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When nation thanked doctors and servicemen, Abul Fazal colony in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar decided to shout ‘Azaadi’ slogans. Watch video

OpIndia Staff
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When nation thanked doctors and servicemen, Abul Fazal colony in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar decided to shout ‘Azaadi’ slogans. Watch video

Jamia Nagar residents in Delhi’s Abul Fazal enclave chanted ‘Azaadi’ slogans at 5 PM during the Janta Curfew. At 5 PM when Indians came out in their balconies after staying 10 hours indoors to follow the voluntary curfew called by PM Modi in a bid to contain spread of coronavirus, these residents of Okhla in New Delhi chanted the ‘Azaadi’ slogans.


The 5 PM call to clap was to appreciate the efforts of the healthcare workers and all those who are putting their lives on risk on the front line as we try to fight the pandemic. However, the residents of Okhla chose to chant ‘Azaadi’ slogans instead to politicise the gesture which was only supposed to thank those who are there sticking their necks out for us.

Read: Woke liberals on Twitter suffer a meltdown after people applaud for the Bravehearts fighting against Coronavirus during Janata Curfew

The anti-CAA protestors have been chanting ‘Azaadi’ chants which once reverberated through Kashmir as the separatists and terrorists supported by Pakistan raped and killed Kashmiri Hindus and forced them out of their homes.

In October 2019, thousands of Pakistanis had announced that they would infiltrate India by crossing the LOC and ‘liberate Kashmir’. While doing so, the Pakistanis were also chanting ‘Azaadi’ slogans as they marched towards the LOC.

Gujarat Government disinfects buses, sanitises environment and puts up Quarantine warning boards to fight coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat Government disinfects buses, sanitises environment and puts up Quarantine warning boards to fight coronavirus

In a bid to contain the transmission of the Wuhan coronavirus, the Gujarat Government will disclose names of the 18 patients who had tested positive for the deadly pathogen. The decision has been made by the Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel to encourage others who have come in contact with the infected patients to undergo tests.

The administration has put up posters outside houses of people who have been kept under home quarantine to prevent others from entering their houses. One poster read, “Do not visit this house, this is under quarantine.”

Sanitation drive was also conducted in various parts of Ahmedabad to disinfect public spaces from the deadly infection. Public transport including buses has also been cleansed.

Over 300 Gujarati people, including students, are reportedly stuck in Manila, Philippines amidst the coronavirus outbreak. They have now sought the Indian government’s help. As of now as many as 187 people in the Philippines have tested positive for the virus that has pushed the world into panic mode. One MBBS student studying in the Philippines took to Twitter to share the ordeal faced by him and many others like him stuck there.

One Ketul Patel said that owing to spread of COVID19, the Philippines government has decided to shut down Manila and its surrounding cities until further notice. He said that neither transportation nor food is available to them because of the lockdown.

Woke liberals on Twitter suffer a meltdown after people applaud for the Bravehearts fighting against Coronavirus during Janata Curfew

OpIndia Staff
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Woke liberals on Twitter suffer a meltdown after people applaud for the Bravehearts fighting against Coronavirus during Janata Curfew

Calling for “resolve and restraint” to fight coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the entire country to observe ‘Janata curfew’ on Sunday, March 22 as a test run for social distancing over the next few days.

He had also asked the citizens to dedicate 5 minutes of their time in expressing gratitude for the people who are putting up a strong and relentless fight against the Wuhan coronavirus. Earlier, in the day, he reminded people to go atop their terrace or balconies and applaud for the Bravehearts of the nation.

As expected, PM Narendra Modi’s request received a resounding response from people. At 5 pm, people across the nation stood in their balconies and terraces to honour the contribution of those who are working tirelessly to save this nation from the deadly fangs of coronavirus. Amidst the lockdown across various States, people clapped, blew conches, burst firecrackers and clanked their utensils in unison to express their appreciation for health workers.

Surprisingly, several opposition politicians and several left-liberal personalities were also seen participating in the event as appealed by the PM. But still, a section was the liberal establishment was not happy with people’s participation. They wish to limit discourse to an elitist club of like-minded individuals where ordinary citizens of the country find no place to share their concerns. As such, the meltdown of woke liberals on Twitter was not unexpected.

