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Maharashtra Govt gives consent to Pune Municipal Corporation’s vaccine tender 24 days after it was sought

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra Govt gives consent to Pune Municipal Corporation’s vaccine tender 24 days after it was sought

The Pune Municipal Corporation has finally received the consent of the state government to float global tenders to vaccinate its citizens. The approval from the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government came after the PMC threatened to move ahead with the process without their consent.

The consent by the Maharashtra Government comes more than three weeks after it was initially sought. The Pune Municipal Corporation had earlier decided to move ahead with the process saying that lives were more important.

Siddharth Shirole, BJP MLA from Shivajinagar constituency in Pune, on Thursday had slammed the state government for granting permission to the BMCV to float global tenders within 24 hours but not awarding the same to Pune despite 23 days having passed.

The Leader of the House in Pune Municipal Corporation is Ganesh Bidkar from the BJP. The BJP had accused the state government of discriminating against Pune. Pune wants 25 lakh vaccines to inoculate its citizens against Covid-19.

While Rahul Gandhi demands centralised vaccine purchase, Karnataka Congress demands permission to purchase vaccines directly

OpIndia Staff
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While Rahul Gandhi demands centralised vaccine purchase, Karnataka Congress demands permission to purchase vaccines directly

There is no end to politics by opposition parties over the Covid-19 pandemic. Ever since vaccinations for the virus has started, the opposition parties are making conflicting statements and demands over the issue. When the vaccination was started by the central govt, Congress and other opposition ruled states had demanded that they should be allowed more say in its administration. But when the centre allowed the states to vaccinate the population in the age group 18-44, the same states are finding it difficult to do so.

An example of such conflicting views on vaccinations was seen from the same party on the same day. On 14th May, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded that vaccine purchase should be centralised and distribution decentralised. Saying that the union government’s vaccine policy is compounding the problem, he demanded that central govt should purchase vaccines and give them to the state governments, and the states should be allowed to run vaccinations on their own.

On the same day, less than an hour after Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, Congress leader from Karnataka DK Shivakumar made a completely opposite statement. The Karnataka Congress president said that the “Congress Party would like permission to directly approach vaccine makers across the world and procure them”. He claimed that despite being the opposition party in the state, they will show that they “can do the vaccination drive better and faster than Modi and Yediyurappa together are able to”.

Shivakumar said that his party has decided to vaccinate people themselves, alleging that the central and state govts have failed to vaccinate most of Karnataka months after vaccine manufacturing began. He sought permission to use MLA and MP development funds to procure vaccines. “Since they can’t do it,they should let us do it”, he added.

The Congress leader said that they have a Rs 100 crore plan to begin with, out of which Rs 90 crore will come from Congress MLA/MLC funds, and the rest Rs 10 crore is the party’s commitment from its own funds. He added that more funds will be raised from the public and they will tie up with hospitals and clinics to administer the vaccines.

While the Karnataka Congress leader claims that they would be able to purchase vaccines with Rs 100 crore fund, the fact is the central govt has already allocated Rs 35,000 crore towards the same. The lack of vaccines is not lack of funds, or not even not ordering vaccines as the Congress party and many others are alleging. The issue with the vaccine manufacturing process, which is time consuming and can’t be scaled up instantly.

This means, there are not enough vaccines being produced, and arranging money and giving orders will not ensure instant vaccine delivery.

Lebanon fires rockets at Israel in fresh attack, IDF sends ground troops to Gaza: Recent developments

OpIndia Staff
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Lebanon fires rockets at Israel in fresh attack, IDF sends ground troops to Gaza: Recent developments

Amidst the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, Lebanon launched a fresh attack on the Jewish State. The incident has sparked off fears about a possible escalation of the current conflict.

As per reports, the Israeli military has confirmed the firing of 3 rockets from Lebanon. However, the rockets did not cause any damage or fatalities since they fell into the Mediterranean Sea. As such, no sirens were used to alert the citizens. The rockets were launched from the Qlaishesh area near the Israel border. According to Lebanese media sources, the attack was executed by ‘Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

As per Al-Jadeed news channel, the rockets were not fired from the launchpads of Islamic terror outfit Hezbollah. Palestinian factions in Lebanon have attacked Israel in the past as well. In 2006, the Jewish State had fought a war against Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon. However, the border had been quiet since the war.

