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Corona Yoddha: How people came together on social media to help out those in need across political spectrum during lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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Corona Yoddha: How people came together on social media to help out those in need across political spectrum during lockdown

While everything around may appear gloomy and uncertain in wake of Chinese coronavirus, a ray of hope has emerged that restores our faith in humanity. Social media is often termed as a toxic place where under the guise of anonymity threats are a regular feature. However, in past few days, the same social media has managed to feed thousands of mouths across India.

OpIndia got in touch with a few of these ‘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. One such person has been BJP leader Tajinder Bagga. “I sleep 20 hours 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.

On 30th March, a week after the lockdown was imposed, Yadav tweeted to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, BJP leader Tajinder Bagga as well as RJD ally Congress leader Srinivas. Soon, Bagga tweeted to BJP Youth leader who further coordinated to try and get to the stranded labourers from Bihar.

Similar such ration was arranged for others after RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav reached out to Tajinder Bagga.

Even chief ministers of different states have coordinated through Twitter to ensure the most poor and the needy are taken care of.

Bagga says that Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali team itself has managed to feed about 2000-3000 people in Mumbai and most of this is coordinated through social media.

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.

She got the medicines with two days’ worth of stock remaining with her, Ankit informs. There has been overwhelming support from people who have come together to help the ones who are fighting this good fight.

When Humanitarian Aid International’s team went to help a family in distress with ration, they realised they had already received help. However, another family in the neighbourhood with a divyang member needed help. Hence, they provided the ration to them instead.

Speaking to OpIndia, 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. “Some 70-80 Muslim families in recent anti-Hindu riots hit areas of New Delhi were provided ration where we transferred money directly to the ration shop. The families had to just go and collect. In fact, when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office reached out to us we provided food packets to them also. A hungry stomach does not see political ideology,” Sudhir says.

While most of the efforts are volunteer-run, organisation like India Today group reached out to HAI and donated money which was used to procure basic essentials like 40 kg flour, 10 kg daal, 4 ltrs oil, 5 kg sugar, 1 kg salt and other basic spices for 500 families, informs Sudhir.

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.

Uttar Pradesh to completely seal 15 coronavirus-hit districts from midnight, only home delivery and medical teams will be allowed

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh to completely seal 15 coronavirus-hit districts from midnight, only home delivery and medical teams will be allowed

Though the 21-day nationwide lockdown enters its third week, the Coronavirus scourge in India has kept the government on its toes, as it has seen a considerable spike due to the Tablighi Jamaat mess. To contain the spread of the deadly virus in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced to completely seal 15 districts which have emerged as the coronavirus hotspots in the state.

A government source has clarified that all essential services will be home delivered and no one will be allowed to move out. Curfew passes will also be reviewed, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari has said.

The 15 districts which will be under complete shut down are: Lucknow, Agra, Ghaziabad, Gautambudh Nagar (Noida), Kanpur, Varanasi, Shamli, Meerut, Bareilly, Bulandshahar, Firozabad, Maharajganj, Sitapur, Saharanpur and Basti.

The exact details of how the UP government plans to shut down parts of these 15 districts will be released at a press conference later in the day.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari said the Yogi Adityanath led government in Uttar Pradesh will hold a review of the decision next on April 13.

Total Coronavirus cases have been reported from 37 districts of Uttar Pradesh with the number climbing to 326 on Wednesday. Of the total cases, 166 are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat. So far, the UP authorities have identified 1,600 people associated with the Jamaat. Of them, 1,200 have been quarantined.

The announcement by the Yogi Adiyanath government comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a key meeting with leaders of the opposition to discuss matters related to India’s war against coronavirus. This meeting came in the backdrop of varying opinions on the crucial question of extending the lockdown beyond April 14.

According to BJD’s Pinaki Misra, PM Modi today told floor leaders of the opposition and other parties in Parliament that the nationwide lockdown will not be lifted in one go on April 14.

While the nationwide lockdown called by PM Narendra Modi in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak on March 24, completes 3 weeks on April 14, many states have requested for an extension. These states have indicated that since a situation is still not back to normal, the lockdown may need to be extended.

India today saw 5,149 cases of novel coronavirus while the death toll rose to 149, indicating 25 new deaths in 12 hours, the biggest jump for the country so far. 

