Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Protests have rocked Columbia University's campus.</li><li>Demonstrators opposing the war in Gaza want the school to divest from Israel.</li></ul>The unrest at Columbia University isn't showing signs of slowing down.Student protests are escalating there and other college campuses over the Israel-Gaza war and schools' investments in Israeli entities, with demonstrators on Tuesday breaking into a Columbia campus building and occupying it.It's a shockingly familiar scene.In the 1980s, student protesters at Columbia took over the same building and called for divestment of the Ivy League school's investments over a different cause: South African apartheid.But while that movement was a success, protesters today may find it harder to push the school into divesting.<h2>Protests over Israel's war in Gaza rage</h2>Student demonstrators are calling for the Ivy League institution to divest from Israel and accuse the Jewish nation of killing civilians in Gaza.The protesters are specifically demanding the school sell off investments not just from Israeli companies but from those that have ties to Israel, including engineering firms Lockheed Martin and Boeing and tech giants like Alphabet and Amazon, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wuwm.com/economy-business/2024-04-30/university-protesters-want-divestments-from-israel-heres-what-that-means">according to NPR</a>.Students have also called on the school to boycott Israeli universities and institutions, protect pro-Palestinian students and faculty, and make a statement condemning the war in Gaza.The protesters swarmed the campus and set up tents. Meanwhile, Jewish leaders on campus say some students were targeted with offensive rhetoric as the demonstrations escalated.The protests, which have lasted nearly two weeks, took another turn on Monday when the school announced it wouldn't cut its investments from Israel and warned protesting students to leave or face suspension.The deadline came and went, and hours later, demonstrators broke into Hamilton Hall on the campus and barricaded themselves inside early Tuesday morning.<div type="image" title="A demonstrator used a hammer to break through a window in Hamilton Hall early Tuesday." height="5464" width="8192" msid="109738801" hostid="261" sizebytes="4816300"></div>A coalition group of dozens of organizations called Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which has helped organize the protests, said in a statement that students had renamed the building "Hind's Hall" after a Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza.The controversial protest movement has drawn criticism and support from top political and financial figures. The White House said President Joe Biden supported the right to protest peacefully but condemned the takeover of Hamilton Hall."Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful — it is wrong," a White House spokesperson said.Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-johnson-calls-for-columbia-university-presidents-resignation-2024-4">called for the school's president to resign</a>, alleging she's failed to protect Jewish students on campus.<div type="image" title="Student protesters at the 1985 demonstrations at Columbia University" height="3485" width="5240" msid="109738802" hostid="261" sizebytes="711778"></div><h2>The 1985 protests</h2>The demonstrations are reminiscent of those in 1985, when protesters and civil rights leaders were outraged over the apartheid regime in South Africa.In 1978, the school's governing body had recommended selectively selling stocks of companies that had holdings in South Africa, <a target="_blank" href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1978/05/07/110943821.pdf">according to a New York Times article</a> at the time. Three hundred students had protested outside the meeting, calling for all the stocks to be divested, the Times reported.The school's 1978 recommendation didn't shut down the protests. In April 1985, the Coalition for a Free South Africa at the school organized a protest at Hamilton Hall, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.columbiaspectator.com/eye/2016/04/12/mandela-hall/">according to the Columbia Spectator</a>.The small demonstration quickly grew to thousands of supporters, the Spectator reported. Protesters there locked and chained the doors to Hamilton Hall — the same building now occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters — and demanded the school completely divest from South Africa.The protests lasted on campus for 21 days before the students called the demonstrations off; the announcement came just minutes before a judge ordered the students to allow people access to Hamilton Hall, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/23/nyregion/columbia-students-to-end-anti-apartheid-protest.html">The New York Times reported</a>.Months later, Columbia's trustees voted to divest from South Africa completely.<h2>A more fraught situation</h2>On its website, the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group likened itself to the protests from nearly 40 years ago."We are a continuation of the Vietnam anti-war movement and the movement to divest from apartheid South Africa," the group wrote.But despite the similarities between the movements' tactics, the situation in 2024 may make it harder for demonstrators to achieve their goals.In the 70s and 80s, Columbia's leadership was sympathetic to the divestment cause; students were arguing that the school didn't go far enough.The pro-Palestinian demonstrators also face a more hostile geopolitical environment.In the 1980s, apartheid was broadly condemned by the US, and in the months after the protest, President Ronald Reagan <a target="_blank" href="https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12532.html">signed an executive order</a> preventing loans and technology from being sent to South Africa.The US relationship with Israel now is far more complicated. The conflict in Gaza was sparked by Hamas' terror attacks in October 2023 that killed hundreds. Israeli authorities said Hamas fighters captured 253 people after the assault across the border.As of now, 112 of the hostages were returned alive, but dozens are still suspected to be in captivity, Israeli officials say. The Israeli government responded to the attack with an assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.Israel is an important ally of the US in the Middle East, and President Joe Biden has emphasized he's a strong supporter of the Jewish state.But Biden is facing pressure from progressive and young voters, who blame him for sending weaponry to Israel as the civilian death toll rises by the thousands in Gaza. Biden's administration, in recent months, has pushed the Israeli government to allow more humanitarian aid into the region and take steps to avoid civilian casualties.Israel's leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, has so far largely brushed off Biden's criticism and promised to launch an offensive into Rafah, a city in Gaza where over 1 million Palestinians are taking refuge. Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas completely.Meanwhile, cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled.So, too, has the prospect of divesting. Columbia president Nemat "Minouche" Shafik said school leaders and students weren't able to negotiate an end to the protest and flatly shot down the immediate divestment demands."While the University will not divest from Israel, the University offered to develop an expedited timeline for review of new proposals from the students by the Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing, the body that considers divestment matters," Shafik <a target="_blank" href="https://president.columbia.edu/news/statement-columbia-university-president-minouche-shafik-4-29">wrote on Monday</a>.Even then, it's unclear how effective divestment would be in changing the school's finances. The Ivy's massive $13.6 billion endowment would be challenging to sort through."The economy is so global now that even if a university decided that they were going to instruct their dominant management groups to divest from Israel, it would be almost impossible to disentangle," Nicholas Dirks, former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/30/business/what-is-divestment-college-protests-israel/index.html">told CNN</a>.Divesting also means another investor would need to purchase those stocks, ultimately reallocating who supports the organizations in question.But Christopher Marsicano, an assistant professor at North Carolina's Davidson College, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/30/divest-from-israel-breaking-down-the-us-student-protesters-demands">told Al Jazeera</a> that divestment drives may be more effective in incentivizing political — not economic — change."Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has already mentioned student protests at American universities publicly," Marsicano told the outlet. "It is clear that these protests have captured the attention of the Israeli government and are putting some pressure on stakeholders to support a cease-fire."

Columbia protesters' demands have worked before. This time may be different.

