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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (October 11, 2025 - October 17, 2025) October 17, 2025 6 US Affairs Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller Joins Support For Virginia Lieutenant Governor Candidate Ghazala Hashmi S. Paul Kapur Confirmed As Assistant Secretary For South Asian Affairs M aryland Lt. Governor Aruna Miller attended a Virginia event supporting Democratic nominee Ghazala Hashmi for lieutenant governor, highlighting ties between the two leaders, an October 7, 2025, press release from Aruna Miller For Maryland, said. The event was hosted by Dr. Sushil and Asha Jain in partnership with the AAPI Vic- tory Fund, Vaibhav Jain, and a dedicated host committee, bringing together support- ers from across the region in support of Dr. Hashmi. The press release noted several similari- ties between Miller and Hashmi. Both were born in Hyderabad, India, in 1964, and immigrated to the United States as young girls, Miller to NewYork and Hashmi to Georgia. According to the press release, both women built their lives through education and public service: Miller as a civil engineer and legislator in Maryland, and Hashmi as an educator and state senator in Virginia; and each repre- sents a generation of immigrant women who transformed their experiences into service to their communities. Miller made history in 2022 as the first South Asian woman ever elected Lieuten- ant Governor in the United States. Hashmi, if elected, would become the second South Asian woman and the first Muslim-Amer- ican woman elected to statewide office in the nation. “Lt. Governor Miller’s participation reflected Maryland’s commitment to col- laboration across borders and to advancing leaders who bring diverse perspectives to government,” the press release said. The Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election is scheduled for Tuesday, Novem- ber 4, 2025. Early in-person voting is al- ready underway and will continue through Saturday, November 1, 2025. T he US Senate on October 7, 2025, confirmed Indian Ameri- can S. Paul Kapur as Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs at the State Department. Kapur replaces Donald Lu, and his appointment comes at a difficult time not only in US-India relations, but also within the South Asian Subcontinent following on the heels of the India-Pakistan imbroglio, and the turmoil in Bangladesh and Nepal. The Senate voted 51 to 47, a partisan vote October 7, for one of the top posts at the State Department, which in the past has been occupied by one other Indian American, Nisha Desai Biswal. Kapur was nominated to the position by President Trump on February 11 this year. Kapur has been a professor at the Na- val Postgraduate School’s Department of Security Affairs. His expertise listed on that site ( nps.edu ) is in South Asian Politics and Security as well as Interna- tional Relations. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Kapur is not new to the State Depart- ment. He served from 2020-2021, on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, working on issues related to South and Central Asia, Indo-Pacific strategy, and U.S.-India relations. Previously, he taught at Claremont McKenna College, and was a visiting professor at Stanford University. Kapur has written extensively on issues in the South Asian Subcontinent. His biogra- phy on nsu.edu shows he is the author of Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State (Oxford University Press, 2016); Dangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South Asia (Stanford University Press, 2007); co-author of India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia (Columbia University Press, 2010). Most recently, he was the co-editor of The Challenges of Nuclear Security: U.S. and Indian Perspectives (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). His work has appeared in leading academic journals such as International Security, Security Studies, Asian Survey, andWashington Quarterly; in outlets such as theWall Street Journal, the Na- tional Interest, and RealClearPolicy; and in a wide variety of edited volumes. Kapur also directs a United States-In- dia Track 1.5 strategic dialogue, as well as other U.S.-India engagements, for the Department of Defense. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and his B.A. from Amherst College. By a StaffWriter By a StaffWriter PHOTOS:CourtesyAruna Miller for Maryland California Governor Gavin Newsom Makes Diwali A State Holiday In California O n October 6, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 268, making Diwali a state holiday. AB 268 was authored jointly by Demo- cratic Assembly-members Ash Kalra of San Jose and Dr. Darshana Patel of San Diego California, which according an estimate by non-profit organization Indiaspora, houses one million Indian Americans, becomes the largest state to declare Diwali a state holiday. It is pre- ceded only Pennsylvania a year ago, and by New York City in November 2024, as a public school holiday, and some of the jurisdictions in New York State. Which makes California the first to make it a state-wide law. “Today, with California—the most populous state in the nation—officially recognizing Di- wali, Indian Americans celebrate a major mile- stone in the ongoing journey toward greater cultural inclusion and visibility,” declared Indiaspora in an October 7, press release. “This landmark legislation marks a historic moment for Indian Americans, especially in California, and is a powerful recognition of the commu- nity’s rich cultural heritage and longstanding contributions to the Golden State,” the organi- zation added. By a StaffWriter PHOTO:CourtesySuvidha International Foundation One of several cultural performances at the Nov. 5, 2023 Diwali celebrations in Sacramento, California. Attendees at a recent event in support of Virginia Senator Ghazala Hashmi’s bid for Lt. Governor of the Commonwealth. PHOTO:@NPS.EDU S. Paul Kapur