Chinese billionaire Ren Zhiqiang, who went ‘missing’ after criticizing Xi Jinping over coronavirus, now faces corruption charges

OpIndia Staff
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Chinese billionaire Ren Zhiqiang, who went ‘missing’ after criticizing Xi Jinping over coronavirus, now faces corruption charges

Dissident Chinese billionaire Ren Zhiqiang is bearing the brunt of criticising the Chinese premier Xi Jinping over his bungled handling of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. The retired real-estate tycoon has been placed under investigation over corruption charges by the Communist Party of China, a statement released by Beijing authorities said on Tuesday.

Without giving much details, the statement accused Ren of committing “serious violations” of the Chinese laws, a favoured tool used by the Communist Party of China to tame the dissenting voices.

A prominent business magnate, Ren is known as “the cannon” for his outspoken demeanour and candid criticism of the authoritarian regime in China. Last month, Ren had gone “missing” after he wrote a searing article criticising the Chinese government, according to his friends and well-wishers.

Sharply criticising the govt over its handling of the issue, Ren had written that the people’s lives are being ravaged by both the virus and the major illness of the system. He even called Chinese Premier Xi Jinping a clown, without naming him, saying the media’s attempt to portray him as a hero has no basis. He had said, “I too am curiously and conscientiously studying Xi’s speech, but what I saw in it was the complete opposite of the “importance” reported by all types of media and online. I saw not an emperor standing there exhibiting his “new clothes,” but a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing being emperor.

Ren also asked protruding questions of the Chinese government’s culpability on hiding the information about the virus from the world until it was too late for everyone to prepare against it. Criticising the government for concealing the outbreak of the virus initially, Ren wrote, “trying to cover up the true facts with various “great achievements,” as if this epidemic began with your written instructions on January 7. So, what happened in December? Why wasn’t information made available promptly?”

As the scourge of coronavirus sweeps the world, particularly the United States and Europe, China has now found itself at the receiving end of the criticism and blamed for its lackadaisical approach to tame the virus which clearly created conditions for the global pandemic. Of late, China has also been accused by a large number of countries of lowballing by underreporting the actual number of infections and deaths from the coronavirus outbreak which is believed to have started from the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Kolkata: Police nab 3 persons who fled coronavirus quarantine facility last night, 6 others who came in their contact also quarantined

OpIndia Staff
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Kolkata: Police nab 3 persons who fled coronavirus quarantine facility last night, 6 others who came in their contact also quarantined

In a shocking incident, 3 people suspected of carrying Wuhan coronavirus, managed to escape from the government quarantine centre in Kolkata late last night, setting alarm bells ringing about the security of the containment centres. A massive manhunt was launched by the Kolkata police this morning after which the three escapees were traced.

1 woman and 2 children, all three belonging to the same family fled the quarantine facility at New Town in Kolkata through its rear gate and went to their home about 10 kilometres away from the quarantine centre. They were kept at the NBCC Square in New Town, an apartment complex which has been converted to quarantine centre by the West Bengal government. After absconding from the quarantine facility, the three suspected COVID-19 patients came in contact with 6 other individuals. Now they are also kept under quarantine by the police after coming in contact with suspected coronavirus patient.

An investigation has been launched in this regard to determine as to how these people managed to escape the quarantine facility and how could they travel 10 kilometres to reach their home from the facility. The police are also probing if more people had come in their contact, in which case they will have to be to identified and located and subsequently sent to quarantine.

Read- Indian Army to take over Narela quarantine facility after Tablighi Jamaat attendees defecate in the corridor

Escaping patients suspected of being infected with COVID-19 pose a massive threat to the country’s battle against the coronavirus. The immensity of the danger posed by coronavirus victims fleeing quarantine was best encapsulated by the meteoric rise of outbreak in South Korea, enabled by a coronavirus patient who refused to employ social distancing and was believed to have engendered 80 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in the country.

Indore: Police constable attacked, pelted with stones for asking a group to stay home, Javed, Imran and 3 others arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Indore: Police constable attacked, pelted with stones for asking a group to stay home, Javed, Imran and 3 others arrested

In yet another attack against on-duty personnel, a violent mob brutally assaulted and pelted stones at a police constable in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district after he urged the residents to stay indoors to contain the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

According to the reports, a police constable was on his duty in Chandan Nagar area of Indore, where he asked residents to stay inside their houses during the nationwide. However, an angry mob, defying the lockdown orders, assaulted the police constable and pelted stones at him.

