Patna: A wedding ceremony in rural Patna a fortnight ago where the groom was running a high fever, two days before he died and his body cremated without being tested for COVID-19, appears to have set off the biggest infection chain in Bihar so far, health department officials said on Tuesday.
More than 100 people have tested positive in Paliganj sub-division of Patna district, about 55 km from the state capital, in the last few days, out of over 350 who have been tested upon contact tracing, they said. Fifteen of his relatives who attended the wedding tested positive for the contagion and apparently infected others.
The officials, who requested anonymity, said the groom was a software engineer based in Gurugram and had returned home for his marriage in the last week of May. A few days after the ''tilak'' ceremony, he started showing symptoms of the disease.
On 15 June, the date of the wedding, he was running a high fever and wanted the ceremony to be deferred, but relented upon the insistence of family members who made him swallow paracetamol tablets and go through the rituals.
On 17 June, his condition deteriorated significantly and family members made a dash to AIIMS, Patna, but he died on the way.
The body was cremated in a huff, without the authorities being informed. But somebody telephoned the district magistrate and narrated the whole episode. All close relatives of the deceased, who attended the ceremony, were tested on 19 June. Of all the relatives, 15 tested positive, the officials said.
As a measure to contain the spread of the disease, a special camp was set up at the village where the marriage took place on24-26 June during which samples of 364 people were collected. Of them, 86 tested positive, the officials added.
The sudden explosion of the dreaded coronavirus has triggered panic in the area. Although most who tested positive were asymptomatic, they have been admitted to isolation centres in Bihta and Phulwarisharif.
Block Development Officer Chiranjeev Pandey said Meetha Kuan, Khagari Mohalla, and parts of Paliganj Bazaar have been sealed for thorough sanitisation.
Patna district happens to be the worst-affected in Bihar with 699 confirmed cases to date and five casualties, according to figures provided by the administration. The number of active cases is 372.
On Monday, when the state witnessed its biggest single-day spike with 394 cases, Patna district accounted for more than 20 percent of these. About eighty cases were reported from Paliganj alone.
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New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Tuesday said it has launched the "world's first" online BSc degree course in Programming and Data Science.
The course will be open to anyone who has passed Class 12 with English and Maths at Class 10 level, and enrolled in any on-campus undergraduate course. Even the current batch of students who are completing their class 12 are eligible to apply. Graduates and working professionals can also take up this programme.
The programme was launched by Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ''Nishank'' and Minister of State for HRD Sanjay Dhotre.
"IIT Madras has introduced world's first-ever online BSc degree programme in Data Science and Programming. Analysis reveals that every year 7 to 7.5 lakh Indian students go abroad in search of better education and our talent as well as our revenue goes outside the country," Nishank said at the launch.
He said institutions such as IIT Madras have the "vision and mission" to help the nation move forward on its path to self-reliance by bringing such quality education and unique courses right here in India.
"Even during this challenging time, when the nation is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and everyone is forced to be at home, IITs have come together to innovate for the sake of the nation. Several innovations such as ventilators, masks and drones have come from the continuous research from IITs. I am confident that this educational initiative will help many students in India," the Union minister added.
According to officials at IIT Madras, Data Science is one of the fastest growing sectors that is predicted to create 11.5 million jobs by 2026. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has predicted that by 2022, data analyst and scientist will be the number one emerging job role in the world.
"We are delighted to offer a programme that will make quality education inclusive and address a pressing need in today's challenging higher education environment. This programme not only embraces the trend of moving education online but also provides a platform to create skilled and employable women and men in a data-driven world," said Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras.
The programme will be delivered on a state-of-the-art online portal and will attract learners from even remote parts of India where outreach of digital literacy is minimal and will help them stay ahead in their career journeys, he said.
Ramamurthi said the programme will have videos from faculty, weekly assignments and in-person invigilated exams just like any other regular course
It will hone students' skills in managing data, visualising patterns to gain managerial insights, model uncertainties and build models that assist in producing forecasts to make effective business decisions, he said.
The course will be offered in three different stages - Foundational Programme, Diploma Programme and Degree Programme. At each stage, students will have the freedom to exit from the programme and receive a certificate, diploma or a degree, respectively, from IIT Madras.
These students will go through course lectures online, submit online assignments and write an in-person qualifier exam at the end of four weeks. In contrast to the typical admission processes of IITs, which are constrained due to the limited number of in-campus seats, in this programme all students who clear (with an overall score of 50 pc) the qualifier exam will be eligible to register for the foundational programme, he added.
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On 8 June, 2020, the Ministry of Finance proposed decriminalising various offences “for improving business sentiment and unclogging court processes ”, including Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (“Act”), which makes dishonour of cheques a punishable offence. The press release mentions that criminal penalties are “perceived as one of the major reasons impacting business sentiment and hindering investments both from domestic and foreign investors.”The finance ministry has also highlighted the delay in disposal of cases involving such offences and stated that decriminalisation will form a part of the post-COVID-19 response strategy to revive the economy and improve the justice system in India.
As per Section 138, if a cheque drawn on a beneficiary for the discharge of any debt or liability, is dishonoured by the bank upon presentation, the drawer can be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with a fine which may extend to twice the amount of the cheque, or both. However, the drawer of the cheque is given a 15-day period within which he can settle accounts with the holder of the cheque.
However, decriminalising Section 138 might not be the right means for achieving an otherwise laudable end.
Need to criminalise bad cheques
Just as the need to decriminalise Section 138 is felt to create a more favourable business climate, the need for a sense of security among holders of cheques cannot be ignored.
The importance of credit in the Indian economy can hardly be overestimated. Traditionally, Post-Dated Cheques (PDCs) have been one of the popular ways of facilitating credit in India. PDCs are widely used for obtaining home finance and other products including personal, auto and consumer durable loans. Some loan agreements provide for handing over of PDCs as security for instalments.
It is a common for landlords to take PDCs from tenants to secure property lease agreements. Also, many MSMEs deliver goods and services against PDCs. This system has developed only on account of the reassurance provided by Section 138.
Also, decriminalising this provision is going to serve as a setback for those creditors who lend money to companies, and are later unable to recover their dues. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 does provide the option of filing an application before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). However, the government has recently raised the threshold for default under the Code to Rs 1 crore from Rs 1 lakh. Perhaps, Section 138 is now the only effective recourse which an aggrieved creditor has when the amount involved is under Rs 1 crore.
Decriminalising Section 138 is only going to make creditors more insecure, which could cause unfathomable harm to the Indian economy.
Moreover, considering the malaise of tax-evaded income in the form of cash, and its adverse impact on the economy, there is an imperative need for promoting the use of cheques. The deterrent provisions of Section 138 have been more than efficacious in this regard since people feel much safer using cheques. Decriminalising this provision will undeniably, serve as a major blow to transparency in financial transactions.
What the Supreme Court has said
Over the years the Supreme Court has made a conscious effort to create an effective safety mechanism to prevent the misuse of Section 138.
In Damodar S. Prabhu Vs. Sayed Babalal Hcase, the court held with respect to Section 138, that it is the compensatory aspect of the remedy which should be given priority over the punitive aspect. The court took cognisance of the tendency of litigants to belatedly choose the method of compromise to resolve their dispute, instead of doing so at an earlier stage of litigation.
The early settlement was incentivised by introducing a graded scheme for imposing costs and it was held that if the accused makes an application for compromise at the first or second hearing of the case, settlement may be allowed without imposing any costs on the accused. While observing that vexatious filing of multiple complaints relatable to the same offence causes undue harassment, the court directed that it should be mandatory for the complainant to disclose that no other complaint has been filed in any other court in respect of the same transaction and if he fails to do so, heavy costs must be imposed upon him.
Among the primary causes for the colossal amount of Section 138 cases in Indian courts is the reprehensible act of filing complaints in various places for cheques dishonoured in the same transaction and at the same place, in order to extract money from the accused by dragging him from place to place.
