Month: February 2021

Dairy brand Amul India on Thursday joined the trending ‘Pawri Hori Hai’ meme fest and shared their own version of the viral clip that has raked in millions of likes over social media.

Amul took to Twitter and shared its new cartoon featuring Pakistani influencer and content creator Dananeer Mobeen. Earlier last week, Mobeen went viral on social media after she posted a video in which she could be seen vacationing in a hilly location. In her 15-second video, she could be heard saying, “Ye humari car hai aur yeh hum hai aur ye humari pawry ho rahi hai (this is our car, this is us, and this is our party).”

The doodle features Mobeen along with her two friends as they sip on tea while gorging on butter smeared bread slices, enjoying their breakfast ‘pawri’. The creative doodle also features a loaf of bread and a brick of butter with the trio binging on some ‘pav tea’.

Amul gave the ‘Pawri Hori Hai’ trend a quirky twist by naming the cartoon as “Yeh humari pav tea ho rahi hai.” and an additional text on it reading, “Amul always trending!”
“#Amul Topical: Video sparks social media trend!,” tweeted Amul with the cartoon.

Amul is known for its creative and quirky cartoon posters on films and actors. The brand never disappoints and usually comes up with topical doodles on film releases, celebrity weddings, and other significant events.
The viral video by Mobeen that took social media by storm, inspired music composer Yashraj Mukhate to make a new composition on the ‘pawri anthem’.

As soon as the new composition was posted on Mukhate’s Instagram account, users started to comment and there were the likes of Bollywood celebrities including Sidhant Chaturvedi, Archana Puran Singh, and Fatima Sana Shaikh, who gave their approval to this “pawri anthem”.
Several other users took to Twitter to approve of Mukhate’s new “pawri anthem” and memes started to flock in.

Dananeer creates content on a range of topics including the latest make-up and fashion trends. She also speaks on mental health issues plaguing the youth of Pakistan. While the footage has been recreated hundreds of times with #pawrihoraihai on Twitter, the video has over a million views on Dananeer’s official Instagram handle alone.

Meanwhile, Yashraj has earlier composed several iconic tracks like ‘Rasode mein kaun tha,’ ‘Biggini shoot’ and ‘Tuadda Kutta Tommy.’ (ANI)

West Bengal CID takes over the case, in which state Labour Minister Jakir Hossain suffered injuries, after unidentified people hurled a bomb at him in Murshidabad on Wednesday, sources said on Thursday.

The Minister received injuries in one hand and one leg but his condition is stable and out of danger, according to a doctor. Dr Amiya Kumar Bera, Superintendent Murshidabad Medical College said: “Hossain is stable and out of danger but his one hand and leg are injured due to the bomb attack.”

The Minister yesterday suffered injuries after unidentified persons hurled crude bombs at him while he was walking towards Nimtita Railway station to board the train for Kolkata.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and BJP National General Secretary and Central Observer for West Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya condemned the attack and wished quick recovery of the injured.

“I condemn the dastardly bomb attack at Nimtita Railway Station in West Bengal. My prayers are for the quick recovery of the injured,” Goyal tweeted.

“I strongly condemn the crude bomb attack on TMC minister Jakir Hossain at Nimtita railway station, Murshidabad. I pray for their speed recovery,” Vijayvargiya said in a tweet.

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar termed the attack on Jakir Hossain “reprehensible” and expressed concerns over rising violence in the state.
Dhankhar said that time has come for the West Bengal Home administration and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to act fast as per law, stating that there is no place for violence in a democracy. (ANI)

The Sri Lankan Parliament on Thursday has cancelled the planned address of Prime Minister Imran Khan during his upcoming visit to the island nation, reported Dawn.

This is being seen as a move by the Sri Lankan government to maintain ties with India. It was being speculated that Khan would raise the Kashmir issue during his speech, which could have upset Delhi. Express newspaper ( from Sri Lanka) stated that giving an opportunity to the Pakistani prime minister could have been implied as giving Khan parity to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so the planned speech was cancelled.

It is significant to mention that Imran khan’s speech at the Sri Lankan parliament had been included in PM’s itinerary on the Pakistan government’s request.

Imran Khan is scheduled to travel to Colombo on a two-day trip from February 22. He was to address the Sri Lankan parliament on February 24. He will also meet Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and attend an investors’ conference, reported Dawn.

