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Plagiarism row: Social Media users expose Loksatta editor Girish Kuber for passing off a blog post by UK based economist as his editorial

OpIndia Staff
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Plagiarism row: Social Media users expose Loksatta editor Girish Kuber for passing off a blog post by UK based economist as his editorial

One of the most enduring legacies of the 21st century has been the advent of Social Media. It has fundamentally altered the way the news is perceived in recent times. The social media has empowered people who no longer “Default to Truth”, a concept propounded by psychologist Tim Levine and explained by Malcolm Gladwell in his recent book-‘Talking to Strangers’, where he argues that we have a hard time recognising a liar because we are social animals prone to placing implicit trust on others.

However, the arrival of social media has unshackled our limitations and provided us with the means to debunk lies and question conventional wisdom peddled by the propagandist charlatans of our times. Recently, the power and reach of social media wielded were apparent when Internet users promptly called out Loksatta editor Girish Kuber for a highly plagiarised article.

Several social media users pointed out how Mr Kuber blatantly lifted the entire article from a blog run by one Andrew Lilico, a PhD expert in economic modelling and policy impact simulations, and reproduced it in the Marathi language for vernacular consumption, without providing any credits to the source from where he shamelessly copied the article.

The blog titled as “A sense of proportion“, shares a perspective on how the approach embraced by the UK government in bringing down the mortality rate of the country in 2019 by instituting strict and exacting restrictions involved an apathetic indifference towards the relative importance of human happiness and flourishing that is being sacrificed in the country’s battle against the coronavirus.

Andrew Lilico’s blog post

The article draws a sharp distinction on how the mortality rate in 1996 in the United Kingdom was 11 and in 2019 was 9.4. Author Lilico contends that despite the fatality rate being high in the period between 1996 to 2019, if the current measures of banning of convivial gatherings, pubs, restaurants had been instituted by the government then to bring the number of deaths down by 100,000 per year, some people would have branded such measures as authoritarian while others would have tendered financial losses to argue their case against imposing crippling bans.

The author claims that people have lost “a sense of proportion” about the human happiness and joy as they are now willing to allow the government to enforce stifling bans and restrictions to reduce the mortality rate which would touch the levels of 1996 but they would not have necessarily reacted in the same meek manner back in 1996 when there were 100,000 mortalities as compared to the 2019 levels.

This pithy observation about how human thinking is shaped by a pandemic was brazenly duplicated by Loksatta editor in his Op-ed titled ‘Covidscope‘, thinking his treachery of replicating a blogpost in the Marathi language will not be called out. Mr Kuber provided no provenance of the article in his Op-ed, misleading readers to believe that it was his wisdom and insight and not that of a foreign PhD expert.

Article authored by Girish Kuber in LokSatta

While the article was published in the vernacular language-Marathi, the striking resemblance to the thoughts shared by Andrew Lilico is not lost. As many Social Media users highlighted, Mr Kuber had simply translated the English blog post and reproduced it in Marathi. The article makes the same observations as penned by Andrew Lilico in his blog and draws the same dichotomy between the UK government’s reticence in dealing with the higher mortality rate in 1996 as compared to its overzealousness in limiting the deaths due to coronavirus in 2020, albeit, with a lost “sense of proportion” for human happiness, which is again copied almost verbatim by the Loksatta editor without providing due credit to Lilico.

After several social media users pointed out the uncanny similarity between the Loksatta editorial and PhD expert’s blog post, Lilico acknowledged the plagiarism committed by Mr Kuber and posted a witty tweet.

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Lilico quipped that it was a fair play as he also learned an amusing saying in Marathi after plagiarism row.

“OK. Fair play. Today I’ve learned an amusing saying: “एक न्हावी दुसरया न्हाव्याच्या दाढीचे पैसे घेत नाही म्हणतात” – “It is said that one barber does not charge for the beard of another barber,” Lilico tweeted while quoting a tweet that accused Loksatta editor Girish Kuber of blatantly copying Lilico’s blog post.

Andrew also confirmed that the Loksatta editor didn’t seek his permission before reproducing his article, and informed that he came to know about it only after people tweeted about it.

