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Kumbh to be wrapped up by April 17: What this Niranjani Akhada Sadhu says is another reason Kumbh was nothing like Tablighi Jamaat

OpIndia Staff
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Kumbh to be wrapped up by April 17: What this Niranjani Akhada Sadhu says is another reason Kumbh was nothing like Tablighi Jamaat

On Thursday (April 15), the Panchayati Niranjani Akhada has announced that the Kumbh Mela will be concluded by April 17. The decision came at the backdrop of rising cases of Coronavirus in Haridwar.

While speaking to News 24, Ravindra Puri Maharaj of the Panchayati Niranjani Akhada informed, “This is the time of the pandemic. We have taken a decision and has asked the Sadhus from Gujarat, Maharashtra and other parts of India, who had come here, to return to their respective villages. The condition of Haridwar is worsening. Only a handful of Sadhus will take part in the April 27 snan. We have requested everyone to go back.”

He further added, “The decision has been taken due to the drastic rise of Coronavirus cases. We want all of us to be safe. This will help us to adhere to the social distancing guidelines.” On being asked whether this is a personal decision or fuelled by any external pressure, Ravindra Puri Maharaj clarified, “We are under no pressure. This is also not a personal matter. This is a society issue, for the people at large. We have taken the decision for the well-being of people.” He however emphasised that about 50 sadhus, belonging to the Panchayati Niranjani Akhada, will participate in the April 27 snan

Fourth Shahi Snan scheduled on April 27

It must be mentioned that the itinerary of Kumbh Mela includes 4 ‘shahi snan’ and 9 ‘Ganga snan.’ The fourth ‘shahi snan’ will be conducted on April 27. Reportedly, a total of 2,167 people were diagnosed with Coronavirus in the past 5 days.  This is despite the fact that a Covid-19 negative RT-PCR report, not more than 72 hours prior to arrival, was made mandatory for attending the festival. The turnout of devotees was also less compared to the preceding years.

Although Kumbh Mela is a four-month-long event, it was cut short to 1 month due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Keeping in mind the rising cases of Coronavirus, the Panchayati Niranjani Akhada had asked Sadhus to leave Haridwar and conclude the festival within 17 days. The awareness about the fatal consequences of the pandemic, as exhibited by Ravindra Puri Maharaj, stands in direct contrast to that of Maulana Saad, who is of the Tablighi Jammat at Nizamuddin Markaz.

Maulana Saad instigated Muslims to fill up mosques amidst the pandemic

In an audio clip leaked on social media, Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad could be heard mocking the government’s call to close mosques and other religious places in a bid to contain the spread of Chinese Coronavirus. The audio was recorded at the Nizamuddin Markaz on 23 March, 2020, one day after the Janta Curfew was observed and a day before the country-wide lockdown was announced.

Maulana Saad, while instigating Muslims gathered at Nizamuddin Markaz, had asked to defy the lockdown orders said that it was the time to go to mosques. At around 5 minutes into the video, he said, “This is the time to fill the mosques. I have been saying this since the beginning that this is the time to fill up the mosques. Do not get swayed by the calls to vacate the mosques. In fact, it is time to increase the count of people in mosques.”

At around 8 minutes into the video, Saad said, “Those who have no faith in Allah, through these schemes and excuses of trying to save Muslims from the disease are trying to keep us away. They have found an excuse to keep Muslims away from coming here. They want to put this fear in the Muslims that those who gather in huge numbers can get infected. The disease will pass but the fear will not.”

The Delhi Police Crime Branch had also recorded the statement of over 166 Tablighi Jamaat members in May last year who were present in the Nizamuddin Markaz even. ABP News reported that during the interrogation, most of them made the revelation that they wanted to leave Markaz but Maulana Saad had stopped them. The report also claimed that the Crime Branch had revealed that according to the evidence they had gathered it divulges that the Jamaatis were intentionally made to stay in Nizamuddin Markaz despite the notice from police.

Supreme Court directs CBI to probe the fake 1994 espionage case against ex-ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court directs CBI to probe the fake 1994 espionage case against ex-ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the framing of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 fake espionage case by Kerala police and file a report in three months.

A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Krishna Murari heard the Centre’s application that cited a report by a three-member panel regarding the role of senior police officers in implicating the scientist. The bench said, “the report says it’s a serious matter which needs deeper investigation”.

The top court asked the Registry to forward a copy of the report to the Director or acting Director of the CBI. The bench granted CBI the liberty to treat the report as a preliminary report and made it clear that the copy of the report shall not be published or circulated in public.

