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Shemaroo’s Surleen Kaur video controversy: ISKCON issues a third statement in a span of 28 hours, here are what all three statements say

OpIndia Staff
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Shemaroo’s Surleen Kaur video controversy: ISKCON issues a third statement in a span of 28 hours, here are what all three statements say

After entertainment content producer and distributor Shemaroo issued an apology to the ISKCON for a video which had insulted ISKCON, its devotees and Hindus in general, the Hindu organisation has been issuing different statements regarding the same. Shemaroo had apologised after ISKCON lodged a complaint with Mumbai police against the company, and actress-comedian Surleen Kaur, who had made several offensive comments about ISKCON and Hindus, including calling ISKCON devotees ‘harami porn waley’, in a stand-up comedy show published by the company on various online platforms.

Although the video was published several months ago, it went viral on 28th May on social media, following with ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) has lodged the complaint with Mumbai police against Shemaroo and Surleen Kaur. But even before that complaint was made public on Twitter by ISKCON vice president and spokesperson Radharamn Das, the company had removed the video from everywhere on the internet, saying that it was found to be derogatory.

On 29th May, Shemaroo issued an unconditional apology to ISKCON, and informed that they have disassociate themselves from any further involvement with Ms Surleen Kaur and Mr Balraj Syal as they failed to meet their standards of public decency. They have also praised ISKCON for their spiritual and social service, including serving meals to the needy during the lockdown.

First statement

But, Radharamn Das had informed that the organisation is not accepting the apology. He had tweeted that they don’t accept the apology of Shemaroo Entertainment, and they will proceed legally against the company, Balraj Syal & Surleen Kaur. “We will make an example out of this nonsense”, Das had added.

Second statement

But later in the day a twist had come, as Swarajya Magazine had reported that the Hindu organisation has accepted the apology of the company and decided not to pursue the case. A statement issued by Director of Communications of ISKCON, according the Swarajya, had said that it does not believe in vengeance and instead acts in accordance with moral, ethical, and legal values. As such, ISKCON had decided to not pursue the case against them, the statement had said.

Although the Director of Communications of ISKCON was quoted as saying that they will not purse the case against Shemaroo, spokesperson Radharamn Das contradicted this, insisting that they will go ahead with the case. Quoting an OpIndia report which was based on the Swarajya report, he had tweeted “No, we have not accepted apology”.

Third statement

When OpIndia reached out to Das to clarified about the contradictory statements coming from the organisation on the issue, he had said that members of ISKCON are deeply hurt by the statements of Surleen Kaur, and the organization will not tolerate such offensive statements. He further said that ISKCON has noted the apology issued by Shemaroo, and “ISKCON has taken the offensive statements seriously and is considering further action”. Thereby again contradicting the Director of Communications.

Perhaps to establish clarity in the matter, now ISKCON has issued a statement on its official Twitter account, which echoes the last statement of Radharamn Das. They said, “The members, devotees, followers of ISKCON are deeply hurt and aggrieved by the false statement made by Surleen Kaur on her show which was produced by Shemaroo. ISKCON is a respectable organization and will not tolerate such a false and offensive statements. ISKCON has seen the apology issued by Shemaroo in relation to the same. ISKCON has taken the false and offensive statement very seriously and therefore ISKCON’s Governing Body is considering appropriate further action.”

This statement confirms that the ISKCON has not yet decided to accept the Shemaroo apology and drop the complaint against them. They have asserted that they have taken the comments made in the video very seriously, and the governing body of the organisation is considering appropriate action. It is expected that the organisation will inform their final decision in the matter soon.

The Dark Side of ‘Stop Funding Hate’: Its antisemitic history, association with Jeremy Corbyn, Christian institutions and its hateful supporters

Nupur J Sharma
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The Dark Side of ‘Stop Funding Hate’: Its antisemitic history, association with Jeremy Corbyn, Christian institutions and its hateful supporters

A lot has been said in recent years about ‘foreign election interference’. Without any fair trial, Russia has been held guilty by the ‘free press’ and every election outcome that did not conform with the will of the Left was blamed on ‘election interference’ by Russia. From the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States to Brexit, Russia was blamed for people exercising their democratic right to vote. Nevertheless, foreign political interference is very much real and today, we shall discuss one particular entity in connection to it: Stop Funding Hate.

Contrary to what western powers would have us believe, political interference is a regular feature by means of which countries attempt to influence politics in other countries in order to gain leverage. And it is also true that election interference is not the only tool through which foreign elements attempt to gain leverage in countries. Political interference is a far more common tool.

It is through an extensive network of ‘civil society organisations’ that western powers attempt to ensure that western dominance is not challenged and potential rivals never fulfil their potential. On certain occasions, such NGOs also indulge openly in election interference but mainly they attempt to influence politics by ensuring that their preferred narrative is not challenged.

The Campaign Against OpIndia orchestrated by Stop Funding Hate

One such organisation that has come to our notice in recent times is ‘Stop Funding Hate’. It’s a community interest company that is registered in the United Kingdom. Recently, they orchestrated a targeted campaign against OpIndia and are still going at it. Their objective is to stop advertisements on OpIndia so that the website cannot earn revenues from them.

