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Amethi boy puts up ‘house for sale’ board after Muslims attack the family, SP orders probe after local police refused to act

OpIndia Staff
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Amethi boy puts up ‘house for sale’ board after Muslims attack the family, SP orders probe after local police refused to act

A young boy from a Hindu family in the Saidapur village of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh has claimed on Facebook that they are willing to flee the area and shift to a safer locality where Hindus are in majority. Utsav Dwivedi, son of Anil Dwivedi from Amethi, has posted the advertisement of his house for the purpose of selling it and moving to another place. He claimed that his house has been attacked with stones by people from a particular community and people in the area are trying to scare the family.

Courtesy:Jagran

Utsav revealed his fear in the Facebook post. He wrote, “It has been 15 days since the stones have been pelted at my house. They are trying to scare us repeatedly. We want to sell our house to move to a safe place.”

Where it all started

According to Anil Dwivedi, the family came under attack after his other son Utkarsh Dwivedi had prevented Zakir Hussain from feeding the mango leaves to his goat in the garden. In response, Zakir abused him and called more people from his home. After that Shahrukh, Amjad, Afzal, Shabbir came and beat him to bleed. His sister Sitanshu came to rescue him but they also beat her and abused and threatened to kill the entire family.

Anil Dwivedi revealed that his son called him to inform about the incident. He went to the field with his wife where he was lying injured. After that, the father went to the police station and registered an FIR. Utkarsh Dwivedi got a medical check-up done and his father was told to stay at the police station at night while the women and her son were sent back. They came back to the police station along with tea and biscuits the next morning at around 7 am.

Shockingly, at 8 am, Katale, Bale, Doctor Ali Hussain, Mane, Nankau, Razzak, Afzal, Shah rukh, Hajiran wife of Zakir Hussain came to their house armed with sticks and stones to attack. The younger daughter in the family saw this and locked the door from inside.

It is clearly seen in the video that they attacked the house, pelted stones, and hurled abuses. They even threatened to kill the entire family.

According to the Anil Dwivedi, the children in the house called their mother who was sitting in the police station. When she pleaded for help no one responded to her. A constable sitting in uniform said that she’s lying, he said that he called and investigated the case, and nothing had happened there. But after receiving a call from a politician, the police officials nabbed one Afzal and later released him under charges of IPC 151.

Amethi police said that allegations are not proved

After the case came to the notice of the police, Station officer Shyam Sunder from Kotwali threatened the victim to file a case against him instead of acting on his grievance. The Circle officer Piyushkant said that the dispute is very old to act upon it.

The twitter handle on Amethi police also said that the allegations have not been proved.

The Amethi police said that a case was registered earlier by the complainant in which charge sheet had been sent. The twitter handle informed that the allegations made through the tweet have not been confirmed. The police is keeping a watchful eye, they informed.

The Amethi SP informed that orders have been issued to visit the location and probe the matter thoroughly. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty, the officer said.

How The Hindu justified not publishing anything other than the Left agenda and chided a reader in the process

S. Sudhir Kumar
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How The Hindu justified not publishing anything other than the Left agenda and chided a reader in the process

Earlier, The Hindu’s Readers’ editor (RE) chided a reader for correcting the newspaper that Ladakh and J&K are two different entities. The Readers’ editor alluded that this is equivalent to government propaganda and insisted that Ladakh is still part of J&K! 

Now, another reader gets chided for asking him to ensure that The Hindu publishes the opinions from all sides and not restrict itself to “left-leaning commentators”. In doing so, the reader gave two examples – 1) Learn from the New York Times (!) which recently published a controversial article. 2) Look at the coverage of anti-CAA in The Hindu and think why pro-CAA didn’t get enough coverage. 

The RE recounts the whole NYT saga on how they ended up withdrawing the article they had published and used that as a proof to show why opinions from all sides should not be published. He very conveniently skips the anti-CAA coverage in the newspaper. We had shown in an article here, how for the first 25 days after the CAA was passed, The Hindu had published 33 Op-Ed that was anti-CAA and only 1 Op-Ed that was pro-CAA. In addition to Op-Ed pieces, there were myriad articles and pictures trying to downplay the violence and the illogical rants of “intellectuals”. Or even during the coverage of “tukde tukde” gang, it was recorded in detail here how The Hindu always showed only one side of the story. 

