Home Blog Page 4338

Yogendra Yadav was aware of the rape of a woman by AAP leaders at the Tikri border ‘farmer’ protest site: Report

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Yogendra Yadav was aware of the rape of a woman by AAP leaders at the Tikri border ‘farmer’ protest site: Report

A woman from West Bengal was allegedly raped by two AAP leaders when she was going to join the farmer protest site at the Tikri border, Delhi. Now, a report published in Dainik Bhaskar says that activist Yogendra Yadav, who currently doubles up as a ‘farmer leader’, and is also a member of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, knew about the incident.

Source: Dainik Bhaskar

The news daily cites the woman’s father to contend that Yadav was aware of the brutalities meted out on his daughter, and yet he turned a blind eye to it. The report says that Yadav was in touch with the woman since April 24, before her death, and was aware of her predicament. However, he did not inform the police about the incident, which raises the question if he wanted to hide the misdeeds of the accused.

Woman who died of COVID at Tikri border protest site was raped and blackmailed

The matter came to light after the father of the woman filed a complaint based on which an FIR was registered by the Police under Sections 120B, 342, 354, 365, 376D and 506. As per the police, they have formed a team to track down two of the accused in the case.

As per the complaint, on April 10, the woman, aged around 25 years, came to Tikri border protest site from West Bengal with a group to join the farmers’ protest against the recently enacted agriculture laws. On April 26, she was admitted to a hospital in the Jhajjar district after showing Covid symptoms. Vijay Kumar, Police Officer at Bahadurgarh Police Station, said, “She died on April 30. Her father has filed a case of rape against two men.”

Kumar further added that the complaint filed by her father mentioned that she was raped by two men of the group that came to support the farmers’ protest. The whole story was narrated by the woman to her father over the phone as per the complaint. Kumar said, “She died during treatment. The hospital authorities have told us they treated her as a Covid patient. We have applied for documents, which are awaited and only after we get them can we confirm if her death was Covid-related.”

Complaint filed by victim’s father

In his complaint, the father named six persons identified as Anil Malik, Anup Singh Chanaut, Ankur Sangwan, Kavita Arya, Jagdish Brar and Yogita Suhag, who went to West Bengal on behalf of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. All of them have been named in the FIR. As per the father’s complaint, and his daughter met them, and his daughter showed a desire to join the protests. She left with them on April 11 from Howrah Station.

Connection of the case with Aam Aadmi Party

As per reports, Anup Singh, one of the accused, was an active member of the Aam Aadmi Party from the Hisar region. AAP MLA Sushil Kumar has confirmed his involvement with the party. Another accused, Anil Malik is an AAP member in Delhi. However, Kumar claimed he did not have any information about him. These two were active at Farmer Protests from the beginning under the banner of the Kisan Social Army. Since the woman died in hospital, Anup has been missing from the protest site.

Afghanistan: 2 days after bomb blasts that killed 68 people in Kabul, Taliban calls for ‘ceasefire’ ahead of Eid

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Afghanistan: 2 days after bomb blasts that killed 68 people in Kabul, Taliban calls for ‘ceasefire’ ahead of Eid

On Monday (April 10), Islamic terrorist outfit Taliban announced that it would observe a 3-day ceasefire in Afghanistan ahead of Eid. The development comes a day after the terrorist organization distanced itself from the deadly bomb blasts that rocked the city of Kabul on Saturday.

While speaking about the decision, Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem said, “In order that the Mujahideen again provide a peaceful and secure atmosphere to our compatriots during Eid-ul-Fitr so that they may celebrate this joyous occasion, all Mujahideen … are instructed to halt all offensive operations.” He added that all terrorists associated with the Taliban have been told to not target the Afghan government unless it’s a case of retaliation. Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated between May 12 and May 13, depending on the moon’s sighting.

The spokesperson of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, Fraidoon Khwazoon, had welcomed the decision of the Taliban to observe a ceasefire for 3 days. While President Ashraf Ghani did not comment about the announcement made by the Taliban, Kabul has reportedly been on high alert ever since the US decided to withdraw all its troops by September 11. The decision by the Biden administration has seen a surge in terror attacks by the Taliban.