Data leak from Chinese military-run university suggests that coronavirus cases in China could be more than 640,000

OpIndia Staff
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Data leak from Chinese military-run university suggests that coronavirus cases in China could be more than 640,000

A latest leaked database from a Chinese military-run university has exposed dubious claims made by China regarding the number of the affected person due to the coronavirus as the leaked data suggests that at least 640,000 people have affected contrary to the claims of only 84,000 coronavirus infections in the country.

According to the reports, a database leaked from the Chinese-military run National University of Defence Technology in the city of Changsha suggested the country could have 640,000 cases.

However, the country has reported only 84,029 positive cases of coronavirus, which had resulted in widespread scepticism over the authenticity of claims made by the Chinese establishment. The information comes from a database leaked to Foreign Policy and 100 Reporters, which carried out a brief analysis of the information it contained.

Data leaks of information regarding confirmed cases in China

The reports suggest that the data leaks contains entries of 640,000 individual collected by authorities from at least 230 cities spread across the country. Each entry contains latitude, longitude, and ‘confirmed’ number of cases at the location on a specific date, which ranges from early February to late April.

The locations traced include not only hospitals but also apartment compounds, hotels, supermarkets, railway stations, restaurants, schools and even a branch of KFC. Assuming that each entry has at least one case, that would mean that at least a minimum 640,000 cases of the virus have been recorded in China.

Experts believe that the number could also be much higher. According to the people who have access to such a database said that a single data entry contains two cases of the virus. The data may also be lower as the methodology is not clear and some cases may have been counted several times.

US suspected under-reporting by Chinese

The latest data leak comes at a time when the US had asserted that China was hiding the true amount of its citizens who had been killed by the virus, as well as how many had been infected. The US officials had earlier stated that a White House report concluded China’s official figures were fake.

Last month, United States President Donald Trump during his daily briefing, said, “China’s number one by a lot. It’s not even close. They’re way ahead of us in terms of death.”

Following the outrage, China had also revised its numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths by 50 per cent in Wuhan city – the epicentre of coronavirus after which the total number went up to 50,333 and the number of fatalities up by 1,290 to 3,869. 

Ahead of Ramzan Eid, lockdown and social distancing norms go for a toss in Mumbai’s Shivaji Nagar, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya demands deployment of army

OpIndia Staff
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Ahead of Ramzan Eid, lockdown and social distancing norms go for a toss in Mumbai’s Shivaji Nagar, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya demands deployment of army

With Ramzan Eid fast approaching, the challenges for the government seem to have increased to ensure that the lockdown measure and social distancing guidelines are followed especially in places where the pandemic has created havoc. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya took to Twitter on Friday and shared a video where huge crowd had gathered at Shivaji Nagar Govandi Road no. 2, which is a Muslim dominated area.

He even questioned the absence of Mumbai Police which led to the gathering of crowd. Speaking to news agency ANI, Somaiya said that over 1,000 coronavirus positive people have been reported from Shivaji Nagar itself. Despite that, the 20 CAPF companies the Maharashtra government has called in are not deployed there. He has demanded immediate deployment of armed forces in areas like Shivaji Nagar.

CAPF in Maharashtra

As per reports, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has said that thousands of cases have emerged in the last 15 days in the Shivaji Nagar Area despite that we are seeing this huge crowd. The Maharashtra government has called 20 security agencies of Central Armed forces, but what is the reason for them not using these forces to implement stricter lockdown. “I demand immediate military deployment in the areas like Shivaji Nagar”, said Kirit Somaiya.

Earlier in April, two Shivaji Nagar youths, Fahad and Salim were arrested by Mumbai Police for posting on TikTok that they are TikTok stars and lockdown restrictions do not apply to them.

Maharashtra is the worst-hit state by the pandemic

The State of Maharashtra has gathered the top position in the list of the states grossly affected by the coronavirus epidemic. Thousands of new cases have been emerging on a daily basis while the recovery rate is much lower.

Meanwhile, the state has reported 29,100 active cases so far with a surge of 1576 new cases in the last 24-hours, and 1068 have died due to pandemic.

