India's Covid 19 situation

[Didu]

Now all the G7 delegates need to quarantine when then return home.  

COVID-19 scare at G7 meeting after Indian delegates test positive

India's entire delegation to the Group of Seven summit in London is self-isolating after two of its members tested positive for COVID-19, the British government said on Wednesday (May 5).

"Two delegates tested positive so the entire delegation is now self isolating," a British official said.

"The meeting had been enabled by a strict set of COVID protocols, including daily testing of all delegates," the British official said. British rules require a 10-day self-isolation period.

India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he would hold his talks virtually after being exposed to possible coronavirus cases.

"Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases," Jaishankar tweeted.

"Gau liao, GAU LIAO!! Li mai lai hor..."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a press conference with India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar following a bilateral meeting in London on May 3, 2021, during the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall)

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid-19-scare-g7-meeting-indian-delegates-test-positive-isolate-14748406

[Flying_genie]

27 minutes ago, Didu said:

Now all the G7 delegates need to quarantine when then return home.  

COVID-19 scare at G7 meeting after Indian delegates test positive

India's entire delegation to the Group of Seven summit in London is self-isolating after two of its members tested positive for COVID-19, the British government said on Wednesday (May 5).

"Two delegates tested positive so the entire delegation is now self isolating," a British official said.

"The meeting had been enabled by a strict set of COVID protocols, including daily testing of all delegates," the British official said. British rules require a 10-day self-isolation period.

India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he would hold his talks virtually after being exposed to possible coronavirus cases.

"Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases," Jaishankar tweeted.

"Gau liao, GAU LIAO!! Li mai lai hor..."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a press conference with India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar following a bilateral meeting in London on May 3, 2021, during the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall)

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid-19-scare-g7-meeting-indian-delegates-test-positive-isolate-14748406

Our turn will come soon. Wait till we get a whole delegation from India during the World Economic Forum in August.
Have to treat every Indian as possibly infected. 

[Kb27]

5 hours ago, Jamesc said:

Trump is an idiot, Modi is an idiot and soon we will learn that Bolsonaro is also an idiot.

Since that Biden took over its a like breath of fresh air. He understand science and based his decisions on expert doctor advice.

Ramping up to 1 million shots a day and he says not good enough and he ordered 2 million shots a day.

Now USA has enough vaccines for everyone but all the Trump supporters don't want to take it.

India has the world biggest factory to make vaccines but Indian people cannot get vaccines.

Its all mismanagement and sheer stupidity.

3 idiots that shake the world and kill their own people.

if not for covid, we wouldn't have found out.

but they are good for depopulation, and mother earth appreciate that.

[Windwaver]

6 hours ago, Jamesc said:

Trump is an idiot, Modi is an idiot and soon we will learn that Bolsonaro is also an idiot.

Since that Biden took over its a like breath of fresh air. He understand science and based his decisions on expert doctor advice.

Ramping up to 1 million shots a day and he says not good enough and he ordered 2 million shots a day.

Now USA has enough vaccines for everyone but all the Trump supporters don't want to take it.

India has the world biggest factory to make vaccines but Indian people cannot get vaccines.

Its all mismanagement and sheer stupidity.

Modi is the smartest, free vaccines, equipment, oxygen, etc without paying a single cent 

Sounds exactly like a typical work day in MBFC.

 

[Ody_2004]

4 minutes ago, Windwaver said:

 

Sounds exactly like a typical work day in MBFC.

 

Oh MumBai Financial Center ah? 😂

[Jamesc]

3 minutes ago, Windwaver said:

Modi is the smartest, free vaccines, equipment, oxygen, etc without paying a single cent 

Sounds exactly like a typical work day in MBFC.

[Nolicense]

2 hours ago, Didu said:

Now all the G7 delegates need to quarantine when then return home.  

COVID-19 scare at G7 meeting after Indian delegates test positive

India's entire delegation to the Group of Seven summit in London is self-isolating after two of its members tested positive for COVID-19, the British government said on Wednesday (May 5).

"Two delegates tested positive so the entire delegation is now self isolating," a British official said.

"The meeting had been enabled by a strict set of COVID protocols, including daily testing of all delegates," the British official said. British rules require a 10-day self-isolation period.

India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he would hold his talks virtually after being exposed to possible coronavirus cases.

"Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases," Jaishankar tweeted.

