Punjab Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa in an interview to News18 accepted that the rise in Covid-19 cases in Punjab is in fact linked to the farmer’s protest.
When asked about the rise in rural Punjab of the new coronavirus cases and availability of testing, the Minister revealed that the farmers returning from Singhu and Tikri borders are not getting themselves tested. This is one of the reasons why there is a sudden surge of cases in rural Punjab, he stated.
Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa is the minister for Rural Development, Animal Husbandry, Panchayats, Fisheries and Higher Education in Punjab.
Punjab minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa blames farmers returning from protests for the rise in #Covid19 numbers in Punjab.
He also admitted that not enough testing is happening in the state as of now and arrangements are being made to ramp up the testing capabilities.
As per the report, two more farmers protesting at the border succumbed to the virus yesterday raising concerns. The farmers are sent from villages in batches and are made to protest in shifts. This practice undeniably puts them at a greater risk of infecting not just themselves but even their family members back home upon their return.
However, the government of Punjab had not spoken about the link between the rise in cases and the farmers’ protest on record as yet.
While the Centre is open to hold more rounds of discussion, the farmers are adamant on a complete roll back of the three Farm Laws.
Farmer protest sites the new super-spreader?
We had reported earlier on how the farmers who are returning from the Delhi border post registering their protest against the Farm laws may be acting as the new super-spreaders in Punjab.
As per a ground report by Dainik Jagran most new cases of coronavirus are emerging from districts that sent the most number of protestors to the site. As many as 900 farmers had traveled from a single district of Punjab to participate in the protest. It is imperative to note that 58% of the deaths reported in Punjab are from Rural areas.
The report further stated that the families of the patients are deliberately avoiding Covid testing or revealing the actual reason for death. This is because the government of Punjab has announced a compensation of 5 lakhs to the kin of the farmers who die because of the ongoing protest. In such a case if the family reports Covid as the cause of death, they will not be eligible for the compensation.
Centre’s internal reports correlate farmers’ protest and rise in Covid cases
As per Times of India, an internal report from Centre correlates rise in covid-19 cases and anti-farm laws protest. According to the report, the agitation can be related to the surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. The rotational shift by farmers has been cited as a prominent reason for the rise in cases in the report.
From the past few weeks, many media houses are trying to paint a picture that union ministers and BJP leadership are not providing any support for the Covid-19 patients and people affected by the pandemic. They have alleged that the ministers and leadership were busy singing praises of the central government.
On May 18, Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar published a comprehensive report in which they listed ten union ministers and showed how they “failed” to reply to any SOS query published on social media platforms. The ministers they listed included Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari, Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javdekar, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, and Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Naqvi. Congress used the report to push its propaganda to show the Indian government in a bad light.
1 मई से 14 मई के दौरान मोदी सरकार के दिग्गज मंत्रियों के ट्विटर एनालिसिस में यह बात सामने आई है कि किसी मंत्री ने कोरोना पीड़ितों की मदद के लिए एक भी ट्वीट नहीं किया, जबकि पीएम मोदी की तारीफ़ में खूब कसीदे गढ़े गए।#COVID19Indiapic.twitter.com/ljv5kJRM9S
Bhaskar published how these ministers tweeted about the preparations government has been doing to fight Covid-19, posted condolences messages, and wished for birthdays and festivals. However, these ministers “did not help” any patient by replying to SOS calls on social media platforms.
Tweets by Dainik Bhaskar and The Wire
A similar report was published by the left-leaning media house The Wire. The report titled “When Social Media Was Flooded With COVID SOS Calls, Union Ministers Only Praised Centre” tried to explain how ministers were busy praising the centre and did not reply to SOS calls on social media platforms. Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Piyush Goyal, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Nirmala Sitaraman. And Dr S Jaishankar was on the hit list of The Wire. Interestingly, The Wire’s report was based on Dainik Bhaskar’s report itself.
