Home Blog Page 4277

Hemkunt Foundation accuse Rajasthan Police of detaining oxygen cylinders meant for critical COVID patients

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Hemkunt Foundation accuse Rajasthan Police of detaining oxygen cylinders meant for critical COVID patients

Amidst the rising cases of Coronavirus in the country, several NGOs have come forward to help needy citizens with the supply of free medical oxygen cylinders. One such non-governmental organization has been the Hemkunt Foundation, which has supplied more than 1000 cylinders so far at a nominal, refundable security deposit of ₹10,000.

Despite its best efforts to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of liquid oxygen, the foundation has alleged that they are being harassed by the Rajasthan Police. “Our driver and truck of cylinders have been detained at Bhiwadi Police Station meanwhile critical patients are waiting at our Drive-Thru in Gurgaon,” it said in a tweet yesterday.

In another tweet, the NGO informed that while critical Coronavirus patients had been desperately waiting for oxygen cylinders and had run out of resources. “Police have stopped all trucks. We can’t do anything about it,” lamented a man in the background.

Rajasthan police responds to the controversy

Following outrage on social media, the Rajasthan police intervened and directed the Bhiwadi police branch to look into the matter urgently. “Still waiting,” responded Hemkunt Foundation.

Screengrab of the tweet by Rajasthan police

The Rajasthan police Help Desk directed the Inspector General of police post an update about the matter. In response, the Twitter handle of IGP Jaipur informed, “According to the information received from Bhiwadi police, a pickup vehicle was found parked in Ghatal village. A total of 5 empty oxygen cylinders were found in the car. On not receiving a satisfactory answer from the driver of the vehicle, he was brought to the police station and released after interrogation at 2:56 am in the night.”

Screengrab of the tweet

Citing cases of black marketing of oxygen cylinders, Bhiwadi police justified their action against Hemkunt Foundation. While conveniently ignoring the fact that the police high-handedness led to delay in supply of medical oxygen to critical Coronavirus patients, it said, “Keeping in mind the cases of black marketing of oxygen cylinders, the driver was called to the police station on not receiving a satisfactory answer. He was allowed to go at 2:56 am and the vehicle was permitted to go.”

The development was also confirmed by IPS Arun Bothra. He tweeted, “Vehicles have been released. You may verify and confirm.”

Noida: Hospitals ordered to clear 200 beds, were occupied by patients with little need of hospitalization

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Noida: Hospitals ordered to clear 200 beds, were occupied by patients with little need of hospitalization

Multiple private hospitals in Noida were pulled up for admitting patients with little need or no need for hospitalization and for sensationalizing the shortage of oxygen and other medical essentials when there was none. 

As per reports, Various city hospitals were inspected by the District Magistrate(DM) and Chief Medical Officer(CMO) of Noida who got the hospitals to free up nearly 200 Covid beds that were occupied by patients who actually didn’t require hospitalization. The beds were made free for critical patients in need of hospitalization.

As per a report in India Today, the hospitals where beds were freed are: GIMS, Yatharth, Kailash, Sharda, JayPee, Fortis, Prakash, Sector 39 Covid hospital, Indogulf, JR hospital, SRS hospital, Surya, and Metro Hospital.

The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration said on Friday that several people had occupied beds in private hospitals of Noida and Greater Noida without being in need of them.

Following an inspection by the health department, an official indicated that strict action will be taken against those private hospitals which took to social media raising an alarm of shortage of medical oxygen which turned out to be baseless and “fact less”.

Action to be taken against private hospitals that kept beds occupied with patients who didn’t need them

As per reports, District Magistrate Suhas LY conducted a virtual meeting with senior administration and health officials of Gautam Buddh Nagar, including Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Deepak Ohri, to discuss the grave mismanagement at private hospitals and other issues related to the Covid-19 situation. He has ordered the committee to submit a report on the same. 

District Information Officer Rakesh Chauhan said, “The DM made it clear to all officials that every Coivid-19 patient in the district should be provided all facilities as per the instructions of the state government.”

“On the DM’s directions, the CMO and his team reviewed the ground situation in several hospitals on Friday and found that several patients in some private hospitals were occupying beds although they do not need to be hospitalized. On the other hand, some private hospitals have put out “factless” information related to the availability of medical oxygen in the district through social media which has been taken very seriously by the district administration,” he added.

