Day after the Sion Hospital in Mumbai was in headlines after a video emerged that exposed hospital’s blatant lapse in managing the coronavirus dead bodies, another video has surfaced in which a man with Coronavirus infection tried to escape the hospital by jumping out of a window.
In the video, a man is seen running towards the window and jumped out of it, where hospital staff in PPE suits and attendants of patients were sitting near the window. The incident took place on last Sunday at 9:25 pm. But the man was not able to escape from the hospital, as security guards were able to nab him before he was able to leave the campus of the hospital.
Hospital sources confirmed that the man is a coronavirus patient, and he was admitted at the Covid-19 center at the ward number 5 on the ground floor of the hospital. He was on his bed, but suddenly got up and ran towards the window. Reportedly he was mentally stressed after getting admitted at the hospital. He was caught by the guards near the gate of the hospital.
Earlier Viral Video
A viral video of the Sion hospital was surfacing earlier in which it was clearly shown that corpses were kept in the ward in which the patients of coronavirus were admitted. The dead bodies of coronavirus patients were kept next to the patients under treatment in a Hospital of Mumbai in the Sion area.
In a viral video recorded at the Sion hospital, bodies are seen wrapped in black plastic bags kept right next to Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment. The incident is raising serious questions regarding the management of hospital and the state authorities.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC) called for a probe into the matter.
Hospital’s Clarification into the Matter
The Dean of the Sion hospital, Dr. Pramod Inglel told reporters that there were special directives and they were fearing legal ramifications if they somehow conduct the funeral on their own since the relatives of the Coronavirus deceased patients were themselves in quarantine and therefore they are unable to claim bodies.
He said, “We have now removed the bodies and are probing the matter.” On asking about the bodies kept in ward, he clarified, “There are 15 slots in the hospital’s mortuary of which 11 were already filled.”
BMC called for a probe to check the genuineness and the facts of the video
The BMC is also held responsible for not issuing clear guidance on the handling of dead bodies. According to the Maharshtra Government’s giudelines the BMC had directed that bodies of the deceased have to be handed over to the relatives in the 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has formed a committee to verify the “genuineness and facts of the video”.
The first phase of construction work for laying the foundation of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, which was temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, begins after Yogi government allowing construction activity to resume during the lockdown. The clearing of the site is underway. The metal barricades erected around the makeshift temple and the CRPF camp at the site were removed on Thursday and levelling of the site has begun.
It is pertinent to note here, that in a set of guidelines issued on April 15, the central government had relaxed norms for resuming construction of roads, irrigation works and various industrial projects where workers are available on the site and do not have to be brought in from outside.
The first phase of construction had earlier begun on March 25, when the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had then gone to Ayodhya and participated in the “Pran-Pratishtha” rituals with saints and seers in Ayodhya city. He had also taken part in the ritual for shifting of the Ram Lalla idol to the new makeshift structure on March 2, just a day before Navratri.
SC’s landmark judgemnet on Ram Mandir
The Supreme Court, had in November last year, in a historic decision, accepted the Hindu claim and handed over the Ram Janmbhoomi site to Hindus to build Ram Mandir and finally end the century-long dispute. The five-judge bench had unanimously come to the decision after weighing the arguments presented by all sides for 40 days.
Autonomous trust to oversee the construction of Grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya
With the final verdict in Ayodhya case on 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court had ordered the government to form a trust for the construction of Ram Mandir within three months from the judgement day. The central government has constituted an independent 15 member trust- Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, to oversee the construction of Grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya, after the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha on February 5.
Recently, it has been found that some Islamic extremists and Hindupobes of the Aligarh Muslim University are now brazenly threatening to kill Hindu students by posting intimidating messages along with screenshots of their social media posts.
The administrative team of the varsity has stepped in and planning to take strict action against these Islamist fundamentalists. It is being said that the university administration is planning to expel such students from the University.
