Indian-origin women of color have been on a winning streak, from the C-suite to artificial intelligence to beauty pageants. Be it a test of beauty or brains, they are scoring high and setting new standards with their talent. While 5 Indian-origin girls are racing for America’s Top Young Scientist title 2026 as finalists, 18-year-old Kiran Reddy is proudly boasting her crown as Miss Teen USA 2026.

Who is Kiran Reddy, Miss Teen USA in 2026?

Kiran Reddy is an Indian American teen from the US state of Georgia. She won the Miss Teen USA title and wore the crown on August 26 at the grand finale held in Miami. In July 2026, she became the first Indian-origin contestant to win the Miss Georgia Teen title and represent her state in the national beauty pageant. She prides herself on being a role model for girls born to non-white immigrants and quietly carrying the legacy of Nina Davuluri, the first Indian American to win the Miss USA title in 2013.

“It is heartwarming to see the first world’s changing perception of Indian beauty (which was earlier seen as brown globally). There was a time when South Asians were barred from becoming US citizens as they were not “White’. For the same reason, Kala Bagai and a few other Indian immigrants were stripped of their American citizenship in 1923. These days Indian Americans of color (brown) are shining bright in different walks of life, from Chef Priyanka Naik to CEO Kruti Patel Goyal. Precisely, brown is the new white,” said Sourav Agarwal, Senior Editor of Travel Beats.

2026 Miss Teen USA winner’s career goals

Instead of resting on her new laurels, Kiran Reddy is heading to pursue her passion – medicine. One of her goals is to build a career in women’s health and specialize in gynecology. She has enrolled to the University of Georgia where she will be studying on a pre-med track. She graduated as valedictorian of Coffee High School’s Class of 2026 in Douglas.

She owes her passion for medicine to her physician father. Her father’s medical practice with professional integrity sowed the seeds of her interest in medicine. While volunteering in the labor and delivery wing of Coffee Regional Medical Center, her interest deepened further and turned into a determination to make it big in women’s health care. She also aims to provide prenatal care to underprivileged women in developing nations.

Miss Teen USA Kiran Reddy’s community service

She has earned admiration for her academic excellence and community service alike. She has volunteered at local elementary schools and read out stories to students. She has unconditionally offered service to residents of Lakeside Senior Living Center. She also organized fund-raising charity programs for Alzheimer’s awareness. “It’s never been about the title. It’s never been about the crown. It’s about the impact,” said Kiran in a media interview. With the Miss Teen USA title 2026, she aims to make a positive impact on others.

This news story is part of our continued series of Indian Diaspora’s inspiring journey and achievements. Travel Beats is a subsidiary of IndianEagle.com, the most trusted air-ticketing partner of Indians and Americans. Best Indian Eagle deals make flights from USA to India and other countries affordable, irrespective of routes and travel dates.

The post Who’s Indian American Kiran Reddy? She Wins Miss Teen USA 2026 Crown and Makes History first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

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Commencement ceremonies at American universities brim over with emotional speeches and dreams of a brighter future. But to over 200 graduating students at North Carolina State University, this year’s ceremony was more than a pleasant surprise. Indian-origin philanthropist Anil Kochhar surprised the graduating cohort of 2025-26 by pledging to pay off their final-year student loans estimated $4 million to $8 million. He, along with his wife Marilyn, made this announcement at Wilson College of Textiles in Raleigh, NC.

Anil Kochhar’s pledge to clear the debt for 202 students is a tribute to his father who had travelled from India to the US in 1946 to study textile engineering. He said, “It is my privilege to announce today that, in honor of my father Prakash Chand Kochhar, Marilyn and I are providing a graduation gift to cover all the final-year education loans incurred by Wilson College graduates during the 2025-26 academic year.”

The auditorium erupted into cheers and a standing ovation. Many students were visibly emotional as they realized their senior-year debt would disappear. The initiative will benefit 176 undergraduate students and 26 master’s graduates from the college.

Who is Anil Kochhar in USA?  

Anil Kochhar is an Indian American billionaire and philanthropist known for his generous contributions to education and student welfare, like Dr Kiran Patel in Florida. He is closely connected to his father’s alma mater, North Carolina State University. He has supported scholarships, faculty initiatives, graduate programs, and endowments established in his father’s memory over the years.

