Indian-American Suneel Gupta geared up for Michigan primary

Agencies
August 6, 2018

Washington, Aug 6: Inspired by the Gandhian principle of ‘Be the change that you wish to see in the world’, Indian-American entrepreneur Suneel Gupta is seeking to enter U.S. Congress to fight against the special interests of the corporate sector, which he believes have peaked under the Donald Trump Administration.

“Our family has always been very principled in the ideals that if you don’t like what you see, you have to do what (Mahatma) Gandhi said, be the change, you cannot sit on the sidelines,” said Mr. Gupta, 38, as he explained the reasons for jumping into electoral politics, which is new to his illustrious family from Michigan.

His mother Damayanti Gupta was the first woman engineer with a degree at Ford Motor Company and his elder brother Sanjay Gupta is a popular CNN health reporter.

A ‘toss-up’ seat

Mr. Gupta, who holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a law degree from the Northwestern University, is running for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 11th Congressional District of Michigan. Given the current political climate, pundits have described this as a “toss-up” seat.

It is currently being held by Republican David Trott, who is not seeking his re-election.

Fighting special interests

The August 7 primaries will see Mr. Gupta contesting against four other Democrats for the party’s candidacy. As per latest figure from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), he has raised more than $1.3 million, which is more than any of his competitors.

The zeal to fight for the common people against the special interests, he says, comes from his mother. “She was on the other side of the border when Partition happened. They fled, and she ended up in a refugee camp as a little girl. My grandparents — her parents — spent every penny they possibly could to get her an education... in 1967, she became Ford Motor Company’s first female engineer,” he said.

Members of the Indian-American community in the district are not only providing him with financial support, but also with their time and sweat. “Because they believe that it’s time to send an Indian American to Congress from Michigan,” he said.

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News Network
February 24,2020

New Delhi, Feb 24: The shared values between India and the US are "discrimination, bigotry, and hostility towards refugees and asylum seekers", Amnesty International USA said in a joint statement with Amnesty International India ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to India on Monday.

Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as senior officials of his administration, landed in Ahmedabad on the first leg of his two-day visit to India.

"Anti-Muslim sentiment permeates the policies of both U.S. and Indian leaders. For decades, the U.S.-India relationship was anchored by claims of shared values of human rights and human dignity. Now, those shared values are discrimination, bigotry, and hostility towards refugees and asylum seekers,” Margaret Huang, Amnesty International USA’s executive director, was quoted as saying in the statement.

It was a reference to the anti-CAA protests in India, the internet lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir and the Muslim ban expansion by President Trump affecting Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania, the statement said.

It added that Amnesty International USA’s researchers travelled to Lebanon and Jordan to conduct nearly 50 interviews with refugees that as a result of the previous version of the ban have been stranded in countries where they face restrictive policies, increasingly hostile environments, and lack the same rights as permanent residents or citizens.

The statement also came down hard on the Indian government, hitting out at the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019 and saying it legitimises discrimination based on religious grounds.

It criticised statements such as “identify them (the protestors) by their clothes” or “shoot the traitors” by Prime Minister Modi and his party workers. Such remarks "peddled the narrative of fear and division that has fuelled further violence", it said.

“The internet and political lockdown in Kashmir has lasted for months and the enactment of CAA and the crackdown on protests has shown a leadership that is lacking empathy and a willingness to engage. We call on President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to work with the international community and address our concerns in their bilateral conversations,” Avinash Kumar, executive director, Amnesty International India said in the statement.

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News Network
February 2,2020

Lucknow, Feb 2: In an early morning firing at Lucknow's Hazratganj, the city centre, Vishva Hindu Mahasabha state president Ranjit Bachchan was killed while he was out on a morning walk on Sunday.

Ranjit Bachchan was taking a stroll in Hazratganj in the morning when bike-borne assailants opened fire on him and killed him on the spot. The Mahasabha leader was shot in the head multiple times.

The incident took place near the CDRI building in Lucknow's Hazratganj.

In the firing, Ranjit Bachchan's brother also suffered bullet injuries. He has been rushed to the trauma centre. Ranjit Bachchan was a resident of Gorakhpur.

The early morning shootout in the Uttar Pradesh capital's central area has caused tension in the area.

Dinesh Singh, DCP Central Lucknow, said, "The body has been identified as of Ranjit Bachchan, who had gone out on morning walk when some unknown assailant shot him. A police team has been formed and further investigation is being carried out."

Before being associated with the Mahasabha, Ranjit Bachchan was a Samajwadi Party member and was often spotted with former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The Samajwadi Party has hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government over the law and order situation in the state and demanded immediate resignation of the government.

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News Network
April 28,2020

Geneva, Apr 28: The global death toll from the novel coronavirus has increased over the past 24 hours by nearly 5,000 to top 198,000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

According to the latest WHO data, 85,530 new cases of infection have been registered globally over the past day, with 4,982 deaths.

The overall number of COVID-19 cases worldwide increased to 2,878,196 and the death count reached 198,668.

There are 1,359,380 confirmed cases and 124,525 deaths in Europe.

The number of cases in the Americas total 1,140,520, with 58,492 deaths.

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