From The Newsroom: Delhi extends lockdown by a week; Centre asks Twitter, Facebook to remove 'inflammatory’ posts

In your evening news brief, the Centre asks Twitter, Facebook to remove ‘inflammatory’ posts; Lockdown extended by another week in Delhi, and 82 people killed in Baghdad hospital fire.

Hi, this is Ahmed Shariff and you are listening to, From The Newsroom— your daily evening news catch-up show from Deccan Herald.

Here is the top news of April 25, 2021:

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said on Sunday that it asked social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to remove over 100 posts and accounts alleging they were "inflammatory".

Twitter already removed 50 tweets, while Facebook and Instagram are in the process to remove the posts, sources in the Ministry said.

However, critics alleged that the government asked social media platforms to remove posts critical of the Modi government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tweets by Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, Congress MP Revanth Reddy, and West Bengal Minister Moly Ghatak were removed.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced an extension of the ongoing lockdown in Delhi for another week, saying the severity of Covid-19 was unabated and positivity rate has been as high as 36 per cent in the last few days.

The lockdown imposed on April 19 night will now continue till 5 AM on May 3, he said. It was scheduled to end at 5 AM on April 26 before extension.

The city has reported nearly 2,500 deaths due to the deadly virus in a 12-day period Several hospitals in the national capital are grappling with a severe shortage of medical oxygen.

A fire that ravaged a Covid-19 hospital in the Iraqi capital killed 82 people and sparked angry calls for the sacking of officials, in a country with a long-dilapidated health infrastructure.

The blaze at Baghdad's Ibn al-Khatib hospital started with an explosion caused by "a fault in the storage of oxygen cylinders", medical sources told AFP.

Baghdad Governor Mohammed Jaber called on the health ministry "to establish a commission of enquiry so that those who did not do their jobs may be brought to justice".

Source: DHNS/PTI/AFP