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Bihar: Rabies-infected stray dog goes on a biting spree in Arrah, attacks over 80

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Bihar: Rabies-infected stray dog goes on a biting spree in Arrah, attacks over 80

A stray dog allegedly went on a biting spree and attacked more than 80 people in Bihar’s Arrah, officials said on Friday.

According to locals, more than 80 people reached the district hospital in Arrah with dog bite cases. Locals alleged that all of them were attacked by the same dog.

“Around 80 people have come to the district hospital in Arrah with cases of dog bites. Among the patients, 10-12 are children. First aid is given to the patients, ” Dr Navneet Kumar Chaudhary, a doctor at the hospital said.

The stray dog was allegedly beaten to death after the matter came to light. “Locals in the Dudh Katora locality of the city beat up the dog to death with sticks and rods on Thursday night,” said sources.

“The Rabies-infected dog had created terror in different localities of Arrah city,” locals claimed.

According to officials, a team from the local civic body was sent to catch the dog.

“Before the team could reach, around 12 o’clock in the night, locals beat the dog to death,” District Officer Rajkumar said.

About 110 to 120 people in all these localities, including children, old men and women, were bitten and injured. Some were seriously injured and admitted to hospital.

After several patients started arriving at Ara Sadar Hospital, the health administration was also alerted.

“Around 86 people were given rabies injections in Ara Sadar Hospital on Thursday,” said officials.

Kaushal Dubey, the manager of the Arrah Sadar Hospital, said, “Despite the fact that it was a holiday in view of Republic Day, yet on the orders of the District Officer, the camp was opened in the Sadar Hospital premises.”

“It was found that 86 people have been given rabies injections. This camp will continue tomorrow as well. Those who are left can come tomorrow and take the injection,” he added.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

‘A very sorry state of affairs’: Delhi HC directs AAP government to pay unpaid salaries of Maharshi Valmiki Hospital workers by February 8

OpIndia Staff
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‘A very sorry state of affairs’: Delhi HC directs AAP government to pay unpaid salaries of Maharshi Valmiki Hospital workers by February 8

The Delhi High Court recently ordered the Delhi government to make sure that the employees of Maharishi Valmiki Hospital receive their wages by February 8 after observing the ‘sorry state of affairs’.

A single judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli directed the AAP government to clear the salaries of the hospital workers in an interim order while hearing a plea filed by nine men, working as nursing orderlies at the Delhi government-run Maharishi Valmiki Hospital. The petitioners informed the court in their plea that they have not been paid wages since April 12 last year.

The workmen’s current petitions “depict a very sorry state of affairs, where they have not been paid any wages since April 12, 2022, only due to the files moving back and forth between two departments of the Govt. of NCT of Delhi,” the High Court stated in its order dated January 24.

The workers’ counsel asserted that they were forced to move to the High Court since the Labour Court had “adjourned the matter at the hospital’s repeated requests” instead of ordering the hospital to pay their wages.

When Justice Palli scheduled the case for hearing on February 8, she issued a warning that the Delhi Government’s secretary of finance “will remain present in court” if the workers’ wages were not paid by the next hearing date.

Chhattisgarh: 1100 Christian converts welcomed back to Hinduism in ‘ghar wapsi’ event, State BJP Sec washes their feet with Gangajal

OpIndia Staff
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Chhattisgarh: 1100 Christian converts welcomed back to Hinduism in ‘ghar wapsi’ event, State BJP Sec washes their feet with Gangajal

On Tuesday, Chhattisgarh BJP’s state Secretary Prabal Pratap Singh Judev performed ‘ghar wapsi’ of around 1100 people and brought them back to Sanatan Dharma by washing their feet with the holy Gangajal. The incident happened in Basna region of the state where around 1100 Christians (believed to be converted) returned to Hinduism on January 24.

According to Judev, the people who participated in the Ghar Wapsi were quoted saying that they had lost their way and had become victims of conversion years back. Around 1100 people from 325 families noted that they have realized their mistake and intended to embrace Hinduism again. The oath to embrace Hinduism was administered by Kathavachak Pandit Himanshu Krishna Maharaj.

