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For decades, Johnson and Johnson was aware of toxic asbestos content in its baby powder: Report

OpIndia Staff
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For decades, Johnson and Johnson was aware of toxic asbestos content in its baby powder: Report

In a report published by the Reuters on Friday, it is claimed that the US-based pharmaceuticals giant Johnson and Johnson was aware for decades that its baby powder contained asbestos. According to an investigation conducted by Reuters and an examination of documents, deposition and trial testimony shows that “from at least 1971 to the early 2000s, the company’s raw talc and finished powders have tested positive for small amounts of asbestos and the company’s executives, mine managers, scientists, doctors, had actively discussed the issue it while failing to disclose it to regulators or the public.”

The report also claimed that the company had paid for studies conducted on its Baby Powder franchise and hired a ghostwriter to redraft the article that presented the findings in a journal.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ArIv3IVlE]

The company has been facing multiple lawsuits filed by almost 11,700 plaintiffs, many of whom are women who have been battling rare forms of lung or ovarian cancer due to the asbestos they have been exposed to from years of using the talcum powder, said the report.

Johnson and Johnson had initially declined to share company documents with the plaintiffs, but as the lawsuits began piling up, it was compelled to share thousands of pages of company memos, reports and internal documents, the Reuters report claimed.

In the month of July, in the first case against the company involving the asbestos issue, a fine of $4.7 billion was imposed on it in total damages to 22 women who had claimed that asbestos in Johnson and Johnson powder contributed to their ovarian cancer. A drop of 8.3% was recorded in the company’s shares after the Reuters report came out, A fall that is believed to have wiped out USD 30 billion from the company’s market value. A similar downfall in the shares of the company was also observed in February when the asbestos concerns were raised.

Denying the claims made in the Reuters report the company said that “any suggestion that Johnson & Johnson knew or hid information about the safety of talc is false.”A statement issued by J&J Vice President Ernie Knewitz said, “This is all a calculated attempt to distract from the fact that thousands of independent tests prove our talc does not contain asbestos or cause cancer”.

Johnson and Johnson is facing a lawsuit in India for selling faulty hip implants which affected the lives of 14,525 patients in India. The company had already withdrawn the product from other countries on complaints.

Rafale: SC examined the pricing details closely, ‘did not rely’ on CAG report as claimed by Rahul Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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Rafale: SC examined the pricing details closely, ‘did not rely’ on CAG report as claimed by Rahul Gandhi

The Supreme Court in its verdict on the Rafale deal yesterday dismissed all petitions for investigation citing that perception of an individual is not reason enough for the Supreme Court to interfere. The apex court in its verdict had observed that the pricing of the jets had been shared with the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) and the CAG report was examined by the PAC (Public Accounts Committee).

However, PAC Chairman senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge had claimed that he had never seen the report. Kharge had accused the central government of ‘misleading’ the Supreme Court by presenting wrong facts regarding the CAG report. He accused the government of ‘feeding wrong information’ to the Supreme Court.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi went on an offensive and said that the SC verdict was based on the CAG report which was never discussed by the PAC as it appeared in the judgement.


This is not true. In the judgement pronounced yesterday, the Supreme Court had clearly mentioned that the government had shared the pricing details with the Supreme Court.

SC verdict stating that the court had examined the pricing details.

The Court was slightly on the secretive side while talking about the pricing, obviously, for national security concerns. The court, however, did say that it was compared the price of the previous deal and current deal and suffices to say that the official respondents say there is a financial benefit to the country.

This shows that the Supreme Court verdict was not based only on the CAG report.

However, the Central Government today filed a writ petition for correction and directions regarding the judgement so that the scope of misinterpretation is eliminated.

Writ Petition filed by the central government
Writ Petition filed by the central government

In the petition, the government says that perhaps the Supreme Court misinterpreted the note submitted by the government in a sealed cover in compliance with the order dated 31st October 2018. Referring to paragraph 25 of the judgement, the Government shares part of the note it had shared with the SC.

Writ Petition filed by the central government

The government explains that the details of pricing shared with the CAG is in the past tense, and it is factually correct. Second part of the point talks about the CAG report being examined by the PAC. The note said “the report of the CAG is examined by the PAC”, however, the judgement replaces “is” with “has been”, reading it as ‘the report of the CAG has been examined by the PAC”.

The Government has explained that the meaning of the term CAG report “is” examined by the PAC was the description of the procedure followed when it comes to CAG reports. That the term “is” used in present tense since it means what would be the procedure followed as and when the CAG report is ready.

