ERIC GARCETTI is US Ambassador to India

U S Senate has confirmed   POTUS Joe Biden’s loyalist Eric Garcetti,52,  an American  Jew, as the  ambassador to India ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s  visit to the country. The ex-Los Angeles Mayor and Democratic party’s operative and rising star of the party until five years ago, is expected to  take up the position that remains vacant since January   2021. He was originally nominated by President Biden in July 2021, and re-nominated in January this year. His nine- year tenure as LA Mayor was rocked by scandals. In the 100-Member Senate, Garcetti received 52 votes in his favour, with 42 votes going against him .Seven Republicans voted in his favour. He will   succeed Ken Juster, who was nominated by then President Donald Trump and became the envoy to India in May 2017, and resigned following change in presidency from Trump to Biden. According to his website, he grew up in the San Fernando Valley, and did both B.A. and M.A. from the Columbia University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at the Oxford University and also studied at the London School of Economics (LSE). He had teaching stints   at Occidental College and University of South California (USC). Garcetti also served as an officer in the United States Navy Reserve for 12 years. From July 2013 to December 2022, he was the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles. He  was the first Jewish mayor of the country’s second-largest city. According to his website, he was raised in the San Fernando Valley, and did both B.A. and M.A. from the Columbia University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at the Oxford University and also studied at the London School of Economics (LSE). He has also had teaching stints, at Occidental College, and University of South California (USC). Garcetti also served as an officer in the United States Navy Reserve for 12 years. Edited by PK Chakravarty