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Punjab village issues Tughlaqi farman: To fine families if they fail to send members to ‘protests’ at Delhi border

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab village issues Tughlaqi farman: To fine families if they fail to send members to ‘protests’ at Delhi border

Adding to the high political drama going on around the ‘farmer protests’ following the Republic Day violence, the Sarpanch Virk Khurd gram panchayat in Bathinda, Punjab has passed a Tughlaqi Farmaan. The Sarpanch named Manjit Kaur has ordered that at one member from each family in the village will be sent to the protests going on at Delhi borders for a week.

In order to put pressure on people to follow her diktat, Kaur has attached monetary sanction to it. Those not following the order will be made to pay a fine of Rs 1,500 and those who fail to pay the fine will be boycotted.

Earlier, a scuffle had broken out between the protestors and the locals at Singhu border after a group of locals gathered there demanding the routes to be cleared. The protestors pelted stones at the locals and policeman was also badly injured in the clashes.

BKU (Lok Shakti) rejoins the protests at Delhi border

Just a day after announcing its withdrawal from the farmer protest, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti) re-launched its protest over the farm laws on Friday. BKU (Lok Shakti) Chief Thakur Sheoraj Singh Bhati urged the union’s supporters to reach at Ghazipur border from the Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida where they had been camping. Bhati released a video message appealing to the union’s supporters to reach the farmers’ Mahapanchayat that was organised in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.

Political parties lend support to protests during Mahapanchayat

The Mahapanchayat was convened in Muzaffarnagar by BKU leader Naresh Tikait after his brother and BKU leader Rakesh Tikait broke down on camera refusing to end the protest. It was decided at the Mahapanchayat that the protest will continue. Several political parties including the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party have lent their support for the protest. Jayant Chaudhari, son of RLD chief Ajit Singh, participated in the Mahapanchayat.

‘Farmer’ protests are completely organic not politically motivated. Here is how

Nirwa Mehta
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‘Farmer’ protests are completely organic not politically motivated. Here is how

The ‘farmers’ have been protesting at various entry points leading to the national capital for over 60 days now. While many from ‘Godi media’ have been trying to cast aspersions that these protests are politically motivated by opposition and these are actual farmers, here is a lowdown of how it is not so.

All weather protestor Yogendra Yadav

So what if he was part of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Committee under the Manmohan Singh government? Yadav was the member of the NAC on Right to Education. Of course, he’s apolitical. No wonder he was also a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party along with Prashant Bhushan. From Citizenship Amendment Act to abrogation of Article 370 to farm laws to everything under the sun. If it is a reform, Yadav is there to protest against it.

Agents of chaos aka Aam Aadmi Party

Arvind Kejriwal, who on most days cries that despite being the chief minister he has no powers, has obviously not sniffed a political opportunity here. The fact that Punjab, where Aam Aadmi Party is primary opposition, goes into state elections in 2022 has obviously nothing to do with Kejriwal’s bent over backward support to the protestors. That he provided free WiFi (which he had promised Delhi residents but never fulfilled) and deployed his ministers at Delhi borders obviously is not politically motivated.

Darshan Pal is a purely farmer leader

Of course. Pal was a doctor who took to farming a few years ago, the media reports said. What they conveniently forget to add is that he is a Maoist leader. Darshan Pal was one of the founders of People’s Democratic Front of India (PDFI). PDFI is a constituent of the Maoist movement, the left-wing terrorism in the country.

Darshan Pal was the convenor of the 51-member executive committee of PDFI. Apart from Pal, other founder members of PDFI included known anti-National and anti-BJP names like Varvara Rao, Kalyan Rao, Medha Patkar, Nandita Haksar, SAR Geelani, BD Sarma etc.

Pal’s participation in the anti-farm law bills is clearly apolitical.

Rakesh Tikait

Rakesh Tikait is son of Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahendra Singh Tikait who had considerable influence in Western UP. In 2014, Tikait joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in 2014 and contested the 2014 elections from Amroha. This was seen as a move to please the Jat community after the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.

