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Days after losing trust vote, KP Oli re-appointed as Prime Minister of Nepal: Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Days after losing trust vote, KP Oli re-appointed as Prime Minister of Nepal: Here is what happened

In a dramatic turn of events in Nepal, KP Sharma Oli was reappointed as Prime Minister on Thursday just days after he was forced to step down following a vote of no confidence in the Parliament.

According to the reports, KP Sharma Oli has been reappointed as the country’s Prime Minister (PM) by the Nepalese President after opposition parties failed to secure a majority in the Parliament in Kathmandu.

On Monday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had lost the crucial trust vote amidst the massive public anger over his response to a deadly second wave of Covid-19. After Oli’s loss, Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari had asked the opposition parties to prove their majority to form a new government by Thursday.

Following this, Nepali Congress (NC) Sher Bahadur Deuba had staked the claim for the post of Prime Minister. Deuba had also gained the support of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. However, riddled by factionalism, the opposition parties failed to secure majority seats in the House to form a new government.

Reportedly, Deuba could not get support from Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP). JSP’s President Upendra Yadav had assured to support Deuba, but the party’s other president Mahanta Thakur had rejected support for the NC-led coalition.

As opposition parties failed to secure a majority, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has reappointed the 69-year-old Communist leader and Chairman of CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli as the Prime Minister of Nepal. In a press statement, the Office of President on Thursday evening said that President Bhandari reappointed Oli as Prime Minister in his capacity as leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives as per Article 78(3) of the Constitution of Nepal.

President Bhandari will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Oli at a ceremony at Shital Niwas on Friday.

Prime Minister Oli has to prove his majority at the House within 30 days after taking the oath, failing which an attempt to form a government under Article 76 (5) would be initiated. If a new government cannot be formed, the President will dissolve the house, and fresh elections will be announced.

The CPN-UML, headed by Oli, is the largest party with 121 seats in the 271-member House of Representatives. The government needs 136 votes to prove their majority in the Parliament.

Kejriwal govt sets aside Rs 50 crores for free vaccination of Delhi residents, while spending far more on PR: Details

Jinit Jain
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Kejriwal govt sets aside Rs 50 crores for free vaccination of Delhi residents, while spending far more on PR: Details

Delhi is amongst the worst-hit states by the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak. There were shortages of isolation beds, ICU beds, medicinal oxygen, key antiviral drugs, including remdesivir. The pandemic not only revealed how woefully unprepared the national capital was handling the resurgent flare-up of the COVID-19 outbreak, but it also betrayed the incompetence and ineptitude of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government.

With his own house not in order, Kejriwal recently proceeded to advise the Centre on doing away with the vaccine monopoly and allowing other companies to manufacture the two vaccines currently being produced in India—Covishield and Covaxin. He wrote a letter to PM Modi, cautioning that the current wave of the coronavirus outbreak is lethal and the focus should be on vaccinating the entire country aggressively.

“The second wave of Covid is very fatal and the disease has reached the villages with many lives lost… There is a need to vaccinate all the citizens as soon as possible… Presently only two companies are manufacturing vaccines in India. Providing vaccine to the whole country through two companies only is not possible. It requires ramping up vaccine manufacturing at war footing,” said Kejriwal in a letter to Modi.

While there is merit in Kejriwal’s argument that the country should be hurrying up the vaccination of its people to avoid subsequent bouts of COVID-19 outbreak, it does not jibe with the AAP government’s priorities in Delhi. After bungling up the COVID-outbreak in Delhi, the AAP government pompously announced a free COVID-19 vaccination programme for Delhi residents—’Aam Aadmi Free Covid Vaccine’, perhaps in a bid to pacify people who were enraged at its poor handling of the crisis.

In this pursuit, the AAP government in Delhi announced a paltry allocation of Rs 50 crores. For a city with a population of 2 crores, it will require at least 4 crores of vaccine doses to fully vaccinate its people. Considering that a single dose of vaccine costs Rs 250, even though it is higher than that, the Delhi government will require at least Rs 1000 crores to provide free vaccination to the entire population. Even if one accounts for free vaccines that the Centre is providing Delhi to vaccinate its people, the meagre amount of Rs 50 crores as against the requirement of Rs 1000 crores speaks volumes of AAP’s lack of seriousness towards free vaccination.

