On Friday (May 7), the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh transferred ₹1500 crore to the bank accounts of 75 lakh farmers in the State. The amount was disbursed under the Mukhyamantri Kisan Kalyan Yojana.
As per reports, Singh informed that there are 78 lakh farmers in Madhya Pradesh. He added that only around 24 lakh farmers among them can benefit from the Minimum Support Price scheme. Madhya Pradesh CM emphasised that under the Pradhan Mantri Yojana, farmers with half an acre of land will receive ₹6000 per annum from the Union government. He added that about 77 lakh farmers have received ₹8,465 crores so far.
The government has procured more than 1 lakh metric tonnes of gram and 80 lac metric tonnes of wheat from the farmers. The Madhya Pradesh government has also extended the last date of procurement of food grains from May 5 to May 25. The date for the Indore division has been extended only up to May 15. The last date for loan repayment for the farmers of the State have also been extended.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan addresses farmer organisations, seeks support to fight pandemic
Shivraj Singh Chouhan also addressed farmers and farmer organisations via video conferencing and reiterated that the government is farmer-friendly and will procure every crop from them. He had also urged the farmers to support the government in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister was also joined by Agriculture Development Minister Kamal Patel during the virtual address.
On Saturday (May 8), controversial Youtuber and former Big Boss contestant ‘Hindustani Bhau’ aka Vikas Fhatak was detained by the Shivaji Park police for violating Coronavirus protocols in pursuit of his scheduled protest.
Hindustani Bhau had announced on Twitter on Wednesday (May 6) that he would launch a protest if the Uddhav Thackeray-led-Maharashtra government did not cancel exams for students. The Youtuber had said, “Your Hindustani Bhau will launch a demonstration for students and their family members. At 12:30pm on Saturday, I will raise my voice for the students of India at the Shivaji Park in Dadar.”
He further added, “I will continue with my protests until exams are cancelled or the students receive a concession for their fees.” To ensure that his plan succeeds, Hindustani Bhau decided to travel to Shivaji Park by ambulance. Due to the ongoing lockdown in Maharashtra, vehicular movement is highly restricted in the state. Individuals are permitted to travel in public only in case of emergencies. In a bid to avoid vehicle checks by the police, the Youtuber had arranged for an ambulance.
Screengrab of the tweet by Hindustani Bhau
It must be mentioned that ambulances are not stopped by the police, given that it falls under the category of emergency service. On learning that Hindustani Bhau reached Shivaji park, a local police team immediately rushed to the scene and detained him. Interestingly, a group of 15 reporters was already at the spot even before the police arrived.
While speaking about the matter, DCP (Zone 5) Pranaya Ashok emphasised, “Yes. It’s a gross publicity stunt with misuse of a vital medical facility. He has been detained. An FIR is being registered. He is likely to be arrested.”
— Mohammad Amaan Sheikh (@Mohamma58267895) May 8, 2021
Before the arrival of police, Vikas Fhatak told the reports that he is demanding the cancellation of the 12th exams, and the fees for students should be waived off. ‘Hold the exams after this Covid pandemic is over, do not play with the life of the children,’ he kept saying even as police took him from the spot and made him sit in a police vehicle.
Hindustani Bhau shot to fame for making roast videos of politicians, celebrities and Pakistanis. Due to the abusive nature of his content, his account was terminated by Youtube.
A newly elected Gram Pradhan in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh and his supporters have been arrested after pro-Pakistan songs were played during his bike rally which was part of his victory procession. Accused Imran Khan was elected from Mangra village in Ramganj area of Amethi.
The lyrics of the song went ‘Dekho Imran Khan aaya, naya Pakistan laaya’ (Look Imran Khan has come, he has brought new Pakistan with him). A video of the song being played had subsequently gone viral on the internet. An FIR was registered on the 6th of May and arrests were made on Friday.
Imran Khan also violated the Election Commission’s order barring victory processions in the wake of the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic. Aides Zabir Rehman, Maqsud, Ishtikhar, Aleem, and Shahrukh Khan were also arrested along with the Gram Pradhan.
Circle Officer, Amethi, confirmed that the bike rally had indeed taken place. “The footage from the CCTV cameras installed on the procession’s route also confirmed that the bike rally was taken out by the winning pradhan,” he said.
According to a TOI, the accused have been booked under sections related to speaking and circulating words against national integration (153-B) of the IPC, the Epidemic Act, and negligent act likely to spread disease, apart from illegal payments in election. 50 unnamed individuals have also been booked in the matter.
Amidst the rising demand for oxygen from several states due to rising Covid-19 cases, the Supreme Court of India has set up a National Task Force to streamline medical oxygen allocation across the country on a “scientific, rational and equitable basis”.