And what does the RE respond when a reader points out the blatant biased coverage of the paper? He gives the following gyan:

“No article should be published simply because it espouses an opposite viewpoint. Every article, irrespective of its political or ideological affinity, should pass some crucial editorial tests.”

Please note here that the suggestion by the reader was to not publish anything and everything. There is no dearth of good writers across the aisle. If The Hindu doesn’t want to find the writers who can write much better than their current lot of Op-Ed writers, why should the reader be chided for that? Let’s now take a look at the “editorial tests” that the RE thinks an article should pass? We are told that there are 4 questions that need to be answered.

‘Does the article normalise hate?’

What does “normalise hate” mean? Does publishing fake news on riot accused amount to normalize hate? How should we classify The Hindu’s editorial judgment that the massive verdict that Narendra Modi received in 2019 was merely an “electoral endorsement of Hindutva or Hindu nationalism”? Does classifying violence as “protest” equal normalizing hate?

Many such examples can be pulled out, but I think the point has been made. If The Hindu can so blatantly “normalize hate” then why does the RE think a pro-CAA article will “normalize hate”? 

‘Does it demonise the other?’

I think he means the article should not demonise the other side. An Op-ed analyzing the 2019 verdict tells us that “The Muslims have been told, once more, to remain stranded in their own islands of resentments and grievances.” Does this amount to “demonise the other”? 

You said that “The Delhi police did nothing when a gunman opened fire at anti-CAA protesters on January 30.”. This is in direct contrast to your own report that explained how the Delhi police nabbed the gunman almost immediately! So, in this case, are you demonizing the Delhi police? Do you remember this recent article where you demonized the Kashmir Pandits? Again, I can go on and on with many examples but I believe the point has been made. How is it that the RE cannot see the regular demonization of The Hindu of “the other”? 

‘Does it weaken the institutional mechanism of checks and balances?’

I am wondering how could the RE ask such a question about a newspaper that bungled up the whole Rafale story beyond belief! The same RE who carried out a sham “forensic investigation” to justify the cropping of a document by N.Ram to further his agenda, is now asking us this question?! What institutional checks and balances failed when you published an article in 2017 suggesting “bold economic steps” to be taken, conveniently forgetting that those exact steps were already taken by PM Modi? 

Many such examples can be cited but I think the point is made. Mysteriously, the loaded propaganda pieces day in and day out in The Hindu pass “the institutional mechanism of checks and balances” but The Hindu cannot even find a few articles that espouse the argument of the “other side”? Readers are tired of reading editorials on free speech but the same is not practised in the Op-Ed columns. How can this contradiction elude the Readers’ Editor? How can he not see the irony of publishing lies and half-truths yet claim that all these “pass the mechanism of checks and balances?”

‘Is it based on facts?’

Where so we start countering this question? It also strikes to me that the questions are mostly repetitive in nature. I mean, if it is not based on facts that it should automatically weaken the institutional mechanism of checks and balances. So, I don’t understand this urge to ask the same question by using different words. 

There is no problem if the newspaper chooses to be biased. The problem occurs when the newspaper lectures about free speech and objective journalism and practices the exact opposite of what it preaches. A well-meaning suggestion to include two sides of a story is also shot down citing frivolous reasons without any proofs.

The current RE, A.S. Panneerselvan is the third person to hold this post. The Hindu calls the RE as the Ombudsman. The first RE often discussed readers concerns. The second RE occasionally discussed readers concerns.  The third and the current RE, rarely discusses readers concerns and often ends up taking the side of the newspaper. It is time to ask the question – is the RE an Ombudsman or a Pamphleteer of the newspaper? 

India section on Malala Fund’s website shows a cropped image of Indian map, excludes Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh from Indian territory

OpIndia Staff
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India section on Malala Fund’s website shows a cropped image of Indian map, excludes Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh from Indian territory

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate and a ‘human rights activist’, has now been the subject of yet another controversy. The India section on the official website of Malala Fund, an organisation founded by her that supposedly fights for girls’ education, carries a distorted map of India which conveniently excludes Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, China occupied Kashmir and the State of Arunachal Pradesh from the Indian territory.

While the map of India had been depicted in an uncanny dark green colour, the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been separated with a lighter shade of green. The objective was to mark the territory as disputed. Similarly, the State of Arunachal Pradesh where China lays its claims has also been marked as a disputed territory.