Imran’s speech was added at the request of the Pakistan government. However, it was later cancelled, according to Sri Lankan media. Sri Lankan media have cited different reasons for the cancellation of Khan’s address.
Sri Lanka’s daily Express quoted Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage as having said that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had requested for cancellation on the pretext of COVID-19.

However, the same newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying that there were elements within the Sri Lankan government, who did not want the speech to take place as they feared that doing so could further harm ties with India, which have already been strained after the cancellation of a deal over the East Container Terminal in Colombo port, reported Dawn.

But, another speculation doing the rounds is that the Sri Lankan government was concerned about Khan speaking about the rights of Muslims in Sri Lanka, who have faced abuses at the hands of the Buddhist majority, rising anti-Muslim sentiments, and biased government actions, reported Dawn.

The Sri Lankan government had, moreover, made its compulsory cremation rule for those dying from COVID-19 applicable to Muslims in the country.
The government, however, earlier this month exempted the Muslims from cremation and allowed them to bury their dead after a global outcry over the issue. (ANI)

Around 50 per cent of patients who have been hospitalised with severe COVID-19 and who show raised levels of a protein called troponin cause damage to their hearts.

The injury was detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at least a month after discharge, according to new findings published today (Thursday) in the European Heart Journal Damage includes inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), scarring or death of heart tissue (infarction), restricted blood supply to the heart (ischaemia) and combinations of all three.

The study of 148 patients from six acute hospitals in London is the largest study to date to investigate convalescing COVID-19 patients who had raised troponin levels indicating a possible problem with the heart.

Troponin is released into the blood when the heart muscle is injured. Raised levels can occur when an artery becomes blocked or there is inflammation of the heart. Many patients who are hospitalised with COVID-19 have raised troponin levels during the critical illness phase, when the body mounts an exaggerated immune response to the infection.

Troponin levels were elevated in all the patients in this study who were then followed up with MRI scans of the heart after discharge in order to understand the causes and extent of the damage.

Professor Marianna Fontana, professor of cardiology at University College London (UK), who led the research together with Dr. Graham Cole, a consultant cardiologist at Imperial College London, said: “Raised troponin levels are associated with worse outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Patients with severe COVID-19 disease often have pre-existing heart-related health problems including diabetes, raised blood pressure, and obesity.”

“During severe COVID-19 infection, however, the heart may also be directly affected. Unpicking how the heart can become damaged is difficult, but MRI scans of the heart can identify different patterns of injury, which may enable us to make more accurate diagnoses and to target treatments more effectively,” added Fontana .

The researchers investigated COVID-19 patients discharged up until June 2020 from six hospitals across three NHS London trusts: Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Patients who had abnormal troponin levels were offered an MRI scan of the heart after discharge and were compared with those from a control group of patients who had not had COVID-19, as well as from 40 healthy volunteers.

“The recovering COVID-19 patients had been very ill; all required hospitalisation and all had troponin elevation, with around one in three having been on a ventilator in the intensive care unit,” said Prof. Fontana.

“We found evidence of high rates of heart muscle injury that could be seen on the scans a month or two after discharge. Whilst some of this may have been pre-existing, MRI scanning shows that some were new, and likely caused by COVID-19.

Importantly, the pattern of damage to the heart was variable, suggesting that the heart is at risk of different types of injury. While we detected only a small amount of ongoing injury, we saw injury to the heart that was present even when the heart’s pumping function was not impaired and might not have been picked up by other techniques. In the most severe cases, there are concerns that this injury may increase the risks of heart failure in the future, but more work is needed to investigate this further.”

The function of the heart’s left ventricle, the chamber that is responsible for pumping oxygenated blood to all parts of the body, was normal in 89 percent of the 148 patients but scarring or injury to the heart muscle was present in 80 patients (54 per cent).

The pattern of tissue scarring or injury originated from inflammation in 39 patients (26 per cent), ischaemic heart disease, which includes infarction or ischaemia, in 32 patients (22 per cent), or both in nine patients (6 per cent). Twelve patients (8 per cent) appeared to have ongoing heart inflammation.

Prof. Fontana said: “Injury relating to inflammation and scarring of the heart is common in COVID-19 patients with troponin elevation discharged from hospital, but is of limited extent and has little consequence for the heart’s function.

“These findings give us two opportunities: firstly, to find ways of preventing the injury in the first place, and from some of the patterns we have seen, blood clotting may be playing a role, for which we have potential treatments. Secondly, detecting the consequences of injury during convalescence may identify subjects who would benefit from specific supporting drug treatments to protect heart function over time.”

