“Their passports were fake. An offence was registered with Sahar police station and Unit VII of the Crime Branch began parallel probe. The probe revealed that the man’s real name was Hitesh Patel and the woman’s Mitaben Patel,” officer said.
“They were told by the accused that getting a visa for England would be tough because of the Patel surname, so they got fake passports made. The two were charged Rs 15 lakh per passport. Three members of the gang, Manish Ghogri (36), Amit Agrawal (41) and Bhavesh Shah (40), have been arrested,” officer added.
Police recovered 14 passports, 11 PAN cards and other documents from the three, who confessed during questioning to having sent 15 people from Gujarat to UK using this modus operandi, the official said.
Nearly seven years, three months and three days after a young medical student Jyoti Singh was gang-raped, brutally tortured and left to die in a moving bus in Delhi, the four adult convicts – Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma who took part in the heinous crime were hanged till death at 5.30 am on Friday in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi was calm when her daughter’s killers were finally hanged, it was a long struggle. Earlier, less than two hours ago at around 3:30 am on Friday, the Supreme Court of India dismissed their final petition against the death sentence. Before moving the Supreme Court, the convicts had petitioned the Delhi High Court too on the midnight of Thursday-Friday where their lawyer cited the Coronavirus outbreak for the lack of proper documents with the hurriedly filed appeal. A third court had already declared that they had run out of all legal options of stopping their execution. All the four criminals – Akshay Thakur (31) Pawan Gupta (25) Vinay Sharma (26) and Mukesh Singh (32) – were hanged at the Tihar Jail where they had spent the last few hours in isolation. This is the first time in the history of India that four convicts were hanged at the same time. They refused to eat and were awake the entire night. The jail was on lockdown throughout the night and no prisoner in Asia’s largest jail did sleep. There was anxiety, fear and pain of death on those four faces and the other inmates were restless with mixed emotions. Most people in the country obviously wanted the guilty to be punished. However, there are also those who share the view of Mulayam Singh Yadav and don’t really see rape as a crime but just an act of boys having fun.
Those who support death penalty in crimes like rapes, serial murders, torture leading to death, child trafficking, terrorism are treated as terrorists by those who don’t. These people are quite glad about the verdict. This group is glad about the judgement but partially agree with the punishment. Among those who see rape as a serious crime, everyone agrees that the guilty need to be punished. They just disagree whether a person can be killed by the state for any crime at all or should ‘Life Imprisonment’ be the maximum possible punishment. The same happened with these four. Majority of Indian’s wanted these four to be hanged. Similarly, the jail inmates too had difference of opinion. Till the last moment, the four filed multiple petitions over the past few months managing to stall their execution thrice at the eleventh hour. Several “dummy executions” had been carried out by the hangman Pawan Jallad as petitions stalled the execution repeatedly.
Nirbhaya’s rape and murder was undoubtedly one of the worst rape cases to have happened in India. In those 50–60 minutes, humanity, as we know it, was murdered. There were total of six people who committed this crime. One of them committed suicide in police custody while one other was released on 20 December 2015. The reason being that he was a minor (17 yrs 6 months old) on the day of committing the dreadful act. Imagine, he fell 6 months short of being a criminal. It disgusts me to the core that someone actually was able to exploit the loophole in our law to get this criminal out unharmed. He is at large and who knows, what he is up to. This juvenile was one of cruelest person among the rest. Hope he must have got a lesson for life after seeing his four partners in crime hanged. His plunge however triggered a big change. Our laws were modified and now a criminal won’t be considered juvenile if (s)he is found to be more than 16 years old. This amendment could not hold this juvenile for hang-till-death but the rest got the harshest punishment.
