An EXCLUSIVE interview with Dr Gagandeep Kang. She talks about why there is absolutely no reason to panic. Gov’s preparations r fine but high level meetings, mandates creates panic, she says. 

https://thesouthfirst.com/news/exclusive-absolutely-no-reason-to-panic-says-top-virologist-dr-gagandeep-kang-amid-talk-of-covid-surge/

Is Hype Over Covid Variant BF.7 Legit? Is It a Fuss? Precaution or Panic — What’s Media’s Message? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0JgcV4k3E0

WhatsApp groups are abuzz with an ‘wave’ of Covid-19 in India. Talks of lockdown have started worrying businessmen and markets again. But what’s the trigger? Did the disease dynamics of COVID-19 change in India in last four days? No. Is BF.7 new? No, because the first case was registered in June in India. Can a wave in China lead to catastrophe in India, where according to Union government’s data, more than 90% population has received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Then what is they hype about and how ‘serious’ is ‘threat’.

India recorded at least 3.74 million excess deaths in 2020 and 2021 compared to two pre-Covid years, 2018 and 2019, according to the data on registered births and deaths released last week.

https://scroll.in/article/1082347/what-excess-death-data-shows-bihar-gujarat-undercounted-covid-19-toll-by-30-times 

Excess deaths or mortality refers to the difference between the total number of deaths during a pandemic or any other natural disaster compared to the number of deaths that would have been expected under normal conditions. The difference is an indicator of the likely death toll, as it captures deaths that went unreported.

The total deaths in 2018 and 2019 was 14.5 million. But the number of deaths in the two pandemic years – 2020 and 2021 – was 18.3 million, shows data from the civil registration system, which is the official record of births and deaths registered with the local government bodies.

This indicates 3.74 million excess deaths. In contrast, India’s official Covid-19 toll till date is 5.33 lakh. The first death due to the virus was reported in March 2020.

That is to say, India possibly undercounted Covid-19 deaths by seven times. If the government releases civil registration data for 2022, the gap could be higher. The civil registration system records events such as births, deaths and still births.

by Tabassum Barnagarwala

AAP Vs BJP Over "Exaggerated" Oxygen Demand: WATCH Debate Between AAP's Jasmine Shah, BJP's RP Singh  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxctZEW57E Jun 25, 2021

The Supreme Court audit panel alleges that the Delhi government sought 4 times more oxygen than required during the second wave. Delhi's Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said that there is no such report by Supreme Court Audit Committee. He also said that BJP leaders are lying.
Now, BJP has shared the proof of report being shared with the Delhi Government.
AAP's Jasmine Shah said, "There is no interim report which has the sign or approval of members of the committee."
BJP's RP Singh said, "Things move digitally in the times of pandemic. They can keep denying, but they are caught now."

Modi government versus Arvind Kejriwal over Report that Delhi “exaggerated” Oxygen need in COVID https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxk2wtKlUAs The Delhi government exaggerated its demand for Oxygen by four times, says a report that has triggered a war of words between the Kejriwal government and the Modi government. The Centre says these are the findings of a Supreme Court audit, the AAP says the findings are "malicious and false" Barkha Dutt discusses the matter with Sanjay Hegde (Senior Advocate), PKD Nambiar (Political Analyst), Ruchika Gupta, MD Gupta (Batra Hospital), and Saket Tiku (All India Oxygen Manufacturers).

https://youtube.com/embed/A3g37btQr7o?start=30&end=139   AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria, who heads the sub group that led the audit on Delhi oxygen, said that the final report is not out yet. Dr Guleria also said that it would not be correct to say that Delhi "exaggerated" its oxygen needs by four times during the second wave of Covid. "I can't say for sure about the four times exaggeration of oxygen demand." The observations of the report has set off a new clash between the Centre and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the capital.

https://countercurrents.org/2022/05/covid-19-when-will-the-profiteering-of-private-hospitals-be-curbed/

The first and second waves of the Covid pandemic in India saw health personnel in both government and private hospitals risking their lives to save patients, often working late hours day after day. For this, the Indian public will always remain indebted to them for their selfless service.

However, the stories of Covid patients being fleeced by private hospitals that are now emerging are enough to put all of humanity to shame.

“The pain caused by living is more than that of dying. Life has become harder in middle age than the end of life.” These were the sorrowful words shared by Sakharam Shinde, 62, a Covid patient who returned home from a private hospital last year.

