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Shashi Tharoor Says Lockdown Didn’t Slow Covid At His Constituency

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Kerala reported 702 new COVID-19 cases in the previous 24 hours. The national capital, which had been struggling with massive daily spike, reported just 613.

Shashi Tharoor Says Lockdown Didn't Slow Covid At His Constituency

We need to let people go back to work, Shashi Tharoor said

The lockdown could not stem the rapid growth of coronavirus cases in Thiruvananthapuram; thus, people should be allowed to return to work, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted on Monday.

“Spoke to Kerala Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta to convey my concerns about reports of extended lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram. Many constituents point out that 3 wks lockdown have not slowed the spread of COVID-19. We need to let people go back to work to balance lives and livelihoods,” he tweeted.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said a committee will explore any scope of relaxing the lockdown rules.

“Due to serious conditions, there is a lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram. A committee led by Chief Secretary will look into the guidelines and issues on giving relaxations” he said.

The number of COVID-19 clusters in the corporation area of the city has also seen an increase, health officials say.

Kerala reported 702 new COVID-19 cases in the previous 24 hours. The doubling rate for COVID-19 in the state is around 13 days compared to 24 days in the beginning of the month.

Kerala’s total of cases touched 19,727, including 63 deaths. As many as 9611 people are presently under treatment, 10,049 patients have recovered and over 1.55 lakh people are under observation, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters.

Of the total positive cases today in Kerala, 483 were infected through contact while the source of infection of 35 people are not yet known.

Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital, reported the highest number of cases – 161. The city is under a strict lockdown till July 28.

Earlier this month, Mr Vijayan had said some areas of Thiruvananthapuram were experiencing community transmission

“The situation is very serious in some parts of coastal Thiruvananthapuram, where the spread has been fast. Community spread is happening in areas like Pullivula, Poonthura,” he had said.

India on Monday reported nearly 50,000 coronavirus cases, which took the total of those infected past 14 lakh.

50 People Allowed In Mosques On Eid, No Mass Prayers In Eidgah: Karnataka

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People visiting mosques for the prayers have to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, Minority Welfare and Wakf Department Secretary AB Ibrahim said in an order.

50 People Allowed In Mosques On Eid, No Mass Prayers In Eidgah: Karnataka

Eid-ul- Azha, also known as Bakrid, would be celebrated on July 31 and August 1.  

The Karnataka government has allowed Eid-ul-Azha prayers only in mosques with a maximum of 50 people at a time and said mass prayers at Eidgah and other places are prohibited in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

People visiting mosques for the prayers have to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, Minority Welfare and Wakf Department Secretary AB Ibrahim said in an order.

It said the Hilal committee has decided that the Eid-ul- Azha, also known as Bakrid, would be celebrated on July 31 in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts while it would be on August 1 in the rest of the state.

Noting that mass prayers were one of the important rituals Muslims perform during Bakrid, the order said in view of the COVID-19 pandemic such events at Eidgah and other places were prohibited.

However, prayers would be allowed in mosques with the restriction that not more than 50 people should take part. If there were more people, the prayers should be performed in batches, the department said in the order.

Mass prayers should not be performed in any other places such as halls, community buildings and “Shadi Mahal”, the order added.

Karnataka allowed temples, mosques and other places of worship to be open for devotees from June 8 with all COVID-19 preventive measures in place.

Tamil Nadu Reports Nearly 7,000 COVID-19 Cases For 3rd Consecutive Day

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As many as 63,250 samples were tested, taking the total specimens screened to 24,14,713 so far.

Tamil Nadu Reports Nearly 7,000 COVID-19 Cases For 3rd Consecutive Day

Chennai accounted for 95,857 cases out of the state’s tally of 2,20,716.

Tamil Nadu on Monday reported 6,993 fresh COVID cases, the highest single day spike, taking the tally to 2,20,716 while 77 deaths propelled the count to 3,571.

As many as 63,250 samples were tested, taking the total specimens screened to 24,14,713 so far.

Of the new infections, Chennai and its nearby three districts of Chengelpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur accounted for 2,422 cases and the remainder was spread across other districts, a health department bulletin said.

Sixty-nine people who died to the virus had comorbidities and eight none, taking the count to 3,571 with Chennai’s count alone rising to 2,032.

The dead included two men aged 95 and 26.