The region of Aksai Chin, now under Chinese occupation, has been marked in grey. Interestingly, the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) has been shown as the territory of Pakistan. Kashmir, an integral part of India, includes both the POK and the China-Occupied Kashmir (COK) region. However, the website of the Malala Fund clearly violates the official rules that prevent distortion of the map of Arunachal Pradesh, besides making it compulsory to show both the occupied Kashmir territories as part of India, as the organisation is working in India.

Map of Jammu and Kashmir with POK and COK (Photo Credits: Indian Defence Review)

Legal consequences of distorting Indian map

In 2016, a new bill under the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill was proposed by the Central Government wherein depiction of Indian map without POK or Arunachal Pradesh could lead to a 7-year jail term along with a penalty of ₹100 crores. Under 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, such websites could be blocked by the Government of India. “No person shall depict, disseminate, publish or distribute any wrong or false topographic information of India including international boundaries through internet platforms or online services or in any electronic or physical form,” noted the provision in the bill.

Malala spreads fake news about Kashmir

Malala Yousafzai, who otherwise remains silent fearing Islamists and Pakistani establishment, earlier tweeted that she was concerned about alleged reports of 4,000 people, including children, arbitrarily arrested and jailed in Kashmir and called on leaders to work towards peace in Kashmir. She claimed that she spoke to three Kashmiri girls, who said to her that the current situation in Kashmir was of ‘complete silence’ and said that all they could hear was the steps of troops outside their windows which was ‘really scary’.According to Malala, one of the three girls missed her exams on August 12. However, August 12 was a notified holiday declared across India on the occasion of Bakr Id or Eid ul-Adha.

Provide arms and training to Hindus in the valley to protect themselves from terror, says former J-K Police chief SP Vaid

OpIndia Staff
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Provide arms and training to Hindus in the valley to protect themselves from terror, says former J-K Police chief SP Vaid

Following the cold-blooded murder of Kashmiri Pandit Sarpanch Ajay Pandita by Islamic terrorists in Kashmir, former Jammu and Kashmir DGP Shesh Paul Vaid (SP Vaid) has asked for arming the minority Hindus and vulnerable sections among the Muslim community in the Kashmir Valley so that they can protect themselves against the future acts of terror.

Speaking to India Today, the former J&K police chief said that the government must explore all options to instil a sense of security among the minority community of Kashmiri Hindus, who have been persecuted at the hands of Islamic terrorists in the valley for decades now.

The former cop also added that weapons should be provided to the members of the community and arms training should be provided to minority Kashmiri Hindus to take protect themselves from the terror attacks.

“There is no harm in giving arms training and providing weapons to the minority Hindu community as well as to the vulnerable section of the Muslims in the Kashmir valley,” said former DGP Vaid speaking to India Today.

Former J&K police chief SP Vaid bats for Village Defence Committees

SP Vaid also urged on the need of constituting Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in the Valley. However, he added that forming VDCs in Kashmiri Valley is difficult but not impossible and mentioned that it requires detailed planning.

He also recalled how during his time as the SSP of Udhampur in 1995, he was instrumental in forming the first VDC in Bagankote village which was part of Udhampur district at that time. The area was infested with terrorism in the early 90s.

SP Vaid said that VDCs were formed through a formal Jammu and Kashmir government order in Chenab valley region of Jammu division where Hindus are in minority.

“After the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley, the terrorists then started targeting the minority Hindus in Chenab valley region of Jammu division. Many massacres of minority Hindus were carried out by the terrorists in the Chenab valley. But soon VDCs were constituted and people were given arms training. Muslims were also made part of the VDCs as they also faced terror attacks. This formula proved to be very successful and the mass exodus of Hindus was prevented,” SP Vaid said to India Today.

Ever since the persecution of Hindus started in the valley, especially after the recent barbaric killing of Sarpanch Ajay Pandita, there has been a growing demand across the Hindu communities in Kashmir asking the government to provide arms to Hindus in the valley as they are soft targets for the terrorists.

Ajay Pandita shot dead by terrorists

A Kashmiri Pandit Sarpanch was shot dead on Monday by terrorists in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress Sarpanch of Lokbowan Larkipora, identified as Ajay Pandita, was fired upon by the terrorists who later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.

According to the police sources, the sarpanch had gone to work in his orchard when he was attacked by the terrorists. The area has been cordoned off soon after the shooting.