Israel Defence Forces carry out ground and air attacks against terrorist outfits

On Thursday (April 13) evening, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out bombardment against Islamic terror outfits in the Gaza region. In a tweet, the IDF had informed that the operation was underway in the form of both air and ground attacks. Earlier, it had called thousands of reverse forces at the border. Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces had asked the citizens, who have been living within 4kms of the border, to remain within their bomb shelters. This was done in anticipating rocket-firing by Hamas from Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned, “I said that we would exact a very heavy price on Hamas, we are doing this and we will continue with great force. The final word has not been said, and this operation will continue for as long as needed.”

About 7000 reservists, followed by additional 9000 military personnel, have been called to enter combat and support the headquarters in according to the ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls.’ These troops will be stationed in the Central, Southern, and Northern Command of IDF as other troops are deployed to other military operations.

The ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict

The hostilities between the Jewish nation and its nemesis Hamas are at an all-time high, especially after the intense aerial exchanges that started on Tuesday evening and continued well past midnight. On Tuesday, Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas unleashed massive airstrikes against Israel, firing hundreds of rockets inside the country.

The country’s air defence system, popularly known as the Iron Dome, intercepted the continuous barrage of rockets targeting Tel Aviv and central Israel Tuesday evening. Israel, in response, stepped up its attacks on the Palestinian terror group Hamas inside Gaza Strip. The Israel Defence Forces carried out airstrikes on targets in Gaza in response to continued attacks by Hamas against Israel.

During the retaliatory strikes on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike struck a high-rise office and residential building controlled by Hamas. At least 103 people have been killed in Gaza in the past 4 days. The violence is the culmination of weeks of tensions in Jerusalem, with clashes taking place between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in and around the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, a chronic flashpoint in the protracted Israel-Palestine conflict. The mosque is perched on a 35-acre site known by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. It is also revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.

Days after losing trust vote, KP Oli re-appointed as Prime Minister of Nepal: Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Days after losing trust vote, KP Oli re-appointed as Prime Minister of Nepal: Here is what happened

In a dramatic turn of events in Nepal, KP Sharma Oli was reappointed as Prime Minister on Thursday just days after he was forced to step down following a vote of no confidence in the Parliament.

According to the reports, KP Sharma Oli has been reappointed as the country’s Prime Minister (PM) by the Nepalese President after opposition parties failed to secure a majority in the Parliament in Kathmandu.

On Monday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had lost the crucial trust vote amidst the massive public anger over his response to a deadly second wave of Covid-19. After Oli’s loss, Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari had asked the opposition parties to prove their majority to form a new government by Thursday.

Following this, Nepali Congress (NC) Sher Bahadur Deuba had staked the claim for the post of Prime Minister. Deuba had also gained the support of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. However, riddled by factionalism, the opposition parties failed to secure majority seats in the House to form a new government.

Reportedly, Deuba could not get support from Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP). JSP’s President Upendra Yadav had assured to support Deuba, but the party’s other president Mahanta Thakur had rejected support for the NC-led coalition.

As opposition parties failed to secure a majority, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has reappointed the 69-year-old Communist leader and Chairman of CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli as the Prime Minister of Nepal. In a press statement, the Office of President on Thursday evening said that President Bhandari reappointed Oli as Prime Minister in his capacity as leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives as per Article 78(3) of the Constitution of Nepal.

President Bhandari will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Oli at a ceremony at Shital Niwas on Friday.

Prime Minister Oli has to prove his majority at the House within 30 days after taking the oath, failing which an attempt to form a government under Article 76 (5) would be initiated. If a new government cannot be formed, the President will dissolve the house, and fresh elections will be announced.

The CPN-UML, headed by Oli, is the largest party with 121 seats in the 271-member House of Representatives. The government needs 136 votes to prove their majority in the Parliament.