The order directing the CBI to probe the fake espionage case was welcomed by former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan.

Welcoming the court order, the 78-year-old Narayanan said it was certain that there was a conspiracy behind the espionage case of 1994.

“I would get justice only if the probe into the conspiracy is carried out. I don’t have full details. I welcome the probe. It was a fabricated case. CBI closure report had already stated it. The Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission had attested that the case was fabricated. Now, it has to be revealed who has fabricated it,’’ he said.

The 1994 espionage case: CBI finds allegations of syping against Nambi Narayanan to be false

The case pertains to espionage charges levelled by Kerala police officials against Nambi Narayanan and his associates in 1994. The police had then alleged that Nambi and his colleagues had transferred confidential documents on India’s space programme to foreign countries, particularly to Pakistan.

It is pertinent to note that scientist Nambi Narayan was a victim of persecution by the Congress party. The political rivalry between the two factions of the Kerala Congress party led to the arrest of Narayanan, along with two other scientists D Sasikumaran and K Chandrasekhar in November 1994. The Kerala police had levelled charges of espionage under sections 3,4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act against the scientists.

However, the CBI, in its probe, found that the allegations against him were false. In 1998, the Supreme Court upheld the findings by the CBI and had asked the Kerala government to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to Narayanan and others. However, Dr Narayanan had approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)seeking justice for the harassment and agony meted out to him. In 2001, the NHRC had awarded a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to him.

While absolving Narayanan of any wrongdoing, the CBI had said that Siby Mathews had left “the entire investigation to IB surrendering his duties” and ordered the indiscriminate arrest of the scientist and others without adequate evidence”.

SC gives a clean chit to Nambi Narayanan, orders Rs 50 lakh compensation for his wrongful arrest

The Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and awarded a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs in September 2018, for his wrongful arrest and harassment by the Kerala Police in 1994 ISRO spy case. The apex court had also ordered a probe into the role of the police officers involved in Narayanan’s arrest and alleged harassment in custody.

The space scientist had moved the apex court after the Kerala High Court ordered that “no action needed to be taken” against former DGP Siby Mathews, who was then heading the SIT probe team, two retired superintendents of police, K K Joshua and S Vijayan, and the then Deputy Director, Intelligence Bureau, R B Shreekumar, who were later held responsible by the CBI for the scientist’s illegal arrest.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra had then observed that “the criminal law was set in motion without any basis. It was initiated, if one is allowed to say, on some kind of fancy or notion”.

The Supreme Court said that his “liberty and dignity”, basic to his human rights, were jeopardised as he was taken into custody and, eventually, despite all the glory of the past, was compelled to face “cynical abhorrence”.

While Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘Corona App’ shows ample beds available for Covid-19 patients, hospitals deny

Jhankar Mohta
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While Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘Corona App’ shows ample beds available for Covid-19 patients, hospitals deny

With COVID-19 cases spiralling over the last few days, there is an acute shortage of beds in hospitals across various states. Private and government hospitals have been struggling to accommodate coronavirus patients. Amidst all this chaos, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has assured that there is no shortage of beds in hospitals across Delhi. In fact, Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘Corona App’ also adds to his claims and shows many beds available in hospitals.

No shortage of hospital beds, assures Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Yesterday, Kejriwal claimed that more than 5000 beds were available for COVID-19 positive patients in the national capital. Similarly, on April 14, Health Minister Satyendar Jain also guaranteed that there are enough hospital beds available for coronavirus patients in Delhi.

Speaking to the media, Jain said: “Currently we have 13,000 beds and there is no shortage of ventilators. Patients from Delhi and other states are being admitted.”

The Health minister had furthered that the numbers of hospital beds (for availability) is being revised twice a day on the Delhi Corona App and that people should visit hospitals only after going through the app.

For the uninitiated, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had launched a dedicated app, the ‘Corona APP’ in June last year to display the availability of beds at both private and government hospitals in the city.

Kejriwal’s Corona App ‘real-time data’ far from reality

Though the AAP govt’s Delhi Corona App shows beds available in various hospitals across the National Capital, the hospitals maintain that there are no beds available. To prove this, a Twitter user has shared an audio recording, where a person calls up at least 4 hospitals and none of the hospitals corroborates the data shown on the app.

In the Tweet, the caller speaks to 4 random hospitals in Delhi, the names and details of which are also mentioned on the Govt App. First, the caller speaks to Balaji Action Medical Int, Paschim Vihar. The govt app, as on April 15, 1.01 PM shows that out of the total 220 beds, 5 are available in the hospital. However, when the caller speaks to the hospital authorities they deny having any bed available.

