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Donald Trump bids goodbye to WHO, imposes sanctions on China for spreading the “Wuhan Virus”

OpIndia Staff
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Donald Trump bids goodbye to WHO, imposes sanctions on China for spreading the “Wuhan Virus”

On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced that the USA will cut off ties with the World Health Organisation (WHO), besides imposing sanctions on China. The unprecedented decision came at the backdrop of China’s mishandling of the Coronavirus outbreak and endangering the lives of millions of people.

In an official statement made during a press conference, Trump emphasised on how China had a free run in the US during the tenure of the former administration. Accusing China of misconduct, he said, “They raided our factories, offshored our jobs, cut out our industries, stole our intellectual property, and violated the commitment under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).”

Trump alleged that China reaped benefits under the tag of a ‘developing nation’ and their exploitation of the United States went unabated due to former politicians and Presidents. Praising his administration, the US President said that he dealt with China under a ‘fair and recirprocable treatment.’

Again attacking China for spreading the Novel Coronavirus across the world, the US president said, “China’s cover-up of the Wuhan virus allowed the disease to spread all over the world, instigating a global pandemic.” He called the virus as ‘Wuhan virus’ after he had earlier called it Chinese virus but then had stopped calling it that.

Change in policy towards Hong Kong

Accusing China of expansionism, Donald Trump reiterated that the Communist-run country had unlawfully claimed foreign territory as its own in the Pacific Ocean and has thus undermined ‘freedom of navigation and international trade.’ The US President further added that it failed to uphold the autonomy of Hong Kong.

“The United States wants an open and constructive relationship with China but achieving that relationship requires us to vigorously defend our national interest,” he said. Trump further stated that China unilaterally imposed control over Hong Kong in the last week under the garb of national security. He added that China tried to diminish the status, freedom, and prosperity of the city, in grave violation of its pact with the United Kingdom. Condemning the move by the Communist Government, Trump said that the security control of HongKong was a part of the ‘invasive state security apparatus’ of China.

“China has replaced its one country and two systems with one country and one system”, he said. As such, Hong Kong cannot seek special treatment that has meted out to it ever since the handover by the Brits. The Trump administration will now revoke policies, ranging from export controls to the extradition treaties. Furthermore, the travel advisory for Hong Kong will now be revised by the State Department due to increased surveillance by the Chinese State apparatus.

Trump highlighted that his administration will sanction PRC on Hong Kong officials who are directly or indirectly involved in eroding the autonomy of Hong Kong. “Our actions will be strong. Our actions will be meaningful,” he reiterated. The US President said that the world saw hope in Hong Kong and a glimpse of China’s future in the city. However, according to Trump, countries did not hope that Hong Kong would go on to become a reflection of the dictatorial Chinese regime.

Donald Trump vows disassociation from WHO

Donald Trump minced no words while blaming the Chinese Government for mishandling of the Coronavirus pandemic and risking the lives of millions of people. He emphasised that the cover-up of the disease had catapulted a global epidemic so much so that 1 lakh people lost their lives in the US alone. “Chinese officials ignored their reporting obligations to the World Health Organisation and pressured it to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered by Chinese authorities”, Trump was quoted as saying.

He alleged that China had ‘total control’ over the WHO, despite paying a paltry sum of $40 million per year. Trump also stressed on how the US paid the UN body a whopping $450 million for the said period. “Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and will be redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent public health needs,” he said.

Donald Trump takes action against China

Emphasising the need for transparency, Trump asked why China had shut down the movement of people from Wuhan to other parts of China but not to the entire world, including Europe and the US. He lambasted the Chinese authorities for death, destruction and highlighted the significance of economic independence, scientific advancement, and rebuilding crucial supply chains.

He had informed that he would sign an executive order and prevent the entry of ‘some foreign nationals’ from China whom the State Department had deemed to be a potential threat to US security. He further alleged that Chinese authorities were complicit in espionage and intellectual theft. With the goal of protecting American investors, Trump had further directed the Financial markets and his team to take cognisance of the practices of Chinese Companies listed on US financial markets. “They do not play by the same rules. Americans are entitled to fairness and transparency,” he reiterated.

Scroll asked OpIndia about Islamists targeting our ad revenues, and here is our response

Nupur J Sharma
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Scroll asked OpIndia about Islamists targeting our ad revenues, and here is our response

In the past few days, a vicious campaign has been launched against OpIndia.com. A Twitter handle of an organisation called ‘Stop Funding Hate’ has taken it upon themselves to counter the supposed ‘hate speech’ that was supposedly propagated by OpIndia in one of its articles which spoke about the inherently discriminatory practices in the Halal process. While the Left media collectively celebrated, ebbed and even ‘reported’ the hate campaign by a foreign organisation against an Indian portal, one of the platforms from the Left media, Scroll.in, reached out to us for comments before they cover the campaign.

