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Vaccine not to be administered to people below 18 years, pregnant and lactating women kept out of COVID vaccination drive

OpIndia Staff
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Vaccine not to be administered to people below 18 years, pregnant and lactating women kept out of COVID vaccination drive

A day ahead of the launch of massive nationwide vaccination drive against the Covid-19, the centre has now come up with new safety regulations saying Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine will not be administered to people below 18 years of age.

According to the reports, a letter from the office of additional secretary at the union health ministry carrying a comparative factsheet for the two approved vaccines under emergency authorisation rules revealed that the government has “not recommended” their authorisation to people below 18 years of age.

Earlier, it was approved for children above the age of 12 years by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). The DCGI, after approving Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for EUA, had allowed its authorisation to children above 12 years of age. Similarly, another Corona vaccine, Covishield developed by Serum Institute of India (SII), was permitted to people above 18 years of age.

However, the CDSCO officials have now clarirfied that the earlier provision was soon withdrawn and revised by the drug licensing authority. The officials said this certain condition approved for Covaxin was flagged to the drug regulatory authority and soon it was rebuked.

“We were flagged about the provision and soon it was revised with a condition that the vaccines would only be administered to beneficiaries above 18 years of age,” a senior official said.

No interchangeability of vaccine, pregnant women will not be administered vaccine: Health Ministry

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on Thursday said that interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines will not be permitted and the second dose of the vaccine inoculated should be the same vaccine injected as the first dose.

In a letter to all states and Union territories, the Health Ministry also stated that under the emergency use authorisation, coronavirus vaccination is indicated only for 18 years and above. If required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines should be separated by an interval of at least 14 days.

“Interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines is not permitted. The second dose should also be of the same COVID-19 vaccine which was administered as the first dose,” the letter written to states said.

Addition to that, pregnant and lactating women will also not be administered the shots as they have not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine clinical trial so far, the health ministry said.

“Pregnant and lactating women have not been a part of any COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. Therefore, women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy and lactating women should not receive COVID-19 vaccine at this time,” the letter stated.

The ministry has also listed precautions and contraindications for Covid vaccination along with a comparative factsheet for both the vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) which contains information on vaccine platform, physical specifications, dosage, cold-chain storage requirements, contraindications and minor AEFIs (adverse event following immunization).

The Health Ministry has advised states to disseminate information to programme managers across all levels and through them to cold-chain handlers and vaccinators for ready reference.  

Health Ministry asks to follow proper protocol, issues caution

Listing the contraindications, the Health Ministry also cautioned against the administration of the vaccine in persons with a history of an anaphylactic or allergic reaction to a previous dose of COVID-19 vaccine.   

According to the letter, in case of persons having active symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, coronavirus infected patients who have been given anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma and acutely unwell and hospitalised patients due to any illness, the COVID-19 vaccination is to be deferred for four to eight weeks after recovery.

The vaccine should be administered with caution in persons with a history of any bleeding or coagulation disorder (like clotting factor deficiency, coagulopathy or platelet disorder, it said.

“Following conditions are not contraindicated for COVID-19 vaccines: persons with past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and or RT-PCR positive illness, history of chronic diseases and morbidities and immuno-deficiency, HIV, patients on immune suppression due to any condition,” the letter stated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India’s massive Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 via video conferencing. The centre has delivered adequate doses of Bharat Biotech’s ‘Covaxin’ and Serum Institute’s ‘Covishield’ vaccines to all states and Union territories ahead of the vaccination drive.

Twitter, Facebook pays the price for banning Donald Trump, ends up losing $51 billion in market cap in two days

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter, Facebook pays the price for banning Donald Trump, ends up losing $51 billion in market cap in two days

Days after social media giants Facebook and Twitter permanently banned incumbent US President Donald Trump from their platforms, the companies lost a combined market value of whopping $51.2 billion over two trading sessions.

In the aftermath of the US Capitol riots, Twitter and Facebook resorted to ‘political censorship’ and banned Trump for allegedly inciting mobs and making provocative remarks. The social media giants soon faced the brunt of censoring the US President.

