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From Uyghurs to COVID: How China has roped in vloggers and influencers to spread disinformation and propagate CCP agenda

OpIndia Staff
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From Uyghurs to COVID: How China has roped in vloggers and influencers to spread disinformation and propagate CCP agenda

The People Republic of China seems to have taken notice of the growing criticism it receives from across the world over its human rights violations, especially against minorities. In a bid to tackle the criticism from the western press, the Communist Party of China has launched a propaganda overdrive to provide counter-narratives to what it calls ‘anti-China’ propaganda by the west.

In addition to the state-owned media outlets, the CPC and the Chinese government seems to have employed numerous ways to indulge in misinformation warfare across both traditional media and social media platforms. On platforms such as Twitter and YouTube, CGTN and Global Times are flagged as Chinese government funded broadcast channels. Hence, in a bid to make sure the propaganda appears organic and independent, China now seems to have roped in ‘influencers’.

According to the latest report from BBC, it has been revealed that China may have employed several foreign video bloggers to denounce negative coverage by the western press on highly controversial subjects such as human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet to even COVID. On the behest of CPC, these vloggers put out counter-narratives often riddled with disinformation and are attracting large numbers of subscribers on platforms like YouTube. These vloggers are openly presenting themselves as China-lovers, spreading Communist Party disinformation.

Owing to lack of community guidelines and transparency, many of these vloggers are suspected to having been paid for furthering CCP’s propaganda.

Who are these Pro-China vloggers?

For a few years now, the western media have been extremely critical against China over its persecution of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjian autonomous area. Several vloggers have published their own investigative reports highlighting the harsh treatment meted out to the Uyghur community by China in its northwest Xinjiang region.

However, some vloggers including British expatriates Barrie Jones, Jason Lightfoot and father-and-son duo Lee and Oli Barrett, have been putting out counter-narratives against the western press and independent investigators by terming well-documented allegations of systematic abuse as anti-China propaganda by the west.

For example, the father-and-son duo – Lee and Oli Barrett, is believed to have travelled extensively in China. Many believe it was on a paid trip at the cost of Chinese government. Their profiles on social media platform appear quite pro-China where they ‘bust’ the ‘lies against China’. On their Instagram profile, the father-son duo has claimed to have more than a million followers across all platforms and 28 million views on YouTube.

Here is a video put out by Barretts accusing western media of being critical towards China and explaining how China has received negative press for a long time now.

Barrets have posted several videos on their Youtube channel. Initially, the duo started putting videos that focused focus on navigating daily life within China. However, more recent videos have become overtly political, staunchly backing China’s propaganda on topics ranging from Covid-19 to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

These videos have attracted large viewers from China, who are fiercely promoting and commenting on them.

Lee and Oli Barrett in China/ Image Source: iChongqing

The Barretts have attended multiple government-sponsored events. In one of the videos, Lee Barrett had revealed that state-owned organisations such as China Radio International offer to pay for transport, flights and accommodation, in exchange for their videos.

Lee Barrett has been listed as a “global stringer” on CGTN’s website in recently published videos on Xinjiang. A stringer is somebody who reports for the broadcaster but is not a regular staff employee.

Another vlogger who has a considerable influence on Youtube is Jason Lightfoot. Like Barretts, Lightfoot is also listed as a stringer by CGTN. In addition, the Chinese media outlets have categorised him as a vlogger critical of “distorted reports” by Western media outlets.

Recently, Lightfoot appeared in several CGTN videos alongside multiple staff reporters on a visit to Hainan. In one such video, Lightfoot was seen thanking CGTN for giving him the experience to explore Hainan and to work with CGTN staff. In the video, the expat vlogger said he enjoyed working together, producing live streams and videos as a team”.

According to the BBC report, vlogging is strictly controlled in China, and there are strict rules restricting users what they can post. In addition, thousands of internet moderators screen content. The authorities have detained Chinese vloggers and citizen journalists for making videos deemed to be unfavourable by the authorities. 