Writ Petition filed by the central government

That the note of government was misinterpreted by the SC and it has led to a huge controversy in the public domain where many people have raised doubts over the fairness of the Supreme Court. To that, the government has requested the Supreme Court to make the appropriate changes in the order.

Writ Petition filed by the central government

The government, in its petition, also requested the Supreme Court to pass further orders it deems just and proper so as to end the controversy.

Hence, while the Central Government has filed a petition for correction in the Supreme Court verdict, the judgement would still hold since it is formed on the basis of pricing details examined by the Court and not just the CAG report.

Kumbh Mela 2019: Railways gears up with 800 special trains, reduced fares and massive projects to handle pilgrim surge

OpIndia Staff
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Kumbh Mela 2019: Railways gears up with 800 special trains, reduced fares and massive projects to handle pilgrim surge

Keeping the Kumbh Mela of 2019 in mind, the Indian Railways has brought in a number of measures. Railway minister Prush Goyal had announced recently that the fare surcharge will be waived off for pilgrims traveling to Kumbh and even other such religious Melas. After this decision, pilgrims will be able to travel for as low as Rs 5.

“In view of the religious beliefs of pilgrims and for promoting tourism, the central government has decided to abolish the fair surcharge being imposed by the Railways, which will provide relief to passengers coming to Kumbh and other such fairs,” Goyal said.


Sleeper coaches in regular mails and express trains would cost Rs 10 per seat while fares for AC chair car and AC third class will begin at Rs 20. Second AC or AC 2-tier (2A) train tickets will cost Rs 30 and for first class AC the tickets will be available at just Rs 40.

Along with minimising the fair, the Indian Railway has further proposed to run 800 special trains during the Kumbh Mela from various stations of Allahabad district for the pilgrims coming to the Kumbh Mela. These will be in addition to the to the regular ones that are run by the North Central Railway (NCR).

To make the Railways infrastructure facilities convenient for the pilgrims visiting the Kumbh Mela, commencing in Allahabad from January 2019, 41 projects costing more than Rs 700 crore has been commissioned so far.

Out of these, 29 projects have already been completed and the rest are in an advanced stage and will be completed shortly, a senior Railways official has said on Wednesday.

From CCTV to Skywalk, special trains to extra ticket counters, the Indian Railways is relentlessly working to make people’s journey comfortable.

Below are few of the several endeavors the Indian Railways have planned to ensure the comfort and security of the pilgrims and tourists coming to Prayagraj to participate in the Kumbh Mela 2019:

  • Four big enclosures with vending stalls, water booths, ticket counters, TVs, toilet blocks, and CCTV which would house about 10,000 pilgrims have been constructed at Allahabad Jn. Similar passenger enclosures are also built at other stations.
  • A skywalk connecting to main Foot Over Bridge’s (FOB) at Allahabad Jn. has been completed.
  • The Ministry of Railways has decided to allow 15 days advance booking of unreserved railway tickets from 11 stations lying in the Prayagraj region. The stations from which this advance booking of unreserved tickets will be allowed are Allahabad Junction, Allahabad City, Naini, Subedarganj, Prayag, Prayag Ghat, Daraganj, Phaphamau, Jhunsi, Vindhyachal, Allahabad Chheoki and back.
  • North Central Railway, Prayagraj, has launched a mobile application titled ‘Rail Kumbh Seva Mobile App’. This app will help in providing important information to the pilgrims and other passengers planning to visit Prayagraj during the Mela.
  • Hand Held Terminals are being provided to the ticket checking staff. These terminals will help the railway staff to distribute tickets to passengers in the Kumbh Mela area.
  • The railways will use artificial intelligence (AI), in a big way to tackle the massive rush of passengers to this holy city during the Mela.

The Kumbh Mela is believed to be the largest religious gathering on earth and alternates between Nasik, Allahabad, Ujjain, and Haridwar every three years.

The one held in Allahabad comes in every 12 years. This holy event celebrated on the banks of the ‘Sangam’, the confluence of the three holy rivers, namely, Ganga, Yumana and Saraswati, is the largest and considered the holiest of them all.

JD(U) will not support an ordinance for Ram Temple in Ayodhya, says senior party leader

OpIndia Staff
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JD(U) will not support an ordinance for Ram Temple in Ayodhya, says senior party leader

BJP’s Bihar associate JD(U) has explicitly said that it will not support the promulgation of an ordinance on temple construction at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya.

Responding to a question that some organisations have been demanding an ordinance for building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, JD(U) national general secretary and its leader in the Rajya Sabha, Ram Chandra Prakash Singh said, “different demands are raised by people in this country. But JD(U) neither supports the idea of bringing an ordinance for Ram Temple nor will support it if brought in Parliament.”

