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World Bank lauds India for showing the way in containing Coronavirus pandemic through Aarogya Setu app

OpIndia Staff
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World Bank lauds India for showing the way in containing Coronavirus pandemic through Aarogya Setu app

The Aarogya Setu app developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology through Public-Private partnership has earned praise from the World Bank for successfully using digital technologies in monitoring the transmission of the Wuhan Coronavirus.

In the South Economic Focus report of the World Bank released on April 12, it observed, “Digital technologies can also be used to monitor the spread of COVID-19. Such initiatives, largely voluntary, have been successful in helping combat the pandemic in East Asia.” The report, citing the example of India’s indigenous app, stated that innovative solutions technology can help track the deadly virus in a region that comprises of tech-savvy but poor and uneducated households.

The app which is available in 11 languages uses Bluetooth to determine the location of the person and informs whether he is in proximity to a Coronavirus positive patient. Aarogya Setu app also contains a list of helpline numbers for every State in India. A chatbot within the app helps resolve user queries and educate about the symptoms of the Chinese virus. The privacy of a user is protected under all circumstances and the data will only be shared with the Indian Government if he has come in contact with an infected person.

Reportedly, tech giants such as Apple and Google are now building smartphone software along the lines of Aarogya Setu to help monitor Coronavirus patients and prevent users from coming in contact with them.

On March 25, Renata Dessallien, the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in India, hailed India’s comprehensive lockdown in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak. She had also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for social distancing.

Dessallien said, “The UN system in India is fully mobilized and ready to further step up its support to the Government of India to fight COVID-19. I believe that if we work together, we can overcome one of the greatest health threats of our lifetimes.” She along with WHO Representative to India, Dr. Henk Bekedam, had also met the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan on March 24 wherein they lauded the BJP Government for its “early and robust response.”

Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had also praised India’s efforts in containing the spread of coronavirus. The representative of WHO to India, Henk Bekedam said, “The commitment from the Indian government and the Prime Minister’s Office has been enormous, very impressive. It is one of the reasons why India is still doing quite well. I am very impressed that everyone has been mobilised.”

NCP leader Jitendra Awhad self-quarantines after coming in contact with a Coronavirus infected police officer

OpIndia Staff
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NCP leader Jitendra Awhad self-quarantines after coming in contact with a Coronavirus infected police officer

On Monday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad, a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Kalwa-Mumbra Assembly constituency in Thane district, went into self-quarantine after he came in contact with senior police inspect who was reportedly infected with the Wuhan Coronavirus. He took this decision as a preventive measure though he has not been diagnosed with the deadly pathogen as of yet.

The cop who nabbed 21 foreign nationals belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat had tested positive for the Chinese Virus. When Maharashtra cop began exhibiting symptoms of the Chinese virus after nabbing members of Tablighi Jamaat, he was tested for it. He is currently admitted to the Apollo Hospital in Nashik in Maharashtra.

The foreign Tablighi Jamaat members, 8 Malaysians, and 13 Bangladeshis had attended the Nizamuddin Markaz between March 13 and March 15. They were hiding in a mosque and a school in Mumbra in Maharashtra. The foreign nationals had travelled to Maharashtra via Tamil Nadu. 2 police cases were registered against the mosque and school authorities for withholding information about the foreign nationals by Maharashtra police.

NCP leader Jitend

Earlier, an FIR has been lodged at Vartak Nagar police station against Maharashtra cabinet minister Jitendra Awhad by a resident of Thane, alleging that two police constables and goons allegedly associated with Maharashtra minister and NCP strongman Jitendra Awhad had badly assaulted him. As per the complaint filed, the young man had opposed NCP leader Jitendra Awhad’s call to boycott PM Modi’s request to light a lamp for 9 minutes at 9 PM on April 5.

Former Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Gomaa blames 5G technology for the Wuhan Coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Former Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Gomaa blames 5G technology for the Wuhan Coronavirus

Former Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, has claimed that 5G technology is responsible for the Wuhan Coronavirus. According to him, the disruptions in the Earth’s Electromagnetic Field that the technology supposedly causes are to be blamed for the deadly virus. The clip was aired on Egyptian television on the 10th of April and the translation of it was provided by Memri TV.

Sheikh Ali Gomaa claims that the Spanish Flu in 1918 was caused by a disruption in the Earth’s electromagnetism due to the prevalence of electricity. He said, “When electricity was first introduced, it caused something in the atmosphere, which prepared it for the splitting of these materials, thus creating that virus.”