A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, in its order, constituted a 12 member National Task Force (NTF) on Friday to assess, recommend the need and distribution of oxygen for the entire country. The court said that the NTF which has medical experts and doctors from across the country as its members will have the Cabinet Secretary to the central government as its convenor.
While constituting the Task Force, the court specified that the purpose of it would be to assess and make recommendations to the central government. The allocation of medical oxygen would, however, remain with the central government, said the court. It may be noted that the central govt had agreed to the formation of the task force during the hearing in the matter.
The names included in the Task Force are:
Dr Bhabatosh Biswas, Former Vice-Chancellor, West Bengal University of Health Sciences, Kolkata
Dr Devender Singh Rana, Chairperson, Board of Management, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi
Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairperson and Executive Director, Narayana Healthcare, Bengaluru
Dr Gagandeep Kang, Professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
Dr JV Peter, Director, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairperson and Managing Director, Medanta Hospital and Heart Institute, Gurugram
Dr Rahul Pandit, Director, Critical Care Medicine and ICU, Fortis Hospital, Mulund (Mumbai, Maharashtra) and Kalyan (Maharashtra)
Dr Saumitra Rawat, Chairman & Head, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplant, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin, Senior Professor and Head of Department of Hepatology, Director, Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS), Delhi
Dr Zarir F Udwadia, Consultant Chest Physician, Hinduja Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital and Parsee General Hospital, Mumbai
Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (ex officio member)
The Convenor of the National Task Force, who shall also be a member, will be the Cabinet Secretary to the Centre
The court informed that the Union Government had suggested possible names to be included in the Task Force.
While passing the order, the apex court bench comprising of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah specified that NTF would be entrusted with addressing issues relating to streamlining medical oxygen allocation to different various states. It would derive methodologies for the allocation of medical oxygen to the States and UTs on a scientific and equitable basis.
Further, NTF would review and suggests measures to ensure the availability of essential and crucial medicines. Additionally, it would work out corrective measures to ensure better preparedness for future emergencies and also facilitate audits to determine whether the supplies allocated by the central government reach the concerned state to Union territory, said the court.
Supreme Court orders audit of oxygen supply to states
Another significant decision of the Supreme Court in the matter was audit of oxygen supplies to various states and union territories. During the hearing, the union govt had said that an audit of the oxygen use by the states is needed as the demand by several states are not realistic. The Delhi govt had opposed this proposal.
But the Supreme Court agreed with the centre and said that the Task Force will facilitate audits by sub-groups within each State and UT to determine whether they are receiving oxygen allotted by the centre, efficacy of the oxygen distribution networks, effectiveness and transparency of the supply, and accountability in regard to the utilisation oxygen supplied to the states.
The apex court said that the Task Force will constitute sub-groups/committees for such oxygen audit comprising one state govt official, one central govt official, two doctors, and A representative from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO). For Delhi, the court said that the sub-committee will consist of AIIMS Delhi director, Dr Randeep Guleria, Max Healthcare director Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, and one IAS officers each from the central and state govt.
The Court made it clear that the purpose of conducting audits is not to scrutinise the decisions made in good faith by doctors while treating their patients. The court said, “the purpose of conducting audits is to ensure accountability in respect of the supplies of oxygen provided to every State/UT. The purpose is to ensure that the supplies which have been allocated are reaching their destination; that they are being made available through the distribution network to the hospitals or, as the case may be, the end-users efficiently and on a transparent basis; and to identify bottlenecks or issues in regard to the utilization of oxygen.”
Supreme Court explains rationale behind formation of the Task Force
Explaining the logic behind its decision to set up the task force, the two-judge bench said: “The rationale for constituting a Task Force at a national level is to facilitate public health response to the pandemic based on scientific and specialised domain knowledge. We expect leading experts in the country shall associate with the Task Force, as members and resource persons,” the court said.
“This will facilitate a meeting of minds and the formulation of scientific strategies to deal with an unprecedented human crisis,” the court added in its final order, asking the Union and state governments, ministries, agencies and departments to “provide complete and real-time data for facilitating the work of the task force”.
Task Force would only have advisory powers
The court in its order cleared that the NFT would, however, have only advisory powers. The court said that based on the Task Force’s recommendations, the union government would take appropriate decision in regard to the allocation of oxygen and all other recommendations. It said that the Task Force shall also share its suggestions from time to time with the apex court.
Saying so, the court requested the Task Force to commence work immediately. The SC recommended that initially, the tenure of this Task Force would be six months and asked the central government to provide all necessary assistance to it.
The apex court concluded that the proceedings of the Task Force should be listed before it on May 17, 2021.
A call girl from Thailand has passed away in Lucknow at the Lohia Hospital due to Covid-19. The call girl was brought to India by the son of a businessman after having spent Rs. 7 lakhs for the same. She fell sick two days after arriving in India, as per reports, and passed away on the 3rd of May.