When all the other legal options were exhausted for the Nirbhaya convicts, the Tihar Jail administration asked them to apply for a mercy petition. Here it is so that even if one convict applies for mercy plea in the Nirbhaya case, it applies to all. Mark that the convict or his relative can only submit the mercy plea when the review appeal has been turned down by the SC and the punishment has been upheld. Now the mercy plea is based upon certain grounds on which the grant of pardon is requested. However, these grounds may or may not have value in the eyes of the law but they certainly hold ground for the release by the President. While it appears that the President has the discretion of whether to grant mercy or not, the advice of the cabinet binds his decision and he has to consult them before passing any decision. Even in 2014–15, the SC marked out that since there is no particular outer limit of time, deciding the duration till which mercy plea has to be disposed of, it surely intervene to seek the earliest disposal in case of a delay and in the Epuru Sudhakar case, it also quoted that the mercy plea decision is not a mere prerogative for the President and his decision can be subjected to judicial review in case of extreme arbitraries though however there is no legality in the Constitution challenging the decision of the President. Also, commutation is possible if the mercy petition was kept for a long delay.
Now, the process involves the forming of a mercy appeal within 7 days by the Jail authorities and then, passing it through the Governor to the President. The appeal is subsequently examined by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Cabinet while also taking the view of the State concerned and after that, the recommendation is made to the President who then authorises. Since the process contains so many steps and legalities, it is normally bound to take time and any irregularities in that would mean a Constitutional bypass on the terms of Article 21 which specifies that, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”. Also, the SC has pointed out that any convict has the right to seek legal remedy till his last breath on the basis of Article 21 and it should be respected. In the Nirbhaya case, the mercy petition was rejected since the case took the country by storm and now with the Hyderabad case in limelight, this government would be hell bound to show that they don’t treat crimes against women leniently. Finally justice prevailed, the rapists got hanged.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
Such is the impact of pandemic Coronavirus on the people of the state and particularly Mumbai, that the State Government was forced to take strict steps that would help the people in general. Accordingly, the government designated the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take necessary action to control crowds on the roads. The BMC, on its part has announced that all shops located in several localities of Mumbai will remain shut on alternate days indefinitely in order to regulate crowds on roads. However, the BMC has exempted all grocery and medical stores from the order. The officials have passed the order to avoid crowding and implement social distancing.
The closure of shops on alternate days is being observed in areas like Dadar, Mahim, Dharavi, Bandra, Khar and Santa Cruz, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a statement on Thursday. In a separate order, it also extended the restrictions to areas of Mulund East and West.
The situation at Kandivali is tense as all shops are shut and no hawkers are to found on the roads. This is the effect of the crowd controlling measure announced by the Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika that was issued yesterday. Hotels, restaurants, bars and shops remained shut in the city. Banks, grocery shops and medical stores remained open.
The announcement reads:
Whereas the Government of Maharashtra, in exercise of the power conferred under section 2, 3 & 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 has framed regulations for prevention and containment of COVID-19 under No. Corona 2020/CR/58 Aarogya-5 dated 13th March 2020.
AND WHEREAS under rule 10 of the said Regulations, the Municipal Commissioner is authorized to take measures for containment of COVID-19.
AND WHEREAS Shri Praveen Pardeshi, Commissioner of the Municipal of Greater Mumbai has been designated as the Empowered Officer.
AND WHEREAS Assistant Municipal Commissioner of MCGM is authorized by the Municipal Commissioner/Empowered Officer to take any measures so as to control the crowds on road to contain the spread of Coronavirus.
I SANJAY R KURHADE, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of MCGM R/South ward in exercise of said power conferred upon me, hereby direct under rule 10 of the said regulations to implement following commitment measure in Kandivali (West) are of R/South ward in order to avoid crowding in public places and exercise social distancing for avoiding spread of COVID-19 that all Shops & Establishment (except Medical Stores, & Grocery Shops) will be closed till March 31.
The Delhi High Court rejected the petition of Indian stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on March 20, The petition was to challenge the flying restrictions imposed on him by most domestic airlines. The HC turned down Kamra’s petition by disapproving his conduct in the flight, “This kind of behaviour certainly cannot be permitted,” the Court said.
Recently, Kamra was prohibited by five domestic airlines for disturbing Arnab Goswami, a well-known face in the electronic media for his high decibel TV debates in January on an IndiGo flight. The restrictions was later followed by a directive by the aviation ministry.