For AAP, PR and self-promotion more important than state’s Health Care

By contrast, AAP had allocated more than Rs 150 crores for advertising and marketing itself, and that too for only the first three months of 2021. An RTI reply dated April 08 has revealed that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has spent Rs 150 crores from January 2021 to March 2021 on advertisements and publicity through various mediums. 

The RTI reply uploaded by a Twitter user Alok Bhatt revealed that Rs 32.52 crores were spent on ads by the AAP government in January 2021, Rs 25.33 crores were spent in February 2021 and a whopping Rs 92.48 crores were spent in March 2021. This averages to Rs 1.67 crore daily when the health infrastructure in the national capital had begun to crumble amid the second wave of coronavirus.

The reply specifies that the total expenditure includes advertisements and publicity through print media, electronic media, and the internet.

Further, Kejriwal government has spent over 800 crores in advertisement expenses in past two years.

Clearly, for the Delhi government, managing PR is much higher in its list of priorities than providing free vaccination for the entire population of Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal recently proclaimed that the Delhi government will soon be floating global tenders for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines. With the allocation of a mere Rs 50 crores, one cannot help but wonder how they could expect to get anything substantial that could help them boost the vaccination in Delhi.

Given Kejriwal’s tendency to abdicate the responsibility and pass the buck on the Centre, as he recently did when he suggested that the central government should procure vaccines on behalf of all the states, it won’t be surprising if he asks the Centre to foot the bill for the free vaccination to the people of Delhi.

This misplaced priority of splurging money on promoting oneself over earmarking sufficient allocation for the free vaccination of Delhi residents encapsulates the Arvind Kejriwal government’s COVID-19 mismanagement in the national capital.

Delhi’s bungled handling of the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak

Delhi was in the throes of a raging coronavirus outbreak last month as the cases increased dramatically and the hospitals in the national capital struggled with the oxygen supplies. Not just oxygen, but there was also shortages of beds, key antiviral drugs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients in Delhi have been left to fend for themselves as they contend with the scarcity of oxygen, beds and medicines. In the absence of a responsible government in the state, their relatives often had to resort to Twitter and other social media websites for raising SOS alarm and seeking help.

Even the hospitals in Delhi have accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of mismanaging the coronavirus outbreak and not providing a steady supply of oxygen to them, which resulted in deaths of patients who could have otherwise be saved if the Delhi government had competently handled the crisis.

Delhi government’s incompetence in handling the oxygen requirement in the national capital can be gauged from the fact that they have often been contradicting their own stand with respect to the oxygen requirement in the city.

Days after the Supreme Court ordered setting up a panel to carry out an audit of supply, distribution, and utilization of oxygen supply in the national capital, the Arvind Kejriwal government yesterday announced that they have an excess supply of the same and have offered to give the surplus oxygen to the states who need it.

For all this while, the AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal had maintained that Delhi needs a daily supply of at least 976 MT of oxygen to emerge out of the crisis in the national capital. The party leadership has been pinning the blame on the central government for not providing them with the required 976 MT of oxygen. But after the city-state was supplied with 730 MT of oxygen, following court orders, the CM started saying that they have enough oxygen to open thousands of new oxygen beds.

Maharashtra Govt cancels plan to spend Rs 6 crore on Ajit Pawar’s PR agency after facing severe backlash

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra Govt cancels plan to spend Rs 6 crore on Ajit Pawar’s PR agency after facing severe backlash

The Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray has reportedly cancelled its decision to spend Rs 5.98 crore for appointing a private agency to boost the image of the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The decision came after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government faced severe backlash for earmarking the amount for a minister’s PR at a time when the country is grappling with the Covid-19 crisis.

According to reports, following the criticism, Pawar himself has issued the instructions to cancel the earlier government order in this regard.

BJP had opposed and raised concerns after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra Wednesday promulgated an order for appointing an external agency to handle the social media accounts of Deputy Chief Minister of Ajit Pawar.

BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar slammed Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for overburdening the State’s treasury which was already in a bad shape in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19 in the state that has ravaged the state’s finances.

Maharashtra govt spends Rs 6 cr in hiring PR agency to handle Ajit Pawar’s SM accounts

On May 13 it was reported how the order signed by the Undersecretary of the general administration RN Musale said that the external agency would handle Ajit Pawar’s Twitter handle and accounts on Facebook, Blogger, YouTube, Instagram. The private agency will also handle the sound cloud, WhatsApp bulletin, Telegram channel and SMS. It said that since the DGIPR lacks professional and technical competence to deal with social media, so it was felt that it would be appropriate if an external agency were hired for the purpose. And for this purpose, the Maharashtra Government had agreed to shell out a whooping amount of Rs 6 crores from the exchequer funds.

