NEW YORK – The Indian American president of the blood testing start-up company Theranos, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani and its founder Elizabeth Holmes were charged on Wednesday, March 14, with what the Securities and Exchange Commission say is a “massive fraud,” according to a CNBC report.

The SEC said that Theranos deceived its investors of more than $700 million by “hosting misleading technology demonstrations, and overstating the extent of Theranos’ relationships with commercial partners and making it appear as if Theranos had successfully developed a commercially-ready portable blood analyzer that could perform a full range of laboratory tests from a small sample of blood” between late 2013 and 2015.

The SEC also mentioned that there were times in which Theranos’ technology could only perform about 12 tests of the over 200 advertised.

Balwani and Holmes also lied about the extent of Theranos’ involvement with the military and said that the company’s products were deployed by the U.S. Department of Defense in Afghanistan and that the company had generated more than $100 million in 2014, when in fact that never happened, according to a PTI report.

While the SEC is seeking an order that will require Balwani to pay a fine and prohibit him from acting as an officer or director of a public company, Holmes will have to pay a fine of $500,000 and will be barred from serving as a director or officer of a public company for 10 years, according to CNBC.

Holmes will also be required to not profit from her ownership until the money is returned to the victims of the fraud.

Holmes, 34, was once seen as a prominent figure in Silicon Valley who promised to “disrupt the health technology industry with her company’s path-breaking technology for blood-testing” but had to seek help from her then-boyfriend Balwani, 52, in 2009 when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Balwani ended up joining the company in September of that year and served as its president and Chief Operating Officer until May 2016, where he and Holmes were the only executives who worked closely with each other to make decisions about the Theranos together.

According to CrunchBase, prior to his current position Balwani worked at Microsoft and later started his own company in the business-to-business ecommerce space but then sold it to CommerceOne.

Balwani dropped out of the Computer Science program at Stanford University and received his MBA at the University of California at Berkeley as well as his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

According to a TechCrunch report, Balwani’s attorneys have sent out a statement defending his role in the Theranos fraud saying that he “took on significant financial risk” and “never benefited financially from his work at the company” despite investing “millions of dollars of his own cash in the company” and called the SEC’s enforcement action “unwarranted.”

But the SEC has disagreed.

“The charges against Theranos, Holmes and Balwani make clear that there is no exemption from the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws simply because a company is non-public, development-stage, or the subject of exuberant media attention,” Steven Peikin, the Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, told PTI.

Jina Choi, the Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office, told PTI that “the Theranos story was an ‘important lesson’ for Silicon Valley where innovators who seek to ‘revolutionize and disrupt’ an industry and that they must tell investors the truth about what their technology can do today, not just what they hope it might do someday.”

TechCrunch has reported that the SEC will make their claims against Balwani in federal district court in the Northern District of California.

As for now, CNBC has reported that the company has not said anything about any further investigation.

Kids in the community are becoming rapidly politicized amidst the nationwide student protests against gun violence in schools

“Gun Use Should Cease, Promote Peace” was the rhyming slogan on the poster that Krishna Shah, 13, and her 5 classmates thought up to display in the halls of Walter H. Crowley Middle School in Elmhurst, Queens, N.Y., on March 14 morning. At 10 a.m. that day, teens and tweens around the country who should have been at their desks studying, walked out or in other ways, observed the one-month anniversary of the mass killing of 17 people at a Parkdale, Florida high school, and called on adults to do something to make schools safe.

Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, tweeted, “All 3 of my kids chose for themselves to participate in #NationalStudentWalkout today. Very proud of them. This was a part of their education, not a break from it.” Bharara was among several Indian-American leaders in the country to come out in support of the students.

Krishna’s classmates lined up in the hall at school for 17 minutes of silence in memory of those killed in Florida. “I’ve never seen it like this before. Usually, it’s noisy and busy in the halls,” she told News India Times.

The reality outside book-learning and having fun, has engaged Krishna in a serious way with the political process. “I think it’s very important because its (gun violence) happening around the country and could happen to us. We should be educated about it. Even me, I don’t really know about gun laws and things. We need to think about it and learn about the laws,” Krishna said, adding, “I would like to know my classmates’ opinions on it- it’s about time we started talking about it.”

Snehi Shah, 19, Krishna’s older sister at St. Johns University in Jamaica, Queens, says many walked out of class there as well. Taking a stand on gun ownership was important, she said, but “The talk of arming teachers is not a good move, You never know when a teacher may be having a bad day,” she said, However, more background and mental health checks were necessary

For 15-year old Nimai Shukla, a sophomore at Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, the concern over gun violence is “very real and entirely possible in any school.” He was among all the students who walked out to the football field to register that concern but “I did not feel empowered in the way I had expected to feel being in a protest,” largely because the walkout was organized by school authorities, he told News India Times. Attending the walkout, he said was a good way to hear classmates’ opinions “Because it’s not a good idea to discuss it in school – you could be misheard or misunderstood.” Nimai says banning guns is “unrealistic,” and he speaks with details.

“Assault rifles should be banned and bump stocks should also be banned. Attachments like suppressers that reduce the sound of gun shots, should be made illegal,” Nimai told News India Times. A bump stock is an attachment that speeds up the firepower of a semi-automatic rifle. Nimai supports  deeper background checks and a federal registry of gun owners, and more funding for research on gun ownership, gun use, and regulations in other countries.

Across the country, Indian-American lawmakers and those running for election, as well as those heading important organizations, expressed solidarity with the students.

California Congressman Ami Bera, a Democrat, tweeted, on March 14 night, “We need commonsense measures to prevent gun violence because kids   deserve to be safe at school. I’m inspired by students across the country and hopeful their actions will spark the overdue change we need.  #NationalWalkoutDay #NeverAgain.”

Senator Kamala Harris, D-California, noted youth was no bar to protesting. “Martin Luther King was only 26 when he helped lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott. John Lewis was 21 when he went down to Mississippi as one of the original Freedom Riders. Diane Nash was 22 when she started leading sit-ins in Nashville,” Harris tweeted.

“Enough is enough as the 14,000 kids who have died, shows,” said Puneet Ahluwalia, Republican political and business strategist from Virginia. He was referring to one of the student protests which put a number on gun violence deaths. Ahluwalia, who is the parent of a high-school going daughter and one who is in first year in university, told News India Times, “We need to come out with common-sense reforms to curtail these threats, We cannot afford to lose another life. So just as we have regulations for other industries, we need them for the guns.”

