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ICMR releases revised testing strategy for coronavirus, all asymptomatic contacts of confirmed positive cases will be tested

OpIndia Staff
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ICMR releases revised testing strategy for coronavirus, all asymptomatic contacts of confirmed positive cases will be tested

In the wake of the novel coronavirus that has swept the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has released a revised strategy to battle the spread of the contagion that has paralysed many countries across the world. As per new guidelines announced by the ICMR today, all the asymptomatic individuals who have undertaken international travel in the last 14 days are mandated to stay home quarantine for 14 days.

The new ICMR guidelines say that all asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of confirmed cases should get themselves tested once between day 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact. The revised guidelines also added that such individuals who have come from abroad should be tested for covid-19 only if they develop symptoms for the novel coronavirus. The new strategy includes testing of all symptomatic contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases as well as of symptomatic health-care workers. All hospitalised patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses, including cough and fever and/or shortness of breath, will be tested for the contagion.

The apex body of medical research altered their strategy as the coronavirus cases in India swell to 271. With the new guidelines, the ICMR aims to shore up the measures to contain the spread more effectively and provide a diagnosis to the patients meeting the criterion for the novel coronavirus.

Until now, all the asymptomatic patients who undertook international travel in the last 14 days and developed symptoms, all symptomatic contacts of laboratory-confirmed and all symptomatic health care workers were being tested for the infection as per the guidelines.

The cases of covid-19 reported in India thus far are all but related to travel and local transmission from imported cases. Instances of community transmission are still not being registered in India. Once community transmission is documented, ICMR will bring about changes in its testing strategy to meet the appropriate testing for community transmission stage. The testing strategy is evaluated by the National Task Force established by Secretary DHR & DG, ICMR and Chaired by VK Paul, a member of NITI Aayog.

At present, there are 75 laboratories across the country equipped to test for Covid-19, as per the list published by ICMR. 18 private companies, both domestic and international, have been issued licenses to do testing for the virus.

Coronavirus: Yogi Govt announces monetary help, free ration, for more than 35 lakh daily wage earners in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Yogi Govt announces monetary help, free ration, for more than 35 lakh daily wage earners in the state

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday announced that it will compensate the daily wage earners in the state by transferring Rs 1000 directly in the bank accounts of needy people to help them meet their daily needs amidst the Coronavirus outbreak. CM Yogi Adityanath tweeted to inform that around 1.65 crore needy people will be provided with free ration for one month. Moreover, the families which are not getting benefits under any government scheme, they will be provided an assistance of Rs 1000 per month by the state government.

As the economic slowdown caused due to the rapid spread of the Novel disease has affected the livelihoods of many daily wage labourers, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in a press conference held on March 21, announced that “Rs 1000 each will be given 15 lakh daily wage labourers and 20.37 lakh construction workers via direct benefit transfer to help them meet their daily needs.”

The CM also informed that Pension earners under Uttar Pradesh government will be paid advance pension for two months, which will be paid in April. Moreover, Rs 565 crore for jobs already completed under MNREGA will also be paid soon.

Earlier, on March 18, Yogi Adityanath had taken to Twitter to announce that the loss of wages of the daily earners due to the coronavirus outbreak will be compensated with the state help for which a committee had been set up.

He also appealed to the people that there was no need to panic over coronavirus. He further assured that the state has taken adequate measures and has sufficient stock of essential commodities and medicines. “We have sufficient stock of essential commodities and medicines in the state. So, please don’t rush to shops to buy things and hoard commodities,” he said.

Yogi Adityanath urged people to adhere to ‘Janata curfew’ called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. “All metro rail, state and city bus services in the state will remain closed tomorrow,” the Chief Minister said.

The BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh has taken up several strict measures to combat the deadly Covid-19 while making sure that the state does not suffer due to the crisis.

It announced that the state government will bear the medical expenses of those infected with the deadly virus.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also announced that there will be no deduction of salary for those patients who take leave for coronavirus treatment.