AIIMS reveals Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and his doctor Harjit Bhatti did not reveal his blood disease before donating blood

OpIndia Staff
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AIIMS reveals Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and his doctor Harjit Bhatti did not reveal his blood disease before donating blood

Recently, an activist, Prerna Thiruvaipati, also a member of an organisation called ‘All India Dalit Youth Association’ had written a letter to the health ministry and the management of AIIMS-Delhi in which she had urged them to probe the recent blood donation by the Bhim Army chief, Chandrashekhar Azad. It was alleged that Azad is suffering from that blood disease and patients of this disease should not donate blood.

Now, the AIIMS management had given in writing to the activist that the Bhim Army Chief had told them that he was not suffering from any medical condition. Furthermore, even his doctor Harjit Bhatti did not inform about Azad’s ailment.

Responding to the mail sent by Prerna seeking information about the blood donation of Mr Chandrashekhar Azad, the AIIMS said that during the blood donation drive, Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti along with Mr Chandrashekhar Azad and some of their acquaintances came forward to voluntarily donate their blood when they came to know about the blood donation drive.

The letter states that according to the declaration tendered by Mr Azad, he had donated blood 6 months ago along with the declaration that he was not ailing from any medical condition that may affect his health or may harm the recipient. Even Dr Harjit Bhatti, Mr Azad’s physician, who accompanied him on the blood donation drive, did not reveal about his current diagnosis and medication/treatment.

The letter mentions that only after outrage on social media where Mr Azad’s OPD card was highlighted, saying he was suffering from polycythemia vera (highlighted by Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti), his blood was discarded.

Following the response from AIIMS, the activist has now raised question over the blood donated by the Bhim Army chief 6 months ago. Accusing Mr Azad and his Doctor Harjit Bhatti of gross irresponsibility, Prerna has sought answers from the duo for their perversely malevolent behaviour.

Activists writes to AIIMS and Health Ministry demanding probe of blood donation by the Bhim Army Chief

Last month, activist Prerna Thiruvaipati had written to the AIIMS and the health ministry, urging them to investigate blood donation by Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad who was suffering from polycythemia vera, a medical condition in which it is not advisable to donate blood to others after photos of him donating blood were circulated on social media.

The concern was first flagged by Dr Prashant Sharma about the blood donation that Mr Azad had done despite suffering from an illness that forbids him from donating his blood. Prerna cited Prashant Sharma’s Twitter post to file her complaint with the health ministry and AIIMS.

Dr Prashant Sharma had taken to Twitter on May 16 to apprise that Chandrashekhar Azad had donated blood with his doctor Harjit Singh Bhatti recently at AIIMS Delhi. He wrote that Azad is suffering from polycythemia vera, a blood disorder. He said that under this medical condition, a person cannot donate blood to another person and by doing so Azad has risked the life of a person. Calling it a publicity stunt, Sharma had asked whether Dr Bhatti will be held accountable as he is Azad’s consulting doctor. Sharma had substantiated his claims with relevant screenshots.

In this entire episode, the gross negligence of Dr Harjit Bhatti, apparently, the personal doctor to Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad, has come to fore. It may be noted that Bhatti himself had informed that his patient Azad suffers from polycythemia. He and the lawyers of Azad had even cited this health condition to demand bail for Azad when he was in jail. Therefore, despite being well-aware of Mr Azad’s medical ailment, he still did not stop him from donating the blood. Neither did he declare in the declaration form that Mr Azad was suffering from polycythemia vera.

The curious case of Dr Harjit Bhatti

Dr Bhatti had been the same doctor which the leftist organisation and journalists such as Newslaundry and Barkha Dutt had wrongly represented him as the representative voice from AIIMS. The leftists while quoting Dr Bhatti had alleged that ABVP members received only superficial injuries during the JNU violence, however, the Left students had been injured grievously.

It was, however, revealed that Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti is not a doctor at the AIIMS. His Twitter profile says he was president of the Resident Doctors’ Association at AIIMS but does not inform about his current medical practice. The Alumni page of AIIMS says that he is working at Manipal Hospital in Delhi. But the website of the hospital lists no doctor by that name. Moreover, when defence analyst Abhijit Iyer-Mitra called the hospital, he was informed that they have no doctor by that name.