While we thank Scroll.in for reaching out to OpIndia even as other platforms did not bother asking us for our response, we believe it is in the intrinsic nature of Left media to edit, paraphrase and distort statements provided to them and our readers deserve to know our response in totality. In that spirit, we are reproducing our response below.

The Scroll asked us three questions:

  • Has OpIndia heard from advertisers or advertising networks regarding concerns they might have, in connection with this campaign? 
  • How does OpIndia respond to the allegations of hate speech in the articles that have been highlighted by the campaign? 
  • Does OpIndia plan to alter anything in response to the concerns that have been raised publicly by several advertisers regarding the site’s pieces? 

Following is the response we sent to Scroll reproduced verbatim:

Thank you for having the courtesy of reaching out to us for our comments, a courtesy and journalistic principle that was discarded by several media platforms in their attempt to bring OpIndia down. 

Following is my response to your questions and I would appreciate it if they are reproduced verbatim without editing or paraphrasing: 

1. OpIndia has not heard from any advertisers or advertising networks expressing any concerns related to the content on OpIndia or expressing their intent to drop OpIndia from their Google ads. Advertisers don’t really need to reach out to us and they can make changes in their advertising dashboard provided by Google. And thus you should ask the advertisers for the details.

2. ‘Hate speech’ has become a tool to browbeat dissenting voices and the bedrock of our democracy, which often favours the most intolerant, would crumble if dissenting voices were silenced. OpIndia fully understands that our free speech ends where the other person’s nose begins, however, we firmly stand by our article and believe that it comes within the reasonable boundaries of freedom of speech, expression and press. The article in question focussed on the concept of Halal and pointed out that Halal in itself was a discriminatory process which disallowed Hindus, specifically Dalits and other backward classes, from finding gainful employment in the Meat industry.

This discrimination is deemed by the State of India and while the Muslim community tries to pass it off as a ‘dietary preference’, it is, in reality, a religious preference that needs only the involvement of Muslims and the recitation of Shahada. The premise of the article was simple – If one form of religious discrimination is legal, the other form of religious discrimination cannot be deemed criminal. If Halal is legal, by the same logic, Hindus refusing the hire Muslims in their business cannot be considered a criminal act that invites FIRs. As I have said, ‘hate speech’ is a tool to ensure that the inconvenient truth is never highlighted and as has been the norm for decades, gets slipped under the rug.

OpIndia, by its very nature of existence, aims to talk about such inconvenient truths and our basic foundation of survival is not going to change just because certain soft Islamists have dainty sensibilities. NN Taleb maintained that in the world, as things stand, the most intolerant win. Intolerance is what the Islamists display. The truth we present is not ‘hate speech’, it’s the mirror that their intolerance aimed to shatter for decades. 

3. OpIndia has not, will not, and will never alter its core belief system or content because of the hegemony of the intolerant. We stand by our article and our content 100% and the bullying tactic employed by some unknown faces sitting in the UK and running a Twitter handle is certainly not going to change that. Interestingly, while calling the equivalence between Halal and economic boycott of Muslims, the soft Islamists have launched a campaign where they wish the impose an economic boycott of OpIndia. However, I won’t delve into the irony of the situation since I believe those who believe in brute force would most certainly be blind towards it. 

To sum up – We stand by our article. We stand by our content. We are not about to change a thing. We owe our existence, our sustenance and our allegiance to our readers. Not corporates that are riddled with Hinduphobia and have kept their spine safe in a bank locker somewhere. 

 About the revenues, here is an additional note by our CEO, Mr Rahul Roushan: 

Ads are there on the website as extra revenues and they never hurt anyone. However, the bulk of our revenues are in the form of voluntary payments by our readers, who pay us for the content they have already consumed. It’s like an invisible post-service paywall we have in place. We have left the rates on the consumer to decide, based on how much they have consumed and how much they can afford. We’ve seen students in tier II cities paying us as little as 10 rupees to working professionals in big cities paying Rs. 3 lakh. That’s what keeps us going, not ads.

We are happy to inform you that due to this campaign by soft Islamists, we have seen over 700% jump in our daily revenues which comes in the form of voluntary payments, while ad revenues have seen no dip. 