However, foreign vloggers such as Barrett, Jason Lightfoot seems to enjoy a privileged position in China with significant access, and in some cases, facilitated by local officials or state media in China.

Interestingly, YouTube does not flag any of these pro-China vloggers as “funded or supported” by the Chinese government. The videos posted by foreign vloggers on their personal channels are subsequently uploaded to and endorsed by government media accounts. For example, a video featuring vlogger Barrie Jones was not only uploaded to CGTN’s YouTube account, but China’s foreign ministry used it in one of its daily government press briefings.

It is still rather unclear why China’s foreign ministry promoted Barrie Jones as some sort of a credible voice at one of its press conferences.

However, Barrie Jones, who comes across as a conspiracy theorist, denies that his videos are pro-China propaganda material and described claims that he is part of a disinformation campaign as “laughable”.

“Neither China nor the Chinese government pays me to do what I do. The truth is if they offered, I would accept,” Barrie Jones said to BBC.

Another vlogger from Israel – Raz Gal-Or, has posted videos of his recent trips to China. According to Gal-Or, he was invited into people’s homes and farms in Xinjiang. In a video, he was seen interviewing random Xinjiang locals. However, later it was revealed that a film crew from CGTN accompanied Gal-Or on his trip.

China wants to employ foreign vloggers to counter western media propaganda

It also appears that China has aggressively increased its network of foreigners with the help of state-owned media outlets. On its website, CGTN has mentioned that it currently has more than 700 “global stringers” worldwide, whom they offer “international visibility” and huge money.

China intends to expand the network of foreign influencers further by offering cash rewards of up to $10,000 (about Rs 7,50,000) to reporters, podcasters, vloggers, presenters and influencers who wish to join the newly-launched “media challengers” campaign. 

Incidentally, Jason Lightfoot and the Barretts have also featured in promotional material for this campaign.

As per the BBC report, the Chinese media outlets are now focusing on using “internet celebrities and influencers” to “fight back” against foreign media reporting.

There is a special “internet celebrities” department within CGTN, who contact foreigners to either use their videos or to co-operate to make videos together”, BBC reported. More recently, some departments have been instructed to “find foreigners to send to Xinjiang to represent us”.

Fake bots drive views and revenue for these vloggers, experts say

The above vloggers have successfully monetised their videos by quickly attracting tens of thousands of views on their channels, as well as hundreds of comments from Chinese commenters, even though YouTube is officially banned in China.

Australian cybersecurity researcher Robert Potter has claimed that even though some videos have attracted genuine views and support, there is evidence that fake bot accounts have been used to shoot up viewers’ data.

“There are a few things that YouTube does to stop someone repeatedly opening a video and playing it a thousand times,” he explained. Analysing Barretts’ YouTube page, Potter said, “You can see a lot of nationalist boards reposting [videos] and a mix of fake news sites boosting their content.

“This is ‘bot fraud’, where [users] stick a video on a fake news website and click through that instead of clicking replay on the YouTube video. They try and spoof YouTube into treating it like a legitimate view,” Potter said.

He observed a similar pattern on Barrie Jones’ videos as well. Potter said that there are several fake news pages with links to his videos on Xinjiang. He continued, “As for the comments on his videos, a large number of the users joined YouTube very recently. You can see the same people commenting again and again with obviously fraudulent accounts all created around the same time”.

These bots target videos that show China in a poor light, he said, adding, “The video that blows up is the Xinjiang video. It’s almost always the Xinjiang content.” These well-orchestrated attacks on social media have a long history in China. Previously, a group of social media accounts named “50 cent army” targeted anti-China accounts. They are named so because of reports they are paid small amounts of money to post pro-government messages.

This “keyboard army” has long been active, and with the advent of foreign vloggers, they have returned to inflate these vloggers’ presence and manipulate commentary on their pages. The scale of such campaigns is such that these propaganda videos could, in theory, rack up thousands of views organically.

During the 2019 Hong Kong protests, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube witnessed a coordinated attempt by the Chinese government to spread disinformation on their channels. Even Google had revealed that attempts were made to disguise the origin of these accounts.