The reason for it is pretty clear. OpIndia is a right-wing media portal that regularly offends the orthodoxy of the Left and naturally, the Left cannot have that. It seeks to establish an unchallenged hold over narratives so that people are exposed to information only through Leftist lenses. Should anyone decide to not play by their rules, they wish to damage their revenue earning capacity so that they do not earn enough revenues to be able to run their operations. Whether they can, or cannot, has already been answered here, but try they do.

Should they succeed in their objectives, the end result of it all would be that rightwing media would cease to exist and the dominance of the Left on narratives would be unchallenged. The inevitable consequence of it on politics is not hard to guess. In India, bad-faith actors in the media regularly publish unmitigated fake news against Hindutva organisations which Opindia regularly busts.

Stop Funding Hate isn’t too fond of Republic TV either and appears to be encouraging those who wish to bully those who show their advertisements on the channel where Arnab Goswami is the Editor-in-Chief.

The global criticism of Stop Funding Hate

SFH has tried its bullying tactic in the UK as well, against newspapers such as The Sun, Daily Mail and the Daily Express. In response, they were subjected to much criticism although the usual Far-Left echo chamber cheered them on relentlessly. Dominic Ponsford, writing for the Press gazette, said, “The Stop Funding Hate campaign strikes me as an illiberal way to set about achieving the liberal objective of less negative press coverage around immigration.”

Ponsford added, “Those seeking to silence the Daily Mail should perhaps also remember that in addition to its hard line stance on immigration, it has successfully campaigned to get justice for Stephen Lawrence, ban free supermarket plastic bags and to get the last UK Guantanama Bay inmate, Shaker Aamer, freed.”

Naomi Firsht said that the entire campaign was about press censorship. She said, “This Christmas, Stop Funding Hate’s heartwarming, festive message is that millions of tabloid readers cannot be trusted to think for themselves, so it is best that the bien pensant society censor the press for their good.” Brendan O’Neill, writing for The Spectator, described the campaign as a “nasty, elitist campaign for press censorship”.

It is important to understand the issues due to which SFH targeted Daily Mail and The Sun. They were targeted due to their coverage of Brexit and immigration, two of the hottest political issues in the UK. The coverage of the tabloids was not in concordance with the orthodoxy of the Left and hence, the attempt at censorship.

As an organisation registered in the UK, SFH has every right to participate in the political debates of their country. However, an attempt to silence media portals in India due to their personal political preferences is a direct attempt at interfering with the politics of our country. It is as sinister as election interference that the Left rails against. However, it sees no issue at all in targeting media portals abroad which would definitely impact political debates in the country.

How does the campaign describe itself?

The campaign says on its website, “We’re making hate unprofitable by persuading advertisers to pull their support from publications that spread hate and division.” They partner with organisations such as National Union of Students, Accord, Citizens UK, Tell MAMA among others. All of these are far-left organisations with no representation at all from the other end of the political spectrum. It also partners with the Centre for Hate Studies of the University of Leicester.

It says about itself, “Stop Funding Hate began when a group of people came together online to express concern at the way certain newspapers were using hate and division to drive sales. Advertisers are a major part of this business model of hate. As newspaper sales decline, their ads fund the hate that is being printed.”

Source: Stop Funding Hate website

SFH adds, “Sadly, this is nothing new. Minorities and vulnerable groups have been experiencing hate in the media for decades. In 2015 the UN Human Rights Chief, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, made a powerful statement about these newspapers, urging the UK to examine incitement to hatred in the UK media, and specifically calling out the Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Express for their sustained attack on refugees and migrants.” All of this is, of course, blatant political propaganda.

Who are the people behind Stop Funding Hate?

Stop Funding Hate has in its board members associated with far-left organisations. They have been described as ‘far-left Corbynistas’ in numerous publications. Richard Wilson, one such board member, has been formerly associated with Amnesty International, the dubious NGO which is under investigation in India for alleged violation of FCRA laws and has a history of links with Radical Islamic organisations.

Richard Wilson, during an interview, went so far as to assert, ‘The end point for us is a media that does the job we all want it to.’ There’s only one conclusion to be drawn from this: ‘Publish what we want you to publish, write what we want you to write, or we will go to war against you’. Quite clearly, press censorship and political partisanship are the norm for this campaign.

Another individual in its Board is Rosey Ellum, one of the co-founders of the campaign. According to Daily Mail, she is an NGO worker and ‘professional cat-sitter’. She has campaigned against Israel’s ‘illegal occupation of Palestine’ and share petitions of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has Corbyn as one of its patrons.

Catherine Taylor, who the Daily Mail probably means when they refer to Cate Taylor as one of the directors of the campaign, resigned as the Director in 2019. She is a long-standing Labour activist and has worked as a political adviser to Labour’s then Shadow Scottish Secretary. A fourth director is Iman Atta OBE and she is a person of particular significance here.

Iman Atta is the “Director of the anti-Muslim hate crime monitoring organisation Tell MAMA (part of Faith Matters CIC)” as per website of the campaign. One of the patrons of Tell MAMA is Reverend Mark Oakley who is “responsible for the educational and outreach activities of the Cathedral through the work of its Schools and Families Department and the St Paul’s Forum” after being ordained by St. Paul’s in 1993.

