In an incident of police extortion, traffic police in Chennai fined an elderly couple for allegedly not wearing masks while travelling inside their private car.

A tweet posted by a journalist of The New Indian Express said that her parents who were travelling in their own car near Royapuram bridge on January 31 were cornered by the traffice police and fined ₹500 for not wearing masks.

My parents were fined Rs.500 tonight near Royapuram bridge for not wearing a mask inside their own car. For how long will @ChennaiTraffic continue this extortion in the name of enforcing #COVID19 protocol? pic.twitter.com/RnijxUXfkC

— Nivetha Sekar (@NivethaSekar10) January 31, 2022

The journalist lashed out at the Chennai Traffic Police asking how a closed private car with two people from the same house be a ‘public’ place?

“Now we know what’s the pathetic reality behind all those 100s of crores of fines collected every day for Covid ‘violations’.”, she mentioned in her tweet.

This has led to a huge outcry on social media with netizens coming down heavy on city’s traffic police for extorting the public under the garb of fine.

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US President Donald Trump wore a mask for the first time since the advent of the pandemic, and the internet erupted over this turn of events. He was seen visiting the Walter Reed military hospital outside Washington, where he met wounded soldiers and health care workers. At the medical facility, Trump walked by media gathered for a carefully staged photo opportunity wearing a navy blue mask emblazoned with a presidential seal embossed in gold. He said only “thank you” as he passed.

Donald Trump who had been a strong advocate against masks, was heard saying, “I’ve never been against masks but I do believe they have a time and a place,” as he left the White House. He added that he “sort of liked” how he looked with one on, likening himself to the Lone Ranger, a fictional masked hero who with his Native American friend, Tonto, fought outlaws in the American Old West.

This is the same man that had mocked the CDC’s regulations to wear masks in public places as the pandemic started becoming rampant in the United States. Notably, he had also previously criticized Presidential rival candidate Joe Biden for wearing masks in public.

This new stance by the US President has caused a storm on social media. Many even wondered if this is a result of the recently recorded 66,528 coronavirus cases on Saturday, a new daily record for the country.

(source: BBC, Al Jazeera)

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Veena Thayikkandiyil, daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and national President of Democratic Youth Federation of India tied the knot on Monday at the official residence of the Chief Minister in Thiruvananthapuram.

Veena is an IT entrepreneur and runs her own software company, Exalogic Solutions Private Limited in Bengaluru. Riaz is a lawyer by profession and had contested from the Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat in 2009 which he lost to MK Raghavan of UDF by around 800 votes.

This is the second marriage for both of them as both their earlier marriages ended in divorce.

Riaz has two children while Veena has a son through their earlier marriage.

The event was a low key affair with reportedly not more than 50 guests attending.

Though it was reported that authorities were entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring social distancing and wearing of masks by the guests, pictures released showed many of them not wearing masks and standing close to each other. Both the bride and groom did not wear mask. Even the Chief Minister can be seen without a mask while others hung the mask around their neck without covering the nose and mouth.

Across the country, marriages during the lockdown period happened modestly with all guests including the bride and groom wearing masks and observing social distancing. A groom in UP was fined for not wearing masks. Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu faced backlash from media when he attended the wedding ceremony of the son of former minister Parameshwar Naik.

However, no such condemnation was reported by the media even though the Chief Minister himself can bee seen flouting COVID19 protocols by not wearing mask and standing very close others.

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