Amid COVID-19 job loss and financial stress, many young boys opted for sperm donation. Every commercial ejaculator must pass a strict selection test. Sperm donors in Mumbai are mostly outstation students living in overcrowded rented rooms, sweating to pay their bills and embarrassed by their need to encash what everyone else flushes down the drain. Most of them are struggling models and Bollywood aspirants with failures and empty pockets. For some donors, it may be additional income, but for most, it’s the room rent, phone bill, and EMIs. And turning donor entails putting their pride at risk. Every commercial ejaculator must pass a strict selection test and only the best are contracted on. There is a huge queue of donors here, but most of them return rejected and unpaid due to their sperm quality and ejaculation efficiency.
Harman Bindra, a struggling model turned sperm donor told Afternoon Voice, “During COVID-19, many of my friends gone jobless, from paying rent to arranging daily needs was a big challenge. We all roommates approached a city infertility center for sperm donation, on the recommendation of a hospital source. Most of my friends failed in their ejaculation test (takes a painful long pause) how one can really think of ejaculating when there are hunger issues, routine crises? Two of us qualified for all the requirements as donors, but the money paid is very nominal. Moreover, there is a lot of exploitation too.”
Sandhya Singh (name changed for privacy concerns) an agent to the fertility centers told Afternoon Voice, “Mumbai is a city of aspirants and handsome youth, what receivers want to see is the physique, body, and face of a donor, generally, these aspirants’ models are well built and well maintained which is the selling point. These models have gone jobless, even otherwise they don’t earn as much as their requirements, that’s why many of these boys opt for strip shows, male sex works, those who shy away from getting in such trades prefer sperm donation because they care a lot about privacy. I am basically a model coordinator having contracts with doctors.”
Sperm donation in India is blanketed in secrecy and shame — of both the donor and his recipients. Donating isn’t much fun. There’s the fear of rejection, the stigma of success, and the price of confession. Donor hardly confesses his past experiments with fertility to his wife; their married life is always at risk. Meanwhile, there is a huge demand for a fair-skinned, dark-haired donor who is 5 ft 10 inches tall and has brown eyes. There’s the obsession with various castes especially Brahmin donors, even though it is illegal to divulge the caste identity of a donor, doctors often do so to oblige frantic clients. Muslims, on the other hand, want to know if the donor is Sunni or Shia.
People involved in the production of firecrackers in Virudhunagar district’s Sivakasi – the firecracker manufacturing hub in the country – claim that their business is affected due to COVID19 pandemic and lockdown. / Image Courtesy: ANI
This year due to the long lockdown the traditional traders who were doing seasonal businesses of Rangoli, crackers, flowers, and lamps came infix. Since lockdown began, Gudi Padwa, Ram Navratri, Eid, and many such festivals fetched no market for street vendors and “make a shift traders”. COVID-19, the pandemic has disappointed everyone from an employee to an entrepreneur of all levels. Diwali is considered to be the biggest festival but this year the festival lost its sheen due to economic challenges to commoners.
In addition, thousands of Hindu priests in Mumbai have gone unemployed as various social functions; rituals, and religious festivities went low key, there were many major events, started with Ram Navratri and Gudi Padwa, and continued with Ekadashi and Vat Savitri this is the business season for Hindu priests. The wake of the coronavirus outbreak is in distress.
Mumbai Priest Prasad Guruji told Afternoon Voice, “We are depending on the earning in the form of Dakshina (donations) by the guests. If there are no pujas and other religious functions in the next few months to prevent gatherings, how will the priests like us survive? “We have families and responsibilities. Our conditions are not much exposed to people.”
Nitin Guruji from Thane said, “I had several bookings for Navratri, Ram Navmi was the biggest event. Lockdown started with Ram Navami and then Savitri Purnima and now Dhan teras and Laxmi pooja, we hardly have any bookings.”