Connection of these reports with Congress’s Toolkit
Dainik Bhaskar’s report was published on May 18, just before Congress’s toolkit was exposed. Around 12 hours later, The Wire used the report as the base and published its own report explaining how union ministers allegedly did nothing but only praised the central governments during the Covid-19 crisis between May 1 and May 15.
Both news agencies did mention some work that the ministers told about on their social media platforms related to Covid-19 relief, but the reports majorly talked about their alleged “incompetency.”
Now, if we compare the reports’ structure with the Congress Toolkit, it talked about taking a series of actions to “amplify the image of a clueless and insensitive BJP and to corner it on its mismanagement.” The ministers they wanted to highlight were Amit Shah, Dr S Jaishankar, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, and others. It said, “Cover stories in weekly magazines which reinforce the same image of missing government can be encouraged in amenable publications.”
It has to be noted that The Wire was in the list of “friendly” media houses that were meant to be approached to get such reports covered.
Its more about institutional help rather than individual help
When you are running a government, it is not possible to run from pillar to pillar to provide help to individuals. Let’s see what all these ministers were doing during the period these reports have mentioned.
Home Minister Amit Shah: Instead of checking his personal account, which he was barely using the whole time, it would have been better if the news agencies had a look at his office’s account. Recently, Amit Shah was busy tackling the situation amidst Cyclone Tauktae that affected four states/UTs, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Daman. He has been working extensively to formulize guidelines for Covid-19 management across the country.
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (MHA) DRAWS ATTENTION OF STATES & UTs ON NEED TO HAVE PLAN OF ACTION TO ENSURE FIRE INCIDENTS DO NOT OCCUR IN HEALTH FACILITIES, PARTICULARLY COVID-19 FACILITIES.
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) May 5, 2021
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh: Defence Minister has been on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19. He coordinated with the defence institutes, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force to ensure delivery of essential supplies to different locations across the country. He also enabled defence institutes to procure supplies without going through a long process of approvals. Rajnath Singh’s efforts made it possible for DRDO to not only establish oxygen plants at several locations but also to establish make-shift hospitals and develop a special drug, 2-DG, for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
— A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) May 17, 2021
Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari: It is the transport minister’s efforts that made it possible to transport medicines and medical oxygen in different parts of the country. He had held several meetings on the spread of Black Fungus with local administration in his constituency and ensured they have ample support from the government to tackle it. It was his efforts that made it possible for the Genetic Life Sciences to get approval for manufacturing Amphotericin B used in the treatment of Black Fungus. The medicine will be available at almost 70% less price than the current market price by the end of the month.
अभी इस कंटेंट वाले एक इंजेक्शन की कीमत सात हजार रुपये है और करीब चालीस से पचास इंजेक्शन एक मरीज को दिये जा रहे है जिस वजह से लोगों को आसानी से मिल नही रहा। वर्धा में बना यह इंजेक्शन 1200 रुपए में मिलेगा । प्रति दिन बीस हजार इंजेक्शन जेनेटिक लाइफ सायन्सेस में तैयार होंगे।
— Office Of Nitin Gadkari (@OfficeOfNG) May 14, 2021
Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar: EAM has been busy communicating with the international counterparts to procure medical supplies and other aid for India’s fight against Covid-19. Unfortunately, he has to deal with incidents like irresponsible statements given by the Chief Minister of Delhi against Singapore. He is also responsible for ensuring there is support for the foreign investors in the country so that the economy does not take a hit amidst the second wave of Covid-19.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan: Dr Harsh Vardhan is the main man in the fight against Covid-19. Being the health minister, it is his responsibility to formulate the guidelines and be in touch with the state health ministries to ensure everyone has an ample supply of medical equipment, medical oxygen, medicines, and other supplies. If India has been able to administer 14.46 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, Dr Harsh Vardhan deserves a major chunk of the credit.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal: Railway Minister has been working extensively in the fight against Covid-19. From running Oxygen Express to deliver medical oxygen in different parts of the country to establishing isolation wards using Railway coaches, the minister has been busy running pillar to post, providing every possible help in tackling the situation. Notably, Railways has also had its own hospitals, which are being used for the fight against Covid.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javdekar: Union minister Prakash Javdekar’s office has been working extensively in ensuring every news, every guideline about Covid-19 management reaches the masses in time. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is also fighting the misinformation about the disease on social media and in print and electronic media.
Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal: Education Minister has been working to issue necessary guidelines for the educational institute. Amidst Covid-19, the education of lakhs of students is at stake, and he has been busy managing the education sector in the country. Notably, even today, he held meeting with directors of education institutes, including IITs, NITs, IISCs, etc., about Covid-19 management, online education, and more.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman: Finance Minister has been on the front of providing essential funds for Covid-19 management. From tax exemption on medical equipment to providing the state with the necessary financial support, the finance department under Sitaraman has been busy the whole time.
Union Ministers like Smiriti Irani and BJP MPs like Tejasvi Surya have been on the frontline of Covid-19 support. It is evidently visible on their timelines that they have been active in replying to SOS calls. These ministers were conveniently ignored by the media houses as it would not have suited their agenda.
Interestingly, what The Wire and Dainik Bhaskar want to do is negate the institutional fight against COVID-19 to peddle an agenda and insinuate that the Modi government and their ministers were not doing anything simply because they were not making a song and dance about individual help on social media.
While the Ministers were busy in fighting COVID-19 institutionally, there were several affiliate organisations that were involved in providing help at an individual level.
BJYM, Sewa Bharathi, RSS, and other affiliated organizations
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the largest volunteer organization in India, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party, and Sewa Bharati, an NGO affiliated to RSS, have been actively participating in Covid-19 relief programs. They are helping Covid-19 patients, their families, and people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic by supplying medicines, arranging medical support, online consultancy, food, ration kits, and more.
After revamping Mahabodhi Hospital in 10 days, we are reviving operations in another 80 bed hospital in Jayanagar that was lying defunct from last few years.
It has to be noted that RSS has been in the frontline to revive few hospitals as well that are now being used for Covid-19 relief. The organization is helping doctors and healthcare workers in giving medical care to the patients. These organizations have also established isolation wards across the country where Covid-19 patients can stay in isolation during recovery.
Community Kitchen run by RSS is preparing 32,000 food packets daily for needy people in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/T3IryGOcrG
It is easy to point fingers at the government and say they are not doing anything, but in reality, the government and the ministers are running from pillar to post to save as many lives as possible. The second wave of Covid-19 came like a major shock for the healthcare infrastructure in the country, and everyone from PM to ministers and from CMs to bureaucrats everyone is working extensively in stabilizing the situation.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health was forced to issue a correction guideline under Protection from Online Falsehoods and Misinformation Act (an act to tackle fake news online) after Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal went all out to broadcast his claim of the ‘Singapore variant’.
Taking cognizance of the false statement being circulated online soon after Kejriwal’s claim, Singapore’s Health Ministry issued correction guidelines to Facebook and Twitter and SPH Magazines Ltd.
The social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and HardwareZone.com have been instructed to carry the Correction Notice for all the end-users of these platforms in Singapore.
Clarification regarding Kejriwal’s false claims of the ‘Singapore strain’
The clarification issued by Singapore reads, “There is no new “Singapore” variant of COVID-19. Neither is there evidence of any COVID-19 variant that is ‘extremely dangerous for kids’. The strain that is prevalent in many of the COVID-19 cases detected in Singapore in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant, which originated from India.”
“The existence and spread of the B.1.617.2 variant within India predates the detection of the variant in Singapore, and this has been publicly known and reported by various media sources from as early as 5 May 2021,” the statement details further.
Singapore’s law against online fake news
It is imperative to note that the Protection from Online Falsehoods & Manipulation Act is popularly known as Fake News Law, and it allows the authorities to respond to fake news by enforcing links to fact-checking sites, censoring websites or social media accounts, and filing criminal charges.
Kejriwal’s claim not only embarrassed India on a global platform but also invoked strong reactions from the Singapore government.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Singapore High Commissioner to India Simon Wong said that Singapore and India are solid partners in the fight against COVID-19, and the pandemic knows no boundary or political color.