In Dashrath Rupsingh Rathod Vs. State of Maharashtra, the court held that territorial jurisdiction for filing Section 138 complaints is restricted to the court within whose jurisdiction the cheque is dishonoured (area within which drawer’s bank is located). However, soon Section 142 (2) was inserted via the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2015 which essentially limits jurisdiction to the place where the holder of the cheque ordinarily maintains his account or where that branch of the holder’s bank is located in which the drawer maintains his account.
Even though the rule laid down by the apex court was found unsuitable by the Legislature, this judgment was instrumental in bringing to light the need to restrict jurisdiction within which complaints could be filed.
Many a time when a company has issued cheques which are later dishonoured, the directors of the company are needlessly named in the complaint for the sole purpose of harassment. In the A.R. Radha Krishna Vs. Dasari Deepthi and Ors., it was held that a complaint under Section 138 must contain a specific averment that the director was in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the company's business when the offence was committed. Moreover, the court must check whether there is evidence which proves the director’s innocence.
These are just a few among an array of judgments in which the Supreme Court has laid down strict guidelines to ensure that Section 138 is not misemployed by exploitative litigants.
International perspective
Internationally as well, the need has been felt to make cheque dishonour a punishable offence.
The abovementioned countries find themselves placed amongst the top twenty-five countries on the World Bank Ease Of Doing Business Rankings, despite strict financial laws.
Need for fast track courts in India
Admittedly, Section 138 cases have congested courts across the country. However, decriminalising this provision is not the solution to the problem.
Unfortunately, there has been little progress in this regard. The fast track courts will be instrumental in reducing the pendency of cheque dishonour cases in India. However, these courts can only be set up if the government is willing to provide necessary funds to meet the expenditure involved in their creation and for subsequently staffing them.
Final word
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic hardship across the globe and a consequent rise in financial crime is indubitable. While regulatory forbearance, higher barriers to entry into formal insolvency proceedings and extension of procedural deadlines are all welcome moves, decriminalising Section 138 might be a step too far.
Fraud is often at its most virulent during crises and now more than ever before, it is critical to be vigilant in preventing financial crime. The current crises have made people overly insecure about finances and economic revival can only be achieved by reinstating confidence among them. Not just Section 138, but many other provisions dealing with financial offences are bound to play a vital role in India’s economic revival.
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Bengaluru: Karnataka government on Tuesday announced a complete lockdown on Sundays till 2 August. "There shall be complete lockdown on Sundays from 5 July and followed by next four Sundays till 2 August," stated the government.
"However, essential activities allowed during night curfew will be permitted during Sunday lockdown too. Marriages already fixed on Sundays will be permitted as per norms," also said.
Regarding government of Karnataka and related Offices, the order read, "With effect from 10 July, 2020, all Government Offices/Boards and Corporations, except those operating and maintaining essential services, shall remain closed on all Saturdays till 2nd week of August, 2020, i.e., in addition to the existing holidays on 2nd and 4th Saturdays."
Containment zones will be demarcated by the BBMP/District authorities after taking into consideration the guidelines of Department of Health & Family Welfare with the objective of effectively breaking the chain of transmission.
Those regions will be notified on the websites by the Commissioner, BBMP/ respective Deputy commissioners/concerned Departments and information will be shared with MoHFW.
In the containment zones, only essential activities shall be allowed. There shall be strict perimeter control to ensure that there is no movement of people in or out of these zones, except for medical emergencies and for facilitating supply of essential goods and services.
In these areas, there shall be intensive contact tracing, house-to-house surveillance, and other clinical interventions, as required. Guidelines of MoHFW and Department of Health and Family Welfare shall be effectively implemented for the above purpose.
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To solve a problem, you have to understand it. Why Men Rape — An Indian Undercover Investigation, a new book authored by Tara Kaushal, deconstructs the very complex subject of rape, chipping away at the falsehoods patriarchy has perpetrated. In a country where rape is massively underreported, where few have faith in the police and where half the population lives with the fear of assault, many things need to change.
Questioning the survivor on her whereabouts, telling girls to stay safe aka indoors, and listening to politicians listing Chowmein, jeans and western culture as causes — as a society, we obviously have a long way to go. Kaushal’s book is not about these attitudes; it’s a deep dive into the rapist’s mind and the socio-cultural reality that birthed him.
It’s not that there aren’t any studies on the subject. There are plenty. But many of them exist in the academic and research world that is largely inaccessible to most of us. What we are acquainted with instead is the villainous rapist from Bollywood, viral videos of assault that are meant to titillate, and coverage on sensational rape-murders like the 2010 Delhi gangrape or the Kathua case. This book brings complex theories on gender and violence to the layperson in an easy, conversational style, making it essential reading for all.
Tara Kaushal, who has written extensively on gender, sexuality and equal rights, began working on this book full-time in 2017. The idea, however, had germinated much earlier and the 2012 case had been one of the triggers. Growing up as a teenager in Noida, Kaushal has faced sexual violence, once narrowly escaping a gangrape. But soon she became determined to fight back, unwilling to accept that men’s actions should have such a large bearing on the way she lived her life.
In this book she adopts the anthropological and observational method to interview nine undetected rapists, spending days with them undercover as a film researcher, to uncover not just why they committed these crimes but how their caste, economic reality, upbringing, culture, religion and language have led them to become who they are. The men interviewed for the book are representative of India’s demographics in many ways — a doctor who raped his 12-year-old patient and left her paraplegic; an unemployed man who has decided to kill his former lover; a youth who participated in a gangrape; a serial rapist who doesn’t believe that rape exists.
In an interview, Kaushal gives us a glimpse into “why men rape”, and her journey writing this book.
In the case of some of your subjects, there was a complete lack of understanding of what rape was. Some of them simply equated it with sex and believed that women have a great appetite for it, and that they can never be satiated. Fundamentally, they didn’t see anything wrong with forcing themselves on women. I find it unbelievable that after committing a rape and observing the woman, anybody could think that there was nothing wrong with they did. Your thoughts…
Let’s talk about one particular subject [in the book], the political henchman from Bhopal. If you situate women's desires as he does, as insatiable and indiscriminate, that all women want sex and a lot of it, then you believe that the only reason she would be saying no is because of social constructs. He believes it’s just a mask. He’ll say, “But if you really ask her, she wants sex.” So forcing women is nothing much more than divesting them of their social conditioning, according to him.
Another one of my subjects — who stalked a girl for a long time, until he discovered that she’d died by suicide — also believed that to keep stalking a woman till she says yes was normal. That, according to him, was the way “love initiates”. Across cultures, in all sorts of literature and film, a woman has to play hard to get until she ultimately capitulates. No means yes. This idea of rape is a sexual extension of that.
These ideas come from patriarchy, an ideology that believes a woman should say no and should appear to preserve her modesty and “virginity”. These ideas predate film and literature. We’re going back to the origins of patriarchy, which is at the start of the agrarian revolution.
So every time people and patriarchy shame ‘loose women’, women who have sex when and with whom they want…in fact, these women are working towards a more honest gender dynamic.
The reasons for why men in India rape are many and complex. You’ve delved into patriarchy, the penis privilege, language, the way children and particularly boys are brought up, domestic abuse, caste, economic disadvantages. But out of all the reasons that you have uncovered and explained, what would you say is the most important one? The one that causes the most damage?
It’s difficult to hone in on one or two but if I had to, I’d look at it this way…
I’d say rape happens for two reasons. One, the perpetrator objectifies the victim. So, when a man is in a relationship or even if he loves the woman, he is able to take a step back and say, “If it's a choice between my desires and hers, my desires are more important.” That boils down to patriarchy. The other is that the perpetrator doesn't objectify the victim, sees them as fully human, and wants to assert power and pain on that human being. That boils down to rage and violence within the perpetrator.
I’ve watched some of these widely circulated rape videos and in one these, the woman is trying to fight back and the man’s just laughing. So why is he laughing? He's laughing because he finds it amusing or he's laughing because his anger is being quelled, his violence is finding resolution. There are lots of reasons for this rage, from capitalism to the caste system, from population to culture and inequality…. You see everyone getting ahead, and people wearing jade and diamond-studded clothes while you have no money to eat.
