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Meet Corona warrior Kapil Agarwal from Haryana who has managed to feed thousands across India amidst lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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Meet Corona warrior Kapil Agarwal from Haryana who has managed to feed thousands across India amidst lockdown

Social media is generally considered an abused platform where under the guise of anonymity, several users openly resort to spreading hate and malice. Even at a time as critical as this one, when the entire country is foreshadowed in uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people do not seem to abstain, but, thank god for corona ‘warriors’ like Kapil Agarwal, our faith in humanity is still alive.

The state executive member social media and IT at BJP Haryana, Kapil Agarwal, has used the Twitter platform to feed thousands across India. Speaking about his initiative, the Corona Yoddha said: “Since the beginning of the lockdown, efforts are being made to provide ration and food in different areas of Gurugram on the information received through tweets, messages and other means. Till now ration has been provided to about 1000 families and food has been provided to about 500000 people and this work will continue in future”.

When OpIndia got in touch with this ‘warrior’ he said that he started the initiative on March 28, four days after the central government announced the coronavirus lockdown 1.0. Now with the lockdown entering its third phase, Kapil Agarwal, along with his friends continue to reach out to the needy as and when they receive information and extend a helping hand to the marginalised at the time of this crisis.

Kapil Agarwal gives a special mention to BJP leader Tajinder Bagga, MP representing Godda constituency, Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey and Kapil Mishra, who have been helping him reach out to the needy at the time of this pandemic.

He said people like Tajinder Bagga and Nishikant Dubey regularly share information about whoever is in need of food or other basic amenities with him, and he then gets in touch with these people and coordinates with his team members to make sure that they reach out to the people in distress as soon as possible.

Agarwal said that they are a group of 12 to 13 people who are using their private vehicles to distribute cooked food as well as ration amidst the Coronavirus lockdown. He said that his team members have been feeding around 7,000 to 10,000 people on a daily basis. He and his friends had initially pitched in their own money to start this initiative but now they have been receiving help from the Haryana government as well, confirmed the BJP Haryana member.

He confirmed to OpIndia that his team has been covering almost all Gurugram districts and a few more areas nearby like Rewari etc. Kapil Agarwal said that MLA Sudhir Singla has also been relentless in coordinating the distribution of food packets and ration kits and helping his team with funds to help those in need.

Apart from ration and food packets, Kapil Agarwal and his team are also distributing masks, helping people to acquire passes in case of an emergency. All this is being done with the help of MLA Sudhir Singla and his team confirmed Agarwal.

Kapil Agarwal has also shared helpline numbers for the Gurugram district on his Facebook page where people can call and ask for assistance at the time of the crisis.

Though Kapil Agarwal is undoubtedly doing a phenomenal job, he is not the only one working relentlessly at the forefront in extending crucial help to the needy at the time of this pandemic. There are many more people like him who have been reaching out to the remotest corners of the country in order to extend their assistance.

OpIndia had earlier got in touch with a few such other ‘warriors’ so to say who are fighting the good fight: to ensure in such hard times no person goes to sleep on an empty stomach.

Corona ‘warrior’ Tajinder Bagga

One such person has been BJP leader Tajinder Bagga. “I barely sleep as I am spending most of my day coordinating on social media with various people and connecting those who need help to those who could provide. It is a group effort and people from BJP, the Yuva Morcha, the RSS, Art of Living and Patanjali have come out to help,” he says.

At a time when everyone is seeing a one-upmanship, people like Bagga have not let political differences get into the way of humanity. When RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav called for help for the migrant workers in Bihar who were struggling for ration, Bagga coordinated with BJP youth wing to ensure that help is reached.

Corona ‘warrior’ Ankit Jain

Ankit Jain, BJP supporter and social media influencer, has also been relentless in coordinating distribution of food packets and ration kits to those in need. “A lady who lives in an ashram at the Nashik-Aurangabad border and is suffering from terminal illness pinged me that she was low on supply of medicines and oxygen. When she tweeted to me, she had five days of supply. Her medicines were stuck in India Post because of lockdown. We tried out best to reach out to concerned people and we tried to get the medicines delivered to her,” he said.