Kejriwal govt sets aside Rs 50 crores for free vaccination of Delhi residents, while spending far more on PR: Details

Jinit Jain
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Kejriwal govt sets aside Rs 50 crores for free vaccination of Delhi residents, while spending far more on PR: Details

Delhi is amongst the worst-hit states by the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak. There were shortages of isolation beds, ICU beds, medicinal oxygen, key antiviral drugs, including remdesivir. The pandemic not only revealed how woefully unprepared the national capital was handling the resurgent flare-up of the COVID-19 outbreak, but it also betrayed the incompetence and ineptitude of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government.

With his own house not in order, Kejriwal recently proceeded to advise the Centre on doing away with the vaccine monopoly and allowing other companies to manufacture the two vaccines currently being produced in India—Covishield and Covaxin. He wrote a letter to PM Modi, cautioning that the current wave of the coronavirus outbreak is lethal and the focus should be on vaccinating the entire country aggressively.

“The second wave of Covid is very fatal and the disease has reached the villages with many lives lost… There is a need to vaccinate all the citizens as soon as possible… Presently only two companies are manufacturing vaccines in India. Providing vaccine to the whole country through two companies only is not possible. It requires ramping up vaccine manufacturing at war footing,” said Kejriwal in a letter to Modi.

While there is merit in Kejriwal’s argument that the country should be hurrying up the vaccination of its people to avoid subsequent bouts of COVID-19 outbreak, it does not jibe with the AAP government’s priorities in Delhi. After bungling up the COVID-outbreak in Delhi, the AAP government pompously announced a free COVID-19 vaccination programme for Delhi residents—’Aam Aadmi Free Covid Vaccine’, perhaps in a bid to pacify people who were enraged at its poor handling of the crisis.

In this pursuit, the AAP government in Delhi announced a paltry allocation of Rs 50 crores. For a city with a population of 2 crores, it will require at least 4 crores of vaccine doses to fully vaccinate its people. Considering that a single dose of vaccine costs Rs 250, even though it is higher than that, the Delhi government will require at least Rs 1000 crores to provide free vaccination to the entire population. Even if one accounts for free vaccines that the Centre is providing Delhi to vaccinate its people, the meagre amount of Rs 50 crores as against the requirement of Rs 1000 crores speaks volumes of AAP’s lack of seriousness towards free vaccination.

For AAP, PR and self-promotion more important than state’s Health Care

By contrast, AAP had allocated more than Rs 150 crores for advertising and marketing itself, and that too for only the first three months of 2021. An RTI reply dated April 08 has revealed that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has spent Rs 150 crores from January 2021 to March 2021 on advertisements and publicity through various mediums. 

The RTI reply uploaded by a Twitter user Alok Bhatt revealed that Rs 32.52 crores were spent on ads by the AAP government in January 2021, Rs 25.33 crores were spent in February 2021 and a whopping Rs 92.48 crores were spent in March 2021. This averages to Rs 1.67 crore daily when the health infrastructure in the national capital had begun to crumble amid the second wave of coronavirus.

The reply specifies that the total expenditure includes advertisements and publicity through print media, electronic media, and the internet.

Further, Kejriwal government has spent over 800 crores in advertisement expenses in past two years.

Clearly, for the Delhi government, managing PR is much higher in its list of priorities than providing free vaccination for the entire population of Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal recently proclaimed that the Delhi government will soon be floating global tenders for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines. With the allocation of a mere Rs 50 crores, one cannot help but wonder how they could expect to get anything substantial that could help them boost the vaccination in Delhi.

Given Kejriwal’s tendency to abdicate the responsibility and pass the buck on the Centre, as he recently did when he suggested that the central government should procure vaccines on behalf of all the states, it won’t be surprising if he asks the Centre to foot the bill for the free vaccination to the people of Delhi.

This misplaced priority of splurging money on promoting oneself over earmarking sufficient allocation for the free vaccination of Delhi residents encapsulates the Arvind Kejriwal government’s COVID-19 mismanagement in the national capital.

Delhi’s bungled handling of the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak

Delhi was in the throes of a raging coronavirus outbreak last month as the cases increased dramatically and the hospitals in the national capital struggled with the oxygen supplies. Not just oxygen, but there was also shortages of beds, key antiviral drugs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients in Delhi have been left to fend for themselves as they contend with the scarcity of oxygen, beds and medicines. In the absence of a responsible government in the state, their relatives often had to resort to Twitter and other social media websites for raising SOS alarm and seeking help.

