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8,000 children test Covid-19 positive in May in a single district in Maharashtra

OpIndia Staff
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8,000 children test Covid-19 positive in May in a single district in Maharashtra

The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has apprehended the citizens of Maharashtra in yet another lockdown. While still trying to battle the second wave, around 8000 children in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar were found Covid-19 positive in the month of May.

In a new threat that looms over the state, authorities have been put on high alert. This comes after thousands of children and teenagers tested positive for the coronavirus in Ahmednagar in May, accounting for an estimated 10 per cent of the cases in the district, as per a report in DNA.

Confirming the worrisome situation, Ahmednagar district chief Rajendra Bhosale said, “In May alone 8,000 kids got positive. This is worrying.”

A new ward for children is being readied in Maharashtra’s Sangli district where five children are being treated currently.

Talking about precautionary measures being taken for children, Abhijit Bhosale, a local corporator, informed, “We have prepared this Covid ward for kids so that if and when the third wave comes, we are prepared. And kids will not feel they are in a hospital but instead will feel they are in a school or a nursery.” 

It is imperative to note that some experts have been raising alarm over the third wave of the pandemic which is likely to affect children. 

Uddhav Thackeray extends lockdown in Maharashtra

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took to Facebook on Sunday to announce an extension in lockdown till June 15. Maharashtra which was one of the first states to be hit by the second wave of the pandemic has still not been able to mitigate new cases.

While announcing some relaxations, Thackeray said, “Government is fully geared up to tackle the possible threat of a third wave. I don’t know when and what date the third wave will come. So we should not let our guard down.”

On May 31, Maharashtra recorded 15,077 new coronavirus cases and 500 fatalities. 

Over a lakh children infected in the month of May

As per a New Indian Express report published early in May, as many as 1,34,470 children below 10 years of age were found infected, against 88,827 on April 3 in Maharashtra. In a 51 per cent rise in positive cases among children in just a month, over 75,000 children were infected within just 25 days in the state.

According to the health department, 3.04 per cent of children up to 10 years old were found infected, 6.80 per cent from the 11-20 age group and a worrying 15.51 per cent were found Covid-19 positive among the 21-30 age category.

Rajasthan records high Covid-19 positive cases amongst children

Thousands of children tested positive for the coronavirus in the state of Rajasthan in May. We reported earlier on how over 600 children under the age of 18 were found positive for Covid-19 in Bharatpur village in the past three weeks. 

In an update from Dausa district, over 345 children between the age of 10 to 12 years have tested COVID-19 positive.

Additionally, over 300 children have tested positive for corona in the Dungarpur district. The administration says the children have been given the prescribed medication and have adequate arrangements in place for treatment.

In another alarming update, the health officials inform that the state has over 7000 minors who are said to be Covid positive but are largely asymptomatic. 

States have been working towards enhancing paediatric health capabilities to battle the next waves of the pandemic. 

Mamata Banerjee’s statements after she made the PM wait for a cyclone Yaas review meeting are full of loopholes: 4 examples

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee’s statements after she made the PM wait for a cyclone Yaas review meeting are full of loopholes: 4 examples

On Friday, Mamata Banerjee stirred the hornet’s nest when she decided to make a massive hue and cry about a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assess the aftermath of cyclone Yaas. The chief minister, who was out for a survey of cyclone-hit areas, told media at Sagar Island in South 24-Parganas district, “I will not be a part of the review meeting called by PM Modi. It will take 45 minutes for me to reach Kalaikunda. I have prepared a preliminary report on the estimated loss due to Cyclone in Bengal. I will just hand over the report to PM Modi.”

Post Mamata Banerjee skipping the meeting, a massive political row erupted that has now descended into Mamata Banerjee making wild claims after realising that her decision to make the Prime Minister wait for the meeting and then spread misleading information about what really transpired, was perhaps backfiring.

Reportedly, Prime Minister Modi landed at the Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal after his aerial survey, where a review meeting was scheduled between 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm today. The Chief Minister of West Bengal was expected to join the meeting with Prime Minister Modi to take stock of the cyclone situation in West Bengal. However, Mamata Banerjee arrived 30 minutes late to the review meeting despite being at the same premises. Reportedly, Mamata Banerjee did not even bother to receive both the Prime Minister and the Governor of West Bengal.

After the blowback for making the Prime Minister wait, Mamata Banerjee began to sing a different tune. After talking about the Prime Minister targeting Bengal because BJP lost the state in the recently concluded Assembly Elections, Banerjee made several statements that seem to have no basis in truth.

Statement 1: ‘Was informed late about the meeting’

Mamata Banerjee firstly said that she was informed late about the meeting with the Prime Minister and had cut her own meeting short to ensure that she could be present there. However, this statement makes little to no sense. Speaking to OpIndia, sources within the government of India said that “The PM’s visit was to assess damage due to Cyclone Yaas, so it cannot be finalised before the Cyclone comes“. Sources further said that even after cyclone Amphan, the same timeline of visits was followed and at that time, no such issues had arisen. In fact, Odisha also managed the program extremely well, which was actually right before the PM visited Bengal.