“DM Suhas has asked CMO Ohri to present a report based on the review of hospitals on Friday where people were found occupying beds without any requirement so that strict action could be taken against such facilities,” Chauhan concluded in the statement.

Hospitals asked to not turn away critical patients

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Sunday that all Covid-19 hospitals in Uttar Pradesh will be required to publicly announce the number of vacant beds twice a day.

The Chief Minister also directed the officials on Sunday to ensure that no hospital in Uttar Pradesh will turn away patients that require hospitalization to treat Covid-19 and if state-run hospitals are short of beds, the patients can be sent to private hospitals for which the expenses will be taken care by the government.

Delhi Police refutes allegations that it is clamping down on ‘volunteers who are amplifying resource information’ on COVID crisis

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Delhi Police refutes allegations that it is clamping down on ‘volunteers who are amplifying resource information’ on COVID crisis

As Delhi struggles under the fourth wave of Chinese coronavirus, a new wave of fake news and falsehoods is being created on social media by Modi-hating ‘influencers’.

Delhi-lawyer and columnist Dushyant on Sunday tweeted that multiple people have reached out to him claiming that Delhi Police is ‘hounding’ them and asking them to shut down their WhatsApp groups and other crowdsourcing efforts amid the pandemic.

Dushant’s tweet

Dushyant is a very vocal Rahul Gandhi and Congress supporter.

He was joined by NDTV’s Gargi Rawat Ansari who questioned whether Delhi Police is acting against these ‘volunteers’ because they are providing scarce resources, thereby casting aspersions that Delhi Police is trying to hamper relief efforts of ‘volunteers’.

Gargi Rawat Ansari’s tweet

Gargi Rawat Ansari is married to Yusuf Ahmad Ansari, the great-grandson of former Congress President Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari. Notorious gangster Mukhtar Ansari who was recently brought to UP from Punjab is also one of her close relatives through marriage.

Similar messages were shared with unverifiable claims where their ‘friends’ claimed their WhatsApp relief group was ‘dismantled’.

Tweet alleging a ‘WhatsApp group dismantled’ on Delhi Police order

More people had replied to the tweet accusing Delhi Police of cracking down on volunteers last year as well during the migrant crisis after Kejriwal govt ran buses to UP border while the inter-state movement was prohibited.

Tweet alleging Delhi Police of arresting people distributing meals to migrants in 2020

It is imperative to note here that none of these claims were supported by evidence.

Soon, copy-paste toolkit gang got activated and similar messages started floating on social media.

Tweet copied from Dushyant

One Twitter user ‘Piku’ tweeted the same thing as Dushyant.

Piku

@risingsurbhi is an AAP social media worker and is followed by various AAP leaders.

More such messages

Many social media users spread such messages on various platforms claiming that Delhi Police is forcing ‘volunteers’ to shut down the coordinating activities.

Here are some more tweets by influencers making similar claims about Delhi Police.

Kisse Kahaniyaan tweet

Kisse Kahaniyaan has over 4,400 followers on Twitter and is followed by many influential Twitter users, politicians, political activists and journalists.

Kisse Kahaniyaan followers

As one can see, many Congress leaders and supporters are following this influential account.

Kakul’s tweet

Similarly, Kakul Prasher is also followed by many politicians, journalists and activists.

People who follow Kakul

The Delhi Police, however, has refuted these allegations.

Delhi Police said that it takes strong objection to such motivated, unverified and unsubstantiated allegations that Delhi Police has asked volunteers to stop amplifying resource information. Delhi Police also added how they have also been on their toes helping with oxygen supply and other essentials amid the coronavirus crisis and such misinformation campaign will not deter them from continuing to do the good work.

Fake news and hoax: Influencers spread conspiracy theory

On Saturday, the government of India had to step in and ask Twitter to remove false, malicious and misleading tweets regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Filmmakers like Vinod Kapri and Swara Bhaskar starrer Anarkali of Arrah director Avinash Das had resorted to share old, unrelated pictures or pictures of different locations which could have led to a panic-like situation. Similarly, political activist like Hansraj Meena had used his influence to amplify that coronavirus is a hoax and conspiracy and that the illness does not exist.

