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On the day PM Modi holds a meeting of NDMA with Amit Shah present, rumours of Shah’s ill health peddled by vested interests

OpIndia Staff
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On the day PM Modi holds a meeting of NDMA with Amit Shah present, rumours of Shah’s ill health peddled by vested interests

When the country is fighting the major crisis of Coronavirus pandemic, rumours are being spread about the health about home minister Amit Shah by vested interests. Today controversial journalist Shahid Siddiqui posted a tweet which suggested that all is not well with Shah. He claimed that something very unusual or serious has taken place, and demanded that govt should come out and tell the nation where he is.

Even though the home ministry is regularly issuing guidelines on the lockdown, the home minister has preferred to remain in the background. This had caused many to ask where is he, and this led to many people creating conspiracy theories about him being missing in action. Before Siddiqui, known fake news peddler Rana Ayyub had also claimed that home minister Amit Shah has not been seen in recent times.

Many other anti-BJP handles also added fuel to the propaganda, spreading the rumour that Amit Shah is unwell and that’s why he is not attending office.

But all these are false propaganda, as the home minister was seen attending a meeting of National Disaster Management Authority chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today morning itself. The meeting was held to review the situation in Vishakapatnam after Styrene gas was leaked from a chemical plant which had killed 11 people and hundreds fell ill.

The home minister also tweeted from his Twitter handle about the incident. He informed that he had talked to NDMA officials and concerned officials, and said that they are continuously and closely monitoring the situation.

Later in the day the Home Minister also expressed grief over death of two BSF jawans due to Coronavirus. A glance on his Twitter account shows that he is actively working, and attending meetings regularly. He was present on a meeting on power sector on 1st May, and another meeting on agriculture sector on 2nd May, both chaired by the PM Modi. The prime minister had posted photographs of the meetings, where Amit Shah can be seen.

Our sources in the Home Ministry have also confirmed that Amit Shah is hale and hearty, and working regularly. Apart from attending the meeting in the morning, he was still in North Block at the time of writing of the report.

Therefore, there is no truth in the rumours about Amit Shah’s ill health. He is also not missing in action as alleged by some, as he is regularly attending office and working from behind the scene in the country’s war against Coronavirus.

Union Home Secretary writes to West Bengal govt twice in 24 hrs, warns to ensure “specific groups” from flouting lockdown norms

OpIndia Staff
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Union Home Secretary writes to West Bengal govt twice in 24 hrs, warns to ensure “specific groups” from flouting lockdown norms

The Union Home Ministry, Wednesday once again wrote to the Mamata Banerjee government, slamming the West Bengal government for not enforcing Coronavirus containment measures effectively. This is the second letter that has been addressed to the WB government by the Union Home Ministry in the last 24 hours. In a stern warning, the Centre asked the state chief secretary to ensure that lockdown measures were strictly implemented as its two teams had found “specific groups” in “specific localities” of Kolkata and Howrah violating the lockdown as well as attack police and healthcare workers.

In his letter to Mamata Banerjee government, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla flagged the plying of rickshaws, uncontrolled crowding of markets, free movement of people in large numbers, children playing cricket, and people bathing in rivers among the violations.

Asking the chief secretary to ensure sticter enforcement of the lockdown by enhancing police control, Ajay Bhalla wrote: “Lockdown violations have been noted in the cities of Kolkata and Howrah by specific groups in specific localities with reports of corona warriors, including the police, being attacked.”

Bhalla said that these observations were based on the reports submitted by the two Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) that recently toured West Bengal to monitor coronavirus measures.

Union Home Ministry’s first letter to Mamata Banerjee govt

Yesterday, in a letter to Mamata Banerjee’s government, the Union Home Ministry had revealed that the state has the highest rate of coronavirus fatalities. In a memo, the Union Home Ministry also pointed out that the state has a “very low rate of testing in proportion to the population and a very high rate of mortality of 13.2 per cent, by far the highest for any state.”

The letter revealed further, “This is a reflection of poor surveillance, detection, and testing in the state. There is also a need to increase random testing in crowded clusters.”

In a letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary, Union Home ministry secretary Ajay Bhalla revealed that the lockdown violations are noted in the cities of Kolkata and Howrah with media reports of the corona warriors being attacked.