A Mumbai-based comic artist known for his critical views against the right-wing politics, especially on government-linear media houses, Kamra was prohibited by Spice Jet, IndiGo, Air India, and GoAir after he posted a video on his encounter with Arnab Goswami criticising him on his stand.
The ban on Kamra triggered criticism from his followers and others who certainly recalled how Republic TV reporters heckled opposition leaders in public places and even on flights.
“Offensive behaviour designed to provoke and create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable and endangers safety of air travellers. We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned,” Union Civil Aviation Minister H S Puri wrote on Twitter.
An investigation is conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA to see whether the companies violated any rules regarding the ban on Kunal Kamra. However, the Captain of IndiGo flight had written a letter questioning the ban and saying he had not been consulted.
Meanwhile, Kamra demanded a public apology and Rs 25 lakh for “causing mental pain and agony,” and also demanded for the revocation of its six-month ban.
Finally justice was served. After seven years long battle, all four accused of Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case were hanged today at the Tihar jail. The pre-dawn execution took place less than two hours after the Supreme Court dismissed the final petition of the convicts.
Here the question that arises is why did the court take so long to deliver justice? “Undoubtedly, it was delayed but we got justice. Today, she got justice and girls of the country got justice. I want to thank everyone, the judiciary, the government and every citizen for this,” answered Asha Devi mother of the victim.
The crime took place on December 16, 2012 when a 23-year-old medical student Jyoti Singh later came to be known as ‘Nirbhaya’, boarded a bus in Delhi along with her male friend. Once the woman and her friend boarded the bus, they were assaulted by a group of six people.
She was assaulted and tortured with an iron rod before being dumped for dead, naked, bleeding and her intestines spilling out. Nirbhaya and her friend had been dumped from the bus naked on the street. However, she survived long enough to identify her attackers, but died a few days later in a Singapore hospital.
Soon after the news came out, the entire country especially in the national capital was shaken by the act and the crime then grabbed the headlines all over. Thousands of people took to the streets demanding justice for the victim. The outrage over her death led to the passage of tough laws against sexual violence including death penalty for rape in some cases.
There were totally six accused out of which one (Ram Singh) was found dead in his jail cell and also one who was minor was freed after three years in a reform home.
According to a report, all the four accused Mukesh Singh (32) Akshay Thakur (31), Vinay Sharma (26) and Pawan Gupta (25) were hanged at Tihar Jail where they spent the last few hours in isolation in separate cells barely eating or drinking. They hardly slept and refused the last meal or had any last wish. Ironically, one of them begged for his life as he was being led to the gallows.
Soon after the accused were hanged, Asha Devi mother of 2012 Delhi gang rape victim said, “As soon as I returned home from the Supreme Court, I hugged the picture of my daughter and said today you will get justice.”
“Justice has prevailed,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted after all the convicts were hanged. Beside Modi, many other major personalities tweeted about the same –“Finally justice delivered,” they exclaimed.
Justice has prevailed.
It is of utmost importance to ensure dignity and safety of women.
Our Nari Shakti has excelled in every field. Together, we have to build a nation where the focus is on women empowerment, where there is emphasis on equality and opportunity.
Today all the accused were hanged, it did not create much of an impact neither on the people nor on the accused people who are still committing such heinous crimes.
When AV contacted Abbas Kazmi on this, he said, “I’m among those group of lawyers who are totally against of capital sentence. Secondly, it should not be delayed so long. So keeping in mind, the conscience of the society, especially with regards to victim, the delay is highly condemnable.”
“The matter was pending with the Supreme Court, so it must have gone through the entire procedure which must have taken long. The initial stage could have gone through the fast track. But SC as you know, there is no special fast track court as far as SC is concerned. Fast track courts are at the trail level mostly,” he added.
If we go by the statistics, then every hour in every corner around the globe, women are either being raped, molested or killed by people. Have you all ever given it a thought why such crimes against women are rising? Why is the conviction rate poor? Why not the government is using fast tracks courts in such crimes?
After all the accused were hanged on Friday, rights group Amnesty International India said that the death penalty is never the solution towards ending violence against women, calling the execution of the four Nirbhaya case convicts a “dark stain” on India’s human rights record.
