Amidst the nationwide lockdown that was imposed in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, a 13-year-old girl Nethra from Madurai reportedly convinced her parents to utilise ₹5,00,000, which was initially saved for her marriage and higher education, to help the migrant workers. Her fascinating story of service before self has earned her praise from India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chance to become UN Goodwill Ambassador for the poor.
Nethra’s father Mohan (47) hails from Melamadai in Tamil Nadu and runs a saloon in Madurai. As per reports, his hard-earned money was taken away by a group of people 7 years ago. Mohan was thus stranded with no savings. Fast forward to 2020, he had been able to save a part of his monthly earnings for his daughter’s higher study and marriage. Nethra who now studies in Class 9 aspires to become an IAS officer in the future.
Mohan exhausts his entire savings during lockdown
The plight of migrant workers, amidst the lockdown, deeply affected her. She convinced her parents to donate the entire savings to serve the daily wage labourers. Despite the harrowing experience of losing their savings 7 years ago, Mohan took it upon himself to distribute grocery and essential items to the poor. “We have spent nearly 5 lakhs, the money we saved for my daughter’s marriage and studies,” Mohan revealed.
After the family began helping the needy during the lockdown, more and more people began seeking for help. Mohan did not shy away for utilising his entire savings. He believes that he can earn back the amount from his customers with God’s grace. He has promised to even give away his wife’s jewelry if such a need arises. His goodwill gesture was acknowledged and applauded by the Prime Mi Minister himself in his radio programme, Maan ki Baat, on May 31.
Following this, media, politicians, and local leaders had visited his house. Impressed by the determination of the family to help the poor and needy at a time of a humanitarian crisis, Ramakrishna Matha (Trichy) has decided to bear the expense of Nethra’s financial studies.
United Nations acknowledges gesture
Nethra was contacted by a representative from the United Nations Association for Development and Peace (UNADAP) and asked whether she would be willing to become the goodwill ambassador for the poor. Overwhelmed by this recognition, she accepted the offer. UNDAP has announced a scholarship of ₹1,00,000. Reportedly, the UN goodwill ambassadors raise funds, generate awareness, and get a chance to speak at conferences in New York and Geneva.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed by Arvind Kejriwal-led-Delhi Government against the Medical Superintendent (MS) of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for allegedly violating directives of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on conducting Coronavirus testing, under the Epidemic Diseases Act. The FIR was filed on the recommendation of Deputy Health Secretary, Amit Kumar Pasami, under Section 188 (disobedience) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to the complaint, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had not been using the RT PCP app while collecting Coronavirus samples as recently as June 3. Reportedly, the use of the said app is mandatory under the Epidemic Disease Covid-19 Regulation 2020 Act. The FIR has been filed on the basis of a complaint by the deputy secretary (health) Amit Kumar Pamasi against the MS of the hospital. As per the report, Delhi Police had confirmed that an FIR had been filed in this regard.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched an app, RT PCR, for filling data during sample collection by Coronavirus-testing laboratories. Accordingly, the Delhi Government had directed all labs to mandatorily collect data via the mobile app from May 8 onwards.
Delhi Government orders hospital to stop testing
The Delhi Government has issued show-cause notices to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital as well as five other hospitals for allegedly disobeying ICMR directives on Coronavirus testing. The hospital management was asked to explain as to why they did not use the RT PCR app while collecting samples. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital was ordered to stop testing on June 3 by the State Health Department with immediate effect. Moreover, the Government had also directed Sir Ganga Ram Hospital to allocate 80% of its 675 beds for Coronavirus patients.
Doctors, patients face challenges at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
The doctors have dubbed the two orders, a temporary ban on testing and diktat to dedicate 80% hospital beds for Coronavirus patients, as being at odds with each other. Owing to the Delhi Government order, cancer patients are forced to stay without treatment. Reportedly, the hospital would test 150 to 170 Coronavirus samples and conduct 30-40 surgeries per day. All of it had come to a halt since Thursday.
Medical oncologist Dr. Shyam Aggarwal narrated the story of one breast cancer patient whom he had to reluctantly discharge due to the government order. He conceded that the woman was scheduled to be operated on Thursday. However, she could not be operated without performing the required tests. As such, the oncologist had to convince her family about the government diktat and reluctantly discharge the patients, despite knowing that cancer might spread.