The story behind Anil Kochhar’s gift to 202 graduates began with his father Prakash Chand Kochhar, who travelled from Punjab to Raleigh in 1946; the same year Sardar JJ Singh, another Indian from Punjab fought for the rights to US citizenship for fellow Indians in America. Prakash Chand Kochhar studied textile manufacturing at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. When overseas education was a luxury even for upper middle-class Indians, he arrived in the US for better prospects of life and dreams of a better future.

During his speech, Anil Kochhar emotionally reflected on his father’s journey. “Eighty years ago, a young man travelled thousands of miles from India to Raleigh with little more than hope and determination,” he told graduates. “He could not have known where that journey would lead. He could not have imagined the life it would create.”

“My father found not just an education, but an opportunity that allowed him to build a life, support his family, and begin a legacy that continues today,” Anil added. Prakash Chand Kochhar earned his bachelor’s degree in 1950 and completed his master’s degree in 1952 before beginning his career in the American textile industry. Reports say that he later worked at Industrial Rayon in New York City and built a successful global career before his demise in 1985.

Anil also shared a heartfelt message with the graduating students, “Marilyn and I hope that all of you leave Reynolds Coliseum today not only with a degree but with greater freedom to pursue your goals, take risks and build the lives you’ve worked so hard to achieve.” His words deeply resonated with the students who are stepping into an uncertain economic environment where educational debt often shapes major life decisions for years.

The impact of the announcement was immediate and emotional. Alyssa D’Costa, a fashion and textile management major, said, “As a daughter of immigrants, this helps me and my family a lot.” David Hinks, Dean of the Wilson College of Textiles, called it an “extraordinary investment in students”. For many students and parents seated in the auditorium, the announcement turned an already memorable graduation day into a life-changing experience.

At a time when student debt continues to weigh heavily on millions of young students in America, Anil Kochhar’s philanthropy stands out not just as a financial gift but also as a message of hope. For 202 students leaving North Carolina State University this year, graduation did not just come with a degree. It came with relief, gratitude, and a brighter beginning. For many Indian Americans, the Kochhar family story mirrors the larger immigrant experience in the USA.

The post Who is Philanthropist Anil Kochhar? He Pledges to Clear Final-Year Loans for 202 US Graduates first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

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Big fat Indian weddings take the world aback every year. After the grand Ambani wedding for INR 5000 Cr became a global spectacle in 2024 and Indian American CEO Varun Navani’s wedding procession rocked Wall Street this year, a pharma tycoon’s daughter and a tech entrepreneur (both from the US) tied the knot today amid sheer luxury and opulence. This billionaire wedding, a three-day extravaganza attended by Hollywood stars and Bollywood biggies has transported the world to the bygone princely era of India.

Vamsi Gadiraju Weds Netra Mantena in Udaipur 

Netra, the heiress of Indian American billionaire Rama Raju Mantena, and Vamsi Gadiraju, a millionaire tech entrepreneur from New York, are the couple who took business class flights from USA to India for their lavish saptapadi in Udaipur, a premium wedding destination with palatial venues and picturesque locations in Rajasthan. The groom, Vamsi Gadiraju, is a New York-based co-founder and CTO of Superorder, an AI-driven tech platform for restaurant operations. Forbes’ 30 under 30 list in 2024 featured Vamsi Gadiraju, a distinguished alumnus of Columbus University.

Who is billionaire Rama Raju Mantena? 

The Netra-Vamsi lavish wedding in Udaipur owes its unmatched grandeur to the bride’s father, Rama Raju Mantena, the chairman and CEO of Ingenus Pharmaceuticals headquartered in Orlando, Florida. A US-based pharma mogul with roots in Andhra Pradesh, Raju Mantena has been leading the multimillion-dollar business of manufacturing cancer medicines and other health solutions since 2010. Prior to that, he founded and sold P4 Healthcare. He had moved to the US for MS in pharmacy, with a computer science engineering degree in India.

In 2018, Raju Mantena became a household name across India and among NRIs for donating a 28-kg gold necklace to the Tirupati Balaji Temple. The giant necklace made of 1008 gold coins with Sree Venkateswara Swamy’s name on each is currently valued at over INR 30 crores. In 2023, he made headlines for his purchase of a lavish property with a private beach and 16 bedrooms in Florida where another Indian American billionaire, Dr Kiran Patel has a palatial residence spread over 17 acres.

