Maharashtra Police has arrested Sameet Thakkar, a resident of Nagpur, for allegedly posting objectionable comments against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Minister Aaditya Thackeray on social media platforms.
The case against Sameet Thakkar
On 2nd July, two FIRs were registered against Sameer in Nagpur and at VP Road police station, Mumbai. He was accused of posting objectionable content against CM Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray and Nitin Raut. On 1st and 30th June, he posted against Thackerays, which one 1st July he posted a tweet against Raut.
Court ordered to appear in VP Road police station
Thakkar submitted a plea in Bombay High Court to avoid arrest and asked the court to quash FIR registered against him. On 1st October, during the hearing, a bench of Judges SS Shinde and MS Karnik ordered Thakkar to cooperate in the investigation and record his statement in the VP Road police station.
On 5th October, Thakkar visited the VP Road Police station in Mumbai with two advocates to record his statement. The cyber cell team of Mumbai Police was also present. Thakkar escaped the police station on the pretext of going to the washroom. On 9th October, he said in Bombay High Court that he had escaped from the police station as he feared cyber cell would arrest him. The court had then asked cops not to take any action against him and the police must provide a copy of the FIR and record his statement first.
Thakkar was ordered to revisit the police station on 16th October, but he did not appear. On 23rd October, Thakkar’s counsel Abhinav Chandrachud refused to appear for Thakkar and returned his brief. Advocate Raspal Singh Renu informed the court on record that Chandrachud has returned the brief and asked for time to appoint new counsel. The next hearing is scheduled for 3rd November.
#BabyPenguin trended on Twitter in Oct to support Thakkar
When Thakkar was booked for making an objectionable comment on Thackareys, netizens came out in his support and trended #BabyPenguin on Twitter. Thakkar had allegedly called Aaditya Thackeray as ‘Mohammad Azam Shah of Maharashtra, aka baby penguin.’ He also referred to CM as ‘Modern day Aurangazeb’ and posted a derogatory comment on Raut.
Why Aaditya Thackeray is called Baby Penguin
Aaditya Thackeray was given the nickname after his insistence to bring penguins in Mumbai Zoo. The administration spent around Rs 2.5 crores on the project that included the cost of creating an artificial environment for the flightless birds.
Eight Humboldt penguins — Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Flipper, Bubble, Mr Molt and Dory — were brought from Seoul, South Korea, in 2016 to the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, popularly known as the Byculla Zoo. It was known as a ‘pet project’ of Aaditya Thackeray, as he had led the project to bring penguins to Mumbai. However, a few weeks later, one penguin “Dory” died due to bacterial infection. This triggered a massive controversy.
The experts believed that the bird died due to sudden change in the environment. Further, the zoo administration did not have the training and knowledge to handle such exotic birds. Several experts also opined that it was a bad idea to bring penguins to hot and humid India. Later, the first baby penguin hatched in India had also died.
Congress MLA Jitu Patwari while addressing a rally in Mandhata referred to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Kamal Nath’s ‘pair ki dhool’ (unworthy).
#WATCH Ye Anil, Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata…ye apan naam sunte hain bade bade udyogpatiyon ke, inko toh yoon phone lagate hain… Ye vyaktitva hai Kamal Nath ji ka, Shivraj Singh toh unke paero ki dhool bhi nahi hai: Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Jitu Patwari (24.10.2020) pic.twitter.com/SxxD797xHB
Patwari said that how industrialists like Anil and Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, whom we have only heard of, Kamal Nath could pick up phone and call them up. “This is the persona of Kamal Nath. Shivraj Singh is not a speck on this,” he said. He was in Mandhata for campaigning of upcoming by-elections.
Earlier, Congress leader Dinesh Gurjar too had mocked Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s humble beginnings. Earlier this month while addressing a rally in Raipur, Gurjar had called Shivraj Singh Chouhan ‘Bhooke Nange Ghar Ke’ (someone from poor household) while comparing him to Kamal Nath who is ‘big industrialist’.
In past few days, several cases of rape have been reported in the Congress-ruled state of Rajasthan. Responding to these rape cases rampantly taking place in the state, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi claimed that unlike the Hathras case in UP, where the charge of rape has been questioned by police and medical reports, the government in Rajasthan is not denying that the girls were not raped.