Addressing the controversy that erupted on Tuesday over Arvind Kejriwal’s unnecessary fear-mongering by claiming that there was a new ‘Singapore variant’ of Covid-19 which is very dangerous to children, Wong said that the false statements by Arvind Kejriwal would invite actions under Protection from Online Falsehoods & Manipulation Act (POFMA), an act intended to mitigate misinformation in the country. However, he added that they are satisfied with the government of India’s clarification, putting an end to the matter.
Delhi CM Kejriwal fear-mongers about new Covid strain, MEA slams Arvind Kejriwal
On Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to claim that a new variant of Covid-19 was found in Singapore, which could result in India’s third wave. Resorting to unnecessary fear-mongering, the Delhi Chief Minister put out unverified information to claim that the new variant was extremely dangerous for children.
AAP government undeterred on its claim
Despite being slammed by Singapore officials and the Ministry of External Affairs in India, the AAP government continues to further its claim of the Covid-19 ‘Singapore variant’ in India.
Coming out in support of his party leader, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said, “Wrong to say, there is no #COVID19 strain particular to Singapore. There are many strains in India, Will give clarification on the Singapore strain soon. But we assure you there is a new strain in India.”
Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia too parroted the same narrative. Deflecting from the topic, Sisodia attacked the BJP for not focusing enough on the issue, despite the fact that neither Kejriwal nor his ministers Jain and Sisodia, presented any factual evidence of the existence of the so-called ‘Singapore strain’.
Shortly after issuing a warning, Israel had bombed the Al Jalaa building that housed Al Jazeera and other international media outlets in Gaza city citing the presence of terror organisation Hamas’ military intelligence office in the high-rise.
Israel faced a severe global backlash for its fierce step with several demanding proof for Israel’s claim.
Amidst the blame game, a former Associated Press editor has come out validating Israel’s claim that Hamas did, in fact, have offices inside the Gaza building.
Matti Friedman, who worked at AP’s Jerusalem bureau from 2006 to 2011, in a series of tweets disclosed that he didn’t have “direct knowledge” of the incident, but the source he received the information from revealed that there was plenty intelligence pointing to Hamas’ presence in the building.
A lot of AP-related material has come my way since yesterday’s airstrike. I have no direct knowledge of the incident and am relieved that no one was hurt. I hope the organization’s Gaza staffers, and everyone else in Gaza and here in Israel, see this violence end quickly.
“I take army statements like I take foreign press reports – with several grains of salt. But a conversation with a friend who is intimately familiar with military decision-making right now suggests there were indeed Hamas offices there,” he said in his Tweet.
I take army statements like I take foreign press reports – with several grains of salt. But a conversation with a friend who is intimately familiar with military decision-making right now suggests there were indeed Hamas offices there.
He went on to state that the Israel Defence Force’s legal advisers were convinced of solid proof of Hamas presence in the building and hence decided to go ahead with the strike.
“Because hitting press offices is a net negative for Israel, the army seems to have had a target it considered worth the fallout,” he added.
Suggesting that AP was compromised, he revealed, “Any press organization operating in a dictatorship is going to be compromised, and will further compromise itself to conceal how it has been compromised. It’s not a new story or one limited to the AP, or to Gaza.”
Any press organization operating in a dictatorship is going to be compromised, and will further compromise itself to conceal how it has been compromised. It’s not a new story, or one limited to the AP, or to Gaza. I wrote about it here: https://t.co/knuj5T3ce1
The claim, however, has come under considerable scrutiny. The Associated Press informed that it had “no indication” about Hamas’s militant operations being run from the building.
Israel shares evidence
Giving evidence of Hamas’ presence in the targeted building through intelligence channels to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he said, “We have received some further information through intelligence channels.”
Declining to share the nature of the information, Blinken added, “That’s not something I can comment on. Press freedom groups condemned the attack, which levelled the building and marked a new chapter in the already rocky relationship between the Israeli military and the international media. AP President Gary Pruitt has called for an independent investigation into the attack.”
