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Hindustan Times publishes a misleading article by Congress worker Praveen Chakravarty: Has India inoculated only 7% of its population?

Nupur J Sharma
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Hindustan Times publishes a misleading article by Congress worker Praveen Chakravarty: Has India inoculated only 7% of its population?

It is often said that one should never let a crisis go to waste. With the COVID-19 pandemic and a gush of the second wave in India, the media and the opposition parties are almost having a field day, amidst the death and destruction the pandemic is leaving in its wake. With a sharp rise in the curve and over 2 lakh people testing positive in one day, the second wave is far worse than the first. At such a time, the media has been rather irresponsible in giving a platform to those who wish to play politics over the funeral pyres that have not even gone cold yet.

Hindustan Times today published an opinion piece by ‘Data analyst’ Praveen Chakravarty, who is a Congress party worker.

In the article published by the Hindustan Times, Chakravarty says the following:

Article by Praveen Chakravarty

Praveen Chakravarty, Congress’ data analytics person, says that India has inoculated 7% of its population and needs to focus on increasing that percentage to 75%.

Essentially, there seems nothing too wrong with this suggestion. There is nothing wrong in saying that India needs to scale up its vaccination process and must reach the 75% mark in the shortest time possible. However, according to Praveen Chakravarty himself, the most important number that India needs to focus on and remember “every single day in the fight against Covid” is that of 7%.

While politicians will politic, for any publication, getting its numbers right is extremely important. Just as one gets started as an editor, or even a journalist, one is careful to ensure that the basics of the report – what, why, who, when, how much, names, places, etc are accurate. These details form the very foundation of the report and are facts that must not be trifled with.

Hindustan Times, however, seems to have dropped the ball in its urgency to publish an article that would seem to stir the political pot and therefore, benefit their publication in terms of readership.

While the opinion piece by Praveen Chakravarty claims that only 7% of the population has been inoculated, on the 8th page of Hindustan Times itself, the numbers show a very different picture.

On the 8th page of Hindustan Times, the paper declares that a total of 13.22 crore ‘total vaccinated across India’.

Infographic from Hindustan Times

According to the official government website, 11.3 crore people have received at least 1 dose of the vaccination.

Stats according to GOI website

When one extrapolates that, it would come to about 8.3% of the entire population (taking the entire population to be 136 crores).

Therefore, when about 8.3% of the population has been inoculated according to Hindustan Times’ own numbers, the paper allowed Praveen Chakravarty to claim that only about 7% have been inoculated.

Further, one has to bear in mind that India was focussing on phased vaccination till now. Therefore, front-line workers and those above 45 have been targeted for vaccination so far. Given that multiple reports say that 25% of India’s population is above the age of 45, that would amount to about 34 crores. According to population projection for 2021 by census India, the population above 45 years of age is 34.5 crore. If we take that as a benchmark, the Government of India managed to inoculate 32.75% of the target group so far, give or take some since it also included health care workers.

Now, if we want to know what percentage of the adult population has been vaccinated, we get that India’s 18+ population is around 90 crore according to the population projection prepared in 2019 by the Census India [PDF]. Therefore, India has vaccinated almost 12.5% of the adult population. It may be noted that except the USA, no other country has opened up vaccination for the 18+ population, while India is scheduled to open it up from 1st May.

Therefore, it is rather evident that the 7% used by Praveen Chakravarty as a bedrock of his article is wildly incorrect no matter how one looks at it and a large part of the blame goes to Hindustan Times, that clearly failed to employ quality filters during the editing process. While during other times, this could be charted to oversight by HT, during a pandemic when the country is descending into panic, it has to be the responsibility of the media to present a true picture of facts, and not blindly publish what politicians and their aides want one to.

While Hindustan Times has surely failed in its duty, it would appear that Praveen Chakravarty succeeded in his, given that he has a long history of not only spreading fake news but also working for the Congress party, that has regularly indulged in fear-mongering in the midst of the pandemic.

Following the 2019 general elections debacle, while Congress IT cell head Divya Spandana had disappeared into an abyss, the grand old party’s data analytics head Praveen Chakravarty was back in the news as AICC Technology and Data Cell Chairman.

Praveen Chakravarty, it is to be noted, was also the founding trustee of the faulty ‘hate tracker’ of the dubious data analytics website, IndiaSpend. It is pertinent to note that the hate spearheaded by Chakravarty has been picked up by several publications to further a problematic narrative against Hindus. If one recalls, The Wire and IndiaSpend’s fact-checker journalist was caught trying to manipulate Dalit victims who were attacked by local Muslims to prove that there was ‘no hate crime’.

After Congress’ humiliating defeat, Chakravarty was accused of misleading the then Congress President Rahul Gandhi and feeding him wrong information. In fact, Congress also suspected that Praveen Chakravarty was a mole planted by the Modi government to ensure that Rahul Gandhi is fed misinformation in order to hand him a loss. In July 2019, it was reported that Congress will disband the data analytics department. And while the department was indeed disbanded, Praveen Chakravarty was rehabilitated in its restructured ‘technology and data cell’.

In June 2019 it was reported that Chakravarty had allegedly conned Rahul Gandhi and set him up for the humiliating defeat. Rahul Gandhi was reportedly made to believe that the party would secure somewhere between 164 and 184 seats in the 2019 general elections. Congress, however, ended with 52 seats and Gandhi even lost the ‘family’ seat of Amethi which has elected many of his family members.