This adds to the long list of lies uttered by Rahul Gandhi, because Congress CM in Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot had actually denied a gang rape case in the state. By claiming that Rajasthan govt is not denying rape charge, Rahul Gandhi ended up contradicting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Unlike in UP, the governments of Punjab and Rajasthan are NOT denying that the girl was raped, threatening her family and blocking the course of justice.
If they do, I will go there to fight for justice. #Hathras
Comparing the Congress governments in the states of Rajasthan and Punjab with the Uttar Pradesh government, Gandhi claimed that the governments in the two Congress-ruled states are not denying the rapes unlike the Uttar Pradesh government. Targeting the Yogi government, Gandhi claimed that the Punjab and Rajasthan governments were not threatening the families of the victims and nor were they blocking the course of justice. He claimed that if the Congress governments did so he would go there to fight for justice.
Contrary to Rahul Gandhi’s claims, Rajasthan CM had actually denied the Baran rape case and said that the victims were not forced and that they had gone with the accused persons at their own free will. CM Gehlot made the statement despite the victims admitting on camera that they were kidnapped, drugged and raped by the boys.
The Rajasthan CM Tweeted that the girls have themselves admitted in front of the magistrate in their CrPC section 164 statement that they were not forced by the boys, who he claims were also minors. But he forgot that as per law, the mater of consent does not arise in the case of minors, and even consensual sex with minor girls is considered as rape.
Despite denial by the CM that the girls were not raped, police had register case against the culprits under rape charge and also under POCSO act, as per the statements given by the two minor girls.
Congress scions Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had launched a massive political attack on the Uttar Pradesh government regarding Hathras case.
Rapes in Rajasthan and Punjab
Heinous incidents of rapes that recently took place in the Congress-ruled states of Punjab and Rajasthan have shaken the collective conscience of the country. In Baran, Rajasthan two girls, 13 and 15-year old, were kidnapped, drugged and raped for three days. In Punjab, a 6-year-old girl was raped and burnt alive by two assailants in the Jalalpur village of Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.
As the legal wrangling between Arnab Goswami led Republic TV and Param Bir Singh headed Mumbai Police continues, with the police filing complaint against the editorial team of the Republic TV for the broadcast of its show titled “Revolt against Param Bir Singh?”, a police official named Sachin Vaze has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading the investigation against the channel.
It is pertinent to note that API Vaze is the same police officer who was facing murder charges in a 2003 custodial death case and was reinstated by Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh earlier in June this year. Vaze, popularly known as ‘Encounter Specialist’, was suspended from the police force about 16 years ago and his suspension was revoked by a committee headed by Param Bir Singh.
API Vaze suspended for his involvement in the custodial death of a 27-year-old software engineer
Vaze was embroiled in the custodial death case of a 27-year-old software engineer named Khwaja Yunus, who was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch-CID on December 25, 2002, under the now-repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Yunus was arrested along with three others in connection with a bomb blast that took place in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar on January 7, 2003. Yunus was seen alive last on January 6, when reportedly he was stripped and assaulted by the police, according to the other accused in the case. The police, in its defence, claimed that Yunus had escaped from a police jeep near Lonavala while being taken to Aurangabad for investigation.
Yunus’ family moved court which transferred the case to the state criminal investigation department (CID). The CID, in its report, concluded Yunus’ murder as a case of custodial death and charged vaze and three others with the destruction of evidence.
An encounter specialist with Mumbai Police had said that Yunus had died due to third degree interrogation used by Vaze. He had said that, “Sachin punched Yunus in the stomach and poured a bucket of cold water on him. The fragile Yunus died on the spot.”
Facing custodial death charges, Vaze had been suspended on March 3, 2004. He resigned three years later, in November 2007 after his repeated requests for reinstatement were rejected by the government. After resigning from the police force, Vaze had joined the Shiv Sena party, along with another police officer Pradeep Sharma, who was also a part of the ‘encounter squad’ with Sachin Vaze. Sharma had also reportedly joined Shiv Sena and had unsuccessfully contested the state Assembly elections in 2019 on the Shiv Sena ticket from Nallasopara.
Sachin Vaze was named in an extortion racket
Sachin Vaze, who was once posted in the Anti Extortion Cell, is also accused of running an extortion racket. In 2017, Local Crime Branch (LCB) of the Vasai police had named Vaze as a wanted accused in an alleged extortion racket which was being investigated by it. Anil Yadav, a government doctor and Right To Information (RTI) activist who was arrested by police several cases of extorting money and threatening builders in the Vasai-Virar region, has named Vaze as an accomplice. Yadav had told police that Vaze was a key part of his extortion racket.