Statement 2: ‘Programs were already fixed’

In fact, as a follow-up, Mamta Banerjee had also claimed that her programs were already fixed and that there is no need for the Chief Minister herself to receive the PM.

The government has, however, strongly rebutted this. Sources have informed that Mamata Banerjee had agreed to attend the meeting and therefore, it is hard to believe that scheduling was a problem at all. In fact, Mamata had also written a letter on Friday itself raising opposition to Suvendu Adhikari, BJP’s LoP and the man who defeated Mamata in Nandigram, being present at the meeting. She had said that it is a government-to-government meeting and therefore, the presence of Adhikari was not desirable. GOI sources have said that she did not attend the meeting because of the presence of Adhikari and not because there was a scheduling issue.

Statement 3: Claims that it was her who was made to wait by the Prime Minister

Further, Mamata Banerjee, after it was reported that she made the PM wait for 30 minutes for the meeting, claimed that it was in fact her who was made to wait. She said that after the venue of the meeting was changed to the conference hall, she was asked to wait for an hour before the meeting would begin. However, that does not seem to be the case.

The government of India told OpIndia that the PM landed at Kalaikunda at 1359 hours. Mamata Banerjee landed at Kalaikunda after the PM at 1410 hours.  It is clear that PM was kept waiting for Mamata Banerjee as he landed much before her. The GOI sources said further, “Upon descending from the chopper, she reached the meeting building, which was around 500 metres away. After meeting the PM, she departed for her next journey at 1435 hours. So in effect, she travelled 500 metres to and fro, met PM and departed in 25 minutes. She left before the PM left, which is clearly contrary to accepted practices and protocol. It is clear that Mamata Banerjee’s statement of being made to wait is entirely false and that she made the PM wait”.

This also essentially means that Mamata Banerjee hardly assessed the damage created by cyclone Yaas along with the Prime Minister. She skipped the meeting entirely, merely handed over whatever document she wanted to hand over, and left before the meeting was concluded and the PM had left.

Interestingly, while Mamata Banerjee claimed that it was in fact her who was made to wait by the Prime Minister, TMC MP Mohua Moitra admitted that it was in fact Prime Minister who was made to wait by the Chief Minister.

Statement 4: Ignorance about PM’s security protocol

Mamata Banerjee did not just stop at misrepresenting facts about her waiting for the PM. She even claimed that she had to wait for 20 minutes at Sagar because the Prime Minister’s chopper was to land, and almost to insinuate as if it was done deliberately, she claimed that then the helicopter hovered in the air for 15 minutes. Interestingly, in this statement, she has refused to take into account that just because she dislikes the Prime Minister, does not mean that his security will not make adequate arrangements, as has been done for every PM of the country. One has to wonder why she did not arrive on time herself when she had, in fact, agreed to the meeting in advance.

Essentially, following are the statements that were made by Mamata Banerjee which seem to be downright false, to justify her behaving unprofessionally and making the Prime Minister wait for a pre-scheduled meeting.

  1. She claimed that she was informed about the meeting with the Prime Minister late – The truth is that a review meeting for a cyclone cannot be scheduled before the cyclone actually hits. Besides, she had agreed to the meeting and raised an objection about the presence of Suvendu Adhikari. Therefore, it stands to reason that being informed “late” was certainly not the reason for her behaviour.
  2. She claimed that it was her who waited to meet the Prime Minister: Government sources have clarified how she landed at the meeting venue late, was in the same premises and still arrived late and then, left in 25 minutes. It, therefore, seems that her claim about being the one made to wait by the PM was nothing but a misrepresentation of facts.
  3. She claims that her programs were already fixed: This again seems to be a gross misrepresentation since she had agreed to the meeting and even written a letter taking offence to the presence of Suvendu Adhikari. If she had prior commitments, the letter would have been about that – not agreeing to meet in a ‘government-to-government meeting’ where Adhikari supposedly should not be there.
  4. Her complaining about the chopper and having to wait for 20 minutes: It is pertinent to note that professionalism dictates that the CM reaches a bit ahead of the arrival of the PM. She clearly did not do that. Besides, one would expect a CM to know that the security protocol of the PM of India is sacrosanct.

From the facts that have been laid out, it would appear that Mamata Banerjee displayed petty political considerations and made a hue and cry about a meeting with the Prime Minister of India to evaluate the aftermath of cyclone Yaas. When questioned, she tried to invent reasons to justify her behaviour, however, the facts do not seem to support her.

Scripted praise, planned fights: Reports say controversies in Indian Idol are faked to boost TRP after Kishore Kumar episode sparks row

OpIndia Staff
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Scripted praise, planned fights: Reports say controversies in Indian Idol are faked to boost TRP after Kishore Kumar episode sparks row

Controversies on Indian Idol are ‘planned gimmicks’ to boost TRPs for the show, a report on Bollywood Hungama says. A source close to the show was quoted in the report saying that the controversies are self-generated to boost ratings.

