Home Blog Page 5450

Liberals always talk about ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ composed by Muhammad Iqbal but never ‘Tarana-e-Milli’: Here is why

K Bhattacharjee
-
0
Liberals always talk about ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ composed by Muhammad Iqbal but never ‘Tarana-e-Milli’: Here is why

The 21st of April marks the death anniversary of Muhammad Iqbal, one of the most significant proponents of the two-nation theory and the creation of Pakistan in the first half of the 20th Century. Indians, of course, know him as the pen behind the famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’. In Independent India, under the patronage of Nehruvian Secularism, Iqbal has come to be regarded as a beacon of Secularism and the underlying cultural unity between the Hindus and Muslims of India.

Anyone with half a thinking mind should have realized that Muhammad Iqbal was a very poor ambassador for the mythical construct of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb. However, the intoxicating capabilities of Nehruvian Secularism are so potent that it renders an individual unable to grasp even the semblance of reality. Any self-respecting country would have thrown Iqbal into the dustbins of history for the morbid political worldview he advocated which manifested itself in the form of Pakistan. But in Secular India, his words were held up as an example for Hindus and Muslims to follow. Needless to say, if the Muslims of this country decide to follow Muhammad Iqbal’s words in their entirety, Hindus have plenty to worry about.

The now famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ was published in 1904 by Muhammad Iqbal, a year before the Partition of Bengal in British India. The most famous lines of the composition say, which formed its sixth stanza, “Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā, Hindī haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai Hindositāṉ hamārā”. Unfortunately, in Independent India, the entire legacy of the Islamic fundamentalist poet has been reduced to these two lines, ignoring almost entirely his contribution to the formation of Pakistan. Unsurprisingly, not much is spoken of the Tarana-e-Milli which was composed by Iqbal in 1910.

In Tarana-e-Milli, the Islamic fundamentalist nature of Muhammad Iqbal become entirely evident. It was composed in the same metre and rhyme scheme as ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ and was composed for children. The first stanza of this particular composition contrasted sharply with the sixth stanza of his prior composition. It said, “Cīn o-ʿArab hamārā, Hindūstāṉ hamārā, Muslim haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai sārā jahāṉ hamārā”. This is the pure vision of the Ummah in poetry. The Ummah which does not constrain itself with any national boundaries but believes that it has an Allah-given right to lord over the entire world. Unfortunately for the Ummah lovers, that vision is unlikely to ever come true.

The Islamic fundamentalist worldview of Muhammad Iqbal, which contrasts sharply with the image of him being a beacon of communal harmony that has been propped up in India since independence, are more than evident in the words of Tarana-e-Milli. He says, “The treasure of tawhid is in our hearts, It is not easy to wipe out our name and mark. The first house we have liberated from idols is the Ka’abah; We are its custodians, and It is our protector.” Tawhid refers to the concept of Monotheism in Islam. The words seen in unison reflect quite clearly the deep hatred for idolatry and polytheism that Muhammad Iqbal carried in his heart. These are not the words of someone who preached communal harmony, these are the words of an individual who wishes to wage Jihad against Hindus for his religious reliefs.

It is quite evident that between 1904 and 1910, a radical transformation occurred in the worldview of Muhammad Iqbal. It is believed that it occurred when he left for the United Kingdom for a three-year period. It is then that he supposedly turned into an Islamic fundamentalist which paved the way for him becoming a staunch advocate for the creation of Pakistan. Throughout the later stages of his life, Muhammad Iqbal was a passionate advocate for the creation of Pakistan.

In his presidential address at the 25th Annual Session of the All India Muslim League on the 29th of December, 1930, he said, “India is a continent of human beings belonging to different languages and professing different religions…I, therefore, demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim state in the best interests of the Muslims of India and Islam.” In the same address, Muhammad Iqbal also said, “I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single State. Self-government within the British Empire, or without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated North-West Indian Muslim State appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of North-West India.”

Adherents of Nehruvian Secularism in India blame anyone and everyone for the two-nation theory and the creation of Pakistan, even as they idolize those who were primarily responsible for the partition of the country. Even during the CAA debate in December last year, the Congress party blamed Vinayak Damodar Savarkar for propagating the two-nation theory when, in fact, it was first advocated by Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. And all this while, they continue to hold Muhammad Iqbal in high regard even though he actively demanded the creation of Pakistan. But then, logical inconsistency and hypocrisy are the features of Nehruvian Secularism and not a bug.

