US President Joe Biden nominates Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary to a key position in Pentagon
Washington, Oct 15: US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced his intent to nominate Indian American Ravi Chaudhary to a key position in the Pentagon.
A former Air Force officer, Chaudhary has been nominated for the position of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Energy and the Environment.
He needs to be confirmed by the United States Senate before he can be sworn in for this key Pentagon position.
Chaudhary previously served as a senior executive at the US Department of Transportation where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space, at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to his bio released by the White House.
In this role, Chaudhary was responsible for the execution of advanced development and research programs in support of the FAA's Commercial Space Transportation mission.
While at the Department of Transportation, he also served as the executive director, Regions and Centre Operations, where he was responsible for the integration and support of aviation operations in nine regions located nationwide.
On active duty from 1993 to 2015 in the US Air Force, he completed a variety of operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments in the Air Force, the White House said.
As a C-17 pilot, he conducted global flight operations, including numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a ground deployment as Director of the Personnel Recovery Center, Multi-National Corps, Iraq.
As a flight test engineer, he was responsible for flight certification of military avionics and hardware for Air Force modernization programs supporting flight safety and mishap prevention.
Earlier in his career, he supported space launch operations for the Global Positioning System (GPS) and led third stage and flight safety activities to ensure the full operational capability of the first GPS constellation, the White House said.
As a systems engineer, he supported NASA's International Space Station protection activities to ensure the safety of NASA Astronauts.
He also served as a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the Obama Administration.
In this role, he advised the President on executive branch efforts to improve veterans support for the AAPI community.
Chaudhary holds a Doctorate specializing in Executive Leadership and Innovation from the Georgetown University DLS Program, an MS in Industrial Engineering from St Mary's University as a NASA graduate fellow, an MA in Operational Arts and Military Science from Air University, and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Academy.
He is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and holds Department of Defence acquisition certifications in program management, test and evaluation, and systems engineering.
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Country seething in anger against BJP, its 'dictatorial' rule to end on June 4, says Kejriwal
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed the entire country is seething in anger against the BJP and will end its "dictatorial" rule on June 4, the counting day of the Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing several street meetings at different locations in West Delhi, he claimed the BJP would soon arrest AAP leaders such as Raghav Chaddha, Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj to crush the opposition.
The AAP national convener made the comments on the day his aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested in connection with the alleged assault on party MP Swati Maliwal. He held 'Nukkad Sabhas' in Najafgarh, Vikaspuri, Janakpuri, Hari Nagar and Madipur soon after addressing a press conference over Kumar's arrest.
Kejriwal said that he and all AAP leaders would go to the BJP headquarters on Sunday and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrest all of them at once.
The chief minister appealed to the people to vote for his party to stop him from going to jail again. "It's in your hands. If you want me to go to jail choose the BJP, otherwise choose the AAP."
"They (BJP) are after us, they arrested Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and me. Today they arrested my PA, now they will arrest Raghav Chadha, Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj," he added.
Kejriwal said the Lok Sabha poll results will prove to the BJP that the entire country is angry with its "dictatorial" rule. He exuded confidence that people will oust the BJP from power.
"People of the country are angry with them. People are fed up with inflation, unemployment and corruption," the AAP national convener said.
AAP's West Delhi Lok Sabha seat candidate Mahabal Mishra was also present during the street meetings.
Kejriwal, who was arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, has been granted interim bail till June 1 by the Supreme Court to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls. He will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2, a day after the last phase of polling in the general elections.