Fearing that users might desert the platforms, investors bailed out on Facebook and Twitter and dumped their stock. As such, Facebook plunged by 4% on Monday and 2.2% on Tuesday, resulting in a dip of $47.6 billion below what it was on Friday (January 8). Facebook traded at $245.64 per share as of 4 pm on Thursday.

Dip in Facebook’s stocks via Yahoo

Meanwhile, Twitter dipped 6.4% on Monday and further fell 2.4% on Tuesday’s close, resulting in a drop in market cap by $3.5 billion. Twitter traded at $45.79 per share as of Thursday at 4 pm, compared to the closing price of $51.48 on Friday. Interestingly, analysts have not lowered the median price targets for stocks, emphasising that the drop in market value was a knee-jerk reaction and that it would improve over time.

Decline in market cap for Twitter via Yahoo

Other tech companies such as Apple and Google have seen a marginal rise in their market cap. At the same time, Amazon’s shares went up by 1.6% after it too engaged in censoring conservative platform, Parler. Googler owned YouTube has also suspended the account of Donald Trump for a week.

On Monday, CNN reported that incumbent Donald Trump might take action against tech giants for banning him from Facebook and Twitter. However, with just 5 days from the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, it is unclear whether any form of retaliation will actually materialise.

Political censorship against Donald Trump

The suspension of Donald Trump by social media platforms has taken the world by storm. Leaders around the world, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, have condemned the suspension by Twitter and called it ‘problematic’.

There is a growing consensus that the actions were motivated by political bias rather than any objective criterion. Amidst such a scenario, Twitter stocks stumbled by as much as 10% on Monday. Under such circumstances, the precise justification offered by Twitter for suspending Donald Trump from the platform went largely unnoticed.

And as it turns out, the justification cited by Twitter is absolutely bizarre and even Twitter does not say that they have interpreted Trump’s tweets as incitement to violence. Twitter does not say that at all. Instead, the social media platform claims that two of Trump’s tweets are being “interpreted” to mean an endorsement of violence. That is, Donald Trump has been banned from the platform because how others, unnamed in the statement, are interpreting his tweets.

Tutoring to give false testimony and more: Delhi Police exposes Mehmood Paracha, says Prashant Bhushan has no regard for law

OpIndia Staff
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Tutoring to give false testimony and more: Delhi Police exposes Mehmood Paracha, says Prashant Bhushan has no regard for law

After Supreme Court Advocate Prashant Bhushan raised questions over the raid by Delhi Police against ISIS ‘poster boy’ lawyer Mehmood Pracha, Delhi Police has released a point-wise rebuttal of Bhushan’s allegations. On January 13, Prashant Bhushan had held a press briefing regarding the search carried out by Delhi police special cell at Pracha’s office and residence in December last year.

Bhushan termed the court-ordered investigation against Pracha as “malafide” and raised certain objections over the investigation and the intention of Delhi police. Bhushan alleged that the police wanted to seize the hard discs of Pracha’s computer which was not authorised in the search warrant. He also said that the police threatened Pracha using the name of Home Minister Amit Shah. In their rebuttal of Bhushan’s claims, Delhi police alleged that Bhushan was making another attempt towards contempt of court by not respecting the order of the court.

Here are the objections raised by Bhushan against the search and the corresponding rebuttal of Delhi police:

  1. According to Bhushan, the email the police was looking for was already sent by Pracha to various authorities including Commissioner of Police. He alleged that the search was conducted in order to get access to Pracha’s personal and private information and the conversations between him and his clients which are prevented from disclosure under the law. Refuting Bhushan’s claims Delhi police said that intent behind conducting the search was to present all the evidence present in Pracha’s computer before the court to prove the allegations against him.
  3. With respect to Bhushan’s allegation that Delhi police wanted to access the details of the conversation between Pracha and his clients that are protected from disclosure under the law, the police quoted the court order that said that any such conversation that happened as part of some criminal conspiracy are excluded from the protection of the law. This is irrespective of whether the advocate was aware of the criminal conspiracy. “Law does not offer any protection to act committed as part of a criminal conspiracy, even if it is committed by a friend Prashant Bhushan”, the statement read.
  5. Bhushan had said that the Investigating Officer should have issued a summon or notice to Pracha under section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) requiring him to produce the concerned documents. Responding to Bhushan’s remarks the police said that an accused is provided ample opportunity to present his side of the story.

