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COVID: Healthcare workers to get vaccinated first, followed by frontline workers, India orders 83 crore syringes

OpIndia Staff
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COVID: Healthcare workers to get vaccinated first, followed by frontline workers, India orders 83 crore syringes

Preparations of the largest mass vaccination program are moving ahead at a fast pace in India. As per the reports, the government has decided to provide Covid-19 vaccine shots to the healthcare workers on priority, including doctors, paramedics, nurses and hospital staff. After the healthcare workers, the frontline workers will be next in the line.

Frontline workers divided into six categories

In an exclusive, Times Now has reported that a meeting was held between the Ministry of Health Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs and all state governments’ representatives. They decided on the categorization of the frontline workers. The reports suggest that the government has decided to divide them into six categories starting with the police, civil defence and home guard personnel, paramilitary personnel, municipal workers, disaster management professionals (national and state level) and fire safety personnel.

No mass vaccination program in the beginning

The government has made it clear that there will be no mass vaccination program at first. It will be done on a priority basis, starting with the healthcare workers then frontline workers followed by the people living in hot zone regions. Once all these areas are covered, the rest of the population will be vaccinated. Earlier, government had made it clear that the vaccination program will be voluntary basis, and no one will be forced to take it.

The government ordered 83 crore syringes

The government of India has placed orders for 83 crore syringes for the Covid-19 vaccination and the Universal Immunization program. In a statement released by the Union Health Ministry on Thursday, bids were invited for 35 crore additional syringes. Additionally, 36,433 ventilators have been delivered to government hospitals in the last nine months. The cost of those ventilators ranged from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakhs.

The ministry said, “This is important because from the independence of the country till pre-COVID times, all the public health facilities in the country had only about 16,000 ventilators but in less than 12 months 36,433 ‘Made in India’ ventilators have been supplied to all the public health facilities.”

The journey from importer to exporter in masks and PPE-kits

It has to be noted that when the pandemic hit India, there were no facilities that were manufacturing ventilators, N-95 masks, or PPE kits in India. All these essential products were being imported. Also, there were no specific standards in India at that time. The ministry said, “The Central Government recognized the challenges posed by the pandemic in the very initial stages and successfully ensured more than adequate availability and supplies of essential medical items.”

The statement further added that in March, only a minuscule number of domestic PPE-kits were being produced and since then India has become the world’s second-largest manufacturer of PPE-kits. India can now produce 10 lakh PPE coveralls per day. “There are already nearly 1,700 indigenous manufacturers and suppliers. Nearly 170 lakh PPE kits have been distributed free of cost and the buffer stock of PPE kits available with the Central and State Governments has grown from about 2 lakh in March to more than 89 lakh at present. The average price to has come down substantially from nearly Rs 600 to about Rs 200 per kit in nine months,” the ministry added

There were only three suppliers of N-95 masks in March with a capacity of 1 lakh masks per day. There are now 3,000 manufacturers in India, and the domestic production capacity has risen to 8 lakh N-95 masks per day. India is now exporting N-95 masks, and over four crore N-95 masks have been distributed in different states free of cost. Some time back, N-95 masks were made available at Jan Aushadi Kendra across the country at just Rs.25.

Vaccine dry run in all states from January 2, 2021

As per the statement released by the Ministry of Health, a dry run for the vaccination program will take place in all states on January 2. The ministry said, “The dry run will be conducted by all the State and UT governments on 2nd January 2021 (Saturday). The activity is proposed to be conducted in all State Capitals in at least 3 session sites; some States will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support; Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their Capital.” The ministry further added that during the dry run, the main focus will be on the management of any possible adverse events after immunisation.

“The first round of the dry run was conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Punjab on 28-29th December 2020 in two districts each where five session sites with 25 beneficiaries each were identified. No major issues were observed in the operational aspects during this dry run. All States expressed confidence in the operational guidelines and IT platform for large scale programme implementation,” it said.

Rabindranath Tagore or Rabindranath Thakur? Here is the truth

OpIndia Staff
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Rabindranath Tagore or Rabindranath Thakur? Here is the truth

Zee News anchor Aman Chopra has become a subject of ridicule on social media after he tried to teach a Bengali how to pronounce a Bengali name. Chopra thought that the Rabindranath Tagore is the real name of the author of India’s national anthem, and slammed a TMC leader for using the name Rabindranath Thakur, asking him to say the name ‘correctly’.

The incident happened on 29th December edition of the program ‘Taal Thok Ke’, where Chopra was hosting a panel discussion on the topic ‘who is outsider in Bengal’, a hot political issue ahead of the assembly elections on the state. At the beginning of the show, Aman Chopra raised the question, who is outsider in West Bengal. In response, TMC leader Anirban Banerjee said, those who thinks Rabindranath Thakur was born in Shanti Niketan are outsiders. He alleged that BJP President JP Nadda had said that Rabindranath Tagore was born in Shantiniketan, and by this he implied that leaders of BJP are outsiders in West Bengal.

However, JP Nadda had said that Tagore was born in West Bengal, which was misquoted by the Twitter handle of West Bengal BJP by saying that he was born in Visva Bharati University, located in Shantiniketan.