The Police contacted the Thailand Embassy to hand over the dead body to her family. However, after nobody came forward to claim the body, her last rites were performed in the presence of the agent who helped her come to India. The agent has been identified as one Salman, according to reports.
The Police has already initiated an investigation into the international sex racket in the city. They are also investigating who came in contact with her. According to the Police, she was in contact with a travel agent from Rajasthan. It was the travel agent that sent her to Lucknow.
The son of the businessman had himself contacted the Thailand Embassy and informed them of the situation when she fell sick. Following the call, the Thailand Embassy with help from India’s External Affairs Ministry admitted her to the hospital.
Uttar Pradesh has been hit hard by the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic. The state currently has 2,54,118 active cases of Covid-19.
Amidst the second wave of the pandemic in the country, it has now been reported that 27 faculty members of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have succumbed to Coronavirus infection.
As per reports, the varsity had lost 10 retired and 16 serving faculty members to the pandemic in the past 20 days till yesterday. On Saturday, Dean of Faculty of Law Prof Shakil Ahmed Samdani died at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital where he was undergoing treatment for coronavirus, who became the 17th serving faculty member to die from Covid-19 or related complications.
Before that on Friday (May 7), two faculty members had lost their lives, including Prof Shadab Ahmad Khan (58) and Prof Rafiqul Zaman Khan (55). While Professor Shadab was the Chairman of the Department of Medicine, Professor Rafiqul served as the faculty in the Department of Computer Science. Even the Vice-Chancellor of AMU, Tariq Masoor, lost his 75-year-old brother Omar Farooq to Covid-19.
Earlier on Wednesday (May 5), a 56-year old Professor named Khalid Bin Yusuf died due to the pandemic. Professor Khalid was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and the first Muslim scholar to receive a doctorate degree in Rigveda. Besides, other serving faculty members such as Prof Mohd Ali Khan (60), Prof Qazi Mohd Jamshed (55), Prof Ghuf ran Ahmad (54), Prof Kr Sajid Ali Khan (63), Dr. Mohammad Irian (62), Dr. Aziz Faisal (40), Dr Jibraeil (51), Dr Mohammad Yusuf Ansari (46), Dr Mohd Furgan Sambhali (43), Prof Syed Irian Ahmad (62), Prof Maula Bakhsh Ansari (58), Prof Ehsanullah Fahad (50), Saeed Uzzaman (51) have died due to Coronavirus-related complications.
At the same time, around 10 retired faculty members have passed away. The list included 77-year-old Professor M Mubashir, who was the first alumnus of the varsity.
16 faculty members of AMU currently undergoing treatment for Coronavirus
Meanwhile, around 16 faculty members of Aligarh Muslim University are currently undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC). While speaking about the matter, Vice-Chancellor Tariq Mansoor said, “I appeal to everyone to get vaccinated and follow all Covid-19 protocols.” He added that a void has been created in the varsity after their deaths.
Pahat Abrar, PR Department of AMU, noted, “This Covid has devastated families and taken away our eminent scholars. It is an epic loss for the nation.” Professor Shaheed Ali Siddiqui commented, “Virus has a tendency to mutate and if the numbers of positive cases have increased in the same pace, then the probability of the number of variants will be more which could be very dangerous. Hence, a large number of the population should get vaccinated for protection and cut off these variants.”
On Tuesday, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and BJP MLAs exposed the illegal bed-allotment nexus between civic officials and private agents. The BJP leaders had alleged that some officials in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had joined hands with the touts to book hospital beds in the name of people under home isolation while selling these beds to other patients in need at an exorbitant price.
Addressing a press conference, Surya had alleged that the war room personnel had been running a racket of false blocking the beds and creating artificial shortage despite having enough beds in the Bengaluru city. The BJP MP had alleged that the officials were allotting those beds to the people in exchange for money. He added that there was a nexus between BBMP officials, Aarogya Mitra hospitals and private agents who were indulging in the said crime.
IMPORTANT Addressing issues of irregularities and anomalies in BBMP bed booking for covid patients in Bengaluru along with Bommanahalli MLA Shri. Satish Reddy, Basavanagudi MLA Shri. Ravi Subramanya and Chickpet MLA Shri. Uday Garudachar. https://t.co/mzjjiQq7AP
Further, Surya had questioned the hiring process of 17 individuals in the Covid-19 war room and had questioned the agency that they belonged to about their qualifications. Some of the names he enquired about while confronting BBMP officials are Mansoor Ali, Tahir Ali Khan, Sadiq Pasha, Md Zayed, Alsai Saheer, Umer Khan, Salman Urif, Zameer Pasha, Zabiullah Khan, Sayed Hasnain, Sayed Shahid, Sayeed Shahbaz, Md Yunus, Syed Mohin and Syed Mukesh. The names of the 17 workers were presented to him by the BBMP officials, who had suspected them of carrying irregularities inside the BBMP war room during the allocation of beds to Covid-19 patients.