In their statement, Delhi police also called out Bhushan for raising questions over the court order saying that court did not provide reasons in the order for carrying out the search at Pracha’s office and residence. Taking a veiled dig at Bhushan Delhi police said, “The truth is that it becomes difficult for some people who play their tactics in courts every day to accept that no one is above law”. The police said that Pracha used all his connections and power to avoid the search by Delhi police. They further said that instead of cooperating with the police in the investigation of the matter, Pracha obstructed the investigation and tried to intimidate the independent public witnesses.

The Delhi Police have also stated that Pracha had tried to project accused as ‘innocent victims, and colluded to frame innocents as accused under grave offences. He is also accused of trying to mislead the legal process by creating false statements and produce false witnesses. They added that it is not a lawyer’s job to advise its client as to how to commit a crime or forgery.

On Bhushan’s question over the necessity of a search warrant and alluding that it was ‘illegal’, the Delhi Police stated that it is another attempt by Bhushan to display his disregard for the Apex Court and its orders and it only shows that Prashant Bhushan has no respect for the Supreme Court and the rule of law.

The investigation against Mehmood Pracha

Delhi police special cell had conducted raids at the office of Advocate Mehmood Pracha who is accused of forging an affidavit and tutoring the victims of anti-Hindu Delhi riots of giving false statements. The police was looking for incriminating documents and metadata of the outbox of the official email id of Pracha’s law firm. Pracha was booked under section 182, 193, 420, 468, 471, 472, 473, 120B of the IPC.

During the raid at his office Pracha allegedly misbehaved with the police personnel and obstructed the raids conducted by the Delhi police. An FIR was filed by the Counter Intelligence Unit of Delhi Police Special Cell under sections 186, 353 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code at Nizamuddin police station against Pracha allegedly for obstructing a public servant from discharging public duty using criminal force.

TMC govt will fall if I let them join BJP: Kailash Vijayvargiya makes stunning claim about 41 TMC MLAs

OpIndia Staff
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TMC govt will fall if I let them join BJP: Kailash Vijayvargiya makes stunning claim about 41 TMC MLAs

Ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls in West Bengal, BJP Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya has made a stunning claim, stating that he is in touch with about 41 MLAs from the incumbent TMC who are ready to jump the ship and join the BJP.

Talking to media reporters on Thursday, Vijayvargiya said the Trinamool Congress government would collapse if he lets the MLAs join the saffron party. However, he added that only with clean image will be allowed to join the party.

“I have a list of 41 MLAs who want to join the BJP. The Bengal government will collapse if I let them in. We are exploring their background and only leaders with a clean image would be allowed to join. Everyone believes that the Mamata government is going out,” Vijayvargiya had said.

Vijayvargiya’s statement comes days after the Bengal minister Jyotipriya Mallick boasted that 6 of BJP’s 7 MPs would soon join the TMC. Mallick had said that several leaders who joined the BJP recently are willing to come back to Trinamool. But the final decision rests with Mamata Banerjee. They will be taken back only if she allows, Mallick had said.

Rumblings within TMC ahead of WB assembly elections

It is pertinent to note that the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is hit by a series of defections and rebellions in recent times. Last month, party heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari tendered his resignation from the party. Five other TMC MLAs also submitted their resignation in December 2020. Days later West Bengal sports minister Laxmi Ratan Shukla resigned from the Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet.

The rumblings with the TMC continues as another party leader Vaishali Dalmiya opened the front against the party. A few days back, Dalmiya, perturbed by Shukla’s resignation, stated that the pervasive corruption is eating up the party from within and lamented that party members are involved in stonewalling of work carried out by the fellow members.

West Bengal is slated to go to polls in April/May this year.

Not just about Trump, and the censorship won’t stop: Leaked video of Jack Dorsey reveals plot of continued political censorship

OpIndia Staff
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Not just about Trump, and the censorship won’t stop: Leaked video of Jack Dorsey reveals plot of continued political censorship

A day after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey conceded that the platform’s decision to ban incumbent US President Donald Trump limited the conversation, divided people and ‘set a dangerous precedent’, a secret audio tape has now revealed that Twitter has no plans to stop its censorship drive only with President Donald Trump, but plans to continue the witchhunt.