After the feedback of IMCT teams which were deputed in Kolkata and Jalpaiguri districts since April 20 and returned on Monday, the Union Home secretary wrote the letter to West Bengal secretariat.

The IMCT had extensively toured a total of seven districts in the state and have communicated their observations from time to time to the state government, Bhalla mentioned in the letter.

The two-page letter said that the stricter enforcement of lockdown was necessary and that problem has arisen due to the ostracism of healthcare professionals and lack of quarantine facilities in the state.

MHA wrote to Mamata Banerjee against dilution of lockdown

Even after repeated warning, Mamata Banerjee refuses to abstain. Prior to these warnings, the Ministry of Home Affairs had also written a letter to the West Bengal government calling out its irresponsibility and the gradual dilution of lockdown that is taking place in West Bengal. Written last month, the letter had cited certain areas like Metiabruz, Raja Bazaar, Narkel Danga, Topsia, Ikbalpul etc. which were not abiding the lockdown norms Incidentally, these areas have a high concentration of Muslim population.

It also mentions that “religious congregations” have been allowed in the state and the ration is being distributed by political leaders which may be leading to more infections of the Coronavirus.

The ministry had then demanded that strict action be taken and that a report be sent to the ministry regarding the matter.

IMCT slammed West Bengal government for its handling of coronavirus crisis

The Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) slammed the West Bengal government for its handling of the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis in its final observations regarding the state of affairs. Team Leader and Special Secretary to the Government of India, Apurva Chandra, in his letter to the Chief Secretary of the state asserted that the government had taken an antagonistic approach towards the team and has not supported it in its pursuit to carry out its duties. He also said that the testing rate was not up to the mark and indicated that the government led by Mamata Banerjee was fudging data, an accusation that has been levelled by numerous other people across the board. The letter also said that adequate systems were not in place to conduct surveillance in containment zones.

West Bengal: Health Services Association claims WHO and Indian Govt guidelines not being followed while sample collection, will lead to under reporting of Corona cases

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Health Services Association claims WHO and Indian Govt guidelines not being followed while sample collection, will lead to under reporting of Corona cases

The Health Services Association, West Bengal has spoken out against the manner in which the state administration is collecting the samples for the COVID-19 tests. In a letter shared by Amit Malviya, head of BJP’s IT Cell, the doctors say that the manner in which the samples are being currently collected might lead to false negatives and thereby, result in under-reporting of the actual number of Wuhan Coronavirus cases in the state.

The letter addressed to the Chief Secretary of West Bengal states, “It has come to our notice that in many sample collection set ups the recommended guideline of sampling is not being followed and samples are collected from sites other than nasopharynx. The results obtained thereby maybe of lesser degree of sensitivity and a higher probability of false negativity. This can also lead to inconsistency of the test results in absence of adequate quantity of appropriate sample.” “Consequently, a large number of test outcome may remain false negatives and inconsistent, with wastage of precious test kits,” it adds. The letter also states that the procedure clearly violates the recommendations and guidelines issued by the WHO, CDC, MoHF-ICMR-NIV.

The disastrous handling of the crisis by West Bengal Government

The Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) has slammed the government over the highest mortality rate among any state in the country. On Monday, the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) in its letter to the State Chief Secretary Rajiv Sinha highlighted the “extremely high mortality rate” of Coronavirus in the State of West Bengal, besides the lack of transparent and consistent reporting of the pandemic. Slamming the State Government, the IMCT leader Apurva Chandra stated that 105 people have lost their lives to the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic out of 816 reported cases in West Bengal. As such, the Mamata Banerjee-led-State accounts for the highest mortality rate (12.8%) in the country. Chandra attributed the weak surveillance of the government and the low testing conducted in the State as the cause behind the high mortality rate.

Discrepancy in Data

IMCT also pointed out the discrepancy in data released by the State Government about the status of the pandemic in the State. At one time, the West Bengal Government put the number of infected patients at 744. However, it stated the figure of 931 infected patients while briefing the Union Health Ministry on the same day. Further, the letter alleged that the State bulletins of May 1 and May 2 did not mention the total mortality or the number of Coronavirus patients in the State. IMCT highlighted how the State claimed to have surveyed 50 lac people but did not provide any evidence for the same to the team.

RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav loses his cool during an interview with ABP journalist Sumit Awasthi: Watch video

OpIndia Staff
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RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav loses his cool during an interview with ABP journalist Sumit Awasthi: Watch video

Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Tejashvi Yadav was in a live conversation with anchor Sumit Awasthi on ABP news on May 7 when he lost his cool at the anchor. “You are not talking like a news anchor, but as a spokesperson of the ruling party”, said Tajshvi Yadav while in conversation with the ABP journalist. This brazenness did not go unnoticed by the netizens who were quick to call out the RJD leader on the micro-blogging platform.

Based on a tweet by JDU spokesperson Arvind Nishad where he questions Tejashvi Yadav’s absence from the state whenever there is a crisis, Sumit Awasthi confronted the RJD leader whether he was in Delhi or in Bihar during the interview. This question irked Tejashvi Yadav who then starts replying rudely to Sumit Awasthi.

“Please tell me where are you at the moment. Are you stuck in Delhi due to the lockdown”, asked the ABP anchor to Tejashvi Yadav. To this Yadav asks the Awasthi whether he was aware that the country would be hit by the pandemic and be forced to go under lockdown. Tejashvi seems to be so agitated that he keeps cutting the anchor short and repeats the same argument several times. Even after being asked several times, Tejashvi Yadav does not confirm whether he was in Bihar or Delhi at the time of the interview.

However, this does not hold back the anchor from questioning the RJD leader. Sumit Awasthi goes on to confront Tejasvi Yadav on his promise to pay the fare of 50 trains to bring back the state’s migrant labourers. Earlier, he had offered to provide 2,000 buses to the government for the purpose. Here too, Tejashwi Yadav does not seem too interested in the question being asked to him and tries to bypass the question. Irritated by the questions thrown at him, Tejashvi rudely asks Sumit Awasthi as to why instead of questioning state the government he was questioning him.

On May 4, in a series of tweet in Hindi, Tejashvi Yadav had targeted the ruling Nitish Kumar government. “The 15-year-old double engine government is giving excuses for not bringing the migrant Bihari labourers… Only around 3,500 people are able to come through three trains in the 5-day duration… It gives excuses on the pretext of fares, resources and rules. The Nitish government”s intention is not to bring back the migrants, he wrote.

Tamil Nadu: Boiler Explosion at NLC thermal power station in Cuddalore District, at least seven injured

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Boiler Explosion at NLC thermal power station in Cuddalore District, at least seven injured

At least seven people were injured after a blast in a boiler at the thermal power station (TPS) II of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited in Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu earlier in the day. Massive smoke could be seen erupting from the plant. As per reports, a boiler had exploded at the plant which caused the accident. The cause of the accident has not yet been ascertained.

As per reports, the police and fire services reached the spot to douse the massive blaze at the spot. Operations at the plant were suspended. NLC India Limited’s relief and rescue teams have also reached the spot to bring the situation under control. The plant has around 2000 workers. It has an all risk insurance policy for Rs. 35,000 crore.

Styrene Gas Leak at Vishakhapatnam

Ten people, including a child, have died and over 5,000 have fallen ill after gas leaked overnight from a chemical plant of a multinational firm in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. According to reports, a chemical gas leakage was reported early morning on Thursday at LG Polymers factory in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. More than 200 have been admitted to the hospitals following the leak of styrene gas from an LG Polymers facility located near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Gas Leak in Chhattisgarh Paper Mill

Seven workers were hospitalised after being exposed to a gas leak while cleaning a chlorine tank in a paper mill in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. 3 of the workers are in critical condition, the SP in Raigarh has reported. The incident has occurred in the Shakti Paper mills located at Pusaur’s Tetla village. The critical workers are being referred to Raipur for treatment.

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan announces changes in the labour laws of the state to boost economy effected due to coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan announces changes in the labour laws of the state to boost economy effected due to coronavirus

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a press briefing today and proposed reforms in labour laws, through Facebook Live. He said that the coronavirus pandemic has adversely affected the economy and widespread efforts are being made to bring the system back on track said the chief minister while proposing the sweeping reforms in the labour law in the state.

Agriculture Reforms In MP

Saying that his government wants to convert this challenge thrown in front of the nation into an opportunity, Shivraj Singh Chouhan reiterated the reforms to the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) structure in the state. Farmers in MP will now be allowed to sell their crops to any individual or entity willing to buy them, without having to approach a mandi.