Compulsive hatemonger and Congress supporter, Nikhil Wagle, known for his casteist remarks mocked India’s gesture as “Thali Bajao” event. Wagle who once called the dreaded terrorist and mastermind of the 26/11 terror attack Hafiz Saeed as ‘Hamara Apna‘ now derides India’s culture of doing “Aarti.”

Angellica Aribam, the National General Secretary of NSUI that serves as the student wing of the Congress party, suggested that the people’s expression of gratitude somehow disturbed the quietness of her colony. As such, she asked her followers to urgently inform her about a “quiet colony.”

Another woke liberal named Nishtha who lives under a false impression that she represents “the media” orders people to stop celebrating as it supposedly hinders her ability to continuously provide “the essential services that PM Modi talked about.”

An independent ‘journalist’ based in Kashmir, Rayan Naqash, claims that the applause of people is in fact the sound of “Bhakts” with no brains banging their heads.

Romita Saluja who claims to be a writer and independent journalist on Twitter parrots the same nonsensical rhetoric that the left-liberal jamaat had been reiterating without fail on Diwali and Holi. She claims that the clanking of utensils and sheer jubilation during Janata Curfew was “ridiculous” and “insensitive” to the elderly, pets, birds and so on.

Rabid Islamist in the disguise of a journalist, Saba Naqvi, was not behind in making insidious claims on a joyous occasion. She asked whether the virus would “run back” to China by people expressing their gratitude to the health workers during the Janata Curfew. Saba who is well known for her Anti-Hindu sentiments, fearing a backlash, then claimed that the question was meant to be humourous.

Atheist turned Islamist Shehla Rashid, who is notorious for peddling fake news and fear-mongering, claimed that Prime Minister Narendra had alienated many sections of the society.

Self-proclaimed writer Mithila Phadke went on an abusive tirade against those participating in the Janata Curfew. Spilling out her inner vitriol, she labels a man blowing a conch as a “mother f**er”. Besides that, she wishes chronic rectal disorder upon those people.

Rana Ayub who made a career out of fictional reporting during Gujarat riots and also renowned for her Islamist and Anti-India stand dubbed India’s gesture for their Bravehearts as “madness”. Ayub who has been recently slammed by her comrades for “spewing hate” also sheds crocodile tears over the number of live coronavirus cases in India. It is important to keep in mind that India’s efforts in containing the pandemic have been lauded by the likes of the World Health Organisation.

Former Radio Jockey Sayema accused of inciting mobs in the name of Anti-CAA protests in the past mocks “Janta Curfew” as a competition between people over producing loud noises through clanking of plates.

Kashmiri journalist who is supposedly on Twitter to avoid Facebook labels the jubilation of people as a case of “stupidity” that has no cure.

Tanul Thakur, who is associated with propaganda websites such as The Wire and Caravan Magazine, claims that Janata Curfer which was conceptualised to promote social distancing is, in fact, an “act of submission” to the PM Narendra Modi. The woke liberal then abuses the country as well as the middle-class people.

A few days back, people in coronavirus-affected Italy subjected to home quarantine were seen singing and clapping from their balconies for the medicos working hard to save the nation. The gesture received a positive response from netizens, including many in the liberal camp.

But, since a similar initiative was recommended by the one leader they despise, such an idea that uplifts the morale of health workers now sounds stupid and ridiculous to this lot. Sadly, the Indian left-liberal jamaat has now become so immersed in Modi hatred that any initiative, Janata Curfew in this case, designed for the betterment of the society now appears to them as an “evil ploy of submission”. And anyone who strives to bust their monopoly over the narrative is dubbed as a “Bhakt” for no reason.

Executive Chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited commits Rs. 100 crores towards fighting the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Executive Chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited commits Rs. 100 crores towards fighting the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic

Executive Chairman of the Vedanta Resources Limited, Anil Agarwal, has pledged Rs. 100 crores towards fighting the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. He said that they took a pledge to work for the nation and this is the time that the country needs us the most. “Many people are facing uncertainty and I’m specially concerned about the daily wage earners, we will do our bit to help,” Agarwal said.