It is also known that Muhammad Iqbal was an Ahmadiyya for the major part of his life. It was only later that he quit the sect, allegedly due to pressure from Radical Muslims who consider Ahmadiyyas to be heretics. It is widely known that he remained in touch with the Ahmadiyya leadership till 1931, when he vouched for the Ahmadi Khalifa as the most able person to lead as the first president of the newly founded all-India Kashmir Committee. His parents and elder brothers remained Ahmadiyyas. The pitiable circumstances of Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan is abundant evidence as to why Iqbal might have been motivated to convert out of the sect. Thus, ironically, the beacon of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb was quite probably shamed into converting out of the sect he was born into.

As has been said before, any self-respecting country would have dumped Muhammad Iqbal and his compositions in the dustbin, where it belongs. However, Secularism in India means that Hindus continue to suffer every slight that is thrown at them. Of course, one could indulge in a long philosophical debate about whether art could be separated from its creator but these are intellectual luxuries that could ever be entertained only in the absence of imminent existential threats. Unfortunately for us, however, Hindus have been combating a multitude of existential threats ever since the creation of the Indian Republic.

After 53 journalists in Mumbai, 27 employees of a Chennai-based channel test positive for coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After 53 journalists in Mumbai, 27 employees of a Chennai-based channel test positive for coronavirus

Two days after a 24-year-old journalist of a Tamil TV channel based out in Chennai tested positive for coronavirus, an additional 26 journalists of the same TV channel have tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

The Greater Chennai Corporation, as quoted by the New Indian Express, had sent swab samples of 94 people working at the Tamil TV channel in Royapuram after a journalist, a copy editor, had tested positive for coronavirus. So far, 26 of the 94 samples have tested positive for the infection. Officials claim the number can increase since the result of many samples have not yet come.

According to the officials, the office of the Tamil TV channel has been sealed off. The Royapuram zone of the Southern metropolis of Chennai has the most number of cases in the city with 92 cases as on Tuesday.

The officials of Health Department have sent all the contacts of the 27 journalists, including their family members, to the quarantine centres. The high risk contacts of these 27 journalists who tested positive for the virus will be be tested for the coronavirus.

53 journalists in Mumbai test positive for coronavirus

The news of 27 scribes testing positive for the virus comes a day after 53 reporters in Mumbai had tested positive for COVID-19. The BMC official yesterday revealed that a camp was organised on April 16 and 17 for COVID-19 testing at the Azad Maidan for the media persons. The BMC medical staff collected samples from 171 persons, including field staff from electronic and print media houses, reporters, photographers and camera persons out of which 53 tested positive for the novel contagion. Currently, most of those who were tested positive are asymptomatic.

A majority of those who tested positive in Mumbai are from TV channels. They are being provided medical treatment and held in quarantine at a hotel in Goregaon.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal agrees to conduct mass testing of journalists

Following a request made by a journalist to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to organise a mass testing for journalists in Delhi in the the aftermath of 53 journalists in Mumbai testing positive for coronavirus, the Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has agreed to arrange for widespread testing for journalists in Delhi as well.

India has witnessed a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases reported daily. With 1,331 cases in 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 18,658 by Tuesday. Maharashtra tops the list of states with the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases as it recorded 472 new cases and 9 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Rana Ayyub declares victory for Ummah, claims PM Modi appealed for communal harmony due to ‘pressure from Islamic countries’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Rana Ayyub declares victory for Ummah, claims PM Modi appealed for communal harmony due to ‘pressure from Islamic countries’

Habitual Fake News Peddler Rana Ayyub appears to be hallucinating in broad daylight. She is labouring under the belief that pressure from Islamic countries is forcing Prime Minister Modi to appeal for communal harmony. On Sunday, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to put up a united front against the Wuhan Coronavirus regardless of our race, religion, caste, creed or other such barriers. It was one of the many appeals to communal harmony he has made over the years.

Rana Ayyub, however, feels that Narendra Modi made the appeal due to pressure from UAE and other Islamic countries. This is the same woman who sees genocide of Muslims where there is none happening. Her belief comes from the recent exhortations against Hindus by some malcontents in the Arabian state in tandem with Muslims living in India.

The Targeted Campaign Against Hindus

In recent times, Muslims and the Left in India have been harassing Hindus in the Middle East to vent out their frustration against the loss of the Muslim Street Veto in India. The Indian Government under the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah refused to give in to the demands of Muslims and the Left to take back the CAA and refused to commit to the junking of the NRC. The continuous barrage of propaganda and incitement to violence resulted in the anti-Hindu riots in Delhi in February. However, the CAA is still in force and the NRC could very well be implemented in the future although there are no official discussions underway currently.