Israel Defence Forces debunk propaganda peddled by Palestinian supporters, explain how Hamas is causing death of Gazan civilians

OpIndia Staff
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Israel Defence Forces debunk propaganda peddled by Palestinian supporters, explain how Hamas is causing death of Gazan civilians

Amidst the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has given a point-by-point rebuttal of the propaganda peddled on social media by Palestinian Supporters.

In a series of tweets posted on Friday (May 14), IDF debunked all allegations of ‘human rights violations’ and ‘ethnic cleansing’ levelled against it. The Israel Defence Forces said, “Last week, violent clashes erupted in East Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount. This week, the violence escalated, with Palestinian terror organizations launching rockets from Gaza Into Israel.”

IDF informed that about 1,750 rockets have been fired at the Jewish State by terror outfits such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). This has led to 7 casualties and 523 injuries on the Israeli side. Several rockets launched by the terror organizations have hit homes, hospitals, schools, and buses. It further emphasized that the IDF has so far struck over 650 terror targets in Gaza including 10 attack tunnels and rocket launch sites. In this process, over 100 terrorists associated with Hamas and PIJ have been neuralised.

The Israeli Defence Forces further debunked the propaganda surrounding the high casualty numbers in Gaza as compared to Israel. “Of the 1,750+ rockets that they have fired since Monday, 300 misfired and exploded inside Gaza, killing and injuring innocent Gazans in the vicinity. This is because Hamas and Islamic Jihad deliberately place rocket launchers and military sites within densely populated civilian areas in the Gaza Strip,” it said.

Hamas causing the death of Gazan civilians by putting them at risk: IDF

“In addition, when the IDF warns Gazan civilians to evacuate, Hamas and Islamic Jihad encourage civilians to stay instead. But in Israel, the IDF does everything it can to protect Israeli citizens and the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System has successfully intercepted over 90% of rockets fired at Israel,” it continued.

The IDF informed that Jerusalem came under rocket attack for the first time in 2014. At the same time, it has accused Hamas and Islamic Jihad of launching hundreds of rockets on Tel Aviv. Israeli Defence Forces emphasized that this has led to millions of civilians running for cover from the rocket fire. At the same time, one IDF soldier was also killed in one of the anti-tank missiles launched from the Gaza strip.

The Israeli Defence Forces highlighted the response of the Jewish State against the barrage of rocket fires. “In response to the ongoing attacks, the IDF has taken action to eliminate these sources of terror: Hamas and Islamic Jihad have placed rocket launchers throughout Gaza. And when they fire rockets at Israel, they are doing so in close vicinity to Gazan civilians. The way to eliminate the launch sites and prevent the terrorist organizations from firing rockets at Israel — is through military air strikes,” it added.

Top terrorists killed by IDF

The IDF also pointed out the names of top terrorists, who have been eliminated by Israel’s Defense Forces. It includes Gaza city Brigade Commander of Hamas (Baseem Issa), Hamas’ R&D Head (Khazem Khatib), Head of Counter-Espionage Department (Wail Issa), Head of Hamas Military Intelligence Security Department (Hassan Kaogi), Senior Hamas R& D official (Juma Tahla), and Head of PIJ’s rocket unit (Samech Mamluch).

“Hamas terrorists have dug tunnels from Gaza into Israel. The IDF has been exposing Hamas tunnels since 2014, and has already exposed and targeted 10 new ones this week. If these tunnels were not neutralised, Hamas would be able to carry out one of its goals of infiltrating into Israel and kidnapping Israelis,” IDF tweeted.

While debunking the anti-Israeli propaganda, IDF remarked, “The fact that there aren’t more casualties in Israel does not mean that Hamas isn’t trying to kill Israeli civilians. It simply means that the IDF is preventing them from doing so at an incredible level. The Iron Dome Aerial Defense System and easily accessible bomb shelters all over Israel have saved thousands of lives.”

It concluded, “IDF troops will continue to work 24/7 to defend Israeli civilians at the highest level possible and minimize Gazan casualties wherever possible.”

The ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict

The hostilities between the Jewish nation and its nemesis Hamas are at an all-time high, especially after the intense aerial exchanges that started on Tuesday evening and continued well past midnight. On Tuesday, Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas unleashed massive airstrikes against Israel, firing hundreds of rockets inside the country.