After massive criticism and NSA-level talks, USA lifts export ban over vaccine raw material needed by SII

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After massive criticism and NSA-level talks, USA lifts export ban over vaccine raw material needed by SII

The United States has finally decided to send raw material for Covid-19 vaccines to India. It will also send medical equipment and protective gear to support India amidst a massive surge in Covid-19 infections. On April 26, President Joe Biden said, “Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need.” The US was under immense pressure to provide support to India after countries including Russia, Britain, Germany, and France extended a helping hand.

Emily Horne, spokesperson for, National Security Council, said that the US officials are working around the clock to deploy ‘available resources and supplies’ to India for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing. She added that the US is also exploring options to provide oxygen generation and related supplies to India. Horne said the US will send a team of experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Agency for International Development to work with India.

It has to be noted that the United States had banned the export of essential raw materials like bags, valves etc., after which Serum Institute had expressed helplessness in pacing up the vaccine production. The US is reportedly sending therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits and ventilators as well.

Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla had appealed to the US government multiple times to lift the embargo over vaccine raw materials. Citing export laws, the US government had halted the export of some critical raw material needed for the production of the Covishield vaccines.

Decision after NSA-level talks

The US government’s decision to lift the embargo and export critical material to India came after a discussion between India’s NSA Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan’s statement said, “the US has identified sources of specific raw material urgently required for Indian manufacture of the Covishield vaccine that will be made available for India.” The statement also included that USA will send supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostics test kits, PPEs, and ventilators too.

US lawmakers urging Biden admin to export unused AstraZeneca vaccines too

Ro Khanna, the Democratic vice-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, welcomed the US’s decision and urged the Biden administration to send unused Covid-19 vaccine doses of AstraZeneca as well to India. He said, “Let’s use the US military and get as much oxygen and AstraZeneca doses to India as fast as we can.” Notably, the AstraZeneca vaccine has not been approved in the United States, resulting in stockpiling of millions of doses. The AstraZeneca vaccine is not approved by US FDA, so the doses are lying unused in the country.

According to the top health officials, the US already has enough doses of approved versions by three other companies to vaccinate all Americans in the coming weeks. Top business lobbying group also pushed the Biden administration to send the vaccines to countries that are experiencing a rise in the cases. However, the US government did not comment on any such possibility.

The US Development Finance Corporation also announced financial support to Indian vaccine maker Biological E Ltd, or BioE, to enable them to produce at least 1 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2022.

It is notable here that after repeated requests by Serum CEO Adar Poonawalla, the US government was facing a widespread criticism from all levels for its continued embargo over critical raw material that was hindering the production of Covishield by SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.

Britain sends medical equipment to India

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister, United Kingdom, said on April 25 that over 600 medical devices, including oxygen concentrators and ventilators, have been deployed to India to provide support during the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Johnson said,” We stand side by side with India in the shared fight against COVID-19. Vital medical equipment is on its way from the UK to India to help stop the tragic loss of life from the virus, and we’ll continue to work closely with the Indian government during this difficult time.”

Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India shares a message in Hindi, stating that UK stands with India in the time time of difficulty.

The Foreign Minister of Britain said that the equipment came from the surplus stock, and the first shipment will reach India early on Tuesday.

Yogi govt to bear cost of COVID treatment in private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Yogi govt to bear cost of COVID treatment in private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday informed that those COVID-19 positive patients who could not avail a bed in government hospitals, can be admitted to private hospitals.

Yogi Adityanath’s office informed that the hospitals, government and private, are instructed to not say no to admit COVID-19 positive patient. If a bed is unavailable in government hospital, the patient could be referred to private hospital.

Yogi Adityanath’s office further informed that if the patient is not able to afford the treatment in private hospital, the same shall be borne by the state government under Ayushman Bharat Yojana. “No patient should be deprived of the treatment,” Yogi Adityanath said.

The government also informed that in an unfortunate situation where the patient loses his/her life, their last rites will be carried out as per their religion and state government will bear the cost.

Earlier the state government had informed that there is no shortage of oxygen in the state. While speaking during virtual interaction with editors of various newspapers, CM said, “There is no shortage of oxygen in any COVID hospital, be it private or government. The problem is black marketing and hoarding, which will be tackled with a heavy hand. We will conduct an oxygen audit in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, IIM Lucknow and IIT BHU for proper monitoring of oxygen. The system of live tracking of oxygen demand, supply and distribution will be implemented.”

Coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh

As of now, about 10.86 lakh people have tested positive for coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, of which 2.97 lakh are active cases. 11,165 people have lost their lives in the pandemic as per the official figures.

Purported letter by Times Now employees accuses channel of going soft on Kejriwal due to ads, channel rubbishes letter as malicious

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Purported letter by Times Now employees accuses channel of going soft on Kejriwal due to ads, channel rubbishes letter as malicious

Employees at Times Now have allegedly written to Times Group MD Vineet Jain to register their anguish about the coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in Delhi. The top journalists at Times Now, Rahul Shivshankar, Navika Kumar and Padmaja Joshi were marked in the copy as well.

OpIndia has accessed the letter from reliable sources. The letter is circulating widely among journalist circles. However, OpIndia could not independently verify the authenticity of the letter. Times Now has denied receiving such a letter in a response to OpIndia.

The employees asked in their letter whether the advertisements from the AAP Government in Delhi are affecting the coverage on the channel. The letter says that “we are appalled to see sanctimonious advertisements on our channel from the same person who is responsible for the mess Delhi is in. And we will not be shy to name that person unlike others – Arvind Kejriwal is fattening our TV channels with obnoxious advertisements so that we keep silent on his gross mismanagement of every aspect of the fight against COVID.”

The employees asked, “We understand that advertisements are a big source of income for our news channel but should we be taking taxpayer money from a person who did not use the same taxpayer money to build even a single hospital between 2015 and 2019? This is not about business but about the people and their problems, which should have always been the case. Is it right to go soft on a politician whose performance, or lack of it, is costing hundreds of lives just because he spends lavishly on us through advertisements?”

The employees also mention specific colleagues by name. “Is this the reason why our channel is going soft on who simply blames someone else all the time while he is the elected leader of Delhi? Is this why ‘journalists’ like Madhav are busy saving Delhi government’s face and diverting blame elsewhere? And if someone points out the misconduct of Kejriwal government then Madhav goes on to abuse that person in street and thuggish language and on Live TV,” says the letter.

Madhav here presumably refers to Madhavdas G, senior editor at Times Now. But it could mean someone else at the news channel as well. The letter continued, “On the one hand, shocking details emerged from the Delhi High Court on how the Delhi government did not make any effort to either procure the oxygen already allocated for it or even to make distribution plan for the oxygen once it reached the Delhi borders. . And on the other hand, there was Sreyashi retweeting Manish Sisodia’s ‘oxygen war room’ tweets! Is this what our channel is for? Reduced to being a IT cell of Delhi government’s propaganda machinery?”

The employees did not stop there. They stated further, “Then there are certain ‘journalists’ who are seen peddling divisive agendas more than doing any serious journalism. Prashant is either busy tweeting what Rahul Gandhi’s views on some matters are or is busy pushing Tejashwi Yadav’s agenda even during this crisis. It would not be a problem if Prashant was pushing some constructive solution given by anyone. But these people are simply venting vitriol. Have some of our ‘reporters’ stooped down to the level of becoming paid hirelings for mascots of corruption and goondaraj?”

“Timesnow was supposed to be beyond these agendas. Timesnow was supposed to be the voice of the people. Especially at the time of a crisis, instead of questioning those who are responsible for the situation in different states, we are shocked to see our ‘journalists’ simply spread panic, hatred and distorted agendas,” the letter states.

The employees also asked whether advertisements were everything and if commitment towards truth or the country meant nothing. They also called for serious introspection. The letter was penned today. It needs to be emphasised here that we could not independently verify the authenticity of the letter.

There was a letter penned earlier that was in circulation as well. In that letter, the channel was accused of siding with the BJP. That letter was widely in circulation among journalist circles as well. Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal has come under criticism from all quarters for spending crores of money on ads but not enough on securing the supply of medical oxygen.

OpIndia has reached out to Times Now and Vineet Jain for their comment on the matter. We will update the report with their response as and when we receive it.