“We have substantial evidence against Sachin Vaze’s involvement in the extortion racket, and so we have named him as a wanted accused in the case. Yadav’s victims, against whom he filed Right to Information queries and later extorted lakhs of rupees from them, have also come forward,” a senior LCB officer had said.
Software engineer’s mother moves court to file contempt pleas against Singh and then DGP for reinstatement of API Vaze
After Param Bir Singh reinstated Sachin Vaze in the Mumbai Police in June this year, Khwaja Yunus’s mother Asiya Begum had reportedly filed contempt pleas in the Bombay High Court against Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and the then additional director general of police (current principal secretary (special) home department) Amitabh Gupta. She accused Param Bir Singh and Gupta of reinstating the police officer guilty of killing her son while in custody.
Vaze’s closeness with Param Bir Singh and his long association with Shiv Sena has been alleged by many as a key to his reversal of fortunes. With Republic TV turning the heat on the Mumbai Police and Mumbai Police Commissioner, Singh has resorted to one of his most trusted aide, Vaze, to preside over the investigation into the cases against the channel and its Editor-in-chief.
The raging conflict between Republic TV and Mumbai Police
Arnab Goswami and Republic TV have maintained that they have been systematically targeted through a witch-hunt by the Mumbai Police. Goswami has claimed that ever since his channel covered the lynching of Hindu Sadhus in Palghar and asked uncomfortable questions of the Mumbai Police and the state government, they have been subjected to an unmitigated witch-hunt campaign.
Arnab Goswami and the Mumbai Police are at loggerheads since the prime time show aired on Republic Bharat over the lynching of Hindu sadhus in Palghar. Several FIRs were filed against the news anchor and he was called to the police station in Mumbai where he was grilled for more than 11 hours. A case was also filed against him and his channel Republic TV for broadcast on April 14 and 15 regarding the Bandra migrants incident.
Arnab had also alleged that one of his reporters and the camera person was unlawfully detained by the Maharashtra government when they were on a trail of an investigative story in Navi Mumbai. Another Republic TV journalist Pradeep Bhandari was recently encircled physically by the Mumbai Police and was detained illegally. It was alleged that Pradeep was assaulted as well and was not provided with access to lawyers.
A few days back, Republic TV was also targeted in a TRP manipulation case when the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh convened a press conference and insinuated that Republic TV paid bribes to manipulate its TRP. However, hours later Republic TV cited Hansa Research’s report to allege that the complaint of TRP manipulation carried the name of India Today and not Republic TV.
A six-party grouping, which included former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir CM and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, the former separatist and politician Sajjad Lone and a few others met today to give a formal structure to the ‘People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration’. The Gupkar alliance seeks restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and also the statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.
In the meeting which was held at Mufti’s residence in Srinagar Saturday, Farooq Abdullah has been declared the president of the Gupkar alliance, while PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has been appointed as the vice-president of this six-party grouping. Former separatist and politician Sajjad Lone has been made spokesperson of the alliance. The alliance also adopted the flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Six parties group together to form ‘Gupkar alliance’
The six parties -the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference (PC), Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M), Peoples Movement (PM) and Awami National Conference (ANC), had come together earlier this month to form the ‘Gupkar alliance’, vowing to seek the restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status and fight for the rights of the people in the restive region.
“We are anti-BJP, we are not anti-national,” Farooq Abdullah said after the meeting of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration on Saturday. “It’s not an anti-national Jamat, our aim is to ensure that the rights of people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are restored”, Abdullah, who was released in March after more than seven months in detention added.
The leaders of the six parties in the Gupkar alliance had held their first meeting on October 15 following the release of Mufti from detention on October 13. This meeting was held at Farooq Abdullah’s residence in Srinagar where the National Conference (NC) chief had said: “We shall struggle for the restoration of what was snatched from Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh. Ours is a constitutional battle, we want the government of India to return to the people of the state the rights they held before August 5, 2019″.
Ever since the BJP government at the centre has gone ahead with its decision to repeal Article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir that gave it special status, the oppositions parties have been relentlessly running bitter campaigns against the move.