As it turned out, Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti is the National Convenor of the All India Medical Cell of the Congress party. In February last year, he was appointed to the post in the Congress party. The romance between the established media and Dr Bhatti is not new. From as far back as 2017, the media has been publishing comments by Dr Bhatti without any indication of his political affiliation. In fact, this phenomenon has continued well into 2020, almost a year after he became a post-holder in the Congress part.

The left leaning media organisations have been liberally quoting Dr Bhatti without revealing his political connection with the Congress party. In July 2019, the Statesman carried a news article quoting Dr Bhatti who had been severely critical of the National Medical Bill Commission but did not mention about his political leanings.

Left-leaning rag–The Caravan too published a report quoting Dr Bhatti recently but without identifying him as a Congress functionary. The headline of the article by The Caravan was “How the police prevented medical volunteers from working at the CAA protests”. While the entire article is peppered with Dr Bhatti’s quotes, The Caravan did not mention for once that he is a Congress-post holder. While Caravan introduced him as the PMSF president, they failed to mention his Congress connection.

There have been several more instances when media organisations have portrayed Dr Bhatti as an independent voice criticising the central government. The media has been using Dr Bhatti and publishing his comments for years now. However, the most shocking case of media irresponsibility is when even after his appointment as the National Convenor of the All India Medical Cell of the Congress party, they continue to project him as an independent voice with no political affiliations.

Troubled media house NDTV loses another ‘star anchor’, Nidhi Razdan to quit the channel to join Harvard as Associate Professor

OpIndia Staff
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Troubled media house NDTV loses another ‘star anchor’, Nidhi Razdan to quit the channel to join Harvard as Associate Professor

In another exit of journalists from NDTV, the channel’s senior journalist Nidhi Razdan announced on Saturday that she is leaving the media house. She is currently the executive editor of NDTV 24×7, the English news channel from the NDTV group, and also a main anchor on the channel.

In a post on Twitter on Saturday, Nizdan Razdan announced that she had taken up a teaching job at Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences as Associate Professor. The journalist said that her 21 years career at NDTV has come to an end. Razdan said that she will be joining the premier university later this year, but didn’t specify when she will be leaving the channel.

Announcing her exit from the left-wing media outlet NDTV, Nidhi Razdan said that the media network had taught her everything and claimed that she was proud of the work, stories they covered especially ‘at a time when the much of the media has surrendered its objectivity’.

It is pertinent to note that Nidhi Razdan, during her days at NDTV, has been caught several times for propagating fake news.

Nidhi Razdan joins a long list of journalists to leave the channel which is not faring well in recent years. Its viewership is dwindling and is facing several investigations by agencies over allegations like tax elevation, money laundering, insider trading, non-disclossure etc. Several journalists and technicians associated with NDTV have left the channel in recent times, which includes controversial journalist Barkha Dutt, former CEO Vikram Chandra, and Abhigyan Prakash, who was head of the group’s Hindi channel NDTV India.

According to reports, NDTV had cut the salaries of its employees earning above Rs 50000 per month in April this year. The cut was reportedly between 10% to 40%, based on the salary slab of the employees. In a disclosure made to stock exchanges, the channel had said that it was forced to undertake cost-cutting measures as its advertising revenue was impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic and the overall slowdown in the economy. There is also a rumour going around that the channel has decided to give honourable exit to its senior employees as it is not able to afford to their high remunerations.

NDTV pioneered private news channel industry in India, and its journalists have launched several major news channels in the country. Former NDTV journalist Arnab Goswami has launched Times Now and Republic TV, while Rajdeep Sardesai had launched CNN News 18 before moving onto India Today. Incidentally, all four channels have much more viewership than NDTV, which makes a direct impact on the revenues of the channel. Over the years, NDTV’s anti-India and anti-Hindu biases have become more prominent among the viewers, which have resulted in lost viewership. The channel’s troubles with financial malpractices have also not helped. These issues have resulted in the exit of senior journalists and star anchor from the channel, with Nidhi Razdan joining the list now.

 

Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi tests positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi tests positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus

Former cricketer and captain of the Pakistani national team Shahid Afridi has tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus. He said that he has been feeling unwell since Thursday and his body has been aching badly, following which he was tested for the virus.

Shahid Afridi has tested positive for the Coronavirus
The tweet by Shahid Afridi

Pakistan, as of now, has 132,405 cases of the Coronavirus with 600 cases per million population. The country has recorded 2,551 deaths thus far. It has close to 80,000 active cases.