Areas in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where the camps for the world’s biggest cluster of Rohingya refugees are located, have been placed under strict lockdown by the municipality after noting the rapid rate of Wuhan coronavirus infections in the area. Many areas in the district have also been declared as ‘red zones’ by the local authorities. The rate of infection in the area saw a rapid growth in the last week after the government ended the countrywide lockdown
As per reports, The District of Cox’s Bazar has so far recorded 877 patients with the Cox’s Bazar’s Sadar Upazila reporting 364 cases. In the refugee camp, 35 people have been tested positive for coronavirus. The number of coronavirus cases reported in Moheshkhali is 34, Teknaf 41, Ukhiya 110, Ramu, 53, Chakoria 189, Kutubdia 3 and Pekua 47.
Md Komal Hossain, district administrator stated that the local committee made on the coronavirus prevention made the decision to lock the municipality down in an emergency meeting on Friday.
The lockdown will be effective from June 6 to June 20.
The authorities have banned all sorts of gatherings including social, familiar, and religious. Transportation carrying essential goods have been excluded from the lockdown, they can move from 8 am to 8 pm.
Groceries and vegetable markets have also been allowed to function for eight hours on Sundays and Thursdays while maintaining safety norms. Also, hospitals, pharmacies, ambulances, vehicles transporting patients, health and essential services workers, banking services have been exempted from the lockdown. Gatherings for aid distribution are also banned.
Journalists working during the lockdown will have to collect special ID cards from the Cox’s Bazar’s Press Club for the working in the areas declared as red zones. The COVID-19 volunteers are also directed to collect Id cards from Sadar Upazila chief executive or UNO.
Bangladesh has reported more than 63000 coronavirus cases and 850 casualties so far.
A shocking case of medical negligence has come to fore from a hospital in Delhi where corpses of coronavirus victims were lying unattended even as other COVID-19 patients were receiving treatment next to the bodies.
The video of the same has been shared by BJP leader Nandini Sharma on her Twitter account. In the video, a man informs that the dead bodies are left unattended for hours and are kept next to the COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment. The incident has raised serious questions regarding the management of the hospital and the state authorities.
“In this hospital, dead bodies of people who had died of coronavirus are lying next to the patients undergoing treatment for the deadly infection. My sister-in-law’s body is lying here since 9 AM in the morning. She breathed her last right in front of the COVID-19 ward here in the hospital. Despite securing all the permission from the hospital, she did not receive any treatment at the hospital. She was unattended for one hour outside the COVID-19 ward. She survived one hour outside the COVID-19 ward because we had administered Ambulance’s oxygen machine to her. However, she did not receive any treatment from the hospital,” the man in the video said.
The man further alleged that it had been 5 hours since his sister-in-law had succumbed to the coronavirus and yet the hopital authorities did not bother to wrap her body. The man lamented that his family had been forced to run from pillar to post to get his sister-in-law admitted to a hospital. He added that they surveyed many hospitals seeking admission for his sister-in-law but all the hospitals refused to admit her citing lack of coronavirus test report.
“We went to Ganga Ram hospital. Before we had gone to B L Kapoor hospital. After that we went to RML, following that we went to Sanjivan hospital and then we came here. None of the hospitals gave us admission claiming until we furnish coronavirus test report, they wouldn’t permit us to admit her. We had the test yesterday and the results were to come tonight. They told us that unless the report comes out positive, we will not admit the patient,” the man said.
On June 3, 2020, the official Twitter account of the Dairy behemoth Amul Industries had uploaded a poster on the topic of the ongoing campaign to boycott of Chinese products in the wake of expansionist manoeuvres by China along the Ladakh border.
The topical featured the iconic Amul girl asking for boycotting of Chinese product with the message: “Exit the Dragon”.
However, a day after Amul uploaded the aforesaid topical, Twitter abruptly deactivated their official account without any prior intimation.
Soon after Twitter pulled down Amul’s account, scores of Amul followers discovered that the account had been deactivated and lodged their protest against Twitter’s whimsical decision of removing the account.
It may be noted that Twitter is banned in China, along with several other social media platforms, search engines and other major websites. But still the account of Amul was banned for a tweet critical of China.
