Class 10 boy kills self after failing home test; brother, parents too commit suicide

Washington, Apr 29: A US government panel on Tuesday called for India to be put on a religious freedom blacklist over a "drastic" downturn under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, triggering a sharp rebuttal from New Delhi.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommends but does not set policy, and there is virtually no chance the State Department will follow its lead on India, an increasingly close US ally.

In an annual report, the bipartisan panel narrowly agreed that India should join the ranks of "countries of particular concern" that would be subject to sanctions if they do not improve their records.

"In 2019, religious freedom conditions in India experienced a drastic turn downward, with religious minorities under increasing assault," the report said.

It called on the United States to impose punitive measures, including visa bans, on Indian officials believed responsible and grant funding to civil society groups that monitor hate speech.

The commission said that Modi's Hindu nationalist government, which won a convincing election victory last year, "allowed violence against minorities and their houses of worship to continue with impunity, and also engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence."

It pointed to comments by Home Minister Amit Shah, who notoriously referred to mostly Muslim migrants as "termites," and to a citizenship law that has triggered nationwide protests.

It also highlighted the revocation of the autonomy of Kashmir, which was India's only Muslim-majority state, and allegations that Delhi police turned a blind eye to mobs who attacked Muslim neighborhoods in February this year.

Coronavirus state-wise India update: Total number of confirmed cases, deaths on April 29

The Indian government, long irritated by the commission's comments, quickly rejected the report.

"Its biased and tendentious comments against India are not new. But on this occasion, its misrepresentation has reached new levels," foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said.

"We regard it as an organization of particular concern and will treat it accordingly," he said in a statement.

The State Department designates nine "countries of particular concern" on religious freedom -- China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The commission asked that all nine countries remain on the list. In addition to India, it sought the inclusion of four more -- Nigeria, Russia, Syria and Vietnam.

Pakistan, India's historic rival, was added by the State Department in 2018 after years of appeals by the commission.

In its latest report, the commission said that Pakistan "continued to trend negatively," voicing alarm at forced conversions of Hindus and other minorities, abuse of blasphemy prosecutions and a ban on the Ahmadi sect calling itself Muslim.

India's citizenship law fast-tracks naturalization for minorities from neighbouring countries -- but not if they are Muslim.

Modi's government says it is not targeting Muslims but rather providing refuge to persecuted people and should be commended.

But critics consider it a watershed move by Modi to define the world's largest democracy as a Hindu nation and chip away at independent India's founding principle of secularism.

Tony Perkins, the commission's chair, called the law a "tipping point" and voiced concern about a registry in the northeastern state of Assam, under which 1.9 million people failed to produce documentation to prove that they were Indian citizens before 1971 when mostly Muslim migrants flowed in during Bangladesh's bloody war of independence.

"The intentions of the national leaders are to bring this about throughout the entire country," Perkins told an online news conference.

"You could potentially have 100 million people, mostly Muslims, left stateless because of their religion. That would be, obviously, an international issue," said Perkins, a Christian activist known for his opposition to gay rights who is close to President Donald Trump's administration.

Three of the nine commissioners dissented -- including another prominent Christian conservative, Gary Bauer, who voiced alarm about India's direction but said the ally could not be likened to non-democracies such as China.

"I am deeply concerned that this public denunciation risks exactly the opposite outcome than the one we all desire," Bauer said.

Trump, who called for a ban on Muslim immigration to the US when he ran for president, hailed Modi on a February visit to New Delhi.

Bengaluru, May 22: Karnataka government on Thursday announced that weddings scheduled for May 24 and May 31 are exempted from complete lockdown on Sundays.

As per an earlier advisory issued by the State government with regard to weddings, not more than 50 guests shall be allowed and the consumption of liquor on the occasion will be prohibited.

According to the advisory, sanitisers should be provided at the entry and other appropriate places at the venue. Also, thermal screening of all persons shall be conducted at the entry of the venue. The scanner should be held 3-15 cms away from a person's forehead.

Apart from this, the venue shall be "clean and hygienic," and a "nodal person shall be identified for overseeing the arrangements and coordination at the venue."

Also, a list of attendees with contact details has to be maintained and all guests should have downloaded Aarogya Setu app.

Bengaluru, Mar 27: Oncologist Dr. Vishal Rao, HCG Hospital Bengaluru on Friday said that human body cells release interferon chemical to kill viruses but it cannot be released by cells in the case of COVID-19 cases, leading to weak immune system. However, a therapy of specific concoction could be useful in treating COVID-19 patients.

"We got hold of some preprint suggesting that interferon is effective in COVID19," said Rao.

Speaking to news agency, he continued saying "When we withdraw blood for regular check-ups, we get buffy coat which can be used to take out cells and form interferon. These two chemicals and some other cytokines, in a specific concoction, could be potentially very useful in treating COVID-19 patients."

Rao said that they have built a concoction of cytokines which can be injected to reactivate immune system in COVID-19 patients.

"We are in a very initial stage and hope to be ready with its first set by this weekend. We have applied to the governement for an expedited review. We have also presented this before the state government" said Rao.

"We have a team of infection specialist, ICU team and other...all of us have worked together to build something that we believe. We want to serve the society at this hour of need," he added.

Dr Rao clarified that this is not a vaccine and this particular interferon therapy does not help to prevent the infection of COVID-19. However, this is focused and targeted towards COVID-19 positive patients or those who have just incubated the virus.

"We believe that in early stages as well as the patients who have just incubated, this particular therapy of interferon gama and other concoction of cytokines could be an effective method. In the late stages we are looking at specific dosage of the cells which are our own body cells which can actually be affective and could also be of use for the ventilator patients," he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Gururaj, Immunologist and Scientist told ANI that they are trying to cover two aspects, one is the early stage patients where they are trying to improve their immune systems.

"As Dr Vishal said, we are trying to see whether we can use the cytokines from our own immune cells which is a natural process but it is hampered in infected patients," said Dr Gururaj.

"In the last phase we are using cells which are used from the bone marrow of the patient or donors. We can use those cells to reduce the inflation and so called cytokines release syndrome which is basically the inflammatory response of the body," he added.