Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
International

Indian-American Ajit Pai May Head U.S. Communication Commission

Darpan News Desk IANS, 18 Jan, 2017 11:41 AM
    Ajit Pai, a commissioner in the US communications regulatory agency, has met President-elect Donald Trump amid speculation that he could head the body that deals with cellphone spectrum and broadcasting.
     
    Trump's spokesperson Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that the meeting with Pai, who is the Republican nominee on the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), took place on Monday.
     
    Currently the FCC is headed by Tom Wheeler, a nominee of the Democratic Party, and a change in leadership is due with the election of Trump.
     
    The position of FCC chairman has to be approved by the Senate.
     
    The FCC is the federal authority regulating radio, television, phone, cellphone spectrum and services, internet and satellite and cable.
     
    Pai, whose parents are doctors who immigrated from India, is a lawyer and has served with the government, Congress and the private sector.
     
    A free enterprise advocate in the Republican mould, he has been a critic of the functioning of the FCC and has clashed with its leadership. 
     
    Recently, he took issue with an FCC report that questioned the legality of offerings that are used by people to access online music, videos, and other content free of charge.
     
     
    Trump has nominated two Indian-Americans to high-level positions: Nikki Haley as the Cabinet-level Ambassador to the United Nations, and Seema Verma as the head of the agency for government health insurance programmes.
     
    In addition, Trump has appointed Raj Shah as his deputy assistant and research director on the White House staff.
     
    Another Indian American, Balaji Srinivasan, met Trump last week and Spicer said that he was under consideration for a role at the the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
     
    Srinivasan is a technology entrepreneur who has founded a biotech company and has been critical of the links between large pharmaceutical companies and the FDA and the agency's reach that he asserted stifles tech innovations.
     
    He currently heads a start-up that deals with bitcoin, the internet-based currency.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Trump, Clinton, Obama Move To United Fractured Nation After Bitter Campaign

    Trump, Clinton, Obama Move To United Fractured Nation After Bitter Campaign
    WASHINGTON — After a stormy political season, a ray of civic sunshine peered through the American skies Wednesday.

    Trump, Clinton, Obama Move To United Fractured Nation After Bitter Campaign

    Panjab, Birmingham Varsities Come Together To Improve Quality Of Life

    Panjab, Birmingham Varsities Come Together To Improve Quality Of Life
    Experts from Chandigarhs Panjab University (PU) and the University of Birmingham have kick-started an initiative to improve the quality of life in the two cities -- and the wider world.

    Panjab, Birmingham Varsities Come Together To Improve Quality Of Life

    A-list celebrity favourites light up Dubai International Jewellery Week

    A-list celebrity favourites light up Dubai International Jewellery Week
    Designer popular with music, movie stars to unveil new pearl, diamond sets

    A-list celebrity favourites light up Dubai International Jewellery Week

    Donald Trump At The White House To Begin Transition Of Power: Obama Reports 'Excellent Conversation'

    Donald Trump At The White House To Begin Transition Of Power: Obama Reports 'Excellent Conversation'
    The two men have had almost no one-on-one contact previously. Trump, a Republican, led the "birther" movement that questioned Obama's US citizenship and has pledged to overturn the Democrat's signature policy achievements after he takes office on Jan. 20

    Donald Trump At The White House To Begin Transition Of Power: Obama Reports 'Excellent Conversation'

    We Are All Rooting For Trump's Success: Obama

    We Are All Rooting For Trump's Success: Obama
    Obama, speaking at the White House with Vice President Joe Biden next to him, also advised that people should not get cynical due to defeat.

    We Are All Rooting For Trump's Success: Obama

    Sikh Taxi Driver Tejinder Pal Singh Wins Australian Of The Year Award For Serving Free Meals

    Sikh Taxi Driver Tejinder Pal Singh Wins Australian Of The Year Award For Serving Free Meals
    Meet Tejinder Pal Singh, founder of a free-meal initiative called the ‘food van’, who will be awarded the 2017 Northern Territory Local Hero honour as part of the prestigious ‘Australian Of The Year Award’.

    Sikh Taxi Driver Tejinder Pal Singh Wins Australian Of The Year Award For Serving Free Meals