Following the massive allegations, the Bengaluru police had arrested one Congress party supporter named Nethravathy and her nephew for their involvement in the illegal allotment of beds to Covid-19 patients in Bengaluru in exchange for money. The police had suspected that the accused had contacts with the BBMP war room staff.
Congress, left-wing media outlets put out misinformation against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya
As the Congress party faced massive embarrassment in the state after one of its party supporters was arrested by the Bengaluru police in connection with the BBMP-bed scam, the grand-old party resorted to peddling misinformation on social media by posting morphed images to allege that the accused is actually linked with the BJP. They tried to claim that the accused woman Nethravathy is linked with Tejasvi Surya, who, in fact, was the first person to expose the nexus between private agents and BBMP officials in the allocation of beds to Covid-19 patients in the city.
The Congress party also alleged that Tejsavi Surya was communalising the matter by taking Muslim names, and demanded action against him and other BJP leaders who had accompanied him to the war room.
Augmenting the lies peddled by the Congress party, a few far-left media outlets began to carry out hit-jobs against the young MP by claiming that Tejasvi Surya had unnecessarily communalised the issue by taking out the names of 17 Muslim employees who were working at the BBMP war room in Bengaluru.
The News Minute, a news website that claims to report facts, gave a communal twist to the entire incident by not only sidestepping on the issue of massive irregularities in the process but also perhaps to hide the Congress links to the bed-allocation scam that was unearthed by the BJP MP. Following that, a series of media reports emerged that Tejasvi Surya had deliberately uttered the names of the employees working in the BBMP war room as they had belonged to the Muslim community.
Here is a report by TNM accusing him of carrying ‘communal’ politics, instead of reporting on facts pertaining to the unearthing of BBMP scam.
Report by TNM dog whistling against Tejasvi Surya for unearthing a scam
Amidst all these development, the Bengaluru South MP had also clarified that the list consisting of the names of the 17 Muslim workers were not prepared by him, but was presented to him by the BBMP officials. Most importantly, the BBMP officials had already acted on some of the workers, incidentally all belonging to the Muslim community, for the irregularities in the bed allocation.
However, the media groups deliberately ignored the underlying issue, i.e., the irregularities within the BBMP regarding the illegal allocations of bed in exchange for money, rather in a classic attempt of targeting the whistle-blower, pounced on the BJP MP only because he had read the names of a few individuals who were suspended for their alleged involvement in the BBMP bed scam, and incidentally belonged to the same community.
TNM peddles misinformation, other media house latches onto it
Continuing its attack on Tejasvi Surya, the far-left news website ‘The News Minute’ published another report on Friday claiming that Tejasvi Surya had revisited the BBMP war room to ‘apologise’ to the 200-odd people working there. In the first report it had published, TNM had claimed that Tejasvi had allegedly “read out the names of 16 Muslim men who worked there, accusing them of being a part of a Covid-19 bed-blocking scam and due to this, scores of the 212 people who work in this war room have faced harassment, including sexual harassment”.
In its report, TNM claimed that the names and numbers of the employees working in the BBMP war room had allegedly got leaked, leading to sexual harassment against them. Incidentally, TNM blamed Tejasvi Surya for the leaks even though it was the Congress party and its media ecosystem who leaked the list of all the 200-odd employees working in the BBMP war room after the Tuesday incident to prove that it was not just Muslims who were working at the war room.
— Kavitha Reddy #WeThe49Percent (@KavithaReddy16) May 5, 2021
#BJP MP #TejasviSurya attempted to communalize the #BBMPBedScam issue by insinuating that Muslims are behind this scam. He purposely read out the names of 16 Muslim telecallers out of the 206 hired by #BBMP.
The names and numbers leaked by the Congress IT cell to target the BJP leader may have been accessed by some elements, who allegedly harassed some 200-odd people working at the BBMP war room. However, TNM reported that it was Tejasvi Surya who leaked the data leading to harassment.
Further, TNM published purported statements put out by Tejasvi Surya at the BBMP war room on Thursday, claiming that he had ‘apologised’ for leaks. Interestingly, the claims against Tejasvi Surya made by the TNM in their report is based on imaginary sources. There are neither concrete facts nor evidence to claim that Tejasvi had apologised to the employees for inspecting the BBMP war room.
Here is the snapshot of the TNM’s first report that claims that Tejasvi had apologised for storming into the BBMP room:
Further, in its report, TNM claimed the people working in the war room faced constant harassment from strangers over the phone, with some even getting visits to their home address to demand hospital beds while confronting them about irregularities. “Several workers have had to disable their phone numbers because of the constant phone calls,” the TNM report claimed yet again by attributing to the so-called ‘sources’. However, TNM has not provided any evidence to back these claims.