Praveen Chakravarty was responsible for handling the Shakti App on the basis of which inputs were given to Rahul Gandhi. He was evidently made to believe by Praveen Chakravarty that the party will be securing somewhere between 164 and 184 seats in the elections.

Fake stories of suffering by social media ‘influencers’ amidst COVID-19 outbreak: What it says about our moral compass?

Jinit Jain
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Fake stories of suffering by social media ‘influencers’ amidst COVID-19 outbreak: What it says about our moral compass?

For the last few weeks, India has been grappling with a resurgent coronavirus outbreak that threatens to overwhelm the country’s health care system. States across the country, particularly Maharashtra and Delhi, started reporting an alarming spike in the daily new cases, contributing immensely to the rising tally of the COVID-19 cases.

Over 2.5 lakh new coronavirus cases are being reported for the last few days, the highest since the start of the pandemic last year. Hospitals across the country, especially in the hotspot regions, are swarmed with patients infected with the virus and the health complications it brings in its wake.

Consequently, the country’s health care infrastructure came under tremendous strain as the number of people seeking medical intervention to combat COVID-19 grew exponentially. Unavailability of isolation and ICU beds, shortages of oxygen supplies and vital medicinal drugs such as Remdesivir were reported from several parts of the country.

Amidst times of distress, people turn to social media for salvation

A general wave of panic and anxiety swept across the country as people ran pillar to post in search of vacant hospital beds, medicinal oxygen cylinders and stocks of Remdesivir injections to help their closed-ones in their battle against the coronavirus. However, with the hospitals overstretched and the resources depleting, many failed in getting beds, oxygen cylinders or Remdesivir injections.

In such times of profound distress and adversity, many individuals took it upon themselves to compile the data of vacant beds available in the hospitals, contact details of suppliers who could provide medicinal oxygen and Remdesivir, and share the same on social media websites.

Several social media influencers jumped into the fray, extending every possible help that they could to the people in securing hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and vials of Remdesivir injections. Some of them even ran crowdfunding campaigns on social media to provide financial assistance to those who could not afford the exorbitant costs of fighting the coronavirus.

Social media websites, on their part, proved incredibly helpful to people who had otherwise lost hope in getting beds or securing life-saving drugs. It played a pivotal role in connecting people who were seeking help to those who were qualified and resourceful enough to offer assistance. However, as is the case with most things in life, this kindness also had a downside.

Crooks on social media exploit the COVID-19 crisis to line their pockets

While there were many genuine social media influencers who went out on a limb to extend assistance to people in need, there were some others who used the opportunity to feed on the vulnerability of the people in such testing times and take undue advantage of the crisis.

Many people on social media ran crowdfunding campaigns, alleging that the money from the donations would go towards helping the underprivileged who could not afford the cost of getting the treatment for COVID-19. They urged their followers to donate, in spades, to help such people in defraying their hospital and medicinal cost.

However, as it turned out, many of the stories that accompanied such crowdfunding requests were fabrications. The social media influencers had tried to illicitly collect funds by appealing to the sympathies of the people. Well-meaning folks who sincerely wanted to help the poor and the needy ones and even those who themselves needed help saw themselves being duped by these morally bankrupt social media influencers.

A Twitter user recently exposed one of the social media users who was purporting to raise money, allegedly for a sister with COVID-19. When the Twitter user contacted the hospital to seek details of the patient, the social media user deleted all her tweets and blocked her.

Baffled, the Twitter user tried out to find out if the hospital was charging excessive from the patients for the COVID-19 treatment. As it turned out, the hospital owners were probably innocent and were working round the clock to treat the COVID-19 patients.

Another social media user Abhishek Dwivedi revealed how he found every single story of his Instagram friend helping people with oxygen cylinders fake.

There are also reports doing the rounds on the internet about people posting pictures of life-saving medicines, including Remdesivir, on social media and taking orders with advance payment.

In utter desperation, some people send money, but the life-saving drugs never arrive.

Donors should exercise caution before getting swayed to donate

The aforementioned instances are but a few cases when social media influencers are exposed for their depravity. There are, surely, many other cases that do not come to the fore because the donors simply do not bother to check if the money they had donated ever reached the actual beneficiary or not.

Based on the emotional appeal of the posts uploaded by social media influencers, people proceed to donate money without making any effort to verify if the cause is legitimate and the beneficiary authentic. Most folks make their donations and carry on with their lives, believing that they did their ‘part’ of the duty.

The lethargy in not seeking additional details of the suspicious crowdfunding campaigns also can be attributed to the celebrity endorsement the cause gets. When people see celebrities or famous personalities endorsing a crowdfunding campaign, they usually take its authenticity for granted.

In many cases, celebrities who endorse such crowdfunding campaign do not bother to ascertain if the money pooled is routed to the beneficiary. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the donors to remain vigilant and authenticate the cause before donating. It is pertinent for them to bear in mind that some unscrupulous individuals are lurking on social media to prey on their empathy to feather their own nest.

And what’s worse? Because of a few immoral individuals, even those who genuinely want to help others are viewed with suspicion. The skulduggery of select individuals undercuts the efforts of a large number of well-meaning social media users who are earnestly and tirelessly assisting people in the fight against COVID-19. It is, therefore, important to make the distinction between the two so that those who need help are not deprived of it. The diminishing moral conscience of a few perverse individuals should not impinge on the altruist efforts of many.