But even if ad revenues fall to zero, we are dependent on our readers, whose support we are counting on in the long duration. Hence, such campaigns don’t really bother us. In fact, these people have helped us push up our revenues and we hope they do it every month. Such attacks against us help our readers to cement their resolve to support us even further. We have got many requests from readers to allow them to automatically pay us every month, and we’d soon put that feature in place too.

Dangal actress Zaira Wasim quits Twitter and Instagram after being criticised for ridiculous post insinuating locust attack is ‘Allah’s wrath’

OpIndia Staff
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Dangal actress Zaira Wasim quits Twitter and Instagram after being criticised for ridiculous post insinuating locust attack is ‘Allah’s wrath’

Dangal actress Zaira Wasim has quit Twitter and Instagram after receiving criticism for her insensitive post insinuating that the locust attack in Rajasthan is Allah’s wrath. It’s not clear whether she has left the social media platforms temporarily or for good. She, however, remains active on Facebook. Zaira Wasim is the actress from Dangal who had earlier ‘quit’ acting because she believed her profession was taking her ‘away from Islam’.

Quoting a verse from Quran the former actor said, “So We sent upon them the flood and locusts and lice and frogs and blood: Signs openly self explained: but they were steeped in arrogance- a people given to sin.” Needless to say, the remarkably insensitive and bigoted tweet attracted a lot of criticism from people on social media. Netizens slammed Zaira Wasim for her ridiculous tweet and criticised her for her outrageous insensitivity.

Locust swarms in Pakistan since November

Several areas of Eastern Africa and Pakistan have been facing locust attacks for the last several months. Several areas of Sindh, including Karachi, have been facing attacks by massive swarms of locusts since November. These locust swarms had affected border areas in Gujarat in February too. Recently, such locust swarms have been seen in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh too. However, it is not understood why the former actress is insinuating these locust attacks as some sort of Islamic curse upon a specific group of people whom she refers to as ‘arrogant’.

Zaira Wasim on Social Media

Zaira Wasim is known to make ostentatious remarks on social media. In February, she had claimed that Kashmiris ‘continue to suffer’ following the abrogation of Article 370. While indulging in fear-mongering, she claimed that they were being ‘oppressed’. Recently, she had urged her fans on social media to ‘stop praising’ her because the praise endangers her ‘Iman’.

Update: Zaira Wasim re-activates Twitter and Instagram accounts

Later in the day, Zaira Wasim came back on Twitter. Responding to a tweet asking why had deactivated her account, she said that she had just taken a break.

She said, “Because I’m just a human, like everyone else, who’s allowed to take a break from everything whenever the noise inside my head or around me reaches it’s peak.”

Similar, she reactivated her Instagram account also.

Delhi government converts five luxury hotels into makeshift coronavirus hospitals

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi government converts five luxury hotels into makeshift coronavirus hospitals

As coronavirus cases continue to rise in the national capital, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government on Friday directed the officials to convert five major hotels across the city to makeshift hospitals to treat coronavirus patients.

According to the reports, the five luxury hotels – ITC Ltd’s Hotel Sheraton at Saket, Hotel Crown Plaza at Okhla Phase-I, Hotel Surya at New Friends Colony, Hotel Siddharth at Rajendra Place and Hotel Jivitesh at Pusa Road will now be turned into makeshift hospitals where medical services will be provided by private hospitals attached to each of them, the Delhi government said in an order.

The state government order stated that Hotel Sheraton will be run by Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital at Saket, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital will operate Hotel Surya. The Batra Hospital and Research Centre will operate Hotel Crown Plaza, while Dr BL Kapur Memorial Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital will run the hospitals at Hotel Siddharth and Hotel Jivitesh respectively.

The Delhi government in its order said that the attached private hospital will be required to provide sufficient manpower, nurses and doctors as per norms. Further, the attached hospital is also required to provide oxygen supply, either in the form of oxygen concentrator or oxygen cylinder, in the extended COVID Hospital in case a patient requires oxygen support, the order read.

The order said the decision has been taken to augment already existing coronavirus hospital facilities by 1,000 beds.

The order also read that the attached hospital should provide all consumables like PPE kits, N-95 Mask, gloves, medicines and equipment like pulse-oximeter, thermometer, oxygen concentrator/cylinder, etc.

Delhi government caps prices

The Delhi government has also brought price regulations and capped the price to be charged by the hotel for providing regular services like rooms, housekeeping, disinfection and food for the patients at Rs 5,000 per day per person for five-star hotels and Rs 4,000 for four and three-star hotels.

Further, the prices charged by hospitals for providing medical services have also been regulated at Rs 5,000 per patient per day, which includes consumables, services of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and nursing staff, among others.

The government has left the hospitals to take investigation charges as per the hospital rates, while capping oxygen support charges at a maximum of Rs 2,000 per bed per day.

