Tag: India

  • Man attempts to sell India’s ‘Statue of Unity’ on OLX to raise funds to fight coronavirus

    Man attempts to sell India’s ‘Statue of Unity’ on OLX to raise funds to fight coronavirus

    A case was filed against an unidentified person in Gujarat, India for putting up an online advertisement to sell the Statue of Unity for ₹30,000 crores to meet the government’s expenses for hospitals and medical infrastructure to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

    According to details, the world’s largest statue, which is located in Kevadia Colony of Gujarat, was put up for sale in an OLX ad.

    “Emergency! Selling Statue of Unity because of urgent money required for the hospitals and healthcare equipment,” read the ad.

    The Statue of Unity authorities took an action after a local newspaper published a report about the ad, filing a complaint against the unknown individual.

    “An unknown person, with a malafide intention to defame the government had put up the Statue of Unity for sale on OLX, despite not being authorized to do so,” a release signed by Nilesh Dubey, Assistant Commissioner, Statue of Unity stated.

    The release also criticized OLX for not verifying the ad before posting it on the website. Police said they were trying to locate the source of the listing on OLX to determine who was behind the ad and bring him/her to book.

    The memorial to Sardar Patel, at 182 metres, is the world’s tallest such structure, ever since it was inaugurated in October 2018. It has been a major tourist attraction in India until it was closed for the public on March 17 as a precautionary measure to control the spread of coronavirus.

  • Man insists for samosas amid lockdown in India, gets punishment for trouble

    Man insists for samosas amid lockdown in India, gets punishment for trouble

    A youth in Rampur, India called up the district magistrate’s control room and asked for four samosas with chutney claiming that he had a strong craving for them.

    As per reports, despite being ticked off several times, the man kept on calling the control room and insisted them for samosas. After numerous calls, Aujaneya Kumar — the district magistrate— asked the officials to send him the samosas.

    Later, the district magistrate Kumar also sent out an order for the man to clean the drain, as a punishment for troubling the control room officials during lockdown.

    He also shared the pictures of the man cleaning the drain on his Twitter handle, but he did not reveal the name of the man.

  • Two men who lied to wives about going to Bangkok get quarantined by police

    Two men who lied to wives about going to Bangkok get quarantined by police

    We’ve all seen enough Bollywood and Hollywood movies where men lie to their girlfriends or wives about going on a business trip when in fact they are cheating on them with someone else. Well, something similar happened in India recently.

    According to a Twitter user, Abhijit Basak, whose Twitter bio identifies him as the State IT Cell Convenor of BJYM, West Bengal (India), two men got in for trouble when police paid them a visit.

    This is what the tweet read, ‘They told their wives that they were visiting Bangaluru for business and actually visited Bangkok. However, after returning home, Police visited their homes with their travel records and pasted on the gate & explaining to their wives why their husbands need to be quarantined’.

    Things came crumbling down for two men in India when the truth about their vacation was revealed to their wives by the police.

    According to a report in the Indian media, the incident allegedly took place in Ambala. After tracking down their travel history, the police pasted posters that advised everyone to stay away from the member: as they are under quarantine for 14 days. However, twice the posters were torn by the involved party. When the police pasted them for the third time, they were misbehaved with.

    “Posters were placed two or three times outside the house. But they tore. When the team reached for the third time, then misbehaved. Police was given a written complaint, now the police will take action,” the report quoted Dr. Kuldeep Kumar, CMO, Ambala as saying.

    Well, we can certainly say that these men didn’t think they would get busted and how!

    On Twitter, however, people are concerned about the well being of the two and not because of coronavirus.

    https://twitter.com/drmanishgoutam/status/1244570055557316608?s=20
  • VIDEOS: Pakistanis, Indians start robbing banks of hand sanitisers

    VIDEOS: Pakistanis, Indians start robbing banks of hand sanitisers

    From wearing masks to cleaning hands with soap and water or sanitiser every hour, people are trying every possible way to protect themselves from falling sick amid the coronavirus outbreak.

    With this leading to a shortage of sanitisers not just in Pakistan but also across the globe, videos showing rather desperate attempts by people to stay healthy in time of COVID-19, have started doing rounds over the internet.

    One such video was recently shared by journalist Naila Inayat, who wrote, “When you think no one is watching you.”

    The 32-second clip is a CCTV footage from March 27 of an ATM. The video shows a man taking out money from the machine. As soon as he puts the money in his pocket, he spots the bottle of hand sanitiser. Instead of pumping it in his hands, he puts the entire bottle inside his jacket and walks out of the vestibule.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    It, however, wasn’t the only video of its sort.

    Here’s another video shared by a user on Facebook last week.