The moral bankruptcy of social media ‘influencers’ to concoct fake stories of people’s sufferings amidst pandemic

These incidents, however, reflect our society’s decaying moral compass, where making profits takes precedence over preserving and nurturing ideals of honesty and integrity. People have become so callous and indifferent to the sufferings of others that they have no qualms in exploiting them to advance their purpose.

While one doesn’t expect crooks to have ethical precepts guiding their behaviour, they are, nonetheless, still expected to exhibit basic decency. Perhaps, it is a tad too much to expect.

The COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc across the world, including in India. There have been thousands of deaths precipitated by the complications caused by the coronavirus. The situation is grim as governments around the world have struggled to contain the infection. To use this global crisis to illicitly make money by concocting fake stories of sufferings and travails endured by people takes a particularly egregious kind of moral debasement.

However, in testing times, do not lose your faith in humanity. People with their hearts in right place are giving all the could to help those in need. Do not let few bad cases stop you from doing good. Do good anyway. We are in this together. And we shall emerge stronger and kinder out of this mess.

Late-night urgent hearings by Delhi and Bombay high courts on oxygen and Remdesivir shortage

OpIndia Staff
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Late-night urgent hearings by Delhi and Bombay high courts on oxygen and Remdesivir shortage

On April 21, the Delhi High Court and Bombay High Court conducted emergency hearings amidst a shortage of oxygen and Remdesivir in the states. While the Delhi High Court asked the center to ‘beg, borrow or steal’ oxygen to provide for medical purposes, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court pulled up the state government for not complying with the previous orders to provide Remdesivir.

Beg, borrow or steal oxygen, tells Delhi High Court to center

During an urgent hearing on the plea filed by Max Hospital, the Delhi High Court came down on the union government heavily and questioned if human lives are not important. The divisional bench comprising of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rekha Pelli said that the centre must “beg, borrow or steal oxygen to provide to the hospital. It is a national emergency.”

In its plea, the Max Hospital had stated that they were on dangerously low levels of oxygen supply. Notably, the situation was quite similar in other hospitals in Delhi. While the hearing for Max Hospital was happening in the High Court, Rathi Hospital, located in Najafgarh, was running from post to pillar to arrange oxygen. There were 78 critical patients in the hospital. After hours of running around, they were able to procure oxygen with the help of the Delhi Police.

We cannot shut our eyes, said the Court

The Court mentioned that the number of Covid-19 cases has been doubling every 10 days. It is the ground reality that there is a shortage of oxygen. “It is not that it is artificial or being wrongly projected. It is there. We cannot shut our eyes to it,” the Court added. The Court said that the state could not say that it can only provide that much oxygen and no more. “We will have to enforce the fundamental rights of people and direct beg, borrow and steal and do whatever you have to do, but you have to do. We cannot see people dying because people are dying,” said the Court.

Curtail state-run steel plants and petroleum industries

The centre had earlier exempted some industries from the ban on industrial use of oxygen. The Bench asked the government why they were not curtailing the state-run steel plants and petroleum industries to whatever is absolutely critical. “We can understand that you cannot shut down petroleum production completely in the country because it is a critical thing by itself, but you can reduce it. We are sure that if you were to divert their oxygen for medical use, you would be able to meet the requirement,” the Court said.

If it means to shut down the industries, for the time being, let it be – Delhi High Court

The Court said if procuring oxygen from the industries means that those industries have to be shut down for the time being, let them be. “we cannot afford to lose lives. That is the bottom line,” said the Court.

Delhi’s lawyer was unable to connect to Deputy CM

During the hearing, Advocate Mehra was asked to take instructions from the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi. However, he was unable to connect to him. The Solicitor General said on record that he was ready to make a statement that the union minister had talked to deputy CM minutes before.

Provide safe passage to oxygen tankers

There have been reports that the oxygen tankers were not getting passage on the Delhi borders where farmers are protesting. The Court has asked the center to provide safe passage to the tankers. Earlier, when the oxygen suppliers had approached Delhi Police to provide support for passage, the Police had created a green corridor to ensure a smooth transition from other states.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the decisions related to closing down the industries are only possible at the higher levels. He asked for an adjournment for a day so that he could take instructions and reply to the Court accordingly. The Court will hear the matter today at 3 PM. While adjourning the session, the Court said, “We are hopeful that the emergent needs of various hospitals in Delhi will be met so that no casualties are suffered on account of discontinued supply of oxygen to seriously ill Covid patients and other patients who require oxygen support till we take up the matter and pass orders tomorrow.”

‘Ashamed to be part of nasty society’ Bombay High Court pulls up Maharashtra government

The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court was not pleased with the state authorities for non-compliance with its order passed on April 19 regarding the supply of 10,000 vials of Remdesivir injections to Nagpur district. MG Bhangde, appearing for the State, submitted two affidavits from Joint Commissioner (FDA) and the other by Additional Collector, Nagpur. The Court noted that the contents of the affidavits were contradictory.

The Bench comprising of Justice SB Shukre and SM Modak said that they seemed to have shirked away from the responsibility of providing relief to the Covid-19 patients. “This life-saving drugs not being made available is violating the fundamental rights of people. It is now clear that these authorities are shirking responsibilities,” the Court said.

