Indian-origin loses job for posting torn Singapore flag

Agencies
August 29, 2018

Singapore, Aug 29: An Indian-origin employee of Singapore's DBS Bank has lost his job after he posted on Facebook an image of the country's torn flag to reveal the Indian flag underneath on the eve of India's Independence Day.

Avijit Das Patnaik had on August 14 posted a picture on the Facebook page of the Singapore Indians & Expats group, showing the Singapore flag on a T-shirt being ripped up to reveal the Indian flag underneath. The group has 11,000 members, according to a Channel News Asia report.

Patnaik, who had been living in Singapore for a decade, had posted the image along with the caption -- Phir Bhi dil hai (Still my heart is Indian)and alludes to a popular bollywood song.

The post had caused outrage in the city-state, with many netizens terming it "offensive" and "insulting to Singapore". The post has since been taken down.

Singapore-headquartered DBS Bank, in a comment to complaints on its Facebook page on August 19, had said that Patnaik had posted the image because he "wanted to show that even as he is in Singapore, he remains Indian at heart".

"Upon realising the graphic was offensive, he took it down immediately," DBS said, adding that it had counselled Patnaik.

Today, the Bank released a statement on its Facebook page, saying that Patnaik was no longer its employee.

"Since the incident, a disciplinary committee has been convened and as of August 24, he (Patnaik) is no longer with the bank," the DBS Bank said in the post.

"DBS strongly disapproves of such actions by our employees. At the same time, it is fair and right that all employees are given the benefit of due process," it said.

When asked about the circumstances surrounding Patnaik's departure, including whether he resigned or was sacked, a DBS spokesman declined to elaborate, according to the report.

"We have nothing further to share beyond the post," it said quoting the bank as saying.

According to the Singapore Arms and Flag National Anthem Act, any person that treats the flag with disrespect may be fined a maximum of 1,000 Singapore dollar.

Meanwhile, according to the Channel NewsAsia report, police have confirmed that a report has been made and investigations are underway.

Comments

Kumarrane
 - 
Wednesday, 29 Aug 2018

FEKU effect...now all the majority DOGS think that they can do anything...

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News Network
July 14,2020

Washington, Jul 14: Florida on Sunday reported a record 15,300 new coronavirus cases, the most by any state in a single day even as the coronavirus cases in the country have surged to 3,363,056.

The Washington Post reported that the huge number was result of both increased testing and widespread community transmission. The numbers shattered previous highs of 11,694 reported by California last week and 11,571 reported by New York on April 15.

Natalie E. Dean, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida wrote that with Florida largely open for business, he doesn't expect this surge to slow.

Nationally, the conversation over reopening has become increasingly fraught amid the newly soaring case numbers, with much of the debate centering on whether schools should open their doors in the fall, reported the Post.

The Health workers in California and Texas too are facing an influx of COVID-19 patients where officials reported seven day averages for new cases - 8,664 and 9060 respectively.

According to the report, Florida has reported nearly 70,000 cases in last week alone, the most of any state.

Even though the COVID-19 cases are surging, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has stuck to an aggressive reopening plan with state officials recently ordering schools to reopen five days a week in the new academic year.

The state is also set to hold the Republican National Convention next month in Jacksonville's VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, an indoor facility that seats about 15,000, reported Washington Post.

Seven-day averages for new cases -- considered a more reliable indicator of the virus's impact than single-day totals -- hit new highs in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

India's COVID-19 tally raced past the seven lakh-mark with 22,252 fresh infections on Tuesday, five days after crossing the six lakh post, while the death toll climbed to 20,160 as 467 more people succumbed to the disease, according to the Union health ministry.

With this, the country has recorded over 20,000 cases of the infection for the fifth consecutive day.

India's coronavirus infection caseload stands at 7,19,665, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

With a steady rise, the number of recoveries stands at 4,39,947, while there are 2,59,557 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country.

"Thus, around 61.13 % of patients have recovered so far," an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases also includes foreigners.

Of the 467 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 204 are from Maharashtra, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 48 from Delhi, 29 from Karnataka, 24 from Uttar Pradesh, 22 from West Bengal, 17 from Gujarat.

Telangana and Haryana reported 11 deaths each; Madhya Pradesh nine; Andhra Pradesh seven; Jammu and Kashmir six; Rajasthan and Punjab five each; Bihar, Kerala and Odisha two each; and Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand one each.

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News Network
April 9,2020

Paris, Apr 9: More than 1.5 million cases of the novel coronavirus have been registered worldwide, according to a tally compiled by AFP at 0530 GMT Thursday from official sources.

Of the 1,502,478 infections, 87,320 people have died across 192 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China late last year.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections. Many countries are only testing the most serious cases.

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