He further stated that many priests don’t have any other steady income and their families solely depend on their earnings from rituals like pujas, and weddings. Our priest fraternity has lost many other contracts in this season,” all the poojas have been cancelled at the last moment in March-end, and that was the beginning. Many families, temples, shopkeepers, traders, and businessmen, who usually observe the Ramnavmi and Gudi Padva (Hindu New Year) have cancelled their programs to avoid gatherings and we have all gone out of earnings. We struggled to pay house rent to get the basic provisions. There was neither money nor people’s willingness to conduct festivals.”
However, manufacturers of the firecrackers have suffered huge financial losses due to the ban and various endorsements of celebrating ‘Crackers-Free Diwali’. The government has never thought of us, there is discrimination from society too.
When the Afternoon Voice contacted a firecracker manufacturer and wholesale marketer, Abdul Rahim from Bhiwandi, he said, “If the government had to impose a ban on firecrackers, then they should have informed us in advance, we wouldn’t have invested on manufacturing these products. The imposition of an unexpected ban on firecrackers has affected our source of income.”
“Earlier too during Bakri Eid the government had asked people to celebrate the festival on a low scale and goat selling was banned, which led to a monetary crisis and yet again the same situation came. I am a seasonal vendor and due to imposing a ban on firecrackers right now I am out of business,” added Rahim.
Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut on Friday said allegations of land deals between the families of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the late Anvay Naik were attempts to change the direction of probe into the suicide of the Alibaug-based interior designer. The ruling party’s chief spokesperson, Sanjay Raut, hit out at the BJP and singled out for criticism its former MP Kirit Somaiya, who made claims of land deals between the two families on Wednesday and sought a probe.
Further lashing out at the main opposition party, Raut said, “We will ensure that the BJP remains out of power for 25 years in Maharashtra.”
Talking to reporters, Raut lost his cool and referred to the BJP as “shethji’s party” and called Somaiya a “vyapari” (traders). “Spokespersons of the shethji party/traders are not ready to speak about a Marathi woman being widowed (referring to interior designer Anvay Naik’s wife).
“She and her daughter are crying for justice and when we are trying to ensure that they get justice, these people are making allegations to divert direction of the probe into the suicide. This is a serious matter,” said Raut, hitting out at the Sena’s former ally. A land deal between the two families was done legally in 2014, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed.
“Is he (Somaiya) having a problem that a Marathi person did the deal,” he said, adding no matter what the Sena-led MVA government will last its full term (till 2024). “We will ensure that the BJP sits out of power for 25 years in Maharashtra. Our stand is to give justice to the family of Anvay Naik and punish those legally who forced him to take the extreme step of ending his life,” Raut said.
“Shethji’s party wants to protect the accused,” the Sena leader said in an apparent reference to TV journalist Arnab Goswami, who along with two others, has been charged with abetting the suicide of Anvay Naik and his mother over non-payment of dues by their companies. “What 21 deals is he (Somaiya) talking about? Show me even five. There was one transaction which was absolutely legal,” Raut aid.
Asked about the demand for a probe by the Enforcement Directorate into the alleged land deals, Raut shot back, “Why only ED…let there be a probe by the CBI. Go to Interpol, FBI, KGB, Interpol and the United Nations. Somaiya has alleged there were multiple land deals between Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi and Anvay Naik who allegedly committed suicide on May 5, 2018.
“How are you linked to the accused. Don’t you have any concern for the mother-son duo who ended their lives?” Raut asked, targeting the former BJP Member of Parliament. Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV, was arrested by the Alibaug police in adjoining Raigad district on November 4 and released from jail on November 11 after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the case.