Project Veritas, a conservative activist group focussed on exposing corruption, had shared a secret recording wherein Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey could be seen discussing the platform’s long term policy in terms of political censorship. The tape now released by Veritas was reportedly leaked by one employee of Twitter.

In the recording dated January 8, Jack addressed his employees saying, “The focus is certainly on this account (Donald Trump), and how it ties to real-world violence, but also we need to think much longer-term around how these dynamics play out over time. I don’t believe this is going away any time soon.”

The Twitter CEO divulged that the attempt to silence and ban conservative opinion-makers is not just limited to Donald Trump. He pointed out that the censorship will continue, well past the inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden on January 20. “We know we are focused on one account right now, but this is going to be much bigger than just one account, and it’s going to go on for much longer than just this day, this week, the next few weeks, going on beyond inauguration. We have to expect that. We have to be ready for that.”

Twitter CEO admits long term censorship plans

After Twitter removed more than 70,000 accounts for supposedly peddling QAnon conspiracy theories, Jack Dorsey admitted that the micro-blogging platform intended to banning more such handles. He added, “The moves that we’re making today, around, you know, QAnon, for instance, is one such example of a much broader approach that we should be looking at and going deeper on.

Reiterating the need for a team effort to focus on the ‘bigger picture’ in an ‘extremely divided United States, the Twitter CEO cautioned, “The team has a lot of work and a lot of focus on this particular issue, but we also need to give them the space and the support to focus on the much bigger picture because it is, it is not going away. The U.S. is extremely divided. Our platform is showing this every single day. And our role is to protect the integrity of that conversation and do what we can to make sure that no one is being harmed based off that.”

While speaking about the revelation, conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson concluded, “… Jack Dorsey admitted out loud what the rest of them are still denying. This is not really about Donald Trump. It never was. It is definitely not about what happened last week at the Capitol. It is about controlling you and the country you thought was yours forever. Sorry! There is a national crisis going on and we have no choice.”

Twitter bans Donald Trump, suffers backlash

The suspension of Donald Trump by social media platforms has taken the world by storm. Leaders around the world, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, have condemned the suspension by Twitter and called it ‘problematic’.

There is a growing consensus that the actions were motivated by political bias rather than any objective criterion. Amidst such a scenario, Twitter stocks stumbled by as much as 10% on Monday. Under such circumstances, the precise justification offered by Twitter for suspending Donald Trump from the platform went largely unnoticed.

And as it turns out, the justification cited by Twitter is absolutely bizarre and even Twitter does not say that they have interpreted Trump’s tweets as incitement to violence. Twitter does not say that at all. Instead, the social media platform claims that two of Trump’s tweets are being “interpreted” to mean an endorsement of violence. That is, Donald Trump has been banned from the platform because how others, unnamed in the statement, are interpreting his tweets.

Real Kashmiriyat: Muslim RJ targeted for getting a picture clicked with film-maker shooting a movie on Kashmiri Hindu genocide

OpIndia Staff
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Real Kashmiriyat: Muslim RJ targeted for getting a picture clicked with film-maker shooting a movie on Kashmiri Hindu genocide

The famed ‘Kashmiriyat’ that we have all heard about for the past several decades essentially is touted to be a ‘sentiment’ that stems from the intrinsically inclusive society of Kashmir. The trope was created to essentially whitewash the Kashmiri Hindu genocide of the 1990s when thousands of Hindus were brutally murdered and millions had to leave Kashmir because the majority Muslim population of Kashmir could not tolerate the presence of Hindus. An example of this famed Kashmiriyat was seen recently when a Muslim RJ (RJ Rafia) was targeted on Twitter for getting a picture clicked with a film-maker (Vivek Agnihotri) who is currently working on a movie showing the plight of Kashmiri Hindus who were murdered, raped and driven away from the valley.

On January 13th, Vivek Agnihotri, a film-maker who is shooting in Srinagar for a movie that is reportedly about the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus, posted a picture having dinner with his crew and several other local artists at the Lalit Hotel.

