Archives for 2020

Mumbai: Phone tapping is an assault on personal freedom and bringing down a democratically-elected government using money amounts to “treachery”, the Shiv Sena said on Monday referring to the Rajasthan political crisis.

It needs to be decided which one of this is a bigger crime, an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said, claiming the Rajasthan telephone tapping episode has exposed many.

It said a lot of revelation will come to the fore in case someone hears secretly the conversations among Congress leaders and those (conversations) reach party leader Rahul Gandhi’s ears, and claimed some people are hell-bent to not let the Wayanad MP work properly.

This, in effect, hurts the entire opposition, the Shiv Sena said.

Its comments came in the wake of the Centre seeking a report from Rajasthan chief secretary on allegations of phone tapping after two audio clips of conversations purportedly regarding a conspiracy to topple the states Congress government emerged.

The FIR registered by Rajasthan Polices Anti- Corruption Bureau mentions details of conversations of (Congress rebel MLA) Bhanwarlal Sharma with Gajendra Singh (Congress claims it is a reference to Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat) and a third man called Sanjay Jain.

The BJP on Saturday asked if the Congress government in the state resorted to unconstitutional methods to tap the phones of politicians, and demanded a CBI probe into what it called a saga of illegalities and concocted lies.

Rajasthan plunged into a political crisis after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s deputy Sachin Pilot rebelled. The Congress later removed Pilot as the deputy chief minister and also as the party’s state unit head.

“Phone tapping is an offence and assault on personal freedom. It is treachery to bring down a democratically- elected government using money. Hence, it needs to be decided which one is a bigger crime, the Shiv Sena said.

“The deal which was on between the BJP and Sachin Pilot was to the extreme of exchanging money. That means it was decided that the Rajasthan government would be brought down by offering money and purchasing majority engaging in horse trading,” it alleged.

“Chief Minister Gehlot exposed that Sachin Pilots rebellion against injustice was a lie (not genuine) and for that, brought to light the phone conversation between Pilot and BJP leaders. It is shocking and equally sensational,” it further said.

“The central powers pressure and money was used to bring down the Gehlot government,” the Shiv Sena charged, adding that the Congress foiled it.

It further said phone tapping is an assault on one’s personal freedom and the Centre ordering a probe into the episode was right.

“Now the question is what was the emergency in the country or the state that led to the Gehlot government hearing the conversations? Activities were on in Rajasthan to bring down a majority government and MLAs were being bought at increasing prices, the Shiv Sena alleged.

Pilots rebellion was driven more by money than morality. This is nothing but corruption and the Gehlot government has registered an offence against Union minister Shekhawat based on evidence, it said.

The BJP is not ready to speak about the serious offences and allegations against Shekhawat, it further said.

Why those who are seeking President’s rule in Rajasthan have not made Shekhawat resign? First, make Shekhawat resign, atone for poaching of MLAs and then point a finger towards the Gehlot government, the Shiv Sena said.

It said phone tapping is not limited to Rajasthan only.

Allegations are being made about shadows of invisible Emergency hovering over the country, it said.

“Games are being played these days to debilitate opponents politically, socially and mentally by dislodging them from their governments (in the states), it claimed.

The Shiv Sena, which formed government in Maharashtra with the NCP and Congress last year, alleged that the dramatic events, unfolding before the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime was established in the state, were tinged with phone tapping of leaders of the three parties.

It also said disputes within the Congress are unending and are raked up by certain people, as if to not let Rahul Gandhi succeed.

The Congress lost power in Madhya Pradesh out of such disputes, while the Rajasthan government has been saved for the moment, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

The Rajasthan phone tapping episode has exposed many.

But a lot of revelation will come to the fore if someone hears secretly conversation among Congress leaders and takes it (conversation) to Gandhi. Some people have been hell-bent on not letting Gandhi work properly. This is hurting the entire Opposition, it said.

New Delhi: India saw a record single-day jump of 40,425 COVID-19 cases, pushing its tally past the 11-lakh mark on Monday, while the total number of recoveries crossed 7 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The death toll due to the disease rose to 27,497 with 681 fatalities reported in one day.

The data updated at 8 am on Monday showed that the total number of COVID-19 cases stands at 11,18,043.

India’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 11-lakh mark, just three days after it crossed the ten-lakh mark.

There are 3,90,459 active cases in the country, while 7,00,086 people have recovered and one person has migrated. The recovery rate stands at 62.61 per cent.

The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners.

This is the first time that the single-day spike has crossed the 40,000-mark.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,40,47,908 samples have been tested up to July 19 with 2,56,039 samples being tested on Sunday.

Of the 681 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 258 were reported from Maharashtra, 91 from Karnataka, 78 from Tamil Nadu, 56 from Andhra Pradesh, 38 from Uttar Pradesh, 36 from West Bengal, 31 from Delhi, 20 from Gujarat and 15 from Madhya Pradesh.