When Anirban Banerjee used the name ‘Rabindranath Thakur’ in his comments, anchor Aman Chopra interrupted him and asked him to use the ‘correct’ name. ‘Take the name correctly, you don’t even know the correct name. It is Rabindranath Tagore, not Rabindranath Thakur. At least take the name correctly, say the correct name’ he said, insulting Banerjee for not knowing the name of the Nobel laurate.

To this, Banerjee explained that Rabindranath Thakur is the actual name, and the Tagore name was used by the British. But Chopra was unrelenting, and said that TMC does not have a copyright on Tagore to use the Thakur name. He said that Tagore belongs to all, and hence the TMC leader should not use the name ‘Rabindranath Thakur’.

However, the discussion moved onto the main topic, and the matter of Tagore’s name was not raised again.

While he is known as Rabindranath Tagore all over the world, the TMC leader is correct in saying that his real name is Rabindranath Thakur, and his name was changed due to the influence of the British. A lot of names of places and people were changed during the British Raj as the British could not pronounce the local names. Several surnames of West Bengal were a victim of this change, and Thakur was one of them, which became Tagore in English spelling and pronunciation.

It may be noted that in Bengali, the name is still written as Rabindranath Thakur (রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর), therefore, it is natural for native Bengali speaking people to use the original name, instead of the British given name.

Other then Thakur, some other Bengali surnames which were changed during the British raj are Bandopadhyay (Banerjee), Chattopadhyay (Chaterjee), Mukhopadhyay (Mukherjee), Basu (Bose) etc.

Therefore, like Tagore, the Bengali version of the name of Subhash Chandra Bose is Subhash Chandra Basu, and current CM Mamata Banerjee’s name is written as Mamata Bandopadhyay in Bengali. These are not wrong names as the Zee News anchor thinks, but rather these are native versions of the names, and most native people use these names only while talking in Bengali.

If a Bengali uses Thakur or Basu, it does not mean that person is claiming that Tagore or Bose are not national icons, it is just the use of the native name, without any politics behind it.

From Pranab Mukherjee, Sushant Singh Rajput to Maradona: A list of 15 celebrities who passed away in 2020

OpIndia Staff
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From Pranab Mukherjee, Sushant Singh Rajput to Maradona: A list of 15 celebrities who passed away in 2020

The year 2020, by any measure, has been devastating. Nearly 2 million people have already succumbed to the Coronavirus that emerged from Wuhan in China and that number will continue to go up in the future. Covid-19 has also precipitated an unparalleled economic crisis that has had a debilitating impact on the lives of millions and millions people. This year, consistent with the gloom that has surrounded it, has also seen the deaths of quite a few celebrities, both in India and abroad.

Here is a list of popular celebrities who have passed away in 2020:

1. Diego Maradona

The legendary footballer passed away at the age of 60 on the 25th of November after prolonged illness. Universally recognized as one of the greatest players to have ever lived, his death sparked a wave of mourning around the world.

2. Sushant Singh Rajput

The Bollywood actor was found dead in mysterious circumstances on the 14th of June. His death initiated the most bizarre chain of events that has had widespread implications for the entertainment industry in India.

3. Rishi Kapoor

Bollywood superstar Rishi Kapoor passed away at the age of 67 after a long-drawn battle with Cancer. He passed away in Mumbai on the 30th of April.

4. Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan had passed away only a day before Rishi Kapoor, on the 29th of April after being diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in 2018. Widely recognized as one of India’s finest actors, his death was mourned by people across the board.

5. Sean Connery

The James Bond actor passed away on the 31st of October after prolonged illness at the age of 90.

6. Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, died in a tragic helicopter crash on California on the 26th of January.

7. Chadwick Boseman

The ‘Black Panther’ star succumbed to colon cancer at the age of 43 on the 28th of August.

8. Nishikant Kamat

‘Drishyam’ director and actor Nishikant Kamat passed away at the age of 50 in Hyderabad on the 17th of August due to liver cirrhosis.

9. Saroj Khan

Choreographer Saroj Khan passed away at the age of 71 after a cardiac arrest on the 3rd of July.

10. Wajid Khan

Music composer Wajid Khan passed away on the 1st of June after a cardiac arrest.

11. SP Balasubramanyam

Legendary singer SP Balasubramanyam succumbed to coronavirus complications on the 25th of September.

12. Max Von Sydow

‘Three Eyed Raven’ Max Von Sydow passed away at the age of 90 on the 8th of March. The iconic actor starred in Game of Thrones, Flash Gordon, Star Wars and The Exorcist among others.

13. Dianna Rigg

Dianna Rigg, who won great acclaim for her portrayal of Ollenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones, passed away on the 10th of September.

14. Eddie Van Halen

The Van Halen guitarist died of cancer in October. He was 65.

15. Former President Pranab Mukherjee

Former Congress leader, Pranab Mukherjee served as President of India from 2012 to 2017. During the course of his long political career, he earned himself the reputation of being an able negotiator and was considered a trusted lieutenant of the party to solve problems of significant import. He was respected across the aisle for his personality and political acumen.

Pranab Mukherjee has been the Union Minister for Defence, External Affairs, Finance, Commerce, Industrial Development and Shipping and Transport. Following his retirement from politics, he was invited to an RSS event at the organisation’s headquarters in Nagpur, which he did attend much to the consternation of his own party.