According to the reports, the state government has also constituted a high-level committee to provide them with the required monetary support. The three-member committee, headed by the UP finance minister and comprising the state agriculture and labour ministers, has been asked by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to submit a report within three days.

“The committee will analyse the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak so that the livelihood of the poor and daily wage earners is not affected. The state intends to provide money to these people through the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) medium,” UP cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma confirmed to the media.

In the backdrop of Coronavirus health crisis, the Uttar Pradesh government has banned all forms of protest and demonstrations in the state to protect the general public from this pandemic. Meanwhile, the CM has directed for the closure of all schools, colleges, and educational institutions till April 2, while also suspending all competitive and academic board examinations. Earlier, the schools and colleges were closed till March 22 even as the ongoing exams were not disturbed.

The government has also decided to close down all the tourist sports till March 31, although the process of sanitising these places would continue, said the minister. “The state government has decided to implement the central government advisory pertaining to coronavirus in totality,” he added.

Speaking on the preparedness of the state to handle the crisis, Sharma added the CM Yogi Adityanath had appealed to the people to avoid crowded places and not to panic on the issue, although the masses should exercise caution and spread awareness. All the cinema halls and multiplexes have also been ordered to close down till April 2 in UP even as the respective district magistrates have been directed to speed up the awareness campaign through posters and banners.

“At present, the state is under stage II of coronavirus and with effective campaign and public awareness, we can prevent it from reaching the critical stage III,” Sharma underlined.

Meanwhile, the government has advised the private companies to allow their employees to work from home, while a committee headed by the state chief secretary has been constituted to suggest similar measures for the government employees. The state government has mandated free treatment of coronavirus patients, while the government and non-government employees have been assured that their salaries would not be cut during the work of the home regime.

Till now, 23 coronavirus positive cases have been identified in UP which includes Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, against whom the Lucknow police have registered a case for negligence, disobedience of order issued to curtail the spread of Coronavirus, after she allegedly tried to hide her travel history, defy self-isolation protocols and even evaded screening.

Recently the Yogi Adityanath government had warned to take strict action against those who will not cooperate with the authorities to control the novel coronavirus outbreak and spread misinformation and panic among the people.

Delhi: Jahangirpuri anti-CAA protest organizer tests positive for Wuhan Coronavirus after meeting his infected sister

K Bhattacharjee
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Delhi: Jahangirpuri anti-CAA protest organizer tests positive for Wuhan Coronavirus after meeting his infected sister

One of the organizers of the anti-CAA protests at Jahangirpuri in Delhi has tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus after his sister tested positive for the same on Thursday. His sister had arrived from Saudi Arabia on the 11th of March and he had met her two days later. The person is admitted to the Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi while his sister is undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital.

The protester had visited the protest site at Jahangirpuri after meeting his sister on the 13th. “I did not show any symptoms of the disease at the time, so I went about life as usual,” he had told The Print after he had begun showing symptoms of the highly contagious disease.

Meanwhile, the anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh have decided to continue their protests despite the extreme health risks associated with it. Some minor modifications have been added, however, they are unlikely to inhibit the spread of the infection in any manner. Women above the age of 70 years had been barred from participating in the protests. Similar restrictions had been placed on children below the age of 10 years. Such measures are unlikely to help as those participating in the protests will carry the virus with them to their homes where the elderly and the children will be exposed to the virus.

The protesters have decided to disregard the Prime Minister’s call for “Janata Curfew” as well. They also emphasized that they wash their hands daily. In a viral video, one of the Shaheen Bagh protestors could be heard arguing how coronavirus can also happen to those who travel in the metro but no one is asking them to stop. However, everyone wants Shaheen Bagh protests to end. They believe that coronavirus is a ploy by Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to get them to end the protests.

In another video, however, one of the protesters could be heard dismissing the looming threat of coronavirus by claiming that Corona emerged from the Quran. Several protestors do not think that the pandemic is a threat because the Anti-CAA protests are supposedly a ‘call from Allah‘.