A video of the incident also went viral on social media, in which the policeman was seen running to save himself from seven to eight people who were throwing stones and chasing him. One of the miscreants was seen picking up a stick while chasing the policeman.

Five people, identified as Javed (25), Imran Khan (24), Nasir Khan (58), Sali Khan (50) and Samir Anwar (22) have been arrested.

Superintendent of Police Mahesh Chandra Jain, speaking to the media, added that when the constable asked some people out on streets to go back home, they started arguing and threw stones at him. The policeman then ran for his life and alerted his seniors following which additional force was rushed to the area, he said.

The accused have been booked under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 353 (assault of criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other relevant provisions.

“We are also recommending to the district administration to book Javed and Imran Khan under the National Security Act (NSA),” Jain said. The search was on for another absconding accused, he added.

The attack on policemen comes just weeks after a similar incident that had taken place in Indore when two women doctors were injured after stones were pelted at them by an angry mob when they went to Tatpatti Bakhal area of Indore for contact tracing of COVID-19 patients.

Earlier, two policemen on lockdown enforcement duty were also injured after a mob attacked them with knives and in Bhopal’s old city area on Monday night. The police team was asking the residents to stay indoors when they were attacked by a group led by Shahid Qureshi alias Kabootar. A resident of Islampura, he jumped from a building to escape arrest but was injured in the process.

At a time when the healthcare workers, policemen are risking their lives to limit the spread of the Chinese epidemic, there have been concerted attacks against them by some anti-social elements refusing to obey lockdown and follow protocols to check the disease spread.

We had reported a series of incidents where violent mobs had unleashed violence against frontline workers at a time when they are risking their lives to limit the spread of the Chinese epidemic.

PM Modi to interact with chief ministers on April 11 to discuss the future state of lockdown amidst coronavirus outbreak

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi to interact with chief ministers on April 11 to discuss the future state of lockdown amidst coronavirus outbreak

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to review the current nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. PM Modi will be meeting all the chief ministers of the states and union territories around the country via video conferencing to discuss the future state of the restrictions across the nation. The 21 days of nationwide lockdown announced by PM Modi is going to end on April 14, 2020.

According to the Times Now report, PM Modi will be seeking feedback from the various heads of the states and union territories over the prospect of lifting the restrictions. However, it adds that some basic restrictions will still remain in place and the meeting between the centre and the state will determine the scope, extent and relaxation of the lockdown restrictions in different parts of the country. While it is speculated that most urban and metro centres will continue to remain under lockdown after April 14, however, details around certain relaxations to be extended in the lockdown will be discussed between the Prime Minister and the chief ministers in their meeting scheduled on April 11.

After discussing the revised strategy for the lockdown with the state and UT chief ministers, PM Modi is also scheduled to have a follow-up meeting in the Prime Minister Office with all the government of India’s stakeholders on April 12. Following this meeting, PM Modi is expected to announce the future state of the national lockdown.

Earlier yesterday, The Union Health Ministry in its press briefing had said that the central government is in constant touch with the state governments and depending on the situation, the union will take a decision regarding extension of the lockdown.

The meeting scheduled to be held on April 11 assumes a particular significance since several states across India have demanded an extension of the nationwide lockdown in the view of the surging coronavirus cases. One of the ideas being mulled over is the partial opening of the districts which have remained unscathed to the COVID-19 onslaught. However, the final decision will be taken in the meeting of PM Modi with the chief ministers.

Coronavirus: Brazil President invokes Ramayana, says PM Modi helped with hydroxychloroquine like Lord Hanuman got Sanjeevani

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Brazil President invokes Ramayana, says PM Modi helped with hydroxychloroquine like Lord Hanuman got Sanjeevani

Brazilian President Jair M. Bolsonaro in a letter to PM Narendra Modi on Wuhan coronavirus crisis today has made references to Ramayana and compared Indian efforts to Hanuman and Sanjeevani booti.

Applauding India’s supply of important drugs like hydroxychloroquine to Brazil at the time of the crisis, the Brazillian President said: “Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama’s brother, Laksmana, and Jesus healed those who were sick and restored the sight to Bartimeu, India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis by joining forces and sharing blessings for the sake of all people.”