Meanwhile, BBC approached Lee Barrett and Barrie Jones to what exactly drives them to make such videos. In response, the Barretts posted on Twitter describing BBC’s report as a “hit piece” by the “anti-China biased BBC”.

China and the fake factory

Recently, OpIndia had reported how after the images of Xiapu, with perfect landscape and romance went viral, many photography enthusiasts visited the town only to realise the photographs were all staged. The photographers and travellers realised upon reaching Xiapu that the entire town was just a setup and the images captured were not real or live events, but these are faked lifestyle photos taken from staged events. The entire town of Xiapu is nothing but a setup developed by the Chinese to make the country the world’s best photography hot spot.

Maha infighting: Nana Patole accuses NCP, Shiv Sena of snooping on Congress leaders, Sharad Pawar calls him a ‘non-entity’

OpIndia Staff
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Maha infighting: Nana Patole accuses NCP, Shiv Sena of snooping on Congress leaders, Sharad Pawar calls him a ‘non-entity’

The internecine conflict within the three parties of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra seems to be intensifying as the state Congress president Nana Patole on Monday alleged that his party leaders were being snooped on by the Intelligence Department in the state.

Patole said the Intelligence Department of the Maharashtra state government is keeping a tab on Congress leaders and reports of all activities of Congress leaders reaches the Chief Minister and Home Minister every day at 9 am. The Home Ministry in Maharashtra is with Sharad Pawar’s NCP while the chief minister is Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray.

Patole went on to allege that even if he clandestinely organises a meeting between Congress leaders, the news of their gathering reaches the chief minister.

While addressing Congress workers in Lonavala, Patole said, “They have both the CM post as well as Home Ministry. We are in power together but they hold these powerful constitutional positions. They do not want Congress to fight independently in Maharashtra. The Intelligence Department has to share the information about my whereabouts with the CM and the Home Minister every morning at 9 am. What is happening where, where and when meetings are being held, what is the political situation, where the movement is taking place, the IB gives full information about it.”

“I went on a tour and there was a meeting scheduled at 3 o’clock in the night. He (CM) was also aware of this, even though the news did not come on TV, newspapers, but he knew it because they control the systems (state intelligence department). They know the ground beneath them is shifting and they will try all their might to hobble Congress party’s progress,” Patole said. The state chief also accused the NCP and Shiv Sena of ‘backstabbing’ the Congress party.

Pawar snubs Nana Patole, says he is not significant enough to warrant response

NCP supremo reacted to the sharp remarks made by Nana Patole during his meeting with Congress workers in Lonavala. Pawar said Patole was “a small leader whose comments do not warrant a response”.

When asked about Patole’s allegations, Pawar, who was in his hometown of Baramati, said, “I don’t want to get into this duel…They are small people, why should I comment on them? If Congress president Sonia Gandhi had said something, then I would have commented on it.”

VHP sends recommendation to UP law commission to omit one-child policy from the population control draft: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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VHP sends recommendation to UP law commission to omit one-child policy from the population control draft: Read details

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad in a letter dated July 12 has recommended that the Uttar Pradesh law commission omit the one-child policy from the proposed draft of the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021.

This comes shortly after the commission called for suggestions and recommendations from the public on the draft by the Law Commission. The letter starts with welcoming the government’s decision to take the right step towards population control but has highlighted several drawbacks of the single child policy.

Details of the letter:

The letter started with a suggestion to reconsider the objective to bring the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 1.7 within a certain limit.

It is pertinent that the Total Fertility Rate is also defined as the replacement rate. As per reports, “If, on average, women give birth to 2.1 children and these children survive to the age of 15, any given woman will have replaced herself and her partner upon death.”

VHP’s recommendation letter on population control bill

The VHP notes that the policy which aims at less than two children per woman would disbalance the stability and have negative social and economic consequences. 

To further its point, the VHP in the letter cited an example of China where it elaborated on the contracting population and disruption in the ratio between working age and dependent population in case the one-child policy norm is adopted.

