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Delhi High Court agrees to hear contempt of court plea against LNJP hospital and Delhi Government in a case on the handling of Coronavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi High Court agrees to hear contempt of court plea against LNJP hospital and Delhi Government in a case on the handling of Coronavirus pandemic

A contempt petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court by an advocate named Avadh Kaushik against the Medical Director of LNJP, Chief Secretary and the Principal Health Secretary of the Delhi Government for allegedly flouting High Court orders in a case regarding the handling of Coronavirus-infected dead bodies. Kaushik accused the hospital and the Government officials of filing false affidavits in the said case.

The petitioner claimed that despite assuring the Court about following official protocols while treating infected Coronavirus patients and disposing of dead bodies in a dignified manner, the hospital management and government officials have failed to live up to their words. He alleged that the condition of the LNJP hospital was worse than it was projected by the respondents in Court.

Arguments in Delhi High Court

Referring to the viral videos that clearly depict medical negligence and dereliction of duty at the KNJP hospital, the petitioner remarked, “These videos further reveal that numerous dead bodies, apart from being lying abandoned inside the wards, are also lying in the corridors of the said hospital without any attendant or staff to take care or to manage them to send to the mortuary and/or for cremation.”

Kaushik also highlighted the inhumane and appalling treatment meted out to the patients at Delhi’s first dedicated Coronavirus facility. He emphasised how patients with breathing problems did not have a single medical attendant, despite government and hospital authorities assuring the Court of adhering to protocols multiple times. Kaushik stressed that the ‘grace, dignity, and the majesty’ of the Court had been lowered due to non-compliance with its directives and thus sought for contempt proceedings to be initiated against the respondents.

The petitioner requested the formation of an expert committee to assess the current situation of patients at the LNJP and other such hospitals. He had also sought remedial actions by the hospital authorities to provide adequate treatment to patients and dispose of corpses lying unattended in hospital wards. In May, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Justice Asha Menon took cognisance of a newspaper report which highlighted the plight of Coronavirus infected dead bodies that were cremated in crematoriums or buried in morgues.

Mismanagement at LNJP Hospital

In an exclusive report, India TV had revealed some shocking visuals of neglect and mismanagement from Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital.The visuals showed a naked corpse lying unattended on the floor, with no hospital staff around to pick it up or move it. Speaking to India TV, LNJP hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr. Suresh Kumar claimed that the naked corpse might have fallen on the floor while doctors were trying to resuscitate a non-responsive patient with chest compressions. He informed that for CPR and chest compressions, the patient’s catheter drips and clothes were usually removed. However, the doctor could not offer any explanation as to why the naked corpse was left lying there on the floor.

Chhatisgarh High Court grants interim relief to BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra in the case against him for tweet on Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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Chhatisgarh High Court grants interim relief to BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra in the case against him for tweet on Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi

On Thursday, the Chhattisgarh High Court reportedly granted interim relief to BJP spokesman Sambit Patra in a case against him for his contentious tweet against Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi. Patra had moved the High Court seeking to quash two First Information Reports (FIRs) that were lodged against him, in connection to the said tweet.

His Counsel Ajay Barman argued that the BJP spokesperson had recently been discharged from the hospital, after being treated for Coronavirus. Besides, Barman said that the offences pertaining to public mischief and promoting religious animosity were not made out. With regard to the defamation suit filed against his client, the counsel argued that the cognisance of the same could only be taken on a written complaint, as per Section 199(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and not on the basis of a police complaint.

Barman stated that the health condition of the BJP spokesman could deteriorate if he was arrested and hence sought for interim relief. As such, Justice Sanjay K Agrawal ordered that no coercive action should be taken against Sambit Patra until further orders. The next hearing would be in 4 weeks time. Sambit Patra was represented by Advocates Ajay Barman, Awadhesh Singh, Ramakant Mishra, and Sharad Mishra. Additional Advocate General Sunil Otwani represented the State of Chattisgarh.

