Indian-American Chandru Acharya from Michigan has been appointed to the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council of Homeland Security. Acharya is the lone Hindu voice in this committee of 25 distinguished faith leaders from the United States, a media release said on Monday.

He is widely acknowledged in the Hindu American community and interfaith forums for building bridges with various faith communities through dialogue and peace initiatives, it said.

Over the last two decades, Acharya has been actively involved with diverse community organisations that work locally and nationally for social equity and pluralism. Raising cross-cultural awareness among children, embracing inclusivity by working across faith lines during challenging times such as the Covid pandemic, representing a voice of the minority Hindu Americans during incidents of ‘Hinduphobia’, and providing cultural sensitivity training to the local officials are some of his widely acknowledged accomplishments, the release stated.

Acharya currently serves on the Planning Commission of Canton Township, Michigan, and earlier served as a commissioner on the Michigan Asian Pacific Affairs Commission.

He is the president of South Asian American Voice of Impact, an advisory board member of the Detroit Indian Women’s Association, a board member of India League of America, a Plymouth Canton Interfaith member, an advisory board member of the Michigan Indian Community Service, and a national board member of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, USA.

He was also a board member of the Interfaith Leadership Council of Detroit.

A fresh batch of Indian students from the University of Connecticut joined young professionals, corporate achievers, and entrepreneurs at a networking event organised by the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin-Connecticut Chapter (GOPIO-CT), a community service organisation that reaches out to Indians and Indian-Americans in the US state. The event has been organised by GOPIO for the past twelve years.

“America is the greatest country which provides opportunity to open up your mind and you can be whatever you want to become, whether a professional in a large corporation or help to manage a hedge fund or as a scientist or professor or as an entrepreneur, so, go and grab the opportunities awaiting you,” GOPIO International Chairman Dr Thomas Abraham made a statement while welcoming the new students.

GOPIO-CT President Ashok Nichani told the students that the Indian-American community is their host family in the US and that chapter will always have their back.

The weekend event, held at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Stamford, also served as an interactive session with a high-profile panel of Indian-American corporate achievers and entrepreneurs, including 3Lines COO Nandu Kuppusamy, Maganti IT Resources President Prasad Maganti, eNcloud Services President Chandra Sekhar Nallam, Immigration Attorney David Nachman and Entain CIO Joseph Simon.

GOPIO-CT — Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (Connecticut) — serves as a non-partisan, secular, civic, and community service organization promoting awareness of Indian culture, customs, and contributions of PIOs through community programs, forums, events, and youth activities.

The initial thrust of GOPIO, founded in 1989, was fighting human rights violations against people of Indian origin.

With over 47,000 people, including over 200 physicians, taking their own lives every year in the US with a devastating effect on family, friends and society, Indian American physicians have raised $15,000 for suicide prevention.

The amount was raised during the annual governing body meeting and Diwali- Dussehra celebrations organized jointly by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) and the Georgia Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPI) Chapter from Oct 7 to 9 in Atlanta.

A check was presented to Cheryl Cloa, board chair for the Georgia chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention whose mission is to help save lives and bring hope, to those affected by suicide, during the GAPI-AAPI gala on Oct 8, according to a press release.

India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan and the Consul General of India in Atlanta, Dr. Swati Kulkarni were the chief guests at the gala, which began with the lighting of the traditional lamp.

The gala began with Dr. Uma Johnnalagadda, President of GAPI, Dr. Sreeni Ganagasani, and Dr. Raghu Lolabhattu, welcoming community members, family, friends, colleagues, and sponsors.

September is recognized as “National Suicide Prevention Month.” AAPI Women’s Forum initiated a fundraiser to support Suicide Awareness programs.

During and post Covid, physician burnout and the suicide rate among physicians had gone up. Every year about 200 plus physicians die by suicide. Suicide has a devastating effect on the lives of family members, friends, co-workers, and society.

In 2021, in the US alone, more than 47,000 people lost their lives to suicide, Dr. Udaya Shivangi, chair of AAPI’s Women’s Forum pointed out. “By learning the signs, starting conversations, understanding barriers, and sharing resources we can all contribute to preventing this loss of precious life.”

Urging AAPI members and the medical fraternity to use all the resources available to prevent suicide, Dr. Anjana Samadder, president-elect of AAPI said, “We must become aware of, utilize and help others become aware of and use all the resources available that will help prevent suicide.”

Dr. Ravi Kolli, AAPI president urged AAPI members to attend the next edition of the Global Healthcare Summit planned to be held in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh from Jan 6 to 8, 2023.

The GHS 2023 will focus on mental health, infant and maternal mortality as well as medical jeopardy, and research poster presentations by medical students.

It will also have panel discussions by international medical education experts and national medical council board officials, mentoring of young professionals, ceo forum on equity, ethics and physician burnout issues, women’s forum on gender bias and leadership, and TB elimination projects in India.