According to American Bazaar, Indian-American teacher and policy professional Piya Dandiya has shifted her US Congress campaign to Florida’s redrawn 22nd District, moving on from her previous bid in the 21st District, as she enters a closely watched open race in the state.Dandiya is a former high school principal and technology manager. She is running on a platform focused on lowering the cost of living, strengthening public education, and supporting middle-class families. His campaign comes after a mid-decade redistricting plan approved by Governor Ron DeSantis reshaped many congressional boundaries, turning the 22nd District into a competitive swing seat in South Florida.If elected, she will become the first South Asian American to represent Florida in Congress, reflecting the state’s growing Indian-American population.Dandiya was born and raised in Palm Beach County. She is a first-generation Indian American whose parents immigrated from India in search of better opportunities. Her early experience in education work included volunteering during her undergraduate years, when she taught English to children in the slums of New Delhi, an experience she said focused her attention on educational equity. She currently lives in Palm Beach County with her husband and son.Her professional career began in education, where she worked as a teacher in low-income schools, where she reported good student outcomes, with over 90% of her students reaching state proficiency levels. At the age of 28, she founded a charter high school in Harlem, New York and became one of the youngest principals in America. The school achieved strong academic results, with all graduates gaining admission to college despite the majority of students coming from low-income backgrounds.He later worked with the Domestic Policy Council and the Department of Education as a White House Fellow before moving into the private sector. In that role, he worked on public sector initiatives at Apple involving education, health care, and government systems.His campaign focuses on reducing everyday costs, including fuel, groceries and health care, through measures such as negotiating prescription drug prices. She also supports universal pre-kindergarten, increased investment in public schools, expansion of vocational training, and protection of Social Security and Medicare.Dandiya has also received an endorsement from Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried and a reported campaign fund of $1.17 million cash. This establishes him as a strong contender in the Democratic primary for the newly competitive district.

An illegal immigrant has been accused of killing four young people after driving while intoxicated (DUI) on an Oklahoma highway.Police identified the suspect as 27-year-old Michael Rosario-Cruz. He was released from the hospital and booked into the Canadian County Jail on multiple charges, including four counts of second-degree murder, DUI causing serious injury, driving while impaired, carrying a firearm while intoxicated and transporting an open container.The crash happened early Friday morning on Interstate 40 in Canadian County, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Rosario-Cruz was reportedly driving westbound in the eastbound lanes when he collided with another vehicle. Due to the collision, the car caught fire and all four occupants died.The victims were identified as Kiersey Hickson, 20, Quincy Jones, 19, and Haleigh Salazar, 18, and Brad Palmer.Rosario-Cruz is the subject of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention request, meaning ICE has asked to be notified prior to any release so that deportation proceedings can begin. His nationality and when he entered the United States have not been confirmed.“Driving without a license is a reckless, life-altering decision,” the Highway Patrol said in a social media post announcing the charges.It added: “The loss of these young lives will have a lasting impact on countless family members, friends and communities.”The victims were remembered at a recent vigil held at El Reno High School, where three of them graduated. Nancy Salsman, a retired teacher, said she taught second grade to three of the victims.“You just make that connection that never goes away,” he told News 9.He added, “They’re always your kids. And when something like this happens we come together.”

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met the family of a 22-year-old NEET aspirant who died by suicide in Rajasthan’s Sikar, days after the National Testing Agency (NTA) canceled the May 3 NEET-UG 2026 exam due to paper leak.In a social media post on Twitter, Rahul said that Pradeep’s death was not a suicide but the result of a broken and corrupt system.Rahul said, “Today I met the family of promising student Pradeep Meghwal, who was so hurt by the NEET paper leak that he committed suicide. Their pain cannot be expressed in words. A mother and father have lost their son and they were guilty without any fault.”“Lakhs of children across the country are living under pressure from studies, competition and their future. And when a paper leaks, it’s not just a test – a child’s dream is shattered, and an entire family’s. Those who handed over the examination system to the mafia, and who are still clinging to their chairs – the Modi-Shah duo are answerable to this family,” the Congress leader said.Pradeep’s family members said he was under a lot of stress after the medical entrance exam was canceled following the paper leak controversy.According to the police, Pradeep was found hanging in his room. He was taken to SK Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Later his body was kept in the mortuary of the government hospital for postmortem procedures. Udyog Nagar Police has started investigation. Pradeep’s father Rajesh Kumar said that his son studied hard for three years for the medical entrance exam and performed very well this time.The NEET-UG 2026 exam conducted for admission to undergraduate medical courses was later canceled after allegations of paper leak.The Center later handed over the investigation into the irregularities to the CBI, which has so far arrested 10 people in the case.