This decision comes in view of the complaint filed against one such extremist by a research student of the varsity, Nikhil Maheshwari. Nikhil has filed a case with the civil police station against an AMU student for harassing him and sending death threats to him and his family through social media. Nikhil also demanded the University administration to take action against the accused.
Nikhil Maheshwari filed a case with the civil police station
Speaking to OpIndia, Nikhil Maheswari said that the badgering began when he took to Twitter on May 4 to post a satirical post. From then on, the AMU Hinduphobes have been targeting him and his family on social media. Taking screenshots of his post, these varsity students have threatened Nikhil and his family with dire consequences.
Arif Bobby, an alumnus of AMU living in Saudi Arabia, allegedly sent Nikhil a personal message through the messenger app where he threatened the latter of dire consequences when he returned to the University post lockdown. Bobby furthered: haven’t you inculcated anything from the AMU students, or is the RSS influence so strong that you have forgotten whatever you learnt?” After this, AMU PhD scholar Nikhil Maheshwari has filed a case with the civil police station and also demanded the administration to take action in the case.
However, Nikhil is just one of the example. Another Hindu lady emplyed as the assistant Professor in AMU was also targeted by some AMU Hinduphobes. Due to constant threats and intimidation, she has disassociated herself from her social media posts. Due to the fear, she has also refused to give any statement.
It is being alleged that the AMU students against whom the district administration had taken action for creating a ruckus and inciting people against CAA and NRC are now taking out their revenge by harassing Hindu students of the varsity. Basically, the Hindus who dare to expose those involved in any kind of anti-national activities or who dare to call out the leftists on social media are being targeted by these Hinduphobes. These extremists are hellbent on jeopardising the future of the Hindu students by trying to get them expelled from the University.
Former student Dr Nishit Sharma speaks to OpIndia
AMU alumnus Dr Nishit Sharma told OpIndia: “Hindu students have been targeted at the AMU in the past as well. Earlier they were ragged and tortured, now the Hinduphobes have gone a step ahead to threaten the Hindu students with death. All this is being done at the behest of the higher-ups who along with the AMU Islamists had spread violence in Aligarh in the name of CAA and NRC. The strings of these people are connected to Delhi”, revealed Sharma.
Notably, Dr Nishit Sharma is the same person who had last month filed a complaint against varsity’s present and ex-students with the Aligarh police, for their alleged role in running a vile campaign against the Hindus domiciled in the Gulf countries through various social media posts.
Dr Sharma furthered: “A few days ago these people tried to spread Hinduphobia in Arab countries. Now the same work is being done inside the AMU campus. The issue will be placed before the Ministry of Human Resource Development. We want a high-level inquiry into it so that the faces of those who commit such acts can be revealed.” Sharma said that the district administration has taken cognizance of this case and the case that had been registered by Nikhil Maheshwari at the concerned police station.
Taking to Twitter, another former AMU student Rajeshwar Singh, expressed pain and said that this was a typical pattern which these Hinduphobes at AMU have been following for years. He said that he had been associated with the university for 10 years. During those days also the Hindu’s were only allowed to listen. “Whenever we tried to put forward our opinion we were made to shut up. Whenever we expressed our views, we were either called traitors or ‘namak haram” or ‘ehsaan faramosh’. Today our juniors are being targeted for expressing their views”, said Singh expressing concern over the long hauling issue.
It is pertinent to note here, that for the last few days, Hindu domiciled in the Gulf countries have been under attack by these extremists through fake social media accounts. Last month, former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) student Dr Nishit Sharma had filed a complaint against varsity’s present and ex-students with the Aligarh police on April 23, for their alleged role in running a vile campaign against the Hindus domiciled in the Gulf countries through various social media posts.