VHP’s recommendation letter on population control bill

“It is said that in China, the one-child policy was never applied to more than half of the prospective parents. Within three decades, it had to be completely withdrawn,” the letter reads. 

The third probable repercussion to the one-child policy emphasized the community disbalance it might cause. It gave an example of the growing disparity in Kerala and Assam where the TFR of Hindus declined below the replacement rate of 2.1. Whereas, the TFR of Muslims was 2.33 and 3.16 respectively, thus highlighting the contraction of one community and expansion of the other. 

VHP’s recommendation letter on population control bill

Ending the letter of recommendation, the VHP pointed out the relevant clause of the proposed bill which needed reconsideration and tailoring.

UP’s population control bill

The proposed draft of the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021 was presented to the public last week. The proposed bill, if implemented into law, will provide benefits to those who have only up to two children.

There are certain benefits promised to public servants with only two children and then there are more that are promised for those who have adopted the one-child norm. The proposed benefits for those with two children include “two additional increments during the entire service” and “rebate on charges for utilities such as water, electricity, water, house tax”. The bill also proposed “free health care facility and insurance coverage to spouse”.

However, the bill promised additional benefits to public servants who adopt the one-child policy.

The entire list of benefits for one-child

Such benefits include free education till graduation, preference for the single-child in premier educational institutions such as IIM and AIIMS and government jobs.

How ThePrint tried to normalise relationship between 23 year old man and 13 year old girl in the Kashmir Sikh conversion controversy

K Bhattacharjee
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How ThePrint tried to normalise relationship between 23 year old man and 13 year old girl in the Kashmir Sikh conversion controversy

Days after the Grooming Jihad controversy in Kashmir over the alleged forced conversion of a Sikh girl, new developments have occurred in the matter. According to a report on ThePrint published on the 9th of July, Shahid Nazir Bhatt, the Muslim man the Sikh girl was allegedly married off to initially, has walked out of jail on the 2nd of July.

ThePrint journalist spoke to Shahid who made some rather intriguing comments over the matter. According to the report, Shahid and the Sikh woman Manmeet Kaur had been ‘in love’ for the past six years. But there is an issue here.

Headline of ThePrint report

Shahid is 29 years old and Manmeet Kaur is 19. Thus, if his claims are true, then it appears that a 23-year-old Shahid was ‘in love’ with 13-year-old Manmeet. This only seems to bolster the claims of Grooming Jihad in the matter.

The confusion regarding Manmeet’s age

According to Manmeet’s Aadhar Card, which was accessed by The Print, she was born in February 2003, which makes her 5 months over 18 years old as of today. In her affidavit filed on the 22nd of June 22, Manmeet, too, said that she was 19 years old.

In that affidavit, she had claimed that she had converted to Islam “without any pressure or fear” and went on to assert that she had been practicing Islam for a year. Thus, by her own admission, she is 18-19 years old.

According to ThePrint report, the relationship began when Manmeet was 13, possibly 12, and Shahid was 23 years old

So if the claims of six years of love are true, then the relationship between a 13 year old girl, possibly 12, and a 23 year old man does not fall under the ambit of acceptable relationship in civilised social settings.

Shahid, nonetheless, contends that she is 22 years old and insinuates that it was her parents who claim she is 19. He dares them to conduct a bone density test to determine her age but conveniently chose to ignore that it was Manmeet herself who claimed she was 19 in the affidavit that was filed.

Some Sikhs do not buy allegations of ‘forced conversion’, reports ThePrint

ThePrint talked to a Jagmohan Singh Raina, president of the All Party Sikh Coordination Committee, an influential Sikh body in the valley, over the matter who described the controversy as “drama for political gains”.

“When the case of Manmeet was flagged to me, I did not pay much attention as I was told that it was consensual and the woman converted and married the Muslim man out of choice but, then, someone informed Mr Sirsa and he posted a video on social media making these ‘love jihad’ claims,” Raina was quoted as saying.

“I was surprised that so many people were gathered and there was a protest. They said that conversions of Sikh women happen at gunpoint, which is totally false. Then these leaders met the woman’s family, started getting photos clicked, met senior ministers and even got the woman remarried to someone else,” he added.

