in Washington February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
Twenty-one states, the District of Columbia and several public interest groups filed the first major lawsuits Tuesday to block the repeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules, marking the start of a high-stakes legal battle over the future of the Internet.
The FCC’s rules had prohibited Internet providers from slowing down or blocking websites. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is leading the states’ suit, said that the FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules was “arbitrary” and “capricious” and violates federal law.
The suit comes just a day after Democrats in the Senate said they were inching closer to the votes needed for a legislative measure to help overturn the FCC’s rule change. Their resolution aims to reverse the FCC’s decision and block the agency from passing similar measures in the future. It has garnered the support of all 49 Democratic senators as well as one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Tuesday’s lawsuits seized on that momentum and represent another avenue for supporters of the net neutrality rules to undo the repeal.
The net neutrality rules were dismantled in a December vote led by Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Republicans had argued that the existing rules stymied industry investment, while Democrats maintained that they served as a vital consumer protection.
In Tuesday’s filing, the attorneys general requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit review the FCC’s new policy to determine whether it is illegal and unconstitutional.
Schneiderman argued in a statement that the FCC failed to justify its net neutrality reversal while dismissing evidence of harm to consumers and businesses. He also claimed that the FCC erroneously and unreasonably interpreted the Communications Act, the federal law at the heart of the net neutrality rules. In addition, Pai’s move to repeal the rules included an unlawful preemption of state and local regulations, Schneiderman said.
The FCC is expected to defend its decision by pointing to prior cases in which the agency had changed its mind on how to regulate businesses under its jurisdiction. Lawyers representing the broadband industry have said the FCC will have a strong case if it can demonstrate solid reasoning.
The FCC declined to comment.
The FCC gets a “significant amount of discretion” to switch directions on policy, said Matthew Brill, a partner at the firm Latham and Watkins who represents NCTA – The Internet and Television Association, a major cable industry trade group, in a recent interview.
“When the court ruled [last time],” said Brill, “it emphasized it wasn’t assessing the wisdom of that policy – it was just upholding the agency’s decision-making under the broad leeway it gets.”
Until the FCC’s decision is published in the Federal Register – a process that could take days or weeks – appeals courts may reject any lawsuits submitted on net neutrality, on the grounds that it is too soon to file. But those filing the suits Tuesday said they issued their challenges to ensure their suits are included in the judicial lottery, the process that determines which court will hear the case.
In filing with the D.C. Circuit, the state attorneys general hope to “win” the lottery by having that court hear the case. It was the D.C. Circuit that upheld the FCC’s net neutrality rules in 2016, handing the telecom industry a major defeat.
Outside defenders of the FCC, meanwhile, could launch their own court petition to have the rules reviewed. Doing so would allow industry groups to try to win the judicial lottery by having the case heard in a court that is considered friendlier to business interests.
All 22 attorneys general listed in the lawsuit are Democrats. In addition to the District of Columbia and New York, California, Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington are all part of the suit.
Other supporters of the net neutrality rules, including The New America Foundation, Mozilla, and consumer group Public Knowledge, also filed suits in the same court Tuesday, out of an abundance of caution.
“We filed in the event a court determines the appropriate date is today,” said Mozilla in a blog post. “The FCC or a court may accept this order or require us and others to refile at a later date.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spins cotton on a wheel as his wife Sara looks on during their visit to Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, India, January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Amit Dave
NEW DELHI – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the home of Mahatma Gandhi on Wednesday, saying modern India’s founding father and promoter of peace was an inspiration for humanity.
Netanyahu is making the first visit by an Israeli prime minister in 15 years and the nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rolled out the red carpet, seeing Israel as an ally in the fight against terrorism.
Modi hosted the Israeli leader in his home state of Gujarat where hundreds of people waving Indian and Israeli flags lined up the streets as the motorcade passed.
The two men, accompanied by Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, went to Gandhi’s ashram on the banks of a river where Netanyahu tried his hand at a spinning wheel, a pastime Gandhi made popular while he was jailed during British colonial rule.
“An inspiring visit to the hearth of one of humanity’s great prophets of inspiration – Mahatma Gandhi”, Netanyahu and his wife wrote in the guest book.
Netanyahu and Modi have pledged to deepen economic and security ties in a more open embrace of the relationship which New Delhi had long kept at a low profile, largely for fear of upsetting Arab nations on which it depends for oil.