"Gau liao, GAU LIAO!! Li mai lai hor..."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a press conference with India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar following a bilateral meeting in London on May 3, 2021, during the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall)

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid-19-scare-g7-meeting-indian-delegates-test-positive-isolate-14748406

stupid until cannot cure. whats so important that they will want to meet face to face and risk infecting themselves?

Blinken: please dont stand so close ok? and dont look at me

Subrah: i have spectacles on so there is a glass shield preventing direct eye contact. 

[Thaiyotakamli]

3 hours ago, Windwaver said:

Modi is the smartest, free vaccines, equipment, oxygen, etc without paying a single cent 

Sounds exactly like a typical work day in MBFC.

 

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/new-prime-minister-residence-a-part-of-central-vista-project-before-december-2022-2427173

[Didu]

13 hours ago, Flying_genie said:

Our turn will come soon. Wait till we get a whole delegation from India during the World Economic Forum in August.
Have to treat every Indian as possibly infected. 

Hopefully there's no more Indian wave by then. 🤞

[Maxus-MIFA9]

21 minutes ago, Didu said:

Hopefully there's no more Indian wave by then. 🤞

We only worries that the viruses carried by different ppls coming into SG, gets together (India, S Africa, UK, USA, Brazil, Philippine) and mutates to form a new combine viruses called TTSH-SV001 ...  

Cos we still let them in into SG, no closed of airport.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Picnic06-Biante15

[Blueray]

N440K, a virulent Covid mutant, is fuelling surge in some states

Quote

HYDERABAD: Even as scientists are busy trying to decode the potential lethality of the double mutant Covid strain B.1.617, a team of researchers from Hyderabad and Ghaziabad has found that the mutant ‘N440K’ of the novel coronavirus is 10 to 1,000 times more infectious than certain strains now in circulation. This mutant appears to be fuelling the second wave of Covid-19 in certain pockets.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/n440k-a-virulent-covid-mutant-is-fuelling-surge-in-some-states/articleshow/82348349.cms

will N440K come to +65 too ? 

[Victor68]

Daily we hear 'imported cases'. For clarity,  maybe they should tell us where are these import coming from on a daily basis? How come they having tested negative before leaving their countries still not accurate? Do we have similar situation of Singaporeans tested negative here and go oversea but found to be infected too? 

[Maxus-MIFA9]

7 minutes ago, Blueray said:

N440K, a virulent Covid mutant, is fuelling surge in some states

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/n440k-a-virulent-covid-mutant-is-fuelling-surge-in-some-states/articleshow/82348349.cms

will N440K come to +65 too ? 

It don't "come" to ....

Its 'Flown" into ...

[Blueray]

4 minutes ago, Picnic06-Biante15 said:

It don't "come" to ....

Its 'Flown" into ...

"not unexpected"

"not if ... but when" 

[Fcw75]

22 minutes ago, Victor68 said:

Daily we hear 'imported cases'. For clarity,  maybe they should tell us where are these import coming from on a daily basis? How come they having tested negative before leaving their countries still not accurate? Do we have similar situation of Singaporeans tested negative here and go oversea but found to be infected too? 

Yes HK.

That’s why they ban SIA for 2 weeks.

[Flying_genie]

27 minutes ago, Victor68 said:

Daily we hear 'imported cases'. For clarity,  maybe they should tell us where are these import coming from on a daily basis? How come they having tested negative before leaving their countries still not accurate? Do we have similar situation of Singaporeans tested negative here and go oversea but found to be infected too? 

Don't hold your breath waiting for "them to tell us where these import cases are coming from". Our achieved media freedom ranking of 160 is not without basis. 
There may not be false reporting (for fear of lawsuit) but the local media don't need to tell us everything, only selective reporting.

[Flying_genie]

8 minutes ago, Fcw75 said:

Yes HK.

That’s why they ban SIA for 2 weeks.

The passengers from SIN to HKG found to be COVID positive could've been transit passengers, not necessarily originating from Singapore.

[Kklim]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9547379/DAVID-JONES-millions-suffer-pandemic-Indias-narcissistic-leader-building-folly.html

The monstrous monument to Narendra Modi's ego: As millions suffer in pandemic, India's narcissistic Prime Minister is building a vast folly at a cost that could fund 40 major hospitals. Now his nation is in uproar

By DAVID JONES FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 22:37 BST, 5 May 2021 | UPDATED: 01:51 BST, 6 May 2021

Hidden away in some half-forgotten chambers in the heart of New Delhi, there are two blocks of white sandstone — relics of India's long years under the yoke of the British Raj.