The Court further said that if the state does not feel ashamed of itself, then the Court feels ashamed of being a part of this nasty society. “We cannot do anything for the unfortunate patients of Maharashtra. This is how we are shirking from our responsibilities. You are neglecting and ignoring our patients. We give you a solution, you do not follow it. You do not give us a solution. What absolute nonsense is going on here!” Justice Shukre said.

Bhangde, reading from the Joint Commissioner FDA’s affidavit, said that for private hospitals, the seven companies manufacturing the drug have their depot at Wada, and the companies decide how many vials to send to the state. The state has no role to play in it.

Justice Shukre showed displeasure on the statement and said, “If he (Commissioner) is not the procurement agency for the vaccine, then whose bloody business is it? You are saying that you are not in a position to comply with the order, then what is the solution according to you? You are saying there was stock, but not available for Nagpur. How come Thane gets more and Nagpur gets less is not explained.”

The Court asked to ensure Vidharbha receives 12,404 vials of Remdesivir by night and adjourned the hearing till 8 PM. At 8 PM, the Bench again assembled and took cognizance of the oxygen shortage and Remdesivir availability in the state. The Divisional Commissioner of Nagpur stated that the Remdesivir vials will be equitably distributed. The companies that will be providing the injection to Nagpur are Hetero Labs (3000), Cipla (1500), Sun Pharma (320), Mylan (500), Dr Reddy’s lab (1000) and Zydus (432).

Distribute drugs fairly to the entire nation, said the Court

The Court said, “We direct ASGI to obtain instructions from Ministry of Health regarding steps taken by them under the Drug Control Act and other relevant Acts to ensure fair and equal distribution of this drug not only to Maharashtra or Vidarbha region of Maharashtra but to the entire nation.”

I am tired and extremely disoriented: How I got the Chinese virus and lived to tell the tale

Nirwa Mehta
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I am tired and extremely disoriented: How I got the Chinese virus and lived to tell the tale

Disclaimer: Below is my personal experience with COVID. Your symptoms, diagnosis could be different. Please consult a doctor as soon as you notice symptoms. Do not self-medicate. Also, most of this is light-hearted and people mentioned in this post, my family, friends, colleagues and doctors have been nothing but absolutely sweet and supportive as I lost my mind bit by bit through two weeks of torture.

On April 3, 2021, I woke up with slight headache and sore throat. I had just come back from Patna to Ahmedabad on 30th March and attributed it to season change and seasonal flu. People do tend to fall ill during this time as we transition from winter to summer (hello, in Gujarat we do not have spring as a season in reality).

When I travelled to Patna, there were fewer active cases in Bihar than there were in Ahmedabad alone. The ‘second wave’ was yet to hit. It was there only in Maharashtra, where even ‘first wave’ hadn’t gone away and in Kerala, which has had multiple such ‘waves’. Rest of the country was happily oblivious to the monster mutating in our backyard.

Anyway, on 3rd April, at around 1 PM, my mom accidentally touched my elbow and I felt her fingers were very cold. Hmm, that’s odd, I thought. I checked my temperature. It showed 100 degrees fever.

Usually when I get even slight fever, I start feeling uneasy. You know, the general ‘I don’t think I feel too good’ feeling one has with fever. Here, I felt nothing. I wouldn’t have checked my temperature if I didn’t feel my mom’s fingers cold. I took a Crocin.

Two hours later, I checked my temperature again. Not only I had not broken my fever but I now had 101 fever. I was slightly alarmed. I popped in another paracetamol. After three hours, my fever still hadn’t broken. As morbid humour aficionado, I messaged my boss, Rahul Roushan that I have COVID-like symptoms and whether he thinks I am going to die. He replied in affirmation. (please note, this is regular banter and we are not really that hateful towards each other.)

By 4 PM, I was still at 101 fever. Mom got me an old dupatta which I soaked in water and put on my forehead like a triple-layered hijab. I knew something wasn’t right. I informed my team that I will log in to work the next day but I have fever and sore throat and may take longer breaks. By 7 PM my fever came down to 100. I again took one paracetamol before sleeping. I slept like a log and had to struggle to wake up on time on Sunday.

All this while, I never ‘felt’ like I had fever. Even with 101 fever, I felt absolutely normal. Under normal circumstances I would not have bothered checking my temperature, I felt that normal.

Except, any kind of physical movement would make me want to take deep breaths. Walking 5 steps would make me breath heavily.

I have a rare neurological disorder. Hemifacial spasms. Every time a blood vessel forms a loop and touches my fifth cranial nerve, I get a facial spasm which pulls my face on one side (right side) and goes all loopy. It appears like I have a paralysis stroke, but in about 30-40 seconds it becomes normal. It is not life threatening but only ‘cure’ is mood stabilisers which are prescribed for bipolar disorders. Or botox (or surgery).

Mood stabilisers made me want to act on my impulses and I often thought of acting upon risky behaviour like jumping off the roof to see ‘how it feels’ or how would I feel if I let the burning matchstick burn all the way to my fingers. Yea, so I panicked and stopped those medicines. I’d rather live with spasms than go insane.

So, the thing is, many times when I yawn or laugh loudly or I have strong emotions, I get a spasm. COVID increased my spasms because I was constantly taking very deep breaths, triggering my spasms. More on this later.