The order read that the hospital shall collect all charges and make payments to the hotel. The hospitals can accommodate their doctors and staff at the hotel at their own expense, it said.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus cases in Delhi has reached 17,386, while 398 people have succumbed to the Chinese epidemic. In last 24 hours alone, 1,106 positive cases were reported from the national capital. There are around 9000 active cases in the city-state, while around 8000 patients have recovered from the infection.

Many thought India will be a problem when Coronavirus hit, but you have transformed how the World looks at us: Full text of PM Modi’s letter

OpIndia Staff
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Many thought India will be a problem when Coronavirus hit, but you have transformed how the World looks at us: Full text of PM Modi’s letter

Prime Minister Narendra Modi penned a heartfelt letter to the people of India today as he successfully completed the first year of his second term in office. Following is the full text of the letter penned by PM Modi.

My fellow Indian,

This day last year began a golden chapter in the history of Indian democracy. It was after several decades that the people of the country voted back a full-term government with a full majority.

Once again, I bow to the 130 crore people of India and the democratic ethos of our nation. Your affection, goodwill and active cooperation have given new energy, and inspiration.

During normal times, I would have been in your midst. However, the present circumstances do not permit that. That is why, I seek your blessings through this letter.

Back in 2014, the people of the country voted for a substantive transformation. In the last five years, the nation saw how the administrative apparatus broke itself free of status quo and from the swamp of corruption as well as misgovernance. True to the spirit of ‘Antyodaya’ the lives of millions have been transformed.

From 2014 to 2019, India’s stature rose significantly. The dignity of the poor was enhanced. The nation achieved financial inclusion, free gas and electricity connections, total sanitation coverage, and made progress towards ensuring ‘Housing for All.’

India demonstrated its mettle through the surgical strike and air strike. At the same time, decades old demands such OROP, One Nation One Tax, better MSP for farmers were fulfilled.

In 2019, the people of India voted not merely for continuity but also with a dream — of taking India to new heights. A dream of making India a global leader.

Today, 130 crore people feel involved and integrated in the development trajectory of the nation. The light of ‘Jan Shakti’ and ‘Rashtra Shakti’ has ignited the entire nation. Powered by the Mantra of ‘SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas, SabkaVishwas’ India is marching forward in all spheres.

My fellow Indian,

In the last one year, some of the decisions were widely discussed and remain etched in public discourse.

Article 370 furthered the spirit of national unity and integration. The Ram Mandir judgment, delivered unanimously by the Honourable Supreme Court of India, brought an amicable end to a debate persisting for centuries. The barbaric practice of Triple Talaq has been confined to the dustbin of history. Amendment to the Citizenship Act was an expression of India’s compassion and spirit of inclusiveness.

But there have been many other decisions that have added momentum to the nation’s development trajectory.

The creation of the post of the Chief of Defence Staff was a long pending reform that has improved coordination among the armed forces. At the same time, India has stepped up preparations for Mission Gaganyaan.

Empowering the poor, farmers, women and youth has remained our priority.

PM Kisan Samman Nidhi now includes all farmers. In just one year, more than ₹72,000 crore has been deposited in the accounts of over 9 crore 50 lakh farmers.

The Jal Jeevan Mission will ensure supply of potable drinking water through piped connections to over 15 crore rural households.

A huge campaign of free vaccination is being conducted for better health of our 50 crore livestock.

For the first time in our country’s history, farmers, farm labourers, small shopkeepers and workers in unorganised sector are assured the provision of regular monthly pension of ₹3,000 after the age of 60 years.

Besides the facility of availing bank loans, a separate department has also been created for fishermen. Several other decisions have been taken to strengthen the fisheries sector. This will boost the blue economy.

Similarly, it has been decided to constitute a Vyapari Kalyan Board for timely resolution of the problems of the traders. Higher quantum of financial assistance is being provided to more than 7 crore women attached to self help groups. Recently the loans without guarantee for self help groups has been doubled to 20 lakh from the earlier 10 lakh.

Keeping in mind the education of tribal children, we have begun the construction of more than 400 new Ekalavya Model Residential Schools.

Several people friendly laws have been ushered in during the last year. Our Parliament has broken the decades-old record in terms of productivity. As a result, whether it be the Consumer Protection Act, the amendment to Chit Fund Law or laws to provide more protection to women, children and Divyang, their passage in the Parliament was expedited.

As a result of the policies and decisions of the government, the rural-urban gap is shrinking. For the first time, the number of rural Indians using internet is 10% more than the number of urban Indians.