He announced that exporters, traders, food processors, etc, can open a private mandi and can buy the agriculture produce by visiting the farmer’s land or house. The amendment in the mandi rules was aimed at giving freedom to the farmers to sell their produce at a better price, and on their own choice.

The traders or bulk buyers can negotiate prices directly with the farmers. Of course, the farmers will still be allowed to sell in the mandis, which will fetch them government-approved minimum support prices (MSP). The state has also provided for the creation of private mandis which are fairly broad-based in definition.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan announces a new model of labor reform in the state

Under the new scheme, the government has taken steps to eliminate red tape and Inspector Raj from factories. Now no factory inspection will be done without reason. The owners have been given permission to extend the shift of the workers in the factories and give up to 72 hours of overtime in a week. However, in lieu of this, the factory owner will also have to pay the employees the required overtime.

To compensate for the loss of small shopkeepers, the government has extended the time limit to keep shops opened. Now in the areas where the government will approve the opening of shops, shopkeepers will be able to open their shops from 6 am to 12 pm.

Key amendment made in the labor law

  • Process of registration and licensing for setting up a new business firm, which earlier took 30 days would be now completed in 1 day. If the concerned official doesn’t issue the license in one day, fine will be collected from him and will be given to the trader as a compensation.
  • The factory license renewal will be in 10 years instead of every year.
  • The license which now valid for one calendar year under the Contract Labor Act will be made available for the entire contract period
  • Registration of new factories will now be completely online
  • Any startup industry has to be registered only once
  • The shift to working in factories can be 12 hours instead of eight
  • Extention of the shift of the workers in the factories can go up to 72 hours in a week.
  • However, in lieu of this, the factory owner will also have to pay the employees the required overtime.
  • Under the new labour reform, there will be no inspection in the firms employing less than 50 workers and in the small and medium enterprises, the inspection will take place only with the permission of the labour commissioner or in case of complaint.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan announces one register one return policy

MP CM said that the older requisite to fill 61 registers and 13 returns will be abolished and only one register and the return has been brought in place. Even the self-certification will be enough to file the return. He added that the move will help reduce the red tape and will help the businesses to run smoothly. Shivraj Singh Chouhan also said that this will boost the Ease of Doing Business.

Industry body FICCI welcomed the long-awaited reforms saying that FICCI lauds Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s labour reforms.

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“This will boost economic activities and attract investments. It will lead to holistic industrial growth supporting the workforce and creating job opportunities,” FICCI said in a tweet citing Madhya Pradesh chair Dinesh Patidar.

Online learning platform Unacademy hacked, details of 22 million users available for sale: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Online learning platform Unacademy hacked, details of 22 million users available for sale: Reports

Unacademy, one of the country’s largest online learning platforms has been hit by a data breach as details of 22 million users of Unacademy are reportedly available for sale now, reports Economic Times

According to security firm Cyble Inc, a hacker has been offering to sell the user database, containing 21,909,707 records, for USD 2,000. The firm Cyble Inc added that it has managed to acquire the database and added the user records to its data breach monitoring service which can be used by millions of Unacademy users to determine whether their account was hacked or not.

Reportedly, the records include usernames, hashed passwords, date joined, last login date, email addresses, first and last names, account profile (staff member/a superuser), account status (whether the account is active) has been leaked due to the data breach.

According to Cyble, the hackers are only putting up the user records up for sale at this time and may have access to more information. The firm recommended that registered Unacademy learners and educators immediately change their passwords on the site.

Data is safe: Unacademy co-founder

Unacademy Co-Founder and CTO Hemesh Singh confirmed the data breach but added that all sensitive information of the learners are safe. “We have been closely monitoring the situation and can confirm that basic information related to around 11 million learners has been compromised,” he added.

Singh added, “We would like to assure our learners that no sensitive information such as financial data, location or passwords has been breached. We follow stringent encryption methods using the PBKDF2 algorithm with a SHA256 hash, making it highly implausible for anyone to access the learner passwords.”

“We also follow an OTP based login system that provides an additional layer of security to our learners. We are doing a complete background check and will be addressing any potential security loophole to further our efforts of ensuring a robust security mechanism. Data security and privacy of our learners is of utmost importance to us and we will be in communication with our learners to keep them updated on the progress,” said Hemesh Singh.