Update

Times Now has responded to our query. Their response is reproduced below in full:

“This is completely fake, baseless and a malicious attempt to defame and tarnish the image of Times Now. We clearly state that we have not received any such email directly. From the content and context, it is evident to us that this is not the work of any present or past insider. The Times Now team is a close knit group of highly motivated people who work together in harmony and are completely one with the Channel purpose and Content strategy. We pride ourselves on our extremely open and transparent culture and foster personal courage amongst our members who are known to speak their mind. It’s not our style to hide behind anonymous mails to make a point. Our reputation is built on long years of integrity and strong principles of journalism that we are proud of. Through several pathbreaking campaigns and initiatives amidst the Covid-19 crisis, Times Now has been at the forefront in empowering viewers with accurate and verified news and we are committed to continue the same despite feeble attempts by unscrupulous and politically motivated players.”

Congress party continues propaganda against Indian vaccine makers, invents another fake scam to allege they will earn more profit than Reliance Industries

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Congress party continues propaganda against Indian vaccine makers, invents another fake scam to allege they will earn more profit than Reliance Industries

Ever since pharmaceutical companies across the world started developing vaccines against the Novel Coronavirus, the Congress party in India has been running a sinister campaign against Indian vaccine makers, while campaigning for much more costly vaccines made by foreign companies. Initially, much of the Congress propaganda was against Bharat Biotech, which had developed the vaccine Covaxin indigenously in India. But ever since the central govt allowed the companies to sell the vaccines to state governments and private companies, the Congress campaign against both the companies has intensified.

SII has announced the price for Covishield at ₹400 per dose for state govts and ₹600 for private hospitals, while the prices set by BB for Covaxin are ₹600 for state govts and ₹1200 for private hospitals. At present, both the companies are supplying their vaccine to the union govt at ₹150 per dose, which are supplied to all the state govts. Using this difference in rate for union govt and state govts, left-liberal media and the Congress and other opposition parties have alleged that Modi govt has allowed the private companies to make unprecedented profits. it may be noted that the ₹150 price for the centre is a discounted price offered by the companies for the initial contract, and any subsequent sale to the centre will be under new contracts at the prices same as the price set for the state governments.

The Congress party today made some calculations of the ‘profit’ made by the two companies, and came up with the conclusion that they will be earning a profit of ₹1,11,100 crore.

“Is Modi Govt complicit in vaccine profiteering of ₹1,11,100 Cr”? Asked Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Twitter, while posting an official press release by the party making the claim.

Party supporters have also published the detail calculation on Twitter, which shows how the party arrived at the figure of more than one lakh crores.

According to them, Serum Institute will make a profit of ₹35,350 crore, while Bharat Biotech will earn ₹75,750 crore in profits. They have estimated that as Indian population below 45 years is 101 crores, 202 crore doses will be required. These will either be purchased by state govts or by individuals as the central govt will continue to vaccinate people above 45 years of age for free. Assuming that both the companies supply 50% each of the required doses, the Congress further assumed that state govts will purchase 50% and the private sector will purchase 50% in each state.

The Congress party has assumed that cost of production for both the vaccines is ₹150, and based on that, they have estimated profit of ₹250 and ₹450 for SII and ₹450 and ₹1050 for BB from states and private sector respectively.

Based on such “detailed” number crunching that will surely impress Kaushik Basu, the Congress party has declared that there is a vaccine profiteering to the tune of ₹1,11,100 crore. This number is almost four times the profit of Reliance Industries for 2019-20, and more than the earnings of the India’s largest corporate house. The profit of RIL was ₹30 thousand crores in 2019-20, which means both Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute will earn more profits than RIL by selling only one vaccine each.

Although only the two vaccine makers are best placed to respond to this absurd claim with actual numbers, it can easily be said that there are several inaccuracies in the calculation made by Congress.

First, Congress has assumed the market size wrong. At present the Covid-19 vaccines are approved only for adults, those who are 18 years of age or above. The Congress party has included the entire population below 45 years, which is completely wrong. According to estimates, more than 50 crore people in India are below the age of 18 years. This means Congress needs to reduce the estimated demand by more than half. Apart from that, frontline workers of all age groups are already covered under free vaccination by centre, so the number of eligible people in the 18-45 age group goes down further.

Even after that, there are several other factors. The party has estimated that 50% population in each state will opt for vaccination at private hospitals. This assumption is completely baseless and far from reality. Several states, including large states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar etc have announced that they will vaccinate their 18-45 population for free. So far more than a dozen states have made such announcements, and it is expected that most states and UTs will announce free vaccine in the coming days.