Seen in the picture was also a Muslim RJ called RJ Rafia. Rafia Rahim is from Charar e Sharif township, a 2016 pass out of Media Education and Research Centre, University of Kashmir. She had risen to fame and earned quite a lot of praise from several quarters, including The Quint, for being the first woman RJ from Budgam.

As soon as the picture was posted, several Islamists from Kashmir and even elsewhere started calling her a traitor and hurling nasty abuses at her for being pictured with someone who they consider an ‘outsider’.

Aside from being branded a traitor, Muslims from Kashmir also alleged that the movie that was being filmed was against Muslims of Kashmir and talking about Kashmiri Hindus was branded as the ‘Hindutva Genocidal Agenda”.

Hilariously, branding fellow Islamists as ‘sane’ one Muslim urged every other “sane Muslim” to unfollow RJ Rafia.

And, of course, the famed Kashmiriyat made an appearance.

We also realised that not jus Khalistanis ‘born and raised in Canada’ but Islamists too had an opinion on what Indians can do and say in India.

After the relentless trolling, RJ Rafia tweeted a clarification that she was not a traitor and in fact, rather committed to the cause of Kashmir. She said she had absolutely no idea who the Director was and what movie he was planning on making. Presumably, she meant that if she did know that a film-maker had shown the temerity to actually talk about how Kashmiri Muslims raped, murdered and drove away Kashmiri Hindus, she would not have got clicked with him.

Meanwhile, the film-maker who had sparked the row by talking about ‘vegetarian Wazwan’, deleted the tweet and said that he did not want to endanger any of his local friends since, after his post, several of them were getting threatened and abused.

Reportedly, Vivek Agnihotri’s movie could only be shot under strict security and thus, we realise what the nature of true ‘Kashmiriyat’ really is.

For decades, Indians have been told that Kashmiri Muslims are falsely vilified and conspiracy theories are floated about why Kashmiri Hindus actually “left” the valley. They blame the then governor and journalists like Barkha Dutt even give the Muslims a free pass by claiming that the Kashmiri Muslims harboured animosity against the Hindus because of purely economic reasons and not because they wanted to wage Jihad and murder Kafirs. The slogans of La illaha Illalla, Allahu Akbar and ‘Kashmir main rehna hai to Allahu Akbar kehna hoga’ slogans are whitewashed. The fact that there were announcements made from mosques to kill kaafirs were completely ignored. That Hindu women were raped, men were murdered and Hindus were asked to either convert, leave or die is pushed under the rug.

While genocide of Hindus took place on our own land, the famed sham of ‘Kashmiriyat’ was foisted upon the rest of India, to make us believe that Kashmiri Muslims were ‘inclusive’ and Hindus simply up and left on their own, for no fault of the Islamists.

This recent incident is just another indication as to how that facade of Kashmiriyat drops every single day, with Islamists wanting to exclude even Muslims who they view as ‘traitors’. Even sharing a meal with those who don’t agree with the current generation of Islamists, who purport that they are only trying to uphold secularism, is something that can make a Muslim RJ go from being an ally to being a ‘Mukhbir’.

While politicians and those with a vested interest in keeping Kashmir a festering wound repeatedly tell us that Kashmiriyat is the sentiment of being a Kashmiri, which is essentially about preserving their own culture and welcoming everyone else with an open arm, it is rather evident that Kashmiriyat is insular, intolerant and has violent Islamism at the core of it.

While it is rather tragic that even after a genocide of Hindus one needs such examples to talk about the truth of ‘Kashmiriyat’, perhaps every such incident gets us closer to the truth. It is said that without truly understanding and accepting the roots of the problem, the problem itself is impossible to solve. The root of the conflict in Kashmir is the underlying Islamism that is embedded in a large section of the Kashmiri Muslim population and perhaps unless we acknowledge that stark reality, a solution to the problem would be impossible to find.

Indian govt took ‘very decisive’ steps to deal with coronavirus, structural reforms working well: IMF chief

Shashank Bharadwaj
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Indian govt took ‘very decisive’ steps to deal with coronavirus, structural reforms working well: IMF chief

Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on Thursday praised Modi government for taking “very decisive” steps to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences.