    Meanwhile, similar videos have gone viral from across the border too.

    Have something to add to this story? Let The Current know in the comments.

  • Seven people quarantine themselves on a tree in India

    Seven people quarantine themselves on a tree in India

    Seven migrant workers, who came back home to West Bengal’s Purulia district from Chennai amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, perched on a banyan tree to remain in quarantine in the absence of separate room for self-isolation in their small huts, Gulf News reported.

    After several days in their ‘temporary home’, the workers were on Saturday ordered to come down by the local administration.

    The workers, all residents of Bangidiha village of Purulia district, said as they live in one-room mud huts with their families, there is no way they can keep themselves in isolation.

    However, none of them have displayed symptoms linked to COVID-19, nor have they undergone any test for the disease.

    “At present we don’t have any health issues. But in case we are detected positive for the disease at a later date, then at least none of the villagers will be infected because of us,” said one of the workers Bijay Singh Laya.

    The workers reached Kharagpur junction station on Sunday last from Chennai where they underwent thermal screening and tests but the doctors did not find any symptom of the disease. “However, they asked us to stay in quarantine for 14 days as a safety measure”.

    “But we don’t have any separate personal room in our home. So, we decided to live on the branches of the banyan tree just outside our village,” he said.

    The seven labourers tied their beds to the branches of the tree, and used a mosquito net to prevent themselves from getting bitten.

    Their family members brought them a daily ration of rice, pulses, and vegetables, along with other cooking implements and left after keeping those under the tree, while strictly maintaining the norms of social distancing.

    “We get down from the tree, cook, and then go up again,” said one of the workers.

    Villagers on their part kept night vigil by turn to ensure the tree-dwellers are not devoured by wild animals from the nearby forest or bitten by venomous snakes.

    However, when the matter came to the attention of the local administration they asked the workers to return to their village.

  • Indian ‘super spreader’ guru leads to 40,000 quarantines

    Indian ‘super spreader’ guru leads to 40,000 quarantines

    At least 40,000 people who may have caught the coronavirus from a ‘super-spreader’ guru are under strict quarantine in 20 villages of Indian Punjab after linked to just one man.

    According to BBC, the 70-year-old guru, Baldev Singh, had returned from a trip to Europe’s virus epicentre Italy and Germany when he went preaching in more than a dozen villages in Punjab state. The 70-year-old died of coronavirus — a fact found out only after his death, according to the BBC.

    The guru and his two associates — who have also tested positive — ignored self-isolation orders on their return from Europe, and were on their preaching tour until Singh fell ill and died. He had visited a large gathering to celebrate the Sikh festival of Hola Mohalla shortly before he died. The six-day festival attracts around 10,000 people every day.

    A week after his death, 19 of his relatives have tested positive.

    India has 640 confirmed cases of the virus, of which 30 are in Punjab. However, experts worry that the real number of positive cases could be far higher given that the South Asian country has one of the lowest testing rates in the world. There are fears that an outbreak in the country of 1.3 billion people could result in a catastrophe.

  • Pakistan is the happiest country in South Asia, 66th in the world

    Pakistan is the happiest country in South Asia, 66th in the world

    The United Nations (UN) on World Happiness Day (March 20) released its World Happiness Report which ranked 156 nations according to how happy their citizens are. The report placed Pakistan on the 66th position making it the happiest country in South Asia. Pakistan was previously at the 67th position and has improved its ranking in the recent report. Meanwhile, India has slipped from the 140th to the 144th position, making it one of the most unhappy nations in the world.

    The happiest nation in the world is Finland, who is receiving the honour for the third consecutive year. At number two and three is Denmark and Switzerland followed by Iceland at number four and Norway at number 5.

    Countries are ranked on six key variables that support well-being including income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.

    One of the authors of the report John Helliwell in a statement said, “The happiest countries are those ‘where people feel a sense of belonging’, where they trust and enjoy each other and their shared institutions. There is also more resilience, because shared trust reduces the burden of hardships, and thereby lessens the inequality of well-being.”

    However, the impact of the lockdowns imposed by several countries due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak has not been taken into account. Much of the data was collected in the years 2018 and 2019. The author of the report predicts that the lockdown conditions imposed on residents could, paradoxically, boost happiness in future.

    In a first, the report also compared happiness and well-being in different cities. While Helsinki in Finland topped the list, Karachi was declared the happiest city of Pakistani and South Asia at number 117 followed by Lahore on the 122nd spot. The happiest cities in the world include Aarhus, Denmark (2), Wellington, New Zealand (3), Zurich, Switzerland (4), Copenhagen, Denmark (5) and Bergen, Norway (6).