A statement was released by Amul Management wherein they said that they have sought reasons for their account deactivation from the company. “Our followers were not able to see the above mentioned topical on due to deactivation and they came out in support of Amul and were upset with this behaviour of Twitter. We have taken up with Twitter to know the reasons for their action. Amul Butter girl spare none, favour none & fears none. She tells the mood of the nation,” the statement read.
Amul Topicals are a chronicler of events/moments world wide from the elections of PMs and Presidents, Brexit, lockdown due to COVID-19, sports events, movies to 1st time airing of Ramayana and Mahabharat in 1987 and 1989 to even events like Emergency in India in 1976: Amul
Furthermore, the organisation said that Amul Topicals chronicles events from across the world such as elections of PMs and Presidents, Brexit, lockdown due to COVID-19, sports events, movies to first time airing of Ramayana and Mahabharata in 1987 and 1989 and also events like the imposition of Emergency in India in 1976.
India-China standoff at the border along Ladakh
Besides, being the country’s biggest packaged milk supplier, Amul is also known for coming up with mordant topicals that reflects the mood of the nation regarding contemporary events. The deactivation of Amul’s Twitter account holds special significance as it comes amidst the escalating tensions between the two South-East Asian neighbours following a standoff at LAC along the border in Ladakh between the Chinese troops and the Indian forces.
With anti-China sentiments among Indians at an all-time high, partly because of the coronavirus crisis that has ravaged economy and immobilised people and largely on account of Chinese incursions in India’s Ladakh region, is Twitter trying to tamp down the raging sentiments by suspending accounts opposing China? Twitter India should come out clean and reassure Indians that it is not an organisation whose strings can be pulled by the Chinese.
Twitter issues clarification on the temporary suspension of Amul account
Twitter has issued a clarification with regards to the temporary deactivation of the official account of Amul.
Had a call from Shari Manish Maheshwari MD Twitter India ,clarifying the issue that the account was blocked due to technical reasons and not in relation to the content published. @Amul_Coop@TwitterIndia
The Managing Director of Amul, R S Sodhi took to Twitter to inform that he had a conversation with Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari who issued a clarification claiming that the Amul account was blocked due to technical reasons and not in connection with the content published.
The George Floyd murder in the United States of America has rocked the world. There has been rampant looting, rioting, arsons that have been set across the USA, reportedly, largely by Communists and ANTIFA extremists. When a catalytic event takes place, it is naive to assume that the embers won’t reach India, a world away from the USA. In the aftermath of the violence in the USA, many communists, Leftists, Islamists and vested political interests started baying for similar protests in India, equating African-Americans to Muslims in India.
Just as the USA was trending ‘Black Lives Matter’, Indians started trending ‘Muslim Lives Matter’. They wanted Muslims to take to the streets for this so-called ‘Muslim Lives Matter’ protests. Many explicitly called upon Muslims to ‘rise up’ because ‘if we not now then we are done for’. The attempt was to draw a false equivalence between the African American community and Indian Muslims.
Violence in the United States over killing of George Floyd (Source: WSJ)
All of this was geared towards inciting a new cycle of violence in India and helping absolve the ones of guilty of fuelling the first spell of riots of all their sins. The circumstances of African Americans in the USA and Muslims in India cannot be equated in any manner whatsoever. Muslims in India have always been treated more than equally by the Indian Constitution with a plethora of minoritarian policies even after the country was partitioned due to demands made by Indian Muslims in the 1940s for the creation of a separate Islamic state.
The African Americans, on the other hand, have gained no such privileges. Furthermore, their ancestors were brought in as slaves by Whites centuries. Indian Muslims do not have a history of slavery at all. Therefore, drawing such false equivalences is a gross distortion of history.
Interestingly, the Muslim victimhood was not just being played in India. Even in the USA, the killing of George Floyd saw Islamists trying to take advantage of the situation. In the USA, chants of ‘La Illaha Ilallallah’ were heard during the violent protests as well.
The Congress party, which has squarely aligned itself with Islamists and Communists launched a very dangerous game in the wake of this dynamic geopolitical situation.
Yesterday, South-Africa launched an ‘anti-racism campaign’ led by President Ramaphosa.
The press note by South Africa at the launch of “Alliance of anti-racism campaign”
The press release was issued by African National Congress (ANC) which is the governing national party in South Africa currently. The press note said that South Africa is standing up to racism and is asserting that Black Lives Matter in the face of the George Floyd murder and institutional racism. This ‘Alliance’ was to be launched on the 5th through a digital campaign with its ‘alliance partners’.