“Suddenly you have contestants being pulled up for being not good enough; you have judges pulled up for not being honest enough. These are all planned gimmicks,” the source reportedly told journalist Subhash K. Jha.

The source added, “The platform is open to many interpretations on how contestants should be judged. First there was a judge, singer Amit Kumar claiming he was instructed to say only good things about the contestants. You now have a lyricist (Manoj Muntashir) criticizing Amit Kumar for talking against the show. It’s all a cleanly designed spiral of publicity.”

The report also notes that an alleged spat between Adnan Sami and Armaan Malik on the sets of talent hunt show The Voice was entirely the figment of imagination. The two were not taken into confidence about the publicity stunt.

Adnan Sami told the journalist, “Armaan and I were shooting for the show when the story broke out. We were aghast. And livid. There was never any hostility between us. Armaan respects me too much to even talk loudly in my presence. It didn’t take us long to know where the made-up story came from. We were even told to ‘lie low and not comment’.”

It has been a subject of intense speculation that controversies in reality-shows are manufactured to boost ratings. Even so, the case of Adnan Sami and Armaan Malik is shocking even by such standards.

Recently, Sunidhi Chauhan had issued a statement that she quit Indian Idol as a judge because she was told to praise the contestants. “Not exactly this ki sabko karna hai (that praise all of them) but yes, we all were told (to praise). That was the basic thing. And so, I couldn’t go on. I couldn’t do what they wanted and I had to part ways. Hence, today, I am not judging any reality show,” she said.

Sunidhi Chauhan was a judge during the 5th and 6th season of the show. Recently, Indian Idol was dragged into a controversy after Amit Kumar, the son of legendary singer Kishore Kumar, told TOI in an interview, “I did what I was told. I was told sabko praise karna hai. I was told jo jaisa bhi gaaye usko uplift karna hai because it’s a tribute to Kishore da. I thought it will be a homage to my father. But once there, I just followed what I was asked to do. I had told them to give me portions of the script in advance, but nothing of that sort happened.”

“Next time if they’re paying a homage/tribute to a legend like Kishore Kumar, they shouldn’t do it this way,” he added. Amit Kumar also said that he wanted to stop the episode.

Lyricist Manoj Muntasshir shot back later saying, “If Amit Kumar came out and lashed out at the show, he shouldn’t have agreed to be a part of it in the first place. He took money for being a part of the show and then criticised it. I wouldn’t have done what Amit Kumar did. If I was in his place and not comfortable with the proceedings, I would have told the makers that I don’t want to be a part of the show.”

‘Can’t endure the constant harassment anymore, please kill us with a single machete stroke’: Kerala journalist tells CPIM

OpIndia Staff
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‘Can’t endure the constant harassment anymore, please kill us with a single machete stroke’: Kerala journalist tells CPIM

An ex-journalist by the name of Vineetha Venu and her husband have allegedly been the subject of cyberbullying, harassment and moral policing by the hoodlums of the ruling Communist Party in Kerala. Failing to get any help from law enforcement authorities, the former journalist has now asked the party goons to kill her and her family in one go instead of harassing them everyday.

Reportedly, her husband was returning home from work when his friend asked him to accompany him to his parent’s house in Payam in Kannur district. Upon reaching there, a group of drunk men arrived at the spot and began interrogating him. It was not until a police team from Iritty arrived that he was rescued. It must be mentioned that Vineetha’s husband is a policeman at the Chombala station in Kozhikode district.

However, soon, CPIM IT Cell began targeting her family. The Communist supporters on social media began maligning her husband and claimed that he was found in ‘suspicious circumstances.’ The fake story spread like wildfire and the CPIM mouthpiece ‘Deshabhimani’ also helped in further propagating the baseless allegations through its article, the journalist says.

Facebook post by the Kerala journalist

On Saturday (May 29), Vineetha Venu took to Facebook to narrate her ordeal. She informed that her husband was subject to an alcohol test, despite never consuming alcohol in his life. The former Kerala-based journalist added that she was on the hitlist of the ruling party, ever since she exposed how CPIM goons murdered a 30-year-old Youth Congress worker named Shoaib in February 2018.

“The spot reporting antagonised the CPI-M and they started showering abuses on me and my husband in social media groups,” she said in her Facebook post. Vineetha highlighted that her story about the leakage of details of Coronavirus-positive patients also drew the ire of the ruling dispensation. The party-sponsored trolls alleged on social media that it was her husband who had leaked the information.

Screengrab of the Facebook post by Vineetha Venu

“This was pure vilification. I had done the story after two Malayalam channels had reported on the leakage and levelling the allegations that my husband had leaked to me does not stand as he is a lower level policeman… all the details were with senior police officers,” the ex-journalist said in her defence. She emphasised that her husband was transferred 7 times, in an act of political vengeance and it was only cancelled this time after she lodged a complaint with the State police chief.

Tired of the consistent vilification, character assassination, and abuse, a helpless Vineeta has pleaded with the Communist goons to kill her and her family at one go. She concluded, “I, my husband, and my small children will come at Kannur town square… finish us off, but please kill us by a single swing of the machete.”