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, gave a shout out to local students “Ballard High School student organizers are gathering to make their voices heard – we must step up and listen.#NationalWalkoutDay #EndGunViolence.”

Hiral Tipirneni, candidate for Congress from Arizona tweeted, “The young folks have it right – gun violence is a public health issue & must be treated as such. …” and called for ‘commonsense” solutions.

Former Justice Department Civil Rights Division Chief Vanita Gupta, currently president of the largest civil rights organization in the country, called on Congress to “go back to the drawing board and pass the gun safety legislation that people in America actually want.”

The nationwide political expression by students, including Indian-Americans, is not going to be a one-day affair, leaders have indicated. Ashwani Jain, running for the At-large seat on the Montgomery County Council in Maryland, is holding a “#Neveragain Student Organizing Workshop,” March 18, for middle and high school students. “Want to learn how to make your voice heard in government?” Jain, a 15-year cancer survivor and Obama White House alum, is asking these youth.

NEW YORK – Are Indo-US ties on the up or down? Veering off-course, or regaining balance? Careening? Or is it all a game of rolling down a slope in tandem, only to get up together with a shrug and, laugh, move on determinedly to preconceived goals.

It’s hard to tell in the era of President Donald Trump. He’s not only upended foreign policy, but turned trade relations to a hitherto new territory of uncertainty, imposing tariffs and lawsuits; even to the extent of risking making enemies out of friends.

Why does one get the feeling that behind all the bonhomie that the US has shared with India since Trump took over office, there are plenty of protectionist plots afoot to undermine India. The level of distaste and disdain, contempt, for India, has escalated sharply.

The new move by US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to target India’s export promotion programs, take it to the WTO, is significant. Trump has been harping on India’s “unfair trade practices”. On his own turf, he’s clamped down hard with tariffs on the import of steel and aluminum, issued relentless work visa restrictions targeting India’s IT industry.

A statement from the USTR listed the subsidy programs they feel is unfair, and taken to the WTO: Merchandise Exports from India; Export Oriented Units, including Electronics Hardware Technology Parks; Special Economic Zones; Export Promotion Capital Goods, and a duty free imports for exporters program. The US says all of it is distorting trade in a way that allows Indian exporters “to sell their goods more cheaply to the detriment of American workers and manufacturers.”

Richard M. Rossow, Senior Adviser and Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies, in an interview to the Hindu, says “trade ties have historically been testy, and are getting worse (between India and US), at least from a government-to-government standpoint.” He contends the latest move by the US is different from other disputes it’s had with India, because of the attack on India’s larger policy programs.

While India is likely feeling satisfied with the US bilateral outreach to her in the Indo-Pacific region, to counter the growth of China, clarity and toughness in position on Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism, and deigned a Major Defence Partner, there’s also a persistent sense of vulnerability on trade and immigration issues, a feeling that things may escalate further, become uglier.

The Narendra Modi government cannot afford long-term Indo-US trade conflicts, which will dampen growth in India. In fact, as much as Trump is trying to please his conservative base and issuing protectionist orders, Modi is also in a quandary when it comes to the economy, the urgent need to create more jobs. It’s survival time for Modi too, with the general elections looming next year. He needs to boost and create manufacturing jobs at a frenetic pace in the country, which dried up in the wake of demonetization.

Business Standard noted that the double impact of base-erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT) introduced by the US government and the lowering of corporate taxes to 21 per cent by Trump are feared to have negative impact on the Indian arms of global technology companies.

“Indian MNCs will now have to explore new ways of doing business, as the impact of these changes are significant,” D D Mishra, Research Director, Gartner, was quoted as saying by the Standard.

Between 2010 and 2016, number of global companies having R&D centers in India grew from 721 to 943, according to data from Indian Brand Equity Foundation. The workforce employed by these centers is estimated to have jumped from 204,000 in 2010 to 387,000 last year.

With the onset of Trump’s BEAT, which came into effect this January, those centers’ and job numbers are going to be adversely impacted; growth likely to stall, if not recede. India needs to create at least a million jobs a month to cater to natural growth in the labor force. The government estimates it’s creating between 350,000 and 400,000 a month.

If service jobs start to dry up too in India because of restrictive US policies, then India is in trouble, with the danger of historic unemployment rates this millennium.

Milan Vaishnav, director and a senior fellow in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writing an opinion column in Foreign Affairs earlier this month, entitled, ‘An Indian Nightmare: Is New Delhi Ready for the Twenty-First Century?’, says “outlines of a much darker alternative narrative are beginning to appear” for India’s growth.”

Vaishnav writes: “One where the combined forces of urbanization and demography lead not to a rich dividend but to a social disaster. This is a future in which India’s urbanization, while creating pockets of wealth creation and prosperity, excludes many more thanks to decrepit infrastructure, poor services, and inadequate opportunity. According to this perspective, India will fall drastically short of creating enough jobs to keep up with its burgeoning labor force, spurring India’s youth to cling more, not less, fervently to identity as a means of finding their way. This resort to identity markers risks sharpening ethnic divisions and fueling the growth of sectarianism.”

The US can help India a lot in its job woes, but unfortunately, it’s not happening in the era of Trump. Instead, it’s a see-saw battle between India and the US.

For India, regaining balance is critical.

(Sujeet Rajan is Executive Editor, Parikh Worldwide Media. Email him: sujeet@newsindiatimes.com Follow him on Twitter @SujeetRajan1)

The bipartisan rating agency that evaluates various electoral races nationwide and is considered reliable in calculating the odds of victory, has shifted its assessment of 9 House races, two of which could potentially affect the political fortunes of Indian-American candidates positively.

Cook Political Report, in its newest assessment of “Competitive Races” shows California Congressman Ami Bera, a Democrat in his third term from District 7, as having an easier time getting re-elected. Bera won his first election in 2012. In his 2014 election he won with 50.4 percent of the vote and a lead of just 1,455 votes. In 2016, he won by a larger margin of 51.2 percent and 6,965 votes. This time round, Cook has classified District 7 as “likely Democrat” from the earlier “lean Democrat” category (cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings). The District 7 race has been one of the most expensive in the country targeted unsuccessfully so far by Republicans. Currently, Bera’s fundraising prowess (Cash on hand $829,319) has far outstripped his two main Republican opponents Andrew Grant and Yona Barash, according to Ballotpedia. District 7 in California covers central California including much of Sacramento County and its open primaries are scheduled for June 5.