West Bengal: Deceased Coronavirus patient cremated without informing family members kept in quarantine, informed after 4 days

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Deceased Coronavirus patient cremated without informing family members kept in quarantine, informed after 4 days

The hospital staff of MR Bangur hospital in West Bengal had cremated the body of a 70-year-old Coronavirus patient without bothering to inform the family about his death or last rites, the family members have claimed.

Harinath Sen, who was paralysed on the right side of the body due to a brain stroke, was diagnosed with the Wuhan Coronavirus on April 29 at the NRS Medical College hospital. As such, he was shifted to West Bengal’s first Coronavirus hospital, MR Bangur hospital. On May 1, Sen’s family was informed that his health had deteriorated. Reportedly, the hospital authorities did not inform anything about the patient after May 1. As the family was in quarantine, they could not get regular updates in his health.

Family accuses hospital of ‘indifference’

When the family contacted the hospital to learn about his health condition on May 5, they denied having any information about the patient. On May 6, when the family reached out to the hospital, they were informed that Sen had died on May 2 and that his body was cremated.

The family of Harinath Sen was shell-shocked, learning about his fate. According to Harinath’s son, Arijit Sen, the hospital did not contact them after May 1. He revealed that the hospital neither bothered to inform about the death of his father nor the cremation. Arjit added, “Even the health department had no knowledge about my father’s case when we called them.”

Reportedly, the family was kept isolated at a quarantine Centre by the State Government when Harinath was being treated at the MR Bangur Hospital after testing positive for Coronavirus. Recounting his experience with the hospital staff, Arjit narrated, “When we called up the ward master again to recheck the information, a lady picked up the call and rudely told us that the body had been taken away by Kolkata Corporation.”

The woman refused to identify herself and said, “There is only one female staff deputed here between 10 am and 8 pm, everyone knows that. First tell me your name or else I will not share any information.”

The family has neither been handed the death certificate nor the medical documents of the deceased. They have instead been asked to contact the Topsia crematorium that is dedicated to Coronavirus patients. Harinath is now survived by his ailing wife, two sons, and daughters-in-law.

Hospital Denies Charges

The MR Bangur hospital has, however, denied all charges levelled against it. According to hospital superintendent Dr Sisir Naskar, the assistant superintendent had contacted the family as per the standard operating procedure. He added that the police are informed in cases where the family cannot be reached. On being asked about informing police in Harinath’s case, Dr. Sisir denied doing so.

The hospital superintendent informed that after family is briefed about the death of a Coronavirus patient, a report is sent to the Health Department and last rites are performed by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

West Bengal secretly disposing bodies

Earlier, it was reported that every night, special teams of cops and paramedics dispose of bodies of coronavirus victims across Bengal. A special incinerator has been created close to a highway that connects Kolkata with the Sundarbans where workers are disposing of a large number of bodies every day. Over 100 videos showing slugfests between cops and local residents over such silent cremation using kerosene and other fuels have surfaced on social media platforms.

Under fire for selling discriminatory ‘halal only’ meat, online grocery store Big Basket makes jhatka meat available for sale

OpIndia Staff
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Under fire for selling discriminatory ‘halal only’ meat, online grocery store Big Basket makes jhatka meat available for sale

Days after Big Basket stoked controversy by admitting that it sells ‘halal only’ meat to its customers, the online grocery store has now made jhatka meat products available for purchase.

Last week, social media users had flagged the non-inclusive approach of the online grocery store – Big Basket, which had admitted that it sold only Halal products.

Big Basket’s response led to social media users pointing out the discriminatory nature of halal only products and depriving the customers whose religious beliefs forbid them from consuming halal products.

Several netizens had taken to Twitter to expose the non-inclusive approach of the online grocery store, who was in fact pushing its customers to forcefully consume Halal products.

It is pertinent to note that nowadays many food products are label as ‘Halal’ certified, which means not only that the products are manufactured according to Islamic practices, but many times it also means that only Muslims are employed in the entire production and packaging chain of such Halal certified products.

For example, the guidelines for preparing Halal certified meat make it abundantly clear that only Muslim employees are allowed to participate in the entire process at every stage from slaughtering to packaging, and if any non-Muslim is involved in the process, the product becomes Haram, or not allowed as per Islam.