As a consequence, Muslims and the Left in India have been horribly frustrated and organized a concerted campaign to target Hindus living in the Middle East. Soon enough, some malcontents in UAE also joined in the charade. Recently, they had also demanded that Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya be sacked for a five-year old tweet. One princess Hend Al Qassimi, who has a history of posting lewd and crass content on the social media platform, has also been quite vocal against Hindus.

Salman Nizami, a Congress leader, meanwhile, is going a bit overboard in his profuse declarations of love for his counterparts in the Gulf. Pakistanis, too, are rejoicing that malcontents in the Gulf have joined hands with Indian Muslims to target Hindus.

Happy Delusions

And now, Rana Ayyub believes that Prime Minister Modi made an appeal for communal harmony due to the pressure created by such malcontents. It is pertinent to note that Islamic countries like Malaysia and Turkey, too, tried to create pressure on India due to its decision to abrogate Article 370 and integrate Jammu & Kashmir with the Union of India. Months later, Malaysia is regretting its decision, Turkey lost some deals due to the comments made by wannabe Caliph Erdogan and Kashmiris, meanwhile, are still forced to contend with 2G internet in the time of 4G. And all the while, the ties between Arab countries and India are continuously increasing. Project Ummah has clearly hit a roadblock. And thus, the desperation and the unhinged demonstration of hatred.

Needless to say, these are just false pretensions of victory and confidence one has to maintain in order to convince the adherents to not lose hope at a time when Radical Islam in India has suffered one terrible lost after the other. Rana Ayyub is a propagandist, facts do not matter to her. She is claiming victory so that her deluded followers believe the strategy of harassing Hindus is working and the harassment of Hindus continues in the Gulf. In reality, this could have devastating consequences for the Muslims in India who will have to suffer the social repercussions of Hindus being made to suffer in the Middle East.

Singer Sonu Nigam deactivates Twitter account after Islamists attack him for his 2017 tweet on loudspeakers at religious places

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Singer Sonu Nigam deactivates Twitter account after Islamists attack him for his 2017 tweet on loudspeakers at religious places

Islamists today dug out Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam’s 2017 tweet where he had expressed displeasure over use of loudspeakers at religious places and attacked him, calling him ‘hateful’.

Many even tagged Dubai Police in their tweets urging them to take action against Sonu.

Owing to coronavirus pandemic, Sonu Nigam is currently stuck in Dubai as he was in the gulf country when the worldwide travel restrictions were put in place. After he started getting hate directed towards him, he deactivated his account.

It is pertinent to note here that Nigam did not have issues with azaan, but usage of loudspeaker for the same. He had earlier expressed displeasure over loudspeaker during Ganpati Visarjan as well.

He was then mocked for having deleted his Twitter account.

Sonu Nigam azaan controversy

Back in April 2017, Sonu Nigam stirred up a storm after tweeting his exasperation of usage of loudspeakers for azaan, the prayer call for Muslims. Even back then, the fundamentalists had attacked him for voicing his displeasure against the forced religiousness through loudspeakers. Some had even wished for throat cancer for the singer for wanting to stop usage of loudspeaker for azaan. After his tweet went viral, a bounty of Rs 21 crore was given on his head by one Rizwan Malik for the same. A maulvi in West Bengal issued a fatwa and announced a prize of 10 lakh rupees for any person who shaves the head of Sonu Nigam. Sonu took the fatwa head-on and proceeded to himself shave his head. But, the Maulvi refused to pay up, citing that he had two more conditions: that someone put a garland of old torn shoes around his neck and tour him around the country.

Two youths in Madhya Pradesh were reportedly stabbed after they expressed solidarity with Sonu Nigam. Shivam Rai a resident of Ujjain had posted his support for Sonu on Facebook and also declared that henceforth he would only listen to his songs. This incensed some muslim youths from Begumgunj and a verbal spat ensured. He was also allegedly threatened over the phone by these youths named Mohammad Nagori and Faizan Khan and eventually stabbed, along with his friend.

Law on usage of loudspeakers

In a 2015 the Bombay High Court had observed that there were about 822 Mosques and 90 Temples which did not have licenses to operate loudspeakers. Also in 2014 the Bombay High court had called for a removal of Illegal loudspeakers from Religious structures in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai the order which was also welcomed by Muslim leaders.

While the ruling applies to all religions, hardly any religion seems to be following the rules. Also for those who are indulging in whataboutery, about whether Sonu has only singled out Islam, in 2014 Sonu had posted about the noise and the lack of cleanliness during Ganesh visarjan.