People buy gold ornaments at a jewellery showroom on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras, in Kolkata. / Image Courtesy: PTI
This is a big festival week of lights but due to COVID-19 lockdown consequences, there is darkness in human lives. People lost their jobs, students yet to resume schools, the local trains called as the heart of Mumbai are shut, and the city is on roads in long and never-ending queues on buses, shops, and almost every place. It should be time to have fun while stocking up on candles, handicrafts, gifts but affording all this is a real task. But then this is 2020, the year like no other, and the fear of the coronavirus lurks everywhere, compelling. In another year, there would be fairs, with rides, food, and shopping aplenty, as institutions, malls, individual localities, and condominiums organised their own carnivals. As cases spike Mumbai has been reporting hundreds of cases a day and its Covid count still not in control, nobody wants to take a chance. So, organisers of the time-tested Melas and fairs had to halt here. Because of Covid this year no large-scale exhibitions, fairs nor people are expected to be taking part physically. Gold to Sweets, Diwali snacks to flowers the prices have gone up. Vegetables are costly, petrol is not affordable, long hours travel due to traffic congestion. The festival of lights has got many limits.
Once upon a time, the Celebration was the nature of the spirit. The ancient sages brought sacredness in every celebration so that you don’t lose the focus in the hustle-bustle of the activity. Observing rituals and religious practices (called Puja) is simply showing one’s gratitude to the Divine. This brings depth to the celebration. At this time of the year, people around the world are getting ready to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. One of the biggest festivals of the East. And today is called ‘Dhanteras’ – Dhanteras means the day of wealth. It means feeling a sense of abundance, and whatever is needed will come! Remember all the blessings you have received in life and feel grateful for it. The tradition is to put all the wealth you have earned in front of you and feel the abundance. When you feel lack, the lack grows but when you put your attention on abundance, then the abundance grows. In the Arthashastra, Chanakya says, ‘Dharmasya Moolam Arthah’ which means, “prosperity is the root of righteousness.” Diwali symbolizes the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance.
For an oil lamp to burn, the wick has to be partially immersed in the oil. If the wick is completely drowned in oil, it cannot bring light. Life is like the wick of the lamp; you have to be in the world and yet remain untouched by it. If you are drowned in the materialism of the world, you cannot bring joy and knowledge in your life. By being in the world, yet not drowning in the worldly aspect of it, we can be the light of joy and knowledge. Lamps are lit on this day not just to decorate homes, but also to communicate this profound truth of life. Light the lamp of wisdom and love in every heart and bring a radiant smile on every face. Diwali is also called Deepavali, which literally means rows of lights. Life has many facets and stages to it and it is important that you throw light on each of them, for life to be fully expressed. The rows of lights remind you that every aspect of life needs your attention and the light of knowledge. Every human being has some good qualities. And every lamp that you light is symbolic of this. Some people have forbearance, some have love, strength, generosity, while others have the ability to unite people. The latent values in you are like a lamp. Don’t be satisfied with lighting just one lamp; light a thousand! You need to light many lights to dispel the darkness of ignorance. By lighting the lamp of wisdom in yourself and acquiring knowledge, you awaken all facets of your being. When they are lit and awakened, it is Diwali.
So drop the regrets of the past and the worries of the future and live in the moment. It is time to forget the bickering and negativities that have happened throughout the year. It is a time when you throw light on the wisdom you have gained and welcomes a new beginning. This year it was very tough for poor and common people, all those who can afford to share, please make some charity by feeding poor people. Donate clothes, donate lamps bring light to the dark lives. Promote swadeshi handicrafts, buy handmade clay lamps (Diya), and also kandils, so that the poor could earn some money. We should buy things made in India. You should go to the shop and purchase them. Purchase your maximum stuff from local retailers directly. By doing it they will earn some money and celebrate Diwali with their family.
COVID-19 the deadliest pandemic of recent times. The entire world is fighting this pandemic with its full capacity. Lakhs of people have died already and many are being treated. Because of Corona most of the world population is in quarantine or lockdown. There are many ongoing tests being conducted across the world to find a vaccine for Corona. There is news that the vaccine has been found. Time will tell how effective that vaccine is. No one knows when the world can get rid of Corona completely. I know this Diwali 2020 will be completely different as compared to previous years, but still, we can share the love and make contributions to fellow human’s lives.
