In 2019, I spent 8 weeks in the UK that culminated in BJP's second time win. My research revolved around the RSS strongholds in UK and delving into the psyche of the right wing supporters. I conducted multiple interviews in rallies then. I had a strange sense of discomfort 🧵

https://twitter.com/ainajkhan/status/1571636803852967939

I recount countless Bjp supporters gathered at the banks of Thames River in show of support for PM Modi. Loudspeakers blaring jarring music, people wearing t-shirts with the leader's face pasted over it. These were UK based Indians most of whom would never go to India to vote

If you are flying out of an international airport, you must read this story on the dos/donts and the rampant capitalisation at the expense of hapless passengers occuring during #COVID19 ✈️ - Let us begin with ground scenario at #Delhi International Airport ~ 4000 tests daily - 🧵 Delhi airport has 200 Abbott ID now machine (each costing Rs 2.5 lakh) which loads one sample at a time - this Rapid PCR test can give results in 13 mins, but swelling crowds can cause delays sometimes upto 3-4 hours. Genestrings Diagnostics has monopoly charging Rs 3500 per test

On Monday, a full page ad in a leading daily publicised home testing for #Covid, over a year after the pandemic, rapid antigen test kits are available for people to order online. But really how reliable are they? @TheKenWeb we found a few disconcerting answers #Thread While the process to test is simple, the questions I had were - Did I take enough sample while testing from the nose swab? I was also wondering is the test accurate? What is the guarantee this test kit is working? Graphic by @aishyinabubble #covid #hometest

On May 13, Niti Aayog's Vinod Paul, an influential member of the Covid task force said that India will have over 2 billion vaccine doses by August - December, but the spreadsheet math really does not add up. We listed the reasons @TheKenWeb #Thread #COVID19 #vaccine Haffkine secured Rs 154 cr in grants; but if PSU was to be auctioned it could have secured up to a lakh crore, in 2012, money could have been pumped into making an international institute but Maharashtra govt was laxed. Haffkine will take at least a year to produce Covaxin now.

The pandemic has led to proliferation of unfettered consumption of herbal drugs in #India - when we @TheKenWeb spoke to five liver doctors at leading hospitals we realised we are in for a storm of a different kind - that of herbal medicine induced liver injuries #Thread Dr Arvinder Soin, top liver transplant surgeon in India and globally, told us that at least 6 cases of Giloy-induced liver injuries which required transplants had come to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram during 2020, of which two had died waiting for one.

India's software #COVID19 vaccine software CoWIN (designed by Trigyn Technologies, hosted on Amazon Web Services) has been hitting snags. @PratapVikramSin @OBanerji and me find out what doctors, health workers are facing on ground & how this will effect vaccination drive #thread Doctors receive erroneous text messages saying vaccination has been delayed (later getting a call saying its actually not), another scheduling at a later date when doc has already got his dose #CowinApp #CoWIN - Graphic by @ShirtShanks

On 1 pm - Sunday - over six #Covaxin trial participants (gas tragedy victims) from poor neighbourhoods behind abandoned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal huddled into a tiny zoom call screen. Following death of 1 participant they recall how they were 'lured' to take the jab #thread In Dec, a public announcement vehicle entered their narrow bylanes and blared - “Corona ka tika lagao, sade saatso rupaie paao,” loosely translated into get an injection against Covid and earn Rs 750. As the month went by, a few participants started experiencing adverse events.

Chances are if you are in infected with #COVID19 & have mild symptoms, you will be asked to isolate at home. You are not turning breathless but running a mild fever. You freak out. What next? And enrol for a private hospital's home care package. Here is what follows - Thread - During the course of reporting this story, we found a patient paying close to Rs 40K for home care package, drugs, diagnostic tests, more tests, CT scans while not developing any complications. But here's what beat every thing. A single set of blood test cost Rs 20k!

#Thread on clinical trials of #Itolizumab - 20 patients received the drug, another 10 patients (three died) received supportive care, four doses were given, 32 patients were randomized, two patients discontinued. says Dr Sandeep Athalye @Bioconlimited Predominantly male participation with comorbidities like diabetes, thyroid and blood pressure issues. All 20 patients who were given the drug died. In the arm which did not receive the drug, 3 patients died and 2 needed invasive ventilation before they died. #Itolizumab

@ICMRDELHI must make the validation protocol of rapid antibody testing kits in light of these kits being deemed 'faulty,' after import of nearly five lakh at close to Rs 26 crore. Read what this means for centre/states here - thehindubusinessline.com/news/analysis-… @businessline #Thread Everything that @ICMRDELHI did wrong while going in for the Chinese kits. It had been raising purchase orders since April 3, but no company would supply. Read how procurements were delayed in this story on April 15 - thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/… @businessline

So went on in #Covid_19india press briefing yesterday -In the light of sharp spike of cases of novel coronavirus (COVID19), @ICMRDELHI to release mathematical estimations of the best and the worst possible scenarios @businessline @srinivasanravi which could play out over the next few months as far as the number of new cases are concerned. By Sunday evening, India had recorded 360 confirmed cases of COVID19, of which 24 recovered, 7 died. Spike of 124 cases as compared to the previous day.

First COVID-19 death in #India - Thread - Death of a 76 year old male from Karnataka is confirmed by @MoHFW_INDIA to be caused due to co-morbidity and has also tested positive for COVID-19. @businessline @srinivasanravi
@RichaMishraBL
The details of the case are as follows: He  visited Saudi Arabia from 29th January 2020 to 29th February 2020. He was a known case of Hypertension and Asthma. He reached back to Hyderabad on 29th February and went to Kalaburgi.

Among those injured are two professors, Ameet Parmeshwar and Sucharita Sen #JnuViolence Aishi is JNUSU president who got a two inch deep wound on the head, Nikhil Mathew is another student who was hit with a hammer on the arm and has broken his arm, received fractures. Some students were hit on the legs. Nature of injuries are head injuries and limb fractures.