When same vaccines will be available for free in most if not all states, it is illogical to estimate that only 50% of the eligible population will avail the service. Only a minuscule number of wealthy people who prefer the convenience and luxury of private hospitals will go there. This means that the share of purchases by states will be much more than 50%, and the purchase by private hospitals will go down by that extent. This will upset the calculation by Congress party badly, as they have assumed ₹75,750 crore profit by both the companies from sale to private hospitals itself.

As most vaccines are covered under public vaccination programs in India, and as the centre is already vaccinating 45+ group for free and most states vaccinating 18-45 group for free against Coronavirus, there is no basis to assume that private hospitals will purchase Covid-19 vaccines worth ₹90,900 crore, as the Congress party is calculating.

The third wrong assumption made by the Congress party is the cost of the production. SII CEO Adar Poonawalla has already said that they are making a loss by selling the vaccine at ₹150 to the centre, as they need to pay 50% royalty to AstraZeneca on the revenue. This means the company is getting only ₹75 dose, a very low amount. Similarly, Bharat Biotech is also making losses by selling their doses at ₹150.

Both the companies made huge investments to scale up capacities to produce the vaccines. While SII is making a vaccine developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca, Bharat Biotech developed the vaccine, which incurred substantial investment. The company spent around ₹350 crore in the clinical trial alone, an amount that needs to be recovered by selling the vaccine at a suitable price. Both the companies plan to further expand their capacities, which needs investment.

The fact is, there is absolutely no basis to claim that the cost of production of both the vaccines is ₹150 for both the vaccines. Moreover, the cost of both the companies won’t be the same. Because while SII is making a vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca, Bharat Biotech developed the Covaxin itself. This means the company has made huge investments in developing the vaccine, apart from expanding its capacity to produce a higher number of doses. The company also had to run an extensive clinical trial program in India to get the vaccine approved. The Covishield main trial was conducted by AstraZeneca, while SII conducted only a small bridge trial in India as required by law.

Along with that, Serum Institute of India enjoys a vast economy of scale, as it is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. The company also has a much large order book for Covishield, not only from the Indian government, but also from several foreign nations, and the COVAX, the Covid-19 vaccine initiative by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organization. As a result, it is expected that production cost and therefore the price of Covaxin will be more than Covishield.

The criticism over the pricing started due to the difference in price charged from the centre and the new prices. But as SII has already clarified, they had promised to deliver the first 100 million doses at discounted rate, after that they will charge ₹1000 per dose. Now the company is actually is charging less than that. Moreover, the companies will sell to centre at discounted price of ₹150 only for the current contracts. After that, they will charge the same amount from the centre as they are charging from the state governments.

This allegation by the Congress party brings back the memories of Nehruvian philosophy the party used to follow, according to which making profits by businesses were seen as a grave sin. The party prevented the corporates and individuals from earning profit for decades, which stifled any kind of innovation in the Indian corporate sector. Now, they are making illogical calculations to claim that Indian vaccine makers are making astronomical amounts in profits.

Fact-Check: Does Kejriwal’s ad now appear on PornHub? Netizens declare it ‘shocking if true!’

Anurag
-
0
Fact-Check: Does Kejriwal’s ad now appear on PornHub? Netizens declare it ‘shocking if true!’

Amidst reports making rounds that the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government has overspent on ads, an image has gone viral, which appears to be a screenshot of the pornography website PornHub. In the screenshot, it appears that Kejriwal’s ad is playing on the porn website. The Twitter user who shared the screenshot claimed that he was watching porn using VPN and Kejriwal’s ad appeared before the video.

Screenshot of Tweet that alleged Kejriwal’s ad allegedly appeared on a porn website. (Please note that we have covered some portion of the screenshot to make it age-friendly)

The ‘shocking’ revelation made by the Twitter user took social media by storm. Everyone around was looking for an answer, but the majority of the Indians are not aware of how to use PornHub as it is banned in the country.

OpIndia’s investigation

When we looked at the screenshot, we thought it is our duty to fact-check if Aam Aadmi Party is targeting naïve PornHub viewers in India. As our policies do not allow us to access any illegal documents or websites, a rule that we follow in our off time as well, we thought it would be better to analyze the screenshot itself.

