Barkha Dutt reported from inside the ICU of a hospital amidst the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has shocked people across the board. People on social media are wondering how a ‘journalist’ was permitted to enter the ICU when in Covid-19 cases, even families are not allowed to enter.
Barkha Dutt had earlier come under criticism after the death of her father with netizens accusing her of sensationalizing his death in order to further her personal agenda.
Relatives can’t go inside Covid ICUs to see their loved ones, but tamashbeens with their camera crew can, of course…. pic.twitter.com/7DZRJAPryp
Reporting inside ICU. 1. How and why is she being allowed inside ICU? Thats endangering everyone's life. 2. She is worse than a vulture. feeding on dead bodies couldn't quench your thirst @BDUTT ? Now u want to endanger lives of sick patients. Shame! pic.twitter.com/ACIoZzZvwS
The hospital management was also criticised for allowing Dutt to enter the ICU.
Hospitals always restrict entry to safeguard critical patients. Only family members are allowed but during specific hours. You can't just walk inside an ICU where all patients are critical. How can a hospital management decide to allow Barkha Dutt? Isn't this a blatant violation? pic.twitter.com/LLPtyVspuY
Who has give @BDUTT permission to risk the life of ppl in ICU ward Dr.Taha shud also be charged for this knowing that how dangerous it cud be for the patients. Is this even allowed ?? @drmonika_langeh pls guide never seen this in any hospital though @PIBBengalurupic.twitter.com/FTWwHBu3Rd
— Vandana ? Get Vaccinated India ? (@im_vandy) June 1, 2021
Barkha Dutt had claimed after her father’s death that the oxygen in the ambulance had run out. However, Sonu, the ambulance driver, said that the oxygen cylinderwas full and Barkha Dutt herself had checked the supply.
“She interrupted me during the journey and repeatedly asked me to check the oxygen supply. I assured her that it was working fine. We had reached the hospital without any issues. We were accompanied by two of her vehicles. The patient’s caretaker was also with him. I had even stood outside the emergency department for 15-20 minutes. The patient also got down from the ambulance without any difficulty,” Sonu had said.
More than 600 academicians have signed a letter condemning the post-poll violence in West Bengal following the victory of Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress Party in the recently concluded assembly elections. The signatories to the letter, which include eminent professors, vice-chancellors, directors, deans and former vice-chancellors, have cautioned the TMC government in the state to not play with constitutional norms and protocols while unleashing a reign of terror against political opponents and people who did not vote for them.
The academicians have urged the TMC government to stop the politics of vendetta in West Bengal. The letter states that criminal elements affiliated with the Trinamool Congress Party had attacked people in villages and town that did not subscribe to their political worldview. Properties of thousand of people were ransacked and looted in the wake of the violence that erupted in the state following the declaration of the assembly elections.
The letter signed by over 600 academicians
The letter further said that a large section of Bengali society continues to live under a constant threat of fear as those who voted against the TMC are victimised by the supporters of the ruling party. Thousands of people had to migrate to the neighbouring states of Assam, Orissa and Jharkhand due to the fear of being persecuted, raped or killed at the hands of the TMC hooligans. The police, local administration, civil society and media are either hand in gloves with the perpetrators or are silent, fearing the wrath of the state government, the letter said.
The signatories have expressed concerns for the people in Bengal, who had to face the wrath of the ruling party for exercising their democratic right to free and fair voting. “We are concerned about the weaker sections of the society who are being harassed by the government on account of exercising their right as citizens of India,” the letter added.
Among those who issued the statement include Prof. Prakash Singh, University of Delhi, Prof. Govardhan Das, JNU, Dr JSP Pandey, Lucknow University, Prof. Jaya Kumar, Central University of Kerala, Prof. Gopal Reddy – Osmania University, Hyderabad, including more than 600 professors and scholars. The list includes famous professor, vice-chancellor, director, dean and former VC.
The academicians have also cautioned that the incidents of violence perpetrated in Bengal have the potential of spreading to other parts of the country. They cited the lynching of Mewalal, a member of the Mahadalit community, burning of 12 houses and trashing many others by anti-social elements in the Purnea district of Bihar, to allege that such incidents cannot be seen in isolation as they have occurred in the adjoining areas of Bengal.