No Congress, Dr Tedros saying the same thing as Rahul Gandhi is nothing to celebrate: Here’s why

Nupur J Sharma
-
0
No Congress, Dr Tedros saying the same thing as Rahul Gandhi is nothing to celebrate: Here’s why

A disease often has no race or religion. It has no caste, creed or colour. But in the case of Coronavirus, it certainly has a country and an enabler that let millions get infected to pander to the country the virus originated in. China confirmed its first case of the Coronavirus on 18th November. The WHO, led by Dr Tedros declared it a pandemic only on the 12th of March. Everything that happened in between was an absolute abomination and nations world over are demanding answers. While the world demands answers, Congress is busy celebrating how the beautiful mind of Rahul Gandhi functions in the same direction as Dr Tedros.

On the 16th of April, Rahul Gandhi had held a press conference, where he said that the lockdown will only slow the virus down, but eventually, it is more testing that can ensure India defeats the pandemic. Of course, I am paraphrasing here, because the language he used was slightly strange where he gave some ‘door’ analogy. 4 days later, on the 20th of April, Dr Tedros, the WHO chief, said the same thing. Needless to say, the Congress started a celebration of sorts on Twitter saying that ‘WHO is with Congress’, essentially taking Tedros’ statement as some sort of international endorsement of Rahul Gandhi.

Several Congress workers, leaders and loyalists began to hail the wisdom in Rahul Gandhi’s words after the “endorsement” from Dr Tedros.

Most tweets were on the same line. Soon, #WHO_With_Rahul was trending on Twitter after a coordinated campaign was unleashed by Congress.

The question remains, however, should Rahul Gandhi or Congress be celebrating the endorsement (even if not direct) of Dr Tedros?

Views on Lockdown and the fight against Coronavirus

The view is not entirely incorrect. The Coronavirus pandemic cannot be stopped only by Lockdowns and there are several other measures that need two be taken. However, the “testing testing testing” trope might not be entirely accurate or even factually correct when it comes to India.

Most people who are repeating the trope about increased testing are doing so with the reference of Germany or South Korea in mind. South Korea has managed to test about 1 person out of every 150 people (give or take). That would percolate to millions of tests in India, which is strategicall, logistically and financially a silly thing to suggest.

The population of South Korea is 5.16 crores. The population of Uttar Pradesh itself is five times that, 20.42 crores (that too, according to 2012 census). The logistical problem India is faced with in terms of more testing is vast and taking the example of a country that has less population that one state in India, is outlandish.

With the lockdown, the rate of increase in cases have reduced drastically and after the spike due to Tablighi Jamaat, the curve seems to have flattened more or less yet again. What is needed, many medical professionals believe is targeted testing for clusters and those at high risk – not necessarily higher rate of testing like South Korea.

Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman of Fortis Escorts Heart Institute had said, “India has ramped up its testing in the last 10 days and the increase in new cases seems to be flattening as a percentage of tested or total cases. I can confidently state that these numbers seem to be correct and the situation still remains under control. So clearly, unlike the West, a strategy of pre-emptive and strict lockdown with limited testing, followed now by increased testing to strategise release of lockdown seems to be working in India”.

In an interview, Dr Muliyal, an Epidemiologist said just as much. He said India is testing enough.

Interview by Bloomberg Quint

Dr Tedros is a man who clearly harbours utter disdain for countries that call our his personal bias and his culpability in the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. Other than tweeting disconnected one words, pushing the world into an apocalyptic situation and shielding China from culpability, Tedros has hardly played a part in the containment of the virus.

While the merits of strategy can be debated, Rahul Gandhi would do well to not take Dr Tedros’ word as an endorsement of his own intellect.

Dr Tedros – A man who should ideally be tried for mass murder

Dr Tedros, the Chief of WHO is the man of the house, but not in a very flattering way. The world is questioning his conduct, his proximity of China, and his role in the spread of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Experts like Bradley Thayer, a political science professor at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and Lianchao Han, the vice president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China, questioned why the WHO and its director-general waited so long when health officials from various governments alerted them of the widespread devastation weeks in advance. It is worthy to note that while China discovered its first patient on November 18th, the Coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the WHO only in March.

Experts are of the view that this laxity and callousness has caused more than 170,000 deaths across the globe and that the organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, like China’s Xi Jinping, should be held accountable for recklessly managing this deadly pandemic. 

On January 11th, WHO had declared that it does not recommend any extra travel precautions for those travelling to and from Wuhan, the city of origin of the pandemic in China. As a result, over 5 million people had left the city of Wuhan before China put stringent measures in place, thereby infecting thousands across the globe.  