What makes Netra-Vamsi wedding an extravagant affair

Celebrated like a Rajasthani royal event, the wedding of Telugu American Raju Mantena’s daughter is a star-studded affair with Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, and Trump Jr., the eldest child of President Donald Trump, among the guests in attendance. The three-day event spanned over mehendi, sangeet, haldi, and saptapadi amid the folk music and dance of Rajputana at The Leela Palace, Taj Lake Palace, and Zenana Mahal in the historical City Palace. The 5-star properties came alive with a rare blend of majestic beauty, exotic floral décor, and motifs of Rajasthan’s folk culture.

Unlike a Telugu couple, Netra Mantena stole the show like a Rajput bride in a designer red lehenga with a floor-length veil, and Vamsi Gadiraju ditched dhoti for an embellished sherwani with the turban of a Rajasthani groom. The guests, including Donald Trump Jr. were dressed in Indian ethnic fashions for various ceremonies. Precisely, the Vamsi-Netra wedding theme is inspired by the royal beauty of Rajasthan.

Raju Mantena flew out Jenifer Lopez and Justin Bieber from USA to India to set the stage on fire at the cocktail party. Reportedly, it was Jenifer Lopez’s first visit to India. The sangeet ceremony was a dazzling spectacle of Bollywood stars who entertained the guests with their high-octane performances. Madhuri Dixit, Karan Johar, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Varun Dhawan, and Janhvi Kapoor were the star performers at the Netra-Vamsi wedding in Udaipur.

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The post Who’s Indian American Billionaire Raju Mantena? His Daughter Weds Vamsi Gadiraju from New York in a Big Fat Wedding first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

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The palatial Patel House would have been the shooting location if Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani had been filmed in the United States. Spread over 17 acres, the majestic residence – Surya Kiran Palace – is either a dream or envy of every Indian-origin billionaire. Home to three generations of an Indian American billionaire family, the Patel House is worth a visit (by invitation only) in the southeast US.

Surya Kiran Palace is a most prized possession of Dr Kiran Patel and Dr Pallavi Patel who call Tampa their home in Florida. Their newly-built Carrollwood residence is, apparently, the largest in Hillsborough County. It took 10 years to be complete in 2023 following the ground-breaking ceremony in 2013. This is where the Patel couple hosted their golden marriage anniversary amid fun, feasts and fireworks 9 months ago.

With Mughal-style arches, towering columns, and pink-hued sandstone, the multimillion-dollar Patel House features traditional architecture (an eclectic mix of Indian, Persian and Italian styles) from outside. The grand interior is very much American and exudes contemporary elegance, from 22-ft floor to ceiling windows to the exclusive collection of handpicked artifacts for décor.

The residential part of the Patels’ 17-acre estate in Tampa Bay has two main wings over a total area of 63,000 square feet. Dr Kiran Patel resides in one wing with his wife Pallavi, and the other wing houses their son and his family. Each wing has a private entrance. They share the kitchen, the living area, the home theatre, and the indoor temple out of their adherence to the age-old Indian practice of keeping family members united.

Be it philanthropy or their personal space, the Patels are equally liberal with their wealth. The colossal entrance leading to the main hall faces a pool with fountains; a testimony to their king-size living. It is a square structure with shikharas and intricately designed arches on four sides, like the magnificent porch of mansions in the erstwhile Rajputana provinces of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Surprisingly, bigger than this is the outermost entrance built like a watchtower.

The central unit consists of a fully airconditioned, palatial edifice having 32,000-sqft space. The formal living area is as immensely spacious as over 15,000 square feet that can accommodate more than 500 guests at a time. What is more surprising is that the Patels’ Surya Estate in Tampa has a banquet hall sprawling 4,000 square feet and three guest houses. The residential area is meticulously landscaped with sprawling lawns, gardens, fountains, waterfalls, and an astounding 450m long swimming pool.