Monday is the third successive day the state has logged nearly 7,000 cases after 6,986 and 6988 on Sunday and Saturday respectively.

“I Was Too Fat”, Says Boris Johnson As He Launches Anti-Obesity Campaign

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The campaign began with newspaper editorials and a social media blitz that included a video showing Johnson walking in slow-motion — in a white button-down shirt and blue slacks — accompanied by inspirational string music and his dog, Dilyn.

'I Was Too Fat', Says Boris Johnson As He Launches Anti-Obesity Campaign

Boris Johnson tried to assure Brits on Monday that he wasn’t trying to force anything on them.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested a link between his weight and his susceptibility to covid-19, as he launched a new government anti-obesity program on Monday that will see junk food advertising limited and restaurants and pubs required to post calories for food and drink.

The campaign began with newspaper editorials and a social media blitz that included a video showing Johnson walking in slow-motion — in a white button-down shirt and blue slacks — accompanied by inspirational string music and his dog, Dilyn.

“I was too fat,” Johnson says in the video, about his physique back in April when he was sick with covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and rushed to a hospital to be saved by supplemental oxygen.

He says he’d struggled with his weight for ages. But since recovering from the coronavirus, he has begun to focus more on exercise, starting his days with “quite a gentle run.” He notes that he has lost more than 14 pounds. And he encourages Brits to join him in his effort.

Embracing the role of weight watcher in chief is a bold move for a 56-year-old leader who has boasted his favorite meal is a plate of English sausages, plural and a good Tignanello red from Tuscany.

It is also a somewhat unusual stance for Johnson, as a longtime critic of the so-called “nanny state.”

He tried to assure Brits on Monday that he wasn’t trying to force anything on them.

The point of the new anti-obesity campaign is “just trying to help people a little bit to bring their weight down – not in an excessively bossy or nannying way, I hope,” the prime minister said.

He added, “We want this one to be really sympathetic to people, to understand the difficulties that people face with their weight, the struggles that many, many people face to lose weight, and just to be helpful.”

The British newspapers, though, didn’t seem to buy any nuance in Johnson’s approach.

“Boris Johnson orders GPs to be brutally honest with patients about their weight,” the Sun headline read, about general practitioners. The Daily Mail went with: “Boris Johnson orders obese people to get on their bikes and lose weight.”

Some on social media appreciated Johnson’s effort – and promised to accompany him on his “weight journey.” Others were dismissive, even cruel, posting fat-shaming memes and videos of the prime minister huffing and puffing in his rumpled running outfits.

During Monday’s press briefing, political reporters tried to drill down on precisely how much the prime minister weighed. Johnson has, in effect, invited the Westminster press pack to forever keep close tabs on his waist size.

Government officials were evasive.

“I don’t have anything for you on that I’m afraid,” a 10 Downing Street spokesman said in response to a call from The Washington Post.

Johnson is sending the country to the scale at a stressful time, when Britons have been hunkering in place for months, jawing on comfort food. Britain has reopened its pubs – but not the gyms.

England is the second “fattest country” (their words, not ours) in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — a 37-member club for mostly well-off democracies. The first is the United States – and, according to projections, the proportion of people overweight is growing.

The British government’s new strategy includes a ban on junk food advertisements on television before 9 p.m. — so children are not bombarded by ads for fatty snacks. Other promotions, such as “buy one get one free,” are banned, as is displaying candy bars in prominent positions in stores.

The government hopes this saves lives. Almost 8% of critically ill patients with covid-19 in intensive care units are morbidly obese. About 3% of the British population is morbidly obese.

“This deadly virus has given us a wake-up call about the need to tackle the stark inequalities in our nation’s health, and obesity is an urgent example of this,” said Heath Secretary Matt Hancock.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Hancock said that if everyone who is overweight lost five pounds, the national health service could save more than $130 million over the next five years.

Some businesses said the new regulations would have little effect beyond hurting companies that are already trying to recover from the economic effects of the lockdown.

Sue Eustace, director of public affairs at the Advertising Association, told the BBC that the U.K. already had some of the “strictest” advertising rules in the world.

“Children’s exposure to high fat, salt, and sugar adverts on TV has fallen by 70 percent over the last 15 years or so, but there’s been no change to obesity, so we don’t think these measures are going to work.”

Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University of London, noted that the measures announced Monday were largely focused on marketing.