For context, the alliance partners of ANC, which is the ruling party of South Africa are South African Communist Party (SACP) and COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions).
Essentially, even from the press note that was released by the ANC, it appeared as if this was more a campaign that was aimed towards South Africa and it certainly was not some international or global alliance.
On IOL, one of the leading newspapers of South Africa, a scathing critique of this movement was also published. While rightly, the opinion piece said that there was a need for solidarity with those who become the victims of racism, it also pointed out the ANC’s hypocrisy when it came to blacks being killed with impunity in South Africa itself. The article contended that even in South Africa, Black lives should matter and for the ANC, it is hypocritical to launch this campaign given their track record.
Either way, by every account published in South African papers and even the press note released by ANC, this campaign sounded far more internal than global or even international.
However, there was something amiss. In the second page of the press release by ANC, a name stuck out like a sore thumb.
The press note by South Africa at the launch of “Alliance of anti-racism campaign”
The launch of this campaign was to start with a virtual talk. The opening statements were to be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa and then, a panel discussion was to ensue with several other panellists making their comments.
7 out of 8 of those panelists belonged to South Africa. However, there was one name that did not add up – Anand Sharma, Congress leader.
Anand Sharma in the launch of anti-racism campaign by South Africa
Evoking Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Anand Sharma spoke about fighting Colonialism, Racism etc. He went as far as to call the ANC the INC’s ‘fraternal party’.
He called for a global alliance of people to stand for justice, tolerance, acceptance and a host of other punch words. Addressing ‘Comrade’ President, Anand Sharma said that what happened in America is a “call of action” for the flight for “equal rights”.
What President Ramaphosa said during the launch of the anti-racist campaign
President Ramaphosa, while rightly standing up for African-Americans and for equal rights of all of humanity, made some problematic statements during his opening speech. Speaking about toxic superiority, he spoke about the so-called discrimination against the Rohingya Muslims. Further, he spoke about the “continued occupation of Palestine by Israel” and the cultural superiority that leads to the denial of Palestine’s “right to self-determination”.
President Ramaphosa also spoke against Xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism. Further, he said, “Intolerance is an enabler of brutality, oppression, neglect and indifference”. He went on, “Those in the position of power, violate the rights of the vulnerable people of all societies. The unjustified use of violence by security forces against civilians, including in our own country, is one such example”.
What did Anand Sharma say once the launch of South Africa anti-racism campaign was over
Right after the digital show, Anand Sharma took to Twitter to question India and its supposed silence on the brutality on George Floyd.
The text that was attached with the image where Anand Sharma questioned India (read as PM Modi) read, “Stand up, my fellow Indians, for Justice and human rights”.
Firstly, the demand of an Indian citizen for the Indian government to speak up on America’s internal matter is rather baffling. One recalls India’s reaction when President Donald Trump offered to mediate in Kashmir. India sent a stern message asserting that Kashmir is an internal matter and that no foreign interference or offers to mediate between India and Pakistan would be entertained.
The offer of President Donald Trump was still an offer to mediate between two countries. Here, Congress is suggesting that India comment on an internal security issue of America. It almost sounds like Congress is trying to use the George Floyd murder to further its own interests – which is to undermine India, PM Modi and further its own political ambitions at the cost of the nation.
How Congress is trying to undermine Indian interests
The favourite argument of the Congress to shield itself is to assert that the politician was there in an individual, personal capacity and not representing the Indian National Congress. One suspects that if questions are raised about Anand Sharma’s involvement with South Africa, the same argument would be thrown around. However, it is important to know that during his speech, Sharma repeatedly invoked Indian National Congress and thus, it can be safely concluded that Anand Sharma was indeed there representing the Indian National Congress and was not there due to his personal connections to South Africa.
Having established that, one also needs to understand that the relationship between South Africa and Prime Minister Modi has not been the easiest relationship over the years even though President Ramaphosa was the Chief Guest at Republic Day 2019 and the relationship has been getting better over the years. In 2016, when Prime Minister Modi travelled to South Africa, there were several factions in South Africa who were protesting against his visit. In fact, it was a large portion on ANC and several Islamic organisations that had protested against his visit. In 2018, right before the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, Islamists and corrupt businessman like the Gupta brothers had also sought to move an application to arrest PM Modi when he lands in SA. Though the application was rejected, it exposed a wound that had so far been hidden.
