Indian-American awarded at White House for combating human trafficking
Houston, Oct 19: An Indian-American woman has been honoured with a Presidential award by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for her extraordinary contribution towards combatting human trafficking in Houston.
Minal Patel Davis, Special Advisor on Human Trafficking to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, received the 'Presidential Medal for Combating Human Trafficking' in the White House last week at a ceremony also attended by President Donald Trump.
"It was unbelievable," said Davis after winning the award, the country's highest honour in the field.
"My parents came here from India. I was the first one in my family born in the United States, so to end up in the Mayor's office a few years ago, and then to now end up in the White House, it was unbelievable," she said.
Appointed in July 2015, Davis has made a local impact on human trafficking in America's fourth largest city from a policy-level perspective and by helped in advancing systems change.
She is currently implementing Mayor Turner's Anti-Human Trafficking Strategic Plan, which is the first comprehensive municipal response to human trafficking by a US city.
Davis has spoken at several local, national and international panels and presented Houston city's approach.
She is a past speaker at the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit and recently travelled to India and Canada at the request of the State Department to discuss municipal leadership in trafficking with the government officials.
Davis did her MBA from the University of Connecticut and BA from New York University.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two labourers killed in crane collapse at Link Road project site in Thane district
Thane (PTI): Two labourers were killed on Saturday when a crane collapsed at the under-construction Dahisar-Bhayander Link Road project site in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said.
According to the police, the “gantry crane coastal girders platform”, where labourers were working, suddenly collapsed at 12:30 PM in Bhayander (West), severely injuring Raghunath Das (38) and Kana Singh (45). They were declared dead at a hospital.
"Police have registered a case of accidental death and are investigating," said Bhayander police station senior inspector Jitendra Kamble.
Police said further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of the crane collapse and to determine if any negligence was involved.
The Dahisar-Bhayander Link Road (DBLR) elevated coastal road project connects Dahisar (West) and Bhayander (West).