HAI Board Member Sudhir

Speaking to OpIndia, Humanitarian Aid International (HAI) Board Member Sudhir said that they have started community kitchens in various parts of Delhi and sending out as many as 2,500 food packets daily to those who need them in those areas. 

Sewa Bharati, an RSS offshoot

Moreover, Sewa Bharati, an RSS offshoot, has also been working relentlessly, extending a helping hand to the marginalised at the time of this crisis. From distributing food packets to manufacturing masks at war footing and reaching out and distributing at places facing a scarcity to distributing bed sheets and blankets to providing basic medicines, Sewa Bharati cadres have been in the forefront in extending crucial help to the needy at the time of this pandemic. 

The organisation has provided different helpline numbers for every state. If a person is in distress or gets stuck in any sort of problem, then he/she can call these numbers and ask for help. People stranded in railway stations and bus stops are being rescued by the Sewa Bharati workers.

In Delhi, the organisation has been distributing over 10000 food packets a day. Almost 5,000 cadres have been feeding 75,000 Delhiites on a daily basis. So far the food they are providing is made out of 45 kitchens spread across Delhi. Once the food packets are ready, their zonal teams distribute among the needy in their area.

Speaking to OpIndia, one of the full-time members of Sewa Bharati, Bhupendra claimed that the kitchen has been set up since March 22 where daily food for 30,000 people is being prepared.

Sewa Bharati volunteers are also serving on the Burma border. Through video conferencing, the officials and volunteers keep in touch with each other to make sure the work goes on smoothly. Special attention is being given to the economically weaker areas.

Apart from all this, Sewa Bharati is also producing domestic masks. Almost 1 lakh masks have been distributed in Jammu alone. The organisation is daily getting more than twelve hundred masks from its three units for distribution among the needy.

And while our fight against the Chinese coronavirus continues, it is people like these who give us hope that we will emerge not only stronger but kinder when the pandemic is a thing of past.

All you need to know about Shramik trains for migrant workers, and the answer to the burning question: Who pays for it all?

OpIndia Staff
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All you need to know about Shramik trains for migrant workers, and the answer to the burning question: Who pays for it all?

As the country fights the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, a raging controversy overtook the conversation a couple of days ago. Since the beginning of the nation-wide lockdown, the brunt of the necessary battle was borne by the migrant labourers who had no means to go back home, and a large chunk of them was also rendered jobless due to the lockdown. With railways and busses being halted due to the lockdown, several protests had broken out in several parts of the country where migrant labourers expressed their wish for the government to facilitate their return to their home states. Owing to this, the central government has now started ‘shramik’ special trains which are facilitating the return of migrant labourers back to their home states from the various states where they might be stranded due to the Coronavirus lockdown. But the burning question about the special Shramik trains is – who pays for the tickets?

Amidst the stellar step by the central government, a needless controversy overshadowed the conversation, with media playing along. The opposition parties, mainly Congress, alleged that the central government was charging the migrant workers for their railway ticket back home. The media too ran this blatant lie, creating a confusion amidst the already volatile and difficult situation. Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressed people via video conferencing and asserted that she will pay the ticket bills of all migrant labourers if the central government was not willing to do so.

This was, of course, hollow grandstanding because Sonia Gandhi, who is now a veteran politician, knows well that her assertions are wildly incorrect.

While the controversy rages on despite several fact-checks, here are 8 questions regarding the controversy that we have tried to answer to bring some clarity to the issue.

Why did railways ask passengers to pay?

The ‘Shramik’ trains are specials trains that have been started by the Railways to ferry stranded migrant labourers from various states across India to their home states. These trains were started after requests by the states and protests by migrant labourers amidst the Coronavirus lockdown and as such, are not open for the public at large. It is the state that has to ensure that migrant labourers in their state are registered and screened and then, they can be ferried though the Shramik train to their home state.

Most importantly, passengers will not have to buy tickets as the state governments concerned will have to coordinate and pay for the tickets. As these are not regular trains, but special trains which will run on the request of state government, there is no provision to buy tickets for those trains. The respective state governments will book the trains by making the payment as charged by the Indian Railways, and the passengers do not have to pay anything.

The central government is paying 85% of the cost that is incurred per passenger to run this train and 15% of the cost in meant to be borne by the state government. Hence, ideally, the state is supposed to make good on that 15% payment through their coffers. However, if the state decides to charge the migrant workers, the only party to be blamed for that is the state government and not the central government. The central government itself it not charging the passengers or selling tickets.