Speaking at a global media roundtable on Thursday, the IMF Managing Director predicted a ‘less bad’ outlook for India in the upcoming World Economic Update due to the effective steps taken by the Modi government. The Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva also asked the country to do more this year to support an accelerated transformation of the economy.

“When I called on everybody to stay tuned for January 26, that applies very much to India. You would see a picture in our update that is less bad. Why? Because the country actually has taken very decisive action, very decisive steps to deal with the pandemic and to deal with the economic consequences of it,” Georgieva said.

The International Monetary Fund is scheduled to release its World Economic Update on January 26.

Restrictions, lockdown along with policy support worked well: IMF chief

Speaking about India, the IMF chief opined that it was a very dramatic lockdown for a country of this size of the population with people clustered so closely together.

“Then India moved to more targeted restrictions and lockdowns. What we see is that transition, combined with policy support, seems to have worked well. Why? Because if you look at mobility indicators, we are almost where we were before COVID in India, meaning that economic activities have been revitalised quite significantly,” she said.

She said the steps taken by the Modi government on the monetary policy and the fiscal policy side is commendable. It is actually slightly above the average for emerging markets, she added.

According to Kristalina Georgieva, India has outdone emerging markets, which on average have provided six per cent of the GDP. “Good for India is that there is still space to do more. If you can do more, please do,” Georgieva said.

She added that 2021 is the year to use and use it wisely in a more targeted manner to support an accelerated transformation of the economy. The IMF chief said that it was amazing to see how much faster structural change takes place and policymakers ought to be leaning forward in this environment to support this structural transformation and to cushion the impact it has on those that are on the losing side of it.

India has an appetite for structural reforms, says IMF top Economist

Georgieva said that she is impressed by the appetite for structural reforms that India is retaining. “We welcome that. No question those reforms, and actually that applies very much to South Africa… will determine competitiveness in the future. We need higher productivity. We need more vibrant and inclusive economies. And they are not going to fall from the sky. There have to be reforms that support them,” she said.

Appreciating the fact that Modi government does not give up on structural reforms, she said, “And I’m saying, yes, do it! Because the world change is accelerating and economies have to be agile and adaptable to change. We have to be constantly leaning forward.”

At the same time, she emphasised that one of the aspects of India’s reforms that are still lagging is on gender equality.

“I want to just stress it is scary to see how we are losing ground on gender equality over these months so fast. Women are front line workers…They are often in the informal economy, help cannot easily reach them, so they are hit, she said. ….once people start losing jobs, who is to lose jobs first? [Again] women are on the front line. Labour market participation in India for women has been low. It is shrinking…I know the government is paying attention, it is moving in that [direction], but there is so much space to tap into the productive potential of women and the entrepreneurial potential of women,” Georgieva said.

In its October outlook, the IMF has projected India to contract by a massive 10.3 per cent in 2020. However, India is likely to bounce back with an impressive 8.8 per cent growth rate in 2021, the global financial institution had said.

After ED summons, Sanjay Raut’s wife pays back ‘interest-free’ loan taken from PMC Bank scam accused’s wife

OpIndia Staff
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After ED summons, Sanjay Raut’s wife pays back ‘interest-free’ loan taken from PMC Bank scam accused’s wife

The Enforcement Directorate has revealed that Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha repaid a Rs 55 lakhs of ‘friendly loan’ she had taken from a bank scam accused’s wife soon after the investigative agency summoned her to seek an explanation.

According to the reports, Varsha Raut, the wife of Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut submitted documents to the ED through a relative, claiming that she paid loans taken from the bank from funds generated from the film ‘Thackeray’ penned by her husband. Varsha was one of the producers of the movie. The interest-free loan was taken a decade ago.

Earlier, the ED, which is investigating money laundering case in the PMC Bank-HDIL loan scam, had issued her four summons from November last year. However, Varsha Raut had failed to present herself before the officials. On January 4, she finally appeared before the ED.

Varsha Raut was summoned by ED over the Rs 55 lakh transaction with the wife of another accused in the scam, Pravin Raut. It is believed to be the same transaction where she allegedly took a loan to buy a property.

PMC scam and Raut’s link to the irregularities

The Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank is one of the largest cooperative banks, which was put under scrutiny by the Reserve Bank for fraud and misreporting of bad loans. Later, the bank had admitted that one large account, HDIL was the main reason for the current crisis.