Law Student and Lawyers file Complaint with Delhi Police against Shaheen Bagh Protesters in wake of Covid-19 pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Law Student and Lawyers file Complaint with Delhi Police against Shaheen Bagh Protesters in wake of Covid-19 pandemic

In an important development, 4 public-spirited persons — three lawyers and a law student have lodged a complaint against the indefinite protests staged at Shaheen Bagh to resist the new citizenship law. The complaint has been filed with the Delhi Police to initiate action against all protestors who by gathering in mass numbers continue to pose an unfathomed danger to the health and life of millions of Indian citizens on account of the coronavirus outbreak.

One of the complainants shared a copy of the complaint on Twitter

As the risk of Shaheen Bagh protestors getting exposed to Coronavirus continues, in the complaint filed by these activist citizens, it has been stated, “With the onslaught of the coronavirus (CoVid-19) that has gripped more than 182 countries causing a manifold increase in fatalities, the protests at Shaheen Bagh pose an imminent threat and danger to the lives of millions of Indians”.

Citing the preventive advisories issued both by the Union Government and NCT Government, the complaint alleges, “an assembly such as Shaheen Bagh has the capacity to unleash a pandemic of unmanageable proportions.”

While noting that “Under the pretext of the constitutional right to dissent, Shaheen Bagh has emerged as breeding grounds for an insidious campaign to destabilize India’s peace and security”the complainants have highlighted how the protest at Shaheen Bagh defy fundamental notions of civic obligations saddled on Indian citizens. In the complaint it has been noted that “the constitutional right to protest is not without responsibility. In insisting upon this right, people cannot absolve their civic responsibilities towards the country.”

To highlight the distressing gravity of the situation, the complaint also draws attention to recent media reports about a person who participated in the anti-CAA protests suspected of being infected by the deadly virus by coming in contact with a Saudi Arabia returnee who had tested positive for CoViD-19.

Various provisions of the Indian Penal Code have been invoked in the complaint to illustrate the defiant and illegal manner in which the protests at Shaheen Bagh have been organized ever since India witnessed a spike in the number of coronavirus affected patients. In particular, it has been stated, “It requires no elaboration that the above activities of the protestors severely impede the execution of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and the Delhi Epidemic Diseases COVID-19 Regulations 2020. Since any assembly of five or more people that impedes the execution of any law constitutes an unlawful assembly under Section 141 of the Indian Penal Code, the protest at Shaheen Bagh squarely falls within that definition of the said offense. In addition, these protests also constitute offenses of public nuisance and negligent actions, which is likely to spread the infection of a dangerous disease threatening life that is punishable under Section 268 and 269 of the Indian Penal Code.”

The complainants have urged the Delhi Police to take strong action against the culpable persons by registering a FIR against them and take other preventive measures to avoid risking further spread of the disease.

Read- Coronavirus: Anti-CAA protests organiser in Delhi shows symptoms of COVID-19 after sister tests positive, had visited ‘protest’ site

As both the Union and State Governments across the country scramble their resources to prevent the transmission from slipping into community transmission stage, the sheer apathy of the Shaheen Bagh demonstration and its organizers to the difficulty faced by the country shows that it is just a facade to mask the insidious agenda of destroying India’s peace and tranquility. The filing of the complaint by these well-intentioned activists show that Indian public has no doubts that Shaheen Bagh is a selfish, malicious and undemocratic movement hell-bent on serving extraneous and oblique motives.

The complainants who have collectively filed the complaint with the Delhi Police are Sarthak Raizada, Shubhendu Anand, Nikunj Agarwal and Pradosh Shetty.

‘We wash hands 5 times a day for Namaz’, says Shaheen Bagh Anti-CAA protester: Protests to continue with some changes even as Coronavirus spreads

OpIndia Staff
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‘We wash hands 5 times a day for Namaz’, says Shaheen Bagh Anti-CAA protester: Protests to continue with some changes even as Coronavirus spreads

Despite the coronavirus scare, Shaheen Bagh protestors who are on a sit-in agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for the past 97 days have decided to go unabated about their business with some modifications, reported News18.