The country’s air defence system, popularly known as the Iron Dome, intercepted the continuous barrage of rockets targeting Tel Aviv and central Israel Tuesday evening. Israel, in response, stepped up its attacks on the Palestinian terror group Hamas inside Gaza Strip. The Israel Defence Forces carried out airstrikes on targets in Gaza in response to continued attacks by Hamas against Israel.

During the retaliatory strikes on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike struck a high-rise office and residential building controlled by Hamas. At least 103 people have been killed in Gaza in the past 4 days. The violence is the culmination of weeks of tensions in Jerusalem, with clashes taking place between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in and around the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, a chronic flashpoint in the protracted Israel-Palestine conflict. The mosque is perched on a 35-acre site known by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. It is also revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.

His mental, physical condition can’t be ignored: Former military officers question legitimacy of Joe Biden’s victory, ability to lead

OpIndia Staff
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His mental, physical condition can’t be ignored: Former military officers question legitimacy of Joe Biden’s victory, ability to lead

124 retired US military leaders have written an open letter questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 United States Presidential election as well as President Joe Biden’s fitness to be commander-in-chief.

According to the reports, the letter written by a group of veterans called – “Flag Officers 4 America” said that the United States “is in deep peril” with Americans “in a fight for our survival as the Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776”.

“Without fair and honest elections that accurately reflect the ‘will of the people,’ our Constitutional Republic is lost. Election integrity demands ensuring there is one legal vote cast and counted per citizen,” said the letter released on Tuesday by “Flag Officers 4 America”. The letter is signed by 124 former admirals and generals.

The “Flag Officers 4 America” is a group of US military veterans, who pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the US against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Some of the signatories include – Retired Rear Adm. John Poindexter, who was the National Security Adviser under President Ronald Reagan, and Retd Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, who spent five years as Deputy Undersecretary of Defence for Intelligence under President George W Bush and is now Executive Vice President of the Family Research Council.

In their letter, the former generals and admirals urged the FBI and Supreme Court to act swiftly when election irregularities are surfaced and not ignore them as was done in 2020.

US military veterans raise concerns over Biden’s health

Further, the signatories have also addressed concerns over Biden’s health.

“The mental and physical condition of the Commander in Chief cannot be ignored. He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night,” the letter said.

The letter further read, “Recent Democrat leadership’s inquiries about nuclear code procedures send a dangerous national security signal to nuclear-armed adversaries, raising the question about who is in charge. We must always have an unquestionable chain of command”.

The letter goes on to address a number of pressing issues such as the border crisis, China, Iran nuclear question, Rule of Law in the US. As per the veterans, the border crisis is jeopardizing national security by “increasing human trafficking, drug cartels, terrorist entry, health/CV19 dangers, and humanitarian crises”.

The US military veterans also addressed the ongoing tussle between the US and China and described China as the “greatest external threat to America”.

Interestingly, the veterans’ open letter comes almost a year after Former President Donald Trump had cast similar doubts on Joe Biden’s health and suitability to rule, referring to him as “Sleepy Joe”. During the 2020 US Presidential Election campaign, Former POTUS Trump had also questioned Biden’s capabilities by saying that there was “something going on” with Biden’s mental abilities.

US elections and allegations of electoral fraud

The 2020 US Presidential Elections were marred by controversies after several shocking allegations of massive election fraud were made against the Democratic party. According to the critics, the Democratic party indulged in ‘rigging’ elections through ballot papers to gain a lead in key swing states.

The Trump campaign had alleged that there is serious voter fraud as they demanded a stop to the counting process in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Michigan after several inconsistencies were found in the counting process. The allegations of rigging in the US election process surfaced after several persons pointed out about the sudden halt of the vote count process on the counting day and the subsequent overnight increase in votes for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, especially in states like Michigan and Wisconsin without adding a single vote to President Donald Trump or any other candidates.

Despite several American voters pointing out the serious election fraud, especially the act of massive rigging in the ballot system, the American media and electoral institutions overlooked the allegations and did not even initiate a serious probe to look into such serious allegations.