The former <keyword id="19935584" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="RSS-chief" source="keywords">RSS chief</keyword>, <keyword id="23419565" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Subhash-Velingkar" source="keywords">Subhash Velingkar</keyword>, recently stirred significant controversy by demanding a <keyword id="20615498" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="DNA-test" source="keywords">DNA test</keyword> on the relics of <keyword id="23459102" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="St-Francis-Xavier" source="keywords">St. Francis Xavier</keyword>. Velingkar claims that the test would confirm the authenticity of the remains, but his statement has triggered protests and condemnation from Goa’s <keyword id="19935795" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Catholic-community" source="keywords">Catholic community</keyword>, who view it as a direct affront to their faith. This article will explore the significance of St. Francis Xavier in Goa, examine the implications of a DNA test, and review the political and social reactions to Velingkar's statement. <h2>St. Francis Xavier in Goa</h2>St. Francis Xavier, one of the most venerated Catholic saints in the world, arrived in Goa in 1542 as a Jesuit missionary. He played a crucial role in establishing Christianity in Goa and spreading it across Asia. Known for his compassion and selfless dedication, he is affectionately referred to by Goans as “Goencho Saib” (Protector of Goa). <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112672114" title="“Please do not photograph our homes!” plead Goa’s homeowners" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>His relics, preserved at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, draw millions of pilgrims from across the globe. The relics are especially significant because, every ten years, they are publicly displayed during the Exposition, a major religious event that unites the community in faith and reverence. <h2>What is a DNA test, and what could it prove?</h2>A DNA test involves analysing genetic material to establish relationships, origins, or identity. DNA testing on human remains can reveal biological data such as ancestry, possible familial connections, or genetic characteristics. In this case, Velingkar’s call for a DNA test is ostensibly aimed at verifying whether the relics truly belong to St. Francis Xavier. However, such a test would be challenging because it would require preserved genetic material, which might not be feasible — although doable under the right conditions — after nearly 450 years. The main issue is that without direct descendants or known relatives, a DNA test would have limited capacity to “prove” the relics' authenticity definitively. Many Goans argue that such a test is unnecessary, given the historical and religious context of the relics and the deep spiritual significance they hold. <h2>Protests across Goa and political fallout</h2>Velingkar’s remarks have provoked a backlash, with protests erupting across Goa. Demonstrators in Margao and Canacona have voiced their anger, demanding Velingkar be arrested for offending their <keyword id="19978801" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="religious-sentiments" source="keywords">religious sentiments</keyword>. At these gatherings, local leaders have condemned his statements, arguing that he is attempting to provoke divisions in Goa’s harmonious society. Some have also called for Velingkar to undergo psychological evaluation, questioning his motives and the wisdom of his demand for a DNA test. While Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assured the public that legal action will be taken, some community members remain sceptical, perceiving a lack of urgency. The Congress party has criticised the BJP-led state government, accusing it of neglecting the issue to avoid alienating potential voter bases. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111809476" title="Why is a music festival causing controversy in Goa?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>The controversy has also cast a spotlight on the BJP’s stance toward the Catholic community, particularly considering how the state was mum for an exceedingly long time on their intentions to invite Pope Francis to the upcoming Exposition. This hesitation and the ongoing controversy has compounded frustrations among Goans, leading to questions about the government’s respect for religious diversity in the state. Goa’s history is marked by religious tolerance and a unique blending of cultures. The Catholic Church has played a pivotal role in maintaining peace and fostering unity across different communities in the state. By calling for a DNA test on the relics of a beloved saint, many argue that Velingkar risks jeopardising this delicate balance. Religious leaders have warned against divisive rhetoric, underscoring that Goa’s strength lies in its ability to maintain harmony among its diverse population.

Goa protests: Why is an ex-RSS chief demanding to DNA test the body of a 450-year-old sacred saint?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Democrats hope blue states can be the party's redoubt against Trump's second term.</li><li>Democrats will be in the minority in both houses of Congress in January 2025.</li></ul>With Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential election loss, President Joe Biden leaving the White House in January, and Democrats looking ahead to life in a Senate chamber that they'll no longer control, the new year will bring a new reality: the party's power in Washington, DC will be diminished.A newly empowered Donald Trump, meanwhile, is aiming to reshape the federal government to a degree that he failed to achieve in his first term. He's assembling <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-white-house-staff-cabinet-picks-list-2024-11">an array of loyalists</a> to help further his goals on everything from immigration to foreign policy.Early in Trump's first presidency, protests against his administration were common in Washington and other cities. And as Trump's first term progressed, Democrats remained laser-focused on opposing him. The party harnessed that energy to retake the House in 2018, win back the presidency in 2020, and flip the Senate in 2021.But this time, the Democratic Party appears to be coalescing around a revised strategy.Democratic officials and activists are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/us/politics/democrats-anti-trump-battle-plan.html">hoping blue states</a> can be the center of opposition to the president-elect, The New York Times reported. From abortion rights to paid leave, the party sees its Democratic strongholds as bulwarks against Trump, especially with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-supreme-court-conservatives-election-2024-11">the US Supreme Court</a> dominated by conservative jurists.Democrats are also building up a legal operation to challenge the new administration, according to the Times. The newspaper reported that advocacy groups are rallying hundreds of attorneys to fight Trump's agenda from the start of the president-elect's second term.Skye Perryman, the CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonprofit organization created after Trump's win in 2016, told the Times that challenges to the president-elect will be different in his second term."Resistance this time is a lot more about collective power building," she said. "It's using the law and using litigation."Democrats are also already looking ahead to the 2028 election.While Democrats are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harris-trump-blue-wall-democrats-suburban-voters-unions-2024-11">still smarting over Harris' loss</a> — and trying to assess how their party can reverse electoral gains that Trump made with working-class voters — many of the party's crop of governors have emerged as potential 2028 contenders.Democrats occupy 23 of the nation's 50 governorships, which will remain unchanged at the beginning of the year. Some of them — like Govs. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gavin-newsom-california-gubernatorial-recall-election-landslide-win-2021-9">Gavin Newsom</a> of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan — have long been considered White House aspirants.For Democrats, the focus on states will give many of these leaders a platform as Trump aims to enact a conservative agenda in a nation that remains politically divided. Harris easily won California and Illinois in the general election, but she lost Michigan — a state that for years had been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harris-trump-blue-wall-economic-message-unions-michigan-pennsylvania-wisconsin-2024-10">part of the party's vaunted blue wall</a> — by about 1.4 points.After the election, Newsom called a special session, which will begin on December 2 in Sacramento, to boost the state's legal resources to challenge the incoming administration on issues like abortion, civil rights, climate regulations, and immigration.Pritzker <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/elections/2024/11/07/pritzker-donald-trump-second-term-defend-illinois-remarks">pledged to work</a> with the Trump administration but also called himself a "warrior" for his state."To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom, opportunity, and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior," the governor, now in his second term, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/GovPritzker/status/1854686495975551159">wrote on X</a>. "You come for my people — you come through me."Meanwhile, Whitmer reiterated that she worked with Trump during her first term and would find a way to do so again."We'll figure out how to work with a Trump administration into this last two years of my term," she told reporters after the election.