“I wouldn’t see it as a major revolution to beat obesity, but it’s certainly a positive step,” he said.

He added that this campaign was likely to have less impact than efforts by previous British governments, including salt reduction targets and a “sugar tax” that resulted in manufactures reducing the sugar in soft drinks.

“These are very clever maneuvers,” MacGregor said, “because people go on buying the same rubbish, but it’s got less of the sugar or less salt or less fat. And, if it’s done slowly, they don’t actually realize.”

Johnson has opposed those types of interventions in the past.

In his leadership race last year, he vowed to review “sin taxes” on unhealthy food and alcohol. He recently told the Times Radio that “in the great anthology of embarrassing former articles that people always drag up . . . you will find I have taken a sort of very libertarian stance on obesity.”

That stance seemed to shift somewhat on Monday. Though Johnson might need to work a bit more on his sales pitch.

India Protests Pak Move To Convert Gurdwara Into Mosque In Lahore

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Gurdwara Shaheedi Asthan Bhai Taru Ji is a historical place where “Bhai Taru Ji made a supreme sacrifice in 1745”, the spokesperson said

India Protests Pak Move To Convert Gurdwara Into Mosque In Lahore

India has lodged a protest with Pakistan over a famous gurdwara in Lahore.

India on Monday lodged a protest with the Pakistan High Commission over reports that attempts are being made to convert a famous gurdwara in Lahore into a mosque.

“A strong protest was lodged with the Pakistan High Commission today on the reported incident whereby Gurdwara Shahidi Asthan, site of martyrdom of Bhai Taru Singh ji at Naulakha Bazaar in Lahore, Pakistan has been claimed as the place of Masjid Shahid Ganj and attempts are being made to convert it to a mosque,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement.

Gurdwara Shaheedi Asthan Bhai Taru Ji is a historical place where “Bhai Taru Ji made a supreme sacrifice in 1745”, the spokesperson said. It is a place of reverence and considered sacred by Sikhs and the incident has been viewed with grave concern in India, he said.

There have been calls for justice for the minority Sikh community in Pakistan. Manjinder Singh Sirsa, spokesperson of the Akali Dal, tweeted to ask Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to take action against “extremists”.

“Pak extremists want to obliterate this Shaheedi Asthan completely. This is against basic human rights- no one can deny a person freedom to practice their religion Pls warn such extremist elements & take immediate action to save Shaheedi Asthan from illegal squatters,” Mr Sirsa tweeted.

“Pakistan was also called upon to look after the safety, security, well-being of its minority communities including protection of their religious rights and cultural heritage,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Today, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh tweeted: “Strongly condemn attempts being made to convert holy Gurdwara Sri Shaheedi Asthan in Lahore, site of martyrdom of Bhai Taru Singh Ji, into mosque. Urge @DrSJaishankar to convey Punjab’s concerns in strongest terms to Pakistan to safeguard all Sikh places of reverence.”

2 Coronavirus Vaccines Begin Last Phase Of Testing: 30,000-Person Trials

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The vaccination marks a much-anticipated milestone: the official launch of the first in a series of large US clinical trials that will each test experimental vaccines in 30,000 participants, half receiving the medicine and half receiving a placebo.

2 Coronavirus Vaccines Begin Last Phase Of Testing: 30,000-Person Trials

Samples at a clinical trial at Meridian Clinical Research in Rockville.

At 6:45 am Monday, a volunteer in Savannah, Georgia in US, received a shot in the arm and became the first participant in a massive human experiment that will test the effectiveness of an experimental coronavirus vaccine candidate. The vaccine is being developed by the biotechnology company Moderna in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health.

The vaccination marks a much-anticipated milestone: the official launch of the first in a series of large US clinical trials that will each test experimental vaccines in 30,000 participants, half receiving the medicine and half receiving a placebo. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer also announced that it was initiating a 30,000-person vaccine trial, at 120 sites globally.

“We are participating today in the launching of a truly historic event in the history of vaccinology,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a news conference. He noted that the United States has never moved faster to develop a vaccine, from basic science to a large Phase 3 trial designed to test safety and effectiveness.

Fauci predicted that researchers probably would be able to tell whether the Moderna vaccine was effective by November or December, though he explained that it was a “distinct possibility” that an answer could come sooner. Pfizer officials have said the company expects to be able to seek regulatory authorization or approval by October.

