The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan has instructed the Taliban and the Pakistani forces who have joined them to destroy symbols of Indian goodwill in Afghanistan, ANI has reported. According to intel inputs, around 10,000 Pakistanis have entered Afghanistan to assist the Islamic terrorist’s group in claiming the country.
According to an ANI report, Taliban and Pakistani fighters have been instructed by the ISI to target Indian-built assets & remove any signs of Indian goodwill work in the war-torn #Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/GNJq6vVgA9
Intel inputs suggest that they have been specifically instructed to target Indian assets and gestures of goodwill by the Indian Government. India has invested $3 billion in the reconstruction efforts in the country over the past couple of decades that include the Afghan Parliament and the 218-km road between Delaram and Zaranj Salma Dam.
Only recently, an Indian photojournalist with Reuters was killed by the Taliban during clashes with Afghan forces. The Afghan Government had suggested earlier that they may seek military assistance from India in the near future.
“Should we not get to a stage in the peace process with the Taliban, then maybe a time (will come) where we would be seeking India’s military assistance, more military assistance in the years ahead,” Farid Mamundzay, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India had said. However, the Afghan envoy has clarified that the war-torn country is not seeking Indian troops on its soil.
“We are not seeking India’s assistance with sending troops to Afghanistan. Their footprint in Afghanistan to fight our war would not be needed at this stage,” he said. The envoy added that the Afghan Air Force could benefit from Indian assistance, including in matters like pilot training—which he said India was “naturally” a place it would want involvement from.
Two days after the daughter of Afghan ambassador Najibullah Alikhil was abducted in Pakistan, a large group of Afghans protested outside the Pakistan embassy in Kabul.
The demonstrators raised slogans against the Pakistani military-backed establishment for failing to protect Silsila Alikhil, who was tortured for several hours in the custody of unknown individuals. WION journalist Sidhant Sibal shared the visuals of the protest on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
On Sunday (July 18), a case of kidnapping was lodged at the Koshar police station in Islamabad in connection to the abduction of Silsila Alikhil. Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the law enforcement agencies, Islamabad police and Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed to investigate the abduction case within 48 hours. He also pleaded with all the agencies to work in tandem with the federal police in catching the accused.
While speaking about the matter, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said, “From the market, she took a taxi to Khadda Market for shopping. We were able to know about this with the help of the Safe City Cameras.” He claimed that Alikhil took a taxi to Rawalpindi shopping mall. “The only gap [in the investigation] that we are facing is that how was she able to arrive at Daman-e-Koh from Rawalpindi,” he added. Rasheed further claimed, “We will present the entire, true picture in front of the world. After PM Khan’s ‘absolutely not’ stance received immense popularity both in Pakistan and abroad, India is not letting go of any opportunity to increase its propaganda against Pakistan.”
Abduction of the daughter of the Afghan Ambassador
Silsila Alikhil, the daughter of the Afghan ambassador in Pakistan Najibullah Alikhil, was abducted on 16th July in Islamabad but was released after several hours. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, it said that Silsila Alikhil was tortured while in captivity. She was abducted by several unknown individuals from Jinnah Super in Islamabad on Friday. After being tortured at some unknown location, she was released near Tehzeeb Bakery in the Blue Area of Islamabad.
According to the medical examination report, Silsila Alikhil had pain and swelling at wrist joints and hands. There were rope marks on the wrist joints as well. She also had similar pain and rope marks on her legs and ankle joints. The woman also had swelling around her eyes, and she was found vomiting and bleeding from the ENT region.
On Saturday (July 17) night, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav shared a misleading image to suggest that a police officer was misbehaving and assaulting a woman in the Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh. Even though the claims of Yadav were proved to be false, the media continues to spread the lies.
He wrote, “Some police officials, who are working on the behest of the BJP, are tarnishing the image of the Uttar Pradesh police. Under the rule of the BJP, there is no dearth of lawlessness. Highly condemnable.” The image shared by Akhilesh Yadav gave the impression that a cop was sitting atop a woman and assaulting her.
