There were few crucial weeks in Feb and March when cases were just starting to rise. Let’s zoom in on these four weeks and see how the early signals were missed, valuable time was lost and Indians were led to believe that they were immune to COVID. Thread 1/n
First, the backdrop: PM Modi speaking at World Economic Forum on Jan 28, 2021 said that fears about a COVID Tsunami in India were unfounded as India had not only defeated COVID but it has also built adequate infrastructure to handle it. 2/n
Feb 19th. Daily cases were around 15,000. Health minister and his cabinet colleague, Gadkari were seen at Patanjali’s event where Coronil was touted as a ‘cure’ for COVID-19. Their presence an indirect endorsement of the claim. 3/n
There was a recognition that second wave was already looming but media played along in publicizing that a ‘cure’ had been found and approved by WHO. WHO had to come out and clarify that this was false. 4/n
Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded an explanation from Harsh Vardhan: ‘Being the health minister of the country and a modern medicine doctor, how ethical is it to promote the unscientific product to the citizens of the country?’ asked IMA. Went unanswered. 5/n
Feb 21st. BJP passed a resolution declaring India victorious in the fight against Covid....’under the able, sensitive, committed and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’ 6/n
March 7th. Number of daily cases continued to rise and now stood at 18,700, the highest in more than a month. Health Minister meanwhile announced that COVID-19 pandemic which brought the whole world to its knees is in the ‘endgame’ here in India. 7/n
IMA once again slammed Harsh Vardhan’s endgame statement cautioning against a false sense of security. It warned against blowing our own trumpet and off guard our preventive measures against this dreaded disease at this stage. 8/n
Meanwhile in West Bengal, election rallies of all political parties were in full swing. It was almost as though COVID did not exist in India anymore. 9/n
March 11. First shahi snan at the Kumbh. 32 lakh participated. 10/n
By mid March cases were rising in six states and Health Minister blamed rising cases on people’s carelessness. 11/n
But after talking of ‘Covid appropriate behavior, the Health Minister went back to sharing pictures of rallies and boasting about the crowd. His Twitter TL was full of such posts. 12/n
March 26th. Number of daily cases had climbed to 62,000. But from ministers to WhatsApp groups, the focus was on positioning PM Modi as a global leader taking India on the path of becoming a Vishwa Guru. Vaccine certificates in India even carried his photograph. 14/n
Other countries were busy securing vaccine supplies for their citizens and we were bragging about our vaccine exports, which included grants, commercial transactions and contractual obligations of SII to GAVI. 15/n
March 29th. All caution was abandoned during Holi celebrations. 16/n
Time that should have been spent in building medical infrastructure was squandered. Complacency had set in, guard were let down, mass gatherings were allowed. People were led to believe that it was over. That India had won the war against Corona. 19/n
Needless to say, we have a pliant media that survives on triumphalism and acts as extended PR arm of the government. Asking questions is not their forte, unless it is to the opposition 20/n
The same media that had pounced on Tablighi jamaat last year raised no alarm at the gatherings in Feb/March. No questions asked. 21/n
We were here in Feb. And here is what happened next. Is there going to be no accountability for this? 22/22
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“At a time when the world is facing a shortage of wheat, farmers of India have stepped forward to feed the world”. It was not even two weeks ago that Mr. Modi had made this statement in Berlin. Let us talk about wheat and our ambitions of feeding the world. Thread.👇1/n
India is the world’s second largest producer of wheat. But as we are also world’s second largest consumer of wheat, bulk of the production goes towards feeding our own population. Less than 1% of the wheat consumed in the rest of the world comes from India. 2/n
Indian wheat exports form less than 4% of the global wheat exports. While Indian wheat exports have grown rapidly in the last few years, claims of being a global ‘annadata’ feeding the world are premature at this stage. 3/n
Do you know how many foreign tourists visit India every year and which is top source country? There is a good reason why I’m asking this question. Read on. Thread 1/n 👇
In 2019, before the pandemic, India had 10.93 million tourist arrivals. Out of this 2.58m (23.6%) were from Bangladesh. In 2020, total tourist arrivals fell due to the pandemic but still 20% were from Bangladesh. 2/n
Bangladesh is India’s largest source country for foreign tourists. These are foreign nationals who visit India on valid visas issued by the Government of India. 75% for tourism, 18% medical and 5% Business/Professional. 3/n
Here is a reality check jhatka to help to understand Halal better. Thread 1/n 👇
What is common between these random items? The packet of Atta, sugar and a 3-minute snack are all imported from India and they are all certified ‘Halal’. 2/n
Companies around the world simply can’t afford to ignore the USD 1.3+ trillion Halal food market. Many products from all over the world are certified halal to tap into this market. 3/n
“The world came to know about Gandhi after a film was made on his life by a foreigner in 1982”. Really? Thread👇 1/n
In 1930 with the Dandi March, Gandhi’s popularity had surged the world over. 2/n
‘Gandhi makes Salt’ was on the front page of New York Times. The paper also carried his appeal for expression of public opinion for India’s right to freedom.3/n