He was admitted to Delhi hospital for a brain surgery after which he was put on ventilator. However, his condition remained critical. He had also tested positive for Chinese coronavirus while in hospital. On the 31st of August, Mukherjee passed away.

Note: The list is by no means comprehensive

‘Love Caravan’ Harsh Mander, ‘Ichchhadhaari protester’ Yogendra Yadav and more: The Top 10 villains for the year 2020

OpIndia Staff
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‘Love Caravan’ Harsh Mander, ‘Ichchhadhaari protester’ Yogendra Yadav and more: The Top 10 villains for the year 2020

The year 2020 has been a mess all around. A raging pandemic, a grave economic crisis, geopolitical turmoil and widespread protests around the globe, it has been perhaps the worst year for humanity since the end of the second world war. Of course, when the story of 2020 is written, there will be some who will emerge as principal villains while there will be those who come out of it as heroes.

In this report, we shall focus on the most heinous villains of the year. And since we are an Indian media outlet, this report is from an Indian perspective. The following is our list of the Top 10 villains of the year, in no particular order.

The ‘Dadis’ of Shaheen Bagh and the Anti-CAA protesters

Global media and dominant sections of Indian media are in love with the ‘Dadis’ of Shaheen Bagh. Their protest was for democracy, we are told. It was for secularism and tolerance and communal harmony. And yet, during the Shaheen Bagh protests, we witnessed the worst of humanity in all its terribly might.

A child died in these protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act after being exposed to the cold Delhi winter and the parents said they were willing to sacrifice the other as well. Rampant Hinduphobia prevailed and slogans such as ‘Jinnah Wali Azadi‘ were raised. Journalists were attacked as well and all of this culminated with the anti-Hindu riots at the national capital which caused a huge destruction of life and property.

Xi Jinping

This one is certainly not a surprise. China has been working overtime to block attempts to uncover the origins of the Wuhan Coronavirus. They bungled up the Coronavirus response, and perhaps intentionally, ensured that people infected with the virus were able to leave the country and take it along with them elsewhere.

Meanwhile, China under Xi Jinping has been using the Coronavirus crisis to bully other countries and up the ante militarily. Their aggressive expansionist mindset led to the clash at Galwan Valley between Indian and Chinese troops and both forces are still locked in a stalemate amidst a freezing winter.

There has been some push back in the international arena, however, that has nearly not been enough. India has taken certain measures on the economic front and Australia is trying hard to free themselves from the clutches of Communist China. All in all, 2020 has been the year when it became evident to everyone the threat posed by China to the international order.

Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra

After Xi Jinping, it is only natural that the ruling alliance in Maharashtra finds a mention. Maharashtra has fared by far the worst during the Coronavirus pandemic. The state will enter 2021 accounting for over 30 per cent of Covid-19 deaths in India on its own. And yet, the government continued to maintain that they had done a stellar job at countering the virus.

Meanwhile, the ruling alliance initiated a campaign against journalists and private citizens who dared to criticize their policies. Republic Tv Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami was imprisoned and so was Sameet Thakkar. Goswami was even assaulted and the state sanctioned persecution against him and his channel continue to this day.

Instead of improving its Covid response, the Maharashtra government was more concerned with silencing its critics. And for that, the people of Maharashtra have paid with their lives.

‘Tukde Tukde Gang’

The ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ moniker was invented to describe the the Leftist-Islamist nexus that is perennially inclined to bring disrepute to India, undermine Indian national interests and challenge India’s territorial integrity. The same gang played an intrinsic part in the anti-Hindu Delhi riots that unfolded in February because they wished to create turmoil during US President Donald Trump’s visit to India.

Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi and Pinjra Tod members have been accused of conspiring to unleash violence at the national capital. The involvement of PFI is also suspected. Then there was Newslaundry Columnist Sharjeel Usmani who was arrested on allegations of inciting anti-CAA riots before being granted bail in September. He also announced his plan to launch a propaganda war against India.

Investigation has revealed that foreign funding could also have played a part in the riots that ensued. All in all, it was this year that the threat posed by this brigade of miscreants became amply evident.

Sharjeel Imam

While he could be clubbed along with the ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’, as the mastermind of the Shaheen Bagh, he deserves a special mention. Because, after all, it was his brainchild that eventually led to the riots in Delhi. Sharjeel Imam was arrested in January but the seeds of chaos he had sown had long taken root by then.

If there is to be one person more responsible than anyone else for the riots in Delhi, it would be Sharjeel Imam. Even so, the ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ is still busy calling for his release and portraying him as a victim. His intentions were pretty clear when he made that now infamous speech.

Sharjeel Imam wanted to cut off North East India and hold the country at ransom in order to fulfill his Islamist objectives. His plan also included blocking roads to make the government bend to his demands. The events in Delhi proved that such plans often have gory ends, as the carnage in Delhi revealed.

The ‘Holy Trinity’ of Indian Protesters

The Activist Brigade has been instrumental in fomenting chaos across the country this year. First, they were involved at Shaheen Bagh and now, one of them suddenly appears to have transformed into a farmer and is now attempting to ensure that the protests over the farm laws are not resolved amicably.

The ‘Holy Trinity’ of protests in India have been particularly active this year. We are, of course, referring to ‘PIL Activist’ Prashant Bhushan, ‘Love Caravan’ Harsh Mander and ‘Ichchhadhaari protester’ Yogendra Yadav.