Company and government officials repeatedly underscored that while the vaccine effort is moving at record-breaking speed, safety is not being sacrificed.

“There is no compromise at all, with regard to safety, nor of scientific integrity,” Fauci said.

Both vaccines require two doses, spaced several weeks apart. Then researchers will have to wait to see whether people get infected or sick from the novel coronavirus. What they hope to witness is a clear benefit: fewer infections in people who received the vaccine, or less severe episodes of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. There are many unknowns about how long it could take to see a clear signal of success or failure – including how fast the trials will recruit participants and how long it takes for enough people to become infected to observe whether there is an effect.

Statisticians have been crunching the numbers to predict how many infections would need to occur in the study population to gauge the vaccine’s effectiveness. To show that the Moderna vaccine is 60% effective, Fauci said, there would need to be about 150 infections among the 30,000 participants.

The trials are also the biggest test yet of a promising technology that has never been approved for use outside medical research. Either vaccine could become the first in a new class of medicines. The vaccines deliver a snip of genetic material that carries the blueprint for the spiky protein that dots the surface of the coronavirus. After a person is vaccinated, their cells will follow the genetic instructions to build the proteins, and their immune systems, confronted with the spike protein, learn how to recognize and mount a defense to the virus without ever being infected.

“I believe it is a historic day: the first Phase 3 covid-19 vaccine being run in the U.S.,” Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel said. “It’s a historic day for science, as well. This is the first Phase 3 of a messenger RNA medicine in the world.”

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld during a clinical trial at Meridian Clinical Research in Rockville.

Mark Mulligan, director of the New York University Langone Health’s vaccine center, said eight people will be vaccinated in the late-stage Pfizer trial Tuesday, after promising results in early stage human tests.

“Now it becomes important to continue to assess them in larger numbers of people, and to ask the final question: Does it provide the protection?” Mulligan said.

Matt Slovick, 61, volunteered to be part of that history and showed up to receive a shot Monday afternoon at Meridian Clinical Research in Rockville, Md. Before the pandemic, Slovick, who works for an insurance company, did much of his work face-to-face, with on-site visits to clients and presentations to groups of people. Now, he works remotely and has seen small businesses shut down. His oldest daughter was furloughed from her hospitality job because of the pandemic, and his younger daughter was on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy aircraft carrier that was home to a major outbreak in March.

“Thank goodness, my daughter’s results came back negative,” Slovick said. “As an American, I was doing what I was supposed to do – staying at home, wearing a mask. I thought: Maybe I can help the whole populace of the country to get this thing going” when he heard about the vaccine trial.

Meridian Clinical Research is one of nearly 87 sites recruiting participants across the country for the Moderna trial – and was scheduled to vaccinate the first dozen people on Monday. Shishir Khetan, a physician leading the effort to recruit 300 to 400 people there, said that the first day of any trial is typically slower, but that conducting a trial in a global pandemic is even more complicated. Researchers cannot conduct information sessions about the trial with groups, as they might under normal circumstances, or let people stay in a communal waiting room after their vaccination.

Khetan said the biggest misconception he hears about the vaccine trial is the worry that the vaccine could infect people. But the vaccine does not pose an infection risk; it’s just a fragment of genetic material that codes for a piece of the virus. He also encounters people who mistakenly believe that the trial participants will be infected with the virus.

“That’s absolutely not true. Nobody is given the virus,” Khetan said. “You’re encouraged to follow CDC guidelines of wearing a mask and social distancing.”

At least three other large trials facilitated by Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to speed vaccine development, are expected to follow. Those include an experimental vaccine being developed jointly by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, one from Johnson & Johnson, and another candidate from the biotechnology company Novavax.

Interest in the trials is surging in the pandemic, but researchers said it would be essential for volunteers to include those who are most at risk of severe consequences of covid-19, including black, Hispanic, Native American and older people.

“This is going to be a big American opportunity for people to come onboard as our partners, to take part in what is a historic effort to bring to an end what has been the worst pandemic our world has seen in over 100 years,” National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins said.

Moderna is planning to produce 500 million vaccine doses a year, with the possibility of making 1 billion doses annually in 2021. Over the weekend, the US government committed $472 million to support the large trial, doubling the federal investment in Moderna’s vaccine candidate.