Bomb blasts rock the city of Kabul, leave 63 dead

On Saturday (May 9) afternoon, multiple blasts took place outside a girl’s school in Kabul in Afghanistan, killing around 68 people and injuring around 150 victims. Reportedly, the attack took place in the Shia Muslim-dominated area of Dasht-e-Barchi, which was earlier been targetted by radical extremist outfit ISIS. The terror began with a car bomb explosion outside the premises of Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School, followed by two rocket attacks.

While speaking about the matter, the Interior Ministry of Afghanistan said that there were a total of 3 explosions, including a car bomb attack and 2 IED blasts. The incident occurred when the students were leaving home from school. Ibrahim, a teacher at the Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School informed that the majority of the victims of the terror attack were young girls. Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Ayan has expressed fears that the death toll might increase in the terror attack.

The incident was also condemned by the diplomatic mission in Kabul and the Afghanistan government. On Saturday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blamed the terror attack on the Taliban extremists in Afghanistan. However, the radical Islamist group has instead ‘condemnded’ the attack on civilians in the country. Reportedly, the family members of the victims have pinned the blame on the Afghan government and Western powers.

Uttar Pradesh: Boeing to construct a 200-bed COVID hospital in Gorakhpur

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Uttar Pradesh: Boeing to construct a 200-bed COVID hospital in Gorakhpur

On May 9, the Uttar Pradesh government said that United States-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing proposed constructing a 200-bed ICU hospital in Gorakhpur. Based on its proposal, the district administration has started to look for a place which will likely be provided in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Earlier, Boeing had also announced it will set up a 200-bed COVID hospital at Yelahanka, Bengaluru in Karnataka.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to visit AIIMS to inspect the site in this regard. As per the government Boeing has proposed that all the 200-beds will be ICU beds. Yogi Adityanath on Sunday also inspected the integrated Covid command centre that manages different tasks like sending Covid patients to hospitals, distributing medical kits and providing medical counselling to patients under home isolation. CM is in Gorakhpur since May 9 to take stalk of the Covid situation.

UP state government is rapidly working on expanding medical facilities in the state in collaboration with various corporate and multi-national companies while using all available government resources. CM Yogi has directed the officials to expedite the operationalization process of the Covid hospitals and make them functional at the earliest.

Covid situation in Uttar Pradesh

Since past few days, Uttar Pradesh has been seeing a consistent decline in the new cases as compared to recoveries in Chinese coronavirus cases. According to the data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the state reported 23,175 new cases of Covid-19 on May 9 while there were 34,636 recoveries. As of now, there are 2,33,981 active cases in the state.

Uttar Pradesh: Covid protocols, govt restrictions ignored at the funeral of Islamic leader in Badaun

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Uttar Pradesh: Covid protocols, govt restrictions ignored at the funeral of Islamic leader in Badaun

On Saturday (May 8), hundreds of people from the Muslim community gathered in the Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh during the funeral ceremony of an Islamic cleric named Qazi Hazrat Abdul Hameed Mohammed Salimul Qadri. The incident took place in complete violation of the social distancing guidelines and Coronavirus protocols laid down by the government.

The Islamic cleric, also known among his followers as Salim Mian, passed away on Saturday at around 3:51 pm. Soon, a large gathering of his followers thronged the funeral procession, despite the maximum limit of funeral attendees being set to 20 by the government. Amidst the rising Coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh, Covid guidelines were ignored.

In a video that has now come to light, it can be seen that the attendees are standing in close proximity to each other. Besides, most of them did not bother to wear masks, which have been made mandatory in public by the government. It must be mentioned that an individual has to shell out ₹1000 if he is founding loitering around in public spaces without a mask. The penalty gets even stricter if the offence is committed for the second time. A fine of ₹10,000 is incurred for not wearing a mask in public for the second time.