Are there any states that made the migrant workers pay the 15% ticket cost meant to be borne by state?

According to several media reports, the states that did charge the passengers, who in this case were migrant workers were the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Rajasthan. Maharashtra is governed by an alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP, Kerala by the Communists and Rajasthan by Congress.

Why did Railways ask even the states to pay for Shramik trains, why not do it as free service?

A 15% cost has been imposed on the state government to ensure that the state government too has skin in the game. As such, if the travel was made completely free by Railways and the Central government, passengers other than migrant workers would have also been boarded on those trains and the result would be chaos like we saw in states like Maharashtra, during the protests near Bandra mosque or even the chaos at Anand Vihar bus station. It was because of this that the states were given the responsibility to come up with a list (after screening) of passengers and central railway is to provide tickets and trains. To impose responsibility, the Railways asked the states to cough up 15% of the travel cost while the central government would make good 85% of the travel cost.

How exactly is Railways bearing 85% of cost?

If one sees any railway ticket, it is mentioned as a standard disclaimer that the price any passenger is paying for the ticket covers only 57% of the cost incurred for the travel. This is under normal circumstances and for every ticket sold by railways. For the Shramik trains, only 2/3rd of the seats would be filled to ensure social distancing during travel. So the right seat and the left seat would be occupied with the middle seat being empty. Or the top birth and bottom birth would be assigned with the middle birth being empty. As such, due to this, the chargeable fees would come down to 38% (to the passenger, which is supposed to be paid by the state). The trains, since they are special trains, would come back completely empty, thus, the cost to passenger is further divided by half, which would be 19%. After taking into account passenger services like food and sanitation, the state governments were asked to pay 15% of the total cost with the remaining 85% being borne by the central government.

The picture is clearer with this infographic:

Why railways gave money to PM CARES and instead did not spend that on subsidising Shramik trains?

This assertion was tweeted by Rahul Gandhi when he asserted that Railways paid Rs 151 crores to PM CARES fund but is now asking the migrant labourers to play. This was deliberate confusion caused by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Funds to PM CARES was not EXTRA burden on Railways, which could have been spent elsewhere. Railway employees gave part of their salary and benefits to the fund. Instead of hailing the employees for being responsible public servants, Rahul Gandhi unnecessary dragged politics and muddied the water.

People travelling by air were not asked to pay

Wrong. They were, and where they were not asked to pay, governments will pay the bill to Air India or Indian Air Force, wherever applicable. Further, some of these planes were like airlift, an emergency evacuation like from Wuhan, but even there, the government has to foot the bill.

How much will Sonia Gandhi have to pay if she is to pay for all Shramik trains for all migrant workers?

Well, till the day before yesterday, Railways operated 34 trains for migrant workers. The total cost of operating 34 trains was Rs 24 crores (of which, only Rs 3.5 crores was to be paid by the states). If we assume that the Railways would have to operate 1,000 trains for all the migrant workers to be transported back to their home states, then Sonia Gandhi would have to pay about 706 crores. And this amount would have to be paid from CWC and Sonia Gandhi’s personal coffers, not the state exchequers.

It is thus clear that the political conjectures regarding this controversy are just that – political conjectures. The Congress and other opposition parties like the Shiv Sena are using a horrifying pandemic to score political brownie points by exploiting the sentiments of the poor migrant labourers who just want to go back home to their families amidst the pandemic.

Bangladesh quarantines Rohingya refugees rescued from sea in Bhashan Char island’s refugee camp built to relocate Rohingyas from mainland

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh quarantines Rohingya refugees rescued from sea in Bhashan Char island’s refugee camp built to relocate Rohingyas from mainland

Fearing the spread of contagious disease of Wuhan coronavirus, Bangladesh has quarantined dozens of Rohingya refugees who are stranded at sea for weeks in a remote island known as Bhashan char, which is an uninhabited island in the Bay of Bengal mainly developed for Rohingyas. Bangladesh has built a massive facility to move around 1,00,000 Rohingya refugees from the mainland to the island, but it was empty till now as relocation had not started yet.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Memon told Benar News on Sunday, “Suddenly, the day before yesterday, some Rohingyas arrived in Teknaf aboard a dinghy. Some escaped, and the coast guard escorted the rest to Bhashan Char on Saturday night. They will be quarantined there.” Teknaf is the southernmost district of Bangladesh bordering Myanmar.