Modi said India’s cooperation with Israel was diverse and benefited both countries. On Tuesday, Netanyahu said the two countries were discussing ways to strengthen cooperation to fight the menace of radical Islam that they both faced.
On Thursday, Netanyahu will travel to Mumbai to join a memorial event for the parents of an 11-year-old Israeli boy who was among the 166 people killed during an attack by Pakistan-based militants in 2008.
Ahead of that trip, a small group of people staged a protest in Mumbai holding placards denouncing Netanyahu and accusing him of atrocities against Palestinians.
Arabs and Muslims across the Middle East, the European Union and the United Nations have all opposed the U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month as an incendiary move in a volatile region and Palestinians said Washington was abandoning its leading role as a peace mediator.
Israel, by contrast, applauded Trump’s move. Netanyahu said it was “an important step towards peace” and it was “our goal from Israel’s first day”.
Workers install photovoltaic solar panels at the Gujarat solar park under construction in Charanka village, in Patan district of Gujarat, April 14, 2012. REUTERS/Amit Dave/Files
NEW DELHI – India will need at least $125 billion to fund its ambitious plan to increase the share of renewable power supply in the country’s grid by 2022, a top government official told Reuters, underlining the immense financing challenge ahead.
The South Asian nation is one of the world’s most important growth markets for renewable energy. Millions of Indians are not yet linked up to the power grid but as the country of more than a billion people prospers, it is experiencing surging demand.
To put India’s $125 billion requirement in context, global corporate funding for the solar industry – the world’s fastest-growing electricity source – was a tenth of that amount in 2017 at $12.8 billion, research firm Mercom says.
In 2015, India said investment of $100 billion in the seven years to 2022 would be needed to meet its renewable energy goals.
Installed renewable power capacity is currently about 60 gigawats (GW), and India plans to complete the bidding process by the end of 2019/20 to add a further 115 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022.
To do that, Anand Kumar, secretary at the ministry of new and renewable energy, said investment of at least $125 billion would be needed.
India, which receives twice as much sunshine as European countries, wants to make solar central to its renewable expansion. It expects renewable energy to make up 40 percent of installed power capacity by 2030, compared with 18.2 percent at the end of 2017.
Kumar said that $125 billion was a “conservative estimate” and foreign capital would be central to achieving the goal.
Private equity firms, U.S. banks including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and European utilities EDF and Engie are already investors or lenders in India’s renewable energy sector.
India will also require support from development banks, like the World Bank, Kumar said.
IREDA, a state-run financier for renewable energy, raised $300 million by selling rupee-denominated bonds, known as masala bonds, in the United Kingdom last year. The bonds were subscribed 1.7 times.
“We are also looking to raise another $500 million through IREDA through masala bonds early next financial year,” he said.
NOT ENOUGH
Most of the financing for India’s renewables drive so far has come from domestic banks, industry experts say, raising doubts about the level of support that can be expected from overseas investors.
Market consultant Jasmeet Khurana said Indian banks would have to account for the lion’s share of new renewable investments in the future.
“It is an uphill task, but Indian banks can find the appetite to fund these projects,” Khurana said.
Another challenge in achieving India’s renewable targets is the government’s “Make in India” initiative.
To protect itself from cheap solar panel imports, India’s directorate general of safeguards, an arm of the finance ministry, has proposed a 70 percent duty on imports of solar equipment from some countries including China, which so far provides the vast majority of India’s solar panels.
Kumar said “a duty at this stage could hamper our growth situation,” and “a realistic view” will be taken in consultation with other stakeholders.
The government was working on developing energy storage technologies and hydrogen-fuel cells and other batteries, he said.
“Renewables are the future. The only weak link is storage, and the day you crack storage, there is no looking back for renewables.”
Indian American Beej Das of Massachusetts recently announced in a campaign press release that he has raised $425,000 for his Congress run this year and currently has $550,000 cash on hand, according to the Lowell Sun.
Das is running against Lori Trahan and 13 more democrats, to replace 3rd Congressional District Rep. Niki Tsongas’ seat, according to the Lowell Sun.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the number of individuals who believe in my campaign enough to support it financially. I’m particularly proud that more than half of our donations in the fourth quarter are small donations under $200. We were determined to raise the necessary funds for a competitive race that will allow us to run a grassroots campaign and meet as many voters as possible,” Das said in the release.