According to Raina, it was an attempt to “create a rift between the two communities”.

Why the relationship is problematic

It does not need special elaboration as to why the relationship between a 13-year-old girl (possibly 12) and a 23-year-old man is problematic. A 13 year old is a minor and civilised societies do not considers minors to have agency and for good reason.

At that young an age, no one is matured enough to make significant decisions. It is why children under the age of 18 are not allowed to vote, or consume alcohol or have a driving license. Civil society accepts that children are not mature enough to be granted the same rights as adults are. Consequently, adults are charged with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the child and serve as their guardians.

That is why, such relationships are not considered legitimate in the eyes of the law. If such relationships were considered legitimate, then pedophiles will have a field day and removes the protection that children have from sexual predators because children can be manipulated, threatened and blackmailed into a ‘relationship’ with an adult. Even adults can be, yes, but the threat is much greater for children.

It is also pertinent to note that Grooming Gangs in the United Kingdom would especially target girls as young as 13 or 14 or 15, sometimes even 11, because it is easier to manipulate children of such young age.

It is not just ThePrint that has attempted to normalise such ‘relationships’, The Wire too did the same when the SIT investigation into Grooming Jihad in Kanpur found criminality in 11 of the 14 cases it investigated.

The Wire claimed that 8 of the 14 cases were ‘consensual’ when, in reality, 8 of the 11 cases where the Police found criminality involved minor victims. Thus, the penchant for liberal media to describe relationships involving minor girls as ‘consensual’ is not new.

ThePrint allows Shahid to attempt to whitewash his alleged crime

It is quite shocking that ThePrint appeared to take the side of a man who was possibly in a relationship with Manmeet when she was only 13 years old and he was 23. The report, headlined “‘Will fight to get my wife back’ — Muslim man in Kashmir Sikh ‘conversion’ row won’t back down”, says that Shahid was determined to “fight till the end to get my wife back”.

“They snatched away my love, my legally wedded wife, while I was in jail. How can they do that? My heart broke when I saw her wedding pictures soon after I came out of the prison. I felt enraged and helpless at the same time,” Shahid was quoted in the report.

He also stated, “I had a nikah. A statement before the court has been given by Manmeet that she married me out of choice. And still I am here, sitting helpless without my wife, while she is suffering there. She was tricked. Is this justice?”

Shahid also accused Manmeet’s parents of ‘tricking’ her and accused them of marrying her off at gunpoint. According to him, he could see “the pain in her eyes in the photos” from the wedding ceremony.

He said, “At one moment, I thought I would just go to Delhi. But the way these people have politicised this issue, I know if I go there, I may get killed. But I will not give up. I cannot imagine a life without her. Even if it takes me years to fight this legally. She is my wife, my love and I will get her back.”

It is indeed extremely weird that ThePrint has provided him the platform to peddle his narrative over the matter without any counter at all even though they are surely themselves aware that if Manmeet’s own version is accurate, then the relationship began when she was 13 year old, which totally undermines whatever Shahid might say.

But ThePrint treats the fact as if it is a minor inconvenience and does not matter at all. Manmeet was later married off to a Sikh man, following which the issue was deemed to have been settled. However, Shahid now says he will approach the Court over the matter.

Lucknow Al-Qaeda module: Terrorist Maseeruddin made a DIY bomb using an e-rickshaw battery, built explosives in ₹3000

OpIndia Staff
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Lucknow Al-Qaeda module: Terrorist Maseeruddin made a DIY bomb using an e-rickshaw battery, built explosives in ₹3000

A day after two Al-Qaeda terrorists named Minhaz Ahmed and Maseerurddin were nabbed by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Lucknow, it has now come to light that the duo had successfully made a DIY cooker bomb using their own resources.

As per reports, the two terrorists have been building DIY bombs that cost as low as ₹3000 by purchasing components required for the explosive materias. One of the terrorists named Maseeruddin aka Musheer even built a bomb using the battery of an e-rickshaw. Both of them conceded that they worked for the Al-Qaeda and that they were building the bombs on the behest of the terror outfit. Reportedly, Al-Qaeda terrorists had reached out to them via the internet.