Screengrab of the tweet by Akhilesh Yadav
Although the Kanpur Dehat police issued a written and video statement debunking the misleading nature of his tweet, mainstream media portals continued to amplify the lies of Akhilesh Yadav. Prominent leftist news portal NDTV published an article titled, “UP: Video of a Police Inspector sitting on a woman goes viral, Akhilesh Yadav hits back” on the issue. Throughout the article, NDTV subtly cast aspersions on the integrity of the police. It was only towards the end that the police clarification was added while the headline conveyed the falsehoods.
Screengrab of the NDTV article
A similar attempt was made by the Indian Express to give credence to the misleading claims of the Samajwadi party leader. It primarily focused on the statement of the woman, who was seen pulling the cop by the collar, and less on putting forth the obvious facts of the case.
Screengrab of the Indian Express article
Hindustan Times also pulled off a similar propaganda agenda.
Screengrab of the HT report
The Truth behind the incident
According to the Kanpur Dehat police, the Station-in-charge (Bhognipur police station) Mahendra Patel had gone to the Durgadaspur village to capture one Shivam Yadav. He had reportedly threatened a candidate in Panchayat elections. At that time, the wife and mother of the accused intervened to protect Yadav from arrest. Arti Yadav, the wife of the accused, pulled Mahendra Patel by the collar to the ground.
A Twitter user (@isinghDeepanshu) had tweeted an 8-second video of the incident, which shows the woman pulling the police officer by his neck and not the other way around.
A similar video was also shared by the Official Twitter handle of Kanpur Dehat police. In another video, the woman was seen trying to strip off her blouse in a bid to implicate the police official. A man was also seen provoking the cop, while he stood his ground in a non-aggressive manner. From the videos, it appeared that the police officer was the victim and not the aggressor as claimed by the Samajwadi party leader.
From “controlled explosion” to “targeted testing,” the excuses for the Kerala government are many. And yet, despite all the literacy and HDI in the world, Covid cases are surging in Kerala. It is currently the only state in the country where active cases are still increasing. With a population of just 3 crore people, Kerala leads in daily new Covid cases, contributing as much as 33% of the daily national total. Evidently, the virus does not respect liberal privilege.
On top of this, the Kerala government has now decided to relax Covid norms for three days during Bakr-Eid. How could this be? Just two or three days ago, mainstream media was holding passionate debates calling for a stop to Kanwar Yatra in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. How can you let religious tradition prevail over common sense? Does human life not matter to you?
The outrage paid off. The Supreme Court took suo moto cognizance of the matter. The state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were shamed and panicked into doing the “sensible” thing. No Kanwar Yatra this year.
Okay, but what about Kerala? How can the state government lift lockdown for Bakr-Eid, that too when the state is number one in daily covid cases? How can they be so brazen about this? Frustrated social media users simply cannot make sense of the blatant double standard.
Kerala easing restrictions on Eid
There are two explanations being offered, but in my view, both are wrong. The first of these accuses one particular community of being far too consumed by religious fundamentalism. The second explanation points the finger at moral bankruptcy of India’s secular establishment. The governments and the Lords will take all possible liberties with Hindu traditions, but they dare not touch Muslim festivals. Sometimes it is vote bank politics, sometimes hypocrisy and just plain fear.
But that is too superficial. Consider this instead.
Pakistan imposes lockdown for Eid
That is from May this year, shortly before Eid-ul-Fitr. And again, before Bakr-Eid, Pakistan has imposed heavy restrictions on people traveling during the holidays.
Lockdown ahead of Eid
Clearly, Pakistan is taking no chances. They are being eminently sensible. They understand the risks. And they are doing what is needed to protect lives. And common people in Pakistan seem to be going along with it just fine.
You see that? No use pointing fingers at a particular community. In fact, Saudi Arabia has banned all foreign pilgrims from Hajj this year. Only citizens and residents will be allowed to make the journey, that too only if they are fully vaccinated, with a cap set at 60,000.
The Saudis don’t want to take any risks. Nor does Pakistan. Then, why is Kerala stepping out of line?
Because, in my view, Kerala is doing something different. The government there is sending a message, to people in Kerala and around the world. This is not about letting people enjoy a religious festival. The government of Pinarayi Vijayan and his son in law is sending a message to “non-believers” in Kerala that they are second class citizens.