AMU students colluding with PFI to attack Hindus in the Gulf
In the letter addressed to the Aligarh police, the AMU Alumni has attached screenshots of some social media posts as proof, saying that the witch hunt against Indians in the Gulf Countries, quite possibly backed by the ISI, is being pioneered by a group of Islamic extremists and Hindupobes of the university, who are brazenly colluding with Pakistani terrorist organisations and the PFI to run the vile campaign against the Indian Hindus in the gulf countries. Because of this, the Hindus there have been facing discrimination and eviction in workplaces and being denied medical help amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, he wrote.
Presenting screenshots as evidence, Nishit Sharma has demanded appropriate action against all these Hinduphobes. He wrote in his complaint, “There is an organized class behind the atrocities on Indian Hindus living in Arab countries. It is being brazenly operated through various social media accounts in Pakistan and India.”
He reiterated that former and current students of AMU are continuously campaigning against Hindus living in Arab countries on social media. These are the same elements who indulged in violent activities in the anti-citizenship amendment law movement.
The letter, written to Aligarh’s Senior Superintendent of Police, claimed that all this was a well-planned conspiracy by the people associated with the Aligarh Muslim University, to tarnish India’s image internationally, spread international hatred and incite violence against Hindu.
On Friday morning, India’s national carrier, Air India, in coordination with the Indian Embassy, rescued 167 Indian Medical Students stranded in Dhaka, Bangladesh, using a special flight to Srinagar.
In a video testimony, one such student named Hadiya Rasheed has thanked the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and expressed her gratitude for being able to reach her home safely. She also mentioned that the Indian Embassy has been in touch with them throughout the time they were stuck in Dhaka.
Another student thanked the Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, for evacuating him and others, amidst the humanitarian crisis caused due to the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Another medical student informed that 15 people from her college were returning home to Srinagar from Dhaka on the same flight. She also heaped praise on the arrangements made at the airport by the Indian embassy to ensure a hassle-free journey.
Kashmiri students stranded in Bangladesh thank Indian Govt, EAM @DrSJaishankar & Indian High Commission in Dhaka for rescuing them amidst #COVID19 pandemic. First repatriation flight leaves for Srinagar from Dhaka at 11am today. 167 Indian Medical Students return home to Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/3PVI7e5ARi
Earlier, Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri had 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.
A research conducted by Chinese researchers, who tested the presence of the Wuhan coronavirus in the semen of COVID-19 affected patients found that a minuscule number of them had the new coronavirus in their semen, raising likelihood, although a slim one, of sexual transmission of the virus.
Doctors at China’s Shangqiu municipal hospital detected that out of 38 men hospitalised with the disease, six of them(16%), had tested positive for Sars-CoV-2 in their semen.
The researchers who carried out the research, however, claimed that the findings were preliminary and was based on only a small number of infected men. They added that more research needs to be conducted on the subject to ascertain if sexual transmission might be one of the ways in which the pandemic is spreading.
“More research is needed with respect to the detailed information about virus shedding, survival time and concentration in semen,” the team wrote in a study published on Thursday in JAMA Network Open.
“If it could be proved that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted sexually … (that) might be a critical part of the prevention,” the researchers said while adding, “especially considering the fact that SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the semen of recovering patients.”
The report is in stark contrast to the study conducted on 34 Chinese men suffering from COVID-19 that was published in the journal Fertility and Sterility last month. The Chinese researchers found no evidence of coronavirus present in semen tested between eight days and almost three months after diagnosis.
According to Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at Britain’s Sheffield University, the latest study about the presence of coronavirus in semen should be viewed with caution citing technical difficulties faced by the researchers in testing semen for viruses. He stated that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sperm is not an indicator of whether it is active and capable of transmitting infection.
Another academician, Sheena Lewis, a professor of reproductive medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, emphasised on the fact that the study was “very small” and its findings were consistent with other small studies that showed low or no SARS-CoV-2 in tests of semen samples.