The video of the incident was shared by Chhattisgarh BJP’s state Secretary Prabal Pratap Singh Judev in which he could be seen washing the feet of around 1100 people with Gangajal and welcoming them back to Hinduism. “Honored to perform Ghar wapsi of 1100 folks back to Sanatan dharma in Basna (Chhattisgarh). There is pure beauty in our roots. Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors. Embrace it! Welcome home,” he tweeted.

“It is a bigger and more important task to save Hindus and stop them from converting to other faiths. Whenever Hindus have been divided, the Hindu population has declined. Let us respect our ancestors. Hindutva is a symbol of nationalism, so let us join hands to create a Hindu Rashtra”, he added.

Judev has been conducting such ‘ghar wapsi’ campaigns across the state. He brought back 1,250 people in the Mahasamund district to Hinduism in March of last year. Also in the year 2021, he conducted a ‘ghar wapsi’ campaign to revert around 400 families to Hinduism.

Earlier in an exclusive interview with OpIndia, Judev had said that conversion takes place massively in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh. “Christian missionaries continue to convert gullible poor Hindu people by luring them, making deals in the name of service, insulting our Hindu gods and goddesses. They brainwash Hindus,” he said.

He stated that these missionaries took advantage of the coronavirus epidemic and converted people on a massively large scale. He also alleged that conversion mostly happens in Congress-ruled states as the party somehow helps these missionaries in accomplishing their motive. “They are running it like an industry for which the funds are coming from Italy. Their policy is clear. Promote appeasement. Let the conversion happen. Convert converts into vote bank and rule. This is the reason for the misery of the Hindus in the entire country wherever Congress ruled,” he had said.

Bihar: Claims of Pakistani flag hoisted on one Ashfaq’s house in Purnia stirs outrage; police say it was a religious flag

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: Claims of Pakistani flag hoisted on one Ashfaq’s house in Purnia stirs outrage; police say it was a religious flag

On Thursday, a green-coloured ensign hoisted on the rooftop of a house in the Madhubani Sipahi Tola area in Purnea, Bihar, on the occasion of the 74th Republic Day stirred outrage after locals alleged it to be Pakistan’s flag.

Several news reports claimed that a Pakistani flag was raised at a house in Purnia on the occasion of India’s 74th Republic Day.

According to the CNN news18 report, the flag was hoisted on the house of Muslim people identified as Mohammed Ashfaq and Rihana Parveen. When asked, the duo said the flag was hoisted by one of their relatives, Mubarakdeen Hussain, and his son. The police took cognizance of the event and reached the spot for investigation.

The police were informed by local residents who strongly opposed the incident. “We reached the suspect’s house after getting the information. The flag has been removed. The matter has been discussed with SDO Purnea. Appropriate action will be taken,” said Pawan Chowdhary, SHO Madhubani.

The police reportedly questioned Mubarakdeen Hussain, who said that his family didn’t know it was a Pakistani flag and hoisted it without their knowledge. The flag was taken down after the police ordered the family to do so and launched an investigation into the matter. However, no arrests have been made in the case.

Police claims it was a religious flag and not Pakistani flag

However, according to the police, the flag was not Pakistan’s flag but a religious flag. SP Aamir Jawaid rubbished the news reports saying that no such flag was hoisted as reported by several news media. The police further added that the religious flag was hoisted at a house which is located adjacent to the local mosque.

“A team was dispatched to the village after receiving the information, but upon investigation, it was determined that the flag in question was a religious flag that had been placed there about a month ago. We are currently working to identify those who spread the rumours,” the SDPO informed TOI.

Islamic flag hoisted in a madarsa on Republic Day

Earlier, a similar incident was reported from Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh where an Islamic flag was hoisted in a madarsa on the occasion of the 74th Republic Day. The accused persons said that hoisting the tricolour and celebrating national festivals was not allowed in Islam. The police arrested Hafiz Mohammad Sohraab and Mohammad Tafsil Tabrez Mijammudin Rizwan in the case.