Mufti refuses to unfurl the Indian flag until the former flag of erstwhile state of JandK is restored
Speaking to the media yesterday, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who was released from detention on 13th October, went to the extent of denouncing the Indian Tricolour, as she declared that she won’t raise the flag until the former flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is restored. “Our relationship with India’s flag is linked to our relationship with Jammu and Kashmir’s flag. It’s not an independent relationship. The national flag is here only because of this (the Jammu and Kashmir) flag and constitution,” Ms Mufti said on Friday.
People of Kashmir prefer to be ruled by China, instead of India: Farooq Abdullah
Earlier, vowing to restore the dignity of Kashmiris, Farooq Abdullah had in an interview to the leftist website ‘The Wire’, declared that the people of Kashmir prefer to be ruled by China, instead of India. Abdullah claimed that the sentiments of the Kashmiris are such that they are waiting for Chinese to enter Kashmir despite their human rights record with Muslims in China.
Claiming that the people of Kashmir have lost faith from the Modi-led government, Abdullah said that the lakhs of Kashmiri will hit the streets in the future against the policies of Modi government once Section 144 is lifted.
Abrogation of Article 370
In the manifesto, BJP had promised to repeal Article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir that gave it special status. On 5th August, the BJP-led Union government fulfilled the promise. The state was divided into two Union Territories, Ladakh, and Jammu & Kashmir, under Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. The decision came into effect from 31st October 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three development projects in Gujarat on Saturday and congratulated the state for the “marvellous” work the state has done in the irrigation sector and stressed on the importance of conserving water. “All these three projects, which have commenced with the blessing of Goddess Ambika amidst the auspicious Navratri festival are symbols of Gujarat’s strength, devotion and health”, said the Prime Minister.
The launch of the three projects, namely Kisan Suryodaya Yojana for the farmers in Gujarat, the Paediatric Heart Hospital and the Girnar ropeway took place via video conferencing.
PM Narendra Modi launches Kisan Suryodaya Yojana
Calling it the new dawn of hope and development for the farmers of Gujarat, PM Modi launched the Kisan Suryodaya Yojana. Under this scheme, farmers will be able to avail power supply from 5 AM to 9 PM.
किसानों को रात के बजाय जब सुबह यानि 5 बजे से लेकर रात 9 बजे के दौरान Three Phase बिजली मिलेगी, तो ये नया सवेरा ही तो है।
मैं गुजरात सरकार को बधाई दूंगा कि बाकी व्यवस्थाओं को प्रभावित किए बिना, ट्रांसमिशन की बिल्कुल नई कैपेसिटी तैयार करके ये काम किया जा रहा है: PM
The state government has allocated a budget of Rs 3,500 crores for installing transmission infrastructure under this scheme by 2023. The Vijay Rupani government has included Dahod, Patan, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Kheda, Tapi, Valsad, Anand and Gir-Somnath under the scheme for 2020-21 and the remaining districts will be covered in a phase-wise manner by 2022-23.
Over 234 ’66-Kilowatt’ transmission lines, with a total length of 3,490 circuit kilometres (CKM) will be established as part of the project in addition to 220 KV substations.
“Under this scheme, the Gujarat govt would lay about three and a half thousand circuit kilometres (CKM) of new transmission lines in the next 2-3 years. I have been told that this scheme will also be implemented in more than a thousand villages in the coming days. More of these villages are in the tribal-dominated areas, said PM Modi.
इस योजना के तहत अगले 2-3 वर्षों में लगभग साढ़े 3 हज़ार सर्किट किलोमीटर नई ट्रांसमिशन लाइनों को बिछाने का काम किया जाएगा।
मुझे बताया गया है कि आने वाले कुछ दिनों तक हज़ार से ज्यादा गांवों में ये योजना लागू भी हो जाएगी।इनमें भी ज्यादा गांव आदिवासी बाहुल्य इलाकों में हैं: PM
He congratulated the Gujarat government for readying a completely new transmission infrastructure, without disturbing any other services. “Farmers will get a day-time power supply. Those who know about agriculture are aware that farmers get electricity only at night. But now this will change for Gujarat farmers. But there should be more focus to save water. One drop, more crop should be our mantra. If we waste water as we will be getting water throughout the day, then the purpose will be defeated,” the Prime Minister said. The rest of the districts will be brought under the ambit of this project in a phased approach by 2022-23.