Momen further added, “We sent them to Bhasan Char to keep them isolated from people in the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar. Who knows whether they are infected with coronavirus or not?”

As per reports, Bangladesh refugee relief and repatriation commissioner Mahbub Alam Talukdar confirmed that 29 people were “sent to Bhashan char by the Bangladesh Military. They’ve got enough medical facilities, food, and water”. The 29 people included 28 Rohingyas and a local broker. It is not clear that they will remain there after quarantine or will return back to Bangladesh.

A team of doctors from Bangladesh Navy have also visited to take note of any healthcare issues the residents might have. 

From now, all newly arrived Rohingyas will be sent to Bhashan Char, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen earlier told the Dhaka Tribune.

Rohingyas stranded in the sea in an attempt to reach Malaysia

The refugees sent at the island were among those Rohingya refugees who were stranded in the sea for months in an attempt to reach Malaysia but the country did not accept due to coronavirus outbreak.

Last month, some 28 Rohingya refugees died of hunger when one of the boats ran out of essentials. The boat was floating in water for three months after it had left for Malaysia in January, but by the time it reached the Malaysian coast, was denied entry due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The people in the boat were rescued by the Bangladeshi coast guard after it was spotted in Bangladeshi water in the Bay of Bengal.

The Bhashan Char facility to keep 1 lakh Rohingyas

Bangladesh has built a massive facility in Bhashan Char to house Rohingya refugees who are staying in camps in Cox’s Bazaar. Bangladesh plans to relocate around 1,00,000 Rohingyas to the island. Although the facility built a cost of more than 300 million Taka is almost ready, not a single Rohingya was relocated due to reluctance of the refugees to relocate, and also due to opposition from international aid agencies.

According to Bangladesh govt officials, international aid workers are fearmongering and telling Rohingyas that they will not survive on the island, due to which they are refusing to shift to the island. In fact, the Rohingyas say that they’d rather die in the congested Cox’s Bazaar than move to the remote island. If the refugees are moved to the island, the international aid workers will also have to move with them, but they prefer to stay in Cox’s Bazar, that’s why they are blocking the move, allege Bangladesh govt. Bangladesh govt has built separate buildings for offices of the aid agencies in the island facility.

The Cox Bazaar is home to nearly home to one million Rohingya refugees. They have been kept in strict lockdown since early April. Very limited movement is allowed within the squalid cluster of Makeshift camp.

Bhashan Char, which literally means ‘floating island’ emerged as an island about 20 years ago from a slit. The area was declared a forest reserve in 2013 and it regularly gets flooded between the monsoon months of June to September. The island’s area is around 10,000 acres at high tide and 15,000 acres at low tide.

It is located 21 nautical miles from Noakhali, 11 nautical miles from Jahajir Char, 4.2 nautical miles from Sandwip, 28 nautical miles from Patenga, and 13.2 nautical miles from Hatia and the only mode of commute for residents of Bhasan Char, should the Rohingyas decide to relocate to that island, will be vessels that take three to three-and-a-half hours to travel from Hatia.

Iran: Instagram couple sentenced to 16 years prison, 74 lashes and three months of unpaid labour in absentia for “propaganda against the regime”

OpIndia Staff
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Iran: Instagram couple sentenced to 16 years prison, 74 lashes and three months of unpaid labour in absentia for “propaganda against the regime”

A couple from Iran, Ahmad Moin-Shirazi and Shabnam Shahrokhi, has been sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison, 74 lashes and three months of unpaid labour in absentia by the Iranian court, for posting “propaganda against the regime”, “obscene and vulgar” content and “spreading moral corruption” through their popular Instagram account, reported the Iranian new channel Radio Farda.

With over half a million followers on Instagram, Moin-Shirazi, an entrepreneur and former kickboxing champion was sentenced to nine years in prison, while Shabnam Shahrokhi was sentenced to seven years in prison, 74 lashes and three months of unpaid labour by the country’s Revolutionary Court system. Shirazi and his wife Shabnam Shahrokhi are currently in self-exile in Turkey with their two children.