After claiming that Delhi LG mocked democracy by refusing to meet all AAP MLAs, Delhi CM Kejriwal refuses to attend the meeting citing his Punjab visit

OpIndia Staff
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After claiming that Delhi LG mocked democracy by refusing to meet all AAP MLAs, Delhi CM Kejriwal refuses to attend the meeting citing his Punjab visit

After claiming that Delhi LG VK Saxena mocked democracy by refusing to meet, CM Arvind Kejriwal has now refused to attend the meeting. The CM has asked the LG to reschedule the meeting due to his ‘commitments in Punjab’.

On Thursday, January 26, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal asked Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to postpone their meeting scheduled for Friday. Citing his Punjab visit, CM Kejriwal said he can’t attend the meeting with LG Saxena at Raj Niwas at 4 pm. 

As per an official statement from the Chief Minister’s office, CM Kejriwal asked LG Saxena to reschedule their meeting as he will be in Punjab on Friday. “Thank you, LG Sahab. I am going to Punjab tomorrow. We are requesting you to give us time for some other day,” an official statement read.

This comes after Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena invited CM Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet ministers along with any of the 10 MLAs for a weekly meeting at 4 PM on Friday at Raj Niwas. The Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor hold a weekly meeting every Friday at 4 pm. But this week, the LG also invited the cabinet ministers of the Delhi government and 10 MLAs for the meeting. The LG Secretariat also asked the CM to send the list of legislators who would accompany him. 

The LG invited the ministers and MLAs after the Delhi CM had demanded to meet him along with all his MLAs earlier this month. On January 16, CM Arvind Kejriwal along with his MLAs had marched from Delhi Assembly to Raj Niwas demanding to meet the LG. 

LG Saxena had initially agreed to meet the protesting CM, however, he had also said that it will not be possible for him to host 70-80 MLAs at such short notice. After that, the Delhi CM sought time from the LG to for the meeting along with MLAs on January 21. When the LG said the meeting on 21 January was also not possible, the CM sought an appointment at any other convenient date. Accordingly, the LG had invited CM with cabinet ministers and any of the 10 MLAs to meet him on 27 January. But now the Delhi CM wants to reschedule the meeting.

It is notable that Arvind Kejriwal will be joining Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in inaugurating 400 Mohalla Clinics in Amritsar. 

‘Delhi LG mocked democracy by refusing to meet us…’

When the LG refused to meet all the MLAs on January 16, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused LG Saxena of “mocking democracy”. 

AAP’s Atishi Marlena had said, “Delhi’s elected Chief Minister and MLAs had demanded to meet the ‘unelected’ Centrally nominated LG, but it is a matter of extreme shame that the LG Saxena declined to give time to the elected representatives. By refusing to meet with the Chief Minister and MLAs who the public has repeatedly elected to office, the LG is blatantly mocking democracy.”

CM Kejriwal and LG Saxena have been at loggerheads as the AAP has alleged that Saxena had twice rejected the Delhi government’s proposal to send Delhi school teachers to Finland for training. 

The Lieutenant Governor has however, denied scrapping the Delhi government plan, and said, “Any statement, on the contrary, is deliberately misleading and mischievously motivated. The government has been advised to evaluate the proposal in totality and record the cost-benefit analysis in terms of impact on quality of education being provided to students, to assess the effectiveness of various foreign training programmes for teachers in the past.” 

This, however, is not the first time that Kejriwal has complained about the Delhi LG allegedly refusing to meet him. Earlier this month, Kejriwal had claimed that LG was not giving him an appointment to meet. LG office had back then dismissed Kejriwal’s allegations saying that the Delhi CM was doing ‘theatrics’. 

He hadn’t had time for a meeting in the past three months, but the day after the LG sends a letter to reschedule the meeting, he wants to perform theatrics and drama. LG has prior meetings and plans. “He cannot schedule a meeting as soon as the CM requests and demands it,” an official had stated.

Notably, Lieutenant Governor Saxena had then invited Kejriwal for a meeting to discuss governance issues in Delhi. 

According to the Delhi LG, the chief minister met with him on a regular basis until October 2022. He later admitted that he was unable to do so as he was occupied with the assembly and municipal elections.

Apparently, the mockery of democracy as claimed by the Aam Aadmi Party happens only when LG Saxena does not meet the Delhi CM, however, it is a matter of ‘commitment’ when Arvind Kejriwal is unable to meet the LG owing to his electoral and other commitments. 

