Migrant children wait to board a bus for the railway station in Karad, Maharashtra, on Sunday. | Image Courtesy: PTI
Looking at the possibility of a third wave of COVID-19, Maharashtra is setting up child Covid centres and a pediatric task force. It is believed that the third wave is likely to be worse for children, the state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Friday.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope told reporters, “The third wave could be noxious for small children and toddlers below 18. We are in the process of making child Covid Care Centres (CCC). Children need different ventilator beds and other medical equipment,” Tope further said adding that these steps were discussed in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
“A pediatric task force will be made. The third wave will be hitting small kids more. If a child is positive, they can’t stay alone. The mother has to be there with the child. Also, children need special pediatric ventilators which need to be procured,” Tope added.
The Principal Scientific Adviser to the government, K Vijay Raghavan, said the third wave of the virus is inevitable “Covid infected children needed to be with their mothers and required special pediatric ventilators, the minister pointed out. “Phase three is inevitable given the higher levels of circulating virus, but it is not clear on what time-scale this phase three will occur. We should be prepared for new waves,” he said.
Experts believe while the first wave affected the elderly the most, younger people have been infected in the second wave and the third wave could be deadly for children.
There are no vaccines for children in India. Pfizer’s vaccine has been approved for children in Canada and the US is also likely to clear the Covid shot for children above 12.
Zeeshan Siddique, the youngest MLA from the Bandra East constituency is trying to assure people in distress that they can be helped with adequate treatment, admission to hospital, and vaccination. In an exclusive interview with Afternoon Voice, Siddique has shared his experiences with our correspondent Hema Singh.
What has motivated you towards charitable services?
Back when we were hit by the first wave of COVID, we started (me and my team) helping people, we were not aware of the hospitals the patients are visiting. Initially, we launched a helpline number only for Bandra, Khar and Santacruz, the constituencies I represent. With time the helpline number started getting popular and we started receiving calls from across Mumbai, Thane, and the MMR region.
At one stage when the cases of COVID were decreasing, we saw fewer calls for help and requests. However, when the second wave hit the nation, our main aim was always to help as many people as we can.
Tell us about your state of mind when you help people across Maharashtra?
When you help more and more people amid this tough phase of life, it feels amazing. When we call 10 different hospitals for beds, oxygen, or ventilators and can help the patient with his admission, the way the patient and his family members talk is soothing and satisfying for us.
Your team gets most of the calls for ICU bed’s availability in the nighttime, how many of those calls do you attend and resolve the issues?
I am awake all night specially to reply and answer as many calls and messages as I can. In the morning the doctors, deans, and nurses are present in the facility but during the night it is difficult to reach them. So, between 12 to 6 am, there is a lot of panic and fear in people.
How difficult is it to accommodate the needs of so many people?
Initially, we forward the information that we receive about a patient to the BMC wards, though if we still get a call from the same patient or his relative, we personally look into their problems. We first see where the need is or where the person resides (location) later we start calling hospitals, small nursing homes, private centres around their vicinity.
COVID war room has been set up by Zeeshan Siddique in Bandra | Image Courtesy: Twitter – @vijjayinc
How many calls on average do you receive every day?
I don’t know the exact number, but at minimum, we get 500 calls and more than thousands of requests on social media. And these calls and messages are not limited to Mumbai or Maharashtra.
How do you explain your services as a political leader towards the betterment of Maharashtra?
I have said this in the pre-covid era, at that time I or any other leaders of Maharashtra were not aware of the severity of this pandemic. But challenges are what makes a person strong. I want to work for Maharashtra not only in the urban but as well as the rural areas.
What kind of people approach you for aid?
All types of people are coming for help from the middle class to the lower class, people from slums to high-rises.
What advice would you give to the Centre amidst this global pandemic?
I feel there should be no politics amid the global pandemic and there should not be any indifference towards Maharashtra, and it should get the oxygen or other help that the state has asked for because this demand is to save the lives of people.
Which political leader has influenced you the most?
Since I was 4 years old, I have seen my father (Baba Siddique) working for society and the love received for him. He has always inspired me through his work. Besides him, as I belong to the Congress party hence, my biggest inspiration would be Mr Rahul Gandhi. In fact, he is the reason that I am in politics right now.
As a political leader, what aims you have for the future?
I was elected at a very young age as an MLA. A lot of people were hesitant to believe in me, saying I was young for politics. But after two years down the line, the perception has changed towards me, as they have seen me working day and night, especially during this pandemic.