A protestor by the name of Rizvana said, “Washing hands regularly is part of our lifestyle. We offer namaz five times a day and we wash our hands every time”, suggesting how she was safe from COVID-19 despite being a part of a mass gathering.

In complete disregard to the “Janata Curfew” recommended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday to highlight the significance of home quarantine in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, another protestor was quoted as saying, “On Sunday, we will sit under small tents. Only two women will sit under each tent and maintain a distance of more than a metre between them.”

Women above the age of 70 years had been barred from participating in the protests. Similar restrictions had been placed on children below the age of 10 years. It is important to remember that earlier the death of a 2-month-old infant who was regularly exposed to the cold weather could not deter the protestors from taking children to such protests. When the child died, one protestor was quoted as saying, “Allah ki bachchi thi, Allah ne bula liya ( She was Allah’s child and she has gone back to Allah).”

Mattresses had been replaced by cots and no loudspeakers would be used for making announcements. Tasser Ahmed, one of the key organisers of Shaheen Bagh protests, has said that the protest site was being disinfected regularly.

In a viral video, one of the Shaheen Bagh protestors could be heard arguing how coronavirus can also happen to those who travel in the metro but no one is asking them to stop. However, everyone wants Shaheen Bagh protests to end. They believe that coronavirus is a ploy by Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to get them to end the protests.

In another video, however, one of the protesters could be heard dismissing the looming threat of coronavirus by claiming that Corona emerged from the Quran. Several protestors do not think that the pandemic is a threat because the Anti-CAA protests are supposedly a ‘call from Allah‘.

Earlier, one of the organisers of the anti-CAA protests in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri had shown symptoms of the COVID-19 and underwent tests after he met his sister, who was earlier tested positive. His sister had returned from the Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on 11th March. The 35-year-old protestor said he had been to the anti-CAA protest site in Delhi “a couple of times” after meeting his sister on 13 March.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has confirmed that the novel Coronavirus cases in India have climbed to 206 on Friday. ICMR said in its report that a total of 14,376 samples have been tested from 13,486 individuals for testing the presence of SARS-CoV2 as on March 20, 2020. Finally, 206 people are found positive of COVID-19 novel coronavirus among suspected cases and those who were in contacts of known positive cases.

Coronavirus: 3 AMU PhD students who escaped from a quarantine facility found in Kashmir, 1 still untraceable

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: 3 AMU PhD students who escaped from a quarantine facility found in Kashmir, 1 still untraceable

Four Kashmiri PhD scholars of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) who was put in quarantine had escaped from the facility under mysterious circumstances. Reportedly, the Jammu and Kashmir authorities have now traced three of the four students who had escaped from the quarantine facility.

Journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh had reported three Kashmiri PhD students of the Aligarh Muslim University, who had travelled to UAE in the first week of March were quarantined two days ago. However, in an act of willful negligence, three students had run away from the medical facility.

On 19 March, Dr Shariq Ali, the Chief Medical Officer at AMU wrote to the Dean Students’ Welfare of the AMU stating that three Kashmiri students had visited UAE from 4 to 9 March and had been admitted to the UHS Isolation Ward at 4:00 pm on 18 March for quarantine. The dean added that all three – Azad Ahmad Wani, Mohammad Iqbal Rather and Bilal Ahmad Rather, who returned from Dubai were absconding since 9:45 pm on 18 March.

Three students had returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while the fourth absconding student Zahoor A Rather had travelled to Taiwan from 15th February to 14th March. However, the authorities have now managed to trace the three students and have been shifted to Health Centers for examination, reported Rising Kashmir.

Following the scare, the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Central Industrial Security Force and the Railway Police, and also a screening facility near Qazigund on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, had been asked to immediately arrest the four scholars for necessary quarantine.

The fourth AMU student who escaped from the facility after visiting Taiwan is yet to be traced.