The former Grand Mufti of Egypt continued, “When we apply the same theory to the Coronavirus, we see that the fifth generation of communications might be the cause. This requires contemplation.” He added, “All our phones are 4G now. For the sake of 4G technology, 20,000 satellites were launched into orbit. In order to introduce 5G technology, which they say will change social relations, they had to launch 100,000 satellites into orbit.” “This caused additional disruptions in the electromagnetic field, which have made the atmosphere hospitable for the spread of these viruses,” He concluded.

Chinese coronavirus

The Wuhan Coronavirus is a zoonotic virus closely related to the SARS virus, which has a particular breed of horseshoe bats as its source. The virus jumped to humans from an infected animal at the Wet Markets of Wuhan in China. Many believe that the virus was accidentally leaked from a Chinese bio-weapon lab and a research paper published by Chinese scientists asserted that the virus probably leaked out of either of the two laboratories close to the wet market.

Punjab Police wins the Internet by using amusing memes to urge people to abide by the coronavirus lockdown protocols

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab Police wins the Internet by using amusing memes to urge people to abide by the coronavirus lockdown protocols

As the number of coronavirus cases in the country swells, the Punjab Police have upped their ante, leveraging quirky Bollywood memes and altering it to create awareness among people about the novel coronavirus among the public as well as dissuade them from violating the government-enforced lockdown restrictions.

With the scourge of coronavirus raging across India, the Punjab Police on Twitter have come up with a creatively jocular campaign to raise consciousness about the pandemic that has had a rampant run across the world, affecting more than 1.8 million people worldwide and causing an astounding 114,332 fatalities.

Punjab Police recently shared a witty meme on its official Twitter page that is winning hearts on the social media platforms. The meme entailed a popular Bollywood track-‘Kisi Disco Mein Jayein’ from the Blockbuster movie- ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ with adjunct lyrics to discourage people from venturing out amidst the lockdown. The lyrics read- ‘Kisi disco mein jaayein, kisi hotel mein khaayein, police dekh legi hum wahaan, chalo ghar pe hi reh lein hum’.

Before that, Punjab Police had shared a similar memes on Salman Khan starrer Bollywood song-‘ Oonchi hai building’ as a part of its campaign to promote staying indoor during a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The meme read-‘Oonchi hai building, lift teri band hai, neeche na aana, police bandobast hai’.

Earlier in March, Punjab Police personnel found a unique way to spread awareness about the protocols that need to be adhered to while the country girds itself in its fight against COVID-19. In a video shared on the social media, officers of Punjab Police were seeing shaking their legs to a popular Punjabi song and educating people about the practices to be followed to ward off the threat of coronavirus.

And how can food puns be too far?

Police gets creative

Ever since the threat of the Wuhan coronavirus loomed on the country, it has provided the keepers of the law in various states an opportunity to display their creative side. Police officials have espoused creative and ingenious methods to raise awareness about the virus among the residents. Bangalore Police enacted an enthralling skit, underscoring the threat one faces when he/she breaches the lockdown restrictions. In Andhra Pradesh, cops created awareness amongst people today by hiring local artists and dressing them up as Yamraj, Chitragupta and coronavirus. The police officials in Kerala did a “hand-washing” dance to illustrate people how frequent hand-washing can help them in staving off the threat of coronavirus.

Only infidels and oppressors die of the Coronavirus, not Muslims, claim ISIS women, call the virus a soldier of Allah

OpIndia Staff
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Only infidels and oppressors die of the Coronavirus, not Muslims, claim ISIS women, call the virus a soldier of Allah

ISIS women at the Al-Hawl Refugee Camp have claimed that the Wuhan Coronavirus does not infect Muslims, and only ‘infidels’ and ‘oppressors’ die of the disease. The refugee camp is located on the southern outskirts of the town of al-Hawl in northern Syria, close to the Syria-Iraq border. The clip was originally aired on Rudaw TV (Iraqi Kurdistan) on the 9th of April. The translation of the clip was shared by Memri TV on its Twitter Handle. The women appeared quite invigorated and excited as they made the claims.

One of the ISIS women says, “The disease does not infect us because we are pious, we fast, we pray. We fear Allah. We follow Islam in the path of Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi.” When the reporter asks her who the virus infects, the woman says, “It infects the infidels (non-Muslims), because they oppress the prisoners and the brothers. It infects them. You see what I am saying? It does not infect Muslims.”