The bio of Reverend Mark Oakley as per Tell MAMA’s website

A second patron is Canon Dr Giles Fraser who happens to be a priest in the Church of England and a columnist and editorial board member of The Guardian. It is to pertinent to mention here that the interference of Christian organisations abroad in the domestic affairs of India is not a secret. Furthermore, it also needs to be remembered that the Labour Party took anti-India positions in the aftermath of Article 370 and the Guardian has been regularly peddling anti-India propaganda in its columns.

The Hateful Supporters of Stop Funding Hate

The people who support this campaign aren’t much different either. According to Daily Mail, one of their supporters, Sheila Sullivan, a supporter of far-left British politician Jeremy Corbyn, has called former British Prime Minister ‘Cruella De Vil’ [ann evil character in One Hundred And One Dalmatians], said that former Chancellor Philip Hammond ‘looks like he has died and been dug up’, and branded George Osborne a ‘slimy git’.

She has also frequently called Conservative voters as ‘f***ing thick’ [she did not use asterisks] and claimed that she would ‘disinherit’ her children if they married one. Apart from such vile insults, she has also spread antisemitic conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, she is not the only Stop Funding Hate supporter who has trafficked in hate. The entire campaign itself appears to be propelled by hateful individuals.

The supporters of the campaign have called their political opponents ‘f***ing scum’, ‘f***ing tw*t’ and called people who voted to leave the European Union ‘Xenophobic retarded sheep’. They have also called Tory voters ‘filth’ and ‘d*cks’. Some of them have also indulged in composing poems fantasising about violence against Conservative politicians. And this is not remotely close to being a comprehensive list.

The political nature of Stop Funding Hate

The campaign initiated one of its drives against the Daily Mail after the tabloid published a report revealing that the British government had launched an investigation into an alleged collusion between anti-Brexit MPs and leaders of the European Union. The Daily Mail was accused of apparently stirring up ‘hate’ against the said MPs.

When the Daily Mail called the Judges who gave a verdict that went against Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was pushing for a Brexit then, the ‘Enemies of the People’, Stop Funding Hate tweeted a photograph of the front page to the government as well as the advertisers calling for them to boycott, Naomi Firsht reported.

Combined with the association of its members with the Labour Party and its strident opposition to Brexit, the far-left political nature of its campaign cannot be ignored. Also, the timing and issues regarding which it has campaigned also makes it evident that it has little to do with stopping hate and more to do with politics. Furthermore, the hateful nature of its supporters proves once and for all that it has nothing to do with with stopping hate at all.

Why India should be concerned

Stop Funding Hate is closely linked to the Labour Party, has a history of antisemitism and has on its board members who seek to impose their own will on politics. It is important to understand here that SFH is no different from FCRA NGOs such as Amnesty which openly attempt to influence the politics of the country, which is extremely problematic considering its links to the British government. It is no different from Oxfam India which had urged the Congress party to form an ‘alliance’ with ‘civil society organisations’.

If foreign organisations can dictate what Indian media can speak about or not, then it’s an extremely disturbing trend for our national interests as the media is rightly referred to as the fourth pillar of democracy. If foreign organisations can influence the coverage of Indian media, then it is easy to see how the politics of the country will be affected.

Furthermore, we have no clear information yet on who funds the campaign. While the campaign claims to operate through crowdfunding, it could very well be that Stop Funding Hate is being funded by organisations that are inimical to Indian interests. There is no transparency at all regarding the nature of its funding. Under such circumstances, organisations such as the SFH do pose a new dimension of threat to the very functioning of our democracy.

‘No salary for healthcare workers since December 2019’: Hospital staff in Pune forced to protest

OpIndia Staff
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‘No salary for healthcare workers since December 2019’: Hospital staff in Pune forced to protest

With 33,133 active cases of Coronavirus, coupled with 2098 fatalities, Maharashtra is the worst-affected of all states in the country. While front-line workers are working tirelessly to fight the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, the treatment meted out to them is heartbreaking. The staff members of the Kashibai Navale Medical College and General Hospital in Pune were forced to protest outside the hospital premises after the administration failed to clear their dues of 6 months.

Reportedly, the hospital staff have not been paid their salaries since December last year. Left with no choice, the frontline workers were forced to organise a demonstration against the hospital management. On Friday, Pune had reported 116 cases of the Chinese virus. As such, the total tally in the city has risen to 7,314. Pune now accounts for the second-highest number of Coronavirus cases, following Mumbai.

Protests by Healthcare workers in Mumbai

Earlier, hundreds of nurses and contractual health workers had gone on a strike in Mumbai’s state-run King Edward Memorial Hospital. As per reports, the protest broke out after a contractual employee working in the Coronavirus ward died on May 24. According to reports, he was reportedly unwell and wanted leave, which he was allegedly denied. He was not provided with any sort of facility or help from the administration. His subsequent death has sparked a huge protest outside the state-run hospital. Protesting employees had demanded that his family should be compensated with a job and financial aid.