“Considering the submissions of learned counsel for the parties and further considering the contention of the petitioner that the petitioner is a patient of COVID-19 and has recently been discharged from hospital and is undergoing quarantine for 14 days, and in view of the provision contained in Section 199 (1) of the CrPC, it would be expedient to direct that till the next date of hearing, no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner pursuant to FIR under Crime No. 192/2020 registered against the petitioner…”, the Court directed.

Tweets by Sambit Patra

While replying to a tweet posted by the official handle of the Congress party, Sambit Patra had written, “Agar aap hota toh aisa hota (This would have happened if you were there in power).” Mocking the grand old party for corruption, the BJP Spokesperson said, “If the Coronavirus outbreak had happened during the Congress rule, there would have been ₹5000 crore mask scam, ₹7000 crores test kit scam, ₹20,000 crore Jawahar Sanitiser scam and ₹26,000 crores Rajiv Gandhi virus research scam.”

After an FIR was lodged against him for the above-mentioned tweet, Sambit Patra said that the Congress workers had complained to the teacher on calling Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi corrupt. “You will get insulted even further. Nehru gave birth to the Kashmir problem. If Nehru did not exist, then, the Kashmir issue would not have existed too. As for Rajiv gandhi, he stole money in the Bofors scandal and killed 3000 Sikhs”, the BJP Spokesperson remarked. This tweet was followed by another FIR against him.

The Case against Sambit Patra

On May 11, the Chhattisgarh Police had registered a case against Sambit Patra for supposedly promoting animosity between different groups and hurting ‘religious sentiments’ for his tweets against Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi. The FIR was lodged against Patra on the complaint of Chattisgarh Youth Congress President, Poornachand Padhi at the Civil Lines Police Station of Raipur under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 505(2) (public mischief) and 298 (uttering words to wound religious feelings).

According to the complainant, the tweets by Sambit Patra could scare and provoke members of the Sikh community which may, in turn, disturb public tranquillity. He also argued that tweeting such things was “prejudicial to the maintenance of peace and harmony between religious groups”. Refuting claims of the complicity of the two former Prime Ministers in either riots or corruption, Padhi said that they were not convicted by any Court of law and as such the allegations levelled against them by Sambit Patra were baseless.

Twitter terminates 1.7 lakh accounts for propagating Chinese narrative

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter terminates 1.7 lakh accounts for propagating Chinese narrative

On Thursday, the microblogging platform Twitter announced that they had terminated 1.7 lakh accounts that were spreading pro-Chinese narrative. A few thousand accounts associated with Turkey and Russia also faced the heat. According to a disclosure report posted on Twitter’s blog, the company announced that it had identified and terminated accounts for misusing the services to spread state-linked information. Twitter also shared the relevant data with its two leading research partners Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) and Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

State-linked operations supporting China

Back in August 2019, Twitter had disclosed termination of around 1000 accounts that were sowing state-backed narrative to undermine the legitimacy and political position of the then ongoing protests in Hong Kong. They identified large clusters of accounts that were posting and retweeting in a coordinated manner to push messages related to Hong Kong protests.

On 11th June 2020, Twitter further disclosed the actions they took against almost 1.7 million accounts that were spreading state-backed posts to push Covid-19 related narrative in favor of China. Their report suggests that 23,750 accounts formed the core of the operations. Another 150,000 accounts were boosting the content posted by core accounts. In feedback given by the researchers on previous disclosures, Twitter was asked to refine the disclosure process to make the investigation more effective. Thus, these 150,000 were not added to the public archive.

The core accounts had low follower count and engagement but they were extensively pushing the state-backed content. On the other hand, with minimal or no followers, 150,000 accounts were explicitly designated to artificially create inflation around the pushed content. The whole network was manipulating the algorithms to make the state-backed content more visible across the platform. They tried to form a positive narrative for the Communist Party of China while pushing a negative narrative around the ongoing Hong Kong protests.

Russian accounts closed violating policies

China-favoring accounts were not the only ones to get terminated during the process. Twitter found out that 1,152 state-backed accounts in Russia were cross-posting and boosting content reach using an unauthentic and coordinated manner. Among these accounts, one was a media website as well that was engaging in political propaganda. “A network of accounts related to this media operation was suspended for violations of our platform manipulation policy, specifically cross-posting and amplifying content in an inauthentic, coordinated manner for political ends. Activities included promoting the United Russia party and attacking political dissidents,” the statement said.