As a leader, my first responsibility is towards the people of my constituency because they are the reason for what I am today. My main vision is to serve people. I want to be the voice of people, which is currently underplayed.
Maharashtra appoints an efficient Eng. AnilKumar Gaikwad as Secretary at Public Works Department 5
AnilKumar Gaikwad who has been honoured twice with the Best Engineer Award by the Government of Maharashtra has been appointed as Secretary (Works) at the Public Works Department (PWD) of Maharashtra on Thursday.
Mr Gaikwad has held many important posts in the Public Works Department in the past too.
AnilKumar Baliram Gaikwad is also the man behind some major completed and ongoing projects of the Maharashtra government.
The Mumbai flyovers, the Tallest Bridge over the Vaitarna River, the beautiful Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi, and the ongoing Maharashtra Chief Minister’s ambitious project, the Samruddhi Mahamarg Expressway and many other projects have been successfully executed by Mr Gaikwad.
India is whirling with COVID-19 second wave, lakhs of COVID cases are registered and deaths in thousands. Even before the second wave is yet to settle, the Centre has warned of the third wave and added that everyone needs to be equipped for it.
There were news reports that Maharashtra might get hit with third wave in July or August, probably it would be the same time, the country would also witness the third wave. But with people getting vaccinated, the impact would certainly be low yet there should be no carelessness in handling the pandemic.
The Principal Scientific Advisor, K VijayRaghavan in his daily media briefing along with union health ministry officials said, “A phase three is unavoidable, given the higher levels of circulating virus but it is not clear on what time scale this phase three will occur.” Calling it ‘inevitable’ is a danger sign and hope at least this time the Centre will be prepared for any sort of critical situation.
VijayRaghavan spoke about the future of the coronavirus catastrophe. “A phase three is inevitable, given the higher levels of circulating virus,” he said. “But it is not clear on what time scale this phase three will occur. Hopefully, incrementally, but we should prepare for new waves. Previous infections and vaccines will cause adaptive pressure on the virus for new kinds of changes that try to escape. We should be prepared scientifically to take care of that.”
VijayRaghavan further said new variants are transmitted in the same manner as the original strain. “It doesn’t have properties of new kinds of transmission,” he added. “It infects humans in a manner that makes it more transmissible as it gains entry, makes more copies and goes on, same as the original.”
Scientists and experts are studying the reason for the current surge in cases in India and particularly whether a variant first detected in the country, called B.1.617, is the reason. It has been classified by scientists in the United Kingdom as a “variant under investigation” and has been partially blamed for the explosion in the number of cases in India.
In a shocking incident, COVID-19 swab sticks packed in unhygienic conditions in Ulhasnagar slum 8
A case has been registered against a supplier of swab sticks used for collecting nasal and throat samples for COVID-19 testing, after a video allegedly showed that the items were being packed in unhygienic conditions at a slum in the neighbouring Thane district, police said on Thursday.
Earlier this week, a video surfaced on social media, which showed that swab sticks were being packed at a slum in Sant Dnyaneshwar Nagar in Ulhasnagar, an official said.
Following this, officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), local civic body and police visited the slum and recovered packets of swab sticks from a few households on Wednesday, he said.
A case has been registered against the supplier, who had hired labour from the households, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Epidemic Diseases Act, he said, adding that many arrests have been made so far.
The video showed women and children packing swab sticks that are used in COVID-19 tests, without wearing any gloves or masks, it was stated.
Some sticks were also left lying on floor mats and children handled them with their bare hands, the official said.
Women were being paid Rs 20 for packing 1,000 swab sticks in plastic packets, the official said, adding that further probe is underway.
Till about a decade ago, in the courtyard of trees and plants, different types of birds have easily seen chirping, but now they are reduced to the pages of books only. There will be no one who has not looked at the birds’ nests in childhood and has not shown keenness to see them and has not tried to catch them. Everything is changing in the changing environment. In the courtyard of the house of these birds, Twitter has reduced in the morning. People used to get up early in the morning only after hearing the melodious sounds of these birds. Till a decade ago, there were a large number of birds. Many types of birds used to chirp in the house courtyard such as birds, parrots and cuckoos. People of different types of dialect liked the people very much. But over time the number of birds has remained nominal. These birds are seen flying in the sky but now only in limited numbers as compared to earlier. The ears now yearn to hear the sweet chirping sounds of birds. The birds’ tweeting, fidgeting from one house to another in search of food, filling their stomachs with dried grains on the roof and the sweet killers of these birds used to resonate in the courtyard. But now these birds are not seen far and wide.