A retired teacher of a government school in Kolhapur, Shinde had spent all his savings during hospitalisation. According to his family members he alleged that the bill that the hospital had given him in the name of treatment was not justified. The capital which he had saved for the future of his children and family, had to be given to the hospital. Within a few days after coming home he died due to weakness.

Many such tales of exorbitant hospital charges bankrupting and breaking the spirit of Covid patients are now emerging through complaints filed by non-government groups in Maharashtra with the state administration. The groups are actively participating in the audit process with the victims and in some places, district and tehsil level officers of the government are also playing an active role in public interest.

Have is a look at some of the cases of complaints against private hospitals charging exorbitant bills.  Identities of the patients have been hidden to safeguard their interests.

Case One:  “I am a professor in a private college. I was getting only half salary at the time of the Covi lockdown. It was becoming difficult to run a family with this incoe. So, at the same time we were doing other income generating work. In the second wave my close friend died. I too got Covi. At the beginning my treatment was done by the doctors of the village. But, later my condition became serious. My father, brother and friends had to struggle hard to get an oxygen bed for me. With no improvement in health, the cost increased. Family and friends together deposited Rs 5 lakh. It’s true, I got healed, but a mountain of debt hit me. I came to know that many people had complained about the private hospital overcharging. I also complained, but the hospital refused to return the money. Instead, I was called by two doctors, they told me that they saved my life and now I am withdrawing the money from their pockets. They created emotional pressure. I insisted on my complaint. Seeing this, they took the help of some goons. The goons first called me and then threatened me at home. At the same time, with the help of tehsil, district and state level organizations, I kept fighting my case with truth. In the end, the hospital had to return Rs 79,000.”

Case Two: “I am left alone with my child. My in-laws have already broken up with me. I live in the room next to my mother. I run a small grocery store. My brother helps in everything. I don’t go out alone. We tried very hard to save my husband from Covid. But, he died. I was left with the debt of hospitalisation.

Some good people helped us. We sent them the bill on WhatsApp. They said that the hospital has taken an additional Rs 12,000 from me. On their request, I went to the government office the next day with the bill. Government officials have issued notice to the private hospital. The hospital said they did not charge extra. Then those good people contacted the authorities and explained to them the rules and regulations of the government. They told the officials that the husband of this woman had died leaving behind a small child. I fought too. When the authorities again sent the notice, the hospital people returned Rs 12,000.

Case Three: “ Dadi (Grandma) was admitted first with Covid and then Tai (Aunt) also started having trouble. Both were in the hospital. Grandmother died. We were looking after Tai’s two young children. Tai’s condition was getting worse day by day. Changed three to four hospitals. I ran out of money to pay the bills. Nobody gave loan. The mortgaged fields were the only source of livelihood for the family. I also got Covid. We were at home in Shirur in Pune district and Tai was at Hadapsar hospital in Pune. We sold land and kept sending money over the phone. One day the phone rang. Tai had made us all orphans. Now Grandma, Tai and the land – all are gone.

I met many such people inside the hospital. Many people who could not save the lives of their loved ones in spite of all their efforts were scared and angry. They have become dependent, indebted. Someone came to the hospital with his mother, someone was sitting with his children. The wife, who had lost her husband, was telling the hospital people that she spent lakhs of rupees to save her husband’s life. Husband is no more. Now give me my money back.”

In May 2020, the Maharashtra government had issued a rate control order on 80 per cent of beds for treatment of Covid in private hospitals under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. In some districts, auditors were appointed by the District Collector and Municipal Commissioner for compliance. In the districts where there was public awareness about the rate control order, a demand was made to conduct an audit of the cost of Covid treatment before sending the patient home. Some hospitals charged money according to the order, while some collected huge bills in the name of various types of treatment. The common man endured all this, because it was his feeling that his patient should be saved. All these scams have left many families in debt and homeless. Farmers became agricultural labourers. In some districts, government officials expedited the audit work, but in others efforts were made to evade responsibility.

Who will stop private hospitals from duping patients in such a dire situation like the Covid pandemic period? Taking lessons from the experience, the government should at least bring such unregulated hospitals under control. A firm step should be taken to provide free and quality health care to the citizens.

Shirish Khare has been associated with rural journalism for a long time and has been continuously reporting on the economic, social and health impacts of rural life during the Corona pandemic.