The President of Brazil said that just as Hanuman saved the life of Lakshman (brother of Lord Rama) by bringing Sanjeevani Booti from the Himalayas, ​​similarly the medicine given by India will save people’s lives in his country. He said that India and Brazil together would be able to overcome this catastrophe.

Last week the Brazilian President and Indian PM Narendra Mod had spoken and discussed the global situation in the wake of the spread of coronavirus pandemic and had requested India for hydroxychloroquine.

In a tweet, Brazilian President had said: “Requested support in the continuity of the provision of pharmaceuticals for the production of hydroxychloroquine”

The Indian government retaliated by saying: “The Prime Minister assured all possible support to Brazil President in this difficult hour. They agreed that their officials would remain in regular touch concerning the COVID-19 situation and its emerging challenges.”

America’s eyes are also focused on India in the hope of help to fight the global pandemic. President Donald Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought cooperation to fight the deadly Chinese virus. The US President Donald Trump had lauded India’s stand on hydroxychloroquine and spoke of procuring hydroxychloroquine from India.

There is a huge demand for the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, from all over the world, including the US, for its potential use in helping treat patients of the novel coronavirus. India is the biggest producer and exporter of hydroxychloroquine. India has got a request from 30 countries for hydroxychloroquine.

The government of India had banned the export of hydroxychloroquine back on 25 March as the global demand for the anti-malaria drug surged. However, later on, Monday, India lifted the blanket ban on 14 drugs including hydroxychloroquine and announced that it will allow export of specific consignments on a case-to-case basis to certain badly affected nations on humanitarian grounds.

Tamil Nadu: 200 people quarantined after family of deceased coronavirus patient opens bodybag against guidelines and hosts funeral

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: 200 people quarantined after family of deceased coronavirus patient opens bodybag against guidelines and hosts funeral

On April 4, the Stanley Hospital in Tamil Nadu came under the scanner after the swab test result of a 70-year-old man who died on April 2 was found positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus. While the family had alleged negligence on part of the hospital, the hospital authorities had denied any wrongdoing on their part. A senior doctor said that the patient’s family was asked to follow protocol.

Now, as per a report in the New Indian Express, the Keelakarai police have booked the two sons of the deceased for “suppression of facts”. They have been booked under various sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act, Tamil Nadu Public Health Act and Disaster Management Act.

According to the report, while the hospital had given back the body of the deceased in a sealed body bag as per WHO protocol, the sons had disregarded the protocol by opening and taking out the body to wash it and thereafter bury it as per their customs.

Keelakarai Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Marimuthu lodged a complaint against the sons and Keelakarai police registered a case against them on Monday. According to police sources, the case was booked since “the two brothers acted in a manner that could spread coronavirus infection, despite knowing that their father was a patient of coronavirus infection and despite the prohibitory orders that are in place”.

“The case has been booked for suppression of facts. The duo did not disclose that their father was admitted to the coronavirus ward at Stanley Medical College Hospital and that he was suspected to have COVID-19 at the private hospital in Chennai where the deceased man was taken before he was taken to Stanley Hospital where he died,” Ramanathapuram Superintendent of Police V Varun Kumar said.

Earlier, the family members had alleged that the authorities kept them uninformed about the likelihood of the patient dying due to the pandemic. As such, no precautionary measures were taken. They had taken the body of the deceased via an ambulance to Keelakarai in Ramanathapuram on the same night of his death. His body was buried the following day around 10 am.

Several people attended the funeral including Ramanathapuram MLA and former minister M Manikandan. Health secretary Beela Rajesh on Tuesday said 200 people had been quarantined as a result. 

A family member had claimed, “At the hospital, we were neither informed that he was a suspected COVID-19 patient nor that his samples were drawn for testing.

The body was handed over to us wrapped in a green-colored cloth.” When the test results returned positive on Saturday, it was only then that the hospital authorities informed the family.

However, refuting charges of negligence, the Stanley administration claimed that the coronavirus positive patient’s body was wrapped as per COVID-19 protocol and handed over with the warning that the patient might have had COVID-19. Hospital authorities had denied any wrongdoing on their part. A senior doctor said that the patient’s family was asked to follow protocol.