Images via Twitter

The next hospital- Primus Super Speciality hospital, Chanakyapuri, also denies having a single bed available for COVID-19 patients despite the govt app showing 18 beds out of the total 101 available as on April 15, 8:15 AM.

Similarly, the other two hospitals, namely, Shanti Mukund Hospital, Vikas Marg Ext and Max Smart Gujarmal Modi Hospital shows on the app that 68 beds vacant out of 131 and 7 out of 149 beds are available respectively as on April 15, but the hospitals refute the claims when called.

Image via Twitter
Images via Twitter

OpIndia also gets in touch with hospitals in Delhi to know the ground reality

OpIndia also called up various hospitals mentioned in the app. We tried contacting the hospitals mentioned in the above Tweet and some other hospitals mentioned on the Delhi Govt’s app also chosen at random. However, we too found that data mentioned in the ‘Delhi Corona’ app, launched by the state government to show ‘real-time availability of beds’ for Covid-19 patients, was far from reality.

We called up at least 10 hospitals listed in the Delhi govt app. The numbers of a few hospitals as mentioned in the app were found to be incorrect, some hospitals did not even respond.

We got in touch with Balaji Action Medical Int Hospital in Paschim Vihar (the first hospital mentioned in the above Tweet), only to learn that currently there is a waiting list of 50 patients on the hospital. However, if you check the data on the ‘Corona App’ today, it shows the last updated data as on April 15. According to the App, 5 beds are still available in the hospital.

Screenshot from Delhi Govt’s official ‘Corona App’

Similarly, one Burari Hospital also showed that 3 beds out of 320 are available as of April 16, 8:49 AM, but when we spoke to the hospital authorities that maintained that no bed are available currently.

Screenshot from Delhi Govt’s official ‘Corona App’

After the random check conducted by us, we can safely say that there are major lapses in the city government’s ‘Delhi Corona’ app. While the Delhi government maintains that there is no shortage of beds for coronavirus patients in Delhi, the hospitals in the national capital have been giving out a completely different picture.

Persisting problem with Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘Corona App’

However, what is interesting here is that though Delhiites have again started complaining that the Delhi Corona app is not offering an accurate picture of the ground situation, the problem seems to be persistent.

In June last year too, while the Delhi government had maintained that there is no shortage of beds for coronavirus patients in the capital and the App had also shown multiple beds available at various hospitals, a number of prominent hospitals in the city had told NDTV that they are running at full capacity and have no beds available to accommodate fresh cases.

Every thing said and done, the discrepancy between the data on the app and the response from hospitals is adding to the confusion and distress among families of coronavirus patients in Delhi who are running pillar to post to get their loved ones treated.

Current and prospective students at Rutgers slam varsity for defending anti-Hindu historian Audrey Truschke. Here are 5 testimonials

OpIndia Staff
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Current and prospective students at Rutgers slam varsity for defending anti-Hindu historian Audrey Truschke. Here are 5 testimonials

A month after faculty members of Rutgers University defended ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke despite her anti-Hindu stance, a student-led organisation named ‘Hindu on Campus’ has come forward to share the testimonials of five current and prospective Hindu students.

The controversy began after a group of Hindu students wrote a letter to the University against Audrey Truschke for trying to trivialise and downplay the Hindu genocide committed by the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb.

‘Hindu on Campus’, which aims to create a safe space for diaspora Hindus to share their experiences with racism and anti-Hindu bigotry, shared the experience of one verified current student. “I first chose Rutgers University because my friends and family members had previously attended. It felt like it was the safest option. Now that I am a part of this school, it is apparent that it’s not the place I want to be and not where I want to obtain my degree,” the student said in the testimonial.

He further added, “There are a few reasons why I am looking to transfer, some having to do with its academic aspects, but part of the reason I’m also looking to transfer comes from the university’s response to Hindu students looking to Rutgers to address their issues.”

He pointed out that the response of the University was both disturbing and disappointing, given that the administration shielded Audrey Truschke under the garb of ‘academic freedom’. The student accused the authorities of gaslighting the issues raised by the Hindu students. “By labelling it as “academic freedom,” you are choosing to ignore those that the rhetoric imposed by this professor has hurt,” he added.

He emphasised that the second response of the university was more disappointing than the first. “Once I read the university’s second response, I honestly did not know how to feel. What I do know is that I was not assured. Words are not enough. When students make a plea to address their concerns, I believe a proper and prompt response is critical. I also think it is the university’s responsibility to make effective change to help those students; it’s an initiative I have not seen Rutgers take with this issue. For that reason, I have been let down by the university,” the student concluded.

