Muslim girls allegedly forced to remove scarves for II PU exam at Canara College

Wuhan, Feb 6: Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company Tencent has allegedly published "real" data on the novel coronavirus deaths, with briefly listing death toll as 24,589 -- way too higher than over 500 deaths China has officially announced to date.

According to Taiwan News, "Tencent... seems to have inadvertently released what is potentially the actual number of infections and deaths, which were astronomically higher than official figures".

Tencent, on its webpage titled "Epidemic Situation Tracker," showed confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China as standing at 154,023 - over 10 times the official figure given to the world on February 1.

Data leaked: Tencent lists 25,000 deaths in China, 1.54 lakh infections from coronavirus
It listed the number of suspected cases as 79,808, four times the official figure.

"The number of cured cases was only 269, well below the official number that day of 300. Most ominously, the death toll listed was 24,589, vastly higher than the 300 officially listed that day".

Once people noticed this, Tencent immediately updated the numbers to reflect the government's "official" numbers.

"Netizens noticed that Tencent has on at least three occasions posted extremely high numbers, only to quickly lower them to government-approved statistics," said the report.

Some people speculated a coding problem may be behind the real "internal" data but others believe that someone is actually trying to reveal the real numbers.

Tencent was yet to officially comment on these reports.

"According to multiple sources in Wuhan, many coronavirus patients are unable to receive treatment and die outside of hospitals."

There have been multiple reports of Wuhan officials cremating deceased coronavirus victims before they could be added to the official death toll.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the coronavirus numbers coming out of China are "fishy".

If the numbers from the alleged Tencent leak are accurate, it would put coronavirus' mortality rate at almost 16 per cent. By comparison, SARS' mortality rate was 9.6 per cent, reports CCN.

Caijing, an independent magazine based in Beijing that covers societal, political, and economic issues, has also claimed that the Communist Party of China (CCP) is underreporting the extent of the coronavirus outbreak.

Caijing's article on Coronavirus that detailed how Wuhan officials are not reporting real figures was censored in China.

As of Thursday, the official death toll in China rose to 563, with 28,018 confirmed cases.

Newsroom, Jan 26: An Indian Muslim youth who had applied for a job in Dubai has been left aghast after his prospective employer, who happens to be an Indian, mailed back chiding him for looking for work and suggested that he should make a living (sic) by joining anti-CAA protestors in Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi.

Shaheen Bagh is the epicentre of ongoing mass demonstrations against contentious Citizenship Amendment Act.

Abdulla S.S, a 23-year-old youth from Kerala, who had applied for a mechanical engineer’s position in Dubai said he is still reeling from the shock of the email he got from UAE-based Indian expat Jayant Gokhale in response to his job application last week.

Hostile response 

“Just a thought. Why u need a job? Go to Delhi and sit in Shaheen Bagh for protest. Every day you will get Rs 1000. Free food i.e Biryani, Unlimited amount of Tea and Milk, some time sweets also,” Gokhale said in the email which has since gone viral.

Scores have shared the email on social media seeking action against Gokhale who runs a consultancy in Dubai. Many said the email is offensive on two counts. First, it ridicules and discriminates a job seeker on the basis of his religious identity and, second, it undermines the credibility of Shaheen Bagh protestors by suggesting that they are being paid to sit in.

Abdullah said he’s sad and appalled. “I shared Mr Gokhale’s email with some friends. Who would have thought it would go viral. I don’t want any controversy. All I want is a job,” he was quoted as saying.

Gokhale apologises

“I am suffering from ill-health and undergoing dialysis. My email is being blown out of proportion. I didn’t mean what I wrote,” Gokhale was quoted as saying by a Gulf based newspaper. 

“My message to candidate was not intended to hurt anyone in any manner or discriminate. I have already sent apology message to the concerned person [Abdullah],” he said in the email reproduced here ad verbum. “I very much value UAE’s outlook, policies and culture. I do not in anyway like to go against values of UAE. In fact I am very thankful to UAE for looking after my health,” he added.

New Delhi, Mar 9: The Centre and the Delhi government are working in close coordination to deal with coronavirus, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said here on Monday.

Talking to reporters after a review meeting with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on the preparedness for COVID-19, the chief minister said people arriving from foreign countries are being screened at airports.

A campaign will be run to make people aware of the preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease, Kejriwal said.

Health Ministry sending directives to states: Vardhan

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government is prepared to deal with novel coronavirus and his ministry is sending directives, including guidelines, to states in all the languages on ways to contain it.

"We are sending detailed guidelines to all states on ways to contain coronavirus. Have asked states to strengthen laboratories and manpower to effectively deal with coronavirus and form early rapid action teams," Vardhan told reporters adding, that the government is prepared to deal with the infection.

Vardhan stressed on a coordinated action between all concerned departments and agencies for activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, identification of isolation wards, ensuring adequate personal protection equipment and masks and risk communication for mass awareness.