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By Lalit K Jha FGN11 US-VERMA-RESIGN Washington, Jan 16 PTI Seema Verma, one of the highest-ranking Indian Americans in the outgoing Trump administration, has resigned from her top healthcare position, days ahead of Joe Bidens swearing in as the next president of the United States.

US President-elect Joe Biden has announced an ambitious goal of inoculating 100 million Americans with COVID-19 vaccines in the first 100 days of his administration, noting that the vaccine rollout in the country, the worst hit by the pandemic, has been a ''dismal failure.'' By Lalit K Jha FGN20 BIDEN-SHARMA-APPOINTMENT Washington: Joe Biden has named Indian-American health policy expert Vidur Sharma as testing advisor in his COVID-19 Response Team, as the US President-elect laid out his ambitious goal to intensify vaccinations across the country to tackle the spread of the deadly pandemic. By Lalit K Jha FGN18 BIDEN-REPUBLICANS-MASKS Washington: President-elect Joe Biden has slammed Republican lawmakers who refused to wear masks while huddling in a secure location during the January 6 riot at the US Capitol despite the threat of coronavirus, telling them that ''it's time to grow up''.

By Lalit K Jha FGN16 UN-DIASPORA-INDIA United Nations, Jan 16 (PTI) The Indian diaspora, one of the most "vibrant and dynamic", is the largest in the world, with 18 million people from the country living outside their homeland in 2020, the UN has said. By Yoshita Singh FGN21 LANKA-UNHRC-TAMILS Colombo: Sri Lanka's minority Tamil political parties and civil society groups have urged the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international independent investigatory mechanism with a strict time frame to ensure accountability from the island nation on the alleged human rights abuses during the nearly three-decades long civil war. FGN24 PAK-PM-LD AIDE Islamabad: The Pakistan Cabinet has removed Naeem Bukhari, a close associate of Prime Minister Imran Khan, as chairman of Pakistan Television (PTV), after the Islamabad High Court barred him from working as the head of the state-run channel, according to media reports on Saturday.

FGN13 BIDEN-NEC-LD FAZILI Washington: US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Indian-American community and economic development expert Sameera Fazili to a key White House position.By Lalit K Jha FGN12 US-LET-DESIGNATION Washington: The United States has reviewed and maintained the terrorist designations of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), along with ISIL Sinai Peninsula (ISIL-SP) and several other organisations. By Lalit K Jha FGN11 US-VERMA-RESIGN Washington, Jan 16 (PTI) Seema Verma, one of the highest-ranking Indian Americans in the outgoing Trump administration, has resigned from her top healthcare position, days ahead of Joe Biden's swearing in as the next president of the United States. By Lalit K Jha FGN7 UNSC-REFORMS United Nations: The Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) on US Security Council reform process will resume later this month, President of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkir has said, asserting that UNSC membership as well as its working methods must reflect realities of the 21st century. By Yoshita Singh FGN6 VIRUS-UN-GUTERRES United Nations: As the world crossed a ''heart-wrenching milestone'' of two million deaths from COVID-19, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented that the deadly impact of the pandemic has worsened due to the absence of a global coordinated effort and said that ''vaccinationalism'' by governments is ''self-defeating'' that will delay a global recovery. By Yoshita Singh FGN5 US-PENCE-HARRIS Washington, Jan 16 (PTI) Outgoing US Vice President Mike Pence has called his soon-to-be successor Kamala Harris to congratulate her and offer his full co-operation in the transition of power, according to multiple media reports said. By Lalit K Jha PTI RS RS

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