Opposition leaders and leftist journalists circulate fake news about substandard PPE kits at AIIMS Delhi, PIB calls out the lie

OpIndia Staff
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Opposition leaders and leftist journalists circulate fake news about substandard PPE kits at AIIMS Delhi, PIB calls out the lie

The detection of coronavirus among more than 50 healthcare workers in AIIMS Delhi has set alarm bells ringing as it underscored the threat faced by the front-line warriors while battling the spread of a novel contagion. According to the reports, MBBS students, resident doctors, mess workers, nurses and attendants have all been afflicted by the scourge of coronavirus.

While the front-line workers selflessly and tirelessly help the country in taming the rising number of infections, there are some individuals who feel no compunction in sharing and propagating unverified and blatantly fake news to show the central government in a bad light and undermine their efforts in containing the rampaging pandemic.

Journalist Runjhun Sharma yesterday posted a tweet in which she apparently quoted AIIMS doctors lamenting about the quality of N95 masks and PPEs being given to them by the government. The doctors that she allegedly interviewed claimed that the masks and PPEs they were provided with did not meet the basic MoHFW safety standards and their objections to them were met with threats of FIRs and endangerment of their careers.

“N95 masks & PPEs don’t meet even basic MOHFW safety standards. Our voice is met with FIRs, threats & attempts to jeopardise our career. It’s not the virus we are worried about its the Govts apathy,” AIIMS doctors said as quoted by Runjhun Sharma.

Tweet posted by Runjhun Sharma

However, the PIB rubbished the assertions of the said journalist claiming that the quality of the equipment given to the AIIMS doctors and healthcare workers met the standards set by the Ministry of Health which were evaluated and certified by AIIMS committee. It also added that more than 95 per cent of the coronavirus cases did not have any evidence of transmission from patient care.

Soon after PIB’s official Fact-checking debunked the lies peddled by Runjhun, the CNN News 18 journalist pulled down the original tweet. However, before the mendacious tweet was deleted by Runjhun, scores of prominent personalities, including MPs, MLAs, actors and journalists had made a beeline to share the tweet and corner the central government for supposedly failing to provide necessary equipment with optimum safety standards to the doctors and other health care workers.

Journalist Faye D Souza, whose predisposition against the central government is well-known, furthered the lie promoted by Runjhun by quoting her tweet and commenting “unbelievable”.

Rajya Sabha member and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also shared the fake news shared by the CNN News 18 journalist. Expressing his anguish over a fake incident, Ramesh raised question as to what is the Health Minister doing.

Actor-turned-politician Mimi Chakraborty, who is a Trinamool Congress Party MP from Jadavpur constituency, mocked the sombre occasion of coronavirus spread among AIIMS healthcare workers by taking a dig at PM Modi. Mimi quoted the fake news and drew a comparison between the Indian PM and the Canadian PM. She asserted that Canadian PM ensured the protective gear and double pay for all doctors and healthcare workers while the Indian PM asked Indians to clang utensils and light diyas and urged Indians to become self-reliant.

Another TMC MP, Nusrat Jahan, who had recently defended her dance moves on TikTok even while protesters in her constituency were demanding for food, also partook in spreading the fake news about the alleged substandard healthcare equipment for the doctors and workers. In a petty political attack against Amit Malviya, she tagged the BJP leader claiming while he was calculating beds and facilities in Bengal, “BJP is pushing doctors into the hell-hole of COVID-19 crisis”.

Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Balasore, Navajyoti Patnaik shared Runjhun’s unverified claims to assert that the government is reckless in not providing quality medical equipment for the nation’s COVID-19 warriors.

Congress MP from Virudhanagar, Manickam Tagore, posted a tweet saying that Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is responsible for providing the equipment to AIIMS Healthcare workers. Accusing the health minister of politicising Wayanad medical college, Tagore said that his performance during coronavirus crisis has become irresponsible.

Delhi-Moscow Air India flight under Vande Bharat Mission returns after pilot found positive for coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi-Moscow Air India flight under Vande Bharat Mission returns after pilot found positive for coronavirus

On Saturday, an Air India flight travelling from Delhi to Moscow had to return midway from Uzbekistan after the airline’s ground team found out that one of the pilots onboard has tested positive for the coronavirus.

According to the reports, an oversight team of the Air India, while checking pre-flight test reports of crew members had mistakenly read the captain’s positive report as negative and released him for the ferry flight to fly back Indians from Moscow.

The flight was deployed under Vande Bharat Mission to bring back stranded Indians from abroad.

“It was a genuine oversight due to the massive amount of test results that need to be gone through. Delhi base alone sees testing of 300 crew members daily due to which more labs had to be roped in. The volume of tests has meant results come in an excel sheet now. The person checking the test result status of the crew who have tested negative and hence are available for rostering cleared an A320 crew for the Delhi-Moscow flight” said an Air India source to Times of India.

The Airbus A-320 Neo (VT-EXR) returned to Delhi at about 12.30 pm on Saturday and now the entire crew will be quarantined as per norms. The Air India plane will be sanitised and another A320 Neo to Moscow will be sent later on Saturday afternoon to fly back Indians from there.

“When the A320 plane, which did not have any passengers as it was heading to Moscow to bring back stranded Indians under Vande Bharat Mission, had reached Uzbekistan’s airspace, our team on the ground realised that one of the pilots had tested COVID-positive,” senior Air India officials said.