Primary teacher Hasmuddin refuses to sing National Anthem and offer flowers to Maa Saraswati, Bharat Mata, says it’s against Islam: Video viral

OpIndia Staff
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Primary teacher Hasmuddin refuses to sing National Anthem and offer flowers to Maa Saraswati, Bharat Mata, says it’s against Islam: Video viral

On Thursday, January 26, a video went viral wherein a Muslim teacher at a primary school in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh was seen refusing to sing the national anthem and offer floral tributes to pictures of Bharat Mata and Goddess Saraswati. The incident occurred during the Republic Day and Saraswati Puja celebrations at a school in the Lakhtoi village, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Iglas police station in Aligarh.

Hasmuddin reportedly told other teachers that his religion enables him to bow his head only before Allah and that he would not sing paeans to any other entity. In the video doing the rounds on social media, other teachers can be seen trying to persuade Hasmuddin to follow the rituals.

Hasmuddin initially excuses himself by claiming to be ill, but when others push him, he admits that it is against his religion.

Fellow teachers in the video explained to Hasmuddin how his conduct was unbecoming for a teacher. They explained to him how they also attend Muslim-related programmes and pay respect, to which Hasmuddin responded that this is not taught in his religion. “We do not submit to anyone. We merely submit to Allah,” Hasmuddin responded. The persons present there, then tell Hasmuddin that it is in accordance with the constitution. “When you have come here, at least offer flowers to Mother India,” the other academics encouraged Hasmuddin, who does so after much persuading.

According to the school’s headmaster, Rajendra Kumar, Hasamuddin was sitting on one side even during the flag hoisting. When several people asked him to offer flowers, he refused, claiming he had a stomach ache. He later offered flowers after much coaxing.

After the video went viral, officials from the Police Department and the Basic Education Department launched a probe into the matter. “The Block Education Officer has been alerted about the viral video,” said Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Satyendra Singh, adding that it has been revealed that a teacher named Hasmuddin has barred students from singing the national anthem or offering flowers to the Pictures of Goddess Saraswati and Bharat Mata. “This is being confirmed. If the information is found to be true, action will be taken against him,” Singh added.

Meanwhile, defending his actions, Hasmudding said, “I was feeling ill. I was unwell for the past three days and my nose was bleeding. That’s why I sat there after taking my medication. My stomach was hurting. That’s why, when Master Sahib arrived, I told him that I have stomach pain.”

He further justified, “when some people surround someone, he/she starts feeling pressurised and is forced to say something like this.” He stated that he has no objection to offering flowers to Maa Saraswati’s idol and that he can do it later also.

‘Is Pfizer working to make Covid more dangerous so it can sell more vaccines?’ US Senator sends letter to Pfizer CEO Bourla after Project Veritas sting

OpIndia Staff
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‘Is Pfizer working to make Covid more dangerous so it can sell more vaccines?’ US Senator sends letter to Pfizer CEO Bourla after Project Veritas sting

Hours after conservative group ‘Project Veritas’ published a sting operation wherein Pfizer director Jordan Walker was heard claiming that the pharmaceutical company was “mutating” the Covid-19 virus strains, US Senator (Florida) Marco Rubio wrote a stinging letter to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

In a letter dated Thursday (January 26), Rubio said, “An investigative report suggests that Pfizer may be conducting gain-of-function research, which it dubs “directed evolution” research to mutate the SARS-CoV-2 virus to create additional, more potent variants and vaccines to combat future variants.”

“This type of research, similar to gain-of-function research, has long been controversial, and is suspected to be the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he pointed out.

Senator Marco Rubio said, “Whether it’s gain of function research, or selected structure mutations through directed evolution, as Mr Walker claimed would occur, any effort to make a virus more transmittable and deadlier is careless and dangerous,”

“Further, Mr Walker stated that Pfizer is willing to engage in this dangerous research because COVID and its variants are ‘a cash cow’ for the company and regulators will go easy on their efforts because a significant percentage of government officials aim to work for Pfizer and other biopharmaceutical companies and do not want to compromise their future job prospects,” he questioned.