Patriarchy needs to be wiped out, simple, and we need to address the systemic reasons for why people are angry. One of the biggest reasons for the rage, and one that is easiest to solve at an individual and community level, is domestic violence against wives and kids at home; and corporal punishment in homes and in schools. We need to actively campaign against this.
Author Tara Kaushal. Photo by Sahil Mane
Do those who play traditional roles of stay-at-home mom or homemaker strengthen the patriarchy?
We were always patriarchal, historically; now we’re a capitalist patriarchy, where money underscores the historical power structures. To undermine capitalist patriarchy, do women need to step back from motherhood and child rearing? That is also unfair. Because, again, we're imposing an idea of what is or isn’t right for women to do. The problem is that the labour of stay-at-home mothers isn’t paid or rewarded. If she’s worked 10 hours a day, every day, brought up the children and taken care of the house, then where’s her salary?
There are so many stories of artists who spent years writing, and their wives were running the house, cooking and providing for them. The world is full of men who have gone forward on the labour of women. They want the children, but they don't want to pay for the sacrifices that the woman is making to bring up those children. I don’t think stay-at-home wives and mothers are propagating the patriarchal system, but they are victims of the system because it doesn’t record or reward their labour.
How much of a change does our legal system require and what changes would you advocate for specifically? There’s a 1972 Supreme Court judgment on the Mathura gangrape case that you mention in the book which said that since the woman had not raised an alarm and there were no visible signs of injury, therefore there was no rape. The unscientific two-finger test, as you point out, also was done away with only in 2013.
The first thing that the government does is change the law. It's the easiest thing to do. In 2018, the Madhya Pradesh government decided child rapists would be hanged and that was the new law. We bay for blood, and we want quick and easy answers — and we get them. Change the law, it’s simple!
The problem in India is not so much the law. It's the execution of the law. It's the law enforcement. From the police to the judicial system. Judges are overworked. I interviewed a judge recently, and he said that each judge in the Agra District Court has 2000 cases that they need to work; and then in the evenings they need to do the bail hearings, all of which need to be uploaded to the server. It's all very well for us to criticise the slow process of the law but that's the reality of it.
We do need legal reforms, but we don't need it in the laws, we need it in the way it's executed. I met Vinta Nanda on a panel discussion recently. She had been raped over 20 years ago. But when she went to the police station to file an FIR, they told her she’ll have to do a medical test. What sense does that make?
Women don’t report these cases because they believe nothing will happen and most times that’s unfortunately true. And it’s a catch-22. We don’t report it and the men get away and the burden is back on the survivor to prove it. The only way to solve this is with police reforms but more importantly, men have to stop doing it.
How do we hold Bollywood accountable for rape culture? For many of us, our understanding of romance, college life, sex and many other important aspects of life unfortunately have been shaped by Hindi films. And if films like Kabir Singh continue to be top grossers, the commercial success that regressive and patriarchal ideas offer will ensure that such films keep getting made.
We cannot outsource the responsibility of what gets represented in films just to filmmakers, because they aren’t really motivated by societal good. We have put our money and our votes where our mouth is. You have to make liberal the right choice and normalise feminism. You have to not pay to watch a Kabir Singh. There is no way to quantify the harm that Bollywood has done. It’s overt and it’s covert. And a lot of damage needs to be undone.
Can you take us through your journey of writing this book?
Although I was raped by a gardener when I was four years old and even though there was sexual violence all along, I hadn’t told my parents anything so there were no consequences. It wasn’t until I was 12 and we’d moved to Noida that I started feeling like what men did was having unnecessary repercussions on my life. My parents didn’t want me to go out too much and tried to implement rules for what I could and could not wear. The question I started asking myself was: “Why should the actions of men impact my life so much?”
I was always a feminist, and became more so as I grew older. I studied the subject till my postgraduation, and have written about gender and sexuality since, for over 15 years now. But it wasn’t until after the Delhi gangrape of 2012 that I decided this was the book I was going to write. You study sexual violence as an outlier of feminism, but it wasn’t enough to write a book about it. I started reading for it and saving for it. In 2017, when I started work on the book full-time, I crowd funded it. That for me was a really big one, because now I was accountable to other people. There were many times I was close to giving up but having made such a social and economic commitment, I couldn’t. That pushed me through the tough times.
While I was doing the interviews, some situations did become dangerous. There was a trap laid out for me but I managed to escape; I hung out with a dacoit. But these were not deterrents. I didn’t think of the danger of being in such close proximity with these interview subjects, till I was actually in the moment.
Why Men Rape — An Indian Undercover Investigation by Tara Kaushal is published by HarperCollins and was launched on 22 June. The book is available onAmazon.
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Editor’s Note: This copy was originally published on 27 June, 2020, days after Patanjali Ayurveda claimed that its medicine Coronil had shown favourable effects on COVID-19 patients. It has been republished on 1 July ahead of Ramdev’s press conference at 12 pm.
After a public launch of an alleged “cure” for COVID-19, Patanjali Ayurved’s marketing stunt with ‘Coronil’ has effectively backfired. The two COVID-19 treatments that the Ayurveda and FMCG giant launched last week were publicised prematurely and with no clinical data to prove they were even safe, let alone effective.
The news was met with harsh criticism on social media, dragged through the dirt on Twitter within minutes of making headlines. Hours later and well after the controversy had erupted, the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) responded to the news with a stern statement, urging that Patanjali stop advertising their product till its claims were verified by the ministry, and the product given approval.
Founder Baba Ramdev and CEO Acharya Balkrishna of Patanjali launch an Ayurvedic medicine kit that they claimed can treat coronavirus patients within seven days. Image:@PypAyurved/Twitter
“If you’ve seen the trial report that Patanjali has sent out, it excludes everybody below 10 years and above 59 years, people with diabetes, hypertension, respiratory diseases, cancer,” says Dr Om Srivastava, Visiting Professor (Infectious Diseases) and Director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai.
“To people who are asymptomatic in the mild form of the disease, the recovery rate is between 95 and 97 percent already. So what are you really achieving?”
Moreover, some practitioners are confused as to how Patanjali could have named, developed, and advertised a product without receiving approvals from the AYUSH ministry in the first place.
“If you look at the Pharmacopoeial Medicines R&R page which is applicable to homeopathy and any form of medication under AYUSH for that matter, the medicine requires approval before which you can’t name a medicine. And till that happens, they cannot issue a public notice claiming and naming their drug,” says Dr Radhika Tonsey, a homoeopathy physician who also consults at the Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children and Research Centre in Mumbai.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Rajasthan Police lodged an FIR against Ramdev for launching the drug without regulatory approval, PTI, reported. Four others, including the MD of Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved Acharya Balkrishna, director of National Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (NIMS), Jaipur, BS Tomar, his son Anurag Tomar and senior scientist Anurag Varshney have also been named in the FIR, as per the report.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ashok Gupta said a case has been registered at the Jyoti Nagar Police Station in Jaipur on the basis of a complaint lodged by advocate Balram Jakhad. He said multiple complaints were received against Ramdev at various police stations. The five have been booked under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, according to police.
“The main accusation is cheating people under the garb of selling COVID-19 medicine,” Jakhar told Indian Express.“I will also approach the court to demand a CBI inquiry. It is our demand that action be taken against the accused.”
Jakhar, who identified himself to the newspaper as an independent advocate subscribing to the “ideology of the Congress party”, cited previous cases registered against Tomar to demand a detailed investigation into the matter.
Stating that FIRs had earlier been registered against Tomar in different matters and he was also in judicial custody, Jakhar further told the newspaper, “It should be investigated how Tomar, who runs a hospital not related to ayurved, launched this alleged COVID-19 medicine with Ramdev. We demand a detailed investigation into roles of every accused in the case.”
Tomar claimed that Patanjali had permission to conduct Coronil trials on patients, India Today reported. He said, "We had all required permissions for conducting the trial on patients. Prior permission for testing was taken from CTRI, which is a body of ICMR. I have papers to show permission."
