On July 30, US President Joe Biden named Indian American Rashad Hussain as the country’s new Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. If confirmed by the US Senate, Hussain will become the sixth person to serve in that position. As ambassador-at-large, the 41-year-old attorney will also head the Department of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom and serve as a non-voting member of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom … [Read more...]
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Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
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The Wealth Gap Has Gone Sky High in the U.S.
Fly me to the moon Let me play among the stars Let me know what spring is like On a Jupiter and Mars Those are the lyrics to a song written by Bart Howard, recorded by Kaye Ballard in 1954 and made popular ten years later by Frank Sinatra. We don’t think that multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos will be singing these words on July 20 this year as he blasts off into space on his rocket New Shepard, built by his space exploration company Blue Horizon. We do know … [Read more...]
Covid-19 Vaccination in India: Lessons It Can Draw from the US Experience
Though the United States narrowly missed President Joe Biden’s July 4 goal of vaccinating 70 percent of US adults with at least one dose and fully vaccinating 160 million Americans, reasonable normalcy has returned to the country. All across America, people have begun going back to restaurants and malls, theaters are screening movies once again, and fans are back in arenas watching their favorite teams. The most obvious example of the return of normalcy was a White House … [Read more...]
The Afghan endgame: The US retreats, Taliban returns
The Taliban has been emboldened by the American withdrawal and the prospects for a negotiated peace for Afghanistan have grown exceedingly dim. With the last batch of American soldiers returning home from Bagram Air Base, once the symbol of the United States (US)’s presence in Afghanistan, on July 2, the longest war in the America’s history is drawing to an end. However, around 650 soldiers will stay back with the limited mission of protecting the US embassy and … [Read more...]
Independence Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Interdependence Day
On July 4 of this year, the United States of America will celebrate the 244th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On June 19 of this year, for the first time, the United States of America celebrated the emancipation of slaves as a national holiday. On a date to be determined and in a year some time soon, the United States of America needs to have a national holiday named Interdependence Day, dedicated to celebrating the “US” in USA. We have been … [Read more...]
Patriotic Education vs. Civic Education: American Democracy at the Crossroads
This fragile crucible called our American democracy was created after the Revolutionary War. Since that time, Americans have been involved in an evolutionary war in a continuing struggle to craft the more perfect union envisioned by our founders. In this 21st century, some Americans have initiated a “devolutionary” war intended to move the democracy backward rather than forward. This devolution started with the members of the Tea Party in 2009 taking over town hall meetings … [Read more...]
Gun Safety: Those Who Will Not Learn from the Past
Columbine High School, Littleton, CO: 13 killed in a mass shooting, 1999. Sandy Hook Elementary School, Sandy Hook, CT: 27 killed in 2012. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL: 17 killed in 2018. Each of these mass shootings should have led to meaningful gun safety legislation. But they did not. In a blog that we posted after the March 24, 2018 student-led March for Our Lives demonstration in Washington D.C. and nearly 900 sibling events in other … [Read more...]
How Indian-Americans shaped the US response to India’s second wave
With its leadership in mobilising America’s efforts to help combat the pandemic in India, the Indian-American community has demonstrated what it can accomplish when it comes together for a common purpose. The United States (US) has provided aid worth at least half-a-billion dollars since the devastating second wave of Covid-19 struck India. US tech and financial companies such as Google, Microsoft, MasterCard and others have donated money, medicine and medical devices to India to … [Read more...]
India should enlist services of Indian American physicians in its fight against COVID-19
Since early April, when a second wave of the Covid 19 pandemic began in India, the country’s healthcare system has been buckling under its pressure, with hospitals and doctors unable to keep up with the pace of patients showing up. As India wages this grave war against the coronavirus infection, there is one group of veteran warriors who could play a crucial role in taming the virus. They are Indian American physicians. Now, in the apparent later stages of the second wave … [Read more...]
Biden’s First 100 Days: Boldness in Play. Unity on the Sidelines.
In his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy, famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” President Kennedy made that request at a time when the United States was prospering, and progress was benefitting many (with the notable exception of people of color.) Six decades later, in his inaugural address on January 20, 2021, with the United States being an extremely divided nation in the midst of … [Read more...]