Since August 2015, India had not executed anyone and it is unfortunate that four men were executed in the name of tackling violence against women. All too often lawmakers in India hold up the death penalty as a symbol of their resolve to tackle crime.
Avinash Kumar, Executive Director, Amnesty International India said, “The death penalty is never the solution and today’s resumption of executions adds another dark stain to India’s human rights record. Indian courts have repeatedly found it to be applied arbitrarily and inconsistently. Far-reaching procedural and institutional reforms are the need of the hour”
The government has asked the Supreme Court to make it harder for convicts in such brutal crimes to use legal loopholes to stall their sentence. However with the crimes against women rising, it doesn’t seem what the government has asked for?
As the year 2020 rolls on, Pakistan reported the first murder of journalists in the Indian subcontinent. All other countries in the subcontinent have evaded killing of any scribes in the last two months. Around the globe at least nine journalists have been killed till date this year on the line of their duties, where the highest number of casualties is reported from Iraq (3) followed by Syria (2), Pakistan (1), Somalia (1), Nigeria (1) and Paraguay (1). Contrary to it, the vast (also populous) country India witnessed only one casualty last year improving in its journo-murder index where 49 scribes lost their lives on the duty hours around the world. Except Pakistan and Bangladesh, India’s other neighbours namely Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Tibet (under China), and Bhutan could evade any incident of scribe’s murder during 2019.
Pakistan reported the mysterious death of Aziz Memon in Mehrabpur locality of Sindh province on 16 February. Memon used to work for the privately-owned KTN television and Sindhi-language daily Kawish. Threatened by local politicians last year for his media reporting, Memon was found dead in an irrigation channel near to his residence. Last year, the country lost four scribes (Aman Ullah Gharro, Ali Sher Rajper, Mirza Waseem Baig and Zafar Abbas) to assailants last year. Afghanistan witnessed the murder of Javid Noori, Shafiq Arya, Rahimullah Rahmani, Sultan Mohammad Kairkhah and Nader Shah Shebzadeh, whereas Bangladesh reported the suspected murder of online journalist Ihsan Ibn Reza Fagun in 2019.
According to International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Mexico tops the list with 10 incidents of journalist’s killings last year, followed by Afghanistan ( 5), Syria (5), Pakistan (4), Somalia (3), Yemen (2), Philippines (2), Brazil (2), Haiti (2), Honduras ( 2), Iraq (1), Haiti (1), Nigeria (1), Northern Ireland (1), the Philippines
(1), etc.
India as a whole witnessed the incidents of nine journo-killings in 2019, but only one incident emerged as a case of targeted murder. Andhra Pradesh based journalist K Satyanarayana (45) faced the fate because of his performances as a working journalist. The committed reporter of Telugu newspaper Andhra Jyothy was hacked to death by miscreants at Annavaram village of East Godavari district on the night of 15 October. Local scribes informed that Satyanarayana was targeted in an earlier occasion too.
Others who were killed this year include Jobanpreet Singh (Punjab’s online journalist was killed in police firings on 19 December), Vijay Gupta (Kanpur-based scribe shot dead by close relatives on 29 October), Radheyshyam Sharma (Kushinagar-based journalist murdered by his neighbours on 10 October), Ashish Dhiman (Saharanpur-based photojournalist shot dead along with his brother by neighbours on 18 August), Chakresh Jain (Shahgarh-based freelance journalist died of serious burn injuries on 19 June), Anand Narayan (news channel contributor of Mumbai murdered by miscreants on 4 June), Nityanand Pandey (magazine editor in Thane killed by an employee on 17 March).
Kerala-based journalist K Muhammed Basheer lost his life on 3 August as a government officer driven vehicle mowed down him. Bihar’s scribe Pradeep Mandal was targeted by miscreants on 28 July, but he survived luckily. He contributed a number of news items against the local liquor mafia for Dainik Jagaran and invited enmities from the goons. Guwahati-based scribe named Naresh Mitra died on 9 December after sustaining head injuries in a mysterious accident inside the city. Otherwise, the trouble-torn northeastern region has once again evaded murder of any journalist in two consecutive years. Tripura reported the murder of five media persons in 2013 and 2017, whereas Assam and Manipur witnessed the last killing of media persons (Dwijamani Nanao Singh from Imphal and Raihanul Nayum from Dhubri) in 2012.