Sunday, April 4, 2021 I again woke up with 101 fever. By this time I had a feeling I had COVID. I was too tired to type and it was only 8 AM. I could not write quick article that morning. I spent most of the morning just making sure things are ok till my colleagues log in later in the day. I was hoping that by then, the fever would have subsided and it will be just a false alarm.

By 1, I still had 101 fever and I knew something was colossally wrong. I asked my father we should get me tested. My dad, the king of denials, told me everyone is testing positive (as if that is not a cause of concern) and I should start with primary medicine of paracetamol immediately. Now, my dad means well, but in times of such crisis, he tends to get into denial and get slightly dismissive. He had lost some of his closest friends to COVID just few months back, so it was not as if he was a COVID-denier. He just thought we’d sail through without catching the virus.

Anyway. We went to get the antigen test done at one of these booths set up by corporation. Except, it was Sunday and by that time, all booths had closed. Note that second wave crisis was yet to hit Gujarat. Not saying corporation got complacent, but the tests were down because cases were down.

We some how managed to find some place where the tests were being conducted and I finally got tested. 15 agonising minutes later, the corporation fellow told me I’m COVID positive.

Wow. Like a carousel all images flashed in my head trying to think where I might have caught the virus and sense of panic spread over. I informed my team that now that my antigen test has come positive, I’ve to get my RTPCR test done and well, I’m unavailable through the day mostly.

I informed my husband also, who took three hours to read my messages because he was napping. You see, even he had reached Delhi from Patna on 3rd April and was also tired.

That is when the panic set in. I must inform family in Patna that I got the virus so that they could monitor their symptoms (since we don’t know where I caught it) and that is yet another stressor as by this time the ‘second wave’ news are spreading and everyone is reading about only the worst. So now I am about to put dozens of people under stress and have possibly brought the virus home and put them on risk.

I also informed Rahul and Nupur about my testing positive and Rahul was excited that I was the first in team to catch it.

I went to the lab to get my RTPCR done and was told my results could come in 24 hours.

That night, despite incredible stress, I slept like a log. By 9, I was so sleepy I could crash on the sofa.

Monday, April 5, I woke up with my RTPCR results. COVID positive. Ct level 19. I don’t even know what that means. So I look up and start crying that it is I who put my parents at risk of catching the virus. I isolated myself in my room and locked myself.

I again logged in to work thinking it’ll help me from losing my mind. Once my colleague Sanghamitra logged in, I started taking it slow and after more colleagues like K Kashyap logged in I took an extended lunch break where I napped. I just did not have the strength.

Later in the day I informed Rahul and Nupur that I am taking rest of the week off. My fever was still not breaking and I was not sure if things are going to get worse with me.

I also suggested my husband that he should totally get married again if the virus takes me. I also sent recommendations which he immediately rejected with multiple angry emoji faces.

I started binge-watching ISIS-related videos. I know a lot more about ISIS bride Shamima Begum than perhaps her Bangladeshi father also knows about her. I also rewatched Caliphate on Netflix and consoled myself that at least I caught the virus in India and not in Syria where perhaps a bomb would’ve killed me first. I laughed internally at my morbid jokes.

By this time, the ‘second wave’ situation had started worsening across India. Devastating news from across India had started pouring in. I stuck to binge-watching ISIS brides. I was in isolation in my room, locked up. I got curious if you could put oxymeter on your toes and if it detects oxygen levels. It doesn’t.

Next day, I read news how in some place some ventilators or such medical equipments were being transported in vehicles which pick up trash. So that night, I dreamt I have 109 fever and I am being taken to civil hospital in one such vans. I woke up sweating at 3 AM and could not believe I am not in hospital.

This was also the first time I broke into a sweat after getting fever. After this, my fever did not cross 100 but I still had consistent fever for a week more.

On Wednesday, April 7, 4 days after initial symptoms showed up in me, I heard my mom coughing from downstairs. She had a cold too. My worst fears were about to get real. I put my parents at risk by bringing home the virus. The guilt was making me insane. I could not concentrate on anything. Mom dismissed her cold and cough with her usual spring allergies as she did not show fever over 100 for two days. However, she did start taking the medicines which were prescribed to me, without really letting me know. I must reiterate here that do not self-medicate. You are not a doctor, unless you are one.

I am in isolation, unaware of what is happening in the house and on day 5, I lost my sense of smell and taste. I could not taste the coffee in the morning. It was just sweet warm liquid. My food tasted extremely salty. No other taste I could register. And smell, obviously gone.

I thought my condition is worsening and sent more prospective bride options to my husband. I also thought maybe he could rehabilitate some former ISIS bride like Shamima Begum and sent him the suggestion. He finally told me that if the virus takes me, he will not marry again because one has been enough. Too bad, I thought.

Now, a deo I had ordered the previous week got delivered at this time and imagine spraying a deo but not being able to register the smell and you are not sure if you like it or you smell like chameli ka tel. The loss of smell and taste was most disorienting. We then got blood tests done to see if my condition has worsened. Thankfully it had not. I was just showing normal symptoms. Many people lost their sense of smell on 4th-5th day of initial symptoms.

No one tells you this otherwise. Most say that loss of smell is a symptom, but that it sets in on later part of infection, no one says.

And while I struggle with this, my mother continued to self-medicate with paracetamol and continued to go slightly mental and overdid the house cleaning. Now, she is diabetic. Twice in one week, her blood sugar levels dipped (I was not informed) because she was ‘worried about me’. She did not want to get tested because if she did come back positive, she did not want anyone to blame me for infecting her. The logic of moms.