The findings of the study are limited by the nature of patient selection and included only those who survived a coronavirus infection that required hospital admission.

“The convalescent patients in this study had severe COVID-19 disease and our results say nothing about what happens to people who are not hospitalised with COVID, or those who are hospitalised but without elevated troponin. The findings indicate potential ways to identify patients at higher or lower risk and suggest potential strategies that may improve outcomes. More work is needed, and MRI scans of the heart have shown how useful it is in investigating patients with troponin elevation,” concluded Prof. Fontana. (ANI)

India on Wednesday announced that it will gift 2,00,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine to United Nations peacekeepers.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made the announcement at the United Nations Security Council open debate on Implementation of Resolution 2532. He said India has been “very much” at the forefront of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and is providing vaccines to the world under ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiatives.

Twenty-five nations across the world have already received Made in India vaccines and Forty-nine more countries will be supplied in the coming days, ranging from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean to Africa, South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands, he announced.

“Today, the pharmacy of the world is stepping forward to meet the global vaccines challenge… We are, of course, a significant source of supply to the COVAX facility. But in addition, India is also directly sending vaccines to friends and partners.,” he said.

“Starting with our immediate neighbours, 25 nations across the world have already received Made in India vaccines. Forty-nine more countries will be supplied in the coming days, ranging from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean to Africa, South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands. Keeping in mind the UN Peacekeepers who operate in such difficult circumstances, we would like to announce today a gift of 200,000 doses for them. We are working actively with GAVI, WHO and ACT Accelerator. Our contribution has also supported the SAARC,” he added.

Noting that there is a “glaring disparity” in the accessibility of coronavirus vaccines globally, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday urged countries to stop “vaccine nationalism”, saying “hoarding superfluous” doses will defeat the efforts towards attaining collective health security. Jaishankar cited Bhagavad Gita to reflect India’s approach to meeting the COVID-19 challenge.

“The Bhagavad Gita states ‘do your work with the welfare of others always in mind’. That is the spirit in which India approaches the COVID challenge and urges this Council to work collectively to address its different dimensions,” he said.

The minister, who made his remarks through video conferencing, listed five concerns regarding the vaccine including lack of global coordination regarding the distribution of vaccines and the massive costs of inequitable vaccine distribution.

“As we assess the impact of the pandemic and the prospects of recovery, including through the availability of vaccines, there are five concerns that India would like to share. One, lack of global coordination regarding vaccine distribution will hit conflict-affected areas and poorer countries hardest. The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) estimates that more than 60 million people in such areas are at risk,” he said.

“Two, there currently exists glaring disparity inaccessibility of vaccines globally. Equity in access to the vaccine is important for mitigating the impact of the pandemic. Three, this disparity calls for cooperation within the framework of COVAX, which is trying to secure adequate vaccine doses for the world’s poorest nations,” he added.

Jaishankar noted that the International Chamber of Commerce predicts that the global economy stands to lose as much as USD 9.2 trillion if the international community fails to address vaccine inequity.

“Four, from an economic standpoint, the costs of inequitable vaccine distribution are massive. And five, routine immunization programmes have been thrown into disarray. Due to the pandemic, about 80 million children in at least 68 countries are at risk of diphtheria, measles, and polio,” he said.

The minister also put forth nine points to emerge more resilient against COVID-19. He called on countries to stop disinformation campaigns from taking advantage of the pandemic and effectively address public resistance to vaccines.

“Vaccine- related information must be contextual, empathetic, and culturally sensitive while providing scientific and accurate facts to allay the fears and concerns of the public,” he said.

He also called for collaboration between the countries on genomic surveillance to track virus mutations and variants and exchange information in this regard in a regular and timely fashion.
“Persist with the vaccination drive, along with other public health measures, to slow down the virus’s ability to infect new people and mutate further,” he said.

“Improve public health infrastructure and build capacity through effective training programmes in vaccine delivery, especially in areas where health infrastructure is weak. Stop ‘Vaccine nationalism’; indeed, actively encourage internationalism. Hoarding superfluous doses will defeat our efforts towards attaining collective health security,” the minister added. (ANI)

China’s crackdown on Uyghurs and other minorities have had devastating consequences within its borders. Reports have now emerged that members of the Uyghur community are being forced by Beijing authorities to spy on their own while abroad.

According to DW News, this ploy by the Chinese Communist Party expands China’s ability to threaten those members of the minority community who speak out against the atrocities.