India’s apex health research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Wednesday gave its approval for a self-use rapid antigen testing (RAT) kit, CoviSelf, for testing Covid-19. The medical body has issued an advisory wherein it approved the use of this home-based kit. However, it has warned against indiscriminate testing.
All you need to know about ‘Coviself’
As the name suggests, Coviself is a do-it-yourself kit for Covid-19 testing, manufactured by Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions Ltd. According to ICMR, the kit will be priced at Rs 250 per pack and will be available in the markets in a week’s time.
“The company will start shipping out tests within a few days. Mylab current production capacity is 7 million tests per week and plans to increase its capacity to 10 million tests per week within 14 days,” the company said.
This self-use test kit can be used by symptomatic patients and immediate contacts of confirmed cases as per ICMR guidelines. Only a nasal swab will be required for this rapid antigen testing. The test results will then have to be uploaded by the home users themselves through an app that is available on the Google play store and Apple store. The data in the app of the mobile phone will be centrally captured in a secure server that is connected with the ICMR COVID-19 testing portal. Here all data will be eventually stored, ICMR said in an advisory.
ICMR has approved the self-test rapid antigen Covid-19 testing kit 'Coviself' developed by @MylabSolutions. Using the kit people can collect their own nasal swab and check results within minutes. This will immensely help in early and quick detection which is key to the treatment. pic.twitter.com/RvfYyuTGm2
The test kits can be purchased without a prescription from local pharmacies and online channel partners, read the advisory.
This would spare the patients from the trouble of going to health care centres for sample collection. The medical body is also hopeful that this move would be beneficial in easing pressure on already overburdened testing labs. It believes that this step would also help reduce the delays in testing.
Batting for the self-test kit, ICMR confirmed that all individuals who test positive may be considered as true positives and there would be no need for a repeat test. However, all RAT negative symptomatic individuals will be treated as suspect Covid-19 cases and would be expected to follow the ICMR and Health Ministry home isolation protocol while awaiting the RTPCR test result.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party had taken to its official Twitter handle on May 19 (Wednesday) to post an abusive and derogatory post against former Bihar deputy CM and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. In its now-deleted Tweet, RJD used extremely deplorable language to cast aspersions on the BJP senior leader’s social media popularity.
In its post in Hindi, the primary opposition party in the state of Bihar used crass terms like ‘jahil’ (illiterate), ‘behsram’ (shameless), ‘nagna’ (naked) and ‘harami'(bastard) for the Deputy CM of the state.
Screengrab of RJD’s now-deleted Tweet
With a series of abusive terms, RJD asserted that despite having 2 million followers on Twitter, Sushil Modi is unable to garner even 100 likes for his Tweets. And though no one gives him any importance on Twitter, he comes on the microblogging site to vent his frustrations, Tweeted RJD.
They further accused that Sushil Kumar Modi indulges in such frivolity under the guidance of his senior and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
The said tweet currently does not exist on the TL of RJD’s official verified handle. However, there are many screenshots doing rounds on social media and a number of responses to the tweet, showing that it did exist.
The contentious tweets, expressing vile abuses at the ex-Deputy CM of Bihar miffed various social media users. Chastened by the backlash these abusive remarks triggered, RJD quietly deleted the post from its timeline. However, various alert social media users took screenshots of the Tweet, which RJD had slyly deleted.
Expressing his angst against RJD, one social media user wondered why Sushil Kumar Modi has not yet raised a complaint against the opposition party for using such offensive remarks against him. He also questioned Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s silence over this offensive post and urged him to direct Bihar police to take action.
@SushilModi have you even raised an complain in Police for this outrageous language against deputy chief minister by @RJDforIndia?@NitishKumar are you ok with this language and if not then why aren’t you ordering Bihar Police to take action? pic.twitter.com/ZfM3VXClzc
Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, India is facing another challenge in the form of mucormycosis or black fungus. Recently, Rajasthan declared its spread an epidemic as the number of cases spiked in the state. Doctors noticed a spike in queries related to the fungal infection, affecting patients who have recovered or recovering from Covid-19. While health care professionals and patients have to be extra cautious about the black fungus infection, it has to be noted that the disease is not contagious, which means it cannot spread from one person to another.