Even the hospitals in Delhi have accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of mismanaging the coronavirus outbreak and not providing a steady supply of oxygen to them, which resulted in deaths of patients who could have otherwise be saved if the Delhi government had competently handled the crisis.

Delhi government’s incompetence in handling the oxygen requirement in the national capital can be gauged from the fact that they have often been contradicting their own stand with respect to the oxygen requirement in the city.

Days after the Supreme Court ordered setting up a panel to carry out an audit of supply, distribution, and utilization of oxygen supply in the national capital, the Arvind Kejriwal government yesterday announced that they have an excess supply of the same and have offered to give the surplus oxygen to the states who need it.

For all this while, the AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal had maintained that Delhi needs a daily supply of at least 976 MT of oxygen to emerge out of the crisis in the national capital. The party leadership has been pinning the blame on the central government for not providing them with the required 976 MT of oxygen. But after the city-state was supplied with 730 MT of oxygen, following court orders, the CM started saying that they have enough oxygen to open thousands of new oxygen beds.

Maharashtra Govt cancels plan to spend Rs 6 crore on Ajit Pawar’s PR agency after facing severe backlash

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra Govt cancels plan to spend Rs 6 crore on Ajit Pawar’s PR agency after facing severe backlash

The Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray has reportedly cancelled its decision to spend Rs 5.98 crore for appointing a private agency to boost the image of the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The decision came after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government faced severe backlash for earmarking the amount for a minister’s PR at a time when the country is grappling with the Covid-19 crisis.

According to reports, following the criticism, Pawar himself has issued the instructions to cancel the earlier government order in this regard.

BJP had opposed and raised concerns after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra Wednesday promulgated an order for appointing an external agency to handle the social media accounts of Deputy Chief Minister of Ajit Pawar.

BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar slammed Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for overburdening the State’s treasury which was already in a bad shape in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19 in the state that has ravaged the state’s finances.

Maharashtra govt spends Rs 6 cr in hiring PR agency to handle Ajit Pawar’s SM accounts

On May 13 it was reported how the order signed by the Undersecretary of the general administration RN Musale said that the external agency would handle Ajit Pawar’s Twitter handle and accounts on Facebook, Blogger, YouTube, Instagram. The private agency will also handle the sound cloud, WhatsApp bulletin, Telegram channel and SMS. It said that since the DGIPR lacks professional and technical competence to deal with social media, so it was felt that it would be appropriate if an external agency were hired for the purpose. And for this purpose, the Maharashtra Government had agreed to shell out a whooping amount of Rs 6 crores from the exchequer funds.

Israel Defence Forces debunk propaganda peddled by Palestinian supporters, explain how Hamas is causing death of Gazan civilians

OpIndia Staff
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Israel Defence Forces debunk propaganda peddled by Palestinian supporters, explain how Hamas is causing death of Gazan civilians

Amidst the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has given a point-by-point rebuttal of the propaganda peddled on social media by Palestinian Supporters.

In a series of tweets posted on Friday (May 14), IDF debunked all allegations of ‘human rights violations’ and ‘ethnic cleansing’ levelled against it. The Israel Defence Forces said, “Last week, violent clashes erupted in East Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount. This week, the violence escalated, with Palestinian terror organizations launching rockets from Gaza Into Israel.”

IDF informed that about 1,750 rockets have been fired at the Jewish State by terror outfits such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). This has led to 7 casualties and 523 injuries on the Israeli side. Several rockets launched by the terror organizations have hit homes, hospitals, schools, and buses. It further emphasized that the IDF has so far struck over 650 terror targets in Gaza including 10 attack tunnels and rocket launch sites. In this process, over 100 terrorists associated with Hamas and PIJ have been neuralised.

The Israeli Defence Forces further debunked the propaganda surrounding the high casualty numbers in Gaza as compared to Israel. “Of the 1,750+ rockets that they have fired since Monday, 300 misfired and exploded inside Gaza, killing and injuring innocent Gazans in the vicinity. This is because Hamas and Islamic Jihad deliberately place rocket launchers and military sites within densely populated civilian areas in the Gaza Strip,” it said.