The list of such historic actions and decisions taken in national interest would be too long to detail in this letter. But I must say that every day of this year, my government has worked round the clock with full vigour, taking and implementing these decisions.

My fellow Indian,

As we were moving ahead at fast pace in the fulfilment of hopes and aspirations of our countrymen, the coronavirus global pandemic engulfed our country as well.

While on one hand are powers with great economic resources and state-of-the-art healthcare systems, on the other hand is our country besieged with problems amidst a vast population and limited resources.

Many feared that India will become a problem for the world when corona hits India. But today, through sheer confidence and resilience, your have transformed the way the world looks at us. You have proven that the collective strength and potential of Indians is unparalleled compared even to the powerful and prosperous countries of the world. Be it clapping and lighting a lamp to the honouring of Corona Warriors by India’s armed forces, Janta curfew or by faithful adherence to rules during the nationwide lockdown, on every occasion you have shown that Ek Bharat is the guarantee for Shrestha Bharat.

In a crisis of this magnitude, it can certainly not be claimed that no one suffered any inconvenience or discomfort. Our labourers, migrant workers, artisans & craftsmen in small scale industries, hawkers and such fellow countrymen have undergone tremendous suffering.

However, we have to take care to ensure that inconveniences that we are facing do not turn into disasters. Hence, it is very important for every Indian to follow all rules and guidelines. We have displayed patience so far and we should continue to do so. This is one of the important reasons for India being safer and in a better state than many other countries. This is a long battle but we have started traversing on the path of victory, and victory is our collective resolve.

In the last few days, a super cyclone has wrecked havoc in parts of West Bengal and Odisha. Here too, the resilience of the people of these states is noteworthy. Their courage inspires the people of India.

Dear friends,

At such a time, there is also a widespread debate on how the economies of various countries, including India’s, will recover. However, given the way India has surprised the world with its unity and resolve in the fight against coronavirus, there is a firm belief that we will also set an example in economic revival. In the economic domain, through their strength, 130 crore Indians can not only surprise the world but also inspire it.

It is the need of the hour that we must become self-reliant. We have to move forward based on our own abilities, in our own way, and there is only one way to do it — Aatmanirbhar Bharat or Self-reliant India.

The recent ₹20 lakh crore package given for Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is a major step in this direction.

This initiative will usher in a new era of opportunities for every Indian, be it our farmers, workers, small entrepreneurs or youth associated with start ups.

The fragrance of Indian soil along with the sweat, hard work and talent of our workers will create products that will reduce India’s dependence on imports and will move towards self-reliance.

Dear friends,

In this journey of the last six years, you have continuously showered me with love and blessings.

It is the strength of your blessings that has made the nation take historic decisions and progress rapidly in the last one year. However, I am also aware that there is a lot that needs to be done. There are many challenges and problems that our country faces. I am working day and night. There could be deficiencies in me but there is nothing that our country lacks. So, I believe in you, your strength and your abilities even more than I believe in myself.

The source of strength for my resolve is you, your support, blessings and affection.

Due to the global pandemic this is certainly a time of crisis but for us Indians this is also a time for a firm resolve.

We must always remember that the present and future of 130 crore will never dictated by an adversity.

We will decide our present and our future.

We will move ahead on the path of progress and victory will be ours.

It is said that- कृतम्मेदक्षिणेहस्ते, जयोमेसव्यआहितः

This means, if we have action and duty on one hand, then success is assured in the other hand.

With prayers for our country’s success, I bow to you once again.

My heartiest wishes to you and your family.

Stay healthy, stay safe!!!

Stay aware, stay informed!!!

Your Pradhan Sevak

Narendra Modi

Nobody likes a rising global power and we must ask a simple question – Who benefits the most from tearing India’s image to pieces

Abhishek Banerjee
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Nobody likes a rising global power and we must ask a simple question – Who benefits the most from tearing India’s image to pieces

I will never get tired of pointing out how momentous the year 2019 was for India and the whole world. I’m not just talking about the Lok Sabha election. I’m talking about the fact that in 2019, India entered the club of the world’s five largest economies. This marks the end of one era and the beginning of another.

As a matter of principle, nobody likes a rising global power. They didn’t like it when China rose. They don’t like it now that India is breaking into the top five. In ten years, we would be in the top three. That upsets everything. The whole global order.

So it is no surprise that the global elite has become exceptionally cruel and vicious towards India. As usual, they have used their Gunga Dins in India to support and further their cause. I’m talking about the army of activists, intellectuals, op-ed writers, street protesters who have systematically undermined and shamed India for 70 years. They have always been the infantry of the global elite. Their livelihood depends on it. They grow up on a diet of lit fests, made up international conferences, fake degrees (honorary or otherwise) in fake subjects from real universities and so on.