The ISIS woman continued, “Have you seen any Muslims die from this disease? All those who died were infidels. They were oppressors. I’m not saying that all Muslims are decent people. Who are the Muslims who died from this disease?” When the reporter informs her that people all over the world regardless of their religion have been dying due to the Wuhan Coronavirus, the woman says, “They are oppressors among the Muslims. They were not Muslims. The disease does not infect Muslims, only infidels. Another of the ISIS women says, “The Coronavirus is just one soldier sent by Allah.

“Coronavirus is Allah’s NRC”

In India, too, certain Muslims have claimed that the Wuhan Coronavirus has been sent by Allah to see who survives and said, “We are not afraid of coronavirus because Allah has ensured that we (Muslims) are safe. Corona is no big deal.” Others have claimed that the virus is Allah’s NRC. Meanwhile, the Maulana of Markaz Nizamuddin of Tablighi Jamaat, which has emerged as the biggest cluster of Wuhan Coronavirus cases preached against social distancing and claimed that it was a conspiracy to separate Muslims from each other.

Coronavirus scare: Tamil Nadu Police books infected Tablighi Jamaat member for spitting on a nurse in Trichy

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus scare: Tamil Nadu Police books infected Tablighi Jamaat member for spitting on a nurse in Trichy

A Tablighi Jamaat member who was diagnosed with the Wuhan Coronavirus had spat on a nurse in an isolation ward at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. The patient was admitted to the hospital on Saturday and was reluctant to co-operate with the hospital staff. Reportedly, he removed his mask and also threw it at the nurse.

A case has been registered against the accused by the Tamil Nadu police, following a complaint by the medical staff at the hospital. Charges were pressed under Section 269 (negligence), 270 (malignant act) and 271(Disobedience) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the Tablighi Jamaat member. “It was a serious crime under the present conditions with so many restrictions in force to prevent the spread of coronavirus,” the cops reiterated.

On April 9, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh had informed that 84 out of 96 patients who had tested positive for the Chinese Virus were from a ‘single source event’ while referring to Tablighi Jamaat event. She added that the very ‘single source’ accounted for a whopping 763 out of Tamil Nadu’s 834 live cases. This has led to many questioning why was the Tamil Nadu Government withholding the name of the source when it accounts for 91% of the total confirmed cases of the Chinese virus.

‘Earlier, the Tablighi Jamaat members who were shifted to quarantine facilities in Delhi after exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 had allegedly behaved in an unruly manner with the facility staff and doctors, as stated by CPRO Northern Railway Deepak Kumar. According to Kumar, occupants made unreasonable demands for food, misbehaved and abused staff members and started spitting all over and on persons working/attending them, including doctors. They also started roaming around the hostel building.

In yet another ghastly attack on the healthcare workers by Islamists, the Tablighi Jamaat members who were quarantined at Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College in Kanpur, after they attended Congregation in Nizamuddin, Delhi and came in contact with several people with Coronavirus, had misbehaved with the medical staff and spat on them during their stay at the hospital in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

The DGP of Himachal Pradesh, SR Mardi, had cautioned that people diagnosed with the Wuhan Coronavirus should refrain from spitting on others, else charges of ‘attempt to murder’ would be registered against them. If the person who was being spat on dies, then, the perpetrator would be booked for ‘murder’.

Westerners get diseases like Coronavirus because they do not wash their buttocks with water, claims Islamic scholar

OpIndia Staff
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Westerners get diseases like Coronavirus because they do not wash their buttocks with water, claims Islamic scholar

Jordanian Islamic Scholar Ahmad Al-Shahrouri has claimed that people living in the West suffer from diseases like the Chinese Coronavirus because they do not wash their buttocks with water after performing their excretory functions as Muslims do. In a video clip shared by Memri TV, the translations to which were provided by the same, the Islamic scholar complains about the “purity and cleanliness that westerners lack so much”. The comments were made on the 29th of March, 2020.

The Islamic Scholar appeared disgusted by the fact that one could not find a “drop of water” to wash his ‘behind’ when one entered a toilet in the West. It is why Muslims travels in a plane ‘or whatever’, they take some water with them to the lavatories. “Currently, they have run out of toilet paper in the markets,” says the Islamic scholar, “because they do not use water!”

“They are plagued by these diseases, these microbes, and these viruses because they do not clean their filth enough,” Ahmad Al-Shahrouri said. He continued, “Believe me when I tell you that once I traveled to a foreign country, and I had a middle seat on the plane. I sat between two citizens from the country I was traveling to. Believe me… for over two hours- it was a domestic flight… For over two hours, my head almost exploded from the stench that filled my nose! I couldn’t believe it when the flight was finally over and I could leave my seat.”