Although it may sound obvious that a highly contagious virus like Novel Coronavirus will transit through sex also, actually different contagions spread through different routes. Coronavirus mainly attacks the respiratory system, and that’s why it is mostly found in the respiratory tract, and it spreads when the virus comes out of the body while coughing, sneezing, or in saliva. As the reproductive system in humans is a separate system, not every virus that is present in the respiratory system or the digestive system may be found in the reproductive system. But the latest study in China proves that Coronavirus is a highly contagious virus, as it has been able to make its way to the semen of some male patients.
National Executive Member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Preeti Sharma Menon, made a crass tweet targeting Union Minister for Railways on Friday. In a reference to an accident where migrants had lost their lives after being run over by a train while sleeping on railway tracks, Menon said, “Why are these migrants still walking? Doesn’t Piyush Goyal have a train to run them over with?”
Preeti Sharma Menon, of course, has a history of making indecent and obnoxious tweets. In the past, she has made a hoard of crass remarks against Prime Minister Modi, Smriti Irani and pretty much everything under the Sun. She has also made a habit of mocking the Hindu community and offending the religious sentiments of Hindus deliberately.
Tweet by Preeti S menon mocking Hindus
Preeti Sharma Menon has also claimed that the Indian Government ‘traded’ Princess Latifa for the extradition of alleged Augusta Westland Scam middleman Christian Michel and investments. She claimed that the Indian Government was now selling women to make deals.
Tweet by Preeti S Menon claiming Indian Govt was selling women
In another tweet, Preeti S Menon mocked the religious sentiments of Hindus and derogatorily referred to a congregation of Hindu Sadhus as the Chief Ministers of ‘New India’, as an obvious dig at Yogi Adityanath, who is the Mahant of Gorakhnath Muth in addition to being the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
The Hinduphobic tweet by Preeti S Menon
Preeti S Menon has also mocked the khaki shorts that RSS cadres wore as uniform.
The tweet by Preeti S Menon mocking the shorts worn by RSS cadres
Preeti Sharma Menon has also attacked Prime Minister Modi and Smriti Irani on Twitter.
Tweet by Preeti S Menon on Narendra Modi and Smriti Irani
Tweet by Preeti S Menon on Narendra Modi and Smriti Irani
The National Executive member of the Aam Aadmi Party appears to harbour deep-seated hatred against Smriti Irani and has made no efforts to hide it.
Sexually indecent tweet against Smriti Irani by Preeti S Menon
Having said that, her hatred for Prime Minister Modi comes close as well.
Hateful tweet against Narendra Modi by Preeti S Menon
In addition to all of this, Preeti S Menon has also defended people who made sexually perverted comments against women on social media.
Preeti S Menon defends Vidyut who made crass remarks against female supporters of Prime Minister Modi
As can be seen, by the above tweets, Preeti S Menon has a history of making crass, obnoxious and indecent remarks against politicians associated with the BJP. She is also known to make extremely Hinduphobic comments on social media. Despite her deplorable conduct, ‘Hanuman Bhakt‘ Arvind Kejriwal has taken no action against her and she continues to sit on the National Executive of the Aam Aadmi Party
A contentious video uploaded by a Youtube channel named Tech9587 had claimed that military lockdown would be imposed in the city of Mumbai between May 8 and May 17. The video which is now being widely shared on Whatsapp has also alleged that only dairy shops, pharmacies, and hospitals would remain open during the said period.
The person who made this public announcement in Marathi could be seen sitting on the back seat of an autorickshaw. To ensure that the information spread far and wide, he had also arranged for a loudspeaker. The man alleged that there is a positive case of the Wuhan Coronavirus, in every nook and corner of the city, due to people violating lockdown rules in the name of grocery shopping.
The video further claimed that if Mumbai was not shut down completely, then, cases in the country might rise up to a whopping 1 crore. The archived version of the said video can be accessed here.
The contentious video by a channel named Tech9587
What is the Truth?
On Friday, Press Information Bureau (PIB) took to Twitter to debunk the misleading claims made in the above-mentioned video. Labelling the information about “military lockdown” as fake, PIB reiterated that no army or navy personnel have been deployed for the maintenance of law and order situation in the city of Mumbai.