The laying of mobile towers is also a major reason for the declining bird population. Radiations emanating from them are very deadly for birds. Until today, ten-fifteen years ago, the mobile towers were not so large, due to which birds of many species were seen in the sky, but in recent times, mobile towers and the increased radiation from them have caused troubles to the lifeless creatures are facing. However, in this scorching heat, animals and birds also rarely come out. Where animals stay in their den, birds also reduce tweeting in the sky, but these days the tweet of birds is not heard and the variance of birds in the sky is also less visible now. Various mobile companies have installed towers at various places. Hazardous radiation from these towers propagates in the atmosphere. Due to this reason, people get the benefit of telecommunication services, but these waves are quite fatal for birds. This has a direct effect on these birds and this is also the reason for their disappearance. Birds are dying in the fire of death. This trend is getting faster due to which the chirping of these birds is decreasing.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that in the era of growing modern mobiles and the waves emanating from the towers are working to woo these birds. Not only this, due to the dangerous waves emanating from these towers, human beings are moving towards serious diseases. Due to the effect of radiation generated by the waves of mobile towers, not only animals and birds are also having bad effects on human skin. These harmful waves are affecting the body skin as well as the body parts and birds of crow, cuckoo, parrot, sparrow species are disappearing due to the effect of these waves. The study says that mobile radiation can also lead to loss of fertility, cancer, brain tumour and miscarriage after a long time. Our body is 70 per cent water. Up to 90 per cent of the water in the brain is also there. This water gradually absorbs body radiation and is very harmful to health going forward. Even according to a WHO report last year, there is a possibility of moving from mobile to cancer. Interphone study said that the use of mobiles for half an hour or more every day increases the risk of brain tumours by 200-400 per cent in 8-10 years.
The nervous system is also affected by the fertility of birds due to the intensity of radiation. Apart from this, the sparrow’s fertility has also been affected due to rapid natural changes. For this reason, they have started becoming extinct. Elderly elders say that due to environmental pollution, biodiversity is dying out. Due to the disintegration of the garden and the problem of diet, an adverse environment has arisen for these birds to live. Due to the destruction of the forest, even animals are not able to get a place to live. People have started building houses till the banks of the rivers. If the condition remains the same, then birds of many other species will become extinct in the next ten years. The extinction of small birds by the magnetic wave of mobile towers cannot be ruled out as having a major impact on the efficiency of agricultural production. The rule in putting up such towers has been laid on hold. In densely populated areas, there is a provision to erect towers at a distance of at least two hundred meters, but dozens of towers have been installed in many villages across the country amid the dense population. Significantly, vultures and eagles were seen hovering in the sky earlier. If the dead animal was found thrown, then these birds used to gather in large numbers and upon seeing the dead animal was eaten and wiped out. But due to environmental pollution and adverse environment, a crisis occurred in their lives. The reason is that now the public lands of throwing dead animals out in the open are over.
Therefore, due to lack of food, these birds have become doomed to die. This is more or less the condition of sparrows, pigeons and crows. We should forget that these birds also play an important role in keeping the environment balanced. They provide us with food, medicines, fertilizers and melodious songs. They are also a major reason for pollination. Along with this, they are also used as various sources of entertainment and they also help us in bio-control by destroying harmful crop pests. Therefore, we need to protect them and reduce the threats of technology on them.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is evacuated from a hospital after it caught fire in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, April 23, 2021. | REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
If sufficient measures are implemented in terms of social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding crowds, it declined COVID but unfortunately, the elections rallies to Kumbh Mela and above all the celebrations made serge in cases. When – inevitably – people who never respected social distance, mask-wearing or enhanced hygiene get to stroll about sharing diseases.
People thought they have developed herd immunity and now no virus can affect them and they will easily overcome the virus as they did last year but in reality, the previous year, we were not saved by any herd immunity or any other measure but only by an early lockdown which helped in curbing the spread of coronavirus.
This mistake caused the number of cases to rise rapidly and soon it became a burden on an already stressed healthcare system which causes the overexploitation of resources and eventually we ran out of oxygen supply. The government lacked in anticipating the second wave which led us unprepared and under-sourced; sooner we fell short on oxygen, the number of beds, medicines, and medical equipment.