According to his website, the issues Das is focusing on include education, the economy, immigration, healthcare, taxes and regulations, and veterans and the military.
“Politicians constantly paint a picture of a clash between their own good ideas and their opponents’ evil ones. This isn’t normal but it has become politics as usual. We must change the national dialogue to accommodate differences but still act upon shared beliefs and goals,” Das states on his website.
“Our federal system was designed that Mississippi and Massachusetts were not supposed to necessarily be similar but they are expected to share a common thread. We can fix the dysfunction in Washington by bridging between differing viewpoints and finding common ground. If we are true to the principles our Founding Fathers established, we will constructively engage with each other and do more together,” he adds.
Das is a “constitutional lawyer by training, but an entrepreneur at heart” and has “built an innovative hotel company” which has over 100 full-time employees in three states, according to his website.
Both of his parents came from India in the early 1960’s to study and build a better life for themselves, they eventually received their Ph.D.s at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and his mom became a professor at Lowell State College while his dad became one of America’s top engineers, according to his website.
Das’ love for business started at the age of 12 when he accompanied his dad in various projects.
“I started helping dad when I was twelve. I wrote software, designed and authored user documentation and provided technical support for our clients, including GE’s engine division in nearby Lynn. Needless to say, I learned the fundamentals of structures and engineering well before I could drive. I worked at dad’s company, Das Consulting, Inc. in Lawrence, through high school and college. It was while working there that, at age fifteen; I won a bid for a large contract for the United States Navy for advanced linguistic systems at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, becoming the youngest person in history to do so,” he states on his website.
Das received his Political Science degree from Middlebury Collegein Vermont after he attended UMass Lowell and grew fond of politics in 1988 when he was the President of the Young Democrats as well as an early volunteer for Gov. Michael Dukakis.
He then went on to study law at the University of MichiganLaw School in Ann Arbor before becoming a “federal law clerk to Hon. Judge Benson Everett Legg of the United States District Courtfor Maryland where I helped decide cases ranging from civil rights, affirmative action and discrimination, commercial disputes, intellectual property, to drugs and other criminal matters,” according to his website.
Das then returned to UMass Lowell to teach classes on the sociology of law and started a career at a leading Boston law firm before joining the hotel business.
(This story has been corrected and revised with a correction in the amount raised by the candidate.)
NEW YORK – Indian American Omar Vaid is running for the 11th Congressional District seat which is currently being held by Rep. Dan Donovan (R-Staten Island, Southern Brooklyn), and has been gaining a lot of attention on social media, according to Voices of NY.
Being a Muslim-American, Vaid has spoken a lot about President Donald Trump’s travel ban throughout his campaign and is focusing on a number of issues including the improvement of transportation, education, Medicare, lowering prescription drug costs, affordable housing, climate change, gun laws, veteran’s benefits, women’s rights, worker’s rights and building strong unions, protecting social security, protecting net neutrality, unity and foreign policy, according to his website.
Vaid is the son of Gujarati parents and while growing up in Illinois and Florida, “he embraced his family’s rich cultural heritage as well as that of his schoolmates and friends,” according to his website.
Vaid received his bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Central Florida and moved to Brooklyn in 2006 to start a career in the movie industry.
He then moved to Bay Ridge two years later and joined the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 52 in 2009, but ended up moving out of Bay Ridge due to transportation issues, according to his website.
Now, Vaid works with props and set decoration for New York productions, along with working on the TV shows “Luke Cage” and “The Get Down.”
According to his website, Vaid has also spent the “last decade directly working with teamsters, welders, electricians, carpenters, mechanics and manufacturers to make sets and scenes possible. He votes with his dollars and for this reason, buys largely from a network of local business owners and small suppliers and believes that ‘Made in America’ and strong allied trades are key to our future prosperity and the perseverance of the American Dream” and believes that “diversity is an asset and that all voices must be included.”
According to Ballotpedia, Vaid will be running against Michael DeCillis, Michael DeVito Jr., Zach Emig, Radhakrishna Mohan, Max Rose and Paul Sperling in the Democratic primary while Rep. Donovan will be challenged by former Rep. Michael Grimm in the Republican primary.
FILE PHOTO – The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
Amazon.com Inc. has short-listed 20 cities, including one in Canada, to build its second headquarters after reviewing 238 proposals and expects to make a decision this year, it said on Thursday.