Suhaib murder case and how its coverage miffed the Communist dispensation

On February 13, 2018, a 30-year-old Youth Congress worker named Shoaib died, a day after he was attacked by the hoodlums of the ruling Communist Party. The deceased was waiting outside a night eatery in Mattanoor when four people arrived in a car and hurled bombs. Shoaib was attacked and he was slashed with a sword. The incident occurred at around 10:45 pm at night.

Shoaib had sustained severe injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital. A day later, he succumbed to his injuries at the Kozhikode Medical college hospital. During the scuffle that followed the previous night, his two friends also sustained minor injuries. The reason for the gruesome murder was attributed to a fight between the CPIM and the Congress over student politics.

“Not long back, a club of the Congress party came under heavy attack, after the CPI-M leadership was upset when the children of the party leaders took part in a meeting. They unleashed an attack and Shoaib, was at the forefront to stop this. Since then the CPI-M had announced publicly that his days are numbered,” informed Congress chief (Kannur) Sateeshan Pacheni. Reportedly, it was the 21st political murder in the state since the Left’s revival in 2016.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said, “The police in Kannur is a mute spectator, as the CPI-M is in control of everything. They are striking at will to eliminate their political rivals in the most inhumane manner. We have appealed to all our workers in Kannur to see that they remain calm.” However, for exposing the truth, Vineetha Venu is now paying a price with constant mental harassment and threats to her life.

Rahul Gandhi unfollows 8 accounts on Twitter, netizens wonder if it is to make ‘pet pidis’ appear independent

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi unfollows 8 accounts on Twitter, netizens wonder if it is to make ‘pet pidis’ appear independent

Earlier today, the senior Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi kicked up an online furore after he unfollowed 8 accounts on Twitter.

Social blade stats for Rahul Gandhi

As can be seen, as of this morning, Rahul Gandhi is ‘following’ 8 people less. While a few could be deactivated accounts, for a politician, usually such high number of ‘unfollows’ usually means that he has unfollowed those Twitter users.

Of these, at least two of them have been known for peddling Congress propaganda.

Among the 8 accounts that Gandhi unfollowed, one of them was that of Pratik Sinha, the co-founder of propagandist website Alt News. It is the same portal that recently came up with a cringe-worthy and unconvincing defence to give a clean chit to the Congress party and extricate it from the toolkit fiasco.

Until a few hours ago, Rahul Gandhi followed Pratik Sinha on Twitter. A screenshot from Pratik Sinha’s profile from a while back showed Rahul Gandhi as one of his Twitter followers.

Rahul Gandhi was earlier following Pratik Sinha

However, something snapped and the Gandhi scion stopped following the co-founder of the portal that fashions itself as an independent fact-checker, but invariably ends up acting as an outpost of the Congress party, loyally peddling its agenda and spreading fake news against the Modi government.

Rahul Gandhi unfollows AltNews co-founder Pratik Sinha

Interestingly, Gandhi unfollowed the AltNews co-founder at a time when Congress is mired in the tookit controversy that erupted after BJP leader Sambit Patra released a document, allegedly linked to Congress, on social media websites, and accused the party of exploiting the resurgent coronavirus crisis in the country to malign the Modi government.

The controversy intensified when the Congress party, in a bid to disentangle itself from the toolkit saga, shared its documents with AltNews, demonstrating a close association between the two entities. In response, the Alt News obliged and gave a clean chit to the Congress party, declaring the toolkit to be fake, albeit, based on flimsy arguments. It was then speculated that AltNews was working at the behest of the Congress party.

Later, Twitter labelled the toolkit tweets posted by the BJP leaders as ‘manipulated media’, adding fuel to the already raging controversy. It must be noted that Twitter did not provide any proof or evidence basis on which they had marked the tweets as manipulated media. This solidified the speculations that AltNews and Twitter might be working in tandem to undermine the Modi government, possibly at the direction of the Congress party. Now, as the Government of India tightens its noose around Twitter, the unfollowing of AltNews co-founder by Rahul Gandhi could be seen as an attempt to dissociate himself from his supporters and help them appear as ‘neutral’ fact-checker.

Another account that Rahul Gandhi unfollowed this morning is that of propagandist masquerading as stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra. For a while now, Rahul Gandhi had been following Kunal Kamra, possibly because of his patently anti-Modi stance.

Twitter profile of propagandist Kunal Kamra

However, this morning, Rahul Gandhi deserted yet another of his loyal lickspittle when his official Twitter account unfollowed Kunal Kamra on Twitter.

Rahul Gandhi unfollows Kunal Kamra on twitter

Netizens react after Rahul Gandhi unfollows Pratik Sinha and Kunal Kamra on Twitter

Nevertheless, Rahul Gandhi unfollowing his blind devotees on Twitter led the netizens into a tizzy, who speculated the possible reasons for the Gandhi scion’s defiant act.

One of the Twitter user commented that Rahul Gandhi has given freedom to his pet pidis by unfollowing them.