A Supreme Court appointed SIT probe is demanded by the academicians in their letter. Besides, they have also asked independent agencies to investigate the post-poll violence in West Bengal.
Post-Poll violence in West Bengal
Post-poll violence has become a leitmotif of news emerging out of Bengal following the declaration of results. Umpteen number of violence against political opponents have been reported from the state. In an overwhelming number of such incidents, the victims have been BJP supporters and workers while the accused were said to be the supporters of the TMC party. More than a dozen BJP workers have lost their lives in the post-poll violence that ensued following the victory of the TMC party in the assembly elections.
The violence unleashed against them forced hundreds of BJP party workers and supporters to flee their villages along with their families. They crossed over to Assam where they have been provided temporary shelter under the supervision of minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. It is not just the BJP but even CPI(M) which has accused the TMC of killing its workers. Reports of attacks on BSF jawans have also emerged in the media.
With the second wave of Covid-19 gradually retreating from India, there are speculations that the third wave would have a devastating effect on children. Some experts have predicted that since the first wave largely affected the elderly and the second spike impacted many who were in their 30s and 20s too, the next wave could possibly affect more children.
Amidst such concerns, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog has explained today that though children are not immune from this infection and do/can get infected, it has not taken serious shape in children. He said that the infected children would either show no symptoms or there will be minimal symptoms.
Our focus on childhood #COVID disease is gaining our attention. The pediatric population is generally asymptomatic. They often get infections but their symptoms are minimal or nill. The infection has not taken serious shape in children: Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog pic.twitter.com/JyBwbITEVN
On Saturday too, during the press briefing of the Union health ministry, Paul asserted that though children can be infected and they can be infected to quite an extent, they account for about 3-4 per cent of hospital admission, in both India and the rest of the world.
Experts say the theory of children getting most affected in third wave is not based on facts
AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Monday also pointed out that though it is being anticipated that children will be infected the most during the third Covid-19 wave, the paediatrics association has stated that this is not based on facts. It might not impact children and so people should not fear, he added.
The Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) has said that though children remain susceptible to infection, it was “highly unlikely that the third wave will predominantly or exclusively affect children”. It also said that there was no evidence to suggest that most children with Covid-19 infection will have severe disease in the third wave.
IAP also confirmed that until now, almost 90 per cent of the infections in children has been mild or asymptomatic.
Dispelling the prediction that children would be most affected in the third wave of Covid-19, the Maharashtra Surveillance Officer Pradip Awate said that there is no scientific logic to information that coronavirus would change itself and infect children in the third wave.
Awate also used a note issued by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) which stated that children are as susceptible as adults and older individuals to develop an infection but not a severe disease. It is highly unlikely that the third wave will predominantly or exclusively affect children.
Amidst apprehensions, centre and state govt ramp up paediatric Covid care facilities
However, the central government and various state governments are leaving no stone unturned to ramp up paediatric Covid care facilities amidst apprehensions that the third wave will impact children. States like Uttar Pradesh are prioritising vaccination for parents of kids below 12 years and formulating children-specific protocol. Many States are either adding or earmarking beds for paediatric Covid care, including paediatric intensive care units (PICU), neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and sick newborn care units (SNCU).
Many states are setting up expert panels and task forces to protect children. Delhi government is forming a special task force consisting of paediatricians, experts and senior IAS officers. Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Goa too have formed a task force for paediatric cases.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier called for the collection of data on the transmission of Covid-19 among youth and children in each district in a meeting with district magistrates and field officials of 10 states. PM Modi said such data must be analysed regularly to protect them.
According to reports in Pakistani media, Babar Azam, captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team, will get married to his paternal uncle’s daughter next year. Both families have mutually agreed on the marriage. The news of Azam getting engaged to his cousin came as a surprise for his fans as he is currently in Abu Dhabi preparing for the second half of the Pakistan Super League.