The couple realised that they were being targeted by the Iranian government some time ago, with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence summoned them on several occasions and interrogated them for hours at a time. During these meetings, interrogators reportedly told Moin-Shirazi to stop uploading posts and pictures critical of Iran’s domestic policies as well as pictures of his wife without a hijab on.

The social media couple, in 2019, took their two children and fled the country, and are now in self-exile in neighbouring Turkey. They were informed of the court’s sentence through their lawyer, who is going to try to appeal against the verdict.

Social media ban in Iran

Iran has been inherently regressive and obstructive whereas social media is concerned. In January last year, authorities in Iran were preparing to block access to Instagram, extending their crackdown on social media to the only major platform still freely available.

However, despite attempts by the regime to restrict the access, million of Iranians stay connected to the world through social media platforms, even if it means skirting government restrictions.

Tesla Chief Elon Musk has a baby, shares the first picture of the baby boy on Twitter with a cryptic name

OpIndia Staff
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Tesla Chief Elon Musk has a baby, shares the first picture of the baby boy on Twitter with a cryptic name

Tech Entrepreneur Elon Musk on Tuesday took to the microblogging website Twitter to announce that he and his girlfriend Grimes are now proud parents to a baby boy. Musk later shared an endearing picture of himself cradling his newborn in his arms in the hospital. On Monday, Elon Musk had announced that Grimes was “a few hours away” from giving birth and now, the world can’t stop talking about the name of the baby.

The billionaire Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, 48, is in a relationship with the musician Grimes (Claire Boucher) since 2018. This is the couple’s first child together. The SpaceX CEO already has 5 sons and has been divorced three times- twice from the same woman. Musk’s first son reportedly died of sudden infant death syndrome at 10 weeks old back in 2002

When asked to disclose the name of the newborn boy, Musk replied, “X Æ A-12 Musk.”

However, it is unclear whether Musk was serious about the name or if he was being cryptic or simply joking around.

The unusual name caused many on Twitter to wonder as to how the name is pronounced, with one of the Twitter users suggesting “X Ash Archangel.”

The tweet indicated that the genesis of the name could be possibly related to the Scandinavian alphabet Æ, which is pronounced as “ash”. In addition, the user suggested that “A-12” in the name may be a reference to the Lockheed A-12, a CIA aircraft codenamed Archangel.

The Locker Room Controversy: After ‘Bois Locker Room’, chats of ‘Girls Locker Room’ leaked

OpIndia Staff
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The Locker Room Controversy: After ‘Bois Locker Room’, chats of ‘Girls Locker Room’ leaked

Two days after the ‘Bois Locker Room’ Instagram chat took Twitter by storm for glorifying rape culture, another controversy, of a similar nature, has come to the fore. This time around, screenshots of voyeuristic chats between the girls of an alleged version of girls’ locker room are doing the rounds on the Internet. The alleged women-only group is run by girls and is allegedly used for objectifying men and making unsavoury remarks against them.

Besides sexualising and objectifying men, several screenshots of the girls’ version of Locker Room leaked on Twitter reveal that not just boys but girls are also active partakers in perpetuating body-shaming and making sexually explicit remarks.

After the ‘Bois Locker Room’ controversy came to light, several men on Twitter shared the screenshots of the chat groups on social media where girls are seen allegedly objectifying the men, expressing their amorous desires, sharing private pictures of men and commenting on them.

After the appalling chats of ‘Bois Locker Room’ was leaked on the Internet, the Cyber Cell Branch of the Delhi Police took cognisance of the matter and apprehended a 15-year-old juvenile and identified 20 other accused involved in the Boys Locker Room group case. The teenager was arrested after cops discovered his registered phone number that was reportedly switched off.

The Delhi Commission for Woman (DCW) on Monday issued a notice to Instagram and Delhi Police over the glorification of rape by teenage boys in the Instagram chat group that was called the ‘locker room’. The notice read that the ‘Bois Locker Room’ (a variant of the word ‘boys’) is a private group on social media site Instagram with more than hundreds of members being part of it and asked the police to take action against the participants of the groups for normalising and encouraging rape culture through their objectionable chats.