If Uttar Pradesh can cancel Kanwar Yatra, why can’t there be a lockdown in Kerala during Bakr-Eid? The Kerala government is not worried about people asking this question. They want people to ask this question and internalize the answer. Because one is a pagan festival while the other is not. The Kerala government wants the idol worshipers to realize this, accept their second class status and bow down to those of the true faith.
They are not ashamed of the double standard. They are proud of it. And they revel in it. Accusing them of double standards is like saying the rulers who imposed Jaziya tax had a double standard. The purpose of the tax was to humiliate the non-believer, not money.
Does Pakistan or Saudi Arabia need to rub it in the faces of “non-believers?” No, because the non-believers in those countries have fully accepted their second class status. There is no point in making a show of it again, especially in times of the pandemic.
But in Kerala, the question is still open. It seems the government of Pinarayi Vijayan and his son in law want to make it clear to the non-believers in the state that they are second class citizens. They are taking a huge risk by lifting Covid restrictions and they know that. But for the ruling Communists, it’s a risk worth taking.
George Soros is a Hungarian-American businessman and a self-proclaimed philanthropist who had vowed to ‘fight nationalists’ and conservative governments worldwide, which he often refers to as ‘authoritarian governments’. During the course of his life, if there is one thing George Soros has hated the most, it is India and its nationalist government led by Prime Minister Modi.
Through his Open Society Foundation, which started its operations in India first in 1999 by offering scholarships and fellowships to pursue studies and research at Indian institutions, Soros has made great strides in creating disorder within India. In the name of running philanthropic activities, the left-wing international organisation led by Soros has begun to spread its tentacles across the country by his active support to anti-India elements operating inside India.
In the last few decades, George Soros has time and again has shown his desperation to wage war against the nationalist government in India through various networks funded by him comprising of NGOs, media, intelligentsia, etc.
Regarding his philanthropy work, Soros’s OSF grasped a stronghold in India during the Obama regime. Ever since its entry into India, OSF has tried to interlope in the internal affairs of the nation through the vast and interconnected network of organisations funded by George Soros. These organisations play a vital role in manipulating the original narrative and take the help of the judiciary and media to hinder the national interest.
In 2008, the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) had joined hands with Omidyar Network, Indian School of Business (ISB) and Google.org to launch their 17 million SONG fund to boost invetment. Together with other networks, Soros has provided extensive grants to media running into millions to manipulate political narratives.
Here are some of the intellectuals, journalists and NGOs operating in India that have been beneficiaries of George Soros’s “philanthropic funds”:
George Soros and his network of Intellectuals, Journalists and NGOs:
Through his network of NGOs, George Soros has cultivated a class of intellectuals who work resolutely towards opposing the Indian state, especially the nationalist government led by PM Narendra Modi. It all started in 1995 when George Soros contributed the initial seed fund to set up the Media Development Investment Fund.
The objective of the Soros-funded not-for-profit investment fund was to invest in ‘independent media’ in challenging countries with a history of media oppression. Currently, the Indian beneficiaries listed on the MDIF site are the far-left website Scroll and another website named Graam Vaani.
Besides, the Open Society Foundation also funds the International Committee of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), an international organisation with journalist affiliates worldwide, including India.
Some of the Indian journalists that are members of ICIJ are Ritu Sarin, Shyamlal Yadav and P Vaidyanathan Iyer of the Indian Express, Rakesh Kalshian – a former IANS editor who now works for German Channel Deutsche Welle (DW), Murali Krishnan and Yusuf Jameel of the Asian Age. ICIJ also has Syed Nazakat in its ranks, the founder and editor-in-chief of DataLEADS.
Besides funding media, the Open Society Foundation has also been a benefactor to left-leaning intellectuals who have constantly put out fake narratives against the current government. There are also some prominent names with extensive links to George Soros, but it is extremely unlikely that these connections will surprise anyone. Some of the most prominent among them are Harsh Mander, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Indira Jaising and Amartya Sen.
For instance, Amartya Sen, along with George Soros, is part of the advisory council of NGO Namati (funded by OSF) that works for ‘environmental justice’ in India. Amartya Sen is not just a regular speaker at the OSF, but George Soros has made a documentary with Sen.
Together with George Soros himself, Sen sits on the Advisory Council of the NGO Namati mentioned earlier in the report. Amartya Sen, of course, has an ideological hatred against the current dispensation and has a long history of making a series of bizarre arguments in his efforts to oppose the Narendra Modi government.