Covid patient buried without Covid protocol, leads to 21 additional deaths in less than 3 weeks

The incident has now created fear of a large-scale Coronavirus outbreak in the Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh. Owing to their gross negligence and complete disregard of Coronavirus guidelines, several people in the area are now susceptible to the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus. This is also not the first time when such an incident has come to light.

Earlier, it came to light that 21 people have died in less than 3 weeks in a village in Rajasthan after Coronavirus protocols during the burial of an infected patient were violated. The incident took place in the Kheerva village in the Laxmangarh tehsil of Sikar district in Rajasthan. As per reports, the village has a population of about 3500 people. The ‘unusually high number of deaths has alerted the health officials in the State.

Interestingly, only four out of 21 deaths have been officially registered as Covid-19 fatalities. The data was recorded between April 16 and May 5 this year. The spike in deaths in the small village has added to the fears of a ‘community spread.’ The State health officials visited the Kheerva village on Friday (May 7) and collected random samples.

Recently in Rajasthan, thousands of people were seen violating Covid norms and gathering to mourn the death of Islamic religious leader Ghazi Fakir, the father of state minority affairs minister Saleh Mohammad.

Why do ‘liberal’ celebrities wish death upon ‘Bhakts’ to ‘teach them a lesson’?

Nirwa Mehta
-
0
Why do ‘liberal’ celebrities wish death upon ‘Bhakts’ to ‘teach them a lesson’?

On Sunday, celebrity jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali took to Twitter to wish death upon all ‘Bhakts’.

Farah Khan Ali’s tweet wishing death upon ‘bhakts’

In a tweet, she said that all the ‘Bhakts’ who are ‘taking up’ for the ‘PM’s colossal failure’ in the current Chinese coronavirus pandemic, ‘I pray you lose loved ones’. She prayed that the ‘Bhakts’ lose their loved ones so they ‘realise’ the anger which stems from those who are not able to do anything to save their dying loved ones. She attributed the deaths to PM Modi’s ‘mismanagement and power hungry agenda’.

Farah Khan Ali is daughter of actor Sanjay Khan, who played the popular role of Tipu Sultan in the tv series The Sword of Tipu Sultan. She is niece to actor Feroze Khan and sister to actor Hrithik Roshan’s ex-wife Suzanne Khan.

Farah, very casually, just wished death upon others to settle scores with those who oppose her political ideology. She has since deleted the tweet and claimed that she did not mean to wish death upon anyone.

Is Farah the only one? No.

Here is actor Siddharth, who has starred in Bollywood blockbusters like Rang De Basanti alongside Aamir Khan, celebrating violence unleashed upon the BJP karyakartas in post-poll violence in West Bengal.

Siddharth’s tweet

On May 2, 2021, when Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress won the West Bengal state assembly elections, the state was engulfed in violence where BJP party office was set on fire along with assaulting and killing BJP workers. The fear was so much that many BJP supporters fled West Bengal and took refuge in Assam.

Amidst all this, Siddharth went on to celebrate how ‘she’ was whacking them ‘with a bartan (vessel)’. Whether ‘bartan’ is a creative euphemism to brutality, one would never know.

Mona Ambegaonkar’s tweet

Actor Mona Ambegaonkar was busy wishing ‘slow, painful death’ upon all ‘Sanghi goons’ and everyone who is a BJP or RSS member.

The buck doesn’t stop here.

Remember the arhatiyas masquerading as ‘farmers’ protesting at the Delhi borders?

Here they are singing and chanting and wishing PM Modi dies.

These are the people who accuse the ‘Sanghis’ of being ‘hateful’ and this is how they celebrate violence against them or wish death upon them.

Why the hate? Sanghis is always used as an euphemism for Hindus by ‘liberals’ who very frequently make ‘cow urine’ jibes to mock ‘Sanghis’. Why this specific hate towards the Hindus?

‘Sanghis’ are so dehumanised that wishing ill upon them is normalised. Every day I get at least a dozen tweets where people tell me how ‘I will know when someone I love will struggle for oxygen’. And this is normalised.

Because ‘Sanghis’ are not humans.