A cracker seller at his shop in New Delhi on October 23, the day the Supreme Court imposed restrictions on the use and sale of fireworks. | Image Courtesy: Money Sharma / AFP
It is that time of the year again. Diwali and Dhanteras are round the corner, and it is the time Indian households buy gold as it is considered auspicious. Historically, this gold buying tradition has rewarded them handsomely. For instance, investors who have. There’s a nip in the air, Dussehra is over and the festival of lights around the corner. All those who had accumulated gold were lucky, but amid salary and job crises buying gold as per the tradition is very challenging for scalarized people.
Lockdown due to COVID-19 gifted us job losses and salary cuts, no Diwali bonus, and an uncertain future are all contributing to this muted festival shopping. But sales staff in most places are confident that things will change. It is not just storing, big and small, old and new, which persuade and retain customers with tempting discounts and other offers. The festival season is also when corporates plan their sales and marketing calendar for the year. Beauty parlors to the beverage industry came up with heavy discount schemes, but still, this Diwali is not as bright as it used to be. The firecracker industry almost collapsed due to non-buyers and government restrictions. Due to COVID19, many people avoided visiting markets and shops rather they made online shopping that fits in their budget. Most surveys show that consumer intent to purchase offline still remains low. A buyer behaviour analysis showed that consumers’ intent to buy durables has significantly increased, but with purchases happening predominantly online.
Sidhant Vanmali as astrologer said, “this year was very inauspicious for many, though the gold rates have gone high still avoid buying Steel Utensils on This Day. Many people bring steel utensils home on the day of Dhanteras while doing so should be avoided. Steel is not a pure metal. Rahu also has more influence on this. You should only buy natural metals. Only brass can be purchased from man-made metal.”
A shopkeeper in Goyal Market said, “With all the corona related protocols, the shop is not bustling as usual, but it is not empty either, there are a few masked customers. But this Diwali business on average. Only now people are slowly coming out of the fear of the coronavirus, and resuming normal activity, which includes festival shopping,” said Radhysham, the shop’s owner.
Counting of votes got underway Tuesday morning for the three-phase Bihar assembly elections that may herald a new era in state politics, with exit polls predicting a victory for the RJD-led Grand Alliance. The exercise will decide the electoral fate of over 3,700 candidates who are in the race to win the 243 seats of the state assembly.
Counting started at 8 am at 55 centres spread across 38 districts amid tight security and precautions to avoid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic during the process. Over 57 per cent of about 7.30 crore electors have exercised their franchise in what is the first major election in the country since the onset of the pandemic. Votes are also being simultaneously counted for the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha by-poll, which was necessitated by the death of JD(U) MP Baidyanath Mahto.
Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami, who was arrested last week in a 2018 abetment to suicide case, was refused interim relief again on Monday afternoon after he filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against his arrest and the reopening of the case. Goswami was told he can go to a lower court to seek bail. The arrest and the reopening of the two-year-old case was “illegal”, Goswami told the high court.
A two-member bench on Monday said that “no case was made out in the present matter for the high court to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction.” In its order, the High Court also said that the reopening of investigation by the state police “cannot be said to be irregular or illegal by any stretch of imagination.” Ahead of the hearing in the Bombay High Court, the Republic TV promoter moved the session’s court for bail. The High Court said the lower court must take a decision within four days.
Arnab Goswami was arrested from his Mumbai home last week (on November 4) after the police claimed they had found new evidence in the 2018 suicide case. He was initially kept at a local school, which had been turned into a quarantine centre for prisoners, but he was moved to the Taloja Jail on Sunday after he was allegedly found using a mobile phone. His supporters protested against his shifting to Taloja calling it a plan to kill him.
A day after his arrest, the High Court had refused him interim relief saying it wanted to hear the matter “in detail”. On Saturday, the High Court had said: “We can’t pass any order today. Meanwhile, we will clarify that the pendency of the petition will not bar the petitioner from approaching the sessions court for bail and if such an application is filed, it should be decided within four days.”