Amartya Sen’s links with George Soros.
Another controversial individual who has done more harm to India than any other person in recent times is none other than Harsh Mander. Harsh Mander, known for his close ties with the first family of the Congress party, has been associated with Open Society Foundations.
Mander served as an Advisory Board member of the international grantmaking network founded by George Soros, Open Society Foundations. His role in instigating the Anti-Hindu Delhi riots, particularly the violence around the Jamia Millia Islamia campus in December 2019, has been under scrutiny for some time now. Ironically, he had later filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court seeking the arrest of BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Kapil Mishra for instigating violence. Other people have also noted this connection of Mander with Soros.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta is another individual who sits on the Board of Directors of Namati.
Soros also has links with Yogendra Yadav. Yadav, who, as a professor at the Centre for Study of Developing Societies in 2006, had presented a State of Democracy in South Asia (SDSA) study in front of Soros, who was visiting India for the first time, as well as Amartya Sen.
Besides, some other Indians have also been appointed as Open Society Fellows by George Soros in the past.
Author and journalist Basharat Peer, known for peddling pro-Pakistan narrative in Kashmir, has served as an Open Society Fellow from 2009 and 2010, which is considered a very influential post in the intellectual circles.
Journalist Chitrangada Choudhury, who has previously worked with The Indian Express and The Hindustan Times, has also been a Research Fellow at the CSDS. Since 2014, Choudhury is an Open Society Fellow.
Similarly, Shekhar Singh, who claims to be an RTI activist and former faculty at St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, as well as the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, also is a beneficiary of George Soros. Moreover, Singh is also a part of the Soros network due to his association as an Open Society Fellow.
Interestingly, there is also a link between George Soros and Shekhar Gupta of The Print. Shekhar Gupta enjoys a special relationship with Soros as he is the only Indian journalist to whom George Soros gave the only electronic media interview when he used to host Walk the Talk for NDTV.
Besides, Soros’s only article written for the Indian press to date is published by Shekhar Gupta’s venture, The Print.
In addition, Soros’ Foundation and Omidyar Network have also funded $1.3 million to Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), with a long track record of attempts to thrust a biased fact-checking regime on India IFCN network.
NGOs sponsored by Soros:
Besides intellectuals and media networks, George Soros’ Open Society Foundations has also funded a large number of organisations in India.
In 2016, Open Society Foundations suffered a huge setback after the Indian Government was put them on a watch list, which essentially meant that it could not fund any of these organisations directly. As a result, since 2016, OSF needs prior sanction from the Home Ministry for sending money across to FCRA registered organizations in India.
Some of the NGOs that receive grants from Open Society Foundations:
Lawyers Collective – The controversial NGO headed by Indira Jaising and Anand Grover is known for its anti-government propaganda. Currently, Indira Jaising and her husband Anand Grover are on the dock as well for donations from George Soros’s network of NGOs their NGO Lawyers’ Collective.
The NDA government cancelled the FCRA licence of the NGO for using foreign contributions to achieve political objectives. The CBI had also registered an FIR in the matter in 2018 after the investigative agency raided them. The Supreme Court had issued notices to the duo as well for the FCRA violations.
Centre for Policy Research (CPR) – The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is a think tank focusing on public policy in India. It receives funding from Amartya Sen’s Namati, which in turn has received funds from Open Society. Some of the people associated with the controversial think tank are usual anti-BJP critics, such as Pratap Bhanu Mehta. Current President Yamini Aiyar is also known for her controversial views on the Indian government.
Multiple Action Research Group (MARG) – MARG is another organisation funded by Namati, which is funded by OSF. The NGO claims to works in the areas of legal rights and “helps people understand their legal rights”. The obscure organisation has also pushed for the implementation of RTE, an act that is viewed as discriminatory to schools run by the majority community.
Evangelical Trust Association of North India (ETANI) – This evangelical organisation handles property-related legal and governmental matters for the churches in North India. ETANI, which is an arm of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, documents news on the persecution of Christians across India.
In addition, there are NGOs such as the Centre for Civil Society (CCS), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Socio-Legal Information Centre – receive some form of funding from the Open Society Foundation.