The news outlet met up with a person Eysa Imin who was asked by the Chinese Security to spy on Uyghurs abroad. This person went to Germany where he was awaiting the outcome of his asylum application but the story begins in Xinjiang, his hometown.

In 2015, when he returned from Malaysia to Xinjiang, he was stopped at the airport and was taken into a detention centre.

“On arrival at the airport, I was told to wait at passport control until everybody was gone. Then, two policemen pulled my jacket over my head so I could not see anything. They put me into a car and drove me away,” Imin, a person who was captured by Chinese security told DW.

He added that he was taken into a room and tied his arms and legs to a metal table. “They tightened the cuffs until I could not move. I was in this position for two days,” he said.

Imin was never told by the authorities what he was accused of but the papers say that he was suspected of “endangering state security”. He spent a month in detention but was released under one condition — he had to agree to work for the Chinese State security.

“I thought I would just say yes; stay in touch with them but I had no intention of working for them,” the Uyghur refugee said.

DW News further reported that Imin regularly met with an agent. He maintained that he never revealed any information on anyone. About one year later he was detained again and this time he was freed on a special request to spy on a young man in China.

Deciding to not return to China, he “went on a webcast with his story”. The agent called him and Imin said, “He (the agent) told me: ‘You decided to appear on the show (webcast) and talk but your family is here in China.'”
Since then, five of his family members have disappeared; five siblings have been arrested and his eldest brother was sentenced to 25 years in jail. “The Chinese government has separated us forever,” he said.

Rahima Mahmut, an Uyghur activist said that “it is a very common thing” that Uyghurs are forced to spy overseas adding that “it has been a long history (that) China is trying to spy on any Uyghur living abroad.”

“The Chinese government accuse Uyghurs exiled communities (of) carrying out in their own version of terrorist activities… I know a lot of uyghurs, they do not feel safe,” she added.

China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

Beijing, on the other hand, has vehemently denied that it is engaged in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang while reports from journalists, NGOs and former detainees have surfaced, highlighting the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal crackdown on the ethnic community, according to a report. (ANI)

Coronavirus vaccines might be available in the open market by end of the year only when prime targeted people are covered and there is an equivalence of supply and demand, said Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after receiving the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.

The chief of the country’s premier medical institute Dr. Guleria was administered with the first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine on January 16, a day the biggest vaccination drive was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, against coronavirus disease.

“Vaccine will be available in the open market only when prime targets — people to be vaccinated — are covered. And there has to be equivalence in supply and demand. Hopefully, there would be such a situation by year-end or before that. Then, there may be a likelihood of vaccine to come to the open market,” Guleria told ANI in New Delhi.

Sharing his experience of his past 28 days (a time duration for the second dose), Dr. Guleria said: “Today I took the second dose of Covaxin vaccine and I haven’t found any side effect from the first dose. I didn’t face any difficulty. I would urge people not to fear the vaccine and it is totally safe. People should come out and take the vaccine. This is essential if we want to come out of the pandemic.”

He highlighted that pandemic is still not over and India is in a good position but people should not have vaccine hesitancy and get inoculated.

“Right now our situation is fine and many might believe that in India pandemic case is less but I would say this is our window of opportunity to get the vaccine as the pandemic is still not over and the situation can change anytime. As we have seen in Brazil, Europe, South Africa and the United Kingdom lockdown has been imposed again as the case spiked. We should maintain the present situation in the country as it is necessary,” the AIIMS director added.

Talking about vaccine hesitancy among the people, Dr. Guleria said many have been vaccinated and data also reflects that these vaccines are safe.
“Vaccine hesitancy is understandable as people could have some doubts whether the vaccine is safe or not but so many days have passed and many have got the jab. There are data, which suggest that vaccine is safe so hesitancy should be avoided,” he added. (ANI)

Journalist Priya Ramani, who was on Wednesday acquitted by a court here in a criminal defamation case filed by former Union Minister MJ Akbar against her, said that despite being a victim, she had to stand in the court as an accused.

Speaking to newspersons, Ramani said, “Despite the fact that I was the victim, I had to stand in the court as accused. I thank everyone who stood by me especially my two witnesses who came to testify on my behalf: Gazala Wahab and Venkataraman. I thank the court for this verdict and I thank my lawyer Rebecca John and the team who believed in me and in the wider cause. They put their heart and soul in this case.”

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey said that no complaint of defamation is proved against Ramani.

