1. Two Indian-Americans to be honoured with Great Immigrants award.
Two Indian-Americans, Adobe Chief Shantanu Narayen (54) and former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (39) have been chosen for prestigious Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Award 2017. They are among 38 distinguished US immigrants representing more than 30 countries of origin around the world honoured with this year’s award for their role in advancing US’s economy, society, and culture. Some the honourees include Canadian-origin social entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, PayPal cofounder of Ukrainian origin Max Levchin, Iranian-origin philanthropist and entrepreneur Hushang Ansary.
Vivek Murthy :
Murthy was born in the UK. He is alumnus of Harvard and Yale. He was appointed as Surgeon General by former President Barack Obama in 2014, making the first-ever Indian-American and also the youngest to occupy the post. He was dismissed this in April 2017 by the Trump administration.
Shantanu Narayen :
Narayen is a native of Hyderabad. He holds an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering, a master’s degree in computer science, and an MBA from UC Berkeley. He is a board member of Pfizer and US-India Business Council. At present, he is CEO of Adobe Systems.
2. Mahesh Bhagwat conferred 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Heroes Award.
Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, IPS officer from Telangana was conferred with the 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Heroes Award by the Unites States Department of State. He is third IPS officer to get this honour.
He was awarded for his vital role in elevating human trafficking as a government priority and his innovative approach to investigating cases and dismantling human trafficking operations. Currently, Mahesh Bhagwat is Police Commissioner of Rachakonda, one of the three Police Commissionerates located in Hyderabad
He was central figure in anti-trafficking operations that have removed hundreds of victims from situations of trafficking, and with the help of other government departments and civil society organisations, ensured their placement in rehabilitation programmes.
He has pioneered the use of legal provisions to close sites where trafficking is known to occur. Under his command, the Rachakonda Police Commissionerate had closed 25 brothels – 20 residential apartments and five hotels- in less than a year. The Commissionerate also had participated in one of the largest crackdowns on labour trafficking in the country, which had led to the identification and rescue of more than 350 children bonded forcibly to work in brick kilns.