Soros influence on the Global Media
George Soros has a tremendous influence on American media. The Media Research Center (MRC), an American media watchdog founded in 1987 to check the liberal bias in the media, discovered that over 30 major news organizations had links to George Soros. These organizations include the Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC. He has also financially supported the National Public Radio (NPR). In addition to all of this, George Soros has links to the Huffington Post too.
It is also reported that since 2003, George Soros has spent “more than $48 million funding media properties, including the infrastructure of news – journalism schools, investigative journalism and even industry organization”. Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism has also received extensive funds from the OSF. This is from 2011, the numbers will be exponentially higher now. George Soros has also funded numerous other journalism associations like The National Federation of Community Broadcasters, The National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Given all of this, the Western Media’s coverage of India shouldn’t really be surprising. The American media has traditionally held a bigoted view against India, and when it combines with the influence and financial power of one of the richest men in the world, the result is obvious. From advocacy for Radical Islam in Kashmir to fearmongering about the NRC and CAA, the Western Media’s coverage of India has been remarkably consistent.
George Soros actions against India
In his much-publicized WEF speech delivered at WEF, Soros made his views known to the world when he singled out rising nationalism as the greatest enemy of the open society. He had deliberately singled out India and blamed PM Modi’s Government for trying to create a Hindu state.
Terming India as the “biggest and most frightening setback occurred”, Soros had made plans known to everyone in no uncertain terms. Soros has been instrumental in propagating the anti-Indian government narrative in the international press by using his influence and trying to create anarchy on the streets of India.
In the name of freedom of expression and the western style of liberalism, a coalition of forces represented by billionaire investors like Soros, Omadiyar and Berggruen are leveraging India’s democracy and its institutions to leverage its fault-lines for fueling the discontent against the popular Government. Soros and his ecosystem have been largely successful in creating misinformation warfare on a massive scale by putting out negative and false narratives against the democratically-elected government with the help of left-liberal media outlets.
The long term investments to cultivating left-liberal intelligentsia, media and NGOs seem to have worked well for Soros. The well-oiled propaganda machinery created by Soros against the nationalist Indian government is there to stay and will continue to guide his objectives- to stem the rise of nationalism and defeat nationalistic forces.
Indian Medical Association on Sunday has warned Kerala government against easing restrictions ahead of Bakri Eid even as the Chinese coronavirus pandemic rages unhinged in state. As per the statement released by the Medical body, a third wave of the pandemic is inevitable if appropriate steps are not taken.
“With the sustained progression of vaccination, avoiding mass gatherings in any form is the responsible duty expected at this crucial time from every citizen of our country. After the proactive visionary call of the Honorable prime minister to stop revenge tourism and not to invite the third wave by mass gatherings many proposed religious and pilgrimage Yatras were canceled,” the IMA said in a statement signed by Dr J A Jayalal, President IMA and Dr Jayesh Lele, General Secretary, IMA.
The IMA also said that the Supreme Court of India has taken suo moto cognisance of the issue and directed everyone to play vigilant role to mitigate the impending third wave.
“With the dedicated and committed services of the Government and the Modern medical fraternity, today we are in the declining phase of the second wave throughout the country, except in few states like Kerala and Maharashtra where we are still having the high number of cases,” IMA pointed out.
As of today, Kerala and Maharashtra contribute to over 60% of total new Chinese coronavirus cases in India. Kerala has been topping the list of state with highest new cases since days now and the trend is only upward with test positivity rate of over 10%.
Kerala cases
The IMA said that it is pained to see amidst the raise of cases and Seropositivity, the Kerala Government has issued an order to ease out lockdown followed in the state on the pretext of religious gatherings of Bakri Eid. “It is unwarranted and inappropriate at this time of Medical emergency. When many Northern states like J&K, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttaranchal have stopped, with a constructive sense of public safety the traditional and popular pilgrimage Yatras, it is an unfortunate learned state of Kerala had taken these retrograde decisions,” The IMA said.
IMA said that in the larger interest of the country and wellbeing of humanity, with the sense of responsibility, the Kerala State Government should immediately withdraw this order, enforce zero-tolerance against covid appropriate behaviours, and do not deviate from its statutory duty and vision to ensure the safety of State and Nation as a whole.