It has also been alleged that the girl from South Delhi who disclosed the ‘Bois Locker Room’ chats was a part of the ‘Girls Locker Room’ chat that used the same language which she accused the boys of using, the same amorous fantasies and shared photos of boys and had discussions about what they wanted to do the boys. However, there is a marked difference between the two groups. While in Bois Locker Room, there was the conversation of raping women and gang-raping women, no such conversation was found in the Girls chatroom.

Now questions are being raised if the Delhi Police will act against the girls using obscene language against the boys and if the Delhi Women Commission will issue a statement against the ‘Girls Locker Room’ and direct a notice to the Delhi Police for acting against the concerned girls.

“Bois Locker Room” Instagram chat group

Recently, social media was awash with repugnant details of an Instagram chat group comprising of boys that discussed ‘gang-raping’ girls in a group called ‘Bois Locker Room’ (Bois, being a spin on the word ‘boys’). The leaked photos of the “Bois Locker Room” (Boys Locker Room) Instagram group had kicked up a storm over the normalisation of rape culture in the country. The group allegedly ran by teenage boys, involved graphic sexualisation and sharing of private photos of underage girls, objectifying them and planning gang-rapes with minor girls.

The petrifying incident came to light after a girl from South Delhi shared a screenshot on social media and busted the said group and a host of other such groups.

“A group of south delhi guys aged 17-18 types have this ig gc named ‘boy’s locker room’ where they objectify and morph pictures of girls their age. 2 boys from my school are a part of it. My friends and I are freaking out, ” she said in a social media post while sharing the screenshots.

The girl also shared a list of participants of the groups and the chat on the group where the concerned individuals are seen sharing morphed and explicit photos of girls and making lewd remarks over them.

16 new cases of coronavirus emerge in Nepal, 15 of then contacts of a Tablighi Jamaat member

OpIndia Staff
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16 new cases of coronavirus emerge in Nepal, 15 of then contacts of a Tablighi Jamaat member

The ministry of health in Nepal has informed that 16 new cases have been registered in the country. Out of the 16 cases, 15 are the contacts of Tablighi jamaat member who is a religious leader and returned from the Markaz event in Delhi. As per reports, they have been quarantined.

All of them were reported positive on Sunday. With these 16 new cases, the number of coronavirus cases in Nepal has risen to 75. The Ministry said on Sunday that 15 out of 16 patients were already quarantined. All of them came in contact with a Muslim cleric who had returned to Nepal after attending the Nizamuddin Markaz event of Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi in March and was later found infected with the coronavirus. Of these 15 people, there are 8 males and 7 females. They all belong to the Nepalgunj region of western Nepal, and one of them is a 7-year-old child. All 15 were asymptomatic, and they are either family members or relatives of the person who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat.

Other than them, a 36-year-old man from Parsa also tested positive for COVId-19 after his swab was tested in the National Public Health Laboratory, Kathmandu on Sunday.

Tablighi Jamaat, a super spreader

It is imperative to say that Tablighi jamaat has played a crucial in giving rise to coronavirus cases in India and also in Pakistan, Malaysia, and Brunei. In March 2020, thousands of people gathered in the Nizamuddin Markaz event in South Delhi. Afterward, an explosive rise in coronavirus cases was witnessed from across the country.

Like India, Tablighi Jamaat attendees were found hiding in mosques in Nepal to evade quarantine. Last month, 12 such persons were found hiding in a mosque in Kathmandu, and later all of them had tested positive for Coronavirus.

The role of Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus across numerous states of India had come to light when 10 people who had attended the congregation at Markaz Nizamuddin died of COVID-19. Muslim clerics of Tablighi Jamaat organized a congregation in violation of the government’s lockdown orders, providing a conducive environment for the novel coronavirus to proliferate.

India to operate 64 flights to bring back Indians stranded in 12 countries, passengers to bear the cost

OpIndia Staff
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India to operate 64 flights to bring back Indians stranded in 12 countries, passengers to bear the cost

The mission for the evacuation of the Indians stranded abroad is all set to commence at the earliest. Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri has said that 64 flights will be operated in the first week of operation to bring Indians from different countries from May 7 to May 13.