The Court said right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of right to dignity. It said the woman has right to put her grievance even after decades.
The court also referred to the Ramayan and Mahabharata while pronouncing its judgment.

The Court while pronouncing the order said, “Women cannot be punished for raising voice against the sexual abuse on the pretext of complaint of defamation. The woman has the right to put her grievance at any platform of her choice and even after decades.”

The court was of the view that the case of defamation is not true and acquitted her. The right of reputation can’t be protected at the cost of the right to dignity.

The Court noted that Akbar is a man of reputation and also considered that contents were defamatory in nature. The Court observes that even a man of social status can be a sexual harasser. The Court says sexual abuse takes away dignity and self-confidence.

Akbar, the former Minister of State for External Affairs, had filed a defamation case against the journalist Priya Ramani for accusing him of sexual misconduct.

Ramani was the first woman to accuse Akbar of sexual harassment during the #MeToo campaign. The allegations levelled against him forced him to resign from the Union Cabinet on 17 October 2018. (ANI)

With 1,87,527 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) on Wednesday, the thirty-third day of nationwide COVID19 vaccination, the total number of vaccinations across the country is now close to 92 lakh.

According to the Union Health Ministry, 91,86,757 vaccine doses were given to beneficiaries through 1,98,352 sessions, as per the provisional report till 6 pm on Wednesday.

“These include 61,79,669 (68.5%) HCWs who have taken the first dose and 3,42,116 (42.4%) HCWs who have taken the second dose, along with 26,64,972 (28.9%) FLWs who took the first dose,” the Ministry stated in a release.

While the countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16, 2021, vaccination of the FLWs started from February 2, 2021. The second dose of vaccine is being administered from February 13.

“Total 1,87,527 vaccine doses were given till 6 pm today, the thirty-third day of nationwide COVID19 vaccination. Out of which, 1,21,788 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and 65,739 HCW received the second dose of vaccine as per the provisional report. A total of 6,979 sessions were held till 6 pm today. Final reports would be completed for the day by late tonight,” the Ministry said.

Nine States/UT have vaccinated more than 75 per cent of the registered HCWs for the first dose. These are Bihar, Tripura, Odisha, Lakshadweep, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

Eight States/UTs have vaccinated less than 50 per cent of the registered HCWs for the first dose. These are Meghalaya, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab, Nagaland, Chandigarh, Puducherry.

Twelve states/UTs have vaccinated more than 40 per cent FLWs for the first dose. These are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Tripura, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Lakshadweep, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.

Ten States that recorded the highest number of vaccinations are Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Total of 37 persons has been hospitalized so far. This comprises 0.0004 per cent of the total vaccinations, Ministry said. “Of the 37 cases of hospitalization, 23 were discharged after treatment, while 12 persons died and 2 are under treatment. No new event of hospitalization was reported in the last 24 hours,” it said.

Total 29 deaths have been recorded till date. These comprise 0.0003 per cent of the total COVID19 vaccinations. Of the 29, twelve persons died in the hospital while 17 deaths are recorded outside the hospital.

In the last 24 hours, a 24-year-old male, a resident of Rishikesh, Uttarakhand died after 12 days of vaccination. He was suffering from Viral Encephalitis (Herpes Simplex), the Ministry said.

No case of serious/severe Adverse event following immunization (AEFI)/Death attributable to vaccination has been reported till date, Ministry said.
The total coronavirus tally in the country has reached 1,09,37,320 including 1,36,549 active cases and 1,06,44,858 discharges. The death toll has mounted to 1,55,913 with the loss of 100 more lives due to the virus in the last 24 hours. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], February 17 (ANI): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in response to a proposal has denied permission to a Sikh jatha which was planning to visit Pakistan on the 100th anniversary of Saka Nankana Sahib.

The group consisted of 600 people who wanted to go to Pakistan from 18 to 25 February.

“You may be aware that traffic on India Pakistan International border has been suspended from March 2020 due to COVID pandemic. While the pandemic continues to persist, it is pertinent to note that Pakistan has so far recorded over half a million cases with over 10,000 plus deaths due to COVID. Considering the capacity of health infrastructure in Pakistan, it is not advisable for a large group of our citizens to visit Pakistan for a week during pandemic,” MHA said in a reply.

“In view of the factors mentioned above MHA has not accorded permission to the Jatha for crossing over to Pakistan which is mandatory in view of the ongoing suspension of cross-border traffic due to Covid pandemic,” the MHA said. (ANI)