    On the other hand, Kabul is the least happy city followed by Sanaa in Yemen and Palestine’s Gaza.

  • Coronavirus makes its way to Indian military as soldier tests positive

    Coronavirus makes its way to Indian military as soldier tests positive

    An Indian Army soldier, posted in the mountainous region of Ladakh, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, The Economic Times reported on Wednesday.

    According to reports, the soldier’s father had returned from Iran on February 27. At the time, the soldier was on leave. He rejoined his post on March 2.

    After returning to Ladakh, his father was quarantined at a local hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19 on March 6. A day later, the soldier was quarantined. On Monday, he also tested positive for the virus.

    During his quarantine period, the soldier was staying in his native village and helping his family. His sister, wife and two children have also been placed in quarantine.

    The soldier and all his colleagues were placed in isolation after the former tested positive.

    Earlier on Wednesday, another army official attached to the College of Military Engineering in Pune has been asked to self-quarantine after he showed symptoms of flu.

    As of now, 147 people have tested positive in India.

    To contain the spread of the coronavirus, India’s Health Ministry has announced a temporary travel ban from the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK) and Turkey.

  • 254 Indian Shia pilgrims have reportedly tested positive for coronavirus

    254 Indian Shia pilgrims have reportedly tested positive for coronavirus

    Indian journalist Sidhant Sibal tweeted that a number of Indians pilgrims from Union territory of Ladakh in the central city of Qom in Iran have been confirmed with Coronavirus.

    “Indian mission in Iran & local authorities are reaching out to them,” she wrote in her tweet.

    Another Indian journalist Aditya Raj Kaul tweeted:

    In response to these reports by the Indian media, Indian External Affairs Ministry officials on Tuesday said they cannot confirm whether more than 250 Indians in Iran have tested positive for coronavirus but acknowledged that they were aware of such a list of people being circulated.

    MEA Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi was asked several times about Indians in Iran testing positive.

    “Of course in a situation like that, you will find some positive cases among the Indian pilgrims given the extensive spread of virus in Iran,” Ravi told the media.

    “Rest assured that every care is being taken by mission in cooperating and coordinating with the government of Iran for safety of Indians there. The ambassador is giving a lot of attention to them,” he said.

    “Cannot confirm that over 250 Indians in Iran have tested positive for coronavirus and whether the list that is being circulated is authentic or not ,” he said in response to a question about media reports claiming that more than 250 Indians in Iran have tested positive for the virus.

    He, however, said that it was not possible that all the tests of the Indian pilgrims would have come out negative as they were located in Qom.

    Video of MEA briefing:

    According to Bloomberg, India could become the next global hotspot for virus cases, with experts warning containment measures that proved successful elsewhere in Asia may not work in the world’s second-most populous country.

  • ‘Nawaz Sharif as PM barred Foreign Office from speaking against India,’ ex-diplomat claims

    ‘Nawaz Sharif as PM barred Foreign Office from speaking against India,’ ex-diplomat claims

    Former spokesperson for the Foreign Office (FO) Tasneem Aslam has claimed that former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif had barred the FO from commenting against India and its spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is currently in Pakistan’s custody.

    “Nawaz Sharif did not want to say anything against India and Jadhav through the Foreign Office,” she claimed during an interview with a YouTube channel being run by journalist Isa Naqvi.

    When asked if Nawaz’s instruction benefited the country, Tasneem, who worked as FO spokesperson twice — from 2005 to 2007 under military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf and during the last Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government between 2013 and 2017, said it “did not benefit the country” but she did not know “whether it benefited Nawaz’s own interests or not”.

    She said Nawaz had business interests in India and he did not meet Muslim leaders of India-held Kashmir when he visited India as the premier. “Usually, every PM of Pakistan meets Hurriyat leaders but Nawaz Sharif did not meet them when he visited India.”

    Nawaz had visited India in 2014. Aslam further said even in his speech at the United Nations (UN) summit, Nawaz did not talk about India and Jadhav but on the Kashmir issue.

    Meanwhile, PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb told Dawn that the comments by a retired FO official bore no resemblance to reality. “It is a false and biased expression of an individual’s views, based on her personal predilections.”

    Recalling efforts made by Nawaz to resolve the Kashmir dispute, she said that “the principled manner in which he dealt with the issue of Pakistan’s relations with its eastern neighbour was well documented”.

    Marriyum added that the former premier’s address to the UN General Assembly in 2016 contained the most forceful references ever to the issue of Kashmir and the most powerful condemnation of the atrocities and brutalities of the Indian occupation forces.

    The former diplomat’s statements have not been very well-received by Twitterati either.

    What do you think of Tasneem’s statement? Let The Current know in the comments.