Laid down in 1911 by King George V and Queen Mary, who later reclined on thrones of solid gold, shaded from the blazing sun by golden umbrellas, they are the foundations of the nation's vast and splendiferous seat of government.

It took legions of workers a further 16 years to complete this great acropolis, designed by Surrey-born architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, the centre-piece of which is a circular Parliament House combining classical and Mughal styles.

The vainglorious man who now presides over the world's biggest democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is determined to expunge this symbol of despised colonial rule, and build its replacement far more quickly.

In August 2022, when India celebrates its 75th year of independence, he aims to open a garish new parliament resembling a triangular wedding cake, the enormous scale of which will obscure Lutyens's masterwork.

In a seemingly vengeful act, the magnificent chamber Lutyens created will become a mere museum.

Mercifully, other British-built landmarks, such as the magnificent 340-room palace where the last Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, once resided, will be allowed to remain as the Indian president's residence.

However, the revamped Central Vista will become a symbol of Modi's much-vaunted 'New India'.

It will include futuristic offices for its political secretariats, an underground railway, and an opulent mansion for the 70-year-old premier, which was quietly slipped into the plans after they had been approved.

Rashtrapati Bhavan, or Presidential Residence of India, locates on the Raisina Hill in the capital city. It was designed by Britain architect Sir Edwin Lutyens as the home of the Viceroys of India in 1921 and completed in 1929 

Building work began last December (when Modi laid his own foundation stone in a ceremony every bit as showy as the one George V presided over) despite last-ditch legal attempts to block it.

The howls of protest are being led by such prominent figures as the brilliant British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor, and Opposition politicians who have dubbed the new complex the PM's 'Vanity Palace'.

This week, as a disastrous second wave of the pandemic continues to sweep through India, demands for the project to be halted have become more strident, even though Modi, who tacitly controls much of the media, has largely succeeded in keeping cameras away from the vast site, in central Delhi.

Despite the death and despair all around him, however, this shameless demagogue — who on Tuesday agreed a £1 billion trade deal with Britain during a virtual summit with Boris Johnson — insists that the drive to complete the new building, derisorily dubbed 'Modi's Dream', must continue apace.

Ludicrously, having all-too belatedly placed the rest of Delhi in lockdown, he has even decreed that erecting this monument to his colossal ego must be classed as an 'essential service'. The huge construction site has thus been exempted from Covid restrictions along with supplying food and tending the sick.

So, as Delhi's 30 million desperate citizens beg for oxygen and hospital beds, and cremate their loved ones on makeshift funeral pyres in car parks, and as bodies lie in the potholed streets, some 2,000 workers continue to be bussed in each day to toil in a chaotic-looking crater bigger than 50 football stadiums.

In return for this perilous task, the builders, many of them migrants who need to feed poor rural families, are paid about 12,000 rupees, or £120 a month — if they are paid at all. For some workers complain of their wages being withheld.

And the cost of this hideously ill-timed exercise? Initial estimates suggested it would be an eye-watering £2 billion, but those familiar with India's often corrupt and wasteful public building programmes suggest the final bill could be twice that amount. Even assuming it is 'only' £2 billion, it is a sum India sorely needs for other uses, as its health system collapses and it is forced to put pride aside by accepting international aid.

Not least, ironically, from Britain, which is sending 495 oxygen concentrators and 140 ventilators, and this week agreed to drop its demands for the export of five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which our government had ordered from the Serum Institute of India.

If Mr Modi needs reminding how the funds for his Vanity Palace could be redirected, Derek O'Brien, an MP with the Indian opposition party Trinamool Congress has done the maths for him. 'You could have vaccinated 80 per cent of the population of India for what you're spending on that project,' he declared angrily a few days ago.

For frittering away such a huge chunk of public money when his people were dying in their hundreds of thousands, he seethed, the premier had 'blood on your hands'.

Watching the hellish scenes unfolding in India, where the number of Covid cases this week topped 20 million and the official death-toll now exceeds 226,000 (on-the-ground evidence suggests it is considerably higher) one can only concur.

By my own estimate, that £2 billion could also pay for 40 large, fully-equipped hospitals. The number of oxygen cylinders, PPE outfits, and remedial drugs it could buy is vast.

The big question, of course, is why Modi is risking his reputation, and indeed perhaps his position as leader, by continuing with this grandiose scheme. For whatever else he might be accused of, this charismatic populist is nobody's fool.