While speaking to Aaj Tak, ACS (Home) Awnish Awasthi informed, “Links with Al Qaeda are confirmed in the investigation. It’s a big challenge for us as it is such a big nexus and yes, UP was on target. These modules work independently as their systems are separate. Intelligence agencies and ATS will be given much power and weapons to deal with all these. The module could have turned fatal. We can’t share much in the public domain. The two arrested were planning big and could have done much damage in the state. They always target sensitive areas where they may cause heavy damage.”

Officials informed that the two men were planning to carry out a blast in crowded places in the State on Independence Day. A preliminary investigation has also revealed that they were in the process of selecting targets for the attacks. Ahmed and Maseeruddin had links with Ansar Ghazwatul Hind. During interrogation, the arrested accused said that their associates had managed to escape. During the interrogation, they also revealed about planning the use of human bombs in executing terror attacks in Uttar Pradesh.

Terrorists had contacted handlers through Telegram

As per Republic TV, further probe into the matter has unearthed how the terrorists were in touch with their international handlers via the Telegram app. The ATS is now monitoring the Telegram and Whatsapp chats of the nabbed terrorists. The Anti-terrorism Squad had also seized laptops, documents, and burnt papers. Besides, foreign handles, the duo was also in touch with other people in various districts of Uttar Pradesh. They will be produced before the Court on Monday.

ATS unhappy with live TV telecast of operation

While ADG was interacting with media during the Press Conference, he was not happy with how the live telecast of the operation ran on several news channels. He said that Police would share information on a need-to-know basis as soon as operations were over. He said, “There are guidelines that restrict everyone from telecasting live feed of operations that are of national security.” The Police will share more information if they feel it can be shared.

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Nepal Supreme Court orders President to appoint Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister

OpIndia Staff
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Nepal Supreme Court orders President to appoint Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister

Overturning Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s May 21 decision to dissolve the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court of Nepal has ordered President Bidya Devi Bhandari to appoint the President of Nepal Congress party Sher Bahadur Deuba the new prime minister.

A five-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on Monday has asked the President to complete the appointment before 5 pm on Tuesday. 

President Bidya Devi Bhandari for the second time in five months had dissolved the 275-member lower house on May 22. The decision was taken at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli and had announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19.

However, the SC’s ruling came after hearing 30 writ petitions, including one filed by 146 lawmakers of the House including Deuba demanding that the court issue a mandamus order to the President to appoint Deuba as the prime minister.

The five-member bench is headed by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and includes Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Ananda Mohan Bhattarai.

As per Article 76(5) and with the support of 149 lawmakers of the 275-member Parliament, Deuba had staked the claim to form the government. His claim, however, was rejected by the President remarking that it was ‘insufficient.

Deuba within 30 days of his appointment, will have to win the vote of confidence as per Article 76 (4) of Nepal’s constitution.

The power struggle within the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) had led to the dissolving of the House by President Bhandari in December last year.

Himachal Pradesh: Cloudburst results in flash floods damaging public property, NH blocked in Shimla

OpIndia Staff
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Himachal Pradesh: Cloudburst results in flash floods damaging public property, NH blocked in Shimla

After the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a warning of moderate to heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh, a cloud burst has triggered flash floods in Dharmashala. 

While there has been no report of loss of life, visuals of cars being washed away and rivers overflowing have been circulating on social media. Additionally, the national highway near Jhakri in the Rampur area of Shimla district has been blocked following heavy rainfall.

As per a Times Now report, the state government and the local administration have swung into action. The Met department has revised its warning and escalated it to an orange alert with the prediction of heavy to very heavy rains in plains and mid-hills on July 12 and 13 July and a yellow weather warning for July 14 and 15.

As per a News18 report, the torrential rains in Chamba and cloudburst has also wreaked havoc in the region. 