Bombay HC asks Maha govt how film stars and politicians are offering to provide Remdesivir despite shortage

OpIndia Staff
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Bombay HC asks Maha govt how film stars and politicians are offering to provide Remdesivir despite shortage

The spread of COVID-19 has left the country’s healthcare system overwhelmed. Many states like Maharashtra have been complaining of facing an acute shortage of medical supplies like oxygen and the much sought-after COVID-19 drug, Remdasivir. Despite this shortage, many Bollywood stars and politicians have offered to provide oxygen cylinders and drugs like Remdasivir and Tocilizubam to patients in response to their plea on social media.

Now, the Bombay HC has pulled up the state government, seeking a response on how, despite the state facing an acute shortage, some famous personalities are being able to procure and distribute Remdesivir freely.

The order was passed during the hearing of PILs on the coronavirus situation on Wednesday but published on the HC website on Thursday evening. When the judges were hearing the plea, Advocate Rajesh Inamdar annexed several Tweets from Bollywood actor and self-claimed ‘messiah’ Sonu Sood and NCP’s Zeeshan Siddiqui, distributing Remdesivir vials within hours of such pleas from anywhere in the country.

A two-judge bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni said that as per previous orders of the Supreme Court and several High Courts, the drug was supposed to be allocated to states only by the Union government. Then how are some celebrities and politicians easily procuring and distributing the drug in response to pleas on Twitter?

‘This can amount to black marketing’, Bombay HC seeks response from Maha Govt

“If Remdesivir is being allocated by the central government to the state, then how the same can be privately available for distribution at the hands of such political and film personalities”, the court asked in the order.

Justice GS Kulkarni asked in court whether this can amount to black marketing. “Whether this would amount to hoarding, illegal stocking, and illegal distribution”? the bench said, asking the Maharashtra state government to submit a response.

Adding that such a parallel system of distribution of anti-COVID drugs might cause “serious prejudice” to patients in urgent need, the judges noted: “Also, such personalities making the drug available privately raises a grave question as to its equitable distribution in a system/regime which is set into motion for its allocation.”

It also raised its concerns on how some unscrupulous persons too may take advantage of this for making money.

Saying so, the court asked the Maharashtra government and Centre to file a reply affidavit by May 19 as to how Remdesivir was being “parallelly distributed by political and film personalities”.

Maharashtra plays politics over supplies of Remdesivir

It is pertinent to note here that last month, the Maharashtra Government had accused the central government of discriminating against the state on supplies of Remdesivir. Moreover, Maharashtra’s Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik had launched a scathing attack on the opposition party in Maharashtra accusing them of hoarding Remdesivir- an antiviral drug being used for Covid treatment, by sourcing it from Bruck Pharma. 

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had, however, diffused the baseless allegations made by Nawab Malik. Somaiya had tweeted a copy of the official approval letter signed by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration- Maharashtra State, giving a go-ahead to the distribution of Remdesivir.

Chhattisgarh health minister who had spread vaccine hesitancy against Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin now takes the same jab

OpIndia Staff
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Chhattisgarh health minister who had spread vaccine hesitancy against Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin now takes the same jab

Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh Deo, who had in February this year asked the central government to halt the supply of a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine- Covaxin to the state until its efficacy could be proven has taken his first jab of the same vaccination. The Congress leader took to Twitter on May 11 to share the news.

He wrote that after six weeks of recovering from COVID, he has taken his first shot of Covaxin as instructed by the doctors.

Chhattisgarh Health Minister spreads panic and misinformation on Covaxin

Interestingly, Deo is the same minister who had in the beginning of the year, left no stone unturned to spread misinformation and unnecessary panic by doubting the performance and efficacy of India’s first indigenous COVAXIN developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV).

Letter written by TS Singh Deo to union health minister on January 21, 2021

In the letter to the Union Health Minister dated January 21, 2021, TS Singh Deo, who is one of the senior-most Congress leaders from the state had said that there was an “inhibition among the community” regarding Covaxin, as the vaccine had been given emergency use authorization before the completion of third phase human trials. Deo further claimed that Covaxin vials did not carry expiry dates on them. He had requested the Union health minister to halt the supply of COVAXIN to the state ‘until these issues are addressed to the satisfaction of the state’s Health Department’.

Union Health Minister slams the Congress minister for raising doubts on the efficacy of Covaxin

In response to the Congress minister’s fear-mongering, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had hit out at Deo for spreading vaccine hesitancy at a time when the country was facing fierce challenges dealing with a severe but highly unpredictable threat to the lives of their citizens. 

“In such unprecedented times, you should help address any vaccine hesitancy & do what’s in the best interest of people, not further vested interests,” the Union health minister had said in his tweet, referring to Deo.