What is mucormycosis, and who is vulnerable to the infection?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is a rare form of infection. It is more common among people who have health issues and are on medicines that can lower the strength of the immune system. There are certain groups of people who are more likely to get the infection, such as people suffering from diabetes, cancer, organ transplant, stem cell transplant, Neutropenia (lower number of white blood cells), corticosteroid users, drug addicts, and others.
How does infection enter the body?
The fungus can enter the patient’s body through contact with the fungal spores. It can enter in lungs or sinus if someone inhales the spores from the air. It can enter the skin through a burn, scrape, or other skin injuries.
Mucormycosis is not contagious
It has to be noted that mucormycosis is not contagious. It cannot spread between persons or persons and animals. CDC says, “Mucormycosis can’t spread between people or between people and animals”.
In a recent interview with Times Now, Dr. Akshay Nair, Oculoplastic Surgeon, Ocular Oncologist said that mucormycosis is not contagious. He said, “It is possible that a healthy person like you and me can have mucormycosis spores in our system, but unless an environment is created that allows mucormycosis to grow, which happens in diabetes, which happens in immuno-compromised people unless that happens, the disease will not be able to invade our system. It is only possible in those who are vulnerable.”
Mucormycosis is not contagious: @akshaygn, Oculoplastic Surgeon, Aditya Jyot & Dr Agarwals Eye Hospitals, Mumbai, tells Rahul Shivshankar on India Upfront.
One point that Dr. Akshay and several other experts have mentioned over the past few days that patients who were not diabetic before contracting diabetes now have diabetes. Some patients who were not even aware that they had diabetes are now vulnerable to mucormycosis after getting Covid. Mucormycosis is now being seen as the first sign of diabetes in such patients, said Dr. Akshay. “This is another group that we need to be alert about, and clinicians should tell the patient recovering from Covid that regardless of what your diabetic status was, you need to keep a watch on your blood sugar now.”
The uncontrolled use of steroids is causing higher blood sugar, says Dr. Ranganathan
Dr. Anand Ranganathan, who was also in the panel during the said discussion that, “The problem is, the more steroids you give, your blood glucose level also increase. So in effect you become “diabetic” even if you might not be and that is the problem, and I think conditions have to be absolutely strict because you need not be diabetic to get black fungus.”
He further added, “You can be a hale and hearty person and you are injected with steroids, and next thing you know not only your immunity goes down giving opportunity for this infection to hold but also your blood glucose increases and when it increases human receptor GPR increases which is a binder present on the black fungus. The more GPR is there, the more glucose is there, the more receptors would be there, and it would give black fungus an opportunity to hold.”
What do other experts say about Mucor
While talking to India today, Prof Sheetal Verma of microbiology at KGMU said, “Mucor is commonly found in soil, plants, decaying fruits and vegetables, and manure in the form of spores. The infection occurs in the sinus or lungs when someone breathes in these spores. But these spores are destroyed by the immune system in most cases. It happens very rarely to those with very low immunity.”
Dr. Anany Gupta, gastroenterology expert at AIIMS New Delhi, said, “Black fungus does not spread from animals to people. Those with low immunity for various reasons may get it. High steroids for a prolonged time also reduce immunity, making patients prone to such infections.”
What are the early signs of Black Fungus infection?
According to the guidelines for patients issued by AIIMS, here is a list of early signs of mucormycosis infection:
Headache and nasal obstruction even after taking pain medications
Nasal crusting and nasal discharge that could be brownish or tinged with blood
Loss of sensation or pain on the face
Discoloration of skin
Localized facial puffiness
In moderately advanced disease, eye/orbital mucor infection may occur. Some initial signs include:
Eye swelling or redness
Double vision
Loss of vision
Pain in the eyes
Drooping eyelids
What to do if you see signs of infection?