On deeper analysis, we came to the conclusion that the ad appeared to be leaking from the sides. A large website like PornHub would not make such a UI blunder. Also, our sources told us that the skip button on PornHub is different. Thus, we can possibly conclude that the screenshot is FAKE, and we can confidently say that, as per our information, investigation and what evidence we have gathered so far, the said ad does not appear on the porn website.

Kejriwal’s ad’s analysis

However, it has to be noted that the advertisement is indeed real and can be often seen on YouTube and other platforms. You can check the ad here.

How do online advertisements work?

There was a time when Google ads used to target ads based on the content of the website. However, nowadays, it is not the only criteria. Google, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms gather a lot of personal information from your computer in the form of cookies. Their algorithms then use these sets of information to determine what kind of ads will appear when you are surfing social media or websites.

For example, you recently Googled, talked about or tweeted about laptops. Based on your location, age, sex, old purchase history and other information, the algorithms will start showing you ads related to laptops. You might have noticed holiday package ads appearing on your TL within few hours of talking about a destination. It often confuses the users that how these websites know what you were looking for. The algorithms are designed to understand your behaviour and show products that you are highly likely to buy.

In the case of political ads, for instance of Kejriwal on YouTube, it will appear based on your location, age, sex, political ideology and more. As Kejriwal has a habit of publishing ads where his party has practically zero presence, it is possible that you may see his ad outside Delhi or Punjab.

Advertising platforms largely depend on the information you share, posts you make, and things you search on the internet. In case you feel like these ads are harming your privacy, you can set personalized ads off by clicking on the “why this ad” icon. It is usually around a small icon. On YouTube, you can find it on the left bottom corner right next to the advertiser’s name.

Kejriwal’s ad budget is attracting criticism

An RTI has revealed that the Kejriwal government has so far spent Rs.150 crore on ads in the first three months of 2021. On April 25, a Twitter user started counting how many times his ad appears on TV. People were shocked to know that his ads appeared 15 times within a six-hour span.

Kejriwal has an odd history with porn websites

In 2017, a porn website RedTube used Arvind Kejriwal’s photograph in a meme that attracted a lot of attention. So much so that #AapKaPorn started to trend on Twitter, and he was mocked from all directions. RedTube later deleted the tweet.

Two Pakistani diplomats caught stealing items from a store in South Korea, one case dropped due to diplomatic immunity

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Two Pakistani diplomats caught stealing items from a store in South Korea, one case dropped due to diplomatic immunity

On Saturday (April 24), the South Korean police identified two Pakistani diplomats who stole items worth $11.70 from a store in Itaewon in Yongsan District of Seoul, reported The Korea Times.

One of the diplomats stole a hat worth $10 (11000 South Korean won) while another diplomat shoplifted chocolate treats worth $1.70 (1900 South Korean won). It must be mentioned that both were caught stealing from the same shop on different dates. While the hat was stolen on February 23, the chocolate treats were stolen on January 10. After the hat was stolen, one of the store employees filed a complaint with the Yongsan police. An investigation into the matter was launched by the law enforcement authorities.

On analysing the CCTV footage, the cops identified the ‘hat thief’ as a 35-year-old Pakistani diplomat. However, the case against him was closed because of the immunity enjoyed by diplomats in host countries under the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations. Moreover, the Yongsan police stated that the store owner did not want to further proceed in the case as the accused’s colleague had made the payment on his behalf. Despite the diplomatic immunity enjoyed by the other shoplifter, he is still under investigation for stealing $1.70 worth of chocolate treats.

Pakistani diplomats abroad continue to embarrass Islamabad

This is not the first time when diplomats of Pakistan have embarrassed their country by being accused of such crimes. In 2018, a Pakistani diplomat was caught stealing the wallet of his Kuwaiti counterpart. Due to the worsening image of the Pakistani diplomats, the United States government had imposed travel restrictions banning their movement beyond a 25-miles radius around Washington DC without approval between May 2018 and May 2019.

Even Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Munir Akram has also been accused of domestic violence by his live-in partner. He was excused due to diplomatic immunity. In another incident, an Assistant Visa officer at Pakistan high commission, Bangladesh, Mohamed Mazhar Khan was arrested after his role in a syndicate was busted. The syndicate used to smuggle  Fake Indian Currency Notes through Assam and West Bengal border.