He furthered that the party will stick to its stand that the issue should be either solved by mutual consent or decided by a court of law.

RCP Singh, speaking about the recent five-state assembly polls, clarified that the defeat BJP faced in the three states during assembly elections will not have any effect on the 2019 general elections.

Earlier, the party’s recently appointed Vice-President, Prashant Kishor had also stated that the BJP would anyways win the elections (2019 polls) without taking recourse to this issue, as it did in 2014.

The state BJP unit, however, countered its alliance partner to say that a “temple would be constructed soon” as it has been part of BJP’s manifesto.

BJP has been facing constant demands from members of the Sangh Parivar, which BJP is also a part of, and a section of its own party insisting on the construction of the Ram Temple. The Sangh has been lately pressurising the government to bring an ordinance in the Parliament regarding the same.

The RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have intensified their demands for an ordinance in recent weeks. As the winter session of the parliament was about to begin, lakhs of people from all over the country had thronged to the Ramleela Maidan on December 9 to attend the Dharm Sabha and demanded the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Church of South India Archbishop Dyvasirvadam arrested in church fund scam, reports Times of India

OpIndia Staff
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Church of South India Archbishop Dyvasirvadam arrested in church fund scam, reports Times of India

Crime Investigation Division (CID) has arrested Church of South India (CSI) archbishop Dyvasirvadam for his alleged involvement in church funds scam, reported the Times of India. He was arrested after a year-long investigation and the local court has granted the agency his 14-day judicial remand.

According to the report, archbishop Dyvasirvadam was allegedly involved in misappropriation of church fund for over a decade and he was ‘illegally elected’ back in 2002. The members of the CSI Church have been fighting against him since a few years now. His relative, Sudhir Samuel is also believed to be involved in the scam.

It is reported that in 2015, the Registrar of Companies carried out inspection and income tax audit since 2010 which revealed that the institution was not giving a clear picture of accounts. The CSI Trust Association, a section 25 company, also faces various allegations including amending the rulebook without Centre’s approval. The CID estimates that the scam could run into several thousand crores.

Dyvasirvadam was first arrested in January 2018 for the first time by Andhra Pradesh Police to follow an investigation of the sale of church property, with proceeds estimated to be around 32 million dollars, allegedly pocketed by Dyvasirvadam.

Passports of 23 Indian Sikhs went missing from the Pakistan High Commission, MEA raises concern

OpIndia Staff
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Passports of 23 Indian Sikhs went missing from the Pakistan High Commission, MEA raises concern

Twenty-three passports belonging to Indian Sikhs have gone missing from the Pakistan High Commission which has raised security concerns, as reported by Times of India.

The Sikh pilgrims whose passports have gone missing were planning a visit to the gurudwaras in Pakistan including the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur. An FIR has been registered in the case. After the matter was brought to the notice of External Affairs Ministry, the Ministry revoked all the missing passports and has taken up the issue with the Pakistan High Commission. Pakistan has denied the allegations on its Officials regarding the loss of the passports.

“This is a serious issue and we have taken all necessary action to prevent any misuse of these passports”, told an official source. It is reported that a Delhi based agent had collected all the missing passports. He informed the authorities that he had submitted all the documents to the Pakistan High Commission but when he went to the High Commission to collect the passports, the Pakistani officials denied having the passports.

Earlier last month, Pakistan had issued visas to about 3800 Indian Sikh pilgrims on occasion of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev. The 23 people who had lost passports were also scheduled to travel with that group.

The Indian government had sought 24/7 access to Kartarpur Sahib for an unrestricted number of pilgrims keeping in mind the sentiments of Sikh pilgrims.

Rafale: They wanted to pull Modi down to their level

Abhishek Banerjee
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Rafale: They wanted to pull Modi down to their level

Did a whole lot of people actually believe the allegations of corruption against Narendra Modi in the Rafale deal? I am talking about real people, not members of the ecosystem who depend on spreading on those allegations for a living.

Probably not.

But the fact remains that if BJP had got just 0.5% more votes, it would have won both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

We don’t know if 0.5% of votes were swung by the manufactured controversy over the Rafale deal. However, the recent Assembly Elections have established that a big lie, even if believed by a small number of people, can do massive damage.