In Florida, the Patel House compound also has two small blocks, each having over 7500sqft space, where the Patels’ two physician daughters will gradually move in with their spouses. “I am very fortunate that all my three children decided to stay in Tampa, which is unusual in this day and age,” the Tampa Bay Times quoted Dr Patel saying in an article. There is dedicated space for yoga and meditation, and a beautiful lotus blossom made of glass draws attention to this relaxing space.

The compound, on the inner side, is lined with cypress trees which were planted celebrating Dr Kiran C Patel’s 65^th birth anniversary. The 17-acre Surya Estate does also encompass a lake that adds to the serene ambience and scenic beauty of the palatial residence. If the richest Indian business family’s Antilia in Mumbai is a vertical wonder, the Indian-American pharma baron’s Surya Kiran Estate in Tampa is a marvel on ground.

Florida-based Dr Kiran Patel and Pallavi Patel are healthcare entrepreneurs with several philanthropic undertakings to their credit. In 2019, they made a whopping, nonprofit investment of $200 million to Nova Southeaster University for free medical education of meritorious students from India and other developing countries. Most recently, they inaugurated a new medical college of osteopathic medicine in Orlando, Florida, among their funded projects for the welfare of humankind.

The post Indian American Billionaire Dr Kiran Patel’s 17-acre Surya Estate is Either a Dream or Envy of Every Millionaire first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

The post Indian American Billionaire Dr Kiran Patel’s 17-acre Surya Estate is Either a Dream or Envy of Every Millionaire appeared first on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

Latest Update: Workday’s CEO Aneel Bhusri, one of the richest Indian Americans, has generously donated $1 million towards the fight against COVID19 in California. The donation to the Give2SF fund that was instituted in March 2020 will be utilized to help small businesses in San Francisco hit by the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.

Indian Americans are not only pushing the vehicles of innovation in the United States and fueling the US’ economic growth but also contributing generously to several social welfare programs. In the history of America, there are many individuals and couples of Indian origin who have donated millions of dollars to their alma maters. Among them are Florida-based Dr. Kiran Patel and Dr. Pallavi Patel who featured in our series of inspiring stories of philanthropy for donating $171,500 to build affordable homes for the needy and $200 million to Nova Southeastern University for health care development.

Indian American entrepreneur Aneel Bhusri is the latest talk of the town at Travel Beats, a leading Indian community portal by Indian Eagle. The cofounder and CEO of Workday Inc., Aneel Bhusri recently announced to join the Giving Pledge and donate more than half of his wealth to various noble causes. His business partner, Allison Bhusri made the same commitment. With a net worth of $2.2 billion in 2019, San Francisco-based Aneel Bhusri is one of the 10 wealthiest Indian American billionaires, according to Forbes Magazine.

Instituted by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010, the Giving Pledge is a leading group of nearly 200 philanthropists from 22 countries including India and the United States. There are 40 from the US alone. Workday Inc. CEO Aneel Bhusri and cofounder Allison Bhusri are among the 14 new signatories, including Rohini and Nandan Nilekani of India.

Born in New York, Aneel Bhusri is an alumnus of Stanford University and Brown University. He is an enterprise software professional and investor too. On completion of MBA, he started his career as a corporate finance analyst at Morgan Stanley. In 1993, he was employed as director of planning at PeopleSoft, a software company and became vice chairman for product strategy & marketing by the time Oracle acquired it in 2004.

A resident of San Francisco, Aneel Bhusri has been an advisory partner at Greylock since 1999. Greylock is a leading venture capital company known for funding such world-class conglomerates as Facebook, Tumblr, Dropbox, Groupon and Airbnb. He also serves on the board of several companies which Greylock has made investment in so far, other than being a member on the board of directors at Intel.

Among the American billionaires of Indian origin, Aneel Bhusri is said to be a down-to-earth, employee-centric, savvy businessman who believes in pay parity at workplace and the power of mentoring young people. In 2016, he signed the White House Equal Pay Pledge and committed to ensure pay parity at Workday. He connects with the young workforce at Workday and motivates them to achieve their own professional growth as well as the company’s goals.

Travel Beats is an Indian American community portal owned by Indian Eagle, a trusted travel booking organization for Indians in USA. Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay tuned to latest news & stories of Indian Americans, Indian events in USA, US visa & immigration news and US to India travel updates.