Tejasvi Surya said he will teach a lesson to people who leaked numbers, says TNM
The report also quoted Tejasvi Surya as saying, “Even my number was leaked, and I, too, am facing threats. Don’t worry, this will all be over in a week. I am with you. I will teach a lesson to those who leaked your numbers. I want you to remember that a lot of good has happened through me.”
“I’m not casteist or communal. I am doing good for the people. I don’t have any bad intentions,” TNM quoted Tejasvi Surya as saying in its report citing the same sources yet again. But there is no clarity on who these ‘sources’ are.
From the looks of it, TNM, in their eagerness to target Tejasvi Surya, have invented quotes and imaginary sources to claim that Tejasvi Surya had apologised for his actions that led to unearthing a major scam in the city. However, their so-called ‘investigative’ report was soon picked up by various other media outlets to propagate misinformation regarding the entire incident.
Based on the reports published by The News Minute, several other media portals also published their reports claiming that Tejasvi Surya had apologised for his so-called communal actions inside the BBMP war room on Tuesday.
Another far-left website – Scroll, which has a history of peddling misinformation on social media, went a step ahead to declare that BJP MP Tejasvi Surya apologised to Covid war room staff for his alleged ‘communal’ remarks.
Another news website News18 added that BJP MP Tejasvi Surya apologises to Muslim BBMP staffers accusing them of corruption. However, in the entire report, they have failed to put out facts or evidence to back their claims.
As TNM published its ‘investigative’ report against Tejasvi Surya, the usual suspects in the social media platforms, joined by the Congress party and left-wing trolls, launched yet another round of attack against the BJYM President.
Tejasvi Surya rejects claims put out by TNM, calls it ‘fake news’
However, as soon as the news went viral, the office of Tejasvi Surya rejected the claims made by the TNM and other news portals regarding his so-called ‘apology’ for carrying out raids on the BBMP war room to expose the illegal bed allocation in exchange for money. Responding swiftly, the office of Tejasvi Surya termed the news reports published by TNM and as well as News18 as fake news.
— Office of Tejasvi Surya (@Offtejasvisurya) May 7, 2021
Several netizens demanded TNM and other media outlets to put out facts about the case after Tejasvi Surya’s office clarified that they had not issued any apology for the incident as claimed by the media outlets.
TNM quietly deletes statements attributed to Tejasvi Surya, rephrases his quotes
Hours later, the TNM, perhaps realising their mistake of inventing quotes, silently altered their original report. The edited report, though retained the same headline, however, had massive changes. The TNM quietly removed some of the quotes they had attributed to Tejasvi Surya that originally insinuated that he had indeed apologised for ‘communalising’ the entire incident.
In the edited report, TNM rephrased some of the earlier invented quotes that were published by them earlier to depict that Tejasvi Surya had not only apologised for his actions but also sought vengeance for leaking his personal details.
Here are some of the quotes that were paraphrased by TNM after office of Tejasvi Surya challenged them:
The edited report by TNM.
The shocking unethical journalism of TNM, however, does not end there. The TNM that was aggressively pushing theories by inventing quotes saying Tejasvi Surya had regretted his alleged ‘communal’ act, however, retracted some of the quotes from its initial reports.
Some of the quotes that were retracted from the initial report are:
“I didn’t see whether the list was Hindu or Muslim”
“I’m not casteist or communal”.
The two above statements, allegedly made by Tejasvi Surya, were featured in TNM’s original report. For a reader, the above statements strike as if Tejasvi Surya had accepted that he had fuelled a ‘communal’ angle to the entire case and was apologising for the same. However, this is not true.
It seems that TNM invented some sources and quotes to depict Tejasvi Surya as ‘guilty’ in the entire incident. However, failing to back it up with concrete evidence, TNM has silently deleted the statements that were attributed to him in their earlier report.
After caught propagating lies, TNM has now given a clarification for the same, claiming that TNM had only accessed the recording of Tejasvi Surya’s interaction at the war room after they had published their first story. Also, TNM confesses that they had published their story on quotes from people who work in the war room.
Further, TNM also claimed that they have now edited the story to put out the exact words spoken by the MP. After carrying out a hitjob against Tejasvi Surya, The News Minute has now released a statement saying, “they had inadvertently added on the basis of sources, that said Tejasvi Surya insisted he wasn’t casteist or communal and they are removing as it was not found in the audio clip accessed by us”.
So, to put it simply, TNM initially published a report targeting Tejasvi Surya without any substantial evidence to back their claims. However, they based the entire narrative on imaginary sources and fake quotes attributing to him. When confronted, TNM has now silently deleted most of the references and rephrased the quotes that did the damage in the first place.