Few days later we had a war of words where we got more family members involved just to get my parents in denial tested. I had no energy to explain why it is important to know whether you are infected so that we can take correct treatment. By this time I was also on the mend with my fever going and I have started feeling much better.

So finally, on 13th April, 10 days after I showed initial symptoms and about 4-5 days after my mom showed initial symptoms, we got tested again. My parents’ antigen test came back negative. But a day later, they tested positive in RTPCR.

Mom’s symptoms were waning but my dad has no symptoms. He was asymptomatic and continued to believe the test results were incorrect because ‘he did not feel it’. However, he did start taking medicines too in consultation with doctors.

Here, I must inform that both of them had taken their first dose of vaccine and were due with their second dose on the day their positive test results came. So, obviously, they did not get their second dose as advised by doctors.

Now, all three were COVID patients. I touched my mom for the first time in 10 days. That was my first human contact in 10 days. I cried a little. Few days later, my asymptomatic father developed symptoms and eventually lost his sense of smell too. Today, however, he was able to register the smell of sabzi my mom was cooking. So he is also on the mend. Mom’s also out of her 14-day period. We will all get tested again maybe after a week once the labs are less stressed. Or maybe not. Doctors say that you need not get negative certificate if symptoms are gone and it has been beyond 21 days.

Remember I told you about my spasms? Well, by now the spams have been so bad that my right side of face constantly feels heavy.

I am now off medicines because no fever, no other symptoms. I am on the mend. I resumed work from April 14. Sanghamitra, my colleague was extremely excited to know I hadn’t died. As were others. Dibakar, in the team was so nervous with all my morbid jokes I think I sent him down a terrible anxiety spiral. I hope he’s not too worried now that I am back yelling at him.

Some of my colleagues got to know I had covid *AFTER* I rejoined. This when I had been cracking morbid jokes all the time in our internal messaging app. I guess we’ve all seen so much death and destruction in past one year that we’ve just kind of become numb and are processing things as they come without registering most of them.

I still haven’t felt the ‘fatigue’ or ‘tiredness’ COVID patients talked about. I thought I got lucky. My smell was returning, slightly.

First two days were fine. I still had some residual medicine effect and didn’t feel anything out of ordinary.

Then, the fatigue hit. The brain fog everyone talks about, that hit. I am disoriented.

For the last one week, I find it really hard to type after first four hours of starting my work day. So if I start my day at 8, by 12/1, I am extremely tired. My speed comes down (and I have published articles on breaking news in 4 minute flat). And it is terrifying. What if I never gain back my speed, strength?

I take time processing multiple instructions. If there is a lot of information, I get so confused I am just not able to comprehend. By 3/4 PM typos and errors creep in my copies and messages and I am too exhausted to correct them. I am too guilty to admit that I am tired and I continue to work because I feel ashamed to come across as weak.

It is day 19 of my initial symptoms. I have an eye infection on right side. It could also be overstressed because of my spasms. My face gets distorted and my eye closes, lips, mouth gets pulled on one side. Some day if I get over my vulnerability I will share my own image and videos of when I get a spasm. Till then YouTube/Google, that’s a pretty accurate representation of my contorted face.

So my eye has constant discharges, my arms are tired, I take too long to process multiple complicated instructions and I can’t sleep. I am awake till 12:30/1 (I usually sleep by 10:30) and force myself to sleep because otherwise I will be up all night and not have mental agility to work the next day.

I again had dry cough in morning with slightly painful throat (like I had on 3rd April) and went into total panic mode. Apparently, this is normal ‘post-COVID recovery symptom’. Like, seriously, what a monster that country has created.

While me and my parents all had similar symptoms, we all have had them differently. I had 101 fever, mom had 100 while dad got fever 2 days after testing positive for COVID. My smell is still returning, mom’s returned in a day and dad’s is now returning after a week of no smell. Most people I know have had similar symptoms at different times in infection, thereby there is no clear-cut way how this virus affects us.

I am terrified that I will not be able to be normal again. What if I am not able to focus or concentrate again? Will I continue to have problems comprehending instructions forever? When will I sleep normally, wake up at regular time, not be tired all the time? AND WHEN WILL RAHUL ROUSHAN BUY ME THE KINDLE UNLIMITED SUBSCRIPTION HE PROMISED IF I SURVIVE COVID?

For now, I just hope and pray that we, as a country get out of this and come out of it stronger and kinder. I am so done with living with this virus.

‘Sterlite Copper can produce over 1000 MT oxygen per day, allow us to open’: Vedanta writes to TN govt, Health Minister

OpIndia Staff
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‘Sterlite Copper can produce over 1000 MT oxygen per day, allow us to open’: Vedanta writes to TN govt, Health Minister

The medical oxygen requirement of India increased 7 times from 700 tonnes per day to 5000 tonnes per day, amid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic creating a huge disparity in the demand and supply.

Several corporate giants like TATA, Reliance, SAIL, Jindal have started providing medical oxygen by diverting their production.

To bridge this gap, Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper has offered to restart production at its two oxygen plants in the now shut copper smelter at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Vedanta said that the plant contains two oxygen plants with a combined production capacity of 1,050 tonnes of oxygen daily.

The company has sent two separate letters to the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in this regard.