The post Indian American Billionaire Aneel Bhusri who Pledges his Wealth to Charity Donates $1M for COVID19 Relief first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

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On the eve of Navaratri 2019, another Indian American billionaire family refuted the prevailing notion that Indian Americans – one of the highest-earning ethnic communities in the US – donate only about $1 billion a year, which gives a poor impression of their charitable giving, despite their potential of being more generous in giving habits.

Florida-based Indian American billionaire couple – Dr. Kiran Patel and Dr. Pallavi Patel – who are best known for their social entrepreneurship in health care, have partnered with Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale to elevate healthcare standards in rural India with quality medical education from USA.

As part of their initial investment of $200 million, the entrepreneur-cum-philanthropist duo who has transformed healthcare all over Florida has acquired 50 hectares of land in their native place, Gujarat. The land will be utilized to set up a world-class medical college hospital under the collaborative supervision of the Dr. Patels and Nova Southeastern University.

Under the leadership of Dr. Kiran Patel and Dr. Pallavi Patel from Tampa Bay Area, Nova Southeastern University will expand its operations to India following the construction of the proposed medical college hospital near Baruch in Gujarat. If things go as expected, the hospital will be ready in three years.

There is more to their multimillion-dollar healthcare mission in India. The Patels are mulling over several plans to set up three medical colleges in rural backwaters of India. Two of the medical colleges will enroll students for Indian degree programs, and the third will possibly be affiliated to Nova Southeastern University for US degree courses. Students will be trained in rural healthcare operations.

Whether the acquired agricultural land can be used for non-agricultural projects, is still subject to approval from the Medical Council of India. In October 2019, Dr. Kiran Patel may travel to India from Miami or Tampa in order to pitch his healthcare projects for India to PM Narendra Modi and expedite the process of seeking approval for the use of agriculture land.

“In case the approval to open medical colleges in rural India is denied, there are alternate plans to improve healthcare operations standards and medical education in rural areas of India,” Dr. Kiran Patel said. Lectures from Nova Southeastern University’s Tampa Bay Regional Campus in Clearwater will be digitally transmitted to India through interactive sessions with professors in real time.

Also Check: This Indian American Family Donates $5M for Heart Healthcare 

It may be followed by an exchange program between American professors and professors from India, who will work towards producing academically competent healthcare professionals. Through the exchange program, Indian physicians will get to experience the nitty-gritty of modern healthcare at the NSU Tampa Bay Regional Campus that is home to Dr. Kiran Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine and Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences.

Dr. Kiran Patel, an ‘Outstanding American by Choice’ award winner, and Dr. Pallavi Patel born in Ahmadabad broke ground for a free 60,000-square-foot charter school in Hillsborough County, Florida in December 2018 and pledged the single largest donation to Nova Southeastern University for healthcare research and development.

This news story is brought to you by Indian Eagle Travel at its Indian community portal, Travel Beats, as part of the continued effort to promote good work by Indians in USA. Indian Eagle not only strives to offer unbeatable lowest fare deals for flights to India from USA but also caters inspiring community stories, visa & immigration news, and international travel alerts through free newsletters.

The post Indian American Billionaire Doctor Couple to Transform Healthcare in Rural India with $200M Project first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

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Indian Americans have gradually been redefining the desi perception of charity, which is donating to temples or religious entities and giving alms to beggars. However, the available reports on overseas Indians’ charitable giving do not speak highly of Indian Americans’ giving habits. One of the highest-earning ethnic groups in the United States, the Indian American community donates about USD 1 billion a year, whereas they have the potential of giving back $3 billion a year.

The survey released at the Indiaspora Philanthropy Summit at Georgetown University in 2018 concludes that Indian Americans donate a max 1.5% of their annual income, which is almost one-third of the average American donation. Indian Americans prolifically volunteer their time for diverse causes, which is almost double the US national average of volunteering hours; but they are not among the leaders in charitable giving, according to the survey.

However, brushing aside the debate on Indian Americans’ giving potential is their promising emergence into philanthropy in education and healthcare. In a recent instance of the increasing awareness about the social impact they could do with their more generous giving habits, an Indian American family has donated a whopping $5 million to fund research and education on heart health.