US Senator quizzes Pfizer CEO

In a bid to hold Pfizer accountable for its actions and promote transparency, Rubio asked 6 critical questions to the pharmaceutical company. They are as follows:

1. What efforts is Pfizer currently, or planning to, engage in to mutate the SARS-CoV-2 virus? 
 
2. Does Pfizer intend to continue mutating the SARS-CoV-2 virus through gain-of-function, or directed evolution research, with the purpose of creating new vaccines before the variant is present in the greater population? 
 
3. Has Pfizer engaged with federal officials regarding their plans to oversee this research? Please provide the names and agencies for these individuals. 
 
4. What steps has Pfizer taken to ensure the mutated virus does not leak from the laboratory and infect the greater population? 
 
5. Has Pfizer engaged with other biopharmaceutical companies to collaborate on this research effort? Please list the entities that you have been in contact with. 
 
6. Will you commit to halting any future research that mutates the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine as substantial evidence has indicated that similar dangerous research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology very likely led to the initial emergence and global spread of the virus?

Jordan Walker and ‘Project Veritas’ sting operation

‘Project Veritas’, a conservative group known for undercover stories, had set up a date with Pfizer Director Jordan Walker and quizzed him about the vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company. The video was released on January 26, 2023.

Without realising that he was being recorded the whole time, Jordan Walker made damming revelations about the work undertaken by Pfizer and the lack of ethical checks and balances within the company.

He casually said that Pfizer was considering mutating the Covid-19 virus to develop a new version of the vaccines. “You have to be very controlled to make sure that this virus that you mutate doesn’t create something that just goes everywhere,” the Pfizer Director said.

He also accepted that the pandemic has been a ‘cash cow’ for Pfizer and will continue to remain so in days to come. “Yeah, it would be perfect,” Walker said on the idea of the pharma company making money from new Covid-19 vaccines.

Jordan Walker also said that Pfizer has been a ‘revolving door’ for government employees who are in charge of reviewing drugs and how they later join the same pharma company.

“Because if the regulators who review our drugs, you know that once they stop being a regulator, they want to go work for the company…they are not going to be harsh on the company where they’re getting their job,” he added.

It is notable here that over the recent months, there have been a significant amount of details that indicate towards the possibility that the Covid-19 pandemic was a result of a ‘lab leak’ from the BSL4 research facility at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, where a number of scientists, funded by USA’s Ecohealth Alliance, were engaged in ‘gain of function’ research of the SARS CoV-2 virus.

India issues notice to Pakistan for modification of Indus Water Treaty, asks to come for negotiations within 90 days

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India issues notice to Pakistan for modification of Indus Water Treaty, asks to come for negotiations within 90 days

India has issued notice to Pakistan for modification of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of September 1960 after Islamabad’s actions adversely impinged the provisions of the treaty, according to sources.

The notice was conveyed on January 25 through respective Commissioners for Indus Waters as per Article XII (3) of the IWT. The objective of the notice for modification, according to sources, is to provide Pakistan with an opportunity to enter into intergovernmental negotiations within 90 days to rectify the material breach of the IWT. This process would also update IWT to incorporate the lessons learned over the last 62 years.

India has always been a responsible partner in implementing the IWT. Pakistan’s actions, however, have encroached on the provisions of IWT and their implementation and forced India to issue an appropriate notice for modification of IWT, sources said.

In 2015, Pakistan requested for the appointment of a Neutral Expert to examine its technical objections to India’s Kishenganga and Ratle Hydro Electric Projects (HEPs). In 2016, Pakistan unilaterally retracted this request and proposed that a Court of Arbitration adjudicate its objections.

According to sources, this action by Pakistan is a breach of the graded mechanism of dispute settlement envisaged by Article IX of IWT. India thus made a separate request for the matter to be referred to a Neutral Expert.

The initiation of two simultaneous processes on the same questions and the potential of their inconsistent or contradictory outcomes creates an unprecedented and legally untenable situation, which risks endangering IWT itself. The World Bank acknowledged this itself in 2016, and took a decision to “pause” the initiation of two parallel processes and requested India and Pakistan to seek an amicable way out, sources say.