If you have even tiny bit of humanity in you, you wouldn’t wish death upon anyone, especially if you consider them human. ‘Sanghis’ are so dehumanised that when RSS swayamsevan Narayan Dhabadkar, who had tested positive for Chinese coronavirus, gave up his bed so that another COVID-positive patient, a much younger man, could get it instead, mainstream media went on to ‘fact-check’ the claims. Despite Narayan Kaka’s daughter saying how his father made the ultimate sacrifice, of giving up his own life, for a complete stranger, she was ‘fact-checked’.

Secondly, even if ‘liberals’, by some strange stroke of luck, do consider ‘Sanghis’ humans, they don’t even consider them ‘one of their own’. You see, the ‘liberals’ do not believe in concept of kinship. In fact, they also use the term ‘nationalists’ as a slur against ‘Sanghis’. Because being a nationalist is such a crime.

So when ‘liberals’ don’t even consider ‘Sanghis’ human enough to be one of their own, it really should not come as a surprise that they wish you dead. Their concept of nation does not include the ‘Sanghis’ or those who identify themselves as Hindus (because if you do, you would be shamed as a Sanghi).

Their ‘Idea of India’ does not include you.

Which is why they wish death upon you.

Rape and blackmail of a woman at Samyukt Kisan Morcha protest site, two AAP members named as accused

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Rape and blackmail of a woman at Samyukt Kisan Morcha protest site, two AAP members named as accused

As per reports, a woman from West Bengal was allegedly raped by two men when she was going to join the farmer protest site at the Tikri border, Delhi. The father of the woman had filed a complaint based on which an FIR was registered by the Police under Sections 120B, 342, 354, 365, 376D and 506. As per the police, they have formed a team to track down two of the accused in the case.

As per the complaint, on April 10, the woman, aged around 25 years, came to Tikri border protest site from West Bengal with a group to join the farmers’ protest against the recently enacted agriculture laws. On April 26, she was admitted to a hospital in the Jhajjar district after showing Covid symptoms. Vijay Kumar, Police Officer at Bahadurgarh Police Station, said, “She died on April 30. Her father has filed a case of rape against two men.”

Kumar further added that the complaint filed by her father mentioned that she was raped by two men of the group that came to support the farmers’ protest. The whole story was narrated by the woman to her father over the phone as per the complaint. Kumar said, “She died during treatment. The hospital authorities have told us they treated her as a Covid patient. We have applied for documents, which are awaited and only after we get them can we confirm if her death was Covid-related.”

Complaint filed by victim’s father

In his complaint, the father named six persons identified as Anil Malik, Anup Singh Chanaut, Ankur Sangwan, Kovita Arya, Jagdish Brar and Yogita Suhag, who went to West Bengal on behalf of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. All of them have been named in the FIR. As per the father’s complaint, and his daughter met them, and his daughter showed a desire to join the protests. She left with them on April 11 from Howrah Station.

Excerpt from the complaint filed by woman’s father

As per the father’s complaint, his daughter told him over the phone that Anil and Anup were not decent persons. When they were travelling, and everyone slept, Anil allegedly came to her and tried to forcibly kiss her. She asked him to go away and never repeat that behaviour. She further told her father that Anil and Anup were blackmailing and pressuring her. He alleged in his complaint that she was forced on the train and in the tent at the protest site. She was forced to share the tent with the accused. He asked her to take some women over there in confidence and tell them her ordeal.

Finally, on April 16, she told Yogita and Jagdish about the incident, and they made a video of her statement. He called Yogita and asked her to forward the video to him. On April 17, Yogita told her father that she passed blood in her urine. She was moved to a tent with women on April 18. On April 21, she started to show symptoms of Covid, including mild fever. On April 24, she started feeling difficulty in breathing. On April 26, she was admitted to the hospital and later died allegedly of Covid.

Connection of the case with Aam Aadmi Party

As per reports, Anup Singh, one of the accused, was an active member of the Aam Aadmi Party from the Hisar region. AAP MLA Sushil Kumar has confirmed his involvement with the party. Another accused, Anil Malik is an AAP member in Delhi. However, Kumar claimed he did not have any information about him. These two were active at Farmer Protests from the beginning under the banner of the Kisan Social Army. Since the woman died in hospital, Anup has been missing from the protest site.