Turkey’s connection

In early 2020, experts at twitter marked 7,340 accounts that were pushing state-backed content using coordinated and inauthentic methods. The main target is such activities was the domestic audience of Turkey. These accounts were posting content favoring AK Parti and showed support for President Erdogan. The experts noticed that the content was being pushed using a significant number of compromised accounts.

Key takeaways of Standford Internet Observatory (SIO)

Twitter shared the details of terminated accounts with SIO on 3rd June 2020. Here are the key takeaways mentioned in the report published Cyber Policy Center of SIO.

  • The accounts that were supporting China’s narrative posted content around Hong Kong protests, Taiwan, Covid-19, and exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.
  • In the later January 2020, Twitter observed a spike in content related to Covid-19 and a major increase in China-favoring tweets was further visible by the end of March 2020. Most of the accounts were created in late January, while some accounts were as old as of September 2019.
  • The accounts did not have any well defined personal. They had little or no followers and mostly posted content favoring Chinese narrative on Covid-19 and other issues.
  • In the case of Russian accounts, most of them were posting pro-Kremlin, anti-opposition and anti-west tweets.
  • The politically leaning Russian accounts majorly engaged in the cheerleading leadership of Vladimir Putin.
  • Caricature accounts were taking care of the anti-opposition activity. They tried to amplify allegations that opposition cheated in last year’s Moscow Duma elections.
  • Many accounts were associated with paid Twitter services like retweets and link posting. These accounts had a wide variety of content like photography, travel and more. Most of them were not typical political accounts.
  • In the case of Turkey favoring accounts, most of them were posting content cheerleading AKP.
  • Some accounts were critical of the current regime and were taken down as well. Tweets from many accounts were critical of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

This is not the first time Twitter has terminated or suspended accounts for violating regulations. Twitter said in the statement that they would offer more clarity in the public archive. They will continue to develop their system and algorithms to ensure diversity. In summer, Twitter will hold a conference to consult experts, industry and government to discuss possibilities of further collaborations. 

Jammu and Kashmir administration hands over Rs 20 lakh relief to the family of martyred sarpanch Ajay Pandita

OpIndia Staff
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Jammu and Kashmir administration hands over Rs 20 lakh relief to the family of martyred sarpanch Ajay Pandita

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday handed over an ex-gratia relief of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the sarpanch Ajay Pandita Bharti who was gunned down by terrorists in South Kashmir on June 8.

According to the reports, the Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Girish Chandra Murmu interacted with the family members of Ajay Pandita Bharti and extended his deepest sympathies to them.

The Lt Governor also paid homage to Ajay Pandita and observed that the supreme sacrifice made by him will always be remembered and hoped that perpetrators of such dastardly act would realize their follies and desist from committing a crime against humanity.

Assuring full support from the Jammu and Kashmir Government, the Lt Governor handed also over the ex-gratia relief to the family of martyred Sarpanch.

The relief amounting to Rs 20 lakh includes Rs 5 lakh from SRE fund, Rs 1 lakh from the J&K government, Rs 4 lakh from Lt Governor Relief Fund, and Rs 10 lakh out of Panchayat Welfare Fund.

Ajay Pandita shot dead by terrorists

A Kashmiri Pandit Sarpanch was shot dead on Monday by terrorists in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress Sarpanch of Lokbowan Larkipora, identified as Ajay Pandita, was fired upon by the terrorists who later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.

According to the police sources, the sarpanch had gone to work in his orchard when he was attacked by the terrorists. The area has been cordoned off soon after the shooting.

Do not consider offering asylum to Vijay Mallya: Indian government has told the UK

OpIndia Staff
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Do not consider offering asylum to Vijay Mallya: Indian government has told the UK

The Indian government has requested the government of the United Kingdom to refrain from giving asylum to fugitive liquor Barron Vijay Mallya. The spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, Anurag Srivastava while briefing the media through video conference has informed that Indian authorities have been in touch with UK authorities for the earliest extradition of Vijay Mallya.