Pakistan, despite repeated efforts by India to find a mutually agreeable way forward, has refused to discuss the issue during the five meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission from 2017 to 2022.

The World Bank at Pakistan’s continued insistence initiated actions on both the Neutral Expert and Court of Arbitration processes. Such parallel consideration of the same issues is not covered under any provision of IWT.

The World Bank in October 2022, made appointments in two separate processes requested by India and Pakistan in relation to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric power plants.

It appointed a chairman of the Court of Arbitration and a neutral expert “in line with its responsibilities” under the Indus Waters Treaty.

A World Bank release said that the two countries disagree over whether the technical design features of the two hydroelectric plants contravene the Treaty.

It said Pakistan asked the World Bank to facilitate the establishment of a Court of Arbitration to consider its concerns about the designs of the two hydroelectric power projects, while India asked for the appointment of a Neutral Expert to consider similar concerns over the two projects.

Michel Lino was appointed as the Neutral Expert and Sean Murphy was appointed as Chairman of the Court of Arbitration. They will carry out their duties in their individual capacity as subject matter experts and independently of any other appointments they may currently hold, the release said. 

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Pfizer director assaults journalist after being caught on camera saying the Pharma giant is working on ‘mutating Covid-19 virus’. Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Pfizer director assaults journalist after being caught on camera saying the Pharma giant is working on ‘mutating Covid-19 virus’. Here is what happened

Jordan Walker, the Director of Research & Development Strategic Operations at Pfizer, was seen assaulting a journalist on camera after being caught on camera saying that the pharma giant is working on “mutating” the Covid-19 virus strains for the development of new vaccines.

‘Project Veritas’, a conservative group known for undercover stories, had set up a date with the Pfizer Director and quizzed him about the vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company. The video was released on January 26, 2023.

Without realising that he was being recorded the whole time, Jordan Walker made damming revelations about the work undertaken by Pfizer and the lack of ethical checks and balances within the company.

Soon after the ‘date’ with an undercover journalist, the Pfizer Director was confronted by the founder of Project Veritas, James O’ Keefe. “Why does Pfizer want to hide from the public that they are mutating the Covid viruses?” Keefe had asked.

Jordan Walker first went on a hysterical rant, and then tried to destroy the iPad belonging to the group. He also threw punches at a journalist and tried to run away from the restaurant where he was being videotaped.

In his defence, the Pfizer director claimed, “I was trying to impress a person on a date by lying.” He later cried foul and alleged, “Why are you doing this to someone who is just working at a company to literally help the public? You cannot record people like that.”

The Background of the Controversy

On January 26, Project Veritas released the sting operation, conducted on Jordan Walker, on social media. On being asked about Pfizer’s plans to make the Covid-19 vaccine more potent, Jordan Walker said, “Oh actually we had a meeting about that today. So there’s a lot. Ugh, I don’t know if I should be saying this.”

“We are exploring like – You know how the virus keeps mutating? Well, one of the things we are exploring is like, why don’t we just mutate it ourselves so we could create preemptively develop new vaccines, right? So, we have to do that,” he was heard as saying.

“If we’re gonna do that though, there’s a risk of like, as you could imagine no one wants to be having a pharma company mutating f**king viruses, he added.” Jordan Walker casually said that Pfizer was considering mutating the Covid-19 virus to develop a new version of the vaccines.

The undercover ‘Project Veritas’ journalist then pressed him about the pharmaceutical company’s plan about mutating the virus. “Well, that is not what we say to the public…”Walker confessed.

“Don’t tell anyone. Promise you won’t tell anyone. The way it would work is that we put the virus in monkeys, and we successively cause them to keep infecting each other, and we collect samples from them,” he added.

“You have to be very controlled to make sure that this virus that you mutate doesn’t create something that just goes everywhere. Which, I suspect, is the way that the virus started in Wuhan, to be honest. It makes no sense that this virus popped out of nowhere. It’s bullsh*t,” Jordan Walker lent credence to the ‘lab leak theory.’

