Modi govt slams UN for opposing its decision to deport helpless Rohingyas

Agencies

September 12, 2017

Geneva, Sept 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-NDA government of India on Tuesday reacted strongly to remarks made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on the issue of deportation of Rohingya Muslims.

Ambassador Rajiv K Chander, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, expressed disapproval of the remarks of Al Hussein, who had criticised New Delhi's current measures to deport Rohingyas "at a time of such violence against them".

Al Hussein had deplored India's measures to deport the Rohingya refugees, noting that "nearly 40,000 had settled in India and 16,000 of them had received refugee documentation."

"We are perplexed at some of the observations made by the High Commissioner in his oral update. There appears to be inadequate appreciation of the freedoms and rights that are guaranteed and practiced daily in a vibrant democracy that has been built under challenging conditions. Tendentious judgments made on the basis of selective and even inaccurate reports do not further the understanding of human rights in any society," Rajiv K Chander said.

Chander further said that like many other nations, India is concerned about illegal migrants, in particular, with the possibility that they could pose security challenges and added that enforcing laws should not be mistaken for lack of compassion.

Chander then pointed at the issue of Kashmir and said, "We have also noted that the issue of human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir has been raised. It is a matter of regret that the central role of terrorism is once again being overlooked. Assessments of human rights should not be a matter of political convenience."

"India believes that achieving human rights goals calls for objective consideration, balanced judgements and verification of facts. Our government's motto of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' is a true reflection of our commitment to achieve inclusive development in the spirit of leaving none of our citizens behind," he added.

"It is also surprising that individual incidents are being extrapolated to suggest a broader societal situation. India is proud of its independent judiciary, freedom of press, vibrant civil society and respect for rule of law and human rights. A more informed view would have not only recognized this but also noted, for example, that the Prime Minister himself publicly condemned violence in the name of cow protection. India does not condone any actions in violation of law and imputations to the contrary are not justified," he said.

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If a prime minister condemn on certain issues and does not take any preventive measures to stop it then it is useless.

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With highest single-day spike of 24,879 cases, India's COVID-19 tally reaches 7,67,296

News Network

July 9,2020

New Delhi, Jul 9: India reported the highest single-day spike of 24,879 new positive cases and 487 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 7,67,296, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Out of the total number of cases, 2,69,789 are active, 4,76,378 have been cured/discharged/migrated and 21,129 have died.

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state due to COVID-19 with as many as 2,23,724 cases, including 91,084 active, 1,23,192 cured/discharged and 9,448 deaths.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu (1,22,350) and Delhi (1,04,864).

Meanwhile, a total of 1,07,40,832 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 8. Of these, 2,67,061 samples were tested yesterday, stated Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

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Easing of travel restrictions, movement of migrants behind surge in COVID-19 cases: experts

News Network

May 26,2020

New Delhi, May 26: With India now in the bracket of top 10 nations worst hit by the novel coronavirus, experts have attributed the surge in cases to easing of travel restrictions and movement of migrants besides enhanced testing capacity.

According to AIIMS Director, Randeep Guleria, the present rise in cases has been reported predominantly from hotspot areas but there is a possibility of further rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the coming few days due to increased travel.

"Those who are asymptomatic or are in presymptomatic stage will pass through screening mechanisms and may reach areas where there have been minimal or less cases," Guleria said.

He said there was a need for more intense surveillance and monitoring in areas where migrants have returned to contain the spread of the disease.

If proper social distancing and hand hygiene is not maintained at a time when people are out on roads, the coronavirus infection will transmit much faster, he said.

Guleria also noted that testing capacity has been significantly ramped up which is reflecting in the increasing number of cases being detected.

Commenting on the partial resumption of rail and road transport services and migrants returning to their native places, Dr Chandrakant S Pandav, former president of the Indian Public Health Association and Indian Association of Preventive and social medicine, said the floodgates have been opened.

"This is a classic case of creating an enabling environment for coronavirus to spread like wildfire. In the coming few days, the number will rise dramatically. While it is true that lockdown cannot go on forever, the opening up should have been in a measured, calibrated and informed manner," he said.

"Travelling leads to spread of the infection. Now, the government will have to ensure even stronger surveillance to curb the infection but if that will be done is something to be observed," he said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,167 and the number of cases climbed to 1, 45,380 in the country, registering an increase of 146 deaths and 6,535 cases since Monday 8 am, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Dr K K Aggarwal, President of the Confederation of Medical Association of Asia and Oceania (CMAAO), and former IMA President, said there will be a further surge in cases in the coming days if migration continues without any proper social distancing.

"Within the next ten days, the cases will cross two lakh. The very fact that number of cases was rising before the end of the third lockdown and continuing during the fourth lockdown means that people are not following physical distancing as required," he said.

"Even in the last week of May when the temperature is very high, the rising number of cases would mean that human-to-human transmission is more important than surface-to-human transmission. Normally in heat the surface-to-human transmission should have reduced the new cases by half which has not happened," Aggarwal said.

However, Professor K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, said an increase in the number of cases reflects both an increase in testing rates and an increase in spread.

"What we need to see is the number of new tests performed per day and the number of new cases that were identified from them. That gives a better idea of the rate of spread than the total number of new cases alone.

"We also have to see if the testing criteria has remained the same between the two periods of comparison.We may open up gradually but will have to continue case detection, contact tracing and follow personal protection measures as vigorously as possible," he added.

A total of 31,26,119 samples have been tested as on May 26, 9 am and 92,528 samples have been tested in the last 24 hours, ICMR officials said.

India is the tenth most affected nation by the pandemic after the US, Russia, UK, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Turkey and France, as per the John Hopkins University data.

The country has recorded 6,088, 6,654, 6,767 and 6977 cases on May 22, 23, 24 and 25 respectively. Also, the number of RT-PCR tests for detection of COVID-19 in the country crossed the 30-lakh mark on Monday.

The first two phases of the lockdown led to 14-29 lakh COVID-19 cases being averted, while the number of lives saved in that period was between 37,000 and 78,000, the government said last Friday, citing various studies, and asserted that the unprecedented shutdown has paid "rich dividends" in the fight against the pandemic.

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