Hospital to become the biggest single super speciality cardiac teaching institute in the country and one of the biggest single super speciality cardiac hospitals in the world: PM Modi
Inaugurating the second project, which is Paediatric Heart Hospital attached with UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre in Ahmedabad, the Prime Minister said that in the last two decades, Gujarat has done unprecedented work in the field of health. Whether it is a network of modern hospitals or medical colleges, huge work has been done to connect every village with better health facilities, said the Prime Minister.
बीते दो दशकों में गुजरात ने आरोग्य के क्षेत्र में अभूतपूर्व काम किया है।
चाहे वो आधुनिक अस्पतालों का नेटवर्क हो, मेडिकल कॉलेज हों, गांव-गांव को बेहतर स्वास्थ्य सुविधाओं से जोड़ने का बहुत बड़ा काम किया गया है: PM
It is believed that after the completion of the expansion project, the Institute will become the biggest single super speciality cardiac teaching institute in the country and one of the biggest single super speciality cardiac hospitals in the world. The institute which is undergoing expansion at the cost of Rs 470 crores, will have 1251 beds which are almost three time its present capacity of 451 beds.
“Nowadays children are also affected by heart disease. This hospital will cater to not only Gujarat but also to the rest of India,” the Prime Minister mentioned, furthering that almost 21 lakh people of Gujarat have received free treatment under Ayushman Bharat scheme and more than 125 hundred public health centers offering cheap medicines have opened in Gujarat. This he said ensured almost Rs 100 crore saving for the common patients over the years.
आयुष्मान भारत योजना के तहत गुजरात के 21 लाख लोगों को मुफ्त इलाज मिला है।
सस्ती दवाइयां देने वाले सवा 5 सौ से ज्यादा जनऔषधि केंद्र गुजरात में खुल चुके हैं।
इसमें से लगभग 100 करोड़ रुपए की बचत गुजरात के सामान्य मरीज़ों को भी हुई है: PM
PM Narendra Modi launched the Girnar ropeway being built in Mount-Girnar in Gujarat
Furthermore, a 2.3 km long ropeway has been built in Mount-Girnar, which aims to facilitate 5-6 lakh people every year. “The project was stalled for years. This will create employment opportunities for youth”, said the PM furthering that this endeavour would act as a milestone, which would place Gujarat on the global tourism map. This ropeway would provide a scenic view of the lush green beauty surrounding the Girnar mountain. “Once we provide ease-of-living and ease-of-travelling to tourists and devotees, we will be able to convert several circuits in Gujarat global tourist spots,” opined the Prime Minister.
There will be 25-30 cabins, with a capacity of eight people per cabin and a distance of 2.3 km will now be covered in just 7.5 minutes through the ropeway.
Girnar is a group of mountains in the Junagadh district and is considered older than the Himalayas. The Girnar Mountain and its range are considered an important pilgrimage site for Hindus.
Not a single day goes by when mainstream media do not expose their communal bias. It is the norm for many mainstream media portals while reporting crimes to conceal the identity of culprit if he or she belongs to a particular community, while revealing the same if the accused is Hindu. In the latest incident exposing mainstream media’s communal bias, a Times of India (TOI) report on an incident of Love Jihad that took place in Delhi, the name and identity of the Muslim accused was completely omitted. In the above-mentioned incident of Love Jihad, an e-rickshaw driver named Dilbar Qureshi trapped a 13-year-old Hindu girl in a love affair posing as a Hindu man and later eloped with her on October 18.
Both the headline and the body of the report of the TOI have no mention of the name of the culprit Dilbar Qureshi. The TOI report merely says that a 13-year old girl was kidnapped by a 25-year old man and was rescued from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh by the police.
Screenshot of the report of Times of India
Details of Love Jihad incident in Delhi
The family of the minor victim, who lives in Delhi’s Chhatarpur area, filed a missing report with the police after the girl did not return home on October 18. It was found from the footage of the CCTV camera installed near her friend’s house that she had gone towards Qutub Minar metro station with Qureshi. According to victim’s family, the culprit had hidden his identity and had introduced himself as Rahul. Qureshi, who belongs to Shegupur village in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh, was also married twice and had children as informed by police.
According to the Hindi daily-Dainik Jagran, the 13-year-old victim lives in Delhi’s Chhatarpur area and is currently studying in class 8. The family of the victim informed the police that Dilbar, who lived in their colony, had introduced himself to everyone as Rahul. Besides, the police said that Dilbar had created many Facebook accounts under various names. The police said that the accused who originally hails from Shegupur village in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh was already married twice and also had children.