The ED is investigating a money laundering case based on an FIR lodged by city police’s Economic Offences Wing against Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan of Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), PMC Bank chairman Waryam Singh and its managing director Joy Thomas, and others for causing a loss of Rs 4,355 crore to PMC Bank and making gains for themselves.

The HDIL has been accused of siphoning off Rs 95 crore of PMC Bank’s loan funds through Pravin Raut, who is a former director of Guruashish Constructions, an HDIL subsidiary. Recently, the ED had also attached Pravin Raut’s assets worth Rs 72 crore.

According to ED, Pravin Raut paid Rs 1.6 crore to his wife Madhuri from the proceeds. Out of this money, Madhuri had transferred Rs 55 lakh (Rs 50 lakh on December 23, 2010, and Rs 5 lakh on March 15, 2011) as an interest-free loan to Varsha. The amount was allegedly used by Varsha Raut to buy a flat in Dadar (East).

Varsha Raut had financial links with the accused

The investigation further revealed that Varsha and Madhuri are partners in another firm – Avani Construction. Varsha had reportedly received Rs 12 lakh from this entity as a loan on a contribution of a mere Rs 5,625. The loan amount of Rs 12 lakh is still outstanding, according to the ED.

During the interrogation, the ED has reportedly asked Varsha Raut to provide them with details of companies where she was a joint partner along with Madhuri. However, it has been now revealed that Varsha has sent those documents to the ED through a relative.

“The officials are examining the submitted document and accordingly will decide if there is a need to call Varsha again for a further statement,” said an official.

The ED is also inquiring about a former Shiv Sena MP whose association received Rs 1 crore from PMC Bank and the role of a heavyweight politician in the extended suburbs whose trust received over Rs 1,000 crore from HDIL. The money was defrauded from PMC Bank.

Did China promote ‘Coronavirus lockdowns’ to cripple world economy? Lawyers, activists, ex-US Brigadier general want UK, USA spies to investigate

OpIndia Staff
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Did China promote ‘Coronavirus lockdowns’ to cripple world economy? Lawyers, activists, ex-US Brigadier general want UK, USA spies to investigate

Amidst the rising cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus, several sceptics have requested spies from the United States and the United Kingdom to investigate whether China deliberately promoted the idea of ‘lockdowns’ to cripple the world economy.

In an 11000-worded letter, a US lawyer named Michael Senger has accused the Chinese regime of promoting national lockdowns to hurt rival economies. Hailing the lockdown policies as a ‘fraud’ of an unprecedented level, Senger and other co-signers requested the Intelligence agencies to initiate an investigation in this regard. The letter stated, “We are writing this letter to request that a federal investigation be commenced and/or expedited regarding the scientific debate on major policy decisions during the Covid-19 crisis.”

“In the course of our work, we have identified issues of a potentially criminal nature and believe this investigation necessary to ensure the interests of the public have been properly represented by those promoting certain pandemic policies,” it further added. The letter urged the Intelligence agencies in the UK, US, Canada, Germany and Australia to probe how China tricked the world using faulty data into believing that lockdowns were the way forward.

Coronavirus lockdowns and its impact

The outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus had led to global economic shrinkage by a whopping 5% and a loss of 40 crore jobs. “Given the gravity of the decisions being made, we cannot ignore the possibility that the entire ‘science’ of Covid-19 lockdowns has been a fraud of unprecedented proportion, deliberately promulgated by the Chinese Communist Party and its collaborators to impoverish the nations who implemented it,” the letter said.

Besides, Michael Senger, the letter urging Intelligence agencies to probe China’s role in promoting Coronavirus lockdowns, had the assent of renowned figures such as ex Australia government economist Sanjeev Sabhlok, Canadian politician Randy Hillier, British Human Rights activist Maajid Nawaz, and retired US Brigadier General Robert Spalding. They pointed out how the lockdown bankrupted lacs of families and deprived children of food and education. The letter reiterated that lockdowns were premised on CCP policies instead of science. “Thus, the public supports lockdowns because the alternative — that they might have been implemented without good cause — is a possibility too evil for most to contemplate,” they claimed.

Allegations against the World Health Organisation

The Chinese regime has received backlash on social media as well as from world leaders for mishandling of the pandemic that led to over 2 million deaths. At the same time, WHO has come under the scanner for allegedly working in tandem with the Chinese Communist government to cover up the outbreak.

It is interesting to note that while WHO initially was sceptical of the ‘unprecedented’ lockdown in Wuhan province in China initially, it actively encouraged other nations to follow China’s example in the following months. WHO had earlier conceded that lockdowns could bring social and economic life to a standstill. Earlier, the United States President Donald Trump shared a letter the White House wrote to World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief Dr Tedros Adhanom stating that the organisation will not receive any funding from the US until and unless it shows independence from Chinese influence in next 30 days.

As SFJ asks farmers to raise Khalistan flag at India Gate on R-Day, Rakesh Tikait announces march from Red Fort to India Gate

OpIndia Staff
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As SFJ asks farmers to raise Khalistan flag at India Gate on R-Day, Rakesh Tikait announces march from Red Fort to India Gate

Just weeks ahead of the Republic day celebration in the country, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday said that protestors will carry out another procession from Red Fort to India Gate on January 26 and also hoist the tricolour at Amar Jawan Jyoti.

According to the reports, the self-proclaimed ‘farmer’ leader Rakesh Tikait claimed that the march will be a ‘historic scene’ where from one side they will have ‘kisan’ and the other side ‘jawan’.

Tikait said the farmers union leaders will attend the ninth round of talks with government representatives, including Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State Som Prakash. However, he added that that the protestors would continue to hold talks with the government and also carry out their protests at various Delhi borders.

Interestingly, Tikait’s announcement comes two days after Khalistani terror organisation Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) had announced a reward of Rs. 1.8 crores for hoisting the Khalistani flag on India Gate on the Republic Day.

In a letter issued by SFJ, Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu gave a call to the Punjab farmers protesting on Singh border to raise Khalistani flag at India Gate on January 26 and receive a reward of Rs. 1.8 crores.

On January 11, SFJ released an incriminating video on its YouTube channel to provoke Sikh individuals living in India especially those who agree with the Khalistani movement. Pannu in the video asked the Sikh Youth to hoist Khalistani flag on India Gate and remove Indian flag India Gate as well as from every corner in Delhi. He said, “On January 26, Sikhs should roam in Delhi on their tractors and remove every tricolour. The Indian flag is the symbol of suppression that Sikhs have faced in India. Every Indian flag must be removed and crushed.”

Pannu further added that whoever hoists Khalistani flag on India gate will be rewarded with Rs. 1.8 crores. If the Indian government arrests the person under Indian Law, his organization says it will help the person(s) move out of India and settle down in the UK. He said that Sikhs have taken over Delhi as the Indian government has enacted three black laws.

Khalistan terror group’s involvement in the farmer protestors

It is not an unknown fact that the banned Khalistan terror outfit has already hijacked the farmer protests to incite people to fight against the Modi government. On January 12, the central government had told the Supreme Court that they have credible input from the Intelligence Bureau that there is the presence of Khalistani supporters in the farmers’ protest.

Several protesting ‘farmers’ have resorted to violence and have shouted slogans supporting Khalistan during the protests. With pro-Khalistan and anti-Indian slogans being raised during the ‘farmer protest’ along the Haryana-Punjab border, questions are also being raised over the alleged involvement of SFJ in instigating Punjab farmers to protest against the Modi government under the pretext that the three farm bills are ‘anti-farmer’ in nature.

It is important to note that the Khalistan organisation SFJ, funded by Pakistan, had earlier declared a grant of $1 million for farmers in Punjab and Haryana in lieu of their support for Khalistan.

Rakesh Tikait repeated attempts to instigate protestors

Self-proclaimed farmer leader Rakesh Tikait’s ultimatum to the government and subsequent threats to take out a procession in Delhi on the Republic Day comes weeks after he had threatened to block the expressways connecting Delhi if the talks with the government fail to deliver any results favouring them.

He had issued a warning saying that they would resort to ‘Chakka Jam’ or blocking of roads if the government did not agree on their terms with respect to the three farm laws. Earlier, he had told the media that they do not intend to end the agitation anytime before the year 2024.

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