Srivastava said, “We have been in touch with the UK authorities for the early extradition of Vijay Mallya. We have also requested the UK side not to consider asylum to Vijay Mallya if requested by him.”

Vijay Mallya has applied for asylum in the UK in order to avoid extradition to India and face serious charges of fraud and money laundering.

Reportedly, the government has been in touch with the UK government in order to extradite the fugitive businessman who was disallowed in the month of may to appeal against his extradition to India to face the Indian judiciary.

Mallya’s appeal against extradition

Mallya has been fighting a legal battle in the UK against the India government’s efforts to extradite him. Last month, he had also filed an appeal in the United Kingdom Supreme court after he lost the appeal in London High court against his extradition orders to India by the Central government.

As per reports, Mallya has lost the application to appeal against his extradition to India in the U.K Supreme Court. The final decision on Mallya’s extradition will be taken by British Home Secretary Preeti Patel.

Vijay Mallya is wanted by investigating agencies in India on the charges of Money Laundering, Fraud, and violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). His Kingfisher airlines owes around ₹9000 crores of debt to creditors, and the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) has attached a significant amount of properties belonging to Vijay Mallya.

Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, major US papers received millions to run Chinese propaganda: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, major US papers received millions to run Chinese propaganda: Reports

China Daily, a propaganda outlet of the Chinese government, has reportedly paid $19 million to American newspapers in advertisement and printing charges in the past 4 years. The story came to light, amidst growing concerns about US dailies giving intellectual cover fire to Beijing.

As per the documents filed by China Daily with the Justice Department, the Communist party mouthpiece had paid over $6 million to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), $4.6 million to the Washington Post, $2,40,000 to Foreign Policy, $50,000 to the New York Times, $34,600 to The Des Moines Register and $76,000 to CQ-Roll Call.

Besides, spending $11 million in advertising on prominent US papers, China Daily shelled out an additional $7.6 million to The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, and The Boston Globe for printing copies of its own paper. For instance, the Los Angeles Times reportedly received $657,523 for printing services. The Communist party-mouthpiece had also spent $2,65,822 on advertising on Twitter.

US Newspapers push Chinese propaganda

As a part of its extensive media campaign to alter the global perception and silence the critics of the Communist Party of China (CCP), the State media has been covertly promoting its stories in foreign newspapers. In September 2018, US President Donald Trump questioned how China placed ‘propaganda ads’ in Des Moines Register and other US-based papers such that it resembled ‘real news.’ Reportedly, both Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal carried ‘paid supplements’ of China Daily titled China Watch.

In 2018, both the New York Times and the Washington Post ran a sponsored news item titled, “Belt and Road align with African nations.” The same news story was accompanied with another story, critical of the Trump administration. It read, “Tariffs to take a toll on U.S. homebuyers.” The news item emphasised how rise in US tariffs on China would raise the cost of building homes in the US. China’s attempt to use foreign papers as a tool to further its interests had been pointed out by organisation such as the Freedom House, Hoover Institution, and other pro-democracy groups.

China Daily under watch by US Justice Department

As per reports, in the US, China Daily is registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as well as a Foreign Mission of the Communist regime. As such, it has been under the watch of the US Justice Department for years. China Daily had to compulsorily disclose its spending half-yearly under the rules of FARA. The recent filing done of June 1 revealed a detailed breakdown of expenditure incurred on advertising in US papers between November 2016 and April 2020.

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, China Daily has been the subject of fierce scrutiny. While the Chinese government officials had blamed the Coronavirus outbreak on the US, the Communist party mouthpiece had also parroted the same talking points. However, its advertising had decreased in recent months, as seen in the FARA records. While the last payment made to the Washington Post was in December 2019, China Daily had paid less than half of its average advertising charges to the Wall Street Journal since February 2020.

US papers spew hatred against India

The same US papers who had received funds from China Daily had also spread anti-India narrative through fake news and misleading op-eds. For instance, following the Balakot airstrike, the New York Times published an article titled, “After India Loses Dogfight to Pakistan, Questions Arise About Its ‘Vintage’ Military.” The writer Maria Abi-Habib had carefully omitted some facts and indulged in pushing a false narrative that projected Indian Armed Forces in a poor light.