Arnab Goswami’s lawyers – Harish Salve and Abad Ponda – argued that the police have not met the legal requirement of getting a court’s consent for reopening the case, which led to his arrest. After Goswami’s arrest, the police were denied his custody and a magistrate’s court sent him to judicial custody. The police have challenged that order in the session’s court as they say they need Goswami’s custody for investigation. Advocate Amit Desai, who appeared for the Maharashtra government, argued: “Arrest happens before a person is produced before the magistrate. The moment your illegal arrest has resulted in a judicial remand, the question of arrest is not relevant later.”
Goswami was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of 53-year-old interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother in 2018. Avnay Naik, an architect and interior designer who reportedly designed Republic TV’s sets, named Arnab Goswami and two others in a suicide note in which he alleged that his dues were not paid by the channel. The case was closed earlier when the BJP was in power in Maharashtra after the police told a court that there was no evidence to proceed against the accused and prosecute them. Naik’s family appealed to the government saying the probe had been scuttled and the government ordered a re-examination of the case.
When Afternoon Voice asked various people about their take on this entire episode, here’s what they had to say.
Dr. Raju Waghmare of Congress said, “Arnab Goswami is a regular news anchor who has been arrested in the charge of abatement to suicide case. If anybody’s name comes into such a case (abatement to suicide) then it’s the duty of the police to look into this matter. There is no threat to his life as the Mumbai police are just doing their job. The BJP is creating hype in this case just because he (Arnab Goswami) is an agent of that party. And he is on their payroll.”
He further stated saying, “I want to ask BJP why they are coming into streets to protest over Arnab? Where were they (BJP) when several other journalists were attacked, jailed and killed in the past?” There is no politics; in this case, this is purely a criminal case.”
Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh said, “Law is equal for everyone, after police custody the accused is supposed to be shifted to judicial custody in heinous crimes cases. Therefore the accused is rightfully shifted to Taloja Jail for the alleged abetment to suicide case. He has been spewing venom time and again spewing venom through his hateful commentaries on his channel, like him many other influential people are already in Taloja as well as other jails; therefore it would be baloney to say that he has any threat to his life, because he is currently under “Judicial Custody”.
Varun Singh, an Independent Journalist said, “Arnab Goswami has made several statements that his life is in threat; the court will look into them. There are several provisions in the law to tackle such issues. Arnab’s statement which he made to the public via his own new channel should be looked into by authorities, and if any truth is found in them, then action is taken as prescribed by the law.”
Archana Sharma, Women of Substance and Social Activist said, “Law is equal for all, misuse of power has to be condemned, but one cannot be punished unless proven guilty. Human rights as laid down by the constitution should be exercised in a lawful manner. Freedom of speech is human fundamental rights but should be used with safeguards. Article 21 states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. The police are conducting the investigation in connection with Arnab Goswami’s case. Let truth prevail and justice is granted in a lawful manner.”
Amritesh Shet, an Engineer by profession said, “The statements or words which Arnab Goswami has used against XYZ people (without naming anyone), the reaction of those people will be unpredictable. If it’s in favour of people they will praise him, if not then it’s a life threat. It’s a normal human tendency, if you speak against people without respect no matter if the person is at fault or not, he will surely look for revenge. Talking about his life into a threat then the law is equal for everyone. And the Mumbai police are just doing their duty in this case. As of now, we can’t reach any conclusion unless anything is proven.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday slammed the government over demonetisation, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move four years ago was aimed at helping a few of his “crony capitalist friends” and had “destroyed” the Indian economy.
Gandhi and the Congress have been alleging that the 2016 demonetisation was not in the interest of the people and had adverse effects on the economy, a charge the government has dismissed repeatedly.
In a video released as part of the party’s online ‘SpeakUpAgainstDeMoDisaster’ campaign, Gandhi said the question is how the economy of Bangladesh “surpassed” the Indian economy as there was a time when India used to be one of the highest performing economies of the world.