Leftist online portal ‘Al News’ that proclaims itself to be a “fact-checker” recently published an article criticising PM Modi’s recent speech where he lauded India’s COVID-19 fight as compared to other developed countries. The article accused the PM quoting data selectively, and to prove PM Modi wrong, ironically Alt News itself quoted selective data.
The article titled as “PM Modi quotes selective data to paint a rosy picture of India’s COVID-19 response” on the leftist rag argued that the statistics had a way of hiding the actual reality, accusing PM Modi of “selectively” quoting the favourable numbers that showed India’s fight against coronavirus in a good light.
PM Modi in his recent speech on India’s management of the coronavirus outbreak had cited that India has 5,500 cases per million as against 25,000 cases per million in the US and Brazil. He further added that death rate at per million population in India is 83 as compared to over 600 in the US, UK and Brazil.
However, these glowing statistics that gave a inspiring picture of the country’s handling of the coronavirus crisis did not sit well with Alt News, who appeared hell bent on disparaging the country’s fight against the COVID-19.
Alt News itself indulges in selectively quoting COVID-19 numbers to criticise PM Modi’s assertions
The article proceeded to criticise the Prime Minister for being selective in quoting the numbers to allege that India is faring well above the other countries in its battle against the coronavirus outbreak. While denouncing PM Modi’s proclamations regarding India’s handling of coronavirus crisis as being “selectively” quoted, Alt News did not refrain from doing exactly the very same thing it accused the Prime Minister of.
In its article, Alt News deviously considered only those numbers and statistics that it could use to discredit PM Modi’s assertions about India’s COVID-19 battle and minimised the achievements accomplished by the nation.
Alt News cites dubious numbers of Asian countries to undermine India’s handling of coronavirus outbreak
‘Cases per million’ is one of the key parameters to determine the pervasiveness of the virus in a particular country. Higher the number, greater is the probability of the majority of the population being affected by it. India’s cases per million is 5,544.
Relevant sections from the article published on Alt News
However, just to portray that India is performing worse against other countries, Alt News compared it with the world average of 5,241, which is slightly lower than India’s numbers. Now that there wasn’t much difference between the world average and India’s cases per million, Alt News proceeded to throw in the Asian average of 2,764 to claim that India is struggling in its COVID-19 fight as compared to other countries in the region.
This is a tenuous comparison, given that it has been established by multiple agencies from across the world that China has massively underreported its cases. Besides China, Pakistan, the eternal rental state of Beijing, which is teetering on the edge of a catastrophic financial collapse, has also aped its master, lowballing the number of cases reported in its territory. Only Alt News can expect a country like Pakistan, whose finances are in dire straits, to diligently invest in carrying out coronavirus tests across the country and honestly reporting them.
Similarly, there are some countries in Asia, particularly the dictatorial regimes such as North Korea that have denied the existence of coronavirus outbreak and presented bogus numbers.
In essence, the Asian average of 2,764 is hardly a legitimate figure to attack the Modi government for its handling of the coronavirus crisis as the data from multiple Asian countries are not credible.
Another parameter that was highlighted in the article is ‘Deaths per million’. This again is an important factor that provides details of the lethality of the coronavirus outbreak in a particular country.
Relevant sections from the article published on Alt News
India has deaths per million of 84. Now since this number is drastically lower than the global average of 144 and the deaths per million in the United States, UK and Brazil, Alt News again leaned on the fraudulent numbers reported from the other Asian countries to claim the nations in India’s geographical vicinity have fared better than it.
China’s deceptive numbers of its deaths were revealed by the Chinese citizens themselves who suspected that the Chinese Communist Party of withholding the extent of ravage caused by the raging coronavirus in the Mainland. They have pointed out to the outsize number of urns delivered by the Chinese authorities to claim that Beijing’s official numbers were misleading.
Alt News omits to mention Asian numbers when India fared better than regional countries
India has been the country with the second highest testing numbers in the world, behind the United States. However, to make light of this significant achievement, Alt News changed the goal post, claiming that the absolute numbers of tests give a misleading picture and therefore when comparing with others, we should consider tests per thousands if we are to compare it with others.
Relevant sections from the article published on Alt News
The article then goes on to claim that US and UK have conducted far more tests per thousand than India while Brazil has done lesser tests per thousand as compared to India. As in the previous two cases, Alt News does not mention the Asian numbers here as they have been lower than that of India, even after fudging the data.