"Trials were conducted on 100 patients at NIMS, Jaipur and 69 percent of them were cured in three days, while 100 percent were cured in seven days," he further told India Today. He added, "The question of whether Coronil should have been propagated as an immunity booster or cure should be asked from Patanjali. We had informed the Rajasthan health department on 2 June."
Patanjali claimed that it has complied with all legalities. The licence for the drug was obtained on the basis of the traditional knowledge and experience related to the medicinal virtues of Ashwagandha, Giloy and Tulsi, Patanjali spokesperson SK Tijarawala said, as per PTI. No illegal claim has been made on the label of the medicine, he further said.
Patanjali’s lax ethical standard is old news
In the past, Patanjali has been reprimanded twice for flouting rules. The first, for its atta instant noodles, which it launched in 2016 without a mandatory approval from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The second was the sale of its amla juice, which was suspended after the Ministry of Defence's canteen stores department found it “unfit for consumption” in an adverse state-laboratory test on the product.
Considering the impressive spread of over 45 kinds of cosmetics products, 30 types of food products, and hundreds of medical formulations under the Patanjali Ayurved umbrella, the lack of a mention anywhere on the company’s website of a certificate of safety, ethics or good manufacturing is surprising.
In 2019, a series of investigative reports by Business Standard reveal that the company acquired 400 acres of forested, hilly common land in Kot, in the Aravalli region by bending norms. In June 2019, the Maharashtra government handed over another 400-acre-plot of land to Patanjali reserved for Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), in Latur.
In 2020, the Uttar Pradesh government offered the company a land subsidy to set up a proposed food park in Greater Noida. This, despite reports of the company’s unplanned expansion, poor supply chain, inconsistent product quality and business practices, combined with an economic slowdown in 2019 having hurt its revenues, as per a report in The Print.
Patanjali’s ambition train hasn’t quite run out of steam yet.
'No ethics, no medicine'
Patanjali Ayurved has undeniably made a range of products easily accessible to the masses. It’s Aloe Vera gel, for instance, has helped a lot of people overcome acne, skin allergies, and other dermatological problems, Tonsey says. It also has rave reviews on Amazon.in.
And while some of their products have empirical evidence to stand on, can the same be said for all 2,500+ products made available at jaw-droppingly affordable prices countrywide on its website?
Its Amla Churna, priced at Rs 24 for a 100g-bottle, has the listed ingredients “Amla” and the benefits “Boosts digestion and reduces constipation, cures eye problem, reduces hair fall, cures cold, has antioxidant properties.” Only two of the six surprisingly clear claims made and displayed are verifiable as per research studies carried out in the past. It doesn’t help that Patanjali’s formulations for its many thousands of products are not in the public domain, leaving the decision entirely to consumers to take on an implied degree of risk.
Tonsey, says that Patanjali products have helped many consider Ayurveda as an accessible option for the first time.
“But for me, that’s where it ends. Because the ethics at every stage are questionable...and when it comes to medicine, no matter what the system is, no ethics means no medicine,” she said.
Systems around alternative medicine are far from developed
Alternative medicine has suffered a great deal more pressure to compete for the faith and attention of the public. More tangibly, the science of alternative medicine is seriously stunted by research funding – in that it receives a dearth of it. This is the same case in many countries worldwide, not just India.
A homeopathy store in Santiago, Chile. Image: Stephen Curry/Flickr
Allopathy, on the other hand, has a track record to show for its growth and development over the years. It is considered more reliable, owing to its tried-and-tested format, with a potential drug today having to jump several hoops and pass through many hands in safety and efficacy tests before making it to consumers. These systems around allopathy have also expanded and evolved to meet rising demand and address a wide range of medical needs.
Conventional medicine in India is governed and supervised by the Drug Controller General of India and has a competitive manufacturing market with local and international players. It also has a powerful body setting standards for drugs and medical devices across the country [the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO)]. All three aim to serve the diverse and dynamic Indian pharmaceutical market in their own way.
In stark contrast, the research, systems, and regulations governing alternative medicines in India are relatively rudimentary. The Ministry of AYUSH is the foremost authority in India that both governs and regulates the five distinct disciplines under its domain. Directly under the AYUSH ministry’s wing are five research councils, two regulatory bodies for education and practice (with a separate body for homoeopathy), three testing and research laboratories, and eleven educational institutions.
Apart from these, the ministry bands together Task Forces, as and when needed for special circumstances. Most recently, an interdisciplinary Task Force was formed under AYUSH to look into suitable research avenues in addressing COVID-19 with AYUSH treatments. This was announced after the backlash it received for its controversial advisory dated 6 March, which listed many general preventive medicines for boosting immunity in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Questionable medical advice from AYUSH without supporting research
In a COVID-19 advisory published on 6 March, AYUSH made a variety of recommendations for “symptomatic relief” from COVID-19. As per the report, these are based on “classical texts” – of which there are several, and “scientific literature” – which is universally and traditionally used in research with citations, not as an unlisted bibliography at the end of the report.
The lack of sources cited for the specific recommendations made in the advisory, and other guidelines for COVID-19 treatment published around the same time, has left practitioners of alternative medicine either hunting for valid proof themselves, or flouting further unsupported claims about these medicines in the news.
Allopathic medicines that are being considered as treatments for COVID-19 are being subjected to rigorous clinical trials to test their efficiency against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Some candidates have even been shown to work in specific cases, in preliminary clinical settings. For instance, the inexpensive steroid drug dexamethasone, too, has reportedly been stockpiled without a valid prescription. Any misuse could have potentially dangerous consequences.
There is not a single published study or trial, specific to the coronavirus, that proves arsenic alba, or any other compound for that matter, is effective to prevent infection. And yet, the advisory recommended a sizable list of “preventives and prophylaxis” for COVID-19, including Arsenic album30 and camphora.
Some Unani medicines are even listed with unclear instructions for how to use them; phrases like “boil it till it remains half- filter it” appear to be unedited after a language translation to English.
To improve one’s immune defense, Ayurveda prescribes certain improvements through food, lifestyle and certain medicines, to be taken with regulations, as per a doctor's prescription. Image: Frank Lindecke | Flickr
The real dangers of AYUSH’s messaging, without follow-through
AYUSH’s approach of prescribing “preventive” medicine for COVID-19 brings out the plausible loophole that Patanjali themselves have openly flouted. The huge gaps in acceptable research standards for alternative medicine in India, and regulation of AYUSH practice in accordance with guidelines, have left considerable room for error and malpractice.
In an interview with Infinity Foundation, Dr Dayananda R D from Prakruthi Ayurveda Prathishtana in Mysore, explains that the equivalent of vaccination for prevention in Ayurveda is not easy, but possible with personalised advice from an Ayurvedic doctor.
“To improve one’s immune defense...(Ayurveda) prescribes certain improvements through food, lifestyle and certain medicines, to be taken with regulations. To make it generalised is a slightly difficult task, and so the person can go to a doctor and personalise it according to their desa (place of birth), the disease, and their prakriti (nature),” Dayananda says.
This important condition is not highlighted by AYUSH in any of their advisories, making for incomplete advice. The potential dangers of popping allopathic medicines may very well be greater than their plant-based counterparts. But the combination of subjective medical advice and a lack of regulation in AYUSH drugs as it stands today, leaves room for improper dosage, interpretation and potential misuse.
Those taking AYUSH-recommended medicines are likely to develop a false bravado vis-à-vis the extent to which they’re protected from infections. With medicine, particularly ones that are not prescribed by a medical professional and given out as general advice, the potential for misuse needs to be considered with added caution.
“Camphora is given in a state of collapse...when there are so many symptoms similar to a state of collapse, like sweating profusely, or not responding, semi-conscious or comatose,” Tonsey says. “If something happens to anybody, who is going to take responsibility for it?”
Half-baked recommendations in a pandemic could also potentially worsen the load on the already-burdened public healthcare system, and ongoing efforts to ensure the pandemic doesn’t spread further. Coming at a time when the public has been advised to be cautious and alert for symptoms of an infection that we are only now beginning to understand, it is arguably unacceptable.