The other seat reclassified by Cook, is New Jersey’s District 7, held by long-time Republican Leonard Lance. He is being challenged in the upcoming Nov. 6 elections, by two Indian-American Democrats, Peter Jacob and Goutam Jois, among others. However, Democratic candidate Lisa Mandelblatt has so far raised the most in the race in which 6 Democrats are vying for their party’s endorsement in the June 5 primaries. Cook had described NJ-7 as a Republican leaning seat, but has now put it in the “toss-up” column (cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings). Ballotpedia also describes this District as a “race to watch” in 2018. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has also targeted it hoping to flip the seat from red to blue. District 7 in New Jersey covers the northwestern portion of the state and encompasses Hunterdon County and parts of Essex, Morris, Somerset, Union, and Warren counties.

Reeham Salah, who is now a junior at the University of Pennsylvania,  won the College Squash Association’s Individual championship match on her third attempt.

“I’m extremely proud of Reeham. She worked so hard to earn this title. I know she felt tremendous pressure to win this year—having finished second twice. I expect this achievement will give her the confidence to go on and win more titles,” said head coach Jack Wyant.

Salah lost to Kanzy El Defrawy from Trinity in her freshman year and Georgina Kennedy from Harvard, last season but won against her this time around by winning in four games.

Winning the title for the third time has been special for Salah though, as she has now become the university’s first national champion since Jessica DiMauro in 1996.

According to the university press release, Salah had been on a mission all season and she went undefeated into the regular season with a score of 13-0.

She added three more wins at the Howe Cup team championships increasing her score to 16-0, and she finished off the season with a 20-0 record, gaining four wins in the Ramsay Cup.

Though she did lose two games this season, she still won the Ivy League Player of the Year for the second year in a row and became the only player in program’s history to win the award back-to-back.

According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, last year Salah travelled to France to compete for Team USA in the World Women’s Team Squash Championships and she was awarded Female Player of the Month for January by the Squash Player Magazine.

“It definitely was such an honor to be nominated and win the Player of the Month in the world award for squash. The last few months the award was given to number 1, 2, and 3 in the world, so to be in a batch with such successful squash players humbles me greatly,” Salah told The Daily Pennsylvanian.

(This story was revised on March 16.)

NEW YORK – It’s one thing to read about Islamophobia, watch it on television and films – with interrogation and body searches bordering on the abusive and perverse at airports topping the list for shock value – and quite another to watch the debilitating, humiliating, cancerous effect it has on its victims, played out by actors on a stage.

Hammad Chaudhry’s ‘An Ordinary Muslim’, directed by Jo Bonney, playing at the New York Theatre Workshop, is a remarkable off-Broadway play on a clichéd subject – a truth bared to its bone in myriad forms, with no wiggle room for surprises anymore.

There are no physical body cavity searches for shock value in ‘An Ordinary Muslim’. The disillusionment that comes from watching reality is enough. Sitting in the audience, one knows with certainty that the story on stage is probably being enacted in real life at thousands of Muslim homes across the globe.

Perhaps, even the same dialogues as penned by Chaudhry, are being uttered outside by an irate and bitter son to his father over how the world really is today, denouncing the surge in Islamophobia; an anguished daughter gathering the courage to confront her abusive parents over favoritism shown to her male sibling since childhood; a marital discord flaring up, creating an unbridgeable chasm, over religious values; a promotion in office cruelly denied because of racism; traditional, conservative Muslims trying to woo and seduce the young, modern, confused, unstable Muslim to their fold, recognizing the vulnerability that exists beneath the calm and nonchalant, but deceptive veneer of confidence.

‘An Ordinary Muslim’, set in the suburbs of London, in 2011, gives an accurate account of how a lot of modern, second generation Muslims in the West are burdened, shrouded by the exasperation and excruciating knowledge of being what they are: a Muslim. This, despite their behaving like their Caucasian peers.

For these Muslims – who are forced to live an alter life in the presence of their parents and family members, often forced to give precedence to traditional values and roots – it’s not just the color of their brown skin that’s bothersome. It’s their religion by which they are identified with the most, and often excoriated for that, as being vile, in public and private life.

However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Chaudhary fails in keeping up the momentum of ‘An Ordinary Muslim’. He struggles to explore in depth the frailties and dynamics of relationships marred by religious hues, the seductive power of the religious calling for female Muslims. The flawed script falls back relentlessly to done to death stereotypes, instead.

‘An Ordinary Muslim’ moves at its best as if a car suddenly accelerated from 20 miles to 40 miles per hour on a highway. And then stays put at that speed.

The central character in ‘An Ordinary Muslim’ is Azeem Bhatti (played by Sanjit De Silva), a middle class second generation Pakistani American on the cusp of a promotion as a bank manager. An achievement his uneducated and now retired father, Akeel Bhatti (Ranjit Chowdhry), could never have imagined in his time working as an unsung, unskilled worker, after he emigrated from Pakistan.

Azeem’s wife Saima (Purva Bedi) is the epitome of the modern, naive, aspiring Muslim who lives happily in a joint family, but finds herself swaying towards conservatism, influenced by her local mosque and in principal a young man, Hamza Jameel (Sathya Sridharan), who has befriended her there. Her insistence on wearing a hijab to work is resented by Azeem, and sets up a clash of ideology, creates a rift between them.

As the teetotaler Azeem’s world starts to implode when he’s not only denied the promotion but is forced to resign after derogatory and racist comments by his boss, and hides all of that from his family, including the fact that he’s now working as a waiter in a restaurant, matters come to a head when Saima declares that she wants to quit her job because of racism. The precarious perch to perdition tears the Bhatti family apart, before they can give themselves another chance.

The talented De Silva essays the role of an anguished, angry young man up against the wall, well, but he comes across finally as a man who deserved what he got in life. The audience feel little sympathy for his pitfalls in life.

The characters of Malika Bhatti (Rita Wolf), the wife of Akeel and Javeria Bhatti-Mirza (Angel Desai), the sister of Azeem, are the most blasé, with Chaudhry happy to smother them in stereotypical manner.

If scratching on the surface sounds clichéd, think of knocking on a door and expecting us to know who is within, seems to be the playwright’s mode of approach. Thrown in is the infuriating white, apologist colleague of Azeem, David Adkins (Andrew Hovelson), who seems to have the thick skin of a frog about to jump into a clear water lake.

The most interesting aspect of Chaudhary’s play is the title itself. Really, what does ‘An Ordinary Muslim’ mean? Who is an ordinary Muslim in the play?