In addition to this people started black marketing of beds, oxygen, vaccines and also plasma by worsening the already worse situation. This caused an increase in the fatality rate as the people who could have recovered started fading due to lack of oxygen support and other medical facilities.
Because people in India, especially the educated elite behave imprudently. Soon as the situation normalizes caution is thrown to the wind. I have seen so many examples I don’t even know where to begin. The only language people in India understand is astral fines and severe lathi-charge breaking their bones. Every time restrictions have been lifted, there is a dramatic surge in cases, but that was before a rollout that has seen the most vulnerable third of the nation protected.
From the figures on reduction of transmission, the impact of idiots assuming if the figures fall COVID-19 got bored and wandered off to chase butterflies, ought to be reduced by two thirds. A second wave was predicted from the beginning, and a “lockdown, was only a temporary measure while working out how to handle the virus more sustainably.
The second wave so far seems pretty bad when it comes to the number of cases. However, in terms of overloaded hospitals and mortality, it looks a little better, at least right now. So, we got an impression that the virus has done, as most viruses do, and mutated into a less deadly but more virulent version. Now the third wave is approaching.
Until a vaccine is widely spread, we will probably not go back to “normal”. And the SARS-CoV-2 is a virus we will have to learn to live with, but hopefully more as an annual “influenza” variant. As the virus mutates further, the third wave of COVID infection is inevitable and it is necessary to be prepared for new waves, the government’s Principal Scientific Advisor K VijayRaghavan cautioned the nation.
The first wave halted as a combination of a standing level of immunity in the population and cautionary steps. The second wave started because new opportunities for the spread of the infection came up. When the guard drops, the immunity is sometimes not enough to stop the infection from spreading. Many people get infected until a new threshold of immunity is reached.
Such a second wave is typically larger than the first wave. However, multiple parameters can change in small amounts and add up to a second wave which is much larger than the first wave. In early 2021, a very large number of people all over the world had been infected. As the immunity increases, the virus does not have the opportunity to grow.
Phase three of COVID is inevitable given the high levels of circulating virus, but the time scale is not yet clear. On immunity getting eroded by the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, experts said it is positioned somewhere between measles and influenza. Measles immunity never gets eroded while that for influenza gets depleted rapidly. The viral evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is somewhere in between but will change.
With active cases climbing to 34.87 lakh in India, the top scientific officer said it was not expected that the second wave would hit the country with such ferocity. Given the high levels of circulating virus, the third wave of coronavirus is inevitable but the time scale is not clear, the government’s principal scientific advisor K VijayRaghavan explained how the biology of the virus has changed between the first and the second wave.
In the third phase of the pandemic, there will be adaptive pressure on the virus for new kinds of changes as a large number of the population will get vaccinated. Variants are only one factor of the huge second wave of the COVID-19 that is sweeping the country now, the government’s principal scientific advisor K VijayRaghavan said on Wednesday. As new variants of a virus are natural, the existing variants will make way for new variants which may or may not be more virulent, but variants should not make any difference in people’s primary approach to combat COVID-19, which should consist of maintaining social distancing.
While in 2019 and 2020, the virus continued to be a generalist, like a key that can be fitted into many locks, the virus in 2021 became much fitter and efficient as it is trying a “hit and run lifestyle” to gain entry to the human body. In the coming days, the virus will become more efficient as immunity, vaccination is building adaptive pressure on the virus.
Useless preventive measures are encouraging local and national leaders in many countries to significantly overstep their boundaries. Sooner or later, probably sooner, the average citizen is going to start rebelling. Governments have lost significant credibility on this issue, and this is leading to real and potential social breakdown.
Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us at feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com
The Maratha reservation issue was more of a politically motivated agenda than the actual issue of the source of the facility. The Maratha reservation of 12 and 13 per cent in education and jobs had amplified the overall reservation ceiling to 64 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively.
The disadvantage of the reservation including Maratha quota, the total reservation in the Maharashtra caste wise is restored to 52 per cent — Scheduled Castes 13 per cent, Scheduled Tribes 7 per cent, OBC 19 per cent, Special Backward Category 2 per cent, Vimukta Jati 3 per cent, Nomadic Tribes B 2.5 per cent, Nomadic Tribes C Dhangar 3.5 per cent, Nomadic tribe D Vanjari 2 per cent.
Nevertheless, the politics, the question, which is being debated, is why did the apex court not uphold SEBC, created as a separate category to accommodate Marathas with unanimous consent from the state and legislative assemblies. The legal and constitutional challenges to the Maratha reservation will not go recognised.