Air India leading the Vande Bharat Mission

The national carrier Air India has been running several flights under Vande Bharat Mission. In the first phase, between May 7 and 16, over 16,000 stranded Indians have been brought back. In second phase from May 17 to June 13, Air India flights are scheduled to operate from 60 countries.

The flights will evacuate Indians from the US, UK, Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, and Sweden.

Meanwhile, the government has made it compulsory for pilots and crew to be tested for corona before being allowed to operate these flights. Reportedly, the Air India crew, who are yet to get their flying allowance since March 2020 are operating these flights as a “national duty”.

Delhi Anti-CAA riots accused Congress leader Ishrat Jahan granted bail of 10 days for her Nikah

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Anti-CAA riots accused Congress leader Ishrat Jahan granted bail of 10 days for her Nikah

Congress leader and former municipal councillor, Ishrat Jahan, who is charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for instigating anti-Hindu riots in Delhi, has been granted interim bail of ten days for her Nikaah.

According to the reports, Congress leader Ishrat Jahan had moved a Delhi court Thursday seeking interim bail for 30 days to get married.

On Friday, Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh had decided to hear her plea on May 30 after the Additional Public Prosecutor had sought more time to verify the facts of her scheduled marriage. The court has now granted her 10 days bail to get married.

Ishrat Jahan arrested for her role in Anti-Hindu riots

Ishrat Jahan was arrested by Delhi police on February 26 for her role in inciting violence during the anti-Hindu riots in the national capital during the last week of February. Soon after her arrest, Jahan was sent as to 14-day police custody.

The court had earlier observed that Ishrat Jahan did not deserve bail at the initial stage of the investigation “despite being a woman”.

Besides accused of inciting people for violence, Jahan is also held responsible for blocking Khureji Khas road along with other anti-CAA protesters on February 23 (Sunday). She has been demonstrating against the Citizenship Amendment Act for the last 50 days in Khureji Khas area.

Jahan has been charged under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault on public servant), 332 (voluntarily causes hurt to public servant), 307 (attempt to murder), 109 (abetment), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Arms Act.

Arrests made in Anti- Hindu riots case

For their involvement in the Anti-Hindu riots, other than Ishrat Jahan, President of Jamia Alumni Association Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider, Jamia Millia Islamia University students Asif Iqbal Tanha, Gulfisha Khatoon, suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain, former student leader Umar Khalid have also been charged under the anti-terror law in the case.

On Saturday, far-left ‘Pinjra Tod’ activist Natasha Narwal was also booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for her role in inciting the anti-Hindu communal riots in Northeast Delhi in February that left 53 people dead and more than 400 injured.

Maharashtra: Cop dies hours after he tested Coronavirus negative and was discharged from the hospital, police initiates inquiry

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Cop dies hours after he tested Coronavirus negative and was discharged from the hospital, police initiates inquiry

A 53-year old Bandra Police officer succumbed to Coronavirus disease after he was tested negative and discharged from the hospital. The cop was tested positive for coronavirus on May 16. Reportedly, he was admitted to the COVID-19 care unit in a Worli hospital and after he was tested negative on May 28, he was released by the hospital. So far, 25 cops have died due to Coronavirus in Maharashtra.

Reportedly, his health deteriorated within hours of discharge from the hospital. He was again taken to the Nair hospital around 1 am where he was declared dead. Joint Commissioner Navin Bajaj said, “We are conducting an inquiry.”

A video had come to light in which a constable was seen walking towards his home in a fragile state and the residents were applauding him. One of his colleagues even questioned his sudden release. He said, “What was the hurry to discharge him? Also, the ambulance did not drop him till home. He had to walk a long distance to reach home. He was weak and unable to walk.”

The constable is survived by his wife and two children aged 20 and 19.

Another Constable reported dead due to pandemic

Another constable from the Dahisar police station also succumbed to the COVID-19. He was admitted in JJ Hospital but was never tested for Corona virus, as per reports. Hanif Mujawar, senior inspector of Dahisar police station, “The 53-year-old had gone on leave for 10 days. He started suffering from breathing issues and was admitted to JJ hospital. He died on May 26, after which his swab samples were taken. His reports came positive on May 27.”

The Dahisar police station cop was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

The death toll in Mumbai police has reached 16 while 25 police personnel from Maharashtra have been reported dead due to the deadly pandemic.

As per reports, 2211 police personnels have been infected of which 970 have been recovered till Friday morning. Of the 2,211, 1,962 personnels are of constable rank.

800 Trains facilitated for the return of 11.5 lakh migrants

A senior Police officer said that till Friday, 800 trains are operated to facilitate the return of 11.5 lakh stranded migrants to their respective state. Only the migrants who belong to West Bengal have been there owing to the cyclone Amphan and will be sent back soon. He added, “Some of the stranded migrants who had registered themselves for Shramik special trains are now backing off and opting to stay back in the city as their employers have assured them a regular supply of food and work. On Thursday, 11 trains were to be run from Mumbai, but as migrants backed off, only three trains were operated.”