‘Really blew it’: Donald Trump slams WHO’s ‘China-centric’ approach, threatens to cut its funding from the USA

Shashank Bharadwaj
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‘Really blew it’: Donald Trump slams WHO’s ‘China-centric’ approach, threatens to cut its funding from the USA

Threatening to cut US funding to the World Health Organisation, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused the organisation of showing bias toward China during the coronavirus pandemic.

US President Donald Trump sharply criticized the World Health Organisation on Tuesday, accusing it of being too focused on China and issuing bad advice during the new coronavirus outbreak and saying he would put a hold on US funding for the agency.

Addressing the reporters during a press conference, Donald Trump continued his attack on the World Health Organisation, said, “We’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it and we’re going to see. It’s a great thing if it works. But when they call every shot wrong, that’s no good”.

President Trump also warned the organisation that his administration will be looking into the US funding to the WHO. The Geneva-headquartered World Health Organisation receives a significant sum of money from the United States as aid.

“We pay for a majority or the biggest portion of their money. They actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it. They were wrong. They’ve been wrong about a lot of things. They had a lot of information early and they didn’t want to – they’re very – they seem to be very China-centric,” Trump charged during his news conference on Tuesday.

Reportedly, Trump said reporters that he was “going to put a very powerful hold on” funding to WHO. However, he did not give any details about how much money would be withheld. “We will look at ending funding,” he added.

Both China and WHO faces severe criticism not only from Washington but also from various other countries, over the way it handled the pandemic.

Earlier, Trump had triggered a diplomatic war with China by repeatedly referring the Novel Coronavirus as Chinese Virus. Several leaders in the United States have been highly critical of both China and WHO of their handling of the situation, accusing them of hiding vital information and underplaying the crisis at the beginning. US President Trump had also expressed doubt over the accuracy of Chinese statistics for cases and deaths.

On the other hand, the WHO and its director Ghebreyesus has come under severe criticism for their comments on the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, when it was already creating havoc in Wuhan in China. The organisation took long time in declaring a pandemic, leading to countries not being vigilant enough on time.

Read: WHO chief who shielded China in the wake of Wuhan Coronavirus had covered up other epidemics in the past: Here are the details

In January, WHO had endorsed the conclusion of Chinese authorities that the Novel Coronavirus does not spread from person to person, and had said that it does not recommend any specific health measures for travellers to and from Wuhan.

WHO also ignored Taiwan which had informed that it has evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. Taiwan wrote to WHO on December 31 regarding this, but WHO was denying human-to-human transmission till mid-January. It may be noted that Taiwan has been denied membership of WHO due to objections of China, which considers the island nation as its territory.

Madhya Pradesh: Man who had attended Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi infects 8 family members with Coronavirus, dies along with mother

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Man who had attended Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi infects 8 family members with Coronavirus, dies along with mother

A member of Tablighi jamaat from the state of Madhya Pradesh who later succumbed to COVID-19 had infected 8 members of his family with the Coronavirus. This included his mother who later died due to the disease. The man also died from COVID-19.

Khargone District Magistrate GC Dad informed media that the man had visited the Tablighi Jamaat in New Delhi last month. As per reports, after coming back from the religious event, the 49-year-old man infected his family members aged ranging from 13 to 75 years with COVID-19. The man and his wife had attended the Tablighi Jamaat after coming back from South Africa, and from there they had returned to Khargone. Later the man and his mother died.

The infected family members have been referred to Indore for treatment. Now the administration is doing contact tracing to identify people who may have come into contact with the members of the infected family.

The Nizamuddin Markaz event of Tablighi jamaat was attended by thousands of Muslims violating the social distancing norm have been emerged as a hotspot for most of the cases of Wuhan Coronavirus. The Tablighi Jamaatis are turning to be the superspreaders by absconding and hiding at certain places and avoid cooperation with the authorities.

Joint Secretary of Union Health Ministry on Saturday had informed that 30 percent of the total coronavirus cases are traced back to the Tablighi jamaat event and 50 percent of the cases in Uttar Pradesh belong to the same. While out of 571 cases 522 in the state of Tamil Nadu are the Tablighi who are still violating the isolation norms and harassing the health workers.

5194 people have been found positive with coronavirus in India while 149 are reported to succumb by the disease. And 402 patients of coronavirus have been recovered.

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