Reports suggest that he got engaged some time back and was keeping the information secret from the media. However, his teammates were well aware of the engagement, as reported by Geo News Urdu. Interestingly, just a day before the news broke, veteran cricketer Azhar Ali did a Q&A session with his fans on Twitter. One of the fans had asked him to say something for Azam to which he replied “Shadi kar lay (get married)”.
There is no information available about the cousin with whom he is going to get married with next year. Babar Azam currently holds the top position in Men’s ODI Batting Rankings with 865 points followed by Virat Kohli with 857 points and Rohit Sharma with 825 points.
Babar Azam was last seen in action against Zimbabwe in a T20I series.
A Right to Information (RTI) request filed by India Today has revealed that leftist ‘intellectual’ and ‘economist’ Amartya Sen has availed free air travel by Air India flights on 21 occasions between 2015 and 2019. Sen was awarded India’s highest civilian award i.e. Bharat Ratna in the year 1999 for his work in welfare economics.
Bharat Ratna awardees are eligible for a lifetime of free air travel on Executive class in Air India flights. Just like other civilian awards in India, Bharat Ratna does not entail anyone to add prefixes or suffixes to their name. However, the Vajpayee government in 2003 had granted the perk of free air travel to all such awardees.
Screengrab of the RTI reply, image via India Today
While responding to the RTI query by India Today, Air India informed, “The procedure for issuance of free tickets to Bharat Ratna awardees was circulated by erstwhile Indian Airlines on 25/08/2003 (August 25, 2003).”
The original 2003 circular by Indian Airlines read, “The above decision has been taken as a mark of respect to the esteemed personalities for their highly acclaimed contribution in their respective fields. It is, therefore, our endeavour to provide all assistance in facilitating their travel requirements.”
Only Amartya Sen has been the beneficiary of the free Executive class air travel
Besides the ticket price for Bharat Ratna awardees, all taxes and levies are borne by Air India. Although the tickets are issued for Economy class, they are then upgraded to Executive class. The RTI had revealed that economist Amartya Sen has availed the perk 21 times between 2015 and 2019. However, Air India could not reveal the monetary cost of such travels as the data is not stored.
Screengrab of the RTI reply, image via India Today
The RTI has further revealed that Amartya Sen is the only Bharat Ratna awardee who has been a beneficiary of the scheme. Although 48 people have been awarded India’s highest civilian award (14 posthumously), only four of them are currently alive. They include Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Professor C N R Rao and Amartya Sen.
Amartya Sen: An unauthorised occupant of land belonging to Visva Bharati University
In December last year, Amartya Sen‘s name had come up in the list of people illegally occupying the land belonging to Visva Bharati University in West Bengal. According to reports, the varsity had written to the West Bengal government that several properties belonging to it had been wrongly recorded in the name of private parties. A list of such unauthorised occupants prepared by the University included the name of Amartya Sen.
The properties wrongly recorded in the name of unauthorised occupants include the girls’ hostel, academic department, office, and Vice Chancellor’s bungalow. The University had alleged that their names were wrongly recorded in the government’s record-of-right. It further informed that the University’s land had been wrongly transferred to them and they had set up restaurants, schools and other businesses on it.
After Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party targeted the Indian Government over the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme, senior party leader Shashi Tharoor is attacking the Union Government for halting exports of Covid-19 vaccines in light of the second wave of the pandemic.
Shashi Tharoor cited a comment by WHO chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan to say that the government should hang its head in shame over the vaccine export ban. He said, “When a senior WHO official, a distinguished Indian, says India’s decision to ban vaccine exports has had a severe impact on 91 nations, the would-be “vishwaguru” should hang its (governmental) head in shame.”
Source: Twitter
Ironically, this comes after Priyanka Gandhi has been relentlessly targeting Prime Minister Modi for exporting vaccines that ‘belong’ to Indian children.
Source: Twitter
Rahul Gandhi, too, has been attacking the Government over the same issue.
Source: Twitter
Under such circumstances, it is bizarre that Shashi Tharoor, and by extension, the Congress party, is attacking the Indian Government because export of Covid-19 vaccines have been brought to a halt.