The AYUSH ministry’s attempt to quell publicity around Patanjali’s Coronil was about as effective as its general approach to misinformation going around about remedies effective to prevent COVID-19 – that is, not at all. The ministry has also not followed through on its own advice, as of April 2020, to “take necessary action against” Patanjali for “contravening the relevant legal provisions” they outlined for advertising unapproved AYUSH products.
After The New York Times published a report byThe Associated Press on 17 April titled “Some People Turn to Herbal Medicine for Virus without Proof,” the Press Information Bureau’s Director-General responded to theNYTeditor (instead of AP's Editor) with a letter pointing out the author’s “unprofessional attempts to revive clichéd stereotypes” and “assertions...not aligned to the facts of the matter.”
Nonetheless, the PIB’s effort to defend the government’s and AYUSH’s debatable actions is admirable. But PIB doesn't appear to have considered the larger threat to people who swear by Ayurveda and homoeopathy. The consequences of the government's and AYUSH's actions spill over to the development of these disciplines themselves, which cannot afford to be compromised any further than they already are.
Ayurveda and homeopathy are rooted in solid philosophies of their own, and are among the most popular forms of alternative medicine around today. Image courtesy: Priya Rao
Ayurveda and homoeopathy work very differently than conventional medicines do
Ayurveda and homoeopathy are arguably two of the biggest pseudoscientific* practices under the AYUSH umbrella. Started in 2014, the Ministry was set up with the goal of "optimal development and propagation" of the systems of health care under its domain, through education, research and propagation of indigenous alternative medicine systems.
[*pseudoscientific–falsely or mistakenly claimed or regarded as being based on a scientific method]
Homoeopathy and Ayurveda are both rooted in solid philosophies of their own and are among the most popular forms of alternative medicine around today. They also have two very different origins and governing principles. Homeopathy claims that “like cures like” (i.e. that a substance causing symptoms in large doses, can be used in minute doses to treat similar symptoms). Ayurveda is based on the principle of preventing and treating illness by maintaining balance in different senses of humour in the body, and harmony between the body, mind and environment.
Fundamental to the sciences of both homoeopathy and Ayurveda is a strong belief in personalised medicine – that there is no one size fits all in treatment. To add, some remedies take time to work on the body and don’t guarantee sure-shot cures to an illness – any illness.
They also don’t have “active ingredients” and the associated benefits of a specific action that allopathic medicines do. By design, they aim to address an ailment from the roots, and as a result, take a varying amount of time to act depending on how acute or chronic the ailment is. Often, a patient requires other prescribed lifestyle changes alongside treatment to improve their quality of life.
We can – and should – expect the same rigorous standards for clinical trials and regulations in alternative medicine as we do conventional ones. Experts say that a serious shortcoming in the veracity of AYUSH research is the lack of digitised manuscripts, so researchers can authenticate their findings based on original sources.
This, along with the stronger regulation of AYUSH medicines and higher standards for practitioners of these fields could give Ayurveda and homoeopathy a fighting chance at breaking unfounded stereotypes and appealing to a wider range of people as a true, viable alternative to conventional medicine.
The Secretary of the Ministry of AYUSH was approached on the morning of 25 June with the following questions via email:
What proof does AYUSH have that Arsenic alba and camphora are effective to prevent COVID-19?
How was Patanjali Ayurved granted permission to name and launch their product without finding the required 'Genus epidemicus'?
Does AYUSH intend to reprimand Patanjali for going against the rules set by them?
The Secretary hasn't responded with his comments till the time of publication. The story will be updated with the ministry's responses if/when we receive them.
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Washington: The United States has slammed China for its move to impose a controversial national security law in Hong Kong, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying it's a "sad day" for the people of the territory and warning Beijing of new countermeasures.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday signed a controversial security law that gave Beijing new powers over Hong Kong that are tailor-made to crackdown against dissent, criminalising sedition and effectively curtailing protests, amidst global anger and outrage in the former British colony.
In a strongly-worded statement on Tuesday night, Pompeo said, "The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) decision to impose draconian national security legislation on Hong Kong destroys the territory's autonomy and one of China's greatest achievements."
"Hong Kong demonstrated to the world what free Chinese people could achieve one of the most successful economies and vibrant societies in the world," he said.
But Beijing's "paranoia and fear" of its own people's aspirations have led it to eviscerate the very foundation of the territory's success, turning 'One Country, Two Systems' into 'One Country, One System', the US Secretary of State said. "Today marks a sad day for Hong Kong, and for freedom-loving people across China."
Civil liberties, including the right to protest, freedom of speech and the independence of the judiciary, were enshrined in Hong Kong's mini-constitution called 'Basic Law', which came into effect with the end of British control in 1997.
The 50-year agreement, in effect, offers Hong Kong a "one country, two systems" principle, guaranteeing it the rights and freedoms that do not exist in mainland China.
Pompeo said the United States will continue to stand with the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong and respond to Beijing's attacks on freedoms of speech, the press, and assembly, as well as the rule of law, all of which have, until now, allowed the territory to flourish.
He rued that the CCP's action demonstrates once again that Beijing's commitments in this case the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law were "empty words".
The Chinese Communist Party promised 50 years of freedom to the Hong Kong people, and gave them only 23. Within the past few years, Beijing has also violated its agreements with the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations, Pompeo said.
"This is a pattern the world cannot ignore," he said, adding that the United States will not stand idly by while China "swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw".
"Last week, we imposed visa restrictions on CCP officials responsible for undermining Hong Kong's autonomy. We are ending defense and dual-use technology exports to the territory. As per President (Donald) Trump's instruction, we will eliminate policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment, with few exceptions," he said.
In a related action, the United States on Tuesday suspended any License Exceptions for exports and re-exports to Hong Kong, and transfers within the territory of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations that provide differential treatment than those available to China.
A day earlier, the Commerce Department regulations affording preferential treatment to Hong Kong over China, including the availability of export license exceptions, were suspended.
"Further actions to eliminate differential treatment are also being evaluated. We urge Beijing to immediately reverse course and fulfil the promises it has made to the people of Hong Kong and the world," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said.
Congressman John Curtis, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led a bipartisan coalition to introduce the Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act, which would designate the people of Hong Kong as Priority 2 refugees, streamlining their admission process to the US and opening up an asylum route for frontline activists in immediate danger.
The Senate companion bill is led by Senators Marco Rubio, Bob Menendez, Todd Young and Ben Cardin.
The world witnessed the courage of Hong Kong's pro-democracy activists, who last year took to the streets to defend their autonomy from China's authoritarian grip, Rubio said.
"Following last night's implementation of Beijing's National Security Law, the US must help the people of Hong Kong preserve their society at home and find refuge for those who face persecution for exercising the rights once guaranteed under the Joint Declaration.
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Security Council trying again for first COVID-19 resolution
The UN Security Council is trying again to reach agreement on its first resolution on COVID-19 since the coronavirus started circling the global in February, after a lengthy dispute between the US and China over mentioning the World Health Organization, reports AP.
A revised draft resolution by France and China was submitted for a vote on Tuesday and the result is expected to be announced on Wednesday.
07:51 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates
Unlock 2.0 begins today
On 29 June, the Centre had announced guidelines for ‘Unlock 2.0’, the second phase of reopening of economic and other activities in the country. These will be applicable from today. Night curfew timings are being further relaxed and curfew shall be in force from 10.00 pm to 5.00 am.
While schools and colleges will continue to remain closed, there have been further restrictions regarding hotels and restaurants.
07:43 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak Latest Updates
Global COVID-19 cases now at 1.03 crore
Total confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world stand at 1.03 crore, according to the Johns Hopkins University CSSE. This figure includes COVID-19 patients who have recovered and the overall global death toll which stands at 5.06 lakh.
With over 26 lakh reported cases till date, the United States is the worst-affected country in the world. The US is followed by Brazil, Russia, India and the United Kingdom.
07:38 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra Latest Updates
More local trains for essential services staff from today
Central Railway and Western Railway will run additional 150 and 148 local services, respectively, in Mumbai from 1 July, reports PTI. Only essential staff including those of Centre, IT, defense, Raj Bhavan will be allowed and no general passengers will be allowed yet, the news agency quotes Railways minister Piyush Goyal as saying.