From India’s economy to elections, politics and demographics, these American publications have been found running constant anti-India propaganda on several issues.

The Washington Post, run by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and repeatedly labelled as fake news by Donald Trump, had earlier made several sweeping statements about hate crimes in India. The publication argued that hate crime was rising in India since Narendra Modi came to power, and victims of such hate crimes were overwhelmingly Muslims, while the perpetrators are mostly Hindus. The story was not based on official data or primary survey but instead on a defunct fake hate tracker named India Spend.

Delhi: Mob attacks Inderlok police station, opens fire at police personnel, Sadkeen, Ashkeen and Shahrukh arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: Mob attacks Inderlok police station, opens fire at police personnel, Sadkeen, Ashkeen and Shahrukh arrested

A police officer and a few others were injured at Inderlok in New Delhi after a violent mob attacked the police officials and also opened fired at the station. The station in-charge suffered injuries and was admitted to the hospital.

According to the reports, the incident took place on Wednesday night when the accused barged into the police station to see three of their aides who were detained by the police for looting a bakery in the area.

As per the Indian Express report, a person named Akhlaq, who runs a bakery in Inderlok was harassed by the shop owner’s son Sadkeen and his brothers on Wednesday night. According to Akhlaq, Sadkeen and his aides had some food but were not ready to pay. When Akhlaq refused to give him the food, the group looted the shop and thrashed the shopkeeper.

Following this incident, Akhlaq registered a complaint in the Inderlok police station, which stated that Sadkeen and his brothers beat him up and also looted his shop.

Mob barges into the police station, opens fire at police personnel

The police detained Sadkeen and his other brothers at the police chowki for questioning where the accused got aggressive and picked up a fight with the police personnel. Later, their associates came to the police station with sticks, batons and also pelted stones. A person identified as Naved open fired at the chowki.

The CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media on Thursday.

According to the police, the Sub-Inspector Pankaj also fired two rounds in the air in self-defence, to scare the violent mob away. One police official was injured during the incident. He was later rushed to the hospital.

The Delhi police, however, nabbed Sadkeen and his two aides Ashkeen and Shahrukh. Naved, who had opened fire managed to escape with five to six others. The police have begun the search to arrest the remaining accused, said Monika Bhardwaj, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), North district.

Fact check: Dalits beaten, tonsured, paraded with shoes around their neck by upper caste men in Lucknow’s Barauli? Here is the truth

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Dalits beaten, tonsured, paraded with shoes around their neck by upper caste men in Lucknow’s Barauli? Here is the truth

A day after claims made by various media houses and ‘journalists’ that a Dalit boy was shot dead by upper caste men for ‘praying in a temple’ was fact-checked, social media was once again abuzz with reports of another caste-based atrocity story. On Thursday, there were some reports that three Dalits were tied up, beaten, forcefully tonsured and paraded around with shoes hung around their necks in Lucknow’s Barauli Khalilabad village after they were caught stealing from a house of a ‘Brahmin man’ on June 4.

Sharing a report by The Quint, the usual suspects once again descended on the microblogging site and within no time, started sharing the ‘Dalit Lives Matter’ hashtag extensively.

Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan was amongst the first to join the bandwagon.

Kashmiri journalist Raqib Hameed Naik, who also writes for portals like The Wire and The Caravan too piped in, also claiming that there has been a ‘sudden surge’ in upper-caste brutalities against Dalits during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Many other people had too flagged the issue on Twitter, sharing the same source of course- The Quint.

The Quint’s report

The Quint, had, in its article dated June 11, titled: “Dalit Men Beaten, Paraded With Shoes Hung Around Their Neck in UP” quoted PGI police station in-charge KK Mishra as confirming that in the incident that happened on 4 June, three men – one belonging to the OBC and the other two belonging to Scheduled Castes were tied up, beaten, forcefully tonsured and paraded around with shoes hung around their necks in Lucknow’s Barauli Khalilabad village after they were allegedly caught stealing a fan from a house of a ‘Brahmin man’.