The IMA said that if the order is not withdrawn, with the sense of altruism, they will be constrained to move the Supreme Court against Kerala government order.
Kerala government had recently relaxed lockdown guidelines ahead of Bakri Eid and opened shops and malls on July 18, 19 and 20. Similar such restrictions were lifted last year in May as well ahead of Ramzan Eid even when the pandemic raged across the nation.
IRS officer Piyush Thorat earned the wrath of people on social media after delivering a ‘hot take’ on the concept of arranged marriages. The self-proclaimed ‘dog parent’ has since then deactivated his Twitter account. But that was not before netizens captured screenshots of some of the other problematic tweets he had made earlier or those that he had ‘liked’.
The tweet that started it all
Netizens captured a screenshot where it could be seen that Piyush Thorat had ‘liked’ a tweet that wished for death upon ‘Sanghis’.
Source: Twitter
On another occasion, Thorat retweeted a tweet that peddled hatred against Brahmins.
Source: Twitter
In another tweet, he appeared demonstrate an unbridled hostility for the rich.
Source: Twitter
Piyush Thorat, in the past, has also peddled hatred against North Indian men.
Source: Twitter
The animosity he bears towards the Brahmin community is quite evident from his tweets.
Source: Twitter
Thorat also idolizes rabid Hindu-hater Periyar.
Source: Twitter
Piyush Thorat has pronouns in his Twitter bio, a sufficient indication of his ideological inclinations.
Source: Twitter
Thorat has, since then, deleted his account. Thorat, an IRS officer of 2015 batch also believes that ‘rational people’ are the ones who identify themselves as ‘feminists, anti-casteist, communist and liberal’ amongst others.
His tweets demonstrate amply the authoritarian tendencies among Indian bureaucrats. It also highlights the ideological bias in the bureaucracy. It is particularly dangerous as their ideological orientations is at stark contrast with that of Indians at large.
The beliefs he is against, that is, his disdain for arranged marriages and love for gender identity politics, is at odds with even the voter-base of non-BJP parties. The conduct of bureaucrats during the Covid-19 pandemic, which ranged from thrashing the groom and purohita at a wedding to beating a boy who was out to get medicines, combined with the ideology that so many bureaucrats possess does not inspire confidence in them.
On 17th July, India crossed 400 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered to the people, with the vaccination rate picking up in the last one month. By the end of the day yesterday, India had vaccinated more than 40 crore or 400 million people, with around 51 lakh vaccinations on Saturday. This crossing the 400 million doses prompted a large number of social media users to inform The Hindu how their prediction vaccination has gone horribly wrong. But the author of the article refused to accept they erred in the prediction, and offered a bizarre justification instead.
On February 26, the newspaper had published an article titled “Data | India unlikely to meet its target of 400 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by July”. In the article, The Hindu had claimed that while then Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had expected to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses by July 2021, India will be able to vaccinate only 60 million doses by July.
The article had said that if the vaccination goes at the same rate as of February, it will be impossible to administer 400 million doses, only around 15% of the same would be done. It analysed that to meet the target, 2.44 million doses per day will be required, and concluded that it will be almost impossible to achieve.
The article also said that the vaccination rate in US and UK were enough to meet the target set by both the countries, but India’s rate is very slow.
However, proving the analysis of the article wrong, India achieved 400 million doses by 17th July, with 14 days remaining in the month. With the current pace, India will surpass the 500 million milestone with a huge margin.
When the netizens pointed out how the Hindu has turned out to be horribly wrong in its prediction, one of the authors of the article Vignesh Radhakrishnan was offended and offered a bizarre justification to claim that the prediction was right. It may be noted that two persons Naresh Singaravelu and Vignesh Radhakrishnan are listed as authors of the article.
Vignesh Radhakrishnan tweeted that with the vaccination rate of February, India would not have achieved the target. “Story is valid. Mindless trolling does not change the fact,” he stated.
He added that the vaccination pace picked up later, and has dropped again now.
Although it is right the vaccination rate was very low in February and it was impossible to achieve 400 million doses by July, that does not mean Hindu was right in predicting the same. Because it was completely wrong to assume that the rate will not increase and it will remain at February level for months.