It is also pertinent to note that Dr Tedros had met Xi Jinping in January, and many believe, that it was after this meeting that Tedros downplayed the severity of the pandemic.

The spread was also facilitated by the WHO declaring that there was no proof of human-to-human infection, this, after Taiwan had specifically written to WHO on the 31st of December warning about human-to-human transfer. WHO had ignored warnings by Taiwan because according to China, Taiwan has no agency to approach WHO.

With the world asking questions and Tedros being the man who’s conduct led to over 170000 deaths and counting, every leader should join the chorus in questioning not only China but also Dr Tedros. In a civilised world where the country was not dependent on China for its manufacturing needs, China and Dr Tedros would have been tried for mass murders.

Even politically speaking, questioning Tedros and China is a far better strategy to, at least, appear matured in the eye of the electorate. It then defies logic that Congress would celebrate an endorsement by Dr Tedros of the pearls of wisdom spouted by Rahul Gandhi.

66 foreign Tablighi Jamaat attendees sent to jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur after the completion of quarantine, for flouting visa norms

OpIndia Staff
-
0
66 foreign Tablighi Jamaat attendees sent to jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur after the completion of quarantine, for flouting visa norms

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, coming down hard on the Tablighi Jamaat attendees, have sent 66 foreign Jamaatis to jail for flouting the visa norms. These foreign Jamaatis in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur have been shifted to a temporary jail, designated especially for the purpose after the direction from Chief Minister’s office.

Out of the 66, 54 persons have been sent to a temporary correction home for adolescents. Meanwhile, 12 Jamaatis will be kept in Tibiya Deoband until further notice. 

Prior to the arrest, these foreign nationals were quarantined for two weeks in a guest house in Kareli, Uttar Pradesh. After their reports turned out to be negative they were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police. Most of these foreign nationals are from Indonesia and Sudan.

30 Tablighi Jamaat attendees including AU Professor arrested in Prayagraj

Yesterday, 30 people including Tablighi Jamaat attendees, including 16 foreign nationals, who had attended Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz event in March, had been arrested from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. 7 of these from Indonesia while 9 are from Thailand. As per reports, a case was registered against them two weeks back. 

As per reports, one of the professors teaching at the Allahabad University had attended the event at Nizamuddin Markaz and upon his return had continued to take classes and was also an invigilator during the exams, putting lives of hundreds of students at risk.

The Allahabad University Professor along with his wife was put under a 14-day quarantine and now that the period has lapsed, he has been formally arrested.

Tablighi Jamaat members hiding in Prayagraj mosques

The Tablighi Jamaat members were reportedly living in two mosques in Prayagraj where they had hidden their travel history. On 31st March, 7 Indonesian nationals along with two others were caught living illegally in a mosque at Katju road in Shahganj. Similarly, 11 Jamaatis including 9 Thailand nationals were found living in the Hera Mosque at Kareli. They had all attended the Nizamuddin Markaz event. A case was registered against them all and they were put on quarantine.

Nizamuddin Markaz

The Islamic evangelical event, where Muslims around the world gather to learn to live life as prescribed by Prophet Mohammad, was held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz in March this year. The event, which was attended by several foreign nationals, ended up being a hot spot for coronavirus cases in India, contributing to as many as 30% COVID-19 positive cases in India. Tablighi Jamaat members have also been accused of misbehaving with healthcare workers, including molesting nurses and pelting stones at doctors and cops.

Mumbai coronavirus outbreak: A 25-year-old with no underlying medical conditions dies after 3 days in the hospital

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Mumbai coronavirus outbreak: A 25-year-old with no underlying medical conditions dies after 3 days in the hospital

The scourge of Wuhan coronavirus continues to exacerbate in the financial capital of India. Recently, it snuffed out the life of a 25-year-old Mumbai resident, a doting father to a one-and-half-year-son, with no underlying conditions, says a report published by the Times of India.

Pradip Mali, now deceased, reportedly consulted a physician after he developed a cough on April 14. After an x-ray was done, the physician said that Pradip’s lungs appeared cloudy and filled with a cough. He was asked by the doctor to take a COVID-19 test and get admitted if necessary. After being turned away by two private hospitals, Mali was admitted to Kasturba hospital on April 16.

Before Pradip got admitted to the Kasturba hospital, he had gone to the Saifee hospital at Charni road which allegedly asked him to furnish COVID-19 positive report as it was a dedicated coronavirus hospital and was authorised to admit only positive coronavirus patients. His brother then took him to HN Reliance hospital at Charni Road which said that they have stopped testing coronavirus and referred them to Kasturba hospital.