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has sought response from the state government and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging illegal excavation, encroachment and ecological destruction in the protected Mahendragiri hills of Gajapati district.Hearing the case through virtual mode on Tuesday, a vacation bench of Justices KR Mohapatra and MS Sahu adjourned the matter till after the summer vacation after additional government counsel SR Patnaik sought time to get instructions. Deputy Solicitor General of India PK Parhi, appearing for the ASI, and the state counsel were directed to take instructions in the matter.The PIL was filed by Pradeep Kumar Bhuiyan of Gajapati district belonging to the Sabar (Sora) tribal community and three other residents who claimed to be hereditary worshipers associated with the sacred Mahendragiri hill under Paralakhemundi forest division. Advocate Shivshankar Mohanty presented arguments on behalf of the petitioners.The plea has sought immediate intervention to stop alleged unauthorized excavation, illegal construction, installation of artificial idols and illegal religious activities around the centrally protected Bhima, Kunti and Yudhishthir temples situated on the hill. It also prayed for demolition and removal of all alleged illegal structures and encroachments raised in violation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, forest laws and environment rules.The petition alleged that some private parties have carried out illegal excavation and construction activities near the protected monuments under the guise of “research work” and “Mahendra Ashram”. Photographs presented before the court allegedly show excavation near the Kunti temple, uprooting of trees near the Yudhishthir temple and construction of a concrete road within the prohibited areas around the monuments.The petition also objects to the proposed “Mahendra Mela” from June 1 to 13, alleging that the mass gatherings and rituals could have a serious impact on the delicate ecology, biodiversity and forest habitat of the area.According to the petitioners, the Mahendragiri hills are not only a sacred site for the Sabar and Kondh tribal communities but also an ecologically fragile mountain ecosystem, which is officially recognized by the Government of Odisha. In November 2022, the state declared 4,250 hectare area of ​​Mahendragiri as a biodiversity heritage site due to its rich biodiversity, endemic species and tribal cultural significance.

TOI correspondent from Washington: In the summer of 1976, the Kanpur-born teenage engineering student at BITS Pilani stood in the lobby of the US Embassy in New Delhi after being denied a student visa for the third time. His father, who had come with him, refused to go. She had seen the photo of the consular officer in the lobby, learned that he had gone out for lunch, and decided that she would wait to ask him why her son was being denied a visa even though admission to three universities was confirmed and all the documents were in order. Persistence worked. Half a century later, that student, Sanjay Mehrotra, is CEO of Micron Technology, the memory-chip giant that on Tuesday eclipsed the $1 trillion market capitalization that fueled Wall Street’s AI frenzy and joined the top 10 U.S. companies by valuation, surpassing more well-known giants like Walmart, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase. It’s one of Silicon Valley’s most incredible stories: A guy repeatedly shunned by America became the manager of one of America’s most strategically important technology companies in the MAGA era. He is not alone. Mehrotra’s rise also completes an extraordinary desi tableau at the top of corporate America. The world’s three most valuable technology companies – Microsoft, Alphabet and Micron, with market caps exceeding trillions – are now run by Indian-origin executives who arrived in America as middle-class strugglers with nothing but engineering talent, parental sacrifice and a quiet fire in the belly. Satya Nadella Grew up in Hyderabad as the son of a civil servant. Sundar Pichai He was brought up in a modest apartment in Chennai where the family once shared a rotary telephone. Mehrotra also came from a middle-class family in Kanpur that did not even have a phone. During his formative years in America calls to his parents were always via “PP” – “neighbor’s phone” – calling a neighbor who had a landline, who called his parents. Amazingly, their collective rise is now reshaping both Silicon Valley and the political debate over globalization in Donald Trump’s MAGA-backed America.Unlike Pichai and Nadella, who already inherited major software empires, Mehrotra’s achievement has been more industrial and arguably more difficult. Memory chips are cyclical, highly capital-intensive, and historically dominated by Asian giants like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. When Mehrotra became CEO of Micron in 2017, the company was worth about $20 billion. Today, Micron has reached the trillion-dollar mark amid an AI-driven explosion in demand for high-bandwidth memory chips that power data centers. Wall Street’s sudden fascination with Micron — driving the stock up 180 percent in 2026, including a 75 percent rise in May alone — reflects a terrible realization: AI may run on Nvidia processors, but it remembers via Micron memory. Micron’s rally has been so intense in recent days that President Trump personally praised the company as “one of the most popular stocks” after hosting Mehrotra at the White House, amid allegations of insider trading after allegations surfaced that Trump owned a stake of between $50,000 and $100,000 in Micron stock. Trump later took Mehrotra on his trip to China as part of a high-profile business delegation — a remarkable embrace from a president whose political movement has often attacked globalization and immigration.That tension now defines the Indian-American CEO moment in modern America that goes beyond the tech trio. MAGA activists and economic nationalists are accusing Indian-led technology companies of outsourcing jobs, favoring Indian engineers in hiring, and maintaining divided loyalties between the United States and India. In recent days, IBM’s Arvind Krishna – another Trump favorite – has come under fire from right-wing activists angry over the company’s huge Indian workforce. Similar allegations have been leveled against Microsoft’s Nadella and Google’s Pichai from time to time. Yet the same White House that is against globalization also relentlessly oppresses these executives because they now control companies central to America’s technological supremacy against China. Few industries illustrate that paradox more clearly than memory chips where Micron has invested extensively in India following ventures in Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, China and Malaysia. As part of India’s $2.75 billion effort to enter the global semiconductor supply chain, the company is investing over $800 million of its capital to build an ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging) facility in Sanand, Gujarat. The Sanand facility is rapidly hiring engineers, automation specialists, manufacturing experts and quality technicians for its 500,000-square-foot cleanroom space, one of the largest single-floor assembly and test cleanrooms anywhere in the world, as India races to transform itself from a software-services back office to a hardware manufacturing hub.For Mehrotra it’s more personal. Unlike many Silicon Valley executives who maintain only formal ties with India, he has repeatedly viewed Micron’s India expansion as a strategic long-term investment in engineering talent and manufacturing depth. Symbolism matters: The student who was once denied entry to the US is now helping define America’s semiotic relationship with India.Still, the parallels with Nadella and Pichai are striking. Under Nadella, Microsoft’s market value has increased 10-fold – from about $300 billion in 2014 to more than $3 trillion today, largely through cloud computing and AI. Pichai, who became CEO in 2019, has seen 4x growth — from $1 billion to a $4 trillion-plus club that has only one other member, Nvidia. This is while navigating antitrust battles, AI disruption, and political scrutiny over search dominance. All three men have some management qualities in common: low-key demeanor, engineering passion, incrementalism over theatrics, and an aversion to Silicon Valley celebrity culture. None resemble the flamboyant founder ideal popularized by other tech giants like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. He is a smooth operator, not a showman. In an industry once dominated by charismatic dropouts – Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison – corporate America has quietly shifted toward tech immigrant executives with deep managerial discipline.That change is not accidental. The AI ​​age is rewarding operational complexity, supply-chain coordination, and geopolitical balancing rather than pure product charisma. Mehrotra presents that change well. He co-founded SanDisk before leading Micron into one of the most important moments in semiconductor history. Today, memory chips are at the center of the AI ​​arms race between the United States and China. Micron’s fortunes are now tied not just to consumer electronics but to national security, data centers and global power politics.The irony is rich. A young Indian student once struggled to convince America that he was entitled to enter the country. Today, Washington views it as essential to maintaining America’s technological dominance. And somewhere in the story lies a larger truth about modern America: Even in an age of MAGA nativism and skepticism about globalization, some of the companies at the heart of American power are increasingly run by Indian immigrants, who have come after denied visas, middle-class anxieties, and parents willing to wait endlessly in embassy lobbies for a second chance.