RLD has been part of the Congress-led UPA since 2011.

And it is an absolute lie that Bharatiya Kisan Union demanded the exact opposite of what they are demanding right now just few months back. That their demands were exactly what the new farm laws give.

Congress, the most innocent of them all

So what if Rahul Gandhi goofs up and does not know that the ‘protestors’ are at Singhu border and not at some imaginary ‘Shambhu border’?

So what if Congress leaders have been giving explicit support to the ‘farmers’ from Punjab? And really, so what if Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Adani-Ambani’ rhetorics led to destruction of 1500 Jio mobile towers in Punjab? That he has given a call to farmers across the country to join the protests is obviously not politics.

Not that Congress ever promised the same reforms in its manifesto as per new farm laws, right?

Note: The above article is high on sarcasm.

Black Lives Matter movement, which led to large scale violent protests in US, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

OpIndia Staff
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Black Lives Matter movement, which led to large scale violent protests in US, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

In a major development, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, despite the unprecedented violence perpetrated by its supporters in the United States. Founded in 2013 by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, the movement came to the national limelight in May 2020 following the killing of an African-American man named George Floyd.

On Saturday, the official Twitter handle of Black Lives Matter informed, “We hold the largest social movement in global history. Today, we have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. People are waking up to our global call: for racial justice and an end to economic injustice, environmental racism, and white supremacy. We’re only getting started.”

While quoting a report published in The Guardian, BLM added, “The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel peace prize for the way its call for systemic change has spread around the world.” The nomination papers were filed by a Norwegian MP, Petter Eide, who represents the Socialist Left Party.

He claimed that the BLM movement played a key role in raising global awareness and forcing other countries fight racial injustice. Lauding the BLM protests in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing, he claimed, “Studies have shown that most of the demonstrations organised by Black Lives Matter have been peaceful…Of course, there have been incidents, but most of them have been caused by the activities of either the police or counter-protestors.”

Any politician, serving at the National level in any country, is allowed to make nominations for Nobel peace prize. They have to present their cases in less than 2000 words. While the last date for submitting nomination papers is February 1, the winner of the coveted recognition will be announced in October. The award ceremony will be held two months later on December 10.

George Floyd Murder and violent BLM protests

On May 25 last year, a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, who knelt on the former’s neck for more than 8 minutes until his body became unresponsive. A shopkeeper had called the cops on Floyd for allegedly trying to pass a ‘potential counterfeit bill’. On being taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center, he was declared dead.

The incident provoked widespread protests, spearheaded by the Black Lives Matter, and riots across several parts of the United States of America. The worst-hit was Minneapolis, where the death of George Floyd took place. Police cars were vandalized and pelted with rocks. To pacify the situation, the cops resorted to firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the frenzied mob.

Windows of unmanned stores were broken. Many stores, boutiques were looted and destroyed by the violent rioters in various parts of the country. A woman protestor of the BLM movement had defecated on an overturned police car, the video of which had gone viral. Windows of unmanned stores were broken. Home goods such as rugs and coffee makers were stolen and stores were set ablaze. The mob also breached the security and reached for the police precinct in the neighborhood where Floyd died. The building was set of fire by the unruly mob, amidst slogans demanding justice for the victim.

Chhattisgarh: Maoist commander kills brother who quit CPI(Maoist) and joined the police

OpIndia Staff
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Chhattisgarh: Maoist commander kills brother who quit CPI(Maoist) and joined the police

A former naxal who quit the Communist Party of India (Maoists) (CPI(Maoist)) and joined the police in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh was reportedly killed on Thursday by his won brother who is a Maoist commander. According to reports, the victim named Somdu Ram Poyam alias Mallesh was a Maoist commander. He had quit the CPI(Maoist) and surrendered in 2014 in Bijapur. Thereafter, he had joined the District Reserve Guard (DRG) as constable and started working with the Bijapur police.