In November 2018, the Maratha community was given the reservation under the Maharashtra State Socially and Educational Backward Act. The special act was endorsed by Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission and approved in both the assembly and council. The prominence of legislation was to give reservation under SEBC, a legal and constitutional cogency. The legislation proposed by the then BJP-Sena government got undisputed support from then opposition parties Congress and NCP.
The Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday to strike down the Maratha reservation puts the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in a tough spot as the opposition BJP is sure to project this as the ruling coalition’s fiasco to protect legislation passed in the state Assembly and council.
On August 9, 2016 Marathas under the banner of Maratha Kranti Morcha came together at Aurangabad to protest the rape and killing of a 15-year-old girl in Kopardi village of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. Although Kopardi was the trigger, the Maratha alliance, leading to 58 silent, but massive, rallies across the state between 2016-17, was centred on reservation for the community in government jobs and educational institutions.
Apart from it, the organisation demanded justice for the Kopardi girl and sternest punishment to perpetrators of the crime and loan waiver for farmers among other things. The massive public turnout at the apolitical rallies made inroads from cities to villages to taluka levels across Maharashtra. At the end of every rally, a ten-point charter of demands was presented to the district collector.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLCs formed a rumpus and walked out of the Legislative Council on the issue of Maratha reservation forcing the adjournment of the House. Maratha students were protesting at Azad Maidan, and BJP wanted to raise the question in the House but there were heavy counter-arguments and finally, they walked out in protest.
B onJP leaders held a protest outside the state Assembly on the second of the winter session, over various issues including women’s safety and Maratha reservation. Pravin Darekar alleged that the state government is running away from discussions and is facing strong opposition. The two-day winter session of the state legislature began in Mumbai on December 14, 2020.
Since then, the opposition was hell-bent on twisting this entire issue to their advantage. Maratha reservation is a serious issue and it needs to be addressed in time. If we want Marathi people and culture to survive and thrive then it is important that Maratha survive. Nowhere in India, a single caste makes up more than 30% of the state population.
Still not many outside Maharashtra knew (until this agitation) that this caste exists. For outsiders, Maratha is the same as Marathi, Maratha=Marathi. Yadav’s with just a single-digit population has been dominant in UP and Bihar. But despite such a huge population of Marathas, casteism is not dominant here like UP and Bihar because of the tolerant nature of people.
Maratha for namesake is one community. But it is made of so many social layers from ultra-rich political families to dirt poor laborers who just earn for the day. 52 per cent is reserved which leaves 48 per cent open and it is crowded with progressive people like Brahmins, the business class who can afford tuition, outsiders who are mostly educated people, leaving very little space for Marathas.
The systems of reservation of India are a form of positive discrimination. It follows from the concept of equality of opportunity as enshrined in the Constitution of India. Reservation is the result of laws, guidelines, and administrative action by the different levels of governments in India, and includes reserved or exclusive access to seats in the different legislatures, to government jobs, and enrolment in higher educational institutions.
The target groups are identified based on criteria such as gender, caste, tribe, and linguistic minority status. It is the process of facilitating a person in education, scholarship, jobs, and promotion who has category certificates. Reservation is a form of quota-based affirmative action. Constitutional laws, statutory laws, and local rules and regulations govern reservation. Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), and in some states Backward Classes among Muslims under a category called BC(M), are the primary beneficiaries of the reservation policies under the Constitution – with the object of ensuring a level playing field.
When BJP came to power in 2015, they accused Maratha leaders in the Congress and NCP of orchestrating protests to derail its government’s investigation into several scams, now when BJP is in opposition, they are using the same issue to their advantage and trying to create unrest for Maha Vikas Aghadi. Maratha reservation has become a tool to counter each other in political corridors but no one wants to find a solution.
Fake forwards on the rise; from ways to cure COVID to getting the oxygen & vaccines 22
As the COVID cases are on the rise across the country and shortage of oxygen, vaccines and Remdesivir vial became news, the spread of dubious claims and wrong information has been prompt on the popular messaging platform – WhatsApp.
While people need to be extra careful of such forwards, we spoke to our readers about their understanding of such fake forwards, they shared different such incidences with us.
Sachin Srivastava an IT professional of Mumbai said, “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hit our lives, it is only normal that we look for every source of information to see how best to protect ourselves and our families. But amid the crisis, distortion has gone viral on various messaging platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook and Signal. The other day I received a message stating a number that the vaccine is available there at a cheaper price, when I called the agency, I found out there is something fishy, this is not just irritating; it can be unsafe too.”