The article published by The Quint

The Quint mentioned that Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad had shared the video of the incident and tweeted saying “it was a reminder of the Una flogging incident.”

News18 Bengala also reported the same incident with the similar casteist angle.

Police clarify there was no caste angle, accused were from both upper and lower castes

However, like the Amroha incident, these claims are also not true. Lucknow police have clarified that the unfortunate incident had nothing to do with caste bias but it was a case of theft. The Lucknow police said that on that day there were two incidents reported from the village. In the first incident, some thieves were caught red-handed by the villagers with the stolen goods. The thieves were from both upper and lower caste, contrary to the claims made by these media portals that they were all Dalits.

The villagers who had caught them red-handed, had in a fit of rage, beaten them up and shaved off their heads. The Lucknow police confirmed that cases have been lodged against the accused as well as the villagers who tonsured and beat up the accused.

The police confirmed that two villagers, who were amongst those who have beaten up and tonsured the accused have already been arrested. The police were in the lookout for the rest of the villagers who engaged in the incident. The statement also stated that even the people who had beaten up and paraded the thieves were from multiple castes, contrary to what was reported in the above-mentioned reports.

Casteist spin in the Amroha incident

Yesterday, media had attempted to give another crime a similar casteist spin. Various leftist media houses had claimed that a Dalit boy was allegedly killed by upper caste men for praying in a temple.

In fact, The Quint has made reference to this particular Amroha incident in its today’s report as well, particularly to draw an equivalence between both the incidents. The Quint, in fact, wanted to prove that in both the cases the victims were Dalits, who had been tortured or attacked by upper-caste men, trying to create a narrative that the incidents were cases of caste-based atrocity.

The Amroha police had, however, dispelled the rumours yesterday and also taken to Twitter to call out the lies spread by ‘The Wire’ journalist Arfa Khanum and forwarded the matter to the cyber cell to initiate necessary action against her.

Journalist sent by Shekhar Gupta to Assam quarantined after testing Coronavirus positive, angry Gupta claims Assam has locked up journalists for ever

OpIndia Staff
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Journalist sent by Shekhar Gupta to Assam quarantined after testing Coronavirus positive, angry Gupta claims Assam has locked up journalists for ever

Responding to serious allegations levelled by senior journalist Shekhar Gupta against the Assam government, Assam senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has informed that one of the journalists working for The Print was kept in quarantine in Assam because she has tested positive for Coronavirus. The Finance, Health, Education and PWD minister of Assam informed the same to rebut claims of Shekhar Gupta that Assam has locked up two of the visiting journalists ‘for ever’.

Today Shekhar Gupta posted a series of tweets levelling serious allegations over handling of journalists in Assam. While responding to a tweet that Assam has much better rate of Coronavirus test than Kerala, the Editors Guild President claimed that “Assam’s counts have the same credibility as China’ if journalists coming from outside are systematically prevented from reporting in the state”.

screenshot of tweets by Shekhar Gupta

When one person asked why he is not grilling the man running the whole operation in the fight against Coronavirus in Assam, i.e., Himanta Biswa Sarma, Gupta replied that he had sent two reporters precisely for this, but both locked up forever, he claimed. “No part of the world follows these rules, not even China,” he added.

Shekhar Gupta claimed that article 370 has moved from Assam and Telangana, and both the states are making their own rules. He said this while quoting a tweet by reporter Jayanta Kalita, associate editor of Hindustan Times and former associate editor of Shekhar Gupta’s The Print, where he informed that he has been asked home quarantine for 14 days after he spent 8 days institutional quarantine. Kalita asked what is the logic behind the 22 days quarantine, claiming that the norm is 7 days institutional quarantine and 7 days home quarantine.

Based on this claim, Shekhar Gupta went on to compare Assam with China and made serious allegations of locking journalists for ever and saying that Assam’s Coronavirus numbers are not credible.

But soon it turned out that the claims made by Shekhar Gupta and his journalists are fake, as Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to inform that one of the two journalists who visited Assam was ordered quarantine because she tested positive for Coronavirus. And the other journalist was allowed after due diligence.