Vardhan had asserted that both Covaxin and Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccines were “safe and immunogenic” and “should be used expeditiously” to “rapidly confer protection to prioritized beneficiaries”.

Covaxin is India’s first domestically-developed Covid-19 vaccine. It is a two-dose jab that uses an inactivated or “dead” form of the virus. Covaxin was approved for emergency use back in January. Covaxin Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials conducted in 755 participants demonstrated a high safety profile of the candidate vaccine with seroconversion rates of 98.3% and 81.1% on day 56 and 104 respectively.

India’s first home made Covaxin proven to be 81 per cent efficient in interim Phase III trial

The Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research began the phase 3 study of Covaxin in November 2020 across 25 study sites and was conducted on a total of 25,800 participants between 18-98 years of age, including 2,433 over the age of 60 and 4,500 with comorbidities.

Last month, India’s Bharat Biotech finally announced interim Phase III data for its Covid-19 shot, with the vaccine showing 81% efficacy at preventing mild, moderate and severe coronavirus infections and working well against most variants.

Charlie Hebdo cartoon mocking Hindu deities for Covid-19 crisis turns out to be fake? Here’s what we know

OpIndia Staff
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Charlie Hebdo cartoon mocking Hindu deities for Covid-19 crisis turns out to be fake? Here’s what we know

On Thursday, a cartoon mocking Indians, especially Hindus, for the acute oxygen crisis amidst the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country went viral on social media platforms.

The cartoon that was aggressively shared by the left-wing trolls on Twitter depicts Indians lying on the ground, gasping for oxygen. The cartoon, allegedly published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, took a dig at the Hindu deities, asking how they could not help their own people during the second wave of the pandemic.

The alleged Charlie Hebdo cartoon also accompanied a catchphrase in French that read, “33 million gods in India and not one capable of producing oxygen”.

The alleged Charlie Hebdo cartoons widely shared by left-liberals on Twitter

The reference to “33 million gods” is nothing but an attempt to communalize the health crisis in the country by pointing fingers at Hindus, who worship multiple gods.

As usual, the left-wing ‘intellectuals’ and a few Hinduphobic social media users gleefully shared the so-called Charlie Hebdo cartoon widely on Twitter and cheered the French satirical magazine for making fun of Hindus amidst the ongoing health crisis in the country.

Congress leader Brijesh Kalappa was one of the first to share the alleged Charlie Hebdo cartoon that mocked Hindus. Attacking BJP, Kalappa asked what would the saffron party do, who, according to him, was celebrating the series of cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo depicting Islam in a poor light.

Salil Tripathi, another left-wing troll who has a rich history of peddling misinformation on social media platforms, put out an offensive tweet to ask whether the free speech champions from Hindutva, who according to him cheered Charlie Hebdo over its cartoons in the past, would defend the right of free expression now.

Congress IT cell worker Sumit Kashyap also celebrated the alleged Charlie Hebdo cartoon saying that the satirical magazine was doing great service to humanity by putting such vile cartoons.

As left-liberals and the usual anti-Hindu propagandists cheered Charlie Hebdo’s alleged cartoons, some social media users pointed out the hypocrisy of these ‘left-liberals’, who were just a few months back attacking the same French magazine for publishing cartoons that were allegedly hurtful for Muslims.

However, with certain cartoons mocking Hindus and their deities began to make rounds on the internet, the left-liberals have now taken a complete u-turn to cheer the same publication for allegedly putting content that mocks Hindus traditions.

Did Charlie Hebdo publish an offensive cartoon against Hindus? What we know so far

Even as the left-liberals continue to tweet these Charlie Hebdo cartoons with all vigour, some social media users claimned that the French satirical magazine may have nothing to do with the above cartoon.

Interestingly, the cartoon that is being attributed to Charlie Hebdo by the left-liberals does not even feature anywhere on Charlie Hebdo’s official Twitter account. The cartoon also does not even find a place on their English version of the website.

Twitter user Nayanika pointed it out.

In fact, Charlie Hebdo has published a few other stories on India, especially over the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. In a report published on April 22 this year, the French satirical magazine has questioned the Indian government’s Covid-19 strategy. The French magazine had a satirical take on the entire crisis and had published a couple of caricatures on the same.

Here are the cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo on the second wave of the pandemic, featuring MK Gandhi and Mughal monument Taj Mahal.