First, they attacked his mother and they attacked his father. They made fun of his humble origins as a tea seller. Recently, when Senior Congress Leader C P Joshi attacked Modi for being born into an OBC caste, he was merely the latest in a long line of Congress leaders from Ghulam Nabi Azad to Priyanka Gandhi to Mani Shankar Aiyar who had made remarks that could easily be seen as insulting references to his caste. C P Joshi was just being more explicit.

To keep up appearances, Rahul Gandhi suggested that C P Joshi might want to appeal to his own conscience and regret his words. As far as I know, he didn’t.

Why did they so instinctively attack Modi’s parents, his family background and his caste? Because this is what comes naturally to them. They have built their lives around the privilege they obtained at birth. Or by becoming sycophants of those who had such privilege. This is what they understand best.

The other thing they understand is India’s endemic corruption, the result of a system that their party nurtured for decades. In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi presented the report card of four decades of Congress rule by saying that only 15 paise of every rupee spent by the government ever reaches the masses. The rest is grabbed by the “system”.

So when they realized that Modi’s Teflon coated honesty is the obstacle for them, they set out to remake Modi’s image in their own. They didn’t have to prove themselves innocent, they just had to prove that Modi is just another politician like them.

In this project, all they needed to do was create doubt. Evidence didn’t matter so much.

Why?

Because of the very same system that they built. The system that was engineered to take 85 paise out of every rupee spent by the government. We Indians are just so used to it. We have grown up hearing the constant refrain that “politicians are corrupt”. So it doesn’t take more than a few allegations to sow in our minds the seed of doubt.

Even now, after the Supreme Court has demolished all allegations against the Rafale Deal, they are reasonably confident. Some journalists yesterday, anguished by the verdict, hastened to point out that Rafale is a perception game. In other words, they are counting on sixty years of Congress scams to convince people that there must be a scam in the Rafale Deal because there always is.

After all, who has ever heard of a defence deal in India without a scam attached? Try googling Nehru and jeep scam. All the way to the AgustaWestland helicopter scam.

Remember that they don’t have to prove they are better than Modi. They are trying to prove that Modi is just like them.

After the verdict came out yesterday, the liberal ecosystem and its shady PIL activists slammed the Supreme Court left and right. Okay, mostly left. Earlier this year, when a few verdicts went against them, they wanted the Chief Justice impeached. When they lost elections, they wanted the EVMs replaced. And then they say Modi is ‘destroying institutions’.

Some spoke of “people’s court”. Again, they were confident in their ability to spread fake news. And that there would be someone to bankroll it.

Remember that Modi’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has helped in the recovery of Rs 3 lakh crore of bad loans in 2 years. That is a *lot* of money. And those who got big loans in the golden days of the naamdars couldn’t possibly be happy about this.

Now, who would go around knocking on people’s doors, trying to frame the chowkidar in false cases so that he gets fired from his job? What could their motivation be? Something to think about…

Mumbai Police teaches a lesson in humility to ‘special’ Sonam Kapoor

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai Police teaches a lesson in humility to ‘special’ Sonam Kapoor

Mumbai Police have been very active on social media in their awareness campaigns and often ensure prompt action through speedy response. They have also caught celebrities breaking traffic rules several times and initiated action.

Yesterday, a video of Actor Dulquer Salman shot by Sonam Kapoor went viral in the social media. A social media user had called the attention of Mumbai Police by sharing that video. In the video, Salman was seen fidgeting with his mobile phone while sitting on the driver seat in a moving car and Sonam Kapoor, who appeared to be shooting the video, was heard saying ‘weirdo’ to Salman.

Mumbai Police attempted to call out the apparent act of traffic rules violation. They shared the video tagging Sonam Kapoor and stating that it was indeed a ‘weirdo’ act to do while driving.


Sonam Kapoor promptly reacted to the tweet, stating that the vehicle in the video was rigged to a truck and was not being ‘driven’. She also took a sly dig at Mumbai Police stating she appreciates the concern shown and she hopes and knows they show the same interest in ‘regular folk’ too, referring to common citizens.

Via Twitter

The fact that the vehicle was rigged and was not being driven was also shared by Dulquer Salman. Salman also snapped at Mumbai Police for not checking facts before tweeting and shared another video that showed the vehicle being towed by a truck.


While the Mumbai police responded to Salman that a user had brought the issue to their attention and they are duty bound to raise alarm in such situations, they also clarified to him that instead of attempting to chastise public servants for doing their job, a clarification with the video that showed the car being towed would have been much better.

Via Twitter

They also responded to Sonam Kapoor’s ‘regular folk’ sly in style. Exposing her underlying sense of entitlement in considering herself above the ‘regular folk’, they replied that for them no citizen in ‘regular’ and all Mumbaikars are equally ‘special’ to them.