Indian American Satish Gupta’s Gupta Agarwal Charitable Foundation made the donation to the Texas-based Baylor Scott & White Heart Hospital’s research facility in Plano, aiming to help further the research on cardiac conditions. Headquartered in Dallas, Baylor Scott & White Heart Hospital is known worldwide for its topnotch cardiac care facility where the Satish and Yasmin Gupta Heart Center has recently been unveiled.

Dallas-based Yasmin and Satish Gupta, the founders of the Gupta Agarwal Charitable Foundation, are driven by their sheer commitments to improving access to knowledge and education for the welfare of communities, both local and global, through continuous research on heart health and others.

The impact of the Gupta Agarwal Charitable Foundation’s donation to Baylor Scott & White Health is not limited to Texas or the US at large; it is rather extended to physicians from all over the world. The fund will facilitate access to the world-class care provided at Baylor Scott & White Health’s Heart Hospital in Plano for physicians from other countries. They will also be allowed to get trained in the latest medical developments and take the knowledge home to better healthcare facilities in their countries.

In addition to knowledge dissemination on the best heart health care for millions of cardiac patients worldwide, the Gupta Agarwal Charitable Foundation’s gift to Baylor Scott & White Health will fund implementation of new therapies.

The founder of SB International, steel baron Satish Gupta’s commitment to improving heart health care for millions of people is a very personal one. With a degree in Economics from Chennai, he came to the US in 1979 and studied MBA in International Trade & Management at the University of Dallas. In 1981, he set up his first steel export business. When he was grappling with challenges to cement the foundation of the business, his father needed a cardiac bypass surgery in India. Somehow he managed to bring his father to Texas for better cardiac treatment. In 2003, Satish Gupta himself noticed his cardiac symptoms and took a therapeutic approach to improve his heart health, consulting the best physicians at Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas.

Also Check: Billionaire Cardiologist Dr. Kiran Patel Invests Millions to Save Hearts

The Gupta family will helm the utilization of the $5-million donation. Satish Gupta’s daughter Samantha Gupta Parmar, a healthcare professional, will help the newly created committee to direct the gift to achieve the goals. Moreover, Satish and Yasmin Gupta will help further the mission with their business acumen and philanthropic commitment. “Anything you give should snowball to something bigger, and our gift to Baylor Scott & White Health is a global initiative to impact lives positively,” said Yasmin Gupta in a press release.

The Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business, a 45,000-sq-ft world-class academic building at the University of Dallas, was inaugurated in 2016, and it is a testimony to the Indian American Gupta family’s passion for community welfare.

This news story is brought to you by Indian Eagle Travel at its overseas Indian community portal, Travel Beats, as part of the continued effort to promote good work by Indians in USA. Indian Eagle not only strives to make flights to India from USA cheaper and better, but also caters inspiring community stories, visa & immigration news, and international travel alerts through free newsletters.

The post Indian American Steel Baron Satish Gupta Donates $5M to Improve Heart Health Worldwide first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

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The United States recorded as many as 70,237 cases of drug overdose deaths in the year 2017. Unchecked intake of opioids is the main instrument having pushed the number of drug overdose deaths by 9% from 2016 to 2017 in the US. West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Ohio, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Utah and Tennessee are the top 10 US states with drug overdose deaths, according to American Addiction Centers.

In a bizarre incidence of the US opioid crisis, Indian-origin John Kapoor, a billionaire pharmaceutical entrepreneur in Arizona, has been convicted of bribing doctors to unnecessarily prescribe addictive painkillers to patients, and thereby contributing towards the country’s opioid epidemic. 75-year-old John Kapoor, the founder of Insys Therapeutics, was the fifth richest of Indian-origin billionaires in USA, with net worth $1.8 billion, on Forbes’ 2018 list

A Boston jury has also found John Kapoor guilty of having conspired with his four colleagues in tricking insurance companies towards pushing the sales of Subsys, a fentanyl spray painkiller which is much stronger than morphine. Basically, Subsys, a synthetic opioid was approved to be prescribed only to terminal cancer patients. But, John Kapoor’s Insys Therapeutics aimed at people with non-life-threatening chronic pain in order to ensure a meteoric rise in sales of Subsys and the figures of his profit.

