Midway through his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health Committee, Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia asked Vivek Murthy, nominee for US surgeon general, whether he had met Dr Raj Shah, USAID administrator, and the highest-ranked Indian-American in the Obama administration. No I haven’t, Murthy replied. You should, Senator Isakson advised him; you guys have the same background and same heritage, and you can learn from the great job he has done at USAID. The exchange, coming just hours after Microsoft elevated Satya Nadella as the CEO, served to highlight how people of Indian-origin are increasingly breaching the glass ceiling in the US, in areas as wide apart as industry, academia, and government. But nowhere is it as prominent as in ...

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