“The government says that the reason is COVID but if that is the reason, there is COVID in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world also. The reason is not COVID, the reason is ‘Notebandi’ and GST,” Gandhi said in Hindi. “Four years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began an assault on the Indian economy. He hurt farmers, labourers, and small shopkeepers. Manmohan Singh Ji said the economy will lose two per cent and that is what we saw,” the former Congress chief said.
नोटबंदी PM की सोची समझी चाल थी ताकि आम जनता के पैसे से ‘मोदी-मित्र’ पूँजीपतियों का लाखों करोड़ रुपय क़र्ज़ माफ़ किया जा सके।
ग़लतफ़हमी में मत रहिए- ग़लती हुई नहीं, जानबूझकर की गयी थी।
The prime minister had stated that it is a fight against black money, but it was not so, Gandhi said. “This was a lie. The attack was on you, Modi wanted to take your money and give it to his 2-3 crony capitalist friends. You stood in lines, not his crony capitalist friends. You put your money in banks and PM Modi gave that money to his friends and gave them a loan waiver of Rs 3,50,000 crore,” Gandhi alleged. Then Modi implemented a “faulty GST” and small, middle-sized businesses were destroyed as “he cleared the way for his 3-4 crony capitalist friends”, the Congress leader claimed.
Gandhi alleged that now farmers were being targeted with the three new agricultural laws which, he said, would “finish off” them. Modi has “destroyed” the pride of India — its economy, Gandhi said, and added, “We have to jointly rebuild India”. Congress is observing the fourth anniversary of demonetisation as “Vikshwasghaat Diwas” (Betrayal Day).
On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Modi announced the decision to ban all currency notes of higher denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from midnight.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari presented the 10th Bharat Ratna Dr. Ambedkar awards to film star Suniel Shetty, playback singer Sonu Nigam, actress Richa Chaddha, former BJP MP Dr. Sunil Kumar Gaikwad, legislator Dr. Bharati Lavekar and others at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai on Saturday (7th Nov).
The award for veteran actress Salma Agha was received on her behalf by her daughter Zarah Khan. The awards instituted by the Buddha Creation of Indian Cinema were presented in recognition of the social work done by the awardees during the Corona pandemic period.
Three organisations, ISKCON Juhu, St Peters Church, and IUV Foundation of India were honoured for their social work during the Corona period.
The Governor also presented the Bharat Ratna Dr. Ambedkar Awards to Lyricist, Composer, and singer Tanishk Bagchi, Dr. N A Hegde of Sai Baba Hospital, businessman Mehul Mehta, social worker Dr. Abdul Rehman Wanoo, Jaiprakash Goyal, Sanjay Murlidhar Pawar, and Sheetal Samrat. Trustees of the Buddha Creation of Indian Cinema Kailash Masoom and Krishna Pimple were present. Film star Aman Verma conducted the proceedings.
President-elect Joe Biden address the country from Wilmington, Delaware. / Image Courtesy: Andrew Harnik/AFP
President-elect Joe Biden declared it was “time to heal” a deeply divided America in his first speech after prevailing on Saturday in a bitter election, even as President Donald Trump refused to concede and pressed ahead with legal fights against the outcome.
Biden’s victory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania put him over the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes he needed to clinch the presidency, ending four days of nail-biting suspense and sending his supporters into the streets of major cities in celebration. “The people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory,” Biden told honking and cheering supporters in a parking lot in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
The Democrat pledged that as president he would seek to unify the country and “marshal the forces of decency” to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, rebuild economic prosperity, secure healthcare for American families, and root out systemic racism. Without addressing his Republican rival, Biden spoke directly to the 70 million Americans who cast ballots in support of Trump, some of whom took to the streets on Saturday to demonstrate against the results.
“For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of times myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again,” he said. “This is the time to heal in America.”
He also thanked Black voters, saying that even at his campaign’s lowest moments, the African American community had stood up for him. “They always have my back, and I’ll have yours,” he said. Biden was introduced by his running mate, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, who will be the first woman, the first Black American and the first American of Asian descent to serve as vice president, the country’s No. 2 office.