South Africa has a rather large Muslim population, even from Pakistan. That President Ramaphosa spoke about Israel’s occupation of Palestine, Palestine’s right to self-determination, the US’ thirst for capitalistic endeavours and even Islamophobia proves that the dynamics in South Africa are to a very large extent dominated by what its Muslim community feels.
In such a scenario, for the Indian National Congress to engage with the government of a nation whose relationship with India is not the easiest reeks of an agenda. Further, other than the Islamists, there is a Chinese angle which also needs to be considered.
China and South Africa have extremely deep ties. In the 2010 Beijing Declaration, South Africa was upgraded to the diplomatic status of Strategic Comprehensive Partner by the Chinese government and in the same year, China became South Africa’s largest trading partner. This is one of the reasons why perhaps President Ramaphosa mentioned Rohingyas but not Uighurs. The Chinese bonds with SA were so strong, that SA had multiple times denied entry to the Dalai Lama as well.
With South Africa building close bonds with China and America going against China in their trade war post-COVID, for the Congress to support SA in their politics against the USA and also for Congress to demand that India speaks about USA’s internal situation right after he was seen cosying up to SA reeks of an agenda. India interfering in USA’s internal law and order situation when the USA, which has historically been pro-China and pro-Pakistan, is finally waking up to the perils of the Islamist nation and Communist nation, would be the definition of making foreign policy blunder. Given these dynamics, one surely has to wonder what game has Congress planned domestically and what are Congress’ intentions in trying to undermine India’s interests globally.
It is to be kept in mind that Indian National Congress and ANC are close as political parties and not as representatives of their counties necessarily. In 2008, Sonia Gandhi had signed an MoU between INC and ANC to “boost ties”. In fact, It was alleged that South Africa’s ruling political party, the African National Congress, has received funding for election campaigns from foreign countries particularity for the 2009 national elections. Amongst the foreign countries accused of giving money to the ANC is the Communist Party of China. Other countries and the ruling political parties and figures accused of giving money to the ANC include the Congress Party of India, the Gaddafi administration of Libya and Equatorial Guinea.
It is also pertinent to note that OpIndia in an exclusive story had revealed Kapil Sibal’s personal business interests with a corrupt politician called one Piyoosh Goyal who had ties with the corrupt Gupta Brothers of South Africa. Interestingly, one of the parties that were involved in the incident where there were petitions furthered to arrest PM Modi when he reaches SA was the Gupta brothers.
Clearly, the Congress’ ties to South Africa are deep seated and go beyond what meets the eye. In such a scenario, Anand Sharma’s presence at the launch of the campaign when all others present were exclusively from South Africa is bound to raise questions.
Anand Sharma’s tweet after speaking at the launch of the anti-racism campaign of South Africa reveals Congress’ intentions
As discussed in the beginning of the article. Congress and its allies, allies like Aakar Patel, Harsh Mandar, Swara Bhaskar etc have already started the clamour not only equating African-Americans with Indian Muslims but also demanding for similar protests to be held in India. One has to recall that Congress was at the forefront of fomenting trouble during the violent protests against Citizenship Amendment Act, NRC and even the protests that led up to the brutal anti-Hindi Delhi riots in February.
From the tweet by Anand Sharma and the continuous ranting by elements close to Congress, like Harsh Mandar who was a part of Sonia Gandhi’s NAC that the Congress’ next move is to replicate the kind of ‘civil rights protests’ that are happening in America right now. Of course, the fact that the rampant looting, vandalism and arson are being done by ANTIFA extremists doesn’t seem to be a concern for the Congress since clearly Congress has long ago decided to ally with Communists and Islamists.
At this point, it would certainly seem like Congress is trying to undermine India-US ties, get India to interfere in the internal law and order situation of the US, undermine India’s interests in South Africa and bring the US style violent protests in India.
With the tropes of ‘intolerance’, ‘Islamophobia’, injustice to Rohingya Muslims etc being discussed during the launch of Anti-Racism campaign in South Africa, Anand Sharma’s presence as the representative of his party surely does look suspect. One has seen how the arrests of suspects in the Delhi riots case have riled up political rivals of Prime Minister Modi. It seems entirely plausible that all of this is merely groundwork being laid by the Congress party to import the USA model of protest to India to foment trouble and gain politically.