Earlier, filmmaker Manish Mundra had pledged Rs. 3 crores to secure 7 ventilators in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. He also added that he is looking to connect with Scanray from Mysore for getting the supplies and sought help from his followers to connect him with the organisation. “We will start looking to identify the hospitals. Will need help on that too. This is to be done in war-footing. Cities in my mind for setting up these ventilators are Bangalore/Cochin/ Jaipur/ Mumbai/ Jodhpur/ Deoghar,” Mundra had said.

The country is coming together to combat the gravest threat to the country in decades. While the central government and various state governments have upped the ante to tackle the crisis, ordinary citizens and corporates are coming out as well to do their bit for the country.

The truth behind “expert” Ramanan Laxminarayanan, who is being promoted by media to create Coronavirus panic

OpIndia Staff
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The truth behind “expert” Ramanan Laxminarayanan, who is being promoted by media to create Coronavirus panic

The COVID-19 health emergency has been one of the toughest challenges the humanity has faced in recent times. Ever since the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak began in the country, the Modi government and the state governments have been putting a brave fight to defeat the Chinese menace and have done an exemplary job to keep the pandemic in check.

However, there has been a concerted campaign by a section of society to discredit the initiatives of the government and are trying to create panic in the society. The so-called experts, aided by media are indulging in misleading the public by aggravating the crisis.

On Saturday, a similar campaign was pushed by a one health-expert named Ramanan Lakshminarayanan, who came up with fanciful numbers to state that India would be facing close to 300 million COVID-19 infections and 2.5 million deaths due to coronavirus outbreak.

Ramanan Laxminarayanan, a UPA-era public health entrepreneur, made an appearance on various media network on Saturday to float his conspiracy theories pertaining to the future coronavirus outbreaks in the country.

Who is Ramanan Laxminarayanan?

Ramanan Laxminarayanan, who was pitched up as an expert on diseases and epidemics by the media outlets of the country, however, in reality, is not an epidemiologist. Dr Ramanan Laxminarayanan is not even a doctor but has a PhD in economics.

Ramanan Laxminarayanan actually claims to be an economist and has worked for a little-known not-for-profit organisation named Public Health Foundation of India for the last four years.

Ramanan Laxminarayan is also founder and director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP) in Washington DC, and also senior research scholar and lecturer at the Princeton Environmental Institute at Princeton University. His claims of being an economist are also disputable.

According to BJP leader Vijay Chauthaiwale, Laxminarayanan while working with PHFI in India, had launched two private companies without taking appropriate PHFI permission. Later, PHFI did not renew his contract in 2016 and also sued him for stealing the NGO’s intellectual property. Ramanan Laxminarayanan had also the lost case and had to return back the Intellectual property rights to the PHFI. The court even awarded legal costs to PHFI.

In addition to his role in US-based NGO CDDEP, Laxminarayanan also ventured into commercial activities by starting a company called Health cube, which according to him works in the area of diagnostics, as pointed out by Twitter user Naren Menon. Another venture set up by the so-called health expert is “Public Health Technologies Trust”.

The websites of both Health Cube and Public Health Technologies Trust suggest that Ramanan Laxminarayanan is into the business of health solutions. PHFT in its website claims to use state of the art IT and systems design tools and technologies to empower the Indian population to obtain better health through optimal use of technologies.

The claims:

In the interview with various media outlets in the country, Ramanan Laxminarayanan indulges in fearmongering by shooting up numbers and making bizarre claims on the extent of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Speaking to controversial news anchor Barkha Dutt, Ramanan Laxminarayanan claimed that the government did not test lot many suspects resulting in the transmission of the virus and stated India needs to be on a complete lockdown immediately. “We missed the bus on testing, If you wait 3 weeks, lockdown won’t work,” he added.

Arguing for a complete lockdown, Ramanan Laxminarayanan came up with fanciful numbers on the show stating that 300-500 million Indians could test positive by July without any immediate drastic measures such as a lockdown. He also stated India needs to prepare for the worst-case scenario and need to call for ventilators on a war footing.

Later, Ramanan Laxminarayanan pushed similar numbers on Rahul Kanwal’s show on India Today channel, where he claimed that India could be heading to a stage where we could be having death cases going into lakhs. Lakshminarayan, continuing with his magical figures, claimed that nearly 10-15 million people will be affected seriously and will be needing critical care in the coming days.

According to Ramanan Laxminarayanan, if mathematical models applied in the United States and the United Kingdom were applied to India, the country could be looking at 300 million COVID-19 infections.

