Less than a week after he was sworn in as head of the United States Agency for International Development, Dr Rajiv Shah sprang into the national limelight when President Barack Obama designated him as the government's chief disaster coordinator for Haiti.
A powerful Republican Congressman has asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to demote United States Agency for International Development administrator Rajiv Shah, the co-coordinator of the US Government relief operations in Haiti, for not having enough African-American on his staff.
As Administrator of the USAID, Shah is the highest-ranking Indian American in any US presidential administration and is leading the massive US efforts in rescue and recovery efforts in Haiti.
"A powerful consensus has formed across this government, at the highest level, that development is vital both to our national security and the shared interests of an interconnected world," Shah said in his maiden speech.
Dr Rajiv Shah, administrator, United States Agency for International Development, who accompanied President Barack Obama to India, said his agency's developmental relationship with India has evolved into a peer to peer partnership unlike in the past when India was simply an aid recipient.
The 39-year-old Indian-American was sworn in on Friday by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the chief of USAID, which oversees disbursal of $40 billion US foreign aid programme.
US Agency for International Development Administrator Dr Rajiv Shah has been praised by US lawmakers for shepherding America's development efforts with the scarce resources available and alleviating poverty-stricken populations in Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South Asia, and Haiti, which was devastated by a killer earthquake over two years ago.
Dr Rajiv Shah, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development, in his commencement address to the students of American University School of International Service emphasised the importance of development work and public service.
Dr Rajiv Shah, the highest-ranking Indian-American member of the Obama administration, has traveled with the President to the country his parents left in the late 1960s.
The United States Senate has approved the nomination of Rajiv Shah to head the US Agency for International Development, making him the highest ranking Indian-American in the administration.
While the likes of senior Indian American officials in the Barack Obama administration -- namely Administrator of United States Agency for International Development Dr Rajiv Shah and Chief US Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the US Trade Representative Islam 'Isi' Siddiqui -- enjoy a major public profile, there are others who have been flying under the radar but are rising stars nonetheless.
United States Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah, who is the highest ranking Indian-American official in the Obama administration, has received the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.
Dr Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the highest ranking Indian American in the Obama administration, who accompanied US President Barack Obama to India said that today his agency's developmental relationship with India has evolved into a peer to peer partnership unlike in the past when India was simply an aid recipient.
Dr Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the highest ranking Indian American in the Barack Obama administration, while speaking on the devastating floods in Pakistan, said, "The scale and scope of this natural disaster is astronomical."
Announcing her nomination among several others, Obama said: "I am grateful that these impressive individuals have agreed to join my administration. I am confident they will serve ably in their new roles, and look forward to working with them in the coming months and years."
United States President Barack Obama recently elevated Dr Rajiv Shah, who currently serves as Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and Chief Scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture, as administrator for the United States Agency for International Development. Earlier, the Obama administration had named Shah's wife, Shivam Mallick Shah as Director of Special Initiatives, Office of Innovation and Improvement at the Department of Education.
Dr Rajiv Shah, the senior-most Indian American in the Barack Obama administration, has been nominated as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development -- the country's top foreign assistance programme.In nominating Shah, Obama said, "The mission of USAID is to advance America's interests by strengthening our relationships abroad. Rajiv brings fresh ideas and the dedication and impressive background necessary to help guide USAID."
Dr Rajiv Shah, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama to head the US Agency for International Development -- the country's top non-military foreign assistance programme -- has told US lawmakers that "the mission of USAID is my passion," and that "it is with enthusiasm and humility" that he seeks confirmation to lead the agency first established by President John F Kennedy in 1961
Dr Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the highest-ranking Indian American in the Barack Obama administration, has set the record straight over conflicting reports that he had visited a relief camp run by a front organisation of Jamaat-ud-Dawa in Pakistan's Sindh province and handed over US aid.The JuD is headed by Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Tayiba and alleged mastermind of the horrific 26/11 terror attacks.
Conflicting claims were made on Wednesday about the visit of United States Agency for International Development's Indian-origin chief Rajiv Shah to a relief camp, run by a front organisation of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, in Pakistan's flood-hit Sindh province and his handing over of aid to it.
While Chopra's appointment does not need any confirmation by the US Senate, Shah's nomination does, but is expected to be a formality, considering his impeccable track record at the Gates Foundation and his previous experience, expertise and tremendous qualifications which includes both an MD and a Masters degree in health economics.
Non-Resident Gujaratis can claim formidable achievements in most fields.
Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been named in the world's top 100 'effective and talented' people by US-based 'Scientific American' magazine.
The country received $ 6bn in clean energy investment in 2013, out of a total of USD 62bn from 2006 to 2013.
Ambassador Islam 'Isi' Siddiqui, one of the highest ranking Indian Americans in the Obama administration, has resigned from his position as chief agricultural negotiator in the office of the United States Trade Representative.
One Raj Shah has been the top Indian American in the Obama administration; the other Raj Shah is poised to play a key role in the Trump administration.
Ambassador Islam A'Isi' Siddiqui -- who recently resigned from his position as chief agricultural negotiator in the office of the United States trade representative -- has joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies as senior adviser on Global Food Security.
United States President Barack Obama has nominated Nisha Desai Biswal as the new assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs.
Days before Narendra Modi arrives in the US to speak at the UN, meet Barack Obama, gupshup with the likes of Nadella, Pichai, Zuckerberg, and address desis in Silicon Valley, his ministers will help set the commercial and strategic tone for the prime minister's visit.
Modi presented Obama with a richly silk-covered special edition of Mahatma Gandhi's interpretation of the Bhagvad Gita, and recordings of Dr Martin Luther King's speech when he visited India in 1959 and also a specially framed photograph of Dr King when he visited Rajghat. Modi had scrupulously researched and selected these gifts for Obama and more gifts would be presented on Tuesday during their summit for both the President and the First Family.
'The diplomat's arrest has led to a major diplomatic spat, the likes of which I have not seen in my nearly three decades of covering the US-India relationship, says Aziz Haniffa. 'The knee-jerk reaction by the powers-that-be in Delhi was myopic to say the least.'
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