Students share their testimonials about Rutgers University

Hindu on Campus shared the testimonial of another student who is a prospective student at Rutgers University. Highlighting that the University took no action against Hinduphobic Audrey Truschke, the emphasised, “The approach the Rutgers administration has maintained towards the case of Professor Truschke is extremely disappointing as well as scary. Rutgers now for me and my friends is a scary place, a place where my Hindu faith is not respected.” He reiterated that he will not apply to Rutgers under any circumstances.

A female graduate, who studied Himalayan arts and culture, also shared her testimonial. “As I am now searching for graduate schools designated for my area of study, Rutgers had been on my list of considerations. I have heard great things about the department and South Asian Studies Program,” she said. She said was appalled by the “bigoted views of (Audrey Truschke) against Hindus and other Dharmic religious groups on social media as well as in academia.”

‘Was disgusted to see Rutgers release a statement defending Truschke’, says student

“As a young Hindu woman myself, these views were all too familiar to the attacks that I have faced during my years in undergrad. As calls for action became more resounding, I wanted to see how the university intended on handling the situation. I was disgusted to see Rutgers release a statement defending her, and calling students who released and formed the open letter, online bullies,” the student reiterated.

She said, “How should I feel (about) attending this university when the institution won’t even protect students like me from bigotry? Should I even risk the prospective trauma that I may face at this school if I were attacked? As these questions swirled through my head, decided that it was time to make a final decision. I am no longer considering Rutgers for Graduate School.”

‘Diversity and Inclusion’ body at Rutgers blocks Hindu students group

Another student wrote, “Due to their handling of Hinduphobic attacks done by Truschke and other entities, they have lost me as an award-winning, qualified applicant. I got into Rutgers Medical School. I will not attend due to their endorsement of Hinduphobic faculty.”

One student testified, “I applied to study History at Rutgers and was accepted days ago. After looking at its saddening public response, I, as a Hindu feel threatened by the sheer disregard the university has shown to my beliefs. Rutgers denies its Hindu students the basic courtesy that’s extended to students of all communities. Glib statements of ‘inclusion’ can’t correct for this overt discrimination. I regret even having submitted an application to that place.”

On pointing out the testimonials of verified current and prospective Hindu students, the Senior Vice President of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ at Rutgers University blocked the Twitter handle of ‘Hindus on Campus’. The student organisation had shared a screenshot of its account being blocked by Enbong (Anna) Branch. “It is very clear that ‘diversity and inclusion’ does not include Hindu students at Rutgers University,” they wrote.

Hindu students expose Audrey Truschke’s Hinduphobia , Rutgers hails it as ‘academic freedom’

The controversy broke out after several Hindu students of Rutgers University had written a letter to the university in reaction to ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke’s attempts to sell Hinduphobic fiction in the name of ‘history. In its petition, the group of Hindu students studying at Rutgers-Newark pointed out that Audrey Truschke tried to trivialise and downplay the Hindu genocide committed by the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb.

The students who initiated the petition were miffed with Truschke’s continuous vile and bigoted opinions against Hindus. In an open letter written to the university authorities, the students had said that they are “aghast at the bigotry being peddled against Hindus via continued derision of our religion, our deities, and our sacred texts” in the university, which may be a potential threat to their security, as it may lead to “potential attacks, bullying, and backlash, either on campus or via social media, due to our faith”.

The petition specified how the atmosphere in the university is at odds with the Hindu students due to the hateful and vile anti-Hindu remarks made by professor Audrey Truschke on various occasions. However, Rutgers University, instead of addressing the concerns of Hindu students, had backed Audrey Truschke and whitewashed her vile and bigoted anti-Hindu remarks as ‘academic freedom’. Meanwhile, the faculty members of the university had also extended their support to her.

Bihar: Mohammad Babul’s wife had an affair with her brother-in-law, planned husband’s murder

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: Mohammad Babul’s wife had an affair with her brother-in-law, planned husband’s murder

In a heinous incident in Bihar’s Purnia district, a woman planned the murder of her husband and in order to pursue a romantic relationship with her brother-in-law. The brother-in-law, Mohammad Chand, along with three of his henchman, abducted and murdered the woman’s husband Mohammad Babul, according to Bihar Police.

