Former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited a Desai Foundation Trust (DFT) NGO in Navsari, Gujarat on February 7, 2023. The organization focuses on empowering women and children through community programming to elevate health, livelihood, and menstrual equity in rural India for 25 years.

Clinton's tour began in Palaj village in the Gandhinagar District, Gujarat, where she met forty individuals of the organization's Heroes for Humanity (HFH) initiative, who shared their experiences and how the initiative impacted their lives and the lives of millions of others during the pandemic.

The Heroes for Humanity Initiative was honored on stage in 2022 at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. "This resilient program we hope can serve as a model for other organizations to look within the communities they serve for the solutions to uplift them," said Megha Desai, president of the Desai Foundation.

"I am so impressed by the model of this program and so delighted to hear about all the things you are doing as Heroes for Humanity. And hope that you are not only learning so much and growing personally but understanding what an impact you are all having on your families and your communities. So thank you very much," Clinton said hearing the stories.

She also visited the Desai Foundation's Asani Sanitary Napkin Program and observed one of the rural menstrual health and hygiene awareness sessions. According to a news release, the Asani program produces retail-quality pads that are 85 percent biodegradable through their three production units in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.

"We strongly believe that by eradicating the stigmas and educating the next generation of bleeders, we can shift the number of girls in school, and women in the workplace, and turn, impact the GDP of the nation," said Yati Desai, head of Asani at the Desai Foundation Trust.

"I love the way this program connects to both mothers and the next generation to create change and break the cycle of stigmas," Clinton said.

Clinton has visited India twice and is known for her dedication to uplifting the lives of women and girls and supporting inclusive economic development in India. The secretary's visit to India included Ila Bhatt's SEWA 50th Anniversary celebration, a meeting of fellow Clinton Global Initiative Commitment Makers, and a visit to Desai Foundation's partner, and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)–Gandhinagar.

The first glimmers toward ending a near-record long federal government shutdown were seen in the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 3, as leading Senate Republicans and Democrats talked of a possible "off-ramp" to the disruption.

For 34 days, a standoff between Congress and President Donald Trump has shuttered a range of federal programs including those that provide aid for low-income Americans, U.S. soldiers' paychecks and airport operations.

A new fiscal year began on Oct. 1 with no legislation enacted to fund these activities. Thousands of federal workers have now been furloughed, and the battle has hung up around $1.7 trillion in discretionary funds that account for about one-third of total U.S. spending annually.

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"I’m optimistic," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, told reporters when asked about prospects for ending the government shutdown that has many federal employees performing their jobs without paychecks.

Asked if he was confident of ending the shutdown, Thune, of South Dakota, hedged, saying: "Don’t push it."

The comment was a small but significant change in tone. Democrats have linked government funding to extending a U.S. health insurance subsidy that is on the verge of expiring.

Low-income families are seeing their food stamp benefits expire or only partially funded.

"Based on, sort of, my gut of how these things operate, I think we're getting close to an off-ramp here," Thune said.

The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois said, "I sense that, too." But he quickly added: "We're still stuck with this premise of what we're going to do about healthcare costs."

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins of Maine told reporters that progress was made with Democrats offering specific language to break the impasse and staffs from both parties laboring over the weekend. "It just feels better this week," she said.

Nonetheless, Collins admonished: "It could all fall apart again. And I don't mean to imply there's an agreement." 

Meanwhile, a bipartisan handful of House of Representatives moderates floated a compromise plan.

Axios reported a group of four House centrists, three Republicans and one Democrat, offered a plan to extend the expanded Affordable Care Act tax credit for two years, but with new caps on people whose income is at the upper end of qualifying.

Since Oct. 1, groups of Senate Republicans and Democrats have held sporadic private meetings to look at ways to resolve the gridlock that has consumed Washington but so far have been unable to get to the finish line.