“What a testament it is to Joe’s character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exist in our country, and select a woman as his vice president,” Harris said. Congratulations poured in from abroad, including from conservative British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, making it hard for Trump to push his repeated claims, without evidence, that the election was rigged against him.
Trump, who was golfing when the major television networks projected his rival had won, immediately accused Biden of “rushing to falsely pose as the winner.” Clusters of Biden supporters lined two blocks of his motorcade’s route back to the White House. “This election is far from over,” he said in a statement.
Trump has filed a raft of lawsuits to challenge the results but elections officials in states across the country say there has been no evidence of significant fraud, and legal experts say Trump’s efforts are unlikely to succeed. As the news of his win broke, cheers and applause were heard around Washington, with people emerging onto balconies, honking car horns and banging pots. The wave of noise in the nation’s capital built as more people learned of the news. Some sobbed. Music began to play, “We are the Champions” blared.
In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, some people erupted in screams of joy as word spread. Several residents danced on a fire escape, cheering while others screamed “yes!” as they passed by. Trump supporters reacted with a mix of disappointment, suspicion, and resignation, highlighting the difficult task that Biden faces winning over many Americans, especially in more rural areas, who believe Trump was the first president to govern with their interests at heart.
“It’s sickening and sad,” said Kayla Doyle, a 35-year-old Trump supporter, and manager of the Gridiron Pub on Main Street in the small town of Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. “I think it’s rigged.” Angry pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” demonstrators gathered at state capitol buildings in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. Protesters in Phoenix chanted “We want audits!” One speaker told the crowd: “We will win in court!”
There were isolated instances of Trump and Biden supporters confronting one another, as occurred between two groups of about 100 each in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but there were no immediate reports of the violence many had feared. The pro-Trump protests mostly faded as the results sank in. Before the election, Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost, and he falsely declared victory long before counting was complete.
Former and present political leaders also weighed in, including congratulations from former Democratic President Barack Obama, for whom Biden served as vice president, and Republican U.S. Senator Mitt Romney. Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham called on the Justice Department to investigate claims of voting irregularities. The networks’ declaration for Biden came amid concerns within Trump’s team about the strategy going forward and pressure on him to pick a professional legal team to outline where they believe voter fraud took place and provide evidence.
Trump’s allies made it clear the president does not plan to concede anytime soon. One Trump loyalist said the president simply was not ready to admit defeat even though there would not be enough ballots thrown out in a recount to change the outcome. “There’s a mathematical certainty that he’s going to lose,” the loyalist said.
Biden’s win ends Trump’s chaotic four-year presidency in which he played down a deadly pandemic, imposed harsh immigration policies, launched a trade war with China, tore up international agreements, and deeply divided many American families with his inflammatory rhetoric, lies, and willingness to abandon democratic norms. On Saturday, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien urged supporters to be ready to attend protests or rallies that the campaign is “propping up around the country,” according to a person familiar with the situation.
DIFFICULT TASK AHEAD For Biden’s supporters, it was fitting that Pennsylvania ensured his victory. He was born in the industrial city of Scranton in the state’s northeast and, touting his middle-class credentials, secured the Democratic nomination with a promise to win back working-class voters who had supported Trump in 2016.
He launched his campaign in Pittsburgh last year and wrapped it up with a rally there on Tuesday. It was a tight race in industrial states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, but Biden did enough to prevail. He faced unprecedented challenges. These included Republican-led efforts to limit mail-in voting at a time when a record number of people were due to vote by mail because of the pandemic, which has killed more than 236,000 people in the United States.
When Biden enters the White House on Jan. 20, the oldest person to assume the office at age 78, he likely will face a difficult task governing in a deeply polarized Washington, underscored by a record nationwide voter turnout. Both sides characterized the 2020 election as one of the most crucial in U.S. history, as important as votes during the 1860s Civil War and the 1930s Great Depression.