Aditi Vinay said, “There are video circulations of one Baba claiming that, if you can hold your breath for 10-seconds, without coughing or difficulty in breathing it indicates the absence of COVID-19 infection in your body. Whereas the truth is that, the claim is absolutely fake as the cough is only one of the few symptoms that people with coronavirus may experience. There could be patients who may be infected and show symptoms such as fever and body ache too.”
Indrayani Manikam, a BARC employee says, “I received a forward that one can beat the virus with drinking warm water, salt or vinegar (vitamin C), This viral message claims that coronavirus, before it reaches lungs, remains in the throat for four days and it is this time that the person begins to cough or have throat pain. I followed this blindly and had a sore throat, my doctor told me that there is no evidence to prove that the virus stays in the throat for four days. Second, gargling is often recommended for a sore throat, however, there is no evidence to suggest that it would prevent infection from COVID-19.”
Then there was one viral post on social media with a screenshot, a person named Ajay Agarwal claimed that he can supply Remdisivir for Rs. 3000. In that screenshot, it was also mentioned that he would ask you to transfer money in advance so that he can deliver the vaccine to you PAN India in just three hours. Many people in need of vaccines tried contacting him but no one was answering the call after receiving the money.
Archana Ashtekar, Professor at Jai Hind college said, “Many such screenshots are claiming that they can supply Oxygen and vaccines, and people fall in the trap. These days there are fake call centres for making such dubious calls. Such bogus messages, of course, had no relevance as the government has announced that they are making Oxygen and vaccines available for the common public.”
A Naturopath Sangeeta Amladi said, “One day I received a forward that claims Rasam, a soup-like brew of various spices, tamarind juice and lentils is the best way to cure this coronavirus. The forwarded message highlighted how years ago when Malaysia was hit by the Nipah virus, Malaysian Indians were not affected as they consumed rasam.” She said, “Turmeric, one of the elements of rasam is an antibiotic, but one cannot conclude that it can kill the deadly virus.”
Suresh Mistry, a retired serviceman said, “I received hundreds of forwards from various groups, but the most fun was that the “COVID-19 virus will be killed at a temperature of 30-35 degrees. Therefore, drink more hot water, go under the sun for a long time. Drinking warm water is effective for almost all viruses. Try not to drink ice. Remember that,” the message said.” Technically, the virus is destroyed at a temperature greater than 60° C and there’s no way the human body can handle that high temperature.”
A priest Santosh Sathe shared his experience with Afternoon Voice “Everyone should ensure their mouth and throat are humid, and should never dry. This advice credited to some Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases further reads that take a few sips of water every 15 minutes at least. Why? Even if the virus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your throat and into the stomach. Once there, your stomach acid will kill all the viruses.” I don’t know whose brains are creating such hilarious posts but these forwards are not doing any good to mankind.”
Nitin Hilgude, a Thane resident said, “I received a forward that said eat salt and onions into small pieces and eating without water can cure coronavirus. This false miracle cure also suggests not to drink water instantly and have it only after twenty minutes. And, the patient will be cured of coronavirus.” I did that, but the foul smell in my mouth made me not only breathless but I got a severe headache.”
The Pandemic is taking many lives, 3,780 COVID deaths have been reported till today, the highest in India in 24 hours, with 3.82 lakh fresh cases.
Verified or unverified advisories and orders by the government are another major hit among India’s chronic forwarders. They claim anything to everything in the name of government orders. They claim in the name of Hindu and Muslim, there are false claims made in the name of doctors or researchers. People in India need to be careful of such forwards.
SC strikes down Maratha reservation; terming the law 'unconstitutional' 24
The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the Maharashtra law granting quota to Marathas in admissions and government jobs, terming the statute as “unconstitutional”.
It also refused to refer the 1992 Mandal judgement, setting a 50 per cent cap on the reservation, to a larger bench for reconsideration.
A five-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan concurred on three major issues, framed during the hearing, and said that no exceptional circumstances or the case were made out by Maharashtra to breach the 50 per cent cap on the reservation.
The top court unanimously refused to refer the Mandal judgement to a larger bench for reconsideration on issues including permitting the state to breach the 50 per cent ceiling on quota in extraordinary circumstances.
The judgement came on a batch of pleas challenging the Bombay High Court verdict which had upheld the grant of reservation to Marathas in admissions and government jobs in the state.