The Coronavirus crisis in Pakistan

Activists from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have alleged that the region is suffering a crisis of food and medical supplies amidst the pandemic and the Pakistan government has not been supplying the same in adequate quantities in the region. It has also been alleged that the Pakistani government is deliberately spreading the virus so that it can secure international aid.

Gilgit Baltistan is one of the worst affected areas by the Coronavirus pandemic. Amidst the grave crisis, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has offered India its ‘cash transfer program’ to battle the economic crisis. However, Indians were not too keen on taking up the offer made by the former cricketer.

Shahid Afridi: The posterboy of Pakistan’s anti-India policy

Shahid Afridi recently went on a rant against India which garnered widespread condemnation. Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, who had previously appealed for Indians to donate to the Pakistani cricketer’s NGO, came out strongly against Afridi and said that they will never make such an appeal again.

Shahid Afridi had gone to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and claimed that the Indian government under PM Modi is carrying out atrocities against the Indians in Kashmir, part of which is illegally occupied by Pakistan. “Inshallah he’ll have to be answerable here as well as in other world,” he had said.

77% new Coronavirus cases can be ascribed to hotspots in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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77% new Coronavirus cases can be ascribed to hotspots in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi

The pandemic of Wuhan coronavirus seems to be on a relentless march across India. India’s coronavirus tally breached the 3 lakh mark on Saturday with a daily spike of 11,458 infections while the fatalities count rose to 8,884 with 386 deaths.

The country now stands at the fourth position of the list of countries worst-hit by the pandemic with experts claiming that the peak is yet to arrive in India. Currently, there are 3,08,993 caseloads registered in India with more than 1,54,000—approximately 50 per cent of them having recovered from the contagion.

Coronavirus hotspots —Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi remain the key driver of COVID-19 spike in India

According to the study published by Professor Shamika Ravi on Twitter, about 77 per cent of the new coronavirus cases in the country can be ascribed to the COVID-19 hotspots in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. She has asserted that the coronavirus cases in the country continue to rise with a growth rate of 3.1 per cent which translates to doubling of cases in a span of 23 days.

Ms Ravi has shared graphs of her study to adduce that the coronavirus cases have spread across the country but hotspots such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi remain the key drivers of the infection. In the graphs attached in her tweets, one can see how the caseloads in rest of the states across the country except Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi are on the wane. On the other hand, the trajectory of infection in the coronavirus hotspots of Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu continues to rise, indicating that the peak of coronavirus cases in these states is yet to arrive.

Death rate in Delhi 10 times the all-India death rate

Perhaps, the most disconcerting statistics about the surging coronavirus cases in Delhi is the death rate of the patients who have contracted the infection. The mortality rate in Delhi is 10 times the all-India death rate and Professor Shamika Ravi has cautioned that the death rate in Delhi is still on the rise.

On the graph of Cases per million vs Tests per million, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat remain the outlier states who need to ramp up their testing capabilities significantly given their current caseloads.

How far Indian states are from their peak?

While most of the Indian states are moving towards their peak, there are some states which have shown signs that the peak is far away. Comparing the growth of coronavirus cases in the period between June 3 to June 7 and June 8 to June 12, the decline in the rate of new caseloads reveals that the peak of those such states is imminent. However, there are certain states such as Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have bucked the trend and the rate of new cases in these states has risen in the above period.

Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka are the two states that have recorded negative growth rate in the period between June 3 to June 7 and June 8 to June 12, meaning that the coronavirus outbreak in these states may be well past the peak.

Truth about the ‘haunted’ park in Jhansi, UP, where people alleged ‘ghosts’ were exercising on a swing that moved on its own

OpIndia Staff
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Truth about the ‘haunted’ park in Jhansi, UP, where people alleged ‘ghosts’ were exercising on a swing that moved on its own

A video had gone viral on social media recently where it was claimed by users that ‘ghosts’ were exercising in a park at Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. The video, which captured UP cops gathered around a swing, displayed the swing moving on its own without the apparent involvement of anyone else. Users commented that the video was ‘scary’.

Some tweets making the claim had earned over a thousand retweets on the social media platform. The video did appear quit unsettling to the naked eye.

However, UP Police has now come forward and offered an explanation into the mystery that dispels any fear people might have regarding wandering spirits in what appears to be a friendly neighbourhood park. Additional Superintendent of Police, Rahul Srivastav, said that the Police had ‘laid siege’ and discovered that it was the work of some mischievous individuals.