At the end of the play, when the Bhatti family has crumbled beyond redemption and relief, and dislocation – either to segregate oneself from society, or to search for a new life far away, like the patriarch of the family once did – their only choice, one is left to wonder who is the most ordinary of them all.

Is it Azeem, who crumbled despite his western upbringing, in danger of falling prey to anger spilling over to anarchy? Is it Akeel, who’s cursed from the beginning, and has to pay for the abuse he heaped on his family, to never find succor; is it Saima, a woman with little willpower? Is it Hamza, who is ‘safe’ within his mosque and conservative values? Or is it all of them?

The Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) will celebrate its 20th anniversary Gala Benefit on Sunday, May 6, 2018, onboard the Cornocopia Majesty,one of New York City’s luxury yachts.

IAAC is a registered 501(c) 3 not-for-profit, secular service and resource arts organization, passionately dedicated to showcasing, promoting and building an awareness of Indian sub-continental performing, visual and literary arts.

Eminent personalities from the art, film, fashion, academia, corporate, medical and entertainment industries will gather at Pier 81 to celebrate this special occasion. Salman Rushdie, Mira Nair, Madhur Jaffrey, Aasif Mandvi, the Consul General of India in New York Sandeep Chakravorty and the Indian Ambassador to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin, will be among the invited guests for the event, according to a press release by IAAC.

IAAC (www.iaac.us) was founded by four individuals: the late Gopal Raju (then Editor, India Abroad), Talat Ansari (Senior Partner, Kelly, Drye & Warren), Jonathan Hollander (Artistic Director, Battery Dance Company), and Aroon Shivdasani (Executive and Artistic Director, IAAC).

For well over a decade, Hollander has built and maintained a busy cultural bridge between India and the U.S. He has choreographed over 75 works, performed in theaters and festivals across continents. In 1982, he created the Downtown Dance Festival (now renamed Battery Dance Festival) which is known to have become New York City’s longest-running dance festival.

Ansari is a partner in the firm’s New York office and chair of the India practice group. He focuses his practice on corporate and commercial transactions, infrastructure projects, and international litigation and arbitration. He has 37 years of experience representing India-based industrial, servicing and trading companies.

Shivdasani sits on several artistic and social Boards, on the Advisory Boards of several other art and charity organizations, and has been on the juries of the Emmys, beauty contests, grants, art, film, dance and theatre contests. She has received Outstanding Citizen awards as well as honor and appreciation awards from several organizations for her passionate work for artists and the community. On January 4, 2015, Aroon was named one of the top 20 Global Indian Women by The Economic Times.

IAAC pioneered a movement that gave birth to myriad Indian arts organizations that have sprouted up all over the United States, in every artistic discipline.

“In 1998 Indian artists were invisible, unknown and unappreciated in North America. For well over 20 years, we have blazed a trail promoting, showcasing and building an awareness, in North America, of the hitherto invisible arts of India through presentations of Indian film, dance, art, music, theatre, literature & fashion. The IAAC has also raised money and awareness of social causes, natural disasters and other issues – such as the Latur & Bhuj earthquakes, the Tsunami, communal violence in India, 9/11 here in the US, gender equality, women’s rights and more, all thru artistic presentations.” said Shivdasani, in a statement.

The gala, which commences at 6 p.m., will be held onboard the Cornocopia Majesty, with a lavish waterfront setting. The yacht will sail around Manhattan while guests dine, dance and enjoy the spectacular entertainment on board with Master of Ceremonies Sree Sreenivasan.

The event offers guests a live jazz band by the Metrocard Jazz Society band, a photo exhibit of IAAC archival images from 1998 through today, video footage from 20 years of IAAC, cocktails, scrumptious hors d’oeuvres, gourmet dinner and dancing, according to the press release.

Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in an exciting live auction for hand-picked auction items. Adding to the excitement is a spectacular fashion show, and a dance performance by Battery Dance Company, creating a truly unique experience to celebrate the work done by IAAC for two decades.

For a sneak peak at some of the items up for bid this year, check out: http://www.iaac.us/20th- AnniversaryGala/auction.htm For tickets, go to: https://goo.gl/vNKRNd

Tables of 10 at the gala range in value from $5,000 to $25,000, and individual tickets are available for $500.

Told by a teen narrator who happens to be half Indian-American, Scholastic Press’ upcoming novel ‘Damselfly’ by author Chandra Prasad unfolds a story that is both exciting and complex in its telling. It kept me glued to the pages till the end in one sitting, and I’m far from being a a ‘Young Adult’.

The stage is set on a seemingly uninhabited island, where a plane carrying a group of teen fencers from an elite private school, crashes. The motley group of survivors includes the narrator, Indian-American Samantha Mishra, of “mixed” descent, whose balanced gaze but very human failings are juxtaposed with the “mean girl” Rittika who is an American of purely Indian origin.

The group learns to live together but without giving too much away, things soon begin to fall apart.

Prasad’s strength lies in breaking stereotypes over and again to keep readers on their toes – about the not-so-model “mixed” Indian-Caucasian family; the Hispanic member of the group; the high school jock; the girl with depression symptoms. It also tells a gripping tale of fear, folly, smarts, incest, you name it, that teens cope with, suffer, and learn to live with less, in an alien environment where wits and deviousness compete with reason and goodness. While the juxtaposition of good and evil may not sound that different from many novels, Prasad weaves a more nuanced web.

Prasad told News India Times she is “mixed” American herself and her two sons do not look Indian though they are exposed to Indian culture and relate to it in many ways. “Identity politics—always interesting, always complicated!” Prasad said.

Asked why she chose a “mixed” Indian-Caucasian teen as the narrator, she said it was “because multiracial characters are VERY underrepresented in literature, and especially in young adult literature.”

She has also brought out another publication, “Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience.”

“It is extremely important for kids to be able to relate to literary characters and to be able to “see themselves” in the books they read,” Prasad told News India Times. The publishing world is making strides to better represent Asians, Native Americans, and African Americans, she noted, “but “mixed” characters are often still shuffled into one of these categories, if they are noted at all.”

Prasad feels strongly that this has got to change also because the mixed-race population is “exploding” in America. She quotes statistics from the U.S. Census which show that overall, while the total U.S. population increased by 9.7 percent since 2000, many multiple-race groups increased by 50 percent or more. “and it is the responsibility of the literary community to keep apace.”

“As a mixed-race author, I’ve made a promise to myself to include multiracial characters in every book I write from here on in,” she said pointing to two other characters in ‘Damselfly’ who are also of mixed-race.