They also responded to Salman that they were only doing their job and they appreciate the fact that the actor was not breaking any rules.

Sonam Kapoor soon rectified her tone and responded to the police that she is glad and grateful for the concern and protection. She even tweeted later (apparently for her fans) that the Mumbai police were just doing their job and should not be ‘pulled up’ for it.

The Mumbai police Twitter handle is one of the most popular official handles of an on Twitter. On several occasions, they have held celebrities accountable for breaking traffic rules and taken action.

Singer Sona Mohapatra asks Delhi Government to withdraw invitation to Kailash Kher for concert amidst #MeToo allegations

OpIndia Staff
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Singer Sona Mohapatra asks Delhi Government to withdraw invitation to Kailash Kher for concert amidst #MeToo allegations

Following the #MeToo storm that took India by the storm few weeks back, singer Sona Mohapatra has asked Delhi Government to withdraw the invitation to singer Kailash Kher for a concert in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar. In a petition to Delhi Government, Mohapatra has narrated her experience with Kher and accused him of sexually harassing her.

She alleges that Kher made her feel uncomfortable and made unwanted sexual advances towards her during the course of their professional relationship. Mohapatra further says that she is not the only one to have come forward with allegations against Kher. She says that multiple women including minors have come forward with their #MeToo stories against Kher and organising this concert would add insult to injury.


She expressed shock at Kher being asked to headline a performance at the Delhi Government’s Mayur Utsav which is scheduled on 16th December, Sunday.

Other than Mohapatra, many others have also raised their concerns against Delhi Government lending its name for a concert by someone who has been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment.


However, there has been no communication from Delhi Government’s side yet.

Recently, many women and men had come out in the open to talk about their sexual harassment stories, many of which included big names in the media and film fraternity. As the #MeToo movement gained momentum in India starting with actor Tanushree Dutta accusing Nana Patekar of harassing her, incidents of harassment and sexual misconduct started coming out in the open, with allegations being levelled against many personalities in the media and entertainment industry, including Subhash Ghai, Vikas Bahl, Alok Nath, and Rajat Kapoor.

Union minister M J Akbar, comedians like Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba, co-founders of All India Bakchod were all accused of sexual misconduct. Notable filmmakers like Vikas Bahl, Sajid Khan and Journalists like Vinod Dua and Sidharth Bhatia of The Wire, Prashant Jha of the Hindustan Times have been accused. Filmmaker Sajid Khan was recently suspended from Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association over sexual harassment charges.

UPA allowed the import of Johnson and Johnson’s faulty hip implants in India: Centre tells SC

Aditi
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UPA allowed the import of Johnson and Johnson’s faulty hip implants in India: Centre tells SC

After a Supreme Court Bench comprising of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice S K Kaul and Justice K M Joseph sought a response from the Centre on a plea alleging medical negligence by the US based firm Johnson and Johnson (J&J), the Centre submitted before the Supreme Court that the UPA government allowed the import of the faulty hip implants in India even after the company withdrew its product from Australia, according to reports.

According to the response filed by the Centre, the UPA government allowed the import of the faulty hip implants of Johnson & Johnson in February 2010 which the company had withdrawn from Australia in December 2009 after complaints. The company had applied for license in India in January 2010 after it had already withdrawn the product from Australia in 2009, claimed the affidavit filed by Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO).

J&J had informed the CDSCO on September 23, 2009 that it has not received any complaints about the hip implant in the last three years. Thereafter on March 8, 2010, J&J  in its safety notice to CDSCO informed about a higher rate of revision surgeries on patients who had received hip implant products of J&J. The company informed the CDSCO about the voluntary recall of the product from India on August 24, 2010.

The petition claimed that the lives of 14,525 patients in India were endangered due to “large scale and illegal implantation of faulty, deadly and poisonous DePuy ASR Hip Implants”.

A committee was set up in 2017 headed by Dr Arun Aggarwal to look into the aftermath of the matter which had found J&J guilty of medical negligence. “The firm has failed to provide medical management to all the patients. In addition, the firm has not paid compensation to any patient so far as per available records,” the committee’s report said. The report suggested a base compensation of Rs 20 lakh to each patient who received the faulty hip implant.

The Centre has refused to accept J&J’s stand of not providing reimbursement to the patients after August 24, 2017 and has asked the company to extend the reimbursements til 2025.

The Central Expert Committee headed by Dr R K Arya had created a formula for recalculation of compensation to patients who received the faulty hip implants and fixed an outer limit of 1.22 crore.

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