Biden names Indian-American Sameera Fazili as Deputy Director of National Economic Council
Washington: US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Indian-American Sameera Fazili to a key White House position related to economy.
Sameera Fazili has been named as Deputy Director, National Economic Council at the White House, the Biden-Harris Transition announced on Friday.
The National Economic Council coordinates the economic policy making process and provide economic policy advice to the US president.
Fazili is currently the Economic Agency lead on the Biden-Harris Transition. She was earlier posted at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta where she served as the Director of Engagement for Community and Economic Development.
Fazili is the second Kashmiri-origin Indian-American appointed to a key position in the incoming Biden administration.
In December, Aisha Shah was named as Partnerships Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy.
In the Obama-Biden administration, Fazili served as a senior policy advisor on the White House's National Economic Council and as a senior advisor at the US Treasury Department in both Domestic Finance and International Affairs.
Prior to that she was a clinical lecturer of law at Yale Law School. Originally from Buffalo, she now lives in Georgia with her husband and three children. Fazili is a graduate of Yale Law School and Harvard College.
Before her time in government, Fazili was a clinical lecturer at Yale Law School's community and economic development clinic, where she helped start a CDFI bank and a local anti-foreclosure initiative, and expanded the clinic's work to international microfinance.
She also worked at ShoreBank, the nation's first CDFI (community development financial institution) bank. Her work in finance has spanned consumer, housing, small business and microfinance.
She received her law degree from Yale Law School and her bachelor of arts in social studies from Harvard College.
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Australian woman fined for stealing Chanel perfume from airport duty-free store after two years
Singapore: A 35-year-old Australian national, Raj Varsha, was fined $750 by a Singapore court on April 11 after pleading guilty to stealing a bottle of Chanel perfume valued at nearly $250 from a duty-free store at Changi Airport in March 2023.
According to court proceedings, the incident occurred at around 4:10 a.m. on March 22, 2023, when Varsha entered The Shilla Duty Free store located in the Terminal 1 departure transit area.
State Prosecuting Officer Zakir Hussain informed the court that Varsha had concealed the perfume bottle in her bag and exited the store without making payment.
Security personnel, upon noticing the missing item, alerted store employees. CCTV footage confirmed the theft, after which the store supervisor notified the Airport Police Division. Varsha departed for Thailand with her family at approximately 9:10 a.m. on the same day.
She was detained on March 31, 2025, upon re-entering Singapore. During investigations, Varsha admitted to the theft and stated that she had given the stolen item to her mother as a gift.
In court, Varsha, who did not have legal representation, expressed remorse and apologized for her actions. She told District Judge A. Sangeetha that she accepted full responsibility and had no prior legal infractions. Full restitution for the stolen item has since been made to the store.
Under Singapore law, theft is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, a fine, or both.