Till the recent time, the region was a breeding ground for insurgents fighting against New Delhi with demands for self-rule to sovereignty. Both the States were once severely affected by the militancy, where over 30 separatist armed outfits went on with disruptive activities including extortion, kidnapping, and killings. The year 2017 was recognized as a deadliest year for working journalists in India as 12 scribes (Hari Prakash, Brajesh Kumar Singh, Shyam Sharma, Kamlesh Jain, Surender Singh Rana, Gauri Lankesh, Shantanu Bhowmik, KJ Singh, Rajesh Mishra, Sudip Datta Bhaumik, Naveen Gupta and Rajesh Sheoran) were either murdered or reported killing in suspicious situations. Among the casualties, Tripura reported two incidents of journo-murder (Shantanu and Sudip Datta) that year. Earlier 2013 emerged a dangerous year for Indian scribes with 11 casualties including three media employees (Sujit Bhattacharya, Ranjit Chowdhury and Balaram Ghosh) from Tripura.
Various national and international media rights bodies including Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), etc came out with separate reports on journo-murders in 2019 and rightly continue raising voices for due probes and punishments to the culprits.
(The author is a northeast India based media activist)
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.
Perhaps no industry in the country has taken a hit as the Hindi film industry has by the rapid spread of the dreaded Coronavirus. Analysts are of the opinion that the virus has already cost the box office a lot mainly due to theatre closures in India, China, Japan, South Korea, Italy and France. As an effect, more than half of cinemas across India have been shut down following orders from various state governments including Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar and Punjab.
The film industry is particularly vulnerable to the outbreak because both the production and also the consumption of its output require a large number of people to come together in small spaces. It is also a truly global industry: Studios and production companies have offices and film sets all over and they often require employees to frequently travel between them. What one needs is only to look at the end credits for most major films to see just how many locales a single two-hour film relies on in order to reach theatre screens.
While shooting a film, the production needs the presence of makeup artists and hairstylists who touch performers with gloves and masks on. If a principal actor gets sick and goes out of commission for an extended period of time, it can throw an entire production schedule into chaos.
As all shootings have been cancelled and theatres in many parts of the country been shut down amid Coronavirus outbreak, Bollywood stands to incur an estimated loss of Rs 800 crore. More than half of cinemas across the country – around 3500 screens – have been shutdown, following orders from various state governments including Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar and Punjab.
Tiger Shroff-Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Baaghi 3 hit theatres on March 6 and the film had collected Rs 90.67 crore in the first week of its release. Similarly, Irrfan Khan’s Angrezi Medium, in its run of just three days has collected Rs 9.5 crore. It is being said that the makers of Baaghi 3 suffered a loss of Rs 25-30 crore after the closure of the theatres. Theatres shutting down have also impacted the weekend business of Angrezi Medium.
On the shooting front, picturisation of a number of films such as Jersey, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Brahmastra have been cancelled too due to Coronavirus as is that of Salman Khan’s Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, Vidya Balan’s Sherni, Bhumi Pednekar’s Durgavati and John Abraham’s Mumbai Saga have come to a stand still. This is the effect of the announcement of the Indian Motion Pictures Producer (IMPPA) that all production work shall come to a halt from March 19 to March 31.
All this has severely impacted film distributors and exhibitors.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
It is a matter of satisfaction that finally four convicts of Nirbhaya rape-cum-death were ultimately hanged to death at 5.30 am on March 20 after crossing all hurdles created by lawyers of convicts including last-moment mid-night effort to knock court-doors. Even politicians cutting across party-lines expressed satisfaction on the final justice to Nirbhaya who faced most inhuman torture on December 16, 2012.