Ahmad Al-Shahrouri said, “Why is France famous for producing the most luxurious perfumes? It is because they do not use water. They use perfumes to get rid of the filth and foulness of their bodies and of the odours that stick to them. Oh Muslim, you should praise Allah for making you perform ablution.”

The Islamic Scholar was probably referring to the shortage of toilet papers in western countries after the public started hoarding items due to the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. The hoarding has led to stores running out of toilet papers, leaving many concerned. The shortage has also become the butt of jokes on social media.

Rajasthan: Women in Kota hurl plastic bags inside homes after spitting in them amidst coronavirus outbreak, watch video

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Women in Kota hurl plastic bags inside homes after spitting in them amidst coronavirus outbreak, watch video

While the number of coronavirus cases in the country is rising at an alarming rate, there are some perversely malevolent individuals who are wantonly trying to spread the infection to others. In a video that has gone viral now, a group of 4-5 women in the town of Rajasthan’s Kota, were seen spitting in polythenes bags and throwing them inside houses.

Known for its coaching centres, Kota, on Sunday morning saw some women walking in the colonies and spitting on the sidewalks, trains and houses. After a police complaint was filed against them in the Vallabh Bari area of ​​the city on the basis of the viral video which showed suspicious women spitting inside polythenes and hurling those plastic bags inside the neighbouring houses. 

After the video procured from the CCTV footage which shows the women spitting in the houses went viral, there is an increased sense of panic and fear of coronavirus among the Kota residents. According to the Kota police, soon after the video went viral, the police registered a cases against the unknown women and an investigation has been launched in the matter. The entire area where the women were seen prowling around with the aim to infect others has been sanitised. However, no official confirmation has been made regarding the women seen in the CCTV footage.

Gumanpura CI Manoj Sikarwar has stated that the area has been sanitised and the accused women are being searched.

Earlier, ten-rupee notes found in the letterboxes of various houses in Jodhpur created a sensation after people suspected that the notes might be infected with the coronavirus. However, after investigations, it was found that the notes were counterfeit.

The coronavirus infected cases in the state of Rajasthan has increased to 815 by Monday morning. There have been 11 new cases in the state. According to the Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh, one new case has come to light in Bharatpur and ten in Banswara. The capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur, has recorded the highest number of 341 cases so far. The state is under strict lockdown since March 22 and curfew has been imposed in at least 40 sensitive areas susceptible to the coronavirus outbreak.

Fact-check: Are restaurants and hotels remaining shut till October 15 amidst coronavirus lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-check: Are restaurants and hotels remaining shut till October 15 amidst coronavirus lockdown

An message has gone viral on social media which claims to be a notice from the Ministry of Tourism which claims that “Hotels, restaurants, resorts all over India will remain closed till October 15, 2020, due to coronavirus disease spread all over the world.”

The purported notice further warns about action against the owners, in case of non-compliance to the order. The supposed order from the Ministry of Tourism is laden with grammatical errors that raise aspersions about its authenticity at the very onset.

Screenshot of the Viral Ministry of Tourism Ciricular

Fact-checking website FactHunt debunked this falsehood. On April 8, the Ministry of tourism had clarified that such a notice was not issued by the Government of India. It urged people to rely on verified information shared by the official social media handles of the Ministry and refrain from forwards such dubious Whatsapp messages.

Moreover, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) also dubbed the circular as “fake” and appealed to people to not fall prey to rumours.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown to curb the spread of Chinese coronavirus for three weeks which concludes on 14th April. On 11th April, the PM had a tele-conference with chief ministers of other states on further action on the lockdown. PM Modi will address the nation at 10 AM on 14th April where he is expected to inform the citizens about the future plan of action on coronavirus.

PM Modi to address the nation at 10 am on Tuesday, 14 April, may announce decision on the extension of lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi to address the nation at 10 am on Tuesday, 14 April, may announce decision on the extension of lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 am on Tuesday as the 21-day deadline ends on April 14. The Prime Minister is widely expected to announce an extension of the lockdown till April 30.

In addition to extending lockdown amid the states’ request, some measures to restart the economy is also expected to be outlined by the Prime Minister.

Earlier, during his meeting with Chief Ministers on Saturday, PM Modi had agreed that a continued lockdown was necessary to fight the Chinese epidemic, but had talked about saving livelihoods as well as lives.

Few states like Telangana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Punjab have also already extended restrictions till the month-end considering the rising number of coronavirus cases in India.

India has recorded over 9000 positive cases and over 300 deaths. Maharashtra’s tally of positive coronavirus cases crossed the 2000 mark on Monday.

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