Lucknow Police registers case against singer Kanika Kapoor for negligence and spread of Coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Lucknow Police registers case against singer Kanika Kapoor for negligence and spread of Coronavirus

On 20th March, Friday, a case was registered against singer Kanika Kapoor, who had tested positive for Coronavirus, at Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh for negligence (IPC Section 269), disobedience of an order issued by a public servant (IPC Section 188) and spread of the deadly Wuhan virus, COVID-19 (IPC Section 270), following a complaint filed by the Lucknow Chief Medical Officer. Reportedly, 2 more cases are likely to be registered against Kapoor at the Hazratganj and Gomtinagar police.

Copy of the First Information Report (Page 1)
Copy of the First Information Report (Page 2)

Recently the Yogi Adityanath government had warned to take strict action against those who will not cooperate with the authorities to control the novel coronavirus outbreak and spread misinformation and panic among the people. The health minister of Uttar Pradesh Jai Pratap Singh clarified that concerned authorities have been given power under section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act to take all necessary actions in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor is one of the four latest confirmed cases infected by a novel coronavirus in the state of Uttar Pradesh, thus taking the toll to 23. As per reports, she allegedly tried to hide her travel history, had defied self-isolation protocols and even evaded screening. She also stayed at a 5-star hotel in Lucknow and threw a dinner party.

Read: NDTV anchor Sonal Mehrotra self-quarantines after sister-in-law Kanika Kapoor tests positive for Covid-19

In her defence, Kapoor said, “For the past four days I had symptoms of flu. I got myself tested and it came positive for COVID-19. My family and I are in complete quarantine now and following medical advice on how to move forward. Contact mapping of people I have been in touch with is underway as well.”

Earlier, BJP MP Dushyant Singh, who attended Kanika Kapoor’s dinner party along with his mother Vasundhara Raje has been tested negative in the first sampling taken to test for coronavirus infection. Singh and Vasundhara Raje, the former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, self quarantined themselves when the news of Kanika Kapoor being isolated due to infection by the novel coronavirus came out.

NDTV anchor Sonal Mehrotra self-quarantines after sister-in-law Kanika Kapoor tests positive for Covid-19

OpIndia Staff
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NDTV anchor Sonal Mehrotra self-quarantines after sister-in-law Kanika Kapoor tests positive for Covid-19

Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor, an anchor working with the controversial channel NDTV, has self-quarantined after singer Kanika Kapoor, who is also the sister-in-law of the anchor, was tested positive for coronavirus on Friday.

Taking to Twitter, Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor confirmed that she has been in self-isolation for the last three days after she caught cold. Kapoor also stated that one of her relative i.e Kanika Kapoor was tested positive for the Coronavirus, which has made her go into quarantine. Sonal Kapoor also said she was maintaining at least 15 feet distance from the family.

“After a relative tested positive, I have managed with great difficulty to get a swab test at a hospital, the result for which is still awaited and meanwhile our home has been sanitised,” the NDTV anchor tweeted.

Kanika Kapoor, who is accused of recklessness and has been booked for negligence, spoke to NDTV in an attempt to cover up her negligence. After being tested positive for coronavirus, Kanika Kapoor spoke to NDTV to blame the government for not providing the adequate testing facilities to get screened after she returned from London.

Kanika Kapoor claimed that she had even contacted the government officials 20 times and waited for two days before getting tested. She also stated that her sister-in-law Sonal Kapoor also had to struggle a lot to get tested despite her being a ‘leading journalist of NDTV’.

Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor was tested positive on Friday and was sent to isolation at King George Medical University in Lucknow. Before that, she threw a dinner party that was attended by nearly a hundred people. Vasundhara Raje and her son Dushyant were one of those who attended her dinner party. The BJP MP Singh has now tested negative for the virus.

Kanika Kapoor travelled from London to India and returned to Lucknow on March 15. She had reportedly refrained from informing authorities about her travel history. Upon arriving in Lucknow, Kanika hosted a lavish party for her friends and family at a five-star hotel.

Read: Singer Kanika Kapoor tests positive for Coronavirus: Reports say after landing from the UK, she stayed in a five-star hotel and threw a party

For her shocking recklessness, a complaint has been booked against Kanika Kapoor for negligence and disobedience. The FIR was registered against Kanika Kapoor at Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow.