Major U.S. metros such as New York City, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. make the list, along with smaller cities such as Raleigh, North Carolina, and Columbus, Ohio.
Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is also on the list.
The Seattle-based e-commerce company said it would work with each of the candidate locations to get more information and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership.
Amazon said in September it would build a $5 billion second headquarters in North America, kicking off a competition between cities and states to offer tax cuts and incentives that could bring 50,000 new jobs.
The company received 238 proposals in just a month after it began accepting proposals as elected officials eager for Amazon’s promised investment and jobs offered the company billions in tax breaks.
Cricket – Sri Lanka v India – Fifth One Day International Match – Colombo, Sri Lanka – September 3, 2017 – India’s team captain Virat Kohli plays a shot. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
MUMBAI – India captain Virat Kohli had something to cheer on Thursday when he was named ICC World Cricketer of the Year, a day after suffering his first test series defeat as skipper in South Africa.
The 29-year-old was rewarded for his prolific run in the qualification period from Sept. 2016 to the end of 2017 when he amassed 2,203 runs — including eight centuries — in tests, 1,818 in ODIs and 299 in Twenty20 internationals.
Kohli, who also led India to the top of the world’s test rankings during the period, received the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, which team mate Ravichandran Ashwin had won last year.
The top order batsman, who shone with the bat in South Africa even if his team dropped 2-0 behind in the three-test series, was also adjudged the ODI player of the year.
“It means a lot to win to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for becoming the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2017 and also the ICC ODI Player of the Year,” Kohli, who was named captain of both the ICC test and ODI teams for the year, said in an ICC statement.
“I won that back in 2012 also but it’s the first time winning the Garfield Sobers Trophy, and it’s a huge honour for me. It’s probably the biggest of all in world cricket and two Indians getting it back-to-back makes it more special.”
Australia’s Ashes-winning captain Steve Smith was named the Test Cricketer of the Year, having scored 1,875 runs in 16 matches at an average of 78.12, with eight hundreds and five half-centuries.
Smith scored 687 runs at an average of 137.40 against England in the Ashes series to go with three centuries in four tests in India in early 2017.
“It’s a great honour to win the Test Player of the Year award. It’s called test cricket for a reason and I’m very humbled to win that award,” Smith said.
“I’ve had a really good year… I am incredibly humbled and I love playing test cricket – it’s the game that challenges your skills and your mind the most.”
ICC awards
Test team of the year: Dean Elgar, David Warner, Virat Kohli (captain), Steven Smith, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ben Stokes, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, James Anderson
ODI team of the year: David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes, Trent Boult, Hasan Ali, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah
ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year – Virat Kohli (India)
Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year – Steve Smith (Australia)
Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Virat Kohli (India)
Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Hasan Ali (Pakistan)
Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year – Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)
Men’s T20I Performance of the Year – Yuzvendra Chahal (6-25 v England) (India)
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon speaks during a campaign event for Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Judge Roy Moore in Fairhope, Alabama, U.S., December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman/Files
WASHINGTON – Former White House strategist Steve Bannon was expected to return on Thursday to testify before the House of Representatives’ intelligence committee, two days after refusing to answer questions about his time with the Trump administration or the transition period leading to it.
“He’s supposed to come back. Whether he will or not I can’t say,” Representative Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the panel, said in an interview with CNN.
“This broad declaration that ‘I won’t answer questions’ – not just about the transition but anything that happened after the campaign including up to the present date – is unsustainable,” Schiff said.
Bannon, a far-right, self-described nationalist, directed the final stage of President Donald Trump’s campaign and was a key presidential adviser until being fired in August.
The rift between Bannon and Trump widened this month with the release of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” a book that was highly critical of Trump and used Bannon as a prominent source.
Bannon appeared before the House committee investigating Russian meddling in the election on Tuesday but refused to answer questions after his lawyer conferred with the White House and was told again to refuse to answer questions about the transition period immediately after Trump was elected or Bannon’s time in the administration, Schiff said.
A lawyer for Bannon, William Burck, was not immediately available for comment.
Bannon also struck a deal to be interviewed by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, which also is investigating Russian meddling, rather than appearing before a grand jury, CNN reported on Wednesday. The New York Times had reported that he was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury.
Both the House committee and the special counsel are investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Before joining the Trump campaign in 2016, Bannon had been executive chairman of the right-wing news source Breitbart News. He returned there after his dismissal from the White House but stepped down amid the book controversy.