Principal Secretary(special) and head of the three-member committee that was formed for stranded migrants said, Amitabh Gupta, said, “The Mantralaya staff (over 1,400 state government employees), who were given the task to assist police force in the registration process of migrants, have been asked to return to their office after May 31, as very few stranded migrants are left.”

28 FIRs lodged against 76 people for violating lockdown norms

Reportedly, a total of 28 FIRs were lodged against 76 people of which 47 were nabbed due to violating lockdown. Seven FIRs were registered for not wearing masks and sic FIRs for gathering in a place. Another 12 FIRs were for different types of violations and three were against shops operating despite being non-essential service. Nine FIRs each were lodged by the south and central region, while six of them were in the west region. Remaining few were in North and 3 FIRs in east region.

Thirteen members of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena were also booked by the Andheri police station for allegedly protesting outside BMC ‘K-east’ ward office complaining against unavailability of beds.

Maharashtra: Annual ‘Palkhi’ pilgrimage to Pandarapur cancelled, Padukas of holy saints may be airlifted for Ashadhi Ekadashi

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Annual ‘Palkhi’ pilgrimage to Pandarapur cancelled, Padukas of holy saints may be airlifted for Ashadhi Ekadashi

Amidst the rising scare of Chinese pandemic coronavirus, the Maharashtra government has decided to cancel the much-revered annual “palkhis” (palanquins) of the pre-eminent saints of Maharashtra – Sant Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram Maharaj.

According to the reports, Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, in the wake of coronavirus pandemic in Maharashtra, announced that the annual pilgrimage of silver ‘paduka’ of two saints has been called-off, instead, it may be carried by the air from Pune to Pandharpur. The decision was announced after a meeting between Ajit Pawar and the trustees of the temple trusts at Pandharpur, Dehu and Alandi.

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that since coronavirus cases are rising in Pune, Satara and Solapur districts, the ‘palkhi’ procession has been called off.

“Even if we allow a handful of warkaris to proceed from Pune, there is a possibility of thousands joining it on the way. In such a situation, it will be difficult to control the crowd and there is a risk of spread of the infection,” Pawar said.

He also added that the precise mode of transport will be decided after taking the weather situation into consideration as the pilgrimage takes place during the monsoons in the month of June.

“If air travel is not suitable then the palkhis would be carried by bus,” he said.

Lakhs of pilgrimage converge at Pandarapur every year

Every year in June, lakhs of ‘warkaris’ (pilgrims) from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, participate in the revered “palkhi” procession. The warkaris walk from Pune to Pandharpur, covering a distance of over 200 km, accompanying a rath carrying the ‘padukas’ of the two saints. More than 15 lakh devotees gather at Pandharpur every year after a journey of 19-20 days. 

At the meeting, trustees of Alandi and Dehu Devasthans had urged the government to allow 25 ‘warkaris’ to accompany the ‘padukas’. However, the proposal was rejected.

“Though we are not happy, we will abide by the government decision as we do not want to do anything that will lead to the spread of the infection,” said Manikrao More, president of Dehu Palkhi Solha Samiti.

The trustees said that it was decided that ‘padukas’ of the two saints will proceed to Pandhapur a day before Ashadhi Ekadashi, which falls on July 1.

Why India should be concerned about the growing investments of China in Indian online gaming companies

rajnishk
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Why India should be concerned about the growing investments of China in Indian online gaming companies

At a time when anti-China sentiments are high across the globe and ‘kick-the-dragon-out’ chorus is getting louder in every nook and corner in the wake of the somewhat mysteriously behaving deadly Novel Coronavirus, tech behemoths from the communist country are seemingly working all-out to somehow dominate the Indian online gaming sector- one of the few businesses which despite the general devastating impact of the pandemic, continues to prosper.

Alibaba and Tencent, two of the largest Chinese tech companies now have big stakes in some of the leading Indian online gaming companies including the Paytm First and the sole unicorn (a company worth over U.S. $1 billion) of the sector in India, Dream 11.

After the restrictions imposed last month by India on Chinese investment in the wake of the COVID-19 scenario, Alibaba backed Paytm First Games, a prominent gaming company in India, recently, joined hands with Pakistan based Daraz, an online marketplace and logistics company which operates in South Asia and Southeast Asia barring India, to launch a gaming platform Daraz First in Bangladesh.

Daraz, founded in 2012 in Pakistan, operates e-commerce platforms and logistics service in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In 2018, Daraz Group was acquired by Alibaba which also has invested hugely in Paytm. Paytm First Games is a joint venture of Indian mobile wallet Paytm and Alibaba.

Chinese Giants’ Investment Strategy

The tech giants from China have been obviously investing with a policy to cash-in on the thriving Indian mobile commerce market and the related hidden benefits.

The total investment of the Chinese companies (including Tencent and Alibaba) in the Indian tech sector, including gaming industry startups, was a little over US$214 million till 2013 but it has risen almost 40 folds to the US $8 billion by December 2019, according to Bengaluru based start-up tracking firm Tracxn. Though the exact figures of investment by Alibaba and Tencent were not available, the two were believed to be among the largest investing Chinese companies.

Apparently Alibaba looked interested in making a bigger investment in companies like Paytm as an anchor and taking larger ownership, Tencent is seemingly following the policy of smaller ownership in multiple companies.