It’s the lobby. We all know about it. If India is sending a space probe to Mars, their job is to write a drain inspector report to make the BBC feel better.

But in the second half of the last year, it really felt different. This was not the usual ‘ragging’ that a rising power can expect from jealous elite and their water carriers. There was an unusual hard edge to the anti-India hatred that we saw everywhere: newspaper columns, campuses, television reports and so on.

India got more bad press last year than North Korea did. The words “Hindu” and “Nazi” were declared synonymous. Not for a moment did the liberal complex back out from or temper its extreme rhetoric. “Indian state” and “Nazi Germany” were uttered in the same breath, ad infinitum. The Hindu swastika and the Nazi hooked cross were mixed together liberally. Things got so bad that supporters of Yakub Memon and Afzal Guru openly hit the streets of Delhi. And we saw their images passed around in major newspaper as heroes (and ‘sheroes’) of liberation!

The global elite has never cared much about Indian lives. Their infantry in India couldn’t care less. But even by their standards, the attack on India seemed excessive.

Was it a higher power pulling the strings?

Tell me who benefits the most from tearing India’s image to pieces. Sure, Pakistan does benefit, but that’s all psychological. Pakistan will never be a credible military, diplomatic or economic opposition to India.

And more importantly, Pakistan simply does not have the money to buy this many infantry.

But there’s someone else. How about Pakistan’s sugar daddy?

We tend to forget that when India removed Article 370, Pakistan was not the only country to protest. There was another, much more powerful nation that was opposed to India “unilaterally” altering the administrative setup on the ground.

They have both motive and resources. If the world gets the impression that India has done something terrible and anti-human in the Jammu – Kashmir – Ladakh region, they are in a position to take advantage of it. With actual troops on the ground. And right now, they may be doing just that.

And they have the resources to buy up global and domestic opinion in bulk. Think of all the prizes, awards and honours they have doled out for defaming India in Kashmir. Think of the sponsored vacations for intellectuals and activists and all the loaves and fishes they are getting from international media and academic bodies. Most of those prestigious institutions are full of spies anyway, who are receiving lakhs of $$$ stashed away in secret foreign bank accounts. Coronavirus has exposed at least that much.

In India, we often marvel at the power and reach of the so called ‘ecosystem.’ It often goes something like this:

Day 1: Some previously unknown X puts up rumor on Twitter accusing India of some crime against humanity in Kashmir

Day 2: X gives interviews to at least 5-6 foreign media channels.

Day 3: X gets an invitation to speak at some top foreign university.

Day 4: X receives some prestigious journalism award.

In five days, X is all set. He or she goes from having debt with the local kirana store to being a highly paid international superstar. So called “dissenters” who sit in five star hotel lobbies tweeting about how terrible their lives are under Modi’s ‘fascist’ regime.

Well, guess who can make all these goodies appear with their pocket change?

I would say take a look around. Look again at every person with any level of institutional power who has been oddly incensed about Art 370 in the last several months. An intellectual, an activist, a writer, a filmmaker, anything…

Take a moment and ask yourself: what would this man or woman do for 1 lakh rupees? Maybe the person is too well off to care about 1 lakh rupees. Ok, how about 10 lakh rupees? How about 1 crore rupees? How about a million dollars?

You know which country could afford to spend even one billion dollars and not even notice? That’s 1000 chunks of one million dollars each..

So take a look around and ask yourself how many of these people could have been purchased. Some of these folks are so cheap they don’t even want any money. They’d be suckers for some title or award or even a laudatory tweet from some foreign institution. The former can be arranged for less than $1000. The latter would cost under $10.

I know ‘kudrati’ biryani became a punchline to many jokes in right-wing circles after some low IQ liberal protester gave a particularly hilarious interview to a reporter. How can biryani drop from heaven? But perhaps the simpleton wasn’t so wrong in his observation after all. Perhaps ‘kudrati’ biryani really did come from a ‘higher power’ — how about a superpower? It’s time to take this even more seriously.

DD News temporarily shifts operations from Mandi House to Khelgaon after an employee tested positive for Coronavirus after death

OpIndia Staff
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DD News temporarily shifts operations from Mandi House to Khelgaon after an employee tested positive for Coronavirus after death

Public broadcaster DD News shifted its headquarters from Mandi House to Khelgaon on Friday after a video journalist associated with it was detected coronavirus positive after his death, an official said.