The entire narrative of India “sending doses abroad” is misplaced as the doses of vaccines sent to friendly nations under ‘Vaccine Maitri’ is a small percentage of what India has already provided to its own citizens. Also the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative has built an enormous amount of international goodwill for India, reflective in the support and help India is getting from several nations to battle the second wave of Covid crisis.
But even so, the initiative was heavily criticised by the Congress party while it now says the Indian Government should hang its head in shame. The NDTV report, too, in a bizarre fashion attacks Vaccine Maitri while blaming the government for halting exports.
The NDTV report says, “Not only did India fail to place bulk orders for its own citizens last year, it exported approximately 66.3 million doses by April 16 this year — touted as Vaccine Maitri, an attempt to help friendly nations while showcasing India as the world’s vaccine-manufacturing hub.”
“Hit by the onset of the devastating second wave, New Delhi quickly banned these exports, redirecting supplies, instead, to states within the country and opening up the vaccination programme to priority age-groups. In the process, dozens of nations depending on supplies through Gavi were left high and dry,” it added.
Quite clearly, it is a ‘Heads I win, Tails you lose” situation and an agenda-driven criticism of the Indian Government. Adding to that, the Congress party is engaging in flip-flops that would put anyone to shame.
Other ‘journalists’ are also jumping on the bandwagon with criticism that hardly makes any sense.
Source: Twitter
While it is true that African countries have not received adequate amount of vaccines, it appears bizarre to blame India for the same instead of developed western countries, some of which are indulging in vaccine hoarding.
Source: Twitter
Quite clearly, it is a dedicated effort to tarnish India’s reputation and the Congress party is actively participating in the same without consideration for India’s reputation. During the devastating second wave of the pandemic, the Government was heavily criticised over unavailability of vaccines and Vaccine Maitri.
Now, the same individuals are casting aspersions on the government for halting exports of the same.
Earlier in April 2021, after the state governments constantly demanded liberalised vaccine policy and a greater say in vaccine procurement, the central government complied and empowered states to procure the vaccines directly from the manufacturers. However, now it seems that states are finding it incredibly difficult to procure vaccines on their own.
Several states across the country have reported that their bids to procure COVID-19 vaccines have elicited no response from the vaccine manufacturers. This has inevitably led them to demand the centre to procure the vaccines on their behalf and distribute it among the states. Back to square one.
Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das today wrote a letter to the Union Health Minister, highlighting non response from the vaccine manufacturers to the global tenders floated by the Odisha government. He has urged the Centre for the procurement of global vaccines at the national level, rather than asking individual states to procure vaccines to inoculate their population.
Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das in a letter to Union Health Minister highlighted that States which floated global tenders are facing non-response of vaccine manufacturers and urged for procurement of global vaccines at country-level, rather than individual States. pic.twitter.com/zDPtqOkkn3
In his letter, Das pointed out that global vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer & Moderna are concerned about indemnity-related issues & are willing to deal with only federal-level government at this stage, adding that they’ll require Centre-level statutory clearances for supplying to States.
“Since the above are in the domain of the union government, it might be faster and economical if the procurement of global vaccines is made at the country-level rather than by the individual states,” the letter further added.
Odisha Health Minister stated that domestic vaccine giants Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech even refused to participate in pre-bid meeting.
However, the Odisha health minister proposed that states be given the flexibility to design and decide on the distribution of vaccines taking local factors into consideration.
Odisha is the not the only state that is facing trouble receiving bids for its global tenders. There are several states who have floated tenders for vaccines but have so far garnered no response from the vaccine manufacturers.
Uttar Pradesh government extends deadline after it received no bids to its global tenders for vaccine procurement
Earlier today, Uttar Pradesh also failed to get any response from international vaccine manufacturer to its global tender floated to procure over 4 crore vaccines in the next six months. After it received no response from the vaccine manufacturers, the Uttar Pradesh government was forced to extend the last date for the opening of technical bids to 10 June, a report published in The Print said.
Suffering from a shortage of vaccine, the Yogi Adityanath government’s State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited had floated global tenders on 5 May to procure vaccines directly from global manufacturers. It had originally planned to open the technical bids on 21 May, which was first extended to 31 May and now to 10 June.
