Apsara Iyer becomes first Indian-American student to be elected president of Harvard Law Review
New York, Feb 6: A second year Indian-American student at Harvard Law School has been elected president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, becoming the first woman from the community to be named to the position in the prestigious publication's 136-year history.
A report in The Harvard Crimson said on Monday that Apsara Iyer was elected the 137th president of the Harvard Law Review, which was founded in 1887 and is among the oldest student-run legal scholarship publications.
Iyer said in The Crimson report that as Law Review president, she aims to "include more editors in the process of reviewing and selecting articles and upholding the publication's reputation for "high-quality" work."
"I think that right now I'm just focused on making sure we keep the lights on and everything going," Iyer said.
Iyer's distinguished predecessors in the role include Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former president Barack Obama.
The Crimson report said Iyer graduated from Yale in 2016 and received a bachelor's degree in Economics and Math and Spanish.
Iyer's immediate predecessor Priscila Coronado said the publication is "extremely lucky" to have Iyer at the helm.
"Apsara has changed the lives of many editors for the better, and I know she will continue to do so," Coronado said. "From the start, she has impressed her fellow editors with her remarkable intelligence, thoughtfulness, warmth, and fierce advocacy."
The Crimson said that Iyer's interest in understanding the "value of cultural heritage" led her to work in the Manhattan District Attorney's Antiquities Trafficking Unit that tracks stolen works of art and artifacts.
Iyer worked in the office in 2018 before coming to the Law School, and took a leave of absence after her first year studying law to return to the role, it said.
The report added that Iyer joined the Harvard Law Review following a competitive process called "write-on," where Harvard Law School students "rigorously fact-check a document and provide commentary on a recent State or Supreme Court Case."
Iyer has previously been involved in the Law School's Harvard Human Rights Journal and the National Security Journal and is also a member of the South Asian Law Students Association.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