— PIB in Maharashtra ?? #MaskYourself ? (@PIBMumbai) May 8, 2020
Fake News Amidst Pandemic
Earlier, former Aaj Tak and ABP News journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai had posted an image that showed the chapped, rough feet of some children. He added the text, “Mother India ke panv dekhe hain kabhi”? which means, ‘have you ever seen the feet of mother India? As pointed out by Twitter user @theFirstHandle, Bajpai had used an image that was published in a 2018 report by The London Post, in an article titled “Real Face of Pakistani Democracy- Children need a sponsor for medical treatment”.
On May 8, a Twitter user named Hussain shared a video claiming that Air India, the national carrier of India, has charged three times the normal fare to its passengers under the pretext of social distancing. On Friday, Press Information Bureau (PIB) took to Twitter to clarify that the contentious video wherein passengers are seen complaining about lack of social distancing, despite high fares belonged to a “neighbouring country” (Pakistan).
Earlier today, there were some rumours of a second gas leakage incident in Vizag. However, the NDRF has denied such report.
National Disaster Response Force chief DG SN Pradhan refuted the reports of the second leakage in the polymer plant. He said that the experts are working on the ground to ensure complete plugging of the breach. DG said that there was no need to panic and the experts who reached the incident site on Thursday night are working on the ground to successfully plug the leakage.
NDRF DG said, “There are some rumours and media reports about a second leakage. I categorically clear that it is not true. It has nothing to do with leakage as such and hence there is no reason to believe that there is a second leakage.”
He claimed that the experts reached the site overnight from Pune and Nagpur and they visited the Vizag plant at night and then on Friday morning. Enough quantity of chemicals which are required to neutralize the leakage has been sent from Daman.
He stated, “experts are doing their technical work and I’m sure during the course of the day they will be able to update us about the success of the complete plugging process.”
Styrene Gas leak incident
The chemical gas leakage was reported early morning on Thursday at LG Polymers factory in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. More than 200 were admitted to the hospitals following the leak of styrene gas from an LG Polymers facility located near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. 11 people were reported dead.
The police and the local administration came into action after locals reported throat and skin irritation and some toxic smell following the leak from the polymer plant. A team of NDRF and SDRF was deployed in the area.
As per reports, the NDRF team evacuated around 1000-1500 people, and more than 800 have been hospitalized after the gas leak incident at a chemical plant in Vishakapatnam.
FIR against the management
A criminal case has been registered against the management of LG Polymers. The FIR was filed under sections 278, 284,285, 337, 338, 304-II of the Indian Penal Code.
The National Green Tribunal has also asked the LG Polymers to pay a penalty of 50 crores due to the negligence that led to a hazardous gas leak incident. The NGT bench headed by Adarsh Kumar Goel asked the management to pay the amount to the DM of Vishakapatnam and also sought a reply from the centre.
The Tribunal has also formed a five-member committee to enquire about the issue. The committee will be headed by Neeraj Kumar Prasad, Special Chief Secretary (EFS and T department) and will have Karikal Valaven, Special Chief Secretary (Industries), Vinay Chand (Visakhapatnam district collector), RK Meena (Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Police) as members and Vivek Yadav (Member Secretary, AP Pollution Control Board) as member convenor.
The committee will have to report before May 18 on how the incident occured, and who were reposponsible for the incident.
In what can be seen as a stupendous service provided amidst the coronavirus outbreak, the India Railways operated around 201 Shramik Special trains till late Thursday and helped nearly 2 lakh stranded migrant workers, tourists and students to return to their home state. The Ministry of Railways confirmed that 52 special trains made the journey on Thursday alone.