Netizens clearly had a field day.

Yet another Twitter user conjectured that Rahul Gandhi unfollowed some fact checkers on Twitter, possibly because they could not come up with convincing arguments to defend the toolkit.

We, at OpIndia, however, cannot independently verify if Rahul Gandhi had unfollowed his loyal lackeys because he is angry with their incompetence and disappointed with their dedication towards spreading Congress propaganda.

Tripura: CPIM leader and ex-Finance Minister resorts to fear mongering, incites violence against BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Tripura: CPIM leader and ex-Finance Minister resorts to fear mongering, incites violence against BJP

On Sunday (May 30), Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Bhanu Lal Saha took to Facebook to openly incite violence against the ruling BJP government in the Tripura. It must be mentioned that Saha was the Finance Minister during the Communist party rule in the State.

In his Facebook post, the CPIM leader urged people of all age groups to keep sticks, sickles, spades, shovels, and iron rods handy. He claimed that mass retaliation is required to ward off bricks, sticks and petrol bomb attacks of the BJP. “Make yourself courageous and self-sufficient to fight the external aggressors. In an act of self defence, you can keep defensive weapons handy. This is not a crime,” alleged Bhanu Lal Sahu.

Screengrab of the Facebook post by Bhanu lal Saha

“Mokabila chada jaan-maal rokha asombhob, joubon tumi aagun hou (With a strong fight, you cannot protect your life and property. Let the fire of youth unleash),” he incited violence. The ex-Finance Minister further stated, “The youth must be ready. Fight the goons of the ruling party (BJP) with courage. Accommodate your neighbours and lead the mass movement.” The CPIM leader insinuated that there was a supposed threat to the lives of the people. Using that as a bait, he incited people to unleash anarchy and take up arms against the ruling government.

The Roman Protasevic saga: How the USA and western govts are supporting neo-Nazis to score foreign policy goals against Russia

K Bhattacharjee
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The Roman Protasevic saga: How the USA and western govts are supporting neo-Nazis to score foreign policy goals against Russia

The European Union and the United States have castigated the Belarus Government in harsh words, followed by strategic action, after a flight carrying Roman Protasevich landed in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Protasevich was arrested soon after and his arrest was condemned as an attempt to silence dissidents.

Western governments have hailed Roman Protasevich as an ‘opposition leader’ and a ‘journalist’. Some have even gone so far as to say that he is a ‘hero’. But revelations that have come since then that do not paint a very good picture of the 26 year old ‘activist’.

Roman Protasevich: His affiliation with neo-Nazi militia Azov Battalion

Grayzone reported on the 26th of May that Protasevich has extensive links to neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine. The ‘activist’ worked for the Azov Batallion, an explicitly neo-Nazi militia in Ukraine, in their press service. Images have surfaced that show the ‘activist’ in a military uniform holding an assault rifle.

There are also photographs available that show him wearing a neo-Nazi t-shirt with Swastikas on it (not to be confused with the Hindu swastika, which is a symbol of prosperity). According to the report by Grayzone, there is also significant evidence to suggest that he is a western asset cultivated to undermine Russia and Belarus.

Grayzone had earlier reported that the Azov Battalion had received weapons and military training from the United States of America to aid them in the Ukrainian civil war and discuss logistics and further cooperation. The Azov Battalion is reportedly a White-Supremacist group.

Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said that the ‘activist’ was wanted due to his neo-Nazi links. He stated, “Mr. Protasevich indeed was a blogger but before becoming one, he had been a combatant in Ukraine and fought in the ranks of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, together with neo-Nazi and far-right groups.” “I think this is why the Belarusian authorities requested an international arrest warrant for him,” he added.

The coup in Ukraine driven by the Euromaidan protests also saw the participation of neo-Nazi elements. Western state media such as the BBC claim that they did not attract much attention but do admit that they played a major role in the clashes with the Police in central Kiev.

All of this clearly points towards the fact that the USA and western governments are collaborating with neo-Nazis in order to undermine Russia and its allied countries. The case of Aleksei Navalny follows a similar trajectory.

The problematic past of Aleksei Navalny

Aleksei Navalny has earlier referred to Muslim migrants as cockroaches and recommended the use of handguns against them. Apart from that, his support within Russia is vastly exaggerated in the western press and he remains a fringe figure in Russian politics to date.

Amnesty International withdrew its ‘prisoner of conscience’ status for Navalny after his controversial comments went viral on social media. Amnesty said that it is “no longer able to consider Aleksei Navalny a prisoner of conscience given the fact that he advocated violence and discrimination and he has not retracted such statements.”

Considering Roman Protasevich, Belarus faces new sanctions and western governments have cut off the country’s aviation links over what they call the arrest of a ‘journalist’. But quite clearly, he was not a ‘journalist’ per se and is actually a western backed asset.

That western governments are openly backing neo-Nazis only goes on to confirm the very little extent to which ‘human rights’ figure in their foreign policy. For all their talk of ‘tolerance’ and ‘human rights’, they would not hesitate to back neo-Nazis if it helps them achieve state objectives.