But legal loopholes brought in the whole affair calls for immediate reform in the system whereby crimes attracting death-penalty may be heard on fast track at all stages of trial from District Court to Supreme Court. Provision of filing mercy-petition may not be there in case death-sentence is confirmed by all the courts. Review or curative petitions may be allowed only at Supreme Court that too to be finally decided within fortnight of filing these. Mercy-petition to be decided in a time-bound period of maximum three months may be allowed only when any of the court might not have approved death-sentence.
Early and extra hangings that too to really deserving ones will practically save lives of many more by preventing rapes and murders, as criminals will then only be fearful against death-penalty. Since rape can be done only by a matured mind, minor rapists must not be freed but given life-sentence
Madhu Agrawal
Spreading “Namaste” Culture
In the age of pandemics and novel Corona viruses, it’s better to be safe than sorry. As the world grapples with the rapidly growing Coronavirus crisis, Namaste, Indian traditional way of greeting people is making a comeback globally. In the age of the Coronavirus, the world, it seems, is looking at the traditional Indian ‘Namaste’ to greet, convey respect and also maintain a safe distance. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to get into the habit of greeting each other with a “Namaste” instead of a regular handshake as one of the measures to prevent the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.
In fact, the whole world is making a habit of ‘Namaste’. Several world leaders and others are now using the simple joining of hands to say “Hello”, “Hi” and “How do you do” the Indian way with the ‘Namaste’. The handshake began in the 5th century B.C. Greece that was a declaration of peace, to demonstrate that neither person was carrying or holding a weapon and now Namaste can become the new weapons-free gesture. No one knows that this could be India’s crucial scientific contribution to the fight against the deadly Coronavirus.
Vinod C. Dixit
Siddhinvinayak closes door for devotees
The Siddhivinayak Temple of Mumbai — a famous shrine to Lord Ganesh closed its doors, emphasising the need to avoid crowded places and break the chain to counter Coronavirus. The decision was taken in view of the situation created by the highly contagious virus. The temple will remain closed till further notice. The Siddhivinayak Temple is the latest among a string of the country’s popular shrines to respond to the threat posed by the highly contagious virus. Over the last weeks, the temples at Maharashtra’s Shirdi and Kerala’s Sabarimala had asked devotees to postpone their visit for a few weeks. So far, Maharashtra has registered the maximum cases of coronavirus, the current figure is 52. Overall, 200 people across the country have tested positive for the virus. The Maharashtra government has invoked the Epidemic Act hoping that it will help contain the virus as well as control panic. It is a right step in the right direction.
Anandambal Subbu
Strong steps needed to fight Coronavirus
Coronavirus has been declared as an epidemic disease of the contemporary era by many of the countries of the world and has claimed 10,000 lives so far and more than two lakh people got affected with this harmful disease. This disease has spread to 125 countries of the world and still no one has found out any proper treatment to control it.
All the powerful countries of the world are concerned about and countries like China, Iran and Italy are the worst affected. It is worrisome that despite all the preventive steps are being taken in India but the result is yet to be seen as the number of the Corona patients is increasing every day. So I request the government to take some strong steps to protect the country from this disaster. Otherwise it may lead the country to a great catastrophe.
Abdul Rab
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath announces his resignation from his post after his government fell short of numbers. The Supreme Court had on Thursday ordered chief minister Kamal Nath-led Congress government to face floor test in the MP Vidhan Sabha by today. As per the apex court’s order, the trust vote has been mentioned in Madhya Pradesh Assembly’s list of business for today at 2 pm. Ahead of the floor test, Kamal Nath is set to address media today.
The Congress-led government has been pushed to the brink following of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. The state assembly speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati late Thursday night accepted the resignations of the remaining 16 rebel Congress MLAs who have been in Bengaluru since March 9.
With this, the resignations of all 22 MLAs in Scindia’s camp brings down the total strength of the assembly to 206 where the ruling Congress with 92 members and seven allied MLAs is now at least five short of a simple majority of 104. The opposition BJP with 107 MLAs is three more than the simple majority.
“In the wake of the Supreme Court directions on Thursday, the legislature is following the judiciary, while the constitution is silent,” the Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati said while announcing the acceptance of resignations of 16 MLAs.