“Most of the infections will be mild, however, 10 million severe infections will happen within the next two weeks and Indian does not such intensive care facilities to handle such scale,” claimed Ramanan Lakshminarayanan.

In a classic case of speculation, Ramanan Laxminarayanan said that India could be facing close to 2.5 million deaths if we are unprepared for the upcoming future. The so-called disease expert, however, failed to authenticate his numbers and did not reveal the source of data before inventing such fanciful numbers.

Moreover, his claims are basically a statistical modelling assumption and not clear facts. He did not even clear much about inputs he used to derive at such higher numbers of mortality. Rather, he has resorted to useless fear-mongering to create undue panic.

Further, Ramanan Laxminarayanan seems to be using the US and UK data to conclude there will be millions of coronavirus deaths in India in the next few weeks. The attempt by Laxminarayanan to directly co-relate western models to compare a health crisis in India and to come up with such higher number is extremely unfair, as the data inputs concerning India is entirely different. The Indian climatic and health conditions are very different from the western countries, hence adopting such models to derive at numbers is unreliable.

A clear case of Conflict of Interest? :

The blatant fear-mongering by the so-called heath expert Ramanan Laxminarayanan, however, has a commercial angle to it. As we looked into carefully, the two companies set up by Laxminarayanan are into manufacturing of medical devices, tools and health solution through diagnostic kits. The diagnostic kits and the gadgets can be used remotely at any location to conduct a series of tests at any place without having to go to diagnostic centres.

Read- MD of Times of India group fuels panic amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, falsely claims food supply will be affected amidst lockdown

Ramanan Laxminarayanan, understanding the scale of current health emergency in this county, perhaps now looking at opportunities to promote his commercial interests. As public health facilities in the country are already facing a huge pressure with an increased number of cases being reported positive, Lakshminarayan has found a suitable time to create more panic in the country so that he could create more pressure on the government to test more aggressively.

Once, the government decides to carry out more tests on public, Laxminarayanan and his company may push those diagnostic kits and testing devices at throwaway prices. The scaling up of numbers intentionally and shooting up imaginary numbers by making fictional claims that more than 300 million could be infected with the virus, Lakshminarayan is indulging in speculation, in a way to push the government for private testing across the country.

Interestingly, the media of the country seems to have a joined with the so-called health expert in promoting such vicious idea at a time of the global epidemic. Rather than rigorously questioning the so-called health expert on his fear-mongering and fictional mathematical models, the media houses have indulged with him to create more panic, in a way to promote the commercial interests of an organisation.

Coronavirus pandemic: Air India crew that helped evacuate Indians ostracised by RWA, airline appeals to treat them with dignity

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus pandemic: Air India crew that helped evacuate Indians ostracised by RWA, airline appeals to treat them with dignity

Air India has been running operations to evacuate Indian citizens stuck in foreign countries struck gravely by the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. However, members of the flight crew are facing ostracization in their neighbourhood, Air India has said on social media. The airline has requested people to ensure that “our crew are treated with the courtesy, respect and freedom that every citizen of this country deserves especially in light of the fact of their having undertaken flight duties to affected countries to bring back Indian citizens.

Source: Air India/Twitter

Air India said in its press release, “It is alarming to note that in many localities, vigilante Resident Welfare Associations and neighbours have started ostracizing the crew, obstructing them from performing their duty or even calling in the police, simply because the crew travelled abroad in the course of their duty. These vigilantes have conveniently forgotten that many a spouse, parent, sibling, child and near and dear one have been brought home safe and secure from affected countries, thanks to the heroic efforts of these Air India crew.”

Air India also said that every precaution was taken to ensure the safety of its screw during the flights abroad that were made. Sanitizers, gloves and masks in ample amounts were also provided to the crew during the flights. “Crew members who are landing into India from affected cities are sent on home quarantine and also to designated hospitals for check-up as part of the protocol,” the press release said.

The Indian Government, and numerous state governments, has stepped up efforts to combat the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic in the meantime. Interstate passenger transport has been suspended, metro railway services have been stopped until the 31st of March as well. Numerous districts across the country have been put on lockdown. Only essential services will continue to operate during the lockdown.

Suffering through Modi’s #ThaliBajao abhiyan is worse than dying from​ a mysterious Chinese virus. Like, seriously!