Hamas causing the death of Gazan civilians by putting them at risk: IDF

“In addition, when the IDF warns Gazan civilians to evacuate, Hamas and Islamic Jihad encourage civilians to stay instead. But in Israel, the IDF does everything it can to protect Israeli citizens and the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System has successfully intercepted over 90% of rockets fired at Israel,” it continued.

The IDF informed that Jerusalem came under rocket attack for the first time in 2014. At the same time, it has accused Hamas and Islamic Jihad of launching hundreds of rockets on Tel Aviv. Israeli Defence Forces emphasized that this has led to millions of civilians running for cover from the rocket fire. At the same time, one IDF soldier was also killed in one of the anti-tank missiles launched from the Gaza strip.

The Israeli Defence Forces highlighted the response of the Jewish State against the barrage of rocket fires. “In response to the ongoing attacks, the IDF has taken action to eliminate these sources of terror: Hamas and Islamic Jihad have placed rocket launchers throughout Gaza. And when they fire rockets at Israel, they are doing so in close vicinity to Gazan civilians. The way to eliminate the launch sites and prevent the terrorist organizations from firing rockets at Israel — is through military air strikes,” it added.

Top terrorists killed by IDF

The IDF also pointed out the names of top terrorists, who have been eliminated by Israel’s Defense Forces. It includes Gaza city Brigade Commander of Hamas (Baseem Issa), Hamas’ R&D Head (Khazem Khatib), Head of Counter-Espionage Department (Wail Issa), Head of Hamas Military Intelligence Security Department (Hassan Kaogi), Senior Hamas R& D official (Juma Tahla), and Head of PIJ’s rocket unit (Samech Mamluch).

“Hamas terrorists have dug tunnels from Gaza into Israel. The IDF has been exposing Hamas tunnels since 2014, and has already exposed and targeted 10 new ones this week. If these tunnels were not neutralised, Hamas would be able to carry out one of its goals of infiltrating into Israel and kidnapping Israelis,” IDF tweeted.

While debunking the anti-Israeli propaganda, IDF remarked, “The fact that there aren’t more casualties in Israel does not mean that Hamas isn’t trying to kill Israeli civilians. It simply means that the IDF is preventing them from doing so at an incredible level. The Iron Dome Aerial Defense System and easily accessible bomb shelters all over Israel have saved thousands of lives.”

It concluded, “IDF troops will continue to work 24/7 to defend Israeli civilians at the highest level possible and minimize Gazan casualties wherever possible.”

The ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict

The hostilities between the Jewish nation and its nemesis Hamas are at an all-time high, especially after the intense aerial exchanges that started on Tuesday evening and continued well past midnight. On Tuesday, Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas unleashed massive airstrikes against Israel, firing hundreds of rockets inside the country.

The country’s air defence system, popularly known as the Iron Dome, intercepted the continuous barrage of rockets targeting Tel Aviv and central Israel Tuesday evening. Israel, in response, stepped up its attacks on the Palestinian terror group Hamas inside Gaza Strip. The Israel Defence Forces carried out airstrikes on targets in Gaza in response to continued attacks by Hamas against Israel.

During the retaliatory strikes on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike struck a high-rise office and residential building controlled by Hamas. At least 103 people have been killed in Gaza in the past 4 days. The violence is the culmination of weeks of tensions in Jerusalem, with clashes taking place between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in and around the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, a chronic flashpoint in the protracted Israel-Palestine conflict. The mosque is perched on a 35-acre site known by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. It is also revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.

His mental, physical condition can’t be ignored: Former military officers question legitimacy of Joe Biden’s victory, ability to lead

OpIndia Staff
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His mental, physical condition can’t be ignored: Former military officers question legitimacy of Joe Biden’s victory, ability to lead

124 retired US military leaders have written an open letter questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 United States Presidential election as well as President Joe Biden’s fitness to be commander-in-chief.

According to the reports, the letter written by a group of veterans called – “Flag Officers 4 America” said that the United States “is in deep peril” with Americans “in a fight for our survival as the Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776”.

“Without fair and honest elections that accurately reflect the ‘will of the people,’ our Constitutional Republic is lost. Election integrity demands ensuring there is one legal vote cast and counted per citizen,” said the letter released on Tuesday by “Flag Officers 4 America”. The letter is signed by 124 former admirals and generals.