Pradip was tested at Kasturba hospital where his report had come positive for the novel coronavirus. A day later, his family of 9-Pradip’s parents, wife and child, his brother Pankaj, his family, and other relatives were quarantined at a hotel.

According to Pradip’s brother Pankaj, his brother initially seemed fine but was put on oxygen support. Pankaj remembers that towards the end his brother kept asking if he could be shifted to a private hospital, to which Pankaj reassuringly responded that once his condition stabilises, he would be shifted a private hospital.

“Shift me to a private hospital. I haven’t had a sip of water since the previous day. Nobody is here to even fix my oxygen mask. Do you think I will come out it this alive?” were some of the desperate pleas made by Pradip to his brother Pankaj on his last phone calls.

Helpless, since he was himself quarantined at a hotel, Pankaj frantically called the ward 30 where Pankaj was admitted and asked nurses to feed his brother with water. “The nurses came and gave him water after I called. They also tried to fix his oxygen mask but he was constantly removing it. After I called my brother’s phone a few times, someone switched of his phone,” said Pankaj.

Pankaj added that the last time they spoke was on Sunday morning at 5 am when Pradip complained that he had not had water since Saturday. He also told Pankaj that his oxygen mask was not in place and there was nobody in the ward to fix it. Pradip then implored his brother if staffers at Kasturba hospital could pay a little more attention towards him. On Sunday 4 pm, Pradip breathed his last at Kasturba, where he had come walking three days ago.

However, refuting the allegations of negligence towards patients, Medical superintendent of Kasturba Dr Chandrakanth Pawar said it was impossible that patients were not being taken care of. “Patients are admitted here in critical condition. We are treating them with medications and treatment protocol the Union government has recommended,” he said, adding even those without any underlying conditions can deteriorate. 

After Rashtrapati Bhawan, Lok Sabha staffer tested positive for novel coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After Rashtrapati Bhawan, Lok Sabha staffer tested positive for novel coronavirus

A staff of Parliament house who was working as a housekeeper has been found infected by the Wuhan Coronavirus. As per reports, there are 3,000 staffers in the Lok Sabha, among them, this has emerged as the first case.

As per a report in Hindustan Times, the staffer was not at work since the budget session was adjourned on March 23. “Approximately ten days ago, he fell ill and went to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital for check-ups including ECG. He was discharged on the same day,” an official said.

The report claims that the staffer was not posted in the parliament complex but at the Lok Sabha secretariat at 36 GRG road.

Another official claimed that he developed symptoms of coronavirus such as cough, fever and body ache. He said, “On April 18, he again went for a check-up at RML Hospital. This time, the doctors tested him for COVID-19. On Monday (April 20), his report came and he tested positive for COVID-19.”

The man has a wife, three sons and a daughter. His Grandchildren also live with him at his residence in Kali Bari Marg, New Delhi. His son works with  Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and is currently posted in CCTV wing of parliament house.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi and other agencies have been directed to conduct COVID-19 tests for his family members too.

Relative of a sanitation worker in Rashtrapati Bhawan found positive

The daughter-in-law of a sanitation worker who works in Rashtrapati Bhawan was found coronavirus positive. Given that effect, 125 families associated with Rashtrapati Bhavan were sent to strict self-isolation.

Reports suggests that the mother of the woman’s daughter-in-law had died of the Chinese virus infection and her funeral was attended by all family members. When they were sent for testing, all of them had tested negative, except for the employee’s daughter-in-law.

Coronavirus in India

On April 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended the nationwide lockdown in India till May 3, 2020. Soon after that, a religious congregation attended by the Tablighi Jamaat members was found to be behind the sudden spike in the number of the Wuhan Coronavirus cases. The deadly virus has claimed 590 lives and infected 18,601 people in India so far.

No suspicious activity detected in North Korea, says South Korea amidst rumours that Kim Jong Un is brain-dead post-surgery

OpIndia Staff
-
0
No suspicious activity detected in North Korea, says South Korea amidst rumours that Kim Jong Un is brain-dead post-surgery

The presidential office in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday said no “unusual activity” has been detected in North Korea after rumours were rife that the supreme leader North Korea, Kim Jong Un is in fragile condition post heart surgery. The US is seeking details about Kim Jong Un’s health conditions after receiving information that the North Korean leader is “gravely ill” after undergoing cardiovascular surgery on April 12, the US officials said.

The Trump government wasn’t sure of Kim’s current condition, said the officials to media on condition of anonymity. One of the officials said the White House was told that Kim underwent surgery last week and took a turn for the worse. CNN had earlier reported, citing a US official with direct knowledge of the matter, that Kim may be in “grave danger” after the surgery. The White House declined to comment.