Sarma informed that his government can’t let the journalist who has tested Coronavirus positive go before the mandatory quarantine period as notified by the govt. ‘If a small state like Assam is trying to protect its citizen from COVID, why are you angry Shekhar Gupta Ji’, the minister asked.

It may be noted that Shekhar Gupta’s claim that Assam’s coronavirus numbers are not credible because one Coronavirus positive journalist was ordered mandatory quarantine has no base. The fact that Assam is handling the Coronavirus extremely well is even acknowledged by his political rivals like Badaruddin Ajmal, and the left-oriented section of the local media which was vocal against the BJP government over CAA has not questioned the numbers.

Assam’s total Coronavirus cases were under 100 before the migrants were allowed to travel to home states over demands by states like Maharashtra and Delhi. Since then, the number has crossed 3000, but the majority of them, over 90%, have been reported from migrants kept in quarantine centres. This means, over 90% of coronavirus cases in Assam came from outside the state, as the samples of the migrants were collected at the time registration before sending them to quarantine centres. Because Assam govt is imposing the quarantine rules very strictly, the pandemic has not spread widely in the community level like some other states.

The claim that quarantine rule is 14 days and there is no rule for 22 days quarantine is also not correct. Assam is following a 28 days quarantine rule for contacts of known positive cases, as they are in the high-risk group. The same is followed by several other states too. Therefore, the health authorities decide the quarantine period for an individual based on the risk assessment of that person, and it is not uniform for all people.

Till now neither the opposition parties nor the traditional anti-BJP media questioned Assam’s handling of Coronavirus, but today Shekhar Gupta went on to compare it with China claiming the numbers are not credible just because the state govt followed the rules to contain the spread of Coronavirus by quarantining a Coronavirus patient, who happens to be a journalist working for Shekhar Gupta.

Delhi University professor Wali Akhtar dies of coronavirus, family and colleagues allege he was denied bed by many hospitals

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi University professor Wali Akhtar dies of coronavirus, family and colleagues allege he was denied bed by many hospitals

A professor of the Delhi University succumbed to coronavirus on Tuesday evening. Wali Akhtar used to teach Arabic at Delhi University, and was a former head of the department. His family and colleagues at the university haves alleged that the professor could not get a bed in any of the Delhi and Noida hospitals despite showing Covid-19 symptoms.

As per reports, he was finally admitted to a hospital in Jamia Nagar where he succumbed to the disease. The elder brother of Akhtar said that the professor complained of breathlessness and chest pain. He said, “We took him to a prominent hospital in Noida. My brother was in pain, but the hospital refused his admission claiming lack of beds.”

Wali Akhtar’s colleague and former president of Delhi University Teacher’s Association, Professor Aditya Narayan Mishra told media that Akhtar had gone to seven prominent hospitals in Delhi, and all of them had denied him admission despite having Coronavirus symptoms. Had he received treatment on time, he would be alive today, he said.

Sharma said that Wali Akhtar was finally admitted at a hospital at Jamia, and his report came at 4 PM informing that he is Coronavirus positive, and he died at 6.30 PM. ‘What is the point of such testing,’ he asked.

On being asked about the allegations, the hospital simply denied and said, “It is impossible that we wouldn’t cater to any patients who came to us.” Akhtar was also allegedly denied testing in some of the South Delhi hospitals.

Public relations officer of AlShifa hospital, Marghoob Zaidi said that the patient was admitted under the suspicion of coronavirus infection as he was also suffering from pneumonia. He was confirmed positive of the coronavirus but hours later he died.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal reserved state and government hospitals for residents of Delhi

In a controversial decision, the chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has announced that the Delhi Government hospitals will only treat patients that are residents of Delhi. He added that private hospitals, except those hospitals where special surgeries are performed which are not available in other parts of the country, have also been ordered not to admit patients from other states.

However, the decision was turned over by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal. He instructed departments and officials of NCT of Delhi to ensure that no patient is denied treatment on the grounds of his/her domicile so that people who approach Delhi hospitals seeking treatment from outside the national capital are not turned away. The move is set to bring relief to patients and their families from outside Delhi who are seeking treatment during the coronavirus pandemic.

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