Delhi government’s global tender on vaccine procurement receives a lukewarm response from vaccine manufacturers
Earlier last month, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal lamented that Pfizer and Moderna had told his government that they don’t deal with state governments individually and will sell the COVID-19 vaccines directly to the central government. He urged the central government to procure Pfizer vaccines immediately to stop the spread of the virus. From being an ardent supporter of decentralisation of vaccine procurement, Kejriwal took an about-turn and urged the central government to intervene and procure on behalf of the states.
It is worth noting that Kejriwal is pushing the centre to purchase Pfizer’s vaccine, which is untested in India. Importantly, Pfizer is yet to conduct any efficacy trials for its vaccine in India, even as it seeks an indemnity clause for its vaccine.
Moderna turns down Punjab government’s request for vaccine procurement
Similarly, the Punjab government’s efforts to procure vaccines for its population hit a snag when Moderna passed up the government’s request for vaccine procurement, saying it does not supply directly to states. After Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh directed officials on May 20 to float global tenders, the government had written to the manufacturers of the Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik V, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. However, it did not receive an encouraging response as Moderna turned down its request and said that it only deals with national governments.
Jharkhand CM demands centre to procure and distribute free vaccines for his state
Most recently, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren pulled an Arvind Kejriwal-kind of U-turn when he demanded the centre to provide free vaccines for all beneficiaries in the 18-45 age group. This comes after Soren had pompously announced that his government would provide free vaccines to everyone above the age of 18 years. In April, Soren had tweeted that his government will vaccinate everyone in the 18+ age group free of cost.
However, with the shortage in vaccines and state governments eliciting no response from the vaccine manufacturer, Soren imitated Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who has been asking for the centralisation of the vaccination program after advocating decentralization. Soren cited the state’s incapability to procure vaccines owing to resource crunch after announcing free vaccines for everyone in the 18+ age group back in April. He said that the exorbitant pricing to vaccinate 1 crore 57 lakh beneficiaries in the age group of 18 to 44 years would lead to a burden of 1,100 crores on the state exchequer.
Maharashtra receives no bids for its global tender on vaccines
Maharashtra’s efforts to tide over the COVID-19 crisis with external vaccine procurement got no response as none of the vaccine manufacturers responded to the global tenders floated by the government. As of May 25, the state had not received any response from the vaccine manufacturer. However, the tender floated by the Municipal Corporation body of Mumbai did reportedly attract 8 bids, but none of them was from manufacturers.
From demanding a greater say in vaccine procurement, States pass the buck on the Centre for procuring vaccines
It is worth noting that at the start of the ferocious second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, several states, most notably Delhi, Maharashtra and many opposition-ruled states had assailed the central government for its centralised vaccine policies. They had demanded the Centre to relax its vaccine policy and empower states in vaccine procurement. The central government had eventually obliged and granted states the power to directly procure vaccines for their population from the manufacturers. In the new directive issued by the central government, states were to source 50% of the vaccines, while the centre will supply the rest.
The states had also demanded the Modi government to extend the vaccination to the age group between 18 to 45. Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government was at the forefront of this demand, exhorting the centre to authorise vaccination for everyone above the age of 18, in a bid to stop the inexorable spread of the virus. More than a month later, Maharashtra is among those states that have temporarily halted the vaccination of its population belonging to the age group of 18 to 45.
The Modi government had earlier held back the vaccination of people in the age group of 18 to 45 because of the supply constraints of COVID-19 vaccines. However, as the cases continued to surge, the state government tried to push the blame of their incompetence in stemming the spread of the virus on the central government, criticising it on its vaccine policy.
Now, as the coronavirus cases show a decline, the state governments are using this opportunity to once again attack the central government and abdicate themselves of the responsibility of vaccinating their own people. With the discontent among people brewing due to the unavailability of the vaccines, the state governments have deftly pivoted from their previously held stance and asked the central government to procure vaccines on their behalf and extricate them from their predicament.
Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday issued a clarification that he is a vegetarian and not vegan after he drew criticism for revealing that he consumes eggs in his diet during an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on Instagram few days back.
“I never claimed to be vegan. Always maintained I’m vegetarian. Take a deep breath and eat your Veggies,” Kohli tweeted.
I never claimed to be vegan. Always maintained I’m vegetarian. Take a deep breath and eat your Veggies (if you want ?)??✌️
Kohli, who is currently quarantined in a hotel in Mumbai with team India, held an ‘AMA’ (ask me anything) session on Instagram. One fan asked him about his diet. In that, he revealed he eats lots of vegetables, some eggs, 2 cups of coffee, daal, quinoa, spinach and dosas, but all in controlled quantity.
However, Kohli’s explosive claim that he continues to consume eggs despite being a self-avowed vegetarian and vegan did not sit well with a host of social media users, who called out the cricketer for his contradictory claims.
Kohli’s claim that he is a vegetarian does not hold water, given that strict vegetarianism does not entail the consumption of eggs. A vegetarian diet does not include any meat, poultry, or seafood. It is a meal plan made up of foods that come mostly from plants. Since eggs are a product of poultry, they are not considered a part of vegetarianism. Of late, many vegetarians have taken to consuming eggs. However, they are referred to as, in popular parlance, eggetarians.
Virat Kohli had earlier claimed he had turned vegan for health reasons
Additionally, Kohli claimed in his tweet that he has never claimed to be a vegan. However, a report published in the Times of India in 2018 asserted that the prolific Indian cricketer had indeed turned vegan. Veganism is a practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A vegan diet also excludes milk and eggs, which are both obtained from animals.
Kohli had earlier claimed that he had turned completely vegan, adding that his wife, Anushka Sharma, who is a vegan, had played a crucial role in bringing about this dietary transformation in his life. Recently, in 2020, Kohli reiterated being a vegan and mentioned a few health reasons for being the same during an Instagram chat with former English cricketer Kevin Pietersen.
“I had a cervical spine issue which resulted in a tingling sensation in my little finger, making it difficult for me to bat. It happened around the Centurion Test in South Africa in 2018. Moreover, my stomach became a bit acidic, my uric acid went high and my stomach started pulling calcium from the bones which actually resulted in the spine issue. Hence, I had to cut down on meat and now I feel better than ever,” Kohli had said during the chat.
The Congress party has created a hullabaloo to stall the ongoing construction work at the Central Vista project by the Modi government, even though the idea was originally conceptualised by the grand-old party. Amidst the ongoing political tug-of-war surrounding the project, a 2018 tweet by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has gone viral online.
In the tweet dating May 22, 2018, Shashi Tharoor shared pictures of his visit to the new Malaysian Parliament and had sought for upgrading the Indian Parliament. “Visited the Malaysian Parliament & entered the empty chamber of the Lower House. Felt a pang of envy: Each MP has their own nameplate, plush leather swivel chair, laptop &mike. We in the LokSabha sit crammed on benches with no leg room to stand, let alone swivel. Time for an upgrade!” he had tweeted 3 years ago.
Screengrab of the 2018 tweet by Shashi Tharoor
Although the Congress Parliamentarian from Kerala had lamented in 2018 about the lack of adequate space in the current Parliament, he and his party members were seen rubbishing the idea of the Central Vista Project. On May 9 this year, Shashi Tharoor had shared an article written by Kapil Komireddi titled, “Modi’s ghastly Delhi dream.” The Congress MP said, “A coruscating read: Kapil’s erudite and well-researched takedown of the govt’s grand central vista scheme.”
Screengrab of the 2021 tweet by Shashi Tharoor
Several netizens called out the Congress leader for his doublespeak and changing his stance out of political opportunism. A fired-up Tharoor took to Twitter to try and undo the damage caused due to his U-turn. He claimed, “I see lots of Central Vista apologists making hay out of my 2018 tweet.” His tweet further read, “The Parliament upgrade I sought could have been achieved by converting the Central Hall of the present Parliament into the Lok Sabha with all the facilities I admired in the Malaysian one. No new building needed.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Shashi Tharoor
Why the Central Hall of the current Parliament cannot be upgraded as proposed by Shashi Tharoor?