Nirwa Mehta
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Suffering through Modi’s #ThaliBajao abhiyan is worse than dying from​ a mysterious Chinese virus. Like, seriously!

I need a therapist. Coronavirus has led to a total lockdown and I have been spending past 10 days at home on forced quarantine with my Sanghi father. UGH. This is even worse than dying with mysterious, terrifying bat-virus induced Chinese virus. I mean, c’mon. How can a country that manufactures products that go kaput in less than 2 weeks created a f*cking virus that just refuses to die even after almost three months.

And now I am forced to live 24×7 with my Sanghi family who voted for Modi. 

On Thursday, when Modi addressed the nation on coronavirus outbreak situation in India, I live tweeted and even used #moronavirus hashtag because Modi asked everyone to clap instead of telling us what he has been doing to stop this pandemic. Matlab, doesn’t he know the loud noise aggravates my migraine? And how is this noise pollution a good idea to thank health workers? As responsible citizens, I am paying my taxes and that pays their salaries. That is my way of thanking them.

When my favourite comedian tweeted how he’ll show middle finger to Modi’s call for action, I knew there is still hope in the world. I was pretty confident that no one is that jobless enough to clap in balconies. How many people even have balconies in their houses? And after all, Delhi voted for Kejriwal. No way these people are going to be bhakts. 

But then he tells people to go and clap in their balconies at 5 PM on a Sunday. Because, clearly, people have nothing better to do. BUT then at 4:30 PM my Sanghi father rushed to balcony with a Shankh. WHY DO HINDUS HAVE SHANKH JUST LYING AROUND RANDOMLY IN THEIR HOMES? He went and clapped and entire colony joined in.

HOW COULD THEY DO THIS? Not even two months back you showed Modi his place and he lost elections. And now this? Even my Mallu neighbour uncle who hates Modi’s guts and believes coronavirus is a hype was also out in his balcony clapping. 

I hate this coronavirus shit. China, get your act together and don’t make such viruses again. The morally corrupt nation doesn’t deserve you. 

14 states in India announce complete or partial lockdown to prevent spread of Coronavirus: Here are the details

OpIndia Staff
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14 states in India announce complete or partial lockdown to prevent spread of Coronavirus: Here are the details

Even as India observes the 14 hour Janta Curfew called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several states have announced complete or partial lockdown in the wake of Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak. Today the union government had asked the states to enforce lockdown in 75 districts where Covid-19 positive cases were reported and had also advised that states can expand the area under lockdown based on their assessment.

As of now, the following states have announced complete or partial lockdown:

  1. Odisha
  2. Rajasthan
  3. Punjab
  4. Chandigarh
  5. Uttarakhand
  6. West Bengal
  7. Maharashtra
  8. Nagaland
  9. Delhi
  10. Bihar
  11. Jharkhand
  12. Gujarat
  13. Karnataka
  14. Uttar Pradesh

Odisha was the first state to announce near total lockdown yesterday. The lockdown has been announced in five districts and seven towns in the state from the 22nd March to 29th March. Majority of people who recently returned from foreign countries belong to these areas, that’s why initially these areas have been put under lockdown. The five districts are, Khurdha, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kendrapada, Angul, and the seven towns are Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Balasore, Jajpur Road and Jajpur Town and Bhadrak.

Earlier today, Rajasthan and Punjab governments announced complete lockdown of the states till 31st March. In Rajasthan, all government and private offices will cease operations, and malls, shops, factories and public transport will also remain shut. The borders or Rajasthan with other states will also be sealed. Only essential services and medical facilities will remain open to the public during this period.

Punjab government also announced that shops, Commercial establishments selling non-essential items will remain closed while factories involved in the manufacture of essential items will remain operational.

Union territory Chandigarh announced lockdown today to prevent spread of Covid-19. All ‘non-essential establishments’, including offices, schools, colleges, factories and other business establishments in the city will remain closed till March 31. All public transport has also been suspended.

Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat informed on Twitter that the state will be under lockdown till 31st March. He announced that all transport in the state, both local and interstate, will remain suspended.

West Bengal government has announced lockdown in the state from 23rd March to 27th March. During this period, no public transport including taxis, auto-rickshaws will be permitted, except visit to and from hospitals, airports, railway stations, bus stations, and vehicles carrying food and essential commodities. All shops, offices, factories etc will also remain shut.