Biden’s victory was driven by strong support from groups including women, African Americans, white voters with college degrees, and city-dwellers. He beat Trump by more than four million votes in the nationwide popular vote count. Biden, who has spent half a century in public life as a U.S. senator and then vice president under Trump’s predecessor Obama, will inherit a nation in turmoil over the pandemic and the related economic slowdown, as well as protests against racism and police brutality.
Biden has said his first priority will be developing a plan to contain and recover from the pandemic, promising to improve access to testing and, unlike Trump, to heed the advice of leading public health officials and scientists. In addition to taming the health crisis, Biden faces a huge challenge remedying the economic hardship caused by COVID-19. Some 10 million Americans thrown out of work during coronavirus lockdowns remain idled, and federal relief programs have expired.
The U.S. economy remains technically in recession, and prospects are bleak for a return to work for millions, especially in service industries such as hospitality and entertainment, where job losses hit women and minorities particularly hard. Biden also has pledged to restore a sense of normalcy to the White House after a presidency in which Trump praised authoritarian foreign leaders, disdained longstanding global alliances, refused to disavow white supremacists, and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the U.S. election system.
Despite his victory, Biden will have failed to deliver the sweeping repudiation to Trump that Democrats had hoped for, reflecting the deep support the president still retains. This could complicate Biden’s campaign promises to reverse key parts of Trump’s legacy. These include deep Trump tax cuts that especially benefited corporations and the wealthy, hardline immigration policies, efforts to dismantle the 2010 Obamacare healthcare law, and Trump’s abandonment of such international agreements as the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear deal.
Should Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate, they would likely block large parts of his legislative agenda, including expanding healthcare and fighting climate change. That prospect could depend on the outcome of four undecided Senate races, including two in Georgia that will not be resolved until runoffs in January. For Trump, 74, it was an unsettling end after an astonishing political rise. The real estate developer who established a nationwide brand as a reality TV personality upset Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the presidency in 2016 in his first run for elected office. Four years later, he becomes the first U.S. president to lose a re-election bid since Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992.
Despite his draconian immigration curbs, Trump made surprising inroads with Latino voters. He also won battleground states such as Florida, where his pledge to prioritize the economy even if it increased the threat of the coronavirus appeared to have resonated. In the end, though, Trump failed to significantly widen his appeal beyond a committed core of rural and working-class white voters who embraced his right-wing populism and “America First” nationalism.
Duane Fitzhugh, a 52-year-old teacher celebrating Biden’s victory outside the Trump Hotel in Washington, said it was as if an evil enchantment was being lifted. “It’s like a pall fell over the country four years ago and we’ve been waiting years for it to end,” he said.
Amid COVID-19 job loss and financial stress, many young boys opted for sperm donation. Every commercial ejaculator must pass a strict selection test. Sperm donors in Mumbai are mostly outstation students living in overcrowded rented rooms, sweating to pay their bills and embarrassed by their need to encash what everyone else flushes down the drain. Most of them are struggling models and Bollywood aspirants with failures and empty pockets. For some donors, it may be additional income, but for most, it’s the room rent, phone bill, and EMIs. And turning donor entails putting their pride at risk. Every commercial ejaculator must pass a strict selection test and only the best are contracted on. There is a huge queue of donors here, but most of them return rejected and unpaid due to their sperm quality and ejaculation efficiency.
Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut on Friday said allegations of land deals between the families of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the late Anvay Naik were attempts to change the direction of probe into the suicide of the Alibaug-based interior designer. The ruling party’s chief spokesperson, Sanjay Raut, hit out at the BJP and singled out for criticism its former MP Kirit Somaiya, who made claims of land deals between the two families on Wednesday and sought a probe.
Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami, who was arrested last week in a 2018 abetment to suicide case, was refused interim relief again on Monday afternoon after he filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against his arrest and the reopening of the case. Goswami was told he can go to a lower court to seek bail. The arrest and the reopening of the two-year-old case was “illegal”, Goswami told the high court.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday slammed the government over demonetisation, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move four years ago was aimed at helping a few of his “crony capitalist friends” and had “destroyed” the Indian economy.