On being asked whether it was similar to the gain-of-function research, the Pfizer Director said, “It is definitely not gain-of-function…Directed evolution is a little different. You’re not supposed to do Gain-of-Function research with viruses. Regularly not.”

“We can do these selected structure mutations to make them more potent.” There is research ongoing about that. I don’t know how that is going to work. There better not be any more outbreaks because Jesus Christ,” he emphasised.

Jordan Walker added, “From what I have heard they are optimising it, but they’re going slow because everyone is very cautious — obviously, they don’t want to accelerate it too much. I think they are also just trying to do it as an exploratory thing because you obviously don’t want to advertise that you are figuring out future mutations.”

He also accepted that the pandemic has been a cash cow for Pfizer and will continue to remain so in days to come. “Yeah, it would be perfect,” he said on the idea of the pharma company making money from new Covid-19 vaccines.

Jordan Walker also said that Pfizer has been a revolving door for government employees who are in charge of reviewing drugs and how they later join the same pharma companies.

“Because if the regulators who review our drugs, you know that once they stop being a regulator, they want to go work for the company…they are not going to be harsh on the company where they’re getting their job,” he confessed.

“It is pretty good for the industry to be honest, it’s bad for everyone else in America,” he further added. Soon after, the founder of Project Veritas released internal documents that showed that Jordan Walker indeed worked as Pfizer Director, Research & Development Strategic Operations.

The contentious video has been viewed over 2.6 crores (26 million) times on Twitter. While the British newspaper, Daily Mail, initially covered the story, they later deleted it from their site.

Questions on Pfizer vaccine

It is notable here that the expensive vaccine for Covid-19 developed by Pfizer has been the government-mandated vaccine in the USA and many other nations. A tremendous amount of lobbying was done by Pfizer through multiple channels to get India to approve their vaccine. A number of politicians, self-proclaimed journalists and ‘experts’ had tried to proclaim the Pfizer vaccine as ‘the best’ and attempted to pressurize the Indian government into importing it. However, the Indian government had preferred ‘made in India’ vaccines over Pfizer and Moderna, because Pfizer had refused to conduct trials locally and had demanded immunity from the legal process in case of adverse effects.

BuzzFeed decides to use OpenAI for generating content, employees ask if they will lose jobs

OpIndia Staff
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BuzzFeed decides to use OpenAI for generating content, employees ask if they will lose jobs

On Thursday, digital media house BuzzFeed announced that it would work with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to enhance its quizzes and tailor some content for its audiences. With this move, BuzzFeed becomes the latest addition to digital publishers like CNET turning to AI to create or enhance its content, this however, has also raised concerns among the employees if they would be losing their jobs with the company intending to rely on AI.

In a memo to employees, Jonah Peretti, the company’s co-founder and chief executive stated that this year, artificial intelligence will play a major role in BuzzFeed’s editorial and business operations.

Peretti has reportedly said that OpenAI’s software will be used for the creation of quizzes to produce individual results. While Peretti expects AI to support the creative process and enhance the company’s content, with humans providing ideas, “inspired prompts” and “cultural currency”, the employees have raised concerns over the implications of this move to rely on AI after receiving the memo on Thursday.

As per a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, one of the employees inquired about Peretti’s plans for countering “inevitable legal issues” involving the company’s visual work produced by illustrators, photographers, and art directors as well as content covered by U.S. copyright.

Responding to this on Slack, CEO Peretti replied, “We’ve experimented with AI-generative images in the past, and we recognize these concerns and take them seriously,” a BuzzFeed spokeswoman told WSJ.

Many employees also voiced concerns about fact-checking AI-generated content and questioned whether the use of AI technology would result in a decrease in the number of employees. In response, Peretti wrote that the tools are an opportunity to make full-time employees more productive and creative, not a strategy for workforce reduction.

Following the announcement, BuzzFeed’s stocks skyrocketed by 150% on Thursday to more than $2 a share. 

About ChatGPT

San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company OpenAI Inc created ChatGPT. It is a non-profit parent company of the for-profit OpenAI LP. The company is best known for DALL-E, a deep-learning model for generating images from text-based instructions. Microsoft is a partner and investor in the company. OpenAI and Microsoft together have developed the Azure AI Platform. 

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