No winner yet; vote counting continues in tense US presidential race
Washington: Weary Americans will have to wait for some more time to know the clear winner of the closely-fought election between Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden, as the final outcome hinged on a few states on Thursday where a flood of mail-in ballots triggered by the coronavirus pandemic were still being counted.
Two days after the presidential election, Biden is nearing the magical figure of 270 electoral votes to win the race to the White House, with the former US vice president bagging 253 votes compared to 213 won by Trump, according to latest US media projections.
The results in four states Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Nevada are yet to be declared as officials counted millions of votes, some that were cast on Tuesday and many more during weeks of early voting amidst the surging pandemic.
In the US election, voters decide state-level contests rather than a single, national one. Each US state gets a certain number of Electoral College votes partly based on the size of the population, with a total of 538 up for grabs.
To reach the magic figure of 270 to claim victory, Trump, 74, must win all four remaining battleground states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Nevada.
There are approximately 90,735 ballots still outstanding in Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office told CNN. The state has 16 Electoral College votes.
With 71 percent of mail-in ballots counted in Pennsylvania, officials still need to count 763,000 of the 2.6 million casts, according to the state's official website. The state has 20 Electoral College votes.
North Carolina has 15 Electoral College votes while Nevada has six.
Projections on Wednesday put Biden, 77, as the winner in Michigan and Wisconsin, two states Trump won in the 2016 election.
As several battleground states continue to count votes and the margins remain razor-thin, Biden tweeted Thursday morning: Every vote must be counted."
"Keep the faith, guys. We're gonna win this," he tweeted.
An hour later, President Trump tweeted, "STOP THE COUNT!"
Earlier, Biden said, "I'm not here to declare that we've won.?But I am here to report that when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners. ?????
Biden could reach the 270 Electoral College vote threshold needed to win the election if he holds onto his leads in Arizona and Nevada.
Trump, however, still has a path to victory if he can take back any one of the states where Biden is leading. Trump is leading in other states that have not yet been called: Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alaska. By sweeping these, but not flipping a Biden-leaning state, Trump would end up with 268 Electoral College votes, just short of the 270 needed to win.
But senior Trump campaign aide Jason Miller said: "By the end of this week, it will be clear to the entire nation that President Trump and Vice-President Pence will be elected for another four years."
Even as vote-counting was ongoing in the early hours on Wednesday, Trump appeared before supporters at the White House to claim victory.
The incumbent president said he would go to the Supreme Court to try to have what he called the "voting" stopped, although polls had closed hours earlier and state election officials were continuing the ballots.
"This is a major fraud on our nation," Trump contended, adding, "As far as I'm concerned, I already have won."
In the battleground states key to determining the winner of the election Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania the Trump campaign filed lawsuits on Wednesday over mail ballot handling, while in Wisconsin the Trump team requested a recount.
The Trump campaign said the president would formally request a Wisconsin recount, citing "irregularities in several Wisconsin counties".
Incomplete results indicate the margin between Trump and Biden in Wisconsin is less than one percentage point, which allows a candidate to seek a recount.
The Trump campaign also filed a lawsuit in Michigan to stop counting there because it contended it had been denied "meaningful access" to observe the opening of ballots and the tally.
His campaign asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the ballot counting in Pennsylvania, according to US media reports.
The overall voter turnout in the November 3 presidential election was projected to be the highest in 120 years at 66.9 percent, according to the US Election Project.
Former US vice president Biden got over 72 million voters, the most won by any presidential candidate ever. President Trump received more than 68 million votes, four million more than he gained in 2016 when he defeated his then-Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
One of the most divisive and bitter election race was dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, which hit a new record high of 103,000 daily cases in the US on Wednesday, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
The US is the worst-hit nation with over 233,700 deaths and more than 9,486,000 confirmed cases, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
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Siddaramaiah gives push for AI in Karnataka Budget
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said to further strengthen the AI sector, AI and Robotics Technology Park under IISc, will set up a robotics and AI campus called "Bangalore Robotics and AI Innovation Zone" during the current year.
This campus will be set up in collaboration with ISRO and Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KEONICS), Siddaramaiah added.
Presenting Karnataka Budget 2026-27, he said, a centre of Excellence for AI will be set up at IIIT Raichur at a cost of Rs 5 crore.
Noting that Karnataka is the first state to introduce the Global Capability Center (GCC) Policy, the CM said, as a result of the progressive policies of the government, more than 550 GCCs are currently operating in the state.
"Under this policy, the target is to establish 500 new GCCs in the state by 2029, which are expected to create employment for 3.5 lakh people and generate an economic output of USD 50 billion. A new IT park will be established in Mangalore to promote GCC by KEONICS," he said.
With the support extended to the IT sector, more than 30,000 employees are working in 100 companies in Mysuru, the CM said.
To ease the congestion in Bengaluru and to strengthen economic activities beyond Bengaluru, Myasuru city will be developed as the second IT city of the state, he added.
To support drone testing and performance appraisal, a drone testing facility will be established in Chikkaballapur district, he said.
"During the current year, Rs 4 crore will be allocated for the development of an advanced surgical-assisted robot (COBOT)" in collaboration with IIIT-Bangalore and NIMHANS. This technology will facilitate improved outcomes in neurosurgical procedures, he added.
The CM said that infrastructure facilities will be developed at the Centre for Human Genetics at a total cost of Rs 20 crore to accommodate the newly established Institute of Advanced Genome Editing and Gene Therapy, along with other biotechnology-based laboratories.
With the objective of establishing a state-of-the-art AI Center of Excellence in Bengaluru, two centres of excellence will be set up in collaboration with the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms and NASSCOM at a total cost of Rs 16 crore, he said.
Rs 10 crore will be allocated to implement the first phase of the Quantum Road Map over five years and this will train and develop high-quality human resources required in the quantum technology sector, he said.
Noting that a detailed project report has been prepared and submitted to the Central Government to establish a state-of-the-art 'Science City at a cost of Rs 233 crore in Adinarayana Hosahalli, Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said, upon its approval, the State will take further steps, including design and development.
To inculcate scientific temper among students, Science centres have been established in all the districts, and planetariums have been set up in 11 districts. In the current year, six new planetariums will be developed in Vijayanagar, Ballari, Chitradurga, Yadgiri, Koppal and Bidar districts at a unit cost of Rs 4 crores and a total cost of Rs.24 crore, he said.
Highlighting that Karnataka is leading in the country's Information Technology sector, the CM said, "Our state has contributed to 43 per cent of India's IT exports. Under the new IT Policy 2025-30, software exports are expected to reach Rs 11.5 lakh crore by 2030."
Karnataka State has moved up from 21st position in the previous year to 14th in the global start-up ecosystem and is home to over 18,000 active Start-ups, he said.
"Bengaluru is also ranked 5th in the world's top 50 AI cities in the field of AI and Big Data," Siddaramaiah said.
The LEAP is a flagship initiative of the Government, launched with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore to promote start-ups and entrepreneurship in cities beyond Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said.
To increase employment opportunities through long-term industry-academia partnerships, a super 100 industry-academia adoption programme will be implemented in collaboration with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission(KDEM).
Karnataka ranks among the leading states in the ESDM and semiconductor sectors, he said.
It is a matter of pride that major global companies like Foxconn, LAM Research, and Applied Materials have recently invested in the state. The state anticipates investments to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore from companies in this sector, Siddaramaiah added.
