3 PIOs nominated to Democratic Convention Standing Committees

Three eminent Indian-Americans, including two women, have been nominated to the Democratic Party's 2016 Convention Standing Committees which would formally announce its candidate for the presidential polls.
Topping the list of Indian-Americans is Smita Shah, president and CEO of Chicago-based Spaan Tech, who has been nominated as vice chair of the Rules Committee.
One of the top fund raisers for President Barack Obama and now Hillary Clinton, California-based Shefali Razdan Duggal has been nominated a member of the Rules Committee.
Renowned ophthalmologist and entrepreneur, Dr Sreedhar Potarazu has been nominated to the Credentials Committee, according to the list released by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

DNC rules provide for the Chair to appoint 75 Party Leader and Elected Official Members to the three Convention Standing Committees to be held in Philadelphia in July, which would formally announce party's presidential candidate.
These Party Leader and Members serve in addition to and together with the over 160 members that are elected in every state to those same committees.

"This slate represents the great variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences that make up our party. We wanted to make sure that the diversity of our party was reflected at the highest levels in terms of race, gender, age and geography," Schultz said.

In addition to the Indian-Americans, Pakistani origin Saif Khan has also been nominated to the Rules Committee.
A Clinton White House staffer, Shah was a delegate at the 1996 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions and was on the DNC's Rules Committee in 2000 and 2004.
In 2012, she become the first Indian-American to serve as a Democratic National Convention parliamentarian.
Duggal is a presidential appointee to the US Holocaust Memorial Council, which supervises the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, for a term expiring in January 2018.
She is one of the top fund raiser for the Clinton campaign and also serves on the National Finance Committee for Hillary for America, Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

(Reopens FES25)
The Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO International) expressed its strong and unequivocal condemnation of the series of killings and attacks in Brussels.
GOPIO said in a statement that it considers these brutal and despicable acts as unforgivable and unjustified criminal actions directed to create widespread fear among innocent citizens.
"We consider these killings as heinous acts against humanity, coming soon after recent brutal attacks in France and other countries," it said.
Another organisation, UNITED SIKHS in a statement condemned the Brussels attack.
"The apparently coordinated explosions in Brussels - including at least one by a suicide bomber at the airport - created a renewed sense of threat that spilled far beyond Brussels, as authorities boosted police patrols in cities such as Paris, London and Washington," it said.

Amarjit Kaur, president of UNITED SIKHS Belgium chapter, said: "Attacks like these instigate hate against minority communities. It's time to share love and compassion towards one another.