The CEO of Sterlite Copper, Pankaj Kumar, in the letter to the Union Ministry wrote, “We would like to now offer these facilities for your use towards ensuring that there is no lack of this vital commodity in the nation.”

“We would be grateful to be allowed this opportunity to support the nation’s needs. Our staff stands prepared to get these two plants operational in the shortest possible time and begin dispatching oxygen to the critical areas as per your direction,” the letter continued.

The company expressed its desire to “join hands with the commendable efforts of our PM at this critical juncture,” as per the letter.

In another letter directed to CM Palaniswami, the company urged, “One oxygen plant of 500 TPD [tonnes per day] can be operated to meet the critical demand of oxygen in this hour of peril… The Oxygen Plant is presently lying shut owing to the orders passed by the TNPCB and the state government, shutting down the copper smelter unit of the company. This is a humble request to grant us the necessary permission and allow us to run the oxygen plant which will be instrumental in supporting the state governments in these critical times.”

Vedanta has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission to produce oxygen at the smelter, which was closed in mid-March 2018.

In an interview to Business Today, a Sterlite Copper spokesperson informed, “We have the capacity to produce liquid oxygen also that can be transported in tankers. We have talked to units in Coimbatore who are ready to get us cylinders done in 30 to 45 days.”

Closure of the Sterlite Copper Plant 

The Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi was shut down by Tamil Nadu in May 2018 following the violent protests staged by the locals and activists, who alleged that the plant posed serious health hazards. 

Though the plant later got clearance by the National Green Tribunal, the state government approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the National Green Tribunals order. The apex court stayed the order of the NGT and allowed Sterlite Copper to approach the Madras High Court, which upheld the government order. 

The case is now in the Supreme Court with Sterlite Copper challenging the Madras High Court verdict. The company’s plea to access the plant for just maintenance purposes has also not been entertained by the court so far.

The closure of the Sterlite Copper plant had such widespread ramifications that it made the country an importer of copper cathodes from being one of the top five exporters.

Shortage of medical oxygen in India

On witnessing an acute shortage of medical oxygen, several companies including Reliance Industries, SAIL, Jindal, Tata Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India have already volunteered to supply oxygen from their facilities. The steel ministry informed that 28 oxygen plants located in the steel facility of both public and private sectors are supplying about 1,500 tonnes of medical oxygen every day and additional stock of 30,000 MT, including the safety stock, is being made available for medical use. 

Priyanka Gandhi’s Twitter faux pas, takes three attempts for condolence tweet

OpIndia Staff
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Priyanka Gandhi’s Twitter faux pas, takes three attempts for condolence tweet

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while expressing her condolence on Sitaram Yechury’s son’s demise, ended up with quite an embarrassing faux pas.

At first, she ended up condoling death of Sitaram Kesari’s son, when in reality, it is Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury who lost his son. At 10:34, she tweeted her condolences to Sitaram Kesari and his family.

Priyanka Gandhi’s now-deleted tweet condoling death of Sitaram Kesari’s son.

Sitaram Kesari is past Congress President and has not been a favourite with the Gandhi family. He who served as Congress’ party president from 1996 to 1998 after which he was unceremoniously removed to make way for Sonia Gandhi. He was reportedly locked up in the bathroom at Congress headquarters in Akbar Road so he could not stop Sonia from entering the office with her supporters to take over as party president.

Reply to Priyanka Gandhi’s now-deleted tweet

As one can see, a Twitter user had tried to correct Priyanka Gandhi whether it should Sitaram Kesari or Sitaram Yechury in her tweet. Original tweet of Priyanka Gandhi now stands deleted.

Priyanka Gandhi fan account

However, her fan accounts have still kept their copy-paste message condoling death of ‘Sitaram Kesari’s son’ on their timelines.

Soon, her social media team must have scrambled together and stepped in for the actual condolence message that should have gone up from Priyanka Gandhi’s account.

Except, the person handling Priyanka Gandhi’s account ended up tweeting the content they received as is. This was her tweet at 10:36 AM, two minutes after her first tweet on Sitaram Kesari.

As can be seen, her condolence tweet had ‘Please tweet’ before her actual message that showed that the condolence message was copied-pasted from WhatsApp or other such tool.

Soon, this tweet was also deleted and finally, in third attempt, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra managed to tweet the proper condolence message to correct recipient.

At 10:38 AM, four minutes after her first tweet, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted correct condolence message to correct intended recipient on third attempt.

Yechury’s son Ashish succumbed to Chinese coronavirus earlier today after battling for two weeks in hospital.

Sri Lanka asks ship carrying nuclear material for China to leave Hambantota, had docked after developing technical snag

OpIndia Staff
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Sri Lanka asks ship carrying nuclear material for China to leave Hambantota, had docked after developing technical snag

A Chinese ship carrying radioactive material was asked to leave the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka while on its way to China when it developed technical difficulties and sought permission to dock at the port on Tuesday. 

The vessel- MV BBC Naples, managed by the China Merchants Port Holding Company, which had come from the port of Rotterdam was found carrying uranium hexafluoride when it docked at Chinese-run Hambantota port, informed Anil Ranjith, a top official of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Authority (SLAEA).

Ranjith in a statement to AFP informed, “The ship failed to declare its dangerous cargo – uranium hexafluoride and we decided to order it to leave our waters immediately.”

The commercial vessel was carrying uranium hexafluoride- the radioactive material, serves as fuel for nuclear power plants, he added. 