Earlier, the state legislative Assembly had been adjourned until March 26 in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
An Ayurveda practitioner was booked by Mumbai police for allegedly offering ‘antidotes’ to cure COVID-19. Dr Subhashchandra Yadav (39) from Nallasopara (E) was offering the cure in three doses of Rs 100 each. Another Ayurveda doctor Sarwar Khan was booked by Valiv police for putting up a board outside his clinic that read ‘Corona flu preventive medicine available.’ Meanwhile, many reputed doctors of Mumbai were seen circulating pamphlets on homeopathic medicines for free to prevent COVID-19. All of them gave reference of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH). The Ministry of AYUSH, Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) swung into action and its experts discussed the ways and means of prevention of Coronavirus infection through homoeopathy in the meeting of its Scientific Advisory Board on Jan 28 this year. Later, it issued an advisory based on the Indian traditional medicinal practices of Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Unani in an effort to keep the Chinese virus at bay. But, so far there is no scientific authentication to these medicines. Well! amid this scam mongering some responsible doctors of Maharashtra especially Mumbai are determinedly trying their best to create awareness among people.
After these arrests’ Dr. Deepak Chaturvedi, M.D, First Antiaging Physician in India appealed to the medical fraternity and practitioners stating that they should avoid such misguiding practices. He also urged city doctors to stay away from making any claims about the treatment and/or prevention of Corona COVID-19 through any magic remedy (including vitamins, minerals, onions, garlics, sunlight, Ayurvedic products, homeopathic products, Immunity Boosters or whatsoever).
While speaking to Afternoon Voice Dr. Chaturvedi said “We, as a medical fraternity have to be careful before advising anything because people take these advises seriously and some even follow the same. The first and foremost job of a doctors is to create awareness but not take advantage of a situation for their medical practices.” He further stated, “I would want to extend my request to the population not to get carried away by any claims and assurances given by anybody. Ask for scientific evidences. Don’t get overconfident if you are taking such treatments. Most importantly, don’t pay for such treatments claiming to give you prevention and treatment against Corona COVID-19 infection.”
Dr Anshuman Manaswi, Cosmetic/Plastic Surgeon said, “As of today, there are NO ANTIDOTES for COVID-19. Only precautions can help prevent it. Social distancing and Hand Hygiene is the most effective. Worldover, swift research is happening to find some medicine for this and some medicines are being found to be effective. But it is best left to qualified people to treat the Coronavirus. If an antidote becomes available, both the Government and the Medical bodies will only be too happy to announce it and give guidelines.”
Dr Mukesh Batra, Founder – Dr Batra’s Clinics was one of the Doctors of Mumbai who circulated pamphlets on free medication of COVID-19 prevention. His clinics were overcrowded with medicine receivers. When asked what was the reason for this circulation, he said, “That is recommended by AYUSH ministry as preventive. We were distributing their recommendations free for the benefit of people who wish to avail of it. It is given by qualified doctors of my medical centre.”
“People especially medical professionals should use this time to help their fellow human beings and not to increase their business. They should work in tandem with the government bodies and provide the necessary assistance accordingly. We at Dr Batras have been providing all citizens with free doses of Ars Alb 30 as prescribed by the AYUSH ministry since February 15. We will continue to make the doses available across all our clinics in India till March 31 for anyone who wishes to collect the same. In a time such as this, we need to come together,” he added.
The Group of Experts inter-alia has recommended that homoeopathy medicine Arsenicum album 30 could be taken as prophylactic medicine against Coronavirus infection which has also been advised for prevention of ILI. It has recommended one dose of Arsenicum album 30 daily in empty stomach for three days. But still Coronavirus has reached stage two in India.
Dr Suresh Sanghvi Cosmetic and Plastic Surgeon said, “Medicine for COVID-19 as of today does not exist. Selling or distributing free medicine for Corona without any scientific proof is mockery of medical practices.”
Skin Specialist and Dermatologist Dr Rashmi Shetty said, “Don’t panic. It’s always the case. Whenever you panic, you end up taking quick rash and wrong decisions. So there is no need to panic. India is handling Coronavirus cases well so are the doctors in India. So please go to only the doctors who are authorised by the government. There are private doctors too like your family doctor. They will give you the right advice. Don’t go to anyone who think that they have quick cure to Corona. There are none yet. They are trying various types of combination which are giving good results, but please go to a legit doctor or institution and stay safe.”