Srivastav assured that the miscreants will be locked up in a ‘haunted’ prison soon. Jhansi Police said that the supposed work of ghosts is actually due to the application of excessive grease. The grease ensures that the swing keeps moving for a short while after its movement has once been initiated.

Jhansi Police said that some mischievous individuals had recorded a video of the incident and released it on social media, following which UP Police descended on the scene to investigate the matter. The Police said that they are on the lookout for the pranksters and assured that the rumour of the ghost is merely that, a rumour.

Making sense of the tax on parota vs roti debate: Read what the GST authority’s ruling exactly says

OpIndia Staff
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Making sense of the tax on parota vs roti debate: Read what the GST authority’s ruling exactly says

A recent ruling by the Authority of Advance Ruling in Karnataka saying that Parotas are not rotis, and hence they will attract 18% GST instead of 5%, have caused much outrage on social media. After the ruling was reported by various media houses, people assumed that they will have to higher tax if they consume parota in their favourite food joint, as compared to rotis, both being popular flatbreads that originated in the Indian subcontinent.

The kind of media reports which came out certainly made it look bizarre and unreasonable, causing outrage on social media. But the question is, was the decision bizarre or there is something more on the issue? Let us examine the facts.

On studying the order, it becomes clear that this case is a classic example of how misinformation and fake news spread, and how some media houses contribute to this by not reporting the full facts related to a matter. Because, the ruling of AAR is not at all related to the Parotas served at food stalls and restaurants. The decision by Authority of Advance Ruling is related to frozen packaged parotas manufactured by food processing industries, and it is not applicable to fresh Parotas prepared by eateries.

The ruling was issued after a Karnataka based food processing company ID Fresh Food Pvt Ltd applied to the AAR under section 97 of the CGST Act, 2017, seeking to classify their packaged Malabar parotas and whole wheat parotas (or Paranthas) under Chapter heading 1905. Items listed in chapter 1905 attract GST rate of 5%, and it includes items like khakhra, chapatti, roti, bread, pastry and other baked products. The company argued that parotas are similar to rotis, chapattis and khakhras, and they should be taxed at the same rate.

The AAR studied the matter in detail, and they ruled that the parotas sold by the company are not same as rotis and khakhras. They found that the heading 1905 covers completely cooked food products which are ready for consumption. The item Parota is not included in any list in the Customs Tariff Act, 1985 and the GST Tariff. Therefore, the authority had to analyse the item to determine the appropriate category for it under the tax rules.

Screenshot from AAR ruling on Parota

The AAR found that the parotas sold by the company are not ready to eat items in the heading 1905 like rotis and pastries, and they need further processing by the consumers before eating them. Therefore, they are not ready to eat products, and will attract tax rate as applicable with other ready to cook processed packaged food products.

The AAR has determined that the packaged Parotas will come under heading 2106, and accordingly it will be taxed at 18%. The order makes it clear that it is applicable to the parotas made in the factories of the food processing company, which are kept frozen, and they need further processing by consumers before consuming them. This also makes it clear that the order is not applicable to parotas served at food stalls and restaurants, which are completely cooked products and consumers can consume them directly without requiring any further processing.

Screenshot from AAR ruling on Parota

It is important to note that plain roti or parota served in a restaurant or provided in takeaway get same treatment in rates and attract 5% GST only, unlike what some sensational news reports conveyed.

It may be noted that the frozen parotas like the ones sold by the company are preserved, sealed packed, branded and are usually sold at higher price. It is not a staple food and is generally consumed by the class which could afford to pay taxes. Moreover, even items like cheaper biscuits, pastries, cakes, etc., attract GST at the rate of 18%. Frozen foods can’t be comparable to plain roti or plain parota served in restaurants.

It is a standard practise worldwide to tax processed or packaged foods at a higher rate. For example, milk is tax free, but tetrapacked milk is taxed at 5% and condensed milk is taxed at 12%.  The food processing companies make significant profits on sale of packaged food items by selling them at higher rates. These items are largely consumed by those who are economically better. That is why world over such items are taxed at a higher rate.

So, there is no need to worry before ordering a parota at a restaurant, the GST on it remains same as a roti or a pastry. And, this shows how unnecessary outrage and debates are triggered by media houses by simply hiding a small but important detail while reporting.

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