The first and foremost thing to do is to consult your doctor immediately. The doctor will examine you clinically and may take swabs from the nose and test for fungal infection. If the infection is strong, you may need treatment with antifungal medications and surgery.
Dos
Make sure to provide a complete history of diabetes to the doctor
Periodically get Sugar levels checked
Make sure to keep an eye on the early signs of Mucor
Maintain basic hygiene and cleanliness
Follow the advice of the doctor
Complete the course of treatment as suggested by the doctor
Don’ts
Do not Self medicate, especially steroids. Do not listen to any so-called experts who are sharing information on social media platforms. Take medicines only after consulting with a doctor
Do not delay reporting symptoms of Mucor
In any case, do not ignore medical advice. Do not skip medicine and do not indulge in anything that may compromise your immune system further
Islamic extremists in eastern Uganda beheaded a Christian pastor hours after he engaged in a public debate with Muslims about Christianity and Islam.
According to the reports, Pastor Thomas Chikooma, a resident of Pallisa town in Uganda, was brutally killed by Muslims after inviting him to an open-air debate in Pallisa. The pastor had reportedly converted 14 people, including six Muslims, into Christianity, thus angering the Muslims in the village.
As Pastor defended Christianity during the debate using the Bible and the Quran, the angry Muslims began shouting Islamic slogans- “Allah Akbar,” compelling him to run away from the venue with his son.
“Two motorcycles carrying two Muslims each and dressed in Islamic attire speedily bypassed us,” his minor son informed. According to Pastor’s son, the two motorcycles stopped at the junction opposite Nalufenya primary school and the road near Pastor’s house. The Pastor approached the Muslim mob and started speaking to them, his son said.
“Immediately some commotion began as the men started talking about the open-air debate, and soon one of them slapped my father,” the son who was witness to the incident said. The son said that he got scared and fled through our cassava plantation and arrived at home.
Family found the beheaded body pastor in the pool of blood
An hour late, the family of the Pastor returned to the scene with some neighbours. However, they did not find anyone. As they continued to search for Pastor, they found him in a pool of blood, beheaded and his tongue removed.
Soon, the Pallisa police arrived at the spot and took the body to a hospital in Pallisa for a postmortem examination. The Uganda Police are now investigating the brutal crime.
The family and the followers of the Pastor are in deep shock as they mourned the loss of Pastor Thomas Chikooma, who had planted 50 churches in eastern Uganda. Pastor Chikooma was a well-known evangelist who led St. Martin Church in Ngalwe village.
Reportedly, the killing of Pastor Thomas is the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda. Uganda’s constitution allows for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and religious conversion. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
The Maharashtra Police has registered an FIR against far-left website Newslaundry columnist and former Aligarh Muslim University student leader Sharjeel Usmani for posting objectionable tweets against Hindus on Twitter.
According to the reports, Hindu activist Ambadas Ambhore, who is a member of Hindu Jagran Manch, had registered a complaint against radical Islamist Sharjeel Usmani in Maharashtra’s Jalna district over his disrespectful tweets against Hindu deity Lord Ram. In the complaint, Ambhore has said that the derogatory tweets had hurt Hindu sentiments.
The complainant, Ambadas Ambhore, who hails from Ambad in Jalna and works with the Hindu Jagran Manch, has alleged that #SharjeelUsmani used disrespectful words for Lord Ram in some of his recent posts on Twitter and hurt Hindu sentiments.
Based on the complaint, the Ambad police has now registered a case against Sharjeel Usmani on Wednesday night under IPC Section 295-A (malicious act outraging religious feelings) and provisions of the Information Technology Act. The case will be transferred to the Jalna cyber department.
Sharjeel Usmani’s hatred against Hindus
Sharjeel Usmani, a known Islamist hatemonger, had used an unfortunate crime in Haryana to peddle hatred against the Hindu community. Usmani had attempted to communalize an ordinary crime in Haryana and had used derogatory words against Lord Ram, saying people who chanted ‘Jai Shree Ram’ were nothing but terrorists.