Coronavirus LATEST Updates: The Railways will expand its suburban services in Mumbai from today and run 350 trains each in the Central and Western Railway Zones, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said. The trains will, however, only carry essential services personnel identified by the Maharashtra government. Mumbai recorded 903 new cases, pushing the total number of cases to rise to 77,197 on Tuesday.
As Unlock-2 begins from Wednesday, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 5,66,840 with nearly 66 percent cases reported in June alone. The nationwide toll rose to 16,893 with 418 new fatalities being reported in 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu again surpassed Delhi to regain the second spot among the list of worst-hit states by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a government scheme, which aims to provide free ration for 80 crore people, by five more months till the end of November.
In his televised address Tuesday, the prime minister also said it is a cause of worry that people are not adhering as strictly to rules and precautions during the 'unlock' phase as they did during the lockdown.
Modi announces extension of free ration scheme
Stating the cost to the exchequer in extending the PMGKAY scheme, the prime minister said that over Rs 90,000 crore will be spent on the scheme, and if the last three months' expenditure on account of the free ration scheme is added, then the total budget will be about Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
The scheme was rolled out for three months from April soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Noting that July marks the beginning of the festive season when people's needs as well as expenditure increase, Modi said that the government has decided to extend the scheme till November end.
The prime minister also said in his 16-minute address that the Central Government is working on the "one nation, one ration card" initiative which, he added, will benefit people living outside their home for employment and other needs the most.
This was Modi's sixth address to the nation after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic
The prime minister said that each member of a family covered under the scheme will get five kilogrammes of wheat or rice, and every family will get one kilogramme whole gram per month as well.
Modi, however, lamented that there is an increasing "negligence" in personal and social behaviour during the easing of restrictions and urged people to be more vigilant.
"We have also seen that since 'Unlock-1', there is increasing negligence in personal and social behaviour. Earlier, we were very careful with respect to wearing of masks, social distancing and washing of hands for 20 seconds. But today, when we need to be more careful, increasing negligence is a cause of worry," he said and urged the people to follow all necessary precautions.
He also emphasised on strict enforcement of rules, especially in containment zones.
"Those not following the rules will need to be stopped and cautioned," he said, stressing "be it a village pradhan or the prime minister, no one is above the law in India".
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu record most cases
Maharashtra remained the highest contributor to the single day rise in cases, registering over 5,200 coronavirus infections, according to the Union Health Ministry.
Recording nearly 4,000 cases in the last 24 hours, Tamil Nadu has again surpassed Delhi to regain the second spot among the list of worst-hit states by the pandemic.
Karnataka also recorded more than 1,100 cases overtaking Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.
Delhi saw an increase of 2,084 cases in the past 24 hours. In June, the national capital added over 64,000 fresh cases to its tally, while over 47,357 patients recovered, were discharged or migrated.
The total number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 15,394 in Telangana, 14,295 in Karnataka, 14,210 in Haryana, 13,891 in Andhra Pradesh, and 13,370 in Madhya Pradesh.
It has risen to 9,640 in Bihar, 7,752 in Assam, 7,237 in Jammu and Kashmir and 6,859 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 5,418 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 4,189 cases.
A total of 2,831 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,761 in Chhattisgarh, 2,426 in Jharkhand, 1,380 in Tripura, 1,227 in Manipur, 1,198 in Goa, 964 in Ladakh and 942 in Himachal Pradesh. Puducherry has recorded 619 COVID-19 cases, Chandigarh 435, Nagaland 434 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 203 COVID-19 cases.
Arunachal Pradesh reported 187 cases, Mizoram has 148 cases, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 90, Sikkim has registered 88 infections so far, while Meghalaya has recorded 47 cases.
Delhi govt sets ball rolling for 'plasma bank'
The Delhi government has set the ball rolling to establish the first-of-its-kind "plasma bank" for treatment of COVID-19 at a facility in the National Capital and its modalities are being worked out, sources told PTI.
The bank is being set up at the Delhi government-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and doctors or hospitals will have to approach it if a plasma is required for treatment of a COVID-19 patient.
Addressing an online media briefing on Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said the bank will be operational in the next two days.
The move comes as convalescent plasma therapy has shown "encouraging" results in city hospitals, he had said.
Sources said the facility where the plasma will be drawn from one person to donate to a COVID-19 patient, is being set up on the serving floor of the ILBS.
The plasma itself can be stored in the blood bank facility in a separate pack, a source said.
According to experts, plasma needs cryogenic storage at minus 80 degrees Celsius or less.
Bharat Biotech gets nod to conduct trials for vaccine
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission to Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) to conduct Phase I and II Human clinical trials to develop an indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 — in the name COVAXIN.
For this, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and BBIL had partnered to develop a fully indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 using the virus strain isolated at ICMR's National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
"The Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) — the office of DCGI has granted permission to initiate Phase I and II Human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response. Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across India in July 2020," stated the spokesperson of Bharat Biotech.
"The strain was successfully transferred from NIV to Bharat Biotech International Ltd. (BBIL). Work on vaccine development has been initiated between the two partners. ICMR-NIV are providing continuous support to BBIL for vaccine development. ICMR and BBIL will seek fast-track approvals to expedite vaccine development, subsequent animal studies and clinical evaluation of the candidate vaccine," said ICMR official.
With inputs from agencies
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a free ration scheme, was being extended till the end of November.
"During the monsoon, work picks up pace in the agriculture sector and slows down in other sectors. It is also the season of festivals and expenses also go up. Hence, it has been decided Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana will be extended till the end of November," he said in a televised address.
Under the scheme, five kilograms of wheat or rice and one kg of pulses per month will be given free of cost to over 80 crore people till Diwali or Chhath pooja, he said. The scheme was initially rolled out in March following the imposition of the lockdown for three months.
The extension of the PMGKAY, said Modi, will cost the government Rs 90,000 crore more. "If we include the expenses incurred in the past three months, then it comes up to around Rs 1.5 lakh crores," he said.
Modi said that the government had announced a package of Rs 1.75 lakh crore under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana after the imposition of the lockdown. "In the last three months, Rs 31,000 crore have been deposited directly into Jan Dhan accounts of 20 crore poor families. During this time, Rs 18,000 crore have been deposited in the bank accounts of more than 9 crore farmers."
The prime minister also said the government was working on a "One Nation, One Ration Card" initiative, which would benefit those who leave their villages for work and other purposes.
The prime minister also said timely lockdown to contain coronavirus and other decisions saved many lives, adding that in comparison to other countries across the globe, India has done well in dealing with the pandemic.
"We have now entered Unlock 2.0. We have also entered a season when illnesses like cold are on the rise. I request all of you to take care, " he said.
However, he said that since "Unlock-1" has begun, some people have shown negligence and urged them not to let their guard down.
"Since Unlock-1 has began, negligence has been increasing in both personal and social spheres. Earlier, we were cautious about wearing masks, maintaining 'do gaj doori' and washing hands several times a day for 20 seconds. But today, when we need to be more cautious, it is a cause of concern that carelessness is increasing."
The prime minister urged the governments, local authorities and citizens to display similar caution as during the lockdown period, with a special focus on containment zones. "If someone is flouting norms, we need to stop them," he said, asserting that no one is above the law.
With inputs from PTI
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US officials intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency to a Taliban-linked account, evidence that supported their conclusion that Russia covertly offered bounties for killing US and coalition troops in Afghanistan, according to three officials familiar with the intelligence.
Although the United States has accused Russia of providing general support to the Taliban before, analysts concluded from other intelligence that the transfers were most likely part of a bounty programme that detainees described during interrogations. Investigators also identified by name numerous Afghans in a network linked to the suspected Russian operation, the officials said — including, two of them added, a man believed to have served as an intermediary for distributing some of the funds and who is now thought to be in Russia.
The intercepts bolstered the findings gleaned from the interrogations, helping reduce an earlier disagreement among intelligence analysts and agencies over the reliability of the detainees. The disclosures further undercut White House officials’ claim that the intelligence was too uncertain to brief President Donald Trump. In fact, the information was provided to him in his daily written brief in late February, two officials have said.