Democrats are hoping blue states can hold the line in their battle against Trump's second-term agenda

<ul class="summary-list"><li>AWS CEO Matt Garman has been sent a letter from employees protesting his pro-RTO comments.</li><li>Garman had said most employees he's spoken to are "excited" about a five-day office return. </li></ul>Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-blast-strict-rto-mandate-five-days-week-2024-9">facing backlash</a> from some employees over his comments about its return-to-office policy, according to an open letter obtained by Business Insider. Over 500 employees signed a letter sent to the AWS chief on Wednesday, criticizing his recent remarks about Amazon's mandate to return to the office five days a week, which is up from its previous policy of three days a week.The letter "urges" Garman to reconsider his position on the RTO mandate. It comes after <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-office-policy-aws-ceo-employees-rto-five-days-2024-10">Garman told staffers during an all-hands meeting</a> earlier this month that nine out of 10 employees he's spoken to are excited to return to the office full time.Garman addressed the policy, announced in September, for the first time in the all-hands meeting, saying, "There are other companies around" for any employee who doesn't wish to abide by the new policy, according to a transcript of the meeting reviewed by BI. He added that he didn't mean it in a "bad way." Some employees aren't buying Garman's comments that most people he had spoken to are "actually quite excited by this change," a copy of the letter and internal Slack messages viewed by BI shows. The letter states, "By rigidly mandating a 5-day in-office culture and telling employees who cannot or will not contribute to the company's mission in this specific way that 'there are other companies around,' you are silencing critical perspectives and damaging our future in doing so." Garman also said in the all-hands meeting that he hasn't seen people's ability to "really innovate" when they are not working together in person. The letter says his comments do "not align with the experiences of many employees."One staffer wrote on an Amazon Slack channel, in messages viewed by BI, "This statement from Matt doesn't ring true with me or our teams."Another staffer joked that Garman "ambushed- er spontaneously approached random AWS engineers" at the company's headquarters to come to the consensus that most employees he's spoken to are excited by the RTO mandate.Garman's remarks came after Amazon said in September it would <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rto-faq-document-spells-out-new-rule-2024-9">require employees to work from the office</a> every day beginning next year. The policy is stricter than at Amazon's peer companies and, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-blast-strict-rto-mandate-five-days-week-2024-9">by some accounts</a>, stricter than Amazon's office work policy before the pandemic. Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/ceo-andy-jassy-latest-update-on-amazon-return-to-office-manager-team-ratio">in a memo announcing the new mandate,</a> said that the company had made the decision to "further strengthen" its culture and teams.Amazon had 1.5 million employees in 2023, most of whom work in warehouses. There are more than 30,000 employees in the internal Slack channel where the letter originated. The letter has been signed by 523 staff from Amazon and AWS, with 172 of those including their names.In response to a request for comment about the letter, Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan told BI the company is offering resources to employees depending on their location, including elder care, pet sitters, caregiver referral services, and commuter benefits.Read a full copy of the open letter below: Not only are these comments inconsistent with the experiences of many employees, they indicate an outright abdication of AWS' role as one of the world's most innovative companies and a leader in our industry. By making these statements, you are continuing and compounding a trend by Amazon's S-team of misrepresenting the realities of working at Amazon and the impact this mandate will have on the company and, by extension, its customers. Amazon claims to be a data-driven company, and statements which rely on "we believe" and "I feel," or exclaim how many people are excited about something to justify themselves fail to achieve our standard of decision making for critical issues that impact hundreds of thousands of the company's employees and its customers. Your statements indicate that either you have not collected enough data to support your position but are moving ahead anyways, or you have seen the data which indicates otherwise and are choosing to ignore it, or you have motivations to support this policy which you are not being forthcoming about with those it impacts. All of these possibilities break the trust of your employees who have not only personal experience that shows the benefits of remote work, but have seen the extensive data which supports that experience. Data from independent research has shown time and time again that companies which embrace flexible in-office policies allow a more diverse set of workers to sustainably and effectively contribute to the shared goals of businesses like ours. If being inclusive and understanding of employees' personal working styles and circumstances isn't enough to justify why this is the right approach for us to take, research is clear that diverse perspectives lead to more innovation, productivity, and resilience. This diversity in backgrounds, locations, and working styles is essential to AWS' ability to hire and retain exceptional talent and remain a market leader and innovator in the future. By rigidly mandating a 5-day in-office culture and telling employees who cannot or will not contribute to the company's mission in this specific way that "there are other companies around," you are silencing critical perspectives and damaging our culture and our future in doing so. Moreover, this does not uphold Amazon's espoused "Strive to be Earth's Best Employer" leadership principle, especially for select and protected groups who have sought a safer, more inclusive, and healthier work environment and are disproportionately impacted by these policies. These groups include but are not limited to working parents (especially those with young children), employees who are neurodiverse or have disabilities or disorders, workers with caretaking responsibilities, and workers on a visa who have no choice but to comply or risk having to leave their home by quitting. While your remarks focus on some of the benefits you perceive in in-person collaboration, they fail to even acknowledge the significant challenges it presents to these valued workers who have often overcome adversity at every level in order to contribute to Amazon's mission. In order to highlight these challenges, we have included a selection of anonymous stories from Amazon employees about the impact Amazon's 3-day in-office policy has already had on their life and work with this letter. In addition, studies show that Return To Office mandates tend to push out more senior and tenured employees across the board , who may be best poised to participate in and give insight into these white-boarding and brainstorming sessions you refer to, while hurting the morale of those who stay. You have not addressed these issues nor presented any solution to them while touting the new and even more impactful 5-day policy. We do not accept this from our leaders. We see and value contributions from workers of these groups every day, and will not stand silently by while you dismiss their humanity and trivialize their impact. Our time working remotely during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic proved that we are effective, creative, and successful without being primarily in-person, and to take no lessons from that experience would be extremely disappointing, because Amazon is and always will be a global company. We will always collaborate with teams and stakeholders in different physical locations, countries, and timezones where the primary, and potentially only, interaction is virtual. We have tools and approaches to do this effectively which are not novel or difficult to use. On the contrary, pushing for more time in-office will harm these countless cross-regional interactions as there will be significantly fewer overlapping working hours between collaborators. This can lead to meetings that might have been done by videoconferencing now taking place via asynchronous mechanisms like email, which slows the velocity of decision-making from minutes to hours or days. Finally, by taking this action, AWS is not living up to its full potential and is creating a bleak outlook for its future. While it is absolutely true that there are challenges with flexible and remote work, we have always been a company that solves problems in new, exciting, and innovative ways, rather than relying on antiquated approaches that happened to work well some time in the past. The cloud computing industry that we now base our work and livelihoods on might not exist today if we had adhered to that restrictive thinking in our early days. Given the scale of the problems we tackle across a workforce which is distributed all over the world, we are not content with relying on spontaneous in-office conversations to make progress and drive new ideas. We are instructed to collect, interpret, and act on data and invent new mechanisms to affect the outcomes we want to see, not to sit back and hope good things happen. We worry that when customers see us encounter a true challenge and refuse to solve problems that stand in the way of embracing it, they will rightly lose trust in AWS' ability to innovate. For these reasons we urge you to reconsider your comments and your position on the proposed 5-day in-office mandate. Remote and flexible work is an opportunity for Amazon to take the lead, not a threat. We want to work for a company and for leaders that recognize and seize this moment to challenge us to reinvent how we work. Respectfully signed by 523 Amazonians, 172 of whom have elected to include their name below.Editor's note: BI has removed the names of the employees who signed the letter to protect their privacy.</blockquote>Are you a tech-industry employee or someone else with insight to share?Contact the reporters, Jyoti Mann and Ashley Stewart, via the encrypted messaging app Signal at jyotimann.11 or +1-425-344-8242. Email them at jmann@businessinsider.com and astewart@businessinsider.com. Use a nonwork device.