Unacademy recently raised a Series F round of funding of $110 million. Key investors in the firm include Facebook, General Atlantic and Sequoia.

According to Unacademy, over 300,000 students have benefited from over 2,400 online lessons and specialised courses available on the learning platform to clear different competitive examinations.

Celebrities on Unacademy

Unacademy had recently announced the second edition of its popular program ‘Legends on Unacademy’. As part of this program, live classes were hosted on the Unacademy platform by renowned author and former international diplomat Shashi Tharoor, retired IPS officer and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi, ace cricketer Virat Kohli, and talented Bollywood actor and producer Anushka Sharma.  

Shashi Tharoor had conducted classes on the subject of International Relations as well as his stint at the United Nations. The live class by Kiran Bedi was on one of the most crucial topics- crisis management.

The joint live Class by Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma was regarding dreams and hard work and the importance of staying motivated and focused to build a successful career.

SCBA Secretary calls for removal of Dushyant Dave as President over resolution condemning Justice Mishra for speech praising PM Modi

OpIndia Staff
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SCBA Secretary calls for removal of Dushyant Dave as President over resolution condemning Justice Mishra for speech praising PM Modi

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Secretary Ashok Arora has called for the removal of senior advocate Dushyant Dave from the post of president of the organisation and also from the primary membership of it, LiveLaw has reported. An “extraordinary meeting” was also called by the SCBA secretary regarding the same. The removal of Dushyant Dave was sought in connection with the resolution passed by the association in February condemning Justice Mishra for his remarks praising Prime Minister Modi.

Justice Mishra had called Narendra Modi a “versatile genius who thinks globally and act locally” in his speech delivering the vote of thanks during the inaugural ceremony of the International Judges Conference on February 22, 2020. Dushyant Dave has called the move demanding his ouster “illegal and improper”. In a message to the SCBA members, he said, “The entire exercise is illegal and improper. The EC has not decided to call any such meeting. So whole exercise is unfortunate and wrong. It will have no purpose nor can it achieve any objective except to tarnish reputation of this great body, SCBA. I am the President elected lawfully and will continue to serve you till my term is over. This attempt violates every cannon of procedure and law and has no legs to stand.”

The February Resolution by SCBA

The resolution passed by the SCBA in February condemning Justice Mishra had said, “The SCBA believes that the Independence of the Judiciary is the basic structure under the Constitution of India and that such independence be preserved in letter and spirit. The SCBA believes that any such statement reflects poorly on the Independence of the judiciary and so calls upon the Hon’ble Judges not to make statements in future nor show any proximity or closeness to the Executive including Higher Functionaries.”

The Revolt against Dushyant Dave

Members of the SCBA had condemned the resolution even then. 11 members had written a letter to the SCBA Secretary in the first week of March demanding the resignation of Dushyant Dave. “We the undersigned members of this esteemed SCBA were taken aback by the mischievous act of passing the above-said resolution dated February 26 at the behest of President of SCBA showing as if the resolution has the accent and consent of the entire SCBA, when the fact remains that no Executive Committee meeting was convened despite the request of the Secretary and other members of Executive Committee to discuss this issue in the Executive Committee meeting,” the letter stated.

“The conduct of the President is not only an act of maligning the image and reputation of the Apex Bar and also against the larger interest of the Bar because the first and foremost interest of the Bar is to have an appropriate place to sit for which 1.33 acres of land is yet to be acquired for the building of chambers. This land can only be acquired while working in tandem with the Govt functionaries. The act of the President and other members who signed the resolution will definitely invite the envy of the Officers who are in the helm of affairs of granting aforesaid acquisition and other beneficial schemes and projects,” they said.

Even after 40 days of strict lockdown, India has not seen a declining trend, crisis may hit peak in June-July: AIIMS director

OpIndia Staff
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Even after 40 days of strict lockdown, India has not seen a declining trend, crisis may hit peak in June-July: AIIMS director

Dr Randeep Guleria, the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday has cautioned that the coronavirus cases in the country will likely to reach its peak in June-July, reports ANI.

Dr Guleria further added that there are many other variables and that one will know about their effectiveness with time, and also the effect of extending the lockdown. 