The “Flag Officers 4 America” is a group of US military veterans, who pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the US against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Some of the signatories include – Retired Rear Adm. John Poindexter, who was the National Security Adviser under President Ronald Reagan, and Retd Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, who spent five years as Deputy Undersecretary of Defence for Intelligence under President George W Bush and is now Executive Vice President of the Family Research Council.

In their letter, the former generals and admirals urged the FBI and Supreme Court to act swiftly when election irregularities are surfaced and not ignore them as was done in 2020.

US military veterans raise concerns over Biden’s health

Further, the signatories have also addressed concerns over Biden’s health.

“The mental and physical condition of the Commander in Chief cannot be ignored. He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night,” the letter said.

The letter further read, “Recent Democrat leadership’s inquiries about nuclear code procedures send a dangerous national security signal to nuclear-armed adversaries, raising the question about who is in charge. We must always have an unquestionable chain of command”.

The letter goes on to address a number of pressing issues such as the border crisis, China, Iran nuclear question, Rule of Law in the US. As per the veterans, the border crisis is jeopardizing national security by “increasing human trafficking, drug cartels, terrorist entry, health/CV19 dangers, and humanitarian crises”.

The US military veterans also addressed the ongoing tussle between the US and China and described China as the “greatest external threat to America”.

Interestingly, the veterans’ open letter comes almost a year after Former President Donald Trump had cast similar doubts on Joe Biden’s health and suitability to rule, referring to him as “Sleepy Joe”. During the 2020 US Presidential Election campaign, Former POTUS Trump had also questioned Biden’s capabilities by saying that there was “something going on” with Biden’s mental abilities.

US elections and allegations of electoral fraud

The 2020 US Presidential Elections were marred by controversies after several shocking allegations of massive election fraud were made against the Democratic party. According to the critics, the Democratic party indulged in ‘rigging’ elections through ballot papers to gain a lead in key swing states.

The Trump campaign had alleged that there is serious voter fraud as they demanded a stop to the counting process in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Michigan after several inconsistencies were found in the counting process. The allegations of rigging in the US election process surfaced after several persons pointed out about the sudden halt of the vote count process on the counting day and the subsequent overnight increase in votes for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, especially in states like Michigan and Wisconsin without adding a single vote to President Donald Trump or any other candidates.

Despite several American voters pointing out the serious election fraud, especially the act of massive rigging in the ballot system, the American media and electoral institutions overlooked the allegations and did not even initiate a serious probe to look into such serious allegations.

Bombay HC asks Maha govt how film stars and politicians are offering to provide Remdesivir despite shortage

OpIndia Staff
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Bombay HC asks Maha govt how film stars and politicians are offering to provide Remdesivir despite shortage

The spread of COVID-19 has left the country’s healthcare system overwhelmed. Many states like Maharashtra have been complaining of facing an acute shortage of medical supplies like oxygen and the much sought-after COVID-19 drug, Remdasivir. Despite this shortage, many Bollywood stars and politicians have offered to provide oxygen cylinders and drugs like Remdasivir and Tocilizubam to patients in response to their plea on social media.

Now, the Bombay HC has pulled up the state government, seeking a response on how, despite the state facing an acute shortage, some famous personalities are being able to procure and distribute Remdesivir freely.

The order was passed during the hearing of PILs on the coronavirus situation on Wednesday but published on the HC website on Thursday evening. When the judges were hearing the plea, Advocate Rajesh Inamdar annexed several Tweets from Bollywood actor and self-claimed ‘messiah’ Sonu Sood and NCP’s Zeeshan Siddiqui, distributing Remdesivir vials within hours of such pleas from anywhere in the country.

A two-judge bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni said that as per previous orders of the Supreme Court and several High Courts, the drug was supposed to be allocated to states only by the Union government. Then how are some celebrities and politicians easily procuring and distributing the drug in response to pleas on Twitter?

‘This can amount to black marketing’, Bombay HC seeks response from Maha Govt

“If Remdesivir is being allocated by the central government to the state, then how the same can be privately available for distribution at the hands of such political and film personalities”, the court asked in the order.