Images of tourists thronging the state while giving Covid-appropriate behaviour a miss had recently gone viral on social media. While the state government welcomed the tourists, it was compelled to take stricter measures and issue a warning to get people to follow the Covid-19 protocols. 

Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur took to Twitter to inform that he has called for report of damage due to the cloudburst. He said he has directed the administration to carry out relief and rescue work. He urged residents and tourists to stay cautious in the bad weather.

Model Apeernah, who accused 9 Bollywood celebs of raping and harassing her, now gets death threats, alleges inaction by Mumbai police

OpIndia Staff
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Model Apeernah, who accused 9 Bollywood celebs of raping and harassing her, now gets death threats, alleges inaction by Mumbai police

A 28-year-old model, Apeernah, has been receiving death threats after Mumbai police refused to take action against 9 Bollywood celebrities accused of raping and molesting her.

As per reports, the model had filed a complaint at the Bandra police station and an FIR was registered on May 26. Accusing the police of inaction, she said that her perpetrators should be held responsible if anything unnatural was to happen to her before the case was concluded. She had named photographer Colston Julian, actor Jackky Bhagnani, Krishan Kumar (T-series), Nikhil Kamat, Sheel Gupta, Ajit Thakur, Gurjot Singh, Vishnu Induri and Anirban Blah (Kwan Entertainment) in the FIR. The woman has accused the men of ‘gang-stalking’ her using fake Instagram accounts.

“I have blocked hundreds of fake accounts and have reported some as they had rather explicit pics and wordings as well as triggering usernames like @bitchurdead887, @terimaak231__, or something like @bulletzngunzz. I told the investigating officer regarding the death threats being sent after I registered the FIR against these high-profile men. He suggested I visit the nearest police station to register a fresh case. But I am not willing to visit the police station again as it took me weeks to register the first FIR and none of the accused has been arrested till now,” the model informed Mid-Day.

The woman said that she had no enemies in the world other than the accused. She informed that accused Anirban Blah had earlier moved the Court to seek anticipatory bail but was rejected on July 5. “The police have not arrested him yet. I don’t know in what direction the investigation is going,” she lamented. Apeernah said that she was forced to delete her Facebook account and had to stop using Instagram for 2 years.

Screengrab of the fake accounts blocked by Apeernah

Mumbai Police claims to have been following legal procedures

In their defence, the police claimed to have opposed the anticipatory bail of accused Anirban Blah in Court. Assistant Police Inspector (Bandra) Sagar Nikam said, “Anirban Blah’s bail was rejected only because the police objected to the application of the accused. We have been following all the legal procedures before nailing the accused. Also, Blah is not in Mumbai. He is somewhere in Hyderabad. We have sent him a notice through email. So far, we have recorded the statements of five accused in the case.”

According to Sagar Nikam, the Bandra police team visited all the crime spots mentioned by Apeernah. Requesting the victim to cooperate with the cops, he said that the CCTV footage have been recovered from a few of the locations. He added that statement of 20 individuals has also been recorded. On being quizzed about death threats, Nikam claimed, “I have told her to approach the nearest police station to register a fresh FIR.”

A Bandra police official said that police teams were not being sent to other States over fears of contracting Covid-19. “If the offence is fresh and heinous, we send our officers immediately to arrest accused hiding in other states. But this case is different as the offence took place a long time ago. So, our officers have been collecting all the electronic evidence and recording statements of people connected with it,” he said.

The Background of the Case

In an Instagram post on April 12, Apernah revealed how she was she was physically and emotionally abused by Julian Colston during a work assignment. She narrated, “(Colston said) You have a lot of potential! You’d do great in Indian market and even better internationally like New York and Miami .. because you have boobs .. not London they prefer stick figures. I prefer your body type and you have the face as well and a charming personality, most models I meet are like dead .. let me shoot some pictures of you and put them in some magazines .. and I can even see you doing the kind of commercial work I do”

She further added how the photographer manipulated her into believing that he can make her a model. “.. but you’re too nice models are supposed to be fake and pushy (LIKE I AM ) and you live too far away .. let me work on you! I’m sure you’ll be a big hit here! ..f*ck your agency I can make you a model .. come over let’s watch a movie and talk about this, don’t worry I see enough naked women around I won’t touch you, be comfortable…”

Apeernah emphasised that Julian Colston had sexually assaulted multiple women in a similar fashion but everyone is scared to speak out against him. “Forget the physical assault what about the mental and psychological trauma that he has caused over the years? Mother f*cker blocked me a long time ago and has never posted any of my pics let alone put them in any magazine so I thought maybe it’s time to appreciate his “boobs” and whatever all that is,” she pointed out.