Moreover, ‘halal only’ meat is also discriminatory for those people whose religion forbids them from consuming halal meat. Example, Sikhism forbids consumption of halal meat. Only jhatka meat is allowed. Official Khalsa code of conduct categorically forbids consumption of halal meat.

Big Basket includes ‘Jhatka’ meat

Following a severe protest by social media users and customers, the online grocery store – Big Basket has now decided to include ‘Jhatka’ meat in its menu.

Big Basket now offers jhatka meat

Perhaps, the united efforts of the people following indigenous faith acted as pressure on these big companies, who otherwise force their customers to accept non-standard goods such as ‘Halal’ products.

Indore: Video of a 6-year-old child shouting slogans to kill PM Modi goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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Indore: Video of a 6-year-old child shouting slogans to kill PM Modi goes viral

A shocking video has emerged from Indore, where a kid belonging to a Muslim family was seen shouting slogans, “We will kill Modi”.

According to the reports, the incident was reported at Index Hospital of Indore, Madhya Pradesh. In the viral video, a 6-year-old child was seen raising slogans of killing Prime Minister Modi.

The video was reportedly shot after a family was discharged from the hospital after being cured of the coronavirus. The child belonged to the family of one of the patients who was discharged from the hospital on Friday.

Former MLA Dr Rajesh Sonkar was also present at the index Medical College at a time when the incident occurred. He was at the premises as a guest to greet the patients who were discharged after they were cured of coronavirus.

Many people from the hospital, including staff and management, were present there to encourage the discharged patients. As people were cheering for the discharged patients, a 6-year-old child of one of family loudly shouted, “Modi ko Maarenge (We will kill Modi)”.

The discharged patients were associated with Tablighi Jamaat

Speaking to OpIndia, former MLA and BJP leader Rajesh Sonkar said that the coronavirus patients, who were discharged from the hospital of Index Medical College, Indore, were sent home on 13 May. He added that most of the people were associated with the Tablighi Jamaat.

The former MLA said that the discharged patients belong to the Muslim community and were from different states. They were recording the incident, however, stopped it as the child raised the slogan to kill Modi. The video of the child screaming was recorded on a mobile camera, which has now become viral on social media.

BJP leader Rajesh Sonkar said that he tried to convince the child and his family after such slogans were raised. He said that the Modi government and the state government together are providing all kinds of facilities to every section of the society in the fight against the coronavirus. 

Shockingly, the parents did not stop the small child from shouting such violent slogans, instead, they laughed at the child encouragingly, added the BJP leader.

Union Minister VK Singh slams Shekhar ‘Coupta’ for suggesting to plant fake news against Modi government, calls him sold out

OpIndia Staff
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Union Minister VK Singh slams Shekhar ‘Coupta’ for suggesting to plant fake news against Modi government, calls him sold out

On Friday, The Print, the media venture of Shekhar Gupta who heads the Editors Guild of India, in what seems to be a shameless admission of mainstream media being the biggest purveyor of fake news, had published an article urging liberals and opposition parties to embrace fake news in their war against Prime Minister Modi.

Calling for curbs on freedom of expression of individuals and crackdown on political opponents, The Print had suggested that the opposition parties should attack the Modi government with a chain of lies. The moral depravity to actively support the spreading of misinformation and fake news, especially by a media venture controlled by Chief of the Editor’s Guild had caused a huge furore across the social media.

Taking a note against the misinformation war by the Congress ecosystem against the ruling BJP, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, former army chief General VK Singh on Friday lambasted Shekhar Gupta for his endorsement of fake news campaign to target the Modi government.

In his tweet, Retd General VK Singh said that it is a democratic right to retweet an article that questions the government and also when the article draws parallels with other world events.

Attacking Shekhar Gupta, however, Singh said that when someone retweets an article that not only questioned the government but also slyly advised the opposition parties to peddle fake news or stifle voices in opposition-ruled states, it will be a disservice to their fraternity.