How Hindutva Is Changing History and Science Textbooks in Schools Christophe Jaffrelot May 8, 2022 https://janataweekly.org/how-hindutva-is-changing-history-and-science-textbooks-in-schools/

culture minister, Mahesh Sharma,commissioned a 14 member committee to produce a “holistic study of origin and evolution of Indian culture since 12,000 years before present and its interface with other cultures of the world.”.. it was coupled with the persistent effort by Hindu nationalists to present their mythology as history. ..Second, uncovering evidence from ancient history aimed “to prove that today’s Hindus are directly descended from the land’s first inhabitants many thousands of years ago” and thereby give Hindu nationalists arguments to claim a sort of superiority.

The former minister of state for human resource development Ram Shankar Katheria had said two years before, “There will be saffronisation of education and of the country. Whatever is good for the country will certainly happen, be it saffronisation or sanghwaad (propagation of the RSS ideology).”  ..

According to The Indian Express, repeated interventions from the minister of human resource development (Prakash Javadekar, another RSS member) resulted in 1,334 changes in 182 textbooks originally put out by the NCERT, 68 without following the procedures that should have involved the NCERT and its experts.

These changes once again enhanced ancient Indian history (in terms of medicine, astronomy, yoga, etc) and major Hindu figures from the past (Maharana Pratap, Shivaji, Aurobindo, Vivekananda, etc.) at the expense of “the Muslim era.” Such alterations were not only made to history text- books. ..To foster assimilation of knowledge that amounted to propaganda, final exams have increasingly focused on the heroic deeds of Hindu icons and reforms initiated by the Modi government, even on the person of the prime minister. The economics exam at Lucknow University for the bachelor of commerce (BCom) asked students to evaluate schemes launched by Modi, such as Digital India (to develop digitisation throughout the country) and Startup India, or to describe job- creation schemes.

The impact of the Covid pandemic on Indian companies has not been uniform across all sectors. In fact, the pandemic had come as a boon to some sectors and a bane to others.

https://countercurrents.org/2022/06/covid-impact-on-indias-industrial-sectors/

Despite some initial blips, companies in the healthcare sector and e-commerce companies have gained the most out of the pandemic period.

On the other hand, companies in hospitality, travel and tourism, aviation, automobile, and real estate sectors have incurred huge losses. While some have more or less recovered, others are yet to reach the pre-pandemic levels of performance.

Pandemic impact on the healthcare industry

The difference between 5 lakhs and 50 lakhs is mind-blowingly huge, especially when the numbers refer to the count of people who died in the pandemic. The WHO says that the pandemic toll in India was around 5 million. The Indian government adamantly insists that the number was no more than one-tenth of the WHO figure.

t the height of the pandemic, the government remained bankrupt even as thousands of unidentified and unclaimed bodies simply floated down the Ganges and other rivers. There was no system to even ascertain whether those who met with unnatural and premature deaths in more than 6 lakh remote villages in India died due to Covid infection. There was no arrangement of testing and hospitalization for the sick villagers was unthinkable. Even those who could get admitted to the private hospitals and afford treatment there could get no bed even if they somehow managed to find transportation. Rural India was haplessly resigned to its fate. There was no governance, and no health infrastructure that could function in a pandemic.

Corporate Hospitals

Market capitalization of five of the top 10 corporate hospitals before and after Covid-19

E-Commerce Industry

12:56:0912:56:10

Hospitality Industry

Construction Industry Growth in India

Since it is the second major employment generator in India after agriculture, the macro-economic significance of the construction sector needs no emphasis. If this industry which used to grow at an average rate of nearly 5% in the pre-pandemic years, slumps by nearly 50% that can only be described as massive destruction. Construction activity was disallowed during the lockdowns. The work could not resume after unlocking as a large chunk of migrant workers did not report for work again.

Automobile Industry

Textile and Apparel Industry

Textile sector accounts for 2% of India’s GDP and around 13% of export earnings as per data from the rating agency KPMG. India is the second largest manufacturing hub in the global textile landscape and fourth largest apparel exporter. Indian textile and apparel sector comprises sub-segments like organized sector spinning and weaving mills, garment and hosiery units in the SME sector, and powerlooms and handlooms in the informal sector and so on. All these sectors, put together, account for 45 million workers.