Social media users points discrepancy, TNM Editor admits they erred
As social media users pointed out the massive discrepancies in their report, Dhanya Rajendran, the Editor-in-Chief of TNM, put out a series of clarification to limit the damage. Admitting that they had erred in reporting facts, Dhanya Rajendran said that there was an issue when they had quoted saying Tejasvi Surya said “he isn’t ‘communal or casteist” as such statements were not in the audio they had accessed.
“Maybe it was there in a part of the speech we missed. However, if you didn’t say that, sorry for attributing it,” she said.
There is only one issue with the TNM story. We said Tejasvi Surya said he isn’t ‘communal or casteist’. In the 15 min audio, it is not there. Maybe it was there in a part of the speech we missed. However, if you didn’t say that, sorry for attributing it.
Dhanya Rajendran has also now shared a purported audio conversation, allegedly being attributed to Tejasvi Surya. Sharing audio of an obscure news network called India News Ahead, Dhanya Rajendran continued to defend her report saying that Tejasvi Surya had apologised to the BBMP war room staff for exposing the irregularities in the system.
Did Tejasvi Surya ‘apologise’ as claimed by TNM?
As we looked into the purported audio of Tejasvi Surya shared by Dhanya Rajendran, we could not find any apology issued by Tejasvi Surya or his team to the alleged workers of the BBMP war pertaining to his actions that led to the expose of a massive bed scam in the state and the subsequent arrests, suspensions of the accused in the case.
Here is the audio that has been shared by Dhanya Rajendran:
In the above audio, a person, who is being claimed by TNM as Tejasvi Surya, is heard clarifying on the alleged leaks of names of employees working in the BBMP war room and addressing the issues of their safety. OpIndia could not independently verify whether the audio is authentic or not. We could also not figure out whether the person in the audio is Tejasvi Surya or not as we could not contact him or his team.
“On behalf of you, we will write to Facebook regarding the leaks. As it has already been leaked, not just on Facebook, it is technically impractical to delete it,” the person in the audio, who according to Dhanya is Tejasvi Surya, can be heard saying.
Further, in the audio, the person can be heard saying, “People and patients from all communities, caste work and seek service here (BBMP war room). After the incident, people are falsely claiming that the entire incident was a conspiracy against Muslims. I want to remind you that I was given a list of employees by officials, whose name I read it out here. I had inquired about the selection process of these candidates. It is not my fault. I only request you to consider that Covid-19 does not discriminate on religion and urge you to work unitedly”.
No instance of apologising by person in the audio
In the entire audio shared by Dhanya Rajendran as a source to the accusations made against Tejasvi Surya, there is no instance of that person in the audio is apologising for his actions. Rather, he categorically says it is not his fault if BBMP officials give him a list that had only Muslim names. The tone and tenor of the person, who according to TNM is Tejasvi Surya, also suggests that the visit was more of a courtesy visit to address the grievances of the Covid war room staff and not to apologise for his earlier actions.
If at all the audio is authentic, it only goes on to show that Tejasvi Surya has displayed a statesmanship by returning to Covid-19 war room to address the grievances of the workers, who are being let down by some of the other staff who have now been caught for selling beds in exchange for money.
Analysing all the facts presented above, one can easily realise that TNM invented quotes and claimed that they had accessed some audio to claim that Tejasvi Surya had apologised for his actions on Tuesday. However, after realising their mistake, TNM seems to have quietly altered their report that had initially insinuated that Tejasvi Surya had allegedly regretted making statements that had ‘communal’ overtones.
Finally, by sharing a purported audio file to defend their report against Tejasvi Surya, Dhanya Rajendran has scored a self-goal as the evidence not only vindicates Tejasvi Surya’s stand (if at all one considers that the purported audio file is authentic) but also categorically proves that Tejasvi Surya has not issued any apology for his actions that resulted in the unearthing of a massive scam.
It is also not sure that whether TNM is relying on any other authentic audio/video of the interaction between Tejasvi Surya and BBMP war room staff to make such wild claims. Till now, they have not released any audio or substantial proof to back their claim.
Amusingly, as netizens have begun to ask questions to TNM and its Editor-in-Chief Dhanya Rajendran over their recent hit job, the journalist has now washed her hands off by claiming that she will not be talking about this anymore as she has ‘other work to do’.
Tejasvi told the war room that his number too was leaked, even his parents are being abused. All sides need to stop this. Focus on the pandemic. We will update copy with all the quotes. After that, no more tweets from me on this. I got other work to do.
One can only hope that TNM gives a detailed clarification on why they had to invent quotes to depict BJP MP Tejasvi Surya as a ‘guilty’ in the entire incident at a time when he has done a massive help to the society by unearthing a massive bed scam in the city that is fighting a deadly pandemic. Instead of reporting on the scam, TNM has indulged in unethical journalism to attack the whistle-blower to deny him his credit by giving a ‘communal’ spin to the entire incident.
We contacted The News Minute team regarding the large discrepancies in their reports. However, they have not responded to us till now. We will update the report with their response when it arrives.
Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga has accused Delhi Government officials of deliberately engaging in the wastage of Oxygen in order to create an artificial oxygen crisis in the Union Territory. Bagga shared a video on Friday alleging that oxygen was being wasted at the Delhi Government run DDU Hospital.
The allegations sparked a war of words between the Delhi BJP spokesperson and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
ये दिल्ली सरकार का DDU अस्पताल है।यहां सुबह से आक्स्जिन को खोल के रख दिया जाता है ताकि आक्स्जिन को बर्बाद किया जाए और दिल्ली में आक्स्जिन की कमी को दिखाया जा सके, जैसे ही हमारे मण्डल अध्य्क्ष चेतन जी को इसकी जानकारी मिली उन्होंने वहां जाके इसका वीडियो बनाया, समय 6.40 PM pic.twitter.com/REZLa91pYS
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) May 7, 2021
Amanatullah Khan addressed him in a derogatory manner and accused Tajinder Bagga of spreading fake news. Khan said that Bagga should educate himself so that he can gain employment somewhere.
थोड़ा पढ़ लिख लेते छोटू @TajinderBagga तो कम से कम झूठी खबरें ना फैलाते। अभी भी वक़्त है पढ़ लिख लो, कम से कम अच्छा काम तो मिल जाएगा। https://t.co/RgHWAahCyT
— Amanatullah Khan AAP (@KhanAmanatullah) May 8, 2021
The war of words escalated then on. Tajinder Bagga said that the person accusing him of peddling fake news is someone who had called the Batla House Encounter fake and insulted Mohan Chand Sharma. He also called the MLA a ‘Madarsa-chhap, riotous Vidhayak’. Amanatullah Khan responded saying that he was peddling information learned from ‘WhatsApp University’ and that ‘Chhotu’ had grown up.
फर्ज़ी राष्ट्रवाद का दिखावा कर के, WhatsApp University का ज्ञान बाँट के अपने निक्मेपन पर पर्दा डालने की कोशिश कर रहे हो, बड़े चालाक हो गए हो छोटू @TajinderBagga पुलवामा,Oxygen Crisis, आत्मनिर्भर भारत और आर्थिक मंदी..इन पर भी बोलने की हिम्मत कर लेते। फर्ज़ी थे, फर्ज़ी ही रह गए। https://t.co/8tAbx8o0cS
— Amanatullah Khan AAP (@KhanAmanatullah) May 8, 2021
Tajinder Bagga shot back at the AAP MLA dubbing him ‘Mirzapur ke Lalit’ and said that the people of Delhi will conduct a ‘surgical strike’ on him and his ‘Oxygen thief’ friend Imran Hussain. AAP MLA Imran Hussain was ordered to appear before the Delhi High Court following allegations of oxygen hoarding against him.
सुन बे मिर्जापुर के ललित, बाटला हाउस में सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक किया दिल्ली पुलिस ने, पुलवामा के बाद सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक किया भारतीय सेना ने, और तेरे और ऑक्सीजन चोर इमरान पे जब दिल्ली की जनता सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक करेगी दिल्ली की जनता । https://t.co/PfRfdFh39F
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) May 8, 2021
The AAP Government has come under intense criticism for its mishandling of the Coronavirus crisis in the national capital. The Delhi Government has also refused the Center’s plea for an oxygen audit at the national capital.
While Delhi is denying an audit to determine the consumption of oxygen in the national capital, data has revealed that while the Delhi govt continues to demand more oxygen, its demand is four times the actual consumption of Mumbai, which has a similar number of active COVID cases.
With not more than a year left for the Assembly elections in Punjab, detractors within the state’s ruling Congress party led by ex-cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu have decided to up their antes against CM Captain Amarinder Singh.
A couple of ministers and some MLAs led by Sidhu held a secret meeting on Friday to devise strategies to mount pressure on the CM to resolve the 2015 sacrilege case and the subsequent police firing cases of Kotkapura and initiate a clampdown on the alleged drug mafia, reported Indian Express. These two issues had been the main poll promises of Congress in the 2017 Assembly elections. Last month, the politician had demanded a new SIT probe in the sacrilege case.
The sacrilege cases refer to the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib by miscreants in 2015 and the subsequent police firing on those protesting the desecration.
Now, Sidhu has been joined by the Cooperation and Jails Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and Technical Education, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Charanjit Channi. MLAs Partap Singh Bajwa’s brother Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa, along with Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, Balwinder Laddi and Barindermeet Singh Pahra were also said to be present during the meeting.
According to reports, in all 38 MLAs and ministers have come together with the aim to “impress upon the party high command that people of Punjab were upset with the Congress government for not delivering justice in sacrilege case, bringing big fish to book in drugs issue and other issues”.