The 53-year-old staff member of Doordarshan News who worked as a lighting assistant died in Delhi on Wednesday. He was tested for Coronavirus after his death, and the test report that arrived on Thursday showed that he had the infection.

According to his family, the patient had gone for work on May 21. He started feeling uneasiness after returning home and took leave next day. His brother stated that he did not show any coronavirus symptoms but had “mild breathing difficulty”.

As per reports, on May 25 he consulted his family doctor. The doctor advised him against getting tested for coronavirus but he was advised to undergo some blood tests.

His brother told PTI, “His blood test reports were normal. But on May 27, he collapsed and died en route to the hospital. He tested positive for the virus later. The doctor suspected that he had a heat stroke.”

As per an official of DD News, they were told that he was sick due to heatstroke and later they came to know that he suffered a heart attack that led to his death. However, when they learnt that he died due to coronavirus, the premises of the DD News and the areas he may have accessed were sanitized.

The official said, “The news operations have been shifted to the Khelgaon studio from the night of May 28. The floors of the Mandi House headquarters where news operations took place are being sanitised and it will take another two-three days.”

He informed that the deceased used to access the camera section. He added, “We have been following strict protocol and the employees are mandated to collect the equipment and leave the building. No one was allowed to loiter. But as a precautionary measure, all the camera section employees, around 35-40 persons, are being tested at RML and if they want, they can also undergo a test at a private lab.”

He also stated that employees are being called on a rotational basis and the deceased had reported to work only 6 six days in a month. He added, “We have automatic hand sanitizer machines at the entrance of the building so that people do not have to touch them and those entering the building have to undergo thermal screening.”

According to a DD employed who did not wish to be identified, the lighting assistant was present in interviews of at least two senior officials, one from the railways and another from a central ministry. It has been learnt that he had visited the AIIMS area around 12 days ago.

Mamata Banerjee opens up places of worship from June 1 in West Bengal, refuses to take migrants back saying Shramik Express trains are Corona Express trains

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee opens up places of worship from June 1 in West Bengal, refuses to take migrants back saying Shramik Express trains are Corona Express trains

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is all set to open the places of worship from June 1. However, while announcing the relaxations, the TMC Supremo also claimed that the number of coronavirus cases is increasing in the state due to the incoming of the migrant workers. The West Bengal government has relaxed lockdown norms in religious places in the state from June 1, saying that no more than 10 people will be allowed at a time.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday, “Temples, Gurudwaras, Mosques and all religious places in the state are closed. They will open from June 1 but not more than 10 people will be allowed at any given point of time. No assembly would be allowed in religious places,” Mamata said. She added,”all private, public & govt sector offices will open from 8th June, while all tea and jute industries in the state will be 100% operational from 1st June.”

Mamata Banerjee refers Shramik special trains as corona express

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee again targeted the centre’s drive to ferry migrant workers through Shramik special trains. Mamata Banerjee has said that Indian Railways is running ‘corona express’ in the name of Shramik special trains.

She further questioned why Railways is sending thousands of migrant laborers by a single train. She said, “Law is equal for all but why the trains are running in full capacity? Why railways is not maintaining social distancing?” She alleged that passengers are not being provided with food and water in the trains.

“In the name of Shramik Express, Indian Railways is running Corona Express. Why extra trains are not being run. I was Railway Minister once. I had increased coaches but why it cannot be done now? The Railways are bringing people from hotspot areas in huge numbers,” she added.

Center accused Mamata Banerjee of not cooperating in dealing with migrant crisis

Earlier, the Home Minister Amit Shah had levelled serious allegations against the Mamata Banerjee government that they are not supporting the Centre in resolving the migrant crisis. Indian Railways had echoed similar sentiments.

The Indian Railways asserted that while it has run more than 3,543 Shramik Special Trains and has transported more than 44 lakhs stranded migrants to their home States as on 26th May, several opposition-run states had approved only a minuscule number of trains. West Bengal, a state which sends a large number of workers to other states, has given approval for only 60 trains. Just to put this in perspective, Uttar Pradesh has given approval to 1,548 trains and Bihar has given approval to 1,307 trains till date, this just shows how there is a huge difference in states in approving the trains. Moreover, West Bengal has stopped receiving trains carrying migrants back home due to the cyclone Amphan.

A Railway Ministry official had said, “leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee are responsible for the poor state of affairs of stranded migrants. All they had to do was to cooperate with Indian Railways in bringing the migrants back home. It is sad to see that they chose politics over human life.”

Earlier, reports had emerged that suggested that the Mamata Banerjee government had abandoned the stranded tourists stuck in Uttarakhand as the state government had been unresponsive despite repeated requests that have been made by the migrants.

