This is for the first time that Trump has acknowledged the contribution of Indian- Americans and Hindus in his historic electoral victory. “Where are they? We have a big group. There they are. I want to thank you. You folks were amazing. They were amazing and voted and they were fantastic,” Trump said, pointing to the Indian-American community present at the rally. In his address, Trump pledged to work for betterment of India-US relationship and said he would be the best friend India ever had in the White House. He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his economic reforms and steps that he has taken to remove bureaucratic red tape.

Republican Hindu Coalition chairman Shalabh Salli Kumar said all this had an impact on voting pattern of Indian- Americans, who have traditionally been strong Democratic supporters. Based on a survey, Kumar said more than 60 per cent of the community members voted for Trump this time. Trump on Friday also selected South Carolina Rep Mick Mulvaney, a budget hawk and conservative Republican, to be his budget director, according to a transition official not authorised to speak publicly about the decision before it was announced.

Google, Apple won’t help with Muslim registry Soon after Facebook and Twitter clarified that they will not help Trump’s idea of developing a Muslim registry, tech giants like Google, Apple and global cab-hailing app company Uber also said they will also oppose such an effort. “In relation to the hypothetical of whether we would ever help build a ‘Muslim registry’ — we have not been asked, of course we would not do this and we are glad — from all that we have read —that the proposal does not seem to be on the table,”Buzzfeed quoted a Google spokesperson as saying on Saturday. An Apple spokesperson also noted that the company “thinks people should be treated the same no matter how they worship, what they look like, who they love.” Uber also stressed that it would not help Trump build a Muslim registry.