Tuesday, July 7, 2026
ADVT 
International

Indian-American Ajit Pai May Head U.S. Communication Commission

Darpan News Desk IANS, 18 Jan, 2017 11:41 AM
    Ajit Pai, a commissioner in the US communications regulatory agency, has met President-elect Donald Trump amid speculation that he could head the body that deals with cellphone spectrum and broadcasting.
     
    Trump's spokesperson Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that the meeting with Pai, who is the Republican nominee on the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), took place on Monday.
     
    Currently the FCC is headed by Tom Wheeler, a nominee of the Democratic Party, and a change in leadership is due with the election of Trump.
     
    The position of FCC chairman has to be approved by the Senate.
     
    The FCC is the federal authority regulating radio, television, phone, cellphone spectrum and services, internet and satellite and cable.
     
    Pai, whose parents are doctors who immigrated from India, is a lawyer and has served with the government, Congress and the private sector.
     
    A free enterprise advocate in the Republican mould, he has been a critic of the functioning of the FCC and has clashed with its leadership. 
     
    Recently, he took issue with an FCC report that questioned the legality of offerings that are used by people to access online music, videos, and other content free of charge.
     
     
    Trump has nominated two Indian-Americans to high-level positions: Nikki Haley as the Cabinet-level Ambassador to the United Nations, and Seema Verma as the head of the agency for government health insurance programmes.
     
    In addition, Trump has appointed Raj Shah as his deputy assistant and research director on the White House staff.
     
    Another Indian American, Balaji Srinivasan, met Trump last week and Spicer said that he was under consideration for a role at the the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
     
    Srinivasan is a technology entrepreneur who has founded a biotech company and has been critical of the links between large pharmaceutical companies and the FDA and the agency's reach that he asserted stifles tech innovations.
     
    He currently heads a start-up that deals with bitcoin, the internet-based currency.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Indian-Orgin Investment Veteran Appointed Endowment Chief At Harvard

    Indian-Orgin Investment Veteran Appointed Endowment Chief At Harvard
    N P Narvekar, 54, has been appointed the president and chief executive officer of Harvard Management Company (HMC), which manages Harvard University's endowment and related financial assets, HMC said in statement.

    Indian-Orgin Investment Veteran Appointed Endowment Chief At Harvard

    Hafiz Saeed is real PM of Pakistan: Pakistani-Canadian Writer Tarek Fatah

    Hafiz Saeed is real PM of Pakistan: Pakistani-Canadian Writer Tarek Fatah
    Hafiz Saeed, Chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, is the "real Prime Minister of Pakistan" and that the creation of Pakistan in the existing geographical landscape was erroneous, Pakistan-born Canadian author Tarek Fatah said on Saturday.

    Hafiz Saeed is real PM of Pakistan: Pakistani-Canadian Writer Tarek Fatah

    Egyptian Lawmaker Says Women Should Prove They Are Virgins To Go To College

    Egyptian Lawmaker Says Women Should Prove They Are Virgins To Go To College
    Last month, Egyptian lawmaker Elhamy Agina declared that women should undergo female genital mutilation in order to "reduce their sexual desires" because Egyptian men are "sexually weak."

    Egyptian Lawmaker Says Women Should Prove They Are Virgins To Go To College

    Donald Trump Ready To Drag Bill Clinton Sex Scandals Into US Campaign

    Donald Trump Ready To Drag Bill Clinton Sex Scandals Into US Campaign
    Trump told The New York Times that he believes talking about the sex scandals that stained the career of Hillary's husband Bill would turn female voters away from her

    Donald Trump Ready To Drag Bill Clinton Sex Scandals Into US Campaign

    China Again Blocks India's Bid To Declare Masood Azhar Terrorist

    China Again Blocks India's Bid To Declare Masood Azhar Terrorist
    In a move that will create tensions with India, China has extended its decision to put a technical hold on the United Nations declaring Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Massod Azhar a terrorist.

    China Again Blocks India's Bid To Declare Masood Azhar Terrorist

    Democracy Has Not Been Tailored To Pakistan Environment: Pervez Musharraf

    Democracy Has Not Been Tailored To Pakistan Environment: Pervez Musharraf
    The army has often played a prominent role in the governance of Pakistan as democracy has not been tailored to its environment, the country's former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf has said.

    Democracy Has Not Been Tailored To Pakistan Environment: Pervez Musharraf