According to a Quartz India report, ‘Alibaba has invested in Indian companies including Paytm Mall, an online retail place under Paytm, food delivery app Zomato, online grocer Bigbasket, e-commerce platform Snapdeal and logistics firm Xpressbees. Apart from Xpressbees, which does not reveal its valuation, all the other five firms have achieved unicorn status, valued between just over $1 billion (Bigbasket and Snapdeal) to a whopping $16 billion (Paytm). Alibaba is the single largest shareholder of Paytm.’

‘Tencent, meanwhile, has invested in some of the strongest rivals of the firms that have received money from Alibaba. For instance, Tencent has invested in Swiggy, which is engaged in a food delivery fight with Zomato, as well as in Flipkart, the largest e-commerce platform in India, which Walmart bought in 2018 as it competes with Amazon.

The US e-commerce giant exceeds both Snapdeal and Bigbasket in terms of sales in India. Other unicorns Tencent has invested in include messaging app Hike, ride-sharing firm Ola, learning app BYJU’s, fantasy gaming platform Dream11 and B2B trading platform Udaan. It is difficult to calculate the total amount the two have put in Indian startups, as most of the funding rounds included other investors, such as SoftBank,’ the report said.

Other Chinese investors apart from Tencent and Alibaba that have become active in India in recent years include Tik-Tok owner ByteDance, smartphone maker Xiaomi, which has invested in sectors like entertainment and mobile apps, and Chinese conglomerate Fosun, which has invested in more than five Indian startups, including logistics firm Delivery and booking website ixigo,’ it said.

The Online Gaming Sector

The Indian online gaming industry is among one of the few businesses in the country which had not only flourished during the slowdown before the Covid 19 crisis but has also continued to boom even after it. In the nearly two decade old Indian gaming industry, initially games were played on consoles and later on PC’s only. But with the surge in the numbers of smart phones and availability of cheaper internet data, it saw a quick growth in last 5 years or so. Almost 90% of all the gamers now play on mobile phones. It grew by 40% to reach Rs 6500 crore (US$855 million) in annual revenue size last year. It was projected to be almost triple to over Rs 18700 crore (over US$2.5 billion) by 2022, according to a recent joint study of the Industry body FICCI and the professional services provider firm Ernst & Young.

According to another report the gaming industry revenue, including both transaction based and non-transaction games, in India was projected to cross Rs 25000 crore (US$ 3.3 billion) mark by 2024. The number of gamers in this country of 138 crore (1.38 billion) people with a large chunk of young population, has increased exponentially to nearly 38 crore (357 million) last year and was constantly rising.

Even during the pandemic caused lockdown when most of the businesses have either shut shop or taken a big nosedive, gaming sector is still flourishing.  According to the Industry players, there is over 2 fold rise in the number of gamers during the lockdown. Because people with more leisurely time, are now playing such games on mobile phones as a favourite pastime, to keep the Coronavirus anxiety at bay.

The sector has been a hot-favourite of the investors from all quarters but the Chinese players have seemingly left everyone else behind in this regard. And now that the fantasy gaming segment, which had seen the quickest growth of over 118% last year has failed, Alibaba is apparently using other tactics by expanding its wings through players like Paytm First. Its recent tie up with Daraz, the China backed company in Pakistan is also being seen as one of these tactics. Tencent has invested Dream 11- the biggest Fantasy sports platform in India which is now almost completely shut due to unavailability of real sports events as the fantasy gaming depended on such events. In Fantasy sports, participants pay a fee to assemble a virtual team of professional players from any ongoing event and then win cash or prizes based on how those players perform in real-life games.

Dragon’s Interests

A recent report said that more than a third of India’s 1.3 billion people are internet users, and most of them used budget category smartphones with cheaper data-usage plans. The local smartphone market was growing by 10% per year before the Covid crisis.

According to Girish Menon, head of media and entertainment for KPMG in Mumbai, the Indian scenario is attractive to Alibaba and Tencent because their entire ecosystem is developed around mobile phones. The time spent on gaming is far higher in India than any other form of entertainment.

Meanwhile, on the launch of the Daraz First games the Paytm in its statement said, ‘We are thrilled to share that Paytm First Games, has teamed up with Daraz to enter South Asian markets. The company has launched its premium gaming app in Bangladesh, and will soon be bringing its innovative gaming experience to Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar as part of its international expansion.’

Launched in 2012, Daraz is South Asia’s premier online shopping marketplace with 5 million consumers across the region. The partnership will help Paytm First Games get access to one of the fastest-growing gaming regions in Asia, the statement added without any kind of mention of Daraz’s links with either China or Pakistan.

It quoted Sudhanshu Gupta, COO, Paytm First Games as saying, ‘Mobile gaming has been exploding in South Asia region and we endeavour to partner with players who share the same mission. We are thrilled to partner with Daraz.’ Chief Growth Officer, Daraz Group, Edouard Gheerbrant said, ‘This platform will enable Daraz to capture the fast-growing mobile games market opportunity in South Asia. I’m confident that the collaboration with Paytm First Games will accelerate DFG’s growth in becoming the market leader of the region’s gaming industry.’