The absolute number of tests conducted provides an overall picture of the extent to which a country has gone to protect its citizens from coronavirus. Countries cannot brazenly lie about the absolute test numbers because they would need to be reconciled with other parameters such as ‘deaths per millions’ and ‘tests per million’ which would easily give away their bogus numbers.
Alt News’ excessive reliance on unreliable data points from Asian countries
One of the key themes of this ‘analysis’ by Alt News is the excessive reliance on dubious numbers emanating from China, Pakistan, North Korea and other Asian countries. When the express purpose of the article was to criticise PM Modi and by extension undermine the country’s fight against the coronavirus outbreak, the authenticity of the data hardly matters.
Alt News started the article with a maxim, “Lies, damned lies and statistics”, to convey that numbers and statistics carry a persuasive power to paint a picture as per one’s liking. Perhaps, who would know it better than Alt News, an online rag which has a history of brazenly lying, selectively quoting and distorting statements, numbers and statistics to push its anti-Modi propaganda.
Rahul Gandhi selectively cites GDP projections to assert Pakistan and Afghanistan handled COVID-19 better than India
However, in this case, Alt News can seek solace in the fact that they are not only ones to legitimise faulty data points and use them to compare India’s management of COVID-19 crisis. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also didn’t shy away from selectively quoting data to slam the BJP government on its handling of the coronavirus crisis.
A few days back, Gandhi had shared the IMF projections of GDPs of the countries for the financial year 2020-21 to allege that Pakistan and Afghanistan have handled the COVID-19 crisis better than India.
However, the Gandhi scion was promptly reminded by many that his deduction of Pakistan and Afghanistan being better in handling the COVID-19, solely on the basis of GDP projections, is grossly misplaced.
First learn the difference between absolute numbers and percentage. Second the difference between per capita gdp and country’s GDP. Thirdly during your party’s rule in early 90s per capita gdp of Bangla was more than India’s!
The management of coronavirus crisis involved both, protecting human lives as well as safeguarding country’s economy. Enforcing tight restrictions usually results in corresponding economic hardships. India had been remarkably successful in preserving its human capital, unlike the United States, UK and several other advanced countries, which despite enforcing lockdown faced enormous human casualties to the coronavirus outbreak.
Pakistan and Afghanistan, on the other hand, did not enforce a strict lockdown, nor they had the requisite means to carry out sufficient COVID-19 testing for its citizens, which the discrepancies in their testing numbers and cases eminently suggest. Even Pakistan’s own minister feared that the number of cases in the country might be higher than those reported.
By claiming that Pakistan and Afghanistan did better in tackling COVOD-19 crisis, Rahul Gandhi is not only disparaging India’s fight against coronavirus but also validating the fake numbers put forth by these countries.
Amidst the raging debate about whether the yet-to-be-launched coronavirus vaccine should be made free or not, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has remained non-committal on the issue of providing coronavirus vaccine free for the people of Delhi.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the COVID-19 vaccine should be made available throughout the country for free. However, he himself remained circumspect about providing free vaccines to the people of Delhi saying the government will only make a decision once the vaccine is developed.
“We will see when the vaccine comes, what it’s like and how much it costs,” said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The entire country should get the vaccine for free, it is everyone’s right. We will see when the vaccine comes, what it’s like and how much it costs: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on being asked if his government would provide vaccine for free to residents pic.twitter.com/jIOjVc3KuS
“The whole country should get free COVID-19 vaccine. It is a right of the entire country. All the people are troubled by the coronavirus, so the vaccine should be free for the country,” Kejriwal said after inaugurating two flyovers in northeast Delhi.
The reluctance of Arvind Kejriwal to clearly state the policy of his government with regards to the provision of coronavirus vaccine in Delhi is puzzling. As health is a ‘state’ subject, it is the responsibility of the Delhi government to ensure proper immunisation of the people of Delhi, once the coronavirus vaccine is launched across the country.
However, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seems to be non-committal about providing the vaccine for free and attempting to shift the responsibility to the centre. The irresponsible statement by Kejriwal comes amidst the opposition parties attack against the Modi government over the issue of providing free vaccines across the country.
