In yet another trailblazing first, Iowa State Senator Swati Dandekar has been elected to serve in leadership for the nation's oldest organization addressing the needs of elected women at all levels of government. Dandekar, a Democrat, is the new president-elect of the National Order of Women Legislatorsthe membership arm of the National Foundation for Women Legislatorsand she will be formally installed at NFWL's next annual meeting.
Dandekar is a former Iowa legislator representing the Marion area in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009 and in the Iowa Senate from 2009 to 2011.
For two weeks, the Asian American Action Fund debated its choice for Person of the Year 2008, from among men and women of Pacific Asian origin who had impacted on the political arena. The eight-year-old Democratic organisation finally settled on Swati Dandekar, the Iowa assemblywoman who in the 2008 election cycle won to the state senate.
In a year of countless accomplishments, India Abroad for the first time chooses two icons as the India Abroad Person of the Year. Monali Sarkar reports from New York
State legislators of Indian-origin in the United States appeared to be divided in their support either for Senator Hillary Clinton or Senator Barack Obama -- both of whom are engaged in a bitter fight for Democratic nomination for the 2009 presidential election.
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Meet the nine jury members who chose the India Abroad Person of the Year 2003
It took four hours of thoughtful debate by a distinguished jury to choose the India Abroad Person of the Year 2003 from 186 Indian-Americans nominated by readers of India Abroad and rediff.com.
The identity of the winner, Sonal Shah, founder of the non-profit organisation Indicorps, had been kept a closely guarded secret until the last minute, and most of the 300 guests were pleasantly surprised.
'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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