A Charlie Hebdo cartoon about about the Covid crisis in India

So where did the so-called Charlie Hebdo cartoon originate in the first place?

Amid the confusion over whether the cartoon was actually made by Charlie Hebdo or it was made by someone else, we can now confirm that it was actually made and published by the well-known magazine. The same cartoon was posted by the official Facebook account of Charlie Hebdo on 11th May.

Although the cartoon can’t be found on the English version of the website, it is there on the original French version. The cartoon was drawn by Laurent “Riss” Sourisseau, the publishing director and majority owner of the magazine. The cartoon was published without any accompanying text, and that is why it does not turn up in search results. For this reason, people had assumed that the cartoon was not made by Charlie Hebdo. In fact, the cartoon is displayed in the page of Riss, where creations by him are published.

Note: This report has been updated with new information

UP govt under CM Yogi rises up to fight Covid: From oxygen cylinders for patients under home isolation to online live monitoring systems

OpIndia Staff
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UP govt under CM Yogi rises up to fight Covid: From oxygen cylinders for patients under home isolation to online live monitoring systems

After battling the paucity of oxygen initially, the supply of medical oxygen in Uttar Pradesh has been streamlined. CM Yogi Adityanath has been at the forefront to augment oxygen supply in the state, as the country faces a health crisis following the catastrophic second wave of the pandemic.

Oxygen cylinders for home isolation patients

In a recent order, the Yogi Adityanath Government specified that oxygen cylinders will be provided to all Covid-19 patients who are undergoing treatment at their homes. In accordance with the order, all the district commissioners and district magistrates were asked to arrange oxygen cylinders for Covid-19 patients. And latest figures suggest that the Uttar Pradesh Government, in the last 24 hours, made 26.44 MT of oxygen available to almost 3471 corona infected people undergoing home isolation.

For this purpose, the specially formed Team-09, set up to manage Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, has been working relentlessly under the guidance of CM Yogi Adityanath, who himself proactively participated in discussions with medical experts to understand why there was a shortage of oxygen in the state and how it could be overcomed.

State to set up oxygen generation plants

After learning that the main hurdle that stood in the way of uninterrupted oxygen supply in the state was the crippling oxygen delivery system, Yogi Adityanath decided to set up oxygen generation plants for the availability of oxygen in all the districts keeping in mind the future needs. For this, his government also sanctioned the budget.

Sugar Mills in Uttar Pradesh to generate oxygen and supply directly to hospitals

Alongside, the COVID management team has been instructed to ensure that the oxygen generated by the sugar mills is supplied to the nearest CHC (Community Health Centre.

The sugar mills will help the government to set up two plants each in all 75 districts of the state. In addition, oxygen concentrators have been made available from CHC level to large hospitals. According to the needs of the districts, Yogi Adityanath has asked the team to buy oxygen concentrators. Industries and corporate have also been approached to chip in as part of the CSR (corporate social responsibility).

All necessary efforts are being made to increase the availability of oxygen. In view of future needs, oxygen plants are being set up in all districts of the state by the central government, state government as well as private sector for the availability of oxygen. Various PSUs are also setting up plants at their level.

Online Oxygen monitoring system launched in Uttar Pradesh

Furthermore, on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an online oxygen monitoring system has been launched. Under this system, the government has opened a special Command Control Centre at Home Department in Lucknow.  The control room is being manned by senior officials and employees of the Home, Food and Drug Administration, Medical Education, Health and Family Welfare and Transport departments 24/7 in coordination.

Through this Management Information System (MIS) a live report on the movement of Oxygen tankers can be monitored and viewed on a map. Software’s dashboard will analyze and inform if the tanker is getting delayed – either in filling or in transportation.

The Govt has also created an app that will be installed in the driver’s mobile phone to act as GPS. It will help to monitor the oxygen supply in the state. Moreover, authorities would conduct regular audits to prevent oxygen pilferage and wastage.

Apart from this, the help of oxygen express and air force planes have been sought to get oxygen from other states.

Global tenders issued for the availability of cryogenic tankers

The Uttar Pradesh Government has also said that global tenders have been issued for the availability of cryogenic tankers. Pertinently, UP is the first state in the country that has issued a global tender for cryogenic tankers.

Moreover, with the help of the central government and Industrialists, the number of tankers has rapidly increased in the state, which has helped the state to further improve its oxygen supply. According to official figures, there were 64 oxygen tankers to bring oxygen to UP, which has now been increased to 89 oxygen tankers.