The 28-year-old model concluded, “I had to stop attending fashion events and parties…because he’d approach, harass, and tell me to not talk to this guy, that guy… I can’t believe at some point I had respect for him. Now I could watch him get run over by a truck and not feel bad because that’s what he deserves. I have all the proof and messages and emails. It’s a little late for me but I am trying to protect the next girl.” She had shared pictures where Julian Colston could be seen naked in her room.

Over 600 frontline workers in Thailand get infected despite being jabbed with China-made Covid vaccine Sinovac: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Over 600 frontline workers in Thailand get infected despite being jabbed with China-made Covid vaccine Sinovac: Read details

The health ministry of Thailand on July 11, 2021 (Sunday) informed that as many as 618 healthcare workers have contracted Covid despite receiving two doses of the China-made Sinovac vaccine. It is being reported that a nurse has died and another medical worker is in critical condition.

A senior health official, Sopon Iamsirithawon, told a news briefing on Sunday that from the month of April 2021 to July 2021, 677,348 medical personnel had been jabbed with the Chinese vaccines, out of which, more than 600 have been infected with Covid-19.

Now, experts are contemplating administering a third booster dose to the 677,348 medical personnel, who received the Chinese vaccine. This, they said, would trigger immunity for medical workers who are at risk.

The nation’s health ministry is weighing using either viral vector AstraZeneca or an mRNA vaccine for the booster doses. “This will be a different vaccine, either viral vector AstraZeneca or an mRNA vaccine, which Thailand will be receiving in the near term,” Sopon Iamsirithawon said, adding that the recommendation will be considered on Monday.

The announcement comes at a time when Thailand has reported a total of 336,371 confirmed infections and 2,711 Covid related deaths since the pandemic began last year.

Singapore officials raise doubts on the efficacy of the China-made vaccine Sinovac

Speaking about China’s Sinovac vaccine, last month, the top health officials in Singapore raised doubt over its effectiveness. According to reports, though the initial demand for the Chinese vaccine was strong in the country the Singapore government was hesitant in adding it to the national vaccination program. The country has instead, provided vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna under its national vaccination program.

Kenneth Mak, Director of medical services, Singapore said that he was worried over the vaccine’s effectiveness as reports coming from other countries suggest those who got Sinovac shot were still getting infected with Covid-19. He mentioned cases from Indonesia where health workers and doctors had to be hospitalized after contracting Covid-19 infection though they were vaccinated with Sinovac shot.

Countries which banked on the made-in-China Sinovac vaccine see a surge in Covid cases

Besides Indonesia, countries like Bahrain, UAE, Mongolia, Seychelles that relied on China-made Covid-19 vaccines have also seen a surge in infections.

China admits its vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates”

Interestingly, in April 2021, the top Chinese official for disease control had admitted that the current vaccines developed in the country don’t offer a high enough protection rate for the Coronavirus, therefore the Chinese experts were considering mixing different vaccines in order to boost effectiveness.

China currently has five vaccines approved for use in its mass vaccination campaign, three inactivated-virus vaccines from Sinovac and Sinopharm, a one-shot vaccine from CanSino, and the last from Gao’s team in partnership with Anhui Zhifei Longcom.

The effectiveness of these Chinese vaccines ranges from just over 50% to 79%, according to various International trials and the companies themselves.

The majority of Chinese vaccines are made by Sinovac, a private company, and Sinopharm, a state-owned firm. These vaccines have also been distributed to several dozen countries around the world including Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Hungary, Brazil, Pakistan and Turkey.

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