The body was taken in a procession against Covid guidelines

According to the reports, after the death of the woman, the protestors took the body out in a procession even though she allegedly died of Covid. As per guidelines, there are strict protocols in place that do not allow such processions of anyone who has died of Covid as it may infect the attendees.

Samyukta Kisan Morcha claimed they took action against the group

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) claimed in a statement that when they came to know about the case, they decided to take action against the group. They alleged that they have already removed the tents of the so-called ‘Kisan Social Army’ from the protest site a few days ago. In a statement, they claimed to take “this fight for justice to its logical conclusion.”

Jasbir Kaur Natt, Punjab Kisan Union leader said, “it is a matter of serious concern which needs to be debated threadbare. Here at the protest, there is no difference between males and females and women in large numbers are participating. The farmers will investigate and ensure no such thing is allowed to happen again.” Natt was in her contact before her demise.

It is notable here that recently, allegations of sexual harassment had emerged against four farmer protest activists and leaders named Mohd Zuber, Varun Chouhan, Antarpreet Singh and Manish Kumar. They were accused of harassing a number of victims over the course of several years.

The investigation in the case is currently underway.

Uttar Pradesh: Newly elected village head Rakmuddin arrested with four others for cow slaughter

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Uttar Pradesh: Newly elected village head Rakmuddin arrested with four others for cow slaughter

After the recently concluded panchayat elections in the state of Uttar Pradesh, police on Friday arrested a newly elected village head Rakmuddin for hosting a beef party at Barwakhad village in Sonbhadra district.

The village head was arrested with four others on the charge of cow slaughter, an official said on Friday.

As per the locals, the village head had allegedly promised his voters a beef party if elected to power. The news of the party and cow slaughter which was conducted late at night on Thursday soon reached the villagers after which the police were informed immediately.

Superintendent of Police Amrendra Prasad Singh informed that suspicious meat, animal skin and slaughter tools were recovered from the spot upon arrival. 

An FIR has been registered against the five people. The four culprits identified as Akram Ali, Saheb Jan, Nazmul and Rahees, other than the village head were also arrested, informed the police.

There is a lot of resentment in the villagers after the incident. Upon receiving the information some leaders of the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, including BJP workers, had also reached the spot to register their protest. 

The situation is said to be tense in the village.

Bengal elections: Long term trends that the results held up and why the outcome is not as bad for the BJP as it seems

Guest Author
-
0
Bengal elections: Long term trends that the results held up and why the outcome is not as bad for the BJP as it seems

The results of just concluded assembly elections in West Bengal have shocked BJP supporters and elated opponents of the party. Both the despondency of BJP supporters and the irrational exuberance of its opponents is based on the tall claims made by BJP before the elections to enthuse its cadre and influence swing voters. Such claims are routinely made by parties in the run up to the elections and these claims cannot be the benchmark based on which results are to be evaluated.

The evaluation of election results should be data based and should consider past elections results, long term trends and maybe prevailing political climate in the country. The second wave of Covid could not have impacted the state elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu but it could have had some impact in West Bengal as the impact of Covid second wave could be felt in Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhatisgarh and UP in the last four phases of elections in Bengal.

There are two long term political trends that continue to hold after the West Bengal elections. If BJP had defeated Trinamool Congress, it would have been a historical victory because it would have defied two long term political trends. The two trends are:

  1. BJP has never replaced a non-Congress party in a state to become the ruling party i.e. in every state that BJP has ever come to power, it has always done so by replacing Congress.
  2. In any state election since Sep 2013 (when Narendra Modi was made PM candidate of BJP) BJP has never been able to match (forget about exceeding) its performance of the Lok Sabha election in that state.

