The nomination of Esper, who is currently serving as the Secretary of the army and previously served as a vice president for government relations at the Raytheon Company, comes days after Patrick Shanahan withdrew his nomination from the top Pentagon position.
Sanders is the second Democratic presidential nominee after Senator Elizabeth Warren to speak against the violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act in New Delhi.
In addition to Pichai and Nadella, IBM's Arvind Krishna, Micron's Sanjay Mehrotra, Ajay Banga from Mastercard and Ann Mukherjee from Pernod are among the six Indian-Americans among over 200 corporate honchos who will advise the President and offer recommendations on how to revive the American economy.
The 2012 Republican presidential nominee and one of Trump's most vocal Republican Party critics during this year's election campaign, met privately with the President-elect for about an hour.
"We have very little time left for deciding on the chief guest and the process will be completed soon," a source familiar with the development said.
The national poll by Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics said 32 per cent of 18-29 year-old Americans approve of Trump's job performance overall.
The announcement of date and venue comes a day after Putin's adviser Yuri Ushakov in Moscow said the two leaders will meet in a third country.
Even Trump's own party chief, Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, said this was unacceptable.
It is said that the annual State of the Union address to both Houses of the US Congress by Trump is likely to be around the time India will celebrate its Republic Day.
Biden has urged the Senate not to act on the vacancy until the American people select their next president and the next Congress.
Trump said "running against" Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton makes keeping the party behind him easier.
Donald Trump's own party leaders came out openly against the Republican presidential nominee.
"Our country does not feel 'great already' to the millions of wonderful people living in poverty, violence and despair," Trump said after Obama's address.
India has already shortlisted the names of two-three heads of states for extending invitation to be chief guest at the Republic Day parade.
According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the US has reported nearly 1.9 million cases and over 1,09,000 deaths while the total number of coronavirus cases in India and China stand at 2,36,184 and 84,177 respectively. India has so far conducted over 4 million coronavirus tests, according to the health ministry.
Many are reportedly too weak to stand or talk. The detainees include Sikhs, Gujaratis and Bengalis, and from Punjab in Pakistan.
Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort was on Monday charged with conspiracy against the US.
Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and John Kasich scored major victories on Tuesday that significantly reshaped the presidential race while a big loss in Florida prompted Marco Rubio to drop his White House bid.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has said the US has now become a "third world country" as compared to infrastructures in Dubai and China, and promised that things would change once he is elected the American president.
"It would be wonderful if they (India and Pakistan) get along," Trump said.
The summit at Sentosa -- the first between the two countries -- is a turnaround of relations between the US president, 71, and the North Korean leader, 34, after a long-running exchange of threats and insults.
Trump disclosed that he was to meet the Afghan President and senior Taliban leaders on Sunday at his Camp David retreat.
The narrative in America after Donald Trump's victory sounds like the questions and debates that took place in India after May 2014. Were both electoral results all about jobs and economic anxiety? Mihir S Sharma doubts it.
The US president said that there is a lot of "dislike" (between India and Pakistan).
On Wednesday night, US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania made a surprise visit to Iraq to greet American soldiers stationed in the country. This is his first visit to Iraq as the US president.
Friday is the last day for White House Chief strategist Steve Bannon, a presidential spokesperson said on Friday.
Haley, in her forthcoming memoir, has claimed that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former White House chief of staff John Kelly attempted to recruit her to undermine President Trump in an effort to "save the country," according to The Washington Post.
Donald Trump may have secured an upset win over Hillary Clinton in the US presidential race but she could still emerge as the candidate who received more popular votes, media reports said.
Mattis attracted controversy in 2005 when he said 'it's fun to shoot some people'.
Since the change in administration in the US, Indian leaders have publicly and privately identified with American objectives in Afghanistan.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Front is holding forte in New Hampshire with a double digit lead over his nearest rival Marco Rubio while Democratic presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders has a massive lead over Hillary Clinton.
'The challenge before the two countries is to turn the peak into a plateau and enter an irreversible phase of cooperation,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Trump, 70, took the oath of office in front of about 800,000 people who braved chilly weather to gather on the National Mall in the center of the capital to celebrate the rank political outsider, who defied all odds to defeat political heavyweight Hillary Clinton in the November polls.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that US President Trump is frustrated with China.
The US side is yet to respond to the invitation but initial indication has been positive, it is learnt.
The US president, who has expressed disappointment over China's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, claimed that it was the "incompetence" of Beijing that led to the mass killing across the globe.
United States President Donald Trump's new executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia - has upended the lives of many families across the world.
But the Democrats appeared to be unconvinced by Trump's argument of national emergency.
There is no evidence that the drug can fight the virus, and regulators warn it may cause heart problems.