While Navjot Singh Sidhu and Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh have been at loggerheads for quite some time now, State Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa is said to be annoyed with the chief minister after he picked on him at a Cabinet meeting called to discuss the sacrilege case. Randhawa had written his resignation on a piece of paper during the meeting and handed it to Amarinder, which the latter tore.
What went wrong between Navjot Singh Sidhu and Captain Amarinder Singh
For the uninitited, things went sour between Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu when despite Captain’s advise Navjot Singh Sidhu visited Pakistan on Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s invite for the Kartarpur groundbreaking ceremony. Captain had asked Sidhu to not visit Pakistan amidst the rising ceasefire violations by Pakistani soldiers along the border.
At that time, Navjot Singh Sidhu had quipped, “My captain is Rahul Gandhi and he is the captain of the Captain(Amarinder Singh). Sidhu in a video said that Rahul Gandhi also provided a special plane to facilitate Navjot Singh Sidhu’s Pakistan visit. The relation between Captain and Sidhu further strained when the latter’s picture with Khalistani terrorist Gopal Singh Chawla did the rounds on the Internet.
Meanwhile, speaking on the unease within the State Congress, a senior leader told the Indian Express, “The government has been soft peddling on the sacrilege case. The Chief Minister had promised to bring to book those involved in the sacrilege case and the police officers responsible for the police firing. The Akali Dal government lost power because of that issue. Amarinder had also promised to crack down on the mafia… We had targeted the Badals on both these issues… Now, how will our MLAs go to the people to seek votes if no action is taken on both these issues?”
Reports suggest that these miffed Congress leaders who attended the secret meeting have decided not to demand any positions or ministerial berths from the state government, instead, consolidate the party’s position in run up to the 2022 Assembly elections by getting all the poll promises fulfilled.
While the world is grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, a 2015 research paper by Chinese scientists reveals nefarious plans to weaponise the SARS Coronavirus against the world, reportedThe Weekend Australian.
The leaked paper has been titled, “The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons.” The Chinese scientists and public health officials predicted how ‘biological weapons’ would be used during World War III. It also pointed out how the SARS Coronaviruses could be used as ‘genetic weapons’ that can be ‘artificially manipulated’ into a human disease virus. The scientists also discussed how the same virus could then be weaponised in a ‘never seen before’ manner.
The shocking details of the research paper, published about 6 years ago, bear an uncanny resemblance with the ongoing global crisis caused due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Executive Director (Australian Strategic Policy Institute) Peter Jennings described the revelations in the document as a ‘smoking gun.’ He emphasised, “I think this is significant because it clearly shows that Chinese scientists were thinking about military application for different strains of the coronavirus and thinking about how it could be deployed.”
China was hesitant about an independent probe into Coronavirus origins
Furthermore, Jennings added, “It begins to firm up the possibility that what we have here is the accidental release of a pathogen for military use…If this was a case of transmission from a wet market it would be in China’s interest to co-operate … we’ve had the opposite of that.” The Executive Director of ASPI pointed out how the Chinese government has been unwilling to allow an independent investigation into the origins of Coronavirus.
Research paper had several PLA backed authors, was verified by a cybersecurity specialist
Interestingly, around 18 authors of the research paper include scientists and weapon experts associated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The paper was verified by cybersecurity specialist Robert Potter, who concluded that the document was not fake. “We reached a high confidence conclusion that it was genuine … It’s not fake but it’s up to someone else to interpret how serious it is. It emerged in the last few years … they (China) will almost certainly try to remove it now it’s been covered.”
Robert Potter, however, expressed his skepticism over Chinese scientists discussing research areas that require progress. He said that it did not automatically imply that action has been taken by the Chinese regime on the findings of the paper. “It’s a really interesting article to show what their scientific researchers are thinking,” he concluded. It must be mentioned that a special team by the World Health Organisation (WHO) had travelled to China to discover the origins of the Coronavirus.
Scientists point out flaws in WHO investigation into Coronavirus origins
Days after a joint team of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Chinese expert mission claimed that Coronavirus did not exist in China’s Wuhan province before December 2019, a group of scientists had written an open letter on March 4 to the UN body for ‘compromising the scientific validity of the investigation.’
As per the letter, a total of 26 signatories had demanded a ‘full and unrestricted probe’ into the origins of the Wuhan Coronavirus. The scientists lamented that the virus’s origin remains unknown even after a year of the outbreak of the pandemic. “We believe it essential that all hypotheses about the origins of the pandemic are thoroughly examined and full access to all necessary resources be provided without regard to political or other sensitivities,” they opined.
“Based on our analysis, and as confirmed by the global study convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese authorities, there is as yet no evidence demonstrating a fully natural origin of this virus”, the scientists added. Further pointing out the problems, the letter said that they want to raise public awareness about the fact that half of the team comprised of Chinese citizens whose scientific independence might be limited in nature.