North-eastern state Nagaland has also announced restrictions due to the threat of Covid-19 from the midnight of March 22. All inter-state entry points will be sealed and no vehicle carrying passengers will be allowed to enter the state, while all commercial passenger vehicles, both public and private, will not ply on roads.

Two days after ordering the closure of non-essential offices in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray government today announced lockdown in the state. Section 144 of the IPC has been imposed in the state from tomorrow, and both private and public buses will stop operating.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has also announced complete lockdown in the state. All public transport like taxis and autos will be not allowed to ply, while a limited number of DTC buses will operate to allow people involved with essential services to move. All non-essential shops and religious places will remain closed in Delhi till 31st March. Construction activities will also remain suspended, and no international and domestic flights will be allowed to travel from and to Delhi during this period. All borders of the state will be sealed, only vehicles carrying essential items will be allowed to enter. Restaurants will be allowed only for take way and food delivery services.

Delhi government has also imposed section 144 in the state, prohibiting gathering of people in the entire state. Demonstrations, processions, protests etc also prohibited, which is important given that anti-CAA protests by Muslims continue in the capital ignoring the threat of the deadly pandemic. Those who violate the restrictions will be punishable under section 188 of the IPC. The prohibitory order comes into effect from 9 PM tonight and continue till 31st March, which means the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and other places in Delhi will have to be called off, if the administration is able to impose the restriction on the protesters.

On the evening on 22nd March, Bihar also announced lockdown of the state, shutting all non-essential services till 31st March.

Later in the evening, the Jharkhand government also followed suit and ordered complete lockdown in the state. All government offices not related to essential services, all shops except shops selling essential daily use items, all public transport will remain shut in the state till 31st March. The government has also banned the assembly of more the five people at a place and asked the citizens to remain in their homes.

Some other states have announced partial lockdown in selected districts. In Gujarat, Amdavad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Gandhinagar and Kutch districts have been put under lockdown, while in Karnataka the restrictions have been imposed in Bangalore Urban, Bangalore rural, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkaballapura, Kalburgi, Mysore, Kodagu, Belgaum, Dharwad. Similarly, in Uttar Pradesh, lockdown has been announced in 15 districts.

Other states where complete lockdown has not been announced, restrictions in large public gatherings have been banned to prevent the spread of Wuhan Coronavirus.

Read: Coronavirus Pandemic: Union Govt announces lockdown in 75 Covid-19 affected districts; trains, metros, interstate passenger transport suspended

In Assam, city bus services have been suspended from 22nd to 24th March. Several districts in the state have individually imposed section 144 banning large gatherings, festivals etc. Most Bihu committees in the state have announced that there will be no Bihu functions this year, which would have started from 13th April. All states in North East having the Inner Line Permit system has suspended issuing ILPs, meaning people from outside the state can’t enter those states. These states are Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Sikkim has also restricted entry of people from outside the state.

Apart from these, 75 districts in the country, where coronavirus positive cases have emerged, have been put under complete lockdown as per the advisory of the union government. Those 75 districts are spread across 22 states.

During lockdowns, all shops selling non-essential items will remain shut. Shops selling groceries and vegetables, milk, medicine and other essential items will be allowed to remain open. While public transport will not work during the lockdown, people will be allowed to travel in their private vehicles, subject to maintaining social distancing and sanitisation protocols. Petrol pumps, banks and ATMs will also remain functioning lockdown period.

22 states and union territories have seen Covid-19 cases so far. Only Goa, Jharkhand, the eight north-eastern states have not reported any case so far. Along with Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Andaman, and Lakshadweep.

From Sharad Pawar, Rajdeep Sardesai to Aam Janata, people unite to show gratitude to those fighting Coronavirus pandemic: Here are some visuals

OpIndia Staff
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From Sharad Pawar, Rajdeep Sardesai to Aam Janata, people unite to show gratitude to those fighting Coronavirus pandemic: Here are some visuals

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to show gratitude to health workers who are at the forefront of the coronavirus fight, citizens of the country enthusiastically stood at their gates, balconies across the country to clap and cheer up the health workers.