Oxygen distribution in Uttar Pradesh

Giving information on how medical oxygen is being efficiently made available to all districts in the state, the Govt informed that it supplied 1,011 metric tonnes of oxygen to various hospitals and refilling centres on May 10 to improve the availability of medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients in various parts of the state. Out of this, a govt official confirmed that 632 MT oxygen was supplied to refillers while 301 MT of the lifesaving gas was provided to hospitals.

Similarly, on May 12, 1014.53 MT oxygen was distributed in the state. Out of this, 619.59 MT oxygen was given to the refillers while 302.62 MT oxygen was supplied to medical colleges and hospitals. Moreover, almost 27.9 MT oxygen was made available to at least 4105 corona infected people being treated in home isolation.

Likewise, on May 13, 1031.43 MT oxygen was distributed in the state, out of which, 623.11 metric tonnes of oxygen was given to the refillers and 313.02 MT oxygen to medical colleges and hospitals. Today also, at least 26.44 MT oxygen was made available to 3471 corona infected patients in home isolation. Moreover, the private hospitals in the state were allocated 95.29 MT medical oxygen to treat the COVID-19 patients.

Along with various measures, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is making sure to be personally available for his citizens to boost their morale in these testing times.

Covid-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh

According to reports, Uttar Pradesh has seen a sustained decline in the number of active cases and a surge in recoveries in the state for the 12th consecutive day today. The overall recovery rate in UP climbed to 85 per cent against 73 per cent in the month of April. Moreover, the state has 2.06 lakh cases active, which is over lakh cases less than the peak of 3.10 lakh reported on April 30.

Owing to the state’s persistent efforts, World Health Organisation (WHO) has also lauded Uttar Pradesh model of door-to-door Covid surveillance.

West Bengal: Another BJP worker from Nandigram killed in post-poll violence, Suvendu Adhikari pays tribute

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Another BJP worker from Nandigram killed in post-poll violence, Suvendu Adhikari pays tribute

In yet another incident of political violence in the State of West Bengal, a BJP worker succumbed to his injuries after being attacked by Trinamool Congress hoodlums.

On Thursday (May 13), TV9 journalist Anindya had shared the details of the incident on Twitter. According to him, the deceased BJP worker has been identified as one Debabrata Maity. He was attacked by ‘political opponents’ on May 3 i.e. a day after the West Bengal results were announced. Maity, who was admitted to a hospital following injuries, has now passed away.

BJP MLA from Nandigram, Suvendu Adhikari, has further informed that the BJP worker was a resident of Chillogram village. He wrote, “On May 3, Chillogram village resident Debabrata Maity was targetted by Trinamool Congress sponsored goons and badly injured him. Today, he died at the SSKM (Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial) Hospital. I pray for his departed soul. I stand by his family in such hard times.” In a video uploaded by the BJP MLA, he was seen paying his tribute to the deceased Debabrata Maity.

Suvendu Adhikari stated, “Shri Debabrata Maity was a Voter in my constituency #Nandigram. Was. I’m in disbelief even using the word. Is this the consequence of exercising one’s franchise? He was killed for the crime of using his Constitutional right to vote. Numbed beyond words at this senseless violence.”

Furthermore, he added, “Paid my tributes to him earlier tonight. Prayed to God for the departed Soul. May it attain Eternal Peace. I stand with his Family in this hour of grief. Not just as their MLA, but also as a son of this pious soil. I am sure the great People of West Bengal stand with them, too.”

Post-poll violence in West Bengal by TMC

After TMC’s thumping victory in West Bengal, its party workers have unleashed terror on the workers and supporters of BJP and other opposition parties. As per some social media reports, at least ten BJP karyakartas are said to have been killed brutally in the apparent victory celebration by the TMC. BJP’s Avijit Sarkar was lynched to death along with his puppies allegedly by the TMC’s bloodthirsty cadre. 

The party offices of the BJP were burnt down to ashes at various locations. After horrifying videos of women being attacked and assaulted by the TMC goons surfaced on social media, the Chairperson of NCW Rekha Sharma reached the state of West Bengal to take stock of the situation and provide relief to the affected. A CRPF unit was sent to BJP’s Purbasthali Uttar candidate Dr Gobardhan Das’s village after he was trapped inside his home along with his family members including the elderly as TMC hoodlums hurled bombs.

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