The strong response from the Union Minister came after Shekhar Gupta had himself tweeted the controversial article, which made a strong pitch for opposition parties and detractors of Modi government to indulge in a disinformation campaign to discredit their efforts.

Union Minister VK Singh also took a dig at Shekhar Gupta, by calling him ‘Coupta’ – an infamous buzzword often used in social media circles to define Shekhar Gupta for planting a fake coup story against the India Army when Singh was the army chief, and also asked him to be honest to the post of the editor even if he cannot be honest to his professions.

It is pertinent to note that Shekhar Gupta, during his time as the editor of Indian Express, had come up with a conspiracy theory in 2012 claiming that two Army units had moved towards Delhi to stage a coup against the elected government in Delhi. The hit job by Shekhar Gupta and Indian Express was made to target then Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh.

Referring to Shekhar Gupta, as a ‘sold out’ journalist, General VK Singh mocked the senior journalist of living up to him name by resorting to planting fake coup stories to advising curbing speech and peddling fake news.

The attack against Shekhar Gupta comes at a time when ‘The Print‘ has emerged as a notorious fake news purveyor in recent times. The Print has been at the forefront of fighting the misinformation war against the Modi government on behalf of the opposition parties. Perhaps, the brains behind the Print have now thought that they could now try to be in relevance by mainstreaming fake news as a reality.

24 migrants die in road accident in Uttar Pradesh, CM Yogi Adityanath seeks immediate report

OpIndia Staff
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24 migrants die in road accident in Uttar Pradesh, CM Yogi Adityanath seeks immediate report

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his deepest condolences to the families of 24 migrant workers who died in a road accident in Mihauli area in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday morning.

According to State Additional Chief Secretary (Home Ministry) Awanish Awasthi, Yogi Adityanath has directed all injured migrants, more than 20 people, to be provided immediate medical attention. He has also sought an immediate report from the Commissioner and the Inspector General of Police (Kanpur) about the cause of the accident.

Collision between two trucks

At 3:30 am on Saturday, a truck reportedly carrying 50 migrant workers collided with another truck, in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh, resulting in at least 24 deaths. 22 people have been injured in the road accident, 15 of whom are said to be in critical condition. The truck carrying migrant workers belonging to West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand was coming from Rajasthan when it collided with another truck travelling from Delhi, informed Abhishek Singh, the district magistrate of Auraiya.

According to Archana Srivastava, the Chief Medical Officer of the Auraiya District (CMO), 22 injured migrant workers were admitted to the hospital while 24 of them were brought dead. 15 people who wherein critical condition were referred to Saifai PGI.

Prime minister Narendra Modi also offered condolence for the incident. He said that the govt is working toward relief work. “The road accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya is very tragic. The government is involved in relief work actively. I express my condolences to the families of those killed in this accident, as well as wish speedy recovery for the injured,” PM Modi tweeted in Hindi.

Aurangabad Train Accident

Last Friday, 16 migrant workers, sleeping on the railway tracks, were mowed down by a goods train at Gadhe Jalgaon village in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district. The migrant workers were walking from Jalna to Aurangabad, a distance of nearly 65km, to catch a train to return home. They had walked along the rail tracks for 45 mins and had then slept on the tracks. Five of them escaped with injuries and they have been rushed to a hospital. The migrants had decided to take the railways track to reach Aurangabad to avoid getting zeroed by the police on the highways.

Deccan Chronicle quietly removes the ‘Bhakts’ jibe from its report on Indian Army’s Tour of Duty proposal for civilians

OpIndia Staff
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Deccan Chronicle quietly removes the ‘Bhakts’ jibe from its report on Indian Army’s Tour of Duty proposal for civilians

Deccan Chronicle, on Thursday, ran a story on Indian Army’s proposal of allowing civilians join the Armed Forces for three years. While the report itself was devoid of any jibes, the headline took a dig at the ‘bhakts’ suggesting that now is the time for supporters of Prime Minister Modi, who are often referred to as ‘bhakts’ (devotees) or ‘andh bhakts’ (blind followers) condescendingly by a certain section of media and politicians, to join the Army.