It has been evident for a while that Congress has given up on defeating Prime Minister Modi with domestic support. Their pro-Islamist, pro-Communist stand, their constant undermining of national interests and an endless string of scams have lost them the favour of the voters. Recently, it is becoming increasingly clear that Congress is now going international and banking on foreign interference in India’s internal affairs to defeat PM Modi politically. Whether it was Mani Shankar Aiyar going to Pakistan and asking them to remove PM Modi and instal the Congress, or Congress leaders joining hands with Islamists to target Hindus in the UAE or even George Soros starting a billion-dollar fund to fight ‘nationalists’. Congress is encouraging and furthering international interference in order to damage the Prime Minister. If one recalls, even the Rafale controversy that was completely the creation of Congress had its roots internationally.
This exploitation of George Floyd’s death seems to be just another piece of the puzzle.
The Defence Ministry on Saturday advised media to refrain from reporting any speculative and unsubstantiated news on the engagements with China while officials from both sides are trying to resolve the ongoing border tension through the established “military and diplomatic channels”.
A statement issued by the ministry said, “Indian and Chinese officials continue to remain engaged through the established military and diplomatic channels to address the current situation in the India-China border areas.”
Any speculative and unsubstantiated reporting about INDIA-CHINA ?? ?? border situation would not be helpful & media is advised to refrain from such reporting
Officials are engaged to address the current situation in the India-China border areas.
The spokesperson added, “At this stage, therefore, any speculative and unsubstantiated reporting about these engagements would not be helpful and the media is advised to refrain from such reporting”.
This advisory came amid the scheduled senior commander-level military talks between India and China to resolve the month-long stand-off situation across the Line of Actual Control.
Reportedly, the delegation is scheduled to meet the Chinese officials in Moldo that is on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Indian delegation will be led by 14 Corps Commander Lieutenant General Harinder Singh while the Chinese delegation will be headed by Major General Liu Lin who is the commander of South Xinjiang Military Region of the Chinese’s People’s Liberation Army(PLA).
Earlier on Friday, the two nations agreed to resolve the issue through peaceful negotiations while respective each other’s sensitivities and concerns.
Standoff at LAC
India and China are currently engaged in a military standoff in the Galwan Valley region of Ladakh, near the Line of Actual Control between India and China. It is notable here that vast areas of Ladakh region have been under Chinese control for decades.
In the Galwan flashpoint, it was initially reported that China had started moving heavy equipment and troops in the LAC, and had increased patrols in the area creating skirmishes between Indian and Chinese troops.
As a result, India too has mobilised troops and aircraft in the region. In 2017, India and China had engaged in a similar standoff in the Doklam region near the Bhutan border.
About 5000 Chinese army personnel, under the garb of a military exercise, diverted their movement towards the Indian side of the LAC (Line of Actual Control). The current stand-off began on May 5-6 and has been continuing all along the LAC up to Sikkim. The Indian Army had matched the level of their counterparts and had stopped them from conducting movements in several areas. As per reports, Indian forces had also been airlifted from other high altitude areas to the Eastern Ladakh sector.
On Saturday, the Congress party had reportedly moved its MLAs to resorts, in a bid to win the second Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat that is scheduled to go for polls on June 19. Since March this year, 8 members of the Legislative Assembly belonging to the Congress had defected to the BJP. In the 182-member Legislative Assembly, the Congress tally had come down to 65. In the Gujarat Assembly elections, the Congress party had originally won 77 seats.
According to a report by Desh Gujarat, the Central and South Gujarat MLAs had been kept at Aeries Riverside resort in Umeta in Anand district. The MLAs from North Gujarat had been shifted to Wild Winds resort near Gujarat-Rajasthan border. The elected representatives from Saurashtra and Kutch were moved to Rajkot based Nil city resort, the owner of which is party leader Indranil Rajyaguru.
The Rajya Sabha polls were initially scheduled on March 26. Following the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown, the polls were postponed. The Election Commission (EC) has now finalised the polling of four Rajya Sabha seats in the state on June 19.
#NewsAlert – Congress moves its MLAs to resorts in Gujarat.