About breaking several stereotypes even while juxtaposing the narrator of mixed Indian heritage with the Indian-origin girl Rittika, Prasad said she was not trying to make any kind of sweeping statement about race. “but I did intentionally want to throw cold water on the usual stereotypes about Indians. I definitely believe all stereotypes, even the so-called positive ones (like how Indians and other Asians are supposed to be “the model minority”) are harmful in the long run because they strip people of nuance, individuality, and distinctiveness,” Prasad said.

“Prasad deftly builds on familiar themes while also exploring issues like race, mental health, and the toxicity of teenage queen bees… A fun and compelling novel, one that is sure to attract a wide range of readers,” said the School Library Connection in its review.

And Booklist described it as “a compulsive read,” one where “Ethics balance on a knife’s edge as the characters make difficult choices and adapt to their new reality.”

Without revealing more of the intriguing tale, suffice it to say, Prasad seems to want to show that whether a person is observant, caring, and empathetic, or the epitome of perfection – beautiful, accomplished, popular, and wealthy — not that the two are mutually exclusive, stereotypes are best forgotten.

“In Damselfly, Indian Americans are complex individuals who cannot be easily pinned-down—in other words, they are the opposite of stereotypical,” Prasad told News India Times.

This is Prasad’s first young adult novel. The Connecticut resident who is a Yale University graduate and a Fellow at one of Yale’s residential colleges, previously wrote novels for adults, including, Mixed; and On Borrowed Wings, a historical drama set in early 20th century New Haven; Breathe the Sky, a fictionalized account of Amelia Earhart’s last days; and Death of a Circus, which Booklist called “Richly textured [and] packed with glamour and grit.” Prasad’s shorter works have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications. She is currently working on additional young adult novels.

For more on Chandra Prasad’s books and other writing, visit:www.chandraprasad.com

Land

The new Amira Resort & Spa, in St. George, Utah, is offering half-off a third night and a free fourth night. The Stay & Play package starts at $423 per couple, including taxes, for three nights in a king room with a private patio and fireplace; the typical rate is from $507. A four-night stay starts at $507, down from $676. Book by Aug. 31; valid Sunday through Thursday, until Dec. 31. The resort is in southern Utah, near several national parks. Info: 435-628-1370, amiraresort.com

Intrepid Travel is offering savings of up to 20 percent on more than 1,000 trips in 100-plus countries. For example, the Vietnam Express Southbound trip departing April 26 starts at $952 per person — a savings of $238. The nine-night trip, which travels between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, includes accommodations, land transport, 13 meals, tours and taxes. Solo travelers who agree to share accommodations do not pay a single supplement. Book by March 22 for tours departing April 1 through Sept. 30. Info: 800-970-7299, intrepidtravel.com/us/10-off-sale

Sea

Riviera River Cruises is waiving the single supplement fee on two November cruises, a 50 percent savings for solo travelers. The eight-day Blue Danube River Cruise for Solo Travelers, which sails round trip from Budapest on Nov. 1, starts at $1,819 per person. The Burgundy, the River Rhone & Provence River Cruise for Solo Travelers, which departs Lyon, France, on Nov. 6, starts at $2,139. The single supplement is normally twice the per-person double rate. Price for both cruises includes onboard meals, several land tours and taxes. Info: 888-838-8820, rivierarivercruises.com

Alexander+Roberts is offering 50 percent discounts and free cabin upgrades on three August departures of its St. Lawrence Seaway cruise. The 10-night cruise aboard the new 202-passenger M/V Victory II starts at $3,600 per person double, plus $449 port charges. The free upgrade is worth $200 to $400 per person. The cruise sails between Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Detroit. Price includes meals, open bar, WiFi, shore excursions, shipboard tips and airport transfers. A half-off discount is ongoing, but you must book the upgrade offer by March 30. Info: 800-221-2216, alexanderroberts.com

Air

Aer Lingus has a sale on summer travel to Dublin. Nonstop flights from Washington Dulles start at $716 round trip for a Saver fare, which does not include a checked bag or advance seat assignment; the Smart fare, which includes both items, starts at $799, including taxes. Fare on other airlines starts at $990. Minimum stay of Saturday night required. Travel July 1 through Aug. 22. Book by March 21 at aerlingus.com

Package

Apple Vacations is discounting vacation packages to Hawaii. For example, a five-night trip in early May starts at $1,353 per person double and includes round-trip air from BWI Marshall to Honolulu and accommodations at the Courtyard Oahu North Shore. Priced separately, the trip starts at $1,622. Book by March 22. Info: 800-517-2000, applevacations.com/super-sale-hawaii

Collette Tours is offering a St. Patrick’s Day sale with $99 round-trip air on select Ireland, England and Scotland packages. The deal applies to seven itineraries in 2018. For example, the eight-day Irish Splendor starts at $1,598 per person double and includes round-trip air from Washington to Dublin; hotel accommodations in Dublin, Killarney, Ennis and Kingscourt; nine meals; and taxes. By comparison, in the low season, air to Ireland starts at about $500. Use promo code IRELAND99. Book by Sunday by calling 877-913-8687. Info: gocollette.com/en/landing-pages/2018/air-flash-sale

THE WASHINGTON POST

Popular Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi has been sentenced to two years in prison for human trafficking, according to a BBC report.

The BBC reported that in 2003, Mehndi and six others were accused of taking large amounts of money from people and making false promises of taking them to the U.S. and Canada to look for jobs.

The singer apparently made these people a part of his performing troupe so that when they went on tour, they could be “illegally” dropped off to get jobs in the North American region.

According to an NDTV report, in 1998 and 1999, Mehndi and his brother Shamsher Singh had allegedly taken two troupes to the U.S. during which 10 people were supposedly “dropped off” illegally in San Francisco and New Jersey.

Though police had seized documents in 2006, including a list of the victims who had paid the alleged “passage money” to the brothers, after raiding the offices of Mehndi at Connaught Place in New Delhi, they claimed that he was innocent.

However, the court had upheld that the singer be prosecuted as there was “sufficient evidence against him on the judicial file and scope for further investigation” and soon after the police registered a case against Mehndi and Singh, 35 more complaints came in, “alleging that the two brothers had taken ‘passage money’ from them to help them migrate to the U.S. ‘illegally’ but had failed to do so,” according to an NDTV report.

Mehndi was convicted on Friday, March 16 in the Patiala state of Punjab, but was soon released on bail and told the Associated Press that he is innocent and that his brother was the main accuser, who died last year.