New Delhi: Allaying fears of shortage amid scorching heat and high power demand, Coal India said the country has a buffer stock of 168 million tonnes of dry fuel, enough to meet the requirements of domestic thermal power plants for 19 days.The company also said that depletion of coal stock levels at thermal plants during peak summer was a natural phenomenon and about 50 MT of in-situ mine coal was readily available for quick extraction and supply if the demand required.Coal-fired power stations are expected to maintain a “standard” stock of 26 days, which is calculated on the amount of electricity generated compared to the maximum possible output at 85% plant load factor or full capacity. As against the requirement of 75 MT coal to maintain this level, the total stock availability was 49.7 MT or 66% of the standard requirement.According to the daily coal stock report compiled by the Central Electricity Authority, 24 of the country’s 190 coal-based plants with a collective capacity of 223 GW had significant coal stocks as of May 26, meaning the availability was less than 25% of the standard requirement.India is currently in the grip of extreme heat, due to which the demand for electricity is increasing in most parts of the country. The maximum power demand reached 271 GW on May 21. Coal-based power plants provide about 68% of the country’s total electricity requirement during the day.However, Coal India Ltd, which supplies about 80% of the country’s coal requirement, said stocks at domestic coal-fired plants stood at 47.6 MT on May 23, while inventories at its own mine heads stood at a “comfortable level” of 113.5 MT on May 24, 10% higher than the same period in 2025.“This level is sufficient to meet 19 days’ consumption. Besides, about 3 MT of coal is awaiting movement at goods sheds, private washeries and transit points like ports,” CIL said in a statement.The public sector company said about 4 MT of coal remains in transit at any point of time, taking the total coal available in the system to 168 MT. CIL said it had advised power plants with less coal availability to create stocks in advance for peak demand periods. “As such, CIL has sufficient quantities to meet the generation capacity of domestic coal-based plants,” it said.