Justice GS Kulkarni asked in court whether this can amount to black marketing. “Whether this would amount to hoarding, illegal stocking, and illegal distribution”? the bench said, asking the Maharashtra state government to submit a response.

Adding that such a parallel system of distribution of anti-COVID drugs might cause “serious prejudice” to patients in urgent need, the judges noted: “Also, such personalities making the drug available privately raises a grave question as to its equitable distribution in a system/regime which is set into motion for its allocation.”

It also raised its concerns on how some unscrupulous persons too may take advantage of this for making money.

Saying so, the court asked the Maharashtra government and Centre to file a reply affidavit by May 19 as to how Remdesivir was being “parallelly distributed by political and film personalities”.

Maharashtra plays politics over supplies of Remdesivir

It is pertinent to note here that last month, the Maharashtra Government had accused the central government of discriminating against the state on supplies of Remdesivir. Moreover, Maharashtra’s Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik had launched a scathing attack on the opposition party in Maharashtra accusing them of hoarding Remdesivir- an antiviral drug being used for Covid treatment, by sourcing it from Bruck Pharma. 

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had, however, diffused the baseless allegations made by Nawab Malik. Somaiya had tweeted a copy of the official approval letter signed by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration- Maharashtra State, giving a go-ahead to the distribution of Remdesivir.

Chhattisgarh health minister who had spread vaccine hesitancy against Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin now takes the same jab

OpIndia Staff
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Chhattisgarh health minister who had spread vaccine hesitancy against Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin now takes the same jab

Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh Deo, who had in February this year asked the central government to halt the supply of a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine- Covaxin to the state until its efficacy could be proven has taken his first jab of the same vaccination. The Congress leader took to Twitter on May 11 to share the news.

He wrote that after six weeks of recovering from COVID, he has taken his first shot of Covaxin as instructed by the doctors.

Chhattisgarh Health Minister spreads panic and misinformation on Covaxin

Interestingly, Deo is the same minister who had in the beginning of the year, left no stone unturned to spread misinformation and unnecessary panic by doubting the performance and efficacy of India’s first indigenous COVAXIN developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV).

Letter written by TS Singh Deo to union health minister on January 21, 2021

In the letter to the Union Health Minister dated January 21, 2021, TS Singh Deo, who is one of the senior-most Congress leaders from the state had said that there was an “inhibition among the community” regarding Covaxin, as the vaccine had been given emergency use authorization before the completion of third phase human trials. Deo further claimed that Covaxin vials did not carry expiry dates on them. He had requested the Union health minister to halt the supply of COVAXIN to the state ‘until these issues are addressed to the satisfaction of the state’s Health Department’.

Union Health Minister slams the Congress minister for raising doubts on the efficacy of Covaxin

In response to the Congress minister’s fear-mongering, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had hit out at Deo for spreading vaccine hesitancy at a time when the country was facing fierce challenges dealing with a severe but highly unpredictable threat to the lives of their citizens. 

“In such unprecedented times, you should help address any vaccine hesitancy & do what’s in the best interest of people, not further vested interests,” the Union health minister had said in his tweet, referring to Deo.

Vardhan had asserted that both Covaxin and Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccines were “safe and immunogenic” and “should be used expeditiously” to “rapidly confer protection to prioritized beneficiaries”.

Covaxin is India’s first domestically-developed Covid-19 vaccine. It is a two-dose jab that uses an inactivated or “dead” form of the virus. Covaxin was approved for emergency use back in January. Covaxin Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials conducted in 755 participants demonstrated a high safety profile of the candidate vaccine with seroconversion rates of 98.3% and 81.1% on day 56 and 104 respectively.

India’s first home made Covaxin proven to be 81 per cent efficient in interim Phase III trial

The Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research began the phase 3 study of Covaxin in November 2020 across 25 study sites and was conducted on a total of 25,800 participants between 18-98 years of age, including 2,433 over the age of 60 and 4,500 with comorbidities.

Last month, India’s Bharat Biotech finally announced interim Phase III data for its Covid-19 shot, with the vaccine showing 81% efficacy at preventing mild, moderate and severe coronavirus infections and working well against most variants.

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