In a huge setback to the Congress, the Congress MLA from Morbi, Brijesh Merja, had tendered his resignation from the party on Friday. He became the third party legislator to abandon his party ahead of Rajya Sabha polls. Congress spokesman Manish Doshi called Merja’s resignation as undemocratic. Accusing the BJP of poaching its candidates, Doshi remarked, “The party is using its political power, police, and purse and forcing out MLAs to defect. That said, every victory of our candidate in an election is the fruition of the toil of thousands of party workers.”
The age-old Resort Politics
This is not the first time that the Congress party had taken to resort politics. In July 2019, during the intense power tussle in Karnataka, the Congress and the JDS had herded its MLAs in resorts to keep the flock together. However, the encampment of the MLAs did not help the Congress party as the BJP adroitly toppled the 14-month long Congress-JDS government in the state and formed its own government.
In March this year, the Congress MLAs were huddled from Madhya Pradesh in a plush resort on the Delhi-Jaipur road. The Congress’ move to flock their MLAs to a safe location came amidst high-octane political drama that ensued following the resignation of Congress strongman Jyotiraditya Scindia along with 22 Congress legislators in Madhya Pradesh, sending shock waves to the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state.
Arvind Kejriwal today rebuffed journalist Rahul Kanwal for claiming that the Delhi chief minister closely tracks the India Today reports on coverage of hospitals and app reality check. The Aam Aadmi Party supremo posted a disdainful tweet, saying he never watches Rahul Kanwal’s programs.
“Sorry Rahul, I never watch your programs,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Kejriwal’s response was to a tweet uploaded by India Today journalist Rahul Kanwal, in which he claimed that the Delhi Chief Minister is closely monitoring the India Today reports on the coverage of hospitals and reality check of an app developed by Delhi govt to track the status hospital beds in the city. Rahul asserted that Kejriwal had asked for a few days to align what the app reflects with the actual situation in the hospital wards.
The tweet by Rahul was about the complaints that have been raised by patients about the discrepancy in the Mobile app developed by the Delhi government to equip themselves and the residents in tackling the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the national capital. Rahul alleged that the hospital information displayed on the mobile app did not align with the ground reality.
“Glad Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal watched @IndiaToday #Newstrack coverage of hospital and App reality check so closely. He’s asked for a few days time to align what the App says with what hospitals say is the actual situation in the wards. Cries of relatives of patients were horrifying,” Rahul tweeted.
However, perhaps, in order to downplay the criticism of the Delhi government’s handling of the coronavirus, Kejriwal retorted back with a sniffy tweet, claiming he does not watch his shows.
Past instance when Kejriwal had cast aside Rahul Kanwal’s alle
This is not the first time that Kejriwal had slighted Rahul Kanwal by claiming he doesn’t watch his shows. Earlier in March 2014, Kejriwal had similarly snubbed the journalist for asking uncomfortable questions regarding his duplicity in initiating action against his party member Somnath Bharti, accused of running a spam website.
At an India Today Conclave in March 2014, Rahul Kanwal levelled serious allegations against Arvind Kejriwal of exhibiting double standards in investigating charges on the AAP member Somnath Bharti of running a dubious spam website. Rahul asserted that while Kejriwal asked for police and a judicial inquiry into allegations of corruption against BJP and Congress leaders, in case of Somnath Bharti, he set up an internal committee and gave a clean chit to his party member based on the accused’s denial of having being involved in the scam.
“While you were the Delhi chief minister, you had the authority to carry out a transparent and impartial inquiry into the allegations raised against your party member Somnath Bharti. What did you do then? You called for an internal meeting which simply concluded that Somnath Bharti was not at fault and that his associate had used his name to operate a spam website called Topsites LLC. You clamour for all kinds of inquiry while hurling corruption charges against Congress and BJP leaders, but why not the same standards to your own party members?” Rahul asked.
He further said, “We at India Today investigated the entire matter and found incriminating evidence against the involvement of Somnath Bharti in running the spam website Topsites LLC. We went to the registrar in the United States and retrieved the documents of the company. Not only is Somnath Bharti named as the owner of the company, his signature are also present in the papers that we have recovered. Why did you not commission a full-scale inquiry into the matter?”
A panicked Arvind Kejriwal tried to deflect the blame on Kanwal by saying he should have sent the documents to him for initiating action against Bharti. Kanwal defended himself stating comprehensive coverage of the scam was aired on his show on India Today. However, Kejriwal said, “If you are thinking I will sit and watch all your programs, I don’t do that. I don’t watch them. Frankly, they are not interesting.”