John Kapoor, a resident of Phoenix, and his four business accomplices have been sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. Based on the investigation reports, prosecutors meted out the verdict that pharmaceutical billionaire John Kapoor’s unethical ways to fill his coffers with profits from the suffering of people fueled the US’ opioid crisis further, which has claimed 400,000 lives in the past two decades.

Born in Amritsar, Punjab, John Kapoor holds a PhD degree in medicinal chemistry from the State University of New York, Buffalo. The completion of his studies on pharmacy at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai drove him to shift to the US and fulfill his American Dreams, which came true with the formation of Insys Therapeutics in 1990.

He is also a restaurateur. He owns several restaurants in Chicago and San Francisco. He also helms the John and Editha Kapoor Charitable Foundation for those suffering from breast cancer. John Kapoor’s arrest coincided with the day President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency in 2017.

The judicial investigation into John Kapoor’s sale of addictive painkillers unearthed more shocking facts about him. According to the investigative reports, he masterminded a marketing strategy which required doctors to speak at educational events and promote Subsys targeting those who did not need it at all. The events were basically regular social gatherings at swanky New York restaurants. In return, the doctors were bribed and given free access to strip clubs. Details of bribes to the doctors and the profits that Insys Therapeutics made from each doctor were shown to the jury.

Also check: Indian American Consultants Convicted of H1B Visa Fraud

Thus, sales of Subsys skyrocketed from $14 million in 2012 to half a billion dollars early in 2017. The former CEO, the former vice president, and the vice president of sales at John Kapoor’s Insys Therapeutics have also been convicted of pawning the lives of people and exploiting their pain in the illegal money-minting game.

The conviction of John Kapoor is the first such criminal case, which has shocked the Indian American community, in the US healthcare industry. It has drawn a shark contrast to Florida-based Dr. Kiran Patel, an Indian American billionaire entrepreneur cum philanthropist who often makes headlines for right reasons, such as his $20-million funding of a tuition-free charter school in Florida, his $60-million funding of clinical testing of new cardiac devices, and his whopping $200-million donation to Florida’s Nova Southeastern University.

Travel Beats is an Indian American community portal owned by Indian Eagle, a trusted air travel booking organization for Indians in USA. Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay tuned to latest news & stories about Indian Americans, Indian events in USA, US visa & immigration news, and US to India travel updates.

The post Indian-origin Billionaire John Kapoor Convicted in a Case of USA’s Opioid Epidemic first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

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The United States has seen both the worst of crimes against humanity (mass shootings) and the best of philanthropy in 2018. While the US government shutdown (partial) over President Trump’s border wall has drawn the global attention to the nation’s political doldrums, a handful of philanthropists and humanitarians have unaffectedly been working for community welfare in the country. Among them is Dr. Kiran Patel, one of the Indian-origin billionaires in USA and a recipient of the Outstanding American by Choice Award 2017.

Dr. Kiran Patel, a Tampa-based entrepreneur cum philanthropist, has recently broken ground for a state-of-the-art charter school in Florida. The upcoming school for tuition-free education to students is expected to cost $20 million to the Drs. Kiran Patel and Pallavi Patel Family Foundation. A staunch advocate of quality health care and education, Dr. Kiran Patel and his Ahmadabad-born wife, Dr. Pallavi Patel have allocated $20 million for the tuition-free school, in continuation to their pledge to donate a quarter billion dollar for various charities.

Expected to open in August 2019, the Dr. Kiran C. Patel High School for tuition-free education is planned to be a 60,000-square-foot edifice on a 32-acre plot near the University of South Florida. The infrastructure of the charter school infrastructure will have facilities like an 11,000-square-foot gymnasium. A charter school is an independent institution, much like a private school, but it provided free education.

The upcoming Dr. Kiran C. Patel High School in Hillsborough County, Florida will admit 300 students in two batches: one for the 9^th grade and the other for the 10^th grade. The school’s students-enrolling capacity will be enhanced up to a total of 600 students in the third year. Though external students (those from outside Hillsborough County) can seek admission to the school, the students residing in the county may get preference, according to Indian American Ash Bagdy, who hit upon the idea of the school.

The Dr. Kiran C. Patel High School in Hillsborough County will be unlike a traditional school where kids receive passive lessons. Kavita Jain, the school board president and a long-time friend of the Patels, said that the school curriculum would be strategically designed so as to create future leaders with the attributes such as problem-solving attitude, entrepreneurship, creativity, and agility that tech giants like Google, Apple and Microsoft will be looking for in potential employees.