President Donald Trump visited Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies in North Carolina on Monday, a contract development and manufacturing organization that is working to ramp up production of the vaccine candidate being developed by Novavax. The Department of Health and Human Services also announced that it was improving the nation’s ability to manufacture vaccine by reserving capacity through December 2021 at Texas A&M University’s Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing.

Several other vaccine developers have begun large trials designed to test effectiveness, including two candidates from Chinese companies and one being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca that is being tested in Brazil and South Africa and will soon start US trials.

India Readies 5 Sites For Final Phase Of Human Trials Of Oxford COVID Vaccine

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This is an essential step because it is necessary to have data within the country before the vaccine is administered to Indians, Secretary of Department of Biotechnology said.

India Readies 5 Sites For Final Phase Of Human Trials Of Oxford COVID Vaccine

The Oxford COVID vaccine appears safe, induces strong immune response, scientists said

Five sites across the country are ready for the third and final phase of human trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Secretary of Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Renu Swarup said on Monday.

This is an essential step because it is necessary to have data within the country before the vaccine is administered to Indians

The Serum Institute of India, the largest vaccine maker in the world, has been chosen by Oxford and its partner AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it is ready. Trials results for the first two phases were published earlier this month.

According to Ms Swaroop, the DBT is part of any COVID-19 vaccine effort in India “… whether it is funding, whether it is facilitating the regulatory clearances or whether it is giving them access to different networks which exist within the country”.

“The DBT is now setting up Phase 3 clinical sites. We have already started working on them and five sites are now ready to be available for Phase 3 trials,” Ms Swarup told PTI in a telephonic interview.

The Pune-based SII has also sought permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for conducting Phase 2 and 3 of human clinical trials of the potential vaccine.

It had said earlier it will start manufacturing the vaccine even before the final nod so it is ready with sizable volumes once the vaccine gets all permissions.

“DBT is closely working with every manufacturer and Phase 3 trial of Serum (institute) is important because if the vaccine has to be successful and it has to be given to the Indian population we need to have the data within the country.

“For that a Phase 3 trial has been proposed. Five sites are ready. Within some more weeks, they should be ready for manufacturers to take them up for clinical trial studies,” the DBT secretary said.

On July 20, scientists announced that the coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University appears safe and induces a strong immune response within the body after the first phase of “promising” human trials against the deadly disease that has infected over 1.45 crore people across the world and claimed more than six lakh lives.

Doses of the vaccine were given to 1,077 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55 in five UK hospitals in April and May as part of the Phase 1 clinical trial and results, published in The Lancet medical journal.

The results show they induced strong antibody and T-cell immune responses for up to 56 days after they were given.

Scientists behind the trials found the response could be even greater after a second dose.

In Phase 1 of human trials, a vaccine is given to a small number of people to test safety. It is also given to check if it stimulates the immune system.

In the second phase, it is administered to hundreds of people split into groups such as children and the elderly to see if the vaccine acts differently in them. The two phases focus on safety and immunogenicity in humans.

In the third phase, the vaccine is administered to thousands of people.

In India, two indigenous vaccines – one by Zydus Cadila and the other by Bharat Biotech – have reached phase one of human trials.

Mamata Banerjee Thanks PM Modi For Cooperation In Tackling Covid Crisis

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Mamata Banerjee was apparently targeting West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has been at loggerheads with the state government over a host of issues ever since taking office in July last year.

Mamata Banerjee Thanks PM Modi For Cooperation In Tackling Covid Crisis

Mamata Banerjee thanked PM for holding several discussions (with CMs) on Covid.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his cooperation in tackling the COVID-19 crisis in West Bengal but alleged that “a few people holding constitutional posts’ are disturbing the state government regularly.

Ms Banerjee was apparently targeting West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has been at loggerheads with the state government over a host of issues ever since taking office in July last year.

Both the state and the central governments are elected bodies and they should work together, she said during an online programme where the prime minister inaugurated new COVID-19 testing facilities in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

“I would like to thank the prime minister for holding several discussions (with chief ministers) on the COVID crisis. And so far, there has been no non-cooperation from his end. I want to thank him for that. But a few people, who are holding constitutional posts, are regularly disturbing the state government. This is not acceptable,” Ms Banerjee said without naming anyone.

Reacting to Ms Banerjee’s comment on Monday, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the governor did the right thing by pointing out the mistakes of the state government.