Why lionizing Roman Protasevich is not a good idea

As University of Ottawa professor Paul Robinson argues in his article for Russia Today, “Describing Protasevich as a “journalist” or “reporter,” and painting him as a democratic activist, without mentioning his far-right connections, deprives readers of understanding the full picture.”

“Facts shouldn’t be suppressed just because they are politically inconvenient. Democratic principles rule out the notion that uncomfortable truths should be locked away in a cabinet, only to be let out when it’s safe for the public to know them. Once we head down that path, any pretense of democratic freedom goes out the window. People deserve to know the truth,” he adds.

The professor also observes that such agenda-driven reporting has adverse consequences. He wrote, “Ukraine is a prime example of this sad reality. The pro-Western revolutionaries who overthrew president Viktor Yanukovich in 2014 did so with the support of far-right groups, despite championing a more liberal stance themselves. Both they and their Western backers pretended that the neo-Nazis didn’t exist, or if they did, assumed they weren’t a problem. But others did notice them, and their presence helped to delegitimize the new government and sparked rebellion in eastern Ukraine.”

Robinson also takes offense to Politico journalist Leonid Ragozin describing Protasevich as a ‘healthy part of society’. He concludes, “Protasevich’s murky past is irrelevant to the rights and wrongs of his arrest, and it may indeed deflect attention from the misdeeds of the Belarusian state. But that doesn’t mean that we should act as if that past doesn’t exist – people deserve to hear the full story. Fair reporting requires one to tell the truth – the whole truth, and nothing but the truth – not only the bits of it that suit the agenda.”

While it is legitimate to oppose his arrest on the grounds that it is unjust to arrest dissidents merely for opposing the government, it does not appear sensible to lionize an individual with such problematic opinions. And needless to say, promoting neo-Nazis as ‘heroes’ would have devastating impact for the region specifically and the world as a whole.

China reports the first-ever case of H10N3 avian influenza in humans, the disease was limited to birds until now

OpIndia Staff
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China reports the first-ever case of H10N3 avian influenza in humans, the disease was limited to birds until now

After more than a year since the world is grappling with the Chinese virus, East China’s Jiangsu Province has now reported the world’s first case of a human infected with H10N3 avian influenza (bird flu). 

As per a report by the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times, Chinese health authorities on Tuesday claimed that it is a case of occasional poultry-to-human transmission, and the risk of a large-scale spread is extremely low. This comes amidst the panic-stricken environment created due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which is believed to have originated from China. 

The 41-year-old patient from Zhenjiang, a city in Jiangsu Province reported fever and other symptoms on April 23. He had to be admitted to a local medical institute for treatment on April 28, informed China’s National Health Commission on Tuesday.

In an update, NHC informed that the patient’s condition is currently stable and is ready to be discharged from the hospital.

China on H10N3 bird flue case in humans: “Risk of large-scale spread extremely low”

As of now, China’s Health Commission claims that the H10N3 virus of avian origin (bird flu) does not have the ability to effectively infect humans as per the genetic analysis of the virus.

NHC in its statement said, “No human cases of H10N3 have been reported in the world, and the H10N3 virus among poultry is low pathogenic. This case is an occasional poultry-to-human cross-species transmission, and the risk of a large-scale spread is extremely low.”

No evidence on how the person got infected

Yang Zhanqiu, a deputy director of the Pathogen Biology Department at Wuhan University says H10N3 is a subtype of the Influenza A virus, and also known as the bird flu virus. 

Advising people to not overreact to the case, Yang expressed bewilderment on how this person got infected as H10N3 is normally lethal to wild birds and poultry.

In a worrisome justification, Yang informed that there might be a possibility of the virus spreading through respiratory droplets among the animals, just like the flu and COVID-19.

He also advised studies to be carried out to monitor how the virus spreads. He reiterated that there is no evidence to indicate that H10N3 virus can cause human-to-human transmission as yet.

Preventive measures put in place

The NHC has issued orders to Jiangsu to carry out relevant epidemic prevention and control measures. The close contacts of the patient have also been put under medical observation. 

Emergency monitoring is being conducted by the local authorities, however, no abnormalities have been found so far. 

NHC has warned the public to avoid any contact with sick or dead poultry and to avoid direct contact with live poultry too. 

Previously recorded cases of avian influenza

In December 2020 Central China’s Hunan Province had reported a human infection case of the H5N6 bird flu. Russia too had reported the first case of human infection with the avian influenza A(H5N8) virus in the world in February this year.

Among the various types of avian influenza, H5N1 type is said to be highly pathogenic, with a high fatality rate between 40 and 50 per cent.

Mehul Choksi case: Opposition parties in Dominica, Anitgua slam govts, accuse them of complicity in the kidnapping drama

OpIndia Staff
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Mehul Choksi case: Opposition parties in Dominica, Anitgua slam govts, accuse them of complicity in the kidnapping drama

The Mehul Choksi arrest saga has become a major political slugfest in the Caribbean region, with the region’s opposition parties and leaders accusing connivance of the Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda governments in the fugitive diamantaire’s alleged abduction.