On Monday, the victim Mohammad Babul was kidnapped from his cycle repairing shop at Kaliganj, allegedly by Mohmmad Chand, the brother-in-law and lover of Ristana Khatun, Mohammad Babul’s wife. As per reports, Chand and three other accomplices abducted Babul in a Scorpio car and took him to Tulsikuriya village in Dhamdaha, where they murdered strangulated Babul before dumping his body in a bush, about 50 km away from the original kidnapping spot.

Bihar Police then traced Chand’s location through his mobile phone to Pirpainti in Bhagalpur, from where he was arrested. Ristana was the next person to be arrested and was located at her in-law’s house at Kaliganj in Purnia.

Wife confesses to planning the murder, had affair with brother-in-law

Ristana Khatun then confessed to the police, admitting to asking Mohmmad Chand to murder Babul—who she married just about eight months ago. Ristana wanted to marry Mohammad Chand after Babul was killed and out of the way. The Police also seized the Scorpio car which played a part in the kidnapping

“During the interrogation, Ristana confessed to having planned the killing of her husband with Mohammad Chand. It was her adulterous relation, which led to Mohammad Babul’s murder,” said Purnia SP Daya Shankar.

The victim’s body was sent to Purnia district hospital for a post-mortem, according to the police. “Police are carrying out raids to arrest three persons who were allegedly involved with Mohammad Chand in the kidnapping and killing of Mohammad Babul,” the SP added.

James O’Keefe to sue as Twitter suspends accounts days after Project Veritas exposed CNN Technical Director making shocking claims on video

OpIndia Staff
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James O’Keefe to sue as Twitter suspends accounts days after Project Veritas exposed CNN Technical Director making shocking claims on video

US journalism venture Project Veritas has made a series of exposes of the CNN news network in the USA. CNN Technical Director Charlie Chester went on five Tinder dates with a Project Veritas agent where he made a series of shocking revelations including how they ran a dedicated propaganda campaign against former President Donald Trump and how they hyped the COVID-19 pandemic for better ratings. Now, Twitter has suspended the accounts of Project Veritas and their founder James O’Keefe.

Reportedly, Twitter has responded to queries about why the accounts of Project Veritas and Keefe were suspended. According to reports, Twitter has said, “The account was permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules on platform manipulation and spam.”

Author and Editor-at-large of @TPostMillennial, Andy Ngo, took to Twitter to post a statement issued by James O’Keefe after both accounts of Project Veritas and Keefe were suspended.

James O’Keefe of Project Veritas in his statement said that he will be suing Twitter for defamation since they had claimed that he was running ‘multiple fake accounts. Saying that the claim by Twitter was false and defamatory, James O’Keefe said that Twitter ‘will pay’ for their decision to ban them based on this fake claim. He further said that the complaint will be filed on Monday.

American conservatives are outraged about the blatant suppression of free speech by Twitter and how big-tech seems to be colluding with big media to suppress voices that bring out the uncomfortable truth. Twitter and its tyranny have been apparent not just in the USA but also in several other parts of the world, including India.

Revelations against CNN made by Project Veritas and James O’Keefe

After the ‘first part’ of the release which showed CNN Technical Director Charlie Chester admitting that CNN ran a dedicated propaganda campaign against then US President Donald Trump, another video was released by Project Veritas where the technical director admits that the news network hyped up the Covid-19 death figures and hoped for more deaths to drive up its ratings.

The technical director also admits that there is nothing such as unbiased news “It just doesn’t exist,” he said. He also says CNN provides a platform to only those people who will peddle the narrative the network wants them to peddle.

Canada: Liberal MP apologizes for getting caught naked during Zoom call, opposition MP says ‘in great shape, but control camera’

OpIndia Staff
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Canada: Liberal MP apologizes for getting caught naked during Zoom call, opposition MP says ‘in great shape, but control camera’

A lawmaker from Canada, who was left red-faced after showcasing himself stark naked on a Canadian Parliament Zoom conference call, has now apologized to his colleagues.

William Amos, a Liberal MP who represents the Pontiac constituency in Quebec, was caught covering his private parts with a mobile phone, completely naked between the flags of Canada and Quebec, as his laptop switched on during the virtual conference.

The picture of the indecent moment

The 46-year old MP apologized profusely on Twitter, writing, “I made a really unfortunate mistake today & obviously I’m embarrassed by it. My camera was accidentally left on as I changed into work clothes after going for a jog. I sincerely apologize to all my colleagues in the House. It was an honest mistake + it won’t happen again.”

Under the “Rules of Order and Decorum” of the Canadian Parliament, there is no dress code requirement for sitting in on a debate, but if the exposed MP chose to address the conference in his state of exposure, he would breach the House of Commons guidebook. According to the Rules, a male speaker “must be wearing contemporary business attire” such as jackets, shirts and ties.