People, who had locked their homes on Sunday because of the lockdown over the Coronavirus, appeared in their balconies and porches minutes before 5 pm and tried to boost the morale of workers by drumming up utensils, blowing up the trumpets.

Many celebrities, political leaders including from the opposition parties, sportspersons supported the call made by Prime Minister Modi and came out of their residences to express their gratitude to every individual who has been fighting the war to protect the citizens of the country.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, one of the leading face of the opposition parties in the country, came out of his residence and clapped for minutes along with his family.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath clanged bell in Gorakhpur to express gratitude to those providing essential services amid Coronavirus pandemic.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the newly inducted BJP member, along with his family, took to his balcony and cheered for the health workers, officials who are battling out to end COVID-19.

Adnan Sami also took to Twitter to share the videos of himself applauding to the service provided by doctors, nurses, police, etc during the outbreak. He said it was his greatest ‘Goosebump’ movement.

Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also participated in the exercise called by PM Modi to express gratitude.

BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar also joined his locality remembers in clapping and cheering of emergency workers.

Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghose, the faces of the anti-Modi brigade, also took part in the initiative to support PM Modi’s call to share their gratitude with health workers, police, etc.

Malini Parthasarthy, the co-chairperson of left-wing The Hindu, along with her house team saluted the brave warriors battling COVID.

Delhi Police also joined the citizens in thanking the health workers by honking their sirens for five minutes in the national capital.

Citizens thronged to their balconies to express their gratitude towards the great people of the country who have been fighting to end the Coronavirus outbreak.

“Such a beautiful moment! Thank You, people, for the cooperation. We will fight this,” tweeted a social media user.

Harridan, a social media user, tweeted emotionally to state that she was crying watching the people’s reaction to PM Modi’s call.

Another social media user had posted the image of a little baby saying thank you to doctors and other emergency staffs for their exemplary work during these tough times.

A user shared a special image of her specially-abled child expressing gratitude to the health workers and others by blowing a trumpet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged people of India to show the gesture while he addressed the nation on Thursday asking to ensure social distancing and Janata curfew to break the chain of spreading coronavirus.

Why Janata curfew matters: We can’t let Communists look like their method wins

Abhishek Banerjee
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Why Janata curfew matters: We can’t let Communists look like their method wins

The Indian Railways has ground to a halt. The streets are deserted. Shops are closed. People are in their homes, too scared to come out. India fears the fate of Europe, where nearly 1500 people died from the Wuhan Coronavirus yesterday. In the US, tens of thousands of people are already affected.

Why did this happen? Why has civilization stopped suddenly? Why are we in this crisis?

This happened because the Communist Party of China, which runs a totalitarian regime, refused to warn the world in time. They suppressed the news, destroyed samples, allowed millions of people to leave Wuhan and go all around the world.

Communists have always been against freedom. At least for the moment, they appear to have succeeded spectacularly. For now, we are all in jail.

But there is a second battle brewing, one which the Communist Party is also trying to win. They are trying to show the world that only their method works. That only a totalitarian Communist government can implement the kind of harsh curbs that are needed to stop a pandemic.

Already, the effect has been felt across the free world. From the United States to India, people are beginning to look at their democracies and wonder if it is a kind of weakness. The governments of Spain, France or Italy cannot force people to lock down in the way the Chinese state can. Left to their own judgement, people will make foolish mistakes. In a pandemic, the mistakes of a reckless few can doom us all. Perhaps freedom and democracy is not such a big deal after all?

When people begin to question the value of liberty itself, you know the Communists are winning. We cannot afford that.

This is why a concept such as “Janata curfew” is so important. The government isn’t forcing us. It is appealing to our conscience, our intelligence and our sense of duty. Saying that a free society can be trusted to do the right thing.

In India, left liberal sympathizers of the Communist Party have been mocking us, especially the appeal to come out of our homes at 5 pm and applaud those at the forefront of fighting the virus. They say that clapping won’t stop the virus.

We know it won’t. But we are demonstrating something even more important. We are showing them that free people can be trusted to do the right thing. A democratic country can pull together and fight a pandemic. We can save our lives and our way of life.

We have already lost our physical liberty to this virus. Now the Communists are making us question the liberty of our thoughts and our minds. If we start losing that, we would have nothing left.

We have to stay separate right now, but in our minds we are all in this together. Humanity will survive and so will freedom.

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