Prashant Bhushan has been at the forefront of undermining the faith in the Indian judiciary this year. He was found guilty of Contempt of Court but was let off with a symbolic 1 rupee fine. Immediately after, he proceeded with his campaign against the Judiciary who he calls a puppet of the NDA Government. His comrades have been far more active on the ground.

‘Love Caravan’ Harsh Mander and his organisation ‘Karwan-e-Mohabbat’ (Caravan of Love) were extremely active in the anti-CAA protests. A video of his went viral where he can be seen inciting a mob to come out on the streets and he declared that there was no scope for Secularism in the country. We exposed his membership of an NGO that is intrinsically tied with the Italian government, works with Italian secret service and helps them achieve foreign policy goals.

‘Ichchhadhaari protester’ Yogendra Yadav is extremely busy these days at the ‘farmer protests’. On Tuesday, he made some crazy demands which he said were non-negotiables for the resolution of the protests against the new farm laws. He is clearly using the current spate of protests in order to fulfill his personal objective of undermining the Modi Government.

The Aam Aadmi Party

Delhi was another of those states which totally bungled its Covid-19 response. Ultimately, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had to step in to prevent utter devastation in the Union Territory after the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi put its arms up in surrender.

Furthermore, the manner in which the Aam Aadmi Party conspired to chase away migrant workers in the national capital was horrifying indeed. Their false rumours and cutting off water supply prompted lakhs of migrants to undertake the journey back home on foot.

Their actions undermined India’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic which has otherwise been quite good considering all circumstances. Since then, consistent with their anarchist tendencies, they have also lent support to the ‘farmer protests’ and has delivered WiFi to the protesters.

The Congress party

The Congress party has always demonstrated that it is overwilling to burn the country to the ground if it only could rule over the ashes. They were actively fearmongering during the anti-CAA protests and they are again fearmongering during the ‘farmer protests’.

A senior leader of the Youth Congress was celebrating the acts of vandalism by the ‘farmer protesters’ against Jio mobile towers and advocated for such vandalism across the country. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh also helped incite the ‘farmer protests’. Congress leader Ishrat Jahan was arrested for inciting riots during the anti-Hindu Delhi riots. The political party has hit the ultimate pits this year.

WHO Chief Tedros

WHO and its director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have come under severe criticism for their conduct since the pandemic broke out in China. The organization took long enough in declaring it a pandemic, leading to countries not being vigilant enough on time.

In January, WHO had endorsed the conclusion of Chinese authorities that the Novel Coronavirus does not spread from person to person, and stated that it does not recommend any specific health measures for travellers to and from Wuhan. WHO also ignored Taiwan which had informed them that it has evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus.

Taiwan wrote to WHO on the 31st of December, but WHO kept denying human-to-human transmission till mid-January. Experts are of the view that this laxity and callousness is responsible for the catastrophe that has struck the world and that the organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, like China’s Xi Jinping, should be held accountable for recklessly managing this deadly pandemic.

Tablighi Jamaat

During the advent of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country, the Tablighi Jamaat played a critical role in its spread. It all started from the mass gathering at Markaz Nizamuddin in Delhi and from there, spread to all parts of the country.

While they were being transported from Nizamuddin for their treatment, they spat on roads during the bus ride. After being shifted to quarantine facilities in Delhi, they engaged in unruly behaviour with the staff and doctors. The occupants made unreasonable demands for food, misbehaved and abused staff members and spat all over and on persons working/attending to them, including doctors. They also started roaming around the hostel building.

Then, it was reported that some of them were found roaming naked at the MMG Hospital in Ghaziabad and making lewd gestures at the hospital staff. They sang obscene songs and asked for beedi-cigarettes from the staff at the hospital. The nurses had also written a letter to the Police regarding the matter and later, the UP Government had decided that female members of the healthcare community and the Police will not be attending to the members of the Tablighi Jamaat.

It was not just in India but Tablighi Jamaat members had emerged as super spreaders across Asia.

From ‘Dr Aisha’ to WSJ and NYT: The Top 10 Fake News for the year 2020 and their fact-checks

OpIndia Staff
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From ‘Dr Aisha’ to WSJ and NYT: The Top 10 Fake News for the year 2020 and their fact-checks

The year 2020 was the year of Fake News and Fact Checks. Apart from the Coronavirus pandemic, there was an epidemic of fake news as well. Misinformation was rife across all areas of public life, not just the pandemic or politics. At OpIndia, we have regularly busted fake news spread by the mainstream media and politicians that the media refuses to fact-check.

Here is our list of the Top 10 fact-checks for the year 2020.

Media misquotes deceased IB sleuth Ankit Sharma’s brother

IB Constable Ankit Sharma was murdered by an Islamist mob during the anti-Hindu riots at the national capital. Former AAP Councilor Tahir Hussain is an accused in the murder. The Wall Street Journal claimed that they were told by the deceased’s brother that Sharma was murdered by a mob chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

Ankur Sharma, however, debunked these claims and said he never made that comment and pointed fingers at Tahir Hussain instead. The WSJ report, however, was carried by others as well and reported as gospel truth. Our fact-check can be read here.

Rahul Gandhi gets ‘fact-checked’ by the Russian Embassy in India

Rahul Gandhi has recently claimed that the annual summit between India and Russia has been cancelled due to Moscow’s unease with Quad. Interestingly Gandhi had quoted The Print’s report in which it was alleged the meeting was postponed after Russia “expressed severe reservations on New Delhi joining the Indo-Pacific initiative and Quad, thereby tilting more towards the US.”

The result? Rahul Gandhi was fact-checked by the Russian Embassy itself. Our detailed report can be read here.

Fear-mongering claims about the COVID vaccine

Scientists worked overtime to develop a vaccine for the virus. However, there are several misleading claims about the vaccine and its importance that are making the rounds on social media platforms that need to be debunked.

The claims range from “Why do we need a vaccine?” and “The vaccine will alter the DNA of humans”. We debunk the myths in a comprehensive report here.

Rahul Gandhi claims Chinese forces have intruded 1200 km into Indian territory

Attacking PM Narendra Modi during an election rally at Nawada ahead of the Bihar assembly elections over Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, Rahul Gandhi alleged that it was PM Modi who handed over 1,200 kilometres of India’s land to China.

The claim was, of course, false and had no connections with observable reality. The comments were part of a series of misinformation campaign initiated by the Opposition parties over the conflict between India and China at the LAC. Our comprehensive report on the matter can be read here.

‘Ecosystem’ creates a ‘Hindu mob attacked Tanishq showroom’ narrative

A day after the Tanishq showroom in Gandhidham, Kutch in Gujarat apologised to Hindus for the controversial advertisement glorifying ‘love jihad’, the ecosystem came together to build a narrative that the showroom was ‘attacked’ by a ‘mob’ and that the owners were ‘forced’ to put up the apology. It all started when NDTV published ‘breaking news’ that the Gandhidham showroom was ‘attacked’.

In the end, the entire turned out to be a gigantic farce. Our detailed report can be read here.

Kashmiri Muslim woman called ‘terrorist’ by her landlady in Delhi?

In October, various media outlets had reported an attack against a Kashmiri woman named Noor Bhat. The media reports suggested that the Kashmiri woman was assaulted and abused by her landlady and a man in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar. However, a day after the woman in southeast Delhi claimed that she was assaulted and abused by her landlady for being a ‘Kashmiri’, more details emerged in the matter exposing her dubious claims.

Our detailed report in the matter can be read here.

Did a Muslim lawyer represent Bhagat Singh and a ‘Brahmin RSS’ man fought for the British against him?

Liberals got innovative in their attempts to peddle their ‘secular’ agenda but unfortunately for them, it led them into making comments that were ostensibly fake news. Social media was rife with misleading claims that Asaf Ali, a Congress member, had defended Bhagat Singh against the British government while ‘RSS’ man Suryanarayan Sharma had worked against the freedom fighter.

The claim, as most such claims made by the liberal grade, turned out to be a titanic lie. Our detailed report can be read here.

‘United Nations’ NGO appreciated ‘Kingdom of Mamata Banerjee’ for their Covid-19 work?

It was a moment of honour for the West Bengal government when a Japan-based non-profit organization associated with the ‘United Nation’ took notice of their work amid the coronavirus pandemic and sent a letter of appreciation to the minister of state, Nirmal Maji. This piece of good news, a moment of pride of West Bengal, was shared by the All India Trinamool Congress on its official Twitter handle.

Was it true? Was the Trinamool Congress accurate in flaunting the NGO’s letter? There are quite a few twists to this story. You can make up your mind after reading the report here.

The curious case of Dr Aisha: The perfect ‘Muslim’ victim of the Wuhan Coronavirus

The Liberal camp is always on the lookout for the perfect victim whose story it can weaponise to peddle its propaganda. Dr Aisha, who tweeted under the handle @Aisha_must_sayz, supposedly lost her life to the Wuhan Coronavirus after being put on ventilator on the occasion of Eid-al-Adha. The news of her death went viral on social media with an outpouring of grief from all quarters.

Dr. Aisha was young and pretty, as evident from the photographs she shared, but the propaganda collapsed even before it could take off. Our detailed report on the matter can be read here.

NYT insiniuates Hindus are behind Tiktok videos urging Muslims to shun social distancing during Coronavirus crisis

During the early days of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic in India, there were an epidemic of videos on TikTok where Muslim youth could be seen spreading misinformation about the virus. A deliberate attempt was made to insinuate that the TikTok videos, where Muslims advocate against social distancing and ask fellow Muslims to place their faith in Namaz and Allah instead, was somehow created by Hindus to make Muslims fall sick.

Our detailed report on the matter can be read here.

Mexico: Man digs a tunnel to meet married girlfriend, gets caught by husband ‘mud-handed’

OpIndia Staff
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Mexico: Man digs a tunnel to meet married girlfriend, gets caught by husband ‘mud-handed’

A bizarre incident has come to light in Mexico where a man named Alberto dug a long tunnel to his married girlfriend’s home. He was having an affair with a married woman, Pamela, and was caught red-handed by her husband. According to the reports, the tunnel connected Alberto’s house directly to his girlfriend’s house. The incident took place in Tijuana neighbourhood of Villas del Prado 1.

Albert used his skills of construction work to build the tunnel

Construction worker Alberto built the tunnel when the woman’s husband, Jorge, was out for work, as per reports. Alberto and his girlfriend regularly met when the husband was away from home for work. One day Jorge came back earlier than his usual time and caught the couple red-handed. Alberto was trying to hide behind a couch. After catching Alberto, he also discovered the tunnel. On inspection, he found out that the tunnel was leading to Alberto’s house.

Alberto hid the affair from his wife

Alberto was also married and hiding the affair from his wife. Alberto requested Jorge not to tell his wife about the affair, but Jorge did not stop and informed Alberto’s wife about the affair and the tunnel. Both men got into an argument after which someone called the police. When the local police arrived, they were involved in a fistfight. It is not clear how long the tunnel was, but the tunnel entrance’s photos are widely shared on social media platforms.

‘Wonder Woman’ Gal Gadot thinks Shaheen Bagh Bilkis was ‘fighting for women’s equality’, deletes story later

OpIndia Staff
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‘Wonder Woman’ Gal Gadot thinks Shaheen Bagh Bilkis was ‘fighting for women’s equality’, deletes story later

‘Wonder Woman’ Gal Gadot would not have thought she might face backlash for sharing her “personal wonder women” with the people worldwide on the last day of 2020. One person she praised raised several eyebrows and netizens questioned if she even knows who the person really is.

Now-deleted story of Gal Gadot with Bilkis Bano’s image promoting her as activist who is allegedly fighting for women’s rights

On December 31, Gal Gadot decided to share some of the women who have inspired her and called them her “personal wonder women”. One of the women was the infamous Bilkis from Shaheen Bagh protests. Bilkis was a prominent part of the protests that were organized as India decided to give citizenship to religiously prosecuted people from neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. In the now-deleted Instagram story, Gadot shared a picture of Bilkis Bano and wrote, “Bilkis. This 82-year-old activist fighting for women’s equality in India showed me it’s never too late to fight for what you believe in.”

While the story was deleted by Gadot, the image is still in Gadot’s Instagram photos.

Photo of Bilkis Bano on Gadot’s Instagram profile

Bilkis was not fighting for women’s rights, she wanted persecuted non-Muslims in Islamic nations to be left to die

Those who have followed the incidents that led to anti-Hindu Delhi riots know how misinformed Gadot is in describing Bilkis. Those who don’t know her or have forgotten Shaheen Bagh Dadi, let’s jolt your memory a little bit. Bilkis, who was featured in the list of top 100 influential people of 2020 in Times Magazine, was recently seen at farmers’ protests gaining some more footage for herself. Her presence had brought back the grim memories of the Shaheen Bagh protests, where Islamists sat on a so-called ‘protest’ beginning in December last year, against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Bilkis along with the protestors had blocked a major highway and caused traffic disruptions for months. She was one of the leading ‘protestors’ at Shaheen Bagh against the humanitarian Citizenship Amendment Act. The sit-in protests disrupted the lives of the people of Delhi. Shaheen Bagh, the mecca of anti-CAA protests, was one of the major reasons that led to the worst anti-Hindu riots in recent history. Women like her were used as a shield at the sit-in protests. Anti-India slogans had attracted separatists from all over India and provided cover for the radicals and extremists. In the end, the riots happened and many including Dilber Singh Negi, IB officer Ankit Sharma and others were killed mercilessly.

Moreover, the anti-CAA protestors were essentially opposing the Indian government’s decision to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities in the three neighbouring Islamic nations, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Hindus, Sikhs and Christians in these nations are facing genocide. They are killed, kidnapped and raped every day. But the so-called ‘protestors’ saw the humanitarian law as “anti-Muslim”. Bilkis Bano of Shaheen Bagh was the face of such an Islamic movement that wanted the persecuted non-Muslims to be left to be killed.

Reaction from netizens

Several netizens criticized the Israeli actress for not doing her homework before supporting someone. A user Monica tagged Gadot and wrote, “Bilkis wasn’t fighting for women’s equality in India but she was opposing a law that gave citizenship to persecuted minorities of South Asia. You must read better.”

Another Twitter user stated that Gadot’s post was a result of the powerful leftist lobby that spreads and creates misinformation and even makes it popular. It is notable here that Rana Ayyub had written a note for Bilkis in the Time Magazine for her inclusion in the list. Even in that note, she had spread blatant lies that the CAA was about ‘blocking citizenship for Muslims’. Time, however, had published that blatant lie without even bothering to verify.

Another user tried to remind Gadot, a Jew, that the CAA was about helping the non-Muslims who are facing the same persecution that Jews faced, but by hailing people like Bilkis, the actress has shown that she is either ignorant or callous about the religious persecution happening in the Islamic nations.

As international media praised Bilkis, there is a slight chance Gadot was fed the wrong information about the Shaheen Bagh Dadi. Gadot has deleted the story but the Instagram post still remains. You can learn about the anti-Hindu Delhi riots from our Delhi Riots archive or OpIndia’s report on the Delhi riots that is available on Kindle.

Andhra Pradesh: Shri Ram idol at Ramateertham temple found ‘beheaded’, opposition attacks Jagan Reddy govt

OpIndia Staff
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Andhra Pradesh: Shri Ram idol at Ramateertham temple found ‘beheaded’, opposition attacks Jagan Reddy govt

In another case of temple vandalization in Andhra Pradesh, the miscreants targeted the famous Ramatheertham in Vizianagaram district and desecrated 400-year-old idol of Bhagwan Ram. In the past year, several such incidents have happened in the state. The opposition is blaming the Jaganmohan Reddy government for inaction against the miscreants in the past for repeated attacks on temples.

The incident

As per the reports, when the priest reached the temple on Tuesday morning, he found that the doors of the ancient Sita Lakshmana Kodandarama temple on the Bodikonda hillock in Ramatheertham were broken. When he entered the sanctum, he found the desecrated idol of Bhagwan Ram. The idol of the Lord was beheaded. The authorities at the temple immediately informed the police about the incident.

Since the incident, several portions of the idol have been retrieved from the nearby temple pond. Vizianagaram district police are investigating the case, forming five special teams. Raja Kumari, SP, Vizianagaram said in a statement that they are investigating the case, but no arrests have been made so far. He said, “We are probing from all angles to know if this is an act of treasure hunters or involves communal angle or a miscreant act. We have not made any arrests so far.”

The opposition blames Jaganmohan Reddy government for the increasing incidents

The latest Temple vandalism case is being seen as a failure of CM Jaganmohan Reddy to maintain law and order in the state and the failure of the state administration in bringing culprits of previous cases of temple attacks to justice. TDP, BJP and Janasena have blamed Reddy government for the increase in such attacks.

Sunil Deodhar, the National Secretary of BJP and co-in charge of Andhra Pradesh compared the incident to Taliban’s destruction of giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan. He said, “Repeat attacks on Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh are reminiscent of actions of 16th century ruthless St. Xavier in Goa who destroyed temples & carried out forced conversions & Taliban’s destruction of giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan.”

On Tuesday night, Bharatiya Janata Party workers staged a protest at the temple. Somu Veerraju, Andhra Pradesh BJP chief has demanded stern action against the culprits.

Former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu said, “The destruction of Ram idol at the four centuries old Ramatheertham temple is resultant of the negligence of the ruling party.” Naidu said that for unknown reasons the CM is just watching the attacks as a silent spectator.

“In the last 19 months, over 120 attacks took place on temples. These attacks were going on as per a premeditated plan. Over 23 idols were demolished in six temples at Pithapuram. Durga temple was brought down in Guntur,” he said.

Pawan Kalyan, Janasena Party chief, said, “At a time when the construction of Ram mandir is going on at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, the idol of Lord Ram is destroyed in our state. Separating the head of the idol cannot be an act of an insane person. It is an act of some religious maniacs.” Kalyan has urged Union Home Ministry to look into the matter and demanded CBI probe covering all attacks on the temples in the state. He added, “Why is the CM not responding to the spate of onslaughts on Hindu temples? He may have faith in any religion, but he should respect the sentiments of other religions.”

Past incidents of temple attacks in Andhra Pradesh

In February, a 50 feet tall ancient chariot of Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy temple at Bhogolu village of Bitragunta Mandal in Nellore district was set on fire. Several Hindu god and goddess idols and flex banners in Pithapuram city in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh were desecrated by unknown miscreants in January this year. In September, a similar incident took place in Antarvedi where the six-decade-old, 40 feet high wooden ratham of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha went up in flames. Amidst public pressure, the case was handed over to CBI by the state government.

CBI raids residences of Trinamool Youth Congress General Secretary in connection with cattle smuggling case: Details

OpIndia Staff
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CBI raids residences of Trinamool Youth Congress General Secretary in connection with cattle smuggling case: Details

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today conducted raids at several locations in West Bengal including two Kolkata residences of Trinamool Youth Congress General Secretary Vinay Mishra. The raids were conducted in connection with a cattle smuggling case. The CBI had issued a Look Out circular against Mishra in relation to the case to prevent him from leaving the country.

A preliminary enquiry conducted by the CBI revealed that the menace of cattle smuggling was rampant along the India-Bangladesh border. The smuggling is allegedly aided by some corrupt officers of the BSF and Customs department receiving illegal gratification from smugglers.

On Thursday morning, a team of at least ten CBI officials reached two locations in Lake Town and Rashbehari in Kolkata after procuring a search warrant from a court.

It is pertinent to mention here that Vinay Mishra is considered close to Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, Abhisek Banerjee, and is the general secretary of Trinamool youth Congress. It is also being reported that his name has come up several times in the course of the CBI investigation.

Raids conducted at several locations this year

Last month, the CBI had arrested Enamul Haque the alleged kingpin named of a cattle smuggling racket being run along the India-Bangladesh border. Haque, who is from West Bengal, was arrested by the agency in Delhi.

A BSF personnel was also arrested along with Haque. In September this year, the CBI had conducted raids at several locations in Kolkata and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal in order to expose the nexus facilitating cross-border cattle smuggling. Several locations in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, Amritsar, and Raipur were also raided. CBI booked one Satish Kumar, the former Commandant of the 36 BSF Battalion, along with three others— Inamul Haq, Anarul Sheikh and Mohammed Golam Mustafa—in the illegal cattle trade case.

Smugglers adopt cruel methods to smuggle cattle

In June this year, the BSF had exposed the cruel method adopted by cattle smugglers to smuggles calves across the India-Bangladesh border. The smugglers tie up live calf inside a carcass and they also tie socket bombs to the necks of the cattle so that security personnel get injured if they catch them.

While holidaying in Italy, Rahul Gandhi decides to create chaos in India by spreading fake news about loan write-offs: Details

OpIndia Staff
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While holidaying in Italy, Rahul Gandhi decides to create chaos in India by spreading fake news about loan write-offs: Details

On Thursday, Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi, who is enjoying his vacation in Milan, Italy, took to Twitter to put out misleading information on the alleged ‘waiving-off’ loans of industrialists by the Modi government.

Rahul Gandhi, interestingly, coming up with some magical numbers of Rs 2,37,206 crore, claiming that the Modi government forgave some industrialists by ‘waiving-off’ their loans. According to Rahul Gandhi, the huge amount, which according to him was ‘waive-off’ by the government, could have been provided for 11 crore families in the difficult time of COVID, each with Rs 20,000.

However, the claims made by Rahul Gandhi that the Modi government has ‘waived-off’ are far from the truth. As usual, Rahul Gandhi fails to comprehend the micro-economic technicalities and continues to peddle information about the alleged waiving-off of lakhs of crores of loans of industrialists in the country.

Perhaps, Rahul Gandhi does not understand the difference between a loan ‘write-off’ and a loan ‘waive-off’. There is a stark difference between restructuring a loan by ‘writing it’ off and completely ‘waiving-off’ of a loan given. Rahul Gandhi suggests that the loans that have been granted over last a few years, including some of the loans that were provisioned during the UPA era, are being ‘waived-off’ by the current government.

In the financial year 2019-2020, scheduled commercial banks, both private and public sector banks, in an effort to restructure the stressed assets, have reportedly written-off Rs 2,37,206 crores of loans. However, there is no credible source to suggest that loans worth that particular amount have been ‘written-off’.

Most importantly, as claimed by Rahul Gandhi, it is not an easy process for ‘waiving-off’ loans of industrialists without any credible rationale behind it. It is in fact an extremely lengthy process to either ‘waive-off’ loans or ‘liquidate’ the assets of the debtor in case if he fails to repay the loan.

Lets understand the technical difference between a loan ‘write-off’ and ‘waive-off’:

The ‘write-off’ is a process of balance sheet cleaning up exercise undertaken by banks to depict the real status of the bank’s assets and liabilities. The write-offs are not loan waivers as claimed by Rahul Gandhi. The banks usually write off loans (an asset to the bank) given to borrowers, which have now shown signs of weakness.

If banks fail to write-off these loans, it is reflected as a high-quality asset and the returns-on-assets should be classified as an income to the bank. However, the quality of a defaulted loan has deteriorated for some time now, which results in giving the wrong picture of the true assets of the bank.

Secondly, if a loan is not written-off and is continued as a healthy asset at a time when it actually is a Non-Performing Asset (NPA), then banks can continue to book interest income on the loan, on the accrual basis of accounting.

Write-offs are a purely technical, accounting entry. Loans, which may not be repaid by the borrower in the normal course of business are written off. Even when these loans are written off, various recovery procedures like recovery suits filed before the Debt Recovery Tribunal and action initiated under SARFAESI Act continue. Hence, the writing-off a loan is not simply a ‘waive-off’.

In addition to these differences, not all the loans that are being restructured by ‘writing-off’ are not provisioned during the current regime this year. The scheduled commercial banks have in the past, also in the current fiscal, may have written-off loans that are given by the banks in the UPA era. Loans writing-off is a normal banking operation, that is continuously undertaken every fiscal year by the banks to clean their balance sheet for accounting tax-related issues.

Contrary to the claims of Rahul Gandhi, no loans worth Rs 2,37,206 crore given to the industrialists are being ‘waived-off’.

Rahul Gandhi’s repeated lies about loan waiver to industrialists

This is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has been spreading same lies by reiterating that Modi government has waived lakhs of crore of loans of few big industrialists. In his speech in July 2019, Rahul Gandhi had claimed that in the last 5 years the BJP government gave 4.3 lakh crore tax concessions and waived off 5.5 lakh crore tax for rich businessmen. He called out Modi government’s “shameful double standards”.

Many times in the past, Rahul Gandhi has repeated his lies, but interestingly, it has always been with a twist. Every time Rahul reiterates his lies, he keeps changing the amount. According to the Congress president, Modi government has waived loans of 5.50 lakh crore / 3.50 lakh crore / 3.00 lakh crore / 2.50 lakh crore / 1.50 lakh crore / 1.40 lakh crore / 1.30 lakh crore / 1.10 lakh crore owed by richest industrialists.

In November 2016, Rahul Gandhi spread lies and claimed that the Modi government had then waived off loans worth Rs 1.1 lakh crores of big industrialists. During campaigning for Gujarat assembly polls in 2017, Rahul Gandhi repeated the same trite, He inexplicably increased this figure by 20,000 Crores to Rs 1.3 lakh crores. In Karnataka, he went a step ahead and conjured up another grand figure- Rs 2.5 Lakh crores that were waived-off.

However, unfortunately, every time Rahul Gandhi makes such incorrect claims, he fails to understand the difference between ‘waiving off’ and ‘writing off’ of loans.

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