The total fatalities in one day include nine from Bihar, eight each from Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, six each from Rajasthan and Telangana, five each from Haryana and Odisha, four from Assam, three from Jharkhand, two from Kerala, and one each from Goa and Ladakh.

Of the total 27,497 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 11,854 fatalities followed by Delhi with 3,628 deaths, Tamil Nadu 2,481, Gujarat 2,142, Karnataka 1,331, Uttar Pradesh 1,146, West Bengal 1,112, Madhya Pradesh 721 and Andhra Pradesh 642.

So far, 559 people have died of COVID-19 in Rajasthan, 415 in Telangana, 349 in Haryana, 254 in Punjab, 244 in Jammu and Kashmir, 217 in Bihar, 91 in Odisha, 57 in Assam, 52 in Uttarakhand, 49 in Jharkhand and 42 in Kerala.

Puducherry has registered 28 deaths, Chhattisgarh 24, Goa 22, Chandigarh 12, Himachal Pradesh 11, Tripura 5, Arunachal Pradesh 3, while Meghalaya, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Ladakh have reported two fatalities each.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 3,10,455 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,70,693, Delhi at 1,22,793, Karnataka at 63,772, Gujarat at 48,355, Uttar Pradesh at 49,247, Andhra Pradesh at 49,650 and Telangana at 45,076.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 42,487 in West Bengal, 29,434 in Rajasthan, 26,164 in Haryana, 26,569 in Bihar, 23,999 in Assam and 22,600 in Madhya Pradesh.

Odisha has reported 17,437 infections, Jammu and Kashmir 13,899, Kerala 12,480, while Punjab has 10,100 cases.

A total of 5,535 have been infected by the virus in Jharkhand, 5,407 in Chhattisgarh, 4,515 in Uttarakhand, 3,657 in Goa, 2,878 in Tripura, 1,999 in Puducherry, 1,911 in Manipur, 1,483 in Himachal Pradesh and 1,178 in Ladakh.

Nagaland has recorded 988 COVID-19 cases, Chandigarh 717, Arunachal Pradesh 740 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 605 cases.

Meghalaya has reported 450 cases, Mizoram 284, Sikkim has registered 283 infections so far, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has recorded 203 cases.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR,” the ministry said, adding, state-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation. 

Tamil Nadu Health Department to replicate the Chennai model of increased testing, fever camps and more Covid care facilities in Madurai and other districts where coronavirus cases are rising

Chennai’s daily coronavirus figure has come down 53 per cent despite increase in testing.

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Health Department is keeping a guarded watch on Chennai, state’s coronavirus epicenter, even as its daily COVID-19 figures showed a dip for the fifth consecutive day. As 1,140 people tested positive in the state capital on Monday, the overall fall in daily numbers was 53 per cent. More than 2,000 cases were registered in Chennai between July 29 and June 3.
“Despite increase in tests, Chennai’s daily coronavirus figure has come down to around 1,200 cases. It’s too early for us to comment on the Chennai model, but we will continue to do the aggressive testing and continue to focus on fever camps, market and other congested areas because Chennai has opened up,” Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan told NDTV.

However, the temple town of Madurai seems to be emerging as a new Covid hot spot. There has been a six-fold rise in daily COVID-19 numbers in a little over two weeks – from 988 to 6,539 total cases on Monday.

Dr Radhakrishnan added that the congested pockets and urban slums in Madurai along with lack of compliance with regard to masks and physical distancing are posing a challenge in containing the spread of the highly contagious virus.

Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur districts adjoining Chennai have also see a spike in coronavirus cases.

Dr Radhakrishnan attributed the spike in cases to inter-district movement even as the government extended suspension of bus services till the end of the month.

The health department said it is rapidly increasing COVID care centres across the state, where 60% of Covid patients are recovering without the need for administering oxygen.

“The Chief Minister has sanctioned another Rs 75 crore for beds with oxygen supply. We are on the safe side as far as infrastructure is concerned,” he said.

The health department added that they are also replicating the Chennai model in these districts by increasing testing to 10 times the number of people found positive and tripling the number of fever camps.

Though Tamil Nadu’s daily testing has increased to 45,000 people, the state does not give a district-wise split of the tests conducted giving rise to speculation that the state had not ramped up testing in districts other than Chennai.

Dr Radhakrishnan dismissed these claims and said such data was not being provided because of manpower shortage in labs. “We have no problem in showing district data,” he said.

With 4,328 people testing positive on July 13, Tamil Nadu’s tally of active cases stood at 48,916 with total rising to 1,42,798. Chennai alone accounts for 16,601 active cases and a total of 78,573 cases.