Afghan officials this week described a sequence of events that dovetailed with the account of the intelligence. They said that several businessmen who transfer money through the informal hawala system were arrested in Afghanistan over the past six months and were suspected of being part of a ring of middlemen who operated between the Russian intelligence agency, known as the GRU, and Taliban-linked militants. The businessmen were arrested in what the officials described as sweeping raids in the north of Afghanistan, as well as in Kabul.
A half-million dollars was seized from the home of one of the men, added a provincial official. The New York Times had previously reported that the recovery of an unusually large amount of cash in a raid was an early piece in the puzzle that investigators put together.
The three US officials who described and confirmed details about the basis for the intelligence assessment spoke on condition of anonymity amid swelling turmoil over the Trump administration’s failure to authorise any response to Russia’s suspected proxy targeting of US troops and downplaying of the issue after it came to light four days ago.
White House and National Security Council officials declined to comment, as did the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe. They pointed to statements late Monday from Ratcliffe; the national security advisor, Robert C O’Brien; and the Pentagon’s top spokesperson, Jonathan Hoffman. All of them said that recent news reports about Afghanistan remained unsubstantiated.
The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, berated The Times on Tuesday after this article was published, saying that reports based on “selective leaking” disrupt intelligence gathering. She did not address or deny the facts about the intelligence assessment, saying she would not disclose classified information.
On Monday, the administration invited several House Republicans to the White House to discuss the intelligence. The briefing was mostly carried out by three Trump administration officials: Ratcliffe, O’Brien and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff. Until recently, both Meadows and Ratcliffe were Republican congressmen known for being outspoken supporters of Trump.
That briefing focussed on intelligence information that supported the conclusion that Russia was running a covert bounty operation and other information that did not support it, according to two people familiar with the meeting. For example, the briefing focused in part on the interrogated detainees’ accounts and the earlier analysts’ disagreement over it.
Both people said the intent of the briefing seemed to be to make the point that the intelligence on the suspected Russian bounty plot was not clear cut. For example, one of the people said, the White House also cited some interrogations by Afghan intelligence officials of other detainees, downplaying their credibility by describing them as low-level.
The administration officials did not mention anything in the House Republican briefing about intercepted data tracking financial transfers, both of the people familiar with it said.
Democrats and Senate Republicans were also separately briefed at the White House on Tuesday morning. Democrats emerged saying that the issue was clearly not, as Trump has suggested, a “hoax.” They demanded to hear directly from intelligence officials, rather than from Trump’s political appointees, but conceded they had not secured a commitment for such a briefing.
Based on the intelligence they saw, the lawmakers said they were deeply troubled by Trump’s insistence that he did not know about the plot and his subsequent obfuscation when it became public.
“I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that the president hasn’t come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether Russia is putting bounties on American troops and that he will do everything in his power to make sure that we protect American troops,” said Representative Adam Schiff, D-California, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
He added: “I do not understand for a moment why the president is not saying this to the American people right now and is relying on ‘I don’t know,’ ‘I haven’t heard,’ ‘I haven’t been briefed.’ That is just not excusable.”
Ratcliffe was scheduled to go to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet privately with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, an official familiar with the planning said.
The Times reported last week that intelligence officials believed that a unit of the GRU had offered and paid bounties for killing US troops and other coalition forces and that the White House had not authorised a response after the National Security Council convened an interagency meeting about the problem in late March.
Investigators are said to be focused on at least two deadly attacks on US soldiers in Afghanistan. One is an April 2019 bombing outside Bagram Airfield that killed three Marines: Staff Sergeant Christopher Slutman, 43, of Newark, Delaware; Corporal Robert A Hendriks, 25, of Locust Valley, New York; and Sergeant Benjamin S Hines, 31, of York, Pennsylvania.
On Monday, Felicia Arculeo, the mother of Hendriks, told CNBC that she was upset to learn from news reports of the suspicions that her son’s death arose from a Russian bounty operation. She said she wanted an investigation, adding that “the parties who are responsible should be held accountable, if that’s even possible.”
Officials did not say which other attack was under scrutiny.
In claiming that the information was not provided to him, Trump has also dismissed the intelligence assessment as “so-called” and claimed he was told that it was “not credible.” The White House subsequently issued statements in the names of several subordinates denying that he had been briefed.
McEnany reiterated that claim on Monday and said that the information had not been elevated to Trump because there was a dissenting view about it within the intelligence community.
But she and other administration officials demurred when pressed to say whether their denials encompassed the president’s daily written briefing, a compendium of the most significant intelligence and analysis that the intelligence community writes for presidents to read. Trump is known to often neglect reading his written briefings.
Intelligence about the suspected Russian plot was included in the President’s Daily Brief in late February, according to two officials, contrasting Trump’s claim on Sunday that he was never “briefed or told” about the matter.
The information was also considered solid enough to be distributed to the broader intelligence community in a 4 May article in the CIA’s World Intelligence Review, commonly called The Wire, according to several officials.
A spokesperson for the Taliban has denied that it accepted Russian-paid bounties to carry out attacks on Americans and other coalition soldiers, saying the group needed no such encouragement for its operations. But one US official said the focus had been on criminals closely associated with the Taliban.
In a raid in Kunduz City in the north about six months ago, 13 people were arrested in a joint operation by US forces and the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, according to Safiullah Amiry, the deputy provincial council chief there. Two of the main targets of the raid had already fled — one to Tajikistan and one to Russia, Amiry said — but it was in the Kabul home of one of them where security forces found a half-million dollars. He said the Afghan intelligence agency had told him the raids were related to Russian money being dispersed to militants.
Two former Afghan officials said Monday that members of local criminal networks had carried out attacks for the Taliban in the past — not because they shared the Taliban’s ideology or goals, but in exchange for money.
In Parwan province, where Bagram Airfield is, the Taliban is known to have hired local criminals as freelancers, said General Zaman Mamozai, the former police chief of the province. He said the Taliban’s commanders are based in two districts of the province, Seyagird and Shinwari, and that from there they coordinate a network that commissions criminals to carry out attacks.
And Haseeba Efat, a former member of Parwan’s provincial council, also said the Taliban has hired freelancers in Bagram district — including, in one case, one of his own distant relatives.
“They agree with these criminals that they won’t have monthly salary, but they will get paid for the work they do when the Taliban needs them,” Efat said.
Twenty US service members were killed in combat-related operations in Afghanistan last year, the most since 2014.
Charlie Savage, Mujib Mashal, Rukmini Callimachi, Eric Schmitt and Adam Goldman c.2020 The New York Times Company
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Tuesday for an arms embargo on Iran to be extended indefinitely, but his appeal fell flat at the United Nations, where Russia and China rejected it outright and close allies of the United States were ambivalent.
The embargo, which is set to expire on 18 October, stems from the 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme. President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, and Iran has exceeded the accord’s limits on uranium enrichment since then, part of a steady escalation of tensions that have at times pushed the two countries dangerously close to war.
The American bid is all but certain to fail in the UN Security Council; it might not even collect enough support to be put to a vote, diplomats said. The Trump administration has threatened that if the embargo is not extended, the United States will try to invoke a “snapback” provision of the 2015 deal to reimpose former UN sanctions on Iran — a move other nations said would be unwise and legally invalid.
Representatives of Britain, France and Germany voiced unease at both the expiration of the embargo and the US approach, particularly the snapback, which they flatly opposed.
The European powers said they hoped to find some way to limit Iranian access to arms through a compromise negotiated in the framework of the 2015 agreement, not an action imposed by the Security Council.
The arms embargo applies to Iran importing or exporting most kinds of weapons, including aircraft and tanks. Some limits on missile and nuclear technology will remain in place for a few more years.
The resistance to Pompeo’s call — coming not only from only rivals like China and Russia, but also from key allies — illustrates the growing isolation and declining influence of the United States, analysts said, even in dealing with an Iran that members see as a rogue nation destabilising the region.