Data Security & Other Risks

According to a report by the Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, a reputed foreign policy think-tank, Chinese funding to Indian tech start-ups is making an impact disproportionate to its value, given the deepening penetration of technology across sectors in India.

‘Investments made by Chinese tech companies and funds, led by giants like Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent have funded 92 Indian start-ups, including unicorns such as Paytm, Byju’s. 18 of the 30 Indian unicorns have a Chinese investor. This means that China is embedded in Indian society, the economy, and the technology ecosystem that influences it. Unlike a port or a railway line, these are invisible assets in small sizes – rarely over $100 million – and made by the private sector, which doesn’t cause immediate alarm,’ the report said.

‘If Alibaba, Tencent and other Chinese tech majors replicate their internet ecosystems in India, this can create a systemic risk. An ecosystem such as this controls access to end-users; it means other companies (retailers, financing firms and media) will have to follow the standards/technologies prescribed to them. Alibaba/Tencent will be in a position like Google – they can decide which firm will succeed or fail by controlling user access, using their own technologies. Imagine: the Indian economy could use Chinese tech for critical applications,’ the report claimed.

‘Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Tencent have their own ecosystems, which include online stores, payment gateways, messaging services, etc. An investment by them can pull the Indian company into this ecosystem, which may mean loss of control over data,’ the report claims adding that the reliance of Indian start-ups on overseas venture capital funding has proved success for China and some of the unicorns like Paytm and Flipkart have been acquired outright by such companies.

Sharp Reactions

To a query about the increasing Chinese investment, Gaming sector expert and founder and MD cum CEO of Ability Games, Kolkata based independent research and game development company, Suraj Chokhani said, ‘Today when the whole world has turned in to a global village, technological collaboration and investment from other countries is required for growth and doing big things. But so far as China is concerned, it should also open its doors for the Indian companies to invest there in the same manner its companies were doing here in India. It would also help in achieving trade balance of sorts. It should not be a one-way affair.’

Well known nationalist activist, writer and founder of Jan Ki Baat, Pradeep Bhandari said that India should see to it that the dragon did not succeed in economic imperialism in the name of investment in India. ‘In the post Covid world, China is facing a global distress. And in that context it is extremely imperative that India does not look at China as a true friend but a competing power that can hamper our strategic interests. India should not have an open door policy with regard to Chinese investment but rather have a restrictive, cautious policy which scrutinizes Chinese investment and prevents economic  imperialism’ in the name of investment,’ he said.

Ahmedabad based online gamer Manoj Dave (name changed) said that he was annoyed to see such developments. ‘At a time when all Chinese investments without government approval are prohibited in India and when Pakistan is increasingly facing economic and social sanctions and boycott from most countries across the world, it is shocking that companies like Paytm, which keep preaching about Make in India and nationalism, are entering into a strategic partnership and JV with a Chinese-backed Pakistani company. I will not use this platform and would also urge my friends to boycott it for this type of behaviour. All those companies running their businesses with Chinese money should be boycotted by the public,’ Dave said.

Massive protests erupt across the United States over the killing of African-American George Floyd by a white police officer

OpIndia Staff
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Massive protests erupt across the United States over the killing of African-American George Floyd by a white police officer

Massive protests erupted in Washington DC over the death of African-American man George Floyd. As a result, the White House had to observe a brief shutdown. People expressed their outrage against the death of George Floyd due to brutality of the police in its custody.

On May 25, a 46-year-old ‘black’ man, George Floyd was allegedly 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 video which went viral was captured by a pedestrian, who repeatedly objected to the action of Chauvin, shows the cop trying to choke the black man with his knee. Despite the victim complaining about not being able to breathe, coupled with verbal protest from onlookers, the said officer was unmoved.

The incident provoked widespread protests and riots across several parts of the United States of America. The worst-hit was Minneapolis, where the death of George Floyd took place.

Minneapolis imposes curfew

Mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey declared a curfew in the night time following the continuous protests in the three nights and violence in the biggest city in the US Midwest state of Minnesota.

The curfew has been imposed in all public places including streets from 8 pm to 6 am local time. The effect began on Friday night and will stay there till Saturday morning. As per reports, those who will indulge in violating the order will be imposed a penalty of US $ 1000 fine or imprisonment up to 90 days.

Riots emerged after the incident came to light

On Tuesday, hundreds of protestors hit the streets to protest against the killing of George Floyd. The demonstration continued outside the nearby police precinct. Soon, the protest took a violent turn. On Wednesday night, 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. Shops were raided and looted, all in the garb of a peaceful protest. Home goods such as rugs and coffee makers were stolen and stores were set ablaze. Amidst the chaos, a ‘looter’ was also shot dead by the police. 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.

Donald Trump condemned violent protests

US President Donald Trump on Friday warned ‘Radical Left’ Mayor Jacob Frey to stop the riots in the city and bring the law and order situation under control. He said, “I cannot stand back and watch this happen to a great American city, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership”. Reportedly, he termed those involved in protests as ‘thugs’.

Trump had decided to send the National Guard to tame the ‘thugs’ who are dishonoring the memory of the victim. He further assured Governor Tim Waltz that the military is with him. “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” the US President cautioned the rioters.

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