Amos’s indiscretion was initially broadcasted only on an internal Canadian Parliament feed, leaving the people of Canada initially unaware of their MP’s major faux pas.

Opposition MP Claude DeBellefeuille though, brought up the incident through a point of order after the question period was concluded, suggesting that parliamentary decorum requires male MPs to wear a jacket and tie in addition to a shirt, underwear, and trousers.

“It may be necessary to remind the members, especially the male ones, that a tie and jacket are obligatory, but so are a shirt, boxer shorts, or pants,” she said in French.

“We have seen that the member is in great physical shape, but I think members should be reminded to be careful and control the camera well,” she added.

The Canadian Parliament has been operating in a hybrid manner since May of last year because the physical-distancing measures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic forced a reduction in the number of politicians and staff working in person in the Parliament Most MPs are participating in proceedings virtually via Zoom since then, with only a small number attending in person.

Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada and Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, is yet to comment on this story.

Exclusive: How Maharashtra wasted thousands of tonnes of pulses, in the middle of the pandemic, sent under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana

Nupur J Sharma
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Exclusive: How Maharashtra wasted thousands of tonnes of pulses, in the middle of the pandemic, sent under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana

The state of Maharashtra, governed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has been the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Maharashtra has had upwards of 3 million positive cases and even in the second wave, the worst-hit state in India is Maharashtra. Under the circumstances, the central government and the state governments were expected to work closely to implement welfare schemes that could help the needy sail through difficult times. However, the Maharashtra government seems to have failed at that.p

MLA Mulund, Mihir Kotecha, put out a video of the massive wastage of Chana Dal/pulses in Maharashtra due to the bad policies of the state, especially Chagal Bhujhbal who is serving as Cabinet Minister of Food and Civil Supply, Consumer Affairs in Government of Maharashtra.

In the video posted by Kotecha, he says that the pulses that have now got infested and spoilt have been lying there since August/September. According to him, since October, 1,800 kg Dal have been spoilt in this shop itself. In other places, 3,00,000 kg chana dal has been spoilt. For the past three months, he says that the Maharashtra government, especially Chagan Bhujbal, are extremely busy responding to him. According to him, Rs 180 crores worth of pulses have now gone to waste in Maharashtra.

Further, OpIndia accessed a note by the Government of India that shows how the Maharashtra government delayed in writing to the central government about the leftover pulses with the state, allocated under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, while other states got their permission to avoid wastage.

In the note, it is detailed that in the beginning of the distribution of pulses, the Department of Consumers Affairs, through various Video Conferences (VC) with the States/UTs, had instructed the following to avoid spoilage of pulses:

  1. In the video conference held on 22nd July 2020, it was decided that the balance pulses/chana whole under PMGKAY-1 and Atma Nirbhar Bharat lying with the States should be utilized against the distribution under extended PMGKAY-2
  2. In the joint video conference held on 2nd September 2020, it was decided that any leftover quantity of foodgrains/pulses which remain undistributed shall be adjusted with subsequent allocation/lifting of the whole chana under the ongoing PMGKAY-2. This was again reiterated in the VC held on 22nd September and States were asked to inform NAFED accordingly about their adjusted allocations so that spoilage could be minimized.

Interestingly, according to the note, in the video conference held on the 26th of November 2020, Maharashtra had informed the central government that they had 910 MT under PMGKAY-1 and 804 MT under Atma Nirbhar Bharat was left-over with the state and therefore, the central government should make adjustments in the subsequent release of pulses under PMGKAY-2.

After this, a special request by Maharashtra had also delayed the allocation of pulses under PMGKAY-2. Maharashtra had specially requested to distribute processed chana dal and therefore, the allocation was delayed by a bit.

Further, after the allocation of pulses under PMGKAY-2, the states were informed on the 18th of December 2020 that they are to give the central government an audit to inform them of the distribution done and the number of pulses left with the state. Subsequently, after several reminders, other states did sent their audits to the central government and asked permission for the utilisation of the left-over pulses with them.

Here is a table of when the other states requested for the utilisation of left-over pulses.

Part of the GOI note

While the central government gave their approval to the other states to utilise the left-over pulses, Maharashtra was left behind, and not for the fault of the central government.

While the central government informed states and requested an audit of numbers on 18th December and other states managed to send in their requests to utilise left-over pulses latest by March 2021 (Congress ruled Rajasthan, Left ruled Kerala, and AAP led Delhi), Maharashtra delayed the request even further.