During the investigation, the documents recovered from his possession exposed his links with members of terrorist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir. In a similar incident, another Pakistan diplomat Farina Arshad who was Second Secretary at the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh was charged after a militant of jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) Idris Sheikh admitted her links with the militant organization.

Union Health Ministry issues guidelines for vaccinating 18+ individuals against Coronavirus, read details

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Union Health Ministry issues guidelines for vaccinating 18+ individuals against Coronavirus, read details

On Monday (April 19), the Modi government announced that all individuals between the age of 18-44 will be vaccinated against the Wuhan Coronavirus from May 1 onwards. The development came amidst the rising cases of Coronavirus in the country.

In an order released on Friday (April 23) by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), it has laid down guidelines for facilitating the systematic implementation of Phase III of the vaccination drive. The guidelines have been issued keeping in mind the cohort size, the number of individuals eligible for vaccination during a particular phase. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has specified that all efforts should be made to control overcrowding and law and order situation.

The order stated that it will be mandatory for both public and private covid vaccination centres to register on the CoWIN app, record details of all vaccination, issue digital certificates and report to CoWIN and AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunization) systems. All previous guidelines required for a health facility to be considered a Covid Vaccination Centre (CVC) will remain unchanged. This includes the availability of sufficient cold chain equipment, capacity, trained vaccinators, rooms, and the ability to managed AEFI.

“Henceforth, it will not be necessary for the State/UT Governments to send any Proposals to the Ministry for approval of new private CVCs, prior to their registration on CoWIN. The State/UT Government may designate an appropriate Authority at State/District level that will ensure that only facilities eligible (as per the criteria…) are registered on CoWIN as a CVC,” the order stated. It must also be mentioned that a Designated Authority will have to make a decision regarding the application within 2 days of receiving the application.

The private hospitals, which will provide vaccination services, can procure the vaccines directly from the manufacturers but only from the supply not meant for the Government of India. It may be noted that the manufacturers will sell 50% vaccine doses to the central govt, and the rest 50% to both state governments and private hospitals. The private CVCs should declare the types of vaccines, stockpile, and their prices on the CoWIN app. “All vaccination slots at private CVCs will continue to be offered only for online appointment from CoWIN or Arogya Setu. On-site registration/ appointments will be allowed only if any doses are left in the last opened vial(s) so as to minimize vaccine wastages,” the order clarified.

Individuals above 45 years eligible for vaccines but with a catch

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has clarified that all healthcare workers (HLWs), frontline workers (FLWs), and individuals above the age of 45 will continue to remain eligible for vaccination. It further said, “The State/UT Governments, in the event of procurement of vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers, may decide to expand the coverage from the doses so procured to reduce the cut-off age for eligibility for vaccination at the Government CVCs.” Such a feature will provide transparency to beneficiaries, prior to online booking.

“Citizens below the age of 45 years shall also be eligible to receive vaccination from a Government CVC in a
State/UT where that State/UT decides to lower the minimum cut off age for eligibility of beneficiaries to less than 46 years, for covering such additional eligible beneficianes from the vaccine stocks directly procured by the respective State/UT Government from vaccine manufacturers,” the order clarified on vaccinating individuals outside the current cohort.

Registration for new covid vaccination centres to be done in mission mode

The eligible individuals between the age of 18-44 years (as of Jan 1, 2022) can register online from Wednesday (April 28) onwards. Slot for online appointments on the CoWIN app will open from May 1 onwards. The States have been directed to register new Covid Vaccination Centres in a ‘campaign mode’. The order further added, “Registration of willing hospitals meeting the eligibility criteria may be done on CoWIN on an expeditious basis.” The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also called for the training of CVC site managers, verifiers and vaccinators.

While directing the States to prevent overcrowding and possible deterioration of law and order situation in the country, the MoHFW pointed out, “The system of supplying vaccine stocks to private CVCs and collection of Rs. 150 per dose, will cease to exist from 1 May 2021.” The State government will have to do complete stockpiling, assessment of funds deposited by private CVCs, and utilization of vaccine doses until April 30 before issuing new stocks to private covid vaccination centers.

1...4,2764,2774,278...7,578Page 4,277 of 7,578