BJP has only once replaced a non-Congress party in a state to become the ruling party

Some might argue that in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, BJP defeated Samajwadi Party and so the theory does not hold. However, the party first came to power in UP in 1991 with a full majority (Uttarakhand then was a part of UP) Till 1989, Congress was the main ruling party in Uttar Pradesh. Janata Dal and its breakaway group (led by Mulayam Singh) could rule UP for 2 years but in 1991, it was BJP which had replaced Congress and captured its traditional voters.

It remained a dominant force till 2002 before it was pushed back to third place by SP and BSP. In 2017, in a way BJP regained its old position. And then there is Tripura where the BJP defeated the CPI(M) to rule the state but Tripura is a small state in comparative terms. Except UP and Tripura, there is no other state where there is any doubt that BJP replaced Congress. Even in Karnataka, BJP came to power first time by defeating Congress.

If BJP had defeated Trinamool Congress in 2021, this would have been the first instance in India’s political history where BJP defeated a regional party and came to power in a relatively large state. This is like BJP’s position in Odisha, Telangana and even Bihar (where it has to be in alliance with JDU as a junior partner to come to power). As the results show, the trend still holds.

BJP’s lagging performance in state elections compared to Lok Sabha election

In any state election since Sep 2013 (when Narendra Modi was made PM candidate of BJP) BJP has never been able to match (forget about exceeding) its performance of the Lok Sabha election in that state. Even in the Prime Minister’s home state of Gujarat, BJP has not been able to match or come even close to its performance in Lok Sabha election.

Even when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, BJP’s performance in state elections was not as good as its performance during Lok Sabha elections! Even in states like Haryana, Delhi, Jharkhand where the gap between the state and Lok Sabha elections was not very much, the fall in BJP’s vote share in the assembly elections have been huge.

The closest that BJP has ever come to match its Lok Sabha performance in a state election was in UP in 2017 and in (drumroll..) West Bengal 2021.

The BJP vote-share here is NDA vote-share
The BJP vote-share here is NDA vote-share
The BJP vote-share here is NDA vote-share

And the irony is that this result in West Bengal is considered by party’s sympathisers as a setback. In a way, this negative mood could be seen as positive for the party as it shows that most of its supporters have remarkably high expectations from party’s electoral performance.

However, one must not lose touch of ground realities and long term trends while making objective assessment. Boastful claims made by party leadership (normal part of electoral strategy) cannot be made benchmark of assessment.

Relative performance of BJP compared to last assembly election

Apart from the two long term trends, a third aspect should be to compare the party’s performance in the last assembly election in the state. In West Bengal, not only has the BJP significantly improved its performance compared to last assembly elections (increased its seats from 3 to 77 and vote share to 38.1% from 10.3%), in no other big state the party has been able to increase its vote share to this extent as it has done in West Bengal.

Not in Gujarat in 1995, when it will start its more than 30 year rule (party expected to win again in 2022), not in 1991 in UP when it formed a government with full majority despite being at third position in 1989. This performance by BJP in West Bengal is unparalleled in the party’s history.

There is no doubt that had the party defeated Trinamool Congress, this would have been a historical verdict for it would have defied two long term trends. However let us not make the best enemy of better.

Note: The article has been authored by Vikas Singh who was with MyGov as Director (Analytics) and has worked in the field of Analytics, Election Management, Investment Banking and Communication.

Fans pay tribute to YouTuber Rahul Vohra after he succumbs to Covid-19 hours after helpless Facebook post seeking ‘better treatment’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Fans pay tribute to YouTuber Rahul Vohra after he succumbs to Covid-19 hours after helpless Facebook post seeking ‘better treatment’

On Sunday (May 9), popular YouTuber and content creator Rahul Vohra passed away after succumbing to Covid-19 related complications. The news of his demise came days after he pleaded to his Facebook followers to arrange for an oxygen bed.

The development was confirmed on Facebook by the Director of the Asmita Theatre Group, Arvind Gaur. “Rahul Vohra is no more. My talented actor has passed away. Only yesterday, Rahul had lamented that he wouldn’t die if he had received better treatment. Yesterday evening, he was shifted from Rajeev Gandhi Hospital to Ayushman hospital in Dwarka. Sorry, we couldn’t save you. We are your killers,” he wrote paying his last homage. Gaur also shared the video of his cremation on Facebook.