Arvind Kejriwal’s attempt to politicise the vaccine drive
On Thursday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while releasing the BJP manifesto in Bihar for upcoming elections said that the BJP promises free coronavirus vaccines in Bihar, whenever the vaccine is made available. The Union Minister had not explicitly mentioned that only the residents of Bihar will be eligible for receiving the vaccine if and when it will be released, and certainly did not say that other states will not get the vaccine. The party has merely promised free vaccine in the state if they come to power, just like free power and water announced by Kejriwal before Delhi elections.
However, the opposition and its ecosystem had pounced on the BJP to brazenly peddle lies to claim that BJP made such announcement considering the Bihar elections and other states would be denied the same. Several of them claimed that the government’s move of granting free vaccinations to COVID-19 as ‘cruel’ as they tried to create confusion among residents of other states.
In reality, there was no special treatment for Bihar as claimed by the opposition party leaders. Like other immunisation programmes, the centre will provide vaccines to states at a nominal rate. This will include BJP-ruled and non-BJP ruled states. Then it is up to the states to charge for vaccines or not.
Similarly, non-BJP ruled states like Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal can choose to either make vaccines free for all or charge its citizens for the same. However, the opposition parties and the non-BJP state government has now used these opportunity to weave a narrative that these non-BJP ruled states will be denied free corona vaccines.
The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seems to be pulling a similar card to politicise the issue by being non-committal to speak about the vaccination drive in the state and later shift the blame on the centre by claiming that it did not provide the vaccination for free.
In a shocking incident, the corpse of a 27-year-old Coronavirus patient was recovered from the toilet at TB hospital in Sewri, Mumbai.
As per reports, the patient has been identified as one Suryabhan Yadav. He had come to the TB hospital on September 30, after being referred by a doctor in Goregaon. Yadav was kept in the Coronavirus ward on the first floor of the hospital. However, he went missing from the ward on October 4. Besides Coronavirus infection, Yadav was also suffering from tuberculosis.
His was discovered after 14 days from the toilet block, even though they were being used regularly by other patients. When the corpse was found, it had decomposed beyond recognition. Reportedly, the hospital authorities could not initially ascertain the gender of the person. On cross-checking the records, it has found that Yadav had been missing for 14 days. As per the hospital management, no staff member or patient complained of any stinking smell until October 18.
Patient died of natural causes, claims post-mortem
Following the complaint of smell, a ward boy found on 18th October that a locked cubicle in the toilet was stinking badly. On peeing into the cubicle from atop the adjacent one, he found the decomposed body of the patient. The hospital authorities sent the body for post-mortem at KEM hospital and subsequently informed the police. The TB hospital is of the view that Yadav collapsed in the toilet due to breathlessness. As per head of the forensic department of KEM hospital, Dr Harish Pathak, the patient died of ‘natural causes’.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has directed for an inquiry into the matter and issued notice to over 40 hospital staff members, who were working in the particular ward. Meanwhile, senior police inspector (RAK Marg police station) Sunil Sohoni informed, “We will call hospital staffers for questioning to understand how this happened. We initiated an investigation to determine if there is any foul play.” It was also reported that the housekeeping staff refrained from entering the Coronavirus ward or cleaning the bathrooms.
Common for TB patients to go missing, claims Superintendent
While speaking on the development, Superintendent Dr Lalitkumar Anande said that it was common for tuberculosis patients to escape. “We had filed a missing report then. But it is common for TB patients to go absconding from the hospital,” he claimed. “The toilets are cleaned thrice in a day. Sometimes it is occupied by patients so the cleaner goes away. But patients use those toilets regularly and should have smelt the body. We have issued notices to all staffers on duty in the ward,” Anande further informed.
Coronavirus positive woman found dead inside the toilet
Earlier, an 82-year-old Coronavirus positive patient, who was missing for one week from a government hospital in Jalgaon in Maharashtra, was found dead inside a toilet in the hospital. According to the reports, the elderly woman had tested positive for coronavirus on May 27 and was under treatment since then at Jalgaon Civil Hospital. Later, the octogenarian went missing on June 2. The relatives and authorities began to search for the woman, however, she was not found.
According to Akbar Patel, Senior Inspector at the Zillapeth police station, they found some foul smell emanating from one of the toilets in the hospital. The police found the woman’s body in the hospital toilet eight days after she went missing. ‘We have informed the family accordingly’, SI Patel said. The worried family, in a video message, has urged the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to order a probe into the incident and punish those found negligent or guilty.