Vaccination against Covid-19 started in India on 16th January, and it was a slow start. That is because only the frontline workers in the fight against Covid-19 were eligible for the doses. The availability of the vaccines was not enough at that time for a full-fledged vaccination drive, therefore it was limited to people working in healthcare and other high-risk sectors.
The first phase of the vaccination targeted 30 million people, which included 10 million in healthcare and 20 million in other frontline sectors like police, paramilitary forces, sanitation, and disaster management. therefore, the rate of vaccination in February was bound to be low, as it was a limited drive.
The vaccination after that has been gradually opened up for the general population, first for people above 45 years of age, and then for everyone above 18 years of age. The government had been saying that the vaccination rate will pick up from June-July, by when the productions by the vaccine makers were expected to go up. Accordingly, the vaccination rate has gone up significantly since the second half June, and 400 million doses have already been given.
Therefore, even though the Hindu analysis was arithmetically correct, it was completely illogical to assume that the February vaccination rate will continue, fully aware that at that time it was available only for frontline workers.
After netizens pointed out how their methodology to make the prediction was wrong, The Hindu Journalist Vignesh Radhakrishnan deleted the tweet justifying the article.
Twitter account of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) was compromised earlier today where it posed as business magnate Elon Musk to talk about crypto currency.
AIMIM account compromised
Replying to actual Elon Musk’s tweet, AIMIM posing as Elon Musk (Ꭼꮮꮻɴ Ꮇꮜꮪꮶ) excitedly talked about crypto currency and claimed that 100,000,000 DOGE will be distributed to those who take part in some online event.
Interestingly, this is the second time in a month AIMIM’s Twitter account has been compromised.
The infighting in the Punjab Congress is likely to continue even after CM Captain Amarinder Singh hinted that he will accept Navjot Singh Sidhu as the chief of the Punjab Congress. The CM has refused to meet the dissident Congress leader unless Sindhu apologises to him first.
On Saturday, the CM stated that he will abide by any decision of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the appointment of the state Congress chief. This means that if the party high command appoints Sidhu as the chief, the CM will accept that decision. However, this does not mean the end of the problems inside the state unit of the Congress party, as Captain Singh is not willing to forget the derogatory comments made by Sidhu against him.
Captain Amarinder Singh has demanded a public apology from Navjor Singh Sidhu for his offensive comments and Tweets, and has refused to meet him until he receives the apology. Reportedly, the CM told this to Harish Rawat, the All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs.
Rawat is one of the three members of the panel set up by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to resolve the crisis in the party in Punjab. He held a meeting with Amarinder Singh to discuss probable names for state Congress chief, and urged him to hold a meeting with Sidhu. But the CM refused to meet him. A source in the party said, “Captain told the state in-charge that he will not meet Sidhu till he tenders a public apology for putting out hundreds of derogatory tweets and statements in the media against him.”
However, Amaridner Singh said that the appointment of the state party chief is the prerogative of the high command, and he will accept any decision taken by the party on the matter. ”Had a fruitful meeting with @harishrawatcmuk . Reiterated that any decision of @INCIndia President will be acceptable to all. Raised certain issues which he said he’ll take up with @INCIndia president”, tweeted the CM’s media advisor Raveen Thukral, quoting the CM.
Harish Rawat flew to Chandigarh on Saturday on a Punjab Govt helicopter to meet the party leaders in the state to resolve the issue. He told Amarinder Singh that he will be taken into confidence before taking any decision on the issue of state chief, but the CM refused to sit in a token meeting with Sidhu for sending an “all is well” message, unless Sidhu says sorry to him.
According to sources, the CM also told Rawat that he is not happy with the way the high command is dealing with the issue. He pointed out that premature announcements were made and stories were leaked to the media.
For the last several months, Sidhu has been attacking Amarinder Singh with various allegations. He has accused the CM of colluding with the Badals of Akali Dal, accused of running a mafia raj in Punjab, and alleged that the CM is not taking action against sacrilege cases. Although several state leaders are not happy with Sidhu for such public outburst against the own govt, the high command is not willing to take action against him, eyeing the elections next year.
Although the high command is in favour of appointing Sidhu as the party chief in the state, it has not been able to make the final decision due to strong opposition from Amarinder Singh, one of the seniormost members of the party.