The Uttarakhand government claimed that hundreds of tourists from West Bengal are stranded in Haridwar since the beginning of the lockdown and the Mamata Banerjee-led government has not bothered to make any arrangements to allow them to return to the state.

D10: Britain proposes new alliance of 10 democracies including India, South Korea, Australia and G7 nations to break China’s monopoly on 5G technology

OpIndia Staff
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D10: Britain proposes new alliance of 10 democracies including India, South Korea, Australia and G7 nations to break China’s monopoly on 5G technology

The United Kingdom is seeking to form a new alliance of 10 5G countries, dubbed as ‘D10’, to align against China and reduce its reliance on Beijing, especially on Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Britain has planned to club India, South Korea and Australia along with G7 countries – UK, US, Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Canada – to create alternative suppliers of 5G equipment and other technologies to avoid dependence on China for vital technologies.

The move comes amidst the backdrop of heightened security concerns after the United Kingdom launched a probe into Huawei’s involvement in the country’s mobile network upgrade following the United States imposed sanctions against the Chinese telecom company. According to the sources, the proposal has already been shared with Washington.

“We need new competitors in the market. That was the reason we ended up having to go along with Huawei at the time,” the Times quoted a UK government source as saying.

As of now, Nokia and Ericsson are the only companies capable of providing 5G infrastructure but none of the two can as quickly and cheaply as Huawei. Britain has categorised Huawei a “high-risk” supplier and therefore its participation in the UK’s 5G upgrade comes with a 35% market cap, including a ban on its involvement in the sensitive “core” of the network.

The decision to unite against China comes at a time when the world is reeling under the coronavirus crisis and countries hit by the infection have been demanding to hold China accountable for unleashing a pandemic which is believed to have originated from the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The United Kingdom has accused the Communist government in China of concealing vital information and covering up the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.

United States sanctions against Huawei

The United States had recently imposed sanctions against Huawei which included banning the sale of American chips to the company. Defending the sanctions, Washington asserted that it did not want to help the Chinese in spying against the Western nations.

After American announced the additional set of sanctions against the Chinese telecom giant, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said that it is carefully assessing the impact that the company could have on the UK’s networks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week chalked up plans to scrap China’s involvement in the UK internet infrastructure. He has reportedly told officials that he wants to completely get rid of China’s involvement in UK’s network by 2023. Earlier, he had also called upon the country to come self-sufficient and less dependent on China for goods.

The United States has mounted continuous pressure on Britain to cast aside the Huawei deal. with the American president- Donald Trump threatening to snap the United Kingdom’s access to intelligence typically shared between the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

IAF makes heavy-lift CH-47 Chinook helicopters operational in the Eastern air command near Indo-China border

OpIndia Staff
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IAF makes heavy-lift CH-47 Chinook helicopters operational in the Eastern air command near Indo-China border

The Indian air force has deployed the CH-47 Chinook helicopters for operation in the eastern air command. This came at a time when India and China are indulging in a major standoff in Ladakh.

This move by IAF is very significant in the current scenario of increased border tension with China as this will allow the IAF to rapidly move troop and machinery along the border with China on the Eastern front.

Shillong based defence spokesperson Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said, “CH-47 Chinook advanced multi-mission helicopters are operational in Eastern Air Command & are being utilized in the service of Nation. Based at Air Force Station, Mohanbari in Dibrugarh district of Upper Assam, they will provide IAF the unmatched strategic airlift capability across the full spectrum of combat & humanitarian missions.”

Singh said that CH-47 Chinook choppers not only fly at high altitude but they can carry more load then the existing assets such as Mi-17.

Mi-17 can carry 24 passengers and small vehicles while in contradiction the CH-47 can carry around 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) of freight or 55 fully armed troops.

These heavy-duty choppers will be based at the Air Force Station in Mohanbari in Dibrugarh of Assam. “They will provide IAF the unmatched strategic airlift capability across the full spectrum of combat and humanitarian missions”, IAF officials said. The Boeing Chinook is among India’s latest defence buys from along with the AH-64 Apache attack helicopters.

One such chopper has dispatched essential commodities in the Vijoynagar circle of Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh. Vijoynagar is bound by three sides by Myanmar. The 16 villages have a population of approximately 4500 people.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu tweeted, “There goes Chinook Helicopter of @IAF_MCC carrying 83 quintals of essential commodities for remote Vijoynagar in Changlang dist from Miao today. Thankfully weather cleared enabling essential items to be delivered to the needy in this pandemic, completing day’s task in 2 sorties.”

The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engined, tandem-rotor, heavy-lift helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol.

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