Mehndi rose to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s with his energetic, Punjabi songs including the hit numbers “Tunak Tunak Tun,” “Bolo Ta Ra Ra” and “Saade Naal Rahoge Toh” and has lent his voice for Bollywood film songs as well.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., the biggest US sponsor of H-1B visas for foreign information technology specialists, says a civil rights lawsuit accusing the firm of bias against workers who aren’t from India is all wrong.

Three former employees claim they were forced out of their jobs and replaced with “less qualified” South Asians after being poorly treated by their Indian supervisors and colleagues, given unjustifiably low performance ratings and denied promotions.

The company contends that what it’s accused of isn’t covered by federal civil rights law.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, but plaintiffs’ factual allegations, on their face, plainly pertain to a claim of discrimination based on national origin — not race,” Cognizant said in a court filing. It also said the complaint is clearly targeted at “visa holders, but visa-status allegations have nothing to do with race.”

BROADER BACKLASH

The lawsuit is part of a broader backlash by white IT workers against the visa program that allows US companies to bring in foreign workers for job openings they say can’t be filled otherwise. President Donald Trump tapped into this discontentment to capture the White House in 2016.

Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” + executive order, signed last April, seeks to ensure that American workers aren’t unfairly disadvantaged by employers who allegedly abuse the H-1B visa program.

US District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles said Thursday she would rule on Cognizant’s request to dismiss the claims without a hearing.

Cognizant received 29,000 H1-B visas last year, according to Homeland Security Department data, about twice as much as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., second on the list.

The biggest US technology companies, such as Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Google Inc., are much further down the list with fewer than 5,000 sponsored visas each.

TCS may have to face a class-action trial later this year in Oakland, California, by American workers who claim they lost their jobs because the company is biased in favor of South Asian IT employees. The same Washington law firm representing the workers from TCS and Cognizant is pressing similar claims against Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd., two other IT outsourcing firms.

TCS, Infosys and Wipro are all based in India. Cognizant’s headquarters is in Teaneck, New Jersey.

NEW YORK — To combine the accuracy of cuff devices and the convenience of mobile device apps, a team led by an Indian American researcher has created a new app and hardware to measure blood pressure.

The technology, details of which were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine along with a video, also includes a discovery of a more convenient measurement point.

“We targeted a different artery, the transverse palmer arch artery at the fingertip, to give us better control of the measurement,” said lead author Anand Chandrasekhar.

“We were excited when we validated this location. Being able to use your fingertip makes our approach much easier and more accessible,” Chandrasekhar, a doctoral student at Michigan State University, added.

The approach uses two sensors — an optical sensor on top of a force sensor. The sensor unit and other circuitry are housed in a one centimeter-thin case attached to the back of the phone.

Users turn on the app and press their fingertip against the sensor unit. With their finger on the unit, they hold their phone at heart level and watch their smartphone screen to ensure they are applying the correct amount of finger pressure.

“A key point was to see if users could properly apply the finger pressure over time, which lasts as long as an arm-cuff measurement,” added senior author Ramakrishna Mukkamala.

“We were pleased to see that 90 percent of the people trying it were able to do it easily after just one or two practice tries,” Mukkamala noted.

This invention could give patients a convenient option and keeping a log of daily measurements would produce an accurate average, discounting an occasional measurement anomaly.

Indian American Ramesh Buchirajam Akkela, who is originally from Mumbai, has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for money laundering and smuggling misbranded drugs into the U.S. from India, according to a PTI report.

Akkela, 44, was arrested in Panama earlier this year and was deported back to the U.S. on Thursday, March 15, where senior judge Donetta W. Ambrose sentenced him the next day after his conviction of mail fraud and money laundering, according to a court statement.

According to the court statement, Akkela had shipped misbranded drugs from India to re-shippers in the U.S. who then distributed them to American consumers without a prescription.

The PTI also reported that Akkela operated a website that offered prescription drugs to American consumers without a prescription.

Akkela was indicted on two counts of money laundering and 10 counts of mail fraud, according to the PTI report.

Dr. Vijay Sankaran, an Indian American assistant professor at Harvard Medical School who is also a pediatric hematologist and oncologist at Dana-Farber/Boston’s Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, has been awarded the third annual Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research from Weill Cornell Medicine.

According to a Cornell press release, Sankaran is a physician-scientist who investigates the molecular underpinnings of pediatric genetic blood disorders and his research has made important contributions to improving the health of children and adolescents, earning him the award.

Sankaran is specifically being recognized for his innovative research on red blood cell disorders, using genetic studies to understand how blood cell production occurs normally and how it goes awry in disease leading to promising new therapeutic approaches for these disorders.

“I’m incredibly humbled to be getting this award. In addition to honoring the work that we’ve done in the lab, and the great mentorship I’ve received, I’m extremely grateful that this award is given for child health research. With increased support, there are tremendous opportunities for us to advance the work being done in this area so that we can protect the health of future generations,” Sankaran said in a statement.

Sankaran’s research focuses on inherited diseases, such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia, that affect molecules called hemoglobin, which are present in all red blood cells and are responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body, according to Cornell’s press release.

His recent contribution for Diamond-Blackfan anemia, rare genetic blood disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce enough red blood cells, revealed that for the seven per one million people affected by the disease worldwide who have mutations that disrupt ribosomes, the more common defect in them was causing the disease by disrupting the production of GATA1, a master regulator of blood production, and those findings underscored that raising levels of GATA1 in cells may be an effective new treatment for Diamond-Blackfan anemia, something that Sankaran is pursuing using gene therapy and small molecule approaches.

Sankaran and his colleagues are also developing gene therapy methods to reduce the levels of BCL11A in patients’ blood stem cells which are then reintroduced into their bodies to populate their blood with cells that can produce more fetal hemoglobin.

“Dr. Sankaran is a talented physician-scientist whose steadfast commitment to pediatric research and clinical care exemplifies the spirit of our Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research. His research on the causes of genetic blood disorders and his work to translate those findings into new treatments; have provided hope to children and their families who are suffering from these diseases. We’re delighted to honor him with this year’s Drukier Prize,” Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine, said in a statement.

Sankaran is a member of numerous organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the American Society of Human Genetics and the Society for Pediatric Research, which awarded him the Young Investigator Award in 2015.

According to his university bio, Sankaran has received a Bachelors and a Master’s in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania along with an M.Phil. in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge and earned an M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School.

The Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research was established in 2014 as part of a $25 million gift to Weill Cornell Medicine, according to the Cornell press release.