Read the letter sent to AWS CEO Matt Garman, signed by 500 employees, protesting his RTO comments

New Delhi [India], July 24 (ANI): Finance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> on Wednesday lashed out at the opposition's claim that the budget was 'discriminatory' and said that it was an '<keyword id="22528799" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Outrageous-allegation" source="Orion">outrageous allegation</keyword>' and a deliberate attempt by the opposition parties led by the Congress to give the people the wrong impression that their states were not allocated funds or schemes. The Finance Minister reacted after Leader of Opposition <keyword id="19897159" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mallikarjun-Kharge" source="keywords">Mallikarjun Kharge</keyword> made claims that the budget was discriminatory towards the states of the country. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, the Finance Minister said, "It is unfortunate that the opposition, particularly a senior leader, Mallikarjun Kharge, stood up to say what he heard of the budget yesterday. Now that the leader of the opposition raised issues on the budget, which was presented and tabled in the house yesterday." "Just to the point he raised, I have not named many states and only spoken of two states. There are a few points I would like to make here as to what happens in a speech. The Congress party has been in power for a very long time in this country and they have presented so many budgets that they would know clearly that in every budget, you don't get an opportunity to name every state of this country," she said. "I'll take this example: between the vote on account which was presented on February 1 this year and the full budget that was presented yesterday for this year, I have not named very many states. The Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to set up a port at Vadhvan, but Maharashtra's name was not included in the budget yesterday. Does this mean that Maharashtra feels ignored?" she said. The Finance Minister said that 76 thousand crores have been announced for Mahrashtra for that project. "Maharashtra's name was not taken on vote-on-account. The state's name was not mentioned even yesterday; does that mean the state got ignored?" she stated. Adding further, she said, "And I can take the name of so many different states that have so many major projects. If the speech does not mention the name of a particular state, does that mean the schemes and programmes of the government of India, the externally aided assistance that we obtain from the World Bank, ADB, AIB and so on, do not go to these states?" "They go as per routine, and, in the expenditure statement of the government, the department-wise allocation of the government mentions all this," she stated. "I am saying with responsibility that this is a 'deliberate attempt' of the opposition parties led by the Congress to give the people the wrong impression that their states were not allocated funds or schemes," said Sitharaman. Challenging the Congress, the Finance Minister said, "I would challenge the Congress party that for all the budget speeches they have delivered. Have they named every state of the country in each of their budget speeches? This is an outrageous allegation," she stated. This comes after Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the budget presented yesterday and claimed that no other states other than Andhra Pradesh and Bihar received anything. "Sabke thali khali aur sirf do ke thali mai pakoda aur jalebi. Ye do states ko chodkar, kisi ko kuch nai mila. Neither Tamil Nadu Kerala nor Karnataka got anything. Neither Maharashtra nor Punjab or Rajasthan and neither Chhattisgarh," he said. "Even Delhi did not receive anything nor did Odisha. I have not seen this kind of budget until now. This budget has been presented only to keep some people happy and it has all been done save their chairs, 'Kursi bachane ke liye' kiya gaya. We condemn this budget and protest against it. The whole of INDIA bloc condemns this," said Kharge. Meanwhile, the opposition INDIA bloc MPs held a protest in the Parliament complex on Wednesday, against the <keyword id="6360189" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="union-budget" source="Orion">Union Budget</keyword>, presented on Tuesday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. "Opposition virodhi kursi bachao Budget murda baad" slogans were raised by the INDIA bloc leaders as they protested holding placards in the Parliament building, claiming that the Budget is "discriminatory" in nature. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party General Secretary KC Venugopal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC MP Dola Sen were seen participating in the protest.

"Outrageous allegation!": Nirmala Sitharaman reacts to opposition protesting budget, labeling it 'discriminatory'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>My wife, four kids, and I have been to 33 states together including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rosewood-kona-village-review-hawaii-resort-big-island-2024-10">Hawaii</a>, California, and Maine.</li><li>Still, Oregon is our <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/50-states-ranked-according-to-frequent-traveler-2024-8">favorite state we've visited,</a> and we recently spent eight days exploring it.</li></ul>My wife and I have four young children who have traveled with us all over the country.To date, we've been to 33 states including famously scenic ones like Hawaii, Maine, California, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/montana-things-to-never-do-there-according-to-local-photos-2022-9">Montana</a> — and we've found many things to love about each one. But we've never discovered a state that wowed us like Oregon did during a recent eight-day road trip.Across its sprawling coastline, pristine state parks, and eclectic cities, we found so much to love about the Beaver State — and so many reasons to want to return.<h2 id="a4fa7e44-bd3c-4df1-90f2-8e9072dbdf6b">We appreciated the picturesque beaches and were happy to find them uncrowded</h2><div type="image" title="Author Daryl Austin's wife and kids holding hands across sabd and water at Secret Beach " height="2268" width="3024" msid="114592763" hostid="261" sizebytes="725496"></div>We went to Oregon near the end of the state's peak summer season. Even so, the state had some of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/secret-beaches-to-beat-the-crowds-2018-4">most uncrowded beaches</a> we've ever visited. I suspect the sparse crowds are because there are just so many beaches to choose from — the state has over 250 miles of them along its coastline, and each is seemingly more picturesque than the last.We explored 10 of them in all, including Seaside, Yachats, Agate, and Cannon, and only found a crowd at the last one.Our favorite was "Secret Beach" along the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor. It's a short hike down to a little waterfall that feeds right into the sea and has a sea cave, tidepools, and the softest sand<h2 id="6db69671-8d93-42ed-bbcc-7da67c0a2385">There was so much to do in each city we explored in Oregon</h2><div type="image" title="Kids posing with World's Smallest park sign and small tree" height="2854" width="3024" msid="114592765" hostid="261" sizebytes="1253804"></div>Though we spent the majority of our time at beaches and state parks, we also explored five of Oregon's cities.Each felt clean and had much to offer. Historic Baker City has a great museum that showcases the city's connection to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-us-whitewashed-the-california-gold-rush-2021-4">California Gold Rush</a> and highlights important local contributions made by early Chinese immigrants.In Portland, we loved biking along the Willamette River, exploring the world's largest independent bookstore, and visiting the Guinness Book of World Records' smallest park.We saw the best view of our trip from the back of Portland's Pittock Mansion. The French Renaissance-style chateau wows, but the view of the city's skyline with Mount Hood off in the distance was even better.In Seaside, we shopped on the boardwalk and visited nearby Fort Clatsop where famous explorers Lewis and Clark once stayed. We also visited the state's capitol in Salem and rode a waterfront trolley in Astoria.<h2 id="82d7e6b1-0d7f-426e-8b71-9510a85f8f3a">We also loved the eclectic, spacious, and luxurious hotels the state has to offer</h2>One of our favorite parts of a road trip is discovering unusual and exciting places to sleep each night.We stayed at six different hotels in Oregon, but the most memorable were The Nines in Portland, the Cannery Pier Hotel in Astoria, and the Geiser Grand in Baker City.The Geiser Grand is a true destination hotel. It's more than a century old, is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.oregonlive.com/galleries/IXQYKWLJKZGXPM6GDNCP5NSCCU/">reported to be haunted</a>, and has undergone one of the most stunning and detailed renovations I've ever seen.Our splurge of the trip was a stay at the luxurious Nines Hotel. It occupies the top half of the historic Meier &amp; Frank building and features spacious rooms with incredible views of downtown Portland. It's also home to Urban Farmer Steakhouse, where our family enjoyed the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-thing-to-do-while-traveling-food-tour-frequent-traveler">best meal of our vacation</a>.The Cannery Pier Hotel is built on old pier pilings and extends about 600 feet over the Columbia River. From our room, we could watch ships slowly pass beneath the Astoria-Megler Bridge. <h2 id="1f134882-1ba6-422c-8a03-bc18c8c22f82">We learned a lot about history, cheese, and movies during our trip</h2>Throughout our trip, we learned about local history and landmarks related to Native American tribes in the area and Lewis and Clark's famed journey through the state.We also visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory headquarters and creamery, where I enjoyed the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/review-popular-chef-best-grilled-cheese-recipe-photos">best grilled-cheese sandwich</a> of my life.Oregon also has a lot of ties to big-name films that we could explore.We loved seeing the school where Arnold Schwarzenegger went undercover in "Kindergarten Cop," the harbor where Jack Nicholson commandeers a fishing vessel in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," the breakwater the killer whale escaped over in "Free Willy," and the location of the opening jail breakout and car chase from "The Goonies."<h2 id="4adc5f84-1486-49d2-a61a-7733be5067bb">Oregon is filled with natural beauty beyond beaches, too</h2><div type="image" title="Author Daryl Austin and his family posing near waterfall at Silver Falls State Park " height="2965" width="3024" msid="114592757" hostid="261" sizebytes="1316128"></div>We've been to dozens of state and national parks across the country, but Oregon offered some of the most unforgettable ones yet.The Trail of Ten Falls at Silver Falls State Park was our favorite because its 7-mile loop took us to or behind 10 beautiful falls.We also loved seeing multiple waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, including Horsetail Falls, Latourell Falls, and the breathtaking Multnomah Falls — the tallest in the state.As much as we loved each waterfall we visited, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-underrated-national-parks-to-visit-2019-5">Crater Lake National Park</a> was easily our best find of the trip. It's considered to have one of the deepest, clearest lakes in the United States.Its blue water was stunning to behold from the rim and even more thrilling to plunge into from the Cleetwood Cove trailhead.All six of us enjoyed swimming in the cool water together before hiking back up to refuel our bodies with vegetable lasagna, bison stew, and seared salmon at the Crater Lake Lodge.With all that said, our family is already planning another visit to Oregon next year.