The victim had surrendered in 2014 and joined the DRG

According to reports, few days ago, Mallesh had gone to his village named Kotrapal falling under Jangla police station limits. On Thursday night, his brother named Kosa along with other Maoists killed Mallesh with sharp weapons. The killers set his body on fire in front of his family members and fled the scene. The police reached the village on Friday morning and collected the remains of the victim. A search operation has been launched for Kosa and others as informed by IG Bastar Range, Sunderaj P.

Two villagers were reportedly killed by the Maoists on Tuesday in two villages of Rajnandgaon district under the newly formed Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC) zone. Maoists have reportedly killed six people in the last five days including a deputy sarpanch and a contractor in three Maoists affected districts of Chhattisgarh. According to reports, police records show that 36 cops lost their lives in Maoist attack in Bastar in 2020 and 46 civilians were killed in around 308 Maoist-led incidents in Bastar in the same year.

Maoists killed brother of rebel who became cop in 2020

In a similar incident that happened in January last year, the younger brother of a former Maoist who had surrendered and joined the police was suspected to have been killed by Maoists in a revenge killing in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. The victim named Lakshman Mandavi was reportedly called to the forest by some persons where he was hacked to death using sharp weapons. Police officials that a Maoist leader named Verghese was killed in a police encounter in 2019 and the Maoists believed that Lakshman’s elder brother had a role in it. Therefore, they killed Lakshman.

Punya Prasun Bajpai is back giving ‘krantikari’ advice to Kejriwal, here is what he said

OpIndia Staff
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Punya Prasun Bajpai is back giving ‘krantikari’ advice to Kejriwal, here is what he said

As the ‘farmer’ protests have shown the sign of disintegrating following large-scale rioting by the protestors on 26th January, left-liberals are getting desperate to somehow the keep then protests going. This desperation was seen when ‘krantikari’ journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai had to use Twitter to give advice to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Ichchadhari protestor Yogendra Yadav on the issue.

Today Bajpai tweeted that AAP supremo supports the farmer protests, and psephologist turned politician turned professional protestor Yogendra Yadav is a leader of the farmer agitation, but both of them can’t tolerate each other. The Journalist advised both of them that they should forget their differences and come together, only then the movement will be successful. Bajpai added in the tweet, ‘Refrain from getting divided, come together, only then you will succeed’.

After the Republic Day violence, several farmer unions have withdrawn their support to the protests, and have left the protest sites. The protestors are also facing the ire of locals around the protest sites for disrespecting the national flag at Red Fort. The locals are also unhappy with the protests as after two months of blockade of highways in those locations, they have suffered a lot and it has started impacting their livelihood. Yesterday villagers from several villages in Haryana on Delhi-Jaipur highway had issued an ultimatum to vacate the blockade by protestors. Today the locals had clashed with the protestors in the Singhu border. It may be noted that these same locals had been supporting the protestors by supplying food, water etc.

People like Punya Prasun Bajpai are definitely worried about the protests losing steam over these recent developments, and went ahead to advise rival leaders to come together to salvage the anti-Govt protests.

Yogendra Yadav was a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, and was a member of the National Executive of the Arvind Kejriwal led party. He had even contested election in the 2014 general elections from Gurgaon constituency on an AAP ticket, where he had lost his deposit. But later on, relations between Yogendra Yadav and Kejriwal turned sour, and Yadav was expelled from the party in 2015 for ‘anti-party activities’. Along with Yadav, AAP had also expelled activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, after they had talked against “dictatorial ways” of Kejriwal in the party.

Punya Prasun Bajpai is known as ‘krantikari’ after he had used the word to describe his interview with Kejrwal, which he was telling Kejriwal after the interview but it was caught on camera and made its way to Internet.

Watch: Viral video purportedly shows a Chinese professional demonstrating how an anal swab is collected for Covid test

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Viral video purportedly shows a Chinese professional demonstrating how an anal swab is collected for Covid test

A video is going viral on social media that purportedly shows a Chinese healthcare professional demonstrating the process through which an anal swab is collected for Covid-19 test. The demonstration was carried out on a mannequin.