The arrest of Choksi has become a political hot potato, especially in Dominica, where the Leader of Opposition Lennox Linton has accused the government of being involved in the ‘abduction’ of the fugitive from Antigua and Barbuda. The opposition leader has even suspected the Indian government’s role in extraditing Choksi via Dominica.

Linton said the abduction of Choksi from Antigua and Barbuda to Dominica, was intended to facilitate his transfer to India without having to wait on the outcome of the ongoing extradition proceedings scheduled for hearing in November 2021. Linton said Choksi is legally fighting the revocation of his citizenship and the matter is pending before the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda. He said the ruling party of Dominica had undermined the judiciary in the jurisdiction of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in their pursuit to help a foreign power.

“The presence of Indian-born Mehul Choksi in Dominica following allegations that he was kidnapped in Antigua, beaten, ferried to Dominica and taken into the country against his will, highlights once again the extent to which departments of government are involved in organized crime under the influence and/or direction of the regime of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit,” said Lennox Linton, in a statement given to Times of India. 

Linton has sought an investigation into the breach of the law by the police, immigration and the custom officials, who he claimed had openly allowed to facilitate the operators of the St Lucia based schooner; detained Choksi on the allegations of illegal entry. He also asked to probe the role of the ministers of Dominica in the transfer of Choksi from Antigua to Dominica.

With the case boiling over, new revelations have emerged in the arrest of Mehul Choksi. It is reported that St Lucia-based yacht in which Choksi was transported to Dominica on May 23 declared three crew members and two Indian passengers to the authorities on departure from Antigua. However, it did not include Choksi’s name. Choksi was later arrested in Dominica with no passport. While the two Indian passengers were reportedly taken to quarantine, Choksi was arrested only to be quarantined 5 days later, on May 28.

Govt denies involvement

While the opposition parties in the Caribbean have alleged complicity of the governments of Dominica and Antigua in the arrest of Mehul Choksi, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has rubbished the allegations of his government’s involvement in the kidnapping.

” I can say this with reasonable certitude that neither we were involved nor had knowledge of the alleged abduction. If we were to be, we would have invited the Indian government to send a plane here. We would have picked him and repatriated him even though that would have been against his constitutional rights,” Browne said.

Mehul Choksi arrested in Dominica

Earlier yesterday, it was reported that Mehul Choksi was arrested with a help of a woman, who accompanied him when he landed in Dominica. It was initially alleged that the woman was Choksi’s girlfriend, but reports hinted that she was working in cahoots with the team that abducted him. A report published in India Today quotes sources close to the fugitive businessmen to claim the woman was part of the team, which was involved in his “abduction, torture and arrest”.

Dominican authorities had arrested Choksi on Wednesday for entering the country “illegally” from Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been living since January 2018. The ‘missing’ ex-diamantaire was spotted in Dominica’s capital city of Roseau at the Canefield beach where he was disposing of some documents at sea. Police got suspicious and approached him. When he was asked about his purpose to visit Dominica, he refused to answer.

After Choksi was arrested in Dominica, it was speculated that he will be extradited to India. However, the hopes of repatriating PNB Bank scam accused Mehul Choksi to India was soon dashed as Dominica said that they will send him back to Antigua, not India.

Choksi’s role in the Rs 13,600 crore PNB bank fraud

Choksi, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, are accused of perpetrating bank fraud worth Rs 13,600 crore on Punjab National Bank. The fraud came to light in 2018 and he along with his nephew have been on the run since. While Modi is currently behind bars in the UK, Choksi was in Antigua.

Recently, a UK court had ruled that his nephew Nirav Modi will be extradited to India from the UK to face charges of conspiring to defraud PNB. Choksi faces charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty, including delivery of property, corruption and money laundering.

Hart Island: Once a psychiatric institution and now the resting place for Covid patients in New York

Dibakar Dutta
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Hart Island: Once a psychiatric institution and now the resting place for Covid patients in New York

When the Wuhan Coronavirus reached its peak in the United States in April last year, several unclaimed Coronavirus patients found their resting place in Hart Island. It is the largest potter’s field in New York City as well as the United States.

A data analysis conducted by the news website The City and Columbia Journalism School’s Stabile Center of Investigative Journalism found that about 2,334 people were buried on the island in 2020. For the sake of comparison, the burials on the potter’s field were around 846 in 2019. The large disparity in the number of burials between 2019 and 2020 has been attributed to the Coronavirus outbreak and deaths caused due to unaddressed medical issues during the pandemic.

Interestingly, Hart Island had witnessed a spike in burials during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, although the scale was much lower than the one caused by the Wuhan Coronavirus. Assuming that all of those buried in 2020 were Coronavirus infected patients, coupled with over 700 refrigerated bodies, the number of burials on Hart Island will cross the 3000 mark. It will imply that the potter’s field accounts for about 5.5% of the total burial of Coronavirus patients in New York (the city has recorded deaths as of May 31, 2021).