In ‘defence’ of his earlier tweet, the Congress Parliamentarian had claimed that the Central Hall of the existing Parliament could have been upgraded to accommodate the facilities of a new and modern parliament, like the Malaysian one he was so envious about. However, nothing can be further from the truth. It must be mentioned that the present Central Hall of the Indian Parliament is about 678 square metres while the Lower House (Lok Sabha) Hall in the new building will be 1340 square metres.
Moreover, the Central Hall of the Parliament is used to hold joint sessions of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. While Lok Sabha has 552 seats, the current Rajya Sabha has about 245 seats. In total, the total strength of Parliamentarians stands at 797. However, the Central Hall has a sitting capacity of just 430 seats, which is lower than the sitting capacity of even the Lok Sabha. Given that the Central Hall is just 679 square metres, it is not possible to extend its sitting capacity further or equip it with facilities that Shashi Tharoor had sought.
To add salt to the wound, the major problem arises while conducting joint sessions of the Parliament. With a sitting capacity of just 430 seats, not all 800 members can participate in a joint session discussion. As such, temporary chairs and benches are arranged so as to ensure that the other members could sit. For one of the fastest-growing economies of the world, this is rather an undignified sight. While Shashi Tharoor tried to come up with a credible defence of his 2018 tweet to appease his masters in Congress, his justification is rather juvenile and flawed.
ON May 31, it was reported that the fugitive father of child activist Licypriya Kangujam, Kangujam Kanarjit aka Dr KK Singh, was arrested in a joint operation by Delhi Police and Manipur Police. He is accused of fraud, assault and criminal breach of trust. As per reports, he had duped multiple people with amounts as high as Rs 19 lakh.
It has to be noted that Licypriya has raised her voice for several campaigns in the past which are not even related to her activism. The child activist’s Twitter account is run by her guardian and earlier it stated it was her father.
Several questionable remarks and the use of photographs available in a public forum to assert her agenda and campaigns have raised eyebrows in the past. She is currently running a campaign to collect money so that she can help Covid-19 patients on Ketto. As OpIndia have found some discrepancies in the past in similar campaigns where FCRA regulations were not followed, we decided to look into her campaign as well.
FCRA regulations not followed
The first thing that we noticed in her campaign that as usual there was no respect for the regulations laid down by the Government of India while accepting foreign donations. In the fundraiser, where Licypriya has raised over Rs 75 lakh so far, we found many foreign donations. As There were 2709 donors listed by the time we published the report, it was decided to check the top hundred most generous donations.
Screenshot of Ketto campaign by Licypriya. Source: Ketto
There were 66 foreign donations in the top hundred most generous donations. The amount she had collected the foreign donations included USD 31720 (Rs.23,08,365.53), EUR 1484 (Rs.1,32,062.63), GBP 1220 (Rs. 1,26,326.20) and SGD 250 (13,785.03). It makes a total of Rs.25,80,539.39 as per today’s exchange rates. [We used XE.com to convert different currencies to Indian Rupees. All calculations were done on June 1, 2021.]
Top 25 most generous donations on Ketto. Source: Ketto
It has to be noted that as she is a minor, she has been withdrawing money in her mother’s name from Ketto.
In her campaign, she mentioned an organization named Noble Citizen Foundation and claimed that she transferred the money to this organization to procure oxygen concentrators from China. Noble Citizen Foundation then used one MH Traders Co. located in Delhi that deals in import and export to import oxygen concentrators. So far, everything appears alright but the problem started when we tried to dig more into Noble Citizen Foundation.
As per the organization’s website, it is located in New Delhi. It is registered as a Non-government company in August 2020. It has to be noted that according to Section 8, Companies Act 2013, a company can be registered to promote sports, commerce, art, science, education, research, social welfare, religion, charity, and protection of the environment or any such other object. In such companies the profit, if any, is used in promoting the objective. It prohibits paying any dividend to its members. Such companies do not need to add any suffix such as Pvt. Ltd. or Ltd. in the name.