According to claims being made on social media, foreigners traveling to China will be tested through an anal swab test.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that the test involves the insertion of a saline soaked cotton swab about 3 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) inside the anus of the person being tested. According to Chinese authorities, it is more accurate than the method involving the throat. However, some people have complained of inconvenience after being subjected to the test.

“Intriguingly, SARS-CoV-2 detection was positive in the anal swab of two patients and negative in throat swab and sputum samples,” a group of Chinese researchers said in a study published in the Future Microbiology journal. Thousands of people in China have already been subjected to the anal swab test. However, it is not yet clear whether the virus already defecated is still infectious.

Philadelphia allowed unqualified “college kids” to distribute COVID-19 vaccine, they stole doses and turned away elderlies who had signed up for vaccination

OpIndia Staff
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Philadelphia allowed unqualified “college kids” to distribute COVID-19 vaccine, they stole doses and turned away elderlies who had signed up for vaccination

Despite housing some of the most reputed hospitals and medical institutions in the country, Philadelphia appointed a start-up ‘Philly Fighting COVID’, a self-described “group of college kids”, with hardly any health-care experience, to set up and manage the city’s first and largest coronavirus mass vaccination site.

The result was not surprising—a failure of epic proportions. Elderlies were left with teary-eyed when they realised that the forms that they had filled to receive the vaccines won’t be honoured.

The group had discreetly switched to a for-profit model without publicising the change. Besides, it also added changes in privacy policies that would allow it to sell users’ personal data. One of the volunteers alleged that the 22-year-old CEO of the 9-months-old start-up pocketed vaccine doses. Another one claimed it was a free-for-all where vaccines were up for grabs for the volunteers who injected each other and posed for photos.

Philadelphia severs ties with Philly Fighting COVID after allegations of mishandling vaccine distribution surfaces

Now, the city in Pennsylvania has severed ties with the Philly Fighting COVID, saying it has lost trust in the organisation, after a spate of controversial decisions taken by the group and its CEO. It is also being reported that prosecutors are now looking into the “concerning” allegations.

On Monday night this week, the Philadelphia Health Department announced that it is ending its partnership with Philly Fighting COVID after learning that the group had become for-profit and changed its data policy to allow possible sales of users’ information.

The decision to snap ties with Philly Fighting COVID was taken after allegations of mishandled vaccine doses surfaced. Several reports have alleged the group’s bungled handling of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and the lack of health-care experience of the organisation’s executive leaders.

None of the executive team of the organisation held a degree in medical or public health

As per a report published by Philadelphia magazine, the callow group’s “executive team” had not a single person with a medical degree or advanced degree in public health. The CEO of the company, Andrei Doroshin included his experience as teaching at a high school film class, producing videos of people long-boarding and practising parkour, and founding a nonprofit in his resume.

In his interview with “Today”, Doroshin said that his lack of experience in the medical field would help him in thinking differently and come up with out of the box solutions to speed up vaccination process. In yet another interview, Doroshin expressed hope of setting up a McDonald’s -like a franchise and asserted that the best practices of vaccine distribution can go “out of the window”.

The company started drawing suspicion last week after WHYY reported that Philly Fighting COVID had suddenly withdrawn from hosting coronavirus testing clinics in predominantly Black and Latino neighbourhoods. On Saturday, anxiety regarding the city’s largest COVID-19 vaccine centre swelled when senior citizens, who had queued up for hours to be vaccinated at the Pennsylvania Convention Center were turned away because the group had inadvertently permitted far too many people to sign up.

Volunteers for the group accuse CEO Doroshin of taking home left over COVID-19 vaccine jabs

Philly’s leaders openly bragged about how they were going to become rich. A volunteer of the organisation claimed they were going to become millionaires by billing insurance providers for providing COVID-19 vaccines that their organisation got it for free.  

According to the nurse who volunteered for the group, the situation was utterly chaotic. The nurse, Katrina Lipinsky, confessed to the media organisations that her medical credentials were not sought or verified by the group before she started administering vaccines. Lipinsky also added that dozens of vaccines were left unused after elderlies were turned away on Saturday.