My family has traveled to 33 states, but none has wowed us as much as this coastal gem — and, no, it's not Hawaii   

Former <keyword id="19904807" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Haryana" source="keywords">Haryana</keyword> Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh <keyword id="20201620" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hooda" source="keywords">Hooda</keyword> on Tuesday said that <keyword id="19934969" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="farmers" source="keywords">farmers</keyword>' plight, <keyword id="21440881" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Agnipath" source="keywords">Agnipath</keyword>, <keyword id="19916979" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="unemployment" source="keywords">unemployment</keyword>, <keyword id="19938433" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="law-and-order" source="keywords">law and order</keyword>, and <keyword id="19895000" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="inflation" source="keywords">inflation</keyword> were key issues which the ruling <keyword id="19894848" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BJP" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="BJP" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="BJP">BJP</keyword> failed to address. As the <keyword id="19895371" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Congress" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Congress">Congress</keyword> appeared set to wrest five Lok Sabha seats from the ruling BJP in Haryana, Hooda said that he had been saying "there is a wave blowing in favour of the Congress". "You asked me about exit polls predicting most seats to the BJP, to which I said wait for the actual poll results on June 4," the Congress veteran said. Haryana is known for "jai jawan, jai kisan, jai pehalwan". "But what did they (BJP) do. They brought Agniveer (Agnipath scheme), which faced opposition from the youth. They did not redress farmers' issues. And everyone knows the treatment that was meted to our wrestler daughters, who had to protest (at Delhi's Jantar Mantar)," he said. Hooda said that unemployment increased in the state during the BJP rule while the law and order situation also deteriorated. He claimed that the Congress' performance in the <keyword id="19912155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha-polls" source="keywords">Lok Sabha polls</keyword> in the state will have an impact on the Vidhan Sabha elections, which are due in October. "This is clear indication that people of Haryana have made up their mind to bring the Congress to power in the Assembly polls," Hooda claimed. Referring to the Lok Sabha polls, Hooda said people have supported the Congress. The Congress leader said that he had been maintaining that BJP will be "wiped out in south, halved in north" "Look at Haryana and Rajasthan...People have given us good support," he added. On the BJP's claims that NDA will win 400 seats this time, Hooda said, "I had been saying that it was a mere slogan. In Haryana too, in the 2019 Assembly polls, the BJP had given slogan of 'Abki baar 75 paar' (claiming to win 75 of the 90 seats). Everyone knows how many seats they later won. (BJP had won 40 seats)." Hooda said that he had maintained that it will be a direct fight between the Congress and BJP in Haryana in the Lok Sabha polls. "I had been repeatedly saying that it is going to be a direct fight between the Congress and BJP. And that has been proved," said Hooda. "The people have rejected the 'vote katu' (vote cutters) outfits," he added referring to the JJP and INLD. Going by the trends available late afternoon, the Congress appeared on course to win Ambala, Hisar, Rohtak, Sirsa and Sonipat seats. The grand old party had contested nine of the ten Lok Sabha seats leaving the Kurukshetra seat to its INDIA bloc ally AAP. AAP's Sushil Gupta, was, however, behind BJP's Naveen Jindal from the seat.

BJP failed to address key issues like inflation and unemployment, says Bhupinder Hooda