Rumours about Kim Jong Un’s surgery

Kim Jong Un had recently missed the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday on 15 April. This raised speculations and rumours about his health conditions as, reportedly, only three days prior to the event, Kim Jong Un, underwent heart surgery. It is one of the biggest events of the year as it marks the birth of the nation’s founder, Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, Kim II-Sung.

Kim Jong-un has never missed the event, and it seemed very unlikely that he would simply choose not to turn up. Inevitably, his absence prompted speculation and rumours, none of which is easy to substantiate.

North Korea’s state media reported on April 11 that Kim attended a Politburo meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and reported the next day that Kim “inspected a pursuit assault plane group”, however the state daily had not revealed the date of that visit.

The first report of illness

An anonymous source told the Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that gathers information from informants inside the isolated nation, that they understood he had been struggling with cardiovascular problems since last August. However, his health reportedly “worsened after repeated visits to Mount Paektu”. This was, reportedly, because of excessive smoking, obesity and overwork. This led to a chain of reporting by international media on a single-sourced story.

Later some reports emerged that intelligence agencies in South Korea and the US were monitoring the claim. Post this news, rumours started brewing as US media reported that Kim Jong Un was “gravely ill” post-surgery.

However, a statement from the South Korean government and a report by Reuters, citing an official with the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, said that Kim was not believed to be critically ill.

North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un:

North Korea tightly controls any information surrounding its leader, who is treated almost like a deity there, and gathering intelligence out of the country is hardly possible.

Kim, believed to be 36-year-old, took power upon his father’s death in December 2011 and is the third generation of his family to rule the country.

Known to be a heavy smoker, Kim has been shown in state media in recent months appearing at military drills and riding a white horse on the country’s revered Mt. Paektu, where state propaganda says his grandfather used as a guerrilla base to fight Japanese colonial occupiers.

In 2014, Kim Jong Un disappeared for 40 days from early September, which had also sparked a torrent of speculation then, including that he had been ousted in a coup by other political grandees. Then he re-appeared, pictured with a cane. State media at the time admitted he was suffering from an “uncomfortable physical condition”, but did not address rumours that he was suffering from gout.

Crude Oil price turned negative yesterday but it won’t affect Indian prices, six questions about the price crash explained

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Crude Oil price turned negative yesterday but it won’t affect Indian prices, six questions about the price crash explained

As the world economy continues downfall due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the WTI crude price went negative for the first time history on Monday. The May contract prices for WTI crude oil crashed rapidly, going from few dollars to negative in a matter of minutes, after reaching a low of -$40 per barrel, the price settled at -$37.63 per barrel at NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange) on April 20. The price went down by more than 300% in a single day.

Source: CNBC

Indian Twitter was keenly following this rapid development last night, as the financial media houses live-tweeted the constantly decreasing price of crude minute by minute. Many assumed that crude prices have crashed globally, and demanded that the benefit of the crash should be reflected in the retail price on fuel in India. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who has made it a habit of making comments and demands without knowing the facts, also demanded that Govt of India should “finally relent and pass some of this windfall onto the beleaguered Indian Consumer”.

‘Crude price has turned negative’ is a misleading news, because despite the crash in markets yesterday, we are not going to see a steep decrease in fuel prices, even though prices will remain low.

This is because, what crashed was only the May future prices for WTI, will not have much elsewhere in the world. Let us see what those words in this sentence means.

What is WTI

West Texas Intermediate, the WTI is the benchmark crude oil price in the USA. It is a grade of crude oil which is the underlying commodity of oil future contracts in the New York Mercantile Exchange. The WTI is mainly produced in the USA, primarily from the Permian Basin in Texas and other nearby states. Other major grades of crude are Brent crude, Dubai crude, Oman crude etc. Brent crude is the major crude traded globally, and India also buys mainly Brent. Therefore, a fall in WTI price does not have much implication for India.

What is future contract

Future contract is a kind of transaction in commodities and financial instruments like equities. It is essentially a contract between two parties for a transaction in future but at a price fixed at present. For example, lets say party A offers to buy something at ₹1,000 per unit two months later, regardless of what will be price of that commodity at that time, and party B agrees to sell it at that price at that time. So, both parties A and B will enter into a contract to buy and sale that commodity at ₹1,000 per unit two months later, this is called a future contract. If the price of that commodity is more than ₹1,000 2 months later, party A makes profit because he is getting that item at ₹1,000, while if the price becomes lower than ₹1,000 he makes a loss. The situation is exactly opposite for the seller, who makes profit if the price goes down but suffers loss if it becomes higher than the contract price. Just like stock exchanges, there are exchanges where future contracts are traded.