In a Facebook post on May 4, Rahul Vohra had informed his followers that he was Coronavirus positive. He said that he had been admitted to a hospital but showing no signs of recovery, even after 4 days. “Is there any hospital, where oxygen beds are available? My oxygen levels are decreasing gradually. There is none to look after me? I am posting this in a very helpless state. My family members are unable to handle the situation,” he had lamented.

Screengrab of the Facebook post by Rahul Vohra

A day prior to his death, Rahul Vohra wrote his last message. “If I had received proper treatment, then, I possibly would have survived.” For the last time, he had shared his name, age, hospital name, bed, and floor number in hopes of a last-minute miracle. “I will be reborn again and do great work. I have lost all courage now,” he had concluded his message.

Screengrab of the Facebook post by Rahul Vohra

Tributes pour in for Rahul Vohra after his death

After learning about his untimely demise, several fans and fellow YouTubers took to social media to pay tribute to the late Youtuber. Filmmaker Onir tweeted, “Shocked &Very sad to hear that @Rahulvohhra is no more. Last year same time I was having a 2 mins lockdown filmmaking competition. He used to participate every week with a funny film. So young and gone. Rest In Peace.”

One Twitter user, Pankaj Purohit wrote, “One of my favourite youtuber Rahul Vohra passed away and he also posted on Facebook but no one helped him. Om Shanti.”

Popular Youtuber Ashish Chanchlani wrote, “Extremely shocked to hear about passing of Rahul Vohra. I used to talk to him in the very early times of my career. Very humble and skilled personality. His passing away is a complete shock. I don’t have words. A talent gone too soon. Condolences to his family. Om shanti”

One Vishal Dixit wrote, “The guy declared his death and now he’s no more. Imagine the pain he had suffered.”

Rahul Vohra was just 35 years old at the time of his death. He had 1.2 million followers on Facebook and over a lac subscribers on Youtube. He was popular on both social media platforms for his creative sketches. Vohra is one of the several personalities who have lost lives in the 2nd wave of the Coronavirus pandemic in India.

Mamata Banerjee wants exemption from taxes on oxygen cylinders, medicines and other items for Covid-19 which are already exempted. Details

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Mamata Banerjee wants exemption from taxes on oxygen cylinders, medicines and other items for Covid-19 which are already exempted. Details

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has requested for exemption of GST/customs duty and other such taxes on O2 concentrators, cylinders & COVID related drugs as requested by donors. She made the request in a letter written to PM Narendra Modi on May 9.

Citing that a large number of organizations, individuals and agencies have come forward to donate essential medical supplies to mitigate the supply-demand gap amidst the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the donors have approached the state to consider exemption of these items from customs/SGST/CGST/IGST, said the letter.

Letter by West Bengal CM for tax exemption on Covid relief material

However, it seems that the CM is not aware of the latest developments in the matter, as the exemptions that she requested are already there. After the request made by the CM was made public, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to Twitter to inform the newly re-elected Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that an exemption from IGST for imports of a list of Covid-19 relief items was already granted on May 3 while exemption from Customs Duty/health cess was given much earlier. 

Sitharaman urged Mamata Banerjee to re-check the list as the items mentioned in the list were covered for tax exemption already.

The Finance Minister also informed that all COVID relief material imported by Indian Red Cross for free distribution in the country was fully exempted from duties including IGST. 

Detailing out the provision made by the Centre, Sitharaman specified that tax exemption applied to various goods including test kits, oxygen equipment, critical drugs, etc. when imported free of cost for free distribution in the country by any entity, state government, relief agency, or autonomous body basis a certificate issued by any state government.

Clarifying the tax slabs on vaccines, the Finance Minister gave a detailed break-up of the pricing, taxation and exemption informing why a complete exemption of GST on vaccines is not feasible. 

The state of West Bengal recorded around 20,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and registered its highest single-day deaths of 127 COVID-19 patients. 

1...4,3374,3384,339...7,681Page 4,338 of 7,681