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Vice President Kamala Harris has Democrats joyful as they prepare for their convention.</li><li>Protests over the war in Gaza will likely test her ability to project a unified party.</li></ul>Just weeks ago, Democrats were dreading their convention in Chicago. Now, Vice President <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-economy-inflation-polling-donald-trump-joe-biden-2024-8">Kamala Harris</a> has them downright joyful.Harris' last minute campaign is hitting its stride heading into the Democratic National Convention, erasing former President Donald Trump's lead across almost every <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/battleground-states-2024-presidential-election-road-white-house-2022-12">swing state that will decide the election</a>."Even I thought she'd be an underdog, just less of an underdog than Biden would have been," <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nate-silver-kamala-harris-donald-trump-prediction-risk-book-interview-2024-8">Nate Silver</a> recently told Business Insider. "Now I think you'd probably rather be in her position."Trump is now the dejected one, renewing old feuds with fellow Republicans and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-kamala-harris-race-comments-strategy-election-2024-8">straying off script</a> to attack Harris' race and push unfounded conspiracy theories. After delighting in Democrats' disarray around President Joe Biden, Trump is now confronted by a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-urges-trump-to-back-off-the-harris-insults-2024-8">host of allies</a> begging him to stay on message.Trump's campaign tried to downplay the moment from the start, predicting that Harris' "honeymoon" wouldn't last. But as Democrats gather at the United Center in Chicago, they are positioned to seize the remaining days in August. Harris' momentum could power her through the traditional home stretch that begins on Labor Day."What you've seen is a party that in all facets — some of the moderates, more conservative Democrats, progressive Democrats — have all rallied around this ticket and are going to show support at the Convention," said Amy Dacey, a former CEO of the Democratic National Committee who is now the executive director of the Sine Institute of Policy &amp; Politics at American University.It might not be a coronation, though. Protesters have pledged to make the White House's handling of the war in Gaza the backdrop of the convention. While a scene out of the 1968 convention is unlikely, there's a reason why Democrats have long been afraid of returning to the Windy City for the first time since the unrest over the Vietnam War.Harris has shown that she values party unity. In choosing Minnesota Gov. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-vice-president-tim-walz-career-facts-2024-8">Tim Walz</a> as her running mate, she followed the first rule of vice presidential selections: <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-tim-walz-progressives-record-selection-election-analysis-2024-8">do no harm</a>. The last thing she or her allies want is the party's disarray to become the top story again.Democrats' best hope is that their four-day spectacle solidifies a positive image of Harris. Once one of the least popular vice presidents, polls show Harris' popularity has soared. But as The New York Times' Nate Cohn cautioned, the vice president's rapid rise shows that the image around her is still forming.<h2 id="46047ee3-1e85-4fe2-af4c-c977307f830c">No vibe shift can overshadow the lingering discontent over Gaza.</h2>Though Democrats are hoping to use the convention to project unity, planned demonstrations both inside and outside the United Center threaten to disrupt the image of consensus. Organizers said they expect as many as 40,000 people to join a march protesting the Biden administration's handling of the war in Gaza, Semafor reported. Protests are not expected to affect the convention itself, but confrontations in the streets of Chicago could easily overshadow the event.Israel's war in Gaza has emerged as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-vote-gaza-top-issue-2024-candidate-guide">a key campaign issue</a>, with some voters threatening to cast protest votes or stay away from the polls altogether. The movement among Democratic activists is rooted in Michigan, where more than <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uncommitted-democrats-biden-gaza-israel-trump-blame-michigan-2024-3">101,000 people voted "uncommitted"</a> during the primary in March to protest Biden's actions in the war.Compared to her current boss, Harris has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-netanyahu-speech-democrats-israel-gaza-2024-7">struck a different tone when discussing the war</a>, now in its 11th month. She has put more emphasis on the plight of Palestinians and called for an immediate cease-fire. Activists are generally more excited about her candidacy than they were about Biden's, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-walz-kamala-harris-israel-gaza-pro-palestinian-protests-2024-8">particularly with the addition of Walz</a>."This shift in candidates with Harris and Walz does open up our opportunity, open up a window for us to be heard. We have seen Vice President Kamala Harris be slightly more empathetic and sympathetic to the plight of Palestinians," said Layla Elabed, one of the founders of the Uncommitted protest movement in Michigan.Still, Harris' precise policy agenda regarding Israel remains unclear and many activists still harbor significant doubts. When asked whether she plans to vote for Harris, Elabed told Business Insider that she is still waiting to see whether the vice president will "turn a page away from Biden's current policy."Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to take to the streets outside of the convention center, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/11/palestine-demonstration-protest-democratic-convention/">the Washington Post reported</a>. They have been engaged in court battles with the city of Chicago about specific demonstration routes and how close protestors can get to the United Center. As of August 11, the city had sanctioned a 1.1 mile route, which is set to begin in Union Park.Some fear that the protests could become violent, which poses hurdles for DNC organizers."It's logistics, it's finances, and security. Those are the top three issues," said Dacey who participated in site selection and negotiations with the city of Philadelphia ahead of the 2016 convention. "Security is a top priority, especially because you have so many leaders coming to speak."The security measures, however, cannot stop the approximately 30 delegates representing uncommitted voters from lodging complaints from inside the building. The uncommitted delegates are demanding a private meeting with Harris, an arms embargo on Israel, and alterations to the party's foreign policy that distance Israel.To draw attention to their cause, uncommitted delegates are planning news conferences, vigils, and literature distributions, among other efforts. They represent states across the country, with Minnesota having the most delegates at 11.While the protests do not threaten Harris' status as the nominee — she officially secured the nomination during a virtual roll call with support from 99% of delegates — they do pose a significant optics issue at a time when the Democratic Party is celebrating its ability to coalesce around the new ticket.

Democrats hope the DNC extends Harris' winning streak but mass Israel protests could ruin the vibes

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Leon Cooperman, a billionaire Columbia donor, weighed in on the crisis on the university's campus.</li><li>He called the student protesters ignorant but expressed his support for the school's president.</li></ul>The Wall Street titan Leon Cooperman is the latest billionaire to weigh in on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/columbia-university-pro-palestine-israel-gaza-protests-timeline-2024-4">student protests over Israel's war in Gaza</a>.But unlike the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robert-kraft-pulls-support-donations-columbia-israel-gaza-palestine-protests-2024-4">megadonor Robert Kraft</a>, Cooperman said he'd continue to give to Columbia even as he trashed student demonstrators.During a CNBC interview on Tuesday, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-financial-crisis-national-debt-deficit-leon-cooperman-billionaire-omega-2024-4">Cooperman</a>, a Columbia University donor, was asked about the demonstrations on the school's campus, which have grown heated over the past week and resulted in more than 100 arrests."Many of the college kids have shit for brains," he said, doubling down on comments he made last year and adding that the students were "ignorant."(He apologized for his language during the interview, saying: "I grew up in the Bronx when it was more of an accepted terminology.")"They are advocating for the destruction of Israel," he said. "Israel is the only reliable ally the United States has in the Middle East, the only democracy in the Middle East."Cooperman also said Israel was the only country in the Middle East that "allows gays and lesbians to practice what they want to practice." While LGBTQ+ people experience discrimination in many countries, some nations in the region — including Cyprus, Jordan, and Turkey — have not criminalized same-sex activity.Cooperman blamed part of the unrest on people unaffiliated with Columbia who "are getting access to the school and creating this hoopla."He added that he believed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/columbia-president-avoids-missteps-of-other-elite-colleges-2024-4">Columbia's president, Nemat "Minouche" Shafik</a>, and leadership were "trying to do the right things."Shafik appeared before Congress last week and took a strong stance against antisemitism, denouncing a professor who voiced support for Hamas and another who <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/columbia-professor-faces-removal-petition-after-pro-hamas-attack-article-2023-10">called the October 7 terror attacks "awesome."</a>The same day as her remarks on Capitol Hill, a coalition of student groups — Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace — set up "Gaza Solidarity Encampments" on Columbia's campus, protesting the war in Gaza, which has claimed thousands of civilian lives, and demanding the university divest financially from Israel.The groups say the protests were peaceful and within their rights.When the students would not move as requested, Shafik requested the New York City Police Department break up the protest, which led to the arrest of more than 100 protesters. Columbia and Barnard College suspended students involved with the protest.That move sparked increased tensions, with separate, antisemitic demonstrators taking to the area surrounding the campus, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Davidlederer6/status/1781948249214996901">videos posted on social media</a>. Jewish leaders at the school allege that Jewish students have been targeted with hateful rhetoric by demonstrators.On Monday, Columbia announced classes would be held virtually, and the campus has been closed to the public.Cooperman, who attended Columbia Business School, donated $25 million to the school in 2012 and has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/billionaire-leon-cooperman-pulling-columbia-funding-student-protests-kids-brains">said</a> he's donated closer to $50 million in total."I try to give money to those schools that have made a difference to me in my lifetime. I don't think it's right, but I probably couldn't have gotten into Wall Street from Hunter College, where I got my undergraduate degree," he said. "I got an MBA from Columbia, and the very next day, I joined Goldman Sachs."He said he would continue to give to the school but earmark his gifts to stay within the business school.Kraft, the billionaire owner of the Patriots and another Columbia alumnus, announced he would be pulling all donations to the school "until corrective action is taken."He did not specify what he meant by "corrective action." Kraft said he'd continue to support the school's Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, which is named after him.Representatives for Cooperman and Kraft did not respond to requests for comment before publication.The conversation around giving and the relationship between <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/business-leaders-slam-harvard-penn-mit-after-congressional-testimony-antisemitism-2023-12">billionaire donors and universities</a> has been reignited in recent weeks following protests at Columbia, Yale, and New York University.After the October 7 attacks, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tensions-escalate-colleges-harvard-penn-yale-over-war-israel-hamas-2023-10">tensions on college campuses</a> erupted, prompting megadonors to criticize the responses of various university administrators. At Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, billionaires including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apollo-ceo-marc-rowan-university-pennsylvania-penn-leaders-quit-antisemitism-2023-10">Apollo CEO Marc Rowan</a>, the Estée Lauder heir Ronald Lauder, and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wexner-foundation-pulls-funding-from-harvard-over-stance-israel-hamas-attacks-2023-10">former Victoria's Secret owner Les Wexner</a> pulled funding.Eventually, the presidents of the schools, Claudine Gay and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/penn-president-magill-resigns-after-intense-backlash-congressional-testimony-2023-12">Liz Magill</a>, respectively, stepped down.