India has not seen a declining trend yet: Dr Guleria

Speaking to the media, Dr Randeep Guleria said that even after imposing 40 days’ strict lockdown in the country, India has not seen a declining trend in new novel coronavirus cases yet.

The AIIMS director also spoke about the need to continue the lockdown and other aggressive measures in red zones, hotspots, and adjacent areas. He pointed out how countries such as Italy and China took such strict social distancing measures, which led to benefits a month later.

Dr Guleria added that the cases are continuing to grow at a flat rate and said it was very difficult to predict when the peak will come, but it is likely to peak around June or July, he added.

“This is why we need to be prepared for it and more vigilant to bring the number of cases down. We will need to continue the lockdown for some more time with careful deliberation, considering health, economy, and everything in mind,” Dr Guleria said.

Dr Guleria added that one of the main reasons behind the increasing number of cases was increased testing. The AIIMS Director said that one would need to revisit the containment strategy being employed to craft it as per the evolving situation.

With 3,561 new cases and 89 deaths, the coronavirus tally in India crossed the 52,000-mark on Thursday, according to Health Ministry data. Of the total 52,952 cases, 35,902 are active while 15,266 people have recovered, while 1,783 people have lost their lives to Chinese pandemic.

According to the official data, Maharashtra remains the worst-hit state with the total number of cases rising to 16,758, followed by Gujarat which reported 6,625 cases. Delhi has reported 5,532 positive cases of coronavirus.

Coronavirus: Life imprisonment for those who purposefully infect and kill someone in Uttar Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Life imprisonment for those who purposefully infect and kill someone in Uttar Pradesh

Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government has cleared an ordinance on Wednesday levying heavier fines and punishment, including life imprisonment, for harassing the frontline workers in the coronavirus pandemic. The new ordinance deals with harassment of the workers including indecent behaviour, escaping from hospitals or purposefully failing to report to healthcare workers if they are showing coronavirus symptoms.

The Centre has passed a similar ordinance in order to protect the health workers but the ordinance cleared by the UP government is extended for protection of health workers, paramedical staff, sanitation workers, police personnel, ASHA workers, and any such person deployed by the government front in the battle against coronavirus from any kind of harassment and violence including unhygienic acts like spitting, throwing garbage, etc. Penalities will be cognizable and non-bailable.

Stringent Punishment for those intentionally spreading infection

The most stringent punishment is reserved for someone who intentionally infects another person who may later succumb to the disease. In such a case, a rigorous punishment of seven years to life imprisonment has been prescribed along with rupees 3 lakh to 5 lakh.

So those intentionally or purposely spread it in the community can be punished for 5 years to 10 years and fined from 3 lakhs to rupees 5 lakhs. The Principal Secretary of Health department, Amit Mohan Prasad said that the ordinance has not been brought in with the purpose of penalizing people as much as to encourage them to report to concerned agencies if they suspect that they perpetrated. He revealed that for spitting on health workers, throwing garbage on them, and inciting others to attack or misbehave corona warriors, the cabinet has approved of imprisonment for three months to five years and a fine ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakhs. The accused can be jailed for six months to seven years if they provide severe damage to health workers. Damage of property will also call for punishment.

Violating the quarantine norms will be punishable by imprisonment of one to three years and a fine ranging from rupees 10,000 to 1 lakh. A similar punishment has been prescribed for those too who escape from the hospital.

Punishment for those indulging in indecent conduct

As some perpetrators were reported to be indulged in the obscene and indecent conduct in last month, the ordinance also includes punishment for the same. A fine of rupees 50,000 to rupees 1 lakh will be imposed on those indulging in indecent behaviour with health workers. On Wednesday, five members of Tablighi Jamaat were arrested for having misbehaved with nurses in Ghaziabad during quarantine period.

For intentionally not disclosing their health condition, the person will be liable for punishment of one to three years and a fine ranging from Rupees 50,000 to rupees 1 lakh. If a patient of confirmed coronavirus or suspected case is traveling through public transport like buses, trains or flights intentionally, the maximum fine can be of rupees 2 lakh.

State epidemic control authority to be formed under CM

As per reports, a state epidemic control authority will be formed under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister with seven other members including the Chief Secretary. District magistrates will also head a three-member District Epidemic Control Authority in their respective areas. Amit Prasad said, “The state authority will advise the government in matters related to epidemic prevention control while the district authority will coordinate between various departments in the district.”

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