According to the note by the Government of India, Maharashtra wrote a letter to the central government on the 6th of April 2021that 6441.922 MT of pulses/chana whole is leftover quantity under PMGKAY I & II and ANB. The central government further received the letter on the 8th of April. The approval by the central government came on the 13th of April and the response to the Maharashtra government was sent on the 15th of April 2021. Per this permission by the central government, Maharashtra was informed it may utilize 6441.922 MT of the leftover quantity of pulses /chana whole for distribution among National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiary households through various welfare schemes/ programmes run by the Government.

What is extremely relevant in this case is the fact that while the Government of India had asked the state to provide details of left-over pulses on 18th December 2020 itself, Maharashtra waited till April 6th 2021 to tell the central government about the left-over pulses, thousands of metric tonnes that too. In the meantime, it is apparent from the video that several thousand tonnes of the pulses, that should have benefitted the needy under harsh conditions of a pandemic, have gone to waste and have been deemed unfit for consumption.

In the time of a pandemic, the Maharashtra government must provide an answer as to why thousands of tonnes of pulses seem to have gone to waste and why the Maharashtra government waited for months, from December to April, to write to the central government about the utilisation of left-over pulses.

Aaj Tak to air public apology on 23rd April for sharing fake news on Sushant Singh Rajput, pay Rs 1 lac fine: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Aaj Tak to air public apology on 23rd April for sharing fake news on Sushant Singh Rajput, pay Rs 1 lac fine: Details

Aaj Tak, the Hindi channel of the India Today group, has been asked by the NBSA (News Broadcasting Standard Authority) to air a public apology on their channel on the 23rd of April for spreading fake news about Sushant Singh Rajput. Aaj Tak has also been asked to pay a fine of Rs 1 lac for the same. This decision comes after the NBSA rejected the review petition that had been filed by Aaj Tak in the case.

Earlier, on October 6th 2020, NBSA had held that AakTak had violated broadcast norms by airing fake news about late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. It was this order that Aaj Tak had appealed, however, that appeal was rejected today.

Following the rejection of appeal, NBSA has asked Aaj Tak to air an apology on the 23rd of April at 8:00 PM.

The apology that they have to air live, translated in Hindi, is as follows:

Aaj Tak apologises that while reporting on the incidents relating to the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput, we had run certain tweets on the Aaj Tak channel and wrongly reported the screenshots calling them real and attributing them as the actor’s last tweets. By doing so, we have violated Clause 1 of the “SpeciZc Guidelines Covering Reportage” relating to “Accuracy” which states that information should be gathered first-hand from more than one source, if possible; reports received from news agencies should be attributed and where possible be verified; allegations should be reported accurately as made and errors of fact should be corrected at the earliest, giving su[cient prominence to the broadcast of the correct version of fact(s)

Order by NBSA against Aaj Tak and the fake news against Sushant Singh Rajput

The News Broadcasting Standard Authority (NBSA) has slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Aaj Tak, the Hindi-language news channel of the India Today group for telecasting fake tweets relating to actor late Sushant Singh Rajput. It has also asked the broadcaster to air an apology admitting on national television that it did not conduct the due diligence required prior to telecasting the tweets and attributing them to the late actor.

Aaj Tak had published an elaborate piece on late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s “last tweets” on June 16, two days after the actor was found dead in his house in Mumbai. Aaj Tak had also tweeted the article from its official Twitter account. The Tweet where the news channel shared the link of the emotionally charged report on these “tweets” where the late actor allegedly hinted taking his own life were subsequently deleted. Aaj Tak later took down its report without clarification. An archived link of the tweet can be viewed here.

India gets ready to fight with the second wave of COVID-19, several states impose tougher restrictions

OpIndia Staff
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India gets ready to fight with the second wave of COVID-19, several states impose tougher restrictions

After months of showing a downward trend, India is once again experiencing a fresh spike in the COVID-19 cases. Breaking all past records, India registered its biggest-ever single-day spike with 200,739 fresh cases today. With this, India’s active Covid-19 tally shot up to more than 1.41 crore cases.

This unprecedented second wave has compelled many states to impose lockdown like restrictions to limit the movement of the people and thus bring down the infections being caused by the deadly contagion.