In a tweet, Newslaundry columnist Sharjeel Usmani had said that Hindus who chant “Jai Shri Ram” are most likely terrorists.
Tweet by Sharjeel Usmani
The crime which Sharjeel Usmani used to defame Hindus is suspected to be a case of personal rivalry. One Asif was murdered during a clash between two groups. Only recently, the group Asif was associated with had attacked members of the other group. However, Usmani not only peddled misinformation by communalising the incident but also hurt the sentiments of Hindus by using derogatory words against Hindu slogans.
Sharjeel Usmani has a record of instigating communal passions and hatred against the Hindu community. He had earlier celebrated the death of Aaj Tak news anchor Rohit Sardana.
The Congress party has been left embarrassed after its alleged “toolkit”, outlining Congress’ attempt to defame the Central government and PM Modi even as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic, was exposed on social media. Congress party has now rushed to declare the purported documents ‘fake’ and ‘forged’ and have also filed FIRs in the case.
According to various media reports, multiple FIRs have been filed against various BJP leaders at different places. Rajasthan Congress secretary Jaswant Gurjar has lodged an FIR at Bajaj Nagar Police Station in Jaipur against BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Minister Smriti Irani, BJP general secretary B L Santhosh, and spokesperson Sambit Patra over the “toolkit” issue.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had exposed the toolkit document during a television interview revealing Congress’s propaganda to malign Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image as the nation battles the pandemic. The other BJP leaders and ministers had Tweeted about the Toolkit. Soon after, it went viral on social media, with the netizens drawing quick connections of the recent propaganda to the points mentioned in the document.
Taking a cue from its colleagues in Rajasthan, the Congress’ students wing, NSUI also lodged an FIR in Raipur against former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and Sambit Patra for printing “false and fabricated” content.
The case was filed at Civil Lines police station on the complaint of Akash Sharma, state chief of the National Students Union of India. Sharma alleged that BJP leaders circulated fabricated content using a fake letterhead of the AICC Research Department.
INC Chhattisgarh took to Twitter to share the copy of the FIR it has filed against the two BJP leaders.
— INC Chhattisgarh (@INCChhattisgarh) May 19, 2021
Similarly, on May 18, shortly after BJP exposed the Congress party’s alleged ‘toolkit’, Congress national spokesperson Sunil Ahire said that an FIR has been filed by his party. Taking to his Twitter handle, the Congress spokesperson said that BJP is propagating a fake ‘toolkit’ on ‘COVID-19 mismanagement’ and attributing it to AICC Research Department. “We are filing an FIR for forgery against JP Nadda and Sambit Patra,” he added.
Congress gets into damage control mode after its ‘toolkit’ lay exposed, relies on its ‘friendly media’ to declare document ‘fake’
Interestingly, ever since Congress’ purported Toolkit proliferated on the social media space, the party has got into a damage control mode. It has tried its best to declare the document ‘fake’ and to do this, the party instantly pinned its faith on its ‘friendly media’.
The Congress party used the so-called fact-checker Alt News to declare the toolkit ‘fake’. The party gave documents to the propaganda website to make its case, and the site made some dubious analysis to claim that the document allegedly prepared by AICC Research Department is forged on a real letterhead, because the fonts in both documents are different.
An article published on Alt News, notorious for peddling propaganda and fake news, gave a clean chit to the Congress party by declaring that the ‘toolkit’ was created on a forged document.
Congress Toolkit
The four-page document titled ‘Cornering Narendra Modi & Covid Mismanagement’ documented by the ‘research team’ of the INC is nothing but a point-by-point instruction guide to target Prime Minister Modi and his handling of the Covid crisis.
For the same, the document encourages the non-office bearers and party supporters to attack the Hindu festival of Kumbh, the authenticity of PM Cares Fund, the Central Vista project and fanning the propaganda by using funeral and death images.
The ‘toolkit’ also recommended using international media, journalists and social media influencers to further their agenda.