The Ministry of External Affairs has prepared a chart for the evacuation of 14,800 Indian nationals who are stranded in 12 foreign countries by 64 flights in the first week of operation. They will have to pay for the cost of the flights, and it will not be a free evacuation.

The 64 flights include 10 flights to the United Arab Emirates, 2 flights to Qatar, 5 flights will leave for Saudi Arabia, 7 to the United Kingdom, 5 to Singapore, 7 to the United States, 5 to the Philippines, 7 to Bangladesh, 2 for Bahrain, 7 for Malaysia, 5 for Kuwait and 2 for Oman, says the Aviation minister.

Approximately 14,800 passengers are to be evacuated

As per the joint plan of MEA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, approximately 14,800 passengers will be evacuated from 12 different countries. Flights from India will leave for the Philippines, Singapore, Bangladesh, UAE, UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, USA, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait. On the first day, the evacuation process will see 10 flights repatriating 2300 Indians.

On Day 2, expectedly 2050 Indians will arrive in various Indian cities such as Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Ahemdabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi from nine different countries. Similarly on Day 3, some another 2050 Indian nationals are expected to arrive in Mumbai, Kochi, Lucknow, and Delhi from 13 countries spread across the Middle East, Europe, South East Asia, and the USA.

On day 4, according to the plan of the aviation ministry in collaboration with MEA, it will evacuate 1850 stranded Indian nationals from eight countries including the USA, UK, and UAE.

The Evacuation Plan

Flights will be on payment basis

Those who want to come back to India on the special flights arranged by India will have to pay for the cost of the flight operations, as the govt is not going to make payments for the same. The rate tor London-Delhi, London-Mumbai, London-Ahmedabad and London-Bengaluru flights have been fixed at Rs 50,000. While the cost of the Chicago-Delhi-Hyderabad will be around 1 lakh. Tickets from UAE may cost around Rs 15000.

Passengers have to go through the protocols issued by the ministry

Prior to boarding the evacuation flights all Indians are required to fill forms and submit a copy each to the health and immigration counter at arrival. The passengers are required to go through a health check-up to state whether they are suffering from fever, cough, diabetes, or any respiratory disease. The form is similar to one filed by passengers arriving back to the country during the early days of coronavirus outbreak.

The guidelines indicate that the passengers will be screened before they are allowed to board flights for their return, and only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel. During the journey, they will have to follow the protocols issued by the health ministry and the Civil Aviation Ministry.

Not more than 50 people in weddings, no more than 20 in funerals: MHA issues national directives for public gatherings and offices during lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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Not more than 50 people in weddings, no more than 20 in funerals: MHA issues national directives for public gatherings and offices during lockdown

On Tuesday, Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), read out the national directive announced by the Ministry, amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus lockdown. She informed that wearing masks and maintaining a minimum distance of 2 feet is mandatory in public space. Moreover, spitting in the open has now been made a punishable offence.

MHA on Public Gatherings

The MHA Joint Secretary has made it clear that the congregation of more than 5 people is not allowed in shops or in any public space. Again, the gathering of more than 50 people is prohibited in weddings. More than 20 people cannot attend the last rites of deceased individuals. It is mandatory to abide by social distancing guidelines during such gatherings.

On Workplaces

The MHA Joint Secretary has also informed that all offices need to provide thermal screening, besides face masks and hand sanitisers. The employers of such companies have been tasked to ensure the registration of their employees on the Aarogya Setu app. Social distancing guidelines need to be followed.

The Ministry has also directed that the offices have to be sanitised between work shifts. The list of dedicated Coronavirus hospitals are also be provided to the employees. The Government has also recommended the offices to avoid physical meetings, besides maintaining highest standards of health and hygiene.

Extension of lockdown

On May 1, the Union Home Ministry issued a notification which said that the lockdown will be further extended for two weeks. The lockdown was first imposed from 25th March to 14th April, which was later extended till 3rd May. Now the lockdown will continue till 17th May, as per the new order of the union govt, but the extended lockdown has a large number of relaxations।

Different districts in the country has been classified as red zone, orange zone and green zone. While most restrictions will go away in green zone districts, the lockdown will continue in red zones, while orange zones will see limited relaxations. Schools, colleges and educational institutions, malls and cinemas continue to remain closed.

