Biden appoints Indo-American Maju Varghese as executive director Presidential Inauguration Committee
Washington: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have named Indian-American Maju Varghese in the four-member Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), which will organize the activities surrounding their swearing-in on January 20.
The team includes Tony Allen as the Chief Executive Officer, Maju Varghese as the Executive Director, Erin Wilson as the Deputy Executive Director, and Yvanna Cancela as its Deputy Executive Director.
It is an honor to help lead the team that will plan the inaugural activities for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris while keeping their commitment to protecting the health and safety of Americans and demonstrating the strength and resilience of our nation, Varghese said in a statement.
Verghese is the fifth Indian-American to be given key positions by the Biden transition team.
The inauguration ceremony marks the commencement of a new four-year term for the president of the United States. It is held even if an incumbent president begins a second consecutive term. The major events are the oath of office, inaugural address, parade, and inaugural ball.
This historic inauguration will serve as the launching pad for the Biden-Harris Administration to get to work on day one and beat the pandemic, build back our economy better, and unify our country, he said.
Varghese was the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Advisor in the Biden-Harris campaign from the primaries through the general, overseeing the campaign's day-to-day operations and leading it through an unprecedented shift to remote working.
He previously served in the Barack Obama administration in various roles, including as the Assistant to the President for Management and Administration and Deputy Director of Advance. He has also worked as the Chief Operating Officer at The Hub Project and as a Senior Advisor at the law firm Dentons.
A lawyer by training, Varghese was born in the US to parents who immigrated from Thiruvalla, Kerala.
As the Assistant to the President for Management and Administration from July 2015 to Jan 2017, Varghese was responsible for day-to-day operations of the White House complex including oversight of White House budget, personnel, facilities, tours, and major events.
As Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Advance from June 2014 to July 2015, he served as the head of the US delegation for pre-advance visits around the world composed of White House staff, National Security staff, the White House Military Office, and the United States Secret Service.
Varghese has a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Varghese is the fifth Indian-American to be given important positions by the Biden transition team. In November, surgeon Vivek Murthy was appointed co-chair of the COVID-19 task force.
Indian-Americans Arun Majumdar (Department of Energy) and Kiran Ahuja (Office of Personnel Management) were appointed heads of key transition committees.
Indian-American Neera Tanden has been nominated as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
CEO of PIC Allen said, "This year's inauguration will look different amid the pandemic, but we will honor the American inaugural traditions and engage Americans across the country while keeping everybody healthy and safe." Allen is the President of Delaware State University (DSU).
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Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