UN officials presented findings that the missiles used in an attack last September on crucial Saudi Arabian oil facilities were made in Iran, as were weapons bound for Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen that were seized by the US Navy. The findings supported the conclusions of Western intelligence agencies.
“Iran is already violating the arms embargo, even before its expiration date,” Pompeo said in the Security Council meeting, which was held by video link. “Imagine if Iranian activity were sanctioned, authorised by this group, if the restrictions are lifted.”
“Iran will be free to become a rogue weapons dealer, supplying arms to fuel conflicts from Venezuela, to Syria, to the far reaches of Afghanistan,” he added.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, dismissed claims of Iranian aggression based on what he called “self-serving allegations and forged documents,” adding that it was the United States that “has directly undermined global peace and security.”
Zarif began and ended his remarks by quoting Mohammad Mossadegh, the Iranian prime minister overthrown in a CIA-orchestrated coup in 1953 — a nod to a long history of American intervention.
The meeting on Tuesday marked the first time since 2017 that Pompeo and Zarif had taken part in the same forum, if only virtually, but they did not appear together in the grid view of diplomats shown on the UN website. Pompeo left the meeting before Zarif joined.
Since leaving the nuclear deal, Trump has tried to cut off Iran from doing business with the rest of the world, threatening economic penalties for countries and companies that do not go along. Though most of the world opposes the US stance, much of it has complied.
Noting that the 2015 agreement had been adopted by the Security Council, Zarif said, “for the first time in Security Council history, a permanent member is punishing member States for not violating a Security Council resolution.”
Security Council members and UN officials chastised both Iran and the United States, urging them to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, often referred to as JCPoA.
Some pinned the current crisis on Trump, saying that he had started a long series of provocations and retaliations by withdrawing from the agreement and imposing punishing economic sanctions.
“China opposes the US push for extending the arms embargo on Iran,” said Zhang Jun, the ambassador from China — which, like Russia, France, Britain and the United States, has veto power in the council. China, Russia, Germany, Britain, France and the European Union are signatories to the 2015 agreement.
“Having quit the JCPoA, the US is no longer a participant and has no right to trigger a snapback at the UN,” Zhang said.
The German representative, Christoph Heusgen, said he deplored Iran’s aggressions in the region and its human rights record at home, but he also endorsed the view that Washington had no standing to invoke UN sanctions.
“It is very unfortunate that the United States left the JCPoA, and by doing this actually violated international law,” he said.
Henry Rome, senior Iran analyst for Eurasia Group, said the meeting was “another vivid illustration of Washington’s isolation on the Iran issue — as well as its failure over the past three years to persuade any other signatory of the deal to back its approach.”
In the meeting, Rosemary A DiCarlo, the UN undersecretary-general for political affairs, detailed evidence that arms and weapons parts involved in the US Navy seizure and the oil field attacks were Iranian-made. She added that Iran has begun to violate the nuclear agreement in surpassing limits to its uranium enrichment, a potential step toward being able to produce a nuclear weapon.
But DiCarlo, a US citizen, cited “divergent views” on whether Iranian rockets, launched in February and April, could carry a nuclear warhead, as the United States has claimed.
Richard Pérez-Peña, Lara Jakes and Farnaz Fassihi c.2020 The New York Times Company
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As Unlock-2 begins from Wednesday, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 5,66,840 with nearly 66 percent cases reported in June alone. The nationwide toll rose to 16,893 with 418 new fatalities being reported in 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu again surpassed Delhi to regain the second spot among the list of worst-hit states by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a government scheme, which aims to provide free ration for 80 crore people, by five more months till the end of November.
In his televised address Tuesday, the prime minister also said it is a cause of worry that people are not adhering as strictly to rules and precautions during the 'unlock' phase as they did during the lockdown.
Modi announces extension of free ration scheme
Stating the cost to the exchequer in extending the PMGKAY scheme, the prime minister said that over Rs 90,000 crore will be spent on the scheme, and if the last three months' expenditure on account of the free ration scheme is added, then the total budget will be about Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
The scheme was rolled out for three months from April soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Noting that July marks the beginning of the festive season when people's needs as well as expenditure increase, Modi said that the government has decided to extend the scheme till November end.
The prime minister also said in his 16-minute address that the Central Government is working on the "one nation, one ration card" initiative which, he added, will benefit people living outside their home for employment and other needs the most.
This was Modi's sixth address to the nation after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic
The prime minister said that each member of a family covered under the scheme will get five kilogrammes of wheat or rice, and every family will get one kilogramme whole gram per month as well.
Modi, however, lamented that there is an increasing "negligence" in personal and social behaviour during the easing of restrictions and urged people to be more vigilant.
"We have also seen that since 'Unlock-1', there is increasing negligence in personal and social behaviour. Earlier, we were very careful with respect to wearing of masks, social distancing and washing of hands for 20 seconds. But today, when we need to be more careful, increasing negligence is a cause of worry," he said and urged the people to follow all necessary precautions.
He also emphasised on strict enforcement of rules, especially in containment zones.
"Those not following the rules will need to be stopped and cautioned," he said, stressing "be it a village pradhan or the prime minister, no one is above the law in India".
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu record most cases
Maharashtra remained the highest contributor to the single day rise in cases, registering over 5,200 coronavirus infections, according to the Union Health Ministry.
Recording nearly 4,000 cases in the last 24 hours, Tamil Nadu has again surpassed Delhi to regain the second spot among the list of worst-hit states by the pandemic.
Karnataka also recorded more than 1,100 cases overtaking Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.
Delhi saw an increase of 2,084 cases in the past 24 hours. In June, the national capital added over 64,000 fresh cases to its tally, while over 47,357 patients recovered, were discharged or migrated.
The total number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 15,394 in Telangana, 14,295 in Karnataka, 14,210 in Haryana, 13,891 in Andhra Pradesh, and 13,370 in Madhya Pradesh.
It has risen to 9,640 in Bihar, 7,752 in Assam, 7,237 in Jammu and Kashmir and 6,859 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 5,418 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 4,189 cases.
A total of 2,831 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,761 in Chhattisgarh, 2,426 in Jharkhand, 1,380 in Tripura, 1,227 in Manipur, 1,198 in Goa, 964 in Ladakh and 942 in Himachal Pradesh. Puducherry has recorded 619 COVID-19 cases, Chandigarh 435, Nagaland 434 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 203 COVID-19 cases.
Arunachal Pradesh reported 187 cases, Mizoram has 148 cases, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 90, Sikkim has registered 88 infections so far, while Meghalaya has recorded 47 cases.
Delhi govt sets ball rolling for 'plasma bank'
The Delhi government has set the ball rolling to establish the first-of-its-kind "plasma bank" for treatment of COVID-19 at a facility in the National Capital and its modalities are being worked out, sources told PTI.
The bank is being set up at the Delhi government-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and doctors or hospitals will have to approach it if plasma is required for treatment of a COVID-19 patient.
Addressing an online media briefing on Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said the bank will be operational in the next two days.
The move comes as convalescent plasma therapy has shown "encouraging" results in city hospitals, he had said.
Sources said the facility where the plasma will be drawn from one person to donate to a COVID-19 patient, is being set up on the serving floor of the ILBS.
The plasma itself can be stored in the blood bank facility in a separate pack, a source said.
According to experts, plasma needs cryogenic storage at minus 80 degrees Celsius or less.
Bharat Biotech gets nod to conduct trials for vaccine
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission to Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) to conduct Phase I and II Human clinical trials to develop an indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 — in the name COVAXIN.
For this, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and BBIL had partnered to develop a fully indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 using the virus strain isolated at ICMR's National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
"The Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) — the office of DCGI has granted permission to initiate Phase I and II Human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response. Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across India in July 2020," stated the spokesperson of Bharat Biotech.
"The strain was successfully transferred from NIV to Bharat Biotech International Ltd. (BBIL). Work on vaccine development has been initiated between the two partners. ICMR-NIV are providing continuous support to BBIL for vaccine development. ICMR and BBIL will seek fast-track approvals to expedite vaccine development, subsequent animal studies and clinical evaluation of the candidate vaccine," said ICMR official.
With inputs from agencies
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