Below are the state-wise details of COVID-19 restrictions:

Maharashtra

Though several states in the entire country are recording an alarmingly high number of coronavirus cases, the situation in Maharashtra is the most worrisome, with the state alone accounting for almost 45% of the total cases in the country. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday (April 13) announced that there will be no lockdown in the state but lockdown like restrictions will be imposed from 8 pm on Wednesday, April 14 for at least 15 days.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been imposed till May 1, and no person will be allowed in a public place without any valid reason. All establishments, public spaces, activities and services will remain closed, except for essential services that will remain open between 7 am and 8 pm on working days. 

Shooting for films, serials and advertisements will remain closed, and only 25 people will be allowed at marriages.

Public transport, including trains and bus services, and essential services like groceries, vegetable shops, fruit vendors, dairies, bakeries, confectioneries, all types of food outlets and public utilities, will be open.

The CM said that a total of 2 lakh police personnel will be on the streets of Maharashtra to enforce the curfew. An additional force of 13,200 home guards and 22 companies of State Reserve Police Force, including three companies for Mumbai and two for Pune, will be deployed as per requirement.

Delhi

Similarly, the Delhi government on Thursday announced stricter curbs to curtail the recent influx of COVID-19 cases in the national capital. Addressing the media, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that a weekend curfew will remain in effect from 10 pm on Friday till 6 am on Monday. The weekend curfew comes in addition to the 8-hour night curfew already in effect in the national capital.  

Shopping malls, gyms, spas and auditoriums will remain closed till April 30. Meanwhile, cinema halls will be allowed to operate will 30 per cent capacity. Restaurants will not be allowed to provide dine-in service and only home delivery of food will be allowed during the new curbs.

Further, essential services will be allowed during the weekend lockdown and people going to weddings, which are already planned, will be provided with curfew passes.  

Kejriwal added that one weekly market per day per municipal zone will be allowed to operate to arrest spread of coronavirus.

Karnataka

The cumulative caseload in Karnataka’s Bengaluru surpassed the 5 lakh mark on Wednesday with 8,155 new infections. To control the scourge the BJP government in Karnataka has announced several other stringent measures apart from the already imposed night curfew in some cities.

The state government had earlier announced a 10-day night curfew, starting from April 10, from 10 pm to 5 am in Bengaluru, Mysore, Mangalore, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Tumkur and Udupi-Manipal.

Bengaluru police have decided to ban the use of swimming pools, gyms, party halls, and other such amenities in apartment buildings within the city.

The government said that travellers coming from states like Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra and Chandigarh will be required to carry a negative RT-PCR report.

The number of telephone lines operated by Bengaluru’s municipal body the BBMP will be doubled soon to enable more public access to the 24-hour Covid-19 helpline operating in the city.

Odisha

The Odisha government has also tightened the Covid restrictions in the state and announced to impose night curfew in urban areas across the state starting tomorrow.

According to the latest information, in 10 districts bordering Chhattisgarh, namely Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri, the State government changed the timings of night curfew. As per the decision, the night curfew in the urban areas in these districts would be from 6 pm to 5 am tomorrow. However, the night curfew timings for rural areas in these 10 districts will remain unchanged from 10 pm to 5 in the morning.

Also, night curfew will come into force in urban areas of 20 more districts including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack from 9 pm to 5 am from tomorrow.

In another major decision, the Odisha government decided to impose a weekend lockdown in the urban areas of these 10 bordering districts from April 17.

Uttar Pradesh

On Monday (April 12), the Uttar Pradesh government imposed a night curfew in Shravasti district of the state from 9 pm to 6 am till April 18.

A night curfew has also been imposed in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Allahabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bareilly and Muzaffarnagar districts and the Lucknow Municipal Corporation area of the state.

Madhya Pradesh

In view of the rising cases of COVID-19, the Bhopal ‘Crisis Management Group’ on Monday (April 12) decided to impose a ‘Corona Curfew’ in the city.

The Corona curfew will be imposed from April 13 to April 19, till 6 am, reported ANI.

Daily activities will, however continue inhindered. Inter-state & inter-district movement of essential services will also be allowed in the state.

Gujarat

A night curfew will be imposed in 20 main cities of Gujarat from 8 pm to 6 am till April 30. All gatherings, rallies or meetings have been banned.

These cities include – Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagarh, Gandhinagar, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Surat, Morvi, Patan, Godhra, Dahod, Gandhidham, Bharuch, Surendranagar, and Amreli. 

The Gujarat High Court held that all kinds of gatherings, including political functions, should be controlled or stopped. The Sabarmati Ashram has also been closed for visitors.

Jammu and Kashmir

A night curfew has been imposed in urban areas of eight districts, namely, Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, Srinagar, Baramulla, Budgam, Anantnag and Kupwara.

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