“An FIR was lodged at the Sarojini Nagar police station under IPC Sections 269 – negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life, Section 270 – malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life and Section 188 – disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant),” said a police officer.

5 million people from Wuhan, the ​epicentre of Coronavirus, had left the city before China put stringent restrictions in place: Report

OpIndia Staff
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5 million people from Wuhan, the ​epicentre of Coronavirus, had left the city before China put stringent restrictions in place: Report

After initially faltering in its response to curtail the spread of the deadly pathogen, the authoritarian regime in China employed sweeping restrictions to limit the dissemination of the virus. As the outbreak of the coronavirus dwindles in China, it has now set in motion a dangerous PR exercise to extricate itself from the accountability of the spread of the coronavirus while passing the buck on others, most notably the United States, for endangering humanity with the lethal virus.

While China’s government focuses its strength on deflecting the blame on others, its diplomats and media outlets are aggressively tossing out allegations of “racism” on those who link the virus’ origins to China. China has been peddling conspiracy theories to acquit itself from the blame of the contagion that has so far affected more than 200,000 people across the world and left about 11000 dead.

However, investigative reports reveal damning evidence that puts the blame of the spread squarely on China. While China has failed to determine the ‘Patient Zero’, from where the epidemic may have spawned, the data from the Chinese government suggest that the novel infection began spreading as early as November 2019. However, it was after several weeks, on December 31st that China acknowledged reports of a previously-unknown virus behind a number of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city in Eastern China with a population of over 11 million.

China took an eternity to act against the virus and it took measures only after the epidemic segued into a global pandemic, attracting the wrath of affected countries and fearing sanctions. After having detected the signs of an unknown virus in November, the Chinese officials were not only awfully lethargic in launching preventive measures to curtail the spread but were also viciously repressive against voices who dared to inform the Chinese officials about the emergence of coronavirus. In December, China reprimanded Dr Li Wenliang, who tried to alert his friends about the impending threat from coronavirus. Three months later, the Chinese Communist Party’s top disciplinary body, in an unusual move, admitted their mistake and sent a “solemn apology” to the family of Dr Weliang, who also lost his life due to the virus.

Besides, China had also brought in travel restrictions and lockdown very late. Chinese officials even allegedly destroyed test samples of patients, threatened whistleblowers and even actively covered up concerns and reports of a potential epidemic spreading fast. Now it has even emerged that genomics samples being tested were destroyed by the order of Wuhan authorities. On January 3, China’s National Health Commissioner had reportedly ordered all the labs not to publish any information and took away all the test samples of the virus. A report by WION has summarised the developments.

23 days after China recognised the threat of novel coronavirus, China announced on January 23, a complete lockdown of its Wuhan city, the central Chinese city at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in China and whose live animal markets are believed to be the source from where the contagion emerged. Ratcheting up its measures to control the epidemic that was threatening to rapidly engulf the whole of the country, the Chinese government announced a sweeping lockdown of Wuhan, in an effort to quarantine the centre of the outbreak.

However, the damage was already done as the data from reports suggest that the Chinese government’s laxity in dealing with the pandemic at the outset proved catastrophic for the rest of the world. 5 million out of the 11 million population in Wuhan city had already left the city before the stringent restrictions kicked in. The virus had been allowed to spread for several weeks, with millions of people travelling in and out of the city acting as potential carriers of the virus.

Moreover, the spread of coronavirus happened amidst a major Chinese festival-Lunar New Year, a time when millions of people travel back home or go on a holiday. According to one estimates, the world’s biggest human migration happens during a Chinese New Year. As per some reports, Chinese tourists were expected to make 450 million trips this year, scheduled between January 24 to January 30. It is noteworthy to mention that the outbreak of the virus intensified in Italy, Spain and other parts of the world starting February. The situation in Italy is particularly dire as it recently surpassed China’s coronavirus death toll.