Kejriwal’s standard tic of feigning ignorance to brush aside criticism?
It appears that feigning ignorance when besieged with a barrage of uncomfortable questions and criticism is a standard tic of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal used to salvage his reputation. In 2014, he brushed aside valid criticism and concerns raised by Kanwal on his double standards in being an anti-corruption crusader while turning a blind eye to the irregularities by his party members.
Six years down, in 2020, Arvind Kejriwal uses the same hack to belittle the seemingly legitimate concern put forth by Rahul Kanwal regarding the deplorable conditions of hospitals in Delhi amidst coronavirus crisis. Many residents of Delhi have raised their grievances, highlighting the inadequacies of the hospitals in treating coronavirus patients. Perhaps, Kanwal might be right in criticising the Delhi government for bungling their response to a sweeping pandemic.
The public health crisis is a far more serious issue than charges of corruption against a fellow party member. Kejriwal, for his own good, as well as to assuage the woes of coronavirus patients in Delhi, can for once keep aside his swaggering demeanour and pay heed to the concerns raised by the media channels in refining the Delhi government’s response to the crisis.
A senior Congress leader was caught by social media users on Friday after she passed off an old image to claim that it as a recent one.
Archana Dalmia, who is the chairperson of Congress party’s Grievances Cell, on Friday took to social media to share an old image and insinuated that the image belonged to a recent incident in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, where an infant son had tried to breastfeed on his mother, without realising that the kid’s mother had died.
The Congress leader claimed that the woman had died by the railway tracks of the MP’s Damoh and she was spotted by people in the state.
Archana Dalmia sharing old images on Twitter
However, the Congress leader Archana Dalmia was soon fact-checked by the Railway Protection Force, who replied to her stating that the incident had occured in May 2017. The RPF, in its tweet said that the mother had died after accidentally faling from a moving train near Damoh. After due process, the deceased and child was handed over to her relatives, the RPF said while rejecting claims made by the Congress leader.
Dear Archanaji. This incident happened in May 2017. The mother accidentally fell from a moving train near Damoh. After due process, the deceased and child was handed over to her relatives. Kindly delete the tweet as it spreads disinformation in the present circumstances.
Archana Dalmia, who had tried to pass-off an old image as a recent one to target the BJP, however, had to delete her after getting caught peddling fake news.
The incident is nearly three years old
The heartbreaking images of an infant tried to breastfeed on her dead mother lying next to railway tracks in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh, around 250 km from Bhopal, is an image of May 26, 2017.
According to the reports, the moving images were captured at Damoh when a 17-month-old was seen with his mother as she lied dead. The residents had found the woman’s body and the toddler around 6 am next to railway tracks. The woman had died after bleeding to death after being hit on the head, when she fell-off from the moving train. Fortunately, the child was not injured.
Archana Dalmia history of peddling fake images on social media
Archana Dalmia has a history of peddling fake, misleading images on social media to target the BJP and the Modi government. Just a few days back, in a similar incident, she was caught sharing images from Bangladesh to attack Modi government.
According to fact-checker Ankur Singh, the images shared by Archana Dalmia targetting the BJP, shockingly shared by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, is not even related to India. The image was shot in Bangladesh and is at least two years old.
Congress party resorts to false propaganda amidst coronavirus pandemic
At a time when the country is in the middle of a pandemic, the Congress party has been indulging in spreading blatant lies and misinformation on social media to score political goals.
Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala had earlier shared an image from Nepal as that of India to play politics over the misery of the poor. The Congress leader had posted the image of a woman, carrying a toddler on her back on Twitter. Surjewala’s tweet was accompanied by a politically motivated caption that read, “New India ka Saach!“
Earlier, the Dalit Congress had taken to social media to share an old image of a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh to attack the central government for its alleged inefficiency of handling of the migrant workers’ issue. Sharing the image through the official Twitter handle, Dalit Congress had said that Modi govt should envisage the helplessness to the faces of these people and do something to help them.
In another incident, targetting Prime Minister Modi, the Congress party had shared an old image of Narendra Modi from a few years ago to make a misleading claim during the pandemic. The Congress party used a photograph of Prime Minister Modi in which measurements were being taken for his statue at the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.
The scene depicted in the photograph is from 2016 but the Congress party attempted to portray that it was captured in recent times when the country is suffering a grave crisis in the wake of the economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus.