For half a century after Independence, Indian politics was dominated by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, yet he rose from one of India's lowliest castes to break their grip.

He won over the masses with scintillating oratory, pledging to raise 1.4 billion largely impoverished people out of penury, revitalise the economy with Thatcher-style reforms, and restore India's pride and standing with his brand of Hindu nationalism.

He pledged after winning the 2014 general election by a landslide, that he would create a New India that served everyone's interests, not just those of the wealthy elite.

Echoing Donald Trump, who pledged to 'drain the swamp' in Washington, Modi promised to drain Delhi of corruption and favouritism. Tired of being downtrodden and ignored, and spellbound by his scintillating rhetoric, the voters, in their hundreds of millions, bought into it.

When he made his victory address, in what is still known as 'Lutyens Delhi' — a name that has become synonymous with the cronyism and moral laxity at the heart of modern Indian politics — there was no hint that he planned to replace it.

On the contrary, he kissed the steps of the old colonial parliament building and declared that the 'hopes and aspirations' of the Indian people were 'embedded in this temple of democracy'.

Why, then, is he now in such haste to consign to history a seat of government that has been compared with the Palace of Versailles and Capitol Hill in Washington DC? Why would he press on with this grotesquely expensive folly at a time when his standing has never been lower?

Modi is being held personally responsible for causing India's catastrophic coronavirus second wave by encouraging — and personally addressing — mass political rallies, permitting crowds at cricket matches, and giving his blessing to a Hindu festival which drew nine million people to the banks of the Ganges.

Worse even than this complacency was his appallingly misplaced triumphalism.

As the respected Indian writer Kapil Komireddi reported in last Friday's Mail, in January Modi boasted that India had finally defeated the virus, and held up this supposedly great victory as a beacon for other nations to follow.

His reckless and ignorant pronouncement instilled disastrous complacency in the Indian people, compounded by the Delhi government's utter lack of preparedness for the apocalyptic rebound.

To explain his obsession with building the new parliament, let's return to his humble background. Born and raised in the western state of Gujarat, as a boy he served on his father's tea-stall, and schoolteachers remember him as an unremarkable, solitary pupil.

In his teens, however, his disillusionment with the ruling order led him to join the RSS, an extreme Right-wing organisation whose ideological vision for a traditionalist, nationalist India borrowed much from Nazi Germany.

He became a so-called 'pracharak': an activist whose devotion to Hinduism demanded that he took a vow of celibacy (a discreet veil has been reportedly drawn over an early marriage), renounce vices such as alcohol and become a vegetarian.

It is an ascetic lifestyle that this stocky, white-bearded man still professes to follow.

Even his enemies don't suggest, then, that he is in power to line his bank account, like so many other Indian politicians. Nor that he is building the monstrosity in New Delhi because he hankers after its creature-comforts. Materialistic he is not. According to expert India-watchers, however, what Modi has craved since his days as a youthful revolutionary is recognition. Further, they say, he harbours an almost messianic desire to assume a place in the pantheon of great Indian statesmen alongside Gandhi and Nehru.

The design contract for Modi's revamp of the capital was formally put out to tender, and half a dozen plans were shortlisted, each an affront to those who admire Lutyens's work.

It was all a sham. For as Komireddi says, everyone knew the contract would be awarded to a company from Modi's home state, closely allied to him.

Describing Modi as 'vain, impetuous and self-absorbed', the writer avers that the PM has 'poured his energy into creating a cult of personality unmatched anywhere in the democratic world.'

It is this, he says, that truly impels Modi to recreate the nation's capital in his own image. One prominent architect likens the massive new complex to Mussolini's Rome and Berlin in the creation of Hitler's architect Albert Speer.

To Anish Kapoor, the project is 'Modi's way of placing himself at the centre and cementing his legacy as the maker of a new Hindu India.' He claims the plans were passed 'without due process.'

Thus Modi, who has renamed India's biggest cricket stadium after himself, will plough billions into a vanity project that makes Boris Johnson's Downing Street refurb seem peanuts.

Yesterday, pathetically-paid minions skittered about the vast construction site and giant cranes lurched overhead. Within a mile or two, people were still dying for lack of care in the dusty streets.

In recent days, the Indian government has striven to censor social media posts critical of their handling of the pandemic, but some posts have got through.

'Why we do need #CentralVista when the country can't breathe!' one demanded to know. It is a question on the lips of millions. But from the self-styled People's Prime Minister, a modern-day emperor in all but name, there comes no answer.