Billionaire Columbia donor Leon Cooperman slams student protesters

The tallies for each constituency are in, and the arithmetic for the next government is being worked out. If the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (<keyword id="19894848" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BJP" source="keywords">BJP</keyword>) manages to hold onto their alliances, the stage will be set for Modi 3.0. However, if the Congress-led INDIA bloc somehow lures major parties like JD(U) and TDP, they might have a chance, though it is a long shot at the moment. However, with the results out for all 543 constituencies, much has been revealed about the general attitude of the country’s voters. For instance, despite the almost-unshakable belief that the BJP will sweep almost all 80 <keyword id="19894922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uttar-Pradesh" source="keywords">Uttar Pradesh</keyword> seats — especially after the Ram Mandir inauguration — the party shockingly only managed to win only 33. Some experts speculate that this outcome came from the party failing to address core issues such as employment and economic anxiety, and instead choosing to focus on religious divide to win ballots. Expert institutions, such as Bernstein and Citi Research, have now noted that new spendings may now thus become focused on the poor, women, farmers and rural areas, especially considering how rapidly BJP’s <a href="https://bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/bias-of-markets-expected-rural-agriculture-to-be-the-new-focus-areas-reports/110728041">vote share has dropped in the rural seats</a>. For context, rural constituencies make up 60% of the total constituencies in India, according to The Economic Times. However, this is not to say that the party has clear favourites among the more developed and richer states either. Many of the richest Indian states have expressed mixed to lukewarm reactions towards BJP this election cycle, and even delivered unexpected shockers. For instance, the NDA lost a lot of ground in Uttar Pradesh, <keyword id="19897316" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Maharashtra" source="keywords">Maharashtra</keyword> and Rajasthan — some states with the biggest economies in the country. As for the current scenario, the party favourite remains mixed. Considering that the country has delayed the National Survey by four years, we have to rely on independent sources to come up with more current state-wide economic statistics. Therefore, as per the India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), <keyword id="19896017" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karnataka" source="keywords">Karnataka</keyword>, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat formed the five largest state economies in India in the 2023 Financial Year. Let’s take a look at how India’s wealthiest states voted in <keyword id="20886626" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha-2024" source="keywords">Lok Sabha 2024</keyword>. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Karnataka" comment="subhead" text="Karnataka">Karnataka</cmsannotation> Despite struggles with making headway in the South, the BJP had made a clean sweep in Karnataka, bagging 25 seats in the 2019 general elections. While the BJP-JD(S) alliance has managed to retain a majority in the southern state with 17 seats, <keyword id="19895371" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Congress" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Congress">Congress</keyword> made an impressive comeback this year, winning 9 seats compared to the 1 in the last election cycle. JD(S) managed to capture the remaining two seats. As for the four Bengaluru constituencies, BJP managed to cling onto all of them as well, with Tejasvi Surya in Bengaluru South, Shobha Karandlaje in Bengaluru North, P. C. Mohan in Bengaluru Central and C. N. Manjunath in Bengaluru Rural. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Uttar Pradesh" comment="subhead" text="Uttar Pradesh">Uttar Pradesh</cmsannotation> As mentioned earlier, the biggest controversies came out of Uttar Pradesh. Housing prominent figures such as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the state has been widely considered as a stronghold for the saffron party, who had won a whopping 62 seats in 2019. However, resident voters were determined to take to the booths to voice their dissent this year. Of the 80 UP constituencies — by far the state with the largest number of seats — 37 were won by the Samajwadi Party. Meanwhile, the BJP held onto 33 seats, and the INC 6. The difference is stark: BJP lost 27 of the seats it won in the previous election cycle. Many prominent figures were dethroned this year, including Smriti Irani in Amethi, Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra in Kheri and Maneka Gandhi in Sultanpur. However, perhaps the biggest shocker came from the fact that the BJP also lost the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, which housed the contentious Ram Temple. Awadesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party will be chairing the constituency for the next five years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, contested for the Varanasi seat, beating INC’s Ajay Rai by a margin of 2.5 lakh votes. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Maharashtra" comment="subhead" text="Maharashtra">Maharashtra</cmsannotation> Another of the biggest losses for the BJP also saw a resurgence for Congress in the state with the highest <keyword id="35050" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gdp" source="Orion">GDP</keyword>. While the NDA had clinched 41 out of the 48 seats in the previous 2019 elections, it managed to bag a paltry 9 this time around. While this is a monumental loss for the ruling party, they managed to hold firmly onto most of the coastal Konkan belt. Headed by the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP won 7 of the 12 coastal seats, including in Palghar, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and Mumbai North. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (UBT) maintained its hold on half of the six Mumbai constituencies. Of the four Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) seats, NCP (SP) won Bhiwandi, Shinde-led Shiv Sena won Thane and Kalyan and BJP won Palghar. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Tamil Nadu" comment="subhead" text="Tamil Nadu">Tamil Nadu</cmsannotation> Of all the economic powerhouses, Tamil Nadu was the only state untouched by the BJP this year. Out of the 39 seats in the state, the MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) came out victorious in 22, the INC won 9, while a coalition of other parties bagged the remaining seats. This was a massive win for the DMK, especially considering the two major opposition parties, the AIADMK and BJP, had come together to contest this year. Considered by many as BJP's most promising candidate, K Annamalai, too lost to DMK’s Ganapathi P Rajkumar in Coimbatore. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Gujarat" comment="subhead" text="Gujarat">Gujarat</cmsannotation> While most of the other states endured major plot-twists, the story has remained almost the same for Narendra Modi’s home state, Gujarat. As per final polls, the BJP won 25 of the total 26 seats in the state, falling short of a full clean sweep due to INC clutching the final one. However, the INC win in the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat was no small victory, considering this was the first time in a decade that the party had made ground in the western state. Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah contested and won from state capital Gandhinagar by a massive margin of nearly 7.5 lakh votes.