Oil is one of the major commodities which is traded in the future market. There are two kinds of people who deal in Future Contracts. Some people are in the market only to speculate on the contracts, they buy and sell them before the maturity, treating it as any other financial instrument. While others buy and sale because they need the oil to use or have actual oil to sell. Oil refineries opt to buy in future at a predetermined price, to maintain stability in supply of crude, and oil producers also have assured buyers for future.

What is May Contract

Future Contracts have a maturity date, the date on which the actual transaction will happen. Oil futures are traded on a monthly basis, there are different futures for each month. Before the maturity date, the futures can be traded, and on the maturity date, whoever is having buy option will have to take delivery of the crude from the seller. Yesterday was the last of trading on the May future, and today delivery of those transactions will happen. While the May Future crashed and turned negative, the June contract was trading at a much better price of above $20 per barrel, and the July contract price was above $26 per barrel.

The price of June Contract Brent Crude, the main crude traded internationally, was above $25 per barrel. Therefore, it was not an across the board crash in price of crude, but only the price of May Contracts crashed just before its maturity.

Why May Contracts crashed

The rule in future trading in WTI crude is that after the contracts mature, the buyer will have to take delivery of the crude from the seller. And this handover takes place in one place, a town named Cushing in Oklahoma. Cushing is a major trading hub for crude oil and price settlement point for WTI crude. This is where the crude is delivered by the seller to the buyer.

Pipeline Crossroads of the World monument in Cushing

But as the world has come to a standstill due to the Coronavirus, there is no demand for oil. This means oil is sitting in storage facilities, and there is no more capacity to keep any new oil that is coming. Both mega tankers floating in oceans and massive storage facilities on the ground, including the storage at Cushing.

As there is no place to store the commodity, it became worthless. Moreover, even if there are place to keep it, there are no buyers, so it will be sitting in storage tanks, which will mean incurring cost with no certainty when the market will improve. That’s why the those who were having the future contracts started selling them at the exchange before the maturity date to avoid taking delivery. Exchange prices are a factor of demand and supply, if there is more demand then available supply, the price rises, and if there is more supply but few takers, the price comes down. As everyone was selling and nobody was buying the May contracts, price crashed, and ultimately turned negative.

The negative price means that investors holding May contracts had to pay people to take away the oil from their hands, as they didn’t want to incur storage costs.

Why there is so much oversupply of oil

The global economy started to take a hit due to Coronavirus from February itself, as countries had started restrictions on international travel. But the crude production continued by producer countries due to conflict between major producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia, creating a huge stockpile with no takers. Earlier this month, the OPEC+, the group of oil producing countries which includes the OPEC counties, USA, Russia and other countries, agreed to cut production of oil to maintain stability in price. But the group agreed to cut production by 9.7 million barrel per day, which is around one third of current global oversupply. Plus, the cut starts from May 1, which meant producers kept producing oil in April and flooded the market. Oil storage tanks and pipelines will be full even before the production cut begins, which has resulted in the sharp drop in prices.

Why Indian oil prices will not come down due to the negative price

As already explained earlier, India is not a major trader in WTI crude. Although Indian oil buyers are active participants in crude futures, most of them are in Brent, Dubai and Oman. Even in normal times, only a small amount of crude is imported from USA. This is because, even if WTI price is hovering at lower level than Brent for considerable amount of time, the cost of transporting it from USA to India offsets that benefit.

It also not possible to take benefit of the negative price in the USA, because the delivery of that oil have to be taken in Cushing in Oklahoma, and will have to transport from the middle of the USA to coast, and then ship it all the way to India. Given that even Brent price is very low at present, it does not make any sense to go to the USA to buy oil as even if the purchase price is negative, it will involve considerable transportation cost.

The price in fuel in India is based on the average of the prices of Brent, Dubai and Oman crude prices, and WTI price is not a factor in it. Therefore, the negative pricing in the USA will not have any effect on the Indian market.

Although the price of the Indian oil basket is also low at present, as there is a global glut in the oil market, the prices should come down when those low crude prices start reflecting in retail prices. That is unless the govt decides to raise taxes to maintain a stable price and to help in tax collection which is already very low due to the ongoing lockdown.

Shashi Tharoor is an MP and a former union minister, and he is expected to know what kind of oil India buys. But in an effort to target the Modi government, he kept aside facts and demanded that Indian consumers should get the benefit of negative price in the USA.

1...5,4495,4505,451...7,615Page 5,450 of 7,615