In a March 8, letter to the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whose leaves the State Department in a few days, and to the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber expressed “deep concerns” over changes the departments are considering on immigration rules, especially to J-1 and Optional Practical Training visas.

The changes, Eisgruber said, “could significantly impede the ability of American institutions of higher education to attract and retain motivated and skilled individuals from other countries.”

“Our nation’s leadership depends upon immigration: it grows our economy, creates jobs, and makes us more competitive in this interconnected world by allowing us to attract, welcome, and collaborate with extraordinary individuals from around the globe,” Eisgruber says in his letter, available on Princeton University’s website.

“As a world-class research and educational institution, Princeton University depends on the inflow of talented people who want to be a part of our undergraduate and graduate student bodies, our faculty, and our research staffs,” Eisgruber added.

“As such, I am particularly troubled by proposed changes to the J-1 exchange visa and Optional Practical Training (OPT) programs that could discourage many of those talented people from coming to the United States, or prevent them from staying in and making valuable contributions to our country.”

Eisgruber said America’s leadership depends on immigration to grow the economy, create jobs and make the country more globally competitive.

“At Princeton, many of our most prominent scholars, students, and alumni have been — or are still — immigrants,” he said. “More than half of our recent Nobel Prize winners were born outside the United States. We are proud of our Global Scholars Program, which enables us to recruit exceptional scholars from other nations and bring them to campus for multi-year teaching appointments,” Eisgruber went on.

He cited a National Science Foundation report that found U.S. college enrollment of international students is down for the first time in many years. “In an increasingly globalized economy, it is vital that our students be knowledgeable about, and comfortable interacting with, people from many different cultures.  If we are to remain a world leader in research, innovation and education, universities must be able to recruit the most qualified professors, students and researchers from around the world,” the president said.

Eisgruber took issue with a proposed state department rule that would create a presumption against waivers of a requirement that some J-1 visa recipients return home for two years before changing their immigration status or transferring to another type of visa in the United States. He also expressed concern about homeland security’s potential changes that could limit or curtail opportunities for students from other countries to supplement their education with on-the-job training in their fields.

“Immigration is an essential part of the American story, and many who have come to the U.S. from other countries have played a critical role in our nation’s success,” Eisgruber wrote. “Attracting the best talent, regardless of national origin, is essential to maintaining America’s status as the global leader in scholarship and research. As you consider these and other proposals, I urge you to think deeply about the long-term consequences — intentional or otherwise — that could result from policies that discourage foreign students and world-class experts from pursuing education and employment in the United States.”

Eisgruber has sent letters in the past to the U.S. Congress and to President Donald Trump, urging protection of immigrants, the university noted in its press release. In a February letter to member of Congress, Eisgruber urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide legal status for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS). He has also advocated for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and those affected by Trump administration executive orders banning travel to the U.S. from certain Muslim-majority countries. In December, Eisgruber joined other college and university presidents and chancellors in becoming a founding member of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

An Indian American councilman from Red Bluff, California, has been sentenced to five years and eight months in prison and will be placed on probation for five years, for a crime he pleaded guilty to in November 2017.

According to a Record Searchlight report, Suren Patel, 44, pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud, grand theft and two counts of public officer crime in November when he was to face a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in prison.

In addition to the prison sentence, Patel will have to complete 80 hours of community service and pay more than $12,500 in restitution.

If he violates his parole, he could face up to eight years in prison, according to a Record Searchlight report.

Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen told Record Searchlight that he was “disappointed” in the ruling because Patel had violated his position of public trust as a councilman and should just be going to prison.

According to Tehama County Assistant District Attorney Matt Rogers, Patel was originally charged with seven criminal counts that included perjury, elder theft, and conspiracy to commit a crime, adding that he had also been the subject of an investigation which in 2015 and ended with his July 2016 arrest in Florida.

Patel is the former owner of the American Best Valley Inn in Red Bluff, who did not pay his taxes to the city and was arrested while he was trying to board a plane Record Searchlight.

He was also investigated for embezzlement in connection to a complaint filed by a guest at the hotel who said her credit card was charged for $6,000 after she stayed there, the report added.

Authorities opened up the investigation against Patel in March 2015 during which the District Attorney’s Office found that Patel had not paid workers’ compensation insurance and was committing welfare fraud by getting two employees benefits.

NEW YORK – The Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America (BJANA) celebrated “Bihar Diwas” for the first time at the Consulate of India in New York on Sunday, March 18, to commemorate the 106th anniversary of the formation of the Bihar state.

More than 200 people from different parts of North America attended the event to show their pride and appreciation for their rich cultural heritage of Bihar including the President of BJANA Vinay Singh, the Vice President of BJANA Avinash Gupta, the Secretary of BJANA Sanjeev Singh, the Treasurer of BJANA Anurag Kumar, BJANA executive committee member and the Executive Vice President of FIA Alok Kumar and Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty.

The event featured a cultural show in which children danced to Bhojpuri and Maithili tunes, Mithila painting, Bihari cuisine and a video presentation on the history and achievements of Bihar.

Anurag Kumar presented a list of accomplishments and encouraged BJANA members to actively participate in philanthropic and charitable causes of BJANA both in the United States and in Bihar and Jharkhand in India.

The Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, also sent his best wishes to BJANA and has congratulated the members for their constant efforts and interest in maintaining their identity.

Vinay Singh presented a khadi shawl to Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty and his wife, as well as BJANA community achievers in different fields.

The vision and mission of BJANA is to integrate the communities of people from Bihar and Jharkhand through the celebration of cultural festivals, philanthropic and charitable initiatives, and activities in North America and home states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Ajay Shah, the Indian American Executive Chairman of SMART Global Holdings, Inc. will be the next President and CEO of SMART and will continue to serve as the Chairman of the Board, according to a Street Insider report.

Iain MacKenzie will remain on the board of directors and will continue as Co-CEO until Shah’s transition is complete.

“I am honored and excited about the opportunity to lead this exceptional organization. SMART is well positioned to continue the great progress achieved over the years under Iain’s leadership and I look forward to working closely with the board and the entire SMART team,” Shah told Street Insider.

Jason White, Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, told Street Insider that “Ajay’s deep industry knowledge and institutional tenure with SMART and its customers, suppliers, and global operations make him uniquely qualified to lead the company into the future.”

Shah co-founded SMART’s predecessor, SMART Modular Technologies in 1988 and served as its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board until it was acquired by Solectron Corporation in 2000, he then served as SMART’s Chairman of the Board since April 2004.