Deccan Chronicle original headline (Image credit @saketgokhale on Twitter)

Congress supporters soon hailed Deccan Chronicle for its ‘fantastic’ headline and also expressed fear that the ‘Sanghis’ might now ‘infiltrate’ the army.

Some even saw this as a sign that the print media has ‘credibility’.

Meanwhile, PM Modi’s supporters took the jibe in their stride and used the taunt as proof that only the ‘bhakts’ could actually serve the nation and be ready to die for the motherland.

However, a day later, despite appreciation from Congress supporters, Deccan Chronicle has quietly removed the ‘bhakt’ jibe from its headline.

Deccan Chronicle’s updated headline

The quietly updated headline now reads “Army proposes three-year Tour of Duty for citizens”.

The Game of Headlines

AajTak had recently displayed Hinduphobia by dragging Karwa Chauth in a report on violence in a Muslim household. The headline stated that a husband had severed his wife’s tongue on the day of ‘Karwa Chauth’ when the perpetrator and the victim, both, were non-Hindus. Similarly, earlier NDTV had to change its headline after its dishonesty was caught on Twitter.

Trump administration moves to cut Huawei off from global chip suppliers, bars it and its suppliers from using American equipment and technologies

OpIndia Staff
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Trump administration moves to cut Huawei off from global chip suppliers, bars it and its suppliers from using American equipment and technologies

A day after threatening to cut ties with China over trade-related issues, the Trump administration, in a major escalation, has issued a new rule Friday barring Huawei and its suppliers from using American technology and software.

In an action that could ramp up tensions with China, the US administration on Friday decided to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei Technologies from major global chipmakers. The US Commerce Department said it was amending an export rule to “strategically target Huawei’s acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain US software and technology.”

The new rule, which will be effective from in September, will bar companies around the world from using American-made machinery and software to design or produce chips for Huawei or its entities. The companies can now apply for a license to continue supplying those products, but the administration could deny permission those requests.

Huawei, which needs semiconductors for its widely used smartphones and telecoms equipment, is the latest victim of the trade-wars between the United States and China. According to the US Commerce Department, Huawei has been using US software and technology to design semiconductors, despite being placed on a US economic blacklist in May 2019.

The rule change will not only affect Huawei, the world’s no. 2 smartphone maker, but also Taiwan’s TSMC, a major producer of chips for Huawei, Apple and Qualcomm. US govt has allowed wafers already in production to be shipped to Huawei, but those shipments have to be completed within 120 days from Friday. Wafers that will go into production from Friday will come under the new rule.

Most chip manufacturers rely on tools and equipment produced by US companies like KLA, Lam Research and Applied Materials, and also chip designs developed by American companies.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department has extended a temporary license that was set to expire Friday allowing US companies, many of which operate wireless networks in rural America. These companies are allowed to continue doing business with Huawei till August 13.

Threat to US national security

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement said that the rule change is to “prevent U.S. technologies from enabling malign activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests”. He added that Huawei and its affiliates “have stepped-up efforts to undermine these national security-based restrictions.”

The Commerce Department said the rule will allow wafers already in production to be shipped to Huawei as long as the shipments are complete within 120 days from Friday. The chipsets will need to be in production by Friday or they are ineligible under the rule.

The United States administration has already placed Huawei and 114 affiliates on its economic blacklist citing national security concerns.

Last month, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had initiated the process of shutting down the US operations of three state-controlled Chinese telecommunications companies, citing national security risks. 

US President Donald Trump threatens to cut ties with China

In a sign of further deterioration of ties between US and China, US President Donald Trump on Thursday had said that he had lost interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping and went on to suggest that his country could even cut ties with the China following the outbreak of deadly pandemic of the Wuhan Coronavirus.

Donald Trump, speaking to Fox News on Thursday, had said he was very disappointed with China’s failure to contain the disease and that the pandemic had cast a shadow over the US-China trade deal.

US administration to withdraw billions of dollars worth American pension fund investments from China

Just yesterday, Donald Trump administration had decided to pull out billion dollars worth of American pension fund investments in China. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump confirmed that his administration has asked for the withdrawal of billions of dollars of pension fund investments in China as a response to China’s failure to notify the world regarding the Chinese Coronavirus.

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