The SLAEA said the local agent of the vessel failed to disclose its radioactive cargo when it sought permission from the Harbour Master to dock in at the Hambantota port. 

Sajith Premadasa, the main opposition leader informed the parliament that the Sri Lanka Navy, who is in charge of the Hambantota port security, was also not allowed to carry out inspections on the vessel.

He has also demanded an investigation into the incident, describing it as a serious safety and security threat.

The Sri Lankan government has not commented on the incident as yet. The port authority have informed that the ship, carrying the flag of Antigua and Barbados had entered the port on 20 April at 9 pm. It had made an urgent call at Hambantota for some repairs. Agents of the ship had not informed the port authorities about the hazardous cargo on board, as reported by Sri Lankan media.

About the Hambantota Port

Hambantota which is about 260 kilometers (162 miles) south of Colombo port was leased to China in 2017 for 99 years after the Colombo government was unable to repay the $1.4 million it had borrowed from Beijing to build it.

The port is near key Indian Ocean shipping lanes.

The entry of two Chinese submarines into Colombo in 2014 angered India, after which Sri Lanka has not allowed Chinese submarine visits.

Rajasthan: Crowd gathered in Jaipur’s Jama masjid pelts stones on police team, vehicles damaged

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Crowd gathered in Jaipur’s Jama masjid pelts stones on police team, vehicles damaged

On April 21, an incident of stone-pelting on Police personnel took place outside Jama Masjid in Sanganer, Rajasthan. As per reports, a large crowd comprising people from the particular community were gathered outside Jama Masjid even after the curfew in the area due to the Covid-19 surge. When the Police tried to disperse them, they started pelting stones.

As per media reports, the administration had imposed curfew in the region to curb the rising cases of Covid-19 infection. However, the movement of people and public gatherings in the mosque continued. The Sanganer Police arrived at the scene to talk to the mosque administration. During that time, the crowd present in the mosque attacked the Police personnel. Several vehicles were also damaged in the attack.

It has to be noted that amidst a surge in Covid-19 cases, Section 144 has been imposed in the state of Rajasthan till May 21. Under section 144, it is illegal to gather in a crowded manner anywhere, including the religious places. The Police had arrived at the scene to disperse the crowd and got attacked. The Police are trying to identify those who had pelted stones and violated Section 144. Further action as per law will be taken once they are identified.

DCP Abhijit Singh had arrived at the spot to control the situation, as per a report by Zee Rajasthan. The police are trying to identify and arrest the anti-social elements which engaged in stone pelting at the mosque.

The covid-19 situation in Rajasthan

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Rajasthan reported 14,622 new Covid-19 cases on April 21. 10,795 were reported recovered on the same day, and 62 lost their lives to Covid-19 related complications. With 80,981 tests performed on Wednesday, the positive ratio was at 18.1%. The state has been consistently showing a high positive ratio for the last ten days.

Sitaram Yechury’s son passes away due to Covid-19

OpIndia Staff
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Sitaram Yechury’s son passes away due to Covid-19

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – Sitaram Yechury lost his eldest son Ashish Yechury to COVID-19 today morning.

Yechury took to Twitter to announce the unfortunate news and thanked all who treated him.

His tweet read, “It is with great sadness that I have to inform that I lost my elder son, Ashish Yechury to COVID-19 this morning. I want to thank all those who gave us hope and who treated him – doctors, nurses, frontline health workers, sanitation workers and innumerable others who stood by us.”

Ashish Yechury was being treated at Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital, where he lost his battle to Covid-19. Ashish was 34 years old and would have turned 35 on June 9.

NewsLaundry tweet

Ashish Yechury was an Assistant Editor at Newslaundry.

Sitaram Yechury’s wife Seema Chisti is also a journalist-writer.

Action under NSA and Gangster Act against black marketers of oxygen cylinders, Covid-19 medicines, warns UP CM Yogi Adityanath

OpIndia Staff
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Action under NSA and Gangster Act against black marketers of oxygen cylinders, Covid-19 medicines, warns UP CM Yogi Adityanath

In a statement today, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath took aim at black marketers trying to make a profit through the illegal sale of oxygen cylinders and COVID-19 medicines. “Those found involved in black marketing of oxygen cylinders and covid related medicines will be facing action under NSA and Gangster Act”, warned CM Yogi.

The National Security Act allows the government to detain an individual for up to 12 months, whereas the Gangster Act of U.P. allows the police to attach the property of the accused and confiscate it.

CM Yogi Adityanath has been busy tackling the pandemic, ordering the deployment of an officer of Secretary level in each district in order to overlook the expansion of hospital beds in these districts. He has further announced the setting up of three additional oxygen plants by next week.

“With DRDO’s help, a new oxygen plant with a capacity of 220 cylinders will be installed and made operational in the next 2-3 days. The government of India has allocated 750 MT oxygen,” Yogi said. 

He added that before any medical college is recognized in the state, it should be ensured that the respective college has its own oxygen plant. The CM has also ordered that all vehicles carrying oxygen will have to be GPS-tracked, oxygen plants will be provided police protection and steps will be taken to prevent black marketing.

He also ordered that oxygen plants should take up supply to the nearest hospital and all hospitals with L1, L2, and L3 facilities will be tracked separately for oxygen demand and supply, ensuring a backup of at least 36 hours.

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