Data released by Ministry of Railways
According to an internal railway ministry data, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were receiving a maximum number of migrants back. The data revealed that until Thursday, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had taken back around 38,000 migrants each. Both the states have received 37-38 trains till Thursday, ferrying nearly 1000 passengers each. It further confirmed that while forty-four more trains are scheduled to reach the states, there are 25 more in the pipeline.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are followed by Odisha and Jharkhand who have received 13 and 10 trains, respectively.
The special trains have so far departed from states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana carrying migrants home.
The Shramik Special trains are running from point X to point Y without any stoppages. Usually, they have 24 coaches, each carrying a little over 50 against the total capacity of 72. These trains are run for distances of over 500 km with at least 90 per cent occupancy.
The central government on May 1, had 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. Despite Railways and the Centre clarifying that the stranded migrant commuters will not have to pay for the travel, the Congress Party has been creating unnecessary controversy over the issue.
Congress creating needless controversy
On May 4 Congress leaders took to Twitter to claim that since the government is charging money for the railway fare of the stranded migrants going back home on Shramik Special trains, the party will chip in and bear the expenses for the same. This offer to pay for the migrants’ fare came two days after the Railway Ministry had clarified that the state and central governments are facilitating the movement of migrants through Shramik Special trains.
On May 2, 2020, the Ministry of Railways had clarified that no tickets will be sold at the railway station and that the movement of migrants is being arranged by the state governments.
Indian Railways wrote to Sonia Gandhi
Amidst this raging controversy over who will ultimately foot the bill to ferry stranded migrant labourers back home, All India Railway Federation had on May 7 written a letter to the Congress interim president, Sonia Gandhi requesting her not to play politics over the migrants’ rail fare.
It had clarified that railways have subsidised 85 per cent of ticket fare for special trains being run to transport migrant workers and the state government has to pay the remaining 15 per cent. This he said was necessary. Since the respective state governments will book the trains by making the payment, it would prevent commuters from huddling up at the stations which might have risked the lives of the railways’ staff as well.
Why Indian Railway 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 through the Shramik train to their home state.
Even as the coronavirus crisis continues to rage, there are some delinquent individuals in our midst who are bent on indulging in perversely malicious behaviour. After scores of videos about vegetable and fruit-sellers spitting on their produce, presumably to spread coronavirus, went viral, recently, an equally appalling incident has come to light from a bakery in Maharashtra’s Amravati.
The video is from a bakery in the Amravati district of Maharashtra where an individual, Abdul Nazim Sheikh Mahmood (29), was seen slicing the loaves of bread and spitting on them. The video was uploaded on the popular social media app TikTok and it instantly went viral, causing revulsion and outrage among people across the country. The video caused a stir in Maharashtra, a state worst-afflicted by the menace of coronavirus outbreak.
The video of the accused spitting on the bread was uploaded on TikTok on Wednesday evening. As soon as the video was shared on the social media app, it drew criticism from the users who expressed their disgust over the content of the clip. The Achalpur police took cognisance of the video on the basis of the complaint filed by the owner of the bakery, Abdul Salam, after learning that the video was shot inside his bakery. With regards to the complaint, the police arrested Abdul Nazim Sheikh Mahmood along with a minor.
This is not the first time that videos of miscreants adulterating food items with their saliva have come to the fore. Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, there have been umpteen cases where some individuals had been accused by people of salivating vegetables and fruits.
Video of Sheru Miyan contaminating fruits with his saliva had gone viral
Earlier in March, a video of a certain Sheru Miyan, licking the fruits which he displays in a cart for sale went viral on social media. In the video, the fruit vendor in Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, is seen arranging a variety of fruits on his cart, which he parks in the middle of a market place. While arranging the fruits on the cart, the vendor is seen picking up the fruit one at a time. And each time he picks up a fruit to arrange in the cart, he first purposely licks his hand and then uses the same hand, smeared with his saliva, to pick up the fruits and re-arrange on his cart.
The police registered the FIR on the basis of a complaint lodged by a youth named Bodhraj Tipt. The fruit vendor was booked by the police under IPC 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) on April 3.