By B Sivaraman 

08/06/2022

On the Pfizer vaccine:  From an Email: Careful with terminology! As Francine says in response: do not confuse it all, we knew it did not stop transmission..  Also we were told then that a vaccinated person who got infected with COVID 19 deplayed more manageable symptoms, and the vaccine reduce the need for hospitalisation!  The point however is that despite the uncertainty, State as well as the Corporate portrayed those who refused to vaccinate, as anti social, or anti national, and even threatened boycotts, prevented essential travel , access to public places etc. This was a clear abuse of power.  The pharma companies used the "fear" of the majority to brow beat those who had clear beliefs on the issue of vaccination. And as mentioned the main purpose was to do things at the speed of science, including the science of capital. It is essential that the world comes to some kind of agreement, laws etc, whereby governance and democracy is not hussled.

Pfizer did not know whether Covid vaccine stopped transmission before rollout, executive admits https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/pfizer-did-not-know-whether-covid-vaccine-stopped-transmission-before-rollout-executive-admits/news-story/f307f28f794e173ac017a62784fec414 A Pfizer exec has made a frank admission during a parliamentary hearing, with one representative describing it as “shocking, even criminal”. "we had to really move at the speed of science to really understand what is taking place in the market"

https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/israeli-officials-were-surprised-and-disappointed-vaccines-did-not-stop-transmission/news-story/9c925c5c0f7ae3b2e645519b5bd0dce6

https://twitter.com/Rob_Roos/status/1579759795225198593

Pharma giant AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide after the company acknowledged for the first time in court documents that it can cause a rare and dangerous side effect, according to a report in the British newspaper The Telegraph.

https://www.rediff.com/news/report/astrazeneca-withdraws-covid-19-vaccine-globally-report/20240508.htm 

In recent months, Vaxzevria has come under scrutiny over a very rare side effect, which causes blood clots and low blood platelet counts. In court documents, AstraZeneca in the high court in February admitted that the vaccine "can, in very rare cases, cause TTS".

TTS, which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, has been associated with at least 81 deaths in the UK and hundreds of serious injuries. More than 50 alleged victims and grieving relatives have filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca in a high court case.

AstraZeneca has insisted that the decision to withdraw the vaccine is not related to the case or admission that it can cause TTS and termed the timing a pure coincidence, according to The Telegraph report.

Source: ANI

08/05/2024

विज्ञापन के लिए करोड़ों? जनता के लिए ठेंगा? Jun 21, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXesURYHsYg  मोदी सरकार ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट मे दायर हलफनामे में कहा है के वो कोरोना में मारे गए लोगों के परिवारों को चार लाख रुपये नहीं दे सकते क्योंकि ख़ज़ाने में इतना पैसा नहीं है।अभिसार शर्मा आज न्यूज़ चक्र में सवाल उठा रहे हैं के जब सरकार मोदी की वाहवाही में करोड़ों खर्च सकती है तो जनता के लिए क्यों नहीं ?

One argument was that if we give for Corona, then what about other diseases.. 

Corona deaths have been due to failure of govt. no action from March to Oct 20. In UP CM in Uttarakhand was changed to get a more plaint Cm on the Kumbh restrictions..

Death Count In 24 UP Districts 43 Times More Than Official Covid-19 Toll  https://www.article-14.com/post/untitled-60cf605395758 21st June

https://thedialogue.co.in/article/DIgaoJgONSbJd8JBj1j0/exclusive-ugc-asks-universities-iits--colleges-to-put-up-banners-thanking-pm-on-day1-of-18-above-vaccination On Monday, the UGC shot off another email to the institutions seeking an “action taken report” by the end of the day, which has put all universities into a race against time. Some universities like Delhi University have done the needful by Monday morning, many haven't. ..A similar incident took place early this month when the CBSE had decided to cancel the board examination for class 12 after a meeting chaired by the PM. Several social media posts of students were shared on social media thanking PM Modi for the same.

Billionaires made $3.9 trillion during the pandemic — enough to pay for everyone's vaccine https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-made-39-trillion-during-the-pandemic-coronavirus-vaccines-2021-1?amp&__twitter_impression=true Juliana Kaplan Jan 26, 2021,

Worldwide, billionaires saw their wealth increase by $3.9 trillion between March 18 and December 31, 2020. While billionaires saw initial losses at the start of the pandemic — like millions of others around the globe — the report says they had recovered all losses by November.

Meanwhile, recovery for those at the bottom could take up to a decade; the report also estimates that between 200 million to 500 million people may have fallen into poverty during 2020.