OpIndia consulted Sandeep Kanoi, founder Taxguru, who said that in any case, to receive foreign funding they have to register for FCRA. In this case, Noble Citizen Foundation is possibly breaking the law by accepting foreign funds collected by Licypriya.
Under FCRA 2010, such companies are eligible to get FCRA certification in case they want to accept foreign funding. We tried to find if they have FCRA certificate, but we could not find their name in the list of organizations that have obtained FCRA certificate in 2020 and 2021 on the FCRA website. Even on its website, there was no information on their FCRA account. However, on the donation page, they have written that if anyone wants to donate to the organization from outside India, the person can mail to a specific mail ID. We have emailed them and asked about the process they are using to accept the foreign donation.
Noble Citizen Foundation has asked to contact them in case someone from outside wants to donate. Source: NCF website
Updates missing from Ketto fundraiser
There is one update that Licypriya shared on her social media accounts that are missing from the Ketto fundraiser. As it is related to the purchases they have been making, it is unclear why they did not share it on Ketto. In the update, she shared details of a fund transfer that they made to one Guangzhou Minicky Trading Co Ltd in China amounting to USD 15150. It also mentioned that the total contract with the said company was USD 50500.
The information of the transfer is missing from Ketto fundraiser page
It has to be noted that on Ketto, Licypriya had shared Proforma Invoice in which a company named Shenzhen Xishi Trading Co Ltd had shared estimate for the oxygen concentrators.
Shenzhen Xishi Trading Co Ltd’s proforma invoice is available on Ketto fundraiser page
The details of funds transferred to Guangzhou Minicky Trading Co Ltd are not only missing from the Ketto page but the details of any such transfer is also not available in the account statement they had shared on Ketto. The amount should be close to Rs.11 lakh but there were no transfers between May 8 to May 12 anywhere close to that amount. There was one transaction close to the amount but that done on May 17 to MH Traders Co.
Notably, the address of Guangzhou Minicky Trading Co Ltd is also different from what we could find online. Also, the company deals in toys, clothes etc. It is unclear why she transferred such an amount to a company that possibly do not even deal in oxygen concentrators.
Information available on Guangzhou Minicky Trading Co Ltd
MH Trader Co has little to no information available
MH Trader Co, the firm with which Noble Citizen Foundation had very little information available online. From the details available, it is unclear if they import medical equipment or not. There were no contact details available either from where we could get more information about the firm.
MH Trading Co has very little information available online. No contact information could be obtained.
Licypriya Kangujam and Noble Citizen Foundation
When we tried to find a connection between Licypriya and Noble Citizen Foundation, we noted that the founder of the organization and Licypriya knew each other for years. In one of the tweets from February 2020, Sahil calls her his Mentee. Interestingly, the tweet has now been deleted.
Sahil has been deleting tweets since KK Singh’s arrest
Notably, Sahil has also travelled with Licypriya’s father in 2019. There was a tweet in which he had shared photos with KK Singh but the tweet has now been deleted as well. In the tweet he had written, “Every day is a new adventure in this country. The challenges here have toughened its people and yet the heart here know compassion and love. I am proud to call this country my home. Motherland Wonderful ride with KK Singh Sir, Chairman IYC”. It looks like since Singh’s arrest, Sahil has been trying to cover his tracks on Twitter.
Now-deleted tweet in which Sahil was seen travelling with KK Singh
Noble Citizen Foundation’s address mismatch on invoice and website
When we looked at the address of Noble Citizen Foundation, the address available on website is different from the address mentioned on the invoice.
Address mismatch of Noble Citizen Foundation
Similar questions have been raised earlier by a twitter user Herin and The Frontier Manipur which can be checked here and here. Sahil’s attempt to remove evidence of connection to KK Singh, previous questions raised on the father-daughter duo and inconsistent information available on the fundraiser and possible FCRA violations have raised several questions on Licypriya and Noble Citizen Foundation that they need to answer.
OpIndia had earlier curated how her father took everyone for a ride by conning them. There were also reports of Licypriya herself faking her achievements to gain popularity.