“The way the governor has been insulted by ministers of the TMC government is unprecedented,” he said.

The face-off between the West Bengal government and the Raj Bhavan had escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Ms Banerjee accusing Dhankhar of repeatedly interfering in the functioning of the state administration, and the latter asserting that a state cannot be governed as someone’s “personal fiefdom”.

Expressing concern over the alleged deterioration of law and order in West Bengal, Dhankhar had last week said the state police were not functioning according to rules and urged the chief minister to find time and interact with him on the matter.

On July 16, after the governor said that the education system in West Bengal is “politically caged”, Ms Banerjee alleged that the governor was acting “more dangerously” than a BJP mouthpiece and that doesn’t suit someone holding a constitutional post.

22 Assam Rifles Personnel Test Positive For Coronavirus In Mizoram

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Mizoram Coronavirus Cases: Aizawl district has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 205, followed by Lunglei (71), Siaha (26) and Lawngtlai and Mamit (21 each), they said.

22 Assam Rifles Personnel Test Positive For Coronavirus In Mizoram

Aizawl, Mizoram: COVID-19 cases: The fresh infections have taken the northeastern state’s caseload to 384.

Twenty-two Assam Rifles personnel are among 23 more people testing positive for COVID-19 in Mizoram, officials said on Tuesday.

The fresh infections have taken the northeastern state’s caseload to 384, they said.

Twenty-two Assam Rifles personnel posted at Zokhawsanga near Aizawl and a civilian who had recently returned from Nepal have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Zoram Medical College on Monday night, a statement issued by the State Information and Public Relation Department said.

Of the 384 cases, 191 are active while 193 people have recovered, officials said, adding the recovery rate of patients in the state stands at 50.26 per cent.

Aizawl district has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 205, followed by Lunglei (71), Siaha (26) and Lawngtlai and Mamit (21 each), they said.

As of now, Hnahthial, Saitual and Khawzawl districts are coronavirus-free, the officials said.

Mizoram has tested 20,053 samples for COVID-19 till Monday, they added.

Unhappy With Bakri Eid Rules, Maharashtra Leaders Write To Chief Minister

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While the government has asked people to buy and sell goats online, many are left confused as the guidelines don’t clearly mention any online portal that they can use.

Unhappy With Bakri Eid Rules, Maharashtra Leaders Write To Chief Minister

The Maharashtra government has asked for a symbolic celebration of Bakri Eid this year

Unhappy with the Maharashtra government’s guidelines for Bakri Eid celebrations, now less than a week away, a section of Congress leaders have urged Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to review the rules for the Islamic festival.

Congress leader Naseem Khan, whose party rules in the state in coalition with Mr Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, has written to the Chief Minister to call an urgent meeting of ministers to review the guidelines.

According to the Standard Operating Procedures released by the government last Friday, online buying and selling of sacrificial goats as well as symbolic celebration of Bakri Eid, also known as Eid al-Adha, is being encouraged.

But Mr Khan said there cannot be any symbolic celebration for the festival, set to be observed around the world on Friday, and buying goats online is not possible.

“We want the government to rethink and call for an urgent meeting. This has hurt sentiments,” the Congress leader said.

Normally, the Deonar market in Mumbai is the biggest hub where goats are bought or sold. But since the outbreak of the coronavirus and the nationwide lockdown, the market has been closed.

While the government has asked people to buy and sell goats online, many are left confused as the guidelines don’t clearly mention any online portal that they can use. Many buyers are not technology savvy enough to carry out such transactions either.

“Government says we have to buy goats online but there isn’t any portal mentioned anywhere. Guidelines are confusing. They should clear it,” a Mumbai resident Zameer Shaikh said.

Meanwhile, a drastic drop in supply and the closure of the Deonar abattoir has spiked prices of goats for slaughter in the city, news agency PTI reported. This, at a time when sellers in other parts of the country have complained that they are not able to find buyers for their goats.

The price of goats in Mumbai has increased from around Rs 20,000 earlier to Rs 30,000 now, making it out of reach for several families who want to carry out the traditional sacrifice during the festival, it said.

With animal markets closed due to the pandemic, sellers have set up makeshifts stalls in Muslim-dominated areas, and the extra effort on their part to operate the business is resulting in exorbitant prices being demanded.

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