Project-based learning, transformative education and collaborative learning environment are the mainstay of Dr. Kiran C. Patel High School where students living below poverty line will be benefitted. Community leaders and business tycoons will be invited to mentor students at the Dr. Kiran C. Patel High School in Temple Terrace, Florida.

In September 2017, Indian-origin Dr. Kiran Patel pledged a donation of $200 million to Florida’s Nova Southeastern University for medical facility development at the university’s Clearwater campus in Tampa Bay and large-scale healthcare advancement in Florida. It was lauded as the single largest donation to a US institute in the history of America. A key condition of Dr. Kiran Patel’s $200-million commitment to Nova Southwestern University is that 40% of medical graduates will be practicing in medically underserved areas across the globe.

This news story is brought to you by Indian Eagle Travel at its overseas Indian community portal, Travel Beats, as part of the continued effort to promote good work by Indians in USA. Indian Eagle not only strives to make air travel to India cheaper but also caters inspiring community stories, visa & immigration news, and international travel alerts through free newsletters.

The post Indian American Billionaire Philanthropist Dr. Kiran Patel Funds $20-million High School for Free Education first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

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Preceding Dussehra, the day of the good’s victory over the evil, Indian American Dr. Kiran Patel made a whopping $60 million investment in a medical device company in order to fund clinical testing of new cardiac devices and facilitate clinical studies on the latest cardiovascular technology in the United States. The investment in Miami-based Concept Medical Inc. is primarily intended to contribute towards improving the health of millions of hearts worldwide.

Tampa-based healthcare entrepreneur and cardiologist Dr. Kiran Patel’s investment in Concept Medical Inc. will be utilized to fund extensive studies on sirolimus-coated devices used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The coating substance, sirolimus helps mitigate risks of arterial blockage and reduce the time span that a patient requires to take blood thinners.

Concept Medical, along with its India-based manufacturing subsidiary, Envision Scientific Pvt. Ltd. has devised new cardiovascular treatment technologies in which sirolimus-coated stents and balloons are used to remove blockage of coronary arteries. The use of conventional stents or balloons reduces the possibility for repeat occurrence of narrowing of coronary arteries to 8 to 10 percent, while sirolimus-coated cardiac devices lessen the risk of arterial narrowing to an unbelievable 3 percent.

The lesser the arterial blockage is, the lesser the requirement of blood thinners is. The sirolimus-coated devices for cardiovascular treatment are sold in Europe and Asia, but the United States does not permit sale of the same devices without costly testing as per the norms set by the US Food and Drug Administration. Clinical testing of sirolimus-coated cardiac devices being expensive, Dr. Kiran Patel found it just to make the $60-million investment for the wellbeing of millions of hearts.

Also Check: Trips to India Make Indian American Teens Philanthropists 

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the world. Cardiovascular ailments claim about 610,000 lives in the USA every year. Coronary heart disease takes toll on nearly 370,000 lives in the United States per annum. About 735,000 Americans suffer a heart attack every year. The technology of sirolimus-coated stents and balloons can not only treat cardiovascular patients but also reduce diabetic patients’ exposure to additional cardiac risks, according to philanthropist Dr. Kiran Patel.

The $60-million investment in Concept Medical Inc. is expected to earn approval for clinical testing of sirolimus-coated stents and balloons by the US Food and Drug Administration. Furthermore, Concept Medical Inc. will shift its headquarters from Miami to Tampa and generate employment in Tampa as per the deal.

One of the most active Indian American philanthropists in the US, Dr. Kiran Patel pledged to donate $200 million to Florida’s Nova Southeastern University for healthcare development for millions, early this year. His Ahmedabad-born wife, Dr. Pallavi Patel is an admirable philanthropist too.

The post Indian American Cardiologist Dr. Kiran Patel Invests $60 Million to Save Millions of Beating Hearts first appeared on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.

The post Indian American Cardiologist Dr. Kiran Patel Invests $60 Million to Save Millions of Beating Hearts appeared first on Indian Eagle Blog | US-India Travel News | Diaspora Stories.