She also alleged that she saw Doroshin putting 10 to 15 of those doses in his bag and taking them with him when he left. It is being alleged that the CEO of the group attended a small gathering that night and a photo of him administering an unspecified syringe to an unknown person in a private home has emerged.

CEO Doroshin admits taking doses to his home but defends his organisation regarding the privacy updates

Philly Fighting COVID-19 CEO admitted yesterday that he indeed took the vaccine doses home and administered them to his friends. “I understand that I made that mistake. That is my mistake to carry for the rest of my life, but it is not the mistake of the organisation,” Andrei Doroshin told NBC’s “Today” show.

However, the CEO of the company on Tuesday refuted the allegations levelled against his organisation. Doroshin said that the company never has and never would sell, share or disseminate any date collected as it would violate HIPAA rules.

Doroshin also apologised for “any miscommunication”, stating that Philly Fighting COVID switched its focus from testing to vaccine and its intention was never to “cause confusion or harm”. Defending his organisation, Doroshin said his group did not have the resources or the bandwidth to handle both testing and vaccinations at the same time, adding that becoming for-profit was imperative for expanding the organisation.

Anna Hazare’s indefinite fast against farm laws ends before it even begins, was to start from Jan 30: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Anna Hazare’s indefinite fast against farm laws ends before it even begins, was to start from Jan 30: Details

Anna Hazare has called off his agitation against the recently passed farm laws after a meeting with former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis. Earlier, he had announced that he will sit on an indefinite fast at his hometown Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra from January 30.

Anna Hazare has said that he has called off the protest after the central government decided to work on 15 core issues.

The 84-year-old activist had said earlier that the government was not sensitive towards the demands of farmers. “I have been agitating for important demands of farmers for the last four years. It seems like the government is not taking proper decision on the issue of farmers. The government is not sensitive towards the farmers,” he had said in a press statement.

Anna Hazare stated, “We have kept our demands before the Central Government time and again. I have written letters to the Prime Minister and Union Agriculture Minister five times in the last three months. Representatives of the government are discussing the matter but they haven’t reached proper solution regarding the demands so far.”

“So, I will start a fast from the Yadavbaba Temple in Ralegan-Siddhi on January 30, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination,” he had stated. Anna Hazare announced today that the fast has now been adjourned.

Mumbai court grants bail to rape accused after mother of victim requested his release for marriage with daughter: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai court grants bail to rape accused after mother of victim requested his release for marriage with daughter: Details

In a bizarre incident, a special court in Mumbai granted bail to a 25-year-old man who raped and impregnated a 16-year-old girl after he expressed willingness to marry the minor girl. 

According to reports, the POCSO Act court granted bail to the accused, who is already married, after it found that their relationship was ‘consensual’. The 16-year old’s mother has also submitted an affidavit seeking the release of the accused stating that her daughter had given birth to their daughter.

The court also noted that the man was ‘willing’ to marry the minor after two years when she is an adult.

Meanwhile, the police had opposed the bail of the accused as there was no evidence to show that the man’s first wife had consented to his second marriage. The police also alleged that the man had lured the minor girl who was not aware of the consequences and now intends to take undue advantage by offering to marry her.

Accused’s community allows him to marry more than once

However, the lawyer representing the case said that the man was allowed to marry more than once in the community of the accused.

Hearing the argument, the court passed the order saying that it cannot be said the first marriage of the accused was not within their knowledge. The court said that as it is submitted that the minor intends to marry him and the accused is also willing to marry her once she turns 18 and the affair is a consensual relationship, there was no need to keep the accused behind bars.

The court further said that, there was nothing to reject the bail application of the accused.

Details of the case

According to the prosecution, the accused is an acquaintance of the girl’s father. The minor girl and the accused had consensual resulting in minor girl becoming pregnant. The and the girl had kept her pregnancy a secret.

As the minor girl informed the accused about her pregnancy, he threatened her not to disclose his identity as the father of her unborn child.

The mother of the victim noticed the body changes and suspected that her daughter was pregnant. Later, the family found out the accused and lodged a complaint against the accused. The accused was arrested on October 23.

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