Lok Sabha 2024: How BJP, Congress and other parties have performed in states with largest economies in India

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Mexico faces a severe drought that has affected over 85% of the country.</li><li>Most reservoirs are below 50% and a lack of water is affecting local wildlife.</li></ul>Mexico is experiencing one of its most severe and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-city-water-crisis-day-zero-drought-rain-2024-5">widespread droughts</a> in over a decade. Water levels are so low in some regions that you can see the effects from space.Bustillos Lagoon in northern Mexico, for example, is at 50% of its typical capacity. The US Geological Survey released images this month from its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rivers-dams-pollution-satellite-pictures-human-activity-water-2018-9">Landsat satellites</a> showing the shriveled-up lagoon in June compared to its size 6 months earlier in January.<div type="image" title="A side-by-side satellite image of the same lake full and at 50% capacity on the right" height="1080" width="1440" msid="112880360" hostid="261" sizebytes="100092"></div>The lagoon's reduced capacity was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vietnam-climate-crisis-economy-drought-kills-fish-threatens-coffee-production-2024-5">deadly for thousands of fish</a>. Low water levels concentrated pollutants even more reducing water quality and further stressing the fish, Irma de la Pena, head of the Ecology Department in the city of Cuauhtemoc, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/10/climate/dead-fish-lagoon-mexico-heat-drought-intl/index.html">told CNN</a> in June.<div type="image" title="Thousands of dead fish on brown, dry lake bed" height="1500" width="2250" msid="112880364" hostid="261" sizebytes="719038"></div>Bustillos Lagoon is a significant water source for the state of Chihuahua and is mainly used to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://revistatyca.org.mx/index.php/tyca/article/view/1855/1749">irrigate</a> nearly 20,000 agricultural plots. With limited water, people in Chihuahua have watched their crops and livestock wither.It's not just Bustillos Lagoon, though. Over 85% of the country was affected by the drought in May, with some areas having <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rainwater-no-longer-safe-to-drink-anywhere-study-forever-chemicals-2022-8">little rainfall</a> since the end of 2022, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/multi-year-drought-and-heat-waves-across-mexico-2024">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>.You can see more images of drought-ridden Mexican lakes in the video below.The drought, "created a pretty big deficit in both the northwest and the south-central parts of the country in terms of lack of precipitation," Derek Vollmer, director of Waterscapes at WWF, told Business Insider.The view from space is bleak, but the images from the ground show an even grimmer reality for the people, plants, and animals coping with the drought.Some farmers can't provide adequate water for their livestock, and cows and donkeys have died during the hot and arid months. Other farmers have left the area because the conditions are so severe, rancher Jesus Maria Palacios <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/mass-fish-death-mexicos-chihuahua-state-blamed-severe-drought-2024-06-08/">told Reuters</a> in June.<div type="image" title="A cow stuck in dirt in a dry lake bed" height="1500" width="2250" msid="112880361" hostid="261" sizebytes="340796"></div>Even the bees are perishing."There is almost no vegetation in the landscape right now, due to the drought," beekeeper Adan Rascon Ramos <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/nature-is-punishing-us-drought-imperils-farmers-bees-mexicos-north-2024-08-27/">told Reuters</a>. That includes thirsty wildflowers, which haven't bloomed.As a result, bees searching for pollen have turned to what limited agricultural crops are left, and the herbicides are killing them in droves.<div type="image" title="A person in a bee suit holds a handful of dead bees" height="1500" width="2250" msid="112880363" hostid="261" sizebytes="89214"></div><h2 id="5471463c-d242-41db-9fd0-198344c6e00c">An unusually dry year</h2>Using Landsat satellite data, researchers can determine that Mexico's current drought is more widespread than its last one in 2011 because it affected two regions, the north and south-central."From hundreds of miles up in space, we're able to look at things like drought and look at very subtle shifts in what's happening on the landscape," Terry Sohl of the USGS's Earth Resources Observation and Science Center told BI.<div type="image" title="A man on a balcony looks at a dry bed of a lake covered in dead fish" height="1500" width="2250" msid="112880358" hostid="261" sizebytes="350456"></div>Different factors led to the latest drought. Last year, El Niño failed to bring its usual precipitation to the north, and a weak La Niña affected rain levels in the south and central regions. The first half of this year was also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pervasive-drought-threatens-tourism-industry-in-sicily-italy-2024-7">very dry</a>, adding to the problem, according to NOAA.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-category-6-wind-speed-prediction-2024-2">Tropical storms</a> in June brought some relief to the central and southwest regions but northwest Mexico is still in a drought.Over half of Mexico's reservoirs are at or below 50%, right now. "It takes a lot of additional precipitation to build that back up," Vollmer said. "One good set of rain isn't going to take places out of drought."Vollmer said drier conditions could become more permanent in some regions. Droughts are classified based on historical averages, he said, but "we're moving into new conditions." What was once a drought may now be the new normal.There are some potential measures to help safeguard against future droughts. WWF has been working in Mexico to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wwf-nonprofits-that-helps-companies-with-sustainability-goals-2022-5">help communities</a> create <a target="_blank" href="https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/freshwater_practice/freshwater_inititiaves/water_reserves_initiative/">water reserves</a> by implementing policies to keep river systems above a certain level. Originally it was an effort to ensure biodiversity, but "it's increasingly recognized as kind of an insurance against these drought conditions," Vollmer said.

You Searched For "farmers protest from different state" and got 11 results

Columbia protesters' demands have worked before. This time may be different.

Paul Squire

Goa protests: Why is an ex-RSS chief demanding to DNA test the body of a 450-year-old sacred saint?

Ankush Banerjee

Democrats are hoping blue states can hold the line in their battle against Trump's second-term agenda

John L. Dorman

Read the letter sent to AWS CEO Matt Garman, signed by 500 employees, protesting his RTO comments

Jyoti Mann,Ashley Stewart

"Outrageous allegation!": Nirmala Sitharaman reacts to opposition protesting budget, labeling it 'discriminatory'

ANI

My family has traveled to 33 states, but none has wowed us as much as this coastal gem — and, no, it's not Hawaii

Daryl Austin

BJP failed to address key issues like inflation and unemployment, says Bhupinder Hooda

PTI

Democrats hope the DNC extends Harris' winning streak but mass Israel protests could ruin the vibes

Alice Tecotzky,Brent D. Griff…

Billionaire Columbia donor Leon Cooperman slams student protesters

Madeline Berg

Lok Sabha 2024: How BJP, Congress and other parties have performed in states with largest economies in India

Ankush Banerjee

Mexico's draught is so severe you can see the effects from space

Jenny McGrath

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides