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Ladakh: Fresh clashes between India and China as PLA moves to unilaterally change status quo in Pangong Tso area

OpIndia Staff
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Ladakh: Fresh clashes between India and China as PLA moves to unilaterally change status quo in Pangong Tso area

Fresh clashes broke out between the Indian forces and Chinese troops after the People’s Liberation Army(PLA) moved to unilaterally alter the status quo at the south bank of the Pangong Tso Lake in the eastern Ladakh as per reports.

The clashes took place on the intervening night of August 29 and 30 and the Indian troops stopped the Chinese from changing the previous consensus agreed between the two sides, shared journalist Gaurav Sawant.

According to the statement released by the Indian Army, the Chinese PLA “carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo” but the Indian Armed Forces personnel thwarted their nefarious intentions by pre-empting their movements on the Southern Bank of the Pangong Tso lake and strengthening their positions to stop the unilateral Chinese expansionism.

“The Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquillity through dialogue, but is also equally determined to protect its territorial integrity,” the statement released by the Army read. A Brigade Commander Level meeting is underway at Chushul to resolve the issues.

Earlier Indian and Chinese had clashed at Galwan Valley along the LAC

Earlier in June this year, Indian and Chinese forces had clashed at the Galwan Valley flash point in Ladakh that led to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese casualties. The clashes had erupted after the Chinese PLA refused to adhere to the previously agreed modalities of disengagement.

Facebook controversy refuses to die down as people dig up senior management’s connections with the Congress, TMC, and AAP

OpIndia Staff
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Facebook controversy refuses to die down as people dig up senior management’s connections with the Congress, TMC, and AAP

The story surrounding the Facebook controversy is getting murkier with every passing day. On Friday, BJP IT Cell head, Amit Malviya, shared a collage of tweets by one Vijaya Moorthy, reportedly a Facebook official, expressing his allegiance to the Congress party. The tweets were posted by Vijaya Moorthy during the period of 2013-2017.

Vijaya Moorthy is a BJP critic and Congress admirer, suggests tweets

Reiterating his Faith in the Congress, Vijay Moorthy had tweeted in December 2013, “To the Congress – arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached! You are a party of deep ideology and resilience. Bring it on!” In another tweet dated October 2013, he wrote, “Rally Nama for Today: Rahul in Delhi and Modi in Patna: Forecast – The former will speak about what he does, the latter will speak about the former.”

Moreover, Moorthy had also made veiled accusations against PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. In one such tweet, he wrote, “What happens when two fascists meet, someone asked me. I shrugged. Said its happening in India’s capital today.”

According to his Linkedin profile, Moorthy is the public policy manager of Facebook India since 2019. At this point, it is clear that while the public policy manager of Facebook is a critic of the BJP, he holds admiration for the Congress party. Although his account is no longer available on Twitter, yet tweets mentioning his username still exist on the microblogging platform.

Screenshot of tweets by Vijaya Moorthy (Image Courtesy: Twitter/Amit Malviya)

While pointing this out, Amit Malviya tweeted, ” Meet Vijaya Moorthy. Supposedly, heads government outreach at Facebook. Worked with Rahul Gandhi’s team for nearly a decade (love for his former boss still going strong)…Talk about Congress-Facebook nexus? Well, it seems Congress is running Facebook!”

The ‘political allegiance’ of Ankhi Das with TMC and AAP

Ankhi Das is the Public Policy Director, Facebook for India, and South & Central Asia. While the left-liberal jamaat has accused her of being a ‘BJP agent’, her old Facebook posts tell a different story. In December 2013, Ankhi Das had expressed open admiration for Mamata Banerjee’s political campaign of ‘poribortan (transformation)’ and the ‘Aam Aadmi (common man)‘ gimmick of Arvind Kejriwal. A number of her pro-AAP posts were shared by popular twitter user Ankur Singh.

In a Facebook post slamming ‘cynics’, the Facebook employee posted, “Poriborton – Mamata Banerjee walked to Writers and Arvind Kejriwal takes the metro. we will now see many leaders trying to be aam admi. as they say in Bengali – matite hathte sikhbe – they will learn to walk on mother earth. Of course, cynics may dub it as high on symbolic value meaning nothing in real terms. But anything which puts people at the centre needs to be applauded. I certainly do.”

Screenshot of the Facebook post by Ankhi Das (Image Courtesy: Twitter/ Ankur Singh)

In March Prior to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, she had organised a ‘Facebook Talkslive’ with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at Kolkata Town Hall. The event was also graced by ‘journalist’ Madhu Trehan who runs the left-propaganda website, News Laundry.

Screenshot of the Facebook post by Ankhi Das (Image Courtesy: Twitter/ Ankur Singh)

When the Aam Aadmi Party had shared a ‘Jhaadu Dance’ video prior to the Lok Sabha elections, Ankhi Das had dubbed it as a ‘cool campaign’.

Screenshot of the Facebook post by Ankhi Das (Image Courtesy: Twitter/ Ankur Singh)

Moreover, writing an opinion piece in ‘Daily-O’ titled, “The battle for Delhi on Facebook”, she had praised the Facebook campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party. Ankhi wrote, “Much like they did in the December 2013 Delhi elections, the Aam Aadmi Party had a much stronger ground game. Its street power merged seamlessly with its campaign strategies on Facebook.” She had credited the AAP for posting more than 1,000 posts on their page.

Comparing it to the BJP’s 194 posts and Congress’ 123 posts, she said, “The Aam Aadmi Party used Facebook as a social listening tool and rapidly adjusted its campaign messages and outreach. The AAP campaign was like a new start-up causing creative disruption and creating more impact with limited resources.” While suggesting that the BJP took its voters for granted, she insuinated, “The AAP’s success shows that no party – no matter how popular – can take the electorate or a good online strategy for granted.”

Screenshot of the Daily O opinion piece by Ankhi Das

Earlier, Congress affiliates had published personal information and photographs of Ankhi Das, giving their followers a clear path to abuse her on social media platforms. Das had to file a complaint with Delhi Police Cyber Cell against several social media users including Saket Gokhle and Arshad Khan from Congress.

The Wall Street Journal article

On 14th August, the Wall Street Journal had published an article alleging that social media giant Facebook had turned a blind eye towards hate speeches posted by accounts linked to BJP. In the article, they blamed Facebook executive Ankhi Das for being biased and allowing hate-filled content by BJP affiliated accounts.

Days after WSJ published the article, it seemed like the media house did not want the article go under the rag with new content and news coming out. The netizens noticed on 17th August that the media house was explicitly promoting the article using Twitter Promotions. 

China: Chinese people dance and celebrate on tune of Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Watch video

OpIndia Staff
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China: Chinese people dance and celebrate on tune of Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Watch video

In a rare interactive session, almost impossible to imagine in Xi Jinping’s Communist China, locals took to the streets to dance and sing to the Hare Rama Hare Krishna chant. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISCKON) has taken to Twitter to share a video of the same.

In the short video shared on the microblogging site, Chinese women are seen circle dancing while men play instruments like the manjeera and mridangam and sing the Hare Rama Hare Krishna chant. Some onlookers sing along the Hare Rama Hare Krishna chant with the devotees and many stop by to enjoy the performance and click pictures.

Over the years, the cult of Krishna has seen a steep growth in ‘atheist China’. There are as many as 5 ISKCON centres in the entire China region. Janmashtami, the festival that marks the birth of Lord Krishna, is also celebrated with fervour in China. In the event, organised by ISKCON every year across China, Krishna devotees celebrate by chanting of “Hare Krishna”, singing devotional songs, readings from the Bhagavad Gita and distribution of prasadam.

Fact-check: Did PMO turn off comments on YouTube video for Mann Ki Baat to avoid students’ concerns over NEET-JEE?

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-check: Did PMO turn off comments on YouTube video for Mann Ki Baat to avoid students’ concerns over NEET-JEE?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his views via the Mann Ki Baat program for the 68th time on 30th August 2020. Since it went live on PMO’s official YouTube channel, some rumors are floating around that PMO has deliberately disabled comment section to avoid backlash from the “students” as he did not discuss the upcoming NEET-JEE in his address.

The protests against NEET-JEE exam

The National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test- Joint Entrance Exam or NEET-JEE will take place in the month of September. There has been a nationwide drive going on to get the exam for this year in the pretext of coronavirus pandemic. Interestingly, the social media platform is filled with trends against the upcoming exams and NEET aspirant “students” from Pakistan posing as Indians are also actively participating in the trends.

While protests are going on, out of 24 lakh students who will give NEET-JEE exams this year, 11.49 lakh students have already downloaded NEET admit cards, and 7.6 lakh students have downloaded JEE admit card so far. As almost 80 per cent of the students have already downloaded their admit cards, it seems like boycotting the exam attempts to create an issue out of the mole-hill.

The interesting case of “International support” against NEET-JEE

One thing that can baffle any sane person is that self-proclaimed environmentalists, including Greta Thunberg, have shown support for the “students” in opposing the exams. It is hard to understand how she can be connected to the exams in any way. It has to be noted that she herself is a school dropout.

Tweet By Greta Thunberg

Also, some celebrities from India, including Sonu Sood, have come forward to support the students. One of the most amusing parts of the support gathered by “students” to oppose exams is Licypriya Kangujam coming forward in the support. She is an 8-year-old kid who is projected by her guardians as an ‘environmentalist’. Interestingly, her twitter handle, operated in her name by her guardians had been called out for lying on multiple occasions. While she writes a 3-page letter to the NEET-JEE aspirants and fills her Twitter timeline with tweets against the exam, it is hard to believe she can think of running propaganda by herself.

Tweet by Licypriya Kangujam

The claims about PMO YouTube channel

Some “prominent” social media users have posted on their Twitter handle that PMO has deliberately disabled the comment on the latest Mann Ki Baat episode as negative comments were pouring in keeping NEET-JEE exams in the background.

Twitter user claimed PMO disabled comments recently.

Many twitter users, including Alt News cofounder, tweeted insinuating that the comments have been turned off because the PMO doesn’t want to hear negative comments from ‘students’ who are against the exams.

What is the reality

However, when we scrolled through the videos of PMO’s YouTube channel, we found out that the comments have always been disabled on the channel. Even the comments during the YouTube live and Community tab are disabled.

Screenshots of old PMO’s videos. Comments section is disabled on all videos.

What does YouTube policy say about the content made for kids

According to the policy update of January 2020, any content that has been posted on YouTube and marked as “Made For Kids” cannot have comments. YouTube brought this change to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that forbids the companies to collect data associated with children under the age of 13 without the parents’ consent. One of the reasons that the comments are disabled on PMO’s YouTube channel is that the videos are marked as “Made For Kids”.

An attempt to show comments from other channels hosting Mann Ki Baat

Bhartiya Janata Party’s YouTube channel, PM Modi’s YouTube channel, etc. also upload the episodes of Mann Ki Baat program and some other channels. While comments are held for moderation on PM Modi’s YouTube channel, BJP does not filter the comments. It looks like some Twitter users tried to be sneaky and posted screenshots of the comments from BJP’s channel without showing the title of the video that helps in differentiating videos from PMO’s channel and other channels.

Screenshot of Mann Ki Baat video on BJP’s YouTube channel that has comment section active.

In the majority of the videos uploaded by PMO, the title has the suffix “PMO”. It makes it easier for the users to differentiate which channel they are views the videos on. On the other hand, other channels like BJP do not add any prefix or suffix in the title.

Screenshots of videos by PMO. Titles have “PMO” as suffix.

It proves that the claims that PMO turns off comments on YouTube videos for recent Mann Ki Baat session to avoid negative comments from NEET-JEE aspirants is Fake.

Times Network top management executive accused of sexual harassment, complaint filed

OpIndia Staff
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Times Network top management executive accused of sexual harassment, complaint filed

Times Network’s top management executive has reportedly been accused of sexual harassment by his former colleague. Without naming the media house, Indian Express had reported that Mumbai Police filed a complaint of sexual harassment against a ‘top media executive’ over allegations of sexual harassment.

As per the report, the complainant is a senior female journalist who worked with the said organisation was allegedly sexually harassed from April 2008 to August 2020. She has claimed that the accused touched her inappropriately and demanded sexual favours. When she refused to comply, she was allegedly fired from the organisation.

The woman had approached Bandra Police station but later was transferred to NM Joshi Marg Police station. A case under sections 354 (outraging modesty of a woman), 354 (A) (assault or criminal force on woman with intend to outrage her modesty), 354 (D) (stalking) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code have been registered against the accused.

Meanwhile, Times Network on Sunday issued a statement calling the allegations ‘frivolous’ and ‘malicious’.

Times Network stated that the said journalist’s services were terminated due to coronavirus-related and/or performance-related restructuring. Calling her complaint ‘motivated’, Times Network said during her 12 year tenure she had not made any such allegations of sexual harassment.

Times Network has also filed a complaint of blackmail and criminal intimidation against the woman.

AAP compares India’s sacred mountains with Delhi’s garbage dump to score political brownie points, netizens irked

OpIndia Staff
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AAP compares India’s sacred mountains with Delhi’s garbage dump to score political brownie points, netizens irked

In a bid to settle scores with the rival BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday compared the sacred mountains of India to a garbage dump. The official Twitter handle of AAP had shared pictures of Kanchenjunga in Sikkim, Kamet Peak, and Nanda Devi hills in Uttarakhand and drew analogies with a humongous landfill at Ghazipur in Delhi. The contentious tweet was accompanied by the caption, “Highest Mountains of India.”

Nanda Devi and Kamet peaks are part of the Garhwal Himalayas. Nanda Devi mountain which translates to ‘Bliss-giving Goddess’ is considered as the patron Goddess of the Himalayan mountain range. Similarly, the Kamet peak is considered sacred by the indigenous tribes of Uttarakhand. Kanchenjunga is regarded as a holy mountain by the people of Sikkim, especially to the Buddhist community. Keeping in mind their religious sentiments, the Government of India had banned climbers from trekking the mountain in the year 2000.

However, in complete disregard for religious sentiments, the AAP stooped down to comparing sacred mountainous peaks with a landfill that has assumed the size of a mountain due to mismanagement by the Municipality Council of Delhi in Ghazipur. The politically-motivated tweet by the AAP did not go well with the netizens.

Twitter user Geetika pointed out the irony in the AAP’s tweet and how the party has plans to win elections in Uttarkhand. She wrote, “So Arvind Kejriwal wants to win elections in Uttarakhand, but goes about insulting revered parbats by comparing to garbage dump. Such a loser.”

Another user, Anand, urged the Aam AAdmi Party to compare themselves with the tallest garbage dump instead of the ‘Nanda Devi’ peak that is revered as a ‘mother’ by the indigenous people.

Reacting strongly to the blatant display of Hindu hatred, the Sanatan Times asked, “To what extent is it appropriate to compare the Nanda Devi mountain to the garbage dumpYard in Delhi? . We worship Maa Nanda Devi “You” do not prowl the holy sites of “Devbhoomi” with your dirty political thinking.”

Sanjay Sharma pointed out that the party never loses opportunity to demean and criticise Indian sentiments. He inquired, “Do you see any other reason for such filthy comparison than Hate with India ?”

Another Twitter user, Pradeep, did not mince any words while lambasting AAP for hurting Hindu sentiments. He tweeted, “Only Sick minds can draw that comparison. What a sick organisation has Arvind Kejriwal built. Lalu of Delhi.”

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal shares anti-Hindu image

This is not the first time that AAP had hurt Hindu sentiments to gain political mileage. Last year, a complaint was filed against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for tweeting an anti-Hindu image. The image depicted a man running behind a ‘Swastika’ shape with a club in his hand, driving out the symbol that is considered holy in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism in India. The caption on the image read, “Hoping for a Delhi, that I actually wouldn’t mind visiting or living in.” The image, which is strange for a chief minister to share on multiple levels, did not go down too well with Twitterati.

Home Minister Amit Shah discharged from AIIMS

OpIndia Staff
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Home Minister Amit Shah discharged from AIIMS

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been discharged from AIIMS after fully recovering. He was admitted there earlier this month for post-COVID-19 care after he tested negative for Chinese coronavirus.

HM Amit Shah had tested positive for Coronavirus earlier in August and on advice of doctors he was admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. After he tested negative for coronavirus, he was discharged from hospital. However, later he was admitted in AIIMS for post-COVID-19 care.

Al Jazeera lies that Jammu and Kashmir police had fired pellets on ‘peaceful’ Muharram mourners, here is what actually happened

OpIndia Staff
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Al Jazeera lies that Jammu and Kashmir police had fired pellets on ‘peaceful’ Muharram mourners, here is what actually happened

On 29th August, several media houses reported that Jammu Kashmir police had fired pellets and tear gas shells at a Muharram procession in Jammu and Kashmir. An Al Jazeera report said that security forces clashed with the Shia Muslim participants in the Muharram tazia procession in Bemina area in Srinagar, and several civilians were injured. But the report only tells the half-truth, as it does not mention the injuries sustained by police personnel.

The Al Jazeera report does not mention how the clash between the mourners and the police force started, and it gives an impression that police attacked the processions indiscriminately. The report also quotes one person saying that “the procession was not just peaceful but was also following health protocols,” ignoring the fact that the procession as unauthorised as admin had not given permission for the same.

Social media was also full with posts claiming that police had fired pellets and tear gas shells at peaceful mourners.

But Contrary to the claims, the clash had started because the mourners refused police orders and they had attacked the police force doing their duties. Several policemen were injured in the attack by the mourners, after which the police were forced to use pellets and tear gas to disperse the violent mob.

Here are few photos of policemen injured in the mob attack during Muharram Tazia processions in the union territory. The photographs clearly show that the policemen were attacked by pelting stones.

Police injured in stone-pelting by uharram mourners

Due to the Coronavirus, the Muharram processions have been banned across the country by the Supreme Court of India. The Jammu and Kashmir administration had also imposed strict restriction on processions, and only few processions were allowed with advance permission.

The procession where the clashes broke out, which had started from Bemina in Srinagar, was not authorised. When the procession reached Bemina Chowk, the police forces had tried to convince the mourners to end the procession and return, but they didn’t agree. This led to a confrontation between the mourners and police force. Soon, the mourners started attacking the police force pelting stones, after which the police had to retaliate by firing pellets and tear gas.

Therefore, the media report was once again a lie in an attempt by international media to paint the Indian security forces as a villain while hiding the violence by Muslims in the Kashmir valley.

Suspended J&K DSP Devender Singh was working under Pakistani handlers in Pakistan High Commission for espionage activities: NIA chargesheet

OpIndia Staff
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Suspended J&K DSP Devender Singh was working under Pakistani handlers in Pakistan High Commission for espionage activities: NIA chargesheet

Suspended Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Devender Singh, who was arrested along with two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, was working under Pakistani handlers from Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. This was revealed in the chargesheet in the case filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The chargesheet was filed in front of a special court in Jammu by the terror probe agency in the first week of July. According to it, Devender Singh was instructed by his handler to establish contact with the Ministry of External Affairs for espionage activities. According to NIA, Singh was in constant touch with his handlers in the Pakistan High Commission. These handlers were sent back to Pakistan by the Indian government after they were caught spying in India.

Giving details of how the once decorated police officer had worked with Pakistani handlers, the 3,064 page charesheet says that he had saved the number of his contact in the Pakistan High Commission as “Pak Bhai” (Pakistani brother). His handler had assigned him various tasks, which included detail of movements of armed forces and schedule of visits of VIPs in the Kashmir valley.

After Devender Singh started to spy for Hizbul Mujahideen, he was asked to establish contact with the external affairs ministry so that he can gather information from there. But he was unable to make any progress in this task, the NIA said.

The chargesheet filed by NIA accuses Singh and others of waging war against India with the help of Pakistani spies in India and Pakistan-based terror organisations. The NIA also says that Singh was in touch with Pakistan High Commission officials through social media platforms. He was being groomed by Pakistani handlers to obtain sensitive information from Indian government.

Apart from Devender Singh, the chargesheet also names Hizbul commander Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu, his brother Syed Irfan Ahmad, the terror group’s overground worker Irfan Shafi Mir, accomplice Rafi Ahmad Rather and businessman Tanveer Ahmad Wani.

NIA has said in the chargesheet that the Pakistani govt has been using all possible means to fund, arm and sustain the terrorist activities of the banned terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen.

Devender Singh was arrested in January 11 this year by Jammu and Kashmir police when he was travelling in a car along with two Hizbul terrorists Naveed Babu and Asif Rather, and an advocate. They arrested near Mir Bazar in Qazigund area of Kulgam District when they were reportedly travelling to Delhi. Arms and ammunition including an AK-47 rifle and some hand grenades were found in the Maruti car used by them. Later, more arms were recovered from Singh’s house in Shivpora near army headquarters in Badamibagh.

After the arrest by J&K police, the case was handed over to the NIA.

The Hizbul terrorist Naveed Babu arrested along with Singh is also a former J&K police constable, who had fled in 2017 with two AK-47 rifles and joined the terror group.

During arrest, DSP Davinder Singh was currently posted at the Srinagar International Airport. Earlier he was in the anti-hijacking squad of J&K police, and before that a part of the special operations group when the elite force was established. He was posted as an inspector in the SOG, and due to his successful anti-terror operations, he had got an out-of-turn promotion as DSP.

But later he was removed from SOG after there were allegations of extortions against him, and he was suspended from services for some time. After that, he was posted at the police control room and then the anti-hijacking unit.

‘Pune is well-equipped to handle Coronavirus crisis if state govt runs health centres professionally’, says BJP MLA Siddharth Shirole who is leading the fight in the city

Shashank Bharadwaj
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‘Pune is well-equipped to handle Coronavirus crisis if state govt runs health centres professionally’, says BJP MLA Siddharth Shirole who is leading the fight in the city

As the coronavirus cases continue to surge in Pune with nearly 1.7 lakh coronavirus positive cases being reported, Siddharth Shirole – the BJP MLA from the Shivajinagar constituency in Pune on Sunday said despite the sporadic rise in the number of cases, the city is well equipped to tackle the fresh coronavirus cases provided the Maha Vikas Aghadi government professionally ran the health centres.

Speaking to OpIndia on the issue of the recent rise in cases in Pune, Siddharth Shirole, who is leading the charge of Pune’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, said that even though there was a sudden splurge in the coronavirus cases, there is no need to panic as the mortality rate is in very much in control in Pune.

Shirole, who represents Shivajinagar constituency of Pune, added that they have already created enough healthcare facilities that are equipped with ventilators and oxygen support that could treat nearly 2,000 coronavirus patients effectively.

“The numbers have increased in the last 7-8 days. Fortunately, we have sufficient infrastructure in terms of oxygen beds and ventilators…Our only objective is to get the mortality down and it can be done with early detection and treatment,” Siddharth Shirole added saying they were ready to tackle the pandemic if the second wave of coronavirus cases hits the city.

The Shivajinagar MLA also said the city now has two dedicated coronavirus facility of 2,000 beds, one in Pune and the other in Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation areas. However, Shirole insisted that there is a need for carrying out more real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect the fresh cases in the city, which according to him has now spread to more affluent areas of the city.

The early detection of the cases and treatment is extremely important in keeping a check on mortality rates, said Shirole.

“The early intervention, detection will lead to better treatment thus reducing the number of mortality rates in Pune,” the Shivajinagar MLA pointed out while speaking to OpIndia.

Maharashtra government need to run coronavirus facilities effectively

According to Shirole, the newly created infrastructure in both Pune and PCMC areas are sufficient to tackle the crisis, however, in order to carry out effective treatment, he added that the Maharashtra government needs to responsibly manage the jumbo coronavirus centres that were recently built in Maharashtra’s second-largest city.

Interestingly, the two jumbo coronavirus centres, an 800-bed-facility each at Pune and PCMC, were only built after an intervention from Siddharth Shirole. With private facilities already stretched and also being used for non-COVID related cases, Shirole had fought hard for a dedicated coronavirus facility in Pune to free up the private and other healthcare facilities to treat non-COVID patients from in and around the city.

Earlier in July, Siddharth Shirole had also written a letter to the central government seeking intervention from them to ward off the looming medical infrastructure crisis in Pune.

In a scathing criticism of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, Shirole had said that the Maharashtra government had left Pune to fend for itself from the surging coronavirus spread. He had accused the government of gross negligence which has pushed the city on the cusp of a medical calamity.

Accusing the state government of failing on multiple levels, Siddharth Shirole had said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had not made a single visit to Pune in the last three months either to oversee the preparedness of the administration.

After a long battle with the Shivajinagar MLA over the issue of dedicated coronavirus facility in Pune, the Maharashtra government had finally relented in the last week of July and had agreed to set up two dedicated coronavirus facilities in Pune.

Maharashtra government need to enforce Central guidelines on coronavirus, need to relax restrictions

The Pune MLA also said that the Maharashtra government should follow the guidelines issued by the centre and relax certain restrictions to restart the economic activities in the state.

Explaining that the continuous restrictions is detrimental to the economic activity of the country, Shirole accused the Uddhav Thackeray-led government of regulating travel and imposing curfew that has resulted in slowing down of business activity. He also added that the e-pass facility has become a cumbersome process and already turned out to be a big hurdle for people to start their livelihood.

The lawmaker also urged the Maharashtra government to adhere to the recently issued guidelines and open up the state for the economic revival of small, medium and big businesses across industries.

Siddharth Shirole, rejecting the idea of another lockdown to bring down the number of cases in the state, the lockdown will not help to tackle the pandemic but instead opening up of the economic activities could revive the livelihood of the people in the state, he added.

As of Sunday, August 30, Pune has recorded almost 1,70,000 total coronavirus positive cases with almost 4,000 new cases registered on Saturday. More than 1,16,000 patients have already recovered with only less than 50,000 active cases.

It has overtaken Mumbai long back, which has been one of the major hotspots for coronavirus. As of now, Maharashtra contributes to over 21% of total coronavirus cases in India. Maharashtra also contributes to almost 40% of total deaths due to coronavirus in India, with more than 7,64,000 cases and nearly 24,000 deaths.

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