Aerial view of Hart Island (Photo Credits: New York Daily News/Getty)

Earlier, the New York City officials had mulled over ending burials on Hart Island and moving the bodies out of the city. However, all such plans came to a standstill during the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic last year. With traditional cemeteries being overwhelmed with dead bodies, the potter’s field came to the rescue of unclaimed dead bodies. Hart Island Project is a non-profit organisation dedicated to increasing awareness about the island and fighting for better accessibility. Founder Melinda Hunt remarked, “It’s not some Dickensian thing. It’s an orderly and secure system of burials that works, especially when you have deaths on the scale of an epidemic.”

Avery Cohen, the spokesperson for the New York City Mayor, clarified that the bodies of those Coronavirus patients, which were not claimed by anyone, were buried in unmarked graves in Hart Island. He added, “For decades, Hart Island has been used to lay to rest decedents who have not been claimed by family members. We will continue using the Island in that fashion during this crisis and it is likely that people who have passed away from COVID who fit this description will be buried on the Island over the course of this epidemic.”

Burial od Covid-19 patients at Hart Island in April 2020 (Photo Credits: John Minchillo, Associated Press)

Family members of deceased Covid patients ask NYC to bury them in Hart Island

On May 7, the New York Post (NYP) reported that the dead bodies of 750 Coronavirus patients are lying in a refrigerated morgue on the Brooklyn waterfront in New York for more than a year. The bodies were kept in the long-term storage facility that was built in April 2020, when the country was overwhelmed by the early outbreak of the pandemic.

Reportedly, refrigerated vehicles were used when hospitals, morgues and funeral homes in New York were overburdened by the high number of Covid-19 related fatalities. Dina Maniotis, the executive Deputy Commissioner to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, conceded that the storage facilities were meant to be temporary. She told the City Council’s Committee on Health that the family members of the deceased individuals would be notified and briefed about the next plan of action.

Maniotis informed that many of them have asked the City Council to bury the deceased on Hard Island, which is New York’s potter’s field (place to bury the unknown). Some family members of the deceased are not in touch with the city council anymore. After learning about the state of mismanagement, Councilman Mark Gjonaj inquired as to why the bodies had not been buried yet. “Why are we delaying that any longer than we have to?” he asked.

The girm history of Hart Island

It must be mentioned that Hart Island was not always a burial ground. In the year 1654, a physician by the name of Thomas Pell bought the land via a treaty with the Suwank indigenous tribe. He expanded the estate through Bronx, Pelham, and New Rochelle. The property passed several hands of private lenders and landowners between the 18th and 19th centuries. Among them, the most notable ones are politicians and merchants Oliver Delancey and John Hunter.

Burial at Hart Island in 1936 (Photo Credits: Arthur Schatz, The life images collection/Getty)

Hart Island was earlier known by the name of ‘Spectacle Island,’ owing to its eyeglasses-like shape. After several name changes, ‘Hart’ was finally chosen as the name for the island. It derived its name from the large presence of deer (also called hart) that are found to date on the island. The New York City (NYC) bought Hart Island from private owners in 1868. About 45 acres of Hart Island was allocated for the city cemetery. It was meant to serve as a potter’s field for those families who were unable to afford funerals. Prior to that, Hart Island served various purposes.

During the American Civil War, the US government had leased the land to imprison Confederate soldiers and train the US Coloured Troops. For instance, a hospital was opened on the island during the tuberculosis epidemic (also called the white plague). The place served as a facility for quarantined patients. In the 19th Century, a women’s branch of Lunatic Asylum in New York City was opened on the island. A report from 1880 of that era noted, “no cures are reported, all the cases being chronic.”In the year 1905, a reformatory centre was set up in the hopes of taming the ‘vicious boys.’

Vicious boys doing manual work in 1913 (Photo Credits: New York Historical Society)

During the 2nd world war, Hart Island was used as a disciplinary camp. Later, it was employed as a missile launch facility during the US-Soviet Cold War. The site was also used as a rehabilitation centre for drug abusers in the 1960s and 1970s. Unfortunately, the burial records kept on the Island were destroyed in a fire in the 1970s and several graves were reused after bodies had decomposed. As such, the exact number of burial records is unavailable.

Hart Island embodies the idea of ‘uncertainty’ of human life

Ever since the cemetery came under the control of the Department of Correction, family members of those buried on the Island have not been granted access for visitors. Owing to the efforts of the Hart Island Project, family members of the deceased can visit the graves of their loved ones twice a month. However, they need to apply for advanced registration. During their visit, they cannot carry cameras or mobile phones. Owing to the pandemic, even the bi-monthly visits have come to a standstill.

An 1890 picture of a grave pit at Hart Island (Photo Credits: Jacob Riis/Museum of the City of New York)

Hart Island has housed people at different points in time. Some were kept as prisoners or patients and others in their coffins. The cemetery’s 45-year-old chaplain, Justin von Bujdoss, remarked, “It reflects the lives of people who live on the margins—the homeless, the sickly, the neglected, the forgotten and overworked…No one lives their lives believing it will end here.”

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