According to Street Insider, he founded the private equity firm Shah Capital Partners in 2002, joined Silver Lake in 2007 and has been a senior operating partner of Sumeru Equity Partners since 2014; he is also the co-founder and managing partner of Silver Lake Sumeru.

He is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum, serves on the boards of National Audubon Society and The Indian School of Business in India and is a trustee of the American India Foundation.

Shah has a B.S. in engineering from the University of Baroda in India and an M.S. degree in engineering management from Stanford University, according to Street Insider.

Indian-American Shruti Bhatnagar, 46, who was seeking a seat on the County Council in Montgomery County, Maryland last November has become ineligible to receive matching county funds based on the small-dollar contributions that she has received, according to a Bethesda Magazine report.

According to the Bethesda Magazine report, “it’s known colloquially by state Board of Elections and county officials overseeing the system as the ‘one bite at the apple rule’ and means that candidates only get one opportunity to submit enough certified contributions to meet the legal thresholds for receiving public matching funds.”

Bhatnagar and four other at-large council candidates have been removed from the most recent monthly update posted on the county website, which contains a list of candidates who have and are still working to be certified to receive public funds.

Bhatnagar is among 38 candidates who filed to run for the four at-large council seats this year, and have been eligible to receive matching funds as of Feb. 28.

According to Bethesda Magazine, candidates who enroll in the public campaign finance system agree to only accept contributions of $150 or less from individuals who are county residents and must receive at least 250 contributions totaling at least $20,000 to qualify for matching public funds.

However, in an email to Bethesda Beat, Bhatnagar denied the fact that she has been ruled ineligible to participate in the public financing system.

“We have received no formal notice from the Maryland State Board of Elections disqualifying me from public finance. It appears that there may be some dispute as to how certain contributions are being categorized by the Board of Elections,” Bhatnagar wrote.

“My campaign worked diligently to insure that we fully complied with all of the requirements of the Montgomery County Public Financing Law. This issue is not only important for our campaign but impacts the very spirit of public financing,” she added.

According to Bethesda Magazine, in a Jan. 30 filing, Bhatnagar claimed to have met the $20,000 threshold needed to qualify as she had $20,086 in qualifying contributions and requested she get $69,500 in public campaign funds.

Bhatnagar told Bethesda Beat that her submissions included two in-kind contributions of $150 each but said that the board ruled those as unqualified and was unaware that in-kind contributions could not be counted toward the qualifying thresholds.

According to an earlier News India Times report, Bhatnagar is the founder of the Indian-American Democratic Club of Maryland and is running in the county that is home to Indian-American state legislator Kumar Barve and Aruna Miller, the first Indian-American woman elected to the House of Delegates who is currently making a bid for Congress.

Bhatnagar was born in Udaipur, Rajasthan, lived in Delhi and has been living in Montgomery County for 18 years, her father was a small business owner and her mother started her career teaching at a university and later resumed her career in public service.

“Both my parents had to work to make sure my sister and I could get quality education. They taught me the values of putting family first, good education, hard work and community service,” she says on her campaign website.

After receiving her Bachelor’s in economics and political science along with an MBA, Bhatnagar worked for a finance company and continued growing her career by working in the telecommunications and software development sectors with U.S. corporations based in New Delhi, according to her campaign website.

She now serves the broader community as an At-Large member on the executive committee of the Montgomery County Civic Federation and has been involved with many local, county and state level organizations.

Bhatnagar was also appointed by the County Executive to serve on the Montgomery County Commission of Children and Youth where she led the sub-committee on the Opiod epidemic and continues to work on other issues such as mental health and DACA.

Michael Campbell has been found guilty by a Minneapolis jury on two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in the death of Indian American Ria Patel, one for gross negligence and the other for leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

Patel, 20, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota was a junior at the University of St. Thomas and died on the spot after Campbell, her boyfriend, crashed into a traffic signal while they shared a “passionate kiss” early in the morning on Sept. 17, 2017 in northeast Minneapolis, according to a Star Tribune report.

According to CBS Minnesota, he told investigators that he grabbed his phone and ran from the scene because he was “traumatized” by the sight of Patel’s injuries.

Campbell’s friends who had seen him just two hours before the crash told police that he was “super drunk” at the time.

“Mr. Campbell was probably drunk, he smashed into a pole going 65 miles per hour in a 30 miles per hour zone and he ran away. Then he tried to deflect responsibility for his actions by claiming Ms. Patel was responsible for her own death by kissing him. He also put her family through more distress by pretending that she was still alive,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a statement.

A post-verdict statement from the county attorney’s office reads: “Patel suddenly grabbed his face while he was driving and gave him a passionate kiss. The crash occurred [supposedly] during that kiss. However, Patel suffered numerous serious injuries to her head and face and Campbell had none, according to testimony. If they had been kissing, Campbell would have had injuries, too.”

According to the Star Tribune, Campbell drove his car into a post near Stinson Boulevard and an Interstate 35W exit ramp at around 3:50 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2017, bringing down the attached traffic light, which hit the passenger’s side of the car and caved in the roof, crushing Patel, which killed her instantly.

Campbell testified in court that he knew Patel was dead but still decided to text her sister about nine hours later asking her if she knew where Patel was, she then testified that Campbell spoke with her on the phone and denied being in a vehicle with Patel the night before.

The Star Tribune reported that Campbell ran about three miles to the home he shared with roommates on Randolph Street NE and then locked himself in his room for several hours while he called Patel’s phone multiple times from a blocked number.

He eventually took an Uber ride to St. Michael, Minnesota where his parents live, but didn’t exactly go to their house and instead spent more than a day there while “he came up with a new story” about the kiss from Patel, which distracted him causing the accident.

Hitesh Patel, Patel’s uncle, told CBS Minnesota “The last six months have been extremely hard for us as we adjust to a new normal; new normal, where we are suffering a life sentence. He blamed Ria for the accident, he blamed Ria saying she wanted fries, he blamed Ria that she tried to kiss him, and that’s why the accident happened.”

According to a Pioneer Press report, the family is still coming into terms with what Campbell said about Patel regarding the accident and added that he never apologized, though Campbell’s attorney, Nancy Yost Laskaris told police that he “did not appear intoxicated and that he was extremely remorseful for his actions following the accident, as was evident in his three suicide attempts and his suicide note that read, ‘I’m so sorry to the Patel family and all my prayers go out to you and I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose, I loved her.’”

Campbell has five offensive driving convictions on his record and is due back in court for sentencing on April 5.