Tamil Nadu: Madras HC intervenes, govt withdraws order asking only Hindu temples to pay Rs 10 crores to CM’s Coronavirus relief fund

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Madras HC intervenes, govt withdraws order asking only Hindu temples to pay Rs 10 crores to CM’s Coronavirus relief fund

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department of Tamil Nadu on May 4 took back its order dated April 22 that had asked Hindu temples to transfer Rs 10 crores to the State to the Chief Minister’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. This order came after the Madras High Court found it ‘not legally tenable. While withdrawing the order, the HR&CE Department said that it was withdrawing the earlier order for ‘administrative reasons’.

While taking up three petitions against the 22 April HR&CE order for hearing, Madras High Court’s public interest litigation (PIL) bench comprising Justices Vineet Kothari and Pushpa Sathyanarayana observed that the order was ‘untenable’.

The three people who had filed the petition against the HR&CE circular were TR Ramesh, President, Hindu Temple Worshippers Society, Tamil daily Dinamalar editor RR Gopaljee and one other person. Maintaining that it has found merit in the argument of the counsel of the three petitioners, the HC bench adjourned the matter to May 8 and directed M Karthikeyan, counsel for the HR&CE department, to produce the relevant order passed by the Commissioner of the department, withdrawing the circular.

“In the meanwhile, the department shall not act upon the circular, against the temples included in the said circular,” the bench said.

The Tamil Nadu government, in turn, on Monday, informed the Madras High Court that it has decided to stop a move of utilizing surplus funds lying with the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department for COVID-19 mitigation efforts and also to withdraw the circular in this regard.

TN govt withdraws direction to 47 temples to give Rs 10 crore of surplus income to CM relief fund
TN govt withdraws direction to 47 temples to give Rs 10 crore of surplus income to CM relief fund

47 temples have to pay rupees 10 crores: Tamil Nadu government order

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Dept (HR & CE) of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government in Tamil Nadu had directed 47 temples to give Rs 10 crore of surplus funds to CM relief fund.

Tamil Nadu govt order

HR&CE Principal Secretary K Panindra Reddy had directed all officials working under him in 47 temples including Madurai, Palani, Thiruchendur, Tiruttani, Thiruvannamalai, Rameswaram, Mylapore, and others to contribute Rs 35 lakhs each from the surplus funds towards feeding the poor due to lockdown. Other temples have been directed to give an amount ranging from Rs 15 lakhs to 25 lakhs. All 47 temples were ordered to transfer the surplus fund of 10 crores to CM Corona Relief fund.

This move had come under severe criticism as questions were raised on Edappadi K Palaniswami government’s prejudice against Hindus’. Dissent grew as people criticised the government for not demanding the same from the Christian and Muslim institutions, which were receiving government grants yearly.

Gives free rice to Mosques, but asks Hindu Temples to pay 10 crores

As part of its appeasement politics, the ruling AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu had ordered the distribution of 5,450 tonnes of free rice to 2,985 mosques of the state on April 16 in the month of Ramzan, so that those who were keeping Rojas would not suffer. This rice at Rs 21/kg will cost the Tamil Nadu government little over Rs 11 crore.

Earlier the Madras High Court had rejected the petition, refusing to interfere with the Tamil Nadu government order to distribute free rice to mosques in the month of Ramzan.

At the beginning of the festival of Ramzan, the Tamil Nadu state government announced a major benefit to Muslims. The Tamil Nadu government had announced that 5,450 tonnes of rice would be given to 2,895 mosques this year for preparing porridge.

Unlike Muslims, Hindus don’t get anything in festivals

No similar help or plan is given to prepare offerings to the village deities of Hindus during Chaitra and other months. The Tamil Nadu government collects more than Rs 3000 crore per year from Hindu temples through Hundi collection, offerings, darshan tickets, special program fees, etc., while only Rs 4-6 crores are given for maintenance. Rest 2,995 crore rupees remain with the government.

At the same time, Srivilliputhur Vaishnavit Math Chief Sadgopa Ramanuj Jiyar urged the Tamil Nadu government to spend the temple money to give to the priests and servants. Dr. Krishnaswamy, the head of Puthia Tamizhagam has appealed to the CM to refund the amount of Rs 10 Crores received from the temples.

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