A well-researched study into the international spread of the coronavirus by the Journal of Travel Medicine named 20 cities frequented by travellers from Wuhan during the Chinese New Year. The study named Singapore, Taipei, Malaysia, Sydney, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo etc. as cities where the travellers from Wuhan had travelled. Soon after their travel to these cities, a disproportionate spike in coronavirus cases were registered from Australia, South Korea, Japan, inextricably linking Chinese association to the sudden spurt of coronavirus cases in these countries.

However, this is not the first time that China has been accused of transmitting an intractable disease globally. In 2002-2003, China was accused of spreading SARS which affected more than 8000 people across the world. Reports suggest that Chinese transported the virus to 37 countries then. But the Dragon has refused to learn the lessons from its past mistakes. 18 years later, China is repeating the same mistakes. However, this time around, it has shamelessly been assertive in passing the buck on others even as the world continues to grapple the scourge of the Chinese virus.

Multiple cases of sexual harassment emerge against JNU doctoral student who was once associated with AISA and Pinjra Tod

OpIndia Staff
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Multiple cases of sexual harassment emerge against JNU doctoral student who was once associated with AISA and Pinjra Tod

Aman Sinha, a former member of Left-wing group AISA, Pinjra Tod and a doctoral student, is accused of “targeting and preying on women across different colleges in DU”. Multiple accusations of sexual harassment against JNU student Sinha have now come to the fore, reported DU Beat.

In January, we had reported the statement of Women’s Development Cell (WDC) of Miranda House, Delhi University, which had accused the postgraduate student from JNU – Aman Sinha of targeting and preying on women. A statement was also released by the Women’s Development Cell (WDC) of Miranda House, which called him “a sexist man who unapologetically indulges in harassment of women.”

“Aman Sinha is a sexist man trapped in the body of a woke boy who gains social currency by repeatedly associating with prominent student leaders and going to every protest where he can find gullible women to impress. He especially preys on first years,” the statement had added.

Following the accusations, Sinha was also expelled from the All India Students’ Association (AISA), a left-wing student organisation. He was also expelled by Pinjra Tod. It is pertinent to note that Pinjra Tod is the same ultra-left wing organisation which is accused of inciting violence and blocking roads during the anti-CAA riots in Delhi.

Shockingly, new cases of sexual harassment against JNU student Aman Sinha have now come out as various victims of Sinha’s predatory behaviour have narrated their ordeal. A woman who chose to remain anonymous has accused Sinha of creepy behaviour of clicking pictures and taking her hands in the middle of a conversation and playing with them. The lady accused Sinha of repeatedly asking her about the opinion on an open relationship. “When I said that I didn’t like it that much he was still trying to persuade me into thinking otherwise,” the victim added.

Read: Police investigating far-Left ‘activist’ group Pinjra Tod for instigating chain of events that spiralled into the Delhi riots: Read details

Another anonymous student from the Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW) said, “I genuinely feel, for him, sexual liberation means sexual availability, and that he sent me a link of ‘5 nudes beaches in India’ out of nowhere randomly. It was very creepy and disturbing. I blocked him at the very spot and told my friends to block him as well,” said another lady describing pervert behaviour of the former AISA member.

Another woman, Shreya described the predatory behaviour of Aman Sinha. She alleged that Aman approached her at a time when she was vulnerable and going through a problematic stage and made her feel understood and supported while seeming progressive and intellectual. As the lady felt she had feelings for him, he lied about his relationship, saying he had broken up with his girlfriend and manipulated her into feeling.

Shreya said Sinha later confessed that he had lied about breaking up but that his girlfriend was comfortable which was also a lie as his girlfriend allegedly was not. She said the experience with Sinha was traumatic, damaging and that she was unable to take action as she felt helpless with no way of proving the manipulation and found it hard to accept he was predator as it meant her consent was ‘manufactured’.

Responding to the allegations, Sinha said the cases of sexual harassment were just fabricated insinuations, which was started with the WDC Miranda’s post that had no substantial claims. “I will cooperate in investigations in this case either by ICC or Delhi Women’s Commission or another organization”, said Sinha as he spoke to DU Beat.

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