Dr Aneruddh Ambekar, Orthopedic, Lifelline Hospital said, “Vaccination or any treatment is fake news, these are all marketing strategies to achieve fame. This should not be promoted if at all any such treatment is available it should come from government and then private doctors can practice otherwise no.”
Dr Parag Telang Cosmetic and Plastic Surgeon said, “It is sad that even when we as a country are grappling with a deadly pandemic, selfish people are looking to make quick a buck or quick name! They should be dealt with strictly to curb such practices.”
Dr Anil Patil MD from GS Medical College, KEM Hospital said, “From where has this Corona come and what will it do? Few years ago, SARS epidemic had occurred. During that time, I had said that SARS won’t cause any harm and the same thing happened. Children die due to Influenza and Pneumonia and attention should be paid towards these diseases. Who will address the actual problems of Indians like Tuberculosis, Malaria, respiratory infections. Coronavirus does not transmit through air. If it falls on metal surfaces, then it can stay alive for 12 hours. It cannot survive beyond 26 to 27 degree centigrade.”
Dr Yashashri, Nodal officer for COVID-19 in Mumbai said, “Coronavirus is a group of virus and it was already existent in the world. In Wuhan, there were 40 to 41 cases of Pneumonia but nobody could ascertain it occurred because of which virus. Coronavirus is not airborne. It occurs due to the droplets coming out of nose and mouth while sneezing. When a person comes in contact with these droplets and touches his nose and mouth then he is liable to be infected with Coronavirus. The symptoms of Coronavirus include fever, respiratory problems, feeling tiredness, vomiting.”
Dr. Bhakti M. Vanjara General Practitioner said, “Don’t believe and forward such rumours about treatment of COVID-19.Whomsoever claiming that they have treatment for it , might be just saying about prophylactic medicines which would work as prevention but not as a cure. As in Ayurveda and Homoeopathy there are some medicines which can improve and boost your immune system and prevent from infections. Ayurvedic medicines like haldi, ginger, holy basil are very commonly used herbs which are helpful for preventing many bacterial, fungal and viral infections as well. Even in Homoeopathy, there are a few medicines which have symptoms similar to Corona. There are no scientific trials available for Ayurveda, Unani, homeopathic or any other treatment of Coronavirus disease– COVID-19. If anyone claims with results, they should come forward, prove results on Covid-19 positive patients and help the community. But spreading rumours about treatment should not be entertained in such war-like situation.”
Dr Gurjot Marwah, Dermotologist, Cosmetologist & hair Transplant Surgeon averred, “Novel Coronavirus has been recently declared as a pandemic by the WHO. It’s the responsibility of each citizen to take care of themselves. If you’re showing symptoms of any flu, and visit a qualified doctor (MBBS,M.D,DNB). Please avoid going to quacks who make unnatural claims.”
A racket involving sending people from Gujarat to United Kingdom on fake passports was busted by Mumbai Crime Branch after a couple was detained at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on February 26, said an official on Friday. As per a police report, couple was going to the United Arab Emirates.
The Delhi High Court rejected the petition of Indian stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on March 20, The petition was to challenge the flying restrictions imposed on him by most domestic airlines. The HC turned down Kamra’s petition by disapproving his conduct in the flight, “This kind of behaviour certainly cannot be permitted,” the Court said.
Perhaps no industry in the country has taken a hit as the Hindi film industry has by the rapid spread of the dreaded 
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath announces his resignation from his post after his government fell short of numbers. The Supreme Court had on Thursday ordered chief minister Kamal Nath-led Congress government to face floor test in the MP Vidhan Sabha by today. As per the apex court’s order, the trust vote has been mentioned in Madhya Pradesh Assembly’s list of business for today at 2 pm. Ahead of the floor test, Kamal Nath is set to address media today.
An Ayurveda practitioner was booked by Mumbai police for allegedly offering ‘antidotes’ to cure